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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Leaders and members of the Catholic Church do not have the authority to determine its teaching and structure but are called to ensure its fidelity to Jesus and to the faith passed on by the apostles, Pope Benedict XVI told the 22 new cardinals he created.
“The church is not self-regulating, she does not determine her own structure, but receives it from the word of God, to which she listens in faith as she seeks to understand it and to live it,” the pope said in a homily Feb. 19 during a Mass concelebrated with the new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — If objective truth does not exist, “there is no compass and we won’t know where to go,” Pope Benedict XVI told members and almost-members of the College of Cardinals.
An awareness of the truth of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ makes life “rich and beautiful” and is essential for sharing the Christian faith with others, the pope said Feb. 17 at the end of a daylong meeting of the College of Cardinals. The pope thanked Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan of New York, who gave the day’s main presentation on missionary activity and the new evangelization. The pope said the New York prelate’s talk was “enthusiastic, joyful and profound.”

ATICAN CITY (CNS) — The take-away message from a Vatican-backed symposium on clerical sex abuse was clear: Victims, truth and justice come first. And the church can no longer wait for a crisis to erupt before it begins to address the scandal of abuse.
“We do not need to wait for a bomb to explode. Preventing it from exploding is the best response,” said Philippine Archbishop Luis Tagle. The archbishop of Manila was one of more than 200 bishops, cardinals, priests, religious and laypeople who attended a landmark symposium Feb. 6-9 in Rome.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The family is the church’s best ally for raising a new generation resistant to materialism and committed to living out the Gospel, Pope Benedict XVI told bishops from Africa and Europe.
“Europe and Africa need generous young people who know how to take responsibility for their future,” he said.

What are the folks at Komen thinking? Perhaps the better question is: Are they thinking at all, or are they allowing themselves to be swayed by political pressures?
For years, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (now known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure) has raised awareness and funds to fight breast cancer.

EL PASO, Texas (CNS) — Necessity often results in unexpected relationships, and that’s one way to describe the connection between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Annunciation House in El Paso, a shelter for undocumented immigrants.
Ruben Garcia, the shelter’s director, said that as the federal government’s El Paso-area detention center swells with immigrants, particularly those seeking asylum, there is a desperate need to house those whom officials have decided not to detain but who still must navigate what can be a daunting bureaucracy until their plight is determined.

DUBLIN (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI’s new representative to Ireland has promised to strengthen relations between the country and the Holy See.
Archbishop Charles Brown, a native of New York, spoke while presenting his credentials as apostolic nuncio to Ireland and dean of the country’s diplomatic corps to President Michael Higgins.

Ash Wednesday, Feb. 22, marks the beginning of Lent, the Church’s 40-day penitential season in preparation for Easter, April 8.
Bishop McManus will be celebrant with Bishop Reilly and Bishop Rueger as concelebrants at 12:10 p.m. Feb. 22 at Mass and distribution of ashes in St. Paul Cathedral.
Rules for fast and abstinence during Lent:

DUDLEY – The man wheeling his wheelchair away wouldn’t stop. Members of St. Anthony of Padua Parish were telling him they had a Valentine for him.
When they finally caught up to him, he sang, “Happy Valentine’s Day to you” to the tune of “Happy Birthday” – in perfect pitch. A nurse told the Valentine deliverers the man was deaf.
St. Anthony’s religious education coordinator Linda Brink told The Catholic Free Press this story of the visit three families from the parish made to Webster Manor in Webster Sunday.

WORCESTER – A cardinal was once urged to close Catholic schools in his diocese because most of the students were not Catholic.
“We do it not because our students are Catholic, but because we are Catholic,” he replied.
Bishop McManus applied that story to the annual Partners in Charity Appeal at the fund’s kickoff Monday at Our Lady of Loreto Parish.