ROME (CNS) --- Pope Benedict XVI has given his new papal delegate broad powers of authority over the Legionaries of Christ as part of a major Vatican-led reform of the order. The delegate, Italian Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, has authority over the order's current superiors and can even override the order's constitutions. He will have a say in all areas of the order including its governance, decisions involving personnel, education and ordination, as well as how assets are spent. In a letter to Archbishop De Paolis announcing him as papal delegate, the pope said the archbishop was to be in charge of the congregation of the Legionaries of Christ and all its members "for as long as it takes to carry out the path of renewal and lead it to the celebration of an extraordinary general chapter, whose main purpose will be to bring completion to the revision of the constitutions." Pope Benedict wrote that the results of the recent visitation of the order's religious houses and most of its pastoral institutions "made clear" the urgent need for an "in-depth revision of the institute's charism." The papal appointment was one of a number of steps Pope Benedict has taken in the reform of the Legionaries of Christ after revelations that the order's founder, the late Mexican Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, had fathered children and sexually abused seminarians.

Catholic Charities president urges federal measures to help Gulf relief
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- Catholic Charities, one of the major organizations providing relief to Gulf Coast residents impacted by the BP oil spill, reports that its agencies in the region have provided services to more than 20,000 individuals and more than 7,000 families since the spill. But many more individuals and families impacted by the spill need assistance than Catholic Charities and other nonprofits have the resources to help, said Father Larry Snyder, Catholic Charities USA president. He testified at a July 20 House Ways and Means oversight subcommittee hearing to urge the federal government to take immediate steps to further assist individuals and families afflicted by the Gulf spill. "There is a dire need to access greater funding that can be used to serve the immediate and long-term needs of the growing vulnerable population," Father Snyder said. He urged the federal government to take steps to help the Gulf, including implementing a national disaster declaration for the area, developing a regional strategy for long-term recovery and creating a new disaster unemployment assistance program, among other measures. Father Snyder noted that his organization's efforts to raise funds from the American public have yielded underwhelming results. That is because most of the American public believes BP is ultimately responsible for setting things right after the spill, he said.

Venture aims to strengthen relationship with Catholic schools, colleges
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (CNS) --- The Rochester-based Catholic Education Foundation, an organization that provides scholarships nationwide to Catholic high school students, has announced a new effort to expand and strengthen the relationships that Catholic elementary and secondary schools have with Catholic colleges. The venture is a joint effort with the Cardinal Newman Society, a national organization based in Virginia that works "to help renew and strengthen Catholic identity in Catholic higher education," as its mission statement says. One issue the new venture plans to address is how Catholic colleges can support the work of Catholic elementary and secondary schools through a program called "Interdependence Project," which would pair Catholic high schools and colleges. The venture also is initiating a program to help Catholic grade schools and high schools assess their Catholic identity. To facilitate this, the Catholic Education Foundation said it will offer a diagnostic tool called the "Catholic School Identity Assessment" to help them spot their strengths and weaknesses. The foundation's announcement also said another aspect of the venture will be an awareness campaign to educate the public "on how many tax dollars Catholic schools save the government-supported education system." The campaign will include bumper stickers and signs that can be displayed in front of schools to indicate the amount of money the school saved taxpayers per year. The foundation said the campaign's ultimate goal is to see legislation passed to provide vouchers, tax credits or "some other instrument to reduce the financial burden" on parents who want to send their children to Catholic schools.

After EU mandate, Vatican euro coins are put into public circulation
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- For the first time since the Vatican adopted the euro currency in 2002, the Vatican has begun to put some of its coins into public circulation. However, the likelihood that Rome visitors will find coins depicting Pope Benedict XVI is still slim since storekeepers only within the walls of Vatican City are distributing them. Two million 50-cent coins minted in 2010 were earmarked for public circulation after representatives of the Vatican and the European Union signed an agreement in Brussels in December. The accord allowed the Vatican to more than double the monetary value of the coins it issues, but also required the Vatican to put a large chunk of its coins into circulation. For years, the vast majority of Vatican euro coins were sold as sets to collectors for 30 euros ($38) each, although some Vatican employees had an opportunity to buy rolls of the coins at face value. The annual release of the Vatican coins was marked by long lines of collectors waiting to buy them and by disappointed customers who found the stocks exhausted in just a few days. Under the terms of last year's agreement, instead of being limited to a total annual coin value of just under 1.1 million euros, the Vatican will be authorized to mint coins worth up to 2.3 million euros with the expectation that nearly half of those coins are put into public circulation. In mid-July, Vatican City stores and businesses --- such as the gas station, post office, pharmacy and grocery store --- began distributing 50-cent coins with their change, with a limit of two coins per customer. Only the 50-cent coin will be put into public circulation, said media reports.

Sudan's bishops decry lack of progress toward Jan. 9 referendum
JUBA, Sudan (CNS) --- With less than six months to go before the Jan. 9 referendum on the future of Southern Sudan as an independent nation, Sudan's bishops have expressed concern that there is not enough time to finish preparations. In a statement released July 22 at the end of a weeklong meeting, Sudan's bishops called upon Sudanese officials in the country's northern and southern regions to ensure that the referendum for Southern Sudan --- and a separate one for Abyei --- take place "on time, in a free and fair manner, and that the outcomes are recognized and respected." They said many people throughout the country have expressed fear that the warring factions that signed the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement have not made the referendum a priority and "that transparency and inclusiveness are lacking." The referendum for southern Sudan will determine if the largely Christian and animist South, with its significant oil deposits, will secede from the Islamic North. Observers consider the referendum more important for Sudan's future than April's elections for national and regional offices. "If unity is an option, we must understand what kind of unity we are speaking of," said the bishops, who noted that, in the multicultural country, "one entity still dominates and imposes itself on others in an oppressive manner, at every level."

After EU mandate, Vatican euro coins are put into public circulation
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- For the first time since the Vatican adopted the euro currency in 2002, the Vatican has begun to put some of its coins into public circulation. However, the likelihood that Rome visitors will find coins depicting Pope Benedict XVI is still slim since storekeepers only within the walls of Vatican City are distributing them. Two million 50-cent coins minted in 2010 were earmarked for public circulation after representatives of the Vatican and the European Union signed an agreement in Brussels in December. The accord allowed the Vatican to more than double the monetary value of the coins it issues, but also required the Vatican to put a large chunk of its coins into circulation. For years, the vast majority of Vatican euro coins were sold as sets to collectors for 30 euros ($38) each, although some Vatican employees had an opportunity to buy rolls of the coins at face value. The annual release of the Vatican coins was marked by long lines of collectors waiting to buy them and by disappointed customers who found the stocks exhausted in just a few days. Under the terms of last year's agreement, instead of being limited to a total annual coin value of just under 1.1 million euros, the Vatican will be authorized to mint coins worth up to 2.3 million euros with the expectation that nearly half of those coins are put into public circulation. In mid-July, Vatican City stores and businesses --- such as the gas station, post office, pharmacy and grocery store --- began distributing 50-cent coins with their change, with a limit of two coins per customer. Only the 50-cent coin will be put into public circulation, said media reports.