Chicago priest calls for priests with 'wisdom and intelligence'
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (CNS) --- The church needs priests with "wisdom and intelligence" to preach the faith effectively amid the challenges of today's culture, Father Louis Cameli told the National Catholic Educational Association's annual seminary convocation in Schaumburg, a Chicago suburb. Father Cameli, a pastor in Norridge and former Chicago archdiocesan director of ongoing formation for priests, suggested that the two main models of priesthood often discussed in U.S. church circles over the past four decades have not put enough emphasis on the intellectual demands of the priesthood. "It seems that the intellectual capacity of priests is of lesser importance than it was in years past," he said. "It also seems that the exercise of intellect in the course of ministry is not so prominent as it might have been previously." Father Cameli received the NCEA's John Paul II Seminary Leadership Award during the convocation. He was chief editor of the fifth edition of the U.S. bishops' Program of Priestly Formation, which was published this summer after receiving Vatican approval, and of the National Plan for the Ongoing Formation of Priests adopted by the U.S. bishops in 2000.

Bishop outlines reasons Catholic politicians may be refused Communion
PHOENIX (CNS) --- Catholic politicians who publicly support abortion, euthanasia and same-sex marriage "jeopardize their own spiritual well-being" and should not receive Communion, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix says in a new booklet. Called "Catholics in the Public Square," the 45-page booklet includes 29 questions and answers about the separation of church and state, anti-Catholic discrimination and Catholic participation in public life. Published in English and Spanish by Basilica Press, it is intended as the first in a "Shepherd's Voice" series. Bishop Olmsted said there are some issues on which Catholics may disagree with the hierarchy such as the just-war theory or capital punishment. "Despite these examples there are other issues, such as abortion and euthanasia, that are always wrong and do not allow for the correct use of prudential judgment to justify them," he wrote. "It would never be proper for Catholics to be on the opposite side of these issues."

Pope says predecessor's methods to spread Gospel must be studied
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- The message as well as the methods used by Pope John Paul II to spread the Gospel must be studied and duplicated, Pope Benedict XVI said. "John Paul II, philosopher and theologian, great pastor of the church, left a richness of writings and gestures that express his desire to spread the Gospel of Christ throughout the world," the pope said. Meeting some 800 directors and supporters of the John Paul II Foundation, Pope Benedict said their efforts to gather, analyze and make known the late pope's teaching must also include efforts "to touch the mystery of his holiness." The Oct. 23 audience marked the 25th anniversary of the John Paul II Foundation, established initially to strengthen the ties between the Vatican and Poland, spread the spiritual values ingrained in Polish culture, deepen reflection on the Christian roots of Europe and provide scholarships for students from Eastern Europe. After communism fell in Eastern Europe and as Pope John Paul aged, the foundation began a major push to collect, archive and promote the study of the pope's ministry.

Participants discuss increases in human trafficking, modern slavery
VILNIUS, Lithuania (CNS) --- The increase in human trafficking is connected to poverty and an increase in women migrating under dangerous circumstances, said participants at an international conference. Torsten Moritz, project secretary for the Conference of European Churches' Commission for Migrants in Europe, said that "more and more people are migrating under increasingly dangerous circumstances because more and more rich countries are closing their borders. More women are migrating nowadays, and we know that for a variety of reasons women are those often most desperately affected by poverty and those most in danger when they migrate, becoming an easy target of the traffickers," said Moritz, whose organization represents Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox and Old Catholic churches. Some 50 experts from 11 countries met in Vilnius to discuss "New Challenges in the Area of Human Trafficking: The Spread of Information." The conference was organized by the Commission for Migrants in Europe and included foreign experts, local governmental agencies and police, as well as representatives of Caritas Lithuania, the Catholic Church's charitable arm in the country.