Card. McCarrick Announces Interfaith Fight on Terrorism

WASHINGTON – Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, the retired archbishop of Washington, led a group of religious leaders in announcing a national interfaith grass-roots campaign to oppose terrorists and protect Americans from their violence.

The campaign is being launched by Cardinal McCarrick; Rabbi Jack A. Luxemburg, chief rabbi of Temple Beth Ami in the Washington suburb of Rockville, Md.; and the Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, dean of the Washington National Cathedral of the Episcopal Church.

Cardinal McCarrick, who spoke at the National Press Club, said the campaign is comprised of people from different religious traditions, coming together with mutual respect and understanding, to protect Americans from terrorists and their violence.

“This is ... a monumental step,” Cardinal McCarrick said. “This is the family gathering to say thanks be to God, the one God that we all worship. ... We’re all his children.”

Giving In to Lust Hurts Other People, Says Papal Preacher

VATICAN CITY – Giving in to lust hurts both the individual and other people, the preacher of the papal household told Pope Benedict XVI and top Vatican officials.

Offering an Advent meditation, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa said often those who justify their life of impurity say “it is not hurting other people, it does not infringe on the rights and freedoms of others unless it entails carnal violence.”

But such reasoning is wrong, he said, because carnal sin not only violates God’s fundamental laws governing his creatures, but it threatens everyone.

Father Cantalamessa used an example from a Jewish holy book to illustrate how even one individual’s personal sin affects the entire community.

Quoting the Talmud, he said: “A number of people are sitting in a small boat. One man begins to drill a hole under his seat. The other passengers ask him, ‘What are you doing?’ He retorts, ‘What does it matter to you? I’m drilling the hole under my own seat.’ But they reply, ‘Yes, but the water will come in and drown us all.’”

K. of C. Delivers Check for $1.6 Million to the Pope

VATICAN CITY – The supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus and the fraternal order’s bishop-chaplain met privately with Pope Benedict XVI and delivered a check for $1.6 million.

Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson and Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., handed the pope the check, which represents a year’s interest from the Vicarius Christi Fund, established in 1981 when the Vatican found itself in the midst of a series of huge budget deficits.

While the Vatican’s annual budget deficits have been reduced or erased, the 1.7 million Knights worldwide have continued to bring the pope a check each year to support his charities and special projects.

The Vatican has received more than $43 million over the years from the Knights, whose members are mostly in the United States.

Liechtenstein Bill Would Remove Church’s Status

WARSAW, Poland – Liechtenstein’s government has introduced legislation that would remove the Catholic Church as the country’s official Church.

“This should be seen as a natural development,” the spokeswoman for Liechtenstein’s government, Gerlinde Manz-Christ, said.

“We need to clear things up in areas from tax covenants to church ownership. That’s why we’ve consulted all relevant stakeholders and think we’ve found a satisfactory solution,” she said.

However, Msgr. Markus Walser, vicar general of the Vaduz Archdiocese, said Archbishop Wolfgang Haas had not been notified of the planned reform.

Myanmar’s Bishops: Cut Down on Christmas Parties

YANGON, Myanmar – Bishops in Myanmar have called on Catholics to cut down on external celebrations of Advent and Christmas this year and focus on promoting peace and development.

Archbishops Paul Zinghtung Grawng of Mandalay and Charles Bo of Yangon, president and general secretary, respectively, of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar, issued the message on behalf of Myanmar’s bishops.

In September, the government cracked down on protests – led by Buddhist monks – against rising prices and corruption. Myanmar is a predominantly Buddhist country.

In the message sent to all parishes, the bishops proposed that the Church “observe the season of Advent and celebrate the feast of Christmas more in accordance with the spirit of prayer and penance.”

Cardinal Said He Was Assaulted Over Abuse Crisis

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony told archdiocesan priests in October that he was assaulted during the summer by a man who was angry over the Church’s sexual abuse scandal, according to reports from priests who attended the annual meeting.

The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and New York Times reported that Cardinal Mahony talked about the assault during a recent priests’ pastoral meeting, as an illustration of the toll the abuse scandal has taken on everyone in the Church.

The three news organizations each quoted several priests confirming that Cardinal Mahony had described being knocked down and beaten or kicked by a man who shouted obscenities and made angry statements about sexual abuse by priests.
The Los Angeles Daily News broke the story.

Carolina Guevara, archdiocesan spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Archdiocese, declined to comment to any of the publications or to Catholic News Service.