ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE - Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday he was "deeply ashamed" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church and will work to make sure pedophiles don't become priests.
"It is a great suffering for the Church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen," Benedict said. "It is difficult for me to understand how it was possible that priests betray in this way their mission ... to these children."
"I am deeply ashamed and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future," the pope said.
Benedict pledged that pedophiles would not be priests in the Catholic Church.
"We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from the sacred ministry," Benedict said in English. "It is more important to have good priests than many priests. We will do everything possible to heal this wound."
Pedophilia is "absolutely incompatible" with the priesthood," Benedict said.
The Rev. Gerald Fogarty decided not to go to the pope's mass in Washington because he's busy teaching that day at the University of Virginia. The Rev. John Dufell considered joining him at Yankee Stadium, but he's got a couple of weddings to do, so he also passed. Paul Kane, a retired lawyer who goes to church in Georgetown, actually laughed at the idea, and Barbara Breshcia, who prays at St. Patrick's Cathedral several mornings a week, didn't even know the Holy Father was coming. Buttonholed on Fifth Avenue the week before Benedict XVI's arrival in New York, Breshcia was perplexed. "He's coming when? This week? Oh, next week. Is he coming to St. Patrick's?" Well, yes, and celebrating mass there, but never mind. [This intro is stupid. It does not say anything about the importance of the pope's visit. What if we had articles about what the common priest or laymen was doing during the investiture conflict? I suspect people in Sweden would probably not even know who the pope was. Is that breaking news? Idiot!]
The cameras will begin to roll on Tuesday, and despite what's sure to be wall-to-wall coverage of ceremonial events, punctuated by mind-numbing dissections of the pontiff's veiled pronouncements [Miller reveals what she really thinks about the pope with this smarta$$ remark], the truth is that among American Roman Catholics, excitement about this pope and his trip is remarkably low [Is that really true? Are not his books at the top of the bestsellers among Catholic authors? Yeah... so where does Miller get this "low interest" stuff? Her own mind, or the people she wants to interview.]. It's not just that Benedict pales in comparison to his predecessor John Paul II in almost every respect, including looks, vitality, charisma, showmanship, tenure and popular appeal—facts so obvious that even Benedict's defenders concede them immediately before trying to spin their man's "timid" temperament and essential "humility" as spiritual assets. It's that Benedict himself has done very little to win the hearts of his American flock at what may be the most critical moment in their history [Because being pope is all about "winning hearts"? Um no, it's all about saving souls!].
Ever since the Second Vatican Council, the gap between what the church teaches and what the American laity practices has been growing ever wider. According to a 2005 survey by Catholic University sociologist William D'Antonio and his colleagues, 58 percent of American Catholics believe you can be a "good" Catholic and disregard the church's teachings on abortion. Sixty-six percent believe you can ignore its position on divorce and remarriage. Seventy-five percent believe you can disregard the ban on birth control. Seventy-six percent think you don't have to go to church every week. [This is exactly why this papacy is exciting, important, and attractive to young people. Miller needs to do some research beyond media polls.]
According to a title first used by Gregory the Great (590–604), the Bishop of Rome is the "Servant of the Servants of God." The Roman Catholic Church recognizes 265 of those servants as legitimate popes. Some were historical titans; others labored in obscurity. Some were saints, including more than two dozen martyrs; others were scandalous sinners. Some were reformers whose legacy in Catholic doctrine and practice is visible today; others were complicit in corruption. Some were men of genius, both intellectual and organizational; others were mediocrities. A few years back, a veteran Vatican bureaucrat remarked that "God has been very kind to us; we haven't had a wicked pope in 500 years." That wistful expression of gratitude suggests something of the papacy's staying power while hinting at its complex history.
Surprises
The influence and magnetism of the modern papacy are, in fact, surprises. When Leo XIII was elected in 1878—the first pope in 1,100 years not to control substantial territory as an internationally recognized sovereign—many thought the papacy an impotent anachronism. Leo, however, created the modern papacy as an office of moral persuasion. John Paul II, elected precisely 100 years after Leo, turned the papal bully pulpit into something to be reckoned with in the world. John Paul was one of the key figures in the collapse of European communism; he also played a significant role in democratic transitions in Latin America and East Asia, while defending the universality of human rights and challenging the intolerant secularism of European high culture.
That many Catholics feel a deep personal connection to the pope is another relatively new, and in some respects surprising, phenomenon. [Miss Miller, did you read that?]
The different personalities of John Paul II and Benedict XVI sometimes mask their shared (and unshakable) conviction that religious and moral ideas can redirect the course of human affairs. And that, in turn, suggests the possibility that Benedict XVI may have had his own "June 1979 moment"—a moment that was missed, or misunderstood, at the time.
That moment was the most controversial episode in Benedict XVI's pontificate: his Regensburg Lecture on faith and reason, delivered at his old German university on Sept. 12, 2006. By quoting a Byzantine emperor's sharp critique of Islam, Benedict XVI drew worldwide criticism. Others, however, including significant personalities in the complex worlds of Islam, took the pope's point about the dangers of faith detached from reason quite seriously. And over the ensuing 19 months, there have been potentially historic tectonic shifts going on, both within Islam and in the world of interreligious dialogue.
Benedict has received two open letters from Muslim leaders; the October 2007 letter, "An Open Word Between Us and You," proposed a new dialogue between Islam and the Vatican. That dialogue will now be conducted through a Catholic-Muslim Forum that will meet twice yearly, in Rome and in Amman, Jordan. The forum will address two issues that Benedict XVI has insisted be the focus of conversation: religious freedom, understood as a human right that everyone can grasp by reason, and the separation of religious and political authority in the modern state.
