Rome inundated with requests for prayer cards, relics UPDATED ROME – The Rome diocesan office charged with promoting the sainthood cause of Pope John Paul II has exceeded its postage budget because of increased requests for prayer cards and relics of the late pope. “We were getting about 50 requests a day, but overnight it grew to between 500 and 1,000 requests,” a spokeswoman for the office said March 2. “We could not have foreseen this demand,” she said. “It’s an avalanche.” Franciscan Brother Chris Gaffrey, who assists the office with English translations, told Catholic News Service that the vast majority of requests in late February and early March were coming via e-mail from the United States. CNS had published a story about the cards and relics Feb. 26 and dozens of Web sites and blogs, or Web logs, ran links to the story. The prayer cards and relics, a small piece of one of the white cassocks worn by Pope John Paul, always will be distributed free of charge, but without an increase in donations the office cannot afford to mail them, Brother Gaffrey said. While one writer kindly sent the office his express mail account number, others wrote requesting cards for their entire parish without even thinking of what it would cost to ship them from Italy, he said. An individual prayer card, relic and copy of the cause’s magazine, Totus Tuus, could be mailed to the United States for about $5, Brother Gaffrey said. Several options for sending donations can be found on the official Web site of Pope John Paul’s sainthood cause – www.JohnPaulIIBeatification.org – which was experiencing interruptions in service because of the increased traffic in early March. The mailing address of the office is: Postulazione Giovanni Paolo II, Vicariato di Roma, Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano 6A, 00184 Rome, Italy. Archbishop says Iowa vote regrettable DES MOINES, Iowa – Archbishop Jerome G. Hanus of Dubuque reacted with “deep sadness” after the Iowa House of Representatives Feb. 22 passed a bill to allow the cloning of human embryos for research. “With deep sadness, I regret the recent action by the Iowa House and Senate to change Iowa’s law which banned human cloning,” he said. The measure, H.R. 287, passed with a 52-46 vote. Fifty-one votes were needed for passage. One Republican apparently accidentally voted for the bill. A week earlier the legislation moved swiftly through the Senate, passing with a 26-24 vote. The bill moves to Gov. Chet Culver’s desk. He has said he will sign it. “In recent weeks and months, I strove to explain Catholic teaching,” the archbishop said. “This teaching is inspired by Jesus’ call to respect every human being, especially the most vulnerable among us. Catholic thought also supports scientific research based on sound ethical principles. “Experimentation on nonembryonic stem cells has produced many medical therapies which have helped persons suffering from a wide range of ailments. Let us pray that Iowa tax dollars will be used only for these efforts,” he said. Recognizing the season of Lent is here, Archbishop Hanus said, “Lent is a time when we are called to intensified prayer, generous almsgiving and penitential fasting. I urge all members of the Catholic community to enter into this season with greater seriousness. Let us all do penance.” “This was a hard-fought battle,” said Tom Chapman, director of the Iowa Catholic Conference. “We were up against a governor who made it a top priority to drop the ban on cloning, and leadership in both houses who also wanted to drop the ban.” Chapman thanked all the people who worked hard to protect life at its earliest stage by trying to maintain the ban on cloning, including Iowa Right to Life, the Iowa Christian Alliance and Iowans for LIFE, which stands for Life Is for Everyone. Many people lobbied legislators. Others sent e-mails to their legislators, and supporters packed the House chamber the night of Ash Wednesday for a public hearing. The House vote was preceded by hours of debate, during which Republican Rep. Dave Heaton read from the floor a recent opinion article written by the archbishop. At the Feb. 21 public hearing, which lasted three hours, Archbishop Hanus delivered his testimony in person. It was his first appearance at a legislative hearing in almost 10 years. Although most legislators were not present, there was a standing-room-only crowd of people opposed to H.R. 287 in the balcony. Many wore pro-life shirts, a sticker encouraging legislators to vote no on the bill, and Knights of Columbus pins or emblems. For many of them, it was the first time they had ever attended a legislative hearing. Archbishop Hanus asked state lawmakers to preserve life and to focus state resources on adult stem-cell research, which has proven