BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Tuesday, March 13, Third Week of Lent

Second from left: Medieval illustration of Pope Gregory and Leandro; extreme right, the Virgin of Guadalupe (Spain).
ST. LEANDRO DE SEVILLA [Leander of Seville] (Spain, 550-600), Benedictine, Bishop and Confessor
All four siblings in this Hispano-Roman family became saints. Leandro was the older brother of Isidore, who succeeded him as Bishop of Seville
and went on to become a Doctor of the Church. Their brother Fulgencio, who became Bishop of Cartagena, and their sister Florentina, who was
an abbess over a thousand nuns, are also saints. Leandro spent most of his life fighting the Arian heresy. He is credited with introducing the
Credo into the Mass in order for the faithful to always keep in mind the essentials of their faith. He was named Bishop of Seville in 579 but in
the same year he was exiled by the Visigoth king who was Arian. He spent three years in Constantinople where he met the future Pope Gregory
the Great (Pope 590-604), who was papal legate to the Byzantine court. They were to carry on a correspondence. Gregory gave Leandro an
image of Mary which became venerated in Seville. In 711, when the Moors invaded Seville, the Spanish king's men placed the image in a casket
and buried it in the mountains. In 1326, a peasant in the western region of Extremadura had a vision of Mary which led him to the casket. The
image was found intact and a church was built for it in the village of Guadalupe, and her cult grew nationwide. Columbus and the Spanish
conquistadors carried her image on their travels. Not surprising that the Spanish bishop in Mexico who certified Juan Diego's Marian vision
in 1531 named the miraculous image Our Lady of Guadalupe, whose renown has now far outstripped the original. After his exile, Leandro went on
with his campaign to root out the Arian heresy and converted two Visigoth kings away from Arianism. In 589, he convoked the Third Council of
Toledo, at which Visigoth Spain abjured Arianism. Leandro was considered a greater writer than Isidore but only two short works survive.
Readings for today's Mass: usccb.org/bible/readings/031312.cfm


No events announced for the Holy Father today.


Pope's condolence for Italian
victim of Nigerian terrorists
Translated from



The Vatican released the text of the Holy Father's condolences to the Archbishop of Vercelli in a telegram sent by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone for the murder of an Italian engineer (and native of the diocese) along with a British colleague, who were abducted by Muslim extremists in Nigeria and then killed by them last Thursday during a failed attempt to rescue the hostages.

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TO HIS EXCELLENCY
MOST REV. ENRICO MASSERONI
ARCHBISHOP OF VERCELLI

The Supreme Pontiff, Benedict XVI, informed of the tragic death of engineer Francesco Lamolinara, wishes to extend to the family of the deceased his sincere condolence and to assure them of his participation in mourning the loss that has struck them.

Even as he remembers the generous willingness of their loved one to help his neighbor and to contribute to peaceful coexistence among peoples, he offers fervent prayers of Christian suffrage for his soul and sends his family and friends the comfort of an Apostolic Blessing, extending this to those who will be taking part in his funeral services and to his townmates in Gattinara.

I likewise join in the sorrow and the prayer, in closeness to the families, to sustain their hope in this difficult moment.

CARDINAL TARCISIO BERTONE
Secretary of State to His Holiness

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OR for 3/12-3/13/12:

The Pope celebrates Vespers at San Gregorio al Celio with the Primate of the Anglican Communion:
'Commitment and prayer for Christian unity'
And at the Sunday Angelus, an appeal against every form of violence

All photos from the Saturday Vespers: top panel, center photo, the Pope and the Anglican Primate light candles in the chapel that had been the cell of Pope Gregory the Great; right photo, the Pope and the Primate look at the exhibit mounted by the Camaldoli Benedictines to mark their millennial anniversary. Bottom panel, from left, the Pope and the Anglican primate arrive at the church; the service; and chatting after the service. The Pope stayed for dinner with the Camaldolesi monks.
Other Page 1 news: President Obama promises justice on US soldier who randomly kills 16 Afghan civilians, including 9 children, in an Afghan village, entering their homes at night while they were asleep; the Nigerian city of Jos rocked once again by a terrorist bomb that kills Catholics attending church ; and ex UN Secretary-General leaves Syria without getting any concessions from Syrian President Bashir Assad.



- If you wish to tear out your hair in outrage, read an article currently in the National Catholic Fishwrap, as Fr. Z calls it, about 'Vatican II priests'
http://ncronline.org/news/theology/vatican-ii-priests-still-embrace-councils-model-despite-reversals
which starts out this way:

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"As the golden anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s opening on Oct. 11, 1962, approaches, men ordained in the years bookending the council predominantly embrace “the spirit of Vatican II” as a wellhead for their lives and ministry even as other Catholics disparage that 'spirit'.

"At the same time, many of these 'Vatican II priests' - as researchers call them - express concern that the iconic church windows thrown open by the council are being shuttered and latched. They raise concerns about church leadership, ecumenical apathy, a collapse of collegiality, the role of women, liturgical reform and more...."

Further down, Fr. Thomas Reese, S.J. probably the most-quoted standard-bearer for the Vatican-II 'spiritsts', is quoted as saying:
“Even though there were struggles and arguments and fights (during the council), there was a feeling that history was on the side of the progressives and that we were moving forward, that it was pretty much unstoppable and things were going to get better in the church year after year... This pretty much stopped with the papacy of John Paul II (who saw) the documents of Vatican II as what was important, not the spirit.

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[Excuse me! There's a reason official documents, even in the Church, are called 'acts'. In a fallible and constantly mutable world, how else do you record what took place other than by the official 'acts' of the event? Does anyone ever refer to the 'spirit of Nicea' or 'the spirit of Trent' etc? No, because the Church, like any other institution,looks to the formal acts or documents of those Councils to tell us what they decided and concluded and decreed.

How utterly irresponsible for the progressivists [I never call them 'progressives' because that is assuming they are in fact progressive, when they are simply being ideologically contrarian to Catholic orthodoxy!] to disdain the Vatican II documents as Reese seems to do, and simply cite a mythical 'spirit' that varies according to the individual who cites it. Obviously, the progressivists shy away from citing the documents because much of what they have been peddling as 'the spirit of Vatican II' is not borne out by the documents themselves, especially in the case of liturgical reform!

I have no idea how old Reese is - I've googled his date of birth and age but can't find any information, and isn't that strange? - but I am sure he was not present at Vatican II. How dare he fault John Paul II who as Archbishop Wojtyla was a Council Father, and Council expert Joseph Ratzinger for their thoughts about a Council they took part in???? And to the diehard advocates of a 'hermeneutic of rupture', where is it in the Vatican II documents that says it was proclaiming 'a new Church' and 'out with the old'?

Going by just the first Paragraph of Lumen gentium, Vatican-II's dogmatic Constitution on the Church, which reads: "it (the Church) desires now to unfold more fully to the faithful of the Church and to the whole world its own inner nature and universal mission. This it intends to do following faithfully the teaching of previous councils", how can that be construed in any way to mean that Vatican-II was throwing out everything that had gone before, much less starting a new Church? Neither by letter nor 'in spirit' does Lumen gentium say at all what the progressivist-spiritists claim! That's not to mention what John XXIII himself said when he decreed Vatican-II and when he opened it. Those who tout the 'spirit' only and who do not cite the letter at all self-advertise the falseness of their claim!]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 15/03/2012 03:05]

Pope's visit to Cuba:
A mission in charity

March 13, 2012

Ahead of the March 23-29 visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Cuba, the President of the Cuban Bishops’ Conference has published his reflections on what this visit means for the Church on the island nation.

In a letter posted on the United States Bishops website, Archbishop Dionisio Garcia Ibáñez of Santiago de Cuba, gets to the heart of what this visit is really all about beyond international press headlines.



Its about a Jubilee Year, when the church and country mark the 400th anniversary of the finding of the image of Our Lady of Charity, known locally as the Virgin del Cobre.

And its about the mission of the Holy Father “as the rock that guides and sustains believers in their journey towards Christ”; “to encourage them in their faith, confirm them in hope, and encourage them to be generous in charity”.

In fact the miraculous statue of the Virgin Mary is closely tied to the Papacy, for it was Benedict XV who in 1916 declared the beloved Virgin of Charity patron saint of Cuba. The Virgin is the focus of intense popular devotion and not just for Catholics. Housed in a basilica in the mining town of El Cobre, outside Santiago, her shrine is the most important religious site on the entire island.

The image was found in 1608, by two Indians and a slave who were gathering salt on the coast. They saw the small statue of the Virgin Mary, carrying the Christ child and a gold cross, floating on a board bearing the inscription, "Yo soy la Virgen de la Caridad" (I am the Virgin of Charity).

Archbishop Garcia Ibáñez says that for Cubans, the word charity “has a great and beautiful meaning”. The image of the Virgin, “is symbol of the “cubanía” (that which pertains to all things Cuban) that unites all Cubans, believers and unbelievers alike; charity, love, is the only virtue that can make Cubans brothers and sisters to one another. That’s why the Holy Father comes to visit”.

The Archbishop does not discount the importance of this Apostolic journey also being a state visit, the Pope having been invited by the government and the people.

However, he concludes: “We cannot miss that the primary meaning of the visit is pastoral. That is how we have to look at it, both the Government and ourselves as pastors as well as the members of the Church”.

Here is the full text of Mons. Garcia's message in its English version:

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With great joy we are preparing to receive to His Holiness Benedict XVI for a visit we have anticipated ever since we started preparing for this Jubilee Year four years ago.

It was then that we invited the Holy Father to come visit our local church and our country as a pilgrim; for the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the finding of the image of Our Lady is a very significant date for all Cubans, for the faith of Cubans, for our history and also for our national identity.

We give thanks to God and to the Holy Father that he accepted the invitation to visit us in the midst of his many obligations as pastor of the universal Church.

He is the successor of the apostle Peter, to whom Jesus told: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell won’t prevail against it… Shepherd my sheep".

From that moment on, Peter remains the first among the apostles, the first in charity and in communion of all. The mission of the Holy Father is to be the rock that guides us and sustains us in our journey towards Christ; in this role he exercises his charity and as a caring Father he accompanies us.

Every time Benedict XVI visits a country, it is a pastoral visit to that particular church to encourage them in their faith, confirm them in hope, and encourage them to be generous in charity.

And this is the fundamental meaning of his upcoming visit to Cuba. In this case, for the Jubilee Year, he comes as Pilgrim of Charity. The theme of charity is central. God is love, God is charity, and the pope comes to confirm us in the love of the Father and to assure us that the love of God is with us always.

For us Cubans, this word has a great and beautiful meaning because it is the name of our Mother and Patroness. Our Lady of Charity, as an image, is symbol of the “cubanía” (that which pertains to all things Cuban) that unites all Cubans, believers and unbelievers alike; but charity, love, is the only virtue that can make possible that all Cubans be brothers and sisters to one another.

The opposite of charity is hate; hate doesn’t build anything, division doesn’t build anything. The devil is the father of lies and disunion, but charity is what unites us, and it always comes from God. That’s why the Holy Father comes to visit.

He is also the head of a very small state, the Vatican, and that allows him to establish one-on-one relationships with other states. So, when the Holy Father visits the local church, in this case the Cuban church, it is also because the Cuban State has invited him.

It is a pastoral visit, but in the eyes of the government and the people, it also is the visit of a Head of State.

However, we cannot miss that the primary meaning of the visit is pastoral. That is how we have to look at it, both the Government and ourselves as pastors as well as the members of the Church.

This is why we are preparing. Everyone can see streets are being worked on and houses painted. The archdiocesan building is also getting ready, for he will come to rest for a few hours here; we have hurried to finish the house in El Cobre, which will be for elderly priests. It is logical.

When we receive a visit we try to make them comfortable and try to make sure things are beautiful. But for this visit the most important thing is the spiritual preparation.

It is not just a question of welcoming the Holy Father with unction and joy, and of participating in the Mass, but of living a profound spiritual renovation.

Thank God this visit coincides with the season of Lent, a time in which we are invited to internal conversion, to a desire to change the heart; but we are also given some practical tasks: we hear about prayer, fasting and mercy, about helping others.

The Cuban church has chosen this time of Lent, Holy Week and Easter to launch a campaign in which we invite the Cuban people to solidarity, to live charity, to be compassionate… knowing that every man and woman are my brother and sister, because they are sons and daughters of God; and that I can never be indifferent in the face of the suffering of others.

The visit of the Holy Father is, therefore, an added grace. I invite you and I so that we may take advantage of this time. The readings of Ash Wednesday reminded us that this is the day that the Lord has made, a time of mercy. This is the time of the Lord, let’s make the most of it.

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'Welcome' billboards are up on Havana streets for the visit two weeks from now.

Cuba's cardinal gives TV address
on state TV about the Pope's visit
By PETER ORSI



Photos show Cardinal Ortega's address watched by a couple of households (top panel), and staff at a St. Vincent de Paul charity center in Havana (bottom panel). No newsphotos so far of Cardinal Ortega himself.

HAVANA, March 13 (AP) — Cuban authorities granted Havana's Roman Catholic cardinal a rare chance to address the nation Tuesday night on state-controlled television about the imminent arrival of Pope Benedict XVI.

Cardinal Jaime Ortega said Benedict was coming to Cuba as a pilgrim to honor the 400th anniversary of the appearance of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, the patron of Cuba. Church officials have taken the iconic representation of the Virgin across the island recently to large crowds of worshippers.

"There was great interest in this pilgrimage because the Pope is determined to revive the faith in countries that were Christianized before but need a new evangelization, and he saw in this mission a true example of what it is to revive the faith of a people," said Ortega.

Ortega's message was broadcast Tuesday night on Cubavision. Another Church address is planned for next week by the archbishop of the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, the first stop in Benedict's March 26-28 visit.

Catholic leaders have long sought more access to the airwaves on this Communist-run island, including asking for its own radio station, and a church spokesman said he hoped the broadcasts were a sign of things to come.

"We hope this continues at the necessary moments even after the visit of the Pope," spokesman Orlando Marquez told The Associated Press in a written statement.

"There is something unique in a message that comes directly from the Church, from the pastors. That is what the faithful want, and the people too," he said.

Cuba's government exerts tight control over all TV and radio broadcasting and considers the airwaves a matter of national strategic concern.

The Church was essentially shut out for decades following the 1959 revolution led by Fidel Castro. His government, officially atheist under the Constitution, closed Church schools and harassed priests, and believers of all faiths were barred from Communist Party membership.

Relations began thawing in the 1990s, and the church has periodically been granted TV time since Pope John Paul II's historic visit in 1998.

Today, Masses and Christmas celebrations are sometimes televised, as were recent processions marking the 400th anniversary of the appearance of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, the patron saint of Cuba.

But Catholic officials have repeatedly asked for more airtime broadcast on a more consistent basis to get their message out.

Marquez called the speeches by Ortega and Dionisio Garcia Ibanez, the archbishop of Santiago, a "magnificent opportunity" for the Church.

On Monday, the Communist Party newspaper Granma dedicated a lengthy editorial to the papal visit.

"We are sure that His Holiness will affectionately treasure the memory of this Caribbean Island, which values his visit as a manifestation of trust and a renewed expression of the excellent and uninterrupted relations between the Holy See and Cuba," it said.

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Editorial

Welcome to His Holiness Benedict XVI


ON Monday, March 26 the Cuban people will warmly and respectfully receive Pope Benedict XVI, Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City, as a guest of the government and the Cuban Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Cuba is honored to welcome his Holiness with hospitality and demonstrate the patriotism, culture, solidarity and humanist vocation of its people, which sustains the history and unity of our nation.

We will also welcome, with our characteristic friendship, the thousands of pilgrims present for what doubtless will be highly memorable days.

Fourteen years ago, with the same sentiments, the Cuban people received Pope John Paul II who, before leaving, spoke of "the profound impression" his stay made on him and gave thanks for the "cordial hospitality, a genuine expression of the Cuban soul."

The apostolic visit of Pope Benedict XVI, which will continue through March 28, is motivated by the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the image of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre.

Recently, her statue toured the country in the company of believers and non-believers.

We are confident that His Holiness will retain warm memories of the island and will value his visit as a demonstration of confidence and a renewed expression of the excellent and uninterrupted relations between the Holy See and Cuba.

In recent months, authorities of the Catholic Church, the Vatican and the Cuban government have all been working toward making Pope Benedict XVI’s visit a success.

From his arrival in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba, the cradle of national independence struggles, the Pope will be welcomed and accompanied by Cuban men and women.

