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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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BRUSSELS, Belgium, MAY 30, 2007 (ZENIT.org).- The interdiocesan youth program of the Church in the Belgian region of Flanders has launched a Web page that includes a weekly podcast and a live radio show.
The www.godpod.be project is interactive and listeners can give their opinions and participate via phone or by sending text messages during the show, according to information on the new Web site.
The objective of the Interdiocesan Youth Service is "to offer a young and Catholic voice in an increasingly cybernetic world."
The service says it is confident it will succeed in taking advantage of the anonymity of the Internet to reach a high number of young people, believers and nonbelievers.
Code: ZE07053009
Date: 2007-05-30
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Honored by Italian Cultural Association
MILAN, Italy, MAY 30, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Lech Walesa has been awarded the Defensor Fidei Award, given by the Italian Cultural Association, Il Timone.
The former Polish president, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, received the award last Saturday in Milan.
Walesa founded Solidarity, the 1980s Polish labor movement, which stood up to Communism and eventually helped bring democracy to the country.
Archbishop Girolamo Grillo of Civitavecchia and Tarquinia, one of the guests at the event, hailed Walesa as a "champion of freedom."
Walesa, receiving the award, said: "I would like to thank, above all, certain Italians among you who supported me in the '80s, helping to bring to a close the difficult era of divisions and contradictions."
"Today, too, in the age of information and global economy," he continued, "we need political and economic solutions. We live a different time, with a much greater chance for prosperity and peace than 30 years ago.
"I am not here to teach you anything, I have come to thank you. We have a lot in common: We are people of faith.
"I would prefer to speak to the atheists, because they are the sick ones in need of a doctor. It would be constructive to find interesting arguments to discuss with them."
Code: ZE07053012
Date: 2007-05-30
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Archbishop Cites Years of Terror and Brutality
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, MAY 30, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Though international attention is recently focused on strife in Zimbabwe, the archbishop of Bulawayo says that the terror in that southern African country is nothing new.
Archbishop Pius Ncube, in an interview with the magazine Inside the Vatican, said that President Robert Mugabe has been using the army to inflict brutality for years.
The 60-year-old archbishop, speaking of the years before his episcopal ordination, said: "The 5th Brigade of Mugabe was killing innocent civilians -- this amounted to more than 10,000. Some of these people were my relatives.
"Estimates are that between 10,000 and 20,000 innocent civilians had been killed. Some of these people were over 70 and 80 years old, which shows how merciless the dictator Mugabe is."
In April, the bishops of Zimbabwe published a pastoral letter called "God Hears the Cry of the Oppressed." The letter pointed to Mugabe as the cause of the country's crisis.
Archbishop Ncube said: "It was imperative that such a letter be issued. The situation of the people was becoming worse and worse.
He added that after the letter's publication, the regime increased efforts to frighten priests, though "the intimidation of clergy has been on going for a long time."
"We were told: 'You keep to the Bible, to religious affairs, don't comment on political matters. If you want to come into politics, then give up your religious garb, and be a politician and then we will deal with you properly,'" Archbishop Ncube continued.
Source of hope
The archbishop affirmed that Benedict XVI has offered key support: "In 2005, the bishops of Zimbabwe had their 'ad limina' visits to Rome.
"At that time I spoke with him for a good 25 minutes explaining to him the human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and asking him for his prayers and support.
"On Easter Sunday he quoted our current letter and spoke of the need to support African development."
"There is a lot of prayer in Zimbabwe right now," Archbishop Ncube said, "the praying of the rosary, night prayers to Our Lady for the country."
"In Bulawayo, we have no cloistered convents, but in Harare there is a convent of cloistered Carmelite nuns," he added. "They are the powerhouses when it comes to prayer, and I have invited some Carmelites to come over to my diocese to assist in this."
Code: ZE07053006
Date: 2007-05-30
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Pope Assures Them of His Prayers
VATICAN CITY, MAY 30, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The parents of a missing 4-year-old British girl sat in the front row at Benedict XVI's general audience to ask for prayers for their daughter.
The little girl, Madeleine McCann, vanished while on vacation with her family in Portugal in early May.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, said the meeting was a "gesture of spiritual closeness, prayer and attention to this particular case, as well as to so many parents of missing children."
"It has been a very significant act, an act of support for Madeleine's parents and those who are involved in searching for her and in battling against the criminal phenomenon of kidnapping," Father Lombardi added.
When Kate and Gerry McCann reached the Pope at today's general audience, he paused for a few moments with them, exchanging a brief conversation and blessing a photo of the child.
Gerry later said: "He is a fantastic person that has given us a lot of support. I got excited when he touched and blessed the photo of my daughter."
The couple asked Benedict XVI to pray for their daughter, and he assured them of his prayer for them and for Madeleine.
Mixed emotions
According to the Associated Press, the Vatican readily accepted the British couple's request to meet with the Pope, both for prayer and to continue publicizing their daughter's disappearance.
The family previously made a pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal, to pray for her safe return.
"Obviously we have very mixed emotions about being here, and of course why we are here," Gerry McCann told the Associated Press as he arrived in St. Peter's Square.
"In normal circumstances it would be one of the most exciting things we could do in our own lifetimes, but very much on our minds is the fact that we are here without Madeleine."
The McCann family also gave a press conference at the residence of Britain's ambassador to the Holy See.
Code: ZE07053001
Date: 2007-05-30
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Reflects on Tertullian's Lack of Tolerance
VATICAN CITY, MAY 30, 2007 (ZENIT.org).- Benedict XVI says Tertullian's life offers a reflection on the need for humility, which the Pope says is the "essential characteristic of a great theologian."
The Holy Father spoke about Tertullian, a second-century theologian and apologist, at today's general audience in St. Peter's Square.
With his reflection on Tertullian, Benedict XVI resumed his series of catecheses on the Apostolic Fathers. He had interrupted the series with his trip to Brazil and last week's overview of the apostolic trip's highlights.
"This great moral and intellectual personality, this man who gave such a great contribution to Christian thought, makes me think," the Pope said of Tertullian. "It is evident that at the end he lacks simplicity, the humility to belong to the Church, to accept his weaknesses, to be tolerant of others and with himself.
"When you evaluate your thought in terms of your greatness, in the end it is this greatness that is lost."
Benedict XVI noted that Tertullian gradually left communion with the Church and joined a Montanist sect.
"The essential characteristic of a great theologian is the humility to stay with the Church, to accept her and ones own faults, because only God is all holy," the Pontiff said. "We, on the other hand, are always in need of forgiveness."
Code: ZE07053019
Date: 2007-05-30
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Resumes Series of Teachings on Apostolic Fathers
VATICAN CITY, MAY 30, 2007 (ZENIT.org).- Citing the teachings of Tertullian on nonviolence as a law of life, Benedict XVI says that the ancient writer's works have great relevance today amid fervent debate on religions.
The Pope reflected on Tertullian's thought at today's general audience in St. Peter's Square, resuming his series of catecheses on the Apostolic Fathers.
"His work bore decisive fruits, and it would be unforgivable to undervalue them," the Holy Father said. "His influence is developed on many levels: linguistically and in the recovery of the classic culture, and the singling out of a common 'Christian soul' in the world and the formulation of new proposals for living together.
"He explains and defends the teachings and customs of Christians […] he shows the triumph of the Spirit, who pits the violence of persecutors against the blood, suffering and patience of the martyrs.
"Martyrdom and suffering for the truth are victorious in the end and more effective than the cruelty and violence of totalitarian regimes."
The Pope quoted from Tertullian: "The Christian cannot hate, not even his own enemies," and then noted "the moral implication of the choice of faith," that "proposes 'nonviolence' as the law of life."
"And who could not see the relevance of this teaching today in light of the fervent debate on religions," added the Pontiff.
Trinitarian dogma
Benedict XVI added that Tertullian's teachings are key for many themes: "His writings are important because they reflect the living tendencies of the Christian community about Mary most holy, the Eucharist, matrimony and reconciliation, the primacy of Peter, prayer …"
The Holy Father explained that Tertullian, who wrote in Latin, coined the terms necessary to express the mystery of the Trinity, introducing the terms for "one substance" and "three Persons."
"In a similar way," the Pope said "he also greatly developed the correct language to express the mystery of Christ, Son of God and true Man.
"The African also speaks about the Holy Spirit, showing his personal and divine character."
Benedict XVI concluded, saying there are many themes in Tertullian's writings that "we are called to face still today. They call us to a fruitful interior examination, to which I exhort all the faithful, so that they may know how to express, in an evermore convincing way, the 'Rule of Faith,' which -- getting back to Tertullian -- 'prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that he is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through his own Word, first of all sent forth.'"
Code: ZE07053004
Date: 2007-05-30