Stand alone "OLL News Briefs 3-21" photo, sent to Yabet
PASADENA --- Students from Our Lady of Lourdes School in Northridge, parish families and staff, including Msgr. Peter Moran, pastor, were among top school group participants recently awarded grants for taking The Kids Fitness Challenge at the Rose Bowl Jan. 26 in Pasadena. The only archdiocesan school among the 17 school participants, OLL was awarded $588 for having at least 100 competitors take the fitness challenge. Pat Livingston, archdiocesan superintendent of elementary schools, was among school officials presenting awards at the Feb. 27 ceremony held at Patrick Henry Middle School in Granada Hills.
Cathedral Chapel, St. Robert Bellarmine, St. James earn Academic Decathlon honors
LOS ANGELES --- The teams from Cathedral Chapel School of Los Angeles, St. Robert Bellarmine of Burbank and St. James of Redondo Beach earned the top three places in the overall portion of the 2008 Catholic Schools Academic Decathlon held March 15 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
Rounding out the top 10 in the overall team competition were St. Martin of Tours, Los Angeles (fourth); Holy Family, Pasadena (fifth); Notre Dame Academy, West L.A. (sixth); St. Mel, Woodland Hills (seventh); St. Genevieve, Panorama City (eighth); St. Lawrence Martyr, Redondo Beach (ninth); and Our Lady of Grace, Encino (tenth).
St. Robert Bellarmine placed first in the Super Quiz, while St. James won the Logic Quiz. In the eight individual discipline categories, first place honors were earned by David Warren of Holy Family (Fine Arts); Jimmy Yao, St. Martin of Tours (Math); Robby Floyd, Cathedral Chapel (Current Events); Joshua De la Cruz, St. Francis X Cabrini (English); Monique Williams, St. Mel (Religion); Jade Padetta, St. Robert Bellarmine (Science); Kyra Krenitsky, St. Robert Bellarmine (Literature); and Cathrynn Vuong, St. James (Social Studies).
More than 1,000 students from 103 Catholic schools participated in the Academic Decathlon. (For more information and photos on the event, please see page 20.)
Pope steps up appeals for end to bloodbath in Iraq
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Pope Benedict XVI stepped up appeals for an end to the bloodbath and hatred tearing apart Iraq. Mentioning the recent tragic death of an Iraqi archbishop and the upcoming fifth anniversary of the start of the U.S.-led campaign against Iraq, the pope issued "a loud and concerned outcry." "Enough with the bloodshed, enough with the violence, enough with the hatred in Iraq," he said immediately before reciting his noonday Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square March 16. He launched an appeal to all Iraqis, "who for the past five years have borne the consequences of a war that has caused the upheaval of civil and social life." He said, "Beloved Iraqi people: Lift up your heads and let it be you yourselves who, in the first place, rebuild" the life of the nation. "May reconciliation, forgiveness, justice and respect for the civil coexistence among tribes, ethnicities and religious groups" be the harmonious path the people take so as to achieve peace in God's name, the pope said.
Iraqi archbishop appealed for help in letter released after his death
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- The kidnapped archbishop of Mosul, Iraq, recently found dead there, had asked for prayers for Iraqi Chaldean Catholics and said he would be the last person to leave Mosul. "We are asking for your prayers to remove this cloud from our country and our church," said Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul, in a Jan. 18 letter to the New York-based Catholic Near East Welfare Association. The letter, which the association sent to Catholic News Service March 17, referred to a series of church bombings in Mosul in early January. "We want to stay in our beloved land, despite the situation and the sufferings, especially after these last bombings," said Archbishop Rahho. The archbishop asked for support from the association and said that "as a result of immigration, violence, kidnappings, bombings and unemployment" the church's revenue had declined by more than 25 percent.
Hong Kong church commission urges China to stop suppressing Tibetans
HONG KONG (CNS) --- The Hong Kong Diocese's Justice and Peace Commission urged China to stop its suppression of demonstrators and media in Tibet. "We protest that the Chinese government uses force to suppress the (Tibetan) demonstrators and forbids Hong Kong reporters to cover unrest in Tibet," the commission said in a March 18 statement. Or Yan Yan, commission spokeswoman, told Catholic News Service March 18 the commission asked the Chinese government to stop all forms of suppression in Tibet and to enter into dialogue with the Tibetan people. "We ask the Chinese government to ensure that its people may enjoy ... civil rights as stated in its constitution and to allow (the Tibetan) people to enjoy autonomy and to respect their religion and culture," Or said. She added that the commission would protest at the Chinese government office in Hong Kong March 19.
Nuncio says pope comes to strengthen faith, hope, love of U.S. church
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- When Pope Benedict XVI celebrates his first papal Mass in the United States, it will be a "familial" gathering at the apostolic nunciature in Washington, said the Vatican ambassador to the United States, Italian Archbishop Pietro Sambi. The pontiff also will celebrate his 81st birthday that day, April 16. Archbishop Sambi said the approximately 30 staff members at the nunciature are "all excited to have this morning" with the pope. He also said he hopes the message U.S. Catholics get from the papal visit is "one of the things that the pope pronounced the first day after being elected pope: Don't be afraid. Jesus Christ takes away nothing from you, but he will enrich you." Aside from a meeting with President George W. Bush and a major U.N. address the pope will deliver April 18, the papal trip is first and foremost "a pastoral journey," said Archbishop Sambi. The pontiff "comes to strengthen the faith, the hope and love of the Catholic Church in the United States," the archbishop said, adding that he hopes the pope's visit will "bring a new wind of Pentecost ... a new springtime" to the U.S. church. |