Signs Of the Times
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June 3-10, 2013
The number of Catholics in the world and the number of bishops, priests, religious men and seminarians all increased in 2011, while the number of women in religious orders continued to decline, according to Vatican statistics. The number of permanent deacons is showing “strong expansion” globally, but especially in Europe and the Americas, the Vatican press office reported.
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June 3-10, 2013
Dr. Kermit Gosnell was convicted on May 13 of murder at his Philadelphia abortion clinic, but “nothing can bring back the innocent children he killed, or make up for the vulnerable women he exploited,” said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M.Cap., of Philadelphia. In a statement on May 14, the archbishop said: “Gosnell is not an exception.
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June 3-10, 2013
Human trafficking is so widespread that U.S. congregations of women religious are uniting in a nationwide effort to limit its reach. For years individual congregations have run human trafficking awareness programs regionally. Sister Margaret Nacke, of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, Kan., said it was time for congregations to come together to make better use of the resources and programs they had developed.
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June 3-10, 2013
In Rome on May 9, Sally Hodgdon of the United States, superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery, was elected vice president of the International Union of Superiors General, a body that includes 1,900 religious orders of women worldwide. • Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York on May 13 warned Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to prepare for “vociferous” and “rigorous” opposition if he attempts to expand New York abortion-rights.
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June 3-10, 2013
In his strongest remarks yet concerning the world’s economic and financial crises, the pope said, “Money has to serve, not to rule.
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June 3-10, 2013
A year-long truce among El Salvador’s street gangs has resulted in a dramatic reduction in homicides, but it “has not produced the [other] benefits that the…population was expecting,” said Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chávez, auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, reading a statement on behalf of El Salvador’s bishops. “Robbery, extortion and other illegal activities carried out by gang members continue; for this reason, the population does not perceive the benefits of...
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May 27, 2013
A bomb attack on May 5 at a church in Arusha, Tanzania, killed two people and wounded a dozen more. The Vatican nuncio, Archbishop Francisco Padilla, escaped unharmed. • A degeneration of religion is how the Vatican’s culture minister, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, on May 8 described Mexico’s “Santa Muerte,” worshipped both by drug dealers and everyday Mexicans terrorized by drug violence.
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May 27, 2013
The annual audit of diocesan compliance with the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” found “the fewest allegations and victims reported since the data collection for the annual reports began in 2004.” StoneBridge Business Partners, which conducts the audits under the direction of the U.S. bishops’ National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People, said law enforcement found six credible cases among 34 allegations of...
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May 27, 2013
School-choice initiatives were given a big boost in late March when the Indiana Supreme Court upheld one of the country’s most comprehensive school-choice programs. The state court backed a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said that because school vouchers primarily benefit families, they could not be viewed as an unconstitutional state support for religion.
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May 27, 2013
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ghana has appealed to the nation’s doctors to return to work and save lives, after nearly a month-long strike. Members of the Ghana Medical Association withdrew outpatient services and suspended emergency services on April 8 over issues related to salaries and pensions. “While we want our doctors to receive adequate remuneration for their work, we do not want human lives to be lost as a result of this strike.