More snippets from Italian sources as reported upstairs by Ratzigirl (from whom I am still trying to get proper attribution of the items):
---------------------------------------------------------------

And the '2nd encyclical' report
is said to be wrong


First, it seems that "There has been an official denial of the news circulated today that Benedict XVI is working on a new encyclical about labor during his vacation in Les Combes."

The item does not say who made the denial, and the next statement is about the Pope's excursion today:

apa Ratzigner today, visiting with the Benedictine sisters at Saint-Oyen [presumably those at Chateau Verdan referred to in the earlier story] explained to them his choice of papal name, recalling to them his two homonymous inspirations:

"Benedict XVI tried in vain to get the world powers in his time to avoid the useless carnage of the first world war," he told the sisters, "while St. Benedict of Norcia, whom the Church has declared protector of Europe, had much to do with Western monasticism's role of nurturing the Christianroots of the old continent."

On his return to Les Combes, the Pope said a few words to the journalists who 'lay in wait' for him. Asked to comment on the Middle East situation, he said:

"I find myself in full accordance with the communique from the G8 leaders - I think it shows the way....I have nothing else to add, except the importance of prayer so that God may help us."



However, he did talk to them about his little excursion:
"We were on the Great St. Bernard Pass, where I had a meeting with the dogs, of course! They were 'molto buoni, molto bravi'."

He said that first he had "prayed together with the monks and other people present, and later we had a beautiful get-together in their refectory."

He said he ended his visit to them with a little walk up in those altitudes towards the lake.

He added that "We also visited a convent of Benedictine sisters. There were about 30 of them. We had a beautiful encounter and then we prayed together."
---------------------------------------------------------------

Paparatzifan reports that a local TV news program said the Pope had photographs taken with the St. Bernard dogs. Of course! Who would miss such a photo op?

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 19/07/2006 3.29]

Pope endorses G-8 declaration on Middle East

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI endorsed a Group of Eight declaration that criticized the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah for fueling an escalation in fighting and urged Israel to exercise restraint.

"I find myself in full agreement with the G-8 communique," the pope said July 18 during his vacation in the Alpine village of Les Combes in northern Italy.

He said the statement, issued by the leaders of seven industrialized nations plus Russia at the end of their summit July 17 in St. Petersburg, Russia, seemed to be the path to take to end the violence.

When reporters asked what the international community should do concerning the growing Middle East conflict, the pope said, "I have nothing else to add other than the importance of prayer so that God may help us."

Meanwhile, the head of the Vatican's justice and peace council also lent his support to the G-8 declaration.

Cardinal Renato Martino told Vatican Radio July 18 that G-8 leaders promised to collaborate with the United Nations to help promote dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian leaders and to help fulfill U.N. resolutions 1559 and 1680 that called on all countries, especially neighboring Syria, to fully respect Lebanon's sovereignty and its borders.

The Italian cardinal re-emphasized the seriousness of the situation in the Middle East, underlining the pope's concern for the fate of the region's civilians.

Cardinal Martino said the cycle of violence is to be "repudiated -- both the terrorist acts on the one side and the military retaliation on the other" as they both "constitute a violation of law and of the most basic principles of justice."

He said the world community and especially the United Nations must act immediately to foster "a state of law in the area" and to help jump-start a process of dialogue and peace among warring sides "before the conflict degenerates" and spins out of control.

He cautioned against the potential involvement of countries like Syria and Iran in fueling "Islamic fundamentalist movements like Hamas and Hezbollah." He said the involvement of these countries would further "sour" an ideological conflict already under way and "provoke an even more serious reaction from Israel," adding that any use of weapons of mass destruction or nuclear arms would mark "a tragic page in the history of the human family."

[A little more detail about Papa's hike to Switzerland.]


Pope walks to Switzerland, visits famous Saint Bernard kennel


By Catholic News Service

LES COMBES, Italy (CNS) -- Vacationing in the Alps, Pope Benedict XVI made a brief visit to Switzerland, walking across the Italian border to visit the famed Saint Bernard kennel of an Augustinian monastery.

News of the pope's July 18 excursion came from the pope himself.

Returning to Les Combes, where he has been staying since July 11, Pope Benedict told reporters he had gone first to a convent of Benedictine nuns at Saint-Oyen, Italy.

"We had a lovely meeting with the Benedictine sisters and we prayed together," the pope said. "Then we went to the Great St. Bernard Pass where we prayed vespers with the monks and with the people before having a nice encounter in the refectory."

Meeting the pope shortly after 8 p.m., the reporters asked if he had a chance to visit the kennels where, for more than three centuries, the Augustinians raised Saint Bernard dogs and trained them to assist in mountain rescues.

Smiling, the pope said yes, adding that the dogs "were very good, very brave."

The pope's return to Italy, where his car was waiting, consisted of "a beautiful walk," he said.

Members of the papal entourage told reporters that about 200 tourists were at the Augustinian monastery and were shocked when they saw the pope come out. He stopped to shake hands and to bless children.

The Augustinians had announced in 2004 that they could no longer afford to raise Saint Bernards and were planning to auction off the animals. After a public uproar, particularly because the dogs are an important symbol for local tourism, a Swiss association assumed financial responsibility for the kennel.

Pope Benedict has been spending his mornings inside the Salesian-owned chalet at Les Combes, leading some journalists to report that he is continuing work on a book about Jesus that he began before his election. Others said he was working on a new encyclical on Catholic social teaching, focused on work. Vatican officials would not comment.

Pope makes unexpected visit to Switzerland

Valle d'Aosta, Jul. 19, 2006 (CNA) - Quick, what’s the fifth country to be visited by Pope Benedict XVI during his Pontificate? The correct answer is now Switzerland. After setting foot outside the Vatican to visit Italy, Germany, Poland, and Spain the Holy Father reportedly made a surprise visit to Switzerland, yesterday.

According to Swiss newspaper, Tagesschau, Pope Benedict XVI, who is undertaking a brief vacation period in the northern Italian area of Les Combes until July 28th, has paid a brief visit to the region of Wallis in Switzerland.

The newspaper said that the visit to Swiss territory was so sudden that the President of the county, Moritz Leuenberger, could only send a welcome message, in which he recalled a previous meeting with the Pope.

“Your Holiness, welcome to Switzerland. I hope that you will enjoy being among us, as much as I felt upon my visit to you. With heartfelt wishes, Moritz Leuenberger, President of Switzerland,” the text said.

---

He cautioned against the potential involvement of countries like Syria and Iran in fueling "Islamic fundamentalist movements like Hamas and Hezbollah."

---

What parallel universe is Cardinal Martino inhabiting?

POTENTIAL INVOLVEMENT???? Syria and Iran are in above their heads in the Middle East anti-Israeli doo-doo, have been for years, if not decades! POTENTIAL INVOLVEMENT???? Wake up, Your Eminence, or stop rationalizing in favor of the real no-holds-barred, bred-in-the-bone aggressors who are openly committed to the eradication of Israel from the global geography!

Is this not anti-Semitism as terrible if not worse than the Nazis??? But no one is denouncing this bitter hatred as anti-Semitism, least of all those who jumped all over the Pope for 'failing' to denounce anti-Semitism in Birkenau!

Why do some liberal circles consider it politically correct to be anti-Semitic when the sentiment is directed against the state of Israel and its citizens? Because that is what this amounts to!

Well, I see that today, Sandro Magister chose to write more fully in www.chiesa.espressonline.it/dettaglio.jsp?id=72201&eng=y
about this issue which he broached on his blog yesterday (see post above on SODANO'S PARTISAN DIPLOMACY).
---------------------------------------------------------------
Israel Is Fighting for its Life,
but the Vatican “Deplores”
Departing secretary of state Sodano
is one of the prominent proponents
of the anti-Israeli camp. But there are some
who have a different view on the new war
in Lebanon. An interview with Fr. David Maria Jaeger.

by Sandro Magister


ROMA, July 19, 2006 – The same day during which Benedict XVI invoked Our Lady of Mount Carmel, “the mountain in the Holy Land just a few kilometers from Lebanon, which towers over the Israeli city of Haifa,” it was upon this very city – and upon Nazareth – that rockets were launched by Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite Islamic party that is also an armed extension of Syria and Iran, whose strategic objective is that of wiping Israel out of existence.

The pope prayed to Our Lady of Carmel before the Angelus of Sunday, July 16, from the mountains of Les Combes where he is on vacation.

And after the Angelus, he summarized as follows the Holy See’s view of the war that has been reignited along the Lebanese border:

“At the origin of these devastating confrontations there are, unfortunately, objective situations of the violation of law and justice. But neither terrorist acts nor retaliation can be justified, especially when these come with tragic consequences for the civilian population.”

One gathers from these words that with Benedict XVI, the Vatican’s politics in regard to the state of Israel have not changed substantially. The innovations he has introduced so far concern, instead, the relationship between the two religions, Christianity and Judaism.

Furthermore, it is striking that Benedict XVI is not defending the existence of Israel – which its enemies want to annihilate as the final aim of the conflict underway – with the same explicit, strong determination with which he repeatedly raises his voice in defense of the “non-negotiable” principles concerning human life.

In the one year and three months of his pontificate, the only time when the pope has alluded to the intentions to destroy Israel – particularly as expressed by Iranian president Ahmadinejad – was in this passage of his address to the diplomatic corps on January 9, 2006:

“In the Holy Land, the state of Israel has to be able to exist peacefully in conformity with the norms of international law; there, equally, the Palestinian people has to be able to develop serenely its own democratic institutions for a free and prosperous future.”

The parallel reference to the Palestinian people highlights one of the constant features of the Vatican’s politics in the Holy Land: paying attention to the people more than to the government – and to the Palestinian people more than to the Israelis. This is because the Palestinian people remains without its own rightful state, while the Israeli people does have a state, and defends this by means that the Holy See judges as disproportionate, punitive toward the civilian population, and disrespectful of the norms of international law.

Moreover, in recent days the conflict has brought back to center stage the drama of Lebanon and of the Lebanese Christians, who are destined to pay a very high price. The desire to protect Christian Lebanon explains the particular prudence toward Syria and Iran adopted by the Holy See in recent years.

These constant features of Vatican geopolitics all appear in the “declaration” released on July 14 by cardinal Angelo Sodano, the departing secretary of state:

“As in the past, the Holy See also condemns both the terrorist attacks of the one and the military retaliation of the other. In fact, the right of a state to defend itself does not exempt it from respecting the norms of international law, especially in those matters concerning the protection of the civilian population. In particular, the Holy See deplores the attack on Lebanon, a free and sovereign nation, and confirms its closeness to the people of Lebanon, who have already suffered so much in the defense of their independence.”

