Diocesan schools that may close could become public charter schools
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (CNS) --- Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the possibility of converting a limited number of Catholic schools threatened with closure into publicly funded charter schools. The announcement was made during a Feb. 7 press conference at New York's City Hall. "Many Catholic schools are finding it hard to stay open because of tighter budgets and falling enrollment, even as they remain attractive to so many families because of their focus on high academic standards and high student achievement," Bloomberg said. The mayor also noted that "many if not most of the students" would likely seek admission in local public schools "that are already at or near capacity, which gives us all a shared interest in finding innovative ways" to keep open the schools slated to close. Bishop DiMarzio said the possibility of converting closing schools into charter schools "only furthers the cooperation between the Diocese of Brooklyn and the city of New York."

Crash claims 9/11 widow heading to Jesuit school's scholarship event
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- Beverly Eckert, a victim of the Feb. 12 plane crash near Buffalo, N.Y., was en route to present a scholarship award in honor of her late husband at Jesuit-run Canisius High School in Buffalo. Eckert, a Sept. 11 widow, also had planned to take part in a weekend celebration in Buffalo of what would have been her husband's 58th birthday. Her husband, Sean Rooney, died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. That day he spoke to his wife by cell phone up until the second tower --- where he was trapped --- collapsed. A vice president for risk management services at the Aon Corp., he worked on the 98th floor. Eckert, a resident of Stamford, Conn., was aboard Continental Flight 3407 from Newark, N.J., to Buffalo when it crashed into a home seven miles from the Buffalo Niagara International Airport, killing all 49 passengers and crew onboard and one person on the ground. According to initial reports, the plane was coming in for a landing through light snow and fog. Witnesses said they heard the plane's engines sputtering before it struck the house in a fiery explosion.

Catholic leaders express worries over Chavez victory
BOGOTA, Colombia (CNS) --- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's victory in a Feb. 15 referendum that eliminated term limits worries some Catholic leaders, who see it as a blow to the nation's democracy. Chavez already has been president for a decade, and by the next presidential election in 2012 he may have accumulated so much power that he will be very hard to unseat, said Auxiliary Bishop Jesus Gonzalez de Zarate Salas of Caracas, Venezuela, in a telephone interview with Catholic News Service. "He who is in power has the opportunity to wield a great influence over the electorate," Bishop Gonzalez said. Before the referendum campaign, the government used government ministries and state-owned industries to push for the constitutional amendment, which passed with 54 percent of the vote. "The government abused the resources at its disposition," Jesuit Father Arturo Peraza, who works in a Caracas prison ministry, told CNS. Nevertheless, both Bishop Gonzalez and Father Peraza said Chavez's opponents should recognize the president's support and work with the government to move the country forward.

Cardinal uses canon law to stop Vatican official from saying Mass
LONDON (CNS) --- An English cardinal has used canon law to prevent a Vatican official from celebrating a Tridentine-rite Mass in Westminster Cathedral and instead has asked an auxiliary bishop to celebrate it. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster refused to grant permission for U.S. Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, head of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, to celebrate Mass in the extraordinary form of the Latin rite, called the Tridentine rite, in the London cathedral June 20. The cardinal used the Code of Canon Law to insist that the Mass be celebrated instead by Auxiliary Bishop John Arnold of Westminster. Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor invoked Canon 838, which says that the diocesan bishop and the Holy See have competence over the liturgy. A spokesman for Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor told Catholic News Service in a Feb. 17 telephone interview that the cardinal "doesn't want to give the impression that it is only bishops from abroad, foreign bishops, who come in and celebrate the extraordinary form, and that's precisely why he asked Bishop Arnold to do it." The cardinal has subsequently discussed the matter with the archbishop and has "apologized for any misunderstanding, and Archbishop Burke has understood the point," the spokesman said.

