6 The Catholic News & Herald U.S. archbishop says church urgently needed in Internet world EDMONTON, Alberta (CNS) — The rise of the Internet means the church must re-emphasize its mandate to make disciples, said the retired archbishop of San Francisco. But Archbishop John Quinn said the ideals and values needed by society will be best learned not through the Internet, but offline in churches, mosques, temples and synagogues. “In the new world of the Internet, the church will be more necessary than ever,” Archbishop Quinn said in a keynote talk that kicked off the four-day Assembly 2000 of the Archdiocese of Edmonton. Australian priest achieves ‘personal goal’ at Olympics SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) — Father Rex Hackett, parish priest of Casino, in the north of New South Wales, said he achieved a “personal goal” attending the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. The emotion of the Opening Ceremony was unforgettable, said the priest, who held tickets to 16 events. “I was eight rows from the front, and the atmosphere was electric,” he said. “When the united Korea team entered, the whole stadium roared as one. It was the same when the East Timorese entered, 110,000 voices shouting their approval for this new nation.” Carmelite nun receives annual Cooke Right to Life Award NEW YORK (CNS) — Carmelite Sister M. Aloysius McBride, who directed the Cardinal Cooke Guild until her retirement last year, received the guild’s annual Cardinal Cooke Right to Life Award Sept. 19. Archbishop Ed-
People in the
CNS photo by Dianne Towalski, St. Cloud Visitor
Paralympic Games to be held in October Archer Aaron Cross practices at Mike’s Archery in St. Cloud where he works part time. He will compete in the Paralympic Games in Sydney in October. ward M. Egan of New York presented the award at the guild’s annual luncheon at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Sister McBride, who said her family brought her to the Bronx at the age of 12 from their native County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, was named by the late Cardinal John J. O’Connor to direct the Cooke Guild when he launched the cause for Cardinal Terence J. Cooke’s canonization in 1984. ‘Titans’ actress sees value of allgirls Catholic education HOLLYWOOD (CNS) — Lourdes Benedicto, one of the cast members
in NBC’s new prime-time soap opera “Titans,” knows the value of a Catholic education. Benedicto went from kindergarten through her senior year of high school at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in Manhattan. Her parents may have hoped she would follow in their footsteps and become a doctor, lawyer or businesswoman, but she chose acting. “Just being in a same-sex school for 13 years empowers a woman to be not only independent but strive for whatever she wants in life and look for (it),” Benedicto said. Catholic, only female Olympian
September 29, 2000
from Pakistan, faces obstacles SYDNEY, Australia (CNS) — A Catholic woman is the only female athlete on the Pakistan team competing at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Shazia Hidayat, 20, a middle- and long-distance runner from a village near Chichawatni, a small town about 220 miles south of Islamabad, said she had to overcome big obstacles to become a member of the national team. “My father, a teacher, always supported me, but the whole atmosphere in the country is so male-dominated that everybody told him not to send me for the athletic meet,” she told UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. Some quarters were insisting that the Pakistani team be all male, she said, recalling that the question was raised of how a Pakistani woman could race in a competition in which other women do not wear clothes that cover their body. British church officials voice concern over ruling on twins LONDON (CNS) — British church officials expressed concern that a child’s right to life would be denied as a result of a court ruling allowing an operation to separate Siamese twin girls against the wishes of their Catholic parents. Supporting an earlier High Court ruling, three judges at London’s Court of Appeal voted unanimously Sept. 22 to permit the separation, in which the weaker of the twins would die. In a statement that day, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham expressed dismay at the ruling, saying the judgment “amounts to the direct killing of a person, whose basic right to life will be denied.”