News Briefs
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Pope: U.S. should uphold traditional role of religion in public life
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI, meeting at the White House with President George W. Bush, said it was important to preserve the traditional role of religion in American political and social life. Religious values helped forge "the soul of the nation" and should continue to inspire Americans as they face complex political and ethical issues today, he said. The pope spoke April 16 -- his 81st birthday -- at a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, where he was warmly welcomed by Bush and thousands of cheering well-wishers. It was the pontiff's first official encounter after arriving in Washington the day before. The pope smiled and beamed as the crowd sang an impromptu "Happy Birthday." The two leaders stood and listened to their respective national anthems, then a fife and drum corps played a medley of "Yankee Doodle" and other patriotic songs. Bush greeted the pope with the Latin phrase "Pax tecum" ("Peace be with you"), and said the entire country was moved and honored to have the pope spend "this special day" with them.
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Pope, Bush discuss fighting terrorism while respecting human rights
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In a meeting at the White House, Pope Benedict XVI and President George W. Bush discussed the problem of terrorism and how to confront it while respecting human rights. The two leaders also expressed their joint concern for the protection of human life, marriage and the family, according to a statement issued after a private meeting April 16. "The two reaffirmed their total rejection of terrorism as well as the manipulation of religion to justify immoral and violent acts against innocents," the statement said. "They further touched on the need to confront terrorism with appropriate means that respect the human person and his or her rights," it said. The encounter was the pope's first official event of his April 15-20 visit to the United States, and it began with a public welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House, attended by thousands of well-wishers.
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Pope calls sex abuse scandal 'countersign' to Gospel of life
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- One of the "countersigns to the Gospel of life" in the United States is the sexual abuse of minors, a situation "that causes deep shame," Pope Benedict XVI told about 300 U.S. bishops gathered April 16 in the crypt church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. He called it an "evil" and said the U.S. bishops have "rightly moved" to address it. The programs they have put in place to discipline priests and other church personnel who are abusers, to create safe environments protecting young people, to foster healing and to "bind up the wounds" caused by "such breach of trust" are bearing fruit, he said. But the pope also said the problem of sex abuse must be placed in a wider context when pornography, violence and "the crude manipulation of sexuality" are so prevalent in society today. The pope arrived at the shrine in his popemobile, smiling and waving to enthusiastic crowds that lined the adjacent streets and the front of the basilica. He looked relaxed and in good form on the second day of his April 15-20 visit, which will also take him to New York.
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U.S. Supreme Court upholds Kentucky's lethal injections
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. Supreme Court in a 7-2 vote April 16 upheld Kentucky's use of lethal injection as a method of execution. In the Baze v. Rees ruling the court rejected a challenge by two Kentucky death-row inmates on the constitutionality of the three-drug lethal combination used in executions. The inmates argued that the lethal injection method violated a constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, saying it inflicted needless pain and suffering. The court ruled, however, that the state has measures in place to ensure inmates will not endure significant pain. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, and was joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Anthony Kennedy. Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, John Paul Stevens and Stephen Breyer each wrote separate opinions in which they agreed with Roberts' final opinion but not with each of his arguments. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter dissented. Executions around the country have been on hold since September, when the court agreed to hear arguments in the Kentucky case.
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Bishops' president says U.S. church finds great hope in pope's visit
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The bishops, priests, deacons and laypeople of the United States "find great encouragement" in the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, the president of the bishops' conference told the pope April 16. "Because of the bonds of ecclesial communion, you are not a foreign visitor but a father and friend in Christ," Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George said shortly before the pope addressed the gathering of bishops at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Cardinal George offered a bit of U.S. church history, explaining that before the adoption of the First Amendment guaranteeing freedom of religion "it was forbidden in the British Empire to celebrate the Mass publicly." The founding of the new nation was welcomed by the first U.S. bishop, John Carroll, though popular acceptance of Catholicism did not follow automatically from legal recognition, he said. "Bishops have served the church in the United States for over 200 years and the context of their ministry and of Catholic life here was often one of suspicion," Cardinal George said. "Our faith was not pure, our church was unbiblical, our allegiances uncertain."
