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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Director Calls It a "Juridical Good to Be Protected"

ROME, MARCH 19, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Amid trends to erase the divine imprint on marriage, the director of a symposium called the family "a juridical good to be protected."

The congress was organized this month by the Regina Apostolorum university's Institute of Higher Studies on Woman.

The congress's director, Patricia Martínez Peroni, a professor at Madrid's Universidad CEU San Pablo, explained that from the point of view of natural law, the family is the same today as it was 100 years ago.

What has changed of late, she said, is that ideologies have tried to erase the divine imprint on the communion of persons that takes place in marriage between a man and a woman.

These ideologies have led to "a new social engineering where the person and family are reconstructed according to new theoretical models and cultural paradigms," said Martínez.

Looking at these new trends, the professor explained that current European legislation "offers the most worrying lack of protection for the family. … Although North America was the pioneer in the sexual revolution, when it comes to lashing marriage and the family, precedents already existed in Europe."

These trends have lead to social policies of family orientation that are "uprooted from a correct anthropology," Martínez asserted. They have "become mere ideology and artifices of power subject to a constructivist positivism where they alienate their services from the reality of man as such."

The family is not merely a biological reality but "the realm that shelters human life in its gestation and perfectible development so that the person will attain his fullness as creature with a transcendent dimension," Martínez added. The person "is by nature not only corporal but also spiritual in profound unity."

Martínez concluded that "because of this, the family is a juridical good to be protected, given that it is the realm itself in which humanity develops."

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But China Showing Signs of Change

ROME, MARCH 19, 2007 (ZENIT.org).- The path toward religious freedom continues to be full of obstacles, concluded participants at a convention held in Rome.

"The Religious Dimension of Human Freedom" was organized by the Acton Institute last Wednesday at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. The seminar was part of an ongoing series marking the 1991 encyclical "Centesium Annus."

Father Robert Sirico, president of Acton, underlined that the "fundamental error of today's secularism is the misunderstanding of the true essence of human nature. John Paul II, in 'Centesimus Annus,' had already underlined the importance of religious freedom as the source of all other freedoms.

"Benedict XVI, for his part, has wished to distinguish between the two forms of secularism: the one which, justly distinguishes the religious sphere of power from the civil one, and the deteriorating secularism that wished to ban any sort of religious symbol, denying the fact of religious freedom."

Cardinal Julián Herranz said that the topic of religious freedom is especially important today: "This is a topic that has become urgent once again, following the spreading of religious fundamentalism, especially Islamic terrorism, but also lay fundamentalism typically European.

"Freedom of religion is in danger not only in China or in nations where the Shariah is in force, but also here in Europe, where, in many nations, the concept of the lay state has become confused and religious freedom has been interpreted as a concession, rather than a right to be guaranteed and promoted."

China

The case of China was considered at the lecture series.

Raphaela Maria Schmid, philosophy professor at the Pontifical Gregorian Institute, saw positive signs in the "progressive closeness between the patriotic church and the Church of Rome and the always increasing interest among the intellectual elite, in religion."

"The biggest obstacle, therefore," she said, "is the fact that the patriotic church has been 'tamed' by the regime, especially on themes such as birth control, and the Gospel is shaped and manipulated by social needs."

Father Bernardo Cervellera, missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions and director of AsiaNews, spoke of growing religious conviction in China.

"According to government statistics, among the people in the one party almost 12 million people are tied to some religious organization, of those 5 million are regulars and convinced," he said. "Three hundred million believers -- 100 million according to official data -- in the whole nation are an authentic 'failure' to the regime.

"The comforting news is that this rebirth involves above all the young generations and people under 30 years old. The phenomenon [of religious rebirth] as was stated, involves the elite and the more cultured people and this definitely denounces the myth of an obscurantist religion."

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English translation by Nina Tkachuk Dimas 

Vladivostok. (20070312 - www.orthodox.cn) On March 9^th, Archbishop Sergiy (Chashin) of Usuriisk met with the clerics of the temple of the Holy Life-giving Trinity in Pyongyang (DPRK). Among them were priests Feyodor Kim, Ioann Ra and the choir director Nikolai Kim.

Orthodox North Korean priest have been in Vladivostok from the beginning of the Great Lent for liturgical practicum at St. Nicholas Cathedral. They were ordained in August 2006, during the consecration of the Orthodox temple in Pyongyang .

