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The World Seen From Rome
Daily dispatch - June 25, 2008
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VATICAN DOSSIER Benedict XVI: Freedom Is in the "Yes" Pope to Bestow Pallium on 43 Benedict XVI Blesses St. Orione Statue Pope Praises Malayalam Edition of L'Osservatore Pirates Among Apostleship's Main Concerns Vatican: Reporting on '83 Kidnapping "Sensationalism" WORLD FEATURES African Bishops Decry Zimbabwe "Sham" Cardinal: Walls Aren't Solution for Immigration Millennium Goals: Empty Promises? Pew Study Seen as Confirming US Religiosity WEDNESDAY'S AUDIENCE On St. Maximus the Confessor DOCUMENTS Message for Sea Sunday 2008
VATICAN DOSSIER
Benedict XVI: Freedom Is in the "Yes"
Says Man Finds Himself By Conforming His Will to God
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 25, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- True freedom is the ability to say "yes" to God and conform one's will to the divine, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this today during the general audience in St. Peter's Square, which he dedicated to the figure of St. Maximus, a seventh-century monk.
He said the monk, known as the Confessor, merited the title "because of the intrepid courage with which he was able to give witness --'to confess' -- even while suffering, the integrity of his faith in Jesus Christ."
The Holy Father praised the monk, who was born in Palestine, for his role in defending the Church's faith against the Monothelite heresy of the seventh century, which refused the presence of an integral human will in Jesus Christ.
"Maximus did not accept any attempt to minimize the humanity of Christ," said the Pontiff.
He explained: "The theory had arisen according to which Christ had only one will, the divine. To defend the uniqueness of his person, they denied he had a true human will.
"At first glance, it might appear to be something good that in Christ there was only one will.
"However, St. Maximus understood immediately that this would have destroyed the mystery of salvation, because a humanity without will -- a man without a will -- is not a true man, but rather an amputated man."
"Therefore," Benedict XVI continued, "the man Jesus Christ would not have been a true man, would not have experienced the drama of the human being, which consists precisely in the difficulty of conforming our will with the truth of being."
Freedom
The Pope said that St. Maximus "demonstrates that man finds his unity, the integration of himself, his totality not in himself, but in surpassing himself, by coming out of himself. Thus, also in Christ, man, coming out of himself, finds in God, in the Son of God, himself."
He explained that the monk taught what is true freedom. "Adam -- and Adam is us -- thought that the 'no' was the apex of liberty; that only he who can say 'no' is truly free; that to truly realize his liberty, man must say 'no' to God.
"Only in this way, he thinks, he is finally himself; he has arrived at the summit of liberty. This tendency was also present in Christ's human nature, but he overcame it, because Jesus saw that 'no' is not the greatest liberty."
"The greatest liberty is to say 'yes,' to conform with the will of God," the Holy Father underlined. "Only in saying 'yes' does man really become himself.
"Transferring one's will to the divine will, that is how a true man is born. That is how we are redeemed."
Accused
Maximus was accused of heresy in his 80s by the emperor of Constantinople, who held the Monothelite position. He was eventually convicted. As punishment his tongue was cut out and his right hand was cut off, so he could no longer preach and write about the two wills of Christ.
Benedict XVI recalled that the "holy monk, thus mutilated, was exiled in Colchide, on the Black Sea, where he died, exhausted by the sufferings undergone, at the age of 82."
"The life and thought of Maximus remain powerfully illumined by an immense courage in witnessing to the integral reality of Christ, without any reduction or compromise," said the Holy Father. "And so we see who is truly man, how we must live to respond to our vocation.
"We must live united to God, and thus be united to ourselves and the cosmos, giving the cosmos itself and humanity their just form."
Values
The Pope said "Christ's universal 'yes' shows us with clarity how to give the right place to all the other values," such as tolerance, liberty and dialogue.
He noted that "tolerance that is no longer able to distinguish between good and evil would become chaotic and self-destructive. So, moreover, would a liberty that does not respect the freedom of others and does not find the common measure of our respective liberties, it would become anarchic and destroy authority. Dialogue that no longer knows what to dialogue about becomes empty chatter."
The Pontiff continued: "All these values are great and fundamental, but they can remain true values only if they have the point of reference that unites them and gives them true authenticity.
"This point of reference is the synthesis between God and the cosmos, and the figure of Christ in which we learn the truth about ourselves and so learn where to place all the other values, because we discover their genuine meaning.
"Jesus Christ is the point of reference that gives light to all the other values."
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Pope to Bestow Pallium on 43
5 Archbishops From North America
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 25, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will confer the pallium on 43 metropolitan archbishops in a traditional ceremony on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the first day of the Pauline Jubilee Year.
The pallium, worn by the Pope and archbishops, symbolizes the lost sheep that is found again, carried on the shoulders of the Good Shepherd, and the Lamb crucified for the salvation of humanity. It also symbolizes, in part, the Pope's concession of authority and communion to heads of major local Churches.
