News Briefs

Brazilian bishops condemned the release of the rancher Regivaldo Galvão while he appeals his 30-year sentence for the assassination of U.S.-born Sister Dorothy Stang in 2005. • British pro-life groups vowed to take all legal steps possible to halt the broadcast of advertisements for abortion services on U.K. television. • “I assure you of the desire of the Catholic Christians present in your country to contribute to the well-being of your society, to live God-fearing lives and to respect the dignity of all peoples and religions,” Pope Benedict XVI told Hissa Abdulla Ahmed al-Otaiba, the first ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the Vatican. • Matt Wessel, a liturgical musician and composer from Milwaukee, Wis., has launched the Web site www.holymeasures.com to allow composers to sell their own work directly. • On May 19, the bishops of Belgium sought forgiveness from victims of sexual abuse by priests and promised steps to curb the problem in the future. • Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, buried in an unmarked grave nearly 500 years ago because the church believed his theories were heretical, was reburied and honored in a ceremony at Frombork Cathedral in northern Poland on May 22.