results. “This is such an important issue for Iowa,” said the archbishop. “The respect for human life is fundamental to every other liberty that we enjoy, every other blessing that comes to us from God and that is protected by the rights of our Constitution and our way of life.” He received applause at the conclusion of his testimony. At least three former legislators who were instrumental in passing the ban on cloning in 2002 made the trip back to the Capitol for the public hearing. Former Democratic Rep. Mark Tremmel asked what had changed in the five years since the cloning ban had been passed that would make the legislators think the law ought to be changed. He pointed out that embryonic stem-cell research was still possible in the state, that the proposed bill would legalize human cloning, and that not one medical treatment had been derived from embryonic stem-cell research. Tremmel said his mother suffered from juvenile diabetes and his dad has a rare blood cancer. “We need to find cures,” he said. “We can cure human beings without cloning human embryos.” Social, legal remedies for violence against women NEW YORK – Violence against women, both in the United States and around the world, is on the rise and must be addressed with a potent combination of social, legal and economic remedies, said a panel of speakers Feb. 27 in New York. “Addressing Violence Against Women” was the topic of a panel discussion at the Church of the Holy Family. The program was the second discussion in a series called “The Human Dignity of Women in Contemporary Society,” sponsored by the Holy See Mission to the United Nations, the Path to Peace Foundation and the Vincentian Center for Church and Society at St. John’s University. “It seems ironic that, at a time when the sensitivity for women’s issues appears stronger than ever, the world is now obliged to confront new forms of violence and slavery directed especially at women,” said Archbishop Celestino Migliore, papal nuncio to the United Nations. “The mistreatment of women is a long-standing reality in many places and a disregard for the age and vulnerability of young girls in particular is especially repugnant,” he continued. “If we wish to engage in a sustained process to stop and reverse this phenomenon, peoples and cultures will have to find a common ground that can safely underpin human relations everywhere due to our shared dignity.” “The overriding metaphor that leads to violence against women is that women are the property of another,” said panelist Marilyn Martone, an associate professor of theology at St. John’s University. “But this is in direct contradiction to what the church teaches. Others are gifts, not possessions.” Candy S. Hill, senior vice president for social policy at Catholic Charities USA, said, “Except for those at war, no nation has as much violence as the domestic violence in the United States, where 50 percent of women who are murdered die at the hand of a partner or ex-partner and 8.8 million children witness domestic violence.” She cited a 1992 letter of the U.S. bishops, “When I Call for Help: A Pastoral Response to Domestic Violence Against Women,” and the 10th anniversary update of the document in 2002 as examples of where the “bishops created great synergy to educate pastors and laity to arm themselves with resources to help people in need.” Hill said that the dioceses of Buffalo, N.Y., Camden, N.J., and Jackson, Miss., and the Archdiocese of Omaha, Neb., in particular, have implemented programs which underscore the church’s commitment to service, action and advocacy. On the international front, “peacekeepers have become part of the problem in post- conflict environments,” according to Lisa A. Kurbiel, social affairs officer in the best practices unit of the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations. “They have taken advantage of positions of power and authority to rape, abuse, punish and harm vulnerable groups.” Although this is a “scourge on the U.N. and those who contribute to it,” Kurbiel said the good news is that the United Nations has adopted a universal standard of conduct, which mandates a zero-tolerance abuse policy for all personnel, including military personnel serving under the flags of their member states. Rectifying abuses by U.N. staff both overseas and in the United States is hampered by a morass of finger-pointing, budgetary constraints, diplomatic immunity and cultural issues, said Kurbiel. She described domestic slavery in New York, where young girls are brought to this country on diplomatic visas and then made to work 14-hour days in the households of the people who sponsor them. “We need to call attention to this creatively, get it out in the open and urge political pressure at the highest levels to stop it,” she said.