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TUESDAY January 25, 2000 vol. 11, no. 17 SECTION THREESee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
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Commiserating the 27th anniversary of the infamous Roe vs. Wade decision, tens of thousands descended on Washington D.C. yesterday marching peacefully in support of the Sanctity of Life, carrying signs pleading with the president to stop killing the innocent babies. It is very important during this election year for the man chosen for president in November will hold the key to appoint decent judges who can overturn Roe vs. Wade. continued inside
WASHINGTON, JAN 24 (ZENIT).- President Bill Clinton came out to hear the
demonstrators at this year's March for Life in Washington, D.C. this
year. The march recalls the 27th anniversary of the "Roe v. Wade"
decision of the Supreme Court, which made abortion a "Constitutional
right" for Americans.
President Clinton heard speeches expressing the claims of those
defending the life of the unborn. Yesterday, protestors carrying posters
stood outside the Methodist Church where the President worships on
Sundays, and called for an end to the killing of the innocent.
Since the president appoints Supreme Court Justices, and the
appointments are for life or until retirement, this year's March for
Life has a special importance. Several members of the Court are getting
old, and it is suspected that the next president will appoint at least
three justices. This could easily change the balance of the court in
either direction.
All the Republican candidates have stated their opposition to abortion.
Their victory would help legal initiatives to limit or abolish this
practice. The Democrats, however, support abortion or at least the
"personal choice" of women to abort; their victory would consolidate the
existing situation.
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Addressing the world's media, Pope John Paul II reminded them that you cannot separate the principles of religion from world events and that they must take into account the values faith brings to all people and cultures when reporting the news for to leave these elements out presents a shallow account of reality and the public depends on them to convey the truth. continued inside.
VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Pope John Paul II has called for "an
examination of conscience" on the part of the world's media leaders.
In his message for the 34th annual world day for social
communications, the Holy Father notes "a lack of respect for religious
convictions and moral principles" in media coverage of world affairs.
He argues that the mass media often promote "indifference and even
hostility toward Christ and his message."
Noting that much of the regular modern experience of human life is
filtered through the mass media, the Pontiff insisted that religious
principles should not be excluded from the media's coverage. He also
called upon Christians who are active in the media to "find ways to
speak explicitly about Jesus, who was crucified and resurrected,
about his triumph over sin and death, in a manner that is
appropriate to the media that is being used the audiences that are
being addressed." That challenge, he said, would require a strong
professional background in the media, as well as an equally strong
interior life.
The world day for social communications will be observed on June 4,
but the Vatican released the Pope's message on January 24. The June
4 observance, sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications, will include a Jubilee day in Rome for journalists,
and an ecumenical ceremony at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the
Walls.
The annual observance is a response to the Vatican II decree Inter
Mirifica, promulgated in December 1963, which called for the
establishment of by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
Since 1967, the observance has taken place each year on the Sunday
before Pentecost.
The President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications America's Archbishop John Foley followed up the Pope's message by calling on the Church to develop its own media while at the same time working hand in hand with the world media to illuminate the world as to the mission of the Church in the modern world. continued inside.
VATICAN CITY, JAN 24 (ZENIT).- Archbishop John Foley called on the
Church to develop its own media, but also to take advantage of
opportunities to use the secular media, in today's presentation of the
Pope's Message for World Media Day 2000.
"The history of communication is like a journey that goes from the proud
project of the Tower of Babel, with its burden of confusion and mutual
misunderstanding, to Pentecost, with the gift of tongues," stated the
U.S.-born president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.
These two poles of the history of communication can only be understood
when realizing that "the restoration of communication has its center in
Jesus through the action of the Holy Spirit. To proclaim Jesus leads,
therefore, to a meeting among persons in faith and charity," Archbishop
Foley said. This is precisely the work that must be carried out by
Christians in the world of communications.
In addition, the Archbishop clarified that "at the moment of proclaiming
Christ, the Church must vigorously and effectively use its own media,
and Catholic communicators must be bold and creative in finding new ways
to proclaim" the Gospel. This last reference can be perfectly applied to
the new possibilities offered by computer technology and the Internet.
Resolving a debate which has lasted for decades in some countries, the
U.S. Archbishop stressed the fact that the Church must also "take
maximum advantage of the opportunities offered to be present as well in
the secular media."
