Saturday, October 27, 2007

Masters of Faith Are Needed, Pontiff Says
Greeting Marks Beginning of Academic Year in Rome


VATICAN CITY, OCT. 26, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says the Gospel message needs to affect the way people think, judge and act, and thus, the world needs masters of faith and well-trained heralds.The Pope affirmed this when he greeted students of the Roman pontifical universities gathered in St. Peter's Square on Thursday. The students' meeting with the Holy Father followed a Eucharistic concelebration presided over by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education. The event marked the beginning of the academic year.

Benedict XVI encouraged the students and professors to "establish a climate in which commitment to study and fraternal cooperation enable you to enrich one another, not only in what concerns cultural, academic and doctrinal aspects, but also on a human and spiritual level."

He told them that the chance to study in Rome, "see of Peter's Successor and thus of the Petrine ministry," a city "rich in historical memories, in masterpieces of art and culture, and above all in eloquent Christian testimony […] will help you to reinforce the sense of belonging to the Church and of fidelity to the universal magisterium of the Pope." And "the presence of students from every continent in the academic institutions, colleges and seminars, offers you as well the chance to experience the beauty of forming part of this unique, great family of God," he continued.

Tradition

"Over time," the Pontiff added, "universities and ecclesiastical faculties came into being, now centuries old. There, entire generations of priests and pastoral workers were formed, including many great saints and illustrious men of the Church."

Referring to Pope John Paul II's apostolic constitution "Sapientia Christiana," which calls for a consideration of new problems in the light of Christian revelation and a presentation of truth "in a manner adapted to various cultures," Benedict XVI affirmed that this commitment "is more pressing than ever in our postmodern age, in which the need is felt for a new evangelization, and which needs masters of faith and appropriately trained heralds and witnesses of the Gospel."

"The time you spend in Rome can and must serve to prepare you to undertake [...] the task that awaits you in the various fields of apostolic activity," the Pope said. "In our own time, the Church's evangelizing mission requires, not only that the Gospel message be spread everywhere, but that it penetrate deeply into the way people think, into their criteria for making judgments and their behavior."

"In a word," he concluded, "the entire culture of modern man must be permeated by the Gospel."
© Innovative Media, Inc.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Successful Catechists Aren't Acting, Says Pope
Reflects on Holy Example of St. Ambrose of Milan


VATICAN CITY, OCT. 24, 2007 (ZENIT.org).- Being a teacher of the faith is more than just a job, says Benedict XVI, it is something inseparable from living a Christian life.

The Pope said this today to more than 30,000 people who gathered in St. Peter's Square to participate in the general audience. The Holy Father, continuing his reflections on figures of the early Church, spoke of St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, who was a key figure in the conversion of St. Augustine.

"Without speaking a word, he spoke with the testimony of life," the Pope said of the catechetical method of the bishop of Milan.Ambrose was born in Trier, which formed part of the Roman prefecture of Gaul, in the year 340. After his father's death when Ambrose was still a boy, his mother took him to Rome to prepare him for a civil career.

His was sent to Milan around 370, said the Holy Father, where the Church was deeply divided over the Arian heresy. Ambrose intervened to bring peace, and was spontaneously acclaimed bishop of Milan by the people, despite the fact that he wasn't even a baptized member of the Church.The bishop, who had no formal religious education, recounted Benedict XVI, began to study Scripture using as a guide the writings of the third-century Christian writer Origen of Alexandria.

The Pope said that Bishop Ambrose learned from Origin the practice of meditating on Scripture known as "lectio divina," and from that point the bishop's preaching and writing "emerged precisely from prayerful listening to the word of God."Regarding St. Ambrose's catechetical style, however, the Pontiff said that it was the bishop's example that counted more than his words.

