Pope Benedict XVI at Angelus: The Holy Eucharist, the real presence of the Lord
Vatican City,June.11,2007(CINS/SIR) - “The supreme Mystery of our faith” is “the Holy Eucharist, the real presence of the Lord, Jesus Christ, in the altar Sacrament”, said Benedict XVI yesterday morning, before introducing the Angelus recitation, at St. Peter's Square, on the occasion of the Corpus Domini solemnity, which in Italy was celebrated yesterday. “Every time the priest renews the Eucharistic sacrifice, during the Consecration prayer, he repeats: ‘This is my body… this is my blood’”, recalled the Pope, pointing out that “he says that giving his voice, his hands and heart to Christ, who wanted to stay with us and be the pulsating heart of the Church”. However, added the Holy Father, “even after the celebration of the divine mysteries, Jesus, the Lord, remains alive in the tabernacle; for this reason, He is especially glorified through the Eucharistic adoration, as I wanted to recall in the recent synodal apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis”. On the other hand, pointed out Benedict XVI, “there is an intrinsic link between celebration and adoration. The Holy Mass itself is actually the greatest act of adoration by the Church”. “Adoration outside the Holy Mass – stated the Pope - prolongs and intensifies what happens in the liturgical celebration, and makes the real and deep reception of Christ possible”.
Then, Benedict XVI strongly recommended “the Pastors and all the believers the practice of Eucharistic adoration”, expressing “appreciation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life, as well as for the associations and confraternities committed to that in a special way”, because “for everybody, they recall the central role played by Christ in both our private and ecclesial life”. “Moreover, I am happy to notice – he added – that lots of young people are discovering the beauty of adoration, both personal and community adoration. In this respect, I invite the priests to stimulate young groups, and I also invite them to follow the young, for the forms of community adoration must always be proper and dignified, with adequate times of silence and listening to the Word of God”. “In today's life, which is often noisy and dispersive, more than ever before – stated the Pope, – it is important to recover inner silence and the capacity to meditate: the Eucharistic adoration allows the people to do that not just around the ‘ego’, but also in the company of that ‘You’ which is full of love, Jesus Christ, ‘the God close to us’”. “Let the Virgin Mary, the Eucharistic Woman – he concluded – introduce us to the secret of real adoration. By her intercession, let the faith in the Eucharistic Mystery grow throughout the Church, together with the joy to participate in the Holy Mass, especially on Sundays, and the impetus to witness the huge charity of Christ”.
After the Angelus recitation, yesterday morning, the Pope launched an appeal to all the kidnapped in the world: “Unfortunately – he said, - I often receive requests for me to take care of people, including also Catholic priests, kidnapped and imprisoned for different reasons, in various parts of the world”. “I hold everybody in my heart, and everybody is present in my prayers – added Benedict XVI; - among other cases, he thought about the painful one in Colombia”. Therefore, there was the “hearty appeal to the authors of such abominable acts, with the aim of letting them feel conscious of the evil done and let the imprisoned reach the people they love as soon as possible”. “I entrust the victims to the motherly protection of the Holy Mary – he went on, - Mother of all men”. During the greetings in various languages, in French, the Holy Father addressed the “people in charge of the Communità di Sant’Egidio, coming from Africa, Asia and Latin America, gathering for a training period on the subject: ‘Praise God from all over the Earth. Chant and Word of God in the prayer of the Community’”. “May all of you acquire new energy – concluded the Pope – in the Sacrament of Eucharist, to become live witnesses of the peace and mercy of the Lord to a greater and greater extent”.
Bush and Benedict:An exclusive interview with the US Ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Rooney by Serena Sartini
On June 9, President George Bush of the USA will visit Rome and meet Pope Benedict XVI. The US ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Rooney, agreed to sit down with Inside the Vatican correspondent Serena Sartini to discuss his expectations for the upcoming meeting. The interview touches on a possible visit by Benedict to the United States, the UN, and Ground Zero, and the general status of the relationship between the United States and the Holy See. The interview also touches on the war in Iraq and conflict in Lebanon.
INSIDE THE VATICAN: What is the current status of relations between the Holy See and the United States?
US Ambassador to the Holy See, Francis RooneyFRANCIS ROONEY: I think the whole world wanted to see what kind of papacy Pope Benedict would lead, and how it might depart from that of Pope John Paul II. And for us here, we have a vital interest in his priorities, in the changes that he has made. We meet with the Secretariat of State officials quite often, with Archbishop Mamberti and others, and we have become acquainted with them. And we certainly have great interest in the Holy Father's views, and expressions of concern, about Islamic fundamentalism, and the remarks he has made about the role of reason in religion, and the possible ramifications of nuances of those expressions for the world, and in terms of how to seek moderation and tolerance - for all religions - so that we can get along a little better. That seems to me to be one of the major points of priority for the Holy Father. He has spoken quite a lot about terrorism, on religion and reason, and about how all that has implications for Europe. Our country is interested in what the Holy Father has to say in these things, especially the ones that affect freedom; and the interpretation of religious fundamentalism certainly affects freedoms. As we are seeing in various parts of the world, freedoms are compromised by extremists, and that's not good. And the Holy Father, as one of the leading moral authorities in the world, has shown that he has a great role to play and a great impact on how the world views these issues. So we're fortunate to be here, to learn and to interact with the Holy See as they exercise moral authority in the world.
ITV: What are the areas in which the Holy See and the U.S. can work together?
ROONEY: Well, certainly we have the incessant quest for religious freedom. In some Asian countries like China and Vietnam, the president has spoken up about the need for true religious freedom. The Holy See is equally engaged in the pursuit of expanding opportunities for the Catholic Church in China. That's an area of symmetry. The Holy See pursues its interests and we pursue ours, but there is a symmetry in the sense that we are both going down the same road, side by side. The Holy See has been supportive of our nation-building and community-building efforts in Iraq. There's been a lot of disturbing news in Iraq, but there are also a lot of positive things that have been coming out of Iraq in terms of the building of a nation, the building of communities. And the Holy Father has spoken out for peace in Iraq and for building a nation, building a community. I think we all have a lot of shared objectives in Lebanon: a return to peace, freedom for people of all religions, and the balance that has existed in the past in that area where Christians could coexist with Muslims, and coexist peacefully with Israel next door. And we have similar interests there. We certainly have similar interests in the pursuit of human dignity, in trying to improve the lives of people who are either too poor or too sick in a world of so many riches. That is certainly an issue in Africa. The Church is a huge presence in Africa, in the delivery of care to AIDS patients, and pastoral care. And of course, we have a huge program; it is called the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). President Bush has just called on Congress to provide $30 billion toward battling the global AIDS crisis over the first five years after he leaves office - a doubling of the current U.S. commitment. The program's original five-year mandate, which provided for $15 billion in U.S. funding, will expire in September 2008. So again there's a point of symmetry between the Holy See's efforts and the United States' efforts. In fact, we hosted a conference in December which featured Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, highlighting the role of the Good Samaritan Foundation and the good work that they do, and highlighting the President's program for AIDS in Africa. We have a common agenda in many areas.
There are some leaders in Latin America who are displaying repressive tendencies, as in Venezuela. And we have some common interests there, to see that the people of Venezuela have the right to move about freely, and to practice their religion, and express themselves freely. I think we share that with the Holy See.
ITV: But, both Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI spoke against the intervention in Iraq. Does this create a tension in your relations?
ROONEY: It's not news that the Holy See opposed the Iraq war. But, when I got here, we had already been involved in the Iraq war for some time, and the feeling I felt, and that which has been expressed to me, is that while they certainly opposed the entry into the war, they are for the preservation and the improvement, and the raising up of human dignity in Iraq, and the building of a peaceful country where people can go about their lives and practice religion. And to that end, they are supportive of our efforts to build up the country. The Holy Father spoke up a little bit during the Easter Blessing about the continuing violence in Iraq. Of course, everybody deplores the continuing violence, and many countries in the coalition are working hard to stem it.
ITV: Is America in Iraq to make war, or to make peace?
ROONEY: We went in to Iraq to remove a heinous dictator who was perpetuating evil throughout that part of the world, and to try to give the Iraqi people an opportunity to build a new country. And that's still the primary goal. The president certainly expresses it much better than I could, but those are the over- riding objectives. And I think the Holy See understands that, and is supportive of both things. The level of violence, to which the Holy Father addressed himself at Easter, is indisputable, but there are many positive things happening in Iraq too, which are not always quite described in the media so graphically.
ITV: On June 9, President Bush will meet the Pope for the first time. So what do you expect from this meeting?
ROONEY: Obviously, we are excited to have the President meet the Holy Father. I think that says a lot about the importance of the relationship between the Holy See and the United States, and the great esteem that the President has for the Holy Father as one of the moral leaders of the world. This is a big thing for us here. I think the President will talk about these fundamental areas of broad policy where we have such common interests - the promotion of human dignity and the spread of freedom. Both of these world leaders have advanced the ball significantly in promoting freedom in the world.
ITV: Do you expect President Bush to invite the Pope to visit the United States?
ROONEY: I don't expect either the Pope or the President are going to tell me what they are going to do, but I am sure that if the Holy Father does come to the United Nations that it would be important for our country that he would have the chance to see the President. I'd have to assume that. The Pope has already been invited to the UN by the Secretary General. I am sure that if he comes to the UN, he will come to see the President.
ITV: And pray at Ground Zero for the victims of 9/11...?
ROONEY: If the Pope comes to New York, I would think that he would also make this important gesture.
This interview is taken from the online catholic magazine"Inside the Vatican"
Jesus of Nazareth’ by Ratzinger-Benedict XVI
Vatican City, Apr.13,2007 (AsiaNews) – Christianity is not a theory but an encounter with a person. This principle, which Benedict XVI restated so often, is at the origin of Jesus of Nazareth, the book in which he describes “my personal search for the ‘face of the Lord,” in order to “favour the development of an intense relationship between the reader and Him.”
Presented today in the Vatican and on sale starting next Monday, April 16 and the Pope’s 80th birthday, the 448-page book published by Rizzoli will cost € 19.50 and be available in 22 different languages around the world.
“Product of a long inner journey,” of which this is the first part, “the initial ten chapters go from His Baptism in the Jordan through Peter’s Confession to the Transfiguration.” The second part will cover instead Jesus’ childhood. But as the Holy Father writes the work “is not a magisterial act” so anyone “is free to contradict me.”
The subject of the inquiry by the theologian Pope is Jesus. But the question is which Jesus?
Since the 1950s “advances in critical research in history led to increasingly subtler distinctions between the various strata of the tradition,” blurring the image on which the faith stands. Various views of Jesus emerged ranging from the “anti-Roman revolutionary” to the “soft-hearted moralist.” But for Ratzinger the theologian, they reflect more the “views and ideals of their authors than any revelation about an icon, however faded it might have been.”
The “historical facts” about Jesus’ life and the unforeseeable growth of Christianity just a few years after his death show how extraordinary He was. And He cannot be understood without starting from “truly historical” facts, i.e. Jesus’ relationship to God and His union with Him.” “My book is based on this, i.e. on the fact that Jesus is in communion with the Father. This is the core of His personality. Without this communion one cannot understand anything and it is from that that He becomes real to us even today.”
The Gospel Jesus is the Jesus of ‘History’
Since we are talking about an actual living human being, we must rely on the historical method to know him. For Benedict XVII, “faith is based on history as it unfolded on the surface of this earth.” Otherwise, “the Christian faith is eliminated and becomes another religion.” For this reason, the Jesus of the book is necessarily the Jesus of the Gospels: “the ‘historical Jesus’ in its truest sense.”
“I am convinced,” writes Benedict XVI, “and I hope readers realise that this is more logical and more understandable from an historical point of view than any of the reconstructions” offered in the last few decades.
This Jesus is also the “last prophet” as announced in the Old Testament, the “New Moses” to be more precise, who leads His people to “true liberation.” More than Moses who “as a friend spoke face to face with God” but without the power to see Him, Jesus “lives in the presence of God, not only as friend but also as son. He lives in profound unity with the Father.” It is from this that come the answer to questions like “Where did Jesus get His doctrine? Where does the key that explains his behaviour lie.” The Beatitudes are confirmation of this. From the “Sermon on the Mount,” Benedict draws many a detail like the “Mount” itself, whose location is not given in the Gospels, but which is simply the “mount,” the “New Sinai” to the crowd that came from the Galilee to hear Him, i.e. “a strip of land still viewed as half pagan,” but which “is in fact proof of His divine mission” to all the peoples; or the address “the New Torah brought by Jesus,” which “starts again from the commandments on the second tablet and goes deeper into the text without abolishing it.” Indeed, the “paradoxes” that Jesus presents in the Beatitudes—‘Blessed are the poor, those who mourn, those who are persecuted, those who are reviled’—express “what discipleship means.” The Beatitudes’ meaning “cannot be explained by theory alone; they must be proclaimed in the life, suffering and mysterious joy that the disciple experiences when he has fully donated his life to the Lord.”
But the public life of Jesus, which this book is about, begins with His baptism, writes the Pope. And many are the nuances even in the first chapter, beginning with the possibility, which Benedict XVI referred to in his last “In Coena Domini” mass, that John the Baptist and perhaps Jesus and his family” might have been close to the Essenes, or the fact that by accepting baptism from the John the Baptist He comes to “fully accept the divine will,” prepares Himself to take the place of sinners and expect His own death on the cross.
Jesus’ challenges today
Jesus of Nazareth is not only a profound mediation on the character and life of the founder of Christianity, but is also a pastoral reflection about today’s world. In the book the focus goes from the “world so sadly tormented” when the Pope talks about Palestine to a critique of Nietzsche’s self-centred man to an even more radical critique of the ills that modern society has caused by believing that it can do without God. Thus, in mentioning Jesus’ “temptations,” he asks in relation to the first one—‘tell these stones to become bread”—“whether feeding the world, and more generally solving social problems, is not the first real standard against which we can measure redemption.” “Understandably, by providing food to every hungry person Marxism has made this ideal the core of its promise of salvation.”
Feeding the world’s hungry is a challenge the Church must confront even today. As the evangelical story shows, “Jesus is not indifferent to the needs of mankind, including hunger, but He places them in the proper context and order.” Unfortunately, this is not done today; not even when people try to help. “Western assistance to developing countries, which is informed by purely technical-material principles, has not only sidelined God but also alienated mankind from Him with the pride of their conceit, thus turning the Third World into the Third World in the modern sense. This kind of help has ignored existing religious, moral and social structures and introduced its empty technical worldview. It thought it could turn stones into bread but instead gave stones in lieu of bread. Because of that God’s primacy is at stake. [By contrast] there is a need to see Him as reality, a reality without which nothing else can be good. Material structures cannot govern History without God. If a man’s heart is not good, nothing can make it good. A good heart can only come from the One who is Himself Goodness itself.”
Benedict and Bush: Meeting to highlight shared values, objectives
VATICAN CITY (
CINS /CNS) -- U.S. President George W. Bush is coming to the Vatican for his first formal audience with Pope Benedict XVI, a meeting seen on both sides as immensely important.
Vatican officials said the June 9 encounter would give the pope and the president a chance to sit down for a survey of dramatic situations around the world, including Iraq, where thousands of Christians have been forced to flee.
The Bush administration believes the audience will highlight the shared values and common objectives of the Vatican and the United States.
In an interview June 1 with Catholic News Service, the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican, Francis Rooney, said the meeting was "a hugely important reflection" of the president's respect for the role of the pope and Vatican agencies around the world.
"It opens up opportunities for doing good in the world ... by leveraging our mutual values and interests in promoting human dignity and religious liberty and for broadening all freedoms," Rooney said.
One specific area of common concern is global terrorism, Rooney said.
"Certainly, the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and the use of religion as an excuse for terror are areas the Holy Father has spoken clearly about," he said.
Vatican officials said one sure topic would be the fate of Iraqi Christians, who have faced increasing violence and discrimination since the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003 and the overthrow of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Rooney said the Bush administration is also troubled that thousands of Christians have left Iraq.
"The whole reason we're in Iraq is to try to build a country in which all the people of Iraq can lead a peaceful life," Rooney said.
As for the pope's recent comment that "nothing positive" was coming from Iraq, the ambassador said that should not be read as a blanket criticism of U.S. operations there.
