Pope Calls for Peace in 1st Easter Message

FRANCES D'EMILIO

Associated Press Writer

VATICAN CITY - In his first Easter message as pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged nations to use diplomacy to defuse nuclear crises — a clear reference to worries over Iran — and prayed that Palestinians would one day have their own state alongside Israel.

On Christianity's most joyous day — which happened to fall on Benedict's own 79th birthday — the pontiff also prayed for Iraq's relentless violence to cease.

From the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Benedict reflected on the globe's troubled regions shortly after he celebrated Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square, which was packed with 100,000 pilgrims and tourists on a breezy, hazy day.

"Today, even in this modern age marked by anxiety and uncertainty, we relive the event of the Resurrection, which changed the face of our life and changed the history of humanity," Benedict said in the traditional papal "Urbi et Orbi" message — Latin for "to the city and to the world."

On Easter, Christians celebrate a core belief of their faith — that Jesus rose from the dead following his crucifixion. Orthodox Christians in Russia and elsewhere will celebrate Easter on April 23.

Benedict made note of recent developments that have raised fears Iran might be working toward building a nuclear arsenal.

"Concerning the international crises linked to nuclear power, may an honorable solution be found for all parties, through serious and honest negotiations," Benedict said without naming any country.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently said his country had successfully enriched uranium using 164 centrifuges, a significant step toward large-scale production of material that could be used to fuel nuclear reactors for generating electricity or to build atomic bombs.

Iran insists it only wants the peaceful use of nuclear power, but Western nations suspect Tehran wants to develop weapons and are demanding a halt to enrichment activities.

Pilgrims marking Easter also filled the streets of Jerusalem's Old City. The alleys were more crowded than in recent years, reflecting a drop in Palestinian-Israeli violence.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Michel Sabbah, who is the leading Roman Catholic official in the Holy Land, celebrated Mass in the dark, incense-filled Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built on the spot where many Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross.

After leading black-robed priests into the church singing the Lord's Prayer, the Palestinian-born patriarch lit worshippers' candles, which gradually illuminated the painted dome ceiling erected in the Crusader era.

"This is like a dream come true for us to be here in the Holy Land," said Rona Arida, 29, a Philippine worker in Israel, after praying with her friends at the church. "I prayed for all of my family back home."

At the Vatican, Benedict was interrupted by applause when he said of Iraq: "may peace finally prevail over the tragic violence that continues mercilessly to claim victims."

"I also pray sincerely that those caught up in the conflict in the Holy Land may find peace, and I invite all to patient and persevering dialogue, so as to remove both ancient and new obstacles," the pontiff said.

There has been heavy pressure from abroad on the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which was elected in January, to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.

"May the international community, which reaffirms Israel's just right to exist in peace, assist the Palestinian people to overcome the precarious conditions in which they live and to build their future, moving toward the constitution of a state which is truly their own," Benedict said.

The pope lamented that the humanitarian crisis in Sudan's Darfur region was "no longer sustainable."

He denounced the "deplorable scourge of kidnappings" in Latin America, where, he said, millions of people should have better living conditions and democratic institutions need to be "consolidated in a spirit of harmony."

As Mass began, a brisk breeze ruffled the pope's gold-colored vestments and the crimson feathers atop the helmets of Swiss Guards as he strode up the center to the square to take his place at a canopied altar on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica.

The pope offered holiday wishes in 62 languages and gave his blessing.

Among the prayers read by faithful during the Mass was a wish, in French, that the pope receive a birthday gift of "serene" days.

Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, died six days after Easter last year, and was so weak he was unable to address faithful in the square on Easter, only raising his hand in blessing.

Benedict looked tired during Sunday's Mass. He had had only a few hours to rest after leading a long Easter vigil ceremony Saturday night in St. Peter's Basilica that lasted past midnight.

After a packed schedule of Holy Week ceremonies, Benedict was heading to the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo, a hill town near Rome, where he planned to give pilgrims and tourists his blessing Monday at the start of a brief vacation.

This Post's Link

Pope leads millions around the world in Easter celebrations

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI voiced growing concern over Iran's nuclear drive and other global conflicts in his first Easter message, as Christians worldwide celebrated their faith's most joyous day.

The pope, also marking his 79th birthday, called for "serious and honest" talks which would help achieve "an honourable solution" for all parties in Iran's nuclear standoff with the West.

Nearly 100,000 pilgrims and tourists packed St Peter's Square and surrounding streets as Benedict pronounced his first "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) address, broadcast to more than 65 countries.

Bells rang out Easter morning in Christian churches across Europe, from the 12th-century St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna to Britain's Canterbury Cathedral, where the archbishop denounced the plot of the bestseller "The Da Vinci Code" which explores the idea that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children.

The head of the Anglican Church, Rowan Williams, commented that "it's almost that we'd prefer to believe something like this instead of the prosaic reality", according to a speech released in advance.

Williams also criticized the media's coverage of religion -- including the apparent discovery of a "Gospel of Judas" -- as amounting to "a little flurry of newspaper articles and television programmes raking over the coals of controversies about the historical basis of faith."

Easter celebrations, marking the resurrection of Jesus Christ, began earlier Sunday across Asia from the continent's largest Catholic nation, the Philippines, to communist Vietnam and China, where some worshippers prayed in hiding for fear of official persecution.

In strictly Muslim Afghanistan, gripped last month by a furore over the case of Abdul Rahman who faced the death penalty after converting to Christianity, pockets of underground Afghan Christians gathered in secret.

Yet in Jerusalem, the city at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it was the busiest Easter weekend since the start of the Palestinian uprising five years ago. An Israeli tourist ministry spokesman said some 90,000 visitors came to the Holy Land, up 20 percent from last year.

Thousands of Christians attended the Easter services at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre -- believed to be Jesus's burial site -- where the Vatican's representative, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, prayed for peace among people of all faiths.

Dozens of Iraqi Christians braved violence to walk to churches to celebrate, including at central Baghdad's Saint George's Church, where Father Raad Saleem prayed for "peace and normalcy in Iraq."

The community, which stood at more than one million people before the 1990 Gulf War, has shrunken over the years as people flee Iraq's insecurity and sectarian strife for safer shores.

The pope remembered them in his address: "May peace finally prevail over the tragic violence that continues mercilessly to claim victims," he said.

Benedict also urged relief for the "dramatic humanitarian situation" in Sudan's Darfur region and an end to conflicts and oppression across the African continent.

Catholic leaders in Africa gave Easter messages with a political tone. The archbishop of Dakar condemned the intrusion by police seeking to question a Senegalese opposition leader who was attending a Good Friday service.

In Burundi, the country's bishops issued a warning that "democracy was at risk... due to the will of some to grab all the power," while in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the archbishop of Kinshasa urged the faithful to make good choices in the upcoming October elections.

In India, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in southern Kerala state, where Christians make up 23 percent of the population, prayed at the Saint Thomas Church in Malayattoor, many carrying the cross on their backs.

The Missionaries of Charity founded by Mother Teresa in India's eastern city of Kolkata held a special mass.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II sent Easter greetings to the pope and other western Christian leaders, as the Orthodox churches follow a different calendar and will mark their Easter next Sunday.

