Nov 2013 - five - abbey

32. Pope urges Christians to be visible signs of God’s mercy

Christians need to make visible to the people of today the mercy of God and his tenderness for every creature. ''We all know that humanity’s crisis today is not something superficial but runs deep. For this reason the new evangelization, while calling on all to have the courage of going against the current, of converting oneself from idols to the One True God, cannot but use the language of mercy, using gestures and attitudes even before words,” the Pope told some 50 participants on Monday October 14, attending the plenary assembly of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization.
“The Church in the midst of humanity of today,” the Pope said “says: ‘Come to Jesus’, all you who thirst, tired and oppressed and you will find solace for your souls.” “Come to Jesus; He alone has the world of eternal life,” the Pope said. A Christian who has experienced the joy of meeting Christ, like the Samaritan woman at the well, cannot but share it with others and bring them to Him. And every Christian should to go out to others as all have the right to the hope of life and the love of God. In this one should not distract oneself with secondary and superfluous things, but must concentrate on the basics, which is encounter with Christ, his mercy, love and reciprocal love.

In this regard, Pope Francis underscored the importance of catechesis, expressing appreciation for the impetus toward renewal given by Pope Paul VI’s 1975 Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii Nuntiandi” which tried to overcome the rupture between the Gospel, culture and illiteracy with regard to faith. The Pope regretted that as he pastor came across children who didn’t even know know the Sign of the Cross. In this regard he underscored the service rendered by catechists and parents.

33. Vatican warns against touts, agents selling tickets for papal events

The Vatican is warning the faithful and visitors against touts and agencies selling tickets which are free for papal events saying the canonization ceremony for the sainthood of Blesseds John XXIII and John Paul II on April 27, 2014, is entry-free without ticket. In a brief note on Saturday, October 12, the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household said that participation in the ceremony will be open to all those who can find a place in Rome’s St. Peter’s Square and in the adjoining Pius XII Square and the broad Via della Conciliazione avenue. “As on other occasions, faithful are asked to watch out against touts, agencies and tour operators selling or asking money for tickets,” the Prefecture said. It also reminded all that tickets for audiences and celebrations by the Holy Father are absolutely free.


34. Pope’s condolence for family of woman who died at childbirth

Pope Francis has expressed his fatherly closeness with an Italian man who lost his wife following a Caesarean section, Italian news agency Ansa reported October 07. In a letter sent on the Pope’s behalf, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone expressed the Pope’s pain and condolence to the family of Regiane, a 27-year old Brazilian woman, married to an Italian from Lavello. The woman died Sept. 3 following complications after a Caesarean section, giving birth to a baby girl. The husband wrote to the Pope narrating the story of his loss. Besides responding to the letter, the Secretary of State also sent a wooden rosary blessed by the Holy Father.

35. Vatican’s 100 meters sprint for faith

A sporting event took place in the Vatican on Sunday, 20 October, to help focus on the educational, cultural and spiritual values associated with sports. Some 5000 participants in the so-called “100 meter sprint for faith’, which was in the form of a relay race, included families, seminaries and schools along with numerous pilgrims. The initiative was organized by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture and the Italian Sports Center, as an event of the current Year of Faith.
The Pontifical Council for Culture explained that the continual passing of the baton in the event, reminds of how Christian life is, in the image described by St. Paul in his Letter to the Corinthians. It is a sort of ideal relay race in which faith is transmitted from generation to generation, and in which the Christian competes in order to win “an incorruptible crown”. Also, within the context of the Year of Faith, it is intended to emphasize the importance of sport as a cultural asset of education and spiritual value, and to draw the attention of different components of the Catholic world to the formative role that sport may assume in Christian catechesis.
“Sport needs healing from its degenerations, so that it becomes again a meaningful cultural phenomenon and reference point for the youth, making the most of the creative spirit of the human person” said Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Council. A variety of sports personalities will offer their witnesses, and at noon participants will join Pope Francis in his weekly ‘Angelus’ prayer and blessing. Sunday’s sporting event will be followed by a seminar on Monday on the theme, “Believers in the World of Sports”. It will analyze the relationship between sport and faith, and will be attended by heads of professional sports and Catholic sporting associations. The seminar will focus on how sport can reveal man to himself, on the value of the human body, with particular reference to disability, and on the value of sport in openness to the absolute.

36. St Peter's Cricket Club launched at Pontifical Council for Culture

A press conference took place in the Vatican on Tuesday, October 22, to announce the official launch of St Peter’s Cricket Club, an initiative being jointly spearheaded by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Australian embassy to the Holy See.
Traditional tea and cucumber sandwiches were served at the launch of the new St Peter’s Cricket Club, which ambitiously aims to bring one of the world’s most popular sports to the heart of the Eternal City. Board members include Indian, British, Irish and Australian priests, plus the Sri Lankan captain of the first Italian national team, currently ranked at number 23 in the world, proving that it’s not just in the English speaking world that the cricket craze can be found.
Beginning with the organization of an inter-college tournament for priests and seminarians here in Rome, the Club hopes by next year to field a high standard ‘Vatican’ team that could play internationally, while promoting ecumenical and interfaith exchanges. The driving force behind this initiative is the Australia’s ambassador to the Holy See, John McCarthy.
"It is hoped that there will be a team of sufficient level, in the next year (that) could play a team nominated by Church of England.....anything that properly builds interfaith and intercultural relations, understanding and exchange, the Commonwealth of Australia sees as an important part of our diplomacy"
The new cricket club comes under the patronage of the Pontifical Council for Culture, in particular its sports department headed by Spanish Msgr Mechor Sanchez de Toca. "There is no doubt that sports have an important place in millions of peoples' daily lives.....so this phenomenon deserved our particular study.... sports are a powerful means to convey values, attitudes, a moral and ethical message"
Members of the new club are expected to play in the yellow and white Vatican colours with the keys of St Peter as their emblem. Numerous bishops and cardinals across the cricket world have already given their enthusiastic support to the project, seen as a way of furthering a vital team spirit among young men training for the priesthood. Perhaps the popular expression, ‘the Vatican thinks in centuries’ will suddenly take on a whole new meaning as St Peter’s batmen stride out to play.


37. Vatican City State receives elevated Standard Ethics Rating
The Standard Ethics independent rating agency has announced it has elevated the Standard Ethics Rating (SER) attributed to Vatican City State from “EE-” to “EE.” The Standard Ethics Rating is a benchmarking tool on sustainability, social responsibility, governance and environment.
The sustainability ratings issued by Standard Ethics are the result of statistical and scientific work carried out to take a snapshot of the economic world in relation to ethical principles promoted by large international organisations. In a note, Standard Ethics reported that since it was given a “positive outlook” last July, Vatican City State has successfully met international requests to provide greater financial and accounts transparency of its financial institutions.
The note clarifies that significant steps were taken against money laundering, illicit financial transactions and financing of terrorism, in great part due to the Vatican’s gradual adherence to criteria laid out by the Financial Action Task Force (Groupe d’action financière FATF-GAFI) and adoption of recommendations from the Moneyval Division of the Council of Europe.
Furthermore, Standard Ethics reports that the most significant step forward was provided with the approval by the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State of Legislation n. XVIII of October 8, 2013. This law provides for a stable body governing transparency, supervision and financial information. The new law follows the constitution a few years ago of the Authority for Financial Information (AIF). Further elements of transparency, the communique reports, are the publication of the Annual Report on Financial Activity, and the AIF’s Year 1- 2012 publication of the annual report on the website of the Vatican Bank (Istituto per le Opere Religiose IOR) on October 1, 2013.


38. Vatican analyst warns of global 'war' against Christians

In his new book “The Global War on Christians,” Vatican analyst John Allen, Jr. details anti-Christian abuse worldwide, drawing light to the tremendous scale of violence against the world’s most persecuted religion. “I don't think it takes any religious convictions or confessional interests at all to see that defense of persecuted Christians deserves to be the world’s number one human rights priority,” Allen, a noted Vatican journalist and author, told CNA in an Oct. 2 interview.
“You didn't have to be Jewish in the '70s to be worried about dissident Jews in the Soviet Union; you didn't have to be black in the '80s to be concerned about apartheid in South Africa; and you equally don't have to be Christian today to recognize that Christians are the most persecuted religious body on the planet.”
Allen's work, published Tuesday, October 1, by Image Books, arises directly from a conversation he had with Cardinal Dolan in 2009, in which the prelate made the point that Christians “need to do a better job of telling these stories” of Christian persecution, like the body of “Holocaust literature” showed the suffering of Jews under Hitler. However, Allen became interested in the subject of anti-Christian persecution while traveling to Ukraine for Pope John Paul II's 2001 trip there. At that time, Allen met the granddaughter of an Eastern Catholic priest who had been killed in a gulag during the Soviet era.

“That conversation brought home that martyrdom is very much a feature of the contemporary Christian landscape.”Prior to that, he said, “like a lot of Catholics … when I thought of martyrdom, I considered it an artifact of the early centuries of the Church, the early Christian martyrs under Nero and Diocletian.” “The more I would travel the world and meet victims of anti-Christian persecution in various places, the more the scale and scope of this thing came home to me.”
Allen notes that throughout the first decade of the 21st century, 100,000 Christians were killed per year – 11 new martyrs every hour – and secular human rights groups estimate that 80 percent of religious freedom violations are current directed against Christians. Despite these massive figures, the worldwide persecution of Christians is little known in the U.S., and Allen said the first purpose of his book is “to end the silence about anti-Christian persecution … to put it on the map.”

Highlighting that “this is a literal war against Christians on a global scale,” involving direct physical violence, harassment, and imprisonment, Allen works in the book to chronicle persecution against Christians in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and eastern Europe.Having done that, Allen then clarified several myths about Christian persecution, such as the claims that no one saw the persecution coming; the issue is solely a political one; and “it's all about Islam.”
While acknowledging that “we can't be naïve” about the fact that quite “a fair share of Christian suffering around the world” is related to radical forms of Islam, Allen said that “it does an injustice to Christian victims of persecution … as a result of other forces, to leave them out of the picture simply because their oppressors aren't Muslims.” He noted that recently, “the most violent anti-Christian pogrom anywhere was in India,” and at the hands of radical Hindus. “I don't think it's fair to those Indian victims to forget them simply because they don't have the politically appropriate enemy.”
Allen chose to distinguish between the physically violent persecution of Christians around the world –including churches being blown up in Pakistan or tens of thousands of Christians languishing in concentration camps in North Korea – and the “separate, but related” issue of a secularist movement in the Western world which discourages the expression of all religions. He hopes that his book will help broaden the view of many people in the United States, to see that “there are real lethal threats to religious freedom out there that need our attention, too.”

The second major purpose of the book, Allen explained, is “to galvanize people, Christians particularly, to take action. I don't want people just to be aware of (Christian persecution), I want them to do something about it.” While many Americans learning of Christian persecution in far-off places might feel powerless to stop it, or even to assist its victims, Allen uses the final part of his book to explain the consequences and responses appropriate to the issue.
Some of the response can be “broad policy” of the government, “big picture level” decisions: giving preference to victims of anti-Christian violence in refugee resettlement policy, and paying attention to the voices of Syrians saying that to seek regime change in their country would be quite harmful to them, he said. “But there are things that people can do on a smaller scale, without waiting to live in a different world,” he added. In particular, Allen suggested donating to the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, which provides “basic food and medical care to Christian refugees from Syria.”
A “feasible financial contribution” for a middle-class American can do much to help Christians who have fled Syria, he said, “and it's a direct way of saving the lives of Christians who are today the world's most persecuted religious body.” “There are ways in which individuals can effect change,” he concluded. “So don’t feel powerless, don't feel that this is a tragedy we can do nothing about, because there are steps we can take.”


39. Pope urges Vatican television to bring Church close to people

Pope Francis on Friday October 18, sent a message to the Vatican Television Centre (CTV) on the occasion of its 30th anniversary, urging it to bring the Church to the people saying an encounter with the Lord Jesus can transform the heart and history of man. The main services of the Vatican Television Center, created in 1983, are broadcasts, production, archiving, and daily assistance to other broadcasters of papal and Vatican events.
In his message, the Pope recalled “Inter Mirifica”, the Second Vatican Council decree on social communications, saying like salt and light that enriches and illumines the world, the media carry the light of Jesus Christ and contribute to the progress of humanity. Recalling Pope Benedict XVI’s exhortation to CTV he said “you relay relevant news quickly on the life and teaching of the Church in today's world, at the service of the dignity of the human person, justice, dialogue and peace.” “Hence don’t forget that yours is an ecclesial service, within the evangelizing mission of the Church.” He reminded the staff of the Vatican Television Centre that in presenting events their outlook should never be worldly but ecclesial. He said special responsibility and strong capacity are need to read realities in a spiritual light.

Church events, as different from political or economic events, have a special feature that does not readily correspond to the “worldly” categories that we are used to, and so it is not easy to interpret and communicate them to a wider and more varied public. The Church is certainly a human and historical institution with all that that entails, yet her nature is not essentially political but spiritual. The Pope thanked the CTV staff for their capacity to forge relations with different realities of the entire world, in order to build bridges, overcoming walls and chasms, carrying the light of the Gospel. This requires oneness of mind and effort. Convergence rather than competition is the strategy of the Catholic Church’s media initiatives.
Finally the Pope urged CTV to avoid being purely documental, of indifferent events, but to help in bringing the Church close to the world, closing gaps and helping the Word of God reach millions of Catholics, also in places where they profess their faith in challenging situations.

40. Vatican warns of pollution in Sistine Chapel

The head of the Vatican Museums has warned he will be forced to limit the number of visitors to the Sistine Chapel if its new air conditioning and air purification systems don't significantly reduce pollution levels. Antonio Paolucci told a conference on Thursday, October 17, that he was confident the new system, which is expected to be operational at the end of 2014, would curb the dust, humidity and carbon dioxide that are dulling Michelangelo's frescoed masterpiece. But if the new system doesn't work, he says he would be forced to impose the ``painful'' solution of limiting visitors. Some 5.5 million people are expected to visit the Vatican Museums this year. During high season some 20,000 people a day enter the Sistine Chapel, which was last restored in the 1990s.

41. Pope Francis receives Aung San Suu Kyi in the Vatican

Pope Francis on Monday October 28, received Burmese Nobel Peace Laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi in the Vatican, offering his support to her commitment towards democracy. The Burmese opposition leader, a former political prisoner in her country, is currently on a visit to Europe and on Sunday was made an honorary citizen of Rome.

After the private meeting between Aung San Suu Kyi and Pope Francis, Vatican press office director, Father Federico Lombardi briefed journalists and described what he called “a great feeling of harmony and accord” between the Pope and this “symbolic figure of the Asian world”.
The themes touched upon during their cordial exchange included the culture of encounter and inter-religious dialogue. During the meeting, Pope Francis expressed his appreciation for Aung San Suu Kyi’s commitment towards democracy in her country, and assured her of the Church’s support towards this cause. But he specified that no kind of discrimination is expressed by the Church which is at the service of all with its charitable works. Father Lombardi also recalled the Pope’s attention towards the Asian continent and his desire to visit it.
Suu Kyi has become an international symbol of peaceful resistance in the face of oppression. She has spent most of the last two decades in some form of detention because of her efforts to bring democracy to military-ruled Burma. She was re-elected to parliament in 2012.Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 and earlier was awarded the Rafto Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1990.

43. Bishop appointed for Diocese of Allahabad

On Thursday, October 17, the Holy Father appointed Bishop Raphy Manjaly, Bishop of Varanasi as the Bishop for the Diocese of Allahabad in India. Bishop Raphy Manjaly has served the Varanasi Diocese as bishop from April, 2007. Allahabad Diocese is considered to be one of the largest Dioceses in the world and comprises of 12 civil districts of the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.



44. Pakistan bishop says attacks on Christians fuelled by politics

Amid recent violence against Christians in Pakistan, a leading bishop says that the attacks are deeply rooted in the political situation of the country and how it relates to both the West and surrounding areas. Bishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi interprets the terrorist bombing in late September of a Christian church in Peshawar which killed nearly 100 people as a retaliative move against the U.S. military.
The group that claimed responsibility for the attack, he said, stated that it was done because “the Americans are using Drone attacks,” and “unless the Americans stop the Drone attacks” they “will continue to attack more churches.”
“This threat is not coming from just any group,” the bishop told CNA in an Oct. 11 interview. “It’s coming from a very powerful extremist group that has already been causing problems and is causing problems to our government.” The group has also attacked both military bases as well as the police, he said, and is “strong enough to challenge the government. They are a threat to the whole of society, not just the Christians.” Bishop Coutts explained that the number of Christians in the country, including both Catholics and Protestants, total about “2.5 percent of the population,” and that being an Islamic country, roughly “95-96 percent” of the population is Muslim, with the rest being composed of other religious minorities. “According to our constitution we have religious freedom,” he said “and if you come to Pakistan you will see many churches.” However, “in recent years we have been facing and experiencing intolerance to such an extent that it has reached the point we are being attacked.”
“There are a number of factors that have contributed to this,” he stated, stressing that the first is the ongoing war in Pakistan’s neighboring country Afghanistan, which is a “one-hundred percent Muslim country. First was the fight against the Soviet Union with the United States, and Saudi Arabia helped our government, and then the Taliban developed to fight against the Soviets,” the bishop recalled, “But now what is happening is we have our own brand of Taliban, the Pakistani Taliban.”

Bishop Coutts revealed that in previous years Pakistan identified the Taliban only with those who fought within Afghanistan for the freedom of the country, but that now a “Pakistani Taliban” has developed who “want to make Pakistan a purely Islamic state.” The bishop emphasized that although the country is primarily Muslim, it is “at the moment a democratic country” with a newly elected government, and that “extremist Islamic groups who are not the majority at all.”

However, he stressed that although the radical groups are a small minority, they “are very strong because of the methods they use. They use the methods of violence and even suicide bombing,” which is, he noted “a new phenomenon in Pakistan. They do not believe in democracy. They want an Islamic state. They want all Islamic laws. So that is the basic struggle at the moment, the background to understand how a small minority like the Christians or the Hindus are suffering within that overall new form of Islam, a militant, violent form of Islam promoting Jihad or Holy War.”
Referring to the Peshawar attack, the bishop urged that the situation “is dangerous” because “there is a perception here that the whole west, Europe or America are all Christians.” In other words, they believe that “Christians are attacking the Muslim countries. Iraq, now Afghanistan. And so you are Pakistani Christians. We are not immigrants. The perception is that if they attack the Christians, Americans will stop the drone attacks. It’s not just a local problem. It has drawn us into global politics. It is something much wider.”


45. Malaysia Archbp: Word ‘Allah’ politicized, will continue to be used in liturgies

The judgment of the Court of Appeal on the use of the term Allah in Christian publications "was predictable: we expected this outcome: the case has been far too politicized" says to Fides Agency the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur, Msg. Murphy Pakiam, commenting on the verdict of the Court of Appeal, unfavorable to the Catholic weekly of his diocese "Herald Malaysia".
The Archbishop expresses his thoughts to Fides: "We prayed for the minds of the judges to be enlightened, but evidently God's plans were different. In any case we will appeal to the Federal Court to get justice". Confiding in the fact that "there is disappointment and concern among the faithful", the Archbishop reports the reaction of the "Council of Churches in Sabah and Sarawak", which includes the Bishops of all denominations. "The bishops pointed out that in churches and liturgies the term 'Allah' will continue to be used. The ruling only affects the weekly Herald and not our 'Alkitab', historical Bible in Malaysian language". "The unknown - the Archbishop notes - is represented by radical Islamic groups, which could give a restrictive interpretation of the judgment".

Mgr. Pakiam adds: "We hope and pray so that the political situation becomes clearer, to have better balance on behalf of the institutions on this delicate subject, in matters of faith and freedom of religious minorities". "Last night - he concludes - we prayed at the stadium in Kuala Lumpur to consecrate our nation to the Virgin Mary, in communion with the Holy Father. Our weapon is prayer. We hope and pray that the Holy Spirit may enlighten legislators and decision-makers. Even extremist groups need our prayer. We want to help create peace and harmony in our pluralistic nation. We want to build bridges with Islam".