Spiritual
Week of April 6, 2008
Vatican clarifies: no
change in teaching on role of Jews
Vatican, Apr. 4, 2008 (CWNews.com)
The
Vatican has issued a statement emphasizing that a revised version of the
traditional Good Friday prayer for Jews should not be seen as a change in
Catholic teaching regarding the role of the Jewish people.
The
4-paragraph Vatican statement, issued by the Secretariat of State on April
4, responds to protests raised by some Jewish leaders after Pope Benedict
XVI (bio
-
news) released a new
version of the prayer for the Good Friday liturgy in the 1962 Roman
Missal. While eliminating a reference to the "blindness" of Jews, the
Latin-language text retained a prayer for their conversion.
Some
Jewish leaders expressed the concern that the revised prayer could be seen
as justification for new efforts to convert the Jewish people to
Christianity. Such efforts, they said, would clash with the policies
followed by the Church since the Second Vatican Council, when the
declaration Nostra Aetate (doc)
formed the basis for a new friendship between Catholics and Jews.
The April
4 document underlines that the revised Good Friday prayer "in no way intends
to indicate a change in the Catholic Church's regard for the Jews." The
statement notes that in a September 2005 address to the rabbis of Israel,
Pope Benedict XVI said that Nostra Aetate "has proven to be a
milestone on the road towards the reconciliation of Christians with the
Jewish people."
That
Vatican II document, the Secretariat of State proclaims, "presents the
fundamental principles which have sustained and today continue to sustain
the bonds of esteem, dialogue, love, solidarity, and collaboration between
Catholics and Jews." Citing the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith, the
statement "rejects every attitude of contempt or discrimination against
Jews, firmly repudiating any kind of anti-Semitism."
The April
4 statement concludes by underlining the Church's hope that "the growth in
esteem between Jews and Christians will continue to develop."
Rabbi David Rosen, a Jewish leader actively involved in talks with Vatican
officials, had predicted that the Vatican statement would affirm "the
Church's total opposition to proselytizing." But the
full text of the
Vatican statement does not directly address the question of conversion.
Cardinal Walter Kasper (bio
-
news), who heads the
Vatican commission for dialogue with Jews, observed in March that Jewish
leaders are particularly sensitive to any call for their conversion, viewing
such efforts as "a threat to their existence." Cardinal Kasper argued that
the prayer for the conversion of the Jewish people should be understood as a
reference to the end of time, when all mankind comes to acknowledge Jesus as
Lord. Acknowledging the concerns raised by Jewish leaders, Cardinal Kasper
pointed out that the Vatican has no organized plan for a mission to convert
Jews.
However,
Cardinal Kasper pointed out in a Vatican Radio interview in February, the
amended prayer is fully in keeping with the unchanged doctrine of the
Church. In amending the traditional prayer, the German cardinal said: "The
Holy Father wanted to say, 'Yes, Jesus Christ is the savior of all men--
including the Jews.'"
The
American Jewish Congress welcomed the Vatican statement, emphasizing its
support for Nostra Aetate. The statement, said Rabbi Rosen, "is in
keeping with the Church's past declared repudiation of all attempts to
proselytize among Jews which are incompatible with true esteem and
solidarity for the Jewish people."
A key
factor in the debate over the Good Friday prayer is the difference
between Catholic and Jewish understanding of evangelization. Jewish
leaders resent any effort at "proselytizing"-- understood as an
aggressive effort to persuade Jews to change their religious beliefs.
Catholics insist on their right and duty to evangelize-- meaning to
spread the good news of the Gospel to all of the world's peoples. While
renouncing any hostility toward the Jewish faith, the April 4 statement
from Rome does not call into question the Church's willingness to
welcome Jewish individuals into the Catholic fold.
Pope pleads: Stop
violence in Iraq
Vatican, Mar. 17, 2008 (CWNews.com)
"Stop the massacres! Stop the violence! Stop the hatred in Iraq!" That was
the fervent appeal of Pope Benedict XVI (bio
-
news), speaking to
the faithful in St. Peter's Square on Palm Sunday.
The Holy
Father said that during the reading of Christ's Passion, he was remembering
Archbishop Paulos Faraj Raho of Mosul, who died in captivity after being
kidnapped in February. The Chaldean prelate had shown a "beautiful witness
to faithfulness to Christ, to his Church, and to his people," the Pope
remarked, by remaining in Iraq and continuing his ministry despite threats
against his life.
Voicing
his anguish over the five years of violence that have "provoked the
breakdown of civil and social life" in Iraq, the Pope issued a call to the
people of that country: "Raise your heads, and become yourselves the primary
forces in rebuilding your nation's life."
The
reconstruction of civil society in Iraq, the Pope said, will require
"reconciliation, forgiveness, justice, and respect for civil coexistence
among tribes and ethnic and religious groups." He concluded his appeal
by renewing his call for "peace, in God's name!"
God Is the Answer
to the Disquiet of Our Hearts -
VATICAN CITY, 27 FEB
2008 (VIS)
In
his general audience, held this morning in the Paul VI Hall, the
Pope concluded his series of catecheses on the figure of St.
Augustine. Before the audience, the Holy Father went to the Vatican
Basilica to greet pilgrims who had been unable to find a place in
the hall.
St.
Augustine "is one of the great converts of Christian history" said
Benedict XVI. Reading the "Confessions", he went on, "it is easy to
see that Augustine's conversion was neither sudden nor fully
achieved right from the start. Rather it may be defined as a ...
journey, and remains as a model for each one of us".
"St.
Augustine was, ever since the beginning, an impassioned searcher
after the truth. ... and the first stage of his journey of
conversion ... consisted precisely in his gradual approach to
Christianity". He received a Christian education from his mother
Monica and, despite having lived a wild youth, "always felt a
profound attraction to Christ".
The
saint's "passion for mankind and for truth ... made him seek God,
great and inaccessible". But "Faith in Christ, led him to understand
that the apparently distant God is not in fact distant. He has come
close to us, making Himself one of us. In this context, faith in
Christ was the culmination of Augustine's long search along the path
of truth. ... This path must be followed with courage and, at the
same time, with humility, while remaining open to the permanent
purification of which each one of us has need".
St.
Augustine, the Pope recalled, "was reluctantly ordained a priest in
Hippo and assigned to the service of the faithful", in which role
"he continued to live with Christ, but while serving everyone. He
found this very difficult at the start, but he understood that only
by living for others, and not just for his own private
contemplation, could he truly live with Christ and for Christ.
Renouncing a life of pure meditation he learned, often with
difficulty, to place the fruits of his intellect at the service of
others, to communicate his faith to the common people, ... and thus
to live for them in that city which he had made his own. ... This
was his second conversion".
The
Pope then went on to identify another stage in Augustine's journey
"which we could call his third conversion and which brought him
daily to ask forgiveness of God. ... We have a perennial need to be
washed by Christ, ... to be renewed by Him". We need "the humility
to recognise that we are all sinners, constantly journeying until
God definitively gives us His hand and introduces us to eternal
life". With such humility Augustine lived and died.
"Having converted to Christ Who is truth and love", the Pope
continued, "Augustine followed Him throughout his life and stands as
a model for all human beings who seek after God. ... Today too, as
in his time, humankind needs to know this fundamental reality and,
above all, to put it into practice: God is love and meeting Him is
the only answer to the disquiet of our hearts".
Benedict
XVI concluded his catechesis with a prayer that "every day we may be
able to follow the example of this great convert, meeting in every
moment of our lives, as he did, the Lord Jesus, the One Who saves us,
purifies us and gives us true joy, true life".
Interdependence and
Solidarity to Meet World Challenges VATICAN
CITY, 29 FEB 2008 (VIS)
Today in
the Vatican, the Holy Father received the Letters of Credence of Mary
Ann Glendon, the new ambassador of the United States to the Holy See and
former president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
Addressing the new ambassador in English, the Pope expressed his
conviction "that the knowledge and experience born of your distinguished
association with the work of the Holy See will prove beneficial in the
fulfilment of your duties and enrich the activity of the diplomatic
community to which you now belong".
"From
the dawn of the Republic, America has been ... a nation which values the
role of religious belief in ensuring a vibrant and ethically sound
democratic order", said the Holy Father, noting the American
characteristic "of uniting people of good will, regardless of race,
nationality or creed, in a shared vision and a disciplined pursuit of
the common good.
"Today",
he added, "this task of reconciling unity and diversity, of forging a
common vision and summoning the moral energy to accomplish it, has
become an urgent priority for the whole human family, which is
increasingly aware of its interdependence and the need for effective
solidarity in meeting global challenges and building a future of peace".
"The
experience of the past century, with its heavy toll of war and violence,
culminating in the planned extermination of whole peoples, has made it
clear that the future of humanity cannot depend on mere political
compromise. Rather, it must be the fruit of a deeper consensus based on
the acknowledgement of universal truths. ... The building of a global
juridic culture inspired by the highest ideals of justice, solidarity
and peace calls for firm commitment, hope and generosity on the part of
each new generation".
"The
building of a more secure future for the human family means first and
foremost working for the integral development of peoples, especially
through ... curbing the corruption and militarisation which divert
precious resources from many of our brothers and sisters in the poorer
countries.
"The
progress of the human family is threatened not only by the plague of
international terrorism, but also by such threats to peace as the
quickening pace of the arms race and the continuance of tensions in the
Middle East", said the Pope who also expressed his hope "that patient
and transparent negotiations will lead to the reduction and elimination
of nuclear weapons and that the recent Annapolis Conference will be the
first of a series of steps towards lasting peace in the region".
The Holy
Father recalled the role played by the United Nations in resolving this
and other problems, highlighting how such international organisations,
"by their nature are capable of fostering genuine dialogue and
understanding, reconciling divergent views, and developing multilateral
policies and strategies capable of meeting the manifold challenges of
our complex and rapidly changing world".
Benedict
XVI noted with gratitude "the importance which the United States has
attributed to inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue as a positive
force for peacemaking. The Holy See is convinced of the great spiritual
potential represented by such dialogue, particularly with regard to the
promotion of non-violence and the rejection of ideologies which
manipulate and disfigure religion for political purposes, and justify
violence in the name of God".
The Pope
alluded to the "American people's historic appreciation of the role of
religion in shaping public discourse and in shedding light on the
inherent moral dimension of social issues", noting that at times this
role is "contested in the name of a straitened understanding of
political life and public discourse".
Such
appreciation, he told the ambassador in conclusion, "is reflected in the
efforts of so many of your fellow citizens and government leaders to ensure
legal protection for God's gift of life from conception to natural death,
and the safeguarding of the institution of marriage, acknowledged as a
stable union between a man and a woman, and that of the family".
The Marianists -
http://buildingcommunity.org/english/site.php
American Catholics -
http://www.AmericanCatholic.org
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