Claiming Bragging Rights

I could not resist posting this news article. I don't know Heidi Sierras personally but she lives just some 10 miles up the road from me. What a delight to know that someone so near will be so beautifully honored.

California woman selected for Easter baptism by Pope Benedict XVI in Rome
By Sue NowickiMcClatchy-Tribune Information Services

MODESTO, Calif. — Heidi Sierras won't be hiding colored eggs on Easter for her four children this year. Instead, the 29-year-old Ceres, Calif., woman will be in Rome to be baptized by Pope Benedict XVI.

"It's hard to put into words. It's almost like I'm going to be baptized by Jesus himself," she said. "It's an incredible feeling."

Each year, the pope chooses seven people representing the world's continents for the baptism service that takes place in St. Peter's Basilica on the Saturday evening before Easter Sunday.
Sierras, who worships at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Modesto, Calif., will represent North America. About 40 people, including the Rev. Joseph Illo and Stacy Phillips, Sierras' instructor in the Catholic faith, will travel to Rome to share in her baptism and to receive Holy Communion from the pope.

"It will be fabulous," said Illo. "I've lived in Rome for two years as a seminarian, so I've been at a lot of papal Masses and served at papal Masses, but this is quite different. This is like an affirmation of my work as a priest to have one of the people that I've helped come to her faith being baptized by the one we believe is the vicar of Christ on Earth."

In the Catholic tradition, an adult who wants to become a Catholic goes through a class called Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It usually lasts about a year but can run for two years, depending on the parish and individual. At the end of the class, during the Easter vigil on the evening before Easter, RCIA "graduates" receive three sacraments — baptism, first communion and confirmation.

The rules are a little different for those raised Catholic but who missed confirmation or baptism, as well as those who were baptized in a Protestant church.

Sierras said she didn't go to church as a child. Her husband, Dan, grew up Catholic but after marriage didn't attend services regularly.

"We'd at least go on Christmas and Easter with the family," Sierras said.

About three years ago, he began going more often and she went with him. When she began asking questions about the faith, he encouraged her to sign up for RCIA to learn the answers. She did and was scheduled to be baptized at St. Joseph's last Easter.

But a Filipino woman in the church, who sometimes spends a month in Rome, knew a Filipino nun there, who knew an Italian nun, who knows the pope. Through that connection, the word filtered back to St. Joseph's that a North American spot was open for baptism by the pope in 2009. The participant would have to stay in RCIA for an additional year and be sure that he or she wanted to become Catholic.

Phillips approached Sierras to find out if she was interested. She was. Letters went to and from Rome. After an initial acceptance last spring, more letters and documents were exchanged. The choice was confirmed.

Sierras watched the Easter vigil service on the Eternal Word Television Network last year.
"It's incredible," she said. "I feel like, 'Why me?' I felt undeserving. But how could I say no to that? It's an incredible opportunity."

The Sierrases have four children — Ethan, 11; Kayla, 8; Logan, 3; and Eleanor, 1 month. The couple will take the older two children with them and leave the younger two with relatives.
"My husband is beside himself (with anticipation)," Sierras said. "My daughter was supposed to receive her first communion with the rest of her class in May. But they've arranged for her to receive her first communion this weekend so she can receive communion from the pope when we go."

Dan Sierras, who attended a Catholic church in Tracy, Calif., as a youngster and teenager, said he is thrilled about the honor.

"To say I'm excited would be an understatement," he said. "It's unbelievable that she's going to be baptized by the pope, considering there are only seven people selected in the world. I'm extremely happy because it's a true blessing, what she's going to experience.

"It is exciting to think that I'll (also) be receiving communion from the pope, but to be honest, I'm really more excited for Heidi and the sacraments that she'll be receiving."

Excommunication and Nancy Pelosi

The whole world knows by now of Nancy Pelosi's private visit with Holy Father. And as usual, the subject of excommunication came up in the media and the cyberworld at large. Too many people have the wrong idea about WHO does the excommunicating; whose responsibitiy and authority it is to excommunicate.

A recent email from a friend provided the following points below to counter the opinion-making that is going around.


1) It is not the Pope's job to excommunicate Pelosi; it is the responsibility of HER local bishop. If he has not done this then I sincerely hope that he will soon. In regards, to other bishops it is their responsibility to catechise the people in their dioceses concerning this issue and to not admit her to communion if she happens to travel there.

2) The Vatican issued a press release saying what the Pope told Pelosi. It is quite clear that the Pope made sure to let her know in no uncertain terms that her interpretation of Church teaching concerning abortion and other life issues is absolutely wrong.

