[I thought a group from China was going to participate in this event too.]


Pope to Meet Youth via Satellite Linkup

To Discuss Cooperation Between Europe and Asia

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will meet via satellite transmission with university students from Europe and Asia to discuss cooperation between the two continents.

The theme of the March 10 event is "Intellectual Charity, Path for New Cooperation between Europe and Asia." The event will begin at 4 p.m. Rome time and be hosted from Paul VI Hall.

During the event, the Holy Father will symbolically pass on to the students Pope John Paul II's apostolic exhortations "Ecclesia in Europa" and "Ecclesia in Asia," documents featuring the conclusions of the two continental synods of bishops.

The meeting will end with the young people joining Benedict XVI in praying the rosary.

The German Pope is not the first to use satellite technology to meet the faithful.

John Paul II reached nearly 1 billion viewers in 1987, in 16 different countries, for the event "A Prayer for World Peace," and later that year joined American youth during his Los Angeles visit, connecting four U.S. cities.

The cities in which young people will gather to be connected by satellite with the Vatican are:

-- Bologna, Italy, where university students will gather with Cardinal Carlo Caffarra in the University Church of St. Sigismund.

-- Calcutta, India, where they will meet with Archbishop Lucas Sirkar, in the Crypt of the House of the Missionaries of Charity, next to Mother Teresa's tomb.

-- Coimbra, Portugal, where they will meet with Bishop Mamede Cleto in the University Chapel.

-- Krakow, Poland, where they will meet with Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, in the Church of Divine Mercy.

-- Hong Kong, where they will meet with Cardinal Joseph Zen, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

-- Manchester, England, where they will meet with Bishop Terence Brain, in St. Augustine's University Chapel.

-- Manila, Philippines, where they will meet with Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, on the campus of St. Thomas University.

-- Prague, Czech Republic, where they will meet with Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, in the academic Church of the Holy Savior.

-- Tirana, Albania, where they will meet with Archbishop Rrok Kola Mirdita, in St. Paul's Cathedral.

-- Turin, Italy, where they will meet with Cardinal Severino Poletto, in the Church of the Holy Face.

-- Islamabad, Pakistan, where they will meet with Bishop Anthony Lobo, in the University Chapel of Ave Maria College of Rawalpindi.

The Vatican Television Center will broadcast the event.

The latest item in ZENIT's English service about the retreat gives us more details from Vatican Radio of Cardinal Biffi's meditation on the Russian philosopher Soloviev, whom he chose as the 'Christian witness" Tuesday for the evening meditation which is dedicated to Christian witnesses of the faith. ZENIT uses the form 'Solovyov' for Soloviev used in the earlier story posted on this thread.


Retreatants Hear of
Guises of the Antichrist

Preacher Draws On Work of V.S. Solovyov

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Antichrist is the reduction of Christianity to an ideology, instead of a personal encounter with the Savior, says the cardinal directing the retreat which Benedict XVI is attending.

Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, retired archbishop of Bologna, delivered that message during a meditation Tuesday, drawing on the work of Russian philosopher Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov.

The cardinal's meditation came during the weeklong Spiritual Exercises being attended by the Pope and members of the Roman Curia. The retreat ends this Saturday. The Holy Father suspended his usual meetings, including the general audience, in these days.


The Pope follows the meditations from a little room opening into
the Redemptoris Mater chapel. On the left, Cardinal Biffi.

According to Vatican Radio's summary of his preaching, the cardinal explained that "the teaching that the great Russian philosopher left us is that Christianity cannot be reduced to a set of values. At the center of being a Christian is, in fact, the personal encounter with Jesus Christ."

Quoting the work "Three Dialogues on War, Progress and the End of History," Cardinal Biffi told his listeners that "the Antichrist presents himself as pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist."

"He will convoke an ecumenical council and will seek the consensus of all the Christian confessions, granting something to each one. The masses will follow him, with the exception of small groups of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants," he said.

The cardinal added that Solovyov says in that work: "Days will come in Christianity in which they will try to reduce the salvific event to a mere series of values."

In his "Tale of the Antichrist," Solovyov foresees that a small group of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants will resist and will say to the Antichrist: "You give us everything, except what interests us, Jesus Christ."

For Cardinal Biffi, this narrative is a warning: "Today, in fact, we run the risk of having a Christianity which puts aside Jesus with his cross and resurrection."

The 78-year-old cardinal said that if Christians "limited themselves to speaking of shared values they would be more accepted on television programs and in social groups. But in this way, they will have renounced Jesus, the overwhelming reality of the resurrection."

The cardinal said he believes that this is "the danger that Christians face in our days … the Son of God cannot be reduced to a series of good projects sanctioned by the prevailing worldly mentality."

However, "this does not mean a condemnation of values, but their careful discernment. There are absolute values, such as goodness, truth, beauty," Cardinal Biffi said. "Those who perceive and love them, also love Christ, even if they don't know it, because he is Truth, Beauty and Justice."

The preacher of the Spiritual Exercises added that "there are relative values, such as solidarity, love of peace and respect for nature. If these become absolute, uprooting or even opposing the proclamation of the event of salvation, then these values become an instigation to idolatry and obstacles on the way of salvation."

Cardinal Biffi affirmed that "if Christianity - in opening itself to the world and dialoguing with all - dilutes the salvific event, it closes itself to a personal relationship with Jesus and places itself on the side of the Antichrist."

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/03/2007 22.32]

ZENIT's Italian service has some highlights from the Wednesday morning meditations. Here is a translation.


The Pope follows the meditations from a little room opening into
the Redemptoris Mater chapel. On the left, Cardinal Biffi.


VATICAN CITY, Feb. 28 (ZENIT.org).- The love manifested in the gift of the Eucharist, Christ's redemptive Passion, the power of prayer, and Mary's transfigured ordeal were among the themes of the meditations proposed Wednesday by Cardinal Giacomo Biffi at the current Lenten spiritual exercises for the Pope and the Roman Curia.

Citing the Biblical passages which narrate the last Supper, at which Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist, Cardinal Biffi reflected on the significance of Maundy Thursday.

"The Eucharist," he said, "is essentially a memory that goes back across 2000 years of human history, to bring back the Son of the Creator to His creatures."

"It is a providential memory because by veryifying it in his own experience, it allows man to remember Jesus even when he is distracted. It is a memory that should be kept alive because recalling Jesus allows man to understand himself and why he exists - because if Christ is the Savior, then we are not autonomous beings but 'the saved.'

"This Christian awareness is the opposite of what man thinks today in a world that is engrossed in the subtle anguish of wanting to know what is one's place in the world of creation."

In the second meditation on Wednesday morning, the Cardinal reflected on the scene in the Garden of Olives, where "Jesus's humanity emerges."

"Christ, one step away from consummating His Passion, became the first priest to intercede for humanity. In His agony, Jesus - in order to conquer his human weakness - prayed even more intensely.

"This shows us how a Christian should face suffering - not with sterile rebellion or resorting to inconclusive philosophies, but with courageous stoicism.

"Suffering must be faced with a confident and passionate quest for God in prayer.

"But to really understand the Cross in its fullness, we must look at Calvary with the eyes of Mary, who remained courageously close to the harrowing ordeal of Her Son.

"Knowing that the sacrifice of Jesus would gain the redemption of mankind did not make her own suffering less, but it transfigured it."

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/03/2007 22.32]

Rocco Palmo reports this today on his blog, with first-hand information from the man shown in the picture with the Pope:


Photo: Arturo Mari, Osservatore Romano

At last week's general audience, Pope Benedict received Msgr Walter Rossi, rector of Washington's Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The Shrine's spot in the baciamano [literally, kissing-the-hand] - the post-audience reception-line Benedict has heavily curtailed, thus making it even more coveted - marked the highlight of its governing board's weeklong trip to the Eternal City.

No good churchman climbs the Nervi steps empty-handed. So, true to form, Rossi presented the pontiff with an image of the statue of Our Lady of Altötting on display in an oratory of the Washington Shrine paid for by the German bishops and the Bavarian "national sanctuary" Papa Ratzi has frequently recalled making pilgrimages to on foot in his younger days. Such is Benedict's devotion to the "Madonna of Graces" that a copy of the patroness was his gift to Cardinal Angelo Sodano on his retirement as Secretary of State.

But a day after receiving Rossi's gift, in his meeting with the priests of Rome, Benedict spoke of his three-day walking journeys to Altötting, where he returned last September during his homecoming trip.

"Ever more," the Pope said to the Roman clergy, "we see that Shrines are a source of life and faith in the universal Church," calling his Altötting journeys "days of confession, of prayer, a true road toward the Madonna, toward the family of God and" - only then - "toward the Eucharist."

A priest of the diocese of Scranton, Rossi, rector of the Western hemisphere's largest church, said he was pleasantly surprised to find that the Holy Father not only knew well of his charge, but was keenly aware of its Altötting project.

"You finally put this chapel in!" Benedict said, according to Rossi.

When the pontiff was told that it was dedicated on 16 April 2005 - Ratzinger's 78th birthday and three days before his election to Peter's chair - the Bavarian Pope replied that "Providence was acting on my behalf even then." (The timing was merely coincidental, the rector says.)

When Rossi invited the Pope to "Mary's House," Pope Benedict - who's spoken often of not knowing how much time is left to him - said that "We'll see what God has in store."

At the Shrine, work continues on the mosaic installation in the second of its three inner domes - this one focusing on the Incarnation, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and with a November target for completion. The project's final piece, taking the theme of the Holy Trinity, is expected to be completed in the Shrine's great dome in time for 2009's golden anniversary of the dedication of its Great Upper Church.

For some reason, Vatican Radio's Italian service has stopped reporting on the meditations proposed by Cardinal Biffi and has been reunning instead interviews with some religious about the significance of spiritual exercises. Nor is VIS reporing anything about the retreat. Here's the only report available so far about yesterday's meditations (one of them):

Cardinal Biffi:
Church Is Holy, Despite Sins


VATICAN CITY, MARCH 1, 2007 (ZENIT.org).- The holiness of the Church is eternal despite the weaknesses and sins of some of its faithful, says the cardinal directing the retreat which Benedict XVI is attending.

Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, retired archbishop of Bologna, delivered that message today during a meditation in which he underlined the necessity of a transcendent ecclesiology guided by the idea of eternal happiness and the elevation of the soul in Christian contemplation.

The cardinal's meditation came during the weeklong Spiritual Exercises being attended by the Pope and members of the Roman Curia. The retreat ends this Saturday. The Holy Father suspended his usual meetings, including the general audience, in these days.


The Pope follows the meditations from a little room opening into
the Redemptoris Mater chapel. On the left, Cardinal Biffi.

"One of the inalienable goals of the pastoral commitment is that of helping the people of God -- the little ones, as we should all be -- the joy and pride of being part of the Church," said Cardinal Biffi, as reported by Vatican Radio.

The cardinal said that this is one of the urgent necessities of this moment, as it was at the beginning of Christianity.

The preacher added that the members of the Church walk through history "shining with innumerable heroic testimonies, with their clear and valiant teachings, with their impressive examples of charity and with their exceptional manifestations of beauty."

Cardinal Biffi said that in the design of divine wisdom, and in his salvific plan, God knows the mystery of the historical reality of human guilt.

He added that the Church remembers the redemption of "Christ, beginning and center of the designs of the Father, who carries in his crucified and resurrected flesh the imprints of a tough fight" between good and evil.

Thanks to Christ, said the cardinal, the good "wins definitively and eternally."

===============================================================
I just read somewhere that Cardinal Biffi is the only person so far who has been asked twice to lead the spiritual exercises at the Vatican. He was first asked by John Paul II. As Cardinal Wojtyla, the latter waas asked by Pope Paul VIl to leed the spiritual exercises in 1976, two years before he became Pope. And in 1983, two years after naming him Prefect of the CDF, John Paul II asked Cardinal Ratzinger to lead the meditations.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/03/2007 22.34]

PETRUS has this item from korazym.org today, translated here:




Photos from the WYD2008 site. Above, Sydney harbour with the bridge and the Opera House; right photo, Mons. Fisher.

Pope to 'arrive'
in Sydney by boat


It's 500 days to World Youth Day in Sydney, to take place July 15-20, 2008, and on-line registration for the event starts today.

The auxiliary Bishop of Sydney, Mons. Anthony Fisher, told korazym that Pope Benedict XVI will disembark at the port of Sydney from a boat to be greeted by by many other boats with youth representatives from all participating nations. [He will presumably transfer to a boat after landing at Sydney airport.]

Fisher thinks that the Opening Mass will be held in the port area on Tuesday, July 15, while the Pope will arrive on Thursday, July 17.

Generally, he said, the participants would have catechetical lessons in the mornings at their respective lodging areas, and come to the city centerin the afternoons and evenings for the festivities.

Friday, July 18, will feature the Way of the Cross, which will traverse the city, stopping at its most important points, such as the Cahtedral, the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Saturday will be the vigil for the Closing Mass. Participants will undertake the pilgrimage to the Mass site to Randwick, the suburb where it will be held. For this purpose, Sydney Harbor Bridge will be closed to motor traffic for the exclusive use of the pilgrims trekking to Randwick.

The Pope will presumably be at the Vigil as he was on Cologne in 2005, at which he also led in the Adoration of the Eucharist.

The following morning, July 20, he will preside at teh concluding mass, after whichhe will announce the next WYD site.

"We think that at least 500,000 will participate in the concluding Mass," Mons. Fisher said. "It will be the largest religious gathering ever not only in Australia but in all of Oceania."

And here is the latest news today from the WYD2008 site:


2 March 2007: With 500 days to go until the start of World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia 2008 (WYD08), organisers today announced a package of measures for international pilgrims. The measures include:

o A three-month standard visa, free of Government charges, for all registered pilgrims visiting Australia
o A new DVD to be issued worldwide as an invitation to Sydney, and
o The opening of online registration for pilgrim groups travelling to Sydney.

Australia's Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile today announced that all registered pilgrims would automatically receive a three-month visa - free of Government charges - to enable them to see more of Australia while in the country for the XXIII World Youth Day.

"A three month visa will allow those visitors to explore more of Australia while they're here, and allows other parts of the country to share in the hosting of World Youth Day," Mr Vaile said.

"I invite pilgrims to make the most of their three-month visas and visit the Australia that stretches beyond the fringes of Sydney.

"Regional Australia - from the splendour of Uluru to the country hospitality of our wine regions to the rugged beauty of western NSW - has so much to offer our tourists," Mr Vaile said.

The new DVD - Sydney: Witness the Spirit - features testimonies from young Australians and stunning imagery from New South Wales and Australian tourism campaigns.

The DVD also includes personal invitations from the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, and WYD08 Coordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher OP to the young people of the world.

"We hope they will be drawn not only by the beauty of Sydney and Australia, but also by the testimonies from young Australians who speak of the life-changing impact that past World Youth Days have had on them," Cardinal Pell said.

"The DVD will be distributed internationally and be available online."

Bishop Fisher said most pilgrims come to World Youth Day as members of diocesan pilgrim groups, religious movements and youth groups to share the pilgrim experience.

"We are opening group registrations online now - earlier than is normal for World Youth Days - to capture information on expected numbers, language groups and special needs.

"This will enable us to plan early and match groups to accommodation and catechesis sites throughout Greater Sydney."

Bishop Fisher said registration by individuals will open mid-year.

Group registration will be via the website - www.wyd2008.org - and be available in English, Italian, Spanish and French.

A paper registration process will be available for group leaders who do not have internet access.

World Youth Day is the largest youth event in the world and will attract up to 500,000 pilgrims from 15-20 July next year.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 02/03/2007 20.55]

From the Italian service of ZENIT today:

VATICAN CITY, March 2(ZENIT.org).- The first visit of President Vladimir Putin to Pope Benedicct XVI on March 13 could help move the dialog with the Russian Orthodox Church forward, according to Vatican officials speaking to ZENIT TODAY.

Fr. Ciro Benedettini, deputy director of the Vatican press Office, also said that the next day, President Putin will fly to Bari in southeastern Italy for a special ecumenical mission.

In the name of the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias, Putin will formally ask the city of Bari for a return of the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas and its adjoining hospice.

The church and hospice were built by the Russian Orthodox Church in Bari in 1918, in recognition of the fact that the city ahs been an object of pilgrimages by Russian Orthodox faithful during the second millennium because of a profouind devotion for the saint, whose remains are in Bari.

The Church was acquired by the city government of Bari in 1939 under circumstacnes which are not clear, but it has allowed the use of the church for Russian orthodox liturgical celebrations.

Putin will presumably ask the Pope to help him in this mission.

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

St. Nicholas of Bari is the same St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, who also lives on in popular culture as Santa Claus. Myra is a city in Anatolia, Turkey, now called Demre.

Nicholas died in Myra in 353, and his tomb was an onject of pilgrimage from the very beginnning because his bones exuded a liquid which was referred to as manna and which was held to have miraculous powers.

But in 1087, when Myra was overrun by Seljuk Turks, some Italian sailors took his bones from its resting place in Myra over the objection of Orthodox monks. That is how his remains came to Bari, and he is also known as St. Nicholas of Bari. The bones continue to exude the 'manna', so even today, a flask of manna is extracted from his every year on December 6th (the Saint's feast day).

Russian devotion to him dates from when Vladimir I was baptized in Constantinople, and brought home stories and devotion to St. Nicholas to his homeland where Nicholas became the most beloved saint. A popular saying goes, "Even if God dies, at lteast we will still have St. Nicholas!"

The foreign media usually ignore the Lenten spiritual exercises of the Pope and the Roman Curia - after all, meditations on the Passion of Christ are not exactly news for the general reader.

But here's a belated but still reflex-reacting report in the times of London today about Cardinal Biffi's meditation Wednesday evening about the Russian mystic philoopher Soloviev and, among other things, his concept of the Anti-Christ. I find the headline quite hilarious, as is the approach to the whole story!


Pope is warned
of a green Antichrist
Richard Owen in Rome
March 02, 2007


An arch-conservative cardinal chosen by the Pope to deliver this year’s Lenten meditations to the Vatican hierarchy has caused consternation by giving warning of an Antichrist who is “a pacifist, ecologist and ecumenist”.

Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, 78, who retired as Archbishop of Bologna three years ago, quoted Vladimir Solovyov (1853-1900), the Russian philosopher and mystic, as predicting that the Antichrist “will convoke an ecumenical council and seek the consensus of all the Christian confessions”.

The “masses” would follow the Antichrist, “with the exception of small groups of Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants” who would fight to prevent the watering down and ultimate destruction of the faith, he said.

The Pope traditionally withdraws from public view during the first week of Lent, conducting “spiritual exercises” in retreat with close advisers.

The choice of Cardinal Biffi raised eyebrows in the Vatican, given his sometimes eccentric views. The cardinal gave a warning of the coming of the Antichrist during his two decades as the Archbishop of Bologna, and said that an “invasion” of Muslim immigrants was undermining Europe’s Christian values. [Well, good for him, to say it as it is!]

Cardinal Biffi said that the Antichrist was not necessarily a person but “the reduction of Christianity to an ideology . . . The teaching that the great Russian philosopher left us is that Christianity cannot be reduced to a set of values. At the heart of being a Christian is the personal encounter with Jesus Christ.”

But he quoted with approval from Solovyov’s Three Dialogues on War, Progress and the End of History, which suggests that the Antichrist is a real figure. [Were you there, Mr. Owen? Isn't this just like the Pope having been accused of quoting Manuel II Paleologue with approval?]

Cardinal Biffi said that Christianity stood for “absolute values, such as goodness, truth, beauty”. If “relative values” such as “solidarity, love of peace and respect for nature” became absolute, they would encourage “idolatry” and “put obstacles in the way of salvation”.

When he was still Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict sternly defended core Roman Catholic doctrines [And he still does as Pope, and in whatever capacity, a a Catholic, why shouldn't he?]and opposed calls for an ecumenical Third Vatican Council advanced by Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, the liberal former Archbishop of Milan. [Implying that Benedict is against a Vatican-II because he does not want to be seen as the 'Anti-Christ'? What good would a Vatican-III do when Vatican-II is still far from fully iomplemented and much of it has been implemented wrongly?]

The choice of Lenten speaker has in the past given a clue to Vatican policy, although one source said that Cardinal Biffi had perhaps been chosen because his “verbal fireworks” would keep listeners awake.

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

[There's obviously more to Cardinal Biffi besides his 'verbal fireworks' to have been the only speaker so far to have been asked twice to direct the Lenten exercises - the first time in 1989 by John Paul II....And it's probably hogwash, but I read one Italian journalist this week who said that Biffi's name reportedly appeared at least once in each of the four ballotings at the last Conclave, and was it possible that it was Cardinal Ratzinger's ballot? [Interesting to speculate who the eventual Pope might have voted for! For instance, most accounts seem to show that both Cardinal Luciani, and Cardinal Wojtyla the following month, indicated - indirectly of course - to those closest to them that they had a feeling they would get the 'call'. This was one of the things that most surprised me when I first read the Weigel bio on JP-II. So who might they have voted for? Or are they allowed to abstain from voting - just cast a blank ballot?.]. And by the way, Biffi was, along with his polar opposite Tettamanzi, the leading Italian papabile in the 2005 Conclave. He is a highly-respected theologian and intellectual.]

The Times' footnotes:

-The doctrine of the Antichrist appears in the New Testament, and could denote someone setting himself up as a Christlike saviour. The Book of Revelation refers to the “Number of the Beast”, 666
-Martin Luther and other reformers saw the Pope as the Antichrist
-In 1888 the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche denounced Christianity in The Antichrist
-When the Pope addressed the European Parliament in 1988 the Rev Ian Paisley interrupted him, shouting, “I renounce you as the Antichrist!”

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/03/2007 4.10]

Lella in her blog shares this item, translated here, from two news agencies. Now that we have a date even, let us hope the Imam does not deny this as he did the first report.

VATICAN CITY, March 2 (ASCA-AFP) - The Imam of Al-Azhar University and maximum authority of Sunni Islam, Sheik Mohammed Sayyed al-Tantawi, will meet Pope Benedict XVI on March 22 at the Vatican, Cardinal Paul Poupard told the French newsagency AFP today.

Poupard, president of the Pontifical Councils for Culture and for Inter-Religious Dialog, was quoted as saying he delivered to the Sheik an invitation from the Pope when they met in Cairo on Feb. 25. Poupard went to Egypt to mark the 9th anniversary of John Paul II's visit there.

"The sheik gladly accepted the invitation, which was also conveyed to him in writing," Poupard said. [But Al-Tantawi said a few days later that he had not accepted an invitation because he had not received any formally!]

Poupard said he also met the Egyptian Minister for Religious Affairs, Mahomoud Hamadi Zaqzuq.

"No one I met brought up Regensburg at all," Poupard said.

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

I thought it was time to find out more about Sheikh Al-Tantawi. Here's what I found from answers.com. His political views and actions are surprising for their expediency!

Born in Suhaj in Upper Egypt in 1928, Muhammad Sayyid al-Tantawi earned a Ph.D. in Qur?anic Exegesis and Hadith (sayings of the Prophet) from al-Azhar University in 1966. In 1976 he became a professor; ten years later he became dean of the Islamic and Arabic Studies faculty and was appointed the grand mufti, Egypt's highest religious juristic authority. In 1996 he was appointed shaykh of al-Azhar, making him the forty-third shaykh of al-Azhar. Muslims seek his advice on new controversial matters.

As a mufti, Tantawi issued opinions representing the views of the government. His fatwa (legal opinions) had mostly been at odds with those of al-Azhar. But once he became shaykh of al-Azhar, he began oscillating between the opinions he issued as mufti and pronouncements more faithful to al-Azhar. He is under constant pressure from religious scholars to follow al-Azhar's conservative line of thinking.

Many civil and human-rights organizations welcomed the appointment of this liberal shaykh to the top religious post in Egypt, but his fatwa prohibiting the boycott of U.S. goods brought about major protests by Christians as well as Muslims. The powerful and conservative Front for the Scholars of al-Azhar, founded in 1946, had been critical of Tantawi since he became mufti, challenging him on his giving permission to deal with banks based on interest, his prohibition of suicide attacks committed by HAMAS in Palestine, his meeting the chief rabbi of Israel, and his reduction of secondary education to three years.

He was able to get the government to dissolve the Front in 1998, and he fired many outspoken scholars from al-Azhar.

On the touchy issue of female circumcision, Tantawi, as the mufti, argued against its validity. However, as shaykh of al-Azhar he gave in to the Azharite establishment. Later, when the Ministry of Health banned the practice, Tantawi changed his view again. Also, as a mufti, Tantawi viewed the hijab (head cover) as a woman's choice, but as shaykh, he upheld the Azhar view that it was mandatory.

But on the issue of organ transplants, he held to his original position, and promised to donate his own organs after his death.

On the political level, when Tantawi became shaykh, his political views became more obvious. For instance, he asked Muslims to launch jihad (holy war) against Israel to prevent the Judaization of Jerusalem, and to defuse religious sectarian tensions in Egypt, he met with Pope Shenouda III and other Christian personalities. These changes of opinion seem to be the result of both political expediency and an attempt to serve the interests of the Egyptian government.

So far, I've found 3 of his books available to buy online in English:


General Introduction to Islam
Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence: According to Shi'I Law
[But he is Sunni! Why would he write a book about Shii law?]; and
The Prophets in Barzakh and the Hadith of Isra and Miraj
Followed by the Immense Merits of Al-Sham and
the Vision of Allah

Interesting! He is almost the same age as Benedict, and he has written an Introduction to Islam!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/03/2007 4.51]

Also from Lella, another interview with Russian Orthodox Bishop Ilarion. As he did in the interview posted earlier, he makes very optimistic general statements, only to follow it with something more realistic that's also a bucket of ice water because he says 'common solutions have to be found first for the problems that divide the Churches.' And that's not going to happen tomorrow, not in the next year, maybe not even in this generation!

Nevertheless, I am translating it because he has some nice things to say about Benedict.

ILARION: Why the Pope's visit
to Moscow is nearer than ever
By Andrea Fonda
Il Foglio
March 2, 2007


In the past two years since Benedict XVI became Pope, the relations btween the Russian Orthodx Church and the Roman Catholic Church have intensified a lot, and between them, the two churches have made significant steps."

Russian Orthodox Bishop Ilarion of Kerch, who is also a musician, is in Rome to prepare for the performance of his composition "The Passion of according to St. Matthew" on March 29.

He explained why he is optimistic over the future of the dialog between the two Churches, which, he said, "is taking place on different levels, as for example, the increasing interest in and diffusion of icons even outside the Orthodox world."

"And this has happened," he says, "without any particular instruction from church authorites, But signs like these are just as important as official dialog."

The bishop said that, in his opinion, a visit to Moscow by Benedict XVI is not far off and is 'highly probable,' although it should be preceded by a meeting on neutral ground.

"We have been working on this for more than 10 years now," he points out - years of difficulty and even periods of stalemate. "Preparation does not simply refer to protocol matters but to find a common solution to problems that divide the churches." [Well, in that sense, the visit may never come about!]



I've been looking for an excuse to use this montage
designed by Russi as a wallpaper on his site in 2005,
so here's one chance. Click to get the large image.


He says that Benedict XVI's attitude counts very much in his concrete hope that the Moscow visit may materializes: "Contacts between the two churches have intensified, and in the Orthodox world, this Pope enjoys great esteem." [Not among the monks of Mt. Athos!]

Ilarion, born in 1964, remembers when Russia was still 'in shackles' under the Communist regime. "For 70 years, the situation therrewas against nature... Atheism was artifially created, and no sooner did the Soviet Union break up, then atheism also fell to pieces. People returned to their roots, to what they consider natural, which is to believe in God."

Ilarion is happy to report on the renewal of faith in Russia, but admits that the rebirht has also been accompanied by a great deal of confusion.

"We don't have a crisis of vocations," he said. "we have a crisis of excess. At the same time, Christianity is often considered as if it if it were just a cultural identity; there's a clear difference between those who just call themselves Christians and those who really practice their faith.
Which opens up a vast field of missionary work for us - to explain what it really means to be a Christian."

He has a very disquieting diagnosis about what is taking place in the West, especially in Europe. "The intention is clear, especially on the part of many politicians, to eliminate religion completely from the social sphere and to transform it into something that is only private and personal. They say: 'You can believe in God and go to Church but keep it private. Your life in society should not be determined by your Christian values.' I say that is occult and creeping persecution. Christ did not start a Church that is meant to be hidden. The Church has a social mission, and that should be recognized."

Ilarion points to the reactions to the Pope's Regensburg lecture which provoked many temepstuous debates even in the West. "Politicians and journalists accused the Pope of not being politically correct. Some even said that he spoke as a professor and not as the head of a religion. In contrast, the Pope's lecture was received with great favor in the Orthodox world. Even the theologians who are generally very critical of the Catholic Church declared themselves with the Pope on this one."

Benedict's virtue, Ilarion said, is courage. "One cannot always be politically correct if you want to speak about concrete things, reality. That lecture was precisely intrended to tackle pressing questions which exist. So the Pope's courage only raised the esteem he already had in the Orthodox world."

And even if Ratzinger prefers Mozart while Ilarion prefers Bach, one thing seems certain : the music of the ecumenical dialog is increasingly more harmonious.

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

In an interview he gave to AsiaNews [posted by Benefan in NEWS ABOUT THE CHURCH yesterday], Ilarion was far more candid, with few 'making nice' concessions. In fact, he repeated one of the Moscow's favorite accusations against Rome:

---

On a daily basis relations are however difficult because Catholics missionaries and priests are still engaged in proselytising. We don’t need Orthodox to convert to Catholicism or vice-versa.

---

Moreover, he criticized the possibility of the Pope and Patriarch Bartholomew I being at Ravenna together in the fall for the meeting of the Mixed Theological Commmission, on two grounds: 1) The Orthodox Churches in general would not be happy, because as far as they are concerned, Bartholomew I does not represent them* (even if as Ecumenical Patriarch, he coordinates the activity of all the various Orthodox Churches, except Moscow); and 2) the presence of the Pope and Patriarch at Ravenna would exert undue pressure on the Commission which is trying to work out some thorny differences.

He adds that if the Pope and the Patriarch meet in Ravenna at all, it should only be as Bishop of Rome and Patriarch of Constantinople, respectively.

About the only positive thing he said in that AsiaNews interview was that Metropolitan Kyril who will be in Rome on some other business may join president Putin when he visits the Pope on March 13, in representation of the patriarchate of Moscow.


*Ilarion may be speaking for the patriarchate of Moscow which considers itself 'the third Rome', but does he speak for the other Orthodox Churches as well? Would the Pope and the Catholic Church have been dealing with the Orthodox Churches (except Russia) through Bartholomew I all these years if they knew that the various Orthodox Churches around the world do not consider him to represent them? Have there been any objections raised by any of these Churches to the Joint Statement made by the Pope and the Patriarch in Istanbul saying, in effect, "Well, count us out - that's Bartholomew's commitment, not ours"?

Unfortunately, if one looks back at the site of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to see how it describes the scope of worldwide Orthodoxy today, it does imply that the many autocephalous (independent) and autonomous (semi-independent) Churches must explicitly accept Bartholomew's coordination in the matter of ecumenical unity with Rome for the effort to even be meaningful.

Here's how the Ecumenical Patriarchate escribes its relation to all the other Orthodox Churches:
The Ecumenical Patriarchate is the highest see and holiest center of the Orthodox Christian Church throughout the world....

It constitutes the center of all the local Orthodox Churches, heading these not by administration but by virtue of its primacy in the ministry of pan-Orthodox unity and the coordination of the activity of the whole of Orthodoxy...

Orthodox Christians on all continents, which do not fall under the jurisdiction of the autocephalous (independent) or autonomous (semi-independent) Churches, fall under the direct jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

The most important of the autocephalous Churches are the ancient Patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem (together with the ancient Archdiocese of Mt. Sinai), the Patriarchates of Russia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and Georgia, as well as the Churches of Cyprus, Greece, Poland, Albania, and the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. The Autonomous Churches include those of Finland and of Estonia.

Consequently, the Orthodox Churches in Europe, America, Australia and Britain, which are not under the jurisdiction of the aforementioned autocephalous Churches, lie within the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

Clearly, all the 'historical' Orthodox Churches (all found in Europe and founded shortly after the Great Schism) are autocephalous or autonomous, and that therefore, only those churches that were established elsewhere in the world as a result of Orthodox diaspora are directly under the jurisdiction of Bartholomew.

But again, outside of the Patriarchate of Russia (which considers the Ecumenichal Patriarchate nothing more than the Patriarchate of Constantinople), which autocephalous or autonomous Church has come out openly to exclude itself from any agreement that the Ecumenical Patriarchate might arrive at with Rome?


Emma posted this uncaptioned picture yesterday in the main forum. Am I mistaken or is that not Bartholomew I with Cardinal Ratzinger?

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 04/03/2007 0.05]

From Lella, as usual...

WARSAW, March 3(ASCA-AFP) - Benedict XVI has named Kassimierz Wycz, a bishop of northern Poland, to succeed Cardinal Josef Glemp as Archbishop of Warsaw, a spokesman for the Polish bishops conference announced.

Mons. Nycz, 57, replaces Mons. Stainslaw Wielgus,ho was named but resigned before he could be installed last month. Nycz has been the Bishop of Kolobrzeg-Koszalin and was considered the right-hand man of Cardinal Macharski. He was recognized as an excellent coordinator of preparations for Papal trips to Poland under John Paul.


Here's the AP story:

WARSAW, Poland, Mar 3 (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Kazimierz Nycz the new archbishop of Warsaw, the Polish Episcopate said in a statement Saturday.

Nycz, the 57-year-old bishop of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg in northern Poland, replaces former Warsaw Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus, who abruptly resigned at what was to be his opulent installation Mass on Jan. 7 after admitting he cooperated with the communist-era secret police.

Wielgus' resignation rattled Poland's powerful Roman Catholic Church, and threatened to shake the widely held belief that the church acted as a courageous opponent of communism in the homeland of the late Pope John Paul II.

Shortly after the Polish bishops announced the news, the Vatican made a brief announcement of the appointment, giving a brief biography and making no mention of Wielgus.

Stories of compromised priests largely lay dormant until after John Paul's death in 2005, with some saying people were reluctant to raise the issue of collaboration in the Polish church for fear of embarrassing a fellow Pole.

However, Nycz is widely seen as holding an inscrutable record under communism. John Paul nominated him bishop of Krakow in 1988, where Nycz later organized the last three visits of the Polish-born pope to his homeland.

In 2004, John Paul named Nycz the bishop of Koszalin on the Baltic Sea coast.

"Warsaw needs a bishop like him," Marcin Przeciszewski, the head of Poland's Catholic Information Agency, told the PAP news agency. "He can build bridges above divisions, and will be able to lead a true and friendly dialogue with the modern world."

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

BISHOP NYCZ SPEAKS

Vatican Radio is on the ball, indeed! Here's one of their first reports from Warsaw today:


It was with joy and relief that Poland welcomed today teHE naming of a new Archbishop of Warsaw, Bishop Kasinierz Nycz, who was Bishop of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg in northern Poland.

Here is what the new Archbishop of Warsaw said to Fr. Josef Polak of Vatican Radio's Polish service:

"Since I arrived in Koszalin [as bishop], I was convinced that it was necessary to confront the past - mine, other priests, the whole Church. Because the past of the Polish Church has been heroic. That truth cannot be annulled, even if during the Communist terror, of a police state which destroyed man in various ways, there were some priests who failed to live up to a challenge that demanded heroism, and for some reason started to collaborate, so that other priests may have perhaps suffered. I had a simple conviction: the problems of the past have to be overcome calmly.

For me, the so-called 'lustration' - namely, historical verification on the basis of media reports about investigations made by the Ecclesiastical Commission or by the Institute of National Memory - was never and will never be a solution. For me, 'lustration' should be a purification of the Church following the indications in the memorandum of the Polish bishops conference, in order to make reparation for errors that were committed, to the degree that they were committed, if they were committed at all.

We cannot act precipitously. We should act evangelically. Otherwise, we will just be going from one name to the next, from one file to the next - that would be very negative for the Church.

I am afraid there are those who think that the most important problem for the Church now is to purify itself of the past. Instead, we should handle the situation with serenity, while we carry on with our work, the mission of the Church, which is to announce the Gospel, invite the faithful to holiness through the sacraments, and bear concrete witness of love. Nothing more.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/03/2007 23.12]

Vatican Radio's Italian service has this story:


The courage to follow Christ on earth
while looking at 'things above'

It has been a week of reflections that have helped elevate our hearts towards God and to follow Christ with greater courage, Pope Benedict XVI said today, thanking Cardinal Giacomo Biffi at the end of a week of Lenten spiritual exercises for the Pope and the Roman Curia.


Right photo,the Pope followed the meditations from a little room opening into the Redemptoris Mater chapel.


Alessandro De Carolis further reports:

Pope Benedict XVI expressed 'wholehearted' gratitude to Cardinal Biffi several times on behalf of himself and the other participants, after the last of 21 meditations led by the emeritus archbishop of Bologna.

The Pope observed that "in the Holy Mass, before the Eucharistic Prayer, every day we respond to the invitation 'Lift up your hearts' saying 'We have lifted them up to the Lord'. He said, however, that perhaps "this response may often be more ritual than experiential."

"But you," he said, addressing Cardinal Biffi, "have taught us this week to lift and elevate our hearts towards the invisible on high, towards true reality. And you have also given us the key to respond to everyday reality."

"At the first meditation," the Pope recalled, "I noticed that the marquetry on my prie-dieu shows the Risen Christ surrounded by flying angels. And I thought to myself: angels fly because they are not held down by the gravitational force of earthly things, that they move instead within the gravitational field of the Risen Lord. And that we ourselves can fly if we rise a bit above material gravitation to enter into the new gravitation of the Lord's love. And you have helped us to overcome this earthly gravitation in order to rise and enter into the Risen Lord's sphere. For this, we thank you."

Benedict XVI also pointed out that Cardinal Biffi's meditations offered "acute and precise' diagnoses of the situation today:

"Above all, you have shown us how behind so many phenomena of our times, even if apparently very remote from religion and from Christ, there is a question, an expectation, a desire, and to which omnipresent desire the only answer is Christ."

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

The Vatican Radio reporter leaves out a lighthearted humorous remark by the Pope:

"I would like to thank you for your realism, your humor, and your concreteness," going on to refer to "the rather daring theology of one of your housekeepers", evidently cited by Biffi in one of the meditations.

"I would not dare refer her words 'The Lord perhaps had his defects' to the judgment of the Congregation for the Doctirne of the Faith," the Pope remarked. "In any case, we have learned from your thoughts, Your Eminence, and they will accompany us in the coming weeks."

The Vatican Press Ofice has placed the full text online. I have posted a translation in HOMILIES, DISCOURSES, MESSAGES.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/03/2007 22.38]

Also from Vatican Radio's Italian service:

'He guided the Church in difficult years
regardless of criticisms,
keeping his eyes on Christ alone'


Left, photo posted by Emma yesterday showing Cardinal Ratzinger with Pope Paul VI; right, photo from PETRUS
which I am posting here because I am not sure that we already have it.


Love for Christ was "the secret of Pope Paul VI's pastoral activity" during the difficult years following the Second Vatican Council, Pope Benedict XVI said today to members of the Paul VI Institute, an international reserch center founded in 1979 to promote the study of the life, thoughts and activities of Papa Montini.

Sergio Centofanti reports:

Benedict XVI traced the profile of "an unforgettable Pope," to whom he is particularly linked because it was Paul who named him archbishop and cardinal.

Paul VI, he said, "was called by Divine Providence to guide the boat of Peter in a historic period marked by not a few challenges and problems," and distinguished himself by his wisdom and prudence.

He recalled Papa Montini's missionary ardor, which impelled him to undertake apostolic voyages even to far countries and to make prophetic gestures of great ecclesiastical, missionary and ecumenical value."

Indeed, he became the first Pope to visit the Holy Land, indicating 'to the Church that the way to proceed with its mission was to trace the foosteps of Christ."

"Really, the secret of the pastoral activity which Paul VI carried out with tireless dedication - sometimes taking difficult and unpopular decisions - was his love for Christ: a love that vibrated in moving expressions found in all his teachings.

"His pastor's soul was gripped in a missionary tension nourished by a sincere desire for dialog with all of humanity. His prophetic invitation, proposed over and over, to renew a world tormented by violence and unease through a 'civilization of love' was born of his total trust in Jesus, Redeemer of mankind."

The Pope recalled the famous words that Paul VI said at the opening of the Second Sesion of Vatican-II in 1963, at which he himself was present as a young theological consultant:

"'Christ our principle,' Paul VI exclaimed in intimate transport, 'Christ our life and our guide! Christ our hope and our end ... No other light can help us in this assembly except Crhist, light of the world. No other truth can interest our souls, if not the words of the Lord, our one and only teacher. No other aspiration can guide us, if not the desire to be absolutely faithful to Him' (Teachings of Paul VI, I [1963], 170-171). Up to his last breath, his thoughts, his energies, his actions were for Christ and therefore for the Church."

"And the name of this Pontiff, whose greatness public world understood when he died, will remain linked above all to Vatican-II," Benedict stressed.

"If it was John XXIII who called it and began it, then it fell to Paul VI as successor to bring it to completion with a hand that was expert, sensitive and firm."

Nor was the post-Conciliar period any less arduous for Papa Montini, Benedict said. "But he did not allow himself to be conditioned by lack of comprehension and criticism, even if he had to undergo suffering and often violent personal attacks. He remained under all circustances a firm and prudent steersman of Peter's boat."

"But with the passing of years," the Pope said, "the importance to the Church and to the world of his Pontificate becomes more evident..as does the value of his elevated Magisterium which has inspired his successors in turn," and to which, the Pope concluded, he himself continues to cite.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 03/03/2007 18.41]

Lella shares us this item from Il Gazzettino del Nord-Est today by the dean of Vatican correspondents. She rightly notes that it's probably the first time any Pope has written about his immediate predecessor - certainly the first in modern times, but then how many previous Popes had worked as closely with their predecessor as this one? The nearest thing would have been Pius XII with Pius XI, but he didn't write a book on him.


New books to mark
John Paul II's second
death anniversary
By Arcangelo Paglialunga

As the second anniversary of the death of John Paul II approaches, an acceleration of the process for his beatification is expected.

