Zenit Article on Norcia

Monks Who Brought Chant Back to St. Benedict’s Birthplace Release AlbumYoung community presents life of Mary in “Benedicta: Marian Chant From Norcia”

Posted by Zenit News Agency on Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Catholic Feminists Running Zenit

The typical Catholic feminist headline and article.

Women Will Play Crucial Role in Sustainable Development ObjectivesVatican-Sponsored Conference To Take Place This Weekend

Posted by Zenit News Agency on Thursday, May 21, 2015

Some News Items

Post by Zenit News Agency.

Post by Zenit News Agency.

Post by Vatican Radio - English Section.

Yes, but...

From "Fostering a Culture of Vocation," Daniel Fitzpatrick:

I can only really speak from where I'm from in England, but I think if you said "vocation," to somebody, they would automatically think of priesthood, religious life, consecrated life, [maybe] some might think of married life. But we want to try and foster the idea that vocation is for everybody, not just people who want to enter seminary, or a convent, or a monastery. God has called every single one of us to a specific purpose.


A culture of vocation would be a culture where people are thinking about their own vocation, about where God is calling them to be. Vocation goes hand-in-hand with being a Christian, [and is not just as something that's extra if you want to take religion a bit more seriously.] It goes hand-in-hand with being a Christian because, if you're going to be a Christian, then you have to serve God in some particular way.

What the laity living in Western countries need are specifics...

The last day of the Holy Father's trip to the Holy Land

Pontiff's Farewell Address to the Holy Land [2009-05-15]
"This Land Is Indeed a Fertile Ground for Ecumenism and Interreligious Dialogue"

Pope's Words at Armenian Patriarchal Church [2009-05-15]
"Our Meeting Today "Is Another Step Along the Path Towards Unity"

Papal Address at the Holy Sepulcher [2009-05-15]
"Here the History of Humanity Was Decisively Changed"

Benedict XVI's Address at Ecumenical Meeting [2009-05-15]
"Bear United Witness to the Love of the Father"

More addresses from the Holy Father in the Holy Land

From Zenit:
Benedict XVI's Words at Shrine of the Annunciation [2009-05-14]
"It Is Essential that You Should Be United Among Yourselves"

Pope's Address at Nazareth Interreligious Meeting [2009-05-14]
"Peace Itself Is a Gift From God, Yet It Cannot Be Achieved Without Human Endeavor"

Papal Homily on Nazareth's Mount of Precipice [2009-05-14]
"Children Have a Special Role to Play in the Growth of Their Parents in Holiness"

Pope's Farewell Address to Palestinian Authority [2009-05-13]
"It Is Necessary to Remove the Walls That We Build Around our Hearts"

Benedict XVI's Address at Aida Refugee Camp [2009-05-13]
"I Renew My Plea for a Profound Commitment to Cultivate Peace and Non-Violence"

Pontiff's Address at Caritas Baby Hospital [2009-05-13]
"Innocent Children Deserve a Safe Haven"

Papal Greeting to Palestinian Authority President [2009-05-13]
"The Holy See Supports the Right of Your People to a Sovereign Palestinian Homeland"

Benedict XVI's Homily in Bethlehem's Manger Square [2009-05-13]
"Build up Your Local Churches, Making Them Workshops of Dialogue, Tolerance and Hope"

Benedict XVI in Israel, continued

More from Zenit:
Latin Patriarch's Welcome Address to Benedict XVI [2009-05-12]
"You Stand Before a Small Flock that Is Shrinking"

Pontiff's Words at Latin Patriarchate Co-Cathedral [2009-05-12]
"I Give Thanks for "the Hidden Apostolate of the Contemplatives Who Are Present Here"

Homily of Benedict XVI at the Mount of Olives [2009-05-12]
"In the Holy Land There Is Room for Everyone"

Papal Address to Holy Land Ordinaries in Upper Room [2009-05-12]
"The Different Christian Churches Found Here Represent a Rich and Varied Spiritual Patrimony"

Benedict XVI's Visit to the Grand Rabbinate [2009-05-12]
"Our Two Communities Are Challenged to Engage People of Good Will at the Level of Reason"

Papal Address to Muslim Leaders in Jerusalem [2009-05-12]
"Here the Paths of the World's Three Great Monotheistic Religions Meet"

Zenit: Sant'Egidio Founder Awarded as Peacemaker and Q-and-A Session With Parish Priests (Part 4)

Papal Message on Unity With Orthodox

Papal Message on Unity With Orthodox

"This Beautiful Church Awakens in Us the Nostalgia for Full Unity"

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 2, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the message Benedict XVI sent to a ceremony Sunday in which the president of Italy turned over the keys to a Russian Orthodox church in southern Italy to the president of Russia.

The Holy Father was represented at the ceremony by Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi, retired archbishop of Palermo, Italy, who read the message on the Pope's behalf.

