Lieberman Vows to Push Domestic-Partner Bill

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, March 31 — Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., a presidential contender, announced March 31 he will promote a bill in the Senate that would extend “domestic partner” benefits for the consorts of homosexual federal employees, according to the Associated Press.

Such domestic partners could file an affidavit that they are living in a committed, intimate relationship to receive the same benefits as spouses — including life and health insurance, retirement pay and worker's compensation. The bill is not likely to fare well in the Republican-controlled Congress.

“If it doesn't get done in the next two years, I intend to introduce and sign it as president of the United States,” Lieberman told the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

One of Lieberman's rivals for the nomination, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a Catholic, co-sponsored the same legislation. Another, Howard Dean, signed a similar bill while he was governor of Vermont.

“Conservative politicians — and indeed conservative political leaders, with all due respect,” Lieberman said, “have no monopoly on moral values.”

San Fernando Cathedral Resplendent

THE SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS, March 30 — With great pomp and festivity, San Fernando Cathedral was dedicated March 29. The almost 300-year-old church received a careful, complete restoration and renovation, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

The oldest church in the city hosted 700 visitors for its official reopening, including bishops, a papal legate, local politicians, wealthy donors and parishioners.

Amid clouds of incense and ringing music, a dark blue curtain was pulled down at a climactic moment to reveal the church's 24-foot-tall retablo. Arranged around the theme “Jesus Christ, Word and Sacrament,” the hand-carved Mexican altar screen is gilded in 24-karat gold and features a six-foot-tall statue of Christ on a cross, surrounded by the four Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

“We wanted it to be the crowning moment,” explained the cathedral's rector, Father David Garcia. “The retablo symbolizes a moment of faith, the height of human talent.”

The festivity marked the end of a $5.8 million project that preserved and restored the oldest cathedral sanctuary in the United States.

Catholic Church Burned for Safety

THE RAPID CITY JOURNAL, March 30 — St. Joseph's Church in Scenic, S.D., a 1919 Catholic church, was put to the torch March 26, according to the South Dakota daily.

Flames rose 100 feet above the wooden church, which was abandoned long ago because it was structurally unstable. St. Joseph's was built to serve a missionary congregation of Lakota Indians. Heated only by one wooden stove, the church once catered to more than 50 families.

“It was one of those icons on the prairie,” said Jim Durham of Longhorn Enterprises, the company that owns the town of Scenic, including the former church. He said the building was a safety hazard.

The company plans to demolish many other buildings in Scenic to make room for new constructions that will serve summer tourist business. The site of the former church will house a nondenominational chapel.