Campus Play at Notre Dame Triggers Change of Venue

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – A Feb. 10-12 theological seminar for U.S. bishops initially scheduled to take place at the University of Notre Dame was held at an off-campus location because of objections over a scheduled student production of “The Vagina Monologues.”

The play, which explicitly discusses women’s sexuality, is to be performed March 26-28 in a campus classroom.

The meeting was moved to the convent of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration in Mishawaka.

Bishop John M. D’Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend said the bishops made the decision to change the meeting location “because they disagree with the university administration’s decision to allow a student performance of the controversial play.”

KY Bishops Urge Voters to Look Closely at Life Issues

FRANKFORT, Ky. – The bishops who head Kentucky’s four Catholic dioceses urged the state’s Catholics to take a close look at life issues when voting this year.

“All human laws must be measured against the natural law engraved in our hearts by the Creator,” said the bishops in a pastoral letter, “Reverence for Life: Conscience and Faithful Citizenship.”

“Our religious beliefs affirm basic human rights and obligations that are essential to the fabric of our social life. In particular, respect for human life is numbered among those basic values that underpin the very foundation of civilization,” they said.

“What we profess in defense of the sacredness of unborn human life harmonizes with our historic legal tradition founded on the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” they said. “Abortion on demand does not.”

Pope Reduces Wait Period For Fatima Visionary

COIMBRA, Portugal – Pope Benedict XVI has lifted the five-year waiting period to start the canonization process for Carmelite Sister Lucia dos Santos, one of the three children who saw Our Lady of Fatima in 1917.

The decision means that the diocesan phase of the sainthood process can begin immediately. Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, head of the Vatican Congregation for Saints’ Causes, made the announcement at a Feb. 13 Mass in Coimbra commemorating the third anniversary of Sister Lucia’s death.

The cardinal said Pope Benedict had reduced to three years the waiting period so the Diocese of Coimbra, where Fatima is located, can begin the initial phase of the sainthood investigation.

Bishop Albino Mamede Cleto of Coimbra, supported by other bishops, had asked for the reduction.

On May 13, 1917, when Sister Lucia was 10 years old, she and her cousins – Francisco, 9, and Jacinta, 7 – claimed to have seen Mary at Fatima, near their home.

The apparitions continued once a month until October 1917 and later were declared worthy of belief by the Catholic Church.

Venezuelan Cardinal Blames Gov’t for Nunciature Attack

CARACAS, Venezuela – A Venezuelan cardinal called the explosive attack on the apostolic nunciature in Caracas an attack on “the sentiments of all Catholics” in the country.

Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino of Caracas also urged an end to “a sort of upsurge of acts of political violence which must be stopped immediately.”

A small explosive was thrown against the nunciature Feb. 14, damaging a door and windows and prompting a new round of criticisms by Church leaders of the government.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Retired Archbishop Ramon Perez Morales of Los Teques placed part of the responsibility for this and previous attacks against the nunciature on the government.

Archbishop Perez said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offers “insults and aggressions” against Church leaders.

Nuns Demonstrate Against U.S. Military in Philippines

CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Catholic nuns led a demonstration through the streets of this southern Philippine city Feb. 18, denouncing the presence of U.S. soldiers in the conflict-plagued region.

“The U.S. troops don’t provide any benefit to our people or our country. Their presence here is destructive, and they should go away,” said Sister Elsa Compuesto, a member of the Missionary Sisters of Mary.

“They are opportunistic. They’re really here to protect the economic interests of the United States, to exploit our natural resources in Mindanao. Our region is rich in natural resources, but the people are being deprived of them,” said Sister Elsa, who is also executive secretary of the Sisters Association of Mindanao, a group of some 350 women religious which coordinates work on justice and peace issues.

Sister Elsa and several other nuns marched at the head of a procession of some 4,000 protesters, carrying a sign stating: “We care for human dignity and national sovereignty. U.S. troops out now!”

McCain Praised, Criticized For His Pro-Life Record

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republicans’ presumptive presidential nominee, has been praised and criticized for his pro-life record.

Praised by the National Right to Life Committee and opposed by Planned Parenthood, McCain has been accused of being too soft on abortion and cool to pro-life issues in general.

Critics point out that a major chink in McCain’s pro-life armor is his support for embryonic stem-cell research in which human embryos are destroyed to extract the cells, and they add that he is not aggressively anti-abortion.

His defenders note McCain’s consistent anti-abortion voting record and say his language is changing on stem-cell issues, especially as research using adult stem cells and some treatments using them have moved forward.