In Brief

Holy Father's Intentions

Pope John Paul II has announced the following general and missionary intentions for May and June 2002:

May

That Christians may live their faith consistently and so be credible witnesses to the hope of the Gospel.

That, with the help of Mary, Most Holy Virgin and Mother, the social and family vocation of women may be safeguarded and promoted in every country and culture.

June

That the leaders and members of different religions may cooperate in their search for world peace, based on conversion of heart and fraternal dialogue.

That the lay faithful, in virtue of their Baptism, may strive with all their strength to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world in their own environments.

Monumental Achievement

The Association for the Arch of Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the International Shrine of the Holy Innocents hope to erect the world's tallest monument as a tribute to the Mother of God—700 feet or 70 stories tall! Pro-life lawyers and Catholic lay leaders formed the Association for the Arch of Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Buffalo, NY, in January 2001, and it now has local chapters stretching from San Francisco to Boston to Melbourne, Australia.

Catholic leaders of the pro-life movement, including Fr. Frank A. Pavone, Fr. John Corapi, Fr. Richard J. Neuhaus, Judie Brown, and many others, support the project because it affirms the sanctity of the lives of the unborn.

The 700-foot monument is expected to cost $100,000,000! The non-profit Association for the Arch of Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is raising funds through its website (www.ArchofTriumph.org), its toll-free number (866) 200-6877, and its office: P.O. Box 394, Buffalo, NY, 14201. For more information, call the association's executive director, Laurence Behr (888) 200-6877, or email LDBehr@ArchofTriumph.org.

Catholic Textbook Hits the Mark

The first new Catholic history textbook published in 35 years will be in classrooms this fall. Produced by the Los Angeles-based Catholic Schools Textbook Project, All Ye Lands: World Cultures and Geography, for 6th graders, is due to be published July 2002. It's one in a series of five new Catholic history textbooks that are already in production for 5th through 9th grades.

Catholic Schools Textbook Project's second phase will see the release of textbooks for 1st through 4th grades before the start of the 2003 school year. Beyond covering standard themes and subjects, the new textbooks will use the latest technology in colorful graphics and illustration techniques and include vignettes about saints from different times-all calculated to capture the mind and imagination of today's visually driven and technically savvy children.

Seven U.S. bishops serve on the project's episcopal advisory board. The team of history scholars, researchers, and writers work under the direction of Rollin A. Lasseter, Ph.D. Lasseter is a noted Catholic University of Dallas professor who has taught history at the university and high school levels for more than 35 years, and who has served as an educational consultant and curriculum director for several secondary schools.

For more information, call (805) 987-9033, or write: The Catholic Schools Textbook Project, 2131 Via Tomas, Camarillo, CA 93010, or visit www.catholictextbookproject.com.

Discover God's Love Anew

The Pennsylvania Bishops have recently published A Guide to the Sacrament of Penance, an attractive four-color, 15-page pamphlet that speaks of our need for reconciliation and explains how we receive it. The pamphlet asks 14 questions about Confession, and answers each question in no more than two or three succinct paragraphs. The bishops explain the purpose of Confession, how the Church is able to forgive sins, why we continue to need forgiveness if we are "already saved," the necessity of the priest's role in forgiving sins, what happens in Confession, ways to prepare for the sacrament, and how one should go to Confession.

The bishops note that the guide is directed "in a special way to those who do not understand [the Sacrament of Reconciliation] or who have drifted away from its use." The bishops explain that "the Sacrament of Penance is not an invention of the Church. Rather, the Sacrament of Penance is Christ's gift to the Church to ensure the forgiveness he so generously extends will be made available to every member of the Church."

As a whole, the guide conveys the sentiments of its subtitle: "Discover God's Love Anew." The appendix includes an examination of conscience, an act of contrition, and a glossary of terms. The Pennsylvania bishops said that this handy little booklet is a response to Pope John Paul II's invitation "for renewed pastoral courage in ensuring that the day-to-day teaching of Christian communities persuasively and effectively presents the practice of the Sacrament of Reconciliation" (Novo Millennio Ineunte, no. 37).

Copies of the guide are available through Pennsylvania dioceses as well as the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference by calling (717) 238-9613 or visiting www.pacatholic.org. A Spanish version is also available.


Online Petition to Ban Human Cloning

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) has drafted an online petition for the federal ban of human cloning and partial birth abortion. ACLJ has already received over 60,000 signatures on the petition and has asked CUF to promote this cause to preserve the sanctity of human life. Those who would like to give their support can sign the petition at http://www.aclj.org/petitions/humancloning/petition.asp. Please pray for the success of this petition drive.


Pope Encourages Future Priests to Study in Rome

In a February 2002 message to Argentina's bishops on the inauguration of the Argentine Priests College, Pope John Paul II encouraged priests and seminarians to study in Rome and discover new horizons for their work of evangelization. While residing in Rome, students can pursue their studies at the pontifical universities and athenaeums of Rome.

The Holy Father believes that the Eternal City allows students the chance to meet their counterparts from other parts of the world and to benefit from contacts with "different ecclesial realities." The Pope said that students could also visit the places where the early Christians and many other generations of the faithful manifested their fidelity to Christ.

Studying "in the Church of Rome, see of Peter and his successors, will serve to increase fidelity to her," said Pope John Paul II, who as a priest studied in Rome as early as the 1940s. "All these circumstances are, without a doubt, a source of evangelizing vigor and ecclesial vitality, because they allow one to see better the close connection of any plan or pastoral action with the very origins of the mission of the Church," the Holy Father concluded.

"Older Population," Not "Overpopulation"

The New York Times (March 1, 2002) reported that while many countries worry about overpopulation, the United Nations (UN) said that the world's population is steadily getting older everywhere.

"The changes that are going on are not paralleled in any century before the 20th century," said Joseph Chamie, an American demographer who directs the UN population division. "We will see this trend accelerating in the 21st century." This is likely to have serious implications on economies worldwide.

An older population creates an entire new set of concerns. As the United States has already discovered, pressures mount on health care systems, health insurance plans, social security, and private pensions. The UN found that in richer countries, people over 60 now account for one-fifth of the population. Predictions indicate that the proportion will reach one-third by 2050. In poorer countries, only 8 percent of the population is over 60 now, but that is expected to rise to 20 percent by 2050.

The UN also reported that with more people living longer and families getting smaller in most countries, the fastest-growing age group in the world are people over 80. That group is growing at 3.8 percent annually. UN demographers point to a statistic they call the "potential support ratio": the number of people 15 to 64 who are available as workers to sustain the retirees. In 1950, the ratio was 12 to 1; in 2000, it was 9 to 1. By 2050, there may be only four working-age people for every person over 65 worldwide.

Austin Ruse of the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute responded to the study by saying his group has reported this kind of information for years. Ruse explained: "Chamie has been sounding an alarm for almost four years that the problem in the world is not overpopulation, but a demographic bust due to population control. Chamie is the official statistician at the UN and is frequently at odds with the more ideological UNFPA [United Nations Population Fund] and others."

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