From: MSN
Pope Francis on Saturday tapped a veteran diplomat as the Vatican's No. 2 to replace the Holy See's secretary of state, who in recent years increasingly became a divisive figure in the church's hierarchy.
The Vatican announced that Archbishop Pietro Parolin, 58, an Italian former deputy foreign minister at the Vatican, will take up the post held since 2006 by Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, starting on Oct. 15. Bertone will remain in the position until then, giving Parolin, currently serving as papal envoy to Venezuela, time to prepare for his new duties.
Benedict XVI, who retired as pontiff earlier this year, had relied heavily on Bertone as one of the few advisers in his inner circle. Bertone, a Genoa archbishop, had served Benedict for many years at the Vatican.
The Vatican noted that Bertone, 78, was retiring under a church law that requires cardinals who hold top curia posts to offer their resignations when they turn 75. Benedict had kept him in place, reportedly to the irritation of a rival faction of Vatican bureaucrats loyal to Bertone's predecessor, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
A scandal during the latter years of Benedict XVI's papacy involving the theft of papal documents and embarrassing revelations of alleged corruption and power plays at the Vatican was widely seen as aiming to discredit Bertone. Some speculate that the scandal contributed to Benedict's conclusion that he no longer had the mental or physical strength to guide the Roman Catholic church. He stepped down in February, the first pope in 600 years to resign.
Most of the documents, leaked by Benedict's butler to an Italian journalist, were of interest only to Italians, a reflection of centuries of dominance and intrigue by Italians in the Vatican. The purloined papal papers concerned relations between Italy and the Vatican and a few local scandals and personalities. The main aim of the disclosures appeared to be to discredit Bertone, who would have been expected to protect Benedict, a theologian with little apparent skill for navigating the political maneuvering around him.
Pope Francis will hold a special audience on Oct. 15, the Vatican said, "in order publicly to thank Cardinal Bertone for his faithful and generous service to the Holy See."
Parolin, when deputy foreign minister, shuttled between Rome and Hanoi in a partly successful bid to improve decades of thorny relations between the Vatican and the communist leadership of Vietnam. In 2009, Parolin told reporters in Hanoi that the Holy See and Vietnam had laid a "good basis" for eventually establishing diplomatic relations. After the Philippines, Vietnam has one of Asia's largest communities of Catholics.
The incoming No. 2, a native of northeast Italy, began his diplomatic career at the Vatican in 1986, and served in papal missions in Nigeria and Mexico. He was posted to Venezuela as papal nuncio in 2009.
In a statement, Parolin pledged that he would give Francis his "complete availability to work with him and under his guidance for the greater glory of God, the good of the holy Church and the progress and peace" so humanity might find "reasons to live and hope.
Showing posts with label Pope Benedict XVI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pope Benedict XVI. Show all posts
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
A saint-making record is also a diplomatic headache for Pope Francis
From: NBC NEWS.com
Pope Francis canonized more than 800 Catholics in Saint Peter’s Square Sunday – the largest number to be elevated to sainthood at once in the history of the Catholic Church.
The choice of some of the new saints was also striking, touching on the already-fragile relationship between Christianity and Islam.
The new saints included hundreds of laymen from the southern Italian port town of Otranto who were slain in the 15th century by the invading Ottoman Turkish army after they refused to convert to Islam.
In 1480, after conquering Constantinople – modern day Istanbul - the Ottoman Sultan Mohammed II planned to invade Rome, and Otranto became his army’s port of entrance into Italy.The local population fought back in a week-long siege, putting up a brave but hopeless resistance. When Ottoman soldiers finally overrun the town, they were ordered to kill every man over the age of 15 who refused to convert to Islam.
More than 800 resisted, locking themselves up into the town’s Cathedral. Their ringleader, local shoemaker Antonio Primaldo, was first to be beheaded. According to local legend, his headless body remained standing until the last of his fellow townspeople was killed.
Since then, Primaldo and his townsfolk, who chose to die rather than betray their Catholic faith, have been hailed as martyrs. Their bones and skulls – proudly on display behind glass walls in the Cathedral of Otranto – are well-known Catholic relics and a popular pilgrimage destination.
But the choice to highlight their sacrifice may put a strain on the already fragile relationship between the Catholic Church and Islam.
Ever since his election, Pope Francis has called for greater dialogue between Christianity and other religions, in particular Islam. And so far, he has acted on that promise. He washed the feet of a young Muslim woman jailed in a juvenile prison on Ash Wednesday, and reached out to the many “Muslim brothers and sisters” during his first Good Friday procession.
So why risk creating yet another inter-faith row with a celebration which some in the Muslim world may be seen as a provocation?
The answer is that it wasn’t Pope Francis’ choice in the first place. The decision to canonize the hundreds of Otranto martyrs was rubber-stamped by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, on Feb. 11 - the same day he announced his resignation.
It was a departing act of a pontiff that had become concerned about the mounting discrimination suffered by Christian minorities living in the Middle East in the wake of the Arab spring.
Pope Francis shares his predecessor’s concern. “By venerating the martyrs of Otranto” he said at Sunday’s canonization mass, “We ask God to protect the many Christians who in these times, and in many parts of the world, are still victims of violence”.
The Vatican’s relationship with Islam took a nosedive in 2006 when Benedict – now the Pope Emeritus - enraged Muslims by quoting the 14th-century byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiogolos, who said: “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”
It was an uncomfortable parting gift for his successor, who now faces an uphill struggle to rekindle ties with Islam.
Pope Francis canonized more than 800 Catholics in Saint Peter’s Square Sunday – the largest number to be elevated to sainthood at once in the history of the Catholic Church.
The choice of some of the new saints was also striking, touching on the already-fragile relationship between Christianity and Islam.
The new saints included hundreds of laymen from the southern Italian port town of Otranto who were slain in the 15th century by the invading Ottoman Turkish army after they refused to convert to Islam.
In 1480, after conquering Constantinople – modern day Istanbul - the Ottoman Sultan Mohammed II planned to invade Rome, and Otranto became his army’s port of entrance into Italy.The local population fought back in a week-long siege, putting up a brave but hopeless resistance. When Ottoman soldiers finally overrun the town, they were ordered to kill every man over the age of 15 who refused to convert to Islam.
More than 800 resisted, locking themselves up into the town’s Cathedral. Their ringleader, local shoemaker Antonio Primaldo, was first to be beheaded. According to local legend, his headless body remained standing until the last of his fellow townspeople was killed.
Since then, Primaldo and his townsfolk, who chose to die rather than betray their Catholic faith, have been hailed as martyrs. Their bones and skulls – proudly on display behind glass walls in the Cathedral of Otranto – are well-known Catholic relics and a popular pilgrimage destination.
But the choice to highlight their sacrifice may put a strain on the already fragile relationship between the Catholic Church and Islam.
Ever since his election, Pope Francis has called for greater dialogue between Christianity and other religions, in particular Islam. And so far, he has acted on that promise. He washed the feet of a young Muslim woman jailed in a juvenile prison on Ash Wednesday, and reached out to the many “Muslim brothers and sisters” during his first Good Friday procession.
So why risk creating yet another inter-faith row with a celebration which some in the Muslim world may be seen as a provocation?
The answer is that it wasn’t Pope Francis’ choice in the first place. The decision to canonize the hundreds of Otranto martyrs was rubber-stamped by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, on Feb. 11 - the same day he announced his resignation.
It was a departing act of a pontiff that had become concerned about the mounting discrimination suffered by Christian minorities living in the Middle East in the wake of the Arab spring.
Pope Francis shares his predecessor’s concern. “By venerating the martyrs of Otranto” he said at Sunday’s canonization mass, “We ask God to protect the many Christians who in these times, and in many parts of the world, are still victims of violence”.
The Vatican’s relationship with Islam took a nosedive in 2006 when Benedict – now the Pope Emeritus - enraged Muslims by quoting the 14th-century byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiogolos, who said: “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”
It was an uncomfortable parting gift for his successor, who now faces an uphill struggle to rekindle ties with Islam.
Friday, March 08, 2013
A Pope From the Phillipinnes?
From: The Anchoress
Yesterday I mentioned on Facebook that the more I read about the younger set of Cardinals the more I like these “Ratzingerians”, (so named because they’ve mostly been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI). I was very taken with this John Allen interview with Cardinal John Onaiyekan (referred to by some as the “Timothy Dolan of Africa”); he seems very sensible, faithful, smart and even charming.
Dolan, of course, is a Ratzingerian, as is Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley. Just over half of the College of Cardinals have been created by Benedict; the other half might be called “Wojtyłians”.
My very favorite of the Ratzingerians, though, is rapidly becoming the one cardinal who will likely be dismissed by most for the simple reason of age. The very youthful-looking Cardinal Luis Antonio “Chito” Tagle is only 55 years old, but he is really something special.
