05/01/2006 17:59 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | | Post: 774 | Registrato il: 28/08/2005
| Utente Senior | |
|
The following is a translation of two items published on line yesterday and today
by kreuz.net, a Catholic news agency in German. The subject is yet another one of the theologians
who became "famous" (and therefore lionized in the media) for insisting on teaching
their own beliefs about certain matters of Catholic doctrine rather than what the Magisterium teaches.
Like Leonardo Boff and Eugen Drewermann, to name two examples, Gotthold Hassenhuettl disagrees
with the Church Magisterium on important points and insists on propagating his own beliefs
by teaching and publishing them but refuses to accept being disciplined for such disobedience.
Boff and Drewermann have
left the priesthood; Drewermann also announced recently he has left the Catholic Church.
The discipline the Church has imposed on such insistently wayward priests
has consisted mainly in suspension of their priestly functions and withdrawal of their permission
to teach as Catholic professors (they can teach whatever they want wherever they want
as long as they do not do so in the capacity of a "Catholic professor") - sanctions which
do not seem unreasonable given their insistence on preaching and teaching their own doctrine
rather than the Church's.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Suspended priest Gotthold Hassenhuettl,82, an Austrian-born theologian living in Germany,
will appeal to Pope Benedict XVI, to protest the recent withdrawal of his permission
to teach as a Catholic professor by Mons. Reinhard Marx, Bishop of Trier, Germany, according to
a report by Sudwestrundfunk, a radio station in southwestern Germany.
Hassenhuettl is Emeritus Professor of Dogma in the Faculty of Philosophy of
the University of Saarland.
Hassenhuettl was also quoted as saying that his suspension as a priest was already
a “completely exaggerated reaction.” He was suspended in June 2004 by the Vatican because
he publicly advocated inter-communion, which the Catholic Church does not approve of.
Bishop Marx notified Hassenhuettl of the withdrawal of his permission to teach
as a Catholic professor on January 2. He said that whoever teaches in the name of the Church
cannot perform that function according to his individual views, but only on the basis
of what the Church itself teaches.
Therefore, Marx’s letter continues, whoever does not recongize Church authority and
is not prepared to follow Church instructions, cannot teach in the name of the Church.
Marx pointed out that Professor Hassenhuettl has declared many times that he will not follow
some Church teachings:
“Your last writing, and even those before December 8, 2005, have made it very clear
that you have not given in in any way, that you continue to believe that your behavior
is the right one and that therefore you do not see any ground to accept the Church discipline
which led to your suspension precisely on this ground, “ Marx wrote.
Critics of Hassenhuettl have also accused him of being an atheist, because he preaches
a watered-down idea of God, saying that “God” is merely a subjective word for
“the experience of love between and among human beings.”
-------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
05/01/2006 18:43 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | Post: 222 | Registrato il: 23/11/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
CAN'T THE GUY JUST STAY RETIRED?
Why, at 82, does Hassenhuettl feel the need to unretire and go back into teaching, causing headlines and problems in the process? You can see in many of these suspended theologians hubris as wide as an expressway. [Modificato da benefan 05/01/2006 18.44] |
05/01/2006 19:08 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | | Post: 32 | Registrato il: 03/12/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
Benefan, you are true,
he want to teach because he is the only person od the world who knows who God is.
I don't know where the humbleness is in this case.
On the other hand we have religion freedom so these theologicians may found their own churches or religion organisations.
Then teach in name of them as they want.
Critics of Hassenhuettl have also accused him of being an atheist, because he preaches
a watered-down idea of God, saying that “God” is merely a subjective word for
“the experience of love between and among human beings.”
I have many friends who have this opinion about the "God", too. And they also think all religions are the same. |
05/01/2006 19:41 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | Post: 226 | Registrato il: 23/11/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
A NICER BIT OF NEWS
From Catholic World News:
Taizé leader meets with Pope
Jan. 05 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI met on January 5 with Brother Alois, the new leader of the Taizé community.
Brother Alois, a German Catholic, became head of the ecumenical community in August 2005. He succeeded Brother Roger Schutz, the founder of Taizé, who was killed on August 16 when he was stabbed by a deranged woman during a public prayer service.
Since the time of Pope John XXIII, the head of the Taizé community has met with the Roman Pontiff each year in a private audience. This is the first such meeting for Brother Alois in his new leadership role.
Pope Benedict welcomed Brother Alois to the Vatican shortly after the conclusion of an annual European meeting of the Taizé community. From December 28 through January 1, the group hosted about 50,000 young people in Milan. It was the 28th annual gathering of young European Christians sponsored by Taizé. In a message that he sent to the meeting, Pope Benedict had encouraged the young participants to follow the example of Brother Roger and of Pope John Paul II, and "be peacemakers in your turn."
The Taizé community was founded by Brother Roger in 1940. Dedicated to fostering unity among Christians, the Taizé community now includes 100 monks of different Christian denominations, from 30 different countries. Each year tens of thousands of pilgrims, mostly young people, visit the community's center in Burgundy.
|
05/01/2006 20:15 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | | Post: 33 | Registrato il: 03/12/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
more about meeting with br. Alois Brother Alois told after meeting:
For us was this meeting very important due to fact brother Roger met Holy father every year. I want to follow this tradition and express our community and will live for christian unity and with young people go to the sourse of faith.
That source is Christ which cannot be separated from community of church.
I wanted to thank Holy father especially, for words he spoke the day after the death of br. Roger during Angelus in Castel Gandolfo and then repeated in Cologna WYD.
Benedict XVI prayed for br. Roger in front of Cologna Cathedral and then greeted personally every brother from Taize community who were present there.
I wanted to thank him for the gesture which gave us courage.
I delivered to Holy father unfinished paper of br. Roger which came into being in August, before his death.
Pope read the last sentence, which ended with three dots:
"If our community is able to create in human family possibility for enlargement..."
Br. Roger didn't end this sentence.
Pope told us: "Go on, go on in this work."
Wow, sorry for bad translation it was originally in czech and did the best I can. |
05/01/2006 22:19 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | Post: 228 | Registrato il: 23/11/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
STATE VS. CHURCH ON ABORTION AND PRO-LIFE ISSUES
From the Guardian Unlimited:
EU challenges Vatican's draft abortion treaty
· Pope proposes conscience opt-out for Slovakia
· Lawyers warn of breach of union's obligations
Nicholas Watt in Brussels
Thursday January 5, 2006
An attempt by the Vatican to reduce the number of abortions in one of central Europe's most staunchly Roman Catholic countries is being challenged by the EU. A legal panel appointed by the European commission has attacked a draft treaty between Slovakia and the Vatican that would have restricted sensitive medical treatment such as abortions and IVF.
