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THURSDAY February 17, 2000 vol. 11, no. 34 SECTION THREESee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
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What do Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Cardinal O'Connor have in common? Other than bringing happiness to Catholics for years, it is the fact that Peanuts comic strip creator Charles Schulz, who passed away this past Sunday, and Cardinal O'Connor, soon to retire as Archbishop of New York will most likely soon be presented the Congressional Gold Medal. For Schulz it will be posthumous but for Cardinal O'Connor, former head chaplain of the U.S. Military, a well-deserved recognition of his work with the poor, sick and downtrodden. The House voted 413-1 to bestow the honor but no time has been released as yet. continued inside.
WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - The US House of
Representatives on Tuesday approved a proposal to award
Cardinal John O'Connor of New York a Congressional Gold
Medal for his work with the poor, the sick, and the needy.
The House voted 413-1 to give the award to the cardinal who
turned 80 last month and is recovering from surgery to
remove a brain tumor last August. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas,
was the sole opponent, criticizing the $30,000 cost of the
medal. He was also the sole opponent in a separate House
vote to give a posthumous Gold Medal to "Peanuts" creator
Charles Schulz who died on Saturday.
The Senate is expected to approve the medals next month.
Representatives praised Cardinal O'Connor leadership in
caring for inner-city children and AIDS patients as well as
his work in establishing diplomatic ties between the Vatican
and Israel and as a military chaplain. "John Cardinal
O'Connor is a great man," said Rep. Vito Fossella, R-New
York, who nominated him for the medal. "Soldiers, priests,
and parishioners know in their hearts that the cardinal has
always been a man of the people."
"He has had many critics," acknowledged Rep. John LaFalce,
D-New York. "But from the beginning of life to the very
cessation of life, Cardinal O'Connor was consistent in his
belief that all deserved justice under the law and as much
human love as mankind was capable of."
Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson added
his praise for the cardinal. "I can think of no one more
deserving of this honor than Cardinal O'Connor," said
Nicholson. "Throughout his life, Cardinal O'Connor has been
the embodiment of so many virtues -- selflessness,
sacrifice, compassion, and generosity. He has been a true
inspiration for so many Americans, teaching all of us to
care for our neighbors and reach out to those in need." He
also noted that Catholic high schools, under his
leadership, have reached a graduation rate of 99 percent.
Realizing the only way to catch the attention of Sudan officials for their refusal to provide religious freedom, the United States is taking measures to hit them where it hurts, putting economic sanctions on state oil companies and forbidding American citizens or companies from dealing with certain Sudan business interests, but supporters for religious freedom say it doesn't go far enough and that it should deal with all companies in the Sudan until the Sudanese government stops trying to destroy any vestige of Christianity. continued inside.
WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - The Treasury Department today
announced a series of economic sanctions against Sudan's
state-owned oil companies after a government commission on
religious freedom recommended strong action against the
African country.
The department said US citizens or companies can no longer
engage in trade or conduct financial transactions with
Sudan's Sudapet Ltd. or with Greater Nile Petroleum
Operating Company Ltd. under a 1997 order that imposes
sanctions on Sudan as a sponsor of terrorism. The US
Commission on International Religious Freedom wants the
sanctions also to apply to efforts by any company to raise
money on US stock markets that would benefit Sudan, but the
Treasury Department has not acted on those recommendations.
At Tuesday's hearing, exiled Sudanese Bishop Macram Max
Gassis alleged that a Sudanese military plane intentionally
bombed a school in his diocese last Tuesday and killed 14
children. Bishop Gassis accused the government of trying to
kill off the country's Catholic minority. "If you destroy
the fruit, you will have no more trees tomorrow," he said.
Rebels in the mainly Christian and animist south of Sudan
have waged a decades-long civil war against the mainly Arab
Islamic government based in Khartoum. Sudan is under US
sanctions both for allegedly exporting terrorism and abuse
of its Christian minority.
Following our editorial of February 4th Not everything is up-to-date in Kansas City! there is another influential voice speaking out strongly against the Kansas City Star's sensationalized survey on homosexuality in the priesthood. Denver's Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap. has spoken out strongly against the survey, calling it "biased and generally useless." continued inside.
