Economy

Pope tells bishops of serious challenges to faith
May 14 2007
APARECIDA, Brazil – In calling for a “renewal and revitalization of faith” in Latin America and the Caribbean, Pope Benedict XVI warned against a revival of indigenous religions, said the church should work for justice but not become directly involved in politics, and criticized both Marxism and capitalism for their detachment from “the decisive reality which is God.” Speaking at the opening session May 13 of a meeting of Latin American and Caribbean bishops that will set directions for the region for the next decade, the pope said the faith “has serious challenges to address, because the harmonious development of society and the Catholic identity of (the region’s) peoples are in jeopardy.”

Pope tells Brazil’s bishops to be clear on family, faith, justice
May 11 2007


SAO PAULO, Brazil – Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Brazilian bishops to resist attacks on marriage and the family, seek out fallen-away Catholics and defend the rights and dignity of the poor.

In a lengthy speech May 11, the pope laid out guidelines for what he termed a “methodical evangelization aimed at personal and communal fidelity to Christ.”

What is needed in Brazil, he said, is a “leap forward in the quality of people’s Christian lives ... so that they can bear witness to their faith in a clear and transparent way.”

Brazil’s 446 bishops constitute the largest episcopate in the world. The papal encounter in the Sao Paulo cathedral came two days before the pope was to inaugurate a Latin American-wide conference to deal with similar pastoral challenges.

Pope wants to help reinforce Christian values, counter threats
May 09 2007
SAO PAULO, Brazil – Arriving in Brazil on his first papal trip to Latin America, Pope Benedict XVI said he wanted to help reinforce Christian values and counter new threats to the poor, the abandoned and the unborn. “I am well aware that the soul of this people, as of all Latin America, safeguards values that are radically Christian, which will never be eradicated,” the pope said May 9. The pope addressed several hundred civil and church dignitaries at an airport welcoming ceremony outside Sao Paulo, where his plane touched down after a 12-hour flight from Rome. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva greeted the pope warmly as he descended from the aircraft.

Religious leaders must heal Catholic-Muslim wounds
May 04 2007
VATICAN CITY – Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said religious leaders have an obligation to God to begin healing the wounds in Catholic-Muslim relations, including those caused by Pope Benedict XVI’s September remarks about Islam. “Meeting the pope cannot heal all these wounds, but at least we are making an effort to begin,” said Khatami, speaking May 4 at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University immediately before meeting Pope Benedict at the Vatican. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said the pope and Khatami spent 30 minutes speaking privately in the papal audience. Khatami also met separately with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state.

Maryland supported World War II at home and abroad
Apr 28 2007
Memorial Day may be the kick off of the summer season, but for many aging veterans it will be a time to journey to the Maryland World War II Memorial to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice many in the state gave during that conflict. As spectators attend the Memorial Day ceremony at the Ritchie Highway memorial, they will see the names of 6,454 Marylanders who lost their lives in World War II engraved in the monument’s granite, said Cathy Watts, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs. “It’s a moving place,” Ms. Watts said. “It also provides a historical portrait of the role Maryland played in World War II.”

World must do more to support Iraqi refugees
Apr 22 2007
ROME – The international community must do more to welcome and support the thousands of refugees daily fleeing the “horrific violence” in Iraq, a Vatican official said. “The world is witnessing an unprecedented degree of hate and destructiveness in Iraq,” which not only destroys the “social tissue and the unity of Iraq,” but is exerting “a widening deadly impact” on the whole Middle East, said Archbishop Silvano Tomasi.

Catholic immigration advocates head to Hill
Apr 19 2007
WASHINGTON – A workable comprehensive immigration reform bill on the table, more sympathetic leadership in Congress and a “this year or maybe never” incentive are prodding immigration advocates to action. After a day and a half of briefings and strategizing with advocates who work on immigration every day, activists from more than 66 dioceses took their campaign for immigration reform to Capitol Hill April 19.

