BHAGALPUR, India (CNS) — A Catholic bishop is among the latest victims of cerebral malaria in eastern India’s Bihar state, where the disease has killed hundreds of tribal people. Bishop Thomas Kozhimala of Bhagalpur, 65, died June 1 on a train as he was heading to Patna, the state capital, to obtain better medical treatment, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. The Bhagalpur Diocese serves mainly Santal tribal people. Jesuit Father Varghese Puthussery, head of the Dumka-Raiganj Jesuit province, told UCA News June 2 that cerebral malaria has killed several priests and nuns in the region. His predecessor, Jesuit Father James Aril, died of it in 2001. Father Puthussery said the government refuses to recognize deaths caused by malaria and has directed government doctors in the region to cite other reasons for those deaths.

LONDON (CNS) — The wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair said being a parent helped her return to her Catholic faith. In her most candid public reflection on her religious beliefs, Cherie Blair described herself as a feminist with an "enduring soft spot for the Virgin Mary." "She, for me, is an important part of Catholicism, because I passionately believe there is no more important role in life than motherhood," Blair said in The Independent newspaper June 5. "I admire her self-sacrifice, her ability to accept God’s will and her trust in him. I sometimes find trusting in God hard," she said. Blair, a mother of four children, is a successful lawyer who practices under her maiden name, Cherie Booth, and who specializes in the area of human rights.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A Chinese Catholic bishop who had spent 21 years in prison and work camps died of bone cancer May 25 at the age of 79, the Vatican newspaper said. "When he was told that Pope Benedict XVI knew of his illness, blessed him and was praying for him, the prelate was moved and whispered, ‘I am not worthy of that,’" the newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, reported. The newspaper reported June 8 that Bishop John Wang Xixian of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, had been ordained to the priesthood in 1953 and taught in the diocesan seminary until he was arrested in 1957. In 1980, the government released him and allowed him to minister in the cathedral parish and to teach in the seminary.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians are called to renounce power and wealth and choose to serve others with humility as Christ did, said Pope Benedict XVI in his weekly general audience. Even though Christ was equal to God, he did not exploit his power and use it "as an instrument of triumph, sign of distance or expression of crushing supremacy," the pope said. "Rather, just the opposite, he emptied himself, immersing himself without hesitation" in the "fragile reality" of the human condition, he said. Some 23,000 pilgrims gathered June 1 in St. Peter’s Square to greet Pope Benedict and hear his weekly catechesis.

OTTAWA (CNS) — The Royal Canadian Mint will launch two commemorative coins — one gold and one silver — in honor of Pope John Paul II June 14. The coins, designed by artist Susan Taylor, show the pope raising one hand in blessing while holding on to his crosier. The gold coin has a face value of $75 (US $60.30), the silver $10 (US $8). In a June 2 statement, the mint described Pope John Paul as a "central force in world affairs." "For many in Canada and around the world, he was the hero who brought down communism in Poland," the statement said. The coins can be purchased by a toll-free call to the Royal Canadian Mint at: (888) 729-9903.

