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Lead:
Vatican publishing house director Msgr. Giuseppe Costa announced to Vatican Radio that they are aiming to release the second volume of Jesus of Nazareth in March 2011. The book, written by the Pope on the Paschal mystery, would therefore arrive in time for Lent.

Asked about the second volume during an interview with Vatican Radio, Msgr. Costa, director of the Vatican's publishing house, said that they hope for a March 13 release, to mark the first Sunday of Lent. The timing is excellent as Pope Benedict XVI's book focuses on Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection.

He explained that 18 editors have contracted with the Vatican to publish the edition, with "surely" others to come. By Jan. 15, 2011, he said, editors should all have the text in hand to begin national publication.

The announcement came as another book by the Pope was presented at a conference in Rimini, Italy. The first of Cardinal Ratzinger's complete works, or "opera omnia," was presented by the Bishop of Regensburg, Gerhard Muller, and the director of the International Center of Communion and Liberation, Roberto Fontolan, during a session on the Theology of the Liturgy at the interfaith Rimini Meeting.

I’ll be back with more after this.
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Story 2:
In an interview with the Italian daily La Stampa, an Iraqi bishop charges that as US combat troops pull out, his country is in worse shape than when the Americans arrived. Bishop Shlemon Warduni argues that the US was guided by self-interest rather than the welfare of the Iraqi people, and points out that Christians are now particularly vulnerable in an unstable country dominated by Moslems. John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter has translated the provocative interview.

Story 3:
In an interview with Fox News, Msgr. Charles Scicluna, the Vatican’s top prosecutor for cases involving sexual abuse, recalls that he was a direct witness to the compassion, the frustration and the anger that these cases instilled in Cardinal Ratzinger. Msgr. Scicluna, who worked with the future Pontiff on the disciplinary cases that were presented to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that he saw Cardinal Ratazinger’s determination to eliminate the corruption. The sex-abuse scandal, he told Fox, is an opportunity for the Church to show itself determined in its fight against sin, against crime.

Story 4:
A Tennessee priest who called upon the Pope to apologize for Catholic teaching on contraception has retracted his comments and written a letter of apology to his parish and to the Pope. Bishop [David] Choby offered Father Joseph Breen the choice of retracting and apologizing for his statements or face the process set forth for the removal of a pastor under canon law when a ministry becomes harmful or ineffective, according to a statement from the Diocese of Nashville.

Story 5:
1,200 people passed through a church in Hot Springs Village in Little Rock Arkansas on Wednesday night to view two first-class relics of Mother Teresa, one a a reliquary containing her blood and a second containing her hair. First-class relics are the physical remains of a saint, including hair, bone or blood.

Little Rock was the last stop on the tour of relics this summer through the East and Midwest. The tour was organized by the Missionaries of Charity to mark Blessed Teresa's birth 100 years ago. The relics were returned the next day to the motherhouse in Calcutta, India.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 6:
Pope Benedict’s visit to the United Kingdom will mark a new phase in the relations between the papacy and the monarchy, says the archbishop of Westminster. Archbishop Vincent Nichols, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, stated this Friday to L'Osservatore Romano. The Pontiff is making the State visit to the United Kingdom in response to an invitation by Queen Elizabeth II, who will officially welcome the Holy Father in Edinburgh, Scotland, on the first day of the visit. Archbishop Nichols noted that "the Pontiff and the queen share some profound concerns: the well-being of the peoples of the world, and the importance of having stable institutions for the benefit of society.

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The Vatican has given final approval for a new English-language translation of the Roman Missal. The new translation will introduced in the US beginning Advent of 2011.
Formal Vatican approval came in a June 23 letter from Cardinal Antonio Llovera, the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship. The translation had already won approval from the US bishops after a long and lively debate.

The publication of a revised English translation concludes a lengthy and often controversial process that saw numerous clashes between proponents of differing approaches to translation. Critics of the new translation continue to complain that it contains obscure language, while its defenders note that the revisions eliminates errors and ambiguities in the liturgical translation that is now in use.