Because he knows my upcoming book is about idols and idolatry, Joseph Susanka sent me this quote from Tagle:
I understand the reluctance of the Cardinals to elect a new pope who might have a 30 year papacy, but perhaps one effect of Benedict’s resignation will be to shake them into thinking that anything can happen in a papacy, anything at all. A pope can drop dead after 30 days; he can be shot and live for 20 years more; he can resign from old age. In that case, perhaps, the question of age and papal terms should become less of an issue for the college, and they can allow themselves a broader field of candidates!
“Cardinal Chito” has his own YouTube page, too. Check it out.
Yesterday I mentioned on Facebook that the more I read about the younger set of Cardinals the more I like these “Ratzingerians”, (so named because they’ve mostly been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI). I was very taken with this John Allen interview with Cardinal John Onaiyekan (referred to by some as the “Timothy Dolan of Africa”); he seems very sensible, faithful, smart and even charming.
Dolan, of course, is a Ratzingerian, as is Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley. Just over half of the College of Cardinals have been created by Benedict; the other half might be called “Wojtyłians”.
My very favorite of the Ratzingerians, though, is rapidly becoming the one cardinal who will likely be dismissed by most for the simple reason of age. The very youthful-looking Cardinal Luis Antonio “Chito” Tagle is only 55 years old, but he is really something special.
Because he knows my upcoming book is about idols and idolatry, Joseph Susanka sent me this quote from Tagle:
“An idolater easily loses compassion for the weak. Though he was judged, Jesus was the one actually judging the untrue worship that kept people blind and deaf to the true God and the poor. The Church that lives the life of Christ and offers his living sacrifice cannot run away from its mission to unearth the false gods worshiped by the world. How many people have exchanged the true God for idols like profit, prestige, pleasure and control? Those who worship false gods also dedicate their lives to them. In reality these false gods are self-interests.That’s a part of his discource on the Holy Eucharist and it knocked me out, as did the whole speech. Tagle is a teacher of the first water. And he is a pastoral, faithful priest who is also seriously humble, as Allen has spelled out:
To keep these false gods, their worshipers sacrifice other people’s lives and the earth. It is sad that those who worship idols sacrifice other people while preserving themselves and their interests. How many factory workers are being denied the right wages for the god of profit? How many women are being sacrificed to the god of domination? How many children are being sacrificed to the god of lust? How many trees, rivers, hills are being sacrificed to the god of “progress”? How many poor people are being sacrificed to the god of greed? How many defenseless people are being sacrificed to the god of national security?”
Here’s another typical story. Not long after Tagle arrived in Imus, a small chapel located in a run-down neighborhood was waiting for a priest to say Mass at around 4 a.m. for a group mostly made up of day laborers. Eventually, a youngish cleric showed up on a cheap bicycle, wearing simple clothes and ready to start the Mass. An astonished member of the congregation realized it was the new bishop and apologized that they hadn’t prepared a better welcome. Tagle said it was no problem; he got word late the night before that the priest was sick and decided to say the Mass himself.The Diocese of Imus has over 2.3 million Catholics. Cardinal Chito does not keep his distance from there. Here is another story, shared by Rocco Palmo, from a priest who gave it to him on background.
I took a few months of sabbatical in the Philippines. A priest friend of mine arranged with then Bishop Chito to direct a thirty-day Ignatian retreat for me. I was the given a small room in a convent in Tagaytay. . .For thirty days, this bishop with plenty else to do took an hour out of his day to come by the convent and visit with me, guiding me gently and assuredly towards a deeper and ever more rich experience of God’s presence in my life. He also shared much of his own life with me. I was able to meet as much in him Jesus, the Good Shepherd, as in my own meditations on the various scripture passages he offered to me for prayer.Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle sounds like everything we are all saying we need in the church, although, whether he can whip the Curia into shape is unknown. Still, it would be a shame if he is dismissed because of his youth; we as a church could use a youthful face right now — it could also use some of Tagle’s youthful, trusting and unspoiled faith and energy.
One evening, he invited me to join him and his seminarians for dinner at their nearby seminary. . .What a lovely surprise when dinner was served to find the seminary staff, the cooks, the maintenance boys, the shepherds just in from the barn, all take their seats with their bishop and the seminarians for the meal together. No rank, no superiority or inferiority, no cleric versus laity, no rich versus poor, just one family enjoying a simple meal together.
Besides being a fine theologian. . .in a society filled with extraordinary corruption, Chito Tagle stands as one of the few public figures who is absolutely unbribable. And on top of that, he is authentically humble. He is simply the smartest, holiest, most courageous, most sacrificial, most pastoral man, priest, bishop, archbishop… and now cardinal I have ever met anywhere. These are the reasons he is so popular in the Philippines and why he has so many “likes” on his Facebook page. This is why politicians and government officials, not to mention priests and seminarians, religious and laity, seek his counsel in their difficult moments.
I understand the reluctance of the Cardinals to elect a new pope who might have a 30 year papacy, but perhaps one effect of Benedict’s resignation will be to shake them into thinking that anything can happen in a papacy, anything at all. A pope can drop dead after 30 days; he can be shot and live for 20 years more; he can resign from old age. In that case, perhaps, the question of age and papal terms should become less of an issue for the college, and they can allow themselves a broader field of candidates!
“Cardinal Chito” has his own YouTube page, too. Check it out.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Archbishop Muller: 'Seamless garment' theory has been abused to ignore life issues"
From: LifeSiteNews.com
“Intellectually dishonest” theologians and politicians have abused Cardinal Bernardin’s famous “seamless garment” image of Catholic moral teaching to “justify turning a blind eye” to injustices such as abortion, contraception and public funding for embryonic stem cell research, according to the head of the Vatican’s number two official.
Speaking at the Vatican to the annual meeting of the members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Archbishop Gerhard L. Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a position previously held by Pope Benedict, said that, viewed properly, the seamless garment image is valid.
But where some adherents of the theory have gone wrong is by emphasizing more popular “social justice” issues such as economic or environmental issues, while dismissing life issues such as abortion and euthanasia as being of lesser importance, or even putting them outside the scope of social justice altogether.
“There is a beautiful coherence to the Church’s moral teaching, but that coherence can only be demonstrated, and its truth apprehended, when the moral teaching of the Church is taught in its entirety and lived out integrally,” said the archbishop.
According to Archbishop Müller, this abuse of the seamless garment theory appears to stem from a desire on the part of some to look for “common ground” with the surrounding culture. But while this approach may at times be appropriate, it risks overlooking the differences between the values of the culture and some of the “profoundly counter-cultural” teachings of the Church.
Teachings of Humanae Vitae must be restored to the ‘seamless garment’
In particular, the head of the CDF highlighted Pope Paul VI’s famous encyclical, Humanae Vitae, in which that pope reiterated the Church’s long-held teaching on the immorality of artificial contraception. The encyclical also drew a connection between contraception and other evils such as abortion and divorce.
In the days and months before the release of Humane Vitae, many had expected the Roman Catholic Church to follow the lead of other Christian denominations and approve contraception. The document remains widely unpopular in many “liberal” Catholic circles.
But according to Müller, once the teaching of Humanae Vitae is ignored, and sex is removed from the context of a life-long marriage open to life, the seamless garment “begins to unravel.” The result, he said, is nothing short of disastrous.
In the first place, the widespread adoption of a “profoundly distorted” view of sexuality, in which sex is denied any “intrinsic value” and “reduced to a merely pleasurable pursuit or a morally irrelevant activity,” is “at the very core of many of the bioethical problems which confront us today.”
The “prophetic” teaching of Humanae Vitae “is so important that without it we cannot engage our faithful—to say nothing of the larger society—in a coherent discussion of the problems and moral evil presented by techniques of artificial fertilization, preimplantation diagnosis, cryogenic freezing of embryos and ‘embryo reduction’, human cloning and the therapeutic use of stem cells,” said Archbishop Muller.
In the second place, he said, wherever the teachings of Humanae Vitae have been downplayed or ignored, “we have witnessed a collapse of family life, an increase in extra-marital infidelity and a diminishment of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.” At the same time, this approach has failed to lead to any corresponding increase in social acceptance of the Church, or “to a renewal in her own life.”
The solution, said the archbishop, is to return the Church’s teachings on sexuality to pride of place within the “seamless garment.”
Given the widespread unpopularity of the teachings of Humanae Vitae in the broader culture, and even among many Catholics, this may seem a daunting task. But according to Archbishop Müller, restoring the proper balance is not as difficult as it may seem, since many Catholics have not actually rejected the Church’s teachings, but rather a “caricature” of them.
“[T]he only response of the Church to modernity has to be one which is completely faithful to the teaching of the Magisterium, above all on matters of sexual morality because this is precisely where doctrine touches life,” said the archbishop.
“Yes, we fight for peace and justice in the world, and at the same time we need to set forth persuasively the Church’s vision of life, love and sexuality, including the intrinsic immorality of abortion and contraception.”
Why is the Church so concerned with sex? Because sex has ‘everything to do with love’
The archbishop acknowledged that the Church is often accused of having an excessive focus on sex.
