WASHINGTON (CNS) --- While agreeing that abortion is unacceptable, two pro-life professors disagreed on whether it is appropriate to engage President Barack Obama on the issue of abortion or to insist that it be outlawed in order to protect the dignity of the unborn. In a discussion May 28 at the National Press Club, Douglas Kmiec, professor of law at Pepperdine University and an Obama supporter, said the new administration's promise to fund abortion alternatives and its proposals for new social and economic policies would sooner reach the goal of fewer abortions. Joining with the Obama White House to address the common good would be the more prudent step for Catholics, Kmiec said. However, Robert George, professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University, even while acknowledging that he and Kmiec hold the same views on life issues, challenged the Pepperdine professor saying that if Obama truly wants to seek common ground, he would support several key policies that would discourage abortion. George said proposals to ban partial-birth and sex-selection abortion, end abortions during the second and third trimesters and enact waiting periods, informed consent laws and parental consent laws all have been rejected by Obama administration officials.

Florida's Father Cutie gives first sermon in Episcopal Church
MIAMI (CNS) --- Father Alberto Cutie of Miami delivered his first sermon in an Episcopal church May 31, three days after the suspended Catholic priest announced he was joining the Episcopal Church. In a video of the sermon at Church of the Resurrection in Biscayne Park, Fla., posted on the Web site of The Miami Herald daily newspaper, Father Cutie opened his sermon by telling congregants: "I am honored by your presence here." Archbishop John C. Favalora of Miami expressed disappointment May 28 at both Father Cutie's decision to join the Episcopal Church and the public way he was received into his new church. Archbishop Favalora also warned Catholics not to request the sacraments from Father Cutie or attend Masses celebrated by him. Father Cutie, 40, who was suspended as administrator of St. Francis de Sales Parish in Miami Beach and Catholic radio posts after photos of him with a woman were released by a tabloid magazine, joined the Episcopal Church May 28 at a ceremony at Miami's Trinity Cathedral. The woman, identified as Ruhama Buni Canellis, 35, also became an Episcopalian in the same ceremony. The priest has admitted to having a sexual relationship with Canellis and has referred to her as his fiance.

Vatican announces papal trip to Czech Republic in September
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Pope Benedict XVI will visit the Czech Republic in late September, participating in the nation's Sept. 28 observance of the feast of St. Wenceslas, a 10th-century Czech prince and martyr. During the Sept. 26-28 trip, the pope will visit Prague, Brno and Stara Boleslav, the town where St. Wenceslas was murdered by his brother in 935 to protest his embrace of Christianity, the Vatican announced May 30. The announcement was published as Pope Benedict was meeting Czech President Vaclav Klaus in the papal library. The pope and president discussed the situation in the Czech Republic, "looking in particular at some questions related to relations with the Catholic Church, as well as to the future of Europe, taking into account the importance of its cultural, spiritual and Christian patrimony," the Vatican said. Church-state relations in the Czech Republic have been tense over demands for the restitution of Catholic properties confiscated under communist rule. In March, the Czech Supreme Court confirmed state ownership of Prague's historic St. Vitus Cathedral after a 17-year legal battle by the church.

Religious orders, Irish leader to discuss support for abuse victims
DUBLIN, Ireland (CNS) --- Representatives of the 18 religious orders implicated in the physical and sexual abuse of children in their care were scheduled to meet Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen June 3 to discuss ways to provide additional support and assistance to abuse survivors. The same day, Cowen also will meet with groups representing victims who attended the government residential institutions between 1940 and the late 1970s. The meetings follow recent public statements that the orders would not renegotiate a controversial 2002 deal in which they received indemnity from being sued by victims who attended the church-run institutions in exchange for contributing to a victims compensation fund. Already, several of the religious orders have said that they plan to devote additional resources to compensating abuse victims. But none has expressed willingness to revisit the 2002 agreement under which the orders promised to donate 128 million euros ($179 million) to a 1.18 billion euro government compensation fund for survivors. Abuse survivor groups have said contributions to the compensation fund should be evenly split between the state --- which put children into the care of the orders, then failed to adequately oversee that care --- and the orders, which were responsible for the day-to-day management of the residential schools and orphanages. On May 27 the Dail, the lower house of the Irish Parliament, unanimously passed a motion calling on the 18 religious congregations to make additional financial contributions to abuse victims.

