Belarus' authoritarian president invited Pope Benedict XVI

MINSK, Belarus, June 21,2008 — Belarus' authoritarian president invited Pope Benedict XVI to the mostly Orthodox former Soviet republic, the presidential press service said in a statement Friday.

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the offer the same day he met with Vatican's No. 2 official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who is in the country to preside at the weekend consecration of the first Catholic church to be built in the capital city, Minsk, since 1910.

The Orthodox church, which includes about 80 percent of the population, wields significant clout in Belarus through a 2003 agreement it signed with the government.

But the Vatican under Benedict has been pursuing a goal of outreach to the world's 250 million Orthodox Christians. A trip to Belarus by Benedict could move the Vatican and Russian Orthodox Church one step closer to a meeting — and the ultimate goal of healing the nearly 1,000-year schism between the two main branches of Christianity.

Lukashenko is also desperate to boost his reputation ahead of September's parliamentary elections — including hiring a British public relations firm in March to package his policies in for Western consumption.

Lukashenko met Friday with Bertone, the Holy See's secretary of state, when the president indicated approval of an agreement between Belarus and the Holy See that would give the Catholic Church the legal right to work with government institutions in promoting its values.

"Our co-operation answers all the demands of our society, its values and orientations," Lukashenko said, according to Friday's statement from the presidential press service. It was unclear when the agreement would be signed.

Bertone said the Vatican would help Belarus "find its place in the world."

"The Catholic Church will try to ensure that Belarus has a significant place in the international arena," Bertone said Friday in comments shown on state TV.

Bertone is the Vatican's highest-ranked official ever to visit Belarus.

Minsk-based political analyst Yaroslav Romanchuk said Friday's developments were the upshot of successful bargaining.

"The Vatican is realizing a long-held strategy of expanding throughout Belarus and getting access to state structures," Romanchuk said.

Lukashenko, for his part, will use the Vatican to "lobby for his type of politics" using its sway within the European Union and the United States, he said. Furthermore, the Vatican will uphold the sovereignty of Belarus, which Lukashenko fears may eventually fall into Russia's hands, Romanchuk said.

Catholic-Orthodox relations in the former Soviet Union have been particularly thorny following the demise of the Soviet Union, with the Orthodox accusing the Vatican of trying to poach for converts. The Vatican insists it is just looking after the welfare of its tiny flock there.

The tensions have prevented a meeting between the Russian Patriarch Alexy II and the pope.

Property disputes have aggravated attempts to improve relations between Catholics and Orthodox in the former Soviet Union, and were one of the reasons John Paul II, a Slav, never realized his dream of making a papal pilgrimage to Russia.

AP

WYD:14 Australians confirmed by Pope Benedict

FOURTEEN Australians will join a select group confirmed by Pope Benedict during the Catholic leader's visit to Sydney for World Youth Day (WYD)

The Pope will anoint each confirmation candidate with holy oil during the final mass on July 20 of the six-day WYD event, expected to be attended by some 500,000 people.

The candidates will also receive holy communion from Pope Benedict .

The 14 people, drawn from all Australia's states and territories, will be aged between 16 and 43.

Ten international visitors will join them to "receive the sacrament that marks the completion of baptismal grace", organisers say.

"It's not every day that one is confirmed by the global leader of the Catholic Church before hundreds of thousands of people," WYD coordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher said in a statement released today.

"The sacrament is life-changing and to receive the sacrament in this way will prove an unforgettable experience, one that they will each carry with them for the rest of their lives.

"The candidates have been selected as representatives of their regions by bishops across Australia and we are absolutely delighted to be able to present them to the Pope for this momentous occasion."

The 10 international confirmation candidates are yet to be chosen.

Organised by the Catholic Church, WYD runs from July 15-20 and marks the first visit to Australia by Pope Benedict XVI.

AFP

Pope Benedict XVI praised the work of the Catholic Church in southern Italy

SANTA MARIA DI LEUCA, Italy — Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday praised the work of the Roman Catholic Church in southern Italy as he began a two-day visit to the impoverished Apulia region.

Tradition holds that it was here that Saint Peter, the disciple of Jesus considered the founder of the Christian Church, arrived from Palestine and headed to Rome to begin the evangelisation of Europe.

"This promontory between Europe and the Mediterranean, between West and East, reminds us that the Church has no borders, that it is universal," said the 81-year-old pontiff.

Benedict also hailed the "generosity" of the port city of Brindisi that for years took in thousands of refugees from the former Yugoslavia and Albania.

The German-born pope celebrated an open-air mass attended by several thousand people under a hot sun at a sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary overlooking the sea in this town at the tip of the heel of Italy's "boot."

"Here as in all of southern Italy, Church communities are places where the young generation can learn hope, not as a Utopia but as the tenacious confidence in the force of good," the pope said.

"For the Church, geographical, cultural, ethnic and even religious borders are an invitation to evangelisation," he said.

Local Bishop Vito De Grisantis, greeting the pope, stressed the "need for rapid social, civil and economic development" in southern Italy, "especially to help families and young people for whom unemployment is an ever more serious problem."

The pope replied: "In a context in which individualism is more and more encouraged ... the first service of the Church is to educate in the social sense, towards paying attention to those around you, to solidarity and sharing."

He added: "The Church can have a positive influence, especially on the social level," because it fosters "open and constructive human relationships, respectful of the service of the humblest and the weakest."

Later Saturday, at a vigil with young people in nearby Brindisi, the pope warned against "the temptation of easy profits."

The Church and several humanitarian groups offered "refuge and help, despite the economic difficulties that continue to affect this region in particular," he said.

The pontiff was set to celebrate another open-air mass in Brindisi on Sunday.

AFP

Tim Russert's special moment with the Holy Father Benedict XVI

It was back in April when Pope Benedict XVI came to Washington. The Rev. David O'Connell, the president of The Catholic University of America, was hosting the pope for a large meeting with bishops.

Before that meeting, the Vatican said O'Connell could invite 10 guests to a small session with Benedict . Tim Russert and I were the only journalists on that special guest list. We were both thrilled, but Tim, a devout Catholic with deep roots in the Church, was very excited.

While we were waiting for the pope to arrive, he was like a little boy. He had his rosaries in his hand, ready for the pope to bless them. This was not the Tim Russert whom we all saw and admired as he grilled presidents, prime ministers, kings and mere politicians. When the pope finally approached him, he could barely utter a word. This was a special moment, and he knew it.

For those of us who knew him for a long time, we certainly could appreciate what he was enjoying. His roots in Buffalo, New York, were deep and very humble. His dad, "Big Russ," was a sanitation worker who had often worked two shifts to make ends meet. Russert knew where he was coming from, and as a result never complained about his own hard work for NBC News.

The same passion that he brought to covering politics and to his religious faith, he also brought to sports. He loved the Washington Wizards and the Washington Nationals, but he really loved the Buffalo Bills. How often would he end "Meet the Press" with the words "Go Bills." All of us Bills fans had to endure four straight Super Bowl losses in the early 1990s, but few suffered as deeply as Tim. We often spoke about those days. I think he remembered every play of every game.

He was a unique talent and a wonderful man. I feel especially sad that he died during this Father's Day weekend. It was such a special time for him, given his close relationship with Luke, his son, who just graduated from Boston College, and with "Big Russ."

We will miss him. My deepest condolences to Luke, Big Russ, his wife, Marueen, and his entire family.

By Wolf Blitzer
CNN

Pope Benedict XVI hosted US President George W. Bush at the Vatican

Vatican City, Jun. 13, 2008 (vaticans.org) - Pope Benedict XVI  hosted US President George W. Bush at the Vatican on June 13 for an extraordinarily cordial private talk.

The warmth of the Holy Father's reception for the American leader, and the enthusiasm that Bush showed during the meeting, prompted several Italian journalists to question whether the American president might be considering a personal commitment to the Catholic faith.

Breaking with the usual Vatican protocol, the Pope met President Bush in the Tower of St. John, rather than in the apostolic palace. After their private conversation, the two men walked together through the Vatican gardens, visiting the Lourdes grotto there.

The Vatican announced that the unusual reception was arranged "to respond to the cordiality of the welcome received by the Supreme Pontiff during his recent visit to the United States of America." In April the Pope had been clearly surprised and delighted by the warmth of his reception at the White House.

An official statement released by the Vatican after the Friday meeting indicated that the Pope's conversation with President Bush touched upon their shared "commitment in defense of fundamental moral values." They also spoke about international concerns including the tensions in the Middle East, the food crisis, and global poverty.

For reporters covering the presidential visit, however, the main focus of attention was not the policy discussion between the Pope and the President, but their personal relationship. President Bush-- who was probably meeting the Pope for the last time before leaving office in January 2009-- has spoken openly about his admiration for Pope Benedict . Reporters in Rome have openly questioned whether the American leader will follow the example of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who was received into the Catholic Church shortly after he left office.

Neither the Vatican nor the White House has encouraged this speculation. President Bush is a committed Evangelical Protestant, for whom a move toward Catholicism would be a dramatic step. On the other hand his brother, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, is convert to the Catholic faith.

President Bush clearly appreciated the special treatment that he was receiving at the Vatican. "Such an honor, such an honor," he repeated as he met Pope Benedict .

The President addressed the Pontiff as "your eminence"-- improper protocol, since that title is used for cardinals, while the Pope is properly addressed as "your holiness." But in an earlier meeting with Pope Benedict just over one year ago, President Bush had addressed the Pontiff simply as "sir."

Some Vatican officials had suggested that Bush might join Pope Benedict in prayer at the Vatican's Lourdes grotto, just as the two men had prayed together at the White House in April. But if they prayed together again during this meeting, they did so privately. At the grotto the Pope and the President sat together for a short performance by the Sistine Chapel Choir.

cwnews

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