India: marriages are ending in divorce at an unprecedented rate
Goa, India, June 06, 2008 (vaticans.org) - In Goa, marriages are ending in divorce at an unprecedented rate. Margao Judicial Magistrate first class, M. Rodrigues moans, "Incidents of divorce are increasing in Goa. The break-up of the joint family institution has only worsened things." "It's alarming," according to Father Savio Rodrigues, a counsellor at St. Britto's high school, Mapusa, whose clients include children from broken families.Children are the worst sufferers of broken homes. "I have received several cases of kids taking to drugs to escape the reality of a broken home," continues Father Rodrigues.Psychiatrist Rajendra Hegde adds, "In some cas ...Read More
Indonesia is on the verge of a possible civil war
Jakarta,Indonesia, June 2, 2008 (vaticans.org) – Indonesia is on the verge of a possible civil war. Indeed a conflict with unpredictable consequences broke out yesterday afternoon and last night between members of the Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) and the Islamic Defender Front (Front Pembela Islam or FPI). Tens of people were hurt in the incidents with victims accusing the police of doing nothing. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has appealed for calm, asking law enforcement agencies to arrest those who are violent.The spark that set off the whole chain of events was an attack with sticks and stones by activists from the FPI, Indonesia’s best known radical Islamic group, against hundred of members of the National Alliance for Religious Freedom (Aliansi Kebangsaan dan Kebebasan Beragama dan Berkeyakinan or AKKBB), who ...Read More
Pope Benedict XVI will not hold private meetings with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Vatican City, Jun. 2, 2008 (vaticans.org) - Pope Benedict XVI will not hold private meetings with any of the heads of state who are in Rome this week for a meeting of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), informed sources at the Vatican report. By avoiding all meetings with visiting world leaders, the Vatican could sidestep diplomatic pressure for a papal audience with Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian government has confirmed that Iran’s ambassador to the Holy See, Mohammad Javad Faridzadeh, had requested a papal audience for Ahmadinejad. For several days before that formal request, Iranian diplomats had been energetic in suggesting that Ahmadinejad would like to speak with the Pontiff. In the past, visiting heads of state have arranged courtesy visits with the Pontiff while attending other events in Rome. But the heavy intern ...Read More
The Shroud of Turin will be displayed to public in 2010
VATICAN CITY (vaticans.org) - The Shroud of Turin, revered by many as the burial cloth of Christ, will be displayed to the public for the first time in a decade in 2010.Pope Benedict XVI announced during a June 2 audience with pilgrims from Turin that he had approved the shroud's removal from its protective casket for display to the public in the spring of 2010.He told the 7,000 pilgrims gathered in the Vatican's Paul VI hall, "If the Lord grants me life and health, I, too, hope to come" see the shroud displayed.According to tradition, the 14-foot by 4-foot linen cloth is the burial shroud of Jesus. The shroud has a full-length photonegative image of a man, front and back, bearing signs of wounds that correspond to the Gospel accounts of the torture Jesus endured in his passion and death.The church has never officially ruled on the shroud's authenticity, saying judgments about its age and origin be ...Read More
Father Cathal Gallagher is bringing his parishioners in rural South Dakota
Washington, May 30, 2008 (vaticans.org) - Father Cathal Gallagher is bringing his parishioners in rural South Dakota an unwelcome lesson in the fine details of U.S. immigration law as they try to help him fight his pending deportation.Father Gallagher, 58, a Columban missionary, went to the state a decade ago at the invitation of Bishop Robert J. Carlson, then-head of the Diocese of Sioux Falls, S.D. The Irish priest currently is pastor of parishes in three prairie towns, the largest of which is St. Thomas Aquinas in DeSmet, population just over 1,000.After spending 22 years working in Japan, Father Gallagher was surprised by how taken he was with South Dakota, he told Catholic News Service in a May 29 phone interview."I liked this place, the prairies, the people," he said, and as soon as he was eligible, he applied for permanent U.S. residency. He came as close as being told fi ...Read More
Pope Benedict XVI's prayer banned in China
Beijing, May, 30, 2008 (vaticans.org) - Priests under house arrest; others forced to visit a Buddhist temple; others under surveillance for days, to prevent them from praying "with the pope"; dozens of faithful in Hong Kong warned not to go to Sheshan: this is the world in which some of the dioceses of China have experienced (or better: forcibly omitted) the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China instituted by Benedict XVI. The day was suggested by the pope for last May 24, to coincide with the traditional pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgin of Sheshan, near Shanghai. The local government and the Patriotic Associations permitted the pilgrimage only for the priests and religious of the diocese of Shanghai, and prohibited the faithful of other Chinese communities from participating in it. For this year, because of the pope's initiative, the diocese of Shanghai had been expecting at least 200,000 people. But because of all of the limits imposed, only 2 ...Read More
Excommunication to anyone who try to promote woman priesthood
Vatican City, May. 30, 2008 (vaticans.org) - The Vatican has announced that any Catholic bishop who attempts the ordination of a woman to the priesthood, and any woman who participates in such a ceremony, is subject to automatic excommunication. The decree from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, published in the May 30 issue of L'Osservatore Romano, takes effect immediately and applies throughout the universal Church. The document was signed by Cardinal William Levada and Archbishop Angelo Amato, the prefect and secretary, respectively, of the Congregation. "Both the one who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive a sacred order, incurs excommunication latae sententiae." The Vatican document declares that "he who attempts to confer Holy Orders on a woman, and the woman who attempts to receive Holy Orders, incurs excommunication latae sententiae." A latae sententi ...Read More
Pope Benedict XVI argued that a democratic state should support Catholic schools
Vatican City, May. 29, 2008 (vaticans.org) - In a May 29 talk to the Italian bishops' conference, Pope Benedict XVI argued that a democratic state should support Catholic schools. Since the government invests resources in many different projects, the Holy Father reasoned, "there does not appear to be any justification for excluding adequate support for the work of Church institutions in the field of education." Public investment in Catholic schools, he said, "could not fail to produce beneficial effects" for secular society. The Italian bishops are holding their 58th general assembly in Rome this week, with the meetings taking place in the Vatican Synod hall. The Pope spoke to the bishops about the main topics for this meeting: education and evangelization. Italy today faces an "educational crisis," the Pope warned, raising a theme that he has mentioned frequently during his pontificate. The Pontiff has repeatedly spoken about the n ...Read More
Pope addressed today to the bishops of the episcopal conference of Myanmar
Vatican City (vaticans.org) - Benedict XVI hopes that, thanks to agreements concluded with the government of Myanmar, the international community and "all who are ready to help" may bring to the victims of cyclone Nargis "the type of assistance required and enjoy effective access to the places where it is needed most". And "may God open the hearts of all so that a concerted effort may be made to facilitate and coordinate the ongoing endeavour to bring relief to the suffering and rebuild the country's infrastructure".Help for the people struck by the catastrophe was, naturally, central to the thoughts that the pope addressed today to the bishops of the episcopal conference of Myanmar, received this morning after previous meetings in separate audiences, on the occasion of their five-year visit "ad Limina Apostolorum". The Church of Myanmar, in the words of the pope, "is known and admired for its solidarity with the poor and ne ...Read More
900 Vietnamese anxious to join the World Youth Day
Haiphong, Vietnam, May.20, 2008 (vaticans.org) - 900 young Vietnamese Catholics are preparing to take part in the World Youth Day that will be held from July 15-20 in Sydney, with the participation of Pope Benedict XVI. They have requested visas from the Australian embassy, and cannot wait to join their peers to pray together, exchange experiences, and discuss the mission of young people in the society and Church of today. "World Youth Day is approaching", Vu Van Thien, bishop of Haiphong and coordinator of the World Youth Day for the Vietnamese bishops, wrote in a letter to the young people. "The Holy Father", the message continues, "will be among the young people who will arrive in great numbers from various countries. Many Vietnamese will also participate in the event, an expression of the Vietnamese youth, ope ...Read More
Pro-family groups protests legal recognition to same-sex marriages
