 17/01/2010 20:49 |
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Pope Benedict XVI says Vatican saved Jews 'discreetly'
Richard Owen in Rome
From Times Online
January 17, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI claimed today that the Vatican and many Italian Catholics had saved Jews during the Second World War, “often in a hidden and discreet way”. He was responding to accusations that Pius XII, the wartime pontiff he has put on the road to sainthood, failed to speak out against the Holocaust.
However, Jewish leaders used the Pope's first visit to the Rome synagogue to condemn Pius XII for failing to raise his voice in defence of “our brothers who were sent to the ovens of Auschwitz”.
In a move to soothe relations with the Jewish world Pope Benedict apologised for Christian responsibility for anti-Semitism and urged Jews and Christians “to come together to strengthen the bonds which unite us and to continue to travel together along the path of reconciliation and fraternity".
The German-born Pope, 82, who was repeatedly applauded, said: ”The Church has not failed to deplore the failings of her sons and daughters, begging forgiveness for all that could in any way have contributed to the scourge of anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism ... May these wounds be healed for ever.”
The Pope recalled the pioneering visit to the synagogue in 1986 by John Paul II, his predecessor, who had “wanted to make a decisive contribution to strengthening the good relations between our two communities, so as to overcome every misconception and prejudice".
He added: “My visit forms a part of the journey already begun, to confirm and deepen it."
The Second Vatican Council had given "a strong impetus to our irrevocable commitment to pursue the path of dialogue, fraternity and friendship, a journey which has been deepened and developed in the last forty years”.
The Pope went on: “I cherish in my heart each moment of the pilgrimage that I had the joy of making to the Holy Land in May of last year, along with the memories of numerous meetings with Jewish communities and organisations, in particular my visits to the synagogues of Cologne and New York."
In a reference to Nazism the Pope said that the 20th Century had been “a truly tragic period for humanity: ferocious wars that sowed destruction, death and suffering like never before; frightening ideologies, rooted in the idolatry of man, of race, and of the state, which led to brother killing brother”.
He added that “the singular and deeply disturbing drama of the Shoah represents the most extreme point on the path of hatred that begins when man forgets his Creator and places himself at the centre of the universe".
He recalled “the Roman Jews who were snatched from their homes, before these very walls, and who with tremendous brutality were killed at Auschwitz. How could one ever forget their faces, their names, their tears, the desperation faced by these men, women and children?
"The extermination of the people of the Covenant of Moses, at first announced, then systematically programmed and put into practice in Europe under the Nazi regime, on that day tragically reached as far as Rome.
“Unfortunately, many remained indifferent, but many, including Italian Catholics, sustained by their faith and by Christian teaching, reacted with courage, often at risk of their lives, opening their arms to assist the Jewish fugitives who were being hunted down, and earning perennial gratitude. The Apostolic See itself provided assistance, often in a hidden and discreet way."
The Pope was welcomed to the synagogue by Riccardo Di Segni, the Chief Rabbi of Rome. The ceremony, including the singing of Psalm 133 by the synagogue choir to organ accompaniment and prayers for peace,was also attended by senior Italian politicians and by representatives of the Rome Muslim community, who said they hoped the Pope would visit the Rome mosque.
Rabbi Di Segni said that “despite a dramatic history, the unresolved problems, and the misunderstandings, it is our shared visions and common goals that should be given pride of place". He called for “brotherhood and friendship” between Christians, Muslims and Jews, “all those who acknowledge the spiritual legacy of Abraham”.
In a toughly worded welcoming address, Riccardo Pacifici, head of the Jewish community, said that he respected those Jews who had decided to boycott the Popes visit.
To prolonged applause he added that “the silence of Pius XII before the Shoah” remained painful. “Perhaps he could not have stopped the trains of death, but he could have sent a signal, a word of extreme comfort, of human solidarity for those of our our brothers who sent to the ovens of Auschwitz”.
He urged the Vatican to open up its archives on the wartime period to scholars.
The visit, held amid high security measures, was Benedict's third to a synagogue since he became Pope in 2005 and his first to the Rome synagogue, home to one of the world's oldest Jewish communities.
Fifteen Holocaust survivors attended the ceremony, but some boycotted it, as did a number of leading Italian Jews, including Rabbi Giuseppe Laras, head of the Italian Rabbinical Assembly.
They said that they were angered by Pope Benedict's efforts to put Pius XII on the road to sainthood. Piero Terracina, an elderly Auschwitz survivor, said he still felt bitter that Pius XII had not spoken out against the 1943 deportations.
In December the Pope confirmed the “heroic virtues” of Pope Pius XII, a step toward his beatification. The Vatican insists that Pope Pius worked quietly behind the scenes to save Jews because to intervene directly could have worsened the situation for both Jews and Catholics in Europe.
The Pope's visit today Sunday coincided with the Catholic Church's day of Christian-Jewish dialogue. Last year Rabbi Di Segni and other Italian rabbis boycotted the Day of Dialogue to protest against the Pope's reintroduction of a Latin Easter prayer that appeared to call for the conversion of Jews.
The same month the Pope sparked further anger by revoking the 1988 excommunication of Bishop Richard Williamson, one of four ultra-conservative bishops rehabilitated as part of the Pope’s attempts to bring the Society of St Pius X, or Lefebvrists, back into the Catholic fold.
Pope Benedict's visit also coincided with the day the Jewish community in Rome commemorates a "miracle" in the ghetto, when a mob set fire to buildings in an anti-Semitic riot in 1793 but the flames were extinguished by a sudden downpour.
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Israel asks pope to open up WWII archives
ynet News
Published: 01.17.10, 20:30
Israel on Sunday asked Pope Benedict to open up the Vatican archives covering the wartime papacy of Pope Pius XII, who has been accused by some Jews of turning a blind eye to the Holocaust.
"I asked the pope to find a way to make it possible to open the archives in the Vatican in order to give some details of the papacy of Pius XII in order to ease tensions between the Jewish people and Catholics," Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom told Reuters at the end of the pope's visit to Rome's synagogue. (Reuters)
[Modificato da benefan 17/01/2010 20:52] |
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| 18/01/2010 03:45 |
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BENEDICT XVI KEEPING UP WITH HAITI SITUATION
Catholic Relief Services Commits $25M
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 17, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI affirmed today that he is being continually informed about developments in Haiti in the aftermath of last Tuesday's earthquake.
The Pope mentioned the catastrophe during his address after praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square.
