Campaign for ‘Forgotten’ Irish Abroad

IRISH BISHOPS' CONFERENCE MEDIA OFFICE, Feb. 23 — Visiting London on Feb. 21, Bishop Seamus Hegarty of Derry, chairman of the bishops' Commission for Emigrants, launched a program of support for Irish emigrants, according to the Irish Bishops' Conference.

To answer the needs of sometimes-isolated and elderly Irish emigrants, he announced that the Irish bishops “are launching a nationwide campaign to coincide with St. Patrick's Day 2004 called Supporting the Irish Abroad in order to create an awareness of [their] plight. … This work involves supporting the homeless, members of the traveling community, those in need of company, those who are in recovery and many others who are marginalized within their host society.”

Italian Missionaries Assaulted in Ivory Coast

MISSIONARY NEWS AGANCY, Feb. 19 — The turbulent African nation of Ivory Coast saw brutal attacks by armed men on two Italian priests, Missionary News Agency reported.

The assault happened in the rebel-controlled city of Kohrogo in north Ivory Coast on Feb. 8. A group of thugs broke into Our Lady of Fatima Parish, attacking and robbing Father Luciano Ragazzo and Father Natale Lucidi of the Sons of Divine Providence.

“They were searching for a safe that we have never had,” said Father Ragazzo, vicar general of the Diocese of Kohrogo.

The thieves pointed Kalashnikov rifles at the heads of the two missionaries and then beat the priests around the head and body with rifle butts. French peacekeeping soldiers rescued them after a half-hour of captivity.

Fresh Hope for Cardinal Newman's Canonization

BIRMINGHAM CATHOLIC NEWS, Feb. 20 — Writing in the diocesan paper of Birmingham, the home of Cardinal John Henry Newman's famed Oratory, the postulator of his cause for sainthood gave an update on its progress.

Father Paul Chavasse, provost of Newman's Oratory Church in Edgbaston, Birmingham, admitted that “compared with the progress of causes like that of Mother Teresa, the cardinal moves slowly! However, there is real progress to report this year.”

He noted that “more and more people around the world are turning to the cardinal as an advocate and intercessor in matters concerning physical well-being and the search for a cure from illness. Hence it is, as I write, that there are now no fewer than three possible (and I must emphasize ‘possible’) cures on the books, all of which are being examined or are about to be examined.”

Feb. 21 marked the 203rd anniversary of the birth of John Henry Newman in London. He died on Aug. 11, 1890.