But, said the archbishop, this is natural, particularly in a culture that has deviated so far afield from what constitutes a healthy sexuality, since the Church is the only institution with the means to provide a long-term remedy.
“The Church is so concerned with sex because sex has everything to do with love, and God is love!’” said Archbishop Müller. “There is plenty of loneliness, brokenness, and unhappiness in the world. Yet often the Church is the only voice speaking to the cause of that existential loneliness and unhappiness.” He added:
“Only through an integrated and enthusiastic presentation of our teaching can we begin to reclaim the language and concept of human rights as it relates to family life and especially to marriage as constituted by one man and one woman,” he said.
You may read the complete talk here.
“Intellectually dishonest” theologians and politicians have abused Cardinal Bernardin’s famous “seamless garment” image of Catholic moral teaching to “justify turning a blind eye” to injustices such as abortion, contraception and public funding for embryonic stem cell research, according to the head of the Vatican’s number two official.
Speaking at the Vatican to the annual meeting of the members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Archbishop Gerhard L. Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a position previously held by Pope Benedict, said that, viewed properly, the seamless garment image is valid.
But where some adherents of the theory have gone wrong is by emphasizing more popular “social justice” issues such as economic or environmental issues, while dismissing life issues such as abortion and euthanasia as being of lesser importance, or even putting them outside the scope of social justice altogether.
“There is a beautiful coherence to the Church’s moral teaching, but that coherence can only be demonstrated, and its truth apprehended, when the moral teaching of the Church is taught in its entirety and lived out integrally,” said the archbishop.
According to Archbishop Müller, this abuse of the seamless garment theory appears to stem from a desire on the part of some to look for “common ground” with the surrounding culture. But while this approach may at times be appropriate, it risks overlooking the differences between the values of the culture and some of the “profoundly counter-cultural” teachings of the Church.
Teachings of Humanae Vitae must be restored to the ‘seamless garment’
In particular, the head of the CDF highlighted Pope Paul VI’s famous encyclical, Humanae Vitae, in which that pope reiterated the Church’s long-held teaching on the immorality of artificial contraception. The encyclical also drew a connection between contraception and other evils such as abortion and divorce.
In the days and months before the release of Humane Vitae, many had expected the Roman Catholic Church to follow the lead of other Christian denominations and approve contraception. The document remains widely unpopular in many “liberal” Catholic circles.
But according to Müller, once the teaching of Humanae Vitae is ignored, and sex is removed from the context of a life-long marriage open to life, the seamless garment “begins to unravel.” The result, he said, is nothing short of disastrous.
In the first place, the widespread adoption of a “profoundly distorted” view of sexuality, in which sex is denied any “intrinsic value” and “reduced to a merely pleasurable pursuit or a morally irrelevant activity,” is “at the very core of many of the bioethical problems which confront us today.”
The “prophetic” teaching of Humanae Vitae “is so important that without it we cannot engage our faithful—to say nothing of the larger society—in a coherent discussion of the problems and moral evil presented by techniques of artificial fertilization, preimplantation diagnosis, cryogenic freezing of embryos and ‘embryo reduction’, human cloning and the therapeutic use of stem cells,” said Archbishop Muller.
In the second place, he said, wherever the teachings of Humanae Vitae have been downplayed or ignored, “we have witnessed a collapse of family life, an increase in extra-marital infidelity and a diminishment of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.” At the same time, this approach has failed to lead to any corresponding increase in social acceptance of the Church, or “to a renewal in her own life.”
The solution, said the archbishop, is to return the Church’s teachings on sexuality to pride of place within the “seamless garment.”
Given the widespread unpopularity of the teachings of Humanae Vitae in the broader culture, and even among many Catholics, this may seem a daunting task. But according to Archbishop Müller, restoring the proper balance is not as difficult as it may seem, since many Catholics have not actually rejected the Church’s teachings, but rather a “caricature” of them.
The truth is that many have never heard the fullness of the Church’s teaching, the profound “yes” to the sanctity of sexual love lived-out in marriage and the family; the “yes” to responsible parenthood; the “yes” to the dignity of the woman against manipulation by a process that views her body as a problem to be overcome or circumvented.
The first step, he said, is to begin talking about the Church’s teachings everywhere possible – in diocesan newspapers and offices, in homilies, and in marriage preparation programs.“[T]he only response of the Church to modernity has to be one which is completely faithful to the teaching of the Magisterium, above all on matters of sexual morality because this is precisely where doctrine touches life,” said the archbishop.
“Yes, we fight for peace and justice in the world, and at the same time we need to set forth persuasively the Church’s vision of life, love and sexuality, including the intrinsic immorality of abortion and contraception.”
Why is the Church so concerned with sex? Because sex has ‘everything to do with love’
The archbishop acknowledged that the Church is often accused of having an excessive focus on sex.
But, said the archbishop, this is natural, particularly in a culture that has deviated so far afield from what constitutes a healthy sexuality, since the Church is the only institution with the means to provide a long-term remedy.
“The Church is so concerned with sex because sex has everything to do with love, and God is love!’” said Archbishop Müller. “There is plenty of loneliness, brokenness, and unhappiness in the world. Yet often the Church is the only voice speaking to the cause of that existential loneliness and unhappiness.” He added:
The degradation of the sexual act, reducing it to a function of pleasure, power, or control, demeans the human person. The great lie of the sexual revolution is that sex always leads to happiness and personal liberation. The sexual union of a man and a woman does lead to integral fulfillment in its authentic context, which is when it is open to new life within the life long bond of marriage. However, out-with this context it invariably leads people into the desert of meaninglessness.
The archbishop said that within the “stark simplicity” of the Church’s teachings on sexuality there is “tremendous power for liberation and happiness.” The only thing necessary is to “communicate to people the intrinsic meaning of sex within the Christian vision of love.”“Only through an integrated and enthusiastic presentation of our teaching can we begin to reclaim the language and concept of human rights as it relates to family life and especially to marriage as constituted by one man and one woman,” he said.
You may read the complete talk here.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Pope’s last addresses call on Catholics to stay strong on marriage, abortion, eugenics, euthanasia
From: LifeSiteNews.com
It was an emotional day at the Vatican as Pope Benedict XVI, in two of his last public addresses, called again on Christians to continue to defend the lives of innocent unborn and vulnerable people and to uphold the sanctity of natural marriage. In this morning’s regular Wednesday general audience he warned that Christians will face great pressure to give up their commitments.
“Even those who come from a Christian family … must renew daily their decision to be Christian, to give God the first place in the face of the temptations continuously suggested by a secularized culture, in the face of the criticism of many of their contemporaries.”
But this must not deter them from proclaiming the truth: “The temptation to set one’s faith aside is always present and conversion becomes a response to God that must be confirmed at various times throughout our lives,” he said.
“It is not easy to be faithful to Christian marriage, to practice mercy in our everyday lives, or to leave space for prayer and inner silence.
“It is not easy to publicly oppose the decisions that many consider to be obvious, such as abortion in the case of an unwanted pregnancy, euthanasia in the case of serious illness, or the selection of embryos to avoid hereditary diseases.”
The tone of the Ash Wednesday homily was sombre, befitting the occasion of both the first day of Lent and the mood of Catholics around the world at Pope Benedict’s almost unprecedented and shocking revelation on Monday. In the homily, he warned ominously against divisions and “sins against the unity of the Church”.
He referred to “the prayers of priests, who, with tears in their eyes,” pray to God, asking, “Spare your people, Lord! Do not let your heritage become a disgrace, a byword among the nations! Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
“This prayer leads us to reflect on the importance of witnessing to faith and Christian life, for each of us and our community, so that we can reveal the face of the Church and how this face is, at times, disfigured,” the pope said.
“I am thinking in particular of the sins against the unity of the Church, of the divisions in the body of the Church.”
He called upon those listening to live Lent “in a more intense and evident ecclesial communion, overcoming individualism and rivalry is a humble and precious sign for those who have distanced themselves from the faith or who are indifferent.”
Towards the end of the Mass, the pope stood quietly while prolonged applause erupted spontaneously from the crowd. One observer present said that although the tone of the Mass was deeply reverent, “as all papal Masses have been under this pope, it was simply impossible to stop people pouring out their affection and deep sorrow at his impending departure from the throne of Peter.”
It was an emotional day at the Vatican as Pope Benedict XVI, in two of his last public addresses, called again on Christians to continue to defend the lives of innocent unborn and vulnerable people and to uphold the sanctity of natural marriage. In this morning’s regular Wednesday general audience he warned that Christians will face great pressure to give up their commitments.
“Even those who come from a Christian family … must renew daily their decision to be Christian, to give God the first place in the face of the temptations continuously suggested by a secularized culture, in the face of the criticism of many of their contemporaries.”
“It is not easy to be faithful to Christian marriage, to practice mercy in our everyday lives, or to leave space for prayer and inner silence.