The group of lawyers warned that the treaty, known as a concordat, could place Slovakia in breach of its obligations as a member of the EU. Slovakia could find itself "violating its obligations", says the EU Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights.
The panel's intervention came in a 41-page report on the draft treaty, which was drawn up in March 2003. The treaty would allow healthcare workers in hospitals founded by the Catholic church to refuse to perform abortions or carry out fertility treatment on "conscience" grounds if they believe such work conflicts with their faith.
Their concerns were backed by the EU group. It said "certain religious organisations" should have the right not to perform "certain activities where this would conflict with [their] ethos or belief". But it added: "It is important the exercise of this right does not conflict with the rights of others, including the right of all women to receive certain medical services or counselling without any discrimination."
Approximately 70% of the population in Slovakia - which joined the EU in May 2004 - is Catholic.
"There is a risk that the recognition of a right to exercise objection of conscience in the field of reproductive healthcare will make it in practice impossible or very difficult for women to receive advice or treatment ... especially in rural areas."
Pope Benedict XVI is keen to maintain the work of his predecessor - the first Slav Pope - in extending the Vatican's influence across eastern Europe. If the agreement between the Vatican and Slovakia is passed into law it will have the status of an international treaty because the Holy See is a sovereign state.
As the late Pope's closest confidant, when he was known as Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict tried directly to influence members of the convention drawing up the ill-fated EU constitution. He is known to have telephoned a senior German MEP on the convention to demand that the constitution refer to a Christian God. This failed, as did the constitution when French and Dutch voters rejected it in referendums last year.
Campaigners welcomed the findings by the EU panel. Keith Porteous Wood, of Britain's National Secular Society, said: "We welcome this opinion which shows conscience clauses in EU member countries cannot be taken advantage of regardless of the consequences for others.
"This concordat would enable those Slovaks wishing to enforce Catholic doctrine, for example, on abortion and contraception in the performance of their duties regardless of the adverse implications on the patients, which could be severe. The draft also discriminated in favour of Christians in certain areas to the detriment of those of other faiths or none."
The Vatican has signed similar agreements with Italy, Latvia and Portugal on "religious conscientious objection", but these have been more limited.
|
06/01/2006 04:14 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | Post: 231 | Registrato il: 23/11/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
GREEK ORTHODOX LEADER TO MEET POPE
From Forbes.com
Orthodox Leader Says He Will Meet Pope
By MITCH STACY , 01.05.2006, 05:49 PM
The spiritual leader of the world's 200 million-plus Orthodox Christians said Thursday that he is eager to meet with Pope Benedict XVI sometime in the coming year in an effort to heal the long-standing rift between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.
Visiting this heavily Greek community northwest of Tampa for the annual Feast of the Epiphany celebration, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I told reporters that the pope plans an official visit sometime this year to his headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey.
"We are in very good relationships with the present pope, Benedict XVI, and I'm in the very happy position to announce to you that we are going to restart the dialogue on the international global level between the Orthodox church and the Roman Catholic church," Bartholomew said in Greek through an interpreter, Archbishop Demetrios, who is primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America.
The last official talks between two churches five years ago broke off without an agreement on theological issues that have divided them for almost 1,000 years.
Bartholomew had received a warm reception from the Vatican after inviting the pope to Turkey for the Feast of St. Andrew in November. But they were subtly rebuffed when the government of primarily Muslim Turkey, instead of approving the visit, issued its own invitation to Benedict for an unspecified date in 2006.
Because Benedict is also the head of state of the Vatican, any visit to Turkey would need to be coordinated with the Turkish government.
Bartholomew said Thursday that "within this year that has already begun, the new pope is going to visit officially the ecumenical patriarchy."
Both the current patriarch and the current pope appear deeply committed to bridging the rift between their estranged churches and helping to unite two of the largest branches of Christianity.
"The commitment of the Catholic Church to the search for Christian unity is irreversible," the pope said in June.
Pope John Paul II was praised by Greek religious and political leaders for his efforts to ease the division between the churches. John Paul visited Greece in 2001, the first pope to do so in nearly 1,300 years, meeting with Archbishop Christodoulos, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church.
Rifts between the two ancient branches of Christianity began as early as the fifth century over the rising influence of the papacy and later over wording of the creed, or confession of faith. The split was sealed in 1054.
______________________________________
After leaving Tampa, Patriarch Bartholomew will travel to New Orleans to view with New Orleans Catholic archbishop, Alfred Hughes, the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.
|
07/01/2006 16:07 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | Post: 237 | Registrato il: 23/11/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
GEORGE WEIGEL ON THE DOCUMENT ABOUT HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE PRIESTHOOD
This was printed in The Tidings Online today.
Forming priests in today's culture
By George Weigel
Now that the initial dust over the Congregation for Catholic Education's recent Instruction on homosexuality and candidacy for the priesthood has settled, three points seem worth underscoring.
The first point is one of historical and theological context.
On Dec. 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Church marked the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council --- a reforming Council intended by John XXIII to prepare the Church for what John Paul II would later call a "springtime of evangelization."
The evaluation of clinicians can be helpful in forming a judgment about a man's capacity for living chaste celibate love in today's sexual free-fire zone. But the final call rests with the Church's pastoral authorities.
Historically, we must remember that every great period of reform in Catholic history has included a reform of the priesthood and the consecrated life. Theologically, we must understand that there can be no "reform" of any facet of Catholic life without reference to "form:" in this case, the "form" in question is the priesthood understood as an iconic embodiment of the eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ. Christ's eternal priesthood, in turn, involves Christ's spousal relationship with his bride, the Church. Keeping those truths of history and theology in mind is essential for reading the recent Instruction from Rome correctly --- which is to say, as a reforming document.
The second point is one of cultural context.
Living chastity is no easy business in the sex-saturated culture of the contemporary West. It's impossible to walk through a mall, turn on your computer or television, or browse through a bookstore without being bombarded by sexual imagery of every imaginable sort. The challenge of living chastely in these circumstances is a tough one for everybody: single, married or celibate, lay or ordained. That is one important reason why the appropriate authorities in the Church --- pastors, diocesan vocation directors, seminary faculty, seminary rectors, religious superiors, and, above all, bishops --- must be as certain as humanly possible that a man is capable of living the demanding vocation of chaste celibate love before he is called to Holy Orders.