In comparison with the words pronounced by Benedict XVI at the Angelus two days later, one notes in this declaration from Sodano a more unbalanced position against Israel, which is given almost the entire weight of responsibility for the extension of the conflict into Lebanon.

But this is not a surprise, coming from Sodano. The anti-Israeli party that is active in the curia has always had him as one of their leading proponents.

Further proof is found in the enthusiasm with which the official Hezbollah radio and television outlet, “Al Manar,” greeted the July 14 declaration from Sodano, taking it as the position of pope Benedict XVI, “a defender of human rights and a model of sanctity.”

One year ago, Sodano put Benedict XVI in even worse light in respect to Israel, preparing for him to read at the July 24 Angelus – which also took place during his summer vacation – an admonition against the terrorist acts carried out over the preceding days, “in various countries like Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, Great Britain,” but omitting reference to the bloody attack carried out in Netanya on July 12.

The following day, Israel’s foreign minister called in the Vatican nuncio, Pietro Sambi, in order to present him with a note of protest. One of the minister’s aides also released an outraged comment to the press. The Holy See’s press office responded with a resentful note of its own, accompanied by a lengthier document.

The note justified the silence over the attack in Netanya as follows:

“It has not always been possible to follow every attack against Israel with a public declaration of condemnation, and this for a variety of reasons, including the fact that attacks against Israel have sometimes been followed by immediate Israeli reactions that have not always been compatible with the norms of international law. So it would have been impossible to have condemned the former while passing in silence over the latter.”

In order to smooth things over, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon intervened personally with Sodano. The Vatican secretary of state admitted that the omission of Israel from among the countries that had been the victims of terrorism had been “an unintentional oversight.” And he dismissed as “somewhat inappropriate statements from Navarro-Valls” the note that had been released by the Vatican press office. This, at least, was what was reported by “Corriere della Sera” in an August 26 article based upon Israeli diplomatic sources.

The controversy with Israel ended here. But it continued within the walls of the Vatican. The director of the press office, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, struck back at Sodano and told “Corriere della Sera” on August 28: “I did not write the note myself, nor was it read to me.” He had been traveling with the pope, who was returning from vacation, “when that declaration was published by the secretariat of state.”

It will be interesting to see whether, and by how much, the new secretary of state chosen by Benedict XVI, cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, will correct the anti-Israeli stance of his predecessor.

In particular, it will be interesting to see whether, with the new secretary of state and the new foreign minister, the representatives of an approach more understanding toward Israel’s motives will gain greater influence in the Vatican.

One of these is Franciscan Fr. David Maria Jaeger, Jewish by birth and an Israeli citizen, an expert in international law and for many years the Holy See’s chief negotiator with the Israeli authorities.

This is how Fr. Jaeger evaluated the conflict now in progress, in a July 15 interview with Daniele Rocchi of “Incroci News,” the online weekly of the archdiocese of Milan:


“Painful but measured reactions”
An interview with Fr. David Maria Jaeger


What will be the consequences of opening the Lebanese front for the difficult situation in the region?
AWe are witnessing a qualitative escalation of severity. Israel maintains that it has been attacked, not merely by the militant organization Hezbollah, but by the state of Lebanon itself, and has decided to respond on the basis of this assessment.

It is not without reasons in support of its view: Hezbollah – Israel stresses – is an integral part of Lebanon’s institutions, including the parliament and the executive branch of government. Furthermore, Lebanon has decided not to take control of its southern region bordering Israel, and has in effect handed it over to Hezbollah.

The UN, the United States, and Europe have repeatedly appealed, in vain, for the state of Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah, which is financed and supplied by Iran, and to take back control of the south.

Now – the Israelis say – if Lebanon does not decide, in these extreme circumstances, to assert its sovereignty over this armed organization at the service of a foreign state dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state, Lebanon risks seeing all of its laborious, costly, and promising work of reconstruction over the last twenty years come to nothing.

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, who has roots among the right-wing nationalists, seems to be the only moderate voice, promising painful but measured reactions.

Who will have to give in?
The Palestinians. They are the big losers in Hezbollah’s war initiative, which has turned attention away from the humanitarian emergency in Gaza and may have derailed the semi-secret negotiations aimed not only at the release of corporal Gilad Shalit, but also at a general cease-fire in the Gaza strip and its surroundings, at the release of an undisclosed number of Palestinian detainees, and at some modest letup in the tensions.

In any case, even if at the end of the current umpteenth armed confrontation on multiple fronts there were a release of Palestinian detainees in exchange for the captured Israeli soldiers, the credit would be claimed by Hezbollah, and not by the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

No one has more to lose than Hamas, which hoped that by freeing its prisoners it would increase its popularity among Palestinians, and instead risks being outmaneuvered and overshadowed by even more militant groups.

What can Palestinian president Abu Mazen do?
President Abu Mazen seems to have been reduced almost to the point of utter powerlessness. It is true that he still commands some rather impressive security forces, which he has simply abstained from mobilizing.

But there is no doubt that, especially for him, the idea of the voluntary disbanding of the Palestinian National Authority is very appealing.

In essence, the PNA was created by the Oslo accords as an interim body for the temporary administration of some of the portions of the occupied territories, in expectation of a definitive peace agreement between Israel and Palestine, which was first projected for 1999 and then moved back to 2000.

Declaring the end of the PNA would, moreover, remove the obstacle of the ambiguous relationship between the PLO – the Palestinian Liberation Organization – and the PNA, and would fully restore to the PLO its formal but defunct role as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people on the international stage, a competency recognized by all, including by Israel since 1993.

The self-disbanding of the PNA would also deprive Hamas’ recent electoral victory of its formal significance, and would exert enormous pressure upon Israel to resume peace negotiations with Abu Mazen and the PLO, which he heads.

Do you think a cease-fire is possible at this point?
A cease-fire is always possible, and they have always come in the history of this many-faceted conflict. But the only real way out is peace, which requires, as the pope said at the Angelus on June 29, not only the good will of the national governments concerned, but also the generous contribution of the international community.

It is now more than ever up to the latter to swing into action, to work wisely and untiringly to accompany these sorely tried nations along the road to a just and lasting peace.

---------------------------------------------------------------

ROME (AFP)
Pope Benedict XVI has called for a day of prayer on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire in the Middle East conflict, the
Vatican said, adding that the pontiff had expressed "great concern" over the continuing violence.

The pope earmarked next Sunday as "a special day of prayer and penitence" to "implore God for the precious gift of peace", the Vatican statement released Thursday said.

Benedict called on the faithful of "all Churches" to offer prayers "for the immediate ceasfire between the parties, the immediate installation of humanitarian corridors to allow aid to be brought to the suffering populations and to then initiate reasonable and responsible negotiations."

"The Lebanese people have the right to see the integrity and sovereignty of their country respected, the Israelis have the right to live in peace in their state and the Palestinians have the right to have their own free and sovereign state," the statement added.

The 79-year-old German pontiff, currently holidaying in the Italian Alps, also called on humanitarian and charitable organisations "to help all the populations hit by this pitiless conflict."

VATICAN CITY, JULY 20, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is the communiqué issued today by the Vatican press office on the worsening situation in the Middle East.
--------------------------------------------------------------

The Holy Father is following with great concern the destinies of all the peoples involved and has proclaimed this Sunday, July 23, as a special day of prayer and penance, inviting the pastors and faithful of all the particular Churches, and all believers of the world, to implore from God the precious gift of peace.

In particular, the Supreme Pontiff hopes that prayers will be raised to the Lord for an immediate cease-fire between the sides, for humanitarian corridors to be opened in order to bring help to the suffering peoples, and for reasonable and responsible negotiations to begin to put an end to objective situations of injustice that exist in that region, as already indicated by Pope Benedict XVI at the Angelus last Sunday, July 16.

In reality, the Lebanese have the right to see the integrity and sovereignty of their country respected, the Israelis, the right to live in peace in their state, and the Palestinians have the right to have their own free and sovereign homeland.

At this sorrowful moment, His Holiness also makes an appeal to charitable organizations to help all the people struck by this pitiless conflict.

[Translation of the Italian original by the Vatican Information Service.]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 21/07/2006 14.32]

Ratzigirl posted an ASCA (Italian news agency) report based on a July 7 message sent by Pope Benedict XVI to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and made public today by the Vatican press office.
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A strong appeal by Benedict XVI to governments that they may safeguard the ecological balance of the Amazon region in Brazil is contained in a message he sent to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I on the occasion of the weeklong sixth symposium on "The Amazon River, Spring of Life" which ended today in Brazil.

The symposium is one of the events in a bigger project called "Religion, science and the environment" promoted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in the declaration of which John Paul II was a signatory in 2002.

This symposium was organized by the Patriarchate and its permanent committee on religion, science and trhe environment, in close cooperation with the Catholic bishops of Brazil.

In his general audience on July 5, the Pope referred to the symposium on the Amazon, expressing the hope that "the important initiative promoted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate" mayt inspire "an ever greater respect for nature which has been entrusted by God to man's industrious and responsible hands."

The Pope sent his message to Patriarch Bartholomew through Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, who represented him at the symposium.

"I earnestly hope, Holiness," wrote the Pope, "that the sixth symposium dedicated to the Amazon River will once more call the attention of peoples and governments on the problems, the needs and the urgencies in a region so tried and threatened in its ecological balance: the river and its tributaries and its forests, in their beauty and awesome immensity, speak to us of God and his grandiose work for the benefit of mankind."

"This immense region, whose waters constitute an unequalled source of harmony and riches, is an open book whose pages reveal the mystery of life. How can we not feel ourselves called upon, as individuals and as a community, to a responsible awareness that translates into consistent decisions to protect an environment that is so ecologically rich?

"With this symposium, Your Holiness has wished to express - beyond any other consideration, of which there would be many - Christian support for the peoples of the Amazon region, a support that flows, without question, from the contemplation of the eternal Word of God, author, model and end of all things."

The Pope renewed his adherence "to the values of which the Symposium is the bearer."

"I see in our common commitment an example of that collaboration that Orthodox Christians and Catholics should constantly seek in response to an appeal for our common testimony. This assumes that all Christians cultivate in their being that openness of spirit dictated by charity and which has its root in our faith."

In this way, he said, Christians together "can offer the world a credible testimony of their sense of responsiblity" for the protection of creation. Important personalities and experts from the great monotheistic religions are particiapnts in this 6th Symposium dedicated to the Amazon, and their presence is important because of the practical objectives for the survival of man that can and should unite all men of good will."
-------------------------------------------------------------

I will post a full translation of thE Pope's message in HOMILIES, MESSAGES, DISCOURSES.

