(USCCB News Archives can be accessed at http://www.usccb.org/comm/commcur.shtml)

 
BISHOPS WELCOME RULING AGAINST EMBRYONIC STEM CELL FUNDING,
URGE GOVERNMENT TO PURSUE ETHICAL STEM CELL RESEARCH
 
WASHINGTON — Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, welcomed the federal court injunction against the Obama administration’s funding of human embryonic stem cell research, calling the ruling a “victory for common sense and sound medical ethics.”  He said this ruling also vindicates the bishops’ reading of the Dickey amendment, the amendment approved by Congress since 1996, which prevents federal funding of research in which human embryos are harmed or destroyed.
           
“I hope this court decision will encourage our government to renew and expand its commitment to ethically sound avenues of stem cell research,” Cardinal DiNardo added. “These avenues are showing far more promise than destructive human embryo research in serving the needs of suffering patients.”
           
The full statement follows:
 
The preliminary injunction against the Obama administration’s funding of human embryonic stem cell research is a welcome victory for common sense and sound medical ethics. It also vindicates a reading of Congress’s statutory language on embryo research that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has defended for more than a decade.
 
Each year since 1996, Congress has approved the Dickey amendment to forbid funding any “research in which” human embryos are harmed or destroyed. This should ensure that taxpayers are not forced to fund a research project when pursuing that project requires the destruction of human life at its earliest stage. However, beginning with a legal memo commissioned by the Clinton administration in January 1999, this law has been distorted and narrowed to allow federal funding of research that directly relies on such destruction. As the bishops’ conference said in congressional testimony in 1999, “a mere bookkeeping distinction between funds used to destroy the embryo and funds used to work with the resultant cells is not sufficient” to comply with the law. In the health care reform debate, as well, we have pointed out that an executive order by itself cannot change the meaning of a law passed by Congress, and that the longstanding policy against funding health plans that cover abortion is not satisfied, but circumvented, by a bookkeeping distinction that merely segregates accounts within such plans.
 
A task of good government is to use its funding power to direct resources where they will best serve and respect human life, not to find new ways to evade this responsibility. I hope this court decision will encourage our government to renew and expand its commitment to ethically sound avenues of stem cell research. These avenues are showing far more promise than destructive human embryo research in serving the needs of suffering patients.

August 23, 2010
BISHOP MURPHY CALLS FOR NEW SOCIAL CONTRACT FOR ‘NEW
THINGS’ IN TODAY’S ECONOMY IN LABOR DAY STATEMENT
 
WASHINGTON — With millions unemployed and U.S. workers experiencing tragedies such as mining deaths in West Virginia and the oil rig explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Americans “must seek to protect the life and dignity of each worker in a renewed and robust economy,” said Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York. Bishop Murphy addressed these issues in the 2010 Labor Day Statement of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), entitled “A New ‘Social Contract’ for Today’s ‘New Things,’” which can be found online in English (www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/labor_day_2010.pdf) and Spanish (www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/labor_day_2010_spanish.pdf).

Bishop Murphy, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, compared the challenges faced by today’s workers to the changing society of the Industrial Revolution addressed by Pope Leo XIII in the 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum (Of New Things).

“America is undergoing a rare economic transformation, shedding jobs and testing safety nets as the nation searches for new ways to govern and grow our economy,” said Bishop Murphy. “Workers need a new ‘social contract.’” Bishop Murphy said that creating new jobs would require new investments, initiative and creativity in the economy. He also drew on the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, which call for placing the human person at the center of economic life and emphasize the role of civil society and mediating institutions such as unions in pursing the common good.

“Workers need to have a real voice and effective protections in economic life,” said Bishop Murphy. “The market, the state, and civil society, unions and employers all have roles to play and they must be exercised in creative and fruitful interrelationships. Private action and public policies that strengthen families and reduce poverty are needed. New jobs with just wages and benefits must be created so that all workers can express their dignity through the dignity of work and are able to fulfill God’s call to us all to be co-creators. A new social contract, which begins by honoring work and workers, must be forged that ultimately focuses on the common good of the entire human family.”

August 20, 2010
CARDINAL DINARDO URGES SUPPORT FOR LAW 
PREVENTING FEDERAL FUNDING OF ABORTION

Law would apply Hyde amendment policy to all federal funds
Would protect health care providers from retaliation for not assisting with abortions

WASHINGTON — Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, called on members of the House of Representatives to support the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act” (H.R. 5939), introduced by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) at the end of July.

He called for support in an August 20 letter. The bill already has 166 co-sponsors including 20 Democratic members. The text of the letter can be found at www.usccb.org/prolife/DiNardo-HR5939.pdf. 

 “H.R. 5939 will write into permanent law a policy on which there has been strong popular and congressional agreement for over 35 years: The federal government should not use taxpayers’ money to support and promote elective abortion,” Cardinal DiNardo said. “Even public officials who take a ‘pro-choice’ stand on abortion, and courts that have insisted on the validity of a constitutional ‘right’ to abortion, have agreed that the government can validly use its funding power to encourage childbirth over abortion.”

He said some people assume this position already is fully reflected in U.S. law, and noted, for example, that “some wrongly argued during the recent debate on health care reform that there was no need for restrictions on abortion funding in the new health legislation, because this matter had already been settled by the Hyde amendment.”

However, he noted, the Hyde amendment, which precludes money for elective abortions and health plans that provide them, is only a rider to the annual Labor/Health and Human Services appropriations bill. It has been maintained essentially intact by Congress over the last 35 years, but it only governs funds appropriated under that particular act.           

Federal funds are prevented now from funding abortion by riders to various other appropriations bills as well as by provisions incorporated into specific authorizing legislation for the Department of Defense, Children’s Health Insurance Program, foreign assistance, and so on. Gaps or loopholes in these protections have also been discovered at various times, requiring Congress to address them individually.        

Thus, “while Congress’s policy has been remarkably consistent for decades, implementation of that policy in practice has been piecemeal and sometimes sadly inadequate,” Cardinal DiNardo said. 

H.R. 5939 would also codify the Hyde/Weldon amendment that has been part of the section containing the Hyde amendment in annual Labor/HHS appropriations bills since 2004. Hyde/Weldon has ensured that federal agencies and state and local governments that receive federal funds do not discriminate against health care providers because they do not perform or provide abortions. 

“It is long overdue for this policy, as well, to be given a more secure legislative status,’’ Cardinal DiNardo said. “No hospital, doctor or nurse should be forced to stop providing much-needed legitimate health care because they cannot in conscience participate in destroying a developing human life.” 

U.S. Adaptations to Mass Prayers Also Approved
Parish Education Efforts Urged To Precede Implementation
Resources Available Through USCCB
 
WASHINGTON — Cardinal Francis George, OMI, Archbishop of Chicago and President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has announced that the full text of the  English-language translation of the Roman Missal, Third Edition, has been issued for the dioceses of the United States of America.
           
The text was approved by the Vatican, and the approval was accompanied by a June 23 letter from Cardinal Llovera Antonio Cañizares, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The Congregation also provided guidelines for publication.
           
In addition, on July 24, the Vatican gave approval for several adaptations, including additional prayers for the Penitential Act at Mass and the Renewal of Baptismal Promises on Easter Sunday. Also approved are texts of prayers for feasts specific to the United States such as Thanksgiving, Independence Day and the observances of feasts for saints such as Damien of Molokai, Katharine Drexel, and Elizabeth Ann Seton. The Vatican also approved the Mass for Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life, which can be celebrated on January 22. 
           
Cardinal George announced receipt of the documents in an August 20 letter to the U.S. Bishops and issued a decree of proclamation that states that “The use of the third edition of the Roman Missal enters into use in the dioceses of the United States of America as of the First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2011. From that date forward, no other edition of the Roman Missal may be used in the dioceses of the United States of America.”
           
The date of implementation was chosen to allow publishers time to prepare texts and parishes and dioceses to educate parishioners.
           
“We can now move forward and continue with our important catechetical efforts as we prepare the text for publication,” Cardinal George said.
           
In the coming weeks, staff of the bishops’ Secretariat of Divine Worship will prepare the text for publication and collaborate with the staff of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), which will assist Bishops’ Conferences in bringing the text to publication. In particular, ICEL has been preparing the chant settings of the texts of the Missal for use in the celebration of the Mass. Once all necessary elements have been incorporated into the text and the preliminary layout is complete, the final text will go to the publishers to produce the ritual text, catechetical resources and participation aids for use in the Liturgy.
           
Receipt of the text marks the start of proximate preparation for Roman Missal implementation. Before first use of the new text in Advent 2011, pastors are urged to use resources available to prepare parishioners. Some already have been in use; others are being released now. They include the Parish Guide for the Implementation of the Roman Missal, Third Edition, and Become One Body, One Spirit in Christ, a multi-media DVD resource produced by ICEL in collaboration with English-language Conferences of Bishops. Both will be available from the USCCB. Information on resources can be found at www.usccb.org/romanmissal
           
Bishop Arthur Serratelli of Paterson, New Jersey, Chair of the Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, voiced gratitude for the approval.
           
“I am happy that after years of preparation, we now have a text that, when introduced late next year, will enable the ongoing renewal of the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy in our parishes,” he said. Msgr. Anthony Sherman, Director of the Secretariat for Divine Worship of the USCCB noted, “A great effort to produce the new Roman Missal for the United States, along with the other necessary resources, has begun. Even as that work is underway a full–scale catechesis about the Liturgy and the new Roman Missal should be taking place in parishes, so that when the time comes, everyone will be ready.”

August 6, 2010
CARDINAL DINARDO PRESENTS ‘PEOPLE
OF LIFE’ AWARDS TO THREE HONOREES
 
WASHINGTON — Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and as chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, presented the People of Life award to three individuals for their lifetime commitment to the pro-life movement at a ceremony in Houston August 9. Those honored were Professor William E. May, Msgr. Philip J. Reilly and Patricia Bainbridge. Over 85 diocesan pro-life directors from across the country attended the private awards dinner during the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities’ annual Diocesan Pro-Life Leadership Conference.
           
The People of Life Award recognizes those who have answered the call outlined by Pope John Paul II in The Gospel of Life (Evangelium Vitae, 1995) by dedicating themselves to pro-life activities and promoting respect for the dignity of the human person. It is bestowed on occasion to a practicing Catholic in honor of his or her significant contribution in service to the culture of life.
           
William E. May holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Marquette University and has taught at several Catholic universities. He is currently a senior fellow at the Culture of Life Foundation, and emeritus Michael J. McGivney Professor of Moral Theology at the Pontifical Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family at the Catholic University of America. He has written over 226 journal articles, has authored, co-authored, or edited 24 books, and is currently working on three more, including the third edition of Catholic Bioethics and the Gift of Human Life. He holds several major awards, including the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal from Pope John Paul II in 1991. He was appointed by the Holy See to serve on several commissions and advisory groups, including the background work on the 2008 document, Dignitas Personae (The Dignity of the Person). Professor May has been married for 52 years, is the father of seven and grandfather of fifteen grandchildren.
           
Msgr. Philip J. Reilly has devoted most of his 50-year-long priestly ministry to the pro-life cause. He fought the legalization of abortion in New York before the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, helped to organize the first national March for Life in Washington in 1974, and served as a witness to uphold the Hyde Amendment banning federal funding of abortion in most circumstances. In 1989, Monsignor Reilly founded the Helpers of God’s Precious Infants, Inc., to focus on prayer efforts and sidewalk counseling outside of abortion clinics. For over twenty years, five days a week, he has counseled and prayed on the streets outside abortion clinics. He continues to serve as executive director of the Helpers and travels internationally to train others how to hold peaceful, loving prayer vigils and to offer constructive assistance to those in crisis both before and after abortion.
           
Patricia Bainbridge has served the pro-life movement since 1978. She recently retired from her ten-year post as director of the Respect Life Office and Natural Family Planning Coordinator for the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois, where she was also the “Lifelines” columnist for the diocesan paper. For seven years during her service, Bainbridge chaired the Department of Life for the Catholic Conference of Illinois. Prior to her diocesan work, Bainbridge founded the Christian Action Council of Western New York in the eighties, co-founded Life Decisions International, and served on the board of Christian Tapes for the Blind and Disabled, among other civic groups. She is a board member of several pro-life organizations serving the diverse needs of pregnant and post-abortive women, and raising awareness about the dignity of human life; and is chairman of the board of Human Life International. Married for 40 years, she and her husband were received into full communion with the Catholic Church in 2001.
          
Since the award’s inception three years ago, the Pro-Life Secretariat has honored 11 people with the People of Life Award. In 2007, the recipients were: John Bruchalski, M.D., F.A.C.O.G., founder/director of Divine Mercy Care and Tepeyac Family Center; Molly Kertz, retired director of the Respect Life Office, Archdiocese of St. Louis; and Thomas J. Marzen (awarded posthumously), former director of the National Legal Center for the Medically Dependent and Disabled. The 2008 award recipients were: Carolyn Brown-Davis (awarded posthumously), advocate and organizer for the African American, African and Caribbean communities; Ann Dierks, retired director of the Respect Life Office and director of Project Rachel, Diocese of Little Rock; and Ralph Miech, M.D., Ph.D., professor of Pharmacology, founding member of the Coalition of Americans for Research Ethics, speaker, author, and expert witness on life issues. In 2009, the following honorees received the People of Life Award: Hanna Klaus, M.D., director of the Natural Family Planning Center of Washington, DC, and founder of TeenSTAR Program; Virginia McCaskey, pro-life advocate and witness; and Vicki Thorn, founder of Project Rachel and executive director, National Office ofPost-Abortion Reconciliation & Healing (NOPARH). Earlier this year, two college students were recognized with the first People of Life Student Leader Awards: Thomas Nellson, director of pro-life hospitality, The Catholic University of America; and Lauren Roselli, former president, Students for Life, Catholic University of America.
           
For more information on the bishops’ People of Life campaign, visit www.usccb.org/prolife/peopleoflife/ .

August 6, 2010
BISHOPS’ CHILD PROTECTION OFFICE LISTS MESSAGES
CHILDREN HEAR IN SAFE ENVIRONEMNT PROGRAMS
WASHINGTON — As schools launch a new academic year, millions of children also are set to learn the ABC’s of child protection. In Catholic schools and parishes nationwide,safe environment training gives children the skills necessary to protect themselves from would be-offenders. Mary Jane Doerr, associate director of the Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has listed here some of the messages children hear in safe environment programs.

1. Abuse is never a child’s fault, a point that children need to hear over and over again. Offenders try hard to make children feel complicit in the abuse or to blame them for the abuse. Children learn that that is never true! The blame always belongs to the adult who is taking advantage of a child’s trust and vulnerabilities.
2. God loves children forever and wants them to live holy and happy lives. If a child has been abused, that child learns they are still innocent and loved by God and their families. The shame of child sexual abuse needs to be put where it belongs: on the abuser.
3. Abuse that has happened should be reported. Children learn to tell a parent or another trusted adult if someone is hurting them and to keep telling until they are believed. One study shows that children tell of their abuse an average of nine times before someone believes them. Parents can help children learn whom they can trust by pointing out the adults who can be trusted. Parents can also teach children the correct names of private body parts. This simple step gives children the vocabulary to tell others what happened to them.
4. You can recognize abuse when it happens. Children learn to trust that feeling that says something isn’t right and to tell a parent or other trusted adult when something happens that makes them feel uneasy. Children learn to question if someone is telling them to do what the child doesn’t like but says it is because he loves the child. Children learn to tell parents or trusted adult if another person makes them sad or confused or tries to get them to break rules. This can stop the process of grooming by which an abuser lures a child toward danger. A child who questions another’s inappropriate behavior can send a message to the offender that this child is not an easy target, but one that will tell what is being done to him/her.
5. There are ways to spot a grooming process. Offenders are willing to spend a great deal of time grooming the family, the child and even the community so they may be seen as a trusted family friend. Children learn that anyone who lets children break rules, gives them alcohol or shows them pornography needs to be reported to parents and other trusted adults. Children learn not to keep secrets from parents. They learn that they should tell parents when someone gives them special gifts or is always touching them or tickling them and says not to tell.
6. Parents or other trusted adults will talk about this subject. Children often try to protect their parents from bad news, so they need to learn they can tell their parents anything. This lesson is conveyed when parents stay involved in their children’s activities and talk with them about what is happening in their lives. This is how children learn what can be shared with parents. The more effective safe environment programs include parents in the learning process. This gives the child a clear signal that this subject is not off limits but instead is something to be talked about with family members.
7. Boundaries exist. Learning about personal boundaries can protect children and their knowing boundaries reinforces the teaching to listen to one’s instincts. Children who listen to the voice that says, “This doesn’t feel right,” can protect themselves.
8. Children can stand up for themselves. Children need to be respectful and obey, yet at the same time need to know there are times when it is okay to say no to an adult. Children learn when it is appropriate for them to say, “No, stop doing that.” For example, they hear they can say no to someone who makes them uncomfortable, shows them pornography, or offers them alcohol.
9. There are ways to explain inappropriate behavior. Children learn how to describe what’s happening when someone is doing something that just seems a “little weird” even though it may not seem wrong. The ability to articulate what has happened to a child enables a child to more easily confide in a parent or other trusted adult. This can alert the adult to a potentially dangerous situation so it can be avoided. This is ultimately the goal of safe environment education.