That responsibility cannot be out-sourced to psychologists and psychiatrists. Why? Because, in the final analysis, it's a judgment of pastoral prudence, not a clinical judgment. The evaluation of clinicians can be helpful in forming a judgment about a man's capacity for living chaste celibate love in today's sexual free-fire zone. But the final call rests with the Church's pastoral authorities. And as the Long Lent of 2002 made unmistakably clear, it is a responsibility that cannot be shirked.
Candidates for the priesthood, whether diocesan or religious, also have a responsibility here, particularly given the challenging cultural circumstances in which they propose to serve. Any prospective candidate for ordination should be prepared and willing to demonstrate his capacity to live chaste celibate love before he asks the Church to confirm his vocation to the ordained ministry. Indeed, a willingness to do so might be considered an important sign of whether or not a man's sense that God is calling him to a priestly vocation is a true discernment.
The third point takes us to the bottom of the bottom line.
Will this document make any difference? That is, will it help foster a genuine and enduring reform of the priesthood? That is entirely up to local bishops, in the case of the diocesan priesthood. A bishop must take the time and trouble to know his seminarians before he issues the canonical call to Orders. If a bishop's first real encounter with a man he is to ordain happens on the day of that man's ordination, something is seriously wrong.
As for men's communities of consecrated religious life, which seem to be the primary (albeit not exclusive) locus of unchaste clerical "gay culture" today, no Roman document can substitute for courageous leadership by religious superiors, calling all under their authority to live the "more excellent way" by honoring the majesty of their vows.
In the providence of God, the Long Lent of 2002 could not have been meaningless: it was, in retrospect, a call to the entire Church to take the reform of the Church's ordained ministry with the urgency Vatican II proposed. The recent Instruction is a response to that call, and should be welcomed as such.
George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
|
07/01/2006 16:39 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | Post: 238 | Registrato il: 23/11/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
TIRED OF VEGGIE TALES?
I know I am. I agree with the Germans.
______________________________________
German faithful want more energetic Catholic teaching
Jan. 06 (CNA/CWNews.com) - The great majority of German Catholics believe it is important that children and young people be given a more active and intense presentation of the faith, according to a poll carried out among some three thousand German Catholics.
The results of the poll, revealed by the Work of St. Boniface, show 86% consider instruction in the faith to be urgently needed, and 71% complained about the lack of formation in the faith.
Asked about the persons most responsible for their faith, 97% said credited their parents or some relative, 73% credited a priest or religious, 43% said a religion teacher, and 18% credited others.
64% said society makes it difficult for young people to become interested in the faith. Asked about the message they would send to people today, 68% said, “God welcomes you without buts or conditions,” 33% said, “Seek peace among people,” and 62% said, “Life after death.”
The majority of those surveyed said passing on the faith to one’s children is extremely important. |
08/01/2006 02:20 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | | Post: 808 | Registrato il: 28/08/2005
| Utente Senior | |
|
On 1/2/06, I posted this short alert:
A representative of the Neo-Catechumenal Way in the United States puts a positive spin
on the recent Pontifical instructions regarding the movement's unusual liturgical practices:
www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=82282
It turns out that Jimmy Akin, one of my favorite Catholic bloggers tackled the spokesman's
spin in his blog on 1/3/05:
--------------------------------------------------------------
The interview was PURE SPIN on Gennarini's part. I mean, it goes beyond putting
a positive face on the matter. The man is either grossly misinformed about what
the letter says or he is in denial.
He represent the letter as fully vindicating and approving multiple things that
the NW does in its Masses (not just the one cited--correctly--by Magister) and totally
ignores the numerous requirements and cautions expressed in the letter regarding how things
are to be done. He conveys the impression that the Vatican has simply rubber stamped current
practice when the tone taken in the letter is very different, often saying--in essence--
"Look, if you want to do something like this then you can ONLY do it if you start observing
the following conditions."
The height of misrepresentation occurs when Gennarini addresses the manner in which
The NW distributes Communion:
Finally, the way of distributing Communion as it currently takes place, is allowed
for a long period of time, if only "ad experimentum." Such a grant shows that this practice
is not irreverent, but fully legitimate, as can be attested by anyone who participates
in a Eucharist of the communities.
This concession is written within the context of the final approval of the statutes
of the Neocatechumenal Way, which are right now approved also "ad experimentum."
When this period "ad experimentum" ends, the interdicasterial commission of the five
congregations which approved the statutes … will verify the necessary adaptations.
This not only states that the NW manner of distributing Communion is "fully legitimate"
and allowed "ad experimentum" (i.e., for purposes of experiment to see if the arrangement
should be made permanent), it also seems to suggest that at the end of the approval process
For the NW's statutes that the Vatican may permanently allow this manner of distributing
Communion.
Now here's what the letter from Cardinal Arinze actually says:
5. On the manner of receiving Holy Communion, a period of transition (not exceeding two years)
is granted to the Neocatechumenal Way to pass from the widespread manner of receiving
Holy Communion in its communities (seated, with a cloth-covered table placed at the center
of the church instead of the dedicated altar in the sanctuary) to the normal way in which
the entire Church receives Holy Communion. This means that the Neocatechumenal Way must begin
to adopt the manner of distributing the Body and Blood of Christ that is provided
in the liturgical books.
There is no "ad experimentum" approval given in there for how the NW distributes Communion.
Quite the opposite. They've been given two years to clean up their act.
Gennarini is also exceptionally disingenuous when he says:
Without the intervention of the Holy Father, the approval of these liturgical variations
would have never taken place. We feel fully confirmed by Peter. Those who are trying to oppose
Benedict XVI and John Paul II are altering the reality.
Judge for yourself who is altering reality, here.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Well, Gennarini replied to Akin, and Akin came back with his usual efficient point-by-point
rebuttal of tendentious articles, so if you want to follow what happened after the
above 1/3/06 blog, visit
www.jimmyakin.org/2006/01/neocatechumenal_1.html
which conveniently links to all the referenced documents.
By the way, I discovered Akin when I was trying to track down
background information on the ridiculous suit filed by those opportunistic and unscrupulous
American lawyers who implicated Joseph Ratzinger in some sexual abuse cover-up. And I found out
that as early as April 25 - 6 days after Ratzinger became Pope, that's why I said opportunistic -
in response to a British newspaper article that anticipated the American action, Akin had done
a masterful job of dismantling the structure of lies and half-truths that constitute the article -
and the accusation. For that alone, Akin is well worth the visit. [Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/01/2006 15.25] |
09/01/2006 00:57 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | | Post: 50 | Registrato il: 03/12/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
ANKARA (Reuters) - Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who shot and seriously wounded Pope John Paul II in 1981, will be freed from prison this month, the Anatolian state news agency said on Sunday.
