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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Pope OKs Publication of Report on Limbo

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 20, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI authorized the publication of a report that expresses the hope that babies who die without baptism are able to get to heaven.

The report by the International Theological Commission, published today, concluded that there are serious theological and liturgical grounds for the hope that such babies are saved and enjoy the beatific vision.

The commission says the theological hypothesis of "limbo" appeared to be based on an unduly restrictive view of salvation.

The 41-page document noted this is an "urgent pastoral problem," especially because of the large number of unbaptized babies who die as victims of abortion.

The commission's documents are not considered official expressions of the magisterium. But the commission does help the Holy See to examine important doctrinal issues.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church in No. 1261 explains: "As regards children who have died without baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them.

"Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus' tenderness toward children which caused him to say: 'Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,' allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without baptism.

"All the more urgent is the Church's call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy baptism."

Code: ZE07042008

Date: 2007-04-20

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Interview With Official of Pro-life Government-Funded Agency

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, APRIL 19, 2007 (Zenit.org).- In 1995, Pennsylvania started a bold, state-funded initiative to reduce the number of abortions by providing pregnant women the necessary resources to keep their children.

In this interview with ZENIT, Kevin Bagatta, president & chief executive officer of Real Alternatives, (www.realalternatives.org/aboutus), discusses the Pennsylvania Alternative to Abortion Services Program and how it has helped abortion rates in the state to fall steadily.

Q: How did you get involved in Real Alternatives?

Bagatta: My three brothers and I were born and raised on Long Island, New York. Both of our parents are handicapped. My Italian-American dad, a World War II veteran, walks with cane and a brace and my Irish-American mom became paralyzed with polio during the polio epidemic.

They both taught us -- and still do -- the true value of life. Having watched the culture of death practiced by Nazi Germany, they immediately explained to my brothers and I how wrong the Roe vs. Wade decision was that legalized abortion in America and the ill effects it would have on our country.

Q: Real Alternatives seeks to encourage childbirth instead of abortion. How did it begin?

Bagatta: In 1994, Pennsylvania Governor Robert Casey placed alternative to abortion services program funding in the state budget.

In 1995, I answered an advertisement in the local newspaper from a pro-life organization looking for a director to start a statewide government-funded program.

Real Alternatives was established to be the statewide administrator of the Pennsylvania Alternative to Abortions Services Program [PAASP].

With a dedicated staff of 12 and nine board members, we contract with 120 service providers made up of pregnancy support centers, social service agencies like Catholic Charities, adoption agencies and maternity homes throughout the state to reach out to women in unplanned or crisis pregnancies.

The concept of government-funded social services is not new.

Well over 30 years ago, the state saw nonprofit charitable agencies that served women who were in a unique crisis either due to domestic violence or rape, and decided to fund them so they would provide more service and reach more women.

With PAASP, the state saw nonprofit charitable agencies serving women who uniquely experience another type of crisis -- an unplanned pregnancy. By funding these nonprofit charities, the centers would be able to have the necessary resources to reach more women.

That is exactly what has happened. In fiscal year 1996, we served 6,715 women statewide with 72 centers. In fiscal year 2005, we served 16,600 women with 120 centers. With the necessary financial resources, centers opened more sites and hired more counselors and continue to serve more women in need. To date, over 123,000 women have been served under the program.

Q: Does Real Alternatives have appeal for abortion-advocates as well?

Bagatta: It ought to. Once there is a crisis pregnancy, this is the only program established to help a woman in need choose life. By providing a counselor to be with the woman in need from the moment she finds out she is pregnant to 12 months after the birth of the baby, this program empowers the mother to overcome her obstacles and crisis. She is not alone. She knows someone is with her to help her.

An alternative to abortion is not a pamphlet, it is another person; it is one woman seeing another woman in crisis and loving her and supporting her like she is her own daughter. This program represents the best in America.

Q: Recently you began working with faith-based organizations. How does that teamwork happen, practically speaking?

Bagatta: This has been a greatly welcomed change in our ability to use experienced service providers to serve women throughout the state.

Again, due to interpretation of U.S. Supreme Court First Amendment cases, we were restricted in the type of faith-based organizations we were allowed to contract due to the program being funded with government money.

Thanks to President George Bush's Faith-Based Initiative Executive Order, all entities administering government funds are allowed to contract with faith-based organizations as long as the faith-based organization keeps their promotion of religion separate from the government-funded service.

Now, women can receive our government-funded service from a faith-based organization like Catholic Charities and also receive religious services and support.

Q: Your program recommends abstinence for young people. What is the most difficult part of educating youth in this?

Bagatta: Remember, when we see young women in our centers they have already become sexually active.

Not all young women, however, who think they are pregnant when they come to our centers are indeed pregnant. For them, our goal is modify their risky lifestyle and behavior, not accommodate it.

We do not want them to come through our doors again. We not only want them to avoid a teen pregnancy but also a sexually transmitted disease. Abstinence is the only way to lower teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Since this is the healthiest lifestyle for teens; this is what we recommend.

Youth and parents are very ignorant or misinformed about the epidemic of sexually transmitted disease among our teenage population.

In America, one out of two youths will acquire an STD before the age of 25. The only contraceptive that attempts to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases is the condom and it fails.

For example, in 2001, a U.S. governmental study revealed no proof that condoms prevented transmission of gonorrhea, chlamydia infection, trichomoniasis, genital herpes, syphilis, chancroid, and HPV-associated diseases.

We have known for years that certain strains of HPV cause deadly cervical cancer. Once we found out about these studies, we told the teenage girls this information so they could avoid these diseases -- which in some cases are incurable and cause death -- through abstinence.

Teenagers are smart and want the facts.

Q: Your Web site explains that a main goal is providing information so that a client can make an educated and informed choice about her health and that of her baby. How much does a "typical" client know about abortion?

Bagatta: Many times a woman assumes that there is just this "blob of tissue" that is removed. This is why tasteful, medically accurate fetal development photos interest her and why we have them on our Web site.

In addition, counselors provide information of the types of abortion performed and the risks associated with abortion. This information is provided to ensure that women who are considering abortion are fully informed about what is occurring in an abortion and of the ramifications of that decision.

The primary purpose of the program is to provide pregnancy support services that promote childbirth instead of abortion. Women seeking alternatives to abortion appreciate as many facts as possible when they are undecided about what to do in a crisis pregnancy. Providing her with facts empowers her and ensures she is fully informed before she makes a decision.

Q: Real Alternatives continues to provide assistance to mothers and fathers even after babies are born. Why and how does this work?

Bagatta: The client arrives at the service provider and starts to receive counseling support that meets her needs.

If she is not sure she is pregnant, then a pregnancy self-test kit will be offered to her. If she is pregnant, the counselor will listen to the expressed concern she has about the pregnancy. If she is new to parenting, parenting classes or stress management counseling might be offered to ensure the crisis pregnancy does not become a crisis-parenting situation.

Each woman seeking the services comes as a unique individual. As such, her family, her education, her beliefs and her experiences shape her.

This program provides a person to assist and mentor the woman to overcome her obstacles and meet her needs from the time she finds out she is pregnant until her baby is 12 months old.

Q: Explain how other states have looked to Pennsylvania with thoughts of implementing similar programs. Could this become a nationwide program?

Bagatta: Once we established the program and abortions started to decrease in Pennsylvania, other state pro-life organizations became interested in this first-of-its-kind program. Remember, using tax dollars to promote life was revolutionary.

As a result of our educating these pro-life organization about the program, state governors and legislatures in Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Florida and Texas placed funding of Alternative to Abortion Services programs in their budgets.

Most of the states could not fund their programs at the $5.5 million a year level of Pennsylvania and now have much smaller programs. The state of Texas, however, proposed a large $2.5-million-a-year program and asked us to replicate our program there.

Real Alternatives, through its government audits, has earned the reputation in Pennsylvania as a fiscally responsible and trusted custodian of public funds.

This is the program that works in America lowering abortions and is certainly the compassionate and caring approach that should be tried in the rest of the world and funded as an additional program through the United Nations.

Code: ZE07041928

Date: 2007-04-19

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Bodmer Papyrus Is Connection With 1st Christians

By Irene Lagan

ROME, APRIL 19, 2007 (Zenit.org).- As one might imagine, Benedict XVI receives gifts regularly, and not only on his birthday or on the anniversary of his papal election.

While the Holy Father undoubtedly appreciates the gestures, few have been as universally and personally significant as the gift of the Bodmer Papyrus 14-15 (P75).

The Bodmer Papyrus, dated around the year 175, is the oldest extant copy of parts of the Gospels of John and Luke. Discovered in Egypt in the early 1950s, the papyrus influenced the course of biblical scholarship.

When scholars saw such remarkable agreement between the texts, they had to acknowledge that the fourth-century Codex Vaticanus, the oldest complete version of the Gospel, was indeed authentic.

The papyrus came into the hands of Frank Hanna III, a businessman from Atlanta, Georgia. Through what Hanna called a convoluted but remarkable series of events, he was able to purchase the papyrus before it was auctioned, and present it in January to the Holy Father as a gift for the Church.

The Bodmer Papyrus is tangible evidence that the Gospel that circulated among the early Christian communities was set down well before the fourth century and handed down in the form we now know.

In short, Hanna said, "this papyrus helps us authenticate our Christian Bible. So we have the Church itself built over the bones of Peter, and then we have right next door in the Vatican Library an early text of the Word of God, which authenticates what we have always known to be true."

Moreover, it is one of the earliest known codices, or bound volumes, and is believed to have been used for liturgy, giving Catholics another concrete connection to the early Church.

I spoke with Hanna in Jerusalem, where he described his own discovery of the Bodmer Papyrus and its ongoing significance for his faith.

"This whole adventure has been a wonderful blessing for me and my family, and like so many blessings from God, it came out of nowhere," Hanna said.

He continued: "Prior to getting a phone call in May of last year I hardly knew what a papyrus was, and I had certainly never heard of the Bodmer Papyrus.

"So, just one of the benefits of this experience is how much I have learned about Scripture."

Hanna said that he "received a call from Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the papal nuncio to the United States, who emphasized the Church's interest in this papyrus. He also emphasized the personal interest it held for Benedict XVI, who is an incredible scholar and knew about the papyrus."

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, Vatican archivist and librarian, presented a page of the papyrus to the Holy Father last January after Hanna presented his gift.

Notably, it was a middle page marking the end of Luke's Gospel and the prologue to the Gospel of John, showing the order of the texts already in place in the early Christian communities.

"Benedict XVI is especially devoted to the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John, as well as the explication of God's word. So this page held special significance," Hanna said.

He continued: "It was wonderful to see the very evident joy on Benedict XVI's face when he received this. The text is so clearly preserved that if you know how to read biblical Greek, you can read it like you are reading a newspaper.

"So, the Pope asked for his glasses and began reading with a smile on his lips. You could see that he was really able to enjoy the text."

Among the many blessings, said Hanna, was the unfolding of so many events, including the fact that his 16-year-old daughter Elizabeth was able to witness all of it transpire.

He said: "When my daughter was 10, we memorized the prologue to John's Gospel and recited it together on the way to school. She also has an unusually strong devotion to the Nativity.

"After we dedicated the trust to Mary, I learned that Luke's Gospel is often referred to as Mary's Gospel or the Nativity Gospel."

All of these things, Hanna said, were blessings that he could never have known to ask for.

During a Holy Week visit to Jerusalem, Hanna said that he came to appreciate the papyrus even more.

He said: "Rome and Jerusalem are the two centers of the Church. The fact is that however much we Christians want to focus on our spiritual nature, we cling to all of this physical evidence.

"Here in the place Jesus lived, we see that when we talk about Jesus we are not talking about a legendary figure like Paul Bunyan or Zeus hurling his thunderbolts.

