News Briefs

House passes Protect Life Act in bipartisan vote
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- The U.S. House Oct. 13 passed the Protect Life Act, which applies long-standing federal policies on abortion funding and conscience rights to the health reform law. The measure passed with a bipartisan vote of 251 to 172. Its chief sponsors were Rep. Joe Pitts, R-Pa., chairman of the Health Subcommittee of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., who co-chairs the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus. The bill also had 144 co-sponsors. "The health care law made it clear that the current way we prevent taxpayer funding of abortion through annual riders is dangerously fragile," Lipinski said in January when the measure was introduced. "We must take action to prevent federal funding for abortion under the health care law and throughout the government, without exception." In a statement released Oct. 14, Deirdre McQuade, spokeswoman for the U.S. bishop's pro-life secretariat, said that by passing H.R. 358, "the House has taken an important step toward authentic health care reform that respects the dignity of all, from conception onward." McQuade urged the Senate to likewise "help make health care reform life-affirming." The Protect Life Act applies the Hyde amendment to health care reform "so federal funds will not be used to subsidize elective abortions," McQuade said, which brings the law "into line with other federal health programs such as Medicaid and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program." It also "helps ensure that the government will not pressure health professionals to participate in abortion against their medical judgment, moral convictions or religious beliefs," she added.

Bishop Finn, diocese plead not guilty to failure to report child abuse
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (CNS) --- Bishop Robert W. Finn and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, which he heads, entered pleas of not guilty to misdemeanor charges of failure to report child abuse. The charges, brought by Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker in relation to the diocese's handling of the case of Father Shawn Ratigan, were acknowledged in an Oct. 14 statement on the diocesan website. "Bishop Finn denies any criminal wrongdoing and has cooperated at all stages with law enforcement, the grand jury, the prosecutor's office" and the independent commission appointed by the diocese to study the matter, said Gerald Handley, the bishop's attorney. "We will continue our efforts to resolve this matter." Bishop Finn said in a statement after diocesan attorneys entered the pleas in court that he "will meet these announcements with a steady resolve and a vigorous defense." The charge against Bishop Finn carries a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and one year in jail. The diocese faces a fine of up to $5,000. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, had no comment on the indictment. Diocesan spokeswoman Rebecca Summers told Catholic News Service Oct. 17 that Bishop Finn carried out a full schedule of activities over the weekend, including participating in a fundraising event attended by 500 people, Mass and confession at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and a meeting with senior staff. Father Ratigan was arrested in May on state charges of possessing child pornography. In August, federal prosecutors charged him with producing child pornography. The priest, a former pastor, also is facing accusations made against him in two separate lawsuits filed this summer. The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph and Bishop Finn also have been named in the civil suits, which accuse both of failing to keep Father Ratigan away from children apparently after learning disturbing images were found on the priest's computer and being warned of the priest's inappropriate behavior around children.

Pope: Freedom from hunger is essential part of right to life
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Pope Benedict XVI appealed for immediate and long-term relief for the world's hungry, saying the right to adequate nourishment is a fundamental part of the right to life. The hunger crisis that affects millions of people today is a sign of the deep gulf between the haves and the have-nots of the world and calls for changes in lifestyle and in global economic mechanisms, the pope said in a message marking World Food Day Oct. 16. The text was addressed to Jacques Diouf, director-general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization. Citing the famine and refugee crisis in the Horn of Africa, the pope said the "painful images" of starving people underline the need for both emergency aid and long-term intervention to support agricultural production and distribution. "Freedom from the yoke of hunger is the first concrete manifestation of that right to life which, although solemnly proclaimed, often remains far from being effectively implemented," he said. The theme of this year's World Food Day focused on food prices, and the pope said current pricing volatility reflected the tendency toward speculation on food commodities. He said a new global attitude is needed. "There are clear signs of the profound division between those who lack daily sustenance and those who have huge resources at their disposal," he said. Given the dramatic nature of the problem, reflection and analysis are not enough --- action must be taken, he said.