Here is the list of those who will receive the pallium. There are five archbishops serving in North America:
-- Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of Baltimore, Maryland
-- Archbishop Thomas Rodi of Mobile, Alabama
-- Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt of St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota
-- Archbishop Anthony Mancini of Halifax, Nova Scotia
-- Archbishop Martin Currie of St. John's, Newfoundland
Fourteen in Europe:
-- Archbishop Francisco Pérez González of Pamplona-Tudela, Spain
-- Archbishop Paolo Pezzi of Mother of God in Moscow, Russia
-- Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk-Mohilev, Belarus
-- Archbishop Giancarlo Maria Bregantini of Campobasso-Boiano, Italy
-- Archbishop Reinhard Marx of Munich-Freising, Germany
-- Archbishop Slawoj Leszek Głodz of Gdansk, Poland
-- Archbishop Willem Eijk of Utrecht, Netherlands
-- Archbishop José Sanches Alves of Evora, Portugal
-- Archbishop Jan Babjak of Presov for Catholics of Byzantine rite, Slovakia
-- Archbishop Giovanni Paolo Benotto of Pisa, Italy
-- Archbishop Stanislav Zvolensky of Bratislava, Slovakia
-- Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Lille, France
-- Archbishop Francesco Montenegro of Agrigento, Italy
-- Archbishop Marin Srakic of Djakovo-Osijek, Croatia
Three in Asia or the Middle East:
-- Archbishop John Hung Shan-Chuan of Taipei, Taiwan
-- Archbishop John Hiong Fun-Yit Yaw of Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
-- His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem
Seven in South America
-- Archbishop Lorenzo Voltolini Esti of Portoviejo, Ecuador
-- Archbishop Andrés Stanovnik of Corrientes, Argentina
-- Archbishop Mauro Aparecido dos Santos of Cascavel, Brazil
-- Archbishop Oscar Urbina Ortega of Villavicencio, Colombia
-- Archbishop Antonio López Castillo of Barquisimeto, Venezuela
-- Archbishop Agustín Radrizzani of Mercedes-Lujan, Argentina
-- Archbishop Luis Gonzaga Silva Pepeu of Vitoria da Conquista, Brazil
Seven in Africa:
-- Cardinal John Njue, archbishop of Nairobi, Kenya
-- Archbishop Michel Cartatéguy of Niamey, Niger
-- Archbishop Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso of Kaduna, Nigeria
-- Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Congo
-- Archbishop Richard Burke of Benin City, Nigeria
-- Archbishop Thomas Kwaku Mensah of Kumasi, Ghana
-- Archbishop Peter Kairo of Nyeri, Kenya
Four in the Caribbean
-- Archbishop Robert Rivas of Castries, St. Lucia
-- Archbishop Louis Kebreau of Cap Haitien, Haiti
-- Archbishop Donald Reece of Kingston in Jamaica
-- Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot of Port au Prince, Haiti
And one in Oceania:
-- Archbishop John Ribat of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Two archbishops will receive the pallium in their metropolitan sees:
-- Archbishop William D'Souza of Patna, India
-- Archbishop Edward Tamba Charles of Freetown-Bo, Sierra Leone.
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Benedict XVI Blesses St. Orione Statue
Memorial to Italian Priest Who Cared for Poor
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 25, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI today blessed a statue of a 20th-century Italian saint, who taught that the Church's real treasures are the poor and humble of the world.
Before the general audience in St. Peter's Square, the Pope blessed a marble statue of St. Luigi Orione, which has been positioned in an external niche in the back wall of St. Peter's Basilica.
In the presence of Father Flavio Peloso, director-general of the congregation St. Orione founded, and of Gianni Alemanno, mayor of Rome, the Holy Father pronounced the prayer and sprinkled the statue with holy water.
Luigi Orione was born in Pontecurone, Italy, in 1872. As a young seminarian he joined both the San Marziano Society for Mutual Help and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. In 1892 he opened the first Oratory in Tortona for the Christian education of boys. The following year, Orione, then a seminarian of 21, started a boarding school for poor boys.
He was ordained a priest in 1895 and, on that occasion, the bishop gave the clerical habit to six pupils of the boarding school. Shortly thereafter, Father Orione opened new houses in Sicily, Sanremo and Rome.
Around the young founder grew the first core group of the Little Work of Divine Providence. In 1899, he founded the branch of the Hermits of Divine Providence. The male congregation of the Little Work of Divine Providence, the Sons of Divine Providence, was approved in 1903.
In 1915, some 20 years later, he added the Congregation of the Little Missionary Sisters of Charity. Alongside them, he began the Blind Sisters, Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament. and the Contemplative Sisters of Jesus Crucified.
For laypeople, he set up the associations of the “Ladies of Divine Providence," the “Former Pupils" and the “Friends." More recently, the Don Orione Secular Institute and the Don Orione Laypeople's Movement began.
Following World War I, the number of schools, boarding houses, agricultural schools, charitable and welfare works increased. He set up the “Little Cottolengos" for the care of the suffering and abandoned.
