News Briefs by Catholic News Service

Pope names bishops for Des Moines, Little Rock, three new auxiliaries
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI appointed Auxiliary Bishop Richard E. Pates of St. Paul and Minneapolis to head the Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, and Father Anthony B. Taylor, a priest of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, as bishop of Little Rock, Ark., April 10. He also named Father Oscar Cantu, pastor of Holy Name Parish in Houston, as auxiliary bishop of San Antonio; Msgr. James D. Conley, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Wichita, Kan., as auxiliary bishop of Denver; and Father William J. Justice, San Francisco archdiocesan vicar for clergy, as auxiliary bishop of San Francisco. The appointments were announced in Washington by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Young adult Catholics are interested in church ministry, study finds
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Although many young adult Catholics are interested in church ministry they find it difficult to connect their career plans or talents with available ministries, according to a survey released this year. The survey, “Young Adult Catholics and Their Future in Ministry,” was commissioned by the Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project, a joint project involving six national Catholic organizations and funded by the Lilly Endowment Inc. A preliminary report on the survey of young adult Catholics will be the topic of an upcoming National Ministry Summit April 20-23 in Orlando, Fla. The summit, initially planned for 1,000 participants, recently was expanded to accommodate all who wish to attend. “The waiting list kept growing,” said Christopher Anderson, executive director for the National Association for Lay Ministry, one of the sponsoring groups of the project. He said the interest in discussing the survey’s results shows that it “struck a chord with the people who minister and those who plan for future ministry in the Catholic Church.” The nationwide online survey of young adult Catholics was conducted by sociologist Dean Hoge of The Catholic University of America’s Life Cycle Institute and Marti Jewell, director of the Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership Project.

Pope Benedict prays JPII will help him build on spiritual gifts
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI prayed that Pope John Paul II would intercede for him with God, helping him to gather and build on the spiritual gifts that Pope John Paul gave to the church. The Vatican police said almost 40,000 people joined Pope Benedict April 2 in St. Peter’s Square for a Mass marking the third anniversary of Pope John Paul’s death. “We pray that from heaven he will continue to intercede for each one of us, and in a special way for me, whom providence has called to harvest his invaluable spiritual heritage,” the pope said in his homily. “May the church, following his teaching and example, continue his evangelizing mission faithfully and without compromise, tirelessly spreading the merciful love of Christ, the source of true peace for the whole world,” he said. The concelebrants included Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, who had served as Pope John Paul’s secretary for almost 40 years. At an April 1 conference dedicated to the memory of Pope John Paul, Cardinal Dziwisz said he continues to receive hundreds of letters from people who have asked for Pope John Paul’s intercession and he, himself, continues to pray for his former boss’ assistance.

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