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Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
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07.05.2007, [18:33] // UGCC // RISU.ORG.UA
Lviv – On 4 May 2007 in the building of the Bureau of the Patriarchal Curia of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) in western Ukrainian Lviv, the fourth meeting on missionary activities was held, with the participation of Patriarch Lubomyr (Husar), head of the UGCC. The main aim of the meeting was to discuss further work on proposals, which are to be reviewed by the Synod of Bishops of the UGCC’s Kyiv-Halych Major Archiepiscopate.
The meeting gave a general analysis of what is being done in church life on the basis of reports on the missionary work of seminaries, male and female religious orders, and lay organizations. Having listened to the reports, Patriarch Lubomyr made two conclusions: 1) the activities lack coordination; 2) it is necessary to achieve conceptual clarity. “We need to unite all efforts to make maximum use of all the means we have,” said the head of the UGCC.
As a result, it was decided to organize a survey which could help shed light on the proposals and needs of each eparchy and exarchate regarding missionary work before the next meeting, planned for June. Moreover, on the basis of the Committee on the Issues of Evangelization it was decided to create a database of proposals on missionary possibilities and data about the needs of separate parishes and communities of the UGCC for missionary aid.
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According to a report issued today by the organization, the weapons are landing directly in the hands of the Janjaweed militia, protected by the government of Omar Hassan el-Beshir, “father-godfather” of Sudan.
London (AsiaNews) 05-08-2007 – Amnesty International today accused China and Russia of supplying arms to the Sudanese regime, which are allegedly being used to perpetuate the genocide in Darfur. The charges imply that Moscow and Beijing are violating an embargo on the sale of weapons by the international community to the African country imposed by the UN in 2005.
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VATICAN CITY, MAY 8, 2007 (VIS) - Made public today was a communique concerning the seventh meeting of the Special Council for Europe of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. The meeting was held in the Vatican on April 23.
The gathering was attended by Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, and by members of the presidency of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE).
According to the communique Archbishop Eterovic, making reference to John Paul II's 2003 Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Europa, recalled the challenges and the signs of hope facing the Church on the European continent.
"The challenges of the current moment should encourage all the living forces of the Church," the communique reads, "to renew the impetus of evangelization on the European continent, which is showing signs of some weariness but also of revival."
"In the face of the modern challenges facing the Church throughout the continent of Europe," it is "episcopal collegiality" that represents "the appropriate space for the communion of pastors among themselves and with the Holy Father, with a view to renewed evangelizing activity.
"Such communion," the communique adds, "which enjoys the guarantee of unity and effectively ensures the real unity of the universal Church and of the Church in Europe, strengthens pastors as they constantly announce the Gospel in their various situations, where it is necessary to reaffirm the primacy of God in order to reiterate the dignity of man, created in His image an likeness, in the personal and community dimension."
SE/EUROPE/ETEROVICVIS 070508 (270)
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VATICAN CITY, MAY 8, 2007 (VIS) - The Vatican Apostolic Library is to close to the public for a period of three years beginning on July 14, due to renovation work in some parts of the Renaissance building in which it is housed.
The wing in which the collections are kept is in need of structural repair work including strengthening the floor which is showing signs of subsiding, bringing large areas of the building into line with safety norms, and moving a number of sectors in order to rationalize access to the works.
According to the "Osservatore Romano," the decision to close the library was reached only after various other solutions to resolve the above-mentioned problems had been considered. Over the last few months everything possible has been done to intervene without disturbing the 20,000 scholars and researchers who use the library each year, including the transfer of some 300,000 books to nearby areas in order to lighten the load on the floor.
During the period of closure, all the other functions of the library will continue, including the photographic reproduction of manuscripts for researchers.
The library was established by Pope Nicholas V who, in 1448, transferred around 350 Greek, Latin and Hebrew codices acquired by his predecessors to the Vatican. In earlier times, collections had been kept at the Lateran Palace in Rome (until the end of the 13th century) and at Avignon (during the years Popes resided in that French city). Between 1370, when the papacy returned to Rome, and 1447, the collections were dispersed, with parts in Rome and others in Avignon and elsewhere.
The real foundation of the library, however, is due to Pope Sixtus IV. On June 14 1475, with the Bull "Ad decorem militantis Ecclesiae," he assigned a budget to the institution and appointed as librarian Bartolomeo Platina, who drew up the first catalogue in 1481. At that time, the library possessed 3,500 manuscripts and was the largest in the western world. Around the year 1587, Pope Sixtus V commissioned the architect Domenico Fontana to construct a new building to house the library, which is where it is still located today.
In 1623, Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria donated the entire Palatine Library of Heidelberg, containing some 3,500 manuscripts, to Gregory XV as a sign of gratitude for the Pope's support during the Thirty Years War. In 1657 the Vatican Apostolic Library acquired the manuscripts of the dukes of Urbino, and in 1689 the collections of Queen Christina of Sweden.
Today, the Vatican Apostolic Library houses some 75,000 manuscripts, 1,600,000 printed books and 8,300 incunabula, while the Vatican Secret Archives, which were separated from the library at the beginning of the 17th century, contain around 150,000 volumes. Among the most important manuscripts is the "Codex Vaticanus," the oldest known manuscript of the Bible.
.../RESTORATION/VATICAN APOSTOLIC LIBRARYVIS 070508 (480)
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Marks Anniversary of Fidei Donum
VATICAN CITY, MAY 7, 2007 (Zenit.org).- All Christians can be missionaries in some way, and the experience of sharing the faith favors unity in the Church, Benedict XVI says.
The Pope said that to participants in the council meeting of the superiors of the Pontifical Missionary Works and the World Congress of Fidei Donum Missionaries.
The meeting was held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Pope Pius XII's 1957 encyclical "Fidei Donum."
Pius XII, "aware of the changing times and the arrival of new peoples and nations on the world stage, understood with far-sighted pastoral wisdom that new and providential horizons and missionary paths were opening for the announcement of the Gospel," Benedict XVI explained.
Along with traditional forms of missionary work, Pius XII also wished to encourage "another kind of missionary cooperation between the so-called ancient Christian communities and new or nascent ones in newly evangelized lands," the German Pontiff added. "The former would be urged to send priests to the 'young' and promising Churches to work with local ordinaries for a given period of time."
Great cost
During these last 50 years, there has been an increase in the number of "fidei donum" priests.
"They left, along with religious and lay volunteers, for Africa and other parts of the world, at a great cost to their home dioceses," Benedict XVI explained.
The Holy Father expressed his gratitude, "in particular, to these our brothers and sisters, some of whom shed their blood to spread the Gospel."
"The exchange of gifts between old and new ecclesial communities has been an occasion of reciprocal enrichment and has aided the growth of the idea that we are all missionaries, that is, we are all involved -- albeit in different ways -- in proclaiming and bearing witness to the Gospel," the Pope said.
The missionary experience, he said, "leaves an indelible mark on those who participate in it and, at the same time, favors that ecclesial communion that makes the baptized feel like members of the one Church, the mystical body of Christ."
A challenge
The Holy Father said he is well aware of the difficulties that exist today in the missionary field. He underlined the diminishing and aging clergy in those dioceses that at one time sent missionaries to far lands, which in the context of a "widespread vocations crisis" represent "a challenge to be met."
Despite this, Benedict XVI exhorted those present to "turn their gaze to the future with trust, giving a renewed and more authentic identity to the 'fidei donum' missionaries."
The Pope cited the words Jesus spoke when he sent his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to every corner of the world, "Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age," saying that "this certainty must never leave us."
"The Lord of the harvest will not fail to send out laborers into his harvest, if we ask him with faith and in prayer and in the docile listening to of his word and his teachings," the Holy Father said.
Benedict XVI concluded his discourse by reiterating Pius XII's invitation to increase the number of Masses offered for the missions, saying he was certain that "the Lord, hearing our incessant prayers, will continue to bless the missionary activity of the Church with abundant fruits."
Code: ZE07050701
Date: 2007-05-07
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Commission Reports on Countries of Particular Concern
By Father John Flynn
ROME, MAY 7, 2007 (Zenit.org).- On May 2 the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), published its annual report together with its recommendations on which nations should be nominated "countries of particular concern" (CPC).
The commission was created by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. Its annual report differs from the State Department's extensive country-by-country analysis on religious freedom in that it only examines a limited number of countries.
The CPC list covers those countries where authorities engage in systematic violations of religious freedom. The commission's recommendations for 2007 are: Burma, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Pakistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
The actual designation of a country as a CPC depends on a decision by the State Department. In November 2006, Saudi Arabia, China, North Korea, Sudan, Iran, Eritrea and Burma were re-designated as CPCs by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
There is also a watch list, consisting in countries where violations are serious, even if less grave than those in the CPC group. This year Iraq was added to this list, joining those from the previous year's report: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt, Indonesia and Nigeria.
In the letter accompanying the commission list of recommendations sent to Secretary of State Rice, the commission lamented the removal of Vietnam from the CPC list last year. There were positive developments in the area of religious freedom, but the letter continued, in recent times Vietnam has renewed its persecution. Therefore, this year's report requests the reinstatement of Vietnam in the CPC list.