“It is not easy to publicly oppose the decisions that many consider to be obvious, such as abortion in the case of an unwanted pregnancy, euthanasia in the case of serious illness, or the selection of embryos to avoid hereditary diseases.”
The tone of the Ash Wednesday homily was sombre, befitting the occasion of both the first day of Lent and the mood of Catholics around the world at Pope Benedict’s almost unprecedented and shocking revelation on Monday. In the homily, he warned ominously against divisions and “sins against the unity of the Church”.
He referred to “the prayers of priests, who, with tears in their eyes,” pray to God, asking, “Spare your people, Lord! Do not let your heritage become a disgrace, a byword among the nations! Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
“This prayer leads us to reflect on the importance of witnessing to faith and Christian life, for each of us and our community, so that we can reveal the face of the Church and how this face is, at times, disfigured,” the pope said.
“I am thinking in particular of the sins against the unity of the Church, of the divisions in the body of the Church.”
He called upon those listening to live Lent “in a more intense and evident ecclesial communion, overcoming individualism and rivalry is a humble and precious sign for those who have distanced themselves from the faith or who are indifferent.”
Towards the end of the Mass, the pope stood quietly while prolonged applause erupted spontaneously from the crowd. One observer present said that although the tone of the Mass was deeply reverent, “as all papal Masses have been under this pope, it was simply impossible to stop people pouring out their affection and deep sorrow at his impending departure from the throne of Peter.”
Conclave to determine new Pope could be held mid-March
From: Catholic News Agency (CNA)
The conclave to elect the next Bishop of Rome could start between March 15 and 19, according to the director of the Holy See's Press Office.
“If everything goes normally, it could be envisioned that the conclave begins between 15 and 19 March,” Father Federico Lombardi said Feb. 13.
“At the moment, we cannot give an exact date because it falls to the cardinals to determine it.”
The Diocese of Rome will be “sede vacante” or vacant at 8 p.m. on Feb. 28, when Pope Benedict's resignation goes into effect.
The laws governing conclaves were laid down in 1996 in John Paul II's apostolic constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis,” and were modified by Pope Benedict. According to existing law, the conclave cannot start until 15 days after the Papacy becomes vacant, to allow all the cardinal-electors enough time to arrive in Rome.
Existing law also states that conclave must begin within 20 days of his date of resignation. This 15-20 day window corresponds to the conclave beginning as early as March 15 and as late as March 20.
On Feb. 28, the day the papacy will go vacant, 117 cardinals will be eligible to elect the successor to the Holy See. All the cardinals who are below the age of 80 will come to Rome to participate in the conclave. Most of these cardinal-electors have been appointed by Pope Benedict himself – 67 of the 117.
Under rules re-established by Pope Benedict in 2007, the conclave must achieve a two-thirds majority to elect the Bishop of Rome.
Recent conclaves have concluded quickly. Pope Benedict was himself elected in a 2005 conclave that lasted only two days. John Paul II was elected in 1978 after a three-day long conclave.
Once the Diocese of Rome is vacant, nearly all offices of the Roman Curia, the administrative offices governing the Church, are suspended, and will have to be reconfirmed by the next pontiff. One of the few that continues, because of its urgent nature dealing with issues of absolution and indulgences, is the Apostolic Penitentiary.
The conclave to elect the next Bishop of Rome could start between March 15 and 19, according to the director of the Holy See's Press Office.
“If everything goes normally, it could be envisioned that the conclave begins between 15 and 19 March,” Father Federico Lombardi said Feb. 13.
“At the moment, we cannot give an exact date because it falls to the cardinals to determine it.”
The Diocese of Rome will be “sede vacante” or vacant at 8 p.m. on Feb. 28, when Pope Benedict's resignation goes into effect.
The laws governing conclaves were laid down in 1996 in John Paul II's apostolic constitution “Universi Dominici Gregis,” and were modified by Pope Benedict. According to existing law, the conclave cannot start until 15 days after the Papacy becomes vacant, to allow all the cardinal-electors enough time to arrive in Rome.
Existing law also states that conclave must begin within 20 days of his date of resignation. This 15-20 day window corresponds to the conclave beginning as early as March 15 and as late as March 20.
On Feb. 28, the day the papacy will go vacant, 117 cardinals will be eligible to elect the successor to the Holy See. All the cardinals who are below the age of 80 will come to Rome to participate in the conclave. Most of these cardinal-electors have been appointed by Pope Benedict himself – 67 of the 117.
Under rules re-established by Pope Benedict in 2007, the conclave must achieve a two-thirds majority to elect the Bishop of Rome.
Recent conclaves have concluded quickly. Pope Benedict was himself elected in a 2005 conclave that lasted only two days. John Paul II was elected in 1978 after a three-day long conclave.
Once the Diocese of Rome is vacant, nearly all offices of the Roman Curia, the administrative offices governing the Church, are suspended, and will have to be reconfirmed by the next pontiff. One of the few that continues, because of its urgent nature dealing with issues of absolution and indulgences, is the Apostolic Penitentiary.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
ABC: The 'Anyone But Catholics' Network
From: Media Research Center
According to an analysis by the Media Research Center, the three broadcast networks are using the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI to advance their left-wing social agenda and attack the Catholic Church’s centuries-old doctrine on the priesthood, abortion, and gay marriage. While NBC Nightly News and CBS Evening News predictably dwelled on scandals and the Pope’s “conservatism,” their anti-Catholic coverage paled in comparison to the disgraceful onslaught on ABC World News.
During last night’s ABC World News broadcast:
Media Research Center President Brent Bozell reacts:
“The liberal media’s snarling, bigoted anti-Catholicism is on full display, and ABC World News has won the race to the bottom. Instead of reporting the historic news of Pope Benedict’s resignation, Diane Sawyer – who calls herself a Catholic – and Disney-owned ABC News used the opportunity to bludgeon the Catholic Church and Pope Benedict with every left-wing grievance imaginable. It was a disgusting and deeply offensive assault on the Church.
“It is indefensible that on the same day this major story broke, ABC World News refused to mention a single accomplishment during Pope Benedict’s tenure, even on lefty-approved environmental issues. It demonstrates the contempt that ABC News and Sawyer have for the Pope and for the Church. Sawyer’s stunning editorializing that, “There has to be fundamental change,” is disgraceful and unprofessional. Who is Diane Sawyer to demand changes to thousands of years of Catholic doctrine? She and The Walt Disney Company owe 1.2 billion Catholics an apology. And she should go to Confession.”
According to an analysis by the Media Research Center, the three broadcast networks are using the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI to advance their left-wing social agenda and attack the Catholic Church’s centuries-old doctrine on the priesthood, abortion, and gay marriage. While NBC Nightly News and CBS Evening News predictably dwelled on scandals and the Pope’s “conservatism,” their anti-Catholic coverage paled in comparison to the disgraceful onslaught on ABC World News.
During last night’s ABC World News broadcast:
- In an interview with New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Diane Sawyer asked if the, “burden of what the Church has been through with the scandals” caused the Pope’s resignation – with absolutely no basis in fact.
- During the same interview, “reporter” Sawyer brazenly editorialized saying, “There has to be fundamental change” to the Church’s positions on social issues.
- Posing as a papal historian, Jeffrey Kofman declared that the Pope’s, “papacy will be remembered for its scandals.” This supposed authority on the Catholic Church then said that Benedict had, “tried to hold back the forces of modernity.”
- ABC correspondent Cecilia Vega, according to Sawyer, “spent the day gathering American reaction from all over,” but then delivered reaction only from liberal Catholics who pushed ABC’s liberal narrative that the Church must “modernize.”
- ABC didn’t name a single accomplishment of Benedict XVI.
Media Research Center President Brent Bozell reacts:
“The liberal media’s snarling, bigoted anti-Catholicism is on full display, and ABC World News has won the race to the bottom. Instead of reporting the historic news of Pope Benedict’s resignation, Diane Sawyer – who calls herself a Catholic – and Disney-owned ABC News used the opportunity to bludgeon the Catholic Church and Pope Benedict with every left-wing grievance imaginable. It was a disgusting and deeply offensive assault on the Church.
“It is indefensible that on the same day this major story broke, ABC World News refused to mention a single accomplishment during Pope Benedict’s tenure, even on lefty-approved environmental issues. It demonstrates the contempt that ABC News and Sawyer have for the Pope and for the Church. Sawyer’s stunning editorializing that, “There has to be fundamental change,” is disgraceful and unprofessional. Who is Diane Sawyer to demand changes to thousands of years of Catholic doctrine? She and The Walt Disney Company owe 1.2 billion Catholics an apology. And she should go to Confession.”
Monday, February 11, 2013
Media Won’t be Sad to See Benedict Go
From: Media Research Center
It will be interesting to see if the media soften their almost uniform hostility to Pope Benedict XVI in the few remaining weeks of his papacy. It’s doubtful, since resigning his office won’t make Joseph Ratzinger any less Catholic. And his real sin, in liberal eyes, is just being too Catholic.
When the long, vigorously orthodox pontificate of John Paul II came to an end in 2005, liberals in and out of the Church hoped the next Pope would roll over on their most cherished issues: women priests, married priests, homosexuality and abortion. To say that Ratzinger’s selection was a disappointment is an understatement.
Since then, the media have maintained a relentlessly hostile narrative about Benedict XVII, his positions, his statements and his past. There are far too many incidents to include them all, but here is a quick list of highlights.
Extreme Conservative
Even before he became Pope, then-Cardinal Ratzinger was called “God’s Rottweiler” for his unapologetic defense of Catholic orthodoxy. Just two weeks before Ratzinger’s elevation to succeed John Paul II in April 2005, ABC’s Charlie Gibson said, "German-born Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is also mentioned, but his extreme conservative views and his age might be his undoing when votes are cast in the Sistine Chapel.”
Gibson’s misgivings were echoed again and again around the networks. Despite an ABC/Washington Post survey that found that 81 percent of U.S. Catholics approved of the selection, CBS’s John Roberts said, "Many Catholics...found nothing to celebrate." Roberts’ colleague Mark Phillips called the new Pope an “archconservative” and “the most polarizing figure in the Catholic Church.”
Journalists continued to play up Benedict’s conservatism, and continued to misunderstand his relationship to actual Catholics. Prior to the Pope’s 2008 visit to the United States, CBS’ Harry Smith asked Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George to "Explain the difference between the private man and the public Pope that some Americans are maybe even a little unsure or fearful of." ABC’s Dan Harris said Benedict was "sometimes controversial," a "hard-liner" for "strenuously condemning divorce, homosexuality, and abortion." The Pope, Harris said, is "more conservative than many American Catholics." Certainly more conservative than any American Catholics Harris might know.
In the event, the papal visit was a tremendous success. Massive and enthusiastic crowds greeted the Pontiff across the United States, leaving reporters mystified. ABC reporter Claire Shipman said "many Catholics are rethinking their views of [Pope] Benedict XVI." According to Shipman, "most [U.S.] Catholics" thought, at the time of his selection, that Benedict "might clash with American values."
But of course, what Shipman meant was “media values.” And Benedict never stopped clashing with those.
In December, 2008, Time magazine’s Jeff Israely wrote, with the Christmas season upon us, there is growing proof that the 82-year-old Pope is also quite willing to play the part of Scrooge to defend his often rigid view of Church doctrine.”
Hitler Youth
Perhaps NBC’s Katie Couric was looking for other ways to raise red flags about the newly installed Benedict XVII on April 20, 2005, when she asked liberal Father Andrew Greeley if Cardinal Ratzinger’s “past associations … will create a rift between Christians and Jews, and what can he do to fix that?”
Those past association are: As a German boy during World War II, Ratzinger was forced to join the Hitler Youth, and was then drafted into the German Army. He quickly deserted and was eventually captured by the Allies.
The connection, plus his defense of orthodoxy, makes it easy for liberals to deride him as a Nazi. And they have.
In 2009, one Allison Kilkenny used a Huffington Post blog to spew hate at the Church and the Pope, ostensibly over Catholic opposition to gay marriage. “In addition to preying on the fears and prejudices of the unenlightened masses, I have no tolerance for tax-exempt pyramid schemes that take money from poor people to build golden houses in Italy for a decrepit former Nazi youth, who now wears a funny hat and occasionally blathers in a dead language about hating gay people, suppressing women, and always -- always -- refusing to wear condoms.”
In 2011, in a public interview with Bob Balaban at the Hamptons Film Festival, left-wing activist and actress Susan Sarandon told an audience that she had sent a copy of a book to Pope John Paul II. She then said: “The last Pope, not this Nazi one we have now.”
In 2012, perpetually apoplectic liberal talk radio host Mike Malloy ranted, “You child-raping sons of bitches in the Catholic Church, I am so sick of all of you – especially your priests and your bishops and your scum, the Nazi Pope, I am so sick of all of you.”
Guilty Until Proven Innocent
In 2010, The New York Times published a series of articles about Benedict as seeking to protect the church at the expense of children's safety in various incidents of abuse in Germany, Ireland and here in the United States. The Times reported that as Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Benedict oversaw the transfer of a priest accused of abuse in the 1970s and 1980s to another parish where he again worked with children after he began therapy for his problems. A March 24, 2010 article, since heavily questioned, about a Wisconsin priest allowed to remain in the priesthood even after he abused 200 deaf boys from the 1950s through the 1970s placed the blame squarely on Benedict. The reporting was incomplete and biased. Ratzinger’s role in decision making about abusive priests was overstated. But there is no overstating the media feeding frenzy over the story.
During a two month period in 2010, the Times itself ran 64 stories on the allegations. Interestingly, the Times was far less curious in 2012 about similar questions regarding its incoming CEO, former BBC chief Mark Thompson.
The broadcast networks weren’t any less eager, broadcasting 26 stories about the allegations during Holy Week, 2010. In 18 of those stories reporters used language that presumed Ratzinger’s guilt.
ABC, CBS and CNN highlighted an American Catholic priest publicly calling for Benedict to resign over the charges. They called Father James Scahill "outspoken," "brave" and "gutsy." What they didn’t say is that Scahill is a leftwinger who dissents from Church orthodoxy on a number of issues, and has been honored by Voice of the Faithful, a liberal groups that, among other things, calls for an end to priestly celibacy.
At the Huffington Post, once columnist called for Benedict to be arrested, saying that “If Roman Polanski can be arrested on sexual abuse charges after 32 years of hiding, so can the Pope, holy or not.” Another asked if the Pope can be fired, calling the Church “diseased.”
The hits just keep on coming, right through 2012, when Benedict was attacked for once again defending traditional marriage in a “holiday hate speech.” Benedict will probably miss a lot of things about being Pope, but his portrayal in the media won’t be one of them.
It will be interesting to see if the media soften their almost uniform hostility to Pope Benedict XVI in the few remaining weeks of his papacy. It’s doubtful, since resigning his office won’t make Joseph Ratzinger any less Catholic. And his real sin, in liberal eyes, is just being too Catholic.
When the long, vigorously orthodox pontificate of John Paul II came to an end in 2005, liberals in and out of the Church hoped the next Pope would roll over on their most cherished issues: women priests, married priests, homosexuality and abortion. To say that Ratzinger’s selection was a disappointment is an understatement.
Since then, the media have maintained a relentlessly hostile narrative about Benedict XVII, his positions, his statements and his past. There are far too many incidents to include them all, but here is a quick list of highlights.
Extreme Conservative
Even before he became Pope, then-Cardinal Ratzinger was called “God’s Rottweiler” for his unapologetic defense of Catholic orthodoxy. Just two weeks before Ratzinger’s elevation to succeed John Paul II in April 2005, ABC’s Charlie Gibson said, "German-born Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is also mentioned, but his extreme conservative views and his age might be his undoing when votes are cast in the Sistine Chapel.”
Gibson’s misgivings were echoed again and again around the networks. Despite an ABC/Washington Post survey that found that 81 percent of U.S. Catholics approved of the selection, CBS’s John Roberts said, "Many Catholics...found nothing to celebrate." Roberts’ colleague Mark Phillips called the new Pope an “archconservative” and “the most polarizing figure in the Catholic Church.”
Journalists continued to play up Benedict’s conservatism, and continued to misunderstand his relationship to actual Catholics. Prior to the Pope’s 2008 visit to the United States, CBS’ Harry Smith asked Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George to "Explain the difference between the private man and the public Pope that some Americans are maybe even a little unsure or fearful of." ABC’s Dan Harris said Benedict was "sometimes controversial," a "hard-liner" for "strenuously condemning divorce, homosexuality, and abortion." The Pope, Harris said, is "more conservative than many American Catholics." Certainly more conservative than any American Catholics Harris might know.
In the event, the papal visit was a tremendous success. Massive and enthusiastic crowds greeted the Pontiff across the United States, leaving reporters mystified. ABC reporter Claire Shipman said "many Catholics are rethinking their views of [Pope] Benedict XVI." According to Shipman, "most [U.S.] Catholics" thought, at the time of his selection, that Benedict "might clash with American values."
But of course, what Shipman meant was “media values.” And Benedict never stopped clashing with those.
In December, 2008, Time magazine’s Jeff Israely wrote, with the Christmas season upon us, there is growing proof that the 82-year-old Pope is also quite willing to play the part of Scrooge to defend his often rigid view of Church doctrine.”
Hitler Youth
Perhaps NBC’s Katie Couric was looking for other ways to raise red flags about the newly installed Benedict XVII on April 20, 2005, when she asked liberal Father Andrew Greeley if Cardinal Ratzinger’s “past associations … will create a rift between Christians and Jews, and what can he do to fix that?”
Those past association are: As a German boy during World War II, Ratzinger was forced to join the Hitler Youth, and was then drafted into the German Army. He quickly deserted and was eventually captured by the Allies.
