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The Southern Cross, Page 2
Prelate known for
ARCIC WORK NAMED
ARCHBISHOP OF
Westminster
Manchester, England (CNS)
B ishop Cormac Murphy-O’Con
nor has been appointed archbish
op of Westminster, succeeding the
late Cardinal George Basil Hume.
The appointment was announced
February 15 at Archbishop’s House,
Westminster. It ended months of
speculation following the death of
Cardinal Hume in June. Archbishop
Murphy-O’Connor, 67, has been
Bishop of Arundel and Brighton
since November 1977. He was once
described by the weekly Catholic
magazine The Tablet as “everyone’s
favorite bishop: human, genial, col
laborative, imposing.” Archbishop
Murphy-O’Connor has been the
Catholic chairman of the Anglican-
Roman Catholic International
Commission since 1982.
Vatican establishes
RELATIONS WITH ARAB
League
Vatican City (CNS)
I n a move toward improving
Catholic-Muslim dialogue, the
Vatican established relations with the
Arab League. A February 8 Vatican
statement announced Pope John Paul
II’s appointment of Archbishop Paolo
Giglio as the Holy See’s representa
tive to the organization. Archbishop
Giglio is also the apostolic nuncio to
Egypt. Vatican Radio termed the
nomination “an event of primary
importance in the history of relations
between the church of Rome and the
Arab world ... on the eve of the
pope’s apostolic trip to Egypt.”
U.S. MORAL THEOLOGIAN
Father Richard
McCormick dies
Clarkston, MI (CNS)
J esuit Father Richard A.
McCormick, 77, a leading U.S.
Catholic moral theologian of the 20th
century, died of respiratory failure
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February 12. Following a severe
stroke last June he had moved to the
Colombiere Center, a Jesuit retire
ment and health care center in
Clarkston. A specialist in medical
ethics, from the 1960s through the
1980s, Father McCormick was one of
the key figures in scores of far-reach
ing ethical debates over new medical
technology, especially in the genetic,
reproductive and end-of-life areas.
Physically weak but
SPIRITUALLY STRONG, SICK
CELEBRATE JUBILEE
Vatican City(CNS)
P hysically weak but spiritually
strong, the sick had their jubilee
day in the sun with an empathetic
Pope John Paul II. “I hope this touch
ing celebration offers all people,
healthy and sick, the opportunity to
meditate on the saving value of suf
fering,” the pope told 35,000 faithful
at a February 11 outdoor Mass in
Saint Peter’s Square to mark the
Jubilee for the Sick and Health Care
Workers. Christ’s incarnation gave
meaning to suffering, so that “pain,
illuminated by faith, becomes the
source of hope and salvation,” he
said. Though medicine’s fight
against illness is crucial, the pope
said, “it is also important to know
how to interpret God’s design when
suffering knocks on our door.”
Cuban cardinal says
Elian case may be incit
ing church criticism
Havana (CNS)
C ardinal Jaime Ortega Alamino of
Havana expressed concern that
controversy surrounding case of
Elian Gonzalez might be inciting
“prejudices and dark feelings”
against the Catholic Church. In a
February 9 statement, the cardinal
denounced local Cuban media reports
that used derogatory references to
U.S. Dominican Sister Jeanne
O’Laughlin, president of Barry
University, who hosted a January
meeting of 6-year-old Elian and his
grandmothers in Miami Beach. After
the meeting, Sister O’Laughlin said
she was in favor of Elian remaining
in the United States. While the cardi
nal said he thought Sister O’Laughlin
might be misguided in her opinion,
he said she was not the “devil” por
trayed in Cuban media. In December,
the Cuban bishops said in a statement
the case should be resolved according
to the universally accepted recogni
tion that minor children belong with
their parents.
Australian bishops
PUBLISH RULES FOR
COMPLAINTS
Perth (CNS)
C atholics may lodge complaints
against theologians in Australia
alleged to have contravened church
teaching under rules just published
by Australia’s Catholic bishops. “The
Examination of Theological
Orthodoxy,” an Australian Catholic
Bishops’ Conference statement of
policy, was published in the January
edition of the quarterly periodical,
the Australasian Catholic Record.
The bishops’ committee for doctrine
and morals developed the policy.
According to the bishops’ conference
secretary, Father Brian Finnigan, the
policy was agreed to at the April ple
nary meeting of the bishops in
Sydney. At that meeting, the bishops
published a pastoral letter that
accepted Pope John Paul II’s
November-December 1998 criticisms
related to a “crisis of faith” in the
Catholic Church in Australia.
Thursday, February 17, 2000
Theologian says he
WILL NOT SEEK MANDATE
New York (CNS)
O ne of the nation’s most widely
known Catholic theologians has
said he will not seek the mandate to
teach that soon may be applied to
professors on Catholic theological
faculties in the United States. Father
Richard P. McBrien, former theology
department chairman at the Univer
sity of Notre Dame and a nationally
known author and media commenta
tor on Catholic issues, said in the
February 12 issue of America maga
zine, “I do not intend to seek a man
date. ... For me it is a matter of prin
ciple.”
Guatemalan police
ARREST PRIEST SUSPECTED
IN BISHOP’S 1998 MURDER
Guatemala City (CNS)
P olice in Guatemala have re-arrest
ed a priest in connection with the
1998 killing of Auxiliary Bishop
Juan Gerardi Conedera of Guatemala
City. Father Mario Orantes “was
detained and will remain in (the) hos
pital under police custody so that he
can be brought to the court that
ordered his arrest,” a police spokes
man, Gerson Lopez, told reporters.
The priest, who had been receiving
medical treatment in Houston, ar
rived in Guatemala February 9. The
judge investigating the killing issued
a warrant for his arrest in January.
Camilla tornado relief
nphe Diocese of Savannah has set up a fund to help victims of this week’s tor-
nado in the Camilla area.
Bishop J. Kevin Boland said the diocese will match contributions from parish
es and individuals up to $10,000 for a fund for families impacted by the tornado
which struck the southwest comer of the diocese.
The bishop will ask parishes on a voluntary basis to take up collections for the
tornado victims.
Individuals who want to contribute directly to the diocesan fund may send
checks marked “Camilla tornado relief’ to this address:
Diocese of Savannah
Catholic Pastoral Center
601 East Liberty Street
Savannah, GA 31401-5196.
Send this in to your parish,
together with your check for $15,
made out to the parish.
For more information call
The Southern Cross
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