August 6, 2010
BISHOPS’ DELEGATION FINDS MISSION TO
HAITI BOTH DISTURBING AND HOPEFUL
 
WASHINGTON — The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sponsored a delegation July 26-August 2 to Haiti and the Caribbean region to examine the plight of Haitians impacted by the January 12 earthquake.
           
The mission, led by Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, New York, took place a little more than six months after the tragedy and focused upon the situation of vulnerable populations, particularly children, as well as reconstruction and economic development efforts. The delegation also traveled to the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic to assess the problems facing Haitians in those countries.
          
 “It is clear that efforts to clean up and recover from the earthquake are progressing slowly,” said Archbishop Wenski. “However, the international community must remain steadfast in working with the Haitian government to reconstruct the country and strengthen its institutions. The survival and long-term future of the Haitian people are at stake.”
           
In addition to visiting with members of Haiti’s government, civil society and business sectors to discuss long-term development, the delegation paid special attention to the most vulnerable Haitians, especially women and children, visiting orphanages and camps in Port-au-Prince and the other countries.
           
“Children, especially those who have lost parents or are separated from them, remain at grave risk,” said Bishop DiMarzio. “Without a more concerted effort to protect them and find long-term solutions for their care, they will become even more vulnerable to criminal elements, including smugglers and human traffickers.”
          
In some of the camps, the delegation found that women remain vulnerable to violence and sexual assault. “Women, especially single mothers with children, are struggling to feed and protect their families, but at the same time are themselves exposed to gender-based violence. More must be done to enhance their security,” said Maria Odom, executive director of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc (CLINIC) and member of the delegation. 
           
Despite the slow recovery and humanitarian challenges, the delegation saw seeds of hope in their mission. They visited a number of emergency, transitional, and development programs operated by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and their local partners. CRS has operated in Haiti for 55 years, responding to the needs of the most vulnerable and supporting local development and strengthening of Haitian families.         
           
In the aftermath of the earthquake, CRS additionally supports child protection programming, which includes family tracing to reunite separated children with their families, where possible, and the pursuit of durable solutions for orphaned children. CRS is also working throughout Haiti to assist the displaced located outside of the earthquake zone, and, through agriculture programs, to help them find the means to remain in the countryside.
           
Upon returning to the United States, the delegation recommended that several steps be taken by the U.S. government to help reunite and strengthen Haitian families and continue helping Haiti’s long-term development, including:
 
    •    Providing humanitarian parole to the family members, including children, of Haitians evacuated to the United States for medical treatment;
 
    •    Streamlining the process for post-earthquake arrivals applying for deferred action, so that they can work immediately in the United States and send remittances back to Haiti;
 
    •    Implementing a proactive asylum screening program for Haitians who are interdicted at sea, with appropriate adjudicators and language specialists aboard Coast Guard ships;
 
    •    Introducing best interest determinations for vulnerable children in shelters, which would include strengthened family tracing efforts; and
 
    •    Working with the Haitian government to increase their capacity to expedite clean up and reconstruction efforts and to provide security for Haitians, both in the earthquake area and along the border with the Dominican Republic;
 
    •    Working with the Haitian government to ensure the sustainable agricultural development of Haiti’s rural areas; and
 
    •    Working with the Haitian government to ensure the inclusion of civil society and the business sectors in efforts to decentralize the economy and the population’s access to jobs, health-care, and education services.
           
The delegation will be releasing a more formal and detailed report and recommendations in early September. The delegation included staff representatives from Migration and Refugee Services and the Office of International Justice and Peace Office of the USCCB; the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC), and Catholic Relief Services.
           
“This is a pivotal moment in Haiti’s history which requires cooperation and patience,” stated Archbishop Wenski. “Haiti is at a crossroads and it is crucial that the international community not lessen its commitment to the rebuilding process.”
           
In a collection taken up after the earthquake, Catholics in the United States contributed $80 million to recovery efforts in Haiti, which is being used to provide human needs assistance and to help restore Haiti’s infrastructure, including churches, schools, and clinics. CRS and the Secretariat for the Church in Latin America of the USCCB are administering the funds, in consultation with the bishops of Haiti.
           
“It will take time to make Haiti whole again, but it is important that the Haitian people and the children of Haiti—its future leaders—do not lose hope,” concluded Archbishop Wenski.

August 4, 2010
CARDINAL GEORGE DECRIES COURT DECISION
STRIKING DOWN CALIFORNIA MARRIAGE LAW
 
WASHINGTON — Cardinal Francis George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, decried the August 4 decision of a federal judge to overturn California voters' 2008 initiative that protected marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
           
“Marriage between a man and a woman is the bedrock of any society. The misuse of law to change the nature of marriage undermines the common good,” Cardinal George said. “It is tragic that a federal judge would overturn the clear and expressed will of the people in their support for the institution of marriage. No court of civil law has the authority to reach into areas of human experience that nature itself has defined.”
           
Joining Cardinal George in his criticism of the court decision was Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage. Archbishop Kurtz noted that “Citizens of this nation have uniformly voted to uphold the understanding of marriage as a union of one man and one woman in every jurisdiction where the issue has been on the ballot. This understanding is neither irrational nor unlawful,” he said. “Marriage is more fundamental and essential to the well being of society than perhaps any other institution. It is simply unimaginable that the court could now claim a conflict between marriage and the Constitution.”

July 29, 2010
USCCB MIGRATION CHAIRMAN LAUDS COURT DECISION REGARDING
ARIZONA SB 1070, URGES COMPREHENSIVE IMMIGRATION REFORM
 
WASHINGTON — As chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration, Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City applauded the July 28 decision by U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton to halt some of the most controversial provisions of Arizona SB 1070 from going into effect the next day. Bishop Wester lamented the status quo on immigration as “unacceptable” and called for the Federal government to act immediately on immigration reform.
          
"It is the right decision,” Bishop Wester said.  “Any law that provides legal cover to profiling affects all members of our communities, including legal residents and citizens.  It is a very slippery slope. What is needed now is for Congress and the Administration to live up to their responsibilities and address this issue by passing immigration reform."
           
The U.S. Catholic bishops believe that any comprehensive immigration reform bill should contain the following elements: a legalization program that gives migrant workers and their families an opportunity to earn legal permanent residency and eventual citizenship; a new worker visa program that protects the labor rights of both U.S. and foreign workers and gives participants the option to earn permanent residency; reform of the U.S. family-based immigration system to reduce waiting times for family reunification; and restoration of due process protections for immigrants, including asylum-seekers. In the longer term, policies that address the root causes of migration, such as the lack of sustainable development in sending nations, should also be part of the equation.

July 23, 2010
U.S. BISHOPS SEND MORE HELP TO THE CHURCH IN HAITI
 
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Bishops’ Subcommittee dedicated to administering money raised for Haiti after the earthquake there last January has approved $212,700 of funding for 10 projects. The grants were made from the Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America to programs and agencies sponsored by parishes, religious orders and dioceses in Haiti. These grants do not include funding for construction projects, which will be considered according to a separate procedure.

“Given the nature of the quake, you can say that the entire Church was impacted by the devastation—even though some areas were obviously harder hit than others,” Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, chairman of the bishops’ Advisory Group for Haiti, said. The funds will be directed to the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince and the Dioceses of Jacmel, Les Cayes, Port-de-Paix and Anse-a-Veau et Miragoane.

The Diocese of Jacmel, which was particularly hard hit, will receive funding for a truck to help in removing rubble from Church premises. Grants also were awarded for a program to train religious personnel and seminarians and adult literacy programs in the Diocese of Port-de-Paix—the poorest diocese in the poorest country in the hemisphere. Additionally, funds will be provided to assist with on-going evangelization programs in affected areas and parts of the country that have seen an increase in the Catholic population.

“During our visits since the earthquake, we have constantly assured the people of the Church that we will be with them in the long run,” said advisory group member, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston. The Boston archdiocese donated more than $2 million to the U.S. Bishops’ special collection for Haiti.

The special collection was taken up in U.S. dioceses immediately after the quake and has raised more than $80 million for Haiti. These latest grants bring the total awarded by the subcommittee to Church groups in Haiti to $1,021,869.

“We are doing our best to ensure that the funds donated are used for reliable projects that will provide tangible relief for ordinary Catholics in Haiti,” said Haitian-American Bishop Guy Sansaricq, Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn and also a member of the advisory group.

july 15, 2010
PRO-LIFE CHAIR WELCOMES HHS EXCLUSION OF ABORTION FROM
FEDERAL INSURANCE PROGRAM, CALLS FOR PERMANENT LAW
 
WASHINGTON — Following public criticisms of new federally-funded health insurance plans that would have covered elective abortions in Pennsylvania and New Mexico, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a statement that the agency will act to exclude abortion from this program. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, welcomed the statement as averting an “alarming precedent” and called for permanent law to exclude abortion from all programs under the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
           
“We welcome this new policy,” the Cardinal said, “while continuing to be gravely concerned that it was not issued until after some states had announced that pro-abortion health plans were approved and had begun to enroll patients.”
           
“This situation illustrates once again the need for Congress to enact legislation clearly stating once and for all that funds appropriated by PPACA will not pay for abortions or for insurance coverage that includes abortion,” Cardinal DiNardo said. “The issue of government involvement in the taking of innocent human life should not remain subject to the changeable discretion of executive officials or depend on the continued vigilance of pro-life advocates.”
          
“It is vitally important for people with serious medical conditions who have been unable to obtain coverage to receive the help offered by programs such as this – and for them to be assured that their coverage will be life-affirming, not life-threatening,” the Cardinal concluded.
           
The full text of his statement follows:
 
This week it was reported that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had approved a new high-risk health insurance program for residents of Pennsylvania that by its terms would cover abortions without meaningful limits. This federal program, established by the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), will provide health services until 2014 to uninsured persons with pre-existing conditions. The Pennsylvania plan, while purporting not to fund “elective” abortions, made clear in its text that all abortions that satisfy the requirements of certain Pennsylvania statutes (i.e., all abortions that are not illegal in that state) would be covered, and reimbursed, with a combination of private premiums and federal funds drawn from the U.S. Treasury. This first announcement that $160 million in federal funds would be used to provide pro-abortion coverage raised an alarming precedent. Later the news also became public that the state of New Mexico would be covering “elective abortions” in its federal high-risk pool, which was already accepting enrollees.

Last night, however, HHS reacted to public criticisms by announcing that it will act to exclude abortion from this federally funded program, in accord with the assurances that Secretary Sebelius and President Obama have repeatedly made that PPACA will not be used to promote abortion. We welcome this new policy, while continuing to be gravely concerned that it was not issued until after some states had announced that pro-abortion health plans were approved and had begun to enroll patients. This situation illustrates once again the need for Congress to enact legislation clearly stating once and for all that funds appropriated by PPACA will not pay for abortions or for insurance coverage that includes abortion. Such legislation would mirror the Hyde amendment and similar provisions which prevent such abortion funding in all other federal health programs.
 
In this program as in others, the issue of government involvement in the taking of innocent human life should not remain subject to the changeable discretion of executive officials or depend on the continued vigilance of pro-life advocates. It is vitally important for people with serious medical conditions who have been unable to obtain coverage to receive the help offered by programs such as this – and for them to be assured that their coverage will be life-affirming, not life-threatening.
 


July 15, 2010
U.S. BISHOPS’ DOCTRINE CHAIRMAN WELCOMES VATICAN CLARIFICATION
ON ORDINATION, PRAISES THE WORK OF WOMEN IN THE CHURCH
 
WASHINGTON — Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, Chairman of the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), responded to a clarification from the Vatican that raised the attempted ordination of a women to a “more grave delict,” or a Church crime that is always referred to the Holy See, in a July 15 statement.
           
The archbishop’s full statement follows:
           
The Vatican’s clarification today of the seriousness with which it holds offenses against the Sacrament of Holy Orders is a welcome statement.
   
The seven sacraments are an integral and identifying part of the Catholic Church and the faith life of each Catholic. To feign any sacrament would be egregious. The Catholic Church through its long and constant teaching holds that ordination has been, from the beginning, reserved to men, a fact which cannot be changed despite changing times.
 
All Catholics are called to Christian service. Women have responded with extraordinary generosity. Historically, women have had an essential role in the life of the Church. This is true especially through their volunteer work in parishes, their professional service and their membership in religious communities, lay movements and other organizations, where they serve in a range of areas such as health care and education.
 
Today women serve in Church leadership positions at all levels. Women hold nearly half of diocesan administrative and professional positions—a fact that compares favorably to the U.S. workforce as a whole. Women also hold about one-quarter of the top diocesan positions, such as chancellor, school superintendent or chief financial officer. About 80 percent of lay parish ministers are women.
 
The Church’s gratitude to women cannot be stated strongly enough. Women offer unique insight, creative abilities and unstinting generosity at the very heart of the Catholic Church. Their activity and determinative participation explains much of what makes the Catholic Church the powerful force for goodness and holiness that it is.
                                                                                                          
---
Background: Pope John Paul II reaffirmed the teaching that the Catholic Church has no authority to ordain women in the 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis: www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_22051994_ordinatio-sacerdotalis_en.html
           
The U.S. Bishops offered a pastoral response to the issue of women’s ordination in 1998: www.usccb.org/comm/archives/1998/98-210a.shtml

July 15, 2010
BISHOPS WELCOME UPDATE OF VATICAN NORMS ON SEXUAL ABUSE
 
WASHINGTON — Bishop Blase Cupich of Spokane, Washington, Chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Protection of Children and Young People, welcomed the Vatican’s update of its 2001 norms dealing with clergy sexual abuse of minors in a July 15 statement. The new norms include the abuse of a mentally disabled adult and the downloading of child pornography in the same category as abusing a minor and also extend the Vatican’s statute of limitations for sexual abuse to 20 years after the victim turned 18.
           
The full text of Bishop Cupich’s statement follows:
           
The Vatican action is a welcome step forward as we deal with the terrible crime and sin of sexual abuse by a cleric. What we read today from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is heartening. The bishops in this country felt the support of the Holy See in 2002 with the establishment of the Essential Norms and we are strengthened even more as the measures outlined in this document build on and go beyond what has been particular law for the Church in the United States since then.
            
The seriousness with which the church views sexual abuse of a minor by a cleric cannot be understated. By putting child sexual abuse by clergy in the same context as the safeguarding of the sacraments, the Church is making it clear that such misconduct violates the core values of our faith and worship.
           
Today the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith notes that the abuse of the mentally impaired, no matter what the person’s age, is horrific. Abuse of someone who cannot defend himself or herself is craven, cowardly behavior.
            
Welcome, too, is the recognition that the crime of child pornography damages not just those who pursue it, but any child degraded in the making of it. Child pornography is a degradation of   any child of God. A priest’s involvement with it is particularly offensive.
 
The document makes law of measures that have already been in use by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith to facilitate handling of cases brought to the Vatican. This is an important step in the continuing effort to achieve justice for innocent people whose trust in a cleric was violated.
                                                                                                                      
The adoption of these modifications to the original norms of the Apostolic Letter, The Safeguarding of the Sanctity of the Sacraments (Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela) issued in April 2001, furthers our strong resolve to do all that is possible to see that children are protected and safe, especially in the Church. We apologize to those who have been hurt in the past. We are doing everything possible to prevent such harm in the future.
 
---

Background:The U.S. bishops respond to clergy sexual abuse of minors by following the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, approved in 2002. For more information on the charter, go to: www.usccb.org/ocyp/charter.shtml

For more information on all the Catholic Church in the U.S. has done to respond to clergy sexual abuse of minors, go to: www.usccb.org/catholic-church-sxl-ab.pdf

July 14, 2010
TUCSON BISHOP KICANAS TESTIFIES BEFORE CONGRESS,
URGES FEDERAL ACTION ON IMMIGRATION REFORM
 
WASHINGTON — Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona, vice-president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, testified before Congress on the ethical imperative for reform of the U.S. immigration system. He spoke July 14, before the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.
           
Bishop Kicanas, whose diocese runs along the whole of the Arizona-Mexico border, said he witnesses every day “the human consequences of our broken immigration system,” adding that “[t]his is a situation which from a humanitarian and ethical stand point, needs to be addressed in a humane and comprehensive manner.”
             
Though often dismissed by analyses that highlight the economic, social or legal aspects, “immigration is ultimately a humanitarian issue, since it impacts the basic rights and dignity of millions of persons and their families. “As such it has moral implications,” he said. “We cannot accept the toil and taxes of immigrants without providing them the protection of law.”
           
Bishop Kicanas recognized the rule of law as a flashpoint in the debate.
           
“The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wholeheartedly agrees that the rule of law is paramount, and that those who break the law should be held accountable,” he said. “As our testimony points out, comprehensive immigration reform would honor the rule of law and help restore it by requiring 11 million undocumented to pay a fine, pay back taxes, learn English, and get in the back of the line. We believe this a proportionate penalty for the offense.”
           
