Pueri Cantores Festival Mass to be celebrated Feb. 17
SHERMAN OAKS --- St. Francis de Sales Church in Sherman Oaks will host the 2007 Pueri Cantores Festival Mass with Auxiliary Bishop Gerald Wilkerson and children's choirs from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on Feb. 17 at 5 p.m. Approximately 250 singers are expected to participate in the liturgy and free concert conducted by St. Francis de Sales choir director, Jeannine Wagner. Ms. Wagner, conductor of the Roger Wagner Chorale founded by her late father, is the first female to conduct Pueri Cantores, the official student choral organization of the Catholic Church for singers age 7-18.

Cardinal welcomes North Korea's agreement to disarm nuclear program
ROME (CNS) --- South Korea's leading Catholic churchman welcomed the news that North Korea had agreed to wind down its nuclear program in exchange for fuel assistance from outside countries. Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jinsuk of Seoul said the agreement, announced in Beijing Feb. 13, had "averted a catastrophe of unimaginable consequences. If things had gone differently, we would have seen a nuclear conflict that would have destroyed us." The agreement followed three years of talks among six countries, including the United States. North Korea promised to shut down its main nuclear facilities within 60 days and to begin the process of nuclear disarmament, with international inspections. In exchange, the country would receive 1 million tons of fuel oil. Cardinal Cheong, who is also the apostolic administrator of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, said the Catholic Church in Korea welcomed the announcement with "joy and satisfaction."

Blog writers stir criticism as they join presidential campaign staff
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- Anti-Catholic Internet writings of two employees of former Sen. John Edwards' presidential campaign have triggered a firestorm in the online community, but the candidate said he would keep the women on his staff. Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan both operated Web logs, or online commentary pages known as blogs, before being hired by the Edwards campaign. Edwards, a Democrat and former U.S. senator from North Carolina, was the running mate of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., in the 2004 election and is running for his party's presidential nomination in 2008. In a Feb. 6 press release, William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, demanded that Edwards fire the two women because some of the writing they did before they were hired criticized the Catholic Church in sometimes grotesque and obscene terms. Donohue called them "anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash-talking bigots," and quoted from several comments written by each woman during 2006 on their generally satirical blog pages. In a Feb. 8 statement, Edwards said the sentiments in some of Marcotte's and McEwan's postings on their blog pages "personally offended me. It's not how I talk to people and it's not how I expect the people who work for me to talk to people." Edwards said he would not fire the women, however, adding that he believes "in giving everyone a fair shake."

Church official calls for prayer in wake of Utah mall shooting spree
SALT LAKE CITY (CNS) --- Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald, administrator of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, called on Catholics Feb. 13 to unite in prayer for victims of a shooting spree at a shopping mall and their families and for the gunman and his family. Five people were killed and at least four more were wounded in a shooting spree at Trolley Square in Salt Lake City Feb. 12. The gunman was fatally shot by police. Authorities were trying to figure out what sparked the rampage. "We pray for everyone who has been traumatized by this violent event, including the police officers involved, the rescue workers, Trolley Square employees, and all of the people who were in the mall at the time of the shootings," said Msgr. Fitzgerald. "We do not know yet the identity of any of the victims or of the person who perpetrated this violence upon our city. I pray that we will draw strength from our faith and the faith of those around us as we reach out as a community of compassion and caring," said the priest, whose statement was issued before police released the identities of the victims or the gunman.

Pope says living in society means recognizing others' rights, beliefs
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- When the church calls for adherence to basic values to promote the common good, it is not placing the individual second, but reflecting the truth that being human means having a relationship with others, Pope Benedict XVI said. Pope Benedict said the modern world seems to be losing touch with the fact that living together in society requires an acknowledgment of the rights, needs and beliefs of others. "The reflection and action of authorities and of citizens must be concentrated on two elements: respect for each human person and the search for the common good," the pope said during a Feb. 10 meeting with members of the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. "Subjectivism, according to which each person tends to consider himself as the only reference point and believes that only his ideas have the character of truth," threatens peaceful coexistence and true progress both for individuals and for societies, he said. Members of the French academy study questions related to individual rights and public policy. The pope, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was one of the few non-French members of the academy from 1992 until his election as pope.

Vatican official: Pope's Lenten message focuses on relations with God
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- While calling Catholics to perform concrete acts of charity during Lent, Pope Benedict XVI's 2007 Lenten message focuses not on social problems, but on an individual's relationship with God, said Archbishop Paul Cordes. Presenting the Lenten message at a Feb. 13 press conference, Archbishop Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, said the pope departed from the customary social focus of papal Lenten messages in order to emphasize that Christian charity must have a religious motivation. The 2007 message, a meditation on the crucified Christ as the fullest sign of God's love, called on Christians to contemplate Christ's suffering and then work to alleviate situations in which human life and dignity are threatened by poverty, oppression, exploitation, loneliness and abandonment. Archbishop Cordes said Christians must be pleased that "the biblical commandment of love for one's neighbor" is being followed by a variety of foundations and philanthropic agencies that have no religious motivation. But at the same time, he said, they must ensure their own acts of charity flow from and witness to the love of God.