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By Catholic News Service
US
Outgoing Catholic University president to become coadjutor of Trenton
WASHINGTON
(CNS) -- The outgoing president of The Catholic University of America,
Vincentian Father David O'Connell, has been named coadjutor bishop of
Trenton, N.J., by Pope Benedict XVI. The appointment was announced June
4 in Washington by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the
United States. Bishop-designate O'Connell, 55, is a native of Philadelphia
who attended St. Joseph Preparatory High School in Princeton, N.J.,
and colleges in New York and Pennsylvania before his ordination for
the Vincentians in 1982. As coadjutor he will automatically succeed
Trenton Bishop John M. Smith upon his retirement. On June 23, Bishop
Smith will turn 75, the mandatory age at which bishops must submit their
retirement. Bishop-designate O'Connell has been president of Catholic
University since 1998. In October he announced his intent to step down
at the end of the school year, which ended in May. His episcopal ordination
is scheduled for July 30 at St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral in
Trenton. He has asked Bishop Smith to be his consecrator, to be assisted
by Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark, N.J., and Archbishop Donald W.
Wuerl of Washington, Catholic University chancellor. "Trenton has
been a second home to me," Bishop-designate O'Connell said at a
June 4 news conference in Trenton after the announcement of his appointment.
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Would Jesus have tweeted? Massachusetts parish leaders say yes
WESTFIELD, Mass. (CNS) -- Would Jesus have tweeted? "Absolutely.
You know Jesus was not afraid of boundaries," said Father James
W. Longe, parochial vicar at St. Mary Parish in Westfield. "Jesus
was comfortable in his own skin. He had a message that he wanted to
share. ... And so I say absolutely that Jesus would tweet. He'd be on
TV. He'd be talking on the telephone. He'd be walking the streets,"
the 35-year-old priest told The Catholic Observer, newspaper of the
Diocese of Springfield. Father Longe and parishioner Timothy Hourihan
believe in taking the message of Jesus to new people in new ways. Specifically,
during the past year they initiated many forms of electronic evangelization
to attract more people to the faith. Since April 2009, the parish YouTube
site has had more than 20,000 views of its home-produced videos. The
men have created a church blog, Facebook site and Twitter account, and
have homilies, songs and prayers available for free downloads on iTunes.
The electronic offerings from the parish are a mix of education and
entertainment. For example, one popular YouTube video involved Father
Longe just standing in front of the parish statue of Mary and talking
about the mother of Jesus. Another video features Father Brian F. McGrath,
St. Mary's pastor, cooking an Italian meal. The show follows him from
the rectory garden to the kitchen to the dinner table.
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Bishops discuss role of Catholic media with those who practice
it
NEW ORLEANS (CNS) -- The bishops who met with Catholic media professionals
in New Orleans June 4 said they hoped the gathering would lead to more
such dialogues and pledged to report on the session to their fellow
bishops. Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans promised to propose
that the bishops' communications committee draw up a "bill of rights"
of sorts outlining both the bishops' expectations of the Catholic media's
role in the church and what those media organizations expect of the
bishops, such as access to information and church officials. The archbishop
was joined on a panel by Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton, Alberta,
and Bishops Thomas G. Doran of Rockford, Ill., and Ronald P. Herzog
of Alexandria. Archbishop Claudio Celli, president of the Pontifical
Council for Social Communications, was also in attendance. The overall
theme of the discussion was: "What does it mean to be a faithful
Catholic media organization in the 21st century?" The session,
the first of its kind, was on the last day of the 2010 Catholic Media
Convention, sponsored by the Catholic Press Association and the Catholic
Academy for Communication Arts Professionals. Helen Osman, secretary
for communications at the bishops' conference, opened the dialogue.
The June 4 session -- organized at the suggestion of committee members
during a January meeting -- focused mainly on the independence and autonomy
of Catholic publications; the bishop as publisher; building trust between
bishop and editor; and financial support of Catholic media.
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Mother Teresa sainthood cause awaits another miracle, postulator
says
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CNS) -- Father Brian Kolodiejchuk of the Missionaries
of Charity, postulator for the sainthood cause of Blessed Teresa of
Calcutta, told a gathering at the Knights of Columbus Museum in New
Haven June 1 that her cause is "still waiting for one more miracle"
for her to be declared a saint. With worldwide events now under way
to mark the 100th anniversary of her birth Aug. 26, Father Kolodiejchuk
was in New Haven to talk about her life and mission as part of a current
exhibit at the museum, "Mother Teresa: Life, Spirituality and Message."
