BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

See earlier entries for today, 5/23/10, on the preceding page.





Pope agrees to visit Bulgaria
in 2012, Prime Minister says
by Siyana Sevova

May 23, 2010




ROME - Pope Benedict XVI will visit Bulgaria in 2012 after PM Boyko Borissov extended an invitation to His Holiness during their meeting, yesterday.

The Pope received a Bulgarian delegation led by PM Borissov on the occasion of May 24, the day of Slav culture and letters [and the liturgical feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius, co-patrons of Europe and Apostles to the Slavs].

"I invited him to arrange a visit in 2012 and he said: 'My health permitting, I will be happy to visit your country, once an official invitation is received',” Borissov said after the audience.

The Cabinet wants His Holiness to come to Bulgarian ten years after the visit of his predecessor Pope John-Paul II.

"I hereby bless Boyko Borissov and all of you present here and I hope that through you my blessing will reach the beloved Bulgarian people. Bulgaria is in my prayers,” His Holiness said.

Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican’s state secretary, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone thanked PM Borissov for raising funds for the relief effort in Haiti.

The Bulgarian delegation, headed by PM Borissov includes vice PM Tsvetan Tsvetanov, foreign minister Nikolay Mladenov, minister of culture Vezhdi Rashidov, Diaspora minister Bozhidar Dimitrov, Sofia mayoress Yordanka Fandakova and two representatives of Bulgaria's Holy Synod - His Eminence Vidin Metropolitan Dometian and priest Rumen Stanev.

PM Borissov gave to Pope Benedict XVI a bronze mask of Beethoven made by Bulgarian minister of culture Vezhdi Rashidov.

After the meeting with the Pope PM Borissov and the Bulgarian delegation had talks with Vatican's Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone.

During the meeting they discussed the possibility that the Bulgarian Orthodox Church may receive a relic of St. Nikolas the Wondermaker (Nicholas of Bari) in exchange for a relic of St. Andrew.

PENTECOST SUNDAY MASS



Libretto illustrations: Girolamo Nolano, Illuminations for the Libro Corale for the Liturgy of the Hours, 1607-1614, Santuario della Madonna dell'Arco, Naples.

Introductory Rite
Translated from the Mass Libretto

The Mass today was preceded by a brief prayer ceremony and benediction with holy water.

---

After the opening hymn Tu es Petrus, the Holy Father gave the following invocation:

Dearest brothers and sisters,
on the day of Pentecost
what Jesus announced to be the purpose of his mission was achieved:
to cast fire on the earth.
Fifty days after his glorious Resurrection from the dead
and ten days after his Ascension to Heaven,
he sent to earth the true fire, the Holy Spirit.
The pure fire of God's love
descended on the Apostles, gathered in prayer at the Cenacle
with the Blessed Virgin Mary
to make the Church into the prolongation
of Christ's work of renewal.
If Pentecost is not to be reduced
to a merely evocative commemoration,
if we wish the fire of the Spirit to be lit in us,
we must prepare ourselves with humble and repentant hearts.
Let us therefore acknowledge our sins
and ask God to send us
his Spirit of purification and renewal.

The following prayers were then said, with responses from the choir and the congregation:

O Father, who from the Lamb immolated on the Cross,
made the springs of living water flow,
R. Glory to thee, O Lord.

Christ, who renews the youth of the Church
in washing her with the words of life.
R. Glory to thee, O Lord.

O Spirit, who from the waters of Baptism
makes us re-emerge as the first fruits of the new humanity,
R. Glory to thee, O Lord.

Almighty God,
who in the sacred signs of our faith
renews the wonders of creation and redemption.
bless this water
and grant that all who are reborn in Baptism
may be announcers and witnesses of the Easter
that is always renewed in your Church.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

The Holy Father then sprinkled the assembly with holy water as the choir sings Vidi aquam:

Behold the water that flows from the holy temple of God, Alleluia;
to all who come, this water brings salvation,
and they will sing, Alleluia, Alleluia!

The Holy Father prays:

May Almighty God purify us of our sins,
and for the celebration of this Eucharist,
make us worthy to take part in the banquet of his Kingdom.
Amen.

The celebration proceeded to the Gloria and the Liturgy of the Word.

---

'The one, Catholic, and
universal Church'






23 May 10 (RV) = “The Church is by its nature one and manifold, destined as it is to live among all nations, all peoples, and in various social contexts. It responds to its vocation, to be a sign and instrument of unity for the whole human race. Only if it remains independent from all states and all particular cultures. Always and everywhere the Church must be truly Catholic and Universal, the house that belongs to all peoples where everyone can truly find themselves".

In a Mass marking the Feast of Pentecost, Pope Benedict XVI reaffirmed the nature of the Church, which he said, “precedes the local Churches, and they must always conform themselves to it, according to a criterion of unity and universality. The Church never remains a prisoner of political, racial or cultural confines, it is not to be confused with the States and even with the Federation of States, because its unity is different in kind and aims to move through all human boundaries".

Thousands of faithful gathered in St Peter’s Basilica to celebrate the Liturgy of Pentecost with the Pope. Vested in vibrant red, a symbol of the fire of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Father went out of his way to greet families as he processed up the centre aisle to the main altar.

In his homily he said:

---

Christians and the local churches must always compare themselves to and harmonise themselves with that of the one Catholic Church... The Church can only be united when it is infused by the fire of the Holy Spirit.

The Apostles, together with believers of different communities, have brought this divine flame to the ends of the Earth, thus they opened a path for humanity… , and they collaborated with God who with his fire wants to renew the face of the earth.

How different this fire is from that of war and bombs! How different the fire of Christ is, propagated by the Church, than that of the dictators of every age, even those of the last century, which left behind scorched earth.

The fire of God, the fire of the Holy Spirit, is the fire of the bush that rages without burning (cf. Ex 3:2). It is a flame that burns but does not destroy, indeed, its flames bring out the best and truest in man, [..]it reveals his inner form, his call to truth and love"

And yet the fire of the Holy Spirit transforms us, and so must consume something in man, the waste that corrupts and hinders his relationship with God and neighbour. The effects of the divine fire, frightens us, we are afraid of being 'burned', preferring to stay as we are.

This is because often our life is set according to the logic of having, of possession and not giving. Many people believe in God and admire the figure of Jesus Christ, but when they are asked to lose something of themselves, then they draw back, afraid of the demands of faith...

In losing something, indeed, losing ourselves for the true God, the God of love and life, we actually gain something, we find ourselves more fully.

Those who entrust themselves to Jesus in this life experience a peace and joy of heart, that the world can not give them or take away from them once it has been gifted by God. It is therefore worthwhile to allow ourselves to be touched by the fire of the Holy Spirit! The pain that it brings us is necessary for our transformation”.

Therefore, enlightened and comforted by these words of life, we raise our plea: Come, Holy Spirit! Kindle in us the fire of thy love! We know that this is a daring prayer, with which we ask to be touched by the flame of God, but above all we know that this flame - and it alone - has the power to save.

---

Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's homily:

---

Dear brothers and sisters,

In the solemn celebration of Pontecost, we are invited to profess our faith in the presence and action of the Holy Spirit and invoke his outpouring on us, on the Church, and on the whole world.

Let us therefore make our own, with particular intensity, the invocation of the Church herself, Veni, Sancte Spiritus!

An invocation that is so simple and immediate but also extraordinarily profound, one that first arose from the heart of Christ.

The Spirit is, in fact, the gift that Jesus asked and continually asks the Father for his friends: the primary and principal gift that he obtained for us through his Resurrection and Ascension to heaven.

The Gospel passage today speaks of this prayer of Christ in the context of the Last Supper. The Lord Jesus tells his disciples: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always" (Jn 14,15-16).

This reveals the prayerful heart of Jesus, his filial and fraternal heart. This prayer reaches its peak and its fulfillment on the Cross, where the invocation of Christ is one with the total gift that he has made of himself.

Thus his prayer becomes, so to speak, the seal itself of his total self-giving for love of the Father and of mankind: Invocation and gift of the Spirit meet, compenetrate, and become one single reality.

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always". In fact, the prayer of Jesus - at the last Supper and on the Cross - is a prayer that endures in heaven, where Christ sits at the right hand of the Father.

Jesus lives for always his priesthood of intercession in favor of the people of God and of mankind, praying for us all by asking the Father to give us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The account of the Pentecost in the Acts of the Apostles - which we heard in the First Reading (cfr Acts 2,1-11) - presents the 'new course' of the work of God begun with the Resurrection of Christ, a work that involves man, history and the cosmos.

From the Son of God who had died, was resurrected and had returned to the Father, the divine breath, the Holy Spirit, now breathes on mankind with unprecedented energy.

And what did this new and powerful self-communication of God produce?

Where there had been laceration and alienation, it created unity and understanding. It triggered a process of reunification among the parts of the human family that had been divided and dispersed. Persons, often deduced to individuals in competition or conflict with each other, opened up to the experience of communion that could engage them to the point of making of them a new organism, a new subject: the Church.

This is the effect of the work of God: unity. That is why unity is the sign of recognition, the 'calling card' of the Church in the course of her universal history. From the very beginning, from the day of Pentecost, she has spoken in all languages.

The universal Church precedes the local Churches, and the latter should always comform themselves to the former, according to the criteria of unity and universality. The Church will never be the prisoner of political, racial and cultural confines. It cannot be confused with States, not even with a Federation of States, because her unity is of a different kind and aspires to cross all human frontiers.

From this, dear brothers, derives a practical criterion for discernment of the Christian life: When a person or a community closes itself into its own way of thinking and acting, it is a sign of alienation from the Holy Spirit.

The path followed by Christians and the local Churches should always look to that followed by the one Catholic Church and harmonize with it.

This does not mean that the unity created by the Holy Spirit is some kind of egalitarianism. On the contrary, it is the model of Babel, namely, the imposition of a culture of unity that we can call 'technical'.

In fact, the Bible tells us (cfr Gen 11,1-9) that in Babel, everyone spoke a single language. Instead, at Pentecost, the Apostles spoke different languages in a way that each heard the message in his own language.

The unity of the Spirit is manifested in a plurality of understanding. The Church is by nature one and multiple, destined as she is to live with all nations, all peoples, and in the most diverse social contexts.

She responds to her vocation to be a sign and instrument of the unity of all human beings (cfr Lumen gentium, 1) only if she remains autonomous of every state and particular culture. Always and in every place, the Church should be truly 'catholic and universal', the house in which everyone can find himself.

The account of the Acts of the Apostles also offers us another very concrete cue. The universality of the Church is expressed in the listing of the peoples according to the ancient tradition: "We are Parthians, Medes, Elamites...", etc.

It can be noted that St. Luke goes beyond the number 12, which has always expressed universality. He looks beyond the horizons of Asia and northwest Africa, and adds three other elements: 'Romans', namely the Western world; 'Jews and proselytes", comprehending in a new way the unity between Israel and the world; and finally, 'Cretans and Arabs', who represented West and East, islands and mainlands.

These open horizons farther confirm the novelty of Christ in the dimension of human space and the history of peoples. The Holy Spirit engages men and peoples, and through them overcomes walls and barriers.

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit manifests as fire. His flame descended on the assembled disciples, was kindled in them, and gave them new ardor for God. Thus what the Lord Jesus had foretold was realized: "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!" (Lk 12,49).

The Apostles, together with the faithful of different communities, brought this divine flame to the extreme ends of the earth. They thus opened a road for mankind, a luminous road, and collaborated with God who with his fire wished to renew the face of the earth.

How different is this fire from that of wars and bombs! How different is the fire of Christ, propagated by the Church, compared to that lit by dictators in every age, even in the past century, who leave scorched earth behind them.

The fire of God, the fire of the Holy Spirit, is that which blazed from the bush without burning (cfr Ex 3,2). It is flame that burns but does not destroy, but rather, in its blaze, causes the better and true part of man to emerge, as the interior form emerges after melting - her vocation for truth and for love.

A father of the Church, Origen, in one of his homilies on Jeremiah, reported a saying attributed to Jesus but not found in Sacred Scriptures, but perhaps is authentic, which says: "Whoever is near me is near fire" (Homily on Jeremiah L.1[III]). Indeed, in Christ dwells the fullness of God who, in the Bible, is compared to fire.

We noted earlier that the flame of the Holy Spirit blazes but does not burn. Nonetheless, it causes a transformation, and therefore, it must consume something in man, the slag that corrupt him and hinder his relations with God and with his neighbor.

But this effect of the divine fire terrifies us, we are afraid of getting 'burned', we would prefer to remain as we are. This is because many times, our life is shaped by the logic of having, of possessing, not of giving.

Many persons believe in God and admire the figure of Jesus Christ, but when they are asked to lose something of themselves, then they step back - they are afraid of the demands of faith.

There is the fear of renouncing something beautiful to which we have become attached. The fear of following Christ deprives us of freedom, of certain experiences, of a part of ourselves. On the one hand, we want to be with Jesus, follow him closely, but on the other hand, we are afraid of the consequences that come with it.

Dear brothers and sisters, we need to hear what the Lord Jesus often told his friends: "Do not be afraid!" Like Simon Peter and the others, we must allow his presence and his grace to transform our heart, which is always subject to human weaknesses.

We must learn that losing something - indeed, losing oneself for the true God, the God of love and of life - is really to gain by finding oneself more fully.

Whoever entrusts himself to Jesus already experiences in this life peace and joy of heart that the world cannot give, nor can take away once given to us by God.

Thus it is worth allowing oneself to be touched by the fire of the Holy Spirit. The pain it may cause us is necessary for our transformation. It is the reality of the Cross: It is not for nothing that in the language of Jesus 'fire' is above all a representation of the mystery of the Cross without which Christianity would not exist.

Thus, illuminated and comforted by these words of life, let us raise our invocation: 'Come, Holy Spirit! Enkindle in us the fire of your love!'

We know that this is a daring prayer, with which we ask to be touched by the flame of God, but we know that this flame - and this alone - has the power to save us. We do not wish, in order to defend our life, to lose the eternal life that God wants to give us. We need the fire of the Holy Spirit, because only Love redeems. Amen.

---

Papal Mass at St. Peter's
is a window to the universal Church
By Carmen Elena Villa


ROME, MAY 23, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI today affirmed local Churches should always be in harmony with the one, universal Church, in a unity created by the Holy Spirit.

The faithful gathered for the Mass at St. Peter's were themselves a window that depicted his words during the homily for today's Pentecost Mass.

Doris Meier, a Swiss philosophy student at the Angelicum in Rome, shared with ZENIT her impressions as she left the Mass.

The Pope, she said, "did not speak for himself, and even less in an authoritarian manner. Instead, he has spoken with the truth, for Catholics, as one Church."

Meier recounted that she's been attending the ceremonies led by Benedict XVI since she arrived to Rome last October -- "because I see more concretely how to live the liturgy with so many people, so well prepared, and never losing the sense of prayer," she explained.

Also, the student added, "because it is necessary to support [the Pope] and tell him that what he does is good."

Benedict XVI's entrance procession in St. Peter's Basilica was accompanied by the adult and child male voices of the Sistine Chapel Choir intoning "Tu es Petrus."

The Holy Father stopped along the way to greet some of the faithful, most of whom had arrived hours before to seek a good spot at the Mass. Their faces reflected the surprise and excitement at having unexpectedly been able to greet the Pope.