"I don't think the Holy Father was indicting the nation-building, democracy- and freedom-building and institutional development aspects of the coalition's work," Rooney said.
"I think he was rightly -- and how can you argue? -- reflecting on the sadness of the continued violence being perpetrated by the few against the many," he said.
Global economics could also be an important topic during Bush's meeting with the pope and in separate talks with the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
Bush will come to Rome immediately after participating in a G-8 summit in Germany, where the leaders of the world's most powerful nations were to discuss, among other things, proposals to increase aid to developing countries.
Pope Benedict has strongly encouraged countries to implement the Millennium Development Goals, a plan that aims to cut global poverty in half by 2015. To accomplish this, richer countries have been asked to increase development aid to 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product.
The Bush administration has endorsed the goals but balked at supporting numerical aid targets.
Rooney said that position was based on the principle that "you can't necessarily apply a rigid mathematical formula to economies and circumstances that are radically different in scale and type."
"You've got to factor in the private charities, NGOs and things like that, where the United States is far and away the world leader," he said.
"The United States is the world leader in private charity and generosity to underprivileged and disadvantaged people. No country gives more," Rooney said.
The ambassador noted that Bush recently had asked Congress for $30 billion toward fighting the global AIDS crisis, a doubling of the previous U.S. commitment.
That's an area Rooney said the Vatican and the Bush administration were working on "parallel tracks" to arrive at the same goal -- alleviating the suffering of the sick, particularly in Africa.
Perhaps to underline his appreciation for faith-based private charity, the president will pay a visit to the Rome headquarters of the Sant'Egidio Community. The community has been one of the church's most active humanitarian agencies, running soup kitchens and immigrant assistance programs in Rome and sponsoring a major anti-AIDS project in Africa.
"These are all important things, and they are the kinds of things that are important to the president, too," Rooney said.
The success of a pope-president meeting cannot always be measured by official statements or speeches on the day of the encounter. Weeks of planning go into such an encounter, accompanied by a proliferation of U.S.-Vatican contacts and exchange of briefing papers on important topics.
When diplomacy is put in motion, related projects are sometimes given a boost. Some believe the pope-president encounter could favor the chances for a papal visit to the United Nations and the United States sometime next year.
Vatican officials, who spoke off the record, said there were no burning U.S.-Vatican issues on the agenda for the papal audience. At least the public part of the meeting, they said, would probably focus on areas of shared concerns and shared values.
Privately, the situation of Christians in various parts of the world, including China, may also come up in the talks, but the Vatican does not want to encourage a public criticism of China at this delicate moment, when a papal letter on the church in China is expected to be released soon.
Benedict XVI to possibly visit Canada in 2008
Quebec City,Canada,June.01,2007(CINS/CNA) - Pope Benedict XVI could visit Quebec at a time that coincides with the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in July of 2008. The announcement was made in Aparecida, Brazil, by the archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who said he hoped to receive a response from the Pontiff by the end of the year.
The Eucharistic Congress will bring together thousands of people from around the world to reflect on the theme, “Eucharist: Gift of God for the life of the world.” Activities at the congress will include catechesis, testimonies and Masses. “Everybody should be a part of this celebration and join in prayer and reflection,” the cardinal said.
He also said Canadian families would provide hospitality to the poor who want to participate in the Congress and that the archdiocese is seeking financial assistance to help bring families from Africa and South America.
More information on the Congress can be found at: Benedict XVI to possibly visit Canada in 2008
Quebec City,Canada,June.01,2007(CINS/CNA) - Pope Benedict XVI could visit Quebec at a time that coincides with the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in July of 2008. The announcement was made in Aparecida, Brazil, by the archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who said he hoped to receive a response from the Pontiff by the end of the year.
The Eucharistic Congress will bring together thousands of people from around the world to reflect on the theme, “Eucharist: Gift of God for the life of the world.” Activities at the congress will include catechesis, testimonies and Masses. “Everybody should be a part of this celebration and join in prayer and reflection,” the cardinal said.
He also said Canadian families would provide hospitality to the poor who want to participate in the Congress and that the archdiocese is seeking financial assistance to help bring families from Africa and South America.
More information on the Congress can be found at: http://www.cei2008.ca/