This Post's Link

Pope urges talks with Iran over nuclear crisis in Easter message

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI called for peace across the world in his first Easter message, his 79th birthday, voicing hopes for a resolution to the conflict over Iran's nuclear drive.

An estimated 80,000 pilgrims packed St Peter's Square and nearby streets as Benedict led his first Easter Sunday mass as pope, and later greeted Catholics around the world in his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message.

In a veiled reference to Iran's nuclear standoff with the international community, he called for "serious and honest" talks which would help achieve "an honourable solution" for all parties.

He urged that peace would "finally prevail" in Iraq, where violence "continues mercilessly to claim victims."

Benedict said he was praying that leaders and international organisations "be strengthened in their will to achieve peaceful coexistence among different races, cultures and religions, in order to remove the threat of terrorism."

Similarly, "patient and persevering dialogue" was needed in the Middle East, "to remove both ancient and new obstacles."

"May the international community, which reaffirms Israel's just right to exist in peace, assist the Palestinian people to overcome the precarious conditions in which they live and to build their future, moving towards the constitution of a state that is truly their own."

Much of his appeal focused on Africa, particularly Sudan's troubled Darfur region, where he said the humanitarian situation was "no longer sustainable".

The pontiff lamented that "many wounds have yet to be healed" across the continent, particularly in the Great Lakes region, the Horn of Africa, the Ivory Coast, Uganda, Zimbabwe and other nations "which aspire to reconciliation, justice and progress."

The huge crowd of pilgrims and tourists applauded when the pope prayed for "harmony" in Italy. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is refusing to concede defeat to the leftist opposition leader Romano Prodi after a disputed general election. The country's supreme court is to give its verdict on the winner next week after a partial recount of disputed votes.

The pope looked tired after just a few hours sleep following an Easter vigil which ended early Sunday.

An Italian Carabinieri band and the band of the Swiss Guards played as Benedict, celebrating his 79th birthday, led dozens of cardinals onto the square at the start of the mass, waving to the cheering crowd as he walked.

The square had been brightly decorated with a huge floral display of yellow and white flowers, the colours of the Vatican, to mark the most joyous day of the Christian calendar, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

"Dear brothers and sisters, Christ is Risen!" a smiling Benedict told cheering pilgrims from the central balcony of St Peter's cathedral, from where he pronounced his "Urbi et Orbi" message after the mass.

As a brisk spring breeze ruffled the pontiff's cream and gold vestments, he addressed Catholics around the world in 62 languages, from Malay to Maltese, Swedish to Swahili. The pilgrims and tourists reserved their biggest cheer for the moment he spoke in his native German.

The greeting at the end of the mass was made famous by his predecessor John Paul II. Last year, the dying pope was unable to perform the greeting for the first time in his 26-year pontificate, and died a week later.

Benedict made a surprise appearance later in the day, appearing at the balcony of his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.

The pontiff greeted a small group of wellwishers who sang "Happy Birthday" to him at the residence outside Rome, where on Monday he will recite the Regina Coeli prayer, which replaces the Angelus sermon during the Eastern season.

This Post's Link

Pope calls for nuclear diplomacy

Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in his first Easter message, called on Sunday for an "honorable solution" to the nuclear standoff with Iran, a truly independent Palestinian state, and global cooperation to combat terrorism.

The German Pope, speaking on his 79th birthday, made his appeal for world peace in his Easter "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message to some 100,000 people as he concluded the first Easter season of his pontificate.

The Pope, who marks the first anniversary of his election on Wednesday, led a joyful Easter mass in a sunny St Peter's Square on the most important day of the Christian liturgical calendar, when the faithful celebrate Christ's resurrection from the dead.

In the speech, televised to millions of viewers in more than 65 countries at the end of Easter Sunday mass in the square, the head of the Roman Catholic Church listed his worries about a world he said was living through "uncertainty and anxiety" and oppressed by widespread suffering.

"Concerning the international crises linked to nuclear power, may an honorable solution be found for all parties, through serious and honest negotiations ... " he said in a clear reference to Iran, which announced last week it had become a nuclear power by enriching uranium.

The United States wants targeted sanctions on Iran that include a freeze on assets and visa restrictions.

The Pope read the speech, and delivered brief Easter greetings in 62 languages including Hebrew and Arabic, from the same central balcony of St Peter's Basilica where he appeared to the world for the first time as pontiff after his election.

The crowd in the square, which was decked out with tens of thousands of flowers donated by the Netherlands, interrupted his address with applause several times when he called for peace.

In another part of the speech, the Pope defended Israel's right to exist, in what appeared to be an indirect criticism of statements by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Jewish state should be eliminated.

PALESTINIAN HOMELAND

But he also called firmly for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

"May the international community, which re-affirms Israel's just right to exist in peace, assist the Palestinian people to overcome the precarious conditions in which they live and to build their future, moving toward the constitution of a state that is truly their own," he said in the part of his address dedicated to peace in the Middle East.

In other parts of the "Urbi et Orbi" address, the Pope expressed his concern over terrorism, as he has already done several times since his election on April 19, 2005 to succeed the late Pope John Paul.

"May the leaders of nations and of international organizations be strengthened in their will to achieve peaceful coexistence among different races, cultures and religions, in order to remove the threat of terrorism," he said.

Mentioning Iraq, he prayed "may peace finally prevail over the tragic violence that continues mercilessly to claim victims."

The Pope also prayed that the spirit of the risen Christ bring relief and security to Africa, particularly the people of Darfur in western Sudan, who he said were "living in a dramatic humanitarian situation that is no longer sustainable."

Chad broke diplomatic ties with neighboring Sudan on Friday and warned that it might stop sheltering thousands of Sudanese refugees who have crossed the border to escape an ethnic conflict in the Darfur region.

This is the first Easter for the 1.1 billion member Roman Catholic Church since the death of Pope John Paul, who was in his final days a year ago and was only able to make brief appearances in the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.

John Paul died on April 2, a week after Easter.

This Post's Link

Pope celebrates Easter vigil mass full of symbolism

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Easter vigil mass in St Peter's Basilica, calling the Resurrection of Christ the "most crucial leap into a totally new dimension."

In a liturgy filled with the symbolism of Christ's passage from the dead to the living, he told thousands of pilgrims in the vast sanctuary and millions watching around the world: "The resurrection was like an explosion of light."

The pope, wearing gold and white vestments, had borne a paschal candle through the darkened basilica, which was bathed in bright light when he reached the altar, and the pilgrims lit each other's candles to symbolize the light of Christ replacing the darkness of sin and death.

In his homily, the pope, in his first Easter season since succeeding Pope John Paul II last year, referred to the theory of evolution to explain Christians' belief in Christ's resurrection and the afterlife.

"If we may borrow the language of the theory of evolution, it is the greatest 'mutation,' absolutely the most crucial leap into a totally new dimension that there has ever been in the long history of life and its development," he said.

Christ was resurrected because he "was one single reality with the living God, so closely united with him as to form one person with him," Benedict said.

"The resurrection was like an explosion of light, an explosion of love which dissolved the hitherto indissoluble compenetration of 'dying and becoming'," he said.

