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Freedom of Conscience and Islam

Christian Converts Put to the Test

By Father John Flynn

ROME, JUNE 4, 2007 (Zenit.org).- If you live in a predominantly Muslim country and want to convert to Christianity, chances are your faith will be put to the test. The latest example of troubles Christian converts face comes from Malaysia, where last week the country's highest civil court rejected a woman's appeal to be recognized as a Christian, the Associated Press reported May 30.

Lina Joy, born Azlina Jailani, had applied to change both her name and religion on the government identity card all citizens carry. The name change was not a problem, but authorities refused to delete the Muslim identification from the card. According to the Associated Press, about 60% of Malaysia's 26 million people are Muslims.

A May 26 report by the Associated Press recounted that Joy began going to church in 1990 and was baptized eight years later. She went to the Federal Court in May 2000 in order to oblige government authorities to change the religious designation on her identity card, but the tribunal ordered her to take the matter to Shariah courts. Joy's next step was to take the matter to the Court of Appeal, but she also lost her case in that tribunal.

Joy appealed the case before the Federal Court in 2005. The arguments ended in July 2006, with the decision denying her appeal handed down last week.

In the meantime, the Associated Press reported that Joy has been disowned by her family and forced to quit her computer sales job after clients threatened to withdraw their business.

The three judges of the Federal Court ruled 2-1 against her. Only the Islamic Shariah Court has the power to allow her to remove the word "Islam" from the religion category on her government identity card, the decision stated.

The wording of the decision showed the difficulties involved in obtaining freedom for religious converts. "You can't at whim and fancy convert from one religion to another," said Federal Court Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim in his judgment, Reuters reported May 30.

"The issue of apostasy is related to Islamic law, so it's under the Shariah court," he stated.

According to Reuters, the country's Shariah courts generally do not allow Muslims to formally renounce Islam, preferring to send what they consider to be apostates for counseling. They even fine or jail them.

Fundamental right denied

Shortly after the court's decision, Joy announced that she may leave Malaysia for not being able to freely practice her religion, the Associated Press reported May 31. "I am disappointed that the Federal Court is not able to vindicate a simple but important fundamental right that exists in all persons: namely, the right to believe in the religion of one's choice," Joy declared in a statement released through her lawyer, Benjamin Dawson.

Joy is not alone in her problems. Last year BBC radio broadcast a report on the problems faced by Christian converts in Malaysia. According to a report on the program published by the BBC last Nov. 15, many converts are obliged to lead a secret, double life.

"If people know that I've converted to Christianity, they might take the law into their own hands. If they are not broadminded, they might take a stone and throw it at me," said Maria, one of the converts interviewed by the BBC.

Maria's case was so sensitive that the priest who baptized her refused to give her a baptismal certificate. Maria has concealed her conversion from her family for fear of the negative reaction it would provoke.

Further problems were reported last Dec. 6 by the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper in Australia. A Malaysian hospital refused to hand over a dead man's body to his widow because she planned to give her husband, a Muslim who converted to Christianity, a burial in accordance with his new religion.

The widow, 69-year-old Lourdes Mary Maria Soosay, complained to the police of harassment by Islamic religious authorities regarding the matter of the burial of her 71-year-old husband, Rayappan Anthony.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, this was the second time in about a year that a non-Muslim has fought for funeral rights over a family member. In the first, Islamic officials gave a former soldier a Muslim burial against the wishes of his Hindu widow.

A similar case was the subject of a report April 19 by the South China Morning Post newspaper. Kaliammal Sinnasamy, a Hindu woman, saw her husband's body taken from her by Islamic authorities and buried as a Muslim in December 2005.

Her husband, Moorthy Maniam, was a Hindu, his widow declared. Her attempts before Malaysia's courts to impede the Islamic burial of her husband came to nothing, when the tribunal ruled that it had no jurisdiction to hear any matter involving Islam, even if one party is a non-Muslim. Sinnasamy has appealed the decision.

Problems abound

Malaysia is far from the only country where Christians face considerable difficulties. Last year the case of Abdul Rahman, a convert in Afghanistan who risked a death sentence for converting to Christianity, received widespread coverage.

Rahman had lived in Germany for some years, but after returning home was arrested in February 2006, explained a report on the case published the following March 23 by the Washington Post. Rahman was freed and escaped prosecution after authorities declared him to be mentally unfit for trial, reported the BBC on March 29. He was, however, forced to flee Afghanistan, and was given refuge in Italy.

Meanwhile, Somalia prohibits all conversions, reported the Catholic Information Service for Africa last Sept. 21. After the fall of the government in 1991, Somalia fell into chaos. A transitional government was established in October 2004. This government later adopted a Transitional Federal Charter, which established Islam as the national religion.

Another African government, Morocco, recently jailed a tourist for six months for the crime of attempting to convert Muslims, reported Reuters last Nov. 29.

A German of Egyptian origin, Sadek Noshi Yassa, was arrested as he was distributing books and CDs about the Christian faith to young Muslim Moroccans in the street, officials said. A court in Agadir found the 64-year-old man guilty of trying to "shake the faith of a Muslim."

Religious violence

Apart from problems related to conversion, life for Christians in many Islamic countries is difficult, to say the least. On May 3 the Guardian newspaper in Britain reported on the situation in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.

Militants from a group founded by radical Islamic students recently went on a killing rampage, which left 10 dead. According to the Guardian, the episode sent a new wave of fear through Kano's minority Christian community. The region has suffered religious violence that has caused tens of thousands of deaths in recent years.

Another problematic country is Pakistan, where Christians were recently warned to convert, or face violence, reported the Associated Press on May 16. About 500 Pakistani Christians in Charsadda, a town in the North-West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan, received letters in early May telling them to close their churches and convert.

Easter is also another touchy issue. In fact, Easter is illegal in Saudi Arabia, explained a report by the Associated Press on April 9. The kingdom allows only the Muslim feasts of al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, and al-Adha, which concludes the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

As well, the article reported that the crown prince, Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, has stressed that the kingdom would never allow churches to be built. More than ever, Christians living in Islamic countries are in need of prayers.

(pasted from: http://web.zenit.org/article-19787?l=english)

Ex-SVD bishop now president

A former bishop, Fernando Lugo, who belonged to the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), has made history when he was elected president of his country Paraguay, toppling down the world’s longest-ruling political party of 61 years.

Lugo became a bishop in 1994 but resigned the post in December, 2006 to pave the way for his candidacy. He reportedly asked apology from the Holy Father for his incursion in politics although he hopes to return to his post as bishop once his term ends.

The superior general of the Society of the Divine Word, a Filipino, Fr. Antonio Pernia in an official statement disseminated to all SVD houses and communities worldwide said that, in principle, the Society is not in favor of priests or religious entering politics.

Pernia added that although "their vocation and mission have a political dimension," this is expressed by "carrying out our prophetic and pastoral role in society, and not in involvement in partisan politics...or the assumption of a government position."

Nevertheless, Pernia said, the SVD respects Lugo’s decision to enter politics, saying he might have felt the need to respond to the call of the people.

- By Fr. Bel R. San Luis, SVD
(pasted from: http://www.mb.com.ph/OPED20080430123208.html)

     

The Papacy of Pope Benedict XVI

Elected by the College of Cardinals on April 19, 2005, and formally installed on April 24, 2005, as the head of the Catholic Church in the world, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, accepted the challenges of the position with humility.

"After the great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord," he said. "And now, at this moment, weak servant of God that I am, I must assume this enormous task, which truly exceeds all human capacity. How will I be able to do it?" The new Pontiff added: "My real program of governance is not to do my own will, not to pursue my own ideas, but to listen, together with the whole Church, to the word and the will of the Lord, to be guided by Him, so that He Himself will lead the Church at this hour of our history."

Three years since his election and coronation, Pope Benedict XVI has done just that – listened and followed the word and will of the Lord. He has taken steady and studied steps leading the faithful to combat the orthodoxies that have damaged the faith of Catholics. He has also reached out to other religions in his travels and dialogues, the last of which was to the United States and his appearance before the United Nations.

Acknowledging that the Church was moving through some painful moments, Pope Benedict XVI said, "I do not think that there is any system for making a rapid change. We must go on, we must go through this tunnel, this underpass, patiently, in the certainty that Christ is the answer… But we should also deepen this certainty and the joy of knowing it and thus truly be ministers of the future of the world, of the future of every person."

As he has inherited a Church that faces many internal problems, such as a dwindling number of priests, a lack of reception or understanding of Church teaching, alarming signs of catechetical illiteracy among many Catholics, polarization born of a breakdown in civil and charitable debate among believers who disagree, Pope Benedict XVI has, in the three years of his Papacy, served as the rock on which the Church and its faithful stand and we join the many Catholics in the world in thanking God for the strength that He has bestowed on our Shepherd.

 Defending the Baptism of a Former Muslim

A Vatican aide says that Pope Benedict XVI's willingness to baptize a high-profile convert from Islam may have aimed to affirm the freedom of religious choice, based on the dignity of the person. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, made that comment in response to a statement from Aref Ali Nayed, a spokesman for the 138 Muslim scholars who last fall wrote the Pope and other leaders, to seek further dialogue between Christians and Muslims. Nayed's statement noted his objections to the baptism of a deputy editor of Italy's daily Corriere della Sera, Magdi Allam, which the Pontiff performed at the Easter Vigil Mass. Father Lombardi noted that "administering baptism to someone implies a recognition that that person has freely and sincerely accepted the Christian faith in its fundamental articles."

Pope Benedict XVI arrives in US
Bush leads welcomers at Andrews Air Force Base
Pope arrives in US to begin six-day visit

 ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Maryland (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI stepped onto United States soil for the time as Pontiff, arriving to a presidential handshake and wild cheering only hours after he admitted that he is "deeply ashamed" of the clergy sex abuse scandal that has devastated the American church.

Benedict gave hundreds of spectators a two-handed wave Tuesday as he stepped off a special Alitalia airliner that brought him from Rome. Students from a local Catholic school screamed ecstatically when they saw the Pope, who shook hands warmly with President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, and their daughter Jenna on the tarmac.

