In observance of the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life will be sponsoring an annual March for Life, at the State Capitol in St. Paul, MN, on Monday, January 22, 2007. Prior to the event, an ecumenical Prayer Service for Life will be held at the Cathedral of St. Paul, at 10:30 a.m.

Washington (Dec. 14, 2006)- Leaders of twenty-nine national Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious communities and organizations have issued a united call for the Bush Administration and the new Congress to make Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace a top priority of U.S. foreign policy.The statement, Arab-Israeli-Palestinian Peace: From Crisis to Hope, affirms peace as "an essential of faith" in all three religious traditions and asserts that our nation has "an inescapable responsibility and an indispensable role to provide creative, determined leadership for building a just peace for all in the Middle East."

The statement comes at a time when the ceasefire between Israelis and Palestinians raises hope for restarting negotiations, and when the Baker-Hamilton Report concludes that renewed efforts for comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace are essential for achieving U.S. goals in the Middle East. The leaders of the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative will seek a meeting with Secretary of State Rice to express their support for urgent U.S. leadership for peace.

The new six-page statement calls on the United States to:

- Exercise persistent, determined leadership at the highest levels to secure a comprehensive and just resolution of the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242, 338, and 1397; Work, in coordination with the Quartet (U.S., European Union, Russia, United Nations), to create conditions that bring about serious negotiations for a two-state solution following the lines of the Roadmap and earlier civil society initiatives; Support full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1701 and 1559 in relation to Lebanon; and Undertake diplomatic efforts to restart Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-Lebanese negotiations for peace.

The religious leaders committed themselves "to working with the Administration and with Congress to support active, fair and firm U.S. leadership to help Israelis, Palestinians and Arab states achieve a just peace." The full statement is available on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Web site. Visit: www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/nilistatement.htm. The letter to

Secretary Rice is available at www.usccb.org/sdwp/international/nilirice.htm.

National Vocation Awareness Week is January 8-12, 2007. This year’s theme is Baptized for Service/Bautizados para Servir. In 1976 the National Conference of Catholic Bishops designated the 28th Sunday of the year as the beginning of National Vocation Awareness Week. In 1997 this celebration was moved to coincide with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord which celebrates the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.