"Christ was a real man who was born in a little town called Bethlehem, who grew up in Nazareth and lived in Capernaum and walked these roads."

Hanna continued: "Last night I had the privilege to be in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and in the early morning of Good Friday, to place my hand where the cross was and to be in the tomb.

"But at some point, Christ swung his feet around as if getting out of bed and put his feet on the ground. These physical pieces of faith have an impact that can be really unexpected.

"Being able to have those tangible manifestations should not be seen as a crutch. They are an enhancement of our faith.

"Clinging to these things is like clinging to physical affection of a loved one. It is part and parcel of what makes us human beings."

* * *

An Interreligious Meeting Place

I had the grace of spending this past Holy Week and Easter in the Holy Land, and to visit the Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center.

Legionary of Christ Father John Solana oversees the cultural center, an important nucleus of peace in the Holy Land.

"When I came here two years ago," he said, "Archbishop Pietro Sambi who was the delegate to the Holy Land at that time, said, 'You are getting the heart of the Church in the Holy Land.'"

Israel's minister of tourism said the same: "You have the best place in Jerusalem."

"I did not understand at that time," Father Solana said, "but living here day after day, week after week, I see how important the mission of the Holy See is in the Holy Land.

"There are so many aspects of what goes on in this population that are emotionally driven. You cannot read about them in any book. You have to experience the power of these things, to see how they are determining aspects of what happens here."

The Notre Dame center, he said, is fundamentally an expression of support by the Pope and the Holy See for all the Christians in the Holy Land.

The 125-year-old palatial building is located on Jaffa Road, just outside the New Gate of the Old City and on the tenuous dividing line between Palestinian East Jerusalem and Israeli West Jerusalem.

The institute is literally a meeting place for Israelis and Arabs.

"Location is very important," Father Solana said. "This is the only place in Jerusalem where all sides of the conflict will agree to meet. Everyone recognizes the role of the Vatican as being neutral."

For centuries, Christians have dwelt as a minority in the Holy Land but have served an important role as a kind of buffer between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims.

Now, Father Solana said Christians are a minority of a minority.

As the Israeli and Muslim populations increase, the proportion of Christians in the Holy Land is diminishing.

Harsh conditions have also forced many Christians, who traditionally worked in the tourist industry, to emigrate

But another indispensable role of Notre Dame's mission on behalf of the Holy See is to minister to pilgrims.

"Every Christian dreams of coming to the Holy Land at some point. The Church knows that it is important for Christians to visit these holy places," said Father Solana.

Since the death of Pope John Paul II two years ago, Father Solana said there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Christian pilgrims: "People come here searching for a spiritual experience. They want to see and venerate the places where Jesus Christ walked, where he died and rose from the dead.

"These are not just historical sites. People have a need to experience these holy places, to touch them and to feel their power."

Code: ZE07041829

Date: 2007-04-19

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

WAEGWAN, South Korea, APRIL 19, 2007 (Zenit.org).- An accidental fire caused extensive damage to the largest Benedictine Monastery in Asia. There were no injuries, but all the cells were completely destroyed, forcing 70 monks to move elsewhere.

The FIDES news agency reported that on April 5, the fire was discovered at 1:15 a.m. by the vice prior.

The fire, which officials say was likely caused by a short circuit, took firefighters five hours to put out.

Arch Abbot Jeremias Schröder, president of the Benedictine Congregation of St. Ottilien, Germany, who is in charge of the Benedictine missionaries and of the monastery at Waegwan, flew to South Korea to assess the situation and to encourage the brothers.

Abbot Schröder said, "We are deeply upset but grateful that no one was hurt."

Code: ZE07041921

Date: 2007-04-19

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Islamic Pressure Increases on Christian Communities

BAGHDAD, Iraq, APRIL 19, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Christian churches in Baghdad have been forced to remove crosses as threats from Islamic extremists cause pressure to mount.

Wednesday was the bloodiest day in Baghdad since the start of U.S. security operations. Nearly 200 people were killed in a string of attacks in Iraq's capital. Meanwhile AsiaNews reported new threats to Christians.