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White House puts on a colorful show for pope and thousands
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Even some of the bishops were in the standing-room sections on the South Lawn of the White House waiting for Pope Benedict XVI to arrive. With about 13,500 people in the invitation-only crowd, more guests were left to stand for the official welcome by President George W. Bush than were able to get a seat in the bleachers set up for the ceremony. Fewer still got an actual folding chair for their wait of as long as three hours for the ceremony to begin. It was their first visit to the White House, said some of the arriving U.S. bishops, dressed in the formal cassocks common around the Vatican, but rarely seen in official Washington. As they were escorted from their buses past the West Wing and the press room, they asked what parts of the building they were passing, seeming a little awed by the surroundings. The escorted busloads of bishops were interspersed with groups of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts and Knights of Columbus, each of whom were put in sections of the lawn where they could see well, but had to stand for the duration. Even members of Congress were relegated to standing-room areas where their lines of sight to the podium were limited at best.
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SNAP says pope's remarks on sex abuse scandal not enough
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI received an unusual present for his 81st birthday April 16 in Washington from men and women abused by priests as children -- a plea for him to censure a U.S. cardinal. The sign-carrying demonstrators who participated in an event held by the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests urged the pope during his first trip to the United States April 15-20 to take action against at least one of the four cardinals they believe have mishandled recent child sex-abuse cases. Though pleased that Pope Benedict spoke about the church sex-abuse crisis on the flight from Rome to Washington, SNAP leaders say mere words are not enough. The pope said he was deeply saddened by the crisis and would do what he could to prevent future priestly sex abuse cases. "We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry," Pope Benedict said. "This is absolutely incompatible, and who is really guilty of being a pedophile cannot be a priest. So this first level is, (as much) as we can, do justice and help clearly the victims because they are deeply touched. So there are two sides of the justice, on one hand that pedophiles cannot be priests and on the other hand to help in possible ways the victims."
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Multiple choruses of 'Happy Birthday' mark the pope's 81st
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- At 5:21 a.m., the disc jockey on a country music radio station in Fredericksburg, Va. -- 50 miles south of Washington -- invited listeners to join her in singing "Happy Birthday" to Pope Benedict XVI. On the South Lawn of the White House, dignitaries, bishops and guests joined in an impromptu rendition of the song. Later, opera star Kathleen Battle led the song again, and the pope blew out candles on a four-tier cake. Pope Benedict celebrated his 81st birthday in Washington April 16 and heard "Happy Birthday" numerous times. He also ate a birthday luncheon of special Italian fare with U.S. cardinals and received some uncommon gifts from Catholic school students. Gianluca Biccini, who is traveling with the papal entourage, told the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, that Pope Benedict "began the second day of his apostolic visit at an early hour with a Mass celebrated in the small chapel of the apostolic nunciature," where he was staying in Washington. The paper described the Mass as being a "family" celebration with the pope's closest aides as well as "about 30 members of the nunciature staff accompanied by their families."
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U.S. House officially welcomes pope with formal resolution
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The U.S. House of Representatives formally welcomed Pope Benedict XVI with a unanimously passed resolution during his first trip to the United States April 15-20. Sponsored by Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-Mich., H.R. 838 -- passed April 9 -- officially welcomes the pope and acknowledges his contributions to people of all faiths and to refugees and for his advocacy of world peace. "Pope Benedict XVI's apostolic visit to the United States is a uniquely historical moment," said McCotter, a 42-year-old Catholic, in a news release. "It has been 29 years since the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and Vatican head of state has visited the White House, and it is the first visit by Pope Benedict to the United States. All Americans should eagerly look forward to his message of hope and renewal." The resolution also recognizes the pontiff's ecumenical and interreligious efforts and says his authorship of 25 books and thousands of hours of lectures make him one of the most prolific theologians in modern times.
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Too many youths said to take values on sex from society, not church
SEATTLE (CNS) -- Catholic adolescents may be more oblivious than opposed to the church's teachings on human sexuality because they are formed more by the culture than by the church, according to several educators commenting on a recent federal study reporting the frequency of premarital sex. At least 1 in 4 teenage American girls has a sexually transmitted disease, according to the report released in March by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. April is STD Awareness Month, an annual observance to raise public awareness about the impact of sexually transmitted diseases on the lives of Americans. While cautioning against imputing the same 1 in 4 statistics to young Catholics, Jesuit Father Thomas Rausch said they "take their values from society, the culture in which they are living, and not from the church. It is certainly true that Catholic moral teaching is often dismissed by many young adult Catholics," said Father Rausch, a professor of theology at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He pointed to studies which indicate young Catholics lag behind evangelicals and Protestants in terms of practice and knowledge of their religion.
