VALLETTA, Malta (CNS) — Eight sailor-priests traveling to an international meeting in Malta wanted to imitate St. Paul’s journey to the country, but did not count on encountering stormy seas. The priests, chaplains at Poland’s Christian School of Sailors, sailed the Straznik Poranka from Dubrovnik, Croatia, to Brindisi, Italy, where they stopped for supplies. But south of Brindisi, in the Ionian Sea, they encountered a storm. Severe winds slammed the boat and broke the mast, forcing it to return to Brindisi for repairs. Once in Brindisi, one crewman, Father Slavomir Grodecki, climbed the 18-foot mast and repaired the damage. Father Mieczyslaw Piotrowski, editor of the magazine Love One Another, described the storm as enriching from a spiritual point of view. "When you experience the power of God, you have to pray," he said. "After the storm, the water got very peaceful. It was rewarding."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Catholic scouting is an important tool for helping young people learn the value of being faithful to God and true to others, Pope John Paul II said. The pope met Oct. 23 with 40,000 singing, chanting and banner-waving Italian Catholic Scouts and Guides in St. Peter’s Square. He told the smallest members — the Cubs and Ladybugs — "to do your best every day to grow joyfully" and to discover "the marvels of creation." The pope asked the Guides and Scouts to be always ready to do good, to learn to be responsible and to become active members of their parishes and communities. He asked the older members, the Sentries and Rovers, "to commit yourselves to making the word ‘service’ the motto of your lives in the conviction that giving of oneself is the secret to making your existence beautiful and fruitful." The pope asked the den and troop leaders to help the young people learn the values and social skills that will enable them "to contribute to building a world of friendship and solidarity."

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops dropped plans for releasing a question-and-answer survey on campaign issues after both major presidential candidates failed to cooperate in answering the questionnaire, said Msgr. Francis Maniscalco, USCCB spokesman. Msgr. Maniscalco spoke to Catholic News Service Oct. 27 after news stories cited a group called Catholic Voting Project as saying that President George W. Bush’s campaign refused to answer the USCCB questionnaire. "Neither campaign cooperated in answering the questionnaire as requested by the Aug. 2 deadline," said Msgr. Maniscalco. Bush, the Republican candidate, and Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, the Democratic nominee, were sent identical questionnaires July 2 and given an Aug. 2 deadline to respond, he said. The questionnaire contained 40 questions on 15 to 20 topics that are followed closely by the Catholic bishops, said Msgr. Maniscalco. The candidates were asked to respond only with "support" or "oppose" to the statement contained in each question, he said. The conference waited until Aug. 16 before deciding to abandon the project, he said.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (CNS) — After 12 years of caring for their late founder, Brother Michael Gaworski, after an illness left him severely brain damaged, the Franciscan Brothers of Peace in St. Paul have now turned their attention to Terri Schindler Schiavo. She is the 40-year-old Clearwater, Fla., brain-damaged woman whose case they say is the "Roe vs. Wade of the euthanasia movement in the United States," referring to the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion virtually on demand. Schiavo has been impaired for the past 14 years and lives in a nursing home. She can breathe on her own but requires nutrition and hydration through a feeding tube. Her husband, Michael, who now has two children by another woman, says his wife would want the feeding tube removed. Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, say that she would want to live, in part because of her Catholic beliefs. The brothers believe the outcome of the Schiavo case could set a precedent for future euthanasia cases in the United States.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CNS) — At age 71, when most priests are nearing retirement, Father Donald Forsythe is just getting started. The widower, father of nine, grandfather and former chief of anesthesiology at Holy Spirit Hospital in Camp Hill, Pa., entered the seminary at age 67. This summer he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Birmingham, Ala., and he now is assistant pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Birmingham. "Nobody can believe that a retired doctor would think of starting a new career again. People can’t understand it," he said in a phone interview with The Catholic Witness, newspaper of the Harrisburg Diocese. But he sees his new ministry as the way "to pay back to the Lord because I’ve had a really blessed life."