Here is Henri Tincq's hate piece masquerading as analysis, in which all he looks at are negatives, translated from the French. Originally, I hadn't meant to 'fisk' it, but almost every sentence cries out to be 'fisked', so I will try to limit my fisking to the minimum possible.

Analysis:
Storm warnings for the Catholic Church
By Henri Tincq
Le Monde
Published 1/17/07



The boat is tilting.

Cuaght up by its past, the Church of Poland - icon of traditional resistant Catholicism - is in full crisis. Like the Church in Spain, which cannot adjust to a secular Europe and is doing battle against the socialist government.

Like the Church of Italy, active on every front - bioethics, PACS (homoseXual marriages), euthanasia - which defends its positions intransigently and refused to grant a Catholic funeral for Piergiorgio Welby [who publicly sought legal recognition of his right to die and failing that, ordered his anesthesiologist anyway to take him off his respirator].

The whole nation [The whole nation, M. Tincq ?] unanimously condemned this lack of charity [It was hardly lack of charity – Welby asked the Italian government to make an exception to the law against euthanasia to allow him to die; the state refused; Welby then went ahead and asked his doctor to turn off his respirator, and he died. The Church, in refusing a Catholic funeral, which is an official rite, nevertheless asked everyone to pray for Welby – Masses were offered for him; just not a funeral because that would have been interpreted as condoning euthanasia, which is not even the law of the land !]
just days after religious rites were given to... Augusto Pinochet [the Chlilean dictator who died of natural causes at age 94, thus cheating the state of finally bringing him to trial for people killed under his military rule].

[So M. Tincq advocates charity for Welby but not for Pinochet. Because Pinochet was responsible for the deaths of thousands? But so was Saddam, and Tincq and his ilk advocated charity for him!... Also, pray tell, M. Tincq, what the Church in Italy had to do with the decision of a bishop or priest in Chile to give the last rites to Pinochet? How do we know Pinochet did not confess at the end and make his peace with the Lord? There’s a famous Jesus parable about the worker who arrived last who still gets to be rewarded...]

And what about the leftist churches of Belgium, the Netherlands, the former Communist countries (with the exception of Poland), or churches like those of Ireland and the United States sent into shock by pedophile-priest scandals? [ They still stand, M. Tincq, and will survive, as has the Church through 2000 years, through all kinds of ‘storms’, in comparison to which the ones you cite in this article are all petty nine-day wonders.]

In this environment, one could almost think that France is getting out while the going is good. The relations between the State and the Church - which has adapted itself by choice or by force, to the secular tradition [And therein lies the tragedy of the church in France!] - are fine.

But the French people themselves, who already are barely observant, consider themselves increasingly less Catholic (according to 'Le Monde de religion', January 2007 issue).

It is this weakened Church which now risks being whiplashed by the plan in Rome to grant new facilitations to the Latin Mass, which is considered as a regression by the great majority of the faithful [The same great majority who have fallen off and virtually left the Church because they no longer even consider themselves to be Catholic, right? I wouldn’t call them the ‘faithful’! I commented at length before about the stupid statement made by 4 French bishops and some 30 priests to the effect that restoring the Tridentine Mass would ‘wipe out Vatican II with the stroke of a pen’. Let me just point out that the same survey cited by Tincq above apparently also showed that the 19% of French Catholics who do go to Mass regularly also support the Pope if he liberalizes of the Old Mass. So those who object are those who do not really care about the Church anymore, because they have stopped practicing their faith and worse, have stopped calling themselves Catholic. So what do they care what the Pope does now?]

The Pope's decree (a motu proprio) has been delayed because of pressure from the French bishops [ Oooh! How mighty are those four bishops!], but after the crises in Poland, Spain and Italy, one can hardly see Benedict XVI incurring the added risk of taking on the Hexagon (France). [ Right! I can just imagine Benedict quaking in his ‘red Prada loafers’ over the thought of upsetting four French bishops and 30 priests who do not know any better!]

The boat is tilting, first of all, in Rome. The succession of blunders attributed in recent weeks to the Pope is troubling. [ It troubles you, M. Tincq? Come now, on the contrary, you’re gloating!!!- even if wrongly.]

The 'honeymoon' for the experienced theologian, who surprised everyone by his elevated views and his humble style, is over. [ A honeymoon? With the media? Was there ever one? Certainly not with the likes of you!]

And the doubts have set in: If Benedict's spiritual and intellectual qualities are appreciated, if his popularity cannot be denied - if one judges by the numbers who crowd St. Peter's Square, then has his ability as a man of government been over-estimated? [ OK, so at least you concede his intellectual and spiritual qualities, not to mention his popularity! Surprise, surprise!] Decisions are slow to come, his plans miss the mark, and the disappointments accumulate . [Now, there’s the stinger! Such cavalier generalizations. Let’s see if they hold up.]

It is doubtless imprudent to mix up controversies of a different nature, but it is their occurrence in succession that paints a picture of a Pope who is ill-prepared for his job, surrounded by the wrong people, and piling up his mistakes. [It is M. Tincq who now piles up – or tries to pile up - his contemptuous reproaches.]

Every single mistake has its clear origin:
o Under-estimating the defamatory character, for Muslims, of his lecture in Regensburg [the entire lecture, M. Tincq, or just that single quotation about Mohammed and Islam? Let’s be precise here!] on faith and violence [ And REASON, M. Tincq, and reason. But was that citation really a mistake? If it was, it was a ‘felix culpa’ that has opened up genuine avenues to explore meaningful dialog. There are many like me who believe Benedict knew exactly what he was doing and why. There is a direct correlation, in more ways than one, between the lecture at Regensburg and the prayer at the Blue Mosque. If one led to the other, it was meant to be, by the ineffable Spirit that moves such events. ]

o The desire of Benedict, who is very respectful of liturgical tradition, to put an end to the Lefebvrian schism by making concessions about the Latin Mass; [This misrepresentation by the liberals is truly annoying! Whatever Benedict decides about the pre-Vatican-II Mass is not about throwing a sop to the Lefebvrians – who, as M. Tincq well knows, believe that all of Vatican-II should be scrapped, not just Paul VI’s Mass – but about publicly recognizing the validity of the pre-Vatican II Mass as liturgy, after it was summarily discarded and condemned without legitimate basis by progressivists claiming to embody ‘the spirit of Vatican-II’.]

o In the Welby case, the rigidity of Catholic morality with regard to all attempts against life, from its beginnings (through abortion) to the end (through euthanasia) [Did M. Tincq really think the church was about to bend its rules for Mr. Welby? And what is wrong with the Church being firm about principles? Principles are meant to be firm, or they wouldn’t be principles.]

o And finally, ignorance about the material available in Polish archives which raise questions about priests who compromised themselves with the Communist regime. [And the ‘ignorance’ was the result of an apparently deliberate cover-up of what was out there by Wielgus himself; by the Nuncio, who was supposed to vet his dossier and send all available information to the Vatican, but didn’t ask for the material in question till Jan. 2; by the other Polish bishops who preferred to keep silent rather than let the Pope know. How can the Pope be blamed for having been lied to, in effect, and for the failure of a bureaucratic process that can only depend on the integrity and efficiency of those who carry out the process?]

Each time, the recovery has been spectacular, but always followed by another sharp turn of the wheel. With Islam, an honorable way out of the crisis was found thanks to Benedict's visit to the Blue Mosque, which sealed a reconciliation with Islam but raised indignation among Catholics surprised to see a Pope praying in a Muslim temple. [1) The prayer at the mosque was only the spontaneous culmination of a process that began right after the first protests were raised, involving the Pope and the whole Church, and very much dependent on Benedict's determination to make a trip almost everyone warned him against; 2)Probably the only Catholics indignant about the prayer are those who were never taught that one can pray anywhere !]

The same confusion after the resignation of the transitory Archbishop of Warsaw. If some admired the courageous way in which the Pope cut the knot after finding out that the man lied, more were stunned at the lack of vigilance in the Vatican which had earlier nominated and expressed support for him. [ To peddle one’s personal impressions as fact in a news analysis is just wrong! Did you run a poll, M. Tincq, that gave you these relative numbers of ‘some’ and ‘more’?

And in Poland, there are voices expressing surprise that Spain has not made similar demands on the priests who worked with the Franco dictatorship to come clean with their past, or in Latin America, to those who collaborated with the dictators in Argentina and Chile. [How many voices, M. Tincq? As though the Poles did not have enough to worry about, they would care about what happens in Spain and Latin America? In fact, a former post-Communism Polish President has been quoted as saying now that the post-Franco policy in Spain - which was to seal the archives for one generation to allow passions to die down – would have been advisable in Poland.]

[Continued in next post. For some reason, the system is not accepting the entire post - and it's not that lengthy!]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/01/2007 5.24]

A continuation from the preceding post of Henri Tincq's analysis for Le Monde -

In short, all these blunders show an exceptional disarray at the very top of the Church hierarchy. And the criticisms are starting to gel. They see the apparent subjection of the Pope to a Curia that he has failed to renew as he promised. Benedict XVI governs through small moves, and as if wanting to reassure himself, he has named former co-wokers at the ex Holy Office [It's the CDF now, M. Tincq, grow up!] to key positions: Tarcisio Bertone, as Secretary of State; Claudio Hummes, as Prefect for the clergy; and Ivan Dias, as Prefect for Evangelization. [What happened to Cardinal Levada? You don’t consider the Prefect of the CDF important enough, M. Tincq?]

These men cannot impose themselves on John Paul II's Curia, which is dominated by partisans in favor of extremely prudent management.[Really???How???Who ???]

The Pope is also being criticized for the delay in dealing with burning issues like divorced Catholics who remarry. [A burning issue? This?]

Or of condoms, about which a softening of the Church position has been promised [By whom ????], even as important cardinals (Danneels in Brussels, Lustiger in Paris, Agree in Abidjan) have been saying for the past 20 years that the position is no longer tenable in the face of an absolute tragedy like AIDS. [ What about mentioning the statistics that where condoms are preached and forced on the African people, the AIDS rate continues to rise, and where abstinence is advocated, the rate has been gping down? No, M. Tincq, the church is not going to indulge you and your ilk who have been urging relaxation of Church teaching to fit your personal preferences. ]

A delay, too, in deciding on important replacements like that of
o Cardinal Ruini, who heads the Italian bishops conference, in which the delay is blocking all movement in the Italian Church [ Strange to say this when Ruini has proven to be an ‘activist’ head of the Italian Church in all the right ways – activist in promoting the evangelizing and charitable missions of the Church, as well as in defending its non-negotiable doctrines in public !]

o that of the Colombian Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, a conservative who dictates the Roman positions on sexual ethics and the family [Has Lopez Trujillo somehow become a surrogate Pope or a one-man universal council that he can dictate Church doctrine?];

o or Cardinal Poupard, in charge of the dialog between cultures and between religions, who was not pre-informed of the Regensburg lecture. [This is the same Cardinal Poupard, of course, who accompanied the Pope to Turkey and has not lost any opportunity lately to sing the praises of Benedict – but maybe Tincq is not up-to-date with his reading - and whose assignment to be president of both pontifical councils for culture and for inter-religious dialog seems a validation of his service and value to the Pope, rather than a sign that the Pope was intending to replace him !]

And criticism is piling up, finally, for the apparent absence of a world vision by a Pontificate dominated by the weight of Europe and the German Pope's dread of the 'death of God" and the 'dictatorship of relativism.' [ Absence of a world vision! Even as Cardinal, Ratzinger was the media’s go-to man for a world vision of the Church. How could he have lost that when he became Pope? I don’t think M. Tincq listens at all to what Benedict has been saying the past 21 months !]

What does one know of his positions about the relation between faith and more remote cultures, about the proselytism of evangelical churches in large urban centers, the emergence of India and China, the increase in immigration from the poor countries to the developed world? [And what does this supposed correspondent on religions know about what this Pope has been saying through countless addresses in the past 21 months about these very subjects? This supposed expert is writing this, in a week when the Pope devoted his Sunday Angelus message to the plight of migrant peoples, and when he convoked a Vatican summit specifically to consider a continuing long-term strategy for the church in China and Vietnam !]

In contrast to his predecessor who, having become Pope at age 58, knew to take himself away from the Curia in order to stir up the embers of the faith in the southern hemisphere, where the future of Christianity will be played out, Benedict XVI, 78, has not yet left Europe.
[OK, I have consulted my Weigel, and his biography shows that in the first 21 months of his Papacy - where we are today with Benedict - John Paul II travelled abroad five times: the first in January 1979, to open the 3rd general conference of Latin American bishops (Benedict is opening the 5th one in Brazil in May); in June to visit Poland for the first time as Pope; in September, to visit Ireland; in October, to visit the United States and the UN; and in November, to visit Istanbul. What a surprise - that Benedict has travelled 5 times abroad, too, in the same period! But surely, travelling to some place is not the only way a Pope can show his concern. And the faithful understand he is not a 58-year-old man in the prime of his life as Wojtyla was. Read Ecclesiastes, M. Tincq !]

He is scheduled to go to Brazil in May. A new page could open with that, but one must not forget that the 'globalization" of John Paul's words, thoughts and travels did not prevent the extreme centralization of his church! [So? Is there supposed to be a syllogism here? If Benedict stays in Rome, will that decentralize the Church? But that’s exactly what you’re advocating !]

It is by reviving the inspirations of the Second Vatican Council - greater autonomy for the local Churches, a more collegial government of the Church, reform of the Curia and the papacy, ecumenical openness - all soft-pedaled by John Paul II, that the Catholic church can adapt to the times and recover its universal dimension.

[Bravo, M. Tincq! You have the nerve to lecture 'the last great living survivor of Vatican-II' about what Vatican-II was all about? And by the way, if you set so much store by ‘greater autonomy’ for local Churches, then why blame the Vatican and the Pope for the various crises that some local churches are undergoing? They have to be responsible for what they do under that autonomy.

In short, M. Tincq, in your overweening desire to ‘minimize’ the Pope and castigate the Church, you have over-reached, exaggerated and distorted. But not even all our malice and bad faith can transform the little teapot tempests you have described above - the sort of routine problems that plague any huge organization - into disastrous storms! One last question, are you even a Christian, let alone Catholic?]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/01/2007 5.40]

And here's a similar exercise in misplaced Schadenfreude, this time by an Anglophone writer, from Down Under, for today's paper! The things you sometimes wish you did not find!

This one employs all the underhanded journalistic tricks of telling half-truths, outright lies, deliberate misinformation - all in a breezy, concise way that makes the statements seem oh-so-casual and therefore seemingly unexceptionable. And the poor general reader, who has no other source of news but MSM, unquestioningly assimilates all this crap into his system, as yet another commonplace to regurgitate reflexively and unthinkingly the next time he talks about the Pope.

I will be dishonest if I said I do not mind reading negative articles about the Pope. I detest it. But I would not mind so much a negative article that makes its arguments on the basis of facts and truth, not disinformation (though I still have to see one!] Because if a journalist can't make his point with just the bare facts, then he hasn't got much of a point to make.

Speculation is fine, as long as it labeled as such - or presented as questions, not as statements of fact.

Tremors in the Holy City
By Dennis O'Grady
Sydney Morning Herald
January 20, 2007



Benedict XVI is learning just how difficult it is to be Pope. [Oh, what a discovery! You'd think Benedict - or any other, for that matter - had ever thought it was easy to be Pope!] After the recent qualified recovery ['qualified recovery' is the best you san say to describe the Turkey trip?]from his incautious, unnecessary quotation [that's your opinion, of course!] about Muhammad - a quote that caused uproar in the Muslim world - along came what could only be described as a second pratfall.[Na-nana-nana!]

The crisis came to a head when Warsaw's new archbishop, Stanislaw Wielgus, resigned on January 7, the eve of his installation, after admitting he had collaborated with the reviled communist-era Polish security service, the Sluzba Bezpieczenstwa.

Pope Benedict bears responsibility for the appointment of Wielgus as archbishop of Warsaw, an appointment that would have led to Wielgus being made a cardinal, a member of the equivalent of the Catholic Church's Senate. Though Benedict partly retrieved the situation by ensuring Wielgus's swift resignation, the overall impression is that of a pope who is all thumbs. [Overall impression? By whom? You and your ilk, yes?]

Benedict appointed Wielgus as archbishop even though he was aware that he had been an informer. Through his spokesman, Benedict reaffirmed the choice even after the Polish press carried the first disclosures about the 67-year-old bishop-academic.

The tardy backflip came only after Benedict was persuaded by further documents [There was only one set of documents- and by all accounts, the Pope did not get to see it till the eve of Wielgus's resignation, when a German translation of the documents was faxed to him by the Nuncio in Warsaw !] uncovered by the media that Wielgus had not supplied a full and frank account of his role as informer.

The affair has similarities with the pedophile-priest scandals which the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger handled [No, he did not! The U.S. scandals were all handled by their local bishops. None of those cases were ever brought to the CDF! The cases that were - Maciel's and the Italian priest who was sanctioned before Maciel - were adjudicated accordingly, as we have seen].

In both cases, initial press reports of irregularities were discounted and the suspect churchmen were strenuously defended until, very late in the day, he acted.[It is another outright lie that Ratzinger ever strenuously defended any suspect churchmen. He did say back in 2000 that he thought much of the US scandal was due to a media campaign and that the percentage of priest offenders was insignificant, which is true - it was a single statement made in answer to a question thrown at him during a press conference in Spain where he spoke at a Christology conference. He might have qualified that statement, in his usual precise German way - for instance, "from the official knowledge we have about these matters so far" - if he had been asked about it further, but it appears he was not, because that was the only quotation ever reported from him about the scandals involving priests in the US.

