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TUESDAY April 11, 2000 vol. 11, no. 72 SECTION TWOSee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
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For the Gospel of Tuesday, April 11th:
"When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that of Myself I do nothing: but that I preach only what the Father has taught Me. And He Who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, because I do always the things that are pleasing to Him."
Special Prayer for Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Lent
For the Daily LENTEN PRAYER, see LENTEN REFLECTIONS
On this day 494 years ago in 1506, Pope Julius II, the 216th successor of Peter, commissioned workers to begin construction of the new Saint Peter's Basilica as it is today. It was Julius who enlisted the amazing talents of Michelangelo Buonarotti and Raphael, to name a few of the masters and artisans - many from Firenze or Florence. His pontificate saw both the laying of the cornerstone and completion of the most magnificent, astounding church in the world and the seat of Roman Catholicism. For other time capsule events that happened in Church history on this date, see MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES
1079 A.D.
The martyrdom of Saint Stanislaus, Bishop of Cracow, who was slain by King Boleslaus II of Poland while Stanislaus was celebrating Holy Mass.
1506 A.D.
Construction begins on the new Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican under the guidance of Pope Julius II who enlisted the talents of Michelangelo and Raphael.
1512 A.D.
The Papal Troops and the Holy League armies are badly defeated by the French at Ravenna, Italy but the plight of the alliance of the Holy League leads to help from the Swiss troops which results in driving France from Italian soil and creates the evolution of the famous Swiss Guard who guard the Vatican today.
1963 A.D.
Pope John XXIII, who will be beatified later this year on September 3rd, released his eighth and final encyclical on this date. Pacem in terris was his signature on establishing universal peace in truth, justice, charity and liberty.
Historical Events in Church Annals for April 11:
678 A.D.
Death of Pope Donus, the 78th successor of Peter and the Pope who brought an end to schism in Ravenna. Born in Rome, he was elected on September 2, 676. During his two year pontificate he also encouraged the bishops to support the new schools in Germanic Gaul and that of Cambridge in England.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminary did so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".
"St. Thomas tells us that, 'We are not saints because we will not to be saints.' He does not say, mind you, that we do not want to be saints: many of us do. But mere wanting is the wish that something shall come to pass without our acting to bring it about. Willing means that we plan to pay the necessary cost in effort and in sacrifice."
A day before beatifying five new blesseds and a day after meeting with the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, His Holiness Pope John Paul II received the Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski along with Poland's Foreign Minister. No doubt the Holy Father gave him an earful about vetoing the ban on pornography which the Polish Parliament had passed last month. We would hope the Polish leader was penitent since Poland is seeking the help of the Roman Pontiff as the European community moves ever closer to a One-World Order.continued inside
VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- On Saturday, April 8, Pope John Paul II received Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and the country's foreign minister Bronislaw Geremek in a private audience.
This was the third meeting between the Pope and Kwasniewski since the latter became president in November 1995, after an election in which he defeated Lech Walesa. He told reporters that he had found the Pontiff "in good form" and "full of energy."
Speaking to the press after his audience, Kwasniewski reported that he had asked for the help of the Holy See in ushering Poland into the new European community. He recalled that as far back as 1979, the Pope had said that Europe should "breath with both lungs"-- a reference to the need to restore the influence of the countries of Eastern Europe. Noting the Pope's consistent support for the integration of Europe, the Polish leader said: "One cannot underestimate his capacity to break down walls and open doors."
Meanwhile part of the agenda of the One-World Order is to promote abortion worldwide as part of the culture of death and one of those leaders is Bill Clinton who is at it again by seeking to provide even more funding for population control through UN programs world-wide. He's once again making waves in trying to intimidate Congress to let go of their hold on withholding funding for abortion. When will the evil stop in the Clinton administration? What's next, genocide, euthanasia, cloning, another super-race? Perhaps Mr. Clinton should pay a visit to Auschwitz or Yad Veshem for he is truly responsible for today's holocaust of innocent unborns.continued inside
WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - President Bill Clinton on
Friday called for Congress to provide more funds for
US-sponsored population control programs around the world,
following several years in which Congress imposed
restrictions on the funds.
Pro-life congressmen have consistently pushed through
restrictions in past foreign aid budgets preventing US
taxpayer funding of population control groups overseas that
also offer abortion or that lobby their governments for the
legalization of abortion.
"I urge Congress to give us that money without restrictions
that hamper the work of family planning organizations and
bar them from discussing or debating reproductive health
choices," Clinton said at a White House ceremony marking
World Health Day. "Those congressionally sponsored
restrictions impose a destructive double standard," Clinton
said. "How, in the name of democracy and freedom, can we
impose those rules on others which would be illegal here in
the United States? That is not the American way."
Pro-life groups responded, saying US taxpayers should not
be forced to subsidize procedures or programs they find
morally repulsive and that no one is forcing the foreign
groups to accept US aid.
In his proposal, Clinton said he wanted an additional $169
million in family planning assistance for the US Agency for
International Development, restoring funding to $541.6
million, as it was in 1995; $25 million to the UN
Population Fund and $100 million through various agencies
to prevent the spread of AIDS and HIV, mostly in Africa
through contraception and education programs. Last year,
Clinton accepted restrictions on aid in a compromise to
fund a plan to pay dues the US owed to the UN.
Hopefully Congress will be even stronger in their resistance to Clinton's demands after the Republican National Committee hosts a special Mass in honor of the new House of Representatives chaplain from Chicago Father Daniel Coughlin. He is the first Catholic chaplain since the founding of America. While news media and others wish to suggest that all of this is a move to court the Catholic vote, a spokesman for the Committe has denounced such nonsense with evidence that both parties have been invited. continued inside.
WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - The Republican National
Committee announced on Monday that it will host a special
Mass for new House of Representatives chaplain Father
Daniel Coughlin on Tuesday.
The Mass at a church near Capitol Hill will honor the first
Catholic chaplain of the House following months of
controversy over the selection of the new chaplain. Some
Democrats and Catholic activists had charged the GOP
leadership with anti-Catholic sentiment after initially
selecting a Protestant minister over a Catholic priest.
Father Coughlin was the surprise replacement pick of House
Speaker Dennis Hastert last month to end the controversy,
after the initial successor stepped aside. The priest at
the center of the controversy was again overlooked as the
new chaplain.
Many secular media outlets and Democrats have portrayed the
initial controversy, the subsequent selection of Father
Coughlin, and the planned Mass as a politicized attempt to
court the favor of Catholic voters. "There is nothing
political about this," said RNC spokesman Mike Collins. "In
fact, they're inviting Democratic and Republican members (of
Congress). ... This is a chance for Father Coughlin to meet
the Capitol Hill community and for them to meet him."
While Washington is celebrating the USA's first Catholic priest as House Chaplain, in Fr. Coughlin's own state of Illinois there is trouble brewing and Cardinal Francis E. George, OMI is none too happy about it. The Illinois Senate has before them a bill that would require all hospitals, including 40 Catholic hospitals, to perform "emergency contraception" or abortion to all rape victims. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has sowrn to file suit should the bill pass, as it violates a a person's right to their religious beliefs. This threat was also made in New York and Cardinal John J. O'Connor vowed he'd close down the hospitals before allowing abortions to be performed. We would sense Cardinal George feels the same way.
continued inside.
SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (CWNews.com) - A proposed law under
consideration by Illinois' Senate could require all
hospitals in the state, including the 50 Catholic
hospitals, to provide abortifacient "emergency
contraception" to rape victims.
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty said in an open
letter to Senate President James Philip last week that it
would challenge the law in court if passed as a violation
of the constitutional right to freedom of religion. The
bill, HB3201, would require all hospitals to provide "oral
and written information concerning ... postcoital emergency
contraception," and "medication ... for use as postcoital
emergency contraception."
"These requirements would force medical professionals in
the 50 Illinois hospitals sponsored by the Catholic Church
to violate fundamental teachings of the Catholic faith
under penalty of law," the Becket Fund said.
So-called emergency contraception uses drugs to prevent a
fertilized ovum, an unborn child, from implanting in his
mother's womb and causing a spontaneous abortion. "The use
of 'postcoital emergency contraception' once ovulation has
occurred serves only to prevent implantation of a
fertilized ovum," the group said. "That, under long
standing Catholic moral teaching, is an abortion. Needless
to say, Catholic hospitals and their personnel cannot
perform abortions or refer patients to others for
abortions."
Cardinal James Francis Stafford, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity spoke yesterday in Rome about the upcoming World Youth Day for the Jubilee Year to be held in Rome in August. He spoke of the special charism the Holy Father has for all youth, pointing out that this particular Jubilee Year celebration will be at the very "heart" of the Jubilee Year celebrations. Consequently, other offices within the Vatican and Rome are also preparing for the mid-August day, which, stated Cardinal Camillo Ruini, Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome, will make Rome the youngest city in the world. continued inside.
VATICAN CITY, APR 10 (ZENIT.org).- This morning, the 15th World Youth
Day 2000 was presented at a press conference in the Vatican Press
Office. Recalling John Paul II's words, Vatican spokesman Joaquin
Navarro-Valls said: "It is not the Pope who has gone to meet youth in
different parts of the world, but youth who have come to meet the Pope."
Cardinal James Francis Stafford, president of the Pontifical Council for
the Laity, explained that "the World Youth Days are an expression of
John Paul II's special charism to communicate with youth, and they are
revealed as one of the 'prophetic options' of his pontificate. Defined
by the Pope as 'providential moments for stopping' of the young
generations on the road of faith towards the new Christian millennium,
the World Days have reached their 15th edition. As John Paul II
promised, they have accompanied youth to their appointment with the
bi-millennial of Christ's Incarnation, becoming the very heart of the
Great Jubilee of the Year 2000."