Father Orione later expanded his works to the Americas, England and the Middle East. He himself made two missionary journeys to Latin America. He died in 1940.
Pope John Paul II canonized the priest in 2004. His feast day is March 12.
At the end of today's general audience, Benedict XVI greeted "with great affection" the members of the Orione family.
He expressed his hope that the unveiling of the statue of their founder "will constitute for all his spiritual children a renewed stimulus to continue along the path indicated by St. Luigi Orione, especially in bringing to Peter's Successor -- as he himself said -- 'the small, the humble, the poor workers, and the rejected of life who are most dear to Christ, and the real treasures of the Church of Jesus Christ.'"
"Only charity will save the world," is the phrase sculpted in the open book of the Gospel held in one hand of the statue.
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Pope Praises Malayalam Edition of L'Osservatore
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 25, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI expressed his appreciation for the first Malayalam-language version of the L'Osservatore Romano.
The Pope wrote in an English-language message published today: "The publication is a highly significant event in the life of the Church in India, since it will keep the over six million Catholics in Kerala State fully informed about the ministry of the Pope and the work of the Holy See and strengthen the bonds of faith and ecclesial communion linking the Catholic community to the See of Peter.
"I willingly take this occasion to offer my prayerful good wishes for this important undertaking, together with my heartfelt thanks to the directors of the Carmel International Publishing House and to all those who in any way have contributed to its realization.
"It is my hope that this new translation of the English edition, which now takes its place alongside the other language editions of L'Osservatore Romano, will prove a valuable source of instruction and enrichment in the faith, an incentive to ever greater fraternity and co-operation within Kerala's richly diverse Catholic community, and an indispensable aid to the continuing work of evangelization."
Some six million Catholics speak Malayalam in Kerala.
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Pirates Among Apostleship's Main Concerns
Sea Sunday Also Focuses on Need for Solidarity With Fishermen
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 25, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- The threat of pirates and the well-being of fishermen are two of the main concerns noted by the Vatican's Apostleship for the Sea.
This was affirmed in the annual message for Sea Sunday, released by the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, and signed by its president, Cardinal Renato Martino.
That pontifical council is the Vatican dicastery that includes the pastoral care of seafarers. Sea Sunday will be celebrated this year on July 13.
"Sea Sunday is annually a day set aside for the remembrance and prayer for all those who are mariners, fishers and port workers, together with their families and dependents," Cardinal Martino said. "This is therefore an opportunity for us to remember the issues that seafarers daily confront in undertaking their professional and seafaring life."
The message noted an area of "particular concern all over the world, that of the fishing profession."
"The fishing communities in fact are battling against the more negative aspects of globalization and are confronted with economic, social and ecological problems of international proportion," he said. "Everywhere [the Apostleship of the Sea] has to manifest solidarity with them and intensify its pastoral mission in this area, as these next years will be decisive if we want the oceans to live, the fishing communities to survive and to continue harvesting fish, on which more than one billion people rely, till now, as their main source of protein."
Cardinal Martino affirmed that in this area, Benedict XVI's call for a "globalization of solidarity" is particularly relevant.
Threats
Another area of concern noted by the prelate is that of piracy.
"In some parts of the world, this is prevalent and presents a real threat to the security of vessels and their crews," he said. "AOS therefore must support every move by the international community and local authorities to address this problem."
Finally, the cardinal mentioned a highlight of the apostleship's work: that of fostering ecumenical and interreligious dialogue.
"We rejoice too […] for the ecumenical collaboration and interreligious dialogue taking place aboard ships, in the ports and in seafarers' centers," the message said. "Our presence and witness express the solicitude and proximity of the Church to all those who are involved in the maritime environment, especially to the poorest and those most in need.
"We pray that this celebration of Sea Sunday will enable us to renew our commitment to human promotion and evangelization. May Mary, Stella Maris, intercede for us in asking for God's grace, so that AOS may ever more remain committed to the building up of God's Kingdom in the maritime world."
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Vatican: Reporting on '83 Kidnapping "Sensationalism"
Decries "Defamatory and Groundless" Accusation of Prelate
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 25, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- The Vatican is calling into question the "serious and professional ethics" of some Italian journalists, who have refocused attention on the case of the 1983 disappearance of a daughter of a Vatican employee.
Press reports have brought attention to the case of Emanuela Orlandi, who was 15 when she disappeared in 1983. The reports air an accusation that the late Archbishop Paul Marcinkus ordered the girl's death. Illinois-born Archbishop Marckinkus died in early 2006, at age 84.
Sunday was the 25th anniversary of the girl's disappearance.
In a statement Tuesday, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, noted the "widespread journalistic disclosure" of "unverified" information from a "witness of extremely dubious credibility."
The accusations are based on the testimony of Sabrina Minardi, a former girlfriend of the head of an Italian gang active in the 1980s, Enrico de Pedis. De Pedis, who was shot in 1990, was the head of the Magliana Gang, which was suspected by some to be involved in the disappearance of Orlandi.
