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
Pope Says That Mature Faith Means Friendship With Christ
VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Meeting Christ, crucified and risen, and having an intimate friendship with him are the foundations of a mature faith, said Benedict XVI after a performance in Paul VI Hall.
The Wednesday afternoon concert of the sacred oratorio "Resurrexi" was hosted by the Italian bishops' conference, in the midst of their 57th General Assembly at the Vatican.
The event was in honor of the Pope's 80th birthday, on April 16, and the completion of the bishops' five-yearly visit with the Holy Father.
The concert consisted of a contemporary sacred oratorio for a symphonic orchestra, choral voices, actors and five soloists. The work was composed by Alberto Colla and Roberto Mussapi.
In his brief greeting before the concert, Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco, president of the episcopal conference, said to the Pope, "We are aware of your great love for music and other artistic expressions and the significance you give to 'beauty' in the faith of Christianity."
Citing passages from "On the Way to Jesus Christ," written by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 2004, the archbishop read: "Beauty places us in a relationship with the truth. I have often said that the true explanation of Christianity, or the most persuasive proof of its truth, against any negation, are on one hand the saints, and on the other, the beauty that faith has been able to generate."
"So that faith today may be able to grow, we must bring ourselves and others into contact with the saints and beauty," Archbishop Bagnasco added.
At the end of the concert, the Holy Father said, "This evening of music has given us an opportunity to meditate on the central event of our faith: the resurrection of Christ."
He continued: "The title 'Resurrexi' comes from a Latin phrase of the entrance antiphon of the Easter Mass. It is Christ's self-presentation, who in the liturgy is identified and is recognized in his condition as the Risen One."
"The oratorio helps us relive the feelings of wonder and joy that the first witnesses of the Resurrection felt," said the Pope.
He explained: "Through five harmoniously linked movements of a melodic and poetic weave, the authors of this melodrama helped us to meditate on the dawn of the third day, rich with a blinding light that opened the hearts of the apostles and helped them understand the full meaning of the events of the death and resurrection of the Divine Teacher, as well as the preceding teachings and acts of his life.
"Easter is the heart of Christianity; it is important for every believer and ecclesial community to meet Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. Without this personal and communal experience, without an intimate friendship with Jesus faith remains superficial and sterile."
"I hope that this oratorio, which we have listened to with religious attention and participation, will help us to mature in our faith," the Pontiff added. "The new life of the risen world is visible in Christ's resurrection. If we firmly believe this, then our evangelical witness will be more convincing and we will have more apostolic zeal."
Code: ZE07052402
Date: 2007-05-24
- Details
Remembers Saints Cyril and Methodius
VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI launched an appeal to European peoples to recognize the contributions of the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia.
The Pope's remarks today found favor in the audience he granted to Macedonian Parliament Speaker Ljubisa Georgievski, who was accompanied by government members and representatives of the Orthodox Church.
The meeting took place in honor of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the ninth-century apostles of the Slavic peoples. Of these co-patron saints of Europe, the Holy Father said, they left behind "a human and spiritual legacy that has made your land a place of meeting for various cultures and religions."
Benedict XVI expressed his desire that not only "the spiritual patrimony you have inherited be shared, but also that your particular identity be granted its due consideration by the other European peoples who are close to you in terms of tradition and culture."
Of the 2 million people in Macedonia, 64.7% are Orthodox and 33.3% are Muslim.
The Holy Father concluded, "The peaceful coming together of the aspirations of the people who live in your country is an example for the European continent, upon which the Holy See looks with favor."
Code: ZE07052406
Date: 2007-05-24
- Details
Receives Parliament President and Delegation
VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI recognized the historical contribution of Bulgarian Christianity while receiving in audience the president of that country's Parliament.
Georgi Pirinski came to the Vatican today accompanied by a Bulgarian delegation that included members of government and representatives of the Orthodox Church.
The visit is part of the celebrations in honor of Sts. Cyril and Methodius according to the Julian calendar followed by the Orthodox Churches.