People must fight spiritual pollution, pope says on Pentecost
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Just as the human body is threatened by breathing polluted air, the human soul is threatened by images and ideas that glorify violence or the exploitation of others, Pope Benedict XVI said. "The metaphor of the 'impetuous wind' of Pentecost makes one think of how precious it is to breathe clean air both with the lungs --- the physical --- as well as with the heart --- the spiritual," the pope said June 1 during Mass for the feast of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit, which was poured out on the disciples at Pentecost and available to every follower of Jesus for all time, is the "healthy air" of love, the pope said. In his homily during the Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, the pope focused on the use of wind or breath and of fire to describe the movement of the Holy Spirit in the Bible. The pope said the image of wind "makes us think of the air, which distinguishes our planet from the other heavenly bodies and allows us to live on it. What air is for biological life, the spirit is for spiritual life." "And just as there exists atmospheric pollution, which poisons the environment and living beings, so there exists a pollution of the heart and of the spirit, which mortifies and poisons spiritual existence," he said.

Bishops' stem-cell campaign continues after NIH comment period ends
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- Although the 30-day period for public comment on the National Institutes of Health's draft guidelines for funding of embryonic stem-cell research has ended, the U.S. bishops are continuing their campaign urging members of Congress not to permit such funding. Through its Web site at http://usccb.org/stemcellcampaign, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and its affiliated organization, the National Committee for a Human Life Amendment, directed 9,436 comments to NIH about the draft guidelines before the May 26 close of the public comment period, according to Deirdre A. McQuade, assistant director for policy and communications in the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities. Donald M. Ralbovsky of NIH's Office of Communications and Public Liaison told Catholic News Service that more than 48,000 comments were received in all on the draft guidelines during the comment period. He said he did not know the breakdown on how many of those comments were for and how many against the proposed guidelines. In the bishops' campaign, McQuade said another 46,931 messages went to U.S. senators and representatives, urging them to "oppose any use of my tax dollars to promote destructive embryonic stem-cell research or any form of human cloning. Instead please support adult stem-cell research, which is ethically sound, harms no one, and is already helping suffering patients with dozens of conditions." The draft guidelines would allow the use of federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research only on embryos created for reproductive purposes at in vitro fertilization clinics and no longer needed for that purpose.

Galileo case showed church didn't respect science, official says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- As scholars and theologians continue to debate the heresy trial of Galileo Galilei, a Vatican official said that a failure to understand the boundaries between faith and science was at the heart of the church's condemnation of his ideas. Msgr. Melchor Sanchez de Toca, undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture, told Vatican Radio May 26 that the "incomprehension" on the part of church officials nearly four centuries ago "was born from not having perceived and understood the legitimate autonomy of the natural sciences." Msgr. Sanchez was participating in a symposium in Florence discussing the decision of a church tribunal in 1633 to force Galileo to retract his teaching of the Copernican theory that the earth moved around the sun. The symposium was sponsored by the Niels Stensen Foundation, a Jesuit-run cultural institute. Scientists, philosophers, historians and theologians participated in the five-day conference, which was convoked as part of the 2009 celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of the telescope. Msgr. Sanchez said it was understandable, given the cultural context of the time, that the church hierarchy could not accept the Copernican view that the sun did not revolve around the earth because for them the theory tarnished the belief in the centrality of man in God's plan. But the "fundamental error," he said, was maintaining that such scientific ideas "were about faith, when instead they were questions of nature."

Hong Kong cardinal calls 1989 Tiananmen victims martyrs for democracy
HONG KONG (CNS) --- Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun called the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre martyrs who died to promote democracy and a clean government in China. More than 600 Catholics attended a May 29 Mass celebrated by Cardinal Zen, retired bishop of Hong Kong, at the city's cathedral. The cardinal reminded the congregation that the Tiananmen incident had not come to an end because, even now, "exiles of the event cannot go back home; mothers of the victims cannot pay their respects to their deceased sons and daughters publicly; no one knows how many people were imprisoned due to the event." He said he feared that the new generation in mainland China might lose its memory of the event, because 20 years had passed and the government still treated discussion of it as taboo. Cardinal Zen also asked Catholics to pray for the church and China. The Chinese government said about 240 were killed June 4, 1989, when Chinese tanks attacked protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. According to the Chinese Red Cross, 2,600 people were killed. The Hong Kong Catholic Justice and Peace Commission has organized a series of events to commemorate the June 4 massacre, including a special prayer service that day.

