Thursday, March 16, 2006

News From Vatican Information Services 03/16/2006


SUMMARY:

- Monotheistic Religions: Cooperate in Justice and Peace
- Greek-Catholic Ukrainian Church: Bonded to Rome
- In Brief
- Audiences

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MONOTHEISTIC RELIGIONS: COOPERATE IN JUSTICE AND PEACE

VATICAN CITY, MAR 16, 2006 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received a delegation from the American Jewish Committee, to whom he expressed the hope that "this meeting will further encourage your efforts to increase friendship between the Jewish people and the Catholic Church."

The Pope then went on to refer to recent celebrations for the 40th anniversary of the Vatican Council II Declaration "Nostra Aetate," highlighting how it "increased our shared desire to know each other better and to develop a dialogue characterized by mutual respect and love."

"Jews and Christians have a rich common patrimony," the Holy Father observed. "In many ways this distinguishes our relationship as unique among the religions of the world. The Church can never forget that chosen people with whom God entered into a holy covenant.

"Judaism, Christianity and Islam believe in the one God, Creator of heaven and earth. It follows, therefore, that all three monotheistic religions are called to cooperate with one another for the common good of humanity, serving the cause of justice and peace in the world. This is especially important today when particular attention must be given to teaching respect for God, for religions and their symbols, and for holy sites and places of worship."

The Pope concluded his brief address by recalling the fact that "religious leaders have a responsibility to work for reconciliation through genuine dialogue and acts of human solidarity. ... I pray that your visit today may confirm you in your endeavors to build bridges of understanding across all barriers."
AC/.../AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE VIS 060316 (270)

GREEK-CATHOLIC UKRAINIAN CHURCH: BONDED TO ROME

VATICAN CITY, MAR 16, 2006 (VIS) - Made public today was a Letter sent by the Pope to Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, major archbishop of Lviv of the Ukrainians, to mark "the sad events to which the cathedral of St. George at Leopoli was witness, in March of sixty years ago."

In his Letter, dated February 22, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, Benedict XVI recalls how in the cathedral in March 1946, "a group of prelates meeting in a pseudo-synod which took upon itself the right to represent the Church, made a serious attack against ecclesial unity. Violence against those who remained faithful to the Bishop of Rome intensified, giving rise to further suffering and forcing the Church to descend once again to the catacombs."

Despite these trials, the Holy Father goes on, thanks to God "the Greek-Catholic Church did not disappear but continued to bear her own witness to the unity, sanctity catholicity and apostolicity of the Church of Christ."

The Pope expresses the hope that this anniversary may stimulate the Greek-Catholic community in Ukraine "to strengthen its intimate and committed bond with Peter's Successor," and emphasizes how, "in the patient daily journey of faith, in communion with the successors of the Apostles, ... the Ukrainian Catholic community has managed to uphold Sacred Tradition in its integrity."

He continues: "In order for this precious heritage of 'Paradosis' to survive in all its richness, it is important to guarantee the presence of the two great currents of the one Tradition - the Latin current and the Orthodox current - each with the multiplicity of historical characteristics that the Ukraine has been able to express."

Benedict XVI closes his Letter with reference to "the dual mission entrusted to the Greek-Catholic Church in full communion with Peter. On the one hand, her task is to ensure the oriental tradition remains visible in the Catholic Church, on the other, to favor the encounter of the traditions, bearing witness not only to their compatibility, but also to their profound unity in diversity."
BXVI-LETTER/UNITY PETER'S SUCCESSOR/HUSAR VIS 060316 (350)

IN BRIEF

AT 9.A.M. TOMORROW FRIDAY, MARCH 17, IN THE VATICAN'S "Redemptoris Mater" Chapel, the Lenten sermons will begin in the presence of the Pope. The theme of the meditations, due to be presented by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap., preacher of the papal household, is the Roman Canon "Memores beatae Passionis" ("Recalling the blessed Passion"). Among those invited to attend the sermons are cardinals, archbishops, bishops and prelates of the Roman Curia, the Vicariate of Rome and the Pontifical Family, as well as the superiors general of the orders that form part of the "Cappella Pontificia". The subsequent Lenten sermons will take place on March 31, and April 7.

SERVANT OF GOD ELIA DI SAN CLEMENTE (nee Teodora Fracasso), virgin of the Order of Discalced Carmelites, will be beatified on Saturday, March 18, during a Eucharistic celebration due to be held at 6.30 p.m. in Bari cathedral, presided by Archbishop Francesco Cacucci of Bari - Bitonto. The future Blessed was born in the city of Bari in the Italian region of Puglia in 1901 and died in 1927. The decree concerning the miracle ascribed to her was promulgated in December 2005.
.../IN BRIEF/... VIS 060316 (200)

AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, MAR 16, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Five prelates from the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, on their "ad limina" visit:

- Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi, archbishop of Douala.

