Pope exhorted the bishops from Honduras to promote the truth about marriage
- Thursday morning saw Pope Benedict receive bishops from Honduras as they completed their “ad limina” visit. The Pontiff exhorted the prelates to continue their work to promote the truth about marriage in their country.
Recalling that the Honduran people "is characterized by a profound religious spirit which finds expression, among other things, in the numerous and deep-rooted practices of popular devotion,” the Pope noted that this character faces challenges. Most notable among the challenges are “the spread of secularism and the proselytism of sects,” Benedict said.
These trials should not lead to discouragement, said the Holy Father. Rather, they should “serve as a stimulus for a bold and far- reaching effort of evangelization, founded - rather than on the effectiveness of material means and human plans - on the power of the Word of God, faithfully accepted, humbly experienced and trustingly announced."
Calling the formation of priests to announce the Gospel “priceless,” the Pope also emphasized the importance of good formation for seminarians.
The Pope then focused in on the topic of defending marriage and the family, saying that the “solidity and stability” of the two foundational institutions “is such a benefit to the Church and society.” “In this respect, it is right to recognize the important step taken by including an explicit recognition of marriage in your country's Constitution, although you well know it is not enough to possess good legislation if then we do not undertake the necessary cultural and catechetical labors that highlight "the truth and beauty of marriage, a perpetual alliance of life and love between a man and a woman,” Benedict XVI said.
Charity was also highlighted as an important role for the bishops to cultivate. As “successors of the Apostles," the Holy Father said, bishops must be "the foremost leaders of this service of charity in the particular Churches."
"I well know how you are affected by the poverty in which so many of your fellow citizens live, and by the increase in violence, emigration, environmental destruction, corruption and shortcomings in education, alongside other serious problems. As ministers of the Good Shepherd you have - through word and deed - worked intensely to assist the needy,” the Pope noted.
I exhort you," he concluded, "to continue through your ministry to show the merciful face of God, strengthening the network of charity in your diocesan and parish communities with particular concern for the sick, the elderly and the imprisoned."
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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.
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The Pope called for peace in “tormented” Lebanon
Vatican City – In the address he made in today’s Angelus the Pope called for peace in “tormented” Lebanon and solidarity with the victims of a ship that capsized in the cyclone that hit the Philippines today. Before the Marian prayer was recited Benedict XVI quoting from today’s Gospel told the 20,000 present in St Peter’s Square that those who “fear” God do not have to fear because they know that they are “in the arms’ of the Father, and are not the victims of the “existential fear” that “sometime turns into anxiety” and “is born from a sense of emptiness linked to a certain culture permeated by widespread theoretical and practical nihilism.”
“In this Sunday’s Gospel,” said the Pope, “we find two invitations by Jesus. On the one hand, He says “do not be afraid of them (men)”; on the other he says to “be afraid” of God (cf Mt, 10:26-28). We are thus urged to reflect on the difference that exists between human fears and the fear of God. Fear is a natural element of life. In childhood we experience different types of fear that turn out to be imaginary and then disappear. Others emerge later on which are rooted in reality; these must be faced and overcome with human endeavour and trust in God. But then there is a deeper form of fear, an existential fear, that at times turns into anxiety. It is born of a sense of emptiness linked to a certain culture permeated by widespread theoretical and practical nihilism. Confronted by a wide and varied outline of human fears,” he added, “the Word of God is clear; those who ‘fear’ God “do not fear’.”
The fear of God, which the Scriptures define as ‘the principle of true wisdom,” coincides with faith in Him, with the sacred respect for His authority on life and the world. To be “without fear of God” is like putting oneself in his place, thinking one is master of good and evil, of life and death. Instead those who are afraid of God feel the security that a child feels in the arms of his mother (cf Psalm, 130:2). Those who are afraid of God can be tranquil even in middle of storms because God, as Jesus revealed, is a father full of mercy and goodness. Those who love him do not fear.”
The Pope had thoughts for Lebanon after the recitation of the Angelus, inspired by today’s beatification in Beirut of Yaaqub Ghazir Haddad, born Khalil, who belonged to the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross of Lebanon.
“In expressing my congratulation to his spiritual daughters,” he said, “I hope wholeheartedly that the intercession of the blessed Abuna Yaaqub, with that of Lebanese saints, may give this beloved and tormented country, which has suffered too much, a chance to finally move towards a stable peace.”
Benedict XVI then expressed his “spiritual closeness” to the victims of the capsized ferry in the Philippines and the population of the islands that were also affected by the cyclone. He offered a prayer “for the victims of this new tragedy of the sea, apparently involving many children.”
Finally the Pope invited those present to attend the ceremony next Saturday in which he will inaugurate in the Basilica of St Paul the Jubilee Year for the 2,000 years since the birth of the Apostle of the Peoples.
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.”
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