News Briefs

Bishops reaffirm doctrinal concerns with Fordham theologian's book
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- The nine members of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine have reaffirmed their concerns that a 2007 book by Fordham University theologian Sister Elizabeth Johnson is "seriously inadequate as a presentation of the Catholic understanding of God." In an 11-page response to Sister Elizabeth's extensive June 1 defense of her 2007 book, "Quest for the Living God: Mapping Frontiers in the Theology of God," the bishops said her explanation did nothing to change their minds. Sister Elizabeth said then that the bishops misunderstood and misrepresented the book's main points. The committee, chaired by Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, said that Sister Elizabeth's response to their original critique of March 24 had "not in fact demonstrated that the committee has misunderstood or misrepresented the book." Sister Elizabeth, professor of systematic theology at Fordham and a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, was on sabbatical, but issued a statement in response early Oct. 28. She said she read the committee's statement with "sadness." She also said she was "disappointed" in the way the committee addressed its response, pointing to the process the bishops undertook, the content of their message and the result of their findings. "I want to make it absolutely clear that nothing in this book dissents from the church's faith about God revealed in Jesus Christ through the Spirit," she said. The bishops noted in their statement that Sister Elizabeth explained in her response that her book expresses the Catholic faith "in different words but with the same meaning." While commending Sister Elizabeth "for her stated intention to help the church progress in her understanding of divine realities," the bishops go on to say that the book "fails to fulfill this task because it does not sufficiently ground itself in the Catholic theological tradition as its starting point." The statement added that "multiple readings of the words themselves point at least to serious ambiguity in the book." "When it examined the particular points at issue, the Committee on Doctrine was confirmed in its judgment that these 'different words' do not in fact adequately express the faith of the church," the bishops said. (Complete story: see www.the-tidings.com.)

Pope prays for people hit by severe flooding in Thailand and Italy
VATICAN CITY (CNS) --- Pope Benedict XVI expressed his concern for those hit by extreme flooding in Thailand and parts of Italy. "I wish to express my closeness to the people hit by serious flooding in Thailand, as well as in Italy" where heavy rains caused extensive damage in parts of Liguria and Tuscany, he said after praying the Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square Oct. 30. "I assure them of my prayers," he said. As of Oct. 31, more than 380 people were confirmed dead in Thailand as a result of flooding that began in the North in early August. The flooding has affected an estimated 2.8 million households. Italy declared a state of emergency Oct. 28 after torrential rains killed at least nine people. Storms along the northwestern coast of Liguria and Tuscany triggered mudslides and flooding, which caused significant damage, news reports said.

Commonwealth to lift law banning monarchs from marrying Catholics
MANCHESTER, England (CNS) --- The law that bans a British monarch from marrying a Catholic is to be lifted after more than 300 years. The reforms were announced following the unanimous agreement of the 16 nations that have Queen Elizabeth II as their constitutional head of state. But they will not include the repeal of a Catholic becoming monarch because allegiance to the pope might conflict with the sovereign's role as the supreme governor of the Church of England. The changes will also see the end of the ancient tradition of male primogeniture, the rule under which boys take precedence in the line to the throne over elder sisters. The reforms will be included in the next British program of parliamentary business to be unveiled in November, while New Zealand will lead a working group to coordinate their implementation in other Commonwealth countries affected. The announcement, made at an Oct. 28 summit of Commonwealth heads of government in Perth, Australia, was welcomed by Catholic leaders in Britain. "This will eliminate a point of unjust discrimination against Catholics and will be welcomed not only by Catholics but far more widely," said Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, president of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. "At the same time I fully recognize the importance of the position of the established church (Anglican) in protecting and fostering the role of faith in our society today.”

Supreme Court turns down case over roadside crosses in Utah
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- The Supreme Court declined to take up a case from Utah in which a federal appeals court ruled it unconstitutional to allow memorial crosses on state land along highways. By an 8-1 vote, the court decided Oct. 31 not to take the case in which the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that the memorial crosses were unconstitutional because reasonable observers could conclude their presence along state highways meant the markers were a government endorsement of Christianity. In an unusual 19-page written dissent from the order, Justice Clarence Thomas decried the majority's decision to let the 10th Circuit ruling stand. The agreement of four justices is required to put a case on the court's docket. In his dissent, Thomas said the court was rejecting the chance to "provide clarity to an Establishment Clause jurisprudence in shambles." He went through an array of recent cases dealing with the relation of government action and religion, noting "our Establishment Clause precedents remain impenetrable, and the lower courts' decisions --- including the 10th Circuit's decision below --- remain incapable of coherent explanation. It is difficult to imagine an area of the law more in need of clarity."

War dead prompts letters of 'penance' from North Carolina rep
WASHINGTON (CNS) --- When President Barack Obama announced plans Oct. 21 to pull the 44,000 U.S. troops out of Iraq by the end of the year, perhaps no one on Capitol Hill was more pleased than Rep. Walter Jones. The conservative Republican from Farmville, N.C., has been pushing the Obama administration to end the military occupation of Iraq since the president took office in 2009. To be fair, he pressed President George W. Bush to do the same for nearly five years. Surely, that's a bold stance for someone whose congressional district is home to Camp Lejeune, the country's largest Marine Corps base, as well as tens of thousands of retired military veterans. Jones, who was born a Baptist and became a Catholic in 1977, told Catholic News Service in his office in the Rayburn House Office Building that he opposes the Iraq War because of his Christian values. It all started, he says, soon after the March 19, 2003, U.S.-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein on grounds that the long-serving dictator possessed weapons of mass destruction and was poised to use them against American allies. But until then, Jones approved, at least politically. He was among the majority in Congress who voted in October 2002 to authorize the use of force in Iraq. However, he now maintains that the Iraq invasion was pursued under the guise of deceit, fed by misinformation and the manipulation of intelligence by key leaders of the Bush administration. He also sees no need for U.S. troops to remain in Afghanistan because al-Qaida's Osama bin Laden was killed in May.

In Philippines, church helps lead debate over population vs. poverty
MANILA, Philippines (CNS) --- Dr. Junice Melgar has worked in women's health for more than three decades. In metropolitan Manila's most impoverished neighborhoods, her nongovernmental organization dispenses contraception and information on family planning and other women's health issues. Melgar said in more than 15 years, she has seen patients' fertility rates go from six children on average to now three, maybe four, and some want to have even fewer offspring. Her patients are savvy about family planning, but still, she said, the country needs a law to promote it. "There are very few NGOs like ourselves," she said. "There's a handful of us and there's only a handful providing women's health services. So it's a great disservice to the poor in other places." Melgar remembered a time when contraceptives were used freely. Then, she said, when the U.N. Population Fund first declared in 1994 that fertility, health, poverty, patterns of production and consumption and empowerment are all interconnected, and 179 countries agreed, the Philippine Catholic Church took notice and fought any state-instituted form of population control. With the late-October release of the U.N. agency's State of the World Population 2011 report, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines reiterated its stance. The report highlights that high fertility rates persist in developing, poor countries, where it says there is a need for better access to reproductive health care and more freedom for women to decide how they will plan their families.