Hundreds of onlookers, some from local Roman Catholic parishes, clapped and shouted as they watched the scene from nearby bleachers.

Benedict described his pilgrimage as a journey to meet a "great people and a great church." He spoke about the American model of religious values within a system of separation of Church and State.

President Bush made the unusual gesture of greeting Benedict at Andrews Air Force Base, the first time he has welcomed a foreign leader there.

Aides say he is in good health and the Pope seemed spry as he stepped energetically off the plane Tuesday.

Benedict said he will discuss immigration with Bush, including the difficulties of families who are separated by immigration.

While the Pope and Bush differ on such major issues on the Iraq War, capital punishment, and the US embargo against Cuba, they do find common ground in opposing abortion, gay marriage, and embryonic stem cell research.

White House Press secretary Dana Perino said the two leaders would likely discuss human rights, religious tolerance, and the fight against violent extremism. She downplayed their differences over Iraq.

Benedict tackled the most painful issue facing the US Catholic Church — clergy sex abuse — on his flight to America. The US church has paid out $ 2 billion in abuse costs since 1950, most of that in just the last six years.

Seemingly in a nod to his American flock, the Pope spoke in English as he answered questions submitted in advance by reporters.

"It is a great suffering for the church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen," Benedict said. "It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission ... to these children."

"I am deeply ashamed, and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future," the Pope said.

Benedict pledged that pedophiles would not be priests in the Catholic Church.

"I do not wish to talk at this moment about homosexuality, but about pedophilia, which is another thing," he said.

"We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry. It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound."

Gary Bergeron, who was molested by a priest in the 1970s in Lowell, Massachusetts, called the comments a "step I’ve been looking for." Bergeron said he was disappointed that Benedict did not plan to visit the Archdiocese of Boston, the scene of a case that sparked the greater scandal, but urged the Pontiff to meet with victims this week.

The Pope’s promise failed to mollify other advocates for abuse victims, however. They said the problem is not just molester priests, but bishops and other church authorities who have let errant clergymen continue to serve even after repeated allegations.

Benedict’s pilgrimage is the first trip by a Pontiff to the United States since the Boston case in 2002 triggered a crisis that spread throughout the United States and beyond. Hundreds of new charges — many dating back decades — have surfaced each year since.

There were 691 new accusations in 2007 alone, according to an annual report from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

As head of the Vatican agency that enforces adherence to Catholic doctrine, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was heavily involved in gaining Vatican approval for the reforms US bishops proposed for the American church. The bishops have since released several reports analyzing the scandal and have pledged that all credibly accused priests will be pulled from public ministry.

Benedict is scheduled to visit UN headquarters on Friday to meet with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and to address the General Assembly.

Ban said he is looking forward to a wide-ranging discussion with the Pontiff on issues ranging from climate change and fighting poverty to disarmament and promoting cultural dialogue.

The pope’s visit will be the fourth by a leader of the Roman Catholic church to the United Nations: Paul VI came in 1965 when the UN celebrated its 20th anniversary; John Paul II came in 1979, at the start of his pontificate and again in 1995 for the UN’s 50th anniversary.

9,000 guests gather at White House to welcome Pope

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President George W. Bush has quite a birthday present for Pope Benedict XVI: At least 9,000 excited guests gathered on the White House’s South Lawn for a 21-gun salute, a famed soprano’s rendition of "The Lord’s Prayer" and an emotional presidential welcome.

The pontiff turns 81 on Wednesday, the first full day of his first trip to the United States as leader of the world’s Roman Catholics. He’ll spend most of the day at the White House, only the second pope to do so and the first in 29 years.

In remarks during pomp-filled festivities that have had Washington aflutter for days, Bush was to tell the pontiff and the crowd how glad America is to have him visit -- and to tell Americans they should listen to his words.

"He will hear from the President that America and the world need to hear his message that God is love, that human life is sacred, that we all must be guided by common moral law, and that we have responsibilities to care for our brothers and sisters in need, at home and across the world," said White House Press Secretary Dana Perino.

On the way from Rome on Tuesday, Benedict said he was looking forward to meeting a "great people and a great church" during his first papal journey to the United States. The six-day trip to Washington and New York City coincides not just with his birthday, but the three-year anniversary of his ascendance to the Catholic church’s top position.

Nurturing the US flock is a sensitive and important mission for Benedict at a time not just of ongoing scandal but also of his campaign to tamp down secularism and re-ignite faith.

This get-together by Bush and Benedict is the 25th meeting between a Roman Catholic pope and a US president, sessions that span 89 years, five pontiffs and 11 American leaders.

(Pasted from: http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN20080417122059.html)

Happy Birthday to His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI on his 81st Birth Anniversary today

BORN at Marktl am Inn, in the Diocese of Passau, Germany, on April 16, 1927, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, then baptized as Joseph Ratzinger, came from a simple family, his father, a policeman who came from a family of farmers with modest economic resources, while his mother was the daughter of artisans who had worked as a cook in many hotels. The future pontiff spent his childhood and adolescence in Traunstein, a small village near the Austrian border, 30 kilometers from Salzburg. In this environment, which he himself has defined as "Mozartian," he received his Christian, cultural, and human formation.

His youthful years were not easy. His faith and the education received at home prepared him for the harsh experience of those years during which the Nazi regime pursued a hostile attitude towards the Catholic Church.

After the war, he studied philosophy and theology from 1946 to 1951 at the Higher School of Philosophy and Theology of Freising and at the University of Munich. He received his priestly ordination on June 29, 1951. In 1953 he obtained his doctorate in theology with a thesis entitled "People and House of God in St. Augustine’s Doctrine of the Church." Four years later, under the direction of the renowned professor of fundamental theology Gottlieb Sohngen, he qualified for university teaching with a dissertation on: "The Theology of History in St. Bonaventure."

From 1962 to 1965, he made a notable contribution to Vatican II as an expert, being present at the Council as theological advisor of Cardinal Joseph Frings, Archbishop of Cologne. He held important positions in the service of the German Bishops’ Conference and the International Theological Commission. In 1972, together with Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac, and other important theologians, he initiated the theological journal "Communio."

On March 25, 1977, Pope Paul VI named him Archbishop of Munich and Freising. On May 28 of the same year, he received Episcopal ordination. Pope Paul VI made him a Cardinal with the priestly title of "Santa Maria Consolatrice al Tiburtino" during the Consistory of June 27 of the same year.

In 1978 he took part in the Conclave of August 25 and 26 which elected John Paul I, who named him his Special Envoy to the III International Mariological Congress in Guayaquil (Ecuador) in September 16-24. In October, he took part in the Conclave that elected Pope John Paul II. In 1981, Pope John Paul II named him Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and of the International Theological Commission. The Pope elevated him to the Order of Bishops assigning to him the Suburbicarian See of Velletri-Segni on April 5, 1993.

He was President of the Preparatory Commission for the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which after six years of work (1986-1992) presented the new Catechism to the Holy Father. On November 6, 1998 the Holy Father approved his election as Vice Dean of the College of Cardinals. On November 30, 2002 he approved his election as Dean; together with this office he was entrusted the Suburbicarian See of Ostia.

In the Roman Curia, he has been a member of the Council of the Secretariat of State for Relations with States, of the Congregations for the Oriental Churches, for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, for Bishops, for the Evangelization of Peoples, for Catholic Education, for Clergy, and for the Causes of the Saints; of the Pontifical Councils for Promoting Christian Unity and for Culture; of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and of the Pontifical Commissions for Latin America, "Ecclesia Dei," for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law, and for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law of the Oriental Churches.

Elected by the College of Cardinals on April 19, 2005 and formally installed as Pope on April 24, 2005.

We wish His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, many more years of good health so that he can lead the faithful to submit to and live the love that Christ has showered on us all.

Happy Birthday!

(pastaed from: http://www.mb.com.ph/OPED20080416121991.html)

BENEDICT XVI BEGINS HIS APOSTOLIC TRIP TO THE U.S.A.

VATICAN CITY, 15 APR 2008 (VIS) - At midday today, the Holy Father departed from Rome's Fiumicino airport. Following a flight of more than 7,000 kilometres, his plane is due to land at 4 p.m. local time (10 p.m. in Rome) at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington D.C. This is the Benedict XVI's eighth apostolic trip outside Italy and his first to the U.S.A. as Pope.

U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife Nancy will welcome the Pope as he descends from his aircraft. No speeches are scheduled for this first meeting and the welcome ceremony proper will take place tomorrow at 10.30 a.m. local time (4.30 p.m. in Rome) at the White House, official residence of the U.S. president.

After landing, Benedict XVI will travel by car to the apostolic nunciature in Washington D.C where he will spend the rest of the day.

Tomorrow, 16 April, is the Pope's 81st birthday, and Saturday 19 April, will mark the third anniversary of his election to the pontifical throne.

(pasted from: http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vis/dinamiche/a0_en.htm)

  Easy sainthood process for Pope John Paul II seen

By: Leslie Ann G. Aquino

Although Pope John Paul II has yet to be proclaimed a saint three years after his death, Jaro (Iloilo) Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), believes the people’s overwhelming support for the well-loved Pontiff is almost a beatification in itself.

"A very strong – sensu fidelium – (feeling of the faithful) about the multiqualified goodness of the Pope has been registered throughout the world from cardinals and bishops, from leaders of states, and people everywhere, which is almost like a ‘beatification’ of a ‘servant of God’ by popular acclamation," Lagdameo said in a prepared statement in time for today’s commemoration of the 3rd death anniversary of Karol Wojtyla, also known as Pope John Paul II.

Lagdameo is convinced that Pope John Paul II, as a candidate for beatification, will have many supporters not only from the faithful but even from those he proclaimed as blessed or saints.

"I like to imagine that as a candidate for beatification, John Paul has many patrons: The 1,338 he proclaimed blessed and the 482 he proclaimed saints," he said.

Among those that the late Pontiff proclaimed either as a saint or blessed are Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St. Faustina Kowalska of the Divine Mercy, St. Lorenzo Ruiz, and Blessed Pedro Calungsod.

