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TUESDAY March 28, 2000 vol. 11, no. 62 SECTION THREESee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
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The Prefect for the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos stated that the Jubilee of Priests will begin on May 14th and end with special ceremonies at the Vatican on May 18th, the day of the 80th birthday of John Paul II. The actual preparation for this celebration began four years ago, and on May 18th the gathered priests will gather at the front of St. Peter's and cross through the Holy Door. continued inside
VATICAN CITY, 29 (NE) Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, Prefect
of the Congregation for the Clergy, informed in a recent
interview published by the Italian daily Avvenire about the
preparations for the Jubilee of priests. The Cardinal recalled
that this Jubilee will begin on May 14 and will finish on May
18, day of the 80th birthday of Pope John Paul II.
Cardinal Castrillon stated that preparations for this Jubilee
began 4 years ago with the international encounter of priests in
Fatima (1996). After this event, this "Marian pilgrimage" has
continued, in Yamassoukro (1997), Guadalupe (1998) and last year
in the Holy Land. "On this occasion the pilgrimage reaches its
final goal in Rome, to cross the Holy Door."
The Cardinal also stated that this Jubilee will be a very
special occasion for its participants to recall and deepen in
the truth that "all priests act in the name and in the persons
of Christ." This is also an occasion to "renew the joyful
conscience of the marvelous gift God has granted us in
priesthood," Cardinal Castrillon remarked.
While many pro-abort groups are hopefully gasping their last breath, pro-life groups are praying that on April 4, the United States House of Representatives will, on their third attempt, try to pass a law that will be veto-proof a law that bans partial-birth abortions. Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey from Texas hopes this time that if it doesn't garner the necessary majority to override the veto that Bill Clinton will search his heart and not veto this merciful measure, as he has done twice before. continued inside.
WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - The House of Representatives
will vote on a proposed ban on partial-birth abortions on
April 5, the third time Congress will attempt to ban the
gruesome procedure.
President Clinton has twice vetoed a ban and the Senate was
unable to muster enough votes for a two-thirds majority to
override.
House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, said today that
the House will return to the issue because "this barbaric
procedure has no place in a civilized society." Armey said
he hoped "the president will search his heart and do the
right thing this time."
Muslim rebels in the Philippines, who are holding a number of Catholic School children hostage, have demanded that the Vatican act as mediator in this horrendous affair. While Claretian Father Carlos Rivas has stated that the Vatican cannot engage in talks directly, it is more than willing to act for the good of the people. The situation is tense, and the Holy Father addressed this issue after his general audience Wednesday in Rome. continued inside.
BASILAN, Philippines (CWNews.com/Fides) - Muslim rebels in
the southern Philippines have demanded the Vatican act as
mediators in negotiations to release Catholic students,
teachers, and a priest kidnapped last week.
"The rebels want to talk with a representative of the
Vatican," said Father Carlos Rivas, provincial superior of
the Claretian missionaries in the Philippines, who for
eight days has been negotiating with a band of separatist
kidnappers.
A Muslim group calling itself Al Harukatul, led by rebel
leader Abu Sayyaf, is holding 33 hostages, including
Filipino Father Rhoel Gallardo, 34, also a Claretian. The
kidnapping took place on March 20 on Basilan island.
The guerillas forced their way into the Claret School in
Tumahubong village and then three other schools in the
area, taking more than 50 hostages, including headmaster
Father Rhoel Gallardo, who is also a parish priest. The
separatists are part of Muslim guerilla groups fighting for
independence in the southern Philippines.
Father Angelo Calvo, confrere and close co-worker of Father
Gallardo, said: "We must make it clear to the kidnappers
that the Vatican cannot engage in talks directly. The local
Church can and has the necessary autonomy and can act for
the good of the people." Immediately after the kidnapping,
Bishop Romulo De la Cruz of Isabela on Basilan and Father
Carlos Rivas went to express solidarity with the families
of the hostages and try to negotiate.
"When we reached Tumahubong," Father Rivas said, "we found
many in the little church praying for the hostages. Our
presence gave them new courage. They need moral support in
this tragic situation."
"I spoke to some of the teachers and students," Father
Rivas said. "A group of Muslim children told me they saved
a Christian teacher by giving him a school uniform to wear
and mixing him up with the students, so the rebels didn't
notice he was a teacher."
During his General Wednesday Audience Pope
John Paul II launched an appeal for an end to fighting in
Mindanao, voicing "closeness and solidarity with the
families who are suffering in this situation."
Government pressure in Jakarta, Indonesia to have the Islam religion taught in Catholic schools received a vehement veto yesterday from the Catholic Bishops of the region. It is surprising that government officials are pushing such a curriculum and hounding Catholic schools into such a defensive position considering the amiable meeting President Wahid had with the Holy Father a few months ago. Yet the government is threatening to remove any and all government-funded teachers from the Catholic Schools if they don't comply. Maybe that's a blessing in disguise. After all it's not the first time the Catholic Faith has been violated and persecuted. But what is doubly frustrating is that the Church built these schools and the Muslims are trying to take over. continued inside.
