Pope Benedict XVI praises Australia's `courage' for apologizing to Aborigines for past wrongs
17-07-2008 - 09:44
Pope Benedict XVI lauded the Australian government Thursday for apologizing to the country's indigenous Aborigines for past injustices, saying it offered hope to all the world's disadvantaged peoples.
The remarks came in a short speech during the pope's first public appearance on a 10-day visit to Australia, at a ceremony to officially welcome him to the country led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
Benedict said Australia's original inhabitants formed an essential part of the cultural landscape of Australia, then made reference to their plight since the first British convict settlers arrived 220 years ago.
"Thanks to the Australian government's courageous decision to acknowledge the injustices committed against the indigenous peoples in the past, concrete steps are now being taken to achieve reconciliation based on mutual respect," Benedict said.
"Rightly, you are seeking to close the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians regarding life expectancy, educational achievement and economic opportunity," he said. "This example of reconciliation offers hope to peoples all over the world who long to see their rights affirmed and their contribution to society acknowledged and promoted."
Rudd in February formally apologized to Aborigines as one of his first official acts as prime minister, and has made closing the huge gap between indigenous people and other Australians a priority of his government.
Aborigines are an often marginalized minority of about 450,000 in a population of 21 million. They are the country's poorest group, with the highest rates of unemployment, illiteracy, incarceration and alcohol abuse, and a life expectancy 17 years shorter than other Australians.
Benedict emerged from three days of vacation Thursday to begin his first full day of events to celebrate the church's World Youth Day festival. He will receive a traditional Aboriginal ceremonial welcome later Thursday before touring Sydney harbor by boat and addressing a crowd of pilgrims estimated at more than 200,000 on the waterfront. He ends his functions with a tour through downtown in the popemobile.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
To Radical Feminism and Back
Interview With Author and Ex-feminist Lorraine Murray
By Teresa Tomeo
DECATUR, Georgia, JULY 9, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Lorraine Murray went to college with a basic Catholic education, an education it only took a few philosophy classes to undo.
Murray, who has a doctorate in philosophy, is the author of “Confessions of an Ex-Feminist," in which she traces her journey from Catholicism to radical feminism, and back.
In this interview with ZENIT, Murray, who is a religion columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Georgia Bulletin, comments on the insights she has gained in her journey back to the Catholic faith.
Q: You were born and raised in the Catholic faith but lost that faith in college. Can you outline the weaknesses in your faith or Catholic education that may have caused your faith to crumble?
Murray: When I headed off to college, I was quickly overwhelmed by the atmosphere of nihilism that pervaded the campus. As a child, I had dutifully memorized the questions and answers in “The Baltimore Catechism,” which was the gold standard for Catholic instruction at that time.
Unfortunately, my Catholic upbringing ignored the nefarious ways that Satan attacks the Catholic faith, so I was unprepared for college courses in which arguments against God’s existence were pervasive. In short, I lacked the tools to defend my faith.
Q: You had earned your doctorate in philosophy and had studied many of the secular thinkers. Did you ever stop and think about actually studying or examining the Bible or Catholic teachings to make sure your had come to the right conclusions?
Murray: Arrogance was my big sin. I thought that my background in philosophy qualified me to critique -- and reject -- Church teachings. Also, I was surrounded by professors who scoffed at claims of the supernatural and thought religion was outdated.
As I pursued my doctorate in philosophy, I studiously avoided examining the great teachers of the Catholic faith, such as St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. And sadly, it never occurred to me to go back and re-examine the faith I had once held so dear, nor did it dawn on me to test some of my conclusions by reading the Bible.
Like many people in their 20s, I thought that I knew it all.
Q: I have spoken with many reverts who share similar experiences such as leaving the Church while never really being familiar with Church teachings. Why do you think this pattern occurs so often and what can lay Catholics as well as priests and other religious do to prevent more people from walking away from their Catholicism?
Murray: I believe it is crucial for priests, who have received extensive education in theology, to take active roles in parish RCIA programs. Converts to the faith should become well-schooled in the teachings of orthodox Catholicism, so they will really understand the beliefs they are embracing.
