Pope Benedict XVI : Bishops of other Chinese dioceses would visit Rome
Vatican City, Jun. 27, 2008 - As he met on June 27 with a small group of bishops from Hong Kong and Macao, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his hope that bishops of other Chinese dioceses would soon be free to visit Rome.
The Holy Father told the Chinese bishops, who were making the ad limina visits, "I and pray to the Lord that the day will soon come when your brother bishops from mainland China come to Rome on pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul, as a sign of communion with the Successor of Peter and the Universal Church."
The Chinese government, which has sought for years to establish an independent "Cathoilc Patriotic Association" subject to the Communist party rather than to the Holy See, does not ordinarily allow Catholic bishops to travel to Rome. In 2005, Pope Benedict issued an invitation to four Chinese bishops to participate in the October sessions of the Synod of Bishops-- a gesture that was widely interpreted as an effort to improve relations between Rome and Beijing. But after several weeks of confusion the Chinese government refused permission for the bishops to make the trip to Rome. In the Macao and Hong Kong dioceses, the Pope said, the key challenges include proper formation of young priests and promotion of Catholic schools. Both, he said, are critical to "the new evangelization which constitutes the essential and pressing task of the Church."
The Holy Father encouraged the bishops to "continue your contribution to the life of the Church in mainland China," by providing material support, offering opportunities for the training of Chinese clerics, and acting as conduits for information and moral support.
Pope Benedict XVI named Archbishop Raymond Burke to head the Vatican's top canonical court
Vatican, Jun. 27, 2008 - Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis, Missouri, has been named by Pope Benedict XVI to head the Vatican's top canonical court.
Archbishop Burke will become the prefect of the supreme tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, a judicial body that is roughly the equivalent of the US Supreme Court. He will replace Cardinal Agostino Vallini, who has been named the Pope's vicar for the Rome diocese.
Archbishop Burke was installed as head of the St. Louis archdiocese in January 2004. His tenure there has been marked by controversy, with the archbishop-- an acknowledged expert on canon law-- meeting resistance and public criticism as he sought to enforce the Church's norms. He announced the excommunication of women who claimed ordination to the priesthood, and of the leaders of a parish that refused to acknowledge his authority. In each case the Vatican confirmed the archbishop's decision.
Archbishop Burke was criticized by other American bishops in 2004, when he announced that he would not administer the Eucharist to a Catholic politician who supported abortion. Although he did not single out any public figure by name, the archbishop's statement clearly applied to Senator John Kerry, the Democratic candidate in that year's presidential election. In this instance, too, Archbishop Burke's stand was upheld by the Vatican.
As head of the Apostolic Signatura, Archbishop Burke will now hold one of the top canonical posts in the universal Church. His new post will also put him near the top of the list of prelates likely to be named cardinals at the next consistory.
A native of Wisconsin, Archbishop Burke was ordained a priest of the La Crosse diocese in 1975, and appointed bishop of the same diocese in 1994, remaining there until his appointment to St. Louis.
The Apostolic Signatura is the final court of appeal for annulments and other juridical matters under the Church's canon law. It also examines administrative matters referred to it by the Congregations of the Roman Curia as well as questions committed to it by the Holy Father.
CWNews
Pope Benedict said only the pure of heart could receive communion
Pope Benedict said on Sunday only the pure of heart could receive communion, a day after Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi joked that the Church should extend it to those who have divorced and remarried.Italian newspapers had reported that Berlusconi, attending a ceremony in Sardinia, asked a bishop offering communion when the Church planned to change the rules for people who remarried after divorce, who are barred from receiving communion.
"You should turn to a higher power than me," replied the priest, according to newspapers.
The pope, in a message to a Quebec conference, did not mention Berlusconi or divorce but said communion could only be given to those who were free of major sins.
"We have to do everything that is in our power to receive (communion) in a pure heart, searching without end, through the sacrament of forgiveness, the purity that sin has stained," Pope Benedict said in his message.
"On the other hand, those who cannot take communion because of their situation will find, nevertheless, in the desire to participate in the Eucharist, strength and effect of salvation."
Berlusconi himself is divorced and married a second time.
javno
Pope Benedict was invited to visit the Philippines
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI pledged Sunday to say a "special prayer to God" after a typhoon-stricken ferry sank with more than 700 people on board in the Philippines, a mainly Roman Catholic nation.
"It is with deep emotion that I learn this morning of the sinking in the Philippines of a ferry hit by Typhoon Fengshen (Philippine codename: Frank)," the pope said after reciting the Angelus prayer following his Sunday mass at the Vatican.
Expressing "spiritual closeness" with islanders living in the typhoon's path, he said he would be making "a special prayer to God for the victims of a new tragedy at sea, in which it appears many children were involved".
The M/V Princess of the Stars listed and sank in just 15 terrifying minutes Saturday in the typhoon-battered seas of the central Philippines, leaving only four survivors so far.
Pope Benedict was invited to visit the Philippines, where eight out of 10 people are Roman Catholics, by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo last year. The last papal visit to the southeast Asian nation was by the late John Paul II in 1995.
Pope Benedict: Worldly fears can be overcome through trust in God
Pilgrims gathered under a blazing sun in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday to pray the Angelus prayer at noon with Pope Benedict XVI. In his remarks preceding the Angelus, Pope Benedict said that worldly fears can be overcome through trust in God.
Speaking of today’s Gospel, the Holy Father said the scriptures invite us to reflect on the difference between human fears and the fear of God.
Fear, he said, is a natural dimension of human life. While we overcome the imaginary fears of childhood, others emerge that are founded in reality.
These fears “must be faced and overcome with human commitment and trust in God.”
However, the Holy Father said, there is a deeper fear that exists today, an “existential fear, which at times borders on anguish and which stems from a sense of emptiness that is tied to a certain culture permeated by widespread theoretical and practical nihilism.”
He said the Scriptures speak clearly of a different kind of fear: the fear of God that is the beginning of true wisdom.
"The fear of God defined by the Scriptures as the beginning of true wisdom coincides with faith in God, with respect for His authority over life and the world. To be without this ‘fear of God’ is equivalent to putting ourselves in God’s place, to feel ourselves to be a masters over good and evil, life and death.”
The Holy Father continued, “Those who fear Him have the security of a child in the arms of his mother. Whoever fears God is at peace even in the midst of storms, because God, as Jesus has revealed, is a Father full of mercy and goodness. Whoever loves Him is not afraid: as the Apostle John wrote, ‘In love there is no fear.’ On the contrary, perfect love casts out all fear, because fear assumes punishment, and those who fear do not have perfect love.”
He said that those who believe need not fear anything, since all things are in the hands of God, who does not allow evil and what is irrational to have to the last word. The only Lord of the world and of life is Christ, the Incarnate Word of God who loved us even unto sacrificing himself, and dying on the cross for our salvation.
The Holy Father said the more we grow in this intimacy with God, steeped in love, the more easily we conquer every form of fear. Jesus exhorts us not to be afraid.
“We are reassured just as He reassured the Apostles, as he did with St. Paul in appearing to them in a night vision during a particularly difficult time. ‘Do not be afraid, because I am with you.’ Confident in the presence of Christ and comforted by his love, the Apostle to the Gentiles did not even fear martyrdom.”
The Holy Father explained that a special jubilee year will be dedicated to St. Paul:
“I would ask you, dear brothers and sisters, prepare to celebrate the Pauline Year with faith that, God willing, solemnly begins next Saturday in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.”
Pope Benedict concluded his reflection with an invocation to Mary, Queen of Apostles and Mother of Christ, source of our joy and our peace.
At the end of the Angelus, the Holy Father mentioned Saturday’s ferry disaster in the Philippines in which hundreds may have died.
“With deep emotion I learned this morning of the sinking, in the islands of the Philippines, a ferry overwhelmed by the typhoon Fengshen, which has raged in the area. While I assure you of my spiritual closeness to the people of the islands affected by the typhoon, I offer a special prayer to the Lord for the victims of this new tragedy at sea, which seems to have involved many children as well.”
The Holy Father then congratulated the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross of Lebanon whose founder, Yaaqub Ghazir Haddad, a priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, was declared Blessed today.
“In expressing my congratulations to his spiritual daughters, I hope with all my heart that the intercession of Blessed Abuna Yaaqub, together with that of the Lebanese Saints, obtain in that beloved and tortured country, which has suffered too much, final progress towards a stable peace.”
CNA
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