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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:
About 3,000 catechumens will be received into the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Hong Kong. Two of their first Rites of Election were held this last Sunday. During his homily at one service in St. Francis Parish, Hong Kong Bishop John Tong spoke on the theme of living water, saying that constant prayer is the best way to receive the “living water” of Jesus.
He encouraged the catechumens to always reflect on the Word of God and to distance themselves from “all things that are incompatible with the faith.”

During the service the bishop handed over the Scriptures to the catechumens in order to symbolized that the Word of God can become their life’s companion and keep the flame of faith alive in their hearts.

The next Rites of Election will be held March 14 in St. Andrew and St. Benedict Parishes, according to the Diocesan website. Two more services will be held March 21 in St. Andrew and Christ the King parishes.

Last year, over 2,700 catechumens took part in Lenten Rites of Election in the diocese.
According to the diocese’s web site, there were about 250,000 Catholics in Hong Kong in 2007. Hong Kong’s population numbers almost seven million people, according to the World Bank’s 2008 figures.

I’ll be back with more after this.
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Story 2:
Nearly one million Spaniards marched in cities across the country on March 7 defending the right to life of the unborn and demanding that the government revoke Spain's new law on abortion recently passed by the Senate and signed by King Juan Carlos. Over 300 pro-life organizations collaborated in the “International March for Life 2010,” which was held last Sunday in numerous cities across Spain. The largest march took place in Madrid, where 600,000 people, including many families, dressed in red t-shirts and carried signs and banners. Bishop Juan Pla remarked that by signing the bill into law liberalizing abortion, King Juan Carlos has actively cooperated with evil.

Story 3:
In a statement released yesterday, the bishops of the Catholic Conference of Arizona told state lawmakers that they fear proposed legislation cracking down on illegal immigrants will intimidate them into not reporting criminal activity when they are victims and cause a spike in crime rates. Currently, Senate Bill 1070 and House Bill 2632, which are identical, would require local police to enforce immigration laws more stringently. However, the bishops are concerned “that the present language of these bills does not clearly state that undocumented persons who become victims of crime can come forward without fear of deportation.”

Story 4:
The president of the Christian Liberation Movement in Cuba, Oswaldo Paya, issued a statement last week encouraging the efforts of human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience in the country, but asked that their demands be made without resorting to hunger strikes. His statement explained that hunger strikes by defenders of human rights and prisoners of conscience are often a last resort for those suffering abuse. Paya noted that that his movement does not "encourage hunger strikes, and called for an end to them so the prisoners “do not harm their health or lose their valuable lives.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 5:
The National Commission of Reconciliation, led by the President of the Columbian Bishops’ Conference, has called on political and social organizations in the country to sign a National Accord for Peace and Reconciliation. The accord is intended to create a consensus among sectors of Colombian society to establish the minimum conditions necessary for overcoming the armed conflict within the country. It encompasses the need for Colombia to take part in the globalized world and recognizes and supports the principle of international co-responsibility and welcomes the cooperation of the international community.

Story 6:
An Indiana woman who thought she was calling a Planned Parenthood clinic about her appointment for an abortion instead found the support she needed to decide to bring her child to term. A young woman in Indianapolis, Indiana, had sent her children to school and childcare at a friend’s house when she noticed she was late for her appointment at Planned Parenthood. Though she thought she was calling that organization to see if she could still have the abortion, she misdialed the number and instead called the cell phone of 40 Days for Life Indianapolis, whose counselors helped her choose life.

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

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Click on link in the top box under Catholic Information Network at the right to listen. This will open up a new window with an embedded player.

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I’m Bryan Douglas in Philadelphia, and at this hour….
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Lead:
Bishop-elect of Scranton Joseph C. Bambera has lamented the “unexpected and untimely death” of a priest who struggled with drug problems.

Fr. James B. Shimsky, 50, died on Thursday at St. Mary’s Hospital at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He had been at an addiction treatment facility in the area but had been admitted to the hospital for a medical problem, a press release from the Diocese of Scranton says.

According to the Scranton Times-Tribune, the Scranton native was arrested Jan. 30 after police said he was seen buying cocaine from his parked car in North Philadelphia. He had been on a leave of absence from the diocese since Feb. 1.

After studies at the University of Scranton and Pope John XXIII Seminary in Weston, Mass. Fr. Shimsky was ordained in June 2001. He served as assistant pastor at several parishes and was a chaplain at St. Michael’s School in Tunkhannock. He directed Hispanic ministry for the Greater Wilkes-Barre Area, and was a promoter of the Holy Name and the Sacred Heart and Rosary Societies in Wilkes-Barre.

In his last assignment he was pastor of Corpus Christi parish in Montdale, Pa.

