God's unending love elevates us to God’s heights, says Pope
Vatican City, Apr 13, 2006 (CNA) - Among thousands of pilgrims gathered on Holy Thursday in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Pope Benedict XVI presided over the Mass of the Last Supper, in which he made a moving call to contemplate the love of God, a love that knows no bounds.
After the reading of the Gospel of the Last Supper, and performing the washing of the feet of twelve men, the Pope said that “God loves his creature, man; He loves it also when it falls and doesn’t abandon it. He loves it until the end.”
In the gesture of “washing the feet” we see the “God’s holiness, which is not only an incandescent power before which we must pull back terrified, but is also the power of love and because of this is a purifying and healing power. God descends becoming slave; he washes our feet so that we can be at the table,” the Pope said.
Moreover, the Bishop of Rome related the washing of the feet with the redemption brought by Christ, “The bath in which we cleanse ourselves is his love readied to face death. Only love has this purifying strength that wipes away filth end elevates us to God’s heights. The bath that purifies us is He himself who gives Himself totally to us, as far as the depth of His suffering and death. He is continually this love that cleanses.”
Following that, Pope Benedict remarked that the presence of Christ “in the Sacraments of purification—baptism and the sacrament of penitence—He is continually kneeling before our feet and serving us as a slave, [performing] the service of purification that makes us capable of God.”
After raising the question of this refusal of God’s Love, the Pope continued by saying that “it is the refusal of Love, the refusal to be loved and to love. It is the pride to believe that it doesn’t need any purification, that closes itself to the saving goodness of God.”
“In Judas we see the nature of this refusal” The Pope said. “There remains the mystery of refusal that is present in the act of Judas, Judas values Jesus in terms of power and success. For him only power and success are real; love does not count. His greed for money is more important than communion with Jesus, more important than God and His love. His love is inexhaustible; it really goes on till the end
Finally, the Holy Father defined “Every deed of goodness for our fellows, especially for the suffering and those held in low regard, like the service of the washing of the feet. The Lord calls us to do this, step down [from our pedestal], learn to be humble, have the courage to be good and available to accept refusal, and yet trust goodness and persevere in it.”
“The Lord-he concluded- wipes away our filth with the purifying force of his goodness.”
Benedict XVI’s first Cœna Domini mass was celebrated once again in St John Lateran Basilica after Pope John Paul II’s ailing health had prevented him from conducting the service in the same location for several years
The faithful present were invited to participate to the project of rebuilding homes for the victims of the devastating mudslides that affected people in the Diocese of Maasin (Philippines). Offerings collected during the service will be destined to this project.
Tomorrow, on Good Friday, Benedict XVI will preside during the evening in the Basilica of Saint Peters over the celebration of the Passion of Our Lord, and during the night will be present at the Coliseum of Rome, symbol of the martyr of many Christians, to preside over the traditional Via Crucis.
Jerusalem Church leaders urge int’l community not to boycott Palestinians
Jerusalem, Israel, Apr 13, 2006 (CNA) - The
13 patriarchs and heads of Christian Churches in Jerusalem launched in
their joint Easter message a powerful appeal for reconciliation between
Israel and Palestine and called on the international community not to
boycott the Palestinian people by stopping aid, reported AsiaNews.
The Christian
churches in the Holy Land—Orthodox, Armenian, Latin Catholic, Copt,
Syriac, Anglican and Lutheran—will celebrate Easter on April 16 or 23.
Their leaders call on their faithful to see the proximity in dates as a
sign of the need for greater solidarity and shared witness of the
resurrection of Jesus.
“It seems
nowadays that we face an unknown path or impasse in political life
(sic) between the new Israeli government and the new Palestinian
government,” they said in their message.
The Church
leaders reproached the international community for withholding aid from
the Palestinian people. “It is not permitted to boycott a people on
whom oppressions and injustices were and are imposed, while the
international community remained so far paralyzed in putting an end to
these oppressions, and therefore this paralysis gave birth to violence,
terrorism and the humiliation of the human person [sic],” they said.
“Instead of
boycotting, we appeal to the International Community to seize the
opportunity of this phase in history of the conflict in order to try
seriously to put an end to the suffering,” they said.
In their appeal,
Church leaders also addressed the leaders of Israel and Palestine,
saying that security, justice and peace are possible if there is a
sincere will on their part.
Finally, the
Church leaders appeal to Christians around the world who they say share
with their leaders “the responsibility of reconciliation in this Holy
Land.”
The leaders
urged them to put pressure on their respective governments and their
national media to help bring about reconciliation and to reflect on the
impact the Security Wall that Israel is building is having on the
dignity of the people.
The appeal is
signed by Greek-Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem, Roman
Catholic Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, Armenian Orthodox Patriarch
Torkom I Manooghian, Custos of the Holy Land Fr. Pierbattista
Pizziballa, OFM, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop Anba Abraham,
Syrian-Orthodox Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad, Ethiopian Orthodox
Archbishop Abouna Grima, Maronite Archbishop Paul Sayyah, Anglican
Bishop Riah Abu el-Assal, Lutheran Bishop Mounib Younan,
Syrian-Catholic Bishop Pierre Malki, Armenian Catholic Rev. Raphael
Minassian, and Greek Catholic Archimandrite Mtanios Haddad.
Benedict XVI: The Priest is a friend of Jesus and a man of prayer
Vatican City, Apr 13, 2006 (CNA) - Celebrating today the chrism Mass in the Basílica of Saint Peters, Pope Benedict said that “the nucleous of the priesthood is to be a friend of Jesus." He invited the priests present to "offer their hands to Christ and be guided by Him.”
In his homily during the chrism Mass, in which the priests renew their vows and bless the Oils, the Holy Father affirmed that “to be a friend of Jesus, to be a priest, means being a man of prayer. We can only be friends of Jesus in the communion with Christ.”
He refered to the priesthood as a moment in which Jesus Himself becomes a friend and us to himself. He, truly gave himself to our hands. He makes us participants in the conscience of the misery of sin, and of all darkness of this world, and gives us to key to open the doors of the Fathers house.”
He rejected activism, as something that doesn’t bear fruit, declaring that: “Simple activism can be heroic," he told the priests. "But in the end, external actions remain fruitless and ineffective if they are not borne of a deep, intimate communion with Christ."
“The priest- he followed- should be above all, a man of prayer. The world in its actions and capacities becomes destructive if prayer is not considered.” He defined as well this reality of priesthood as a “movement back and forth in which God offers a gift to us, and we, in return filled by this gift, become more like Him: the creation returns to the Creator.”
“This way the priesthood becomes a new thing: It is no more a question of descendence, but rather an encounter with the mystery of Jesus Christ. He is always the One who gives and lifts us to Him.”
Addressing the Priests, he said that “the mystery of the priesthood lies in the fact that we, miserable human beings, by the virtue of the Sacrament can speak in his I: in persona Christi.”
Moreover, the Holy Father gave a thorough explanation of the signs of the Sacrament of the order, affirming that as priests “We have the need to return to that hour in which He laid his hands over us and made us participants of his mystery.”
“The human hand -he followed- is the instrument of his action, the symbol of his capacity to face the world. The Lord laid his hands over us and wants our hands not to exercise power or to gather possessions but to become instruments of outreach, giving, creativity and love.”
He later referred to Jesus, as the one who “presents himself today in the Gospel as the anointed of God, this means that he works for the mission of the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit. Let’s put our hands again at his service and let’s ask him to always take our hand to guide us.”
Following on the specific moments of a priests life, Pope Benedict again addressed the priests affirming “Holding firmly onto Jesus, he said, we will not drown, but will be servants of that life which is stronger than death and that love that is stronger than hatred. He supports us. We ask him never to let go of our hands,” the Pope said.
San Antonio Archbishop says human dignity, families are at heart of immigration debate
, Apr 13, 2006 (CNA) - Archbishop
José Gomez of San Antonio took his strongest public stand on
immigration during Monday's downtown demonstration against the current
bill that would criminalize immigrants.
"We cannot pass
a law that makes criminals out of 11 to 12 million people," he told a
cheering crowd of hundreds at Milam Park, reported the San Antonio
Express-News. "We must recognize Jesus in the face of all immigrants."
Archbishop Gomez
compared the cries of the marchers with the crowds who greeted Jesus as
he arrived in Jerusalem. He reminded the people that this is Holy Week,
the archbishop said the cry today is: "Hosanna! Save us from the pain
of injustice."
"Our Catholic
tradition has a profound respect for civil law," Fr. Virgil Elizondo a
world authority on Hispanic Catholicism told the Express-News. "But it
also recognizes the fundamental right the hungry and starving have to
migrate."
Fr. Elizondo
questioned charges that immigrants were criminals. "Some say this is
disrespect for the law. That's not it at all," he said. "This is not
about violating civil laws, it is about human rights."
He explained
that there is a religious foundation for the demonstrations in Matthew
25, which says that those who welcome the stranger will go to heaven.
The archbishop,
speaking in English and Spanish, also cited Matthew 25, reminding
listeners that Jesus said that when you do something for the least of
the people, you are doing it to him.
When Gomez
concluded by reciting the marchers' popular chant: "Si, se puede," or
"Yes, we can," the crowd responded enthusiastically: "Viva el
arzobispo!" or "Long live the archbishop!"
Villanova University board delays decision on ‘victims of abortion’ memorial
Philadelphia, Pa., Apr 13, 2006 (CNA) - A
plan for a memorial on the Villanova University campus to the victims
of abortion is currently in limbo, reported the Philadelphia Daily News.
The Catholic university's board of trustees passed on approving the memorial during its regular April meeting Tuesday.
The bronze
statue would aim to "memorialize those who have died as a result of
legalized abortion and all those who suffer physically, emotionally
and/or spiritually."
“No decisions
were made about any specific memorial or the broader issue of
university memorials on campus,” read a university statement.
“Villanova as a Catholic university remains strongly supportive of the
dignity of human life.”
Joe McCullen Jr., a venture capitalist and Villanova alumnus, and his wife, Eleanor, donated the $20,000 for the statue.
"I'm
disappointed [about the indecision] and I'm curious to find out what
the reason is," said McCullen, head of McCullen Capital LLC in Boston.
He donated $1 million to the university's endowment fund this year.
Eleanor, a St.
Joseph's University graduate and a secular Franciscan, told the Daily
News she thought perhaps the board’s indecision meant they are “afraid
to come forward and to take a stand.”
McCullen’s
donation for the statue had been acknowledged in a letter by
Villanova's president, Fr. Edmund Dobbin, a board trustee. McCullen
hopes the board will approve the statue at their next meeting in June.
Archbishop Burke, other Missouri bishops call on Catholics to reject death penalty
St. Louis, Mo., Apr 13, 2006 (CNA) - As
the state of Missouri prepares for a highly-publicized trial due to
challenge the constitutionality of lethal injection, the state’s
Catholic bishops are calling on faithful to reject the practice of
capital punishment overall as an excess which opposes the dignity of
the human person.
They pointed out
that while a death sentence “offers the illusion of closure and
vindication”, that “no act, even an execution can bring back a loved
one or heal terrible wounds. The pain and loss of death can not be
wiped away by another death.”
Citing the
recent U.S. Catholic Bishop’s document, “A Culture of Life and the
Penalty of Death”, they said that while “The Church has acknowledged
the right of the state to use the death penalty in order to protect
society…the Church insists that the state should forego the exercise of
this right if other non-lethal options are available.”
The bishops
urged “all Catholics to pray that the court will rule in favor of life
and condemn the practice of lethal injection. We would ask that, as
witnesses to life, you take one step further and address our elected
representatives on the state and federal level to voice our opposition
to capital punishment and support a halt in executions.”