3) When Pelosi spoke out in August concerning the Church's teaching on abortion she was publicly corrected by many of the US bishops.

There is no cause for confusion here in regards to the statements given by the Pope and bishops here in the USA. Those Catholics who are confused about this issue are confused because they are not well catechised and do not have a good and right understanding of the Church and her teachings. And that is a separate issue; one which I work very hard to correct.

Rediscover Confession, Urges Pope

Calls It Sacrament of Forgiveness

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 15, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Sin is what puts distance between the believer and God, and it's the sacrament of confession that brings the two back together, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope said this today in a Gospel reflection on Mark's account of the healed leper, which he delivered before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square.In the Gospel account, recalls the Pontiff, the leper "gets on his knees and says: 'If you wish, you can make me clean!'

Jesus, moved, stretches out his hand, touches him and says: 'I do wish it. Be made clean!'"

"According to the ancient Jewish law," the Holy Father explained, "leprosy was not only considered a sickness but the gravest form of 'impurity."

He continued: "Leprosy thus constituted a kind of religious and civil death, and its healing was a kind of resurrection. We might see in leprosy a symbol of sin, which is the true impurity of heart, distancing us from God."

It is not, in effect, physical malady that distances us from him, as the ancient norms supposed, but sin, the spiritual and moral evil."

Benedict XVI reflected: "The sins we commit distance us from God, and, if they are not humbly confessed, trusting in the divine mercy, they will finally bring about the death of the soul. This miracle thus has powerful symbolic value."

In the Sacrament of Penance Christ crucified and risen, through his ministers, purifies us with his infinite mercy, restores us to communion with the heavenly Father and our brothers, and makes a gift of his love, joy and peace to us."

"Dear brothers and sisters," he concluded, "let us invoke the Virgin Mary, whom God preserved from every stain of sin, that she help us to avoid sin and to have frequent recourse to the sacrament of confession, the sacrament of forgiveness, whose value and importance for our Christian life needs to be rediscovered today."

The Pope Takes on Holocaust Deniers

Roman Catholic Church is "committed" to rejecting anti-Semitism, the pope says
By GABE PRESSMAN - AP

Pope Benedict XVI has spoken out forcefully against Holocaust denial.

He told a group of American Jewish leaders Thursday that the Roman Catholic Church was "profoundly and irrevocably committed" to rejecting anti-Semitism. As for Holocaust denial, the Pope called that "intolerable and altogether unacceptable" and affirmed that the Holocaust was ''a crime against God and humanity."

That this statement was necessary at all is the result of the rantings of one man, Bishop Richard Williamson. "I believe there were no gas chambers," Bishop Williamson told a television interviewer. "I don't think six million Jews were gassed."

Williamson is one of a small group of bishops who were excommunicated after they rejected the reforms the church made in the meeting called Vatican II in the mid-1960s. In an effort at reconciliation, the pope recently rescinded the excommunications. But, now, the Vatican says, Williamson must rescind his statements before he can serve as a clergyman.

What an affront Williamson's remarks are to the millions who died in the gas chambers and to their descendants! Somebody should buy him a plane ticket to Poland. All he has to do is visit the Auschwitz concentration camp near Krakow to view gas chambers and ovens. I visited that place for the first time right after World War II. Then, and now, it contains within its stark barracks buildings mountains of human hair that the Nazis shaved off victims' heads to be shipped back to Germany to be made into mattresses. Also, thousands of shoes, taken from the victims before they were gassed. I held a baby's shoe in my hands at this monument to inhumanity. I saw the ovens in which the bodies were cremated and the ashes. I saw the containers of the deadly gas used to kill the victims. The Polish government has preserved all of this to remind the world of what happened.

Malcolm Hoenlein, a leader of the group of American Jewish leaders who met with the Pope, said: "The Pope's statement is really important,'' but "this is not a one-shot deal. We hope there would be an ongoing addressing of this inside the church and outside the church to show that this is reprehensible."

Deborah Lipstadt, author of "Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory," says: "Williamson's claims are so ludicrous it's almost laughable....Holocaust denial is a form of anti-Semitism. Essentially what it is arguing is the Jews made this up to get the sympathy of the world and maybe to get money.''

But, of course, it is not laughable. It is sad that 65 years after the crimes of Adolph Hitler became known, there are still nay sayers and anti-Semites who deny the truth. By his words, Pope Benedict has shown that he is more than an advocate for the Jewish people. He is an advocate for compassion, for all humanity, for truth.