Perhaps even more important, given his influence in Sunni Islam, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia visited Benedict XVI in November 2007. Subsequently, the king announced his own interfaith initiative, aimed at drawing representatives of the three monotheistic faiths into a new conversation, and negotiations between the Holy See and Saudi Arabia opened on building the first Catholic church in the kingdom. (A new Catholic church, also the first of its kind, recently opened in Doha, Qatar.) Abdullah's voice was noticeably absent from the chorus of critics who charged Benedict XVI with "aggression" for baptizing Magdi Allam, a prominent Italian journalist and convert from Islam, in St. Peter's Basilica on March 22. That all of this has happened after Regensburg is, at the very least, suggestive.
In addition to reshaping the dialogue between Catholicism and Islam, Benedict XVI has made significant changes in the Vatican's intellectual approach to these volatile issues. Catholic veterans of the interreligious dialogue who did not press issues like religious freedom and reciprocity between the faiths have been replaced by scholars who believe that facing the hard questions helps support those Muslim reformers who are trying to find an authentic Islamic path to civility, tolerance and pluralism. Thus Benedict XVI has quietly put his pontificate behind the forces of Islamic reform—and may have found a crucial ally with a Saudi king who is wrestling with Wahhabi extremism in his own domain.
The pope's general reaction to America is that this nation has a fine founding in its classical writers. We are a generous people. However, somehow Americans have more recently drifted away from these founding principles. "As a first step, go back!" he will urge. He will mention the obvious relativism and secularism, which has too often replaced the central values of western civilization, including that of America and even in the Church.
"Secularization, which presents itself in cultures by imposing a world and humanity without reference to Transcendence," Benedict told the members of the Pontifical Council for Culture, "is invading every aspect of daily life and developing a mentality in which God is effectively absent, wholly or partially, from human life and awareness. This secularization is not only an external threat to believers, but has been manifest for some time in the heart of the Church herself. It profoundly distorts the Christian faith from within..." [3] The inner relation of believers-Church-nations-world to the final destiny of each human person and that of our kind to God is constantly before the pope's mind. This is, after all, why his office exists, that men may know the truth about themselves and their final destiny. Everything else has its importance relative to the final end of our being.
Ever since his address on modern religious movements in Mexico several years ago, the pope has paid attentions to cults and spiritualities that seem to prevail in a society evidently returning to pagan origins on its rejecting Christianity. Thus, he continues in the same address to the Council for Culture: "The 'death of God' proclaimed by many intellectuals in recent decades is giving way to a barren cult of the individual. In this cultural context there is a risk of drifting into spiritual atrophy and emptiness of heart, sometimes characterized by surrogate forms of religious affiliation and vague spiritualism." It has frequently been said that, unexpectedly, the aftermath of Marxism has not been a return to Christianity or to science even, but to eastern religions and "spiritualism" movements.
No doubt the pope will say something about life, about abortion, skewered views of marriage, including homosexual "marriages." These are issues about which many American politicians would like to think are "settled constitutional issues." That is, beyond criticism or intellectual discussion. In his Salt of the Earth, Joseph Ratzinger made a comment that I think is pertinent here: "Evil has power via man's freedom, whereby it creates structures for itself." [4] This is pretty much where we are. We have a protective "structure" of evil that claims immunity because we are so "settled" about it that we need not examine what it means. Even though here and in Europe, the decline of population is of major political import, we pretend not to see the connection between our future and new human beings coming into the world. We are blind to the needed reforms of our lives, families, and state that would make this renewed attention to the need of new members of our society possible.
At the open-air mass in St. Peter's on April 2, the third anniversary of the death of John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI spoke movingly – he brought mist to the eyes of our little group of visiting Americans – of John Paul's life, and the meaning of his suffering. "Among his many human and supernatural qualities he had an exceptional spiritual and mystical sensitivity," said the pontiff, who knew John Paul long and intimately. (Those who hope for swift canonization please note: "supernatural." Benedict the philosopher does not use words lightly.)
He spoke of the distilled message of John Paul's reign: "Be not afraid," the words "of the angel of the Resurrection, addressed to the women before the empty tomb." Which words were themselves a condensed message: Nothing has ended, something beautiful has begun, but you won't understand for a while.
Benedict was doing something great leaders usually don't do, which is invite you to dwell on the virtues of his predecessor.
We did. You couldn't hear Benedict without your eyes going to the small white window in the plain-walled Vatican where John Paul's private chambers were, and from which he spoke to the world. Quick memory-images: the windows open, the crowd goes wild, and John Paul is waving, or laughingly shooing away a white bird that repeatedly tried to fly in and join him, or, most movingly, at the end, trying to speak and not able to, and trying again and not able to, and how the crowd roared its encouragement.
Oh, you miss that old man when you are here! You feel the presence of his absence. The souvenir shops know. They sell framed pictures and ceramic plates of the pope: John Paul. Is there no Benedict? There is. A photo of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger being embraced by . . . John Paul. It's now on my desk in New York. They have their hands on each other's shoulders and look in each other's eyes. A joyful image. They loved each other and were comrades.
When I was writing a book about John Paul, I'd ask those who'd met him or saw him go by: What did you think, or say? And they'd be startled and say, "I don't know, I was crying."
John Paul made you burst into tears. Benedict makes you think. It is more pleasurable to weep, but at the moment, perhaps it is more important to think.
A Vatican reporter last week said John Paul was the perfect pope for the television age, "a man of images." Think of the pictures of him storm-tossed, tempest-tossed, standing somewhere and leaning into a heavy wind, his robes whipping behind him, holding on to his crosier, the staff bearing the image of a crucified Christ, with both hands, for dear life, as if consciously giving Christians a picture of what it is to be alive.
Benedict, the reporter noted, is the perfect pope for the Internet age. He is a man of the word. You download the text of what he said, print it, ponder it.
* * *
Now he is the man at the window. What do we see? This is what I saw as his popemobile came close by in the square: tall man, white hair, shy eyes, deep-set. He is waving, trying to act out pleasure at being the focus of all eyes, center stage. He is not a showman but a scholar, an engaged philosopher nostalgic for the days – he has spoken of them – when he was a professor in a university classroom, surrounded by professors operating in a spirit of academic camaraderie and debate. But, his friends tell you, he enjoys being pope. He has become acclimated.
There is a sweetness about him – all in the Vatican who knew him in the old days speak of it – and a certain vagueness, as if he is preoccupied.
He lacks an immediately accessible flair. Popes didn't use to have to have flair, but now perhaps it is expected of them. John Paul was many things – theologian, canny anticommunist – but he was a showman, too. Woo woo, he teased the cheering children of America on his first trip. John Paul II, he loves you! Such a small thing, and yet somehow it broke your heart. The world then needed the liveliness of faith, its joy, its gaiety even. I was told this week his Vatican hadn't quite approved of what they saw as his antics. Well, that's why God didn't make them pope.
* * *
Now Benedict comes to America, his first trip as pope. The highlight in the Vatican's eyes is his address to the United Nations. No one knows what he will say. He will no doubt call for peace, for that is what popes do, and should do. Beyond that? Perhaps some variation on themes from his famous Regensburg address, in September 2006.
There he traced and limned some of the development of Christianity, but he turned first to Islam. Faith in God does not justify violence, he said. "The right use of reason" prompts us to understand that violence is incompatible with the nature of God, and the nature, therefore, of the soul. God, he quotes an ancient Byzantine ruler, "is not pleased by blood," and "not acting reasonably is contrary to God's nature." More: "To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm." This is a message for our time, and a courageous one, too. (The speech was followed by riots and by Osama bin Laden's charge that the pope was starting a new "crusade.")
The trip begins in Washington, and the White House has announced that the pope and the president will "continue their dialogue on the interplay of faith and reason." (This prompted a long-suffering Bush supporter to say, "I'm seeing the collision of matter and antimatter.")
Catholics who hope for a successful visit have some anxiety that a distracted Vatican apparatus, working, sort of, with a confused American team waiting on decisions, will fail to allow Benedict to be what he is to best effect, to break through and reveal some of his nature. An American journalist took it upon himself to remind papal representatives that the pope turns 81 while in Washington. Perhaps people could be urged to sing . . . "Happy Birthday"? Benedict some time back wowed a group of schoolchildren when he spoke to them of Antonietta Meo, who may in time become the church's youngest nonmartyred saint. Is he meeting with schoolchildren here?
Another small fear, born of hearing him last week at the mass. Benedict spoke in many languages including English, which he speaks fluidly and with a strong German accent. This is an accent that 60 years of World War II movies have taught Americans to hear as vaguely sinister, or comic. The nicer commentators may say he sounds like Col. Klink in "Hogan's Heroes." I hope he speaks even more than usual about love, for that may remove the sting, as love does.
* * *
I forgot to say that as he went through the crowds last week, after the mass, thousands from all over the world ran toward him, reached for him, applauded. It was festive, sprawling, and as they cheered, for a moment St. Peter's felt like what Benedict said it was in the days after John Paul's death, the beating "heart of the world." It was rousing, but also comforting. Afterward I thought: Nothing is ended, something beautiful has begun, we just won't understand it for a while.
***** (5 stars) EVERYONE should hear this -- at least once!
This CD has become very dear to me and some of my friends. I saw this performed live three times, and laughed all the way through and even wept a few times (and I am a grown man!). Sweeney went through the whole gamut of spirituality, (Catholicism, Buddhism, the belief that "God is love" and finally "God is Nature") before truly weighing fact from blind faith. It was not easy for her (or any of us seeking truth and perhaps even FEARING the truth) which is what this great 2 CD set covers. I know it sounds like a very broad statement, but if everyone on earth could hear this, I think we just may come to live in a more rational world (or perhaps that is just wishful thinking on my part...). I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone who is questioning the rationality of blind faith, who is suffering from a religious upbringing, or feels they are ready to live a truly authentic life. A NOTE: Sweeney has no agenda--she only tells her story and the listener can take from it what they may. I always feel very peaceful and inspired after listening to this. It comes with a book of the complete text, a track list and 2 CD's.
O God of love, compassion, and healing,
look on us, people of many different faiths
and traditions,
who gather today at this site,
the scene of incredible violence and pain.
We ask you in your goodness
to give eternal light and peace
to all who died here—
the heroic first-responders:
our fire fighters, police officers,
emergency service workers, and
Port Authority personnel,
along with all the innocent men and women
who were victims of this tragedy
simply because their work or service
brought them here on September 11, 2001.