From an Italian news agency story posted by Ratzigirl last night (the story led off with a recap of the Pope's appeal for a worldwide day of prayer and penitence tomorrow, Sunday, for peace in the Middle East):

....This evening (July 21), after a walk in the area of Buillet, the Pope spoke to journalists briefly and said he hoped that Jews and Muslims would join in tomorrow's prayer for peace.

"I find this resonates greatly throughout the world - it is an important gesture, a gesture before God but something that men can perceive, even politicians," he commented.

"We are not encroaching into politics here, although we would do everything for peace. Our objective is simply peace and we support everything that can help lead to peace."

On the speculations about what he may be writing in Les Combes, such as a social encyclical, or a theological compendium on Jesus, the Pope explained, with some irony, the discretion observed in this matter.

"I am trying to write a book." he said, "but it is better not to talk about it. One must be cautious when one is attempting something, because it may not go through at all."

The Pope is known to have started writing a book about Jesus before he was elected.

Despite the fact that rain was starting to fall on his return from his afternoon excursion, the Pope also accommodated some pilgrims who had waited to catch a glimpse of him. He shook hands and posed for pictures with them.

"I had a beautiful walk," he told them, "and seeing all this beauty that the Lord gives us, enjoying the calm here, I feel even more strongly for the suffering of so many people elsewhere."

P.S. And Sylvie has the pictures-

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 22/07/2006 17.55]

Here is a more formal version of the story above in today's issue of Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishop's conference:

By Salvatore Mazza

The world day of prayer and penitence tomorrow for the Middle East is "a gesture before God perceived also by humans, and I hope, including politicians."

The opening of a humanitarian 'corridor' through Lebanon is "I think, already a positive fact, and I hope a truce can follow soon."

Thus did Benedict XVI give voice once more to his anguish and hopes regarding the dramatic events in the Middle East.

He spoke to journalists yesterday evening upon returning from a walk in the Sorressamont locality, along the wooded path going through the communes of Introd and Rheme St-George in the Gran Paradiso national park.

"A very beautiful place, indeed," the Pope said, "and seeing all this beauty that the Lord gives us, enjoying the calm here, I feel even more strongly for the suffering of so many people elsewhere."

Thus, the Pope, said, replying to newsmen's questions, the world day of prayer tomorrow is "an invitation to all who can and wish to pray," and of course, "even Muslims and Jews are invited."

To a question on whether he has received any answers to his initiative, he said: "I am a bit 'enclosed' here, but from what I can see, a gesture of this kind was expected from me."

Therefore, prayer rather than a direct initiative by the Holy See, since "I believe that such initiatives are better left to diplomacy. We are not encroaching into politics here, although we would do everything for peace. Our objective is simply peace and we support everything that can help lead to peace."

However, the Pope stressed, the Holy See is in constant touch with the Christian communities in the Holy Land: "I have heard principally from Lebanon, where they have asked our assistance as they have asked the Italian government, and we are doing this with our prayers and with the resources that the Church has in Lebanon."

Unusually extensive comments from the Pope which say everything about how closely he has been following the Middle East situation during his vacation. Thus, the announcement yesterday of the World Prayer for peace on Sunday was not a surprise to anyone here.

Even before the strong appeal for peace that he expressed during his Angelus message last Sunday, the Pope had already told newsmen, in an earlier encounter, the urgency of "prayer and hope" so that "everyone may stop the violence."

That day, July 14, the Pope returned from a visit to the Carmelite monastery at nearby Quart, where he spoke to the nuns about the Middle East hostilities, and specifically asked them to pray to the Lord to end "this suffering in the Middle East and in other parts of the world."

"We know that today," he told the nuns, "mankind suffers from violence, especially in the Holy Land, in Lebanon and other parts of the world."

In his Angelus message on Sunday, he expressed his personal concern over "the violations of rights and of justice" in the Middle East, adding that nevertheless, these did not justify terrorism nor reprisals for terrorism.

He added that against "further widening of bellicose actions," governments concerned should find "the way of reason" as well as "new possibilities of dialog and intentions."

The same concepts were expressed in the communique issued by the Vatican last Thursday, which also contained the Pope's appeal for an immediate ceasefire and stated the right to security of Israelis, Lebanese and Palestinians alike.

Upon returning from a visit to two other monasteries Wednesday night, the Pope was asked by newsmen what he thought the international community should do about the Middle East conflict. He replied that he was "fully in agreement with the communique issued by the G8 leaders [after their summit in St. Petersburg], which seems to me, indicates the right path."

At the newsmen's insistence, he said: "I have nothing to add, except to stress the importance of prayer that God may help us and give us peace."

Everyone looks forward to the Pope's message at the Angelus tomorrow. The Mass which will precede the noon prayer will be dedicated to the Pope's request for 'prayer and penitence."

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 23/07/2006 6.09]

That journalists treat the Pope as a politician like all other heads of state they are used to covering is obvious from the questions they have asked him about the Middle East situation every chance they can get these past two weeks. They don't know any better unfortunately.

A Vatican correspondent writes his take about Benedict's 'politics' compared to...yes, who else but his predecessor? Here is a translation of the item contributed upstairs by Eugenia, who did not identify the newspaper it came from. I will attribute the item properly when I get the information.

Afterwards, I will post a translation of an article written by Mons. Rino Fisichella, Auxiliary Bishop of Rome, who explains why the Pope must not be treated like a politician.
---------------------------------------------------------------

By Gianni Baget Bozzo

Pope Benedict XVI is the perfect follow-up to John Paul II – as well as the perfect difference. He maintains the doctrine, but has changed the style.

Papa Wojtyla felt the need to involve the Church directly in history-in-the-making, as it were. This followed the impetus of Vatican-II which called for an active relationship between faith and history, faith and politics.

Thus, Wojytla, a man of excessus – of the Church exceeding itself [compared to what it has previously done] to become the voice of freedom and peace in all the languages of the world, made the Papacy assume that role in history that progressive theologians wanted to assure to themselves, and made possible a resumption of the authoritativeness of the Holy See and the tradition of the Catholic Church.

This visibility led John Paul II to many singular gestures, from visiting mosques, to asking for pardon [for offenses committed against other religions by Catholics in the past], to visiting the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.

Benedict XVI has clearly chosen to focus the Church on itself, on its spiritual and interior life. With him, the Church renounces too much public exposure, and the Holy See places itself at the limits of politics, and will not enter it.

If John Paul II had visited Spain after the Zapatero tsunami, when the state has reached a point where it can teach in schools an equivalence between traditional marriage and homosexual unions, he would have spoken out.

Benedict XVI was silent [Teresa's note: But this is flatly wrong: all accounts said he did state to Zapatero the Church’s objection to homosexual unions and other anti-family measures taken by his government!], he has left this task [open opposition] to the Spanish bishops, and restricted his actions [in Spain] to diplomatic language.

The nomination of Cardinal Bertone to become Secretary of State – a Salesian priest who has never been a diplomat – indicates this Pope’s focus on spiritual reform of the Church.
---------------------------------------------------------------

Which is not saying, of course, that this Pope will not speak out for what is doctrinally, morally and ethically right about important political and social issues of the day!


P.S. 7/24/06
I must apologize. It appears that the article by Bozzo as posted by Eugenia earlier and as translated above was incomplete. It did strike me as dangling. Ratzigirl has just posted the full article, so here is the rest of the translation, which carries the writer's argument forward more substantially.

Continuing from the last statement about Bertone where the above translation left off-

Because of this, the Pope presumably is ignoring the question of Israel even though it is in the midst of an attack which seeks its destruction. This the thesis maintained in Corriere della Sera by Alberto Melloni, an emerging figure in Church progressivism, spokesman for the Bologna Center directed by Giuseppe Alberigo. When the TV screens are showing rocket attacks on Haifa, he points out, they are also showing the Pope playing the piano.

Has the Church position on Israel changed? Are the Vatican statements denouncing the Lebanese Katiusha attacks as well as the Israel military counter operation on the same level insufficient?

Melloni acknowledges that the Vatican statements correspond to the Pope's style but considers it a marginalization of the Papacy with respect to history, and that this indirect and muted involvement constitutes a change of position. That the Pope expresses his support of Israel in minor mode, he ignores.

Returning the Church's role in world affairs to an older style, almost pre-conciliar means that the Church takes a stand about conflicts but does not become part of the conflicts themselves. That post-conciliar stage which underlined the role of the Church in world history almost by dissolving them together, is over.

And the Bologna Center, leading advocate of the so-called 'spirit of Vatican-II', which has reconstructed the Vatican Council according to its own criteria in a most partial manner, feels that Papa Ratzinger is getting away from Vatican-II. That he is focusing the Church on itself. And that he supports Israel in a way that shows the impartiality of the Holy See.

Melloni sees "a Pope who is alone and a people who stand alone." Benedict XVI certainly does not seem alone and his style has earned high consensus within the Church. Nor is Israel alone, so much so that it can proceed with its present radical actions in Lebanon with a rather wide international consensus.

The Pope knows very well that Israel's very existence is threatened, but he also sees that Lebanon is once again being destroyed in fact.

The Pope is as close to Israel as someone can be who is bringing the Church into an ecclesiastical space and wishes to show the world that the essence of its testimony in the world is not political action.

Benedict XVI is bringing the Church back to itself after the great adventure of Vatican II and the past 40 post-conciliar years.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 29/07/2006 5.13]

Here is a translation of an article written by Monsignor Rino Fisichella, auxiliary Bishop of Rome, in today's issue of Corriere della Sera, as a direct answer to an article written two days ago in the same newspaper by one of their resident commentarists, Alberto Melloni, who, in effect, accused the Pope of playing the piano while Lebanon burns!

The good bishop starts out a bit tediously, and this is reflected in my awkward translation of some concepts that are not clearly expressed. Fisichella's direct defense of the Pope is, by contrast, clear and straightforward.
--------------------------------------------------------------

By RINO FISICHELLA


… Recent events, with the drama surrounding them, show quite obviously how much the Pope’s position is followed by the most important and influential diplomats on the world scene, as has been the case in recent history.

To place this role under discussion or to restrict it purely to a question of political debate that falls into some kind of personalism, entails the risk of failing to show the true reasons behind any actions of the Church nor the influence that its actions can have on events.

There are aspects that often escape analysts, even those who are most attentive and punctilious, simply because they fail to consider the nature of the stand that the Church must take on certain issues and the context in which such a stand is made.

The Pope is not a political person but a witness of faith, the Catholic faith. Not to recognize the priority of this fact is to isolate his person and his function to make them simply instruments of political action. And that cannot be.

Certainly, it may appear ingenuous to a non-believer that, confronted with images of war and accounts of violence, the Pope should respond above all by asking for prayer.

But for us Christians, prayer is the winning weapon because we believe that peace is not simply the absence of war nor maintaining a neutral equidistance [from conflicting positions] in order to arrive at fragile and precarious political equilibrium, but a conversion of the heart and mind, a capacity to acknowledge the other side, whoever it is, as a brother and not as an antagonist.

Ingenuousness? Perhaps, but that is the way the Church thinks, the way it has always acted, and history has always shown us right in this respect. The way to follow is not that of violence by whoever wants to impose his own viewpoint, but must be the courage to listen to the other side.

This could lead to political action, especially at times when the call is strongest to calm down not just individuals but entire peoples and nations. But politics is not the only way to do this. It is one of so many ways which should be pursued along with diplomacy, with personal relationships among government leaders, with mediation efforts that can result in decisions taken on by competent international institutions.

In the context of general uncertainty in the international community, which is unable to assume unified and consistent actions because of the different interests that govern every government involved, it is ingenuous, to say the least, to lay responsibility on the Catholic Church and the Pope to ‘stand guard’ as it were, in the interests of peace .

It is not a question of taking a stand in the face of the fact of war and violence in which innocent people are usually victims. In truth, it is not even a question of questioning ‘normal’ human actions or structural choices that may appear disastrous to others though highly innovative to its proponents.


The Pope reaches out to the faithful after coming back from
a walk in the mountains yesterday.

From this point of view, whoever has eyes to see and ears to listen will know that from the start, the voice of Benedict XVI has been strong, clear and unequivocal [about conflicts in the Middle East] .

Between defensive action that each government must take to safeguard its own people and the attacks of various terrorist groups who have the common denominator of not recognizing Israel, that voice has been raised in favor of the Jewish people. This Pope has given repeated signs of this from the very start – solid rapport with the Jews, mutual respect and reciprocal trust.

There may be differences in judgment over instruments and measures taken – and these differences may not only be legitimate but also obligatory. That is why the Pope always maintains the primacy of Christian doctrine before any political exigencies – therefore, that the objective must always be the protection of innocent lives, so that the validity of defensive actions may be in proportion to the expected benefits without causing more grave and perhaps irreparable damage.

The people of Israel, Palestine and Lebanon must coexist in accordance with mature democratic processes that these nations have achieved, but it should be equally clear that collaboration with any terrorist group cannot be further tolerated.

Absent the will to denounce terrorism, to give concrete signs that terrorists are being marginalized, and if this does not involve all parties concerned – from the United Nations to the Conference of Arab States, from Europe to the USA – then it will continue to be one side laying the responsibility for hostilities on the other.

In this case, laying blame for inaction on the head of the Catholic Church just because the newspapers happened to show a picture of him playing the piano while on vacation is equivalent to finding a facile excuse to give a general absolution to everyone else on this issue!

To describe Joseph Ratzinger as unqualified in political matters can only make us smile and shake our heads at the bias in such judgment and the ingenuousness of who says so. The lucidity and profoundness of his analyses are open to anyone who can read and understand what he has written in decades of philosophic and theological activity.

Benedict XVI a solitary man? Of course, in certain moments, he is alone before God, and it is as such that he must take the most important decisions which affect the lives of hundreds of millions of believers and which will make his choices weigh in the history of the Church.

But he will never be a person wrapped in the sadness of solitude. His person and his life belong to a people who will never let him be alone and who will never let him feel alone.

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I am surprised Mons. Fisichella fails to point out something the Pope always says: that if one has Christ for a friend, one is never alone; that whoever believes is never alone! And that to picture the Pope as a sad and isolated person is to refuse the evidence of the senses when one sees the obvious joy he has in interacting with anyone he meets, when one considers how he himself embodies the sense of 'joy in being Christian', i.e., the true and genuine joie de vivre.

P.S. The Melloni article in Corriere della Sera was so absurd I decided against translating it and limited myself to commenting on it after it was posted in the Italian section - saying Mr. Melloni wrote his piece without reading the news or chose to ignore the news in accusing the Pope of playing the piano while the Middle East burns, because the piece came out after a succession of comments the Pope had made on the Middle East situation and on the very day the Pope called for a World Day of Prayer for the Middle East. But now that it has been partly answered, I will do a translation and post it here later.

I say 'partly answered' because Mr. Melloni's absurd piece was entitled "The Two Solitudes" in its literal translation, which does not convey the sense in which he meant it. He was saying in effect that 1) Israel stands alone in its present crisis as it has always stood alone (for Mr. Melloni and his fellow liberals, having the United States as Israel's constant and unfailing ally and supporter since it was created in 1948 apparently does not count! plus, he is ignoring the news that even in the Arab League meetings following the outbreak of the Lebanon crisis, Arab countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan led in condemning Hezbollah for provoking this crisis); just as 2) Benedict stands alone in almost everything he does because he is politically clueless and he has no reliable diplomatic advisers - hence, his 'inaction' on the Middle East crisis - and is basically an isolated, lonely person. Enough to make one apoplectic, right?

You may see why I think Mons. Fisichella's piece is not the best answer one can make to such baloney if one were to answer it at all.

Actually, the editor-in-chief of Avvenire came out with an editorial also partially answering Melloni the following day, saying "enough of these vulgarities which are belied by reality". The last line of my comment in Italian the night before was "enough of these so-called intellectual analyses consisting of vain conceits which are belied by reality."

Melloni, by the way, is one of the leaders of the so-called Bologna school which insists on interpreting Vatican-II as a complete rupture from the tradition of the Catholic Church, etc. He recently wrote a book about the first year of Benedict's Papacy which one reviewer interpreted as a grasping-at-straws attempt to deny that the 'hermeneutics of discontinuity' preached by the Bologna school is on its dying legs thanks to Benedict becoming Pope. .

P.P.S. Considering that Monsignore Fisichella is known to be one of the men close to Pope Benedict XVI - in fact, his name had been mentioned in the list of possible Curial nominations, including that of Secretary of State or Vicar of St. Peter's or Press Office Director, over the past months - perhaps it is not unreasonable to think that he is giving voice to some statements that the Pope himself, beause he is Pope and cannot (and should not) make directly political statements, would have made if he could. [Benedict may not need an official spokesman at all, but 'unofficial' spokesmen have their uses at times.]

At the very least, it is unlikely that Fisichella would have written a front-page article on the most sensitive topical issue of the day without having cleared it with the Pope. One can only commend all parties concerned for the promptness of the response and rejoinder to Melloni. It shows media savvy.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/07/2006 13.22]

Here is a translation of a communique issued by the Vatican Press Office Saturday morning:

Seeing the prolongation of the conflict in the Middle East and the serious suffering experienced by the affected population, the Pontifical Council Cor Unum wishes to manifest in the name of the Holy Father its closeness to those who are suffering by sending initial assistance to support the resettlement of thousands who have been displaced.

This assistance is directed to a project promoted by Caritas Libano, the Custody of the Holy Land, the AVSI Foundation and other organizations present in the affected territory, to provide materials to the refugee centers in terms of mattresses, blankets, potable water, food kits, hygienic kits and medicines.

Cor Unum takes on the Pope's concern by launching the appeal for a world day of prayer and fasting designated by Benedict XVI for July 23, and requ4esting all charitable organizations to help all the peoples "struck by this merciless conflict."

Donations for this special fund-raising may be sent to:

Postal Account N. 603035
to the Pontificio Consiglio COR UNUM - For Lebanon

or to

Banca di Roma Account No. 101010
ABI 3002 CAB 5008 (from abroad: SWIFT: BROMIT)
llikewise to the Pontificio Consiglio COR UNUM - For Lebanon

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 23/07/2006 7.15]

Les Combes (AsiaNews) – An immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, humanitarian corridors for aid delivery to the population, starting negotiations for the “right of the Lebanese to the integrity and sovereignty of their country, the right of Israelis to live in peace in their state and the right of Palestinians to have a free and sovereign homeland.”

Benedict XVI today reaffirmed the principles which the Holy See believes should underpin resolutions to finally end the conflict that has periodically flared up in the Middle East since 1948, when the state of Israel was born.

This Sunday was dedicated to prayer and penance by the pope on Thursday to “implore God for the precious gift of peace” in the Middle East.

“I forcefully renew my appeal to parties in the conflict to immediately reach a ceasefire and to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid and to search for ways to resume negotiations with the support of the international community,” he said today.

The pope was addressing a crowd of around 10,000 people who filled the lawn opposite the small villa of Les Combes, where he has been on vacation since Tuesday 11 July. Among those present was a German language choir coming from a small linguistic enclave in Valle d’Aosta and the “Little Angels”, a children’s choir that performed at the opening of the Winter Olympics in Torino. They left Lodi at 5am this morning to come to sing for the pope, resplendent in their red tops.

Benedict XVI recalled that he had called this day of prayer because of “the aggravated situation in the Middle East”. He said: “I offer to God a heartfelt prayer so that the peace aspiration of the overwhelming majority of the population may be realized as soon as possible, thanks to the shared commitment of leaders. I renew my appeal to all charitable organizations to take concrete expressions of common solidarity to these peoples.”

He continued: “I take this opportunity to reaffirm the right of the Lebanese to the integrity and sovereignty of their country, the right of Israelis to live in peace in their state and the right of Palestinians to have a free and sovereign homeland.

"I am especially close to the defenceless civilian populations unjustly struck in a conflict of which they are but victims: both those in Galilee forced to live in shelters and the large multitude of Lebanese people who, once again, are seeing their country being destroyed and who must leave everything to search for safety elsewhere.”

He added: “I entrust all humanity to divine love, while urging everyone to pray so that the beloved peoples of the Middle East may be capable of leaving the path of armed conflict to build, with the bravery of dialogue, a lasting and just peace. Mary, Queen of peace, pray for us!”

After the Angelus, he repeated in English: “Let us remember in our prayers those less fortunate, especially those who are suffering at this time as a result of the tragic conflicts in the Middle East.”

The pope also recalled that yesterday “we celebrated the liturgical commemoration of St Mary Magdalen, disciple of the Lord, who occupies a foremost place in the Gospels. St Luke included her among the women who followed Jesus after having been ‘cured of evil spirits and infirmities’, specifying that ‘seven demons had gone out’ of her (Lk 8:2).

