Page 1879 – Archdiocese of Baltimore

Wearing a black tattered coat, gloves with a hole in the left palm and a knit skull cap, a homeless woman calling herself Miss L.A. shed a tear as Baltimore City political leaders called out the names of her fellow street dwellers who died in the past year. The 16th Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service held Dec. 21 at Baltimore’s War Memorial Plaza, drew about 200 candle-holding spectators and gave Miss L.A. ample opportunity to beg for change.

MCC has high hopes for new legislature

ANNAPOLIS – With the Jan. 10 start of the 423rd session of the Maryland General Assembly, leaders of the Maryland Catholic Conference have high hopes the new legislature and the newly-elected governor will give attention to issues they believe have been neglected in recent years. Chief among them are a long-sought repeal of the death penalty, an expansion of programs benefiting the poor, the establishment of a business tax credit to help nonpublic schools and a ban on human cloning. The political lobbying arm of Maryland’s Catholic bishops will also seek $1 million for a new program aiding women in crisis pregnancies and a restoration of funding to the textbook/technology loan program for students in nonpublic schools. Although Gov.-elect Martin J. O’Malley will inherit a $1.3 billion surplus when the Democratic mayor of Baltimore leaves City Hall for Annapolis Jan. 17, long-term structural deficits are projected for coming years as the gap between revenues and spending is expected to widen. That will mean MCC leaders will spend much of their time convincing lawmakers to spare the poor and vulnerable from the budget-cutting ax.

Fire causes serious damage to Grantsville church

St. Ann, Grantsville, pastor Father James Hannon, associate pastor Father Ty Hullinger, and parishioners Camilla and David Rawe stood for some time in shock Dec. 23 as they watched dozens of firefighters battle an early-morning fire at the nearly 30-year-old Garrett County church. No one was injured in the blaze, which caused thousands of dollars in damage, destroying a portion of the church. “The part of the parish plant that was used for religious education, meeting space, sacristy and liturgy space was heavily damaged by the fire,” said Father Hannon, who has served as pastor for six months. “Books, vestments, computers and many liturgical items were lost to the fire.”

Nigerian priest decries racism in America

ST. LOUIS (CNS) — It is time for U.S. churches to combat racial injustice in their country and among their congregations, says a Catholic priest from Nigeria who has studied the problem. Holy Ghost Father Cajetan Ngozika Ihewulezi resides at Sts. Teresa and Bridget Parish in North St. Louis and serves as a hospital chaplain while doing graduate studies. He is the author of a new book, “Beyond the Color of Skin: Encounters With Religions and Racial Injustice in America.”

Pope urges respect for dignity, human rights

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Welcoming in the new year at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI said a world suffering from wars and terrorism can find peace only through respect for human dignity and human rights. The pope celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica Jan. 1, which the church marks as World Peace Day, and quoted from his peace day message that was sent to governments around the globe. The theme of the message this year was “The Human Person, the Heart of Peace.” In order for peace agreements to last, the pope said, they must be based on respect for the dignity of the human being created by God. This dignity is the foundation of peace and cannot be viewed as something subject to popular opinion or negotiations between parties, he said.

Vatican says execution not way to justice

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Executing someone guilty of a crime “is not the way to restore justice and reconcile society,” the Vatican spokesman said after Saddam Hussein was hanged Dec. 30. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said, “A capital execution is always tragic news, a motive for sadness, even when it involves a person found guilty of serious crimes.” In a formal statement issued shortly after Saddam’s death was announced, Father Lombardi said, “The position of the Catholic Church against the death penalty has been reaffirmed many times.” The death penalty not only will not restore justice in Iraq, but also can “increase the spirit of vengeance and sow new violence,” he said.

Baltimore Catholic schools to receive $3.5 million

A Baltimore-based Jewish foundation is pledging $3.5 million to Catholic schools in Baltimore in an effort to boost enrollment and attract even more financial support for urban-based Catholic education. In a Dec. 14 event at the Catholic Center in Baltimore, Cardinal William H. Keeler of Baltimore and Donn Weinberg of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation announced that the foundation would donate $500,000 in 2006 and $1 million for the next three years to benefit at-risk students in kindergarten to 12th grade at one of 17 Catholic elementary/middle schools and three high schools.

British cardinal denounces secularization

LONDON (CNS) — A British cardinal said Great Britain is being reduced to a “profoundly needy land” by attempts to purge religion from public life. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor of Westminster, president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said secularization has led to the collapse of shared moral values and has created a sense of despair.

Vatican official repeats calls not to execute Hussein

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Repeating a remark he often has made since former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured in 2003, Cardinal Renato Martino expressed hope that the deposed dictator would not be executed. “There is no doubt” that Saddam was a ruthless dictator responsible for hundreds of deaths, said Cardinal Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. “But one does not compensate for one crime with another crime,” the cardinal told Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper Dec. 28. Iraq’s high court Dec. 26 denied Saddam’s appeal of his November conviction for killing 148 people in northern Iraq in 1982.

Welcoming Christ in the Migrant

WASHINGTON (CNS) — “Welcoming Christ in the Migrant” is the theme of the U.S. Catholic Church’s National Migration Week Jan. 7-13. “I invite you to welcome Christ in the migrant through prayer, education and parish outreach,” said Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of San Bernardino, Calif., chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Migration. He said Jesus’ biblical admonition that what one does to a stranger is done to him “is particularly timely” in the current immigration debate.

Jesuit priest among Newsweek’s people to watch

NEW YORK (CNS) — Newsweek magazine has named Jesuit Father John P. Foley, president of the national Cristo Rey Network of Catholic high schools, among “the people to watch in the year ahead.” Two other religious figures — Episcopal Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Muslim professor Ingrid Mattson — also made the magazine’s gallery of 20 figures to keep an eye on in 2007 in various fields, from politics to sports, religion to entertainment, and education to business.

President Gerald R. Ford brought healing