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WEDNESDAY March 22, 2000 vol. 11, no. 58 SECTION THREESee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
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This week, while the Pope's pilgrimage in retracing the footsteps of Jesus will be relegated to the evening news, you can catch live action of the Pope on EWTN. We understand you can also catch some live events on MSNBC with commentary by the Pope's personal autobiographer George Weigel. You can also see EWTN on the web at www.ewtn.com. Inside is a schedule of Mother Angelica's network coverage. continued inside
VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is
providing live broadcast coverage of Pope John Paul's trip to the Holy Land.
The EWTN coverage, available in both English and Spanish, will be broadcast
across America's largest religious cable network, which now reaches into 58
million homes, and is available in Europe, Latin America, and the Pacific Rim.
Much of the same coverage will also be available through the EWTN's
worldwide short-wave radio service, and on the EWTN web site:
www.ewtn.com.
Beginning on Monday, March 10, with live coverage of the Pope's arrival in
Jordan beginning at 6:30 AM, the EWTN coverage will also include live
coverage and daily reprises according to the following schedule:
Monday, March 20: 6:30AM 9:00AM (live); 1PM and 8PM (repeat)
Tuesday, March 21: 2:00AM-11:30AM (live); 1PM 11PM (repeat)
Wednesday, March 22: 1:00AM 11:30AM (live); 1PM 11PM (repeat)
Thursday, March 23: 1:30AM 11:30AM (live); 1PM 11PM (repeat)
Friday, March 24: 2:30AM 11:00AM (live); 1PM-9:30PM (repeat)
Saturday, March 25: 2:30AM 11:30AM (live); 1:30PM-10PM (repeat)
Sunday, March 26: 2:30AM-5:30AM (live); 12:30PM-1:30PM (live);
1:30PM and 8:PM (repeat)
The Holy Father was pleasantly surprised yesterday during his stay in Amman when a group of Chaldean Catholic bishops, sent by the Chaldean Patriarch still in Rome, presented the Holy Father with memento's from the Patriarch Abraham's home in Ur including a handful of earthen soil and some brick fragments taken from Abraham's home there. continued inside.
AMMAN, Jordan (FIDES/CWNews.com) -- Although he was unable to make
the pilgrimage he had hoped to make to Ur of the Chaldeans, Pope John Paul
II was finally able to touch the soil of that land, in modern-day Iraq, on
March 21.
During his stay in Amman, Jordan, the Holy Father met with two Chaldean
Catholic bishops from Iraq, who presented him with a handful of soil from
Ur, and a few brick fragments that were said to be taken from the home of
Abraham.
The Iraqi delegation, which traveled to Jordan especially for the
presentation, consisted of Bishops Djibrail Kassab of Bassora (the diocese in
which Ur is situated) and Emmanuel Karim Dally, an auxiliary to the
Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon, Raphael I Bidawid.
The Patriarch-- who could not make the trip to Jordan, because he was in
Rome with a delegation of Chaldean Catholics celebrating their Jubilee there-
- asked the Iraqi bishops to assure the Holy Father of the affection of all
Iraqi Catholics. Patriarch Bidawid told Fides: "The bishops will offer the soil
and bricks to the Pope, reminding him that the Church in Iraq deeply desires
the Pope to visit Ur". Insisting that such a visit is still possible for some
time in the future, the Patriarch recalled: "John Paul II has not renounced his
pilgrimage to Ur of the Chaldeans, and we will do our utmost to make it
possible."
The town of Tiberias near the historic Mount of Beatitudes could be a trouble spot Friday when the Pope is scheduled to say an outdoor Mass there because Israeli Muslims are determined to disrupt the flow by praying on that day in a nearby mosque that has largely been abandoned for over fifty years. continued inside.
TEL AVIV (CWNews.com) - A dispute over a mosque in the
Israeli town of Tiberias will receive international
attention on Friday when Pope John Paul II celebrates Mass
nearby at the Mount of the Beatitudes.
Israeli Arabs have recently begun returning to Tiberias on
Fridays to pray in the mosque there, abandoned since the
creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Last Friday,
fighting broke out between Muslims and Jewish residents
seeking to prevent them from returning. On Tuesday, police
asked the Muslims not to pray at the mosque Friday, but the
group refused.
"We asked (the Muslims) not to come, and we spoke to them
to make sure the pope's visit will not be disturbed,"
police spokesman Boaz Goldberg said. He would not say what
police planned to do if the Muslims insist on praying.
A spokesman for the town said no Arabs lived in Tiberias
and the prayers at the mosque are a pure provocation. He
said residents will continue to prevent Muslims from
praying there.
Cherie Booth the Catholic wife of Tony Blair, Prime Minister of England, is speaking out on a subject that could get her in hot water with the Roman Catholic Church: She is speaking out on behalf of benefits for same-sex unions and thereby condoning the gay lifestyle, something the British Magistrate, including Cardinal Thomas Winning of Scotland, have been vigorously opposing. continued inside.