Agca served 19 years in Italy for the assassination attempt before being pardoned at the Pope's behest in 2000. He was then extradited to Turkey to serve a separate sentence in an Istanbul jail for robbery and murder.
"Agca is expected to be released between January 10 and January 15," Anatolian said, adding that he may then be required, like all Turkish men, to perform his military service.
In a short statement, the Vatican said it had only learned of Agca's release from news agencies.
"The Holy See, faced by a problem of a judicial nature, leaves the decision in the hands of the courts involved in this affair," the statement added.
Over the years, Agca gave conflicting reasons for his attempt on the late pope's life, including allegations of a conspiracy with Bulgaria's communist-era secret services and the Soviet KGB -- claims Bulgaria always strongly denied.
Agca belonged to a right-wing militant faction in Turkey in the late 1970s and was sentenced to prison for the murder of a liberal newspaper editor in 1979.
He then escaped from jail with suspected help from right-wing sympathizers in the Turkish security apparatus. Turkish authorities have always denied any connection with Agca and have dismissed him as mentally unstable.
Pope John Paul, who forgave his would-be killer two years after the shooting, died last year. Prison authorities refused a request from Agca to attend the pontiff's funeral.
Pope Benedict XVI, John Paul's successor, is expected to pay an official visit to mainly Muslim Turkey in November.
This is not about Church but it has relation to it.
By the way, the punishment for personal assault (physical cruelty) on pope is excommunication "latae sentetiae" (which means automatically, at the moment of attack, without any decision). The only person who can excuse this type of excommunication is pope.
[Modificato da Maklara 09/01/2006 1.03] |
09/01/2006 02:39 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | Post: 247 | Registrato il: 23/11/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
GOOD GRIEF, WHAT TERRIBLE TIMING!
Isn't there some other outstanding charge that he could be locked up for another 5 or 10 years for? I do hope the Turkish authorities figure out how to keep him under very close surveillance, especially during Papa's trip to Turkey (which now I hope will be cancelled again). I do think the man is unbalanced and is a menace to everybody but it is especially worrisome regarding the pope. |
09/01/2006 14:15 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | | Post: 52 | Registrato il: 03/12/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
Benefan,
Ali Agca wanted to visit John Paul's funeral last year, but Turkish authorities refused let him go to Rome.
I think he is "only" bounty hunter who received money from KGB (Moscow) to kill the pope. Remember the JP2 was the enemy No. 1 for communistic regimes because he spoke against them.
Pope spoke in his book (Memory and Identity), that his assassin was professional killer "who know exactly where to shoot". But we don't know if Acga didn't say to the former pope why he attacked him or who hire him to make it. Then Wojtyla urged to italian president to give him amnesty.
He has probably any intent to attack new pope. If he is unbalanced he is dangerous for everyone. But I have heard he have to undergo his military duty at the moment. He was imprisoned at the age of 23. He spent 24 years in prisons.
At the end I think that the notice of Reuters in news about Acga that Papa will visit Turkey in November is unseasonable. What they want to say by that? |
09/01/2006 16:21 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | | Post: 840 | Registrato il: 28/08/2005
| Utente Senior | |
|
Address of World Alliance of Reformed Churches to the Pope
"We Are Eager to Be Partners With You"
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 8, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address delivered Saturday by the Reverend Clifton Kirkpatrick, president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, during an audience with Benedict XVI.
Your Holiness,
In this Season of Epiphany we greet you in the name of Jesus Christ, who is revealed as Lord and savior of the world. We extend a special word of congratulations to you in this first year of your papal ministry and assure you of the prayers of Reformed Christians all over the world that God will richly bless your ministry.
We come representing the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the global fellowship of 215 churches of Reformed, Congregational, Waldensian and Presbyterian traditions composed of some 75 million Christians from all parts of our world. We are churches shaped by the Protestant Reformation and its values but also deeply committed to the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church of which both of our communities are a part.
We are extremely grateful for the three phases of the Reformed-Roman Catholic dialogue that have been completed and have born real fruit in our common understanding of the presence of Christ and the nature of the church and in our common witness to the Kingdom of God. We are eager to begin the next stage of efforts to move closer together in common faith and witness and look forward to exploring this possibility with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity while we are here in Rome. As Reformed Christians, we will also soon be commemorating the 500th anniversary of the founding of our movement and are eager to find ways to approach these events and our learning from them ecumenically with our sisters and brothers from the Catholic Church.
The World Alliance of Reformed Churches has recently concluded its 24th General Council, the every-seven-year gathering of leaders from Reformed Churches all over the world this one held in Accra, Ghana in August of 2004. The theme of that Council was Jesus' promise in John 10:10 that he has come so that all "may have life, and have it in fullness." The exploration of that theme and the witness of our growing churches in Africa and other parts of the South led us to a common core commitment to justice in the economy and the earth as our central calling as Reformed Churches in this period of history.
We see this commitment not simply as a matter of social justice but rather as a concern that is central to the very integrity of our Christian faith. We are eager during our visit here at the Vatican to pursue with you how Catholic and Reformed Christians might be partners together for God's justice in a world wracked by poverty, war, ecological destruction, and the denial of human freedom.
Finally, we come as pilgrims in the cause of Christian unity. At the core of our tradition is the understanding that to be Reformed is to be faithful to Jesus' high priestly prayer "that they might all be one ... that the world might believe" (John 17:21). We are grateful for new ecumenical breakthroughs between Protestants and Catholics.
In talking with the moderator of the Waldensian Church here in Italy, who is part of our delegation, I was pleased to learn of positive new ecumenical developments between Protestants and Catholics around honoring the Bible and interconfessional marriages and of new structures of ecumenical cooperation at the grass-roots levels -- developments that are paralleled in the U.S.A. where I live, and in many parts of the world. However, there is still much to be done to move beyond our past condemnations of one another, to truly respect one another as parts of the one body of Jesus Christ, serve God together without worrying about inhibitions in our nations, and to come together at the table of our Lord. We are eager to be partners with you in this important ministry of Christian unity.
In many ways, historians will likely look back on the second millennium of Christian history as the millennium of the division of the Christian Church. May we together, in the power of the Holy Spirit, commit our efforts to make the third millennium the era of the reuniting of the broken body of Christ. May God bless you and may God bless our common efforts to be pilgrims together for the unity which Christ intends for the Church and the world!
[Original text in English]
THE POPE'S RESPONSE:
"No Ecumenism Worthy of the Name Without Interior Conversion"
Dear Friends,
At the beginning of this new year I welcome you, the leaders of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, on the occasion of your visit to the Vatican. I recall with gratitude the presence of delegations from the World Alliance both at the funeral of my predecessor Pope John Paul II, and at the inauguration of my own papal ministry. In these signs of mutual respect and friendship I am pleased to see a providential fruit of the fraternal dialogue and cooperation undertaken in the past four decades, and a token of sure hope for the future.
This past month, in fact, marked the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, which saw the promulgation of the decree on ecumenism, "Unitatis Redintegratio." The Catholic-Reformed dialogue, which came into existence shortly thereafter, has made an important contribution to the demanding work of theological reflection and historical investigation indispensable for surmounting the tragic divisions which arose among Christians in the 16th century. One of the results of the dialogue has been to show significant areas of convergence between the Reformed understanding of the Church as "Creatura Verbi" and the Catholic understanding of the Church as the primordial Sacrament of God's outpouring of grace in Christ (cf. "Lumen Gentium," No. 1). It is an encouraging sign that the current phase of dialogue continues to explore the richness and complementarity of these approaches.
The decree on ecumenism affirmed that "there can be no ecumenism worthy of the name without interior conversion" (No. 7). At the very beginning of my pontificate I voiced my own conviction that "inner conversion is the prerequisite for all ecumenical progress" ("Homily in the Sistine Chapel," April 20, 2005), and recalled the example of my predecessor, Pope John Paul II, who often spoke of the need for a "purification of memory" as a means of opening our hearts to receive the full truth of Christ.
The late Pope, especially on the occasion of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, gave a powerful impulse to this endeavor in the Catholic Church, and I am pleased to learn that several of the Reformed Churches which are members of the World Alliance have undertaken similar initiatives. Gestures such as these are the building blocks of a deeper relationship which must be nurtured in truth and love.
Dear friends, I pray that our meeting today will itself bear fruit in a renewed commitment to work for the unity of all Christians. The way before us calls for wisdom, humility, patient study and exchange. May we set out with renewed confidence, in obedience to the Gospel and with our hope firmly grounded in Christ's prayer for his Church, in the love of the Father and in the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. "Unitatis Redintegratio," No. 24).
[Original text in English]
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 09/01/2006 16.24] |
09/01/2006 17:47 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | Post: 252 | Registrato il: 23/11/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
ON THE FATE OF THE CHURCH IN EUROPE
From Yahoo. Apologies to Maklara.
Is God dead in Europe? By James P. Gannon
Mon Jan 9, 7:06 AM ET
Two snapshots from a recent tourist trip to Europe: We are in Prague, the lovely and lively capital of the Czech Republic, where the bars and cafes are full, the glitzy crystal and art shops are busy, and the dozens of historic cathedrals and churches are largely empty - except for gawking tourists snapping photos. In The Prague Post, an English-language weekly newspaper, a front-page article reports, in titillating detail, how the city has become Europe's new capital for pornographic filmmaking, while an op-ed examines why only 19% of the people in this once-religious country believe that God exists.
Change the scene to Rome. We are at the Vatican, swimming in a sea of 150,000 people waiting in St. Peter's Square for Pope Benedict XVI to appear at a special celebration for Catholic children who have made their first communion in the past year. Rock bands and kids' choirs entertain the faithful until a roar sweeps through the crowd at the first sighting of the "Popemobile," carrying the waving, white-robed Benedict down barricaded lanes through the throng. The crowd goes wild.
For an American Catholic visitor, Europe is a puzzling and sometimes discouraging place these days. Is God dead here? Many signs suggest that Europeans think so.
Decline in attendance
"Common wisdom has it that alcoholics outnumber practicing Christians and that more Czechs believe in UFOs than believe in God - and common wisdom may be correct," wrote Nate and Leah Seppanen Anderson in a Prague Post commentary; he's a freelance writer, and she's a political science professor at Wheaton College in Illinois and a specialist in Czech politics and society. Surveys show a sharp decline in church attendance and religious practice in most European countries. A series of Eurobarometer surveys since 1970 in five key countries (France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy) shows that regular church attendance fell from about 40% of the population to about half that figure. Declines were sharpest in predominantly Catholic nations.
Even so, how do we account for the extraordinary outpouring of grief at Pope John Paul II's death in April and the enthusiasm that his successor seems to evoke? Are these mere public spectacles, signifying nothing about Europe's drift from its religious roots, or are they signs of yearning for something more than peace, prosperity and la dolce vita?
As only an occasional visitor to Europe, I claim no expertise in these matters. But some who do see the emergence of a post-Christian era in Europe that has profound consequences for the continent and perhaps is an ominous portend for the United States. Where Europe has gone, America could be going - and that is a prospect that is frightening Christians and sharpening the religious divide in this country.
Western Europe, the cradle of modern Christianity, has become a "post-Christian society" in which the ruling class and cultural leaders are anti-religious or "Christophobic," writes George Weigel, a Catholic columnist and U.S. biographer of Pope John Paul II. In his new book, The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics Without God, he argues that religious differences help explain the policy tensions between Europe and the United States.
"It would be too simple to say that the reason Americans and Europeans see the world so differently is that the former go to church on Sundays and the latter don't," Weigel writes. "But it would also be a grave mistake to think that the dramatic differences in religious belief and practice in the United States and Europe don't have something important to do with those different perceptions of the world - and the different policies to which those perceptions eventually lead."
A fierce controversy over any mention of Europe's Christian heritage erupted in 2004 when officials were drafting a constitution for the European Union, Weigel notes.
Any mention of the continent's religious past or contributions of Christian culture - in a preface citing the sources of Europe's distinct civilization - would be exclusionary and offensive to non-Christians, many argued. Former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who presided over the process, summed up the dominant view: "Europeans live in a purely secular political system, where religion does not play an important role."
'Demographic suicide'
Among the consequences of Europe's abandonment of its religious roots and the moral code that derives therefrom is a plunge in its birth rates to below the replacement level. Abortion, birth control, acceptance of gay marriage and casual sex are driving the trend. Europe is "committing demographic suicide, systematically depopulating itself," according to Weigel.
United Nations population statistics back him up.
Not a single Western European country has a fertility rate sufficient to replace the current population, which demographers say requires 2.1 children per family. Germany, Russia, Spain, Poland and Italy all have rates of about 1.3 children, according to the U.N. The Czech Republic's is less than 1.2, and even Roman Catholic Ireland is at 1.9 children. (The U.S. rate, which has remained stable, is slightly more than 2 children per woman.)