He also ignored accusations of pedophilia against Father Marcial Maciel, the Mexican founder of the powerful Legion of Christ religious order, before he eventually fostered sanctions against him. [Quite the opposite! The investigations were sort of closed down in deference to Pope John Paul II, who yes, vigorously defended Maciel and stood by him in public - but when more attestations came in, it was Ratzinger who had the case re-opened and investigated, sending one of the top CDF officials to the US to get depositions from people claiming to have been among Maciel's victims. It was these depositions that eventually led him, now Pope, to impose an ecclesiastical penalty on Maciel].

Wielgus had become an informer to obtain permission to study in West Germany in the 1970s where, among other things, he met the young Ratzinger. Wielgus says his activities under the code names "Adam" and "Gray" were innocuous and at the time the practice of collaboration behind the Iron Curtain was not uncommon. There are some estimates that up to 15 per cent of Polish priests co-operated with authorities in some way.

Many aspirant priests were contacted by the secret police when seminary students and promised advantages. Once they collaborated, files on them were initiated in which it was almost impossible to distinguish facts from falsehoods.

When the Solidarity Movement eventually pushed the communist regime aside during a bloodless coup in 1989, there seems to have been a tacit agreement not to open these phials of poison. [It mas more than tacit. They had agreed to follow Spain's example. It was the neo-rightist Kaszyncksi brothers now in charge of Poland who decided it was time to end that agreement.] After all, the church had boosted its moral prestige by championing human rights and promoting national identity in the deeply Catholic homeland of the late Pope John Paul II.

Thorough church investigations into alleged collaboration were made in only a few dioceses, and those who were found guilty tended to be pardoned rather than condemned, as long as they confessed what they had done and made reparation.

Benedict seemed to follow this line in appointing Wielgus, and the spying question may never have flared up if the centre-right Government in Poland had not begun its own inquiries into former secret agents.

Such a delayed examination of the consequences of a totalitarian regime is not confined to Poland. In post-Franco Spain there was an initial attempt at a smooth transition without examining Civil War scars. [And there has not been a witch hunt there so far - though it's been 37 years now since Franco died!]

Something similar has happened in Italy, where there is now a lively debate about communist atrocities in the immediate postwar era. [Oh how historically off you are! What some Italians are bringing up now is that if the postwar Italian governments had gone after anyone who collaborated with Mussolini's fascist government - not the Communists who became part of Italy's parliamentary system after the war- then almost everyone in Italy would have been incriminated, and the country would have been crippled!] In Argentina, the question of the past sins of the military regime has recently re-emerged.

The Polish Catholic bishops have now pledged to make their own investigations in each diocese, which may in itself cause new heartburn and controversy.

Joseph Glemp, the archbishop of Warsaw, who resigned on reaching the designated age limit, which opened the way for the appointment of Wielgus, claims Wielgus was blackened on the basis of incomplete photocopies. [Why is it not mentioned that the nomination process begins with the Polish bishops conference itself, who are supposed to help the Nuncio vet the candidates thoroughly ebefore their names are even forwarded to the Vatican? Garbage in, garbage out: If the information provided is incomplete, then the nomination is flawed ab inizio.]

Glemp, who will administer the archdiocese until another successor is appointed, gave a hint of how lacerating the transparency process can be. But others have willingly submitted to it, such as Bishop Wiktor Skworc of Tarnow who, when his name was found in the secret police files, asked a group of historians to check the material. He was cleared of any wrongdoing.

As Pope, Benedict has upset many people's expectations. He has not been the John Wayne pope some of his electors wanted, pistol-whipping dissidents. His reputation as a hardliner was forged through 24 years in his previous post as head of the Doctrinal Congregation, the watchdog of church doctrine and morals.

Just before his election as Pope he made a statement which made the church sound like a sewer: "How much filth there is in the church, it's a barque which ships water everywhere." He said that often the clergy was scandalous. [Why paraphrase wrongly what he actually said when it could not have been clearer? Also, first you claim Ratzinger took the lead in covering up scandals within the Church, now you reproach him for criticizing bad priests]

It sounded as if he would be a severe pope but, since his election, he has identified Christianity with joy and beauty rather than rules and prohibitions. His homilies are concise and Bible-based and his longer talks have cogent analyses, for instance, of reason's need of religion and religion's need of reason. He devoted his first major document not to truth but to love. [Because love and truth go together!]

Despite his many years in the church's central administration, the Roman Curia, Benedict has continued to look at it with a critical eye since his elevation to Pope. His main objection seems to be that it is mealy-mouthed.

One of his first moves was to turf out the English archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, who had been in charge of Vatican efforts to build bridges towards Islam. Even those among the 3000 curialists who did not like Fitzgerald disliked this brusque treatment [Oooh! another sweeping generalization!] and some claimed that Fitzgerald would have saved Benedict from his first major clanger.

To many in the Vatican, Benedict's pontificate looks like a takeover by the Doctrinal Congregation of the Secretariat of State[Is there such an animal? Our correspondent appears to be conflating together the Congregation for the Doctine of the Faith and the Secretariat of State, which is an administrative organ, not ecclesiastic!] a body which co-ordinates all Vatican office and activities. But to others, it seems rather like attempting to establish an era of truth, beauty and order in Tammany Hall.

Benedict appointed to the key role of Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the former archbishop of Genoa. The two men had worked together for years in the Doctrinal Congregation.

Bertone is a jovial fellow who has won sympathy with his part-time football commentaries on television and with wisecracks such as: "The church is opposed to cloning but might change its attitude if Sophia Loren could be cloned."

His breezy approach complements Benedict well. But he has no diplomatic experience, does not speak English, and there is some resentment that he was appointed to a post that usually goes to a seasoned Vatican diplomat.

The changeover came at the time of Benedict's unfortunate quotation about Islam and some insiders claimed that was the reason the controversial words remained in Benedict's academic lecture. [Please, stop quoting insiders, who really aren't or are fictional, to advance stupid explanations like this! Benedict wanted to cite that quotation and he did, and the reasons are all consistent with the thesis he was developing. Period. Does anyone really believe Cardinal Sodano would have told him - had he seen the text beforehand - "Your Holiness, please take that citation out'?]

Perhaps the storm that followed Benedict's quotation showed why the Secretariat of State had seemed mealy-mouthed previously: it had carefully avoided anything that would embarrass the millions of Catholics in Islamic countries [There are millions of Catholics living in Islamic countries? On which planet is that?] Its approach did not set the world on fire but at least it did not have egg all over its institutional face.[Who has egg all over its face now, and who did, even after Regensburg? Perhaps the metaphor wouldn't even arise, were it not for types like O'Grady who throw the eggs themselves and then say, "Oh now, he has egg all over his face!"]

But the gaffe over the Warsaw appointment has presented new problems.

Now there are people gunning for Benedict from all sides, including Italian television comedians who make fun of his fluent but heavily accented Italian. [Please, that ill-advised nine-day wonder came all of two months before the Wielgus case! And do you speak Italian at all, Mr. O'Grady? Heavily-accented, indeed!] He could find himself isolated after disappointing the conservatives without enthusing others.[Oh yes, Benedict the isolated Pope, yet another stereotype about him, since they cannot now call him the Panzer-Pope!]

His predecessor moved quickly once elected to endear himself to people around the world while leaving the Curia to its own devices. [He makes it sound as if JP-II was a politician more interested in selling himself than in running the church!] Benedict has not tried to imitate John Paul II and perhaps could not do so even if he did try. When he was elected, aged 78, he was 20 years older than John Paul II was when he was elected, and he lacks John Paul's flair and his uncanny empathy with the media.

Benedict has done things his own way: eschewing protagonism and directing attention, instead, to the Gospel message and the beauty of the liturgy.

Those who want Benedict out of the library and to become more street-smart disapprove of him publishing a book in April on his search for Jesus Christ. He began it before his election and has invited criticism of the finished product.

Some curialists, who point out that he has written scores of books, argue that he should spend less time getting the right words in the right order and more tackling the church's problems. [Does one of the 'curialists' happen to be called Ingrao? Are there other curialists saying that, or is this just another one of those cavalier and dishonest devices to make one single voice stand in for a multitude?]

They are also worried that his invitation to criticise his book will undermine church authority. As one official said: "If he invites criticism about his ideas on Jesus, who is going to heed him on condoms?" [If a Vatican official really said this, he ought to lose his job! It shows a monumental misunderstanding of what the pope meant by inviting criticsm about his book!]

Meanwhile the hunt for scapegoats in the Wielgus case is on in Poland and the Vatican, and accusations continue to be made about other alleged spies in both places. Among the probable repercussions is a renewed impetus to speed up the canonisation of Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, as the unsullied hero of Polish Catholic resistance to communism. And as a pope who rarely fumbled in 27 years. [Oh what a 'purification' of memory! The media forget how many times they took John Paul to task for all the usual things they take the Church to task for!]

===============================================================

So there we are! The sharks are certainly circling the water, never mind if they are drawn by false scents. What these media sharks really want is to draw first blood - if they can! And oh how they tried after Regensburg, never dreaming a Tukrey triumph was even a remote possibility! Now, to switch metaphors, they think they have the Wielgus case that they think they can hit Benedict over the head with and knock him down. Let's see where it gets them.

I must say for O'Grady, though, that he gets some of Benedict's most important hallmarks right (I set them off in larger print above].

I wasn't born under after John Paul's election, but did the press say then that he was finding it hard to be Pope or learning to be Pope or things such as this?

Hi Laura! Good question from you.

I'm not a Catholic, therefore I haven't followed John Paul II's papal path every day. Plus, I live in a country where the doings and sayings of any pope are not in any way considered to be important enough to report on continuously in the main stream media - (that is actually putting it mildly). But even in these impoverished (from a Roman Catholic view point) state of things, I remember clearly that JP II also received a lot of negative criticism - in between the few positive reports on his actions. In fact, his so called "archaic" stances on most moral/ethical questions are still criticised negatively in press articles,and in bookxs on ethics coming not only from secular journalists, but from Christian commentators as well. Why would Benedict XVI receive completely different treatment? He won't.

For some additional perspective: outside of Roman Catholicism, in largely Protestant countries, the relentless attack on what is now called "orthodox" Christianity is kept up vigorously from both the secular society and, sadly, from what can perhaps no longer even be called "liberal" Christianity, but "post-modern" Christianity, which includes theologians and Bible scholars. "The Pope" has become the easiest living "symbol" onto whom all the "world" can vent its spleen. But hasn't it been part of the history of the Papacy from the very beginning?

Vatican extends diplomatic
olive branch to Beijing
By Gavin Jones

VATICAN CITY, Jan. 20 (Reuters) - The Vatican urged China's communist government on Saturday to engage in constructive dialogue to ease tension and achieve full diplomatic relations and a normal life for the Roman Catholic Church there.

A Vatican statement issued after a two-day meeting on how to deal with China, where authorities do not allow Catholics to recognize the Pope's authority, also said Pope Benedict would be writing a personal letter to the Catholics of China.

The statement was a clear olive branch by the Holy See to Beijing's communist government after months of conflict over the appointment of bishops.

"The many contributions of the participants expressed the will to proceed in a respectful and constructive dialogue with the (Chinese) authorities to overcome the misunderstandings of the past," the Vatican said.

Since his election in April 2005, Pope Benedict has made normalizing relations with China one of the political and pastoral priorities of his papacy. The Vatican statement did not say when he would write the letter to China's Catholics.

The meeting, chaired by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, also concluded that "almost all" bishops and priests in China were loyal to the Pope, in contrast to the official position of their government.

It said China's Catholic community was growing and assured Beijing, which in the past has accused the Vatican of interfering in internal affairs, that the Church wanted to be an active contributor to the well-being of all Chinese people.

The meeting called for "a normalization of relations at the various levels, with the aim to allow peaceful and fruitful life in the faith of the Church and to work together for the good of the Chinese people and peace in the world."

There are about 10 million Catholics in China, divided between an underground church loyal to the Holy See and the state-approved church that respects the Pope as a spiritual figurehead but rejects effective papal control.

Beijing and the Vatican severed ties after the Communists came to power in China in 1949 and the dispute over who has the say in the appointment of bishops has impeded detente. The Holy See recognizes Beijing's diplomatic rival Taiwan.

Officially atheist, China has refused to allow the Vatican to appoint bishops or let Catholics publicly recognize the Pope's authority.

In recent years, Beijing and the Holy See -- warily exploring normalization -- came to an understanding that usually allows prospective bishops to seek Vatican approval before taking up posts in the church.

Last year relations hit a new low when the state-backed Church consecrated new bishops without papal approval, which the Vatican denounced as an "extremely serious act" that subverted fundamental principles of the Church's hierarchical structure.

Beijing wants the Vatican to sever ties with Taiwan, which split from China in 1949 after the civil war and which Beijing regards as a renegade province.

The Vatican, one of the about 20 diplomatic allies Taiwan still has, has said it wants to retain some relations with Taipei even if it reopens its embassy in Beijing.

China has so far rejected this.


From the New York Times:

Vatican Urges ‘Dialogue’
With China to Rebuild Ties
By IAN FISHER

ROME, Jan. 20 — The Vatican issued a measured statement on Saturday on its future relations with China, saying it wanted a “respectful and constructive dialogue” to rebuild diplomatic ties but still noting the “suffering” of Chinese Catholics.

The statement was issued after two days of high-level talks at the Vatican on rebuilding relations with China. The statement said Pope Benedict XVI intended to write a letter to Catholics in China, though it did not say when or hint at any message.

The pope and Chinese officials have expressed a desire to restore diplomatic ties broken in 1951 when the Communist government took over. But any concrete steps were frozen after the official Chinese church, which answers to the government, appointed several bishops last year without the Vatican’s consent.

The pope issued statements protesting the appointment of the bishops, saying that China had violated a long-standing, if informal, agreement in which the Vatican was able to have a tacit role in the process.

But the statement on Saturday was even in its tone, avoiding harsh criticism of China as it spoke of “following the road of a respectful and constructive dialogue with the governing authority to overcome the misunderstandings of the past.”

The reconciliatory tone seemed aimed at encouraging more talks with the government. Still, the statement strongly praised the bravery of Catholics in China who are loyal to Rome, rather than to the Chinese authorities. An “official church” of five million Catholics, presided over by the government, exists beside with an underground church of 10 million.

“It is noted, with deep recognition, the luminous testimony offered by bishops, priests and the faithful, who without ceding to compromises, have maintained their faith to Seat of St. Peter, at times even at the price of grave suffering,” the statement read.

The pope did not take part in the meetings, though the statement said he was fully briefed.

================================================================

The above stories were based on a communique issued by the Vatican Press Office at the close of the two-day sessions on China and Vietnam.

Other bulletins from the Press Office today show the Holy Father had another busy Saturday.



It began with the traditional blessing of two lambs on thr Feast of St. Agnes today (wool from these lambs will be used to weave the papal pallium) and included-
- the presentation of credentials by the new amabssador from Romania to the Holy See [address in French],
- a meeting with the bishops in charge of the 5th general conference of Latin American and Caribbean bishops (CELAM) which the Pope will open in Brazil this May,
- a meeting with participants in the plenary session of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America in advance of the CELAM conference [address in Spanish], and
- a meeting with the Prefect for the Congregation of Bishops, Cardinal Re. [This appears to be a regular Saturday afternoon meeting, like the regular Friday afternoon meeting with the Prefect of the CDF}.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 22/01/2007 14.08]

Dear Crotchet - Thanks to your response to Laura. You actually encapsulated the main problem with media coverage of the Papacy and the Church. In fact, when I first saw Laura's post, I thought right away that I better check my Weigel [his biography of John Paul II, which is both a synthetic overview of that monumental Papacy, as well as a chronology of what JP-II did and said during a quarter century].

And immediately I found the part where Weigel assesses the wildly successful trip JP-II made to the United States and the United Nations in October 1979 [he had been Pope for 1 year], and I will quote the pertinent portions:

---

"John Paul II's American pilgrimage was lavishly covered in the press for whom Time's cover headline - 'John Paul, Superstar' - defined one aspect of that remarkable week: the Pope's personal magnetism. Still, several of the Pope's addresses brought to the surface a question that had been bothering many commentators since Karol Wojtyla's election.

"How could this passionate and persuasive defender of human rights be so 'doctrinaire' in his approach to what had become firmly fixed in the media's corporate mind as the issues of contemporary Roman Catholicism - birth control, abortion, divorce and the ordination of women to priesthood? Time spoke for many when its cover story claimed that the Pope...'had reaffirmed the thought that Christianity is a body of fixed beliefs rather than a faith that ought to be adapted to modern circumstances.'

"John Paul II clearly thinks this is a false dichotomy...To defend the truths of Catholic faith was not to be 'doctrinaire' it was to be dostrinally serious. ...(The Pope) was giving voice to the tradition of which he was the servant, not the master. He was not an authoritarian. He was the voice of an authoritative tradition.

"It was not an easy distinction to grasp in a cultural climate like that of the United States where doctrinal differences within and among religious communities are often regarded as matters of personal lifestyle choices, rather than of truth.

"It was even more difficult in a media environment in which the bobbing and weaving of politicians was the lingua franca of public dicscourse, and virtually every 'position' was assumed to be negotiable."

---

Or, farther back, to John Paul's first trip abroad in January 1979 [three months since he became Pope], to Mexico, abuut which Weigel says:

---

"Commentators immediately juxtaposed...the voice of John Paul the 'theological conservative' and...John Paul 'the social and poiltical liberal'. It was not hard to detect beneath these cliches a further juxtaposition between the 'bad John Paul' of Puebla [where he addressed the bishops of Latin America] and the 'good John Paul' of Cuilapan [where he addressed Mexican Indian communities]...

"Reading him from the 'outside' yielded a split-screen vision of the man and his message...John Paul II and his pontificate could only be read accurately from the 'inside.' The theology was always first, and politics, like culture and economics, was one of the arenas in which theological truths had implications.

"It was not an approach that commended itself readily to an international press corps trained to think of politics as 'the real world' and theology as matter of personal taste."

---

That was how it was in 1979, that is how it still is today. Indeed, these seemingly unbreakable prejudices in the media about the Church and theology have only solidified distressingly after almost 30 years. The media report on the Pope's actions and words as if he were just another politician, and assess those actions and words that way.

As for the media coverage of John Paul II as a person, he was treated as a phenomenon from the very beginning because he was contrary to all the stereotypes about Popes. He was not Italian, he was young, he was physically attractive, he was a sportsman, he was at home in major languages including English, he joked and bantered with journalists and with the crowds, he was virtually 'made for the media' - who therefore preferred to report on the 'mediatic' Pope and would have preferred to ignore what he said about the faith, and when they couldn't do so, concentrated on assailing him and the Church for sticking to the principles of the faith.

Also very instructive is what Weigel tells us about how virtually no one in the media paid attention to the first four years of John-Paul's catecheses at his Wednesday general audiences, when in 129 talks, he articulated what would later be compiled into his "Theology of the Body'- Catholic understanding of human sexuality...'sexuality as a way to grasp the essence of humans, and through that, to discern something about the divine.'

Weigel concedes that "The 129 texts...do not make easy listening and do not make easy reading. They are highly compact theological and philosophical meditations into which the Pope tried to fit as much material as possible into a 15-minute catechetical talk. The difficulties notwithstanding, however, these texts repay careful reading..."

Did the media - and let's limit ourselves to Catholic media - take any pains at all to study those texts and report them in accessible form to their readers? Probably not, because even today, when I see references to "Theology of the Body", the first qualification one reads is that it is 'difficult and abstract.'

So the media very much determine what it is that they report about the Church and the Pope, and how. They have a stranglehold on global opinion in this global village of instant communications. Yes, the Internet can be a counterbalance of sorts, but the problem with the Internet is that it is indiscriminate, it accommodates everything, and people who turn to it for information and opinion will tend to look only (or mostly) for material that suits their own preferences and views.

Pope Benedict, referring to this information overload now available to everyone, said recently that it can dull the mind's ability to synthesize and analyze information. Ultimately, it is each individual's responsibility to read news and opinion in context, and try to arrive at a personal synthesis without simply echoing what is peddled by the 'dictators of public opinion' (another recent Benedict phrase).

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/01/2007 17.21]

Dear Andrea - I just now saw your last post above. No one has a monopoly on anything in the Forum. On the contrary, the more participation the better, as I have always called for in this section - more comments, more news items, more photos relevant to the Pope and the Church, and other peripheral matters that may be of interest.

Forgive me if I offended you in any way by pointing out that Benefan had already posted the story. It was a simple statement of fact, not a reproach or anything else, in the same spirit that I always attribute every item or photo I use that did not originate from me to whoever I got it from. And if I offended you, it is my responsibility alone. Benefan had nothing to do with it - she only happened to post the article.

Along with all the others, I highly appreciate your many initiatives since you joined us, particularly in offering translations and items from the German press that we otherwise would not know about, as well as your promptness with posting items from the English press, as you did with the CNS story.

Again, I am very sorry if you felt offended and can only ask your pardon. Thank you.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/01/2007 18.45]

Pending translation of the two papal addresses today, here are news briefs from the Italian news agencies reporting their gist, shared by Lella in the main forum and translated here.

Pope says 'new evangelization'
needed in Latin America


Vatican City, Jan. 20 (APcom) - The Pope is very concerned about the 'enormous challenge' now faced by the Catholic Church Latin America.

Speaking this morning to participants in the plenary session of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, Benedict VXI cited as main reasons "the cultural change generated by a social communications media which shape the way of thinking and the habits of millions of people (and) the waves of migration with repercussions on family life and religious practice."

The Pope also expressed again his concerns over the effects of 'globalization, secularization, growing poverty and ecological deterioration, especially in the large cities, along with violence and drug trafficking."

In the face of this scenario, the Pope underscored 'the urgent need for a new evangelization." He reminded them that he will be in Brazil on May 9-13 to open the fifth general conference of the Latin American and Caribbean bishops, at which the Church will consider how it is meeting these challenges and what it can do better to help improve conditions of life for the neediest in that continent.


Romania can bring new
spiritual impulse to EU,
Pope tells new ambassador

Vatican City, Jan. 20 (ASCA) - Benedict XVI said today he was plased at the entry of Romania into the European Union, addressing the new ambsassador of Romania to the Holy See, Marius Gabriel Lazurca, who presented his credentials.

The Pope expressed the wish that the nation could bring an original contribution to the European community "so that it is not only an economic force and a huge market of consumer goods, but that it can find a new political, cultural and spiritual impulse capable of creating a promising future for its new generations."

Benedict praised Romania's present commitment to renew its society, after years of the Cold War, "in order to guarantee a just and equitable development for all."

He urged Romanian leaders to "be very attentive to the requirements for active solidarity among the various elements of its population to avoid, in this time of globalization, a growing gap between the citizens who have legitimate access to the benefits of economic development and those who are progressively marginalized and finally excluded from that process, as we can now observe, unfortunately, in many modern societies."

The Pope also referred to the progress in the government's restitution of proprties confiscated in the Communist era from religious communities, but voiced his concern and disquiet about St. Joseph Cathedral in Bucharest, a historical building that risks being sacrificed in a property development project.

Dear Teresa,

I know you were only stating a fact by pointing out that benefan had already posted the story ...

But as you may or may in fact not imagine: I had been double-checking this thread here for this story before making my own contribution. I just did not see the item!!!!!!!!!!!!

@benefan: I for one would be grateful if you did an enhancement of any sort - like putting them in bold - at least to the headlines of the stories you post.

It would make your entries clearer and would avoid reposts as has happened to me last night. Had I seen before that you, benefan, had already posted the story, I would not have done so!!!

And with the two of you so busy filing stories here, the air for anyone else to contribute anything is just so thin ...

Andrea


Dear Andrea- I have replied to you by ffz-mail.
Teresa

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/01/2007 21.06]

[Modificato da @Andrea M.@ 20/01/2007 22.22]

Andrea,

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try to remember to boldface headlines on my posts in the future. Usually I am posting things in a hurry so I don't embellish the stories or add comments even though some stories are just crying out for all sorts of choice remarks.

I myself have managed several times to post the same stories as Teresa has just posted even though I try to check out all the previous posts for the day before adding anything. It's easy to do.

I do hope you continue to keep looking for and posting interesting stories on the English forum. With your language skills, you can access a lot more news than I can. The main reason I post what I do is to help Teresa out because I know she is translating a lot of non-English stories and can't do everything. I would be more than happy to back off a bit so others could add items if they will. In any case, I value your input--the news items and the suggestions. Thanks.

Here is the AsiaNews story on the Pope's message at Angelus today. A translation of the full text has been posted in AUDIENCE AND ANGELUS TEXTS.

Ecumenism, prayer and sharing
are everyone's responsibility, says Pope

Benedict XVI invites the faithful to come and celebrate ecumenical Vespers on January 25,
in St Paul Outside the Walls Basilica.

Vatican City, Jan. 21 (AsiaNews) – Christians are “heirs to past divisions,” but “Christ can do anything, he ‘makes the deaf hear and (the) mute speak’ (Mk 7, 37),” he can instil in ChristianS the ardent desire to listen to and communicate with one another and speak together with Him the language of mutual love.”

It is with this heartfelt emphasis that Benedict XVI referred to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an annual event that will be celebrated by many Christian denominations from January 18 to the 25.

“It is my intention to comment at length on this biblical subject,” said the Pope, “next January 25, liturgical feast of the Conversion of St Paul, when, on the occasion of the end of the ‘Week of Prayer,’ I shall preside over Vespers celebrations in the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls, starting at 5.30 pm. I expect you to come in great numbers to that liturgical meeting since unity can be especially achieved through prayer, and the more prayer is unanimous, the more it is appreciated by God.”

The Pontiff said that this year’s theme was prepared by “faithful from Umlazi, South Africa, a very poor city, where AIDS has reached pandemic proportions and where there are very few human hopes. But the Risen Christ is hope for everybody, especially for Christians. Heirs to past divisions, they have tried on this occasion to launch an appeal: Christ can do everything, he “makes the deaf hear and (the) mute speak" (Mk 7, 37),” can instil in Christians the ardent desire to listen to and communicate with one another as well as speak together with Him the language of mutual love.”

Talking about the ecumenical commitment to Christian unity, Benedict XVI stressed that such a commitment is not limited to the experts but is for everyone. “Ecumenism is a deep dialogical experience; it is listening and talking to one another, knowing each better. It is a task that everyone can accomplish, especially in terms of spiritual ecumenism based on prayer and sharing that are now possible between Christians. I hope that the yearning for unity, translated into prayer and fraternal collaboration to alleviate man’s suffering, can spread more and more at the parish level as well as in Church movements and religious institutes.”

With this in mind, the Pope thanked the Ecumenical Commission of the Rome Vicariate and the parish priests who “encourage the faithful to celebrate the Week”.

He added: “More generally, I am grateful to all those, in every corner of the world, pray and work for unity with conviction and steadfastness. May Mary, Mother of the Church, help all the faithful to let Christ intimately open [their hearts] to mutual communication in charity and truth, to become in Him one heart and mind (cf Acts 4, 32)”.

Following the Marian prayer, Benedict XVI greeted teachers and students from Rome’s Catholic schools, expressing his personal “appreciation for their work.”

In greeting Italian pilgrims, the Pontiff cited the promoters of the ‘Cambia gioco’ [Change the Game] project, who in the city of Lecce invited children to give up their toy guns.

“I congratulate you for this initiative,” the Pope said, and “I want to broaden the appeal: Let us keep children from the contagion of violence

After the new ambassador from Turkey, the Holy Father last Saturday also received the new ambassador from Romania and today, it was the turn of Montenegro's first ambassador ever to the Holy See. Here are the VIS stories on both.


VATICAN CITY, JAN 22, 2007 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican, the Holy Father received the Letters of Credence of Antun Sbutega, the first ambassador of Montenegro to the Holy See.

In his address, Benedict XVI sent his greetings, via the ambassador, to all of Montenegrin society which, "in its ethnic plurality, has wished to establish a direct and cordial dialogue with the Holy See. ... Over the centuries," he went on, "the peoples of the current Crna Gora have always maintained dynamic and cordial relationships with neighboring peoples, making interesting contributions to the life of European nations."

The Pope went on to refer to Prince Nicholas of Montenegro, who in 1886 signed a convention that aimed to meet the spiritual needs of Catholics in that country.

"When the evangelical message of salvation reached the lands of Montenegro," said the Holy Father, "by embracing the eastern and western traditions together," the country "came to be characterized as a privileged place for the ecumenical encounter that everyone longs for. The meeting between Christians and Muslims also took on compelling forms in Montenegro.

"It is necessary," he added, "to continue this journey, on which the Church hopes that everyone will make a joint commitment to unite forces in the service of the inborn nobility of human beings. The Church, in fact, sees this as a significant part of her mission, ... while maintaining respect for the traditions that give a land its identity."

After voicing his conviction that, in Europe, Montenegro "will not fail to give its active support in the civil, political, social, cultural and religious spheres," the Pope identified one of the country's priorities as "reinforcing the state of law in the various sectors of public life" in order to promote "an increase in citizens' trust in society," both "as individuals and as a community."

Turning to consider the position of Catholics in the country, Benedict XVI noted that "the full recognition, dating to more than a century ago, of the life and goals of the Catholic community in the context of Montenegrin society has turned out to be useful to the sovereignty of the State and ... to the specific mission of the Church."

He also recalled "the respectful attitude of the Orthodox Church of the time, which did not oppose the agreement with the Apostolic See," but considered it "a useful instrument for meeting people's spiritual needs."

The Pope concluded his address by reiterating his great esteem for Montenegro and expressing hopes in the continuance of "fraternal dialogue with the Orthodox, so present and active in the country," and of "millennia of mutual respect."



VATICAN CITY, JAN 20, 2007 (VIS) - This morning, the Pope received the Letters of Credence of Marius Gabriel Lazurca, the new Romanian ambassador to the Holy See.

Speaking to the diplomat in French, the Pope highlighted the Holy See's satisfaction at Romania's recent entry into the European Union.

He dwelt on the "long Christian tradition" of the country and voiced the hope that it will make "an original contribution to the European edifice, helping it to be not just an economic force and a market of consumer goods," but also giving it "a new political, cultural and spiritual impulse, capable of building a prosperous future for new generations."

"For many years," Pope Benedict continued, "your country has been making great efforts towards the renewal of society, with the aim of healing the wounds of the past and enabling everyone to enjoy fundamental freedoms and to benefit from social and economic progress. ... It is just as important to ensure that everyone has equal access to independent and transparent justice." In this context, the Pope also called for "renewed attention to the poorest families, to help them educate their children with dignity."

The Pope expressed his satisfaction at "the progress made by the government in its delicate handling of the return of property confiscated from religious communities. ... I also hope," he went on, "that the laws ruling religious freedom, which is a fundamental freedom, be fully respected, especially as concerns the Greek-Catholic Church."

After giving assurances of the Catholic Church's readiness to meet the authorities in order to study ways to overcome any difficulties, the Holy Father made clear his "concern" over plans to build a 19-storey building next to the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Bucharest.

The archbishop of Bucharest has appealed to the State authorities, said the Pope, "to conserve this historical patrimony and the values of faith it represents, not only for the Catholic community but for all the Romanian people."

The Pope sent greetings, via the ambassador, to His Beatitude Teoctist, patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church, and voiced the hope "that Catholic and Orthodox faithful continue to form ever more fraternal relationships in their daily lives, and that dialogue continues to progress at all levels. I particularly hope that the European ecumenical meeting, due to be held at Sibiu, Romania in September, will prove to be an important stage on our shared journey towards unity."

In closing, the Pope sent a special greeting to the Catholic community in Romania, saying: "I know that the Catholic faithful take an active part in the life of the country, especially in the spiritual and social fields, and I heartily encourage them to bear courageous witness to the irreplaceable position of the family in society."

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/01/2007 0.56]

Lella has shared this exciting little item from the Italian news agency ASCA.


Vatican City, Jan. 22 (ASCA) - Pope Benedict XVI was presented this morning with the oldest known existing papyrus documenting the Gospels of Luke and John.

The extraordinary document, known as the Bodmer XIV-XV Papyrus, is dated to the beginning of the third century and contains ample portions of both Gospels.

The presentation was made by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church, accompanied by an entourage headed by Mons. Raffaele Farina, prefect of the Apostolic Library.

Farina explained earlier that "the document is the oldest text available of the Gospels today. It is dated 20-30 years after the Bodmer VIII Papyrus which has been dated to around 200 A.D. and contains the Letters of St. Peter."

Farina adds that the Apostolic Library of the Vatican also has the oldest known complete text of the Bible dating to the 4th century AD, and that 'we also have apocrypha!"

The papyrus presented to the Pope today had been kept at the Bodmer Foundation in Cologny, near Geneva, but the Foundation has now donated it to the Vatican. Frank Hanna represented the donors at the presentation.

===============================================================

One would think this was the sort of news item that would make at least some news in the wire services, but no such luck! If it had been something apocryphal or some document about whom th4re was only great speculation, like the so-called Gospel of Judas, it would have earned blanket coverage in the media like that one did.

Why doesn't something genuine raise the same interest? I think the answer lies in the question. Genuine does not make it, apocryphal does, as far as the media are concerned!

P.S. 1/23/07 Ratzigirl today found the appropriate photograph from the Foto Felici catalog:



The Italian service of ZENIT has a few more details today about the event. Here is a translation:

The Bodmer Papyrus 14-15, dated to between 175-225 A.D., was presented to the Pope Monday by its principal donor, Frank Hanna, an American, who was accompanied by his family.

"The Papyrus contains almost half of the Gospels of Luke and John. It was written in Egypt and was perhaps used as a liturgical book," explained Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, archivist and librarian of the Roman church at the presentation.

The manuscript belonged to the Bodmer Foundation in Cologny near Geneva and will henceforth be kept by the Vatican Apostolic Library.

The Bodmer Papyrus 14-15 (P75) - composed of 36 double pages written on both sides, for a total of 144 pages - is the oldest known document which contains both Gospels together.

"It was almost certainly intended for a small community, a Greek-speaking Egyptian 'parish' who, as we do in all Christian liturgies, read from the Gospel during the Eucharistic celebration, says an article coming out in tomorrow's Osservatore Romano.

Experts say the fact that the Gospels of Luke and John are found together in one papyrus, as in this case, demonstrates that the first Christian communities considered the Gospels as a unity, ZENIT was told by some of those who were at the presentation.

The document is decisive because it coincides with what is found in the Codex Vaticanus, one of the oldest editions of the Bible, dating to the 4th century. The Bodmer Payrus 14-15 therefore shows that the oldest available integral versions of the New Testament correspond to the Gospels that circulated among the early Christians centuries earlier.

Among other things, the papyrus contains the oldest known transcription of the Lord's Prayer as Luke reported it.

