Pope Benedict XVI – Page 19

Respect for religious freedom leads to peace, Pope’s message affirms

The Pope released his message for the World Day of Peace today which celebrates the XLIV World Day of Peace. It’s a New Year message all peoples. The themes of the message are:

the nature of religious freedom
the right to religious freedom
religious freedom is a duty of public authority
religious freedom and the search for truth
religious freedom and identity
communal dimension of religious freedom
religious freedom and dialogue
religious freedom and the state
religious freedom is motivated by solidarity and not reciprocity
religious freedom and the missionary charge

Evangelization and the carrying out the missionary charge, then, do not contradict and oppose the sense of religious freedom. Rather evangelization stirs up the religious freedom of every person and drives it towards the truth that saves, in the hope that persons in their religious freedom would desire it and embrace it. In the embrace of the truth that saves, all religious freedom enjoys the peace that, on earth, is bestowed “on all on whom his favour rests”!

The papal text of “Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace“

Rome Reports covers the story

Cardinal Peter Turkson and Bishop Mario Taso’s presentation of the message

Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world. 200-300 million Christians face persecution yearly. 7 of out 10 can’t live in freedom with the faith. And about 150 thousand are killed for being Christian. The countries which are known to not respect Christians are: Myanmar (Burma), China, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Eritrea.

Reading Benedict XVIs “Light of the World”

Much is being made of Peter Seewald’s brilliant interview of Pope Benedict XVI, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times (2010).

The recent splash of news about this book is rather interesting and pathetic at the same time. Interesting because there are some great things the Pope says theologically about a whole host of things; pathetic because so many people are focussed on what the Pope said about latex. In recent years I’ve not see THAT much interested in the Pope’s ideas on sex, sexuality and salvation through condom use. AND the confusion runs rampant to the point that a Vatican clarification had to be issued on what the Pope said. Catholic News Service ran the Vatican statement and making sure everyone was on the same condom –rather, page.

On November 22, Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke spoke briefly of the Pope’s recent work when he answered John Burger’s questions. Burke, prefect (head) of the Church’s highest court, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, is one of 24 new cardinals created by Benedict XVI on November 21. The cardinal is a native of Wisconsin, trained in Canon Law, and the bishop of La Crosse, WI, and the former archbishop of St Louis, MO.

Read the interview here.

Popular blogger Jimmy Akin wrote two noteworthy pieces, “The Pope Said WHAT about Condoms???” which can be read here and “New Developments on the Pope and Condoms” can be read here.

Pope Benedict XVI’s monthly prayer intentions for December 2010

Pope Benedict’s invitation to prayer for the month of December, these last days of the calendar year for our unity with him before the Throne of Grace. Ask the Sacred Heart of Jesus to hear and answer our prayers:

The general intention

That our experience of suffering may help us better understand the pain of the many people who are alone, sick, or aged, and stir us to generous help.

The mission intention

That the peoples of the earth may open their doors to Christ and to his gospel of peace, brotherhood, and justice.

Pope Benedict XVI’s Prayer for Nascent Life

Lord Jesus,

You who faithfully visit and fulfil with your Presence

the Church and the history of men;

You who in the miraculous Sacrament of your Body and Blood

render us participants in divine Life

and allow us a foretaste of the joy of eternal Life;

We adore and bless you.

Prostrated before You, source and lover of Life,

truly present and alive among us, we beg you.

Reawaken in us respect for every unborn life,

make us capable of seeing in the fruit of the maternal womb

the miraculous work of the Creator,

open our hearts to generously welcoming every child

that comes into life.

Bless all families,

sanctify the union of spouses,

render fruitful their love.

Accompany the choices of legislative assemblies

with the light of your Spirit,

so that peoples and nations may recognise and respect

the sacred nature of life, of every human life.

Guide the work of scientists and doctors,

so that all progress contributes to the integral well-being of the person,

and no-one endures suppression or injustice.

Gift creative charity to administrators and economists,

so they may realise and promote sufficient conditions

so that young families can serenely embrace

the birth of new children

Console the married couples who suffer

because they are unable to have children

and in Your goodness provide for them.

Teach us all to care for orphaned or abandoned children,

so they may experience the warmth of your Charity,

the consolation of your divine Heart.

