c. 1997 Religion News Service
Catholic youth converge on Paris, await pope
(RNS) About 300,000 Catholics gathered Tuesday (Aug. 19) at the foot of the Eiffel Tower to celebrate a Mass kicking off World Youth Days in Paris.
The highlight in the week of festivities, designed to encourage Catholic youth to more fully embrace their faith, is expected to be an open-air Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II. Organizers predict between 300,000 and 500,000 will attend Sunday’s Mass at Longchamp race track, just outside Paris.
The 77-year-old pontiff is expected to arrive at the 12th World Youth Days on Thursday, marking his sixth visit to France and his 79th foreign trip.
World Youth Days, celebrated every two years, was instituted by John Paul to express his interest in reviving enthusiasm for the faith among Catholic youth and remains one of his most prized innovations.
In 1993, about 300,000 gathered in Denver for the event. But in a trend indicative of the Catholic Church’s growing appeal outside the Western hemisphere, more than 3 million attended World Youth Days in Manila in 1995.
During initial planning stages, organizers had hoped more than 600,000 would turn out to greet the pope in Paris, where he is expected to focus on social justice and urge youths to shun materialism, while embracing spirituality, Reuters reported.
But the anticipated papal visit has drawn sharp criticism.
European Protestants are upset Sunday’s papal Mass falls on the anniversary of the 1572 St. Bartholomew Massacre, in which some 50,000 French Protestants were killed in one of the bloodiest episodes of France’s 16th-century religious wars.
And abortion-rights supporters are angered by the pope’s planned visit to the grave of Jerome Lejeune, a friend of the pope who was a genetics professor and an outspoken opponent of abortion.
In France, once labeled the”eldest daughter”of the Roman church, two of every three calls themselves a Catholic but just one in 10 says they practice the faith regularly. And even fewer adhere strictly to the church’s precepts, particularly its bans on contraception and abortion, the Washington Post reported.
United Church of Canada says no to `workfare’
(RNS) Delegates to the top decision-making meeting of the United Church of Canada have adopted a resolution saying the church should not cooperate with the Canadian version of welfare reform if it forces the poor into so-called”workfare”programs.”The preferred response is to promote development of real jobs,”the denomination’s 35th General Council said Tuesday (Aug. 19) in adopting a detailed resolution on work and employment. The council is meeting in Camrose, Alberta.
The resolution grew out of a report by the UCC’s Work and Employment Task Group in its Division of Mission in Canada.”Work is meant to be an expression of the creative spirit of women and men and an opportunity to participate in the development of society,”the report said.”We only make progress in developing a new sense of human worth and a just economic order when we begin to separate work from income and when we keep ourselves clearly focused on the most vulnerable in our society.” In addressing its own employment practices, the resolution called on all”church-related organizations, ministries, pastoral charges and members to exercise caution in responding to requests to replace paid positions with volunteer labor in publicly funded services.” The council also directed its mission agency to undertake an extensive review of work practices in the church with a focus on fairness and equity, including minimum/maximum salary ratios, guidelines on work hours for salaried employees and an analysis of the reasons for the high rate of stress-related disability within the church.
Cult leader released from prison in Ukraine
(RNS) A leader of the White Brootherhood doomsday cult in Ukraine, whose end-times prophecies rattled the nation’s capital, has been released from prison early.
Marina Krivonogova, known to her followers as”living god”and Maria Devi Khristos, was sentenced in February 1996 to four years in prison for public disorder and endangering the health of cult members, Reuters reported.
In November 1993, Krivonogova was arrested, along with her then husband and 60 followers, as they awaited what they believed would be the end of the world inside the 11th-century St. Sofia Cathedral in Kiev. Priceless icons were damaged in a melee with police during their arrest.
Krivonogova, who usually appeared in public in a flowing white robe and jewelled headdress, was granted amnesty, along with other prisoners, to mark the first anniversary of Ukraine’s post-Soviet constitution, police told Reuters.
At the height of its popularity, the White Brotherhood claimed 144,000 followers. Government officials expect Krivonogova to retake her place as leader of the group, but are unclear how many followers remain.
Yuri Krivonogov, Marina’s ex-husband and the so-called mastermind behind the cult, remains in prison.
Archbishop to head national police force in Honduras
(RNS) The government of Honduras has tapped a Roman Catholic archbishop to lead its national police force as it makes the transition from military to civilian control.
Legislators voted Tuesday (Aug. 19) to name Archbishop Oscar Rodriguez of Tegucigalpa head of a five-member board that will oversee the police force during its eight-month transition, Reuters reported.
Honduras’ 6,500-member police force had been under military control since 1963.
Honduran President Carlos Roberto Reina, who has made curtailing the power of the military one of the central themes of his administration, implemented the change to quell a wave of criminal violence and corruption that has drawn criticism from international rights groups.
New Mother Teresa movie criticized by her order
(RNS) A new movie about Mother Teresa is being panned by the Nobel laureate’s order even before it hits theaters.”In the Name of God’s Poor,”a two-hour drama being produced by Hallmark Entertainment, spreads”wrong notions”about Mother Teresa and glamorizes her life, officials at her Missionaries of Charity said.”I wish to make it clear that this movie is not authorized by Mother Teresa and does not carry her endorsement, nor that of the Missionaries of Charity,”said Sister Nirmala, who succeeded Mother Teresa earlier this year as head of the Calcutta-based order.
She said Dominique Lapierre, the best-selling author and the film’s screenwriter, erroneously claimed the project was endorsed by Mother Teresa, the Washington Times reported.
Nirmala said she has been told that Hallmark Entertainment bought the script from a company that paid Lapierre $175,000. Lapierre said he donated the fee to a Calcutta charity.
Sunita Kumar, one of Mother Teresa’s close associates, called the film a work of fiction.
The movie, starring Geraldine Chaplin, was shot in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on a set depicting the slums of Calcutta.
Former Dallas diocese officials resigns pastorate after remarks
(RNS) A former top official of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas has resigned as a pastor after suggesting that parents share the blame for the alleged sexual abuse of 11 boys by another priest.
Monsignor Robert C. Rehkemper was severely criticized for his comments made after a recent civil trial brought a $119.6 million judgment against the diocese and the priest. Rehkemper, a witness in the trial, announced his resignation Monday (Aug. 18).
Rehkemper, 73, was the vicar general of the diocese from 1974 to 1992, the period when the Rev. Rudy Kos allegedly assaulted altar boys.
During his four days of testimony, Rehkemper said he would have tried to remove Kos from his position if he had known about the abuse but he considered what he heard nothing more than suspicion.
In interviews after the trial, Rehkemper made comments that upset the affected families and others.”If they were not responsible, why is the diocese responsible?”he asked Aug. 8.”We live in an age when people don’t want to be responsible for anything.” Parishioners at All Saints Church, the 3,000-member congregation Rehkemper has led for five years, were relieved he resigned, the Associated Press reported.”It was just hard to go and know he was there,”said Sally Alvarez, an office manager, mother of four and church member for 15 years.”It’ll be a lot easier to forgive him after he’s done this for us.”
Quote of the day: Roman Catholic Archbishop John Foley
(RNS) In an address to priests at the National Institute for Clergy Formation, meeting in West End, N.C., Roman Catholic Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, counseled the clergy on how to avoid media scandals:”Naturally the best defense against reporting a scandal is virtue on the part of public figures, political and especially spiritual. I say especially spiritual because spiritual leaders profess and advocate a code which they would be truly hypocritical in not following.”
MJP END RNS
