Religious Leaders Urge Bush To Promote Mideast Peace

WASHINGTON – Two U.S. cardinals are part of an interfaith group of religious leaders who have asked President George W. Bush for his “active leadership” in achieving a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian territories, and for a comprehensive cease-fire covering Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

“The split in Palestinian governance between the West Bank and Gaza is incompatible with a durable peace agreement,” said the letter, which was signed by Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, president of the U.S. bishops, and Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington.

The United States should “quietly support efforts by others, possibly including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, to help form a new unified Palestinian government ... committed to rejecting violence, accepting previous agreements, and negotiating a two-state solution as the basis for peaceful coexistence between Israel and Palestine,” said the letter, written for the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East.

Pope Asks Religious to Teach Bible Appreciation

VATICAN CITY – Marking the feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the annual celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life, Pope Benedict XVI asked members of religious orders to help laypeople draw closer to the Bible.

The pope said that, as the Catholic Church prepares for the October world Synod of Bishops on the Bible, consecrated men and women should help other members of the Church learn to pray with the Bible and to draw direction for their lives from the Scriptures.

At the foundation of each religious order, there was a strong inspiration from the Gospel, the pope said Feb. 2, joining the religious in St. Peter’s Basilica after they had celebrated Mass.

“The Holy Spirit draws some people to live the Gospel in a radical way and to translate it into a more generous form of discipleship,” he said.

Spanish Bishops Urge Values at the Ballot Box

MADRID, Spain – Spain’s Catholic bishops have urged voters in March elections to back candidates who uphold Christian values and not to vote for candidates who favor dialogue with militant separatists.

“We do not intend that those in government should submit to the criteria of Catholic morality, but to the common denominator provided by a morality based on right reason and each nation’s historic experience,” the permanent council of the Spanish bishops’ conference said in a statement.

“Although it is true that Catholics can support and participate in various parties, not all programs are compatible with the faith and obligations of Christian life or with the aims and values Christians should promote in public life.”

Auxiliary Bishop Antonio Martinez Camino of Madrid, council spokesman, presented the bishops’ statement at a Madrid press conference.

The bishops said Church leaders hoped to encourage citizens to “use their votes responsibly,” by not confusing “a nonconfessional, secular state with a breaking of moral bonds and a release from objective moral duties.”

Argentina Hopes Vatican OKs Divorcee as Rep

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – The Argentine government has urged the Vatican to approve former Justice Minister Alberto Iribarne as the new ambassador to the Holy See amid allegations that his candidacy has been blocked because he is divorced.

Iribarne, 57, was appointed ambassador in December by President Cristina Kirchner, but the Vatican had not approved the appointment as of Feb. 4.

Passionist Father Ciro Benedettini, vice director of the Vatican press office, said the Vatican had no comment.

Speaking to reporters in Buenos Aires, Justice Minister Anibal Fernandez described Iribarne as an “exemplary person” and said “no one should ever be disqualified for having suffered the misfortune of an unsuccessful marriage.”

Jesuits Trying to Decide How to Respond to Pope

ROME – As the General Congregation of the Society of Jesus discusses and deliberates the order’s present and future, one of the big questions faced by the 225 Jesuit delegates is how best to respond to the encouragements and concerns of Pope Benedict XVI.

“The warmth and enthusiasm and trust that is coming from Pope Benedict now is inviting a renewed and enthusiastic response from the society,” said Jesuit Father David Smolira.

After the delegates elected Father Adolfo Nicolas to be the new Jesuit superior general Jan. 19, they began discussing issues of concern that would impact the more than 19,000 Jesuits worldwide.

Included in the discussion, he said, was the need to respond to the letter Pope Benedict sent to the outgoing superior general, Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, praising the Jesuits’ contributions to evangelization and urging them to reaffirm their fidelity to contested points of Church doctrine, particularly regarding sexual morality and relations with other religions.

Academics, Values Keys to Choosing Catholic Schools

ATLANTA – Recommendations from other parents and a long-standing reputation as effective educators who also address a student’s moral development are key reasons why non-Catholic parents choose Catholic schools for their children.

Jamal Burt, who is Christian but not Catholic, is both a teacher and the parent of a student at St. Peter Claver School in Decatur, Ga. His son, Isaiah, is a kindergartner.

“I’m a product of Catholic schools from first to eighth grade,” said Burt, who grew up in New Jersey.

“My education received a jump-start (in a Catholic elementary school), and when I went to a public high school I saw that I had an advantage.”