ZENIT
The World Seen From Rome
Daily dispatch - February 19, 2009
VATICAN DOSSIER Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward WORLD FEATURES Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel Sudan's 1st Catholic Radio Station Plans Expansion Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education NEWS BRIEFS 2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs British Prelate Named Nuncio for Guatemala INTERVIEW Franchising to Evangelize ROME NOTES State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance? DOCUMENTS Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
CLASSIFIED ADSNo Ordinary Fool: A Testimony to Grace - by John Jay Hughes
VATICAN DOSSIER
Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid
Sarah Brown Visits Sant'Egidio Community
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 19, 2009 (
Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI met with the British prime minister and is encouraging his work to aid development despite the global economic crisis.
After the meeting today, Gordon Brown told reporters that in the meeting he invited the Pope to visit his country for the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890), an Anglican convert to Catholicism in the 19th century.
"He welcomed the invitation very positively," said Brown. It would be the first visit by a Pope to the United Kingdom since the one made by John Paul II in 1982.
Brown, who arrived at the Vatican with his wife and several coworkers, also met with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope's secretary of state, who was accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for relations with states.
According to a communiqué from the Vatican press office, the meeting's "cordial conversations dealt with the present global economic crisis and on the duty to pursue initiatives benefiting the less developed countries, and to foster cooperation on projects of human promotion, respect for the environment and sustainable development."
Coincidentally, Brown's visit was preceded by an article by the prime minister on the first page of L'Osservatore Romano titled: "Economic Crisis and the Eradication of Poverty."
The article concludes with Brown's words: "Last June 18, Pope Benedict through his secretary of state asked for an 'effective response to the economic crises afflicting several regions of the planet' and the implementation of a concerted international plan of action designed to free the world of extreme poverty. I support this appeal. The London summit in April [of the G20] must see how we respond to the challenge."
Brown reported that the subscription of bonds of the International Financing Facility for Immunization, also known as the "bonds of the Pope," has collected more than $1.6 million in just over two years.
This has helped "to save more than a million lives, especially in developing countries," he said.
The first international bond was purchased in 2006 in the Pope's name by Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, as a tangible expression of the Holy See's commitment to international development.
Brown, who at that time was the U.K. chancellor of the exchequer, had presented the project in July 2004 on the occasion of the conference on "Poverty and Globalization: Financing for Development" organized by the Vatican.
On Nov. 7, 2006, in London, the World Bank issued the bonds for the purchase of vaccines in 72 countries worldwide. The goal is to immunize 500 million people by 2015.
Global outreach
The Vatican statement after the audience stated that "hope was expressed for a renewed commitment on the part of the international community in settling ongoing conflicts, particularly in the Middle East."
"Finally," it concluded, "several bilateral themes were brought up, of interest above all for the Catholic community in the United Kingdom."
In conjunction with this trip, Sarah Brown visited the Community of Sant'Egidio today in Rome.
A press release from the community stated that the visit was an opportunity for her to learn about the group's "international activities in favor of peace and speak of DREAM -- Drug Resource Enhancement against AIDS and Malnutrition -- the state-of-the-art global approach program for treating HIV/AIDS in Africa."
The first lady lauded the community's work, saying, "The role of faith organizations such as yours is very important."
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Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission
Urges Priests to Support It, Pray for It
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 19, 2009 (
Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is encouraging Latin America's "continental mission," urging deacons and priests to enthusiastically adopt the spirit of evangelization.
The Pope made this invitation today when he received members of the Latin American Pontifical Pius College, who were celebrating the 150th anniversary of the institution. The college is dedicated to the formation of seminarians, deacons and priests.
The Holy Father lauded the heritage of Latin America and the Caribbean, marked by "love and adherence to the Apostolic See."
Noting that characteristic, he said, made him recall the days in 2007 that he spent in Aparecida, Brazil, for the meeting of bishops of the continent.
"I saw the manifestations of collegiality and fraternal communion in the episcopal ministry of the representatives of the episcopal conferences of those noble countries," the Pontiff said. "With my presence there, I wished to encourage the bishops in their reflection on something fundamental to enliven the faith of the pilgrim Church in those beloved lands: to lead all our faithful to be 'disciples and missionaries of Jesus Christ, so that, in him, our peoples have life.'