Meanwhile, the publication of two books about him has been announced - one by Pope Benedict XVI and one by Cardinal Camillo Ruini. These two books follow the memoirs of Archbishop Stanislaw Dsiwisz, who was personal secretary to John Paul for over 40 years.

Papa Ratzinger's book is entitled "Il Mio Amatio Predecessore" (My beloved predecessor). According to sources, it will be an absolutely unique testimony of the collaboration and friendship between the two Popes, which lasted over two decades.

The 128-page book published by Edizione Paoline, containing numerous photographs, many previously unpublished, will include the thoughts, recollections, and speeches of Benedict XVI about his predecessor.

Newsmen accredited to the Vatican know that promptly, every Friday evening, Cardinal Ratzinger visited John Paul II for their weekly conversation and stayed for dinner. In these two years, Papa Ratzinger has not missed an occasion to refer to his "beloved predecessor."

Wojtyla, in turn, entrusted him with extraordinary tasks like editing the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the interpretation of the "Secret of Fatima." Some in the Vatican say that, more than once, Wojtyla had prophesied the Pontificate to Ratzinger. [I think this is the first time we've ever read this!]

CArdinal Ruini's book is entitled «Alla sequela di Cristo: Giovanni Paolo II il servo dei servi di Dio» [Following Christ: John Paul II, servant of the servants of God).

According to Avvenire, the newspaper of the italian bishops coference, the book recounts in 124 pages John Paul's activities as Bishop of Rome. Ruini accompanied him on his pastoral visits to the various parishes of Rome, starting on December 3, 1978, when he visited the church of St. Francis Xavier in Garbatella, the church where he performed pastoral work in 1948 when he completed his doctoral studies at the Angelicum, the pontifical Dominican university.

Journalists who covered John Paul remember when he would use the Romanesco dialect to say some phrases. And how in frot of a crowd at the Campidoglio, he exclaimed from the balcony, "Roma, mia Roma!" And who, in his first homily as Pope, said, "A bishiop who is not Roman comes now to the seat of Peter, a bishop who is a son of Poland. But in this moment, even he becomes a Roman. Yes, Roman!"

Meanwhile, Rome will pay a musical homage to John Paul tonight. Ennio Morricone, in his first appearance since winning an Oscar recently, will present at the Palazzo Pio a symphonic and choral poem which he composed around texts and poems by John Paul II.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 04/03/2007 14.42]

Prayer not "optional"
for Christians, Pope says


Happy to be back! [AP Photos]



VATICAN CITY, March 4 (Reuters) - Prayer is not 'optional' or an accessory for Christians but an essential part of the life of the faithful, Pope Benedict said on Sunday.

At the same time, he told pilgrims and tourists in St Peter's Square for his weekly Sunday address, prayer could not be a means of escaping the sometimes harsh reality of the world.

"Dear brothers and sisters, prayer is not an accessory, an optional, but it is a question of life and death," he said. "Only those who pray, in fact, only those who entrust themselves to God with the love of a child, can enter eternal life ...."

But as important as prayer is to Christians, it could not be used as a form of escape from problems.

"For a Christian, praying does not mean evading escaping reality and its responsibilities but facing them fully, confiding in the faithful and inexhaustible love of the Lord," he said.

The Pope's address marked the end of a week-long Lenten spiritual retreat inside the Vatican, during which he prayed with aides and made no public appearances.

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

I was curious why Reuters decided to file a story onteh Angelus when the Pope made no reference to any 'political' or topical issue. I see now it's because it was his first public appearance since the retreat. [The press would not normally cover an event like the Pope's audience with the Paul VI Institute of Brescia yesterday.]

I have posted a full translation of the Pope's Angelus message in AUDIENCE AND ANGELUS TEXTS.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 04/03/2007 14.53]

Most of the Italian media have been reporting the past two weeks that Pope Benedict XVI has decided on a replacement for Cardinal Camillo Ruini as president of the Italian bishops' conference (CEI, from its Italian acronym), which he has led for 16 years.



Today, the newspapers are reporting that the Pope may announce his nomination of Mons. Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa, as CEI head, on Wednesday, March 7, the same day Pope John Paul II appointed Ruini in 1991. Cardinal Ruini will remain as the Pope's Vicar in Rome.

Ruini's term (his third 5-year term at CEI) was to have ended last year, but the Pope extended it 'until other provisions are made' after an ill-advised survey of Italian bishops carried out by the Apostolic Nuncio to Rome, reportedly at the orders of his boss, the then Secretary of State Cardinal Sodano.

Italy is the only country where the Pope, as Bishop of Rome, chooses the head of the national bishops conference. Everywhere else, the head is elected by the bishops.

Bagnasco succeeded Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone as Archbishop of Genoa when the latter became Secretary of State. Before that, he was the military chaplain for all Italy.

If he is named CEI president, he will remain Archbishop of Genoa. He is thought to be someone who thinks like Ruini, and therefore, the Pope, about the role of the Church in Italy.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 06/03/2007 17.10]

As the Pope told the Roman clergy the week before last, he is coming out soon with the Apostolic Exhortation based on the Bishops synod held in 2005.

The presentation of this document, entitled Sacramentum Caritatis, the Sacrament of Charity, will take place on Tuesday, March 13, at the Vatican Press Offciice.

It summarizes the Synod's recommendations about "the Eucharist, source and summit of the life and mission of the Church" which was the theme of the Synod.

Participating in the press conference will be Cardinal Angelo Scola, patriarch of Venice, Italy, general moderator of the 11th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which was held in October 2005, and Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops.

Meanwhile, Italian media continue to comment extensively on the expected nomination by the Pope of Mons. Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa, to succeed Cardinal Camillo Ruini as president of he Italian bishops conference.

There were many appreciative analyses of the 16 years that Ruini served with distinction as head of the CEI, which enemies and critics of the Church considered, on the contrary, as 'unwarranted interference' by the Church in issues of public concern.

Ruini will continue to be the Pope's Vicar in Rome.



Fresh from PETRUS, the online newspaper about the Pope, this item translated here in full, because it also contains a very fitting tribute to Cardinal Ruini, who will remain very visible as the Pope's Vicar in Rome, and provides us an opportunity to review the extremely impressive credentials of a man who was among the Italian papabile in the last conclave:

Cardinal Bertone confirms
Ruini's successor at CEI
will be named tomorrow -
AND A TRIBUTE TO RUINI



Will Angelo Bagnasco be the new President of the Italian bishops conference? [CEI, from Conferenza Episcopale Italiana]
A newsman asked this question today of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, at the presentation of a book by Luigi Bobba about the role of Catholics in political life.

His answer: "Let's wait till tomorrow when the official announcement is made."

And so, in what will be a move half-traditional and half-novel, Pope Benedict XVI will most likely name the Archbishop of Genoa to succeed Cardinal Camillo Ruini at the CEI.

The mark left by the Cardinal from Sassuolo, central Italy - who began as secretary-general of the CEI in 1986, then its president for three terms since 1991 - is profound.

One thing new is that after 22 years, one man will not be holding the dual posts of CEI president and the Pope's Vicar for Rome. Bagnasco will remain in Genoa, and Ruini will continue to be the Pope's Vicar in the capital.

Thus, Papa Ratzinger is revolutionizing a decision made by John Paul II, in this way decentralizing the decisions of the CEI. And although the Archdiocese of Genoa automatically merits a cardinal as Archbishop - and Bagnasco is expected to be given the red hat in the next consistory - for now he is 'just' an archbishop, which gives a more collegial sense to his new role.

After the long presidency of Ruini - recognized by everyone as a major personality - now comes a discreet but equally determined personality who must face pastoral, cultural and political challenges that are crucial to the Church, not only in Italy.

Bagnasco is a very good friend of Ruini and advocates the same positions, but further assuring continuity even under a different leadership is Mons. Giuseppe Betori, who will remain secretary-general of the CEI, and who has been Ruini's right arm at CEI all these years.

Also, everyone is now expecting Benedict XVI to call a second consistory of new cardinals by June 29, feast of Saints Peter and Paul, at which time Bagnasco is expected to be elevated to cardinal.

Ruini has made history for the Italian Church in the past 16 years. A known Wojtylian supporter from the start, he has been attentive to all the cultural and political issues affecting Italian society, and has left an 'epochal' difference in the Italian Church.

He has not hesitated to participate actively in the public discourse on ethical issues such as abortion, the family, matrimony, de facto unions, euthanasia, assisted reproduction, making sure that the Catholic position on political issues was well-ventilated.

Considered by many to be conservative because of his loyalty to the fundamental points of Christian doctrine, Cardinal Sottile [Subtle] - as they call him at CEI for his great reasoning abilities - has been quite open to viewpoints that might be considered progressivist.

For example, the opening to laymen, to a dialog with society and its intellectuals, and concrete support for women's active role in society. Ten years ago, he became the first chancellor of the Pontifical Lateran University to 'dare' name a woman to become Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, naming Angela Ales Bello, a follower of Husserl, and breaking a scular tradition because that post had always been reserved for men only.

Born February 19, 1931 in Sassuolo, Ruini appeared to have carried on the legacy of Pope Paul VI in bringing his ministry to bear several times on the political life of the nation.

An only son, his physician father had wanted him to follow the same profession, but he chose at age 12 to become a priest. He graduated in theology and philosophy from the Gregorian Unviersity, where he learned to be a a passionate admirer of De Tocqueville [Joseph Ratzinger is another admirer].

He was ordained in 1954, and from 1956 to 1987 he taught dogmatic theology.[That's 31 years of teaching theology, 10 years more than Prof. Ratzinger did.] On January 7, 1991, he became John Paul II's Vicar for the Diocese of Rome, replacing Cardinal Ugo Poletti. In March that year, the Pope also named him president of the CEI, an appointment he extended two times, for 3 five-year terms. Last year, at the expiration of his third term, Pope Benedict XVI decided to keep him in place 'until other provisions could be made.'

A great fan of Bologna's Series-A football team since childhood, he can rattle off the names of all the team members that ever played for Bologna since 1940. He is equally a great fan of cycling, rooting not only for Italians like Bartali and Coppi but also for the Swiss Koblet.

And of course, he is a passionate book lover, of philosophy and theology, especially, but even of physics. He says his favorite newspaper reading is Corriere della Sera's periodic science supplements.

His reputation is not limited to Italy. He speaks five languages (German and French, to perfection) and is a man of wide culture evident to cognoscenti. He is currently Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Lateran Univesity.

He also pays great attention to the Third World dioceses that the Church of Italy assists regularly out of the 0.08% of revenues that comes to it from the Italian government.

In 2005, for the national refenerdum that would have abrogated existing Italian laws limiting the scope of assisted reproduction, Ruini became the CEI spokesman urging Catholics to abstain from voting, as a way to defeat the proposed changes and therby defend 'the culture of life." Fewer than 50% - the required minority - of voters turned out.

From then on, Ruini increasingly came under attack from liberals who accuse him of interfering in the affairs of the Italian state, and of violating the Lateran Pact [which, by the way, does not prohibit the Church from speaking out but only from fielding a political party].

"We cannot keep silent on questions that concern human life," Ruini has said several times. "We have the right and the obligation to speak out."

The day after the failed referendum, Ruini remarked, "I am impressed by the wisdom of the Italian public."

In September 2005, he was demonstrated against virulently during a speaking engagment in Siena by gay activists. But he has always defended the concept of the traditional family with drawn sword and has opposed any attempt to grant quasi-marital rights to de facto unions including homosexual couples.

Before the DICO debate heated up recently, he was involved in national polemics over euthanasia because he would not grant a Catholic fuenral service to muscular dystrophy patient Piergiorgio Welby who died after he asked his anesthesiologist to take him off respiratory support.

As the Pope's Vicar for Rome, Ruini is not leaving the scene at all. It is a role that will enable him to continue exercising his considerable influence on the life of the Church in this still-Catholic nation.

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

I must confess I knew very little of Cardinal Ruini's background before this, but it is obvious now why he became a favorite of Wojtyla's and why he has become very much of a Ratzingerite as well. He shares not only their loyalty to traditional Catholic doctrine but also their erudition and culture. But I am glad I was able to appreciate him without knowing all of this. His authenticity, his wisdom and his depth are evident in what he says and does, and he seems to be really sweet and charming. God bless him and his productive collaboration with the Pope!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 11/03/2007 5.48]

Here's how Corriere della Sera reports it online after the Vatican Press Office made the announcement at noon today:



ROME - "When the Pope calls, one responds" were the first words said by Mons. Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa, after the Vatican officially announced today his appointment to succeed Cardinal Camillo Ruini as president of the Italian bishops confernce (CEI, from its Italian acronym).

Cardinal Ruini remains as the Pope's vicar in Rome.

The Vatican announcement simply said: 'The Holy Father has accepted rhe resignation, for having passed the age limit, presented by the Most Eminent Cardinal Camillo Ruini, as president of the Italian bishops conference and has nominated in his place Mons. Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genoa."

Bagnasco expressed "the most profound sentiments of gratitude (to the Pope) for his act of great confidence ine tnrusting to me such a important and demanding task in the service of my brothers in the Episcopate. I promptly responded to the Pope's call, assured of his authoritative guidance , confiding in the grace of the Lord, and certain of benevolent cooperation from everybody."

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

Here is a translation of Cardinal Ruini's end-of-term open letter:



ROME - At the end of my mandate as President of the Italian bishops conference, I wish to express my most profound gratitude, above all to the Supreme Pontiffs John Paul II of venerated memory - who conferred on me this task three times - and Benedict XVI who confirmed me in the position.

To respond to the instructions and desires of the Successors of Peter has been, through these years, the joy of my heart, besides being the first criterion to orient my actions.

My gratitude also goes, from the depth of my soul, to the Italian bishops, and in particular, those who have worked directly with me through these years.

I remember first our lamented Cardinal Ugo Poletti, who was the president with whom I worked as secretary-general of the CEI starting on that now-remote day of June 28, 1986.

I also express my great and affectionate acknowledgment to Cardinals Dionigi Tettamanzi and Ennio Antonelli, who served as Secretary-General during my presidency, and for all the prelates who were my vice-presidents, in particular the three current vice-presidents - Mons. Benigno Luigi Papa, Mons. Giuseppe Chiaretti and Mons. Luciano Monari.

Nor can I forget the valuable work carried out for the CEI by then-Mons. Attilio Nicora. And a most special thanks, from my heart, to the current Secretary-General Giuseppe Betori, to whom I am linked by 11 years of working together daily side by side.

With him, I wish to thank all those who work in the General Secretariat, whom I consider friends as well as co-workers.

And allow me to thank all those who, in different ways, have contributed fundamentally to the work of our conference. among them, I must name the man in charge of Avvenire and SAT2000, Dr. Dino Boffo.

To the new president, Mons. Angelo Bagnasco, I send my most fervent and affectionate wishes in the task that he faces, and with these, my deep friendship and assurance that I will be constantly near him in prayer.

Camillo Cardinal Ruini
Vicar General of the Holy Father
for the Diocese of Rome

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 11/03/2007 5.46]

It is 'quiet' on the Benedict front today. According to the Vatican Press Office bulletin, the Pope met this morning with a group of Italian bishops making their ad-limina visit to Rome and will meet this afternoon with Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Meawnhile, Lella notes in her PAPA RATZINGER BLOG that Il Giornale is the only major Italian newspaper that reports on the Pope's Wednesday catechesis, and she provides us with the newspaper's account today of yesterday's catechesis.

I am surprised that the other newspapers did not write about it, because although the Pope was speaking in general terms, what he had to say about the relation between Catholics and politics, and the State and truth, were certainly very topical. I posted a full translation yesterday of the Pope's catechesis in HOMILIES, DISCOURSES, MESSAGES.

Here's a translation of the Giornale item:


'The authority of the State
is not everything'" -
By the Editors


The Church recognizes the authority of the State, renders unto Caesar what is Caesar's (as Jesus says in the Gospel), but "Caesar is not everything."

Benedict XVI said this yesterday in his catechesis at the Wednesday general audience, commenting on the letter to the Corinthians written around 96 A.D. by St. Clement, Bishop of Rome and third successor to Peter.

The Pope recalled the time at which the document was written, shortly after the persecutions of Crhistians by Emperor Domitian, and pointed out that the Christians nevertheless did nto stop praying "for the very authorities who had condemned them unjustly."

Thus, the Pope underscored, the Church "recognizes the legitimacy of political institutions in the order established by God" but at the same time, is concerned, as Pope Clement said, that "authorities be obedient to God and exerise the power given to them by God in peace, and temper that power with mercy."

"Caesar is not everything," Pope Benedict pointed out. "There is another sovereignty whose origin and essence are not of this world but 'from above': it is that of Truth, which has the right to be heard even by the State."

The Pope also pointed out how Pope Clement underscored that "the Church has a sacramental structure, not political. God's will which comes down to us through liturgy precedes our decisions and our ideas. The Church is above all a gift of God and not our creation, and therefore this sacramental structure guarantees not only the common order but also this precedence of God's gift, which we all have need of."

"The Church," Clement proceeds, "is not a place of confusion and anarchy, where anyone can do what he wants at any time; everyone in this organism, which has an articulated structure, carries out his ministry according to the calling he has received."

Finally, Papa Ratzinger also noted that from the beginning, already in the first century, the Church of Rome "presided in love over all the other churches."

Il Giornale, 8 marzo 2007

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

For some reason, the English service of AsiaNews was not accessible yesterday, so I could not post their usual synthesis of the Wednesday catechesis.

I might add that the Il Giornale item appears to have missed something else Pope Benedict pointed out yesterday which I do not think was incidental - how Pope Clement, in his letter to the Corinthians, exercised the primacy of the Church of Rome "for the first time since St. Peter", and reiterated St. Paul's statement that Rome "presides in love over all the other churches."

The primacy of Rome is probably the thorniest issue in the way of Catholic-Orthodox unification...so it is an interesting, almost provocative statement by the Pope a few days before he meets with Russian President Putin whose government 'sponsors' the Russian Orthodox Church, probably the most hard-line among the Orthodox Churches on this issue.

Not surprisingly, the Italian media today is full of reactions and commentary on the change-over at the Italian bishops conference with more eulogies for the outgoing president, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, including one from philosopher Ernesto Galli della Loggia for Corriere della Sera. With the notable exception of the ultra-liberal La Repubblica, whose Vatican correspondent Marco Politi and a commentator Francesco Merlo do a hatchet job on Ruini's 'political interference.'

There are also excellent commentaries on the new CEI president, Mons. Angelo Bagnasco, based on what he has done and said before.

I will try to post translations of the most important articles in PEOPLE AROUND THE POPE as soon as I can.

P.S. In his blog yesterday, Sandro Magister, whose main piece for March 8 is all about the CEI change-over - posted in PEOPLE AROUND THE POPE - commented on the Pope's catechesis :


'Amicus Caesar sed magis amica Veritas":
(Caesar is a friend but Truth is a greater one)
The political theory of Benedict XVI

On the very day of the change-over at the summit of the CEI, Benedict XVI held his usual Wednesday general audience. In the media, the first event obscured what the Pope said in the second event, although what he said was just as important.

Closing his catechetical cycle on the Apostles and the early Crhistians cited in the New testament, the Pope started a new cycle dedicated to " the Apostolic Fathers - the first and second generations in the Church after the Apostles."

The first figure Benedict XVI chose was St. Clement, Peter's third successor as Bishop of Rome, who has left a letter written to the Corinthians at the end of the first century, after the persecutions by the emperior Domitian.

Clement's letter was intended to pacify the differences sty the time within the church of Corinth. the Pope observed: "We can therefore say that this letter constitues the first exercise of the Roman primacy after the death of St. Peter."

Papa Ratzinger also notes that in this letter, "the Greek term laikos, which means 'member of the laos,' namely the people of God, appears for the first time in Christian writings."

He adds:

"The clear distinction between the 'laity' and the hierarchy does not at all signify a contraposition, but simply this organic connection within a body, of an organism, each with different functions.

"The Church is not a place of confusion and anarchy, in which anyone can do as he pleases at any time: every one in this organism, which has an articulated structure, exercises his minsitry according to the vocation he has received.

"Regarding the leaders of the community, Clement explicitly and clearly states the doctrine of apostolic succession. The norms which regulate this succession ultimately come from God Himself."

The final part of Pope Clement's letter also contains the oldest written prayer for political institutions after the texts in the New Testament. Benedict XVI commented:

"...Right after the persecutions [by Domitian], knowing well that such persecutions would continue, Christians would not cease to pray for the very same authorities that had condemned them unjustly.

"The reason is eminently Christological: that one must pray for those who persecute us, even as Jesus did on the Cross. But this prayer also contains a teaching which, through the centuries, guides the Christian attitude towards politics and the State.

"Praying for the authorities, Clement recognizes the legitimacy of political institutions withint he order established by God: at the same time, he manifests his concern that the authorities should be obedient to God and that they may 'exercise the power God has given them in peace, and temper such power with mercy" (61,2).

"Caesar is not everything. There is another sovereignty, whose origin and essence are not of this world, but 'of above': it is that of Truth which has a right to be heard, even by the State."

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 08/03/2007 16.01]

Pope gives thanks for
annual Peter's Pence donation

VATICAN CITY, MAR 8, 2007 (VIS) - This morning the Pope received members of the Rome-based charity organization, the Circle of St. Peter, for their traditional annual audience during which they present him with Peter's Pence, the proceeds of collections taken up in Roman churches over the last year.

