Pope Benedict XVI appointed card. Jean-Louis Tauran president of the Papal Council for Inter-religious Dialogue
Vatican City,June.26,2007(CINS/SIR) - Benedict XVI has appointed president of the Papal Council for Inter-religious Dialogue card. Jean-Louis Tauran, until now the archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church, and called to replace him mgr. Raffaele Farina, until now the prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library, who has also been risen to archbishop’s rank. The news was given today by the Vatican newsroom, which also said the Pope appointed prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library mgr. Cesare Pasini, until now the deputy prefect of the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana. The takeover of the Papal Council for Inter-religious Dialogue from cardinal Paul Poupard to cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran will take place on 1st September 2007. Card. Poupard, president of the Papal Council for Culture since 1988, had been appointed president of the Papal Council for Inter-religious Dialogue on 11th March 2006. On that occasion, the Pope had joined the presidencies of the two Papal Councils to “promote a deeper dialogue between the men of culture and the leaders of the different religions”. Before being an archivist and Librarian of the Holy Roman Church, card. Tauran had been for 13 years at the helm of the Section for Relations with the States of the Secretariat of State.Gift or gaffe? Why Bush Gave Benedict a Walking Stick
Dallas, USA, Jun.25,2007 (CINS /NCR)— A walking stick is the unlikely center of a debate about political protocol, theological precision and news-marketing as a corporal work of mercy.
President Bush gave the odd, carved walking stick to Pope Benedict XVI on June 9 on a visit to Rome. In some quarters, the gift became a laughingstock.
As a post on one Catholic blog put it, “You go all the way to Rome and you give the Pope a stick! Mr. Bush, has America nothing better to offer?”
But stick supporters point out that the staff, inscribed with the Ten Commandments, was one of several gifts of state the president presented to Pope Benedict that day. And the fact that the president gave it to the Pope may have kept a former homeless man and his wife off the streets and in their rented apartment.
First, the case against the stick.
Detractors point out that not only was the stick homely, but the version of the Decalogue carved into it was the Protestant one. Bush seemed to commit a further faux pas when he forgot to address the Pope with the usual honorific, “Your Holiness,” and used “sir” instead.
The Pope did not seem fazed by the choice of words — or offended that the president did not come bearing something more precious than a cane.
“The Ten Commandments?” he asked curiously.
“The Ten Commandments, yes, sir,” President Bush responded.
One critic called it “an embarrassing breach of protocol.”
“Protestants don’t necessarily recognize the Pope as ‘his holiness,’ but George Bush wasn’t there representing himself. He was there representing the United States,” said Frank Flinn, a professor of religious studies and a practicing Catholic at Washington University in St. Louis.
Furthermore, Flinn said, any gift featuring the Ten Commandments should have included the version used by the Pope and most Catholics.
“This gets the president involved in a religious controversy,” he said. “More appropriate would have been a nice copy of the United States Constitution. When the president gets into the business of distributing the Ten Commandments, it raises the question, ‘Which version should he use?’”
But others say the walking stick may be the most thoughtful, heartfelt gift a president has given to a head of state.
“I think this gift is better than what President Lyndon B. Johnson gave to Pope Paul VI, which was a statue of Lyndon B. Johnson,” said Jimmy Akin, head apologist for Catholic Answers, a San Diego-based Catholic apologetics organization.
Akin also said he understands why Bush referred to the Holy Father as “sir,” and he doesn’t think it reflected disrespect.
“As someone who grew up in Texas, I know that it’s drilled into you to call everyone either ‘sir’ or ‘ma’am.’ So even if it’s not proper protocol, it’s the kind of thing that can slip out without thinking about it,” Akin said.
As for the Protestant version of the Decalogue, Akin agreed Bush could have done better.
“It was a nice gift, but it would have been nicer if it were inscribed with the version of the Ten Commandments that the Pope uses,” Akin said. “It doesn’t make the gift offensive, and I’m sure the Holy Father received it in the spirit it was intended — the spirit of good will and an appreciation that the ability of people in impoverished conditions can contribute to society.”
Why a Stick?
The stick was designed and carved by Roosevelt Wilkerson, a man who lived on the streets of Dallas with his wife until a good friend of George and Laura Bush discovered his craft and began helping him sell the carvings, known as Moses Sticks.
Susan Nowlin, of Dallas, was the “big sister” of Laura Bush at a Southern Methodist University sorority. She and her husband, Edwin Nowlin, are frequent guests at the White House, and Nowlin has given Bush two of Wilkerson’s Moses Sticks.
Nowlin met Wilkerson in 1997 at a craft class at her church, First Presbyterian of Dallas, and later decided she wanted to buy one of his sticks. She asked around, and ended up tracking Wilkerson down by shouting his name in a rough area of southeast Dallas.
Nowlin and Wilkerson struck up a friendship, and she agreed to try selling the sticks. They devised a plan in which Wilkerson would carve sticks, Nowlin would sell them for $75 each, and proceeds would help Wilkerson and his wife rent an efficiency apartment and get off the street.
The first stick Nowlin bought was given to her pastor. Subsequently, she gave a stick to then-Gov. Bush because she knew he cared about the homeless and the poor — and the Ten Commandments. Greeting Nowlin for a luncheon at the governor’s mansion, Laura Bush told her that Gov. Bush considered his Moses Stick “the greatest gift ever.”
“Later, President Bush told me: ‘I have to admit, when I first saw it I thought it was a fishing pole,’” Nowlin said.
Homeless to Celebrity
In preparing for the Vatican visit, Bush contacted Nowlin about acquiring a stick so the White House protocol office could review it as a possible gift for Pope Benedict XVI.
Wilkerson and his wife haven’t been homeless for most of the past 10 years because of the Moses Sticks, but Nowlin says it hasn’t been easy. Sometimes, sales have been slow.
“I needed to sell at least seven sticks a month, if they were to stay off the street,” Nowlin said. “When orders were slow, Roosevelt and I would pray. We would just pray and pray and pray and the orders would come in.”
As a result of the president’s gift to the Pope, Nowlin said she and Wilkerson can’t keep up. She has raised the price of the sticks to $100, but says she could probably charge $1,000 or more and still have a backlog of orders.
Nowlin said Wilkerson remains a shy, soft-spoken man who doesn’t want publicity. She said a CNN crew showed up at his apartment recently and confronted him with cameras while his false teeth were out.
“He was very upset, and was in tears over it,” Nowlin said. “He’s a very simple man who has been given a simple purpose in life. People want him to say something about all of this, and he doesn’t know what to say. He doesn’t want to disappoint them.”
Wilkerson and his wife have long melded into the crowd at St. Paul United Methodist Church, the oldest black church in Dallas. When they walked in June 10, the pastor announced from the pulpit that a “celebrity” was in the congregation, telling the story of a Moses Stick carved by Wilkerson making its way to the president and Pope.
“The entire congregation gave them a standing ovation,” Nowlin said.
Nowlin said Wilkerson is honored to have carved a stick for the Pope. However, she said he’s so shy about the publicity that he and his wife have temporarily left their home to stay with friends of the Nowlins.
The New York Museum of Folk Art has inquired about displaying Wilkerson’s work, and Nowlin said people are calling and writing with requests for different versions of the Ten Commandments on a stick.
“One man called this morning and said he needed the Fourth Commandment to say ‘remember the Sabbath’ which is on the stick, but he wanted it to also say ‘and keep it holy.’ I told him there’s no more room on the stick. We are not doing multiple varieties of the Ten Commandments. We just can’t manage that,” Nowlin said.
Akin said Catholics, Jews and Protestants use slightly different Hebrew-to-English translations of the Ten Commandments, but he said none of the differences are substantive. The biggest difference between the Protestant and Catholic versions, Akin said, involves grouping. Catholics combine into the First Commandment what Protestants separate into the First and Second Commandments. Likewise, Protestants combine into the 10th Commandment what Catholics break out into the Ninth and 10th.
“Historically there have been three different schemes, but the Church doesn’t dogmatically favor one over the other,” Akin said. “These differences, and some of the abbreviations that are common, mostly reflect practical considerations.”
Message from the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to Cardinal Ivan Dias for Silver Jubilee of his ordination as a Bishop
Vatican City(CINS/Fides) - The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI sent a personal message to His Eminence Cardinal Ivan Dias prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his ordination as a Bishop. Here is the message:To our Venerable Brother
IVAN Cardinal DIAS
Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples
It is truly honourable and right Venerable Brother to address to you our thoughts and honour you with our praise on the most happy occasion of the silver jubilee of your Episcopate.
The Lord has filled you with abundant and varied gifts that you with grateful heart and awareness have assiduously developed and willingly spent at the service of the Kingdom of God. And you became a priest in your native archdiocese of Bombay where you immediately began to carry out your priestly ministry. Only a short time later you went to Rome for more demanding studies.
Having completed them in the year 1964 you were called to the diplomatic service of the Apostolic See. Your first task was to prepare the visit to Bombay which Pope Paul VI made on the occasion of an International Eucharistic Congress. Later you diligently served as secretary at Apostolic Nunciature in various different countries.
Recalled to Rome in 1973, for about ten years you served with zeal in the Secretariat of State. After carefully considering your gifts, your love and your faithful service to the Church, my Predecessor of venerable memory John Paul II, in 1982 thought it opportune to promote you to more important duties appointing you Pro-Nuncio Apostolic in Ghana, Togo and Benin, with the dignity of titular Archbishop of Rusubisir.
