Vatican: Human dignity, rights always must be respected
GENEVA (CNS) --- Even in emergency situations caused by war or natural disaster, the dignity of each human person must be respected, said the Vatican's representative to U.N. agencies in Geneva. The right to freedom, to work, to family reunion, to education and personal development and other human rights "cannot simply be discarded in emergencies," Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said July 20 during a meeting of the humanitarian affairs segment of the U.N. Economic and Social Council. The international community must find ways to guarantee an effective global humanitarian response to disasters, he said. Archbishop Tomasi repeated the Vatican's call for real action to ensure the safety of women and girls in refugee camps around the globe. "The continued sexual violence perpetrated against women and girls within and around refugee camps violates all standards of international law and leads to the emotional, physical and mental devastation of these women, which cannot be justified under any circumstances," he said.

Michoacan bishops call for three days of prayer to end drug violence
MEXICO CITY (CNS) --- Catholic bishops in western Mexico called for three days of prayer for the end to a wave of revenge-driven, drug-cartel violence that has engulfed the state of Michoacan. "As disciples of Jesus Christ and pastors of the community of God, we cannot stay silent or remain indifferent. It's time to speak out and ask in the name of God, 'Enough death already,'" seven Michoacan bishops said in a July 16 statement. The statement, which acknowledged the tense atmosphere that drug violence has created in the state, set July 23-25 as days of prayer to include a daily "holy hour, Way of the Cross and rosary." "There are many that have received threats and been the object of kidnapping and extortion," the statement said. "The population lives in anguish, feeling defenseless, and families are terribly traumatized when one of theirs is injured. There are communities that are becoming uninhabited due to insecurity," the bishops said. The statement was signed by Archbishop Alberto Suarez Inda of Morelia and his two auxiliaries, Bishops Octavio Villegas Aguilar and Carlos Suarez Cazares, and by Bishops Javier Navarro Rodriguez of Zamora, Jose Castro Medellin of Tacambaro, Miguel Patino Velasquez of Apatzingan and Fabio Martinez Castilla of Lazaro Cardenas.

Priest to end religious ministry to run for Philippine presidency
MANILA, Philippines (CNS) --- A Catholic priest who serves as governor of the Philippine province of Pampanga has declared he is running for president of the country in the May 2010 election. "I have every intention to file my candidacy," Father Eddie Panlilio told reporters at a weekly forum organized in Manila by Catholic media groups July 21, according to the Asian church news agency UCA News. The priest turned politician, who is currently on leave from his religious ministry, also announced his plan to apply for a dispensation from the priesthood before filing his certificate of candidacy prior to the Nov. 30 deadline. "I'm ready for all the consequences," Father Panlilio said. "This priesthood that I love so much I'm willing to give up for a greater love and that's love for the country," said the 55-year-old priest of the San Fernando Archdiocese in Pampanga. A dispensation will release him from priestly obligations, including obedience to the bishop, according to Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan, head of the dispensation desk of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. Once dispensed, Father Panlilio would no longer be allowed to celebrate Mass or administer the sacraments.

Pope encourages unemployed not to be discouraged
ROMANO CANAVESE, Italy (CNS) --- Pope Benedict XVI told the jobless of northern Italy that with faith and a commitment to justice and hard work they could be sure of a brighter future. The pope traveled by helicopter to Romano Canavese, about 50 miles from his Alpine vacation home in Les Combes, for the recitation of the Angelus prayer July 19. The town, near Ivrea, once was home to hundreds of employees of Olivetti, famed for its portable typewriters. Now owned by Telecom Italia, the company has gone from a high of 33,000 employees in 1970 to about 1,200 today. Unemployment in the Piedmont region, which includes Romano Canavese, has grown to 7 percent this year; the rate was 4 percent in 2007. Pope Benedict told the estimated 10,000 people gathered in front of the parish church that the region's people are known as enthusiastic and hard workers. But, he said, today "many families are experiencing economic difficulties because of the lack of employment." He told them, "Dear friends, do not be discouraged." The pope said their fundamental values are the secret to building the town's future, "giving life to a society truly marked by solidarity and brotherhood and where all the spheres of life, institutions and the economy are permeated by a Gospel spirit."

