News Briefs

Commenting on the controversy regarding Pope Pius XII’s actions during World War II, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan said at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York on April 12: “Whatever the archives hold, the Catholic Church does not fear the truth about the often heroic and sometimes disgraceful conduct of her leaders and members during the Second World War.” • President Benigno Aquino [pictured right] of the Philippines said on April 17 that he would risk excommunication to support a law that would allow artificial contraception in the Philippines. • Sante Fe’s Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan, in a pastoral letter dated April 3, admonished unmarried Catholic couples who were living together or joined in a civil union and divorced Catholics who remarry without an annulment not to receive Communion. • France’s bishops pledged on April 13 to support church leaders in Egypt and Libya, noting their “aspiration for dignity, respect, justice and democracy.” • On April 12 Bishop Richard Moth of Britain’s military diocese expressed appreciation for the release of a document on human sexuality for Britain’s Boy Scouts, even though it provides guidance on condom use.