Critics debate merits of 'The Golden Compass' movie
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- The movie "The Golden Compass" has prompted a blizzard of words assailing the movie and the books on which it is based, as well as defenses of the film. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced Dec. 10 it was withdrawing a review of "The Golden Compass" prepared by its New York-based Office for Film & Broadcasting and originally posted on the USCCB and Catholic News Service Web sites Nov. 29. The USCCB gave no reason for its decision, although the review itself had received a considerable amount of criticism among people distrustful of the anti-religionist bent of both the novels and their author.

Archbishop's book tells of battles over control of liturgical reform
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- In a new book, a Vatican archbishop has chronicled the birth pangs of the liturgical reform generated by the Second Vatican Council and warned of a Roman Curia tendency to return to a "preconciliar mind-set." The book, "A Challenging Reform," was written by Archbishop Piero Marini, who recently ended a 20-year tenure as papal liturgist. His Vatican career began in 1965 in the office charged with implementing liturgical renewal. Archbishop Marini recounted the rise of a decentralized and dynamic reform movement in the 1960s and its "curialization" in the 1970s by Vatican officials afraid of losing control. Many of the hard-won liturgical changes were accompanied by tensions and disagreements inside the Vatican's central bureaucracy, he said. The archbishop's book, published by Liturgical Press, was scheduled for presentation Dec. 14 in London, where the author was being honored at a reception hosted by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.

New Ruthenian leaders named
VATICAN (CNS) --- Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Ruthenian Bishop Andrew Pataki of Passaic, N.J., and named Ruthenian Bishop William C. Skurla of Van Nuys to succeed him. Msgr. Gerald N. Dino, an official of the Passaic Diocese and pastor of St. George Parish in Linden, N.J., was appointed bishop of Van Nuys. The changes were announced Dec. 6 in Washington by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Bishop Skurla is to be installed as head of the Passaic Diocese Jan. 29. Bishop-designate Dino's episcopal ordination will take place March 27 at St. Helen Catholic Church in Phoenix. Bishop Skurla, 51, has headed the Diocese of Van Nuys since 2002. It has been based in Phoenix since 1994 when the Northridge earthquake in California severely damaged the diocesan pastoral center, bishop's residence and cathedral. The Van Nuys Diocese covers Ruthenian Catholics living in the Western United States. Bishop-designate Dino, 67, has been pastor of St. George's and protosyncellus --- the Eastern Catholic equivalent of a vicar general --- in the Passaic Diocese since 1995. He also serves as administrator of the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Elizabeth, N.J. The Ruthenian church is one of 22 Eastern Catholic churches. They have their origins in Eastern Europe, Asia or Africa and have their own distinctive liturgical and legal systems; they are identified by the national or ethnic character of their region of origin.

Vatican official: Threats to invade Iran unnecessarily raise tensions
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Threats to invade Iran by the United States and other countries appear to be "just words," but they unnecessarily raise tensions and fuel the arms race, said Cardinal Renato Martino. The cardinal, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, spoke about war and threats of war during a Dec. 11 press conference to present Pope Benedict XVI's message for the Jan. 1 celebration of World Peace Day. Asked if the pope's remarks about increasing tensions among countries and about concerns over more nations possessing nuclear weapons referred specifically to Iran, the cardinal said, "they refer to what is on the table," which includes Iran. However, he said, "all of these threats of war, of invasion" to stop what was perceived as Iran's efforts to build a nuclear bomb "were just words…. Now it has been discovered that there are no weapons of mass destruction, a bit like what happened in Iraq," he said. "No one ever discovered the weapons of mass destruction" that the United States and its allies said Iraq had under Saddam Hussein. "Here, too, the data say that since 2003 Iran has stopped all research aimed at the production of these arms," Cardinal Martino said. The cardinal was referring to the Dec. 5 release of a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate saying the U.S. government intelligence agencies had "high confidence" that Iran ended its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that they had "moderate confidence" that the program has not been restarted.