.I’ll be back with more after this.
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Story 2:
Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa gave the first of three Lenten meditations last Friday in the Redemptoris Mater chapel of the Apostolic Palace. He emphasized the importance and meaning of grace within the Church and warned of a tendency in the Western world to reject it. L'Osservatore Romano summarized the meditation of the preacher of the Pontifical Household in the simple sentence, "God is accepted as a gift, one does not conquer him." Within Christianity, the papal preacher explained, there are duties and commandments, but the level of the commandments take second place, "before them is the level of the gift, of grace." "It is from the gift that duty springs, not vice versa," he said. He emphasized that Satan's attitude can be seen in certain elements of Western society today. "The rejection of Christianity," in addition to denying the Church and Christian he said, "is the rejection of grace."

Story 3:
The Archdiocese of Denver is defending its decision to not readmit a local same-sex couple's child into a Catholic school, saying quote, “Parents living in open discord with Catholic teaching in areas of faith and morals unfortunately choose by their actions to disqualify their children from enrollment” unquote. The Archdiosean admission policy states clearly that n person shall be admitted as a student in any Catholic school unless that person and their parent(s) subscribe to the school’s philosophy and agree to abide by the educational policies and regulations of the school and Archdiocese.

Story 4:
An official with the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference has said that the bishops would work to secure a “key vote” for the progress of the Senate health care reform bill if an acceptable agreement on abortion funding restrictions is reached with House leaders. The USCCB supported the amendment by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), which added strong restrictions on the funding of abortion to the House health care legislation, in keeping with the Hyde Amendment. However, that provision did not make it into the present Senate version of the bill.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 5:
Early last week, a delegation of Catholic bishops from the U.S. toured Port-au-Prince, the recently-devastated capital of Haiti. During their stay, the prelates visited the Louverture Cleary School, a tuition-free, Catholic, co-ed, secondary boarding school for under-privileged Haitian children. The prelates then visited the graves of Archbishop Joseph Miot and Fr. Charles Benoit, the vicar general of Port-au-Prince, who were killed during the earthquake. The deacon accompanying the group pointed out that the lettering on Archbishop Miot’s tomb was done by a volunteer for the relief agency overseeing the visit.

Story 6:
Pop Benedict told parishioners of a Roman parish yesterday that there is a need to change mentalities, so as to see laypeople as co-responsible for the Church, not merely as simple collaborators with the clergy. Regarding movements and new ecclesial communities, he lauded the fact that the Church has been open to them from the beginning, thus developing a wider awareness of the Church and experiencing new forms of evangelization. However, he said quote: "I call on you to continue in this direction with courage but also to dedicate yourselves to bring all of these realities together into a unified pastoral project” unquote.

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

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Lead:
Leaders of the U.S. branch of the Traditional Anglican Communion have formally requested to enter into communion with the Catholic Church.

In a statement released from a meeting of the House of Bishops in Orlando, the Church announced quote “We, the House of Bishops of the Anglican Church in America of the Traditional Anglican Communion have met in Orlando, Florida, together with our Primate and the Reverend Christopher Phillips of the 'Anglican Use' Parish of Our Lady of the Atonement (San Antonio, Texas) and others At this meeting, the decision was made formally to request the implementation of the provisions of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus in the United States of America by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,” unquote.

The decision follows Pope Benedict's publication of “Anglicanorum coetibus,” which was released last year and addressed measures planned by the Vatican to allow Anglican communities to enter into communion with the Catholic Church.

For this to happen, each diocese will have to meet for an individual synod and eventually come together for a national one. It is believe that although there could be initial resistance among some within the Anglican community, eventually, once things are clarified, unification on the move should not be an issue.

I’ll be back with more after this.
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Story 2:
Pope Benedict has nominated four clergymen from within the Vatican to the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses on Thursday. The new members will work to celebrate and prepare the 50th International Eucharistic Congress, which will take place in Dublin in 2012. Organizers in Ireland describe the upcoming Eucharistic Congress as an international gathering of people which aims to: promote an awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church, and to help improve understanding and celebration of the liturgy . Congresses take place every four years and offer liturgical and cultural events along with lectures and workshops to the faithful. The theme for the 2012 International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) is “The Eucharist: Communion with Christ and with one another.”

Story 3:
The Obama administration has endorsed a proposal to create a new U.N. “super agency” to advance extremist feminist ideology, the Population Research Institute (PRI) says. The organization warns the agency could engage in “cultural imperialism” in service to radical causes. The proposed agency is supported by a consortium of radical feminist organizations called the Gender Equality Architecture Reform Campaign (GEAR). The proposal came at the New York meeting of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women. The Obama administration and the European Union immediately seconded the proposal, which appears to have a good chance at passage.

