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FRANKFORT, Ill. – Support from people in the U.S. is important to the nation’s troops who are serving in Iraq and must continue, especially for soldiers “in harm’s way,” a military chaplain told a congregation in the Diocese of Joliet. Father John Hannigan, a priest of the Chicago Archdiocese, has been has been on leave from active duty since January, but before that he had been stationed in Iraq since the early days of the war.

VATICAN CITY – Taking advantage of new media to spread the Gospel, the Catholic Church also has an obligation to point out areas where the media has a harmful effect, especially on children, Pope Benedict XVI said. The pope called on media operators “to safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human dignity and promote respect for the needs of the family.” Meeting March 9 with members of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Pope Benedict spoke of the benefits of greater access to quality entertainment, information and educational opportunities through the media.

UNITED NATIONS – While lauding the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women for adopting resolutions on ending female genital mutilation and addressing forced and early marriage, its work is not complete until it also addresses “the important issues of prenatal sex selection, infanticide and son preference,” said Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican’s permanent observer to the U.N. “The practice of sex selective abortions is not a new practice. The international community has raised this issue during the major conference on women. Even recent reports by the U.N. secretary-general have continued to raise this as an issue of concern that must be addressed,” said Archbishop Migliore in a March 7 statement.

WASHINGTON – Lack of federal funding could jeopardize therapeutic advances made in using umbilical cord blood for curing diseases, said Richard Doerflinger, deputy director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities. Doerflinger told Catholic News Service that the bishops supported the 2005 law which authorized funds for collecting and storing cord blood and for the establishment of a National Cord Blood Inventory which would enable doctors to match patients with compatible donors through a centralized computer data bank.

MONTPELIER, Vt. – Father Jay C. Haskin agrees with Vermont Gov. James Douglas that Vermont should become an “e-state.” But unlike the governor’s “e” for electronic, Father Haskin’s “e” stands for ethical. “Vermont is in a unique position to lead the nation in becoming an e-state – an ethical state,” Father Haskin said at a Vermont Senate Health and Welfare Committee public hearing on physician-assisted suicide at the Statehouse in Montpelier Feb. 27. The bill would allow physicians to assist in the death of terminally ill patients.

The 100 ‘Red Hot Mamas’ who gather at Good Samaritan Hospital, Baltimore, one Wednesday each month know exactly what it’s like to feel the heat. That’s why the women find it helpful to come together for the monthly seminar which focuses on issues before, during and after menopause. The menopause seminars have become such a hot topic that additional sessions have been added to accommodate the women on the waiting list.

Sue Miller is a champion. A plaque proves it on the Wall of Champions at Good Samaritan Hospital, Baltimore, and her hospital ID badge announces it as well. Attached to her badge by a gold pin, the garnered award reads, “Putting you first” with “Champion” scrawled across it. “I wear it on my ID badge proudly,” the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Baynesville, parishioner said of the Good Samaritan Champion award, bestowed on hospital employees who go beyond the normal scope of duties in the community or inside the hospital.

Last Saturday I stopped by the Social Ministries Convocation at Seton Keough High School. Bishop Mitchell Rozanski accompanied me in the visit; Bishops Malooly and Madden came by later in the day. This gathering, organized by Monsignor William Burke with the help of a special committee, brought together hundreds of people from around the Archdiocese to focus on the Gospel call to serve the poor and those in need. Speakers and group meetings dealt with different areas of concern.

OXFORD, England – A Polish newspaper has reported that diocesan officials and an archbishop ignored cases of pedophilia and sex abuse of minors by priests in the Diocese of Plock, Poland. The Rzeczpospolita daily reported March 6 that Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus and other officials of the diocese had been kept informed for at least six years by pastors of victims’ parishes about priest sex abuse of minors. Archbishop Wielgus was the head of the Plock Diocese from 1999 until he was appointed to head the Archdiocese of Warsaw in January. He quickly resigned after admitting he had collaborated with the communist secret police.

One out of every three people will need blood in his or her lifetime. The United States alone uses 38,000 units of blood each day. Each unit of blood given can help up to three people, and yet less than 5 percent of healthy Americans actually donate blood, reported Dr. Moira Larsen, a pathologist at Good Samaritan Hospital, Baltimore.