* * *

The Holy Father, Benedict XVI, who has asked me to represent him in this significant ceremony, sends his cordial greetings to the religious and civil authorities and to all those present, in particular to the president of the Italian Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, to the president of the Russian Federation, Dmitriy Medvedev, to the ministers, to His Excellency Mark, "ad interim" president of the Department of External Church Affairs of the Moscow Patriarchate, and to the most excellent Monsignor Francesco Cacucci, pastor of this particular Church. He wants to renew, above all, his fervent best wishes to the patriarch of Moscow and of All Russia, His Holiness Kirill I, asking the Holy Spirit to enlighten his demanding ministry.

The Pope is pleased at the fact that this building responds, here in Bari, to the devotion of the Russian Orthodox to St. Nicholas. The Russian people has never faltered in its love for this great saint, who has always supported it in moments of joy and in difficulties. This is witnessed also by this Russian Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas, built at the beginnings of the past century, to welcome the pilgrims who, in particular in their trips to the Holy Land, made a stop in Bari, a point of encounter between East and West, to venerate the relics of the saint. How could we not recognize that this beautiful church awakens in us the nostalgia for full unity and maintains alive in us the commitment to work for union among all the disciples of Christ?

In truth, the history of Bari and of this region is marked in a profound way by the presence of the Eastern world, and ecumenical sensitivity is one of the characteristic traits of the populations of Apulia. Precisely because of this, the Holy Father Benedict XVI hopes that this ceremony too will contribute so that Bari continues being, as Pope John Paul II of happy memory said, a "natural bridge to the East," offering its precious contribution to the path toward full communion among Christians.

With these sentiments, invoking the intercession of the Mother of God and of St. Nicholas, the Pope renews his greetings to those present and sends them his blessing through my own.

[Translation by ZENIT]

Benedict XVI, On the Messiah

On the Messiah

"Suffering Is an Integral Part of His Mission"


VATICAN CITY, FEB. 1, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today before praying the midday Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

This year, at Sunday Mass, the liturgy proposes the Gospel of St. Mark for our meditation. A special characteristic of this Gospel is the so-called “messianic secret,” the fact that, for the moment, Jesus does not want anyone outside the restricted group of his disciples to know that he is the Christ, the Son of God. This is why he often admonishes the apostles and the sick people whom he heals to not reveal his identity to anyone.

For example, the Gospel passage this Sunday (Mark 1:21-28) tells of a man possessed by a demon, who suddenly cries out: “What do you want with us Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the holy one of God!” Jesus answers him: “Be quiet! Come out of him!” And immediately, the evangelist notes, the evil spirit came out of the man with a loud cry. Not only does Jesus chase demons out of people, freeing them from the worst slavery, but he prohibits the demons themselves from revealing his identity. And he insists on this “secret” because the fulfillment of his mission is at stake, on which our salvation depends.

He knows in fact that to liberate humanity from the dominion of sin he must be sacrificed on the cross as the true paschal lamb. The devil, for his part, tries to divert his attention and direct it instead toward a human logic of a powerful and successful messiah. The cross of Christ will be the demon’s ruin, and this is why Jesus does not cease to teach his disciples that in order to enter into his glory he must suffer much, be rejected, condemned and crucified (cf. Luke 24:26). Suffering is an integral part of his mission.

Jesus suffers and dies on the cross for love. When we consider this, we see that it is in this way that he gave meaning to our suffering, a meaning that many men and women of every age understood and made their own, experiencing profound serenity even in the bitterness of difficult physical and moral trials.

Indeed, “the strength of life in suffering” is the theme that the Italian bishops have chosen for their customary message for today’s Day for Life. I wholeheartedly join in their message in which we see the love of pastors for their people, and the courage to proclaim the truth, the courage to state with clarity, for example, that euthanasia is a false solution to the drama of suffering, a solution unworthy of man. The true answer cannot be putting someone to death, however “kindly,” but to bear witness to the love that helps us to face pain and agony in a human way. We are certain: No tear, whether it be of those who suffer or those who stand by them, goes unnoticed before God.

The Virgin Mary carried in her mother’s heart the Son’s secret, she shared in the painful moments of the passion and crucifixion, sustained by the hope of the resurrection. To her we entrust those who suffer and those who dedicate themselves to supporting them each day, serving life in all its phases: parents, health care workers, priests, religious, researchers, volunteers, and many others. We pray for all of them.

[After the Angelus the Pope greeted the pilgrims in various languages. In Italian he said:]

Tomorrow we celebrate the liturgical feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Forty days after Jesus’ birth, Mary and Joseph brought him to Jerusalem, following the prescriptions of the Law of Moses. Every first born, in fact, according to the Scriptures, belonged to the Lord, and so had to be ransomed by a sacrifice. In this event Jesus’ consecration to God the Father is manifested and, linked to it, that of the Virgin Mary. For this reason my beloved predecessor, John Paul II, desired that this feast, in which many consecrated persons take or renew their vows, be the Day of Consecrated Life. So, tomorrow afternoon, at the end of Holy Mass, at which the prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life will preside, I will meet with the consecrated men and women who are present in Rome in St. Peter’s Basilica. I invite everyone to thank the Lord for the precious gift of these brothers and sisters, and to ask him, through the intercession of the Madonna, for many new vocations, in the variety of charisms with which the Church is rich.