“Let them know”, they stressed, “that more violence is not a solution to society’s problems.”
They likewise
quoted the late Pope John Paul II who, in his Encyclical, the Gospel of
Life, urged Catholics to be “unconditionally pro-life.”
The bishop’s
March 30th letter was signed by St. Louis’ Archbishop Raymond Burke,
and Bishop Robert Hermann, Jefferson City’s Bishop John Gaydos, Kansas
City-St. Joseph’s Bishop Robert Finn, and Bishop Emeritus Raymond
Boland and Springfield-Cape Giradeau’s Bishop John Leibrecht.
Hull, United Kingdom, Apr 13, 2006 (CNA) - Officials
in the northeast British city of Hull have created a legal oath for
those who do not want to swear to God on the witness stand.
David Taylor, a
Justice of the Peace in Hull told Magistrate magazine that “The oath as
it stands introduces needless complexities due to its religious
dimension. The point that should surely be underlined in the oath is
the very real prospect of a charge of perjury for lying under oath if
discovered.”
He added that
“Such an oath would surely be much more ‘fit for purpose’ than the
present archaic one, and would dispense with the affirmation too.”
According to the
London Times, a spokesperson for the Judicial Communications Office
said that “Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But there are two
distinct oaths — the religious and secular.”
“Because religion is such an important part of some people’s lives it may be important for them to select the religious oath.”
Some critics of
the new oath charge however that the move is simply one more shift
toward the secularization of society and the removal of God from public
life.
Knights of Columbus urge U.S. leaders to create immigration bill that embraces justice, charity
Charleston, S.C., Apr 13, 2006 (CNA) - The
board of directors of the Knights of Columbus has called upon Congress
and the President to create immigration legislation that gains control
over the process of immigration, but also rejects any effort to
criminalize those who provide humanitarian assistance to undocumented
immigrants.
The board
adopted the resolution at its quarterly meeting in Charleston, S.C.,
April 7-9. It further calls for providing these immigrants an avenue by
which they can emerge from the shadows of society and seek legal
residency and citizenship in the United States.
The statement
noted that the vast majority of undocumented people in the U.S. are
simply trying to build better lives for themselves and their families,
but must struggle to do so from the margins of American society.
The board
declared that legitimate concerns regarding sovereignty and the lawful
and orderly control of cross-border travel must not be the only
concerns addressed by a new immigration law.
The Knights of
Columbus is the world’s largest Catholic lay organization, with more
than 1.7 million members in North America, Asia and Europe.
Venezuela archbishop criticizes government attempts to distort truth about April 11th crisis
Caracas, Venezuela, Apr 13, 2006 (CNA) - On
the fourth anniversary of the Venezuela’s politico-military crisis of
April 11, 2002, Archbishop Jose Baltazar Porras of Merida criticized
the government’s attempts to “re-write” the history of those “very
confusing events,” and said that both parties involved in the crisis
share responsibility.
The archbishop,
who was the mediator during the political crisis that edged President
Hugo Chavez out of power for a short time, recalled that the events
“were very confusing and the responsibility for good and evil falls to
both parties, but what we have seen since then is an epic re-writing of
the story with a desire to simply and unostentatiously make criminals
out to be heroes and victims and those had absolutely no responsibility
out to be bloodthirsty.”
In an interview
on Venezuelan radio, Archbishop Porras said he did not agree with the
manner in which the government celebrated the events of April 11.
“What it’s doing is making the breach wider,” he said, and making
people become emotional and irrational, “rather than bring the serenity
that a moment like this demands.” To celebrate and re-write the
events brings more hurt to some and makes others blinder, the
archbishop added. “This is the wrong path,” he warned.
“The right to
life is above any ideology, it is sacred, above any law,” Archbishop
Porras continued, and it is the focal point for putting things into
perspective again, “so that we don’t become a country of irrational
people acting simply and unostentatiously on our emotions and not on
what in reality things demand of us.”
