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THURSDAY April 27, 2000 vol. 11, no. 83 SECTION THREESee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
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On the heels of the shocking ruling in Vermont, it seems the gay issue will have a domino effect throughout the world. But what is truly shocking is what is happening down under! In a startling move the Bishops of New Zealand are backing that country's proposed new law approving same-sex unions be granted the same special rights now granted to heterosexual couples. The prelates fell short of full endorsement only on the aspect of legal adoption by a homosexual couple. We would imagine New Zealand's Cardinal Thomas Stafford Williams is going to have to answer for this decision since approving the gay agenda flies in the face of John Paul II's statements and the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church regarding the abomination of the gay lifestyle that is not only an affront to God, but also the signal for the total collapse of morality far worse than Sodom and Gomorrah because of wide scope of sodomy trying so hard to be made acceptable by so many who have lost sight of God's Laws. continued inside
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (CWNews.com) - The New Zealand
bishops' conference this week added its approval of a
government plan to grant same-sex couples the same legal
rights enjoyed by married couples, in apparent
contradiction to current teaching from the Vatican.
The bishops said in a report to the Ministry of Justice
they will support the registration system which will grant
legal rights, including tax allowances, legal aid, and
property entitlements, that married couples have, but
opposed adoption by same-sex couples or access to
"reproductive technology" to allow them to become parents.
Opponents of the plan, including the Christian Heritage
Party, were stunned by the bishops' acquiescence to the
plan. The Rev. Graham Capill, leader of the party, said
same-sex unions should be recognized in any form. "We are
playing with semantics. To treat homosexual couples to a
form of registration but not call them married is to give
them the same status but not the same title," he said.
In January, Pope John Paul II told European legislators
that elevating homosexual relationships to a level with
marriage was morally unacceptable. "I ask authorities to
avoid any initiative which could favor or guarantee legal
equality between the family and other forms of living
together," he said.
Last year, the Holy Father told the Pontifical Council for
the Family, "In some countries it is sought to impose
so-called 'de facto' unions upon society. 'De facto' unions
between homosexuals represent a deplorable distortion of
what should be the communion of love and life between man
and woman in a reciprocal giving (which is) open to life,"
he said.
While the New Zealand Bishops have caved to political correctness, the Boy Scouts of America steadfastly are resisting. Now it is before the United States Supreme Court in a case that would permit the Scouts to ban homosexuals from its organization. The issue is being taken seriously by several justices, agreeing with the Boy Scouts' attorney that they are a private non-profit organization, and to allow entry to everyone would be unconstitutional. The Scouts often put many more august organizations to shame because they strive to uphold God's Laws and proudly proclaim them. It will be an interesting and landmark decision considering that the word "freedom of religion" has lost much of its meaning in this growing culture of death society. continued inside.
WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - The US Supreme Court on
Wednesday heard arguments in case determining whether the
Boy Scouts of America can exclude homosexuals from
volunteer leadership positions under the US Constitutions
free speech and free assembly provisions.
"This case is about the freedom of a voluntary organization
to choose its own members," Boy Scout attorney George A.
Davidson told the justices. He said scouting is "closely
identified with traditional moral values." A volunteer
assistant scoutmaster, James Dale, was dismissed from the
BSA in 1990 after he revealed his homosexuality and joined
a gay activist group.
The New Jersey Supreme Court, citing state law banning
discrimination in public accommodations based on sexual
orientation, ruled last year the BSA's ban on homosexuals
was illegal. But Davidson told the US Supreme Court today
the state law violated the US Constitution.
Several justices appeared to agree with Davidson. Must a
Catholic organization admit Jews, Justice Stephen Breyer
asked. "That seems odd," he said.
The Boy Scouts contend that as a private, noncommercial
organization, it has a constitutional right to select its
own membership. The group says homosexuality is at odds
with its oath and law, which require scouts and their adult
leaders to be "morally straight" and "clean." The New Jersey
court had rejected the argument saying it would allow "the
expulsion of an individual solely because of his status as
a homosexual -- an act of discrimination unprotected by the
First Amendment freedom of speech."
The federal court is expected to issue a ruling at the end
of June.
Bringing with him a special Papal Message to the Brazilian Bishops, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano celebrated an outdoor Holy Mass on the beach in Porto Seguro, Brazil with 50,000 worshippers. He was in South America's largest country to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral bringing Christianity to Brazil. In attendance were many ethnic groups including ancestors from the original Indian tribes first evangelized. Just prior to the Mass, Bishop Jayme Chemello offered a statement in the spirit of reconciliation and in the name of the Church asking forgiveness from Indians and Afro-Brazilians. A Matalaue native came forward and embraced the bishop in a sign of true reconciliation witnessed by all. continued inside.
VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican Secretary of
State, is in Brazil for celebrations of the 500th anniversary of the
evangelization of that South American country.
On April 26, Cardinal Sodano presided at ceremonies in Coroa Vermelha, near
the spot where the first Mass was celebrated in Brazil on April 26, 1500. As
the cardinal celebrated Mass, behind the altar was a 10-foot cross, erected
on the site where the first cross was planted on Brazilian soil by the
Franciscan missionary Henrique de Coimbra. An estimated 200,000 people
participated in the services, despite a steady rainfall.
In his homily, Cardinal Sodano said that today's Brazilians "owe much to the
work of missionaries." While he conceded that some missionaries had been
guilty of "disfiguring the face of Christ," the cardinal pointed out that the
Church had also firmly opposed slavery, and protected the dignity of the
indigenous tribes in Brazil.
The celebration of the 500 years of Christian civilization was a major event
in the public life of Brazil. April 26 was declared a national holiday, and
President Marco Maciel attended the celebrations. However, some Indian
leaders protested the events; a spokesman for the Matalaue tribe said that
the holiday pointed toward "500 years of suffering, massacres, and
devastation" that followed the Christian "invasion" of the land.
Minutes before the Mass started, the president of the
Brazilian Episcopate, Bishop Jayme Chemello, read a
statement publicly requesting forgiveness from Indians and
Afro-Brazilians. "In this Eucharist in which we remember
the suffering, the massacres, the slavery of our black and
Indian brothers and sisters; To the Indians and to all
those taken from Africa as slaves, we do not cease to ask
for forgiveness," the statement said.
After the bishop finished his statement, a Matalaue native
read a highly critical statement denouncing "500 years of
suffering, massacre, devastation." After his statement, he
embraced Bishop Chemello, symbolizing forgiveness.
At the end of the Mass, Bishop Jose de Santana, of
Eunapolis -- the diocese in which the Mass was held --
erected an image of Our Lady of Aparecida, Patroness of
Brazil, for a brief time of prayer. At noon, the bells of
all Catholic Churches in Brazil rang to celebrate the 500
years of evangelization.
While Brazilians celebrate now, in Quito, Ecuador a Eucharistic Congress will be held from June 18-25 during which time the Solemnity of Corpus Christi will be celebrated. At this Congress, the theme will be "Jesus Christ, Through Mary, Bread of Life for the World." It will be a celebratory time for ordinations, First Communions, and of apostolates bestowed on priests and laity alike as well as vows of religious congregations being received by the presiding Auxiliary Bishop Julio Teran Dutari of Quito.continued inside.
QUITO, ECUADOR, (ZENIT.org).- A Marian Eucharistic Congress is being organized in Quito, Ecuador, to coincide with the International Eucharistic Congress being held in Rome from June 18-25, the week that includes the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi).
The event will have a decided liturgical dimension, given the large-scale Mass that will be celebrated on Sunday, June 18. The closing Mass will be held in the AUCAS Sports Club Stadium, in the south of the city, at 10 a.m. on Sunday, June 25, followed by a solemn procession with the image of the Blessed Virgin of Quinche.
The theme of the Congress is "Jesus Christ, Through Mary, Bread of Life for the World." One of the objectives of the Congress is to promote theological reflection, by means of a Symposium that will be held in the Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador. Other theological meetings, which are not strictly academic, are also being planned for high school and university students, as is catechesis among parishes.
During the Congress, many children will make their First Communion, a priest will be ordained, ministries will be assigned to future priests and lay persons, and a group of religious will take their vows.
The coordinator of the Congress, a great Jubilee festival of faith, is Auxiliary Bishop Julio Teran Dutari of Quito. Youth will be responsible for energizing the meeting and will celebrate their own Congress simultaneously. Several artistic and cultural events are included in the program.
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The Bishops of Venezuela have asked President Hugh Chavez to cease his verbal attacks on the Catholic Church in this South American country. They have invited Chavez and members of his government to sit down and talk so that the verbal assaults can cease and a p;roper election take place next month in this same land where Our Lady chose to appear in Betania and where the Eucharistic Miracle resides in Los Teques. continued inside.
CARACAS (CWNews.com) - Venezuela's bishops today asked
President Hugo Chavez to stop his verbal attacks on the
Catholic Church and join them in building a climate of
respect and dialogue in advance of next month's elections.