Testimony
The Holy Father gave as an example the experience of St. Augustine, which he recounted in his "Confessions." Augustine's conversion, said the Pope, didn't come about as a result of Bishop Ambrose's "beautiful homilies," but rather as a result of "the testimony of the bishop and the Church in Milan, which prayed and sang, united as a single body.

"From Bishop Ambrose, continued the Holy Father, Augustine learned the importance of "reading sacred Scripture in a prayerful attitude, in order to truly receive it in one's heart, and to assimilate the word of God.

"Benedict XVI said that the heart of Ambrosian catechesis lies in truly assimilating the word of God: "Scripture itself, profoundly assimilated, suggests the content of what one must announce in order to achieve conversion of hearts." "Catechesis is inseparable from the testimony of life," he added. "Educators of the faith," said the Pope, "cannot run the risk of looking like some sort of clown, who is simply playing a role.

"The catechist, he added, "should be like the beloved disciple, who rested his head on the master's heart and there learned how to think, speak and act."

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Violence in God's name must end, Pope Benedict says
Tuesday, October 23rd 2007

NAPLES - Pope Benedict told imams, rabbis, priests and patriarchs from around the world Sunday that religion must never be used to justify violence.

On a visit to one of Italy's most crime-ridden cities, Benedict condemned the "deplorable" mob violence that he said permeated life in Naples, home of the notorious Camorra organized crime syndicate - the local version of the Sicilian Mafia.

The Pope's visit coincided with a three-day meeting of religious leaders from around the world on the role of religion and culture in creating a violence-free world. The pontiff told the Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Buddhist leaders they must work for peace and reconciliation among peoples. The Pope's message was universal, but has particular resonance in Naples, which has long been one of Italy's most violent cities.


The Associated Press
More out of Naples
Muslim scholars urge Benedict to back dialogue appeal
By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor

PARIS (Reuters) - Muslim scholars pressing Christian churches for a high-level dialogue to improve inter-faith relations have urged Pope Benedict to publicly back their appeal already supported by several non-Catholic leaders.

One of the 138 signatories to the unprecedented appeal told Benedict at a religious gathering in Naples on Sunday that the group was disappointed with what it saw as the Vatican's relatively slow response, another signatory said on Monday.

The group has also sent the Vatican a letter criticising remarks by its top official for inter-faith relations, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, in which he said that serious theological dialogue with Muslims was not possible, signatory Aref Ali Nayed told Reuters.

The novel appeal, representing a broad spectrum of Sunni and Shi'ite groups, urged Christian leaders on Oct. 11 to seek common ground with Islam to help preserve world peace.
"Muslims are still awaiting a proper response from His Holiness Pope Benedict," said the new letter.

"We call upon him to embrace the initiative that our scholars made with the same good will that has already marked its reception by so many Christians."

Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Lutheran World Federation head Bishop Mark Hanson, World Council of Churches head Rev. Samuel Kobia, U.S. Presbyterian Church head Clifton Kirkpatrick and several leading theologians have praised the appeal as a positive basis for a possible dialogue.
While several Catholic experts have reacted favourably, Benedict has not mentioned the appeal publicly. Tauran at first praised it as "very interesting" but in remarks last Friday raised other issues that could complicate any talks.

The cardinal said Christians could not discuss theology seriously with Muslims because they did not question the Koran. He also said any talks should discuss why some Muslim states limit church building while Muslims can build mosques in Europe.

"This attitude, it seems to Muslims, misses the very point of dialogue," the new letter said. "Dialogue is by definition between people of different views, not people of the same view.
"Dialogue is not about imposing one's views on the other side, nor deciding oneself what the other side is and is not capable of, nor even of what the other side believes."

Nayed, a senior advisor to the Cambridge Interfaith Program in Britain, said signatory Izzeldine Ibrahim personally urged Benedict to support the appeal. The two sat at the same table for lunch at the Naples inter-faith meeting on Sunday.

Ibrahim is a cultural adviser to the United Arab Emirates government.

The new letter also said the Vatican's annual message to Muslims for Eid el-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan "had been made polemical of late".