He also said the bishops believe immigration reform will make the nation more secure, “freeing up time and resources to concentrate on those coming who intend to do us harm.” He praised both the enforcement and life-saving efforts of border patrol agents, but pointed out that decades of enforcement-only policies have not solved the border or the larger immigration problem.
           
Bishop Kicanas also addressed the issue of the passage of controversial Arizona SB 1070.
          
“It is my belief that the passage of this law reflects the frustration of Arizonans and the American public with Congress for not addressing the issue of immigration reform. The message is to break the partisan paralysis and act now,” he said.
           
The bishop’s oral testimony was accompanied by a more in-depth written testimony in which Bishop Kicanas summarized the U.S. bishops longstanding recommendations on immigration reform:      

• Enact comprehensive immigration reform legislation that provides a legalization program (path to permanent residency) for undocumented workers in our nation; reforms the employment-based immigration system so that low-skilled workers can enter and work in a safe, legal, orderly, and humane manner; and reduces waiting times in the family preference system for families to be reunited.
• Examine the “push” factors of migration such as international economic policies and enact policies which encourage sustainable economic development, especially in sending communities;
• Enact in reform legislation the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits, and Security Act of 2009 and the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM);
• Adopt immigration enforcement policies that ensures our nation’s borders are secure at the same time that the abuse and deaths of migrants are prevented and their basic human rights and dignity are protected;
• Include the necessary elements in any legislation to efficiently implement any new immigration program, including taking actions to prepare the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service to implement any new program and to properly fund such implementation.

The testimony also listed the many perceived benefits of an earned legalization program and reform aspects that the Church finds problematic.

July 14, 2010
POPE ERECTS EXARCHATE FOR SYRO-MALANKARA CATHOLICS
IN U.S.; NAMES PRIEST FROM INDIA AS FIRST BISHOP
 
WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI has erected an Apostolic Exarchate for the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in the United States and appointed Father Thomas Naickamparampil as its first bishop. The pope also appointed him Apostolic Visitator for the Syro-Malankara Catholics in Canada and Europe.
           
The erection of the exarchate and appointments were publicized in Washington, July 14, by Msgr. Jean-François Lantheaume, Chargé d’Affaires, at the apostolic nunciature in the United States.
          
Father Naickamparampil is a priest of the Major Archiepiscopal Eparchy of Trivandrum, India.
           
An apostolic exarchate is the Eastern Catholic Church equivalent of an apostolic vicariate. It is not a full-fledged eparchy (diocese), but is established by the Holy See for the pastoral care of Eastern Catholics in an area outside the territory of the Eastern Catholic Church to which they belong. It is headed by a bishop or a priest with the title of Exarch.
           
An apostolic visitator is a papal representative who has been asked to familiarize himself with the situation of a given community and to report on its status to the Holy See.
           
The Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is centered in southern India where it has eight eparchies (dioceses) and about 500,000 faithful. It is headed by His Beatitude Major Archbishop Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, who resides in the city of Trivandrum.  It has been estimated that there are approximately 10,000 Syro-Malankara Catholics in the United States and Canada.

July 13, 2010
WORLD YOUTH DAY 2011 IN MADRID OPENS REGISTRATION
 
WASHINGTON — Registration to participate in World Youth Day (WYD) Madrid 2011 is now open. Though the registration is done online with the WYD organization in the Spanish capital, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has updated its existing World Youth Day page (www.wydusa.org) to allow access to the registration process through its Web site. The site includes links to important information regarding the event. Content will be progressively built up as additional information becomes available.
           
Though entry to WYD main events is free, participants have options regarding meals, accommodations and transportation to Madrid. They also pay according to a fee scale according to the country.
           
Sister Eileen McCann, CSJ, coordinator for Youth and Young Adult Ministry at the USCCB encouraged early registration.
           
“In addition to the Vigil and Mass with the pope during the weekend, there are numerous catechetical and other cultural activities throughout the week. Many groups also stay at parishes, school gymnasiums, or with local families. Early registration allows organizers to plan for accommodations, meals and participation in activities accordingly,” she said.
           
WYD 2011 theme, which will be held August 16-21 in Madrid, is “Planted and Built Up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith.”Organizers estimate that nearly 600,000 young people from countries other than Spain, about 25,000 of them from the United States, will participate in the events. Pope Benedict XVI officially opened the registration process on July 1, by becoming the first to register for the event.
           
WYD is a faith-filled encounter of young people from around the world with the pope to pray, learn, celebrate and strengthen one another in faith.
           
For information visit www.wydusa.org.

July 12, 2010
BISHOPS CONCERNED OVER FEDERAL COURT RULINGS
REJECTING MARRIAGE AS BETWEEN ONE MAN, ONE WOMAN
 
WASHINGTON — Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage, expressed grave concern regarding recent rulings by a federal judge in Massachusetts rejecting the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.
           
Archbishop Kurtz offered his remarks after two rulings on July 8 that held that section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. Section 3 provides that for purposes of federal statutes, regulations, and rulings, “marriage” means the legal union of one man and one woman.
          
“Marriage – the union of one man and one woman – is a unique, irreplaceable institution. The very fabric of our society depends upon it. Nothing compares to the exclusive and permanent union of husband and wife. The state has a duty to employ the civil law to reinforce – and, indeed, to privilege uniquely – this vital institution of civil society. The reasons to support marriage by law are countless, not least to protect the unique place of husbands and wives, the indispensible role of fathers and mothers, and the rights of children, who are often the most vulnerable among us. And yet, a judge has decided that a marriage-reinforcing law like DOMA fails to serve even a single, minimally rational government interest. On behalf of the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage, I express grave concern over these dangerous and disappointing rulings which ignore even the most apparent purposes of marriage and thus offend true justice,” he said.
           
The court rulings were based on two separate lawsuits which had been filed in Massachusetts.One ruling states that section 3 of DOMA violates the equal protection principles of the Fifth Amendment Due Process Clause (see Gill v. Office of Personnel Management). The other ruling holds that section 3 of DOMA violates the Tenth Amendment and the Spending Clause (see Commonwealth of Mass. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services).
           
In the Gill ruling, U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro commented that, “as irrational prejudice plainly never constitutes a legitimate government interest,” section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional.
          
“To claim that defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman is somehow irrational, prejudiced, or even bigoted, is a great disservice not only to truth but to the good of our nation,” Archbishop Kurtz said. “Marriage exists prior to the state and is not open to redefinition by the state. The role of the state, instead, is to respect and reinforce marriage. Thursday’s decision, by contrast, uses the power of the state to attack the perennial definition of marriage, reducing it merely to the union of any two consenting adults. But only a man and a woman are capable of entering into the unique, life-giving bond of marriage, with all of its specific responsibilities. Protecting marriage as only the union of one man and one woman is not merely a legitimate, but a vital government interest.”
           
The USCCB Office of General Counsel noted that the two court rulings are mistaken, both on the basis of the unique meaning of marriage, and because nothing in the Constitution forbids Congress from defining “marriage” – as that term is used in federal statutes, regulations, and rulings—as the union of one man and one woman.


July 7, 2010
METHODIST-CATHOLIC DIALOGUE LOOKS AT ENVIRONMENT, EUCHARIST
 
WASHINGTON — Scholars from the Catholic Church and the United Methodist Church (UMC) discussed the relationship between the environment and Eucharist at the fourth session of the seventh round of the Catholic-Methodist dialogue, June 28-30, in Washington.
           
Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker, of the UMC Florida Conference, co-chaired the dialogue with Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Washington, past president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).
           
Both bishops highlighted the shared world view that emerges from the Eucharistic traditions of their churches and said it is relevant to today’s ecological crisis in the Gulf of Mexico.
           
“In our dialogues and final report we hope to help fellow congregants see how our public worship, particularly the Eucharist, shapes us to see God’s glory in creation and to care for the creation as faithful stewards,” Bishop Whitaker said.
          
 Round 7 has convened liturgists and ethicists to study caring for God’s creation. The fourth session focused on sacramentality, liturgical memory, and reading the signs of the times as environmentally attuned Christians.
           
Monsignor Kevin W. Irwin, dean of the School of Theology at The Catholic University of America, began the session by examining the fundamental language of Eucharistic celebration.
           
“The very preparation of, taking, blessing, breaking, and giving [bread], imply work and communal responsibility to share all of the earth’s resources with all on the earth, lest we rape the world and leave it devastated for the next generation,” Irwin said.
           
Msgr. Irwin affirmed Church’s doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the species of bread and wine and said the manufacturing and eating of food belongs to the heart of Christian worship. The Eucharist rightly understood, he said, “reveres the means of production in terms of human ingenuity and it reveres food as the gift of the God of creation and redemption.”
           
Karen Westerfield-Tucker, Ph.D., Boston University, noted strong Methodist (or “Weslyan”) agreement with Irwin’s paper, especially the concept that liturgical symbols like water, fire and wheat retain their essence as natural and manufactured goods.
           
“Precisely as symbols which occasion the act of blessing God, these things become more truly what they are natively — bearers of God’s presence and images of God’s own goodness,” she said.
           
Another presentation on the themes of creation and redemption drew on ancient Christian commentaries. Angela Christman, Ph.D., Loyola University, Baltimore, noted that for early church Fathers like St. Augustine the human activity of producing bread, a gift of creation, mirrors the transformation of worshipers at the Eucharistic liturgy. She cited a fifth century sermon of Augustine to the newly baptized of his cathedral.
             
“Afterward you came to the water, and you were moistened into dough, and made into one lump, she said, citing Augustine. With the application of the heat of the Holy Spirit you were baked, and made into the Lord’s loaf of bread.”
         
Jesuit Father Drew Christiansen, editor of America magazine, looked at ecology’s ethical considerations and explored how recent popes have understood the “signs of the times” when reflecting on such challenges as climate change, deforestation, and impending conflicts over water resources. While popes have made use of both metaphysical and empirical methods in advancing Catholic social teaching, they concur that authentic human development cannot take place without conscious attention to the environment. Pope Benedict XVI argues that ecological responsibility and “human ecology”—the defense of human life and dignity—are inseparable.
          
During the deliberations dialogue members noted the Gulf crisis and other environmental issues in the headlines since they met at the end of 2009.
           
Other participants in the dialogue included Edgardo Colon-Emeric, Ph.D., Duke University School of Divinity; Rev. Betty Gamble, Acting Ecumenical Officer for the UMC; Connie Lasher, Ph.D., visiting scholar at Santa Clara University, California; Father James Massa, Executive Director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, USCCB; L. Edwards Phillips, Ph.D., Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, Atlanta; and Sondra Wheeler, Ph.D., Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington.
           
The next meeting of the dialogue is slated for December 14-16, 2010, in Washington.


July 7, 2010
POPE NAMES NEW AUXILIARY BISHOP FOR SAN FRANCISCO
 
WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI has named Msgr. Robert McElroy, 56, pastor of St. Gregory Parish, San Mateo, California, as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
           
The appointment was publicized in Washington, July 6, by Msgr. Jean-François Lantheaume, Chargé d’Affaires, at the apostolic nunciature in the United States.
           
Robert McElroy was born February 5, 1954. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University in 1975, a Master’s degree in American History from Stanford University in 1976, and a Master of Divinity degree from St. Patrick Seminary, Menlo Park, California, in 1979.
           
Bishop-elect McElroy was ordained a priest for the San Francisco Archdiocese in 1980, and named a monsignor in 1996.
           
After ordination to the priesthood he was parochial vicar of St. Cecilia Church, 1980-1982; and secretary to Archbishop John R. Quinn, 1982-1985. He studied for a Licentiate in Sacred Theology at the Jesuit School of Theology, Berkeley, California, in 1985; and for a Doctorate in Sacred Theology, at the Gregorian University, Rome, 1985-1986. He studied for a Doctorate in History at Stanford from 1986-1989.
           
From 1989-1995, he was parochial vicar at St. Pius Church, and was vicar general for the San Francisco Archdiocese, 1995-1997. In 1997, he was assigned to St. Gregory Church.
           
His is author of The Search for an American Public Theology: The Contribution of John Courtney Murray, Paulist Press, 1989; and Morality and American Foreign Policy: The Role of Ethics in International Affairs, Princeton University Press, 1992. He also has been published in journals and America magazine. Among his articles in America are “Prudence and Eucharistic Sanctions,” January 31, 2005; “He Held These Truths,” February 7, 2005; and “Why We Must Withdraw From Iraq,” April 30, 2007.


June 30, 2010
POPE NAMES BISHOP CUPICH TO SPOKANE, ACCEPTS RESIGNATION OF BISHOP SKYLSTAD 

WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop Blase Cupich, 61, of Rapid City, South Dakota, to the Diocese of Spokane, Washington, and accepted the resignation of Bishop William Skylstad, 76, from pastoral governance of the diocese.
           
The announcement was made in Washington, June 30, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.
           
Bishop Cupich, who has been Bishop of Rapid City since 1998, was born March 19, 1949. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minnesota; and did further studies at the Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Omaha in 1975.
           
He earned a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from The Catholic University of America in 1987.
             
After ordination he served in parishes in the Omaha Archdiocese and, from 1981-1987, was secretary at the apostolic nunciature in Washington. He was president/rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum, Columbus, Ohio, 1989-1996.
           
As a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Bishop Cupich served on the Subcommittee on the Translation of Scripture Text and was a member of the Task Force on Promotion of Vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life. He currently chairs the Committee on Protection of Children and Young People.
           
Bishop Skylstad has headed the Diocese of Spokane since 1990. He was named Bishop of Yakima, Washington, in 1977.
            He was born in Omak, Washington, March 2, 1934. He graduated from the Pontifical College Josephinum and was ordained for the Spokane Diocese in 1960. He later studied education and mathematics at Washington State and Gonzaga Universities and holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Gonzaga.
           
Bishop Skylstad was president of the USCCB, 2004-2007, and vice-president, 2001-2004. He also served as chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Social Development and the Ad Hoc Committee on Bishops’ Life and Ministry. He also was a member of the bishops’ Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, the Committee on Science and Human Values and the Task Force on Faith Formation and Sacramental Practice.
           
The Spokane Diocese has 24,356 square miles and 780,696 people, of whom 13 percent, or 99,363, are Catholic.

June 30, 2010
POPE NAMES SEMINARY RECTORS AS AUXILIARY BISHOPS IN BOSTON,
ACCEPTS RESIGNATION OF BOSTON AUXILIARY BISHOP EMILIO ALLUÉ
 
WASHINGTON  —Pope Benedict XVI has named Father Arthur Kennedy, 68, and Father Peter J. Uglietto, 58, priests of the Archdiocese of Boston and both seminary rectors, as auxiliary bishops of Boston. The pope also accepted the resignation of Boston Auxiliary Bishop Emilio Allué, SDB, 75, from the office of auxiliary bishop.
          
 The appointments and resignation were publicized in Washington, June 30, by Msgr. Jean-François Lantheaume, Chargé d’Affaires, at the apostolic nunciature in the United States.
           
Bishop-elect Kennedy has been rector of St. John Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts; Bishop-elect Uglietto has been rector of Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts.
          
Arthur Kennedy was born January 9, 1942. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1963 from St. John’s Seminary College; a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Gregorian University, Rome, in 1967 and a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology and Philosophy of Religion from Boston University in 1978.
           
He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Boston in 1966.
           
Bishop-elect Kennedy served as associate pastor at St. Monica Parish, Methuen, Massachusetts, 1967-1969; and at St. Joseph Parish, in East Boston, 1969-1974, before joining the faculty of the University of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, Minnesota, 1974-2007. While at St. Thomas he also served in Holy Trinity Parish, St. Paul, 1974-1982; Assumption Parish, St. Paul, 1982-1986; and director of the Office of Ecumenism for the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, 1986-2003. He served as executive director of the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2003-2006, and was named rector of St. John’s Seminary in 2007.
           
Bishop-elect Uglietto was born September 23, 1951, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College, a Master of Divinity degree from St. John’s Seminary, a Master of Arts degree in Christian Spirituality from Creighton University, Omaha and a Licentiate and Ph.D. in Sacred Theology from the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington.
          
He was ordained a priest for the Boston Archdiocese in 1977.
           
After ordination, Bishop-elect Uglietto served as associate pastor in St. Francis Xavier Parish, South Weymouth, Massachusetts, 1977-1978; St. Gregory Parish, Dorchester, 1978-1984; and St. Margaret Parish, Dorchester, 1984-1988. From 1986-1988, he was also director of the archdiocesan permanent deacon program. He pursued degrees at the John Paul II Institute, 1988-1990, and worked in campus ministry at Regis College, Weston, with residence at Blessed John XXIII Seminary.
           
He pursued higher education, 1993-1996, and joined the faculty of Blessed John XXIII Seminary in 1996. From 2001-2005, he was director of pastoral field education at the seminary and was named rector in 2005.
           
Bishop Allué, a native of Spain, is a member of the Society of Don Bosco, also known as the Salesians. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Don Bosco College, a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Salesian Pontifical University in Rome and a Ph.D. from Fordham University.
           
