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The Southern Cross, Page 2 Thursday, August 24, 2000 Decree sets U.S. qualifications FOR ACOLYTE, LECTOR Washington (CNS) he Vatican has recognized legislation adopted by the U.S. bishops on standards for laymen to be formally installed as acolytes or lectors. Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza, president of the National Con ference of Catholic Bishops, decreed July 10 that the new legislation will take effect September 1. Under general church law, only men can be for mally installed as acolytes or lectors on a stable basis, although women may exercise those min istries. The new U.S. law says, “A layman who is to be installed in the ministries of lector or acolyte on a stable basis must have completed his 21st year of age. The candidate must also possess the skills necessary for an effective proclamation of the Word or service at the altar, be a fully initiated member of the Catholic Church, be free of any canonical penalty and live a life which befits the ministry to be undertaken.” Catholic Daughters hear report ON POST-ABORTION MINISTRY Bismarck, SD (CNS) hrough its post-abortion ministry, now in its 16th year, the Catholic Church is seeking to heal the physical, mental and spiritual suffering that often follows an abortion, the Catholic Daughters of the Americas heard at their biennial meeting. Susan Wills, assistant director for pro gram development at the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities, addressed some 900 partic ipants at the Catholic Daughters’ national conven tion, held in Bismarck. “The truth about abortion aftermath—long known through the church’s min istry and the many books recounting personal sto ries—is now becoming evident in large and unim peachable research studies,” Wills said. Courts reject partial-birth ABORTION BANS, PARENTAL NOTICE Washington (CNS) ederal courts struck down two state laws ban ning partial-birth abortions but upheld a South Carolina law regulating abortion providers. The New Jersey Supreme Court declared that state’s parental notification law unconstitutional. In a 4-2 ruling Aug. 15 the New Jersey court struck down the notification law, which required doctors to wait at least 48 hours after parents were notified before performing an abortion on a girl under the age of 18. Federal appeals courts struck down the laws banning partial-birth abortion bans in Virginia and New Jersey but upheld South Carolina’s law requiring licensing and basic medical standards for abortion providers. Labor Day statement focuses on GLOBALIZATION, IMMIGRANTS Washington (CNS) oday's good times of economic prosperity “can mask the growing gap between rich and poor,” the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Domestic Policy Committee warned in a message for Labor Day 2000. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles said the jubilee year observance of the U.S. holi day, celebrated September 4 this year, “is a good time to reflect on the progress and problems of the American economy and how it can serve all of God’s children.” Among the issues raised in his two-page message were: the need for a “Catholic conversation on economic globalization”; the responsibility of Catholic voters to “raise the ethi cal and moral questions surrounding the dignity of work and the rights of workers” during the 2000 campaign; and the obligation to seriously consider “a general amnesty for those workers who come to the U.S. fleeing oppression and destitution and who make significant contributions to our society.” South Korean official says North willing to invite cardinal Seoul (CNS) eoul’s retired Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan and Archbishop Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk of Seoul “can soon visit” North Korea, a South Korean government official said upon returning from Pyongyang. Culture and Tourism Minister Park Jie-won told media Aug. 14 in Seoul that North Korean government officials responded posi tively to the possibility of a visit by the two South Korean Catholic prelates, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. Park, a Catholic, and 46 heads of South Korean news media visited North Korea August 5-12, upon the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. Casey tribute at convention: BITTERSWEET MOMENT FOR FAMILY Los Angeles (CNS) n a bittersweet moment on the closing day of the Democratic National Convention, two sons of the late Pennsylvania Gov. Robert P. Casey got the chance to make his points about the sanctity of life from the podium. Robert Casey Jr., the Pennsyl vania auditor general, and brother Pat, a candidate for the U.S. House, on Augusta 17 introduced a five-minute film tribute to their father, who died in May at age 68. About a dozen family members were on the floor of the Staples Center for the trib ute as it began filling up for the final program. Archbishop: Catholic Democrats OBLIGATED TO FIGHT ABORTION Omaha (CNS) atholic Democrats have an “obligation in con science to do everything they can to reverse the pro-abortion policy of their party and to sup port candidates who will protect human life in the womb,” said Archbishop Elden F. Curtiss of Omaha. He commented in his column published in the August 18 issue of The Catholic Voice, Omaha’s archdiocesan newspaper, with the head line: “It is not a liberal cause to support abortion: It is anti-life and anti-church.” Archbishop Curtiss said abortion is “a serious issue for anyone who embraces the church’s teaching regarding the sacredness of human life from conception to natu ral death.” Prosecution ordered for DESTRUCTION OF EVIDENCE Cochin, India (CNS) n Indian state has authorized prosecution of five present and former officials accused of destroying evidence related to a nun’s mysterious death eight years ago. The government of the southern state of Kerala said in its mid-August order that the officials’ actions forced investigative agencies to close the case of Saint Joseph Sister Abhaya, who died in March 1992, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. The nun, then 21, was found dead inside her Pius X Convent’s well in Kottayam, some 1,640 miles south of New Delhi; five years later police declared her death a suicide. Public protests from the Sister Abhaya Action Council and other groups forced the police to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation in 1997. N.Y. PRIEST NAMED DEPUTY CHIEF OF CHAPLAINS FOR NAVY Washington (CNS) ranciscan Father Louis V. Iasiello, a native of Staten Island, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as chaplain of the Marine Corps and deputy chief of chaplains for the Department of the Navy. Currently director of the Naval Chaplain School in Newport, Rhode Island, Father Iasiello was pro moted to rear admiral in the Navy Chaplain Corps. Following his ordination in 1978, Father Iasiello served in Brazil; as assistant pastor of Holy Cross Parish in the Bronx; and as chair of the modem languages department at Bishop Timon High School, Buffalo, New York. 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