News/International

WASHINGTON - A group of Catholic theologians and leaders of Catholic organizations called on Republican presidential candidates to "stop perpetuating ugly racial stereotypes on the campaign trail."

The organization Faith in Public Life circulated the letter challenging fellow Catholics former Rep. Newt Gingrich and former Sen. Rick Santorum, both Republicans, to dial back from how they refer to the nation's first African-American president "with a title that evokes the past myth of 'welfare queens' and inflaming other racist caricatures." The group called the tactic "irresponsible, immoral and unworthy of political leaders."

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - In a city that has become synonymous with violence and despair during a four-year drug war that has claimed more than 12,000 residents, parishioners at a small church are trying to change the image of Ciudad Juarez - one person at a time.

Reflecting on the hymn lyrics, "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me," Father Roberto Luna, pastor of Corpus Christi Church, urges the estimated 500 active parishioners in this impoverished and besieged neighborhood to live the life of Christ to the best of their abilities. He knows how daunting this task can be.

The neighborhood Corpus Christi is in is adjacent to the Juarez Valley, where a war is being waged between the Sinaloa and Juarez drug cartels, and the war greatly affects the youth in the parish. Over the past year, Father Luna estimates that as many as 50 young people between the ages of 17 and 23 have been murdered, leaving survivors with a sense of anger, frustration and vengeance.

WASHINGTON - Although Catholic leaders vowed to fight on, the Obama administration has turned down repeated requests from Catholic bishops, hospitals, schools and charitable organizations to revise its religious exemption to the requirement that all health plans cover contraceptives and sterilization free of charge.

Instead, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced Jan. 20 that nonprofit groups that do not provide contraceptive coverage because of their religious beliefs will get an additional year "to adapt to this new rule."

JUBA, South Sudan - The Sudan Council of Churches has committed to involving young people from war-torn Jonglei state in a grass-roots peace process.

The council said the state's young people have no political leadership. A series of retaliatory attacks between ethnic groups in Jonglei has displaced tens of thousands of people since late December.

BANGALORE, India - Church leaders criticized an Islamic court's decision to expel five Christians, including a Catholic priest.

A Shariah court in Jammu and Kashmir state ordered the expulsion of Mill Hill Father Jim Borst, who has worked in the region since 1963, after accusing him of "spreading communal disaffection."

Shariah courts have no legal standing in India.

WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minnesota - Friends and parishioners of St. Pius X Church in White Bear Lake reflected on the lives of Jerry and Barb Heil at an evening prayer service Jan. 18.

On Jan. 19, divers resumed the search for 21 people still missing after a Costa Concordia cruise ship cruise ship crashed into the Italian coast Jan. 13. The Heils are the only Americans who remained unaccounted for among the more than 4,200 passengers. Eleven people died.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI warned visiting U.S. bishops that "radical secularism" threatens the core values of American culture, and he called on the church in America, including politicians and other laypeople, to render "public moral witness" on crucial social issues.

The Pope spoke Jan. 19 to a group of U.S. bishops who were in Rome for their periodic "ad limina" visits, which included meetings with the Pope and Vatican officials, covering a wide range of pastoral matters.

WASHINGTON - The direction the courts will take with other cases related to religious employment is far from clear, but the Supreme Court's Jan. 11 ruling opens a whole track of possibilities.

The decision in Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC held that fired teacher Cheryl Perich could not sue under federal disability discrimination laws, because the Michigan Lutheran school where she worked considered her a "called" minister.

Writing for a unanimous court, Chief Justice John Roberts said the government cannot require a church to retain an unwanted minister because doing so "intrudes upon more than a mere employment decision. Such action interferes with the internal governance of the church, depriving the church of control over the selection of those who will personify its beliefs."

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - South Africa's bill on protecting state secrets could turn the country into a security state, said Cape Town Archbishop Stephen Brislin.

The Protection of State Information Bill, which allows any government agency to apply for classification of information that is "valuable" to the state and criminalizes the possession and distribution of state secrets, "does not serve the interests of the nation and can be used to damage our democracy," Archbishop Brislin said in a Jan. 19 statement.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Catholic bishops of California are backing proposed ballot measures to require parental notification before a minor's abortion and to end use of the death penalty in the state.

The endorsement, contained in a statement posted Jan. 10 on the website of the California Catholic Conference, marks a departure from the bishops' long-standing policy of not taking a stand on potential initiatives until they have qualified for the state ballot.

But the "convergence" of the two proposed initiatives presents "a unique teaching moment on life and family," the bishops said.