FORT WAYNE, Ind. (CNS) --- Bishop John D'Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend said he was not opposed to "peaceful" demonstrations against the University of Notre Dame's invitation to President Barack Obama to speak at this year's commencement. His communications spokesman said in an e-mail to Catholic News Service April 20 that a statement the bishop issued on Good Friday urging Catholics not to participate in "unseemly and unhelpful demonstrations" was aimed at protests that "attack" Obama, university president Holy Cross Father John I. Jenkins and/or the university. The spokesman, Vince LaBarbera, director of the diocesan communications office, said the bishop does not want people participating in demonstrations organized by those who have vowed to make the controversy into "a circus." Critics of Obama have said his support of legal abortion and embryonic stem-cell research make him an inappropriate choice to be a commencement speaker at a Catholic university. Obama also will receive an honorary degree from Notre Dame.

NIH head foresees ethical concerns about draft stem-cell guidelines
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- The acting head of the National Institutes of Health said he expects many of the public comments on the agency's new draft guidelines on embryonic stem-cell research will focus on ethical concerns about the research. "I know many comments will have to do with ethical concerns and we will consider them," said Dr. Raynard Kington during an April 17 news briefing by telephone. The NIH guidelines, which Kington said reflect "broad support in the public and in the scientific community," would allow the use of federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research only on embryos created for reproductive purposes at in vitro fertilization clinics and no longer needed for that purpose. Specifically banned by the draft guidelines is funding "for research using embryonic stem cells derived from other sources, including somatic cell nuclear transfer, parthenogenesis and/or IVF embryos created for research purposes." Also prohibited is funding of research in which stem cells "are introduced into nonhuman primate blastocysts" or research "involving the breeding of animals where the introduction of human embryonic stem cells or human-induced pluripotent stem cells may have contributed to the germ line."

Vatican officials object to Iranian president's remarks on Israel
ROME (CNS) --- Although members of a Vatican delegation objected to the Iranian president's remarks about Israel at a U.N. conference on racism, delegation members did not think walking out was the right response, said a Vatican official. Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the chief Vatican representative to U.N. agencies in Geneva, told Catholic News Service by telephone April 20 it was important for people not to be distracted by the remarks of the Iranian president, whose comments attacking Israel prompted a walkout by dozens of diplomats. The Vatican sent a delegation to the Geneva conference, which was convened to examine the statement adopted in 2001 at the U.N.'s first conference on racism held in Durban, South Africa. The conference, which opened in Geneva April 20, was being boycotted by the United States and several other Western countries because of fears that it would provide a platform to critics of Israel. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told participants that, after World War II, Israel had "resorted to military aggression to make an entire nation homeless under the pretext of Jewish suffering." Western nations "sent migrants from Europe, the United States and other parts of the world in order to establish a totally racist government in the occupied Palestine," he said.

Franciscans reflect on relevance of charism 800 years after founding
ASSISI, Italy (CNS) --- Brown-, gray- and black-hooded robes rustled, knotted white cords swung rhythmically, and sandaled feet crunched gravel. The soft sounds of labored breathing could also be heard as several hundred Franciscan friars from all over the world wound their way up steep hills, passing wheat fields and olive groves while on a two-hour penitential procession to the tomb of their founder, St. Francis of Assisi. The processing friars were just some of the 1,800 Friars Minor, Conventual Franciscans, Capuchins and Third Order Regular Franciscans attending an April 15-18 gathering celebrating the 800th anniversary of papal approval of the Franciscan rule. It was the first time that many representatives of the four main Franciscan branches had come together in Assisi. Participants followed in the footsteps of their founder with many activities centered around or near the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, which houses the Portiuncula chapel --- the small church where St. Francis experienced his conversion.

Priest not surprised by Scottish woman's performance on British TV
LONDON (CNS) --- The audience snickered and the judges of "Britain's Got Talent" either rolled their eyes or allowed their blank expressions to betray their bemused skepticism as the awkward-looking middle-aged woman told them she wanted to be as famous as the popular British actress and singer Elaine Paige. Then Susan Boyle began to sing, and they were spellbound and shocked by the beauty of her voice and rose to their feet in applause. But Father Basil Clark, who watched the show on television at his home in Broxburn, Scotland, was not surprised. He has seen the situation unfold many times before, having regularly accompanied Boyle, 47, on the annual Legion of Mary pilgrimage to the Marian shrine in Knock, Ireland. "When I watched the judges' faces it reminded me of what I was like when I first saw Susan singing --- absolutely blown away by the quality of the singing and by that fantastic voice," said Father Clark, dean of West Lothian, the district that covers Boyle's home village of Blackburn. "Anyone who sees her for the first time behaves the same way. I have never heard her sing badly, though she might lose the words if the stress gets too much," he told Catholic News Service in an April 16 telephone interview.