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News, of the hour, on the hour, from Catholic Information Radio.
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Lead:
In light of the upcoming presidential elections in Costa Rica set for February 7, the country’s bishops issued a statement reminding the faithful that their Catholic faith is not just another aspect of their lives, but rather has implications in the field of political morality and public life.

The letter urged Catholics to vote by discerning the best choice in consonance with the faith and to use sound reasoning for what is best for the country.

After noting that politics can be a noble activity, they added that it must be guided by respect for human life, marriage, the family, religious freedom and the search for the common good. The bishops then pointed to the various challenges the next president must address such as the country’s breakdown in security, violence, disrespect for life, ongoing poverty, unstable families, unemployment, corruption and drug trafficking.

The letter reminded Catholic voters they must not check their Catholic identity at the door of the polling booth, and stressed that the Christian faith has unavoidable implications in the field of political morality and public life.

The bishops also exhorted all people of good will to attentively discern, guided by reason and ethics, the proposals set forth by candidates, in order to cast a vote that is responsible and reasoned.

I’ll be back with more after this. (insert PSAs)

Story 2:
Seeking the return of $1.4 million dollars donated to a parish building campaign just before its merger with another parish, nearly 300 parishioners of St. Vincent Pallotti Church in Haddon Township, New Jersey, have filed suit against Bishop Joseph Galante of Camden.

They claim that prior to the start of construction, the bishop had an obligation to ask the parish to suspend the campaign until he decided what he was doing with the parish, according to one parishioner. They contend that donors made donations with the reasonable expectation that they would have the normal use of the facilities they were contributing to. With the merger of the parish, the disposition of the funds was claimed by the diocese. There has been no comment from Bishop Galante.

Story 3:
The European Parliament has condemned the recent violence against Christians in Egypt and Malaysia, and is urging the Egyptian government to guarantee that Coptic Christians and members of other religious communities and minorities enjoy the full range of human rights and fundamental freedoms-- including the right to choose and change their religion freely-- and to prevent any further discrimination.

In addition, the parliament praised the recent Malaysian court decision that permitted Christians to refer to God as “Allah,” and called upon Malaysian authorities to carry out thorough and rapid investigations into the reported attacks.

Story 4:
Caritas Europa, the consortium of Catholic relief and development agencies in 44 European nations, has launched a Zero Poverty campaign. Asserting that the three traditional sources of social welfare are the labor market, the family, and the welfare state, Caritas Europa pledged to lobby governments to end child poverty by guaranteeing allowances for every child in Europe, regardless of the status of their parents.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 5:
Pope Benedict joined with those marking the 65th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp yesterday. The Holy Father noted how it is observed as the "'Day of Remembrance,' in memory of all the victims of those crimes, especially the planned annihilation of the Jews, and in honor of all those, who at the risk of their own lives, protected the persecuted, opposing the murderous madness. The Pontiff expressed his plea that the memory of such events will awaken an ever more convinced respect of the dignity of every person.

Story 6:
Thousands of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic -- and points farther abroad – are returning to Port-au-Prince in search of information on loved ones and, in many cases, retrieve them from the ruins of an earthquake that claimed an estimated 200,000 lives and destroyed a city that will not be rebuilt for years. An estimated 1 million Haitians live in the Dominican Republic, where many go in search of better economic opportunities. News outlets have reported long lines of people waiting for travel documents outside Haitian Embassies around the world.

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New curriculum guidelines drafted by North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction strongly encourage students to consider pro-life legislation as an example of “oppressive government” akin to laws that permitted segregated public schools.

According to the department’s web site, all North Carolina public school students are required to take a course in civics and economics in order to graduate from high school. The draft of the revised civic and economics curriculum includes the following formative assessment prototype:

quote
Using Supreme Court Cases such as Brown v Board of Education and Roe v Wade, explain how the US Supreme Court has upheld individual rights against oppressive government intrusion into personal matters.
unquote

Brown v Board of Education was the 1954 Supreme Court decision that struck down laws permitting segregated schools; Roe v Wade was the 1973 decision that struck down pro-life legislation across the nation.

