Catholics of Cyprus Forgotten and Besieged

REUTERS, May 22 —For the past 30 years, conflict between Greek and Turkish residents has rent the island of Cyprus, resulting in a de facto partition of the island that still pits two NATO members against each other.

But one group left out in the cold is the small, Arab Catholic minority of Maronites, reported Reuters News Service. The Maronites of Cyprus fled Lebanon during the late Middle Ages to escape Islamic persecution and the wars of the Crusades. Fully accepted by neither side in the current conflict, Maronites are fleeing the island —just a part of the general exodus of Arab Christians from the region.

Antonis, a Turkish-speaking Maronite, complained to Reuters that Maronites who visit their family members in the southern Greek zone of the island are never allowed to come back, which leads many simply to leave the island altogether. Turkish law also forbids Maronites in the north to leave property to relatives in the south.

“We have paid the price, we have suffered for the problems between Greeks and Turks. Imagine coming to the house where you were born, where your mother still lives, but you cannot stay,” Antonis said.

“Maronites have not had a direct role [in the talks between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots], and they are concerned their positions are not taken into account,” said Madeline Garlick, a U.N. official working in Cyprus.

Fewer than 6,000 Maronites are left on the island, Reuters reported.

Panamanians Pray for Murdered Priest

ASSOCIATED PRESS, May 23 —As American seminaries attempt to filter out inappropriate candidates for the priesthood, one priest in Panama might have been a martyr to that cause, the news service reported.

Father Jorge Altafulla was murdered last week while preparing for Mass, allegedly stabbed by a man he expelled from the seminary he directed six years ago. Parishioners found the beloved, elderly priest in a pool of blood in the sacristy.

Archbishop Jose Dimas Cedeno called the murder a “strong blow against the clergy,” but called for people to forgive the killer. The suspect, Marcos Manjarrez, is now in jail awaiting charges.

Said Archbishop Cedeno in a homily, “Our attitude is to forgive and pray for him and his salvation.”

Pedophilia Not Widespread in Europe, Latin America ASSOCIATED PRESS, May 14 — In a meeting in central Spain beside the magnificent monastery-palace El Escorial, constructed by Spain's King Philip II, Catholic bishops from Latin American and European countries said that pedophilia and sexual abuse cases in their countries were rare, reported Associated Press.

The bishops warned against attempts to exaggerate the problem by anti-Catholic elements in society. Monsignor Baltazar Porras, president of the Venezuelan Catholic bishops' conference, told Associated Press, “This problem is marginal in Venezuelan society and in the Venezuelan Church.” He said that the “macho” culture of Latin America strongly discouraged such abuse and suggested that many of the U.S. cases recently reported need further scrutiny.

Said Monsignor Porras, “It's clear that in the United States there are law firms that are dedicated to this type of problem in order to win large sums of money.”

Archbishop Elias Yanes Alvarez of Saragossa, a former president of the Spanish bishops' conference, questioned why the press in Spain offered daily reports of abuse cases in the United States.