The CBCP head said the world will forever remember Pope John Paul II, who as a shepherd has touched millions upon millions of people through his 104 Papal Visits outside of Italy.

"The world will remember him as a prolific teacher and catechist who has written a total of 85 Encyclicals, Apostolic Exhortations, Constitutions and Letters which shaped the faith and life of Christians," he said.

"The world will remember him as the "man for others" who shaped global politics, always championing peace, human rights and the welfare of the poor in his 984 encounters with various Heads of States and Prime Ministers," he added.

The Catholic Church, he said, will also remember him as the pope of dialogue and consultation who presided over 15 Synods and gathered millions more around him for World Meetings of Families and World Youth Days.

No wonder, he said, when the 84-year-old Pontiff died in 2005 due to lingering illness and complications, millions all over the world mourned his death. Pope John Paul II, who served as Pope for 26 years, was succeeded by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, also known as Pope Benedict XVI.

Meanwhile, a Mass commemorating the death anniversary of the Pontiff will be held at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila at 12 noon today. The Mass will be presided by the cathedral’s rector, Msgr. Nestor Cerbo.

pasted from: http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN20080402120801.html

Benedict calls for peace in Tibet, Mideast, Africa

 
VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged “solutions that will safeguard peace and the common good” in Tibet, the Middle East and Africa during his traditional Easter message.

“How can we fail to remember certain African regions, such as Darfur and Somalia, the tormented Middle East, especially the Holy Land, Iraq, Lebanon, and finally Tibet, all of whom I encourage to seek solutions that will safeguard peace and the common good,” the Pope said in his urbi et orbi (to the city and the world) message.

Speaking as pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square braved a steady rain, the head of the world’s 1.1 billion Catholics wished that “the light that streams forth from this solemn day [may] shine forth in every part of the world.”

Easter celebrates the Resurrection of Christ after his crucifixion on Good Friday.

On Wednesday, the Pope broke his silence on the crisis in Tibet, calling for an end to violence there and urging “dialogue and tolerance.”

Beijing brushed off the appeal, according to Italian press reports that quoted foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang as saying Thursday: “Supposed tolerance cannot exist for criminals who should be punished by the law.”

Following the urbi et orbi message, the Pope offered Easter greetings in 63 languages to the tens of thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square and millions of viewers in 67 countries around the world.

Muslim baptized

Italian editor and critic of Islamic extremism Magdi Allam, who converted to Catholicism from Islam and was just baptized by Pope Benedict on Sunday, branded his former faith as intrinsically violent.

“I had to do this [abandon Islam]”, Allam wrote in a long letter to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

“Beyond … the phenomenon of extremists and Islamist terrorism at the global level, the root of evil is inherent to a physiologically violent and historically conflictual Islam,” wrote the Egyptian-born journalist, who says he has received death threats and is under police protection.

One of seven adults baptized during an Easter vigil on Saturday evening, Allam, 55, is an editorial writer and deputy editor at Corriere.

Regarding a combative tone that has made him famous in Italy, Allam wrote: “Over the years my spirit has been freed from the obscurantism of an ideology that legitimizes lies and deception, violent death that leads to homicide and suicide, blind submission to tyranny.”

He described Catholicism as “an authentic religion of Truth, Life and Freedom.”

By baptizing Allam in the public ceremony, the Pope “sent an explicit and revolutionary message to a Church that until now has been too cautious in the conversion of Muslims … because of the fear of being unable to protect the converted who are condemned to death for apostasy,” Allam said.

“Thousands of people in Italy have converted to Islam and practice their faith serenely,” he wrote.

“But there are also thousands of Muslims who have converted to Christianity who are forced to hide their new faith out of fear of being killed by Islamist terrorists.”

Allam adopted the Christian name of Cristiano (Christian), not a common name in Italy.

Allam, who has been outspoken about the conflict in the Middle East, in 2006 organized a demonstration in Rome in support of Christians in the Muslim world.

(Pasted from: http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/mar/24/yehey/top_stories/20080324top4.html)

Church officials: Kidnapped Iraq archbishop dead

Reuters

MOSUL, Iraq - Paulos Faraj Rahho, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop who was kidnapped in Iraq last month, has been found dead, Church officials in Rome and Baghdad said on Thursday.

It was not clear if he died as a result of his precarious health or if he was killed, Church officials in Rome said.

The Vatican said Pope Benedict was immediately informed and was "profoundly moved and saddened" by the news.

"Archbishop Rahho is dead. We found his lifeless body near Mosul. The kidnappers had buried him," Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Baghdad was quoted as telling SIR, the news agency of the Italian Bishops Conference.

The Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad, Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, confirmed the news. "Yes, he died," he told Reuters in Baghdad.

SIR quoted Warduni as saying the kidnappers had told Iraqi church officials on Wednesday that Rahho was very ill and, later on Wednesday, that he was dead.

But police in Baghdad said the body appeared to have been dead for at least a week and had started to decompose. They said there were no bullet wounds and were checking how he died.

The archbishop was wearing black trousers and a blue shirt.

Rahho was seized on February 29 after gunmen attacked his car in eastern Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, killing his driver and two guards.

"This morning they called us to tell us that they had buried him. Some of our young people followed the indications that the kidnappers had given to reach the site," the agency quoted Warduni as saying.

"They dug there and found the bishop lifeless. We still don't know if he died of causes linked to his precarious health or if he was killed. The kidnappers only told us that he was dead," he said.

Chaldeans belong to a branch of the Roman Catholic Church that practices an ancient Eastern rite and form the biggest Christian community in Iraq.

"All of us had continued to pray and hope for his release, which the Pope had repeatedly urged," Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said in a statement shortly after news of the death.

"Unfortunately the most absurd and unjustified violence continues to strike the Iraqi people and particularly the small Christian community," Lombardi said.

"Our hope is that this tragic event will underscore and reinforce everybody's commitment, and particularly that of the international community, to bring peace to this troubled country," he said.
Papal Visit Considered Important for Australia

Synod's Special Council Analyzes Church in Oceania

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 26, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's visit to Australia will be one of the most important events in the nation's history, affirmed a group of bishops from the region.

The Special Council for Oceania of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops held its ninth meeting in Rome from Feb. 14 to 15. The meeting was presided over by Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, and attended by two cardinals, five archbishops and one bishop, the majority of them from Oceania.

According to a communiqué from the meeting, "The particular Churches on this continent have an unquestionable vitality."

"The entire continent is being mobilized -- both in the more socially advanced areas and in less developed regions -- to prepare" for World Youth Day 2008, the council reported.

World Youth Day will be held in Sydney this July.

"The [World] Day is considered as one of the most important events in the history of Australia, and interest is growing in the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, as an event of special grace," the communiqué continued.

The Special Council also considered the theme of inculturation, which they affirmed as one of the "great pastoral concerns of the Church in Oceania."

"It is a gradual process by which the Gospel enters the various cultures, transforming or purifying certain values so they can find their place within a genuine Christian culture, without undermining due respect either for the Gospel or for the cultures themselves," the communiqué stated. "In this dynamic process, the joint efforts of pastors, priests, deacons and catechists are indispensable.

"Of particular importance are Catholic schools of all levels, which safeguard Catholic identity and remain as vital instruments of evangelical witness in the modern world, which is so often secularized."

 

Rosales, Vidal explain reasons for not calling for Arroyo’s resignation

By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO (05/03/08)

Two high-ranking Catholic Church leaders chose not to join mounting calls for President Arroyo’s resignation, saying this is meddling in politics.

"I’m after righteousness… I don’t meddle in politics. I want morality in the life of a person – those in politics, church, business, whether they are rich or poor," Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said in an interview with Radio Veritas 846.

The only time he will speak up regarding politics, Rosales said, is when the people are being "hurt" already.

"If the people are already being hurt, that’s the time I will speak," he said.

Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, meantime, said that as shepherds, it is not their duty to call for President Arroyo’s resignation.

"Calling for the resignation of (President Arroyo) is not our aim. I don’t know why they are always asking us to do that because we are bishops. The opposition can do that. I am not in the opposition, nor am I (pro-administration). I am here as a shepherd for those who are here. I do not know why they like us to do that when we cannot do it. It is a political decision and action," Vidal said during a recent gathering in Guadalupe, Makati City.

Earlier, the influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) stopped short of issuing a call for President Arroyo’s resignation.

Instead, the CBCP, in its pastoral letter entitled "Seeking the Truth, Restoring Integrity," condemned corruption in all levels of society.

In a briefing last Tuesday at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Paco, Manila, where the CBCP held its 10-hour special consultative meeting, the bishops explained why they did not call for the President’s resignation.

"To ask for the President to resign is in itself a political exercise which we leave to the people to decide," Nueva Caceres Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi said.

At least 51 active bishops and four retired bishops emeritus attended the CBCP’s special meeting called by its president Jaro, Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo.

(pasted from: http://www.mb.com.ph/MAIN20080305118577.html)

Ivan Dragicevic Brings Our Lady of Medjugorje to Australia

By Violi Calvert

Ivan Dragicevic was one of the six children who had witnessed the apparitions of the Blessed Mother Mary in a small village named Medjugorje in Herzegovina. The first of these apparitions occurred on 24 June 1981. From that day, Our Lady has been appearing regularly to Ivan and the other five "visionaries" to give her messages to the world. Additionally, each of these six visionaries were to receive each from the Blessed Virgin Mary ten 'secrets' or happenings that will occur on earth in the near future.

Ivan and the visionaries travel around the world to spread Our Lady's messages. He lives with his family in the United States for half of the year and stays in Medjugorje when he is not travelling to parishes in countries which had requested him to share the messages of Our Lady of Medjugorje.

