News Briefs
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Vatican letter directs bishops to keep parish records from Mormons
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In an effort to block posthumous rebaptisms by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Catholic dioceses throughout the world have been directed by the Vatican not to give information in parish registers to the Mormons' Genealogical Society of Utah. An April 5 letter from the Vatican Congregation for Clergy, obtained by Catholic News Service in late April, asks episcopal conferences to direct all bishops to keep the Latter-day Saints from microfilming and digitizing information contained in those registers. The order came in light of "grave reservations" expressed in a Jan. 29 letter from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the clergy congregation's letter said. Father James Massa, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, said the step was taken to prevent the Latter-day Saints from using records -- such as baptismal documentation -- to posthumously baptize by proxy the ancestors of church members. Posthumous baptisms by proxy have been a common practice for the Latter-day Saints -- commonly known as Mormons -- for more than a century, allowing the church's faithful to have their ancestors baptized into their faith so they may be united in the afterlife, said Mike Otterson, a spokesman in the church's Salt Lake City headquarters.
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Witnesses warn: Iraqi refugees pose a looming humanitarian crisis
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The short version of the situation was in one line of Anastasia Brown's testimony to a House subcommittee hearing: "The plain and simple truth is that the United States is not doing everything in its power to avert a looming humanitarian crisis in the Middle East." Brown, the director of refugee programs for Migration and Refugee Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, was among witnesses May 1 describing the situation of 2.2 million Iraqis living as refugees, primarily in Syria and Jordan, and another 2.7 million "internally displaced persons," living in Iraq but unable to return to their own homes. At the joint hearing of two Foreign Affairs subcommittees -- on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight and on the Middle East and South Asia -- witnesses and members of Congress cautioned about letting the current situation fester. "Years from now, I can imagine people pointing to the lack of a U.S. response to the refugee crisis as a turning point for a new generation of radicals in the Middle East," said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.
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Poll shows pope's visit influenced attitudes toward church, faith
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI's U.S. visit impacted public attitudes toward the pope, the church and people's willingness to live their faith more fully, according to a poll commissioned by the Knights of Columbus. The nationwide poll of 1,013 adults was conducted by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., April 22-24, just after the April 15-20 papal visit. Marist conducted a similar poll prior to the pope's visit. Both polls had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. According to the newest poll, 65 percent of Americans have a more positive view of Pope Benedict as a result of what they saw and heard during his six-day visit to the United States and 52 percent have a more positive view of the Catholic Church. The percentage of Americans with a favorable view of Pope Benedict jumped from 58 percent prior to his visit to 71 percent afterward. Similarly, the percentage of those who described the pope positively as a spiritual leader increased from 53 percent to 62 percent.
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Archbishop Flynn resigns; Archbishop Nienstedt succeeds him
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Archbishop Harry J. Flynn of St. Paul and Minneapolis May 2. As coadjutor archbishop of the archdiocese for the past year, Archbishop John C. Nienstedt, 61, automatically succeeds him. The changes were announced in Washington by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Archbishop Flynn's resignation was accepted on the day he turned 75, the normal retirement age for archbishops. "I am grateful to His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, for his confidence in naming me archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis," Archbishop Nienstedt said in a statement. "It is a tremendous responsibility for pastoring the people of God now assigned to my care. I ask for the prayerful support of both Catholics and non-Catholics alike." He congratulated Archbishop Flynn on his birthday and thanked him for his nearly 14 years of service to the archdiocese.
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Bankruptcy judge approves $37 million settlement in Davenport Diocese
DAVENPORT, Iowa (CNS) -- Following a nearly four-hour hearing April 30, a bankruptcy court judge approved a plan that will allow the Davenport Diocese to emerge from bankruptcy, which it entered 18 months ago. The plan, which all but one of 165 creditors voted to accept, calls for a $37 million settlement and nonmonetary measures to compensate creditors, most of whom are survivors of clergy sexual abuse. The distribution of funds from the settlement will begin sometime this summer. The diocese will hand over the money and the deed to its headquarters, the St. Vincent Center, at the time of the reorganization plan's effective date, expected to be around the end of May. Praising everyone involved in the process, Judge Lee Jackwig suggested the collaborative effort could serve as a model for other bankruptcy cases. After her ruling, attorneys, a sex abuse survivor, diocesan officials and others smiled broadly, shook hands and congratulated one another. Davenport Bishop Martin J. Amos said in a statement: "This is not an issue to put behind us. This isn't a problem to 'get over.' The church must always keep the protection of children in the forefront of our mission of service to others."
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Gas, food prices hurting agencies' ability to deliver social services
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The congregants prayed at a gas station one block from their church, appealing to God for lower gasoline prices. But with the relentless climb in gas prices -- topping, in late April, the $3.50 mark nationwide for regular unleaded for the first time -- perhaps an exorcism is more in order. Members of the First Seventh-day Adventist Church in Washington conducted their "pray-down" April 24, because the volunteers at a four-times-weekly soup kitchen in the church basement are themselves feeling the pinch of higher fuel costs. One volunteer said she's stopped driving to the church and instead takes two buses, even though it lengthens her commute by 45 minutes each way. The rising prices for both fuel and food are hurting the delivery of social services both at the church level and at the diocesan level. Catholic Charities in Jacksonville, Fla., runs a food bank and sometimes gets food supplies delivered from Miami. But trucking companies have been turning down Catholic Charities requests to bring food north unless Catholic Charities can assure them of a return payload to Miami.
