Uncovered 1963 letter warned pope of “problem” priests
In a letter to Pope Paul VI written five decades ago, a senior U.S. Catholic priest outlined the “problem of the problem priest” — a letter unearthed at a time when critics are seizing upon Vatican officials for negligence. In the letter, the Rev. Gerald Fitzgerald recommended that priests not be moved across dioceses upon the discovery of abuse but instead suggested they be defrocked. Vatican legal tribunal Giuseppe dalla Torre has pre-emptively said that Pope Benedict XVI is a head of state and therefore cannot be called into court to testify in abuse cases. Also see The Demons of Pope Benedict XVI on The case of Rev. Lawrence Murphy went across the desk of Cardinal Ratzinger prior to his papacy. Abuse allegations in Italy are also putting the Catholic Church in an increasingly tough spot.
Idol’s “Gives Back” to benefit Ethiopian girls
This year’s “Idol Gives Back” performance on Fox on April 21 will benefit the UN Foundation’s work to empower and educate girls in Ethiopia. In advance of the program, “American Idol” Season 7 champion David Cook visited schools in Ethiopia, where only 20% of girls have any access to education. “We want to stress that even a dollar or two dollars can make a big difference in these girls’ lives. It can buy the notebook that enables a girl to go to school,” said UN Foundation’s executive director of global partnerships.
Abused girls are at the mercy of Afghan justice
About half of all young girls imprisoned in Afghanistan are charged with “moral crimes,” often related to forced marriages, rape and attempts to escape abuse. In some cases, runaways are charged with kidnapping themselves. Tradition and societal demands leave girls as the group most at risk for abnormal judicial proceedings, according to rights advocates.
LRA killed more than 300 in December massacre
The U.S. is providing the Ugandan military with hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to track down the remnants of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a fearsome armed group that has been reduced to several hundred fighters — whose tactics have turned all the more vicious as a result. It has been revealed that the LRA killed 321 Congolese villagers in a remote village massacre and abducted 250 civilians, including 80 children. The LRA operates across Sudan, Central African Republic and Congo.
Global food push needed to stave off global hunger
A report published in advance of next week’s Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development finds that the world’s poorest country must develop new agriculture in order to keep up with the rising global demand for food associated with population growth. Though the 1950s and ’60s saw great increases in crop yields in South America and Asia, yields in Africa have not grown. Scientists expect that food production must double in order to feed the projected 9 billion population mark expected by mid-century.