Fifteen countries, "mostly located in Southern and Eastern Europe, have reached levels of fertility unprecedented in human history," according to the U.N.'s World Population Prospects 2004 revision.
As children grow scarce and longevity increases in Europe, the continent is becoming one vast Leisure World. By 2050, the U.N. projects, more than 40% of the people in Italy will be 60 or older. By mid-century, populations in 25 European nations will be lower than they are now; Russia will lose 31 million people, Italy 7.2 million, Poland 6.6 million and Germany 3.9 million. So Europe is abandoning religion, growing older, shrinking and slowly killing itself. These are signs of a society in eclipse - the Roman Empire writ large. Is this any model for America?
In his 2001 book, The Death of the West, conservative commentator Patrick Buchanan argues that a European-style "de-Christianization of America" is the goal of many liberals - and they are succeeding.
Court decisions that have banned school-sponsored prayer, removed many Nativity scenes from public squares, and legalized gay marriage are part of that pattern, as is the legal effort to erase "In God We Trust" from U.S. currency and "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance.
Europe is showing us where this path leads. It is not the right path for America.
James P. Gannon is a retired journalist and author ofA Life in Print: Selections from the Work of a Reporter, Columnist and Editor.
|
10/01/2006 05:53 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | Post: 257 | Registrato il: 23/11/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
POOR LEVADA, POOR CHURCH
The most recent court appearance in this never-ending mess. Now, he's been served another subpoena.
-----------------------------------------
Top Vatican official testifies in US sex abuse case
By Adam Tanner Mon Jan 9, 4:16 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - One of the Vatican's highest officials gave a legal deposition behind closed doors on Monday in the priest sex scandal that prompted the Catholic archdiocese in Portland, Oregon, to declare bankruptcy.
William Levada, the Vatican's chief doctrinal enforcer, was Archbishop of Portland from 1986-1995, and it is in that capacity he was subpoenaed to provide testimony on sex abuses of children by priests.
"We expect to find out what he knows and when he knew it," Michael Morey, an attorney representing the plaintiffs, told reporters as he headed into a deposition by lawyers, which could last all day.
Although the Roman Catholic Church has faced lawsuits alleging abuses across the United States, the Archdiocese of Portland was the first to seek bankruptcy protection from creditors. Since then the archdioceses in Spokane, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona, have also filed for bankruptcy.
Dressed in a suit, Levada went to a central San Francisco office building for the deposition. Eyewitnesses said he avoided a few protesters by using a side door.
As he entered the building, one man served him a subpoena to testify in another sex abuse case, said Joe Piscatelli, Bay Area coordinator for SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
"He is in charge of the sexually abusive priests," he said. "He's second to the Pope now and he hasn't been doing his job on getting rid of them. Instead he's been protecting them."
Levada succeeded Pope Benedict as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith when then- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected to lead the Roman Catholic Church.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of San Francisco did not return calls for comment.
Levada has apologized to the victims, saying last year: "I again express to these victims, and all other victims of the clergy child abuse scandals, my sincere apology for the pain they have endured."
COURT RULES AGAINST CHURCH
A U.S. bankruptcy judge handed the Portland archdiocese a major setback in the 18-month-old bankruptcy case, by ruling on December 30 that the assets of its parishes and schools were controlled by the archdiocese and thus available to pay abuse and other claims.
The archdiocese had argued that parish and school assets could not be tapped because it did not control them.
"Our attorneys believe that the various aspects of the ruling will not stand up under eventual review by higher courts," Portland Archbishop John Vlanzy wrote last week.
There are about 150 related sex abuse cases yet to be resolved, said David Slader, an attorney for 12 sex abuse survivors.
The cases will likely be sent back to the courts and assigned trial dates. Attempts to solve them through mediation were "a dismal failure," Slader said.
From the 1950s to 2003, the Archdiocese of Portland paid about $53 million on 130 claims of sex abuse by clergy, archdiocese spokesman Bud Bunce said.
Some current cases will likely be settled before they reach trial. The archdiocese has about $100 million in investments and accounts that could be used to settle. The archdiocese has proposed a $40 million bankruptcy settlement plan, but that was declined by plaintiffs' attorneys.
|
10/01/2006 06:42 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | | Post: 846 | Registrato il: 28/08/2005
| Utente Senior | |
|
CATHOLIC POLITICAL ACTION IN CANADA I am glad to see some sensible voices from Canada for a change. We can only hope
this particular campaign has some effect.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Life, Liberty and Marriage Seen at Stake in Canada
Catholics Urged to Weigh Issues as Election Nears
OTTAWA, JAN. 9, 2006 (Zenit.org).- A leading Catholic organization is exhorting
the faithful to seriously consider the problems facing Canada when they go to the polls
Jan. 23.
Among the top concerns cited by the Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) are
the attacks on human life, marriage and religious liberty.
In an open letter to Catholics, COLF cautions: "At this time in the history of Canada,
a realistic look at society reveals a fundamental problem -- the loss of respect for
human life and dignity.
" This is evident in so many ways: the legal void that permits abortion right up to birth;
medical research that authorizes the destruction of embryos; a mentality that increasingly
favors euthanasia and assisted suicide; the gratuitous violence in our schoolyards; abuse of
women and children; the violent deaths of young men; the silence that surrounds so many
situations of poverty; the widespread incidence of prostitution, pornography and drugs."
"Human life and human dignity encounter too many obstacles in Canada," said COLF. " As we
prepare to elect a new government, we must determine the position of candidates on the
first of all human rights: the right to life. If this is not respected, should we be
surprised that other rights will sooner or later be threatened?"
COLF is a nonprofit corporation co-sponsored by the bishops' conference and the Supreme
Council of the Knights of Columbus.
Conflicting vision
In its letter released last week, COLF also said: "The family is also under attack. The recent
redefinition of marriage in our country contradicts the reality inscribed in nature.
"It is also urgent to ensure that our schools respect these convictions by not proposing
a conflicting vision to our children. It is our responsibility to demand that
the next government develop policies to support married couples who are ensuring the survival
of society by giving birth to new citizens and raising them in the most stable environment."
"Many Canadian families live below the poverty line," the letter continued. "In a spirit
of justice, it is up to us to work towards a better distribution of resources and
equitable access to essential goods so that all will be assured of a decent quality of life."
COLF also sounded an alarm on what it sees as attacks on religious liberty and freedom
of expression.