North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue, Lieutenant Governor Walter Dalton, and Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson are all advocates of legalized abortion who have been enthusiastically endorsed by NARAL and Planned Parenthood of North Carolina.
I’ll be back with more after this.

(insert PSAs)

Story 2:
A retired auxiliary bishop of Dublin severely criticizes the city’s current Catholic leader, Archbishop Deermid Martin, in letters that have been obtained by the weekly Irish Catholic newspaper. Bishop Dermot O’Mahony complains that Archbishop Martin failed to defend the bishops and priests of Ireland against charges that they engaged in a “cover-up” of sexual abuse. The retired bishop charges that Archbishop Martin—who was working at the Vatican during the years covered by the Murphy Commission report—was “unfair” in his criticisms.

Bishop O’Mahony took special exception to the new archbishop’s complaint that he himself had never apologized to the victims of sexual abuse, when in fact he had written a letter of apology that was never made public. The Archdiocese has not responded to the criticism.

Story 3:
The Venezuelan bishops have released a statement lamenting the growing secularism, corruption, and undermining of democracy in the South American nation saying quote “Our country is experiencing a social, political, and economic situation that suggests a moving away from God,” unquote. The Church in Venezuela has suffered persecution under the regime of Hugo Chávez, who has served as president since 1999. 88% of the nation’s 28 million people are Catholic.

Story 4:
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is urging members of Congress to recommit themselves to enact health care reform that will protect the life, dignity, consciences, and health of all. They note in their latest letter that quote “The health care debate, with all its political and ideological conflict, seems to have lost its central moral focus and policy priority, which is to ensure that affordable, quality, life-giving care is available” unquote.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 5:
Douglas Alexander, the British Secretary of State for International Development met with Pope Benedict today to thank him for the Church's role in international aid, especially for the earthquake victims in Haiti.

Today's edition of L'Osservatore Romano featured an article by Alexander, in which he noted that a quarter of all health care in sub-Saharan Africa is provided by the Catholic Church, and that Catholic schools serve nearly 12 million students, "offering opportunities to many people there."

Story 6:
John Mortensen, a Wyoming Catholic College professor and lay theologian, was selected to receive a prize given by the Coordination Council of the Pontifical Academies. This announcement was made today by Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, the president of the Pontifical Council for Culture. Archbishop Ravasi added that Mortensen will receive the award Thursday at an audience the Pope will have with representatives of the academies.

The archbishop explained that the prize recognizes "young investigators, artists or institutions that have distinguished themselves in the promotion of Christian humanism."

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The late Venerable Pope John Paul II always took penitence seriously, spending entire nights lying with his arms outstretched on the bare floor, fasting before ordaining priests or bishops and other forms of mortification, said the promoter of his sainthood cause.

Msgr. Slaw o mir Oder, postulator of the late pope's cause, said John Paul used self-mortification both to affirm the primacy of God and as an instrument for perfecting himself.

Earlier in the day, two Italian news sites reported that an October date had been set for the late Pope’s beatification, but Msgr. Oder said nothing could be confirmed until physicians, theologians and cardinals at the Congregation for Saints' Causes accept a miracle credited to the late pope's intercession and Pope Benedict formally signs a decree recognizing it.

Msgr. Oder's book, published only in Italian, is based largely on what he learned from the documents collected for the beatification process and from the sworn testimony of the 114 people who personally knew Pope John Paul and testified before the Rome diocesan tribunal investigating his holiness.

He also said the pope, who had a notorious sweet tooth, was extremely serious about maintaining the Lenten fast and would lose several pounds before Easter each year, but he also fasted before ordaining priests and bishops and for other special intentions.

I’ll be back with more after this. (insert PSAs)

Story 2:
As the Diocese of Fairbanks Alaska emerges from bankruptcy, Bishop Donald Kettler has agreed to personally meet with and offer apologies to any of the nearly 300 abuse victims who want to meet with him. Under the terms of a settlement, the bishop will also offer an apology at every parish where abuse occurred and will post a list of suspected abusers on the diocesan web site for the next decade.