Lastly you were in charge of the Apostolic Nunciature in South Korea and later in Albania, where you helped actively to restore the Catholic faith and there in 1993 you welcomed the Supreme Pontiff with great joy and emotion.
After diligently fulfilling the tasks entrusted to you, you were appointed Archbishop of Bombay and in the year 2001, to the great joy of your people, you were included among the Cardinal s of the Catholic Church. An attentive and faithful Shepherd you nourished your flock with sound doctrine while promoting New Evangelisation.
Therefore, confirming the trust placed in you and never disappointed, having been by divine will raised to the duties of the Petrine ministry, last year I called you back to Rome and made you Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples .
Who could recall all the tasks you have undertaken for the good of the universal Church and the progress of your own homeland?
Recognising in all this not so much your own merits but rather the grace of Christ and with heartfelt gratitude to Him for these twenty five years of your ministry as a Bishop, with all your heart you may say with the Psalmist: "This is the day made by the Lord; let us exult and rejoice” (Ps 118,24).
Rest assured that on 19 June I will remember you in my prayers and through the intercession of the Holy Mother of God and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta I will invoke upon you many gifts and the sweet consolation of the Holy Spirit.
Venerable Brother, receive this testimony of fraternal charity and esteem and my Apostolic Blessing, as a pledge of abundant heavenly favours, which I impart most affectionately upon you and all those who are united with you in love.
From the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, 19 May 2007, the third year of my Pontificate.
Benedict PP. XVI
PAPAL AUDIENCE - BENEDICT XVI
BENEDICT XVI
GENERAL AUDIENCE
St Peter's Square
Wednesday, 13 June 2007
Eusebius of Caesarea
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Continuing our catechesis on the writers of the early Church, we turn today to Eusebius of Caesarea. The many theological, exegetical and historical writings of Eusebius reflect the rich Christian culture of his time, which spanned the period of the last persecutions, the peace of the Church under Constantine, and the controversies surrounding the Council of Nicaea. He attended the Council as the Bishop of Caesarea and subscribed its teaching on the Son’s divinity and consubstantiality with the Father. Eusebius is best known for his Ecclesiastical History, which documented the first centuries of the Church’s life and preserved much precious evidence which would otherwise be lost. His Christocentric approach to history emphasized the gradual revelation of God’s merciful love for humanity, culminating in the coming of Christ, the spread of the Gospel and the growth of the Church. Eusebius’ writings continue to inspire Christians in every age to let their study of history bear fruit in a greater appreciation of God’s saving works, a deeper conversion to Christ and a more generous witness to the Gospel in everyday life.
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I welcome the participants in the leadership course organized by the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services. My greetings also go to the Buddhist members of Rissho Kosei-Kai, and the representatives of the Apostolate for Family Consecration. Upon all the English-speaking visitors present at today’s Audience, especially those from England, Nigeria, Japan and the United States, I invoke God’s abundant blessings.
Austria may be only European country visited by Benedict XVI in 2007
Father Karl Schauer, the spokesman for the Marian Shrine of Mariazell, told reporters this week, “The Pontiff feels particularly attracted by the Marian shrine of Mariazell, which will celebrate its 850th anniversary in 2007 and would be one of three phases in this papal trip on the feast of the Nativity of Mary on September 8.”
Benedict XVI will also visit the Cistercian monastery of Heiligenkreuz, as well as a Theology school that has recently been given pontifical status.
Speaking to the Kath.net news agency, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said, “Each visit of the Pope is important for the Church in that country. I saw it recently in Brazil as well. The local Church feels very encouraged, confirmed in the faith , in the meaning of participation the life of the Church in the world.” “Therefore, this case is also a particularly favorable situation, because here the Pope’s native tongue is spoken and as we saw in Germany, the possibility exists therefore that the Holy Father will say more things than what he has prepared,” Father Lombardi said.
“Regarding the rest, the Pope is also a southern German and I think that the Austrians feel his closeness to them. For the Church in general…certainly the Pope has the habit in his travels of addressing issues important to the local Church, but oftentimes they have a general character. Therefore we can expect there to be beautiful occasions for teaching,” the Vatican spokesman stated.
“I think as always there will be special attention to the fundamentals of the faith. Therefore, we can expect to hear very consistent and profound discourses,” he added.
In explaining why the Pope is going to visit the Shrine of Mariazell, Father Lombardi recalled an interview the Pope gave to German television and to Vatican Radio before his visit to Germany. “He was even asked about this. And he answered, ‘I have been invited to visit Mariazell, which is a place for which I have great affection, because I like it very much, and I couldn’t say no.”