The Archdiocese of Boston includes 2,465 square miles. It has a population of 3,844,675 people, with 1,484.661, or 39 percent, of them Catholic.

June 29, 2010
BISHOPS URGE SENATE TO REMOVE ABORTION AMENDMENT FROM DEFENSE BILL 
WASHINGTON — A Senate committee amendment that would authorize the performance of elective abortions at military hospitals in this country and around the world is “misguided” and should be removed from the National Defense Authorization Act (S. 3454), said the Chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. In a June 29 letter, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston urged Senators to remove this amendment on the grounds that it breaks with longstanding federal and military policies on government promotion of abortion.
           
Cardinal DiNardo said it was disingenuous to suggest, as the amendment’s proponents have, that the amendment is “moderate” in requiring patients at military facilities to pay for their abortions. “Which is a more direct governmental involvement in abortion: That the government reimburses someone else for having done an abortion, or that the government performs the abortion itself and accepts payment for doing so?” the Cardinal wrote. He cited a 1989 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court saying that “the State need not commit any resources to facilitating abortions, even if it can turn a profit by doing so.”
          
 Cardinal DiNardo also noted the longstanding nature of the current policy against providing abortions at military health facilities, which has been in place for 22 years with the exception of 1993-1995.
           
“During the brief period when these facilities were told to make abortions available, scarcely any military physician could be found in overseas facilities who was willing to perform abortions,” the Cardinal added.
           
Cardinal DiNardo also said that the current military policy is in keeping with federal policy in general, noting: “Other federal health facilities also may not be used for elective abortions, and many states have their own laws against use of public facilities for such abortions.”
          
Calling on the Senate not to approve the bill unless it maintains current law, as the bill approved by the House of Representatives already does, Cardinal DiNardo concluded that “this amendment presents Congress with the very straightforward question whether it is the task of our federal government to directly promote and facilitate elective abortions. During the recent health care reform debate, the President and congressional leadership assured us that they agree it is not.”
           
Archbishop Broglio of the Archdiocese of Military Services had written an earlier letter to the Senate against the proposed policy change. Cardinal DiNardo endorsed his letter as well, noting that it urges Congress “not to impose this tremendous burden on the consciences of Catholic and other health care personnel who joined our armed services to save and protect innocent life, not to destroy it.”
           
Full text of the letter can be found online at: www.usccb.org/prolife/DiNardo-Ltr-Military-Abortions-6-29-2010.pdf

June 29, 2010
BISHOPS’ COMMITTEE LAUNCHES NEW INITIATIVE, MARRIAGE: UNIQUE FOR A REASON
 
WASHINGTON — The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage has launched a new initiative for the protection of marriage, entitled Marriage: Unique for a Reason. The initiative is to help catechize and educate Catholics on the meaning of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
           
The launch comes with the release of the first of five videos. The first video is called Made for Each Other and includes a Viewer’s Guide and Resource Booklet. It explores sexual difference and the complementarity between man and woman as husband and wife in marriage. Later videos will treat the good of children, the good of society and what constitutes discrimination, religious liberty, and issues particular to a Latino/a audience.
           
“The Committee’s efforts are grounded in the recognition that marriage, as the union of one man and one woman, is at the heart of a flourishing society and culture,” said Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, chairman of the Committee. “The truth of marriage lies at the very core of a true concern for justice and the common good. Promoting marriage is crucial to the New Evangelization. These initial materials seek to provide a key starting point, a compass, for assisting Catholics and all people of good will in understanding why marriage is and can only be the union of one man and one woman.”
           
The DVD, guide, and booklet are intended for use by priests, deacons, catechists, teachers and other leaders. Potential uses include instruction for young adult groups, adult faith formation, and seminary and diaconate education. Materials are online at www.marriageuniqueforareason.org and are available for purchase through www.usccbpublishing.org.


June 22, 2010
POPE NAMES AUXILIARY BISHOP JOSEPH McFADDEN TO HARRISBURG;
ANNOUNCES NEW AUXILIARY BISHOP FOR PHILADEPHIA
 
WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI has named Philadelphia Auxiliary Bishop Joseph McFadden, 63, as Bishop of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and named Msgr. Michael Fitzgerald, 62, Judicial Vicar of the Metropolitan Tribunal of Philadelphia, as an auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia.
           
The appointments were publicized in Washington, June 22, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
          
 Bishop McFadden succeeds Bishop Kevin Rhoades, who was named Bishop of Ft. Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, last November.
           
Joseph P. McFadden was born in Philadelphia, May 22, 1947. He attended St. Joseph University and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree. He was ordained a priest for the Philadelphia Archdiocese in 1981, and an auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia in 2004. He served in parishes in the archdiocese and as spiritual director at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and was a member of the Archdiocesan Committee for the Ongoing Formation of the Clergy.
           
As a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop McFadden has served on the Committee on Catholic Education and the Task Force on Faith Formation and Sacramental Practice.
           
The Diocese of Harrisburg, includes 7,660 square miles. It has a population of 2,027,835 people, with 244,073, or 12 percent, of them Catholic.
           
Michael Fitzgerald was born May 23, 1948, in Montclair, New Jersey. He attended Bishop Kenrick High School in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. He was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree from Temple University in 1970, a Juris Doctor degree from Villanova University, 1973, and a Master of Divinity degree from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in 1976.
          
He was ordained a priest for the Philadelphia Archdiocese in 1980.
          
Bishop-elect Fitzgerald earned a Licentiate in Canon Law from The Catholic University of America in 1989, and a doctorate in Canon Law from the Gregorian University, Rome, in 1991.
           
After ordination he was Assistant Pastor, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Philadelphia, 1980-1981; Assistant Pastor, St. Callistus Parish, 1981-1982; and later worked in the archdiocesan tribunal. He was director of the Office for Legal Services, 1991-2004, vice rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, 2004-2007, and in 2007 was named judicial vicar.

June 18, 2010
BISHOPS EXPRESS PRAYERS, SOLIDARITY FOR THOSE HARMED BY OIL SPILL
 
WASHINGTON — While meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida, for prayer and reflection, on June 18, the U.S. bishops voiced their prayers and solidarity for those affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Full text of the bishops’ statement follows:
 
We, the Catholic Bishops of the United States, gathered in St. Petersburg, Florida, for several days of prayer and reflection, take this opportunity to express publicly our heartfelt prayers and pastoral solidarity with all those affected by the oil that continues to leak into the Gulf of Mexico. We pray first and foremost for those who died in the initial explosion and for the grieving members of their families. We express our prayerful support as well for the families and individuals whose lives and livelihoods have been so negatively impacted by the oil that daily contaminates water, beaches and God’s creation in the Gulf Coast area. In a special way, in our difficult economic times, we are mindful of those who have lost their jobs and income.

Finally, we offer our prayers for our government leaders and for the industry leaders and experts who are working to cap the leak and repair this damage. May God give them wisdom and strength in this trying hour, and may He move them to seek lasting solutions benefitting the common good of our society.

June 16, 2010 
APOSTLESHIP OF THE SEA SETS UP NETWORK, URGES
CATHOLICS TO ASSIST THOSE HARMED BY OIL SPILL
 
WASHINGTON — The overseer of the maritime ministry of the U.S. bishops expressed solidarity with those impacted by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and announced the creation of a network to help with the human and environmental harm caused by the disaster.
           
In a video at www.youtube.com/user/usccb#p/c/96DDE9247B03585A/0/cO63wxFuVM0, Bishop J. Kevin Boland of Savannah, Georgia, bishop promoter of the Apostleship of the Sea, urged Catholics to assist the work already being done by the Church to address this disaster. He said the Apostleship of the Sea is setting up a network of diocesan relief efforts along the Gulf Coast and cited the work of Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of New Orleans (www.ccano.org) as one avenue for getting involved.
           
Bishop Boland also offered prayers for the victims of the oil rig explosion and their families and for the fishermen and others whose livelihoods are threatened by the environmental damage to the Gulf. He also urged Catholic to pray for the success of efforts to stop the spill and clean up the Gulf.
          
“It is God’s creation,” Bishop Boland said of the environment. “He has given it to us to take care of it. We must do all that we can, both as individuals and as a Church and as a community to restore to its proper dimensions and its proper beauty what God has given to us.”
          
The Apostleship of the Sea provides spiritual care to seafarers and all who rely on the sea for their livelihood. For more information on the Apostleship of the Sea and its relief efforts in the Gulf, visit: www.usccb.org/pcmrt/onmove/aos.shtml

June 15, 2010
CATHOLIC CAMPAIGN FOR HUMAN DEVELOPMENT APPROVES $300,000
FOR GRANTS ASSISTING THOSE AFFECTED BY GULF OIL SPILL
 
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Catholic Campaign for Human Development approved grants up to $300,000 to assist people and dioceses affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Meeting June 12, the Subcommittee for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development approved these funds outside of the regular funding cycle of the Campaign in order to help low-income people and vulnerable communities impacted by the oil spill to have an effective voice in shaping the response to this terrible challenge.

 “This tragic oil spill has grave human, environmental and economic costs,” said Bishop Roger Morin of Biloxi, Mississippi, Chairman of the subcommittee. “As a Church, we mourn the loss of life. We pray for those whose livelihoods are in jeopardy. Through these grants, the Church also offers concrete support to the work that must be done to help these communities help themselves. It’s a powerful sign of the essential mission of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.”

The groups who receive the grants will use the funds to provide a voice for the fishermen and communities affected by the spill, coordinate with communities and emergency responders to document the damage, as well as insist on work to restore the damaged wetlands.

Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans said, “The people of the Archdiocese of New Orleans are grateful for the generosity of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. By providing our fishing communities with funds to support their efforts to recover, the CCHD has enabled the Catholic Church to continue to be a sign of Christ's compassion and hope to the fishing communities. This gift is indeed generous and will be used to provide hope and stability for these hard-working families affected by the disastrous oil spill.”

These grants reflect the teaching of the Catholic Church, which calls for responsible stewardship of the environment and protection of the poor and vulnerable, who are often most affected by environmental harm.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is the anti-poverty program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, which seeks to assist low-income communities to break the cycle of poverty by addressing its root causes.


June 11, 2010 
REGIONAL BISHOPS ISSUE JOINT STATEMENT ON MIGRATION
 
WASHINGTON — Participants at the Catholic bishops’ Regional Consultation on Migration in Washington, June 2-4 issued a joint statement calling for protection, hospitality, service and justice to immigrants throughout the hemisphere.
           
The bishops called attention to several issues that should be addressed on a regional level, such as the promotion of sustainable economic development in the hemisphere, violence and drug smuggling, human trafficking, protection of migrants, refugees and other vulnerable population, and special assistance to Haiti.
           
They also called upon the Congress of the United States and the Obama Administration to affirm the country’s tradition as a nation of immigrants and “reform U.S. immigration law to allow migrants who work hard in the U.S. economy to enjoy the benefits of legal protection.”
           
“This reform would preclude the need to impose criminal penalties on persons not lawfully admitted,” said the bishops. “It also would end deportations of family members and the breakup of families.”
           
The meeting congregated Catholic bishops and staff of Catholic agencies working with migrants in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Also present were Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio, president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People and representatives from the Latin American Council of Bishops’ Conferences (CELAM).
           
Full text of statement follows.
 
Statement of the Participants in the Regional Consultation on Migration
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Washington, D.C.
June 4, 2010
 
As Catholic bishops of the United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and Canada gathered at our regional consultation meeting in Washington, D.C., June 2-4, 2010, joined at our meeting by religious and lay persons working with migrants, we reaffirm our commitment to vulnerable persons who migrate in search of protection or for a better life for themselves and their families. We acknowledge and appreciate the presence at our meeting of His Excellency Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio, President of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People and representative of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.
 
We offer several reflections on the current situation regarding migration in this hemisphere, consistent with our long-held view that persons on the move should be protected from harm while in transit and welcomed with hospitality, service, and justice. This view is consistent with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who calls upon all to “welcome the stranger” and who declared “for whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do unto me.” (Mt. 25: 35, 40).
 
We stand in solidarity with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, who in his recent address to the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant People, called upon the nations of the world to establish policies and plans which give migrants and refugees “opportunities to obtain legal status, promoting the fair rights to family reunification, asylum and refugee status, compensating for necessary restrictive measures and opposing the appalling trafficking of human beings.” We echo the Holy Father’s call to international organizations, international bodies, and nation-states to “resolve the crucial questions of security and development to the benefit of all.” The lack of security and development are the very factors that contribute to the need for people to migrate.
 
It is a reality that in this hemisphere the human dignity of persons on the move continues to be violated by governmental and nongovernmental actors alike in source, transit, and receiving nations. Migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers are mistreated and exploited both by government officials and law enforcement officials, as well as smugglers and other criminal elements as they flee poverty, natural disaster, violence, or persecution. The explosion of human trafficking in this hemisphere is a scourge which continues to grow, victimizing men, women, and children.
 
At the same time, there are many in the Church and other people of goodwill who work hard to protect the rights of persons on the move and who work to change laws to ensure the protection of basic human rights. We stand with them as together we try to educate others about the harsh realities of migration and the need to demonstrate compassion and justice to those less fortunate.
 
We also acknowledge and support the right of our governments to ensure the integrity of their borders and the common good of their citizenry. We strongly believe, however, that these goals can be achieved and the rule of law preserved without violating human rights. Governments can and must collaborate effectively to achieve regional development and stability.
 
With these perspectives in mind, we call attention to specific issues which should be addressed on a regional basis, with cooperation from all governments of this hemisphere:
 
The Promotion of Sustainable Economic Development in this Hemisphere.  The factors which compel people to migrate in search of work are primarily, but not solely, economic. Families in poorer countries struggle to meet their most basic needs and living-wage jobs remain scarce. Root economic causes of migration must be addressed so that migrants can remain in their home countries and support their families. The impact of current and proposed trade agreements and agricultural policy in the region must be reviewed in terms of the displacement of small farmers and workers, and subsequent migration.
 
For example, the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), touted initially as the key to economic development in the region, has failed to reach those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. International institutions, such as international lending institutions, have not adequately addressed the needs of the poor in the region.
 
The goals of the millennium have not been fully realized, and now climate change is adding another element to the migration phenomenon. These economic tools must be used in a way that increases the ability of the poor to escape poverty and not be forced to migrate to other countries.  
 
The Economic Drivers of Violence.  Economic insecurity and deprivation add to a number of social issues that together provide fertile breeding grounds for violence. The lack of economic opportunity as well as the lack of a sense of social meaning, especially among younger adults, fuels the resort to underground and illicit activities in many of the countries of the hemisphere.  The increasing power of drug smuggling networks must be combated, both by law enforcement efforts but also by eradicating the market for these illicit substances, particularly in the United States.
 
The Protection of Migrants, Refugees, and Other Vulnerable People in Transit.  Persons on the move in this hemisphere are subject to exploitation, abuse, and prolonged detention in all countries. Laws must be examined and reformed in each country to establish mechanisms to ensure safe passage, protection, and due process for migrants and their families, while ensuring that violent criminals are constrained.
 
The Scourge of Human Trafficking. While progress has been made in raising awareness of human trafficking in this hemisphere, much more must be achieved to eradicate this scourge. Governments and nongovernmental actors must work together to address the economic and social factors that make people vulnerable to trafficking. They must root out trafficking networks, and provide rescue and services to victims. Special attention must be paid to children, who are the most vulnerable victims.
 
Assistance for Haiti.  We call upon all governments of this hemisphere to provide special care to the people of Haiti as they attempt to rebuild their country after the January earthquake. We urge all nations to continue with their generosity and support, but also to apply and amend their migration laws to accommodate, to the greatest extent possible, Haitians and their families who can no longer remain in Haiti.
 
As an immigrant nation, the United States and the American people, including Catholics, have traditionally welcomed newcomers and helped to integrate them into the country. We call upon the Congress of the United States and the Obama Administration to affirm this honored tradition and reform U.S. immigration law to allow migrants who work hard in the U.S. economy to enjoy the benefits of legal protection.
 
This reform would preclude the need to impose criminal penalties on persons not lawfully admitted. It also would end deportations of family members and the breakup of families. In all countries of the region we continue to welcome and protect migrants and call upon our governments to make their immigration laws more humane.
 
As pastors, we have an obligation to defend the rights of all persons, particularly the most vulnerable members of the human community. We call upon all members of the Catholic community in our nations to stand in solidarity with persons on the move and to work for their just and humane treatment.
 
May we be worthy of the admonition of our Lord and Savior, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me….” (Mt. 25: 34-35).
 
