NEWS

TORONTO - With barely two weeks left in the 2012 ShareLife campaign, parishioners are being called upon to pull together and raise the remaining $1 million needed to reach this year’s $12.3 million goal.

“(We) thank those Catholics who have made a contribution this year and appeal to all Catholics to support the ShareLife campaign before July 31,” said Arthur Peters, ShareLife’s executive director. “Parishioners have been very generous. Over the next few weeks I just hope people will continue to be generous and help us reach our goal.”

VATICAN CITY - The majority of bishops' conferences in the Americas, Europe and Asia have complied with a Vatican mandate to draw up anti-abuse guidelines, said the Vatican's top investigator of clerical sex abuse.

Without counting Africa, "more than half of the conferences responded" by the May deadline, Msgr. Charles Scicluna of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said in an interview with the Italian monthly Catholic magazine Jesus.

All those who did not send in their proposed guidelines would be getting "a letter of reminder," he added.

MEXICO CITY - A Catholic-run shelter serving the masses of migrants stealing rides on trains passing through the rail yards north of Mexico City closed its doors July 9 after enduring endless quarrels with its neighbors.

Local media reported that the St. Juan Diego shelter stopped accepting migrants after a meeting with neighbors, who earlier had closed the facility in a symbolic gesture and posted signs advising migrants to move along. The newspaper Reforma, citing police reports, said that a conflict among neighbors, shelter operators and migrants outside of the facility came prior to the closure.

Shelter director Father Alexander Rojas told the newspaper that he was acting on the instructions of his superior, Bishop Guillermo Ortiz Mondragon of Cuautitlan.

VATICAN CITY - Chinese Father Joseph Yue Fusheng has been automatically excommunicated for allowing himself to be illicitly ordained a bishop despite repeated warnings from the Vatican.

"The Holy See does not recognize him as bishop of the apostolic administration of Harbin, and he lacks the authority to govern the priests and the Catholic community in the province of Heilongjiang," the Vatican said in a written statement July 10.

It also praised the new auxiliary bishop of Shanghai, who has been restricted by the government after saying he would give up his role in the government-approved Catholic Patriotic Association.

SHANGHAI - Newly ordained Auxiliary Bishop Thaddeus Ma Daqin of Shanghai failed to show up for his first Mass at St. Ignatius Cathedral after telling the congregation at his ordination that he would step down from the local and national offices of the Catholic Patriotic Association to devote himself entirely to his ministry.

Local church sources told the Asian church news agency UCA News that Bishop Ma has freedom of movement, but Chinese authorities have restricted him from exercising his episcopal ministry because they were displeased by Bishop Ma's speech during his July 7 ordination. They said he spent July 8 in Sheshan, on the outskirts of Shanghai, where the diocese has a Marian shrine and seminary.

CORK, Ireland - The head of the Vatican's highest court described the spate of leaks of confidential Vatican documents as "most grave crimes" and warned that those responsible must be discovered and "appropriately sanctioned."

Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature, said the confidentiality of Pope Benedict XVI's communications must be respected in order for the pope to carry out his work in service of the church.

"It is not a question of hiding anything but of respecting conscience," the U.S.-born cardinal told reporters following his address to the Fifth Fota International Liturgy Conference.

NAIROBI, Kenya - One year after achieving independence, South Sudan remains plagued with corruption and ethnic discontent, prompting Catholic and Episcopal bishops to challenge the fledgling country's political leaders to "a change of heart leading to a change of behavior."

In a message marking the July 9 anniversary, Archbishop Paulino Lukudu Loro of Juba, South Sudan's capital, and Episcopal Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul, primate of the Episcopal Church in Sudan, expressed concern about reports of money being stolen by the country's high-ranking officials.

WASHINGTON - After a violent windstorm swept in to the mid-Atlantic region from the Midwest June 29, leaving a trail of devastation across 10 states, volunteers marched in to help those who were worse off.

"People are motivated to help," said Patti Phillips, Catholic Charities communication and marketing director in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, W.Va.

The storm left millions of households and businesses without power in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana and New Jersey. It caused several deaths and massive power outages that affected more than 4 million.

DUBLIN - One of the key architects of the Northern Ireland peace process has been honored by Pope Benedict XVI for his commitment to peace and reconciliation in the region.

John Hume, a founder-member of the mainly Catholic Social Democratic and Labor Party, was credited with initiating the political dialogue that brought about the 1994 cease-fire by the Irish Republican Army. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998.

PHILADELPHIA - The Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced the fate of six priests placed on administrative leave after the February 2011 Philadelphia grand jury report.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput decided on the cases after "a rigorous investigative process involving over 20 experts in child abuse," a statement from the archdiocese said July 6.