From ALL THINGS CATHOLIC for 7/21/06, on
nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/

The Vatican responds
to crisis in Lebanon
By John L. Allen Jr.


Even when leaders aren’t looking to make news, sometimes the news finds them. Such was the case this week for Benedict XVI, whose plan to spend a quiet few days of vacation in Valle d’Aosta was thrown a curve when he found himself drawn in on the margins of the expanding conflict in Lebanon.

In the peaks and valleys that seem always to characterize the relationship between the Vatican and Israel, and between the Catholic church and Judaism, this episode so far represents another valley.

On July 14, the Vatican’s outgoing Secretary of State, Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, commented on the clashes between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon on Vatican Radio. While denouncing terrorism, Sodano also said the Holy See “deplored” the Israeli incursion into Lebanon, a “free and sovereign nation,” as well as “a people which has already suffered for the defense of its independence.”

“Defense by a state is not exempt from abidance by the norms of international law, especially as regards the safeguarding of civilian populations,” Sodano added, in a clear reference to the Israeli offensive, stressing that “it seems clear that the only way to find a way out of the powder-keg is the path of sincere dialogue between the sides involved.”

As if to underline Sodano’s argument, the Holy See Press Office issued his comments as an official declaration. An official Hezbollah radio station rebroadcast Sodano’s statement that day.

Two days later, Benedict XVI spoke on the crisis during his Sunday Angelus address, lamenting civilian casualties in the Holy Land and appealing to leaders to “return to the path of reason … opening new possibilities for dialogue and understanding.”

“In recent days, the news from the Holy Land are a cause of new and grave concern for all, in particular the extension of armed conflict into Lebanon, and for the numerous civilian victims,” the pope said.

“At the origin of so many bitter conflicts are, unfortunately, objective situations of the violation of law and of justice. Neither terrorist acts nor reprisals, above all when there are tragic consequences for civilian populations, can be justified. On this path, as bitter experience demonstrates, positive results cannot be achieved.”

Benedict noted that Sunday was the feast day of the Madonna of Carmel, a mountain in the Holy Land, which dominates Haifa, “which has also been hit,” and is a few kilometers from Lebanon. He urged local churches to pray especially for peace in the Holy Land and throughout the Middle East.

Lebanon has a large Maronite Catholic population.

This “on the one hand, on the other hand” style of Vatican statements on the Middle East, criticizing both terrorist actions by groups such as Hezbollah as well as the inevitable Israeli response, has long irritated Israelis and Jewish leaders, who see an implicit moral equivalence between terrorism and legitimate self-defense. Privately, they often suggest that the Vatican’s judgment may be influenced by local church leaders in the Middle East, who are generally Arab and often fiercely pro-Palestinian.

On background, Vatican diplomats respond that they would have little objection to carefully targeted strikes against terrorists, but they cannot condone seemingly indiscriminate attacks that produce significant civilian casualties. Moreover, they argue, military solutions will not produce a lasting peace until a just solution is offered to the Palestinian problem.

On July 17, the Anti-Defamation League in the United States issued a press release calling the Vatican statements on the conflict “terribly one-sided and short-sighted.”

“The Vatican continues to be mired in a false paradigm that equates, on the one side, terrorist actions by Islamist extremists who view both Jews and Christians as infidels and seek Israel’s destruction with, on the other side, Israel’s right to defend itself and eliminate the ongoing and growing threats to its citizens,” the press release asserted.

“We call on the Holy See to reconsider its position in this time of crisis and stand up for Israel which is being forced to fight a war for survival on two borders,” the statement said.

Israeli officials told NCR they largely agree with the ADL’s criticism.

It should be noted, however, that it wasn’t just Jewish sources objecting to the comments from Sodano and the pope.

Speaking on Fox News July 16, Col. David Hunt, an American expert on counter-terrorism, called the statements “outrageous,” saying the Vatican “is not losing any soldiers.”

“Let them talk all they want,” he said. “Look at the moral imperative after the Israeli soldiers can come back. But they’ve got the right to help their soldiers.”

Aside from the rights and wrongs, this background may help explain why senior Israeli officials have been ambivalent about resolving the long-running financial and legal disputes over the status of church-affiliated institutions in the country. It also makes Benedict’s projected 2007 trip to Israel all the more interesting, lending it a political and diplomatic subtext beyond its obvious significance in terms of Jewish-Christian relations.

On July 20, the Holy See Press Office issued a declaration on the Lebanon crisis.

“Facing the aggravation of the situation in the Middle East, the Press Office of the Holy See has been authorized to communicate the following:

"The Holy Father is following the fate of all the populations involved with great concern, and has indicated the next Sunday, July 23, as a special day of prayer and penance, inviting pastors and faithful of all the particular churches as well as all believers in the world to implore God for the precious gift of peace.

"In particular, the Supreme Pontiff hopes that prayer will be raised to the Lord for an immediate cease-fire between the parties, that humanitarian corridors will immediately be created to bring help to the suffering populations, and that rational and responsible negotiations will begin for bringing an end to the objective situations of injustice which exist in that region, as already indicated by Pope Benedict XVI in his Angelus of last Sunday, the 16th of this month.

"In reality, the Lebanese have the right to see the integrity and sovereignty of their country respected, the Israelis have the right to live in peace in their state, and the Palestinians have the right to have a free and sovereign nation.

"In this painful moment, His Holiness addresses an appeal to charitable organizations to help all the populations struck by this bitter conflict.”

Benedict made one further comment on the crisis in Lebanon during brief remarks to reporters on July 18, endorsing a G-8 statement that that criticized the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah for fueling an escalation in fighting and urged Israel to exercise restraint.

“I find myself in full agreement with the G-8 communique,” he said.

Meanwhile, Italian Cardinal Renato Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said on the same day that the violence is to be “repudiated, both the terrorist acts on the one side and the military retaliation on the other,” as they “constitute a violation of law and of the most basic principles of justice.”

Martino also warned that any use of weapons of mass destruction would represent “a tragic page in the history of the human family.”

As a footnote, on Monday Benedict visited an enclosed Carmelite convent in the Italian Alps during one of his vacation excursions. The superior of the community, Sr. Maria, later told the Italian news agency Ansa that the pope had spoken with them about the international situation.

“He asked to pray also for the terrorists, because they don’t know that they’re hurting not only their neighbors, but above all themselves,” she said.

THE U.S. BISHOPS' STAND

On July 17, Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Policy, issued a statement faulting Hamas and Hezbollah for triggering the present crisis, criticizing Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure, expressing solidarity with the Lebanese, and asking the United States to exercise greater leadership to bring a halt to the violence.

On July 18, the U.S. bishops’ conference staff prepared a set of talking points for social action directors in dioceses around the country about the statement.

Among other things, it stressed that “we know who started the current cycle of violence,” meaning “extreme factions of Hamas and Hezbollah,” which, it said, was obviously intended to provoke a military response. The talking points said that “we recognize the right of Israel to defend itself.”

Nevertheless, they continued, Israel’s response “has been in some instances militarily disproportionate and indiscriminate.” The italic emphasis is in the original.

These comments reflect an irony often noted by observers of statements from the U.S. bishops on the Middle East over the years. Because of the pro-Israeli nature of American politics, U.S. Catholics are usually among the most sensitive to Israeli concerns in global Catholicism; yet given the generally pro-Palestinian tilt of Catholic opinion in other parts of the world, Catholics here are often among the most sensitive voices to the Palestinians in American debate.

In other words, because U.S. Catholics are pulled in both directions by different forces, their positions often come across as strikingly balanced.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/07/2006 3.51]

These lines appeared in a lengthy front-page commentary about the Pope and the Middle East conflict in yesterday's issue of L'Osservatore Romano (7/23/06). Is this news? Has it appeared elsewhere? If this were so, would the Pope not have announced it himself at Angelus yesterday? Why would the Church single out only the Lebanese? I just checked the Vatican site for any word on it. Nothing so far. Not on Zenit either. Very strange!


Benedict XVI's decision to dedicate next Sunday to prayer for Lebanon is an unequivocal sign of his own participation in the sufferings of the Lebanese. On Sunday, the Pope and all Catholics will join in a chorus of sympathy for the nation of 'cedars,' close to the Lebanese people....

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/07/2006 15.07]

Here is an abridged translation of a bulletin from ANSA, the Italian news agency, just posted by ratzi.lella in the main forum:

(ANSA) - LES COMBES (AOSTA), 24 July - Pope Benedict XVI today received a visit from the Archbishop of Genoa, Cardinal Tarciso Bertone, who is taking over as Vatican Secretary of State on September 15.

The visit was said to be strictly private. Cardinal Bertone was expected to stay with the Pope the whole day today.

Among the issues they will discuss will certainly be questions related to the difficult situation in the Middle East and future nominations in the Curia, not the least a replacement for Mons. Giovanni Lajolo as Vatican 'foreign minister.'

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And a late bulletin also posted upstairs last night by Sybella says -

The Pope went to the nearby village of Rhemes St.George yesterday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. to pray at the local church where about a hundreds residents joined him to say prayers for the Middle East.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/07/2006 16.47]

In the Sunday issue of Avvenire, the newspaper of teh Italian bishops conference, whose online version (of the 7/23/06 issue) was only posted this morning, Mons. Fisichella amplifies on the article he wrote for Corriere della Sera in an interview with the newspaper's corespondent, Andrea Gavazza. Here is a translation -


"Benedict XVI is following the Middle East crisis with 'passion' - it is a crisis he feels personally and which he is living through fully in all its drama. He feels very strongly the poverty of the instruments that the Church has at its disposal to help put a quick end to hostilities. But he is inspired by the certainty of being able to entrust this moment, beyond the hands of man, to God, by insisting on prayer, which can produce effective results and give hope for the future."

That is how Mons. Rino Fisichella, auxiliary Bishop of Rome and rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, interprets the spiritual and diplomatic 'activism' of the Pope on behalf of peace in Lebanon and Israel.

And, he adds, "if some ungenerous observer seeks to find a pretext to make him the scapegoat for the situation, placing on the shoulders of the Catholic hierarchy the responsibility for keeping guard in the Mideast," it is necessary to start from some fixed points.

Mons. Fisichella, what are the fundamental coordinates to understand the position of the Holy Father?
We can start with two key terms that the young theologian Joseph Ratzinger used in his early work Introduction to Christianity. These are the German verbs stehen and vertehen, to stand in place and to understand. They are the attitudes of faith, on the basis of which one can understand the thought, the personality and the behavior of Benedict XVI.

