CONTENTS
World
Youth Day 08
Closing
Mass
Homily to bishops, priests, deacons
Address to ecumenical meeting
A theology lesson
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
It's Madrid . . .
United
Nations
CEDAW
Committee meeting, population control
The
radical onslaught
'As
recommended by Call to Action'
Incest
International
news
CANADA
Politicians in annual homosexual
parade
CHINA Call for Games boycott
NETHERLANDS More political
correctness
PARAGUAY Canonical status
of former bishop
PHILIPPINES Pro-life rally
PHILIPPINES Pro-abortion
politicians and Holy Communion
SPAIN Euthanasia
UK Progressio
UK Depressing Tablet
survey
UK Islington to appeal
judgement
UK Lambeth Conference
UK Care for the dying
UK Government funding for
Muslim theologians
USA Ruether appointment
nixed
USA 40 Days for Life campaign
USA Humanae Vitae
gaining more attention
USA The ethics of infanticide
USA Homosexual school clubs
and suicide risk
USA The 'Anglican use'
USA Pro-life discrimination
Event
UDHR
60th anniversary
Media
Somos
la Iglesia Catolica, We are the Catholic Church
Honour for pro-abortion CBS News
anchor
Book
review
Changes
in the Church since Vatican II
Comment
The
Uncertain Trumpet
Our
Catholic Heritage
Site
of the day : Old Warden
Quote
Saint
Ambrose
Breaking
news
For
breaking news - and previous edition of CF NEWS
- click here
World
Youth Day 08
Closing
Mass
Benedict XVI is praying that the final Mass
of World Youth Day will be like the experience
of the Upper Room, and that the young people
will go forth from it to proclaim the Risen
Christ.
With
this prayer, the Pope concluded his homily this
Sunday morning local time, at the Mass that
drew to a close the 23rd World Youth Day.
The
Holy Father spoke to the vast crowd, expected
to number around 500,000, about the power of
the Holy Spirit. His homily followed the naming
of the 24 candidates for confirmation, two from
each Australian state and the other 12 from
around the world.
The
Pontiff got a sense of the size of the crowd
when he flew over Randwick Racecourse in a helicopter
earlier in the day -- some 225,000 of the congregation
slept under the stars Saturday night after a
vigil with the Holy Father. Before the Mass,
Benedict XVI greeted a part of the crowd from
the popemobile.
Under
the bright Sydney sun, Benedict XVI told the
youth: 'May the fire of God's love descend to
fill your hearts, unite you ever more fully
to the Lord and his Church, and send you forth,
a new generation of apostles, to bring the world
to Christ!'
The
Holy Father explained to the youth what the
power of the Holy Spirit is: 'It is the power
of God's life! It is the power of the same Spirit
who hovered over the waters at the dawn of creation
and who, in the fullness of time, raised Jesus
from the dead. It is the power which points
us, and our world, towards the coming of the
Kingdom of God.'
A
new age
Benedict
XVI cited the Gospel of Luke read at the Mass,
where Jesus proclaims that a new age has begun,
in which the Holy Spirit will be poured out
upon all humanity.
'Here
in Australia, [...] all of us have had an unforgettable
experience of the Spirit's presence and power
in the beauty of nature,' the Pope said. 'Here
too, in this great assembly of young Christians
from all over the world, we have had a vivid
experience of the Spirit's presence and power
in the life of the Church.
'We
have seen the Church for what she truly is:
the Body of Christ, a living community of love,
embracing people of every race, nation and tongue,
of every time and place, in the unity born of
our faith in the Risen Lord. The power of the
Spirit never ceases to fill the Church with
life!'
'Yet
this power,' the Holy Father continued, 'the
grace of the Spirit, is not something we can
merit or achieve, but only receive as pure gift.
God's love can only unleash its power when it
is allowed to change us from within. We have
to let it break through the hard crust of our
indifference, our spiritual weariness, our blind
conformity to the spirit of this age.
'Only
then can we let it ignite our imagination and
shape our deepest desires. That is why prayer
is so important: daily prayer, private prayer
in the quiet of our hearts and before the Blessed
Sacrament, and liturgical prayer in the heart
of the Church. Prayer is pure receptivity to
God's grace, love in action, communion with
the Spirit who dwells within us, leading us,
through Jesus, in the Church, to our heavenly
Father.'
A
difference?
With
solemnity, the Pontiff then said to the youth,
'Let me now ask you a question.'
He
asked: 'What will you leave to the next generation?
Are you building your lives on firm foundations,
building something that will endure? Are you
living your lives in a way that opens up space
for the Spirit in the midst of a world that
wants to forget God, or even rejects him in
the name of a falsely-conceived freedom? How
are you using the gifts you have been given,
the 'power' which the Holy Spirit is even now
prepared to release within you? What legacy
will you leave to young people yet to come?
What difference will you make?'
'Empowered
by the Spirit, and drawing upon faith's rich
vision, a new generation of Christians is being
called to help build a world in which God's
gift of life is welcomed, respected and cherished
-- not rejected, feared as a threat and destroyed,'
the Bishop of Rome affirmed. 'A new age in which
love is not greedy or self-seeking, but pure,
faithful and genuinely free, open to others,
respectful of their dignity, seeking their good,
radiating joy and beauty. A new age in which
hope liberates us from the shallowness, apathy
and self-absorption which deaden our souls and
poison our relationships.'
'Dear
young friends,' he urged, 'the Lord is asking
you to be prophets of this new age, messengers
of his love, drawing people to the Father and
building a future of hope for all humanity.'
The
world and the Church need this renewal, Benedict
XVI affirmed.
'The
Church especially needs the gifts of young people,
all young people,' he said. 'She needs to grow
in the power of the Spirit who even now gives
joy to your youth and inspires you to serve
the Lord with gladness. Open your hearts to
that power! I address this plea in a special
way to those of you whom the Lord is calling
to the priesthood and the consecrated life.
Do not be afraid to say 'yes' to Jesus, to find
your joy in doing his will, giving yourself
completely to the pursuit of holiness, and using
all your talents in the service of others!'
The
Pope concluded asking for Mary's prayer: 'Through
the loving intercession of Mary, Mother of the
Church, may this 23rd World Youth Day be experienced
as a new Upper Room, from which all of us, burning
with the fire and love of the Holy Spirit, go
forth to proclaim the Risen Christ and to draw
every heart to him! Amen.' [Zenit] 1466.1
www.catholic-family.org
Homily
to bishops, priests, deacons
Here is the text of the homily Benedict XVI
gave at Mass with Australian bishops and clergy
on Saturday morning local time.
Dear
Brothers and Sisters,
In
this noble cathedral I rejoice to greet my brother
Bishops and priests, and the deacons, religious
and laity of the Archdiocese of Sydney. In a
very special way, my greeting goes to the seminarians
and young religious who are present among us.
Like the young Israelites in today's first reading,
they are a sign of hope and renewal for God's
people; and, like those young Israelites, they
will have the task of building up the Lord's
house in the coming generation.
As
we admire this magnificent edifice, how can
we not think of all those ranks of priests,
religious and faithful laity who, each in his
or her own way, contributed to the building
up of the Church in Australia? Our thoughts
turn in particular to those settler families
to whom Father Jeremiah O'Flynn entrusted the
Blessed Sacrament at his departure, a 'small
flock' which cherished and preserved that precious
treasure, passing it on to the succeeding generations
who raised this great tabernacle to the glory
of God. Let us rejoice in their fidelity and
perseverance, and dedicate ourselves to carrying
on their labours for the spread of the Gospel,
the conversion of hearts and the growth of the
Church in holiness, unity and charity!
We
are about to celebrate the dedication of the
new altar of this venerable cathedral. As its
sculpted frontal powerfully reminds us, every
altar is a symbol of Jesus Christ, present in
the midst of his Church as priest, altar and
victim (cf. Preface of Easter V). Crucified,
buried and raised from the dead, given life
in the Spirit and seated at the right hand of
the Father, Christ has become our great high
priest, eternally making intercession for us.
In the Church's liturgy, and above all in the
sacrifice of the Mass consummated on the altars
of the world, he invites us, the members of
his mystical Body, to share in his self-oblation.
He calls us, as the priestly people of the new
and eternal covenant, to offer, in union with
him, our own daily sacrifices for the salvation
of the world.
In
today's liturgy the Church reminds us that,
like this altar, we too have been consecrated,
set 'apart' for the service of God and the building
up of his Kingdom. All too often, however, we
find ourselves immersed in a world that would
set God 'aside'. In the name of human freedom
and autonomy, God's name is passed over in silence,
religion is reduced to private devotion, and
faith is shunned in the public square. At times
this mentality, so completely at odds with the
core of the Gospel, can even cloud our own understanding
of the Church and her mission. We too can be
tempted to make the life of faith a matter of
mere sentiment, thus blunting its power to inspire
a consistent vision of the world and a rigorous
dialogue with the many other visions competing
for the minds and hearts of our contemporaries.
Yet
history, including the history of our own time,
shows that the question of God will never be
silenced, and that indifference to the religious
dimension of human existence ultimately diminishes
and betrays man himself. Is that not the message
which is proclaimed by the magnificent architecture
of this cathedral? Is that not the mystery of
faith which will be proclaimed from this altar
at every celebration of the Eucharist? Faith
teaches us that in Jesus Christ, the incarnate
Word, we come to understand the grandeur of
our own humanity, the mystery of our life on
this earth, and the sublime destiny which awaits
us in heaven (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 24). Faith
teaches us that we are God's creatures, made
in his image and likeness, endowed with an inviolable
dignity, and called to eternal life. Wherever
man is diminished, the world around us is also
diminished; it loses its ultimate meaning and
strays from its goal. What emerges is a culture,
not of life, but of death. How could this be
considered 'progress'? It is a backward step,
a form of regression which ultimately dries
up the very sources of life for individuals
and all of society.
We
know that in the end - as Saint Ignatius of
Loyola saw so clearly - the only real 'standard'
against which all human reality can be measured
is the Cross and its message of an unmerited
love which triumphs over evil, sin and death,
creating new life and unfading joy. The Cross
reveals that we find ourselves only by giving
our lives away, receiving God's love as an unmerited
gift and working to draw all men and women into
the beauty of that love and the light of the
truth which alone brings salvation to the world.
It is in this truth - this mystery of faith
- that we have been 'consecrated' (cf. Jn 17:17-19),
and it is in this truth that we are called to
grow, with the help of God's grace, in daily
fidelity to his word, within the life-giving
communion of the Church. Yet how difficult is
this path of consecration! It demands continual
'conversion', a sacrificial death to self which
is the condition for belonging fully to God,
a change of mind and heart which brings true
freedom and a new breadth of vision. Today's
liturgy offers an eloquent symbol of that progressive
spiritual transformation to which each of us
is called. From the sprinkling of water, the
proclamation of God's word and the invocation
of all the saints, to the prayer of consecration,
the anointing and washing of the altar, its
being clothed in white and apparelled in light
- all these rites invite us to re-live our own
consecration in Baptism. They invite us to reject
sin and its false allure, and to drink ever
more deeply from the life-giving springs of
God's grace.
Dear
friends, may this celebration, in the presence
of the Successor of Peter, be a moment of rededication
and renewal for the whole Church in Australia!
Here I would like to pause to acknowledge the
shame which we have all felt as a result of
the sexual abuse of minors by some clergy and
religious in this country. These misdeeds, which
constitute so grave a betrayal of trust, deserve
unequivocal condemnation. They have caused great
pain and have damaged the Church's witness.
I ask all of you to support and assist your
Bishops, and to work together with them in combating
this evil. Victims should receive compassion
and care, and those responsible for these evils
must be brought to justice. It is an urgent
priority to promote a safer and more wholesome
environment, especially for young people. In
these days marked by the celebration of World
Youth Day, we are reminded of how precious a
treasure has been entrusted to us in our young
people, and how great a part of the Church's
mission in this country has been dedicated to
their education and care. As the Church in Australia
continues, in the spirit of the Gospel, to address
effectively this serious pastoral challenge,
I join you in praying that this time of purification
will bring about healing, reconciliation and
ever greater fidelity to the moral demands of
the Gospel.
I
wish now to turn to the seminarians and young
religious in our midst, with a special word
of affection and encouragement. Dear friends:
with great generosity you have set out on a
particular path of consecration, grounded in
your Baptism and undertaken in response to the
Lord's personal call. You have committed yourselves,
in different ways, to accepting Christ's invitation
to follow him, to leave all behind, and to devote
your lives to the pursuit of holiness and the
service of his people.
In
today's Gospel, the Lord calls us to 'believe
in the light' (Jn 12:36). These words have a
special meaning for you, dear young seminarians
and religious. They are a summons to trust in
the truth of God's word and to hope firmly in
his promises. They invite us to see, with the
eyes of faith, the infallible working of his
grace all around us, even in those dark times
when all our efforts seem to be in vain. Let
this altar, with its powerful image of Christ
the Suffering Servant, be a constant inspiration
to you. Certainly there are times when every
faithful disciple will feel the heat and the
burden of the day (cf. Mt 20:12), and the struggle
of bearing prophetic witness before a world
which can appear deaf to the demands of God's
word. Do not be afraid! Believe in the light!
Take to heart the truth which we have heard
in today's second reading: 'Jesus Christ is
the same, yesterday, today and for ever' (Heb
13:8). The light of Easter continues to dispel
the darkness!
The
Lord also calls us to walk in the light (cf.
Jn 12:35). Each of you has embarked on the greatest
and the most glorious of all struggles, to be
consecrated in truth, to grow in virtue, to
achieve harmony between your thoughts and ideals,
and your words and actions. Enter sincerely
and deeply into the discipline and spirit of
your programmes of formation. Walk in Christ's
light daily through fidelity to personal and
liturgical prayer, nourished by meditation on
the inspired word of God. The Fathers of the
Church loved to see the Scriptures as a spiritual
Eden, a garden where we can walk freely with
God, admiring the beauty and harmony of his
saving plan as it bears fruit in our own lives,
in the life of the Church and in all of history.
Let prayer, then, and meditation on God's word,
be the lamp which illumines, purifies and guides
your steps along the path which the Lord has
marked out for you. Make the daily celebration
of the Eucharist the centre of your life. At
each Mass, when the Lord's Body and Blood are
lifted up at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer,
lift up your own hearts and lives, through Christ,
with him and in him, in the unity of the Holy
Spirit, as a loving sacrifice to God our Father.
In
this way, dear young seminarians and religious,
you yourselves will become living altars, where
Christ's sacrificial love is made present as
an inspiration and a source of spiritual nourishment
to everyone you meet. By embracing the Lord's
call to follow him in chastity, poverty and
obedience, you have begun a journey of radical
discipleship which will make you 'signs of contradiction'
(cf. Lk 2:34) to many of your contemporaries.
Model your lives daily on the Lord's own loving
self-oblation in obedience to the will of the
Father. You will then discover the freedom and
joy which can draw others to the Love which
lies beyond all other loves as their source
and their ultimate fulfilment. Never forget
that celibacy for the sake of the Kingdom means
embracing a life completely devoted to love,
a love that enables you to commit yourselves
fully to God's service and to be totally present
to your brothers and sisters, especially those
in need. The greatest treasures that you share
with other young people - your idealism, your
generosity, your time and energy - these are
the very sacrifices which you are placing upon
the Lord's altar. May you always cherish this
beautiful charism which God has given you for
his glory and the building up of the Church!
Dear
friends, let me conclude these reflections by
drawing your attention to the great stained
glass window in the chancel of this cathedral.
There Our Lady, Queen of Heaven, is represented
enthroned in majesty beside her divine Son.
The artist has represented Mary, as the new
Eve, offering an apple to Christ, the new Adam.
This gesture symbolizes her reversal of our
first parents' disobedience, the rich fruit
which God's grace bore in her own life, and
the first fruits of that redeemed and glorified
humanity which she has preceded into the glory
of heaven. Let us ask Mary, Help of Christians,
to sustain the Church in Australia in fidelity
to that grace by which the Crucified Lord even
now 'draws to himself' all creation and every
human heart (cf. Jn 12:32). May the power of
his Holy Spirit consecrate the faithful of this
land in truth, and bring forth abundant fruits
of holiness and justice for the redemption of
the world. May it guide all humanity into the
fullness of life around that Altar, where, in
the glory of the heavenly liturgy, we are called
to sing God's praises for ever. Amen.% (©
Copyright 2008 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana)
1466.2
www.catholic-family.org
Address
to ecumenical meeting
Here
is the address Benedict XVI gave on Friday morning
local time at an ecumenical meeting in Sydney.
The Pope is in Australia for the 23rd World
Youth Day, under way through Sunday.
Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I
give heartfelt thanks to God for this opportunity
to meet and pray with all of you who have come
here representing various Christian communities
in Australia. Grateful for Bishop Forsyth's
and Cardinal Pell's words of welcome, I joyfully
greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus, the
'cornerstone' of the 'household of God' (Eph
2:19-20).
I
would like to offer a particular greeting to
Cardinal Edward Cassidy, former President of
the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian
Unity, who, due to ill health, could not be
with us today. I recall with gratitude his steadfast
dedication to improving mutual understanding
among all Christians, and I would ask all of
you to join me in praying for his speedy recovery.
Australia
is a country marked by much ethnic and religious
diversity. Immigrants arrive on the shores of
this majestic land hoping to find happiness
and opportunities for employment. Yours, too,
is a nation which recognizes the importance
of religious freedom. This is a fundamental
right which, when respected, allows citizens
to act upon values which are rooted in their
deepest beliefs, contributing thus to the well-being
of society. In this way, Christians cooperate,
together with members of other religions, for
the promotion of human dignity and for fellowship
among all nations. Australians cherish cordial
and frank discussion. This has served the ecumenical
movement well. An example would be the Covenant
signed in 2004 by the members of the National
Council of Churches in Australia. This document
recognizes a common commitment, sets out goals,
and acknowledges points of convergence without
glossing over differences.
Such
an approach demonstrates not only the possibility
of formulating concrete resolutions for fruitful
cooperation in the present day, but also the
need to continue patient discussion on theological
points of difference. May your ongoing deliberations
in the Council of Churches and in other local
forums be sustained by what you have already
achieved.
This
year we celebrate the two thousandth anniversary
of the birth of Saint Paul, a tireless worker
for unity in the early Church. In the scripture
passage we have just heard, Paul reminds us
of the tremendous grace we have received in
becoming members of Christ's body through baptism.
This sacrament, the entryway to the Church and
the 'bond of unity' for everyone reborn through
it (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, 22), is accordingly
the point of departure for the entire ecumenical
movement. Yet it is not the final destination.
The road of ecumenism ultimately points towards
a common celebration of the Eucharist (cf. Ut
Unum Sint, 23-24; 45), which Christ entrusted
to his Apostles as the sacrament of the Church's
unity par excellence. Although there are still
obstacles to be overcome, we can be sure that
a common Eucharist one day would only strengthen
our resolve to love and serve one another in
imitation of our Lord: for Jesus' commandment
to 'do this in memory of me' (Lk 22:19) is intrinsically
ordered to his admonition to 'wash one another's
feet' (Jn 13:14). For this reason, a candid
dialogue concerning the place of the Eucharist
- stimulated by a renewed and attentive study
of scripture, patristic writings, and documents
from across the two millennia of Christian history
(cf. Ut Unum Sint, 69-70) - will undoubtedly
help to advance the ecumenical movement and
unify our witness to the world.
Dear
friends in Christ, I think you would agree that
the ecumenical movement has reached a critical
juncture. To move forward, we must continually
ask God to renew our minds with the Holy Spirit
(cf. Rom 12:2), who speaks to us through the
scriptures and guides us into all truth (cf.
2 Pet 1:20-21; Jn 16:13). We must guard against
any temptation to view doctrine as divisive
and hence an impediment to the seemingly more
pressing and immediate task of improving the
world in which we live. In fact, the history
of the Church demonstrates that praxis is not
only inseparable from, but actually flows out
of didache or teaching. The more closely we
strive for a deeper understanding of the divine
mysteries, the more eloquently our works of
charity will speak of God's bountiful goodness
and love towards all. Saint Augustine expressed
the nexus between the gift of understanding
and the virtue of charity when he wrote that
the mind returns to God by love (cf. De Moribus
Ecclesiae Catholicae, XII, 21), and that wherever
one sees charity, one sees the Trinity (De Trinitate,
8, 8, 12).
For
this reason, ecumenical dialogue advances not
only through an exchange of ideas but by a sharing
in mutually enriching gifts (cf. Ut Unum Sint,
28; 57). An 'idea' aims at truth; a 'gift' expresses
love. Both are essential to dialogue. Opening
ourselves to accept spiritual gifts from other
Christians quickens our ability to perceive
the light of truth which comes from the Holy
Spirit. Saint Paul teaches that it is within
the koinonia of the Church that we have access
to and the means of safeguarding the truth of
the Gospel, for the Church is 'built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets' with
Jesus himself as the cornerstone (Eph 2:20).
In
this light, perhaps we might consider the complementary
biblical images of 'body' and 'temple' used
to describe the Church. By employing the image
of a body (cf. 1 Cor 12:12-31), Paul draws attention
to the organic unity and diversity that allows
the Church to breathe and grow. Equally significant,
however, is the image of a solid, well-structured
temple composed of living stones rising on its
sure foundation. Jesus himself brings together
in perfect unity these images of 'temple' and
'body' (cf. Jn 2:21-22; Lk 23:45; Rev 21:22).
Every
element of the Church's structure is important,
yet all of them would falter and crumble without
the cornerstone who is Christ. As 'fellow citizens'
of the 'household of God', Christians must work
together to ensure that the edifice stands strong
so that others will be attracted to enter and
discover the abundant treasures of grace within.
As we promote Christian values, we must not
neglect to proclaim their source by giving a
common witness to Jesus Christ the Lord. It
is he who commissioned the apostles, he whom
the prophets preached, and he whom we offer
to the world. Dear friends, your presence fills
me with the ardent hope that as we pursue together
the path to full unity, we will have the courage
to give common witness to Christ. Paul speaks
of the importance of the prophets in the early
Church; we too have received a prophetic calling
through our baptism. I am confident that the
Spirit will open our eyes to see the gifts of
others, our hearts to receive his power, and
our minds to perceive the light of Christ's
truth. I express heartfelt thanks to all of
you for the time, scholarship and talent which
you have invested for the sake of the 'one body
and one spirit' (Eph 4:4; cf. 1 Cor 12:13) which
the Lord willed for his people and for which
he gave his very life. All glory and power be
to him for ever and ever. Amen! [ © Copyright
2008 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana] 1466.3
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A
theology lesson
With
the help of St. Augustine, Benedict XVI gave
a brief theology lesson on the third person
of the Trinity at the World Youth Day vigil
Saturday night at the Randwick Racecourse in
Sydney.
The
Holy Spirit 'has been in some ways the neglected
person of the Blessed Trinity' the Pope told
the youth. 'A clear understanding of the Spirit
almost seems beyond our reach.'
The
Pontiff recalled that as a young boy he learned
of the Holy Spirit, but never quite understood
the third person of the Trinity until he was
a priest and began to study St. Augustine's
writings.
He
said Augustine's understanding of the Holy Spirit
also 'evolved gradually,' and that 'it was a
struggle.'
The
Holy Father said the theologian had 'three particular
insights about the Holy Spirit as the bond of
unity within the blessed Trinity: unity as communion,
unity as abiding love, and unity as giving and
gift.'
'These
three insights,' said the Pope, 'are not just
theoretical. They help explain how the Spirit
works.
'In
a world where both individuals and communities
often suffer from an absence of unity or cohesion,
these insights help us remain attuned to the
Spirit and to extend and clarify the scope of
our witness.'
Unity
Benedict
XVI said that Augustine's first insight came
from reflecting on the words 'Holy' and 'Spirit,'
which 'refer to what is divine about God.'
'In
other words,' he added, 'what is shared by the
Father and the Son -- their communion.'
'So,
if the distinguishing characteristic of the
Holy Spirit is to be what is shared by the Father
and the Son, Augustine concluded that the Spirit's
particular quality is unity,' the Pontiff explained.
'It is a unity of lived communion: a unity of
persons in a relationship of constant giving,
the Father and the Son giving themselves to
each other.'
'We
begin to glimpse,' the Holy Father reflected,
'how illuminating is this understanding of the
Holy Spirit as unity, as communion. True unity
could never be founded upon relationships which
deny the equal dignity of other persons.
'Nor
is unity simply the sum total of the groups
through which we sometimes attempt to 'define'
ourselves.
'In
fact, only in the life of communion is unity
sustained and human identity fulfilled: We recognize
the common need for God, we respond to the unifying
presence of the Holy Spirit, and we give ourselves
to one another in service.'
Love
Benedict
XVI said Augustine's second insight was 'the
Holy Spirit as abiding love.'
In
the 1 John 1:16 it says that 'God is love,'
the Pope noted. 'Augustine suggests that while
these words refer to the Trinity as a whole,
they express a particular characteristic of
the Holy Spirit.'
The
Pontiff explained: 'Reflecting on the lasting
nature of love -- 'whoever abides in love remains
in God and God in him' -- [Augustine] wondered:
Is it love or the Holy Spirit which grants the
abiding?'
Quoting
Augustine's 'De Trinitate,' the Holy Father
said the theologian concluded: 'The Holy Spirit
makes us remain in God and God in us; yet it
is love that effects this. The Spirit therefore
is God as love!'
'It
is a beautiful explanation,' said Benedict XVI.
'God shares himself as love in the Holy Spirit.
The
Pontiff reflected further: 'Love is the sign
of the presence of the Holy Spirit! Ideas or
voices which lack love -- even if they seem
sophisticated or knowledgeable -- cannot be
'of the Spirit.'
'Furthermore,
love has a particular trait: Far from being
indulgent or fickle, it has a task or purpose
to fulfill: to abide. By its nature love is
enduring.'
'Again,
dear friends,' he said, 'we catch a further
glimpse of how much the Holy Spirit offers our
world: love which dispels uncertainty; love
which overcomes the fear of betrayal; love which
carries eternity within; the true love which
draws us into a unity that abides!'
Gift
Benedict
XVI said Augustine's third insight -- the Holy
Spirit as gift -- was derived from the Gospel
account of Christ's conversation with the Samaritan
woman at the well.
'Here
Jesus reveals himself as the giver of the living
water, which later is explained as the Holy
Spirit,' he explained.
Quoting
for the Gospel of John, the Pope said 'the Spirit
is 'God's gift' -- the internal spring, who
truly satisfies our deepest thirst and leads
us to the Father.'
Quoting
'De Trinitate,' the Holy Father said 'Augustine
concludes that God sharing himself with us as
gift is the Holy Spirit.'
The
Pontiff continued, 'Friends, again we catch
a glimpse of the Trinity at work: the Holy Spirit
is God eternally giving himself; like a never-ending
spring he pours forth nothing less than himself.
'In
view of this ceaseless gift, we come to see
the limitations of all that perishes, the folly
of the consumerist mindset. We begin to understand
why the quest for novelty leaves us unsatisfied
and wanting.
'Are
we not looking for an eternal gift? The spring
that will never run dry? With the Samaritan
woman, let us exclaim: give me this water that
I may thirst no more!'
'Dear
young people,' he said, 'we have seen that it
is the Holy Spirit who brings about the wonderful
communion of believers in Jesus Christ. True
to his nature as giver and gift alike, he is
even now working through you. Inspired by the
insights of St. Augustine: Let unifying love
be your measure; abiding love your challenge;
self-giving love your mission!'
Reality
Benedict
XVI told the youth that 'there are times [...]
when we might be tempted to seek a certain fulfillment
apart from God,' and asked the question Christ
himself asked of the Twelve Apostles: 'Do you
also wish to go away?'
'Such
drifting away perhaps offers the illusion of
freedom. But where does it lead? To whom would
we go? For in our hearts we know that it is
the Lord who has 'the words of eternal life.''
Quoting
St. Augustine, Benedict XVI said that to 'turn
away from him is only a futile attempt to escape
from ourselves.'
'God
is with us in the reality of life, not the fantasy,'
he said. 'It is embrace, not escape, that we
seek! So the Holy Spirit gently but surely steers
us back to what is real, what is lasting, what
is true. It is the Spirit who leads us back
into the communion of the Blessed Trinity!'
[Zenit] 1466.4
www.catholic-family.org
The
Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
A
thousand young people from Canada gathered at
the Cathedral of Saint Mary in Sydney to venerate
the relics of Pier Giorgio Frassati, an Italian
blessed who died before reaching the age of
24 and who is one of the 10 patron saints of
WYD 2008. The Canadian youth met to pray vespers
and to have Eucharistic adoration. Father Thomas
Rosica presided at the event, with Wanda Gawronska,
Pier Giorgio's niece, present as well. According
to the L'Osservatore Romano, Father Rosica
recounted the life of the Italian Blessed by
reflecting on the sermon on the mount in the
gospel of Matthew.
'The beatitudes in Christ's Sermon on the Mount
are a recipe for extreme holiness. Each crisis
the Church confronts, each crisis the world
faces, is a crisis of saints. Ours is a time
in which young people need true heroes,' he
said. In speaking about Frassati, Father Rosica
said, 'Pier Giorgio did not choose to be a priest
or a religious, preferring instead to bear witness
to the Gospel as a layman. He never founded
a religious order or gave life to an ecclesial
movement. He never led an army or was elected
to public office. Death came for him before
he could graduate. He was never able to begin
a career. He was not able to discover what his
vocation was. In summary, he was simply a young
man in love with his family and friends, in
love with the mountains and the ocean, but above
all in love with God,' Father Rosica explained.
He noted that the two pillars in Pier Giorgio's
life were the Eucharist and love for the Virgin
Mary, adding that He 'gave what he had to help
the poor, even his money for the bus, and instead
running to get home in time for lunch. The poor
and the suffering were his patrons and he was
their servant, which he considered a privilege.'
The L'Osservatore Romano reported as
well that an expo on the Italian Blessed would
be held July 15-18 at Sydney's Exhibition Hall.
[CNA] 1466.5
www.catholic-family.org
It's
Madrid . . .
At
the end of the 23rd World Youth Day, Benedict
XVI told the young people that he would see
them again in Madrid in 2011.
After
the Pope prayed the Angelus on Sunday just after
noon local time, Cardinals George Pell of Sydney
and Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical
Council for the Laity, gave farewell addresses.
And then, the Holy Father announced the location
for the 24th World Youth Day.
'The
time has come for me to say good-bye -- or rather,
to say arrivederci,' he said. 'I thank you all
for your participation in World Youth Day 2008,
here in Sydney, and I look forward to seeing
you again in three years' time. World Youth
Day 2011 will take place in Madrid, Spain.'
The
large number of Spanish youth erupted in cheering
and waving their national flags.
The
Holy Father began to continue, saying, 'Until
then ...' But as the cheering had not abated,
he chuckled. Finally, he began again: 'Until
then, let us continue to pray for one another,
and let us joyfully bear witness to Christ before
the world. May God bless you all.' [Zenit] 1466.6
www.catholic-family.org
United
Nations
CEDAW
committee meeting, population control
The
Catholic Family Institute (C-Fam) reports from
New York that this week the CEDAW Committee
met in New York and grilled countries over abortion
and homosexual rights. The Committee hassled
Slovakia over an agreement Slovakia negotiated
with the Vatican. This committee is totally
out-of-control.
We
are also proud to publish part two of Susan
Yoshihara's wonderful review of Michael Connelly's
important new book about the history of the
population control movement. Please know that
Connelly is not one of us. In fact, he goes
in for some Catholic Church-bashing in the book.
But, he goes after the anti-life population
controller hammer and tongs. You should buy
this book.
UN Committee Pressures Slovakia
Samantha
Singson writes : 'At the most recent session
of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination
against Women (CEDAW) meetings in New York,
committee members pressed countries on abortion
in the guise of talking about maternal mortality,
family planning and contraceptive prevalence.
Lithuania, Nigeria, Finland, the United Kingdom
and Slovakia were all questioned on their abortion
laws during their reviews by the committee.
While abortion is not mentioned in the treaty,
in recent years the CEDAW Committee has questioned
more than 60 nations on their abortion legislation.
The committee has even gone so far as to create
their own 'general recommendation' that reads
abortion into the text even though the nations
negotiated the treaty made sure that controversial
issue was never mentioned. Delegations often
go along with the committees' line of questioning
on abortion by providing data and answering
queries on the subject during their reviews.
During Lithuania's review, committee members
pressed the government delegation on access
to contraception and on proposed legislation
that seeks to defend prenatal life and would
pose restrictions on access to abortion. Japanese
committee member Yoko Hayashi stated that governmental
restrictions on abortion 'contradict the full
enjoyment of women's reproductive health rights
that are protected by CEDAW.' The CEDAW document
is silent on 'reproductive health rights.'
The United Kingdom was similarly taken to task
by the CEDAW committee because of concerns over
access to abortion in Northern Ireland. In response
to committee queries over whether there was
a possibility of changing the abortion legislation,
the Irish representative responded that abortion
was a matter of criminal law and that no change
in legislation could occur in Northern Ireland
without consent from all parties.
One committee member fired back that the government
was not adequately addressing the abortion issue
and that not taking action on the matter is
'incompatible with obligations under the CEDAW
convention.'
Sylvia Pimentel of Brazil took exception to
Slovakia's concordat with the Holy See, particularly
on the right of health care workers to conscientiously
object to performing or aiding in abortion.
Pimentel claimed that it is 'discriminatory
to refuse to legally provide reproductive health
services to women' and that CEDAW state parties
'must refrain from obstructing women from pursuing
their health goals.'
While the rulings of the Committee are supposedly
non-binding, abortion activists have brought
litigation throughout the world citing CEDAW
Committee rulings in support of overturning
laws against abortion. Such arguments helped
convince the Colombian constitutional court
to liberalize that country's restrictions on
the practice.
Under the topic of non-discrimination, CEDAW
committee members questioned states on gay rights
issues. During Finland's review, committee members
questioned legislation that prevented lesbian
adoption. Slovakia was questioned on medically
assisted reproduction and 'discrimination on
the basis of sexual orientation' against lesbian
women who wanted to undergo the procedure.
At the end of the month, official representatives
of States parties to CEDAW are scheduled to
elect 11 members of the Committee that will
serve from January 2009 to December 2012. The
CEDAW Committee will next meet again in Geneva
in October to review the reports from Bahrain,
Belgium, Cameroon, Canada, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Mongolia, Myanmar, Portugal,
Slovenia and Uruguay.
Population Growth
Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D. writes : 'In the
new book 'Fatal Misconception: The Struggle
to Control World Population,' Columbia University
historian Matthew Connelly shows how the population
control movement created 'future projections
as evidence' of overpopulation then justified
'casualties' in the war on population caused
by coercive methods. These included such 'shock
attacks' as quotas for millions of shoddy vasectomies
and IUD insertions without follow-up care, public
humiliation of poor families with three or more
children, bulldozing entire neighborhoods that
displaced countless thousands of the poor, and
knowingly unloading defective IUDs that crippled
poor women.
According to Connelly, when Malthusian theories
used to justify eugenics fell out of favor,
population controllers invented new theories.
