CNS BRIEFS (10.22.2009): Suicide has long-lasting, far-flung effects on others, speakers say
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Suicide has long-lasting and traumatic effects that go far beyond the person who dies, as an Oct. 20 Web-based discussion among a priest, a bereavement counselor and a psychiatrist showed. Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, president of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, said the "soul-scarring experience" of the suicide of a 22-year-old neighbor when he was 14 is "the reason I am a priest today." Claire Woodruff, religious education coordinator in the Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., and the facilitator of a Suicide Bereavement Support group, spoke about the suicide 14 years ago of her husband of nearly 23 years, Ken, whose "battle with clinical depression was short but very, very intense." Dr. Thomas Welch, a Portland psychiatrist who moderated the discussion, said teens, young adults and elderly white men are most likely to die by suicide, although "the demographics are changing" and the suicide rate is increasing among middle-aged women. The three were participating in a Webinar on suicide prevention and pastoral supports, sponsored by the National Catholic Partnership on Disability's Council on Mental Illness and other groups. They were joined in the interactive session by people at more than 100 sites around the country.
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Nurses plan one-day strike against West Coast Catholic hospitals
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Thousands of registered nurses at three Catholic hospital systems in California and Nevada are planning a one-day strike Oct. 30 to protest stalled contract talks and what they said are the hospitals' lax safety standards in dealing with the H1N1 flu. Working under several extensions since contracts expired June 30, more than 10,000 members of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee have called the 24-hour strike against nearly three dozen hospitals. They also plan to conduct informational picketing at several others in an effort to force hospital administrators to adopt strict guidelines to limit the spread of what is popularly known as the swine flu. Representatives of the three hospital systems expressed dismay at the nurses' decision to strike, with one hospital spokeswoman calling it "ill-considered." "We're getting ready (to strike)," Lorna Grundeman, a registered nurse at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, Calif., and a member of the union's bargaining committee, told Catholic News Service Oct. 20. The nurses are planning to set up picket lines at 7 a.m. Oct. 30 at hospitals operated by Catholic Healthcare West, St. Joseph Health System and the Daughters of Charity Health System.
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November Mass planned to pray for Archbishop Sheen's sainthood cause
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (CNS) -- A special evening Mass to pray for the sainthood cause of the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen is to be celebrated at a Catholic church in the Richmond Diocese Nov. 10. Msgr. Stanley Deptula, executive director of the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation in Peoria, Ill., is expected to be present for the Mass at St. Bede Church in Williamsburg, along with other foundation members and a Sheen family member. Prior to the Mass, a special conference will be held for priests to discuss Archbishop Sheen's life and works and his cause. The archbishop was a prolific writer and gifted orator who became television's first religious broadcaster. Born in El Paso, Ill., in the Diocese of Peoria, he was ordained a priest of that diocese. He eventually left his central Illinois roots and became known nationwide as the host of pioneering radio and television programs, including "The Catholic Hour" and "Life Is Worth Living." The latter was a television series that aired from 1951 to 1957 and attracted an estimated 30 million weekly viewers.
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WORLD
Saint from Middle Ages found answers to life with prayer, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The life and writings of a 12th-century abbot remind Christians that questions about the meaning of life and God cannot be answered without prayer and contemplation, Pope Benedict XVI said. St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who led the important Cistercian monastery in Clairvaux, France, from 1115 until his death in 1153, put the love of God and Jesus Christ at the center of his numerous writings, the pope said at his weekly general audience Oct. 21. His example is important today because "sometimes we try to resolve fundamental questions about God and man with rationality alone," the pope said to the faithful gathered in a sunny, windy St. Peter's Square. "St. Bernard reminds us that, without deep faith in God that is strengthened by prayer, contemplation and an intimate relationship with the Lord, our reflections on the divine mysteries risk becoming merely intellectual exercises and lose their credibility," Pope Benedict said. St. Bernard is venerated as a doctor of the church, a group of saints whose writings have been of particular importance in Catholic theology or spirituality.
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UN nuncio says world must not forget hardships of indigenous people
UNITED NATIONS (CNS) -- In a time of economic crisis, the challenges of indigenous people should not be forgotten, the Vatican's nuncio to the United Nations told a U.N. committee Oct. 19. Archbishop Celestino Migliore's discussed the rights of indigenous people and reminded world leaders that "pertinent initiatives should be guided by principles of respect for the identity and culture of indigenous populations." He made the remarks to the U.N. General Assembly's Third Committee, which deals with social, cultural and humanitarian issues. The archbishop also spoke about the problem of food insecurity and water shortages, the vulnerability of women and children to HIV and AIDS, and the promotion of agricultural development. Archbishop Migliore said human rights violations continue and that the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, passed by the General Assembly in September 2007, is not being fully implemented.
