News Briefs
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Capitol Hill briefing assesses far-reaching consequences of pornography
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Opponents of pornography came together in Washington recently for a briefing that explored the increasing consequences of illegal pornography in today's world. The briefing, "Pornography Harms: What Congress Can Do to Enforce Existing Laws," was led by Patrick Trueman, a former chief of the U.S. Justice Department's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and a parishioner at St. Mark Church in Vienna, Va. Trueman's website, http://pornharms.com, launched earlier this year as a database of online articles and essays on the harmful effects of pornography. The briefing was attended by nearly 90 people, including members of Congress and their staffs. Trueman was one of seven speakers at the event, which included anti-pornography experts from the academic and psychological fields and a former pornography performer. The purpose of the June 15 briefing was to educate members of Congress about the real-life consequences of pornography and encourage them to fight for stronger enforcement of existing obscenity laws. During his presentation, Trueman spoke about an argument used by some that fighting pornography limits the adult entertainment industry's constitutional right of free speech. He referred to the 1973 case of Miller v. California, in which the Supreme Court said, "To equate the free and robust exchange of ideas and political debate with commercial exploitation of obscene material demeans the grand conception of the First Amendment and its high purposes in the historic struggle for freedom. It is (as defined in a prior case) a 'misuse of the great guarantees of free speech and free press.'"
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WORLD
Choose the good no matter what it costs, pope says at general audience
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI urged young people to be inspired by St. Maria Goretti's courage and strength and to always choose the good no matter what it costs. This young virgin and martyr was "a girl who, despite being very young, knew how to show strength and courage against evil," the pope said during remarks in Italian at the end of his weekly general audience July 7. The 11-year-old girl was repeatedly stabbed by a young neighbor after she refused his sexual advances. She died in the hospital the next day, July 6, 1902, after forgiving her attacker. The day after the church celebrated her feast day, the pope called on young people to pray to St. Maria to help them "always choose the good, even when it comes with a price." Speaking before a packed crowd in the Paul VI audience hall, Pope Benedict delivered his last weekly general audience talk for the month of July. The pope was scheduled to leave for the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, by helicopter July 7. All private audiences were to be suspended during the summer period, according to Vatican Radio.
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Vatican prepares revisions to 2001 sex abuse norms
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican is preparing to update the 2001 norms that deal with priestly sex abuse of minors, in effect codifying practices that have been in place for several years. The revisions have been in the pipeline for some time and were expected to be published in mid-July, Vatican sources said. While the changes are not "earthshaking," they will ultimately strengthen the church's efforts to identify and discipline priests who abuse minors, the sources said. The revisions will be published with ample documentation and will be accompanied by a glossary of church law terms, aimed at helping nonexperts understand the complex rules and procedures that the Vatican has in place for dealing with sex abuse allegations. The revisions were expected to extend the church law's statute of limitations on accusations of sexual abuse, from 10 years after the alleged victim's 18th birthday to 20 years. For several years, Vatican officials have been routinely granting exceptions to the 10-year statute of limitations. The revisions also make it clear that use of child pornography would fall under the category of clerical sexual abuse of minors. In 2009, the Vatican determined that any instance of a priest downloading child pornography from the Internet would be a form of serious abuse that a bishop must report to the doctrinal congregation, which oversees cases of sexual abuse.
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Judge grants stay to activist British brother expelled from Peru
LIMA, Peru (CNS) -- A Peruvian judge gave a British missionary a temporary stay on a government order expelling him from the country. La Salle Brother Paul McAuley of Portsmouth, England, who has worked in Peru for three decades, was informed of the expulsion order July 1 and given seven days to leave the country. On July 6, a judge granted a habeas corpus motion, allowing him to remain in Peru while officials consider an appeal. For the past decade, Brother Paul has worked with indigenous youths and an environmental network in Iquitos, capital of the Loreto region in the Amazonian lowlands of northeastern Peru. Before that, he was a teacher and school principal in a low-income neighborhood on the edge of Lima, the capital. According to Peru's Immigration and Naturalization Office, the resolution canceling his residency was issued June 11. The British missionary told Catholic News Service he had absolutely no idea why he was informed three weeks later. The immigration office's investigation of Brother Paul dates to mid-2009, shortly after a two-month protest by indigenous people in the northern Amazonas region. They claimed a new forestry law, issued by government decree, would undermine their control over natural resources on their lands. More than 30 people died June 5, 2009, when police moved in to break up a roadblock set up by the protesters near the town of Bagua. Brother Paul was not involved in that demonstration. Officials decided in August that Brother Paul had violated residency norms for foreigners by "disturbing the peace," according to a press release from the immigration office.
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Church leaders work to stem threatened attacks after World Cup
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- While human rights activists express fears that xenophobic attacks will erupt in South Africa after the soccer World Cup, church leaders are taking action to see that this does not happen. A delegation of religious leaders, led by Johannesburg Archbishop Buti Tlhagale, president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, raised concerns about the possibility in a meeting with South African President Jacob Zuma. "We are confident that the security services will act very swiftly if there are outbreaks of violence," Father Chris Townsend, conference communications officer, said in a July 5 telephone interview from Pretoria. "These are rumors and we hope that they prove to be false." More than 60 people were killed and more than 30,000 people were displaced in attacks on foreigners around South Africa in May 2008. The National Religious Leaders' Forum, which includes Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and Ba'hai leaders as well as officials of Christian churches, met with Zuma, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe and other government officials in Pretoria July 1 to discuss the possibility of xenophobic attacks after the World Cup. The leaders also discussed sustaining the spirit of unity generated by the tournament, moral regeneration, relationships between religious leaders and the government, and other issues.
