News
Byzcath.org News provides news focusing on the Christian East from varous sources and offers links to other sites dedicated to providing the news about the Church.
Churches and organizations that provide news about the Eastern Churches are invited to submit their news stories to us for publication here (use the contact page for submission)..
Materials from the Vatican Information Service, Zenit, CWNews.com and other sources are published here with permission of their owners but may not be republished further without the permission of their original publishers. Please visit these sites to obtain additional general news about the Church. In addition to these sources EWTN News also provides a good general news summary.
Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
- Details
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Caritas Somalia will receive the collection from the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, over which Benedict XVI will preside in the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
Despite escalating violence in that African nation, Caritas continues to run a medical clinic in Baidoa, with some 2,000 patients every month.
According to the president of Caritas Somalia, Father Giorgio Bertin, "These are sad days for Somalia as the death toll continues to rise. The Pope’s donation to the Caritas medical operation in Baidoa gives us joy and hope that peace is possible for this martyred country."
"We see it as a sign of the Pope's concern for the most vulnerable," he continued, "and a tribute to those who lost their lives working for peace and justice in Somalia during the last 20 years, whether Christians or of other faiths."
Earlier this year, the Holy Father appealed to the international community to put an end to the bloodshed in Africa. He also recalled the testimony of Sister Leonella Sgobarti who was killed in Somalia's capital last September.
Code: ZE07040215
Date: 2007-04-02
- Details
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI recalled the second anniversary of Pope John Paul II's death, saying that the "sweet scent" of his love for God has spread throughout the world.
Benedict XVI presided over a Mass for John Paul II today in St. Peter's Square. He spoke of the Gospel reading which the liturgy offered: the passage where Mary, Lazarus' sister, anoints Christ's feet with a flask of costly perfume and dries them with her hair.
The Pope said that this passage is full of "spiritual suggestions" since it evokes the "luminous testimony that John Paul II offered, of an unreserved love for Christ."
Banners reading "Sainthood Now" dotted the plaza. Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre, a French nun who says that her cure from Parkinson's disease was due to John Paul II's intercession, was also there.
Overflowed
Like Mary's, "the 'perfume' of his love 'filled the house,' that is, filled the entire Church," Benedict XVI said amidst repeated applause from some 40,000 people in attendance.
"We who were close to him could take advantage of it, and for this we give thanks to God," the Pontiff continued. "But also those who knew him from afar could benefit, because the love of Pope Wojtyla for Christ overflowed, so to speak, to every region of the world, because of its strength and intensity.
"The esteem, the respect, the affection for him which believers and nonbelievers expressed at the moment of his death -- is that not an eloquent testimony?
"His intense and fruitful pastoral ministry, and even more, the calvary of his agony and the serene death of our beloved Pope allowed people of our age to know that Jesus Christ really is everything."
The cross
"The fruitfulness of this testimony," Benedict XVI continued, "we know it, depends on the cross." In the life of Karol Wojtyla, the cross "was much more than just a word," the German Pope added.
"Especially with the slow but unstoppable advance of his illness, that little by little stripped him of everything," Benedict XVI said, "his existence became a total offering to Christ, a living announcement of his passion, with the faith-filled hope of the resurrection."
"From a long time ago," he continued, "he had prepared for this last encounter with Jesus" and "like his divine Master, lived his agony in prayer. … He died praying. He truly fell asleep in the Lord."
"The perfume of the faith, hope and charity of the Pope filled his house, filled St. Peter's Square, filled the Church and overflowed to the entire world," Benedict XVI exclaimed.
He continued: "What happened after his death was -- for the person of faith -- the effect of this 'perfume' that reached everyone, those close by and those far away, and attracted them toward a man that God gradually conformed to the image of his Christ.
"Beloved John Paul II, from the house of the Father -- we can be sure -- has not ceased to accompany the Church in its journey."
