The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is warning that a Maryland-based ministry to gay and lesbian Catholics has neither the approval of the church nor the authority to speak on behalf of Catholics.

Cardinal Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, spoke about New Ways Ministry, founded in Mount Rainier in 1977 by the Rev. Robert Nugent and Sister Jeannine Gramick.

“No one should be misled by the claim that New Ways Ministry provides an authentic interpretation of Catholic teaching and an authentic Catholic pastoral practice,” George said in a statement issued late Friday. “Their claim to be Catholic only confuses the faithful regarding the authentic teaching and ministry of the Church with respect to persons with a homosexual inclination.”

Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, said the organization was “astonished” by George’s statement.

“New Ways Ministry will continue its bridge-building work between lesbian/gay Catholics and the Church because that work is needed now more than ever,” DeBernardo said in a response posted on the ministry’s Web site. “Cardinal George’s statement of February 5, 2010, will not impede or slow us in our efforts to work for justice for lesbian/gay people in the Church and society. …

When dealing with such a sensitive topic as homosexuality, it is not surprising that questions will arise from individual Church leaders. Yet, for more than three decades, New Ways Ministry has had its programs reviewed by scores of Catholic bishops, theologians, and pastoral leaders, and we have always been found to be firmly in line with authentic Catholic teaching.

Complete statements follow, after the jump.

Continue reading "Chief of U.S. bishops warns against Md. gay ministry" »

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For the second year, the archdiocese is sponsoring “The Light Is on for You,” a campaign of billboard, bus, Internet and television ads to encourage area Catholics to participate in the sacrament of Reconciliation during the 40-day period from Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17, to Easter, April 4.

“The Church needs to do a better job of educating our people about the spiritual benefits offered by the sacrament of Reconciliation, as well as the direct connection between Reconciliation and the reception of the Eucharist,” Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien said in a statement. “We are also hopeful that this initiative will lead people who have been away from the sacrament not only back to the confessional, but also back to the pews. We hope it helps them to deepen their faith, while also knocking down some of the myths and stereotypes associated with confession.”

More than 8,000 area Catholics participated in the sacrament during Lent 2009, including many who were going to confession for the first time in many years, the archdiocese says.
Approximately 11 percent of Catholics go to confession at least once a year, the archdiocese says. In 1965, 38 percent of American Catholics went to confession at least once a month.

Last year, confessions were heard at a uniform time at parishes across the archdiocese. This year, parishes will set their own times each Wednesday during Lent (excluding Ash Wednesday and the Wednesday of Holy Week).

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Catholicism, Faith Practices
        

Pope Benedict XVI condemned the abuse of children by priests Monday, saying the church will never stop deploring such behavior, the Associated Press reports.

Benedict told members of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family that the church has shown its commitment to loving and respecting children and ensuring their basic human rights are respected, the AP reports.

"Unfortunately in some cases, some of its members — acting in contrast to this commitment — have violated these rights, a behavior that the church hasn't, and won't ever stop deploring and condemning," he said.

Benedict's comments came as he is finalizing a letter to the Irish faithful concerning Ireland's massive church sex abuse and cover-up scandal.

Irish government-ordered investigations published last year documented decades of abuse by priests as well as the church's Dickensian network of residences for troubled Irish boys and girls where physical, psychological and sexual abuse was rampant.

In addition, the investigations showed how the Dublin Archdiocese covered up the abuse.
The U.S.-based victims support group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests called Benedict's comments Monday "meaningless and self-serving."

"How many times does the pope get to 'condemn' clergy sexual abuse while doing virtually nothing to stop it?" asked Barbara Dorris, the group's outreach director. "How many times will he try to divert attention away from the complicity of bishops and focus exclusively on the crimes of the predators?"

Read the Associated Press story.

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An American missionary who was held in North Korea for more than a month was released on Friday, but the 10 Baptists in Haiti don’t appear to be going anywhere soon.

The Baptists in Haiti, who have been charged with child kidnapping after attempting to take 33 children out of the country without proper documentation, returned to jail Friday after failing to persuade a judge to grant them provisional release pending the outcome of their case, the Associated Press reports:

The weary looking Americans were led one by one into the back of a police van after spending half the day at a courthouse in the rubble-strewn capital. A judge scheduled three more days of hearings next week, starting Monday, defense attorney Edwin Coq told reporters.

Haitian officials at the court declined to answer questions from journalists about the case. The missionaries did not respond to questions and Coq said they had been ordered by the judge not to discuss their case.