Story 4:
An attorney in Michigan defending a woman charged with smothering her newborn daughter to death has claimed that a judge’s Catholic religion and affiliation with Ave Maria Law School will color his judgment. The lawyer argued the judge’s work at the school was equivalent to attending a Ku Klux Klan meeting while trying a black man. At a Tuesday hearing Judge Timothy Kenny ruled that that the lawyer’s argument that the judge was biased was “not persuasive,” the Detroit Free Press reports.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 5:
Progress toward the beatification of Pope John Paul II may be delayed, a Polish newspaper reports, because doctors examining a reported miracle have been unable to reach a consensus. A Vatican official told the ANSA news agency that the team of doctors examining the reported miracle had not yet reached a finding, and their report is not expected until after Easter. However the Warsaw newspaper said that the doctors were split on the case. Vatican officials have cautioned, however, against attaching too much significance to the report.

Story 6:
The US bishops' conference will push for the approval of the health-care reform legislation if the current Senate bill is amended to include the pro-life language contained in the version passed by the House. President Obama and the Democrat Party have indicated that they will push for House approval of the Senate bill. The USSCB has signaled that the Senate bill is unacceptable because it allows for abortion subsidies and fails to protect the conscience rights of health-care personnel. A majority of the US voters in a latest poll are not in favor of the bill, which is not mentioned in the USCCB statement.

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

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Click on link in the top box under Catholic Information Network at the right to listen. This will open up a new window with an embedded player.

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I’m Bryan Douglas in Philadelphia, and at this hour….
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Lead:
A recent Wall Street Journal article has detailed an interview with Representative Bart Stupak in which he said he opposes the current Senate health care bill for reasons other than the issue of federally funded abortions.

Rep. Stupak said last night that if Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi brought the Senate health care bill to the floor he would find it very hard to vote for it even if they fixed the abortion language.

When he was asked whether or not he would for the Senate legislation as is, the Congressman responded, “nope.”

Besides taking issue with the Senate health care bill providing federally funded abortions, Representative. Stupak said that the House version of the bill had tighter restrictions on insurance companies as well as new payment methods that would help doctors provide quality service – neither of which are included in the Senate version.

The Michigan representative also takes issue with the fact that House members will be called to vote on the Senate bill without being assured the changes they've requested with the legislation will ever get approved. Congressman Stupak stepped into the national political spotlight last year when he introduced an amendment to the House health care reform bill that maintained the Hyde Amendment ban on using federal funds to pay for abortions. The Stupak Amendment passed in the House by a vote of 240-194 in November.

I’ll be back with more after this.
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Story 2:
The Holy Father will make a trip to Spain in November of this year, according to announcements from both sides of the Mediterranean on Wednesday. On Nov. 6 he will be in Santiago de Compostela for the Year of St. James celebrations and then visit Barcelona to bless Antoni Gaudi's famous and unique Holy Family Cathedral. The visit to the site of St. James' tomb comes on the 900th anniversary of the construction of the city's cathedral. Archbishop Julian Barrio confirmed the announcement in a press conference from the northwestern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela.

Story 3:
The former president of Poland and winner of the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize, Lech Walesa, sent a letter to the friends and family members of Orlando Tamayo, the Cuban prisoner of conscience who died in captivity last week. Walesa denounced the Cuban government for silently doing away with those who call for freedom and democracy. His death, Walesa continued, is another sign that the regime of the Castro brothers pays no attention to the urging of the international community to end its human rights violations.

Story 4:
Pope Benedict hopes to bring about a "reform of the reform" by suggesting rather than legislating changes in the liturgy, Monsignor Guido Marini, the papal master of ceremonies has revealed. In an interview with John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter, Marini said that the Pontiff would strongly encourage practices such as administering Communion to the faithful kneeling and on the tongue, the central placement of a visible crucifix on the altar, and the celebration of Mass ad orientem. But these would be "proposals," the liturgist said and does not anticipate formal papal directives to change the liturgy at this time.

This is Catholic Information News.

Story 5:
In a conversation with the Washington Post, Archbishop Donald Wuerl defended the decision to eliminate health-care benefits for the spouses of employees at Catholic Charities. The archdiocesan agency made the change in reaction to a new law that requires institutions in the District of Columbia to provide equal coverage for same-sex partners. The archbishop said that in light of the clear conflict between the law and the teachings of the Church, archdiocesan officials had "no choice" but to change their policy.

Story 6:
According to the prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives, the documents from Pope Pius XII's pontificate might be catalogued and ready for researchers in five years. There are some 16 million documents from Pius’ 1939-1958 pontificate. They have generated great interest due to the polemics surrounding Pius XII's aid to Jews during the Nazi era. Regarding those documents, Bishop Pagano said the Holy See would be willing to open the archives even tomorrow, since there is nothing to "fear" from them. But, he said, the documents must still be numbered, conserved, registered and ordered.

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

Newscast for 8 & 9PM tonight.
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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.