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Bush says Iraq policy aims to protect rights of religious minorities
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- President George W. Bush said in an interview broadcast April 11 on EWTN that his policy on Iraq is guided in large part by the need to protect the rights of minorities, including religious minorities, so that a civil society can emerge. "I commit our troops to helping the Iraqis provide safety for all innocent Iraqis," Bush told host Raymond Arroyo in the interview conducted April 8. "You got to understand that what you're witnessing is not just an assault on innocent Christians. You are witnessing (an) assault on innocent people of all faiths by a group of cold-blooded killers who want to drive the United States out of the Middle East because they hate free societies," the president said. Despite growing support across the country to begin withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq, Bush pledged to keep troops in the country as long as necessary.
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Catholic Charities seeks policy changes to keep youths out of poverty
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic Charities USA is urging members of Congress and other leading policymakers to support efforts to ease the challenges young people and their families are facing as a way to reduce poverty in America. Using the forum of a Capitol Hill briefing April 15, Catholic Charities officials from New York and Connecticut as well as Catholic Charities USA outlined a range of ideas to help teenagers avoid the cycle of poverty as they move into adulthood. "If we are to reduce poverty in America, we must develop creative public policy proposals and new initiatives and a collective change of heart to prevent another generation of children from growing up poor," said Father Larry Snyder, Catholic Charities USA president. "That requires the collective will and wisdom of our leadership and all of us to address these issues and to propose effective solutions today so this generation will be included in the American dream." The briefing was the latest effort in Catholic Charities USA's Campaign to Reduce Poverty in America. Introduced last year, the campaign seeks to halve poverty in the country by 2020.
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New report examines how to help inner-city Catholic schools
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic schools in America's cities are "in crisis," according to a new report highlighting the closure of 1,300 Catholic schools in the past two decades. The report, conducted by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington think tank, not only lists statistics, such as the displacement of 300,000 students due to school closings, but it also examines possible solutions to reverse this trend. Chester Finn, president of the Fordham Institute, called the report's April 10 release date timely, since it was just prior to Pope Benedict XVI's U.S. visit when he said the "nation's attention will focus briefly on the church and its key institutions." "Now is a terrific time to recognize that a national treasure -- and one of the great accomplishments of the Catholic Church in America -- is perishing and to consider what, if anything, can be done about it," Finn said in a statement. The 121-page report, "Who Will Save America's Urban Catholic Schools?" cites statistics from the National Catholic Educational Association in Washington. The NCEA annually lists numbers of school closings, openings and enrollment figures. According to these figures, Catholic school enrollment is now about 2.3 million, down from its peak of 5.2 million in the early 1960s.
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WORLD
Two missionaries among survivors of plane crash in Congo
ROME (CNS) -- Two Italian missionary priests were among survivors of a plane crash that left at least 21 people dead and scores injured in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Xaverian Missionary Fathers Pierfrancesco Agostinis, 39, and Pietro Rinaldi, 41, escaped from the wreckage before it burst into flames. The DC-9 passenger jet readying for takeoff never managed to get off the ground; it crashed into a crowded market and busy residential area in the city of Goma April 15. Father Agostinis told the Rome-based missionary news service MISNA April 15 that one of the plane's tires blew out just before liftoff, forcing the pilot to abort the takeoff. However, the runway ended and the plane rammed into a crowded market area, he said. A representative of the private Hewa Bora airline told reporters the majority of the 85 people on board had survived, while rescue workers reported that many of those killed and injured had been on the ground when the plane failed to take off.
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Peruvian villagers fear eviction in Amazon land conflict
BARRANQUITA, Peru (CNS) -- The knock at Father Mario Bartolini's door came a little after 8 p.m. April 10. On the porch stood Robert Romero Rios, his face creased with worry and his rubber boots caked with mud. The previous afternoon, 10 armed guards had arrived in San Juan de Pacchilla, the tiny village where Romero's family and more than 50 others have lived for more than a generation, in a clearing hacked out of the tropical forest. "They told me to get out -- that the land belonged to them," he told the Italian-born Passionist priest. Romero said he replied that the land had been surveyed and the villagers had papers showing that land titles were being prepared. Eventually the guards left. On the morning of April 10, however, about 15 workers showed up with a tractor, wagon and surveying equipment. They told Romero, who heads an association of community members, that they were preparing the way for contractors hired by a company called Agricola de Caynarachi SA, which plans to turn the land into a palm oil plantation. Regional government officials say the land deal was not legal and is not yet final, but the company already has built a road into the property and is clearing forest and pressuring small farmers, most of whom lack official land titles, to leave.