Catholic-run schools closed after suicide bombing in Lahore
LAHORE, Pakistan (CNS) --- Several Catholic-run schools have been closed indefinitely after a suicide bomb attack near Sacred Heart Cathedral. The car bomb targeting police and intelligence agency offices killed 35 people and injured around 250 others, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. The May 27 blast damaged buildings in the nearby cathedral compound. The cathedral premises are home to the bookshop of the Daughters of St. Paul, St. Anthony Higher Secondary School, Sacred Heart Cathedral High School for Boys and Sacred Heart Cathedral High School for Girls. The blast shattered several windows and cracked walls in the buildings a few yards east of the target. No students were injured. Anxious parents came to collect their children soon after the blast. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing, saying in messages on Turkish Web sites that the attack was in retaliation against Pakistani forces fighting Taliban militants in the Swat Valley. The claim could not be verified, and the group's relationship to the Taliban, if any, was unclear, media reported. On May 7 the Pakistani military launched an anti-Taliban offensive in the North-West Frontier province. A reported 1,200 militants have been killed, and at least 2.4 million people have been forced to flee their homes.

Society benefits from tolerance, interreligious dialogue, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- When different religions are protected and respected rather than ignored or attacked, society benefits from a climate of dialogue and a commitment to upholding common values, Pope Benedict XVI said. In separate speeches May 29 to new ambassadors from India and from New Zealand, the pope discussed religious freedom, dialogue and the role of religion in public life. Welcoming Chitra Narayanan as India's new ambassador to the Vatican, Pope Benedict expressed his "deep concern for Christians who have suffered from outbreaks of violence" in some parts of India in recent years; the attacks in Gujarat and Orissa states were seen as part of a campaign by militants to make India a Hindu nation. The pope thanked the Indian government for assisting victims of the violence and for taking steps to ensure the perpetrators would be brought to justice. Welcoming Robert Moore-Jones as New Zealand's new ambassador, the pope said the country's religious and cultural diversity --- which is increasing because of immigration --- is a form of wealth. When followers of different religions engage in dialogue, they discover their common dignity and common values, which society needs in order to overcome power plays and work for the common good, he said.

Franz wins 2009 St. Francis de Sales Award
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (CNS) --- Karen Franz, editor and general manager of the Catholic Courier in the Diocese of Rochester, N.Y., is the 2009 winner of the St. Francis de Sales Award, the highest honor given to an individual by the Catholic Press Association. The award was presented May 29 during the Catholic Media Convention in Anaheim, Calif. The St. Francis de Sales Award is given annually for "outstanding contributions to Catholic journalism." Franz told Catholic News Service June 1 she was humbled to win the award, especially given that other "stalwarts" of Catholic journalism were nominated. "It was an even bigger honor to win the prize and look out at the sea of people at the luncheon," she said. "It was amazing to think of the previous winners and to be there among the past winners. It was a very much a humbling experience. I very much appreciate the honor." Franz's nomination stated that her "passion for the Catholic press, twinned with good humor, has served as a model for editors throughout the country and for women determined to pursue their vocations as Catholic journalists."

Archbishop, head of bishops' film office honored at media convention
ANAHEIM, Calif. (CNS) --- Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk and Harry Forbes, director of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, were honored May 28 during the 2009 Catholic Media Convention in Anaheim. Archbishop Pilarczyk, publisher of The Catholic Telegraph, newspaper of the Cincinnati Archdiocese, received the Bishop John England Award from the Catholic Press Association. It is the association's highest award for publishers. Forbes received the Clarion Award from the Catholic Academy for Communications Arts Professionals. The May 27-29 Catholic Media Convention was sponsored jointly by the CPA and the Catholic academy. The award nomination for Archbishop Pilarczyk described him as an "enthusiastic supporter of the newspaper's new media endeavors," which includes a weekly e-newsletter and a more comprehensive Web site with increased use of audio, video and slide shows. Forbes, winner of the Clarion Award, has been the director of the USCCB's New York-based Office for Film & Broadcasting since 2004. His reviews and media analysis are distributed to clients across the globe by Catholic News Service.