Issue of January 29, 2012 – February 11, 2012 The following items are condensed. For the complete articles, please read the print edition of The Catholic New World. To subscribe, call (312) 534-7777.
News Update
Knights help those in need
Knights of Columbus Gregory Papesh, John Walker and Clifford Doyle sort through coats that will be distributed to needy children at St. Ambrose Parish, 1012 E. 47th St., on Jan. 14. The parish is the home of St. Ambrose Council No. 8377. Chicago-area knights will distribute 14 dozen new winter coats while marking the fourth consecutive winter for the Knights' Coats for Kids program. Nationally, the knights will distribute more than 30,000 coats this winter. Karen Callaway/Catholic New World
'The Grand Design'
On Feb. 2 at 7:15 p.m. University of Notre Dame professor John Cavadini will address the topic "The Grand Design: An Augustinian reply to Stephen Hawking" on the University of Chicago campus, Social Sciences 122, 1126 East 59th St.
The lecture is sponsored by the Lumen Christi Institute. Cavadini is associate professor of theology and director of the Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame. The event is free. For information, visit www.lumenchristi.org.
Rice Bowl award
Catholic Relief Services' once again is offering its Lenten program Operation Rice Bowl to parishes, schools and individuals. For more than 35 years, CRS' Operation Rice Bowl has offered Catholics in the United States a way to connect with those in need around the world through the traditional Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Twenty-five percent of money raised stays locally in the Archdiocese of Chicago to help fight hunger.
On Feb. 8, at 9:30 a.m., the archdiocese kicks off its Operation Rice Bowl program by presenting the Father Richard Valker Golden Rice Bowl Award at the Cardinal Meyer Center, 3525 S. Lake Park Ave. Valker was pastor emeritus of St. Norbert Parish and a big supporter of Operation Rice Bowl.
To participate in Operation Rice Bowl or to RSVP the award event, contact Adrienne Curry at (312) 534-8367 or acurry@archchicago.org.
News Digest
Pope warns of threat to freedom of religion, conscience in U.S.
Pope Benedict XVI warned visiting U.S. bishops that "radical secularism" threatens the core values of American culture, and he called on the church in America, including politicians and other laypeople, to render "public moral witness" on crucial social issues.
The pope spoke Jan. 19 to a group of U.S. bishops who were in Rome for their periodic "ad limina" visits, which included meetings with the pope and Vatican officials, covering a wide range of pastoral matters.
Pope says virginity and martyrdom of St. Agnes example of faith
Pope Benedict XVI held up the life of a young virgin and martyr as an example to seminarians of the total commitment to Christ required by young men seeking to enter the priesthood.
The pope also said that a solid cultural background and intellectual understanding of faith was essential in the formation of priests as spreaders of the word of God.
HHS delays, but does not change, rule on contraceptive coverage; bishops respond
Although Catholic leaders vowed to fight on, the Obama administration has turned down repeated requests from Catholic bishops, hospitals, schools and charitable organizations to revise its religious exemption to the requirement that all health plans cover contraceptives and sterilization free of charge.
Instead, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced Jan. 20 that nonprofit groups that do not provide contraceptive coverage because of their religious beliefs will get an additional year "to adapt to this new rule."
Ruling over teacher's firing opens up possibilities
The direction the courts will take with other cases related to religious employment is far from clear, but the Supreme Court's Jan. 11 ruling opens a whole track of possibilities.
The decision in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC held that fired teacher Cheryl Perich could not sue under federal disability discrimination laws, because the Michigan Lutheran school where she worked considered her a "called" minister.
Roberts: 'Ministerial exception' dates to Magna Carta
The religious freedom history lesson that Chief Justice John Roberts gives in writing the Supreme Court's Jan. 11 unanimous ruling affirming a "ministerial exception" to federal employment laws goes back to the Magna Carta, the English law created in 1215. The decision in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC held that fired teacher Cheryl Perich could not sue under federal disability discrimination laws, because the Michigan Lutheran school where she worked considered her a "called" minister.
'You are not alone,' Hispanic, Latino bishops tell immigrants
An emotional pastoral letter to immigrants from the U.S. Hispanic and Latino Catholic bishops offers love, encouragement, welcome, sympathy and assurance that "you are not alone or forgotten." (Entire letter reprinted on next page.)
"We recognize that every human being, authorized or not, is an image of God and therefore possesses infinite value and dignity," begins the strongly worded letter released on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec. 12. "We open our arms and hearts to you, and we receive you as members of our Catholic family. As pastors, we direct these words to you from the depths of our heart."
Black Catholic survey finds strong ties to church
African-American Catholics are much more engaged in their church on a variety of levels than are white Catholics, concludes the first National Black Catholic Survey.
Whether in a majority black church, a mixed or mostly white parish, the survey found African-American Catholics feel satisfied and fulfilled in their parishes, explained retired Bishop John Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., who is president of the National Black Catholic Congress.