The US bishops’ conference now faces the challenge of producing the new Missal—which will be over 1,000 pages in length—in time for its introduction at the start of the 2012 liturgical year. Msgr. Anthony Sherman, who heads the staff of the US bishops’ committee on worship, said: There is a tremendous, amount of work still ahead of the conference in preparing for the introduction of the new translation.

I’ll be back with more after this.
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Story 2:
A bid to open a new medical facility at the site of a bankrupt Catholic hospital in New York has been stalled by disagreements over the terms of use for the Catholic facility—including a dispute over the distribution of contraceptives. The North Shore/Long Island Jewish Medical Center hopes to open a clinic using a part of the closed St. Vincent’s Hospital. But administrators of the bankrupt Catholic hospital are asking the new group to abide by Catholic moral principles, and negotiations have also failed to resolve differences over an appropriate payment for the use of the facility.

Story 3:
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has threatened to bring suit against the US federal government on behalf of any Church-run hospital that faces pressure to perform abortions. The Fund says that they will represent, pro bono, any religious hospital or its personnel that HHS threatens because of their conscientious objection to abortion, according to Kevin Hasson, the president of the Becket Fund. Hasson was reacting to a drive by the ACLU to require hospitals to perform abortions, overriding the conscientious objections of doctors, nurses, and other health-care personnel.

Story 4:
Sacred Heart Church in Atlanta has been elevated to the status of a minor basilica by decree of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Over five dozen churches in the United States have been designated minor basilicas in recognition of their historic, architectural, or other significance. The first three American churches to be named minor basilicas were St. Adalbert Church in Buffalo, St. Mary Co-Cathredral in Minneapolis and the National Shrine of Our Lady of Victory in Lackawanna NY.

Story 5:
As the controversy over the planned building of a mosque and Islamic center near Ground Zero in New York City grows increasingly heated, Archbishop Timothy Dolan urged the different factions to carry on a “respectful discussion” and offered to mediate between those who support the plans and those who oppose them.
The New York archbishop made his remarks in a brief and impromptu news conference on Aug. 18 at Covenant House, a Catholic facility in Manhattan for homeless youth.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 6:
In a world where young people are perpetually texting, “tweeting” and connecting on Facebook, it can seem that the modern technology of social networking is more of a distraction than a benefit. Matthew Warner, however, sees the technology as an opportunity to reach out to youth, and to unite parishes. Warner is the founder of flockNote, an Internet-based networking tool that aims at making communication within ministries, parishes and dioceses more effective. A former parish youth ministry leader, Warner noticed that there was no easy way to communicate with his group members. He developed flockNote to keep them informed and up-to-date on parish activities.

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Paving the way for the ordination of women bishops with full governing powers, the House of Clergy of the Church of England has rejected a compromise proposal put forward by Archbishop Rowan Williams, the church’s primate, that would have permitted traditional parishes to be governed by a male bishop.

The vote happened Saturday at the General Synod, the three-times-a-year meeting that sets policies for the Church of England. Williams, who is also nominal head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, proposed the measure along with the Archbishop of York.

The rejection of the compromise was greeted with a "slightly stunned silence," according to reports from the Synod.

The Church of England is probably still a couple of years away from having women bishops. If this week’s General Synod approves them, as expected, parishes across the church then have at least a year to consider the matter before a future General Synod casts a final vote on the issue.

Seventy Anglican clergy met with Catholic Bishop Malcolm McMahon of Nottingham on July 10 to discuss the possibility of converting to Catholicism under the provisions of Pope Benedict’s 2009 apostolic constitution. One Anglican cleric estimated that 200 Anglican clergy are considering conversion.

I’ll be back with more after this. 
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Story 2:

The Holy See’s 2009 budget showed a deficit of $5,000,000, four times 2008’s figure of $1.27 million, according to a statement released by the Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See. The separate budget for the Vatican City State also showed a deficit of $10,000,000, a figure approximately half that of the previous year. The 2009 Peter’s Pence collection totaled $83,000,000, with the United States, Italy, and France being the leading sources of donations.