Code: ZE07040206
Date: 2007-04-02
- Details
The diocesan phase was closed by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, His Holiness' vicar general for the diocese of Rome, with an address focussing upon the portrayal of the spiritual qualities of John Paul II. "At the beginning, at the center and at the peak of such a portrait," said the cardinal, "we cannot but put Karol Wojtyla's personal relationship with God. A relationship that was already strong, intimate and profound in his boyhood, and that never ceased to develop and grow stronger, producing fruits in all dimensions of his life.
"Here, we are in the presence of the Mystery," he added. "In the first place the mystery of the preferential love with which God the Father loved this Polish boy, united him to Himself and then maintained this union; not saving him from the trials of life - on the contrary, associating him ever and anew to the cross of His Son - but also giving him the courage to love the cross, and the spiritual intelligence to see, through the cross, the face of the Father.
"In the certainty of being loved by God and in the joy of returning this love, Karol Wojtyla found the meaning, unity and aim of his own life. All those who knew him, from near or only from afar, were struck by the richness of his humanity, by his complete fulfillment as a man. But even more illuminating and important is the fact that such fullness of humanity coincided, in the end, with his relationship with God, in other words with his sanctity."
The opening session of the diocesan investigation took place in the same basilica on June 28 2005, less than three months after John Paul II's death, thanks to the fact that Benedict XVI waived the normal waiting period of five years after the death of a Servant of God.
The diocesan investigation over, the acts and documents will now pass to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, where all the material will be studied.
.../BEATIFICATION JOHN PAUL II/RUINIVIS 070402 (410)
- Details
VATICAN CITY, APR 1, 2007 (VIS) - At the end of today's solemn liturgical celebration for Palm Sunday and the Passion of the Lord, Benedict XVI addressed greetings in several languages to the thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square.
Speaking French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Italian, the Pope addressed his remarks particularly to the young people participating in World Youth Day, recalling the theme of this year's event : "Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another."
"With great joy and enthusiasm," he said, "you have welcomed this new commandment of Christ, Who calls you to be His witnesses among your peers. Do not be afraid to follow Him faithfully."
"I wish everyone a Holy Week rich in spiritual fruits and for this reason I invite you to experience it in intimate union with the Virgin Mary. From her we learn interior silence, the gaze of the heart, the loving faith to follow Jesus on the way of the Cross which leads to the joyous light of the Resurrection."
ANG/PALM SUNDAY/...VIS 070402 (190)
- Details
VATICAN CITY, APR 1, 2007 (VIS) - In St. Peter's Square at 9.30 a.m. today, the Holy Father presided at a solemn liturgical celebration for Palm Sunday and the Passion of the Lord, which marks the beginning of Holy Week. The Holy Father blessed the palms and the olives and, following a procession from the obelisk in the square to the altar, celebrated the Eucharist.
The Eucharistic liturgy was attended by 50,000 pilgrims, the majority of them young people from Rome and other dioceses currently celebrating 22nd World Youth Day, which has as its theme this year: "Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another."
In his homily, Benedict XVI affirmed that in the procession of Palm Sunday we, like the disciples who accompanied the Lord, acclaim Him "for all the prodigies we have seen. Yes, we too have seen and still see the prodigies of Christ: how He brings men and women to renounce the comfort of their lives and to put themselves entirely at the service of those who suffer; how He gives men and women the courage to oppose violence and lies, so as to make room in the world for truth; how, in secret, He induces men and women to do good to others, to create reconciliation where there was hatred, to create peace where there was enmity."
The Palm Sunday procession, he continued, "is also a procession of Christ the King. ... To recognize Him as King means to accept Him as the One Who shows us the way, the One we trust and follow. It means accepting His Word day after day as a valid criterion for our lives. It means seeing in Him the authority to which we submit. We submit to Him because His authority is the authority of truth."
The procession "is also an expression of our 'yes' to Jesus and of our readiness to follow Him wherever He may take us," said the Holy Father but, he added, "what does 'following Christ' actually mean? ... It is," he explained, "a fundamental decision to take no account of utility and profit, career and success, as the ultimate aim of our lives, but to recognize truth and love as authentic criteria. It is a choice between living only for ourselves, and giving ourselves for something greater. ... In following Him, we enter the service of truth and love. In losing ourselves we find ourselves again."