A 7.0 earthquake struck the capital of Port-au-Prince at about 5 p.m. local time Tuesday. Though rescue efforts continue and an accurate number of victims will be days in coming, it is estimated that between 50-000 and 100,000 people died.
"Our thoughts, in these days, turn to the dear people of Haiti, and [we] raise up sorrowful prayer," the Holy Father said. "The apostolic nuncio, [Archbishop Bernardito Auza], who, thanks be to God, is unhurt, keeps me continually informed, and thus I heard of the sad passing of the archbishop [Joseph Serge-Miot of Port-au-Prince], as well as of many priests, religious and seminarians.
"I am following and encourage the numerous charitable organizations, who are taking charge of the immense necessities of the country. I pray for the injured, the homeless, and for those who tragically lost their lives."
Catholic relief
The Vatican congregation that oversees the Church's charitable activities, the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, has asked U.S.-based Catholic Relief Services to spearhead the Church's relief effort.
CRS had some 300 staff already working in Haiti before the quake.
The agency reported that its initial pledge of $5 million is now five times that, thanks in part to donations to CRS of more than $10 million -- "including $1 million from the Gates Foundation and $225,000 from the New York Yankees."
Karel Zelenka, country representative for CRS Haiti, spoke of the stress on the island. Another aftershock hit even today.
"You drive up and down the streets and you see all these bodies that are just laying down there because they have no common grave and they cannot do a proper funeral. The worst part are the children -- these little bodies," he said. "I mean, can I tell you, in general earthquakes are the worst, worst disaster that can happen."
The agency has opened a special Web site for the relief effort and donations can be made by mobile phone.
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On the Net:
Catholic Relief Services: crs.org/
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| 19/01/2010 01:57 |
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At Pope's Trip to Rome Synagogue, Press Misses the Story
Elizabeth Lev
Politics Daily
POSTED: 01/18/10
ROME -- Just as the massive TV trucks parked around Rome's synagogue obscured the sight of one of the city's most beautiful buildings, so too have news reports obscured the real importance of the pope's visit to the Jewish community here.
Late Sunday afternoon, Pope Benedict XVI made the short trip across the Tiber River to the Great Synagogue of Rome, located on the site of the former Jewish ghetto. The weather was chilly, but the greetings just the opposite.
Riccardo Di Segni, chief rabbi of Rome, and Riccardo Pacifici, president of the Jewish Community of Rome, welcomed the pope on the steps of the synagogue amid thunderous cheers of "Viva il Papa!" Benedict was accompanied by Archbishop Fouad Twal, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Archbishop Antonio Franco, apostolic nuncio in Israel, to underscore his encouragement of inter-religious relations by drawing Rome and Israel closer together.
Despite the trite headlines about the "Pope's Controversial Visit," there was no real controversy; the chief rabbi had extended the invitation to Benedict in 2006 and the Roman Jewish community pulled out all the stops for this event. This was Benedict's third visit to a Jewish place of worship (after stops at the synagogues of Cologne in 2005 and New York in 2008). Pope John Paul II became the first pope to visit the Roman synagogue in April 1986, and Benedict, following in his predecessor's footsteps, has now created a double precedent. Future popes will now be expected to visit the synagogue, just as they do the mayor's office, Parliament and the local parishes.
As with the pope's Holy Land trip, this visit began with an acknowledgment of the suffering of the Jewish community through the Holocaust and other violence. Benedict first placed red roses before the memorial tablets that record the roundup and deportation of 1,022 Jews on Oct. 16, 1943; he then laid a wreath beneath the plaque commemorating the Oct. 9, 1982, terrorist attack on the synagogue, which killed a 2-year-old child, Stefano Tache.
More than merely remembering hostilities by outsiders, however, Benedict took the occasion to acknowledge the turbulent history between Christian Rome and its Jewish denizens. He chose a special date for the visit, the feast of Mo'ed di Piombo, which recalls the miraculous event of 1793 when an unexpected rainstorm put out a fire set by the Roman populace in the Jewish ghetto. Jan. 17 is also dedicated to the Study and Development of Dialogue between Catholics and Jews, celebrating its 21st anniversary this year.
The real spirit of the Benedict's visit and his encounter with the chief Rabbi was not one of recrimination but of furthering dialogue, though most major news outlets were too busy waving the red flag of WWII and Pope Pius XII to see that.
So, despite all satellite feeds streaming from the place of worship yesterday, there was no hostility, just singing and praying amid an ecstatic crowd of Muslims, Jews and Christians, all brought together in peace.
Benedict not only visited the sacred space of the synagogue but also the recently restored Jewish Museum, where numerous artifacts testify to the 2,000-year-old history and culture of the Jewish community in Rome.
For their part, officials of the Jewish Museum put together a spectacular exhibition for their visitor. Despite numerous hardships, the Jewish community managed to conserve 14 panels dating from the 18th century, made to celebrate the investiture ceremony of the popes. Curator Daniela di Castro, who accompanied the pope on his tour of the unique exhibits, noted that Benedict "is the first pontiff to visit a Jewish museum, just as the Jewish Museum of Rome is the first Jewish museum to be visited by a pope. . . . Hence, it is an immense honor for our museum."
Despite all the makings of an upbeat story amid news of natural and diplomatic disasters, most journalistic accounts focused on tensions caused by Pope Pius XII's so-called "guilty silence" regarding the Holocaust, and Pope Benedict's recent recognition of the heroic virtues of this same pope, who is on his way to sainthood.
Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, gave marching orders to the world press when he expressed disapproval of Benedict's support of Pius XII in an interview with Italy's Sky TG24 television last week. While the rabbi's distaste for Pius XII is a matter of public record, his historical memory has been known to be a bit foggy. He has denounced the pontiff for silence over the violence of Kristallnacht, despite the fact that Pius was not yet pope when the event took place in 1938. He also seems to have forgotten that Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir commented on death of Pius XII in 1958 by writing: "We share in the grief of humanity at the passing away of His Holiness. . . . When fearful martyrdom came to our people in the decade of Nazi terror, the voice of the pope was raised for its victims. . . . We mourn a great servant of peace."
Rabbi Lau's weak mastery of history seems to be shared by Pacifici, the president of the Jewish Community of Rome. Pacifici participated pleasantly enough in Sunday's festivities, but couldn't resist a dig -- undoubtedly prompted by the multitude of TV cameras -- when he referred to the supposed silence of Pope Pius XII as a "missed opportunity."