The connection, plus his defense of orthodoxy, makes it easy for liberals to deride him as a Nazi. And they have.
In 2009, one Allison Kilkenny used a Huffington Post blog to spew hate at the Church and the Pope, ostensibly over Catholic opposition to gay marriage. “In addition to preying on the fears and prejudices of the unenlightened masses, I have no tolerance for tax-exempt pyramid schemes that take money from poor people to build golden houses in Italy for a decrepit former Nazi youth, who now wears a funny hat and occasionally blathers in a dead language about hating gay people, suppressing women, and always -- always -- refusing to wear condoms.”
In 2011, in a public interview with Bob Balaban at the Hamptons Film Festival, left-wing activist and actress Susan Sarandon told an audience that she had sent a copy of a book to Pope John Paul II. She then said: “The last Pope, not this Nazi one we have now.”
In 2012, perpetually apoplectic liberal talk radio host Mike Malloy ranted, “You child-raping sons of bitches in the Catholic Church, I am so sick of all of you – especially your priests and your bishops and your scum, the Nazi Pope, I am so sick of all of you.”
Guilty Until Proven Innocent
In 2010, The New York Times published a series of articles about Benedict as seeking to protect the church at the expense of children's safety in various incidents of abuse in Germany, Ireland and here in the United States. The Times reported that as Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Benedict oversaw the transfer of a priest accused of abuse in the 1970s and 1980s to another parish where he again worked with children after he began therapy for his problems. A March 24, 2010 article, since heavily questioned, about a Wisconsin priest allowed to remain in the priesthood even after he abused 200 deaf boys from the 1950s through the 1970s placed the blame squarely on Benedict. The reporting was incomplete and biased. Ratzinger’s role in decision making about abusive priests was overstated. But there is no overstating the media feeding frenzy over the story.
During a two month period in 2010, the Times itself ran 64 stories on the allegations. Interestingly, the Times was far less curious in 2012 about similar questions regarding its incoming CEO, former BBC chief Mark Thompson.
The broadcast networks weren’t any less eager, broadcasting 26 stories about the allegations during Holy Week, 2010. In 18 of those stories reporters used language that presumed Ratzinger’s guilt.
ABC, CBS and CNN highlighted an American Catholic priest publicly calling for Benedict to resign over the charges. They called Father James Scahill "outspoken," "brave" and "gutsy." What they didn’t say is that Scahill is a leftwinger who dissents from Church orthodoxy on a number of issues, and has been honored by Voice of the Faithful, a liberal groups that, among other things, calls for an end to priestly celibacy.
At the Huffington Post, once columnist called for Benedict to be arrested, saying that “If Roman Polanski can be arrested on sexual abuse charges after 32 years of hiding, so can the Pope, holy or not.” Another asked if the Pope can be fired, calling the Church “diseased.”
The hits just keep on coming, right through 2012, when Benedict was attacked for once again defending traditional marriage in a “holiday hate speech.” Benedict will probably miss a lot of things about being Pope, but his portrayal in the media won’t be one of them.
The Achoress (Recommended):Benedict Announces Retirement (It’s what he WOULD do!) UPDATES!
From: The Anchoress
In the Pope’s most recent tweet, our dear Papa had this to say to us: We must trust in the mighty power of God’s mercy. We are all sinners, but His grace transforms us and makes us new.
And today, on the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he will retire in just a few weeks.
He’s been looking very tired for a while — he is 86 years old. Funnily enough, I was pondering my Pope App this past weekend and marveling the schedule of a man closer to age 90 than age 80.
Maybe he looked at it too and thought. “I just can’t.”
In the Pope’s most recent tweet, our dear Papa had this to say to us: We must trust in the mighty power of God’s mercy. We are all sinners, but His grace transforms us and makes us new.
And today, on the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he will retire in just a few weeks.
He’s been looking very tired for a while — he is 86 years old. Funnily enough, I was pondering my Pope App this past weekend and marveling the schedule of a man closer to age 90 than age 80.
Maybe he looked at it too and thought. “I just can’t.”
Eight cardinal contenders who could succeed Pope Benedict
From: NBC NEWS
The bookmakers in Europe already have their favorites, but the world won't know who will succeed Pope Benedict XVI until that puff of white smoke is sent up the chimney of the conclave room next month.
The College of Cardinals has no shortage of factors to consider in picking the next pope -- from age to geography -- and no dearth of potential candidates.
Here are some of the princes of the church whose names have emerged from Vatican watchers since Monday's surprise abdication announcement:
Cardinal Angelo Scola: He's the archbishop of Milan, a good launching pad for popes, and the former Patriarch of Venice, which has also produced many a papal front-runner. Scola, 71, has close ties to the conservative Communion and Liberation movement, is a champion of immigrants' right and has been active in outreach to the Muslim world. Vatican expert John Allen has written of Scola: "If you like Benedict XVI, you’ll love Scola; even if you don’t, you’ll find it hard not to be charmed."
Cardinal Marc Ouellet: Former archbishop of Quebec, he heads the Congregation of Bishops, a power center. Ouellet, 68, speaks six languages, spent a decade as a missionary in Colombia and has strong ties to Latin and South America. He's considered conservative and made headlines in 2010 when he said abortion was a "moral crime," even in cases of rape. In a 2011 interview, he laughed off the idea of becoming pontiff, saying the workload and responsibility "would be a nightmare."
Cardinal Leonardo Sandri: Born in Argentina to Italian parents, Sandri was No. 2 in the Vatican Secretary of State's office under Pope John Paul II and now serves as prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. A longtime Vatican diplomat, Sandri, 69, is well-respected but seen by some as more of a top-notch administrator than a theological leader.
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi: The Italian-born president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Ravasi, 70, is hugely popular through his Scripture lessons on TV and radio. On a crusade to keep the church relevant, he blogs, quotes Amy Winehouse on Twitter, and criticizes priests for boring sermons. An archaeologist by training, he's a brainy biblical scholar who is seen as a theological moderate.
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco: The archbishop of Genoa is well-connected, having served twice as the president of the Italian bishop's conference. A baker's son who says he knew he wanted to be a priest in elementary school, Bagnasco, 70, is considered a conservative force in the church. He was the target of death threats in 2007 after comments opposing same-sex unions and in 2011 he launched a thinly veiled attack on scandal-ridden Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and other politicians, referring to them as "sad and hollow."
Cardinal Peter Turkson: The first Ghanaian cardinal, he's president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Vatican’s point man on Catholicism in Africa. An energetic 64 years old, Turkson is considered to be more moderate than some other contenders but hardly a radical. Asked about the spread of AIDS in Africa, he said abstinence was a better solution than condoms. A couple of years ago, he said the first black pope would have a "rough time" and he wasn't bucking for the job.
Cardinal Odilo Scherer: Born in Brazil to parents of German extraction, Scherer's big advantage is geography; he hails from the region that is home to half the world's Catholics. Considered a moderate, the 63-year-old serves as the archbishop of Sao Paulo and has spots in two key Vatican groups, the Congregation for the Clergy and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan: The head of the archdiocese of New York is one of the Vatican's most popular figures -- charismatic, camera-ready and conservative. As head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he hasn't shied from away from political fights, taking on the Obama administration over contraception. But Dolan, 63, has only been a cardinal for a year.
The bookmakers in Europe already have their favorites, but the world won't know who will succeed Pope Benedict XVI until that puff of white smoke is sent up the chimney of the conclave room next month.
The College of Cardinals has no shortage of factors to consider in picking the next pope -- from age to geography -- and no dearth of potential candidates.
Here are some of the princes of the church whose names have emerged from Vatican watchers since Monday's surprise abdication announcement:
Cardinal Marc Ouellet: Former archbishop of Quebec, he heads the Congregation of Bishops, a power center. Ouellet, 68, speaks six languages, spent a decade as a missionary in Colombia and has strong ties to Latin and South America. He's considered conservative and made headlines in 2010 when he said abortion was a "moral crime," even in cases of rape. In a 2011 interview, he laughed off the idea of becoming pontiff, saying the workload and responsibility "would be a nightmare."
Cardinal Leonardo Sandri: Born in Argentina to Italian parents, Sandri was No. 2 in the Vatican Secretary of State's office under Pope John Paul II and now serves as prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. A longtime Vatican diplomat, Sandri, 69, is well-respected but seen by some as more of a top-notch administrator than a theological leader.
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco: The archbishop of Genoa is well-connected, having served twice as the president of the Italian bishop's conference. A baker's son who says he knew he wanted to be a priest in elementary school, Bagnasco, 70, is considered a conservative force in the church. He was the target of death threats in 2007 after comments opposing same-sex unions and in 2011 he launched a thinly veiled attack on scandal-ridden Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and other politicians, referring to them as "sad and hollow."
