News Briefs

Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain last month called the Act of Settlement, which bars from the throne members of the royal family who are married to Catholics, a “historical anomaly” that could not “continue to be justified.” • Helping people understand how racism undermines society’s ability to overcome violence and economic injustice is a top priority for Patricia Chappell, S.N.D.deN., the new executive director of Pax Christi USA. • On Oct. 24 Pope Benedict XVI named Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C., the relator-general, or recording secretary, of the 2012 Synod of Bishops on “new evangelization.” • Catholic Charities USA, joining the “Fighting Poverty With Faith” mobilization on Oct. 27, offered a food stamp challenge: buy a week’s groceries on the average stamp allotment of $31.50 per person. • Jewish groups asked the Vatican on Oct. 19 to suspend reconciliation talks with the Society of St. Pius X after Bishop Richard Williamson, a member, wrote that the killing of Jesus “was truly deicide” and that “only the Jews were the prime agents of the deicide” because they “clamored for his crucifixion.”