"So far, that hasn't been one case that is strong enough to pass
the medical board" of the Vatican Congregation for Saints' Causes,
he said. "But we're still hoping and praying." Father Kolodiejchuk
also serves as superior general of the Missionaries of Charity Fathers,
the religious order of priests founded by Mother Teresa in 1984 and
now based in Tijuana, Mexico. "Someone has to ask Mother Teresa's
intercession, then Mother Teresa has to intercede, God has to (perform)
the miracle, someone has to report the miracle ... and then we can continue
with the process," he said of the canonization process.
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WORLD
Pope meets Muslim spiritual leader from northern Cyprus
NICOSIA, Cyprus (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI held an unscheduled meeting
with the grand sheik of a Muslim spiritual movement from northern Cyprus
June 5. Sheik Mehmet Nazim Adil, 88, head of a Sufi confraternity --
an organization dedicated to the practice and study of Islamic mysticism
-- met with the pope outside the Vatican nunciature in Nicosia. During
his visit to Cyprus June 4-6, Pope Benedict stayed at the nunciature,
located in the U.N.-patrolled buffer zone separating the South from
the North. Most of Cyprus' Muslims live in the North, which is controlled
by Turkish Cypriots, supported by troops from Turkey. Pope Benedict
did not visit the northern part of the island during his trip; Yusuf
Suicmez, the chief mufti of Cyprus -- the religious leader of the Muslim
community -- had invited the pope to cross the buffer zone for a meeting.
In the end, Suicmez tried to meet the pope at the nunciature before
he left Cyprus June 6, but the mufti was delayed at the buffer zone
crossing and missed the pope. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican
spokesman, told reporters that Suicmez had called to say he was on his
way and "we waited as long as we could," but the pope could
not keep the president of Cyprus and other dignitaries waiting for the
airport farewell ceremony.
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Pope leaves Cyprus praying for peace on divided island, Middle
East
LARNACA, Cyprus (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI left Cyprus praying for peace
on the divided island and throughout the Middle East and encouraging
Catholics and Orthodox to continue their journey toward full reconciliation.
"Let us all redouble our efforts to build a real and lasting peace
for all the peoples of the region," he said June 6 during a farewell
ceremony at the Larnaca International Airport. The pope arrived in Cyprus
June 4, blessing an olive tree as a pledge of his prayers for peace
on the island, which has been divided between the Greek Cypriots in
the South and Turkish Cypriots in the North since 1974. Addressing President
Demetris Christofias at the departure ceremony, the pope said that "having
stayed these past nights at the apostolic nunciature, which happens
to be in the United Nations buffer zone, I have seen for myself something
of the sad division of the island, as well as learning of the loss of
a significant part of a cultural heritage which belongs to all humanity."
Christian churches and villages in northern Cyprus have been plundered
in the past 35 years, and thousands of icons have been sold on the black
market. "Surely, truth and reconciliation, together with respect,
are the soundest foundation for the united and peaceful future of this
island and for the stability and prosperity of her people," the
pope said.
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Pope asks Catholics in Cyprus to be witnesses of God's love
NICOSIA, Cyprus (CNS) -- The Catholic minority in Cyprus and the Christian
minority in the Middle East are called to be witnesses of God's love,
of hope in the face of suffering and of a tenacious commitment to dialogue
for peace, Pope Benedict XVI said. Meeting with members of Cyprus' tiny
Catholic communities in the morning June 5, celebrating Mass that evening
with church workers and celebrating Mass June 6 in a sports stadium,
the pope said they can be a force for good in the region and in the
world by strengthening their bonds of affection for one another, building
unity with other Christians and respectfully working with followers
of other religions. "We are called to overcome our differences,
to bring peace and reconciliation where there is conflict, to offer
the world a message of hope," the pope said in his homily June
6 in Nicosia's Eleftheria sports arena. "We are called to reach
out to those in need, generously sharing our earthly goods with those
less fortunate than ourselves. And we are called to proclaim unceasingly
the death and resurrection of the Lord," the pope told an estimated
10,000 people from Cyprus and throughout the Middle East.