And does his reaction to circumstances come from this existential concept of faith?
Yes. Prayer is the first act that comes to the mind of a believer. In this particular case, the Pope's invitation to a
global invocation of God's help also has the value of joining peoples in brotherhod, as sons of the same Father.

Prayer also has a prophetic significance, because it indicates what is essential in life - that which is invisible to the sight and can be senses only with the heart. The fact that even Muslims and Jews agreed to join the prayer in their own places of worship indicates a community of purpose, everyone's goal, namely peace.

The Pope exhorts the world to prayer and is himself a moral authority whom the whole world looks to....
From Val d'Aosta, the Pope has never lost contact, in real time, with events as they happen. Modern means of communication make immediate reaction possible.

In any case, the Pope and the Vatican remain as reference points for mediation and diplomatic 'understanding.' It is well known that the President of Lebanon requested an intervention by the Holy See, and that the Pope has been a protagonist in the contacts that contributed to the convocation of an international meeting about the Mideast crisis to be held in Rome this Wednesday.

Why does the peculiar circumstance of the Pope's Magisterium escape consideration by some observers?
Because too many times, it is thought that the actions required are exclusively political. But this is not the priority for the Church. Diplomacy and mediation are not its mandates.

The concept of peace itself is different for most Christians, more profound. It is not limited to the absence of war or to treaties. Because the rocket attacks can cease (which we all hope for), military action may stop, but this does not mean that true peace has been reached among the parties concerned. [The same argument Condoleeza Rice has used for saying the US is not interested in any temporary ceasefire because that would not represent any progress at all.]

The conversion of hearts, and therefore of minds, comes about through a change in behavior, which is a fruit of openness to the divine and to the horizon of faith.

What about those who think the Holy See has an unfriendly attitude to Israel?
It would be enough to read and listen to what is coming from the Jewish community to recognize the great respect which they have for Benedict XVI. If one put together all the audiences that this Pope gave to groups and individuals from the Jewish world in the first year of his Papacy alone, one would be astounded.

Why then are some quarters intent on misinterpreting the Pope?
The key point should be respect for the personality of the Holy Father - that he is not John Paul II, nor Paul VI, nor Pius IX. All Popes are profoundly one in the ministry they carry out, but their personalities are different.

Papa Ratzinger has fascinated the public (not only Christians) because of his gentle character, his personal recollection about every person he meets, the shyness which he shows before the crowd on public occasions.

And no one can deny the lucidity of his analyses, the long-range vision with which he considers solutions applicable to different dimensions of existence.

All these obviously, on top of his great faith. But no one cannot notice, either, the interior 'passion' which he has shown about these (topical) matters.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 25/07/2006 2.51]

Forgive me for repeating myself, but please help trace/verify.confirm this 'news' -

The following lines appeared in a lengthy front-page commentary about the Pope and the Middle East conflict in yesterday's issue of L'Osservatore Romano (7/23/06). Is this news? Has it appeared elsewhere? If this were so, would the Pope not have announced it himself at Angelus yesterday? Why would the Church single out only the Lebanese? I just checked the Vatican site for any word on it. Nothing so far. Not on Zenit either. Very strange!

I was starting to translate the article when I came across these lines almost at the very beginning:


Benedict XVI's decision to dedicate next Sunday to prayer for Lebanon is an unequivocal sign of his own participation in the sufferings of the Lebanese. On Sunday, the Pope and all Catholics will join in a chorus of sympathy for the nation of 'cedars,' close to the Lebanese people....

If this is unfounded, then is this another ploy by the Secretariat of State [under whom L'Osservatore Romano is, organizationally] to undermine the Pope by seeming to place him firmly on one side of this conflict? I am truly concerned!

the Pope's words are quoted more honestly than in the above post by Teresa. I hope the link to the Daily Star will work. I may still be doing something wrong. Do I have to paste a link in the URL or the IMG box? Previously URL didn't work, so I'm trying IMG now....

Alexy II notes positive dynamics in Orthodox-Catholic relations under Benedict XVI

Moscow, July 24, Interfax - Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and all Russia hopes for considerable rapprochement between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches under the new Pope Benedict XVI.

‘The key of our relations has changed with the new pontificate. In his first address Benedict XVI said that the improvement of relations with the Orthodox Churches was a priority of his ministry,’ Alexy II noted in an interview to Pervyi canal.

He also expressed his hope for the problems that have complicated interchurch relations to be solved under the new Pope.

As to his possible meeting with the head of Vatican, the Patriarchate is convinced that should this meeting take place, it ought to be thoroughly prepared and ‘must bring about concrete actions for the improvement of our relations.’

‘We find common platform for actions even now,’ Patriarch Alexy said. He thinks that these could include common work for maintaining moral values, ‘as secularization of society in the West worries the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, including the Pope.’

Dear Crotchet - Thanks for the link to the Lebanese paper, the Daily Star. I think the article merits posting in full, even if the first part is based on the Pope's Angelus message, because it is good to show how the Pope's initiatives are being reported in the affected region. Also, the second part of the story about the Maronite Patriarch is news to us.

By the way, the story I posted about the Angelus yesterday was from AsiaNews, which is very reputable. As it is Rome-based, it usually does its own translations of the Pope's words. I think their translated quotations were OK - it's just that the reporting in the Daily Star article is more coherent and professional. AsiaNews stories about Papal messages often tend to be nothing more than a string of translated quotations, so it can be frustrating sometimes!
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Pope urges immediate cease-fire,
delivery of aid
Monday, July 24, 2006

Pope Benedict XVI led an international day of prayers for peace in the Middle East Sunday and called for an immediate cease-fire and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Lebanon, which has been "destroyed" by war.

"I reiterate my call to all sides in the conflict between Lebanon and Israel, to immediately cease fighting and allow the delivery of humanitarian aid," the pope said in his weekly blessing to a large outdoor crowd at his holiday retreat in the Italian Alps where he greeted about 3,000 pilgrims. [The figure cited by the Italian news stories was 'over 10,000'.]

"I take the occasion to reaffirm the right of the Lebanese to live in a sovereign country, the right of the Israelis to live in peace in their state and the right of the Palestinians to have a free and sovereign country," the pope said.

The pontiff expressed special closeness to the "defenseless civilian populations, unjustly hit in a conflict in which there are only victims." "The innocent victims," he said were "both those in Galilee [northern Israel] who are forced to live in shelters and the great multitude of Lebanese who, once again, are seeing their country destroyed and have to abandon everything to flee elsewhere."

Ahead of an emergency meeting of foreign ministers, to be held in Rome Wednesday, the pontiff called on the international community "to look for ways to start negotiations" between the warring parties.

Benedict said he was praying that "the aspirations for peace by overwhelming majority of people can be realized as soon as possible."

He invited others to join him in prayer "so that the beloved peoples in the Middle East abandon the path of armed conflict and construct, through dialogue, a just and lasting peace."

The pope, who has already backed the idea of creating aid "corridors" requested by relief agencies to assist civilians hit by the war, also renewed his appeal to humanitarian groups.

Meanwhile, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir urged the Lebanese people to stand side by side.

"We have to put our hands together in order to preserve our country that was and should remain a country of peaceful coexistence," Sfeir said during his Sunday sermon.

"May God help the government and Premier Fouad Siniora to gather the Lebanese people of different sects and political stands so Lebanon remains the country of freedom, love, and peace," he added.

Sfeir also said that the only way to end this tragedy was through prayers and penitence.

The patriarch met with Tourism Minister Joe Sarkis who said: "It is time we stop talks and work on putting an end to the tragedy which Lebanon has been plunging into." - With agencies

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 25/07/2006 0.43]

A lovely and unexpected development to the brief item we reported above about the Pope going to church at the nearby village of Rhemes-St. Georges yesterday afternoon Sunday, is Sandro Magister's transcript of a tape of the little homily the Pope delivered to the faithful who were lucky to be there.

Magister describes the occasion in his blog, then publishes the transcript (in Italian) on www.chiesa.

First the blog:

An unpublished text by Benedict XVI:
Against war- the Cross

Benedict XVI also wished to mark the day of pray and penitence for peace in the Middle East, designated by him for yesterday, July 23, among the faithful in the little church of Rhemes-St.-Georges, a village near Les Combes, situated below the Gran Paradiso national park.

Arriving in the late afternoon, the Pope presided at a brief ceremony. He listened to a passage from St. Paul from the Mass of the Day and then spoke extemporaneously for seven minutes.

The Vatican Press Office did not transcribe nor distribute the meditation, which can be read in entiretly on www.chiesa: "Signore, dov'è nella storia la tua pace?"[Lord, where is your peace in history?].

The transcription is literal, with minimal adjustments for the passage from oral to written.

Magister ends the blog by quoting from the meditation. But here is a translation of the full meditation preceded by the reading that inspired it:

First, the reading from St. Paul (Ephesians 2,13-18):
"But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have become near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, he who made both one and broke down the dividing wall of enmity, through his flesh, abolishing the law with its commandments and legal claims, that he might create in himself one new person in place of the two, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile both with God, in one body, through the cross, putting that enmity to death by it. He came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father."

The Pope's meditation

Just a brief word of meditation on this reading. What strikes us, with the background of the dramatic situation in the Near East, is the beauty of this vision: Christ is our peace. He has reconciled one with the other, Jews and pagans. By uniting together in His body, they have overcome enmities. In His body on the Cross, with His death, He has overcome all enmity and he has united us all in His peace.

The beauty of this vision strikes us even more forcefully in contrast with the reality that we are experiencing and witnessing. We cannot do other than ask the Lord at first: Lord, what does Your Apostle tell us? He says: they are reconciled. But we see that in truth, they are not reconciled. There is still is war among Christians, Muslims, Jews. And there are others who foment the war, and everyone is still full of enmities and violence.

Lord, what remains of the effects of Your sacrifice? Where in history is this peace of which Your apostle speaks to us?

We humans cannot resolve the mystery of history - the mystery of human freedom saying no to the peace of God. We cannot resolve all the mystery of the relation between God and man, of His actions and our responses. We must accept the mystery, but nevertheless, there are elements of response that the Lord gives us.

The first element is that the reconciliation effected by the Lord, through His sacrifice, has not been without effect. There is the great reality of communion in the universal Church, of all peoples, the network of eucharistic communion which transcends the frontiers of cultures and civilizations, of peoples and of time.

There is this communion, and there are islands of peace, in the Body of Christ (the Church). There are forces for peace in the world. We see it in history.

We can see great saints of charity who created oases of God's peace on earth, who succeeded in rekindling their light with renewed capacity to reconcile peoples and to create peace.

