Ho Chí Minh City’s Dominican Institute welcomes sixty new canditates
Saigon, Vietnam, Jan.21, 2008 (vaticans.org) – This year the Dominican Institute in H? Chí Minh City will welcome 60 new priests and sisters to train for work in various congregations. Vietnam has 26 diocese and these candidates to the religious life come from every corner, something which offers a good opportunity to learn and share from different experiences.“At present we organise classes in philosophy, theology and Bible studies for clergymen and women,” said Father Trung, director of the Institute. “Thanks to good professors, priests, sisters and lay people we offer good training. Many priests and nuns come from seminaries and congregations and from various dioceses. This allows that to share cultural traditions from each diocese. Some men religious and nuns are from ethnic minorities. At the end they go back to their villages and communities to help their ...Read More
Pope to release a document inaugurating the Pauline year, all christians invited to Rome
Vatican City, Jan.21, 2008 (vaticans.org) - Liturgical celebrations and prayer meetings, but also exhibits, concerts, and performances, the production of special stamps and coins: these are some of the initiatives, "always strongly marked by a clear ecumenical dimension", scheduled for the Pauline Year (June 28, 2008 to June 29, 2009), illustrated today by Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, archpriest of the papal basilica of Saint Paul's Outside the Walls. There is also the possibility that Benedict XVI will go on pilgrimage to the sites associated with Saint Paul. Cardinal di Montezemolo also says that the pope "will soon release a document inaugurating the Pauline year, establishing its aims and its spiritual benefits for the faithful".In the basilica where the body of the Apostle to the gentiles is kept, th ...Read More
Pope Benedict XVI blesses the lambs for the Feast of St. Agnes
Vatican City, Jan.21, 2008 (vaticans.org)- This morning in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, in keeping with the tradition for today's feast of St. Agnes, the Pope today blessed two lambs, the wool of which will be used to make the palliums bestowed on new metropolitan archbishops on June 29, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles.The pallium is a white woolen band embroidered with six black crosses which is worn over the shoulders and has two hanging pieces, front and back. Worn by the Pope and by metropolitan archbishops, the pallium symbolizes authority and expresses the special bond between the bishops and the Roman Pontiff.St. Agnes of Rome was held in high regard in the early Church for her virginity and her heroism under torture at a very young age (12-13). Her martyrdom has been celebrated on Januar ...Read More
Word of God in the Life and the Mission of the Church,focus of the ecclesial community
Vatican City, Jan.21, 2008 (vaticans.org) - This morning, the Pope received participants in the Sixth Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, who are meeting to prepare the Synod's General Assembly, due to be held from 5 to 26 October. After expressing his thanks for a speech by Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, the Holy Father mentioned his own recent Encyclical "Spe salvi". The "social character of hope", he said, is evident in the "'connection between love of God and responsibility for others', which makes it possible not to lapse into selfish desires of salvation". "It is my belief that the effective application of this fruitful principle is evident in the Sy ...Read More
Pope meets Jose Manuel, President of East Timor
Vatican City, Jan.21, 2008 (vaticans.org) - The Holy See Press Office released the following communique at midday today: "This morning, the Holy Father Benedict XVI received in audience Jose Manuel Ramos-Horta, president of the Democratic Republic of East Timor, accompanied by his entourage. The president subsequently went on to meet Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States."During the discussions, mention was made of the cordial relations between the Holy See and the Democratic Republic of East Timor, and of the co-operation between the Catholic Church and the State in the fields of education, healthcare, and the struggle against poverty."The political and social situation of the country was also examined, with particular emphasis given to the process of national reconciliation a ...Read More
Message of Pope Benedict XVI - 16th World Day of the Sick
The following is the text of the Message of Benedict XVI for the 16th World Day of the Sick, which will be celebrated on February 11th 2008.Dear Brothers and Sisters!1. On 11 February, the memorial of the Blessed Mary Virgin of Lourdes, the World Day of the Sick will be celebrated, a propitious occasion to reflect on the meaning of pain and the Christian duty to take responsibility for it in whatever situation it arises. This year this significant day is connected to two important events for the life of the Church, as one already understands from the theme chosen ‘The Eucharist, Lourdes and Pastoral Care for the Sick’: the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the apparitions of the Immaculate Mary at Lourdes, and the celebration of the International Eucharistic ...Read More
The Pope's condolences for the death of Fr Jesus Reynaldo Roda
Manila, Philippines, Jan.20,2008 (vaticans.org) - Pope Benedict XVI on Friday expressed "great sadness" over the death of Fr Jesus Reynaldo Roda of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI), and asked his killers to "renounce the ways of violence and to play their part in building a just and peaceful society where all can live together in harmony". Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone sent the pope's message to the bishop of Jolo, Angelito Lampon, and to his fellow OMI religious.Fr Roda was killed by a group of at least ten persons, when he resisted a kidnapping attempt on the evening of January 15 in the chapel of the Notre Dame school in Tabawan (Tawi-Tawi). The kidnappers fled, taking with them a Muslim teacher, Omar Taub.Cardinal ...Read More
To the Church of God
