• Information Released To Broadcasters On Worldwide Telecasts Of Holy Father's Good Friday And Easter Sunday Ceremonies (03-046)
  March 3, 2003
  The Holy See's Pontifical Council for Social Communications has released information for broadcasters regarding the coordination of worldwide telecasts of the Good Friday and Easter Sunday ceremonies of the Holy Father:April 18, Friday, 19:10-20:40 UTC (GMT), The Pope is scheduled to preside at Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum.
• Media Advisory -- Pope's Envoy to President Bush, Cardinal Pio Laghi, Will Celebrate Mass to Pray for Peace at Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (03-047)
  March 4, 2003
  Cardinal Pio Laghi, Pope John Paul II's special envoy to meet with President George W. Bush, will celebrate Mass and deliver the homily this Ash Wednesday, March 5, at 5:15 pm at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
• Media Advisory -- Pope's Special Envoy to Hold Media Availability (03-048)
  March 5, 2003
  Cardinal Pio Laghi, Pope John Paul II's personal envoy to President Bush on the current situation with Iraq, will be available to meet with the media shortly after his meeting with the President, at around 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 5.
• Catholics to Cycle Across U.S. to Promote Permanent Solutions to Poverty (03-049)
  March 5, 2003
  The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD) announced today that it is sponsoring a bike ride across America to focus public attention on poverty in the United States and on the need to promote permanent solutions toward breaking the cycle of poverty.
• Statement of Cardinal Pio Laghi to President George W. Bush (03-051)
  March 5, 2003
  I was privileged to have been sent by the Holy Father as his Special Envoy to President George Bush. I assured him of the Holy Father's great esteem and affection for the American people and the United States of America.
• Homily of His Eminence Cardinal Pio Laghi Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2003 (03-052)
  March 5, 2003
  Every year on this day, Ash Wednesday, the Church begins a spiritual journey, a renewal of her existence and a rediscovery of her life with God.
• Pope Accepts Resignation of Bishop Manuel D. Moreno in Tucson; Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas Becomes Head of the Diocese (03-050)
  March 7, 2003
  Pope John Paul II has accepted the resignation of Bishop Manuel D. Moreno from the governance of the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona.
• Safe Environment Programs Should Be Underway by Late June, Says Head of Bishops Office for Child, Youth Protection (03-053)
  March 7, 2003
  Safe environment programs to protect children and youth should be in the planning process by June 20 and fully implemented for the 2003-2004 school year, said Kathleen McChesney, executive director of the U.S. Bishops' Office of Child and Youth Protection.
• Cardinal Bevilacqua Urges Senate Passage of the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act (03-054)
  March 10, 2003
  Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua urged the Senate today to support the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 and to oppose substitute amendments that might weaken it.
• Muslim-Catholic Dialogue on West Coast Holds Fourth Meeting (03-056)
  March 10, 2003
  Beginning in 2000, a group of Catholic and Muslim leaders has gathered each February at the Center for Spiritual Development, near St. Joseph's Hospital in Orange, California.
• Bishop Daniel Hart Resigns in Norwich; Bishop Michael Cote Named Successor (03-057)
  March 10, 2003
  Pope John Paul II accepted the resignation of Bishop Daniel A. Hart of Norwich, Connecticut, and appointed Most Reverend Michael R. Cote, Auxiliary Bishop of Portland in Maine, as his successor.
• Catholic Health Association Call on Congress to Expand Health Coverage to Millions of Uninsured (03-058)
  March 12, 2003
  Calling the fact that one in seven Americans does not have health insurance "morally unacceptable," three national Catholic organizations are pressing Congress to increase access to affordable health care to the millions of uninsured in the United States.
• Senate Passes Partial-birth Abortion Ban -- President Vows to Sign (03-059)
  March 13, 2003
  Today the Senate voted 64-33 to pass S. 3, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, the first time in seven years that the Senate has passed the ban without the threat of presidential veto. The ban will next move to the House of Representatives where it is assured of passage.
• Bishops Study Islam and Catholic-Muslim Relations (03-060)
  March 17, 2003
  Twelve Catholic bishops inaugurated the interreligious institute for bishops at a three-day program on Islam and Catholic-Muslim relations, March 10-13, 2003.
• Church CCC Invites Filmgoers to Vote for 2002 Favorites (03-061)
  March 18, 2003
  The Catholic Communication Campaign (CCC) is inviting movie fans to cast their own vote for the 2002 Movie of the Year from a list of the ten best films chosen by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Office for Film and Broadcasting.
• Media Alert – Worth Noting (03-063)
  March 19, 2003
• Bishops' President Deeply Regrets War; Calls for Prayer, Protection of the Innocent, And Steps to Avert Humanitarian Crisis (03-065)
  March 19, 2003
  Expressing the bishops' deep regret that war had not been averted, and calling for prayer and solidarity, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops today issued a statement on the likely war with Iraq.
• Jesuit Father James McCann Named to Head Office to Aid the Church in Central And Eastern Europe (03-062)
  March 20, 2003
  Jesuit Father James M. McCann has been named to become the Executive Director of the Office to Aid the Church in Central and Eastern Europe at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Father McCann will assume his responsibilities on July 1.
• Automatic Detention of Selected Asylum Seekers Is 'Discriminatory' (03-066)
  March 20, 2003
  The automatic detention of asylum seekers from selected countries under a new federal policy known as "Operation Liberty Shield" is "discriminatory, violates accepted norms of international law, and undermines our tradition as a safe haven for the oppressed," according the chairman of the Migration Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
• American Bishops Outline Eight Pastoral Strategies (03-067)
  March 24, 2003
  Bishops from Canada, Latin America and the United States, meeting in Quebec, Canada, in late February, outlined eight pastoral strategies for the Americas.
• Priest Named Bishop Of St. Nicholas In Chicago For Ukrainians (03-068)
  March 24, 2003
  Pope John Paul II named Monsignor Richard Stephen Seminack, pastor of Holy Trinity Church, Carnegie, Pennsylvania, as Bishop of St. Nicholas in Chicago for Ukrainians.
• Bishops' Conference Issues Legislative Agenda for 108th Congress (03-069)
  March 25, 2003
  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has identified more than one hundred legislative issues of concern in the 108th Congress. Nearly 30 of these are considered so significant and under serious consideration in Congress that the USCCB will devote all appropriate lobbying efforts, nationally and locally, to help enact or defeat the legislation.
• Catholic Bishops' Film and Broadcasting Office Names New Critic (03-070)
  March 25, 2003
  The U.S. bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting has named David DiCerto as its new full-time media critic.
• Ecumenical Theologians Respond To Pope's Encyclical Ut Unum Sint (03-071)
  March 26, 2003
  A group of scholars representing over forty Protestant, Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican and Pentecostal churches met here to discuss the "Petrine Ministry" and its role in promoting unity among Christians.
• House Committee Passes Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Bill One Step Closer to Becoming First Federal Abortion Law Since Roe v. Wade (03-072)
  March 26, 2003
  Today the House Judiciary Committee voted 19 to 11 to pass H.R. 760, the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, without amendment. The bill is now in position for a vote on the House floor, and is expected to pass by a wide margin.
• Down the Road – Upcoming Calendar (03-074)
  March 26, 2003
  
• USCCB Official Urges Congress to Support Bill that Prohibits Human Cloning, Reject Alternate Bill That Doesn't (03-073)
  March 28, 2003
  Saying that a ban on human cloning requires banning the use of the cloning procedure to create new developing humans in the first place, an official of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) urged Congress to support the Brownback/Landrieu "Human Cloning Prohibition Act" (S. 245).

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