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NEWS BRIEFS Nov-19-2009

By Catholic News Service

U.S.

Bishops preview video on marriage catechesis

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- As part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen marriage, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will launch this winter or spring the first in a series of videos, which was previewed for the bishops Nov. 18 at their annual meeting. Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., chairman of the bishops' Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage, said the video is part of a project of catechesis and education. "This video is not meant to be a commercial that convinces the viewer in 30 seconds, or a public service announcement which simply raises awareness, but is intended as an introductory step of catechesis and education," he said. It is intended for use by priests, deacons, catechists and teachers. Resource booklets and the Web site www.foryourmarriage.org also are part of the campaign targeted at Catholic young adults, Archbishop Kurtz said.

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Bishops given 'sober' report on religious orders, with signs of hope

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Religious orders may be shrinking in size and their members aging fast, but a study of their newest members offers signs for hope, Holy Cross Brother Paul Bednarczyk, executive director of the National Religious Vocations Conference, said in a Nov. 18 report to the U.S. bishops on a study released this summer. Brother Bednarczyk called the results of the "Recent Vocations to Religious Life" study conducted for the vocations conference by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University "sobering." At the same time he emphasized that the responses to the survey engender great hope for the future of religious life. "Our study has confirmed that part of the richness of religious life lies in its diversity of charisms, lifestyles and ministries that have always been a hallmark of religious institutes in this country," he told the bishops, gathered in Baltimore for their fall general assembly. Brother Bednarczyk said the study found the number of men and women in religious life has decreased by 63 percent since the peak in the mid-1960s and that about 75 percent of the men and more than 90 percent of women religious are age 60 or older.

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CUA president sees Catholic identity enhanced during his 12-year term

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- In his final report to the bishops before stepping down at the end of this academic year, the president of The Catholic University of America in Washington expressed satisfaction with steps taken to reinforce the school's Catholic identity and heal the breach of a "certain alienation" from the bishops in years past. Speaking Nov. 16 at the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore, Vincentian Father David M. O'Connell said it was "no secret that Catholic University struggled with its identity at times in the not too distant past and that these struggles resulted in a certain alienation from you -- the bishops who sponsor the university -- for many years." He also said the greatest progress the university has made under his tenure came in the area of Catholic identity and the school's "clear, public and unapologetic expression resulting in the re-engagement of the bishops in the life and work of their university." At the end of his talk, Father O'Connell received a standing ovation from the bishops.

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Archbishop fills in as parliamentarian at 1st meeting without Robert

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Their 2009 meeting in Baltimore was the first fall general assembly since 1975 when the U.S. bishops were without the services of a professional parliamentarian. But they found an effective replacement within their own ranks. At the start of the Nov. 16-18 meeting, Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, noted the absence of Henry M. Robert III, grandson of the author of the first Robert's Rules of Order in 1876 and co-author of the 1990 revised version of Robert's Rules. Robert, who is Catholic, had advised the bishops on parliamentary procedure at every fall meeting -- and some of the spring ones -- since 1975. His last meeting with the bishops was in San Antonio last June. At this "moment of transition," Cardinal George asked Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk of Cincinnati to take over those duties on a trial basis. Noting that most organizations the size of the USCCB do not have professional parliamentarians for their meetings, Cardinal George said he had asked Archbishop Pilarczyk to fill the role "given his knowledge and experience with parliamentary rules and his knowledge of this body."

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Joy an essential element for good spiritual health, Jesuit says

MARYKNOLL, N.Y. (CNS) -- Joy is an essential element of good spiritual health and humor is a tool for evangelization, humility, welcoming and healing, according to Jesuit Father James Martin. His address on "Laughing With God: Joy, Humor and Laughter in the Spiritual Life," kept more than 500 people grinning and nodding in amusement Nov. 15 at the Maryknoll Mission Center. "Joy has a disreputable reputation in the church and that's a tragedy," Father Martin said. "Anyone truly in touch with God is joyful. When you're deadly serious, you're probably seriously dead." Father Martin, an author, illustrated his talk with jokes featuring Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans, Trappists and Maryknollers. He said people miss the inherent humor in some of the Gospel stories because they are so familiar, like an old coin whose sharp edges have been worn smooth. Father Martin said Jesus had a sense of humor and appreciated humor in others. Father Martin said humor deepens our relationship with God, just as healthy human relationships include humor. He suggested that the surprising moments in life are signs of God's playfulness.

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WORLD

Outreach to former Anglicans not model of ecumenism, archbishop says

ROME (CNS) -- Calling Pope Benedict XVI's arrangement for Anglicans wanting to become Roman Catholics "the elephant in the room," the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion said the pope's move was nothing groundbreaking from an ecumenical viewpoint. Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury spoke Nov. 19 at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University at a conference marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, a pioneer in Catholic ecumenism. The archbishop said the constitution was "an imaginative pastoral response to the needs of some" Anglicans who felt their church was moving in the wrong direction, particularly over questions related to the ordination of women and the acceptance of homosexual behavior. Allowing the Anglicans to maintain elements of their Anglican heritage "shows some marks of the recognition that diversity of ethos does not in itself compromise the unity of the Catholic Church," the archbishop said. However, he said, it does not fulfill one of the goals of ecumenism, which is to bring Christian churches into full unity without one denomination absorbing another.