For the fifth time, Ivan recently came back to Australia in his mission to share the love and messages he has been receiving from Our Lady. After the talk in Christchurch, New Zealand he arrived in Australia on 19 February 2008. First of his talks in Australia was in Melbourne, Victoria followed by six other places in the states of New South Wales and Queensland. The last of these talks was held on 26 February at The Sacred Heart in Pymble, a suburb in the Sydney area in New South Wales. It was here where my mother and I, together with an estimated 1200 people, had a memorable and nurturing spiritual experience. I am sure that I will not be able to capture what everyone experienced by being in the same place and listening to someone who had been so blessed to see and talk with Our Lady. I hope, however, what I write will be read with an open heart, so that somehow I will able to share the beautiful event dedicated to Our Lady. Rather than attempt to present a verbatim account of what Ivan said, I would offer what I understood to be his message.

The event was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. but the church was nearly full half hour before then, despite the fact that it was raining and a work day. There were people of all ages and cultural background eager to be part of a significant spiritual experience. At 6 p.m. the congregation prayed the rosary [Joyful Mystery]. At the middle of the second rosary [Sorrowful Mystery], Ivan came in and knelt at the altar.  The place hushed and stood still, that you could hear a pin drop.  Everybody knelt and prayed with him for more than ten minutes; the atmosphere was so surreal.

The rosary prayers were followed by the celebration of mass at 7 p.m.. Fr Tadeusz Seremet, Sacred Heart’s Parish Priest, concelebrated the mass with seven other priests. The prayers, responses and hymns were resounding and reflected deep involvement by everyone present. There were abundant forms available to people to write their petition for Our Lady’s divine intervention and blessing. These forms were placed in large cane basket at the front of the altar before the mass started.

Then the much-awaited talk by Ivan. As he walked up at the altar, once again golden silence enveloped the congregation. Ivan spoke in Croatian, with translations as he went along.  He started off by thanking everyone for heeding the call of Our Lady. He said that during his prayer with the congregation earlier in the evening, he felt that the Blessed Mother came during those moments.  The congregation indicated they did too.  

Then Ivan took us back to 24 June 1981 at Podbrdo Hill, in the parish of Medjugorje in western Herzegovina. This was when and where the Gospa, the Mother of God, appeared before him and the five other children. He was sixteen years old at the time. He described the great fear they felt when they saw Our Lady’s image on the hill. Ivan was so scared that he ran home at great speed he did not know possible. When he got home, he did not tell anybody including his parents about what happened. He spent the whole night in great fear, questioning himself over and over if they had just imagined it or was it possible that Our Lady was really there.

Somehow, Ivan's parents already heard from the village that he was amongst the children who saw the image of Our Lady at Podbrdo Hill. The following morning, he and the other children told their respective parents of what they saw. Their parents were worried they would be put in jail for saying things that the communist government would not approve of.

Ivan shared that on the second day the six of them, together with lots of people following them, went back to the Hill at about 3 p.m. There they saw from afar Our Lady was waiting and holding Baby Jesus in Her arms. Then they were told to come closer. Ivan recalled that as they went towards her it felt like they were floating and he could not describe the feeling and the emotion as they faced her. Then Our Lady put Her hands on their heads and said Her first words:

"Dear children, I am with you. I am your Mother. Do not be afraid of     anything. I will protect you. I will help you, I will lead you."

At that moment, one of the girls asked her: "Who are you?" To which She replied:

"I am the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace. I am coming, dear children: my Son is sending me to help you. Dear children, peace, peace, peace! Peace dear children, let it be. Dear children, peace must reign between man and God and amongst all mankind. Dear children, this world, this humanity is heading towards a great danger which has the power to self destruct."

This was the first message and the first words that Our Lady has given the world through Ivan and the other five visionaries. This was followed by more messages up to this time. They call for peace, conversion, praying from the heart, doing penance and fasting, strong faith and love, forgiveness and hope. Through these messages, Our Lady leads us to a meaningful life.

With his passionate and loving words, Ivan expressed his deep belief, trust and love for Our Lady. He also relayed the deep love Our Lady has for everyone. He fervently implored everyone to bring back prayers into their homes and families to be closer to God and have peace on earth and beyond, and to be guided in the way that we live by these prayers.

As Ivan completed his talk, there was almost a tangible feeling of happiness amongst us with the assurance that we are so loved by Our Lady and God, and that as God’s children we could spread love and peace with everyone.

My mother and I would have missed being part of a spiritually enriching experience had it not been for the information posted on the Croatian World Calendar. Our sincere thanks to Katarina Cuvalo and also to the Editor and other CROWN staff. But most of all, thanks to Ivan Dragicevic for bringing Our Lady of Medjugorje to Australia and all over the world. I hope that people everywhere in the world heed the messages of Our Lady and give world peace a chance.

 
 Violi Calvert and Ivan Dragicevic

Formatted for CROWN by   Marko Puljić
Distributed by www.Croatia.org This message is intended for Croatian Associations / Institutions and their Friends in Croatia and in the World. The opinions / articles expressed on this list do not reflect personal opinions of the moderator. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, please delete or destroy all copies of this communication and please, let us know! Or simply...enjoy and spread the word and good vibrations.

(reprinted from: http://www.croatia.org/crown/articles/9497/1/Ivan-Dragicevic-Brings-Our-Lady-of-Medjugorje-to-Australia.html)

CBCP to Arroyo: Take lead in fight vs corruption

No call for resignation

By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 20:01:00 02/26/2008

MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 4) The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has asked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and all branches of government “to take lead in combating corruption” but stopped short of asking for her resignation.

"We are convinced that the search for truth in the midst of charges and allegations must be determined and relentless, and that the way to truth and integrity must be untrammeled, especially at the present time when questions about the moral ascendancy of the present government are being put in question," the bishops said in a pastoral letter Tuesday.

But while recognizing “a crisis of truth and the pervading cancer of corruption,” the influential bishops opted not to call for another “people power” "to preserve the democratic process."

"Another Edsa could weaken our economic structure," said CBCP president Archbishop Angel Lagdameo.

Instead, the CBCP -- which played a key role in non-violent revolts that ousted two leaders in the last two decades -- asked Arroyo to allow her subordinates "to reveal any corrupt acts particularly about the ZTE-NBN deal, without being obstructed in their testimony no matter who is involved."

In the pastoral statement released after a daylong meeting to discuss the present political crisis, the CBCP also:

• sought the abolition of Executive Order 464 and for the President to allow her subordinates to reveal the anomalies in government, particularly on the allegedly tainted national broadband network contract forged with China’s ZTE Corp., “without being obstructed in their testimony no matter who is involved;”

• asked the Senate and the Ombudsman to use their distinct power to fight corruption;

• called on media to be objective in their reporting; and

• encouraged the creation of a “culture of truth and integrity -- the new version of people power.”

Quickly reacting to the statement, deputy palace spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said: “This should end the calls for resignation and people power.”

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez, in a phone interview, said: "The Palace will look into the matter seriously."

Joel Guinto

About Catholic Marriage

The Catholic Church cares about your marriage. In fact, the U.S. Catholic bishops are working hard to make marriage a priority (see National Pastoral Initiative for Marriage).

Every marriage matters, because marriage comes from the hand of God. God brings a man and a woman together to love and support each other. Their love becomes visible in the children they bring into the world and in their acts of generous service.

In Catholic teaching, the valid marriage between two baptized Christians is also a sacrament. The love between the spouses symbolizes Christ’s love for the church.

In this section read more about what the Catholic Church believes about marriage . Or go to the sources with an annotated list of major church documents on marriage-related topics.

Divorce, cohabitation, same sex unions…these are some of the major issues of our time. What does the Catholic Church say about them and why? These and other issues are covered in Catholic teachings .

Are you a Catholic who is married to someone of a different religion? Or perhaps you’re not Catholic but you, or a friend or family member, plans to marry a Catholic. Marrying Someone of a Different Religion explains how the Catholic Church views “mixed marriages” and looks at some of the difficult questions, including the religious faith of the children.

Biblical Roots: Old Testament

According to Sacred Scripture, God instituted marriage as the pinnacle of creation.  On the sixth day, in the first creation story, the Book of Genesis tells us: "God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.  God blessed them, saying: 'Be fertile and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it'" (Genesis 1: 27-28).

In the second creation story, God says that "it is not good for man to be alone.  I will make a suitable partner for him." (Genesis 2:18).  This suitable helpmate was formed from the very rib of man and thus woman was "flesh of his flesh" (Genesis 2:22-23).

Woman, then, is man's equal in dignity and the one closest to his heart.  Because man and woman were created for one another, "a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh" (Genesis 2: 24).  Scripture teaches that marriage is not a mere human institution, but something God established from the foundation of world.

Sin not only brought about a break with God, but it also ruptured the original communion between man and woman. Adam and Eve blamed each another for what had happened and were now embarrassed by their nakedness (Genesis 3:7-13).  The Old Testament shows how sin affected the goodness of marriage.  There is the polygamy of the patriarchs and kings.  Moses allowed divorce because of the people's "hardness of heart" (see Deuteronomy 24:1 and Matthew 19:8). Men and women did not treat one another with integrity, honor and love as God had intended.  Nonetheless, while sin marred the goodness of marriage, it did not destroy it.

New Testament

Christians are new creations in Christ, healed of sin and its effects. Marriage is also recreated and made new in Christ.  Jesus tells us that in the Kingdom of God the permanent union of husband and wife that God originally intended can once more be realized (see Matthew 19:6-11).  By the grace of the Holy Spirit, husbands and wives can now truly love and honor one another.  St. Paul tells us that marriage bears witness to the indissoluble love of Christ for his Church.  Thus, husbands should love their wives, "even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her" (Ephesians 5:25-26).  Wives, too, are called to love their husbands as the Church loves Christ (see Ephesians 5:22-23). The Old Testament also shows how God taught his people to revere once more the institution of marriage.  God's covenant with his people was an image of the exclusive and faithful love of husband and wife. The prophets helped the people see that God had not intended husband and wife to be separated (See Hosea 1-3; Isaiah 54 and 62; Jeremiah 2-3 and 31; Ezekiel 16 and 23; Malachi 2:13-17).  The books of Ruth and Tobit bear witness to fidelity and tenderness within marriage.  The Song of Solomon shows how the love of a man and a woman mirrors God's love for his people.

