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September
17, 2007 • VOL. 45, NO. 16 • Oakland,
CA
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Honoring
Blessed Mother Teresa CNS PHOTO/JAYANTA SHAW/REUTERS |
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Pope visits Austria CNS PHOTO/CHURCH/HANDOUT/REUTERS |
In Austria, pope sticks to core
values theme
VIENNA, Austria (CNS) — On a three-day pilgrimage to Austria, Pope
Benedict XVI brought a core theme of his pontificate to Central Europe,
warning that a drift away from Christian values is leaving society unfulfilled,
less charitable and without a real future.
Although the pope’s events during the Sept. 7-9 visit were low-key,
his message was not. To diverse audiences of Catholic faithful, politicians,
church ministers and volunteers, he argued that Europe risks adopting
a godless vision that will inevitably lead to a spiritual, social and
demographic dead end.
One of the pope’s most telling speeches came in Vienna on the first
day of his trip, when he addressed a group that included scores of international
diplomats and representatives. Instead of covering the usual list of global
trouble spots, the pope made a strong pro-life appeal, zeroing in on the
problems of abortion and euthanasia.
Beyond the moral issue of the taking of innocent life, the pope raised
a wider question: whether Europe, with its low birth rate and rapidly
aging population, is “giving up on itself.”
Southern Calif. dioceses agree to settlement
SAN DIEGO (CNS) — The Diocese of San Diego and the Diocese of San
Bernardino, which was divided from the San Diego Diocese in 1978, agreed
Sept. 7 to pay $198.1 million to settle lawsuits with 144 victims of sexual
abuse by priests between 1938 and 1993. The dioceses had originally offered
$95 million to settle the claims. The plaintiffs sought $200 million.
Earlier in the year, the San Diego Diocese filed for bankruptcy protection
hours before a trial was to begin in one of the first lawsuits alleging
that the Church was responsible for sexual abuse by priests. The judge
in the bankruptcy case had recently threatened to throw out the bankruptcy
case if the Church didn’t reach an agreement with the plaintiffs.
The settlement is one of the largest in the country.
Under the agreement, the San Bernardino Diocese and its insurer, Catholic
Mutual, will pay $15.1 million for 11 cases. The San Diego Diocese will
pay $77 million and Catholic Mutual will cover another $75.7 million for
a total of 111 cases. San Diego will pay another $30.2 million for 22
cases involving members of religious orders. A statement from the San
Diego Diocese said it hoped at least part of that amount could be recovered
from the religious orders.
Infamous prison to become prayer center
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) — An infamous Colombian prison named “La
Catedral,” once home to narco-trafficking kingpin Pablo Escobar,
soon will be turned into a center of prayer. The administration of the
site recently was given to the Monastic Brotherhood of St. Gertrude the
Great, which plans to turn the ruins into a religious site and retreat
center.
When Colombian authorities were ready to arrest Escobar in 1991, he agreed
to go to prison — but in a luxury facility built to his own specifications
on a mountainside above the city of Medellin. From inside the prison,
which was equipped with a soccer field, a waterfall and a giant dollhouse
for his daughter, Escobar continued ruling his drug empire and ordering
murders.
Escobar lived there only 13 months before learning he was to be transferred
to a real prison. He fled in July 1992, but was hunted down by police
and shot dead on a rooftop the next year.
Parishioners asked about human rights abuses
HONG KONG (CNS) — The Diocese of Hong Kong has asked parishioners
to vote on the 10 worst human rights abuses since Hong Kong was transferred
from Britain to China 10 years ago.
Jackie Hung, an official of the diocese’s Catholic Justice and Peace
Commission, said she hopes the campaign would raise awareness among parishioners
and let them view human rights issues in light of Catholic social teaching.
The deadline to vote among a list of 50 human rights abuses is Oct. 15.
Pope says global wealth also belongs to poor
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The world’s wealth and resources do not
belong to a select few; they also belong to the poor, Pope Benedict XVI
said as he urged people to aid the needy and protect the environment.
“Christ is present even in the poor so they must never be insulted,”
abused or deemed worthless, the pope said Sept. 5, the 10th anniversary
of the death of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Musicians send pope iPod with modern church music
LONDON (CNS) — British musicians recorded the classic Irish hymn,
“Sweet Heart of Jesus,” in a calypso, disco style and sent
it to Pope Benedict XVI on an iPod nano. Pope Benedict might like it,
or he might become the first pontiff in history to throw an iPod into
the trash. The musicians’ intention, however, was to soften the
pope’s attitude toward modern church music.
The gift is from contemporary Catholic songwriters Jo Boyce and Mike Stanley,
and it features a new album of classic hymns reworked in modern forms
of music.
Oregon parish revives Assisi pledge against war
PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) — Discouraged by developments in Iraq, a committee
at St. Juan Diego Parish here is asking parishioners to take the Assisi
pledge, a statement made by 200 religious leaders at a 2002 meeting in
Italy convened by Pope John Paul II. The meeting took place in Assisi,
Italy, the home of St. Francis, who is often evoked because of his life
of nonviolence and efforts for peace.
The pledge says, in part, “We commit ourselves to proclaiming that
violence and terrorism are incompatible with the authentic spirit of religion.”
Earthquake destroyed Peruvian churches, sites
LIMA, Peru (CNS) — Three churches on Peru’s list of cultural
heritage sites were declared a total loss and more were badly damaged
after the huge earthquake that struck the country’s southern coast,
said the director of the National Institute of Culture. Eight others were
seriously damaged, eight suffered moderate damage and one was slightly
harmed in the magnitude 8 quake that struck Peru Aug. 15.
Rabbi’s knighthood for work with Catholics
NEW YORK (CNS) — Rabbi Leon Klenicki, former interfaith affairs
director of the Anti-Defamation League in New York, was invested into
the order of St. Gregory the Great during an Aug. 26 ceremony in New York.
The knighthood was granted by Pope Benedict XVI for Rabbi Klenicki’s
work with Catholics and Jews. A renowned scholar and theologian, Rabbi
Klenicki joins a select group of Jews, and only a handful of rabbis, to
receive the papal knighthood. He is the author and co-author of hundreds
of books and papers dealing with the theological and practical aspects
of improving relations between Catholics and Jews.