Once devoted mostly to religious themes, the messages last year and this year included calls for different religions to fight against terrorism and violence.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Mennonites Hear Benedict XVI's Call for Unity
Benedict XVI Meets With Christian Delegates

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 19, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Mennonite and Catholic search for the unity of the Lord's disciples is important, says Benedict XVI.The Pope said this today when he received in audience the delegates from the Mennonite World Congress.

The Holy Father said: "In the ecumenical spirit of recent times, we have begun to have contacts with each other after centuries of isolation. "Since it is Christ himself who calls us to seek Christian unity, it is entirely right and fitting that Mennonites and Catholics have entered into dialogue in order to understand the reasons for the conflict that arose between us in the 16th century. To understand is to take the first step towards healing."

"Mennonites are well known for their strong Christian witness to peace in the name of the Gospel, and here, despite centuries of division, the dialogue report 'Called Together to be Peacemakers' has shown that we hold many convictions in common," affirmed the Pontiff.

He added: "We both emphasize that our work for peace is rooted in Jesus Christ 'who is our peace, who has made us both one … making peace that he might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross.' "We both understand that 'reconciliation, nonviolence and active peacemaking belong to the heart of the Gospel.'"

But, cautioned the Pope, "Our witness will remain impaired as long as the world sees our divisions. Above all, what impels us to seek Christian unity is our Lord's prayer to the Father 'that they may all be one … so that the world may believe that you have sent me.'"

The Holy Father concluded, "It is my hope that your visit will be another step towards mutual understanding and reconciliation."

Monday, October 15, 2007

The Pope and Profit by Joe Grima
Monday, 15 October, 2007


Pope Benedict remains an incomparable international figure also because of his courage in making statements that are often unpopular and sometimes very controversial. Pope Benedict understands his mission as a world leader incredibly well. He knows that he is a world leader, not just the successor of Peter and Leader of the world's Catholics, but a person whose words leave an impact on other world leaders and the actions.

His statements are always food for thought and a reason for serious debate. Pope Benedict's address at Regensburg University about the historic roots of Islam must have been well calculated. His Holiness must have known that that statement would bring a backlash of some degree - perhaps not of the size and spread of what the retort from fundamentalist Islamists actually turned out to be. His quote was factually correct and was misinterpreted by fundamentalists who saw in their reaction an occasion to raise the stakes on their pitiable cause.

Recently Pope Benedict made another statement, in voice, which he must have known would drive a stake into the heart of one of the world's most widespread economic systems, Capitalism. In my opinion, with that statement, Pope Benedict wanted to highlight the ill effects of the Capitalist system in order to create an international debate that would emphasize the fate of millions throughout the world as a result of indiscriminate profit making. Pope Benedict said that "When profit is obtained in a just measure, it is naturally legitimate and necessary for economic development".

"However", he said, "Capitalism should not be regarded as the only valid model for economic progress". The words of His Holiness were making an extremely valid distinction between that profit which is just and legitimate and therefore forms part of the common good and that profit which, as part of an arrogant capitalist system, becomes indiscriminate and ignores the common good altogether. I compare the good and the bad of the capitalist system to the difference between eating to live, which is legitimate and natural and living to eat which is a distortion of the legitimacy of consumption.

In condemning indiscriminate capitalism, Pope Benedict was condemning international practices which eliminate both the common good and the regard for human suffering caused by excessive profiteering - the suffering of millions who in today's world are unable to make ends meet, those who have to choose between the schooling of their children and food on the table everyday, those, in so many countries of today's world, who need to turn to crime - robbery, prostitution, drug trafficking - in order to eat because prices of essential goods are unattainable with their incomes.

With his criticism of Capitalism, Pope Benedict was not advocating the defunct failed Communist system. He was not siding with those leaders (some in our own country) who believe that the State should rule people's lives in order to be able to offer everyone the bare minimum, a loaf of bread, a glass of water and a shirt on one's back. That system is long dead. What Pope Benedict was saying is that, as with everything else on this planet, profit also requires a balance.