The Orlandi family challenged Minardi's statements as lacking proof. Minardi herself is a recovering drug addict.
Dubious
The Vatican statement said: "The tragic affair of the disappearance of young Emanuela Orlandi -- in 1983 -- has again become a focus of attention for the Italian media world.
"This has come about in a striking way, with the widespread journalistic disclosure of confidential information, information that remains completely unverified and that proceeds from a witness of extremely dubious credibility.
"This serves only to renew the immense pain of the Orlandi family, while showing no respect and humanity toward people who have already suffered so much.
"It also serves to spread defamatory and groundless accusations against Archbishop Marcinkus, who died some time ago and cannot defend himself.
"We in no way wish to interfere with the duties of the magistrates in their rigorous verification of facts and responsibilities. But at the same time, we cannot but express our extreme regret and reproof at methods of information that owe more to sensationalism than to the requirements of seriousness and of professional ethics."
Archbishop Marcinkus served as president of the Institute for the Works of Religion (known as the Vatican bank) from 1971 to 1989, and was the pro-president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State from 1981 to 1990. He died in the U.S. in 2006.
Orlandi's disappearance originally brought widespread international attention because of claims the kidnappers were using her as a bribe to gain the release of Mehmet Ali Agca. Ali Agca was the man who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981.
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WORLD FEATURES
African Bishops Decry Zimbabwe "Sham"
Say Mugabe Shouldn't Be Recognized as Legitimate
DURBAN, South Africa, JUNE 25, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference says the situation surrounding the presidential runoff election in Zimbabwe has "degenerated into a sham."
In a statement released today, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, archbishop of Durban, spokesman of that episcopal conference, affirmed that the Zimbabwean people "have the right to choose their president in an election that is contested freely and fairly."
The election for president in Zimbabwe has been an ongoing crisis. Though the March vote was carried off peacefully, the results were not released for five weeks. Finally it was announced that neither incumbent President Robert Mugabe, nor his main contender, Morgan Tsvangirai, had outright won.
A runoff was scheduled for Friday, but a campaign of torture and the killing of opposition supporters ensued. Tsvangirai on Sunday finally refused to compete in the vote, saying that he could not ask his supporters to risk their lives.
Cardinal Napier affirmed that the "politically motivated violence, intimidation and torture have made a just and fair run-off presidential election virtually impossible. The electoral playing field is not level. Opposition candidates cannot present their views to the electorate, nor do they have equitable access to the media. Monitoring systems are not in place.
"The violence has intensified in the last few weeks to the extent that the Movement for Democratic Change has made the difficult decision not to participate in what has degenerated into a sham. The choice by the MDC to try to protect the lives of supporters and others who have been targeted is understandable."
"The alternative" the cardinal said, "would have been an undeclared civil war."
Judgment awaits
The cardinal called for a "consensus model of government that involves all Zimbabweans."
Tsvangirai himself called today for talks on power sharing and for armed peacekeepers.
"The international community must cooperate with the Southern African Development Community to bring about a just settlement," the cardinal affirmed in the statement. "A 'winner-takes-all' solution that rewards the ruling party for its atrocities and criminal mismanagement will only entrench the sufferings of the most vulnerable."
Cardinal Napier said that the bishops, "together with other organizations, warn that the atrocities and barbarism of [Mugabe's] ZANU-PF [party] are being documented. Mugabe's actions and those of his generals, their wives, his thug supporters and the so-called war veterans are offensive in the eyes of God. Judgment awaits."
The cardinal said that the African bishops believe "the actions of the incumbent ruling elite deserve rigorous censure."
He added: "We call on the member states of the African Union to register their commitment to democracy in Zimbabwe by rejecting the legal fiction that this election has become and by not recognizing Robert Mugabe and his party as the legitimate government.
"We are deeply concerned at this situation and warn that unless there is a unified effort from the international community with the leadership of Southern African countries, the hopeless situation of violence, famine and uncertainty will result in a vast humanitarian crisis that will engulf the whole Southern African region."
Anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela today joined his influential voice to the critics of Mugabe, the Associated Press reported. In a speech in London, he affirmed there has been a "tragic failure of leadership in our neighboring Zimbabwe."
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Cardinal: Walls Aren't Solution for Immigration
Caritas President Says Development Is Real Answer
ROME, JUNE 25, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- The Honduran cardinal who is president of Caritas Internationalis says walls are not the solution for immigration issues, and that the real answer lies in helping poor countries.
Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga and other Honduran bishops visited Benedict XVI on Tuesday for their five-yearly visit.
Later, the cardinal spoke with Vatican Radio about the challenges facing Latin America, including emigration. He affirmed that "the solution does not lie in building walls, but instead in helping poor countries."
"No one emigrates for pleasure, but out of necessity," he explained. "When young people can't find work, they must necessarily look for it in other places, if they are not to enter the drug circuit.
"We are convinced that the international community must recognize that development cannot exclude anyone, and solidarity and justice must prevail. Without solidarity and social justice, in fact, it is difficult to have peace."
The cardinal addressed other "thorny problems and issues" in Latin America and, in particular, Honduras, "such as the increase in the number of poor, due, above all, to the increase of the price of petrol and of basic goods."
Some 70% of Honduras' 7 million inhabitants live below the poverty line.
"The cancellation of the foreign debt has not created the conditions for the country's re-launching, in part, because money is used to buy fuel, indispensable for the production of energy," Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga lamented.
Evangelization
Along with these challenges, the cardinal said he believes that in Honduras, the difficulties faced by families are the Church's priority.
In this context, the archbishop of Tegucigalpa said that "an evangelization effort is needed so that the social doctrine of the Church can reach everywhere, including the political-institutional realm."
"When positions of power are attained, it seems that the common good is forgotten," he lamented. "Moreover, where there is poverty there is the temptation of easy money and the penetration of drug trafficking."
In regard to sects, the Honduran cardinal explained that "one of the causes of their growth is due to the fact that in the past, there has been a lack of priests."
Honduras is mostly Catholic -- some reports say as much as 97% of the population belong to the Church.
"Some communities did not have priests," Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga reported, "although in our country the number of the 'delegates of the word of God' has grown -- laymen and women who, after previous training, have made it possible for our faith to be preserved. We have 30,000, and they work even in the smallest villages."
On the contrary, "sects make much noise, they enjoy gains and money and, above all, they don't have to maintain structures."
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Millennium Goals: Empty Promises?
Caritas Urges G-8 Leaders to Make Good on Commitments
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 25, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- The president of Caritas Internationalis is lamenting that at current rates of progress, the Millennium Development Goals set to be attained by 2015 may take 100 years to reach.
Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga affirmed this in a joint statement from Caritas and the International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity sent to the Group of Eight leaders.
The leaders of the G-8 nations will meet in Japan in early July. The G-8 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.
Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga said, "We regret that we have to write once again in 2008 to remind donor governments of the promises that remain unfulfilled.
"There is now a real danger that the Millennium Development Goals will be remembered as empty words. This can only fuel the cynicism with which so many people in developing countries already regard rich countries' expressions of concern."
The cardinal noted that the term set for achieving the goals is already half over. It is clear, he added, "that too many countries will fail to achieve the goals. In some cases, at present rates of progress, they may have to wait more than a hundred years before the goals are reached."
"For G-8 states, the challenge of recovering momentum towards their 2010 targets is enormous," the prelate continued. "Aid can make a real difference to the lives of the poor and is an essential component in any strategy to achieve the MDGs. We celebrate the progress that is being made in so many countries because they have governments that are genuinely committed to poverty reduction and have shown that they can make good use of the resources at their disposal."
At the Japan meeting, the leaders are also scheduled to address climate change.
Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga also spoke of that issue.
"Climate change is being felt hardest by the poor in developing countries -- those who are least responsible for the emissions that are causing it," he lamented. "Humanitarian assistance is taking a larger share of donor aid. The danger is that inadequate resources pledged to development will be diverted to climate change. We urge governments to ensure that assistance to developing countries on climate change will be additional to resources for poverty reduction."
The eight Millennium Development Goals are: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV-AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership of development.
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Pew Study Seen as Confirming US Religiosity
Bishop Notes Work of Priests and Catechists in Faith
WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 25, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- The U.S. bishops consider the findings from a Pew Study on religion and public life as confirmation that Americans are identified with religion.
Archbishop Donald Wuerl, chairman of the bishops' Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, responded to the results of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released Monday. The survey was conducted between May and August last year and is based on answers from more than 35,000 American adults.
The survey reveals a range of data, including adherence to religious tradition, and the link between frequency of worship and political views. It shows that a vast majority of Americans, nearly 92%, believe in God or a universal spirit.
"History testifies that religious faith is very important to Americans," Archbishop Wuerl noted. "At every juncture of our past, Americans have called upon God for guidance, protection and direction. There is a clear identification with religion in America which, for Catholics, reflects the dedicated efforts of priests, catechists and teachers in our history."
The Pew study also states that 74% of Americans believe in heaven and only 59% in hell. It reports that 63% believe Scripture is the word of God. Another 63% of respondents with children at home say they pray and read Scripture with their children and 60% send their children to religious education programs.
The study also concludes that most Americans have a non-dogmatic approach to faith and that the majority of those affiliated with a religious tradition agree that there is more than one way to interpret the teaching of their faith.
Some 40% see a conflict between modern society and religion, with 42% saying Hollywood threatens their values.
Father Brian Bransfield, specialist in the bishops' Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis, reflected on the numbers, saying "it is hard to quantify the tremendous thirst for truth among families and people of all ages, as demonstrated by the overwhelming response to the recent visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States."
"This thirst is sometimes misdirected through the effects of secularism, with its focus on individualism and consumerism," he added, affirming that the Church's response in any case is an "ever renewed commitment to robust catechetical efforts."
