Cardinal Jean Louis:New level of dialogue with muslims expected in 2008
Vatican City, Dec.29,2007 (CINS/CNS) - The Vatican official in charge of interreligious dialogue said he is confident a new level of dialogue with Muslims will take place in 2008.
"There is good will on both sides," said Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
After 138 Muslim scholars sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders in October outlining a proposal for a new dialogue and greater understanding, the pope invited a representative group of the scholars to meet with him at the Vatican. At the same time, the pope suggested the scholars hold a working session with officials from Cardinal Tauran's office, the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies and the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Jordan's Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, the architect of the Muslim scholars' project, wrote back to the Vatican in December suggesting that representatives meet in February or March to work out the details of the dialogue.
"I am very confident in the outcome of this meeting," Cardinal Tauran told Vatican Radio Dec. 28.
He said he expected the meeting to deal with "the dignity of the human person and his rights, first of all the right to freedom of conscience and religion," with the need for believers to "have an objective knowledge of the religion of the other," and with the need to educate young people in tolerance and respect for the beliefs of others.
Death of Cardinal Alfons Maria,Pope's telegram of condolence
Vatican City, Dec.13, 2007 (CINS/VIS) - Pope Benedict XVI has sent two telegrams of condolence for the death, at the age of 97, of Cardinal Alfons Maria Stickler S.D.B., archivist and librarian emeritus of Holy Roman Church: one to the late cardinal's brother and sisters, and another to Fr. Pascual Chavez Villanueva, major rector of the Salesian Society of St. John Bosco.
The Holy Father describes the cardinal as a "sincere and zealous collaborator of the Holy See" who in all his duties "provided precious testimony of fervent faithfulness to Christ and to the Church." He also mentions the "cultural and ecclesial industriousness of the distinguished jurist and illustrious cardinal."
The Holy Father has also sent a telegram to Cardinal Severino Poletto, archbishop of Turin, Italy, for a recent industrial accident in the city's Thyseen-Krupp factory in which four workers lost their lives. The funerals of the victims are being held today.
In the telegram, the Pope expresses the hope "that all means be used to safeguard the dignity and safety of workers," and unites himself to the suffering of the victims' families.
Peace in th World only when man gives himself to God says Cardinal Cordes
Lourdes,France, Dec 11, 2007 (CINS/CNA).- Presiding at celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the Marian apparitions of Lourdes, the president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, Cardinal Paul Joseph Cordes, lamented that modernity has destroyed the reality of bad morality and the awareness of sin, with myths packaged as psycho-pathological considerations and biological explanations.
Speaking about the value of reconciliation, the cardinal explained, “The insatiable aspiration of humanity for peace and reconciliation is often frustrated in Darfur, Kosovo, Iraq, as well as in the home, in sports and among neighbors. Aggressiveness persists, despite all calls to reconciliation,” he said.
“Those who deliberately reach out to their brothers and sisters, who live in a correct way and who foster forgiveness, are undoubtedly working for peace,” but “the root of the discord between men is discord with God. Only when man gives himself to God is peace born in the world. Only the man who has made peace with God can make peace reign around him,” he said.
Cardinal Cordes emphasized, therefore, the importance of the sacrament of Reconciliation. “My aversion, my hatred, should be acknowledged and confessed. Reconciliation with God is not fictitious; it’s not a simulation or a trivialization of evil. It allows man to have an idea of the importance of the forgiveness of God,” he said.
Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan was scheduled to meet with the Dalai Lama
Milan, Dec. 7, 2007 (CINS /CWN) - Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan was scheduled to meet with the Dalai Lama on Thursday afternoon, December 6, according to Italian media reports. A spokesman for the cardinal refused to confirm plans for the meeting, thus underlining the diplomatic delicacy of the Buddhist leader's visit.
