Cardinal Mahony delivers Templeton lecture on immigration
PHILADELPHIA - Cardinal Roger Mahony delivered the lead lecture on immigration at the Fifth Annual John M. Templeton Jr. Lecture on Economic Liberties and the Constitution at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia May 8. Former Attorney General Edwin Meese, who served under President Ronald Reagan, provided the response to the cardinal's lecture. Douglas W. Kmiec, professor of Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University School of Law moderated the event. The USC Annenberg School for Communication provided a live broadcast of the lecture in Los Angeles. Because the cardinal's talk was presented after The Tidings deadline, visit www.the-tidings.com for a report on the cardinal's speech.

Bishops get draft of guidelines for education in chaste living
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- "Education for chastity is more than a call to abstinence," says a draft document being studied by the U.S. Catholic bishops in preparation for a vote this fall. Sent out to the bishops at the end of April, the draft is titled "Catechetical Formation in Chaste Living: Guidelines for Curriculum Design and Publication." "Parents are called to ensure that their children's education in human sexuality occurs within the context of the moral principles and truths of the church," it says. It adds that parents are "the primary but not the exclusive educators of their children" and that the invitation to other educators "to carry out their responsibilities in the name of the parents arises from the consent and authorization of the parents." It says, "Education for chastity, sustained by parental example and prayer, is absolutely essential to develop authentic maturity, teach respect for the body and foster an understanding of the nuptial meaning of the body." The 14-page draft document was developed by the Committee on Catechesis of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, chaired by Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington.

Cardinal praises Bush pledge to veto any attack on pro-life policies
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- The head of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities welcomed President George W. Bush's May 3 promise to "veto any legislation that weakens current federal policies and laws on abortion." Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia also expressed gratitude in a May 4 statement for pledges by 155 members of the House of Representatives and 34 senators to uphold any such vetoes. "These pledges help ensure that through the rest of this administration and this Congress Americans need not fear that the federal government will pursue new ways to force them to be involved in government-funded abortions, coercive population programs abroad or the destruction of embryonic human beings," the cardinal said. "Instead, we should work together to build respect for human life at its most defenseless stages, and to support women and families facing an unintended pregnancy or caring for family members challenged by age, illness or disability," he added. Bush outlined his stand in identical letters May 3 to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.

Prayerful hope can overcome despair, Cardinal Levada says
CLEVELAND (CNS) --- The highest ranking American at the Vatican said that hope, nourished in prayer, can help overcome the despair that people feel in an increasingly violent society. "Violence is contrary to hope," Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told more than 200 people who gathered April 24 at Gesu Church for the Margaret F. Grace Lecture sponsored by John Carroll University's Cardinal Suenens Center. Dedicating his presentation to the families, survivors and the memories of the students and teachers killed April 16 at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., Cardinal Levada addressed the issue of hope and left the audience with suggestions that could help blunt the impact of the many forms of violence so prevalent in society. "I am convinced that the dulling of (people's) hope is from secularization," Cardinal Levada said. But it does not need to be that way, the cardinal added as he encouraged the audience to find hope through prayer to God. Of the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, faith and charity are often the most familiar, but people suffer the most when hope is lost, he said.

New French president's Catholic roots strong, but current ties weak
PARIS (CNS) --- When Nicolas Sarkozy is inaugurated as the president of France May 16, Catholics in the country will have some reasons to celebrate and some reasons to be wary. Sarkozy, the 52-year-old head of the Union for a Popular Movement political party, defeated Socialist Party candidate Segolene Royal in the French elections May 6, winning 51.3 percent of the vote. The son of a Hungarian immigrant and a French mother with roots in Greece, Nicolas Paul Stephane Sarkozy de Nagy-Bocsa attended a private Catholic high school and describes himself as Catholic but an infrequent churchgoer. "I am of Catholic culture, Catholic tradition, Catholic faith," he said in his 2005 book, "The Republic, Religions and Hope." "Even if my religious practice is episodic, I acknowledge myself as a member of the Catholic Church." Sarkozy's maternal grandfather, with whom the family lived after his father left his mother, was a Sephardic Jew from Greece who converted to Catholicism when he married a French Catholic woman in 1917.

