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Last Updated: Friday - 09/24/2010

Week of March 1, 1999

Canadian and Foreign News Highlights

Castro speaks, bishops listen:

Cuban President Fidel Castro lived up to his reputation as a talkative host during a meeting with bishops of the Americas that stretched into the wee hours of the morning. "Afterwards, some bishops really felt that he was taking advantage of his position and saying 'I'm going to make you damn bishops sit there and listen,'" said Msgr. Peter Schonenbach, the English-sector general secretary of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. The five cardinals and more than two dozen bishops and priests from Canada, the U.S. and Latin America were in Havana for the Inter-American Bishops' meeting from Feb. 14-16.

Doctrinal formation seen as challenge to the culture:

``More effective doctrinal formation'' of Catholics is necessary to help them challenge the values of the dominant culture, said Catholic doctrinal officials who met recently in California. ``Christians cannot accept uncritically the presuppositions and values of the dominant culture,'' the officials said in their report. The Feb. 9-12 meeting brought together Vatican officials and delegates from doctrine committees of bishops' conferences in North America and Oceania, including Canada.

Vatican accused of backing Pinochet:

The Vatican said it had contacted the British government about the fate of former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet, who was arrested in October for alleged human rights abuses. The Vatican said only that it was motivated by the claim of the current Chilean government for sovereignty in the controversial case. Chilean exiles have written to Pope John Paul in protest.

Come home to church, bishop urges gangsters:

A Polish archbishop has urged his country's gangsters, prostitutes and drug traders to atone for their sins by renewing links with the Catholic Church. In a Lenten pastoral letter, Archbishop Damian Zimon of Katowice said, ``I urge all those exploiting human weaknesses, profiting from drugs, alcohol and prostitution: In Christ's name, reconcile yourselves to God! Shake off the shackles of evil!''

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