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Martyred Polish priest beatified at Mass in Warsaw in front
of 140,000
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- A martyred Polish priest was praised for standing
against the oppressive forces of communism when he defended human rights
in his sermons during a beatification Mass in the Polish capital. More
than 140,000 people listened intently during the June 6 ceremony in
Pilsudski Square as Archbishop Angelo Amato, prefect of the Vatican's
Congregation for Saints' Causes, recalled how Father Jerzy Popieluszko
"did not yield to temptation to survive in this death camp"
under communist rule. "Father Jerzy ... helped only by spiritual
means, such as truth, justice and love, demanded freedom of conscience
for citizen and priest," Archbishop Amato said of the 37-year-old
priest who was linked to the Solidarity labor movement and murdered
by communist secret police agents. "But the lost ideology did not
accept the light of truth and justice." "So this defenseless
priest was shadowed, persecuted, arrested, tortured and then brutally
bound and, though still living, thrown into water by criminals with
no respect for life, who thus left him contemptuously to his death,"
he said. More than 3,000 priests and 95 bishops were among those who
attended the ceremony.
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Thousands of volunteers build homes for Chilean earthquake victims
MACUL, Chile (CNS) -- On a chilly Sunday morning, a small group of young
adults hammered, sawed and hauled sheets of particle board in Macul,
one of the sprawling districts south of the Chilean capital. Overnight
rains had cleared the layer of smog that usually obscures the surrounding
mountains, now covered with a blanket of snow, providing an idyllic
backdrop for the volunteer builders. Pablo Alcaino was in charge of
the volunteers sent to build homes for families who lost their dwellings
when a magnitude 8.8 earthquake rocked the country Feb. 27. "We
came here to build 10 (homes) this weekend, and we're running a bit
behind," Alcaino said. "We'll just have to stay until they're
finished." Alcaino is a regional coordinator for A Roof for Chile,
a Catholic non-profit organization that 15 years ago set out to eradicate
extreme poverty in the country by building homes for families living
in shantytowns. In recent years, the organization shifted its priorities
to focus on the social ills afflicting the country's poor. However,
when the powerful earthquake and subsequent tsunami left thousands of
people in south central Chile desperate and homeless, the organization
was asked to do what it does best: build homes in a hurry. "The
interest in volunteering was overwhelming," Alcaino said, "so
much so that our website crashed in that first week after the earthquake."
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Australia's Poruma joins growing list of Pacific's 'drowning
islands'
SYDNEY (CNS) -- While Australia's politicians debate the so-called "inconvenient
truth" of human-induced climate change, inhabitants of low-lying
islands across the Pacific know climate change is very real if rising
sea levels are any indication. One island within Australia's territorial
waters is among those threatened by the rising sea. Poruma Island --
formerly known as Coconut Island -- is one of 274 islands in the Torres
Strait archipelago, between Queensland and Papua and New Guinea. Part
of the Diocese of Cairns, Poruma is home to 205 people who have traditionally
lived by fishing. They also manage an award-winning resort on the island
that is not even a mile long and a quarter-mile wide. But Poruma is
drowning. Rising sea levels, storm surges and salinity in its freshwater
wells are making the island uninhabitable. When Dolly McGaughey last
returned to her island home, the severity of erosion shocked her. "It
has all been eaten up by the sea. The beautiful white beaches of my
childhood have gone underwater. Some of the trees I knew then are gone,"
said McGaughey, Torres Strait Islander representative of the National
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Catholic Council.
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PEOPLE
Baseball legend Brooks Robinson buoyed by faith, family, friends
BALTIMORE (CNS) -- When Lee May cracked a two-bouncer inside the third-base
line in the first game of the 1970 World Series, Brooks Robinson's response
was nothing short of legendary. Wheeling three paces to his right, the
Baltimore Orioles' third baseman fielded the ball in foul territory,
took two more steps and threw against his momentum. The throw bounced
once on its way to first baseman Boog Powell and beat May. It was one
of many in a spectacular defensive performance by Robinson that helped
the Orioles defeat the Cincinnati Reds in five games, as the World Series
MVP lived up to his nickname of the "human vacuum cleaner."
Forty years after perhaps the best fielding display in baseball history,
Robinson's hair is gray and he no longer sports a lanky physique. Robinson,
a 73-year-old grandfather, is committed to his family and his community,
his Catholic faith sustaining him in the face of health concerns. Raised
a Methodist in Little Rock, Ark., Robinson never figured he would become
a Catholic. But, after marrying Connie, his Catholic wife of nearly
50 years, the baseball standout was drawn to the church. With three
sons and a daughter, Robinson thought it important for the entire family
to attend church together. "When the kids got older, they were
inquisitive and wanted to know, 'How come Dad doesn't go to church with
us?'" Robinson said in an interview with The Catholic Review, Baltimore
archdiocesan newspaper. "It made a lot of sense to join the Catholic
Church."
Copyright (c) 2010 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops
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