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WORLD
Pope meets Cuban bishops, praises church's work despite 'limitations'
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The many "difficulties and limitations" placed on the Catholic Church in Cuba have not stopped it from growing and from reaching out to help the poor and the sick, Pope Benedict XVI said. "Continue carrying out a bold and generous effort of evangelization which will bring the light of Christ to all spheres and places," the pope told the bishops of Cuba May 2 at the end of their "ad limina" visits, in which they reported on the status of their dioceses. "At this moment in history, the church in your country is called to offer the entire Cuban society the one true hope: Christ Our Lord, victor over sin and death. This is the force that has kept Cuban believers firmly on the path of faith and love," the pope said. Archbishop Juan Garcia Rodriguez of Camaguey, president of the Cuban bishops' conference, told the pope, "At this moment in Cuba there is talk of changes which the people and the church greet with hope."
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Not an easy read: Survey indicates Bible hard to understand
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Bible: Most people in Europe and North America have one and some of them actually read it, but more than half of them say it is difficult to understand. A survey commissioned by the Catholic Biblical Federation found that even those who reported reading the Bible said it was not easy to understand. Luca Diotallevi, the Rome-based sociology professor who coordinated the survey's working group, said, "This is very important: People described the Bible as difficult whether or not they said they read it. The people of God are asking for help reading the Bible," he said in an April 30 interview. The Catholic Biblical Federation commissioned the survey as part of its preparation for the October world Synod of Bishops, which will focus on the Bible. During an April 28 Vatican press conference, the federation and GfK-Eurisko, which conducted the survey, presented preliminary results from nine countries: the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland and Russia.
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Chinese Catholic officials offer advice on May pilgrimages, devotions
BEIJING (CNS) -- Catholic authorities in mainland China have taken the unprecedented step of advising Catholics on how to conduct Marian devotions and make pilgrimage arrangements. The Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and Bishops' Conference of the Catholic Church in China have urged all dioceses in China to organize pilgrimages locally rather than in other provinces or municipalities, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. The five-point notice from the two government-approved bodies also asks the dioceses to implement security measures to ensure pilgrims' safety. Anthony Liu Bainian, a vice chairman of the patriotic association, confirmed to UCA News April 29 that the two administrative organizations had not previously issued instructions on devotions during the Marian month of May. They decided to do so this year because they "estimated the number of pilgrims would increase and wanted to ease the pressure on Shanghai," he explained. Pope Benedict XVI has asked Catholics worldwide to pray for the Chinese Catholic Church May 24, the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians.
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PEOPLE
Bishop Boyea installed as fifth bishop of Lansing
EAST LANSING, Mich. (CNS) -- Bishop Earl A. Boyea knocked on the door of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in East Lansing April 29, but he almost didn't want to come in. Bishop Boyea, 57, said he got very emotional "walking into church at the beginning of Mass." Shortly after his installation Mass, he said, "I didn't think I was going to make it. I started tearing up and thought, 'Oh no, don't start now. It's a long Mass.' But God gave me grace." He also had a lot of support. Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, was on hand to read the letter from Pope Benedict XVI formally naming Bishop Boyea, an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Detroit since 2002, as the successor to Lansing Bishop Carl F. Mengeling. Also on hand were more than 25 bishops. Bishop Boyea's parents, Earl and Helen, came down from their Cheboygan retirement home to witness the installation of the oldest of their 10 children. They also carried the gifts to him and got hugs from him in return. "They are gems," he said of his parents.
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Pope to spend 10 days, including 3 of rest, on July trip to Australia
SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) -- The Catholic Church in Australia and organizers of World Youth Day in Sydney have identified a "serene, beautiful and suitable" place in Australia for Pope Benedict XVI to rest for three full days in July before joining the youth gathering. While refusing to identify the place for reasons of privacy and security, Sydney Auxiliary Bishop Anthony Fisher, World Youth Day coordinator, said the pope would have "the opportunity to see some of Australia's beautiful flora and fauna." Passionist Father Ciro Benedettini, assistant director of the Vatican press office, said May 2 the place chosen was near Sydney. Pope Benedict will leave Rome July 12, stop briefly in Darwin, Australia, July 13 for refueling, then proceed to Sydney, Father Benedettini said. The pope will spend July 14-16 resting and recovering from jet lag, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman. Pope Benedict will be involved in World Youth Day activities July 17-20 and will leave Sydney July 21.
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Bishop Boland named bishop-promoter of Apostleship of the Sea
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Bishop J. Kevin Boland of Savannah, Ga., was appointed bishop-promoter of the Apostleship of the Sea by Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. As bishop-promoter, Bishop Boland is responsible for fostering the work of the maritime apostolate among the U.S. bishops and overseeing the work of the apostleship's national director based in Washington. The appointment was effective Feb. 28. The Diocese of Savannah, with more than 73, 000 Catholics, has an active Apostleship of the Sea ministry. The Port of Savannah is among the top 20 ports in the country. The Apostleship of the Sea is the work of the Catholic Church in the maritime world which began in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1920. The international Apostleship of the Sea is based in the Vatican under the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers. The ministry reaches out to mariners, fishermen, their families and all who work and travel on the waterways of the world.
Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops