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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Prelate Encouraged Them to "Only Speak of God"

ROME, MAY 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Thirty-eight men from 18 countries were ordained to the priesthood for the Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei.

Bishop Javier Echevarría, prelate of Opus Dei, conferred the ordinations Saturday afternoon in Rome, reminding the ordinands in his homily that they will be instruments of the Holy Spirit "to illuminate souls and answer the questions that weigh upon the hearts of many people."

A reported 1,500 people were present for the ordinations that took place in the Basilica of St. Eugene.

The new priests come from Ireland, the Netherlands, the United States, Australia, Germany, Spain, Colombia, Italy, the Philippines, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile, France, Congo, Brazil, Argentina, Kenya and Guatemala.

During the Mass, Bishop Echevarría offered the new priests some advice from Opus Dei's founder, St. Josemaría Escrivá: "We priests must only speak of God. We will not speak of politics, or social ideologies or questions extraneous to the priestly task. In this way, we will make the Holy Church and the Roman Pontiff loved."

Brian Maguire, an American who flew to Rome to attend the event, said: "Many Americans are understandably discouraged by the so-called vocations crisis here at home. They should go to Rome. There's no doubt that God is renewing the Church from its heart in Rome.

"Saturday's ordinations showed not only that many young men are responding to this call, but that they are doing so generously and enthusiastically when it's presented to them as a lifelong surrender of self for others."

Code: ZE07052812

Date: 2007-05-28

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

APARECIDA, Brazil, MAY 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The issue of migration dominated discussions at the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean and is covered in the event's final document, reports a prelate from California.

Auxiliary Bishop Jaime Soto of Orange County commented Friday that the meeting of the Latin American and Caribbean bishops' recognized that they "have a responsibility to accompany these people."

Bishops from the United States, Canada, Portugal and Spain are attending the conference and, for the first time, have the right to vote.

Bishop Soto said: "Human migration involves all countries. The 'document' will speak clearly on this issue.

"I trust in the fact that the message will be encouraging and express solidarity for people who are looking for a better future and more worthy living conditions. Migrants don't want to be migrants."

During his meeting with the press, Bishop Ángel Garachana Pérez of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, discussed the role of government and the Church.

"Our governments must take up this theme with greater responsibility," said Bishop Garachana Pérez. "In the countries of destination the laws must be renewed, so that they are not seen as or treated like delinquents."

Code: ZE07052801

Date: 2007-05-28

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Prejudiced Attacks Recycled

By Father John Flynn

ROME, MAY 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Sexual abuses mixed with allegations of Church abuse make for an explosive media formula, as Italians can testify. The state-owned television broadcaster, RAI, sparked a debate after it announced that it wanted to buy the rights to transmit a BBC program, "Sex Crimes and the Vatican."

Last Tuesday the RAI announced its purchase of the documentary. But owing to strong protests over the program's credibility, RAI director general Claudio Cappon stipulated that the talk show that will host the transmission, "Year Zero," also has to give time to Church representatives for a rebuttal.

Along with presenting an account of child abuse, the BBC program makes accusations concerning a supposed Vatican-ordered cover-up. The documentary also accuses Benedict XVI of complicity in covering up sexual abuses in the past when he was a cardinal.

The tendentious nature of the BBC program was exposed in a declaration made last year by English Archbishop Vincent Nichols, who is chair of the Catholic Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults.

In an Oct. 2 press release, which came the day after the BBC broadcast the program in England, the archbishop acknowledged the distressing fact of child abuse. He clarified, however, that the part of the program that attacks the Vatican and the Pope "is false and entirely misleading."

The prelate said it was false because the BBC program misrepresents two Vatican documents. The program refers to a 1962 document, "Crimen Sollicitationis," which Archbishop Nichols explained, was not directly concerned with child abuse, but with the misuse of the confessional. A second document, "Ad Exequendam," dated 2001, does not, he argued, hinder investigation of child abuse, but is rather "a measure of the seriousness with which the Vatican views these offenses."

BBC bias

This isn't the first time BBC programs have taken on the Catholic Church. After strong criticism the BBC eventually decided not to transmit its 2004 cartoon series, "Popetown." The cartoon ridiculed Pope John Paul II and the Church.

The cartoon resurfaced last year in Germany, where MTV bought the rights with a view to transmitting it just before Good Friday, reported Deutsche Welle on April 12, 2006. Protests failed to block the program, with MTV deciding to broadcast the entire 10-part cartoon, after a test transmission of the first part, reported Reuters on May 9, 2006.

The BBC's attitude toward religion was examined by the English newspaper Daily Mail in an article published Oct. 23. Following what was termed an "impartiality" summit convened by BBC Chairman Michael Grade, the paper cited "senior figures" as admitting that the broadcasting corporation was guilty of an anti-Christian bias.

Moreover, the Daily Mail reported, during the meeting, BBC executives admitted they would happily broadcast the image of a Bible being thrown away -- but would not do the same for the Koran.

Attacking Mary

The BBC is not alone in its hostility to religion and the Catholic Church. Another recycled show, this time an American cartoon, "South Park," recently came under fire in New Zealand. A May 23 press release by the New Zealand group Family Life International detailed a complaint made by Catholic bishops about an episode insulting the Virgin Mary, broadcast last year.

The bishops presented evidence in an appeal against the decision last year by the country's Broadcasting Standards Authority, which refused to uphold their complaint about the insult to Mary, along with complaints about other episodes.

A lawyer for the bishops, Richard Laurenson, told the High Court in Wellington on Wednesday that the program breached the broadcaster's obligation to maintain good taste, decency and fairness. A decision has been reserved in the case.

Another recent case comes from Canada, where a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation pilot program that portrays altar boys as drug addicts and the communion host as snack food has sparked protests, reported the Ottawa Citizen newspaper on May 16.

The program, "The Altar Boy Gang," was denounced by the Catholic Civil Rights League. "With this program, the CBC has moved into the area of blasphemy of sacred rituals," the organization declared. It also accused the CBC of double standards, noting that the insults toward the Catholic Church came after it hired a Muslim consultant last year to ensure that Islamic practices were respected in the program "Little Mosque on the Prairie."

Earlier this year, it was a recycled Italian export that took on the Church, this time in the United States. The University of Minnesota decided to perform a play, "The Pope and the Witch," by Italian author Dario Fo.

A Feb. 22 article in the Catholic Spirit, the diocesan newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, reported that Minnesota's bishops and several Catholic organizations objected to the play.

The article explained that the play, among other matters, depicts a "delusional, unnamed pontiff." It also depicts the Vatican as being involved in the drug trade, and finishes with the Pope's assassination.

An editorial in the same issue of the Catholic Spirit argued that allowing the performance of such a work "pollutes the atmosphere of mutual respect and that promotes the kind of prejudice and intolerance the university says it opposes."

Infested

The increasing number of programs hostile to Christianity was commented on by Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds, England, in his pastoral letter for the New Year. In his text, dated Dec. 31, Bishop Roche decried the spreading abuse of Jesus' name in television shows.

"It was if my television set had been infested with anti-Christian and deeply disrespectful and derogatory sentiments," he declared, speaking of his experience in turning on the television recently and switching from channel to channel.

"There is an ease and a carelessness today in which it is possible, without any resistance, to ridicule Jesus, his Church and his followers," noted Bishop Roche. He then went on to urge believers not to become infected by this tendency and to respect the name of Jesus in everyday conversations.

Hostility toward religion was also one of the topics that Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor addressed during a March 28 lecture, at Westminster Cathedral Hall in London.

The archbishop of Westminster declared that he feared contemporary society is increasingly marked by "secular dogmatism or cynicism" toward Christians. He stated: "So when Christians stand by their beliefs, they are intolerant dogmatists. When they sin, they are hypocrites. When they take the side of the poor, they are soft-headed liberals. When they seek to defend the family, they are right-wing reactionaries."

Secularist intolerance

The lecture took place in the context of a fierce debate over government legislation which imposed on Catholic adoption agencies the obligation to hand children over for adoption to same-sex couples. Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor argued that it was no accident that the state's increasing anti-religious tendency takes place at a time of a "new secularist intolerance of religion," which increasingly marks society.

The question of how the media treat religion was dealt with by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, in its 2000 document "Ethics in Communications." The council acknowledged the many positive contributions of the media to everyday life, and also how people benefit through the transmission of religious news and ideas.

Nevertheless, the ethics document also noted how sometimes religion unfairly suffers at the hand of the media due to incomprehension or even contempt. Often, religious fads are lauded, while legitimate religious groups are treated with hostility, the council explained in No. 18 of the document.

The council called for a greater application of ethical principles in the world of communications. "Communication must always be truthful, since truth is essential to individual liberty and to authentic community among persons," the document exhorted (No. 20). A truthfulness sometimes sorely lacking in some media reports on religion.

Code: ZE07052829

Date: 2007-05-28

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Secretary of the International Theological Commission Speaks to ZENIT

VATICAN CITY, MAY 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The key concept for the recently released study on the theological concept of limbo is hope based on God's mercy, said the secretary of the International Theological Commission.

Jesuit Father Luis Ladaria explained why the commission theologians decided to study the question of salvation for infants who die without baptism.

Father Ladaria, a professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, said it was urgent to reflect on the salvation of these infants.

The 41-page document, "The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die without Being Baptized," was released April 20 and posted on the Vatican Web site on Sunday.

Father Ladaria said it is necessary to remember that limbo "is a theory with no explicit basis in Revelation" and is a concept that "was progressively abandoned in recent times."

He said the theologians who have reflected on this theme over the last few years concluded that "from a theological point of view, the development of a theology of hope and an ecclesiology of communion, together with a recognition of the greatness of divine mercy, challenge an unduly restrictive view of salvation."

Beatific vision

The document, Father Ladaria told ZENIT, concludes that "there are theological and liturgical grounds for hope that unbaptized infants who die will be saved and enjoy the beatific vision."

The key concept of this document, said the theologian, is hope, based on God’s mercy.

The Jesuit said the document touches on pastoral and doctrinal points and recalled that it is not a teaching of the magisterium, but a text with "a certain theological authority."

The function of the International Theological Commission is to help the Holy See to examine doctrinal questions of great importance.

The commission is made up of theologians from various schools and nations. The members are named by the Pope after receiving suggestions from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and consulting the respective episcopal conferences.

Code: ZE07052815

Date: 2007-05-28

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Calls His Support in Favor of World's Hungry "Invaluable"

VATICAN CITY, MAY 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI met with the executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, who thanked him and expressed her wishes that collaboration with the Church can continue and be strengthened.

Josette Sheeran said of today's meeting: "It is a great honor to express in person my gratitude to His Holiness for his invaluable support in favor of the world's hungry.

"I hope that the already excellent collaborative work with the Catholic Church which, like WFP, is an institution with truly global reach, can be strengthened further."

A number of Catholic organizations work with the WFP. The list includes Caritas Internationalis, which distributed 85,000 tons of food in 2006.

Sheeran said: "In crisis and conflict areas around the world -- as in Darfur, Somalia, Chad, the Occupied Palestinian territories -- WFP staff often work in dramatic situations where their own safety may be at risk, to help those who are most vulnerable.

"The moral authority of the Holy Father and his appeals for peace, justice and security are highly encouraging for us. We know we can always count on the partnership and precious help of Catholics and Catholic organizations."

During the audience, Sheeran invited the Pope to visit WFP's headquarters in Rome. Afterward, she met with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for relations with states.

Code: ZE07052818

Date: 2007-05-28

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Says Evangelization Is Top Priority

VATICAN CITY, MAY 28, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Evangelization is the first priority for bishops, Benedict XVI told the prelates of Mozambique, who were in Rome for their five-yearly visit.

During the meeting on Saturday, the Pope reminded the bishops from Mozambique that they are responsible "for announcing the word of God throughout the area entrusted to you," including everything "from the celebration of the liturgy, formation in prayer and in preparation for the sacraments."

Bishops are also responsible for "the organic unity of the diocese and its charitable, educational and apostolic institutions," he said.

"For this reason you were clothed with pastoral authority," the Holy Father observed, pointing out that this authority "takes the form of a servant that offers his life, his time, his strength and his heart for his sheep."

The Pontiff added: "One providential avenue to create a new missionary impulse is the ecclesial movements and new communities.

"Welcome and promote them in your dioceses, because the Holy Spirit is using them to reawaken and deepen the faith in people's hearts and to proclaim the joy that comes from belief in Jesus Christ."

The Pope told the bishops he was aware of the great challenges they face because of "a modern society full of sensuality and individualism," which will not get better without "a dynamic and well-rooted pastoral plan to promote families, which is based on family associations coordinated at the diocesan and national level."

Benedict XVI said that other areas which require the bishops' attention includes "assistance to the poor, sick and the marginalized, countering the advance of sects and developing the social communications media."

Code: ZE07052806

Date: 2007-05-28