Story 3:

Following a student complaint, the University of Illinois refused to renew the contract of Dr. Kenneth Howell, an adjunct religion professor, who wrote in an e-mail that “Natural Moral Law says that Morality must be a response to REALITY” and that “sexual acts are only appropriate for people who are complementary, not the same.” Dr. Howell, who taught courses on Catholicism at the university and was recognized for excellence in teaching in 2008 and 2009, wrote the e-mail to his students to help them prepare for their final exam

Story 4:

Six months after a devastating earthquake killed over 220,000, some 2 million Haitians are still living on the streets, according to the Fides news agency. Archbishop Bernard Auza, the apostolic nuncio noted there is no one to carry away the debris, and certain streets in the capital were still unusable. He also noted that many people who are living in tents still have nothing and then there are still many poor people who do not even have tents 6 months after the disaster.

Story 5:
Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Miguel Angel Moratinos,  who was in Cuba in recent days, said Monday that the first 11 political prisoners to be freed will arrive in Spain on July 13 on two separate flights.
 
The first flight operated by Air Europa will land at 1 p.m., and the second operated by Iberia, will touch down an hour later. Both flights will depart from Havana on Monday evening. Moratinos said the 11 prisoners will arrive in Spain accompanied by their families, all together totaling some 65 people.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 6:

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Archbishop Velasio De Paolis, C.S., as the of the Pontifical Delegate to the Legion of Christ. Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi told journalists he will personally meet with the Legion's superiors to discuss the scope of his role. The archbishop's appointment confirms Vatican journalist Andrea Tornielli's prediction that the delegate would be the president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See. Archbishop De Paolis is also an expert in canon law.



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A German bishop who resigned in the face of abuse charges, then threatened to rescind his resignation, has announced that he will adhere to his decision to resign, and apologized for his misconduct.

Bishop Walter Mixa, who stepped down in May from his post as head of the Augsberg diocese, signed a written agreement with the diocese promising that he "will not question his resignation again." The agreement appears to end an ugly public dispute that had escalated when Bishop Mixa charged other German bishops with pressuring him to resign. He had moved back into the episcopal residence in Augsburg and said that he would ask the Pope to reinstate him.

The German bishops’ conference issued a statement on June 22 to “confirm that accusations now made public in the media were passed on to Rome in April 2010” about Bishop Mixa. Bishop Mixa has admitted that he may have been guilty of physical abuse, but he emphatically denied allegations of sexual abuse. German police investigated the sex-abuse charges and dismissed them.

According to German media reports, the dossier sent to Rome stated that Bishop Mixa drank throughout the day and made homosexual advances to two priests in the 1990s.
Without directly responding to the charges, Bishop Mixa has now written an apology for his "many mistakes."

I’ll be back with more after this.
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Story 2:
Archeologists in Rome have discovered the oldest known images of the Apostles. Using laser technology to peel away layers of stone that had built up over the centuries, workers uncovered a series of frescoes depicting Sts. Peter, Paul, Andrew, and John in the catacomb of St. Tecla. The Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology, announcing the find on June 22, said that the images appear to date from the late 4th or early 5th century.

Story 3:
The Catholic Health Association has issued a statement reaffirming its support for the health-care reform legislation that was opposed by the US bishops’ conference. Just days after Cardinal Francis George, the president of the US bishops’ conference, laid heavy blame on the CHA for the passage of the bill, the CHA approved a statement applauding the Obama reform. Ignoring the concerns expressed by the bishops and by pro-life groups that the legislation will expand public support for abortion, the CHA continued to spout the Obama company line in defending their actions.

Story 4:
In an exclusive interview, Dr. John Haas of the National Catholic Bioethics Center asked Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington D.C. about some of the issues facing the Church in the “contemporary context.” In his reply, Archbishop Wuerl spoke about the role of and need for religious freedom in society, a role which is dramatically changing. While there are several “individual issues” right now, said the archbishop, most of which focus on the dignity and value of human life, “there’s a growing concern” that “our very ability to carry on our activities” is being challenged.