Cardinal Odilo Scherer: Born in Brazil to parents of German extraction, Scherer's big advantage is geography; he hails from the region that is home to half the world's Catholics. Considered a moderate, the 63-year-old serves as the archbishop of Sao Paulo and has spots in two key Vatican groups, the Congregation for the Clergy and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan: The head of the archdiocese of New York is one of the Vatican's most popular figures -- charismatic, camera-ready and conservative. As head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he hasn't shied from away from political fights, taking on the Obama administration over contraception. But Dolan, 63, has only been a cardinal for a year.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Pope Benedict Delivers Powerful Religious Liberty Message
From: LifeNews.com
We are five days into the “Fortnight for Freedom” following the U.S. bishops’ call to pray for the preservation of our most cherished liberty—religious liberty—and to more actively educate ourselves regarding the nature and foundations of this fundamental freedom. Preparing ourselves to defend our faith is not only a matter of what the Founding Fathers of our nation had to say about the matter, but about forming ourselves in our faith so we can defend it on its own terms.
Pope Benedict’s Sunday Angelus is very helpful in this regard, as he helps us set our expectations high and focus on the spiritual.
Referring to the Gospel passage for that Sunday, Mk 4: 26-34, the parable of the seed, the Holy Father drew an analogy between farming and Christian life. Just as a farmer can sow a seed, but depends on the seed’s innate potency and the soil’s fertility for crops, just so:
Penetrating more deeply into this mystery of the Christian’s cooperation with God’s grace, Pope Benedict compared the Christian life to the workings of a seed:
In conclusion, Pope Benedict exhorted us to be confident and joyful, knowing that come what may, victory is ultimately assured.
We are five days into the “Fortnight for Freedom” following the U.S. bishops’ call to pray for the preservation of our most cherished liberty—religious liberty—and to more actively educate ourselves regarding the nature and foundations of this fundamental freedom. Preparing ourselves to defend our faith is not only a matter of what the Founding Fathers of our nation had to say about the matter, but about forming ourselves in our faith so we can defend it on its own terms.
Pope Benedict’s Sunday Angelus is very helpful in this regard, as he helps us set our expectations high and focus on the spiritual.
Referring to the Gospel passage for that Sunday, Mk 4: 26-34, the parable of the seed, the Holy Father drew an analogy between farming and Christian life. Just as a farmer can sow a seed, but depends on the seed’s innate potency and the soil’s fertility for crops, just so:
Every Christian therefore knows well that he must do all he can, but that the final result depends on God: this awareness sustains him in his daily efforts, especially in difficult situations. St Ignatius of Loyola wrote in this regard: ‘Act as though everything depended on you, but in the knowledge that really everything depends on God’ (cf. Pedro de Ribadeneira, Vita di S. Ignazio di Loyola, Milan, 1998).It is a theme we have seen before in the Pontiff’s commentaries and addresses, one that is helpful to hear repeatedly: we must do all we can to cooperate with grace, and particularly in these days, we must do all we can to defend our religious liberty. Yet in the midst of our efforts, what gives peace and joy and confidence is the faith that our efforts, when united to Christ’s merits, are part of something greater than ourselves, and therefore fruitful, even if we will not see their results.
Penetrating more deeply into this mystery of the Christian’s cooperation with God’s grace, Pope Benedict compared the Christian life to the workings of a seed:
[T]he seed’s weakness is its strength, its breaking open is its power. Thus the Kingdom of God is like this: a humanly small reality, made up of those who are poor in heart, of those who do not rely on their own power but on that of the love of God, on those who are not important in the world’s eyes; and yet it is through them that Christ’s power bursts in and transforms what is seemingly insignificant.What striking words, particularly in the context of our nation’s current struggles! Though we each must do all we can in this effort to defend our religious liberty, our success is not measured by the magnitude of our efforts or the greatness of their results. Rather, true Christian success is measured in terms of the Spirit: to the extent to which we look to God’s grace, put our faith in His work, decrease so that He may increase, and unite our sufferings to Christ’s cross. The humble victory of living virtue in ordinary life, of doing that right thing, of forgiving, of following our conscience, of sticking to our principles when unpopular, of doing what it takes to defend the truth…these often mundane struggles may seem insignificant, but are the occasions for grace to germinate and infuse society with hope.
In conclusion, Pope Benedict exhorted us to be confident and joyful, knowing that come what may, victory is ultimately assured.
The message is clear: even though the Kingdom of God demands our collaboration, it is first and foremost a gift of the Lord, a grace that precedes man and his works. If our own small strength, apparently powerless in the face of the world’s problems, is inserted in that of God it fears no obstacles because the Lord’s victory is guaranteed. It is the miracle of the love of God who causes every seed of good that is scattered on the ground to germinate. And the experience of this miracle of love makes us optimists, in spite of the difficulty, suffering and evil that we encounter. The seed sprouts and grows because God’s love makes it grow. May the Virgin Mary, who, like ‘good soil,’ accepted the seed of the divine Word, strengthen within us this faith and this hope.It takes faith to understand these words. It takes faith to be like St. Peter, who cast his nets “at the Lord’s command” (Lk 5:5), landing a tremendous catch not because of his efforts, but because of the Lord’s action. May God find in us willing collaborators in his vineyard, especially during this Fortnight for Freedom, and may rejoicing in the Lord, whose ultimate victory is certain, be our strength, come what may.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Pope warns of 'grave threat' to religious freedom in US
From: Catholic News Agency (CNA)
Pope Benedict XVI warned today of a “grave threat” to religious liberty in the United States that requires American Catholics to respond with intelligence and courage.
“It is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres,” he said Jan. 19 in an address to a group of American bishops visiting the Vatican.
The Pope said he was particularly concerned with “certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion.”
Pope Benedict’s address was delivered to the bishops from the Mid-Atlantic states region, which includes the Archdioceses of Washington and Baltimore. They are in Rome this week on their regular “ad limina” visit to discuss the health of the U.S. Church with the Pope and Vatican officials. The two bishops from the Archdiocese for the U.S. Military Services are also participating in the meetings.
Pope Benedict said that over the past few days many of the bishops have expressed concern over attempts in the U.S. to “deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices.”
Meanwhile, other bishops raised the “worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship” without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience.
At present, the Obama administration is considering imposing a contraception and sterilization mandate that would require all insurance companies to provide those services free of charge. The regulation has a religious exemption clause, but it provides very few exceptions for Church organizations.
Some states are also pushing Catholic adoption agencies out of business or severely limiting their work because they refuse to compromise the Church’s beliefs on same-sex “marriage.”
Pope Benedict said these issues highlight the need for an “engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture.” The American laity must have the “courage to counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate,” he said.
The preparation of such “committed lay leaders,” he told the bishops, should be the “primary task of the Church in your country.”
He noted that his visit to the United States in 2008 afforded him an opportunity to reflect on America’s historical experience of religious freedom, “specifically the relationship between religion and culture.”
“At the heart of every culture, whether perceived or not,” he said, “is a consensus about the nature of reality and the moral good, and thus about the conditions for human flourishing.”
In the United States this consensus is “enshrined in your nation’s founding documents,” which are grounded in a worldview shaped by faith and a commitment to ethical principles, he observed.
Today, however, that consensus has been eroded “in the face of powerful new cultural currents” which are “not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity.”
Despite such hostility, American Catholics are still called to proclaim “a Gospel which not only proposes unchanging moral truths but proposes them precisely as the key to human happiness and social prospering,” Pope Benedict stated.
He also responded to those who attempt to restrict Christians’ voice in the public square or argue that their contribution should be ignored because of “majority rule.” This is a threat not just to Christianity but “to humanity itself and to the deepest truth about our being and ultimate vocation, our relationship to God.”
Pope Benedict said that the Catholic Church’s tradition of respect for both faith and reason means that it can play a critical role in opposing current trends which are based on “extreme individualism” and promote “notions of freedom detached from moral truth.”
The pontiff also touched on what he called the “legitimate” idea of separation of Church and State. This does not mean, however, that the Church must be silent on certain issues or that the state can choose to ignore “the voices of committed believers in determining the values which will shape the future of the nation.”
Pope Benedict said he appreciated the efforts of the U.S. bishops to maintain contacts with Catholics involved in political life and help them “understand their personal responsibility to offer public witness to their faith.”
This is especially true when it comes to key ethical issues of today, which he identified as “the respect for God’s gift of life, the protection of human dignity and the promotion of authentic human rights.”
He concluded on an optimistic note by observing the rise of “a new generation of Catholics” in the United States whose “experience and convictions will have a decisive role in renewing the Church’s presence and witness in American society.”
The hope promised by this younger generation should be reason enough “to renew our efforts to mobilize the intellectual and moral resources of the entire Catholic community in the service of the evangelization of American culture and the building of the civilization of love.”
Pope Benedict XVI warned today of a “grave threat” to religious liberty in the United States that requires American Catholics to respond with intelligence and courage.
“It is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres,” he said Jan. 19 in an address to a group of American bishops visiting the Vatican.
The Pope said he was particularly concerned with “certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion.”
