VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Excluding truth and the transcendent from scientific debate and research has impoverished modern thought and weakened the intellect’s ability to understand reality, Pope Benedict XVI said.
True intellectual and scientific progress requires an openness to dialogue with opposing views, rather than settling with the “mere repetition” of what one already knows, he added.
The pope made his remarks May 3 in an address to faculty, doctors and students at Rome’s Sacred Heart University, one of the biggest Catholic universities in the world.

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky’s homily at the “A Call to Catholic Men of Faith” Mass in Peoria on April 14 is making headlines because it included some daring assertions. The reporters covering and analyzing the story in the ensuing days weren’t actually at the Mass. Neither were the vast majority of the thousands now sharing their opinions via social media, radio call-in shows, emails, etc.
Maybe that’s why so many are missing the bishop’s boldest claims.

DUBLIN (CNS) — The primate of All Ireland has said he will not resign despite criticism of his role in a 1975 canonical inquiry into a pedophile priest, Norbertine Father Brendan Smyth.
In a statement issued in Armagh, Northern Ireland, May 2, Cardinal Sean Brady defended his involvement in the inquiry and accused the BBC documentary “The World: The Shame of the Catholic Church” of making a number of claims that overstated and misrepresented his role.
He also highlighted that no state or church guidelines existed in the 1970s in the Irish Republic to assist those responding to an allegation of abuse against a minor.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The emerging debate on the federal budget — and the distinct options being presented that will chart the country’s future — has brought renewed attention to the Catholic Church’s social teaching.
Prominent in the debate are the principles of subsidiarity, solidarity and the common good. Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, a Catholic, has repeatedly cited the principles in recent weeks as justification for the fiscal year 2013 budget plan he drafted, which was approved by the House of Representatives March 29 in a largely party-line vote.

The internal architecture of Assumption College’s new Tinsley Campus Ministry Center connects the chapel and the center “where the Blessed Sacrament is preserved,” Bishop McManus noted in his homily at the dedication last Friday.
“In this space, through personal prayer and adoration, students will come to love and serve him more reverently,” the Bishop said.

SHREWSBURY – Just back from a seven month United States Navy deployment in the Persian Gulf, St. Mary School alumnus LT John R. O’Neill ‘99 visited his alma mater where he spoke to a full school assembly. The Naval Aviator shared stories of his work piloting his E-2C Hawkeye.
“You could have heard a pin drop as John talked about launching and landing his 54,000 pound twin-turboprop jet aboard the USS John Stennis. The children were completely captivated as he described in detail the impact the human body takes from such speed and power, as well as the challenges of landing an airplane onto a moving aircraft carrier, often in the pitch black of night,” said the school’s Alumni Relations Director Sira Naras

SHREWSBURY – Just back from a seven month United States Navy deployment in the Persian Gulf, St. Mary School alumnus LT John R. O’Neill ‘99 visited his alma mater where he spoke to a full school assembly. The Naval Aviator shared stories of his work piloting his E-2C Hawkeye.
“You could have heard a pin drop as John talked about launching and landing his 54,000 pound twin-turboprop jet aboard the USS John Stennis. The children were completely captivated as he described in detail the impact the human body takes from such speed and power, as well as the challenges of landing an airplane onto a moving aircraft carrier, often in the pitch black of night,” said the school’s Alumni Relations Director Sira Naras

By William T. Clew

LEOMINSTER – Catholic Charities, which offers classes for those who want to become United States citizens, wants to expand its citizenship programs in the Worcester Diocese.
A Citizenship Information Day will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 3, at the Leominster Public Library, 30 West St., to discuss free classes, how citizenship works and to make available free naturalization information and citizenship test study materials.
The event is sponsored by Catholic Charities and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, according to Madelyn Hennessy, administrator of adult education programs for Catholic Charities. It is open to anyone interested, but especially to those legal permanent United States residents, i.e. holders of Green Cards. U.S. Rep. James McGovern is scheduled to take part.

By William T. Clew

Our Lady of the Angels Parish wants to build a family parish center, complete with modern rest rooms for men and women, storage space, a foyer, a service kitchen and a function room with seating for 150 people.
It also wants $220,000 to finish its fund-raising effort to pay for the proposed center.
The center will be built on space between the church and the driveway to the school, with access to and from the church at the bell tower. The estimated cost of such a center is about $1 million, according to Father Charles F. Monroe, pastor.

By Tanya Connor

“It’s poor; it’s dirty; I’m going to change it.”
That’s what people here sometimes think as they prepare for a trip to Haiti, says Sister Marie-Judith Dupuy, a Haitian herself.
“I laugh in my heart,” says the Sister of St. Anne who directs the Worcester Diocesan Haitian Apostolate.
“You just don’t know what God is preparing for you in his own plan,” she thinks.