c. 2005 Religion News Service Vatican Issues Instructions for Hearing Annulment Cases VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican on Tuesday (Feb. 8) issued a book of instructions guiding the granting of an annulment, which decrees that a true marriage never existed in the eyes of the church. The instructions make diocesan tribunals more rigorous in deciding whether to grant the requests of Catholic couples seeking such annulments. Cardinal Julian Herranz, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, told a Vatican news conference that the book does not change church law, but “contains interpretations, clarifications of dispositions of the law and further dispositions on procedure for their execution.” Entitled “Dignitas Connubii (The Dignity of Marriage): Instruction To Be Observed by Diocesan and Interdiocesan Tribunals in handling Causes of the Nullity of Marriage,” the book consists of 308 articles and an index. The Latin and English version has 223 pages. It was prepared over 10 years by Herranz’s council working closely with four other Vatican bodies, the Congregations for the Doctrine of the Faith and for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and the two Vatican tribunals dealing with annulments, the Roman Rota and the Apostolic Signatura. The Roman Rota is a court of appeals for annulment cases originally heard at the diocesan level while the Apostolic Signatura acts as the Vatican’s supreme court and has jurisdiction over the Roman Rota’s decisions. Addressing the Roman Rota as it opened its judicial term on Jan. 29, Pope John Paul II warned church courts against letting “false compassion” influence their judgment in annulment cases. He also deplored falsification of evidence and said that speeding up the annulment process could lead to injustice. The church does not accept divorce. But annulments are granted for specified reasons ranging from refusal of a spouse to have children to psychological immaturity. Bishop Velasio Del Paolis, secretary of the Apostolic Signatura, told the news conference Tuesday that 800 diocesan and interdiocesan courts ruled on more than 56,000 requests for annulment in 2002. Of the more than 46,000 annulments granted, 30,968 were in North America and 8,855 in Europe. Del Paolis blamed the preponderance of cases in America and Europe on “a widespread secularization that permits mistaken conceptions of marriage with respect to the ideal proposed by the Church.” Herranz, a member of the Opus Dei Prelature, underlined the difference between civil divorce, which is the dissolution of a marriage, and an annulment under Church law, which decrees that a true marriage never existed. In too many diocesan and interdiocesan courts, he said, “The difference between annulment and divorce could be merely nominal. Through a capable manipulation of the annulment case every failed marriage could be annulled.” _ Peggy Polk Secretary of State Rice Holds Talks With High Vatican Officials VATICAN CITY (RNS) Unable to meet as scheduled with Pope John Paul II because he is hospitalized, new U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed the Middle East Tuesday (Feb. 8) with high-ranking Vatican officials. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a statement that Rice and her aides had a “cordial” meeting lasting almost an hour with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, foreign minister, and other officials of the Vatican Secretariat of State. The spokesman said there was “an exchange of opinions on various international problems with particular reference to the Holy Land, the Middle East and the situation in other Asian countries.” They also discussed “the issue of religious freedom in various parts of the world” and relations between the Vatican and Washington, “reaffirming the will to collaborate in the defense and promotion of spiritual values,” he said. The 84-year-old John Paul has been hospitalized for just over a week, suffering from breathing problems caused by influenza and complicated by Parkinson’s disease. He has canceled all his appointments at least through Thursday. Rice arrived in Rome from Tel Aviv Monday night to meet with Italian and Vatican officials on her first foreign trip as secretary of state. Departing from the Middle East she called this “the most promising moment of progress between Palestinians and Israelis in recent years. _ Peggy Polk White House Official, Some Advocates for Poor, Differ on Bush Budget (RNS) The director of the White House office dealing with faith-based initiatives says President Bush’s proposed budget _ with increases in funding for programs related to religious and community groups _ is a compassionate one, but leaders of some organizations concerned about poverty do not agree. “In the midst of a time where the budget is pressured by a number of forces, the president’s compassion agenda moves forward,” said Jim Towey, director of the Office of Faith-based and Community Initiatives, speaking with reporters via conference call Monday (Feb. 7). He announced that Bush’s proposed $2.5 trillion budget includes a request for $385 million in funding for five programs related to faith-based and community initiatives, which totals $150 million more than current appropriations. The requests include: $50 million for mentoring of children of prisoners, $100 million for the Compassion Capital Fund; $150 million for the Access to Recovery drug treatment program; $75 million for a prisoner re-entry program; and $10 million for maternity group homes. Some groups that closely watch the budget for its effect on the poor are questioning some of the White House’s proposals. The American Friends Service Committee, a Philadelphia-based Quaker organization, has launched a “Save Our Services (SOS!) Campaign” to counter some of the proposed cuts in federal programs. “As people of conscience, we cannot accept a budget that changes the rules governing Social Security, the tax code, and eligibility for basic services in ways that increase inequality and poverty,” said Roberta Spivek, director of the campaign, in a statement. Bread for the World, which has followed budgeting of domestic concerns as well as global initiatives related to addressing AIDS and helping developing countries, said 2006 budget proposals to increase AIDS relief to $3.2 billion and the Millennium Challenge Account to $3 billion are not sufficient. “I am surprised that the president’s boost in funding for the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) and the HIV/AIDS initiative is so modest,” said David Beckmann, president of the Washington-based anti-hunger group. “Clearly, his heart is in the right place. The increases show that he cares about issues of hunger, poverty, and disease. But the numbers fall far short of the promises made to address these critical areas.” _ Adelle M. Banks Shanley Verdict Hailed by Victims of Sexual Abuse by Priests (RNS) Victims of clergy sexual abuse and reform-minded Catholics said Monday’s (Feb. 7) guilty verdict against a former priest charged with pedophilia shows that abuse allegations must be taken seriously and processed through the criminal justice system, not “secretive” church procedures. Former priest Paul Shanley, 74, was convicted of raping and fondling a boy, now 27, in churches outside Boston. Shanley could get life in prison when he is sentenced on Feb. 15. Shanley was at the center of the sexual abuse scandal that erupted in the Archdiocese of Boston. Files publicized by the Boston Globe showed that church leaders knew Shanley advocated sex between men and boys but shuffled him from parish to parish. Archbishop Sean O’Malley reached an $85 million settlement with some 500 alleged victims in 2003, including $500,000 for Shanley’s unnamed accuser. Suzanne Morse, a spokeswoman for the reform group Voice of the Faithful, said the verdict shows that church leaders have an obligation to work with civil authorities in responding to abuse allegations. “It’s good that the court system worked in this way and that justice was brought in this way, but it does not relieve the bishops of their responsiblity to bring justice and healing to the survivors,” Morse told Religion News Service. And David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the verdict highlights the need for abusers to be dealt justice publicly, not through “secretive” church channels. “The bottom line is kids are safe when molesters are behind bars, not suspended, not removed from active ministry, not defrocked, but jailed,” Clohessy said in an interview. “This shows that the truth can be determined, and it’s best determined through the time-tested American court system, not through byzantine secretive internal church procedures.” _ Kevin Eckstrom Update: Fox Program `24′ Airs Ad against Stereotyping Muslims

