WASHINGTON (CNS) --- Jesuit Father Allan Figueroa Deck, a theologian and nationally known expert in Hispanic culture and ministry, has been named first executive director of the Office for Cultural Diversity of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He will assume the post Jan. 1, when it is formally established under a reorganization plan that affects virtually all the committees and national offices of the Catholic bishops. "Father Deck is an outstanding priest with a distinguished record of achievement in Hispanic ministry," said Msgr. David J. Malloy, USCCB general secretary. "He has the vision and the commitment to make this vitally important new office come alive as an effective means of meeting the needs of the church's ethnic and immigrant communities." Formerly on the faculty at Loyola Marymount University, Father Deck has been president and executive director of the Loyola Institute for Spirituality in Orange, since 1997, and superior of the Jesuit community of Orange County since 2000.

Liturgy formation day set in Oxnard
OXNARD --- A Liturgical Formation Day presented by the Office for Worship will be held June 23, 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at Mary Star of the Sea Church, Oxnard. Sessions in English and Spanish will be offered for extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, lectors and hospitality ministers. For information, call (213) 637-7262.

JustFaith workshop set for July 8
SANTA BARBARA --- Jack Jezreel, a national speaker and founder of JustFaith Ministries, will offer a workshop in Santa Barbara for the first time July 8, 1-5 p.m. at La Casa de Maria Retreat Center, Santa Barbara. Participants will reflect on what it means to live the Gospel as Jesus asks by looking at Scripture and considering the political, economic, and social issues of Jesus' time and today. JustFaith is a ministry that helps people explore how faith calls us to respond to the 66 percent of men, women and children worldwide who live in poverty. The cost is $10 before June 30, $15 after. To register contact: La Casa de Maria, 969-5031, ext. 210, or online at www.lacasademaria.org.

Anti-racism training for Catholic leaders called historic step
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- In what one participant called "truly a moment of historical significance for the U.S. church," two dozen leaders of national Catholic organizations recently gathered outside Washington for two and a half days of training on how to recognize and dismantle institutional racism. That assessment of the gathering came from Sister Anita Baird, director of the Office for Racial Justice in the Archdiocese of Chicago, a member of the Midwest Catholic Anti-Racism Network and a Daughter of the Heart of Mary. "I believe it is the beginning of an anti-racist movement at the national level that will have a powerful impact upon the church and the communities of color who long for a place of total inclusion at the table that welcomes our gifts in a culture that is free of the sin of racism," Sister Baird said in a statement after the May 17-19 training, which was not announced to the media until June. Funded by a grant from the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, the training drew representatives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Campaign for Human Development, National Black Catholic Sisters' Conference, Mexican American Cultural Center, Pax Christi USA and other groups.

After six popes, 51 years, Vatican photographer hangs up his cameras
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- After having spent 51 years photographing six popes, Arturo Mari has hung up his cameras, retiring as the Vatican's official photographer. Mari, the main photographer for L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, entered into retirement without fanfare May 31 at the age of 67. He began his career at age 16, working for an agency on an assignment to photograph Pope Pius XII wearing a crown and being carried on a gestatorial chair at a beatification ceremony. He documented Pope John XXIII announcing his plans to convoke the Second Vatican Council. And he was in St. Peter's Square in 1981 to capture the image he described as "the photo I truly never would have wanted to take" -- Pope John Paul II lying in his secretary's arms after being shot. He accompanied Pope Paul VI to the Holy Land in 1964 and has been on every papal trip abroad since. Considering that Mari said he could take up to 3,000 shots at a normal weekly general audience, the trips were a major source of papal images.

Norms issued for Catholic fundraising in U.S.
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- With Vatican approval, the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued national norms governing all church-related fundraising appeals. "Fundraising appeals are to be truthful and forthright," says the opening line of the norms. The norms spell out rules of transparency, accountability, procedures to be followed and oversight over fundraising campaigns by appropriate church authorities. Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., USCCB president, sent out a decree promulgating the fundraising norms June 8. The same day he issued another decree establishing new national norms for the leasing of church-owned properties. Both decrees take effect Aug. 15. The bishops adopted both sets of norms in November 2002. Msgr. Ronny Jenkins, USCCB associate general secretary, told Catholic News Service that the long delay between the bishops' vote and the Vatican's approval was "to allow time to introduce and discuss the two norms with religious organizations ... who would be affected." Both sets of norms affect how religious orders do business, so the USCCB worked with the national organizations of men's and women's religious superiors, he said.

Concern for care of the earth begins in Genesis, USCCB official says
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNS) --- Some accuse the Catholic Church of attempting to be trendy by weighing in on global warming, a church official noted at a climate change conference in Anchorage. In fact, the church is actually being fairly conservative and old-fashioned, said John Carr, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' secretary for social development and world peace. "For us this begins in Genesis," he said at the June 2 meeting. "The Lord said the earth is good. If it is good, then we have an obligation to care for it." The daylong Catholic Climate Change Conference was the third of its kind this year sponsored by the USCCB. Earlier conferences took place in Ohio and Florida. These gatherings explored the specific obligations and duties that Catholics and other religious groups have toward people who are most affected by climate change, namely the poor. Archbishop Roger L. Schwietz of Anchorage welcomed the mix of scientists, religious leaders, business professionals, politicians and others who attended the meeting.