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Church leaders criticize Peru's Amazon development plans
BARRANQUITA, Peru (CNS) -- Catholic Church leaders in the Peruvian Amazon said the government's development plans for the region pose a threat to indigenous people and to small farmers who have migrated to the tropics. In a statement issued after an Amazonian indigenous ministry meeting, six bishops and more than 20 other church workers said that "national development policies involving the Amazon must respect existing cultures, the environment and human rights." They also called for the government to promote "development models based on inclusion, equality and justice." In the statement, the bishops expressed "particular concern" about private investment in the Amazon, the "concession and sale of land and forests, and mining and petroleum exploration and production," saying the measures increase social and environmental conflict in the Amazon. "There is a lack of a comprehensive vision for the region," Bishop Jose Astigarraga Lizarralde of Yurimaguas told Catholic News Service.
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PEOPLE
Crowds of Catholics line Pennsylvania Avenue to welcome pope
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The sounds of guitars, tambourines and drums filled Pennsylvania Avenue just west of the White House early April 16 as thousands of people gathered to welcome Pope Benedict XVI to America. Led by an estimated 5,000 members of the Neocatechumenal Way from across the country, Catholic pilgrims gathered at sunrise at Lafayette Park before law enforcement officers cleared the square across from the White House for security reasons. Jose Luis Rosario and his wife, Annerias Rosario, members of the Catholic spiritual renewal movement Neocatechumenal Way, were eager to see Pope Benedict. They made the trip from New York with their eight children. "It's an opportunity not only to hear words of life but also that my children see what's important," Annerias Rosario said. Pushing his twin 3-year-old sons in a stroller, Jose Luis Rosario said the pope is "the rock of the faith of the Christian." Police dispatcher James McNally, 37, and his sister made the three-and-a-half hour trip from Manahawkin, N.J., overnight for a chance to see the pope."He's the leader of my religion; to visually see him is something special," said McNally.
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Long waits, chilly start don't deter crowd at White House ceremony
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Thousands of Americans -- not all of them Catholic -- filled the South Lawn of the White House for the April 16 arrival ceremony welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to the White House. They rearranged schedules on short notice and got up earlier than usual, in some cases a lot earlier than usual, to meet all the security requirements for Pope Benedict's first U.S. visit as pontiff. Suzanne Wallace of Alexandria, Va., got a South Lawn ticket courtesy of her daughter, Kathryn, who works in the White House as general counsel in its Office of Administration. Kathryn Wallace was on hand, too, gently reminding her mother to have a snack during a wait that lasted up to three hours for some. Herself a Catholic, Suzanne Wallace volunteers at the White House, answering telephones. "Today was supposed to be my day to answer the phones," she told Catholic News Service during the long wait. "But they closed the phones today. That shows you how important this is." She said she's been to other White House welcoming ceremonies, including the one for Queen Elizabeth II. "But this is even more exciting," Wallace said.
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Children welcome pope on lawn of apostolic nunciature in Washington
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As the black limousine in which Pope Benedict XVI was riding pulled up in front of the apostolic nunciature in Washington April 15, a crowd of schoolchildren stood on the lawn waiting to greet the pope. After getting out of the car, Pope Benedict stood next to the papal nuncio, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, and stretched his arms toward the children. They waved small papal flags and yelled "Happy birthday!" to him. One of the children welcoming the pope was kindergartner Katie Rose from St. Raphael Catholic Church in Rockville, Md. She said she was "really happy" to see the pope. Around her neck, she wore a rosary that her mother had given her that day to remember the pope's visit. Across the street, Catholic groups from around the country stood together, hoping to catch a glimpse of the pope. Some played instruments and sang songs. One group traveled from Santa Ana, Calif. "We're here to support the one who is our head," said Father Randy Guillen, a priest traveling with the Santa Ana group.
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Catholic students at Virginia Tech record CD to offer hope, healing
BLACKSBURG, Va. (CNS) -- By noon on April 16, 2007, Bryan Schamus, a member of the Newman Community at Virginia Tech, knew that at least 22 people had been killed on campus. He quickly gathered with other student leaders of the university's Catholic campus ministry to figure out how to respond to the tragedy, which would later become known as the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. By the end of the day, 33 students and faculty, including the gunman, had died. A Mass of healing at the Newman Center that evening "was jampacked with maybe close to 200 people," Schamus recalled. People of all faiths had gathered for mutual support, consolation and comfort. What participants found were uplifting, youthful voices singing about hope and love overcoming fear. For Schamus, and all those involved in the project, the past year has been a journey of transformation culminating in the creation of a CD of those songs to be released April 16 in memory of the lives lost at Virginia Tech. Called "Voices of Hope," the CD is a message of hope, faith and transformation. The CD will be available online at; catholic.org.vt.edu/voicesofhope, or by e-mail to : VTvoicesofhope@gmail.com. The cost is $15, including shipping.