Because marriage is placed within the saving mystery of Jesus Christ, Catholics recognize it as a sacrament. It is a means through which husbands and wives grow in love for one another and for their children, become holy and obtain eternal life. 

For further reading:  Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1602-1617

Meaning and Purposes of Marriage

Marriage is the intimate union and equal partnership of a man and a woman.  It comes to us from the hand of God, who created male and female in his image, so that they might become one body and might be fertile and multiply (See Genesis chapters 1 and 2).  Though man and woman are equal as God's children, they are created with important differences that allow them to give themselves and to receive the other as a gift.

Marriage is both a natural institution and a sacred union because it is rooted in the divine plan of creation.  In addition, the Catholic Church teaches that the valid marriage between two baptized Christians is also a sacrament - a saving reality and a symbol of Christ's love for his church (See Ephesians 5:25-33).  In every marriage the spouses make a contract with each other.  In a sacramental marriage the couple also enters into a covenant in which their love is sealed and strengthened by God's love.

The free consent of the spouses makes a marriage.  From this consent and from the sexual consummation of marriage a special bond arises between husband and wife.  This bond is lifelong and exclusive.  The marriage bond has been established by God and so it cannot be dissolved.

In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the priest or deacon, the two official witnesses, and the congregation all witness the exchange of consent by the couple who themselves are considered to be the ministers of the sacrament. In the Eastern Churches the sacrament is conferred by the priest's blessing after receiving the couple's consent.

Permanency, exclusivity, and faithfulness are essential to marriage because they foster and protect the two equal purposes of marriage.  These two purposes are growth in mutual love between the spouses (unitive) and the generation and education of children (procreative). 

The mutual love of a married couple should always be open to new life.  This openness is expressed powerfully in the sexual union of husband and wife.  The power to create a child with God is at the heart of what spouses share with each other in sexual intercourse.  Mutual love includes the mutual gift of fertility.  Couples who are not able to conceive or who are beyond their child-bearing years can still express openness to life.  They can share their generative love with grandchildren, other children and families, and the wider community.

As a result of their baptism, all Christians are called to a life of holiness. This divine calling, or vocation, can be lived in marriage, or in the single life, or in the priesthood or consecrated (religious) life. No one vocation is superior to or inferior to another. Each one involves a specific kind of commitment that flows from one's gifts and is further strengthened by God's grace. All vocations make a unique contribution to the life and mission of the Church.

The family arises from marriage.  Parents, children, and family members form what is called a domestic church or church of the home.  This is the primary unit of the Church - the place where the Church lives in the daily love, care, hospitality, sacrifice, forgiveness, prayer and faith of ordinary families.

For further reading:

Catechism of the Catholic Church #1601-1666

Marital Sexuality

The Catholic Church, in its official teaching, has always taken a positive view of sexuality in marriage. Marital intercourse, says the Catechism of the Catholic Church, is “noble and honorable,” established by God so that “spouses should experience pleasure and enjoyment of body and spirit.” (#2362).

The Church’s positive understanding of sexuality is rooted in the teachings of Jesus that were, in part, drawn from the wisdom of the Old Testament. Both the Book of Genesis and the Song of Songs describe the basic goodness of sexual love in marriage. In the New Testament, Jesus began his public ministry with his supportive presence at the wedding feast of Cana, a further indication of the goodness of marriage.

Marital sexuality achieves two purposes. The Church affirms, first, its role in creating new human life, sometimes called the procreative dimension of sexuality. In giving birth to children and educating them, the couple cooperates with the Creator’s love.

Second, sexual union expresses and deepens the love between husband and wife. This is called the unitive, or relational, aspect of sexuality.

The bond between the procreative and the relational aspects cannot be broken. Each sexual act in a marriage must be open to the possibility of conceiving a child. Contraception is wrong because it separates the act of conception from sexual union. (See Married Love and the Gift of Life for more on this topic.)

Recent church teaching has tried to integrate the two purposes of marriage into a single perspective, which sees marital sexual love as essentially procreative. Marital love is by its nature fruitful; it generates new life. The God-created expression of marital love, joined to an openness to new life, contributes to the holiness of the couple. The “call to holiness in marriage is a lifelong process of conversion and growth.” (Catholic Catechism for Adults, p. 408)

Like all the baptized, married couples are called to chastity. The Church defines chastity as “the successful integration of sexuality within the person.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2337). Married couples practice the conjugal chastity that is proper to their state in life.

The late Pope John Paul II wanted to find a new and compelling way to express this positive view of sexuality. He developed a strand of thinking about sexuality and its role in human life called “The Theology of the Body.” 

The Pope begins with the idea that each human being is willed for his or her own sake. Out of love God created human beings as male and female, persons of dignity and worthy of respect. Also out of love, God established marriage as the first communion of persons. In marriage, man and woman totally give themselves to each other, and in this self-giving they discover who they are.

The sin of Adam and Eve ruptured this original unity of body and soul. Sadly, we know the results: too often women and men have become objects to be used and exploited. The salvation won for us by Jesus Christ began the process of restoring the lost unity of body and soul. This process is partly completed here; full unity will be restored in the next life.

The Church teaches that human sexuality is sacred. Within marriage, it fulfills its purpose as an expression of deep, faithful and exclusive love that is open to new life. Marital sexual relations involve profound openness and receptivity, a complete and mutual self-giving. Sexuality is an important part of that incredibly rich and mysterious pattern in Creation that comes directly from the mind and heart of God.

A Spirituality of Marriage

By Joann Heaney-Hunter, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Theology, St. John’s University (NY)

“Spirituality” is a way to live out one’s religious beliefs. A spirituality of marriage, therefore, is a way to help husbands and wives live out the vocation of marriage in light of faith. Catholic marriage has a distinctive spirituality that is sacramental, communitarian, and missionary.

Marriage is sacramental because it is a sign of Christ’s unbreakable love for his people. It is communitarian because it creates and deepens a permanent partnership of life and love. It is missionary because in Catholic marriage couples are called to share with others the good news of their relationship in Christ. A spirituality of marriage helps couples shape their attitude toward life, and provides a framework for living one’s marriage in the light of faith.

In the Catholic tradition, a “sacrament” is a concrete expression of Christ in the world. The Eucharist, for example, is a sacrament. Within the Eucharistic liturgy, through the words and actions of the priest, the physical signs of bread and wine become Christ really present. Likewise, the Church believes that marriage is a sacrament. In marriage, the couple’s life, love, and witness can make Christ visible to others. All sacramentally married couples are invited to reveal Christ’s loving presence and generous action in the world.

Just as God is a Trinity of persons--a community--marriage also is communitarian. Gaudium et Spes, a document of the Second Vatican Council, states that couples form a permanent, life-giving community. We’ve already described this relationship as sacramental, a sign of Christ’s love in the world. Sacramental couples live as communities that reveal God’s blessings, reach out to heal the brokenness of the family and the world, and share their gifts with those around them.

Couples live as communities when they experience the blessings that come from making a total commitment to another person. Making permanent commitments is becoming rare; sacramental couples demonstrate that it is possible. Another blessing of marriage is children. A couple’s willingness to be open to the gift of children, and to demonstrate the generosity and sacrifice necessary to raise them according to Gospel values is a real blessing.

Couples also live as communities when they recognize and heal the brokenness in their individual lives and in their life together. Brokenness is a part of everyone’s life; a spouse is in a unique position to heal the pain that inevitably arises in relationship. Couples create sacramental communities when they build a life of sharing – with each other, with their families, with local communities, with the church. As couples grow in their love for each other, their communities of life and love enrich the larger communities in their lives.

Finally, sacramental marriages are missionary. Part of the joy of a faith-filled marriage is showing others what it means to be in a loving, Christ-centered relationship, and making known to others the gift of faithful married life and love. Couples have the potential to show others what it means to embody the life of the Holy Spirit within them. Married couples, while never perfect, are missionary through the witness of their lives and love in the midst of the world. They are characterized by openness to the life of the Spirit within them, by loving service to their neighbors, and by sharing their talents and blessings with and for the local and global communities. As missionaries, married couples can witness Gospel values in their daily lives.

A spirituality of marriage shows how couples reveal Christ, build community, and reach out to others in love. It is a powerful way to describe how Catholic couples live out their vocation of married life.

National (as of 2/19/2008 5:47 PM)

CBCP frowns on another people power

By ARIES RUFO

The hierarchy of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) rejects another people power uprising that has toppled two presidents.

Instead, CBCP leaders want a different kind of people power movement that would not necessarily lead to a change in the political regime but to a genuine national social transformation.

CBCP president Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, in a statement posted in his blogsite, www.abplagdameo.blogspot.com, pointed out that people have grown tired and skeptical of the kind of people power that ousts corrupt governments.

He said this cynicism was prompted by the failure of the second people power that brought down Estrada which failed to bring about genuine change and reform.

“With the disappointment and doubts surrounding Election 2004, we now look at People Power II with mixed emotions and interpretations. Sadly, People Power II installed a leader who lately only has been branded as the “most corrupt” and our government is rated “among the most corrupt governments.” Is this the reason why many in civil society regard another People Power with cynicism and indifference? They are afraid another People Power might only bring the country from one frying pan to a worse frying pan,” Lagdameo said.

The Catholic Church, with the exception of some bishops, has been criticized for idly standing by the sidelines as various sectors call for the ouster of President Arroyo following revelations she may have dipped her hand on the corruption-laden project national broadband network (NBN)-ZTE project.

At the height of the “Hello Garci” wiretap scandal where the President and a poll official were caught discussing results of the presidential 2004 race, the CBCP, while it sought to “ferret out” the truth, stopped short in asking for Arroyo’s resignation.

Lagdameo took exception to criticism that the Catholic Church, represented by the CBCP, has refrained from guiding and leading its flock to effect another change in administration.

It also did not help that the CBCP’s recent statement calling for “communal action” was vague and ambiguous as to what kind of action the people should take.

Lagdameo said the call to communal action “is a challenge to ‘political conscience’ which would admit creative, imaginative and democratic response to political problems.” He also noted that since they issued the call for communal action “many good things have started to happen.”