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On the Net:
Summary of key findings:
http://religions.pewforum.org/pdf/report2religious-landscape-study-key-findings.pdf
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Wednesday's Audience
On St. Maximus the Confessor
"He Always Had As His Compass the Concrete Reality of the World"
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 25, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered during today's general audience in St. Peter's Square, dedicated to the figure of St. Maximus the Confessor.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today I would like to present the figure of one of the great Fathers of the Eastern Church of later times. He is a monk, St. Maximus, who merited from Christian tradition the title of Confessor because of the intrepid courage with which he was able to give witness -- "to confess" -- even while suffering, the integrity of his faith in Jesus Christ, true God and true man, Savior of the world.
Maximus was born in Palestine, the Lord's land, around 580. From his boyhood he was directed to the monastic life and to the study of Scripture, also through the works of Origen, the great teacher who already in the third century had already managed to define the Alexandrian exegetic tradition.
From Jerusalem, Maximus went to Constantinople, and from there, because of the barbarian invasions, he sought refuge in Africa. Here he distinguished himself with extreme courage in the defense of Orthodoxy. Maximus did not accept any attempt to minimize the humanity of Christ. The theory had arisen according to which Christ had only one will, the divine. To defend the uniqueness of his person, they denied he had a true human will.
At first glance, it might appear to be something good that in Christ there was only one will. However, St. Maximus understood immediately that this would have destroyed the mystery of salvation, because a humanity without will -- a man without a will -- is not a true man, but rather an amputated man. Therefore, the man Jesus Christ would not have been a true man, would not have experienced the drama of the human being, which consists precisely in the difficulty of conforming our will with the truth of being.
Thus St. Maximus affirmed with great determination: Sacred Scripture does not show us an amputated man, without a will, but a true complete man: God, in Jesus Christ, has truly assumed the totality of the human being -- obviously except for sin -- hence, also, a human will. Stated that way, the question was clear: Christ is either a true man or not.
However, the problem arises: Does not one end in this way in a sort of dualism? Is not one faced with affirming two complete personalities with reason, will, sentiment? How can this dualism be overcome? How can the completeness of the human being be preserved while protecting the unity of the person of Christ, who was not schizophrenic?
St. Maximus demonstrates that man finds his unity, the integration of himself, his totality not in himself, but in surpassing himself, by coming out of himself. Thus, also in Christ, man, coming out of himself, finds in God, in the Son of God, himself.
Man must not "amputate" the human Christ to explain the Incarnation. One must only understand the dynamism of the human being who is fulfilled only by coming out of himself. Only in God do we find ourselves, our totality and our completeness.
Thus we see that it is not the man who is closed in on himself who is complete the man, but it is the man who opens himself, who comes out of himself -- it is he who becomes complete, who finds himself in the Son of God, he finds in him his true humanity.
For St. Maximus this vision does not remain a philosophical speculation. He sees it realized in the concrete life of Jesus, above all in the drama of Gethsemane.
In this drama of Jesus' agony, of anguish and death, of the opposition between the human will not to die and the divine will that offers itself to death, in this drama of Gethsemane the whole human drama is realized, the drama of our redemption. St. Maximus tells us, and we know that this is true: Adam -- and Adam is us -- thought that the "no" was the apex of liberty; that only he who can say "no" is truly free; that to truly realize his liberty, man must say "no" to God.
Only in this way, he thinks, he is finally himself; he has arrived at the summit of liberty. This tendency was also present in Christ's human nature, but he overcame it, because Jesus saw that "no" is not the greatest liberty. The greatest liberty is to say "yes," to conform with the will of God. Only in saying "yes" does man really become himself. Only in the great opening of the "yes," in the unification of his will with the divine will, does man become immensely open, he becomes "divine."
To be like God was Adam's desire, namely, to be completely free. However, he is not divine, the man who is closed in on himself is not completely free. He is so by coming out of himself, it is in the "yes" that he becomes free. And this is the drama of Gethsemane: not my will but yours.
Transferring one's will to the divine will, that is how a true man is born. That is how we are redeemed.
This, in a few words, is the fundamental point of what St. Maximus wished to say, and we see that here the whole human being is questioned; here is the whole question of our life.
St. Maximus already had problems in Africa defending this vision of man and of God; then he was called to Rome. In 649 he took an active part in the Lateran Council, called by Pope Martin I to defend the two wills of Christ, against the emperor's edict, which -- pro bono pacis -- prohibited the discussion of this question.
Pope Martin paid dearly for his courage: Although he was in poor health, he was arrested and taken to Constantinople. Prosecuted and condemned to death, his sentence was commuted to final exile in Crimea, where he died on Sept. 16, 655, after two long years of humiliation and torments.
Not long after, in 662, it was Maximus' turn who -- also opposing the emperor -- continued to repeat: "It is impossible to affirm only one will in Christ!" (cfr PG 91, cc. 268-269).
