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News, of the hour, on the hour, from Catholic Information Radio.
I’m Bryan Douglas in Philadelphia, and at this hour….
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Lead:
Speaking in Houston, Texas, where then-Senator John F. Kennedy delivered a famous speech on religion during his presidential campaign in 1960, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver offered a serious and thoughtful critique of the late president's address. The Kennedy speech, which has been widely adopted as a model for Catholic politicians, was "sincere, compelling, articulate-- and wrong.

Archbishop Chaput said by setting up artificial barriers between private beliefs and public actions, Kennedy harmed the cause of Catholic influence in American political affairs and also said Kennedy’s Houston remarks profoundly undermined the place not just of Catholics, but of all religious believers, in America’s public life and political conversation. Today, half a century later, we’re paying for the damage.

Kennedy was right to say that he would be guided by his own conscience in his execution of the public trust, the archbishop argues. But he was wrong to suggest that his conscience could or should be separated from the guidance of his Church.

Archbishop Chaput says that the net result of the Houston speech was a gain for secularists who seek to remove religious influence from public life. He remarked that too many Christian individuals, Protestant and Catholic alike, live their faith as if it were 'private idiosyncrasy' which they try to prevent from becoming a 'public nuisance.

I’ll be back with more after this.
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Story 2:
A spokesman for the US bishops' conference has flatly contradicted the claim by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi that the health-care reform plan now under discussion on Capitol Hill would not provide subsidies for abortion. However, ro-life groups have consistently pointed out that the bill advanced by the White House would provide taxpayer subsidies for abortion in several different ways. The group's analysis noted that the legislation provides direct federal funding of abortion on demand through Community Health Centers and would institute federal subsidies for private health plans that cover abortion on demand including federal mandates that would require even non-subsidized private plans to cover elective abortion."

Story 3:
The Washington DC office of Catholic Charities will drop health-care coverage for spouses of employees in order to avoid clashing with a new law that requires equal treatment of same-sex couples. Officials for the agency chose to change their health-care plan for employees rather than expanding the definition of "spouse" to allow for the inclusion of a same-sex partner. The Washington archdiocese has already ended its adoption services because of the same law which would have required the Catholic agency to provide equal service to homosexual couples

Story 4:
Bishop Denis Brennan of Ferns, Ireland, has called upon the parishioners of his diocese to help pay over €10.5 million ($14.2 million) in expenses from clergy sex-abuse lawsuits. That figure reflects the payments to abuse victims and to lawyers involved in about 60 cases. The cost would amount to about $150 for every Catholic living in the Ferns diocese. The diocesan finance officer said insurance had paid one-seventh but that, so far, the diocese had spent €3.5m partly by running down its savings and recently, by raising a €1.8m loan.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 5:
The strong words of Pope Benedict XVI against anti-Christian violence in Mosul were acknowledged with gratitude by Iraqis, according to a bishop speaking from Iraq on Monday. Christians, Muslims and members of two other Iraqi minority groups peacefully protested in Baghdad, calling for an end to the violence and demanding protection. Auxilary Bishop of Baghdad Shlemon Warduni spoke from the Iraqi capital with the Italian bishops' news agency SIR about the demonstrations and the reaction to the Pope's special greeting and call for government protection of minorities, especially Christians in Mosul.

Story 6:
The Apostolic Nuncio in Chile, Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto, remarked on Monday that the Church has already started reaching out to those most impacted by the country's 8.8 earthquake.
Speaking with Vatican Radio, the archbishop noted that while communication has been difficult due to damage in the hardest-hit areas of Concepcion, Temuco and Curico, aid is being sent to the over one million people who have been left homeless.

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And that’s top news of the hour.
I’m Bryan Douglas, CIR NEWS, for Catholic Information Radio.