The psalm of today's Mass, said the Pope, explains "what it means to ascend with Christ. 'Who shall ascend the Hill of the Lord?' the psalm asks, and indicates two essential conditions. Those who ascend and truly want to reach the heights, the real summit, must be people who ... look around them to seek God, to discover His Face."
Turning to address young people, the Pope highlighted the importance, above all today, of "not letting oneself be buffeted from place to place in life; of not being satisfied with what others think and say and do. Study God and seek God. Do not let the question about God dissolve in our hearts - the desire for that which is greater, the desire to know Him and His Face."
"The other very real condition for the ascent is this: those who have 'clean hearts and pure hands' can stand in the holy place. Pure hands are hands that are not used for acts of violence. They are hands that have not been dirtied with corruption and bribes." As for clean hearts: "A heart is clean that does not pretend and is not stained with lies and hypocrisy, a heart that remains transparent like spring water because it knows no duplicity. A heart is clean that is not led astray with the exhilaration of pleasure, a heart whose love is true and not just the passion of a moment."
Benedict XVI concluded by recalling that "with the cross Jesus opened wide the door to God, the door between God and mankind. Now that door is open. But from the other side the Lord knocks with His cross, he knocks at the doors of the world, at the doors of our hearts, which are so often ... closed to God. And He speaks to us more or less like this: if the proofs that, in His creation, God gives you of His existence do not convince you to open yourself to Him, if the words of Scripture and the message of the Church leave you indifferent, then look at me, your Lord and your God. This is the appeal that, at this moment, we let penetrate our hearts."
HML/PALM SUNDAY/...VIS 070402 (790)
- Details
VATICAN CITY, MAR 31, 2007 (VIS) - In the Paul VI Hall at midday today, the Holy Father received 7,000 leaders and members of "Confartigianato," the Italian Confederation of Artisans which was founded in 1946.
The Pope began his address to them by recalling that the confederation was established "on the principle of free and open membership for all geographical, sectorial and cultural components in the world of craftsmen and small industry, ... and has undoubtedly made a contribution to the construction of the modern Italian State. ... If, until a few decades ago, the artisan brought to mind something old and picturesque, ... today it rather means autonomy, creativity and personalization in the production of goods and services."
After highlighting how work "pertains to the original condition of man," the Holy Father said: "The Church, faithful to the Word of God, does not cease to recall the principle that 'work is for man and not man for work.' She ceaselessly proclaims the primacy of man over the work of his hands, and recalls that the finality of all things - capital, science, technology, public resources and even private property - must be the true progress of the human person and the common good."
Benedict XVI then went on to quote the words used by Servant of God John Paul II in his address to artisans during the Jubilee Year 2000: "You can restore strength and concrete form to those values that have always characterized your activities: the striving for quality, the spirit of initiative, the promotion of artistic qualities, liberty and cooperation, the equitable relationship between technology and the environment, the bond with the family and good neighborly relations."
The Holy Father called on his audience to continue to protect "the artisanal culture of production, which can create great opportunities for economic progress and encounter between men and peoples. As Christians, may it be your commitment to live and bear witness to the 'Gospel of work,' aware that the Lord calls all the baptized to sanctity through their daily occupation.
"On this subject," the Pope added, "St. Josemaria Escriva, a saint of our own times, noted: 'Since Christ took it into His hands, work has become for us a redeemed and redemptive reality. Not only is the background of man's life, it is a means and path of holiness. It is something to be sanctified and something which sanctifies'."
The Holy Father concluded by assuring the members of Confartigianato that "in the school of the Family of Nazareth you will more easily learn how to unite a coherent life of faith with the efforts and difficulties of work, with personal profit and with a commitment to solidarity towards those in need."
AC/CONFARTIGIANATO/...VIS 070402 (470)