Issues Page

Pope Benedict XVI urged international leaders to tackle global poverty "with courage" when they meet at the United Nations to verify implementation of the Millennium Development Goals. Despite the current global financial crisis, the poor must not be forgotten, he told pilgrims Sept. 21 at his residence in Castel Gandolfo outside Rome. He also sent greetings to Caribbean nations and coastal states in the U.S. battered by recent hurricanes. The pope spoke four days before world leaders joined the U.N. General Assembly to check progress on the anti-poverty program adopted eight years ago. The pope said he recognized that honoring the millennium goals' commitments will require "sacrifice at this difficult economic moment in the world." But he said they would bring structural relief to poorer countries and thus favor the peace and well-being of the entire planet.

The Beijing bishop appointed by China's state-controlled Catholic Church said in an interview Wednesday that he hopes Pope Benedict XVI will visit his country and that relations with the Vatican are improving. "We strongly hope that Benedict XVI will make a trip to China," Joseph Li Shan told Italy's RAI state TV. "Relations with the Vatican are constantly improving. We can say that there are big developments." Li is well-regarded by the Vatican and his installation last year was seen as a positive sign in the long-standing dispute between China and the Holy See over who should appoint bishops.

As a summer afternoon rainstorm brewed, nearly two dozen Cubans gathered on a friend's covered porch to celebrate Mass. Wooden chairs were lined up, row by row, to accommodate neighbors. A visiting priest turned a small table into an altar. Another man strummed the opening song on his guitar while a couple of horses rested on the nearby grass, languishing in the muggy heat. Liturgies at home have become a phenomenon in Cuba as the church slowly rebuilds communities of faith. They are a way of bringing Jesus into the barrio instead of expecting that people make their way to a church they might not have attended in decades -- or ever.

According to U.S. Census data released in July, New Orleans is at 70 percent of its pre-storm population. The archdiocese says the Catholic population has shrunk 20 percent. Thus, the archdiocese is shifting its focus from the central city to the growing suburbs. New Orleans and neighboring St. Bernard Parish will have fewer churches. If an elementary or high school hasn't opened since Katrina it won't reopen. Some churches will be used as missions, hosting a single Mass a week; others will be sold. In many regards the reorganization is no different from those undergone in dioceses throughout the country. But for many parishioners, rolling up the carpets and carting off the stained glass feels like the archdiocese is ceding the future of the city, accepting that some neighborhoods are gone for good. To them the archdiocese's plan feels like yet another major institution abandoning the city in its time of need.

On his recent swing Down Under, Pope Benedict XVI garnered headlines for drawing a half-million pumped-up young Catholics to World Youth Day as well as for his latest bout of candor on the church’s sexual abuse crisis. Less noted was an important bit of subtext: the pope’s repeated calls for environmental protection. In fact, environmentalism has emerged as perhaps the most distinctive new feature of Benedict XVI's social teaching. Benedict touched upon the environment seven times during his July 12-21 trip to Australia, more often than he mentioned sexual abuse, the right to life, relativism, or any other social or cultural concern.

In September 2007 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a Response approved by Pope Benedict to answer two questions posed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on our moral obligations to patients who exist in what has come to be called a "persistent vegetative state." The Congregation's Response and its accompanying Commentary confirm and explain the statements made by Pope John Paul II on March 20, 2004, on the moral obligation to provide food and fluids to P.V.S. patients when they need such assistance to survive. Two recent articles in America, "On Church Teaching and My Father's Choice," by John J. Hardt (1/21), and "At the End of Life," by Thomas A. Shannon (2/18), appear to misunderstand and subsequently misrepresent the substance of church teaching on these difficult but important ethical questions.

Although Catholic youths are used to doing service work, they need to find a way to connect their volunteering with their faith, according to speakers at a conference in Atlanta. Service activities have become commonplace in Catholic high schools and for confirmation candidates, but the volunteer work almost has become a "requirement to fulfill," said Jill Rauh, youth and young adult coordinator for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development. Rauh, one of the speakers July 25 on the final day of the Social Action Summer Institute at Oglethorpe University, said there needs to be more of a connection among social issues, action and the teachings of the church.

Bishop Joseph A. Galante challenged leaders of Catholic pro-life, family life and social justice offices around the country to "tear down our cubicles" and "give up our turf" in order to model collaboration for the rest of the church. The bishop of Camden, N.J. called "Life, Justice & Family: Partners in the New Evangelization." Reminding his audience that the body of Christ includes everyone, from the moment of conception to the "the last breath breathed," the hungry, the thirsty, the imprisoned and the homeless, the bishop asked, "How can we dishonor, dismember, destroy that body? How can we kill the unborn, bomb the Iraqis, shun the one who is different from us?

For many liberal Catholics, July 25, 1968 was the day the music died. Pope Paul VI's encyclical Humanae Vitae, published 40 years ago today, reaffirmed Catholicism's absolute ban on birth control. Coming on the heels of the Second Vatican Council's unprecedented opening of the Church to modernity three years earlier, the Vatican's decision to stand by a doctrine that ever fewer Catholics were obeying would reverberate far beyond the bedroom. This was also the year that Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, began a long-running intellectual engagement with the atheist and secular forces he saw rising in the West.

