CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) — The money poor people spend on funerals is of growing concern to church leaders in South Africa, where the AIDS pandemic has left many families burying two or three members a year. "There is enormous pressure on people to lay on expensive funerals, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for them to cope," said Bishop Kevin Dowling, who represents the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference in its Pretoria-based AIDS department. The widespread South African tradition of providing meals for extended family members and friends and paying for their transport to the place of burial can put families into a burden of debt "that they spend years trying to pay off," he said.

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) — Pope John Paul II called on the Catholic community to remember those persecuted for their Christian beliefs. "Even today, in some parts of the world, the faithful still continue to endure harsh trials for their acceptance of Christ and his church," he said. "May these brothers and sisters of ours feel the full solidarity of the entire church community," he asked Aug. 29 before praying the Sunday Angelus. The pope made special mention of the "numerous Christians who were victims of religious hatred in different nations of Europe this past century." They, like all martyrs of the faith before them, "courageously followed in the footsteps" of St. John the Baptist, who gave his life "for truth and justice," he said.

PARIS (CNS) — Outside a Paris concert hall, a smartly dressed couple hurriedly finishes a sandwich. High school students and young parents with toddlers in tow stream past them. All converged on one of Paris’ famous rock and blues stages to hear Paddy Kelly, a 27-year-old rock singer. The Irish singer, who started his showbiz career with his brothers and sisters as part of the Kelly Family band, sings rock with an electric sound. Kelly is a rocker with attitude — a Christian attitude. Earlier this summer, thousands gathered to hear Kelly and other bands at an open-air festival staged in front of Lyon’s Saint-Jean Cathedral.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican press office would not comment on reports that a terrorist group linked to al-Qaida allegedly said the Vatican would not be a target when it attacks Italy. The Vatican, while declining comment pointed to an Aug. 28 statement by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, saying that he hoped everyone would recognize that Pope John Paul II has been an untiring supporter of peace and of human rights for all peoples. In a statement posted on an Islamic Web site Aug. 29, the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades-European Battalion — the same group that claimed responsibility for the March train bombings in Madrid — repeated its earlier threats to turn Italy "into hell" unless the government withdraws its troops from Iraq. "We declare that the Vatican will never be one of our targets," said the posting, translated from the Arabic by the French news agency, Agence France Presse.