Death threats were received in January by members of two church-run human rights groups noted for the defense of indigenous people in the southern Mexican states of Guerrero and Chiapas, the groups said. The Jesuit-backed Miguel Augustin Pro human rights center in Mexico City said February 1 that its lawyers who defend peasant leaders in Guerrero had found two threatening letters inside a desk in their offices January 31. In Chiapas, the Fray Bartolome de las Casas human rights center, an agency of the Diocese of San Cristobal de las Casas, said it received an e-mail threat against one of its lawyers January 19.

Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston has been named a member of the Vatican Congregation for Bishops. The announcement February 2 increases the number of U.S. cardinal members of the congregation to five of 26.

Beatitudes of ecumenism. Retired Bishop Francis Quinn of Sacramento, CA, proposed several beatitudes in an address to an ecumenical gathering for the millennium. One beatitude proclaimed, "Blessed are they who respect other persons’ beliefs." Quinn said: "We can learn from each other - without watering down our own convictions. From the fundamentalist churches we can learn reverence for the sacred Scriptures. From the evangelicals we can learn a personal love of Jesus Christ. From the Orthodox churches we learn the splendor of liturgy. From the Mormons, missionary zeal. From the conservative so-called mainline churches, the value of tradition. From the liberal so-called mainline churches, the importance of social change. From the small storefront churches, the need for intimacy and a feeling of belonging. From all the other churches with their many strengths." Quinn observed, "We have our divisions but we are together in our love for Jesus Christ."

Nearly $1.4 million in delinquent debts have been canceled by the Diocese of Toledo to mark the Jubilee of the Year 2000. Bishop James Hoffman, acting on the advice of his finance council, informed 25 parishes and institutions in northwestern Ohio of the forgiveness of debts ranging from $700 to more than $125,000. In addition the diocese is paying premiums for the Protected Self Insurance Program for its 163 parishes and 93 schools this year. John Heinze, director of financial services, told the diocesan newspaper the one-year savings to parishes and schools on the premiums will be $945,000.

The bishops’ election year statement, Faithful Citizenship: Civic Responsibility for the New Millennium, is a non-partisan appeal to Catholics to use the principles of their social teaching in the public arena, particularly during this presidential election year, to stop abortion, help poor children, protect the rights of immigrants, and address other pressing social concerns. "Catholics should speak for the unborn and the poor in the electoral process," says John L. Carr, Director, USCC Department of Social Development and World Peace. "We can’t be heard if we let cynicism impair our participation." The statement is available from the Office of Communications/Media Resource Center, Diocese of New Ulm, (507) 233-5330.