The Alaska apostolic vicariate-- raised to the dignity of a diocese in 1962-- was governed by Jesuit ordinaries and bishops from its founding in 1888 until 2000. The diocese has 15,600 Catholics, 46 parishes, and 20 priests. A Los Angeles Times photographer who documented the extent of abuse in the diocese was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize.

Story 3:
Thousands of Pakistani Christians attended the January 25 funeral of Shazia Bashir, a 12-year-old Catholic girl who had been brutally beaten, raped, and murdered three days earlier. The girl had worked as the servant of a prominent Muslim attorney in Lahore.
Seeking justice, Christians protested outside the regional parliament building on January 23. It took local authorities 18 hours to register the murder case. After the national government intervened, six arrests were made.

0.7% of the nation’s 159.6 million people are Catholic.

Story 4:
Following the siege of a parish in Hanoi, the brutal beating of religious, and the desecration of a crucifix, thousands of Vietnamese Catholics gathered on January 24 at the Redemptorist monastery in Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam to pray for the end of the persecution of the Church in the Asian nation. Earlier in the day, thousands of Catholics gathered at the cathedral in Hanoi to pray for the nation
.
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Story 5:
Replacing and repairing the infrastructure of the church in Haiti will take years, according to Archbishop Jose Gomez of San Antonio, head of the U.S. bishops' Subcommittee for the Church in Latin America.

The archbishop said quote, "the reported tragic loss of so many priests, sisters, seminarians and laity is irreplaceable. unquote" The bishops' annual Collection for the Church in Latin America was taken up the weekend of Jan. 23-24 in many dioceses but others will hold the collection over the next few weekends.

Story 6:
Catholics in the Diocese of Austin rejoiced this morning to hear the words “Habemus episcopum! after it announced that Auxiliary Bishop Jose Vásquez of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston is to be Austin’s new shepherd. Bishop Vásquez is the first Mexican-American to lead the diocese.

The Apostolic Nuncio to the U.S., Archbishop Pietro Sambi, made the announcement in Washington D.C. this morning. The installation ceremony will take place in Austin on March 8, 2010.

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Lead:
In a message embracing the potential of digital media, Pope Benedict has asked priests around the world to use Web sites, videos, and blogs as tools of pastoral ministry.

The Holy Father said quote "Priests stand at the threshold of a new era: as new technologies create deeper forms of relationship across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the media ever more effectively at the service of the Word," unquote

The message, released from the Vatican Jan. 23, was tailored to highlight World Communications Day, which will be celebrated May 16 in most dioceses.

The pope said that while priests should not abandon traditional methods of pastoral interaction, they cannot afford to pass up the opportunities offered by digital media. He said the recent, explosive growth and greater impact of these media technologies make them all the more pertinent.

The pope emphasized, however, that the church's role is not simply to fill up space on the Web. Its' goal is to express in the digital world something concrete and engaging.

For priests to effectively use new media, formation programs should teach them how to use these technologies in a competent and appropriate way, the papal message continued. This formation in digital media must be guided by sound theology and priestly spirituality, the message also said.

I’ll be back with more after this. (insert PSAs)

Story 2:
Despite overcast skies, the mood at Friday's annual March for Life in Washington was decidedly upbeat as speaker after speaker urged the crowd to keep up their efforts in the pro-life arena.

Speakers told the tens of thousands on the National Mall that they were now in the majority and would continue to make inroads in society and in government policies.

Others highlighted the pro-life movement's outreach efforts and urged participants to support pro-life doctors and pharmacists and to let members of their community know about the available pregnancy centers or post-abortion counseling programs.

With a backdrop of the US Capitol, over 20 Catholic bishops and 21 members of Congress joined pro-life leaders on the stage.

Story 3:
Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York led hundreds of Haitians in a funeral Mass at the ruins of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on Saturday. The Mass was for Archbishop Joseph Miot who died in the quake. The Mass also remembered the thousands of others killed during that same disaster.

Flying into the country’s capital aboard a plane filled with humanitarian aid, he arrived just as the government officially shifted its emphasis from search-and-rescue to clothing and housing survivors. Dolan, who is also Chairman of the Board for Catholic Relief Services, was invited by the apostolic nuncio to that country, Archbishop Bernardito Auza.