Pius XII's actions are known to have spoken louder than his words. Gary Krupp, the Jewish founder of the Pave the Way Foundation, has dedicated the last eight years to collecting video testimony and archival evidence that demonstrate the direct action of Pope Pius XII in saving hundreds of thousands of Jewish lives by issuing false baptismal certificates, obtaining visas for refugees and ordering religious houses and parishes to hide Jews. Pacifici is the first to thank the religious sisters of St. Marta in Florence, who saved him during the war, but he doesn't recognize that they, like hundreds of other convents in Italy and Germany, were acting under Pius' direct orders.
Emilio Zolli, the chief rabbi of Rome during the German occupation, however, knew well of Pius' role. After the war, Zolli converted to Catholicism and took Pius' baptismal name, Eugenio. In his biography, "Before the Dawn," Zolli wrote: "No hero in all of history was more militant, more fought against, none more heroic, than Pius XII in pursuing the works of true charity."
Simple enough information for any journalist to research, but in this case, the press maintained a guilty silence of its own. The New York Times even forgot its own history. On Dec. 25, 1942, it published an editorial saying, "The voice of Pius XII is a lonely voice in the silence and darkness enveloping Europe. . . . He is about the only ruler left on the Continent of Europe who dares to raise his voice at all."
Instead of puzzling over whether Pius XII could have done more for the Jews, maybe we should be asking who did more?
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| 19/01/2010 17:32 |
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An excellent review by Elizabeth Lev, who, by the way, is an art historian and appears frequently on EWTN.
She is so right - everyone is fed up with this banging on about Pius XII not doing enough for the Jews. As she so rightly points out, who did more? Now let us hope his beatification and canonisation go ahead, as this is a matter for the Catholic Church and has nothing to do with Judaism.
I would hesitantly add that this was Benedict XVI's fourth visit to a Jewish place of worship, because surely the Western Wall in Jerusalem counts? |
| 20/01/2010 01:48 |
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A sampling of reaction to the pope's synagogue visit
By John L Allen Jr
National Catholic Reporter
Created Jan 18, 2010
Sunday Pope Benedict XVI visited the Great Synagogue of Rome, marking only the second time that a pope has crossed the Tiber River to enter the primary Jewish place of worship in Rome. The event offered a strong signal of commitment to Jewish/Christian dialogue, but also a reminder of the tensions in the relationship – including, most recently, possible sainthood for Pope Pius XII, the wartime pontiff whose alleged “silence” on the Holocaust remains the object of fierce historical debate.
The visit sparked a variety of reactions, ranging from traditionalist Catholics who celebrated a “Mass of reparation” to atone for what they called the “insult” of the pope’s synagogue visit, to prominent rabbis who hailed the pope’s commitment to dialogue and to fighting anti-Semitism.
The following is a sampling of commentary on the day after Benedict’s visit to the synagogue – the third time Benedict has met Jews on their own turf, so to speak, after trips to the Cologne Synagogue in 2005 and the Park East Synagogue in New York in April 2008.
Rabbi Alfonso Arbib, Chief Rabbi of Milan
“The pope’s speech was important, because he confirmed some fundamental concepts – for example the irreversibility of the divine covenant with the Jewish people. That’s an important concept for Catholics, because for several centuries in Catholicism there was the ideology, or the idea, of substitution, that the Catholic church substitutes for the Jewish people.”
A Jewish restaurant owner in Rome (not identified by name on Italian television)
“Before the meeting, everyone was skeptical. Why do we have to have this meeting? What’s the point? Who will benefit from it, and what will it produce? But after the meeting, I have the impression that most of those who were against it changed their mind.”
Organizers of a traditionalist “Mass of reparation” held in Verona
“The premises of the synagogue visit on the part of Benedict XVI do not appear in any way to be in continuity with those of the first pontificate of St. Peter.” The visit “follows in the relativistic footsteps of ‘dialogue’ inaugurated by the Second Vatican Council and beyond, which aims at maintaining non-Catholics in the errors of their respective religions.”
A Jewish woman who took part in the synagogue event (not identified by name on Italian television)
“The silence of Pope Pacelli [Pope Pius XII] hurt us very much. It was correct to talk about that with the pope, because it's what was in all of our hearts."
Giancarlo Zizola, veteran Catholic journalist and Vatican expert
“Many Catholics should be grateful to the Jewish world, because sometimes they can give voice to sources of discontent within the church which the Catholic world isn’t able to express, often for institutional reasons. For example, the penitential attitude of the church with regard to the Shoah, which the dialogue with Judaism keeps alive, makes us better aware of the necessity to integrate our profession of faith as Christians with the actual conduct of members of the church, both at the top and at the base."
Rabbi Giuseppe Laras, President of the Assembly of Italian Rabbis
[Note: Laras chose to boycott the papal visit in protest of what he described as ‘deterioration’ in Jewish/Catholic relations under Pope Benedict XVI]
“In the speech of the pope, we heard several things that are encouraging, important and positive, but also, I would say, largely predictable … The question is whether some new impulse or reinforcement of the dialogue in concrete terms will result from this summit. The danger is exaggerating the importance of the event and undervaluing the real problems in the dialogue.”
“What we have to avoid is that the dialogue is exclusively an affair at the top. It has to make its way down to the base, such as the local parish community. That’s where the success of the dialogue should be measured, and where it can produce better understanding and important steps in the fight against anti-Semitism. Involving famous personalities is important, but they don’t necessarily have the pulse of the real situation. If the pope wants to make a strong contribution to fighting anti-Semitism, then we would expect that he become a motor force for driving this dialogue down to the base.”
Riccardo Pacifici, President of the Jewish Community of Rome
“The most beautiful thing about this event was the sincerity, the truth on all sides. The risk would have been to manufacture a feel-good appointment, full of hypocrisy, pretending that everything is fine. Some said that the Vatican should have waited until after the visit to say anything about Pius XII, but in reality the fact that they did it beforehand allowed us to deal with it with greater clarity. Everything was on the table.”
“Beatification would be seen as a judgment on Pius XII, not just an absolution but a declaration of heroism – not ‘heroic virtue,’ but moral heroism – which in our view wasn’t there. … The moment that struck me more than anything else during the ceremony was when the pontiff stood up and gave a small bow to the [Holocaust] survivors. We owe a huge debt to them … Someone told me a few months ago that the beatification of Pius XII would never happen during the pontificate of Benedict XVI. Perhaps his signature on the decree of heroic virtue was simply a symbolic act, and we can hope that in concrete terms, [the beatification] will not happen, at least until after we have had a chance to consult the archives.”
