Physician-Assisted Suicide Bill Dies in Vermont Hous

MONTPELIER, Vt. – The Vermont House of Representatives defeated a bill that would have allowed a terminally ill patient with a prognosis of six months or less to live to ask a physician for a prescription that would end his or her life. The medication would have been administered by the patient.

The bill, known as H. 44, was defeated 82-63.

“It was a pleasure to learn of (the) vote on H. 44 that defeated resoundingly the proposal,” said Father Jay C. Haskin, who had testified against the measure.

“This action upholds life and human dignity. All of Vermont can be pleased with this ethical vote,” said the priest. Burlington Bishop Salvatore R. Matano and many Catholics were among the most ardent opponents of the bill.

Chinese Plan for Religious Needs of Olympic Athletes

BEIJING – Catholic leaders in China are making arrangements to meet the religious needs of foreign Christian athletes and visitors during the 2008 Olympic Games in China.

Anthony Liu Bainian, vice chairman of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, recently urged the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference to “provide English-language Bibles in hotels.”

Liu is a member of the consultative congress, the top advisory body of China’s central government.

On March 21, he said that his proposal aims to meet “the religious needs of foreign athletes,” since many of these visitors are Christians.

The 2008 Olympic Games are scheduled Aug. 8-24, 2008. Most venues will be in Beijing.

However Qingdao, a port city, will host sailing events, and Hong Kong will host equestrian events. Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang and Qinhuangdao will host preliminary rounds of soccer.

Harvard to Return Collection Of Bells to Russian Orthodox

MOSCOW – Harvard University will return a collection of historic bells to the Russian Orthodox Church more than seven decades after they were seized and sold by the regime of Josef Stalin.

“These bells are not only a witness, but also a victim of history, a symbol of the independence, greatness and identity of the people,” Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow said.

“I’m happy our guests from Harvard University could feel this part of the Russian soul, conveyed through the tolling of church bells.”

Orthodox and Harvard representatives signed an agreement to return the 18 bells to Moscow’s Danilov Monastery, which has housed the Moscow Patriarchate since being reopened in 1988.

Charles Crane, a U.S. diplomat, purchased the 17th-century bells, embossed with icons and verses, for about $17,700 in 1930, when most of Moscow’s estimated 5,000 church bells had been confiscated and melted down. He donated them to Harvard University.

Bishop, Victims Talk About Child Sex Abuse Cover-ups

WASHINGTON – In a spirited exchange with victims of child sex abuse, the head of the U.S. bishops’ child protection committee said March 20 that bishops must work together to prevent cover-ups of clergy child sex abuse.

Cover-ups cannot be condoned and several bishops and priests have resigned over cover-ups, some after being told to do so by the Vatican, said Bishop Gregory M. Aymond of Austin, TX.

“We can’t hold each other responsible. We are responsible to the pope,” he said of U.S. church leaders’ efforts to prevent cover-ups.

Bishops rely on “fraternal correction” by which they try to influence a fellow bishop to alter his approach to sex abuse, he said.

Bishop Aymond, chairman of the bishops’ Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People, spoke at Jesuit-run Georgetown University in Washington to assess the progress made since the bishops adopted sex abuse prevention policies in 2002.

Bishop Tells Congress to Help Poor with Food, Jobs

WASHINGTON – Budget priorities for the federal government should help families escape hunger and homelessness, find decent housing and employment and have access to quality education and medical care, the president of the U.S. bishops’ conference told members of Congress.

In letters sent to senators and representatives, Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., asked that priority be given to relief, development and health care, especially in Africa and the developing world, “where people live with crushing poverty and diseases.”

Such an approach “will also increase our ability to assist and protect refugees fleeing violence and persecution,” he wrote.

“The decisions you will make in setting budget priorities for our nation are not just economic policies; they are also moral choices,” the bishop told lawmakers.
“Meeting essential human needs is a compelling ethical and fiscal priority.”

Vatican Says Pope’s Goal Is Reclaiming Christian Identity

VATICAN CITY – In the first two years of his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI has focused on strengthening Christian values in a world disoriented by indifference, relativism and increasing secularism, said a top Vatican official.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, made the comments in Milan, Italy, in a speech to Ethics and Finance, an Italian association of business people.
The cardinal said Pope Benedict’s overall goal is to reclaim the authentic Christian identity as understood by the faithful and practiced in the world.

In the pope’s view, he said, a fundamental problem for faith is relativism, which holds that there is no undeniable truth and that no one can claim to have the right answer.

In today’s context of widespread secularism, Pope Benedict recognizes that faith needs to be explained in a way that appeals to human intelligence, said Cardinal Bertone.