Mideast Minorities
The letter also explained why Iraq was being added to the Watch List. Even though extremist groups are behind many of the attacks, the Iraqi government has also been responsible for human rights violations. As well, the commission continued, the authorities tolerate religiously based attacks by some factions.
The report itself goes into more detail on Iraq, including concern over the "grave conditions" affecting Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq. In some areas, the report notes, "Christians have reportedly ceased their participation in public religious services for fear of inviting further violence." The commission estimates that between 2004-2006 some 27 Chaldo-Assyrian churches were attacked or bombed in Baghdad and the Kurdish areas.
The widespread violence, together with "pervasive discrimination and marginalization at the hands of the national government, regional governments, and para-state militias," is causing many of them to flee the country. In fact, some reports, the commission states, estimate that nearly 50% of Iraq's indigenous Christian population is now living outside the country.
Neighboring Iran, also on the commission's CPC list, came in for strong criticism in the report. Iran's government was accused of "systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, including prolonged detention, torture, and executions based primarily or entirely upon the religion of the accused."
Over the past year, the commission continued, this poor record has further deteriorated. One case mentioned in the report was the arrest in February last year of more than 170 members of the Sufi community in the city of Qom. The Sufi's, a Muslim minority, were detained following a protest by over a thousand people after authorities destroyed a Sufi house of worship.
Those arrested were reportedly tortured and forced to sign confessions. Subsequently, in May, a court sentenced more than 50 Sufis to jail. The defendants, along with their lawyers, were sentenced to a year in prison, fines and 74 lashes.
Christians also face severe problems in Iran. In May 2006, a Muslim convert to Christianity, Ali Kaboli, was taken into custody in Gorgan after several years of police surveillance and threatened with prosecution if he did not leave the country, according to the USCIRF report.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly has called for an end to the development of Christianity in Iran, according to the commission.
Another country on the commission's CPC list is Saudi Arabia. "The government of Saudi Arabia engages in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief," the report states.
Among the abuses committed by authorities are: torture and cruel and degrading treatment or punishment; prolonged detention without charges; and blatant denials of the right to liberty and security of the person.
Non-Muslims and Muslims from minority schools of Islam make up around 10-15% of the country's population. Nevertheless, the government vigorously maintains a ban on all forms of public expression outside the approved Hanbali school of Sunni Islam, explains the report.
The government even prohibits clergy entering the country for the purpose of performing private religious services for foreigners legally residing in Saudi Arabia.
Non-Muslims in Sudan
Another country singled out by the USCIRF report for its severe violations of religious freedom is Sudan. More than 2 million people were killed and 4 million driven from their homes in the North-South civil war from 1983 to January 2005.
Despite the signing of a peace agreement, severe human rights violations continue to be committed by the Sudanese government, states the report.
In government-controlled areas in the north of Sudan, Muslims are reported to receive preferential access to limited government services. They are also favored in court cases involving Muslim against non-Muslim. Moreover, the Islamic Shariah law is applied to the entire population, including Christians and followers of traditional African religions.
Public religious expression by non-Muslims is forbidden. One case cited by the commission took place in May 2006, when 4 Sudanese Christians, including an Episcopal priest, were detained following contact with a Muslim woman who may have been interested in converting to Christianity. Although they were released after a few days, three of them were reportedly beaten while in custody. Any converts to Christianity from Islam face such pressure that they have to flee the country.
Conditions in the western region of Sudan are also worrying. In the region of Darfur, government forces and militia forces have used brutal violence against civilians. So far efforts by the United Nations and the African Union to protect the population have been inadequate, judged the commission.
Restrictions in China
China is another country where the commission continues to report systematic violations of religious freedom. Legal reforms issued by the government in March 2005 "have not halted abuses and are used in some cases to justify arrests and other restrictions," the report stated.
The commission noted that relations between unregistered Catholic congregations and the officially recognized Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association (CPA) are strained due to government repression and the growing number of CPA bishops and priests secretly seeking ordination and approval of the Vatican. The ordinations last year of 3 bishops without Vatican consultation added to tensions.
According to the report there are at least 40 Catholic bishops or priests under arrest, imprisoned or detained, including the elderly Bishop Su Zhimin, who has been in prison, in detention, under house arrest or under strict surveillance since the 1970s.
Unregistered Protestant groups in China also face severe problems. In the last year, at least 110 Protestant leaders were detained for a period of 10 days or more, with at least 17 of these receiving prison sentences of one or more years, according to the report.
As well, estimates by the State Department put at "thousands" the number of house church members who were detained for short periods in the last year. Religious freedom, the report clearly shows, is still out of reach for a large part of the world's population.
Code: ZE07050729
Date: 2007-05-07