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Cardinal says Cuba will release more than 70 political prisoners
HAVANA (CNS) -- Following a July 7 meeting with Cuban President Raul Castro, Cardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino of Havana said the release of more than 70 political prisoners is under way and will continue over the next four months. An announcement on the cardinal's website said the process leading to the release began with a May 19 meeting with Castro by Cardinal Ortega and Archbishop Dionisio Garcia Ibanez of Santiago, president of the Cuban bishops' conference. The Cuban president also met June 20 with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's foreign minister, and the state-run news media said the meeting "showed the favorable development of relations between the state and the Catholic Church in Cuba." Although none of the prisoners to be released was named in the cardinal's announcement, it said one had already been released and another 12 had been transferred to the provinces where they had lived before their imprisonment. "In the next hours another six prisoners will be transferred to their provinces of residence and five more will be freed and permitted to leave shortly for Spain in the company of their family members," the announcement said.
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PEOPLE
Priest, nun found murdered in Inner Mongolia; police search for layman
WUHAI, China (CNS) -- The vicar general of Ningxia Diocese and a nun co-worker were murdered in their rooms at a church-run home for the aged where they worked in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia. The Asian church news agency UCA News reported that Father Joseph Zhang Shulai and Sister Mary Wei Yanhui, director of the home, were found stabbed to death after they failed to appear for early morning Mass July 6. Police sealed off the crime scene and, after door-to-door inquiries, were looking for a Catholic layman suspected in connection with the killings, church sources told UCA News. A Catholic neighbor said he was shocked to hear the news about "the nice priest who cared so much for his parishioners." Father Zhang and the diocesan administrator have handled local church affairs for several years since the retirement of Bishop Joseph Ma Zhongmu, 92. Bishop Ma was recently hospitalized with breathing and heart complications. He has not been informed of the deaths, for fear that it might worsen his condition, sources told UCA News. The Catholic community in Wuhai was shocked by the news. "Our numbers are small here. The incident would only make nonbelievers hesitate to come to the church," one Catholic said.
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Court says Canada cannot yet deport AWOL conscientious objector to US
TORONTO (CNS) -- The Canadian government cannot send Jeremy Hinzman and his family back to the United States just yet. A unanimous decision of the Federal Court of Appeal has ordered Citizenship and Immigration to consider the AWOL American soldier's religious, political and moral beliefs before deciding whether the Hinzman family can stay in Canada. Hinzman, a former 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper who served in Afghanistan, resides with his family in Toronto. In January 2004, Hinzman became the first American conscientious objector to the Iraq War to claim refugee status in Canada. That refugee claim was rejected, and a subsequent appeal to remain in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds was also rejected. The Federal Court of Appeal's July 6 decision sends the Hinzmans' humanitarian and compassionate leave appeal back to Citizenship and Immigration for redetermination by another officer. The court found that Citizenship and Immigration "failed to have regard to Mr. Hinzman's personal circumstances, including his sincerely held moral, political and religious objections to service with the United States Army in Iraq." While the decision does not directly deal with Hinzman's right to freedom of religion under Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it does give weight to a right to conscientious objection, said Alyssa Manning, Hinzman's lawyer. "The court doesn't say that there is a right. It just says there's evidence of an emerging right in international law," said Manning.
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San Mateo pastor named auxiliary bishop of San Francisco
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has named Msgr. Robert W. McElroy, pastor of St. Gregory Parish in San Mateo, Calif., as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco. The appointment was made public July 6 by Msgr. Jean-Francois Lantheaume, charge d'affaires at the apostolic nunciature in Washington. Bishop-designate McElroy, 56, formerly served as vicar for administration of the San Francisco Archdiocese and has been at St. Gregory's since 1996. San Francisco Archbishop George H. Niederauer expressed gratitude to the pope for the appointment. "We in this archdiocese are delighted that Msgr. McElroy's gifts and zeal will be given even broader scope in serving the life of the Catholic Church and the community here," he said in a statement. Archbishop Niederauer is scheduled to ordain him a bishop Sept. 7 in San Francisco's Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption.
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Hartford archdiocesan priest arrested on charges he stole parish funds
HARTFORD, Conn. (CNS) -- Hartford archdiocesan officials said they were "deeply saddened" by the "profound effect" on a Waterbury parish of the July 6 arrest of its former pastor on charges he stole $1.3 million of the church's money over a seven-year period. Police said Father Kevin J. Gray, a Hartford archdiocesan priest, used the stolen funds to hire male escorts, buy designer clothing, stay in fancy hotels and dine in expensive restaurants during trips to New York City and Boston. The priest, 64, was charged with first-degree larceny and arraigned in Waterbury Superior Court. According to court documents, he was being held on a $750,000 bond and faced a July 21 court date to enter a plea. Father Gray was pastor of Sacred Heart/Sagrado Corazon Parish from 2003 until April 15 of this year, when the archdiocese put him on medical leave because he said he was suffering from cancer. He was later suspended from priestly ministry. The priest has since admitted he does not have cancer. According to an Associated Press story, archdiocesan officials asked the police to launch an investigation following a review of the parish finances that indicated Father Gray might have stolen more than $1 million for his own expenses. AP reported that the money came from a parish savings account and that he also took money that was meant for paying the parish's bills, including insurance premiums.
Copyright (c) 2010 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops