Pope says old-rite Latin Mass should be on offer in every Catholic parish
June 17, 2008
The Vatican is writing to seminaries to request all student priests are trained in how to say the Tridentine Mass, a liturgy abandoned for Mass in the vernacular in the 1960s
Pope Benedict XVI wants every parish in the West to offer believers the Mass in the Tridentine or Gregorian Rite, the Latin-language liturgy used until the 1960s by every Catholic church in the world.
The Vatican is now writing to seminaries to ask that student priests be required to learn the rite, which, in widescale liturgical changes following the modernising church council Vatican II (1962-5), was largely replaced by Mass in the vernacular.
The Pope wishes every parish to offer both rites for Sunday Mass, an eminent Vatican Cardinal announced in London on Saturday. Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, President of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, said: “The Holy Father is willing to offer to all the people this possibility, not only for the few groups who demand it but so that everybody knows this way of celebrating the Eucharist in the Catholic Church.”
It was a “gift” and a “treasure,” Castrillon Hoyos said, hours before celebrating a Tridentine liturgy attended by some 1,500 worshippers at Westminster Cathedral on June 14. “This kind of worship is so noble, so beautiful – the deepest theologians’ way to express our faith. The worship, the music, the architecture, the painting, makes a whole that is a treasure.”
He attacked claims by Catholics who claim the Tridentine revival is a step backwards liturgically, saying: “Others think that the Holy Father is going against the Second Vatican Council. That is absolute ignorance. The Fathers of the Council, never celebrated a Mass other than the Gregorian one. It [the Novus Ordo] came after the Council ? The Holy Father, who is a theologian and who was in the preparation for the Council, is acting exactly in the way of the Council, offering with freedom the different kinds of celebration.”
He added: "The experience of these 40 years has not always been so good. Many people abandoned the sense of adoration (of God)?
There is (now) an atmosphere that makes it possible for these abuses and that atmosphere must be changed,” he said in English. “It is not a matter of confrontation but of dialogue — fraternal dialogue — making efforts to understand the precious things contained in the new and the old rites.”
Used worldwide in Catholic parishes from 1570 until the 1960s, the Tridentine Rite also differs in key aspects from the modern Catholic liturgy. In the modern Mass, a priest will face the congregants, in the Tridentine Rite, he will pray facing the altar, traditionally placed facing East, towards Jerusalem, and thus the direction of the place from which Christ is believed to have ascended to heaven.
In July 2007. Benedict XVI announced that every priest who wished to do so might celebrate Mass in the Tridentine Rite – without requiring, as had previously been the case, permission from their local bishop.
Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos added: “Today for many bishops it is difficult because they don’t have priests who don’t know Latin.
Many seminaries give very few hours to Latin – not enough to give the necessary preparation to celebrate in a good way the Extraordinary Form.”
Monday, June 23, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Latin Days Are Here Again?
Pope Benedict wants to revive the Latin mass in Roman Catholic worship. But what exactly does that mean?
George Weigel
Newsweek Web Exclusive
Updated: 11:19 AM ET Jun 19, 2008
Is Pope Benedict XVI determined to restore the Latin mass that many Roman Catholics thought had been consigned to the dustbin of history? The answer, in short, is both yes and no. But neither the "yes" nor the "no" quite fits the conventional speculations in several recent media reports following off-the-cuff remarks to a small Catholic association in Great Britain by a Vatican official. In unraveling this, it helps to begin at the beginning.
As he reminds us in his memoir, "Salt of the Earth," the young Joseph Ratzinger was deeply influenced, both spiritually and intellectually, by the mid-20th-century movement to reform the Roman Catholic Church's public worship--a movement that helped pave the way for the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Father Ratzinger was a peritus, a theological expert, at the council, and like many others, he welcomed the council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy: here was a ratification of the liturgical reform movement he had long supported and a blueprint for further organic development of the celebration of mass. In the immediate aftermath of Vatican II, however, Ratzinger became convinced that organic development had been jettisoned for revolution, the liturgical Jacobins being a cadre of academics determined to impose their view of a populist liturgy on the entire Catholic Church.
In the decades between Vatican II and his election as Benedict XVI, Ratzinger became a leader in what became known as "the reform of the reform": a loosely knit international network of laity, bishops, priests and scholars, committed to returning the process of liturgical development in the Catholic Church to what they understood to be the authentic blueprint of Vatican II. Seeing a Gregorian chant CD from an obscure Spanish monastery rise to the top of the pop charts in the 1990s, they wondered why much of the church had abandoned one of Catholicism's classic musical forms. Finding congregations that seemed more interested in self-affirmation than worship, and priests given to making their personalities the center of the liturgical action, they asked whether the rush to create a kind of sacred circle in which the priest faces the people over the eucharistic "table" might have something to do with the problem.
And they reminded the entire church that Vatican II had not mandated many of the things most Catholics thought it had decreed: for example, the elimination of Latin (and chant) from the liturgy and the free-standing altar behind which the priest faced the congregation.
Over the past 40 years, the Catholic liturgical wars have tended to be fought among specialists and activists. The largest post-Vatican II splinter group, associated with the excommunicated French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, certainly had its problems with the new liturgy; but the deeper cause of the Lefebvrists' march into schism was their rejection of Vatican II's teaching on religious freedom, which they deemed heresy. The overwhelming majority of Catholics throughout the world have welcomed the new form of the mass that became normative in 1970, a mass celebrated entirely in English (or Spanish or French or Polish, or whatever language the congregation speaks). Over time, the silly season in Catholic liturgy that peaked in the 1970s--"clown" masses (with the priest vested as Bozo or somesuch), free-for-all prayers that ignored the prescribed rite, dreadful pop music, inept "liturgical dance," a general lack of decorum--began to recede. A re-sacralization of Catholic worship became evident in many parishes. What Ratzinger and other specialists had called "the reform of the reform" was underway at the grass roots, and under its own steam.
It was to accelerate that "reform of the reform" that Benedict XVI issued a decree last summer permitting the widespread use of the 1962 Roman rite, known technically as the Missal of John XXIII. Amidst the recent, fevered speculations that Latin days are here again, it's important to note what the Missal of John XXIII is not. It is not the "Tridentine Rite," because it includes modifications of the missal mandated by the Council of Trent in the 16th century; it is not the "mass of Pius V," which some Catholic megatraditionalists argue is the only valid form of Catholic worship. It is, in fact, the mass as celebrated every day at every session of the Second Vatican Council. (The 1962 missal did contain a Good Friday prayer for the conversion of the Jews, which some, but certainly not all, Jews found offensive. After a brief flurry of criticism, Benedict XVI modified the prayer; conversations about its further alteration continue. The modified prayer was used in the minuscule number of Catholic congregations that celebrated Holy Week 2008 according to the Missal of John XXIII; no pogroms resulted, and indeed the argument seems to have died out.)
Some may find it ironic that the "old Latin mass" that Benedict XVI has permitted is precisely the mass as known by Pope John XXIII, hero of Catholic progressivism. But there is in fact something "progressive," in the sense of reformist, about Benedict's strategy here.
Yes, the mass of John XXIII is celebrated in Latin, and yes, it is often celebrated (although it need not be) with the priest and the congregation facing the same direction as they pray--looking together, as classic liturgical theology teaches, toward the return of Christ and the inauguration of the heavenly Jerusalem. But the pope's point in making this form of liturgy more widely available is neither nostalgic nor retrogade. Rather, by encouraging the more widespread celebration of this classic form of the always-evolving Roman rite, Benedict XVI intends to create a kind of liturgical magnet, drawing the "reform of the reform" in the direction of greater reverence in the Catholic Church's public worship. In doing so, the pope is also reminding the church that, as Vatican II put it, the mass is a moment of privileged participation in "that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle." "Going to mass," in other words, is not something we do for ourselves, or something we make up ourselves; liturgical worship is our participation in something God is doing for us.
Will this Benedictine reform-of-the-reform mean that every Catholic parish will soon have at least one Sunday celebration of mass in Latin, using the Missal of John XXIII? It seems unlikely, not least because very few priests today are competent Latinists. But in those places where the Latin mass of 1962 is celebrated reverently and without nostalgic accretions (lace-bedecked older vestments, for example), it will be a source of spiritual nourishment for the minority that prefers this way of worship, even as it introduces a new generation to what will be, for them, a new form of liturgy. In international settings, the use of this rite in Latin may help revive that ancient tongue as a common Catholic language for common worship--no small matter in an increasingly diverse and pluralistic church. Among scholars and parish clergy alike, the more widespread celebration of mass according to the Missal of John XXIII may prove to be the reformist magnet that Benedict XVI wants it to be, encouraging those who are already at work re-sacralizing the liturgy.
And the net result, over time? Almost certainly not "Latin days are here again" in every Catholic parish but rather a more reverent, more prayerful celebration of mass according to a reformed missal of 1970--and according to what the Second Vatican Council actually prescribed.
George Weigel
Newsweek Web Exclusive
Updated: 11:19 AM ET Jun 19, 2008
Is Pope Benedict XVI determined to restore the Latin mass that many Roman Catholics thought had been consigned to the dustbin of history? The answer, in short, is both yes and no. But neither the "yes" nor the "no" quite fits the conventional speculations in several recent media reports following off-the-cuff remarks to a small Catholic association in Great Britain by a Vatican official. In unraveling this, it helps to begin at the beginning.
As he reminds us in his memoir, "Salt of the Earth," the young Joseph Ratzinger was deeply influenced, both spiritually and intellectually, by the mid-20th-century movement to reform the Roman Catholic Church's public worship--a movement that helped pave the way for the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Father Ratzinger was a peritus, a theological expert, at the council, and like many others, he welcomed the council's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy: here was a ratification of the liturgical reform movement he had long supported and a blueprint for further organic development of the celebration of mass. In the immediate aftermath of Vatican II, however, Ratzinger became convinced that organic development had been jettisoned for revolution, the liturgical Jacobins being a cadre of academics determined to impose their view of a populist liturgy on the entire Catholic Church.
In the decades between Vatican II and his election as Benedict XVI, Ratzinger became a leader in what became known as "the reform of the reform": a loosely knit international network of laity, bishops, priests and scholars, committed to returning the process of liturgical development in the Catholic Church to what they understood to be the authentic blueprint of Vatican II. Seeing a Gregorian chant CD from an obscure Spanish monastery rise to the top of the pop charts in the 1990s, they wondered why much of the church had abandoned one of Catholicism's classic musical forms. Finding congregations that seemed more interested in self-affirmation than worship, and priests given to making their personalities the center of the liturgical action, they asked whether the rush to create a kind of sacred circle in which the priest faces the people over the eucharistic "table" might have something to do with the problem.
And they reminded the entire church that Vatican II had not mandated many of the things most Catholics thought it had decreed: for example, the elimination of Latin (and chant) from the liturgy and the free-standing altar behind which the priest faced the congregation.
Over the past 40 years, the Catholic liturgical wars have tended to be fought among specialists and activists. The largest post-Vatican II splinter group, associated with the excommunicated French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, certainly had its problems with the new liturgy; but the deeper cause of the Lefebvrists' march into schism was their rejection of Vatican II's teaching on religious freedom, which they deemed heresy. The overwhelming majority of Catholics throughout the world have welcomed the new form of the mass that became normative in 1970, a mass celebrated entirely in English (or Spanish or French or Polish, or whatever language the congregation speaks). Over time, the silly season in Catholic liturgy that peaked in the 1970s--"clown" masses (with the priest vested as Bozo or somesuch), free-for-all prayers that ignored the prescribed rite, dreadful pop music, inept "liturgical dance," a general lack of decorum--began to recede. A re-sacralization of Catholic worship became evident in many parishes. What Ratzinger and other specialists had called "the reform of the reform" was underway at the grass roots, and under its own steam.
It was to accelerate that "reform of the reform" that Benedict XVI issued a decree last summer permitting the widespread use of the 1962 Roman rite, known technically as the Missal of John XXIII. Amidst the recent, fevered speculations that Latin days are here again, it's important to note what the Missal of John XXIII is not. It is not the "Tridentine Rite," because it includes modifications of the missal mandated by the Council of Trent in the 16th century; it is not the "mass of Pius V," which some Catholic megatraditionalists argue is the only valid form of Catholic worship. It is, in fact, the mass as celebrated every day at every session of the Second Vatican Council. (The 1962 missal did contain a Good Friday prayer for the conversion of the Jews, which some, but certainly not all, Jews found offensive. After a brief flurry of criticism, Benedict XVI modified the prayer; conversations about its further alteration continue. The modified prayer was used in the minuscule number of Catholic congregations that celebrated Holy Week 2008 according to the Missal of John XXIII; no pogroms resulted, and indeed the argument seems to have died out.)
Some may find it ironic that the "old Latin mass" that Benedict XVI has permitted is precisely the mass as known by Pope John XXIII, hero of Catholic progressivism. But there is in fact something "progressive," in the sense of reformist, about Benedict's strategy here.
Yes, the mass of John XXIII is celebrated in Latin, and yes, it is often celebrated (although it need not be) with the priest and the congregation facing the same direction as they pray--looking together, as classic liturgical theology teaches, toward the return of Christ and the inauguration of the heavenly Jerusalem. But the pope's point in making this form of liturgy more widely available is neither nostalgic nor retrogade. Rather, by encouraging the more widespread celebration of this classic form of the always-evolving Roman rite, Benedict XVI intends to create a kind of liturgical magnet, drawing the "reform of the reform" in the direction of greater reverence in the Catholic Church's public worship. In doing so, the pope is also reminding the church that, as Vatican II put it, the mass is a moment of privileged participation in "that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God, minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle." "Going to mass," in other words, is not something we do for ourselves, or something we make up ourselves; liturgical worship is our participation in something God is doing for us.
Will this Benedictine reform-of-the-reform mean that every Catholic parish will soon have at least one Sunday celebration of mass in Latin, using the Missal of John XXIII? It seems unlikely, not least because very few priests today are competent Latinists. But in those places where the Latin mass of 1962 is celebrated reverently and without nostalgic accretions (lace-bedecked older vestments, for example), it will be a source of spiritual nourishment for the minority that prefers this way of worship, even as it introduces a new generation to what will be, for them, a new form of liturgy. In international settings, the use of this rite in Latin may help revive that ancient tongue as a common Catholic language for common worship--no small matter in an increasingly diverse and pluralistic church. Among scholars and parish clergy alike, the more widespread celebration of mass according to the Missal of John XXIII may prove to be the reformist magnet that Benedict XVI wants it to be, encouraging those who are already at work re-sacralizing the liturgy.
And the net result, over time? Almost certainly not "Latin days are here again" in every Catholic parish but rather a more reverent, more prayerful celebration of mass according to a reformed missal of 1970--and according to what the Second Vatican Council actually prescribed.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
New pope continues traditions
VATICAN CITY -Pope Benedict XVI reinforced his caretaker image yesterday, reappointing the entire Vatican hierarchy chosen by his populist predecessor, John Paul II. At the same time, the new pontiff sought to dispel any impression that he was aloof or dour.
He waved and smiled at crowds gathered along the short stretch between the Vatican gates and his old apartment, where he spent some time in the afternoon. "Viva il papa!" some shouted. The pope, dressed all in white, raised both hands in a greeting.
His schedule also shows hints of the openness and symbolic gestures that were at the heart of John Paul's reign: a meeting with journalists Saturday, an outdoor Mass to formally take the papal throne Sunday and a visit Monday to a church built over the tomb of St. Paul -an apostle who carries deep significance for Roman Catholics and Christian Orthodox.
The Vatican even unveiled new e-mail addresses for Benedict, following an innovation started by John Paul.
In the first days of his papacy, the 78-year-old Benedict has projected two clear styles.
One was expected: The confident and well-prepared Vatican insider who was one of John Paul's closest advisers for more than two decades. His decisions on the top-level posts came quickly -some popes have struggled for weeks -and showed continuity with his predecessor.
Benedict was reported to have told cardinals shortly after he was elected that his papacy would be a short reign.
He waved and smiled at crowds gathered along the short stretch between the Vatican gates and his old apartment, where he spent some time in the afternoon. "Viva il papa!" some shouted. The pope, dressed all in white, raised both hands in a greeting.
His schedule also shows hints of the openness and symbolic gestures that were at the heart of John Paul's reign: a meeting with journalists Saturday, an outdoor Mass to formally take the papal throne Sunday and a visit Monday to a church built over the tomb of St. Paul -an apostle who carries deep significance for Roman Catholics and Christian Orthodox.
The Vatican even unveiled new e-mail addresses for Benedict, following an innovation started by John Paul.
In the first days of his papacy, the 78-year-old Benedict has projected two clear styles.
One was expected: The confident and well-prepared Vatican insider who was one of John Paul's closest advisers for more than two decades. His decisions on the top-level posts came quickly -some popes have struggled for weeks -and showed continuity with his predecessor.
Benedict was reported to have told cardinals shortly after he was elected that his papacy would be a short reign.
Friday, April 22, 2005
The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Pope welcomes Islamic delegation to Vatican
From: Agence France Presse (AFP)
Friday, June 13, 2008
VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday met a delegation of Muslim dignitaries at a Vatican meeting ahead of a high-level inter-faith forum this November. The Muslim delegation represented an Islamic international conference held early this month in Mecca which called for increased inter-faith dialogue, Algerian academic Mustapha Cherif said in a statement.
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the Roman Catholic Church's point man for dialogue with Islam, was present at the audience with the pope, the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano noted.
The conference titled "Christians and Muslims, Witnesses of the God of Justice, Peace and Compassion in a World that Suffers from Violence" was to continue until Friday. It will lay the groundwork for a high-level Catholic-Muslim Forum set to hold its inaugural meeting November 4-6 in Rome, with a follow-up to be held in a Muslim country in 2010.
The unprecedented forum was scheduled in early March in response to a letter by 138 Muslim leaders in October 2007 calling for heightened dialogue with Christians. The initiative was sparked by the pope's own controversial speech at a German university in 2006, when he appeared to link Islam with violence.
The structure could also be activated in case of a crisis such as the global uproar that followed the publication of cartoons of Mohammed in 2005. The conference in Mecca set up a center to promote inter-faith dialogue, as advocated by Saudi King Abdullah.
Friday, June 13, 2008
VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday met a delegation of Muslim dignitaries at a Vatican meeting ahead of a high-level inter-faith forum this November. The Muslim delegation represented an Islamic international conference held early this month in Mecca which called for increased inter-faith dialogue, Algerian academic Mustapha Cherif said in a statement.
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the Roman Catholic Church's point man for dialogue with Islam, was present at the audience with the pope, the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano noted.
The conference titled "Christians and Muslims, Witnesses of the God of Justice, Peace and Compassion in a World that Suffers from Violence" was to continue until Friday. It will lay the groundwork for a high-level Catholic-Muslim Forum set to hold its inaugural meeting November 4-6 in Rome, with a follow-up to be held in a Muslim country in 2010.
The unprecedented forum was scheduled in early March in response to a letter by 138 Muslim leaders in October 2007 calling for heightened dialogue with Christians. The initiative was sparked by the pope's own controversial speech at a German university in 2006, when he appeared to link Islam with violence.
The structure could also be activated in case of a crisis such as the global uproar that followed the publication of cartoons of Mohammed in 2005. The conference in Mecca set up a center to promote inter-faith dialogue, as advocated by Saudi King Abdullah.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Take God Out of the "Parentheses," Urges Pope
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 10, 2008 (Zenit.org).-
If people want to have hope and find meaning in their lives, they need to take God out of the "parentheses," says Benedict XVI.The Pope affirmed this Monday in the Basilica of St. John Lateran when he inaugurated the ecclesial congress of the Diocese of Rome. The event is under way through Thursday, focused on the theme: "Jesus Has Risen: Educating for Hope in Prayer, Action and Suffering."
The Holy Father referred to the subject of Christian hope, explaining that, "in a certain way, it concerns each of us personally, [...] but it is also a community hope, a hope for the Church and for the entire human family."
"In today's society and culture, and hence also in this our beloved city of Rome, it is not easy to live in an atmosphere of Christian hope," he said. "There is a widespread feeling that, for both Italy and Europe, the best years have passed and that a future of instability and uncertainty awaits the new generations."
"Moreover," the Pontiff added, "hopes for great novelties and improvements are concentrated on science and technology." Yet, "it is not science and technology that can give meaning to our lives and teach us to distinguish good from evil. Indeed, as I wrote in my encyclical 'Spe Salvi,' it is not science that redeems man: Man is redeemed by love, and this applies even in terms of the present world.
"Benedict XVI lamented how "our civilization and our culture [...] too often tend to place God in parentheses, to organize personal and social life without him, to maintain that nothing can be known of God, even to deny his existence. But when God is laid aside, [...] all our hopes, great and small, rest on nothing.
"In order, then, to 'educate for hope' -- as we propose in this congress and during the coming pastoral year -- it is necessary, in the first place, to open our hearts, our intellects and all our lives to God, in order to be his credible witnesses among our fellow man."
Commitment
The Bishop of Rome mentioned some concrete areas in which the Church will work to better the Eternal City.
"An acute and widespread awareness of the evils and problems afflicting the heart of Rome is reawakening the desire for [...] joint commitment," he said. "It is our task to make our own specific contribution, beginning with the decisive question of the education and formation of the person, but also facing with a constructive spirit the many other real problems that often make the lives of those who live in this city wearisome."
In particular we will seek to promote a form of culture and social organization more favorable to the family and to welcoming life, as well to valuing the elderly who are so numerous among the population of Rome. "We will work to respond to the crucial needs of work and housing, especially for the young. We will share the commitment to make our city safer and more 'liveable,' but we will work to ensure it is so for everyone, especially the poorest, and to ensure that immigrants who come among us to find a living space in respect for our laws are not excluded."
Benedict XVI concluded his address by encouraging young people to make "the gift of Christian hope" their own, using it "in freedom and responsibility [...] to enliven the future of our beloved city."
© Innovative Media, Inc.
If people want to have hope and find meaning in their lives, they need to take God out of the "parentheses," says Benedict XVI.The Pope affirmed this Monday in the Basilica of St. John Lateran when he inaugurated the ecclesial congress of the Diocese of Rome. The event is under way through Thursday, focused on the theme: "Jesus Has Risen: Educating for Hope in Prayer, Action and Suffering."
The Holy Father referred to the subject of Christian hope, explaining that, "in a certain way, it concerns each of us personally, [...] but it is also a community hope, a hope for the Church and for the entire human family."
"In today's society and culture, and hence also in this our beloved city of Rome, it is not easy to live in an atmosphere of Christian hope," he said. "There is a widespread feeling that, for both Italy and Europe, the best years have passed and that a future of instability and uncertainty awaits the new generations."
"Moreover," the Pontiff added, "hopes for great novelties and improvements are concentrated on science and technology." Yet, "it is not science and technology that can give meaning to our lives and teach us to distinguish good from evil. Indeed, as I wrote in my encyclical 'Spe Salvi,' it is not science that redeems man: Man is redeemed by love, and this applies even in terms of the present world.
"Benedict XVI lamented how "our civilization and our culture [...] too often tend to place God in parentheses, to organize personal and social life without him, to maintain that nothing can be known of God, even to deny his existence. But when God is laid aside, [...] all our hopes, great and small, rest on nothing.
"In order, then, to 'educate for hope' -- as we propose in this congress and during the coming pastoral year -- it is necessary, in the first place, to open our hearts, our intellects and all our lives to God, in order to be his credible witnesses among our fellow man."
Commitment
The Bishop of Rome mentioned some concrete areas in which the Church will work to better the Eternal City.
"An acute and widespread awareness of the evils and problems afflicting the heart of Rome is reawakening the desire for [...] joint commitment," he said. "It is our task to make our own specific contribution, beginning with the decisive question of the education and formation of the person, but also facing with a constructive spirit the many other real problems that often make the lives of those who live in this city wearisome."
In particular we will seek to promote a form of culture and social organization more favorable to the family and to welcoming life, as well to valuing the elderly who are so numerous among the population of Rome. "We will work to respond to the crucial needs of work and housing, especially for the young. We will share the commitment to make our city safer and more 'liveable,' but we will work to ensure it is so for everyone, especially the poorest, and to ensure that immigrants who come among us to find a living space in respect for our laws are not excluded."
Benedict XVI concluded his address by encouraging young people to make "the gift of Christian hope" their own, using it "in freedom and responsibility [...] to enliven the future of our beloved city."
© Innovative Media, Inc.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Author Notes Secret to Pope's Efficacy
Says It's More Than Benedict XVI's Keen Mind
By Marta Lago
ROME, MAY 26, 2008
Benedict XVI is an effective communicator, not just because every talk he gives is like an "encyclical in miniature," but because there is a secret to his efficacy, affirmed the author of a biography of the Pope.
That secret, says Giuseppe De Carli, is the beauty "that convinces almost more than rational arguments: love, friendship with God, the joy of being Christian. ... Tell me that this is not a Pope who is happy to be Christian."
De Carli, head of the Vatican bureau of the Italian public broadcaster Radiotelevisione Italiana, and a 20-year veteran in covering the See of Peter, has just released "Benedictus: Servus Servorum Dei" (Benedict: Servant of the Servants of God).
The book was presented last week by a group of Church and civil leaders along with the author.
The volume opens with De Carli's description of the Pope as "a man of timid character on the stage of the world." De Carli said he hopes the book "will be at least be placed among those contributions that help in some way to understanding Benedict XVI's personality."
"I made an entirely journalistic attempt to talk about Joseph Ratzinger," De Carli said. "It is the only edition of a newspaper; indeed, it is a newspaper-book. Today there are newspapers that seem like books; I wrote a book that seems like a newspaper."
"We have gone from the communicative and charismatic eruption of John Paul II to a kind of effective communicative minimalism with Pope Ratzinger," the author proposed. "It is effective because it is not supported by the physicality of gestures."
Every talk given by Benedict XVI is an "encyclical in miniature," De Carli said. The Pope's intellectual profile "is that of one who knows how to teach," and "his public, in its many-sidedness, would be surprised by an advertiser."
De Carli suggested: "Pope Wojtyla's style was centrifugal -- he obliged the media to abandon all logic and follow him toward everything and everyone. Benedict XVI's style is centripetal -- he obliges the media to turn toward the mystery that the Church represents with its liturgical tradition.
"From that which has been seen so far, it is a pontificate of concentration and deepening. [...] The fulcrum of the Christian faith is charity, love, it is the only thing that can give a prospect of hope and then rationality and the beauty of the faith.
"I believe that he is a pastor who says much to the people of our time, those who believe and also those who don't believe."
By Marta Lago
ROME, MAY 26, 2008
Benedict XVI is an effective communicator, not just because every talk he gives is like an "encyclical in miniature," but because there is a secret to his efficacy, affirmed the author of a biography of the Pope.
That secret, says Giuseppe De Carli, is the beauty "that convinces almost more than rational arguments: love, friendship with God, the joy of being Christian. ... Tell me that this is not a Pope who is happy to be Christian."
De Carli, head of the Vatican bureau of the Italian public broadcaster Radiotelevisione Italiana, and a 20-year veteran in covering the See of Peter, has just released "Benedictus: Servus Servorum Dei" (Benedict: Servant of the Servants of God).
The book was presented last week by a group of Church and civil leaders along with the author.
The volume opens with De Carli's description of the Pope as "a man of timid character on the stage of the world." De Carli said he hopes the book "will be at least be placed among those contributions that help in some way to understanding Benedict XVI's personality."
"I made an entirely journalistic attempt to talk about Joseph Ratzinger," De Carli said. "It is the only edition of a newspaper; indeed, it is a newspaper-book. Today there are newspapers that seem like books; I wrote a book that seems like a newspaper."
"We have gone from the communicative and charismatic eruption of John Paul II to a kind of effective communicative minimalism with Pope Ratzinger," the author proposed. "It is effective because it is not supported by the physicality of gestures."
Every talk given by Benedict XVI is an "encyclical in miniature," De Carli said. The Pope's intellectual profile "is that of one who knows how to teach," and "his public, in its many-sidedness, would be surprised by an advertiser."
De Carli suggested: "Pope Wojtyla's style was centrifugal -- he obliged the media to abandon all logic and follow him toward everything and everyone. Benedict XVI's style is centripetal -- he obliges the media to turn toward the mystery that the Church represents with its liturgical tradition.
"From that which has been seen so far, it is a pontificate of concentration and deepening. [...] The fulcrum of the Christian faith is charity, love, it is the only thing that can give a prospect of hope and then rationality and the beauty of the faith.
"I believe that he is a pastor who says much to the people of our time, those who believe and also those who don't believe."
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Vatican to excommunicate female priests
Explicit decree punishes women, bishops who ordain them
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican issued its most explicit decree so far against the ordination of female priests on Thursday, punishing them and the bishops who try to ordain them with automatic excommunication.
The decree was written by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and published in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, giving it immediate effect.
A Vatican spokesman said the decree made the church's existing ban on female priests more explicit by clarifying that excommunication would follow all such ordinations.
Excommunication forbids those affected from receiving the sacraments or sharing in acts of public worship.
Rev. Tom Reese, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, said he thought the decree was meant to send a warning to the growing number of Catholics who favor admitting women to the priesthood.
"I think the reason they're doing this is that they've realized there is more and more support among Catholics for ordaining women, and they want to make clear that this is a no-no," Reese said.
The church said it cannot change the rules banning women from the priesthood because Christ chose only men as his apostles. Church law states that only a baptized male can be made a priest.
Proponents of women's ordination said Christ was only acting according to the social norms of his time.
They cite the letters of Saint Paul, some of the earliest texts of Christianity, to show that women played important roles in the early church.
Copyright 2008 Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Explicit decree punishes women, bishops who ordain them
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican issued its most explicit decree so far against the ordination of female priests on Thursday, punishing them and the bishops who try to ordain them with automatic excommunication.
The decree was written by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and published in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, giving it immediate effect.
A Vatican spokesman said the decree made the church's existing ban on female priests more explicit by clarifying that excommunication would follow all such ordinations.
Excommunication forbids those affected from receiving the sacraments or sharing in acts of public worship.
Rev. Tom Reese, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University, said he thought the decree was meant to send a warning to the growing number of Catholics who favor admitting women to the priesthood.
"I think the reason they're doing this is that they've realized there is more and more support among Catholics for ordaining women, and they want to make clear that this is a no-no," Reese said.
The church said it cannot change the rules banning women from the priesthood because Christ chose only men as his apostles. Church law states that only a baptized male can be made a priest.
Proponents of women's ordination said Christ was only acting according to the social norms of his time.
They cite the letters of Saint Paul, some of the earliest texts of Christianity, to show that women played important roles in the early church.
Copyright 2008 Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Iran's Ahmadinejad requests meeting with pope
May 27 2008 Reuters
ROME (Reuters) - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has asked for an audience next week with Pope Benedict which would be the first meeting between the two leaders, a diplomatic source said on Tuesday.
Ahmadinejad is among the heads of state expected to visit Rome to attend a June 3-5 United Nations summit on global food security, hosted by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Vatican sources said earlier this week that it was not yet clear if the pope would meet individual heads of state attending the U.N. event or hold a collective audience for them in order to save time.
The Vatican has criticised Ahmadinejad for calling for Israel to be wiped off the map.
The Holy See has diplomatic ties with Iran and Pope Benedict has met Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. The pontiff has repeatedly encouraged dialogue to resolve differences over Iran's disputed nuclear programme, which the West says is aimed at making nuclear bombs.
Italy's foreign ministry has already ruled out the possibility that conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will hold bilateral talks with the Iranian leader, saying there will not be enough time.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella; writing by Phil Stewart; editing by Andrew Roche)
*******************************************
Vatican, Israel report 'substantial' progress in talks
Published: May 28, 2008
Pope Benedict XVI arrives in St Peter's Square in the Vatican for his weekly audience. Israel and the Vatican have made "substantial progress" towards resolving financial and legal issues following 14 years of on-and-off negotiations, a joint statement said Wednesday. (AFP Damien Meyer)
VATICAN CITY (AFP) Israel and the Vatican have made "substantial progress" towards resolving financial and legal issues following 14 years of on-and-off negotiations, a joint statement said Wednesday.
A permanent bilateral working committee met at the Vatican on Wednesday in "a climate of great cordiality," said the statement, underscoring "significant, even substantial progress" achieved in the talks.
The two sides have been negotiating over the legal status of the Roman Catholic Church in Israel, notably the disposition of Church property and tax exemptions for revenue earned by Christian communities.
The issues remained unresolved following a basic accord signed by the two states in 1993.
The Holy See wants exemption from all taxes for the Church and its institutions.
Talks resumed in 2004 after a 10-year hiatus and have since proceeded intermittently.
Israel has made repeated assurances that the accord is near completion, while the Vatican has been less sanguine.
"We hope that we will reach a solution in the next 13 years," joked Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio, secretary of the Vatican Congregation for the Eastern Churches, after the committee's last meeting in December 2007 in Jerusalem.
Veglio recalled that a visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Israel at the invitation of the Hebrew state was contingent on the finalisation of the accord.
A previous meeting of the joint committee, in May 2007, concluded with "important progress."
While contacts continue, the panel will hold its next formal meeting in December.
© 2008 Agence France-Presse
May 27 2008 Reuters
ROME (Reuters) - Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has asked for an audience next week with Pope Benedict which would be the first meeting between the two leaders, a diplomatic source said on Tuesday.
Ahmadinejad is among the heads of state expected to visit Rome to attend a June 3-5 United Nations summit on global food security, hosted by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation.
Vatican sources said earlier this week that it was not yet clear if the pope would meet individual heads of state attending the U.N. event or hold a collective audience for them in order to save time.
The Vatican has criticised Ahmadinejad for calling for Israel to be wiped off the map.
The Holy See has diplomatic ties with Iran and Pope Benedict has met Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. The pontiff has repeatedly encouraged dialogue to resolve differences over Iran's disputed nuclear programme, which the West says is aimed at making nuclear bombs.
Italy's foreign ministry has already ruled out the possibility that conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will hold bilateral talks with the Iranian leader, saying there will not be enough time.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella; writing by Phil Stewart; editing by Andrew Roche)
*******************************************
Vatican, Israel report 'substantial' progress in talks
Published: May 28, 2008
Pope Benedict XVI arrives in St Peter's Square in the Vatican for his weekly audience. Israel and the Vatican have made "substantial progress" towards resolving financial and legal issues following 14 years of on-and-off negotiations, a joint statement said Wednesday. (AFP Damien Meyer)
VATICAN CITY (AFP) Israel and the Vatican have made "substantial progress" towards resolving financial and legal issues following 14 years of on-and-off negotiations, a joint statement said Wednesday.
A permanent bilateral working committee met at the Vatican on Wednesday in "a climate of great cordiality," said the statement, underscoring "significant, even substantial progress" achieved in the talks.
The two sides have been negotiating over the legal status of the Roman Catholic Church in Israel, notably the disposition of Church property and tax exemptions for revenue earned by Christian communities.
The issues remained unresolved following a basic accord signed by the two states in 1993.
The Holy See wants exemption from all taxes for the Church and its institutions.
Talks resumed in 2004 after a 10-year hiatus and have since proceeded intermittently.
Israel has made repeated assurances that the accord is near completion, while the Vatican has been less sanguine.
"We hope that we will reach a solution in the next 13 years," joked Archbishop Antonio Maria Veglio, secretary of the Vatican Congregation for the Eastern Churches, after the committee's last meeting in December 2007 in Jerusalem.
Veglio recalled that a visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Israel at the invitation of the Hebrew state was contingent on the finalisation of the accord.
A previous meeting of the joint committee, in May 2007, concluded with "important progress."
While contacts continue, the panel will hold its next formal meeting in December.
© 2008 Agence France-Presse
Monday, May 26, 2008
China's Catholics visit shrine under watchful eyes
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Bells clanged, children played and police kept watch as pilgrims clutching rosary beads flocked to one of China's most revered Catholic shrines on Saturday, the day Pope Benedict XVI designated World Day of Prayer for China.
There are fewer people than last year," said a 30-year-old seminary student surnamed Wu as he welcomed worshippers into the 150-year-old Sheshan Cathedral, which sits atop a scenic hill about a 45 minute drive from downtown Shanghai.
"The government made sure to keep order this year," Wu added.
May is the month Chinese Catholics celebrate the Virgin Mary, and it is the peak season for the country's faithful to visit Sheshan.
But the authorities restricted attendance this year, fearing social unrest after March's protests in Tibet and ahead of Beijing's August Olympic games, Catholic media reports said.
Tensions were heightened this year after Benedict penned a prayer that asks Chinese be allowed to freely express their faith and allegiance to him in their officially atheist country.
"Sustain all those in China, who, amid their daily trials continue to believe, to hope, to love," the prayer says. "May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world ..."
Last year, around 11,000 of China's 12 million estimated Catholics visited the shrine in early May, but this year that dwindled to 5,000, the reports said, blaming roadblocks that were erected to prevent any large gatherings.
Relations between the Vatican and Beijing have hit low points several times in recent years as the Vatican criticized China for appointing bishops without papal approval. Beijing has requested that the Vatican sever relations with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.
On Saturday, uniformed police officers and security guards stood along every step of the trail as hundreds of pilgrims climbed up to Sheshan.
A FAITH DIVIDED
China's Catholics are split between those who belong to a state-backed Church and an underground Church whose members are loyal to the pope, whom Catholics believe is the successor to St. Peter.
Diplomatic ties between the Vatican and China were severed two years after the 1949 communist takeover. But in early May, the pope reached out to China by hosting an unprecedented concert at the Vatican by Beijing's national orchestra.
On Saturday, the mass at Sheshan focused not on politics, but on the deadly earthquake in Sichuan-- which authorities fear may have claimed 80,000 lives or more -- and also on the spiritual issues related to China's rise on the global economic stage.
Some pilgrims were convinced that China's treatment of religious life has evolved with the country's rapid economic development .
"The police are just there to protect us," said Feng Fuying, 46, a former government worker. "There is no control over faith anymore. You can love your country, and love your religion."
(Reporting by Joseph Chaney; Editing by John Chalmers)
There are fewer people than last year," said a 30-year-old seminary student surnamed Wu as he welcomed worshippers into the 150-year-old Sheshan Cathedral, which sits atop a scenic hill about a 45 minute drive from downtown Shanghai.
"The government made sure to keep order this year," Wu added.
May is the month Chinese Catholics celebrate the Virgin Mary, and it is the peak season for the country's faithful to visit Sheshan.
But the authorities restricted attendance this year, fearing social unrest after March's protests in Tibet and ahead of Beijing's August Olympic games, Catholic media reports said.
Tensions were heightened this year after Benedict penned a prayer that asks Chinese be allowed to freely express their faith and allegiance to him in their officially atheist country.
"Sustain all those in China, who, amid their daily trials continue to believe, to hope, to love," the prayer says. "May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world ..."
Last year, around 11,000 of China's 12 million estimated Catholics visited the shrine in early May, but this year that dwindled to 5,000, the reports said, blaming roadblocks that were erected to prevent any large gatherings.
Relations between the Vatican and Beijing have hit low points several times in recent years as the Vatican criticized China for appointing bishops without papal approval. Beijing has requested that the Vatican sever relations with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.
On Saturday, uniformed police officers and security guards stood along every step of the trail as hundreds of pilgrims climbed up to Sheshan.
A FAITH DIVIDED
China's Catholics are split between those who belong to a state-backed Church and an underground Church whose members are loyal to the pope, whom Catholics believe is the successor to St. Peter.
Diplomatic ties between the Vatican and China were severed two years after the 1949 communist takeover. But in early May, the pope reached out to China by hosting an unprecedented concert at the Vatican by Beijing's national orchestra.
On Saturday, the mass at Sheshan focused not on politics, but on the deadly earthquake in Sichuan-- which authorities fear may have claimed 80,000 lives or more -- and also on the spiritual issues related to China's rise on the global economic stage.
Some pilgrims were convinced that China's treatment of religious life has evolved with the country's rapid economic development .
"The police are just there to protect us," said Feng Fuying, 46, a former government worker. "There is no control over faith anymore. You can love your country, and love your religion."
(Reporting by Joseph Chaney; Editing by John Chalmers)
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Benedict XVI, As Seen Up Close
Vatican Officials Give Insider's Look
By Marta LagoROME, MAY 23, 2008 (Zenit.org).-
If you want to understand Joseph Ratzinger, the man and the Pope, the starting point is the love of God, affirmed a cardinal who has worked closely with him.Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, gave an inside look at the personality of Benedict XVI when he participated Tuesday in the book launch of "Benedictus," by Giuseppe de Carli.
"The key to the person and the ministry of Benedict XVI is the love of God," the cardinal said, affirming that the Pontiff's first encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est," "represents the particularity of this Pontiff."
But the cardinal clarified what that love of God means: "Love is not a static attitude," but "a dynamism that, by definition, is something that spreads. "It tends to continuously bring into play new energies," he affirmed. "Thus, love provokes the great questions, and therefore engenders philosophy and theology."
Pope of the people
According to Cardinal Saraiva Martins, "Benedictus" documents "the development of the presence of Benedict XVI on the international scene of the third millennium, and shows how, step by step, the Pope is entering, with his reserved, stately style, into the hearts of the people."
The cardinal added that without leaving aside his intellectual depth, the Holy Father is "becoming the Pope of the people, because the people clearly perceive his message, even when it is full of uncomfortable truths, that is, demanding [truths] that call for a commitment."
The prelate continued: "He is always guided by a fatherly love that does not resign itself to seeing his children drown in mediocrity."And what, if not love, is his constant urging to combat the dictatorship of relativism, so thoroughly saturating our society?"
Regarding his presence on the international scene, the Holy Father's "role is not along the lines of appearing, but of being," Cardinal Saraiva Martins contended. "His very presence, even before his teaching, is for everyone a constant calling to live in love and in the search for truth."
His way of presenting himself "to the Church and the world is never invasive: his tone of voice lacks the slightest element of arrogance, his discreet, humble, cordial approach manages to open the hearts of many to his proposals."
Fundamental
Offering another view, Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, recalled how the Pope, two days after his election, called him urgently to ask help with the design of the papal coat of arms. The Italian prelate is an expert in ecclesiastic heraldry.
"I immediately discovered his fundamental characteristics," the cardinal said, "which the book amply points out: the aspect of the man's simplicity, humanity, sincerity, spontaneity, but also the timidity. And I noted that this is accompanied right away with an element of decisiveness, matured in reflection."
Archbishop Angelo Amato, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and thus one of Cardinal Ratzinger's closest collaborators just before the election to the See of Peter, described the pontificate as a continuation of his previous style. He explained: "That which we see now in the Holy Father in reality is that which Ratzinger was as the prefect of our congregation.
"The same intellectual lucidity, the same zeal for the defense of doctrine, the same simplicity in human relationships, the same humility in his person."
A smile
Paging through "Benedictus," the archbishop said, one sees four outstanding qualities. "[The Pope's] radiant, spontaneous, good-hearted and contagious smile" was first on the list.Then, Archbishop Amato noted, the Holy Father is characterized by "his willingness to dialogue, matured in his years of university teaching and sharpened in his meetings with bishops from around the world," who visited him in his role as prefect of the Vatican congregation.
"He is a man of dialogue, woven together not with frigidity or indifference, but with an interior passion, because he is an intellectual with heart," he said.
The prelate proposed that the "communicative strength of the Pope proceeds from the reasonableness of his speech -- as much when he speaks of Christ or illustrates the truth of the faith, as when he critiques the pathologies of postmodern mentality.
"And since "faith and reason are the two wings that raise us to the truth," Archbishop Amato concluded, "it is precisely the truth, love for the truth and the proposal of truth that is the common thread giving continuity to Ratzinger, before as prefect, now as Pope."
Vatican Officials Give Insider's Look
By Marta LagoROME, MAY 23, 2008 (Zenit.org).-
If you want to understand Joseph Ratzinger, the man and the Pope, the starting point is the love of God, affirmed a cardinal who has worked closely with him.Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, gave an inside look at the personality of Benedict XVI when he participated Tuesday in the book launch of "Benedictus," by Giuseppe de Carli.
"The key to the person and the ministry of Benedict XVI is the love of God," the cardinal said, affirming that the Pontiff's first encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est," "represents the particularity of this Pontiff."
But the cardinal clarified what that love of God means: "Love is not a static attitude," but "a dynamism that, by definition, is something that spreads. "It tends to continuously bring into play new energies," he affirmed. "Thus, love provokes the great questions, and therefore engenders philosophy and theology."
Pope of the people
According to Cardinal Saraiva Martins, "Benedictus" documents "the development of the presence of Benedict XVI on the international scene of the third millennium, and shows how, step by step, the Pope is entering, with his reserved, stately style, into the hearts of the people."
The cardinal added that without leaving aside his intellectual depth, the Holy Father is "becoming the Pope of the people, because the people clearly perceive his message, even when it is full of uncomfortable truths, that is, demanding [truths] that call for a commitment."
The prelate continued: "He is always guided by a fatherly love that does not resign itself to seeing his children drown in mediocrity."And what, if not love, is his constant urging to combat the dictatorship of relativism, so thoroughly saturating our society?"
Regarding his presence on the international scene, the Holy Father's "role is not along the lines of appearing, but of being," Cardinal Saraiva Martins contended. "His very presence, even before his teaching, is for everyone a constant calling to live in love and in the search for truth."
His way of presenting himself "to the Church and the world is never invasive: his tone of voice lacks the slightest element of arrogance, his discreet, humble, cordial approach manages to open the hearts of many to his proposals."
Fundamental
Offering another view, Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, recalled how the Pope, two days after his election, called him urgently to ask help with the design of the papal coat of arms. The Italian prelate is an expert in ecclesiastic heraldry.
"I immediately discovered his fundamental characteristics," the cardinal said, "which the book amply points out: the aspect of the man's simplicity, humanity, sincerity, spontaneity, but also the timidity. And I noted that this is accompanied right away with an element of decisiveness, matured in reflection."
Archbishop Angelo Amato, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and thus one of Cardinal Ratzinger's closest collaborators just before the election to the See of Peter, described the pontificate as a continuation of his previous style. He explained: "That which we see now in the Holy Father in reality is that which Ratzinger was as the prefect of our congregation.
"The same intellectual lucidity, the same zeal for the defense of doctrine, the same simplicity in human relationships, the same humility in his person."
A smile
Paging through "Benedictus," the archbishop said, one sees four outstanding qualities. "[The Pope's] radiant, spontaneous, good-hearted and contagious smile" was first on the list.Then, Archbishop Amato noted, the Holy Father is characterized by "his willingness to dialogue, matured in his years of university teaching and sharpened in his meetings with bishops from around the world," who visited him in his role as prefect of the Vatican congregation.
"He is a man of dialogue, woven together not with frigidity or indifference, but with an interior passion, because he is an intellectual with heart," he said.
The prelate proposed that the "communicative strength of the Pope proceeds from the reasonableness of his speech -- as much when he speaks of Christ or illustrates the truth of the faith, as when he critiques the pathologies of postmodern mentality.
"And since "faith and reason are the two wings that raise us to the truth," Archbishop Amato concluded, "it is precisely the truth, love for the truth and the proposal of truth that is the common thread giving continuity to Ratzinger, before as prefect, now as Pope."
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
I want to give this as little coverage as possible, hence the link and not the article. However, that being said, here is my opinion.
This just goes to show that some people will go to any lengths to make a name for themselves. This individual is truly shameful.
http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/402668.html
This just goes to show that some people will go to any lengths to make a name for themselves. This individual is truly shameful.
http://www.kentucky.com/471/story/402668.html
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Pope poll shows change in view of Catholic Church
(WTNH) _ Pope Benedict XVI might have big shoes to fill, but according to a recent poll, he is also making a positive impression.
It was the visit that moved thousands, making the city that never sleeps stand still in religious reflection. Pope Benedict XVI's American tour of New York City and Washington D.C. It was a historic trip and according to the Knights of Columbus, one that changed perceptions of the Catholic Church.
"I think that his message and the response that and the reception that he got in the United States was very telling," said Andrew Walther of the Knights of Columbus. "Everybody knew that America had really fallen in love with PopE Benedict XVI. All the poll numbers do is prove that."
The Knights of Columbus poll, conducted by Marist College shows 72% of Catholics surveyed have a more positive view of the church since the Pontiff's visit. According to the poll so do 56%T of non-practicing Catholics. In addition, 52% of all Americans polled have a more positive view of the Catholic church.
Walther was among the hoards of people that followed the Pope to all his appearances. He says the feeling at each address was electric. "I think America met Pope Benedict and in some ways met the Catholic Church," said Walther.
Thirty-nine percent of Catholics think the most meaningful part of the Pope's visit was his meeting with sex abuse victims. Fifteen percent were moved by his Ground Zero address and 13% felt his address at Yankee Stadium was most important.
Perhaps the most important data collected, according to Walther, was what people brought back to their hometowns after the visit. "Significant numbers of people are now more likely to be involved in their community more likely to be involved in their church to live a better moral life. To be more proud who they are as Catholics," he said.
Walther tells us he saw the pope in Rome, directly after his American visit. In that address Pope Benedict XVI called his trip a success.
It was the visit that moved thousands, making the city that never sleeps stand still in religious reflection. Pope Benedict XVI's American tour of New York City and Washington D.C. It was a historic trip and according to the Knights of Columbus, one that changed perceptions of the Catholic Church.
"I think that his message and the response that and the reception that he got in the United States was very telling," said Andrew Walther of the Knights of Columbus. "Everybody knew that America had really fallen in love with PopE Benedict XVI. All the poll numbers do is prove that."
The Knights of Columbus poll, conducted by Marist College shows 72% of Catholics surveyed have a more positive view of the church since the Pontiff's visit. According to the poll so do 56%T of non-practicing Catholics. In addition, 52% of all Americans polled have a more positive view of the Catholic church.
Walther was among the hoards of people that followed the Pope to all his appearances. He says the feeling at each address was electric. "I think America met Pope Benedict and in some ways met the Catholic Church," said Walther.
Thirty-nine percent of Catholics think the most meaningful part of the Pope's visit was his meeting with sex abuse victims. Fifteen percent were moved by his Ground Zero address and 13% felt his address at Yankee Stadium was most important.
Perhaps the most important data collected, according to Walther, was what people brought back to their hometowns after the visit. "Significant numbers of people are now more likely to be involved in their community more likely to be involved in their church to live a better moral life. To be more proud who they are as Catholics," he said.
Walther tells us he saw the pope in Rome, directly after his American visit. In that address Pope Benedict XVI called his trip a success.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Pope Benedict XVI meets Iranian delegation
2008-04-30 Author : DPA News
Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI met Wednesday a high-level Iranian Shiite Muslim delegation visiting the Vatican for bi-lateral talks on the theme "Faith and Reason in Christianity and Islam". Benedict was "particularly satisfied with the choice of the theme and the venue of the meeting," both sides said in a joint statement issued afterwards.
The Vatican and the eight-man delegation from Iran's Islamic Culture and Relations Organization, said in the statement that in talks that preceded the meeting with the pontiff, they had "agreed" on several issues.
Some of these are apparently related to recent controversies between Catholics and Muslims, including remarks made in 2006 by Benedict in Regensburg, Germany, when he appeared to associate Islam to irrational thought and violence.
"Faith and reason do not contradict each other, but faith might in some cases be above reason, but never against it," the statement said.
Both sides also agreed that "faith and reason are intrinsically non-violent".
"Neither reason nor faith should be used by violence; unfortunately, both of them have been sometimes misused to perpetrate violence," the statement said.
Another point appeared to touch on the Vatican's demands that Muslim-majority nations allow followers of other faiths religious freedom, as well as a row over satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published in the West.
"Christians and Muslims should go beyond tolerance, accepting differences, while remaining aware of commonalities and thanking God for them. They are called for mutual respect, thereby condemning derision of religious beliefs," the statement said.
The two sides also agreed that religions should not be judged on selective interpretations of texts taken from their holy books, but that they should be interpreted according to a "holistic view".
During the talks which began in Rome on Monday the Vatican delegation was led by the Holy See's top inter-faith dialogue official, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, while the Iranian delegation was headed by Mahdi Mostafavi, president of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization.
"Both Iran and the Vatican have religious governments, so there are many issues the two states have in common, such as morality," M. Anvarian, spokesman for Iran's Embassy to Vatican, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, earlier Wednesday.
The visit marks the sixth round of such talks between the Islamic Republic and the Holy See on religious issues since 1996, the embassy spokesman said.
The next round of bilateral talks between the Holy See and the Islamic Republic would be held in 2010 in Tehran.
Print Source :http://www.earthtimes.org
Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI met Wednesday a high-level Iranian Shiite Muslim delegation visiting the Vatican for bi-lateral talks on the theme "Faith and Reason in Christianity and Islam". Benedict was "particularly satisfied with the choice of the theme and the venue of the meeting," both sides said in a joint statement issued afterwards.
The Vatican and the eight-man delegation from Iran's Islamic Culture and Relations Organization, said in the statement that in talks that preceded the meeting with the pontiff, they had "agreed" on several issues.
Some of these are apparently related to recent controversies between Catholics and Muslims, including remarks made in 2006 by Benedict in Regensburg, Germany, when he appeared to associate Islam to irrational thought and violence.
"Faith and reason do not contradict each other, but faith might in some cases be above reason, but never against it," the statement said.
Both sides also agreed that "faith and reason are intrinsically non-violent".
"Neither reason nor faith should be used by violence; unfortunately, both of them have been sometimes misused to perpetrate violence," the statement said.
Another point appeared to touch on the Vatican's demands that Muslim-majority nations allow followers of other faiths religious freedom, as well as a row over satirical cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published in the West.
"Christians and Muslims should go beyond tolerance, accepting differences, while remaining aware of commonalities and thanking God for them. They are called for mutual respect, thereby condemning derision of religious beliefs," the statement said.
The two sides also agreed that religions should not be judged on selective interpretations of texts taken from their holy books, but that they should be interpreted according to a "holistic view".
During the talks which began in Rome on Monday the Vatican delegation was led by the Holy See's top inter-faith dialogue official, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, while the Iranian delegation was headed by Mahdi Mostafavi, president of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization.
"Both Iran and the Vatican have religious governments, so there are many issues the two states have in common, such as morality," M. Anvarian, spokesman for Iran's Embassy to Vatican, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, earlier Wednesday.
The visit marks the sixth round of such talks between the Islamic Republic and the Holy See on religious issues since 1996, the embassy spokesman said.
The next round of bilateral talks between the Holy See and the Islamic Republic would be held in 2010 in Tehran.
Print Source :http://www.earthtimes.org
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Beijing orchestra to play for pope, easing tension
When I read articles like the one that appears below, I cannot help but think of the Soviet Union in December 1989 and the free celebration of their first Christmas since 1917. I cannot help but recall how strong John Paul II's hand was in this event. And, I cannot help but think of the possibility of China experiencing a similar renaissance in the not too distant future, this time under Benedict's guiding hand.
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The China Philharmonic Orchestra will perform for Pope Benedict next week in an unprecedented gesture that Vatican sources said could signal a thaw in often icy relations between the Vatican and Beijing.
Vatican Radio said on Tuesday the concert will take place on May 7 in the Vatican's vast audience hall. The orchestra will perform Mozart's "Requiem" along with the Shanghai Opera House Chorus.
The radio called the concert, which will take place during the orchestra's European tour, "important" and added:
"With the performance in the Vatican of a great classic opera of European music and religious inspiration, music is confirming its role as a language and most precious medium for dialogue among peoples and cultures."
Benedict has made improving relations with Beijing a major goal of his pontificate and issued a 55-page open letter in June saying he sought to restore full diplomatic ties with Beijing that were severed two years after the 1949 Communist takeover.
"This could not have happened without the government approving it," said one diplomatic source.
Catholics in China are split between those who belong to a state-backed Church and an underground Church whose members are loyal to the Vatican.
Relations between the Vatican and Beijing have hit low points several times in recent years as the Vatican criticised China for appointing bishops without papal approval. Benedict accused China of "grave violations of religious freedom" in 2006.
Relations warmed significantly last September when the Vatican approved the installation of a new state-approved Catholic bishop of Beijing.
Last month Benedict called for dialogue to end the "suffering" of the people in Tibet and a Chinese crackdown but used extremely diplomatic language.
Beijing wants the Vatican to sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which China considers and renegade province.
In 2007, the Vatican did an about face over a meeting between the pope and the Dalai Lama.
A Vatican official told reporters in late October the pope had scheduled a meeting with the exiled spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism on Dec. 13.
Beijing responded by saying such a meeting would "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people" and urged the Pontiff to show he "is sincere in improving relations".
Later that month, the Vatican said the pope had no plans to meet the Dalai Lama during his visit to Rome, saying they had met the previous year.
Copyright © 2008 Reuters
Monday, April 28, 2008
Pope Benedict on marriage: Key to ‘World Peace’?
Associated Press - Texarkana Gazette -
04/27/2008
MANASSAS, Va.—A new analysis titled “Pope Benedict XVI on Marriage: A Compendium” and published by the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy on the eve of Benedict’s historic U.S. visit, finds that in the first three years of his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI has spoken publicly about marriage on 111 occasions, connecting marriage to such overarching themes as human rights, world peace, and the conversation between faith and reason. “Over and over again he has made it clear that the marriage and family debate is central - not peripheral - to understanding the human person, and defending our human dignity,” says Maggie Gallagher, president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy.
For example, when receiving the credentials of the new U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his appreciation for America’s recognition of the importance of a dialogue of faith and faiths in the public square and linked this to respect not only for religious freedom but for marriage as the union of husband and wife:
I cannot fail to note with gratitude the importance which the United States has attributed to interreligious and intercultural dialogue as a positive force for peacemaking. . . . The American people’s historic appreciation of the role of religion in shaping public discourse and in shedding light on the inherent moral dimension of social issues-a role at times contested in the name of a straitened understanding of political life and public discourse-is reflected in the efforts of so many of your fellow-citizens and government leaders to ensure legal protection for God’s gift of life from conception to natural death, and the safeguarding of the institution of marriage, acknowledged as a stable union between a man and a woman, and that of the family.
Pope Benedict devoted about half of his message for the January 1 World Day of Peace to the significance of marriage in developing a culture of peace: Consequently, whoever, even unknowingly, circumvents the institution of the family undermines peace in the entire community, national and international, since he weakens what is in effect the primary agency of peace.
This point merits special reflection: everything that serves to weaken the family based on the marriage of a man and a woman, everything that directly or indirectly stands in the way of its openness to the responsible acceptance of a new life, everything that obstructs its right to be primarily responsible for the education of its children, constitutes an objective obstacle on the road to peace.
Marriage essential to world peace? This may strike American ears as an oddity. If so, Benedict has made clear it is not an unintentional one. On September 21, 2007, in an address to participants in a conference of the Executive Committee of Centrist Democratic International, Pope Benedict prefigured the same theme: There are those who maintain that human reason is incapable of grasping the truth, and therefore of pursuing the good that corresponds to personal dignity.
There are some who believe that it is legitimate to destroy human life in its earliest or final stages. Equally troubling is the growing crisis of the family, which is the fundamental nucleus of society based on the indissoluble bond of marriage between a man and a woman. Experience has shown that when the truth about man is subverted or the foundation of the family undermined, peace itself is threatened and the rule of law is compromised, leading inevitably to forms of injustice and violence.
“The short pontificate of Benedict XVI is already a standing rebuke to those voices of our time who seek to make us ashamed or embarrassed of caring about marriage and sexual issues, who try to get us to view the contemporary marriage debate as merely a distraction from more important issues,” notes Gallagher, “Pope Benedict clearly connects life and marriage, the human person in the human family, with the most fundamental international issues of peace and human rights facing our times.”
04/27/2008
MANASSAS, Va.—A new analysis titled “Pope Benedict XVI on Marriage: A Compendium” and published by the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy on the eve of Benedict’s historic U.S. visit, finds that in the first three years of his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI has spoken publicly about marriage on 111 occasions, connecting marriage to such overarching themes as human rights, world peace, and the conversation between faith and reason. “Over and over again he has made it clear that the marriage and family debate is central - not peripheral - to understanding the human person, and defending our human dignity,” says Maggie Gallagher, president of the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy.
For example, when receiving the credentials of the new U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican, Harvard Law Professor Mary Ann Glendon, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his appreciation for America’s recognition of the importance of a dialogue of faith and faiths in the public square and linked this to respect not only for religious freedom but for marriage as the union of husband and wife:
I cannot fail to note with gratitude the importance which the United States has attributed to interreligious and intercultural dialogue as a positive force for peacemaking. . . . The American people’s historic appreciation of the role of religion in shaping public discourse and in shedding light on the inherent moral dimension of social issues-a role at times contested in the name of a straitened understanding of political life and public discourse-is reflected in the efforts of so many of your fellow-citizens and government leaders to ensure legal protection for God’s gift of life from conception to natural death, and the safeguarding of the institution of marriage, acknowledged as a stable union between a man and a woman, and that of the family.
Pope Benedict devoted about half of his message for the January 1 World Day of Peace to the significance of marriage in developing a culture of peace: Consequently, whoever, even unknowingly, circumvents the institution of the family undermines peace in the entire community, national and international, since he weakens what is in effect the primary agency of peace.
This point merits special reflection: everything that serves to weaken the family based on the marriage of a man and a woman, everything that directly or indirectly stands in the way of its openness to the responsible acceptance of a new life, everything that obstructs its right to be primarily responsible for the education of its children, constitutes an objective obstacle on the road to peace.
Marriage essential to world peace? This may strike American ears as an oddity. If so, Benedict has made clear it is not an unintentional one. On September 21, 2007, in an address to participants in a conference of the Executive Committee of Centrist Democratic International, Pope Benedict prefigured the same theme: There are those who maintain that human reason is incapable of grasping the truth, and therefore of pursuing the good that corresponds to personal dignity.
There are some who believe that it is legitimate to destroy human life in its earliest or final stages. Equally troubling is the growing crisis of the family, which is the fundamental nucleus of society based on the indissoluble bond of marriage between a man and a woman. Experience has shown that when the truth about man is subverted or the foundation of the family undermined, peace itself is threatened and the rule of law is compromised, leading inevitably to forms of injustice and violence.
“The short pontificate of Benedict XVI is already a standing rebuke to those voices of our time who seek to make us ashamed or embarrassed of caring about marriage and sexual issues, who try to get us to view the contemporary marriage debate as merely a distraction from more important issues,” notes Gallagher, “Pope Benedict clearly connects life and marriage, the human person in the human family, with the most fundamental international issues of peace and human rights facing our times.”
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Article from Dessert News
Pope Benedict praised as candid, but visit's impact unclear
By Eric Gorski
Associated Press
Published: Tuesday, April 22, 2008
NEW YORK — Pope Benedict XVI's U.S. visit left behind the impression of a compassionate and candid leader who has made a successful transition from professor to pope.
But it's uncertain whether the pontiff's six-day pilgrimage, which ended Sunday, will make a lasting imprint on a country he obviously admires.
"In the short term, the trip was an enormous success, probably beyond anyone's expectations, including those of the pope himself," said Russell Shaw, a Catholic writer and former spokesman for the U.S. bishops' conference. "Whether the trip is going to have a significant outcome regarding the large problems facing American Catholicism, that's anyone guess."
In Washington and New York, Pope Benedict sounded themes about truth trumping moral relativism, rich nations' responsibility to care for poor ones, and Catholics' call to live out their faith in the public square. Above all, the pope urged his audiences to find hope in Jesus Christ.
Pope Benedict did not come to make provocative political statements, opting for measured tones. He spoke of keeping immigrant families together but not specific policy prescriptions. He called for peace but did not publicly address the war in Iraq.
He took an unusual journey into the personal, recalling the struggles of his youth in Nazi Germany living under a "sinister" regime.
He knelt in silence at ground zero, where for several moments the only sounds were the wind and camera shutters.
One day, Pope Benedict gave a philosophical speech to United Nations diplomats in the morning and was the closing act for an American Idol and a rapping friar at a youth rally in the afternoon.
He seemed comfortable both places.
Pope Benedict's journey will be best remembered for his repeated comments about the shame of the church's clergy sexual abuse crisis. He held a dramatic private meeting with five abuse victims from the scandal-scarred Boston Archdiocese.
"For me, the takeaway from this whole week is the fact he met with abuse victims," said Bill McGarvey, editor of BustedHalo.com, a Web-based magazine owned by a Catholic religious order. "He did it. It was a pastoral, private moment. He mentioned the scandal repeatedly. Pope Benedict is aware American Catholics need to talk about it — and heal. That is profound."
John Allen Jr., a senior correspondent with the National Catholic Reporter, an independent weekly, said Pope Benedict came off as candid, kind and comfortable with the adoring crowds.
"Basically, he seems like a nice guy," Allen said, "which already is an advance over what some of his publicity was three years ago when he was elected."
Pope Benedict also lamented divisions within the church. Some American Catholics emphasize the church's conservative moral stances on abortion, embryonic stem cell research and gay marriage; others champion its more liberal stances on poverty and the death penalty.
The pope during his trip largely stayed away from the issue of abortion but spoke Sunday of "the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death."
"I think the lasting impact of the visit will really be to unite Catholics in one family of faith," said the Rev. Drew Christiansen, editor of America, a Jesuit magazine.
Shaw, however, is skeptical that Pope Benedict's first U.S. visit as pope, however well-received, will reverse U.S. Catholicism's troubling trends: declines in Mass attendance, a priest shortage, hemorrhaging membership and struggles to meet the needs of a fast-growing Hispanic population.
"I saw the same phenomenon at the time of John Paul II," Shaw said. "The big crowds, the enthusiasm, the charisma. Looking back 20 or 25 years later — in terms of anything you can quantify in American Catholicism — it's all been downhill."
The pope's farewell to America came at a Mass on Sunday at storied Yankee Stadium.
Before the pontiff arrived to chants and waving flags, a priest waited in line for popcorn.
The Rev. Michael Whyte wore a black cassock and white surplice, or tunic — special vestments to distribute Holy Communion. A parish priest from the Hartford, Conn., archdiocese, Whyte said Pope Benedict's trip has filled Catholics with pride — especially young Catholics.
"I believe his humility and dedication to God and church will be felt for years to come," Whyte said. "He's going to call us back to tradition, what we truly believe."
Standing on an exit ramp after the papal Mass let out, Kathy O'Shea of Fairfield, Conn., seized on one theme of Pope Benedict's U.S. trip: engaging in the public square.
"I really hope this kind of rekindles the fire, especially in this election year," said O'Shea, a literacy volunteer. "Our economy is failing, our morality is failing. I think we just really need to relight that fire. This was absolutely the perfect time for him to come."
A few hours later, Pope Benedict XVI climbed aboard the Italian jetliner known as Shepherd One, leaving it to America's 65 million Catholics to decide what to do now that he's gone.
By Eric Gorski
Associated Press
Published: Tuesday, April 22, 2008
NEW YORK — Pope Benedict XVI's U.S. visit left behind the impression of a compassionate and candid leader who has made a successful transition from professor to pope.
But it's uncertain whether the pontiff's six-day pilgrimage, which ended Sunday, will make a lasting imprint on a country he obviously admires.
"In the short term, the trip was an enormous success, probably beyond anyone's expectations, including those of the pope himself," said Russell Shaw, a Catholic writer and former spokesman for the U.S. bishops' conference. "Whether the trip is going to have a significant outcome regarding the large problems facing American Catholicism, that's anyone guess."
In Washington and New York, Pope Benedict sounded themes about truth trumping moral relativism, rich nations' responsibility to care for poor ones, and Catholics' call to live out their faith in the public square. Above all, the pope urged his audiences to find hope in Jesus Christ.
Pope Benedict did not come to make provocative political statements, opting for measured tones. He spoke of keeping immigrant families together but not specific policy prescriptions. He called for peace but did not publicly address the war in Iraq.
He took an unusual journey into the personal, recalling the struggles of his youth in Nazi Germany living under a "sinister" regime.
He knelt in silence at ground zero, where for several moments the only sounds were the wind and camera shutters.
One day, Pope Benedict gave a philosophical speech to United Nations diplomats in the morning and was the closing act for an American Idol and a rapping friar at a youth rally in the afternoon.
He seemed comfortable both places.
Pope Benedict's journey will be best remembered for his repeated comments about the shame of the church's clergy sexual abuse crisis. He held a dramatic private meeting with five abuse victims from the scandal-scarred Boston Archdiocese.
"For me, the takeaway from this whole week is the fact he met with abuse victims," said Bill McGarvey, editor of BustedHalo.com, a Web-based magazine owned by a Catholic religious order. "He did it. It was a pastoral, private moment. He mentioned the scandal repeatedly. Pope Benedict is aware American Catholics need to talk about it — and heal. That is profound."
