ANAHEIM --- Sister of Mercy Mary Elena Gonzalez received the U.S. Catholic and Claretian Publications Hispanic Resource Ministry Center Esperanza Award at a luncheon hosted by Wm. H. Sadlier, Inc., during the "Soy Catechista" program held March 1 during this year's Religious Education Congress.

The award, which debuted this year, is given to those who have shown leadership in ministry to the Hispanic Catholic community and furthering the cause of women.

Claretian Publications honored Sister Gonzalez for her work at re-building the Mexican American Cultural Center in San Antonio in her position as the first woman president of the center. Previously, she was the fist woman chancellor for the Diocese of Lubbock, Texas. Sister Gonzalez entered the Sisters of Mercy in St. Louis in 1959 and has always served the poor and marginalized.

Recovery program for abuse survivors offered in April
GLENDALE -- The archdiocesan Office of Victims Assistance Ministry is offering a program for adult survivors of childhood abuse or neglect. The course is entitled "A Faith-Based Response to Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse and Neglect."

This Trauma Recovery Program uses a psycho-educational model. The model is "educational" in that it teaches how the trauma of childhood abuse and neglect typically impacts individuals. It is "psycho-educational" in that it provides tools for participants to safely examine and regulate their feelings, thought patterns and behavior. The entire program is presented in the context of prayer for God's healing and is not a psychotherapy group.

The program will be offered on two consecutive Saturdays, April 12 and April 19, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Incarnation Church, Room B101, 1001 N. Brand Blvd. in Glendale.

A voluntary donation of $20.00 per session would be helpful to defray costs. There will be a short telephone interview to assess participation in the group. For inquires or to register, please contact Suzanne Healy, director of Victims Assistance Ministry, Archdiocese of Los Angeles, 213-637-7650.

Letters seek repentance for war, urge pope to confront Bush over war
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- More than 3,000 people, many involved in the Catholic Worker Movement and peace activism, have signed a letter to Pope Benedict XVI asking him to call for an immediate end to the Iraq War during his U.S. visit in April. Another statement circulating among faith leaders marks the fifth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq March 19 with a call to repentance for "the sin of this war." The letter to the pope asks him to reconsider his plans and refuse to meet with President George W. Bush until the Iraq War, which the pope has opposed, is ended. The pope and the president are scheduled to meet at the White House April 16. " The separate anniversary statement, titled "Call to Lament and Repent: Guide Our Feet to the Path of Peace," was started as a Lenten project through Sojourners, an evangelical Christian community. "This season of Lent, we are truly living 'in darkness and in the shadow of death' as we mark on March 19, 2008, the fifth anniversary of the war with Iraq," it opens. "It is a war that is being waged by our country, financed by our taxes and fought by our sisters and brothers. As U.S. Christians, we issue a call to the American church to lament and repent of the sin of this war."

Vatican statement on baptisms not meant to cause panic, priest says
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- A week after the Vatican announced that baptisms are invalid if they were not administered with the words "in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," the pastor at Christ the King Parish in Haddonfield, N.J., said he had not been inundated with questions from his parishioners. "Not too many people know about it," Father Joe Wallace told Catholic News Service March 7. But he was sure that as word spread about the Feb. 29 statement from the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, not only would Catholics have questions, but so would people from other faiths. Father Wallace, who is also director of ecumenical and interreligious affairs for the Diocese of Camden, N.J., said the Vatican statement is hardly promoting a new idea and he also said it was not meant to cause panic among those who wonder if their baptisms were performed with the right words. Instead, he said the Vatican statement was meant to clarify what the church has always believed and ensure that future baptisms use language that is clear and "unambiguously Trinitarian" revealing the three persons of the Trinity.

Forum looks at Catholic role in economic empowerment of women
UNITED NATIONS (CNS) --- A March 7 forum co-sponsored by the Vatican's Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations looked at the issues involved in the economic empowerment of women and the role Catholic organizations play in helping women have a better financial footing. The other sponsors of the forum were the Path to Peace Foundation and the Vincentian Center for Church and Society at St. John's University in Jamaica, N.Y. The forum was a side event coinciding with the 52nd session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women held Feb. 25-March 7 on the theme "The Human Dignity of Women in Contemporary Society: Economic Justice and Empowerment of Women." The event focused principally on programs the Catholic community operates around the world. Organizers anticipated an audience of 80, but 200 people attended, with a number of them sitting on the floor of the meeting room so they could take part.

Vatican official: Pope's social encyclical not expected before summer
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Pope Benedict XVI is still working on his social encyclical, but it probably will not be ready before summer, a top Vatican official said. "The pope is reflecting and revising, and therefore we cannot predict. But I presume it will not be published before the summer vacation period," Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state, said March 9. Vatican sources said the pope began work on the encyclical last year and that it would treat topics related to Catholic social teaching. His first two encyclicals examined the virtues of love and hope. Cardinal Bertone, who spoke with the Italian news agency ANSA while visiting Azerbaijan, said the pope was preparing his new text carefully. "It needs to be written well. The pope is making his reflections and annotations and is checking things rigorously," he said. "I'm not saying the pope is a true perfectionist, but in a certain sense he is," the cardinal said.

Pope expresses alarm at Holy Land violence, urges dialogue for peace
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Pope Benedict XVI expressed alarm at a new wave of violence in the Holy Land and urged Israelis and Palestinians to set aside the logic of revenge. "In recent days, violence and horror have once again bloodied the Holy Land, feeding a spiral of destruction and death that seems to have no end," the pope said at his noon blessing March 9. On March 6, a Palestinian gunman killed eight Jewish seminarians and wounded 11 others. The attack came after an Israeli military assault on Gaza left more than 100 Palestinians dead. The pope prayed for the innocent victims of the attacks and expressed his condolences to the families of the dead and wounded. He asked everyone to pray for peace in the region. "I ask everyone, in the name of God, to leave the twisted paths of hatred and revenge and to responsibly take up the paths of dialogue and trust," he said.

Pakistan blast kills more than 20, damages Catholic buildings
LAHORE, Pakistan (CNS) --- A massive suicide bomb targeting a government building killed 23 people and badly damaged Catholic buildings in Lahore. The bomb exploded at 9:30 a.m. March 11 outside the Federal Investigation Agency office, causing serious damage to nearby Sacred Heart Cathedral, Sacred Heart Cathedral High School, St. Anthony's College, St. Paul Communication Center, the Caritas Pakistan building, a Catholic press building, a convent and catechists' house, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. Initial reports said the blast killed two students at the church schools --- one at Sacred Heart and one at St. Anthony's --- and injured more than 100. Four members of the Caritas Pakistan staff were hospitalized for their injuries. Caritas Internationalis is the Vatican-based umbrella group for national Catholic charities around the world. Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, president of Caritas Internationalis, sent a message of condolence to Caritas Pakistan and decried the bloodshed that continues "to destabilize Pakistan."

Diocese rescinds statement on involvement in Komen fundraising events
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CNS) --- Msgr. J. Gaston Hebert, administrator of the Diocese of Little Rock, has rescinded a February statement that discouraged parishes and schools in the diocese from supporting fundraising activities for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The international organization, which is based in Dallas, raises millions annually for the detection, treatment and research of breast cancer. One of its signature events is the annual Race for the Cure held in communities around the country. After meeting with Komen officials, Msgr. Hebert said March 6 that the earlier position statement, prepared by the diocesan Respect Life Office and endorsed by him, "was based upon what were believed to be 'facts,' which upon further study have turned out not to be true." He said one of the erroneous "facts" he was given was that the national Komen foundation provides grants to Planned Parenthood, a major provider of abortions, raising concern that money donated to Komen in Arkansas could indirectly fund abortions. "However, the reality is that the national Komen foundation does not give grants to Planned Parenthood --- and, therefore, money given to Komen in Arkansas does not, even indirectly, fund abortion," he said in his March 6 statement.