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BEIJING, APRIL 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Chinese Patriotic Association said it will "cautiously and seriously" select the successor of Bishop Michael Fu Tieshan, the state-approved prelate who died on Friday.

Bishop Fu, who died of lung cancer, was appointed by the Patriotic Association in 1979, without Rome's approval.

Last year, three illicit episcopal ordinations further complicated hopes for the re-establishment of ties between China and the Vatican, which were severed in 1951.

According to the South China Morning Post, the vice chairman of the Patriotic Association said that Bishop Fu's greatest wish was the normalization of ties with the Vatican.

However, the official reiterated China's conditions for establishing diplomatic ties with the Holy See: severing relations with Taiwan and "not meddling with internal affairs," which China understands to include the naming of bishops.

Benedict XVI has said he'll write a letter to Chinese Catholics. And after a Vatican study earlier this year of the Church's situation in China, there is talk that a commission will be established to further evaluate the issue.

Code: ZE07042209

Date: 2007-04-22

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Interview With Father Rovert Prevost

ROME, APRIL 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The prior general of the Augustinians says that Benedict XVI's reflections on the Fathers of the Church is the apex of the re-evalution of those figures begun with the Second Vatican Council.

The Pope is in Pavia today, paying a visit to the tomb of St. Augustine. The bishop of Hippo was the topic of the then Father Joseph Ratzinger's doctoral thesis.

In this interview with ZENIT, Father Prevost reflects on the Holy Father's fascination with St. Augustine.

Q: How did this visit of the Pope to Pavia come about?

Father Prevost: In October 2005, with Bishop Giovanni Giudici of Pavia, we invited the Pope to Pavia precisely to celebrate the 750th anniversary of the Grand Union, the last act of the foundation of the Order of St. Augustine.

In November of the same year we received the affirmative response of the Pope through the Vatican secretary of state. The date was left to be determined.

This event was concretized in the pastoral visit to the Dioceses of Vigevano and Pavia, a visit that will conclude in the Basilica of St. Peters in the Golden Sky, the place where the relics of St. Augustine have been kept since about 725, when the king of the Lombards, Liutprand, had them brought to Pavia from Sardinia.

Q: Benedict XVI has a special moment in this visit to pray to the saint who was such an inspiration for his life and thought.

Father Prevost: Exactly. In St. Peter's in the Golden Sky the Pope is meeting together with the clergy and consecrated persons to celebrate vespers.

The Pope is very close to the figure of St. Augustine. In 1953 he wrote his doctoral thesis on the Holy Doctor: "People and House of God in St. Augustine's Doctrine of the Church."

In the course of his visit to the Major Seminary of Rome on Feb. 17, 2007, the Pope said that he was fascinated by the great humanity of St. Augustine, who was not able initially simply to identify himself with the Church, because he was a catechumen, but had to struggle spiritually to find, little by little, the way to God's word, to life with God, right up to the great "yes" to his Church.

This is how he conquered his very personal theology, which is above all developed in his preaching.

The Pope has made many direct references, for example the synthesis of the figure of St. Augustine presented during the Angelus on Aug. 27, 2006, the eve of the feast of St. Augustine.

He spoke of him as "the great pastor" in the meeting with the parishioners and clergy of the Diocese of Rome on Feb. 22, 2007. He recalls him in the last postsynodal apostolic exhortation "Sacramentum Caritatis" on the Eucharist, food of truth, gratuitous gift of the Holy Trinity, the "Christus Totus," that is, the indivisible Christ, the whole together in the image of the head and members of the body.

In the reflections of Benedict XVI we can see the apex of the re-evaluation of the Fathers of the Church, and Augustine in particular, already begun by Vatican II and present in the principal documents of the Church.

Q: What will remain of this visit of the Pope to the Augustinians?

Father Prevost: Above all the honor and privilege of having him as a guest, and also, during his visit to the basilica, he will bless the first stone of the future cultural center, named for Benedict XVI, which will relaunch some initiatives already in existence, for example, "Pavian Augustinian Week," with new initiatives, giving life to a new cultural pole that has St. Augustine as its guide.

There is also a lamp that the Pope lit before the celebration of vespers that will always remain lit next to the mortal remains of the saint. This light is meant to indicate that Augustine is still alive today, in his works and in those who live his spirituality, as we Augustinians do for example. In fact, around the ark there are 50 little flames that burn, which signify the 50 countries where we friars, together with the nuns, are present.

Q: A final question. What other Popes have prayed at the tomb of Augustine?

Father Prevost: John Paul II, at the beginning of his pontificate; then we would have to go too far back in time to find another. But Cardinal Roncalli, the future John XXIII, and Cardinal Montini, the future Paul VI, visited it along with many other illustrious visitors.

Code: ZE07042212

Date: 2007-04-22

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

"A Common Good … an Inalienable Right"

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the message sent by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, on behalf of Benedict XVI for World Water Day. The message was sent to Jacques Diouf, director general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, headquartered in Rome.

* * *

Message by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, on behalf of the Holy Father, on the occasion of the celebration for the World Water Day (March 22, 2007)

Mr Jacques Diouf,

On the occasion of today's celebration of World Water Day, His Holiness Benedict XVI charges me to convey to you, Mr Director General, and to all the participants at this meeting respectful and cordial greetings and encouragement for your action in favour of those in the world who are suffering from a shortage of water.

In the context of the Decade 2005/ 2015, which the General Assembly of the United Nations has declared "The International Decade of Action: Water for life", this year's theme: Coping with water scarcity, gives us an opportunity to think about the importance of water as a source of life whose availability is essential for the vital cycles of the earth and fundamental for a fully human existence.

We are all aware of the difficulty of achieving at a world level the goal fixed by the international community to halve the number of people who are without access to healthy water and basic hygiene services by 2015, through the development, among other things, of integrated management plans and an efficient use of water resources.

However, we are likewise all convinced of the importance of not falling short of these goals, given the centrality of water in any process destined to foster the promotion of an integral human development.

Furthermore, appropriate investments in the sector of water and hygiene services represent a significant mechanism for accelerating economic growth and sustainable development, for improving human health and hygiene, for uprooting poverty and for combating the degradation of the environment.

Water, a common good of the human family, constitutes an essential element for life; the management of this precious resource must enable all to have access to it, especially those who live in conditions of poverty, and must guarantee the liveability of the planet for both the present and future generations.

Access to water is in fact one of the inalienable rights of every human being, because it is a prerequisite for the realization of the majority of the other human rights, such as the rights to life, to food and to health.

For this reason, water "cannot be treated as just another commodity among many, and it must be used rationally and in solidarity with others. ... The right to water ... finds its basis in human dignity and not in any kind of merely quantitative assessment that considers water as a merely economic good. Without water, life is threatened. Therefore, the right to safe drinking water is a universal and inalienable right" (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, n. 485).

World Water Day is a precious opportunity to encourage the international community to identify effective ways to permit this basic human right to be promoted, protected and enjoyed.

In this regard, the sustainable management of water becomes a social, economic, environmental and ethical challenge that involves not only institutions but the whole of society.

It should be faced in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, that is, through the adoption of a participatory approach that involves both the private sector and above all the local communities; the principle of solidarity, a fundamental pillar of international cooperation, which requires a preferential attention to the poor; the principle of responsibility to the present generation and those to come, from which derives the consequent need to re-examine the models of consumption and production, often unsustainable with regard to the use of water resources.

It is in addition a responsibility that must be shared and that becomes a moral and political imperative in a world that has levels of know-how and technologies that are capable of putting an end to situations of water scarcity and to their dramatic consequences that affect in particular the regions with a lower income, in which access to water can often spark real conflicts, whereas it can become a motive for interregional cooperation wherever people appreciate a farsighted approach founded on hydrological interdependence that binds those who use the water resource in neighbouring countries in a joint agreement.

These are aspects, Mr Director General, that not only demand the responsibility of government leaders and politicians, but that challenge every individual. We are all called to renew our life-styles with an educational effort that can reassign to this common good of humanity the value and respect that it ought to have in our society.

Moreover, an educational effort of this kind could draw from many sacred texts of the traditional religions, such as the Bible, where water is symbolically a source and a sign of life and its presence is often associated with joy and fertility, assuming in addition a role of purification, renewal and rebirth.

On this World Water Day, the Holy Father invokes the Lord's Blessings on all those who are committed to reaching the goals concerning water that have been set by the international community. Mr Director General, I am honoured to convey to you this Message from His Holiness and ask you to accept the expression of my highest esteem.

From the Vatican, 22 March 2007

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone
Secretary of State of His Holiness

[Translation issued by the Holy See]

© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Code: ZE07042228

Date: 2007-04-22

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Poverty Falls, Many Problems Remain

By Father John Flynn

ROME, APRIL 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Global poverty is falling, according to data just published by the World Bank. New estimates in the World Development Indicators 2007 show that the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day fell to 18.4% in 2004, explained the World Bank in a press release dated April 15.

In concrete numbers this means there are an estimated 985 million people living in extreme poverty. While still a very large number, it is an improvement. In 1990 the number was 1.25 billion.

In spite of the progress made, poverty is still an enormous problem. If the daily rate is raised to those who are living on $2 a day or less, then there are an estimated 2.6 billion people in this situation.

Nevertheless, the World Bank reported that developing countries have averaged a solid 3.9% annual growth in gross domestic product per capita a year since 2000. Another important factor in the lower poverty numbers was China's strong economic growth.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains problematic. In 2004, there were 298 million people living in extreme poverty. This, the World Bank observed, is practically the same number as in 1999.

The World Bank also commented that growth is not always enough to reduce poverty, given that in some countries inequality has worsened, leaving the poor without benefits from economic progress.

The World Bank's own poverty programs have also been criticized. An internal report, published late last year by the organization's Independent Evaluation Group, noted that only 2 in 5 borrowing countries have recorded continuous per capita income growth during the five years ending in 2005.

According to the "Annual Review of Development Effectiveness 2006," the World Bank's assistance often contributed to improving economic growth in countries, but it was less successful in bringing about the creation of jobs. The report also commented on the problem of worsening income inequality, which can reduce the contribution of economic growth to poverty reduction.

Aid commitments not met

Meanwhile, data published earlier this month by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reveals that richer countries are falling behind in their aid to the Third World.

The 22 member-countries of the OECD Development Assistance Committee, the world's major donors, provided $103.9 billion in aid in 2006, the organization stated in data published April 3 on aid levels. This was down by 5.1% from 2005, in constant 2005 dollars. The $103.9 billion in aid represents 0.3% of the combined gross national income of the countries involved.

The only countries to reach or exceed the U.N. target of 0.7% of gross national income were Sweden, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands and Denmark. In terms of the dollar amount given, the largest donor in 2006 was the United States, followed by the United Kingdom, Japan, France and Germany.

In part, the decline was due to unusually high levels of aid in 2005, largely due to debt relief operations in Iraq and Nigeria. If debt relief is excluded, then the decline in aid in 2006 is reduced to 1.8%.

In its press release the OECD also observed that aid to sub-Saharan Africa, excluding debt relief, was static in 2006. This is despite a commitment made by the G8 countries in the July Gleneagles summit to double aid to Africa by 2010.

The OECD had previously warned of the shortfall in aid, in its Development Cooperation Report. An OECD press release issued Feb. 22 explained that if countries are to meet the commitments for 2010 made to developing nations, aid funding would have to rise sharply.

In addition to doubling aid to Africa, richer nations have also undertaken to increase aid to $130 billion by 2010.

Progress in resolving problems with international trade is also lagging. Attention was drawn to this by the Holy See's permanent observer to the United Nations in New York, Archbishop Celestino Migliore.

In a speech given before a U.N. committee last Oct. 17, he stated that no substantial progress has been made in meeting commitments given in 2001 at the 4th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization.

Trade, Archbishop Migliore noted, is not simply a complement to aid and debt relief. "Trade is rather a priority for the general and sustainable growth of the economies of many developing countries," he said.

Moral responsibility

The Pope has spoken out on a number of occasions on matters related to poverty and economic development. "Once again I invite the leaders of the wealthiest nations to take the necessary steps to ensure that poor countries, which often have a wealth of natural resources, are able to benefit from the fruits of goods that are rightfully theirs," he said Jan. 8 in his annual speech to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church also speaks clearly on the matter: "Rich nations have a grave moral responsibility toward those which are unable to ensure the means of their development by themselves or have been prevented from doing so by tragic historical events" (No. 2439).

For those who argue that the Church is meddling in affairs outside its competence, the Catechism points out that the Church leaves to the laity the work of directly intervening in these matters (No. 2442).

Moreover, the Church does not propose a specific program, as action in this area can legitimately take a variety of forms. What is important, the Catechism continues, is that the action taken be inspired by the message of the Gospel, the common good, and the teaching of the Church.

Benedict XVI developed in greater depth the Church's contribution in his 2006 message for Lent. The primary contribution of the Church does not consist in technical solutions, but in proclaiming the truth of Christ, he explained. It is Christ, the Pope added, "who educates consciences and teaches the authentic dignity of the person and of work."

The Catechism also states that the responsibility to help poorer nations is not just a question of justice, but is also a duty of charity (No. 2439). The Pope's 2006 Lent message spoke of the role of charity, noting that "no economic, social, or political project can replace that gift of self to another through which charity is expressed."

The worst poverty is not to know Christ, the Pope added, citing Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Therefore, he continued, "we must help others to find God in the merciful face of Christ. Without this perspective, civilization lacks a solid foundation."

In this moral dimension of development the family plays an important role, as the Pontiff explained in his speech given Oct. 16 to Jacques Diouf, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Addressing the question of rural development, the Pontiff argued that the family needed to be given priority. The moral principles and values which govern the family, the Pope explained, must be given priority. Matters such as relations between husband and wife and family solidarity need to be protected. "Investment in the agricultural sector has to allow the family to assume its proper place and function, avoiding the damaging consequences of hedonism and materialism that can place marriage and family life at risk," he urged.

The Pope also called for a renewed commitment to solidarity and cooperation between states. By so doing the spirit of justice, peace and harmony will be built up among peoples, he concluded. A timely message for a world in which many suffer from material and spiritual poverty.

Code: ZE07042229

Date: 2007-04-22

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Encourages Hospital Staff and Ill to Promote Values

PAVIA, Italy, APRIL 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI asks that scientific and technological progress always be accompanied by the promotion of fundamental values such as respect for life in all of its stages.

The Pope recalled this today when visiting St. Matthew's Hospital in Pavia, a northern Italian city that the Holy Father is visiting to pray at St. Augustine's tomb. The tomb is located there in the Basilica of St. Peters in the Golden Sky.

"Here, you try to alleviate people's suffering, looking at the same time for their full recovery and often -- thanks to modern scientific discoveries -- with very satisfactory results," the Pontiff said when addressing the personnel and patients of the hospital.

"I truly hope that necessary scientific and technological progress would be constantly accompanied by the awareness of promoting -- together with the good of the sick person -- fundamental values like the respect for and defense of life at all its stages," Benedict XVI added.

A hospital, he said, "is a place that in a certain sense we could call 'sacred,' where the fragility of life and human nature is experienced, as well as humanity's enormous potential and ingenious resources and technology at the service of life."

Expressing his spiritual closeness to the sick people, the Pope told them: "Suffering repulses the human being, but when it is welcomed with love because of faith, it becomes a precious occasion to be united in a mysterious way with Christ the redeemer, who, on the cross, took on the death and all of the pain of humanity."

Code: ZE07042207

Date: 2007-04-22

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Visits Tomb of Doctor of the Church

PAVIA, Italy, APRIL 22, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI presented his theological master, Augustine of Hippo, as a model for conversion in today's world.

The Pope said that today on the occasion of his pastoral visit to Pavia, the Italian city where the saint's tomb is found.

The Holy Father dedicated his homily to the bishop and doctor of the Church (354-430) during an open-air Mass. St. Augustine was the object of the then Father Joseph Ratzinger's doctoral thesis.

Before at least 20,000 faithful, the Bishop of Rome explained that "because Jesus, the risen one, lives even today," it is necessary to follow him along the road of conversion.

"But what is that? What has to be done?" the Pope asked.

Benedict XVI illustrated Augustine's path to conversion, recalling the "three conversions" that the saint experienced, which "in fact were a single great conversion in seeking the face of Christ and then walking together with him."

First conversion

"The first fundamental conversion was the interior road to Christianity, toward the 'yes' of faith and baptism," he explained. According to some historians, Augustine's baptism took place on Easter in 387.

Augustine "was always tormented by the question of truth. He wanted to find truth," the Holy Father explained.

"He always believed -- sometimes rather vaguely, sometimes more clearly -- that God exists and takes care of us," the Pontiff said. "But to truly know this God and Jesus Christ and come to say 'yes' to him with all the consequences this entails -- this was the great interior struggle of his youth.

"He tells us that, by means of Platonic philosophy, he accepted and recognized that 'in the beginning was the Word,' the Logos, creative reason. But philosophy did not show him any road to reach this Word; this Logos remained distant and intangible.

"Only in the faith of the Church did he find the second essential truth: The Word was made flesh. And in this way he touches us and we touch him."

Augustine's "second conversion" took place after his baptism in Hippo, in Africa; he founded a small monastery and by popular demand was ordained a priest by force, the Pope explained.

Second conversion

Benedict XVI continued: "The beautiful dream of the contemplative life disappeared, Augustine's life fundamentally changed. Now he had to live with Christ for all.

"He had to translate his knowledge and sublime thoughts into the thought and language of the simple folk of his city.

"The great philosophical work of a lifetime, which he had dreamed of, remained unwritten. In its place we were given the gift of something more precious: the Gospel translated into the language of daily life."

"This was the second conversion that this man, struggling and suffering, had to undergo," the Pope added. "He must always be there for everyone; always with Christ he must give his own life so that others might find Christ, the true Life."

Third conversion

St. Augustine's third conversion took place when he discovered that "only one is truly perfect and that the words of the Sermon on the Mount are completely realized only in one person: in Jesus Christ himself," the Holy Father said.

He added: "On the other hand, the whole Church -- all of us, including the apostles -- must pray every day: Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, St. Augustine wrote.

"Augustine saw the final step of humility -- not only the humility of inserting his great thought into the faith of the Church, not only the humility of translating his great knowledge into the simplicity of proclamation, but also the humility of recognizing that the merciful goodness of a God who forgives was necessary for him and the whole pilgrim Church.

"And we make ourselves resemble Christ, the perfect one, to the greatest extent possible, when we become merciful persons like him."

Benedict XVI concluded with this exhortation: "In this hour let us thank God for the great light that radiates from the wisdom and humility of St. Augustine and let us pray to the Lord that he give all of us the necessary conversion each day and thus lead us to the true life."

Code: ZE07042201

Date: 2007-04-22