From CNS, Staff and other sources
Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain last month called the Act of Settlement, which bars from the throne members of the royal family who are married to Catholics, a “historical anomaly” that could not “continue to be justified.” • Helping people understand how racism undermines society’s ability to overcome violence and economic injustice is a top priority for Patricia Chappell, S.N.D.deN., the new executive director of Pax Christi USA. • On Oct. 24 Pope Benedict XVI named Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C., the relator-general, or recording secretary, of the 2012 Synod of Bishops on “new evangelization.” • Catholic Charities USA, joining the “Fighting Poverty With Faith” mobilization on Oct. 27, offered a food stamp challenge: buy a week’s groceries on the average stamp allotment of $31.50 per person. • Jewish groups asked the Vatican on Oct. 19 to suspend reconciliation talks with the Society of St. Pius X after Bishop Richard Williamson, a member, wrote that the killing of Jesus “was truly deicide” and that “only the Jews were the prime agents of the deicide” because they “clamored for his crucifixion.”