News Briefs

As Catholic Charities USA responds to victims of Hurricane Sandy, donations can be made online at www.catholiccharitiesusa.org or by calling (800) 919-9338. • Hospitals in the United Kingdom have received £12.4 million (nearly $16 million) for implementing a controversial end-of-life patient-care protocol that critics say is a “euthanasia pathway.” • “Conscious of the devastation caused by the hurricane that recently struck the East Coast of the United States of America, I offer my prayers for the victims and express my solidarity with all those engaged in the work of rebuilding,” Pope Benedict XVI said on Oct. 31 at the end of his weekly general audience. • A ruling in Oklahoma that stopped an attempt to amend the state constitution to define personhood in order to ban abortion will stand after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal on Oct. 29. • Songs in Quechua and Spanish filled the Cathedral of Santo Domingo as thousands celebrated the 475th anniversary of the Diocese of Cusco, Peru, the first Catholic diocese in South America, on Oct. 27. • The 2012 Pax Christi International Peace Award was presented on Oct. 31 to Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Nigeria.