(RNS) The FOX television network aired a public service announcement Monday (Feb. 7) during its popular drama “24,” urging Americans not to stereotype Muslims.

The disclaimer aired during the show about a counter-terrorism unit in Los Angeles, which stars Kiefer Sutherland. In the show, an upper-middle-class Muslim American family is depicted as a terrorist sleeper cell that is involved with a plot to melt down nuclear reactors across the United States.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a Washington-based civil liberties group, met with officials from FOX in mid-January to express their concerns about the program and make suggestions as to how the show might avoid inciting stereotypes and suspicion of American Muslims.

FOX consulted CAIR on the ad, which was read by Sutherland.

“While terrorism is obviously one of the most critical challenges facing our nation and the world, it’s important to recognize that the American Muslim community stands firmly beside their fellow Americans in denouncing and resisting terrorism in every form,” he said in the disclaimer.

In addition to airing the disclaimer, FOX has distributed a CAIR-produced public service announcement to network affiliates that aims to challenge commonly held stereotypes of Muslims.

_ Holly Lebowitz Rossi

Quote of the Day: Prosecutor David McClernan of Georgia

(RNS) “I know you can see clearly it was a scheme, all right. And for some 1,600 churches, it was a nightmare.”

Prosecutor David McClernan of Georgia, quoted by the Associated Press, giving closing arguments in a federal case in which preacher Abraham Kennard was found guilty by a Rome, Ga., jury of stealing almost $9 million from hundreds of small, black churches. The verdict was announced on Monday (Feb. 7).

MO/JL RNS END