Lagdameo said that “If, according to collective discernment…., the communal action is People Power, it will have to be with a different “brand.” It will not be simply a repeat of the past.”

Lagdameo said the call by some sectors for a national campaign against corruption in the government is one kind of people power movement that would be for the national common good.

The prelate said the expose of Rodolfo “Jun” Lozada Jr. on the anomalies surrounding the NBN-ZTE project should prod more people to come out and “witness to the truth” so “there will be a convergence of truths saving our country.”

“We must pray. Yes. There is a suggested Prayer of the Faithful for the nation in crisis. But we must also sacrifice for the highest national common good, inspired by “political charity” for the country, honesty and justice, guided by truth, like participating in a National Campaign Against Corruption in Government,” Lagdameo said.

Pope's Q-and-A Session With Roman Clergy, Part 7

On Sharing the Gift of the Gospel

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 18, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Following a Lenten tradition, Benedict XVI met Feb. 7 with parish priests and clergy of the Diocese of Rome. During the meeting, the participants asked the Pope questions. Here is a translation of one of the questions and the Holy Father's answer.

ZENIT began this series of questions-and-answers Feb. 11.

* * *

[Father Paul Chungat, Parochial Vicar at the Parish of San Giuseppe Cottolengo:]

My name is Father Chungat. I am from India and I am currently the parochial vicar at the Parish of San Giuseppe in Valle Aurelia. I would like to thank you for the opportunity that you have given me to serve for three years in the Diocese of Rome. This has been a great help for me, for my studies, as I believe that it has been for the priests who are studying in Rome.

The time has come to return to my diocese in India, where Catholics are only one percent of the population and the other 99%is non-Christian. The situation of evangelization in my homeland has been something I have been thinking a lot about in recent days. In the recent note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith there are some words that are difficult to understand in the field of interreligious dialogue. For example in section 10 of the document the words "fullness of salvation" are written, and in the introduction one reads of the necessity of "formal incorporation in the Church."

These are things that it will be difficult to explain when I bring them to India and I must speak to my Hindu friends and to the faithful of other religions. My question is: Is "fullness of salvation" to be understood in a qualitative or in a quantitative sense? If it is to be understood in a quantitative sense, there is a bit of a difficulty. The Second Vatican Council says that there is a glimmer of light in other faiths. If in a qualitative sense, other than the historicity and the fullness of the faith, what are the other things that show the unicity of our faith in regard to interreligious dialogue?

[Benedict XVI:]

Thank you for this intervention. You know well that your questions are big ones and an entire semester of theology would be necessary! I will try to be brief. You know theology; there are great masters and many books. First of all, thank you for your testimony -- you say that you are happy to be able to work in Rome even if you are Indian. For me this is a marvelous phenomenon of catholicity.

At present it is not only the case that missionaries travel from the West to other continents, but there is an exchange of gifts: Indians, Africans, South Americans work among us and we travel to other continents. It is a giving and a receiving on all sides; this is precisely the vitality of catholicity, where we are all debtors of the gifts of the Lord, and then we can give to each other. It is in this reciprocity of gifts, of giving and receiving, that the Catholic Church lives. You can learn from these Western environments and experiences and we no less from you. I see that this spirit of religiosity that exists in Asia, as in Africa, surprises Europeans, who are often a little cold in faith. And thus this vivacity, at least of the religious spirit that exists on these continents, is a great gift for all of us, above all for us bishops of the Western world and in particular in those countries in which the phenomenon of immigration is most apparent, from the Philippines, from India, etc. Our cold Catholicism is revived by this fervor that comes from you. Catholicity, then, is a great gift.

Let us come to the questions that you posed to me. I do not have the exact words of the document of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith before me at this moment; but in any case, I would like to say two things. On one hand, dialogue, getting to know each other, respecting each other and trying to cooperate in every possible way for the great purposes of humanity, or for its great needs, to overcome fanaticisms and to create a spirit of peace and of love -- all of this is absolutely necessary. And this is also in the spirit of the Gospel, whose meaning is precisely that the spirit of love that we have learned from Jesus, the peace of Jesus that he has given us through the cross, become universally present in the world. In this sense dialogue must be true dialogue, in respecting the other and in the acceptance of his alterity; but it must also be evangelical, in the sense that its fundamental purpose is to help men to live in love and to make it the case that this love expand throughout the world.

But this dimension of dialogue, which is so necessary, that is, the respect of the other, of tolerance, of cooperation, does not exclude the other dimension, that is that the Gospel is a great gift, the gift of great love, of great truth, that we cannot only keep for ourselves, but that we must offer to others, considering that God gives them the necessary freedom and light to find the truth. This is the truth. And this, then, is also my road. Mission is not imposition, but an offering of the gift of God, letting his goodness enlighten people so that the gift of concrete friendship with God be extended and acquire a human face. For this reason we want and we must always bear witness to this faith and the love that lives in our faith. We will have neglected a true human and divine duty if we have left others to their own devices and kept the faith we have only for ourselves. We would be unfaithful even to ourselves if we were not to offer this faith to the world, while always respecting the freedom of others. The presence of faith in the world is a positive element, even if no one is converted; it is a point of reference.

Exponents of non-Christian religions have told me: The presence of Christianity is a point of reference that helps us, even if we do not convert. Let us think of the great figure of Mahatma Gandhi: Despite being firmly committed to his religion, for him the Sermon on the Mount was a fundamental point of reference that formed his whole life. And thus the ferment of the faith, although it did not convert him to Christianity, entered into his life. And it seems to me that this ferment of Christian love that shows through the Gospel is -- beyond the missionary work that seeks to enlarge the spaces of faith -- a service that we render to humanity.

Let us think about St. Paul. A short time ago I reflected again on his missionary motivation. I also spoke about it to the Curia on the occasion of the end of the year meeting. He was moved by the word of the Lord in his eschatological sermon. Before every event, before the return of the Son of Man, the Gospel must be preached to all nations. The condition for the world reaching its perfection, the condition for its opening up to paradise, is that the Gospel be proclaimed to all. All of his missionary zeal is directed at bringing the Gospel to all, possibly in his own time, to respond to the Lord's command "that it be proclaimed to all nations." His desire was not so much to baptize all nations, as it was that the Gospel [be] present in the world and thus the completion of history as such [also be present in the world].

It seems to me that today, seeing how history has gone, one can better understand that this presence of the word of God, that this proclamation that comes to all as a ferment, is necessary for the world to truly arrive at its purpose. In this sense, indeed we desire the conversion of all, but let us allow the Lord to be the one who acts. It is important that those who wish to convert have the possibility of doing so and that there appear in the world for all this light of the Lord as a point of reference and as a light that helps, without which the world cannot find itself. I do not know if I have made myself clear: dialogue and mission not only do not exclude each other, but the one requires the other.

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

Muslim Laws and Western Society

Altercation Over Anglican Leader's Comments

By Father John Flynn, LC

ROME, FEB. 17, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Remarks made about the introduction of Shariah -- a strict form of Muslim law -- by England's Anglican leader, Archbishop Rowan Williams, sparked off a storm of criticism. His comments, made in the form of a speech and a separate interview with the BBC, caused such a hostile reaction that they had to be clarified in a subsequent declaration, and in another speech.

In the interview the archbishop of Canterbury declared that the introduction of some elements of Shariah law in the United Kingdom seemed "unavoidable," reported the BBC on Feb. 7. He even went so far as to affirm that accepting some elements of Shariah could help social cohesion in the country, and also suggested that marital questions could be handled in Muslim tribunals.

The speech, also given on Feb. 7, was titled "Civil and Religious Law in England: a Religious Perspective," the first in a series of lectures on Islam and English law at the Royal Courts of Justice. In his address Archbishop Williams questioned the assumption that all citizens should be "under the rule of the uniform law of a sovereign state."

The immediate reaction was extremely negative, often overlooking many shadings of the lengthy speech made by the Anglican leader. Some commentators labeled the archbishop as a "traitor" while others questioned his intelligence, his prudence, or both.

Editorials in the major daily newspapers were also antagonistic. On Feb. 8, the Times called the archbishop's remarks "astonishing," and "an act of appeasement." The Telegraph was not as hostile, but still commented that Williams should have kept his silence on this issue. The Guardian editorial was also in disagreement with the position expressed by Williams. A Financial Times editorial Feb. 9 described the archbishop of Canterbury as "badly muddled."

Church-state

A reading of the actual texts of the lecture and interview reveal a more excursive argument than many of the initial media reports allowed for. Williams did, in fact, acknowledge the abuses committed in some countries due to extreme applications of Shariah, and made it clear he was not talking about introducing such measures as amputation of limbs or forced marriages.

He also qualified his suggestion of the use of Shariah by saying it should be an option, not something obligatory. "I think it would be quite wrong to say that we could ever license, so to speak, a system of law for some community which gave people no right of appeal, no way of exercising the rights that are guaranteed to them as citizens in general," he declared in the BBC interview.

In his lecture the archbishop of Canterbury called for a reflection on how we deal with conflicts between civil law and diverging cultures and religious beliefs. He mentioned, for example, the question of conscientious objection to performing abortion, and the matter of Catholic adoption agencies being forced to assign children to homosexual couples.

A number of commentators also remarked on the difficulty of understanding what Williams exactly meant in his lecture, due to its dense and circuitous wording. In fact, rather than a cohesive argument it was more a series of ideas designed to provoke a discussion. Such a method, however, soon fell prey to selective quotation as it's not easily reduced into 30-second media bites.

On Feb. 8 the archbishop of Canterbury's Web page was forced to publish a declaration titled: "What Did the Archbishop Actually Say?" The statement cautioned that Williams "sought carefully to explore the limits of a unitary and secular legal system in the presence of an increasingly plural -- including religiously plural -- society."

Reasonable

"In doing so the archbishop was not suggesting the introduction of parallel legal jurisdictions, but exploring ways in which reasonable accommodation might be made within existing arrangements for religious conscience," the declaration continued.

