Pope urged world leaders not to exclude families and the poor
Vatican City, April 04, 2009 - In a letter to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Pope Benedict XVI urged leaders from the world's wealthiest nations to stabilize financial markets without excluding families and the poor.In the March 30 letter, Pope Benedict emphasized that participants in the Group of 20 leaders' summit in London April 2-3 must find a way out of the global economic crisis but must avoid selfish or protectionist solutions.The pope said the solutions must seek "to offer security to families and stability to workers and, through appropriate regulations and controls, to restore ethics to the financial world.""If a key element of the crisis is a deficit of ethics in economic structures, the same crisis teaches us that ethics is not external to the economy, but internal, and that the economy cannot function if it does not bear within it an ethical component," said the pope.Referring to his March trip to Cameroon and Angola, Pope Benedict also ...Read More
Arrest of Catholic Bishop in China, an obstacle to dialogue
Vatican City, April 04, 2009 - The recent arrest of a Chinese bishop and other instances of religious persecution in China are obstacles to dialogue, said the Vatican.The arrest of 74-year-old Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding was "unfortunately not an isolated case: Other clergy are also deprived of their freedom or are subjected to undue pressure and restrictions in their pastoral activity," said the Vatican in a statement released April 2.In the statement released after a meeting in Rome of the Vatican's Commission for the Catholic Church in China, the Vatican expressed its "deep sorrow upon hearing the news of the recent arrest" of Bishop Jia."Situations of this type create obstacles to an atmosphere of dialogue with the competent authorities," it said, noting Pope Benedict XVI's desire for dialogue which he expressed in his June 2007 letter to Chinese Catholics.Bishop Jia, who has not registered with the government, was taken by five police offic ...Read More
Benedict XVI urged youths to be the hope of the Church
Vatican City, April 3, 2009 – Young people must be the “hope” of the Church and avoid the danger, so much present in our society, that “Christian hope” might be “reduced to ideology, group slogan, an outer cover.” Giving young people Jesus as the true basis for hope was John Paul II”s deepest concern, something that continues to motivate Benedict XVI in his quest to confront today’s “educational emergency.” In tonight’s mass in St Peter’s Basilica in memory of John Paul II who died four years ago today, his successor insisted on the continuing need to be concerned about young people.Young people from Sydney and Madrid, coming from the last and the next city to host World Youth Day, joined those from Rome to hear the Pope speak. Together, they stood for the millions who participate in this international gathering promoted by the late Pontiff. Young Poles came as well, accompanying the current cardinal of Krakow, Stanislaw Dziwisz, who was John Paul II’s personal secretary from ...Read More
Pope's Message for 46th World Day of Prayer for Vocations
Vatican City, April 01, 2009 (VIS) - Made public was the Message of Benedict XVI for the 46th World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which is due to be celebrated on 3 May, the fourth Sunday of Easter, and which has as its theme this year: "Faith in the divine initiative - the human response". The Message has been published in Spanish, English, French, Italian, German, Portuguese and Polish.Extracts from the text are given below:"The exhortation of Jesus to His disciples: 'Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into His harvest' has a constant resonance in the Church. Pray! The urgent call of the Lord stresses that prayer for vocations should be continuous and trusting"."The vocation to the priesthood and to the consecrated life constitutes a special gift of God which becomes part of the great plan of love and salvation that God has for every man and woman and for the whole of humanity"."In the universal call to holiness, of particular r ...Read More
Reiki therapy inappropriate for use by Catholic
Washington, April 01, 2009 - Reiki therapy, an alternative medicine originating in Japan, is unscientific and inappropriate for use by Catholic hospitals, clinics and retreat centers and people representing the church, the U.S. bishops' Committee on Doctrine said March 26."For a Catholic to believe in Reiki therapy presents insoluble problems," the committee's guidelines said. "In terms of caring for one's physical health or the physical health of others, to employ a technique that has no scientific support (or even plausibility) is generally not prudent."The bishops said the technique -- which involves a Reiki practitioner laying hands on a client -- also is encouraged as a "spiritual" kind of healing, but that for Christians "access to divine healing" comes through prayer to God.A Catholic who puts his or her trust in Reiki "would be operating in the realm of superstition," they said.The U.S. bishops outlined their position in "Guidelines for Evaluating ...Read More
Holy Cross religious order asked Obama to rethink on abortion
The head of the Holy Cross religious order that founded the University of Notre Dame has written to U.S. President Barack Obama and asked him to rethink his positions on abortion and other life issues.U.S. Father Hugh W. Cleary, Holy Cross superior general in Rome, said that when Obama receives an honorary degree from the Indiana university and delivers the commencement address in May, he should take to heart the objections of Catholics who have been scandalized by the invitation.Father Cleary asked the president to use the occasion to "give your conscience a fresh opportunity to be formed anew in a holy awe and reverence before human life in every form at every stage -- from conception to natural death."The 13-page letter, dated March 22, was made available to Catholic News Service in Rome. Father Cleary also prepared an abridged version of the text as an "open letter" to the president, which was expected to be published on the Web site of America magazine. ...Read More
Underground bishop Jia arrested yesterday
China, April 01, 2009 - Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo, the underground bishop of Zhengding (Hebei), was arrested yesterday by police and taken away to an undisclosed location. The arrest took place in conjunction with the meeting at the Vatican of the Plenary Commission on the Church in China.Yesterday afternoon at four o'clock (local time), 5 police officers and two vehicles appeared outside the bishop's home and took him to an undisclosed location. Bishop Jia, 74, suffers from various disturbances because of past imprisonments and his age, and the faithful of the diocese are concerned that this new arrest could endanger his life.For years, Jia has endured arrest and isolation by the police, who have kept him away from his community for months. During these periods, the police have tried to indoctrinate him on the religious policies of the Party, and to force him to join the Patriotic Association (PA).This time, the motives are even more serious, and strike at the h ...Read More
Follow the footprints of Cardinal Kim
Seoul, March 29, 2009 - "An incredible number of people have knocked at the door of the Church after the death of Cardinal Kim." The bishops of South Korea have used the occasion of the traditional spring assembly of the bishops' conference (CBCK) to thank the Catholics and non-Catholics who have demonstrated their great affection for Cardinal Stephen Kim, who died last February 16 at the age of 86.The Korean bishops call the deceased archbishop a "pillar of the Catholic Church in Korea," a man "with an open mind," whose episcopal motto, "pro vobis et pro multis (for you and for many)," has been reflected in the thousands of people, believers and nonbelievers, who have paid homage to his body in the cathedral of Seoul, "all over the country as well as overseas Korean Catholic communities."The people have been won over by the testimony of love for the poor offered by the archbishop of Seoul, by "the light of humility and self-abasement" with which he treated everyone he ...Read More
Vatican released the programme of Holy Fathers trip to Holy Land
Vatican City, March 27, 2009 – Benedict XVI’s often-expressed desire to visit the Holy Land is now becoming reality. The Vatican released today the programme of the Holy Father’s trip set for 8-15 May, in Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories. In each country he will meet the head of state, Jordanian King Abdullah, Israeli President Peres and Palestinian President Abbas. This is the third papal visit in modern times to the land where Jesus lived. Pope Paul VI came in 1964 and John Paul II, in 2000.In Jordan on 9 May Benedict XVI will visit the Memorial of Moses on Mount Nebo, the Mosque of al-Hussein bin Talal in Amman, and bless the cornerstone of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem's Madaba University. On the following day he will travel to Bethany Beyond the Jordan, site of the Lord's Baptism.The Holy Father will arrive in Israel on Monday 11 May. After the welcome ceremony he will visit the Yad Vashem Memorial in Jerusalem and hold a meeting with organisations d ...Read More
92000 inactive Catholics came back to Church in Phoenix Diocese
Phoenix, March 27, 2009 - Maybe TV isn't so bad after all.An estimated 92,000 inactive Catholics in the Phoenix Diocese have come back to the church in the last year thanks in large part to a groundbreaking television advertising campaign called Catholics Come Home.The promotional spots featured people and locations from around the Phoenix Diocese to promote the church during prime-time television. The cornerstone of the campaign, the Catholics Come Home Web site, addresses often misunderstood aspects of the faith."For those who had fallen away from the practice of their faith, it let them know that we want them to come home," Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said.The commercials, which ran during Lent in 2008, detail the good works of the Catholic Church throughout history. They also offer real-life testimonials of local fallen-away Catholics explaining what turned them away and what drew them back."Phoenix was supposed to be this quiet little tes ...Read More
North Dakota seminary partially affected by flood
