Bishop Ricard: Leader on Africa, Justice and Peace

The following information was provided by the USCCB's Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development:

Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, who recently retired as bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, was active in the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and a leader in the Conference’s engagement with the Church in Africa.

Bishop Ricard served as chairman and a longstanding member of the Committee on International Justice and Peace. His worked to keep the Conference’s policy approach to Africa rooted in the reality of the many Africans who live in poverty and conflict and are in need of solidarity.

The nation of Sudan always had a special place in Bishop Ricard’s ministry. He made many solidarity trips to Sudan, giving the Conference an unprecedented level of presence in Sudan and strengthening the capacity of the Church in Sudan to be an agent of reconciliation and peace.

The peaceful results of the recent referendum in Southern Sudan is a sign of the effectiveness of his strong advocacy with the United States government over many years. The United States played a key role in supporting the people of Sudan at this time of transition. And although much remains to be achieved for the people of Sudan, there is reason to hope—and part of that hope is due to Bishop Ricard’s leadership.

His persistence and vision made the establishment of Subcommittee for the Church in Africa possible and through his efforts the Conference has raised millions of dollars in contributions for the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa. The Fund is strengthening the pastoral capacity of the Church in Africa—the fastest growing part of the Church. As the Chairman of the Subcommittee for the Church in Africa he has advanced the fund, and greatly increased the outreach of the Conference to our Catholic brothers and sisters on a continent.

New American Bible Translation Makes Media Splash

Tomorrow brings not only the start of Lent but also the publication of the New American Bible (NAB), revised edition, or NABRE. The publication marks the first major update of the NAB in 20 years and includes the first revision of the Old Testament since 1970 and a complete revision of Psalms. It retains the 1986 translation of the New Testament.

The new translation has, happily, enjoyed some attention in the media, including stories from USA Today, ABC News and Reuters, which focus on the implications of certain word changes in the translation, such as changing "booty" to "spoils" and "holocaust" to "burnt offering."

The translation even made of segment of DC's Channel 7 news:

The video rightly highlights how a good translation of Scripture should improve the reader's understanding.

Another issue, touched on briefly in the segment, that's raised some eyebrows is the translation of Isaiah 7:14 to say "young woman" instead of "virgin." As Mary Elizabeth Sperry, the USCCB's expert of permissions and Bible utilization explained in the clip above, this has absolutely no impact on the teaching of the Church regarding the virginity of Mary.

Explains Sperry:

The Hebrew word ‘almah is more accurately translated as “young woman.” That translation has been used in Catholic Bibles for over 50 years. The equivalent word (“joven”) is given in the Spanish translation of Isaiah 7 posted on the Vatican website. The translation as “virgin” stems from the Greek text of the Septuagint, dating to the 4^th century BC. This text translated ‘almah as “parthenos” which does typically specify a virgin.

The text of Matthew 1:23 retains the use of “virgin” as the evangelist was quoting the Greek text. (The Gospel of Matthew was written in Greek.) In addition, the virgin birth of Jesus is attested in Luke 1:34 in Mary’s response to Gabriel’s announcement of her selection to be the mother of the Son of God.

It's worth adding that Mary's virginity is likewise still affirmed in both the Apostles' and Nicene Creed as an unchanging article of the Catholic faith.

Sperry can be heard having a longer discussion on the issue in a segment on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition. The USCCB has also produced a series of articles looking at the significance of the new translation, the Old Testament and the Bible in general.

All of it makes for great reading as the Church celebrates this milestone in Scripture scholarship and understanding.

Confession Time

The Catholic story coursing through the news cycle in a big way this week has been the news of an app for iPhones, iPads and iPods developed in Indiana that walks the user through an examination of conscience in preparation for confession.

Like any good Catholic story, this one has plenty of nuance and detail that some media outlets didn't get exactly right.

First of all, the app isn't a replacement for traditional confession, as some early accounts suggested.

It also has not received the endorsement of the USCCB, as other outlets have alluded. (It's nothing personal. The USCCB simply doesn't endorse products.) As this CNS story explains, the app has received the imprimatur of Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, meaning the local bishop has signed off on its release and said nothing about the app is contrary to Catholic teaching.

Further confusion has come from the fact that one of the priests involved in developing the app was Father Thomas Weinandy, OFM Cap., the executive director of Doctrine for the USCCB. And while this involvement would seem to suggest USCCB approval, Father Weinandy's role in the process was not in his official USCCB capacity.

By this point, news of the app has circled the globe, drawing comment from secular media, Catholic media and even the Vatican spokesman.

Apart from being a ton of free publicity it's generated for the app itself, the energy behind this story suggests a real interest in the Catholic Church when it engages contemporary society, especially through new media. One could argue, for instance with Pope Benedict's recently urging of Christians to engage the world of social media, that this enthusiasm is mutual.

Is Your Parish a “Marriage-Building” Community?

We are proud to join in the celebration of National Marriage Week. Our guest blogger today is Dr. Richard McCord, executive director of the Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth at the USCCB. He offers a reflection on the U.S. bishops' efforts to highlight marriage as a pastoral priority, both at the national and local level.