As is customary, the Mass readings and prayers of the faithful were read in various languages, showing the universality of the Catholic faith. Today's languages were English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Russian and Chinese.

The Liturgy of the Eucharist began with the offering of the gifts as the choir sang a hymn based in Psalm 67. Eleven people, including religious and laity, brought the gifts to the altar to give them personally to Benedict XVI, exchanging a few words with him.

Immediately following the Mass, the Pontiff went to his study to pray the last midday Regina Caeli of this year -- since Pentecost concludes the Easter season -- from the window overlooking St. Peter's Square.

There, thousands of faithful awaited him in the warmth typical of a late Roman spring.

Spaniard Eva Rodrigo -- one of the many faithful who participated in the Mass and the praying of the Regina Caeli -- said she experienced firsthand the diversity of charisms.

"I came with a Portuguese friend and a Swiss one, and we were surrounded by French, English and Brazilians," she said, "such that when we gave the sign of peace, it was beautiful because each one said the words in his own language, but always it was the peace of Christ."

Rodrigo, who came to Rome for a semester as an exchange student at the Sapienza University, affirmed, "Christianity does not belong to any one particular culture; it is not something exclusive to the West."

She made this reflection in reference to the Holy Father's affirmation in the homily regarding the necessary autonomy of the Church.

"I very much liked it when the Pope referred in his homily to the fact that the Catholic faith cannot be identified with states or culture," Rodrigo said, "but that Christianity goes beyond any social structure."

Shroud exposition ends:
Benedict XVI says of his visit -
'I had the intimate and moving joy
of venerating the Shroud'
Translated from



"I will always carry vividly in my heart the emotion inspired in me by the solemn Eucharistic Celebration that was animated by fervent faith and devout participation, the meditative and spiritually engaged meditation in front of the Holy Shroud, as well by the other meetings with the people of Turin and the Piedmont, particularly the exciting encounter with the young people and the moving one with the sick".

The words are from a letter that Pope Benedict XVI wrote to the Archbishop of Turin, Cardinal Severino Poletto, to thank the Piedmontese dioceses and communities for the reception they gave him on his pastoral visit to Turin last May 2.

Today Cardinal Poletto read the Pope's message to the faithful gathered in the Cathedral of Turin before the solemn Mass to close the special exposition of the Shroud of Turin, which is on its final day today, having begin 45 days ago on April 10.

"Returning from my pastoral visit to Turin," the Holy Father wrote, "during which I had the intimate and moving joy of venerating the Holy Shroud, I wish to express to you, to the auxiliary bishop, the priests, consecrated persons and the entire diocesan community my heartfelt thanks for the exquisite reception given me and for the generous organizational commitment that led to the full success of an event that was much desired".

The letter concludes:
"I invoke the Lord through the maternal intercession of Mary, Comfort of the Afflicted, for a large outpouring of gifts and heavenly consolations on you and all those entrusted to your pastoral care, especially the young people, for a promising season of renewed spiritual fervor and ever stronger adherence to the Gospel.

"With these sentiments and as a sign of my constant good wishes, I sent everyone a special apostolic blessing in support of a path of consistent Christian witness of faith in the risen Christ".



More than 2 million pilgrims
came to see the Shroud
during its 45-day exposition
By Sarah Delaney


VATICAN CITY, May 24 (CNS) -- With the Shroud of Turin now carefully put away, church officials said that more than 2 million pilgrims had come to venerate the linen cloth in the six weeks it was on display.

During the April 10 to May 23 exposition, officials said 2,113,128 people from around the world passed through the Turin cathedral to catch a glimpse or say a prayer before the cloth revered by many Christians as the shroud that covered the body of the crucified Christ.

In a news conference May 22 marking the closing of the exposition, Cardinal Severino Poletto of Turin said that he was pleased with the record number of people who came to see the cloth.

"I had the clear perception that the Lord was speaking to the hearts of the pilgrims who came before the shroud seeking answers," he said.

The shroud "gives us the chance to offer faith in a time of confusion and spiritual fog, reconciling in the word of God," the cardinal said.

Cardinal Poletto said earlier in an interview with Vatican Radio May 22 that the exposition gave pilgrims a chance to "contemplate the suffering of Christ, of which the shroud is a wonderful mirror, showing exactly what the Gospel tells us."

Pope Benedict XVI went to Turin May 2 to venerate the shroud and celebrate a public Mass. He called the shroud an "extraordinary icon... written with blood: the blood of a man flagellated, crowned with thorns, crucified and wounded on his right side," exactly as the Gospels say Jesus was.

The Pope said that the shroud was also a symbol of the resurrection of Christ, and that "in it we see reflections of our suffering in the suffering of Christ."

The Vatican has never said that the Shroud, a 14-foot long linen cloth marked by a shadowy image of a man, is actually the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, although many Christians believe it is.

The Shroud has been the object of several multidisciplinary scientific analyses, but its exact nature and age remain mysteries. Carbon-14 dating performed on a tiny piece of cloth in 1998 showed that the cloth probably came from medieval times, but some scientists have said that the fragments tested were probably from medieval patchwork done on the Shroud.

The Shroud, kept in a special case filled with inert gas to prevent alterations, usually is out of public view and kept in the left transept of the Turin cathedral.

'REGINA CAELI' TODAY




After the Eucharistic Celebration of the Solemnity of Pentecost in St. Peter's Basilica, the Holy Father led the faithful in the recitation of the 'Regina caeli' from his study window overlooking St. Peter's Square.

Here is a translation of his words before and after the prayers:

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Dear brothers and sisters!

Fifty days after Easter, we celebrate the Solemnity of Pentecost when we commemorate the manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit who, as wind and fire, had descended on the Apostles gathered in the Cenacle and made them capable of preaching the Gospel with courage to all peoples (cfr Acts 2,1-13).

But the mystery of Pentecost, which we rightly identify with the event - the true 'baptism' of the Church - has not been exhausted in her.

Indeed, the Church lives constantly from the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, without which she would exhaust her own powers like a sailboat when there is no wind.

Pentecost is renewed especially at special events, on the local as well as the universal level, in small gatherings or in great convocations.

The Councils, for example, have held sessions blessed with special outpourings of the Holy Spirit, among which was certainly the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.

We can still remember the famous meeting of ecclesial movements with the Venerable John Paul II here in St. Peter's Square on Pentecost of 1998. But the Church knows numberless "Pentecosts' that have revivified local communities.

Think of those liturgies, especially those experienced during special moments in the life of the community, when the power of God is perceived in an obvious way that instills joy and enthusiasm in the spirit of everyone.

Let us think of so many prayer meetings during which young people clearly hear the call of God to anchor their life in his love, even consecrating themselves entirely to him.

Therefore, there is no Church without Pentecost. And I would add: There is no Pentecost without the Virgin Mary. So it was, at the beginning, in the Cenacle, where the disciples "devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers" - as the book of the Acts of the Apostles tells us (1,14).

So it has been, in every place and in every age. There was evidence of this recently in Fatima. What, in fact, did that immense multitude experience, on the esplanade of the Shrine, when we were all one heart and one soul, but a new Pentecost? In our midst was Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

And this experience is typical of the great Marian shrines - Lourdes, Guadalupe, Pompeii, Loreto - and even the smaller ones: Wherever Christians get together in prayer with Mary, the Lord gives his Spirit.

Dear friends, on this feast of Petnecost, we too wish to be spiritually united to the Mother of Christ and the Church, invoking with faith a new effusion from the divine Paraclete.

We invoke her for the whole Church, and especially in this Year for Priests, for all the ministers of the Gospel so that the message of salvation may be announced to all peoples.

After the prayers, he said this:

Yesterday, in Benevento, Teresa Manganiello, a lay person belonging to the Third Franciscan Order, was proclaimed Blessed. Born in Montefusco, the eleventh child in a peasant family, she led a simple and humble life between her household chores and her spiritual commitment at the church of the Capuchins.

Like St. Francis of Assisi, she sought to imitate Jesus Christ, offering her sufferings and penances for the reparation of sins, and was full of love of neighbor. She gave all she could for everyone, especially the poor and the sick.

Always smiling and kind, at only 27 years of age, she departed for heaven where her heart already dwelt. Let us thank God for this luminous witness to the Gospel!

The liturgical feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, help of Christians, tomorrow, May 24, offers us the chance to celebrate the Day of Prayer for the Church in China.

As the faithful in China pray so that unity among themselves and with the universal Church may deepen increasingly, may the Catholics of the entire world, especially those of Chinese origin, join them in prayer and in the charity instilled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, particularly in today's feast.


In English, he said:

I offer a warm welcome to the English-speaking visitors gathered here today. On this Pentecost Sunday let us pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church.

May the Spirit’s gifts of life and holiness confirm our witness to the Risen Lord and fill our hearts with fervent hope in his promises! Upon all of you I cordially invoke Spirit’s abundant gifts of wisdom, joy and peace.


And greeting the Italian faithful he said:

Finally, I affectionately greet the Italian-speaking pilgrims, especially the members of the Movement for Life which promotes the culture of life and concretely assists so many young women to carry difficult pregnancies to term.

Dear friends, I wish to remind you of the words of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta: "That little baby, born or unborn, was created for a great thing: to love and be loved".

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May 24, Monday, 8th Week in Ordinary Time
FEAST OF MARY, HELP OF CHRISTIANS

Mary, Help of Christians, as Our Lady of China


ST. MARIA MADDALENA DE' PAZZI (Italy, 1566-1607), Carmelite nun, Mystic and Author
Caterina de' Pazzi was born in Florence to a noble family whose members were among the first to scale the walls of Jerusalem in the First Crusade. She knew as a child that her calling was for Jesus, experienced her fist mystic vision when she was 12, and entered the Carmelite convent in Florence at age 16 against her family's objections. A year into her novitiate, she fell critically ill so preparations were made for her to to make her final vows from her sickbed. After receiving Communion, she fell into an ecstasy that lasted two hours. This happened for 40 consecutive days, but she survived the illness. To make sure that she was rooted in reality, her superiors ordered her to dictate all her spiritual experiences to her fellow nuns, which later became the basis for six books published under her name. In her lifetime, many miracle cures were attributed to her, as well as the gift of teleportation and of being able to read the thoughts of her nuns. She would become the superior of the convent, setting an example of holiness for her nuns, and praying for the renewal of the Church. However, before she died, she also underwent five years of a 'dark night of the soul' familiar to many saints. A quotation from her might apply to many bishops and priests today: "A little drop of simple obedience is worth a million times more than a whole vase of the choicest contemplation". She was canonized in 1668. her incorrupt body is venerated at the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Florence.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/052410.shtml


No OR today.


THE POPE'S DAY

The Holy Father met today with:

- H.E. Denis Sassou-Nguesso, President of the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), with his wife
and delegation

- H.E. Mihai Ghimpu, President of Parliament and President ad interim of the Republic of Moldova,
with his wife and delegation

- Cardinal Julio Terrazas Sandoval, C.SS.R., Archbishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia).


PRAYER FOR CHINA

As the Pope reminded the faithful yesterday, on the feast today of Mary Help of Christians, venerated in China as Our Lady of China, it is also a World Day of Prayer for China, decreed by Benedict XVI in 2007 in his Letter to the Catholics of China. In particularly, May 24 is the feast of Our Lady of Sheshan whose shrine is near Shanghai.

Here is the prayer written by the Holy Father for the occasion:

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Prayer to
OUR LADY OF SHESHAN
MARY, HELP OF CHRISTIANS

Virgin Most Holy, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother,
venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title "Help of Christians",
the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection.

We come before you today to implore your protection.
Look upon the People of God and, with a mother’s care,
guide them along the paths of truth and love,
so that they may always be
a leaven of harmonious coexistence among all citizens.

When you obediently said "yes" in the house of Nazareth,
you allowed God’s eternal Son to take flesh in your virginal womb
and thus to begin in history the work of our redemption.

You willingly and generously cooperated in that work,
allowing the sword of pain to pierce your soul,
until the supreme hour of the Cross,
when you kept watch on Calvary,
standing beside your Son, who died that we might live.

From that moment, you became, in a new way,
the Mother of all those who receive your Son Jesus in faith
and choose to follow in his footsteps by taking up his Cross.

Mother of hope, in the darkness of Holy Saturday you journeyed
with unfailing trust towards the dawn of Easter.

Grant that your children may discern at all times,
even those that are darkest, the signs of God’s loving presence.

Our Lady of Sheshan, sustain all those in China,
who, amid their daily trials,
continue to believe, to hope, to love.
May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world,
and of the world to Jesus.

In the statue overlooking the Shrine you lift your Son on high,
offering him to the world with open arms in a gesture of love.
Help Catholics always to be credible witnesses to this love,
ever clinging to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built.

Mother of China and all Asia,
pray for us, now and for ever. Amen!

---

Mons. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, has written an article for 'The Universe', Britain's largest Catholic weekly,
encouraging 'every Catholic to play a part' in the forthcoming Papal Visit.


Primate of England to UK Catholics:
'Let us all play a part
in this historic papal visit'

Issue of May 21, 2010


The visit of Pope Benedict to the United Kingdom in September is remarkably historic.

- It is the first ever State visit by a Pope;
- the first ever Beatification to take place in this country;
- Cardinal Newman is the first English ‘confessor of the faith’ to be beatified in over 600 years.

These startling perspectives help us to appreciate not only the importance of this visit for our history but also for our future. This visit spells out, in a borrowed phrase, ‘the future of our past’!

When Pope John Paul came to Britain in 1982, he came as the chief Pastor of the Catholic Church, to visit the Catholic community here, to celebrate the Sacraments and to confirm and strengthen our faith.

This visit of Pope Benedict is quite different. He is the guest of our Queen and Government. The first images we will see will be his greeting Her Majesty, her welcome to him and his visit to the people of these nations.

Pope Benedict comes with the delicate task of presenting to our society, in his reasoned and elegant manner, the crucial importance for our world of faith in God and the enrichment it brings.

This is a mighty and sensitive task, especially given some of the social tensions and raised voices with which we are familiar today. It is so important that we give him our wholehearted and unstinting support.

We might set out thinking that the Pope has come to see us, the Catholic community. But his principal aim is not exactly that. Rather he has come to offer to our society a witness to the Christian Gospel as a message of hope and love, as a firm and reliable basis for modern living.

So our role is to support the Holy Father in his most difficult tasks. We have to get right behind him. The witness of our actions and of our lives must give visible credibility to the message he offers to all.

We can support the Pope in so many different ways. We can pray for him. We can promote the vision and importance of his visit. We can make contact with all our friends and colleagues to help them to see the importance and the possibilities of this moment. We can help to meet the costs of the visit, and the cost of a constructive follow-up.

How will the Pope go about this task?

He will affirm so much of our great heritage and tradition: that of our civil society, its tolerance and robust democracy, and that of our Christian faith, in our culture, our music, and our religious traditions.

He will encourage us in the efforts we are making to be a society which is compassionate, which is committed to justice and which is generous to those most in need.

He will engage in thoughtful discourse, inviting dialogue among us: on the key themes of the work of education; on the importance of sound and lasting values in society, based on an insightful understanding of our human nature; on the role of religious faith and reason in society, in our legal system, in political life.

He will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, who will, therefore, occupy a crucial place in the profile of this visit.

Cardinal Newman is a man who has a very special place in English cultural history, being such a clear and subtle exponent of the Christian and Catholic faith in literature, poetry, scholarship, debate and service of those in need. And for thirty years Cardinal Newman was a parish priest, much loved by his people as are so many priests today.