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U.S. ambassador says pope-Bush meeting was proud day for Americans
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- For the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, the meeting between Pope Benedict XVI and President George W. Bush was a proud day for Americans. "It was wonderful to have this great world religious leader express his appreciation for so many things we take for granted," Mary Ann Glendon told Catholic News Service April 16. "From the inside, we Americans read the Pew polls and see the glass half-empty," she said. But the pope, in his speech to the president, reminded people that "we have many different religions that coexist in harmony and flourish in this kind of political arrangement," she said. That kind of affirmation was special, she said. So was the fact that the pope and the president both seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the occasion. Glendon noted that the speeches of the two leaders overlapped on several key issues, especially where Bush echoed some of the pope's main themes -- on the need for love, hope and respect for life. "The president, I think, was particularly eloquent today. I think it was one of the best talks he's ever given," she said.
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Pope meets U.S. Catholic school students at papal nunciature
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- An excited mixture of clapping, cheering, screaming and singing only became louder as Pope Benedict XVI walked toward about 130 students who waited in front of the Vatican Embassy to wish the pope a happy 81st birthday April 16. The students, from Washington's Annunciation Catholic School, sang "Happy Birthday" to him in German and English and held up a banner with a jumbo-size painting of the pope dressed in a green cassock and white miter. Along the sides and bottom of the painting students had written, "Annunciation Catholic School wishes you a very happy birthday!" Pope Benedict shook the hands of several students and congratulated the school's music teacher on the students' singing performance. He said it was "wonderful. In German and in English." The students had waited eagerly inside a fenced-off area for more than an hour to get their big chance to sing to the pope. For James Henkels, a student from St. Joseph's School in Vancouver, Wash., meeting the pope was doubly exciting because he and the pope share the same birthday. James said this is a birthday he will never forget -- he turned 11 and shook the pope's hand.
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Bush, pope exchange gifts accompanied by lemon cake
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- With the formal greetings out of the way, Pope Benedict XVI and President George W. Bush got down to serious business during their historic White House meeting April 16 -- the exchanging of presents. On his 81st birthday, the pontiff received a lead crystal cross sculpture and a collection of American classical and religious compact discs from the president. Even though the date didn't mark a birthday, anniversary or any other landmark occasion for Bush, the pope gave him a framed mosaic of St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. According to the Vatican press office, the mosaic belongs to an 18th-century style of panoramas and is based on a printing from the 19th century. But no birthday would be complete without cake, so the White House served a four-layer, square lemon pound confection with lemon curd filling and vanilla fondant frosting.
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Nine-year-old boy gets impromptu audience with pope
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Before Pope Benedict XVI headed to a prayer service with the U.S. bishops April 16, he had a series of brief encounters with an extremely small group of people both inside the Vatican nunciature and outside it. "You are as close as anyone's going to get to the pope this week," declared an American priest to the group. Of all these encounters, none could have been closer, or more unexpected, than Pope Benedict's meeting with 9-year-old Dillon Smith of Charles Town, W.Va. Dillon wants to be a priest when he grows up, according to his mother, Kelly. Dillon's eyesight is fading. "We were told (by a doctor) what it was when he was 5," Kelly Smith added. "We knew something was wrong when he was 1." The boy is already legally blind, and is likely to go totally blind at some point. Dillon was to have a doctor's appointment the day after he and his mother came to the nunciature as part of a group of 130 or so people, mainly from three parishes in the Archdiocese of Washington.
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Catholic school students give pope birthday gifts that will last
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Birthdays last just one day. But the efforts generated on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI by Catholics in the Washington area and throughout the nation will resonate for many days to come. Three Catholic school students were chosen to give Pope Benedict birthday greetings for his 81st birthday April 16 during a brief meeting inside the Vatican nunciature in Washington. Kristina Wilson, a junior at St. John's College High School in Washington, gave the pope a birthday card on behalf of the National Catholic Educational Association. The group collected pledges of 1.7 million hours of community service. Stephanie Joy Heredia, an eighth-grade student at Corpus Christi School in Falls Church, Va., gave the pontiff a gift-wrapped box that contained the names of all parishes and schools participating in the "Birthday Blessing for Pope Benedict" effort. Jennifer Sharkey, an eighth-grader at St. Jane Frances de Chantal School in Bethesda, Md., gave the pope a birthday card with partial results of the "From Hunger to Hope" food drive conducted the weekend of April 12-13 by parishes in the Archdiocese of Washington. The card read 200,000 pounds of food; the latest tally, according to Maryland Catholic Conference official Mary Schneidau, was close to 230,000 pounds.
Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops