(USCCB News Archives can be accessed at www.usccb.org/news/

 
 
COLLECTION FOR CHURCH IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN
EUROPE RELIES ON ‘THE LIGHT WHICH ILLUMINES THE WAY’

WASHINGTON — “Christ is the light which illumines the way” is the theme for the 2012 Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, which will be held in most parishes on February 22, Ash Wednesday. This collection supports essential unmet pastoral needs in Central and Eastern Europe and areas of Asia formerly under Soviet control.
        
“The collection is a way for Catholics in the United States to stand in solidarity and compassion with our brothers and sisters who suffered severe repression by the Soviet Union,” said Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Subcommittee for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe. “This repression greatly weakened the Church. The region’s bishops are still facing the formidable task of restoring its church structures and, more importantly, rebuilding the spirituality of its communities.”
        
The Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe (CCEE Collection) provides support for basic pastoral programs, scholarships for student leaders in local churches and other important initiatives
         
Many elderly residents of the former Soviet region of Georgia awoke one morning to find their pensions and life savings gone. Former doctors, lawyers and musicians now find themselves with the equivalent of $50 a month on which to live. This stipend doesn’t even cover the cost of one loaf of bread per day, leaving nothing to pay for transportation, clothing, or medicine. Collection funds are essential to make sure medical dispensaries, shelters, religious and lay ministers are available to help those who live in the region.
        
“Through your donations, the Catholic Church is able to provide support for Catholic organizations that bring the light of Christ to the region,” said Cardinal Rigali. “Please continue to assist this important work for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.”
       
For more information on the Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe visit www.usccb.org and search “Church in Central and Eastern Europe”.
        
The CCEE Collection is one of several nationwide collections sponsored by the USCCB National Collections Committee (http://www.usccb.org/about/nationa-collections/)

January 24, 2012
CALL TO FAITHFUL CITIZENSHIP IS AT HEART OF
2012 CATHOLIC SOCIAL MINISTRY GATHERING
 
WASHINGTON — The challenges of living one’s faith in the public square and protecting the lives and dignity of the poor and vulnerable are the focus of the 2012 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, which will be February 12-15, at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.
           
“Faithful Citizenship: Protecting Human Life and Dignity, Promoting the Common Good,” is the theme of this year’s gathering, and speakers and workshops will explore the social ministry implications of Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the call to political and civic responsibility published by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and reissued ahead of the 2012 elections.
           
The assembled Catholic social ministry leaders will also visit representatives of Congress to present proposals and concerns about policies affecting the most vulnerable people in the United States and around the world. The Catholic Social Ministry Gathering is sponsored by USCCB and 14 Catholic partner organizations including Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Catholic Charities USA, Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, Catholic Labor Network, Conference of Major Superiors of Men, National Catholic Rural Life Conference, National Catholic Partnership on Disability and the National Council of Catholic Women.
           
Among the plenary speakers are Carolyn Woo, the new president and CEO of CRS; Arturo Chavez, president of the Mexican American Catholic College (MACC); John Carr, executive director of Justice, Peace and Human Development for USCCB; as well as Mark Shields and David Brooks from the PBS News Hour.
           
For more information on the gathering, visit: www.catholicsocialministrygathering.org
           
For more information on Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, visit: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/faithful-citizenship/index.cfm

January 23, 2012
BISHOPS DECRY HHS RULE, URGE CATHOLICS TO STAND UP FOR RELIGIOUS
LIBERTY AND CONSCIENCE RIGHTS IN HOMILIES AT VIGIL FOR LIFE
 
WASHINGTON — Both the president of the U.S. bishops and the bishops’ Pro-Life chairman called on the thousands of Catholics gathered for the National Prayer Vigil for Life to speak out for the protection of conscience rights and religious liberty.
           
“From a human point of view, we may be tempted to surrender, when our government places conception, pregnancy and birth under the ‘center for disease control,’ when chemically blocking conception or aborting the baby in the womb is considered a ‘right’ to be subsidized by others who abhor it,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at the vigil’s closing Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on January 23.
           
His words referred to the January 20 announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that nearly all employers will be forced to cover drugs and procedures that violate their conscience in their health insurance plans.
           
“When the ability of feeding, housing, and healing the struggling of the world is curtailed and impeded if one does not also help women abort their babies, one can hardly be faulted for being tempted to the ‘sin against the Holy Spirit’ and just consider all as lost,” Cardinal-designate Dolan said.
           
Addressing the opening Mass the previous evening, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, excoriated the HHS rule.
           
“Never before in our US History has the Federal Government forced citizens to directly purchase what violates our beliefs. At issue here as our President of the Conference stated it this past Friday, is the survival of a cornerstone constitutionally protected freedom that ensures respect for conscience and religious liberty,” said Cardinal DiNardo.
           
He cited the January 19 address of Pope Benedict XVI to U.S. bishops visiting Rome, in which the pope said, “it is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres. The seriousness of these threats needs to be appreciated at every level of ecclesial life.”
           
Cardinal DiNardo said that the pope had “nailed” the issue in light of the HHS announcement and tied the issue directly to the March for Life. “His calls for courage to counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public life and debate have targeted the issues we face in our pro-life efforts, to defend those who defend human life and to defend their religious liberty!”
           
The full text of both homilies is available online: www.usccb.org/about/media-relations/resources/2012-national-prayer-vigil-for-life-homilies.cfm

January 20, 2012
U.S. BISHOPS VOW TO FIGHT HHS EDICT
 
WASHINGTON — The Catholic bishops of the United States called “literally unconscionable” a decision by the Obama Administration to continue to demand that sterilization, abortifacients  and contraception be included in virtually all health plans. The announcement means that this mandate and its very narrow exemption will not change at all; instead there will only be a delay in enforcement against some employers.
           
“In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
           
The cardinal-designate continued, “To force American citizens to choose between violating their consciences and forgoing their healthcare is literally unconscionable.  It is as much an attack on access to health care as on religious freedom. Historically this represents a challenge and a compromise of our religious liberty."
           
The HHS rule requires that sterilization and contraception – including controversial abortifacients – be included among “preventive services” coverage in almost every healthcare plan available to Americans. “The government should not force Americans to act as if pregnancy is a disease to be prevented at all costs,” added Cardinal-designate Dolan.
           
At issue, the U.S. bishops and other religious leaders insist, is the survival of a cornerstone constitutionally protected freedom that ensures respect for the conscience of Catholics and all other Americans.
           
“This is nothing less than a direct attack on religion and First Amendment rights,” said Franciscan Sister Jane Marie Klein, chairperson of the board at Franciscan Alliance, Inc., a system of 13 Catholic hospitals. “I have hundreds of employees who will be upset and confused by this edict. I cannot understand it at all.”
           
Daughter of Charity Sister Carol Keehan, president and chief executive officer of the Catholic Health Association of the United States, voiced disappointment with the decision. Catholic hospitals serve one out of six people who seek hospital care annually.
           
“This was a missed opportunity to be clear on appropriate conscience protection,” Sister Keehan said.
           
Cardinal-designate Dolan urged that the HHS mandate be overturned. Cardinal-designate Dolan's   criticism of the decision can be viewed on a web video posted at: http://bcove.me/ob5itz9v
           
“The Obama administration has now drawn an unprecedented line in the sand,” Dolan said. “The Catholic bishops are committed to working with our fellow Americans to reform the law and change this unjust regulation. We will continue to study all the implications of this troubling decision.”

January 19, 2012
JEWISH-CATHOLIC DIALOGUE STUDIES HOW RELIGIOUS IDENTITIES
ARE PRESENTED IN TEXTBOOKS, SEES NEED FOR CONTINUED REVISIONS
 
WASHINGTON — Jewish and Catholic leaders agree that much work lies ahead in accurately presenting the religious identity and practices of each other’s communities in their respective religious education textbooks.
           
“Much of today’s religious education in Jewish schools still focuses too closely on the mistreatment of Jews in the past,” said Rabbi Arnold Samler of the Jewish Education Project of New York City. “Even though Jewish religious schools are required by state law to teach about other religions, there are no consistent standards to help guide teachers in this important project,” he added.
           
Samler spoke at the semi-annual consultation of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the National Council of Synagogues (NCS), December 5, 2011, at New York’s Jewish Theological Seminary. The consultation was co-chaired by Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta and Rabbi David Straus, Main Line Reform Temple, Philadelphia. The topic for the meeting was “How Do We Teach about Each Other’s Faith Group in Our Religious Schools?”
           
Philip Cunningham, Ph.D., professor of theology and director of the Jewish-Catholic Institute at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, stated in his presentation that, “Despite great strides made in this area by Catholics since the Second Vatican Council, there is still a dearth of Roman Catholic exegetical materials to assist teachers with a modern understanding of the Gospels that utilize the rich materials issued by the Pontifical Biblical Commission.”
           
Reports from other Jewish and Catholic dialogue members supported the findings of both Samler and Cunningham. Rabbi David Sandmel, Ph.D., of The Catholic Theological Union in Chicago urged that Catholic and Jewish teachers be brought together to develop interfaith projects and shape joint curricula. Father Dennis McManus, Ph.D., of Georgetown University stressed the need for an in-depth formation of Catholic religious education textbook editors, who often control the final expression that will shape the understanding of both students and teachers about Jews and Judaism. Rabbi Ruth Langer, Ph.D., of Boston College noted that the Solomon Schechter Jewish day schools, the Maimonides School of Boston and some yeshivot (Jewish religious schools) are now teaching about other religions in addition to Christianity. Rabbi Joel Meyers of the Rabbinical Assembly pointed out that sixth graders in Israeli schools are now required to learn about Christianity, Islam and other faiths.
           
Rabbi Gilbert Rosenthal summarized the concerns of both groups in stating, “We can learn much together by learning much from each other. Today, our religious textbooks need to let the voices of other believers tell us directly who they are and what they believe.”
           
Jewish and Catholic participants expressed hopes and concerns over developments in the so-called “Arab Spring,” which has unfolded since summer of 2011. All agreed that under no circumstances – whether directed against Christians, Jews or Muslims – could religion be used as a pretext for violence.
           
Archbishop Gregory concluded the meeting with a brief presentation on the language of the new English translation of the Mass. He said, “There should be no concern on the part of our Jewish brothers and sisters that the new English translation in any way diminishes the progress made in Catholic expression about Jews and Judaism in the reformed liturgy since the Second Vatican Council. On the contrary, the new translation seeks only to help clarify and deepen the liturgy for Catholics everywhere. Throughout the new translation, Jews remain ‘our beloved elder brothers and sisters,’ spoken of with respect and affection.”
           
Jewish participants at the consultation included Rabbi Lewis Eron, Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Rabbi Joel Meyers, executive vice-president emeritus of the (Conservative) Rabbinical Assembly; Rabbi Jonathan Waxman, Temple Beth Sholom, Smithtown, New York; Rabbi David Straus, Central Conference of American Rabbis; Rabbi Rosenthal, National Council of Synagogues; Rabbi Richard Hirsh, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association; Rabbi Daniel F. Polish of La Grangeville, New York; Ruth Langer, Ph.D., of Boston College; Rabbi Harlod Berman, Congregation Tifereth Israel, Columbus, Ohio; Rabbi Shira Lander, Ph.D., Rice University, and Rabbi Sandmel.
           
Catholic participants at the consultation included Archbishop Gregory; Bishop Basil H. Losten, former bishop of Stamford for Ukrainians; Auxiliary Bishop Denis Madden of Baltimore; Christian Brother David Carroll, former associate director at Catholic Near East Welfare Association; Atonement Father James Loughran, Graymoor Ecumenical Institute; Msgr. Guy Massie, Ecumenical Office of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York; Msgr. Robert Stern, former director of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association; Father Dennis McManus, USCCB consultant for Jewish Affairs, and Jesuit Father Drew Christiansen, America Magazine.

January 19, 2012
U.S. BISHOPS WELCOME POPE’S REAFFIRMATION OF
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY DURING AD LIMINA VISIT
 
WASHINGTON — The U.S. bishops expressed praise and gratitude for the latest statement of Pope Benedict XVI on the need to protect religious liberty, which he delivered in an address January 19, to U.S. bishops from Region IV and VI gathered in Rome for their ad limina visits.
          
“Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion,” said Pope Benedict. “Many of you have pointed out that concerted efforts have been made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me of a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience.”

“For bishops, the ad limina addresses are really a high point of the visits to Rome because the pope presents his pastoral vision to them,” said Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). “Today Pope Benedict spoke eloquently and powerfully on the threats to the Church’s moral witness in public life.”

“The bishops are thankful and encouraged by this most recent statement of the Holy Father on religious freedom,” said Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, chairman of the USCCB’s new Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty. “His words reflect the longstanding teaching of the Church, going back to the documents of the Second Vatican Council, that all people have a right not to be coerced to violate their religious beliefs.”

“The pope urged all Catholics to recognize that a culture of secularism poses a direct threat to traditional American values of religious liberty and freedom conscience, and it is gratifying that he called upon the ‘engaged, articulate and well-formed’ laity to protect their right and the right of the Church to participate in the ‘public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society,’” said Philip Allen Lacovara, an attorney and consultant to the bishops’ Ad Hoc
Committee on Religious Liberty.

The full text of Pope Benedict’s address is available online: www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2012/january/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20120119_bishops-usa_en.html

January 19, 2012
POPE NAMES BISHOP SKURLA HEAD OF PITTSBURGH ARCHEPARCHY
 
WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI has named 55-year-old Bishop William Skurla of the Byzantine Eparchy of Passaic, New Jersey, as Archbishop of the Byzantine Archeparchy of Pittsburgh.
           
The appointment was publicized in Washington, January 19, by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
           
William Skurla was born June 1, 1956, in Duluth, Minnesota, where he attended Catholic and public elementary schools. He attended Columbia University in New York, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1981. He later attended Mary Immaculate Seminary, Northampton, Pennsylvania, where he earned a master of divinity degree in 1986, and a master of theology degree in 1987.  
           
He was professed as a member of the Franciscans in Sybertsville, Pennsylvania, in 1985, and ordained a priest in 1987. In 1996, he was incardinated into the Eparchy of Van Nuys, California, and named bishop of Van Nuys in 2002. In 2007, he was named bishop of the Byzantine Catholic Eparchy of Passaic, New Jersey.
           
The Archeparchy of Pittsburgh includes 58,492 persons, and embraces all Byzantine Ruthenian Rite Catholics in Western Pennsylvania, several counties in Ohio, and the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.

January 12, 2012 
BISHOPS FROM NORTH AMERICA, EUROPE CALL FOR
COURAGE TO BRING ABOUT PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND
 
WASHINGTON — Calling for dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, representatives of Catholic bishops’ conferences from North America and Europe, including Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona, gathered in Jerusalem and appealed for “tolerance and courageous leadership, able to show forgiveness and humility, to promote peaceful co-existence” in a statement to mark the annual gathering of the Coordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church in the Holy Land.
           
“Political leaders of both sides and our own countries need to show courage, resolve and creativity so the simple hopes of the majority for peaceful co-existence are realized,” the bishops said in the January 12 statement. “The fidelity to their way of life of Jews, Christians and Muslims should always be such that there is deep-seated openness to others.”
           
The bishops have gathered in the Holy Land since 1998 as a show of support for the Christian community there.
           
“While the faith we see in the Christians of the Holy Land is an inspiration to all, we have heard repeatedly and have seen ourselves that occupation and insecurity, fear and frustration dominate the life of people across this land," the bishops said.
           
“A defining theme we heard throughout our visit was the increasing urgency to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Bishop Kicanas said. “It is incumbent on the United States and the international community to prod the two parties to negotiate a two-state solution, which is the hope of a majority of Israelis and Palestinians, indeed of all the international community.”
           
Full text of the statement follows:
 
We, the Bishops of the Holy Land Coordination, have met in the Holy Land since 1998, to be in solidarity with the local Christian community and share in the pastoral life of the local Church. While the faith we see in the Christians of the Holy Land is an inspiration to all, we have heard repeatedly and have seen ourselves that occupation and insecurity, fear and frustration dominate the life of people across this land. Blaming the other is an abdication of responsibility and a failure of leadership, a leadership that the people so desperately need. We have heard and we make this conviction our own: to be pro-Israeli has to mean being pro-Palestinian. This means being pro-justice for all, whose certain fruit is lasting peace.
 
We recognize the importance of the resumption of dialogue between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. We echo the words of Pope Benedict to the diplomatic corps on 9 January when he expressed his hope that this dialogue "will be maintained, and that it will lead to lasting peace which guarantees the right of the two peoples to dwell in security in sovereign states and within secure and internationally recognized borders."
 
A negotiated agreement is urgently required.
 
That dialogue is threatened and undermined by extremism and intolerance of the other, the signs of which are only too apparent in the attitudes, judgments and actions of far too many in the world today. This is a concern for both sides and we appeal for tolerance and courageous leadership, able to show forgiveness and humility, to promote peaceful co-existence.
 
Despite the serious problems we heard and we saw this year, our faith gives us hope and there are signs of hope: the gathering of the Churches for the Synod on the Middle East; the increasing numbers of pilgrims; the inter-religious co-operation and friendship we witnessed in Galilee that offers an example to all; the housing projects of the Latin Patriarchate and the Custody of the Holy Land; the humanitarian efforts of Catholic organizations along with a range of other practical, educational and cultural initiatives to assist the local community – all of which we encourage and support. Above all our hope is nourished by the continuing witness of the Christian communities we met and with whom we celebrated our faith in Gaza, Nablus, Jerusalem and Galilee.
 
We also recognize the progress being made on negotiations between Israel and the Holy See, with hopes for a resolution soon.
 
Political leaders of both sides and our own countries need to show courage, resolve and creativity so the simple hopes of the majority for peaceful co-existence are realized. The fidelity to their way of life of Jews, Christians and Muslims should always be such that there is deep-seated openness to all others. May God bless all of the people of the Holy Land.
Archbishop Patrick Kelly – Archbishop of Liverpool (England and Wales)
Archbishop Riccardo Fontana – Bishop of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro (Italy)
Archbishop Richard Smith – Archbishop of Edmonton (Canada)
Archbishop Joan-Enric Vives I Sicilia – Bishop of Urgell (Spain)
Bishop Gerald Kicanas – Bishop of Tucson (USA)
Bishop Heinrich Mussinghoff – Bishop of Aachen (Germany)
Bishop Michel Dubost – Bishop of Evry (France)
Bishop Pierre Burcher – Bishop of Reykjavik (Nordic Bishops’ Conference)
Bishop William Kenney – Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham (England and Wales)

January 12, 2012
RELIGIOUS LEADERS JOIN TOGETHER IN
SUPPORT OF MARRIAGE, RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
 
WASHINGTON — Leaders of some of the largest religious communities in the United States have joined together in an open letter to all Americans to voice their shared concern for marriage and religious freedom.
           
The letter, titled “Marriage and Religious Freedom: Fundamental Goods That Stand or Fall Together,” was released January 12. It can be found at www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/marriage/promotion-and-defense-of-marriage/ecumenical-and-interreligious-activities.cfm. Signatories include leaders from Anglican, Baptist, Catholic, Evangelical, Jewish, Lutheran, Mormon, and Pentecostal communities in the United States.
           
Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, was one of the four signing Catholic bishops.
           
“Marriage and religious liberty are at a crisis point in the United States,” he said. “This letter is a sign of hope. Not only are tens of millions of believing citizens represented in the letter’s signatories, but the letter itself testifies to the growing and shared awareness of just how important marriage and religious freedom are to the well being of our country. The letter makes a compelling argument that needs to be heard by all of us, especially those in positions of authority: anyone truly concerned with religious freedom must also be a defender of marriage’s perennial definition.”
           
In the letter, the leaders counter a common claim that the principal threat to religious freedom is the possibility of ministers being forced to officiate same-sex “weddings.”
           
The leaders wrote: “We believe the most urgent peril is this: forcing or pressuring both individuals and religious organizations—throughout their operations, well beyond religious ceremonies—to treat same-sex sexual conduct as the moral equivalent of marital sexual conduct.  There is no doubt that the many people and groups whose moral and religious convictions forbid same-sex sexual conduct will resist the compulsion of the law, and church-state conflicts will result.”
           
They added that “these conflicts bear serious consequences.”
           
“They will arise in a broad range of legal contexts, because altering the civil definition of ‘marriage’ does not change one law, but hundreds, even thousands, at once.  By a single stroke, every law where rights depend on marital status—such as employment discrimination, employment benefits, adoption, education, healthcare, elder care, housing, property, and taxation—will change so that same-sex sexual relationships must be treated as if they were marriage. That requirement, in turn, will apply to religious people and groups in the ordinary course of their many private or public occupations and ministries—including running schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other housing facilities, providing adoption and counseling services, and many others,” they said.
           
The leaders warned that redefining marriage has consequences for the religious freedom of all Americans and urged civic leaders to defend marriage so as also to defend religious liberty.         
           
“We especially urge those entrusted with the public good to support laws that uphold the time-honored definition of marriage, and so avoid threatening the religious freedom of countless institutions and citizens in this country,” the religious leaders said. “Marriage and religious freedom are both deeply woven into the fabric of this nation.”
           
The release of the letter comes days before the presidential proclamation for Religious Freedom Day (January 16) and a few weeks before World Marriage Day (February 12) and National Marriage Week USA (February 7-14). The letter follows a letter of shared commitment released December 6, 2010 (also available at www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/marriage/promotion-and-defense-of-marriage/ecumenical-and-interreligious-activities.cfm).

January 11, 2012
BISHOPS HAIL COURT DECISION UPHOLDING RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
 
WASHINGTON — “It’s a great day for the First Amendment,” said Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty.
           
Bishop Lori spoke January 11, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold a church’s right to determine who its ministers are and banned government interference in the process. His statement follows.
           
The Supreme Court decision marks a victory for religious liberty and the U.S. Constitution. Freedom of Religion is America’s First Freedom and the Court has spoken unanimously in favor of it. The Founding Fathers would be proud. Respect for the long-standing “ministerial exception,” which is grounded in the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment and prevents the government from interfering in the employment relationship between a Church and its ministers. This decision makes resoundingly clear the historical and constitutional importance of keeping internal church affairs off limits to the government—because whoever chooses the minister chooses the message.  It’s a great day for the First Amendment.
 
Bishop William E. Lori
Chairman
U.S. Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty

January 6, 2012
ARCHBISHOP KURTZ CONGRATULATES CARDINAL-DESIGNATE
TIMOTHY DOLAN, CARDINAL-DESIGNATE EDWIN O’BRIEN   
 
WASHINGTON — Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, vice-president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), congratulated Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York, 61, and Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien of Baltimore, 72, on being named cardinals by Pope Benedict XVI, January 6. They will be officially elevated to the College of Cardinals, February 18, in Rome.
           
“This is an honor for these outstanding church leaders as well as an honor for the Church in the United States,” Archbishop Kurtz of Louisville said.  “As men of prayer, wisdom and dedication, they will bring many talents and graces to their new roles as advisors to the Holy Father.”
           
Archbishop Kurtz noted their generous service beyond their respective archdioceses.
           
“The entire USCCB has benefitted from their many abilities,” he said. “As president of the USCCB and as former president of Catholic Relief Services, Cardinal-designate Dolan has brought both energy and grace to international and domestic matters.”
           
He noted Cardinal-designate O’Brien’s unique contributions as well.
           
“Cardinal-designate O’Brien’s experience with the military has made him a valuable consultant on USCCB justice and peace efforts,” he said. “His seminary background has proven especially insightful in development of our priestly formation programs.”
            
The new appointments make the churchmen members of the College of Cardinals, where they can be called upon by the pope to serve as advisors at consistories on church affairs, and they will be among members of a conclave that elects successors of the pope. Cardinals can vote in a conclave until they reach the age of 80.
           
Cardinal-designate Dolan heads the Archdiocese of New York, which traditionally has been led by a cardinal. His predecessor in New York was Cardinal Edward M. Egan, who is 79.
           
Cardinal-designate O’Brien was named Pro-Grand Master of the Equestrian (Knights) Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher on August 29, 2011. The Rome-based position is usually held by a cardinal. Cardinal John P. Foley resigned from the position last February due to illness and died in Philadelphia, December 11, 2011. The order is a chivalric organization dedicated to promoting and defending Christianity in the Holy Land, supporting the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and responding to the needs of Catholics in the region.  Cardinal-designate O’Brien also remains head of the Baltimore Archdiocese until Pope Benedict names his successor there.
           
Timothy Dolan was born in St. Louis and ordained a priest in 1976, for the St. Louis Archdiocese and then served in local parishes. Subsequent assignments included service at the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, vice-rector at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, and rector at North American College in Rome. Pope John Paul II named him an auxiliary bishop of St, Louis in 2001, and archbishop of Milwaukee in 2002. Pope Benedict XVI named him archbishop of New York in 2009. He holds a doctorate in church history from The Catholic University of America.
           
Edwin O’Brien was born in New York and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New York in 1965. He served as a chaplain at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, and later as an Army chaplain in Vietnam. He served as secretary to New York’s Cardinal Terence Cooke and Cardinal John O’Connor and as rector at St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York and North American College, Rome. He holds a doctorate in sacred theology from the Angelicum University in Rome.
           
In 1996, he was named an auxiliary bishop of New York. In 1997, he was named coadjutor archbishop for the Archdiocese for Military Services USA, and became head of the military archdiocese later that year. He was named archbishop of Baltimore in 2007.

January 2, 2012
POPE ESTABLISHES U.S. ORDINARIATE, NAMES
FORMER EPISCOPAL BISHOP AS LEADER
 
WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI has established the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter to serve former Anglican groups and clergy in the United States who wish to become Catholic. He also named the 59-year-old Father Jeffrey N. Steenson of Houston, Texas to lead the new structure as its ordinary.

The creation of the ordinariate and the appointment of Father Steenson were publicized in Washington, January 2, by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
           
Similar to a diocese though national in scope, the ordinariate will be based in Houston, Texas, and will include parishes and communities across the United States that will be fully Catholic, while retaining elements of their Anglican heritage and traditions. To date, over 100 clergy have applied to be ordained Catholic for the ordinariate and 1,400 individuals from 22 communities have asked to join the ordinariate.

Jeffrey Steenson was born April 1, 1952 in Camp Rucker, Alabama and was raised on a family farm in Hillsboro, North Dakota. A former Episcopal bishop, he received his theological training at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Illinois and Harvard Divinity School, and a doctor of philosophy degree from Oxford University.
           
He was ordained an Episcopal priest in 1980 and served as an assistant at a parish in Highfield, Oxford, then as rector of three parishes in the United States. He was an officer for the Episcopal Synod of America, and Canon to the Ordinary for the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 2004, Father Steenson was elected bishop of the Diocese of Rio Grande.
           
He resigned in 2007 and was received into the Catholic Church. Father Steenson was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe in 2009 under the pastoral provision for married former Anglican clergy. Since that time, he has been the Carl and Lois Davis Professor in Patristic Studies at the University of St. Thomas Center for Faith and Culture in Houston.
           
Father Steenson is married. He and his wife, Debra, have three adult children and one grandchild.

The website for the new ordinariate is www.usordinariate.org.

December 28, 2011                                                                                                   
U.S. BISHOPS EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH SUFFERING AND PERSECUTED
CHRISTIANS, RECEIVE THANKS FROM LATIN PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM
 
WASHINGTON — The U.S. bishops extended their prayerful solidarity “to all persecuted persons throughout the world,” sending letters to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem regarding the Church’s plight in the homeland of Jesus and to the Church in Nigeria in the wake of a Christmas attack.
           
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Church in Nigeria at this time of loss and sorrow. We pray that the New Year will bring peace to your beloved country,” wrote Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, in a December 27 letter to Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja. Bishop Pates is chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
           
In a December 22 letter to His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Bishop Pates joined USCCB president, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, in extending their prayerful solidarity “to all persecuted persons throughout the world, but in a particular way to our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering in the region of our Savior’s birth.”
           
“Our Conference of Bishops is acutely aware that the Churches of the Middles East are caught in situations of conflict and violence that have put enormous strains on the ancient Christian presence there,” the bishops wrote.
In a December 23 letter, the Patriarch replied, “It is heartwarming to know of your concern and support for the continuing presence and future of our Christians in the Holy Land.”
           
The letter to Archbishop Onaiyekan is online at: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/onaiyekan-letter-12-27-2012.cfm
           
The letter to the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is online at: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/letter-to-his-beatitude-fouad-twal-regarding-euffering-of-christians-in-the-middle-east.cfm
           
The response from the Latin Patriarch is online at: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/response-from-his-beatitude-fouad-twal.cfm

December 22, 2011
BISHOPS AWARDED GRANT TO STUDY LATINO VOCATIONS
 
WASHINGTON — The Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been awarded a grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation that largely underwrites a comparative cultural survey of Catholic youth in the United States.
           
The survey aims to identify common and distinctive cultural traits that affect the openness and ability of Catholic youth to respond to a call to a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. The Secretariat has commissioned the Center for Applied Research (CARA) at Georgetown University to conduct a national survey of never-married Catholics, ages 14 and older, to study their views about vocations and their own consideration of a vocation.
           
Statistical data found in two reports commissioned by the Secretariat, “The Class of 2011: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood” and “The Profession Class of 2010: Survey of Women Religious Professing Perpetual Vows,” indicate fewer than expected religious vocations among the Hispanic and Latino Catholic population in the U.S.
           
Father Shawn McKnight, executive director of the Secretariat, said that Hispanics/Latinos constituted 15 percent of the ordination class and 10 percent of the religious profession class, while constituting 34 percent of the total adult Catholic population.
           
“There is not enough objective data to explain the reasons for their underrepresentation,” Father McKnight said.
           
The Secretariat seeks to identify specific reasons for their underrepresentation, to guide the efforts by dioceses and religious communities to promote vocations.
          
In the same reports, other cultures show a stronger representation. For example, Asians constitute four percent of the adult Catholic population in the U.S., yet 10 percent of the past year’s ordination class were Asian.  This is a consistent trend over the past 15 years. In the 2010 class of women who made their religious profession of perpetual vows, 19 percent of the entire class was Asian.  Further study is needed to explore why there is such a difference in representation.
           
The identification of cultural elements that support and challenge a culture of vocations among Asian, Latino and the general youth population would be helpful information for collaborating organizations, such as the National Religious Vocations Conference and the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors.  The results of this study would also benefit those involved with the evangelization of youth, as they would indicate how the influences of culture impact the ability to reach out to all Catholic youth.
           
“This study will aid in the New Evangelization by serving as a helpful resource in determining emerging needs within the Church as well as assisting in the development of timely and effective responses,” said Peter Murphy, PhD, executive director of the USCCB Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis. “The success of ministry among a growing number of Hispanics/Latinos requires leadership from the Hispanic/Latino community itself, especially in the priesthood and religious life,” added Father Allan Deck, former head of the USCCB Secretariat for Cultural Diversity in the Church. “This proposal is the single most important effort to find the best ways to provide the priestly leadership necessary for Hispanics/Latinos to flourish in the Church.”

December 21, 2011
BISHOPS WELCOME NEW MERCURY AND AIR TOXICS STANDARDS
TO PROTECT HUMAN LIFE AND GOD’S CREATION
 
WASHINGTON — “A new national standard to reduce mercury and toxic air pollution from power plants is an important step forward to protect the health of all people, especially unborn babies and young children, from harmful exposure to dangerous air pollutants,” said the U.S. bishops’ domestic policy chairman in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement of a new rule limiting hazardous air pollution.
           
Recently finalized Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will reduce toxic air pollution from coal- and oil-fired power plants that are the largest source of mercury pollution in the United States. Many of these pollutants are linked to health problems, particularly in children before and after birth, the poor and the elderly.
            
“The bishops welcome this important move by the Administration to adopt long-awaited standards to reduce hazardous air pollution and protect children’s health,” said Bishop Blaire. “In the end it just makes good sense to want to have clean air for our children and families to breathe and for future generations.”
          
Bishop Blaire is chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). He also cited Catholic teaching on the protection of the environment and the need to protect human life and dignity at all stages.
           
“Children, inside and outside the womb, are uniquely vulnerable to environmental hazards and exposure to toxic pollutants in the environment,” he said. “Their bodies, behaviors and size leave them more exposed than adults to such health hazards.”
            
Bishop Blaire had earlier commented on the proposed rule in a June 20 letter to the EPA. The text of the letter can be found at www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/rulemaking/upload/comments-to-epa-on-mercury-2011-06.pdf.

December 15, 2011
ARCHBISHOP DOLAN REMEMBERS CARDINAL JOHN FOLEY FOR
HIS KINDNESS, DEDICATION TO CHURCH, COMMUNICATIONS
 
WASHINGTON — Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Cardinal John Foley, who died December 11 in Philadelphia, “embodied the best of what it means to be a communicator, a priest and a believer,” whose “kindness and love for Christ’s Church will remain with all who encountered him.”
           
Cardinal Foley served as president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in Rome from 1984-2007, when Pope Benedict XVI appointed his grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, a post he held until 2011. Cardinal Foley was elevated to the College of Cardinals in 2007.
           
The full text of Archbishop Dolan’s statement follows:
 
Whether in his role as President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications for over 20 years, or earlier as editor of Philadelphia’s Catholic Standard & Times or a reporter in Rome covering the Second Vatican Council, Cardinal John Foley embodied the best of what it means to be a communicator, a priest and a believer. He was a beloved figure in the Catholic Press and, as the voice of the Vatican’s Midnight Mass for 25 years, brought the Good News to Catholics all over the globe.
 
He urged the Church to be transparent and saw media as vital to society and worthy of respect. He was the mastermind behind the coverage of the funeral of Pope John Paul II, recognizing the need to facilitate media efforts at the passing of a Church and world figure like no other in the modern age. Such foresight united the world in prayer.
 
More recently, as Grand Master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, he reached out in a particular way to Christians in a troubled part of the world. His kindness and love for Christ’s Church will remain with all who encountered him.
December 12, 2011 
BISHOPS URGE UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE AND
COMPENSATION IN THE FACE OF ‘PERVASIVE ECONOMIC PAIN’
 
WASHINGTON — As they finalize federal spending priorities, Congress should find ways to assure continuation of Unemployment Insurance and Emergency Unemployment Compensation, said Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, California, chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
           
“For millions of American workers and their families, economic hardship continues and grows. The US Catholic bishops have long advocated that the most effective way to build a just economy is the availability of decent work at decent wages,” wrote Bishop Blaire in a December 12 letter to Congress. “When the economy fails to generate sufficient jobs, there is a moral obligation to help protect the life and dignity of unemployed workers and their families.”
           
Bishop Blaire wrote that the current “pervasive economic pain” includes a median length of joblessness of 10 months, and over four job seekers for every opening. He wrote that Pope John Paul II called such conditions in “a real social disaster” and that the pope said the “obligation to provide unemployment benefits” to workers and their families is a fundamental principle of “the right to life and subsistence.”
           
The full text of Bishop Blaire’s letter is available online: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/labor-employment/upload/UI-letter-12-11-2011-final.pdf

December 12, 2011
BISHOPS RENEW POVERTY USA CAMPAIGN IN
RESPONSE TO GROWING DOMESTIC POVERTY
 
WASHINGTON — With 15 percent of all Americans, including nearly 1 in 4 children, living in poverty, the Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development (JPHD) of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is renewing its poverty awareness campaign, Poverty USA, complete with a revamped website and a new social media presence and Poverty Awareness Month event in January.
           
“Our culture of life begins with a love that binds us to the hopes and joys, the struggles and the sorrows of people, especially those who are poor or any way afflicted,” said Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, California, chairman of the bishops’ domestic anti-poverty effort, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD). “We march with immigrant families toward a society made stronger and safer by their inclusion. We embrace the mother and her unborn child, giving to both of them hope and opportunity. We measure our own health by the quality of care we give to those most vulnerable. We labor with those whose work is burdensome.”
           
The campaign will promote awareness about domestic poverty with updated statistics on the Poverty USA landing page on the USCCB website (www.usccb.org/about/catholic-campaign-for-human-development/povertyusa/), as well as resources including an interactive poverty tour and a newly-launched presence on Facebook (www.facebook.com/povertyusa).
           
For Poverty Awareness Month, the new page on Facebook will also launch a month-long event on January 1. Catholic families and individuals can take part in Poverty Awareness Month by joining the Facebook event and participating in daily activities that build greater understanding about poverty in the United States. The content is also recommended for use by diocesan social action directors, CCHD directors and program coordinators, as well as parish social ministry leaders, teachers, and others.

December 8, 2011
WELCOMING CHRIST IN THE MIGRANT:
NATIONAL MIGRATION WEEK 2012 TO BE CELEBRATED JANUARY 8-14
 
WASHINGTON — National Migration Week will be observed in dioceses around the country January 8-14. This year’s theme, “Welcoming Christ in the Migrant,” and the artistic renderings in the week’s materials depict the disciples welcoming a stranger on the road to Emmaus.
           
“Just as on the road to Emmaus, Christ's disciples met him in the guise of a stranger, this year's theme helps remind us that Christ makes himself present to each of us in the lonesome traveler, the newcomer, and the migrant,” said Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles. “We are called to open our hearts and provide hospitality to those in need, especially for migrants who find themselves far away from home and in vulnerable situations.”  Archbishop Gomez is the chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration.

Dioceses around the country will mark National Migration Week with different activities. At the national level, USCCB and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) are sponsoring a multi-state conference with the theme “Immigration: a 50 State issue,” which will take place in Salt Lake City, Utah, January 11-13.
           
The observance of National Migration Week was begun over a quarter century ago by the U.S. bishops to provide Catholics an opportunity to take stock of the wide diversity of peoples in the Church and the ministries serving them. As the face of the local church continues to change, educational materials produced for National Migration Week have become increasingly important. They can be used throughout the year by individuals, families, schools and parishes to learn about the complex issues surrounding migration.
                    
Earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI also unveiled the theme for the 98th World Day of Migrants and Refugees to be celebrated January 15, 2012: “Migration and the New Evangelization.” In his message the pope says that the present time calls upon the Church to intensify its missionary activity both in the regions where the Gospel is proclaimed for the first time and in countries with a Christian tradition.
           
“Proclaiming Jesus Christ the one Savior of the world ‘constitutes the essential mission of the Church’…Today we feel the urgent need to give a fresh impetus and new approaches to the work of evangelization in a world in which the breaking down of frontiers and the new processes of globalization are bringing individuals and peoples even closer,” said Pope Benedict.
           
Internal or international migration, in search of better living conditions or to flee from the threat of persecution, war and violence, has led to an unprecedented mingling of individuals and peoples, with new problems not only from the human standpoint but also from ethical, religious and spiritual ones, the pope said. And, he added, “Christian communities are to pay special attention to migrant workers and their families by accompanying them with prayer, solidarity and Christian charity, as well as by fostering new political, economic and social planning that promotes respect for the dignity of every human person.” World Day of Migrants and Refugees was instituted by Pope Pius X in 1914.
           
Pope Benedict’s message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2012 can be found at www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/migration/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20110921_world-migrants-day_en.html.

December 6, 2011
ROCCA NAMED CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE ROME BUREAU CHIEF
 
WASHINGTON — Catholic News Service announced December 6 that Francis X. Rocca will join its staff as the new chief of the CNS Rome bureau. He will succeed John Thavis, who will retire January 31.
           
A native of Washington, Rocca has been a working journalist based in Italy since 1999. Most recently, he was the Vatican correspondent for the Washington-based Religion News Service, and he is a regular contributor and a columnist at The Wall Street Journal.
           
“Frank Rocca brings solid experience and knowledge to the important position of Rome bureau chief. Catholic News Service’s hundreds of publishing clients depend on it for in-depth and incisive reporting on the Vatican. Mr. Rocca will continue seamlessly the quality of our bureau’s work,” said Tony Spence, CNS director and editor-in-chief.
             
As Rome bureau chief, Rocca will lead a staff of six that covers daily the activities of Pope Benedict XVI and the Roman Curia. The bureau also reports on global issues that affect the church and society.
           
“There’s no more fascinating or complex beat in journalism than the Vatican, and no outlet covers it nearly as thoroughly as CNS,” Rocca said. “It’s both a privilege and a challenge to succeed John Thavis in managing such a first-rate journalistic team.”
Rocca has reported for Religion News Service since 2007. He has been a frequent contributor to the Books, Taste, Leisure and Arts sections in the U.S. edition and to the editorial pages of the European and Asian editions of The Wall Street Journal since 1995. Currently, he writes the “European Life” column from Rome, every four weeks in the WSJ European edition.
           
He is a past correspondent for The Chronicle of Higher Education, where he covered Italian, Spanish and other Mediterranean universities. He also was managing editor of The American Spectator.
           
Rocca is the author of two books. In 2005, he co-authored with U.S. ambassador to the European Union Rockwell Schnabel, “The Next Superpower?”, an examination of the growing global influence of Europe. He also is the author of the 1991 book, “Fodor’s Virginia and Maryland.”
          
He has been published in numerous periodicals in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.
          
Rocca was educated at Harvard University, and he holds a master’s from St. John’s College and a doctorate from Yale University, where he was a Fulbright scholar.
           
John Thavis joined CNS in 1983, and he has been Rome bureau chief since 1996. He is one of the most respected journalists covering the Vatican today. He is a past president of the Association of Journalists Accredited to the Vatican. In 2007, he received the St. Francis de Sales Award, the highest honor bestowed by the Catholic Press Association of the U.S. and Canada.
           
Thavis will retire to his native Minnesota, where he will continue to write.

December 1, 2011 
POPE NAMES BISHOP OCHOA OF EL PASO TO FRESNO, CALIFORNIA
 
WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI has named 68-year-old Bishop Armando X. Ochoa of El Paso, Texas, as Bishop of Fresno, California. He succeeds Bishop John Steinbock, who died December 5, 2010.
           
The appointment was publicized in Washington, December 1, by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
           
Armando Ochoa was born April 9, 1943, in Oxnard, California. He studied at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California, and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1970.
           
Bishop Ochoa served in several Los Angeles parishes and was associate director of the Spanish-speaking permanent diaconate for the archdiocese. He was named an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles in 1986, and named bishop of El Paso in 1996.
           
At the national level, he has served on bishops’ committees on vocations, laity, permanent diaconate, Hispanic affairs and migration.         
          
The Fresno Diocese has a Catholic population of 1,074,901 persons, which is 39 percent of a total population of 2,756,266.

November 29, 2011
SUBCOMMITTEE ON CHURCH IN AFRICA APPROVES OVER $1.35 MILLION IN GRANTS 

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on the Church in Africa approved funding for 51 projects, worth over $1.35 million in grants, to aid the pastoral work of the Church in 14 countries across the African continent. The decisions were made during the subcommittee’s meeting November 13, in Baltimore.
           
The subcommittee considers for grants projects that support pastoral and catechetical programs, seminaries and seminarians, the continuing education of clergy, communications and mass media as tools for evangelization, and Catholic education and schools. Funds come from parish collections through a USCCB effort called the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa.
          
For example, in this most recent allocation the subcommittee granted $17,000 to support pastoral work among the Borana people in remote regions of southern Ethiopia. In this region, the Spiritan Fathers work to evangelize among the nomadic people. Seeds of faith have been sown resulting in men studying for the priesthood, women applying to religious communities, and large numbers of catechumens and baptisms. The funding will support ongoing religious education and essential training of volunteer catechists who come with great passion for the faith but, often, little formal education.
           
“As we reviewed over one hundred pages of applications, the vibrancy of the faith in Africa was apparent. What was also clear was the tremendous need of the Church there,” said Bishop John Ricard, chairman of the subcommittee. “It was wonderful to be able to match funds given so generously by Catholics in the United States to those needs. To be part of the growth of the faith of our sisters and brothers in Africa is a great blessing. We are so very grateful to parishioners who support the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa.”
           
The Subcommittee on the Church in Africa oversees the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa as part of the USCCB Committee on National Collections. In 2011 it granted $2.3 million for pastoral support. More information on the Solidarity Fund and the projects it funds can be found at www.usccb.org/catholic-giving/opportunities-for-giving/solidarity-fund-for-africa/.

November 21, 2011
SUBCOMMITTEE ON CHURCH IN LATIN AMERICA APPROVES OVER $2.7
MILLION IN GRANTS, TOTALING OVER $7 MILLION FOR THE YEAR

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America approved funding for 174 projects, worth over $2.7 million in grants, to aid the pastoral work of the Church in 19 countries throughout the hemisphere. The decision was made during the subcommittee’s meeting November 12, in Baltimore.
           
“Determining how the money donated by parishioners in a collection will be used to assist the Church is serious and important work. We had lively discussions as we reviewed and approved funding for many important pastoral projects to support the Church in Latin America,” said Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, chair of the subcommittee. “We also have worked diligently to support the Church in Haiti and in Chile as they begin to rebuild infrastructures for the communities of faith that were impacted by the earthquakes last year.”
           
The first grants for reconstruction projects of the Church in Haiti were approved at the meeting. Among these are the structural repairs to a secondary diocesan school in Jacmel and the design phase of repairs to the co-cathedral in Miragoanes, totaling close to $100,000. The subcommittee has been assisting the Haitian bishops since the earthquake to put the necessary rebuilding structures in place to assure safety and efficiency. All USCCB aid for reconstruction work in Haiti will flow through PROCHE (Partnership for Reconstruction of the Church in Haiti), the Haitian Bishops’ Conference construction entity developed for this purpose.
           
The subcommittee also approved funding for numerous pastoral projects, formation of pastoral ministers and some extraordinary projects. For example, a special grant of $95,500 was made to the Prelature of Yauyos, in Peru, to assist in finalizing the rebuilding of churches following a devastating earthquake in 2007, and grants totaling over half a million dollars to assist the Church in Cuba were approved. Funding to assist the formation of religious, seminarians, clergy and permanent deacons totaled almost 1.8 million dollars of total funds awarded year to date.
           
The Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America oversees the Collection for the Church in Latin America as part of the USCCB Committee on National Collections. It provides support for the USCCB grant-making program as well as the Conference’s international policy work. More information on the Collection for the Church in Latin America and the projects it funds can be found at www.usccb.org/catholic-giving/opportunities-for-giving/latin-america/

November 18, 2011
IN CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY, BISHOP RAMIREZ URGES GREATER
MEASURES TO ENSURE INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
 
WASHINGTON — Congress and the Administration must take more steps to protect religious freedom around the world, said a member of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace. In November 17 testimony to the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights, Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of La Cruces, New Mexico, named countries where religious freedom is threatened and called for the U.S. government to act.
           
“Religious freedom is not solely freedom from coercion in matters of personal faith; it is also freedom to practice the faith individually and communally, in private and public,” said Bishop Ramirez. “Freedom of religion extends beyond freedom of worship. It includes the freedom of the Church and religious organizations to provide education, health and other social services, as well as to allow religiously-motivated individuals and communities to participate in public policy debates and thus contribute to the common good.”
          
Bishop Ramirez cited policies in China, the New Year’s Day bombing of a Coptic church in Egypt, the Christmas Eve bombings of churches in Nigeria and the October 2010 attack on a Syrian Catholic church in Baghdad as just a few examples of religious freedom under attack. He noted that there is persecution of Christians in Eritrea, Baha’is in Iran, Ahmaddis in Indonesia, and Christians and Muslims in Uzbekistan.

He outlined the U.S. bishops’ experience on the issue, including meetings between the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Pakistani minister for minority affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti, who was assassinated in March, and the October pastoral visit of two U.S. bishops to Catholic communities in Baghdad.
           
Bishop Ramirez recommended that Congress and the Administration place a higher priority on religious freedom.  He called on the Senate to reauthorize the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and on the State Department to consider designating additional “Countries of Particular Concern,” including Pakistan. He also asked the President and Secretary of State to review actions that can be taken to pressure states where particularly severe violations of religious freedom occur.

The full testimony is available at: www.usccb.org/about/international-justice-and-peace/upload/2011-11_USCCB_Religious_Freedom_Testimony.pdf

November 18, 2011
USCCB DIRECTOR AUTHORS STUDY BOOK ON PRESIDENTIAL
PRAYERS AND TEXTS IN THE NEW ROMAN MISSAL
 
WASHINGTON — Father Daniel Merz, associate director of the Secretariat for Divine Worship at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, is the author of a new book entitled Essential Presidential Prayers and Texts: A Roman Missal Study Edition and Workbook. The book is co-authored with Abbott Marcel Rooney, OSB, of Conception Abbey and former Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation at St. Anselm’s Abbey in Rome.
           
According to the publisher, Liturgy Training Publications (LTP), Essential Presidential Prayersprovides pastoral commentary and proclamation tips to aid priest celebrants in confidently praying the revised words of the Mass. It includes background and scriptural references as well as guidance on words to emphasize, when to pause in the prayers, and the pace at which to recite the prayers. It also includes pastoral commentary and chant tips on the Collects; Prayer over the Offerings; Prefaces; Prayer after Communion; and Solemn Blessings for Sundays, solemnities, and feasts as well as proclamation aids for the various prayers of the Mass. The aim is to aid the celebrant in leading the congregation in full, active and conscious participation during Mass.
           
“The pastoral commentary is also intended to be a resource and incentive to priests and deacons to preach on these texts in the homily,” said Father Merz. “We felt there was a need to help priests both with proclamation and understanding of the history behind some of the essential prayers of the Mass. We hope they’ll find this resource helpful not just for them but to educate the community of believers as well.”
           
Essential Presidential Prayers and Texts: A Roman Missal Study Edition and Workbook is available now through www.LTP.org and Amazon. Publication number: 978-1-61671-037-8.

November 18, 2011
USCCB ASSOCIATE GENERAL SECRETARY INVITES READERS
TO CONNECT FAITH, DAILY LIFE IN LIVING THE BEATITUDES
 
WASHINGTON — “What does it mean to pass beyond fear and live our faith every day?”  A new book by the associate general secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) explores this question by drawing on the account of the Beatitudes from the Gospel of St. Matthew. In Living the Beatitudes: A Journey to Life in Christ, published by Pauline Books and Media, Father J. Brian Bransfield examines how the Beatitudes are a daily reality and that the path to holiness is not reserved for a select few, but open to all.
           
The book uses the anonymous Samaritan woman at the well from the Gospel of St. John as someone whose experiences of being lost, misdirected and searching are reflected in many people’s daily lives. The book draws on the image of the fountain to illustrate God’s love and grace. The image is rooted in the Gospels and the opening words of the second Eucharistic prayer at Mass.
           
“Grace, God’s love for us, is a strong and persistent fountain that flows into our souls and shows forth in our actions,” said Father Bransfield in the book’s introduction. The book highlights that, no matter how much people search, Jesus is also searching for them in and through the Church. This search, Father Bransfield writes, is carried out in the work of the Holy Spirit who, through his gifts, builds the virtues in people’s hearts that prompt them to live the Beatitudes.
           
“The most important journey of all is the one we make to God who is the source of life,” wrote USCCB secretary, Bishop George Murry, SJ, of Youngstown, Ohio, in the book’s foreword. “Father Bransfield proposes the mysterious woman at the well as our guide to the Christian virtues we find presented in the Beatitudes, virtues for which we should strive: poverty in spirit, gentleness, solidarity with those who suffer loss, justice, mercy, purity of heart, peace, and the ability to suffer persecution for what is right.”
           
Father Bransfield is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He received his doctorate in moral theology from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. He previously served as professor of moral theology at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. He is also the author of the best-selling book, The Human Person: According to John Paul II.

November 17, 2011
FATHER JOHN CROSSIN NAMED HEAD OF BISHOPS’
ECUMENICAL, INTERRELIGIOUS SECRETARIAT
 
WASHINGTON — Father John William Crossin, a member of the Oblates of St. Francis De Sales, has been named executive director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
           
The appointment becomes effective December 5. Father Crossin succeeds Father James Massa, who returned to his home diocese in Brooklyn, New York, in July.
           
Msgr. Jenkins, USCCB general secretary, thanked the Oblates for agreeing to the appointment.
           
“Father Crossin has extraordinary background and expertise in the world of ecumenism and interfaith relations,” Msgr. Jenkins said. “He also has strong administrative experience honed in service to his religious congregation. I am delighted to welcome him to the USCCB.”
           
The Secretariat supports the work of the bishops in the areas of ecumenical, interreligious and Jewish dialogues and works with theologians and other experts in these areas. Work is both national and international in scope. Current religious groups in formal dialogue with the U.S. bishops include Orthodox, Anglicans, Polish National Catholics, Lutherans, Reformed, United Methodists, Jews, Muslims and Sikhs.
              
Father Crossin served most recently as executive director of the Washington Theological Consortium, 1998-2011. Previously he was a visiting fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, 1997-1998; president, De Sales School of Theology, 1987-1997; and academic dean, De Sales School of Theology, 1986-1987. He also has served on weekends for the past 20 years at Annunciation Parish, Washington, where he currently is parochial vicar.
           
Within his religious order he has served as a superior, a member of the provincial council and assistant general treasurer of the congregation.
           
He holds a Ph.D. in moral theology and master’s degrees in psychology and theology from The Catholic University of America. He is past president of the North American Academy of Ecumenists and the Thomas More Society of Washington. He has taught at several theological schools including Catholic University, Wesley Theological Seminary, Virginia Theological Seminary, Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary and De Sales School of Theology.
           
He is widely published in theological journals and is author of the following books: Everyday Virtues, Walking in Virtue: Moral Decisions and Spiritual Growth in Daily Life, Friendship: The Key to Spiritual Growth and What Are They Saying About Virtue.   

November 15, 2011
ANGLICAN ORDINARIATE FOR U.S, TO BE ESTABLISHED JANUARY 1;
BISHOP KEVIN VANN NAMED DELEGATE FOR PASTORAL PROVISION
 
WASHINGTON — Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington announced November 15 that the new ordinariate for former Anglicans in the United States will be established January 1,  the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
           
At the same time he confirmed that Bishop Kevin Vann of Fort Worth, Texas, will succeed Archbishop John Myers of Newark as Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision, through which married Anglican priests become diocesan priests in the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Wuerl, who is the delegate for the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the head of an ad hoc committee of U.S. bishops to lead efforts in the United States to receive Anglican groups into the Catholic Church, made the announcement during the fall plenary meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in Baltimore. Bishop Vann is a member of the ad hoc committee.
           
The ordinariate stems from the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus issued by Pope Benedict XVI in November 2009 that authorized the creation of ‘ordinariates,’ geographic regions similar to dioceses but typically national in scope. Parishes in these ordinariates are to be Catholic yet retain elements of the Anglican heritage and liturgical practices. They are to be led by an ‘ordinary,’ who will have a role similar to a bishop, but who may be either a bishop or a priest. The ordinary for the United States will be named on January 1.
           
Bishop Vann’s appointment as Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision was made by the Vatican. He succeeds Archbishop Myers in this position.  Among the duties of the Ecclesiastical Delegate is to ensure the former Anglican priests in formation receive theological, spiritual and pastoral preparation for ministry in the Catholic Church.
           
The Pastoral Provision is under the jurisdiction of the Holy See’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. While Bishop Vann’s work as Ecclesiastical Delegate and the ordinariate are separate, close communication and cooperation will exist between the Pastoral Provision office and the ordinariate.
           
The Ecclesiastical Delegate administers the process by which married, former Anglican ministers can become priests sponsored by a diocesan bishop. The process includes the gathering of information by the candidate and his sponsoring bishop concerning his suitability for ordination. This information is then submitted to the Holy See through the Ecclesiastical Delegate. To this is added the academic assessment and certification of each candidate by a body of theologians established by the Ecclesiastical Delegate.
           
The Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision was created by the Holy See in 1980 in response to requests from Episcopal priests and laity who were seeking full Communion with the Catholic Church. Since creating the Pastoral Provision, more than 100 men have been ordained as priests, three personal parishes have been established and use of the Book of Divine Worship, a liturgical text authorized by the Vatican that incorporates Anglican prayers and material, has been authorized.

 Anglicanorum coetibus Q&A

November 15, 2011 
CARDINAL DINARDO URGES SENATE TO STRIKE PROVISIONS
IN APPROPRIATIONS BILLS THREATENING HUMAN LIFE
 
BALTIMORE — The U.S. Senate should vote to remove four provisions that pose a direct threat to human life from a package of three appropriations bills, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. In a November 14 letter, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston urged the Senate to support amendments to H.R. 2354 that would correct each of these provisions.
           
“At a time when Congress is tempted to reduce even vitally important programs that serve the poorest and neediest people here and abroad, the moral wrong of expanding subsidies for direct violations of human life and dignity is especially egregious,” Cardinal DiNardo wrote.
           
He highlighted four areas of concern:

• A provision of the Senate’s Financial Services bill that “completely eliminates Congress’s longstanding provision against federal funding of health plans that cover elective abortions in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP),” which means “Congress will directly use taxpayers’ funds for elective abortion coverage – contradicting repeated assurances by supporters of the health care reform law of 2010 that Congress had no intent of doing so.”
• A second provision in the Financial Services bill that would allow congressionally appropriated funds to go to elective abortions in the District of Columbia.
• Report language accompanying the State /Foreign Operations bill that “recommends $40 million for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), despite that agency’s continued support for a brutal program of coerced abortion and involuntary sterilization in China.”
• Section 7086 of the State/Foreign Operations that would permanently ban restoration of the Mexico City Policy, a policy of the Reagan and Bush administrations that prevented U.S. funding of foreign non-governmental organizations that perform and promote abortion as a method of family planning.

 “In fact the bill’s provision sweeps even more broadly, so that no harmful or destructive ‘health or medical service’ may render an organization ineligible for U.S. funds if that ‘service’ is permitted in the host country and ‘would not violate United Sates law,’” Cardinal DiNardo wrote of the last point. “In short, this provision effectively says that if a foreign nation allows medical personnel to abuse men, women and children, the United States will subsidize the perpetrators.”
           
Full text of Cardinal DiNardo’s letter is available online: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/abortion/upload/hr-2354-letter.pdf

November 14, 2011
BISHOPS VOTE FOR SECRETARY-ELECT OF CONFERENCE, CHAIRS-ELECT OF FIVE
COMMITTEES, CHAIR OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND PEACE AT GENERAL MEETING
 
BALTIMORE — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted for the secretary-elect of USCCB, the chairmen-elect of five committees and the chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace at their annual Fall General Assembly, November 14.
           
The secretary-elect and chairmen-elect serve in that capacity for one year before beginning a three-year term. The bishops elected were:

• Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle for secretary-elect/chairman of the Committee on Priorities and Plans in a 136-102 vote over Bishop Robert Cunningham of Syracuse, New York.
• Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City for chairman-elect of the Committee on Communications in a 129-108 vote over Archbishop Thomas Rodi of Mobile, Alabama.
• Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsvile, Texas for chairman-elect of the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church in a 151-85 vote over Bishop Oscar Cantu, auxiliary bishop of San Antonio.
• Archbishop John Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis for chairman-elect of the Committee on Doctrine in a 126-111 vote over Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, Massachusetts.
• Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati for chairman-elect of the Committee on National Collections in a 137-96 vote over Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, New York.
• Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston for chairman-elect of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities in a 149-84 vote over Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit.
• Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines, Iowa for chairman of International Justice and Peace in a 122-114 vote over Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, Florida. Bishop Pates will become chair of the committee at the conclusion of the meeting.

The election of a chairman instead of a chairman-elect for International Justice and Peace reflects the fact that Archbishop Edwin O’Brien was elected chairman-elect in 2010 but will not assume the position because Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Pro-Grand Master of the Equestrian Order (Knights) of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
           
The bishops also elected Bishop Joseph Pepe of Las Vegas and Bishop Anthony Taylor of Little Rock, Arkansas to the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) Board. They elected Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha, Nebraska, Bishop Flores, Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City and Bishop Martin Holley, auxiliary bishop of Washington, to the Catholic Relief Services Board (CRS).

November 14, 2011 
BISHOPS ANNOUNCE GUIDELINES FOR INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN MINISTRY

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Cultural Diversity presented its guidelines on intercultural competence for ecclesial ministers at a special evening session to more than 40 bishops, staff and guests on Sunday, November 13, 2011, ahead of the bishops’ General Meeting in Baltimore     The project took shape over the past three years in response to the bishops’ pastoral priority on recognition of the cultural diversity in the church.
           
“Diversity in the Church is happening” said Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, California, chairman of the Cultural Diversity Committee. “The skills from the Cultural Competency Workshop will assist pastoral ministers to make it happen more effectively in their communities.”
           
The guidelines are expressed in the form of competencies – knowledge, attitudes and skills – and are developed in a training workshop consisting of five learning modules, one for each guideline.
           
The five guidelines are: 1) Frame issues of diversity theologically in terms of the Church’s identity and mission to evangelize; 2) Seek an understanding of culture and how it works; 3) Develop intercultural communications skills in pastoral settings; 4) Expand one’s knowledge of the obstacles that impede effective intercultural relations; and 5) Foster ecclesial integration /inclusion in Church settings, with a spirituality if reconciliation and mission.
           
The guidelines are explicitly linked to the universal Church’s focus on the New Evangelization and are expressed in the form of competencies that enhance one’s ability to effectively engage cultures as well as deal with cultural boundaries and relations.
           
Over the past year the program was piloted at three different locations for a select group of leaders in the (arch) dioceses of Washington, Baltimore, Wilmington, Arlington, DesMoines and San Bernardino.
           
At the Sunday gathering, Bishop Richard Pates of DesMoines, Iowa, and Auxiliary Bishop Rutilio del Riego of San Bernardino, California, gave enthusiastic endorsements of the program.
           
“The workshop introduced staff to the reality of diversity” Bishop Pates said.  “Our goal is to institutionalize this reality so we do not need these special occasions for the recognition of diversity”.
           
Bishop del Riego spoke to the process of preparation, participation and follow up the Diocese of San Bernardino went through.  Double the number of participants, from clergy to diocesan personnel, than originally planned responded to the diocesan bishops invitation to attend.
          
“The participants gave high marks to the contents and the presenters but, most of all, provided them with valuable ideas they could use immediately,” Bishop del Riego said.
           
Workshop materials include an introductory DVD, a manual with content and methodology a listing of best practice, a glossary of terms and other resources.  Director of several USCCB departments concerned with evangelization and catechesis, Catholic education, laity formation, and youth and young adult ministries, as well as representatives of national Catholic organizations like the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) attended.  Others, such as the National Federation of Catholic Youth Ministers (NFCYM) and the National Associations of Lay Ministers (NALM), have expressed a keen interest in intercultural competencies for ministers and the need to provide this kind of training for all Church personnel, teachers and pastoral agents in an increasingly diverse Church.
           
One of the main features of the guidelines is their insistence on connecting Catholic identity with cultural diversity.  One of the participants in the San Bernardino pilot session, reflecting on the connection between intercultural competence and the New Evangelization, wrote: “The workshop is calling us Catholics to be more intentional about our Catholicism, to “re-propose” our faith in and for our U.S. culture.”
           
The Secretariat of Cultural Diversity will now disseminate the guidelines and has identified several outcomes. One of the most important outcomes will be the creation of a core of workshop trainers available for service in the various Episcopal regions. They will be available to train diocesan and parish personnel/ministers in the five competencies. Training of trainers sessions will begin in the summer of 2012.

November 14, 2011
BISHOPS LAUNCH NEW WEBSITE, MARRIAGE: UNIQUE FOR A REASON 

 The “Arab Spring” is unleashing forces that are having a devastating effect on the Christian communities of the Middle East. Our Churches in Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine report disturbing developments such as destruction of churches and massacres of innocent civilians that cause us grave concern. Many of our church leaders are calling Christians and all people of good will to stand in solidarity with the members of these ancient indigenous communities.  In unity with them and each other, we the members of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, gathered October 27-29, 2011, add our voice to their call.
 
We are concerned for our fellow Christians who, in the face of daunting challenges, struggle to maintain a necessary witness to Christ in their homelands. United with them in prayer and solidarity, we ask our fellow Christians living in the West to take time to develop a more realistic appreciation of their predicament. We ask our political leaders to exert more pressure where it can protect these Churches, many of which have survived centuries of hardship but now stand on the verge of disappearing completely.
 
When one part of the body suffers, all suffer (cf. 1 Cor. 12:26). As Christians in the West, we therefore have the vital responsibility to respond to the needs of our brothers and sisters who live in fear for their lives and communities at this moment. As Orthodox and Catholic Christians we share this responsibility and this concern together.

November 2, 2011
BISHOPS URGE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE TO OPPOSE
BILL THAT WOULD REPEAL DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT
 
WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee should uphold the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage at the federal level as the union of one man and one woman, because of its importance to human rights and the common good, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Promotion and Defense of Marriage efforts. In a November 2 letter, Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of Oakland, California, asked the Committee to oppose any bill that would repeal DOMA, particularly the Respect for Marriage Act (S. 598).
         
“All persons have a rightful claim to our utmost respect,” wrote Bishop Cordileone. “There is no corresponding duty, however, for society to disregard the meaning of sexual difference and its practical consequences for the common good; to override fundamental rights, such as religious liberty; and to re-define our most basic social institution. DOMA advances the common good in a manner consistent with the human dignity of all persons.”
Bishop Cordileone noted that DOMA’s definition of marriage reflects a longstanding consensus based in reason that is “accessible to people of all faiths or none at all.”
         
He added, “Millions of citizens have gone to the ballot in 30 states to ratify similar DOMA proposals by substantial majorities. Forty-one states in all have enacted their own DOMAs. Popularity alone does not determine what is right. But in the face of such broad support in the present day, not to mention a legacy of lived experience and reasoned reflection measured in millennia in every society and civilization throughout all of human history, repealing a measure that merely recognizes the truth of marriage is all the more improvident.”
         
Bishop Cordileone also wrote that changing the definition of marriage would violate human rights, namely the rights of children to be cared for by both a mother and a father and the right of religious freedom.
         
“In places where marriage’s core meaning has been altered through legal action, officials are beginning to target for punishment those believers and churches that refuse to adapt,” Bishop Cordileone wrote. “Any non-conforming conduct and even expressions of disagreement, based simply on support for marriage as understood since time immemorial, are wrongly being treated as if they harmed society, and somehow constituted a form of evil equal to racism. DOMA represents an essential protection against such threats to faith and conscience.”
         
The full text of Bishop Cordileone’s letter can be found at: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/marriage-and-family/marriage/promotion-and-defense-of-marriage/upload/Cordileone-to-Senate-Judiciary-Committee-DOMA-Nov-2-2011.pdf

November 2, 2011
CATHOLIC CAMPAIGN FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
NATIONAL COLLECTION COMING UP NOVEMBER 19-20
 
WASHINGTON — The national Collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) is slated for November 19-20, the weekend before Thanksgiving. The collection is taken up in parishes and dioceses nationwide. “Fight poverty in America. Defend human dignity,” is the theme of this year’s collection.

CCHD works for the relief of those oppressed by poverty by empowering neighbors to help one another eliminate the causes of poverty in their communities.

“The number of people living in poverty in our nation shot up for the fourth year in a row from 43.6 to 46.2 million in 2010—the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published,” said Bishop Jaime Soto, chairman of the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. “With its focus on long-term solutions, CCHD’s approach is an essential complement to the vital work of our Catholic schools, Catholic Charities agencies, pro-life activities and other direct assistance programs to those in need.”
           
Examples of CCHD-funded groups include AMOS (A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy), which has provided the women of Story County, Iowa, with a mobile clinic where they can receive the prenatal care they need but could not otherwise afford or access. The trained medical professionals on board provide ultrasound services and exams, but not contraceptives or abortions.
           
“The needs of low-income pregnant women to access prenatal care have been a concern of our parish Social Justice Committee for several years. Working with AMOS and MICA (local ecumenical social justice advocacy groups) we are happy to have had some part in securing this important service to the women in our community in need of it,” said Father James Secora, pastor of St. Cecilia Parish in Ames, Iowa.
           