The Dalai Lama was in Milan at the beginning of a visit to Italy. He will be in Rome next week, and rumors had circulated in November that he would meet with Pope Benedict XVI during his stay. The Vatican has announced that no papal audience is planned-- leaving open the possibility that an unannounced "private" meeting could take place.
The Chinese government strongly protested the reports that the Pope would meet with the Dalai Lama. Beijing has lodged formal complaints in the past when other world leaders have met with the Tibetan exile-- who is regarded as a symbol of his country's desire for independence from Chinese rule.
The Hong Kong-based South China Post has theorized that the Vatican decision to abort plans for a papal audience with the Dalai Lama may have been related to the installation of Archbishop Joseph Gan Junqiu in the Guangzhou archdiocese. The new archbishop had the approval of the Vatican, but his installation had been postponed for months, apparently because of opposition from the Catholic Patriotic Association. In November Msgr. Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's equivalent of a deputy foreign minister, led a delegation from the Holy See in talks with Beijing officials. Those negotiations apparently removed the block to the installation of Archbishop Gan.
During his stay in Milan the Dalai Lama will lead an inter-religious prayer service, deliver a lecture, and meet with Mayor Letizia Moratti, who had braved Chinese objections to schedule a formal meeting with the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Cardinal Walter Kasper's response
Vatican City, Dec.05, 2007 (CINS /Chiesa) – Eight days before it was published on the last day of November, Benedict XVI had announced the release of the encyclical on hope, "Spe Salvi," to the cardinals gathered in Rome from all over the world, at the meeting that opened the consistory.
For many of them, the announcement came as a surprise.
But the topic at the center of the discussion was not that of the encyclical, but the current state of ecumenical relations between the Catholic Church and the other Christian confessions.
The cardinals' meeting with the pope took up the entire day of Friday, November 23. Benedict XVI entrusted the task of introducing the discussion to cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the pontifical council for Christian unity.
17 other cardinals spoke after Kasper's address. The meeting was held behind closed doors, but the Holy See press office, in a concise summary, related that some of the speakers indicated the implementation of the Church's social doctrine and the defense of life and the family as some of the more promising areas for ecumenism. Others proposed continuing with the "purification of memory." Still others asked for greater attention in using "forms of communication more attentive to not wounding the sensibility of other Christians."
This last request was also presented in Kasper's address. Referring to the "Five responses" published last July by the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, the cardinal had noted that these "have raised perplexity and have occasioned a certain discontent" in some Christian confessions, especially among the Protestants. And he added:
"It is to be hoped that the form, language, and public presentation of such declarations could be reviewed."
After the midday break, another 16 cardinals spoke that afternoon.
Some expanded the attention to relations with the Jews and with Islam. There was talk about the "encouraging sign" represented by the letter of the 138 Muslim personalities, and by the visit of the king of Saudi Arabia to the Holy Father.
And in this regard, a few days later a letter was made public from the cardinal secretary of state, Tarcisio Bertone, to Jordan's Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, with the announcement of a future audience between the pope and the prince, together with some of the signatories of the letter of the 138, and of an agenda of dialogue "on effective respect for the dignity of every human person, on objective knowledge of the religion of the other, on the sharing of religious experience and, finally, on common commitment to promoting mutual respect and acceptance among the younger generation".
A brief response from Cardinal Kasper on a few particular points and a speech by the pope concluded the day.
The Holy See press office has not put Kasper's address online, nor can it be found on the Vatican website. But it was printed in "L'Osservatore Romano" the following day.
In any case, it makes for very interesting reading. Because it clearly describes – on the part of someone with authority on the subject – the current state of ecumenical relations, in this order:
– with the pre-Chalcedonian Eastern Churches;
– with the Orthodox Churches of the Byzantine, Syrian, and Slavic traditions;
– with the ecclesial Communities born of the Protestant Reformation;
– with the "evangelical" Communities;
– with the Charismatic and Pentecostal Communities.
Kasper accompanies this diagnosis with indications on how to continue this journey fruitfully.