LONDON (CWNews.com) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair's
wife, Cherie Booth, last night called for legal rights
given to unmarried heterosexual unions to be extended to
same-sex couples.
Speaking to fellow lawyers at King's College, London,
Booth, a Catholic and a top-ranking employment lawyer,
said: "The courts for some time have been indicating that
legislators need to revisit this area. I do not think this
issue is going to go away."
She told the seminar homosexual people are not protected
under the Rent Act of 1977 which recognizes unmarried
heterosexual couples as "spouses" but not homosexual
couples. She also asked if such discrimination was socially
desirable.
Booth also called for changes in the law to improve the
burden on women in the workplace, and called on employers
to find ways of implementing family-friendly practices,
such as flexible working hours, job-share schemes,
term-time working for parents, and improved child-care.
"Women are not on an equal footing with men," she said.
"This is confounded by the legal system which has not
developed quickly enough to deal effectively with this type
of discrimination. That is the situation now but one I
believe will change in the future, because of necessity."
Booth said she believes homosexuals will have greater job
security when the Human Rights Act comes into effect later
this year.
While Booth caves to gay demands that are corroding the foundations of faith and marriage in Britain, the Archbishop of Glasgow Cardinal Thomas Winning is doing all he can to fortify the foundation by endeavoring to plug the dikes in the dam of political correctness that threatens to flood public opinion and make his efforts a mere bucket of sanity in a sea of immorality. continued inside.
GLASGOW (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Thomas Winning of Glasgow
Monday stressed the importance of marriage to society
after the European Parliament resolved to give same-sex
partnerships the same rights as married couples.
A Vatican communique, published on Friday, said that
recognizing same-sex unions in this way would be "a serious
error" and that "legislators and especially Catholic
parliamentarians must not favor with their vote this type
of legislation since it runs contrary to the common good."
Nora Radcliffe, an influential Member of the Scottish
Parliament has already voiced her backing for the
legislation. But Cardinal Winning yesterday warned the
Scottish Parliament against following the example of their
European colleagues.
"We know attempts are being made to redefine the family to
include same sex relationships and that the ultimate aim is
to have these arrangements recognized by law," he said.
"This alarms all families in Scotland. The marriage-based
family is the foundation stone on which this nation has
been built."
In the aftermath of the euphoria of the elections last week, reality is setting back in in Taiwan as riot squads have been called out and mainland China casts a dark, forboding shadow over this small island nation that yearns for independence. While this is the wish of her Catholic bishops there, they hope the ouster of the corrupt previous regime and the unanimous vote against communism will not weaken Taiwan and their new, open president Chen Shui-Bian. continued inside.
TAIPEI, MAR 19 (ZENIT.org).- The people of Taiwan have voted for an
honest government that will support their great economic development and
independent character, regardless of China, their elder sister and
continental colossus that claims the island's annexation, threatening
the use of canons on this island where nationalist leader Chiang
Kai-shek sought refuge after his defeat by Mao Tse Tung's revolutionary
army.
Taiwan's Bishops have spoken about the electoral process that gave
victory to Chen Shui-Bian, a young lawyer from Taiwan, who is the leader
of the Progressive Democratic Party, promoting independence from China.
Because of his charisma, the 49-year-old was very successful as mayor of
Taipei.
The elections took place yesterday. Prior to that, Cardinal Paul Shan
Kuoshi, Bishop of Kaohsiung and president of the Taiwan Regional
Episcopal Conference, said to the international agency "Fides": "We hope
that the future president will be an honest man, who will know how to
improve Taiwan's internal affairs, not only at the material level, but
also the spiritual, promoting ethical, moral and spiritual values in
society. He must be a man with a broad mind, who establishes contact
with Beijing, uses dialogue and finds a peaceful solution for relations
with China, without thinking of war. We need a leader of good will for
the good of the Chinese populations of both sides."
In addition, the Episcopal Conference published a letter before the
elections entitled, "Great Elections, Great Directions," emphasizing the
importance of this convocation. In the title, the message summarized the
position of the Taiwanese Church: to encourage Catholics to participate
in the elections, to choose a president who will work for the good of
society and to promote dialogue and peace with China.
The candidate chosen was the most feared by the neighboring giant, which
immediately showed signs of force against the small island. In his
campaign Chen said that his country and China must "have special
international relations," a statement that choked the Beijing
authorities. After 50 years of separation, they continue to call Taiwan
"the rebel province." Nonetheless, the newly elected president has
stated that he wants to improve relations with China. Beijing said he is
lying and, as it did 4 years ago, when the reelection of outgoing
President Lee Teng-hui was being planned, has not stopped threatening an
invasion.
The Cardinal's petition for an honest man was not without meaning. With
Lee Teng-hui, a member of the old guard, 50 years of power and
corruption of the Kuomintang (the nationalist government created by
Chiang Kai-shek) will disappear.
Chen, who won the elections with barely 39% of the vote, needs alliances
with all the parties to implement his program to clean up political and
economic life.
ZE00031902
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