Williams himself returned to the subject in an address given Feb. 11 to the Church of England's general synod. After apologizing for any "unclarity" in his earlier remarks, the archbishop went on to affirm he was not in favor of parallel jurisdictions or of negating basic human rights.

The question, he said, is "whether certain additional choices could and should be made available under the law of the United Kingdom for resolving disputes and regulating transactions." The Anglican leader also added that before the introduction of any such possibility much careful work and discussion would be needed.

"I wanted simply to offer a bit more of a framework for thinking about this controversy," the archbishop declared in concluding his remarks on the subject.

The Telegraph newspaper editorial of Feb. 12 was, nevertheless, not mollified. It declared concern that the head of a national institution would call into question a fundamental principle of justice: a single system of law equally applied to all. The editorial also questioned the weakening of British culture at a time when it is under threat from aggressive Islam.

The Guardian editorial of the same day also rapped the archbishop over the knuckles, saying that he should speak "more clearly and better in future."

Obey the law

It wasn't just the media that was critical of Archbishop Williams. On Feb. 10 the Sunday Telegraph published comments by Williams' predecessor, Lord Carey, and Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.

"I don't believe in a multicultural society," remarked the archbishop of Westminster. "When people come into this country they have to obey the laws of the land," the Catholic leader insisted.

Lord Carey, archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, expressed concern that separate systems could lead to the creation of Muslim ghettos. He also noted that many Muslims prefer, in fact, "to embrace the West and adapt their faith and customs to Britain."

From Africa, Anglican Archbishop Ben Kwashi of Jos in Northern Nigeria, was interviewed Feb. 8 by the BBC. "Our people here are in shock that an Anglican archbishop is calling for Shariah law," he exclaimed.

The situation of the church in the northern states of Nigeria where Shariah is operative is "to say the least, unbearable," declared Kwashi.

Some opinion writers also identified deficiencies in the arguments advanced by Williams. David Rivkin and Lee Casey warned in a commentary published Feb. 12 by the Wall Street Journal, "There is a critical difference between permitting some flexibility for religious practices within the larger society and encouraging separate, and potentially inconsistent, legal systems for different parts of the population."

Many commentators also drew attention to the inferior treatment of women by Islamic laws and to the problems they already suffer in England. The spread of Shariah courts would only worsen this situation, they warned.

Extremist influence

Tension between some aspects of Islam and English society has, in fact, been very much present in recent times. On Jan. 6 the Anglican Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali of Rochester published an article in the Sunday Telegraph warning that Islamic extremists have created "no-go" areas in Britain where it is too dangerous for non-Muslims to enter.

"Attempts have been made to impose an 'Islamic' character on certain areas, for example, by insisting on artificial amplification for the Adhan, the call to prayer," he also noted.

Meanwhile, an article published Sept. 7 by the Times newspaper reported that almost half of Britain's mosques are controlled by a hard-line Islamic sect called Deobandi. The sect's leading preacher, Riyadh ul Haq, supports armed jihad and preaches contempt for Jews, Christians and Hindus, according to the Times.

Discussion on how to reconcile differing cultures and religions is, indeed, a sensitive issue, and one that needs to be addressed. It is highly doubtful, however, that the proposals aired by the archbishop of Canterbury point the debate in the right direction.

Healing phenomenon

 

By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:52:00 01/30/2008

MANILA, Philippines--Is the Philippines now gearing up to be a Christian spiritual pilgrimage site in Asia? Are the Filipinos spiritually ready for this? Or can we still be described as practicing split-level Christianity?

The media coverage of Fr. Fernando Suarez’s healing activities in many places in Metro Manila and the provinces has been quite sustained since he arrived last December. The number of people that flock to the healing Masses has grown exponentially because of the media coverage and one can see from the news reports that working the crowd has become increasingly difficult for the healing priest. The sick poor are crying out for the priest’s attention. They flock to the healing venues, arriving there way ahead of time to wait, hoping they would have their turn to be face to face with the priest and be embraced, prayed over and miraculously healed.

I interviewed Father Suarez last Dec. 23 and came out with a Dec. 31 front-page feature story on his life and work (“Filipino healing priest does so ‘many miracles like in Bible’”). When I checked INQUIRER.net early in the afternoon of that day, I found my article with an icon on it which said “Most Read” article. I wish I knew how many hits it got. (You can access the article at http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=20071231-109535.)

Two weeks later, thousands flocked to the 40-hour vigil at Montemaria in the outskirts of Batangas City where a Marian shrine is to be built. The heavy downpour did not deter the crowd from waiting for the 40-ish Father Suarez who also had to brave the mud and rain to get to the site overlooking the sea. Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles graced the occasion and celebrated Mass there.

I visited Montemaria on Jan. 9, three days before the vigil, and I can say that the place is indeed special. It has a breathtaking view of the sea and the islands between Batangas and Mindoro. That portion of the sea you behold when you stand on the peak is known to be one of world’s richest in marine biodiversity. I was there at the time of the afternoon when the sea and the horizon exhibited a silvery sheen and a stillness that suggested that all’s well with the world. The knoll I was standing on could be holy ground.

Father Suarez is the first to stress that he is not the one who heals. It is God; he is only a channel.

The crowd continues to surge around Father Suarez but with this phenomenon are some issues that need to be addressed. I can mention at least two: turfing and the creeping in of something that might be misconstrued or misunderstood as commercialism.

Already, Malolos Bishop Jose Oliveros has complained that Father Suarez’s healing activities, at least in his diocese, were conducted without his permission. The Catholic Church’s Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith requires that the local bishop’s permission be sought for Church-related activities. Father Suarez does not belong to the Malolos diocese. He is a member of the Canada-based religious congregation called Companions of the Cross. (The congregation will soon set up a foundation here.)

Father Suarez had told me that he never went to a place unless he was invited. The parish priests that invite him over are therefore expected to clear things with their bishops. Do bishops have to know everything that goes on in a parish?

But I understand that a visit from Father Suarez is no ordinary one and entails logistics and crowd control. Better be safe than sorry.

The other issue is on the material. Marian pilgrimage sites Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje are not spared being touched by commercialism. There are always entrepreneurs that will try to draw big bucks even from places of worship where crowds gather.

In the case of the Mary Mother of the Poor Foundation, which Father Suarez heads and which is behind the building of the Montemaria shrine (supposed to be finished in September this year), there is indeed a need to raise funds. Montemaria (Matuko Point) in Batangas City will become the center of Father Suarez’s healing ministry and other spiritual activities. Set on a hill on 20 hectares of land, the center of the Oratory of the Blessed Virgin will have chapels, prayer gardens, Stations of the Cross, retreat houses, campsites, lodging houses, a center for the poor and even a replica of Mary’s house in Ephesus. The place is meant to draw pilgrims from here and abroad who want to renew their faith. The centerpiece is the 33-story-high statue of Mary Mother of the Poor.

How the money is being raised or collected is something that the foundation has to be careful about. Do healing Mass collections in parishes go to the Montemaria project? Should there be sale of items (such as rosaries) to raise funds, and how much? Who are overseeing these activities? The well-meaning and hard-working organizers around Father Suarez should be extra, extra careful when dealing with the financial aspect in order to avoid misperceptions.

There are those who worry that the purity and simplicity of this healing ministry could get compromised when the material aspect start creeping in.

Father Suarez reaches out to both the poor and the rich and it is quite clear the teeming poor are first on his agenda. There should be no cause for anyone to doubt this. I repeat: there should be no cause for anyone to doubt this.

Father Suarez leaves for his Canada base in the second week of February and will proceed to many other places to minister to the sick and infirm. It’s time for a break from the Philippine scene. He will be back.

In Agdangan, Quezon, the 12-story Luminous Cross of Grace Sanctuary has risen but still needs doming. The Stations of the Cross are being finished in time for Holy Week.

 Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Media again missed CBCP’s message - By Rene Q. Bas

THE Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines released a statement after its 96th Plenary Assembly, held Tuesday to Friday, Jan. 22 to 25, had ended. It is dated Jan. 27. The CBCP president, Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo, D.D., Archbishop of Jaro, under the stipulation, “For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines,” signed it. This means the statement expresses the common stand of the country’s Roman Catholic bishops.

The title of the statement is “Reform Yourselves and Believe in the Gospel!” (Mark 1:15)”

As usual, the news the dailies published about the pastoral statement and the press conference last Monday at which the statement was read, once again made it seem as if the bishops were meddling in politics.

All the news reports centered on the political issues mentioned in the statement. They did not talk about the substance of the pastoral statement: Renewal. None of the reporters seemed to have actually read the CBCP statement—or paid attention to it. Some of them even wrote that the statement was issued on Monday when it was in fact available on Sunday.

Although the bishops attempted to specify some political and social issues confronting the nation, they did not mean their list to be a definitive one. One or two newspapers, in editorial comments contained in the news reports, faulted the bishops for not being specific enough.

Benedict’s Spe Salvi

The statement begins by reminding the Catholic lay, religious and clerical readers to whom the statement is addressed that, “Our Holy Father in his most recent letter to us reminds us of the gift of faith and hope: that when we believe, we hope; and that when we hope, we live differently (see Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi, November 30, 2007, no. 2). These convictions on faith and hope set the tone of our own letter to you in the present pastoral situation.”

I think the most important message the bishops wish to drive home are:

(1) That we Filipinos (meaning, I am sure, we Filipino Catholics)—ordinary folk as well as power holders, rich and poor — are liable for being bereft of a well-formed social conscience and that is why we have so many unaddressed or unresolved political and social problems; and

(2) That we have no social conscience because we are not doing what true Christians should do: “start (moral reform) with ourselves, as individuals, families and communities.” That we always “put the blame on people we have chosen to govern us” and never on ourselves because we only see “the enemy as outside of us.”

Personal sin

In other words, the bishops are saying what the late John Paul II and now Benedict XVI and many saints have said. That the cause of all the problems of nations and the world is personal sin. That the failure of individuals, families and small communities to repent and reform—the failure to think and behave according to their best hope and faith as Christians, as children of God—is what causes all the social and political evils of government corruption, social injustice and mass poverty. The subheads are instructive: “The Darkness of Our Situation—the Common Good Subordinated.”

