The Catholic News

INTERNATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS: Sorrow over abuse expressed at congress

Fr Peter Zhang, CDD, has been appointed to the Church of the Holy Cross while Fr Joseph Zhang Wei, CDD, has been appointed to the Church of the Risen Christ.

Deacon Samuel Lim will be ordained a priest on Aug 9 at St Anne’s Church while Deacon Joseph Zhang will have his priestly ordination at the Church of the Holy Trinity on Aug 20.

VATICAN CITY – Half a century after the start of the Second Vatican Council, the reform of the liturgy initiated then has not lost its power to stoke controversy.

On June 13, after years of on-again-off-again talks with the traditionalist Society of St Pius X, which effectively broke from Rome almost 25 years ago to protest the teachings of Vatican II and subsequent changes to the Mass, the Vatican announced that the traditionalists had been formally offered terms of reconciliation.

But the following day, the SSPX announced that unresolved “doctrinal difficulties” might lead it to prolong negotiations yet again. Prominent among the outstanding issues it cited was the form of the Mass introduced by Pope Paul VI.

Even among the vast majority of Catholics who have accepted the Mass in its current form, debates often occur over aspects of worship that include choices in sacred music, the correct manner of receiving Communion, and, in the English-speaking world, the revised translation of the Mass, which was introduced last year.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican has applied to control the new Internet address extension “.catholic” and thus decide who is allowed to use it.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a nonprofit corporation that coordinates the assignment of Internet domain names and addresses around the world, announced the Vatican’s formal application on June 13 in London.

The corporation is overseeing a huge expansion in the number of Internet extensions beyond the standard .com, .org., .edu and .gov. The extensions formally are known as generic top-level domains. The assignment of country-code top-level domains, like the Vatican’s own .va, will not be affected by the change.

WHEELING, WEST VIRGINIA, USA – Young American Catholics have a new website available to them featuring nationally known Catholic speakers, musicians and comedians who have teamed up to help them grow in their faith.

Any Given Sunday (www.anygivensundayproject.com) features 45 national Catholic youth ministry personalities who each writes a reflection for the weekly Mass readings. Each week, the site offers a reflection from one of the participating personalities.

WASHINGTON – The Catechism of the Catholic Church now has a greater presence in the increasingly popular world of e-books.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has made the catechism available as a browser-based e-book at www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-teachings/what-we-believe/catechism/catechism-of-the-catholic-church/index.cfm.

The catechism is a compendium of Catholic beliefs structured around the four pillars of faith: creed, sacraments, commandments and prayer.

For the last 25 years, Couples for Christ (CFC) Singapore, a family ministry, has been working at renewing and strengthening family life in the archdiocese.

Elmer and Miyen Lobusta say the community has been their “second family” since they relocated to Singapore from the Philippines.

Through the CFC, they have gained greater parenting skills and helped them understand better God’s plans for them in marriage, says Mr Lobusta.

Mrs Lobusta also says she is glad that CFC’s Kids for Christ ministry helps her children learn about and love God from a young age.

CFC celebrated its silver jubilee with a dinner and dance on June 9 and a Parish Appreciation Dinner on June 7 to thank priests, parishes and other Church organisations for collaborating with it on family programmes.

BESIKAMA UTARA, INDONESIA – The Indonesian Church has rushed aid recently to hundreds of families badly affected by flash floods that have left large parts of Belu district, in East Nusa Tenggara province, under water.

Heavy rain caused a breach in a 60-metre flood-control dam on the Benenain River, with the resulting flood water inundating agricultural land and 10 villages in the district.

Four villages in West Malaka sub-district were the worst hit with 625 families left stranded by flood waters that were at least a metre deep in some places.

On June 12, Caritas Indonesia in cooperation with Atambua diocese’s Commission for Socio-Economic Development rushed five tons of rice, 700 bottles of cooking oil, tarpaulins and mosquito nets to the worst hit families.