Francis Cardinal George also requested that Dolan represent the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at the event. According to a USCCB statement, as a "sign of the solidarity and concern" of the bishops for the people of Haiti, the conference's general secretary, Monsignor David Malloy, accompanied the prelate.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 5:
He was ranked as one of the best prospects for the Major Leagues. He was prepared for a professional career in baseball. It would have brought with it all of the accompanying “perks”: the salary, the adulation of fans, and the excitement of the sport.

However, something happened to Californian Grant Desme along the way. He heard the same call which has echoed for over two millennia by millions of other men. This young Catholic athlete has decided to accept the Lord’s invitation, and is entering the seminary to begin training for ordination as a priest.

Story 6:
A 424-page codex that honors Saint Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, with illustrations and writings in the spirit of the ancient monastic codices, has been presented to the Holy Father.

Benedictine Abbot Edmund Power presented the volume to the Pope this evening at the closing vespers of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which was held at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. The volume was inscribed with wishes from a wide range of patriarchs and participants in the meetings held at the Vatican.

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Last night, on the eve of today’s March for Life in Washington DC commemorating the 37th anniversary of the infamous US Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion on demand, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities praised the presence of young people in pro-life activities. He stated in his homily quote "A new generation is rising that will usher in a culture of life. We should not underestimate the role of young Catholics," unquote.

The cardinal observed young people know in their heart what is right and what is wrong when it comes to life and do not make some of the tortured distinctions that some of their elders have made. The Cardinal also lauded the work of leaders in the pro-life movement. Close to 200 of them were at the Mass, one of several events marking this anniversary. He included those working with youths, families and persons with disabilities, saying that pro-lifers work in "a wide variety of fields."

The cardinal also offered his views on the current health care reform legislation before Congress. He said the House and Senate versions of reform fail to uphold the dignity of people and freedom of conscience.

He said that while the House version of the bill reaffirmed the long-standing policy against using federal funds to cover elective abortions, the Senate stripped that provision from its bill.

I’ll be back with more after this. (insert 1:00 PSAs)

Story 2:
Pope Benedict XVI will soon appoint a coadjutor archbishop of Los Angeles, according to an American Catholic blogger. Writing on the Catholic Vote Action blog, Thomas Peters says that Cardinal Roger Mahony has approved the coadjutor, and an announcement is imminent. The coadjutor would succeed Cardinal Mahony when he retires.

Cardinal Mahony assumed his current post in 1985. However he is still a year short of the canonical retirement age at which he is obliged to submit his resignation. The Pope frequently delays the appointment of a successor, but the appointment of a coadjutor would indicate that his remaining tenure is limited. Cardinal Mahoney, who has faced controversy frequently in the nation’s most populous archdiocese over his handling of sex-abuse complaints, has indicated that he neither expects nor wants to extend his tenure.

Story 3:
Pope Benedict has confirmed Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in his post as the Vatican Secretary of State, L’Oservatore Romano is reporting today. The Holy Father declined to accept the resignation that Cardinal Bertone offered on his 75th birthday, in accordance with canon law.

In a recent letter, the Pope thanked Cardinal Bertone for his help over the years, noting that they had begun working together at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Pope Benedict said that he had long admired Cardinal Bertone’s clear grasp of doctrinal and canonical issues, as well as his discipline, dedication, and “humanity.”

The Secretary of State holds a position of enormous influence at the Vatican, supervising not only the foreign affairs of the Holy See but also the internal workings of the Vatican bureaucracy. In practice, all other offices of the Roman Curia, with the exception of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, report to the Secretary of State.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 5:
The bishops of Kenya have announced that they will oppose a new constitution being considered by the nation’s lawmakers unless it explicitly protects the right to life from conception to natural death.

25% of Kenya’s 37 million people are Catholics; approximately half are Protestant, 10% are Muslims, while 10% hold indigenous beliefs.

Story 6:
And speaking about cashing in on tragedy, The International Planned Parenthood Federation is using the Haiti earthquake to plead for emergency to support so-called family-planning clinics in the devastated country. This plea is in contrast with that taken by pro-life activists, who sent a medical team to Port au Prince to help women preparing for childbirth under extremely difficult conditions.

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