Delivered in Washington, D.C., on 4 June, the year of our Lord, 2010
 
Signatories:
 
Most Reverend Rutilio del Riego
Auxiliary Bishop of San Bernardino
Chairman, Subcommittee for the Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and People on the Move
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
 
Most Reverend Pedro Pablo Elizondo
Bishop of Chetumal
Member, Commission for the Pastoral Care of Persons on the Move
Mexican Bishops’ Conference
 
Most Reverend François Gayot, S.M.M.
Archbishop Emeritus of Cap-Haïtien, Haïti
 
Most Reverend Pedro Hernández
Bishop of Darién, Panamá
 
Most Reverend Bernardo Hombach
Bishop Emeritus of Granada, Nicaragua
Chairman of Human Mobility, Bishops’ Conference of Nicaragua
 
Most Reverend Fracois Lapierre
Bishop of Saint-Hyacinthe
Episcopal Conference of Canada
 
Most Reverend John Manz
Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago
USCCB
 
Most Reverend Thomas Maurus Muldoon
Bishop of Juticalpa
Chairman of Social Services and Caritas
Episcopal Conference of Honduras
 
Most Reverend Francisco Ozoria
Bishop of San Pedro de Macorَís
President of the Commission on Persons on the Move
Episcopal Conference of the Dominican Republic
 
Most Reverend Alvaro L. Ramazzini Imeri
Bishop of San Marcos, Guatemala
 
Most Reverend Ricardo Ramirez
Bishop of Las Cruces
 
Most Reverend Rafael Romo
Archbishop of Tijuana
Chairman, Pastoral Care of Persons on the Move
Episcopal Conference of Mexico
 
Most Reverend Angel San Casimiro
Bishop of Alajuela
Episcopal Conference of Costa Rica
 
Most Reverend Anthony Taylor
Bishop of Little Rock
USCCB
 
Most Reverend Raúl Vera
Bishop of Saltillo, Mexico
 
Most Reverend John C. Wester
Bishop of Salt Lake City
Chairman, USCCB Committee on Migration

June 11, 2010
FULL VIDEO, TEXT OF CANON LAW
SEMINAR ON ABUSE AVAILABLE ONLINE
 
WASHINGTON — Video and print resources from the Canon Law Seminar for Media, explaining the Church’s processes for dealing with clergy sexual abuse of minors, are now available online at http://www.usccb.org/canonlawseminar/
           
Held in response to media interest in clergy sexual abuse, this May 25 event was sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Canon Law Society of America. It brought together noted experts on Church law and representatives of major Catholic and secular news outlets.
           
The presentations of all four seminar speakers, as well as a panel discussion, are available online. The program featured Father Kevin McKenna of Rochester, New York, on Canon Law and civil law, Mercy Sister Sharon Euart on the U.S. experience of clergy sexual abuse of minors, Father John Beal of The Catholic University of America on crime and punishment in the Church, and Msgr. Lawrence DiNardo of Pittsburgh on canonical penal procedures.

June 10, 2010
BOOK EXPLORES WHAT IT MEANS TO BE
HUMAN IN LIGHT OF THEOLOGY OF THE BODY
 
WASHINGTON — “What does it mean to be human?” A new book by the priest who spearheads the evangelization and catechetical efforts of the U.S. bishops explores this question by drawing on the teachings of Pope John Paul II in his theology of the body. In The Human Person: According to John Paul II, published by Pauline Books and Media, Father J. Brian Bransfield examines the vision of humanity expressed by Pope John Paul II and uses it as the basis for a moral theology that offers practical guidance and support in living the Christian life.
           
Father Bransfield writes about the challenges raised by three social revolutions of the 20th Century – the industrial, sexual and technological revolutions – and how Pope John Paul’s theology of the body responded to the resulting societal shifts. These shifts, Father Bransfield observes, have led to a disregard for women, the spread of cohabitation, the rise in divorce and the growing trend of fatherlessness. John Paul II challenged all of these trends. Father Bransfield shows how Christians today can overcome the negative consequences of these shifts through living the teaching of the theology of the body as an essential element of the new evangelization proclaimed by Pope John Paul II.
          
 Father J. Brian Bransfield is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He currently serves as the Assistant General Secretary and Executive Director of the Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Father Bransfield holds a doctorate in moral theology from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington.

June 8, 2010
ORTHODOX-CATHOLIC CONSULTATION EXAMINES STEPS TO UNITY
 
WASHINGTON — The North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation continued work on a new agreed statement during its meeting at Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, June 1-3. The meeting was co-chaired by Metropolitan Maximos of Pittsburgh and Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans.
          
The title of the draft statement is “Steps Towards a United Church: A Sketch of an Orthodox-Catholic Vision for the Future.” The document briefly outlines the history of divergences between Catholics and Orthodox, especially with regard to the role of the Bishop of Rome in the Church. It also outlines all that the two churches share and notes that overcoming differences has become a matter of urgency. The text also reflects on what a reunited Catholic and Orthodox Church might would look like, the ecclesial structures needed to facilitate such unity, and the questions that remain to be answered if such a reconciliation is to take place. Work on this text will continue at the next meeting.
           
Members also continued their study of primacies and conciliarity in the Church with emphasis on the theological significance of the Orthodox autocephalous churches. Dr. Robert Haddad, Sophia Smith Professor Emeritus of History at Smith College in Northampton, MA, presented a study entitled, “Constantinople Over Antioch, 1516-1724: Patriarchal Politics in the Ottoman Era.” Father John Erickson, former Dean and professor of canon law and church history at Saint Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Crestwood, NY, presented a paper, “The Autocephalous Church.” A Catholic reaction to these two studies was provided by Father Joseph Komonchak, professor emeritus of religious studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.
           
Participants also considered recent events in the lives of the two churches with particular emphasis on the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America that had taken place in New York, May 26-27. Given that the new Assembly of Bishops will replace the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA), it is anticipated that the new Assembly will become the official Orthodox sponsor of the North American Consultation.
          
In addition to the co-chairs, the Consultation includes Orthodox representatives Father Thomas FitzGerald (Secretary), Dean, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA; Father Nicholas Apostola, Pastor, St. Nicholas Romanian Orthodox Church in Shrewsbury, MA; Father John Erickson, Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Ph.D., Willard Prescott and Annie McClelland Smith Professor and Chair of Religious Studies, Brown University,  Providence, Rhode Island; Father James Dutko, pastor of St. Michael’s Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Church in Binghamton, NY; Paul Meyendorff, Ph.D., Alexander Schmemann Professor of Liturgical Theology and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, Crestwood, NY; Father Alexander Golitzin, Professor of Theology at Marquette University, Milwaukee; Robert Haddad, Ph.D., Father Robert Stephanopoulos, Pastor Emeritus of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, New York; Father Theodore Pulcini, Associate Professor of Religion at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania; and Father Mark Arey, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, New York, (staff).
           
Additional Catholic members are Jesuit Father Brian Daley (Secretary), Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana; Thomas Bird, Ph.D., associate professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Queens College, City University of New York, Flushing, NY; Sylvain Destrempes, Ph.D., faculty of the Grand Seminaire in Montreal; Father Peter Galadza, Kule Family Professor of Liturgy at the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies, Ottawa; Chorbishop John D. Faris, Pastor of St. Louis Gonzaga Maronite Church, Utica, New York; Father John Galvin, Professor of Systematic Theology, The Catholic University of America, Washington; Father Sidney Griffith, Professor in the Department of Semitic and Egyptian Languages and Literatures,  Catholic University; Father Joseph Komonchak, Monsignor Paul McPartlan, Carl J. Peter Professor of Systematic Theology and Ecumenism at Catholic University; Father David Petras,  Spiritual Director and Professor of Liturgy at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, Pittsburgh; Sister of Charity of Leavenworth Susan K. Wood, Professor and Chair of the Department of Theology at Marquette; Vito Nicastro, Ph.D., Associate Director of the Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, Archdiocese of Boston; and Paulist Father Ronald Roberson, Associate Director of the USCCB Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, staff.
           
Since its establishment in 1965, the North American Consultation has now issued 23 agreed statements on various topics. All these texts are now available on the USCCB Website at http://www.usccb.org/seia/orthodox_index.shtml and the SCOBA Website at http://www.scoba.us/resources/orthodox-catholic.html

June 8, 2010
POPE NAMES NEW PHILADELPHIA AUXILIARY BISHOP;
ACCEPTS RESIGNATION OF AUXILIARY BISHOP MAGINNIS

WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI has named Msgr. John J. McIntyre, 46, secretary to Cardinal Justin Rigali, as an auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia, and accepted the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Robert P. Maginnis, 76, from the office of auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia.
           
The appointment and resignation were publicized in Washington, June 8, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
           
John J. McIntyre was born in Philadelphia, August 20, 1963, and attended parochial elementary schools and Father Judge High School in Philadelphia. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Alphonsus College Seminary, and pursued seminary studies at the Redemptorist House of Studies and Washington Theological Union, 1986-1987. He attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, in Overbrook, Pennsylvania, 1989-1992, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1991.
           
Bishop-elect McIntyre was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1992.
           
Assignments in the archdiocese included Parochial Vicar, St. Dominic Parish, Philadelphia, 1992-1995; Parochial Vicar, St. Mark Parish, Bristol, Pennsylvania, 1995-1999; and secretary to the cardinal, 1999 to the present.
           
Bishop Maginnis, a Philadelphia native, was ordained a priest in 1961, and a bishop in 1996.
           
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia includes 2,183 square miles. It has a population of 3,892,194 people, with 1,464,938, or 38 per cent, of them Catholic.


June 4, 2010
POPE NAMES PRESIDENT OF CATHOLIC
UNIVERSITY COADJUTOR BISHOP OF TRENTON
 
WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI has named Vincentian Father David O’Connell, up until now President of The Catholic University of America, coadjutor bishop of Trenton, New Jersey. The appointment was publicized by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. As coadjutor, Bishop-elect O’Connell will automatically succeed Bishop John M. Smith of Trenton upon his retirement.
           
David O’Connell was born April 21, 1955, in Philadelphia. He attended St. Joseph Preparatory High School in Princeton, New Jersey. He received a Bachelor’s in Philosophy from Niagara University in New York in 1978 and a Master of Divinity and a Masters in Moral Theology from Mary Immaculate Seminary in Northampton, Pennsylvania, in 1981 and 1983, respectively.
           
He was ordained a priest for the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians) on May 29, 1982, in Northampton.
           
Assignments after ordination included Director of Student Activities and faculty, Archbishop Wood High School, Warminster, Pennsylvania, 1982-1985; Registrar and Assistant Professor of Canon Law, Theology and Philosophy, Mary Immaculate Seminary, 1987-1990; Associate Dean, Sr. John’s University, New York, 1990-1998; and Acting Vice President and Dean, Niagara University, 1994-1998.
           
Father O’Connell received a Licentiate of Canon Law (J.C.L.) and Doctor of Canon Law (J.C.D.) from The Catholic University of America, Washington, in 1987 and 1990, respectively. From 1998-2010 he served as President of Catholic University. He stepped down at the end of the 2009-2010 academic year.
           
Bishop-elect O’Connell has also served as an ecclesiastical judge and canonical advisor in numerous dioceses. He is also an advisor to committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and a consultant to the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education.
           
Bishop John M. Smith has served as bishop of the Diocese of Trenton since 1997. He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark in 1961 and will turn 75, the mandatory retirement age for bishops, on June 23.
           
The Diocese of Trenton has 2,156 square miles. It has a population of 2,019,789 with 783,285, or 39 percent, of them Catholic.

June 1, 2010
WEST COAST CATHOLIC-MUSLIM DIALOGUE
COMPARES SACRED, PIOUS WRITINGS
 
WASHNGTON — Catholics and Muslims compared sacred and pious writings at the 11th meeting of the West Coast Catholic-Muslim Dialogue, in Orange, California, May 19-20. The dialogue is co-sponsored by the Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Islamic Shura Council of California, with the cooperation of the Islamic Society of Orange County (an affiliate of the Islamic Society of North America) and the Islamic Education Center of Orange County, which is in the Shia tradition of Islam.

Participants compared the miraculous story of the “Seven Sleepers of Ephesus,” found in early Christian writings, with its correlative reference in Surah 18 of the Qur’an, known as “The Cave.”  The story involves seven young men who fled persecution by the Roman Emperor Decius (circa 250 AD) and hid in a cave. Furious, the Emperor had the cave sealed. However, the Lord placed the young men into a miraculous sleep and when the cave was opened generations after the persecution ended, the sleepers awoke thinking they had slept but a few hours. A chapel and a mosque mark the site to this day. 
           
The meeting opened with remarks by Catholic Co-chair, Bishop Carlos Sevilla of Yakima, Washington, and Muslim Co-Chair Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi of the Islamic Society of Orange County. Both remarked that Islamophobia continues to be a problem in society as is antipathy towards religion in general. This stands as a problem not only for Catholics and Muslims but also for all people of faith in U.S. society, they indicated.
           
Dr. Siddiqi led the discussion with a paper titled, “Ashab al-Kahf - The Companions of the Cave.” He spoke first to the historical context of the story as it appears in the Qur’an, and explained that it was first told during the Meccan period when the early Muslim community experienced persecution at the hands of the polytheists. The community eventually had to leave Mecca, many to hide in caves. Thus, the passage holds particular significance for Muslims, and especially offers comfort in times of trial. The tale’s main value, Dr. Siddiqi said, lies not so much in the details of the narrative, but rather in its moral lesson that God has unique ways of helping those who are sincere and faithful. It also provides a strong affirmation of the resurrection of the dead. In the ensuing discussion, many Catholic participants commented on how helpful it was that the story dwelt less on detail, and more on the moral truths inherent in it. Participants also noted the elements of belief in the resurrection from the dead, to which both groups could relate. Other emergent themes included the need for divine help and the support of the believing community in the face of persecution.
           
The second dialogue session began with a presentation by Father Alexei Smith, Ecumenical and Interreligious Officer for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, who presented a paper entitled “The Seven Sleepers of Ephesus” from an Eastern Christian perspective. He began with a short explanation of how the saints are honored in the Church as witnesses to the faith and are those to whom Christians can turn to for help. He noted that veneration of the saints differs from worship, which is reserved for God alone. Father Smith illustrated how the Seven Sleepers are honored in the Church as martyrs (witnesses) for the faith in the Eastern Churches’ liturgical and devotional life. The Muslim participants saw the Christian story as a manifestation of the power of God, especially in its affirmation of the resurrection. Both groups noted that the two narratives reveal God’s care for the young men who remained faithful.
           
In addition to the Co-chairs, other Muslim participants included Sherrel Johnson, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) - California; Imam Taha Hassane, Islamic Center of San Diego; Mr. Hussam Ayloush, CAIR - Greater Los Angeles Area; and Saideh Khan and Jerrel Abdul Salaam, active members of the local Muslim community. Catholic participants included Father Smith; Father Al Baca, Diocese of Orange, California; Father Jose Rubio, Diocese of San Jose; Father Michael Kiernan, Diocese of Sacramento; Msgr. Dennis Mikulanis, Diocese of San Diego; and Father Leo Walsh, USCCB staff.
           
The next West Coast Dialogue is scheduled for Orange, May 24 -25, 2011. More information is available on the USCCB Website at http://www.usccb.org/seia.

May 28, 2010
GENEROSITY, RESILIENCE, EDUCATION,
KEY FEATURES OF PERMANENT DEACONS

WASHINGTON — A national survey of permanent diaconate offices in Catholic dioceses in the United States found that one-quarter of active permanent deacons (28 percent) have a graduate degree. Given that the diaconate is a ministry of service and charity, the vast majority of deacons are not paid for their ministry. Even still, their number continues to rise and they stay active for a very long time.
           
The study, which was commissioned by the Secretariat of Clergy and Consecrated Life and Vocations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, was conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University.
           
Some of the findings related to permanent deacons in active ministry include:   

•  Number of deacons: 21 arch/dioceses report having more than 200 permanent deacons, with Chicago(646 deacons), Trenton (442 deacons), and Galveston-Houston (383) among the topthree. Deacons currently minister in all but one diocese in the United States, and eight in ten permanent deacons in responding arch/dioceses are active in ministry.It is estimatedthat there are as many as 17,047 permanent deacons in the United States today, of whomapproximately 16,349 are active in ministry.
•  Demographic characteristics: 92 percent of permanent deacons in active ministry are married, four percent are widowers, and two percent have never been married; more than six in ten permanent deacons are at least 60-years-old, four in ten deacons are 60 to 69, and about a quarter are 70 or older; 81 percent of active deacons are non-Hispanic whites, 14 percent are Hispanic/Latino, two percent are African American and two percent are Asian.
• Education: Over one-quarter of active deacons (28 percent) have a graduate degree. Deacons are twice as likely to have a graduate degree in a field not related to the diaconate as to have one in a religious field such as religious studies, theology or Canon Law.
• Compensation and formation: Fewer than one in five (18 percent) permanent deacons are financially compensated forministry. Eighty-four percent of responding dioceses require post-ordination formation. One in six dioceses provides post-ordination formation in a language other than English —such as Spanish and American Sign Language— and more than eight in ten dioceses provide formation opportunities for the wives of deacons.

Of the 194 Catholic dioceses contacted, all U.S. dioceses and Eastern Rite eparchies except for the Archdiocese of Military Services, 106 responded to the CARA survey for a 55 percent completion rate. In cases where a non-responding diocese or eparchy had supplied diaconate information in a previous year of data collection, the most recent prior information was used, bringing the total of responding diaconate offices to 180, or 93 percent of all dioceses/eparchies. At the request of the USCCB, CARA has conducted this survey annually since 2005.
           
