Five years ago on April 19, the white smoke appeared and the bells were rung at St. Peter’s Basilica to announce that the Catholic Church had a new pope: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, who took the name of Pope Benedict XVI.
As head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger had attempted to retire and spend more time writing. Pope John Paul II had encouraged him to remain in his office.
Almost every day we hear media reports concerning how the Catholic Church has handled cases of sexual abuse of minors by clergy. It is important for Catholics — and the public at large — to get the facts straight.
First of all, Pope Benedict XVI and countless bishops around the world have continued to repeat that sexual abuse is wrong, sinful, and must not be tolerated. For example, in his March 19th letter to the Catholics of Ireland, Pope Benedict says, “Like yourselves, I have been deeply disturbed by the information which has come to light regarding the abuse of children and vulnerable young people by members of the Church in Ireland, particularly by priests and religious. I can only share in the dismay and the sense of betrayal that so many of you have experienced on learning of these sinful and criminal acts and the way Church authorities in Ireland dealt with them.”
Individual Catholics and the Catholic Church itself continue to be popular targets for media bias in our country.
Whenever there is an allegation of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest, newspapers usually publish an article on the front page, while television and radio news reports lead with the story. Even if the alleged abuse happened 30 or 40 years ago, it gets prime coverage.
We should be receiving the 2010 U.S. census form in the mail soon. The Census Bureau assures us that this is one of the shortest forms in history. With just 10 questions, most people should be able to complete the form in 10 minutes.
Every person in each household is counted and must answer seven questions about name, gender, race, ethnicity, and whether they sometimes live somewhere else. The head of the household indicates how many people live in the residence; whether it is a house, apartment, or mobile home; and provides a telephone number for census workers to follow up if any information is incomplete or missing.
We can be proud of ourselves! People in the Diocese of Madison responded with an outpouring of financial support in the aftermath of the January 12th earthquake in Haiti.
As you can see by the chart accompanying this editorial, people in our diocese have donated over $547,000 to Haiti relief. Contributions have been sent to Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which was already on the ground in Haiti prior to the earthquake. CRS continues to deliver relief supplies to the Haitian people, but it is also working on long-term recovery plans for the country.
Now that the health care summit convened by President Barack Obama is over, it seems that there will be tactical efforts used to pass a bill in Congress despite many concerns raised by lawmakers and citizens.
The U.S. Catholic bishops and other Catholic leaders have urged all parties to commit themselves to health care reform that is affordable, accessible, and protects the life and dignity of every person.
After 15 years of living in the United States, Fr. Paul Ugo Arinze is now a citizen of this country.
The U.S. Postal Service will be honoring Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 2010 with a 44-cent stamp. It will go on sale on what would have been her 100th birthday on August 26.
“Her humility and compassion, as well as her respect for the innate worth and dignity of humankind, inspired people of all ages and backgrounds to work on behalf of the world’s poorest populations,” said the Postal Service in announcing the Mother Teresa stamp.
Lent is a time when followers of Christ spend 40 days in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving in preparation for Holy Week and Easter.
When I was growing up, the emphasis was on “giving up” things we liked — from candy to favorite television shows. Penance and self-sacrifice are still important aspects of the Lenten season, but they may take on different forms.
Just when it looked like state and federal abstinence-based sex education programs were set to lose funding, a new study shows that abstinence-only programs do work.
But is it too little, too late to change minds, hearts, and government programs?
I hope not.