Together with Mary, Your Mother, the great believer,

in whose womb you took on our human nature,

we wait to receive from You, our Only True Good and Saviour,

the strength to love and serve life,

in anticipation of living forever in You,

in communion with the Blessed Trinity.

What the Pope really said about condoms…

If you want to know what Pope Benedict XVI really said about AIDS and condom use, you will want to read Chapter 11, of Peter Seewald’s interview of the Pope in Light of the World, “The Journeys of a Shepherd,” pages 117-119:

On the occasion of your trip to Africa in March 2009, the Vatican’s policy on AIDs once again became the target of media criticism. Twenty-five percent of all AIDs victims around the world today are treated in Catholic facilities. In some countries, such as Lesotho, for example, the statistic is 40 percent. In Africa you stated that the Church’s traditional teaching has proven to be the only sure way to stop the spread of HIV. Critics, including critics from the Church’s own ranks, object that it is madness to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms.

The media coverage completely ignored the rest of the trip to Africa on account of a single statement. Someone had asked me why the Catholic Church adopts an unrealistic and ineffective position on AIDs. At that point, I really felt that I was being provoked, because the Church does more than anyone else. And I stand by that claim. Because she is the only institution that assists people up close and concretely, with prevention, education, help, counsel, and accompaniment. And because she is second to none in treating so many AIDs victims, especially children with AIDs.

I had the chance to visit one of these wards and to speak with the patients. That was the real answer: The Church does more than anyone else, because she does not speak from the tribunal of the newspapers, but helps her brothers and sisters where they are actually suffering. In my remarks I was not making a general statement about the condom issue, but merely said, and this is what caused such great offense, that we cannot solve the problem by distributing condoms. Much more needs to be done. We must stand close to the people, we must guide and help them; and we must do this both before and after they contract the disease.

As a matter of fact, you know, people can get condoms when they want them anyway. But this just goes to show that condoms alone do not resolve the question itself. More needs to happen. Meanwhile, the secular realm itself has developed the so-called ABC Theory: Abstinence-Be Faithful-Condom, where the condom is understood only as a last resort, when the other two points fail to work. This means that the sheer fixation on the condom implies a banalization of sexuality, which, after all, is precisely the dangerous source of the attitude of no longer seeing sexuality as the expression of love, but only a sort of drug that people administer to themselves. This is why the fight against the banalization of sexuality is also a part of the struggle to ensure that sexuality is treated as a positive value and to enable it to have a positive effect on the whole of man’s being.

There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants. But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanization of sexuality.

Are you saying, then, that the Catholic Church is actually not opposed in principle to the use of condoms?

She of course does not regard it as a real or moral solution, but, in this or that case, there can be nonetheless, in the intention of reducing the risk of infection, a first step in a movement toward a different way, a more human way, of living sexuality.

Apostolic Exhortation “Verbum Domini”

The Pope released his post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini, following the 2008 Synod of Bishops on the Word of God. It’s available in eight languages in at least 200 pages.

Verbum Domini – English

Verbum Domini – Italiano

Verbum Domini – Español

The press conference:

At midday today
in the Holy See Press Office, the presentation took place of the Post-Synodal
Apostolic Exhortation “Verbum Domini” of Benedict XVI, on the Word of
God in the life and mission of the Church.

Today’s press conference was
presented by Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for
Bishops; Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for
Culture, and Archbishop Nikola Eterovic and Msgr. Fortunato Frizza,
respectively secretary general and under secretary of the Synod of Bishops.

The
Apostolic Exhortation, which is dated 30 September, Memorial of St. Jerome, is
the fruit of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops,
which was held in Rome from 5 to 26 October 2008. The document, which has been
published in Latin, Italian, English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and
Polish, is made up of an introduction, three parts and a conclusion.

Achbishop
Eterovic explained how in part one, entitled “Verbum Dei”, the Pope
highlights both “the fundamental role of God the Father, source and origin
of the Word”, and “the Trinitarian dimension of revelation”.
Chapter one – “The God Who Speaks” – underscores “God’s will to
open and maintain a dialogue with man, in which God takes the initiative and
reveals Himself in various ways”. It also dwells on “the
Christological aspect of the Word, while at the same time underlining the
pneumatological dimension”. This section of the document also focuses on
the relationship between the Eucharist and Tradition, and on the theme of the
inspiration and truth of the Bible.