“The paradox of all this is that since it wasn’t just any pope [who came to the synagogue], but a German pope, it’s possible that he will feel a special responsibility upon his shoulders. Everyone forgets today, but I remember very well that at the beginning, the election of a Polish pope was not viewed with great enthusiasm by Jews, because the Poles were more the accomplices of the Nazis rather than the victims of Nazism. They contributed in an aggressive manner to the final solution. With a few rare exceptions, such as Papa Wojtyla, they didn’t help anybody. Half of the six million Jews who died were Poles, as 98 or 99 percent of them just disappeared. So, we are hoping that Pope Ratzinger will likewise feel a special historical responsibility.”
“I can guarantee that things were said in the corridors, in private, and now we’re waiting to see results – not right away, but eventually. That’s the chance we took. For example, we need a sharper clarification, without any ambiguities, on the Lefebvrites. How is it possible to welcome them into the church when they hold a ‘Mass of reparation’ for the visit to the synagogue?
Bishop Vincenzo Paglia of Terni, President of the Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue of the Italian bishops
“Yesterday not only confirmed the irreversibility of dialogue between Jews and Christians, but in my opinion, it also pointed the way to important steps forward … Yesterday, de facto, the pope and Rabbi Di Segni commented on the Scriptures together. That’s never been done before together. I saw the emotion in Pope Benedict XVI when Di Segni commented on the verses from Scripture about brotherhood. Knowing Pope Ratzinger very well, when he went to greet the rabbi, I thought it was a way of underlining these passages on brotherhood.”
“This pope knows how to weigh his words, so everyone was keenly awaiting his speech. His words were extraordinary, including a strong confirmation of the critically important concepts of the Second Vatican Council. I convinced that yesterday we began to walk together in a new way, focused more clearly on how we can continue to develop our sense of brotherhood with one another. It was an unforgettable event.”
“What’s important is that we cannot allow ourselves, living in a world like the one in which we find ourselves, to allow our sense of brotherhood and our common commitments to be corroded.”
Philip A. Cunningham, director of the Jewish-Catholic Institute at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia
"I was struck by how often the pope referred to Jews using the language of covenant, explicitly or implicitly; something which does not appear to have been very frequent earlier in his papacy ... Benedict's words are incompatible with recent efforts by some Catholics to argue that the Mosaic covenant was rendered obsolete or inert by Christ's coming, or that ongoing Jewish covenantal life can somehow be separated from the Torah. The pope could not [speak this way] if he endorsed such 'neo-supersessionist' arguments. It seems to me that those Catholics who like to assert there is a serious Catholic debate over the vitality of Torah covenantal life after Christ would do well to ponder today's papal address."
Fr. Floriano Abrhamowicz, a traditionalist priest who has been excommunicated by the Vatican and expelled by the Society of St. Pius X, the main Lefebvrite body, and who celebrated the “Mass of reparation” on Sunday
“The one missing in all of this is Jesus Christ.”
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| 20/01/2010 17:00 |
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PIUS XII BEATIFICATION NOW!!!!!!!
Seriously, Papa Pacelli hesitated to speak or write about what was happening to the Jews, because that would have been a political move and would have so angered the Nazis that they would have stepped up the persecution. Pius XII was a very astute man who had served as Nuncio in Munich and knew a lot about the history of Nazism.
Apart from all that, I re-iterate: what the Catholic Church does with regard to beatification and canonisation of Pius XII is not the business of Judaism.
@benefan: That last sentence about Christ not being mentioned - is it your comment or was it in the article? |
| 20/01/2010 17:50 |
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benefan: That last sentence about Christ not being mentioned - is it your comment or was it in the article? (Maryjos)
Mary,
That was in the article. If I comment about any articles, I usually do so at the top of the article and use italics for my words.
[Modificato da benefan 20/01/2010 17:51] |
| 21/01/2010 18:26 |
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Thanks, benefan! I'm just a bit slow-witted! I can see it now! |
| 22/01/2010 03:13 |
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John Allen really annoys me at times because he panders to the line of thought he thinks the publication he is writing for wants. Normally, he writes for the liberal-minded National Catholic Reporter. Below he writes for a Jewish publication about the pope's recent visit to the synagogue in Rome.
Making Sense of Benedict’s Jewish Policy
By John L. Allen Jr.
Jewish Daily Forward
Published January 20, 2010, issue of January 29, 2010.
By this stage, outsiders trying to make sense of Pope Benedict XVI’s approach to Jewish-Catholic relations might be forgiven for wondering if the pontiff suffers from an undiagnosed case of schizophrenia.
After all, this is the pope who made a point of visiting a Cologne synagogue in 2005 on his first foreign trip, and Auschwitz on his second, only later to revive a controversial Good Friday prayer for the conversion of Jews. More recently, this is the pope who rehabilitated a Holocaust-denying traditionalist bishop and who announced that Pope Pius XII (whose alleged “silence” during the Holocaust remains a bone of contention between Jews and Catholics) is a step closer to sainthood, only to visit Rome’s Great Synagogue on January 17 to express his “esteem and affection” for Judaism, and to pledge that the “faces, names, tears and desperation” of Holocaust victims must never be forgotten.
So, the obvious question in many Jewish minds likely is: Will the real Benedict XVI please stand up?
However understandable that reaction may be, there is actually a hermeneutic key to Benedict’s papacy, one that lends logic to what can otherwise seem like maddening inconsistencies.
Here it is in a nutshell: Benedict’s top priority is internal, directed at the inner life of the Catholic Church. His aim is to restore a strong sense of traditional Catholic identity, in order to inoculate the church against infection by radical secularism. That’s not just a personal hobbyhorse of this pope, but rather the culmination of 50 years of mounting concern inside Catholicism that the church has gone too far in accommodating the ways and means of the secular world. Today, this wave of “evangelical Catholic” energy is the most important policy-setting force in the church.
As a result, when Benedict XVI says or does things that affect Judaism, the key is often to understand that he’s not really talking to Jews but to other Catholics.
Thus, Benedict’s decision to revive the old Latin Mass, including that infamous prayer for the conversion of Jews, was certainly not crafted as a statement about Judaism. Instead, Benedict sees the old Mass as a classic carrier of Catholic identity, an antidote to any tendency to secularize the church’s worship. Likewise, Benedict did not lift the excommunications of four traditionalist bishops, including one who believes the Nazis didn’t use gas chambers, to endorse their troubled history with antisemitism. Rather, he did so because the traditionalists act as a leaven in the church, fostering appreciation for the Catholic past — even if their ideas on some matters lie far from the pope’s own thinking.
The same point applies to Pius XII. In his own mind, Benedict is not honoring the “pope of silence,” but rather the last pope before the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), and hence a figure who represents continuity with Catholic tradition before the liberalizing currents unleashed by Vatican II.
