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LONDON – Church leaders in the United Kingdom acknowledged the ups and downs of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s decade in office. While they commended Blair for helping to secure peace in Northern Ireland, church leaders also raised questions over the wisdom of taking Great Britain to war in Iraq. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor of Westminster, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said in a statement May 10 that he recognized the “serious divisions of opinion on the war in Iraq,” but added that “history will make a better judgment than today.”

More than 200 religious education directors, catechists and priests filled the meeting room at St. John the Evangelist, Columbia, May 9 for an all day Bishop’s Summit on Confirmation, sponsored by the Division of Youth and Young Adult Ministry. “This is an opportunity to encourage and increase enthusiasm for confirmation,” said Scott Miller, coordinator of adolescent faith formation for the division of youth and young adult ministry. “We want to build up the sacrament of confirmation.” The day began with a prayer service led by Bishop Denis J. Madden, urban vicar, before Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, eastern vicar, gave a lively talk on what confirmation is all about and how it fits into a Catholic’s life.

UPDATED SAO PAULO, Brazil – Pope Benedict XVI and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva discussed youths, the family and social concerns when they met May 10. Before the meeting, some analysts speculated that the president would try to steer the conversation away from abortion, which was in the news in Brazil in the days before the pope’s visit. A Vatican spokesman said the issue did not come up during the meeting, which lasted more than half an hour and was attended by first lady Marisa Leticia da Silva. Da Silva mentioned his concerns about the problems of youths and young adults; more than 60 percent of the Brazilian population is under age 29. Pope Benedict and da Silva agreed that moral formation for young people must be a priority, and the president called for greater collaboration between church and state in that area.

UPDATED SAO PAULO, Brazil – Pope Benedict XVI’s comments on excommunication for pro-abortion Catholic politicians touched on huge and sensitive issues – so sensitive that the Vatican issued a toned-down version of his remarks the following day. Speaking with journalists on the plane taking him to Brazil May 9, the pope left the impression that he agreed with those invoking excommunication for Catholic legislators in Mexico City who had voted in April to legalize abortion. When reporters pressed the pope on whether he supported the excommunication of the Mexican deputies, he answered: “Yes, this excommunication was not something arbitrary, but is foreseen by the Code (of Canon Law). It is simply part of church law that the killing of an innocent baby is incompatible with being in communion with the body of Christ.”

UPDATED ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO BRAZIL – On the plane taking him to Brazil, Pope Benedict XVI called Latin America “the continent of life and hope” and said the church must keep up the fight against abortion, poverty and injustice. Speaking to reporters aboard his chartered Alitalia jet May 9, the pope spent more than 25 minutes answering questions, his longest in-flight press conference to date. He said the late Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar A. Romero deserves to be beatified, denounced the Latin American drug trade and said liberation theology has changed with the political times. In remarks about the recent legalization of abortion in Mexico, the pope appeared to support Mexican church leaders who held out the possibility of excommunication for Catholic legislators who voted for the legislation.

UPDATED SAO PAULO, Brazil – Arriving in Brazil on his first papal trip to Latin America, Pope Benedict XVI said he wanted to help reinforce Christian values and counter new threats to the poor, the abandoned and the unborn. “I am well aware that the soul of this people, as of all Latin America, safeguards values that are radically Christian, which will never be eradicated,” the pope said May 9. The pope addressed several hundred civil and church dignitaries at an airport welcoming ceremony outside Sao Paulo, where his plane touched down after a 12-hour flight from Rome. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva greeted the pope warmly as he descended from the aircraft. In their brief remarks at the airport, the pontiff and the Brazilian president highlighted the importance of family, the challenges facing young people, and the Catholic Church’s contribution to social programs in Latin America’s most Catholic and most populous country. Da Silva told the pope that the country needs spiritual and moral leadership “to face the challenges of this new millennium.”

SAO PAULO, Brazil – Arriving in Brazil on his first papal trip to Latin America, Pope Benedict XVI said he wanted to help reinforce Christian values and counter new threats to the poor, the abandoned and the unborn. “I am well aware that the soul of this people, as of all Latin America, safeguards values that are radically Christian, which will never be eradicated,” the pope said May 9. The pope addressed several hundred civil and church dignitaries at an airport welcoming ceremony outside Sao Paulo, where his plane touched down after a 12-hour flight from Rome. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva greeted the pope warmly as he descended from the aircraft.

DUBLIN, Ireland – Christian leaders in Northern Ireland have encouraged citizens to pray for the success of the region’s fledgling Catholic-Protestant power-sharing government. Archbishop Sean Brady of Armagh issued a statement with the heads of the Anglican, Presbyterian and Methodist churches, calling May 8 a “historic day” when enemies joined together to form the power-sharing government. The new government returns home rule to Northern Ireland after a five-year suspension. “We recognize that much work still remains if all people in Northern Ireland are to share the future together,” they said. “We are especially aware of those for whom the pain of the past is a constant living reality.”