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The Southern Cross, Page 2 Vatican rejects some CLAIMS OF BEST WAY TO CELEBRATE MASS Washington (CNS) I n a letter to a U.S. bishop, the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments has rejected arguments that priests should give preference to Eucharistic Prayer I and should stand at the altar with their back to the people when they celebrate Mass. The letter, respond ing to inquiries by Bishop David E. Foley of Birmingham, Alabama, was sent to all U.S. bishops and was made public February 22. Pope: Vatican II a gift, NOT A BREAK WITH PAST Vatican City (CNS) P eople who believe the Second Vatican Council marked a break with the Catholic Church’s past can not correctly interpret its teaching, Pope John Paul II said. Although he had just returned from his pilgrimage to Egypt, the pope interrupted his rest to give the closing address at a Febru ary 25-27 Vatican meeting on the implementation of the Second Vatican Council. Pope John Paul rejected the idea that the Catholic Church needs a new council to reorganize its structure and its mission to respond to modem needs and concerns. Bush responds to ACCUSATIONS OF ANTI- Catholicism Washington (CNS) T exas Gov. George Bush told New York Cardinal John J. O’Connor in a February 25 letter that he wanted to assure Catholics his Bob Jones University appearance does not mean he “approves of the anti-Catholic and racially divisive views” associated with the school. Charges of anti- Catholicism have followed the GOP candidate around the country since he spoke at the evangelical Christian university in South Carolina in early February. The school bans interracial dating as immoral, and its leaders have called Catholicism a cult and To Subscribe Send this in to your parish, together with your check for $15, made out to the parish. For more information call The Southern Cross (912)238-2320 Name, Address Phone (_ Parish likened it to satanism. In democracies, Christians must defend TRUTHS, POPE SAYS Vatican City (CNS) C hristians in democratic societies must defend objective moral tmths, even those rejected by the majority, Pope John Paul II said. Insisting on unpopular moral norms is not “extremism or fundamental ism,” but essential to building a democracy that respects the dignity and freedom of the human person, he said. The pope made his remarks February 24 in a message to partici pants of the plenary session of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. Vatican distinguishes BETWEEN “MARTYR”, “witness of faith” Vatican City (CNS) A s Pope John Paul II prepared to beatify a group of martyrs, a Vatican official said it was important to understand the difference between a martyr and a “witness of the faith.” Strictly speaking, the term martyr should be used only for Catholics who died for their faith and were beatified or canonized, said Arch bishop Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Sainthood Causes. The term “witnesses of the faith” may be used for Catholics whose beatification process has not been completed or for other Christians who were killed because of their faith or promotion of Christian values, the archbishop said. Congress asked to CONDEMN MOVES TO OUST Vatican as U.N. observer New York (CNS) rpihe House and Senate are consider- X ing resolutions that condemn moves to end the Vatican’s status as a permanent observer to the United Nations. The “sense of Congress” res olution was introduced by two Catho lic Republicans—Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey in the House and Sen. Robert C. Smith of New Hampshire in the Senate. The resolution says Con gress “strongly objects to any effort to expel the Holy See from the United Nations as a state participant by removing its status as a nonmember state permanent observer.” For about a year, the group Catholics for a Free Choice has been leading a campaign to change the Vatican’s status at the United Nations to that of a nongovern mental organization. Nearly 400 orga nizations, including the International Planned Parenthood Federation, have asked U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to review the status of the Holy See as a permanent observer. Pennsylvania bishops SUPPORT MORATORIUM ON DEATH PENALTY Washington (CNS) T he bishops of Pennsylvania “wholeheartedly support a mora torium on the death penalty,” said Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua in testimony before a state legislative panel in Harrisburg. The subject of the February 22 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing was Senate Bill 952, which calls for a two-year suspension of executions while a special commission studies whether the death penalty is being implemented fairly in Pennsylvania. “Since capital punishment is a final and irreversible act, it is incumbent upon the state, in the interest of pro moting the good of all, to examine the manner in which the death penal ty is being applied,” said the cardinal, chairman of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference, public policy arm of the state’s bishops. Brief: partial-birth ABORTION NOT CONSTITU TIONALLY PROTECTED Washington (CNS) T he procedure known as partial- birth abortion is so different that it does not warrant the constitutional protection the court has given abor tion in general, argues the U.S. Ca tholic Conference in a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court. “The killing of Thursday, March 2, 2000 partly bom children is new to both law and medicine,” says the USCC in an amicus curiae, or friend of the court, brief for an upcoming case over Nebraska’s law prohibiting par tial-birth abortion. New South African DIRECTORY CLARIFIES Communion guidelines Cape Town, RSA (CNS) T he southern African bishops’ revised ecumenical directory, which has Vatican approval, “re moves any possibility of misunder standing” about eucharistic sharing, said a South African theologian. “Nothing substantial has changed” in the new directory, Brian Gaybba, the ology professor at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, said in a February 16 telephone interview. He said he thought the original version “would have gone through without a hitch if it wasn’t for the Clinton incident.” The parish priest of the Soweto church where U.S. President Bill Clinton attended Mass in March 1998 said he was following the directory when he gave Clinton Communion. Court frees officer CHARGED IN BlSHOP Gerardi’s murder Guatemala City (CNS) court has freed one of three .army officers charged with the murder of Auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera of Guatemala City, due to an apparent lack of evidence. “Having analyzed the evidence pre sented by the prosecutors, this court considered that there does not exist the proof to warrant maintaining the order of detention or prosecution” against Obdulio Villanueva, said Judge Flor de Maria Garcia February 28. Villanueva, a member of the elite presidential guard, was arrested January 22. Garcia mled that the attorney general’s office had not been able to prove Villanueva's participa tion in Bishop Gerardi’s murder the night of April 26, 1998, since he was in prison at the time serving a five- year sentence for murder. A c L Yr (USPS 505 680) Publisher: Most Rev. J. Kevin Boland, D.D. Director of Communications: Mrs. Barbara D. King Editor: Rev. Douglas K. Clark, S.T.L. Editorial and Business Office: Catholic Pastoral Center 601 E. Liberty Street Savannah, GA 31401 -5196 (912) 238-2320 FAX: (912) 238-2339 E-mail: DCIark5735@aol.com or Southerncross@ix.netcom.com Internet Home Page: http://www. d ioceseofsa va n n a h. o rg Deadline: All material for publication on Thursday must be received at the latest by noon on the previous Friday. POSTMASTER: Send Change of Address to circulation office: Chalker Publishing Southern Cross Subscription Department R O. 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