Archbishop, laywoman named co-presidents of Pax Christi Int'l
BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNS) --- An archbishop from the Democratic Republic of Congo and a longtime social justice activist from the United States have been elected co-presidents of Pax Christi International, the Catholic peace movement. Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kisangani, Congo, and Marie Dennis, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, will assume their new posts for a three-year term during the triennial world assembly of Pax Christi International, set for Oct. 30-Nov. 4 in Torhout and Brugge, Belgium. Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem will continue to serve as international president until Nov. 3. By electing a laywoman and a bishop during Pax Christi International's annual general assembly April 28 in Antwerp, Belgium, the organization "returns to its roots and lifts up a model of shared leadership in the Catholic Church," according to a news release.

Pastor seeks to console scattered flock after devastating tornado
DODGE CITY, Kan. (CNS) --- With his church destroyed by a powerful tornado and his parishioners "scattered to the four winds," Father Gregory LeBlanc, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Greensburg, spent part of May 6 visiting the displaced in local shelters. "It was so good to visit with a number of you Sunday in the shelters," Father LeBlanc said in a parish bulletin posted on the Web site of the Diocese of Dodge City. "I am at a loss as we look at what needs to be done now and what needs to be done in the future. God bless us and keep us together even as we are scattered about." Tim Wenzl, media liaison for the Dodge City Diocese, said St. Joseph Church was destroyed in the May 4 tornado, with only a memorial bell and a statue of St. Joseph left standing in an exterior niche of a wall. But all 160 parishioners have been accounted for and no one was killed, he added. Bishop Ronald M. Gilmore of Dodge City asked for prayers for the people of Greensburg and other towns devastated by the May 4 tornado, which the National Weather Service classified as an F5 storm, with winds exceeding 200 mph. Contributions to aid tornado victims may be made by phone at: (800) 919-9338; on the Web at: www.catholiccharitiesusa.org; or by check to: Catholic Charities USA, P.O. Box 7068, Merrifield, VA 22116-7068.

Indiana prisoner executed; prayer at vigil calls it 'dark act'
MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. (CNS) --- Called in prayer a "dark act done under the cover of night," the execution of convicted murderer David Leon Woods was carried out in the early hours of May 4. Woods, 42, had been sentenced to death 22 years earlier for the stabbing death of a family friend, Juan Placencia, during an attempted robbery in April 1984 in Garrett, Ind. Woods was 19 at the time. With appeals exhausted and clemency denied by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, a group of death penalty opponents began to assemble at the Indiana State Prison parking lot shortly before sunset on the eve of the execution to keep vigil in support of Woods, who reportedly had undergone a conversion of heart and a transformation of faith while behind bars. Before entering the prison to witness the execution, the Woods family stopped to address the group. "David is a special person, a godly person and he has no fear at all tonight," said Tommy Yeager, the prisoner's brother-in-law. "He is at total peace and feels when he leaves here tonight, he will be walking with Jesus."

Pope asks Catholics to pray for his visit to 'continent of hope'
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Pope Benedict XVI asked Catholics to pray for the success of his first visit to Latin America, saying the region represented the "continent of hope" for the church. The pope, speaking at a noon blessing May 6, dedicated his trip to Mary and said he was preparing spiritually for the important journey. "It's my first pastoral visit to Latin America ... where almost half the world's Catholics live, many of them young people. This is why it's called the 'continent of hope,' a hope that concerns not only the church but all America and the whole world," he said. During the May 9-13 visit to Brazil, the pope was to preside over pastoral events in Sao Paulo and open the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean. The pope prayed that the conference would help Latin American Christians become more aware of their identity as "disciples and missionaries of Christ."

Bishops urge European leaders to augment efforts to combat poverty
LONDON (CNS) --- Catholic bishops from four continents are appealing to leaders of the world's richest countries to honor their commitments to combat extreme poverty. The church leaders met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair April 30, German President Horst Kohler and Chancellor Angela Merkel May 2 in Berlin, and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi in Rome May 3. The bishops briefed Pope Benedict XVI on their discussions May 4 and quoted the pope as telling them to "continue campaigning for the welfare of all human beings all over the world." The campaign brought together bishops from developing countries and from the world's richest nations to lobby on behalf of the poor in preparation for the June 6-8 summit of the Group of Eight leaders, those heading the governments of the world's major industrial nations. Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa told reporters at the Vatican May 4, "We are not asking the G-8 to take on further commitments, but rather to respect those they already have made for aid to developing nations, for transparency in international transactions and for the control of weapons sales."