The archbishop
said the events of April 11 show what happens when leaders act outside
the social and political order and when there is no balance of powers
to neutralize the normal tendency of those who are leaders to grasp for
more power. “We are reaping what we have sown,” he said.
Archbishop
Porras expressed regret at the “very high distrust” Venezuelans have
for public officials and called for autonomy between the country’s
different branches of government, warning that consolidating power in
one branch would in no way contribute to bringing the country back
together again.
He also
emphasized the need to recover the moral values necessary to overcome
the crisis facing Venezuela. The only way to reestablish trust, he
said, is to overcome what he called “cruel individualism,” which never
leads to peace.
Mexicans submit hundreds of testimonies regarding possible miracles by John Paul II
Mexico City, Mexico, Apr 13, 2006 (CNA) - According
to the official website for the beatification and canonization of John
Paul II, hundreds of emails are pouring in from Mexico claiming
miracles through the intercession of Pope John Paul II. All such
testimonies are under review by the beatification commission.
Speaking to the
EFE news agency, Father Francisco Javier Sanchez, member of the Mexican
Bishops’ Committee for the Causes of Saints, said that as time has
passed the number of intercessions attributed to the late pontiff has
grown but that the exact amount was not known.
The postulator
of John Paul II’s cause of beatification, Msgr. Slawomir Oder, said
recently that among the thousands of letters and emails his office has
received, “hundreds are coming from Mexico.”
He said that for
the moment many testimonies are considered simply as “graces,” because
only after “very severe verifications” can they be classified as
miracles.
The official site for the late pope’s cause is http://www.vicariatusurbis.org/Beatificazione/
Don’t call undocumented workers ‘illegal’ says Mexican cardinal
Mexico City, Mexico, Apr 13, 2006 (CNA) - The
archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Íñiguez
expressed his support this week for protests by Hispanics in the United
States, saying the “undocumented” are persons who also possess the
dignity of the children of God.
During the
inauguration of the Diocesan Museum of the Mexican Martyrs, the
cardinal said the undocumented should not be called “illegal” because
they are not criminals, but rather people who out of necessity or
“ignorance left without their papers.” He said the country to
which they travel should treat them with justice and grant them a
status that “respects first and foremost their human dignity.”
At the same
time, he warned that the situation they are in is the responsibility of
everyone, but most of all, of the government, which does not know how
to train people to fend for themselves and “demand their rights.”
He also praised
the US bishops for their support of Operation Sanctuary, which helps
immigrants with food, shelter and legal counsel to regularize their
status. The cardinal also pointed out that the Church in the
Unites States is made up of a large number of Hispanics.
Puerto Rican cardinal urges prayer for politicians
San Juan, Puerto Rico, Apr 13, 2006 (CNA) - The
archbishop emeritus of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Cardinal Luis Aponte
Martinez, is calling on the faithful to pray and do penance that God
will enlighten the leaders of the country and “strengthen them
spiritually.”
The cardinal
said “we can’t do anything else” because “the decisions are in the
hands of the political leaders.” He emphasized the fact that
leaders are called to be “true public servants, above all in these
moments of crisis for the Puerto Rican people.”
Speaking to
local reporters, the cardinal expressed his hope that through prayer, a
transformation of political leaders might take place that would lead
them to overcome their differences and remember that they have been
elected in order to help the people. He recommended they ask
themselves if they are being “faithful” to those who elected them.
“Certainly we
have to think that if the current leaders are not able to resolve
serious problems, especially those of an economic nature, in a timely
fashion, then we need to think about new leaders who are willing to
keep the promises they make to voters and who are truly willing to
resolve the problems at hand,” he said.
Regarding Holy
Week, Cardinal Aponte recalled that “the true triumph and victory is in
the resurrection of our Lord, and that is the day we all must
celebrate.”
“We cannot stay
focused just on the crucified Christ. We must accompany the Risen
Christ, who is the one who after his Passion has truly brought us
spiritual victory for our salvation,” the cardinal said.