John Allen Jr., a senior correspondent with the National Catholic Reporter, an independent weekly, said Pope Benedict came off as candid, kind and comfortable with the adoring crowds.
"Basically, he seems like a nice guy," Allen said, "which already is an advance over what some of his publicity was three years ago when he was elected."
Pope Benedict also lamented divisions within the church. Some American Catholics emphasize the church's conservative moral stances on abortion, embryonic stem cell research and gay marriage; others champion its more liberal stances on poverty and the death penalty.
The pope during his trip largely stayed away from the issue of abortion but spoke Sunday of "the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death."
"I think the lasting impact of the visit will really be to unite Catholics in one family of faith," said the Rev. Drew Christiansen, editor of America, a Jesuit magazine.
Shaw, however, is skeptical that Pope Benedict's first U.S. visit as pope, however well-received, will reverse U.S. Catholicism's troubling trends: declines in Mass attendance, a priest shortage, hemorrhaging membership and struggles to meet the needs of a fast-growing Hispanic population.
"I saw the same phenomenon at the time of John Paul II," Shaw said. "The big crowds, the enthusiasm, the charisma. Looking back 20 or 25 years later — in terms of anything you can quantify in American Catholicism — it's all been downhill."
The pope's farewell to America came at a Mass on Sunday at storied Yankee Stadium.
Before the pontiff arrived to chants and waving flags, a priest waited in line for popcorn.
The Rev. Michael Whyte wore a black cassock and white surplice, or tunic — special vestments to distribute Holy Communion. A parish priest from the Hartford, Conn., archdiocese, Whyte said Pope Benedict's trip has filled Catholics with pride — especially young Catholics.
"I believe his humility and dedication to God and church will be felt for years to come," Whyte said. "He's going to call us back to tradition, what we truly believe."
Standing on an exit ramp after the papal Mass let out, Kathy O'Shea of Fairfield, Conn., seized on one theme of Pope Benedict's U.S. trip: engaging in the public square.
"I really hope this kind of rekindles the fire, especially in this election year," said O'Shea, a literacy volunteer. "Our economy is failing, our morality is failing. I think we just really need to relight that fire. This was absolutely the perfect time for him to come."
A few hours later, Pope Benedict XVI climbed aboard the Italian jetliner known as Shepherd One, leaving it to America's 65 million Catholics to decide what to do now that he's gone.
More German Shepherd than Rottweiler
Three years and a few days ago, I was standing in the middle of St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, eating a cone of hazelnut gelato when smoke began to appear from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel.
It was a little before 6 p.m., if memory serves, and more than an hour before we were expecting to see the last smoke signal of the day, telling the outside world how the cardinals, meeting in a secret conclave to choose a new pope, were progressing.
On that late Tuesday afternoon, the first puffs of smoke looked gray. A few minutes later, when a steady stream of decidedly white smoke appeared and then the campanone -- the enormous bell on the front of the basilica that is rung when a new pope has been chosen -- began to toll, total mayhem broke out in the square.
Habemus Papam! We have a pope!
Thousands of people ran toward the basilica, straining to see who would appear on the main balcony of St. Peter's. When a cardinal from Chile emerged to announce that we did, in fact, have a new pope, tension in the crowd made it feel as though it was holding its collective breath. And then, Cardinal Josef Ratzinger of Germany walked through the velvet curtains onto the balcony with a new name: Pope Benedict XVI.
I recall vividly the massive cheer from the crowd in the square, followed almost immediately by an audible groan.
"Papa Ratzi," I heard one of the seminarians standing near me say when he recognized the German cardinal. A few hours later, as the world began to learn more about Pope Benedict's personal history, some folks began to call him "Papa Nazi" because of his experiences in the Hitler Youth during World War II.
I don't believe the reason the crowd groaned when they realized Ratzinger had been elected to fill the throne of St. Peter was his personal history.
I think it was his personality, or, frankly, the perceived lack thereof.
During the reign of the beloved, highly personable and thoroughly Polish Pope John Paul II, Ratzinger had been the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith -- the Vatican's doctrinal enforcer.
Many people were disappointed that the new pope was the man they knew as the austere, hyper-conservative cardinal nicknamed "God's Rottweiler."
In the three years since Pope Benedict assumed his role as shepherd of the world's more than 1 billion Roman Catholics, he has not ruled with the iron fist that some Catholics anticipated. But he hasn't entirely filled the shoes of Pope John Paul II -- an international superstar with the robust physique, artsy disposition and almost mischievous twinkle in his eye. (Although the fire-engine red loafers Benedict has taken to sporting are a step in the right direction.)
Benedict's first visit to the United States was his big chance to show the struggling church here who he really is, up close and personal. Last week, I said I hoped he would emphasize his love for his American believers still reeling from the clergy sex abuse scandal.
That is exactly what he did.
Benedict showed the warmth and kindness that people who have known him privately for years insist is very much central to who he is. Even before he landed on U.S. soil, the new pope addressed the sex-abuse travesty head on, calling it shameful and incomprehensible.
After he landed, the pope continued to talk about the scandal and met face-to-face with victims of clergy abuse, a Christ-like pastoral move that was felt well beyond the few souls he met with privately
.
On Sunday, before Benedict led more than 57,000 faithful in a mass at Yankee Stadium, he made a stop at Ground Zero to do something simple and powerful:
He prayed.
He lit a candle.
He held the hands of victims, their family and first responders to the 9/11 attacks.
While the pope prepared to preach in New York Sunday, I was at a church in Grand Rapids, Mich., where I heard a sermon that made me think of him.
The pastor spoke about St. Paul's Letter to the Philippians, where St. Paul talks about Jesus' tenderness and compassion and says we should treat each other likewise.
The Greek words St. Paul uses to describe the kind of encouragement and comfort Jesus offers paints an image, the Michigan paster said, of someone walking alongside of you, slipping an arm around your shoulders and whispering in your ear, "It's gonna be OK. . . . Keep walking."
As he walked among his American flock, that is precisely what Pope Benedict XVI, in his understated way, did. Much more like the German shepherd that he is than any sort of Rottweiler.
Well played, Your Holiness.
Thank you.
And please remember that your soft side is also your best.
Cathleen Falsani is the award-winning religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and author of the critically acclaimed book, The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People. She is also author of the memoir Sin Boldly: A Field Guide for Grace, which will be released in August, and of the forthcoming The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers, due in stores April 2009.
It was a little before 6 p.m., if memory serves, and more than an hour before we were expecting to see the last smoke signal of the day, telling the outside world how the cardinals, meeting in a secret conclave to choose a new pope, were progressing.
On that late Tuesday afternoon, the first puffs of smoke looked gray. A few minutes later, when a steady stream of decidedly white smoke appeared and then the campanone -- the enormous bell on the front of the basilica that is rung when a new pope has been chosen -- began to toll, total mayhem broke out in the square.
Habemus Papam! We have a pope!
Thousands of people ran toward the basilica, straining to see who would appear on the main balcony of St. Peter's. When a cardinal from Chile emerged to announce that we did, in fact, have a new pope, tension in the crowd made it feel as though it was holding its collective breath. And then, Cardinal Josef Ratzinger of Germany walked through the velvet curtains onto the balcony with a new name: Pope Benedict XVI.
I recall vividly the massive cheer from the crowd in the square, followed almost immediately by an audible groan.
"Papa Ratzi," I heard one of the seminarians standing near me say when he recognized the German cardinal. A few hours later, as the world began to learn more about Pope Benedict's personal history, some folks began to call him "Papa Nazi" because of his experiences in the Hitler Youth during World War II.
I don't believe the reason the crowd groaned when they realized Ratzinger had been elected to fill the throne of St. Peter was his personal history.
I think it was his personality, or, frankly, the perceived lack thereof.
During the reign of the beloved, highly personable and thoroughly Polish Pope John Paul II, Ratzinger had been the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith -- the Vatican's doctrinal enforcer.
Many people were disappointed that the new pope was the man they knew as the austere, hyper-conservative cardinal nicknamed "God's Rottweiler."
In the three years since Pope Benedict assumed his role as shepherd of the world's more than 1 billion Roman Catholics, he has not ruled with the iron fist that some Catholics anticipated. But he hasn't entirely filled the shoes of Pope John Paul II -- an international superstar with the robust physique, artsy disposition and almost mischievous twinkle in his eye. (Although the fire-engine red loafers Benedict has taken to sporting are a step in the right direction.)
Benedict's first visit to the United States was his big chance to show the struggling church here who he really is, up close and personal. Last week, I said I hoped he would emphasize his love for his American believers still reeling from the clergy sex abuse scandal.
That is exactly what he did.
Benedict showed the warmth and kindness that people who have known him privately for years insist is very much central to who he is. Even before he landed on U.S. soil, the new pope addressed the sex-abuse travesty head on, calling it shameful and incomprehensible.
After he landed, the pope continued to talk about the scandal and met face-to-face with victims of clergy abuse, a Christ-like pastoral move that was felt well beyond the few souls he met with privately
.
On Sunday, before Benedict led more than 57,000 faithful in a mass at Yankee Stadium, he made a stop at Ground Zero to do something simple and powerful:
He prayed.
He lit a candle.
He held the hands of victims, their family and first responders to the 9/11 attacks.
While the pope prepared to preach in New York Sunday, I was at a church in Grand Rapids, Mich., where I heard a sermon that made me think of him.
The pastor spoke about St. Paul's Letter to the Philippians, where St. Paul talks about Jesus' tenderness and compassion and says we should treat each other likewise.
The Greek words St. Paul uses to describe the kind of encouragement and comfort Jesus offers paints an image, the Michigan paster said, of someone walking alongside of you, slipping an arm around your shoulders and whispering in your ear, "It's gonna be OK. . . . Keep walking."
As he walked among his American flock, that is precisely what Pope Benedict XVI, in his understated way, did. Much more like the German shepherd that he is than any sort of Rottweiler.
Well played, Your Holiness.
Thank you.
And please remember that your soft side is also your best.
Cathleen Falsani is the award-winning religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and author of the critically acclaimed book, The God Factor: Inside the Spiritual Lives of Public People. She is also author of the memoir Sin Boldly: A Field Guide for Grace, which will be released in August, and of the forthcoming The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers, due in stores April 2009.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Address at JFK Departure Ceremony
Mr. Vice-President,Distinguished Civil Authorities,My Brother Bishops,Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The time has come for me to bid farewell to your country. These days that I have spent in the United States have been blessed with many memorable experiences of American hospitality, and I wish to express my deep appreciation to all of you for your kind welcome. It has been a joy for me to witness the faith and devotion of the Catholic community here. It was heart-warming to spend time with leaders and representatives of other Christian communities and other religions, and I renew my assurances of respect and esteem to all of you.
I am grateful to President Bush for kindly coming to greet me at the start of my visit, and I thank Vice-President Cheney for his presence here as I depart. The civic authorities, workers and volunteers in Washington and New York have given generously of their time and resources in order to ensure the smooth progress of my visit at every stage, and for this I express my profound thanks and appreciation to Mayor Adrian Fenty of Washington and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York.
Once again I offer prayerful good wishes to the representatives of the see of Baltimore, the first Archdiocese, and those of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville, in this jubilee year. May the Lord continue to bless you in the years ahead. To all my Brother Bishops, to Bishop DiMarzio of this Diocese of Brooklyn, and to the officers and staff of the Episcopal Conference who have contributed in so many ways to the preparation of this visit, I extend my renewed gratitude for their hard work and dedication. With great affection I greet once more the priests and religious, the deacons, the seminarians and young people, and all the faithful in the United States, and I encourage you to continue bearing joyful witness to Christ our Hope, our Risen Lord and Savior, who makes all things new and gives us life in abundance.
One of the high-points of my visit was the opportunity to address the General Assembly of the United Nations, and I thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his kind invitation and welcome. Looking back over the sixty years that have passed since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I give thanks for all that the Organization has been able to achieve in defending and promoting the fundamental rights of every man, woman and child throughout the world, and I encourage people of good will everywhere to continue working tirelessly to promote justice and peaceful co-existence between peoples and nations.
My visit this morning to Ground Zero will remain firmly etched in my memory, as I continue to pray for those who died and for all who suffer in consequence of the tragedy that occurred there in 2001. For all the people of America, and indeed throughout the world, I pray that the future will bring increased fraternity and solidarity, a growth in mutual respect, and a renewed trust and confidence in God, our heavenly Father. With these words, I take my leave, I ask you to remember me in your prayers, and at the same time I assure you of my friendship and affection in the Lord. God bless America.
The time has come for me to bid farewell to your country. These days that I have spent in the United States have been blessed with many memorable experiences of American hospitality, and I wish to express my deep appreciation to all of you for your kind welcome. It has been a joy for me to witness the faith and devotion of the Catholic community here. It was heart-warming to spend time with leaders and representatives of other Christian communities and other religions, and I renew my assurances of respect and esteem to all of you.
I am grateful to President Bush for kindly coming to greet me at the start of my visit, and I thank Vice-President Cheney for his presence here as I depart. The civic authorities, workers and volunteers in Washington and New York have given generously of their time and resources in order to ensure the smooth progress of my visit at every stage, and for this I express my profound thanks and appreciation to Mayor Adrian Fenty of Washington and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York.
Once again I offer prayerful good wishes to the representatives of the see of Baltimore, the first Archdiocese, and those of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville, in this jubilee year. May the Lord continue to bless you in the years ahead. To all my Brother Bishops, to Bishop DiMarzio of this Diocese of Brooklyn, and to the officers and staff of the Episcopal Conference who have contributed in so many ways to the preparation of this visit, I extend my renewed gratitude for their hard work and dedication. With great affection I greet once more the priests and religious, the deacons, the seminarians and young people, and all the faithful in the United States, and I encourage you to continue bearing joyful witness to Christ our Hope, our Risen Lord and Savior, who makes all things new and gives us life in abundance.
