The following news briefs were recently published by Catholic News Service.
Indian Church joins relief efforts as floods wreak havoc in Kerala
COCHIN, India — The Catholic Church has joined relief efforts as unprecedented floods and landslides continue to wreak havoc in India’s Kerala state, killing about 370 people within a week. Ucanews.com reported that all 41 Catholic dioceses in the southern state have opened schools and other institutions to accommodate flood victims and are cooperating to send food, clothes and other relief materials to affected areas. Nearly a million people were in temporary relief camps after incessant rain since Aug. 13 filled reservoirs of Kerala’s 33 dams to the brim, forcing authorities to open sluices. This caused all 44 rivers to overflow and inundate homes, farms and roads and railways as floodwater gushed to the Arabian Sea on the state’s western border. “It is an extremely worrying situation,” Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala’s chief minister, told media Aug. 15, noting that heavy rain was forecast for another two days. Ucanews.com reported it was the heaviest rain and floods since 1924. Road and rail lines remain flooded in several parts and the state’s main Kochi International Airport halted operations following the inundation of runways.
Americans surveyed on views on ethics of genetically engineering animals
WASHINGTON — A Pew Research Center report released Aug. 16 found that Americans’ view of genetically engineering animals varies widely based on the intended purpose of the modifications. Despite the wide differences in approval of various uses of genetic engineering, men, those with high science knowledge (based on science-related questions Pew asked) and those low in religiosity were more likely to approve of any given use of genetic engineering than their counterparts. The survey also found that people opposed to using animals in research were about 10 to 20 percent more likely to be opposed to genetically modifying them than those who favor the use of animals in research. Of the five ideas Pew proposed, genetically modifying mosquitoes to limit their reproduction and so halt the spread of disease was viewed favorably by 70 percent of respondents. The 29 percent who viewed it unfavorably tended to cite concerns about “messing with nature/God’s plan” or concerns about the effects it could have on the environment. A smaller portion also expressed a general concern about unintended consequences. Fifty-seven percent of respondents viewed using animals to grow organs and tissues for humans as a legitimate use of technology.
Latin American Church leaders mark 50 years of ‘option for the poor’
CARACAS, Venezuela — Latin American Church leaders will meet in Medellin Aug. 23-26 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a landmark regional bishops’ meeting that took place in the same city in 1968. The event will bring together hundreds of Catholic laypeople and religious from the region to reflect on the landmark bishops’ conference that shifted the Church’s emphasis to the “preferential option for the poor.” “Celebrating 50 years is not just an important event for CELAM (Latin American bishops’ council), but for the whole Church of Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Auxiliary Bishop Juan Espinoza Jimenez, CELAM secretary-general and a member of the central commission charged with planning the event. Other groups involved in the organization are the Confederation of Religious in Latin America and the Caribbean (CLAR), Caritas Latin America and the Archdiocese of Medellin. Father Rigoberto Perez Garrido, CELAM’s executive press secretary, said organizers expect up to 300 people to attend the congress. “This took months of planning, together with several institutional teams from the various organizations,” he said.
Nebraska Catholic bishops invited all to pause to pray during execution
OMAHA, Neb. — The state of Nebraska Aug. 14 executed its first death-row prisoner in 21 years, convicted murderer Cary Dean Moore, who was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m. (CDT) at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln. Omaha Archbishop George J. Lucas and Bishops James D. Conley of Lincoln and Joseph G. Hanefeldt of Grand Island invited Catholics of the state and all people of goodwill to join them in silent prayer by pausing in their homes, schools and workplaces at 10 a.m. as the execution got underway. Having expressed their opposition to the death penalty, the three Catholic bishops spent silent time in prayer for Moore’s victims, Moore himself and an end to capital punishment in Nebraska. The Omaha World-Herald daily newspaper reported that Moore, 60, had said he was ready to die. He was convicted of shooting and killing cab drivers Reuel Van Ness and Maynard Helgeland in the summer of 1979. He was sentenced to death in 1980. The state executed him with a four-drug cocktail: diazepam, a tranquilizer; fentanyl citrate, a powerful synthetic opioid that can block breathing and knock out consciousness; cisatracurium besylate, a muscle relaxant; and potassium chloride, which stops the heart.