"I invite you to associate yourselves with enthusiasm to that spirit, demonstrated in the dynamism with which all those dioceses have initiated, or are doing, the 'continental Mission,' promoted in Aparecida, an initiative that will facilitate the start of catechetical and pastoral programs destined to the formation and development of evangelized and missionary Christian communities."
"Accompany these intentions with your fervent prayer," the Bishop of Rome encouraged, "so that the faithful will know, dedicate themselves and increasingly imitate Jesus Christ, taking part frequently in the Sunday celebrations of each community and witnessing to him, so that they become effective instruments of that 'New Evangelization,' to which the Servant of God John Paul II, my venerated predecessor, repeatedly convoked."
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Full text:
www.zenit.org/article-25135?l=english
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Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 19, 2009 (
Zenit.org).- Members of the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission formed by representatives of the Holy See and Israel are making progress and resolved to conclude their agreements soon, according to both groups.
Meetings of the commission are focused on the "comprehensive agreement," mandated by the Fundamental Agreement, which Israel and the Holy See signed in 1993.
The commission met Wednesday in Israel. According to a joint statement, the theme of this most recent meeting was the economic agreement regarding the fiscal system and Church properties.
"The encounter was characterized by great cordiality and a spirit of cooperation," the statement reported. Both parties agreed there "had been progress" and affirmed that "the delegations have renewed their commitment to conclude the agreement as soon as possible."
The next meeting was schedule for April 7, a month before Benedict XVI's apostolic journey to Israel.
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WORLD FEATURES
Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel
Protest "Horrible Offenses" on TV
JERUSALEM, FEB. 19, 2009 (
Zenit.org).- Leaders of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land are condemning the "revolting attacks" against Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, broadcast by Israel's Channel 10 television.
A joint communiqué issued Wednesday explains, "In these days, during a night show on Channel 10, a series of horrible offenses were launched against our faith and consequently against us, Christians."
The communiqué was signed by the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem and the Franciscan custos of the Holy Land, among others.
"The show directed its attacks to the holiest figures of our Christian belief in an attempt, as the director of the show himself specifically declared, to destroy Christianism," the communiqué stated.
"Channel 10 was used to desecrate the holiest figures of Christianism offending hundreds of thousands of Christian Israeli citizens and of many millions of Christians all over the world as well," the Catholic leaders lamented.
Channel 10 began its activities in 2002.
The Catholic leaders contended that the program was "a symptom of greater problems disturbing the society, such as intolerance, refusal to accept and respect the other and inherent hatred."
And they said that the program comes in a series of attacks on Christians in Israel over the years. They cited an occurrence from a few months ago, when "copies of the New Testament were publicly burned in the yard of a synagogue in Or Yehuda."
The statement expressed appreciation for the many Christians, Muslims and Jews who "were themselves shocked and appalled, and expressed their dismay and protest at this fact."
The leaders contended that "such programs have nothing to do with freedom of expression, art and entertainment. They can only work against national integration and harmony in our society."
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Sudan's 1st Catholic Radio Station Plans Expansion
Comboni Missionaries See Need for Greater Outreach
JUBA, Sudan, FEB. 19, 2009 (
Zenit.org).- Radio Bakhita, the first Christian radio station in Sudan, looks to expand its facilities to accommodate the political and sociological demands foreseen in the coming years.
The radio station was started in December 2006, on the occasion of the canonization of Daniel Comboni, the first Catholic bishop in Sudan.
It is located in the country's capital, Juba, and is headed by a Mexican Comboni missionary, Sister Cecilia Sierra. The missionaries started the station, but are currently training Sudanese people to take over the responsibilities of its operation.
A statement on the Comboni missionarys' Web site expressed the need for larger facilities faced to the coming challenges.
It read: "Given the high rates of illiteracy, the devastation of public structures and the precarious communications system, FM radio stations are most effective for disseminating information and educating the people about issues that concern them."
The country has been through difficult times, it said, but this year a greater challenge will arise as Southern Sudan, predominantly Christian, will vote for the first time in its history.
As well, in 2011, South Sudan will decide if it wants to be united to the North -- predominantly Muslim and Arab -- or to declare itself an independent nation.