We ask you, in your compassion
to bring healing to those
who, because of their presence here that day,
suffer from injuries and illness.
Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families
and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.
Give them strength to continue their lives
with courage and hope.
We are mindful as well
of those who suffered death, injury, and loss
on the same day at the Pentagon and in
Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Our hearts are one with theirs
as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.
God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred.
God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.
Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.
Comfort and console us,
strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.
A NUN saved a burning man from death by jumping on him - then smothering the flames with her habit.
Brave Sister Donatella Ciucciumei, 51, saw the elderly man douse himself in petrol in a street in San Severino Marche, in Italy.
She ran towards the 71-year-old as he raised a lit match to his body.
And as he was engulfed in flames, she jumped on top of him, spreading her habit to douse the flames.
The nun was unhurt and the man is recovering after sustaining second degree burns to most of his body.
Sister Donatella has visited daily to offer him counselling. Police said he was depressed because his wife left him.
Essay #1: The Influence of Catholic Education on American Culture
One of the biggest influences the Catholic Church has had on culture in the United States is in the realm of education. Exposure to the Catholic faith via parochial schools has had a positive influence in the quality of education, faithfulness, and leadership in this country. It has also helped immigrants become integrated in American society and eventually to be accepted and successful. Attending a Catholic high school, as opposed to other institutions, has been shown to have positive, life-long consequences.
The first Catholic schools were founded in the United States in the1840s. Irish immigrants suffering from famine immigrated to U.S. cities on the east coast. They were followed by immigrants from southern and eastern Europe. Many of these new Americans did not speak English and they lived in ghettos. At that time in America, public schools were openly prejudiced against Catholic immigrants, and so the Church started building schools for their families. In 1886, a council of American bishops decided to require parishes to set up schools and offer free or inexpensive tuition.[1] Soon, schools filled up and parishes became the center of life in these Catholic neighborhoods.
According to Resources for Christian Living, today there are 233 Catholic colleges and universities, 1,378 Catholic high schools, and 6,376 Catholic elementary schools. There are approximately 174,000 Catholic teachers educating 3,289,000 students. In this century, Catholic schools are now trying to help students become more faithful to the Church, respect the value of authentic diversity, live the Gospel message, and work for peace and justice.
Catholic schools have benefited students with more than a quality education, faith formation, and success in life. According to The National Catholic Reporter, attending a Catholic high school or university leads to both higher pursuit of education and higher household income. A Catholic education also helps students to become more devout Christians; those who attend a Catholic school are half as likely to convert to another religion.[2]
Attending a Catholic secondary institution also has a positive impact on a student's college application process. 44% of Catholics who have attended a Catholic high school have gone on to college. Students who have studied at a Catholic high school are 10% more likely to say that faith is among the most important things in their life. Catholics who have attended a Catholic high school are also 14% more likely to pray at least once a day after graduation than those who did not attend a Catholic institution.
Before I transferred to a Catholic school in sixth grade, I went to a public school for three years. I discovered a much more demanding curriculum; two of the areas I struggled with were writing and reading comprehension. The devotion and interaction of the teachers along with the numerous writing assignments helped me to improve in those areas. The other pupils were also far more well behaved, making school more enjoyable.
The role that Catholic schools play in American culture will most likely have a lasting impact into the future. Today the children of Catholic immigrants from countries like Mexico are streaming into the Church's schools because of the quality of a Catholic, Christian education. It is interesting to see how Catholic education has come full circle from its early days of teaching Irish immigrant students.
In conclusion, the positive influences of Catholic schools on American culture are multiform. The students who attend the Church's institutions are more likely to pray daily, be better students, uphold a higher standard of living, and have a higher household income. Catholic schools are creating, and have created for almost two centuries, highly dedicated citizens who will shape the future of the United States by teaching, sharing, and living their Catholic faith.
Welcome to Pope Benedict XVI
In 1979, my mother and her Catholic friends made a three-hour pilgrimage from their college to attend a mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II in a farm field outside of Des Moines, Iowa. It was the first visit to the United States by Pope John Paul II. Now, almost 30 years later, it is my honor to welcome Your Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, on your first visit to the United States. Just like my mother, I am the product of Catholic education. Catholic education has done much to change the culture in the United States. Your Holiness, I hope you will continue to teach the lay people and clergy about the Church's doctrines and dogma during your visit.
[1] Dwyer, Jim. "Catholic Schools Finds Its Status Diminished". The New York Times. February 13, 2005.
[2] Resources for Christian Living.
Essay #2: The Essential Writings of Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict's major written works: The Catechism, Deus Caritas Est, Spe Salvi, and Dominus Iesus are central to the pope's ideas and the advancement of the Catholic Church in the 21st century; they also act as an anchor for the Catholic Church to her Apostolic traditions. These four documents illustrate the theme of love, hope, and faith and how they revolve around the dogmas and doctrines of the Church.
Benedict is well known for his work on The Catechism, in which he played a large part by editing it. This document holds much information on the theology of the Catholic faith and on its many dogmas and doctrines. The Catechism was built on the four pillars of our faith: the Creed, the Sacraments, the Commandments, and the Lord's Prayer. It educates the faithful on the truths of the Catholic faith: what we believe in and why we believe in it. One of the most basic truths is that there is a God who loves and watches over us. The reason we believe in our faith is not based entirely on physical means. There are the miracles, but aside from that it goes deeper into something called faith. The very definition of the word faith reveals this: the belief that something is out there even if you cannot prove it.
Deus Caritas Est, Latin for "God is Love", is the first letter written by Pope Benedict. This document says that eros, or sexual human love, without God's agape, or self-sacrificial love, is depraved and can lead to sin and destruction. It says that eros and agape are not separate things, but instead that they are two distinct halves of love: one cannot occur with the other unless the act is sinful.
Spe Salvi rendered in English is…"Saved in Hope". That is a very powerful statement backed up by the way in which the pope presents it; with hope, Christians can know that when they die, they will go to a better place where God is in his kingdom. It also states that we believe in Salvation not because it is not a sure thing, but because it is possible; the fact stands that if Salvation was a sure thing, then no one would worry about sinning since Salvation would be guaranteed.
My final choice is Dominus Iesus, which means "Jesus is the Lord". Despite all of the controversy surrounding this document, the main point is that all other churches do not have the fullness of Truth in them because God was not the one who instituted them. It is a hard thing to grasp, but the people who started the other churches were mortal, with "original sin"; in other words they make mistakes. On the other hand, God was fully human and divine, which made him lack original sin. God instituted the Catholic Church through the Apostles, allowing us to use "Apostolic Succession" to trace the Church's bishops all the way back to the Twelve.
Throughout the documents discussed, much has been said about hope, love, and faith. The Pope presents these truths in an order that makes sense; he showed how they are all tied together. If one does not love and have faith in God, what is there to hope for that is true; and if there is no hope, why would anyone believe in God if it was impossible to hope for greater things?
Only the Holy Spirit knows exactly why Pope Benedict is the "right man for the job", and only history can judge how he performs. From my perspective, I believe Benedict will be remembered as a great pope because he is a firm defender and believer in the Christian faith. He has demonstrated this virtue again and again in the various ecclesiastical offices he has held. In the years after Cardinal Ratzinger's elevation to the Successor of Peter, he has protected the faith by publishing many official and authoritative documents on the teaching and implementation of the Catholic faith. He believes in the patrimony of the faith, which is why he is such a gifted writer and evangelist.
A Message of Welcome to Pope Benedict XVI
Welcome to the United States, Pope Benedict! I have studied several of your writings, and recently I was in your presence at a private audience in Rome where you blessed me and my tour group. I believe your works Deus Caritas Est, The Catechism, Spe Salvi, and Dominus Iesus all address our confusing times quite appropriately and accurately. With much confusion among even Christians in this age, your writings are needed to evangelize the world. Thank you for coming to my country with the Gospel message, and for leading the Church as such a wise teacher.
In April 2008, Pope Benedict XVI makes an historic trip to the United States, his first since being named pope. This one hour documentary taps the world-wide resources of FOX News to examine the man and his mission, and the role he will push for the Roman Catholic Church in the 21st century.
Born Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict grew up in the small villages of Bavaria, Germany as Hitler came to power. He became a priest, a brilliant college professor, and a top advisor to Pope John Paul II.
After John Paul's death, Pope Benedict XVI took over a church faced with significant challenges, including: dwindling numbers of Catholics in Europe, scandals and priest shortages in the United States, a growing secularism throughout the West, and the spread of radical Islam throughout the world.
"Mission to America: Pope Benedict XVI" reveals the inside stories behind Benedict's plan to revitalize the faith of Catholics in America; his outreach to American Protestants, including Evangelicals; his visit to Ground Zero -- the site of Al Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attack on New York City; his White House meeting with President Bush, and his historic address to the United Nations.
Plus, our we'll talk with Vatican Secretary of State Tarciscio Bertone, Vatican Ambassador to the U.N. Archbishop Celestino Migliori, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Bush's National Security Advisor Steven Hadley, Reverend Pat Robertson, and others about the pope's historic visit to the United States.
Hosted by Chris Wallace. In April 2008, Pope Benedict XVI made an historic trip to the United States, his first since being named Pope. This one-hour documentary taps the world-wide resources of Fox News to examine the man, his mission, and the role he desires for the Roman Catholic Church in the 21st century. Born Joseph Ratzinger, Benedict grew up in the small villages of Bavaria Germany as Hitler came to power. He became a priest, a brilliant college professor, and a top advisor to Pope John Paul II. After John Paul's death, Pope Benedict XVI took over a church faced with significant challenges, including: dwindling numbers of Catholics in Europe, ascandals and priest shortages in the United States, a growing secularism throughout the West, and the spread of radical Islam throughout the world.
This hour reveals the inside stories behind Benedict's plan to revitalize the faith of Catholics in America; his outreach to American Protestants, including Evangelicals; his visit to Ground Zero -- the site of Al Qaeda's September 11, 2001 attack on New York City; his White House meeting with President Bush, and his historic address to the United Nations. Interviews include top Catholic theologians, Former Great Britain Prime Minister Tony Blair, President Bush's National Security Advisor Steven Hadley, the Vatican's Ambassador to the United Nations, the Reverend Pat Robertson, and others.
This product is manufactured on demand using DVD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.
A potent spring storm system will move from West Texas today, toward the western Great Lakes Friday, sweeping a strong cold front eastward through the Mississippi Valley.
Severe thunderstorms were ongoing this morning from parts of Texas, through Arkansas, with reports of widespread wind damage in the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas area, along with many reports of hail through the region.
The severe weather threat will expand east and northeast through the Mississippi valley today, impacting areas such as Houston, Little Rock, Memphis, Kansas City, and St. Louis today, and then into the Chicago, Indianapolis, Nashville, and Birmingham areas tonight.
