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MONDAY February 21, 2000 vol. 11, no. 36 SECTION THREESee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
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The Holy Father welcomed over 3000 artists and their families from all over the world this weekend for a special celebration of the Jubilee for Artists highlighted by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass which is the greatest masterpiece in nourishing souls for the greater fulfillment of the magnificence of God’s awesome beauty. In his remarks, the Holy Father stated to all present the call to conversion the most difficult work of art of all: the sculpturing of Christ’s features on the stone of one’s heart. continued inside
VATICAN CITY, FEB 18 (ZENIT).- Today, on the feast of the genius of
spiritual art, Blessed Fra Angelico, over 3,000 artists and their
families filled St. Peter's Basilica to attend a Mass presided by
Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, and to meet with John Paul II. The French
Cardinal said that the Holy Father could both preside over this Jubilee
celebration as well as be among the participants, since he is an actor
and a poet. The Cardinal added: "When I went to Poland to meet Cardinal
Wyszinsky, he told me: Cardinal Wojtyla is a great artist, a great
poet..."
At the end of the Mass, which was sung by the Choir of the Basilica of
St. Francis of Assisi, and shortly before the Pontiff's arrival,
Cardinal Etchegaray, president of the Central Committee of the Great
Jubilee, spoke in praise of art, which every man carries within, as
image of the Creator, the Craftsman, as the prophet Isaiah calls him.
The congregation laughed when the Cardinal said: "I don't know how to
sing, as you just saw... With Paul Claudel, I asked Lady Music to give
me the note. Now we await him who can give us the real note -- the Holy
Father."
The Pope's entry into the Basilica was greeted with a "Viva"" here and
there, but sober, because the congregation seemed accustomed to the
harmony of such moments. As the Pontiff glided past on his platform
someone was heard to say "the Pope is young!"
C. Maria Matthia Langone, an icon painter, came from Vancouver, Canada,
to have the Holy Father bless an icon she painted of Christ's face. He
did just that as he came down the central corridor, through which he
entered slowly, to shake hands with as many pilgrims as possible.
The artists listened to the Pope's call to conversion in the most
difficult work of art of all: the sculpturing of Christ's features on
the stone of one's own heart. "The artist who can do this profoundly is
the Holy Spirit, but he requires our correspondence and docility," the
poet Pope said.
At this point, the Pontiff intoned a beautiful song about Michelangelo's
cupola. Everyone present followed the words with attention, gazing on
the beauty of the Basilica transfigured by the clear midday light. "Seen
from outside, it seems to curve against the sky over a community
recollected in prayer, as is the love of God. From within, instead, with
its vertiginous launching to the heights, it evokes the work of
elevation toward the full encounter with God. "
"Dear artists, this is the elevation to which you are invited in this
present Jubilee celebration," the Pope said.
It was impossible for the Holy to personally greet all the artists, but
it was impossible. He did shake hands with a large group, however.
At the end, Cardinal Etchegaray thanked Archbishop Francesco Marchisano,
president of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Goods of the
Church, for the good organization with which the Jubilee of Artists was
prepared. The previous day, Marchisano had explained that although many
offers were made to give the Pope a work of art during this Jubilee day,
it was decided to decline these valuable offers in order to emphasize
that this is a pilgrimage for everyone to cross the threshold of the
Holy Door together and be united with the Pope in celebrating the Holy
Year.
After the Holy Father left, many pilgrim painters, sculptors, poets,
musicians and architects from all over the world, knelt in prayer for a
just few moments at Blessed Fra Angelico's tomb, to allow an
interminable line of the talented to pass by. John Paul II raised him to
the glory of the altars on October 3, 1982, and proclaimed him patron of
artists on February 18, 1984.
In the afternoon, an International Symposium was held in the Vatican
Audience Hall on the "Church and Art in the Pilgrimage toward God,"
including representatives from all the branches of the world of
contemporary art, interspersed with musical moments. Among the speakers
was Spanish sculptor Venancio Blanco, Portuguese painter Emilia Nadal,
Polish film director Krzystof Zanussi, Italian composer Ennio Morricone,
French painter Andre Gence and English architect Austin Winkley.
On the exact anniversary of the death of Italian thinker Giordano Bruno, the Holy See's Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano expressed the sorrow of Holy Mother Church over a death that occurred under precise circumstances valid only in the period of the 1600’s when the Inquisition was laboring to limit heresy and rebellion. The Magisterium of the Church, acknowledging the human error in man’s thinking, has asked for reconciliation between all men in witnessing to the truth of the Gospel of Christ. continued inside.
VATICAN CITY, FEB 18 (ZENIT).- The Church expresses "profound sorrow"
for the condemnation to death of Giordano Bruno, the philosopher burnt
at the stake exactly 400 years ago. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican
Secretary of State, wrote a letter to this effect, which he sent
yesterday to the participants in a congress on this Italian thinker,
being held in the Faculty of Theology of Southern Italy in Naples.
It was "an atrocious death,... a sad episode in modern Christian
history," the Cardinal wrote. It reflects the incoherence that at times
has marked the behavior of Christians over the centuries, "casting a
shadow over the announcement of the Gospel."
Because of this, and on the occasion of the Jubilee, the Pope appeals to
all "to make a courageous and humble act of acknowledgment of one's own
faults and of those of (persons) who are and are called Christians."
Giordano Bruno's case reminds us that "truth only imposes itself with
the force of truth itself." Cardinal Sodano continued by explaining that
truth "must be witnessed with absolute respect for the conscience and
dignity of every person."
Cardinal Sodano called on his readers to overcome "the temptation to
arguments," instead analyzing this event with "an open spirit to the
full historical truth." Indeed, it is impossible to understand what
occurred if one disregards the historical context and the mentality of
society in the 1600s. The Tribunal of the Inquisition, the Secretary of
State emphasized, prosecuted Bruno "with the methods of coercion that
were common at the time, giving a verdict that was in conformity with
the law of the period." One must hope that "the thinker's judges were
inspired by the desire to serve truth and promote the common good, doing
all that was possible to save his life."
The document does not attempt to rehabilitate Giordano Bruno's ideas,
which were "incompatible with Christian doctrine." But, "in this case as
in similar ones" it is important to recognize the errors "to give
direction to a Christian conscience that is more attentive to fidelity
to Christ in the future."
Bruno was born at this time, a time in which the pluralism of ideas was often synonymous with war between peoples. Bruno was an intelligent youth, ardent to learn. From the beginning his life was marked by loneliness. He lost his parents when he was very young. He entered the Dominican convent in Naples at age 17. Already the following year, plagued by doubts about the Trinity and the Incarnation, he fled from the suspicion of heresy.
He began to wander through Europe. He went to the north of Italy, to Switzerland, France, England and Germany. Wherever he went he was initially admired, but eventually ridiculed, hated, and expelled. A very cultured man, of extraordinary memory and fascinating ingenuity, he broke all the fixed ideas of the time. He belonged to no school in particular. He rejected all principles of authority.
Genial and irreverent, he considered monks to be "holy idiots." For him, religions were no more than a conglomeration of useful superstitions to keep ignorant peoples under control. He regarded Jesus as a kind of magician, and the Eucharist as a blasphemy. He believed in re-incarnation and saw the beating of a universal soul in everything. He was virtually a pantheist: God was confused with Nature. Bruno left Christianity. Before being excommunicated by Catholics, he was excommunicated by both Calvinists and Lutherans.
The thirst for the infinite is, perhaps, one of the most fascinating aspects of Bruno: his desire to surpass his own limitations and reach the absolute, a quest that was never satisfied. It was this "heroic furor" that led him to look for the infinite in God and withdraw into Him in an extreme intuitive thrust. Expelled by all, Bruno ended exhausted and wished to return to the Catholic Church, and to embrace its thought. He returned to Italy, was arrested in Venice and taken to Rome.
Following 8 years in prison and interminable questioning, and having been close to recanting on several occasions, he was condemned as an impenitent heretic. The words Bruno spoke to his judges are famous: "You tremble more in passing this sentence than I do in receiving it." On February 17, 1600 he was burned at the stake. He was 52. According to a chronicle of the time, Bruno refused to pray to a crucifix and died swearing. The inquisitor at his prosecution was Jesuit theologian St. Robert Bellarmine. ZE00021809
The war of words continues between Israeli Government principals, the Holy See, and the Moslem and Christian factions regarding the mosque to be built next to the Church of the Annunciation. With the Holy Father scheduled to be in the Holy Land between March 20-26, and with the ideal of having the Sacrifice of the Mass said at the Church of the Annunciation on March 25, the potboiling of the Middle East is at an all-time high. The Holy See is encouraging all factions to consider compromise in the spirit of reconcilliation for it is in this spirit that the future of these Middle East countries lies. continued inside.
ROME, FEB 18 (ZENIT).- The agreement signed last Tuesday between the
Vatican and the Palestine Liberation Organization "has as its sole
objective the possibility of creating the necessary conditions so that
the Church can effectively carry out the exercise of its ministry,"
"Civiltà Cattolica" magazine states, following protests by Israel's
Foreign Ministry, which read into the agreement decisions on the
question of Jerusalem and a de-stabilizing element during preparations
for the Pope's visit to the Holy Land from March 20-26.
The Jesuit magazine published a study on the agreement and a second
article on the issue of the future Nazareth mosque, which radical groups
wish to construct on the same Square as the Basilica of the
Annunciation. The article accuses the Israeli government of not
respecting the rights of Christian communities in order to arrive at a
compromise with the Muslim fundamentalists. Indeed, the Palestinian
Authority, aware that the building constitutes a provocation, asked its
Muslim brothers to abandon the idea and offered to finance the
construction elsewhere.
"Civiltà Cattolica" adds its voice to the proposal of Christian Churches
of the Holy Land to organize a "meeting between representatives of the
Islamic party, of the Christian population of Nazareth and the heads of
Christian Churches, to discuss the future of this situation," with the
possibility that Christians will admit "in principle the construction of
the mosque and the Muslims renounce their construction as a gesture of
good will and magnanimity toward the Christians."
As regards the agreement of the Palestinians with the Vatican, the
Jesuits' magazine states that the Holy See is concerned "about the
future of the Middle East and especially the Holy Places," and hopes
that the text represents "a first and significant step" to safeguard the
Church's activity "in favor of all those who live or visit those places,
which have very special meaning for the whole of humanity."
In referring to the mosque, the criticism of the Israeli government that
unleashed a controversy when permission for construction was granted,
can be understood while recognizing that it is a problem that the
current government inherited from Benjamin Netaniahu. To qualify this
decision, no reference is made to "compromise" but rather to "concession
to a group of citizens who have violated the rights of the rest." It
should not be forgotten that the land on which the mosque is to be
constructed was taken by force and that over Easter Christians were
attacked by Islamic fundamentalists. In spite of these events, the
Israeli government decided to satisfy the Muslims pretensions.
"Civiltà Cattolica," which acknowledges the great intelligence and
courage of the Israeli leaders, believes the problem will be solved when
"they become aware of the chance they are taking at present, which might
affect the future of the State of Israel itself."
ZE00021710
Meanwhile, an incident in Jerusalem has Catholics fuming over a "candid-camera" immoral depiction of a Catholic priest on local television. The attack evoked strong reaction and demand for an immediate apology by the producers from Catholic Latin-rite Patriarch Michel Sabbah who said anything less would prompt the Church to take legal action for libel and defamation. continued inside.
JERUSALEM (CWNews.com) - The Catholic Latin-rite Patriarch
of Jerusalem on Thursday demanded a public apology from the
producers of an Israeli "candid camera" TV show that
portrayed an actor dressed as a priest talking with
passers-by about his love life.
A hidden camera filmed the actor with an actress/nun asking
passers-by how to win her heart. He also "blessed" people by
slapping them on the head.
"This offended thousands of Christians and even
non-Christians in the Holy Land and many are continuing to
contact us to express their rage," said Wadie Abu Nasser,
an adviser to Patriarch Michel Sabbah. "We are asking for
an apology. If our demand is not met, we will begin legal
action."
Spokesmen for the Reshet network which broadcast the
program on Channel Two commercial television were not
immediately available for comment.
Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, Apostolic Administrator of Dili,speaking on behalf of the Christian people of East Timor, emphasized that they "are living crucial moments in their history:, and it is necessary that the correct choices are made." In seeking to reconstruct society in East Timor, Bishop Belo remarked that there are seven problems that need urgent attention, and called upon the UN’s Transition Administration for East Timor to consider the people’s tradition, their culture, ethical and religious values.continued inside.
LISBON, 19 (NE) The people in East Timor "are living crucial
moments in their history", and it "is necessary that the correct
choices are made," said Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, Apostolic
Administrator of Dili, in a recent message regarding the process
of national reconstruction taking place in the island.
Expressing the Church's concern for East Timor's current
political, social, and economic situation, the Prelate
emphasized that "the problems that the people of East Timor find
in their pilgrimage as a free and independent nation are also
the problems of the Church."
In his message, Bishop Belo pointed out seven problems that need
urgent attention for "the construction of a new society as a
nation, free and independent." In the first place, the document
mentioned "the creation and application of a new educational
system, modernized, keeping in mind the identity of the people
of Timor acquired along its history."
The Bishop also pointed out the necessity of creating a health
care and a judicial system, a structure of public
administration, as well as a solid economy based on justice,
with a new unit of currency. The agricultural development must
be adequate to supply for all the people in the island, Bishop
Belo further said. Finally he pointed out the
necessity of infrastructure to support the process of national
reconstruction.
Referring to this process, Bishop Belo insisted that it must be
done taking in consideration that most of the population in East
Timor is Catholic. Regarding this, he stressed that all effort
"made by the UN's Transition Administration for East Timor must
consider the people's tradition, that is their cultural, ethical
and religious values." If these elements are not sufficiently
considered -he warned- the people of Timor "will feel betrayed,
and the work would run the risk of being a total frustration."
In keeping with the Pope's wishes that the America's work together, several bishops from Canada, the United States and Latin America will meet at the Westin Grand Hotel in Vancouver beginning today through Thursday. During the meeting, views will be discussed and ideas exchanged regarding the state of the Church throughout the Americas in the first ever non-synod conference involving prelates of all of North America. continued inside.
OTTAWA, 19 (NE) The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
announced this week that Bishops from Canada, the United States
and Latin America are to meet at the Westin Grand Hotel in
Vancouver, February 21-24, 2000, for a Meeting of the Bishops of
America.
The event will gather bishops from Brazil, Canada,
Chile, Colombia, Haiti, Honduras, Peru, Mexico, Dominican
Republic, the United States and Venezuela. During the meeting,
the Bishops will exchange views regarding the life of the Church
in the continent. Twenty-three bishops in addition to senior
staff will be attending.
One of the public events during the
event will be a Eucharistic celebration with Latin American
communities at Holy Family Church, home of the Hispanic Catholic
Mission, to be held on Wednesday, February 22.
Catholics in the Diocese of Portland, Maine are livid and confused that Bishop Joseph Gerry would betray not only them but the Church in supporting gay-rights legislation. His arguments did not sit well with loyal Catholics who feel the continued inside.
PORTLAND, Maine (CWNews.com) - Catholics in Maine have
criticized the Diocese of Portland for changing positions
and supporting a controversial homosexual rights bill
before the state's Legislature, according to the Portland
Press-Herald on Thursday.
The proposed law would ban discrimination based on sexual
orientation in employment, housing, credit, and public
accommodations. The Legislature's Judiciary Committee will
decide next week whether to send the bill onto the House
and Senate. A similar law was turned down by Maine voters
in a 1995 referendum, and again in 1998.
Although the Diocese of Portland opposed the 1995 measure,
Bishop Joseph Gerry announced earlier this year that the
diocese now supports the current proposal. Homosexual
activist groups agreed to change the bill to exempt
religious groups and church-affiliated organizations.
Some opponents of the bill said during a public hearing
earlier this week they felt betrayed by the reversal.
Sandra Navia of Falmouth testified that individual
Catholics like her had been ignored by the diocese, which
had "capitulated" to "homosexual activists" and ignored its
obligation to protect the "public morality of the entire
civil society."
Marc Caron, co-chancellor of the diocese, told legislators
at the hearing that the bill would accomplish a basic
Catholic goal: affirming the dignity of every human being,
and eliminating unjust discrimination. He also noted that
Catholic dioceses in New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode
Island have endorsed similar homosexual-rights laws. He
added that the bill specifically guards intrusion by the
state into Church doctrine.
For one another story, see the end of SectionTWO