Wasgington, March 26, 2009 - Msgr. Gregory Schlesselmann, rector of Cardinal Muench Seminary in Fargo, N.D., was doing all he could during a heavy snowstorm March 26 to prepare for the expected rise in two days of floodwaters of the adjacent Red River.An existing, half-mile-long clay dike, about 45 feet high in his estimation, was expanded in an effort to keep an expected 41-foot crest of water not only from the seminary property but also from the north side of Fargo.He told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview March 26 that he couldn't see the river, because the dike, significantly raised the previous day by the Army Corps of Engineers, blocked the view.Several days of unrelenting rain had caused the waters of the Red River to rise as much as 5 feet in one day, according to news reports. The city had closed a number of bridges over the river. A heavy blizzard March 25 knocked out power and dumped wet snow and freezing rain on the already rain-soaked r ...Read More
Olallo Project helps migrants find work
London, Mar. 26, 2009 - George Tatar has slept on the streets in five different countries since he left Romania two years ago. For the last eight months he has been living out of a sleeping bag in central London. From shop doorways, underpasses and subways he has learned to love the city. Now he wants to stay.He also wants a job and roof over his head. He is among the first of a dozen "rough sleepers," as the British call them, handpicked to be the first clients of the Olallo Project, an initiative of the Catholic Church to help shift the European homeless off the streets of London and into legal employment.To Tatar, 30, the project not only means a place to stay and a short-term base from which to apply for work, but it will ensure that he has the right documentation to find a job.For up to eight weeks it will give him the opportunity to improve his English and learn basic skills in such fields as catering and construction to improve his chances of finding paid ...Read More
Mocking Pope in public discussions is not acceptable
Vatican City, Mar. 26, 2009 - Mockery is not acceptable in public discussions, especially when the subject is the pope, said the president of the Italian Catholic bishops' conference.At the same time, India's bishops defended Pope Benedict XVI's leadership of the Catholic Church."We will not accept that the pope, in the media or anywhere else, is mocked or offended," said Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa, opening the spring meeting of the permanent council of the Italian bishops' conference.Cardinal Bagnasco told other members of the council March 23 there has been "a heavy activity of criticism -- from Italy and, especially, from abroad -- regarding our beloved pope."He said the public criticism began in January when the pope lifted the excommunications of four traditionalist bishops belonging to the Society of St. Pius X, including a bishop who denied the extent of the Holocaust, and continued into March when Pope Benedict said the distribution of cond ...Read More
Sister Mary Prema bacame the superior general of Missionaries of Charity
German-born Sister Mary Prema is the new superior general of the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation founded by Blessed Teresa of Kolkata. She is replacing Sister Nirmala Joshi who has led the congregation since 1997, after taking over from its founder.Sister Christie, spokeswoman for the congregation, made the announcement a day before its general chapter was scheduled to end. It began on 1 February at a place some 30 kilometres from Kolkata, headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity.The nuns wanted to re-elect Sister Nirmala to a third term but she requested to be relieved of her duties, citing ill health and a desire to live a contemplative life in the congregation.At the general chapter 163 nuns cast their ballot, 74 from India and the rest from countries where the Missionaries of Charity are present.Along with the new superior general, Sister Joseph was elected as assistant superior general and first councillor. Other councillors include Sist ...Read More
Benedict XVI speaks of prayer for reconciliation and peace
Luanda, March 22, 2009 - Only the light of God can overcome the great "darkness" present in "many parts of our world," the evil represented by wars and tribal violence, but also by the egoism of men who exploit other men, leading to that hedonism which is at the source of escape into drugs, "sexual irresponsibility," destruction of families and innocent human lives through abortion. Benedict XVI today addressed an invitation to reconciliation and hope to all of Africa, from the esplanade of Cimangola, in Luanda, Angola, where a million people gathered to participate in the great celebration that in a certain way concludes the first trip of Benedict XVI to Africa, from where he will depart again tomorrow."Our prayer," he said at the Angelus, "rises today from Angola, from Africa, and embraces the whole world. May the men and women from throughout the world who join us in our prayer, turn their eyes to Africa, to this great Continent so filled with hope, yet so thirsty for just ...Read More
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