The churches in the Dora region, a Christian quarter of Baghdad, have received threats from an unknown Islamic group, which warned: "Get rid of the cross or we will burn your churches."

Chaldean Auxiliary Bishop Shlemon Warduni of Baghdad told AsiaNews: "In the last two months many churches have been forced to remove the crosses from their domes.

"In the case of the Church of St. George, in Assira, Muslim extremists took the situation into their own hands: They climbed onto the roof and ripped down the cross."

Bishop Warduni added that "in the Chaldean Church of St. John, in Dora, which has been without a pastor for months, the parishioners themselves decided to move the cross to a safer place following repeated threats."

The Church of Sts. Peter and Paul has received the same threats but so far has withstood the intimidation.

Ultimatum

AsiaNews reported that the same unknown Islamic group active in Dora seems to have delivered an ultimatum to the Christian community there: Convert to Islam or die.

Reports say that they have delivered a fatwa forbidding Christians to wear crosses or make any religious gesture, and permitting the confiscation of goods and properties belonging to Christian families forced to flee their homes.

Baghdad's Christian community's worries have been increased by the U.S. military's decision to forcibly occupy the facilities of Babel College, which belongs to the Chaldean Church. The college, the only faculty of theology in the country, houses one of the most ancient religious libraries in the region, full of priceless manuscripts, AsiaNews reported.

Because of the increased insecurity in the city and continual abductions of religious, the faculty had transferred to Ankawa, in Kurdistan, last January, leaving the building empty.

The U.S. military is now using the college facilities as an observation outpost. Apparently, however, an agreement has been made to abandon the structure in coming weeks.

"The Iraqi people are tired," said Bishop Warduni. "We have been suffering for far too long and the situation has become unsustainable. We ask God to give us peace. The Christians, just like the Muslims, want to rebuild Iraq. We don’t want to be forced to flee, because this is where we were born, this is where we have lived our lives."

Code: ZE07041912

Date: 2007-04-19

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Bishop Notes Rising Christian Fear

MALATYA, Turkey, APRIL 19, 2007 (Zenit.org).- A Catholic bishop has expressed his dismay that four Protestants were slain on Wednesday while at work at a Christian publishing house that distributes Bibles.

According to AsiaNews, three of the four victims, including the Zirve publishing house's owner, had their throats cut when assailants entered. The fourth died trying to escape.

Bishop Luigi Padovese, vicar apostolic of Anatolia, said today on Vatican Radio: "We are truly sad, because we see that there is a series of these kinds of acts which provoke a sentiment of uncertainty and perplexity regarding our presence here in Turkey.

"We don't want to leave, but these happenings make us understand that within this country, which is fundamentally healthy, there are mad people who don't accept our presence."

Guarded presence

The bishop explained that he has a police escort at all times. And his parish is guarded day and night.

"These are symptoms that make it possible to perceive a certain fear on the part of the police -- fear that something will happen," the 60-year-old bishop said.

The general manger of the publishing house, Hamza Ozant, was on his way to work when the slaying happened. He said that the company had been receiving threats for a year, which had led it to request police protection.

According to AsiaNews, many people in Turkey resent the publication of the Bible in their native tongue.

Fanatics

Bishop Padovese also spoke of the 2006 assassination of Father Andrea Santoro. "The Turkish population is fundamentally healthy," he said. "Unfortunately, these acts are carried out by certain Islamic and nationalistic fanatics.

"They raise their voices, above all, in key moments -- we are drawing near presidential elections. … These are acts that aim to destabilize."

Friday's Italian issue of L'Osservatore Romano explained that proselytism is not illegal in Turkey, as it is in some Islamic states. Nevertheless, the semiofficial Vatican newspaper reported: "[W]itnessing to a faith other than Muslim continues to be dangerous."

"In Turkey, not just Islamic fundamentalists are active and organize homicidal attacks," the newspaper added, "but even the press and other institutions accuse those who proselytize as 'enemies of Turkey.'"

Code: ZE07041904

Date: 2007-04-19