The lawyer said that at least nine of the Americans — all but the group's leader, Laura Silsby — clearly did not know they lacked the proper papers to remove 33 children from Haiti following the devastating earthquake and they should be immediately released.

"They came to Haiti to help. They came in solidarity," he said. "It is scandalous that they are being detained."

On the other side of the world, meanwhile, Robert Park was freed by North Korea, which had detained him for illegally crossing its border from China on Christmas Day. Again from the AP:

Robert Park, appearing pale and drawn, did not say anything as U.S. consular officials escorted him from the North Korean plane at Beijing's airport.

U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Susan Stevenson said Park would leave later in the day for the United States.

On Friday, North Korea announced it would free Park, saying he had shown "sincere repentance."

Park, 28, slipped across the frozen Tumen River into North Korea carrying letters calling on leader Kim Jong Il to close the country's notoriously brutal prison camps and step down from power — acts that could risk a death sentence in the totalitarian nation.

However, the North Korean government "decided to leniently forgive and release him, taking his admission and sincere repentance of his wrongdoings into consideration," the official Korean Central News Agency said.

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News of postponements, cancellations and closings (churches, synagogues, mosques and other faith-based institutions: contact us to get a notice placed here):

From the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore:

Archbishop [Edwin F.] O'Brien is reminding Catholics in the Archdiocese of Baltimore that Church law excuses them from fulfilling the Sunday obligation to attend Mass due to a grave cause, such as unsafe travel due to severe weather conditions.

Those who cannot safely attend Mass are encouraged to listen to the Sunday radio Mass on WBAL-AM 1090 at 9:30 a.m. or watch the TV Mass on the Eternal Word Television Network. Check www.ewtn.com for listings.

From the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland:

Many of the Diocesan Center employees will be working from home Friday, Feb. 5, and will be checking e-mail and voicemail messages from home. The Diocesan Center will close at 12 p.m.

Clergy and Parish Leaders: In the event of a major snowstorm you might decide to cancel Sunday services. Here are some tips to help spread the word about your church's decision.

Church members and clergy: Here are some things you can do when church is closed ...

Individual houses of worship:

New Hope Community Church, Pikesville: all weekend activities cancelled

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Frederick County authorities have filed child abuse charges against a Catholic priest for alleged offenses against an altar boy in 1976, the Associated Press reports.

Monsignor Thomas Bevan, 73, of Cascade, who was removed as pastor of St. Patrick Church in Cumberland last August, was released on $25,000 bail Thursday, the AP reports. He was indicted on two counts of child abuse Jan. 22 but the charges were kept sealed until Thursday, when an arrest warrant was served.

Assistant State’s Attorney Lindell Angel says Bevan sexually abused a 10-year-old boy in 1976 when Bevan was associate pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Frederick, the AP reports.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore removed Bevan in August pending an investigation into allegations by an individual that Bevan abused him on a number of occasions when he was a student at the parish school of St. John Catholic Church in Frederick during the mid-1970s. In 2005, the archdiocese had investigated a similar allegation by a different individual, but concluded that there was not sufficient evidence at the time to remove him.

After the archdiocese announced Bevan’s removal in August, two more individuals reported that he had abused them when they were students at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School in Middle River during the mid-1970s, O’Brien said. None of the individuals knew any of the others.

In November, the archdiocese concluded that allegations of child sexual abuse against Bevan were credible and announced it would not allow him to return to active ministry. Bevan denied the allegations of the four individuals, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien wrote in a letter to parishioners at St. Patrick.

O’Brien said counseling assistance had been offered to the four individuals and to Bevan. O’Brien said Bevan’s faculties to function as a priest have been permanently revoked, and Bevan has agreed that he will no longer act publicly as a priest.

Ordained in 1963, Bevan was associate pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Middle River from 1963 to 1974, associate pastor of St. John in Frederick from 1974 to 1979 and pastor of St. Mark in Fallston from 1979 to 1991. He was a temporary administrator at St. Mary in Cumberland from 1991 to 1992 and at St. Patrick in Mount Savage in 1992.

While at Mount Carmel, he taught at the parish high school; while at St. John, he taught at Mount St. Mary's. He also has been executive director of the Secretariat for Priestly Life & Ministry for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (now the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops), and has worked in the archdiocese's Office of Clergy Education.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 2:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Plans by the lay Catholic business group Legatus to honor the former president for his pro-life activities at its annual summit this weekend in Orange County, Calif., have drawn protests from critics who say the label should mean more than simply opposition to abortion.