In an open letter to Chavez, the bishops suggested the
president sit down with them to end the attacks and
recriminations. On a recent trip to Cuba, Chavez accused
the Church of being an accomplice in the corruption of past
governments. Meanwhile, the bishops have expressed concerns
over the fairness of next month's elections, because the
majority of election officials are hand-picked members of
Chavez' own political party.
Venezuelans will go to the polls May 28 as called for by a
new constitution pushed through last year by Chavez. The
constitution requires elections to "re-legitimize" most
public offices including the presidency, governorships, and
most local posts.
Church leaders insist they aren't taking a political
position but rather asking "the president to stop dividing
the church into those who are with him or those who are
against him, and therefore who are the devil," said
Archbishop Ignacio Velasco of Caracas.
The sad saga continues as Catholic and Muslim religious leaders try desperately to seek an immediate cease-fire between government troops and Abu Sayyaf rebels in the Island of Basilan in the southern Philippines where they hold 27 Catholic hostages, a result of demands that all Christians get out of the area leaving it solely to the Muslims. Two Catholic men have already been beheaded and the terrorists have threatened more if the Filipino government doesn't give in to demands, one of which is to seek more representation in government affairs. Dialogue, accompanied by prayer and sacrifice, seem to be the only way to allow God to intervene in this crisis, but present efforts and the stubbornness on the part of both the rebels and government make the situation perilous. continued inside.
MANILA (CWNews.com/Fides) - The Bishops-Ulama Forum, headed
by Archbishop Fernando Capalla of Davao and Dr. Mahid
Mutilan, president of the Muslim Ulama League of the
Philippines, on Wednesday asked for an immediate cease-fire
in fighting between government troops and extremist Muslim
rebel groups in the southern Mindanao region.
The religious leaders said in a joint statement, "Many
evacuees are suffering from the present hostilities. (There
are presently about 60,000 displaced evacuees.) We are
asking for assistance for all displaced communities -
Muslim, Christian, and Lumad (indigenous peoples)."
The Bishops-Ulama Forum (BUF), organized in 1996, is a
dialogue forum consisting of the Catholic bishops of
Mindanao, Ulama (Muslim religious leaders), and Protestant
National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP)
bishops who affirmed their common commitment to the peace
process on the island.
The leaders made a distinction between the hostage issue in
Basilan and the conflict in Central Mindanao. "The conflict
in Basilan involves the Abu Sayyaf, a group whose tactics
are condemned even by Islam and concerned Muslim leaders,"
they said. "The situation in Central Mindanao, particularly
in Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur, involves the Muslim
Independent Liberation Front (MILF) which represents the
aspirations of the Muslim community for a genuine
participation in the running of their own political and
economic affairs." The rebel groups are fighting to
establish an independent Muslim homeland in the area.
They reiterated that this is not a religious war between
Christian and Muslim communities, but an armed
confrontation between the Philippine military and the MILF.
They strongly "condemn the formation of any extremist
vigilante groups, which will only polarize cultural
communities."
"We ask for the peace process to continue. Peace talks
should resume and be given more time. We support the
initiative of women leaders who have recently talked to the
leadership of both the MILF and the Philippine government,"
the religious leaders said.
Though a specific date in September has yet to be released, the Holy Father will convene a meeting of the world's major industrial nations to secure promises for the reduction of the Third World Debts. He will do so in Assisi, noted for Saint Francis, the epitome of charity and the true spirit of poverty. Such a global meeting could have no better setting and no one who is more in character with the holy founder of the Order of Friars Minor than Pope John Paul II. continued inside.
LONDON (CWNews.com) - Pope John Paul II plans to call a
meeting of world's major industrial nations in Assisi,
Italy, later this year to secure promises for the reduction
of Third World debt, one of his major Jubilee Year aims,
said the British newspaper The Telegraph last week.
The newspaper quoted Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, president
of the Vatican Committee for the Jubilee Year 2000, who
said the Holy Father and Vatican had been working "for
months" to plan the summit planned for September. The
meeting would include the so-called G7 countries and Russia.
Archbishop Sepe said Assisi was chosen because it is where
St. Francis renounced his attachment to worldly goods. He
added that the Pope is expected to ask for a "significant
reduction" of the international debt of poor countries,
which several of the Western powers, including the US and
Britain, have already pledged. The Holy Father first
proposed the debt forgiveness in his 1994 apostolic letter
Tertio Millennio Adveniente which declared the Jubilee Year.
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