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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Sends Message to Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences

VATICAN CITY, MAY 3, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is emphasizing that even in the most just society, there will always be a place for charity.

The Pope said that in a note sent to Mary Ann Glendon, president of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences, on the occasion of its plenary assembly.

The assembly was held April 27-May 1 and considered the theme "Charity and Justice in the Relations Among Peoples and Nations."

The Holy Father wrote: "The Church's conviction of the inseparability of justice and charity is ultimately born of her experience of the revelation of God's infinite justice and mercy in Jesus Christ, and it finds expression in her insistence that man himself and his irreducible dignity must be at the centre of political and social life."

The Pontiff highlighted the principle of the universal destination of the goods of creation.

"According to this fundamental principle," he said, "everything that the earth produces and all that man transforms and manufactures, all his knowledge and technology, is meant to serve the material and spiritual development and fulfilment of the human family and all its members."

3 challenges

Benedict XVI called attention to three issues, "which I believe can only be met through a firm commitment to that greater justice which is inspired by charity."

The first was the environment and sustainable development. The Pope called for greater protection of the world's resources, while keeping in mind the plight of poor countries.

He also mentioned the challenge of the "conception of the human person and consequently our relationships with one another."

A third challenge, the Holy Father said, "relates to the values of the spirit. Pressed by economic worries, we tend to forget that, unlike material goods, those spiritual goods which are properly human expand and multiply when communicated."

Glendon's message

After the plenary session concluded on Tuesday, Glendon, the academy president, gave an overview of the results.

She explained that this year's meeting is part of a "broader project of the academy on questions arising from globalization."

Glendon said: "Over several years, these meetings have provided academy members with much data and creative thinking. While we are not in a position today to speak about any final conclusions, I hope to give you a sense of what we have been doing this week.

"In the coming months, academy members will further discuss what we have heard here, and be in a position to arrive at some conclusions for a final report."

The Harvard law professor gave an overview of expert interventions which the academy considered.

She gave special focus to the principle of subsidiarity.

"In Catholic social thinking, the concept of subsidiarity allows space for individuals, families and communities to practice the virtues of charity and justice without being usurped by an all-powerful state," Glendon said. "At the level of nations, is there room to allow for charity and justice to be exercised as virtues?

"There can be no doubt that the Catholic Church, in its teachings on the unity of the human race and the universal destination of material goods, stands on the side of institutions which promote peace and harmony between nations.

"But the challenge is for those institutions to allow ample space for the virtues of charity and justice as well.

"The work of our academy in the months ahead is to look at concrete proposals in that regard."

Code: ZE07050311

Date: 2007-05-03

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Assails Verbal Attack on Pope

VATICAN CITY, MAY 3, 2007 (Zenit.org).- A Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, says a comment referring to Benedict XVI at a traditional May Day concert was an irresponsible act.

The traditional concert is sponsored by Italy's labor unions and held outside of the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

Andrea Rivera, one of the presenters on Tuesday, said, among other things, "The Pope does not believe in evolutionism," because "the Church has never evolved."

Father Lombardi said Wednesday, on the television news of the Italian state broadcaster, that "the irreverent comments directed at the Pope and the Church during the May Day concert were clearly an act of irresponsibility. It is right to say so, and the trade union representatives were right to dissociate themselves" from those comments.

Wednesday's edition of the semiofficial Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, criticized the comments by saying "it is a contemptible and terroristic act to throw stones, this time even against the Pope, while feeling protected by cries of approval from an easily excitable crowd."

Father Lombardi, agreeing with both Giorgio Napolitano, president of Italy, and Cardinal Tarciso Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, clarified: "It would be as well for all of us to seek to diffuse tensions and to re-create conditions for serene dialogue in our society.

"In this way, it is right that what was an evident act of foolishness should not become a tragedy and an opportunity to reignite huge conflicts."

Code: ZE07050315

Date: 2007-05-03

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

By Theodore Kalmoukos - Special to The National Herald (via www.acrod.org)

BOSTON – In a confidential letter to Recep Tayyip Erdogan dated August 28, 2003 (Protocol Number 801), just a few months after Mr. Erdogan was elected prime minister of Turkey, His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople importunes the Turkish Government to change its policies and political stance towards the Patriarchate.

In his letter, the Patriarch noted that, “in the year 1927, 100 thousand Greeks lived in Constantinople. Today, that number has been shrunk to 2,000 and even less,” and refers to the “extermination” of the Greek Orthodox population in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul).

The Patriarch also made particular reference to the law which stipulates that candidates for the Patriarchy must be Turkish citizens. In the letter, the Patriarch said this law is “irrational,” stating that, “unless this rule changes in the near future, there will be no one to become Patriarch.”

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

03.05.2007, [14:48] // Pope Benedict XVI // RISU.ORG.UA

Vatican-Kiev – Pope Benedict XVI has agreed to meet with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. According to the press service of the Holy See, the meeting will take place in the Vatican on 7 May 2007. Yushchenko will also visit Ukrainian immigrants in Rome, as planned. maidan.org.ua posted the news on 30 April 2007.

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

03.05.2007, [14:46] // UGCC // RISU.ORG.UA   

Lviv – “The strength of the individual and the whole people is in their sobriety…” These words of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytskyi, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) from 1901 to 1944, became the motto of the open conference “Problems of alcoholism: State of affairs, treatment and pastoral help,” devoted to the Day of the Sick, which took place on 27 April 2007. It was organized by the Commission on Matters of Health Ministry of the Lviv Archeparchy of the UGCC and supported by the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU).

According to Dr. Oleh Turii, director of UCU’s Institute of Church History, the historical experience of the UGCC in this sphere should not be neglected in modern conditions. The activity of Metropolitan Joseph Sembratowicz may serve as a bright example of the active participation of the church in the struggle against alcoholism in the late 19th century, in particular his pastoral message “On high human dignity,” given to western Ukrainian clergy in 1874. It analyzed the state of the problem, clearly explained why alcoholism is a sin and to what other sins it leads, and how to solve the problem, among other things by establishing sobriety societies at parishes, which effectively opposed the spread of alcoholism.

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

VATICAN CITY, MAY 3, 2007 (VIS) - In a declaration released yesterday afternoon on TG1 (the television news of RAI, the Italian State broadcaster), Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. affirmed that "the irreverent comments directed at the Pope and the Church during the May Day concert were clearly an act of irresponsibility. It is right to say so, and the trade union representatives were right to disassociate themselves" from those comments.

Fr. Lombardi was referring to remarks made by one of the presenters of the concert, which is traditionally held on May 1 every year in the center of Rome. The presenter, Diego Rivera, said, among other things, that "the Pope does not believe in evolutionism," because "the Church has never evolved."

Yesterday's edition of the Vatican daily newspaper, the "Osservatore Romano," described the comments by saying "it is a contemptible and terroristic act to throw stones, this time even against the Pope, while feeling protected by cries of approval from an easily excitable crowd."

Speaking on TG1, the Holy See Press Office Director made it clear that, as both Giorgio Napolitano, president of the Italian Republic, and Cardinal Secretary of State Tarciso Bertone S.D.B. had pointed out, "it would be as well for all of us to seek to diffuse tensions and to re-create conditions for serene dialogue in our society. In this way, it is right that what was an evident act of foolishness should not become a tragedy and an opportunity to re-ignite huge conflicts."

.../MAY DAY CONCERT/LOMBARDIVIS 070503 (270)