DENVER, 16 (NE) In an article published in the Denver Catholic
Register's last issue, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver
denounced as false and misleading several statistics and
statements published a few days ago by the Kansas City Star
regarding a supposed study on priests and AIDS.
"Professional researchers have since dismissed the survey, and the statistical
comparisons drawn from it, as biased and generally useless,"
wrote the Archbishop about the study, done by means of an
anonymous survey. Calling to a critical reading of the story, he
stressed that "one has to wonder if the paper really cared about
the accuracy of its statistics," since "more specifically, it
was a creative way to campaign against Catholic teachings on
homosexual behavior, and also priestly celibacy."
Given several examples of the inconsistency of the story and of its
"underlying motivation", Archbishop Chaput invited people to
consider the "wonderful gift of celibacy", which in "a culture
so addicted to sexual activity" is so many times misunderstood.
Let's pray, the Prelate concluded "for a day when the Catholic
attitude toward human sexuality is properly understood as
beautiful, healthy and life-giving."
In his first press conference after being named the new Archbishop of Westminster, Bishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor made it clear he is neither conservative or liberal but rather a shepherd to his flock as he has done for the past 22 years in his Diocese of Arundel and Brighton. He said he foresaw making no changes once he is installed. Though the man replacing popular Cardinal Basil Hume, who died last June, is 67 he let it be known rugby is one of his first loves, having even played for the Vatican when studying in Rome. He also loves to take to the links and counts soccer as a great pasttime in keeping fit. continued inside.
LONDON (CWNews.com) - Westminster's Archbishop-elect says
he is neither a conservative nor a liberal but a bishop of
the Catholic Church.
Following his first press conference yesterday, Bishop
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor was asked which direction his
sympathies lay but he said he did not like being labelled.
"If by a liberal, you mean someone who is open to all new
things that come along, then I am not," he said. "I am a
Catholic Bishop who respects the tradition of the Church.
If by a conservative, you mean someone who is rigid, a
fundamentalist, then I am not that either. I am a man of
the Church."
He said he had no great plans for Westminster Archdiocese
but would be doing "what I have been striving to do for the
past 22 years in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, namely
teaching and preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ and
endeavoring to be a shepherd, a guide, and pastor of the
people."
A former Portsmouth Rugby Club player, Bishop
Murphy-O'Connor revealed that he used to play rugby for the
Vatican XV during his time in Rome and he spoke of his love
of rugby, golf, and football (soccer), and admitted
following the fortunes of local football clubs.
Decrying the latest action taken by the radical pro-Hindu BJP party, the Episcopal Conference of India claimed these leaders do not have the good of the people of India in mind but it is a political ploy to railroad through their own ideas and create a further chasm between Christians and Hindus with no democratic process to alleviate the mess the country will be placed. The furor comes in light of the announcement that a pro-Hindu majority has been selected by the BJP to make changes in the Constitition. continued inside.
NEW DELHI (CWNews.com) - The Catholic Bishops' Conference
of India (CBCI) has bluntly opposed the decision of the
coalition government led by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) to appoint an 11-member committee to review the
Indian Constitution -- joining the chorus of protests over
the "controversial decision."
"This is not meant for the betterment of the country or the
people. It has a political agenda (behind it)," said Bishop
Oswald Gracias, CBCI Secretary General, addressing a
crowded press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, CBCI president Archbishop Alan Basil de
Lastic of Delhi wrote to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
saying: "The Christian community together with other
minorities and civil society were greatly surprised" with
the announcement of the Constitution Review Committee on
Sunday.
"We would like to register our strong reservations, and our
protest, at the setting up of the commission to review the
statutes. The greatest institution -- the Parliament of
India -- has been bypassed, the (federal) Presidency not
only not consulted but ignored," wrote the archbishop. This
pointed to the "undemocratic" manner in which the 11-member
panel was hand-picked by the BJP-led government without
even consulting the two-dozen political parties supporting
the BJP-led coalition.
"We fear no democratically acceptable result can come from
a structure which is itself rooted in what the people
perceive to be undemocratic decisions," said Archbishop
Lastic demanding urgent convening of the 150-member
National Integration Council "to discuss the circumstances
in which the government set up the commission to review the
constitution of India."
