Catholics Press for Church Rights in Mexico

THE MIAMI HERALD, April 4 — Church leaders are planning an open-air Mass in Mexico City's central plaza as part of a campaign to affirm Church rights, which have been restricted in Mexico for nearly 150 years, the Miami daily reported.

“The Mass will be celebrated in the evening of May 6, followed by a procession.

“There is no record of a Mass or religious procession in the plaza over the past 140 years,” said the Herald.

“The event is part of a gathering of Church leaders that is expected to outline guidelines for Church policy in Mexico, focusing on issues such as whether the clergy can speak out on political, social and economic problems.

“The event is a landmark for the Church, which has been restricted in Mexico since constitutional reforms of 1857-58 that stripped it of much of its properties and previous rights.

“The restrictions were tightened with the post-revolutionary constitution of 1917 and a string of anti-Catholic measures led to a virtual halt to Church services and the outbreak of the 1926-29 uprising in which tens of thousands died.”

Added the Herald: “After a gradual thaw in relations, the government in 1991 reformed the constitution to ease limits on religious worship. The church has gradually become more assertive in speaking out on social and political issues.”

Mountaineering Monk to Take On Everest

THE UNIVERSE, April 2 — British Benedictine monk and mountain climber, Father Piers Grant-Feris, is preparing for his steepest climb yet: a treacherous trek up Mount Everest in the Himalayas, the British weekly reported.

Father Grant-Feris hopes to celebrate Mass at Mount Everest's base camp at 18,000 feet. He turned 67 on April 9.

“In 1989 I had to stop on Kilimanjaro in Tanzania on reaching 16,000 feet, because there was not enough oxygen,” Father Grant-Feris said.

“Everest will be quite a challenge in September. I'll celebrate Mass for world peace as I've done on 40 of the world's highest mountains over the years.” The monk's most dramatic adventure was in 1981, when he got lost after climbing the 22,834 foot-high Mount Aconcagua in Argentina. He survived by sucking glucose and wearing four pairs of British-made thermal underwear. He was found eight days later on what he called a “killer mountain” where no-one before had survived more than three days in the frigid temperatures.

Father Piers climbs to the Lady Chapel at Mount Grace, in North Yorkshire, England, every day. The 14 stations of the cross — plus one on the Resurrection — run along the track leading to the chapel.