Sacramento, May. 16, 2008 - Pro-family groups in California have vowed to wage a political battle against implementation of a May 15 decision of the state's Supreme Court that would extend legal recognition to same-sex marriages. By a 4-3 vote, the California Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples cannot be denied the right to legal recognition of their unions. Chief Justice Ronald George, writing the decision for the majority, said that "our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation." Conservative groups have pledged to bring the decision before the state's voters on the November ballot. Leaders of the movement to protect traditional marriage said that they would petition the court to delay implementation of same-sex marriage until the voters had an opportunity to wei ...Read More
Importance of the ecclesial movements and new communities
Vatican City, 19, May, 2008 - "The ecclesial movements and new communities are one of the most important new developments prompted by the Holy Spirit in the Church for the implementation of Vatican Council II . . . this development is still awaiting adequate comprehension in the light of God's plan and of the Church's mission in the context of our time". The pope addressed these words to 100 bishops from 53 countries, who had come to Rome at the invitation of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. The audience with the pontiff concluded the seminar organised by the Vatican dicastery "to reflect and dialogue on the reality of the movements in the Church". The seminar was held from May 15-17 in Rocca di Papa (Rome), and saw the presence of many representatives and founders of movements and new communities. Benedict XVI has never concealed his affection for the ecclesial movements. Even as cardinal prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the ...Read More
"Smoke of Satan" entering the Catholic Church - Pope Paul VI
Vatican City, May. 16, 2008 - When Pope Paul VI spoke about the "smoke of Satan" entering the Catholic Church, he was referring to liturgical abuses, according to the prelate who served as his master of ceremonies. Cardinal Virgilio Noe, the chief Vatican liturgist during the pontificate of Paul VI, spoke candidly about the late Pope's concerns in an interview with the Roman Petrus web site. The Italian prelate-- who was also the Vatican's top liturgist under Pope John Paul I and the early years of the pontificate of John Paul II-- is now retired, and at the age of 86 his health is failing. In his interview with Petrus he concentrated primarily on his years serving Pope Paul VI. Pope Paul accepted the liturgical reforms after Vatican II "with pleasure," Cardinal Noe said. He added that Paul VI was not be nature a sad man, but "he was saddened by the fact of having been left alone by the Roman Curia." Regarding the late Pope's famous remar ...Read More
Pope Benedict XVI decided a special day of prayer for the Church in China
Vatican City, May. 17, 2008 - Pope Benedict XVI has composed a prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan, following up on his decision to make May 24 a special day of prayer for the Church in China. In his message to the Chinese faithful, released in May 2007, the Holy Father asked the worldwide Church to join in prayer for Chinese Catholicism on May 24. That date is the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians. In China, devotion to the Virgin Mary centers on the shrine of Our Lady of Sheshan, in Shanghai. Pope Benedict 's prayer to Our Lady of Sheshan reads: Virgin Most Holy, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother, venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title 'Help of Christians,' the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection. We come before you today to implore your protection. Look upon the People of God and, with a mother's care, guide them along the paths of truth and love, so that they may always be a leaven of harmonious coexisten ...Read More
Science, religion not in conflict, U.S. bishops on Stem Cell
WASHINGTON (vaticans.org /cns) -- The brief policy statement on embryonic stem-cell research that is to come before the U.S. bishops at their June 12-14 meeting in Orlando, Fla., is designed to set the stage for a later, more pastoral document explaining why the Catholic Church opposes some reproductive technologies."While human life is threatened in many ways in our society, the destruction of human embryos for stem-cell research confronts us with an issue of respect for life in a stark new way," says the statement drawn up by the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.Although the topic of embryonic stem-cell research has been raised in several broader USCCB documents and has been the subject of testimony and many letters to Congress, there has never been a formal statement on the issue from the full body of bishops, said Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, chairman of the pro-life ...Read More
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