Profit has to be balanced against the interest and the well being of the average man who has a right to live a decent life, a right to be able to send his children to a decent school, and a right to have a roof over his family's head. According to this wise Leader of the Catholic Church, profit is legitimate only when it takes into account the common good. When it does not, Capitalism becomes as bad as the system that it spent seventy years combating and which finally destroyed itself - Communism.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Islam scholars reach out to pope

AMMAN, Jordan, Oct. 11 (UPI)

A Jordan-based group of Islamic scholars has appealed directly to the pope to help smooth out conflicts between Muslims and Christians.

Nearly 140 scholars signed a 29-page letter to Pope Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders urging them to be more aggressive in finding common ground that will head off future religious conflicts.

The Guardian of London said the letter was sponsored by the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Jordan.

"We say to Christians that we are not against them and that Islam is not against them -- so long as they do not wage war against Muslims on account of their religion, oppress them and drive them out of their homes," the letter said.

The scholars contended that Mohammed received the same revelations from God that Christians and Jews heard from their own ancient prophets, and that the Koran calls for friendship and respect with people from other faiths.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International

Friday, October 12, 2007

WOW. Fascinating stuff

Vatican to publish Templar trial papers

By ARIEL DAVID, Associated Press Writer

The Vatican has published secret documents about the trial of the Knights Templar, including a parchment — long ignored because of a vague catalog entry in 1628 — showing that Pope Clement V initially absolved the medieval order of heresy.

The 300-page volume recently came out in a limited edition — 799 copies — each priced at $8,377, said Scrinium publishing house, which prints documents from the Vatican's secret archives.

The order of knights, which ultimately disappeared because of the heresy scandal, recently captivated the imagination of readers of the best-seller "The Da Vinci Code," which linked the Templars to the story of the Holy Grail.

The Vatican work reproduces the entire documentation of the papal hearings convened after King Philip IV of France arrested and tortured Templar leaders in 1307 on charges of heresy and immorality.

The military order of the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon was founded in 1118 in Jerusalem to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land after the First Crusade.

As their military might increased, the Templars also grew in wealth, acquiring property throughout Europe and running a primitive banking system. After they left the Middle East with the collapse of the Crusader kingdoms, their power and secretive ways aroused the fear of European rulers and sparked accusations of corruption and blasphemy.

Historians believe Philip owed debts to the Templars and used the accusations to arrest their leaders and extract, under torture, confessions of heresy as a way to seize the order's riches.
The publishing house said the new book includes the "Parchment of Chinon," a 1308 decision by Clement to save the Templars and their order.

The Vatican archives researcher who found the parchment said Friday that it probably had been ignored because the 1628 catalog entry on the 40-inch-wide parchment was "too Spartan, too vague."

"Unfortunately, there was an archiving error, an error in how the document was described," the researcher, Barbara Frale, said in a telephone interview from her home in Viterbo, north of Italy.

"More than an error, it was a little sketchy," she said.

The parchment, in remarkably good condition considering its 700 years, apparently had last been consulted at the start of the 20th century, Frale said, surmising that its significance must have not have been realized then.

Frale said she was intrigued by the 1628 entry because, while it apparently referred to some minor matter, it noted that three top cardinals, including the right-hand man of Clement, Berenger Fredol, had made a long journey to interrogate someone.

"Going on with my research, it turned out that in reality it was an inquest of very great importance" on behalf of the pope, Frale said. Fredol "had gone to question the Great Master and other heads of the Templars who had been segregated, practically kidnapped, by the king of France and shut up in secret in his castle in Chinon on the Loire."

According to the Vatican archives Web site, the parchment shows that Clement initially absolved the Templar leaders of heresy, though he did find them guilty of immorality, and that he planned to reform the order.