He will pray with us and invite us to prayer. Perhaps this is most important of all.

He will remind us that we are all spiritual beings; that we are so much more than the sum total of our material achievements; that we are drawn to love and to beauty; that there is a capacity within every person for the things of the spirit, the things of God.

In London, for example, on the evening of Saturday 18 September, the Pope will take part in a Vigil of Prayer. In the context of one of the world’s great cities, there will be a place and space of prayer, of silence, and of praise of God. What a moment that will be!

There is no doubt that we are entering into a time of economic austerity. At such times, the quality of relationships between all people becomes so much more central to our shared well-being. This will be the context in which the Pope speaks to us.

He will help us to remember that faith in God, that the Christian faith is a major factor in creating and sustaining good-will, compassion, generosity and the spirit of the service of others. This is one of the important roles of faith in our world today. And Pope Benedict is an eloquent and humble proponent of it.

Three major events

Every moment of the visit will be available as an on-line broadcast. Much will be on television. There will be three major outdoor events: one in Scotland, one in London and one in Coventry.

Over 400,000 people will be able to be present at these events, following arrangements that will be announced before too long. These are the ways in which we can all participate in this short but intense visit.

I ask you to support this visit generously with your prayers and with your donations. There are considerable costs yet nearly half of them have already been met. But we need every Catholic to play a part. I thank you for your generosity.

Now we prepare in earnest to welcome Pope Benedict on this historic visit. We offer him our full support in this great endeavour. Let us all be protagonists of his historic visit to Britain this September.



The other letter to UK Catholics this weekend was the one that drew all the media attention and presented negatively in the UK media. This report from dpa is more objective.

UK Catholics to raise $10M dollars
for the Pope's visit


London, May 23 (dpa) - British Catholics were asked Sunday to help pay for a planned visit by Pope Benedict XVI that will cost the British Catholic Church about 7 million pounds (10.1 dollars), which is about half of the total costs of 15 million pounds (ca. 22 million dollars).

In a joint message on Pentecost Sunday, Archbishops Vincent Nichols and Keith Patrick O'Brien called on parishioners: "We would urge everyone in the Catholic community to pray for this visit and to support the collection for it as generously as they can."

The address by Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, and O'Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, was published on a separate website devoted to the Pope's planned visit on 16-19 September which also carries a link for online donations.

The collection is intended to finance three open-air services held by the Pope.

Critics have opposed the idea that the British public should have to help finance a visit by a religious leader. About 10 per cent of the British people regard themselves as Catholic.

During his tour of Britain, the first papal visit to the country in 28 years, Benedict will be visiting Glasgow, London, and Coventry. He will meet with Queen Elizabeth II at her Scottish residence Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh.

A Holy Alliance between
Rome and Moscow
The common objective: the "new evangelization" of Europe.
A delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church visits Rome, as
the Vatican publishes an anthology of the Patriarch's writings.
New speculation about a summit.




ROME, May 24, 2010 – Benedict XVI will soon create a new Pontifical Council expressly dedicated to the "new evangelization". Not for mission countries, where the Congregation for Propaganda Fide (evangelization of peoples) is already at work. But for the Western countries with an ancient Christian tradition who are in danger today of losing the faith.

Papa Ratzinger wants to make this a major initiative of his Pontificate. This was the main topic that he discussed one morning in the spring of 2009, at Castel Gandolfo, with four prominent cardinals he had called for consultation: Camillo Ruini, Angelo Bagnasco, Christoph Schönborn, and Angelo Scola, the last being the most resolute in promoting the institution of the new office.

Meanwhile, one great ally has already joined the Pope from outside the Catholic Church to undertake this re-evangelization - the Russian Orthodox Church.

On the afternoon of Thursday, May 20, before the concert given for Benedict XVI by the Patriarch of Moscow, the president of the department of external relations for the patriarchate, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, said in his greeting to the Pope that the Catholic Church will not be alone in re-evangelizing a dechristianized Europe, because it will have at its side the Russian Orthodox Church, "no longer a competitor, but an ally."

The positive relationship that has been established between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Church of Rome is one of the most stunning achievements of Benedict XVI's Pontificate. ['Stunning'? So far, it is more like a rational measured progression, especially since the Russians are adamant as ever about their unrealistic conditions - where the bar is constantly being raised - for a summit meeting between the Pope and the Patriarch!]

It is also remarkable for its rapidity - if one looks back to the chill between the two churches just a decade ago.

To a question from www.chiesa on the factors that have led to this extraordinary change, Metropolitan Hilarion responded by indicating three of these.

The first factor, he said, is the person of the new Pope - one who has "the positive regard of the whole of the Russian Orthodox world," even though this is pervaded by age-old anti-Roman sentiments.

The second factor is the common view of the challenge posed to both Churches by the dechristianization of countries that in the past were the heart of Christendom.

And the third reason is their mutual embrace of the grand Christian tradition, as the great highway of the new evangelization.

To the question about a meeting – the first in history – between the Bishop of Rome and teh Patriarch of Moscow, Hilarion replied that "this is a desire, a hope, and we must work to make it happen."

He added that a few obstacles will have to be smoothed over first, above all the disagreements between the two Churches in Ukraine, but he said that he is confident that the meeting will take place soon: "not between just any Patriarch and Pope, but between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Benedict."

One proof of how much closer the positions of the new stage of relations between the two Churches is the reciprocal publication of books by their leaders just a few months apart - without precedent in history.

The first was published last December by the Patriarchate of Moscow, and presents in Russian and Italian the main writings by Joseph Ratzinger on Europe, before and after his election as Pope, with an extensive introduction written by Metropolitan Hilarion.

The second, released a few days ago, is published by the Vatican publishing house - an anthology of writings by Kirill before and after he was elected Patriarch, on the dignity of man and the rights of the person, with an introduction by Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

Both publications were sponsored by an international association based in Rome called 'Sofia: Idea Russa, Idea d'Europa'. The association inaugurated an Italian-Russian academy, Sapientia et Scientia (Wisdom and Knowledge) on May 20 in the context of the "Days of Russian culture and spirituality" held in Rome by the Moscow Patriarchate delegation led by Metropolitan Hilarion.

The Days had two culminating moments. The first was a symposium on May 19, at the new Russian Orthodox church of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, built a few years ago in Rome, not far from the Vatican.

Metropolitan Hilarion, Mons. Ravasi, and Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, discussed the situation of "Orthodox and Catholics in Europe today: The Christian roots and common cultural patrimony of East and West."

The second important moment was the concert offered to the Pope on May 20 by Patriarch Kirill I [for the Pope's 83rd birthday and the fifth anniversary of his Pontificate.]

It was a showcase of Russian Orthodox music expressed in compositions by the great Russian musicians of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, like Mussorgsky and Rimski-Korsakov, Tschaikovsky and Rachmaninov.

Commenting on them at the end of the concert, Benedict XVI emphasized "the close, original connection between Russian music and liturgical singing." A connection that was well illustrated by the evocative "Canto dell'Ascensione," a symphony for choir and orchestra in five parts composed by Metropolitan Hilarion, which ended the concert. It was highly appreciated by the Pope and the public.

In the message of Patriarch Kirill read by Hilarion before the concert, the Patriarch recalled that in Russia, "during the years of persecution, when the majority of the population had no access to sacred music, these works, together with the masterpieces of Russian literature and the figurative arts, contributed to bringing the proclamation of the Gospel, proposing to the secular world ideals of the highest moral and spiritual caliber."

And Benedict XVI remarked that the music in the concert repertoire already manifests "the encounter, the dialogue, the synergy between East and West, as also between tradition and modernity." A dialogue that is all the more urgent, he said, in order to let Europe breathe again with "two lungs" and restore to it the awareness of its Christian roots.

In this, both the Roman and the Russian Churches see Christian art as a vehicle of evangelization and a leaven of unity between the Churches.

Before arriving in Rome to meet with the Pope, Hilarion stopped in Ravenna, Milan, Turin, and Bologna. Ravenna was the capital of Byzantine culture in Italy, and its basilicas are a marvelous testimony to this.

In a news conference on May 19, Hilarion said that he had admired in the mosaics of Ravenna "the splendor of a Church in harmony, not yet wounded by the division between East and West."

He added: "If this harmony was real for our ancestors, it can be real for us as well. If we are not able to recreate the harmony evoked by the mosaics of Ravenna, the blame will be ours alone."

[Magister then posts the translation of an extract from a text of Patriarch Kirill anthologized in the Vatican homage edition.]

WITH THE PRESIDENT OF
THE REPUBLIC OF CONGO

---

The Holy Father today met with the President of the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), H.E. Denis Sassou N’Guesso, who later also met with the Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone and Mons Dominque Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States.

During the cordial conversations, they reviewed the initiatives marking teh 50th anniversary of the country's independence. They underscored the common desire to reinforce the good relations between the Holy See and the Republic of the Congo, and the particular contribution of the Catholic Church to the human, social and cultural development of the Congolese people.

Finally, there was an exchange of views on the political and social situation of the region, with attention to humanitarian problems especially those concerning refugees from civil strife.

---

WITH THE INTERIM PRESIDENT
OF THE MOLDOVAN REPUBLIC

---

This morning, Monday 24 May, the Holy Father Benedict XVI received in audience Mihai Ghimpu, Speaker of Parliament and acting President of the Republic of Moldova.

The guest subsequently went on to meet with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. who was accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

In the course of the cordial discussions, they considered the situation in the country, with the hope that current difficulties may be overcome through dialogue.

The positive contribution of the Catholic Church's mission in support of the people of Moldova was recognised, and appreciation was expressed for the peaceful dialogue that exists between the Church and the authorities of State.

Finally, they exchanged views on certain aspects of current international relations, including the cultural and religious identity of Europe.

---

Moldovan acting president
meets Pope Benedict XVI




CHISINAU, 25 May (MOLDPRES) - Parliament Speaker and acting President Mihai Ghimpu had a face-to-face meeting with Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Bishop of Rome and Head of Vatican State, Benedict XVI.

The Parliament's media and public relations department said they discussed the role of religion and Church in maintaining good understanding between people, regardless of their religion, keeping peace and stability in the world, as well as the present communication relations between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church in the European states, and especially Moldova.

President Mihai Ghimpu said that the role of the Church becomes more important, as "there are situations when politicians cannot settle certain delicate problems, and then the Church may intervene to solve them."

The President said he prayed with the Pope for the well-being of Moldova's citizens, as well as for the settlement of Moldova s domestic problems, especially the constitutional crisis.

"We can do important and nice things only with faith in God," the President said.

He added that after a democratic government was established in Moldova, the Catholic Church enjoys every support from Moldova's authorities. He stressed that the Catholics from Moldova harmoniously coexist with the other denominations.

The President also pointed out that the Roman Catholic Church of Moldova carries out not only pastoral activities, but also participates in the restoration of the local infrastructure, provides social and sanitary assistance, helps with education projects and protection of socially vulnerable categories.

At the same time, President Ghimpu officially invited the Roman Catholic Pope to Moldova.

"I feel stronger and more energetic," the president said after the meeting. "I felt the warmth and blessing of Lord. The Pope gathers Christians around the faith," he said.

[Moldova was one of the Soviet socialist republics which declared itself a sovereign nation in 1991 after the break-up of the USSR. Tucked between Ukraine and Romania, its population, currently about 4.3 million,is is largely of Romanian origin and is language is a variety of Romanian. It is 98% Orthodox.]

May 25, Tuesday, 8th Week in Ordinary Time

ST. BEDE THE VENERABLE (England, ca 672-735), Monk, Historian, Doctor of the Church
Benedict XVI gave an illuminating catechesis on St. Bede, the only Anglo-Saxon Doctor of the Church, on 2/18/2009.
www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20090218...
In describing Bede's extraordinary example of holiness and scholarship, the Holy Father pointed out the saint's emphasis on the Church as catholic, apostolic and based on Roman tradition; his work in liturgical theology, and his catecheses 'in the tradition of Cyril, Ambrose and Augustine. From the time he entered the monastery of St. Paul and St. Peter in Jarrow, he never left till his death - despite his renown and invitations from kings and popes - except for a brief visit to teach at the school of the Archbishop of York. His scholarly interests from philosophy and theology to mathematics and astronomy. In his lifetime, he was already called Venerable, and Church Councils urged his teachings to be read in church. He wrote at least 45 books, including his famous Ecclesiastical History of the English People, for which he is considered the father of English historiography. Benedict XVI quoted this from Bede: "Every time a soul accepts and keeps the Word of God, in imitation of Mary, he conceives and generates Christ anew... (and the Church 'reproduces' herself", words that seemed to echo in Benedict's homily on Pentecost Sunday. He was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1899. St. Bede is buried in Durham Cathedral.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/052510.shtml


OR for 5/24-5/25:


The Pope's homilies at Mass and at the 'Regina caeli' on Pentecost Sunday:
'The fire of Christ'
Other papal stories: his audiences Monday with the President of the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) and the acting President of Moldova; in the inside pages, a substantial excerpt from Cardinal Bagnasco's address yesterday entitled 'A Church closely in support of Benedict XVI' to open the weeklong 61st general assembly of the Italian bishops' conference (CEI). Page 1 international news: Armed attack by AlQaeda-linked Islamic radicals on the presidential palace and other government offices in Mogadishu is turned back by African Union forces but chaos reigns in the Somali capital; and the US supports South Korea against North Korean aggression.


No events scheduled for the Holy Father today.


ON THE FEAST OF 'CORPUS DOMINI'


On Thursday, June 3, Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Domini), the Holy Father Benedict XVI will celebrate Holy Mass in from the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

He will then preside at the traditional Eucharistic procession from the Lateran along Via Merulana to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he will lead in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction.

Since the CNS story last week (posted in the preceding page) about the Maronite village of Kormakitis in Turkish-occupied Cyprus, but only a half-hour drive from Nicosia (Lefkosia to the natives), to the divided capital, two stories have come out in the MSM abouo the Maronite Catholics of Cyprus.


Ancient Church hopes for a boost
from the Pope's visit to Cyprus
By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS



The center of Kormakitis is the surprisingly large Church of St. George, considering that before Turkish occupation in the 1970s, the Maronite community numbered 2,000 at best.

KORMAKITIS, CYPRUS. May 24 (AP) — In the coffee shop at this farming village on the northern Cyprus coast, the conversation jumps from one hardship to the next: a bad rainy season, a religion weakened by assimilation, and a division of the island that has lasted 36 years with no end in sight.

For Cyprus Maronites, followers of one of the oldest Catholic faiths, the best news of late has been the announcement that Pope Benedict XVI is coming to Cyprus next week — the first Pontiff to visit the island.

Kormakitis is one of four northern villages that were once the center of Cyprus's Maronite population. Then, in 1974, came a coup, a war and a fence that split the Mediterranean island into a Turkish Cypriot north and a Greek Cypriot south.

Most of the Maronites were forced to head south, and Kormakitis today has just 130 people, most of them old-age pensioners.

Joseph Katsioloudis, a retired 63-year-old headmaster, echoes the fear of many Maronites that with the latest round of reunification talks having produced no visible breakthrough, they will not live to see their island and community reunited.

"Without a Cyprus settlement, we're lost — 100 percent," he says, sitting in the coffee shop while his friend, 70-year-old farmer and lay cantor named Ioannis Tsioutzoukis, introduces a visitor to Maronite ways by chanting a prayer in Arabic.

