UPDATE:

Pope to return revered icon

Although he had hoped to deliver it personally, Pope John Paul II will send a Vatican delegation to Moscow in late August to give the Orthodox patriarch a Russian icon that has been kept in his private chapel for 11 years.

“A few weeks ago, the Holy Father communicated to the patriarch of Moscow his desire to give the sacred icon of Our Lady of Kazan to the Russian Orthodox Church,” Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said July 10. He said that since 1993, when the Blue Army USA of the World Apostolate of Fatima gave the icon to the pope, “it always has been his deep desire” to give it to Patriarch Alexei.



Justice Day

The first archdiocesan Justice Day will be held July 24 at Loyola University’s Lakeshore Campus. Speakers will include Father Michael Herman, pastor of St. Sylvester Parish, and the Rev. Patricia Watkins of TARGET will discuss affordable housing.

Other workshops include “Justice and Life Issues,” with archdiocesan Respect Life Director Mary-Louise Kurey and Ed Osowski of St. Francis Xavier Parish in LaGrange; “Justice and the Global Community” with Kathy Brown of Catholic Relief Services, Juan Salgado of the Instituto del Progreso Latino; and “Justice and the Environment” with Terra Brockman of The Land Connection and Gary Cuneen of 7 Generations Ahead.
John Carr, director of social development and world peace for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, will give the keynote “Building Just Communities through the Lens of Faithful Citizenship.” For information: (312) 751-8390, or e-mail [email protected].



NEWS:

Vatican, U.S. bishops ‘in harmony’
No support for blanket policy on withholding Eucharist
Washington — Following a rash of news reports claiming the U.S. bishops defied Vatican Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger on the question of withholding Communion from Catholic politicians whose actions conflict with church teaching on abortion, Cardinal Ratzinger said the bishops’ statement on the issue “is very much in harmony” with his recently leaked memo on the topic.

In a July 9 letter made public July 12 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said the bishops’ June 18 statement, titled “Catholics in Political Life,” “is very much in harmony with the general principles (of) ‘Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion.’”


Bishops, Catholic politicians discuss abortion, voting

In a scene that may be repeated across the country as U.S. bishops take their own advice to dialogue with Catholic politicians about abortion, Archbishop Raymond L. Burke of St. Louis met with a U.S. congressman from Missouri July 12.

Archdiocesan spokesman Jim Orso said the archbishop’s half-hour meeting with Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., took place in the congressman’s St. Louis office. Because it was a “pastoral meeting,” Orso added, both parties agreed not to make any public comment about it.


Priest describes monitoring of accused clergy

Dioceses should have systems for monitoring clergy who have been accused of child sex abuse but whose cases have not been resolved yet, said the Chicago archdiocesan vicar for priests.

“Although some of these priests may be innocent, we as a church cannot take the risk of not monitoring them until canonical trials are completed,” wrote Father James Kaczorowski in the June issue of the Vicars for Clergy Newsletter.


Burke expects more collaboration

The outgoing interim chairwoman of the bishops’ National Review Board said that she expects more collaboration between the lay board and the bishops now that the board has demonstrated its independence.
Another aid to cooperation is that the board has shown the high quality of its work in helping the bishops implement policies to prevent clergy sex abuse of minors, said Justice Anne M. Burke.


Educator: Public schools can learn from Catholic efforts

Because of the prevalence of child sex abuse, public schools must develop prevention programs that include educating employees, volunteers, parents and students on how to spot and report problems, said an educator who prepared a federally mandated study for Congress on the issue.

Sex abuse of students by teachers and other adults in the public school system “is a problem that needs to be taken care of,” said Charol Shakeshaft, a professor at Hofstra University in Huntington, N.Y.


Vatican adds staff to respond to abuse

Two U.S. canon lawyers are expected to arrive this fall for work at the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation, part of an effort to speed up processing of sex abuse cases, church officials said in early July.

The move responds to concern by both U.S. bishops and Vatican officials that more manpower is needed to break through the logjam of abuse cases.


Archdiocese of Portland declares bankruptcy
Move comes in response to abuse claims, allows church to ‘fulfill its mission’

Facing financial pressure from impending trials on sex abuse claims, the Archdiocese of Portland July 6 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
It is the first Catholic diocese in the United States, and perhaps the world, to seek the legal protection.

The move, described as a last resort, means that multimillion-dollar suits now pending against the archdiocese will be settled in federal bankruptcy court along with possible future claims. Parish and school activities and ministries will continue, officials said.


Religious leaders support marriage amendment

The general secretary of the U.S. bishops’ conference joined a panel of clergy and activists July 12 to encourage Congress to pass the Federal Marriage Amendment.

“Marriage is not an arbitrary social arrangement that can be altered by either the church or the state,” said Msgr. William P. Fay at a Capitol event to support a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman. “It is God’s will for humanity and the keystone of every human community.”


International AIDS forum welcomes input from religious organizations

A U.S. bishops’ conference official said the input of churches and religious groups at the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok has received more attention than previous conferences.

Father Robert Vitillo, director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and a special adviser on AIDS to Caritas Internationalis, said religious groups were marginalized during the last conference, held two years ago in Barcelona, Spain.


Franciscan sisters building the future by honoring past

Though an order steeped in history, the Sisters of St. Joseph Third Order of St. Francis of Bartlett are not focused on the past. Instead, they have cast an enterprising eye towards the future, both for themselves and the local community.

The Franciscan order was founded in 1901 to offer teaching services at Polish-American elementary and high schools in the Midwest. By the 1960s, the sisters’ work was thriving, with 120 parish schools in 14 states, including Lourdes High School on Chicago’s South Side.


Shakespeare a Catholic? Much ado about faith

The most recent book by London-born Joseph Pearce is “C.S. Lewis and Catholicism.” That was his advertised topic for a talk at the Catholic Citizens Forum July 9.

But due to a mix-up, about 100 attendees, ranging from moms to lawyers to artists, heard 10 minutes on Lewis, the popular Christian writer who never quite crossed the road to Catholicism. The rest of the lecture was on Pearce’s next book, “Shakespeare and Catholicism,” a title bound to raise eyebrows since the depth of the bard’s faith is still denied by most scholars.