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Southern Cross, Page 2 Headline Hopscotch Thursday, December 11, 2008 Harrison and Payton Burnett visit with Santa Claus (Mark Corrigan, Sr.) at the annual children’s Christmas party hosted by Knights of Columbus Council 631, Savannah. Head of Russian Orthodox Church DIES AT AGE 79 Vatican City (CNS) he head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow, died Decem ber 5 at his home outside the Russian capital. He was 79. Although the cause of his death was not immediately made public, he had suffered from a heart condition and had been ill for some time. Patriarch Alexy led the world’s largest Orthodox church since 1990. As primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, the patriarch was the spiritual leader of more than 110 million church members in Russia, the former Soviet republics and the diaspora. He led the church through the difficult transition from the end of Soviet repression to an era of religious freedom and sought to revital ize traditional religious values in a society that was still grappling with the aftereffects of totali tarianism and the impact of newfound freedoms. Pope Benedict XVI praised the patriarch’s efforts “for the rebirth of the church after the severe ideological oppression which led to the martyrdom of so many witnesses to the Christian faith.” Catholic Charities USA gets high MARKS FOR NATIONWIDE SERVICE Alexandria, VA (CNS) atholic Charities USA is the country’s top provider of social services, according to Charity Navigator’s Holiday Giving Guide 2008. The Alexandria-based agency also finished sec ond overall in The NonProfit Times Top 100 list of the country’s largest charities and 11th in the most recent Philanthropy 400 ranking by The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Father Larry Snyder, Catholic Charities USA president, welcomed the recognition. “These rankings are invigorating. They speak to the hard work and professionalism of Catholic Charities agencies’ staff and volun teers around the country,” he said in a statement. “It’s my sincere hope that this encourages others to join us in our efforts to help those affected by the economic downturn, especially during the holiday season.” Charity Navigator, considered the country’s most utilized evaluator of charities, annually ranks nonprofit agencies in 34 cate gories ranging from the environment to youth development. Charity Navigator’s ranking list can be found online at: www.charitynavigator.org/in- dex.cfrn?bay“contcnt.view&cpid-521. Vatican makes clear its opposition TO U.N. HOMOSEXUALITY DECLARATION Vatican City (CNS) he Vatican has made clear its opposition to the United Nations endorsing a universal dec laration to decriminalize homosexuality. Arch bishop Celestino Migliore, the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio to the United Nations, and Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said unjust forms of discrimination against homosexu als must be avoided. However, the Vatican does not approve of a formal declaration with political weight that might be used to put pressure on or discriminate against countries that do not recog nize same-sex marriage, they said. A draft decla ration, drawn up by France and endorsed by the European Union, was to be presented to the U.N. General Assembly December 10. It condemns discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Archbishop Migliore told the French news agency I.Media December 1 that adding these “new categories (to be) protected from discrimination” would create in turn “new and inflexible (forms of) discrimination.” Vatican signs, ratifies convention BANNING CLUSTER BOMBS Vatican City (CNS) he Vatican has signed and ratified a new treaty to end the production and use of cluster bombs, and appealed to the international commu nity to ban “this inhumane type of weapon.” Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Vatican secre tary for relations with states, was one of more than 100 diplomats who signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Oslo, Norway, December 3. In a speech during the signing ceremony, the archbishop said the Vatican chose to sign and rat ify the convention the same day in order to send “a strong political signal” to the rest of the world. The Vatican made the archbishop's remarks pub lic December 4. The United States and other major countries that produce cluster weapons— including Russia, China, Israel, India and Pakistan—have not signed it. The United States has expressed concern that a ban would restrict what it sees as the legitimate use of such weapons and has said that cluster bombs were essential to U.S. military operations. Subscribe to the > - - ; &Z1MZ1 OrU Name Send this form in to your parish, together with your check for $20.00, made out to your parish. For more information call the Southern Cross at (912) 201-4100. Address City, State, Zip Phone ( ) fParish (USPS 505 680) Telephone: 912-201-4100 Toll-Free (in GA only): 888-295-7144 E-mail: Editor@diosav.org or SouthernCross@diosav.org Publisher: Most Rev. J. Kevin Boland, dd Director of Communications: Barbara D. King Editor: Rev. Douglas K. Clark, stl Assistant Editor: Michael J. Johnson Staff Assistant: Ormonde E. Lewis Editorial/Business Office: Southern Cross Catholic Pastoral Center 601 E. 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