News Briefs

In Bosnia-Herzegovina “real dialogue” is being impeded by “legalized war crimes and injustices” and failure to implement the peace accord that ended the country’s 1992-95 war, said Msgr. Ivo Tomasevic, secretary-general of the Bosnian bishops’ conference. • After heated debate, the Austra-lian parliament voted overwhelmingly on Sept. 19 to reject gay marriage. • Jonathan Reyes, president and chief executive officer of Catholic Charities in Denver, will replace John Carr in December as executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development. • Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury will attend the Mass that Pope Benedict will celebrate to mark the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. • About 3,000 students and guests at Fordham University cheered mightily as the comedian Stephen Colbert joined Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York and James Martin, S.J., on Sept. 14 in a discussion of faith, humor and spirituality. • The Archdiocese of Liverpool has become the first diocese in England and Wales to commission laypeople to preside at funerals in an effort to assist overwhelmed priests.