Pope Benedict XVI recalled the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht
Vatican City, Nov.10, 2008 - Benedict XVI today recalled the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the pogrom carried out against Jewish citizens, synagogues, offices, neighborhoods, from November 9-10, 1938, which "began the violent persecution that concluded with the Holocaust." The pope expressed this commemoration at the end of the prayer of the Angelus, with more than 30,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.Benedict XVI, a German pope, said that he is "still pained today over what happened in those tragic circumstances." He called upon all to join him to express "solidarity with the Jewish world," and that, above all through the education of young people, "the horror of anti-Semitism and discrimination may never be repeated again." Calling for "prayers for the victims of that time," the pope also said that the memory of these "terrible events" "must serve to keep such horrors from ever happening again.& ...Read More
Examine your conscience before receiving holy Communion - Florida bishop
PENSACOLA, Fla., Nov.10, 2008 - A Florida bishop is urging Vice President-elect Joseph Biden to examine his conscience before receiving holy Communion in light of his public support of keeping abortion legal.Saying he was writing with a sense of "urgency," Bishop John H. Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., sent a letter Nov. 4 to Biden stating his views on worshipping at Mass and the reception of Communion. The letter was posted on the diocesan Web site two days after Biden attended Mass Nov. 2 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Tallahassee. The vice president-elect was in Florida on a final campaign swing through the state.At no point in the letter did the bishop bar the vice president-elect from receiving Communion in the diocese, instead seeming to leave the decision to Biden.A spokesman for Biden said in an e-mail message to Catholic News Service that the vice ...Read More
Christians and Muslims must work together to protect religious freedom
Vatican City, Nov.10, 2008 - Christians and Muslims must work together to protect religious freedom, they must learn more about each other and they must witness to the world the reality of God, said members of the Catholic-Muslim Forum.The forum participants, 28 Muslim and 28 Catholic representatives, met at the Vatican Nov. 4-6 to discuss their faiths' understanding of the obligation to love God and to love one's neighbor.The final statement said both Christians and Muslims recognize the dignity and sacredness of human life because each person is "created by a loving God."Christianity and Islam teach that love for God and genuine faith lead to love for one's neighbor, it said, and "genuine love of neighbor implies respect of the person and her or his choices in matters of conscience and religion."Religious minorities deserve protection, they have a right to their own places of worship and t ...Read More
Pope Benedict XVI congratulated Barack Obama
Vatican City, Nov. 5, 2008 - Pope Benedict XVI sent a personal message to President-elect Barack Obama Nov. 5, congratulating him and offering his prayers for Obama and for all the people of the United States.Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said that because the message was addressed personally to Obama the Vatican did not plan to publish it.However, he said, the papal message opened by referring to the "historic occasion" of the election, marking the first time a black man has been elected president of the United States.The pope congratulated Obama, his wife and family, Father Lombardi said."He assured him of his prayers that God would help him with his high responsibilities for his country and for the international community," Father Lombardi said.The pope also prayed that "the blessing of God would sustain him and the American people so that with al ...Read More
Catholic Church in India petitioned the Supreme Court to protect Christians
New Delhi, India, Sep 4, 2008 - The Catholic Church in India has petitioned the country's Supreme Court to protect Christian lives and property in Orissa state.Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar told the Asian church news agency UCA News Sept. 2 that the church decided to approach the highest court "as we are not getting sufficient response" from the Orissa government.The archbishop, whose archdiocese is in Orissa, said the church wants the court to order federal authorities to protect Christians in the eastern state."We want some clear help and response" from the government, added the archbishop, who has stayed in New Delhi since the violence broke out in Orissa Aug. 24.The church petition seeks the deployment of sufficient riot police in villages where Hindu extremists continue to destroy churches and Christian buildings. It also demands that the Central Bureau of Investiga ...Read More
Peruvian Bishops calling government to negotiate with indigenous organizations