The mass presence of the population in Santiago de Cuba and Havana, joined by compatriots from other provinces, will express the country’s satisfaction given the opportunity to receive the Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and will demonstrate our unity, community spirit and culture.

His Holiness will meet with a people secure in its convictions, noble, educated, impartial and organized, who defend the truth and listen with respect.

From his reception in Santiago de Cuba’s Antonio Maceo y Grajales Plaza de la Revolución and the José Martí Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, to his farewell, Pope Benedict XVI will find a nation fighting for human dignity, freedom, independence, solidarity and the common good, in order to win justice and a better world, which is not only possible, but essential.

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Progress on the altar stage for the Papal Mass at Plaza de la Revolucion.

Here is an excellent interview with Cardinal Tong of Hong Kong, whose outlook on the Church in China appears to be more positive and less belligerent than his predecessor as ARchbishop of HongKong, Caridnal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun.

New cardinal from Hong Kong:
'Vatican and China can reach
a win-win accord'
Cardinal John Tong Hon, who, in 1993, guided Cardinal Ratzinger around Hong Kong,
talks about Sino-Vatican relatioand believes both sides can reach a mutually beneficial
agreement through dialogue
Interview by Gerard O'Connell

Published in two parts
March 9 and March 13, 2012


Cardinal Tong at a Hong Kong news conference after he returned from the consistory.

Cardinal John Tong Hon, the seventh Chinese cardinal in the history of the Church, speaks of his childhood in mainland China in the first part of a long interview granted to me in Rome during the consistory.

Here he talks about his first official visit to Beijing in 1985, his moderate approach to the Communist Government there, his belief that “the future is bright” and “that the Chinese Catholic Church will one day enjoy full freedom”. In the second part of the interview, he talks about the relation between the Holy See and China.

[Biographical data about Cardinal Tong: Born in Hong Kong 31 July 1939; ordained priest 6 January 1966; appointed Vicar General of the Diocese 1992; ordained bishop 9 December 1996; appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Hong Kong 30 January 2008; installed as Bishop of Hong Kong 16 April 2009; elevated to Cardinal 18 February 2012.]

Were you surprised to be made cardinal?
Yes, very surprised. I found out less than one day before the Holy Father made the announcement. The representative of the Holy See called me just after dinner, 24 hours before that. He informed me of this news and said he would send a written message to communicate in a more formal way. He asked me to put my response in writing.

You had to say ‘Yes’ in writing?
Yes. I wrote a very short note to the Holy Father saying that after receiving this message, I felt unworthy and yet grateful. I said I do not consider this a credit to me but rather as a sign of his great love and concern for the Church in China and a great encouragement for the Diocese of Hong Kong, encouraging us to make greater efforts to play our Bridge Church role between the Church in China and the Universal Church. I pledged to do my utmost to fulfill this role.

What steps can you take now as a cardinal in this direction?
I have been doing this kind of work already for over 30 years.I was born in Hong Kong. When the Japanese invaded Hong Kong, my family first went to Macau, and then moved to Guangzhou in southern China. To safeguard my life my parents left me to stay with my grandma in a village outside of Guangzhou [still popularly called Canton outside China].

After the Second World War, my father got a job in Guangzhou, and therefore I pursued my primary school education there. But very soon, the Communists came and established their regime in the whole of China on October 1, 1949. So I know China to a certain degree.

So you spent your childhood in China?
Almost ten years! From two to eleven and a half.

Where and when were you baptized?
I was baptized in Guangzhou at eight years old. My mother had received her education under the Canossian Sisters in Hong Kong, and had a very good impression of the Sisters. She had experienced some considerable difficulties during the Second World War and after the war she finally decided to learn catechism and receive baptism, so she brought me along too. My father was baptized one year later.

You attended primary school in Guangzhou. What memory do you have of your school years there?
I began school there. When the Communists took over China, right away they made a very strong campaign for patriotism. Therefore, all the students in all the cities were mobilized to go out to dance. I was considered one of the good students in the school, so I always felt very proud to be chosen with other students selected by the Principal and other teachers, to dance on the streets, to join parades, and also to wash the army clothes for those soldiers who fought in the Korean War. I felt it was a kind of glory for myself, and the students and teachers would look at me as a good boy.

More importantly, before the Communists started their regime in China many wounded soldiers came down from the north to the southern part of China, I saw the suffering of the people and the love of the parish priest, giving emphatic expression to our Catholic doctrine which is to love all people, but especially those people in need. That’s the impression I gained and thus my vocation was inspired.

And you have carried that impression through to this day.
I hope so. From time to time I received some messages from China, even though I was in the minor seminary in Macau. In 1950s, many Catholics from China found their way to come out, and we as Catholics from Guangzhou gathered together once a month, to exchange information, and to keep our friendship, therefore I still could get some information about the situation in China.

Even when I was in the Regional Seminary in Hong Kong, we still gathered from time to time in Our Lady of Lourdes Parish where Fr Rene Chevelier MEP was parish priest. He had been a missionary in Guangzhou and took care of the lepers but was later expelled from the mainland and became parish priest in that parish, and showed fatherly love and taught the people as a good pastor.

What particular memory do you retain from those years in Guangzhou?
The great love of the missionaries in Guangzhou and of my grandma towards me. So when I was in minor seminary in Macau, I heard the news of the death of my grandma and I cried a lot. I was 13 or 14 years old. The older seminarians consoled me. That was a very fresh memory.

Then you studied in Rome - where you were ordained priest by Pope Paul VI in 1966, and later at the Chinese University in Hong Kong, and after teaching for some years in the seminary Bishop (later Cardinal) Wu, appointed you as head of the Holy Spirit Study Centre. You were close to Cardinal Wu?
Yes. I can tell you that sometimes he asked me to draft his pastoral letters. Of course he was a person who was very careful for his own writings, and therefore made a lot of corrections on my drafts.

So you are like him!
Yes! (laughs).

In 1985 Bishop Wu was invited for the first time by the Chinese authorities to visit the mainland, and he asked you to accompany him to Beijing and Shanghai.
Right. We were five in all: Bishop Wu, Father Michael Yeung then head of Communications, Dr. Joyce Chang who was a social worker for Caritas, and Dr. John Chen who was an outstanding educator, and myself.

At that time Bishop (later Cardinal) Ignatius Kung Pin-mei was in prison, and you wanted to meet him but couldn’t.
Yes, we wanted to. Actually we knew they wouldn’t really allow us, but we wanted to put them to the test. They asked us where we wanted to visit, and we said Shanghai. They allowed us to go to Shanghai, and asked us whom we wanted to visit there. We said Bishop Kung and they were so shocked and later said, “It’s not the right time yet”. Then we knew, we had tested the waters.

You were on that first delegation to Beijing shortly after Britain and China signed the agreement for the handover of Hong Kong. Did you negotiate then with the Chinese prior to the handover?
We did not negotiate. We exchanged ideas and shared views.

On that first visit to Beijing with Bishop Wu you met senior officials of the Religious Affairs Bureau, the United Front Department and the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. What did you learn from your talks with the Chinese then?
Well they always have been quite cautious. On the one hand they were open, but on the other hand they were also very reserved. Some experts say such attitudes are due to the fact that we are not talking to the top persons; these are not the high-ranking officials and therefore they cannot make any breakthrough.

This has been the case almost ever since when Vatican delegations meet their Chinese counterparts.
Yes.

It is well known that the Chinese authorities use what is known as ‘the bird-cage policy’, not only on religion but on almost everything else too. They give you freedom, but only within the cage, only in a restricted way. So the Vatican’s position has been to try to expand the cage.
AYes, let us enlarge it. I always take an optimistic attitude. I take a moderate approach towards the Communist Government because looking back over the full history of China from the beginning (from October 1, 1949), I can describe it with three models, as follows:

After the Communists took over China in 1949, they engaged in persecution; wanted to destroy religions and kick religious believers out from the country or change their minds. That was the “Model A”.

After Deng Xiaoping came to power in 1978, they made a great change, opening up to the outside world. The Chinese government started using the policy of tolerance in the treatment of religion and religious believers. That’s the “Model B”. Compared with the Model A they have already changed a lot.

As for the “Model C”, I would say that outside the mainland, including Hong Kong and Macau, people generally are enjoying full freedom. So those who are living in the Model C would not be satisfied with the situation in Model B. They really want to see a quick change in China; they want to offer salvation for those religious believers, particularly for our brothers and sisters in the Catholic Church because they still suffer from restrictions and suffer from manipulations.

But if you look at them from 1949 until today, you can see that they are already living in the middle (of this journey from Model A to Model C).

I agree with one of the very highly respected bishops inside China who said, “Like all other Communist countries the Government in China also wants to control the Church, and therefore uses some nominal Catholics to set up “a structure” to control the Church, which is the Patriotic Association”.

But the Holy Father in his Letter in 2007 said the Patriotic Association is “incompatible” with our Catholic doctrine and with our Catholic structure, because the members of “that structure” enjoy powers over the bishops in China which is incompatible with our Catholic faith, but that is what is happening in China.

The same bishop predicted that the Chinese Catholic Church will enjoy real freedom one day, but maybe not in the near future nor in the very distant future. I too believe the future is bright, and we can have the hope that the Chinese Catholic Church will one day enjoy full freedom as we are enjoying it nowadays outside (the mainland).

So you are confident they will reach “Model C”.
That is my hope. Yes! I think that with the communications techniques and also with the increasing permission offered to Chinese people, particularly those who are doing business inside China and outside it, their eyes are open, and so I think China has to be changed otherwise the regime cannot be maintained.

However, as outsiders, although we want China to move faster than it is doing right now, we do not want to see any chaotic situation happen to China. That would be disaster not only for China itself, but for the whole world too. So I think the gradual move would be a healthy way of moving ahead.

In this second part of the interview given to me, Cardinal Tong speaks about the struggle between China and the Holy See over the nomination of bishops and shares his conviction that it is possible for both sides to achieve real “win-win” solutions to the problems between them. He talks too about the love of John Paul II and Benedict XV for China and the Church in China, and his own wish to visit the mainland.

How do you think the Holy See should be approaching China today? I ask you this because you have participated in discussions in the high councils of the Church on this question for many years, and now you are an adviser to the Pope.
I am only a small potato! In any case, I hope that both sides would be patient and maintain to be open to each other, listening to the other side so that they can have a deeper and more fruitful dialogue. That is what we need. Then, of course, it is up to our superiors how to decide, and also up to God to make such a final decision.

For many years the Holy See and China have been trying to reach an accord on the appointment of bishops. One reason for the failure to reach this is that Beijing can, whenever it likes, ordain a candidate as bishop even if the Vatican considers the man totally unsuitable and has explained all this to them. In such a situation the Vatican is powerless to prevent such an ordination. How do you break that impasse?
On our side, I think education and formation are still very important. Ongoing formation for the seminarians and the priests inside China is also very important. On the one hand there is a push from the Government to make such an unacceptable person to be a bishop, but on the other hand if the priests and the Catholics inside China are well trained and receive a good formation, then they should have the strength to resist such a temptation. Even if a man is pushed by the Government to be a bishop candidate, the person himself plays a very important role.

But when the candidate chosen is a weak man who cannot resist the pressure or temptation given by the Chinese Government, what does the Vatican do, does it excommunicate him?
I think the Holy See was pushed into that corner last year, but the important thing is the preventive formation, and we have to emphasize this. I was formator in the seminary for a long time, and we always emphasized that when a man is ordained priest, he is not just ordained as an individual to serve the Church, he is also accepted into the college of priests.

When the Second Vatican Council talked about the bishop, it said he is enrolled into the college of bishops because Jesus did not select one apostle, but established twelve apostles, which means a team.

The priesthood was established as assistance to the bishops, when the Church developed more widely and the individual bishop, the successor of the apostles, could not take care of the whole diocese, the priests were developed but the same kind of spirit of a college was still maintained.

So formation of priests is of the utmost importance, but they should be formed not only as individuals but also with a collegial spirit.

So that is one of the bridge roles that the Church in Hong Kong can play; assisting in the formation of priests, religious and lay Catholics in the mainland.
Yes, also for lay Catholics. When I teach theology, I also emphasize what it means to be a Catholic. We baptize more than 6,000 people each year in Hong Kong, and we tell them that not only should they learn the Catechism and take one year and a half to be qualified to receive baptism, but also they should join a community or a small group to develop their spirit of communion.

We have to learn from the Early Church communities. If we read carefully the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2:42-47, we can see there are three elements in the Early Church communities.

These three elements can be expressed with three Greek words: first, didache, meaning the teaching of the Apostles; second, koinonia, meaning the community; and third, diakonia, meaning service, to serve others with faith, particularly to serve the poor and the people in need.

If we only emphasize the first and the third of these three elements without the second – the community – something would be lacking. This vision is fundamental not only for Catholics but also for priests and bishops.

In the meantime, of course the Chinese do always care about face, and this always has positive and negative impacts. Saving face, from the positive side it means that China always wants to keep a good reputation; from the negative point of view it means that sometimes the Chinese Government is too stubborn on certain points where they think they are right, without deeper consideration of the opinions offered by the other sides. So you have always two aspects to interpret this face-saving.

Therefore you believe good formation can break the impasse and avoid illicit ordinations?
Yes. But if a candidate is a weak person, and judged by the Holy See as not a suitable person to be a bishop, but the Government chooses him as candidate, then the others in the local Catholic community should help him, pray for him, to step aside or to withdraw from the episcopal ordination.

In many cases it is not only the Government but it is also the individual candidate who is responsible. Many priests in China are influenced by secular values and the special status in society that being a bishop can give them.

That’s what Pope Benedict calls “careerism” and “opportunism”.
Yes. Unfortunately too many priests in China today are ambitious; they want to be bishops.

You seem to be putting more blame on the individual candidates than on the Government that pushes, almost forces them. You are saying that while the Government may have created the context, the situation, it is the individual priest who feels attracted, who wants those kinds of benefits that come with being a bishop?
Yes, I would emphasize that. I mean we should not blame the Chinese Government only.

As a cardinal, as adviser to the Pope, what would your message be to the Chinese authorities at this point?
First, I would try to tell the Chinese Government officials that dialogue is very important.

Secondly, through dialogue we can always achieve “win-win” situations, meaning without sacrificing our principles and their principles, we still can find solutions.

The third thing is I ask the Government to believe that our Catholic Church always asks each Catholic to be patriotic, to love his or her own country.

Therefore I would ask the Government to trust also in Catholic believers so that if they really enjoy full freedom, they can make more contributions to their own country, and China and its Government will enjoy a better reputation in the whole world. That would be a real “win-win” situation for the Chinese Government, for the country, and also for the Catholic believers in China.

This is the message that Pope Benedict tried to convey in his Letter of 2007, and also one that Pope John Paul II communicated earlier.
Yes, that is true.

There is, of course, the problem you mentioned earlier: the Patriotic Association. What future do you see for it?
I think if the Government still wants to keep these people, and keep the name (of the Association), the members of the Association should play a very low key role. They can be used as the agents or the members of social agencies, like Caritas organizations under the mandates of the local Bishops. That could be one of the ways out for them. But I don’t know whether they would accept that or not.

So you are saying that in relation to the Chinese, we must dialogue, there is no exit, this is the road we have to take.
Right, there is no exit, we must dialogue. I think that now China, including this Government, is playing a very important role in the international arena, therefore they have to appreciate many international values, and we consider some of their standpoints too. I think in the long run that China will change in very important ways.

Right now there is an impasse in relations between the Holy See and China. At the same time, Beijing has not forced through any more illicit ordinations since July 2011, but neither has it been willing to sit down at a table to talk through the outstanding problems. Sure, there are exchanges between the Holy See and China, but there isn’t any progress. Maybe as you say one needs patience.
I wish to comment on what you said earlier when you mentioned that Holy See-China relations have reached an impasse. I always remember that some devout Catholics said that when we reach an impasse, or a difficult situation, this could be a good chance for us to have a deeper understanding of the situation, and to find a solution.

A crisis at present could become an opportunity for the future. So whenever we meet such kinds of difficulties, we have to try to think more deeply and more broadly.

On the other hand the Chinese authorities have still got bishops in prison, and before going to the opening ceremony of the Olympics you very courageously wrote an article in L’Osservatore Romano in which you highlighted this fact, and you did so again recently.
In my Christmas letter of 2010, I said we have to be ‘shining stars’ (in today’s world) and I told the people, my people inside and outside Hong Kong, that we also find many ‘shining stars’ in China, not only those in prison – bishops, priests and Catholics but also ‘shining stars’ in society like Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2010, and I said I hoped he will be released as soon as possible and enjoy full freedom.

And also those bishops who showed their unwillingness to be pushed to participate in the Eighth National Assembly of Catholic Representatives, in which the Patriotic Association and the so-called Bishops Conference also held their elections, which was held December 2010 in Beijing, I said they are also ‘shining stars’ in different degrees. I used my Christmas letter to send out such a message.

The underground Catholic community in China– the so-called underground Church – seems to be in a lot of difficulty these days. Its members are constantly under a lot of pressure, they are being enticed, pushed, detained and sometimes constrained to join the State recognized ‘open’ Church. What do you say to them?
I think we have to admire the underground communities and their spirit. Compared with the past, they have shown their openness to a certain degree; they have become more and more understanding than before. In the past, they attacked the open communities, now some of them will not do this. From their writings and the letters they have sent out, some of them show that their attitude has become moderate already.

I heard that after reading the Holy Father’s letter in 2007 some members of the underground communities – which are surviving in a separate way - even showed their openness toward the open Church community. They brought flowers to put on the altar in the chapel which is being used by the open Church. It was a symbolic act to show friendship, and it helped cut down tension.

So you see an evolution in the underground communities today?
A. Yes. However, China is huge, and varies from place to place, from person to person. I prefer to pick up positive examples to encourage people to learn from them.

John Paul II had great love for China and the Church in China. At the end of his life he was still ready to go there, even on a stretcher, if Beijing had invited him. You met him, what is your memory of him?
My first memory was when he took up his role as the Holy Father, at the beginning of his pontificate, he had a mention of China and the Catholics there.

A second memory was when Bishop Zen and I paid him a visit after being ordained bishops in Hong Kong. He told us that he prayed for the Church in China every day. And when we talked about the Church in China he was very attentive to what we were saying. This strongly reflected his attitude and his love for the Church in China.

Is that why you requested the Vatican to give you a relic of Blessed John Paul II to place in the Cathedral in Hong Kong?
That was one of the reasons, but we asked also because nowadays many more Chinese inside China enjoy permission to come to visit Hong Kong, as individuals or as communities. Every day thousands and thousands come. The Holy Father, John Paul II, wanted to visit China, and during his lifetime he could not visit, but now we have his relics – since November 2011 – and so he is now in China, and he can be touched by the Chinese!

Pope Benedict visited your Holy Spirit Study Centre when he was still Cardinal Ratzinger.
Yes, he came to Hong Kong for a seminar in 1993, at which Mother Teresa also spoke. Cardinal Wu who was then bishop asked me to drive Cardinal Ratzinger around Hong Kong during his visit. I was his chauffeur and brought him to see Chris Patten, the Governor of Hong Kong, showed him the scenery, took him to the seminary and told him about its history and explained its present situation. I also brought him to our centre, where he met some of the people working there.

And since he became Pope in 2005, you have met him several times.
Yes, at least once a year.

Pope Benedict seems really interested in China and especially the Church in China.
Yes, he is very interested. It is one of his priorities. He pays great attention to China and the Church there. This is my impression. Of course some people helped him to draft the Letter in 2007, but he also modified everything.

Now he has made you cardinal, what are you going to say to him?
I always thank him for his great love for the Church in China, and I will follow his guidelines, given in his Letter. You know that Letter has two parts. Part I offers the basic structures of the Church and our bottom lines for the Church to deal with the Government. Part II deals with formation: formation of bishops, priests, the sisters and the lay people. This second part regarding formation and on-going formation is very important.

On the one hand, we can say that the Government does not understand all this. On the other hand, our people should receive sufficient formation and also on-going formation so that in the important moments they can stand firm on principles, and be more fully empowered to resist some temptations. That is the reason why we uphold the importance of formation.

If the Chinese authorities were to invite you to Beijing, will you go?
Well, it depends. I would welcome this. The place doesn’t have to be the capital Beijing or Shanghai. It could be Guangzhou where I received my primary education and served Mass.

So you’d like to visit Guangzhou, the church where you served Mass and the school where you first studied?
Yes. The school is still there, but it is not a Catholic school anymore. It’s next to the Cathedral where I served Mass as an altar boy.

Cardinal Tong was also interviewed by 30 GIORNI, which has carried out its own independent reporting on the Church in China by sending out its publisher, editors and correspondents there from time to time. I have not yet read the interview, but it is the basis for an article today in Corriere della Sera by Alberto Mello0ni:


A cardinal for the dialog with China
by Alberto Melloni
Translated from

March 13, 2012

In the China file - which has been on the agenda of Popes for more than seven ecnturies - Benedict XVI wrote a significant new page when he created the Archbishop of Hongkong, John Tong Hon, a cardinal.

It is a crucial nomination because his predecessor in Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, has been for years the advocate of a hard line of closure towards the government of China, so total as to have placed at risk the results, however, small, of the years of diplomacy carried out by Mons. Pietro Parolin for John Paul II.

By making Tong a cardinal and naming Cardinal Fernando Filoni earlier to head the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples [Filoni, a veteran Vatican diplomat who hadhserved in iraq and the Philippines, which is headquarters for the Vatican's diplomatic efforts with China]
the China dossier has two new protagonists who will be caryring out this diplomacy at least in the next decade. [Melloni forgets to mention Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-fai, also from Hongkong, who is Filone'ss #2 man at Propaganda Fide!]

The Holy See's China position is well known, and recently, Cardinal Filoni reiterated it - not to close off dialog but to clearly lay out the foundations for such a dialog.

From the point of view of Propaganda Fide [which is directly concerned with the China question since it is in charge of the Church's missionary activities, and China is perhaps the most significant mission land for the Church at this time in history], the political and ecclesiological problems linked to episcopal ordinations, which the Chinese government has taken to decide unilaterally without allowing the Vatican to exercise its canonical right to name bishops, remain unresolved.

And this cannot be defined by the generous but self-interested activism of movements and religious orders in China. Nor can it be ignored that in various cases (many or few, depending on your point of view), it has been possible to nominate bishops agreed upon by both the Vatican and Beijing, even if this may not always be clearly stated in the Annuario Pontificio.

Therefore - there could be nothing 'more Christian' - both Beijing and the Vatican should be attentive to Catholicism in China as it is now lived: a minority religion, yes, but which has 12 million observant Catholics going to Mass on Sundays. That's more than Italian Massgoers today.

To understand what this Church in China says of itself, one must read the very important interview given by Cartdinal Tong to Gianni Valente of 30 Giorni in its April 2012 issue which will be released tomorrow.

Tong's family were war refugees in macao during the Japanese occupation, and he was educated in the faith by his Catholic mother and Maryknoll missionaries. A young deacon at the time of Vatican II, he was ordained by Paul VI on the Feast of the Epiphany in 1966 - so he was among the very first 'Conciliar' priests. He took part in the 1985 consecration of the Archbishop of Shanghai, Aloysius Jin, then 'illegitimate' but eventually accepted by Rome.

During the recent pre-consistory meeting of the College of Cardinals, he described the situation in the Chinese Church in three words - 'Surprising, difficult, possible'.

Surprising for its remarkable growth: One-third of China's 3,500 priests are younger than 50. In the 10 seminaries recognized by the government and the six that are not, there are 1,400 priests in formation today. And the number of faithful, which was quadrupled in the past 30 years, has apparently not reached its maximum.

Difficult because of the controversy over the choice of bishops: an authority which in Christian lands before the modern era, Rome had shared with their crowned monarchs, and which in the China of the future, must be the result of a qualitative bilateral selection of candidates.

Possible, because the experience of persecution and conflict (of which Mons. Jin is a striking example), indicates that the course of the Gospel in China is only beginning and that it will have much to teach the Church, whose task is not to "change the political system" but to announce Jesus Christ.

Tong defines himself as a 'moderate', open to 'dialog', although he is faithful to the ecclesiology of communion, the reason for which each bishop becomes a member of the episcopal college, and as such, is neither a Vatican prefect, as Pius XII pointed out, nor the vicar of any government.

But Tong is not indulgent of those who would denigrate a Catholicism that does not fit into their preconceived schemes, or who would arrogate the power to declare who is a friend or an enemy of the Pope without any authority to do so.

This unhealthy tendency has caused damage not just in China. The news leaks or rumors coming from unfaithful ecclesiastics, badly formed and chosen even worse, but who have caused agitation in the news in recent years, are perhaps linked to such an indulgence in a way much worse than it seems. [Exactly what 'rumors' does Melloni mean? Is it the narrative promoted by Cardinal Zen that the 'underground' Church should continue to keep apart from the 'official Church' - despite what Benedict XVI's 1977 letter urged - because the latter is hopelessly compromised? On the other hand, there are occasional news reports from news agencies that there are dioceses and parishes where a 'peaceful coexistence' between the two communities - in the spirit of Benedict XVI's letter - has been possible.]

That a Chinese cardinal should now point out the great horizons of the Gospel in time must be considered a balm for these wounds and bruises to the Body of Christ in China.

Contrary to reports, John Paul II's postulator
still has to decide which probable miracle
to present for the late Pope's canonization
by Antoine-Marie Izoard


ROME, March 13 - Last March 8, the Italian weekly magazine Panorama wrote of reports of a second miracle being attributed to Blessed John Paul II, announcing that the dossier on a new case of healing, for which no explanation could be found, had been sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

It is possible the Polish Pope could have performed other miracles, but no miracle case has been sent yet to the Vatican dicastery in charge of the causes of saints, the Vatican Insider has learned.

So the postulator of the cause, Mgr. Slawomir Oder, still has to inform the Vatican which miracle he believes offers the most valid proof in support of the Polish Pope’s cause for canonization.

This new miracle, however, must have taken place after John Paul II’s beatification last May 1st. This inexplicable healing will be examined by a medical commission of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, followed by a theological commission, and finally by a meeting of bishops and cardinals who are members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The postulator recently stressed that his “main task” was “to monitor the case regarding the potential miracle which could kick-start a process leading to the recognition of a new miracle.”

Meanwhile, the Polish prelate is travelling around the world, acting as custodian of John Paul II’s blood relic. After the relic was venerated in the Colombian Dioceses of Bogotá and Cartago, in January, it travelled on to Lagos, Nigeria in February.


Elsewhere at the Congregation for Saints..


South Africans look forward to
beatification of a layman killed
for his opposition to witchcraft
Translated from


March 12, 2012

Joseph Ratzinger spoke in defense of victims of witchcraft during his 2009 trip to Angola, just as some proposals had been made by the Synod of Bishops for Africa (held in the Vatican in 2009) to combat it.

One of the suggestions made was that every diocese on the continent equip itself with an exorcist so as to help victims of magical practices.

"The cause (for beatification) of Benedict Daswa is for martyrdom," the Bishop of the Diocese of Tzaneen, Joao Rodrigues, told the media. The prelate said that a first report has been sent to the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints. It is 850 pages long - the work of 5 years of inquiry, conducted by interviewing witnesses deemed reliable by the diocesan authorities.

According to MissiOnline, the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME)’s website, the documentation was sent to the Vatican in July 2009.

When a beatification case is put forward in a diocese, the "Positio" phase ensues; this involves gathering evidence from witnesses, documents and legal acts, which is essential in deciding whether the case is for heroic virtue or martyrdom.

It is for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the commission of cardinals and theologians, and ultimately the Pope, to finally recognize the status of martyr. In this case, the declaration of beatitude or sainthood can occur even without the presence of a confirmed miracle, which is required for anyone who is not a martyr.

Benedict Daswa belonged to the Lemba clan, whose members are known as the "black Jews". As a teenager he converted to Catholicism and was baptized at the age of 16.

Witchcraft and black magic are still very popular even in progressive South Africa - particularly in rural areas. There are often stories in the media of persons murdered to remove their organs and use them in magical rites.

Lynched by a superstitious mob 22 years ago because he was opposed to witchcraft, Benedict Daswa could become the first blessed South African. Suspense is high as people await the outcome of the cause of beatification started by the Catholic Diocese of Tzaneen, in the Northern Province of Limpopo, according to the March 11, 2012, issue of the Sunday Times, a South African Sunday paper.

Daswa, a devout and fervent Catholic, was 46 years old and a father of eight when, in February 1990, a crowd of inhabitants from the small village of Mbahe - about 150 km north of Polokwane - killed him by scalding with boiling water, stoning and beating him to death with sticks.

His crime? He had steadfastly refused to participate in enlisting a witch to identify whom superstitious inhabitants of this rural region claimed to be responsible for the lightning storms that were occurring in the area.

Daswa explained that his faith did not allow him to have anything to do with witchcraft, his younger brother Thanyani told the Sunday Times. Moreover, according to the brother, Benedict was also a very successful businessman and this had provoked the envy of many in the village.

Three weeks after Pope Benedict XVI’s second trip to Africa last October, he called the attention of visiting Angolan bishops once more to one of the worst plagues of the "sick giant": witchcraft, which is especially harmful to children and vulnerable people. He had spoken against witchcraft when he visited Angola in 2009.

According to UNICEF, tens of thousands of children in Africa are tortured or killed by witchcraft. It is urgent, the Pope told the Angolan bishops visiting Rome, that the Church, "civil society and governments,” make a "joint effort" "to counter the "calamity" of the "ritual assassination of children and the elderly" in the name of witchcraft.

Denouncing the risks of such traditional rites and customs, he urged the Church to educate against "practices that are incompatible" with Christianity. "Afflicted by existential problems," he noted, in Africa people have recourse "to practices that are incompatible with Christian discipleship."

"The abominable effects of this," he remarked, "are marginalization and even the murder of children and elderly people, condemned by the false teachings of witchcraft."

Recalling that human life is sacred in all its phases and situations, the Pope urged the bishops to continue to "raise your voice in favor of the victims".

Thanks to Lella and her blog for this item, though I have not managed to trace it online; she credits the copyright to 'Vita' but I cnanot locate this in any list of Italian newspapers, magazines or Catholic publications, and if I search using the article title, I end up with couple of citations of the blog.... Brunelli is a veteran Vaticanista whose commentaries on Benedict XVI's Pontificate have generally been positive, and even excellent occasionally. My only problem with him is that he wrote the infamous article purporting to recount what went on inside the 2005 Conclave on the basis of supposed 'disclosures' by an unnamed cardinal. He either used the anonymous cardinal as a device to account for data he gathered independently, or there really was a cardinal who did not mind violating the secrecy oath he swore before the Conclave, to perpetrate his tale in the media, and whom Brunelli believed enough to write the dubious 'scoop'...

On the Pope's resignation
and Ferrara's advice
by Lucio Brunelli
Translated from 'VITA'
March 13, 2012

Papa Ratzinger like Celestine V? Like the 'Pope of the great rejection' as Dante called him, the humble and pious Pope who stripped himself of the vestments and trappings of the Successor of Peter and abdicated his functions?

The remote hypothesis that Benedict XVI might one day imitate the gesture of his most venerated medieval predecessor appears to be capturing the imagination of the mass media, bringing forth so many speculations, gossip and unlikely theories.

Such as that presented by Giuliano Ferrara in his newspaper Il Foglio, according to which the German Pope could (or rather, should) resign in order to influence more effectively the choice of his successor - perhaps a theological clone of his, but more 'muscular' and less 'penitential' than Benedict XVI has been (too 'penitential', it seems, for Ferrara who is a declared atheist).

For those who may ask, can a Pope resign? Yes, the Church allows this. On two conditions: that the Pope has come to his decision voluntarily and freely, and that he can explain it clearly.

All the Popes of the last century have had to face the dilemma of resignation at one time or other, fearing that with old age, they may lose mental lucidity.

Nature has helped them all. None of them had the least symptoms of Alzheimer's or other age-related mental weakness, nor did anyone ever fall into a prolonged coma.

With Papa Wojtyla, he was held up by his personal mystical vision of the Papacy in which the Vicar of Christ, even arriving at the extreme limits of suffering and physically invalid, cannot and must not 'descend from the Cross'.

Papa Ratzinger does not seem to have this mystical tendency. [He says so!, but then, even if he were 'mystic', he would be the type who would keep that his secret alone]. For him, the Papacy is a function - important, but 'not the last recourse', as he said last March 4 to the faithful in a Roman parish, since "the last recourse is the Lord alone". [Very Ratzingerian!]

Moreover, he stated his thinking about resignation very clearly in the interview-book with Peter Seewald Light of the World published in November 2010: “If a pope clearly realizes that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of his office, then he has a right, and under some circumstances, also an obligation to resign.”

So, he said everything he needs to say about this issue, more than a year ago, quite simply and clearly. He considers it his duty to abdicate if and when he feels that he no longer has the physical mental and spiritual energies to carry out his ministry.

