Parishioners to walk for peace
LOS ANGELES --- Parishioners of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Los Angeles will sponsor a "Neighborhood Walk: Reaching Out for Peace" Oct. 14 to get to know the needs of the community and extended a sign of peace to neighbors. Councilman Eric Garcetti will join in the walk which begins at 8:30 a.m. Parishioners and Father Rodel Balagtas, pastor, are working with One L.A. to promote fellowship among neighbors. The church is located at 4950 Santa Monica Blvd. For more information, call (323) 660-0034.

Vatican says lack of democracy, decline in morals add to corruption
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- A lack of democracy and government transparency and a decline in traditional morality contribute to the growing phenomenon of corruption around the world, said the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. While estimating the economic impact of corruption is difficult, it is clear that it "exists in rich countries and in poor countries," said the council's statement on "The Fight Against Corruption," released Oct. 10 at the Vatican. The statement, summarizing findings from a June seminar organized by the council, said corruption weakens people's faith in their governments, strengthens organized crime and cuts into the resources available for helping the poor. "If corruption causes serious harm from a material point of view and places a costly burden on economic growth, still more harmful are its effects on immaterial goods closely connected to the qualitative and human dimension of life in society," it said. Corruption violates citizens' rights to participate in their government and to have leaders held to the same standards of legality they are expected to follow, it said.

Sydney racecourse to be site of closing Mass for World Youth Day 2008
SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) --- Royal Randwick Racecourse has been named as the venue for the overnight vigil and final Mass to be celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI at World Youth Day in July 2008. Sydney Cardinal George Pell, chairman of the local organizing committee for World Youth Day, made the announcement Oct. 6 with Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, who was in Sydney reviewing preparations for the event. Cardinal Pell said the racecourse, located about three miles south of Sydney's central business district, offers the best combination of "space, uninterrupted sightlines and transport links." He said he expected up to 300,000 pilgrims to walk to the site for the vigil with Pope Benedict XVI; those young people usually sleep under the stars. He said as many as 300,000 more are expected to arrive the following morning for the pope's closing Mass.

Vatican supports treaty to regulate sale of conventional weapons
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- The Vatican expressed strong support for an international treaty to regulate the sale of conventional weapons, saying light arms and small-caliber weapons have been used to harm millions of people in recent decades. Conventional weapons are an element in every civil conflict and constitute "one of the most common instruments in most violations of human rights and disrespect for international law," said a Vatican statement released Oct. 10. The statement, issued by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, came as the United Nations was debating a proposal by seven countries to take steps toward a legally binding agreement on the import, export and exchange of conventional weapons. Earlier in October, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican's U.N. nuncio, told the U.N. General Assembly that the Vatican supported controls on the small-weapons trade.