Polish Bishops in Deal With U.S. Investment Firm

GAZETA WYBORCZA, March 12 — The Polish bishops' conference has signed an agreement with a multibillion-dollar U.S. investment firm in an effort to establish financial security for the local Church's charitable work, the Polish daily reports.

“Economic activity of this type to secure the stability of schools, hospitals and various centers is common for most national bishops' conferences,” Jesuit Father Adam Schulz, the bishops' spokesman, was quoted saying. “Only in Poland is this a novelty,”

The new partnership, Arka-Invesco, was formed with Atlanta-based Amvescap group in a bid to profit from the current boom in private pensions. It will compete for an estimated 7-8 million Polish customers, but devote its profits to charitable, social, educational and pastoral activities, said the report.

Poland's Rzeczpospolita daily newspaper said the bishops had provided 20% of the initial $10 million capital outlay for the Arka-Invesco partnership, which would have local offices in all 42 Catholic dioceses.

Vietnam Has Long Way to Go on Religious Freedom

NANDO TIMES, March 16—Vietnamese authorities have lifted some restrictions on religion but still have work to do before there is true freedom of worship, according to a new U.N. report, the Indian newspaper reports.

U.N. expert Abdelfattah Amor said the government maintained elaborate controls over all religious groups to prevent the emergence of any organization that might rival the Communist Party, it said.

There was no immediate Vietnamese response to the publication of the report, said the paper. But in the past, Vietnamese authorities have insisted that they respect religious freedom.

Buddhism is the primary religion among Vietnam's 78 million people. Important minority religions include the Catholic and Protestant churches.

Aussie Confessions to be Normalized

THE AUSTRALIAN, March 19—The Australian press is still abuzz with reports that the Holy See has been requesting that priests perform the sacrament of confession according to Church norms.

The use of “general absolution” that has become prevalent in Australia. General absolution is reserved for use in emergency situations and for soldiers going to battle, where individual confession would be unworkable. By making it a common way of confession, the Holy See fears that the authenticity of the sacrament — and the sense of sin of the penitents — are being compromised.

“The Vatican has demanded an explanation from Adelaide's … archbishop Leonard Faulkner of his refusal to ban the communal form of confession during Lent,” reported The Australian.

“A please-explain letter, believed to have been sent to Archbishop Faulkner by the Holy See's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was described by one church insider yesterday as ‘accusatory.’”

The report continues that it believes a particular group — Australian Catholics Advocacy Center — is behind the attempts to have the sacrament normalized in Australia.