Founding members of the US Agency for International
Development (USAID) returning from the Vietnam
War, transferred the counterinsurgency tactic
of 'population control' to USAID's strategy.
Chinese missile scientist Jian Song used computer
generated modeling to create the appearance
of 'precise forecast' of disaster for China
if the government did not limit women to bearing
one child.
Africa, along with India, was the target of
many such contrived scenarios, even though according
to Connelly 'the continent was a net food exporter
and featured some of the lowest rates of growth
in the world.' What's more, he says family planning
advocates ignored the fact that fertility was
already falling in China and in other target
countries, and ignored the 'accumulating body
of evidence showing that high fertility was
not, after all, correlated with poverty.' He
demonstrates that fertility rates fell in developing
countries between 1950 and 2000 whether or not
they were subjected to population assistance
programs.
Despite the facts, the movement's tactics became
increasingly coercive in the late 1960s due
to the zeal and connections of people like U.S.
Army general William Draper. Working with John
D. Rockefeller, Draper helped convince President
Johnson to include population control in the
1965 'war on poverty.' Johnson tied humanitarian
aid to developing nations' achieving fertility
benchmarks set by the UN and USAID, even vetoing
food aid shipments to India in the midst of
its dire famines. Draper founded the Population
Crisis Committee, today's Population Action
International, with the goal of creating an
American public sense of urgency by tapping
into the fears of the day, such as drawing a
causative link between the lack of family planning
in the slums with the chaos caused by youth
in the late 1960s and calling for a 'crash program
for population stabilization.'
Along with former Secretary of Defense and World
Bank President Robert McNamara, Draper convinced
Congress to earmark unprecedented levels of
funding for USAID population programs between
1967 and 1971. So much money flooded into the
International Planned Parenthood Federation
(IPPF) that officials did not know how to spend
it. This along with growing skepticism in the
third world of U.S. backing, then 90 percent
of the total, led Draper to call for the creation
of a fund centered at the UN which would 'sanitize'
U.S. funding, give the appearance of international
consensus, and circumvent national governments.
The initiative became the UN Population Fund
(UNFPA). [C-FAM] 1466.7
www.catholic-family.org
The
radical onslaught
As
recommended by Call to Action
1466.8
* Along with Matthew Fox, CreationSpirituality.info
calls her an 'elder' of Creation Spirituality.
She is Sister Jose Hobday, a Seneca elder and
Franciscan sister, and a former faculty member
of Fox's defunct University of Creation Spirituality.
On Aug. 1-3, Sister Jose will discuss 'Angels,
Creation, and the Power of Prayer' at Vallombrosa
Center in Menlo Park, according to an advertisement
in Catholic San Francisco, the newspaper of
the San Francisco archdiocese.
According
to the Vallombrosa Center's web site, 'Vallombrosa
is a retreat and conference center owned and
operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of
San Francisco.'
The
principles of Creation Spirituality, developed
in Confessions: The Making of a Post-Denominational
Priest by Fox, a former Dominican and now Episcopal
priest, include the concept of 'original blessing'
(as opposed to original sin). According to Fox,
'The Divine is in all things and all things
are in the Divine (Panentheism) and that this
mystical intuition supplants theism (and its
child, atheism) as an appropriate way to name
our relation to the Divine and experience the
Sacred.' Fox wrote that 'Divinity is as much
Mother as Father, as much Child as Parent, as
much Godhead (mystery) as God (history), as
much beyond all beings as in all beings.'
Sister
Jose is listed under the 'associated advisors
and teachers' for the Spiritual Paths Institute,
which will open in September in Santa Barbara.
The institute promotes what it calls 'InterSpirituality,'
which means, says the institute's web site,
'the increasing spiritual creativity emerging
from the meeting of, and dialogue between, the
world's major religious traditions.' While this
meeting 'acknowledges differences between religions
and affirms the greater unity they all share,'
religious 'unity provides the common ground
from which religious diversity flowers. People
are discovering that their respect for and love
of the religion of their birth need not preclude
a similar respect for the full range of human
spiritual creativity.'
In
her book Original Blessing, Hobday asks, 'Why
are white people so afraid of the homosexual?
In Native American languages we don't even have
a word for the homosexual. In fact, it is well-known
among us that the most spiritual people are
often homosexuals and these people have often
been counselors to our greatest chiefs.'
Sister
Jose is listed on Call to Action's Speakers
and Artists Referral Service. The Chicago-based
CTA (with five regional chapters in Northern
and Southern California) calls for women's ordination
and for Church acceptance of artificial birth
control and the normalcy of homosexuality, among
other issues.
In
1997, the San Francisco Faith reported on Hobday's
class, 'Native American Rituals, Storytelling,
and Spirituality,' at the University of Creation
Spirituality. Sister 'led the class in an Indian
dance ritual,' said the Faith. 'Hobday pounded
a drum and chanted, 'Drum beat in the heart
beat, the beat of the universe,' as students,
with bells on their feet and wooden shakers
in their hands, hopped and twirled, first slowly,
then frenetically, as the drum pounding intensified.
'Sand Painting,' Hobday told the class, would
follow.' [CalCatholic] 1466.8
&nb