The presentation of the papyrus was also attended by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Sectretary of State, Bishop Raffele Farina, prefect of the Vatican Library, and Gary Krupp, founder of the
"Pave the Way" Foundation, which worked for over a year to effect this donation.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 24/01/2007 1.22]

The International Herald Tribune carried this online as of 6 hours ago, apparently, but the hasn't popped up yet on the Yahoo net which includes AP.

Vatican cardinal says
no concrete plans for
any papal visit to Moscow
The Associated Press
Tuesday, January 23, 2007

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican is hoping for a visit to Moscow by Pope Benedict XVI but there are no concrete plans for such a pilgrimage, a top Vatican cardinal said Tuesday.

"Relations with the Russian Orthodox Church have improved, and we're committed to improving them more," Cardinal Walter Kasper, the pope's top official on efforts for Christian unity, told a news conference.

"Let's hope then that the time for a meeting matures, but at the moment there is nothing concrete in the works," for a visit by Benedict to meet Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II in Moscow, the cardinal said.

Tensions between the Catholic Church and Orthodox in Moscow prevented the late John Paul II from realizing his desire to make a papal pilgrimage to Moscow.

The two churches have been feuding over property that was confiscated during former Soviet rule. The Orthodox have accused Catholics of poaching for converts in Russia after the demise of communism there, while the Vatican rejects the charge, contending it needs to care for its tiny flock of some 600,000 Catholics in a country of some 140 million.

"There are still prejudices to be overcome," Kasper said.

Alexy late last year held the door open for a possible meeting with Benedict — possibly in a third country — provided the two churches make progress in tackling their disagreements.

Alexy has said a papal visit would only be possible after the Catholic Church stops allegedly seeking converts in Russia and discriminating against the Orthodox in western Ukraine.

Meanwhile, both the Vatican and Orthodox have proposed cooperating more closely in protecting traditional Christian values. Among them is opposition to same-sex marriages and opposition to abortion and euthanasia.

Benedict is scheduled to give a speech dealing with efforts toward Christian unity during a ceremony on Thursday in a Rome basilica.

Kasper said that whatever problems still persist to divide Christians, the Vatican was committed to pursuing dialogue.

"Even if we haven't reached the definitive ecumenical goal, that is, full unity of Christians, we have established a network of relations and of forms of getting closer from which there is no turning back," the cardinal said.

Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, dedicated much of the energy of his more than 26-year-long papacy toward overcoming difference among Christians, and the present pope has pledged to continue the efforts. In November, Benedict journeyed to Istanbul, the historical headquarters for the Orthodox, to meet with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox faithful.

================================================================

Remember there was a report a few weeks back that the Pope and the patriarch could meet at a Benedictine abbey in Hungary, i.e., neutral ground as neutral can be - some time this year, probably around the time the Pope visits Austria in September

Here is the report from Vatican Information Services on Cardinal Kasper's news conference earlier today: .


SPIRITUAL ECUMENISM,
A TASK FOR EVERYONE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 23, 2007 (VIS) - Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, today held a briefing for journalists on the current state of ecumenism. The event was timed to coincide with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, being held from January 18 to 25.

The meeting, held in the Holy See Press Office, was also attended by Bishop Brian Farrell L.C. and Msgr, Eleuterio F. Fortino, respectively secretary and under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.

Cardinal Kasper affirmed that last year had been particularly fruitful in ecumenical terms, with the Pope's trip to Turkey, during which he signed a joint declaration with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople; and the resumption of work of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox.

Currently, one of the main themes is the primacy of Peter, with all the theological, canonical and even emotional problems it brings. "It is necessary to continue to pray and be patient to ensure progress in this area," said the cardinal. "For now, replies have been received from various Churches, and these are being analyzed and discussed."

On the subject of a possible meeting between Benedict XVI and Alexis II, patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias, Cardinal Kasper indicated that "for the moment nothing concrete has been decided." Relations with the Russian Orthodox Church are improving, close collaboration also exists with various dicasteries of the Roman Curia and various dioceses.

The president of the pontifical council denied that the Holy See has abandoned relations with Protestant communities, describing such rumors as "groundless insinuations." Various ecumenical delegations have been received by the Holy Father and have participated in the Wednesday general audiences.

As for forthcoming ecumenical events, the cardinal mentioned the European ecumenical meeting, due to be held at Sibiu, Romania in September; the plenary of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between Catholics and Orthodox, due to be held in Ravenna, Italy in 2007, at which it is possible the Pope may be present; and the second ecumenical congress of communities and movements, "Together for Europe," to be held in Stuttgart, Germany.

At the end of his press briefing, Cardinal Kasper presented his new book entitled "A Handbook of Spiritual Ecumenism, guidelines for its implementation," which has just been published in Italian, English and French.

It contains practical and pastoral suggestions to strengthen spiritual ecumenism, "which is," the introduction reads, "the soul of the entire ecumenical movement."

The book is addressed to everyone involved in ecumenical activities in various dioceses and parishes, although each and every member of the Church is called to make their own contribution, above all through prayer.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 23/01/2007 21.31]

ZENIT'S Italian service also reported today on the telegram of condolence sent in the name of the Pope by Cardinal Bertone to the president of the French bishops conference on the death of Abbe Pierre.


VATICAN CITY, Jan. 23 (ZENIT.org) - In a condolence message, Benedict XVI has publicly acknowledged the commitment to charity of the late Abbe Pierre, who founded the Emmaus Community and who died yeterday at age 94.

In a telegram sent by the Vatican Secretary of state to Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux and president of the French bishops conference, the Holy Father expressed gratitude for the Abbe Pierre's work "in favor of the poorest through which he bore witness to the charity that comes from Christ."

The papal message "entrusts him to Divine Mercy and asks the Lord to welcome to the peace of His kingdom this priest who fought all his life against poverty."

The pope "sends with all his heart" the apostolic blessing to "the family of the deceased, the members of the Emmaus Community, and all the persons attending the final rites."

Emmaus International has 327 coomunities in 39 countries found in 4 continents. Most of its work "is always done with and for the poorest people. For the most past, these activities are self-financed through the work of the beneficiaries themselves," according to an Emmaus communique.

Papal message urges media to protect children from harmful programs

By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Media professionals, prior to offering violent or sexually explicit films, cartoons and video games as entertainment for children or teens, should ask themselves how young victims of abuse and exploitation would view such products, Pope Benedict XVI said.

In his message for World Communications Day, which will be celebrated May 20 in most countries, the pope called for cooperation among media, parents, schools and parishes to protect children from harmful programming and to educate them in choosing their entertainment wisely.

"Beauty, a kind of mirror of the divine, inspires and vivifies young hearts and minds, while ugliness and coarseness have a depressing impact on attitudes and behavior," said the message, released Jan. 24 at the Vatican.

The pope chose "Children and the Media: A Challenge for Education" as the theme for the 2007 celebration.

The theme, Pope Benedict said, is important because of the growing influence of the media over people around the world, and especially over children, in some cases maybe even rivaling the influence of the school, the church and the home.

While acknowledging that most media professionals try to do what is right, he said they often are forced to compromise because of financial pressures.

"Any trend to produce programs and products -- including animated films and video games -- which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray anti-social behavior or the trivialization of human sexuality is a perversion," he said.

"How could one explain this 'entertainment' to the countless innocent young people who actually suffer violence, exploitation and abuse?" Pope Benedict asked.

In choosing what children will watch or listen to, the pope encouraged a mainly positive approach.

"Children exposed to what is aesthetically and morally excellent are helped to develop appreciation, prudence and the skills of discernment," he said.

The example of what parents watch and listen to, and access to children's classics in literature, fine arts and music, will help young people learn to enjoy and prefer what is beautiful, he said.

"So often freedom is presented as a relentless search for pleasure or new experiences," the pope wrote. "Yet this is a condemnation, not a liberation!"

"True freedom could never condemn the individual -- especially a child -- to an insatiable quest for novelty," he said.

The pope called on the media "to safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human rights and promote respect for the needs of the family."

[Modificato da benefan 25/01/2007 3.01]

The Vatican Press Office today released a communique on the visit of the Vietnamese Prime Minister with the Pope this morning at the Vatican. Unusally, the communique was issued in each of the Vatican official languages, including English. I hope this becomes SOP at the Press Office for all their releases. Here is the text:


This morning, Thursday January 25, 2007, Nguyen Tan Dang, prime minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, was received in audience by the Holy Father Benedict XVI. He subsequently went on to meet Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

The Holy See expressed its satisfaction for the visit, which marks a new and important step towards the normalization of bilateral relations. Those relations have, over the last few years, made concrete progress opening new spaces of religious freedom for the Catholic Church in Vietnam.

In the course of the discussions, attention turned to the problems that remain which, it is hoped, will be faced and resolved through existing channels of dialogue and will lead to a fruitful cooperation between Church and State, so that Catholics can, ever more effectively, make a positive contribution to the common good of the country, to promoting moral values, in particular among the young, to spreading a culture of solidarity and to charitable assistance in favor of the weaker sectors of the population.