Story 5:
Philadelphia’s faithful received news yesterday morning that Pope Benedict has appointed the judicial vicar of their diocese, Bishop-elect Michael J. Fitzgerald, to be their new auxiliary bishop. The announcement of Bishop-elect Fitzgerald's appointment was made by Cardinal Justin Rigali at a news conference in Philadelphia Tuesday morning. The cardinal said the bishop-elect is an exemplary priest with a great love for the Church. and he was grateful for his constant efforts to promote vocations to the diocesan priesthood.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 6:
Religious billboards adorn the highways across the South. But a new billboard campaign in North Carolina deliberately snubs the Almighty. A coalition of atheists and secular humanists has placed a billboard on Billy Graham Parkway in Charlotte that displays an American flag with a few key words from the Pledge of Allegiance: “One Nation Indivisible.” The phrase “under God,” which appears between "One nation" and "indivisible" in the Pledge, is absent on the billboard. William Warren, a member of the North Carolina Secular Association, says his group put the ads up on billboards across the state to let people know that in their view, patriotism and belief in God are not always synonymous.

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After the Catholic News Agency published a report on remarks Cardinal Francis George made about the disagreement between the Catholic Health Association and the U.S. bishops, the Secretary of Communications for the bishops' conference denied the accuracy of the article.

CNA reported that the cardinal spoke about the fallout from the debate over the passage of the health care overhaul at an executive session of the bishops' spring assembly in St. Petersburg, Fla. Cardinal George recounted the events that took place prior to President Obama's signing of the health care take over bill and then wrapped up his remarks by criticizing the Catholic Health Association (CHA) and its CEO Sr. Carol Keehan for creating a dangerous precedent of the appearance of a parallel magisterium to the bishops.

Cardinal George's comments were corroborated by several bishops who told CNA that they believed the remarks should be made known, given the concurrent CHA meeting being held in Denver, Colo. However, on June 21, the Secretary for Communications of the bishops' conference, accused CNA of inaccurately reporting on the event, fabricating quotations and breaking confidentiality.
 
Alejandro Bermudez, the executive director of Catholic News Agency, stated they stand by their report.

I’ll be back with more after this.

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Story 2:

A man claiming to be the son of Fr. Marcial Maciel, the founder of the Legion of Christ, is suing the Legion in a Connecticut court, claiming that the religious order should have known of Maciel’s propensity to abuse children. Earlier this year José González Lara came forward claiming that the controversial founder of the Legion was his father. Fr. Maciel is known to have fathered at least one other child after his ordination. He was removed from ministry by Pope Benedict in 2006 and sent to a life of prayer and penance. He died in 2008.

Story 3:

The pastor of a Staten Island parish in a controversy over the proposed sale of a vacant convent to a Muslim group has withdrawn his support for the sale after “careful reflection.” St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church had been considering selling a vacant convent to the Muslim American Society (MAS), which planned to turn the building into a mosque and community center. Local opponents have voiced concerns about terrorism and respect for the victims of the 9/11 attacks, visible from the parish area.

Story 4:

Stating that he has acted with “maximum transparency,” Archbishop of Naples Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe has said he will cooperate with authorities after being accused of corruption in a property deal. A Vatican spokesman has expressed “solidarity” with the prelate, saying he hopes the situation will be “rapidly clarified.” The cardinal, who previously headed the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, is accused of colluding with former Italian transport minister Pietro Lunardi to offer cut-price property deals, the BBC reports.

Story 5:
Bishop Rodrigo Martinez of Tehuacan, Mexico called on citizens to cast their votes responsibly in the elections taking place July 4 in several Mexican states. He encouraged them to learn about the various candidates' proposals and to vote according to their Christian consciences. In a statement, Bishop Martinez urged Mexicans not to abstain from voting, as “abstaining means leaving the choice of the elections in the hands of others” and failing in their duty, and their right, to make their voices heard.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 6:

A top official from the Vatican Secretariat of State ended his six-day visit to Cuba Sunday in a meeting with President Raúl Castro. Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for relations marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment of relations between the Holy See and Cuba. During the Sunday afternoon meeting with Castro, the officials highlighted the celebration of this anniversary and also spoke about other topics of the international scene, which were not specified to the public, reported the Cuban agency Prensa Latina. Also present at the meeting was the apostolic nuncio in Cuba, Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, and the Cuban foreign relations minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla.

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And that’s top news of the hour.

I’m Bryan Douglas, CIR NEWS, for Catholic Information Radio.