WASHINGTON—The U.S. Bishops’ Subcommittee dedicated to administering money raised for Haiti after the earthquake there last January has approved $212,700 of funding for 10 projects. The grants were made from the Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America to programs and agencies sponsored by parishes, religious orders and dioceses in Haiti. These grants do not include funding for construction projects, which will be considered according to a separate procedure.

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Bishops’ Subcommittee dedicated to administering money raised for Haiti after the earthquake there last January has approved $212,700 of funding for 10 projects. The grants were made from the Subcommittee on the Church in Latin America to programs and agencies sponsored by parishes, religious orders and dioceses in Haiti. These grants do not include funding for construction projects, which will be considered according to a separate procedure.

WASHINGTON— Following public criticisms of new federally-funded health insurance plans that would have covered elective abortions in Pennsylvania and New Mexico, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a statement that the agency will act to exclude abortion from this program. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, welcomed the statement as averting an “alarming precedent” and called for permanent law to exclude abortion from all programs under the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

WASHINGTON—Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, Chairman of the Committee on Doctrine of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), responded to a clarification from the Vatican that raised the attempted ordination of a women to a “more grave delict,” or a Church crime that is always referred to the Holy See, in a July 15 statement.

WASHINGTON-Bishop Blase Cupich, bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, and bishop-designate of Spokane, Washington, and Chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Protection of Children and Young People, welcomed the Vatican’s update of its 2001 norms dealing with clergy sexual abuse of minors in a July 15 statement. The new norms include the abuse of a mentally disabled adult and the downloading of child pornography in the same category as abusing a minor and also extend the Vatican’s statute of limitations for sexual abuse to 20 years after the victim turned 18.

WASHINGTON—Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona, Vice-president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, testified before Congress on the ethical imperative for reform of the U.S. immigration system. He spoke July 14, before the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law.

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has erected an Apostolic Exarchate for the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church in the United States and appointed Father Thomas Naickamparampil as its first bishop. The pope also appointed him Apostolic Visitator for the Syro-Malankara Catholics in Canada and Europe.

WASHINGTON—Registration to participate in World Youth Day (WYD) Madrid 2011 is now open. Though the registration is done online with the WYD organization in the Spanish capital, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has updated its existing World Youth Day page (www.wydusa.org) to allow access to the registration process through its Web site. The site includes links to important information regarding the event. Content will be progressively built up as additional information becomes available.

WASHINGTON—Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage, expressed grave concern regarding recent rulings by a federal judge in Massachusetts rejecting the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman.

Archbishop Kurtz offered his remarks after two rulings on July 8 that held that section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional. Section 3 provides that for purposes of federal statutes, regulations, and rulings, “marriage” means the legal union of one man and one woman.

WASHINGTON— Scholars from the Catholic Church and the United Methodist Church (UMC) discussed the relationship between the environment and Eucharist at the fourth session of the seventh round of the Catholic-Methodist dialogue, June 28-30, in Washington.

WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named Msgr. Robert McElroy, 56, pastor of St. Gregory Parish, San Mateo, California, as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of San Francisco.