Peru, Sep 4, 2008 - Catholic bishops in Peru's jungle dioceses have thrown their support behind indigenous organizations, calling on the government to negotiate with native peoples before passing laws that affect their lives and livelihoods.In an open letter released Sept. 2, bishops from six dioceses called on the government "to foster effective participation of the interested parties in the design and implementation of the country's development policies. If this is not the case, we warn that the physical and sociocultural survival of indigenous people will be threatened."The bishops expressed support of indigenous peoples in their fight against laws that change the way native or peasant community lands can be sold or leased, as well as a series of other decrees dealing with farmland, protected areas and water rights. The decrees form part of a package of 99 laws the government passed between March and June as part of its p ...Read More
Sister Nirmala's appeal to all India - (Full Text)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Orissa and all over India,Let us not forget our true identity as the beloved children of God our Father. We are brothers and sisters of one another no matter what our religion, race, culture or language is, whether we are rich or poor. Nothing should separate us.Above all, let us not use religion to divide us. Essence of all religion is love - love of God and love of one another. Violence on the ground of religion is an abuse of religion."Religion is meant to be a work of love. It is not meant to destroy peace and unity. Works of love are works of peace. Let us use religion to become one heart full of love in the heart of God". (Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta).Dear Brothers and Sisters, in the name of God and in the name of our own humanity, created for greater things, to love and to be loved eternally, and in the name of our country and its noble heritage, and in the name of the poor, the children, and all our su ...Read More
Obama is not for abortion - Sister Catherine
Washington, Sep 2, 2008 - In politics, every word, every action, every appearance is analyzed in terms of how it helps one side or hurts the other. Even prayer.So the appearances of Jesuit Father Edward Reese and St. Joseph Sister Catherine Pinkerton in leading prayers at the Republican and Democratic conventions, respectively, are getting at least a little attention by those wondering what the two Catholic religious leaders might be saying by their presence.To which they respond: nothing.Father Reese, president of Brophy College Preparatory School in Phoenix, accepted the invitation from the Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and his wife, Cindy, to offer a prayer at the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn., Sept. 3 because he has known the couple for years. The McCains' sons, James and Jack, graduated from Brophy. The McCains also have supported the school generously, and Cindy McCain is a me ...Read More
More than 600 churches have been demolished in India
India, Sep.1, 2008 - One week after the beginning of the violence in Orissa, thousands of people, most of them Christian, are still hiding in the forests or have found refuge in the shelter camps set up by the government.According to the latest figures, there are at least 6,000 people in the refugee camps, and 5,000 hiding in the forests around Kandhamal, but the number of refugees could soon reach 10,000. Today, in Bhubaneswar, a protest demonstration is planned in front of the state government headquarters in Orissa, organized by the activists of the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC), following the closing of Catholic schools yesterday all over India. About 25,000 institutes closed their doors, while the students and teachers marched peacefully through the streets of the country calling for an end to the violence against Christians.Meanwhile, the number of victims of the violence continues to increase: "We have received authentic information that the death tol ...Read More
A Hindu mob began our crucifixion parade - Fr. Thomas Chellen
Father Thomas Chellen, undergoing treatment at a Catholic hospital in Bhubaneswar, India, said he was grateful to be alive after a Hindu mob nearly set him on fire."They had poured kerosene on my head, and one held a matchbox in his hands to light the fire. But thanks to divine providence, in the end, they did not do that. Otherwise, I would not have been there to tell this horror," the 55-year-old priest, director of the pastoral center at Konjamendi in the Indian state of Orissa, told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview from his hospital bed Aug. 28.Following the Aug. 23 murder of a Hindu leader, Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, by Maoist extremists, Father Chellen said Hindu mobs started attacking Christian centers in Kandhamal, the district where the slain leader was based.When a Hindu mob of 500 people broke into the pastoral center around noon Aug. 24, Father Chell ...Read More