Italian priest on anti-crime task force shot dead in Philippines
ARAKAN, Philippines (CNS) --- An Italian priest doing mission work in a remote area of the southern Philippines was gunned down inside the compound of Mother of Perpetual Help Parish in Arakan, said a local official. Father Fausto Tentorio, 59, of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, was shot dead by a lone gunman Oct. 17 as he was about to board his pickup truck at around 7:30 a.m., said town councilor Leonardo Reovoca. An autopsy report said he was shot eight times. The Asian church news agency UCA News reported that Reovoca said Father Tentorio had been an active law and order campaigner in Arakan and recently was appointed as head of a civilian anti-crime task force in the town. "I am a witness to Father Tentorio's strong stance against mining and other projects which are not sustainable and would harm and affect the indigenous peoples, in particular," he said. UCA News reported the murder was immediately condemned by the Diocese of Kidapawan, church groups and environmental organizations in the country. "This is really heinous. We're so sad and shocked that this killing happened in broad daylight," said Kidapawan Bishop Romulo de la Cruz. The suspect was wearing a crash helmet and made his escape by walking away casually from the scene to a nearby motorcycle, Reovoca said. Father Giovanni Re, PIME Philippines regional superior, said Father Tentorio had escaped attempts on his life by paramilitary groups in the past, "but this is a bit of a surprise for us because the situation here has been quiet for some time." The Moro Islamic Liberation Front also condemned the killing, calling it a sign of degeneration of morality and spirituality in the country.

U.S. Jesuit Father Dean Brackley, 65, dies of cancer in El Salvador
SAN SALVADOR (CNS) --- U.S. Jesuit Father Dean Brackley, 65, who joined the faculty at the University of Central America after six of his fellow Jesuits were killed at the height of the country's civil war, died of pancreatic and liver cancer Oct. 16. Funeral arrangements in El Salvador were pending Oct. 17. Originally a member of the Jesuits' New York province, Father Brackley joined the university's theology faculty after the 1989 murder of the Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter by Salvadoran military troops. A native of upstate New York, Father Brackley was working as an educator at Fordham University and as a community organizer in Manhattan's Lower East Side when he offered to move to the Salvadoran capital. He administered the University of Central America's School for Religious Education from 1990 to 1996 and assisted in the work of schools for pastoral formation sponsored by the university. He also hosted numerous delegations of students from Jesuit universities, church leaders and journalists from the United States and elsewhere. Father Brackley entered the Society of Jesus in 1964 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1976. He earned his doctorate in religious social ethics from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 1980. Early in his ministry he worked as a community organizer in the South Bronx, where he experienced the difficulties faced by people living in poor communities. Father Brackley often traveled to the U.S. and Europe to lecture about the situation in El Salvador and to keep alive the memory of the priests and other martyrs from the war who worked on behalf of justice for the country's poor and marginalized people.

Rev. King's life and faith inspires people at memorial's dedication
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- This past January, Nova Nelson sang as a soloist with the Archdiocese of Washington Mass Choir at Holy Redeemer Church in Washington at the annual archdiocesan Mass honoring the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. On Oct. 16, Nelson stood before tens of thousands of people from across the country who gathered at the National Mall's West Potomac Park, and the Catholic young adult sang the national anthem for the dedication of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. The five-hour ceremony culminated with a speech by President Barack Obama. "It was definitely an honor, something I'll never forget," said Nelson, now director of the Archdiocese's Mass Choir who also directs the gospel ensemble and children's choir at her parish, St. Martin of Tours in Washington. Nelson said that "what he was talking and preaching about to us ... is so relevant now. It's what we as a people are fighting for now, as far as justice, peace and equality." The singer said she was especially moved by seeing the faces of the people, who came from near and far to remember Rev. King's legacy. As the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Dedication Choir sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," she said, she also was struck by seeing Obama and his family on the giant screens erected on either side of the stage as the first family toured the memorial, accompanied by members of Rev. King's family. "That spoke a lot --- his truth is marching on," said Nelson.

Cardinal says Assisi will feature joint pilgrimage, not joint prayer
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- More than 300 delegates from dozens of Christian churches, the world's major religions and nonbelievers will join Pope Benedict XVI in Assisi Oct. 27 for a peace gathering focused more on common pilgrimage than on prayer, a Vatican official said. For the first time, a Buddhist delegation from mainland China will join a Vatican-sponsored interreligious meeting and, also for the first time, four nonbelievers --- three philosophers and an economist --- have accepted a papal invitation to attend. The delegates, invited to Assisi by Pope Benedict XVI to mark the 25th anniversary of Blessed John Paul II's interreligious gathering for peace, come from more than 50 countries, Vatican officials said Oct. 18 at a news conference to discuss plans for the gathering. Each participant will be given a room in a Franciscan guesthouse where he or she can rest, reflect and pray after lunch and before an afternoon pilgrimage, said Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. "During the pilgrimage, the walk, in silence," the participants also are likely to pray, but "the real prayer will be here at St. Peter's on the vigil (Oct. 26) when the Holy Father is with the Catholic faithful." Instead of holding his weekly general audience Oct. 26, the pope will lead a special prayer service in preparation for the Assisi event. Unlike Blessed John Paul's first Assisi meeting in 1986, there is no moment planned in Assisi when participants will pray in each other's presence. "The emphasis is on pilgrimage rather than on praying together," Cardinal Turkson said.