"It's an Orwellian irony because Bush has caused so many deaths with an illegal war," activist Sharon Tipton told the Orange County Register. Her Orange County Peace Coalition planned to protest outside the resort where the former president is to appear Friday.

Legatus executive director John Hunt said Bush is “very deserving” of the Cardinal John J. O'Connor Pro-Life Award.

"You could argue that he was the most pro-life president in our lifetime," he told Zenit. "He is very deserving, and since he is coming to us, we wanted to use this as an opportunity to tell him in a very specific and tangible way how appreciative we are."

John Gehring of the social justice-oriented lay group Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good said the award “raises an essential question that should challenge both political parties and underscores the limits of labels: What does it mean to be pro-life?”

For some, that question is answered simply by evoking opposition to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. This landmark ruling has defined a generation of political polarization and fueled bitter culture wars that reward the shrillest voices. A singular focus on abortion as the only pro-life issue has also severely narrowed our national discourse about moral values in the public square.

While the former president spoke eloquently about the sacred dignity of life, as governor of Texas his state led the nation in executions. His presidency is remembered for a legacy that often undermined lofty rhetorical appeals to human dignity. Preemptive war, torture, a reckless disregard for the environment and economic policies that left the poor farther behind even as the wealthy grew more prosperous is not a proud record in defense of life. It also fails to honor the broad spectrum of Catholic social teaching, which stresses a consistent ethic of life often referred to as a “seamless garment” because one life issue can’t be easily separated from another. Catholic teaching has a rich and expansive vision that recognizes seeking peace, caring for the poor, the unborn, the immigrant and our environment -- “promoting the common good in all its forms” in the words of Pope Benedict XVI -- are all integral. Catholicism is not a single-issue faith, and no political party has a monopoly on moral values. …

Neither political party can truly claim the “pro-life” mantle. In general, Democrats perform better when it comes to anti-poverty initiatives and protecting vital social safety nets, but often don’t grapple seriously enough with the reality of over one million abortions performed a year. Many Republicans trumpet their pro-life bona fides, yet fail to back up their rhetoric by fighting for robust social policies that help pregnant women and vulnerable families. Despite intense lobbying from the Catholic Health Association and other faith-based organizations, Bush twice vetoed legislative efforts to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which helps states provide health insurance to children from low-income and working families. Sr. Carol Keehan, CEO of the Catholic Health Association and a respected lobbyist on Capitol Hill, recently described SCHIP as “clearly a pro-life program.” President Obama reauthorized the program last year, and it’s now on track to provide more than 14 million children quality health care.

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As 10 American Baptists wait to appear before a Haitian prosecutor, Associated Press writer Frank Babjak has traveled to Callebas, the village half an hour from Port-au-Prince from which the children they are accused of trying to take out of the country came.

There, Babjak writes, parents tell him they willingly handed their children over in hopes of giving them a better life. He notes that their account contracticts that of the Baptists' leader.

His dispatch begins:

CALLEBAS, Haiti – Parents in this quake-wracked Haitian village unable to feed or clothe their children handed the youngsters over to a group of American missionaries who promised to give them a better life.

In a testament to the misery of a nation that was the western hemisphere's poorest even before a Jan. 12 earthquake, many Callebas parents say they wouldn't know what to do if they had to take the children back.

"I am living in a tent with a friend," said Laurentius Lelly, a 27-year-old computer technician who gave up his two children, ages 4 and 6. "My main concern is that if the kids come back I'm not going to be able to feed them."

The Americans were to appear Thursday before a prosecutor who will decide whether to file charges or release them, Communications Minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue told the AP.

The stories the parents told The Associated Press on Wednesday in this village a half hour from the capital contradict claims by the Baptist group's leader that the children came from orphanages or were handed over by distant relatives.

The 10 Baptists, most from Idaho, were arrested last week trying to take 33 Haitian children across the border into the Dominican Republic without the required documents, according to Haitian authorities.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)
        

The Rev. Jason Poling is the pastor of New Hope Community Church in Pikesville.

Our long metropolitan nightmare is nearly over. Today marks not only the first day of a new administration in City Hall but the last day of the old one. Practically speaking, Sheila Dixon’s ability to exercise real power as Mayor ended with the announcement that a jury of her peers had found her guilty of misappropriating gift cards. But today the formal reins of power will be transferred to Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. The apostle Paul wrote to his lieutenant Timothy that “first of all, I urge that prayers be offered for kings and all those in authority,” words that all of us living in or near Baltimore would do well to heed.