Holocaust-Denying Lefebvrite Relieved of Duties

Here's the latest news concerning Bishop Williamson. I believe this was a good action on the part of the SSPX and I hope that it is a wake-up call for him.

ZENIT, The world seen from RomeNews Agency
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Will No Longer Direct Society Seminary in Argentina
BUENOS AIRES, FEB. 9, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The Society of St. Pius X bishop who denies that 6 million Jews were gassed in Nazi concentration camps has been removed of his duties as rector of the group's Argentinean seminary.

The 68-year-old British Bishop Richard Williamson is no longer the director of the seminary in La Reja, according to the Argentinean daily La Nacion. The newspaper reported receiving the news via a Sunday e-mail from the Society of St. Pius X South America director, Father Christian Bouchacourt.

Father Bouchacourt said the bishop had been relieved of his post in recent days. And the South American director echoed the declarations made by the society's superior-general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, who said the prelate's positions "do not reflect in any way the position of our society." Bishop Fellay also stated that "a Catholic bishop cannot speak with ecclesial authority if it is not a question of faith and morals."

Intra-organizational
Regardless of his past or present position in the Society of St. Pius X, Bishop Williamson and the other three bishops who had their excommunication lifted do not licitly exercise any ministry in the Catholic Church.

As the Vatican Secretariat of State clarified in a note last Wednesday: "The lifting of the excommunication has freed the four bishops from a most grave canonical penalty, but it has not changed in any way the juridical situation of the Fraternity of St. Pius X, which for the moment does not enjoy any canonical recognition in the Catholic Church.

"Neither do the four bishops, though liberated from the excommunication, have a canonical function in the Church and they do not licitly exercise a ministry in it."

Jewish group optimistic about Vatican-Jewish ties
The Associated Press
Posted: Monday, Feb. 09, 2009

VATICAN CITY Representatives of the World Jewish Congress say they are optimistic about Vatican-Jewish ties after meeting with top Vatican officials following a dispute over a Holocaust-denying bishop.

Jewish groups had expressed outrage last month after Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson, who had claimed that no Jews were gassed during the Holocaust.

But last week, they applauded after the Vatican demanded that Williamson recant before being admitted as a bishop into the church.

On Monday, the World Jewish Congress' deputy secretary-general, Maram Stern, and Richard Prasquier, president of the French Jewish umbrella group CRIF, met with Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican official responsible for relations with Jews.

Pope attempts to reach out to traditional Catholics

Pope Benedict's decision to bring back to the fold four bishops from a schismatic religious order was an attempt to reach out to a growing element of the Church that longs for a more traditional practice of Catholicism, especially in the heart of worship -- the mass, writes Charles Lewis.

In the storm following the Pope's decision to lift the excommunication of four bishops-- triggered by the revelation that Richard Williamson, one of the bishops from the Priestly Society of St. Pius X, was a Holocaust denier and 9/11 conspiracy theorist -- a profound message about the future of Catholicism was obscured. "This does have broader significance for Benedict's vision of the 21st century Catholicism as a ‘creative minority'," said John Allen, Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and author of numerous books on the papacy.

"[He wants] a distinct presence on the landscape that can infuse badly needed values into the broader cultural bloodstream. To do that, Benedict believes that Catholics must be clear about their own identity, so fostering a strong sense of Catholic identity is job number one of his pontificate.

"His authorization for wider celebration of the Latin Mass is one expression of this effort, because that rite has been such a classic carrier of traditional Catholic identity over the centuries."

For those who identify with the traditional movement in the Church, Vatican II made a huge error in making the Latin Mass seem out of touch and even reactionary. Though the Latin rite was never outright banned, it eventually became necessary to get special permission for its use.
In 2007, Pope Benedict lifted any restrictions on the Latin Mass and since then the return of the old rite has been growing. It is estimated that about seven million Catholics worldwide now use the Latin rite, and most of those are not schismatics.

To those outside the Church, the language and style of worship might appear a minor matter, an issue of style over substance. For Catholics, though, the mass is the epitome of worship and the most important of sacraments. And anything that might diminish the holiness of the mass, diminishes the connection to God and strikes at the heart of the Church.

"Latin was the language of the liturgy for well over 1,500 years," said Fr. Howard Venette, a member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter in Toronto, a group in full communion with Rome. "Latin raises the liturgy to something above street level. And it adds to historicity and the nature of the mass as an expression of the Church's prayer, not just the individual in the pew. And it unites us to the mystery."

He said even the form of the service has been misunderstood. The Latin rite is usually described as the priest conducting the service with his back to the congregation.

"It's not my back to the people, it's everyone facing God together."

