Filipino cardinal urges end to killings
MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila has appealed to military and leftist groups to end the killings in the Philippines.
Cardinal Rosales said that both Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and those "in the mountains" could be held responsible for killings in the country. The cardinal made the comments March 26, a day after the government was found responsible for unsolved killings following the ordination of Bishop Leopoldo Jaucian of Bangued at the Shrine of the Divine Word in Quezon City, northeast of Manila.
"Sorry for saying this, but even our (rebel) brothers are involved in the killings," Cardinal Rosales told UCA News, an Asian Church news agency, after the ceremony. "It is wrong to kill a person whether it is extrajudicial or judicial."
The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, released its March 25 verdict after hearings March 21-23. In its 13-page verdict, the tribunal "found unequivocal evidences that the militaries have a central role in the great majority" of human rights violations, reported UCA News.
HD broadcasting coming to Vatican
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Keeping in step with the fast pace of communications technology, the Vatican television center is to begin broadcasting in high definition.
The first papal event to be aired using the new format will be a special April 15 Mass celebrating Pope Benedict XVI’s April 16 birthday. "We’ve realized that if we want to continue to do a good job of broadcasting footage of the pope to other television stations, we have to be ready for the day" when high definition is expected to become the norm in television broadcasting, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman and head of the Vatican television center, or CTV.
CTV must keep up with new technology, said Father Lombardi. If they don’t keep up, "people won’t be able to see the pope anymore" on their television screens, he said.
Employees will get papal birthday off
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Vatican employees will celebrate Pope Benedict XVI’s 80th birthday with a day off from work and a fatter paycheck, said an announcement from a top Vatican official.
Monday, April 16, will be a holiday for all Vatican workers, said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state. Employees also will receive about $667 more in that week’s paycheck to mark the celebration.
Pope Benedict will begin his birthday celebrations early by saying a special Mass Sunday, April 15 in St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican also marks as holidays Thursday, April 19, the day of the pope’s 2005 election, and the "name day" of the pope March 19, the feast day of St. Joseph, because Pope Benedict’s birth name is Joseph Ratzinger.
Prelate wants to be in House of Lords
LONDON (CNS) — A British cardinal has said he would like to have a seat in the House of Lords, the upper chamber of the British Parliament. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster said March 28 that he believed Catholic bishops should be represented in the political chamber and that he would like to be among the first Catholic prelates to have a seat since the Reformation.
"Some of my fellow bishops think we would be less free if we sat in the Lords," said the cardinal. "I don’t quite agree with that."
He said he believes the five Catholic archbishops of Westminster, Southwark, Liverpool, Birmingham and Cardiff should be allowed seats. Members of the House of Lords are not elected by the public and generally work alongside the House of Commons in debating and drafting legislation. Anglican bishops, called the Lords Spiritual, fill 26 seats of the House of Lords. The Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law does not allow bishops to hold political office, and the law has been enforced worldwide.
