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The Southern Cross, Page 2 Speaker: Churches may BE EMPTY BUT INTEREST IN SPIRITUALITY GREAT Convent Station, NJ (CNS) T here has never been a greater interest in spirituality than today—even as churches are empty ing, according to Father Ronald Rolheiser. This “divorce between the spiritual and the ecclesiastical” is one of the three “great divorces” in today’s world and today’s church, Father Rolheiser, a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, said April 15. He commented in a morn ing keynote address at the eighth annual Spirituality Convocation in Convent Station. Sponsored by the College of St. Elizabeth’s Center for Theological and Spiritual Develop ment, the convocation drew about 1,500 participants. Cardinal says pope’s dis ease DECREASES MOBILITY, BUT MIND INTACT Paris (CNS) P ope John Paul IPs neurological disease is making him more and more a “prisoner in his body,” but the pope’s mind and spiritual gifts remain intact, French Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger of Paris said. Cardinal Lusti- ger commented in an interview with the French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. It was pub lished as the pope—at times looking drawn and tired—led a heavy sched ule of Easter activities at the Vatican. “It is known that his illness is leading to a progressive paralysis of the body, but his spiritual faculties remain in tact,” Cardinal Lustiger was quoted as saying. Pope concludes Holy Week, calls for new WORLD ORDER OF PEACE Vatican City (CNS) S urrounded by an explosion of springtime color and a multitude of jubilee year pilgrims, Pope John Paul II celebrated Easter with a call for a new world order. “The risen Christ signals the paths of hope along To Subscribe Hesdllam® which we can advance together toward a world more just and mutual ly supportive, in which the blind ego ism of the few will not prevail over the cries of pain of the many,” the pope said in his traditional Easter address April 23. Eclipsing all turnout predictions, a cheering crowd of 150,000 people packed St. Peter’s Square for the “urbi et orbi” message, Latin for “to the city and to the world.” Settlement reached in SUIT AGAINST BISHOP, Santa Rosa Diocese Santa Rosa, CA (CNS) T he Santa Rosa Diocese announced April 24 it had reached a settle ment in the civil lawsuit brought by a priest of the diocese against former Santa Rosa Bishop G. Patrick Ziemann and the diocese. Officials said the dio cese wanted to forego a potentially lengthy and expensive trial as well as make it easier for its newly appointed bishop to “give undivided attention” to his new duties. Paul Gaspari of the law firm Tobin & Tobin, who is the attor ney for Santa Rosa Diocese, said the settlement document “specifically states that the diocese and Ziemann admit no liability” to Father Jorge Hume Salas, “but rather that the pay ment of funds is solely for the purpose of settlement.” The insurance carrier of the diocese will pay the entire settle ment, which totals $535,(XX), including attorneys’ fees and counseling ex penses, according to a statement issued by the diocese. Bishop says Vermont gay UNION VOTE MOCKS God’s plan Burlington, VT (CNS) T he Vermont Senate’s approval of a “civil unions” bill for same-sex couples April 19 “mocks God’s most basic plan,” said Bishop Kenneth A. Angell of Burlington. When the Senate the previous day rejected two proposed constitutional amendments to affirm marriage as a union between a man and a woman, Bishop Angell said, “It is not only marriage that has Hopscotch been poorly served. It is democracy itself that has been wounded.” Heads of ICEL bishops’ CONFERENCES MEETS Washington (CNS) B ishop Joseph A. Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, announced an April 25 meeting in Washington of heads of major English-speaking bishops’ con ferences to discuss revision of the constitution of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy. Last October Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, instructed the episcopal board of the commission to revise its constitution “thoroughly and without delay.” Major abortion, First Amendment cases in court’s final round Washington (CNS) T wo major cases in the final week of the Supreme Court’s argument calendar raise significant questions about abortion law and about the competing issues of anti-discrimina tion law and an organization’s right to define its own membership. On April 25, the court was to consider whether Nebraska’s law prohibiting partial-birth abortion is constitution al. The next day, it was scheduled to hear arguments over a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling that said because of anti-discrimination laws the Boy Scouts may not reject partic ipation by homosexuals. Guatemalan church to ISSUE SHORTENED VERSION OF ATROCITIES REPORT Guatemala City (CNS) G uatemalan church officials planned to issue a shortened ver sion of a report on human rights abuses committed during Guatemala’s 36-year war. The origi nal report was released in 1998 by Guatemala City Auxiliary Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera two days Thursday, April 27, 2000 J before he was murdered on April 26 of that year. The new document’s publication was to be a central part of late April activities to mark the sec ond anniversary of the bishop’s mur der, said church officials. N. Ireland ex-IRA mem ber WASHES FEET OF FORMER ENEMY Belfast (CNS) I n a Holy Week gesture of reconcilia tion, a former member of the Irish Republican Army washed the feet of his onetime enemy, a former member of the Ulster Volunteer Force. On April 17 at a house in Belfast, Tommy Kelly, a 44-year-old ex-prisoner con victed for membership in the IRA, which fights to bring Northern Ireland, a British province, under Irish rule, washed the feet of Jim Tate, a 51-year- old former commander of the Ulster Volunteer Force. The Ulster Volunteer Force is one of several Protestant para military groups formed in 1970 in response to attacks by the IRA. Veto of Minnesota ABORTION INFO BILL DENIES RIGHTS, OFFICIAL SAYS Saint Paul, MN (CNS) T he women’s right-to-know bill vetoed by Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura was not about abortion but about human rights, women’s rights and patients’ rights, said a Catholic official. “Women were dealt a low blow” by Ventura’s veto, said Father David McCauley, director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops. The bill would have required that a woman seeking an abortion receive state-mandated information about abortions, fetal development and available aid, then wait 24 hours before having it. Johnnie Ganems Package Shop Complete Line of Imported and Domestic Wine & Beer Gaston and Habersham 912-233-3032 Savannah 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 xdk-v Ottr l.mteti Journey iSl Jj sgss -sest §||!!L §|g|t Jli?- Address Phone (_ Parish (USPS 505 680) Publisher: Most Rev. J. Kevin Boland, D.D. Director of Communications: Mrs. Barbara D. King :pa)i J Editor: fi *ess R ev 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.dioceseofsavannah.org 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. Box 948 Waynesboro, GA 30830 Subscription Price: $15 per year Periodicals Postage Paid at Waynesboro, GA 30830 Published weekly except the second and last weeks in June, July and August and the last week in December. At 601 E. 6 th Street Waynesboro, GA 30830 w*