In Ohio, WIN Action Organizing Project is working to provide foreclosure prevention assistance to thousands of homeowners. Through continued collaboration with national lenders, the project has been able to help keep hundreds of low-income families in their homes.
           
For over 40 years the Catholic Campaign for Human Development has funded organizations that address the root causes of poverty. The annual national collection is the primary source of funding for CCHD’s anti-poverty grants and education programs. During the 2010-2011 grant cycle CCHD put nearly $8 million dollars into community efforts to fight poverty. Twenty-five percent of the collection’s proceeds stay in the (arch)diocese where funds are collected to fight poverty and defend people’s dignity in their local communities.
           
A new video released by CCHD tells the stories of three individuals whose lives have been impacted by CCHD’s work to fund efforts that empower low-income people to address the causes of poverty in their communities. The video is entitled “CCHD: Living Our Faith, Breaking the Cycle of Poverty” and can be found at www.usccb.org/cchd. It provides concrete examples of how CCHD carries out Jesus’ mission “to bring good news to the poor…release to captives…sight to the blind and let the oppressed go free” (Lk 4:18).
         
For more information about the Collection for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and other national collections go to www.usccb.org/about/national-collections.

November 1, 2011 
CARDINAL CALLS FOR GREATER CONSCIENCE PROTECTION IN
HEALTH CARE REFORM ON EVE OF SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING
 
WASHINGTON — Congress should strengthen conscience protections for health care providers and ensure that health care reform measures do not impede religious liberty, said the U.S. bishops’ chairman of Pro-Life Activities on the eve of a hearing by the House Subcommittee on Health, “Do New Health Law Mandates Threaten Conscience Rights and Access to Care?”

In a November 1 letter to subcommittee chairman Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-Pennsylvania), Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston urged support for the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (H.R. 1179/S. 1467) and other measures to address flaws in health care reform.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) “excluded longstanding protections for conscience rights on abortion, by failing to apply the annual Hyde/Weldon amendment to the billions of dollars newly appropriated by the Act,” Cardinal DiNardo wrote.  “And it created new open-ended mandates for ‘essential health benefits’ and ‘preventive services’ to be included in almost all private health plans, without any provision for individuals or institutions that may have a moral or religious objection to particular items or procedures.”

Cardinal DiNardo added that the preventive service mandate has been exploited by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to force almost all private insurers to cover contraceptives—including some that can cause early abortions—and sterilizations. This mandate comes with a religious exemption that narrowly defines religious employers as those who employ and serve members of their own religion for the purpose of teaching religious doctrine.

“Jesus and the apostles would not be ‘religious enough’ under such a test, as they served and healed people of different religions,” wrote Cardinal DiNardo. “Catholic organizations committed to their moral and religious teaching will have no choice but to stop providing health care and other services to the needy who are not Catholic, or stop providing health coverage to their own employees.  This is an intolerable dilemma, and either choice will mean reduced access to health care.”

Cardinal DiNardo said it was troubling that this reduction in care would occur merely as a result of mandated contraception. “Is the drive to maximize contraceptive coverage, even among those who do not want it, such an urgent national priority that it transcends concerns about religious liberty, our nation’s ‘First Freedom,’ as well as concerns about women’s health and about access to basic health care for men and women alike?” he asked.

He included with his letter an advertisement appearing in Politico, The Hill, Roll Call and CQ Today signed by 22 leaders of Catholic organizations objecting to the “preventive services” mandate.

The full text of Cardinal DiNardo’s letter is available at: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience-protection/upload/DiNardo-to-Pitts-on-Conscience-Rights-11-1-11.pdf

The advertisement featuring the open letter is available at: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/conscience-protection/upload/conscience-rights-open-letter.pdf

November 1, 2011 
U.S. CATHOLIC-LUTHERAN DIALOGUE BEGINS
ROUND XII, THEME: MINISTRIES OF TEACHING
 
WASHINGTON — The first meeting of Round XII of the U.S. Catholic-Lutheran Dialogue was held Oct. 13-16 at St. Paul’s College in Washington. The new round continues the series of official U.S. Lutheran-Catholic dialogues initiated in 1965 and is projected to span four years of scholarship and annual meetings. The theme of this round is Ministries of Teaching.
           
The three-day consultation focused specifically on the Bible as an authoritative source in the teaching ministries of Lutherans and Catholics. The meeting showcased papers developed by participating scholars and theologians of both traditions, exploring various aspects of the Bible as a source of teaching authority. The presentation of each paper was followed by open discussion within the group.
           
“Even with so many new members, there was already a good deal of constructive dialogue at our first meeting,” said Bishop Lee A. Piché, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Catholic co-chair. “It will be a joy to work with these participants who bring considerable gifts of insight and experience, as well as much good will.” Bishop Piché was appointed co-chair following the retirement of Bishop Richard J. Sklba, auxiliary bishop of Milwaukee, who was co-chair of Rounds X and XI.  
           
The Rev. Lowell G. Almen, Ph.D., first secretary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) from 1987 to 2007 and co-chair of Round XII, commented on his hope that the theological exchange will prove fruitful for both communities of believers.
           
“This U.S. Catholic-Lutheran Dialogue historically has been noted throughout the world as a highly productive one,” Rev. Almen said. He previously served as a member of Round X and co-chair of Round XI before undertaking his responsibilities in Round XII.
           
Catholic scholars for this dialogue include: Gary Anderson, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame; James J. Buckley, Ph.D., Loyola University of Maryland in Baltimore; Edward P. Hahnenberg, Ph.D., John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio; Margaret O’Gara, Ph.D., University of St. Michael’s College, Toronto, Ontario; Christian D. Washburn, Ph.D., St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity of the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota; Jesuit Father Jared Wicks, Th.D., University Heights, Ohio; and Sister of Charity Susan K. Wood, Ph.D., Marquette University, Milwaukee.
           
Participants from the ELCA include: H. Ashley Hall, Ph.D., Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska; the Rev. Stephen J. Hultgren, Ph.D., Fordham University; Kathryn L. Johnson, Ph.D., Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Kentucky; the Rev. Jonathan W. Linman, Ph.D., ELCA Metropolitan New York Synod; Ian A. McFarland, Ph.D., Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.; the Rev. Marcus J. Miller, D.Min., president of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina; and Martha Stortz, Ph.D., Augsburg College, Minneapolis. Providing staff services for this dialogue was the Rev. Paul A. Schreck of Round Lake Beach, Illinois.

November 1, 2011
MIDWEST MUSLIM-CATHOLIC DIALOGUE COMPLETES LATEST ROUND, MUSLIMS AND
CATHOLICS IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE, AND LOOKS AHEAD TO 2012 NATIONAL PLENARY
 
WASHINGTON — Representatives of the Midwest Muslim-Catholic Dialogue convened at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, October 9 and 10, to discuss the final works of the completed round and to begin preparations for a planned national plenary for October 2012. The Dialogue is co-chaired by auxiliary Bishop Francis R. Reiss of the Archdiocese of Detroit and Sayyid M. Syeed, Ph.D., of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).
           
In his opening remarks on Muslims and Catholics working together in the public square, Bishop Reiss reminded the representatives that the drift into cultural relativism threatens to release forces of chaos and violence as was evidenced recently in the London riots.
           
“When young people … are deprived of a formation that … encourages their lifelong commitment to the transcendental values of absolute goodness, truth, and beauty,” the bishop said, “it is then that we risk abandoning our fellow human beings to the culture of death, that is, a culture without God.” He added, “Should we not together strive to shed light on the emergent chasm of irrationality and hopelessness that threatens our fellow citizens? Of course we should.”
           
Dr. Syeed affirmed the bishop’s remarks, saying that “the time to act is now.” While acknowledging the dangers of modern culture, he also endeavored to celebrate the recent attempts of Muslim youth in certain regions of the Middle East to embrace the positive values of democracy that “provide our greatest hope for the realization of religious freedom and peace.”
           
“Here is a sign that shows the world how democracy is a great good,” he said. He warned that Catholics and Muslims must work together to encourage these efforts so that secular relativism does not derail them. Dr. Syeed praised recent efforts to establish interreligious networks committed to building trust and solidarity across the spectrum of belief. He cited the establishment of Shoulder to Shoulder: Standing with American Muslims, Upholding American Values as an excellent example of an interreligious network of leaders committed to working together to end Islamophobia and threats to religious freedom everywhere.
           
To mark the end of this current round, members provided concluding remarks on the latest publication efforts regarding the topic of Catholics and Muslims in the public square. Father Thomas Baima, University of St. Mary of the Lake in Chicago, distributed the recently published spring 2011 edition of Chicago Studies, which features the collected papers of dialogue members. It can be found at: http://chicagostudies.org/issues/2011-1.asp
            Members were presented with an outline of a joint written project on Catholics and Muslims in the public square. It will be a resource for local religious leaders and is meant for popular dissemination. Members also broached the subject of a national plenary for 2012, to convene the three national Muslim-Catholic Dialogues. The agenda will be coordinated by the chairpersons of each dialogue and the Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
           
Participating members of the dialogue were: Irfan Omar, Ph.D., Marquette University; Dominican Sister Joan McGuire, Archdiocese of Chicago; Judith Longdin, Archdiocese of Milwaukee; Father David Bruning, St. Caspar Church, Wauseon, Ohio; FatherRaymond Webb, University of St. Mary of the Lake; Ghulam-Haider Aasi, Ph.D., American Islamic College; Father Tom Baima, University of St. Mary of the Lake; Scott Alexander, Ph.D., Catholic Theological Union; Shakeela Hassan, Ph.D., Harran Foundation, Chicago; Josh Jones, Catholic Theological Union; Syeed Sayeed, Ph.D., ISNA; Bishop Francis Reiss, Archdiocese of Detroit; Father Jeff Day, Archdiocese of Detroit; Anthony Cirelli, Ph.D., USCCB staff; Zeki Saritoprak, Ph.D., John Carroll University; and Imam Kareem Irfan, Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago.