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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Urges More Efforts in Evangelizing Poor

SÃO PAULO, Brazil, MAY 7, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Church offers hope to the poor but -- unlike certain sects -- does not bribe people to convert to the faith by promising economic gains, says a Brazilian bishop.

Auxiliary Bishop Joaquim Mol Guimarães of Belo Horizonte, representing the Brazilian bishops' conference, made these comments Thursday to the press regarding a study on religious affiliation by the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

The study shows that although the percentage of Brazilians who are Catholic has remained stable, many of the country's poor have left the Church to join sects or neo-Pentecostal communities.

Bishop Mol Guimarães explained that this is due to the diffusion of a "theology of prosperity" among the poor by many neo-Pentecostal groups that link following Christ with social prosperity.

According to the foundation's research, the number of Catholics in Brazil grew at the same rate as the population between 2000 and 2003, representing 74% of the country's population.

The study also shows that more Brazilians claim a religious affiliation. In 2000, some 7.4% of those polled said they had no religious affiliation; in 2003 that number fell to 5.1%. This decrease occurred mainly among the poor.

Misery and vulnerability

Bishop Mol Guimarães said that the study points to a need to evangelize the outskirts of major cities, where the poor live in conditions of misery.

"This misery leaves the human person susceptible to solutions for their situation offered by various religions," he told ZENIT.

According to the bishop, people need to be raised from misery, or they will "base their choice of religion, or their decision to change religions, on this hope offered by the religious group."

Persons with a quality of life that reflects their dignity feel more free to choose a faith, a decision "which is a free act for each person," he added.

"They cannot be swayed by the promise of easy solutions," Bishop Mol Guimarães continued. "Better public policies for the poor give them the freedom to start living the life spelled out in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

"The Church's presence among the poor is a presence that increases the hope of these people, without disappointing them, so that they may get involved in the political process in order to improve their lives through the public forum and participate in programs offered by the Church."

Solidarity

Archbishop João Bráz de Aviz of Brasilia told ZENIT that the upcoming 5th General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean will focus on solidarity.

"What is necessary is a witness of brotherhood that speaks for itself," he said.

According to Archbishop Bráz de Aviz: "The major problem we have is linking faith in God to a change of mindset and our efforts toward others.

"It is vital that we, once again, unite these two aspects: the experience of God and brotherhood among people.

"Today we can give an authentic witness in which brotherhood is presented simply and truly. Everyone, including the poor, understands that."

Code: ZE07050706

Date: 2007-05-07

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Thanks President for Promising to Protect Life

WASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 7, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Cardinal Justin Rigali expressed his appreciation for U.S. President George Bush's promise to veto any legislation that destroys human life at any stage.

Bush's pledge that he "will veto any legislation that weakens current federal policies and laws on abortion, or that encourages destruction of human life at any stage" came in letters sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The cardinal, chairman of the Committee for Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. episcopal conference, thanked the president on Friday, the day after Bush sent the letters.

"I applaud President Bush for his letter yesterday to congressional leaders, pledging to veto any bill that weakens or rescinds current laws and policies protecting innocent human life," said Cardinal Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia.

"Equally welcome are the recent letters signed by 34 Senators and 155 members of the House of Representatives, promising to uphold such vetoes," the cardinal added.

"These pledges help ensure that through the rest of this administration and this Congress, Americans need not fear that the federal government will pursue new ways to force them to be involved in government-funded abortions, coercive populations programs abroad, or the destruction of embryonic human beings," Cardinal Rigali stated.

"Instead," he continued, "we should work together to build respect for human life at its most defenseless stages, and to support women and families facing an unintended pregnancy or caring for family members challenged by age, illness or disability."

Code: ZE07050712

Date: 2007-05-07

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Father C.J. McCloskey Shares Evangelization Tips

CHICAGO, MAY 7, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Every person a Catholic meets is a potential convert to the Church, says the author of a new book on how to share the faith.

Father C. John McCloskey, a priest of the prelature of Opus Dei and a research fellow at the Faith and Reason Institute, is known for aiding in the conversions of p residential candidate Sam Brownback, Judge Robert Bork, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, journalist Robert Novak, publisher Alfred Regnery and economist Lawrence Kudlow, to name a few.

Father McCloskey recently pooled his talents and knowledge with Russell Shaw to write "Good News, Bad News: Evangelization, Conversion and the Crisis of Faith" (Ignatius).

In this interview with ZENIT, Father McCloskey explains how evangelization and friendship go hand-in-hand, and why the Church and faithful Catholics are attractive to would-be converts.

Q: Why did you decide to write this book?

Father McCloskey: Actually, the idea came from my collaborator, the noted journalist and author Russell Shaw, who visited me while I was the director at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C., and suggested the idea.

Shaw thought my experiences and those of the people whom I have assisted on their journey into the Church would be helpful to inquiring potential converts and the many priests, religious and lay faithful who are eager to share their faith in a personal manner -- above all, through a strong friendship that leads to sharing one's great joy in being a Catholic.

I had written some how-to articles on this subject, along with a good number of Church history pieces that help to put my ideas and experience in a historical context.

We are in a glorious moment of the New Evangelization, fueled by the Holy Spirit, as evidenced in the pontificates of Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI; the teachings of the Second Vatican Council are being brought to full and proper fruition.

Q: What is the difference between good and bad proselytism?

Father McCloskey: Good proselytism involves respect for the dignity of the human person and their interior freedom.

Bad proselytism involves pressure and some form of coercion completely contrary to the freedom that Christ won for us on the cross. The truth makes us free, but it must be freely accepted to be effective.

Good proselytism comes through a sincere and close friendship in which the potential convert recognizes that his friend has only his temporal and eternal happiness at heart. The person eager to share his faith as an apostle should see himself as an instrument God is using to offer this gift to his friend to be freely accepted or rejected.

This is a process that can last months, years or even decades. I know there are instant conversions. I have read about them but have never seen one. I have, however, seen some persons "convert" too quickly, and in some cases later fall away.

There is always opportunity for a comeback, though -- the seals of baptism and confirmation remain, and so does God's love for them.

A committed Catholic is always on the lookout to share his faith with others any way he can, but the most effective way is the means by which the Church grew in the early centuries -- through the power of "personal influence," to use a phrase coined by Venerable John Henry Newman. That entails a good attractive example of Christian virtue combined with a deep prayer and sacramental life.

This, along with personal one-on-one or family-to-family friendship, fueled by grace, will inevitably create a powerful evangelizing environment that can overcome any "culture of death" -- whether that of the Roman Empire or that of our consumerist and sexualized society in the West.

It doesn't happen overnight. God has all the time in the world.

Q: What can the faithful do to convert those around them?

Father McCloskey: On a human level, I would suggest the same tips that are helpful in making friends.

First of all, be an interesting person, which above all means -- to the extent possible -- soaking yourself in Western culture by reading, listening to and seeing all that is good in it.

Second, become an expert in humanity. Understand and love people the way they are, seeing both what you can learn from them and what gifts you can give them.

As the expression goes, to make friends, be a friend. A serious Catholic should have dozens of friends of varying degrees of closeness.

Also, regard every non-Catholic, without exception, as a potential convert. That is Christ's will. He died for all, not for a few, and wants everyone to be his close and intimate friend as a part of his family, the Church.

On a supernatural level, as already mentioned, the more we are immersed in God through our participation in prayer, spiritual reading, the sacraments, and the teachings of the Church, the more God can work through us to bring people to him in the Church.

Above all, we should always be praying for our friend and helping him advance at God's pace. We should always be asking ourselves, "What does he need next, and how can I provide it?"

Q: What are the key things that attract people to the Catholic Church? Is it the doctrine? or the practice? or the works of charity?

Father McCloskey: All potential converts, like everybody else, are seeking happiness both in this life and the next. Otherwise, why bother?

In the Church they find an institution that claims to be Christ's mystical body, founded by him during his time on earth, and unashamedly teaching the truth based on divine Revelation as it comes to us through Scripture and Tradition.

What a joy it has been through the years to see people discover through study and prayer Christianity, which can and must be lived in order to learn that being good does make us happy.

At the same time, converts remember very well the type of lives they were living prior to discovering the Lord and his Church; they are deeply grateful for the grace of this found treasure and have an eagerness to share it with others. The truth did make them free.

I think, above all, people are attracted to the Church by their growing knowledge and love of the person of Jesus Christ. As they grow more curious in reading the New Testament and Church history, they realize that Christ did not leave his children orphans, but rather instituted a Church -- his family, his body -- where he resides until the second coming.

The Church provides the means: its Scripture, sacraments, its authoritative teaching, the example of the saints, etc., so that a new Catholic can grow in Christ and reach his goal of holiness in heaven.

Of course, they must see others who show by their behavior, their happiness, their practice of Christian piety and virtues, and by their practice of true Christian charity as exemplified in the spiritual and corporal works of mercies, that indeed the Church provides the means to live the Christian life fully it can be done.

They see this not only in canonized saints of the ancient past and more recent past, but even more importantly in their friends -- the people who precisely have been God's instrument in introducing them to Christ's Church.

Q: Are there any facets of Benedict XVI's teaching that strike a cord with would-be converts?

Father McCloskey: What stands out immediately is his short and potent encyclical letter on God as love.

The fact that a much misunderstood and maligned German cardinal became a Pope who does not throw out anathemas but rather writes on "eros" and "agape," and speaks about the essential importance of concrete acts of charity to the poor, infirm and underprivileged -- both corporately and in personal actions of each of its members -- to the Church's mission underlines the Church's message that indeed God is love.

I also think it has been helpful to see the wonderfully seamless transition from two men with such a different personalities as John Paul the Great and Benedict XVI, arguably two of the most powerful intellects of the past century as, respectively, a philosopher and a theologian.

Remember that virtually all the converts of last 25 years never knew any Pope other than John Paul II. While the Church certainly does not depend solely on the holiness of its hierarchy, it certainly doesn't hurt.

Q: How do you see the state of other religions, in the face of increasingly complex bioethical and moral issues?

Father McCloskey: To put it simply, no other Christian church or ecclesial community really even attempts to speak authoritatively on such questions. They simply do not have the tradition -- or could we say the magisterial grace -- to be able to examine these complex issues.

Indeed, those communities closer to the Catholic Church often simply defer to its teachings, trusting in its millennial tradition and moral theology even if they do not recognize its unique claim as the one Church founded by Christ.

Only the Catholic Church institutionally provides prudent and clear teachings that guard the good and dignity of the human person from conception until a natural death.

This role is imperative, in light of the continuing rapid progress both in scientific and medical knowledge that can be utilized for good or for evil as applied to the human person, particularly in medical-moral questions involving procreation and in the origins of life.

Converts see this as sign of the divine authority of the Church using its vast experience and wisdom to facilitate clear moral choices.

Code: ZE07050713

Date: 2007-05-07

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Russia - On May 6, The Commemoration Day of St. George the Conqueror, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and all Russia celebrated the divine liturgy and a thanksgiving at St. George’s on Poklonnaya Hill.

The primate of the Russian Orthodox Church was assisted by Archbishop Alexy of Orekhovo-Zuevo, Bishop Alexander of Dmitrov, Archpriest Vladimir Divakov, dean of the central church district, Archpriest Georgy Studenov, dean of the Mikhailovky church district, Archpriest Sergiy Suzdaltsev, the first rector of St. George’s, and the present rector of St. George’s, Rev. Serafim Nedosekin. Among the worshippers were G. Poltavchenko, presidential envoy to Central Russia, and General V. Varennikov, president of the International League for Human Dignity and Security.

After the service, Father Serafim Nedosekin addressed His Holiness Patriarch Alexy, thanking him for his paternal care and presenting him with an Icon of the Saviour for prayerful memory.

In his response, His Holiness noted the significance of the prayerful intercession of St. George. Speaking about the coming Victory Day, His Holiness stressed that it was necessary to revere and honor the memory of those who defended the Fatherland and who gave their lives to deliver their people and country from fascism. He also expressed regret that the memory of those who fell in the war with fascism was not honored in a proper way in some places.

The primate of the Russian Orthodox Church congratulated G. Poltavchenko on his Name-Day and gave him a host. He also mentioned that Moscow Mayor Luzhkov was also celebrating his name-day that day.

His Holiness also gave his blessing upon the airborne procession with the cross that started that day to the Golden Ring cities in Russia and gave an icon of St. George to V. Varennikov as one of its initiators. The latter said the flight around Moscow with an icon of the heavenly protector of the city was made to imitate the flights made around Moscow with the miracle-working Icon of Our Lady of Tikhvin during the Great Patriotic War.

His Holiness Alexy congratulated the first rector of St. George’s, Archpriest Sergey Suzdaltsev, on the patronal feast, thanked him for his work and presented him with flowers. His Holiness also granted Rev. Serafim Nedosekin the right to wear a pectoral cross and expressed the hope that he, as a successor to the previous rector, would work hard for the benefit of the Parish of St. George.

Then V. Varennikov decorated the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church and the President Envoy for Central Russia with the Order of the International League for Human Dignity and Security. He said it was not accidental that the Commemoration Day of St. George and the Victory Day were so close in time. According to Gen. Varennikov, the intercession of St. George helped the Russian people to come victorious in the Great Patriotic War.

After the service, the participants in the procession with the cross moved to the helipad from this a MI-8 took off, carrying, along with the Icon of St. George, the Icon of Our Lady of Tikhvin and icons of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky, the Righteous Fyodor Ushakov with parts of his relics and a cypress cross with parts of the Holy Cross.

DECR Communication Service

www.mospat.ru

Original Story: http://www.mospat.ru/index.php?page=36138  

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

VATICAN CITY, MAY 5, 2007 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican, the Holy Father received 38 new recruits to the Pontifical Swiss Guard who tomorrow will take the oath as members of that corps. Family members and friends of the new recruits accompanied them in their meeting with the Pope.

Speaking in German, French and Italian, Benedict XVI pointed out how the Pontifical Swiss Guard has "a long history of loyalty and of generous and dedicated service, sometimes performed even unto the heroic sacrifice of life." In this context, he expressed his gratitude for "your silent but effective presence at the Pope's side. Thank you for the professionalism and for the love with which you undertake your mission.

"Indeed, yours is not just a professional service," he added, "it is also a true mission in the service of Christ and of His Church. ... The Lord calls you to sanctity, in other words to be His disciples, always ready to listen to His voice, to undertake His will and to accomplish it in your daily duties. This will help to make you 'good Christians' and at the same time 'exemplary soldiers,' animated by that evangelical spirit that makes of all the baptized a 'leavening' to ferment the dough and a 'light' to illuminate and warm the workplace and the home."

"May the Lord," the Pope told the guards, "help you to accomplish your mission ... with courage and loyalty. To this end, never cease to nourish your spirit with prayer and with listening to the Word of God. Participate devotedly in Mass and cultivate a filial devotion towards Mary. Invoke and seek to imitate your patron saints - Martin, Sebastian and Niklaus von Flue 'defensor pacis et pater patriae' - that they may assist you from above and that you may 'serve the Supreme Pontiff and his legitimate successors faithfully, loyally and honorably' as each of you says in the words of your oath."

AC/FAITHFULNESS/SWISS GUARDVIS 070507 (340)

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VATICAN CITY, MAY 6, 2007 (VIS) - At midday today, the Holy Father appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to pray the Regina Coeli with the thousands of people filling St. Peter's Square below.

Before the Marian prayer, the Pope recalled how the month of May "is for many Christian communities the Marian month par excellence. As such it has, over the course of the centuries, become one of the forms of devotion most dear to people and has always been adopted by pastors as an opportunity for preaching, catechesis and community prayer."

Benedict XVI indicated how following Vatican Council II "Marian devotion underwent a profound renewal. And the month of May, which partly coincides with Easter time, is an appropriate moment to present the figure of Mary as the Mother who accompanied the community of disciples gathered in joint prayer while they awaited the Holy Spirit. This month, then, can be an occasion to return to the faith of the early Church and, together with Mary, to understand that today too our mission is to announce and bear witness with courage and joy to Christ, crucified and risen, the hope of humanity.

"To the Holy Virgin, Mother of the Church," the Pope added, "I wish to entrust the apostolic trip I will make to Brazil from May 9 to 14. Like my venerated predecessors Paul VI and John Paul II, I will preside at the opening of a General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean," the fifth such meeting "which will take place next Sunday at the great national shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, in the city of that name."

This, said the Pope, "is my first pastoral visit to Latin America and I am preparing myself spiritually to meet the ... subcontinent where almost half the world's Catholics live, many of them young. For this reason it has been called 'the continent of hope:' a hope that touches not only the Church, but all America and the word entire."

Pope Benedict called upon the faithful to pray to Mary Most Holy "for this apostolic pilgrimage and, in particular, for the Fifth General Conference of the Episcopate of Latin America and the Caribbean, so that all Christians of those regions may feel themselves as disciples and missionaries of Christ, Way, Truth and Life."

He concluded: "There are many different challenges facing us at the present moment, that is why it is important for Christians to be formed to become a 'ferment' of goodness and a 'light' of sanctity in our world."

ANG/VIRGIN: BRAZIL TRIP/...VIS 070507 (450)