Volume 25, Number 1 April 2003
Getting Around
Border Patrol kills unarmed teenager
Sheila Daley and other board members of Mary's Pence, meeting in El Paso, Tex., March 2, discovered a serious human rights crisis underway. Juan Patricio Quijada, 19, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, was stopped and questioned by the Border Patrol in downtown El Paso while taking out the trash at Annunciation House, a hospitality center for immigrants. When Juan ran, they shot and killed him. When El Paso police began investigating, the Border Patrol tried to seize and quickly deport eyewitnesses, and a Patrol helicopter hovered menacingly for days over Annunciation House.
The bishops of El Paso and Las Cruces concelebrated a memorial Mass for Quijada March 9 with 400 people in the street in front of Annunciation House. A dozen Hispanic and rights organizations gathered hundreds of signatures on a community statement published in the El Paso Times. It protested the newly hostile climate against Hispanic immigrants since 9/11. "Hispanic appearance is not a lawful basis for confronting or interrogating an individual," they said. They called for "immediate elimination of the practice of the local Border Patrol of targeting shelters for the homeless for intense scrutiny and heavy-handed operations." Learn more by contacting borderwatch2003@yahoo.com
Vatican bans intercommunion, but didn't tell the pope
About the same time that the influential Italian Jesuit journal, Civiltá Cattolica, was issuing a clear condemnation of sharing Eucharist with non-Catholics, John Paul II gave communion to British Prime Minister Tony Blair, an Anglican, during his visit to the Vatican.
Blessing the condoms in South Africa
In Maputo, Mozambique last fall, at a parish service about the dangers of HIV/AIDS, the local bishop was asked about condom use. He said, "If you are HIV+ and have unprotected sex and infect someone, you have, in the eyes of God, committed murder. So, my children, wearing a condom is not a sin. Not wearing one IS." Since that day, a regular part of every Sunday liturgy is the blessing of the condoms. (Source: Religious Consultation Report)
St. Peter loses keys to the kingdom of heaven
Could this be a divine sign of some structural change? Vatican authorities March 13 were searching for the left hand - the one holding the keys - of a 13th century marble statue of the apostle in St. Peter's Basilica. The stolen hand was a 17th century replacement of the original, which had been damaged. It was connected to the wrist by a metal rod. A Vatican guide said the statue still had both hands at 3:30 PM. An hour later a passing employee discovered it was missing.
Wanted: Homilies by women
Metro Detroit CTA is working on a book project titled "Women of the Word." They are collecting homilies written by Roman Catholic women, including those that were Catholics and have since left the church and those that continue to struggle within the church. If you or someone you know has a homily that you would like to be considered for this project, please forward it to margeorlando@comcast.net
A play about woman's call to priesthood
World Day of Prayer forWomen's Ordination was observed in Chicago March 25 with a theatrical reading of Ashley Merryman's play, "Metanoia," the story of a contemporary nun caught between the law and her faith. A doctor confesses to Sr. Kenna the mistakes he made in a patient's care. As her church struggles with the issues of women's ordination, the celibate priesthood and the shortage of priests, Sr. Kenna must choose whether to honor the confidentiality of the confession or obey church authority. Over 70 people attended the reading. A lively question and answer session followed with the playwright, director and representatives of the Women's Ordination Conference.