In St. George's Cathedral opposite the coffee shop, Sunday services shift easily between three languages — Greek, Arabic and Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke. That, plus Cyprus Maronite Arabic (CMA), the community's distinctive Aramaic-laced local dialect, attests to roots dating back centuries to the Maronites' origins in Lebanon and Syria.



Maronite Archbishop Youssef Soueif says, "we are keeping these traditions from very old times and we want to keep them because it's a richness, a spirituality not only for Cyprus, but for the whole world."

But modern history has been the Maronites' calamity, living on a small island where tensions between Greek and Turkish Cypriots exploded in 1974 into a coup by supporters of union with Greece, a Turkish invasion that resulted in a breakaway north and an internationally recognized south, and the uprooting of thousands of Greek and Turkish Cypriots caught on the wrong side of the new dividing line.

The Maronite exodus left the people of Kormakitis feeling isolated in the Muslim-majority north and fearful for their society's future.

Island-wide, Maronites number just 6,000, many have married into the island's 800,000-strong Orthodox Greek Cypriot population. "This is leading to our disappearance," says Katsioloudis, the headmaster.

Marrying outside the community was once unthinkable; now four out of five do so, says Antonis Haji Roussos, the Maronite representative in the Cypriot legislature. His own son has married a non-Maronite.

Haji Roussos says the key to the Maronites' survival is their return to their ancestral lands and the development of a tourism industry like that which flourishes south of the fenced cease-fire line.

Benedict, on his June 4-6 visit, will not enter the Turkish Cypriot north, but Haji Roussos hopes the Pope will appeal for a Turkish troop pullout from two Maronite villages that lost their populations and became military bases. That, he says, would open the doors to a Maronite return and revitalize the group's culture and language.

Meanwhile, the Greek Cypriot government gives those who stayed in the north pensions of 550 euros ($670) a month per couple and around 350 euros ($430) for an individual. It pays instructors to teach CMA, and funds weeklong summer visits by young Maronites to put them in touch with their communal roots.

"CMA speakers are very conscious of the Aramaic elements in their language which they rightly interpret as a historical link with the Aramaic-speaking Christian world," says language expert Alexander Borg of Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

A measure of detente has set in since 2003, when crossings were opened through the fences. Hundreds of thousands have crossed both ways on visits, and the Maronites of Kormakitis will have no trouble making the 40-kilometer (25-mile) journey to welcome the pope and celebrate Mass with him.

Turkey says a troop withdrawal depends on whether the two sides can negotiate an overall peace.

But Haji Roussos, the representative in Parliament, hopes the Turks will take detente a step further by letting Maronites, especially younger ones, settle in the villages now held by the army.

"We're a small community, we can't change the course of things, we seek help from officials...who can influence, so we can tell the Turks, 'look, they're a small community, leave their villages to them so they can survive as a community,'" Haji Roussos says.

He sees possibilities of tourism to Kormakitis' beaches and the other villages, and says Lebanese Maronite investors are interested.

"Our vision is to create such an environment that it will attract the young Maronites to their roots," he says.

Meanwhile, the cathedral still draws scores of faithful every Sunday, and has just inaugurated a small adjoining sanctuary to house ancient religious icons.


Maronite Archbishop Soueif said Mass on May 9 at St. George's Cathedral to inaugurate an exhibit of church icoms in Kormakitis.


Here's a much better story from the foreign correspondent of an Abu Dhabi newspaper. He has a Greek-sounding last name, so maybe he is able to tap better into the Maronite story.

Maronites in Cyprus try
to revive Aramaic
Michael Theodoulou, Foreign Correspondent


NICOSIA, May 23 - Some excited Maronite children in Cyprus are preparing to share the island’s best kept linguistic secret with Pope Benedict XVI.



When the Pontiff arrives at their primary school on the outskirts of Nicosia during a historic visit to Cyprus next month, they will greet him in a unique tongue. It is rooted in Aramaic – the melodic, ancient language spoken by Jesus Christ and his followers.

The publicity should provide a vital shot in the arm for Cypriot Maronite Arabic (CMA), a language central to the identity of Cyprus’s small Maronite Catholic community, which is struggling to keep it alive.

It is commonly spoken by just 900 to 1,000 of the 6,000 Maronites on the divided island, where Greek and Turkish are the official languages.

Were Jesus to visit a shop in Kormakitis, a picturesque village that is the spiritual home of Cyprus’s Maronites, he would understand 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the conversation in CMA, said Youssef Soueif, the Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus.

But if Jesus attended Mass at St George’s church in the village, “he’d understand it all – because it’s his language”, he added proudly.

The services in Maronite churches in Cyprus are in Syriac-Aramaic – as well as Arabic and Greek. Without a hymn book, congregants in Kormakitis glide effortlessly from one tongue to the other.

Aramaic is also used in the liturgy by the far bigger Maronite Catholic communities in Lebanon and Syria.

During his June 4-6 visit to Cyprus, Benedict XVI will give prelates and patriarchs from all the Catholic churches in the Middle East a preparatory working document for a special Synod in Rome in October on the problems facing Christians in the region.

Senior Catholic clergymen will fly in from Lebanon, Syria, the Palestinian territories, the UAE, Jordan, Egypt and possibly Iran.

Thousands of ordinary Catholics from the Middle East are also expected to make the short journey to the Mediterranean island, delighted at the opportunity to see the Pope. Lebanese Maronites are said to be organising special chartered flights.

The Aramaic of Christ’s time would probably sound to a Kormakitis villager rather like Chaucerian English would to a modern Londoner.

A word often given as an example by CMA specialists is “cumi”, used by Kormakitis villagers to tell someone to “get up”. It was the same word that Jesus used to tell a girl to rise from the dead in Mark 5: 41.



The Pope will conclude his visit with a prayer at the freshly spruced-up Maronite Cathedral in central Nicosia, where he will “speak some Aramaic phrases during the liturgy”, said Archbishop Soueif. The cheerful, Lebanese-born cleric, 48, is a multilingual professor of Oriental ecclesiastical studies – with a surprisingly bone-crushing handshake.

The Maronites in Cyprus are descendants of Christians who fled what is now Lebanon and Syria from the 8th century onwards.

The Maronite Church is in communion with Rome and an integral part of the Catholic Church, whose supreme head is the Pope.

The Maronite Church, however, retains its own tradition and practices. Its current patriarch – officially titled “Patriarch of Antioch and All the East” – is the long-serving Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, based in Lebanon. He is also a Cardinal, appointed in 1994 by the late Pope John Paul II.

CMA, a hybrid of Aramaic and Arabic with a non-written, oral tradition, developed on a track of its own. Isolated from the main currents of the Arab world, it incorporated Greek and Turkish words as well as French and Italian ones, absorbed during the periods of Lusignan and Venetian rule during the Middle Ages.

Spearheading the ancestral language’s survival and revival is Elias Zonias, a teacher at St Maron primary school, situated on the sprawling outskirts of Nicosia.

A fluent Kormakitis-born CMA speaker, he gives bi-weekly afternoon lessons to some 20-25 of the school’s 88 pupils. At home, he instructs his three children in the language and plans to launch afternoon lessons for adults.

Mr Zonias, 41, also hopes to complete a multimedia, CMA-Greek dictionary before the Pope arrives. Students will be able to click on words, hear how they are pronounced and see pictures of what they represent.

Because CMA evolved over centuries in a rural, agricultural setting, Mr Zonias is having difficulty providing words from the lexicon of the urbanised, modern world. “We still don’t, for instance, have a word for computer.”

His next project is a CMA-English dictionary.

Under Cyprus’s 1960 constitution, following Cyprus’s independence from Britain, the island’s Maronite, Armenian and Latin religious minorities had to choose to belong either to the Greek Cypriot majority or the smaller Turkish Cypriot community. They chose the former because they had more elements in common.


Map shows the four Maronite villages of northern Cyprus; upper right, Cape Kormakitis, the northernmost tip of Cyprus; below, right, Maronite villagers.

After Turkey’s invasion of northern Cyprus in 1974, which followed a brief, Greek-inspired coup, the island’s four Maronite villages – of which Kormakitis was the biggest – were stranded in northern Cyprus, on the wrong side of the dividing ceasefire line. The majority of the 6,000-strong Maronite community was displaced, moving south.

Kormakitis, which had a pre-1974 population of between 1,500 and 2,000, is today home to about 130 elderly people. Most Cypriot Maronites now live in and around Nicosia.

The population upheaval was inevitably detrimental to CMA.

When Mr Zonias and people like him arrived at their new schools in the south, they had trouble being understood by Greek-speaking pupils, few of whom had even heard of their language. Fluency in Greek, rather than CMA, became a priority for the uprooted Maronites.

This rapidly accelerated a process already under way from short-sighted education policies in the 1960s when Maronite parents were encouraged to speak Greek to their children because of the high failure rate at Kormakitis’s only school, where the language of instruction was Greek.

In November 2008, the Cyprus government, cajoled by the Council of Europe, agreed officially to recognise CMA as a minority language, boosting the hopes of Mr Zonias and others striving to save the ancient tongue.

On weekdays Kormakitis, which overlooks the Mediterranean Sea across golden barley fields and carob trees, has the eerie atmosphere of a ghost town. There is bird song but no sound of children – the village’s only school closed more than 10 years ago.

At weekends, however, Kormakitis bursts into life when its population swells to more than 600 as former displaced residents and their families come back to visit relatives and celebrate mass. Access has been made much easier since 2003 when the Turkish Cypriot authorities unexpectedly relaxed rules on visits to northern Cyprus.


Photos taken during the visit of Archbishop Soueif to Kormakitis last Easter Sunday. Weekends and religious holidaya bring 'expatriates' flocking back to Kormakitis. (From the Maronite Archeparchy site).

Many Maronites who were displaced from Kormakitis more than 30 years ago have been renovating their old village homes for weekend use. Some 40 people, mainly elderly couples, meanwhile, have permanently resettled in the village.

Mr Zonias has a house in the Nicosia suburb of Anthopouli near St Maron school, but also has a home in Kormakitis, an hour’s drive away, which he visits nearly every day.

The village’s gradual rejuvenation – which would be accelerated by a Cyprus peace deal – “will of course also help to revive CMA”, said Mr Zonias. “This language is the identity of Kormakitis.”

Cardinal Newman's biographer on
his subject's orthodoxy and sexuality
by RUTH GLEDHILL

May 25, 2010

Recently at thetimes.co.uk we published a page lead on the battle for the soul of Cardinal John Henry Newman, a theme picked up this week by Mercator...

Many quotes from Newman come in handy at times such as this. 'Let us act on what we have, since we have not what we wish,' 'Ability is sexless,' 'To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant' and 'Courage does not consist in calculation, but in fighting against chances,' to mention just a few.

We also ran a story about issues at the Birmingham Oratory which have seen the provost step down to go on retreat along. Three other members of the community have also gone on retreat, all to different monasteries.

I am honoured today to have Newman's biographer and the Oxford theologian Father Ian Ker write for Articles of Faith on the cardinal.

Newman would have advocated
'reform in continuity'
By Ian Ker

I wouldn't describe myself as an 'Ultramontane-style' conservative who is 'passionate about the Tridentine Latin Mass' - which I do not know how to celebrate and which I have only attended very rarely.

But I do know enough about Newman to know that he would belong to those who wanted reform at the Second Vatican Council but reform in continuity with the tradition of the Church, that is, to those reformers who include Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

It is true that in his own time Newman could have been described as a moderate liberal insofar as he was an opponent of the extreme Ultramontanes who were disappointed by the moderation and limited scope of the definition of papal infallibility at the First Vatican Council.

But he was despised by extreme liberals in his own time for his deference to authority, and certainly could not be described as a liberal Catholic in today's terms.

As he always said, he was himself an Ultramontane in the original sense of those Catholics in France who resisted the idea of a national episcopal Church as opposed to a papal Church.

He would have no time with those who insist on seeing the Second Vatican Council as revolutionary and a break with the Church's tradition, whether it be liberals like Hans Kung or the Lefebvrists, the two extreme wings of the Church who are in remarkable agreement about the revolutionary nature of that Council.

It was Newman who famously wrote in his Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine that the Church must change or rather develop in order to remain the same.

Turning to the two specific points raised by Ruth Gledhill, I have answered the insinuation that Newman wished to be buried with Ambrose St John in the Afterword to my reissued biography of Newman, where I produce irrefutable evidence of Newman's heterosexuality and give the true reasons why Newman wished to be buried in St John's grave.

It doesn't seem to occur to people like Peter Tatchell that had any such relationship existed between the two men as he insinuates, then the last thing Newman would have wanted was to be buried in the same grave - nor would the Church authorities have allowed it if such an idea had entered their heads.

That idea was left to the twentieth century when the concept of friendship died.

As to the oft repeated claim by liberals that Newman thought so-called 'conscientious dissent' from Church teachings was possible because he said he would toast the Pope but his conscience first, the context where that famous remark occurs is Newman's response to Gladstone's claim that the definition of papal infallibility meant that Englsih Catholics could no longer be regared as loyal subjects since they now had to obey whatever orders the Pope might give them.

Newman, for example, would say that a bishop or priest ordered by the Pope to cover up the abuse of a child has the right to refuse to obey such an order. But Newman was only referring to papal orders not teachings. [Not that any Pope, least of all Benedict XVI, would ever order such a cover-up!]


Some of Fr. Ker's books on Cardinal Newman.


Fr. Ker believes Cardinal Newman will eventually be a Doctor of the Church. If so, he would be the second Englishman to be so honored, after St. Bede, whose feast we observe today. Here is an interview Fr. Ker gave last October weeks before the beatification was announced.


Cardinal Newman anticipated the reforms
of Vatican-II and 'Anglicanorum coetibus'


BURFORD, England, 22 OCT. 2008 (ZENIT) - Did Cardinal John Henry Newman pick up where St. Bernard of Clairvaux left off?

Father Ian Ker thinks so; he claims that reading Cardinal Newman is like reading the great Church Fathers.

The expert on Cardinal Newman and professor of theology at Oxford University shared with ZENIT how the venerable Oratorian was a pioneer in the renewal of theology, anticipated the Second Vatican Council and was a writer of great faith.

Why has the momentum suddenly increased for Cardinal Newman’s cause for canonization during Benedict XVI’s pontificate? What is the Holy Father’s interest in Cardinal Newman?
Although Newman worked as an ordinary parish priest among the very poor in inner city Birmingham when he began the Oratory there, and later in the more salubrious suburb of Edgbaston where the Oratory was finally established and where he continued to carry out ordinary parish duties, his main work lay in his intellectual apostolate and writings.

So, although known locally to be a holy man, there was never the kind of popular cult that a less intellectual figure — working, for example, among the poor or the sick or on the foreign missions — would have inspired.

The momentum for his canonization in fact began some years before the present pontificate. Previously, the people interested in Newman were mainly scholars and theologians, the kind of people who are not necessarily particularly committed to intercessory prayer.

But once the cause was fully launched — and there had been long delays — it was possible to undertake a formal examination of his life and writings and conclude that he was indeed a man of heroic sanctity and worthy of being raised to the altars of the Church.

With this verdict the Holy See concurred and in 1991, Pope John Paul II declared Newman to be “Venerable,”’ the first step toward canonization. That development has led more and more people to ask Newman for his intercession and — assuming Newman is a saint — was bound sooner or later to lead to a miracle.

Benedict XVI became interested in Newman while at the seminary through the interest of one of his teachers. And, of course, he would have been aware as a theologian that Newman was a great pioneer in the renewal of theology.

Cardinal Newman was certainly a great theologian and Church historian, but what is it about his writings that make him worthy of being elevated to the status of doctor of the Church?
Newman is more than simply a very learned and clever thinker. Indeed, it has been said that he took over where St Bernard left off.

Anyone reading his writings cannot but be aware that reading Newman is like reading the great Church Fathers. In his writings we encounter a writer of profound faith.

Why is Cardinal Newman sometimes called the "father of the Second Vatican Council?"
In the 1830s in Oxford, Newman and his fellow Tractarians launched a forerunner of the movement of “ressourcement,” [which arose] in France a hundred years later.

It was this return to the scriptural and patristic sources that made possible the theology of Vatican II.

Newman most clearly anticipated the Council in his theory of doctrinal development and his personalist understanding of revelation (Constitution on Divine Revelation), his stress on the role of the laity and more fundamentally his understanding of the Church as communion (Constitution on the Church), his sense of the need for the Church to engage with the modern world and to abandon the siege mentality (Constitution on the Modern World), and his cautious support for ecumenism in its early days (Decree on Ecumenism).

Many traditionalists are skeptical of Cardinal Newman and believe he is a stalking horse for modernism because of his ideas regarding the “development of doctrine” and his statements regarding the role of conscience. In his day he was deemed a liberal, but Russell Kirk featured him in a book titled “The Conservative Mind.” Why is Cardinal Newman so controversial and misunderstood?
Cardinal Newman is most obviously misunderstood because of the common misinterpretation of his account of the relation of conscience to Church authority. Newman never envisaged so-called conscientious dissent from Church teachings.

What he did envisage was the possibility of a person conscientiously resisting an order from higher authority. His theory of development is no longer controversial but is part of mainstream theology and indeed is actually echoed in Vatican II’s Constitution on Divine Revelation.

In his own day, Newman was indeed a radical in his thinking because he was ahead of his times as I mentioned earlier in this interview. But he was never a liberal in the sense in which we use the word today, but was always deeply loyal to the tradition and the teachings of the Church.

Cardinal Newman famously said that to be steeped in history is to cease to be Protestant, yet he was not known to be triumphalistic. What counsel might he give to Anglicans today, as well as to Catholics participating in ecumenical conversations with Anglicans?
By the end of his life Newman came to believe that Anglicans were “giving up everything.” That process is now considerably advanced, and my view is that Newman would not regard large swathes of Western Anglicanism as Christian in any meaningful sense.

But long before that he was clear that any kind of corporate reunion with a body as disparate and divided as Anglicanism was totally impossible.

I believe that today he would warmly support any efforts to help disaffected high Anglicans enter the Catholic Church — the idea that they should stay and try and leaven the lump he would regard as completely fanciful and unrealistic. I think he would encourage dialogue with Evangelicals generally, not only in Anglicanism, and would not be surprised by the many conversions that have taken place since the reforms of Vatican II.

What does Cardinal Newman’s decision to join the Oratory of St. Philip Neri tell us about his spiritual and devotional life? Why not the Jesuits or Dominicans, both of whom had strong reputations for fostering theological scholarship?
Newman joined the Oratory of St Philip Neri partly in order to remain with his former Anglican community at Littlemore; partly because he did not find himself particularly attracted to any of the orders; partly because being already middle-aged he did not wish to begin again as it were, but rather to pursue continuity of his life as a secular priest living in community; and partly because his life at Oxford had always combined pastoral with academic work, a combination that he saw as typical of the Oratory.

It has been three years since Benedict XVI's historic Letter to the Catholics of China. St. Paul probably never had as huge a problem to address in his famous Letters to local Churches as Benedict XVI has in his three most historic 'epistles' so far - the letters to China, to the bishops of the world and to the Catholics of Ireland.

Perhaps because of the magnitude and duration of the problem in China, Benedict XVI decreed a worldwide Catholic day of prayer for the Church in China. AsiaNews presents two views of the situation today, after the third of the annual prayer days.


The Chinese government persecutes
the Church by fostering divisions among
'official' and 'underground' Catholics
by Bernardo Cervellera
Editor



Rome. May 25 (AsiaNews) - Yesterday, feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, Chinese Catholics at home and around the world prayed for the Church in China, according to the indications laid out by Benedict XVI in his letter of June 2007, calling for a World Day of Prayer for the Church in China on May 24, the feast day of Our Lady of Sheshan, the national shrine on the outskirts of Shanghai.

Sheshan has always been a place where underground and official Christians and have come together in devotion to Mary. The idea of the Pope, contained in his Letter and again repeated on the feast of Pentecost, is that "faithful in China pray so that the unity among themselves and with the universal Church will deepen more and more and that the Catholics of the world - especially those who are of Chinese origin - join them in prayer and charity".

Since then and for the last three years the Day of Prayer has been quite successful in Italy and abroad, where the Episcopal conferences have prepared collections and celebrations. But it has limited success in China because of the resistance of the government and the Patriotic Association and their attempts to stop the faithful from making the pilgrimage to Sheshan.

Since the Pope first indicated Sheshan as the place to pray for Church unity in China, during the month of May, the Shanghai government has banned pilgrimages to the sanctuary from neighbouring dioceses.

Usually in the past, an estimated 20,000 faithful would gather on Our Lady’s hill on May 24. Instead for the past three years, only a few thousand have gathered there, all of them from Shanghai.


Photos show, left, a surveillance camera hanging from one of the lampposts near the Basilica at Sheshan; right, policemen at the Shrine yesterday.

Other faithful are forbidden from approaching the sanctuary, by the deployment of police and "volunteers" who stop the faithful on the roads leading to the shrine, at a distance of several kilometres.

But the priests and bishops have not lost heart and have instead turned the day into a diocesan appointment. Many of the testimonies that we have received speak of Masses, Eucharistic Adoration and Benedictions, pilgrimages to local shrines.

Everyone, the communities of official and underground believers, prays for unity and brotherhood between the two branches of the Church. Everyone prays for the young bishops of the official Church, so they may be reinforced in their witness and in communion with the successor of Peter. Everyone also prays for all the bishops of the underground Church who are still in prison.

From this point of view, the Day has been a really great success because it generates common expectations and concerns in all the faithful.

But it is above all unity among Chinese bishops, and between them and the Pope that needs to be strengthened.

The government in Beijing has not been implementing the same cruel persecution of the past. Even underground bishops who have disappeared are perhaps held in some isolated place but still alive.

The real persecution it is now pursuing is division. By arresting bishops who call for freedom of religion, Beijing warns official bishops, who are perhaps a bit fearful, that they risk losing what little freedom of worship is granted them.

At the same time, Beijing has lately not prevented new Episcopal ordinations approved by the Vatican (as in the cases of Xiamen, Hohhot, Haimen).

But it makes sure that excommunicated bishops are included among concelebrating bishops, thus making unity with the underground faithful increasingly difficult, while at the same time manifesting a clear gesture of contempt towards the Pope.

Only last March, the China-Vatican Commission released a text which stated that "Chinese bishops have the full dignity and responsibility of leading the Catholic community, they should avoid actions that go against communion with the Pope, such as Episcopal ordinations, concelebrations and public meetings with illegitimate bishops".

We here at AsiaNews believe that working for unity in truth of the Church in China is the most important step, even more so than diplomatic relations between Beijing and the Vatican. [We can be sure the Vatican - especially the Holy Father - feels the same way, except that perhaps it is trying to work for both purposes at the same time. They are not mutually exclusive.]

Official bishops should be concerned for their brother bishops from the underground community who have disappeared, and underground communities should be more friendly and merciful towards the faithful of the official community.

The thirst for God in China is immense and the population is now nauseated by materialism. Mutual love can give birth to abundant fruit for mission.



The Basilica of Our Lady of Sheshan.

At Sheshan and throughout China,
we pray for unity and priestly vocations
by Zhen Yuan



Shanghai, May 24 (AsiaNews) - Today, the feast of Our Lady Help of Christians, Chinese Catholics have prayed for the Church in China, according to invocation contained in Benedict XVI’s 2007 letter, to celebrate a World Day of Prayer for the Church in China on May 24, the feast day of Our Lady of Sheshan (Shanghai).



This morning, in Sheshan, Bishop Joseph Xing Wenzhi, auxiliary bishop of Shanghai, led a procession from the church that lies half way up the hill, to the summit, where he celebrated Mass in the Basilica. Bishop Xing was joined by 3 000 other Catholics to pray for all priests and Catholics in China, as well as for victims of disasters and for the Expo, which is currently being held in Shanghai.




Fr. Li Fangyuan, rector of the Basilica of Sheshan today confirmed to AsiaNews that he celebrated a Mass at 6.30 this morning with prayer for China, hoping to soon see a "way out" for inter-Church relations.

In Xiamen (Fujian), the newly appointed Bishop Cai Bingrui said that all his priests prayed for the Church in China during Mass.

"I'm optimistic for the Church in China," hesays, because it is blessed "by the Pope’s decision to appoint a special day to pray with this intent".

“Besides," he continues, "I am deeply devoted to Our Lady of Sheshan. I studied in the Theological Seminary of Sheshan and as seminarians we often went to pray in the basilica, helping the pilgrims during the months of pilgrimage”.

Teresa, a lay Catholic in a diocese in central China, told AsiaNews that she continues to pray that the bishops of China - many of whom are young and new - can be strong.

In northwestern China, Fr. Joseph, an underground priest, said this morning that priests prayed with other Catholics of the underground Church, in some cases followed by the adoration and benediction with the Blessed Sacrament. Some tried to go on pilgrimage to Sheshan, despite the large number of security controls and traffic blocks.

On a personal level, Fr. Joseph prayed for unity among the divided Christian communities in China and a normalization of relations between China and the Vatican as soon as possible, as well as the growth of priestly vocations in number and quality.

Fr. Peter of Zhengding (Hebei), another underground priest prayed for the unity of the Church and for the evangelization of China, but also for the return of his bishop, Mgr. Julius Jia Zhiguo, who disappeared months ago into police custody.

"For me," he confides, "the Day of Prayer for the Church in China, ordered by the Holy Father, is a way to give us spiritual support”.

John, a seminarian from Hebei, adds that the most urgent intention now is for stronger unity of the Church and "greater understanding, not division, between the communities."

Bishop Han Zhihai of Lanzhou (Gansu), has great faith in the Mother who helps and protects the Church in China. He prayed that the Church in China may "have more freedom, more vocations to the priesthood and that soon there will be an improvement in relations between China and the Vatican."

On Pentecost Sunday, Bp. Han administered Confirmation to 130 children and adults. Another 400 Catholics in other parishes of his diocese are expected to receive the sacrament in coming days.


Mass in the Basilica of Sheshan on May 24, 2008. The main altar is dominated by a traditional statue of Mary Help of Christians. The image of Our Lady of Sheshan is enshrined, lower right.

Many are missing
the Pope's point about
sins within the Church
by Bruno Mastroianni

Issue of May 18, 2010


Not all that glitters in the media is pedophilia! There was much more in the words that the Pope said on the flight enroute to Portugal than a severe judgment on sexual abuses committed by priests.

To interpret his words about sufferings that "come from within, from the sins that exist within the Church" as referring exclusively to the vile acts of a tiny minority of pederast priests would be reductive. [To say the least! Above all, it would be incredibly dense to think so, and a serious affront to the Holy Father's good sense!]

The Pope was really speaking to all baptized Christians in describing the constant condition of the Church in history: a holy institution because it was established by God, but is made up of men who, with their failings and weaknesses, constantly place the mission of the Church at risk. ['Compagnia sempre riformanda'!]

That is why the Pope calls continually for penance and conversion [as an authentic change of heart for the better and for love of God].

But because we have become accustomed to newspaper headlines and accounts of the Church by 'dominant' media opinion, we too may have become too fixated on the pedophile accusations played up by the media.

Meanwhile, Papa Ratzinger is reminding us that, as sinners, we are all in need of God's assistance and redemption.

And that is truly a breath of fresh air compared to the prevalent moralist frenzy among Catholics who are constantly concerned about 'what others think' and terrified at being 'put to shame' by the media.

It is a message that one may expect even from the coming second volume of Benedict XVI's JESUS OF NAZARETH which will be published later this year: that Christ brought salvation for mankind through his Passion, death and Resurrection.

Perhaps the pure 'oxygen' from the Pope explains why the faithful - unburdened by the pedophile fixation - thronged to Fatima in record numbers to listen to the Pope, some even climbing statues and trees to catch a better view of him!


Also from the same issue of TEMPI, an article quoting Mons. Lorenzo Albacete, a Ratzinger disciple, formerly a physicist, now a professor of theology at St. Joseph's Seminary in New York, and president of the Catholic University of Puerto Rico. He is national director in the USA of the lay movement Communion and Liberation. His essays have appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times Magazine.


While the Pope points to the moon,
some only see the 'finger' of celibacy

Issue of May 18, 2010


Lorenzo Albacete is an American Catholic priest who was written Op-Ed pieces for the New York Times and is a theology adviser to the archbishops of Boston and Washington, DC. In Italy, he contributes to TEMPI and is an editorialist for ilsussidiario.net.

In a comment that appeared in that online journal [I've searched sussidiario's Italian and English online editions but cannot find the article referred to!], Albacete, in speaking of the sex-abuse 'scandal' in the context of the Church's relation to the world, also cites the Hartford Declaration of 1975 by represents of various Christian confessions in the United States:

---

The text is in the form of 13 'propositions' that are incompatible with the the Christian faith. I wish to underscore a few:

1. Modern thought is superior to all the previous forms of comprehending reality and is therefore cogent for Christian faith and life.

2. Religious statements have nothing to do with reasonable discourse.

3. Jesus can only be understood in terms of contemporary models of man.

4. Since what is human is good, evil can be rightly considered as simply a failure to realize human potential.

5. The world should dictate the Church's agenda.

6. The question of hope beyond death is irrelevant and at best, marginal, in the Christian idea of human fulfillment.

Let us consider: How many of these anti-Christian propositions are actually being preached by ecclesiastics for whom the true sin of the Church is not allowing priests to marry and not to bless birth control pills and gay unions?

Is this not perhaps the major risk for perversion throughout the Church - which Benedict XVI underscored during his pilgrimage to Fatima and during the Sunday 'rally' at St. Peter's Square - which impels the Successor of Peter to warn us against 'the seductions of the world'?

---

The 5/24-5/25 issue of L'Osservatore Romano carried major excerpts from Cardinal Bagnasco's opening address to the Italina bishops' annual general assembly under the title "A Church working in support of Benedict XVI". I have not had time to translate it, so this is a placeholder.


The Church must learn from the Pope
not to fear the truth, no matter how odious



In his opening address to the annual general assembly of the Italian bishops' conference (CEI, Conferenza Episcopale Italiana) that opened Monday in the Synod Hall of Aula Paolo VI, Cardinal bagnasco, Archbishop of Genova and CEI president said the Church must learn from Pope Benedict XVI not to fear the truth nor cover it up no matter how odious it is".

Devoting the greater part of his address to the problem of pedophile priests, Bagnasco cited the Holy Father's recent statement about the 'terrifying' existence of sin within the Church itself, saying that Benedict XVI is 'intransigent with any filth' among men within the Church herself.