But in many respects the more important terminal time for Sheila Dixon is not noon, when her successor will be sworn in, but 9:00, when she will be formally sentenced according to the plea agreement reached with prosecutors. Wednesday’s Sun carried an op-ed by Dixon that was remarkable only for its resolute refusal to take note of the elephant in the living room. There is nothing at all unusual about politicians singing their own praises and boasting of their accomplishments, but in the present context it had the feel of Tiger Woods telling his wife about the great putts he made on the tour last year.

Arising from Dixon’s conviction was the strong sense among virtually all constituencies that she owed the city an apology. Yet shortly after the jury’s verdict was announced in early December she offered a statement that bore only a faint resemblance to one: “I deeply regret,” she said, “that the citizens of Baltimore have had to go through this ordeal with me.”

She expressed regret, but she did not express any remorse for the ways in which her own ethical failings had put “the citizens of Baltimore” in the position where they “had to go through this ordeal.” You can regret all sorts of things without owning any personal responsibility for them — I will say, “I’m sorry” to someone whose pet has died, but we both know that I’m expressing sympathy rather than admitting guilt. But to express regret when remorse is in order…well, that’s basically saying that you’re sorry not for what you did but for getting caught doing it.

Continue reading "Guest post: Apologies real and imagined, Part I" »

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On the day after the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences announced its award nominees, Beliefnet is releasing candidates for its own film prizes. We note some overlap with the Oscars (category names link with video at Beliefnet.com):

Best Spiritual Film

“Avatar”
“The Road”
“The Stoning of Soraya M.”
“A Serious Man”
“The Blind Side”

Best Spiritual Documentary

“More Than a Game”
“Enlighten Up!”
“Oh My God”
“Unmistaken Child”
“Earth”

Best Inspirational Film

“Precious”
“Up”
“American Violet”
“Away We Go”
“Invictus”

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)
        

Five of the 10 American Baptist missionaries accused of illegally trying to take children out of earthquake-shattered Haiti left their jail cells temporarily to plead their case to a judge on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports.

The missionaries were arrested on Friday trying to cross into the Dominican Republic from Haiti with a busload of 33 children they said were orphaned by the January 12 quake. They denied charges they were engaged in child trafficking, insisting they were trying to help vulnerable orphans.

Haitian police have said some of the children have living parents.

The case could be diplomatically sensitive at a time when the United States is spearheading a huge relief effort to help hundreds of thousands of Haitian quake victims, and as U.S. aid groups pour millions of dollars of donations into Haiti.

The five missionaries were questioned behind closed doors at Haiti's judicial police headquarters in Port-au-Prince, where they are being held behind bars.

They were escorted from their cells by uniformed Haitian National Police officers to a separate room where the judge awaited along with a clerk and a translator.

"I heard five of them. Then I will hear the other five tomorrow," Judge Ezaie Pierre-Louis said. "After the hearing tomorrow, I will make a report to the prosecutor, then he will decide what he does next."

Communications Minister Marie-Laurence Lassegue said the missionaries did not have lawyers present.

Read the Associated Press story.

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Pope Benedict XVI's condemnation this week of British equality legislation designed to protect gays and women in the workplace has deepened the battle lines between the Vatican and secularists, who demand that taxpayers not foot the security bill for his newly announced September visit, the Associated Press reports.

From the story by AP writer Robert Barr:

The Roman Catholic Church's steadfast opposition to allowing gays to become priests or having rights such as adoption puts it at odds with changing attitudes in Britain, where acceptance of homosexuality has increased dramatically in recent decades.

"I am sure many others feel the same resentment as we do at the National Secular Society at funding the presence of someone who wishes to impose a reactionary agenda of social change on us," said the group's president, Terry Sanderson.

The society said it would stage a film festival during Benedict's visit, featuring "The Magdalene Sisters," about Catholic nuns' harsh care of teenage mothers in Ireland, and "The Boys of St Vincent," about sexual abuse at a Catholic orphanage in Canada. Other protests are planned.

It's not the only conflict between Britons and the pontiff. Benedict recently surprised the Church of England by inviting traditionalist Anglicans who oppose women priests and bishops into the Roman Catholic fold, and riled Muslims four years ago by quoting a medieval description of the Prophet Muhammad's teachings as "evil and inhuman."

The 82-year-old Benedict, who was the Vatican's chief doctrinal enforcer before succeeding John Paul II in 2005, has put a firm, conservative stamp on his papacy. Reinvigorating the faith in an increasingly secular Europe has been a central mission of his papacy.