One of the high-points of my visit was the opportunity to address the General Assembly of the United Nations, and I thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his kind invitation and welcome. Looking back over the sixty years that have passed since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, I give thanks for all that the Organization has been able to achieve in defending and promoting the fundamental rights of every man, woman and child throughout the world, and I encourage people of good will everywhere to continue working tirelessly to promote justice and peaceful co-existence between peoples and nations.
My visit this morning to Ground Zero will remain firmly etched in my memory, as I continue to pray for those who died and for all who suffer in consequence of the tragedy that occurred there in 2001. For all the people of America, and indeed throughout the world, I pray that the future will bring increased fraternity and solidarity, a growth in mutual respect, and a renewed trust and confidence in God, our heavenly Father. With these words, I take my leave, I ask you to remember me in your prayers, and at the same time I assure you of my friendship and affection in the Lord. God bless America.
Homily, Mass at Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York
During the Mass for the Fifth Sunday of Easter celebrated 20 April 2008, the Holy Father gave the following homily.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In the Gospel we have just heard, Jesus tells his Apostles to put their faith in him, for he is "the way, and the truth and the life" (Jn 14:6). Christ is the way that leads to the Father, the truth which gives meaning to human existence, and the source of that life which is eternal joy with all the saints in his heavenly Kingdom. Let us take the Lord at his word! Let us renew our faith in him and put all our hope in his promises!
With this encouragement to persevere in the faith of Peter (cf. Lk 22:32; Mt 16:17), I greet all of you with great affection. I thank Cardinal Egan for his cordial words of welcome in your name. At this Mass, the Church in the United States celebrates the two hundredth anniversary of the creation of the Sees of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville from the mother See of Baltimore. The presence around this altar of the Successor of Peter, his brother bishops and priests, and deacons, men and women religious, and lay faithful from throughout the fifty states of the Union, eloquently manifests our communion in the Catholic faith which comes to us from the Apostles.
Our celebration today is also a sign of the impressive growth which God has given to the Church in your country in the past two hundred years. From a small flock like that described in the first reading, the Church in America has been built up in fidelity to the twin commandment of love of God and love of neighbor. In this land of freedom and opportunity, the Church has united a widely diverse flock in the profession of the faith and, through her many educational, charitable and social works, has also contributed significantly to the growth of American society as a whole.
This great accomplishment was not without its challenges. Today's first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, speaks of linguistic and cultural tensions already present within the earliest Church community. At the same time, it shows the power of the word of God, authoritatively proclaimed by the Apostles and received in faith, to create a unity which transcends the divisions arising from human limitations and weakness. Here we are reminded of a fundamental truth: that the Church's unity has no other basis than the Word of God, made flesh in Christ Jesus our Lord. All external signs of identity, all structures, associations and programs, valuable or even essential as they may be, ultimately exist only to support and foster the deeper unity which, in Christ, is God's indefectible gift to his Church.
The first reading also makes clear, as we see from the imposition of hands on the first deacons, that the Church's unity is "apostolic". It is a visible unity, grounded in the Apostles whom Christ chose and appointed as witnesses to his resurrection, and it is born of what the Scriptures call "the obedience of faith" (Rom 1:5; cf. Acts 6:7).
"Authority" … "obedience". To be frank, these are not easy words to speak nowadays. Words like these represent a "stumbling stone" for many of our contemporaries, especially in a society which rightly places a high value on personal freedom. Yet, in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ - "the way and the truth and the life" - we come to see the fullest meaning, value, and indeed beauty, of those words. The Gospel teaches us that true freedom, the freedom of the children of God, is found only in the self-surrender which is part of the mystery of love. Only by losing ourselves, the Lord tells us, do we truly find ourselves (cf. Lk 17:33). True freedom blossoms when we turn away from the burden of sin, which clouds our perceptions and weakens our resolve, and find the source of our ultimate happiness in him who is infinite love, infinite freedom, infinite life. "In his will is our peace".
Real freedom, then, is God's gracious gift, the fruit of conversion to his truth, the truth which makes us free (cf. Jn 8:32). And this freedom in truth brings in its wake a new and liberating way of seeing reality. When we put on "the mind of Christ" (cf. Phil 2:5), new horizons open before us! In the light of faith, within the communion of the Church, we also find the inspiration and strength to become a leaven of the Gospel in the world. We become the light of the world, the salt of the earth (cf. Mt 5:13-14), entrusted with the "apostolate" of making our own lives, and the world in which we live, conform ever more fully to God's saving plan.
This magnificent vision of a world being transformed by the liberating truth of the Gospel is reflected in the description of the Church found in today's second reading. The Apostle tells us that Christ, risen from the dead, is the keystone of a great temple which is even now rising in the Spirit. And we, the members of his body, through Baptism have become "living stones" in that temple, sharing in the life of God by grace, blessed with the freedom of the sons of God, and empowered to offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to him (cf. 1 Pet 2:5). And what is this offering which we are called to make, if not to direct our every thought, word and action to the truth of the Gospel and to harness all our energies in the service of God's Kingdom? Only in this way can we build with God, on the one foundation which is Christ (cf. 1 Cor 3:11). Only in this way can we build something that will truly endure. Only in this way can our lives find ultimate meaning and bear lasting fruit.
Today we recall the bicentennial of a watershed in the history of the Church in the United States: its first great chapter of growth. In these two hundred years, the face of the Catholic community in your country has changed greatly. We think of the successive waves of immigrants whose traditions have so enriched the Church in America. We think of the strong faith which built up the network of churches, educational, healthcare and social institutions which have long been the hallmark of the Church in this land. We think also of those countless fathers and mothers who passed on the faith to their children, the steady ministry of the many priests who devoted their lives to the care of souls, and the incalculable contribution made by so many men and women religious, who not only taught generations of children how to read and write, but also inspired in them a lifelong desire to know God, to love him and to serve him. How many "spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God" have been offered up in these two centuries! In this land of religious liberty, Catholics found freedom not only to practice their faith, but also to participate fully in civic life, bringing their deepest moral convictions to the public square and cooperating with their neighbors in shaping a vibrant, democratic society. Today's celebration is more than an occasion of gratitude for graces received. It is also a summons to move forward with firm resolve to use wisely the blessings of freedom, in order to build a future of hope for coming generations.
"You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people he claims for his own, to proclaim his glorious works" (1 Pet 2:9). These words of the Apostle Peter do not simply remind us of the dignity which is ours by God's grace; they also challenge us to an ever greater fidelity to the glorious inheritance which we have received in Christ (cf. Eph 1:18). They challenge us to examine our consciences, to purify our hearts, to renew our baptismal commitment to reject Satan and all his empty promises. They challenge us to be a people of joy, heralds of the unfailing hope (cf. Rom 5:5) born of faith in God's word, and trust in his promises.
Each day, throughout this land, you and so many of your neighbors pray to the Father in the Lord's own words: "Thy Kingdom come". This prayer needs to shape the mind and heart of every Christian in this nation. It needs to bear fruit in the way you lead your lives and in the way you build up your families and your communities. It needs to create new "settings of hope" (cf. Spe Salvi, 32ff.) where God's Kingdom becomes present in all its saving power.
Praying fervently for the coming of the Kingdom also means being constantly alert for the signs of its presence, and working for its growth in every sector of society. It means facing the challenges of present and future with confidence in Christ's victory and a commitment to extending his reign. It means not losing heart in the face of resistance, adversity and scandal. It means overcoming every separation between faith and life, and countering false gospels of freedom and happiness. It also means rejecting a false dichotomy between faith and political life, since, as the Second Vatican Council put it, "there is no human activity - even in secular affairs - which can be withdrawn from God's dominion" (Lumen Gentium, 36). It means working to enrich American society and culture with the beauty and truth of the Gospel, and never losing sight of that great hope which gives meaning and value to all the other hopes which inspire our lives.
And this, dear friends, is the particular challenge which the Successor of Saint Peter sets before you today. As "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation", follow faithfully in the footsteps of those who have gone before you! Hasten the coming of God's Kingdom in this land! Past generations have left you an impressive legacy. In our day too, the Catholic community in this nation has been outstanding in its prophetic witness in the defense of life, in the education of the young, in care for the poor, the sick and the stranger in your midst. On these solid foundations, the future of the Church in America must even now begin to rise!
Yesterday, not far from here, I was moved by the joy, the hope and the generous love of Christ which I saw on the faces of the many young people assembled in Dunwoodie. They are the Church's future, and they deserve all the prayer and support that you can give them. And so I wish to close by adding a special word of encouragement to them. My dear young friends, like the seven men, "filled with the Spirit and wisdom" whom the Apostles charged with care for the young Church, may you step forward and take up the responsibility which your faith in Christ sets before you! May you find the courage to proclaim Christ, "the same, yesterday, and today and for ever" and the unchanging truths which have their foundation in him (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 10; Heb 13:8). These are the truths that set us free! They are the truths which alone can guarantee respect for the inalienable dignity and rights of each man, woman and child in our world - including the most defenseless of all human beings, the unborn child in the mother's womb.
In a world where, as Pope John Paul II, speaking in this very place, reminded us, Lazarus continues to stand at our door (Homily at Yankee Stadium, October 2, 1979, No. 7), let your faith and love bear rich fruit in outreach to the poor, the needy and those without a voice. Young men and women of America, I urge you: open your hearts to the Lord's call to follow him in the priesthood and the religious life. Can there be any greater mark of love than this: to follow in the footsteps of Christ, who was willing to lay down his life for his friends (cf. Jn 15:13)?
In today's Gospel, the Lord promises his disciples that they will perform works even greater than his (cf. Jn 14:12). Dear friends, only God in his providence knows what works his grace has yet to bring forth in your lives and in the life of the Church in the United States. Yet Christ's promise fills us with sure hope. Let us now join our prayers to his, as living stones in that spiritual temple which is his one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Let us lift our eyes to him, for even now he is preparing for us a place in his Father's house. And empowered by his Holy Spirit, let us work with renewed zeal for the spread of his Kingdom.
"Happy are you who believe!" (cf. 1 Pet 2:7). Let us turn to Jesus! He alone is the way that leads to eternal happiness, the truth who satisfies the deepest longings of every heart, and the life who brings ever new joy and hope, to us and to our world. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In the Gospel we have just heard, Jesus tells his Apostles to put their faith in him, for he is "the way, and the truth and the life" (Jn 14:6). Christ is the way that leads to the Father, the truth which gives meaning to human existence, and the source of that life which is eternal joy with all the saints in his heavenly Kingdom. Let us take the Lord at his word! Let us renew our faith in him and put all our hope in his promises!
With this encouragement to persevere in the faith of Peter (cf. Lk 22:32; Mt 16:17), I greet all of you with great affection. I thank Cardinal Egan for his cordial words of welcome in your name. At this Mass, the Church in the United States celebrates the two hundredth anniversary of the creation of the Sees of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville from the mother See of Baltimore. The presence around this altar of the Successor of Peter, his brother bishops and priests, and deacons, men and women religious, and lay faithful from throughout the fifty states of the Union, eloquently manifests our communion in the Catholic faith which comes to us from the Apostles.
Our celebration today is also a sign of the impressive growth which God has given to the Church in your country in the past two hundred years. From a small flock like that described in the first reading, the Church in America has been built up in fidelity to the twin commandment of love of God and love of neighbor. In this land of freedom and opportunity, the Church has united a widely diverse flock in the profession of the faith and, through her many educational, charitable and social works, has also contributed significantly to the growth of American society as a whole.
This great accomplishment was not without its challenges. Today's first reading, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, speaks of linguistic and cultural tensions already present within the earliest Church community. At the same time, it shows the power of the word of God, authoritatively proclaimed by the Apostles and received in faith, to create a unity which transcends the divisions arising from human limitations and weakness. Here we are reminded of a fundamental truth: that the Church's unity has no other basis than the Word of God, made flesh in Christ Jesus our Lord. All external signs of identity, all structures, associations and programs, valuable or even essential as they may be, ultimately exist only to support and foster the deeper unity which, in Christ, is God's indefectible gift to his Church.
The first reading also makes clear, as we see from the imposition of hands on the first deacons, that the Church's unity is "apostolic". It is a visible unity, grounded in the Apostles whom Christ chose and appointed as witnesses to his resurrection, and it is born of what the Scriptures call "the obedience of faith" (Rom 1:5; cf. Acts 6:7).
"Authority" … "obedience". To be frank, these are not easy words to speak nowadays. Words like these represent a "stumbling stone" for many of our contemporaries, especially in a society which rightly places a high value on personal freedom. Yet, in the light of our faith in Jesus Christ - "the way and the truth and the life" - we come to see the fullest meaning, value, and indeed beauty, of those words. The Gospel teaches us that true freedom, the freedom of the children of God, is found only in the self-surrender which is part of the mystery of love. Only by losing ourselves, the Lord tells us, do we truly find ourselves (cf. Lk 17:33). True freedom blossoms when we turn away from the burden of sin, which clouds our perceptions and weakens our resolve, and find the source of our ultimate happiness in him who is infinite love, infinite freedom, infinite life. "In his will is our peace".
Real freedom, then, is God's gracious gift, the fruit of conversion to his truth, the truth which makes us free (cf. Jn 8:32). And this freedom in truth brings in its wake a new and liberating way of seeing reality. When we put on "the mind of Christ" (cf. Phil 2:5), new horizons open before us! In the light of faith, within the communion of the Church, we also find the inspiration and strength to become a leaven of the Gospel in the world. We become the light of the world, the salt of the earth (cf. Mt 5:13-14), entrusted with the "apostolate" of making our own lives, and the world in which we live, conform ever more fully to God's saving plan.
This magnificent vision of a world being transformed by the liberating truth of the Gospel is reflected in the description of the Church found in today's second reading. The Apostle tells us that Christ, risen from the dead, is the keystone of a great temple which is even now rising in the Spirit. And we, the members of his body, through Baptism have become "living stones" in that temple, sharing in the life of God by grace, blessed with the freedom of the sons of God, and empowered to offer spiritual sacrifices pleasing to him (cf. 1 Pet 2:5). And what is this offering which we are called to make, if not to direct our every thought, word and action to the truth of the Gospel and to harness all our energies in the service of God's Kingdom? Only in this way can we build with God, on the one foundation which is Christ (cf. 1 Cor 3:11). Only in this way can we build something that will truly endure. Only in this way can our lives find ultimate meaning and bear lasting fruit.