- Bishop Samuel Kleda of Batouri.

- Bishop Jan Ozga of Doume-Abong' Mbang.

- Bishop Eugeniusz Juretzko O.M.I., of Yokadouma.

- Bishop Joseph Atanga S.J., of Bafoussam.

- Bishop Paul Hinder O.F.M. Cap., apostolic vicar of Arabia.

- Bishop Camillo Ballin M.C.C.I., apostolic vicar of Kuwait.

This evening, he is scheduled to receive in separate audiences:

- Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

- Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
AL:AP/.../... VIS 060316 (130)


V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.
Copyright © Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City





Wednesday, March 15, 2006

News From Vatican Information Services 03/15/2006



SUMMARY:

- New Catechesis: Relationship between Christ and Church
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts

___________________________________________________________

NEW CATECHESIS: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHRIST AND CHURCH

VATICAN CITY, MAR 15, 2006 (VIS) - In today's general audience, held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 30,000 people, Benedict XVI began a new cycle of catechesis dedicated to the mystery of the relationship between Christ and the Church in the light of the experience of the Apostles and the task with which they were entrusted.

"The Church was constituted upon the foundation of the Apostles as a community of faith, hope and charity," the Pope explained. This began "when certain fishermen in Galilee met Jesus, and allowed themselves to be conquered ... by his invitation: ... 'Follow me and I will make you fishers of men'."

"After Mary, pure reflection of the light of Christ, it is the Apostles, their word and their testimony, that convey the truth of Christ to us. Yet theirs is not an isolated mission, it is part of a mystery of communion, one that involves the entire People of God and takes place in stages, from the old to the new Covenant."

The Holy Father highlighted the fact that Jesus' message "is completely misunderstood" if separated "from the context of the faith and hope of the chosen people," because "Jesus addressed Himself first of all to Israel in order to 'gather them' together in the eschatological time that had arrived with Him. Jesus' preaching, like John's, is both a call of grace and a sign of contradiction and judgement for the entire people of God."

For this reason, although the preaching of Jesus is "always a call to individual conversion, ... to interpret Christ's announcement of the Kingdom in individualistic terms would be unilateral and groundless," because in biblical tradition and despite its novelty, "it is clear that the entire mission of the Son-made-flesh has a community goal."

The choice of the twelve Apostles, a number that recalls the tribes of Israel, "reveals the significance of the prophetic-symbolic action inherent in the new institution. ... Choosing the Twelve, introducing them to communion of life with Him and rendering them participants in His mission of announcing the Kingdom, ... Jesus wishes to say that the definitive time has arrived in which God's promises are fulfilled."

"Thus, the twelve Apostles are the clearest sign of Jesus' will concerning the existence and mission of His Church, the guarantee that there is no contrast between Christ and the Church. And the slogan that became fashionable some years ago: 'Yes to Jesus, no to the Church,' is completely irreconcilable with the intentions of Christ."

Benedict XVI concluded: "Between the Son of God made flesh and His Church there exists a profound, unbreakable and mysterious continuity, by virtue of which Christ is present today in His people, and especially in those who are the successors of the Apostles."
AG/RELATION CHRIST:CHURCH/... VIS 060315 (470)

AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, MAR 15, 2006 (VIS) - Following today's general audience, the Holy Father received in audience Archbishop Faustino Sainz Munoz, apostolic nuncio to Great Britain.
AP/.../... VIS 060315 (30)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 15, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the diocese of Aachen, Germany, presented by Bishop Karl Reger, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. Johannes Bundgens of the clergy of the diocese of Aachen, Germany, pastor at Heimbach, as auxiliary of Aachen (area 3,937, population 2,053,633, Catholics 1,192,828, priests 648, permanent deacons 62, religious 1,215). The bishop-elect was born in Eschweiler, Germany in 1956 and ordained a priest in 1980.

- Appointed Fr. Dirceu Vegini of the clergy of the diocese of Apucarana, Brazil, pastor of the parish of "Nossa Senhora Auxiliadora," as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Curitiba (area 12,923, population 2,806,000, Catholics 2,025,000, priests 484, permanent deacons 71, religious 2,146), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Massaranduba, Brazil in 1952 and ordained a priest in 1984.

His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX, patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians, Lebanon, with the consent of the Synod of the Armenian Catholic Church and in accordance with canon 85 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, transferred Bishop Kevork Khazoumian, patriarchal exarch of Jerusalem and Amman, to the position of coadjutor to the archbishop of Istanbul of the Armenians, Turkey.
RE:NEA:NEC/.../... VIS 060315 (210)

V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.
Copyright © Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City





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