Pope Benedict’s address was delivered to the bishops from the Mid-Atlantic states region, which includes the Archdioceses of Washington and Baltimore. They are in Rome this week on their regular “ad limina” visit to discuss the health of the U.S. Church with the Pope and Vatican officials. The two bishops from the Archdiocese for the U.S. Military Services are also participating in the meetings.
Pope Benedict said that over the past few days many of the bishops have expressed concern over attempts in the U.S. to “deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices.”
Meanwhile, other bishops raised the “worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship” without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience.
At present, the Obama administration is considering imposing a contraception and sterilization mandate that would require all insurance companies to provide those services free of charge. The regulation has a religious exemption clause, but it provides very few exceptions for Church organizations.
Some states are also pushing Catholic adoption agencies out of business or severely limiting their work because they refuse to compromise the Church’s beliefs on same-sex “marriage.”
Pope Benedict said these issues highlight the need for an “engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture.” The American laity must have the “courage to counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate,” he said.
The preparation of such “committed lay leaders,” he told the bishops, should be the “primary task of the Church in your country.”
He noted that his visit to the United States in 2008 afforded him an opportunity to reflect on America’s historical experience of religious freedom, “specifically the relationship between religion and culture.”
“At the heart of every culture, whether perceived or not,” he said, “is a consensus about the nature of reality and the moral good, and thus about the conditions for human flourishing.”
In the United States this consensus is “enshrined in your nation’s founding documents,” which are grounded in a worldview shaped by faith and a commitment to ethical principles, he observed.
Today, however, that consensus has been eroded “in the face of powerful new cultural currents” which are “not only directly opposed to core moral teachings of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but increasingly hostile to Christianity.”
Despite such hostility, American Catholics are still called to proclaim “a Gospel which not only proposes unchanging moral truths but proposes them precisely as the key to human happiness and social prospering,” Pope Benedict stated.
He also responded to those who attempt to restrict Christians’ voice in the public square or argue that their contribution should be ignored because of “majority rule.” This is a threat not just to Christianity but “to humanity itself and to the deepest truth about our being and ultimate vocation, our relationship to God.”
Pope Benedict said that the Catholic Church’s tradition of respect for both faith and reason means that it can play a critical role in opposing current trends which are based on “extreme individualism” and promote “notions of freedom detached from moral truth.”
The pontiff also touched on what he called the “legitimate” idea of separation of Church and State. This does not mean, however, that the Church must be silent on certain issues or that the state can choose to ignore “the voices of committed believers in determining the values which will shape the future of the nation.”
Pope Benedict said he appreciated the efforts of the U.S. bishops to maintain contacts with Catholics involved in political life and help them “understand their personal responsibility to offer public witness to their faith.”
This is especially true when it comes to key ethical issues of today, which he identified as “the respect for God’s gift of life, the protection of human dignity and the promotion of authentic human rights.”
He concluded on an optimistic note by observing the rise of “a new generation of Catholics” in the United States whose “experience and convictions will have a decisive role in renewing the Church’s presence and witness in American society.”
The hope promised by this younger generation should be reason enough “to renew our efforts to mobilize the intellectual and moral resources of the entire Catholic community in the service of the evangelization of American culture and the building of the civilization of love.”
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
Vatican throws light on history as it opens secret archives
FROM: THE TELEGRAPH
As the confidential correspondence of popes, princes and potentates, the Vatican Secret Archives have been jealously guarded for centuries.
But now 100 of the most historically significant documents held by the Vatican's Secret Archives are to go on public display in Rome – the first and probably last time that they will leave the buttressed stone walls of the tiny city state.
The priceless documents span more than a millennium, from the 8th century to modern times, and feature a cast of historical characters ranging from the Knights Templar to Galileo, Martin Luther and Henry VIII.
They are normally kept in air-conditioned, climate-controlled rooms in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, which boasts more than 50 miles of shelves, as well as in a high-security underground bunker.
Archivists have gathered them together for an unprecedented exhibition, to be held in Rome's Capitoline Museums, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Secret Archives in their present form.
"It's an exceptional event," Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican's spokesman, told The Daily Telegraph.
"It's the first time that an exhibition of such significance has been organised. Never have so many documents from the Secret Archive been allowed to leave the Vatican."
"It's the first time that an exhibition of such significance has been organised. Never have so many documents from the Secret Archive been allowed to leave the Vatican."
Organisers of the exhibition said it will be "a unique and once-in-a-lifetime event recounting history through its sources."
Papal documents have been kept ever since the Church was founded, but the Secret Archives have occupied their present location only since 1612, when the repository was reorganised by Pope Paul V.
One of the most interesting documents for British visitors will be a letter written by Mary Queen of Scots a few weeks before her execution for alleged involvement in plots to have Elizabeth I assassinated.
Mary, a rallying point for the Catholic cause, wrote the letter in French to Pope Sixtus V from Fotheringay Castle in Northants in Nov 1586.
The letter, in black ink on yellowing parchment, professes her adherence to the "universal" Catholic Church of Rome, railed against the falsehoods perpetrated by her enemies in England and claimed that the tribunal which had condemned her to death was illegitimate and heretical.
Fully aware that she had been condemned to death, she recounted the suffering she had undergone during nearly 20 years of imprisonment.
An appeal by Parliament asking the Pope to annul Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon will also be in the collection.
The parchment document, which bears the red wax seals of more than 80 English lords, cardinals and bishops, was sent to Pope Clement VII in 1530 but failed to resolve the dispute, which eventually led to a schism and the founding of the Church of England.
It will be displayed alongside documents from the heresy trial of Galileo Galilei, whose theory that the Earth revolved around the Sun was regarded as heresy by the Catholic Church in the early 17th century.
One of the documents bears the signature of the astronomer, who was hauled in front of the Inquisition in 1633 and had his books banned.
Among the more unusual documents is a letter written on silk in 1650 by a Chinese empress who pledged her allegiance to Catholicism after being converted by Jesuit priests.
The letter, rolled up in a bamboo scroll, was sent by the empress dowager Wang, who adopted the Christian name Helena, to Pope Innocent X in 1650.
There will also be previously unseen documents relating to Pope Pius XII, who has been accused of not doing enough to speak out about the Holocaust during the Second World War.
The Vatican has until now stubbornly resisted calls from historians and Jewish groups to release papers from Pius's controversial papacy, from 1939 to 1958.
All the documents are stamped with the words 'Archivio Segreto Vaticano', although the organisers of the exhibition point out that the Latin word 'secretum' more accurately translates as 'private' – these are the private archives of the popes.
The exhibition, called "Lux in Arcana: The Vatican Secret Archives Revealed", runs from February to September 2012 in the Capitoline Museums.
Papal documents have been kept ever since the Church was founded, but the Secret Archives have occupied their present location only since 1612, when the repository was reorganised by Pope Paul V.
One of the most interesting documents for British visitors will be a letter written by Mary Queen of Scots a few weeks before her execution for alleged involvement in plots to have Elizabeth I assassinated.
Mary, a rallying point for the Catholic cause, wrote the letter in French to Pope Sixtus V from Fotheringay Castle in Northants in Nov 1586.
The letter, in black ink on yellowing parchment, professes her adherence to the "universal" Catholic Church of Rome, railed against the falsehoods perpetrated by her enemies in England and claimed that the tribunal which had condemned her to death was illegitimate and heretical.
Fully aware that she had been condemned to death, she recounted the suffering she had undergone during nearly 20 years of imprisonment.
An appeal by Parliament asking the Pope to annul Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon will also be in the collection.
The parchment document, which bears the red wax seals of more than 80 English lords, cardinals and bishops, was sent to Pope Clement VII in 1530 but failed to resolve the dispute, which eventually led to a schism and the founding of the Church of England.
It will be displayed alongside documents from the heresy trial of Galileo Galilei, whose theory that the Earth revolved around the Sun was regarded as heresy by the Catholic Church in the early 17th century.
One of the documents bears the signature of the astronomer, who was hauled in front of the Inquisition in 1633 and had his books banned.
Among the more unusual documents is a letter written on silk in 1650 by a Chinese empress who pledged her allegiance to Catholicism after being converted by Jesuit priests.
The letter, rolled up in a bamboo scroll, was sent by the empress dowager Wang, who adopted the Christian name Helena, to Pope Innocent X in 1650.
There will also be previously unseen documents relating to Pope Pius XII, who has been accused of not doing enough to speak out about the Holocaust during the Second World War.
The Vatican has until now stubbornly resisted calls from historians and Jewish groups to release papers from Pius's controversial papacy, from 1939 to 1958.
All the documents are stamped with the words 'Archivio Segreto Vaticano', although the organisers of the exhibition point out that the Latin word 'secretum' more accurately translates as 'private' – these are the private archives of the popes.
The exhibition, called "Lux in Arcana: The Vatican Secret Archives Revealed", runs from February to September 2012 in the Capitoline Museums.
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