This service of the Church to the mass media is something it cannot
renounce, because in this way it gives them a dimension that is often
absent from the world of mass media. Archbishop Foley gave as an example
the ceremony of the opening of the Holy Door and the Mass on Christmas
Eve, which was transmitted to 60 countries by at least 77 national and
international television networks with an estimated audience of 2
billion people. "Without a doubt, it was the largest audience that
followed a religious event in the history of the world."
The message for the World Media Day this year, as the Archbishop
emphasized, appeals to professionals in this field to make "an
examination of conscience" in order to analyze the phenomenon that leads
to a "tendency and a lack of respect for the religiosity and moral
convictions of people."
It is important to do away with unfounded prejudices because, "to
proclaim Christ in the media at the dawn of the third millennium is not
only a substantial part of the evangelizing mission of the Church, but
also constitutes a vital enrichment, inspired and full of hope for the
very message transmitted by the media."
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A follow-up to yesterday's World Communications Day will be held from June 1-4 at the Vatican with a special seminar for media members from all walks of life and creeds throughout the world concluding with a special Papal audience with His Holiness on the Sunday after Pentecost. continued inside.
VATICAN CITY, JAN 24 (ZENIT).- The publication of John Paul II's Message
for the World Media Day provided the opportunity Monday morning to present
two significant events planned for this Holy Year to the press: the
Journalists' Jubilee and the Jubilee of the World of Entertainment.
These two initiatives will bring together communicators of all forms of
mass media, from professionals in the circus world to Hollywood
personalities to journalists.
Bishop Pierfranco Pastore, secretary of the Pontifical Council for
Communications, explained in the Vatican Press Office that the
Journalists' Jubilee, scheduled for June 1-4, will begin with a welcome
meeting at the Pontifical Urban University on the afternoon of June 1
and will continue later in the Sistine Chapel. The next day, June 2,
there will be several conferences. On Saturday morning the participants
are invited to join an ecumenical celebration and on Sunday, June 4,
journalists from all over the world will participate in a Mass, which
will be followed by a meeting with the Pope.
Archbishop John Patrick Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for
Social Communications disclosed, at the end of the press conference,
that Hollywood personalities have been invited, but he did not give any
names.
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Making good on his campaign promise to clean up government in Guatamala, President Alfonso Portillo is already showing results with the arrest of four suspects in the brutal unsolved murder of Bishop Juan Jose Conedera Gerardi, a Human Rights activist, who was bludgeoned to death in April 1998. The four included three army officers and the Bishop's cook who authorities suspected let the murderers in. continued inside.
GUATEMALA CITY (CWNews.com) - Four suspects were arrested
over the weekend by Guatemalan police in the April 1998
murder of an auxiliary bishop of Guatemala City, following
a promise earlier this month by the country's new president
to push the investigation forward.
On Friday, police arrested army officers Capt. Byron Lima
Oliva, 30, and his father, retired Col. Disrael Lima
Estrada, 58, and on Saturday, arrested Obdulio Villanueva,
a former member of the elite presidential guard in the
bludgeoning death of Bishop Juan Jose Conedera Gerardi. The
bishop's cook, Margarita Lopez, was also re-arrested in the
case as an accomplice.
Bishop Gerardi was killed in the garage of his home on
April 26, 1998, two days after releasing a human rights
reports that blamed most of the deaths in the country's
36-year civil war on government forces. Although Catholic
and human rights groups immediately called for the
investigation to focus on security forces, prosecutors
arrested and charged Father Mario Orantes, a priest living
with the bishop, but later dropped charges. Father Orantes
was also again named in the warrants
The same groups hailed the weekend's arrests as vindication
of claims that security forces were behind the murder. "We
have always said this was a politically motivated crime,"
Nery Rodenas, co-director for the Guatemala Archdiocese's
Human Rights Office.
Prosecutors said they had also issued arrest warrants for
more military and civilian suspects, including Father
Orantes. The priest's mother has said her son is overseas
seeking medical treatment for ailments he suffered during
his previous stay in prison.
President Alfonso Portillo, during his swearing-in ceremony
on January 14, pledged to launch an investigation into the
state security forces for alleged involvement in the
bishop's murder. Three previous prosecutors and two judges
had resigned from the case in the past two years following
death threats against them and their families.
The Cardinal Kung Foundation out of the east coast has confirmed that a Roman Catholic Bishop, two priests and a lay Catholic were arrested last year at the same time Jiang Xemin was denying to the world and religious persecution. The underground Church is the only one loyal to Rome and Beijing is doing all it can to suppress it while in a state of denial to everyone else. continued inside.