There are the martyrs who have suffered with Christ, who have given their testimony of peace and of love which sets a limit to violence.

And seeing that there is that kind of reality, even if the other reality remains, we can look more deeply into the letter that St. Paul wrote the Ephesians.

Christ triumphed on the Cross - He did not win by setting up a new empire, with a force so strong that He could destroy others. He triumphed through a love unto death. This is God's way of winning. To violence He does not oppose a greater violence. To violence, he opposes the very contrary: love to the end, to His cross. This is God's humble way of winning.

With His love, and only thus, is it possible to place a limit on violence. This method of winning appears to us too slow, but it is the true way to defeat evil, to defeat violence, and we should trust in the divine way of winning.

To trust means to enter actively into this divine love, to participate in it in order that we may become what the Lord says, "Blessed are the peacemakers because they are the children of God."

We should bring our love in every way we can to all those who suffer, knowing that the Judge at the Final Judgment identifies with the suffering. Therefore, whatever we do for the suffering, we do for the ultimate Judge of our life.

This is important even at this moment: we can bring His victory to the world by participating actively in His charity.

Today in the world, many men of culture, many religious persons, many are tempted to say: It is better for the peace of the world among religions and cultures not to speak too much of the specifics of Christianity, that is, not speak too much of Christ, of the Church, of the sacraments. It is better, they say, to limit ourselves to the things that can be common to everyone.

But that is not true. Precisely at this time, which is also a time of great abuse of the name of God, we need the God who wins
on the Cross, who wins not through violence but through His love. Precisely at this time, we need the face of Christ so we may recognize the true face of God and thus bring reconciliation and light to the world.

That is why, together with the message of love, with all that we can possibly do for those who suffer in our world, we should also bear witness on behalf of this God, for the victory of God in non-violence on His Cross.

Additional concluding sentences published in the Vatican transcript:
And so we come back to our point of departure. What we can do is to render our testimony of love, the testimony of faith; and above, all, to raise our voices to God: we can pray!

In the Mass, preparing ourselves for Holy Communion, to receive teh Body of Christ which unites us, let us pray with the Church: "Deliver us, o Lord, from all evil, and grant peace to our days." Let this be our prayer at this moment: "Deliver us from all evil and grant us peace." Not tomorrow or day after tomorrow, but grant us, Lord, peace today! Amen.

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Will this Pope ever cease to surprise us? May he never cease to do so. What better demonstration of his personal anguish over a war which the Church and everybody else can do little to end, absent the will of the parties involved? At times like this, he must feel all the weight that his predecessor Benedict XV had to bear in his futile efforts to stave off the First World War!

He goes to a village church for an unscheduled ceremony, he listens to a reading from the Mass of the Day, and proceeds to deliver a meditation that reflects man's eternal question to God - why, Lord, do bad things happen even to innocent people?

Why did Auschwitz happen? Why are they killing each other in the Middle East?

And he gives us some realistic answers as the theologian that he is, but also as the universal Pastor to whom his flock looks for guidance and as the head of a Church who does not hesitate to say that the faithful must always bear witness to their faith, in the face of political correctness (essentially an aspect of relativism).

How I would have liked to be in that little church of Rhemes-St.-Georges! But let us count ourselves blessed that this transcript was available, and blessed above all that we have Benedict to guide and inspire us.

7/25/06 8:50 AM
P.S. The Vatican Press Office posted the full text of the Rhemes-St.-Georges meditation today, with some concluding sentences absent from Magister's transcript. I am adding those sentences to the translation above.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 25/07/2006 15.03]

Here is a translation of some brief Italian news agency items today about the Pope's day:

Benedict XVI is full of hope on the eve of the international conference in Rome to seek a resolution of the current Israel-Lebanon conflict.

Speaking once again to journalists on his return from his excursion of the day, the Pope said, "Finally, something is moving, but one must get to the roots of the conflict."

"At this moment, we see," he added, "that prayers are not useless, so let us pray very strongly that the conference in Rome tomorrow may have concrete results to bring back peace now and to solve the problems which are really at the root of the conflict."

The Pontiff told newsmen he wished that the conference will find "stable and lasting solutions."

Earlier today, the Vatican announced that the Holy See had been officially invited to take part as an observer in the conference.

The Vatican delegation will be headed by Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, secretary for relations with other states. Two counselors will be with him - Mons. Franco Coppola and Mons. Alberto Ortega Martin.

The Pope visited another local church today, this time that of Our Lady of Healing in Courmayeur, at the foot of Mont Blanc. Only tourists were around when the Pope arrived.

The Pope's secretary, Mons. Georg Gaenswein, informed the local parish priest don Giuseppe Gerbaz of the Pope's afternoon visit on short notice, and requested that it be kept private.

The Pope arrived around 5:00 p.m. after Vespers and remained for about half an hour. He prayed the litanies to the Virgin Mary and an invocation to Mary Queen of Val d'Aosta, and requested those present to "pray for peace."

He presented the parish priest with a chasuble and expressed his regret that the bad weather during the day kept him from properly visiting one of the most beautiful zones of the region.

By 7:20 p.m., the Pope was back in Les Combes. He has two more days on vacation. On Friday, July 28, he will leave for Castel Gandolfo, where he will spend the rest of the summer.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 26/07/2006 5.58]

Ecumenism Expert Detects New Papal Style
Director of Pro Unione Center Offers Perspective

ROME, JULY 25, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Ecumenism has changed considerably with Benedict XVI, says the director of an organization whose courses include a focus on interreligious dialogue.

"The Pope has adopted a more episcopal model for his ministry," said Father James Puglisi, director of the Pro Unione Center in Rome. "In fact, if one looks at the first stamps, they are without the tiara and with the inscription 'Episcopus Romae.'[Bishop of Rome]. This is of great importance for the Orthodox."

Father Puglisi, who is also general minister of the Franciscans of the Atonement, spoke with ZENIT on the occasion of a three-week course that his center offered to 16 students from the United States, England and Spain.

The summer course offered guidelines on ecumenism and interreligious dialogue from the Catholic point of view.

The priest told ZENIT that "half of the students were ordained ministers and the other half laity. Almost half were Catholics, while others came from Protestant churches."

Among the topics addressed during the course, special attention was given to the present state of the promotion of Christian unity.

Father Puglisi noted Benedict XVI's innovations and added: "His approvals of the Eastern episcopal elections are no longer in the Vatican Web site section 'Resignations and Appointments,' but on a separate page for relations with the Catholic Eastern Churches with the expression 'we received the decision' of a Synod and 'I accept in the episcopate.'"

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Seeing that Fr. Puglisis has a major point to make about Pope Benedict's ecumenical 'style', one would have expected ZENIT to have pursued a longer, more comprehensive interview than these tantalizingly brief observations, in order to flesh out the point!

Last June, I posted the following translation of an article from Corriere della Sera in REFLECTIONS ON ISLAM, and I came across it today opportunely. Yesterday, the Pope expressed the hope that any 'solution' to the current conflict in the Middle East should go to the root of the conflict. I think this essay by a leading Muslim-born Italian journalist tells us clearly what that is - the outright refusal by radical Islamic elements, not just Iran as cited in this article, of Israel's very right to exist:


In the 6/4/06 issue of Corriere della Sera, one of their resident commentators published this sobering essay pointing out principally that 'dialog' as a diplomatic means of 'keeping the peace' is a dead end if one partner does not even recognize the right of Israel to exist! And that the West is legitimizing Islamic jihadists by closing its eyes to the widespread activities and influence of so-called Islamic moderates. Here is a translation -

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Dialog should be unequivocal
By Magdi Allam


Dialog. Moderates. Two noble words which are naturally complementary. But if we add “Iran”, a substantial contradiction erupts.

That is why when the Pope and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair agreed on ‘a dialog with moferate Islam’, and at the same time, the Church and the United Nations express the desire for a dialog to the utmost with the Nazi-Islamic regime of Ahmadinejad in Tehran, doubt arises.

It becomes obligatory to ask ourselves: Who are we talking with? On what bases? Is there a shared endpoint? Who are the Islamic moderates? Which Islam?

Last April, the Egyptian Jesuit priest Samir Khalil told Asia News that Benedict XVI, since the summer of 2005, had decided that the dialog with Islam would be concentrated on the dignity and rights of the human being, shelving the theologic approach followed by John Paul II.

“Theology is not what counts during this historical phase. What is important is that Islam is currently the religion that is developing most, and that there is growing danger to the West and the rest of the world because of that. The danger is not Islam in general but a vision of Islam that will never openly reject violence and which generates terrorism and fanaticism.”

Well, what better than the Iran of the ayatollahs and Ahmadinejad embodies today this deleterious image of Islam?

Well then, can and should dialog be pursued nevertheless if only to prevent or impede any miliary action against the Iranian nuclear centers with unforeseeable consequences for international security and stability?

Can and should dialog be pursued even if we know that Ahmadinejad is simply gaining time to accelerate production of a nuclear bomb with which he intends to wipe out Israel and place all other Muslim nations at his mercies?

The Iran case teaches us that dialog has a limit that cannot be ignored: recognizing the right to exist of others. Because if that is not recognized by one of the dialog partners, then dialog is transformed into a legitimization of mass murder. Dialog is not a neutral instrument, it is not the end in itself, one does not dialog for the sake of dialog!

Unfortunately the West itself has lately taken an aberrant interpretation of dialog, in deciding to give a free pass to and thus legitimize the apologists for terrorism – the Muslim Brotherhood, hoping thereby to isolate and defeat Bin Laden and his fellow islamic jihadists.

By bringing Hamas to power, for instance, in Palestine, or by making its members enter the Egyptian Parliament in large numbers. In both cases, closing their eyes to the fact that these self-proclaimed Islamic “moderates” deny the right of Israel to exist, that they practice and legitimize terrorism.

Blair himself included Tariq Eramadan, the best-known and sneakiest political leader of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe, in a special task force charged with making sugge4stions as to “how to rein in the tendency to violence among British Muslims.”

And in Italy, former Interior Minister Giueseppe Fatani did the same in including in the “consultatory body on Islam in Italy” Nour Dachan, president of the union of Islamic communites and organizations in Italy.

This behavior of the West is suicidal.

If one studies the recent history of Algeria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, one will find out that dialog with and legitimization of the Muslim Brotherhood cleared the way for the jihadists, and that these two are definitely two faces of the same coin, united by the desire to impose sharia and give birth to Islamic states.

They cannot be the ‘moderates” one speaks of. They are a greater danger than the Islamic terrorists themselves. Because while Bin Laden represents a minority that may be unpopular with Muslims themselves [strange assertion to make!], the Muslim Brotherhood – who control mosques, Koranic schools, financial institutions, charitable organizations and fifth columns within Western institutions – are succeeding in placing the majority of Muslims under their control.