Has this moment arrived? In the Roman Curia, gossip thrives. Some have hypothesized he would do so on April 16, when he turns 85. Others, after this hypothesis was shot down all round, now claim he will do at the end of the Year of Faith that he decreed (in November 2012).

No one can know other than Benedict XVI himself - and he is not likely to confide his plans to some monsignor in the Curia! [But even this is assuming that he is thinking of resigning, even when there is no objective reason for doing so - at least, none that the outside world is aware of, nor even hinted at! Of course, he's the first Pope to reach 85 since Leo XIII - in whose time there was no 24/7 media who monitored his every breath for signs of imminent death! - but he is far from incapacitated in any significant way, or in any way that is not normal to men of his age!]

He probably has not even planned what to do if the eventuality arose, because his actual psycho-physical conditions appear normal for a man his age. [There you are!]

In the recent consistory, he asked the new cardinals and the faithful to pray for him so that he "may continue to guide the tiller of the Church with gentle firmness". [And everyone thought at the time that it was his direct response to those who have been hypothesizing his resignation! Nothing has changed in the few weeks since then! Why the new onslaught?]

The same spiritual determination with which he faced the scabrous case of Father Maciel's Legionaries of Christ [How about the entire priest-abusers crisis????] and the irreversible reforms of IOR - matters left untouched by the Polish Pope, perhaps because of the many Curial opacities and complicities that Benedict XVI has had the courage to pry open.

Of course, anything can happen. With or without a papal resignation. But the only scenario that is not at all realistic is that of a retired Ratzinger who would seek, as a superannuated cardinal, to direct the interplay in the Conclave to elect his successor.

First, because this does not fall at all within the rules of the Church, but above all, it does not fit Benedict XVI's style or personality at all.

If one day he should decide to resign as Pope, we can be sure he will make himself instantly invisible, self-secluded in some closed monastic cloister.


I have not, of course, made reference here to a follow-up article to Ferrara by Antonio Socci, who filed the story in September, while the Pope was visiting in Germany, that he may resign when he turns 85 this April. It is doubly distressing that two self-declared admirers of Benedict XVI - from when he was Cardinal Ratzinger - like Ferrara and Socci should have been the ones to feed the 'resignation speculation' hypothesis, for no objective reason one can see other than as an intellectual exercise on their part ("Our brains are extraordinary, and mere mortals cannot even begin to conceive what we can!").

But why did they choose to turn on the Holy Father as the target for their intellectual speculations which are, at the very least, unkind, and at worst, cruel, to him? How can monumental ego trump common sense and elementary decency?

Some commentators claim to see the Ferrara-Socci initiatives as part of an externally orchestrated effort to 'pressure' Benedict XVI into resigning. Which is absurd because no one has ever thought Joseph Ratzinger is someone who would cave in to any pressure. And who might these external 'forces' be who are behind such an attempt, and what do they hope to accomplish by it? Put a sudden stop to Benedict XVI's reforms and install someone who will not rock their boat? The latter is easy to say, not at all easy to do. It would be tantamount to doing battle against the Holy Spirit.

It is just as absurd to think that Ferrara and Socci would lend themselves to any such externally orchestrated campaign. They are much too egotistic for that. And to what end? Since they claim tacitly to want the next Pope to carry out more directly and effectively what they consider ought to be the program for a Pope, how do they know they will get such a Pope, even assuming the unthinkable situation that a 'retired Ratzinger' would seek to guide the choice of his own successor? Their wishful thinking only generates a labyrinth of illogic and improbability that one can only think their minds have become the devil's playground. I can find no other rationale.

It's incredible that anyone is even wasting time on such speculation. and yet we are. Long and well and healthily may Benedict XVI continue to serve as Vicar of Christ on earth!

Tony Blair, who could well be the poster boy for cafeteria Catholicism (neutralizing if not dissipating the effect of his conversion to Catholicism), made news last week by announcing he was in favor of gay 'marriage', against the teaching of the Church and the consequent pastoral statement of the Catholic bishops of England and Wales in defense of traditional marriage. This article however is his take on the Chinese government's current policy of encouraging religion (though it's strange that Blair makes no mention of the Tibetan Buddhists, who continue to be repressed terribly, or the Falun Gong, condemned by the government for being a seditious movement).

This text is taken from the next issue of the bimonthly magazine Vita e Pensiero OF the Catholic University of Milan. I cannot find the English original online, although the Insider claims it was published by the Washington Post, but the last item by Blair published by the Post and catalogued by them was from November 2011.

The new China
is close to God
by Tony Blair
Former Prime Minister of Great Britain
Translated from the Italian service of


LONDON - In China there are more Muslims than in all of the European Union. There are more Protestant faithful than in Great Britain. More practising Catholics that in Italy, counting both the underground Church and the Patriotic Association Catholics. And it is estimated that at least 100 million are Buddhists.

I found myself in a Chinese province visiting its Muslim governor who asked me openly and with interest about the activities of my Faith Foundation. Official surveys shows that about one Chinese citizen in three self-describes as 'a religious person'. It is a situation very different from just ten years ago.

Moreover, the government of Beijing is deliberately promoting a revival of Confucianism and other ancient Chinese moral philosophies, besides having supported a recent national forum on Tapoism and Buddhism.

Such approval on the part of the government is a sign of modern China's return to taking pride in her history and her ancient culture. the arrival of Islam and of Nestorian Christians in the 7th century, and the well-known Jesuit adaptation to Chinese culture during the 17th century - which was opposed by a then intransigent Vatican - are part of that history.

Confucianism, in particular, shows that the boundaries among faith, philosophy and morality can often be blurred. Confucianism represents faith understood as a cultural value - the negation of self for the interests of others.

Whenever faith has given rise to works of grace or courage, it has been the result of such Confucian gestures. It has nothing to do with ritual, doctrine or abstract theology, even if these aspects are important. It is a faith that has to do with human sentiments - particularly compassion and mercy.

The opening towards religions by the Chinese government - an opening which is complex but growing - is also a sign of something no less important: the international relations of a China in expansion and the problems created by her own economic growth, which is extraordinary and carries global significance.

The religious aspect of China's rise as a global power does not often get into the headlines. But from my experience, a country cannot be understood only by reading its politics, studying her economic statistics, measuring its gross national product.

One can understand a country better when one comes in contact with her culture, her history and traditions; with family life, the factors that have influenced her society, and above all, with her people.

The growing determination of China to commit herself with respect to religious ideas and institutions can only favor relationships between the East and the West. China embraces 60 different ethnic groups. And as I underscored, her religious diversity is obvious.

Therefore the way that China frames her course towards a 'harmonious society' [the Confucian ideal] is not just of global interest, but is also material that we can study and that perhaps we can learn from. Likewise, the way in which faith influences stability and harmony in other parts of the world will be of great interest to China.

Above all, it is the goal of a harmonious society 9we would call it honest or just) that makes China's government committed to religion. The influx of great numbers of persons from the rural areas to the coastal cities, their social position, the problems of migrants whose moral compass was set to navigate in family matters and not through the rgeat challenges of industrial cities - all this constitute an enormous challenge.

Emerging questions are the following:
- Having arrived a this point in capitalist development, how will the government provide for the residential needs of recently arrived migrants?
- Who will provide the social services necessary to a vast and new population stratum uprooted from the rural areas to serve the needs of China's manufacturing industries?
-What will happen to the aged, considering the consequences of a demographic policy which has imposed a 'one-child family? Adn what about health care?

The Christian churches and communities offer a network of relations that is wider than the limits of family, whether it is nuclear or extended. The Christian churches offer the newly-arrived migrant a community in which to ease the strangeness of facing the privations and isolation of urban life.

The social and charitable activities of the churches are seen as a significant glue within a society in motion and undergoing considerable pressures. The moral formation offered by catechists and Christian teaching constitute a valid resource for raising a new generation of young people who will not be without a moral compass.

There is a correspondence between that which religion can offer and that which Chinese society needs in this phase of her economic transformation. this does not mean that the party in power is not interested in the control and regulation of the different religions. Religion can be strongly motivating, and when it is allied to a particular ethnic group, it can be threatening.

The conflict with the Pope over the naming of bishops and the complex situation of the Patriotic Association promoted by the State are the concrete symptoms of a nationalistic sensibility. But even these tensions are gradually improving. \

But the donations by Christians who belong to the urban middle class for the victims of the Sichuan earthquake, the role of Christian entrepreneurs in the province of Wenzhou where they provide cradle-to-grave assistance to their workers, religions as a course of social benefits and an aid to the fight against corruption - all this have become interesting to the new Chinese nationalism.

The growth of interest in religious studies and their proliferation in Chinese universities are a product of this religious reawakening. Thomas Aquinas's concept of an organic society and its need for virtue finds correspondence in some aspects of Confucian ethics.

In China, one can meet more Thomistic thinkers than in Great Britain, just as one can find greater intellectual enthusiasm for Christian thought.

Just 25 years ago, Amity Press, the official publishing house of the Patriotic Association, started to print the first Bibles in Chinese. It has only been three years since Hu Jintao, the Chinese President and secretary general of the Chinese Communist Party, declared to the Politburo in Beijing: "We must strive to unite religious figures and believers in order to construct a prosperous all-around society, accelerating our pace towards modernization and socialism" - sentiments which were sustained in many official statements by Premier Wen Jiabao.

Where is this situation leading to? "Never impose on others what you do not wish to be imposed on yo," Confucius advised. We have much to learn from the religious experience that is developing in China, just as we are learning from her incredible conquest of the global economy.

Wednesday, March 14, Third Week of Lent

ST. MATHILDE OF SAXONY (Germany, d 968), Queen, Mother, Widow
Born to noble parents, Mathilde was raised by her grandmother, the Abbess of Erfurt convent. In 909, she married Otto the Fowler, who became Duke of Saxony when his father died, then succeeded to the German throne in 919. As queen, she was noted for her piety and charitable works. Widowed in 936, she supported her younger son Henry against her firstborn Otto to succeed to their father. But Otto prevailed, and would become known as Otto the Great when he became the first Holy Roman Emperor. Mathilda, criticized by her sons for her extravagant charities, gave over her inheritance to them and retired to her country home. She had to intervene many times when her younger son led uprisings against Otto, eventually dying in 955. She went on to build three convents and a monastery, and was left in charge of the kingdom when Otto went to Rome to be crowned Emperor. She spent the declining years of her life in the Nordhausen convent she had built but died at the monastery in Oedlinburg where she was buried beside her husband.
Readings for today's Mass: usccb.org/bible/readings/031412.cfm


AT THE VATICAN TODAY

General Audience - The Holy Father started a new chapter in his catecheses on Christian prayer to reflect on prayers found in the Acts of the Apostles and the Letters of St. Paul. Today's catechesis, in St. Peter's square, was devoted to Mary as the exemplar of prayer in recollection. Among those he met after the catechesis was an Irish delegation led by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin who came to report on preparations for the 50th Eucharistic Congress to be held in Dublin this June.

GENERAL AUDIENCE TODAY







'Mary in prayer:
Mother of God,
Mother of the Church'

March 14, 2012

Pope Benedict XVI began a new chapter in his catechetical cycle on hristian prayer at his General Audience today in St. Peter's Square. Here is how he summarized the lesson in English:

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In our continuing catechesis on Christian prayer, we now begin a new chapter on prayer in the Acts of the Apostles and the Letters of Saint Paul.

Today I wish to speak of the figure of Mary, who with the Apostles in the Upper Room prayerfully awaits the gift of the Holy Spirit. In all the events of her life, from the Annunciation through the Cross to Pentecost, Mary is presented by Saint Luke as a woman of recollected prayer and meditation on the mystery of God’s saving plan in Christ.

In the Upper Room, we see Mary’s privileged place in the Church, of which she is the "exemplar and outstanding model in faith and charity" (Lumen Gentium, 53).

As Mother of God and Mother of the Church, Mary prays in and with the Church at every decisive moment of salvation history. Let us entrust to her every moment of our own lives, and let her teach us the need for prayer, so that in loving union with her Son we may implore the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the spread of the Gospel to all the ends of the earth.

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Vatican Radio has provided the English translation of the entire catechesis:

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Dear brothers and sisters,

With today’s catechesis I would like to begin to speak about prayer in the Acts of the Apostles and the Letters of St. Paul.

St. Luke, as we know, has given us one of the four Gospels, dedicated to the earthly life of Jesus, but he also left us what has been defined as the first book on the history of the Church, the Acts of the Apostles.

In both of these books, one of the recurring elements is prayer, from that of Jesus to that of Mary, that of the disciples, the women and the Christian community.

The Church's initial path was primarily punctuated by the action of the Holy Spirit, who transforms the Apostles into witnesses of the Risen Christ to the shedding of their blood, and the rapid spread of the Word of God in the East and West.

However, before the proclamation of the Gospel became widespread, Luke records the story of the Ascension of the Risen One (cf. 1, 6-9). The Lord delivered to the disciples the program of their existence that would be devoted to evangelization, and says: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria and to the ends of earth" (Acts 1,8).

In Jerusalem, the Apostles, who were now Eleven after the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, are gathered in the house to pray, and it is in prayer that they await the promised gift of the Risen Christ, the Holy Spirit.

In this context of waiting, between Ascension and Pentecost, St. Luke mentions Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and her family, for the last time (v. 14). He dedicated the beginning of his Gospel to Mary - the announcement of the angel of the birth and infancy of the Son of God made man.

With Mary the earthly life of Jesus begins and with Mary the first steps of the Church began, and at both moments the climate is one of listening to God in recollection.

Today, therefore, I will touch on this prayerful presence of Mary in the group of disciples who will be the nascent Church. Mary followed her Son's journey throughout his public ministry and to the foot of the cross with discretion, and now continues to follow the Church's path in silent prayer.

At the Annunciation, in Nazareth, Mary received the Angel of God, she was attentive to his words, received and responded to his divine plan, expressing her complete openness: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1.38).

Mary, because of her inner attitude of listening, is capable of reading her own history, acknowledging with humility that it is for the Lord to act. On a visit to her cousin Elizabeth, she breaks into a prayer of praise and joy, a celebration of the divine grace that fills her heart and her life, making her the Mother of the Lord (cf. Lk 1:46-55). - praise, thanksgiving, joy in the canticle of the Magnificat.

Mary does not just look at what God has done in her, but also to what he did and always does in history. Ambrose, in a famous commentary on the Magnificat, invites us to have the same spirit in prayer and says: "May Mary's soul be in each one of us to magnify the Lord, and Mary’s spirit be in each one of us to rejoice in God" (Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam 2, 26: PL 15, 1561).

Even in the Upper Room in Jerusalem, in the "upper room, where he used to meet" the disciples (cf. Acts 1.13), in an atmosphere of listening and prayer, she is present, before the doors are thrown open and they begin to proclaim Christ the Lord to all nations, teaching to observe all that He had commanded (cf. Mt 28,19-20).

The stages of the journey of Mary - from the house of Nazareth to Jerusalem, through the cross where her Son entrusts her to the apostle John - are marked by the ability to maintain a persistent atmosphere of meditation, meditation on each event in the silence of her heart before God (cf. Lk 2.19 to 51), and meditation before God to understand the will of God and become able to accept it within.

Thus, the presence of the Mother of God with the Eleven, after the Ascension, is not just a historical record of the past, but takes on a meaning of great value, because she shares with them ,in prayer, what is her most precious asset: her living memory of Jesus, the mission of Jesus - preserving the memory of Jesus and thus also his presence.

The last mention of Mary in the two writings of St. Luke takes place on the Sabbath, the day of God's rest after the Creation, the day of silence after the death of Jesus and the expectation of his resurrection. The tradition of venerating the Virgin on Saturday is rooted in this tradition.

Between the Ascension of the Risen one and the first Christian Pentecost, the Apostles and the Church gather with Mary to wait with her for the gift of the Holy Spirit, without which one cannot become a witness for Christ.

She who already received it to generate the Incarnate Word, shares with the whole Church the expectation of the same gift, so that "Christ may be formed" in the heart of every believer (cf. Gal 4.19).

If there is no Church without Pentecost, there is no Pentecost without the Mother of Jesus, because she lived in a unique way that which the Church experiences each day under the action of the Holy Spirit.

Saint Chromatius of Aquileia comments on the Acts in this way: "It is therefore the Church gathered in the Upper rRom with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. One cannot therefore speak of the Church unless Mary, Mother of God is present... The Church of Christ is where the Incarnation of Christ from the Virgin is preached, and, where the apostles, who are brothers of the Lord, preach, - it is there where the Gospel is heard" (Sermon 30.1: SC 164, 135).

The Second Vatican Council wished to particularly emphasize this bond that is visibly manifested in Mary and the Apostles praying together, in the same place, awaiting the Holy Spirit.

The Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium on the Church states: "Since it has pleased God not to manifest solemnly the mystery of the salvation of the human race before He would pour forth the Spirit promised by Christ, we see the apostles before the day of Pentecost 'persevering with one mind in prayer with the women and Mary the Mother of Jesus, and with His brethren' ( Acts 1,14), and Mary by her prayers imploring the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the Annunciation." (n. 59).

The privileged place of Mary is the Church, wherefore she is hailed as a pre-eminent and singular member of the Church, and as its type and excellent exemplar in faith and charity." (ibid., n. 53). Thus Vatican II.

Venerating the Mother of Jesus in the Church, then, means to learn from her to be a community that prays - that is one of the essential characteristics of the first description of the Christian community outlined in the Acts of the Apostles (cf. 2,42).

Prayer is often dictated by difficult situations, personal problems that lead us to turn to the Lord for light, comfort and help. Mary invites us to open the dimensions of our prayer, to turn to God not only in need and not just for ourselves but in a unanimous, persevering, faithful way "of one heart and mind" (cf. Acts 4,32).

Dear friends, human life passes through various stages of transition, often difficult and demanding, which require mandatory choices, sacrifices. The Mother of Jesus was placed by the Lord at the decisive moments of salvation history and has always been able to respond with full availability, the result of a deep relationship with God developed in assiduous and intense prayer.

Between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, the Beloved disciple was entrusted to her, and with him the whole community of disciples (cf. Jn 19,26). Between Ascension and Pentecost, she is with and in the Church in prayer (cf. Acts 1,14).

Mother of God and Mother of the Church, Mary exercises this motherhood until the end of history. We entrust to her every passing phase of our personal and ecclesial life, not least that of our final transit.

Mary teaches us the necessity of prayer and shows us that only with a constant, intimate bond, full of love with her son, can we emerge from "our house", by ourselves, with courage, to reach the ends of the world and proclaim everywhere the Lord Jesus, Saviour of the world.

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Among those who met briefly with the Pope after the GA was the Archbishop of Baghdad, Cardinal Emmanuel Dellay, Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, who is visiting Rome with other Chaldean bishops.

Pope rings bell for
Irish spiritual renewal

March 14, 2012



Pope Benedict XVI has joined the ranks of the quarter of a million pilgrims to 'ring for renewal' of the Church in Ireland on the International Eucharistic Congress Bell.

Ahead of his weekly general audience the Holy Father met with a delegation from the IEC-2012 organizing committee from Dublin, Ireland, led by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, beneath the ‘Arch of the Bells’ to the left of the Vatican Basilica.

Fr Kevin Doran, Secretary General of IEC2012 said: "The Pope blessed the bell, rang it vigorously, and paused to admire the icons as Archbishop Martin explained their significance. He was also presented with Shamrock by Colette Furlong and with the first copy of the Congress Commemorative Medal, by Sheena Darcy."

"To the surprise of its critics, the Eucharistic congress is taking shape as a genuine moment of renewal in the church," said Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, when he launched the “Ring for renewal” initiative earlier this week.

Recalling the Eucharistic Congress that took place in Dublin back in 1932, the Archbishop said that gathering marked a moment of reconciliation for people who had recently emerged from a bitter civil war.

In a similar way, he said, the year’s event aims to be “a moment of healing within the Irish Church” after these “very difficult times”.

Archbishop Martin noted that the pilgrimage of the bell – a symbol of gathering people in and stressing their communion with Christ and with one another – comes exactly two years after Pope Benedict’s letter to Irish Catholics on March 19th 2010 at the height of the [Media Frenzy Chapter II over the] sexual abuse crisis.

The pilgrimage of the bell started in Dublin one year ago, he stressed, "so these are two processes that belong together”.

The CNS story has a few more details...

Pope rings bell symbolizing call
to turn out for Eucharistic Congress
by Carol Glatz


VATICAN CITY, March 14, 2012 (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI blessed and rang the official International Eucharistic Congress bell, which has been on tour across Ireland for nearly a year, in preparation for the world meeting in June.

An Irish delegation, led by the 2012 congress president Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, presented the Pope with the small brass bell before the start of his weekly general audience March 14. Before the Pope was driven into St. Peter's Square, he met with the delegation and rang the bell.

Congress organizers said a quarter of a million Irish pilgrims have rung the bell since the start of its pilgrimage March 17, 2011.

The bell has been brought to parishes, schools, nursing homes and hospitals throughout Ireland to raise awareness about the Eucharistic congress and to call people to attend the event.

According to tradition, St. Patrick left a bell in every church he consecrated as a way to call people to the Eucharist, congress organizers said.

The delegation also presented the Pope with a medal commemorating the congress, and a bowl of Irish shamrock to mark the March 17 feast of St. Patrick.

The 50th International Eucharistic Congress takes place in Dublin June 10-17 with the theme: "The Eucharist: Communion With Christ and With One Another."

[The rest of the story is about the Pope's catechesis at the GA.]

It seems Benedict XVI, alone among all world leaders, has paid any attention at all to the terrorist killings of Christians in Nigeria that is part of the worldwide step-up in anti-Christian persecution. Two reports underscore why the Nigerian situation must not be overlooked nor under-estimated...

What is the world doing about
anti-Christian killings in Nigeria?


WASHINGTON, D.C., March 14, 2012 (CNA) - The faith-based organization Release International has launched an emergency appeal for victims of extremist attacks in Nigeria.

So far over 100 Christians have been killed this year in violence perpetrated by the extremist Islamic group Boko Haram in Northern Nigerian regions.

Thousands of Christians who have fled their homes as a result of the recent militant atrocities have been helped by local churches and by the authorities. But the situation remains desperate so funds are still needed to provide vital support.

As well as counselling for victims of the violence and medical help, financial aid is also needed for those who have lost the family breadwinner.

Linda Bordoni spoke to Matt Constant, communications manager at Release International about the current appeal and about the work of the organization itself.

Constant explains that the Charity has been going for some 40 years, and its basic ethos is to support and to serve persecuted Christians around the world.



Release' works in more than thirty countries supporting Church leaders and especially Christian prisoners and their families, as well as supplying literature, Bibles, and working for justice.

As regards the month of prayer organized this March for Christian victims of the violence in Nigeria, Constant says 'Release' is also asking people to write to the Nigerian authorities expressing their concern and urging them to do all they can to tackle the rise of extremist violence in the country.

Constant explains that 'Release' depends on partners on the ground to provide trauma councelling and for getting aid to where it is needed.

North Korea is one of the countries on Release International's list of countries in need of help. Many Christians there, Constant says, are in concentration camps; "Christians can be arrested just for owning a Bible, and if a family member is arrested, then up to three generations of that family can be imprisoned". We know, he says, that Christians are under that kind of pressure as well as the pressure all North Koreans are under for living under dictatorship.

In addition, he says, there is a food crisis. Last year, Constants says, 'Release' handed in a petition to the North Korean Embassy in London with just over 50.000 names calling for religious freedom in North Korea, hoping it will speak to the authorities to bring about change.

This petition was also handed in to No. 10 Downing Street urging the British Government to press for change in North Korea. And Constant says, "Release" urges countries throughout the world, who may have influence there, to bring up human rights issues in North Korea whenever they can.

More generally, Constant speaks of the situation of North Korea where the people are living an extremely difficult life. He says that for example because of the malnutrition there, North Koreans are getting shorter, and so the army has lowered the height levels for people entering the military.

Constant also speaks of the situtation in Pakistan where he says there are two main areas of concern: first of all Christians in Christian communities who can come under pressure from time to time; but also, significantly those who want to convert to Christianity can find themselves in dangerous situations.

He said that 'Release' has campaigned against the blasphemy laws in Pakistan that affect both Christians and Muslims. He says these laws are often used for reasons that have nothing to do with blasphemy but are a way at getting at Christians for a series of matters.

Constant says awareness is in fact on the rise as regards persecution of Christian. But, he says, he fears that that is just among the Christian community.

He says it is an issue that needs to be raised, and he says Pope Benedict XVI's appeals for religious freedom are extremely significant. But he says the issue must become more mainstream, and must be an issue not only when a tragic event triggers short-term interest and concern.

Constant concludes talking about the faith-based Release International itself, which was founded by Pastor Richard Wurmbrand, who was imprisoned and tortured by the Romanian secret police in the 1950s and 1960s because of his Christian faith. When he came out of Romania he travelled the world raising awareness as to the plight of Christians.

He says that today 'Release' has various sister affiliates and welcomes the involvement of anyone who would like to contribute to its work and to its campaigns.



Anti-Christian enmity should be acknowledged
as the root of current Nigerian violence
by Michelle Bauman


Washington D.C., Mar 14, 2012 / 02:09 am (CNA).- A U.S. advocate for international religious freedom says an attack on a Catholic church in Nigeria shows how religious tension should be acknowledged as the cause of recent violence in the country.

Nina Shea, who directs the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom in Washington, D.C., predicted that violence in Nigeria between Muslim extremists and local Christians will “continue and escalate” unless something is done to prevent it.

Shea told CNA on March 13 that at the root of the problem is the fact that neither the Nigerian nor the U.S. governments are “willing to call this a religious conflict.”

The Associated Press reported at least 10 deaths in violence surrounding a suicide car bomb attack at St. Finbar's Catholic Church in the middle of Mass on March 11.

The bombing took place in the city of Jos – an area plagued with conflict over the last decade – which then led to more violence, as young people retaliated by burning down homes later in the day, witnesses said.

Although no group immediately claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, the city has been the target of violence perpetrated by Boko Haram, a radical Islamic sect that has claimed responsibility for a series of bombings leading to dozens of Christian fatalities and injuries in recent months alone.

Shea observed that Nigeria is split almost evenly between followers of Islam and Christianity, and the government generally alternates between Christian and Muslim leadership.

Under leaders of either religion, Nigerian authorities have been “reluctant” to respond to such attacks, she said, explaining that they prefer to ignore such problems rather than demanding justice and accountability from those who perpetrate acts of violence.

The U.S. government has also “consistently declined to call this a primarily sectarian conflict,” despite the fact that Boko Haram has clearly-stated sectarian goals, including the forcible conversion of others to Islam, she added.

“This is a problem,” she said, because such “flawed analysis” will not lead to policies that respond properly to the situation.

Shea said that it is unclear whether this oversight is due to a “secular blind spot” or fear of what may happen if the violence is identified for what it truly is.

But while government officials ignore the central problem, Christians of all denominations are continuing to die for their faith, she said.

In her work as a U.S. commissioner on international religious freedom, Shea said that she recently met with an Anglican bishop from Nigeria, who told her that Christians in the region are “terrified.”

However the country still has a “rapidly growing Christian church” and problems between religions will not disappear.

While the U.S. has offered some help, Shea called the efforts inadequate for a country that is weighed down by corruption and a dysfunctional justice system.

Nigeria’s fate is important, she said, because the country is a regional leader. As the most populous country in Africa [although the richest in terms of oil production], a shift away from peace and stability could lead other nations in the same direction.

Shea called on the United States to exercise leadership in addressing religious violence in Nigeria, beginning by accurately identifying the root of the problem as the sectarian conflict that it is.

If this does not happen, Shea fears that the situation in Nigeria may “spiral out of control,” resulting in “catastrophic” consequences for the whole region.

Here's one commentary that does not ascribe negative motives to Giuliano Ferrara's now much-discussed 'suggestion' for Benedict XVI to resign even though he disagrees with it. Bordero (born 1974) has been editor of Ragionpolitica, the online journal of Silvio Berluszconi's Forza Italia, which was renamed Popolo della Liberta for Italy's most recent national elections which PDL won (although Berlusconi was forced out of office late last year by the Italian debt crisis much more than for his personal behavior and libertine lifestyle).

Ferrara's resignation scheme
is an act of love for the Pope
by Gianteo Bordero
Translated from

March 14, 2012

The long article last Saturday (March 10) dedicated by Giuliano Ferrara in Il Foglio to the possible resignation of Benedict XVI is an evident 'act of love' by a 'devout atheist' for a giant of faith and intellect.

"One cannot command the heart," Ferrara writes, who can certainly not be accused of tepidity in his uninterrupted support, first for Cardinal Ratzinger and then for Benedict XVI. One cannot forget that the day Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope, Ferrara changed the banner of his newspaper from Il Foglio (The Page) to Il Soglio (The Chair or Throne) [referring to an Italian term for the Papacy, 'Il Soglio di Pietro'] in tribute.

To reflect on the hypothesis of a renuntiatio by the Roman Pontiff is, above all, to do so out of devotion to him - it is not blasphemy. As Alessandro Gnocchi and Mario Palmaro both wrote in the same issue of Il Foglio on March 10, the Code of Canon Law itself considers this possibility, specifying that such a resignation does not need to be accepted by anyone: It is valid as long as it is 'freely done' and 'explained accordingly'.

Pope St. Clement, when sent into exile, Gnocchi and Palmaro recall, abdicated and named Evaristus his successor. Popes Pontianus, Silverius and the best-known of the Popes who resigned, Celestine V, did likewise. [I do not have the time to check out how the first two Popes 'resigned' or if they named their successors, but Celestine V certainly did not name his successor, who had been his implacable enemy during the few months that he was Pope!]

Pius XII had been prepared to do the same if he had been captured and imprisoned by the Nazis [saying they would never have the satisfaction of holding 'the Vicar of Christ' prisoner, only Eugenio Pacelli].

Rumors of resignation flew during the last years of Paul VI's life, when he seemed to be consumed with pain from the tragic scourge of the post-Conciliar years.

And John Paul II was explicitly called on by some members of the clergy to resign, using the pretext of his serious illness, to try to end a Papacy that was not to the liking of progressivist sectors as of some of the more 'conservative' circles of the Church.

And Benedict XVI? Ferrara recalls that "Benedict XVI is the oldest reigning Pontiff since Leo XIII" and that "he claims to be spiritually free to abdicate" (more precisely, in the interview-book Light of the World, he said, "“When a Pope arrives at a clear awareness that he no longer has the physical, mental, or psychological capacity to carry out the task that has been entrusted to him, then he has the right, and in some cases, even the duty to resign.” )

And yet, the editor of Il Foglio is not wishing for a papal resignation for reasons of health or spiritual weakness. Rather, he imagines a 'leaving in order to reinforce (the institution)', a 'papocentric' gesture to vigorously re-launch the Benedettian logos - namely, the irreducibility of Christianity to a religion like all the others, liturgical restoration, a comprehensive as well as incisive reading of modernity, the marriage of faith and reason, the fight in defense of 'non-negotiable principles' - in short, all the great Ratzingerian lessons of the past several years, of the past decades even, before he became Pope.

And all this in order not to "allow so-called democratization to impose itself" on the Church, through which the world (and not just the world) wishes to "annul the hieratic and sacred character" of the Church, in order to allow "the triumph of the anti-religious syndrome which has pervaded the globe for at least two centuries, if not more".

Thus, Ferrara imagines a younger and more vigorous Benedict XVI clone, with an emeritus Benedict XVI who would guide the Conclave towards "a dangerous and canonically uncertain - but historically fruitful - doubling of the papal charism". [The problem is that only the Holy Spirit acting through the Conclave has a say on who the next Pope will be, and Benedict XVI would certainly never presume to supersede the Holy Spirit or interpose himself into the action of the Holy Spirit. No, active or passive intervention by Benedict XVI in the way Ferrara proposes is just too bizarre, improbable, and not at all conceivable for the selfless Joseph Ratzinger!]

There can be no doubt that this suggestion was meant as an act of love for Papa Ratzinger and the Papacy, as I mentioned at the start. Ferrara fears, though he does not say so, that age and its ailments, as well as the weight of governing, could prevent Benedict XVI from fully carrying out, with all the energy necessary, his papal agenda - that great work towards spiritual renewal of the Church and the clergy, towards doctrinal firmness, and towards the liturgical discipline initiated by this Pope even when he was the head of the former Holy Office. [The Pope does what he can and does it to the best of his ability, after which, as Benedict XVI often says, it is up to God. But it is not for him to seek to play God in order to push and safeguard his 'agenda' - least of all in the bizarre, highly irregular, dubious and worst of all, extremely selfish way that Ferrara proposes! Perhaps Ferrara's atheism manifests itself most strongly here in the apparent conviction that human agency can 'force the hand', as it were, of the Holy Spirit.]

We cannot know how much Ferrara's fears are founded, just as we do not know if there is any basis for rumors - purveyed even in the Vatileaks documents - about the state of the Pope's health, and by inference, his more or less imminent resignation or death.

But what we see is a Pope who has so far steered the Barque of Peter, amidst tempests, towards the essential, towards the heart of the faith, towards that love of Christ which alone can save man and the Church from the abyss of evil and desperation.

This is what counts - this is the mission assigned by Jesus to his Vicar, and it is only in the light of this mission that any renuntiatio must be considered.

What should be clear, in short, is that a Pope is not called upon to assert himself or his ideas nor even to 'organize' his succession for that end. Because this, whether we like it or not, is something that is up to that mysterious tangle of humanity and divinity that has guided the Church for over 2,000 years.



Fr. Filippo Di Giacomo offers his take, with more precise historical data...

The Pope under media siege
by Filippo Di Giacomo
Translated from

March 14, 2012

It was not true, but... In 1993, while John Paul II was visiting Poland, an Italian newspaper announced peremptorily that "The end of the Wojtyla Pontificate now is a question of months or weeks". For many at the time, it seemed time to ask a blessing from Fr. Gabriele Amorth, the devil-chaser much praised by the media.

What happened, of course, was that all those who were more or less indicated at the time as probable successors to John Paul II had the destiny of having their final obsequies pronounced before the Pope they were supposed to replace.

Now, after 19 years, the game of 'Pope to resign' has resumed, with a mix of trite quasi-ecclesial notions and even more trite mediatic criteria, all being presented as desirable principles for a modern juridical ecclesiology.

In John Paul II's time, a hospital confinement sufficed for the media world to cite it as an incontrovertible argument to invoke, during recurrent news cycles between 1993 and 2005, a 'strong leader' for the Church.

But when the Polish Pope, with reasonable health and sufficient strength, continued to courageously counteract the euthanasia principle that half of European Catholics had been happily endorsing for decades, the target shifted to his closest co-workers who were blamed for the 'failures' of the Pontificate and even the by-then almost inexistent 'Roman centralism'.

Talk of a papal resignation inevitably brings everyone to recall the 'great refusal' of Celestine V. In fact, the good monk Pietro da Morrone, whom the great Dante had called 'vile' in the Divine Comedy for having resigned the Papacy, was the third Pope to have had recourse to a practice that the early Church had always accepted.

Clemente I, in 97, and Pontianus, in 235, who were both exiled by Roman emperors, were simply replaced as Bishop of Rome.

Benedict IX, an unworthy and immoral 18-year-old who became Pope thanks to maternal intrigues, accepted in 1045 to become a simple cardinal after he was promised the revenues collected as Peter's Pence.

So these were the precedents for Celestine V when in 1294, he decided he wanted to go back to being a simple Benedictine monk.

After him, in 1545, even Gregory XII returned to the humility of a Benedictine monastery so that the Council of Constance could be free to heal the great Western Schism by choosing another Pope unequivocally. For decades, the Pope in Rome had to co-exist with two anti-Popes.

Digging farther into Church history, there were 12 other times when the occupant of Peter's Chair changed even while its legitimate holder was still alive.

It is therefore not a distraction to point out that, at least according to the present Code of Canon Law, it is far easier for a Pope to resign than for him to remove a parish priest.

Indeed, while the Code dedicates only Paragraph 2 of Canon 332 to the resignation of a Pope, the procedure for removing a parish priest covers the entire Chapter 1 of Book VII, Section 2.

So simply going by the Code of Canon Law, for us Catholics today, the Roman Pontiff, Bishop of Rome, by the very nature of his function, is a pastor shared universally and not a 'governor' imposed on the Church.

Like every bishop, he carries out the fullness of his ministry by exercising three duties (munera, singular munus): to sanctify, to teach and to govern his Church.

The discussions these days substantially concern only the third pontifical function, which invests him with full ecclesial authority.

But for the Catholic base, that is the least interesting of the papal functions, because when it comes to 'commanding', it is easy to understand that the Pope is part of an institution that has been constructed over centuries to exclude the establishment of any 'regime' or any other arbitrary 'twist' by using the simplifying and very ecclesiastical logic of 'neither too much nor too little' that would be valid for all circumstances, in sickness or in health.

Reading the various speculations these days on Benedict XVI's alleged desire to resign, one only gets the usual impression that the Pope is under full media assault.

In an age when communications has the power and the importance we acknowledge about it, do not all these calls to 'resign' constitute an attempt to deprive the Roman Pontiff of his freedom to teach and sanctify his people? [Not perhaps exactly in that way, but certainly, an attempt to weaken the person and the institution, but they are picking on the wrong person and the wrong institution!]

And is it not strange that even men and women of the Church, citing reasons allegedly imposed by the mechanisms of succession and governance of the Church, should have fallen prey to this temptation?

So then, before theorizing about things that amount to nothing more than a sneeze in the context of Church history, and that only interest the 'usual circles' in Rome, why not, for a moment, imagine what it's like for the faithful?

It is for them, not for the Roman Curia [Oh yes, very much for them, too, especially those who have forgotten that they are men of God, first, before being petty power-holders!], that Benedict XVI must continue to explain the rationality of the Catholic way of life which, even in the Babel of modernity, represents a possible horizon for many.

Dissidents occupy Cuba church
to demand an audience with the Pope;
other dissidents oppose Pope's visit
as playing to the Cuban government
by Andrea Rodriguez


HAVANA, March 14 (AP) — Thirteen Cuban dissidents have holed up in a Roman Catholic church in Havana to press for an audience with Pope Benedict XVI when he visits in two weeks, saying they want to air their grievances about human rights on the island.

Some other dissidents and a church spokesman denounced the move, which was apparently meant to be part of coordinated protests at churches across the island that were later abandoned.

The Church of Charity of Cobre in teeming Central Havana was semi-shuttered Wednesday and only pilgrims visiting an image of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, Cuba's patron, were permitted inside. There was no sign of police, and activity appeared normal on surrounding streets.

The dissidents were in an area that is off-limits to worshippers, said dissident William Cepera. He said he spoke with them through a window that was later closed.

"They entered the church last night and stayed. They will not budge from there," he said.

Cepera added that he and a colleague from their small opposition group, the Nov. 30 Democratic Party, tried to join the group but were not allowed in.

"We would like to talk with the Pope and tell him that the government of Fidel and Raul (Castro) has released only some prisoners, but other political prisoners remain," he said.

Church spokesman Orlando Marquez said the protest was disrespectful to the Pope, as well as to ordinary Catholics hoping to visit the church to pray.

"Nobody has the right to turn temples into political trenches," he wrote in a forcefully worded statement. "Nobody has the right to disturb the celebratory spirit of faithful Cubans and many other citizens who look with jubilation and hope toward the visit of the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, to Cuba."

Marquez called on the group to leave immediately. He added that while Catholic officials would listen to and help anyone who sought their assistance, they "cannot accept attempts to devalue the nature of its mission or put in danger the religious freedom of those who visit our churches."

Government officials did not immediately answer a request for comment. Cuba considers the dissidents mercenaries paid by Washington and bent on undermining the government.

The government also says it does not hold any political prisoners. Authorities freed the last of 75 anti-government activists and social commentators arrested in a 2003 crackdown on dissent last year, under a deal brokered with the Catholic Church's help.

Others remain behind bars for politically motivated but violent crimes like armed assault or hijacking, which keeps them from being recognized as prisoners of conscience by human rights watchdog Amnesty International.

In December, President Raul Castro's government also pardoned 2,900 inmates, most of them convicted of minor crimes, in connection with Benedict's March 26-28 visit.

Elizardo Sanchez, a de-facto spokesman for Cuban dissidents as head of the Havana-based Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, confirmed there were 13 people inside the church.

"We hope for a humane outcome. The occupation was peaceful," said Sanchez, adding that a high-ranking church official visited Tuesday night and spoke with the protesters.

Benedict does not have any announced plans to meet with Cuban dissidents during his trip, which is focused on religious activities including Masses in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba and in Havana.

Dissidents' reactions to the visit have differed.

Bertha Soler, leader of the Ladies in White opposition group, said they asked church officials for "one minute" with Benedict to talk about human rights and political prisoners.

But well-known opponents such as Guillermo Farinas, winner of the European Union's human rights prize, and former prisoner Martha Beatriz Roque, signed a letter urging the Pontiff to stay away.

"Your presence on the island would be like sending a message to the repressors that they can continue to do as they please, that the Church will allow it," the letter read.

There also was some division over the church occupation.

"Personally, the act of taking the precinct of a church as a place of protest strikes me as invasive and disrespectful," prominent anti-government blogger Yoani Sanchez tweeted.

Elizardo Sanchez, who is not related to Yoani, said he does not think the protesters are acting in bad faith or trying to disrupt the Pope's visit, but he did question their choice of tactics.

"We think of churches as houses of God, not anyone's private property, and a priest cannot throw the people out," he said. "We don't approve of this method (of protest), but their demands, yes."

Thursday, March 15, Third Week of Lent

Second from left, Louise and St Vincent de Paul; center, Louise enshrined in the Paris church of the Miraculous Medal;
second from right, founder's statue in St. Peter's Basilica.
ST. LOUISE DE MARILLAC (France 1591-1660)
Widow; Founder, Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul; Patron of Social Workers
Born out of wedlock to a French aristocrat, she grew up among the elite. She always wanted to be a nun, but at 22, she entered an
arranged marriage with a man who was secretary to Queen Marie de Medicis. She came to love her husband and they had a son. But
her husband fell ill and she nursed him till he died in 1625. Two years earlier, Louise had a mystic experience which convinced
her that she was destined to serve a greater purpose. At this time, her spiritual counselors were the future saint, Francis de Sales,
and her local bishop. Around the time of her husband's death, she came to know the future saint, Vincent de Paul, who had already
established his Confraternities of Charity to help the poor. After four years of correspondence, he asked her to work with him.
She was 42. Beginning her work with four aristocrat friends helping out at Paris's main hospital, she eventually learned to recruit
average women whom she instructed in her way of 'ora et labora', balancing activity and prayer, as Vincent de Paul himself
advocated. They would eventually become the Daughters of Charity. She travelled throughout France to propagate their work, and
by the time she died in 1660, the Daughters had at least 40 houses in France, although they were not officially recognized as a
congregation until 1655. Vincent de Paul died six months later. Louise was canonized in 1934, and in 1960, John XIII declared
her the patron saint of social workers. Her remains are venerated at the Church of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris.
Readings from today's Mass: usccb.org/bible/readings/031512.cfm


AT THE VATICAN TODAY

The Holy Father met with

- His Beatitutde Gregorios III Laham, Patriarch of Antioch of the Greco-Melkites (Syria)

- Nine US bishops from Texas, on ad limina visit, led by Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston

- Mons. Robert Zollitsch, Archbishop of Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany) and president of the German bishops' conference.


The Holy Father has elevated Cardinal Edmund O'Brien from pro-Grand Master to Grand Master of the Equestrian Order
of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.


The Holy Father, through Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, has sent his condolences to the Archbishop
of Brussels-Mechlin for the deaths of 28 persons from his diocese including 22 schoolchildren, in a bus accident
in Switzerland on Tuesday evening.


Lay couple from Focolari movement
were asked by the Pope to prepare
this year's meditations and prayers
for the Colosseum Via Crucis
Translated from

March 15, 2012

The texts for the meditations and prayers for the Stations of the Cross at the Roman Colosseum on Good Friday this year were composed, at the request of the Holy Father, by Danilo and Anna Maria Zanzucchi, a married couple who initiated the Famiglie Nuove (New Families) Movement within the greater Focolari Movement.

Their texts will have the family as theme. The format will follow the traditional 14 stations. [In some years, modified Stations have been used.]

It's strange that Vatican Radio did not report this 'headline' material in its account yesterday of an IEC delegation's meeting with the Pope...

It's definite: The Pope won't be
going to Dublin for the IEC
by Paddy Agnew

March 15, 2012


The Holy Father receives a bowl of Irish shamrock from Sheena Darcy, a member of the International Eucharistic Conference 2012, to be held in June.

ROME - Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin took a walk down memory lane in the Vatican yesterday morning when the archbishop introduced the Pope to an Irish delegation from the International Eucharist Congress.

The meeting took place outside the Vatican’s Teutonic College before the Pope’s Wednesday public audience.

The college is where, many years ago, the then Cardinal Ratzinger and Msgr Martin used to meet for Sunday lunch. Chatting in German to the Pope yesterday, however, Archbishop Martin was looking to the future, in particular to this summer’s Eucharistic congress in Ireland.

Months ago, Vatican authorities ruled out a visit by Pope Benedict to Ireland for the congress. Archbishop Martin confirmed this yesterday, saying the Pope will instead make a live televised address to the congress in June.

To mark that event, the Pope both blessed and then rang the Eucharistic Congress bell. In so doing, he joined the ranks of an estimated quarter of a million Irish pilgrims who have so far rung the bell in a symbolic gesture calling for renewal in the Irish church.

The Pope also accepted a pre-St Patrick’s Day bowl of shamrock and a first copy of the congress commemorative medal from the the Irish delegation.

Speaking afterwards, Fr Kevin Doran, the secretary general of the 2012 international congress, said the Pope had rung the bell “vigorously”.

Archbishop Martin added: “To the surprise of its critics, the Eucharistic Congress is taking shape as a genuine moment of renewal in the church . . . and it is being seen as a unique opportunity for renewal of the Christian life.”

Cathedrals, churches and chapels across Ireland will ring their bells for two minutes at noon and 6pm on St Patrick’s Day, both as a symbol of renewal and as a call to prepare for the congress.

The bell, which comes from a Dominican convent in Portstewart, County Derry, has been taken to parishes throughout Ireland over the past year, as a sort of Olympic flame for the Christian message.

The 84-year-old pope’s travel plans for 2012 envisage a trip to Cuba and Mexico, starting next week, and a trip to Lebanon in September. He already has an important engagement in early June, when he is expected to attend World Family Day in Milan.


An idle question: If the friendship between the Pope and Mons. Martin goes back to their days in the Curia together, one wonders all the more why Benedict XVI has not seen fit to make Martin a cardinal so far!

Apropos, I have found Mons. Martin's frequent public sanctimony about the 'failure' of the Vatican and his fellow Irish bishops to be more appropriately pro-active about the sex-abuse problems caused by Irish priests to be unseemly and even offensive. In the interview he gave last year to the New York Times's already Catholic-vindictive Maurenn Dowd, and in other pronouncements since then, he has sounded as though he alone were being conscientious about the sex-abuse crisis while 'the Vatican' and other Irish bishops continue not to take it seriously. Doesn't he realize his statements are a direct affront to Benedict XVI himself and the seriousness with which he has always confronted this issue even before he became Pope?

No compromise: US bishops united
in defense of religious freedom
By George Weigel

March 14, 2012

In May 1953, the Polish government ordered the implementation of a decree giving the state the authority to appoint and remove Catholic priests and bishops throughout the country: The Catholic Church was to become a subsidiary of the Polish state; its clergy would act as agents of state power; and its educational and charitable activities would be approved (or rejected) by a state intent on bringing the most important institution in Polish civil society to heel.

The bishops of Poland, who had tried for years to find a modus vivendi with the Communist regime, now drew the line. Meeting in Kraków under the leadership of the country’s primate, Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński, the Polish episcopate issued a memorandum deploring the government’s attempt to turn the Church “into an instrument of the state” as a violation of the natures of both church and state.

The memorandum concluded memorably: “We are not allowed to place the things of God on the altar of Caesar, Non possumus! [We cannot!].”

Americans accustomed to religious freedom may, at first blush, find it hard to imagine any possible analogy between our situation today, in the midst of the debate over the HHS “contraceptive mandate,” and that of Poland’s Christians in 1953. Of course those brave men and women faced challenges far beyond those facing American believers today. Yet the structure of the moral and political argument, then and now, is eerily similar.

In both cases, an overweening and arrogant government tries, through the use of coercive power, to make the Church a subsidiary of the state. In both cases, the state claims the authority to define religious ministries and services on its own narrow and secularist terms. In both cases, the state is attempting to co-opt as much of society as it can, while the Church is defending the prerogatives of civil society.

The March 14 statement of the Administrative Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “United for Religious Freedom,” does not contain the kind of rhetorical flourishes that reached a dramatic coda in the Poles’ ringing “Non Possumus!” Still, the U.S. bishops have drawn an unmistakably clear line in the sand.

Resisting pressures from both within and without the Church to retreat from their hitherto firm and unified opposition to the administration’s HHS mandate and its bogus “accommodation” of religious concerns, the Administrative Committee — which includes bishops from across the spectrum of Catholic opinion and which does the conference’s most urgent business between the semi-annual meetings of the entire episcopate — strongly reaffirmed statements by the conference president, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, and by individual bishops, that both the mandate and the “accommodation” are unacceptable.