Furthermore, opinions were exchanged on the current international situation, with a view to a joint commitment in favor of peace and of negotiated solutions to the serious problems of the present time.

This was the first time that a prime minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam has met the Holy Father and the highest authorities of the Secretariat of State.

Here's the story from the wire services:

Vatican, Vietnam
make rapprochement official
by Martine Nouaille


VATICAN CITY, Jan. 25 (AFP) - The Vatican and Vietnam have affirmed a rapprochement with a historic meeting between Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Pope Benedict XVI.

The first meeting between a Vietnamese communist leader and the head of the Roman Catholic Church was hailed by the Vatican as a "new and important step" towards establishing diplomatic ties.

A communique also noted "concrete progress opening new spaces of religious freedom for the Catholic Church in Vietnam" in recent years.

In the largely symbolic meeting, the pope and Dung discussed "the problems that remain which, it is hoped, will be faced and resolved through existing channels of dialogue and will lead to a fruitful cooperation between Church and State" in Vietnam.

Benedict XVI welcomed Dung at his residence late Thursday morning, and the two met for about 25 minutes behind closed doors, accompanied by interpreters and the head of Vietnam's religious affairs commission.

Afterward, the pope and the prime minister, smiling broadly, exchanged gifts before photographers. Benedict offered Dung traditional pontifical medals, while accepting a ceramic vase from his guest.

The Vietnamese press secretary however declined to comment on the meeting when approached by reporters.

Vietnam's six million Catholics of a total population of some 84 million are the second largest group of followers in Southeast Asia after the Philippines.

The regime severed diplomatic ties in 1975 at the country's reunification following the Vietnam war, but relations have improved since 1990, with regular visits by Vatican cardinals to Vietnam.

Catholics' allegiance to the pope is still regarded warily by some Vietnamese officials as a potential threat to the ruling communist party's authority.

The gradual thaw in bilateral ties was underscored in November 2005 when a Vatican cardinal attended a lavish ordination ceremony for 57 priests in Hanoi.

Dung also met Thursday with Vatican number two Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and Monsignor Dominique Mamberti, who is in charge of the Holy See's foreign relations.

The Vatican statement expressed the hope "that (Vietnamese) Catholics can, ever more effectively, make a positive contribution to the common good of the country, to promoting moral values, in particular among the young, to spreading a culture of solidarity and to charitable assistance in favor of the weaker sectors of the population."

Hanoi had tense relations with Benedict's predecessor John Paul II, who spoke out against communism in the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe.


Pope meets with Vietnam's prime minister
By DANIELA PETROFF


VATICAN CITY, Jan. 25 (AP) - Talks on Thursday between Pope Benedict XVI and Vietnam's prime minister marked an important step toward establishing diplomatic relations, the Vatican said after the highest-level meeting between the Holy See and the communist government following decades of tension.

Benedict met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung for a half-hour in the pontiff's private library, the Vatican press office said.

"The Holy See has expressed its satisfaction with the visit, which marks a new, important step toward the normalization of bilateral relations" between the Vatican and Vietnam, a statement said.

The Vatican also praised "concrete progress" in recent years toward "opening new spaces of religious freedom for the Catholic church in Vietnam."

Earlier in the week, a Vietnamese cardinal said there were no obstacles to establishing formal relations that have been strained for decades.

Usually, at top-level audiences, the pontiff meets alone with his visiting guest. But joining the pope and Dung for their talks was Vietnam's official in charge of religious affairs, Ngo Yen Thi.

Vietnam has 6 million Catholics, Southeast Asia's second-largest Catholic population after the Philippines.

There have been decades of tensions between the Vietnamese government and the church, particularly over Hanoi's insistence on having the final say in most church appointments.

There has been speculation that official ties with the church could advance Catholic assistance in medical care and other social services for the Vietnamese people, and the Vatican statement appeared to indicate real prospects for that.

The Vatican said it hoped dialogue would "lead to a fruitful cooperation between church and state so that Catholics can ... make a positive contribution to the common good of the country."

It cited the promotion of moral values, especially among the young, as well as help for the needy.

During Mass on Thursday at Hanoi's St. Joseph Cathedral _ where worshippers spilled out into a courtyard _ a loud round of applause erupted among the faithful when Archbishop Ngo Quang Kiet mentioned Dung's visit to the Vatican.

The Rev. Jean Le Trong Cung said Dung's visit underscored Vietnam's determination to be integrated into the world community.

"We have high hopes for this visit," the priest said. "We hope that it will strengthen the Catholic Church's role in Vietnam and allow us to contribute more to the development of education, health care and social welfare in Vietnam."

On Tuesday, the archbishop of Ho Chi Minh City, Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, said after holding talks with Vietnamese officials, including the president, that formal ties should follow soon.

Other positive signs for the church included the ordination in 2005 in Vietnam of dozens of priests in a ceremony led by a top Vatican cardinal.


[Associated Press writer Ngo Yen Thi in Hanoi, Vietnam, contributed to this report.]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 25/01/2007 15.27]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 27/01/2007 9.52]

Thank you for the recent news items.
Today's VIS newsletter is a particularly strong one, concentrating on the "children and the media" issue and, at the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the work Papa has done in the past year to further that cause. If there's anyone who doesn't receive the VIS newsletter, you can sign up for it on the Vatican website. I look forward to receiving it by e-mail every day.

Today is the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul and Papa will be celebrating Vespers at Saint Paul's Outside the Walls at 4.30 pm London time [5.30 pm Rome time]. EWTN will be showing this live.......so video recorders at the ready, everyone!

There's a move afoot in the British parliament to bring our time in line with that of continental Europe; this would make things much easier for me, since even adding and subtracting ONE hour is a problem for my non-arithmetical mind. I wonder if our MPs have realised that Portugal is the only European country in the same time zone as ourselves, so the Portuguese would also have to legislate to alter things.

Luff, choy and peace ~ Mary x

[Modificato da maryjos 25/01/2007 15.54]

Lella shares with us this brief item from the Italian news agency agr, translated here:


VATICAN CITY, January 25 (agr) - Pope Benedict XVI has been invited to visit Iran. The proposal was reportedly made directly to the Holy Father last January 8 by Mohammed Javad Faridzadeh, ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the Holy See.

Although there is no official invitation as yet, sources said work was under way to organize the trip.

Nor is a trip to neighboring Iraq ruled out. The same sources said the new ambassador from Iraq would be suggesting such a trip with the possibility of a meeting between the Pope and the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, spiritual head of Shi'a Muslims.

1/27/07
Belated supplement to the above item, as reported by CWNews:

Jan. 26, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Both Iran and Iraq have issued invitations for a visit by Pope Benedict XVI, according to Italian media reports.

During the Pope’s regular annual meeting with members of the Vatican diplomatic corps, Iran's envoy Mohammed Javad Faridzadeh asked the Pontiff to visit the Islamic republic, according to one report. The Iranian envoy reportedly said that the Pope did not refuse the invitation. No schedule was suggested for the visit.

The Iraqi envoy, Ismail Yelda, also mentioned the possibility of a papal visit to his country. Iraqi officials suggested that a papal visit might include a meeting with the Shiite Ayatollah Al Sistani in the Islamic city of Najaf.

The Vatican has not issued any public comment on the reported invitations. Privately, informed officials downplayed the likelihood that either trip would take place.

================================================================

What political leader today would be able to even contemplate such a double-header trip? If there's any real basis for this, the implications are staggering!

P.S. Re Mary's note about the VIS release on the papal message, you may also read the full text of that message [English original] posted yesterday in HOMILIES, DISCOURSES,MESSAGES.

VIS can also be accessed directly on the Vatican site NEWS/FOTO section (through which I access the Vatican Press Office daily bulletins, Osservatore Romano and its photo gallery). My problem with VIS is that it is generally late with its releases and that it has no service on weekends.

Also, in my humble opinion, rather than wait for VIS to report about the Pope's addresses or messages, it is usually better to just go read the Pope's full text directly, because 1) it always reads much better, of course, than a truncated, randomly quoted report; and 2) more importantly, it is usually out much earlier than the VIS report!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 27/01/2007 18.54]

Teresa, I mentioned VIS because it's very useful to have it drop into my inbox and there may be others like myself, who can't keep up with every thread on the forum every day. If VIS comes in with my mail then there's a one hundred per cent chance I shall read it.
The other thing I've noticed [and I think you mentioned this too] is that I can't always access the Vatican website. I had big problems with it at the beginning of the week and I do wonder if it's "down" while they are adding to it.
Nan and I both noticed a couple of weeks ago [beginning of the year to be exact] that the Vatican webcam was no longer working. I haven't tried to get it recently. Has anyone else noticed this?

Luff, peace and choy to all ~ Mary x

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Nan and I both noticed a couple of weeks ago [beginning of the year to be exact] that the Vatican webcam was no longer working. I haven't tried to get it recently. Has anyone else noticed this?

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: : : : : : : I just tried again. I still can't get the webcam : : : WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?!?!