World Day of Day of Marriage (February 13) and National Marriage Week (February 7-14) provide us with an opportunity to celebrate, reflect and give thanks for the gift of marriage; also to realize the uniqueness of this call and its importance for the good of society.

The continuing vitality of marriage as an institution cannot be taken for granted. This is a lesson learned during the past four decades when our nation – including its Catholic population – has experienced a retreat from marriage. The marriage rate has declined; the cohabitation rate has increased; and the high divorce rate is holding steady.

A recent national study reveals the weakness of marriage among middle class Americans. Another raises the question of whether marriage has become obsolete as the basis for family life. National surveys are finding an increased acceptance of so called “same-sex marriage” particularly among the younger generation of twenty-somethings.

The continuance of negative social trends is not inevitable. Today’s data are not necessarily tomorrow’s destiny. Nothing will change, though, if we don’t take action now.

This is why the U.S. bishops established the National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage in 2004. They extended and deepened their commitment when they adopted the strengthening of marriage and family as one of their five priority goals in 2009.

The Catholic Church has a long and rich history of teaching about the meaning and importance of marriage and family life. Happy and holy marriages are a work of God’s grace combined with our human effort. Marriages are strong and enduring when they rest on three pillars: a transcendent vision, a range of skills that can lead to virtuous relationships, and a supportive community. Through theological, spiritual and pastoral resources, the Catholic faith tradition can help couples and communities put these pillars in place and thereby build strong marriages.

The centerpiece of this resource-based strategy is the 2009 U.S. bishops’ pastoral letter, Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan. The annual observance of Catechetical Sunday in 2010 also provided many educational resources on the sacrament of matrimony, and a new pamphlet series for engaged and married couples is also underway.

A second stage of the highly successful "What have you done for your marriage today? public service announcements campaign is now in production, this time emphasizing the social value of a good marriage. The 2007 radio and television spots, which utilized the comments of persons-on-the-street, got extensive airtime (equivalent of more than $20 million) and won several industry awards.

A major resource is the “for your marriage” website (www.foryourmarriage.org), a one-stop location featuring “resources for a happy and holy marriage.” It has articles on a wide range of topics, blogs, book reviews, daily marriage tips, Church teaching and even practical help for planning a Catholic wedding. These English-language resources have a Spanish-language complement in the website www.portumatrimonio.org and in a radio campaign that is currently in production.

In light of recent social and political developments, the bishops have also felt it necessary to organize an effort aimed at protecting the legal definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman and at promoting a better understanding of this truth that is based on right reason and divine revelation. This project, consisting of catechetical materials and public policy advocacy (see www.marriageuniqueforareason.org ), responds to a growing challenge in our society. It affirms the teaching that marriage must be preserved, protected, strengthened and renewed in keeping with God’s plan for the good of humanity.

All these resources will not be fully effective unless they are joined to an even greater resource, namely, the Catholic people themselves. A huge potential force for good exists in the witness and service of married couples and families who live and worship in the more than eighteen thousand parishes throughout our country. What a difference it could make if every parish committed itself to become a “marriage-building community”!

This effort would not be a new program but rather a new attitude and approach to what the parish may be doing already. It would incorporate the three elements of a Christian vision of marriage, skills that lead to virtuous living, and supportive ministries within the community. Becoming a marriage-building church, particularly at the parish level, is what the bishops envision in their pastoral letter when they urge “a renewed commitment by the entire Catholic community to helping those called to the vocation of married life to live it faithfully, fruitfully, and joyfully.”

On Health Care, the Bishops Show the Way Forward

In the recent debate and votes to repeal last year's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. the health care bill, the U.S. bishops were largely absent from the "to repeal or not repeal" debate. That's not to say the bishops didn't weigh in. The chairmen of the USCCB committees relevant to health care reform (Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Pro-Life Activities; Bishop Stephen Blaire, Domestic Justice and Human Development; and Archbishop José Gomez, Migration) sent the same letter to the U.S. House and Senate as each body prepared to vote on repeal:

Dear Represenative/Senator:

As the House/Senate prepares to resume debate on health care reform, we wish to make clear the position and priorities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on this vitally important issue.

Throughout the last Congress the Catholic bishops of the United States affirmed our strong support for universal access to health care. Basic health care for all is a moral imperative, not yet completely achieved. It has never been, and is not now, for the bishops to decide the best means to realize that essential goal. However, regardless of which means are chosen, they must fall within certain fundamental moral parameters, which the bishops have a duty to articulate strongly and clearly. We have urged and continue to urge that legislation on health care reform reflect the following three moral criteria:

- Ensure access to quality, affordable, life-giving health care for all;

- Retain longstanding requirements that effectively protect conscience rights and that prohibit use of federal funds for elective abortions or plans that include them; and

- Protect the access to health care that immigrants currently have and remove current barriers to access.

Rather than joining efforts to support or oppose the repeal of the recently enacted health care law, we will continue to devote our efforts to correcting serious moral problems in the current law, so health care reform can truly be life-affirming for all.

