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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.

When Joshua Casteel, a conscientious objector, spoke to the pope about the Catholic Peace Fellowship’s initiative, “The pope listened carefully, then thanked Mr. Casteel and told him he would pray for him.” (CR, May 3) Would the pope not say the same to a conscientious protector?

I stipulate at the outset that religious vocations are urgently needed and vitally important to the mission of the church. In no way do I wish to denigrate the sacrifice of those so called. I remain most grateful for their commitment and service. However I am somewhat disheartened that marriage, as a vocation, is hardly addressed from the pulpit or in weekly church publications such as The Catholic Review. It strikes me as missed opportunity to elevate, in the eyes of the faithful, the rightful position of marriage in God’s plan for humanity.

WASHINGTON – A report sent to the U.S. bishops by their National Review Board and Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People said the safe environment education programs for children in dioceses across the nation are “a major accomplishment and one that must continually be maintained and reinforced.” It proposed criteria for evaluating and improving those programs, which are intended to prevent the sexual abuse of children and young people and to help them recognize it if it occurs and report it to adults.