New York Catholic Official Assails $2.1B Stem-Cell Bill

ALBANY, N.Y. – The executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference urged the state Legislature Feb. 28 to ban any form of “taxpayer-financed human cloning” and to reject Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s $2.1 billion Stem Cell and Innovation Fund as proposed, with its major emphasis on funding research on human embryonic stem cells.

“The governor’s stem-cell research proposal is devoid of any moral consideration whatsoever for the living human embryos who will be subject to experimentation and destruction,” said Richard E. Barnes, executive director of the conference, which is the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops.

He made the remarks in testimony before a joint meeting of the Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.
The proposed fund calls for spending $100 million in New York’s public funds next year and $50 million a year for the next 10 years after that on “stem cells, other life sciences and emerging technologies.”

In addition, it calls for a $1.5 billion bond act, subject to voter approval in 2008, for such research.

Pro-lifer Sees Signs That Roe Could Be Overturned

CHICAGO – Pro-lifers attending an Illinois conference envisioned a nation without Roe v. Wade, and a speaker told them there are many signs the landmark Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion could be overturned.

“We see signs everywhere that an overturn of Roe v. Wade may soon be a reality,” said Ann Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League and an organizer of the 17th annual SpeakOut Illinois.

“Most notably, we see signs from abortion supporters who have said they are afraid they may lose the Supreme Court’s support.”

SpeakOut Illinois, sponsored in early February by a wide range of pro-life organizations, addressed how states would be affected if the Supreme Court overturned its 1973 ruling.

Pope’s Letter to Chinese Expected at Easter Time

ROME (CNS) – Pope Benedict XVI’s letter to Chinese Catholics will be released at Easter time and will encourage the faithful, clarify issues of doctrine and call for full religious freedom, said China’s cardinal.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun of Hong Kong said that he has seen drafts of the pope’s letter.

After a two-day meeting in January on the status of the Catholic community in mainland China, the Vatican had announced that the pope would be writing the letter.

“On issues regarding the divine position of the church and freedom of religion, the Holy Father will seek to clarify the truth,” Cardinal Zen said.

Cardinal Zen said that as a diplomatic courtesy Pope Benedict’s letter will be translated into Chinese and will be sent to the government of China several days before it is released to the public.

Philippine Bishops Concerned Over Anti-Terrorism Bill

MANILA, Philippines – Bishops in the Philippines have expressed concern over potential human rights violations which could result from an anti-terrorism bill.

Bishop Martin Jumoad of Isabela said that, although he is “glad” the Human Security Act was passed by Congress, an independent body is needed to avoid such violations.

“There should be another body of civil society that will evaluate or analyze the implementation,” he said.

However, he said, the bill could stabilize peace and order in his prelature on Basilan, an island-province.

Summit Focuses on Hopes, Future of Catholic Education

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Hope and concern for the future of Catholic schools blended when nearly 300 educational leaders and five bishops gathered for the first “Summit for Catholic School Education in Illinois.”

“Despite all the challenges, there is reason for hope,” said Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago at the assembly that included diocesan superintendents of schools, elementary- and secondary-school presidents and principals, members of education boards and commissions, and dozens of priests and religious from the state.

Cardinal George called on Catholics to “keep pressure on the government” to do more for parents who choose Catholic education for their children.

Throughout the day calls came for increased cooperation between dioceses in areas such as purchasing and marketing, while realizing that the needs of schools vary across the state.

A greater embracing of stewardship – the sharing of time, talent and treasures – was repeatedly proposed as a way for Catholics to support schools.

Bishop Uses Radio to Speak Vs. Same-Sex Marriage

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Saying he feels a strong obligation to speak out on issues of moral and cultural import, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin of Providence took to the airwaves of a local AM radio talk show, and for an hour discussed why same-sex marriage is not marriage and why homosexual behavior can never be accepted or condoned.

The bishop’s remarks were a continuation of his response to an earlier opinion made public the next day, on Ash Wednesday, by Attorney General Patrick Lynch stating that “Rhode Island will recognize a same-sex marriage lawfully performed in Massachusetts as a marriage in Rhode Island.”

In a statement the bishop said marriage is “a union of one man and one woman” as “instituted by God, blessed by the church and affirmed by every culture throughout the ages.”

He said, “The state should not be in the business of supporting other lifestyles or promoting immoral, unnatural sexual activity,” which was the “net effect” of Lynch’s opinion.

Robbers Shoot Irish Priest Who Runs African Hospice

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – An Irish priest who runs an AIDS hospice in South Africa has been shot twice in the chest by robbers in Atteridgeville, west of Pretoria.

Passionist Father Kieran Creagh, 44, was shot in the early morning hours March 1 when he answered the doorbell to his apartment in the back of Leratong Hospice, said Father Sikhalele Anthony Mdhluli, the superior of the Passionists in South Africa.

Father Creagh thought someone was summoning him to see a dying patient, but he opened the door to eight men, Father Mdhluli explained.

“He refused to let them in and called for help, but the security guard at the hospice had been tied up,” Father Mdhluli said.

The men fled with money from Father Creagh’s safe as well as his mobile phone, television and other electronic equipment, he said.

Hospice staff called an ambulance, and Father Creagh is in intensive care in the hospital, Father Mdhluli said.

In Rome, Demand Is High for JPII Prayer Cards and Relics

ROME – The Rome diocesan office charged with promoting the sainthood cause of Pope John Paul II has exceeded its postage budget because of increased requests for prayer cards and relics of the late pope.

“We were getting about 50 requests a day, but overnight it grew to between 500 and 1,000 requests,” a spokeswoman for the office said March 2.

“We could not have foreseen this demand,” she said. “It’s an avalanche.”
Franciscan Brother Chris Gaffrey, who assists the office with English translations, said that the vast majority of requests in late February and early March were coming via e-mail from the United States.

CNS had published a story about the cards and relics Feb. 26 and dozens of Web sites and blogs, or Web logs, ran links to the story.

An individual prayer card, relic and copy of the cause’s magazine, Totus Tuus, could be mailed to the United States for about $5, Brother Gaffrey said.

Several options for sending donations can be found on the official Web site of Pope John Paul’s sainthood cause – www.JohnPaulIIBeatification.org – which was experiencing interruptions in service because of the increased traffic in early March.

Priest to Be Rehired After Discrimination Is Found

WASHINGTON – A Jesuit priest is to be reinstated as a chaplain at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center after a federal board ruled that he was fired because of religious discrimination.

Father Henry Heffernan, 76, was ordered to be reinstated at the NIH clinic in Bethesda, Md., by the Merit Systems Protection Board, a federal agency that hears personnel disputes.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled in January that Father Heffernan was wrongly suspended and fired in 2004.

The merit systems board, a quasi-judicial entity, upheld the decision in a Feb. 23 order.

The EEOC found that Father Heffernan was suspended and fired because of concerns he raised with the way the spiritual ministry director at the center insisted upon a multifaith chaplaincy that Father Heffernan believed did not accommodate the spiritual concerns of Catholic patients.

Among Father Heffernan’s objections to the multifaith approach advocated by the office were that non-Catholic chaplains would not approach topics such as death and dying from a Catholic perspective and that they could not immediately provide sacraments to patients.

Austrians Denounce Abort Clinic in New Shopping Mall

OXFORD, England – Catholic Church officials in Austria have denounced the opening of an abortion clinic in a new Viennese shopping mall.

“You can now drink coffee, watch a film, buy clothes and then have an abortion,” said Erich Leitenberger, spokesman for the Austrian bishops’ conference. “This trivializes decisions about life and death.”

Leitenberger said that Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna has asked the shopping mall’s Catholic owner, Richard Luger, to “think again” about the clinic’s opening.

Lugar “already leased the premises and says this isn’t up to him, but the cardinal knows him well and I think he’s open to the arguments,” Leitenberger said.

A 1975 law legalizing abortions for women up to 12 weeks pregnant has left an “open wound” between the church and state in Austria, where Catholics make up about 78% of the population of 8.1 million, Leitenberger said.