Christopher Bellitto, a professor of Church history at Keane University in Union, N.J., said to understand Pope Benedict's mission it has to be contrasted to the papacy of John Paul II.
"The Italians have an expression: fat pope; skinny pope," he said.

John Paul II ran a big, dramatic papacy that evangelized to the world and helped bring about the fall of communism in Eastern Europe; Pope Benedict's papacy has a narrower focus but is still having a huge impact.

"He's clearly made a decision that he would rather concentrate on shoring up Catholic identity rather than worrying about offending dialogue partners outside of Catholicism. I don't think he meant to show disrespect to Muslims, Protestants or Jews [during his papacy]. But look at it from his perspective: He is head of the Catholic church. So if he decides he's going to spend his time on Catholicism within, that's his right."

Others believe that part of Pope Benedict's strategy in reaching out to the Priestly Society of St. Pius X was to make sure that those who are attracted to elements of the traditionalist movement, do not bring their faith to schismatics.

David Gibson, author of The Rule of Benedict, said the Pope was not only attempting to draw schismatics back but was also saying to traditionalists they could be in communion with the Catholic Church and still have a Latin Mass.

"It was a way to draw people away from the schismatic groups. Why would you go to this schismatic group if you could have the main thing you want in the Catholic Church?"

Mr. Gibson believes that Pope Benedict is trying to reorient the Church in the wake of Vatican II toward a greater reverence for older tradition. But that does not mean that the Pope Benedict in any way rejects the massive reforms of the Second Vatican Council. In fact, the four bishops whose excommunication was lifted will still not be able to exercise their offices until they accept Vatican II.

"Pope Benedict is a man of the church, he respects real tradition. For him they cannot dismiss Vatican II. You can interpret in different ways. But you can't outright reject it."

National Post

clewis@nationalpost.com

Law and Spirit

I've been discussing the latest Washington efforts to get the rampant abuse of power by corporation in check with my son. The major question we have been discussing is - Are the caps on executive income useful? Yes, but only to the degree of attacking symptoms, not problems

I think a recent email from him to me speaks succinctly to the depth and complexity of the problem AND to the fact that solutions are not being considered from the perspective of the spiritual malaise that afflicts large portions of our governing society. His email follows here and references Holy Father as well.
******************************************************


I, of course, think it is wrong for executives to abuse their position and power the way that they do, but I'm not convinced it is for the state to put a cap on anyone's pay, regardless of how just or unjust the pay is. It goes against the very idea of freedom. What would have been better would be to put laws in place that require company execs to ensure the security of their employs, not just themselves.

I think that the bailouts were wrong. Hence, what I meant earlier by trying to right a wrong with a wrong.

I'll give an example of the symptoms vs. problems issue: An international lawyer had a case against Brazil because Brazil failed to protect a woman from spousal abuse when she had clearly sought that help. Now Brazil, because of the case, will pay more attention and more strictly enforce its domestic violence laws. Let's say that Brazil does such a good job of this that their domestic violence crime rate is drastically reduced. Sure this is a good thing, but it doesn't mean that people's hearts have been changed. It simply means that people are afraid to break the law because of the consequences. This is not a society of love, but one of fear. Incidentally, this lawyer was saying this in relation to the importance of Benedict's Deus Caritas Est.

The point is this: because our government is unwillingly to look at the problems of our country from any other perspective other than secular they are impotent to truly do anything. This is why I generally do not get excited about politics simply because a certain candidate happens to be "pro-life". The vast majority of politicians see things above all else from a political point of view. At the root of our problems they can do absolutely nothing because of this. What I have said applies to every single issue that comes up in politics.

So there it is. Peace and God bless you.

In Christ through Mary,
Quanah

Pope Didn't Know Shoah Views of Lefebvrite Bishop

Vatican Clarifies Position on Lifted Bans and Holocaust
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 4, 2009 (Zenit.org).-

Benedict XVI did not know Bishop Richard Williamson's position as a denier of the Holocaust when he lifted the prelate's excommunication in order to facilitate dialogue with the Lefebvrites, affirmed the Vatican.
A statement issued today by the Vatican Secretariat of State addressed the recent decree by which "the excommunication of four prelates of the Fraternity of St. Pius X were lifted." It also looked at the "reductionist declarations on the Shoah from Bishop Williamson of that same fraternity."

The Vatican statement clarified that the decree lifting the excommunication came in response to repeated petitions from the superior-general of the Fraternity of St. Pius X, and the Holy Father's desire to "remove an impediment that adversely affected the opening of a door to dialogue."