Widespread severe weather is expected, including tornadoes, large hail, widespread damaging winds, and flash flooding rains.
There will be in increased risk for tornadoes over much of Arkansas, western Tennessee, southern eastern Missouri, and southern Illinois today.
When Pope Benedict XVI arrives in America this month, he will find an American Church much in need of his tough love and pastoral care. Nonetheless, his native instinct for modesty and gentleness is likely to be the most visible fact of his presence.
Some may ask why Benedict XVI chose to come to the White House this year, at the risk of seeming to engage in politics during an election. My guess is that the Vatican has never had a better friend in the White House than George W. Bush — not only in defending the sanctity of human life, but in exposing the reflexive leftism (and “gnosticism” — to which I will return later) of many international organizations, and in stressing the importance of religious liberty in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Second, the Pope especially appreciates the American founders’ intellectual solution to the crisis of religious liberty. That solution has bearing today on the immense difficulties of church and state — which much concern Benedict — that are now being experienced in so many other nations around the world.
Third, Benedict XVI appreciates the substratum of natural law — the universal law implanted in the hearts and minds of all persons — that is expressed in the natural-rights tradition of the United States. This way of thinking has, in his mind, immense international potency. It is rooted in natural reason, not particular faiths, and it pertains to human beings as such, not as they are divided into nations or tribes.
[snip]
PAPAL PERSONALITY
As for the Pope himself, one of the most beautiful things about him is how faithfully he is just himself — not trying to be like his great friend John Paul II (they used to meet once a week for long conversations, often of some theological and philosophical depth). His training was to become a professor and, more than that, an unusually clear thinker, of extraordinary erudition and fearless intellectual judgment.
The Pope has always struck those who know him as an unusually shy and modest man, despite his great learning. He prefers to let his clarity of thought speak for itself and presents himself even in casual conversation as a seeker and a constant learner.
Back in the early 1980s... the cardinal is said to have insisted that Communism was dead — no one even in the USSR took it seriously any longer (unlike some in Western universities). The great intellectual threat of the future, he said quietly, the one he was most concerned about, was “gnosticism.”
[snip]
...the cardinal was thought to have meant by this a kind of dreamy utopianism, an attempt to escape from human limitations. Gnosticism seeks such unrealistic forms of perfection that it necessarily becomes the enemy of the merely human and the merely good. It leads to dissatisfaction, outrage, bitterness, alienation, depressed capitulation to evil, and, often enough, self-destruction. Perhaps the cardinal was even then working toward his more recent thinking about relativism and nihilism, genetic engineering, and political romanticism as the chief enemies of freedom today.
[snip]
Yet the most important point of the Pope’s American visit is a pastoral stirring of the Catholic faithful in the United States. One should watch carefully the tenor of his talks to a large body of Catholic educators, to bishops and clergy, and, via television, to millions of laypeople and their fellow Americans. The text for the Pope’s address to the United Nations should also be given special attention. Some who should know say that it will be a profound recapitulation of the body of ideas about natural law and universal human rights in which the United Nations (under significant Catholic leadership, by the way) was conceived.
As we know, Chesterton famously observed that the mark of madness is not the loss of reason, but the loss of everything except reason. Periodically, something in our culture will show me the brilliance of that insight with great force.
Chad, one of the readers over on the Vox Popoli blog summarizes Dawkins & Co.'s lightning-swift-on-the-uptake response to the satire:
1. Video posted around 11:00 PM
2. 1 hour and 44 minutes later, Dawkins implores his more intelligent readers to help inform him as to whose side the video is on (his side, or not his side). He then pokes fun at people that think things are funny that he doesn't understand just in case it turns out to be 'not on his side.' Comment #151544
3. Dawkins now presumably goes to sleep.
4. Nearly nine hours later, he wakes up and checks the post again. He sees that his fellow scientific elites like the video, but also don't understand it. Dawkins tries to get in a little dig on postmodernism, but just ends up making fun of his posters. Comment #151685
5. Nine and a half hours after posting, Dawkins wonders how his fellow comrades could laugh at something they don't understand. He then lauds The Life of Brian as the pinnacle of comedic evolution. Comment #151704
6. A couple minutes after the last post, he gets in another jab at Postmodernism. Comment #151713
7. Under chastisement for his humbuggery, Dawkins admits that Daniel Dennett popping his head up from out of nowhere is, in fact, funny. Comment #151715
8. Nearly ten hours after posting the video, someone postulates that the humor is derived from the silly dancing bodies (not the satire). Dawkins seems to accept this theory and thanks the poster for his intellect. Comment #151723
9. Sixteen hours after first watching the video, Dawkins finally realizes that it is, in fact, making fun of 'his side.' Dawkins defends himself again by saying that he didn't understand it. Comment #151849.