Moreover, the statement affirms, against charges of exaggeration, that present administration policy represents a threat to religious freedom of “unprecedented magnitude” that must be “rejected.”

And as for those who have long sought to play divide-and-conquer in this affair — from government officials to journalists to advocates of Catholic Lite — they, too, are sent an unmistakable signal in the March 14 statement: “We will not be divided, and we will continue forward as one.”

In a deft response to the spin and distortion that have characterized this debate for two months, “United for Religious Freedom” usefully clarifies just what the argument is not:

---

This is not about access to contraception, which is ubiquitous and inexpensive. . . . This is not about the religious freedom of Catholics only, but also of those who recognize that their cherished beliefs may be next on the block. This is not about the bishops’ somehow ‘banning contraception,’ when the U.S. Supreme Court took that issue off the table two generations ago.

Indeed, this is not about the Church wanting to force anybody to do anything; it is, instead, about the federal government forcing the Church . . . to act against Church teachings.

This is not a matter of opposition to universal health care, which has been a concern of the Bishops’ Conference since 1919, virtually at its founding. This is not a fight we want or asked for, but one forced upon us by government on its own timing. Finally, this is not a Republican or Democratic, a conservative or liberal issue; it is an American issue.

---

The Administrative Committee’s statement then crisply defines what the HHS mandate involves.

---

It involves an “unwarranted” and “extremely narrow” definition of who is a “religious employer “ — a definition that “creates and enforces a new distinction” between Catholic houses of worship, on the one hand, and, on the other, the Church’s charitable activities and its educational efforts. According to the administration’s regulatory scheme, the latter will become “second class” citizens, in a dramatic break with both Catholic tradition and federal law.

It involves an attempt by the government to compel Catholic institutions that serve those of many faiths and no faith to violate Catholic teachings within the Church’s own institutions, which is both an intrinsic injustice and a gross intrusion of state power into the Church’s evangelical mission.

And it involves a violation of the civil rights of individuals, who will be compelled to act against their conscientious convictions, “whether in their sponsoring of, and payment for, insurance as employers; their payment of insurance premiums as employees; or as insurers themselves.” This utter disregard for religious convictions and the rights of conscience is also, the bishops note, “unprecedented in federal law, which has long been generous in protecting the rights of individuals not to act against their religious beliefs or moral convictions.”

---

Thus those who expected the bishops to try and find some 50-yard line of agreement with the administration, a middle ground on which the Church’s institutions would be protected while individual Catholic employers would be left to the tender mercies of HHS, were proven exactly wrong: The bishops intend to defend religious freedom in full, and that defense will be all-in.

“United for Religious Freedom” concludes with a commitment to “accept any invitation to dialogue with the Executive Branch to protect the religious freedom that is rightly ours” — a formulation indicating that they will not come to any such further conversation as a supplicant, but as a defender of American tradition.

The statement expresses support for a legislative remedy to the depredations of the HHS mandate, which, one assumes, will now focus on the Fortenberry bill in the House of Representatives.

Finally, the statement reiterates the bishops’ determination to pursue a remedy in the federal courts, which is their likeliest path to success. The reference to both the Constitution and “federal laws that protect religious freedom” suggests that the conference knows it has a strong case under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and will vigorously pursue it.

In sum, the bishops have rebuffed calls for a tactical retreat; the analysts who have not grasped the sea-change in perspective of the bishops’ conference have been confounded; the Catholic Lite brigades have been challenged to think again about the gravity of the theological and constitutional issues involved in the mandate; and those who have supported the bishops thus far have been affirmed in their work.

There will be no compromise here, for there can be no compromise of first principles. Those who understand that will gather their energies and continue to defend both Catholic and American tradition.

Pope meets Syrian Patriarch:
Possible scenarios for Assad regime
among topics of discussion
Syrian prelates appear compelled to be pro-Assad
for fear of an Iraq-like Christian exodus out of Syria
by Alessandro Speciale
Translated from the Italian service of



VATICAN CITY, March 15 - Pope Bene+dict XVI and His Beatitude Gregorios II Laham, Patriarch of Antioch of the Greco-Melkites, had a private meeting at the Vatican Thursday morning.



[The Patriarch, born 1933, was elected to his position in November 2000. The Melkites, or Byzantine (Greek) Catholics of Middle Eastern origin, are descendants of the early Christians of Antioch (cf. Acts 11:26). As Rome was the most powerful city in early Western Europe and spread her manner of worship throughout the surrounding area, so too the Greek capital, Constantinople (originally called Byzantium), spread her traditions and customs to the countries closest to her. Therefore, the Melkites use the Byzantine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. Today the term Melkite is used to refer to those Catholics whose ancestry is Middle Eastern and who follow the Byzantine Tradition in worship, theology, and spirituality. There are about 1.6 million Melkite Catholics throughout the world.]

Although there was no communique about the meeting, it is easy to assume that the situation in Syria - which this week marked the first anniversary of continuing popular uprisings against the regime of President Bashir Assad - and the regime's violent repression which has taken the lives of some 10,000 citizens so far, was discussed.

The Holy Father has more than once referred publicly to the continuing violence in Syria, offering prayers for the Syrian people and calling on all concerned to settle the conflict with dialog and on the international community to extend humanitarian aid tho those in need.

But in recent weeks, a certain separation has emerged between the position articulated by the Holy See - the Pope, to begin with, and his diplomats, starting with the Nuncio in Syria, Mons. Mario Zenari - and that expressed by the Catholic bishops in Syria. The differences do not seem to be merely in nuances that might be expected from the bishops who have to live in that unstable and divided country.

The Vatican line on Syria - which was reiterated at the rather unsuccessful conference of "friends of Syria' held in Tunisia recently, with the participation of Mons. Michael Fitzgerald, the Vatican observer to the Arab League - may be summarized in Benedict XVI's words after the Angelus prayers last February 12:

---

I have been following with much apprehension the tragic and growing episodes of violence in Syria. In recent days, they have resulted in numerous victims. I remember the victims in prayer, among whom are children; the wounded, and all who suffer the consequences of a conflict that has become ever more a cause of concern.

I also renew an urgent appeal to put an end to the violence and bloodshed. Finally, I call on everyone - especially the political authorities in Syria - to choose the way of dialog, of reconciliation and of commitment to peace.

It is urgent to respond to the legitimate aspirations of the various components of the nation, as well as to the hopes of the international community that is concerned for the common good of the entire society and the region.

---

It was yet another appeal for international involvement to resolve the crisis and the need to listen to all the voices in a divided nation, particularly those of the rebels.

Mons. Zenari, the Nuncio in Damascus, has spoken on Vatican Radio several times to denounce the violence committed by the Assad regime, the indiscriminate killing of civilians, including children, particularly in the city of Homs, with victims' corpses then thrown into garbage dumps where it becomes almost impossible to recover the bodies.

But the Church hierarchy in Syria continues to warn about great risks for Christians in case the Assad regime should fall and power should go to Islamist factions.

They point to the experience in neighboring Iraq, where sectarian violence against Christians have led them to leave the country in great numbers, and those who stay have been forced to live in extremely dangerous circumstances within urban enclaves that are almost ghettoes.

The Apostolic Vicar of the Latin diocese of Aleppo, the Franciscan Giuseppe Nazarro told FIDES news agency that Christians have fears and doubts about those who are 'leading' the uprising against Assad. "Our fears are well-founded that the opposition to Assad has been led and manipulated by Islamist interests from the beginning". [Perhaps this has to be explained further? Who could be more 'Islamist' than the Iranian ayatollahs who have been actively supporting the Assad regime as their open surrogate, providing the government with arms and terrorists? NB: The LA Times article below points out that the majority of Syrians are Sunni Muslims, who form the backbone of the anti-Assad uprising, whereas Assad and his Iranian masters are Shiite.]

Nazarro added that "in a country like Syria, change can require centuries".

Similar positions - which imply a defense of the Assad regime - have also been reiterated by the Chaldean Archbishop of Aleppo, Mons. Antoine Audo, by the Syro-Catholic patriarch Ignace III Younan, by Patriarch Gregorios himself, and by other Syrian prelates requesting anonymity. They all expressed warnings of an imminent 'exodus' of Catholics leaving Syria.

In neighboring Lebanon, the Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai has also warned of an Islamist victory that would transform Syria into a country with Islam as the state religion, saying that "In the Arab world, there is only one nation which is most like a democracy - and that is Syria".

Meanwhile, the senior Patriarch in the Middle East, Cardinal Ignace Moussa Daoud, 82, is hospitalized in Rome.

On the day that the Holy Father met with the Syrian Patriarch, the UK newspaper Guardian published private e-mails pilfered from the Syrian government showing that Assad himself mocks the promises he has made of democracy and reform.

Here is a helpful wrap-up of the Syrian situation on the first anniversary of the uprisings:

Syria marks anniversary
of uprising against Assad
A year after the revolt began, President Assad shows no sign of easing his grip on power.
Rebels have no plans to back down, leaving Syria at an impasse.
By Patrick J. McDonnell and Paul Richter

March 15, 2012


Syrians turn out in support of President Bashar Assad during a March 15, 2012, rally at Umayyad Square in Damascus.


BEIRUT - A year into the Syrian uprising, it was not the opposition but the government of President Bashar Assad that made a point of conspicuously marking the anniversary.

Raucous pro-Assad rallies Thursday in the streets of Damascus and other Syrian cities were the latest triumphal signal from a government widely described from outside as besieged or doomed.

While four other Arab autocrats have fallen from power in the last 14 months, the tenacious Assad has managed to hold on — despite a raging revolt that has swept large swaths of the nation and seen armed rebels occupy extensive territory, at least temporarily.

Behind the sense of triumph evident Thursday on the streets of Damascus were recent battlefield victories in the restive provinces of Idlib and Homs, where government troops were able to rout outgunned rebels who had for months occupied "liberated" territory. In the end, the rebels' rifles and homemade bombs were no match for the government's tanks and artillery.

"Even one bullet from a Kalashnikov was responded with by a tank shell," said Mazen Arja, an opposition media activist in Idlib.

Having once anticipated that Assad would make an expeditious exit, officials from Washington and other Western capitals now acknowledge that he could cling to power for quite some time.

In August, President Obama and European allies publicly called on Assad to step down. But despite his government's bloody response to its own people, Western military intervention, which theoretically could speed Assad's departure, seems to be off the table. Any such undertaking would encounter objections from Russia and China, veto-wielding nuclear powers on the United Nations Security Council; the challenge ofSyria's difficult terrain and extensive antiaircraft batteries; and uncertainty about a largely unknown opposition that may include a substantial contingent of Islamist militants.

The Assad government "still has a strong grip" on its security apparatus and can be expected to fight until the end, said one U.S. official who asked not to be identified.

"These guys know there's no way out and there's almost nothing they won't do," said the U.S. official.

Most of Assad's senior leadership — many of them key figures from the president's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam — remains in place despite calls from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and others that they join the opposition. Many Alawites have come to view the increasingly sectarian battle as a fight for survival, fearing for their fate if the nation's Sunni Muslim majority seize control.

At the top is a military and intelligence structure set up by Assad's father, Hafez, who was long recognized as one of the most ruthless and cunning of Middle Eastern despots, having brutally crushed a 1980s uprising.

The opposition's evolution from a protest movement to an armed rebellion has posed strong challenges for the security forces, which have lost 2,000 members in the fighting, according to the government. But some say the increasingly violent nature of opposition forces has alienated middle-class Syrians and others fearful of Iraq-style chaos and sectarian violence should Assad fall.

Yet even if things may be looking better for Assad now than a few weeks ago, when armed rebels were literally at the doorstep of Damascus, the long-term outlook for his government's survival remains bleak, many experts say. Assad's power is steadily eroding amid a crumbling economy, diplomatic isolation and an insurgency now schooled in sabotage and roadside bombings, they say.

"He could be around, but extremely weakened," said Emile Hokayem, an analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain. "You can't see it in simple black-and-white terms."

Inside the embattled presidential palace, there is undoubtedly relief at the continued global impasse about how to deal with Syria.

New fractures within the already deeply divided opposition haven't helped the anti-Assad cause either. The Syrian National Council, the best-known opposition umbrella group, suffered several major defections this week.

In resigning from the group, eminent dissident Haitham Maleh labeled the council autocratic, not unlike Syria's long-ruling Baath Party, he said. "They don't want to play the democracy side," Maleh said of the council.

But on the ground, Assad faces an opposition unified in one goal: his overthrow.

Famiglia Cristiana is Italy's most popular weekly magazine, with a cirtulation between 800,000-1,000,000 every week.

BENEDICT XVI:
The joy of faith
Editorial
Translated from

March 15, 2012


Photo currently used as the introduction to the OR's Benedict XVI gallery of its daily newsphotos of the Holy Father.

A visit to Mexico and Cuba on the eve of his 85th birthday, so in occasion of this birthday, our readers can send message of affection to the Pope through our initiative "Send a birthday greeting to the Pope".

A series of anniversaries and events make 2012 a truly singular year for the Church. Particularly for Benedict XVI, who will turn 85 on April 16.

Although he has been cutting down on his public events to better conserve his energies, and although he now uses a rolling platform in his processions and recessionals along the nave of St. Peter's Basilica, the Pope continues his elevated Magisterium with firmness and lucidity. In order to affirm the Gospel and the Word of God. But also to show the world the paths of truth, charity and justice.

Less than three weeks before his 85th birthday, Benedict XVI is preparing to undertake one of two international trips announced so far for 2012. His first stop will be Mexico, after which he proceeds to the Caribbean island of Cuba, whose Communist regime has recently shown signs of change and opening towards democracy.

Among the Cuban government representatives that the Pope will meet in Havana would be Cuba's once Supreme Leader Fidel Castro, 85 like the Pope, ailing from what is thought to be a terminal disease, and said to be close to returning to the Catholic faith of his youth.

It will be the second papal visit to Cuba after that of John Paul II in 1998, which served to 'normalize' relations between the atheist Cuban government and the Catholic Church after 40 years of a tense and problematic situation.

Benedict XVI's visit to Cuba - this is is his second trip to Latin America after his apostolic trip to Brazil in 2008 - comes during the 400th jubilee year anniversary of the finding of the image of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre in the country's southeastern part, near Guantanamo. The Virgin is the patroness of Cuba.

The second half of 2012 will see the Church engaged in three major events: the Year of Faith which begins in October to mark the second event - the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council; and the October Synodal Assembly on the New Evangelization.

"The heart of the crisis of the Church in Europe is the crisis of faith", Benedict XVI has reiterated often. "If we do not find a response to this, if the faith does not regain its vitality, to become a profound conviction and real strength thanks to an encounter with Jesus Christ, then all other reforms will remain ineffective".

Benedict XVI has devoted his Magisterium and his experience as a great theologian to combat such 'a fatigue of faith', in order that Christians may rediscover the joy of the faith, personal and communitarian, in a society that is increasingly individualistic and secularized which would exclude God from its horizon. A world without God will certainly not be a better world.

As we prepare to live a year of Faith, we wish, along with the great family of our readers, to rally closely around the Pope in order to manifest to him all our affection on his birthday.


The link for sending a greeting to the Pope is:
http://www.famigliacristiana.it/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=/membership/invia-il-tuo-augurio-al-papa.aspx

It's a special closenesa, especially these days, when he has been made the object of so many attacks and hostility on the part of those who would wish to undermine his moral authority to better promote a world without rules.

Your greetings, dear leaders, we shall send directly to the Pope on the eve of his birthday, an occasion that we shall also mark with a pleasing surprise that will help us study more deeply the contents of the faith. And to bear witness to the joy of believing.

Here's another item (belatedly seen by me) that somehow Vatican Radio, with all its interviews with the Archbishop of Canterbury last week, failed to report separately...

Archbishop of Canterbury to take part
in October Synod on 'new evangelization'
By Cindy Wooden



Archbishop Williams and the Holy Father walking up to the church of San Gregorio in Celio last Saturday.

ROME, March 14 - Pope Benedict XVI has invited the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, to address the world Synod of Bishops on the new evangelisation in October.

The news emerged after the two leaders met and prayed together at the Church of St Gregory on the Caelian Hill in Rome, from which Pope Gregory the Great sent St Augustine of Canterbury and his fellow monks to evangelise England in 597.

Dr Williams told Vatican Radio: “I’m being invited to give some theological reflections on the nature of mission, the nature of evangelisation, and I’m extremely honoured to be invited to do this.

