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catholicnewsherald.com | January 20, 2012 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD
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In Brief Court upholds church school’s exception to laws against firing WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court Jan. 11 unanimously upheld the idea that a “ministerial exception” to antidiscrimination laws means the church can’t be sued for firing an employee who the church classified as a minister. For the first time, the court held that such an exception to federal employment laws exists. The decision was hailed by Church advocates. Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, called it “a great day for the First Amendment.”
Texas bishops applaud court decision to uphold sonogram law AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Catholic bishops applauded the Jan. 11 decision of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals allowing the state to enforce a sonogram law requiring abortion providers to offer women the opportunity to view the ultrasound images of their unborn children. “Providing mothers access to sonograms informs them about the risks and complications associated with abortion,” said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston. “These consultations save lives by educating mothers who may not realize that the child in their womb is exactly that – a unique, irreplaceable human life.”
Pope names 22 new cardinals, including three North Americans Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI named 22 new cardinals, including two from the U.S., and announced a consistory for their formal induction into the College of Cardinals Feb. 18. Among those named were Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan of New York; Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, pro-grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem who still is administering the Archdiocese of Baltimore; and Archbishop Thomas C. Collins of Toronto. The pope announced the nominations to the faithful in St. Peter’s Square Jan. 6. Cardinal-designate O’Brien – who was in St. Peter’s Square when his name was announced – said his priestly life has been “a surprise at every step. I thought being appointed archbishop of Baltimore would be the last surprise, but I was wrong.” He said the ministries he had been appointed to, and now his elevation to cardinal, were not things he could “anticipate, navigate or engineer. It’s just a matter of being open and in the right place at the right time and good things happen.” In separate statements, the North American cardinals were quick to stress the collective rather than the personal nature of the honor. “This is not about Timothy Dolan,” the New York cardinal-designate said. “This is an honor from the Holy Father to the Archdiocese of New York. ... It’s as if Pope Benedict is putting the red hat on top of
CNS | Gregory A. Shemitz
Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan of New York addresses the news media at St. Patrick Cathedral in New York Jan. 6. He is among 22 new cardinals named by Pope Benedict XVI. the Empire State Building, or the Statue of Liberty, or on home plate at Yankee Stadium.” Cardinal-designate O’Brien said his nomination reflected the “zealous faith” of Catholics in Baltimore, and Cardinaldesignate Collins attributed his elevation to the pope’s “esteem for the role of Canada and of the Archdiocese of Toronto in the universal Church.” The latest additions will bring the U.S. and Canada’s share of the College of Cardinals to 22. The U.S., home to about 5.5 percent of the world’s Catholics, will provide almost 10 percent of the 125 cardinals under the age of 80, who are the only cardinals eligible to vote in a conclave for a future pope. By contrast, only one of those named,
Cardinal-designate Joao Braz de Aviz, comes from the country with the most Catholics, Brazil. When the cardinals are inducted Feb. 18, only seven of the 22 cardinal electors from Latin America will have been appointed by Pope Benedict. With his latest appointments, Pope Benedict will have named more than 50 percent of the current cardinal electors, with the rest having been named by Blessed John Paul II. The pope’s latest nominations included 16 Europeans, continuing a trend in his cardinal appointments since his election in 2005. Seven of the new appointments are Italians, which will bring that nation’s total of cardinal electors to 30 – or 24 percent – more than any other country.