He said, however, that "this did not mean that the Church should be subject to strategies aimed at generally discrediting her and at ecclesial destructuring".




AP's account of Cardinal Bagnasco's address. The wire agencies rarely report statements by Italian bishops unless they touch on the issues that interest the media. In this case, the story is deliberately spun to make the Italian bishops look derelict in their duties.

Italian bishop asks for trust
despite abuse scandal

ROME, May 25 (AP) — The head of Italy's bishops' conference asked families to trust the Catholic Church despite the clerical abuse scandal, insisting Monday that it had never intended to under-estimate the problem.

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco dedicated more than half of his speech to the bishops' annual general assembly to the scandal, repeating the Pope's recent comments that forgiveness of a priest's sins can never take the place of justice for his crimes.

Bagnasco's comments came as more cases are coming to light in the Vatican's backyard: Just Monday a priest in Savona went on trial for alleged sexual violence against a 12-year-old girl, the ANSA news agency reported.

And last week, a Rome bishop testified in the case of another accused priest that he knew about rumors of abuse two years before the priest was arrested yet didn't alert police or the Vatican as called for by Vatican norms.

The AP is deliberately misrepresenting the priestly sex abuse situation in Italy, trying to make it sound worse than it is. According to an AP report last September - which I posted in the CHURCH&VATICAN thread, and which, inasmuch as the cases this new report cites are already in trial, wpuld have been part of their Sept 2009 tally
benedettoxviforum.freeforumzone.leonardo.it/discussione.aspx?idd=859...

---

A yearlong Associated Press tally has documented 73 cases with allegations of sexual abuse by priests against minors over the past decade in Italy, with more than 235 victims. The tally was compiled from local media reports, linked to by Web sites of victims groups and blogs. Almost all the cases have come out in the seven years since the scandal about Roman Catholic priest abuse broke in the United States. The numbers in Italy are still a mere trickle compared to the hundreds of cases in the court systems of the United States and Ireland.

---

The Vatican's sex crimes prosecutor, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, has said there was a widespread "culture of silence" about clerical abuse in Italy. That silence may explain both the Rome bishops' actions and why so few cases have emerged in this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country.

Bagnasco's comments appeared designed to at least give the impression that the Italian bishops were confronting the problem. But he offered few details of concrete measures, saying only that Italian bishops had intensified education efforts for seminarians, focusing on prevention and formation efforts for priests. He said victims were the church's primary concern, yet offered no evidence of any pastoral outreach or protection measures.

[The AP is deliberately ignoring at least four notorious pedohpile priests, includinf two octogenarians who had been widely considered 'living saints' in Italy, as well as less high-profile priests, who have been disciplined by the Vatican and convicted by Italian courts since Benedict XVI became Pope.

It also conveniently fails to mention the oustanding work done by Fr. Fortunato di Noto who extablished the association called METER which has been fighting all kinds of abuse against minors, but especially pedophilia, and doing a very effective online campaign in this respect. Fr. Di Noto has also expressed his full support for Benedict XVI on many occasions since the media hullaballoo erupted a few months ago.]

"Public opinion, like families, must know that we as the Church will do everything to always merit the trust that generally is given to us, even by non-believers among parents," Bagnasco said.

He said pedophile priests need justice, treatment — and grace, as well.

"These facts are today fruit of a deeper understanding of the drama of pedophilia, which the Church regardless has at no time ever intended to underestimate," he said.

May 26, Wednesday, 8th Week in Ordinary Time

Center photo is the saint's 'founder' statue in St. Peter's Basilica; next to it, a Tiepolo painting from 1740.
SAN FILIPPO NERI (Italy, 1515-1575), Priest, Mystic, 'Apostle of Rome', Founder of the Congregation of the Oratory
He was born to a well-to-do family in Florence and sent as a teenager to live with an unmarried uncle near Montecassino whose business he was expected to inherit. But he decided to give up worldly advantages and went to Rome to study philosophy and theology, spending the next 17 years in prayer and a voluntary apostolate of helping the poor. During this time, he spent his nights in the catacomb of St. Sebastian, where in 1544, he is believed to have experienced a mystical ecstasy that inflamed his heart to the point of breaking two of his ribs. Meanwhile, he had gathered around him other laymen interested in prayer and serving the poor, pilgrims to Rome, and the convalescent. They also met every night for prayers, discussions and listening to music based on scenes of sacred history that were set to music. Among his disciples was Giovanni da Palestrina and Tomas Luis de Victoria who composed music that came to be known as oratorios, and from which the meeting halls came to be called oratories. In 1551, he finally was ordained a priest, and soon became known as an outstanding confessor as well as, even in his lifetime, 'the apostle of Rome'. In 1556, he founded the Congregation of the Oratory where priests engaged in apostolate for the poor and the sick could live in a community without professing monastic vows. Besides their daily Oratory gatherings, members also preached at a different church every night. They were accused of heresy by some because at their meetings, laymen spoke on religious subjects, and because the music they introduced was considered secular. Nonetheless, Philip - who was known for his good humor, ready laughter and easy communication with everyone as much as for his holiness - was sought out for spiritual counsel by many prominent figures of his day and became one of the most influential figures of the Counter Reformation. The more ample version of the Roman chasuble that he and St. Ignatius are shown wearing in many paintings has been called the 'Philippine' chasuble. He founded the Chiesa Nuova in Rome, where his remains are venerated. He was beatified in 1615 and canonized in 1622 along with four other great saints of the Counter Reformation: Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/052610.shtml


OR today.

Illustration: Engraving of St. Philip Neri in ecstasy, in the Catacomb of St. Sebastian.
No Page 1 papal news in this issue. In the inside pages, an interview with Portuguese Cardinal Jose
Saraiva Martins about the impact of the Pope's trip in Portugal, and a letter of support for the Pope
from the Salesian order. Page 1 international news: North Korea says it is preparing for war; US
officials assure China, the USA's largest creditor, that it is safe to continue investing in the USA:
and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill - unchecked 6 weeks since the oil rig explosion that caused it - has
become 'Obama's Katrina'. An essay in the inside pages compiles historical accounts of St. Philip
Neri's years of meditation in Rome's most famous catacomb complex.


THE POPE'S DAY

General Audience today - The Holy Father resumed his special catecheses on the mission of priests
as the Year for Priests draws to an end. To Italian-speaking pilgrims, especially young people,
he spoke about the example of St. Philip Neri, whose liturgical feast is marked today.


Vatican helps victims of
unprecedented Polish floods

May 26, 2010

The Vatican has released the following communique:

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In the wake of the floods provoked by the torrential rains in Poland, a disaster on an unprecedented scale that has led to many victims and massive evacuations, the Pontifical Council Cor Unum has sent to His Excellency Bishop Józef Michalik, President of the Polish Episcopal Conference, a papal gift to assist the flood victims and evacuees in the worst hit ecclesiastical areas.

The Holy Father’s gesture through Cor Unum is intended to show His closeness to the suffering and His paternal encouragement to those who are so generously offering aid relief.

---

This was reported briefly by news agencies last week but the seriousness of the condition was not immediately appreciated. Let us say a prayer for the Nuncio.


Nuncio to the UK
suffers serious stroke
By Tim Walker

May 25. 2010


Vatican officials have a new problem to contend with after the leaked memo that showed how the Labour government's planning committee for Pope Benedict XVI's first visit to Britain had considered such ideas as his blessing a homosexual "marriage" or opening an abortion clinic.

Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz, the Pope's ambassador [Apostolic Nuncio] to Britain, has been taken seriously ill. The 72-year-old archbishop, who was helping to organise the trip and would have hosted the Pope during his stay, was admitted to hospital last week after suffering a stroke.

"It is serious," says the Papal Nuncio's spokesman. "The Nuncio is conscious and is able to speak, although physical damage has been done by the stroke. It is not clear whether he will be able to return to work. There are question marks over everything; we simply do not know. It is difficult."

So serious is the condition of the archbishop, at whose residence in Wimbledon, south-west London, the Pope is due to stay in September, that a trip he was due to make to Gibraltar in July, to take part in the ordination of Bishop Ralph Heskett, has been cancelled.



Countdown to the Pope's visit:
114 days to go


LONDON, MAY 25, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The United Kingdom is counting down the days until Benedict XVI's September 16-19 visit.

Monsignor Andrew Summersgill, a Papal visit coordinator, noted some of the most recent preparations in a press release publicized today by the bishops' conference of England and Wales.

"This week," he said, "my thoughts centered on what the Pope's going to do in Westminster Hall."

The Pontiff's address will be "quite a splendid occasion [...] as it will be a gathering of people from across Britain representing all the different strands of British society who will be brought together in order to listen to what Pope Benedict has to say to contemporary society," the priest stated.

He continued, "So although it's in Westminster Hall, it's not addressed solely and exclusively to parliamentarians -- in fact, properly, it's not -- it's the whole of British society coming together."

Monsignor Summersgill noted that although the exact itinerary of the Holy Father's visit has not been released, it is expected sometime "between six to eight weeks" of his arrival.

He explained, "The Holy See's normal way of doing these things is to publish, on its own Web site, the line-by-line itinerary."

The priest encouraged people to go to the Vatican's Web site and look at previous apostolic journey schedules that show "where the Pope has been and the itineraries he has followed."

"They talk about his arrival times at places, how he moves around, the time he spends at places and they're quite interesting," Monsignor Summersgill said. "We would expect to have that detail available somewhere between six and eight weeks before Pope Benedict gets here."

Unity for the common good:
Benedict’s rhetoric and economic thought
by Jonathan Jones

May 25, 2010


In response to the Rhetoric Society of America’s inquiry – what are Pope Benedict’s reasons for positioning the Catholic Church as an essential link between enterprise and justice, and as a significant voice in the public discussion of globalization – I suggest a “spiritual argument of restoration.”

Leaders of the Catholic Church since the rise of industrialization have affirmed the rights of labor. An argument could be made that without Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which criticized communism and capitalism while supporting private property and the growth of unions, Western labor movements would have been weaker.

Such teachings have strongly recurrent themes: an emphasis upon the human person, the dignity of work, and the importance of community. These take strong precedence over the state and market, which must possess the moral foundation of a dignity inherent to humanity, and gifted by the Creator, to properly function…..

The rhetorical significance of Pope Benedict XVI’s July 2009 encyclical letter, Caritas in Veritate, is a reaffirmation that language is at the center of Catholic philosophy. This philosophy, for all its great complexity, diversity, and heated argument, makes one incredible claim: its most visible and vital form, the Sacraments, were founded and ordained directly by God. In the Catholic understanding of its etymology, “the love of wisdom” means the love of the Divine through the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

For decades, this religious bias, experience, and background has stood firm as the lens through which a Pope has viewed politics and economics. It insisted that economic institutions and structures matter less for the construction of a good and humane society than the culture, the content, the virtue, of a people.

There is conformity, this is to say, between the encyclical and earlier statements. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger argued in a 1985 symposium held in Rome, Church and Economy in Dialogue:

---

It is becoming an increasingly obvious fact of economic history that the development of economic systems which concentrate on the common good depends on a determinate ethical system, which in turn can be born and sustained only by strong religious convictions.

Conversely, it has also become obvious that the decline of such discipline can actually cause the laws of the market to collapse. An economic policy that is ordered not only to the good of the group – indeed, not only to the common good of a determinate state – but to the common good of the family of man demands a maximum of ethical discipline and thus a maximum of religious strength.

---

The morality of this ethical discipline is intimately bound with the word. For the Catholic, the Bible is not the literal “Word of God.” Jesus Christ is.

Religious strength is drawn from this Word through the Sacraments, a conduit of grace connecting the physical and the spiritual. The philosophical pursuit, the love of truth, is the union of the mind with the physical, the union of reason and faith, the union of human understanding with theology.

Of society and solidarity, Caritas in Veritate informs the faithful:

---

Without truth, without trust and love for what is true, there is no social conscience and responsibility, and social action ends up serving private interests and the logic of power, resulting in social fragmentation.

---

This opinion is accompanied by a call for communion with God and with neighbor. Communion, in fact, is distinguished as the very purpose of existence – to love and to know love.

In light of such a view, it makes sense that Benedict – even when addressing economic matters – would strongly reaffirm, for example, controversial social teachings such as Humanae Vitae.

In the Pope’s words, there must be a “fully human meaning of the development that the Church proposes.” Therefore, the “unitive and the procreative meaning of sexuality,” which places the married couple at the foundation of society, “in distinction and in complementarity,” makes clear to the audience his position of “strong links between life ethics and social ethics.”

Just as morality is intimately bound with the Word that is Jesus of Nazareth, so too are the ethics of economy and personal virtue.

In our modern context, justice and the common good cannot abide with what Pope Pius XI in 1931 memorably labeled the “twin rocks of shipwreck” – individualism and collectivism. In Catholic philosophy, each generalized ideology relies upon a false human anthropology.

People are born, Popes have stated, into societies. Markets of any form are a product of these societies, and a good society is built by the family. The familiarity of place, family, and God develops comprehension of the good in the public sphere and an understanding of duty and obligation. Perhaps, after that point, a stable operation of markets might exist.

When Benedict addressed the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences on economic matters recently, he again appealed to Christian morality. He called for “comprehensive and objective standards against which to judge the structures, institutions, and concrete divisions which guide and direct human life.” Such principles are sourced in natural law.

The principles of this ethical order, he continued, were inscribed in creation itself, were accessible to human reason, and should be adopted as the basis for practical choices.

Here we return to the key terms of the encyclical under discussion, charity and truth. In the Pope’s vision, truth preserves and channels the truly liberating power of charity – communion with God and other persons – amid ever-changing and confusing economic, political, and social structures.

Without this truth, there is no enduring social conscience. Selfish interests and the embrace of power will contribute to social fragmentation.

In his introduction to Caritas in Veritate, Benedict states that the Catholic Church does “not have technical solutions to offer, and does not claim to interfere in any way in the politics of the States.”

And yet the next sentence provides clarification that nearly invalidates this prior claim, if an observer did not recognize the context of communion and Christian morality.

He states the Church’s “mission of truth”: to work “for a society that is attuned to man, to his dignity, to his vocation.” Such a society requires “fidelity to the truth, which alone is the guarantee of freedom” and of “the possibility of integral human development.”

Caritas in Veritate continues: “The economic sphere is neither ethically neutral, nor inherently inhuman and opposed to society. It is part and parcel of human activity and precisely because it is human, it must be structured and governed in an ethical manner.”

In the Pope’s view, economics of any abstracted or concrete construction present no remedy for the conduct of hubris and harm. Its ethics must be founded upon the goodness capable by reason and sourced in the divine. This is the precondition for long-term success – in economy, in society, in family, in everything.

Economics, it might be said, depend upon family formation. Economic crisis should force us all to pause in contemplation of moral weakness. It is not sufficient to trust a managerial class or the supposedly wondrous workings of a market.

Any “morality” that assumes an ability to bestow technical knowledge is not worth following, as its moralizing demonstrates only a superficial relationship to true morality.

Humanity, by the Catholic view, is religious by nature and also limited by nature – incapable of perfection. A person should work in dignity as a member of a corporate body, where their nature may achieve its eventual fulfillment.

In practice, this is a rejection of the liberalism – by which I mean “equal freedom” – that permeates many arguments of the politicized “right” and “left.”