Thus, together with two of his disciples, both called Anastasius, Maximus was subjected to an exhausting trial, though he was already older than 80 years of age. The emperor's tribunal condemned him, accused of heresy, to the cruel mutilation of his tongue and right hand -- the two organs with which, through words and writing, Maximus had combated the erroneous doctrine of the one will of Christ.
In the end, the holy monk, thus mutilated, was exiled in Colchide, on the Black Sea, where he died, exhausted by the sufferings undergone, at the age of 82, on Aug. 13 of the same year, 662.
Speaking of the life of Maximus, we referred to his literary work in defense of orthodoxy. We are referred in particular to the dispute with Pirro, then patriarch of Constantinople, in which Maximus succeeded in persuading the adversary of his errors. With great honesty, in fact, Pirro concluded the dispute thus: "I apologize for myself and for those who preceded me. Through ignorance we arrived at these absurd thoughts and arguments. I pray that the way will be found to cancel these absurdities, rescuing the memory of those who erred" (PG 91, c. 352).
There were then added some dozen important works, outstanding among which is the "Mistagoghia," one of St. Maximus' most significant writings, which brings together his theological thought in a well-structured synthesis.
St. Maximus' thought was never only theological, speculative, closed in on itself, because he always had as his compass the concrete reality of the world and of its salvation. In this context, in which had to suffer, he could not evade the question with solely theoretical philosophical affirmations. He had to seek the meaning of life, asking himself: who am I? What is the world?
To man, created in his image and likeness, God has entrusted the mission to unify the cosmos. And as Christ has unified the human being in himself, so the Creator has unified the cosmos in man. He has shown us how to unify the cosmos in communion with Christ and thus truly arrive at a redeemed world.
One of the greatest theologians of the 20th century, Hans Urs von Balthasar, referred to this powerful saving vision when, in "re-launching" the figure of Maximus, he defined his thinking as the representative expression of "cosmic liturgy."
At the center of this solemn liturgy Jesus Christ always remains, the only Savior of the world. The efficacy of his salvific action, which has definitively unified the cosmos, is guaranteed by the fact that he, though being God in everything, is also integrally man -- with the "energy" and the will of man.
The life and thought of Maximus remain powerfully illumined by an immense courage in witnessing to the integral reality of Christ, without any reduction or compromise. And so we see who is truly man, how we must live to respond to our vocation. We must live united to God, and thus be united to ourselves and the cosmos, giving the cosmos itself and humanity their just form.
Christ's universal "yes" shows us with clarity how to give the right place to all the other values. We are thinking of values justly defended today, such as tolerance, liberty and dialogue. However, a tolerance that is no longer able to distinguish between good and evil would become chaotic and self-destructive. So, moreover, would a liberty that does not respect the freedom of others and does not find the common measure of our respective liberties, it would become anarchic and destroy authority. Dialogue that no longer knows what to dialogue about becomes empty chatter.
All these values are great and fundamental, but they can remain true values only if they have the point of reference that unites them and gives them true authenticity. This point of reference is the synthesis between God and the cosmos, and the figure of Christ in which we learn the truth about ourselves and so learn where to place all the other values, because we discover their genuine meaning.
Jesus Christ is the point of reference that gives light to all the other values. This is the end point of the testimony of this great Confessor. And thus, in the end, Christ shows us that the cosmos must become liturgy, glory of God and that adoration is the beginning of the true transformation, of the true renewal of the world.
Because of this, I would like to conclude with a fundamental passage from St. Maximus' works: "We adore the only Son, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, as it is now, and for all times, and the times after time. Amen." (PG 91, c. 269).
[Translation by ZENIT]
[After the audience, the Pope greeted those present in several languages. In English, he said:]
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In today's catechesis we turn to Saint Maximus the Confessor, a heroic defender of the Church's faith in the true humanity of Christ amid the bitter theological controversies of the seventh century. Born in Palestine, Maximus became a monk and lived in Constantinople, Roman Africa and Rome itself. In his preaching and writings he defended the mystery of the Incarnation and opposed the Monothelite heresy, which refused to acknowledge the presence of an integral human will in Jesus Christ. Maximus clearly understood that our salvation depends on Christ's complete humanity, which necessarily includes a human will capable of freely cooperating with the divine will in achieving the work of our redemption. The salvation of man, and indeed the entire cosmos, is central to the theology of Saint Maximus. Through the Incarnation of the Son of God, the whole universe is now redeemed and unified. Christ is thus the one absolute Value, to whom all wordly values are directed. This vision of a "cosmic liturgy," centered on the Incarnate Lord, ought to inspire the efforts of Christians today to make our world conform ever more fully to its ultimate meaning and goal in God's saving plan.
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I offer a warm welcome, together with the assurance of my closeness in prayer, to the group of pilgrims from the International Foundation for the Service of Deaf Persons. Upon all the English-speaking pilgrims, especially those from England, Scotland, the Netherlands, Iceland, Sweden, Pakistan and the United States of America, I cordially invoke God's blessings of joy and peace.