The CARA study “A Portrait of the Permanent Diaconate 2010” can be found on the USCCB Secretariat of Clergy and Consecrated Life and Vocations’ Web site at http://www.usccb.org/cclv/.

May 24, 2010
POPE NAMES BALTIMORE PRIEST AS AUXILIARY
BISHOP OF ARCHDIOCESE OF MILITARY SERVICES
 
WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Father F. Richard Spencer, 58, a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore and up until now vice commandant of the military chaplains of the U.S. Forces in Europe, as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese for Military Services, USA, and Titular Bishop of Auzia.
           
The announcement was made public in Washington May 22, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
           
F. Richard Spencer was born in Sylacauga, Alabama, in 1951. Before entering the seminary, he served as an active duty officer in the U.S. Army from 1974-1980. He completed his studies for the priesthood at St. Mary’s Seminary in Roland Park, Maryland, and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore by the late Archbishop William D. Borders in 1988. In 1991 he became a U.S. Army chaplain.
           
Father Spencer was promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Army in 2005, and was appointed an Episcopal Vicar for the Archdiocese for the Military Services in 2006. He is currently serving in Germany.
           
Bishop-elect Spencer earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Jackson State University, Alabama; a Master in Educational Administration from the University of Wisconsin at LaCrosse; and a Masters of Divinity from St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore.
           
Bishop-elect Spencer will join Archbishop Timothy Broglio and two other auxiliaries at the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, which encompasses every U.S. military installation at home and abroad. The date of his episcopal ordination has not been set.

May 21, 2010 
BISHOPS NOTE WAY FORWARD WITH
HEALTH  CARE, CLARIFY MISCONCEPTIONS
 
WASHINGTON — The U.S. bishops called for steps to protect the lives of the most vulnerable, provide fairness for immigrants and guarantee conscience protections for individual and institutions in a statement on health care reform issued May 21.

The statement was offered by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Pro-Life Activities; Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre, New York, Chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice, Peace and Human Development, and Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Immigration.

“Following enactment of the health care reform legislation, our challenge remains formidable but in some ways is simpler,” the bishops said. “Since the battle over the bill is over, the defects can be judged soberly in their own right, and solutions can be advanced in Congress while retaining what is good in the new law. Indeed, any failure to do so would only leave these genuine problems as ammunition for those who prefer total repeal of the law.”

The bishops said the current situation “provides a new opportunity for the Catholic community to come together in defense of human life, rights of conscience and fairness to immigrants so we will have a health care system that truly respects the life, dignity, health and consciences of all.”

The statement follows.

 From our first statement to Congress a year ago (http://usccb.org/sdwp/national/2009-05-usccb-health-care-statement.pdf) to Cardinal George’s March 23rd, 2010 statement about the enactment of a “profoundly flawed” final bill, the position of our Conference has been unified and consistent. Reflecting decades of advocacy on behalf of universal access to health care, the bishops were clear in calling for health care reform as a moral imperative and urgent national priority. We called for reform that would make health coverage affordable for the poor and needy, moving our society substantially toward the goal of universal coverage. We were equally clear in stating that this must be done in accord with the dignity of each and every human person, showing full respect for the life, health and conscience of all.
 
Specifically we insisted that the provisions of the Hyde amendment and other longstanding current laws, which forbid federal funding of abortion and of health plans that cover abortion, must be preserved in this or any new legislation. Likewise, we sought to have longstanding policies of respect for rights of conscience applied to this legislation. Americans must retain in new legislation the rights they had before its enactment. These include the full range of protections regarding the right to provide and purchase health care in accord with their religious beliefs and moral convictions. In addition, since access to basic health care is a right inherent in each human person, as acknowledged both in Catholic social teaching and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, legislation must not unfairly exclude immigrants from health coverage (January 26, 2010 Letter to the House).
 
Apparently, because we always presented these criteria together and insisted that each had profound moral implications, some thought the bishops might ultimately be persuaded to abandon one or the other in response to political pressures from left or right. Some hoped or feared that we would join with those who reject the need for vigorous government action to reform our ailing health care system. Others hoped or feared that, for the “greater good” of making progress on health care, we would neglect or deny the rights of the most vulnerable members of our society, including unborn children who have no voice and of immigrants.
 
There was never any chance that the bishops would do any of these things. We will never cease to advocate for everyone, beginning with the most needy, to have access to health care. We will never conclude that we must accept what is intrinsically evil so that some good may be achieved. Specifically we reject the argument made to us by some Catholics that expanding health care coverage justified setting aside our longstanding opposition to government participation in elective abortions or weakening rights to life and freedom of conscience. Catholic teaching rejects any idea that the weakest or “disposable” members of society must be forgotten to serve alleged “greater goods.” Arguments of this sort undermine the common good. Our vision of the common good embraces the good for each and every member without exception, beginning with those who are weakest and most vulnerable.
 
Ultimately the House of Representatives approved a health care reform bill that the bishops welcomed for substantially meeting most of the principles and goods we were espousing. We hoped to address final concerns as the legislation moved forward. However, the Senate rejected the House legislation, including the key elements that we supported, and produced a bill that abandoned the very principles that we espoused: no expansion of abortion, protections for freedom of conscience and the rights of immigrants. With these foundational principles rejected, it was then announced that no further substantive changes were possible. From that moment on, the bishops were clear and consistent in saying that this “take it or leave it” offer was morally unacceptable and politically divisive. Whatever might be the positive aspects of the Senate bill, we had no choice but to oppose the Senate version as a matter of principle. As bishops we must faithfully proclaim the truth. We must defend the rights of the unborn and the weakest and most vulnerable among us. We must oppose the advance of elective abortion in our society, especially the use of government authority and funding to advance it, and we must speak out in favor of the rights of freedom of conscience for persons and institutions. We urged Congress to vote against this version of the bill, with the hope that together we could find a way to address our legitimate concerns in a bill which would thus have broader appeal and greater support. Unfortunately, the political will to do so did not emerge.
 
The final result is legislation that expands health care coverage, implements many needed reforms, and provides welcome support for pregnant and parenting women and adoptive families. Unfortunately it also perpetuates grave injustices toward immigrant families and makes new and disturbing changes in federal policy on abortion and conscience rights. We have documented the legislation’s serious flaws in several analyses available on the bishops’ web site, www.usccb.org/healthcare.
 
Since final passage of the legislation, we have been disturbed and disappointed by reactions inside and outside the Church that have sought to marginalize or dismiss legitimate concerns that were presented in a serious manner by us. Our clear and consistent position has been misrepresented, misunderstood and misused for political and other purposes. Our right to speak in the public forum has been questioned. Our teaching role within the Catholic Church and even our responsibility to lead the Church have come under criticism. All of us must be open to different points of view and recognize the legitimacy of serious criticism. However, whether from within or without the Catholic community, very often these critics lacked an understanding of these particular issues or of the moral framework that motivated our positions. Others did grasp the seriousness of the issues we were attempting to address. Yet other priorities, in our judgment, led them to accept an inaccurate reading of the proposed legislation. They gave credence to analyses by those who were likewise dedicated to minimizing important concerns so as to pass the legislation. In the end, they made a judgment that the moral problems in the new law – for example, the fact that the federal government, for the first time in decades, will now force Americans to pay for other people’s elective abortions – simply are not serious enough to oppose a particular health care reform bill.
 
We regret that this approach carried the day, as some overlooked the clear evidence or dismissed careful analysis and teaching on the morality of these matters. But making such moral judgments, and providing guidance to Catholics on whether an action by government is moral or immoral, is first of all the task of the bishops, not of any other group or individual. As Bishops, we disagree that the divergence between the Catholic Conference and Catholic organizations, including the Catholic Health Association, represents merely a difference of analysis or strategy (Catholic Health World, April 15, 2010, “Now That Reform Has Passed”). Rather, for whatever good will was intended, it represented a fundamental disagreement, not just with our staff as some maintain, but with the Bishops themselves. As such it has resulted in confusion and a wound to Catholic unity.
 
Following enactment of the health care reform legislation, our challenge remains formidable but in some ways is simpler. Since the battle over the bill is over, the defects can be judged soberly in their own right, and solutions can be advanced in Congress while retaining what is good in the new law. Indeed, any failure to do so would only leave these genuine problems as ammunition for those who prefer total repeal of the law. In this context we do not need agreement among lawmakers that the problems are serious enough to oppose the legislation – we only need agreement that the problems are real and deserve to be addressed. This provides a new opportunity for the Catholic community to come together in defense of human life, rights of conscience and fairness to immigrants so we will have a health care system that truly respects the life, dignity, health and consciences of all. We urge Catholics, members of Congress of all parties and others of good will to join us in advancing this worthy goal.
 
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston
Chairman, Committee on Pro-Life Activities
 
Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre
Chairman, Committee on Domestic Justice, Peace and Human Development
 
Bishop John Wester of Salt Lake City
Committee on Migration


May 20, 2010
BISHOPS URGE CONGRESS TO SUPPORT BILL TO REMEDY
ABORTION, CONSCIENCE FLAWS IN HEALTH CARE REFORM LAW

WASHINGTON — Congress should support a bipartisan bill that will remedy the abortion and conscience flaws in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), according to the Chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. In a May 20 letter to Congress, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said PPACA was an important step toward ensuring access to health coverage for all Americans but was “profoundly flawed in its treatment of abortion, conscience rights, and fairness to immigrants.” He urged members to support H.R. 5111, sponsored by Reps. Joseph Pitts (R-PA) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) with 91 other House members, and added, “Efforts to ensure that our health care system truly serves the life, health and conscience of all will be a legislative goal of the Catholic bishops in the months to come.”
           
This legislation, wrote Cardinal DiNardo, “will bring PPACA into line with policies on abortion and conscience rights that have long prevailed in other federal health programs” by ensuring PPACA funds are covered by the Hyde Amendment, along with other provisions.

Cardinal DiNardo said those who believe President Obama’s executive order addressed these concerns should support the new bill, as the legislation would codify and strengthen the order. H.R. 5111 addresses abortion and conscience issues not taken up in the executive order, and remedies its reinforcement of “problematic aspects of the Act, such as its providing federal subsidies for health plans that cover abortions,” he said.
           
With PPACA now passed into law, Cardinal DiNardo said, “Problems of abortion and conscience in the legislation can be addressed on their own merits, not greeted by false charges that any such effort must be aimed at preventing passage of the Act.” He added, “If these genuine problems are not addressed in their own right, they will be taken up and used as ammunition by those who favor repealing PPACA outright, which would eliminate the positive as well as negative aspects of the new law.”
           
He also reiterated the bishops’ call for “a reformed health care system that respects the life, health and conscience of all.”
           
Full text of the letter follows:
 
May 20, 2010
Dear Member of Congress:
            
With the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), our country took an important step toward ensuring access to health coverage for all Americans. However, as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has explained in past letters and analyses, the final Act approved on March 22 was profoundly flawed in its treatment of abortion, conscience rights, and fairness to immigrants (see www.usccb.org/healthcare). Efforts to ensure that our health care system truly serves the life, health and conscience of all will be a legislative goal of the Catholic bishops in the months to come.
           
Reps. Joseph Pitts (R-PA) and Dan Lipinski (D-IL) with 91 other House members have made a significant contribution to this important task, by co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation to remedy PPACA’s serious problems on abortion. This legislation (H.R. 5111), based on the health care reform bill approved by the House last fall, will bring PPACA into line with policies on abortion and conscience rights that have long prevailed in other federal health programs.
 
H.R. 5111 will do the following:
         
(1) Ensure that all funds authorized or appropriated by PPACA are covered by the longstanding policy of the Hyde amendment against funding abortions except in cases of life endangerment or rape/incest. The Act currently appropriates billions of dollars in new funds for health services without limiting use of these funds for elective abortions.
          
(2) Prevent federal funds from subsidizing health plans that cover abortions beyond the Hyde exceptions, so PPACA will follow the policy that already governs Medicaid and Medicare, Children’s Health Insurance Program, Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, and other programs where federal funds combine with other funds to support health coverage. Like the Stupak amendment approved by the House last fall, this will not prevent anyone from purchasing a health plan covering abortions (or separate coverage for abortion itself) with nonfederal funds.
 
(3) Restore the conscience provision on abortion approved by the House last November (sec. 259 of H.R. 3962), modeled on the Weldon amendment that has been part of the annual Labor/HHS appropriations bills since 2004. This will ensure that federal, state and local governmental entities receiving federal funds under PPACA may not discriminate against health care providers who decline involvement in abortion. PPACA’s clause allowing states to require provision of services in some cases (sec. 1303(d)) will also be subject to this conscience clause.
 
(4) Close a loophole in the Act’s non-preemption clause on state laws (sec. 1303(c)(1) of PPACA), so state laws restricting abortion or protecting conscience rights will not be preempted by PPACA. Currently the Act only protects state laws related to abortion coverage or procedural requirements for abortions.
           
(5) Clarify PPACA’s clause on preserving other federal laws (sec. 1303(c)(2)) so laws restricting abortion or abortion coverage as well as laws on conscience rights are preserved.
           
Some may assume these goals are already achieved through President Obama’s executive order of March 21 on abortion funding in PPACA. To the extent that this is so, of course, it is not an argument against H.R. 5111, because it would merely codify those elements of the President’s policy. However, the executive order does not address, or claim to address, several of the problems cited above. On other issues it even reinforces problematic aspects of the Act, such as its providing federal subsidies for health plans that cover abortions. Of course the Act’s policy of merely “segregating funds” within such plans violates the federal abortion policy governing every other federal program, and still forces every American who purchases such plans to pay for other people’s abortions.
             
The executive order also claims to apply the Hyde Amendment to the funds that PPACA authorizes and appropriates for Community Health Centers, although the Act clearly does not apply the Hyde Amendment to these funds. The question here is whether the President has the legal authority to do so, given a long line of federal court decisions construing similar statutes to fund abortion services unless Congress has explicitly stated otherwise. When courts have handed down such decisions, it has sometimes taken years of litigation and debate to resolve the issue – years during which federal funds were used for hundreds of thousands of abortions a year. Given this history, we should not gamble these lives on a guess as to how a federal judge will respond to the first lawsuit seeking a federally funded abortion at a Community Health Center. This serious problem requires a statutory solution.
           
With the enactment of PPACA, the task of keeping the federal government out of the abortion business can now be pursued with less distraction from other issues and agendas. Problems of abortion and conscience in the legislation can be addressed on their own merits, not greeted by false charges that any such effort must be aimed at preventing passage of the Act. To the contrary: If these genuine problems are not addressed in their own right, they will be taken up and used as ammunition by those who favor repealing PPACA outright, which would eliminate the positive as well as negative aspects of the new law. In short, to support this legislation, members of Congress need not agree that these changes are essential to make the Act acceptable – though that is our conviction. They need only agree that the changes are worthwhile. 
           
I therefore urge members of both parties who support rights of conscience and the policy of the Hyde amendment to support and co-sponsor H.R. 5111. Please help give us a reformed health care system that respects the life, health and conscience of all.
                                                                       
Sincerely,                                                                       
+Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo                                                                      
Chairman, Committee on Pro-Life Activities
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

May 19, 2010
JEWISH-CATHOLIC DIALOGUE SEES INDIVIDUALISM, POROUS
BOUNDARIES IN FAITH PRACTICE, RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION

WASHINGTON — Individualism and porous boundaries mark today’s faith practice and religious identification, members of a Jewish-Catholic Dialogue heard at a recent meeting.
           
“We are living in an age of spiritual ‘individualization,’ having moved from a sense of religious duty to religious feeling, and into an era of blurring of religious boundaries and of large defections from one religion to another,” sociologist Mark Gray, Ph.D. of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) of Georgetown University, told the group.
           
Gray spoke at the semi-annual consultation of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the National Council of Synagogues (NCS), May 12, in New York. The consultation was co-chaired by Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York and NCS Chairman Rabbi Alvin Berkun and spent one session on Catholic and Jewish implications of the “The Landscape Pew Report on Religion in America” (2008).
           
Catholics continue to make up the largest single religious group in the United States (22 percent-24 percent), a statistic that Gray notes has held steady over 50 years. This finding is compatible with the large number of defections from those who self-identify as Catholic (one in ten Americans, or approximately 30 million) and the augmentation of the Catholic population by recent immigration.
           
Presenting for the Jewish side of the dialogue was Steven Cohen, Ph.D., Research Professor of Jewish Social Policy at Hebrew Union College and the Jewish Institute of Religion. Cohen pointed out how patterns of Jewish religious observance reflect the overall trend in America’s religious landscape of “movement from faith to choice.”
           
Younger Jews, like younger Catholics, are more likely to adopt a form of spiritual practice that differs from the religious identity given to them at birth. The “choice” of a religious home typically follows a period of “seeking” in one’s early twenties.

Cohen also demonstrated that the center of Jewish religious life in America, which is found in the Reform and Conservative movements, is rapidly declining, whereas the Ultra-Orthodox and secular segments of the Jewish population appear on the rise.
           
