Pope Says Church Can Never Accept Abortion

REUTERS, June 21 — Pope Benedict, in his first book published since his election, says the Catholic Church can never accept laws allowing abortion because there is no such thing as “small murders.”

The Europe of Benedict — In the Crisis of Cultures, is a compilation of three major addresses he gave between 1992 and 2005, when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and headed the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the body that safeguards doctrinal orthodoxy.

“Why don't we resign ourselves to the fact that we lost that battle and dedicate our energies instead to projects where we can find greater social consensus?” he asked rhetorically, and answered: “because this would be a superficial and hypocritical solution.

“There is no such thing as ‘small murders,'” he wrote. “Respect for every single life is an essential condition for anything worthy of being called social life.”

Bishops’ Conference Meets to ‘Restore Hope'

AGENZIA GIORNALISTICA ITALIA, June 20 — The Italian Bishops Conference will seek to “restore hope Among the Italians, who seem to have lost it,” at its national general meeting, the Italian news service reported.

The meeting, which will be held Oct. 16-20, 2006, in Verona, will focus on theological virtue of hope to be placed at the center of Christian communities “opposing the sense of uncertainty, blindness, tiredness and desperation of modern society,” according to a statement issued by the conference.

The statement further said, “Forty years after the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, the Church wants to take its cue from the Council's intent and give new momentum to the Gospel of hope.”

Vatican Aids CBS in John Paul II Miniseries

REUTERS, June 17 — CBS television has given producers the go-ahead for a big-budget miniseries charting the life of the late Pope John Paul II, with guidance from the Vatican, the network said.

No casting decisions on the pope project had been made, a CBS spokesman said. Principal production was set to begin in Rome in midsummer, with the miniseries expected to premiere as early as the fall.

The script was written under the supervision of the Vatican, which also granted producers access to exclusive footage for the program in and around St. Peter's Square, said CBS, which is owned by media conglomerate Viacom Inc.

“We're really doing this on a large scale,” Bela Bajaria, senior network vice president for movies and miniseries, told the entertainment trade publication The Hollywood Reporter. “It's a fascinating story.”