STAMFORD, Connecticut (CWNews.com) - A Catholic bishop
serving the underground Catholic Church in Communist China,
two priests, and a layman were arrested were arrested last
year, according to a US-based Chinese Catholic rights
organization.
The Cardinal Kung Foundation said Bishop Han Dingxiang, 63,
of Yong Nian was arrested on December 1 and has been
detained for two months so far in an unknown location. The
bishop had been arrested many times before according to the
group. The foundation also said Wang Chenqun, a Catholic
layman, was arrested in the city of Baoding just before
Christmas and is being held in a labor camp. Wang has been
arrested seven times in the past two decades and suffered a
stroke the last time he was in a labor camp in 1997.
The foundation also reported that Father Guo Yibao and Wang
Zhenhe were arrested on Easter 1999 and being held
incommunicado in a detention center, and Father Xie Guolin
was arrested sometime last year, but details of the
detention are unknown.
Joseph Kung, president of the Cardinal Kung Foundation,
said: "We do not know the official reasons for the arrests
of these persons. However, we believe their arrests are the
result of their religious activities in accordance with
their conscience." The Communist Chinese government
requires Christians to worship only in state-controlled
associations, including the Chinese Catholic Patriotic
Association, which eschews any connections to the Vatican
or the Pope. Many Catholics worship in illegal, underground
churches, following only bishops appointed by the Pope.
Kung, nephew of the exiled Cardinal Kung, added: "In
negotiating with China to enter the World Trade
Organization, the countries of the free world must take
serious consideration of this ongoing and severe religious
persecutions in China. Any invitation or encouragement to
China's entry into the world trade organization amounts to
condoning the five decades of religious persecutions in
China," he added.
Presidential candidate George W. Bush is on record as definitely being against the Roe vs. Wade decision, but when pressed on the immediate action he would take if elected, he backtracked a bit, leaving it vague if he would guage the calibre of the Supreme Court candidates on their views on abortion. continued inside.
DES MOINES, Iowa (CWNews.com) - Republican presidential
candidate George W. Bush said on Thursday that the 1973 Roe
v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion was
unconstitutional, but would not elaborate on how he planned
to address it.
"Roe v. Wade was a reach -- overstepped the constitutional
bounds as far as I'm concerned," the Texas governor said,
adding that it "usurped the rights of the legislatures" of
the states. When asked if that meant he would seek to
overturn Roe v. Wade as president, Bush replied that he
intended to appoint only "strict constructionists" to the
Supreme Court. He would not elaborate further.
Strict constructionist judges tend to adhere directly to
the written US Constitution and its amendments, rather than
interpret the constitution as a "living document," changing
for the times. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas
consider themselves strict constructionists and are
generally thought to be the most pro-life members of the
high court.
Bush has said consistently he opposed abortion except in
cases of rape or incest or to protect the life of the
mother, but has also said previously the time was not right
to repeal Roe v. Wade because "America's heart is not
right." He has also said that he opposes "litmus" tests for
judges, possibly because such tests would disqualify
justices during Senate hearings as biased against certain
cases before they reached the court.
On the occasion of her 80th birthday, the foundress of the Focalare lay movement was honored by the Holy Father for her service and dedication and by the eternal city for her contributions through Focalare which today numbers one million members. The mayor bestowed on her the title of "Honorary Citizen of Rome." continued inside.
VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- In a letter made public by the Vatican on
January 22, Pope John Paul II paid homage to Chiara Lubich, the
founder of the Focolare movement, who was celebrating her 80th
birthday.
On the same day, Lubich was recognized as an honorary citizen of
Rome. Mayor Francesco Rutelli formally conferred that title on her in
a ceremony attended by Romano Prodi, the president of the
European Union, and a crowd of Focolare members.
The Holy Father described Lubich as "a message of unity and mercy
among so many brothers and sisters, in all the corners of the world."
He also praised Focolare, noting that the movement promotes
"brotherly communion" and helps its members to become "joyful and
credible witnesses to the Gospel."
Founded in 1943 in the Italian city of Trent, the Focolare movement
encourages lay people to develop an intimate relationship with Jesus
through prayer and the reading of the Scriptures. The particular
focus of the movement is on prayer for Christian unity and inter-
religious dialogue. The Focolare movement now counts 1 million
members worldwide.
