c. 2007 Religion News Service

Diocese Asks Priests to Help Pay Abuse Settlement

(RNS) The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego is asking parishioners and priests to help pay for the nearly $200 million sexual abuse settlement it reached last month.

As part of a new campaign, priests will be asked to contribute one month’s salary, estimated at $1,485 to $1,535. Retired priests will be asked to contribute according to their means.

“We cannot ask of others what we are unwilling to do ourselves,” San Diego Bishop Robert Brom said in a memo to diocesan priests. The memo was posted online by the San Diego Union-Tribune; a diocesan official confirmed its accuracy.

Parishioners will be asked for “a generous contribution” as well, “to help cover the expense involved in compassionate outreach to our brothers and sisters who suffered sexual abuse within the family of the Church,” Brom said.

On Sept. 7, San Diego reached a $198.1 million settlement with 144 victims of sexual abuse, the second-largest such settlement since the explosion of the sex abuse scandal in 2002.

The diocese will pay about $107 million of the settlement, and hopes to recoup about $30 million from religious orders.

In July, the nearby Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to a record $660 million settlement with more than 500 people who were sexually abused by Catholic clergy. The archdiocese has been heavily criticized for evicting an order of nuns from their longtime convent to help pay for the settlement.

_ Daniel Burke

Michigan Bishops Launch Stem Cell Education Campaign

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) As a physician, Dr. William Passinault says it’s a bad bet to spend money on embryonic stem cell research. As a Catholic, he says it is morally wrong.

But the retired surgeon also has seen patients helped by adult stem-cell therapy. So he applauded Michigan’s Catholic bishops for a new campaign to educate parishioners about the church’s stand on stem cells.

“Since folks are going to be potentially asked to vote on (a ballot) issue _ and surveys indicate the public on both sides are not well-informed _ this is certainly a praiseworthy effort at education,” said Passinault, chairman of the bioethics committee at Saint Mary’s Health Care.

The campaign comes as supporters of embryonic stem-cell research consider a petition drive to put a proposal on the 2008 ballot to lift the state ban.

More than 500,000 Catholic households statewide were mailed packets from the Michigan Catholic Conference that are signed by the state’s seven bishops.

A 12-minute DVD and brochure outline the church’s opposition to embryonic stem cell research and its support of using adult stem cells to treat dozens of diseases.

Parishes also received materials urging them to address the issue during weekend services (Oct. 6-7) as part of Respect Life Sunday, sponsored across the country by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Grand Rapids Bishop Walter Hurley encouraged parish priests to use the materials, saying they clarify church teaching on a complex issue.

“There is a perception the church is opposed to stem cell research, and that’s totally not true,” he said. “There is no question about the commitment of the church to stem cell research using adult stem cells.”

Stem cells derived from bone marrow and umbilical cord blood help treat Parkinson’s disease and other conditions, he and other bishops assert. Embryonic stem cells have provided no treatments, require killing the embryo and could lead to cloning, they argue.

“We need to be extraordinarily cautious when dealing with these issues,” Hurley said. “Life is not ours to begin or to end.”

_ Charles Honey

Indian Company Withdraws `Nazi Bedspreads’

CHENNAI, India (RNS) A home furnishing company in Mumbai, India, has agreed to withdraw its `Nazi Collection’ bedspreads after they provoked fury among the country’s small Jewish community.

Jews in Mumbai had earlier threatened legal action to block the sale of the product line. Promotional materials for the linens feature swastikas, an ancient Hindu symbol associated with good luck before it became the symbol of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party.

“We Jews believe that the best part of living in India is that it is a country that has never ridiculed us or harmed us,” said Jonathan Solomon, chairman of the Indian Jewish Federation, the community’s umbrella organization. About 5,000 of the nation’s 6,000 Jews live in Mumbai.

The housewares company, for its part, initially said “Nazi” stood for “New Arrival Zone of India,” while the swastika was used to invoke its original meaning.

Later, following objections from Jews, furnishings dealer Jagdish Todi met community leaders and assured them that it was not their intent to hurt the sentiments of Jews, Solomon said.

Todi, who apologized for offending the Jewish community, had assured them that all publicity material with the name “The Nazi Collection” would be immediately destroyed and the company would refrain from using it in the future, Solomon added.

A restaurant named “Hitler’s Cross,” which opened last year in Mumbai had to change its name following strong protests from Jews in India and Germany. The restaurant had used posters of Hitler and Nazi swastikas for publicity.

_ Achal Narayanan

Quote of the Day: Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams

(RNS) “When people talk about further destabilization of the region and you read some American political advisers speaking of action against Syria and Iran, I can only say that I regard that as criminal, ignorant and potentially murderous folly.”

_ Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. He was quoted by the BBC.

KRE/JM END RNS