 “Journey to the Light—Start with Ourselves.”

“Lent—the Time to Journey Together toward Transformation.”

“Renewal of Faith-Communities, Civil Society, Political Leaders.”

Some quotes:

“If in your minds, corruption—the worst offender against our common good—is rampant today, sparing no level of social and political life, and most glaringly and reportedly so in the various corridors of power, we have to confess that corruption is in truth our greatest shame as a people. But if it goes on unhindered, it is because, as we have had occasion to point out in the past, we all too often condone it as part of the perquisites of power and public office.”

“We are asking you, our beloved people, to be with us in the moral-spiritual reform of our nation by beginning with ourselves. This is what we need—conversion, real conversion, to put it in terms of our faith, for all of us to deliberately, consciously develop that social conscience that we say we sorely lack and to begin subordinating our private interests to the common good. This conversion is for all of us: laity, religious, priests, bishops.”

“We beg Mary to intercede for us with her Son Jesus… Mary, Star of the Sea, guide us on our journey of renewal that we may more faithfully follow your Son Jesus in his loving care of all our brothers and sisters.”

 

ZE08011309 - 2008-01-13
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-21485?l=english

Girl Migrants More at Risk, Laments Pope


Encourages Youth to Work for a Just World


VATICAN CITY, JAN. 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is exhorting young migrants to work with their peers to build a more just and fraternal society.

The Pope said this today after he prayed the midday Angelus with several thousand people gathered in St. Peter's Square. Today is the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which is focusing this year on the plight of young migrants.

"There are numerous young people who are forced for various reasons to live far from their families and countries," the Holy Father said. "Girls and minors are especially at risk. Some children and adolescents are born and grow up in refugee camps: They too have a right to a future!"

The Pontiff expressed his gratitude for those who "commit themselves to help young migrants, their families and the integration of their work and study."

And he invited ecclesial communities to "welcome with sympathy the young and the very young with their parents, trying to understand their stories and helping them to become assimilated."

Benedict XVI's final exhortation was directed to the young migrants themselves.

"Dear young migrants! Commit yourselves together with your contemporaries to building a more just and fraternal society, fulfilling your duties, respecting the laws and not allowing yourselves to be caught up in violence," he exhorted. "I entrust all of you to Mary, Mother of all humanity."

 

ZE08011303 - 2008-01-13
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-21479?l=english

What a Fearful World Needs

Pope Extols a Key Virtue for an Angst-Filled Society

By Father John Flynn, LC

ROME, JAN. 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- In a timely message for the New Year, Benedict XVI urged the world to rediscover the Christian virtue of hope. In his homily during the Dec. 31 vespers to mark the end of 2007 the Pontiff referred to the lack of hope and trust in life prevalent in modern Western society, calling it an "obscure" evil.

Since the publication of his encyclical on hope, "Spe Salvi," the Pope has returned on a number of occasions to this theme. On Dec. 2, during his Angelus address for the First Sunday of Advent, the Pontiff commented that modern science has tended to confine faith and hope to the private sphere.

He said that this unfortunately tends to deprive the world of hope. "Science contributes much to the good of humanity, but it is not able to redeem it," Benedict XVI affirmed.

Then, in his opening words of the address preceding the Christmas Day blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city of Rome and the world), the Pope said the feast is "a day of great hope: Today the Savior of mankind is born." With the birth of the child Jesus, "a great hope entered the hearts of those who awaited him," he added.

The Holy Father isn't the only one to perceive how contemporary society needs to rediscover hope. On Jan. 1 the New York Times published an article titled "In 2008, a 100% Chance of Alarm."

The article referred to the constant warnings of climate change, and how often the media tend to concentrate on the most pessimistic warnings. Too many journalists and scientists, the article contended, are constantly on the lookout for the new sin -- producing excessive carbon.

This often results in misleading articles. The New York Times noted how British forecasters predicted 2007 would be the hottest on record. It turned out not to be so, but in any case at the end of the year, the BBC exclaimed that 2007 data had confirmed the warming trend.

The Times article also observed that the media ignored recent evidence of cooling in Antarctica, along with higher ice levels, in contrast to the widespread publicity given to lower ice levels in the Arctic.

Be afraid

Fear tactics are also common in politics. In its Dec. 24 issue the magazine Newsweek dedicated a four-page article to examining how fear is used by many of the candidates in the U.S. presidential campaign under way. "A candidate who neglects the fear factor should have a concession speech ready to go," concluded the article.

In a book published in November, Christopher Richard and Booker North looked at the high costs of excessive fears. We run the risk of falling into a new age of superstition, warns "Scared to Death: From BSE to Global Warming: Why Scares Are Costing Us the Earth" (Continuum).

Genuine threats do exist, the authors admit. But too often preliminary scientific evidence is exaggerated, the media inflate the dangers, and then politicians impose new laws, with high economic costs, Richard and North contend.

For example, when in 1996 the BSE, or mad cow disease, broke out, media reports predicted hundreds of thousands of deaths. One newspaper went so far as to forecast a half-million deaths a year. The final death toll was calculated at around a couple of hundred.

In their conclusion to the almost 500-page analysis of food and environmental scares during the last years, the authors observe that in part the fear is due to the secularization of society. Once people no longer draw the meaning of their lives from religion, society's highest value is now related to bodily existence. Moreover, the need to find a substitute for notions of sin and evil encourages the presentation of dangers in an apocalyptic manner.

Negative focus

Other authors have also commented on the increasingly fearful nature of modern society. In 2005 British sociologist Frank Furedi published the third edition of his book "Culture of Fear" (Continuum).

We run the risk of being dominated by the belief humanity is confronted by destructive forces that threaten our existence, Furedi warned. Scares range from killer asteroids to lethal viruses and global warming. A corollary to the culture of fear is that we now celebrate victimhood more than heroes, and people are urged to prove they are the most deserving of counseling and compensation, instead of encouraging initiative.

Furedi followed up his analysis with a further book, published in 2005, "Politics of Fear" (Continuum). The terms of left and right, he noted, are no longer an adequate way to describe politics. Instead, today the cultural environment is one of skepticism, relativism and cynicism, which leads in the political arena to what Furedi terms "the conservatism of fear."

Unlike the conservatism of the past, which believed in the unique character of a human being, the current conservatism is driven by a "profound misanthropic impulse," he argued. "The ethos of sustainability, the dogma of the precautionary principle, the idealization of nature, of the ‘organic,' all express a misanthropic mistrust of human ambition and experimentation.

Darkness

The theological counterpart to this sociological and political analysis came in the Pope's recent encyclical. He started by observing the novelty of the Christian message of hope. St. Paul, the Pontiff noted, told the Ephesians that before coming into contact with Christ, they were "without hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12).

The pagan gods were questionable and the myths contradictory, the encyclical added. Therefore, without Christ they were, "in a dark world, facing a dark future" (No. 2).

Christians, by contrast, know that their lives will not end in emptiness, even if the details of their future life are not all clear. This certainty changes our lives, and so the Christian message, the Pope continued, is not just informative but it is life-changing. "The one who has hope lives differently; the one who hopes has been granted the gift of a new life," he said.

The current crisis of faith in modern society is "essentially a crisis of Christian hope," the Pope explained (No. 17). The encyclical went on to urge a dialogue between modernity and Christianity, and its concept of hope.

In this dialogue Christians "must learn anew in what their hope truly consists, what they have to offer to the world and what they cannot offer" (No. 22). For its part contemporary society needs to re-examine its uncritical faith in material and scientific progress. Benedict XVI does not reject progress, but notes that it is ambiguous.

Progress

"Without doubt, it offers new possibilities for good, but it also opens up appalling possibilities for evil -- possibilities that formerly did not exist," he observed. True progress, the Pope went on to say, also needs to be moral, and if reason opens itself to faith, then it becomes possible to distinguish between good and evil.

The encyclical does not disparage material and scientific progress, and in fact, Benedict XVI acknowledged the need for "the greater and lesser hopes that keep us going day by day" (No. 31). Nevertheless, the text continued, these hopes are not enough without the "great hope" that is God.

"God is the foundation of hope: not any god, but the God who has a human face and who has loved us to the end, each one of us and humanity in its entirety," the Pope concluded.

A world without God is a world without hope, the Pontiff observed further on in the encyclical. Perhaps, then, we should not be surprised at the fear-ridden state of modern society. Along with science, humanity needs to rediscover its faith in God if it is to heal the deeper sources of its fears.

 

ZE08011305 - 2008-01-13
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-21481?l=english

Schismatic Groups Coming Home, Reports Vatican

Cardinal Assesses Impact of "Summorum Pontificum"

By Mary Shovlain

ROME, JAN. 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Six months after Benedict XVI issued an apostolic letter on the extended use of the 1962 missal, the Vatican says it is seeing fruits of reconciliation with Catholics who objected to the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.

"Summorum Pontificum," allows for more availability of the Latin-language Mass, a rite the document dubs the "extraordinary form." The letter, issued "motu proprio" (on his own initiative), brought attention to the situation of schismatic groups such as the Society of St. Pius X, that refuse to celebrate the "Novus Ordo" Mass established by Vatican II.

Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos told ZENIT that after the June 7 document, one group has already asked to return to full communion with the Church.

Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos, as the president of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesiae Dei, is the Vatican official in charge of facilitating the return to full ecclesial communion of people linked to the Society of St. Pius X, founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

"We have already received responses [to the letter]," Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos said. "Here in Rome we have a community that has asked to return and we have already begun mediating their full return."

Requests, he continued, are coming in from around the world: "Many of the faithful have contacted us, written and called, to say they want full communion."

Sewing unity

Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos clarified the current status of members of the Society of St. Pius X due to excommunications issued by the Vatican to group members in 1988, in the wake of the schismatic gesture by Lefebvre of ordaining four bishops illicitly.

He explained: "The excommunications for the consecration done without the Pope's permission affects only those bishops who carried out the consecration, and those bishops who