“Our Response to the God Who
Speaks” is the title of chapter two of part one. “Man is called to
enter into the Alliance with his God, Who listens to him and responds to his
questions. To God Who speaks, man responds with the faith. The most suitable
prayer is that made using the words which were revealed by God and are
conserved and written in the Bible”, said Archbishop Eterovic.

Chapter
three has as its title “The Interpretation of Sacred Scripture in the
Church”. The secretary general of the Synod of Bishops explained how
“Sacred Scripture should be, as the Dogmatic Constitution ‘Dei Verbum’
says, ‘the soul of sacred theology’. … The biblical hermeneutics of Vatican
Council II must be rediscovered, also in order to avoid a certain dualism
evident in secularised interpretations which could give rise to a
fundamentalist and spiritualist interpretation of Holy Scripture. Correct
interpretation requires complementarity in a literal and spiritual sense, a
harmony between faith and reason”. This chapter also examines relations
between Christians and Jews, noting that they enjoy “a very special
relationship … because they share a large part of the Scriptures”.

Part
two of the document is entitled “Verbum in Ecclesia”. Chapter one –
“The Word of God and the Church” – underlines how it is thanks to the
Word of God and the effect of the Sacraments “that Jesus remains
contemporary to mankind in the life of the Church”, said the archbishop.

“The
Liturgy, Privileged Setting for the Word of God” is the title of chapter
two, in which the focus turns to “the vital link between Sacred Scripture
and the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist”. The importance of the
Lectionary is mentioned, as is that of the proclamation of the Word and the
ministry of reader, with particular emphasis being laid on the preparation of
the homily, a theme of great importance in this Post-Synodal Apostolic
Exhortation.

Chapter three of part two concerns “The Word of God in the
Life of the Church” and highlights “the importance of biblical inspiration
for pastoral activity, the biblical dimension of catechesis, the biblical
formation of Christians, the use of Sacred Scripture in great ecclesial
gahterings, and the Word of God in relation to vocations”. Attention is
also given to “lectio divina and Marian prayer”, said the
archbishop.

Part three of the document published today has as its title
“Verbum Mundo”. It draws attention to “the duty of Christians to
announce the Word of God in the world in which they live and work”.
Chapter one – “The Church’s Mission to Proclaim the Word of God to the
World” – explains how the Church “is oriented towards the
announcement ‘ad gentes’, to people who do not yet know the Word, … but also
to those who have already been baptised … but need new evangelisation in
order to rediscover the Word of God”.

“The Word of God and Commitment
to the World” is the title of chapter two, which recalls how
“Christians are called to serve the Word of God in their most needy
brothers and sisters and, hence, to commit themselves in society for
reconciliation, justice and peace among peoples”.

Chapter three of part
three is dedicated to “The Word of God and Culture”. It expresses the
hope “that the Bible may become better known in schools and universities
and that better use may be made of the social communications media, exploiting
all the modern possibilities of technology. The theme of the inculturation of
Sacred Scripture is also linked to the translation and diffusion of the Bible,
which must be increased”, said Archbishop Eterovic.

“The Word of God
and Inter-religious Dialogue” is the title of chapter four. “Having
established the value and topicality of inter-religious dialogue, ‘Verbum
Domini’ … supplies some important guidelines concerning dialogue between
Christians and Muslims, and with members of other non-Christian religions,
within the framework of a religious liberty which involves not only the freedom
to profess one’s faith in private and in public, but also freedom of
conscience; in other words, of choosing one’s religion”.

In the
conclusion, Archbishop Eterovic concluded his explanations, the Holy Father
reiterates his exhortation to all Christians “to become increasingly
familiar with Sacred Scripture”.

What does it mean to love totally? How can we learn to love truly? –Catholic Action asks Pope for advice

Pope Benedict
XVI responded to a cross section of Italian Catholic Action, on Saturday,
October 31. Reportedly, there were 50,000 children, 30,000 youth and 10,000
educators of Catholic Action, who were in Rome meeting under the theme: “There
Is More. We Become Great Together.” WOW!!!! The Pope really takes humanity seriously; he really understands me and my desires and my limitations. One of the Q&A that I liked is the
following:

Your Holiness, our teachers in Catholic Action tell us that to grow
up it is necessary to learn to love, but often we fail and we suffer in our
relationships, in our friendships, in our first loves. But what does it mean to
love totally? How can we learn to love truly?

Benedict XVI: A great question.
It is very important, I would say fundamental, to learn to love, truly to love,
to learn the art of real love! In adolescence we stop before the mirror and we
notice that we are changing. But if you continue to look at yourself, you will
never grow up! You grow up when you do no longer let the mirror be the only
truth about you but when you let your friends tell you. You will grow up if you
are able to make your life a gift to others, not to seek yourselves, but to
give yourselves to others: this is the school of love. This love, however, must
bring you into that “more” that today shout to everyone. “There
is more!” As I have already said, I too, in my youth wanted something more
than what the society and the mentality of the time presented to me. I wanted
to breathe pure air, above all I desired a beautiful and good world, like our
God, the Father of Jesus, wanted for everyone. And I understood more and more
that the world becomes beautiful and good if one knows this will of God and if
the world corresponds to this will of God, which is the true light, beauty,
love that gives the world meaning.

It is quite true: You cannot and must not
adapt yourselves to a love reduced to a commodity to be consumed without
respect for oneself or for others, incapable of chastity and purity. This is
not freedom. Much of the “love” that is proposed by the media, on the
internet, is not love but egoism, closure, it gives you the illusion of a
moment, but it does not make you happy, it does not make you grow up, it binds
you like a chain that suffocates more beautiful thoughts and sentiments, the
true desires of the heart, that irrepressible power that is love and that has
its maximum expression in Jesus and strength and fire in the Holy Spirit, who
enflames your lives, your thoughts, your affections. Of course it demands
sacrifice to live love in the true way — without renunciation one does not
find this road — but I am certain that you are not afraid of the toil of a
challenging and authentic love. It is the only kind that, in the final
analysis, gives true joy! There is a test that tells you whether your love is
growing in a healthy way: If you do not exclude others from your life, above
all your friends who are suffering and alone, people in difficulty, and if you
open your heart to the great friend Jesus.

Catholic Action also teaches you the
roads to take to learn authentic love: participation in the life of the Church,
of your Christian community, loving your friends in the Children’s Catholic
Action group, in Catholic Action, availability to those of your age at school,
in the parish or in other environments, the company of the Mother of Jesus,
Mary, who knows how to guide your heart and lead you along the way of good.
Moreover, in Catholic Action, you have many examples of genuine, beautiful,
true love: Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, Blessed Alberto Marvelli; love that
also leads to the sacrifice of one’s life, like with Blessed Pierina Morosini
and Blessed Antonia Mesina.

Young people of Catholic Action, aspire to big
goals, because God gives you the strength. “More” is being young
people and children who decide to love like Jesus does, to be the protagonists
of our own lives, protagonists in the Church, witnesses of the faith to those
who are your age. “More” is the

human and Christian formation that
you experience in Catholic Action, which unites spiritual life, fraternity,
public witness to the faith, ecclesial communion, love for the Church,
collaboration with the bishops and priests, spiritual friendship. “Growing
up together” speaks of the importance of being part of a group and a
community that helps you to grow, to discover your vocation and to learn true love.
Thank you.

Pope Benedict XVI’s monthly prayer intentions for November 2010

You & me, all Christians and people of good will ought to have a habit of prayer, of turning to God because prayer has the effect of naturalizing and lifting the soul beyond the temporal. Join me in praying for these two intentions given by the Pope to us when we turn to God.

The general intention

That through the support of the Christian community,
all victims of addiction may find in the power of our saving God strength for a
radical life change.

The missionary intention

That the Latin American Churches may move forward with the
continent-wide mission proposed by their bishops, assuming their share of the
universal missionary task of God’s people.

Pope Benedict XVI’s monthly prayer intentions for October 2010

Keeping the Pope and his intentions in front of us in prayer and in conversation, October’s intentions are the following:

The general intention

That Catholic Universities may
increasingly become places where, in light of the gospel, people may experience
the unity of faith and reason.

The mission intention

That World Mission Day may
help Christians realize that the task of proclaiming Christ is a necessary
service to which the Church is called for the benefit of humanity.

Pope regards himself as a pilgrim, do you?