One corollary of his concern with Catholic identity is that Benedict XVI, on his own terms, is strongly committed to good relations with Jews — as well as Muslims, and followers of other religions — because he sees them as natural allies in the struggle against secularism.
That insight helps explain what may otherwise seem an anomaly about Benedict’s January 17 speech at the Rome synagogue. This pope is, after all, an accomplished theologian, yet the doctrinal sections of the speech were largely repetitive, made up of quotations from Vatican II and John Paul II. The most original feature was instead Benedict’s notion of the Torah as the basis of a “great ethical code,” leading Jews and Christians into common efforts against forms of secularism that exclude religion from public life, and in favor of the right to life, the family, the poor, the environment and peace. That’s what Benedict means when he talks about a transition from “inter-religious” to “inter-cultural” dialogue, with the accent not on new theological breakthroughs but rather new alliances in the social, cultural and political spheres.
It will be up to Jews, of course, to decide if they wish to accept the pope’s invitation. Yet it may help to understand that Benedict’s approach, as he understands it, is anything but inconsistent. It boils down to this: Let’s each of us be ourselves internally, and let’s see what we can do together in the outside world.
That, in a sound bite, is Benedict XVI’s “Jewish policy.” It might not be everything some Jews would desire, but at this moment in Catholic history, it may well be as good as it gets.
John L. Allen Jr. is the senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and author of “The Rise of Benedict XVI: The Inside Story of How the Pope Was Elected and Where He Will Take the Catholic Church” (Doubleday, 2005).
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| 22/01/2010 03:18 |
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I love this little tradition--a lamb blessing lambs.
Pope blesses lambs on feast of St. Agnes
Vatican City, Jan 21, 2010 / 10:44 am (CNA).- Today Pope Benedict celebrated the feast of the martyr St. Agnes by blessing a group of lambs in the Urban VIII Chapel of the Vatican Apostolic Palace.
Every year on January 21, the Pope blesses a group of lambs which are traditionally less than a year old. The lambs are raised by the Trappist Fathers of the Abbey of Three Fountains in Rome. They are then sheared, and the wool is woven into palliums by the Sisters of St. Cecilia.
The palliums will be given to the new metropolitan archbishops on June 29, the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. Each pallium is comprised of two hanging pieces, front and back. They are worn by the Pope and by the archbishops as a symbol of their apostolic authority and of the special bond between bishops and the Roman Pontiff.
The lambs themselves are a symbol of Purity. The lamb is also a symbol of St. Agnes, a young Roman virgin who dedicated herself to Christ. She chose the martyr’s death over breaking that vow of purity to God by marrying the governor’s son. She was between 12 and 13 years-old when she was executed for her refusal. Her body resides in the basilica named for her, which is located on Rome’s Via Nomentana.
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| 22/01/2010 03:21 |
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Benedict XVI reconfirms Cardinal Bertone as Vatican Secretary of State
Vatican City, Jan 21, 2010 / 01:09 pm (CNA).- In a letter published today by L’Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI confirmed that Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone will remain Vatican Secretary of State although he has reached the age at which prelates are required to submit their resignation to the Vatican.
The cardinal celebrated his 75th birthday on December 2, 2009.
In the letter dated January 15, the Holy Father thanked Cardinal Bertone “for the good carried out” during the years of his “priestly and episcopal ministry.” The Pope then expressed his appreciation for the “long course” of their collaboration stemming from the cardinal's “work as consultant to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”
“I also recall your delicate work in establishing dialogue with Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre,” the Pontiff continued. Also, “I will never forget the visit in Vercelli, which was for me an occasion for a renewed encounter with a great witness of the faith, St. Eusebius of Vercelli.”
After noting that it was John Paul II who called the cardinal to serve in the Roman Curia, Pope Benedict expressed his admiration for the “sensus fidei” (sense of faith) of Cardinal Bertone, as well as his “doctrinal and canonical” training which has enhanced his work “in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”
Because of all these qualities, the Holy Father continued, “I decided in the Summer of 2006 to name you my Secretary of State, and today they are the reasons for which I would like to retain your valuable collaboration.”
In conclusion Pope Benedict XVI expressed his best wishes to the cardinal for his work, entrusting him to the Mary Help of Christians.
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| 22/01/2010 23:01 |
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John Allen on the Rome Synagogue visit Making Sense of Benedict’s Jewish PolicyOpinion [as posted in the Jewish Daily, FORWARD] GETTY IMAGES When in Rome: Pope Benedict XVI, pictured here speaking with Rome’s chief rabbi, visited the city’s Great Synagogue on January 17.
By John L. Allen Jr.
Published January 20, 2010, issue of January 29, 2010. By this stage, outsiders trying to make sense of Pope Benedict XVI’s approach to Jewish-Catholic relations might be forgiven for wondering if the pontiff suffers from an undiagnosed case of schizophrenia. After all, this is the pope who made a point of visiting a Cologne synagogue in 2005 on his first foreign trip, and Auschwitz on his second, only later to revive a controversial Good Friday prayer for the conversion of Jews. More recently, this is the pope who rehabilitated a Holocaust-denying traditionalist bishop and who announced that Pope Pius XII (whose alleged “silence” during the Holocaust remains a bone of contention between Jews and Catholics) is a step closer to sainthood, only to visit Rome’s Great Synagogue on January 17 to express his “esteem and affection” for Judaism, and to pledge that the “faces, names, tears and desperation” of Holocaust victims must never be forgotten.
So, the obvious question in many Jewish minds likely is: Will the real Benedict XVI please stand up?
However understandable that reaction may be, there is actually a hermeneutic key to Benedict’s papacy, one that lends logic to what can otherwise seem like maddening inconsistencies.
Here it is in a nutshell: Benedict’s top priority is internal, directed at the inner life of the Catholic Church. His aim is to restore a strong sense of traditional Catholic identity, in order to inoculate the church against infection by radical secularism. That’s not just a personal hobbyhorse of this pope, but rather the culmination of 50 years of mounting concern inside Catholicism that the church has gone too far in accommodating the ways and means of the secular world. Today, this wave of “evangelical Catholic” energy is the most important policy-setting force in the church.
As a result, when Benedict XVI says or does things that affect Judaism, the key is often to understand that he’s not really talking to Jews but to other Catholics.