It added: "Now [the Pope] expects that the same willingness be expressed by the four bishops, in total adhesion to the doctrine and discipline of the Church."

The statement clarified: "The lifting of the excommunication has freed the four bishops from a most grave canonical penalty, but it has not changed in any way the juridical situation of the Fraternity of St. Pius X, which for the moment does not enjoy any canonical recognition in the Catholic Church."

Neither do the four bishops, though liberated from the excommunication, have a canonical function in the Church and they do not licitly exercise a ministry in it."

The statement pointed out some requirements for the official recognition of the Fraternity of St. Pius X, and underlined the commitment of the Holy See in resolving the problems that caused a fracture.

The statement went on to reiterate the Pope's firm rejection of Bishop Williamson's opinion on the Shoah, stating that the prelate would have to "distance himself in an absolutely unmistakable and public way from his position" in order to be reinstated to episcopal service. It further recorded that the prelate's viewpoint on the Shoah "was unknown to the Holy Father in the moment of the lifting of the excommunication."

The Pontiff's own words from last week were repeated, when the Holy Father "reaffirmed his full and indisputable solidarity with our brother recipients of the First Covenant, and affirmed that the memory of that terrible genocide should induce 'humanity to reflect on the unpredictable power of evil when it conquers the human heart.'"

Please note links at the end of this post

Vatican responds in row over Holocaust
Published Date: 04 February 2009
By Ethan McNern

POPE Benedict has hit back in unusually strong terms at allegations that he holds any sympathy with Holocaust deniers.

Statements issued yesterday were prompted by comments from the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who was reacting to the outcry over the Pope's rehabilitation of four traditional Catholic bishops, including one who denies the extent of the Holocaust.

. . .She said: "It is a fundamental question if, through a decision by the Vatican, the impression arises that the Holocaust can be denied."This is about the Pope and the Vatican making very clear that there can be no (Holocaust] denial and that there must be positive relations with Judaism," said Merkel.


Ms. Merkel said that the Vatican had not yet given such clarifications.The German-born Pope has caused a furore with his lifting of the excommunications, including that of Richard Williamson, a Briton who denies there were gas chambers and says no more than 300,000 Jews died in concentration camps. An estimated six million European Jews were murdered by the Nazis.


The Vatican quickly hit back, however, saying the Pope's position on the Holocaust and Holocaust denial "could not be any clearer".


In a statement, the Vatican's spokesman, Federico Lombardi, said the Pope's thoughts on the Holocaust had been expressed "very clearly" in his speech at the Cologne synagogue in August 2005, and at Auschwitz in 2006 and last week, where his words were "unequivocal".

Mr Lombardi said: "The condemnation of declarations which deny the Holocaust could not have been any clearer."

New RNC leader

Not precisely BENEDICT but a good news article to share anyway.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14947

Text of Podcast from Holy Father

Before greeting the Italian pilgrims, I still have three announcements.

The first: I have learned with great joy the election of Metropolitan Kirill as new Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias. I invoke upon him the light of the Holy Ghost for a generous service to the Russian Orthodox Church, trusting him to the special protection of the Mother of God.

The second. In the homily pronounced on the occasion of the solemn inauguration of my Pontificate, I said that it is the "explicit" duty of the Pastor "the call to unity", and, commenting upon the Gospel words regarding the miraculous catch of fish, I said, "although there were so many, the net was not torn"; I continued after these Gospel words, "Alas, beloved Lord, with sorrow we must now acknowledge that it has been torn!". And I continued, "But no – we must not be sad! Let us rejoice because of your promise, which does not disappoint, and let us do all we can to pursue the path towards the unity you have promised. Let us remember it in our prayer to the Lord, as we plead with him: yes, Lord, remember your promise. Grant that we may be one flock and one shepherd! Do not allow your net to be torn, help us to be servants of unity.

Precisely in the accomplishment of this service of unity, which qualifies, in a specific way, my ministry as Successor of Peter, I decided, a few days ago, to grant the remission of the excommunication in which the four bishops ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988, without pontifical mandate, had incurred. I fulfilled this act of fatherly mercy because those prelates repeatedly manifested to me their deep suffering for the situation in which they found themselves. I hope that this gesture of mine will be followed by the solicitous effort by them to accomplish the ulterior steps necessary to accomplish full communion with the Church, thus testifying true fidelity and true recognition of the Magisterium and of the authority of the Pope and of the Second Vatican Council.

The third announcement. While I renew with affection the expression of my full and unquestionable solidarity with our brothers receivers of the First Covenant, I hope that the memory of the Shoah leads mankind to reflect on the unpredictable power of evil when it conquers the heart of man.