by Fr.Brendan Slevin O.P.20 January 2008Second Sunday of the Year (A)Readings:Isaiah 49:3,5-6And he said to me, "You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." And now the LORD says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength-- he says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Is ...Read More
Pope at Angelus: Pray for Christian Unity
Vatican City, Jan.20, 2008 (vaticans.org) - Tens of thousands of young people and adults - more than 200,000, if the television linkups with other cities are counted - streamed into Saint Peter's Square from all over Italy to express their solidarity with Benedict XVI. It was a response to the invitation from Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar of Rome, after the violent controversy that had arisen at the La Sapienza university, leading the Holy See to decline the invitation for the pontiff to give the opening address for the university's academic year. Without any stridency, the pontiff exhorted all to work in a climate of "fraternity" and to "seek truth and freedom, in a shared commitment to a fraternal and tolerant society".When Benedict XVI appeared at the window of his study for the recitation of the Angelus, an ovation ca ...Read More
Pope at Angelus: Christ gives true and full life
Vatican City, Jan.13, 2008 (vaticans.org) - At the last Angelus of the Christmas liturgical season, the pope recalled the mystery of today's feast, that of the baptism of Jesus, "his first public manifestation, after about thirty years of hidden life in Nazareth". The profound meaning of this act, the pope said, "would emerge only at the end of Christ's earthly life, in his death and resurrection".Before thousands of pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square under a driving rain, the pope explained: "In being baptised by John together with sinners, Jesus began to take upon himself the weight of the sins of all humanity, as the Lamb of God who 'takes away' the sin of the world (cf. John 1:29). He brought this work to fulfilment on the cross, when he also received his 'baptism' (cf. Luke 12:50). By dying, in fact, he ...Read More
Baptism, interweaving of the mystery of human life and the mystery of divine life
Vatican City, Jan.13, 2008 (vaticans.org) - In the sumptuous surroundings of the Sistine Chapel, Benedict XVI today baptised 13 children, giving them "the mystery of divine life . . . the rebirth of water and of the Holy Spirit". The 13 little ones are all children of Vatican employees, and were accompanied by their parents, godparents, and relatives: thanks to them, the Sistine Chapel, the place where the papal election takes place, was transformed into a humble domestic church, a little parish.In the homily, the pope recalled that baptism is an interweaving of the mystery "of human life" and "the mystery of divine life". Physical death and sin threaten this life. "Everything that has its beginning on the earth comes to an end sooner or later . . . While in the other creatures, which are not called to eter ...Read More
The Sudden Appearance of God in our World
by Fr.Columba Ryan O.P.13 January 2008Baptism of the Lord (A)Readings:Isaiah 42:1-4,6-7Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not fail or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. "I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light ...Read More
The Growth of Relativism: Pope Benedict XVI sounded the alarm about an "educational emergency"
Vatican City, Jan. 11, 2008 (www.vaticans.org) - Pope Benedict XVI sounded the alarm about an "educational emergency" during a January 10 meeting with political leaders from Rome and he surrounding Lazio district. The "emergency" to which the Holy Father referred was the growth of relativism. Young people, he said, find it difficult to develop "firm certainties and criteria upon which to build their lives." This failure of moral guidance, the Pope said, threatens "the very basis of coexistence and the future of society." In restoring a sense of moral order upon which young people can build their lives, the Pontiff said, "It is clear that respect and support for the family based on marriage have primary importance." The "unrelenting and threatening" attacks on family life, he said, are undermining the most basic unit of healthy social life, and public officials must respond ...Read More
Card Telesphore Toppo, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India - condemns attacks on Christians
India, Jan.11, 2008 (www.vaticans.org) – A “man-made tsunami” seems to have swept over the Christian community of the north-eastern Indian state of Orissa, said the chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, Card Telesphore Toppo, after he visited Bubhaneshwar, an area touched by a wave of anti-Christian violence led by the Hindu fundamentalist group Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). Over Christmas holidays, more precisely from 24 to 27 December, Hindu extremists attacked properties owned by Christians, Dalits and Tribals. After their rampage they left on their trail six people dead. They attacked, destroyed or set on fire 70 churches and other religious facilities. Some 600 homes suffered damages or were destroyed. Altogether about 5,000 people were negatively impacted.Card Telesphore Toppo, who was a guest of Archbishop Raphael Cheenath from 2 to 4 January, was prevented from visiting victims in their h ...Read More
The Pope is at one with Iraqi Christians touched by attacks in Baghdad
Vatican City, Jan. 10, 2008 (www.vaticans.org) – The Pope is at one with Iraqi Christians touched by attacks in Baghdad, Mosul and Kirkuk, which for him are attacks against the whole people of Iraq. He therefore calls upon those who perpetrated such acts of violence to stop and forsake them.In a telegram signed by the Vatican Secretary of State, Card Tarcisio Bertone, that was sent to the Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Card Emmanuel III Delly, the Holy Father said that he was urging “all those in authority to renew efforts towards peaceful negotiation aimed at a just resolution of the country's difficulties, respectful of the rights of all.”“Deeply concerned to learn of the attacks on Christian targets in Baghdad, Mosul, and Kirkuk which took ...Read More
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