"It was a dark day in the history of humanity, a terrible affront to human dignity," Pope John Paul II said September 12 during a general audience. He asked, "How is it possible to commit acts of such savage cruelty?" The pope responded that "the human heart has depths from which schemes of unheard of ferocity sometimes emerge." He said, "I ask God to grant the American people the strength and courage they need at this time of sorrow and trial." The pope added his "voice to all the voices raised in these hours to express indignant condemnation," and he strongly reiterated "that the ways of violence will never lead to genuine solutions to humanity’s problems."...

...Jim Nicholson, newly appointed U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, officially presented his credentials to Pope John Paul II at Castel Gandolfo. In his remarks the pope said, "At this time of national mourning for the victims of the terrorist attacks on Washington and New York, I wish to assure you personally of my profound participation in the grief of the American people." The pope told Nicholson he prayed "that this inhuman act will awaken in the hearts of all the world’s peoples" a firm resolve to reject violence, combat causes of hatred and work for a new era of international cooperation and peace...

...In his remarks to the pope, Nicholson said that the United States stands "committed, like the Holy See, to bring freedom and opportunity to those who, in your words, ‘seem cut off from them’" and that the "United States also looks forward to working closely with the Holy See" on reconciliation in Africa and the Balkans, ending slave trafficking and the AIDS epidemic, and "bringing peace and prosperity to the Holy Land." The pope told Nicholson that "underlying your nation’s commitment to freedom, self-determination and equal opportunity are universal truths inherited from its religious roots." The pope called for "a ‘revolution of opportunity,’ which will enable all the members of the human family to enjoy a dignified existence" and to share in the benefits of global development.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the U.S. bishops’ domestic anti-poverty initiative, has just announced it will distribute $10 million to 317 local projects in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Some of this year’s projects include: home health care services to the elderly in Philadelphia; social services for the homeless in Portland, Maine; efforts promoting self-determination among low-income Latina immigrant women in Kodiak, Alaska; a statewide program to assist families of prisoners based in Albany, New York.

In an effort to put the brakes on a new 10-year farm bill that passed the House Agriculture Committee earlier this summer, Catholic and other religious groups have joined forces with secular organizations that promote family farming and wildlife conservation. Holy Cross Brother David Andrews, head of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, called it "a disaster of a farm bill" during a press briefing. As currently written, the bill would distribute $80 billion in federal money over 10 years. Critics say most will go to agribusiness companies and "factory farming" concerns, but little to independent family farmers. Andrews said that legislation should focus "on conservation and communities, not simply on commodities."