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VATICAN CITY – A group of diplomats from predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Europe will meet with top Vatican officials during an intensive three-week course on the Catholic Church. The aim of the May 7-27 course is to help Muslim governments understand how the Vatican works, especially in diplomacy, and to familiarize participants with the church and its network of social and humanitarian services.

HOPELAWN, N.J. – When young men are discerning the vocation of priesthood, it is important that they have a quiet place for prayer and reflection while learning about the life that would come with being a priest. Through the work and support of many individuals, the Metuchen Diocese has created such a setting for those seeking to decipher God’s call. In a building that was once an oversized and underutilized rectory for Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish now stands the St. John Vianney House of Discernment. The house is a place for men considering the priesthood who are serious about the vocation, yet not entirely certain that they are ready to pursue it.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. bishops are studying a draft curriculum guide for Catholic high school religion courses across the country. Prepared by the Committee on Catechesis of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the draft sets the framework for six core semesters plus five elective courses from which schools may choose two – preferably in the senior year or one each in the junior and senior years. The curriculum framework, developed at the request of publishers of catechetical materials, is intended as a guide for those publishers and for diocesan offices and Catholic high schools to help them develop their own curriculum guidelines and evaluate religion textbooks for use in their schools.

WASHINGTON – The Anti-Defamation League and a variety of Catholic and Jewish leaders honored Eugene J. Fisher as he approached retirement after 30 years as one of the world’s leading advocates of better Catholic-Jewish relations. Since 1977 Mr. Fisher has been associate director for Catholic-Jewish relations at the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. In awarding him the ADL’s Dr. Joseph L. Lichten Award in Catholic-Jewish relations April 29, ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman called Mr. Fisher a “central figure” in implementing changed Catholic understandings of and relations with Jews following the Second Vatican Council. “Gene was an important part of Pope John Paul II’s program to revolutionize Catholic-Jewish relations,” Mr. Foxman said.

OXFORD, England – A French church official welcomed a Paris superior court ruling that a gay rights group pay symbolic damages to the church after the group staged a lesbian mock wedding in Notre Dame Cathedral. The “provocative action” had “hurt many people, believers or not, from all denominations both in and outside France,” Michel-Francois Szczepka, spokesman for the cathedral, told Catholic News Service May 2.

VATICAN CITY – Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said religious leaders have an obligation to God to begin healing the wounds in Catholic-Muslim relations, including those caused by Pope Benedict XVI’s September remarks about Islam. “Meeting the pope cannot heal all these wounds, but at least we are making an effort to begin,” said Khatami, speaking May 4 at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University immediately before meeting Pope Benedict at the Vatican. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said the pope and Khatami spent 30 minutes speaking privately in the papal audience. Khatami also met separately with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican signaled its support for the international meeting on Iraq that took place in Egypt in early May, and Iraq’s Chaldean bishops asked participating countries to do more to end violence and protect Christians in the country. After former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami met Pope Benedict XVI May 4, the Vatican published a statement saying the two leaders reaffirmed “the need for strong initiatives by the international community, like that occurring in these days at the meeting in Sharm el Sheikh,” Egypt, to bring peace to the Middle East.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican Library is closing its doors to the public for the next three years for renovation. Starting July 14, the library will be closed until September 2010 in order to carry out “major structural renovation of one wing of the library,” the library’s vice prefect, Ambrogio Piazzoni, told Catholic News Service.

I noticed several inaccuracies in the letter sent by Dr. Thomas P. Sheahen titled: “Scientists divided on issue of global warming” (CR, April 26). In this response I will address Dr. Sheahen’s comments on the consensus of scientist’s concerning human-induced climate change and his comments on recent global temperatures as compared to those of the last millennium. I feel that responding to this letter is important since there may be readers of The Catholic Review not familiar with the technical literature in this subject area.