c. 2008 Religion News Service
Father Damien cleared for sainthood
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The unofficial patron saint of those with HIV/AIDS is on the verge of canonization, after Pope Benedict XVI authorized a decree attributing a second miracle to his intercession, the Vatican announced Thursday (July 3).
The Rev. Damien de Veuster, a Belgian priest known as “Father Damien” who spent more than 15 years caring for lepers on the island of Molokai, Hawaii, died there of leprosy in 1889.
Pope John Paul II declared Damien “Blessed” in 1995, after recognizing as miraculous the cure of a French nun who had prayed to the late priest only a few years after his death. A second miracle, occurring after beatification, was required for his canonization as a saint.
In April, Honolulu Bishop Clarence (Larry) Silva confirmed that theologians advising the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints had recognized as miraculous a Hawaiian woman’s recovery from lung cancer after she prayed for Damien’s intercession. The case was the subject of an article in the Hawaii Medical Journal in 2000.
The miracle was then approved by the congregation and finally by Pope Benedict. Damien’s canonization still requires a papal bull calling for his veneration as a saint.
Statues of Damien, who is also considered the patron saint of Hawaii, stand in both the U.S. Capitol in Washington and the Hawaii State Capitol in Honolulu.
_ Francis X. Rocca
Report: Religious giving tops $100 billion in 2007
(RNS) Giving to religious charities and congregations passed the $100 billion mark for the first time in 2007, according to a recent report by the Giving USA Foundation.
Giving to religious groups increased 4.7 percent, bringing the total to $102.32 billion. Overall giving to charitable causes reached $306.39 billion in 2007, a 3.9 percent increase from 2006.
The report, released June 23, shows that donations to religious causes accounted for half of all individual charitable giving. Three-quarters of all giving in the U.S. came from individual donations to charity, the report said.
Del Martin, chair of the Giving USA Foundation, said, “And what you can’t forget is that the `little guys,’ the families most affected by the economy, kept on giving despite any worries they might have about their personal situations.”
Charitable giving consistently represents 2.3 percent of the average American’s disposable income year-to-year, a figure that held up in 2007, according to the report.
The report, conducted by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, analyzed eight charity sub-sectors _ Arts/Culture/Humanities, Education, Environment/Animals, Health, Human Services, Public-Society Benefit, International Affairs, and Religion. Each saw individual increases last year, according to inflation-adjusted estimates.
Though not considered public charities, community and private foundations saw a decrease in giving last year, the report noted.
Researchers asked charities in the Public-Society Benefit category if they were worried that giving to political campaigns during the 2008 election year would hurt charitable donations. Groups reported back they are more concerned about the lagging economy and volatile stock market.
Presidential campaigns in 2007 raised $580 million, according to the Federal Election Commission, a mere one-quarter of 1 percent of the $306 billion raised for charity.
_ Ashly McGlone
Christian groups to deliver food to North Korea
(RNS) A partnership that includes several Christian organizations has reached an agreement with North Korea to deliver strictly monitored food aid to counter the communist country’s severe crop shortage.
The five non-governmental organizations forming the partnership _ World Vision, Mercy Corps, Samaritan’s Purse, Global Resource Services and Christian Friends of Korea _ have a decade or more experience working in North Korea.
The food assistance comes after an assessment of areas devastated by flooding last August. Ken Isaacs, vice president of program and government relations at Samaritan’s Purse, said the partnership has been allowed “unprecedented access.”
Sixteen representatives from the five NGOs will be living in North Korea to monitor food distribution.
The aid is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, and is part of a larger agreement expected to reach more than 5 million people.
In late June the White House moved to take North Korea off its list of state sponsors of terrorism after Pyongyang delivered an outline of its nuclear programs.
David Snider, press director for USAID, said the agreement was not linked to the White House move.
“We are involved in humanitarian assistance. The U.S. government makes a clear distinction between humanitarian assistance and security issues, which are handled by the State Department,” Snider said.
_ Ashly McGlone
Quote of the Day: Episcopal Bishop John Bryson Chane of Washington
(RNS) “I am quite concerned that Archbishop (of Canterbury Rowan) Williams seems not to understand that there are primates, bishops and others in the (Anglican) Communion who are actively seeking to undermine his office.”
_ Episcopal Bishop John Bryson Chane of Washington, speaking about conservatives’ plan to circumvent Williams’ leadership of the Anglican Communion with a new council of self-appointed primates, or archbishops. Chane was quoted by the London Times.
KRE/PH END RNS