Benedict's reference to evolution recalled another scientific allusion last August, when he used the phrase "nuclear fission" to describe the spiritual effect of receiving Holy Communion at the Catholic World Youth day festival in Germany.

This year's festivities marking Easter, the most important event in the Christian religious calendar, have inevitably recalled last year's celebrations, which were overshadowed by John Paul II's rapidly deteriorating condition.

Last Holy Saturday, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- the future pope -- read out a message from John Paul II to thousands of faithful attending the vigil mass in St Peter's, which the pope followed on television. He died a week later.

It was the first time in the pope's 26-year pontificate that he had to delegate the main Easter ceremonies to his cardinals, participating only through brief video-link appearances or written messages.

On Good Friday, Benedict led Catholics in the traditional torchlit ceremony at Rome's Colosseum, commemorating the crucifixion of Christ.

Thousands of pilgrims packed the ancient Roman arena watched Pope Benedict as he carried a wooden cross at the first and last of the 14 "stations" which for Christians recall Christ's last journey to his crucifixion.

In the ceremony broadcast by 62 television stations in 42 countries, Benedict said Christians could not remain "neutral" when faced with the evils of the world -- "the suffering of abused and abandoned children," the threat against the traditional family, the "divisions" in the world and gap between rich and poor.

Benedict will turn 79 on Easter Sunday, when he will deliver the traditional "Urbi et Orbi" Easter message from the central loggia of St Peter's, where he first appeared as pope following his election on April 19 last year.

In the message will voice fears over Iran's nuclear program, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Saturday.

He will press the international community to negotiate with Tehran to assure peaceful cohabitation in the Middle East, ANSA said in an unsourced report.

ANSA said the pope would also defend Israel's right to live in peace while calling on the international community to help the Palestinian people build their future.

Benedict was also expected to express the hope that Italy will regain its serenity once official results are announced next week from the country's cliffhanger elections, which the opposition coalition led by Romano Prodi won by a whisker.

This Post's Link

Cruise: Baby Won't Have Catholic Baptism

Katie Holmes was raised a Catholic, but, says fiance Tom Cruise, their soon-to-arrive baby will not have a Catholic baptism.

"No," Cruise tells Diane Sawyer in an interview on ABC's "Primetime," airing Friday, 9 p.m. EDT. "No, I mean you can be Catholic and be a Scientologist. You can be Jewish and be a Scientologist. But we're just Scientologists."

The 27-year-old Holmes' switch to Scientology has sparked reports of a rift between her devout parents, Ohio natives Martin and Kathleen, and the 43-year-old actor, who introduced her to Scientology.

However, Cruise shrugs off the stories of family friction, telling Sawyer he's close with "the whole family" and — "absolutely, yes" — they approve of Scientology.

The superstar dad-to-be also confirms to Sawyer that Holmes, in the final stages of her pregnancy with the couple's first child, will adhere to Scientology's practice of quiet birth. Cruise explains that "quiet birth," which aims to minimize talk and other noise inside the delivery room," is "basically just respecting the mother."

"She does what she's gotta do," he explains, addressing speculation that such a practice would somehow muffle Holmes completely and deny her pain medication. "If she needs medicine, she needs medicine."

The star of the upcoming "Mission: Impossible III" has two children, Connor, 11, and Isabella, 13, from his marriage to Nicole Kidman.

As the baby's birth approaches, Cruise says "it feels a little unreal."

Cruise said last week that he and Holmes plan to wed in the coming months. They have been engaged since June.

This Post's Link



So, Just wondering if the supreme trafalafalafala told Tom during meditation not to baptize the child. ~Q

This Catholic church is born again

Margaret Ramirez
Tribune religion reporter
Published April 15, 2006

Evangelical approach helps attendance soar

On Easter Sunday, two huge video screens will project praise hymns in this Catholic church as the rock 'n' roll choir leads the celebration of Jesus' resurrection. The priest will consecrate the Eucharist from a lowered altar that brings him closer to his people. Flowering dogwood branches will encircle the church's baptismal font, now an immersion pool in the center aisle surrounded by four gurgling fountains.

Holy Family Catholic Parish Community in Inverness is marking its own rebirth this weekend, opening a $1.4 million renovated sanctuary to its 12,000 parishioners that embraces many elements of the Protestant evangelical movement.

The changes might seem unusual to old-school Catholics. They have raised eyebrows among more orthodox leaders in the archdiocese. But the pastor and parishioners say they are carving the model for the future American Catholic Church.

In contrast to many other Catholic churches where attendance has dropped, Holy Family Parish is booming, even winning back Catholics who were attending Willow Creek, the nondenominational megachurch 3 miles away. Holy Family, with more than 3,700 families, is one of the largest congregations in the archdiocese.

The secret to the 22-year-old church's success has been replicating what growing churches are doing, but in a Catholic way. The result is an innovative congregation that bills itself as "an evangelical church in the Roman Catholic tradition."

"I think what happened to the Catholic Church is we became a little comfortable with ourselves and forgot some of what made us Catholic. We forgot what made us passionate," said Holy Family's pastor, Rev. Pat Brennan. "So I've just taken the best that I've seen of Catholic parishes and evangelical churches and put them together to make Holy Family. In doing that, I think we've rediscovered the heart of Catholicism."

Like several other parishioners, Mary Whiteside said she was on the verge of abandoning her Catholic faith when she found Holy Family. On her first visit, Whiteside said she was hooked by the music and the pastor's riveting homilies. Her husband, Phil, who was raised a Baptist, was so moved that he converted to Catholicism.

"Great things are happening in this church. We're just very alive," said Whiteside, who is on the parish leadership council. "We're sharing some elements of the evangelical church, but I don't think we're trading any part of our Catholic identity."

Holy Family was started two decades ago when Cardinal Joseph Bernardin became concerned about the large numbers of Catholics in the northern suburbs leaving their churches to become members of Willow Creek Community Church. In 1984, the former archbishop purchased 16 acres of farmland in Inverness and founded a new parish community, Holy Family.

"We were a different kind of Catholic Church from Day One, because of how we were founded," said Colin Collette, director of liturgical ministries.

Holy Family's first pastor, Rev. Medard Laz, was selected mainly for his financial expertise. In 1993 Brennan, former head of the archdiocesan office for evangelization, was named to succeed him. In his new role, Brennan saw several key ingredients that a parish had to focus on to serve the needs of today's Catholics: a family approach to evangelism, small faith communities, adult religious education, and use of multimedia.

At Holy Family, laypeople run the church, managing nearly 140 ministries and financial operations. During the week, small groups meet in parish homes. And though many Catholic churches have been slow to use the Internet, Holy Family has an impressive Web page with photos, video from services, choir music and streaming audio of Brennan's homilies.

"The way our kids are growing up with iPods," Brennan said, "you have to have these things if you want to keep them in church."

Many parishioners describe themselves as "cradle Catholics" who became bored with church. Maria Graft, who was raised Catholic, had been attending Willow Creek for two years, but eventually found herself missing the liturgy and sacraments of the Catholic Church.

"I remember the day I came back, I was overwhelmed," she said.

Even before the renovation, Holy Family stood apart from other Catholic churches and was designed to blend evangelical style with Catholic worship. From outside, the church is a stone and glass structure, striking in its simplicity.

Inside, there are no stained glass windows, no candles, no statues of saints. The dominant feature is an enormous 16-foot acrylic cross that hangs from the ceiling over the altar with Jesus gazing downward, his hand outstretched to people.

Now with the renovation of the church, which included addition of the video screens and baptismal pool as well as improved lighting and sound system, parishioners say Holy Family is entering a new phase.

"We're playing in the big leagues now," said Graft, who sings in the choir. "We had to do these renovations, not necessarily to compete with other churches, but just to stay relevant and up to date. It's a turning point."

But tensions have risen with the current archbishop, Cardinal Francis George, who supports a more orthodox view of the liturgy than his predecessor. Parishioners say the most recent example of that tension is the dispute over kneelers.

In the church's original design, Holy Family never had kneelers, partly to replicate evangelical churches but also to provide more room between pews. But when the church presented renovation plans to the archdiocese last year, parishioners learned the plans would not be approved unless the church installed kneelers.

"I'm disappointed," said Rosemary Geisler. "That was a decision that should have been left up to the people, and instead it was forced on us."

The minor dispute has led some parishioners to worry about the type of priest who will be selected as pastor of Holy Name after Brennan's term ends in two years. Dolores Siok, who has been at Holy Family for 17 years, worries about what will happen if the new priest wants to take the church back to Catholic orthodoxy.

"Everyone is concerned about the possibility that we get a staunch pastor who wants to take us backward. We're just praying we get someone who shares our vision," she said. "Or else we'll just be back where we started with people leaving the church."

----------

maramirez@tribune.com

This Post's Link



It is interesting that the greatest Miracle of all time has become so mundane that this local church has to make a spectacle of itself just to up attendance. ~ Q

Vatican attacks 'pseudo-history'

The Vatican has railed against The Da Vinci Code, branding the book and its upcoming film version as just more examples of the undermining of Christ by a wave of "pseudo-historic" art.

And the Pope and his followers at the traditional Good Friday Way of the Cross procession, heard lamentations in apparent reference to gay marriage, abortion and genetic manipulation.

Father Raniero Cantalamessa, whose official title is Preacher of the Papal Household, refererred to The Da Vinci Code in a sermon during a Passion of the Lord service in St Peter's Basilica.

In his sermon, Fr Cantalamessa made several scathing references to The Da Vinci Code, without specifically mentioning the name of the worldwide bestseller.

He said that people today were fascinated by "every new theory according to which he (Christ) was not crucified and did not die ... but ran off with Mary Magdalene".

The novel is an international murder mystery centred on attempts to uncover a secret about the life of Christ that a clandestine society has tried to protect for centuries.

The central tenet of the book is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children. Christians are taught that Jesus never married, was crucified and rose from the dead.

Fr Cantalamessa then turned his ire to the film version of The Da Vinci Code starring Tom Hanks, which is due to be released next month.

"No one will be able to stop this wave of speculation, which will see a sharp increase with the imminent release of a certain film," he said.

Fr Cantalamessa several times dismissed "the Gospel of Judas", which claims that it was Christ himself who asked Judas to betray him. The Gospel of Judas received wide attention recently in media stories about the discovery of a 1700-year-old copy.

The so-called Gospel of Judas was already declared a heresy by the early Church about two centuries after Christ died.

The Passion of the Lord service was the first of two events in which the 78-year-old German Pope, approaching the first Easter of his reign, commemorated the crucifixion and death of Christ on Good Friday.

His predecessor John Paul was in his dying days for all of last year's Easter season and was only able to make brief appearances in the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.

John Paul died on April 2, a week after Easter.

On Friday, the 78-year-old Pope led the traditional Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession around the ruins of Rome's ancient Colosseum commemorating Christ's passion and death. He heard meditations lamenting a "diabolical pride aimed at eliminating the family,'' an apparent reference to gay marriage and abortion.

The 14 meditations, written by Italian Archbishop Angelo Comastri and read aloud to the crowd by actors, painted a picture of a bleak world threatened on all sides.

One of the meditations appeared to be a reference to homosexual marriages and moves to give legal status to unmarried couples.

"Surely God is deeply pained by the attack on the family,'' one of the meditations said. "Today we seem to be witnessing a kind of anti-Genesis, a counter-plan, a diabolical pride aimed at eliminating the family.''

The Pope, wearing a red cape over his white cassock, carried a wooden cross for part of the service around the Colosseum as tens of thousands of people held candles on the streets below.

Another meditation read by one of the actors appeared to be a criticism of genetic manipulation and cloning, lamenting a "move to re-invent mankind, to modify the very grammar of life as planned and willed by God ... a risky and dangerous venture.''

Yet another meditation said the world had lost its sense of sin.

"Today a slick campaign of propaganda is spreading an inane apologia of evil, a senseless cult of Satan, a mindless desire for transgression, a dishonest and frivolous freedom, exalting impulsiveness, immorality and selfishness as if they were new heights of sophistication,'' it said.

At the end of the procession, the Pope delivered brief, unprepared remarks.

"In the mirror of the cross we saw all of the sufferings of humanity today,'' he said. "We saw the suffering of children who are abandoned and abused, the threats against the family, the divisions of the world, the arrogance of the rich who do not share ... with those who suffer hunger and thirst,'' he said.

The Pope will say an Easter Eve mass on Saturday night and on Sunday deliver an "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing and message.

Thia Post's Link

Catholic Adoption Agencies Won't Be Penalized For Refusing Gay Applicants

Policy Violates Anti-Discrimination Laws

BOSTON -- Catholic adoption agencies in Worcester, Fall River and Springfield won't be penalized by the state for refusing to consider gays as adoptive parents, though their policies violate state anti-discrimination laws.

The general counsel for the state Department of Early Education, which regulates adoption agencies, said the agency isn't taking action because Romney has proposed legislation that could allow the agencies to refrain from considering gays on religious grounds.

"We're going to wait and see how the legislation plays out," attorney Constantia Papanikolaou told The Boston Globe.

Romney proposed the bill after Catholic Charities announced last month it was ending its adoption services because it couldn't reconcile state law with church teachings, which consider gay adoption "gravely immoral."


Papanikolaou said the state hasn't received any complaints from the public about the adoption practices at Catholic Charities in Worcester and Fall River, or Brightside for Families and Children in Springfield. Catholic Charities is part of the local diocese and Brightside in Springfield is run by the Sisters of Providence Health System.

Gary Buseck, legal director of the Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders in Boston, said his group hasn't publicly protested because the state will have a new governor next year, and GLAD expects that person to vigorously enforce the state's anti-discrimination laws.

All of the candidates for governor oppose an exemption for Catholic groups from anti-discrimination laws.

"The illegality shouldn't be allowed to stand," Buseck said, adding GLAD has chosen a strategy of "watching and waiting," rather than confronting state officials.

The issue came to the forefront earlier this year, when Catholic Charities of Boston said its adoption services had to accept gay applicants to comply with state law, but Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley and the three state bishops said placing children with gay parents violated church teachings.

The church leaders asked the state to exempt Catholic agencies from the anti-discrimination law, but lawmakers said such a proposal would never pass the Legislature, and Romney said he didn't have the authority to unilaterally grant an exemption.

In March, Catholic Charities of Boston ended adoption services. Since then, the other Catholic social service agencies have said they won't accept gay applicants.

Arline Isaacson, co-chairwoman of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus, said the Romney administration was "picking and choosing" the laws it enforces. She said Romney invoked a 1913 law to stop the state from marrying gay couples who are from out of state, but is ignoring a more recent law that protects gays from discrimination in the area of adoption.

Catherine Loeffler, executive director of Catholic Charities of Worcester, said her agency isn't harming gays or lesbians because it simply refers these applicants to other agencies. She said her organization wants to help children, while keeping its work "in harmony with Catholic teachings."

This Post's Link



And who says that Massachusetts has lost ALL common sense, just most of it. ~ Q

New sainthood case strengthened

A second so-called miracle cure by a British Catholic priest has been reported in the US strengthening the cause for him to be made a saint.
Cardinal John Henry Newman, who founded Birmingham Oratory in 1848, has long been championed as a future saint.

A case for his beatification, the stage before sainthood, needs a miracle by the cardinal to be complete and claims of one in Boston are being looked into.

Now a 16-year-old boy's emergence from a coma is also being investigated.

The oratory's current provost, Father Paul Chavasse, explained the second claims of a miracle: "After prayers and the application of a relic of Newman's he emerged to the astonishment of his family and the doctors from the coma."

'Lover of Newman'

The first reported miracle came from a canon in Boston who said his spinal problems had been cured after praying to Cardinal Newman.

Investigations in America are due to end later this year, when the evidence will go to Rome for the meticulous scrutiny of Pope Benedict.

Peter Jennings, from the oratory, said: "He's a great lover of Newman and uses Newman and quotes Newman frequently in his writings and speeches and now as he has become pope we very much hope he'll be the pope that will beatify, then eventually canonise John Henry Newman."

The two claims follow 50 years of work to introduce Cardinal Newman's cause for canonisation - a process which includes collating more than 20,000 of his letters and evidence from personal witnesses of his suitability to become a saint.

No English person who has lived since the 16th Century, when many Catholics were killed during the Reformation, has been canonised.

Italian author on teen sex takes on the Vatican

Robin Pomeroy

ROME (Reuters) - Italian author Melissa Panarello, who hit best-selling lists across the world with graphic stories of teenage sex, published a new book on Friday in which she said the Roman Catholic Church's code of morality was all wrong.

After "100 Strokes Of The Brush Before Bed", in which she described losing her virginity at 14, Melissa P. -- as she is known -- brought out her latest book on Good Friday, a major day in the Christian calendar marking the crucifixion of Jesus.

"In The Name Of Love", a treatise against the Church's preaching on sex, was written by the petite 20-year-old Sicilian in the form of an open letter to Italy's most senior cardinal, Camillo Ruini, defending abortion, divorce and homosexuality.

"This book was born of rage, a rage that was born about a year ago when the death of John Paul II and the election of Benedict XVI accentuated a religious fundamentalism which I thought only exited in the history books," she said.

Panarello, who has rejected criticism from politicians who say she has no right to preach to the Church, accused the Vatican of a narrow view of sex.

"Bishops talk a lot about life, but it doesn't seem to me that they know much about fundamental elements of life like sexuality," Panarello, who has sold more than 3 million books in 42 countries, told reporters.

CHURCH AND POLITICS

She presented her book at the headquarters of Italy's Radical Party, which has battled for decades against what it sees at Church interference in political life and was behind campaigns in the 1970s to legalise divorce and abortion.

Last year, the party lost a referendum campaign to repeal Italy's strict laws on assisted reproduction after Ruini, head of the Italian bishops' conference, instructed Catholics to abstain. The referendum failed because not enough people voted.

"Secularism is an issue which concerns all countries, but perhaps we feel it more in Italy because we have the Vatican," said Panarello, who still uses the abbreviated version of her name that secured anonymity when her debut book was published.

In her new book, she quotes comments by the Pope and passages of doctrine and challenges them with examples -- often from her adolescence in Sicily -- designed to show people cannot and should not live by the Church's teachings.

"The only thing we could do in our area, Cardinal Ruini, was love," says one extract from the book.

"The only thing that could make us feel alive was to give ourselves completely to the other, sliding under the sheets together with the stereo on high so our parents in the room next door couldn't hear the din we made when making love."

Panarello asks Ruini to imagine being a teenager "who can't wait to soothe her hormones" trying to pluck up the courage to buy condoms in a village pharmacy.

"I want the right to speak because I'm fed up with keeping my head down every time my freedoms and civil rights are threatened," Panarello said at the presentation.

"I hope Ruini replies, because I am raising sincere questions."

Panarello has disowned the film "Melissa P", based on her first book, for failing to interpret the true feelings of adolescence.

This Post's Link



This is just another case of a prostitute trying to justify Its warp trade and showing Its lack of human development.~ Q

Pope carries cross at Good Friday ceremony in Rome

ROME (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI told pilgrims they could not remain neutral when faced with the evils of the world, after leading Catholics in the traditional Good Friday torchlit ceremony at Rome's Colosseum, commemorating the crucifixion of Christ.

Watched by thousands of pilgrims packed around the ancient Roman amphitheatre, the 78-year-old pope carried a wooden cross at the first and last of the 14 "stations" which for Christians recall Christ's last journey to his crucifixion.

Benedict, wearing a red cape and flanked by a giant flaming cross, said they could not remain "neutral" when faced with the evils of the world -- "the suffering of abused and abandoned children," the threat against the traditional family, the "divisions" in the world and gap between rich and poor.

His five-minute address came at the end of a grim ceremony on the most solemn day of the Christian calendar, during which he had listened as actors read out a meditation on Christ's suffering, prepared by Archbishop Angelo Comastri, the vicar general for the Vatican City.

"Lord we have lost our sense of sin," it said.

"Today a slick campaign of propaganda is spreading an inane apologia of evil, a senseless cult of Satan, a mindless desire for transgression, a dishonest and frivolous freedom, exalting impulsiveness, immorality and selfishness as if they were new heights of sophistication."

"Lord Jesus, open our eyes, let us see the filth around us for what it is."

During the late-night ceremony Friday, the cross was carried in turn around the ancient Roman amphitheatre by an Italian family, an American seminarist, a young nun, two Franciscan monks from the Holy Land, and young people from Nigeria, Angola, Korea and Mexico in an effort to reflect the universality of the Church.

The pope himself, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, had prepared the meditations for last year's ceremony, which a dying Pope John Paul II watched on television in his private chapel at the Vatican. He died a week later.

On Thursday, Benedict began four days of commemorations to mark the Holy Week of Easter, presiding over mass commemorating the Last Supper and the traditional washing of the feet.

On Holy Saturday, the pope will preside over an Easter vigil mass in St Peter's Basilica in which thousands of pilgrims will hold candles and renew their baptismal vows.

Benedict will turn 79 on Easter Sunday, when Christians celebrate Christ's Resurrection.

The pontiff will deliver the traditional "Urbi et Orbi" Easter message from the central loggia of St Peter's Basilica, where he first appeared as pope following his election on April 19 last year.

Last year, celebrations were overshadowed by John Paul II's rapidly deteriorating condition. He could barely speak when he greeted pilgrims massed in Saint Peter's square on Easter Sunday, and the Easter message was delivered by a cardinal.

This Post's Link

Papal preacher blasts Da Vinci Code, Judas gospel

Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A Vatican official on Friday railed against "The Da Vinci Code," branding the book and its upcoming film version as just more examples of Jesus being sold out by a wave of what he called "pseudo-historic" art.

The official, preaching in the presence of Pope Benedict, also condemned the so-called "Gospel of Judas," an alternative view to traditional Christian teaching which has received wide media attention recently.

Father Raniero Cantalamessa, whose official title is "Preacher of the Papal Household," made his comments in a sermon during a "Passion of the Lord" service in St Peter's Basilica commemorating Christ's death.

In his sermon, Cantalamessa made several scathing references to The Da Vinci Code, without specifically mentioning the name of the worldwide bestseller.

He said that people today were fascinated by "every new theory according to which he (Christ) was not crucified and did not die ... but ran off with Mary Magdalene"

The novel is an international murder mystery centred on attempts to uncover a secret about the life of Christ that a clandestine society has tried to protect for centuries.

The central tenet of the book is that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children. Christians are taught that Jesus never married, was crucified and rose from the dead.

Cantalamessa then turned his ire to the film version of "The Da Vinci Code" starring Tom Hanks, which is due to be released next month.

"No one will be able to stop this wave of speculation, which will see a sharp increase with the imminent release of a certain film," he said.

Cantalamessa several times dismissed "The Gospel of Judas," which claims that it was Christ himself who asked Judas to betray him. The Gospel of Judas received wide attention recently in media stories about the discovery of a 1,700-year-old copy.

The so-called Gospel of Judas was already declared a heresy by the early Church about two centuries after Christ died.

The Passion of the Lord service was the first of two events in which the 78-year-old German Pope, approaching the first Easter of his reign, was commemorating the crucifixion of death of Christ on Good Friday.

His predecessor John Paul was in his dying days for all of last year's Easter season and was only able to make brief appearances in the week between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday.

John Paul died on April 2, a week after Easter.

On Friday night the Pope was leading a Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession around the ancient ruins of Rome's Colosseum.

He says an Easter Eve mass on Saturday night and on Sunday will deliver an "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) blessing and message.

This Post's Link



Pseudo-Historic or Pseudo-Hysteric, either way it’s just another fancy label for a Lie. ~ Q

Pope Calls Judas Double-Crosser in Homily

DANIELA PETROFF,
Associated Press Writer
Thu Apr 13, 6:03 PM ET

ROME - Pope Benedict XVI Thursday recounted the Biblical betrayal of Jesus by Judas, calling the apostle a double-crosser for whom "money was more important than communion with Jesus, more important than God and his love."

Benedict's traditional depiction of Judas came during his Holy Thursday homily, a week after the release of an ancient Egyptian Coptic text dubbed the "Gospel of Judas," in which Judas is portrayed not as Jesus' betrayer but as his confidant who was doing his will by handing him over to his enemies to be crucified.

Holy Thursday marks the start of a series of solemn ceremonies in the Catholic Church in which the faithful relive Jesus' suffering, crucifixion and death — and then his resurrection on Easter Sunday.

During the service, the holy father humbly washed the feet of 12 men, re-enacting Jesus' washing of his apostles' feet during the Last Supper and saying the act cleansed the "filth" of mankind.

As a choir's hymn filled St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome, Benedict poured water from a golden vase over each of the men's feet and scrubbed each one dry in an act of humility and service.

In his homily, Benedict said Jesus washed his disciples' feet to purify them so they could join him at the Last Supper, the meal which the faithful believe Jesus shared with his apostles before he was betrayed by his apostle Judas and crucified.

"God comes down and becomes a slave; he washes our feet so we can be at his table," Benedict said. "The bath in which he washes us is his love, ready to confront death. Only love has the purifying force that takes away our filth and elevates us to God."

Earlier, Benedict presided over another Mass dedicated to priests during which he recalled the sacrifice of a cleric slain in Turkey.

Benedict read a letter written by Rev. Andrea Santoro in which the Italian prelate spoke of his willingness to offer his own body for the sake of preaching Catholicism in largely Muslim Turkey.

Santoro, 60, was shot and killed Feb. 5 while he prayed in his parish in the Black Sea city of Trabzon. Witnesses said the killer, a 16-year-old boy, screamed "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for "God is great," before firing two bullets into Santoro's back.

Benedict quoted Santoro as saying in his letter that he had chosen to live in Turkey to be among its people, "lending" his body to Christ to do so.

"One becomes capable of salvation only by offering one's own body," Santoro wrote.

Santoro's slaying occurred at the height of unrest in the Muslim world over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in Europe. Top church officials have called Santoro a martyr.

The Vatican announced earlier this month that money collected during the Holy Thursday Mass would be used to rebuild houses for victims of a February mudslide in the Philippines that buried the town of Guinsaugon and killed more than 1,000 people.

This Post's Link



You Go! Benedict. ~ Q

Critics who want cardinal to quit plan Good Friday cathedral vigil

Manya A. Brachear
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 13, 2006

Robert Costello recalls how his mother used to draw the window shades in the afternoon hours of Good Friday so the family could contemplate Jesus Christ's suffering during the hours Christ hung on the cross.

This year Costello is coming to Chicago from his home in Norwood, Mass., to hold a vigil Friday outside Holy Name Cathedral and ponder the pain of children allegedly abused by Rev. Daniel McCormack, a Chicago priest.

Costello and other Catholics from Massachusetts, Indiana, Kentucky and New York also will petition peacefully for Cardinal Francis George to resign as head of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

McCormack, 37, served in several churches despite allegations of sexual misconduct dating back to his time in the seminary. Prosecutors have charged the priest with sexually abusing three boys at his West Side parish.

Subsequent audits commissioned by George revealed more than 30 missteps and oversights in the handling of the McCormack case that put children at risk.

"[The cardinal's] treatment of this whole thing is just unacceptable," Costello said. "He helped write the Dallas charter and the norms, and he knew better."

But calls for his resignation have not been widespread. Since McCormack's arrest, four groups have asked George to step down, three in Illinois.

Last month, the Chicago-based Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests demanded George's resignation.

Earlier this week, Chicago-based Call to Action, a liberal reform group, pressed George to resign or use his influence to push other bishops to comply with church guidelines for handling abuse allegations. And on Wednesday, a conservative group called Roman Catholic Faithful based in Petersburg, Ill., called for him to step down.

Boston-based Voice of the Faithful asked that George resign as vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Voice of the Faithful chapters in other states such as New York and Connecticut also have called for him to resign.

Voice of the Faithful members in Chicago have so far resisted, a move that has drawn fire from church reform advocates.

But unlike the crisis that erupted in Boston in 2002, there is no national or local consensus. The largest group to sound the alarm is Call to Action, which claims 25,000 members. Experts say that matters little in an archdiocese of 2.4 million.

The anger directed at George is not comparable to the outrage that engulfed Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law in 2002, said Steve Krueger, founding president of Voice of the Faithful.

"No one feels comfortable at all in calling for the resignation of a bishop," Krueger said. "At the same time, we've had over 10,000 children abused and over 4,000 priests identified, but only one bishop has been held accountable so far."

Colleen Dolan, communications director for the Chicago archdiocese, said the Good Friday vigil on the day Catholics commemorate Christ's death is bad timing.

"To be disruptive, even silently disruptive, is disrespectful," she said. The cardinal "cannot change the past. He can change the future."

----------

mbrachear@tribune.com

This Link Post's

In his first year as pope, Benedict impresses

Kevin Canessa Jr.
The Observer
April 12, 2006

KEARNY — Believe it or not, it’s been a year since Catholics around the world lost one of their most revered leaders, Pope John Paul II. His successor, Joseph Ratzinger, of Germany, now Pope Benedict XVI, has had a whirlwind of a first year as the supreme pontiff. From continuing to deal with the fall out from the sexual abuse scandals involving numerous Catholic priests, to his edict that gay men should not be allowed to study for the priesthood.

So just how did the pope do in his first year? The Rev. James J. Reilly, pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church, says Benedict has surprised people in his first year as pontiff with his slick pastoral nature — something most people thought the arch-conservative would be unable to achieve.

“The present Pope Benedict, the former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger is and was in many ways a surprise choice to become the pope,” Reilly said. “On one hand, there he was a year ago as the Dean of the College of Cardinals, leading the funeral for John Paul the Great, leading the conclave, so you might think he was the natural fit to be the pope.

“But then there’s the other side where he’s an older man. Personally, I don’t think he ever thought he’d be the pope.”

But he became the pope. And he’s been impressive thus far, Reilly says.

“Not only has he been great thus far, I think he’s going to continue to surprise us,” he said. “One thing’s for certain — he’s going to look to continue John Paul the Great’s agenda.”

One area where Reilly sees this is in ecumenism. John Paul II was deeply committed to improving relations with Eastern Orthodox churches. Reilly believes the current pope, who continues inter-religious dialogues with broken-off churches, might actually be the pontiff who brings Christian Churches throughout the world back together — and for good.

“He’s so wonderfully aggressive. I think he could do it,” Reilly said.

One other area Reilly thinks Benedict flourished in the last year was in dealing with young people. In August, Benedict was in his native Germany, in Cologne, for World Youth Day — something his predecessor began nearly 20 years ago. Benedict, Reilly says, reached out to young people much like John Paul did. Surprising, yet again, to many who thought he couldn’t do it.

“It was amazing what he was able to do with the young people,” he said. “Much like (Pope) John XXIII, I think he’ll continue to surprise more than people think.”

Calls to the Rev. Richard Cabezas, pastor of St. Stephen’s Church, and the Rev. Michael G. Ward, pastor of St. Cecilia’s, were not immediately returned.

Observer Editor Kevin Canessa Jr. can be reached at kcanessa@theobserver.com .

This Post's Link

Chinese official says no compromises in talks with Vatican

First posted 11:21pm (Mla time) April 12, 2006
Associated Press

HANGZHOU, China -- China will make no compromises in talks with the Vatican on re-establishing formal ties that were cut off more than five decades ago after the communist revolution, a top Chinese official for religious affairs said Wednesday.
Qi Xiaofei wouldn't comment on the nature of contacts between the sides, but dismissed speculation that Beijing was willing to ease some of its demands.

"There is no issue of a relaxation," said Qi, who is vice-director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs.

Qi said Beijing still maintains that no nation should interfere in its internal affairs, or "create two Chinas" -- a reference to Beijing's demand that the Vatican cut ties with Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims as part of its territory.

Asked whether China-Vatican ties were possible by 2008 as suggested recently by Hong Kong's newly appointed Cardinal, Joseph Zen, he said he had "no answer, no schedule."

Zen's wishes "were his own matter," Qi said.

Both Zen and the director of China's Religious Affairs Administration, Ye Xiaowen, have recently suggested that talks on ties have entered a more substantive phase.

However, strong disagreements remain over Beijing's insistence that only it be permitted to appoint bishops.

Zen is the highest ranking priest in Hong Kong, which reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 but retains its own legal and social systems, including freedom from the tight restrictions on religious observance enforced within mainland China.

Since Beijing cut formal ties with the Vatican in 1951, the Communist government has only allowed the faithful to worship in churches run by the state-sanctioned Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association. Millions, however, flout that requirement by belonging to groups loyal to the Vatican.

Zen said one of the Vatican's conditions for re-establishing relations was that there must be religious freedom in China. But he said the Vatican wasn't insisting on absolute religious freedom.

This Post's Link

Pope Honors Priest Shot to Death in Turkey

NICOLE WINFIELD

Associated Press Writer
Thu Apr 13, 10:15 AM ET

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI recalled the sacrifice of a cleric slain in Turkey as the pontiff on Thursday celebrated a Holy Week Mass dedicated to priests.

In his homily, Benedict read a letter written by the Rev. Andrea Santoro in which the Italian prelate spoke of his willingness to offer his own body for the sake of preaching Catholicism in largely Muslim Turkey.

Santoro, 60, was shot and killed Feb. 5 while he prayed in his parish in the Black Sea city of Trabzon. Witnesses said the killer, a 16-year-old boy, screamed "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for "God is great," before firing two bullets into Santoro's back.

Benedict quoted Santoro as saying in his letter that he had chosen to live in Turkey to be among its people, "lending" his body to Christ to do so.

"One becomes capable of salvation only by offering one's own body," Santoro wrote.

Santoro's slaying occurred at the height of unrest in the Muslim world over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in Europe. Top church officials have called Santoro a martyr.

Benedict's homily came during a Mass dedicated to priests who during Holy Week recall the promises they made when they were ordained. The Mass, celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica, came hours before another service in which Benedict was to wash the feet of 12 men to commemorate Jesus' Last Supper with his 12 apostles.

Pope John Paul II traditionally wrote a separate letter to priests that coincided with the Holy Thursday Mass, addressing subjects such as celibacy. Benedict didn't follow that tradition, but he used his homily to remind priests of their promises to serve God.

He referred to the rites of ordination in which a bishop lays his hands on the priest, as well as the oil used in the sacrament to anoint the priests' hands. During Thursday's Mass, huge silver vats of oil were blessed.

"Let us put our hands today again at (God's) disposition and pray that he takes our hands to guide us," Benedict said. "Let his hand take ours so we won't sink, but will serve life which is stronger than death, and love which is stronger than hatred."

Holy Thursday and Good Friday services, in which Benedict will preside over the re-enactment of Jesus' suffering, crucifixion and death, are among the most solemn on the church calendar, and come in advance of Easter Sunday, when the faithful celebrate Christ's resurrection from the dead.

In Britain, Queen Elizabeth II distributed specially minted silver coins to 160 senior citizens Thursday in a centuries-old Holy Week ceremony derived from Jesus' washing of his disciples' feet.

English monarchs commemorated the foot-washing on the Thursday before Easter from at least the 13th century. The rite grew to elaborate proportions under the Tudor monarchs, who distributed fish, bread, wine, shoes and stockings and pennies.

No timetable for establishing Sino-Vatican diplomatic relations: official

China has no timetable for establishing Sino-Vatican diplomatic relations, said a senior Chinese official in charge of religious culture communication on Wednesday, refuting rumors that the two sides plan to enter such relations before 2008.

Qi Xiaofei, vice president of China's Religious Culture Communication Association made the remarks when answering the question at a press conference on the First World Buddhist Forum, which is scheduled to be held between April 13-16 in Hangzhou and Zhoushan of East China's Zhejiang Province.

The official, also deputy director of the State Administration of Religious Affairs of China, said that China has definite principles on promoting normal relations with Vatican that no one is allowed to interfere in China's internal affairs or try to create "two Chinas".

During an interview with Xinhua, he urged Vatican to take concrete action by showing sincerity to improve Sino-Vatican relations

"We have two clear and consistent principles on handling Sino-Vatican relations. Vatican must sever the so-called 'diplomatic relations' with Taiwan and recognize the Chinese government as the sole legitimate government of China and not interfere in our internal affairs in the name of religion," he reiterated.

Source: Xinhua

This Post's Link

Pope marks beginning of Easter festivities, first of his pontificate

ROME (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI began Easter celebrations, the first of his pontificate, commemorating the Last Supper and the traditional washing of the feet at a mass in Rome's St John in Lateran basilica.

"What makes man ignoble is the rejection of love, the refusal to be loved and to love," he said in his homily at the Holy Thursday mass attended by thousands of pilgrims. "Only love has the purifying power that removes our filth and raises us to the level of God."

The pope's reenactment of Jesus Christ's washing of the feet of his 12 disciples according to the Gospels broke from tradition. Benedict chose to perform the ceremony on 12 laymen instead of priests to underscore the importance he places on the role of the laity in the Roman Catholic Church.

The pope, whose pontificate began on April 19 last year, will mark the 12 Stations of the Cross at Rome's Colosseum on Good Friday -- a procession his predecessor John Paul II had been unable to perform in his declining years -- and deliver the traditional "Urbi et Orbi" Easter message from the balcony of Saint Peter's basilica at the Vatican.

Christians around the world mark Easter, the most important event in their religious calendar, as the day of Jesus Christ's resurrection.

Last year, celebrations were overshadowed by John Paul II's rapidly deteriorating condition. He could barely speak when he greeted pilgrims massed in Saint Peter's square on Easter Sunday, and the Easter message was delivered by a cardinal.

John Paul II died six days later, on April 2.

Pope Benedict had earlier Thursday celebrated mass at the Vatican with priests from the Rome diocese, of which he is bishop, when he commemorated slain missionary Andrea Santoro, who was murdered in a Catholic church in Turkey in February.

The pope will turn 79 on Easter Sunday.

This Post's Link

TV special plants Judas kiss on Catholic Church

By Lito B. Zulueta
Inquirer

Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the Apr. 12, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer


THE CATHOLIC Church has not hidden from Christians the existence of the Gospel of Judas and other Gnostic writings. But scholars and certain sectors of the media have tended to use the controversial writings to forward their own agendas and discredit the Church, a Catholic biblical scholar has warned.

"There may be malice involved," said Spanish Dominican Fr. Angel Aparicio of the University of Santo Tomas. "They may be scholars, but they have their own agendas. I am so surprised the National Geographic is promoting this (Gospel of Judas)."

Aparicio was referring to the National Geographic Society special aired on Palm Sunday that reported on the discovery of the so-called Gospel of Judas, an archeological find that non-Catholic biblical scholars such as Elaine Pagels, who was interviewed in the special, said should confirm the attempts of the early Church fathers to marginalize other Christian groups in a bid to establish the institutional Church.

"Elaine Pagels is a genuine scholar but she's biased for feminism," said Aparicio, who trained at the renowned Ecole Biblique et Archeologie in Jerusalem.

"Scholars like her promote a critique of the Church as monolithic and patriarchal. They want pluralism, but Christianity cannot just be any which way you want it to be."

Aparicio said the Gospel of Judas and other Gnostic writings such as the supposed Gospel of Mary Magdalene were excluded from the final canon of the New Testament not because the Catholic Church was trying to silence other Christian groups, but because their authenticity and fidelity to the teachings of Christ were suspect right from the start.

"There are guidelines for canonicity," Aparicio said.

"They included apostolicity or paternity from the apostles; that the books should be promoted by the big churches and big communities; they should be universally accepted, and they should be consistent with doctrine."

Filling gaps

He said none of the Gnostic writings and "apocrypha," lost or hidden books purporting to show the hidden life of Christ or fill in certain gaps in his life, fulfills the criteria.

Aparicio, who handles a course on the Synoptic gospels at the UST Ecclesiastical Faculties, explained that canonization, in which the Church selected the books that would comprise the New Testament, or the scriptures of divine revelation, was a long drawn-out process. Across the centuries, the Gnostic gospels and the apocryphal writings were consistently rejected as incompatible with Christianity, he said.

Knowledge as salvation

He said the questionable writings emerged because of "the need of ordinary Christians to know certain unknown details about Jesus, such as his youth," and also because some "heteredox Christians wanted to justify their beliefs."

Aparicio explained that Gnosticism was not compatible with the Christian faith because it promoted self-knowledge (gnosis is the Greek word for knowledge) as the sole basis of salvation. "Even St. Paul in his Letter to the Corinthians was already critical in his time of certain Gnostic tendencies which were inimical to the Gospel. To the Catholic Church, salvation involves both knowledge and practice."

He said knowledge as salvation is in fact promoted by the Gospel of Judas, in which Judas Iscariot, the apostle whom the Bible said betrayed Christ to his persecutors and killers, is portrayed as divinely appointed to do so by Christ himself in order to fulfill the design of salvation.

In the National Geographic special, a dramatization of the Judas codex has Jesus telling Judas in confidence that his star would shine the brightest for turning over Christ to his death.

What TV special didn't say

What the TV special does not say, according to Aparicio, is that the Gospel of Judas was promoted by the "Cainites," an ancient Christian sect that defended the role of Cain in the design of salvation.

Cain, in the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, was the first son of Adam and Eve after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. In a fit of sibling jealousy, Cain slew his younger brother, Abel, in what the Bible says was the first murder committed by mankind.

"Judas Iscariot was considered a saint by the Cainites," Aparicio said.

The Gospel of Judas and the sect of Cain, therefore, were guilty of "determinism," for showing that Judas's betrayal and Cain's murder had been predestined as part of the design of salvation, Aparicio said.

Excuses Judas

In effect, the Gospel of Judas excuses Judas for his act of betrayal because it had been determined from early on, the Dominican scholar said, "contrary to what the Church teaches that man has free will."

In contrast, the other apostles, whom Christ had predicted would abandon him, "prevaricated" and in fact left him, but repented later on.

"They did not fall for determinism or predestination," Aparicio said. "They acknowledged their failings."

Request for balance

Because the Gnostic gospels contain dangerous implications for Christianity, Aparicio called on the National Geographic and the popular media to be accurate, objective and balanced in their presentation of the controversial texts.

In the special, a member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission was quoted only toward the end of the two-hour presentation as saying that the books of the New Testament should be accepted by Christians as a matter of faith.

This Post's Link