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Political unrest drags down Honduran economy
COPAN RUINAS, Honduras (CNS) -- Oscar Garcia used to sell 100 pounds of tomatoes every day in the municipal market of this colonial town near the Guatemalan border. Since the June 28 ouster of President Manuel Zeyala, Garcia sells just 40 pounds of tomatoes and has to moonlight as a hotel security guard to support his family. "I'm working day and night and it's barely enough," said Garcia, the father of four. "There are people here starving to death because of the political crisis." The June 28 coup plunged Honduras into a political crisis, but also deepened long-standing economic problems in one of the hemisphere's poorest countries. Over the past four months, exports have diminished, citizens have reduced their spending and international development aid has been suspended. The suspended aid included $11 million from the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corp. for transportation projects and funds from Venezuela that were expected to exceed the more than $200 million the South American country delivered in 2008. The tourism industry also has taken a hit as curfews, protests in the national capital, Tegucigalpa, and travel advisories from foreign governments have dissuaded many visitors from traveling to the Maya ruins near Copan Ruinas and the diving hot spots off the Bay Islands.
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Honduran rights official welcomes investigation by United Nations
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (CNS) -- The Honduran national human rights commissioner welcomed the efforts of a U.N. fact-finding team investigating claims about human rights abuses. Dr. Ramon Custodio Lopez told Catholic News Service Oct. 19 that, despite impressions outside Honduras that the country has been embroiled in a violent political crisis since a June coup, there is little to support that image. His organization, the National Commission for Human Rights, is a government-sponsored entity. Human Rights Watch, the International Federation for Human Rights and other outside organizations, including the Organization of American States, have expressed concern about abuses of rights, including civil liberties. Custodio said there clearly have been some abuses, but he does not believe they rise to the level of "consistent, systematic violations of human rights" that fit the U.N. definition of a human rights breakdown. The fact-finding team, which arrived Oct. 18, will spend three weeks in Honduras.
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Arrangement for former Anglicans recognizes their special history
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The relative ease with which groups of Anglicans can be welcomed into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church owes much to the unique history of the Anglican Communion. Even before the formal Anglican-Roman Catholic theological dialogue began working on ways to restore unity, the Second Vatican Council singled out the Anglicans when talking about the Christian communities born in the 16th century. "Among those in which Catholic traditions and institutions in part continue to exist, the Anglican Communion occupies a special place," the council said in its Decree on Ecumenism. Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, announced Oct. 20 that Pope Benedict XVI would allow the formation of "personal ordinariates" -- similar to dioceses -- to oversee the pastoral care of Anglicans who want to enter into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church while preserving elements of their Anglican liturgy, tradition and spirituality. In fact, the cardinal said, the liturgy used by most Anglicans developed within the Latin rite of the Catholic Church and continues to resemble closely the text of the Mass celebrated by most Roman Catholics.
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Child porn charges loom in background of Canadian bishops' meeting
CORNWALL, Ontario (CNS) -- As Canada's bishops met for their annual meeting, the knowledge that one of their colleagues had been charged with child pornography loomed in the background. Giving his final president's report, Archbishop V. James Weisgerber of Winnipeg, Manitoba, said the late-September charges against Bishop Raymond Lahey of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, were "especially painful, because of the seriousness of the charges and also because it involves a former member of our assembly, an episcopal colleague, a close associate and, for many of us, a friend." The charges of possessing and importing child pornography merit thorough investigation by competent authorities, Archbishop Weisgerber told about 90 bishops Oct. 19 at the beginning of their weeklong meeting. He reminded them of the presumption of innocence until the charges are proven. "As bishops we are united in concern and prayer for each other and for all of those whose lives are impacted by the crime and sin of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse," he said. "These include the victims and their families; the local community and society in general; the Christian community in a special way; and also the perpetrators, as well as anyone who has been accused, whether justly or unjustly."
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PEOPLE
Bishop of Saint-Jerome, Quebec, elected head of Canadian conference
CORNWALL, Ontario (CNS) -- Bishop Pierre Morissette of Saint-Jerome, Quebec, has been elected president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. Bishop Morissette will become president for a two-year term when Archbishop V. James Weisgerber of Winnipeg, Manitoba, steps down Oct. 23 at the close of the bishops' plenary meeting. Bishops Morissette, elected Oct. 20, has served as conference vice president for the past two years. Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, Alberta, is the new conference vice president. Bishop Paul-Andre Durocher of Alexandria-Cornwall, Ontario, will serve for a second term as co-treasurer, representing the French-speaking sector of the conference; and Bishop Douglas Crosby of Corner Brook and Labrador is the new co-treasurer for the English-speaking sector.
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Ohio priest's bid for retrial of murder case denied by Supreme Court
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Supreme Court denied a request to hear an appeal from an Ohio priest convicted in 2006 of the 1980 murder of a nun in the chapel of a Toledo Catholic hospital. Lawyers for the priest, Father Gerald Robinson, say they will seek redress for the conviction through other legal means. The Supreme Court's denial was issued without comment Oct. 5, the first day of the high court's new term. John Donahue, one of Father Robinson's attorneys, said a request was pending in Common Pleas Court in Lucas County, Ohio, which includes Toledo, to have the judge vacate the jury verdict of murder and to order a new trial. No date has been set to hear arguments. Mercy Sister Margaret Ann Pahl was killed at the now-closed Mercy Hospital in Toledo. She had been stabbed 31 times and strangled from behind, with two bones in her neck broken. The case remained open but had grown cold until Father Robinson was arrested in 2004. He was suspended from active ministry upon his arrest.