May the Shoah be for all a warning against forgetfulness, against denial or reductionism, because the violence against a single human being is violence against all. No man is an island, a famous poet write. The Shoah particularly teaches, both old an the new generations, that only the tiresome path of listening and dialogue, of love and of forgiveness lead the peoples, the cultures, and the religions of the world to the hoped-for goal of fraternity and peace in truth. May violence never again crush the dignity of man!

Angelus on World Day of Migrants and Refugees appeals for peace in the Holy Land and Gaza Strip

Called to imitate Christ in peaceful coexistence and active dialogue

On Sunday, 18 January, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, prior to leading the Angelus the Holy Father spoke on the Church's mission in the globalized world. The following is a translation of the Pope's Reflection, given in Italian.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today is the World Day of Migrants and Refugees. Since the Pauline Year is being celebrated this year, thinking precisely of St Paul as the great itinerant missionary of the Gospel, I have chosen the theme: "St Paul migrant, "Apostle of the peoples'".

Saul this was his Hebrew name was born into a family of Jews that had emigrated to Tarsus, an important city in Cilicia, and he grew up with three cultures Hebrew, Hellenistic and Roman and a cosmopolitan mentality. When he converted from being a persecutor of Christians to an apostle of the Gospel, Paul became an "ambassador" of the Risen Christ to make him known to all, in the conviction that in him all peoples are called to form the great family of God's children.

This is also the Church's mission, particularly in our time of globalization. As Christians, we cannot fail to feel the need to transmit the message of the love of Jesus, especially to those who do not know him, or rather who are in difficult or grevious situations.

Today I am thinking of migrants in particular. Their actual situation is undoubtedly varied: in some cases, thank God, it is serene and well integrated; at other times, unfortunately, it is painful, difficult and sometimes even dramatic.

I would like to assure you that the Christian community looks at each person and each family with attention, and asks St Paul for the strength for a renewed effort to favour peaceful coexistence among men and women of different races, cultures and religions in every part of the world.

The Apostle tells us what the secret of his new life was: "I", he writes, "have been grasped by Christ Jesus" (Phil 3: 12); and he adds: "Be imitators of me" (Phil 3: 17). Yes, each one of us, according to his/her own vocation and the place where one lives and works, is called to witness to the Gospel, with greater concern for those brothers and sisters who, from other countries and for various reasons, have come to live among us, thus turning the phenomenon of migration into an opportunity for encounter among civilizations.

Let us pray and act so that this may occur in an ever more peaceful and constructive way, in respect and in dialogue, averting every temptation of conflict and oppression.

I would like to add a special word for seafarers and fishermen who have been living for some time in great hardship. In addition to the usual difficulties, their freedom to go ashore and bring chaplains on board is restricted, and they also risk piracy and the damage of illegal fishing. I express my closeness to them and the wish that their generosity, in sea rescue operations, may be rewarded by greater consideration.

am thinking, lastly, of the World Meeting of Families that is drawing to a close in Mexico City, and of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that begins precisely today. Dear brothers and sisters, I invite you to pray for all of these intentions, invoking the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary.

With deep apprehension I am following the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Today let us also remember before the Lord the hundreds of children, the elderly, women, innocent victims of the unheard of violence, the injured, those who are mourning their dear ones and those who have lost their possessions.

I invite you, at the same time, to accompany with prayer the efforts that many people of good will are making to stop the tragedy. I ardently hope that they will be able to wisely avail themselves of the openings that are appearing in order to restore the truce and to move towards peaceful and lasting solutions.

In this sense, I renew my encouragement to those on the one side as on the other who believe that in the Holy Land there is room for all, so that they may help their people to recover from the wreckage and terror and, courageously resume the path of dialogue in justice and truth. This is the only path that can effectively safeguard a future of peace for the children of that dear region!

After the Angelus the Pope said:

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity that will conclude next Sunday, 25 January, begins today. In the southern hemisphere, in the wake of the novena recommended by Pope Leo xiii at the end of the 19th century, the prayer for Christian Unity will take place between the Ascension and Pentecost. The biblical theme, instead, is common to all. This year it has been suggested by an ecumenical group from Korea and it is taken from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel: "That they may become one in your hand" (37: 17).

May we welcome this invitation too and pray with greater intensity that Christians may walk resolutely towards full communion among themselves. I address particularly Catholics scattered throughout the world so that, united in prayer, they do not tire of working to overcome the obstacles that still impede full communion among all Christ's disciples. The ecumenical commitment is even more urgent today, to give to our society, marked by tragic conflicts and lacerating divisions, a sign of and an incentive for reconciliation and peace.