However, pressured by Philip, Clement later reversed his decision and suppressed the order in 1312.

Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Templars, was burned at the stake in 1314 along with his aides.

Surviving monks fled. Some were absorbed by other orders; over the centuries, various groups have claimed to have descended from the Templars.
__
On the Net:
Vatican secret archive: http://asv.vatican.va
Publishing house: http://www.scrinium.org
___
Associated Press writer Frances D'Emilio contributed to this report.
WOW. Fascinating stuff



Vatican to publish Templar trial papers


By ARIEL DAVID, Associated Press Writer


The Vatican has published secret documents about the trial of the Knights Templar, including a parchment — long ignored because of a vague catalog entry in 1628 — showing that Pope Clement V initially absolved the medieval order of heresy.


The 300-page volume recently came out in a limited edition — 799 copies — each priced at $8,377, said Scrinium publishing house, which prints documents from the Vatican's secret archives.


The order of knights, which ultimately disappeared because of the heresy scandal, recently captivated the imagination of readers of the best-seller "The Da Vinci Code," which linked the Templars to the story of the Holy Grail.


The Vatican work reproduces the entire documentation of the papal hearings convened after King Philip IV of France arrested and tortured Templar leaders in 1307 on charges of heresy and immorality.


The military order of the Poor Knights of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon was founded in 1118 in Jerusalem to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land after the First Crusade.


As their military might increased, the Templars also grew in wealth, acquiring property throughout Europe and running a primitive banking system. After they left the Middle East with the collapse of the Crusader kingdoms, their power and secretive ways aroused the fear of European rulers and sparked accusations of corruption and blasphemy.


Historians believe Philip owed debts to the Templars and used the accusations to arrest their leaders and extract, under torture, confessions of heresy as a way to seize the order's riches.
The publishing house said the new book includes the "Parchment of Chinon," a 1308 decision by Clement to save the Templars and their order.


The Vatican archives researcher who found the parchment said Friday that it probably had been ignored because the 1628 catalog entry on the 40-inch-wide parchment was "too Spartan, too vague."


"Unfortunately, there was an archiving error, an error in how the document was described," the researcher, Barbara Frale, said in a telephone interview from her home in Viterbo, north of Italy.


"More than an error, it was a little sketchy," she said.


The parchment, in remarkably good condition considering its 700 years, apparently had last been consulted at the start of the 20th century, Frale said, surmising that its significance must have not have been realized then.


Frale said she was intrigued by the 1628 entry because, while it apparently referred to some minor matter, it noted that three top cardinals, including the right-hand man of Clement, Berenger Fredol, had made a long journey to interrogate someone.


"Going on with my research, it turned out that in reality it was an inquest of very great importance" on behalf of the pope, Frale said. Fredol "had gone to question the Great Master and other heads of the Templars who had been segregated, practically kidnapped, by the king of France and shut up in secret in his castle in Chinon on the Loire."


According to the Vatican archives Web site, the parchment shows that Clement initially absolved the Templar leaders of heresy, though he did find them guilty of immorality, and that he planned to reform the order.


However, pressured by Philip, Clement later reversed his decision and suppressed the order in 1312.


Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Templars, was burned at the stake in 1314 along with his aides.


Surviving monks fled. Some were absorbed by other orders; over the centuries, various groups have claimed to have descended from the Templars.

Associated Press writer Frances D'Emilio contributed to this report.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

GOOD NEWS FROM INDIANA. THERE IS ROOM FOR ALL.

Students demand Latin Mass after rescript
By: Jenn Metz Posted: 10/10/07

After Pope Benedict XVI brought attention to the discontinued tradition of Latin Masses in early July, students began asking Campus Ministry to bring back the "Tridentine Mass" to Notre Dame. Starting Sunday, they will get their wish.