Instead, the state, the economy, and society should be orientated toward a support of relational, familial flourishing. Thus a consideration of questions of virtue, and of the work to build a social order that Pope Pius XI called for – “solidarity and subsidiarity,” with a crucial mediating role for religious institutions.

To conclude, Benedict’s arguments are a reaffirmation of language in what is perceived to be its most fulfilling form: the truth, charity, and communion that only God can offer.

The person of Jesus Christ in the Sacraments exists as a rebuke to the extremes and misuse of philosophy. An abuse of His truth (for purposes libertarian, collectivist, and the many ideologies in-between) falsely elevates power over the reflected Triune God, a God ideally reflected by society and most especially by the family, where many become one.

Caritas in Veritate reaffirms that “deviation from solid humanistic principles” leads to spiritual emptiness and the inability to recognize that which cannot be explained in terms of matter alone.

This is Catholicism itself, and the encyclical is a call to return to the Word. To not do so is one cause of a failed economy.

What I term a “unity for the good” is Benedict’s spiritual argument of restoration, the latest in a line of papal contributions to the challenges of modernity. The goal is to avoid a vacuum of intimacy through a conduct of virtue more social than political. Benedict’s arguments, then, are concerned with the ways of life, not formal structures.

[This is particularly directed at the 'progressives' who claim that the Pope is arguing for a 'world governance' - namely, an institution or agency - to enforce ethics in finance, among other things. If the present United Nations has become so ineffectual to even prevent wars and eforce the pease, for which it was initially founded, how can it realistically expect to enforce morality?

And which 'morality' would it enforce? Certainly, not the laissze-faire, anything-goes philosophy that the ultra-liberals running the UN bureaucracies have been managing to insinuate into the world order via UN resolutions intended to be binding for the entire world. They can't even impose straightforward resolutions directed at specific situations in single countries - Iraq, Iran, North Korea, to name the most obvious. But perhaps, that is our salvation for the moment from a 'world view' that would be imposed by the dominant ultra-lib opinion in international agencies like the UN and the European Union.]

Cyprus's Orthodox Archbishop
tells anti-Pope clerics to hush



NICOSIA, Cyprus, May 25 (AP) – The leader of Cyprus's Greek Orthodox Church is warning senior clerics opposed to Pope Benedict's visit here next month to either join in welcoming the Pontiff or to keep quiet behind closed doors.

It will be the Pope's first visit to the east Mediterranean island [the first visit by any Pope, in fact]. He is coming, at the invitation of Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias, to retrace the steps of the Apostle Paul, who preached here in the 1st century A.D.

Influential Limassol Bishop Athanasios has said the Pope would do better not to come because it would provoke Orthodox Christians who view him as a heretic.

But Archbishop Chrisostomos II admonished the Bishop, saying he and other like-minded clerics "can stay at home" if they don't like the Pope's visit.

[Last October, during the meeting of teh Mixed Itnernational Commission for Theological Dialog between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches held in Paphos, Cyprus, a few monks from the Monastery of Mt. Athos demonstrated against the meetings, denouncing Orthodox participation as heresy. The ultra-conservative Orthodox clergy appear not to have heard of the 1965 agreement between Paul VI and Archbishop in which they revoked the mutual excommunication that the two Churches exchanged at the time of the Great Schism of 1054!]




Catholics in Cyprus
eagerly await papal visit
by Sarah Ktisti



NICOSIA, May 26 (Reuters) – Miles away from home, Cyprus's tiny Catholic community of mainly migrant workers is getting ready for a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see Pope Benedict on his visit to the island in June.

The island is home to a large Filipino and Sri Lankan population, who left their homelands for the small island of Cyprus which stands at the crossroads of Europe and Asia.

Many of them work as domestic help and look forward to their weekly get-together at Sunday Mass.

Scarlet Tugbo, 38 years old from the Philippines has been in Cyprus for 13 years and is part of the media and communications team preparing for the Papal visit.

"I'm so excited. I wish I can touch him, I can hug him. I am speechless, I don't know my feeling when I see him. It's a big pleasure. I hope we can enjoy this event," she said.

Benedict is visiting Cyprus to follow in the footsteps of Saint Paul the apostle, who preached on the island in 47 AD.

The island's Greek Cypriot population are predominantly members of the Greek Orthodox faith, but the numbers of Catholics have swelled in recent years as more and more migrants move to the island.

Government data put the number of Filipinos and Sri Lankans at 22,000 strong in April 2009. They are evenly spread out across Cyprus.

In the capital Nicosia, many live in the old Venetian-walled part of town, close to the Catholic church. Men and women cram into old, decrepit buildings, some living with up to 10 people sleeping in a room.

"Many of the migrants have said they preferred to come to Cyprus because it is a Christian country and is easier for them to profess their faith - even if they earn less money," said Father Umberto Barato, parish priest of the Holy Cross Church and the charge d'affaires of the Holy See.

From strolling around the main bus depot at the mouth of the old town on the weekend, it is plain to see that Sunday is definitely "me- time" for the migrants, who mill about the streets browsing market stalls, catching up on the gossip with their fellow compatriots, or holding picnics at the nearby park. [In Italy, where there are tens of thousands of Filipino domestics employed in the large cities, these Sunday and holiday get-togethers are a common sight. In Rome, they gather primarily at Stazione Termini and at the Church of San Silvestro which another main bus terminal in the heart of Rome.]

And Sunday Mass at the Catholic church of the Holy Cross, its sandstone gothic-like structure nestled in a corner of the U.N. bufferzone, is very popular.

Father Umberto puts the number of faithful attending the four Masses on a Sunday at least 1,500. "People stand outside because their is no space...it is not just a church but a point of encounter."

The following news makes it likely that the Holy Father is considering travel to eastern Europe in 2012, God willing. Ukraine adjoins Moldova, the other ex-Soviet republic that announced yesterday the Pope has accepted an invitation to visit Moldova in 2012.


Pope Benedict XVI
to visit Ukraine in 2012

Also carried in

May 26, 2010


Pope Benedict XVI intends to visit Ukraine in 2012, according to a statement posted on the website of the Kyiv-Zhytomyr Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church.

"The Holy see has accepted the invitation of Pope Benedict XVI to visit Ukraine in 2012, and a concrete date is now being set," Archbishop Mochyslav Mocryzsky is quoted as saying at the XXXV conference of Roman Catholic bishops of Ukraine.



According to him, the Lviv Archdiocese will commemorate the 600th anniversary of the transfer of the Episcopal capital from Halych to Lviv in 2012, when the Eucharist congress in Ukraine is also expected to end.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, the Vatican is hoping to develop humanitarian and cultural relations with Ukraine.

[From Wikipedia: The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) constituted the second largest group of believers after the Christian Orthodox churches. The Union of Brest formed the Church in 1596 to unify Orthodox and Roman Catholic believers. Outlawed by the Soviet Union in 1946 and legalized in 1989, the UGCC was for forty-three years the single largest banned religious community in the world.

The UGCC had 18 eparchies, 3,433 communities, and 2,136 clergy members. The UGCC's members, who constituted a majority of the believers in western Ukraine, numbered approximately four million.]


Coincidentally, George Weigel filed this substantial situationer on the Ukraine yesterday. Both the political and religious situations in the Ukraine are extremely complicated by the fact that it was a Soviet socialist republic for more than 60 years, resulting , to begin with, in a disequlibrium between eastern and Western Ukraine, where the eastern part is largely pro-Russia.

This reading also underlies what I might call, at the very least, 'unfounded optimism and false hopes', and at worst, 'the great lie', expressed by the Moscow patriarchate, recently reiterated in Rome by its #2 man, Metropolitan Hilarion, about any possible meeting between Pope Benedict and Patriarch Kirill. Yet the Russians have been very clear that they cannot conceive of such a meeting unless some conditions are met - and the first condition always mentioned by them is 'unresolved problems in the Ukraine'.


Storm clouds in the Ukraine
by George Weigel


Public expressions of piety at civic events may tell us something about a culture, but they rarely disclose geopolitical ambitions or strategic designs.

One exception to that general rule of religion and public life took place this past February, in Kiev, capital of Ukraine — an exercise in hardball politics under the veil of public piety that was, in fact, a harbinger of danger for religious freedom, for Ukrainian democracy, and for the future of Europe.

Prior to Ukraine’s two previous presidential inaugurations, an ecumenical and inter-religious prayer service had been held at the Church of Holy Wisdom in the Ukrainian capital, with all confessional leaders invited to participate and pray for the country and its about-to-be-inaugurated leader.

In a country as fractious as Ukraine, with an underdeveloped political culture and little experience of the tolerance essential to democratic civil society, these two prayer services were important indicators of a national intention to build a political community in which Ukrainians of all ethnic and religious persuasions would have a place in the public square.

Indeed, Ukrainians of all parties seemed sufficiently impressed with what the pre-inaugural prayer service symbolized for their future that provisions for such an ecumenical and inter-religious service were legally codified, in a presidential decree, as an integral part of presidential inaugurations.

That protocol was ignored in February at the inauguration of President Viktor Yanukovych. There was no ecumenical and inter-religious service at the Church of Holy Wisdom. Rather, at Yanukovych’s invitation, pre-inaugural prayers were offered at Kiev’s Monastery of the Caves by Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. No other religious leader was invited to participate.

For that matter, no religious leaders other than those affiliated with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church–Moscow Patriarchate — one of three contending Orthodox jurisdictions in the Ukraine — have been invited to meet with President Yanukovych since he assumed power.

The UOC–MP is, for all intents and purposes, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow, which means, in effect, that the principal interlocutor of the Ukrainian government on religious affairs is not a Ukrainian, but a Russian: Patriarch Kirill.

Those who detect in these maneuvers echoes of the geopolitical aspirations of Vladimir Putin, prime minister of Russia and the true center of power in that country, cannot be accused of paranoid speculation.

Putin has long made it clear that he is determined to restore Russian influence — and possibly Russian control — over the old “near abroad,” including Belarus, Moldova, the post-Soviet states of the Caucasus and Central Asia, and, of course, Ukraine.

That this intention, fulfilled, would have serious consequences for the nascent democracies of the former Soviet Union should be obvious, as should the geopolitical and strategic consequences for the West —although what seems obvious to others is often not-so-obvious to the present American administration.

Be that as it may, the Russian Orthodox Church is making a tacit claim to spiritual jurisdiction in Ukraine; that claim threatens both religious freedom and the ecumenical future.

This tangled web of history, ethnicity, and theology is one of the world’s most striking examples of an intersection of religion and public life with real, on-the-ground consequences.



The Greek Catholic Church of Ukraine, Byzantine in liturgy and polity but in full communion with Rome since the 1596 Union of Brest, was the repository of Ukrainian national identity and aspiration throughout the Soviet period.

Knowing this, Stalin used his control over the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow to attempt a canonical liquidation of the Greek Catholic Church of Ukraine. In the so-called L’viv Sobor of 1946, “representatives” of the Greek Catholic Church (under the watchful eye of the secret police) dissolved the Union of Brest and placed themselves under the canonical jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Moscow.

Those who accepted the L’viv Sobor became Russian Orthodox. Those who did not became members of the largest illegal religious body in the world. From 1946 until 1991, the Greek Catholic Church of Ukraine lived underground: clandestinely worshipping in the woods, clandestinely training and ordaining clergy, with most of its hierarchy dying martyrs’ death in the camps of the Gulag or by outright execution.

One of the crucial figures in the modern life of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Cardinal Iosyf Slipyi, spent almost two decades in the Gulag before being released to Pope John XXIII in 1963 (and becoming the model for the Ukrainian Pope in Morris West’s novel, The Shoes of the Fisherman).

In his Roman exile, Slipyi worked to sustain the life of the Greek Catholic Church within the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, not least by recreating in Rome the L’viv Theological Academy. The academy had been banned in Soviet Ukraine, but Slipyi imagined it as the seed from which might eventually grow the Ukrainian Catholic University that was one of the great dreams of his noble predecessor, Metropolitan Andrei Sheptyts’kyi. (The university would indeed be born in L’viv in the aftermath of the Soviet crack-up of 1991, and is now the only Catholic institution of higher education in the former Soviet Union.)

Pope John Paul II admired and protected Slipyi, despite frequent and sometimes volatile tensions caused, on the one hand, by the Ukrainian prelate’s tenacity and determination, and on the other by the conviction of the Vatican’s diplomats and ecumenists that Rome's principal interests ad orientem lay in a rapprochement with Russian Orthodoxy, largest of the Orthodox communions.

The latter did not, of course, acknowledge that Slipyi’s Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church existed; the Greek Catholics, for their part, not infrequently denounced what they regarded as a naive and potentially dangerous Vatican dialogue with Russian Orthodox leaders who were tools of the KGB.

The choice of Lubomyr Husar as major archbishop of L’viv and head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in January 2001, and his elevation to the cardinalate a month later, meant that two men of high intelligence and considerable political sophistication — Husar and Karol Wojtyla — were now the senior figures in the dialogue between Rome and Ukraine, and positive results were not long in coming.

John Paul II’s June 2001 pilgrimage to Kiev and L’viv was a triumph for both the Pope and for Ukraine: a visit respectfully and, in some cases, enthusiastically received by those parts of Ukrainian Orthodoxy not allied with the Moscow patriarchate.

Throughout the pilgrimage, John Paul, speaking fluent Ukrainian, lifted up a compelling vision of the Ukraine of the future: an independent country living out its distinctive cultural and linguistic reality while integrating itself into Europe, its various Christian communities working together to rebuild a shattered civil society and to carry out the Christian missions of education and charity. The only churlish comments on the Pope’s Ukrainian visit came, predictably, from the Patriarchate of Moscow and its Ukrainian adherents.

Under the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, those golden days now seem rather distant. The flourishing Ukrainian Catholic University, led by Father Borys Gudziak (a Ukrainian–American priest with a Harvard doctorate in history), continues to be one of the most impressive educational institutions in the lands of the former Soviet Union, drawing support from all responsible sectors of Ukrainian society.

Its students played a not-insignificant role in the 2005 Orange Revolution that reversed Viktor Yanokovych’s fraudulent victory in Ukraine’s previous presidential election. But Fr. Gudziak now believes himself to be under regular surveillance by the SBU, the successor to the Ukrainian KGB, and was recently visited by an SBU officer for a lengthy conversation redolent of old KGB recruitment and intimidation tactics.

As Edward Lucas of the Economist suggested while posting lengthy excerpts of the Gudziak memorandum, “it is a good thought experiment to ask oneself in which European countries this sort of thing would be inconceivable, in which it would be possible but outrageous, and it which it would be all too likely.”

The Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church has been working hard to create a new image of itself in the West. Patriarch Kirill’s successor as the Church’s chief of “external affairs” (the patriarchate’s curious name for ecumenism), Metropolitan Hilarion, has spoken publicly of the Russian Orthodox Church’s need for deep internal reform, and Hilarion was recently in Rome for several days, participating in Vatican events highlighting the glories (and they are many) of Russian Orthodox culture. Russian Orthodox leaders have spoken of the possibility of a papal visit to Russia — a courtesy they cruelly and obstinately refused to extend to John Paul II.

Under other circumstances, these might be regarded as welcome signs of a new realism in Russian Orthodoxy about its need for both internal renewal and for a genuine ecumenical engagement with the Catholic Church.

But then one comes back to the image of Patriarch Kirill, alone, come from Moscow to Kiev to bless President Yanukovych’s inauguration.