“I hope that it’s a sign that we can work together on evangelisation in Europe,” the archbishop said. “It’s disastrous if any one church tries to go it alone here and tries to assume that it and it alone has the key”, because reviving the Christian faith in Europe requires as many and “as deep resources as we can find”.





AND HOW ABOUT THIS 'SHOCKER' IN THIS MORNING'S NEWS????

Archbishop of Canterbury
to step down at year's end
By JOHN F. BURNS and ALAN COWELL

March 16, 2012

LONDON — After a decade of struggling inconclusively to keep the worldwide Anglican Communion from breaking apart over such intractable issues as female clergy, gay bishops and same-sex marriage, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, the archbishop of Canterbury, announced on Friday that he would step down at the end of year to take up a high position Cambridge University, switching from a turbulent era in the church to academia.

The resignation of Archbishop Williams, 61, had been widely predicted — although its timing surprised some of his followers — and experts have been busy for months speculating over Archbishop Williams’s likely successor as the senior bishop of the Church of England and as the symbolic head of the Anglican Communion, the international network of Anglican and Episcopalian churches that estimates that it represents nearly 80 million people across the globe.

Archbishop Williams is to become the master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, in January.

Two possible successors whose names have won favor with supporters in the Church of England, traditionally the mother church of the union, have been John Sentamu, 62, the archbishop of York, who is the Church of England’s most senior bishop after Archbishop Williams, and Richard Chartres, 64, the bishop of London.

The early favorite, according to many experts, is Archbishop Sentamu, a down-to-earth, plain-speaking figure who ran afoul of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin while practicing law in Uganda in the 1970s, and who has won wide popularity among Anglicans in Britain, especially with those who favor a more conservative approach to the social issues besetting the church.

But Bishop Chartres has strong backers, too, among them Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, who has chosen him to officiate on many church occasions involving the royal family, including delivering the sermon at last summer’s marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton.

Archbishop Sentamu did not indicate in a statement whether he expected to become what is called the Primate of all England in succession to Archbishop Williams.

“Despite his courageous, tireless and bold endeavor, he has been much maligned by people who should have known better. For my part, he has been God’s apostle for our time,” Archbishop Sentamu said of Archbishop Williams.

Church procedures for the appointment of a new archbishop of Canterbury require a body of clerics and laymen, headed by a nominee of the British prime minister but including members of the Anglican Communion from outside Britain, to put two names forward to the prime minister, currently David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative party. His role is to make a final recommendation on the appointee to Queen Elizabeth II, the titular head of the Church of England.

“It has been an immense privilege to serve as Archbishop of Canterbury over the past decade, and moving on has not been an easy decision,” Archbishop Williams said in a statement on Friday. He was appointed as the 104th archbishop of Canterbury in 2002.

He will be leaving a church struggling with dwindling congregations and torn by corrosive debates over issues including homosexuality and the role of women in the church. Those issues have contributed to new strains with the Roman Catholic Church, which has offered to accept Anglican clerics who disagree with what is seen as a liberal trend among some Anglicans.

Anglicanism, dating to King Henry VIII’s break with papal power in the early 16th century, is Britain’s so-called established religion, but in recent decades society has become far more diverse in faith.

In an interview with the Press Association news agency on Friday, Archbishop Williams said his job was one “of immense demands and I would hope that my successor has the constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros, really.”

“But he will, I think, have to look with positive, hopeful eyes on a Church which, for all its problems, is still for so many people, a place to which they resort in times of need and crisis, a place to which they look for inspiration. I think the Church of England is a great treasure. I wish my successor well in the stewardship of it,” he said.

In his decade in office, Archbishop Williams has never seemed a confrontational figure, seeking consensus on the most contentious issues coursing through the church at a time when the institution has also been challenged by some secular Britons seeking the exclusion of faith from public life, akin to the concept of laïcité in France.

ndeed, a recent survey conducted by a secular group found that almost a half of those identifying themselves as Christians had attended no church services over the past year other than those for weddings, funerals and baptisms. Many were not familiar with the Bible, the survey found, and the proportion of Britons identifying themselves as Christians had slipped from around three-quarters to just over a half.

One of the most recent controversies was over the occupation of the plaza outside St. Paul’s Cathedral in London as part of anticapitalist protests.

Within days of setting up a tented camp, virtually on the cathedral steps, the occupiers drew adversaries from among many of the most powerful people in Britain, including Mr. Cameron and the mayor of London, Boris Johnson — who supported legal moves for the protesters’ eviction — and bankers and financiers who saw the camp as a threat to London’s appeal as a financial center.

A rancorous debate within the Church of England had hard-liners retreating in the face of a powerful group of liberal theologians led by Dr. Williams, who argued for an acceptance of the protesters and their cause. The liberals saw the protest as an opportunity to steer the church toward a renewed embrace of Gospel teachings on social justice.

But the most contentious issues have related to openly gay priests and the role of women.

Archbishop Williams, a bearded, Welsh-born theologian with liberal views on gay and lesbian issues, was enthroned in 2003 just as strains among Anglicans over homosexuality were coming to a boil over the election of an openly gay Episcopal bishop, V. Gene Robinson, in New Hampshire.

In 2008, Archbishop Williams sought a stratagem for finding both short- and long-term solutions to the dispute over homosexuality in the church, reflected in starkly opposed views of traditionalists, primarily in Africa and Asia, who oppose any concessions on homosexuality, and of more liberal elements, especially in the United States and Canada, who favor the ordination of openly gay and lesbian clergy members and church blessings of same-sex unions.

But in 2010, the Church of England moved a step closer to a schism between traditionalists and reformers when its General Synod, or parliament, rejected a bid by Archbishop Williams to strike a compromise over the ordination of women as bishops aimed at preserving the increasingly fragile unity of the Anglican Communion.

The rejection of proposals aimed at accommodating those who oppose women as bishops appeared to strike a serious blow to the authority of Archbishop Williams, who had sponsored proposals providing for a “complementary” male bishop with independent powers, working alongside a female bishop, to minister to traditionalists unwilling to accept a woman as the head of their diocese.

The General Synod is expected to give final approval in July to the introduction of female bishops, a move that is likely to inspire more defections among traditionalists.

“At the end of this year, I will have been 10 years in post as archbishop and just over 20 years as a bishop — that is part of it, feeling that after 10 years it is proper to pray and reflect and review your options,” Archbishop. Williams said, according to The Press Association.

“Crisis management is never a favorite activity, I have to admit, but it is not as if that has overshadowed everything. It has certainly been a major nuisance,” he said. “I can’t say that it is a great sense of ‘free at last.’ ”

Indeed, a recent survey conducted by a secular group found that almost a half of those identifying themselves as Christians had attended no church services over the past year other than those for weddings, funerals and baptisms. Many were not familiar with the Bible, the survey found, and the proportion of Britons identifying themselves as Christians had slipped from around three-quarters to just over a half.

One of the most recent controversies was over the occupation of the plaza outside St. Paul’s Cathedral in London as part of anticapitalist protests.

Within days of setting up a tented camp, virtually on the cathedral steps, the occupiers drew adversaries from among many of the most powerful people in Britain, including Mr. Cameron and the mayor of London, Boris Johnson — who supported legal moves for the protesters’ eviction — and bankers and financiers who saw the camp as a threat to London’s appeal as a financial center.

A rancorous debate within the Church of England had hard-liners retreating in the face of a powerful group of liberal theologians led by Dr. Williams, who argued for an acceptance of the protesters and their cause. The liberals saw the protest as an opportunity to steer the church toward a renewed embrace of Gospel teachings on social justice.

But the most contentious issues have related to openly gay priests and the role of women.

Archbishop Williams, a bearded, Welsh-born theologian with liberal views on gay and lesbian issues, was enthroned in 2003 just as strains among Anglicans over homosexuality were coming to a boil over the election of an openly gay Episcopal bishop, V. Gene Robinson, in New Hampshire.

In 2008, Archbishop Williams sought a stratagem for finding both short- and long-term solutions to the dispute over homosexuality in the church, reflected in starkly opposed views of traditionalists, primarily in Africa and Asia, who oppose any concessions on homosexuality, and of more liberal elements, especially in the United States and Canada, who favor the ordination of openly gay and lesbian clergy members and church blessings of same-sex unions.

But in 2010, the Church of England moved a step closer to a schism between traditionalists and reformers when its General Synod, or parliament, rejected a bid by Archbishop Williams to strike a compromise over the ordination of women as bishops aimed at preserving the increasingly fragile unity of the Anglican Communion.

The rejection of proposals aimed at accommodating those who oppose women as bishops appeared to strike a serious blow to the authority of Archbishop Williams, who had sponsored proposals providing for a “complementary” male bishop with independent powers, working alongside a female bishop, to minister to traditionalists unwilling to accept a woman as the head of their diocese.

The General Synod is expected to give final approval in July to the introduction of female bishops, a move that is likely to inspire more defections among traditionalists.

“At the end of this year, I will have been 10 years in post as archbishop and just over 20 years as a bishop — that is part of it, feeling that after 10 years it is proper to pray and reflect and review your options,” Archbishop. Williams said, according to The Press Association.

“Crisis management is never a favorite activity, I have to admit, but it is not as if that has overshadowed everything. It has certainly been a major nuisance,” he said. “I can’t say that it is a great sense of ‘free at last.’ ”


Two primates met last weekend in Rome. One, nearing his 85th birthday, has been increasingly the target of wild media speculation in Italy that he may resign as Pope, something that has not happened in centuries - speculation prompted mostly, it seems, because no Pope has lived to be 85 since Leo XIII more than a century ago (who lived to age 93). The other, 61, has also been the object of similar speculation in recent months because of unresolved questions within the Anglican Communion. No doubt he would have told the Pope about his impending announcement at their meeting last Saturday, but it is Archbishop Williams, 24 years younger, who is now stepping down - in what seems to be an acknowledgment that he cannot be the man who will lead the Anglicans out of their present quandary.

Friday, March 16, Third Week of Lent

ST. CLEMENS MARIA HOFBAUER (b Moravia, 1751, d Austria, 1820)
Redemptorist, Missionary and Social Worker, Confessor
Born the ninth of 12 children to a poor family in Vienna, John Hofbauer started as a baker, working in
a monastery, where he was allowed to attend classes at the Latin school. When the abbot died, he wanted to
become a hermit but the Emperor banned hermitages at the time, and he went back to being a baker. One day
after serving Mass, he and his friend Thaddeus met two ladies who learned that they wanted to be priests
but had no funds to join a seminary. The ladies offered to send them to Rome, where they entered the Redemptorist
order and were ordained in 1785. He took the name Clemens Maria. The order sent the two back to Vienna, but
religious persecution forced them to go to Warsaw instead, where they tended to German-speaking Catholics.
They said daily Masses, preaching in both German and Polish, eventually starting a boys' school and an orphanage.
They also attracted new priests for the order whom they would later send as missionaries throughout Poland,
Germany and Switzerland. After 20 years, Hofbauer was imprisoned and then exiled. he was to spend the last
12 years of his life in Vienna, where he became known as 'the apostle of Vienna' for hearing confessions,
visiting the sick, counseling the powerful and sharing his holiness with his beloved city. He even established
a Catholic college in Vienna. He died in 1820 and was canonized in 1909. he is often called the 'second founder'
of the Redemptorist order because he brought and propagated the order, founded by St. Alphonsus Liguori in
Italy, north of the Alps.
Readings for today's Mass: usccb.org/bible/readings/031612.cfm


AT THE VATICAN TODAY

The Holy Father began his official day by attending the second Lenten sermon by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa,
Preacher of the Pontifical Household, at the Redemptoris Mater chapel of the Apostolic Palace.

Afterwards, he met with

- Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family

- His Beatitude Sviatoslav Schevchuk, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halyć (Uckraine).

- 13 US bishops from Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas on ad limina visit

- H.E. Manuel Tomás Fernandes Pereira, Ambassador from Portugal, on a farewell visit

And in the afternoon:

- Cardinal William Joseph Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (weekly meeting)

The Vatican released a note saying that Cardinal Levada met today with FSSPX Superior-General Bernard Fellay
to hand him a letter expressing the Holy Father's judgment that the response given by the FSSPX to the Vatican
formula for reconciliation last September was 'inadequate' and requested further clarification.

The CDF also announced the creation of a new domain (www.doctrinafidei.va) for better public access
online to important documents of the dicastery in the eight official languages of the Vatican.

Fr. Federico Lombardi held a press briefing on the Holy Father's coming apostolic visit to Mexico and Cuba.


Papal trip to Lebanon
said to be for Sept. 14-16
A brief item this morning from the Italian news agency AGI, cites the French agency I-Media, which reported that the Holy Father will be visiting Lebanon Sept. 14-16, according to Patriarch Gregorios II Laham of Antioch, who met with the Holy Father yesterday. [NB: I-media is accessible only yo paying subscribers so I cannot check it out directly.]

During the visit, the Holy Father is expected to present the Middle East bishops with his Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation following the 2010 Special Synodal Assembly on the Middle East.

The Holy Father's two private secretaries are in the news today... First, Mons. Georg Gaesnwein, who presented his new book on the Pope, at the Munich Press Club yesterday afternoon; and his colleague, Mons. Alfred Xuereb, who spoke about the Pope to some young people in a parish near Turin where he came to celebrate a commemorative Mass for a fellow Maltese priest who died five years ago.



Prominent Germans speak
about their encounters
with Benedict XVI
Translated from


ROME, March 15 - Mons. Georg Gänswein, private secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, has published a new book in which prominent Germans recount their encounters and personal experiences with the Holy Father and his work in the Church and the world.

Mons. Ganeswein presetned the new book at a news conference in Munich's Presseclub, along with former Bavarian Minister President Edmund Stoiber.

The 188-page book is a unique reading experience, with many surprising impressions and statements from Germans prominent in various social sectors, such as Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne and Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich-Freising, Federal Finance Minister Walter Schaeuble, football great Franz Beckenbauer, etc.

[Gaenswein said the book was his birthday gift to the Holy Father who turns 85 on April 16. It was commissioned by the German Catholic publishing house Media Maria.

For the fifth anniversary of Benedict XVI's election to the Papacy in 2010, he published a book of photographs and his personal commentaries on Benedict XVI's most important activities in Rome, Italy, and around the world. This was commissioned by Herder. Earlier, he wrote a couple of children's books for Sankt Benno publishers in which he answers children's questions about the Pope and the papacy.]


Pope's second secretary:
Benedict is serene because
of his great and simple faith
by Salvatore Izzo


VATICAN CITY, March 15 (Translated from AGI) - "Benedict XVI is serene because he is supported by his very great faith. He is a man who lives the Gospel in a very simple way".

These are words from Mons. Alfred Xuereb, the second secretary to Papa Ratzinger, as reported in Nichelino online, from a recent visit made by the monsignor to a parish in Nichelino which is near Turin.

"Was it difficult for Benedict XVI to deal with the 'legacy' of Papa Wojtyla and his great charism?" he was asked by young people whom he spoke to in Nichelino.

"The Lord asks something special from everyone. Papa Ratzinger has had the courage and the ability to just be himself, and I admire him for this," Don Alfred answered.

"My work with him begins at six in the morning and ends around nine at night," he also tells them. "Almost every day, the Pontiff meets with persons or groups privately. And on Wednesdays, there is always a crowd for the General Audience".

"Don Georg (Gaenswein) and I prepare the necessary documentation [briefing papers and background material] for the various audiences. And there is always a great deal of correspondence sent on from the Secretariat of State".

"One of my particular duties," he adds, "is to compile all the requests for prayers that arrive for the Pope - mostly from people who are sick or in great difficulty and suffering. I place the list of requests by the prie-Dieu in his private chapel where he goes for recollection and prayer.

"What impresses me most is that among the thousand things he has to do, he remembers names and persons. Days after he first reads their names, he will follow up and ask about their particular circumstances," he observes.

He says that the Pope has a 'very human and paternal' dealing with his closest co-workers, "even in small details".

"For example, the other day, after lunch, we were going down to the Gardens to pray the rosary. It was rather cold so I helped him put on a windbreaker. Later, as we emerged from the elevator, it was his turn to help me on with my raincoat".

"And whenever he knows that I have just called home [to Malta], he always asks me how my mother is doing. When I had to come to Nichelino, I explained to him why - and he remembered about Don Joe [the priest whose commemorative Mass Don Alfred celebrated], and about Don Joshua and a new book by Don Paolo [other priest friends of Mons. Alfred]. And I am sure when I get back, he will ask all about my trip."