Both Gray and Cohen agreed that the younger generation tends to perceive institutionalized religion as “alien, bland, coercive and divisive.” They stressed a need to engage 25-39-year-olds with worship services and study groups outside of the parish and synagogue settings. Gray held up as a creative form of outreach to Catholic young adults “Theology on Tap,” a lecture/discussion meeting that takes place in a bar or restaurant.  
          
 Archbishop Dolan pointed to the shared pastoral dilemma that rabbis and pastors face when reaching out to young adults.
           
“It’s good to realize that Catholic and Jewish pastors face the same problems today: the integrity of marriage and family life, and the retention of young people in their congregations. The Pew Study has given us a sobering reminder of how American culture challenges both our communities to find new means of outreach to our people,” he said.  
           
Rabbi Gilbert S, Rosenthal, Director of the NCS, underscored the need to reach out to young people by developing creative programs that correspond to their distinctive styles of spiritual learning. “If we fail to attract them to religious life and involvement, we imperil our future as meaningful religious communities,” he said.
           
The second consultation session considered recent developments in Israel-Palestine. Stephen Colecchi, Director of the USCCB Office of Internal Justice and Peace, reiterated positions of the U.S. bishops, who seek an end to violence from all sides, the creation of a viable Palestinian state, secure borders for the State of Israel, the end of Israeli occupation in the Palestinian territories and a fair sharing of vital water sources in the region.
           
Colecchi also suggested that the completion of the economic portion of the treaty between the Holy See and Israel (the so-called Fundamental Agreement), as well the resolution of the issue of visas for church workers, would help ease tensions for all parties involved in the present conflict.
           
Jewish and Catholic participants also expressed grave concern about the Iranian government’s acquisition of nuclear weapons, a topic they said should be brought to the attention of congregations in both communities.
           
Catholic participants at the consultation included Cardinal William Keeler, Archbishop Emeritus of Baltimore; Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, Chairman of the Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs; 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; Father Lawrence Frizzell, Seton Hall University; Atonement Father James Loughran, Graymoor Ecumenical Institute; Msgr. Guy Massie, Ecumenical Office of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York; Father Dennis McManus, Special Assistant to Archbishop Dolan; Father James Massa, USCCB staff; and Father Robert Robbins, Ecumenical Office of the Archdiocese of New York.
           
Jewish participants included Rabbi Jerome Davidson, Rabbi Emeritus of Temple Beth El, Great Neck, New York; Rabbi Lewis Eron, Cherry Hill, New Jersey; Judith Hertz, NCS Advisor; Rabbi Richard Marker, Chairman of the International Committee for Jewish-Christian Consultation; Rabbi Joel Meyers, Executive Vice-President Emeritus of the (Conservative) Rabbinical Assembly; Mark Pelavin of the Reform Action Center, Washington; Rabbi Daniel F. Polish of La Grangeville, New York; Carl Sheingold, Ph.D., Executive Vice-President of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation; Jacob Stein, NCS advisor; Rabbi Jonathan Waxman, Congregation Beth-El in Massapequa, New York; Rabbi Jeffrey Wohlberg, President of the (Conservative) Rabbinical Assembly.

May 19, 2010
MIGRATION CHAIRS OF MEXICAN AND U.S. BISHOPS’ CONFERENCES ISSUE
JOINT STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT CALDERON’S VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES
 
WASHINGTON — Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, and Archbishop Rafael Romo Muñoz of Tijuana, Mexico, head of the Mexican Episcopal Conference Migration Commission, issued May 19, a joint statement on the occasion of President Felipe Caderón of Mexico visit to the United States.
           
In the statement, the bishops urged Presidents Obama and Calderón to focus their conversation on the need for reform of their respective immigration systems; the need to uphold the respect for human rights and dignity of migrants and citizens alike while protecting their nation’s borders; and the implementation of fair trade and development policies that would stem the need for people to migrate, while making sure the immigration system provides sufficient legal visas or legal status for immigrants to work in jobs that are important to the U.S. economy.
           
The statement was released in bilingual form. Full statement follows.  

On behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM), we welcome the visit of Mexican President Felipe Calderon to the United States.   The relationship between the United States and Mexico is extremely important, with mutual cooperation and understanding paramount.   We pray that this visit will strengthen the political and policy-based relationship of the two leaders and their countries.
 
La Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Estados Unidos (USCCB) y la Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano (CEM) vemos con satisfacción la visita del mandatario mexicano Felipe Calderón a Estados Unidos. La cooperación y el entendimiento mutuo son de suma importancia en la relación de ambos estados. Elevamos nuestras oraciones para que esta visita fortalezca la relación política de ambos líderes y las naciones que gobiernan.
 
Specifically, we urge both leaders to focus upon the issue of immigration and how it impacts the most vulnerable: the migrant worker and their families. While we respect the obligation of both countries to ensure the integrity of their borders and the security of their peoples, we believe they can achieve these goals without sacrificing the basic human dignity and rights of the migrant.
 
Particularmente, urgimos a ambos líderes a centrar su atención en la migración, y cómo ésta afecta a los más vulnerables: al trabajador migrante y su familia. Si bien respetamos la obligación de ambos países de garantizar la integridad de sus fronteras y la seguridad de sus pueblos, también creemos que estos objetivos se pueden alcanzar sin sacrificar la dignidad humana básica y los derechos de los migrantes.
 
This requires both countries to examine critically their immigration policies, both in the areas of legal immigration and enforcement, and their adverse impact on human beings.
 
Esto requiere que ambos países, examinen con ojo crítico tanto sus políticas migratorias como la aplicación de sus leyes y el impacto adverso en los seres humanos.
 
With regard to the United States, it is essential that immigration reform legislation become a priority. Currently, the U.S. immigration system does not provide sufficient legal visas or legal status for immigrants to work in jobs that are important to the U.S. economy. A system which provides legal avenues for migration would reduce the exploitation of migrants by human smugglers and the number of migrant deaths in the desert. Reform must also bring migrants out of the shadows, so that they can live with their families without fear.
 
Con respecto a Estados Unidos, es necesario que el gobierno dé prioridad a una reforma migratoria integral. El sistema migratorio actual de Estados Unidos no proporciona suficientes vías legales o estatutosjurídicos para que los inmigrantes obtengan trabajos claves para la economía del país. Un sistema que proporcione vías legales para la inmigración reduciría la explotación a la que los trabajadores están sujetos por traficantes de personas y el número de migrantes que perecen en el desierto. Una reforma integral, además sacaría de la sombra a miles de inmigrantes indocumentados, para que puedan vivir con sus familias sin temor.
 
With regard to Mexico, changes must be made to ensure that migrants are not abused and subject to exploitation by criminal elements and corrupt officials. More attention should be paid to the creation of living-wage employment for low-skilled workers, so that they can stay at home and support their families in dignity. This would help reduce illegal immigration over the long-term, a goal which both nations share.
 
Respecto a México, los cambios deben garantizar que los migrantes no sean objeto de abusos ni sujetos de explotación por parte de bandas criminales y funcionarios corruptos. Es necesario prestar atención a la creación de oportunidades para sus ciudadanos en sus lugares de origen, que les permitan vivir en condiciones dignas en su país. Esta situación ayudaría a reducir la migración indocumentada a largo plazo, un objetivo que ambas naciones comparten.
 
The United States and Mexico have an opportunity to work together to prevent illegal immigration in a humane manner, not in a way which places total emphasis on enforcement measures.   While both countries exchange commerce, information, and capital on a regular basis, the movement of labor has yet to be regularized, to the detriment of the basic rights of human beings.
 
Estados Unidos y México tienen la oportunidad de trabajar juntos para prevenir la migración indocumentada de forma humana y no sólo aplicando medidas restrictivas. Mientras que ambos países intercambian comercio, información y capital con regularidad, el movimiento de mano de obra entre ambos países aún no se regulariza, en detrimento de los derechos fundamentales de muchos seres humanos.
 
Over the long-term, cooperation and aid agreements as well as trade and economic pacts considered by both nations should address the movement of labor and the impact such agreements may have on the migration of peoples between the two countries.
 
A largo plazo, el comercio, la cooperación y los acuerdos económicos considerados por ambas naciones deberían abordar el tema del flujo de trabajadores y el impacto que tales acuerdos pueden tener en la migración de personas entre los dos países.
 
The United States and Mexico face a crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border, with drug cartels and human smuggling networks battling with law enforcement and placing citizens of both sides of the border at risk.   Repairing the immigration laws in both countries would help take migrants out of the enforcement equation and would permit law enforcement to focus their limited resources on criminal networks.
 
Estados Unidos y México enfrentan una crisis a lo largo de su frontera común, en la lucha contra de carteles de la droga y redes de contrabando humano, que pone en riesgo a los ciudadanos que residen en ambos lados de la frontera. Reparar las leyes migratorias de ambos países, ayudaría a sacar a los inmigrantes de la ecuación y facilitaría que las fuerzas de seguridad enfoquen los recursos limitados de que disponen en el combate contra redes criminales.
 
In conclusion, we urge both President Obama and President Calderon to work cooperatively toward the mutual goals of creating a safe border and a humane and fair immigration system. Only through bi-national cooperation will this issue be solved in a manner which serves the interests of both nations, upholds the rule of law, and respects the rights of both U.S. and Mexican citizens. 
 
En conclusión, rogamos  tanto al Presidente Obama como al Presidente Calderón que trabajen en conjunto hacia un objetivo común para crear una frontera segura y un sistema de inmigración humano y justo. Solamente a través de la cooperación binacional este problema se resolverá de una manera que sirva a los intereses de ambas naciones, respete sus leyes y los derechos de sus conciudadanos.

Most Rev. John C. Wester
Bishop of Salt Lake City
Chairman, USCCB Committee on Migration

+Rafael Romo Muñoz
Arzobispo de Tijuana y Responsable de la Dimensión Pastoral de la Movilidad Humana
Conferencia del Episcopado Mexican


May 17, 2010
POPE NAMES HEAD OF BISHOPS’ CENTRAL, EASTERN EUROPE OFFICE
AS RECTOR OF PONTIFICAL ORIENTAL INSTITUTE IN ROME
 
WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI has named Jesuit Father James McCann, 61, as rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.
           
Father McCann currently heads the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Office to Aid the Church in Central and Eastern Europe. He will assume his new position in mid-September and is expected to leave the USCCB in July.
           
Msgr. David Malloy, USCCB General Secretary, congratulated Father McCann and thanked him for service to the Church in the United States.
           
“Father McCann has shown dedication to efforts of U.S. Catholics to help the church in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe,” he said. “He has represented the bishops well both here and abroad. With clear vision and a keen observance of need, he has seen that funds collected for the church in Russia, Central and Eastern Europe are wisely spent on rebuilding the church where it is most challenged and has been instrumental in educating men and women, especially through the priesthood and religious life, for church ministry.”
           
Father McCann is a native of Chicago and entered the Society of Jesus in 1967. He was ordained a priest in 1979. He holds a Licentiate in theology from Centre Sèvres in Paris, a Master’s degree in Russian and East European Studies from Yale University, and a Doctorate in Politics with a specialization in Russia and Eastern Europe from Princeton University.
           
Father McCann joined the USCCB in 2003. Before that he was a professor at Loyola University Chicago, where he also served as dean of freshmen, and at Xavier University in Cincinnati, where he was also Director of Peace Studies. He has studied in Germany and served in pastoral ministry in Russia and Kazakhstan.
           
He brings significant understanding to his position of service to the oriental churches, which are the focus of the Pontifical Oriental Institute. It is dedicated to providing theological and spiritual resources for the churches of the East, the mission assigned to it by the popes since its founding by Pope Benedict XV in 1917.

May 17, 2010
REGIONAL BISHOPS CONSULTATION ON MIGRATION TO MEET JUNE 2-4 IN WASHINGTON
 
WASHINGTON — Representatives of bishops’ conferences of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and other Latin American and Caribbean countries will convene June 2-4 in Washington for the 2010 Regional Bishops’ Consultation on Migration. Archbishop Antonio Maria Vegliò, president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People at the Vatican, and Archbishop Pietro Sambi, papal nuncio to the United States, are also slated to attend.
           
The bishops are expected to discuss the current situation of migrants in their respective countries. This will involve presentations on current conditions impacting migration in sending and receiving countries; the treatment of immigrants living in or in transit through their countries; the impact on communities left behind; the implications of these realities on the Church’s pastoral care, advocacy and public policy, and service responses; coordination of efforts at the regional level; and the search for successful models.
           
A dialogue with public officials is stated for June 4. The bishops and staff of related Catholic agencies dealing with the realities of human migration across the region will also tour two separate pastoral care and service centers for immigrants in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, on June 3. On the same day, they will be joined for lunch and hear from a group of children from the “Unaccompanied Minors” program from the Diocese of Richmond,
 Virginia.
           
These consultations have grown out of regular meetings between the migration-related committees of the U.S. and Mexico episcopal conferences that began in 1999 and resulted in the historic joint pastoral letter, Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope, issued in 2003. Since then, the consultations were expanded to other bishops’ conferences and their staff involved in human mobility work in Canada and Latin America, especially in Central America and the Caribbean. These discussions have served to strengthen collaboration among the participating episcopal conferences on behalf of migrants, transcending borders and allowing for more comprehensive responses. In 2008, the consultation was held in Tijuana, Mexico, and in 2009 in San Marcos, Guatemala.
          
 Scheduled to participate at the consultation in Washington are several U. S. bishops including Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City, chair of the USCCB Committee on Migration; Archbishop José H. Gomez, Coadjutor Archbishop of Los Angeles and chairman-elect of the Committee on Migration; Auxiliary Bishop Rutilio del Riego of San Bernardino, California, president of the USCCB Subcommittee on Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and Travelers, under the Committee of Cultural Diversity in the Church; Bishop Anthony Taylor of Little Rock, Arkansas, representing CLINIC’s (Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.) board;  Auxiliary Bishop Dennis Madden of Baltimore; and Auxiliary Bishop John Manz of Chicago.
           
Representatives of other episcopal conferences include Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini (Guatemala), Bishop Arturo Gonzalez (Cuba), Bishop Francois Gayot (Haiti) and Bishop Berhard Hombach (Nicaragua); Archbishop Rafael Romo of Tijuana, and Bishops Raul Vera and Pedro Pablo Elizondo (Mexico); Bishop Francois Lapierre (Canada), Bishop Pedro Hernandez (Panama), Bishop Francisco Ozoria Acosta (Dominican Republic), Bishop Angel San Casimiro (Costa Rica); and  Bishops Maurus Muldoon and Juan José Pineda (Honduras). Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa (Panama) will represent CELAM (Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Latin America and the Caribbean) at the consultation.

May 17, 2010
MID-ATLANTIC CATHOLIC-MUSLIM DIALOGUE
DISCUSSES INTERRELIGIOUS EDUCATON, MAKES
STATEMENT ON STEREOTYPES

WASHINGTON — Interreligious education and the danger of stereotypes were discussed at the 14th annual meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Dialogue between Catholics and Muslims, in Somerset, NJ, May 5-6.
           
The meeting began with remarks by the Bishop Denis Madden, Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore, who spoke on behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, and Dr. Talat Sultan of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).
           
Bishop Madden in remarks entitled, “Religious Education as a Path to Mutual Respect and Understanding among Catholics and Muslims,” said Catholic education’s emphasis on the integral formation of the whole person whose final destiny in heaven, and toward the common good of societies.
           
Dr. Sultan noted Islamic teaching that all humanity springs from a single source and stressed that mutual respect is imperative. He noted that before people teach about other religions, they should use primary sources to correctly understand other faiths.
           
Christian Brother David Carroll, the Aquinas Chair of Catholic Studies, St. Thomas Aquinas College, Brooklyn, spoke on “The Educational Mission of the Church.” He explained how principles in Pope John Paul II’s encyclical “Redemptoris Missio”are lived out in the work of the Brothers of Christian Schools in Africa and Asia. Even though the original Christian populations for which the schools were founded have moved on, he said, the schools continue to serve the local population and provide a unique opportunity for promoting interreligious dialogue and understanding.  This thought was echoed by two of the imams, Shaykh Abdur Rahman Khan from Guyana and Imam Zafeer Ali Hafiz from India, who had attended Catholic schools in their home countries. Both noted what they gained from the Catholic Church through their education, and Rahman Khan recalled that “at no time was I ever asked to convert. I think I am a better Muslim because of my education in Catholic schools.”
           
On the first evening, the area ICNA chapter and the USCCB co-hosted a dinner for local religious and political leaders, where they explained the work of the dialogue and highlighted the charitable works of ICNA in the United States and abroad through the Helping Hands and ICNA Relief USA.
           
During the dialogue members voiced concern about negative stereotypes and misrepresentations of Catholics and Muslims found in textbooks, films, internet and print media. Both groups said that the proliferation of negative stereotypes, distorted information and caricatures of both traditions needed to be addressed. They adopted a statement committing themselves to work for mutual understanding between their two faith traditions, to support one another in confronting negative stereotypes in all media, to work with the leaders of their congregations in this effort, and to continue to review educational materials used by their congregations and educational institutions to ensure that each are presenting materials that accurately represent what the other believes.
           