During the official visit, the Pope spoke of Bulgaria's "desire to reaffirm its European traditions, profoundly marked by Gospel values."
"This country," the Pontiff said, "found, in the Gospel, a source of values able to strengthen the culture, the identity and the genius typical of its people."
In this way, the teaching of the brothers of Thessalonica, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, apostles to the Slavs, "contributed to the formation of the spiritual life of the Bulgarian people, ensuring them a place in the cultural tradition of the European continent."
"After the sad and difficult period of communist domination, Bulgaria is today headed toward a full integration with other European nations," said the Pope.
Earlier this year, Bulgaria was granted membership in the European Union. About 82% of the country's 7.3 million people are Orthodox; 12.2% are Muslim.
The Holy Father expressed his hope that "Bulgaria and its people will conserve and promote those Christian virtues that descend from the teachings of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, and are still valid and necessary today."
Code: ZE07052405
Date: 2007-05-24
- Details
Vatican, May. 24, 2007 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI met on May 24 with delegations of officials from Bulgaria and Macedonia, who were visiting Rome in accordance with an annual tradition to honor Sts. Cyril and Methodius, who brought the Gospel to their nations.
The feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, co-patrons of Europe, is May 24 on the Orthodox liturgical calendar. (The Roman Catholic Church observes the feast on February 14.) The remains of the two "apostles to the Slavs" are buried in the basilica of St. Clement in Rome, and delegations from Bulgaria and Macedonia vist to pray at the tomb each year.
Georgi Pirinski, the president of the Bulgarian parliament, led his country's delegation. In his remarks to the group, the Pope said that "there can be no doubt that in the Gospel the country found a source of values capable of reinforcing the culture, identity and genius typical of its people." The Pope added that after the "sad and austere period of Communist domination" he saw Bulgaria taken an important new role in Europe, and said that he hoped the Christian cultural heritage of the nation would be strengthened.
To the Macedonian delegation-- also led by the president of that nation's parliament, Liubisha Georgievski, the Pope expressed a similar hope: "not only that the spiritual patrimony you have inherited be shared, but also that your particular identity be granted its due consideration by the other European peoples who are close to you in terms of tradition and culture."
- Details
24.05.2007, [14:58] // Church-state relations // RISU.ORG.UA
Kyiv – Thanks to a subsidy given from the state budget to the Kyiv city budget, 561.6 million hryvnias (approximately US $ 112 million) will be given to finalize the construction, reconstruction, and restoration of architectural buildings in Kyiv, including two churches. So says Kyiv Program 2007 adopted by decree #718 of Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers of 12 May 2007.
The list of objects to be restored includes: the Dormition Church of the Kyivan Monastery of the Caves (restoration work is going to be completed in August 2009 at a total cost of 24.7 million hryvnias) and St. Michael’s Church of the Kyiv Monastery of the Protection (work is to be completed in December 2007 at a total cost of 7.5 million hryvnias).
Source:
- Details
24.05.2007, [11:25] // Construction // RISU.ORG.UA
Lviv— The blessing of the cross on the site of the new “student town” of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in western Ukrainian Lviv on 22 May 2007 was accompanied with very good news for the building project. Pope Benedict XVI donated 100,000 euros (US $ 130,000) for the project from money he received on the occasion of his recent 80th birthday.
The ceremony for the blessing of UCU’s new “student town,” which will include modern dormitories, a library, museum, classroom buildings, chapel, and conference center, was attended by local representatives of the church, state, and educational institutions.
“We are standing in an extraordinary place, where the new cross was just blessed,” said Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archbishop of Lviv Ihor Vozniak in his greeting after the blessing ceremony. “In some time, buildings of the university town will stand here, where the youth of Ukraine will acquire knowledge and appropriate Christian spiritual formation.”
The archbishop said that not only the UCU community and friends should be concerned about this planned building project for an academic and spiritual center, but also the people of Lviv, for whom this educational institution “is and should be a source of modest pride,” and all Ukrainians. For, he said, “the university brings scholarly and spiritual change not only to those who study and teach at it, but to the whole society.”