We shall conclude this Week of Prayer in the Papal Basilica of St Paul Outside-the-Walls with the celebration of Vespers, next Sunday, recalling the Conversion of St Paul, who has made the unity of the body of Christ an essential nucleus of his preaching.

Papal Telegram to President Obama

Unfailing wisdom for a just and free society

The Honorable Barack Obama

President of the United States of America

The White House, Washington, DC

On the occasion of your inauguration as the forty-fourth President of the United States of America I offer cordial good wishes, together with the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you unfailing wisdom and strength in the exercise of your high responsibilities. Under your leadership may the American people continue to find in their impressive religious and political heritage the spiritual values and ethical principles needed to cooperate in the building of a truly just and free society, marked by respect for the dignity, equality and rights of each of its members, especially the poor, the outcast and those who have no voice. At a time when so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world yearn for liberation from the scourge of poverty, hunger and violence, I pray that you will be confirmed in your resolve to promote understanding, cooperation and peace among the nations, so that all may share in the banquet of life which God wills to set for the whole human family (cf. Isaiah 25: 6-7). Upon you and your family, and upon all the American people, I willingly invoke the Lord's blessings of joy and peace.

BENEDICTUS PP. XVI

Pope says Vatican II 'providential'

Sun Jan 25, 1:42 pm ET
ROME – Pope Benedict XVI has praised as "providential" the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that led to liberalizing reforms in the Church.

Benedict spoke at a prayer service Sunday marking the 50th anniversary of the announcement convening Vatican II, which led to reforms such as Mass being celebrated in local languages rather than Latin.

The anniversary came just days after Benedict rehabilitated four traditionalist bishops who were deeply opposed to Vatican II's reforms. The four were excommunicated after being consecrated by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre without papal consent.

Benedict has said Vatican II was not the rupture with the past that liberals say it was, but rather a "continuity" of church history

Conversion is trusting in Christs forgiveness

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BVG30X7DhE

Vatican reveals Pope's YouTube channel
Agence France-
VATICAN CITY--The Vatican will publish a report on Friday detailing the launch of Pope Benedict XVI's own dedicated channel on YouTube, the Osservatore Romano newspaper said.

The deal with search engine giant Google, which owns the video sharing website, aims to "secure the Pope's presence on the web," the Vatican paper said Thursday, adding that Benedict has always had been "fond of new technologies."

The report will be published when the German-born pontiff will officially launch his YouTube channel.

Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, head of the Vatican's communications department, told the paper the pope hopes to reach out to "the digital generation.
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Reports: Pope to lift excommunications
VATICAN CITY – Two newspapers say Pope Benedict XVI has decided to lift the excommunications of four bishops consecrated 20 years ago by the late French ultraconservative Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

Lefebvre rebelled against the Vatican's modernizing reforms of the 1960s, including replacing Latin with local languages at Mass.

Benedict has already reached out to the rebels in the hopes of bringing them back into the Church by making it the old Mass more readily available.

The Italian newspapers Il Giornale and Il Riformista said Thursday that Benedict has now decided to meet their demand that the excommunications be lifted. The newspapers said, without citing sources, that Benedict has already signed the decrees and that they will be made public soon.

The Vatican declined comment on the reports.

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI in a telegram on Tuesday offered US president-elect Barack Obama prayers that God may grant him "unfailing wisdom and strength" in carrying out his new responsibilities. "Under your leadership may the American people continue to find in their impressive religious and political heritage the spiritual values and ethical principles needed to cooperate in the building of a truly just and free society," Benedict told Obama just a few hours before the inauguration ceremonies.

Benedict said such qualities were needed of the US leader particularly: "At a time when so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world yearn for liberation from the scourge of poverty, hunger and violence."

"Upon you and your family, and upon all the American people, I willingly invoke the Lord's blessing of joy and peace," the pontiff concluded.

Color me HAPPY

Pope to have own Google channel
VATICAN CITY (AP) – The Vatican says Pope Benedict XVI is getting his own channel on Google. It says the Vatican TV Center and Vatican Radio are collaborating with Google on the project. The Vatican's press office said Saturday that texts and video of the pope's speeches as well as news about the pontiff would be posted directly onto the channel. It says more information will be given next week. The Vatican began using its Web site widely to publish teachings and pronouncements under the late Pope John Paul II.