The students' demand and Benedict XVI's papal rescript - which states the Tridentine Mass is optional for Catholics - led Campus Ministry to decide to schedule the Latin Mass this year. The first of these Masses will be celebrated at 8 a.m. Sunday at the St. Charles Borromeo Chapel in Alumni Hall."

In this document from Rome, they asked the pastors to make it available if there is a stable group of people who want it and if there are people who are able to do it," said Father Richard Warner, director of Campus Ministry.

Campus Ministry received more than 100 e-mails from students asking if the University would offer the Tridentine Mass after Benedict XVI released the document in early July, Warner said.

Brett Perkins, director of Protestant Student Resources and Catholic Peer Ministry at Campus Ministry, said some students even formed a Facebook group requesting the Tridentine Mass.

"We knew there was going to be a number of students who wanted this. We knew that stable community would be there," Perkins said.

Members of Campus Ministry met over the summer to decide how to respond to students' demand and the "motu proprio" (as the papal rescript is called, Latin for "of his own accord").

The Tridentine Mass will be celebrated at 8 a.m. most Sundays of the year at Alumni Hall because its chapel has a door that opens directly to the outside and has a high altar, which is also against the wall, making it possible for the priest to celebrate the Mass in the traditional way, Perkins said. In the Tridentine Mass, the priest faces the same direction of the people, toward the altar. The time was chosen so as to not interfere with previously scheduled Masses at the Basilica and in the chapels on campus.

A missalette will be available to students containing Latin and English translations. The rubrics will also be included, so that students can follow the Mass.

Having two forms of Mass on campus offers "the fullness of the Latin Rite - the Roman Catholic Rite," Warner said. "Students will be able to experience both forms, the ordinary and the extraordinary."

The papal document described two forms of the Latin, or Roman, Rite, Warner said. The first, the ordinary form, the Novus Ordo of Pope Paul VI, which came into effect in 1970, is the form of Mass usually celebrated on campus. The second, the extraordinary form, is the Tridentine Mass, which is based on Pope John XXIII's reform of the Missal.

Perkins explained how the two forms developed.

The word "Tridentine" refers to "what came out of the Council of Trent," Perkins said. The Council took place between 1545 and 1563 and was a time of response to the Protestant Reformation.

"The Church issued at that time what is known as the Tridentine Missal, that went through additions and edits from the 1560s to 1962," Perkins said.

The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, or Vatican II, called for a "renewal of liturgy," Perkins said. The result was the 1970 Missal, which became the normative way of celebrating the Mass.

The main difference between the ordinary and extraordinary forms, Perkins said, is the different emphasis each places on certain aspects of the faith."

They are both beautiful, holy expressions of the same faith," he said.

The concept of the priest facing the same direction as the congregations presents the priest as a leader of the people, who are "all are on this same pilgrim journey towards God," Perkins said.

In the Novus Ordo, the congregation gathers around the table, sharing the Eucharist, he said, emphasizing the faith's sense of community.

Currently four priests on campus are able to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, but more are in training, Warner said. Priests must learn both the language - Latin - of the Mass and the rubrics, which differ from the ordinary form.

Altar servers typically participate in the Mass responses on behalf of the people, Perkins said. Between 20 and 30 altar servers volunteered to participate in the Mass. Only those who know the Mass will help in its celebration until others have witnessed the Mass and have been fully trained.

Campus Ministry sponsored a three-part lecture series titled "Three Days of Reflection on the Eucharist," to prepare the community for the celebration of the Tridentine Mass.

The first of these lectures, "The Theology of the Eucharist," given by theology professor David Fagerberg, discussed the importance of seeing the two forms of the Mass through the lens of continuity.

Father Michael Driscoll presented the history of the extraordinary form in a lecture titled "The Formation of the Tridentine Missal" Tuesday.

He also said the re-introduction of the Tridentine Mass as an optional form of celebration reflects continuity with the ordinary form.

"Vatican II was not a rupture of the [liturgical] tradition, but rather a continuation," he said.