Ghanaian describes how climate change affects farmers
Apr 15 2007
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – When Hippolyt Pul was a young boy, farmers in his home country of Ghana often referred to the feast of the Ascension as “the feast of the bean leaf.” Rain came like clockwork each year right after Easter, so farmers planted their first seeds no more than two weeks after the holy day. “The black bean was one of the first crops to be planted, as its leaves served as an important stopgap food for the many households whose granaries would have run empty by this time of the year,” Pul recently wrote in an e-mail to Dennis Fisher, education program officer for the Northeast regional office of Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief and development agency.

Work must not just be about productivity, but charity
Apr 07 2007
VATICAN CITY – The working world must not just be about competition and productivity; today’s workers must also make room for charity and defending human dignity, said Pope Benedict XVI. “Today more than ever it’s urgent and necessary” to live as Christians in the workplace and to become “apostles among workers,” the pope said. “Becoming more competitive and productive is not the only thing that matters,” he said in a message to young people. “Paying charitable witness” in the workplace and elsewhere is necessary, he said.

Archbishop calls U.S. immigration policy ‘totally immoral’
Apr 02 2007
MIAMI – Calling U.S. immigration policy toward Haitians “totally immoral,” Archbishop John C. Favalora of Miami has urged “the powers that be” to grant temporary protected status to all Haitian migrants until the political and economic situation in their island nation stabilizes. He also pleaded for the immediate release from detention of 101 Haitians – including 13 children – whose homemade sailboat washed up on Hallandale Beach March 28. One man died during the trip, which the migrants said took 22 days at sea, the last 12 without food or water. A U.S. Coast Guard official estimated the trip took about 12 days. The migrants, some of them suffering from dehydration, are being held by the U.S. Border Patrol at several detention centers in south Florida.

Work must not just be about productivity, but also charity
Mar 31 2007
VATICAN CITY – The working world must not just be about competition and productivity; today’s workers must also make room for charity and defending human dignity, said Pope Benedict XVI. “Today more than ever it’s urgent and necessary” to live as Christians in the workplace and to become “apostles among workers,” the pope said. “Becoming more competitive and productive is not the only thing that matters,” he said in a message to young people. “Paying charitable witness” in the workplace and elsewhere is necessary, he said.

New Palestinian Cabinet likely to succeed
Mar 21 2007
JERUSALEM – A Catholic Palestinian legislator praised the new Palestinian Cabinet and said it was likely to succeed. “This is a good start,” said Bernard Sabella, a Fatah member of the Palestinian Parliament. “In effect it is a government which combines the more practical and pragmatic elements of Fatah, the independents and second-rank Hamas” members. Fatah and Hamas are Palestinian political factions with radical members and representation in government.

Debt cancellation, relief still a top issue
Feb 12 2007
WASHINGTON – In January, as many of the world’s political movers and shakers met in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum, thousands of would-be societal movers and shakers met in Nairobi, Kenya, for the seventh World Social Forum.

Holy Land conflict: bringing the issue home
Feb 08 2007
As Catholic Relief Services’ former director for the Middle East, Christine H. Tucker saw firsthand the conflict-ridden borders of Palestine and Israel. This February, the St. Louis, Clarksville, parishioner is bringing the issue home, via Howard County television. Ms. Tucker, who serves as the Mid-Atlantic regional director for CRS, shares her knowledge of the escalating fall out during a 30-minute program on Comcast Cable Channel 73 in Howard County called “Building Peace for Israelis and Palestinians,” airing throughout February, 11 a.m., 3 and 7 p.m., on Mondays and Fridays.

Catholic colleges urged to partner with poor countries
Feb 06 2007
WASHINGTON – One of the Vatican’s top education officials Feb. 4 urged U.S. Catholic college and university presidents to examine how they can provide “creative and effective support” to Catholic academic institutions in the developing world that are struggling with inadequate resources.