News

Details

Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Attendance Surpasses Expectations

ROME, MAY 13, 2007 (Zenit.org).- More than 1 million pro-family supporters gathered in the piazza of St. John Lateran in Rome to support marriage based on the relationship of a man and a woman.

The event marked the first Family Day in Italy, convoked by 450 family and Christian associations as part of a campaign to defend heterosexual marriage in the face of proposals to give legal recognition to same-sex couples. The proposal would not, however, legalize homosexual "marriage."

The event drew an unexpectedly large crowd. Organizers estimated that nearly 1.5 million attended the event, reported the Associated Press.

The theme of the day was "More Family." Signboards visible in the square said "Family, an invention of God," and "Family, hope of the world."

The rally counted on support of various Catholic lay organizations and movements, Christian churches and associations, and representatives of the Jewish and Muslim communities of Rome.

The demonstrators were entertained by singers, speakers and a brief video featuring Pope John Paul II.

In the final address of the rally, Giovanni Giacobbe, president of the Forum of Family Associations, said: "We are here today to make the voice of Italian families heard with more force."

Savino Pezzotta, a spokesman for the day, said that the rally is not meant to divide the country or stir up conflict.

He added: "Here there is no manipulation of religion, but neither is religion prohibited from illuminating the consciences of people -- believers or nonbelievers.

"For a believer faith is not irrelevant to the construction of society."

Code: ZE07051206

Date: 2007-05-13

Details

Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Bishops Speak Out in Midst of Hostility

By Father John Flynn

ROME, MAY 13, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Verbal hostility and even death threats have heightened tensions in the clash over same-sex couples in Italy. Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa received an envelope containing a bullet and a message with the star-shaped symbol of an Italian terrorist group, reported the ANSA news agency April 30.

In the face of government proposals to introduce a series of legal rights for same-sex couples, both the Catholic Church and lay groups have spoken out strongly in defense of marriage and the family. The problems started for Archbishop Bagnasco, who was named by Benedict XVI as the president of the Italian episcopal conference in early March, after a speech March 30 in his Genoa Archdiocese to those working in the area of culture and communications.

He explained that the Church's support for the family based on marriage between a man and a woman is founded on solid anthropological reasons, reported the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire the following day. Therefore, the Church is not imposing its faith in a pluralistic society.

He warned, however, that if the criteria for laws are reduced to a mere question of public opinion, then there is no basis to reject calls to allow incest, or to deny initiatives such as the recently proposed political party for pedophiles in the Netherlands.

Archbishop Bagnasco's comments sparked off a series of threats, graffiti daubed on the Genoa cathedral and other protests, culminating in the bullet received late April.

The ensuing hostilities have extended to the Pope. In its April 30 report, ANSA noted that posters appeared in Genoa's city center showing Benedict XVI shaking hands with Hitler or standing in front of a firing squad.

May Day animosity

Then, during a May 1 rock concert in Rome, one of the presenters, Andrea Rivera, had harsh words for both Benedict XVI and the Church. Both the Italian labor unions, who organize the annual concert, and political authorities were quick to condemn Rivera's statement, reported Italian daily newspaper La Stampa on May 3.

Rivera refused to back down, however, and graffiti attacking Genoa's archbishop continue to appear. In addition to a police escort, the prelate has recently started to use a bulletproofed car, reported ANSA on May 6.

In an interview published April 30 in La Stampa, Cardinal Julián Herranz, until recently president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, expressed concern over the climate of intolerance being created against the Church.

The cardinal stipulated that he did not want to overly dramatize what had occurred in the protests against Archbishop Bagnasco, but at the same time warned against attempts by some minority groups to silence the Church. In addition, the cardinal adverted that those who provoke hate only give ammunition to violent extremists.

Slippery slope

The warnings of Genoa's archbishop against incest and other problems that result once society loses sight of a sound anthropology are based on legitimate concerns, as experience in other countries demonstrates.

-- Patrick Stuebing and Susan Karolewski of Leipzig, Germany, are siblings, although they did not grow up together. They now live together as a couple and have four children. The law prohibits incest and Stuebing has already served a two-year jail sentence. After another recent conviction his lawyer has lodged an appeal with the German Constitutional Court, seeking to overturn the ban on incest (BBC, March 7).

-- Paul Lowe of Ohio has been convicted of incest with his stepdaughter and has appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court. Lowe is using the precedent of the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas case that struck down a prohibition against homosexual sodomy. At the time, critics warned it would be used as a precedent to eliminate other laws regulating sexual conduct (The Boston Globe, May 2).