10. Seventeen hours after posting, Dawkins attempts to comprehend the humor by equating similar scenes of incongruousness that Monty Python has also done. Dawkins has apparently not yet pondered why, if this were the only thing funny about the video, he did not catch on before this. Dawkins chalks this up to the video not being funny, and dismisses the obvious conclusion that his head is too big to see the satire behind it. Comment #151889
11. The next day, Dawkins chimes in again to defend his Ph.D. status to a poster who dared question it. Comment #152142
12. Nearly 36 hours after posting, Dawkins discovers what a 'grill' is and waxes philosophic as to why Sam Harris would have one in the video. The conclusion he comes up with is that it adds no humor to the video and should not have been put in. Comment #152168
13. After a full three and a half days after first watching the video, Dawkins (obviously perturbed at the fact he didn't get that he was the butt of the joke, when every other non-elite who saw it could tell in an instant) attempts to equate the video with 'The worst poem ever written.' He then satisfies himself by settling on the conclusion that this is the only reason why people might like it. The final analysis is that it's not only 'not good,' and not even 'pretty bad,' but so incredibly bad, that it is in fact, good. He gets in a snobbish comment about the Bible for good measure. Comment #153061
Recently, I wrote about Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), a K-8 charter school in Inver Grove Heights. Charter schools are public schools and by law must not endorse or promote religion.
Evidence suggests, however, that TIZA is an Islamic school, funded by Minnesota taxpayers.
TIZA has many characteristics that suggest a religious school. It shares the headquarters building of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, whose mission is "establishing Islam in Minnesota." [depends on what "establishing" means...] The building also houses a mosque. TIZA's executive director, Asad Zaman, is a Muslim imam, or religious leader, and its sponsor is an organization called Islamic Relief.
Students pray daily, the cafeteria serves halal food - permissible under Islamic law -- and "Islamic Studies" is offered at the end of the school day.
Zaman maintains that TIZA is not a religious school. He declined, however, to allow me to visit the school to see for myself, "due to the hectic schedule for statewide testing." [yeah, public schools are really working hard to educate our kids... right.] But after I e-mailed him that the Minnesota Department of Education had told me that testing would not begin for several weeks, Zaman did not respond -- even to urgent calls and e-mails seeking comment before my first column on TIZA.
Now, however, an eyewitness has stepped forward. Amanda Getz of Bloomington is a substitute teacher. She worked as a substitute in two fifth-grade classrooms at TIZA on Friday, March 14. Her experience suggests that school-sponsored religious activity plays an integral role at TIZA.
[snip....]
TIZA's operation as a public, taxpayer-funded school is troubling on several fronts. TIZA is skirting the law by operating what is essentially an Islamic school at taxpayer expense. The Department of Education has failed to provide the oversight necessary to catch these illegalities, and appears to lack the tools to do so. In addition, there's a double standard at work here -- if TIZA were a Christian school, it would likely be gone in a heartbeat. [exactly]
TIZA is now being held up as a national model for a new kind of charter school. If it passes legal muster, Minnesota taxpayers may soon find themselves footing the bill for a separate system of education for Muslims.
ROMA, April 4, 2008 – When, in mid-April, Benedict XVI lands at the military airport of Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, the United States will take the lead in the list of the countries most visited by the popes, tieing Poland for the number of visits, with nine, and Turkey for the number of popes who have visited, with three, following his predecessors Paul Vi and John Paul II.
The latter, a ceaseless traveler, made the rounds all over the United States. During his first visit, in 1979, he visited seven cities in six days, delivering 63 speeches. The more sedate Joseph Ratzinger, who also make a visit of seven days, will instead stop in only two places: Washington – where he will meet George W. Bush at the White House on April 16 – and New York. He will deliver just 11 speeches. But the mere announcement of at least two of these are already causing jitters, after the current pope showed the world in Regensburg to what daredevil extremes he is willing to go. These will be the speech on April 17, in Washington, to representatives of Judaism, Islam, and other religions, and the one on April 18, in New York, to the general assembly of the United Nations.
In Regensburg, Benedict XVI denounced as the chief errors of today's world its separation of faith from reason, of which he accused Islamism, and the loss of faith and reason, which he instead imputed to the dominant culture in Europe and America. It's a good bet that he will go even farther at the podium of the UN, and will offer the world a primer on peace founded upon natural law, on the inviolable rights engraved in the conscience of each person, but also written in the "universal declaration" that marks its 60th birthday in 2008.
This is an easy forecast to make, if one only looks at what the pope said last February 29, while receiving the new U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, Mary Ann Glendon. For Benedict XVI the United States is a model to be imitated by all. It is the country born and founded "on the self-evident truth that the Creator has endowed each human being with certain inalienable rights," among the first of which is liberty.
RELIGION IN THE UNITED STATES, IN 2008
Percentages out of the total adult population:
CHRISTIANS 78.4
Protestants 51.3
"Evangelical" Churches 26.3
Mainline Churches 18.1
Historically black Churches 6.9
Catholics 23.9
Mormons 1.7
Jehovah's Witnesses 0.7
Orthodox 0.6
Greek Orthodox <0.3
Russian Orthodox <0.3
Other <0.3
Other Christians 0.3
OTHER RELIGIONS 4.7
Jews 1.7
Reformed 0.7
Conservative 0.5
Orthodox <0.3
Other 0.3
Buddhists 0.7
Zen Buddhists <0.3
Theravada Buddhists <0.3
Tibetan Buddhists <0.3
Other 0.3
Muslims 0.6
Sunnis 0.3
Shiites <0.3
Other <0.3
Hindus 0.4
Other faiths 1.3
Unitarians and other liberal faiths 0.7
New Age 0.4
Native American religions <0.3
Other world religions <0.3
UNAFFILIATED 16.1
Secular unaffiliated 6.3
Unaffiliated but with religious sentiments 5.8
Agnostics 2.4
Atheists 1.6
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin confirmandus, gerundive of confirmare
: a candidate for religious confirmation
"Back in the olden days, like the 1950's, the Church made you learn and recite doctrines and stuff- you had to agree to be a soldier of Christ'. Well, the Church really understands things better now. You don't have to agree to anything before Confirmation because
it's really part of the faith journey."