Public square
"We are witnessing an obvious effort by some in society who wish to relegate religion
to the private lives of citizens," the group said. "This aggressive secular ideology
refuses religion the right to exist in the public square. …
"As Catholic citizens, we not only have the moral duty to exercise our civic and
political responsibilities, but also the right to be involved in the life of society,
each according to his or her own area of expertise, and without denying the Gospel values that
are central to our lives. We are not obliged to suppress our moral conscience in order
to live in society. There should be no separation -- but instead coherence -- between
our faith and our daily choices, made evident in our personal, family, professional, political
and cultural decisions."
COLF invites voters to examine critically the platform of each party, and to evaluate those
platforms "in the light of the plan of God by studying the social doctrine of the Church."
The letter concluded: " The question for the Catholic voter is: How, in the light of the
Gospel, can I use my vote to advance the common good in Canada and throughout the world?"
|
10/01/2006 16:49 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | | Post: 859 | Registrato il: 28/08/2005
| Utente Senior | |
|
From Sandro Magister, a very instructive review of a book that one may do well to read -
---------------------------------------------------------------
Holy War: The Year the Muslims Took Rome
Few know about it, but it happened. A book published in the United States offers to the public
the first comprehensive collection of the major documents on the theory and practice of jihad,
from Mohammed until today
by Sandro Magister
ROMA, January 5, 2006 – A book published recently in the United States lifts the veil on a
crucial aspect of Islam, one which too many understand poorly and know too little about:
jihad, the holy war.
It is an aspect that meets with widespread silence, as if it were a taboo. Even among
Christians, there are wide gaps on this topic in the general awareness of Church history.
An example? Many recall what happened in Rome, at St. Peter’s Basilica, the night of Christmas
Day of the year 800. After the Mass, pope Leo III solemnly placed upon the head of Charlemagne
the crown of the Holy Roman Empire.
That night, the basilica of St. Peter gleamed with breathtaking brilliance. A few years earlier,
Leo III’s predecessor, pope Hadrian I, had covered the entire floor of the sanctuary with plates
of silver; he had covered the walls with gold plates and enclosed it all with a balustrade
of gold weighing 1,328 pounds. He had remade the sanctuary gates with silver, and had placed
on the iconostasis six images also made of silver, representing Christ, Mary, the archangels Gabriel
and Michael, and saints Andrew and John. Finally, in order to make this splendor visible to all,
he had ordered the assembly of a candelabrum in the form of a huge cross, on which
1,365 candles burned.
But less than half a century later, none of this remained. And what happened remains generally
unknown among Christians today.
What happened is that in 846 some Muslim Arabs arrived in a fleet at the mouth of the Tiber,
made their way to Rome, sacked the city, and carried away from the basilica of St. Peter all
of the gold and silver it contained.
And this was not just an incidental attack. In 827 the Arabs had conquered Sicily, which they kept
under their dominion for two and a half centuries. Rome was under serious threat from nearby.
In 847, the year after the assault, the newly elected pope Leo IV began the construction of walls
around the entire perimeter of the Vatican, 12 meters high and equipped with 44 towers.
He completed the project in six years. These are the “Leonine”* walls, and significant traces of
them still remain. But very few today know that these walls were erected to defend the see
of Peter from an Islamic jihad. And many of those who do know this remain silent out of
discretion. “Bridges, not walls” is the fashionable slogan today.
* Interesting bit of info for Benaddicts! Now we know that Citta Leonina (Leonine City)refers to the city that Pope Leo enclosed!
The book that lifts the veil on the Islamic holy war is entitled “The Legacy of Jihad,”
and is edited by Andrew G. Bostom.
The book is essentially made up of documents, many of which have been translated for the first
time from Arabic or Farsi, or have been reproduced from books of oriental studies that would be
difficult for the general public to find.
The documents range from Mohammed in the seventh century, to the twentieth century. And they
include the classic texts on the topic of jihad by Muslim theologians and jurists, accounts
of war from ancient and modern witnesses, and analyses of jihad by scholars of varying outlooks.
The book also contains Islamic miniatures depicting moments of jihad throughout history, and maps
that document the military expansion of Islam century after century, from the seventh to the
eleventh century. Each map is accompanied by a summary listing the acts of war in each region.
For example, in the ninth century, during which Rome was assaulted and Sicily was conquered,
the Muslim armies occupied Bari and Brindisi in Italy for thirty years; Taranto for forty;
Benevento for ten; they attacked Naples, Capua, Calabria, and Sardinia several times; they put
the abbey of Montecassino to fire and the sword; they even made skirmishes in northern Italy,
arriving from Spain and crossing over the Alps.
One fact emerges clearly from the documentation compiled by Bostom: jihad is not just one of
the forms by which the expansion of Islam took place in particular places and times, but
it is an institution inherent to the Islamic system itself; it is a permanent religious obligation.
One astonishing thing is that it was not a specialist who published this documentation in
the West. Bostom is an epidemiologist living in Providence, Rhode Island. But perhaps this
very distance from the academic world of the oriental and Islamic studies scholars leaves
him more free from the taboos that gag many of these.
Biting criticisms of the pro-Islamic sentiment of much of Western culture have been
written by, among others, Jacques Ellul, Oriana Fallaci, and Bat Ye’or. The latter of these
is a leading specialist in the condition of subordination systematically imposed by Islam
upon the non-Muslim subjects of conquered countries. She is also the author of an essay
published in 2005, carrying the eloquent title “Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis.”
One of the central theses of the three authors cited is that Islam is an organic whole and
cannot be reformed in its essential elements, and that personal freedom and rights cannot be
incorporated into it.
But even another author who does not share this thesis, and is indeed one of the most decisive
proponents of the idea that Islam and democracy are compatible – Bernard Lewis, one of the most
authoritative Islamic studies experts alive, professor at Princeton University – has severely
criticized the pro-Islamic tendencies in vogue among Western intellectuals and politicians,
even among Jewish ones.
In an essay entitled “The Pro-Islamic Jews,” Lewis explains how the idea of an early Islamic
Spain tolerant of Christians and Jews – evoked by many today as a golden age – is a romantic myth
of the nineteenth century, created by Jews themselves in their intellectual conflict with Christians.
And modern Turkey’s aligning itself with the Western world and its support for the state of
Israel have also induced a widespread unwillingness to speak about the massacres it carried
out last century against the Armenian Christians.
Other factors encouraging the general silence over the holy wars of yesterday and today –
and also over slavery, which is still practiced by Muslims in some regions, over assaults
on churches and the killing of Christians – are the effort to establish a good relationship
with the increasing numbers of Muslim immigrants in Europe, fear of terrorist attacks, and
the desire to create distance from the outlook of the “clash of civilizations.”
