WASHINGTON Bishop Skylstad says priests deserve bishops' support The priests of the United States deserve not only the deepest gratitude, but also the support, esteem and collaborative respect of their bishops, said the president of the U.S. bishops in his first address to the conference as their leader. More than ever before, events of the past four years have focused attention on the priesthood, said Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane. He called priests "the treasures who safeguard the church as a eucharistic community." Attention stemming from publicity about sexual abuse cases and how the church has handled them was not about the "wonder, commitment, dedication and perseverance" of priests, but about "the darkness and sin which overwhelmed some," he said. "It has been a personally painful time for the vast majority of priests who did nothing to deserve that pain." DUBLIN, Ireland Archbishop pledges help with abuse inquiry Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has pledged the full cooperation of his archdiocese with a new government commission that will investigate how church and state authorities have handled complaints of child sexual abuse against diocesan clergy. "It is vitally important that the truth of what happened regarding abuse of children by priests is brought to light," said Archbishop Martin. "We can only begin to fully address the issue of child abuse when we establish what happened in the past. Horrendous damage was done to people, compounded by inadequate responses." The archbishop said he hoped the work already done by the archdiocese in recent years, including appointing an independent child consultant in 2004 to examine all files relating to child abuse complaints in the diocese, will help the government commission establish the truth. He noted that the archdiocese has made copies of more than 22,000 documents for police to help investigations into complaints of child abuse by archdiocesan priests.     .

WASHINGTON May 22 to be day of remembrance for mariners In a voice vote Nov. 14 the U.S. bishops declared May 22 of each year as a Day of Remembrance and Prayer for Mariners and People of the Sea. The date coincides with the annual National Maritime Day celebrated by the U.S. government for the past 62 years. The recommendation was presented to the bishops by the Committee on Migration after the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation contacted the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to encourage prayers for mariners on the annual federal observance. National Maritime Day was established in 1933 to honor "the courage, vision and achievements" of those who serve in the U.S. Merchant Marine, according to the Transportation Department.   LOURDES, France Bishops blame politicians, economists for riots France's Catholic bishops warned government officials against hard-line solutions to the country's rioting and placed some of the blame on them. "Collective responsibility rests with the political and economic decision-makers," said the statement, signed by the bishops' conference president, Archbishop Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux. "But the events of these days should also pose questions to us," the bishops said. "Our choices, individually and collectively, concerning the organization of life in society can lead us to create or to remove situations of exclusion and ghettoization." The statement was issued Nov. 9 at the close of the bishops' plenary assembly in Lourdes, as French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy authorized the expulsion of foreign-born citizens implicated in the two weeks of violence in Paris and other major French cities. It was the bishops' second statement on the riots in four days.

ROME Iraqi president seeks pope’s support In a private meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, Iraq's president urged the pope to help support the country's minority Christian population, saying "they are in need of such ... support." Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told reporters Nov. 10 that during his 20-minute meeting with the pope at the Vatican he asked the pontiff "to support or at least to show more support for our Christian brothers and sisters." Iraqi Christians make up just 3 percent of the population in a country that is mostly Shiite and Sunni Muslim. Many Christian leaders have said large numbers of Christians have been leaving the country because of continued insecurity, poor economic prospects and discrimination. The Nov. 10 meeting with the pope was the first time the Iraqi president came to Italy and the Vatican; it was part of a weeklong visit that included talks with Italy's prime minister and other officials. SACRAMENTO Catholic school fires Planned Parenthood volunteer Officials at Loretto High School in Sacramento fired a drama teacher in mid-October after they were presented with evidence that she had recently been volunteering as an escort at a local Planned Parenthood clinic. Marie Bain, who since August had taught at the all-girls high school operated by the Loretto Sisters, was dismissed after a parent complained to school officials, presenting photos of Bain earlier this year escorting clients into the clinic in Sacramento. After school officials consulted the diocese's schools department and Sacramento Bishop William K. Weigand regarding the complaint, the bishop sent a letter to Loretto Sister Helen Timothy, president of the high school. The letter clarified Catholic doctrine on abortion and restated the long-standing diocesan policy that people who participate in abortion-related activities are disqualified from teaching in Catholic schools. Bain is not Catholic.