"We don't want to reduce Confirmation to being just a sacrament."
"It's all about becoming part of a Faith Community
now; that's how we understand the sacrament."
Forced-choice exercise: Taking a Stand About Jesus
Students responded and discussed a number of statements about Jesus to identify where they stand regarding a number issues surrounding Jesus.
Some statements are traditional theology and essential teachings of the church; some are not.
Question List: (Students should respond either 1) Agree Strongly, 2) Not Sure, or 3) Disagree Strongly)
1. Jesus is the Son of God
2. Jesus was a fictional character created by someone. He never really existed.
3. Jesus was as human as we are.
4. Jesus was a good man but was certainly not God.
5. Jesus set up the positions of the pope and bishops as we have them today.
6. Only people who believe in Jesus will go to heaven.
7. Jesus worked many miracles.
8. Jesus must have had a good sense of humor.
9. Jesus truly rose from the dead and is alive today.
10. If Jesus came among us today, people would reject him just like they did 2,000 years ago
Dear Brothers and Sisters in the United States of America,
The grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you! In just a few days from now, I shall begin my apostolic visit to your beloved country. Before setting off, I would like to offer you a heartfelt greeting and an invitation to prayer. As you know, I shall only be able to visit two cities: Washington and New York. The intention behind my visit, though, is to reach out spiritually to all Catholics in the United States. At the same time, I earnestly hope that my presence among you will be seen as a fraternal gesture towards every ecclesial community, and a sign of friendship for members of other religious traditions and all men and women of good will. The risen Lord entrusted the Apostles and the Church with his Gospel of love and peace, and his intention in doing so was that the message should be passed on to all peoples.
At this point I should like to add some words of thanks, because I am conscious that many people have been working hard for a long time, both in Church circles and in the public services, to prepare for my journey. I am especially grateful to all who have been praying for the success of the visit, since prayer is the most important element of all. Dear friends, I say this because I am convinced that without the power of prayer, without that intimate union with the Lord, our human endeavours would achieve very little. Indeed this is what our faith teaches us. It is God who saves us, he saves the world, and all of history. He is the Shepherd of his people. I am coming, sent by Jesus Christ, to bring you his word of life.
Together with your Bishops, I have chosen as the theme of my journey three simple but essential words: "Christ our hope". Following in the footsteps of my venerable predecessors, Paul VI and John Paul II, I shall come to United States of America as Pope for the first time, to proclaim this great truth: Jesus Christ is hope for men and women of every language, race, culture and social condition. Yes, Christ is the face of God present among us. Through him, our lives reach fullness, and together, both as individuals and peoples, we can become a family united by fraternal love, according to the eternal plan of God the Father. I know how deeply rooted this Gospel message is in your country. I am coming to share it with you, in a series of celebrations and gatherings. I shall also bring the message of Christian hope to the great Assembly of the United Nations, to the representatives of all the peoples of the world. Indeed, the world has greater need of hope than ever: hope for peace, for justice, and for freedom, but this hope can never be fulfilled without obedience to the law of God, which Christ brought to fulfilment in the commandment to love one another. Do to others as you would have them do to you, and avoid doing what you would not want them to do. This "golden rule" is given in the Bible, but it is valid for all people, including non-believers. It is the law written on the human heart; on this we can all agree, so that when we come to address other matters we can do so in a positive and constructive manner for the entire human community. [I like the promo for Natural Law!]
Dirijo un cordial saludo a los católicos de lengua española y les manifiesto mi cercanía espiritual, en particular a los jóvenes, a los enfermos, a los ancianos y a los que pasan por dificultades o se sienten más necesitados. Les expreso mi vivo deseo de poder estar pronto con Ustedes en esa querida Nación. Mientras tanto, les aliento a orar intensamente por los frutos pastorales de mi inminente Viaje Apostólico y a mantener en alto la llama de la esperanza en Cristo Resucitado.
Dear brothers and sisters, dear friends in the United States, I am very much looking forward to being with you. I want you to know that, even if my itinerary is short, with just a few engagements, my heart is close to all of you, especially to the sick, the weak, and the lonely. I thank you once again for your prayerful support of my mission. I reach out to every one of you with affection, and I invoke upon you the maternal protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Que la Virgen María les acompañe y proteja. Que Dios les bendiga.
May God bless you all.
TOKYO (Reuters) - Robots could fill the jobs of 3.5 million people in graying Japan by 2025, a thinktank says, helping to avert worker shortages as the country's population shrinks.
Japan faces a 16 percent slide in the size of its workforce by 2030 while the number of elderly will mushroom, the government estimates, raising worries about who will do the work in a country unused to, and unwilling to contemplate, large-scale immigration.
The thinktank, the Machine Industry Memorial Foundation, says robots could help fill the gaps, ranging from microsized capsules that detect lesions to high-tech vacuum cleaners.
Rather than each robot replacing one person, the foundation said in a report that robots could make time for people to focus on more important things.
Japan could save 2.1 trillion yen ($21 billion) of elderly insurance payments in 2025 by using robots that monitor the health of older people, so they don't have to rely on human nursing care, the foundation said in its report.
Why Not?
by Robert J. Egan
Scripture, History & Women’s Ordination
Mystery or Mystification?
by Rev. Gerard S. Sloyan
The limits of Latin in the liturgy