Kirill is far too intelligent and sophisticated to think that such an act could be passed off as simply a pastoral response to an innocuous invitation.

Given contemporary recent Ukrainian history, the internal tensions between Ukrainian citizens who remember fondly the old Russophone Soviet order and those determined to forge a new, democratic, path, as well as Putin’s Great Russian revanchism, Kirill’s presence at Yanukovych’s inauguration, and the Yanukovych administration’s freezing-out of religious communities other than the Orthodox allied with Moscow, could indicate that the Patriarchate of Moscow is prepared to work in tandem with, or at least parallel to, the Russian state in order to diminish, eviscerate, or even end Ukrainian independence.

If that is not the case, it would be helpful if the Patriarchate of Moscow would publicly affirm the legitimacy of the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine and foreswear any intention to involve itself in internal Ukrainian political affairs. [If they have not done so till now - more than two decades since the Soviet empire curmbled - what are the chances they will suddenly do so now when the Russian Orthodox Church is openly hand in glove with the current Russian regime?]

A quiet nudge toward that statement and that posture from the diplomatic and ecumenical leadership of the Holy See might be helpful. [Is this a realistic expectation at all????? What would the occupationally optimistic Cardinal Kasper say? The Vatican cannot possibly compromise the legitimacy and integrity of the Ukrainian Catholic Church! How ironic that the Moscow Patriarchate, which has for decades accused the RomanCatholic church of proselytizing among Russian Orthodox members, will not even acknowledge the legitimacy of a Church that has been in communion with Rome since the 16h century!]

Meanwhile, those who admire what has been built out of the rubble of Soviet totalitarianism in Ukraine will want to do whatever they can publicly to support Fr. Gudziak, the Ukrainian Catholic University, the Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine, and others in the Ukrainian Christian community who have been laboring to build an ecumenical and religious civil society capable of sustaining Ukrainian democracy.

Those men and women, and the Ukrainian democratic project, are in danger.

GENERAL AUDIENCE TODAY
May 26, 2010

Before some 40,000 faithful at St. Peter's Square today, the Holy Father resumed his special catecheses on the priestly ministry as the Yar for Priests draws to a close two weeks from now.

Here is how he synthesized today's lesson in English:

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In these final days of the Year for Priests, I would like to speak of the priest’s ministry of governing, in the name of Christ, the flock entrusted to his care.

Authority, in the Christian understanding, is a service to the true, ultimate good of the person, which is our salvation in Christ; exercised in the Lord’s name, it is an expression of the constant presence and care of the Good Shepherd.

The spiritual authority conferred in Holy Orders should be matched by the priest’s interior fidelity to his pastoral mission and his personal readiness to follow obediently the lead of Christ.

Understood in the light of faith, this authority, while involving the exercise of power, remains a service to building up the Church in holiness, unity and truth.

Christ’s power was expressed in the washing of feet, and his kingship by the wood of the Cross; so too, the priestly ministry of governance must be expressed in pastoral charity.

I ask all of you to support your priests in their ministry of leading men and women to God, bearing witness to the truth of the Gospel and its message of hope.

In a special way I also ask you to pray for my own ministry of governance in the Church, and for the spiritual fruitfulness of the celebrations at the conclusion of the Year for Priests.

---

Pope denounces abuse
of authority in the Church


26 May 10(RV) - “Not even the Pope can do what he wants, on the contrary the Pope is the guardian of obedience to Christ, to his Word" who "must precede in obedience to Christ and his Church."

"Outside of a clearly and explicitly supernatural vision, the priests own duty to govern is incomprehensible. Instead it is supported by true love for the salvation of every believer, it is particularly precious and necessary in our time".

This was Pope Benedict XVI’s message at the heart of his Wednesday audience delivered to thousands in St Peter’s Square.

With two weeks left before the Year for Priests comes to an end on June 11, the Holy Father delivered the third in a series of catecheses on the duties of the priestly ministry.

The first two were dedicated to the priest's duty to educate and sanctify the People of God, the third task, as outlined by the Pope, is to exercise authority in the Lord’s name...


Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's catechesis:

---

Dear brothers and sisters,

The year for Priests is coming to an end - that is why I started in recent catecheses to speak about the essential tasks of the priest, namely, to teach, to sanctify, and to govern.

I have given two catecheses, one on the ministry of sanctification - especially through the Sacraments - and one on that of teaching. It remains for me today to speak on the priest's mission to govern - to lead, with the authority of Christ, not with his own, the part of the People of God that has been entrusted to him.

In contemporary culture, how can we understand this dimension which implies the concept of authority and comes from the mandate of the Lord himself to pasture his flock? What is authority, in fact, for us Christians?

The cultural, political and historical experiences of the recent past, especially in the European dictatorships of Eastern adnWestern Eutope in the 20th century, have made contemporary man suspicious of this concept.

A suspicion which, not rarely, translates itself in maintaining that it is necessary to abandon every authority that does not come exclusively from man and is not subject to him nor controlled by him.

But a look at the regimes that in the last century, sowed terror and death, reminds us powerfully that authority, in every field, when it is exercised without reference to the Transcendent, if it does so without the supreme Authority, who is God, inevitably ends up turning against man.

It is therefore important to recognize that human authority is never an end, but is always and only a means, and that, necessarily and in every age, the end is always the person, created by God, with his own untouchable dignity, and called to relate to his Creator during the earthly journey of life and in eternal life. It is an authority exercised in responsibility before God, before the Creator.

Authority understood this way, whose only purpose is to serve the authentic good of persons and to be the transparence of the one Supreme Good who is God, is not only not extraneous to men, but on the contrary, it is a precious aid in the journey towards his full realization in Christ, towards salvation.

The Church is called upon and is committed to exercise this kind of authority which is service, and exercises it not in her own name, but in the name of Jesus Christ, who received from the Father every power in heaven and on earth (cfr Mt 28,18).

In fact, Christ pastures his flock through the pastors of the Church: It is he who guides, protects, and corrects the flock, because he loves them profoundly.

But the Lord Jesus, Supreme Pastor of our souls, intended the Apostolic College - the bishops today - in communion with the Successor of Peter, and the priests who are their most precious co-workers, to participate in this mission of caring for the People of God, of being educators in the faith, who orient, inspire and sustain the Christian community, or, as the Council says, "taking care, above all, that individual faithful are led in the Holy Spirit to live their own calling according to the Gospel, to practice a sincere and diligent charity, and to exercise that freedom for which Christ has liberated us" (Presbyterorum Ordinis, 6).

Every pastor, therefore, is the means through which Christ himself loves men: it is through our ministry, dear priests, and through us that the Lord reaches souls, instructs them, protects them and guides them.

St. Augustine, in his comment to the Gospel of St. John, says: "Let it therefore be a commitment of love to pasture the flock of the Lord" (123, 5) - this is the supreme norm of conduct for the ministers of God, an unconditional love, like that of the Good Shepherd, full of joy, open to all, attentive to one's neighbor and concerned for those who are farther away (cfr St. Augustine, Discourse 340,1; Discourse 46,15), sensitive towards the weakest, the little ones, the simple, the sinners, in order to manifest the infinite mercy of God with reassuring words of hope (cfr Id., Letter 95,1).

Although this pastoral task is based on Sacrament, nonetheless its effectiveness is not independent of the priests' personal life. To be a pastor according to the heart of God (cfr Jer 3,15), one needs to be profoundly rooted in a living friendship with Christ, not only one of the mind, but also of freedom and will, a clear awareness of the identity received at ordination, an unconditional readiness to lead the flock entrusted to him where the Lord wishes, not in the direction that apparently appears more convenient or easier.

This requires, first of all, a continuous and progressive readiness to let Christ himself govern priestly life. In fact, no one is really capable of pasturing the flock of Christ, unless he lives a profound and real obedience to Christ and to the Church. The obedience of the People of God themselves to its priests depends on the obedience of the priests to Christ.

That is why the basis of every pastoral ministry is always the personal and constant encounter with the Lord, a profound knowledge of him, conforming one's will to the will of Christ.

In the past decades, the adjective 'pastoral' has often been used almost in opposition to the concept of 'hierarchical', just as the word 'communion' has been misinterpreted in a similar juxtaposition.

Perhaps at this point, a brief observation may be helpful on the word 'hierarchy', which is the traditional designation for the structure of sacramental authority in the Church, which follows the three levels of the Sacrament of Holy Orders: the episcopate, the priesthood and the diaconate.

In public opinion about this hierarchy, the element of subordination is the juridical element. That is why to many, the idea of 'hierarchy' appears to be in contrast to the flexibility and vitality in the pastoral sense, and even against the humility of the Gospel.

But this is a misunderstood sense of the hierarchy, historically also due to abuses of authority and to careerism, which are precisely, abuses, and do not derive from what 'hierarchy' really is.

Common opinion is that hierarchy is something always linked to domination, which does not correspond to its true sense in the Church - that of unity in the love of Christ.

But, as I said, the wrong interpretation has its origin in historical abuses but does not correspond to the true meaning of hierarchy. Let us start with the word.

Generally, it is sais that hierarchy means 'sacred domination', but the true meaning is 'sacred origin' - namely, this authority does not come from man himself, but has its origin in the sacred, in Sacrament. Thus, it subordinates the person to his vocation, to the mystery of Christ - it makes the individual a servant of Christ, and only as a servant of Christ can he govern, lead for Christ and with Christ.

That is why, whoever enters the Holy Order of the Sacrament - the hierarchy - is not an autocrat, but enters into a new bond of obedience to Christ. He is connected to him in communion with the other members of Holy Orders, of the priesthood.

Even the Pope - reference point for all the othr pastors and of communion in the Church - cannot do what he wants. On the contrary, the Pope is the custodian of obedience to Christ, to his word summarized in the 'regula fidei' - the rules of the faith - the Credo of the Church, and must precede everyone in obedience to Christ and his Church.

Hierarchy therefore implies a triple bond: first of all, that with Christ and the mandate given by the Lord to his Church; then, to other Pastors in the communion of the Church; and finally, the bond to the faithful entrusted to the individual priest, within the order of the Church.

Thus, we can understand that communion and hierarchy are not opposed to each other but condition each other. Together, they are one thing only - communion hierarchy.

A pastor is therefore a pastor precisely by leading and protecting his flock, and keeping it from being dispersed.

Outside of a vision that is clearly and explicitly supernatural, the priest's task of governing cannot be understood. Indeed, that task, sustained by true love in order to save every individual in the flock, is particularly precious and necessary even in our time.

If the purpose is to bring the announcement of Christ and lead men to a salvific encounter with him so that they may have life, the task of leadership must be configured as service lived in total self-giving for the edification of the flock, in truth and in sanctity, often going against the flow, 'remembering that he who is greater should become as the lesser and he who is the chief become as the servant'(cfr Lumen gentium, 27).

Where can a priest draw the strength for such an exercise of his own ministry, in full fidelity to Christ and to the Church, with total dedication to the flock? There is only one answer: in Christ the Lord.

Jesus's way of governing was not by domination, but by the humble and loving service of the Washing of feet, and Christ's kingship over the universe is not an earthly triumph but finds its culmination in the wood of the Cross, which becomes a judgment for the world and a reference point for the exercise of authority as the true expression of pastoral charity.

The saints - among them, St Jean-Marie Vianney - exercised with love and dedication the task of caring for the portion of the People of God entrusted to them, showing themselves to be strong and determined men, with the single objective of promoting the true good of souls, capable of paying a personal price, to the point of martyrdom, in order to remain faithful to the truth and justice of the Gospel.

Dear priests, "Tend the flock of God in your midst, (overseeing) not by constraint but willingly... (and) be examples for the flock" (1Pt 2,5-6). Therefore. have no fear to lead to Christ each of the brothers which he has entrusted to you, certain that every word and every atttitude, if they come from obedience to the will of God, will bear fruit.

Know how to live by appreciating the values and recognizing the limits of the culture in which we are situated, with the firm certainty that announcing the Gospel is the best service we can do for man.

Indeed, there is no greater good, in this earthly life, that leads man to God, awakens the faith, lifts man from inertia and desperation, gives hope that God is near, and guides personal history and that of the world: This is definitely the profound and ultimate sense of the task of governing that the Lord has entrusted to us.

It has to do with 'forming Christ' in believers, through that process of sanctification which is a conversion of the scale of values, of attitudes, in order to allow Christ to live in every faithful person.

St. Paul sums up the pastoral action thus: "My children, for whom I am again in labor until Christ be formed in you!" (Gal 4,19).

Dear brothers and sisters, I invite you to pray with me, Successor of Peter, who has a specific task in governing the Church of Christ, as for all your bishops and priests. Pray that we may know how to take care of all the sheep, even those who have strayed, in the flock entrusted to us.

To you, dear priests, I address my heartfelt invitation to the concluding ceremonies of the Year for Priests on June 9, 10, and 11, here in Rome: Let us meditate on conversion and on mission, on the gift of the Holy Spirit and on our relationship to the Most Blessed Mary, and let us renew our priestly vows, sustained by all the People of God. Thank you.

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CNA has an audience sidebar that it has picked up from tomorrow's issue of the OR, but is not posted in its online selection, so I will use the CNA story. I've always wondered why the OR does not regularly post a short sidebar about the 'mini-audiences' that the Holy Father gives after the GA, because many times, they can be more interesting than his usual formal audiences in the Apostolic Palace. Especially since the Vatican Press Office/OR people are the only ones who can report on these events...


Pope receives Muslim, Orthodox delegations
hoping for improved relations






Vatican City, May 26, 2010 (CNA/EWTN News).- L'Osservatore Romano reported several encounters the Holy Father had after Wednesday's general audience in St. Peter's Square.

Hopes for improved inter-religious relations were brought to the Pope by a Muslim-Catholic joint delegation from Canada and the Italian-born Catholic archbishop of Moscow.

Leaders of the Sunni, Shiite and Druze communities of Lebanese descent now residing in Canada told the Pope that "Co-existence between Christians and Muslims is possible" and is the key to peace in the Middle East.

"Our faiths are different but don't oppose each other and our experience in Canadian society tells us that it is fundamental to get to know each other and learn to coexist," they said.

The Maronite Bishop of Montreal, Joseph Khoury, who was also there on Wednesday with the Canadian Muslim group, highlighted the historic quality of the inter-religious initiative.

Archbishop Paolo Pezzi of the Cathedral of the Mother of God in Moscow told Pope Benedict that forward progress is being made in Russian Orthodox-Catholic dialogue.

Pointing to the recent "Days of Russian Culture and Spirituality in the Vatican" as an example, he noted, "with the Orthodox there is a new friendliness, and at the Patriarchate level, there is progress in the highest levels".

He also told Osservatore that the possibility of creating a "common family pastoral ministry" exists, to be decided on by both Churches, would be the focus. The Italian-born archbishop came with 25 priests from the archdiocese and reported 80 newly-confirmed Catholics in the Moscow area last weekend.

Others who met with the Pope after the General Audience included an Iraqi delegation, composed of representatives from various Iraqi ethnic groups, and officials of the national cultural affairs office and of the Church in Iraq.

Among the pilgrims today were 6,000 Italians who came to commemorate the Pope's visit to San Giovanni Rotondo a year ago next month; 1,100 from Benevento, who came in thanksgiving for the beatification last Saturday of Teresa Manganiello; and nearly 300 registered school and pilgrim groups from the United States.