CHARLESTON, S.C. --- The Board of Directors of the Knights of Columbus has called upon Congress and the President to "agree upon immigration legislation that not only gains control over the process of immigration, but also rejects any efforts to criminalize those who provide humanitarian assistance to undocumented immigrants." It further calls for "providing these immigrants an avenue by which they can emerge from the shadows of society and seek legal residency and citizenship in the United States." The board adopted a resolution addressing the issue in its quarterly meeting April 7-9 in Charleston, SC. The resolution also stated that the Knights of Columbus "is an international Catholic lay organization that has proudly included brother Knights in Mexico for more than a hundred years, and has thousands of members throughout the countries of Central America and the Caribbean." The Knights of Columbus includes more than 1.7 million members in the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Pope celebrates Easter, urges people,
nations to turn away from sin
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Celebrating the first Holy Week and Easter of his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI called on individuals and nations to turn away from their sins and accept the love, truth and peace offered by the crucified and risen Christ. After presiding April 16 over Easter morning Mass amid thousands of flowers and blossoming trees in St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict solemnly offered his blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city of Rome and the world), and prayed for peace and justice in the most troubled areas of the world. While a couple of people at the morning Mass held signs wishing the pope a happy 79th birthday, there was no repeat of the sung wishes that had filled St. Peter's Basilica at 1 a.m. when the Easter Vigil ended. During his midday Easter blessing, the pope called for "serious and honest negotiations" to find an "honorable solution" to the standoff between Iran and the international community over Iran's nuclear program. He also prayed that "in Iraq may peace finally prevail over the tragic violence that continues mercilessly to claim victims."

Religious investors challenge Wal-Mart,
laud its diversity report
NEW YORK (CNS) --- Just days after announcing four shareholder resolutions seeking several changes in Wal-Mart's corporate policies, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility in New York released a statement praising the retail giant for publishing detailed data on its minority hiring and promotion practices. "Wal-Mart today placed its entire EEO-1 report (an annual federal equal employment opportunity report) on walmart.com, setting a new standard in corporate transparency not only for retailers but for all Fortune 500 companies," said Sister Barbara Aires April 11. She is a member of the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth in New Jersey, the order that filed a shareholder resolution calling on Wal-Mart to make its EEO-1 report public. "Although we may drop this resolution, we will continue our dialogue with management on shaping human resources policies that set new standards for openness and opportunity," she said.

Catholic Charities says Web site falsely
claims connection to agency
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (CNS) --- The president of Catholic Charities USA has asked potential donors not to direct their contributions to a Web site that he said falsely claims a connection to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Catholic Charities and other charitable causes. "We are alerting federal officials and will take appropriate steps to prevent donations from being solicited in such a manner," said Father Larry Snyder, head of the Alexandria-based organization, of the Web site www.catholic-charities.net. Legitimate Web sites associated with Catholic Charities USA include www.catholiccharitiesusa.org and www.catholiccharitiesinfo.org. "Let me be clear, the Web site www.catholic-charities.net is not affiliated with Catholic Charities," said Father Snyder in a statement April 17. "We urge anyone who wants to support Catholic Charities not to make donations through www.catholic-charities.net."

Colorado, Ohio bishops' fight on
child sex abuse measures successful
DENVER (CNS) --- The Catholic bishops of Colorado and Ohio have successfully fought bills that would have relaxed the statute of limitations on civil suits filed in child sex abuse cases. However, still pending in the Colorado Legislature are other measures that would make it easier to file civil suits against Catholic institutions in child sex abuse cases. After the Colorado Legislature removed provisions which would have extended the statute of limitations in civil suits, the state's bishops supported a bill that drops the criminal statute of limitations in child sex abuse cases occurring after July 1, 2006. The bill was signed into law April 12 by Gov. Bill Owens. "We are always grateful to see good legislation signed into law," said Timothy Dore, executive director of the Colorado Catholic Conference. In Ohio, the bishops supported a bill passed by the House and Senate March 29 after the legislation dropped a provision that would have provided a one-year grace period for filing civil suits covered by the statute of limitations. No date had been set as of April 17 for the governor to sign the bill into law.

Catholics find bigotry, cause for hope
in state lawmakers' actions
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- While Catholic conference officials in Maryland were lamenting signs of religious bigotry in the state's recently completed legislative session, those in New Jersey were finding reasons to celebrate a commitment to the vulnerable evidenced in their governor's budget proposal. With the April 10 close of the legislative session in Annapolis, Md., Richard J. Dowling, executive director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, said the 90-day session was marred by a palpable sense of anti-Catholicism. But in New Jersey, the Catholic conference's associate director for social concerns said Gov. Jon Corzine's budget proposal now before the state Legislature was a result of much input from Catholic leaders. "We were at the table from the beginning and that was unusual, quite frankly," said Marlene Lao-Collins. In Maryland, the lobbying arm of the state's Catholic bishops helped defeat an emergency contraception bill and win an increase in the minimum wage while fighting embryonic stem-cell research and cloning. But the moves were challenged by some legislators who showed contempt for the church, Dowling said.

In Beijing, more than 200 catechumens
baptized at Easter Vigils
BEIJING (CNS) --- Catholic churches in Beijing's city center baptized more than 200 catechumens during Easter Vigils April 15. For Catholics from the mainland and foreign countries, having some hymns and part of the liturgy in Latin enhanced the solemnity of the occasion in some Beijing churches, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. More than 1,000 Catholics packed the Church of the Savior --- known as Beitang or North Church --- to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and witness the baptism of 90 catechumens during the Easter Vigil. They also had a chance to hear the priest use some Latin while blessing the paschal candle and the fire at the start of the three-and-one-half-hour liturgy. Newly baptized Catholic Liu Jie told UCA News April 16 that he felt honored to be surrounded by so many Catholics attending his baptism.