The third lecture, titled "The Liturgical Reforms of the Second Vatican Council," will take place today at 6 p.m. in the Hammes Student Lounge in the Coleman Morse Center. Basilica rector Father Peter Roccawill speak on these changes.

© Copyright 2007 The Observer
SOMETHING OF INTEREST. HOPE TO SEE SOME FOLLOW-UP OF THIS MEETING IN THE FUTURE.


International Muslim Leaders to Make Significant Announcement to Reach out to Christian LeadershipWednesday October 10, 11:11 am ET

--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought:

WHAT: It will be announced that 138 Muslim clerics, theologians and academics delivered a letter to Pope Benedict XVI and 25 other Christian leaders highlighting the theological synergies of the two faiths. In an historic display of unity, Muslim leaders have made an important announcement promoting inter- faith understanding and cooperation. This unprecedented
initiative falls on the one year anniversary of the open letter issued by Muslim clerics to Pope Benedict XVI in response to his remarks at the Regensburg University. Muslim leaders are calling Christians to formally recognize historical and theological ties between the two faiths to
build towards future collaboration.

Members of the media are invited to this rare opportunity to learn more about this initiative

WHO: Dr. Mustafa Ceric, Grand Mufti of Bosnia

Dr. John Esposito, Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University

WHERE: National Press Club
Zenger Room
529 14th Street NW
Washington, DC 20045

WHEN: Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 12:30pm

To confirm your attendance, please RSVP to Kathryn Phelps via email at kphelps@qorvis.com
This media advisory is being distributed by Qorvis Communications on behalf of the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought.

Additional information is available at the
Department of Justice in Washington, DC.
Contact:
For the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought:
George Atallah, 202-683-3147
gatallah@qorvis.com
Source: Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

This is so lighthearted and totally sweet.

Cat tells life story of Pope Benedict
Chico, a feline companion, tells the story of Benedict in a new biography

Reuters
VATICAN CITY - Chico the cat describes the life of his “best friend,” Pope Benedict XVI, in an authorized biography for children released this week.

“Dear Children, here you will find a biography that is different to others because it is told by a cat and it is not every day a cat can consider the Holy Father his friend and sit down to write his life story,” the Pope’s personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Ganswein, says in the foreword.

“Chico and Joseph—A Cat Recounts the Life of Pope Benedict XVI” is narrated by Chico who took up with the Pope in his native Germany when he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
The illustrated 44-page book is written by Italian author Jeanne Perego and set mostly in Germany in the years before Benedict was elected in April 2005.

Chico is a real cat who belongs to a German couple in the German city of Pentling, where the pope lived until he moved to Rome in 1981. The couple are caretakers of the house where Ratzinger had hoped to retire had he not been elected pope.

Chico tells the story of the life of “my best friend” from his birth in Germany in 1927, through his days as a young man, priest, bishop and cardinal. It ends with his election as pope on April 19, 2005.

It recounts the Nazi era in Germany when the pope was a teenager, calling the war years “one of the most dramatic and shameful times in the history of man.”

“At that time, Joseph was forced to do something which was absolutely against his will: join the army and leave for the war. We cats do not make war,” Chico narrates.

Chico recounts how each time then Cardinal Ratzinger returned to Germany for a vacation, the cat would run into his house and sit on his lap as he played the piano.

One Christmas, when the future pope tried to put the cat out of the house “I misbehaved” and scratched him. “He forgave me right away but told me: ‘Don’t do it again.’”

In his foreword, Ganswein tells the children: “Keep in mind that the cat is writing from his point of view. At the end of the day he is a cat, even if he is a cat who is a friend.”

During the years when he was a cardinal in Rome, the future pope befriended another cat he found on the street and kept him in his apartment until he was elected pontiff.

There have been conflicting reports about whether that cat moved into the Vatican with the pope.

Copyright 2007 Reuters Limited.