Pope Benedict XVI broke his right wrist in a fall during his vacation in the Italian Alps, officials and the Vatican said Friday. A hospital spokesman confirmed the pope was undergoing surgery to reduce the fracture. Link (here) to the full story

Communists Are Fundamentally At Odds With Catholicism

HUE, Vietnam (UCAN) -- Catholic villagers in Thua Thien-Hue province say they have tried their best to follow Church teaching on the use of artificial birth control methods in the face of the government's two-child policy.

Children celebrating an autumn festival in Vietnam. Catholics have opposed the government’s two-child policy. -- UCAN photo

Huong Toan villagers, just like Vietnamese elsewhere in the country, are required to have no more than two children per family since 1994, when village authorities launched a nationwide family planning program. Families with more than two children have to pay rice to the government as a fine.

Many local Catholics say they have done their best to remain true to Church teaching but some have had to resort to using contraceptives later on as they could not afford the hefty fines.

Catherine Pham Thi Thanh, 44, said that since 1996, she has been fined a total of 3,800 kilograms of rice for having six children.

Thanh, who produces rice alcohol and raises pigs to support her family, said she was fined 300 kilograms for her third child, 600 kilograms for the fourth, 900 kilograms for the fifth and 2,000 kilograms of rice for the sixth. Her children range from two to 15 years.

She pointed out that her family makes an annual profit of only 700 kilograms of rice from their 1,000 square-meter farmland the local government grants them.

Thanh said that in 2007, she decided to use an intrauterine device to save her family from having to pay 3,800 kilograms of rice if she were to have a seventh child.

Thanh, who has studied only until the first grade, said she knows about natural family planning methods accepted by the Church, but is unable to practice them.

She recalled that in 2005, local village authorities confiscated the possessions of a family who could not afford to pay the fine for having more than two children.

Another villager, Anna Pham Thi The, 50, said she has seven daughters aged 2-29 years. The, who produces rice alcohol and raises pigs, said she is willing to be fined for having more children because her husband wants a son.

According to sources, local people who have two children have been asked to use artificial contraceptive or undergo vasectomies free of charge.

Father Joseph Nguyen Van Chanh, Huong Toan parish priest, said 90 percent of his 1,200 parishioners have agreed to pay fines as a way to be faithful to Church teaching. Local Catholics are taught natural family planning methods during marriage preparation courses, he noted.

Some local Catholics said Father Chanh is asking for donations from benefactors to support local people with large families. Huong Toan village has about 14,000 people.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "'every action which, whether in anticipation of the conjugal act, or in its accomplishment, or in the development of its natural consequences, proposes, whether as an end or as a means, to render procreation impossible' is intrinsically evil."

Meanwhile, local state media reported that Pham Ngoc Minh, executive director of Vietnam Airlines, was chided by the prime minister recently for having a third child.

Vietnam, with a population close to 86 million, has an annual increase of 1.12 million people, according to media.

Link (here)

Southern Catholic College Has New Leadership

ATLANTA (July 16) – The Legion of Christ and Southern Catholic College (SCC) have now officially agreed to make the college a Legion institution.

“This is a great step for Southern Catholic and, we hope, for Catholic higher education in North America,” said Jeremiah J. Ashcroft, president of SCC. “With the Legion’s experience and leadership, we’ll be able to attract students from across North America and develop programs with institutions around the world. This expanded reach and support greatly enhances our ability to achieve our mission to prepare moral and ethical leaders who will enlighten society and glorify God.”

“We want to build on the great reputation SCC has established,” said Father Scott Reilly, LC, territorial director for the Legion. “There will be considerable sharing of best practices with our existing institutions. I expect that SCC will experience significant growth in the years ahead, as we can expand the availability of Catholic higher education to students from across North America.”

Southern Catholic College is a co-educational liberal arts college, Georgia’s first and only residential Catholic college. The school provides a learning environment for academic excellence grounded in the Catholic intellectual and moral tradition. SCC was founded in 2000 and has more than 200 students from 25 states on its campus in Dawsonville, GA, an hour north of Atlanta.

The Legion of Christ currently operates 15 universities, 50 institutes of higher education and 176 schools. It is present in 22 countries, with 800 priests and over 2600 seminarians worldwide.

For more information about Southern Catholic College, visit the web site at www.southerncatholic.org.