French Catholics,Jews join in mourning Cardinal Lustiger
Paris,France,Aug.11,2007(CINS/CWN) - Paris bade farewell to the late Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger on August 10, with a funeral in the basilica of Notre Dame preceded by the recitation of the Kaddish, the traditional Hebrew prayer for the dead.
Archbishop André Vingt-Trois of Paris presided at the funeral service for the beloved cardinal, who was born of Polish Jewish parents and converted to Catholicism at the age of 14. Cardinal Lustiger, an influential figure in Catholic Europe who had been a close friend of the late Pope John Paul II (bio - news), died on August 5 at the age of 80. He had served as Archbishop of Paris from 1981 until his retirement in 2005.
Cardinal Lustiger had always expressed pride in his Jewish roots, and frequently visited the synagogue to pray Kaddish for his mother Gisele, a Holocaust victim who died at Auschwitz. As the cardinal was buried in the crypt of Notre Dame, a plaque was placed at his grave bearing a message in verse that Cardinal Lustiger himself had written. The message reads in part:
Becoming a Christian
Through faith and baptism,
I have remained a Jew
As did the Apostles.
The rites for Cardinal Lustiger began in the square outside Notre Dame, with relatives praying the Kaddish and sprinkling soil from the Holy Land over the coffin, in accordance with the cardinal's wishes. Then the procession moved into the basilica, where more than 2,500 mourners heard Archbishop Vingt-Trois describe his predecessor as a "spiritual master."
Among the many French leaders at the funeral at the funeral were President Nicolas Sarkozy-- who had interrupted his vacation in the US to attend-- and Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
Vatican cardinal says religions not “part of the problem” of violence
The president of the Pontifical Council for Culture and for Inter-religious Dialogue, Cardinal Paul Poupard, said this week that religions are not “part of the problem” of violence in today’s world but rather are part of “the solution.”During a speech on the pontificate of Benedict XVI at the King Juan Carlos University in Spain, Cardinal Poupard explained that the current trend to see religion as the reason for terrorism, lack of security, AIDS in Africa, and the conflict in the Middle East and in Iraq” is the result of a “spiritual climate” that aims to return “to paganism in order to achieve a peaceful and tolerant society.”
The cardinal also warned against the dangers which result when “reason is deprived of any moral and religious reference,” pointing to such examples as the bombing of Hiroshima, the forgotten wars of Africa, the death of the unborn and the manipulation of embryos for research.
The cardinal emphasized that, “inter religious dialogue” is a “vital necessity” for the future of humanity, and that culture plays an important role in providing a way for people to come together and address “the great questions about human existence.”
“Authentic inter-religious dialogue cannot take place if it is not built upon the foundation of culture,” Cardinal Poupard said. “All inter-cultural dialogue is dialogue about the great religious questions,” he added. This is possible, the cardinal stressed, because despite all the differences, mankind is of “the same one, unique essence.” “Human nature enables dialogue between cultures,” he insisted.
Cardinal William J. Levada:Document on nature of church aimed at Catholics
San Francisco,USA,July.24,2007,(CINS/CNS) -- The recent Vatican document emphasizing that only the Catholic Church possesses the fullness of the means for salvation was created primarily as an instructional tool for Catholics and should not be read as a diminishing of other faith communities, according to the churchman who signed it.
On the contrary, said Cardinal William J. Levada, who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which issued the document July 10, the narrative itself points out that "outside the Catholic Church elements of holiness and truth do exist and that the Holy Spirit is working in those other communities and churches as well."
During a July 17 interview while visiting San Francisco, Cardinal Levada commented on his congregation's work, Pope Benedict XVI's recent instruction on the Tridentine Mass, emerging themes of the papacy and challenges facing the universal church today.
The former archbishop of San Francisco described as "purely coincidental" the fact that his congregation's document on the nature of the church was made public only three days after the pope's announcement of his decision to allow broader use of the Tridentine rite.
"Many have tried to see it as some kind of one-two punch," Cardinal Levada said with a laugh, "but the truth is that it is simply a coincidence that they were published in such proximity."
In restoring easier access "to the principal way of worship in the church for more than 400 years," Pope Benedict "expressed a great generosity" toward those intensely devoted to the Tridentine Mass, the cardinal told Catholic San Francisco, the archdiocesan newspaper.
The Tridentine Mass is the Latin-language liturgy that predates the Second Vatican Council; it was last revised in the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal.
The papal directive "was not primarily aimed at the United States," he said, adding that he feels it will have more impact in France, Germany and Switzerland and little effect in Latin America or Italy.
Turning to the doctrinal congregation's recent "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church," the cardinal said it addresses five questions about the nature of the church "and all five are a commentary on Vatican II documents."
"It has the advantage of collecting all that has happened since Vatican II up to the present time" and explaining how church articulation of its own nature as well as its views of other Christian communities have developed, he added.
He said he has been "somewhat surprised" at the amount of "ecumenical commentary" the document has generated. "It is primarily a document addressed to Catholics as believers and teachers and is intended to clarify the teachings of the Second Vatican Council," he said, "especially the teaching on the nature of the church."
Reaction to the document on the church's nature in the United States where many religious persuasions exist side by side clearly reflects the nation's "egalitarian approach to society and therefore to churches," he said, "where for you to say that your church is the one true church of Christ, and that another's is not quite, is considered not to be the American way."
"Underlying a typical American idea of what a church is," Cardinal Levada said, "is the idea that we are the ones who make the church, we create the church.
"There is the slogan, 'We are the church.' And, of course, there is the sense of the church being made up of all the baptized," he continued. "But we do not make the church. God makes the church. We receive the church as a gift."
He said the doctrinal congregation's document could be "very helpful to Catholics in the United States who are culturally conditioned" to accepting self-organized groups of worshippers as churches.
In its emphasis on Vatican II teaching, the congregation's document was in step with what Cardinal Levada said is one of the clear themes of Pope Benedict 's papacy -- underlining that the council represents a continuity of church life, not a point of discontinuity.
At the time of Vatican II, there was a temptation and a tendency to place church practices and teachings in preconciliar and postconciliar "baskets," he said. "I know I did it. There was a kind of (attitude of) 'throw this out, here's the new stuff.' I think many of us regret that."
Challenges facing the universal church include "the disconnect between faith and reason in the modern world" cited by the pope in his address in Regensburg, Germany, last September, Cardinal Levada said.
He said the pope "rightly identified as a very significant challenge" a growing view that modern civilization "makes religion no longer necessary, or some would say, even possible."
Another challenge, he said, is to infuse "into the body politic" an active "love of neighbor and the service we are called to give each other" by Christ to address global issues of war, starvation and disease.
The pope, he said, "often returns to this theme" and exhorts Christians "to use our human ingenuity and creativity to overcome these evils."
Holy See responds to resignation letter of Cardinalc Murphy
Westminster,U.K,July.17,2007(CINS/Universe) - Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor has offered his resignation as Archbishop of Westminster in accordance with Canon Law.
The cardinal (pictured) reaches the age of 75 in August and it is necessary for him to offer his resignation upon reaching this age.
The Pope has responded to the resignation, asking the cardinal to continue in his present role donec aliter provideatur – which means until he chooses otherwise.
In a letter to priest’s of the Diocese of Westminster, the cardinal wrote: “I am very content to accept the Holy Father’s request.
“I ask you again for your prayers and I am grateful for your support and co-operation in our care of this diocese.”
Cardinal Caffarra presides ordinations of priest and deacons
Rome,Italy,June.27,2007(CINS/Fides) - “Dear ordinands, you will soon say and repeat the greatest word a person can say: ‘Yes, I will". The supreme act of your freedom; this act give birth to your I. Because the I is generated not by the intelligence, or the emotions but by freedom, the exercise of the will.” With these words Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, Archbishop of Bologna, addressed three candidates for the priesthood and three for the deaconate all members of the Priestly Fraternity of the Missionaries of Saint Charles Borromeo whom he ordained in 23 June in the Basilica of St Peter's in Chains in Rome.
“However this great word, ‘I will', is preceded by ‘yes’ -Cardinal Caffarra continued-: you have answered a call which came first. And now you have left behind forever that autonomy which leads man to boredom in life and you have entered the truth of human existence which assures your happiness. The awareness you have of this evening and of self must be filled to the brim with your mission. This perfect coincidence in your conscience of your identity and your mission is the same as your lived virginity and lived obedience”.
Commenting the readings on the vigil of the Feast of the Birth of St John the Baptist Cardinal Caffarra said: “John's identity is revealed to his father. It is through the father and in the experience of a paternity, sealed by the Word of God, that John realise his identity and his unique mission. It is sweet to think how Zachariah must have explained to his young son the reason for his life, his being. However Jeremiah and John have something in common to which I would call your attention. I could summarise it like this: the mission content of the self awareness of both Jeremiah and John. There is not other path to reach self-awareness except that of the entrusted mission.”
In his greeting to the Cardinal Archbishop of Bologna, Mgr Massimo Camisasca, superior general of the Priestly Fraternity of the Missionaries of Saint Charles Borromeo, manifested the joy of such an important day and recalled the long years of friendship which bind the Cardinal and the Fraternity. “This is a dramatic moment for our country: we wish to be present above all with the work of education- Mgr Camisasca said-. With our presence in Bologna we intend to carry on the work which don Giussani placed at the centre of his every word and deed: the education of young people as the privileged path to carry to the whole world and to every individual person the announcement and the company of Christ.”