Union Says Catholic Oath Not Discriminatory

The New South Wales Independent Education Union declared that the Sydney Archdiocese was within its rights to require its Catholic school leaders to take an oath of fidelity to adhere to Church teachings on homosexuality, birth control and women’s ordination, the Associated Press of Australia reported.

Principals, deputy principals and religious education coordinators at more than 120 Catholic primary and 40 Catholic secondary schools in Sydney will most likely have to take the oath in early 2008.

Bishop Julian Porteous, of the Archdiocesan Renewal Planning Committee, which drafted the plan, said, “The idea of the plan is to advance the Catholic life of the Archdiocese of Sydney.”

Philippine President Visits Fatima to Offer Thanks

The international news service Asian Journal reported that Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, becoming the first Philippine leader to make such a pilgrimage.

She attended a special Mass there and offered a prayer of thanks for the healing of her husband, Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo, from a highly risky open heart surgery.

Arroyo, who flew to Portugal after meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, was given gifts, including a book on Our Lady of Fatima, the official medal of Our Lady of Fatima and a rosary. She and her delegation were taken to the Exhibit Hall, where gifts offered by pilgrims over the years — such as wedding gowns, jerseys and jewelry — as well as the Crown of Fatima were displayed.

India’s First Saint to Be Canonized

According to a report from Sar News, Blessed Alphonsa Muttathupadathu (1910-1946), a nun of the Immaculate Conception from the state of Kerala, will become the first native Indian to be canonized.

In an audience granted to the prefect of the Congregation of the Causes of Saints, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, June 1, Pope Benedict XVI approved a decree recognizing a second miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Alphonsa, clearing the way for her sainthood. She was beatified Feb. 8, 1986.