SANTIAGO, Chile (CNS) — Catholic officials said Chile’s policy of mandatory military service should be changed in the wake of the deaths of 45 soldiers during a blizzard in the Andes Mountains in southern Chile. Those who froze to death on the Antuco volcano in mid-May were mostly new recruits who lacked the experience and equipment to survive the harsh conditions, observers said. The group was forced to march in the blizzard at the orders of an army major, despite the objections of mid-level officers. "Public opinion on obligatory recruitment has changed after Antuco. Now is the time for a more profound discussion of the issue, which, hopefully, will lead to the elimination of the obligatory draft altogether. A modern army cannot be based on recruits that must be trained year after year, and in poor conditions," said theologian Alvaro Ramis Olivos, a Catholic and president of the Chilean Network of Conscientious Objectors.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) — Zimbabwe’s bishops criticized the government’s "Operation Restore Order," which has driven tens of thousands of people from their homes, and called on the authorities to "stop this violence immediately." Noting that people’s dignity and human rights are being violated, the Zimbabwean bishops’ conference warned the perpetrators, "History will hold you individually accountable." Since late May authorities, including riot police, have been demolishing homes and vendors’ stalls in shantytowns around the capital, Harare, as well in other Zimbabwean cities and the tourist resort of Victoria Falls. Government officials said the operation is aimed at getting rid of illegal settlements and reducing crime in the black market, which has flourished in the past five years amid a worsening economic crisis.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Supreme Court May 31 upheld a federal law that requires prisons to accommodate the religious practices of prisoners. In a unanimous vote, the court said the 2000 Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, known as RLUIPA, does not violate the Constitution by giving what might be perceived as an advantage to members of religious groups. The court was not asked to address and did not rule on the law’s provisions protecting the rights of religious groups to use their land without undue government interference. Several Ohio prisoners who follow nontraditional religions sued the state when the prison refused to let them meet in a group for worship and rejected their requests for certain ceremonial items and religious publications. The state had argued, among other things, that being required to accommodate prisoners’ religious beliefs would amount to state support of religion and that other prisoners would abuse the law because it might entitle them to certain foods and privileges they could not otherwise have.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Four Middle East countries were among a group of 14 that could face U.S. sanctions for not doing enough to stop human trafficking, the U.S. State Department said June 3. Eight countries were new to the list: Bolivia, Cambodia, Jamaica, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Togo and the United Arab Emirates. Six countries previously cited remained on the list: Myanmar, Ecuador, Cuba, North Korea, Sudan and Venezuela. "Trafficking in human beings is nothing less than a modern form of slavery," said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in releasing the department’s annual "Trafficking in Persons Report." This year’s report covers the period from March 2004 to March 2005. Bangladesh, Equatorial Guinea, Guyana and Sierra Leone, which were on the offender list in the 2004 report, were removed this year after showing signs of progress. Rice said that up to 800,000 people are victims of international trafficking every year, with millions more trafficked internally.

WILMINGTON, Del. (CNS) — Twenty years ago, Alex Meloro wanted to pay tribute to his immigrant parents. Bob Novack wanted to get his Eagle Scout badge. Their high school classmates just wanted to get out of class. The free cookies weren’t bad, either. That was in 1985, when St. Mark’s High School in Wilmington became the first high school in the Delmarva Peninsula — which includes all of Delaware and parts of eastern Maryland and Virginia — to host a blood drive. Twenty years later, more than 8,000 students from 68 high schools donate blood when the Blood Bank of Delmarva visits schools. That accounts for about 7 percent of the blood bank’s total supply. The Delmarva Blood Bank notes that almost 53,000 blood donations have been received from local students, saving more than 156,000 lives.

DENVER (CNS) — Denver Archbishop Charles J. Chaput was named to a nine-member U.S. delegation participating in an international conference on anti-Semitism in Cordoba, Spain, June 8-9. The U.S. State Department delegation to the 2005 Conference on Anti-Semitism and on Other Forms of Intolerance was led by New York Gov. George E. Pataki. The conference sessions were planned on issues such as Holocaust education; efforts to fight discrimination and intolerance against Muslims, Christians and members of other religions; and a discussion on the role of government, civil society, schools and the media in combating prejudice and in promoting tolerance.

Abortion ban struck down

RICHMOND, Va. (CNS) — A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond ruled June 3 that a Virginia ban on the partial-birth abortion procedure is unconstitutional because it does not include an exception to protect a woman’s health. The 2-1 decision by the appeals panel upheld a ruling by a federal judge last year on the 2003 Virginia law, which made it a felony to perform a partial-birth abortion. The date the law was to take effect was blocked by the lawsuit challenging it. The appeals court judges who struck down the Virginia law said they based their decision on a 2000 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down a similar Nebraska law banning partial-birth abortions because it did not contain a health exception.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — During a symposium held as part of the June 4-7 conference "One Table, Many Voices: A Mobilization to Overcome Poverty & Hunger" in Washington, representatives of Christian, Jewish, Muslim and American Indian faith traditions pointed to the common threads found in their teachings about caring for the poor and hungry in their midst. "If all our faith traditions hold such united values, how come we’re doing such a poor job?" asked Rabbi David Saper-stein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. It was a question that neither he nor his fellow panelists could readily answer. While the search for an answer continues, Rabbi Saperstein pointed to "ideological forces" in the United States aimed at "unraveling the concept of the social safety net." What government does, he added, "complements the private-sector effort" of alleviating poverty and hunger. But with federal budget proposals to cut domestic food aid, "we are walking away from that commitment," Rabbi Saperstein said.