Economic interests drive wider acceptance of eugenics, says archbishop
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Big economic interests and subtle changes in terminology are helping spread a wider acceptance of eugenics, said Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life. "The term 'eugenics' seems something of the past and just mentioning the word elicits horror," he said during a Vatican press conference Feb. 17. But as often happens, "subtle linguistic formalism together with good advertising that is supported by big economic interests causes one to lose sight of the real dangers" underlying the many advancements in genetics, he said. A lack of clarity also can prevent people from being able "to recognize actual objective evil and formulate a corresponding ethical judgment," he added. The archbishop was presenting details of a Feb. 20-21 international congress sponsored by the academy for life that will look at "The New Frontiers of Genetics and the Risk of Eugenics." The eugenics movement, which focuses on improving the human species by controlling hereditary factors in mating, was associated with Nazi attempts to purify the German race.

Patriarch says Catholic-Orthodox promotion of values must continue
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- The new patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church told Pope Benedict XVI that he sees the Catholic Church as an important partner in dialogue to defend Christian values. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow said that among the many tasks he and his church are facing "one of the priorities is the fundamental necessity of witnessing to and affirming the values of the Gospel of Christ in contemporary society. I am convinced that the dialogue and collaboration of all who call themselves Christians must contribute to this," the patriarch said in a letter to Pope Benedict. The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, published an Italian translation of the letter Feb. 13. The patriarch wrote in response to a letter Pope Benedict sent him on the occasion of his Feb. 1 enthronement as head of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Catholic philanthropist offers millions for truly lifesaving ideas
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- Since founding the Gerard Health Foundation in 2001, retired Catholic businessman Raymond B. Ruddy has given away millions to fund pro-life causes, abstinence education and efforts to end the HIV and AIDS pandemic. But his businessman's mind would like those seeking grants to quantify the effect his dollars are having on the foundation's stated goal --- to save lives. "Even though they know the objective is to save lives, I hear about everything else except that," Ruddy said in a Feb. 11 telephone interview. "They want to expand the newsletter or build a new building or something else. But nobody has come back and said, 'We can save x lives by doing y, and we can do it for this number of dollars.'" So he is simplifying the process and, beginning Feb. 15, the foundation will be accepting requests for proposals that answer four questions in three or fewer pages: How many lives can you save? What will you do to save these lives? On what basis (scientific research, past experience, etc.) do you believe these many lives can be saved? How many dollars do you need to accomplish your objective? Applications for funding, in a one- to three-page proposal answering the four questions, should be e-mailed by March 15 to: JMalloy@Gerardhealth.org.

Marking its 80th, Vatican celebrates its growth into nationhood
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- The smallest nation in the world is celebrating a relatively young 80th birthday this year. Although the Catholic Church has a 2,000-year history, Vatican City State was established Feb. 11, 1929, to guarantee that the Holy See and the pope could freely carry out their spiritual mission of confirming Christians in the faith and guiding the universal church. The transition from the Papal States to nationhood was a long and bumpy road. Starting in the eighth century, the church wielded temporal power over what was known as the Papal States, a shifting group of territories across parts of modern-day Italy. The popes at the time were territorial sovereigns and, as such, had to deal with the unpleasant risks and worries of foreign powers bent on invasion, rival Roman emperors and powerful Roman families vying for control of the papacy. In the 19th century, revolutionaries fought against papal control in their struggle to unify Italy and the Papal States dissolved in 1870 after Rome and the surrounding territories were annexed to a unified country covering the entire peninsula. A dispute with the Italian government over the sovereignty of the Holy See kept popes confined inside the walls of the Vatican from 1870 to 1929.

Court handling Davenport Diocese's bankruptcy sues papal nuncio
DAVENPORT, Iowa (CNS) --- The trustee handling the settlement of the Diocese of Davenport's bankruptcy case has sued the apostolic nuncio to the United States for funds that include parishioners' donations to Peter's Pence, which supports charitable causes chosen by the pope. According to court documents, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Iowa is seeking about $73,000 from Archbishop Pietro Sambi as the papal nuncio. The documents show that the money in question comes from payments the diocese made to the apostolic nunciature during a one-year period prior to filing for bankruptcy Oct. 10, 2006. During that period, the diocese made seven payments totaling $72,906. Approximately half of that money came from the annual collection taken in parishes throughout the diocese to support Peter's Pence. Another portion of the money was a contribution the diocese made to the Vatican as required by canon law. Canon 1271 says that "according to the resources of their dioceses, bishops are to assist in procuring those means which the Apostolic See needs ... to offer service properly to the universal church."