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Church's AIDS work aims to promote dignity, respect, Jesuit says

ROME (CNS) -- The work of the Catholic Church in Africa to stem the spread of HIV and to care for people living with AIDS is designed to respect the dignity and life of each person and to show solidarity with everyone in need, said the moderator of the Jesuit superiors in Africa and Madagascar. In a statement prepared for the Dec. 1 commemoration of World AIDS Day, Jesuit Father Fratern Masawe said that when AIDS first began to afflict Africa 25 years ago, "few of us reacted well. People who were HIV-positive or suffered from AIDS could easily find themselves condemned, rejected, cast out and treated 'as good as dead.'" Over the years, Catholic agencies, including the African Jesuit AIDS Network, have worked to prevent the spread of HIV, defend the dignity of people who are HIV-positive and offer medical treatment and other assistance to those living with AIDS. "It is very important for the church to get her life-affirming message across today to everyone. Abstinence and fidelity are not only the best ways to avoid HIV and tackle AIDS, but are the path to real, personal fulfillment," Father Masawe' s statement said.

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Vatican calls for responsibility at global meeting on traffic safety

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Allowing people and goods to travel more freely on the world's streets and highways is a welcome form of progress, but greater attention should be paid to safety and the rules of the road, Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers said. Easier freedom of movement poses challenges that the Catholic Church is seeking to address "by promoting awareness of the "responsibilities connected with mobility," especially observing traffic regulations, the archbishop explained Nov. 19 at the opening of the First Global Ministerial Conference on Road Safety. Held in Moscow, the conference was convoked by the U.N. General Assembly to address what is recognized as a growing challenge to health as the number of vehicles on roads around the world increase. Noting that the church "sees mobility first and foremost as a positive development for humanity," the archbishop said the church also must work with local and national governments to promote the observance of safety practices and traffic laws so that road travel is safe for everyone.

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US political parties are marked by hypocrisy, says former papal aide

ROME (CNS) -- The political campaigns and policies of the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States suffer from "hypocrisy" and ethical inconsistency, a former papal aide said. Joaquin Navarro-Valls, who served as Vatican spokesman for Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, said both major U.S. political parties "run campaigns that are inspired by an asymmetrical ethics" in which a rule or ethical principle applies in one instance, but not in another. Navarro-Valls spoke Nov. 18 during the presentation of his first book, "A Passo D'Uomo" ("At a Walking Pace"). The book, initially published only in Italian, is a collection of articles he has written for the Rome newspaper La Repubblica. The short essays, which include some previously unpublished material, cover events during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II and current moral and philosophical issues of the day. In his book, Navarro-Valls said an authentically ethical platform is consistently applied to all aspects of life. "An ethical vision that is partial is like a person who only tells the truth every now and then and yet wants to be believed all the time," he wrote.

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Catholic students need theology, other subjects, for evangelization

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Students at Catholic universities should pursue a deep knowledge of theology but be open to other areas of study so that they are better prepared to further the mission of the church in the world, Pope Benedict XVI said. Speaking Nov. 19 to students and professors from the pontifical universities Rome and representatives from Catholic universities around the world, the pope said that such institutions of higher learning "play an irreplaceable role in the church and in society." The pontiff said Catholic education was an important form of evangelization. Such universities are essential in helping to bridge the gaps among faith, culture and science, he said. He reminded the audience that the Declaration on Catholic Education ("Gravissimum Educationis"), a document from the Second Vatican Council, promoted the creation of high-level universities "to form people well versed in knowledge, ready to give witness of their faith in the world and to assume roles of responsibility in society."

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PEOPLE

Spring break trip led honoree to a career seeking justice in fields

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- When Brigitte Gynther took a spring break trip to Florida while a student at the University of Notre Dame, little did she imagine it would put her on a career track, working for farmworkers' rights. During that trip, instead of sunning on a beach, Gynther and fellow students worked in the tomato fields alongside immigrant workers who make pennies a pound for back-breaking labor. Though she had been introduced to the Catholic Church's social justice teachings at school, the first-hand experience led her on a new path in life. Gynther, now 27 and the coordinator of Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida, was the recipient Nov. 16 of the Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The award was given at a reception during the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Interfaith Action is a network of individuals and religious institutions working in partnership with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to improve wages and end human rights abuses in the region's agriculture industry. "Farmworkers are so ignored," she said, and that is what makes them subject to being held in slavelike conditions in extreme cases.

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Pope names Notre Dame professor to theological commission

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has named John C. Cavadini, chairman of the University of Notre Dame's Department of Theology, to the International Theological Commission. The appointment was announced Nov. 19 by the Vatican. Cavadini also directs Notre Dame's Institute for Church Life and in September was named co-chairman of the university's new Task Force on Supporting the Choice for Life. The professor earned his bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn.; a master's degree from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wis.; and a master's and a doctorate from Yale University. The 30 members of the International Theological Commission conduct research on theological topics and serve as advisers to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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