-- Sara Wheeler gave birth to a son, Gavin, through artificial insemination in Georgia, in the United States, in 2000. Her lesbian partner, Missy, took Sara's surname and together they jointly adopted Gavin. In 2004 the couple split and now Sara Wheeler is taking legal action to invalidate the adoption of Gavin by her former partner. The case is now before the Georgia Supreme Court (Associated Press, March 25).

-- Last year the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that Isabella Miller-Jenkins has two mothers. The civil union registered under Vermont's state law between Isabella's biological mother, Lisa Miller, and her former lesbian partner, Janet Jenkins, broke up, and the two were in conflict over parental rights. The decision is in conflict with a 2004 ruling by a court in Virginia, where Lisa Miller now lives with Isabella, that granted sole custody to the biological mother (New York Times, Aug. 5, 2006).

-- A ruling by a court in the Canadian province of Ontario left a 5-year-old boy with three legal parents, two mothers and a father. A lesbian couple and the sperm donor entered into conflict over access to the boy, leading to the ruling (National Post, Jan. 4).

God in the public square

Faced with challenges of such nature, and of similarly worrying developments in areas such as bioethics, bishops in a growing number of countries are speaking out in clear terms about the need to preserve moral values.

Prior to the recent local elections in Scotland, the Catholic bishops published a letter, read at all masses on the weekend of April 14-15, that spoke of a "conflict of values in society."

The bishops mentioned legislation on subjects such as abortion, embryo experimentation, schools and family law. "There are signs of a desire for an authentic Christian voice in politics serving the common good of people of all faiths and none," the letter stated.

"We invite you to look beyond the superficially attractive and fashionable to recognize those policies and values which are most in tune with the dignity of the human person and with the common good of our society," declared the bishops.

Argentina's bishops have also written a pastoral letter addressing the question of politics and faith. The letter, dated April 28, was written to guide Catholics prior to elections this October.

After urging the faithful to know and apply the social teaching of the Church, the letter highlighted a number of themes of particular relevance. Among those mentioned was the question of protecting human life from the moment of conception until its natural end, and the need to protect the family founded on marriage between a man and a woman.

Meanwhile in Spain, Bishop Ricardo Blázquez of Bilbao addressed the issue of faith in a secular society. Bishop Blázquez gave the inaugural discourse April 23 at a meeting of Spain's episcopal conference, of which he is president.

Christians, he noted, have the mission of announcing the message of God's love, which strengthens human dignity. A secular state should not seek to reduce religion to a merely individual sentiment, to be hidden away in private, Bishop Blázquez urged. The Church, also, should be free to defend and promote those values that give meaning to life and safeguard human dignity.

Even in a pluralistic society, Bishop Blázquez continued, there is a need for some consensus on moral issues based on what is true for all persons, whether they be religious believers or not. Liberty needs to be in harmony with what is the truth about the human person, that is, with the natural law. As a consequence, he said, freedom needs to be educated, so it does not lose its way or converts itself into egoism. A counsel bishops in many countries are now offering with increasing vigor.

Code: ZE07051329

Date: 2007-05-13

Details

Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Praises Work of Rehabilitation Center

GUARATINGUETA, Brazil, MAY 13, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI put the drug traffickers of the world on notice and asked young people to open their hearts to Christ's message.

The Pope said this on Saturday morning when he visited a "Fazenda da Esperança " (Farm of Hope) in Guaratingueta, a rehabilitation center for young people with drug addictions. The center is located 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the shrine of Aparecida.

The Pontiff said that "Brazil's statistics concerning drug abuse and other forms of chemical dependency are very high," and noted that this is also "true of Latin America in general."

"I therefore urge the drug dealers to reflect on the grave harm they are inflicting on countless young people and on adults from every level of society: God will call you to account for your deeds," the Holy Father said.

Benedict XVI emphasized that human dignity "cannot be trampled upon in this way. The harm done will receive the same censure that Jesus reserved for those who gave scandal to the 'little ones,' the favorites of God."

The Pope wished "pax et bonum" (peace and good) -- a traditional Franciscan greeting -- to all those undergoing treatment, as well as to "those who have been cured, volunteers, families, those who have already been through the program and benefactors."

The light

The Holy Father continued: "The Church of today needs a renewed awareness of its task to draw the world's attention to the voice of him who says, 'I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

"It is the Pope's mission to renew in the hearts of people everywhere that light which does not grow dim, because it seeks to illumine the depths of every soul that seeks the true good and peace that the world cannot give."

"All that this light needs is a heart open to the desire for God," Benedict XVI said. "God does not force us, he does not oppress our individual freedom; he simply asks for openness in the inner sanctum of our conscience, through which pass all our noblest aspirations, as well as the affections and disordered passions which tend to obscure the message of the Almighty."

The Holy Father added, "Jesus comes and gently knocks at the hearts of those properly disposed." He said that the Lord does this "through a friend or a priest, or, who knows, perhaps he arranged a series of coincidences which enabled you to realize that you are loved by God."

God's love

The Pope said to the staff of the "Fazendas da Esperança" that "the conversions, the rediscovery of God and active participation in the life of the Church ... confirm the importance of your work."

"It is not enough to care for the body, we must adorn the soul with the most precious divine gifts acquired through baptism," he added.

At the end of his address the Pontiff mentioned of "many other institutions throughout the world which work to rebuild and renew the lives of these brothers and sisters of ours present in our midst, whom God loves with a preferential love."

Code: ZE07051301

Date: 2007-05-13

Details

Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Visits "Farm of Hope" in Guaratingueta

GUARATINGUETA, Brazil, MAY 13, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI exhorted young people at a drug rehabilitation center to be "open to the desire for God" in order to receive the light of Christ.

The Pope traveled Saturday morning to a "Fazenda da Esperança" (Farm of Hope) in Guaratingueta. The center -- the first of 42 such centers in the world -- is located 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the shrine of Aparecida.

The Pontiff arrived at 10:30 a.m., accompanied by the Archbishop Raymundo Damasceno Assis of Aparecida, Father José Rodríguez Carballo, minister general of the Order of Friars Minor, and Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo, archbishop of São Salvador da Bahia.

The young people -- who have recovered from or who are receiving treatment for drug addiction -- played music and prayed while awaiting the Holy Father.

Benedict XVI first blessed a chapel dedicated to St. Antônio de Santa'Ana Galvão -- the first Brazilian to be canonized. The chapel is also dedicated to Argentinian St. María Crescencia.

The Holy Father then addressed the community of Poor Clares who have a monastery at the rehabilitation center. He spoke to them of hope: "We need to build up hope, weaving the fabric of a society that, by relaxing its grip on the threads of life, is losing the true sense of hope."

"My dear Sisters," he continued, "make it your task to proclaim that 'hope does not disappoint.'"

Encounter

Franciscan Father Hans Stapel, who founded the first "Fazenda da Esperança " in 1979, welcomed the Holy Father before several youth of the center performed a skit that alluded to the struggle to break free of dependency. Afterward, five young people recounted their personal battle to overcome drug addiction.

Benedict XVI applauded at the end and gave his blessing.

The Pontiff donated an image of the Virgin Mary to the "Fazenda da Esperança " along with $100,000.

Some of the young people, representing the various countries where the centers are present, gave the Pope gifts that they themselves had made.

After the final blessing the Holy Father spoke for a while with the young people, which set back his schedule by 40 minutes.

Code: ZE07051302

Date: 2007-05-13

Details

Last Updated: 19 February 2013

APARECIDA, Brazil, MAY 13, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI commemorated the abolition of slavery in Brazil with a message to the nation's citizens of African heritage.

After presiding today at the inauguration Mass of the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Pope said: "Our prayers are offered also for the Afro-Brazilian community, who this Sunday are commemorating the abolition of slavery in Brazil.

"May this celebration foster a renewed sense of missionary outreach toward this highly significant socio-cultural group in the land of the holy cross."

Slavery was abolished in the country May 13, 1888.

Code: ZE07051307

Date: 2007-05-13

Details

Last Updated: 19 February 2013

APARECIDA, Brazil, MAY 13, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI made special mention of the world's poor and the Fight Hunger: Walk the World campaign, during the inaugural Mass of the Aparecida conference of Latin America's bishops.

The Pope made these comments today at the end of the open-air Mass which marks the beginning of the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean. The conference will continue through May 31.

The Holy Father said: "I remember in a special way those brothers and sisters who suffer from hunger.

"In this regard I want to mention the 'Fight Hunger: Walk the World' event promoted by the World Food Program, the United Nations agency responsible for food assistance.

"This initiative is taking place today in many cities worldwide, including Ribeirão Preto here in Brazil."

The walk began in New Zealand at 10 a.m., and was continued at the same time in 100 countries.

The initiative's aim is to end the scourge of hunger that afflicts more than 850 million people, half of them children.

Code: ZE07051308

Date: 2007-05-13