In his address, Benedict XVI recalled that the tradition of collecting "Peter's Pence" was already in use "in the first Christian communities," and derives from "the awareness that each member of the faithful is called to support the work of evangelization, also in material terms, and at the same time to help the poor and needy."

"Peter's Pence is collected annually in all dioceses, parishes and religious communities," said the Holy Father, "and is then brought to the heart of the Church to be redistributed according to necessity, and to the requests that reach the Pope from all over the earth."

"May the Lord repay you and render your ecclesial service fruitful," Pope Benedict told his audience, "and may He help you to make all the initiatives of your Circle a success."

In this context, the Pope recalled how for more than six years they have been "supporting the sick and their families" at the Sacred Heart Hospice. "A silent but eloquent witness of love for human life, which deserves attention and respect until its final breath."

After thanking them for their visit, the Pope encouraged the members of the Circle of St. Peter to continue their "charitable activities and their service of attending upon and welcoming the faithful in the Vatican Basilica and during the ceremonies presided by the Pope."

The Pope delivedred his only public speech of the day today in English. The full text is posted in HOMILIES, DISCOURSES AND MESSAGES.


Much of the content that comes through TV and the Internet into the homes of millions are 'destructive,' Pope Benedict said today to participants in the plenary session of the Pontifical Council For Social Communications, whom he addressed in English.

He acknowledged that the mass media have helped spread knowledge far and wide that had been previously accessible only to a relative few.

But, he said, "My concerns are no diffent from those of a mother, a father, a teacher or a public official."

The mass media, he said "pervade and permeate" modern culture and should therefore be 'a reason for reflection" on the part of "those who have the good of society at heart."

VIS has this report:

VATICAN CITY, MAR 9, 2007 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, which is presided by Archbishop John P. Foley.

Addressing them in English, the Pope expressed his thanks "for your commitment to the apostolate of social communications, the importance of which cannot be underestimated in our increasingly technological world.

"The field of social communications is fast-changing," the Pope added. "While the print media struggles to maintain circulation, other forms of media such as radio, television and the internet are developing at an extraordinary rate. Against the backdrop of globalization, this ascendancy of the electronic media coincides with its increasing concentration in the hands of a few multinational conglomerates whose influence crosses all social and cultural boundaries."

The Holy Father expressed the view that "much of great benefit to civilization is contributed by the various components of the mass media," and in this context he mentioned "quality documentaries and news services, wholesome entertainment, and thought-provoking debates and interviews."

Internet too "has opened up a world of knowledge and learning that previously for many could only be accessed with difficulty, if at all."

"On the other hand, it is also readily apparent that much of what is transmitted in various forms to the homes of millions of families around the world is destructive."

For her part, the Church, "by directing the light of Christ's truth upon such shadows, ... engenders hope."

Pope Benedict concluded his talk by referring to his Message for World Communications Day, dedicated this year to the relationship between the media and young people.

"The responsibility to introduce and educate children and young people into the ways of beauty, truth and goodness is," he said, "a grave one. It can be supported by media conglomerates only to the extent that they promote fundamental human dignity, the true value of marriage and family life, and the positive achievements and goals of humanity. I appeal again to the leaders of the media industry to advise producers to safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human dignity and promote respect for the needs of the family."


LENTEN SERMONS AT THE VATICAN

At 9 o'clock this morning, in the presence of the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, the preacher of the papal household, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap., delivered the first of four Lenten sermons.

The theme of this year's Lenten meditation is "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God" from the Beatitudes.

The other three Lenten sermons will be held on the following Fridays - March 16, March 23 and March 30.

Fr. Cantalamessa will aslo preach the Good Friday homily at St. Peter's Basilica.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 09/03/2007 21.17]

Lella on her blog posts this item from Apcom:

New York, Mar. 9 (Apcom) - President George W. Bush will be in Italy at the start of June this year to meet with Prime Minister Romano Prodi and to call on the Pope.

White House sources said there were no details yet but Bush would be stopping in Rome on his way to the G8 summit in Germany scheduled to take place June 5-8.

Although Bush attended the funeral of John Paul II, he has not met Pope Benedict XVI yet. His brother Jeb, a Catholic (and who was then governor of Florida), represented him at Benedict's inaugural Mass.

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

In POPE-POURRI, I posted the confirmation that the Pope will have a new vacation spot this year:



(ANSA) - BELLUNO, 9 MAR - Pope Benedict XVI will spend his summer vacation this year in Lorenzago di Cadore, Belluno province, from July 9-28.

The confirmation was announced by the Police Prefect of Belluno, Francesco Faggiano.

Other details are in POPE-POURRI.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 09/03/2007 19.58]

Courtesy of Lella and her blog, first here's an item from Libero today, translated here:

Pope Benedict XVI's apostolic letter containing his pot-synodal exhortation relating to the October 2005 Bishops Synod on the Eucharist will be issued on Tuesday.

It is expected, among other things, to reiterate a No to allowing Communion for remarried divorcees, but it is not known if it will make any references to the celebration of Mass in its pre-Vatican-II form.

However, Vatican sources said that everything was ready for the reprinting of missals according to the so-called St. Pius-V rite, both in the version for altar use as well as for the public. The texts are to get final approval by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei presided by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos.

It is now expected that the Pope's motu proprio liberalizing the use of the pre-Conciliar Mass will be issued before Easter.


And from Marco Politi's story in La Repubblica today, here is a translation from which I have omitted repetitive background material:


VATICAN CITY - The Roman Missal of St. Pius V is all set to be reprinted.

Some Catholic publishing houses have been quietly gearing up for the expected liberalization of the so-called Tridentine Mass by Pope Benedict XVI and are waiting for the signal from the Vatican.

The Missal and the rite are already used by many parishes around the world under special permission from local bishops on condition that the rite is practised 'out of love for tradition" rather than in defiance of the Vatican-II reform.

The Pope's motu proprio is expected to qualify the old Mass as a "universal extraordinary rite" that may be celebrated alongside the post-conciliar "ordinary rite"....

Despite disapproval in some quarters, notably many French bishops, Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez recently said that the change was 'imminent'.

In his autobiography "La mia vita" (published in English as Milestones), Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger says: "I continue to be dumbfounded by the ban on the old Missal since nothing similar has ever happened in the history of liturgy."


The Vatican Press Office has a reminder about the release of the Post-Synodal Exhortation on Tuesday:

Accredited journalists are informed that at 11:30 Tuesday, March 13, a news conference will be held at the John Paul II Hall of the Vatican Press Office to present the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Holy Father entitled Sacramentatum Caritatis on the Eucharist as source and summit of the life and mission of the Church.

The presentors are Cardinal Angelo Scola, Patriarch of Venice, who served as overall moderator of the Synod (held October 2-23, 2005), and Mons. Nikola Eterovic, Secretary-General of the Synod of Bishops.

The text will be made available in Italian, French, English, German, Portuguese, Polish and Latin.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 10/03/2007 14.00]

This is the lady, Rosy Bindi, once vice president of Catholic Action in Italy and current Minister for the Family in the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi, who is co-author and primary advocate of the proposed draft law DICO granting quasi-marital rights to couples in de facto unions, whether homosexual or heterosexual.

But she shares the Pope's concern expressed yesterday about the destructive effects that media, especially TV and the Internet, can have on children and young people, according to this story from PETRUS:


"The words of the Pope on the responsibility of the new media invite us to reflect on the risks that a monopoly of these media can cause," says a communique from Rosy Bindi, minister for the family.

"The risks are not only to the quality of democracy and participation in collective life, but also in the homogenization of cultural models...at the cost, most particularly, of children and youth who are exposed to a bombardment of information and messages - often deficient and violent, over which they are unable to exercise right discernment...It is not enough to oppose what is bad. We must promote what is good." [With all due respect, Ms. Bindi, what about DICO, for example, which overturns traditional teaching about the family and matrimony - how do you propose children and young people to exercise 'the right discernment' over something which you champion so fervently ?]

Bindi anticipates that the role of TV, Internet and new communications technology will be discuussed at the national conference on the family scheduled for May in Florence and sponsored by the government.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 10/03/2007 13.30]

Lella's blog reprints an article from the March 9 issue of the Italian Panorama magazine, translated here:



The 'errors' of Benedict XV and John Paul II:
WHY RUSSIA IS 'DOWN' ON THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
By Sergio Romano



In the meetings that Vladimir Putin will have with Italian leaders in Rome and Bari on March 13-14, they will be discussing gas and oil pipelines, American missiles in central and eastern Europe, and relations with Iran.

But in the meeting that the Russian President will have with Pope Benedict XVI on March 13 - although it may be approached by allusions and much circumlocution - there will really be only one issue: the visit that Pope John Paul II was unable to make to Russia and which is probably a major objective for his successor.

At the root of this complicated issue are two errors of judgment by the Roman Catholic Church in the 20th century.

The first goes back to the initial phase of the Bolshevik Reovlution. The Church had hoped that with the end of the Czarist regime, which had been the zealous custodian of Orthodoxy, and the rapid demise of the 'masonic' republic established by the short-lived February 1917 revolution, the doors would open to a country where, with rare exceptions, Catholic priests had been limited only to western Ukraine and Byelorussia.

The Roman Curia knew that Lenin [who came to power with the succesful October 1917 Revolution] was an atheist, and thought this would break the religious monopoly of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Benedict XV sent Achille Ratti (later Pius XI) to Warsaw as Apostolic Nuncio, with orders to be ready to move across the border once the new Soviet Union established diplomatic ties with the Holy See. But the Roman Church soon realized that the Bolsheviks were going to treat all religions with uniform harshness [and Russia remained offcially atheist for the next 70 years till the USSR broke up].

The second error was John Paul II's. The Polish Pope, counting on Mikhail Gorbachov's policy of perestroika, welcomed him to the Vatican and rapidly achieved some successes: achieving restoration by the Soviet government of properties that had been confiscated from the Orthodox Church to the Uniates of Ukraine (Catholics following the Greek rite) [ this is now one of the principal grudges against Rome by the Russian Church, which claims the properties belong to it, not to the Catholics]; the establishment of diplomatic ties with Moscow; and the opening of four new dioceses within Russian territory.

But he also sent in many Polish missionaries, as well as a Polish Apostolic Nuncio, which offended the Russian Orthodox hierarchy [who accuse the Polish priests of seeking converts from among Russian Orthodox faithful] and roused Russian religious patriotism.

Not long after, the Russian Parliament passed a law which recognized four 'indigenous' religions - Orthodoxy, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism - and demoted Catholicism to a 'guest' religion, with all the political and administrative disadvantages that this has meant for the Catholic Church in Russia.