I also would love to see more priests leading occasional “refresher” courses open to all parishioners, because many people in the pews are eager to defend their faith but lack the tools to do so. Lay Catholics need to have a copy of “The Catechism of the Catholic Church” handy and to consult it often.
It would also be helpful for folks to subscribe to orthodox Catholic publications so they can learn about Catholic news through the eyes of writers who are well versed in the faith.
Q: What first attracted you to feminism?
Murray: I was quite enchanted by books such as “The Feminine Mystique” and “The Second Sex,” in which woman’s condition was painted with dark and dreary brushstrokes. Thinkers such as Betty Friedan and Simone de Beauvoir saw evidence of women’s oppression and misery everywhere they looked.
My own experience showed few signs of oppression: My mother had graduated from college, and I was pursuing a doctorate in philosophy and had received many honors and fellowships. Still, I saw signs of injustice in the world and thought that feminism had the answer.
In many ways, I clung to this “ism” as a way to achieve a utopian society on earth, in which everyone would be happy and equal. It took me a while to see that the cost of this feminist utopia was terrible indeed, since the “ideal world” envisioned by feminists was built on abortion and daycare centers.
Generally, the feminist agenda depicted children as a problem, not a blessing, and marriage as the source of women’s unhappiness, rather than as a wellspring of happiness, security and joy.
Q: In your book you discuss your own abortion, and that even after struggling with the physical and emotional consequences of it, you still clung tightly to feminist dogma regarding abortion and sexual freedom. Why is it so difficult to see the empty promises of the feminist movement?
Murray: For many years after the abortion, I suffered terrible flashbacks, stinging regret and bouts of serious depression. However, when I finally returned to Catholicism, I still held onto many of my feminist beliefs.
For example, I thought artificial contraception was fine, and abortion should remain legalized. I was very upset about having ended my own child’s life, but I still had this ingrained notion that although abortion had been wrong for me, it might be right for other women in different circumstances.
In short, I was a typical moral relativist, failing to realize that some acts, like abortion, murder, and rape, are wrong for everyone. It seems that feminists have so artfully deified the notion of “choice” that it takes many women a long time to recognize the underlying moral truth: Some choices are absolutely wrong.
Q: How did you finally start to make your way back to Christ and the Catholic Church?
Murray: A mysterious series of events happened, and they left me rather stunned and shaken up.
First, my husband, who had little knowledge of Catholicism, went on a business trip to New York. While in the city he stopped in at St. Patrick's Cathedral and, for some mysterious reason, decided to light votive candles in memory of his father and my parents.
When he told me that, I realized I had never prayed for the repose of my parents' souls, although they had been dead for many years.
I also read Thomas Merton's "Seven Storey Mountain," and was very moved by his journey. Little by little, I began to experience a mysterious sense of "someone" reaching into my life and tugging at me.
Q: When you first came back to the Church, you were a self-described “cafeteria Catholic.” What happened in your life that brought you to full acceptance of Church teachings?
Murray: I was diagnosed with breast cancer eight years ago, and my life went through some serious changes. I truly thought I was facing imminent death, and I longed for spiritual guidance.
Through the grace of God, I found Father Richard Lopez, a religion teacher at a local Catholic high school, and he became my spiritual director. At first he helped me accept the cancer diagnosis, but over time, I began asking him questions about Church teachings, for example about contraception, abortion and euthanasia.
He explained difficult concepts, gave me books to read, and patiently answered my many questions. As I grasped the real truth of the Catholic perspective, I gave up the cafeteria line and started enjoying the full feast.
Q: If you could boil your testimony down to one message for your readers, what would it be?
Murray: God’s abundant mercy is there for every sinner, no matter how far afield he or she has strayed. I was someone who promoted atheism in the classroom, lived according to the precepts of “free love,” and turned my back on traditional notions of motherhood and family. Still, God gently called me home, and through the sacrament of penance, restored grace to my soul.
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)
|
