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Evidence shows priests are happy, research finds October 12, 2011 - WASHINGTON (CNS)—Msgr. Stephen Rossetti is out to correct the myth that the typical Catholic priest is “a lonely, dispirited figure living an unhealthy life that breeds sexual deviation,” as a writer for the Harford Courant once put it. And he’s got the data to prove it. [read more]
October 12, 2011 - WASHINGTON (CNS)—Seventy-five-year-old Bob Hentzen, the president and co-founder of the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging, ended his 17-month, 8,000-mile walk across 12 countries to show solidarity with the poor June 6. [read more]
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Peoria Catholic Charities withdraws from state social service contracts PEORIA, Ill. (CNS)—Citing increasing clashes between Illinois law and Church teaching, Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria announced Oct. 6 that Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Peoria is withdrawing from all state-funded social service contracts. To prevent disruption to the 1,000 foster care children and families now served by Catholic Charities of Peoria, plans call for those state-funded contracts to be transferred by Feb. 1, 2012, to a newly formed nonprofit entity called the Center for Youth and Family Solutions. The Diocese of Peoria and its Catholic Charities will have no connection to the new entity. Catholic Charities in the dioceses of Joliet, Peoria, and Springfield, as well as Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois in Belleville, have been involved in legal proceedings with the state since Illinois recognized civil unions on June 1. At issue is the agencies’ long-standing practice of referring prospective adoptive and foster parents who are cohabiting—regardless of sexual orientation—to other agencies or the Department of Children and Family Services. The state interprets the policy as discriminatory to same-sex couples under the new Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, and a Sangamon County Circuit Court judge ruled Sept. 26 the state could begin canceling its foster care and adoption contracts with Catholic Charities. Catholic Charities of Peoria’s decision to withdraw from ongoing litigation and from all state-funded social service contracts came after months of deliberation and prayer, said Bishop Jenky. “I have a responsibility as bishop to assure that Catholic Charities operates consistently with the teachings and values of the church,” he said in the Oct. 6 statement. Recalling the agency’s nearly 100-year history of serving the poor and vulnerable, he said it was in keeping with that mission that Catholic Charities partnered with the state to provide services to those most in need.
Funeral for Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai held Oct. 8 WASHINGTON (CNS)—A funeral Mass for Wangari Maathai, a Catholic environmentalist and political leader who became the first black African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, was Oct. 8 in Holy Family Minor Basilica in Nairobi, Kenya. Plans also called for cremating Maathai’s body, with interment at the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies at the University of Nairobi, per her wish. Maathai, who died at the age of 71 Sept. 25 after a bout with cancer, has been honored for her efforts to empower women to work for environmental, economic and social justice. A graduate of Mount St. Scholastica College—now Benedictine College—in Atchison, Kan., with a degree in biology, Maathai became widely known and respected for her efforts on behalf of environmental sustainability through tree-planting campaigns that developed around the world. Kenyan officials planned to plant a tree in her honor in Freedom Corner in Nairobi’s central business district. Nationwide, local communities were expected to plant another 5,000 trees. Maathai’s efforts in founding the Green Belt Movement and on behalf of human rights in challenging former Kenyan dictator Daniel arap Moi led to her being awarded the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. |
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