Therafter, every time John Paul II wished to visit an Orthodox country (Bosnia, Greece, Romania), he would meet with the ill will of the local Orthodox clergy. And the doors of Russia - despite many gestures of good will by the Pope - remained closed against the apostolic trip that he had so wanted to make before he died.

But with the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope, the situation changed.

Benedict XVI is from a country that has had close if checkered relations with Russia, to the point of collaboration, complicity and mutual sympathy at certain times. More importantly, Germans do not have the aggressive Catholicity of Poles, the Catholic cousins traditionally detested and feared by the most important of the Slavic nations.

Benedict XVI is also considered to be more conscious of Orthodox sensibilities. The principal motive for his trip to Turkey was his visit with the Patriarch of Constantinople, a stage along the road to Moscow.

The second stage will probably be his meeting Tuesday with Putin. But very likely, other stages, other negotiations, and other acts of good will from Rome will be needed to get there.

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

This article gives us some good points to think about, but it omits mentioning the principal obstacle to rapprochement in the eyes of the Russian Orthodox hierarchy: the issue of the primacy of the Pope. It is hard to know what compromise the Russian Church will accept on this issue, because the Roman Church will not abdicate that principle.

And from Vatican Radio's Italian service, an interview by Alessandro Gissoti with Mons. Amtono Mennini, the Apostolic Nuncio to Moscow:


PUTIN ASKS PERMISSION
TO SPEAK TO POPE IN GERMAN


So, President Putin will be speaking to the Pope in German, a language which he knows very well...
Yes, I must say it is quite a gesture of courtesy from President Putin, who let it be known he wished to speak with the Pope in his own language...[Putin spent five years in Dresden as a KGB officer in 1985-1990]

At what point are we in relations between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church?
Insofar as the most direct contacts with the Orthodox Church here in Russia, the situation has markedly improved since the establishment of the mixed commissionn to study our outstanding diffferences and misunderstandings... On the personal level, there is an excelletn climate of friendship and understanding among the commission members.

The theologian Joseph Ratzinger was always well appreciated by the Orthodox Christians. How do they now regard Benedict XVI's ecumenical commitment?
After the Holy Father's visit to Constantinople, the reactions from the hierarchy here were very positive. But they were already quite high after the first statements made by Benedict XVI as Pope about his commitment to ecumenism followed by his statement at the National Eucharistic Congress in Bari.

And recently, the Patriarchate of Moscows ponsored the publication of a Russian edition of Ratzinger's "Introduction to Christianity," for which Metropolitan Kyril of Moscow wrote the preface.

In which areas has it been easiest to work with the Orthodox Church, in the context of daily life?
We have been holding joint seminars, doing joint research, which is very important. But in my visits to our parishes, I seen new signs of colalboration and understanding as members of the two churches get to know each other. This was a problem in the past, that they knew little about eash other..

Many are asking when the Pope and Patriarch Alexei II will meet. Do you think the time is ripe?
His Holiness Alexei II and others in the hierarchy have often spoken about this. The Patriarch hass never ruled the possibility, but he has underscored that it should mark a real rapprochement and reconciliation between the two Churches. It would be a very important thing not just for the Christian world, but for the protection of those values that should govern Europe and which are very much taken to heart by the Russian Orthodox Church.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 11/03/2007 5.18]

This afternoon the Fifth World University meeting was led from the Paul VI Hall by our Papa. Students from Roman universities were present in the hall and, at the same time, television links joined students in other Italian cities, such as Bologna and Turin, and in cities around the world: Manila, Coimbra, Prague, Krakow, Hong Kong, Rawalpindi, Calcutta
and Manchester, England.
Together these students prayed the Mysteries of Light, each decade being started by Papa with the Pater Noster and then the decades of Hail Marys being prayed in the various languages, returning to Papa for the Glory Be.
There was an orchestra in the Paul VI Hall, plus a choir. They played and sang a beautiful "Ave Maria" after each decade and at the end of the Mysteries, played and sang the well-known setting of the Hail Holy Queen in Latin. I am sure that Papa loved and appreciated the beauty of this music.
He then gave an address to all of the students and those who had contributed to the Rosary and were lucky enough to be present in Rome, went up to Papa individually and received a book from him. In the other locations, the students received similar books from their local archbishops.
It was a prayerful and wonderful way to bring together undergraduates from around the world.
I've taken some captures and hope to upload them soon.
[I hope this is the right thread for this post - if not, please move it, Teresa]












The last few are there to show how privileged these young ladies were to be introduced to Papa, to have a short conversation with him and to receive the gift of a book from him. Note that a monsignor gently moves each one away. I could sense that they would all have loved a really long talk with him!
Maklara - I'm so pleased you were present in Prague!
Luff and choy - Mary x

[Modificato da maryjos 11/03/2007 0.06]

---

Scritto da: maryjos 10/03/2007 21.44
This afternoon the Fifth World University meeting was led from the Paul VI Hall by our Papa. Students from Roman universities were present in the hall and, at the same time, television links joined students in other Italian cities, such as Bologna and Turin, and in cities around the world: Manila, Coimbra, Prague, Krakow and Manchester, England.
Together these students prayed the Mysteries of Light, each decade being started by Papa with the Pater Noster and then the decades of Hail Marys being prayed in the various languages, returning to Papa for the Glory Be.
There was an orchestra in the Paul VI Hall, plus a choir. They played and sang a beautiful "Ave Maria" after each decade and at the end of the Mysteries, played and sang the well-known setting of the Hail Holy Queen in Latin. I am sure that Papa loved and appreciated the beauty of this music.
He then gave an address to all of the students and those who had contributed to the Rosary and were lucky enough to be present in Rome, went up to Papa individually and received a book from him. In the other locations, the students received similar books from their local archbishops.
It was a prayerful and wonderful way to bring together undergraduates from around the world.
I've taken some captures and hope to upload them soon.
[I hope this is the right thread for this post - if not, please move it, Teresa]

---

I was sitting in pew in our academic parish church in Prague and it was really splendid. Of course Papa was the best, he was very relaxed and laughing lot.
The latin was very usefull and very noble....e.g. it is the best idea how to pray with so much different culture.

The best language I have heard there was Filipino (Teresa, I was thinking about you, I don't know which language it was), something very joyful.

And after Papa spoke czech, there was quite long (for me it was forever), some seconds lasting camera shooting on me - I was at this moment very ethusiastically clapping with my hands, so I hope I could somewhere download it and show it here.

But the best was Papa's final speech, it was very touching even for our father professor(our parish priest) who at the first time wasn't so much happy about Papa's election, but now he is his great defeder (during Regensburg and Wielgus Crise he was the only man of czech catholic church who immediately spoke to newspapers and TV and defends Pope very intensively).
In fact he always appreciate Joseph Ratzinger as theologian but he didn't think the Petrus Sede is the best job for him...now he says he was wrong.

[Modificato da Maklara 10/03/2007 23.34]

What a pleasant surprise! Thank you, Mary and Maklara. I had to keep a doctor's appointment so I just got back and missed the broadcast. I hope I can find it somewhere - not so hopeful about the French or Spanish sites because there was no French or Spanish(-speaking) city involved...But, as the Vatican has not yet published the Pope's full text online, here is the AsiaNews story:


Pope: intellectual charity,
a “network” uniting the youth
of Europe and Asia



Vatican City. March 10 (AsiaNews) – A “network” which unites Europe and Asia and finds its reason for being in intellectual love, “strength of the human spirit”, capable of uniting the formative itinerary of entire generations. Uniting “the existential journey of young people, who though divided by great distances, feel a bond of personal introspection and common witness”.

This is how Benedict XVI today described the prayer vigil which he presided over in the Paul VI audience hall to mark the V day for European Universities. A meeting which saw students from Turin and Bologna in Italy, Manchester (UK), Coimbra (Portugal), Krakow (Poland), Prague (Czech Republic), Tirana (Albania), Hong Kong, Calcutta (India), Manila (Philippines) and Islamabad/Rawalpindi (Pakistan) linkedbyu satellite TV to the Pope and Rome university students at the Vatican.

The vigil, centered on the theme “Intellectual Charity: the way for a new cooperation between Europe and Asia”, was a collage of experiences of faith and study shared by the students of before the Pope's participation. Images of Churches and sanctuaries distant from each other – such as the crypt of the Missionary house of Charity, where the mortal remains of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta lie. And the Ave Maria recited in diverse languages.

The Pope spoke of a “network” which unites the youth of the two continents, defining it as a “sign of the times, a sign of hope”.

“It is suggestive to think of intellectual charity as strength of human spirit, capable of uniting the formative itinerary of new generations. On a global scale, intellectual charity can unite the existential journey of young people, who, even though they live great distances from one and other, can feel a deep bond uniting them in their search for inner truth and common witness.

"This evening we are creating a perfect bridge between Europe and Asia, both continents steeped in rich spiritual traditions, where humanity’s most ancient and noble cultural traditions have developed. This makes our coming together all the more meaningful!

"Rome’s young university students are the promoters of a brotherhood of intellectual love, they perceiver in a solidarity that is not animated by economic or political interests, but by there interest in study and their search for the truth.

"In short, we are in a true “university”, that is, in a community of knowledge which was one of the foundations of Europe. Thank you my dear young people!”

He added Lenten reflections:
“Dear friends, we are in the Lenten season and the liturgy urges us to continuously reinforce our union with Christ. This vigil following the tradition of World Youth Day may be considered part of our spiritual pilgrimage guided by the Cross.

"The mystery of the cross is not distinct from the theme of intellectual charity, rather it illuminates it. Christian wisdom is the wisdom of the Cross: students, and to a greater extent, Christian teachers interpret every single reality in the light of the mystery of God’s love, which has its highest form of revelation in the Cross.

"Once again, my dear young people, I entrust you with Christ’s Cross: welcome it, embrace it, and follow it. It is the tree of life! At its feet you will always find Mary, Mother of Jesus. Together with Her, Font of Wisdom, turn your gaze to Him whom they have pierced (John 19, 37), contemplate the inexhaustible source of love and truth and you may also become disciples and witnesses full of joy. This is my wish – he concluded – for each one of you”.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 11/03/2007 0.05]

http://ktotv.com/video_data.php3?numero=1542


Papa did marvellous joke.
He read greetings in czech, and he probably recognise problem to pronounce some words because he added in italian:

"I don't know what friends in Prague will be saying on it, but I hope they understand me."

[Modificato da Maklara 11/03/2007 1.13]

It's OK _ my captures are still there! I took over thirty. Maklara, were you wearing a bright red scarf? I think I may have captured you!
What a very thrilling occasion it was, both prayerful [the Rosary] and exciting - all those young undergraduate students!!!!!! Wonderful! Oh to be young again and a student!