Thus, Benedict’s decision to revive the old Latin Mass, including that infamous prayer for the conversion of Jews, was certainly not crafted as a statement about Judaism. Instead, Benedict sees the old Mass as a classic carrier of Catholic identity, an antidote to any tendency to secularize the church’s worship. Likewise, Benedict did not lift the excommunications of four traditionalist bishops, including one who believes the Nazis didn’t use gas chambers, to endorse their troubled history with antisemitism. Rather, he did so because the traditionalists act as a leaven in the church, fostering appreciation for the Catholic past — even if their ideas on some matters lie far from the pope’s own thinking.
The same point applies to Pius XII. In his own mind, Benedict is not honoring the “pope of silence,” but rather the last pope before the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), and hence a figure who represents continuity with Catholic tradition before the liberalizing currents unleashed by Vatican II. One corollary of his concern with Catholic identity is that Benedict XVI, on his own terms, is strongly committed to good relations with Jews — as well as Muslims, and followers of other religions — because he sees them as natural allies in the struggle against secularism.
That insight helps explain what may otherwise seem an anomaly about Benedict’s January 17 speech at the Rome synagogue. This pope is, after all, an accomplished theologian, yet the doctrinal sections of the speech were largely repetitive, made up of quotations from Vatican II and John Paul II. The most original feature was instead Benedict’s notion of the Torah as the basis of a “great ethical code,” leading Jews and Christians into common efforts against forms of secularism that exclude religion from public life, and in favor of the right to life, the family, the poor, the environment and peace. That’s what Benedict means when he talks about a transition from “inter-religious” to “inter-cultural” dialogue, with the accent not on new theological breakthroughs but rather new alliances in the social, cultural and political spheres.
It will be up to Jews, of course, to decide if they wish to accept the pope’s invitation. Yet it may help to understand that Benedict’s approach, as he understands it, is anything but inconsistent. It boils down to this: Let’s each of us be ourselves internally, and let’s see what we can do together in the outside world. That, in a sound bite, is Benedict XVI’s “Jewish policy.” It might not be everything some Jews would desire, but at this moment in Catholic history, it may well be as good as it gets. John L. Allen Jr. is the senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and author of “The Rise of Benedict XVI: The Inside Story of How the Pope Was Elected and Where He Will Take the Catholic Church” (Doubleday, 2005).
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| 23/01/2010 03:28 |
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Nuncio to deliver message from Pope at Haitian archbishop's funeral
Port au Prince, Haiti, Jan 22, 2010 / 05:14 pm (CNA).- Funerals for Archbishop of Port-au-Prince Serge Miot and Vicar General Charles Benoit, who both died in the catastrophic earthquake last week in Haiti, will be held on Saturday, January 23. During the Mass, the Apostolic Nuncio will read a message from Pope Benedict to all the country's Catholics.
Speaking to CNA outside the Apostolic Nunciature in Haiti, the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Bernardito Auza said he expects large crowds to attend the funeral services for Archbishop Miot “because he was very beloved. Priests, religious and lay people will be present.”
“The archbishop's burial will be temporary,” the nuncio explained. “As an archbishop, he has the privilege of being laid to rest in the Cathedral, but since the Cathedral was destroyed, he will only be able to be transferred there once a new one is built, and we don't know when that will happen.”
Archbishop Auza told CNA that the Funeral Mass will start at 8 a.m. in front of the cathedral and that the main celebrant will be the President of the Conference of Bishops of Haiti, Archbishop Louis Kebreau of Cap-Haitien. The homilist will be H.E. Bishop Joseph Lafontant, Auxiliary Bishop of Port-au-Prince.
“I will say a brief word and read the Message of the Holy Father to the Church in Haiti after the homily,” stated the nuncio, who added that a message from the Pope to the priests and faithful of Port-au-Prince will also be read.
Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, Chairman of the Board of Catholic Relief Services, will also be in attendance and will read a letter from Cardinal Francis George, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Archbishop Auza also explained the activities following the funeral, saying, “After the Mass, there will be a convoy to Lilavois (Santo 19) for the internment of the remains of Msgr. Miot, at the seat of the Bishops' Conference … Then the USCCB delegation will have a brief tour - two distribution points, Saint Francois de Sales Hospital, the offices of the CRS and Caritas, then back to the Apostolic Nunciature, where the delegation is staying.”
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| 23/01/2010 13:32 |
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John Allen on Pope's Synagogue visit
The usual hoary old chestnut about "revival" of the Tridentine Mass was hauled up. For a start, that Mass had never been banned. And, though the 1962 Missal is the one to be used for the TLM, the Triduum may not be celebrated using the rite in this missal. Therefore, the old Good Friday prayer for the conversion of Jews does not come into the argument. Though the long prayer sequence in the Triduum of the Novus Ordo does include a prayer for the Jewish, there is nothing in it to which they could take offence.
As for Williamson, I think that, especially following his latest interview for French television, he and the whole SSPX are best forgotten. I've always maintained that they never wanted to come back into communion with the Holy See and they never will, despite our wonderful Pope's efforts to accommodate them. I know a few who live in my part of the world: they have a church of their own in Taunton, called Our Lady of Glastonbury. They rejoice in their eccentricity and do everything to enhance the differences between them and those of us who are Catholics in the Holy See. We may as well just let them go their own way. |
| 23/01/2010 14:27 |
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@Mary
That is exactly how I feel about it.
I read an article in La Vie from Jean Mercier and the conclusion was :
"And the pope, he believes in reconciliation? "I asked him the question shortly after the lifting of excommunications," said a cardinal, a close friend of Benedict XVI. "He told me he wanted to try one last chance to resolve the schism, but he did not have any illusions."
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| 24/01/2010 00:32 |
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World Day of Communications MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE BENEDICT XVI
FOR THE 44th WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY "The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World:
New Media at the Service of the Word" [Sunday, 16 May 2010]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, The theme of this year’s World Communications Day - The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word – is meant to coincide with the Church’s celebration of the Year for Priests. It focuses attention on the important and sensitive pastoral area of digital communications, in which priests can discover new possibilities for carrying out their ministry to and for the Word of God. Church communities have always used the modern media for fostering communication, engagement with society, and, increasingly, for encouraging dialogue at a wider level. Yet the recent, explosive growth and greater social impact of these media make them all the more important for a fruitful priestly ministry.
All priests have as their primary duty the proclamation of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, and the communication of his saving grace in the sacraments. Gathered and called by the Word, the Church is the sign and instrument of the communion that God creates with all people, and every priest is called to build up this communion, in Christ and with Christ. Such is the lofty dignity and beauty of the mission of the priest, which responds in a special way to the challenge raised by the Apostle Paul: “The Scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame … everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent? (Rom 10:11, 13-15).