But the Muslim victims of this reticence and silence on the part of the West are precisely
those who are courageously fighting to reform the Islamic faith and reconcile it with democracy
and modernity.
It’s a good thing that, with books like the one by Andrew G. Bostom, they aren’t being left
entirely alone.
__________
The book:
”The Legacy of Jihad. Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims,” edited by Andrew G. Bostom,
foreword by Ibn Warraq, Prometheus Books, New York, 2005, pp. 762.
---------------------------------------------------------------
From www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=44479&eng=y
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 10/01/2006 17.40] |
10/01/2006 18:35 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | Post: 259 | Registrato il: 23/11/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
LORD, HELP US
Can somebody just lock this guy up and throw away the key? Please. From The Australian.
Pope shooter wants to meet Benedict
From correspondents in Istanbul
January 11, 2006
THE man who tried to kill Pope John Paul II almost quarter of a century ago wants to meet his target's successor.
Mehmet Ali Agca, a Turk, shot and wounded John Paul II, hitting him in the abdomen, on May 13, 1981 in St Peter's Square in Rome.
He is due to be freed from jail in Istanbul this week.
"He wants to meet the new (pontiff - Benedict XVI)," his brother Adnan Agca said. "If the Pope grants him an audience he would be ready to go to Italy."
He also suggested that the meeting could take place when Benedict XVI visits Turkey later this year.
Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi pardoned Agca, now 48, in 2000 and he was transferred to Turkey where he had been sentenced to death in absentia in 1981 for the 1979 killing of a journalist, Abdi Ipecki.
On his return he was also found guilty of two charges of armed violence in Istanbul in the 1970s and given a 36-year sentence.
|
10/01/2006 18:52 |
|
| | | OFFLINE | Post: 224 | Registrato il: 09/08/2005
| Utente Junior | |
|
From Whisper in the Loggia Scarlet in the Air?
That sound you hear in the distance? No bother -- it's just the frenzy of Rome's travel agents, greasing the palms of every Vatican gadfly in sight in the hope of getting some well-sourced leg-up on the Pope's intentions for the creation of new cardinals.
While they're at it, they should grease mine, too.... But oh well. Welcome to the Italian Way and the Triennial Ritual.
Buzz has been flying in recent weeks with predictions of a consistory to be held on February 22nd, the feast of the Chair of Peter, on which John Paul II gave out red hats in 1998 and 2001.
Initial speculation aired elsewhere confidently speculated that it would all be announced on Epiphany Day, 6 January. But as the whole purpose of the consistory exercise -- well, outside of welcoming the new influx of the historical successors to the clergy of Rome with a week's worth of high-octane soirees -- is to stand aside and watch as the travel people get as crazed as St. Blog's comboxes when homosexuality is at issue, the reports hit a wall. Yet again.
And of course they did. Consistories, as a rule, are announced as close as is humanly possible to the Pope's intended date, usually an interval of four weeks. The shortest period between announcement and actual event came in 2003, when John Paul called a 22 October consistory to make 21 new cardinals at the Angelus on 28 September.
Word that it was coming had leaked out 72 hours before the papal confirmation, so it was no surprise. As Rome was struck with a freak power outage that morning, however, the dissemination of the list was delayed -- Sala Stampa's printers and copiers were down, reporters couldn't file, the works. But the dead giveaway was that the Vatican had quickly set up loudspeakers on a generator provided by Italian state television so that the Pope could be heard; any other Sunday, the appearance would've simply been cancelled or postponed.
The behind-the-scenes process works like this: The Pope picks his names and they're arranged in order of seniority (curial officials by the precedence of their dicastery, then archbishops and bishops by tenure) by the Secretariat of State. In the days preceding an announcement, Stato telegraphs coded messages to the nunciatures of the cardinals-designate-to-be. The nominees are then informed by the nuncio (or, in his absence, the mission charge d'affaires) in a phone call which usually takes place 72 hours prior to their public naming. So the actual naming isn't like Oscar night or anything, where the the "winners" are announced and the "losers" are sitting there trying to keep a smile on.
The Vatican approach helps keep the Susan Lucci moments at a minumum -- this is not to say, however, that they don't occur. They do.
The last four consistories (1994, '98, 2001 and '03) have been announced at the Sunday Angelus. But a Pope can make his intentions known in whatever way he chooses -- by the spoken word, printed notice, whatever.
However the announcement is made, once it comes a uniquely Roman cottage industry leaps into a fevered pitch. Within minutes, the travel people start booking blocks of hotel rooms for the anticipated influx of well-wishers (Americans and Western Europeans traditionally bring groups which number into the hundreds, or even thousands); Gammarelli, Barbiconi and the other tailoring houses go into overdrive and stock up on their moire' (the watered silk used to make Cardinals' birettas, zucchettos and fascias), restaurants get booked up a month in advance and the airlines are quickly inundated.
During Consistory Week, Rome turns into one huge international festival, with pilgrims and ecclesiastical glitterati converging on it as at no other time aside from the vacancy of the Chair of Peter.
Of course, who actually gets a ticket to the Big Dance is a much more uncertain question....
Suffice it to say this: All bets are off with a new Pope, especially one who was a curial heavyweight for over two decades and, particularly as Cardinal-Dean during the interregnum, has had an almost-unparalleled vantage to size up the College of Cardinals, and the world hierarchy at-large, at close range. Now that Papa Ratzinger has the mandate to implement his well-honed thoughts on what voices should be given the added heft which comes with donning that magical shade of red, surprises are more than just possible.
As for the most important function which princes of the church exercise, the voting complement comprised of cardinals younger than 80 currently numbers 110. An electoral college of 120 was, of course, the original maximum established by Paul VI in 1975, but John Paul felt free to dispense with it and gladly did so, first in 1998 and then in 2001, after which consistory there were a hypothetical 135 electors.
Ten cardinals become ineligible to vote this year, when they mark their 80th birthdays. Among them are the Tridentine darling Jorge Medina Estevez (23 December); the American William Wakefield Baum (21 November); Des Connell, the retired archbishop of Dublin (24 March); Marian Jaworski, the longtime Wojtyla friend who remains archbishop of Lviv of the Latins (21 August); and Agostino Cacciavillan, the former nuncio to Washington and widow of Benelli (14 August).
With the election of Joseph Ratzinger (Class of '77) as Pope and the death of the retired Manila Cardinal Jaime Sin (Class of '76) last year, Baum, also elevated in the consistory of 1976, is the last remaining cardinal-elector to have been given his red hat by a Pope who wasn't John Paul II. |
|
|