Only a recognition of the right of others to live, starting with Israel’s very existence, can legitimize the principle of dialog and the idea of Islamic moderation. If this is the sense of the Pope’s appeal for dialog, the West would do well to listen. And to transform to action the ‘noble’ words that are often used. In a consistent manner.
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Subsequently, I posted this about Mr. Allam:

Because he is the resident commentator on Muslim matters for Corriere della Sera, Italy's leading newspaper, and we have been posting some of his Page-1 articles in this forum, I thought it would be useful to know something more about him.
This is what I have picked up from the Web so far:

Allam, 54 and a native of Egypt, immigrated to Italy some 30 years ago and studied sociology at La Sapienza University in Rome. Today he is the deputy editor of Corriere della Sera, Italy's largest newspaper, and is one of the country's leading journalists.

In a series of books, articles and public appearances, Allam has not hesitated to criticize radical Islam openly. He even attacks the weakness he claims the West in general - and Europe in particular - show in the face of the growth of radical Islam.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 26/07/2006 18.12]

Truth, prayer, Holy Spirit are Pope Benedict’s keys to Christian unity


By Jack Smith
7/28/2006
National Catholic Register (www.ncregister.com/)

ROME (National Catholic Register) – In a development that few observers would have predicted before his election, Pope Benedict XVI is winning recognition as a champion of Christian unity.

Earlier this month, for example, an olive branch was extended by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II, who rebuffed all of Pope John Paul II’s efforts to visit Russia.

During the July 3-5 World Summit of Religious Leaders in Moscow, Patriarch Alexei expressed his gratitude to Benedict for his attention to the meeting. The Catholic delegation was led by five cardinals, including Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The Vatican delegation reflected the “positive development of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church,” Patriarch Alexei said.

“Our collaboration as a whole is especially necessary today because the common positions we hold on many current questions unite our Churches and are an excellent opportunity to be united witnesses of Christian values to the world,” the patriarch added.

Sense of Urgency

Every pope “has his own style and brings to ecumenism his own personal conviction and experience,” Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, told the National Catholic Register. But Benedict “truly feels the pain of a weakened witness by Christians before a world urgently in need of divine truth and love,” he added.

Benedict’s sense of urgency was demonstrated when he announced in his first public message as pope that he would “work without sparing energies for the reconstitution of the full and visible unity of all the followers of Christ.”

Benedict said working toward unity would be “a primary commitment” of his papacy, and said he “is prepared to do all that is in his power to promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism.”

Three core themes have been presented as central to the holy father’s program.

The first is a focus on stating clearly what the Church believes during ecumenical discussions. Christian commitment to seeking unity “is grounded in the supernatural reality of the one baptism that makes us all members of the one body of Christ,” the Holy Father said last August at World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany. “Among Christians, fraternity is not just a vague sentiment, nor is it a sign of indifference to truth.”

Benedict’s commitment to seeking unity through a dialogue in truth is one that has met with particular approval from Orthodox Christians and Evangelicals. “When we are in dialogue, we are not there to compromise,” said Orthodox Bishop Dimitrios of Xanthos. The ecumenical officer for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said, “We are there to share the truth as we know it. … Dialogue should be open and you state who you are and what you believe.”

Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., is another admirer of the pope’s approach. The influential Southern Baptist historian, theologian and executive editor at Christianity Today, particularly praised Dominus Iesus, the 2000 declaration on the salvific universality of Jesus and the Church that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published while then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was serving as the congregation’s prefect.

While Dominus Iesus was “very controversial” in many quarters, George noted, “it represents the kind of ecumenism we need to shoot for,” he said. “[Benedict] is basically saying that the Catholic Church has a certain understanding of itself and these are the other traditions.”

George said Benedict is very honest “about where the differences are as well as the points of commonality.… We need to have an ecumenism based on truth and not on simply accommodation.”

‘Spiritual ecumenism’

Benedict spoke at World Youth Day last August of the importance of a “spiritual ecumenism” in which “each individual commits himself to prayer, to the examination of his own life, to the purification of memory, to the openness of charity.” The pope said he is “convinced that if more and more people unite themselves interiorly to the Lord’s Prayer ‘that all may be one,’ then this prayer, made in the name of Jesus, will not go unheard.”

According to Bishop Farrell, the holy father “constantly calls for prayer, conversion of our hearts to Christ, and great love and humility in our dealings with our brothers and sisters of other churches and communities.” The bishop added that the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity is “greatly encouraged by the way this ‘spiritual’ ecumenism is gaining ground at every level of the church.”

The council is encouraging spiritual ecumenism by releasing a valemecum (guidebook), “offering suggestions for practical cooperation in spiritual activities,” Bishop Farrell said. The text, which has been finalized and will be released in the next few months, includes “ideas for common prayer and other ways in which Christians can work together for unity,” the bishop said.

“There are lots of things we can do at the local level where most ecumenism that’s meaningful takes place,” George said. “I’m thinking joint prayers together, joint Scripture distribution and translation, and bible studies together.”

George also pointed to an “ecumenism in the trenches” that has developed between Catholics, evangelicals and other Protestants in their common work on behalf of protecting human life and promoting the family.

“We have met in the trenches as co-combatants against a common foe,” he said. “That has drawn us into deeper discussions on issues related to salvation and justification and holiness of life.”

The Holy Spirit

Emphasis on the preeminent role of the Holy Spirit is the third prong of Benedict’s ecumenical approach.

“In fact, it is impossible for us to ‘make’ unity through our own powers alone,” the Holy Father told an ecumenical gathering in Poland this May. Making the words of Pope John Paul II his own, Benedict added, “We will be available to receive this gift to the extent that we open our minds and hearts to him through the Christian life and above all through prayer.”

“Pope Benedict never fails to remind us that unity is a gift of the Holy Spirit,” Bishop Farrell said.

Father Richard John Neuhaus, editor of First Things and a leader in ecumenical dialogue, told the National Catholic Register, “What Benedict has been saying over the years is that the quest for greater Christian unity is not a program under our control or a goal obedient to our plans and schedules.” The Catholic Church persists in dialogue, Father Neuhaus said, “in the hope that – in a way we can neither anticipate nor control – the Holy Spirit will crown with success our irrevocable union with Christ in praying that ‘they may all be one.’”

Bishop Dimitrios, the Orthodox ecumenical officer, agreed. “No matter what we say and how much we disagree or agree, the day will come when the Holy Spirit guides us to this unity,” he said.

Baptist theologian George compared the task of marriage to the openness that allows the Holy Spirit to create unity among Christians.

“The way forward in a marriage is not two people gazing into one another’s eyes lost in wonder and love for each other, George said “It’s the fact that when together, they walk toward a common goal.”

This also applies to ecumenism, George added.

“It’s not so much exploring the wonders of each other in dialogue,” he said, “as it is being jointly focused on the one we serve.”

- - -

Jack Smith writes as a correspondent from San Francisco for National Catholic Register

Benefan has posted a brief English news item on this in POPE-POURRI. This is a translation of an Italian news agency report filed at the time the Pope left Les Combes today after an 18-day vacation in the mountains of Val d'Aosta, northern Italy:

BENEDICT XVI:
'I'm Learning the Job
and I Pray for Peace'

Les Combes, 28 July 2006 (AGI). - Benedict XVI has really made friends with the newsmen who followed him to Val d'Aosta.

He has never refused to answer their questions during his days on vacation and today spoke into the microphones again before leaving Les Combes for Castel Gandolfo.

One question above all seemed to please him enough to draw laughter from him: "How do you feel after a year of being Pope?"

"I'm starting to learn my job," he said. And since this 'job' is demanding, he explained in a later response, "This period in the mountains has been too short, and now we resume working."

A newsman then asked him whether the days he has spent at the Salesian vacation colony in Les Combes were simply spent resting.

"Of course, I also worked. Vacations are good when one can also work," he said. "Without doing some work, it wouldn't have been a good vacation."

Obviously, a Pope can never really 'detach' himself from what is happening in the world. Much less during a moment so fraught with tensions as at present.

The Pope himself referred to the Middle East Crisis, which has engaged Vatican diplomacy daily and the Pope himself: "Our principal instrument is prayer. Of course, we raise our voice not only to God but also to men," he told newsmen who asked him what happens now after the Rome conference qualified as 'disappointing' by Vatican foreign minister Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo.

The Pope said one thing was certain - that the Church will continue to raise its voice in calling for peace and justice in the region.

"We will not keep silent," he said. "We will do what is possible to reach the ears of those who are in power."

Then he got into the car that was to bring him down from Les Combes at 1300 meters altitude (about 4200 ft) to the St. Christophe airport of Aosta, where an Air Vallee flight was to take him back to Ciampino airport in Rome, from where he was to proceed to the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo for
the rest of the summer.

"See you in Rome," he told the newsmen, saying farewell with a smile.

On the way to the airport, the Pope stopped at the town of Introd, of which Les Combes is part, at the John Paul II day care center for old people, where he greeted the day wards one by one.

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Benedict XVI may not have a flair for theatrical gestures but who says he is not a Pope who knows the media? Many fell into the facile trap of assuming that because he is a shy man, Benedict would be less 'mediatic' than his predecessor, but they forget that after almost a quarter-century at the CDF, and as the Church's most prominent figure after the Pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was a veteran of countless press conferences, multi-media interviews and presentations (including documentary films about the Vatican and the CDF, in which he plays a leading role as 'guide' or 'host') - by no means, a media novice! Papa Ratzi is plenty media-savvy in his own way!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 29/07/2006 1.53]

John Allen in his column ALL THINGS CATHOLIC for 7/28/06 reports this:


The archbishop of Bucaramanga in Colombia, Juan Vicente Córdoba, told reporters this week that the Colombian bishops have asked Pope Benedict XVI to visit the country.

The visit would be in conjunction with the pope’s projected May 2007 trip to Brazil for a meeting of CELAM, the umbrella organization of Latin American bishops’ conferences.

The purpose of the visit, according to Córdoba, would be to promote peace and reconciliation in Colombia, where internal conflict has claimed more than 35,000 lives since 1990. Large sections of the country are under the control of guerilla movements or para-military organizations, in some cases linked to narcotics traffickers.

If the trip materializes, it would mark Joseph Ratzinger’s fourth visit to Colombia. His first came in 1972, as a young theologian, to lead seminars for clergy and laity on the teaching of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). He visited again in 1982 and 1988 as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.