Laity urged to be stronger advocates for church issues in civic arena
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CNS) --- Speaking to members of the Cathedral Club of Brooklyn, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said laypeople must take a more active role in politics and community affairs. He urged lay Catholics to be advocates for "the unborn child, all who have been marginalized or abused, our schoolchildren and their parents, the alien in our midst, those impacted by the darkness of war, and the soldier serving in distant lands." The Brooklyn bishop spoke at the annual dinner of the Cathedral Club Jan. 29 in the main ballroom of the New York Hilton in Manhattan. Honored at the dinner was Joseph Pistilli, president, CEO and chairman of the board of First Central Savings Bank. But Bishop DiMarzio warned that Catholics "face monumental attacks that distract from the positive vision and the work we seek to accomplish." He said, "As many of you know, the state Assembly has proposed legislation that would have a devastating impact on our church and exploit a painful chapter in our history --- namely, the statute of limitation rollback for cases of sexual abuse of minors."

Pope asks Brazil to fight moral as well as material poverty
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Brazil's battle against material poverty must be accompanied by efforts to fight moral poverty in order to protect human life, the family and honesty in public life, Pope Benedict XVI said. Welcoming Luiz Felipe de Seixas Correa as Brazil's new ambassador to the Vatican Feb. 9, the pope praised Brazil's progress in reducing poverty and in providing development assistance to neighboring countries as well as to Africa. The policies of the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to redistribute wealth within Brazil have "strengthened and increased social justice for the good of the population," the pope said. However, he said, something also must be done to address "the moral poverty that pervades the world, even where material goods are not lacking." The pope said, "The dangers of consumerism and hedonism, together with the lack of solid moral principles to guide the life of individual citizens, make the society and families vulnerable."

Nuncio says development programs must help people 'shape own lives'
UNITED NATIONS (CNS) --- The "ultimate purpose" of development programs must be to give people "the concrete possibility to shape their own lives" and make sure even the most vulnerable groups feel they are a part of the larger society, said the Vatican's apostolic nuncio to the United Nations. He said that "social cohesion, as an expression of social justice, must be assured" to all people, and it is an "indispensable condition to meet the global crises that confront humanity today." The archbishop made his remarks in a Feb. 5 address to a meeting of the U.N. Economic and Social Council's Commission for Social Development. Commission members gathered Feb. 4-13 at the United Nations to consider how to help vulnerable groups from being excluded in society and to review the implementation of various U.N. action plans for groups such as disabled people, youths, the elderly and families. Archbishop Migliore praised efforts already under way by the United Nations to fight poverty and to foster the "inclusion and the participation of all persons and social groups," but he stressed that more could be done to involve those who have been excluded.

Australian archbishop pledges church's support to wildfire victims
CANBERRA, Australia (CNS) --- The head of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference said the Catholic Church would lend both spiritual and practical support to families victimized by a series of wildfires that left at least 166 dead in Victoria state. "I know that Catholic parishes across Australia have been praying for the people who died in the bush fires, as well as for those experiencing the grief of losing loved ones, family homes and cherished pets and belongings," said Archbishop Philip Wilson of Adelaide, conference president, in a Feb. 9 statement. "Catholic relief agencies, such as St. Vincent de Paul and Centacare, are already at work providing much-needed assistance to people on the ground in these communities. This support will continue over the coming months and years, as we walk with these families and communities in their time of need," Archbishop Wilson said in a Feb. 9 statement. "My prayers and thoughts are with all who are suffering so grievously," Archbishop Wilson said.

In Kosovo, whole families return to Catholic faith
PRISTINA, Kosovo (CNS) --- Although armed conflict in Kosovo ended nearly a decade ago, the capital city still feels like a place hit recently by war or natural disaster. Electricity goes out often, water is strictly rationed, U.N. jeeps are ubiquitous and people look harried. Along the main road leading to Pristina, every other lot is full of old cars, stolen from other European countries and picked clean or abandoned by families who fled the war. But during Sunday Masses at the Church of St. Anthony of Padua, an active Catholic community packs the pews. There are families and old people, a full-voiced choir, eight young altar servers and long lines to receive the Eucharist. The church, located in a working-class neighborhood, was built in the 1960s after the communist regime demolished the Catholic cathedral in the city's center. "We are small but very alive. Children from every grade are in catechism (classes)," said Father Albert Jakaj, 30, whose identical twin is a priest in Montenegro. "People are coming back to their old faith. We have whole families coming back to their roots."

Priest who is Baltimore native elected new provincial for Sulpicians
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- Sulpician Father Thomas R. Ulshafer was elected to a six-year term as the new provincial of his religious community's Baltimore-based U.S. province, effective July 1. He has been acting provincial since July 2008, finishing the term of his predecessor, Father Ronald D. Witherup, who was elected as the 26th superior general of the Sulpicians. Father Ulshafer was elected provincial during the province's assembly in Baltimore in early January. The Sulpicians, formally known as the Society of the Priests of St. Sulpice, are an international society of diocesan priests focused on the education and formation of priests and future priests. Among their ministries in Baltimore, the Sulpicians operate St. Mary's Seminary and University. Worldwide, there are 320 Sulpicians, 71 of whom serve in the society's U.S. province. The priests minister in approximately 13 countries, with the society growing the fastest in Africa and South America. Father Ulshafer, 64, is a Baltimore native and was ordained in 1970 for the Washington Archdiocese. He became a Sulpician in 1973.

Former Pittsburgh Catholic church being converted into mausoleum
PITTSBURGH (CNS) --- In what is believed to be the first such makeover in the country, renovation work is under way to convert a former church in a Pittsburgh neighborhood into a mausoleum. The Pittsburgh Diocese's Catholic Cemeteries Association is overseeing the project to turn St. Mary Church in Lawrenceville into St. Mary Mausoleum. The renovation will add 880 crypts and 712 niches for cremated remains along the interior walls, plus a commitment chapel in the former sanctuary with seating for up to 200 people. "I'm very happy that the church will remain standing --- it's a beautiful building --- and that it will continue to be a sacred space," said Capuchin Father John Daya, pastor of Our Lady of the Angels Parish. Our Lady of the Angels was formed by the merger of St. Mary and three other parishes in 1993. St. Mary Church, which dates to 1873, was closed in 2004. The cemetery association purchased the building in 2007.