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A US Coast Guard officer who refused to be injected with a vaccine derived from the remains of an aborted child has won an exemption from the required vaccination.
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Pope thanks "wifes of Christ"
Pope Benedict yesterday thanked consecrated virgins for their "total gift" to Christ encouraging them to "always irradiate the dignity of being the wife of Christ."
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Mail and penny drop for WYD
Preparations for World Youth Day have stepped up a notch with a letter drop to half a million Sydney homes and the release of a commemorative colour coin of the Pope.
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Priest in supermarket trolley protest
Melbourne parish priest, Fr Noel Brady, has launched a protest against unsightly supermarket trolleys left abandond in streets for up to three months.
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Call to follow WA and reject cloning
Sydney archdiocese policy officer, Dr Brigid McKenna, has welcomed a decision by the Western Australian Legislative Council to reject cloning as a victory for "commonsense science and morality."
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US churches offer mortgage help
With US lenders threatening to repossess 650,000 homes in the first quarter of 2008, Catholic parishes are mobilising to offer assistance to mortgage distressed homeowners.
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Feature - A new dawn for Sorry Day
It is time for this country to build new relationships and to be open to future possibilities, we commit ourselves to deep, on-going dialogue with our indigenous sisters and brothers on further ways of moving forward. - Fr Mark Raper, Pathways
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Featured Website - Ron Rolheiser
This is the website of one of the best known Catholic priests in the western world. Fr Rolheiser is best known through his writings and lecturing on spirituality and prising open the Word in such a clear, beautiful and heart-inspiring style.
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Film Review - Shutter
Based on a 2004 Thai film of the same name, Shutter is an American/Japanese production. If you can take the shocks and violence of this genre, this film is worth the admission price for the cinematography alone. - Fr Richard Leonard, Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting
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Opinion - Middle class creep in Irish Church
During the transformation of Irish society from a largely rural and agricultural economy to an industrialised one there occurred a failure of imagination in the Irish Church. - Fr Oliver Rafferty, The Catholic Herald
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OPINION
Beyond knowledge to wisdomI believe this is one of the crisis points for contemporary Christianity. Put bluntly, its representatives do not seem wise. Yes, those representatives can give you any amount of information, some of them can even speak knowledgeably of Christian teachings. Wisdom is another thing altogether. - Fr Michael Whelan [More] - Aquinas Academy
FEATURE
Connected across bordersIt is time for leaders of nations to see their national interests as connected with the interests of people on the other side of the globe. We have reached the point where human existence is at stake and our destiny is inextricably linked. If we are to overcome this crisis of climate change we need to think beyond the confines of national states. - Just Comment [More] - Edmund Rice Centre
FEATURED CATHOLIC WEBSITE
Catholic Education Diocese of ParramattaReturning to our education theme, we shine the spotlight on arguably the most innovative Catholic education website in the country. In addition to all the standard features of any CEO site, Parramatta's includes some interactive opinion polls and a competition for students to attempt to ''Become the Executive Director for the day''. The site is also well regarded for its RE and curriculum resources.
- www.parra.catholic.edu.au
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Iraq bishops ready to seek help from Pope
The bishops of Iraq look set to beg the Pope to make one last plea for democracy as the early results of the country's constitution sparked dismay among Christians.
The news service of the charity Aid to the Church in Need reports that with early indications following Saturday's referendum pointing to majority support for Iraq's draft permanent constitution, the bishops remain fearful that the country is one step closer to becoming an Islamic state intolerant to non-Muslims.
Last month, the Patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, Emmanuel III Delly, met the President and Prime Minister of Iraq to spell out the bishops' opposition to key sections of the constitution, which they say "opens the door widely" to the possibility of new laws unjust towards non-Muslims.
Bishp Andreas Abouna (pictured), auxiliary to Patriarch Delly, said Iraq's leaders had ignored their concerns and that as a result the bishops were likely to call on the Pope to intervene on their behalf.
Speaking on Monday, Bishop Abouna said: "The bishops will probably have a meeting with the Pope and will ask him to call for democracy in Iraq."
He said a papal intervention would step up the pressure after Benedict met Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in August and requested that the draft constitution respect religious rights.
Bishop Abouna said: "We are looking for freedom – the government must listen – otherwise the country will be like a dictatorship."
The bishop said the views reflected the widespread concerns of the faithful, many of whom, he said, were too afraid to take part in the referendum and who felt helpless.
"Many people felt the best they could do was to go to church the next day [Sunday] and pray for the success of the referendum. They felt that the only option available to them was to pray that God might inspire the politicians to work for the people."
He said the future hinged on how the constitution was put into practice by the new government, due to come into office early in the New Year.
In a sign of the deepening crisis, 12 or more Christian political parties have drawn a line under past disagreements and caved into pressure from clergy to form a coalition to give the faithful more voice in the country's political assemblies.
As a result, Bishop Abouna said he was clinging to the hope of an eleventh hour amendment to the constitution.
He said: "I am still hopeful that there will be a change to the constitution. What we have at present is a basic document, which has not been finalised."
SOURCE
Iraq: Benedict, please help us (Aid to the Church in Need 18/10/05)
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
The Iraqi Transitional Government
Chaldeak Catholic Church (Wikipedia)
ARCHIVE
Baghdad bishop hails yesterday's vote as "exercise in democracy" (CathNews 17/10/05)
MORE STORIES
Pope to write letter to Chinese bishops invited to Synod (AsiaNews.it 18/10/05)
Pope presents bishops with symbolic ring, given integrated document of propositions (Catholic News Agency 18/10/05)
Pope given first volume of Synod history (Catholic News Agency 18/10/05)
Pope to visit Brazil for CELAM meeting (Catholic World News 18/10/05)
Hope for meeting between Pope, Russian Orthodox Patriarch (Catholic World News 18/10/05)
Benedict XVI Honors 2 with John Paul II Award (Zenit 16/10/05)
Pope Shares Memories of His First Communion (Zenit 16/10/05)
Pope Hopes to Open CELAM Conference in '07 (Zenit 16/10/05)
Benedict XVI's Interview on Polish Television (Zenit 16/10/05)
On Anniversary of John Paul II's Election (Zenit 16/10/05)
Benedict XVI Favors a "Positive Secularity" (Zenit 17/10/05)
19 Oct 2005