We are all pilgrims; we are all called to seek the face of God; we are all called to follow the Divine Other; we are called to dine richly on the divine gift of the Eucharist, the Food for the journey (viaticum) and to rest on the heart of Christ. I remember my religious superiors telling me that in making a pilgrimage Saint Ignatius of Loyola laid more emphasis on what happened to one’s heart during the pilgrimage than merely getting to the destination. While getting to a holy place is important it ranks second to the conversion of heart that is hoped for during the pilgrimage experiment. How true. It wouldn’t matter if you got to Santiago de Compostella or not if your heart wasn’t radically changed according to the mind of Christ. My dream is to make the pilgrimage to the great shrine of Saint James, the place of the Lord’s friend; I pray for the grace that my heart be turned inside-out. In the meanwhile, I’ll make the road to the confessional my walk in the Way of Christ. The pope sets the stage for a pilgrimage spot is and how we Catholics are to be as welcoming as Christ is to the pilgrim. Read a portion of the Pope letter to the bishop and people of Compostella:

With great
pleasure I would like to express my spiritual closeness to the congress
participants to encourage and accompany them in carrying out a pastoral task of
such great importance in ecclesial life. I will personally make a pilgrimage
soon to the tomb of the Apostle Saint James, the “Lord’s friend”, in
the same way that I have made my way to other places in the world which many of
the faithful visit with fervent devotion. In this regard, from the beginning of
my pontificate, I have wanted to live my ministry as the Successor of Peter
with the sentiments of a pilgrim who travels over the roads of the world with
hope and simplicity bringing on his lips and in his heart the saving message of
the Risen Christ, and strengthening his brothers in faith (cf. Lk 22:32). As an
explicit sign of this mission, my coat-of-arms includes the pilgrim’s shell,
among other elements.

In these historic moments in which we are called, with
greater force if possible, to evangelize our world, the riches offered to us by
the pilgrimage to shrines should be highlighted. First of all, for its great
ability to summon and bring together a growing number of pilgrims and religious
tourists, some of whom are in complicated human and spiritual situations,
somewhat distant from living the faith and with a weak ecclesial affiliation.
Christ speaks to all of them with love and hope. The desire for happiness that
is imbedded in the soul finds its answer in Him, and human suffering together
with Him has a meaning. With his grace, the noblest causes also find their
complete fulfillment. As Simeon met with Christ in the temple (cf. Lk 2:25-35),
so too a pilgrim should have the opportunity to discover the Lord in the
shrine.

For this purpose, efforts should be made so that visitors may not forget
that shrines are sacred places in order to be in them with devotion, respect
and propriety. In this way, the Word of Christ, the Son of the living God, can
ring out clearly, and the event of his death and resurrection, the foundation
of our faith, can be proclaimed completely. Very careful attention should also
be given to welcoming the pilgrims, by highlighting, among other elements, the
dignity and beauty of the shrine, the image of “God’s dwelling… with the
human race” (Rev 21:3), the moments and spaces for both personal and
community prayer, and attention to devotional practices. In the same way, it
can never be stressed enough that shrines should be lighthouses of charity,
with unceasing dedication to the neediest through concrete works of solidarity
and mercy, and constant readiness to listen, favoring in particular the
faithful’s reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and taking part
worthily in the Eucharistic celebration, making this the center and apex of all
the pastoral activity of the shrines. In this way it will be made manifest that
the Eucharist is indeed the pilgrim’s nourishment, the “Sacrament of the
God who does not leave us alone on the journey but stays at our side and shows
us the way” (Homily on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, May 22, 2008).

In
fact, different from a wanderer whose steps have no established final
destination, a pilgrim always has a destination, even if at times he is not
explicitly aware of it. And this destination is none other than the encounter
with God through Christ in whom all our aspirations find their response. For
this reason, the celebration of the Eucharist can really be considered the
culmination of the pilgrimage.

As “God’s co-workers” (1 Co 3:9), I
exhort all of you to be dedicated to this beautiful mission so that through
your pastoral care, you will favor in pilgrims the knowledge and imitation of
Christ who continues to walk with us, enlighten our lives with his Word, and
share with us the Bread of Life in the Eucharist. In this way, the pilgrimage
to the shrine will be a favorable occasion to strengthen the desire in those
who visit it to share the wonderful experience with others of knowing they are
loved by God and sent to the world to give witness to that love.

The Vatican,
September 8, 2010

Benedictus PP. XVI