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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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3,200 Journalists Covering the Event
SÃO PAULO, Brazil, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Worldwide media interest in Benedict XVI's visit to Brazil has surpassed the expectations of the organizers of the trip.
Early estimates predicted the presence of 2,000 journalists, but according to Brazil's Foreign Ministry, the office responsible for press accreditation, 3,200 journalists are registered to cover the event.
Silvonei José Protz, director of Vatican Radio's Portuguese edition, told ZENIT: "It's Benedict XVI's first visit to Latin America, home to half the world's Catholics. The great interest of the world's media is therefore recognition of the importance of Latin America.
"There is also the fact that the Pope is going to Brazil, the largest Catholic country in the world, and the fact that the Pope is coming to speak to all of Latin America at the 5th Conference of the Latin American Bishops, which is extremely important."
Protz added that the issues facing Latin America reflect those of the Church worldwide, such as "poverty, new movements, sects, the defense of life, the family and youth."
He said, "Everything the Pope will say will not only be useful for us, but for the whole Church."
Code: ZE07050902
Date: 2007-05-09
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ROME, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI hopes that the bishops meeting in Brazil this week will find "convincing" answers with regard to the spread of Protestant sects in Latin America.
In comments to reporters during his flight from Rome to Brazil today, the Pope said that "there is widespread worry about this, and during the 5th General Conference of Latin American Bishops we want to find convincing answers; we are already working on it."
He continued: "The success of sects shows that there is a thirst for God, a thirst for religion and people want to be near to God.
"Those of us in the Catholic Church want to be more missionary and more dynamic in offering answers to this thirst and to be aware that people want God to be near to their brothers."
The Holy Father added: "We must help them to find just living conditions, economic and concrete solutions, and meet their need for justice."
Code: ZE07050906
Date: 2007-05-09
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ROME, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Latin America has the task of promoting just conditions for life, says Benedict XVI.
The Pope said this today to reporters during his flight from Rome to Brazil, when asked about liberation theology, which had triggered movements in Latin America.
The Holy Father said that there is space for "a legitimate debate on how to create conditions for human liberation."
Benedict XVI continued: "With the change of the political situation there has also been a profound change in liberation theology, and it is obvious that the changes that promised immediate and easy solutions for a more just life were wrong.
"Everyone knows this. Now the question is about the Church's role in the struggle to create the necessary reforms to guarantee just conditions. Theologians are divided on this."
The Pope also mentioned Archbishop Óscar Romero of San Salvador who was killed in 1980 while celebrating Mass. Benedict XVI said that he is "a great witness of faith."
The Holy Father added that he doesn't doubt that "his person merits beatification," but that the figure of Archbishop Romero must be freed of the ideological deformations of those who tried to take advantage it for political motives.
Code: ZE07050907
Date: 2007-05-09
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Aide: They Exclude Selves From Communion
ROME, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org)- The Vatican clarified that Benedict XVI has not excommunicated Mexican politicians who supported the legalization of abortion in the country's capital -- rather, they have excluded themselves from Communion.
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, said this today in a statement he issued in wake of comments made by the Pope aboard his flight from Rome to São Paulo.
Reporters asked Benedict XVI if the Church had excommunicated the politicians of Mexico City who had voted to legalize abortion in the first trimester.
The Holy Father said that the excommunication for those promoting abortion is "nothing new, it's normal, it wasn't arbitrary. It is what is foreseen by the Church's doctrine."
The Pontiff also underlined that Christian politicians need to be consistent with their beliefs, and confirmed that the Church announces the Gospel of Life.
"The death of an innocent, of a newly born baby is inconceivable," the Pope added. "It is not something arbitrary and the Church expresses value for life and for the individual character of life from the moment of conception."
Father Lombardi, who was with Benedict XVI on the plane, clarified that neither the Pope nor the Mexican bishops had declared those politicians excommunicated.
The press office director explained that the Church teaches that the promotion of abortion is not compatible with the reception of Communion.
The journalists then asked the spokesman: "So, are they excommunicated"?
"No," Father Lombardi responded. "They excluded themselves from Communion."
Code: ZE07050905
Date: 2007-05-09
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Hopes Latin America Will Rediscover Christian Values
SÃO PAULO, Brazil, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Upon landing in Brazil, the destination of his sixth apostolic trip, Benedict XVI defended life, the family and the Catholic identity of Latin America.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was on hand today as the Pope arrived at the Guarulhos International Airport in São Paulo.
In his first address on the ground, the Holy Father manifested his appreciation for Brazil, "not only because it was born Christian and has today the largest number of Catholics, but above all because it is a nation endowed with a rich potential and an ecclesial presence that gives joy and hope to the whole Church."
Benedict XVI traveled to Brazil to open the 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean in Aparecida. The conference begins Sunday.
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VATICAN CITY, MAY 9, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI greeted the Irish and British ambassadors to the Holy See to mark the beginning of the new government in Northern Ireland.
Prior to his departure for Brazil, the Pope invited Philip McDonagh of Ireland and Francis Campbell of the United Kingdom to meet with him to commemorate Tuesday's re-establishment of a power-sharing local authority.
Ian Paisley, leader of the Democratic Unionists, the dominant party among Northern Ireland's Protestants, and Martin McGuinness, of the republican and mainly Catholic Sinn Fein party, were sworn in as leader and deputy leader, respectively, of the Northern Ireland executive government.
Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said Tuesday: "Here, in Belfast, on this day, we mark the historic beginning of a new era for Northern Ireland. An era founded on peace and partnership; an era of new politics and new realities."
Ahern added, "Northern Ireland is now a place of peace and promise."
Code: ZE07050911
Date: 2007-05-09