Responding adequately to this challenge amid today’s cultural shifts, to which young people are especially sensitive, necessarily involves using new communications technologies. The world of digital communication, with its almost limitless expressive capacity, makes us appreciate all the more Saint Paul’s exclamation: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16) The increased availability of the new technologies demands greater responsibility on the part of those called to proclaim the Word, but it also requires them to become become more focused, efficient and compelling in their efforts. Priests stand at the threshold of a new era: as new technologies create deeper forms of relationship across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the media ever more effectively at the service of the Word.
The spread of multimedia communications and its rich “menu of options” might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web, or to see it only as a space to be filled. Yet priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world of digital communications as faithful witnesses to the Gospel, exercising their proper role as leaders of communities which increasingly express themselves with the different “voices” provided by the digital marketplace. Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources (images, videos, animated features, blogs, websites) which, alongside traditional means, can open up broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis.
Using new communication technologies, priests can introduce people to the life of the Church and help our contemporaries to discover the face of Christ. They will best achieve this aim if they learn, from the time of their formation, how to use these technologies in a competent and appropriate way, shaped by sound theological insights and reflecting a strong priestly spirituality grounded in constant dialogue with the Lord. Yet priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to Christ. This will not only enliven their pastoral outreach, but also will give a “soul” to the fabric of communications that makes up the “Web”.
God’s loving care for all people in Christ must be expressed in the digital world not simply as an artifact from the past, or a learned theory, but as something concrete, present and engaging. Our pastoral presence in that world must thus serve to show our contemporaries, especially the many people in our day who experience uncertainty and confusion, “that God is near; that in Christ we all belong to one another” (Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia, 21 December 2009).
Who better than a priest, as a man of God, can develop and put into practice, by his competence in current digital technology, a pastoral outreach capable of making God concretely present in today’s world and presenting the religious wisdom of the past as a treasure which can inspire our efforts to live in the present with dignity while building a better future? Consecrated men and women working in the media have a special responsibility for opening the door to new forms of encounter, maintaining the quality of human interaction, and showing concern for individuals and their genuine spiritual needs. They can thus help the men and women of our digital age to sense the Lord’s presence, to grow in expectation and hope, and to draw near to the Word of God which offers salvation and fosters an integral human development. In this way the Word can traverse the many crossroads created by the intersection of all the different “highways” that form “cyberspace”, and show that God has his rightful place in every age, including our own. Thanks to the new communications media, the Lord can walk the streets of our cities and, stopping before the threshold of our homes and our hearts, say once more: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20).
In my Message last year, I encouraged leaders in the world of communications to promote a culture of respect for the dignity and value of the human person. This is one of the ways in which the Church is called to exercise a “diaconia of culture” on today’s “digital continent”. With the Gospels in our hands and in our hearts, we must reaffirm the need to continue preparing ways that lead to the Word of God, while being at the same time constantly attentive to those who continue to seek; indeed, we should encourage their seeking as a first step of evangelization. A pastoral presence in the world of digital communications, precisely because it brings us into contact with the followers of other religions, non-believers and people of every culture, requires sensitivity to those who do not believe, the disheartened and those who have a deep, unarticulated desire for enduring truth and the absolute. Just as the prophet Isaiah envisioned a house of prayer for all peoples (cf. Is 56:7), can we not see the web as also offering a space – like the “Court of the Gentiles” of the Temple of Jerusalem – for those who have not yet come to know God?
The development of the new technologies and the larger digital world represents a great resource for humanity as a whole and for every individual, and it can act as a stimulus to encounter and dialogue. But this development likewise represents a great opportunity for believers. No door can or should be closed to those who, in the name of the risen Christ, are committed to drawing near to others. To priests in particular the new media offer ever new and far-reaching pastoral possibilities, encouraging them to embody the universality of the Church’s mission, to build a vast and real fellowship, and to testify in today’s world to the new life which comes from hearing the Gospel of Jesus, the eternal Son who came among us for our salvation. At the same time, priests must always bear in mind that the ultimate fruitfulness of their ministry comes from Christ himself, encountered and listened to in prayer; proclaimed in preaching and lived witness; and known, loved and celebrated in the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation.
To my dear brother priests, then, I renew the invitation to make astute use of the unique possibilities offered by modern communications. May the Lord make all of you enthusiastic heralds of the Gospel in the new “agorà” which the current media are opening up.
With this confidence, I invoke upon you the protection of the Mother of God and of the Holy Curè of Ars and, with affection, I impart to each of you my Apostolic Blessing. From the Vatican, 24 January 2010, Feast of Saint Francis de Sales. BENEDICTUS XVI |
| 24/01/2010 06:44 |
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I'm glad PapaB posted the pope's message on World Communications Day so everybody could see what he actually said. Below is a summary of his message by the AP.
Pope to priests: Go forth and blog
By ARIEL DAVID
The Associated Press
Saturday, January 23, 2010; 7:33 AM
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI has a new commandment for priests struggling to get their message across: Go forth and blog.
The pope, whose own presence on the Web has heavily grown in recent years, urged priests on Saturday to use all multimedia tools at their disposal to preach the Gospel and engage in dialogue with people of other religions and cultures.
And just using e-mail or surfing the Web is often not enough: Priests should use cutting-edge technologies to express themselves and lead their communities, Benedict said in a message released by the Vatican.
"The spread of multimedia communications and its rich 'menu of options' might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web," but priests are "challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources," he said.
The message, prepared for the World Day of Communications, suggests such possibilities as images, videos, animated features, blogs, and Web sites.
Benedict said young priests should become familiar with new media while still in seminary, though he stressed that the use of new technologies must reflect theological and spiritual principles.
"Priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to Christ," he said.
The 82-year-old pope has often been wary of new media, warning about what he has called the tendency of entertainment media, in particular, to trivialize sex and promote violence, while lamenting that the endless stream of news can make people insensitive to tragedies.
But Benedict has also praised new ways of communicating as a "gift to humanity" when used to foster friendship and understanding.
The Vatican has tried hard to keep up to speed with the rapidly changing field.
Last year it opened a YouTube channel as well as a portal dedicated to the pope. The Pope2You site gives news on the pontiff's trips and speeches and features a Facebook application that allows users to send postcards with photos of Benedict and excerpts from his messages to their friends.
Many priests and top prelates already interact with the faithful online. One of Benedict's advisers, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, the archbishop of Naples, has his own Facebook profile and so does Cardinal Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles.
In Saturday's message - titled "The priest and pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the Word" - Benedict urged special care in contacts with other cultures and beliefs.