In the 111th Congress, H.R. 5111 was introduced by Congressmen Pitts and Lipinski to ensure that the new health care law will maintain longstanding federal policies on abortion in the areas of federal funding and conscience rights. H.R. 6570 was also introduced by Congressman Fortenberry to ensure that all people -- Catholics and others alike -- maintain their current ability under federal law to provide and purchase health coverage that is consistent with their faith and values. We will strongly support laws like these in the new Congress and we will seek ways to ensure a more just health care system for immigrant families.

For nearly a century, the Catholic bishops of the United States have called for reform of our health care system so all may have access to care that recognizes and affirms their human dignity. As Pope Benedict recently stated, in the health care sector “it is important to establish a real distributive justice which, on the basis of objective needs, guarantees adequate care to all.” Moreover, “if it is not to become inhuman, the world of health care cannot disregard the moral rules that must govern it” (Message to the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, November 15, 2010). We wholeheartedly commit ourselves to health care reform that achieves these worthy goals. We will advocate for addressing the current problems in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as others that may become apparent in the course of its implementation.

So rather than entering the new debate, the bishops reaffirmed, as they did time and again during last year's health care debate, their principles that health care reform must make health care accessible and affordable to all, that it must protect human life and conscience and that it must be fair to immigrants.

Now that the repeal movement has ended with yesterday's vote in the Senate, the position of the bishops really seems to offer a way forward, that is, fixing the serious moral flaws of health care reform one piece at a time.

Wester Revisited

This morning brought with it, among the various appointments of bishops from around the world to posts on different Vatican committees, the announcement that Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City has been named a member of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. In other words, Bishop Wester is now part of the Vatican office that oversees migration/immigration issues.

This doesn't mean Bishop Wester is leaving Salt Lake City. A post such as this would involve meetings in Rome but would not be a full time relocation. What is notable about this appointment is that it comes on the heels of Bishop Wester's stint as chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration.

Elected to the post in 2006, Bishop Wester was the lead voice on immigration concerns for the bishops for three years (November 2007-November 2010). During that time, he spoke out on a range of migration-themed issues, including the need for comprehensive immigration reform and the role immigration played in the health care debate.

His advocacy often brough Bishop Wester into the worlds of news and social media, including this piece in Politics Daily and a video outlining the bishops' priorities for immigration reform.

Bishop Wester passed the migration torch last fall to Coadjutor Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, who is already speaking out on issues like providing a path to citizenship for people who were brought across the border as children. But even with his most public work on this issue for the U.S. bishops behind him, the Vatican clearly intends Bishop Wester to have a part to play in shaping the Church's global response to this issue.

Bishops Seek Health Care That's Universal

The health care reform discussion goes on and on and seems to be the same political football it was leading up to its passage. Its approval last spring came after a fierce legislative fight, and there has been little consensus since government set out to implement it.

Whatever one feels about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the fact is that tens of thousands of Americans are without health care insurance. This creates a health-care crisis for the nation.

This nation needs universal health care, which the U.S. bishops have argued for, for decades. The bishops’ objections to the bill that passed stemmed from its lack of universality. For one thing, the bishops found that the bill did not protect the life of the unborn child. The bishops’ concern was borne out afterwards as some states sought to use newly-available health care funds for elective abortions. After some cried “foul,” the Secretary for Health and Human Services advised these states that such funding was not permitted. Any cleaning up of the bill now ought to guarantee that funds for health care should not be used for elective abortions.

Another concern of the bishops is protection of the conscience rights of institutions. Most people understand the need to respect the conscience of an individual, a conscience correctly formed through education and prayer. An institution also has conscience rights, including the right to follow the teachings of its sponsoring organization. No religious organizations should be forced to purchase coverage for procedures it does not approve of, such as contraception and sterilization. No government should force an institution to practice medicine or purchase medical services that run contrary to its basic tenets. Not just the institution but a pluralistic America would suffer if such a right were denied.

The bishops also seek to protect access to health care for immigrants. The right to health care is a basic right. Every individual has a right to defend his or her life, even against disease. There also are practical reasons to support providing health care for immigrants in our country, including the fact that a contagious illness in one person can quickly become illness in others. The bill that was passed last spring would not even allow some immigrants to purchase health care insurance.

A few lawmakers have proposed legislation that could clean up the bill now. Reps. Joseph Pitts (R-PA) and Daniel Lipinski (D-IL) introduced a bill in the last Congress to guarantee that current decades-old federal policy that precludes using federal money for elective abortions would apply to health care reform legislation. The bill did not receive active consideration then, but the congressmen are expected to reintroduce such legislation for this Congress. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) offered legislation to allow organizations to provide health care insurance that is consistent with their values. That also did not receive active consideration and Rep. Fortenberry is expected to bring forth this issue again in this Congress.

Right now the effort to obtain universal health care continues and the bishops stand behind it. They seek universality, a health care that protects everyone, the immigrant, the unborn and the weak at all stages of life. It is a position that can only help the nation. It’s a position that, in the least, protects pluralism and, most importantly, protects human life.