In an address to English bishops on Monday in which he confirmed his planned visit, Benedict said some British legislation had imposed "unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs." Benedict did not make a specific complaint about equality acts past or pending, but complained that the law had in some cases violated "the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed."

Read the Associated Press story.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 5:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
        

The Rev. Peter Morales, recently elected the first Latino president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, is scheduled to preach on “Religion Beyond Belief” at the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday morning services on February 7th at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia in the Owen Brown Interfaith Center at 7246 Cradlerock Way.

“We are honored and thrilled to have Rev. Morales as our guest,” the Rev. Paige Getty said in a statement. “I love his vision that Unitarian Universalism is the religion of our time.”

The UUA is the coordinating body for more than 1,000 member congregations throughout North America. Morales was elected on a platform of growth and multiculturalism, with particular attention to immigration and the environment.

Prior to his election, he served as the senior minister at Jefferson Unitarian Church in Golden, Col. Before entering the ministry, Morales was a Fulbright lecturer in Spain, a newspaper editor and publisher in Oregon, a Knight International Press Fellow in Peru, and a regional manager in California state government.

The Unitarian Universalist Association describes Unitarian Universalism as “A liberal religion with Jewish-Christian roots. It has no creed. It affirms the worth of human beings, advocates freedom of belief and the search for advancing truth, and tries to provide a warm, open, supportive community for people who believe that ethical living is the supreme witness of religion.”

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Events, People, Unitarian Universalism
        

The Air Force Academy, the subject in recent years of complaints of religious proselytizing by Evangelical Christians, is planning to add a worship area for Wiccans, Druids and followers of other Earth-centered religions.

With plans for a dedication in March, the hilltop circle is to be the latest addition to a collection of worship areas that includes Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist sacred spaces, according to an academy release.

Tech. Sgt. Brandon Longcrier, NCO in charge of the Academy's Astronautics laboratories, worked with the academy chapel to create the official worship area for both cadets and other servicemembers in the Colorado Springs area, according to the release.

"Feel free to check the site out, but treat it as you would any other religious structure," said Longcrier, who became a Pagan shortly after arriving at the academy. He says academy chaplains have backed the effort.

"There really haven't been any obstacles for the new circle," he said. "The chaplain's office has been 100-percent supportive."

"Every servicemember is charged with defending freedom for all Americans, and that includes freedom to practice our religion of choice or, for that matter, not to practice any faith at all," said Lt. Col. William Ziegler, Cadet Wing chaplain. "Being in the military isn't just a job -- it's a calling. We all take an oath to support and defend the Constitution, and that means we've all sworn to protect one another's religious liberties. We all put on our uniforms the same way; we're all Airmen first."

Longcrier says the climate at the academy for practitioners of Earth-centered religions “has improved dramatically” since his arrival.

"When I first arrived here, Earth-centered cadets didn't have anywhere to call home," he said. "Now, they meet every Monday night, they get to go on retreats, and they have a stone circle. ... We have representation on the Cadet Interfaith Council, and I even meet with the Chaplains at Peterson Air Force Base once a year to discuss religious climate."

Continue reading "AF Academy embraces Wiccans, Pagans, Druids" »

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A Muslim prayer leader accused of encouraging his followers to commit violence against the U.S. government was shot 20 times during an FBI raid at a suburban warehouse last fall, the Associated Press reports.

The autopsy was completed a month after Luqman Ameen Abdullah's death, but Dearborn police were granted a delay in releasing the results while they investigate the Oct. 28 shooting, said Dr. Carl Schmidt, Wayne County's chief medical examiner.

Abdullah, 53, died instantly, he said. The FBI says agents were trying to arrest Abdullah at a Dearborn warehouse when he resisted and fired a gun.

Schmidt said Abdullah's body was handcuffed and on the floor of a semitrailer when his investigator arrived at the shooting scene.

"You cannot tell by the gunshot wounds whether he was lying down, standing up, sitting" when he was shot, Schmidt told reporters. "It is impossible to say which one was the fatal gunshot wound. It was a combination of gunshot wounds."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has demanded an independent investigation of the shooting.

“The shocking details of the imam’s autopsy raise a number of disturbing questions that need to be answered,” Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR’s Michigan chapter, said in a statement over the weekend after a leak apparently suggested Abdullah had been shot 21 times.

“First of all, did the FBI agents follow established procedure when they shot the imam 21 times?" Walid asked. "How was the imam shot in the back? Was it proper procedure to handcuff either a dead body or a mortally-wounded suspect? If the agents found the imam alive following the shooting, did they call for medical assistance? All these questions need answers.”

