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 Critics misguided about Centacare:
welfare leader
Suggestions that Centacare should be excluded from involvement in providing
pregnancy counselling are misguided and could ironically lead to an
"anti-choice" outcome, Catholic Social Services Chairman Fr Joe
Caddy says. [More]
 Couples say "we
don't" to church weddings
The number of state registry weddings is rising and church weddings are
declining in parallel with the rate of religious participation, a Melbourne
Christian think tank researcher says. [More]
 Euthanasia book ban
ineffective: Qld priest
Sunshine Coast priest, Fr John Dobson, says that an attempted Federal
Government ban on a controversial book offering tips on self-help euthanasia
is not likely to stop those who want to commit suicide. [More]
 Catholic social worker latest
left-wing Latin American leader
With a plan to rewrite Ecuador's constitution, former Catholic social worker
Rafael Correa was yesterday sworn in as the country's new president, the
latest in Latin America's line of left-wing political leaders. [More]
 Sudan church grows despite
persecution
Against overwhelming odds, the Catholic Church in northern Sudan is
continuing to grow, a local bishop says, with the Sudanese capital now
boasting 121 priests ministering to 900,000 Christians. [More]
 JP2 audio cards in sales hit
A new Italian magazine has a hit on its hands with the runaway success of
electronic audio cards bearing the image and voice of Pope John II while a
dealer is auctioning on eBay a car that the late Pontiff rode during a 1979
US trip. [More]
OPINION
 God is the
new Marx in Latin America
In May, Benedict XVI will travel to Brazil to attend the Fifth General
Conference of Latin American and Caribbean Bishops. In doing so, he will be
visiting a continent in which Christianity is in a state of flux. It is a
continent in which politicians are increasingly anxious to associate
themselves with Christianity, even when identifying the Church as a major
obstacle to their agendas. Added to this complication are liberation
theology's dissolution into irrelevance and the rise of Protestant sects
throughout the region - Samuel Gregg [More]
- Catholic Herald
FEATURE
 Is the Church
relevant in our lives?
According to a new study commissioned by the Australian bishops, Catholics
disconnected from Mass attendance and other parish life believe the Church is
out of touch with the world today and is not relevant to their own lives. I
am sure if we conduct a similar study of our own "disconnected
Catholics" in the US, the reasons given will not differ much from their
Australian counterparts. Today the average man is under tremendous pressures
to cope with all the problems he is forced to encounter. Where does the
Church stand in their lives? - Dr Chris Anthony [More] -
Catholic Online
FEATURED CATHOLIC WEBSITE
 Livesimply
Tired of a world of consumerism and hype? With the backing of over 30
Catholic groups, the UK Livesimply campaign is calling on Christians to
''look hard at our lifestyles, and to choose to live simply, sustainably and
in solidarity with the poor.'' The project launched a new facility on its
website last week which allows visitors to upload their own personal promise
to do something positive for poor people.
- livesimply.org.uk
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Catholics, Jews put aside differences in AIDS fight
 A high level meeting in South
Africa, one of the world's countries hardest hit by the AIDS crisis, has
united Vatican and world Jewish leaders in a call for international action
against the pandemic.
The International Herald Tribune reports that world Catholic and
Jewish leaders met in Cape Town on Tuesday to discuss Jewish and Catholic
perspectives on health care with special reference to HIV/AIDS.
"No modern plague has afflicted as much death as HIV/AIDS. We wanted to
look at ways Jewish and Catholic communities could be a source of blessing
and healing," Rabbi David Rosen said following the first meeting in
Africa of the International Jewish Catholic Liaison Committee, a key
interfaith gathering.
The committee established by the Vatican through the Holy See's Commission
for Religious Relations with Jewry is headed by the president of the
commission Cardinal Walter Kasper and Rabbi Rosen, president of the
International Jewish Committee for Inter-religious Consultations, the
representative body of world Jewry.
The meeting was attended by leading cardinals and rabbis, including
Archbishop Lawrence Henry and Cardinal Wilfrid Napier from South Africa as
well as the Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger and the Chief Rabbi of South
Africa Warren Goldstein.
A joint declaration issued at the end of the meeting, addressed the plight of
AIDS orphans and the role of religious leaders in addressing the pandemic,
which is particularly prevalent in southern Africa.
"While recognising that our respective traditions may differ regarding
possible preventative strategies with respect to HIV/AIDS and related
afflictions, we unreservedly unite in calling for unrestricted palliative
care and appropriate attention for all those suffering, threatened or
victimized by this tragic pandemic.
"This call goes out especially to government and all who have the power,
means and influence to implement it," the statement said.
The Church, which opposes the use of condoms as a contraception, is divided
over calls for the church to permit condoms in the fight against AIDS,
particularly when one partner in a marriage has the virus, the Herald
Tribune says.
Rosen, said Jewish ethical teaching allowed for the use of condom if
"marital relations were life-threatening", although it disapproves
of them as a form of contraception.
"Where the Catholic Church has a strong emphasis on family, loyalty and
chastity, we say these values are important but that there are people who are
infected not because of a lack of loyalty or morality," he said.
The declaration released by the meeting said the "reality of millions of
orphans, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, was seen as a pressing call for
greater attention on the part of the international community aimed at enabling
the economic and social development of the countries involved."
The meeting called for religious leaders to take a role in education,
treatment, care for those affected by AIDS as well as the "need to
eliminate" the stigma associated with the disease.
In another story, Kenyan Catholic bishops will release the Church's national
policy on AIDS, All Africa reports.
The document "aims to encourage and fortify Kenyan Catholics, Christians
and Muslims and believers from other faiths, to unite in the fight against
HIV, the virus that causes AIDS," a statement from a task force that
prepared the Church policy said.
The policy specifies the stand and role of the Church in dealing with
HIV/Aids and gives details of those involved within the Church in fighting
the pandemic, the statement said.
The latest edition of Kenya Catholic Directory lists over 140 special centres
run by the Church countrywide to provide care for vulnerable groups, amongst
them HIV/AIDS victims.
A national Catholic Aids conference is proposed for 2007 to commemorate the
20th anniversary of the bishops' first message on Aids in 1987.
SOURCE
World
Catholic and Jewish leaders meeting in South Africa unite against AIDS
(International Herald Tribune, 8/11/06)
Kenya: Kenya -
Catholic Church to Launch National Policy On HIV/Aids (AllAfrica, 8/11/06)
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
Commission
of the Holy See for Religious Relations with the Jews
Meetings
of the International Catholic-Jewish Liaison Committee (Centre for
Christian-Jewish Learning (Boston College)
ARCHIVE
Pope tells rabbi of
Church's love for Jews (CathNews, 18/1/06)
Ugandan president calls
church to back condom use (CathNews, 16/6/05)
Pope recalled for building
bridge with Jews and Israel (CathNews, 4/4/05)
Pope calls attention to
AIDS in developing world (CathNews, 24/1/05)
9 Nov 2006
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