The Valley Catholic
IN THE CHURCH/NATION
end of the hours-long event were again named King, the daughter, son and sister of the Rev. King who mesmerized the 1963 audience and the world with his “I Have a Dream” speech. This time, it was the Rev. Bernice King, CEO of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, who echoed her father’s sermon-like call to continue the battle for freedom for all. She said the anniversary event was an opportunity to rejuvenate the battle against ongoing crippling “practices and policies steeped in racial pride, hatred and hostility, which have some of us standing our ground rather than ?nding common ground.” As they had 50 years before, thousands of people lined the re?ecting pool between the memorial and the Washington Monument. Unlike the 1963 event, there was no high-pro?le presence of Catholic clergy on the stage. Then-Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle of
September 10, 2013
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50 years later, speakers say some things are better, but challenges remain
By Patricia Zapor WASHINGTON (CNS) — The setting was the same and some of the issues of the 1963 March on Washington remain, but in many respects, the 50th anniversary observance at the Lincoln Memorial Aug. 28 showed the progress of the nation. The speaker who concluded the program of politicians, celebrities, preachers and performers this time also was African-American, President Barack Obama, the ?rst of his heritage to be elected U.S. president. His address, among the longest of the more than 50 speakers who took the stage, recalled that on that day in 1963 the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., “offered a salvation path for oppressed and oppressors alike. His words belong to the ages, possessing a power and prophecy unmatched in our time.” Obama added the day also belonged to “ordinary people who had gone to segregated schools and sat at segregated lunch counters. They lived in towns where they couldn’t vote.” Yet they chose another path. “In the face of hatred, they prayed for their tormentors. In the face of violence, they stood up and sat in, with the moral force of nonviolence. A lifetime of indignities had taught them that no man can take away the dignity and grace that God grants us,” the President said. Other powerful speakers near the Washington, a civil rights promoter, led the formal program with a prayer for the nation and its people: “Let us understand that simple justice demands that the rights of all be honored by every man.” Current Washington archbishop, Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, participated in a morning interfaith prayer service related to the anniversary, but clergy on the program at the Lincoln Memorial were all Protestants.
Archbishop Pietro Parolin named new Vatican Secretary of State
Vatican City (VIS) — The Holy Father Aug. 31 accepted the resignation of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone from the of?ce of Secretary of State in accordance with canon 354 of the Code of Canon Law, requesting that he remain in of?ce until Oct. 15, 2013. Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Pietro Parolin, currently apostolic nuncio to Venezuela, as the new Secretary of State, to assume the role Oct. 15, 2013. Archbishop Pietro Parolin was born in Schiavon, Italy in 1955 and was ordained a priest in 1980. He holds a licentiate in Canon Law. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1986 and has worked in Nigeria and Mexico, and in the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State, where he was appointed under-secretary in 2002. In 2009 he was appointed apostolic nuncio to Venezuela and named an archbishop. He received episcopal ordination from Pope Benedict XVI on Sept. 12 of that year. Archbishop Parolin thanked the Holy Father, expressing his “complete availability” and willingness to collaborate with him, and under his guidance “for the greater glory of God, the good of the Holy Church, and the progress and peace of humanity.” He said, “It is with trepidation that I place myself in this new service to the Gospel, to the Church and to Pope Francis, but also with trust and serenity, disposed to walk, to build and to profess.”
Archbishop Pietro Parolin, 58, has been appointed by Pope Francis as Vatican Secretary of State. On Oct. 15 he will succeed Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, 78. (2009 CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Catholic Press Photo)
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