News
Byzcath.org News provides news focusing on the Christian East from varous sources and offers links to other sites dedicated to providing the news about the Church.
Churches and organizations that provide news about the Eastern Churches are invited to submit their news stories to us for publication here (use the contact page for submission)..
Materials from the Vatican Information Service, Zenit, CWNews.com and other sources are published here with permission of their owners but may not be republished further without the permission of their original publishers. Please visit these sites to obtain additional general news about the Church. In addition to these sources EWTN News also provides a good general news summary.
Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
- Details
VATICAN CITY, JUN 6, 2007 (VIS) - At the end of today's general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square, the Pope made an appeal to heads of State and government of the G8 countries - the seven most industrialized countries in the world plus the Russian Federation - who are holding their annual summit meeting in Heiligendamm, Germany from June 6 to 8.
The Pope recalled how on December 16, 2006 he had written to Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany, at the beginning of the German presidency of the European Union, "thanking her, in the name of the Catholic Church, for the decision to keep the theme of world poverty on the agenda of the G8, with specific reference to Africa. Chancellor Merkel kindly replied to me on 2 February last, assuring me of the G8's commitment to attaining the Millennium Development Goals.
"Now," he added, "I should like to make a further appeal to the leaders meeting at Heiligendamm, not to retreat from their promises to make a substantial increase in development aid in favor of the most needy populations, especially those of the African continent.
"In this regard, the second Millennium Goal merits special attention: 'to achieve universal primary education - to ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling by 2015.' This is an integral part of the attainment of all the other Millennium Goals: it is a guarantee of the consolidation of goals already reached; it is the starting-point for autonomous and sustainable processes of development.
"It must not be forgotten that the Catholic Church has always been at the forefront in the field of education, reaching places, particularly in the poorest countries, that State structures often fail to reach. Other Christian Churches, religious groups and organizations of civil society share this educational commitment. According to the principle of subsidiarity, this reality should be recognized, valued and supported by governments and international organizations, among other things by the allocation of sufficient funding, so that greater efficacy may be guaranteed in the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. Let us hope," he concluded, "that serious efforts be made to reach these objectives."
AG/APPEAL G8/...VIS 070606 (380)
- Details
Interview With Marco Meschini
MILAN, Italy, JUNE 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- There is little similarity between the extremist concept of jihad as a holy war and the Christian Crusades, says a historian of the Middle Ages.
Marco Meschini, a professor at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, explains in his new book "Il Jihad e La Crociata" (The Jihad and the Crusade) published by Edizioni Ares, says that jihad and the Crusades are asymmetric. In this interview with ZENIT, he explains why.
Q: In what sense are jihad and the Crusades "holy wars"?
Meschini: A "holy war" is understood to have two characteristic elements: First of all, for those who are believers, it is a war willed by God and promoted by his legitimate representatives; secondly, participating in this war opens the gates to paradise.
In the case of jihad it is important to recall an important passage from the Quran: "Fight those who do not believe in Allah and who do not take as illicit what Allah and his messengers have declared to be illicit." It is Allah who wills jihad. Allah is holy and therefore jihad is holy, a holy war.
In regard to the second aspect, a "hadith" of Muhammad -- a saying of Muhammad with normative value -- must be recalled: "Know that paradise is in the shade of the sword."
Furthermore, the "mujahid," or warrior of jihad, is considered a martyr if he dies. The word for martyr, "shahid," means "witness," just like the literal sense of the Greek word martyr.
The mujahid is so holy that […] he can transmit part of his holiness to his relatives.
Q: You, however, distinguish jihad and the Crusades as "asymmetric." What distinguishes them?
Meschini: The Crusades too, for medieval Christians, were willed by God, in the sense that the Popes wanted them and preached them, connecting them with the forgiveness of sins committed by the participants. The battle cry of the Crusaders was "God wills it!"
A first asymmetry, however, is this: Jihad is understood to open the gates of paradise directly, but the Crusades were not, because they were understood as part of the process that could lead sinful man to paradise.
There are, however, other more significant asymmetries.
First of all, jihad, whether defensive or offensive -- that is, as the instrument of the spreading of the Islamic religion -- means "submission" to Allah.
The crusades, instead, were born only after a millennium of Christianity and with a limited purpose: to recover Jerusalem and the Holy Land, which were unjustly occupied by the Muslims.
It should be added that in the course of centuries there were also crusades of expansion but the original idea was not completely lost in these.
Q: You also maintain that, while jihad is essential for Islam, crusading is not essential for Christianity.
Meschini: This is the most radical difference. As was said, holy war is a prescription of the Quran -- and the Quran is the word of Allah, eternal and immutable -- practiced by Muhammad and furnished with a whole series of accompanying rules that define forms and conditions.
Still today, for all Muslims, jihad is the sixth pillar of Islam, that is, one of the precepts that constitute the identity of their religion.
On the contrary, there is no sacred Christian text that speaks of war in a similar way, and to say the least, the model of Christianity, Christ, does not foresee it!
For this reason, crusading, which certainly arose in a Christian context, need not be present in other Christian contexts; nor, above all, does it have anything to do with the kerygma, the core of Christian revelation.
Q: Would a kind of Christian crusade have any sense today?
Meschini: I do not believe so. Yet, steadfast resistance, which does not need to, but may have recourse to force -- would make sense, to countervail those who threaten, "manu armata," international peace.
Q: Does speaking of jihad today run the risk of making dialogue between Christianity and Islam more difficult?
Meschini: What is the purpose of dialogue? I think: knowing each other better, reaching a higher level of truth. Thus, truth, or intellectual honesty, is at least a premise. Indeed, it is an essential condition of dialogue.
For this reason I wanted to unmask some commentators who, behind verbal contortions, disguise the historical, juridical and theological truth embedded in the theme of jihad.
Q: What did the Pope intend to say in Regensburg when he spoke of the discourse of Manuel II Palaeologus on these themes?
Meschini: Benedict XVI was very clear: Faith and truth can be proposed and diffused from the intellect to the intellect and from heart to heart, in a reciprocal exchange of reason, I believe.
Thus, to expand one's religion "by the sword" is a monstrosity antithetical to the Logos, to Reason, that is, to God.
And the violent response to his words was -- dramatically -- an involuntary but "perfect" confirmation of his speech.
Code: ZE07060508
Date: 2007-06-05
- Details
Says He Will Face Death If Deported
WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Bishop Thomas Wenski has asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to stay the deportation of a Bangladeshi man who faces almost certain death if returned to his native country.
The chairman of the bishops' Committee on International Policy sent an appeal this week on behalf of Mohuiddin "Din" Ahmed to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.
"I am not in a position to make a judgment as to his guilt or innocence," Bishop Wenski said, "but two things are clear: Responsible people are raising serious questions regarding his case, and if returned to Bangladesh, he will face the death penalty."
In 1996, Ahmed, along with other former military officers, was convicted of involvement in the 1975 murder of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during a coup d'état.
Ahmed, who denied the charges, remained in California on his diplomatic passport and applied in vain for asylum in the United States.
He was scheduled to be deported as early as last weekend. He has asked the United States to deport him to Canada where he has family.
Bishop Wenski noted that a bill has been introduced in Congress seeking relief for Ahmed, and that 15 U.S. Senators have written to the Department of Homeland Security expressing concerns about the deportation.
The bishop continued: "I respectfully request that the Department of Homeland Security act immediately to prevent a possible miscarriage of justice that deportation of Din Ahmed to Bangladesh would represent.
"The Catholic Church rejects the use of the death penalty because there are alternative means of protecting society. Out of respect for the sanctity of human life, I ask that Mr. Din Ahmed not be deported."
Code: ZE07060509
Date: 2007-06-05
- Details
Raises Banner in St. Peter's Square
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- More than 300 Caritas Internationalis members sent a message to the Group of Eight leaders, in the form of a banner raised in St. Peter's Square.
Some 25 bishops and archbishops, 50 priests and nuns, and 300 Caritas delegates gathered today in the Vatican to erect the banner that said "Make Aid Work."
The sign refers to a campaign organized by Caritas and other aid organizations that is asking the G-8 nations to follow through on promises made two years ago in Gleneagles, Scotland, to increase aid to developing countries.
The G-8 leaders are meeting again this weekend in Heiligendamm, Germany.
Caritas secretary-general Duncan MacLaren said, "The 'Make Aid Work' banner in St. Peter's sends a clear message to G-8 leaders: The scandal of poverty must end."
The campaign, said MacLaren, is to remind the G-8 leaders of the "promises two years ago that would have lifted millions out of poverty."
"Instead," he continued, "we have seen backsliding on aid. The latest figures show aid flows in reverse for the first time in 10 years. Of the worst offenders, Italy is predicted to be $8 billion short on its promises, France $7.6 billion short and Germany $7 billion."
The Caritas director added: "G-8 leaders must know that nothing will come of nothing.
"If they leave Heiligendamm without concrete plans, then they will have failed the poor. But they must also know that we will not go away. We will speak again."
Caritas Internationalis is currently holding its general assembly in Rome.
Code: ZE07060502
Date: 2007-06-05
- Details
Calls His Abortion Stance "Pathetic"
PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island, JUNE 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Bishop Thomas Tobin blasted Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani in the Rhode Island Catholic newspaper, calling the former New York mayor's position on abortion "pathetic and confusing" and "hypocritical."
In a column published Thursday, Bishop Tobin spoke out against the candidate's positions, citing a speech Giuliani gave at Houston Baptist College.
Giuliani said he believes abortion is morally wrong but that the viewpoints of those who think it is right must be respected.
Bishop Tobin wrote: "Rudy's explanation is a classic expression of the position on abortion we've heard from weak-kneed politicians so frequently in recent years:
"'I'm personally opposed to it but don't want to impose my views on other people.' The incongruity of that position has been exposed many times now. As I've asked previously, would we let any politician get away with the same pathetic cop-out on other issues: 'I'm personally opposed to … racial discrimination, sexual abuse, prostitution, drug abuse, polygamy, incest … but don't want to impose my beliefs on others?'"
Communion
The Providence bishop recalled that Catholics are "required to be pro-life" and said that "Rudy's preposterous position is compounded by the fact that he professes to be a Catholic. […] As a leader, as a public official, Rudy Giuliani has a special obligation in that regard."
The 59-year-old prelate cited a U.S. bishops' document, which says that "if a Catholic in his or her personal or professional life were knowingly and obstinately to repudiate (the Church's) definitive teaching on moral issues, he or she would seriously diminish his or her communion with the Church."
The bishop recalled that Giuliani is not the only Catholic politician who strays from Church teaching.
"Rudy's defection from the Catholic faith on this moral issue is not unique, of course," Bishop Tobin lamented. "Catholic politicians of both parties, nationwide, have followed a similar path in abandoning the faith for the sake of political expediency: Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Pat Leahy, Nancy Pelosi, and Joe Biden come quickly to mind. And on a local level, of course, Congressman Patrick Kennedy and Senator Jack Reed.
"How these intelligent men and women will someday stand before the judgment seat of God and explain why they legitimized the death of countless innocent children in the sin of abortion is beyond me."
Code: ZE07060515
Date: 2007-06-05
- Details
And Charity Needs Truth
VATICAN CITY, JUNE 5, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace opened the plenary session of Caritas Internationalis, telling them there is no justice without charity and no charity without truth.
Cardinal Renato Martino opened the six-day session on Monday in the Vatican. The representatives of some 160 Catholic charity organizations are gathered to discuss the theme of "Witnesses of Charity, Builders of Peace."
Cardinal Martino told them: "Justice is not charity, and in fact there is no state organization that could render the service of love superfluous."
Justice "needs charity, for otherwise it will not be able to purify itself from being overtaken by the interests and powers that bedazzle it," he added.
The 74-year-old cardinal continued: "Material reality cannot truly be understood without transcendence [...]; reason, precisely to be reason, needs to be purified by faith; in the same way justice needs to be purified by charity.
"The failure of all the systems that put God in parentheses bears witness to this. Reality needs God to be truly itself; political systems need religion to be fully themselves; rational and critical analysis needs the perspective of faith to encounter history."
Christ's poverty
Cardinal Martino recalled that Benedict XVI's new book, "Jesus of Nazareth," gives a principle regarding the preferential option for the poor and the political struggle for justice.
The Pope writes that "purely material poverty does not save, even if material disadvantages can in a special way count on divine goodness. The heart of persons who have nothing can be hardened, poisoned, and malicious -- internally full of the greed for possession, forgetful of God and desirous only of material goods."
For this reason, Cardinal Martino recalled, "the Sermon on the Mount is not a social program."
"The true way to serve the poor is not to take our point of departure from poverty in a sociological sense but from the poor Christ," the cardinal said.
He added: "Because of this, at Aparecida, the Pope proposed we take as our point of departure the Christ of the apostolic faith passed on to us by the Church.
"He encouraged the faithful of Latin America to revive their faith in Christ, our sole master and savior, who revealed to us the singular experience of the infinite love of God the Father of men."
Cardinal Martino stated: "Christ shows to us the face of God, a face of charity and truth, inextricably united.
"We cannot bear witness to charity without truth; the proclamation of truth is also a demanding form of charity and every act of charity, disinterested and farsighted, is likewise a witness to truth."
Code: ZE07060512
Date: 2007-06-05