Only days after creating 44 new cardinals, Pope John Paul II convened a meeting in May of the entire College of Cardinals for a wide-ranging discussion on the church in the third millennium. The encounter, called an "extraordinary consistory," will cover issues raised in the pope’s post-jubilee document, Nova Millennio Ineuente ("At the Beginning of the New Millennium"), which outlined the church’s path in the 21st century. The meeting, the sixth consultative session of the College of Cardinals during Pope John Paul’s pontificate, will take place on May 21-24.

Harassment from radical Hindus, shortage of water and lack of medical supplies impede relief workers nearly a month after an earthquake hit western India, church workers say. The bishop of Rajkot said Hindu fundamentalists interfere with missionaries’ relief work, accusing them of trying to convert Hindus. His diocese serves the worst-affected Kutch district of Gujarat State, reported UCA News. Rubble and carcasses left by the quake that killed up to 100,000 people have polluted wells and ponds. In addition, lack of electricity makes it impossible to pump water from deep wells to irrigate crops.

The U.S. bishops’ Committee on the Laity has launched an online survey of lay Catholics in the United States as part of an effort to determine how parishes can help people connect their faith with their daily lives. The survey, which can only be completed online at www.laysurvey.org, is available in English and Spanish and will be posted until May 13. The survey focuses on several aspects of church life, including knowledge of the faith, liturgical life, moral formation, prayer and missionary spirit. The survey will not be used to evaluate individual parishes but to help the bishops’ committee gain an understanding of how best to help lay Catholics.

Women in Diocesan leadership positions in the United States say their participation in church decision-making is sometimes hindered by sexist attitudes, church structures or the strident voices of women themselves, according to a new survey. The results were compiled by the Life Cycle Institute of The Catholic University of America from questionnaires sent to 378 women in 128 dioceses who had been identified by their bishops as diocesan leaders. The aim of the survey was to "examine how women’s voices are heard in church decision-making," said Archbishop John G. Vlazny of Portland, OR, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Women in Society and in the Church. Nearly one-third (31 percent) of the 233 women who returned surveys said "diocesan leadership structures do not allow women’s voices to be heard," while 30 percent said "diocesan leaders or priests have sexist attitudes or don’t understand women." But more than one-fourth (27 percent) said women’s voices are muted when "the woman is overly militant, combative, single-minded or insubordinate."

Responding to the growth of Spanish-language media in the United States, the University of St. Thomas in Houston, a Catholic institution, plans to begin offering in August a joint major in communications and Spanish as well as a certificate in Spanish for mass media. In 1999 the Catholic university was recognized by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities as a Hispanic-serving institution because 28 percent of its students come from the Hispanic community.