JAKARTA (CWNews.com/Fides) - The curriculum in Catholic
schools in Indonesia will not include Islamic instruction,
the Indonesian Catholic Bishops Conference said this week,
rejecting government pressure in the most populous Muslim
nation in the world.
In October 1999, the Ministers of Education and Religious
Affairs sent a joint letter to Catholic schools requesting
that instruction in the Muslim faith be added to the school
program. The proposal was motivated by the fact that 40
percent of the pupils at Catholic schools are Muslim.
Jesuit Father Sumaryo, head of the Bishops Conference's
Education Commission, said: "Islamic instruction is
practically unfeasible in Catholic schools. The controversy
of possibly teaching Islamic instruction for the Muslims
students, who frequented Catholic schools, has been the
concern of Catholic headmasters, particularly in
Yogyakarta, one of the cradles of the Catholic community in
Indonesia, but all attempts failed."
Sister Antoni Hari Surwidiyanti, PIJ, the principal of the
Sang Timur high school in Yogyakarta, said government
officials have strongly urged her, along with dozens of
colleagues from other Catholic schools, to teach Islam. "I
refused because this pressure stems from a unilateral
decision," she said. Sister Margaretha Surani CB, added
that government officials have threatened to remove some
government-subsidized teachers from the Christian schools,
and put bureaucratic pressure on diverse services for these
schools.
Father Pujasumarta, vicar general of Semarang diocese, said
that in keeping with the teaching of Vatican II, the local
Church seeks to enhance relations with and understanding of
other religions. "However," he said, "if Islamic instruction
is eventually taught in Catholic schools, the private
schools must be guaranteed the right to appoint who teaches
this religious instruction."
"What we object to is that such pressure against the
Catholic schools has been politically motivated as
sectarian tendency emerged among the people in the
country," he added. "The Bishop's call to enhance religious
harmony has also been twisted into demanding Islamic
instruction in Catholic schools," he said referring to the
content of unsigned leaflets widespread among the people in
Central Java.
The United States Supreme Court today heard testimony in the case of the Santa Fe Independent School District in Texas where a school district allows prayers to be said before gridiron games on Friday nights. After all, high school football is a religion unto itself in the lone star state. The school district's defense is "neutral" regarding what words are said and by whom, thus not violating the First Amendment of the Constitution. continued inside.
WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - The US Supreme Court on
Wednesday heard arguments in case involving a Texas public
school district and its policy allowing a student to lead
prayers before football games.
The Santa Fe Independent School District policy officially
allows the student body to elect a representatives to
deliver any "message or invocation" before games. Three
families challenged the policy because it compels their
children to listen to and engage in religious speech they
consider offensive.
Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice,
representing the school district, told the court that the
policy was "neutral as to whether the speech was religious
or secular" and as such does not violate the establishment
clause of the Constitution.
Pilgrimage 2000, a spiritual gathering of teenage, college and young adults will culminate in Boston on April 29. Cardinal Bernard Law, Archbishop of Boston, has called this a "remarkable spiritual effort for all." Participants will have an all-day event, climaxing with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at Fenway Park. For a day the beloved Bosox will become a distant memory though the "green monster" in left will serve as a constant reminder that the Church's leaders of the future have a huge wall to scale in defending and spreading the Faith. continued inside.
BOSTON, 29 (NE) "Pilgrimage 2000" is the name of an ambitious
program to culminate on April in Boston, gathering youth from
all over the Archdiocese for an encounter with the Lord Jesus.
It will be "a remarkable spiritual renewal effort for all
Catholic teenagers, college-age students, and young adults,"
recently said Cardinal Bernard Law, Archbishop of Boston,
commenting on Pilgrimage 2000.
As the Cardinal himself explained, on Saturday, April 29, 2000,
there will be a culminating celebration of Pilgrimage 2000. The
event will begin with the morning gathering of participants in a
Welcome Area on the Boston Common. This area will include
musical and other performances, games, displays for various
Catholic organizations, areas for Eucharistic adoration,
confession, and vocation information, food, and other
activities.
After mid-day, there will be a great march by all the
participants from the Boston Common to Fenway Park. At Fenway
Park, the afternoon program will include inspirational speakers,
musical performances, witness talks by young people, and a
interaction with all the participants. The celebration will
climax with a Mass, at which a representative group of
teenagers, college students and young adults will be baptized,
confirmed, and will receive their First Holy Communion.
"It is my hope and prayer," said the Archbishop of Boston, "that
the thousands of young people who will be gathered with me at
Fenway Park on April 29 will commit themselves to a life of
ongoing formation and education." "It is essential for all of us
to recognize more clearly our responsibility to grow in our
knowledge of the faith and to deepen our participation in the
life of grace," he further emphasized. On September last year,
22.000 young people gathered with the Cardinal at Foxboro
Stadium, in a event of preparation for Pilgrimage 2000.
For more headlines and articles, we suggest you go to the Catholic World News site at the CWN home page and Church News at Noticias Eclesiales and the Dossiers, features and Daily Dispatches from ZENIT International News Agency CWN, NE and ZENIT are not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC, but provide this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.
