c. 2008 Religion News Service
National Day of Prayer observed from the air, on the ground
(RNS) On the National Day of Prayer, petitions to God will be made from the ground and from the air. Plans for the annual observance, on May 1, include private pilots who intend to fly and pray over all 50 state capitols.
Tens of thousands of events, organized through a Colorado-based task force, will be held in churches, on courthouse steps and in parks. Organizers range from military members to teenagers.
For the first time, the event will be marked at a memorial chapel in Shanksville, Pa., which commemorates the 9/11 crash site of United Flight 93.
“This is a critical time to be in prayer for our country,” said Shirley Dobson, chairman of the National Day of Prayer Task Force and wife of Focus on the Family founder James Dobson.
“The biblical principles upon which America was founded are under attack in every segment of society. We pray God will raise righteous leaders for our country.”
Christian scholar Ravi Zacharias is the 2008 honorary chairman. He will address observances on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon.
The National Day of Prayer was established by Congress in 1952 and is observed on the first Thursday of May.
_ Adelle M. Banks
Catholic high school teachers start strike as pope arrives
NEW YORK (RNS) As Pope Benedict XVI headed for his first papal visit to America, picketers assembled outside 10 Catholic high schools from Poughkeepsie to Staten Island on Tuesday (April 15).
Lay Faculty Association officials, representing about 450 teachers, said they don’t hold the pontiff responsible for their contract dispute with the Archdiocese of New York, but hoped timing the protest to his visit would publicize the union’s grievances and pressure the archdiocese to meet their terms.
The LFA has worked without a contract since Aug. 31, and wants a three-year agreement with improved pay, pension plan and health benefits, said Henry Kielkucki, union spokesman.
Archdiocese spokesman Joseph Zwilling said the strike would not speed up negotiations, and called the timing an “insult to Pope Benedict and an insult to the Catholic faithful.”
Undeterred and armed with messages like “Practice What You Preach If You Want Us to Teach” and “Quality Education Deserves a Just Wage,” the teachers stood outside the schools, which remained in session Tuesday morning.
Members participated in a sickout on Jan. 10, which did not result in a better offer from the archdiocese, Kielkucki said. The union’s previous strike, in 2001, lasted 17 days.
The Federation of Catholic Teachers, a union with about 3,300 members, agreed to a new contract with the archdiocese Friday (April 11) after calling in sick at 18 elementary and high schools earlier this month.
Benedict will spend three days in Washington, D.C., before heading to New York on Friday, where he plans to speak at the United Nations, pray at the World Trade Center site and celebrate Mass at Yankee Stadium and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
The LFA does not plan to picket at any of the pope’s appearances, Kielkucki said.
_ Nicole Neroulias
Quote of the Day: President George W. Bush
(RNS) “God.”
_ President Bush, when asked by EWTN anchor Raymond Arroyo: “When you look into Benedict XVI’s eyes, what do you see?”
KRE/RB END RNS