[In Italian, he said:]
I offer a cordial welcome to Italian-speaking pilgrims. In particular, I greet the group of the Little Mission for the Deaf and Mute and the Penitentiary Complex of Sollicciano. Dear friends, I thank you for your visit and I invoke on each of you continuous divine assistance for a fruitful journey of fidelity to the Gospel.
With great affection I now greet the large group of the Orione family, joyfully gathered around the Vicar of Christ to celebrate the Pope's feast. The inauguration of the statue of your founder "will constitute for all his spiritual children a renewed stimulus to continue along the path indicated by St. Luigi Orione, especially in bringing to Peter's Successor -- as he himself said -- 'the small, the humble, the poor workers, and the rejects of life who are most dear to Christ, and the real treasures of the Church of Jesus Christ.'"
Finally, I greet young people, the sick, and newlyweds. On Sunday we celebrate the solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. May the example and constant protection of these pillars of the Church, sustain you, dear young people, in the effort to follow Christ; help you, dear sick, to live your situation with patience and serenity; and drive you, dear newlyweds, to give witness in your family life and in society to courageous adherence to the Gospel teachings.
[Translation by ZENIT]
© Copyright 2008 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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DOCUMENTS
Message for Sea Sunday 2008
"Respect and Fairness for All Seafarers"
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 25, 2008 (
Zenit.org).- Here is the message released today by the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers for Sea Sunday, to be observed July 13.
* * *
Sea Sunday is annually a day set aside for the remembrance and prayer for all those who are mariners, fishers, port workers together with their families and dependents. This is therefore an opportunity for us to remember the issues that seafarers daily confront in undertaking their professional and seafaring life in the context of the pastoral care of the Apostleship of the Sea throughout the world, which is characterized also by our support for human rights, fair trade and the defence of the environment.
Coming one year after the XXII AOS World Congress, which was held in Gdynia (Poland) in 2007, this celebration will certainly give new impetus to our pledge to remain in solidarity -- as stated by the theme of the Congress -- with the People of the Sea as witnesses of Hope, through the Proclamation of the Word, Liturgy and Diakonia, and to promote in the maritime world a humanism inspired by Christian hope. Its introduction in the maritime environment means first and foremost the creation of a climate of respect and fairness for all seafarers.
Towards this end, the AOS has welcomed the adoption by the ILO of the Maritime Labour Convention 2006 and the Work in Fishing Convention 2007. Now that these two Conventions have been adopted, the work of all national AOS continue in order to ensure that they are ratified and implemented as quickly as possible so that they may make a genuine improvement to the lives of millions of seafarers and fishers.
However, there is one area of maritime activity which is of particular concern all over the world, that of the fishing profession. The fishing communities in fact are battling against the more negative aspects of globalisation and are confronted with economic, social and ecological problems of international proportion. Everywhere AOS has to manifest solidarity with them and intensify its pastoral mission in this area, as these next years will be decisive if we want the oceans to live, the fishing communities to survive and to continue harvesting fish, on which more than one billion people rely, till now, as their main source of protein.
In this perspective Pope Benedict XVI has spoken about "the great challenge of today [that] is to 'globalise,' not just economic and commercial interests, but also the call for solidarity." This will be possible only if "the person, created in the image of God and loved by him, [is] at the centre of every economic plan to protect and administer the immense resources of creation" (Speech to 'Centesimus Annus-Pro Pontifice' Foundation, May 31, 2008).
Another sad and emerging phenomenon, which must be mentioned, is piracy. In some parts of the world, this is prevalent and presents a real threat to the security of vessels and their crews. AOS therefore must support every move by the International Community and local Authorities to address this problem.
Our world celebration also gives us this year the opportunity to thank again all chaplains, pastoral agents and volunteers who are active in the AOS and who extend pastoral and practical assistance together with hospitality to all seafarers regardless of race, creed or political opinion. One of our great strengths is the number of laity who work in a voluntary capacity for the AOS in chaplaincies, together with the ongoing formation and training in so many places that continue to bear fruit.
In this respect we would like to recommend that our new 'Manual for Chaplains and Pastoral Agents of the Apostleship of the Sea' be translated if possible in local languages under the authority of the respective national AOS. In this way this pastoral instrument, which has already proved to be an excellent guide, will benefit to an ever greater number of people.
We rejoice too -- as it was stressed in Gdynia – for the ecumenical collaboration and interreligious dialogue taking place aboard ships, in the ports and in seafarers' centres. Our presence and witness express the solicitude and proximity of the Church to all those who are involved in the maritime environment, especially to the poorest and those most in need.
We pray that this celebration of Sea Sunday will enable us to renew our commitment to human promotion and evangelisation. May Mary, Stella Maris, intercede for us in asking for God's grace, so that AOS may ever more remain committed to the building up of God's Kingdom in the maritime world.
Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino
President
Archbishop Agostino Marchetto
Secretary
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