In addition to the co-chairs, the Muslim representatives at the meeting included ICNA President Dr. Zahid Bukhari; Imam Hamad Ahmad Chebli, Islamic Society of Central New Jersey; Dr. Safaa Zarzour, President of the Islamic Society of North America; Shaykh Abdur Rahman Khan, Resident Scholar, Islamic Foundation Villa Park, Chicago; ImanZafeer Ali Hafiz, ICNA Headquarters; Dr. Naeem Baig,Vice President, ICNA; Moein Khawaja, Council on American-Islamic Relations; and Imam Sohaib Sultan, Mulsim Chaplain, Princeton University. Additional Catholic representatives included Al Grindon, Institute on Religion and Civic Values; Rev. Sidney Griffith, Chairman of the Institute of Christian Oriental Research, Catholic University of America: Dr. Pim Valkenberg, PhD, Loyola University, Maryland:  Dr. Sandra Keating, PHD, Providence College; Rev. Tom Ryan, CSP, Ecumenical and Interreligious Officer, Paulist Fathers; and Rev. Leo Walsh, USCCB staff.
           
The Mid-Atlantic Dialogue between Catholics and Muslims has been sponsored jointly by the USCCB Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and ICNA since 1996. Its latest statement, Marriage: Roman Catholic and Sunni Muslim Perspectives, is due to be published shortly. More information is available on the USCCB Website at http://www.usccb.org/seia/ and at www.whyislam.org.

May 14, 2010
WHAT NATIONAL REVIEW BOARD
LEARNED FROM CHILD SEX ABUSE VICTIMS
 
WASHINGTON — Diane Knight, MSW, chair of the National Review Board of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, notes ten points that National Review Board members have learned in dealing with victim/survivors of sexual abuse of minors by clergy.

Knight, a native of Milwaukee, is a social worker with 30 years experience in child protection. She was named to head the Review Board in 2009.

1.      We have learned that it takes great courage for a victim/survivor to come forward with his or her story after years, sometimes decades, of silence and feelings of shame.
 
2.      We have learned that to the victim/survivor it is so important to finally simply be believed.
 
3.      We have learned that, in spite of their own pain and suffering, many victim/survivors are just as concerned that the Church prevents this abuse from happening to more children as they are about themselves and their own needs for healing.
 
4.      We have learned that, while each individual’s story is different, what is common is the violation of trust; some survivors trust absolutely no one, to this day, while others have been able to work through this pain with the help and support of loved ones.
 
5.      We have learned that today there are methods of therapy that work particularly well with and for survivors of childhood sexual abuse and that individuals can be helped even after many years of unsuccessfully trying to simply “forget about it.”
 
6.      We have learned that very many victim/survivors have lived for many years with the belief that they were the “only one” to have been abused by a particular priest.
 
7.      We have learned that the abuse has robbed some victim/survivors of their faith. For some this means loss of their Catholic faith, but for others it means loss of any faith in a God at all.
 
8.      We have learned that, while some victim/survivors have been unable to succeed in various areas of life (marriage, employment, education, parenting, etc.) as a consequence of the great emotional/psychological harm, others have gone on to lead very healthy and productive lives. We have learned that between those two “ends of a continuum” there is as much variation as there are numbers of victims.
 
9.      We have learned that to be privileged to hear an individual victim/survivor’s story is a sacred trust, to be received with great care and pastoral concern.
 
10. We have learned that we still have much to learn.
 
 The National Review Board is an advisory group of 13 laypersons with expertise in such areas as law, education, media, and psychological sciences. The board was established in 2002, when the U.S. bishops adopted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People to oversee efforts of the Office for Child and Youth Protection. The National Review Board is responsible for a three-year Causes and Context Study being undertaken by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and due for release in 2011. The study looks at the clergy sexual abuse of minors problem to ascertain what factors led to it and how it can be prevented going forward.


April 11, 2010
NEW WEBSITE HIGHLIGHTS CATHOLIC CHURCH’S SIGNIFICANT
ROLE IN IMMIGRATION DEBATE FOR ALMOST A CENTURY
 
WASHINGTON — The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services (USCCB/MRS) has partnered with The Catholic University of America to develop an educational Website that highlights the significant role that the U.S. Catholic bishops and the institutional Church in the United States have played on immigration related issues, especially since the early twentieth century. The Website, “U.S. Catholic Bishops and Immigration,” can be found at http://libraries.cua.edu/achrcua/packets.html.
           
For more than eighty years the Catholic Church in the United States, through the successive variations of what today is the USCCB, has provided a strong, institutional presence in support of immigrants and in favor of more just immigration laws.
           
“This story has not been widely shared in the past but it is important to do so now,” said Todd Scribner, education outreach coordinator at MRS. “The bishops have long been committed to helping immigrant communities, both through the provision of services and through tireless advocacy on their behalf.”
           
This Website will facilitate access to primary documents that help to highlight these efforts and an expansive narrative that will provide the historical context necessary to understand the importance of these documents. In addition, there will be a number of other educational tools that students, faculty and researchers can use. Diocesan and parish directors of religious education and social concerns may also find this Website to be a useful resource when highlighting immigration and the role of the U.S. Catholic Church in this issue in recent decades.

April 8, 2010
LEADERS AT CULTURAL DIVERSITY CONVOCATION SEND
LETTER OF SUPPORT TO ARIZONA BISHOPS ON IMMIGRATION

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Catholic leaders from across the United States participating in the Catholic Cultural Diversity Network Convocation at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, on the last day of their meeting, sent an open letter to the Catholic bishops of Arizona, expressing their support for the bishops’ leadership in raising opposition to Arizona Law SB 1070.

“We write in order to express our solidarity with you and the Catholic community under your care and all the people of Arizona and throughout the United States who have raised their voices in opposition to Arizona Law SB1070,” the letter read. “This is a law which undermines the fabric of society by creating an atmosphere of discrimination against certain members of the community, profiling minorities and creating fear among persons of color regardless of their immigration status.”

In their letter, the leaders also lamented the lack of leadership in both parties at the federal level and called for immediate action on comprehensive immigration reform so that “we may find the way forward so that the rights and dignity of human beings including the undocumented as well as the integrity of our borders will be safeguarded and preserved.”

Participants in the Convocation came from every region in the country and represented the many cultures, races and ethnicities that make up the Catholic Church in the United States, including those of European American, African American, Native American, Asian and Latin origin, as well as refugees, migrants and itinerant peoples.

Full text of letter follows.

Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix
Most Reverend Gerald F. Kicanas, Bishop of Tucson
Most Reverend James S. Wall, Bishop of Gallup
 
Dear Bishops Olmsted, Kicanas and Wall,
 
We, the undersigned, among more than 300 church leaders attending the Catholic Cultural Diversity Network Convocation at the University of Notre Dame from May 6-8, 2010.  We are a cross-section of the entire Catholic Church in the United States coming from every region in the country and representing the many families of cultures, races and ethnicities that make up the Church in the United States including those of European origin.
 
 
We are blessed with the presence of nineteen archbishops and bishops, among them Archbishop Pietro Sambi, personal representative of our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, together with priests, religious men and women, deacons and hundreds of  lay ministers and Catholic professionals.
 
 
We write in order to express our solidarity with you and the Catholic community under your care and all the people of Arizona and throughout the United States who have raised their voices in opposition to Arizona Law SB1070. This is a law which undermines the fabric of society by creating an atmosphere of discrimination against certain members of the community, profiling minorities and creating fear among persons of color regardless of their immigration status.
 
In expressing this concern we realize that all the people of Arizona together with millions of others throughout our country are suffering from a broken immigration system that is in need of immediate, comprehensive reform. We lament that both the executive and legislative branches of the federal government who rightly have jurisdiction in this matter, together with the leadership of both political parties, have shown themselves unwilling to resolve the urgent need for a new and equitable immigration policy. The time for them to face the issue of immigration reform is long past due.

We congratulate you for your courage and leadership in this matter as well as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for taking a constructive, well-reasoned stand on these controversial matters consistent with Catholic social teaching.  You have been stalwart advocates for human dignity and the common good. You and your people have opened doors to immigrants and welcomed them to the table of the Word and of the Eucharist. Through these gestures of solidarity you are a hopeful sign in American society that we are stronger together and you move us closer to the vision of Pentecost as a diverse people of one mind and heart. We pray that working together with all persons of good will we may find the way forward so that the rights and dignity of human beings including the undocumented as well as the integrity of our borders will be safeguarded and preserved.
 
For our part we pledge our continued prayers and efforts in our local communities to lift up the need for immediate action on immigration reform.
 
Sincerely yours,
 
Participants at the Catholic Cultural Diversity
Network Convocation 2010
Notre Dame, Indiana

May 7, 2010
ARCHBISHOP GREGORY: CHRIST THE FOUNDATION OF OUR UNITY,
DIVERSITY A GIFT GOD HAS FASHIONED INTO THE HEART OF HUMANITY
 
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory of Atlanta weighed in on the issues of unity and diversity in the Church during the homily, May 7, at a Mass for the Catholic Cultural Diversity Network Convocation at meeting at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.
           
Archbishop Gregory highlighted the differences between building unity as a nation and in the Church.
           
“Our efforts at national unity often depend upon bringing peoples’ diversity into something of an artificial harmony that seeks to minimize the uniqueness and distinctiveness of people. The Catholic Church on the contrary focuses upon what we all share in common which is our faith and our oneness in Christ,” Archbishop Gregory said.
           
“To be a Catholic one need not abandon one’s individuality. In fact, the Catholic Church is most perfectly herself when all of her children display that rich diversity that God has fashioned into the very heart of humanity,” the archbishop said. “We are most Catholic when we reflect our oneness of faith and worship that is achieved in response to our rich mixture of human variety through the grace of the Holy Spirit.”
          
Archbishop Gregory also reminded the congregation that the church’s mission is to go out and evangelize and invite others in.
          
“The apostolic activity of these early Christians,” he said, “reminds us that even in our beginning the People of God continually welcomed others into their fellowship. The Holy Spirit inspired those first Christians to see beyond the limits of their own ethnicity and religious backgrounds and comfort zones to bring Christ to the entire world.”
           
And he added, “Those challenges of bringing people together established the rich legacy that we continue even today as peoples from throughout the world find their rightful place around the Lord’s Altar.”
           
In reference to the work being accomplished at the Cultural Diversity Convocation, Archbishop Gregory said “[t]his conference is but the latest chapter in a long history of reminding all of the members of the Church that we all belong to Christ and in Him we belong to one another through the grace of the Holy Spirit. We need not, indeed, we must not neglect our individuality and the uniqueness of our heritages. Yet these differences must never be barriers that separate us from Christ or one another.”
             
He concluded by reminding everyone of the conversion story of the Apostle Paul, where Christ identified himself with the very community Paul was persecuting. Finally, he insisted that only Christ can be the foundation of the Church’s unity.
           
Full text of the homily follows.
 
Friday 7 May, 2010
 
Notre Dame University
Sacred Heart Basilica
 
Catholic Cultural Diversity Network Convocation
 
Wilton D. Gregory,
Archbishop of Atlanta
 
The Cable History Channel is currently airing a 12 episode series program entitled: America The Story of Us on Sunday evenings. Thus far, personally I have found it to be a fascinating program based upon the parts that I have seen. The series uses many of the wonders of modern day cinematography and a first-class cast of actors and commentators who provide an artistic expression of the enthralling topic of the development and triumph of our common American political legacy.
 
As the actors and televised scenes tell the narrative of how we became and thrived as a nation, the viewer will find a great many things of which we all ought to be proud of in the wonderful historical heritage of our nation. There are to be sure many other heartrending chapters of our history that are and will be portrayed in future episodes that remind us of the ongoing struggles for justice and equality that still continue to be unfulfilled and are as yet unfinished.
 
Since the United States of America is a nation comprised of so many peoples of different races and cultures, each representing various economic conditions, diverse sociological categories and ethnic groups, there is always the temptation to draw too close a parallel of our national political struggle for unity in this great country with the challenges that have always faced our Catholic Church – another community which is far older and much richer in diversity and variety of peoples. Because in spite of some obvious similarities there are huge differences between the unity that we struggle to maintain as a nation and the Oneness that is the heritage and indeed a mark of the Catholic Church.
 
The current conflicts and wrangling around the question of immigration that have long been simmering and have recently flared up are only the latest expression of how this great country of ours continues to struggle with maintaining our national identity and yet continuing our legacy of welcoming the most recent peoples who come to our shores seeking the very same promises that brought countless millions of others here before them. The rhetoric can become hyper- exaggerated and often mean-spirited as conflicting opinions on the topic of immigration face off in this vitally important social concern.
 
Some people have warned that our very future as a nation is at stake if we don’t defend our borders. Some have suggested that our economic stability will be compromised without more stringent laws to control the numbers of immigrants who come to our nation. Too often, the language employed is only a poorly veiled disguise for xenophobia and racism. We do face significant challenges and we need to take them seriously – but our nation has faced other such moments before – and the series highlights some of these most difficult moments in the history of this great land.
 
Yet our efforts at national unity often depend upon bringing peoples’ diversity into something of an artificial harmony that seeks to minimize the uniqueness and distinctiveness of people. The Catholic Church on the contrary focuses upon what we all share in common which is our faith and our oneness in Christ. To be a Catholic one need not abandon one’s individuality. In fact, the Catholic Church is most perfectly herself when all of her children display that rich diversity that God has fashioned into the very heart of humanity. We are most Catholic when we reflect our oneness of faith and worship that is achieved in response to our rich mixture of human variety through the grace of the Holy Spirit.
 
Each year during the Easter season, we listen to the story of the development of the Church from those first disciples of Jewish ancestry who reached out to the entire known world and invited all people to come together in Christ. The apostolic activity of these early Christians did not wait until people came to them – they went out to proclaim Christ Crucified and Risen from the dead and to invite every nation to belong to Him. This mesmerizing story reminds us that even in our beginning, the People of God continually welcomed others into their fellowship. The Holy Spirit inspired those first Christians to see beyond the limits of their own ethnicity and religious backgrounds and comfort zones to bring Christ to the entire world. The vibrant stories from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles that so fill the Easter season provide a convincing narrative of how the first disciples grappled with the challenges of becoming a Catholic Church in the most fundamental sense of that title.
 
In passages such as we heard proclaimed in our first reading today, the infant church began encountering people in communities like Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia including those who may not have been Jewish in their background. Those challenges of bringing people together established the rich legacy that we continue even today as peoples from throughout the world find their rightful place around the Lord’s Altar. The Book of the Acts of the Apostles does not conceal the fact that bringing together people from diverse backgrounds was and remains a challenge and sometimes misunderstandings did and continue to occur. Yet it was always the presence and the grace of the Holy Spirit that led the Church to welcome those new members accommodating their uniqueness as they were incorporated into Christ Jesus.
 
This conference is but the latest chapter in a long history of reminding all of the members of the Church that we all belong to Christ and in Him we belong to one another through the grace of the Holy Spirit. We need not; indeed, we must not neglect our individuality and the uniqueness of our heritages. Yet these differences must never be barriers that separate us from Christ or one another. For in that same Book of the Acts of the Apostles, when the conversion account of the great Apostle Paul is recounted, Christ identifies Himself with the very community that Paul has been persecuting – Christ wears the face of His people then as well as today.
 
If the Catholic Church were to have a 12 episode series on our 2,000 year history and the challenges that we have faced and overcome together, it might likely be entitled: The Catholic Church The Story of Him! After all, Jesus is the foundation of our Oneness and He continues to beckon us all to go out into the whole world to bring others – with no attention paid to the diversity of those called to join this One family of Faith. We are who we are because We are the Lord’s.


May 5, 2010 
BISHOPS THANK CONGRESS FOR WORKING ON EXTENSION
AND IMPROVEMENT OF TRADE PREFERENCES FOR HAITI
 
WASHINGTON — By extending and improving trade preferences for Haiti, Congress “willsend a clear signal that the United States is prepared to take the necessary steps to improve the lives of thousands of Haitians both in the short-term and in the long-term,” said Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, N.Y. In a May 4 letter, Bishop Hubbard, Chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, thanked the sponsors of the Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of 2010 for introducing the bill (HR 5160 and S 3275) and called on the House and Senate to move swiftly to approve the legislation.

In an earlier letter to the Administration, Bishop Hubbard argued that Haiti should have an integrated strategy to help Haiti recover. International assistance and debt relief are needed, but alone are not enough. “A critically important part of the integrated strategy we recommended was the extension and improvement of the trade preference levels (TPLs) that Haiti was granted through the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement Acts (HOPE I and HOPE II), which our Conference strongly supported,” Bishop Hubbard wrote. This bill “will give investors and retailers a clear signal that the United States has a strong commitment to help Haiti recover and rebuild, especially the Haitian economy, in the long-term.”

Bishop Hubbard added: “The light manufacturing sector was not as damaged as other parts of Port-au-Prince during the earthquake and thus could generate desperately needed employment. Thousands of jobs will be quickly created in Haiti if this legislation passes.”

The letter from Bishop Hubbard can be found online at: www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/2010-05-04-ltr-senate-USCCB-CRS-support-haiti-s3275.pdf