Polish church won't allow protest Mass against Madonna concert
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) --- The Archdiocese of Warsaw rejected a request by Catholic protesters to hold an open-air Mass as part of a "public prayer crusade" against a Madonna concert Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Father Henryk Malecki, spokesman for the archdiocese, said the request was rejected because "Mass can't be treated as a form of protest." The Mass request, made by Marian Brudzynski, head of the Committee for the Protection of Faith and National Traditions, asked for permission to stage an open-air Mass and rosary service outside Warsaw's city government offices to protest of the scheduled concert at the capital's Bemowo airport. The archdiocesan chancellor, Msgr. Grzegorz Kalwarczyk, said his office received numerous calls from worried Catholics about the concert, part of pop icon Madonna's multination "Sticky and Sweet Tour," which began in London July 4. "To make money by holding a concert on such a day by a singer with such a name is ethically dubious --- it's not surprising people are complaining," Msgr. Kalwarczyk told Catholic News Service. "This may be a deliberate provocation or just a case of thoughtlessness."

Cronkite recalled as trusted newsman who made public 'feel the news'
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- TV news anchor and journalism icon Walter Cronkite, who died July 17 at age 92, made the public "feel the news," said the founding director of the Pauline Center for Media Studies in Culver City. "My first memory of Walter Cronkite was seeing him bow his head, visibly moved, when he announced the death of President John F. Kennedy," said Daughter of St. Paul Sister Rose Pacatte. "The timbre of his voice and his kind countenance made him welcome in every living room in America then and for years after. If Edward R. Murrow could be called the brains of the news, then Cronkite was its heart. He made us feel the news; it was personal; the news mattered." Best known for his news coverage on the "CBS Evening News," Cronkite died in his New York home from cerebrovascular disease. A private funeral was scheduled for July 23 at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in New York.

St. Louis priest, world's oldest Jesuit, dies at age 104
ST. LOUIS (CNS) --- Father Raymond H. Reis, a retired priest at St. Louis University who was a longtime professor of biology and also had worked as a nurse, died July 19 at age 104 at his university residence. He was the world's oldest Jesuit. According to the St. Louis-Post Dispatch daily newspaper, officials of the Society of Jesus learned from the order's headquarters in Rome that Father Reis became the oldest member of the order after the recent death of Jesuit in Mexico. A funeral Mass was to be celebrated July 23 at St. Francis Xavier College Church, followed by burial at Calvary Cemetery in north St. Louis. In 2005, when he turned 100, Father Reis told the university's magazine: "I have had an enjoyable life and I have done a lot that I wanted to do. I used to like to travel, but now I have no plans. I just let things happen." Asked if he had any advice for reaching the century mark, he responded with a chuckle: "That's something that's a gift from God."

Bishop Damas Zhang Hanmin of Kirin, China, dies at 88
CHANGCHUN, China (CNS) --- Bishop Damas Zhang Hanmin of the Kirin Diocese in northeastern China died in his sleep July 19. The 88-year-old prelate is believed to have died from a heart attack. Bishop Zhang, who was recognized by the Chinese government and approved by the Vatican, passed away in the bishop's house in Changchun, the provincial capital, in the early morning, according to the Asian church news agency UCA News. A funeral Mass was scheduled for July 23 at St. Theresa's Cathedral adjacent to the bishop's residence. Bishop Paul Pei Junmin of Liaoning was to preside at the Mass. Bishop Zhang was to be buried behind the cathedral. Father John Baptist Zhang Yinzhong, the diocesan chancellor who is temporarily overseeing diocesan affairs, said Bishop Zhang had been in relatively good health despite his age. Father Peter Dong Haoran said Bishop Zhang kept a low profile. "Wherever he made pastoral visits, he asked parish priests not to be extravagant" in welcoming him, the priest recalled. Bishop Zhang was ordained a priest at the age of 61. He had served at several parishes before he became diocesan administrator in 1995 and bishop of Kirin in 1997.

Activist says China targets Uighurs, limits their religious freedom
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- A Uighur activist from China told reporters in Washington that, following violence she claimed was directed at her ethnic group, her main concern was that religious freedom be ensured for all Uighurs. Rebiya Kadeer talked to a July 15 media round table sponsored by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom about a government crackdown on a recent demonstration in the city of Urumqi in China's northwest autonomous region of Xinjiang. On July 5 Uighurs were protesting Chinese policies they say are repressive when Chinese police forces shut off lights in parts of the area and opened fire on protesters, according to Kadeer. After the demonstration turned into a riot, government officials said they would shut down mosques for "safety" reasons, but then reversed the decision a few days later. According to Kadeer, the Uighurs, a Turkic Muslim minority living mainly in the Xinjiang region, are routinely harassed during the holy period of Ramadan. For example, she said, they are forced to take a lunch break and break their monthlong fast during Ramadan. Some of them have been arrested for participating in "illegal religious practices," she said.