Humanae Vitae was a sensitively written expression about the sanctity of marital love and the need to nurture life in marriage written in 1968 by Pope Paul VI. But whatever else it stated, it has been remembered for only one thing: the upholding of the Catholic church's ban on birth control. Less than a decade after the encyclical's promulgation, polls showed it was overwhelmingly rejected by Catholics. Eight out of 10 adult U.S. Catholics simply disregarded it. While bishops were largely upholding the document, many priests in pastoral settings, including confessionals, were saying it was a matter for individual conscience.

The Catholic Worker Movement in the United States has called on the country's bishops to denounce the American-led war on terror while urging the Church and American citizens to repent for "our affronts to God" fed by violence and materialism. Meeting at Our Lady of Mount Carmel-St. Ann Parish in Massachusetts to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the movement, a national gathering of 500 Catholic Workers issued a broad statement that encouraged the Church and "all people of good will" to embrace prayer, fasting, vigils and non-violent civil disobedience to end military occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Pope Benedict XVI continued to paint his distinctive shade of green in Australia yesterday, repeatedly voicing environmental concerns while linking them to a broader range of Christian doctrines and moral teaching. In a session with leaders of other religions held in the Chapter Hall of Sydney's St. Mary's Cathedral, the pontiff said religions have a unique capacity to foster "sacrifice and self-discipline," including "a moderate use of the world's goods." That ethos, the pope said, leads men and women "to regard the environment as a marvel to be pondered and respected, rather than a commodity for mere consumption."

There are 47 million Catholic voters, and while they are too numerous and varied to speak of as a monolithic Catholic bloc, they have long been a kind of holy grail for presidential candidates. The winner of eight out of the past nine elections has captured a majority of Catholic votes (they voted for Al Gore in 2000), and there are large Catholic concentrations in key states like Florida, Ohio and New Mexico. The trick is figuring out what Catholics want. For decades, they were part of the New Deal coalition and were largely concerned with economics and foreign policy. More recently, Republicans have cut into that advantage by appealing to Catholics on social issues, a courtship that culminated in George W. Bush's victory in 2004.

Pope Benedict XVI urged world leaders from the Group of Eight to put the needs of the poor and weak at the forefront of their discussions. The pope's appeal came the day before leaders of the world's most industrialized nations began their annual meeting, held this year July 7-9 in Toyako, Japan. Talks this year were to focus on the rising costs of food and fuel, the world economy, development in Africa and global warming, as well as establishing a framework for fair greenhouse gas emissions targets. The pope said he was adding his voice to the "urgent appeal" set forth by the presidents of bishops' conferences associated with the G-8.

The U.S. bishops' conference approved an additional set of grants for the Church in Latin America, bringing the total for the first half of 2008 to $4 million. The Church in the States supports Latin American faithful with grants each year. The majority of the funds come from a Sunday collection, taken up in most parishes in January. The financial support provides aid for seminary and religious formation, religious education, catechesis and youth ministries, evangelization, lay formation and ministry, diaconate training and research.

The U.S. bishops' 1979 pastoral letter on racism, "Brothers and Sisters to Us," sets out the framework to address the issue in the Catholic Church. In it, the bishops call racism "an evil which endures in our society and in our church." The document calls upon Catholics to undergo conversion in their personal lives as well as in their faith communities to end racism in all its forms. The bishops as a whole have been joined by several local bishops in their admonition. Many have tied the issue of race to poverty and segregation.

In 1978 Anna Koop and Dorothy Day, tireless leaders for the human rights and dignity of people with little else for which to claim a foothold in our society, opened the Catholic Worker House in Denver. Inside, one is struck by the quality of life for these families and individuals who share meals and break bread, do the chores and care for themselves alongside the catholic worker staff. They receive no state or municipal revenue. Their motto is that, “if you need a place to stay and there is room, that they welcome you, no questions asked. There is no waiting list for applying and no application for admission. If there is a space, you sign a chore schedule and agree to be about the effort of changing your life. There is no pressure and there are no other requirements religious or otherwise.

Pope Benedict XVI's message for World Peace Day 2009 will focus on the connection between poverty and a lack of peace in the world, the Vatican said. Poverty and malnutrition are signs that too many people have ignored the obligation to promote the common good, a commitment that is essential for promoting peace, said the Vatican's July 1 statement.

The dignity and respect of the human person is the cornerstone of the U.S. bishops' new study guide on torture as a moral issue. The guide, titled "Torture: Torture Is a Moral Issue, a Catholic Study Guide," looks at church teaching as it relates to the use of torture by government authorities around the world and mixes in biblical passages that evoke Jesus' call to "love your enemies." Written by the Catholic Leadership Council within the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, the guide was written for use by discussion groups and classes in Catholic settings as well as individuals, families and others interested in studying the issue. The guide was introduced June 23 in the midst of Torture Awareness Month as designated by religious, human rights and civil liberties organizations.