FBI spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold said anyone subject to an arrest warrant is handcuffed "no matter what the circumstances" for the safety of agents and the public.

Read the Associated Press story.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 7:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Islam
        

Haiti's prime minister said Monday it's clear to him that the 10 U.S. Baptists who tried to take 33 children out of his quake-ravaged country without permission "knew what they were doing was wrong," the Associated Press reports.
But Prime Minister Max Bellerive also told the AP his country is open to having the Americans go before courts in the United States because his own nation's judicial system was devastated by the Jan. 12 earthquake.

The aborted Baptist "rescue mission" has become a distraction for a crippled government trying to provide basic life support to millions of earthquake survivors.

But the prime minister said some legal system needs to determine whether the Americans were acting in good faith — as they claim — or are child traffickers in a nation that has struggled to fight exploitation of children.

"It is clear now that they were trying to cross the border without papers. It is clear now that some of the children have live parents," he told the AP.

"And it is clear now that they knew what they were doing was wrong."

Read the Associated Press story.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (13)
        

Ten U.S. Baptists arrested trying to take 33 children out of earthquake-shattered Haiti say they were just trying to do the right thing, applying Christian principles to save Haitian children, the Associated Press reports.

Prime Minister Max Bellerive told The Associated Press Sunday he was outraged by the group's "illegal trafficking of children" in a country long afflicted by the scourge and by foreign meddling.

But the hard reality on the ground in this desperately poor country — especially after the catastrophic Jan. 12 quake — is that some parents openly attest to their willingness to part with their children if it will mean a better life.

It was a sentiment expressed by all but one of some 20 Haitian parents interviewed at a tent camp Sunday that teemed with children whose toys were hewn from garbage.

"Some parents I know have already given their children to foreigners," said Adonis Helman, 44. "I've been thinking how I will choose which one I may give — probably my youngest."

Haiti's overwhelmed government has halted all adoptions unless they were in motion before the quake amid fears that parentless or lost children are more vulnerable than ever to being seized and sold.

Read the Associated Press story.

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Jurors swiftly convicted an abortion opponent of murder Friday for shooting to death one of the only doctors to offer late-term abortions in the U.S., a killing the gunman claimed was justified to save the lives of unborn children, the Associated Press reports.

The jury deliberated for just 37 minutes before finding Scott Roeder, 51, of Kansas City, Mo., guilty of premeditated, first-degree murder for putting a gun to the forehead of Dr. George Tiller on May 31 and pulling the trigger.

Defense attorney Mark Rudy described his case as helpless and hopeless.

"I've never seen anyone lay himself out as much as Mr. Roeder did," Rudy said after the verdict, referring to his client's confessions.

Roeder faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years when he is sentenced March 9. Prosecutor Nola Foulston said she would pursue a so-called "Hard 50" sentence, which would require Roeder to serve at least 50 years before he can be considered for parole.

Tiller's widow, Jeanne, and the rest of the family quickly exited the courtroom after the verdict. In a statement, Jeanne Tiller said "once again, a Sedgwick County jury has reached a just verdict."

Continue reading "Roeder convicted of murdering Tiller" »

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As if in response to BankStreet's comment to Pattycakers 2K10 earlier Friday, Pope Benedict XVI has urged church tribunals to work harder to encourage couples to stay married and not resort to granting annulments "at all costs."

An annulment is the process by which the church effectively declares that a marriage never took place. Many Catholics seek them so they can remarry in the church and continued to receive Communion.

Benedict told members of the Roman Rota, the Vatican tribunal that decides marriage annulments, that they shouldn't confuse "pastoral charity" in granting annulments with their need to uphold church law, the Associated Press reports.

The Vatican's concern largely is directed at the United States, which in 2006 had more annulment cases launched than the rest of the world combined.

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)
        

Days after flying a planeload of supplies and Scientologists to Haiti, John Travolta spoke about how faith in the controversial religion helped his family to deal with the death last year of his 16-year-old son, Jett.

"We work hard every day with our church on healing," Travolta told the Associated Press, though he did not mention Scientology by name. "And Kelly and I and Ella have all been working very hard and they've been helping us," he said, referring to himself, wife Kelly Preston and their daughter.

Asked by AP writer Rob Merrill what gave him the strength to return to his movie career, Travolta said, "Once you get yourself stable, then you're able to reach out again, you know, and I think this whole year every day we've been working on stabilizing ourselves and it's been successful so far."

Posted by Matthew Hay Brown at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)