During the meeting they discussed organizing Paschal divine services and festivities in Pyongyang; plans exist to help the Korean clergy by sending a priest and a choir from the Vladivostok eparchy. At Bishop Sergiy's suggestion, it was decided to begin to prepare a choir from among the parishioners of the temple of the Life-giving Trinity.

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Last Updated: 19 February 2013

Focuses on Life of St. Ignatius of Antioch

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 14, 2007 (ZENIT.org).- For the faithful, communion within the Church should be closely linked to the work of evangelization, says Benedict XVI.

The Pope said this today at the general audience when delivering a catechesis on St. Ignatius of Antioch.

Some 40,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square, about a quarter of whom came from Apulia, Italy, accompanying their bishops for their five-yearly visit to Rome.

The Holy Father continued his cycle of catecheses on the apostolic fathers. St. Ignatius was bishop of Antioch, a town located in what is today Turkey. He was bishop there from A.D. 70 to 107, the year of his martyrdom in Rome.

On his journey to his martyrdom, he wrote seven letters from the cities of Smyrna and Troas.

The Pontiff described these letters as examples of "the freshness of the faith of the generations that had known the apostles" and "the ardent love of a saint."

He continued: "No other Church Father expressed as intensely as Ignatius the wish for union with Christ and life in him.

"For Ignatius, union is 'above all a prerogative of God who being three,' is one in absolute union. He often repeats that God is union and only in God can this be found in the pure and original state."

Divine archetype

Ignatius thus elaborates a particular vision of the Church, according to which the "union to be reached in this world by Christians is but an imitation, the closest possible to the divine archetype," Benedict XVI explained.

He continued: "In general, in Ignatius' letters, we can see a sort of constant and fruitful dialectic between the two aspects characteristic of Christian life: on one hand the hierarchical structure of the ecclesial community, and on the other hand, the fundamental union that links all the faithful in Christ.

"Therefore the roles cannot be opposed. On the contrary, the insistence on communion of the faithful among themselves and with their pastors is continually formulated through eloquent images and analogies: the harp, the chords, the tone, the concert, the symphony."

The Pope contended that the "specific responsibility of the bishops, the presbyters and the deacons in the building of the community is evident. To them above all, the invitation to love and union is valid"

The Holy Father called Ignatius a "doctor of unity," and said that his example "invites the faithful of yesterday and today, invites us all, to a progressive synthesis between configuration to Christ -- union with him, life in him -- and dedication to his Church -- union with the bishop, generous service to the community and to the world."

"In other words, one must achieve a synthesis between communion of the Church within itself and the mission of proclamation of the Gospel to others, until one dimension speaks through the other, and believers are evermore 'in possession of that indivisible spirit that is Jesus Christ himself,'" the Pope added.

Benedict XVI concluded, praying "that the Lord may help us in achieving this unity and to be found without sin, because love purifies the spirit."

Code: ZE07031404

Date: 2007-03-14

 

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"Truly a Doctor of Unity"

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 14, 2007 (ZENIT.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave at the general audience today on St. Ignatius of Antioch.

* * *

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Like last Wednesday, today we are talking about the protagonists in the young Church. Last week, we spoke about Pope Clement I, third successor to St. Peter. Today, we will talk about St. Ignatius, who was "the third bishop of Antioch in Syria, from the year 70 to 107," the year of his martyrdom.

At that time, Rome, Alexandria and Antioch were the three great cities of the Roman Empire. The Council of Nicaea mentions the three "primacies": that of Rome, and Alexandria and Antioch participate, in a certain sense, in a "primacy."

St. Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch, which is now located in Turkey. Here, in Antioch, as we know from the Acts of the Apostles, a blossoming Christian community was emerging: Its first bishop was the apostle Peter as is stated in tradition, and "there for the first time the disciples were called Christians" (Act 11:26).

Eusebius of Caesarea, a fourth-century historian, dedicates an entire chapter of his Storia Ecclesiastica to the life and works of Ignatius (3,36).

"From Syria," he writes, "Ignatius was sent to Rome to be thrown to the animals, because of his testimony to Christ. Traveling through Asia, under the severe care of the guards" (which he calls "ten leopards" in his Letter to the Romans, 5:1), "in each city where he stopped, with preaching and admonitions, he reinforced the Churches; above all, he would exhort heatedly to watch out for heresy, which were beginning to come about and recommended not straying from the apostolic tradition."

The first stop on Ignatius' trip toward martyrdom was the city of Smyrna, whose bishop was St. Polycarp, a disciple of St. John. Here, Ignatius wrote four letters, respectively to the Church of Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles and Rome.

Eusebius continues: "Having left Smyrna, Ignatius came to Troas, and from there sent new letters": two to the Churches of Philadelphia and Smyrna, and one to Bishop Polycarp.

Eusebius completes the list of letters, which have come to us from the first-century Church like a precious treasure. Reading these texts, one can feel the freshness of the faith of the generation that had still known the apostles. We can also feel in these letters the ardent love of a saint. Finally from Troas, the martyr reached Rome, where, in the Flavian Amphitheater, he was thrown to the lions.

No other Church Father expressed as intensely as Ignatius the wish for union with Christ and life in him. This is why we have read the Gospel of the vine, which according to the Gospel of St. John is Jesus.

Two spiritual currents can be found in St. Ignatius: St. Paul's tending toward union with Christ and St. John's concentrating on life in him. In turn, these two currents merge into "imitation of Christ" many times proclaimed by Ignatius as my or our God.

Therefore Ignatius begs the Roman Christians to not postpone his martyrdom, because he was "impatient to join Jesus Christ." And explains: "It is beautiful for me to die going toward ('eis') Jesus Christ, rather than reigning to the ends of the earth. I look for him, who died for me, I want him, who was resurrected for us. … Let me imitate the Passion of my God!" (Romans 5-6).

In these expressions of burning love we can see the specific Christological realism typical of the Church of Antioch, evermore attentive to the incarnation of the Son of God and his true and concrete humanity. Ignatius writes to the Smyrnaeans, "He is truly of the line of David … truly born of a virgin … truly was he nailed for us" (1,1).

Ignatius' irresistible tension toward union with Christ founds a real "mystique of unity." He defines himself as "a man who has been given the duty of unity" (Philadelphians 8,1).

For Ignatius, union is "above all a prerogative of God who being three," is one in absolute union. He often repeats that God is union and only in God can this be found in the pure and original state. The union to be reached in this world by Christians is but an imitation, the closest possible to the divine archetype. In this way, Ignatius elaborates a vision of the Church, closely recalling certain expression of the Letter to the Corinthians by Clement of Rome.

For example, he writes to the Christians of Ephesus: "Wherefore it is fitting that you should run in accordance with the will of your bishop, a thing you also do. For your justly renowned presbytery, worthy of God, is fitted as exactly to the bishop as the strings are to the harp. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love, Jesus Christ is sung. And do ye, man by man, become a choir, that being harmonious in love, and taking up the song of God in unison you may with one voice sing" (4,1-2).

And after having advised the Smyrnaeans to not "undertake anything regarding the Church without the bishop" (8,1), he confides to Polycarp: "I offer my life for those obeying the bishop, the presbyters and the deacons. May I, with them, have a part with God. Work together one with the other, fight together, run together, suffer together, sleep and wake together as administrators of God, his assessors and servants. Please him under whom you fight and from whom you receive grace. May none of you be found deserting. May your baptism remain a shield, faith as a helmet, charity as a lance, patience as armor" (6,1-2).

In general, in Ignatius' letters, we can see a sort of constant and fruitful dialectic between the two aspects characteristic of Christian life: on one hand the hierarchical structure of the ecclesial community, and on the other hand, the fundamental union that links all the faithful in Christ. Therefore the roles cannot be opposed. On the contrary, the insistence on communion of the faithful among themselves and with their pastors is continually formulated through eloquent images and analogies: the harp, the chords, the tone, the concert, the symphony. The specific responsibility of the bishops, the presbyters and the deacons in the building of the community is evident. To them above all, the invitation to love and union is valid.

Ignatius writes to the Magnesians, taking up Jesus' prayer during the Last Supper: "Be as one. One supplication, one mind one hope in love. … Come all to Jesus Christ as the only temple of God, as the one altar; he is one, and proceeding from the one Father, he remained in union with him, and returned to him in union" (7,1-2).

Ignatius was the first one in Christian literature to give the Church the adjective "Catholic," that is, "universal." He states: "Where Jesus Christ is, so is the Catholic Church" (Smyrnaeans 8,2).

It is in the service of union to the Catholic Church that the Christian community of Rome exercises a sort of primacy in love: "In Rome, it presides worthy of God, venerable worthy of being called blessed. … Presiding over charity, who bears the law of Christ and the name of Father" (Romans, prologue).

As we can see, Ignatius is "truly a doctor of unity": unity of God and unity of Christ (despite the various heresies that had begun to spread and divided humanity and divinity in Christ), unity of the Church, unity of the faithful "in faith and charity, of which there is nothing more excellent" (Smyrnaeans 6,1).

In conclusion, the realism of Ignatius invites the faithful of yesterday and today, invites us all, to a progressive synthesis between configuration to Christ (union with him, life in him) and dedication to his Church (union with the bishop, generous service to the community and the world).

In other words, one must achieve a synthesis between communion of the Church within itself and the mission of proclamation of the Gospel to others, until one dimension speaks through the other, and believers are evermore "in possession of that indivisible spirit that is Jesus Christ himself" (Magnesians 15).

Imploring this "grace of union" of the Lord, and with the conviction of presiding charity throughout the Church (cf. Romans, prologue), I wish you the same desire that ends the Letter by Ignatius to the Trallians: "Love one another with an undivided heart. My spirit is offered in sacrifice for you not only now, but also when you have reached God. … In Christ may you be found without sin" (13). And we pray that the Lord may help us in achieving this unity and to be found without sin, because love purifies the spirit.

[Translation by ZENIT]

[After the audience, the Pope greeted visitors in various languages. In English he said:]

I welcome all the English speaking visitors present today, including the Cardinals and Bishops of the Vox Clara committee, gathered in Rome to advise the Congregation for Divine Worship on the new English translation of the Roman Missal. I thank them and their assistants for their important work. Upon all of you I invoke God's abundant blessings of joy and peace.

© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Code: ZE07031401

Date: 2007-03-14

 

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VATICAN CITY, MAR 14, 2007 (VIS) - Continuing his cycle of catecheses on the Apostolic Fathers, Benedict XVI dedicated the general audience today to the figure of St. Ignatius of Antioch. The audience, held in St. Peter's Square, was attended by around 25,000 people.

 

From the year 70 to 107 St. Ignatius was bishop of Antioch, "the city in which the disciples first received the name of Christians," said the Pope. Condemned to be thrown to wild beasts, he was taken to Rome for the sentence to be carried out and took advantage of his journey through the various cities of the empire to confirm the Christians living there in their faith.

 

"No Father of the Church expressed with the same intensity as Ignatius the longing for union with Christ and for life in Him," said the Pope, explaining that "two spiritual currents come together in St. Ignatius: that of Paul, which tends towards union with Christ, and that of John, which focuses on life in Him. In their turn, these two currents lead to the imitation of Christ."

 

"Ignatius' irresistible attraction towards union with Christ is the foundation for a true mysticism of unity," Benedict XVI went on. And he recalled how in the seven letters the bishop of Antioch wrote during his journey to Rome "he frequently repeats that God, existing in three persons, is One in absolute unity, ... and that the unity Christians must create in this world is no more than an imitation, as near as possible to the divine archetype."

 

In St. Ignatius' letters we find "a constant and fruitful dialectic between two characteristic aspects of Christian life: on the one hand, the hierarchical structure of the ecclesial community and, on the other, the fundamental unity that binds the faithful to one another in Christ. Consequently, the [various different] roles cannot conflict. On the contrary, the insistence on the communion of believers among themselves and with their pastors is continually reformulated" using musical images such as "the lyre, chords ... symphonies."

 

Benedict XVI highlighted the "special responsibility of bishops, priests and deacons in the edification of the community," which must translate, above all, into "a proposal of love and unity."

 

"It is clear, then, that St. Ignatius was the 'doctor of unity'," said the Pope. "The 'realism' of Ignatius invites us all to undertake a progressive synthesis between configuration to Christ (union with Him, life in Him) and commitment to His Church (unity with the bishop, generous service to the community and the world), ... between interior communion of the Church and mission, which is the proclamation of the Gospel for others."

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