[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]

[In English, he said:]

I offer a warm welcome to the English-speaking visitors gathered for this Angelus prayer. In today's Gospel, Jesus reveals his divine authority in his teaching and his work of healing. Let us ask the Lord to open our minds ever more fully to his saving truth, and our hearts to his merciful and gracious love. Upon you and your families I cordially invoke God's blessings of joy and peace!

© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Papal Address to Catholic-Orthodox Commission

Papal Address to Catholic-Orthodox Commission

"The World Needs a Visible Sign of the Mystery of Unity"

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 30, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address Benedict XVI gave today upon receiving in audience members of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches.

* * *

Dear brothers in Christ,

I extend a warm welcome to you, the members of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches. At the end of this week of dedicated work we can give thanks together to the Lord for your steadfast commitment to the search for reconciliation and communion in the Body of Christ which is the Church.

Indeed, each of you brings to this task not only the richness of your own tradition, but also the commitment of the Churches involved in this dialogue to overcome the divisions of the past and to strengthen the united witness of Christians in the face of the enormous challenges facing believers today.

The world needs a visible sign of the mystery of unity that binds the three divine Persons and, that two thousand years ago, with the Incarnation of the Son of God, was revealed to us. The tangibility of the Gospel message is conveyed perfectly by John, when he declares his intention to express what he has heard and his eyes have seen and his hands have touched, so that all may have fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Jn 1:1-4). Our communion through the grace of the Holy Spirit in the life that unites the Father and the Son has a perceptible dimension within the Church, the Body of Christ, "the fullness of him who fills all in all" (Eph 1:23), and we all have a duty to work for the manifestation of that essential dimension of the Church to the world.

Your sixth meeting has taken important steps precisely in the study of the Church as communion. The very fact that the dialogue has continued over time and is hosted each year by one of the several Churches you represent is itself a sign of hope and encouragement. We need only cast our minds to the Middle East -- from where many of you come -- to see that true seeds of hope are urgently needed in a world wounded by the tragedy of division, conflict and immense human suffering.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has just concluded with the ceremony in the Basilica dedicated to the great apostle Paul, at which many of you were present. Paul was the first great champion and theologian of the Church's unity. His efforts and struggles were inspired by the enduring aspiration to maintain a visible, not merely external, but real and full communion among the Lord's disciples. Therefore, through Paul's intercession, I ask for God's blessings on you all, and on the Churches and the peoples you represent.

© Copyright 2009 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Zenit: Bishop Fellay's Apology for Holocaust Statements
"We Ask For the Forgiveness of the Supreme Pontiff"

Pope's Telegram to New Russian Patriarch Kirill
"May the Almighty Bless Your Efforts to Maintain Communion"

Zenit: Conclusions of Catholic-Orthodox Family Forum

Conclusions of Catholic-Orthodox Family Forum

"Without the Mutual Love of the Family Our Society Dies"

TRENT, Italy, DEC. 16, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the final statement of the 1st European Catholic-Orthodox Forum on the theme: "The Family: A Good for Humanity," held Dec. 10-14 in Trent.

* * *

Preamble

By the grace of the Holy Spirit, we, thirty representatives of the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches in Europe, from countries stretching from the Urals to the Atlantic, have gathered together for the First European Catholic-Orthodox Forum. We express our gratitude to all who have worked for the success of this meeting, especially to the Archbishop of Trent who warmly received us and offered hospitality. The meeting has been organised by the Council of European Bishops Conferences (CCEE), in close collaboration with various Orthodox Churches and some of the dicasteries of the Holy See.

We have expressed our deep sorrow at the sudden death of His Holiness, Patriarch Alexis II of Moscow and All Russia, who had warmly extended his blessing upon the project of this Forum.

What is the purpose of the Forum? It is not to discuss theological issues that are treated at other levels. Our task rather is to concentrate on anthropological issues of crucial importance for the present and future of humanity. The goal of the Forum is to help define common positions on social and moral questions. By engaging in this exchange, we help each other realize just how close our moral and social doctrines are. At the same time we make the world aware of our concerns.

We agreed to dedicate our first encounter to "The Family: A Good for Humanity". Countless numbers of families have contributed so much to European culture. We are grateful to them and in our prayer for families we remember specially those going through difficulties.

Over our four days together we have discussed topics relating to marriage and family, as well as various aspects of sexual ethics. It has been an opportunity for us to proclaim and live our faith, pray to the Lord for grace and reflect on how we might collaborate more. In particular, animated by the love of Christ for humanity, we have focused on the family, acknowledging all the efforts being done to promote family life on our continent, but also voicing our concern for the deteriorating condition of family life that is evident in many ambits of society.

Marriage and the family belong to the created order and are not a product of mere human decision. Written into the very nature of human being and revealed to us in the Bible, the family, founded on marriage, was established by God as a union between man and woman. The Bible presents us with a vision of the family as a unity of life-giving love, an indissoluble relationship, open to life.

I – Marriage and Family

Over the course of these days, we listened to some reports concerning the views of Catholic and Orthodox Churches in Europe. The following is a summary.

A. Orthodox Views on Marriage and the Family

In the Christian Orthodox tradition marriage is viewed as an eternal union of spouses, strengthened not only by physical, but also by spiritual intimacy. In spite of widespread belief to the contrary, the Orthodox Church "by no means calls on its members to shun the body or sexual intimacy as such, for physical relations between a man and a woman are blessed by God in marriage, where they become a source of the continuation of the human race and express chaste love, total community and the 'unity of souls and bodies' of the spouses." According to the teaching of the Orthodox Church, "the transformation of these relations, which are pure and worthy according to God's plan, as well as of the body itself into an object of degrading exploitation and trade aimed at the receiving of egoistic and impersonal, loveless and distorted satisfaction, deserves condemnation." (The Bases of the Social Conception of the Russian Orthodox ChurchX, 6.)

According to the Orthodox understanding, an essential element of the marital union and the fruit of the love between man and wife are children, the birth and upbringing of which are one of the main goals of marriage (Ibid., X 3-4). In accordance with this view, the Orthodox Church considers the freely willed rejection of childbirth and the artificial termination of pregnancy inadmissible. As the equivalent of murder, abortion is unequivocally rejected by the Church, which insists on the personal responsibility of all who take part in this act: the woman, the man (in the case of his consent) and the doctor(Ibid., XII,2).

On the basis of Holy Scripture and Tradition the Orthodox Church denounces homosexual relations, seeing in them the distortion of man's divinely created nature (Ibid., XII, 9). It also rejects all forms of fornication, adultery and marital infidelity, as well as prostitution and promiscuity. At the same time, it recognizes the need to pastorally assist those people who have disordered inclinations and whose way of life does not correspond to the Gospel's moral teaching.

B. Catholic Positions on Marriage and the Family

According to Catholic teaching, as affirmed also by the Orthodox, Jesus Christ raised natural marriage to the dignity of a sacrament: "The marriage covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of their whole life and which of its own very nature is ordered to the well-being of the spouses and to the procreation and upbringing of children, has, between the baptized, been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament" (CIC can. 1055 - §1).

This sacramental value requires fidelity unto death among the spouses in the indissolubility of the marriage bond. Marital love between the spouses is the basis of the family, the first personal communion into which a human being is born. It must be promoted by society as its fundamental cell. The Catholic Church recognises the inseparable link willed by God between the unitive and procreative meanings of married love. Exclusion of offspring is therefore contrary to the unity of marital love. Sexuality is recognized as a dimension of the image of God in human beings and so has a personal value. Men and women must learn in the language of the body their vocation to responsible love as a true gift of themselves. Other sexual expressions such as fornication, homosexual acts and sexual unions outside marriage are contrary to this vocation to love.

II. Mission of the Family

After outlining some elements of the teachings of our Churches, we also underlined how much we hold in common. And so we would like to underline the following issues that we together consider important for the well-being of society.

A. Key Common Points

God's commandment to the first human family remains relevant to all subsequent families: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen 1:28). Catholics and Orthodox agree that the family is the unique moral environment in which the gift of human life should be transmitted by the marital act.

The human being is the only one created in the image and likeness of God and this constitutes his particular dignity. We do not give life to ourselves, nor are parents the sole source of human life, since divine intervention is necessary. The sacredness of human life from conception to natural death should be fully respected.

We acknowledge the positive international documents that support the family. For instance, art. 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that: "Man and woman of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family" and "the family is the natural and fundamental group of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State." In the past the family and childbirth were regarded as something sacred. In recent years, however, these notions are questioned. There is an attempt to change language and introduce ambiguity into international documents under the ideological introduction of the gender theory.

Today both men and women are equally busy with the realization of their professional potential, and both have to bear the burden of financial responsibility for the family. Under these circumstances the possibilities of bearing and rearing children are drastically reduced.

A particularly tragic phenomenon has emerged in twenty first century Europe. Due to wages that do not sustain families, hundred of thousands of mothers and fathers have had to leave their families to go to wealthier countries to provide for the basic needs of their families. This has resulted in increased numbers of divorces, and in great suffering to children, with many of them being deprived of the presence of their parents' love and care.

The secular vision prevailing in modern society often undermines the notion of motherhood as a personal vocation. It is sometimes devalued. We, Orthodox and Catholics together, insist on the sacredness of motherhood and on the need for society to respect it. Mothers who stay at home in order to raise and educate children should be afforded support both morally and financially. Their mission is in no way less important than that of other respected professions. Motherhood is a mission, and as such it deserves unconditional support and respect. The idea of fatherhood is also fundamental for society and it too needs to be rediscovered by contemporary society. It's impossible to speak of a fraternal society without fatherhood.

B. Family and Education

Having given the gift of life to their children, parents are their first educators. "The right and duty of parents to give education is essential, since it is connected with the transmission of human life; it is original and primary with regard to the educational role of others, on account of the uniqueness of the loving relationship between parents and children; and it is irreplaceable and inalienable, and therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by others". ("Familiaris Consortium," 36). Integral education within the family is not limited simply to the development of a child's natural gifts and capacities, but refers also to spiritual values, in particular the handing on of faith. Parents are to be the first witnesses of the Gospel. In the family life we learn the meaning of faith as the true light that guides a person's life.

The most suitable environment for the harmonious development of the child is the family, composed of a father, mother and siblings. Other bodies that help the family in education of their children must act in collaboration with parents, passing on the principles and values which always remain the parents' primary responsibility to transmit. In the context of education one often hears about the rights of the child. This is good but such rights must always be considered within the environment of the family.

The issue of "sex education" merits particular attention. Here, too, parents are the first teachers. The principle aim of such teaching is directed towards forming young people in the meaning of married love: "Education in love as self-giving is also the indispensable premise for parents called to give their children a clear and delicate sex education" (Ibid., 37). In the family, where we have the first experience of personal communion, we are introduced into love in all its dimensions: the family is the first place of personal socialization. Furthermore, parents must provide information proportionate to each stage of the individual development of their children. Other bodies, such as the school, for example, constitute, in this sense, an aid for parents.

Particular influence is brought to bear on the education of children and young people by the mass media that strongly condition family relations. Young people imitate the examples communicated through the media. Alongside many positives aspects, however, the means of communication unfortunately and increasingly present pornographic material and an individualist, egoistic culture.

Families that teach their children well, attentive to establishing proper relationships between all family members, constitute a valuable human capital that has great importance for society in both its economic and spiritual well-being. Family life creates culture: man learns the essential language of life and all that helps him become fully human. All culture, in its beginnings and in its development is a family event.

C. The Crisis of our Society: Challenges and Opportunity

Today we are faced with a certain ideology of culture that emerged with the sexual revolution in the last century. This has brought about a deep crisis in the vision of what it is to be human and family life. It is a major challenge to the evangelization of the Christian Churches that are attentive to the needs of the heart of the human being and his or her calling to full life in Christ.

Among the profound changes of our society, a deep economic crisis has recently emerged. The banking, financial and economic crisis of today is one of the indicators of a major turning point in our global and European society. We are all rightly concerned. But another vital element of this turning point is the crisis in regard to family life. The demographic trends alone in Europe are clear signals of a crisis much greater than the financial one. The family, born of marriage between man and woman that gives rise to children and an extended network of relationships, needs to be rediscovered as valuable social capital. We appeal to political and social leaders to address this major social issue before it is too late. Without this attention, lack of financial funds will pale before the lack of social and human resources that the family brings.

On the other hand, we express gratitude for what has been done. Many positive developments have helped the family: recent social and economic recognition in some countries of the contribution of motherhood to society, financial and social assistance for the care of disabled and elderly, medical cover for those disadvantaged members of society.

III - Recommendations and Appeals

In recent years the Churches have become aware of the importance of supporting spiritual renewal and in particular accompanying young people as they journey towards becoming husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. While assisting all families pastorally, we recognize that special care needs to be given to newly established families. Marginalized families (and often migrant families are such) deserve attentive care. The Church's mission is to give hope to our society that today is faced with many challenges. We need to show signs of solidarity and through the media communicate our positive message regarding the family.

All of us together, Catholics and Orthodox, affirm the following recommendations and appeal to all people of good will in society to act together with us on them:

1. There is a most urgent need to rediscover the understanding of the family and marriage. We believe that one of the primary causes of the current demographic crisis and all related crises is the rejection of this understanding. Much effort needs to be invested in the promotion of family life. The family needs to be rediscovered for what it offers society. In the family, we have homes that are creative, dynamic and vital schools of socialization in many ways: educating family members to a discovery of the value of community and otherness, forming them in a culture of giving, encouraging openness to diversity in solidarity, facilitating mutuality in communication and providing a dynamic towards discovery and novelty, fruit of interpersonal endeavor.

2. We affirm that it is only in relationship to God that all human beings blossom in their full humanity. Accordingly, it is our belief that promoting family institution, based on the marriage of man and woman, Europe will be furthering this fundamental unit of society that carries out a vital liberating, fulfilling and enlightening role in society. To recognize this is the beginning of a renewal of our European culture that is seeking its way forward at this time of profound soul-searching. Our appeal to political and social leaders is the following: The family is not an outdated notion! Rightly rediscovered, it is the future. Without the mutual love of the family our society dies.

3. We affirm that, since they have conferred life on their children, parents have the original, primary and inalienable right to educate them. They must be acknowledged as the generally best suited and the first and foremost educators of their children. We call upon the political institutions to ensure the parents' right to educate their children in conformity with their moral and religious convictions, taking into account the cultural traditions of the family. This includes the right to freely choose schools or other means necessary to educate their children in keeping with their convictions. In particular, sex education is a basic right of the parents and must always be carried out according to their choice and under their close supervision.

4. We see a great danger in the apparent subordination of the needs of children and the well-being of the family to economic interests.

5. We call upon all public institutions to ensure that policies regarding remuneration for work are consistent with establishing and maintaining a family with dignity. This could be obtained by tax laws which recognize the indispensible contribution of the family to society. It should be such that both parents need not necessarily be obliged to work full time outside the home to the detriment of family life and especially to the detriment of the education of children. We call upon the public institutions to recognize and respect the work of the mother in the home because of its value for the family and for society. The issue of "child care" needs further consideration with the best interests of the child as the guiding principle.

6. Finally, we call to mind the moral choice on which the future of the whole of humanity depends. Its essence is expressed as a central point of the Covenant God made with the humankind which is fulfilled in Christ: 'See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day is to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments… that thou may live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee... I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live' (Deut. 30:15-19).

IV – Follow up

The experience of this Forum has been very positive in building up our fraternity and enabling us to share in our Christian concern for people. On the basis of this good experience, we intend to meet regularly to strengthen our mutual relations and address common challenges facing Europe.

Zenit: Holy See on Economic Crisis

"The Real Crisis Does Not Appear to Be Merely Financial"

No statement on usury. But there is this observation:

A third, and perhaps even more basic, observation has to do with the general public and its choice of values and lifestyles. A lifestyle, and even more an economic model, solely based on increased and uncontrolled consumption and not on savings and the creation of productive capital, is economically unsustainable. It also becomes unsustainable from the standpoint of concern for the environment and, above all, of human dignity itself, since the irresponsible consumer renounces his own dignity as a rational creature and also offends the dignity of others.

An explanation of what government is:

Government is the exercise of the virtue of prudence in the enactment of legislative and executive measures capable of directing social activity towards the common good. The principle of subsidiarity requires that governments and large international agencies ensure solidarity on the national and global levels and between generations.

Fr. Thomas Rosica, Pius XII and His Bible Revolution

Pius XII and His Bible Revolution

Marking 50 Years Since Death of "Papa Pacelli"

By Father Thomas Rosica, CSB

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 9, 2008 (Zenit.org).- For decades, the figure of Eugenio Pacelli, Pope Pius XII, has been at the center of some volatile polemics.

The controversy has raged since the end of the Holocaust over whether the Pope did and said enough in defense of the Jews and other victims of the Nazis. The Roman Pontiff, who guided the Church through the terrible years of the Second World War and the Cold War, is the victim of a "black legend," which has proven difficult to combat and is so widespread that many consider it to be more true than the actual historical facts.

One of the unpleasant secondary consequences of this black legend, which falsely portrays Pius XII as indulgent toward Nazism and indifferent to the fate of the victims of persecution, has been to sideline or even obliterate the extraordinary teaching and contribution of this Pope who was a precursor of the Second Vatican Council.

Pius XII must be remembered for his encyclical “Mediator Dei,” the great preparatory work that would flow into the conciliar liturgical reform. It is the same Pope who, in the encyclical "Humani Generis," takes evolutionary theory into consideration. Pius XII also gave notable impetus to missionary activity with the encyclicals "Evangelii Praecones" in 1951, and "Fidei Donum" in 1957, highlighting the Church's duty to proclaim the Gospel to the nations, as Vatican II would amply reaffirm.

One of the most frequent questions among the many foreign journalists covering the “Synod on the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church” deals with this morning's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Pius XII in the context of the synod.

At 11:30 today, just after the synod's morning session, Benedict XVI presided at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, attended by, among others, all participants at the synod and a host of other people to mark this anniversary. I have been asked numerous times in the Vatican press center, “Why did this commemoration take place today in the midst of a Synod on the Bible?” Or, “What does Pope Pius XII have to do with the Scriptures?”

My answer to the first question has been: “Because Oct. 9 marks the date of his death in 1958, and today happens to be Oct. 9. When would you like the Pope to commemorate this anniversary? On Christmas Day?”

To the second question, my answer has been: “Everything. Pius XII has everything to do with what is taking place in the synod hall and in the small groups and among anyone around the Catholic world who wishes to take Scripture studies seriously.” Alas, like the rich young man in the New Testament, several went away sad because of my answers to their questions.

Biblical criticism

A synod on the Bible cannot ignore nor forget the landscape of Catholic biblical studies in the last century. Physical, historical, and linguistic methods, known to us only in approximately the last 125 years, have produced a scientifically critical study of the Bible, a study that has revolutionized views held in the past about the authorship, origin, and dating of the biblical books, about how they were composed, and about what their authors meant.

In the first 40 years of the last century (1900-1940), the Roman Catholic Church clearly and officially took a stance against such biblical criticism. The modernist heretics at the beginning of the last century employed biblical criticism, and the official Vatican condemnations of modernism made little distinction between the possible intrinsic validity of biblical criticism and the theological misuse of it by the modernists.

Between 1905 and 1915 the Pontifical Biblical Commission issued a series of conservative decisions on the composition and authorship of the Bible. Although phrased with nuance, these decisions ran against the trends of contemporary Old and New Testament investigations. Catholic scholars were obliged to assent to these decisions and to teach them.

After 40 years of strident opposition, the Catholic Church in the 1940’s, under the pontificate of Pius XII, made an undeniable about-face toward biblical criticism. That Pontiff's 1943 encyclical “Divino Afflante Spiritu” instructed Catholic scholars to use the methods of scientific approach to the Bible that had hitherto been forbidden to them. It was now safe for Catholic scholars to take up the methods that were previously forbidden. A particular aspect of the encyclical definitively steered Catholics away from fundamentalism: namely, the recognition that the Bible includes many different literary forms or genres, not just history.

Within 10 years teachers trained in biblical criticism began to move in large numbers into Catholic classrooms in seminaries and colleges, so that the mid-1950’s really marked the watershed. By that time the pursuit of the scientific method had led Catholic exegetes to abandon almost all the positions on biblical authorship and composition taken by the Vatican at the beginning of the century.

Historical-Critical

“Divino Afflante Spiritu” sparked an enormous growth in Catholic biblical scholarship. New teachers were trained, and the results of the changed approach to Scripture were gradually communicated to the people -- the very steps that Pius XII had urged. “Papa Pacelli” opened up the application of the historical-critical method to the Bible, and established the doctrinal norms for the study of sacred Scripture, emphasizing the importance of its role in Christian life. After sacred Scripture, the Second Vatican Council's documents cite no single author as frequently as Pius XII.

Let us remember some other key facts about the Pope's story and about history. Pius XII led the Catholic Church from 1939 to 1958. Immediately before his election, then Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli was the Vatican secretary of state. He, more than anyone else in the Vatican, knew what was happening in the world. Pius XII was not only the Pope of the Second World War, but a pastor who, from March 2, 1939, to Oct. 9, 1958, had before him a world at war during very troubled times.

Those who attack Pius XII often do so for ideological reasons. The campaign against him was started in the Soviet Union and was then sustained in various Catholic environments. He took sides against the Communist world in a severe, strong and determined way.

As Benedict XVI pointed out this morning in his moving homily and tribute to his predecessor, Pius XII, Hitler and his closest followers were motivated by a pathological hatred for the Catholic Church, which they appraised correctly as the most dangerous opponent to what they hoped to do in Germany. There was radical divergence between the Nazis and the Catholic Church. Papa Pacelli cannot be the person who is blamed for something that belongs in a complex way to the world community.

Popes do not speak with the idea of pre-constituting a favorable image for future ages. They know that the fate of millions of Christians can at times depend on their every word; they have at heart the fate of men and women of flesh and blood, not the applause or fleeting approval of historians.

Prudence

Pius XII was not concerned for his reputation, but with saving Jewish lives and this was the only just decision, which clearly required wisdom and a great amount of courage. The Pope protested vehemently the persecution of Jews, but he explained in 1943 that he could not speak in more dramatic or public terms without the risk of making things much worse than they were. His was a prophecy in action, which saved the lives of countless victims of the neo-pagan Nazi reign of terror, rather than potentially counter-productive public statements.

Since Pius XII's death 50 years ago today, the Church has taken great strides in forging closer relations with the Jewish faith. Pope John Paul II made Jewish-Christian relations a priority of his pontificate. Benedict XVI has continued on that path. Both Popes have strongly defended the actions of Pius XII, while speaking as well of the silence and inaction of some other Catholics during the Holocaust.

In my other life in Toronto, when I am not serving as the “Deputati Notitiis Vulgandi” for Vatican synods on the Word of God, I am the “Director Exsecutivus Retis Televisifici Catholici 'Salt and Light.'" This week we are premiering our latest documentary “A Hand of Peace: Pope Pius XII and the Holocaust."

Through a generous grant from the Knights of Columbus, each synod father, expert, auditor and staff person received a copy of the documentary this morning during the synod. Benedict XVI received his copy yesterday.

It is our hope that this documentary will shed light and truth on this Pius XII’s life, prophetic actions, courageous words and his significant contributions to Scripture scholarship and to humanity. We can learn much from Eugenio Pacelli's wisdom, heroism, courage and prophetic gestures during a very dark period of world history.

Pius XII has been called many names. He is a significant patron and intercessor for the synod now under way at the Vatican. We owe much to him and remain every grateful for his foresight, vision and love of God’s word. May this Servant of God, on the path to beatification and canonization, continue to intercede for all us as we discover new ways to make God’s word alive, known, loved and available to the world.

* * *

Basilian Father Thomas Rosica is the Vatican's English-language press attache for the 2008 world Synod of Bishops. A Scripture scholar and university lecturer, he is the chief executive officer of the Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation and Television Network in Canada, and a member of the General Council of the Congregation of St. Basil.

New Commander for Swiss Guard

VATICAN CITY, AUG. 21, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI appointed Daniel Anrig, 36, as the commander of the world's smallest army.

Anrig, from Walenstadt, Switzerland, will hold the five-year post of commander with the rank of colonel. He is married and has four children. He will take office on Dec. 1, though his appointment was announced by the Holy See on Tuesday.

Anrig served the Holy See as a Swiss Guard from 1992 to 1994.

After returning to his homeland, in 1999 he obtained a degree in Civil and Ecclesiastical Law from the University of Fribourg. He was an assistant professor of civil law in the same university from 1999 to 2001.

He then spent four years as chief of criminal police and later general commander of Glarona's police force.

Colonel Anrig replaced Elmar Maeder, who held the post since 2002.

The Swiss Guard is made up of 110 soldiers and a chaplain. It was established by Pope Julius II (1503-1513).

The work of the Swiss Guard is complemented by the Corps of Gendarmes, established in 1816 by Pope Pius VII. This corps has 160 members of Italian nationality.

Pope names new Swiss Guard commandant



Daniel Anrig smiles during a news conference in Glarus, Switzerland, after he was appointed new Commander of the Vatican Swiss Guards by Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday, August 19, 2008. (AP Photo by Walter Bieri)

Cardinal Says Taizé Founder Reflected Christ's Face

(Cardinal Kasper, naturally.)

Vatican Says "Yahweh" Not to Be Pronounced
Past Opus Dei Prelate Nearer to Beatification

Zenit: 40 Years of "Humanae Vitae" (Part 2)
Interview With Dr. Thomas Hilgers

And Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor's Address to Lambeth Conference.

Zenit: 40 Years of "Humanae Vitae" (Part 1)
Interview With Dr. Thomas Hilgers

Zenit: Pope: Christ Is Only Hope for Future of Mankind

Pope: Christ Is Only Hope for Future of Mankind

Calls for Evangelizers in Mission Day Message

VATICAN CITY, JULY 14, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The situation of the world gives rise to "deep concerns" about the very future of mankind, Benedict XVI says.

The Pope expressed this concern in his message for the 82nd World Mission Sunday, scheduled for Oct. 19. The May 11 message was made public today. It is dedicated to the theme "Servants and Apostles of Jesus Christ."

The Holy Father's message invites people "to reflect on the urgent need to announce the Gospel, also in our own times." He called the Pauline Year "an opportunity to propagate the announcement of the Gospel unto the ends of the earth."

"Humanity is suffering, it awaits true liberty, it awaits a new and better world, it awaits 'redemption,'" the Pontiff wrote.

He said that the current international situation gives rise to "deep concerns regarding the very future of mankind." He cited violence, poverty "that oppresses millions of people, discrimination and sometimes even persecution for racial, cultural and religious reasons, [...] a constant threat in the relationship between man and the environment, [...] and attacks on human life, that take on various forms and methods."

"Is there," the Pope asks, "hope for the future? Or rather, is there a future for humanity? [...] For we believers, the answer to these questions comes from the Gospel. Christ is our future. [...] St. Paul understood that only in Christ can humanity find redemption and hope."

St. Paul

Benedict XVI emphasized that "for love of Christ" the Apostle of the Gentiles "tramped the roads of the Roman empire as herald, apostle, announcer and master of the Gospel, of which he proclaimed himself to be 'an ambassador in chains.'"

"Only from this source can we draw the concentration, the tenderness, the compassion, the openness, the readiness, the concern for the problems of people, and those other virtues that messengers of the Gospel need in order to leave everything and devote themselves completely and unconditionally to spreading the perfume of Christ's charity in the world," he said.

Despite such difficulties as a shortage of priests and a lack of vocations, "Christ's mandate to evangelize all people remains a priority," the Pope affirmed. "Let us cast out our nets without fear, trusting in his constant help."

Bishops, "like the Apostle Paul, are called to reach out to those who are far off and who do not yet know Christ," he said, noting that prelates have the duty of "willingly contributing, each according to his capacities, in sending priests and lay people to other Churches for the service of evangelization."

The Holy Father encouraged priests "to be generous pastors and enthusiastic evangelizers," expressing the hope that "this missionary commitment in local Churches does not diminish despite the lack of priests."

He called on religious to carry "the announcement of the Gospel to everyone, especially to those farthest away, by a coherent witness in Christ and a radical adherence to the Gospel."

"You too, dear laypeople," he added, "are called to play an ever more important role in spreading the Gospel."

Benedict XVI concluded his message with an expression of appreciation for "the contribution of the Pontifical Missionary Works to the evangelizing activities of the Church. [...] May the collection gathered in all parishes on World Mission Day be a sign of reciprocal communion and solicitude between Churches. Finally, may Christians intensify their prayers, the indispensable spiritual means for spreading the light of Christ among all peoples, 'the true light' that illuminates 'all the shadows of history.'"