Today we recall the bicentennial of a watershed in the history of the Church in the United States: its first great chapter of growth. In these two hundred years, the face of the Catholic community in your country has changed greatly. We think of the successive waves of immigrants whose traditions have so enriched the Church in America. We think of the strong faith which built up the network of churches, educational, healthcare and social institutions which have long been the hallmark of the Church in this land. We think also of those countless fathers and mothers who passed on the faith to their children, the steady ministry of the many priests who devoted their lives to the care of souls, and the incalculable contribution made by so many men and women religious, who not only taught generations of children how to read and write, but also inspired in them a lifelong desire to know God, to love him and to serve him. How many "spiritual sacrifices pleasing to God" have been offered up in these two centuries! In this land of religious liberty, Catholics found freedom not only to practice their faith, but also to participate fully in civic life, bringing their deepest moral convictions to the public square and cooperating with their neighbors in shaping a vibrant, democratic society. Today's celebration is more than an occasion of gratitude for graces received. It is also a summons to move forward with firm resolve to use wisely the blessings of freedom, in order to build a future of hope for coming generations.
"You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people he claims for his own, to proclaim his glorious works" (1 Pet 2:9). These words of the Apostle Peter do not simply remind us of the dignity which is ours by God's grace; they also challenge us to an ever greater fidelity to the glorious inheritance which we have received in Christ (cf. Eph 1:18). They challenge us to examine our consciences, to purify our hearts, to renew our baptismal commitment to reject Satan and all his empty promises. They challenge us to be a people of joy, heralds of the unfailing hope (cf. Rom 5:5) born of faith in God's word, and trust in his promises.
Each day, throughout this land, you and so many of your neighbors pray to the Father in the Lord's own words: "Thy Kingdom come". This prayer needs to shape the mind and heart of every Christian in this nation. It needs to bear fruit in the way you lead your lives and in the way you build up your families and your communities. It needs to create new "settings of hope" (cf. Spe Salvi, 32ff.) where God's Kingdom becomes present in all its saving power.
Praying fervently for the coming of the Kingdom also means being constantly alert for the signs of its presence, and working for its growth in every sector of society. It means facing the challenges of present and future with confidence in Christ's victory and a commitment to extending his reign. It means not losing heart in the face of resistance, adversity and scandal. It means overcoming every separation between faith and life, and countering false gospels of freedom and happiness. It also means rejecting a false dichotomy between faith and political life, since, as the Second Vatican Council put it, "there is no human activity - even in secular affairs - which can be withdrawn from God's dominion" (Lumen Gentium, 36). It means working to enrich American society and culture with the beauty and truth of the Gospel, and never losing sight of that great hope which gives meaning and value to all the other hopes which inspire our lives.
And this, dear friends, is the particular challenge which the Successor of Saint Peter sets before you today. As "a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation", follow faithfully in the footsteps of those who have gone before you! Hasten the coming of God's Kingdom in this land! Past generations have left you an impressive legacy. In our day too, the Catholic community in this nation has been outstanding in its prophetic witness in the defense of life, in the education of the young, in care for the poor, the sick and the stranger in your midst. On these solid foundations, the future of the Church in America must even now begin to rise!
Yesterday, not far from here, I was moved by the joy, the hope and the generous love of Christ which I saw on the faces of the many young people assembled in Dunwoodie. They are the Church's future, and they deserve all the prayer and support that you can give them. And so I wish to close by adding a special word of encouragement to them. My dear young friends, like the seven men, "filled with the Spirit and wisdom" whom the Apostles charged with care for the young Church, may you step forward and take up the responsibility which your faith in Christ sets before you! May you find the courage to proclaim Christ, "the same, yesterday, and today and for ever" and the unchanging truths which have their foundation in him (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 10; Heb 13:8). These are the truths that set us free! They are the truths which alone can guarantee respect for the inalienable dignity and rights of each man, woman and child in our world - including the most defenseless of all human beings, the unborn child in the mother's womb.
In a world where, as Pope John Paul II, speaking in this very place, reminded us, Lazarus continues to stand at our door (Homily at Yankee Stadium, October 2, 1979, No. 7), let your faith and love bear rich fruit in outreach to the poor, the needy and those without a voice. Young men and women of America, I urge you: open your hearts to the Lord's call to follow him in the priesthood and the religious life. Can there be any greater mark of love than this: to follow in the footsteps of Christ, who was willing to lay down his life for his friends (cf. Jn 15:13)?
In today's Gospel, the Lord promises his disciples that they will perform works even greater than his (cf. Jn 14:12). Dear friends, only God in his providence knows what works his grace has yet to bring forth in your lives and in the life of the Church in the United States. Yet Christ's promise fills us with sure hope. Let us now join our prayers to his, as living stones in that spiritual temple which is his one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Let us lift our eyes to him, for even now he is preparing for us a place in his Father's house. And empowered by his Holy Spirit, let us work with renewed zeal for the spread of his Kingdom.
"Happy are you who believe!" (cf. 1 Pet 2:7). Let us turn to Jesus! He alone is the way that leads to eternal happiness, the truth who satisfies the deepest longings of every heart, and the life who brings ever new joy and hope, to us and to our world. Amen.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Papal trip challenges Catholics on abuse
Papal trip challenges Catholics on abuse
By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer
The clergy sex abuse scandal had exhausted American Catholics.
After six years of painful revelations about guilty priests, apologies to victims, reforms and massive settlements, many hoped the issue could wither and fade into the background.
But Pope Benedict XVI's focus on the problem in his first papal visit to the U.S. — seen most dramatically in his private meeting with victims — showed that the spiritual leader of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics believes his church still has healing to do.
There is already one tangible impact. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said dozens of new people have come forward in the last few days to say they were molested as children. Many told the Survivors Network they were drawn by the pope's remarks.
Teresa Kettelkamp, who oversees child protection programs for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, had been cautioning church leaders against "issue fatigue" on abuse. Kettelkamp said she expects more people to come forward with claims in the coming months because of Benedict's actions.
The pope's visit has now made it impossible to play down the problem, she said.
"The fact that he mentioned the issue on the plane on the way over here and has continued to mention it nearly every time he's spoken — it's just so much on the radar now for all of us," Kettelkamp said Sunday, the final day of Benedict's trip.
Many Catholics feared the scandal would overshadow Benedict's message to Americans. But it was the pope who made the problem a centerpiece of his visit.
Benedict did address many other issues, including immigration rights, terrorism, human rights and, of course, Catholic faith and practice. He was met with an enthusiasm that spread among the general public, who lined the streets by the hundreds to see him.
But the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said that the pope had made the abuse scandal a core theme of the entire trip, "to give hope to the church in the United States."
Before his plane from Rome had landed Tuesday in Washington, he said that he was "deeply ashamed" of the scandal and pledged to keep pedophiles out of the priesthood.
He later told the nation's bishops that the problem had sometimes been very "badly handled" — an indirect but clear papal admonition. The bishops had a "God-given duty" to reach out with compassion to victims, he said.
Benedict then took a step that no other pope is believed to have taken. He met privately with five people who had been molested by priests in the Archdiocese of Boston, where the long-simmering problem erupted in 2002 and spread nationwide.
"In receiving them he was trying to reach out to all those who were affected by the sexual abuse crisis," said Cardinal Sean O'Malley, archbishop of Boston since 2003, who helped arrange the meeting.
Many advocates for victims wonder how much further Benedict is willing to go. They say children won't be safe unless the church creates an independent system to discipline bishops who fail to warn parents and police about abusive clergy. Only the pope oversees bishops.
Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb., has refused to participate in the bishops' child protection programs that aren't required by church law.
Ohio Judge Michael Merz, head of the National Review Board, a lay panel formed by the bishops to monitor their reforms, has said that Bruskewitz' conduct "scandalizes the faithful." Yet, there have been no public consequences for the bishop.
Cardinal William Levada, the former archbishop of San Francisco, who now leads the Vatican office that reviews abuse cases worldwide, said last Friday that he didn't know of any bishops guilty of "aiding and abetting" pedophiles, and would respond if he did. Bishops who have made mistakes, largely took advice that was accepted at the time but proved wrong, he said.
Jason Berry, a New Orleans writer who first drew national attention to clergy sex abuse in the 1980s, said Levada is essentially absolving himself along with his fellow U.S. prelates.
Levada was archbishop in Portland from 1986 to 1995. In 2004, Portland became the first American diocese to seek bankruptcy protection, eventually paying $52 million to 175 victims.
When Levada was archbishop of San Francisco, the chairman of a panel formed to help the archdiocese review abuse claims resigned in protest, accusing church leaders of "deception" for blocking the panel's findings.
Levada told reporters in a meeting at Time magazine's offices on Friday that it is possible church law could be changed to help crack down on abuse, though Lombardi stressed later that no immediate revisions are planned.
"This is a crisis that has built up over generations," Berry said. "You cannot expect it to simply disappear in the space of five years."
How the situation develops could depend on how willing lay Catholics are to confront their bishops. Despite Benedict's remarks, there might not be much appetite for that.
Many Catholics are tired of having their church singled out for a problem that they note is common but often ignored in wider society, and staggered by the thousands of accusations and more than $2 billion in costs from the crisis.
"The pastoral gesture toward sex abuse victims played out very well. I think he won over a lot of people. But will anything change?" asked David Gibson, a former Vatican radio newsman and author of the biography "The Rule of Benedict." "It seems clear that bishops will not be accountable. Is that reality going to sink in after the glow is gone?"
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.
By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer
The clergy sex abuse scandal had exhausted American Catholics.
After six years of painful revelations about guilty priests, apologies to victims, reforms and massive settlements, many hoped the issue could wither and fade into the background.
But Pope Benedict XVI's focus on the problem in his first papal visit to the U.S. — seen most dramatically in his private meeting with victims — showed that the spiritual leader of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics believes his church still has healing to do.
There is already one tangible impact. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said dozens of new people have come forward in the last few days to say they were molested as children. Many told the Survivors Network they were drawn by the pope's remarks.
Teresa Kettelkamp, who oversees child protection programs for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, had been cautioning church leaders against "issue fatigue" on abuse. Kettelkamp said she expects more people to come forward with claims in the coming months because of Benedict's actions.
The pope's visit has now made it impossible to play down the problem, she said.
"The fact that he mentioned the issue on the plane on the way over here and has continued to mention it nearly every time he's spoken — it's just so much on the radar now for all of us," Kettelkamp said Sunday, the final day of Benedict's trip.
Many Catholics feared the scandal would overshadow Benedict's message to Americans. But it was the pope who made the problem a centerpiece of his visit.
Benedict did address many other issues, including immigration rights, terrorism, human rights and, of course, Catholic faith and practice. He was met with an enthusiasm that spread among the general public, who lined the streets by the hundreds to see him.
But the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said that the pope had made the abuse scandal a core theme of the entire trip, "to give hope to the church in the United States."
Before his plane from Rome had landed Tuesday in Washington, he said that he was "deeply ashamed" of the scandal and pledged to keep pedophiles out of the priesthood.
He later told the nation's bishops that the problem had sometimes been very "badly handled" — an indirect but clear papal admonition. The bishops had a "God-given duty" to reach out with compassion to victims, he said.
Benedict then took a step that no other pope is believed to have taken. He met privately with five people who had been molested by priests in the Archdiocese of Boston, where the long-simmering problem erupted in 2002 and spread nationwide.
"In receiving them he was trying to reach out to all those who were affected by the sexual abuse crisis," said Cardinal Sean O'Malley, archbishop of Boston since 2003, who helped arrange the meeting.
Many advocates for victims wonder how much further Benedict is willing to go. They say children won't be safe unless the church creates an independent system to discipline bishops who fail to warn parents and police about abusive clergy. Only the pope oversees bishops.
Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Neb., has refused to participate in the bishops' child protection programs that aren't required by church law.
Ohio Judge Michael Merz, head of the National Review Board, a lay panel formed by the bishops to monitor their reforms, has said that Bruskewitz' conduct "scandalizes the faithful." Yet, there have been no public consequences for the bishop.
Cardinal William Levada, the former archbishop of San Francisco, who now leads the Vatican office that reviews abuse cases worldwide, said last Friday that he didn't know of any bishops guilty of "aiding and abetting" pedophiles, and would respond if he did. Bishops who have made mistakes, largely took advice that was accepted at the time but proved wrong, he said.
Jason Berry, a New Orleans writer who first drew national attention to clergy sex abuse in the 1980s, said Levada is essentially absolving himself along with his fellow U.S. prelates.
Levada was archbishop in Portland from 1986 to 1995. In 2004, Portland became the first American diocese to seek bankruptcy protection, eventually paying $52 million to 175 victims.
When Levada was archbishop of San Francisco, the chairman of a panel formed to help the archdiocese review abuse claims resigned in protest, accusing church leaders of "deception" for blocking the panel's findings.
Levada told reporters in a meeting at Time magazine's offices on Friday that it is possible church law could be changed to help crack down on abuse, though Lombardi stressed later that no immediate revisions are planned.
"This is a crisis that has built up over generations," Berry said. "You cannot expect it to simply disappear in the space of five years."
How the situation develops could depend on how willing lay Catholics are to confront their bishops. Despite Benedict's remarks, there might not be much appetite for that.
Many Catholics are tired of having their church singled out for a problem that they note is common but often ignored in wider society, and staggered by the thousands of accusations and more than $2 billion in costs from the crisis.
"The pastoral gesture toward sex abuse victims played out very well. I think he won over a lot of people. But will anything change?" asked David Gibson, a former Vatican radio newsman and author of the biography "The Rule of Benedict." "It seems clear that bishops will not be accountable. Is that reality going to sink in after the glow is gone?"
Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press.
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