Bishops support START treaty; pledge to urge US Senate to ratify pact
Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
WASHINGTON – The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomed the signing of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and Russia and promised to urge the U.S. Senate to ratify the pact in a letter to President Barack Obama. “Based on a moral imperative to rid the world of nuclear weapons, the conference of bishops will be a steadfast supporter of strong and bipartisan action on the new treaty as an important and essential step toward a nuclear-free future,” Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago wrote in a letter to the White House. “We will urge members of the U.S. Senate to come together across party lines to ratify the new START treaty,” Cardinal George said. Citing the church’s teaching on just war and its longstanding opposition to nuclear weapons, Cardinal George said the road to a world free of such weapons will be difficult, but that the pact between the world’s primary nuclear powers is another step toward greater global security. The April 8 letter also outlined some of the steps necessary toward eventual nuclear disarmament including verification of reductions in both countries’ nuclear stockpiles; ratification and implementation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to stop all nuclear weapons testing; reducing America’s reliance on nuclear weapons for security; securing nuclear materials from terrorists, which was the topic of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington April 12-13; adopting a treaty to prohibit produce of weapons-grade material; and strengthening the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor nonproliferation efforts and ensure access to peaceful uses of nuclear power. “We are pastors and teachers, not technical experts,” Cardinal George said. “We cannot map out the precise route to the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons, but we can offer moral direction and encouragement.” “Although we cannot anticipate every step on the path humanity must walk, we can point with moral clarity to a destination that moves beyond deterrence to a world free of the nuclear threat,” he said.
(CNS PHOTO/JASON REED, REUTERS)
By Catholic News Service
The leaders of international delegations at the Nuclear Security Summit 2010 in Washington pose for a group photo April 13. U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of 47 countries were meeting to find ways to secure the world’s nuclear stockpile.
San Mateo parishes form job support network for young adult members Percent 11.0 10.0
By John Wildermuth
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When a group of Peninsula parishes started a job support network for their unemployed neighbors, they didn’t think they’d be working with their neighbors’ children, too. The volunteer network opened for business in January and received plenty of response from people left jobless by the economic downturn. But for many of those clients, their own unemployment wasn’t the only worry. “A lot of those people have college-age children” and we’re seeing them move back home after graduation, depressed and discouraged because they couldn’t find work, said Deborah Mosunich, a volunteer from St. Gregory Parish in San Mateo. With unemployment running at12.5 percent statewide and even higher for those under 25, the same thing was being seen in parishes across San Mateo County, said Msgr. Robert McElroy, pastor of St. Gregory. “It became clear that many people out of college were having great difficulty finding work,” he said. “There was a whole set of new challenges they were facing.” This isn’t news to college guidance counselors,
National Conference on Global Poverty at St. Mary’s Cathedral April 20-21 The One Voice of Faith Conference on Global Poverty, sponsored by an Interfaith Coalition will take place at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco April 20-21 (See Catholic San Francisco April 2 at www.catholicsf.org). Registration begins 9 a.m. April 20. Youth leadership summit is 4–7 p. m. Interfaith prayer service, 7 p.m. Conference Cost: $50, $25 for students, $20 for youth summit alone. Visit www.imdgc.org for more information.
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Nationally, unemployment in March remained at 9.7 percent, while California’s unemployment figure was 12.5 percent with even higher levels for young adults. who have been working overtime to help their young charges deal with the new realities brought by the tough economic times. “Students are really concerned,” said Carrie McKnight, director of career services at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont. “There’s a lot of anxiety around the campus with seniors.” For those college students, who grew up in economic PARISHES JOB SUPPORT, page 7
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Mass at bombed cathedral . . 3 News in brief. . . . . . . . . . . 4-5 Teaching children to pray . . . 8 Volunteer opportunities . . . 10
Vocations: the harvest is great, the laborers few Multimedia - Audio on www.catholic-sf.org April 16, 2010
Commentary and letters . 12-13
Coadjutor named in LA Archdiocese ~ Page 6 ~
‘Letters to God’ Film review ~ Page 16 ~
ONE DOLLAR
Scripture and reflection . 14-15 Services, classified ads . 18-19
www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 12
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No. 13