The statement about the radio station affirmed its mission to promote enduring peace and development and to counteract violence. It recognized that Sudan has lived the past 50 years in internal wars that have left deep wounds, and the primary work of the Church in the postwar stage is to be an instrument of reconciliation and healing.
Other radio stations will be launched soon, as part of a network with Radio Bakhita, to meet the sociological needs of the people.
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On the Net:
Comboni Missionaries:
http://www.comboniane.org/home.asp?l=EN
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Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education
Says Quebec's Religious Culture Program Violates Parents' Rights
By Kris Dmytrenko
ROME, FEB. 19, 2009 (
Zenit.org).- The new religious diversity curriculum introduced in the Quebec school system is a violation of parents' rights and borders on being "anti-Catholic," according to the prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education
Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski discussed the Canadian province's "Ethics and Religious Culture" program with ZENIT on Monday, after a conference held at Rome's Pontifical Antonianum University on "State Financing of Catholic Schools," hosted by the Acton Institute.
In September 2008, the Quebec Ministry of Education introduced the new curriculum into all public and private schools in the province. The mandatory courses replaced the "Catholic Religious and Moral Instruction," "Protestant Moral and Religious Education" and "Moral Education" programs, between which parents could choose for their children.
In the new program, students are taught a diversity of world religions and secular ethics.
"Talking about all religions violates the right of parents to educate their own children according to their own religion," explained the Polish cardinal, echoing the protests of some parents in the province who say the textbooks are not ideologically neutral.
"Talking in the same way about all religions," Cardinal Grocholewski continued, "is almost like an anti-Catholic education, because this creates a certain relativism." He concluded that this approach to instruction could ultimately be anti-religious, since youth are left with the impression that each faith is a fictional narrative.
The Assembly of Quebec Catholic Bishops have been measured in their criticism of the "Ethics and Religious Culture" program, recognizing in a March 2008 statement that the curriculum would "promote the development of a better mutual understanding between those who have different religious or secular beliefs." The bishops also applauded the course for highlighting the distinct role played by Catholicism in the French Canadian province's history.
However, the bishops reaffirmed their preference for parental choice and described their stance as "critical and vigilant." The bishops further worried that teaching religion from a purely socio-cultural view could lead to a restrictive understanding of religious experience.
Some Canadian clerics, such as Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec City, maintain that parents should be able to exempt their children from the program for reasons of conscience. Presently, the provincial government has permitted no such allowances for concerned parents. Students who consistently miss "Ethics and Religious Culture" classes could face suspension.
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NEWS BRIEFS
2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free
NAIROBI, Kenya, FEB. 19, 2009 (
Zenit.org).- Two Italian nuns who were kidnapped late last year in Kenya have been released.
The Missionary International Service News Agency reported today that Maria Teresa Olivero and Caterina Giraudo, 67 and 61, have been freed after 102 days of imprisonment.
The sisters of the Italian Contemplative Missionary Movement Father de Foucauld were kidnapped in November in Elwak, located in northeast Kenya, and then taken to Somalia.
The religious were freed Wednesday night in Mogadishu, Somalia. They were immediately transported by plane to the Italian embassy in Nairobi.
MISNA reported that both religious "have gone through a difficult time, but they affirm that they have been treated well."
Sister Giraurdo told the news agency: “Our faith sustained us. This helped us to not be disheartened, but rather to continue to pray and to hope."
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said in comments to Vatican Radio that he was happy to hear of the nuns' release. He said there "was worry about the lack of news, and the Pope himself recalled the situation more than once."
Since the November kidnapping, both the Italian government, through its embassy in Kenya, and the Vatican through its apostolic nuncio in the country, had worked for the nuns' release.
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Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs
Based on Novel About Portuguese Missionary
TOKYO, FEB. 19, 2009 (
Zenit.org).- An Academy Award-winning director is planning a movie on Japanese Christians martyred in the 17th century.
Martin Scorsese will film the movie in New Zealand and release it in 2010, according to the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun. Names of actors linked to the project include Daniel Day-Lewis, Gael García Bernal and Benicio Del Toro.
Scorsese is known for his work on films including "The Age of Innocence," "The Departed," "Gangs of New York," "Casino" and the controversial "The Last Temptation of Christ."
The film on the Japanese martyrs is based on the book "Chinmoku" (Silence), by the Catholic Japanese author Shusaku Endo. The novel tells the story of a Portuguese missionary in Japan at the beginnings of the 17th century. "Silence" refers to the silence of God before the cross of Christ, in telling of the missionary's forced apostasy in the midst of horrendous torture.
Endo (1923-1997) was baptized at age 12. His novels reflect his effort to show Christianity reconciled with Oriental culture, as well as his vision of human weakness, sin and grace. Among his other writings are "A Life of Jesus" and "Deep River," in which he tries to present Christianity to the Asian mentality.
Last Dec. 10, almost 200 Japanese martyrs from the same era as the plot of "Silence" were canonized. Japan is today less than 1% Christian, of which only about 450,000 are Catholics.
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British Prelate Named Nuncio for Guatemala
GUATEMALA CITY, FEB. 19, 2009 (
Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, apostolic nuncio in Burundi, as apostolic nuncio in Guatemala.
The Vatican press office announce today that Archbishop Gallagher, 55, will succeed Italian Archbishop Bruno Musarò, who was named apostolic nuncio in Peru earlier this year.
Paul Richard Gallagher was born in Liverpool, England, in 1954. He was ordained in 1977 for the Diocese of Liverpool.
He entered into the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1984, and has served in the apostolic nunciature in Tanzania, Uruguay and the Philippines. He also worked in the section for relation with states in the Vatican's Secretariat of State.
In 2000, he was named permanent observer before the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.
Pope John Paul II named him apostolic nuncio in Burundi in 2004. At that time he was also appointed archbishop.
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INTERVIEW
Franchising to Evangelize
Interview With Director of Mary of Nazareth International
By Jesús Colina
NAZARETH, Israel, FEB. 19, 2009 (
Zenit.org).- The construction of the Mary of Nazareth International Center is part of an evangelization project to publicize the mystery of the Mother of God through technology, explains the project's director.
In this interview with ZENIT, Olivier Bonnassies speaks about the scope of the project that aims to spread knowledge and love of Mary worldwide through associate centers.
Q: What is the Mary of Nazareth project?
Bonnassies: On Mar. 25, 2007, feast of the Annunciation, the first stone of the Mary of Nazareth International Center was laid in Nazareth.
The [then] Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, accompanied by bishops of all the traditional Christian churches in the Holy Land, presided over this moving ceremony, during which the apostolic nuncio transmitted Benedict XVI's blessing.
"Never before had the Christian churches of the Holy Land, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant, joined in this way to support a project. It is a small miracle!" said Bishop Marcuzzo of Nazareth, sent as a delegate by the episcopal conference of the Holy Land to support the project.
And, he added: "This initiative makes me very happy; it will be useful for the Church in the Holy Land, for pilgrims and also for the universal Church, because it will motivate us in a very practical way to address the great mystery of the Incarnation, and Mary's sublime place in the heart of the Christian community!"
Work is under way to actualize the center, which will offer pilgrims, tourists and the inhabitants of the Holy Land a unique place, with several modules, not only to discover Mary but also the principles of the Christian faith. They will [be completed] in just over a year; the inauguration is foreseen in 2010.
Q: What is the project's objective?
Bonnassies: The production of the Nazareth Center is the first stage of a great project of evangelization that seeks to help the public discover the grandeur of the mystery of the Mother of God, as well as all the beauty, truth and profundity of the Christian faith, using above all the different means of communication.
In the spirit of St. Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort, we wish to make the Virgin Mary known and to promote love of [her] so that, through her, Jesus is better known and loved. "Jesus Christ came to the world through the Most Holy Virgin Mary and also through her, he must reign in the world," the saint said in his "Treatise of True Devotion."
In a second phase, the Mary of Nazareth project will unfold in the whole world, through the creation of associate Marian Centers, which will use the contents elaborated by the Nazareth Center.
Three are already planned, in Lebanon, Brazil and Poland, with increasing local funding for the multiplication of multimedia productions distributed in these Marian Centers, for traditional means of communication, and the display of Web pages referring to the Virgin Mary and the whole of Christian faith in association with other movements.
Q: Have you been successful already in funding the whole project?
Bonnassies: Unfortunately, not yet. The whole project will cost €9.5 million [$12 million]; we have already obtained €6.5 million [$8.2 million], but €3 million [$3.8 million] are still lacking to be able to finish the work in the five buildings we have purchased and to finance the production of the first series of multimedia contents of great quality, which is already under way.
Q: Do you think that this project answers a current need?
Bonnassies: Yes, because this world needs to rediscover Mary.
We find ourselves today in a paradoxical situation: Most people do not know the principles of the Christian faith, but the world has a great thirst for truth. It has lost its compass and doesn't know where to find it.
Christians, who really have something to say, magnificent treasures to transmit, showing to what degree their faith is well founded, true, strong and beautiful, must seek all means to make themselves heard by the great public.
The Mary of Nazareth project was born from the need to be furnished with new and adapted means to make known and to love in a renewed way the woman who leads to Christ.
Q: What are the strengths you count on for the future?
Bonnassies: There are several, thank God. The first strong point is that the cornerstone of this project was laid in Nazareth, just in front of the basilica of the Annunciation, where everything began, in the holy place of the Incarnation, where the Eternal entered into time and where Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived a hidden life for 30 years.
The fact that this project begins in Nazareth is an opportunity and a privilege -- because half a million pilgrims come here every year -- to then spread to the whole world. The local Churches ardently desired such an initiative after their synod of the year 2000, which defined the great priority as the "pastoral care of the Holy Places."
John Paul II and Benedict XVI repeatedly pleaded that everything possible should be done to help Christians of the Holy Land. This project of peace, which has been well received by all the Christian communities, and also the Muslims and the local Jews, will also create jobs and relations with numerous countries, and give all our brothers of the Holy Land new reasons to stay, in keeping with their vocation.
This great project of reunion around Mary, is supported by three patriarchs, nine cardinals, the bishops of the major Marian shrines -- Loreto, Lourdes, Guadalupe, Czestokowa, Aparecida, etc. -- many [famous] personalities, 25,000 donors, 2,000 men of prayer and 50,000 subscribers who receive our free information bulletin, "Minute with Mary," every day on the Internet.
The Mary of Nazareth project will increasingly unfold in a logic of openness and association with all Christian movements and producers that share the same goals and the same desire of evangelization through the media.
Q: What is a Marian center associated with Mary of Nazareth?
Bonnassies: An associate Marian center is a very simple concept: It is a place where the public can come to discover the Virgin Mary -- in a new and intense way -- and the whole of the Christian faith, through multimedia productions that, if possible, will be constantly renewed.
Q: Where will associate Marian centers will be built in the future?
Bonnassies: The projects will always be implemented at the request of the local bishop, with the commitment of a religious community, for daily care.
The places will be found practically in the numerous existing shrines, large or small, or in other suitable places: Above all there will be a need for the faith to be proclaimed in a strong, modern and attractive way, to touch in a new way people whom the Church has not succeeded in reaching.
In addition to the structures of important dimensions of the associate Marian centers, which receive thousands or millions of faithful, it will also be possible to present all or part of audiovisuals of evangelization developed by Marian centers in special halls, made available either by the shrines or already existing places of evangelization.
Q: How and who will manage these Marian centers -- associated with the International Marian Center of Nazareth -- which you will multiply in the world?
Bonnassies: The associate Marian centers created in the future will always be managed and financed locally by those who take charge of them. It could be communities, congregations or movements encouraged and supported by their bishops.
The Marian center will function as a "franchise," which means that we will make available to them free of charge all the audiovisual productions developed in the framework of our project. By way of exchange, the centers will give back 9% of their earnings generated by [entrance fees] to the center and by these activities -- fees, shop, restaurant, etc.
It should be specified that this project, which responds to a classic commercial structure, is not geared to profit. All the directors of the Mary of Nazareth association have always been volunteers, and will continue to be so in the future. The earnings that our association will receive -- which we hope will be ever greater as the number of associate Marian centers increases -- will only be used for two ends: to constantly produce new multimedia contents of great quality at the service of the Gospel and to support the Marian centers that are in difficulty, especially in countries where evangelization is more difficult.
These simple principles could allow many to join this selfless project, totally at the service of evangelization, and find the means for its development.
Q: How many people do you hope to reach?
Bonnassies: At present we are working on a "model Marian center," which would cost some €2 million and could receive 150,000 people a year. We believe that this type of center might find a financial solution in all developed areas that could equal several million people. We hope that there will be dozens of centers of this type in the coming years, which all together would be visited by several million people a year.
If we succeed in this, if this helps numerous people in the world to discover Mary, and through her and with her, Jesus our Savior, and if associated sites on the Internet also have a great audience, this would be fantastic.
This will also change many things, because it will mean that we have created an important network of Christian distribution which does not exist at present, and which will benefit everyone.
Because all Christian producers who so wish will be able to contemplate the possibility of developing projects of greater breadth, given that they will have the possibility to find more easily a larger public and hence be able to obtain greater cost-effectiveness. The multiplication of Marian centers might also be a fantastic opportunity that leads to the discovery of the beauty, profundity and truth of the Christian faith.
Q: Are you seeking associates at present for all this?
Bonnassies: It is a project that, evidently, is difficult to construct, and all people of good will are welcome.
Those who have the possibility of foreseeing the creation of a Marian center associated to that of Nazareth in their country or region, can begin to reflect on it, in connection with their bishop.
This project will be carried out in association with all those who love the Virgin Mary and who long for the Holy Land, for the unity of Christians and for the evangelization of the world.
In past centuries, our [forefathers] built cathedrals; at the start of this third millennium, we hope to build Marian centers that will radiate the faith to today's world!
It is a privilege and a profound joy to participate in such a project. All of us volunteers and benefactors live it as such. The past years have demonstrated that Providence wills it.
Thousands of human beings in the world are waiting for the Gospel. The participation of all those who feel called to this project is truly necessary.
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On the Net:
Mary of Nazareth International:
http://mariedenazareth.com/1.0.html?&L=1
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ROME NOTES
State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance?
Acton Institute Hosts Debate in Rome
By Edward Pentin
ROME, FEB. 19, 2009 (
Zenit.org).- Last March, a few angry parliamentarians in Britain summoned Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue of Lancaster to appear in front of the government's Children, Schools and Families Select Committee.
Some members of the committee were cross about a document he wrote that directed his diocesan schools to instruct their students in Catholic teaching and morality. Nothing wrong with such an instruction, you might think, yet the chairman of the committee, Barry Sheerman, called the bishop's views "fundamentalist."
"A lot of taxpayers' money is going into Church schools and I think we should tease out what is happening here," said Sheerman. "It seems to me that faith education works all right as long as people are not that serious about their faith. But as soon as there is a more doctrinaire attitude, questions have to be asked."
For Professor Sam Gregg, research director at the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, the incident was "deeply revealing" about how secularists see education. Moreover, it was symptomatic of the current tense relationship existing between some governments and Catholic schools, particularly when those schools are largely funded by a secular-oriented state.
Gregg was speaking at a daylong conference devoted to the subject of "State Financing of Catholic Schools," held Feb. 16 at the Pontifical University Antonianum in Rome and hosted by the Acton Institute.
He stressed that the "basic minimum" is that any state assistance must not interfere with the right of Catholic parents to educate their children as they see fit. But already some countries do not respect this, such as Germany where home schooling is forbidden.
Gregg added that although there are "good prudential reasons" for receiving state funding, Catholic schools must be "extremely wary" of receiving such aid in view of today's secularist Western society. Not only can the state cause impermissible interference in Catholic schools, but he said direct public funding can "subtly and slowly" water down their ethos and identity, not necessarily by force, but because the schools will tend to have their paymaster's interests at heart, leading them to become "agents of the government."
Sometimes, Gregg said, that is due to “insufficient vigilance” by staff and bishops in maintaining Catholic identity. It's well known that in the past half century, not a few Catholic schools and educational institutions have become citadels of active dissent.
Beyond respect
Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, underlined the importance of the rights and duties of parents to educate their children as they choose by referring to a number of papal documents, such as Pius XI's 1929 encyclical "Divini Illius Magistri" and John Paul II's 1981 apostolic exhortation "Familiaris Contortio."
"Because we're talking about this inalienable right, the state must not only respect it, but support it and make possible its actual implementation," the cardinal affirmed, adding that this teaching was also adopted in several U.N. conventions and declarations.
He also stressed the importance of a "subsidiarity of duties." Because parents are not perfect in the help they can offer, they must therefore rely partly on the state to provide sustenance to schools that they themselves cannot provide.
But Cardinal Grocholewski warned against a relativistic ideology that imposes itself on schools much in the same as Communism once did in his home country of Poland. On a positive note, he pointed out that after the fall of Communism, many Catholic schools in Eastern Europe are now rediscovering the benefits of state funding which was denied them during the Communist era.
The American perspective was given by Professor Thomas C. Berg, who lectures in law at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. He said that although the United States has a healthy history and tradition of church-state separation that carries an in-built wariness of state funding, the United States is beginning to increasingly resemble Europe, and conflicts are emerging because of a distrust of religious schools by a secular-oriented state.
Two options
So what needs to be done to secure permissible state financing for Catholic schools while helping such institutions remain faithful to the magisterium? Gregg believes the whole issue needs to be rethought in ways consistent with magisterial teaching. He then presented two possible options. One would be for Catholic schools to opt out of public funding altogether. He believes that would show how much some schools are reliant on such funding rather than faithful support of other groups. It would also reduce bureaucracy and re-engage the laity on how to best educate their children.
A second option would be to shift from direct subsidies to a policy of tax breaks, whereby Catholic parents could nominate a particular school they would like their taxes to go to. That, argued Gregg, would create "major incentives" to educators to pay more attention to parental wishes rather than "the whims of state officials and politicians pushing politically correct agendas."
For his part, Berg argued that two things are needed if pluralism is to coexist with the state financing of Catholic schools: first, a developed jurisprudence to determine which regulations are legitimate or illegitimate for Catholic schools financed by the state. Second, even if state financing continues to be available, Catholic schools will still need to call on the voluntary commitment of the faithful.
"The tradition of voluntary support will have to be there as a backstop," said Berg, "because state funding brings too many dangers."
Father David Jaeger, professor of canon law at the Pontifical Antonianum University, stressed that parents have a right to state funding for education under canon law. But this whole area of whether such financing should be sought and accepted in light of encroaching secularist ideology is "something new."
Like Berg, he believes the key question for the future will be where to draw the line between helpful state intervention and impermissible interference.
But for Gregg, if that line cannot be satisfactorily drawn, then the Church should take radical action. "Anything that impedes the ability of Catholic schools from maintaining and promoting that which is at the very heart of its inspiration -- which is the Catholic faith -- ought to be dispensed with," he said. "In our age, if this includes state funding, then it, too, ought to be one of those things that the Church casts off, not as an act of defiant confrontation, but rather as an inspiration of love for its beginning and ultimate end, the Lord Jesus Christ."
That may inadvertently please the likes of Barry Sheerman, but at the same time he’d be less able to prevent Catholic schools from being, as he would put it, “too serious” about the faith.
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Edward Pentin is a freelance writer living in Rome. He can be reached at: epentin@zenit.org.
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Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
"Forge Your Heart as True Apostles"
VATICAN CITY, FEB. 19, 2009 (
Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today upon receiving in audience 150 members of the community of the Pius Pontifical Latin American College in Rome.
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Venerated Brothers in the Episcopate,
Dear Father Rector, Superiors, Women Religious and Students of the Latin American Pontifical College of Rome
1. I am grateful for the kind words addressed to me on your behalf by Archbishop Carlos José Ñáñez, archbishop of Cordoba and president of the episcopal commission of the Latin American Pontifical Pius College. I am happy to receive you when you are celebrating the 150th anniversary of the foundation of this worthy institution.
Nov. 27, 1858, marked the beginning of the fruitful course of this college as a valuable center of formation, first of seminarians and, for just over three decades, of deacons and priests. Today, more than 4,000 students feel themselves members of this great family. All of them have regarded this alma mater with profound affection, as it has distinguished itself from the beginning by a climate of simplicity, hospitality, prayer and fidelity to the magisterium of the Supreme Pontiff, which contributes powerfully to the college students' growth in love of Christ and the desire to serve the Church humbly, always seeking the greater glory of God and the good of souls.
2. You, dear students of the Latin American Pius College, are heirs of this rich human and spiritual patrimony, which must be perpetuated and enriched with a serious cultivation of the various ecclesiastical disciplines and by the joyful living of the universality of the Church. Here, in this city, the Apostles Peter and Paul proclaimed the Gospel with boldness and laid solid foundations to propagate it throughout the world, in fulfillment of the Master's mandate: "Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you. And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time" (Matthew 28:19-20).
You yourselves are the fruit of that wonderful sowing of Christ's redeeming message in the course of history. In fact, you come from different countries, in which, more than 500 years ago, some courageous missionaries made Jesus our Savior known. Thus, through baptism, those peoples were opened to the life of grace that made them children of God by adoption and received, in addition, the Holy Spirit, which fertilized their cultures, purifying them and developing the seeds that the Incarnate Word had put in them, thus orienting them on the paths of the Gospel (cf. Address in the inaugural session of the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean, No. 1).
In Rome, united to the Chair of the Prince of the Apostles, you have the privileged opportunity to forge your heart as true apostles, in which your whole being and endeavor is firmly anchored in the Lord, who must always be for you the foundation, compass and goal of your efforts. Moreover, the College allows you to share your human and priestly experience fraternally and gives you a favorable occasion to be open permanently to knowledge of other cultures and ecclesial expressions. This will help you to be genuine disciples of Jesus Christ and intrepid missionaries of his Word, with longsighted and greatness of soul. Thus, you will be more capable of being men of God who know Him in depth, abnegated laborers in his vineyard and solicitous dispensers of the charity of Jesus Christ to those most in need.
3. Your bishops have sent you to the Latin American Pontifical Pius College to be filled with the wisdom of Christ crucified, so that, on returning to your dioceses, you will be able to put this treasure at the disposition of others in the various tasks entrusted to them. This requires taking good advantage of the time of your stay in Rome. Constancy in study and rigorous research, in addition to making you inquire into the mysteries of the faith and the truth about man in the light of the Gospel and of the Tradition of the Church, will foster a spiritual life in you rooted in the Word of God and always nourished by the incomparable wealth of the sacraments.
4. Love and adherence to the Apostolic See is one of the most striking characteristics of the peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean. That is why, my meeting with you reminds me of the days I spent in Aparecida, when, deeply moved, I saw the manifestations of collegiality and fraternal communion in the episcopal ministry of the representatives of the episcopal conferences of those noble countries. With my presence there, I wished to encourage the bishops in their reflection on something fundamental to enliven the faith of the pilgrim Church in those beloved lands: to lead all our faithful to be "disciples and missionaries of Jesus Christ, so that, in Him, our peoples have life."
I invite you to associate yourselves with enthusiasm to that spirit, demonstrated in the dynamism with which all those dioceses have initiated, or are doing, the "continental Mission," promoted in Aparecida, an initiative that will facilitate the start of catechetical and pastoral programs destined to the formation and development of evangelized and missionary Christian communities. Accompany these intentions with your fervent prayer, so that the faithful will know, dedicate themselves and increasingly imitate Jesus Christ, taking part frequently in the Sunday celebrations of each community and witnessing to Him, so that they become effective instruments of that "New Evangelization," to which the Servant of God John Paul II, my venerated predecessor, repeatedly convoked.
5. On concluding this meeting, I would like to renew my cordial gratitude to all present, in particular to the episcopal commission for the College, which has the mission to encourage its students to strengthen their sense of communion and fidelity to the Roman Pontiff and their own pastors. Likewise, I wish to manifest in the persons of the College's superiors my acknowledgment of the Society of Jesus, to which my predecessor St. Pius X commended in perpetuity the direction of this illustrious institution, as well as to the women religious and the staff that accompany these young people with care and hope. I also think with gratitude of those who finance this ecclesial work with their economic aid and sustain it with their generosity and prayer.
6. I place in the hands of Mary Most Holy, Our Lady of Guadalupe, each and every one of you, as well as your families and communities of origin, so that her maternal protection will lovingly assist you in your tasks and help you to be rooted very deeply in her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, blessed fruit of her womb.
Thank you very much.
[Translation by ZENIT]
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