The president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity emphasized that
"never as this year will the traditional meanings of the World Youth Day
be more evident: an intense moment of evangelization, both for the
youths themselves and for the Church and the world; a real 'epiphany' of
the young Church. An effective symbol of ecclesial communion among the
youths, between them and the Bishops, among the various groups,
movements and associations; all united in the same love for the Church
and the world, but above all for Jesus Christ. It is a great challenge
for the renewal of youth: they want to be strong and authentic, active
members of the Church, to construct a new society; and Christ involves
them in a profound commitment that makes them missionaries of the
contemporary world."
Cardinal Camillo Ruini, Vicar general for the diocese of Rome, and
president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, said that in mid-August,
"Rome will be the youngest city of the world" and he added that "the
characteristics of the Church of Rome, open to the world and participant
in the Pope's universal care, give special meaning to the welcome of the
young pilgrims: each one of them must feel at home in Rome, guests of a
city that is a 'common homeland,' where it will not be difficult to
discover the links with one's own land, to find persons who have come
from the same lands and now reside in Rome, living memories of saints
and martyrs who have so much in common with the history and life of the
Churches from which the youths themselves come."
Cardinal Ruini pointed out that "the day also represents for us a way of
implementing the cultural plan of the Italian Church. To welcome youth
in Rome and in Italy means to meet with all that the Christian faith has
inspired and expressed over the centuries: cathedrals, works of art,
testimonies of faith that each youth will be able to admire. Very
important for them also is the meeting with the culture of our families,
which is still primarily Christian, in spite of so many challenges from
secularization. Likewise, the Roman youth and Italians, the host
families and our entire city, will be able to receive a strong stimulus
from meeting these youths, who are coming to Rome moved by faith, by a
sense of universal fraternity and by confidence in being able to do
something positive together in their own personal life and in that of
peoples."
Bishop Cesare Nosiglia, president of the Italian Commission for the 15th
World Youth Day 2000, concluded the presentation. He said that "the
patrimony of the Christian faith, which the youths have received in
their local Churches, must be made alive here in Rome, in contact with
the living memory of the apostles, martyrs, and saints who have lived
and given their life for Christ. Here, in this city-shrine, the youth
may live an experience of faith by returning to the roots, to the
original sources of Christianity. Here they receive the Pope, successor
of Peter, the first who confessed his faith in Jesus Christ Son of God,
the concrete mandate to profess, announce, and live the faith of the
Church in their very existence as youths to change, not only their own
life in the light of the Gospel, but to discover history with the force
of love that rises from the Cross of Christ in order to make the world
more free, peaceful, and united."
ZE00041005
Britain's monarchy is moving into the third millennium and may well find that it can no longer exclude other religions in either its marriages or in any coronation ceremony. New government proposals issued yesterday would undo the exclusivity of the monarch's vows before the Archbishop of Canterbury which have stood since 973 A.D. The multi-religious faiths now in Britain call for the change, but the government is only "looking" at several proposals. Some are concerned about what Queen Elizabeth would say but the fact remains the laws need to be changed according to many in the British Isles. continued inside.
LONDON (CWNews.com) - Anglican Archbishop George Carey of
Canterbury said this weekend he expects the Church of
England will eventually be disestablished as the official
state church.
"I expect the Church of England one day to be
disestablished," the Sunday Times quoted Carey as saying
during a weekend catechetical meeting. The archbishop had
previously been on record since 1993 as being opposed to
disestablishment.
"This is a very important development," the paper quoted
David Jenkins, former Bishop of Durham and a supporter of
disestablishment, as saying. "George Carey is recognizing
the fact that we are no longer a Christian country but we
need a Christian church for the whole country."
A spokesman for the Church of England said the archbishop
had not changed his position. "There's no call for it
(disestablishment)," the spokesman, the Rev. Bill Beaver,
said. "But we have to continually prove ourselves, and find
out what people want us to do.
Future British coronations may no
longer be an exclusively Christian ceremony as they have
been since 973 AD under new government proposals published
yesterday.
For more headlines and articles, we suggest you go to the Catholic World News site at the CWN home page and Church News at Noticias Eclesiales and the Dossiers, features and Daily Dispatches from ZENIT International News Agency CWN, NE and ZENIT are not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC, but provide this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.
NOTE: We respectfully recognize and accept the final authority regarding apparitions, locutions and prophecies presently being reported around the world rests with the Holy See of Rome and the Magisterium of Holy Mother Church to whose judjment we humbly and obediently submit.
"Dear children! Pray and make good use of this time, because this is a time of grace. I am with you and I intercede for each one of you before God, for your heart to open to God and to God's love. Little children, pray without ceasing, until prayer becomes a joy for you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