Chinese Catholic bishop was arrested after Olympic
Beijing, Aug. 25, 2008 - China's most prominent "underground" Catholic bishop was arrested on Sunday, August 24: the day that also saw the closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing. Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding was taken into custody by several police officers at Wuqiu cathedral. No immediate reason was given for his arrest, and authorities have not disclosed where the aging bishop is being held. The 73-year-old Bishop Jia, who heads an active diocese of over 100,000 Catholics in the Hebei diocese, spent 15 years in prison, from 1963 to 1978. Since his release he has been re-arrested at least 12 times; ordinarily he has been detained for a few days of interrogation each time. He has been living under house arrest since 1989. During the Olympic Games, Chinese Christians had been warned not to organize public worship. About 1,000 Catholics in Zhengding defied those orders to join Bishop Jia fo ...Read More
Pope Benedict XVI : the mission of the Church to bring Christ to all mankind
Castel Gandolfo, Aug. 25, 2008 - At his Angelus audience on Sunday, August 24, Pope Benedict XVI said that the mission of the Church-- to bring Christ to all mankind-- should never be identified with any nation or culture. In his remarks to the crowd gathered in the courtyard of the apostolic palace at Castel Gandolfo, the Holy Father reflected on the day's Gospel reading, with Peter's profession of faith and Jesus' reply: "You are Peter and upon this rock I shall build my Church." "This is the first time that Jesus speaks of the Church," the Pope observed. As he gives Peter the commission to lead the Church, Jesus also indicates the purpose of the Petrine ministry: to build up the Church by protecting against division-- by serving as the one rock upon which the Christian community is founded. The Pope told his audience that he felt the weight of this responsibility, and asked for the prayers of the faithful to help him with his duties. ...Read More
Pope Benedict XVI sketched a rough biography of St. Paul
Vatican, Aug. 27, 2008 - At his Wednesday public audience on August 27, Pope Benedict XVI sketched a rough biography of St. Paul. The Holy Father had announced on July 2 that he planned a series of weekly talks on St. Paul's life and teaching during the current Pauline year. But the Pope's regular cycle of weekly audiences was interrupted by his vacation and his trip to Australia for World Youth Day. Upon resuming his weekly sessions, the Pope devoted two audiences to other topics: on August 13 to the importance of prayer and on August 20 to the veneration of the saints. So his August 27 talk was only the second in the projected series. The audience was also the first held at the Vatican in several weeks; on the two previous Wednesdays the Pontiff had met with the faithful in the courtyard of his summer residence. Today he traveled by helicopter from Castel Gandolfo to the Vatican, returning later in the day. Explaining his pla ...Read More
Indian Catholic missionaries raped, killed
Bhubaneshwar, India, Aug.26,2008 (vaticans.org) - An orphanage run by Catholic missionaries has been burnt by Hindu extremists killing one woman while another was raped, reports from India say.The International Herald Tribune quotes a senior police officer as saying the woman who died was most likely a lay employee giving computer training to children at the orphanage not a nun as reported earlier."Police are investigating. ... The woman most probably was not a nun," said Gopal Chandra Nanda, director general of state police, the most senior officer in the state.The conflicting reports could not immediately be reconciled. George Abraham, secretary to the archbishop of Delhi, said the identity of the woman had not yet been confirmed because the orphanage was in a remote area.The attack occurred in Khuntapali, a village in Orissa state, during a strike call ...Read More
30th anniversary of the U.S. bishops' pastoral statement
The 30th anniversary of the U.S. bishops' pastoral statement on people with disabilities offers an opportunity to acquaint a new generation of bishops and young people with the document's message, according to speakers at an Aug. 13 "Webinar.""I'm not suggesting you take on a whole new line of work," said Peg Kolm, director of the Office for Ministry to Persons With Disabilities in the Archdiocese of Washington. "But you need to take this work to the next generation in a partnership year."Janice Benton, executive director of the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, said many in the disabilities community viewed the November 1978 pastoral statement as "our Declaration of Independence." The document said there "can be no separate church for people with disabilities" but only "one flock that follows a single shepherd."The hourlong Web-based seminar sponsored ...Read More
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