Here's what Reuters is reporting:
Pope Benedict is writing a book on Jesus that will become the second major theological work of his pontificate, a Vatican source said on Tuesday. The book, expected to be completed by the end of the summer, focuses on Jesus, the human race and Christianity's relationship with other faiths. The work, which Benedict started before becoming pope in April 2005, comes at a time when he seeks to restore a strong sense of faith among Catholics in the face of growing secularism and competition form other religions, including Islam. Benedict, a leading Catholic theologian and prolific author, aimed to include reflections from his experience as pope in the book written in the form of a "theological narrative," the Rome-based la Repubblica newspaper said.
Should be a good read once it is released.....if you haven't done so already, you should check out "Deus Charitas Est" which was the Holy Father's first encyclical. You can find it at www.vatican.va.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Pope Appeals Again for Peace in Middle East
LES COMBES, Italy (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday renewed his appeal for an immediate cease-fire in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon and encouraged all sides to start negotiations.
Benedict issued his latest plea as he greeted some 3,000 pilgrims in a meadow near his Alpine vacation retreat on a day that he had dedicated to prayers for peace in the Middle East. He reiterated his recent statements in support of Lebanese sovereignty and of Israel's right to live in peace.
"I renew with vigor my appeal to all sides in the conflict, so that they immediately cease fighting and allow the delivery of humanitarian aid, and so, with the help of the international community, they search for ways to begin negotiations," Benedict said.
"I take the occasion to reaffirm the right of Lebanese to the wholeness and sovereignty of the country, the right of the Israelis to live in peace in their state and the right of the Palestinians to have a free and sovereign country," the pope said.
The pontiff expressed special closeness to the "defenseless civilian populations, unjustly hit in a conflict in which there are only victims."
He said the victims included those in Israel's Galilee region who, he said, are "forced to live in (bomb) shelters," and the "great multitudes of Lebanese, who, yet again, see their country destroyed and who have had to abandon everything and flee elsewhere."
Benedict said he was praying that "the aspirations for peace by overwhelming majority of people can be realized as soon as possible" thanks to actions by their leaders.
He invited others to join him in prayer "so that the beloved peoples of the Middle East are able to abandon the path of armed conflict and construct, with the daringness of dialogue, a just and lasting peace."
The pope also renewed his appeal to humanitarian groups to help.
Benedict is vacationing in the Italian Alps until Friday, when he returns to the Vatican.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Pope Backs G8 stand on Lebanon
Jul. 19 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) has indicated his support for a statement released by the leaders of the G8 industrial nations regarding the crisis in Lebanon.
In a brief exchange with reporters on July 18, as he returned to his vacation home in the Alpine village of Les Combes after a long afternoon hike, the Holy Father responded to a question about the Middle East by saying, "I fully agree with the G8 statement."
At their meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, the G8 leaders had approved a statement calling for an immediate ceasefire. The G8 statement urged Israel to act with restraint, but suggested that the primary blame for the latest violence should fall upon Hezbollah terrorists.
“These extremist elements and those that support them cannot be allowed to plunge the Middle East into chaos and provoke a wider conflict," the G8 leaders agreed. "The extremists must immediately halt their attacks.”
Pope Benedict said that in his view, the G8 statement "indicates the path" that should be taken toward peace in the Middle East. That statement had called for the safe return of Israeli soldiers who have been captured in Gaza and Lebanon; a halt to the rocket attacks and terror bombings on Israeli territory; the end of Israeli military operations in Lebanon; rapid withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza; and the release of Palestinian parliamentary leaders who have been arrested by Israeli forces.
"I have nothing to add," Pope Benedict said, "except the importance of prayer that God will help us."
Monday, July 17, 2006
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Pope Praised Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and Prays for Peace
INTROD, Italy, JULY 16, 2006 (Zenit.org).-
Benedict XVI dedicated today's first public meeting during his vacation in the Italian Alps to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, highlighting Mary on this feast day as model and intercessor.Over 5,000 faithful gathered in the field in front of the chalet in Introd in the Aosta Valley -- where the Holy Father is spending a holiday in prayer, study and outings -- for the usual Marian meeting with the Pope.Welcomed by the words of the local bishop -- often interrupted by the applause of those present and also by the Pope's smile and applause -- Benedict XVI shared moments of company and prayer, exchanging reciprocal applause and gestures of greeting and gratitude.
The Holy Father assured every one of his prayers, especially the sick and suffering, blessing and shaking hands with the latter.Mount CarmelThe Pontiff began his reflection this Sunday by focusing on Carmel: "high promontory that rises on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea," whose folds have "numerous natural grottoes, favorites of hermits."Of these men of God, "the most famous" was "the great prophet Elias," courageous defender of "the purity of the faith in the one true God from contamination by idolatrous cults," he said.Inspired in the figure of this prophet, "the contemplative order of the Carmelites arose, a religious family that counts among its members great saints such as Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Therese of the Child Jesus and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (in the world, Edith Stein)."And the Carmelites "have spread in the Christian people devotion to the Most Holy Virgin of Mount Carmel, pointing to her as a model of prayer, contemplation and dedication to God.""Mary, in fact, before and in an unsurpassable way, believed and felt that Jesus, the incarnate Word is the culmination, the summit of man's encounter with God. Fully accepting the Word, 'she happily reached the holy mountain' -- says the liturgy -- and lives forever, in soul and body, with the Lord," he explained.
The Holy Father then commended to the Queen of Mount Carmel all contemplative communities worldwide, especially the Carmelite Order, and prayed for Mary's help for each Christian to "meet God in the silence of prayer."The Pope remembered especially the convent of Quart, not far from where he is spending his vacation, because on Friday afternoon, he had the opportunity to visit that convent, home to ten nuns in the Aosta Valley, where he was received by the prioress, Mother Mary of the Angels; the chaplain, Father Giovanni Battista Minuzzo; and the parish priest of Quart, Father Sergio Rosset, among others, as the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano reported.Pope John Paul II also took advantage of his days of rest in the Aosta Valley to visit convents. During a pastoral visit to the diocese of Aosta in 1986, he blessed the corner stone of the Carmelite convent Mater Misericordiae of Villair de Quart.The visit to the convent in Quart on Friday was a surprise, reported Salvatore Mazza, special envoy to Introd of the Italian newspaper Avvenire.
Benedict XVI commended to the prayers of the Carmelites the suffering in the Middle East, in Lebanon and in all parts of the world."The Holy Father visited with the nuns for some 50 minutes. "Thank you for the work of charity you do, because you not only alleviate material hunger but also the hunger for God, which is a great spiritual poverty," he told them, as quoted in Avvenire on Saturday."The absence of God is also poverty. We also witness the thirst for God that exists in Europe, together with the great desire for God that we saw last year in Cologne with those one million young people."Benedict XVI recalled his recent trip to Valencia, Spain, as "something great … a most beautiful experience with over a million families from different parts of Spain and from many cities around the world."
Today, on the Pope's return to his residence, he met with journalists and stressed the need to "pray and hope" so that "all will put an end to violence."
Our Lady Queen of Peace....Pray for Us!
Benedict XVI dedicated today's first public meeting during his vacation in the Italian Alps to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, highlighting Mary on this feast day as model and intercessor.Over 5,000 faithful gathered in the field in front of the chalet in Introd in the Aosta Valley -- where the Holy Father is spending a holiday in prayer, study and outings -- for the usual Marian meeting with the Pope.Welcomed by the words of the local bishop -- often interrupted by the applause of those present and also by the Pope's smile and applause -- Benedict XVI shared moments of company and prayer, exchanging reciprocal applause and gestures of greeting and gratitude.
The Holy Father assured every one of his prayers, especially the sick and suffering, blessing and shaking hands with the latter.Mount CarmelThe Pontiff began his reflection this Sunday by focusing on Carmel: "high promontory that rises on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea," whose folds have "numerous natural grottoes, favorites of hermits."Of these men of God, "the most famous" was "the great prophet Elias," courageous defender of "the purity of the faith in the one true God from contamination by idolatrous cults," he said.Inspired in the figure of this prophet, "the contemplative order of the Carmelites arose, a religious family that counts among its members great saints such as Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Therese of the Child Jesus and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (in the world, Edith Stein)."And the Carmelites "have spread in the Christian people devotion to the Most Holy Virgin of Mount Carmel, pointing to her as a model of prayer, contemplation and dedication to God.""Mary, in fact, before and in an unsurpassable way, believed and felt that Jesus, the incarnate Word is the culmination, the summit of man's encounter with God. Fully accepting the Word, 'she happily reached the holy mountain' -- says the liturgy -- and lives forever, in soul and body, with the Lord," he explained.
The Holy Father then commended to the Queen of Mount Carmel all contemplative communities worldwide, especially the Carmelite Order, and prayed for Mary's help for each Christian to "meet God in the silence of prayer."The Pope remembered especially the convent of Quart, not far from where he is spending his vacation, because on Friday afternoon, he had the opportunity to visit that convent, home to ten nuns in the Aosta Valley, where he was received by the prioress, Mother Mary of the Angels; the chaplain, Father Giovanni Battista Minuzzo; and the parish priest of Quart, Father Sergio Rosset, among others, as the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano reported.Pope John Paul II also took advantage of his days of rest in the Aosta Valley to visit convents. During a pastoral visit to the diocese of Aosta in 1986, he blessed the corner stone of the Carmelite convent Mater Misericordiae of Villair de Quart.The visit to the convent in Quart on Friday was a surprise, reported Salvatore Mazza, special envoy to Introd of the Italian newspaper Avvenire.
Benedict XVI commended to the prayers of the Carmelites the suffering in the Middle East, in Lebanon and in all parts of the world."The Holy Father visited with the nuns for some 50 minutes. "Thank you for the work of charity you do, because you not only alleviate material hunger but also the hunger for God, which is a great spiritual poverty," he told them, as quoted in Avvenire on Saturday."The absence of God is also poverty. We also witness the thirst for God that exists in Europe, together with the great desire for God that we saw last year in Cologne with those one million young people."Benedict XVI recalled his recent trip to Valencia, Spain, as "something great … a most beautiful experience with over a million families from different parts of Spain and from many cities around the world."
Today, on the Pope's return to his residence, he met with journalists and stressed the need to "pray and hope" so that "all will put an end to violence."
Our Lady Queen of Peace....Pray for Us!
Monday, July 10, 2006
Anglican Communion Votes for Women Bishops
Jul. 10 (CWNews.com) - The General Synod of the Church of England voted on July 8 to approve the ordination of women as bishops.
By a vote of 288- 119, the Synod found that the episcopal ordination of women would be "consonant with the faith of the church." Of the 40 autonomous churches around the world belonging to the Anglican communion, 14 already have women bishops.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, will now establish a working group to recommend concrete changes in church legislation that would allow for the ordination of women bishops in the Church of England.
Anglican groups which had been campaigning for the change welcomed the Synod's decision as a sign that the final barrier to their success had been removed. Christina Rees of Women and the Church observed, "It is clear that we will be moving forward from now on toward having women as bishops."
Prelates who opposed the move worried that the decision could be the last straw for traditionalists in the Anglican church, who might break with the Church of England over what they see as a fundamental question of faith, ending any Anglican chain of having preserved the apostolic succession. Bishop Peter Forster of Chester remarked that the challenge facing the Church of England is to "devise a way to have women bishops which doesn't either un-church a much-valued section from within our midst, or simply produce an incoherent doctrine of the church."
Catholic leaders had warned their Anglican colleagues that approval of women bishops would severely damage prospects for regaining full communion. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor said in June that the move would put full unity "out of reach."
In a June talk to the hierarchy of the Church of England, Cardinal Walter Kasper (bio - news), the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, said that talks between the two bodies to date have been based on the presupposition that both side hopes for an eventual restoration of full communion. "The presupposition would realistically no longer exist" if women became bishops, Cardinal Kasper warned.
As we see many of the main-line protestant groups continue to fall away from the teachings of historic Christianity, it is easy to look on them and say "well at least I am a member of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church." While that is true, the fact is that unity among Christians is now almost impossible.....and that is certainly a sad fact!
The Catholic Church is the only place where unity exists, led by the Bishop of Rome. It is the Catholic Church that will be the light for those who search out historic Christianity in the years to come. We must pray for our seperated brethren, but also that we as members of Christ's Church will be prepared to welcome in those who see out the true Church.
Praise be to Jesus Christ!
By a vote of 288- 119, the Synod found that the episcopal ordination of women would be "consonant with the faith of the church." Of the 40 autonomous churches around the world belonging to the Anglican communion, 14 already have women bishops.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, will now establish a working group to recommend concrete changes in church legislation that would allow for the ordination of women bishops in the Church of England.
Anglican groups which had been campaigning for the change welcomed the Synod's decision as a sign that the final barrier to their success had been removed. Christina Rees of Women and the Church observed, "It is clear that we will be moving forward from now on toward having women as bishops."
Prelates who opposed the move worried that the decision could be the last straw for traditionalists in the Anglican church, who might break with the Church of England over what they see as a fundamental question of faith, ending any Anglican chain of having preserved the apostolic succession. Bishop Peter Forster of Chester remarked that the challenge facing the Church of England is to "devise a way to have women bishops which doesn't either un-church a much-valued section from within our midst, or simply produce an incoherent doctrine of the church."
Catholic leaders had warned their Anglican colleagues that approval of women bishops would severely damage prospects for regaining full communion. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor said in June that the move would put full unity "out of reach."
In a June talk to the hierarchy of the Church of England, Cardinal Walter Kasper (bio - news), the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, said that talks between the two bodies to date have been based on the presupposition that both side hopes for an eventual restoration of full communion. "The presupposition would realistically no longer exist" if women became bishops, Cardinal Kasper warned.
As we see many of the main-line protestant groups continue to fall away from the teachings of historic Christianity, it is easy to look on them and say "well at least I am a member of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church." While that is true, the fact is that unity among Christians is now almost impossible.....and that is certainly a sad fact!
The Catholic Church is the only place where unity exists, led by the Bishop of Rome. It is the Catholic Church that will be the light for those who search out historic Christianity in the years to come. We must pray for our seperated brethren, but also that we as members of Christ's Church will be prepared to welcome in those who see out the true Church.
Praise be to Jesus Christ!
Friday, July 07, 2006
Pontiff Cites Blessed Frassati as Model for Youth
VATICAN CITY, JULY 5, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI today presented toyoung people, the sick and newlyweds, the model of life of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young student and athlete who died at 24. Recalling that the Church celebrated his liturgical memorial on Tuesday,the Holy Father addressed young people in particular at the end of thegeneral audience, to acquaint them with this model.
"May his example of fidelity to Christ arouse in you, dear young people,objectives of courageous evangelical witness," he said. Then, seeing the sick present, some in wheelchairs in the first rows in St. Peter's Square, Benedict XVI hoped that Frassati would help them "to offer their daily sufferings so that the civilization of love is realized in the world.
"Finally, he wished that the young Blessed will support the newlyweds --some arrived in their wedding attire -- "in the commitment to base yourfamilies on profound union with God."Piergiorgio Frassati (1901-1925), a member of Catholic Action and anative of Turin, was beatified in May 1990.
"May his example of fidelity to Christ arouse in you, dear young people,objectives of courageous evangelical witness," he said. Then, seeing the sick present, some in wheelchairs in the first rows in St. Peter's Square, Benedict XVI hoped that Frassati would help them "to offer their daily sufferings so that the civilization of love is realized in the world.
"Finally, he wished that the young Blessed will support the newlyweds --some arrived in their wedding attire -- "in the commitment to base yourfamilies on profound union with God."Piergiorgio Frassati (1901-1925), a member of Catholic Action and anative of Turin, was beatified in May 1990.
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