The top religion stories of 2007
I will post here, as I find them, what various year-enders say about the Pope and the Church or their choice for top religious stories of the year.
From the Charleston (SC) Post-Courier:
The pope's 'true church'
It wasn't a new idea, but when the Vatican published those words in July, the firestorm came.
"Christ 'established here on earth' only one Church.... This Church, constituted and organized in this world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the successor of Peter and the bishops in communion with him."
Non-Catholics fired back, calling Pope Benedict XVI arrogant and insensitive. Eastern Orthodox adherents had something to gripe about, too. The Catholic Church traces its origins directly to Peter, Jesus' chosen Apostle. In its publications, the Vatican says "apostolic succession" applies only to Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, though the Eastern Orthodox Church is "defective" because of its break with the Catholic Church.
The Rev. Jay Scott Newman, a priest in Greenville, said the main purpose of the document, which reiterated a 1964 pronouncement by Pope Paul VI and a 2000 communique by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was to answer two key questions: What does the word "church" mean? And what does the word "subsist" mean?
As for the former, Newman said, the definition is twofold. The "universal church" is the worldwide universal body of believers; the "particular church" is the local gathering of believers who are part of the worldwide body.
"Petra" is the Latin root for rock. "Petros" is Latin for Peter. Catholics believe Jesus' words to Peter, "on this rock I will build my church," indicated that the Apostle and the new church were one in the same. Protestants, however, believe it refers to Peter's stated confession of faith in Christ.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 01/01/2008 03:34]