A presence on the Web, "precisely because it brings us into contact with the followers of other religions, nonbelievers and people of every culture, requires sensitivity to those who do not believe, the disheartened and those who have a deep, unarticulated desire for enduring truth and the absolute," he said.
Monsignor Claudio Maria Celli, who heads the Vatican's social communications office, said that Benedict's words aimed to encourage reflection in the church on the positive uses of new media.
"That doesn't mean that (every priest) must open a blog or a Web site. It means that the church and the faithful must engage in this ministry in a digital world," Celli told reporters. "At some point, a balance will be found."
Celli, 68, said that young priests would have no trouble following the pope's message, but, he joked, "those who have a certain age will struggle a bit more."
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| 25/01/2010 06:12 |
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Pope Benedict's 'Travels' released
Vatican City, Jan 24, 2010 / 05:15 pm (CNA).- The book, “The Travels of Benedict XVI in Italy,” was released on Thursday evening in a reception at the Italian Embassy in Vatican City. During the presentation of the volume, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco referred to it as the representation of the "untiring pastoral mission of Pope Benedict XVI."
The edition follows the Holy Father on his 16 pastoral visits to 20 cities around Italy, while it also documents his travels to important sites within the city of Rome.
"The Travels of Benedict XVI in Italy" includes pictures from each of the visits and addresses, including homilies, given by the Pope and others in welcoming him on such occasions.
According to the Italian Conference of Catholic Bishops, the volume seeks to "witness the very particular rapport between the Bishop of Rome and Primate of Italy with our Country, as well as the work of all those who institutionally collaborate in the organization of the visits."
President of the Bishops' Conference and Archbishop of Genoa, Cardinal Angel Bagnasco, gave an address upon the release of the book in which he remarked that it is "a work that expresses the attention and the appreciation for the untiring pastoral mission of the Holy Father Benedict XVI in Rome and in Italy."
According to Cardinal Bagnasco, the "conducting wire" that unites all of the destinations illustrated in the book "is always the particular closeness and the affection of the Vicar of Christ for our nation and for the Church that lives in Italy.
"He loves it with the affection of a Father and Italy returns it with filial affection."
The book, which was published by the Holy See's Libreria Editrice Vaticana, was released in Italian.
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| 25/01/2010 06:14 |
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Church is ‘rich and vital organism’ in its unity, remarks Pope at Angelus
Vatican City, Jan 24, 2010 / 10:19 am (CNA).- Citing the reading in Sunday's liturgy from First Corinthians, Pope Benedict XVI used St. Paul's comparison of the Church to the body in his words before the Angelus. He then expressed his hope for continued progress among believers on the occasion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
In describing the Church in its unity as a body under the "head" of Christ, Pope Benedict explained that the Apostle Paul aimed to "communicate the idea of unity in the multiplicity of the charisms, which are the gifts of the Holy Spirit."
"Thanks to these the Church presents itself as a rich and vital organism, not uniform, fruit of the only Spirit that guides all to a profound unity, assuming diversity without abolishing it and realizing a harmonious whole."
The Pope mentioned that he wished to emphasize the role of the Church in maintaining the "presence of the risen Lord" during the current Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. He said, "It's really in Christ and the Spirit that the Church is one and holy, it is an intimate communion that transcends human capacity and sustains it."
"We will invoke from God the gift of the full unity of all disciples of Christ and, in particular, according to the theme of this year, we will renew the commitment to being joint witnesses to the crucified and risen Lord.
Benedict XVI reiterated the sentiment that he has expressed so often, that "The communion of Christians... makes the announcement of the Gospel more credible and effective, as affirms Jesus himself praying to the Father on the eve of his death, 'that they may all be one... that the world may believe’."
The Holy Father finished the address with a prayer for the intercession of Mary to achieve continued progress in the communion of Christians in order to "transmit the beauty of being one in the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will conclude Monday, January 25, coinciding with the feast of the conversion of St. Paul. The Pope and members of the various other Churches ecclesial communities in Rome will join together for Vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-walls.
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| 25/01/2010 06:20 |
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BENEDICT XVI TO HAITI: WE WON'T ABANDON YOU
Sends Message to Country's President and Bishops
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 24, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is affirming that the Church will not abandon the Haitian people and will do everything possible to contribute to the country's reconstruction after the Jan. 12 earthquake.
The Pope wrote this in messages to the Haitian president, René Préval, and the president of the country's bishops' conference, Archbishop Louis Kébreau of Cap-Haitien.
Both messages, publicized Saturday by the Vatican press office, affirmed the Pontiff's sorrow for the quake victims and his nearness to the survivors.
In his letter to Haitian civil leader, the Holy Father expressed his prayer that God would "welcome into the peace of his kingdom all those who died in the earthquake" and "grant consolation to their families, who, often, were unable to provide their deceased loved ones a worthy burial."
The Haitian authorities recently reported that 111,500 people have been found dead and another 193,891 are injured, with 3 million people displaced.
"I pray also," Benedict XVI added, "that the spirit of solidarity will live in the hearts of all and that calm will reign in the streets, so that the generous aid that is arriving from all countries will bring relief to all and the people who today have lost everything will be comforted in knowing that the entire international community is taking care of them in concrete ways."
Risking lives
He affirmed his appreciation for "everyone's dedication, Haitians and foreigners, who on occasion are putting their own lives at risk," to do "everything possible to find and tend to the survivors."
"I thank them with my whole heart," the Pope added.
Concluding his note to Préval, the Pontiff promised that "the Catholic Church, through her institutions, will remain beside the people tried by this disaster beyond the lively emotions that have been aroused."
He affirmed that the Church will help the Haitians rebuild for the future to the best of its ability.
In his message to Archbishop Kébreau, the Holy Father set an assurance of his "great spiritual nearness" and his "fervent prayer for all the persons involved in this catastrophe."
He wrote, "I ask God to welcome into the peace of his kingdom all those who died in the earthquake, especially Archbishop Serge Miot, Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, who shared the fate of many of the faithful, including priests, consecrated persons and seminarians."
"In this moment of darkness," Benedict XVI stated, "I invoke Our Lady of Perpetual Help, that she would be a mother of tenderness and guide hearts so that solidarity will prevail over isolation and [the attitude of] 'every man for himself.'"
The Pope expressed his appreciation for the "very rapid mobilization of the international community, unanimously moved by the fate of the Haitians."
He affirmed that "the whole Church," through its institutions, "will not fail to bring help with medical aid and the patient rebuilding of the devastated area."
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