'Manipulative' reports of Pope's message disappoint Archbishop
Christian Peregin

Archbishop Paul Cremona commented on Pope Benedict's controversial Christmas message, which was described by news organisations and gay activists as homophobic and insulting.
The Pope's address, part of which can be seen below, was interpreted by big news organisations like BBC and Reuters as meaning that the world needs to protect itself from homosexuality and non-traditional gender roles in the same way it needs to protect the rainforests for man's own survival.

Answering questions by The Times, Mgr Cremona said he was extremely disappointed by the "manipulative" reports of both the local and foreign media. Many things were falsely attributed to the Pope, whose message should be published in full in order to be understood.

Mgr Cremona added that the teachings of the Church on "homosexual acts" are consistent with those of heterosexual acts, in that sexuality must be a donation of two persons to each other: "Reciprocally, totally and forever, in marriage, in mutual love and help, as well as for the procreation and upbringing of offspring.

"When society does not follow this plan, it damages the institution of marriage and the family, which is the primary cell of society."

Reacting to the Curia's comments, Marisa Xuereb, a spokesman for the Malta Gay Rights Movement said the Pope's message was interpreted within the context of all that has been said about homosexuality throughout the years.

"The truth is, people are always wary of what the Church says (and does not say) about homosexuality because the message, whether explicit or implied, is typically negative," she said, pointing out that while the Vatican and the Maltese Curia rebutted these latest comments on its message as manipulative interpretation, they stopped short of coming out with a clear statement about the role of homosexuality in the ecology of man.

The spokesman also criticised the Church's insistence on separating homosexuality from the homosexual person, saying it is widely acknowledged that sexuality is an integral part of the human personality.

The point was echoed by former Alternattiva Demokratika candidate Patrick Attard who on Saturday excommunicated himself from the Church because of the Pope's words: "It is like accepting a left-handed person as long as he writes with his right hand or accepting a bird as long as it does not fly.

"I do not expect them to say they agree with gay marriage. I expect them to be more specific. Should I be able to visit my sick partner in hospital? Do I have the right to organise his funeral if he dies? Do I have the right to bereavement leave or urgent family leave if my partner is sick or dying? What if I have a homophobic boss who does not allow it? Do I have to end up unemployed over and above these problems?"

Columnist Kenneth Zammit Tabona said that because of the Pope's ill-advised utterances, the media and the gay community were trying to force the Catholic Church into a position it could not take.

Instead, he said, those who want a more liberal society in Malta should tackle the government led by Lawrence Gonzi not the Church.

"The Church cannot declare that gay marriage or homosexual acts are correct, especially in an official statement. For the Church, all sex outside the sanctity of marriage is sinful," he said.
"By attacking the Church with regard to divorce, abortion, bioethics, euthanasia, same-sex partnerships etc, we are allowing the government to hide behind ecclesiastical petticoats. The irony is that the Archbishop has several times told the government quite plainly that it should legislate as is necessary for the country."

Moreover, he said that there is a good chance the Pope was misinterpreted because of the convoluted and obscure language in which the message was couched.

Since the Pope's messages are addressed to millions of Catholics around the world, Mr Zammit Tabona strongly feels that simpler and more direct declarations should be made by the Pope in order for this not to happen again.

"It's high time the Vatican threw this high flown theological mumbo-jumbo out of the window and, like Jesus himself, started speaking the everyday language of normal human beings. Why does the Pope have to speak in riddles?"

Fr Joe Borg, an outspoken priest and blogger for timesofmalta.com, recently wrote about the issue. He said the Church's teachings were not discriminatory towards gay people.

"The Church does not condemn only homosexual acts but it also condemns sexual acts of heterosexuals outside of marriage. There are heterosexuals who disagree with the teaching of the Church on pre-marital and extramarital sex as there are homosexuals who disagree with the teaching of the Church on homosexual acts. Should a heterosexual feel offended when the Church condemns heterosexual acts outside of marriage and says that these undermine marriage and the family and as a consequence undermine society?"

He said the Pope's comparison of the protection of the rainforest and the protection of marriage between man and woman is good and intelligent "but perhaps not very media savvy and friendly".

Mario Gerada, a member of Drachma, the gay Catholics group, said he hopes the incident will be turned into an opportunity for dialogue between the gay community and the Church, which both have a lot to offer each other.

"The Vatican and the LGBT community need to utilise this opportunity to actually realise how important each other's voice is. Both reacted strongly to each other's voice but both have a lot to say and learn!"

The Pope's message can be read in full on the Vatican's website:
www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2008/december/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20081222_curia-romana_en.html.
cperegin@timesofmalta.com