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WEDNESDAY January 19, 2000 vol. 11, no. 13 SECTION TWOSee why so many consider the Daily CATHOLIC as the "USA Today for CATHOLICS!"
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Before an overflow crowd and hundreds of media, the Holy Father led a contingent including a representative from the Eastern Orthodox, Coptic and Lutheran Churches through the Holy Door at St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls yesterday to officially kick off the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity during this Jubilee year. The Pope called for all faiths to take responsibility and rather than looking back in resentment, look forward in hope for a united Body of Christ through "Unitŕ, Unitad, Unité, Unity!'" continued inside
VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- "'Unity, Unity!' That cry, which I heard in
Bucharest during my visit, comes back strongly to me now like an echo--
'Unity, Unity!'-- in the cries of the people gathered for this ceremony:
Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Evangelicals, all together crying: 'Unity!'"
Those were the words with which Pope John Paul II improvised the
conclusion of his homily at a January 18 ecumenical ceremony in Rome.
Together with representatives of all the major Christian churches, the Pope
prayed at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, seeking God's grace for
the cause of Christian unity. The celebration marked the opening of the
annual week of prayer for that same intention. The ceremony at the Roman
basilica also included the opening of a Holy Door-- the final such gesture for
the beginning of the Holy Year.
"Thank you for raising your voices-- for that consoling voice of our brothers
and sisters," the Pope said. "Perhaps we can now leave this basilica shouting,
'Unity! Unity!'"
The Holy Father-- who appeared unusually energetic throughout the event--
was assisted by the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey; and
by the Orthodox Metropolitan Athanasius of Heliopolis, the representative of
the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, as he pushed open the
Holy Door. More than 50 representatives of other Christian churches assisted
in the ceremony.
The participants in the ceremony, in their differing religious vestments,
formed a colorful procession in the vestibule of the basilica, and were
warmly applauded by a large crowd as the approached the Holy Door. After
opening the door, Pope John Paul entered the basilica alone, carrying the
book of the Gospel. He was soon followed by representatives of the Coptic
Orthodox Church, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the World Lutheran
Federation.
"We realize that we are brothers who are still divided, but with a firm
determination we have placed ourselves on the path that will bring us
toward full unity in Christ," the Holy Father said during the ceremony inside
the basilica. Asking how the Church-- the Body of Christ-- could remain
divided, he said that such divisions show "the human weakness of
Christians."
"During this year of grace," the Pontiff continued, "there should grow within
each one of us the recognition of our personal responsibility regarding the
breaks that have marked the history of the Mystical Body of Christ." These
wounds can be healed, he continued, only by beginning with "interior
conversion," so that ecumenical dialogue "goes beyond the limits of an
exchange of ideas, and becomes an exchange of gifts-- a dialogue in charity
and in truth."
"Let us as Christ's pardon for everything in the history of the Church that has
harmed his plan for unity," the Pope urged. The pursuit that unity, he said,
could itself become an instrument of evangelization in the new millennium.
After the Pope's homily, the representatives of the Christian churches
exchanges the Kiss of Peace. The ceremony concluded with a profession of
common faith, which was recited in Greek, Latin, and German by the
representatives of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, the Orthodox
Patriarch of Romania, and the President of the Union of Utrecht.
While the Supreme Court gets ready to wrestle with the partial-birth abortion ban and the states' right to enforce it, the judicial body shot down a request by state public schools to declare Good Friday a holiday, not a good sign considering they are about to revisit the issue that has spawned much resentment between pro-aborts and pro-lifers - the so-called "bubble law" that determines pro-life demonstrators must observe in keeping their distance from the entrances to abortion mills. continued inside.
WASHINGTON, DC (CWNews.com) - The US Supreme Court today
rejected an appeal of state laws that grant Good Friday as
a legal holiday and prepared to receive arguments on
Wednesday in whether so-called "bubble zones" around
abortion clinics are constitutional.
In the first case, the high court, without comment,
rejected a retired Maryland teacher's appeal in which she
claimed that the state's closing of public schools on Good
Friday and Easter Monday violated the separation of church
and state. Thirteen states designate Good Friday as a legal
holiday but only three -- Maryland, Illinois, and North
Dakota -- require all public schools to close on Good
Friday. A federal appeals court has struck down the
Illinois law, and the Supreme Court has not said whether it
will review the ruling.
The Maryland law was upheld by the 4th US Circuit Court of
Appeals after it was challenged by Judith Koenick, a former
teacher who is Jewish. She said the law "sends the message
to non-Christians that the state finds Good Friday, and
thus Christianity, to be a religion worth honoring while
their religion or nonreligion is not of equal importance."
On Wednesday, the justices will hear arguments on whether a
1993 Colorado law requiring pro-life demonstrators to
maintain a specific distance from people entering abortion
clinics violates free speech or is a legal protection
against harassment.
James Henderson of the Virginia-based American Center for
Law and Justice, which represents the protesters, contends
that the law tramples on free-speech rights. "My way of
sidewalk counseling is to be gentle and to be
compassionate. Colorado's way is to put me so far away I
have to scream and yell," said Jeanne Hill, one of three
pro-lifers challenging the law. Fourteen states and several
cities have passed laws creating "bubble zones" around
people entering clinics and "buffer zones" around the
clinics themselves.
The Supreme Court returned the Colorado case to state
courts in 1997 to reconsider it in wake of the high court's
decision in a New York case, in which the high court allowed
pro-lifers to interact with women on public sidewalks as
long as they stayed at least 15 feet from the clinic's
entrance. A Colorado appeals court again upheld the law,
noting it was enacted by lawmakers, while the New York case
involved a judge's injunction.
Cardinal Thomas Joseph Winning, the Archbishop of Glasgow, Scotland, who serves curial membership in the Pontifical Council for Families and has been a key member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is doing all he can to uphold the sacredness of marriage and family by fighting with every ounce of his soul and body the repeal of the anti-homosexual law that gays are trying to pass to legitimize homosexuality in this British country and the gays know he is a threat and therefore have gone on the attack while Cardinal Winning calls it what it is "a perversion." continued inside.
GLASGOW (CWNews.com) - Scotland's Cardinal Thomas Winning
came under fire yesterday after he branded homosexuality a
"perversion."
Speaking in support of businessman Brian Souter who has
offered millions of British pounds to help fight the repeal
of Clause 28 -- the so-called anti-homosexual law -- the
cardinal said: "I deplore homosexual acts."
"I hesitate to use the word perversion but let's face up to
the truth," he said. "What pains me is that the silent
majority are so silent that the silence is deafening. I
wish to God they would speak up. But when you do say
something about it, you are accused of homophobia which is
absolute rubbish."
He added, "I have no objection to anybody. I'm supposed to
love my neighbor and I try to do that as much as I can. But
I will not stand for this kind of behavior which is now
being regarded as wholesome and healthy."
He continued: "Homosexuality is promoted every day. It's
promoted by people who are on the streets, it's promoted by
people who are attracted to others. We only need to look at
some of the pamphlets available to see just exactly what is
in place to put into schools. I am concerned that children
might be converted by some of the literature. There's no
doubt about it."
Several British trade unions have advised members to
boycott Stagecoach buses, the company owned by Souter and
to avoid using Virgin trains and planes in which Souter is
a major shareholder.
But Cardinal Winning said such action was "unacceptable"
and added: "I deplore the witch-hunt they have started
against him."
Peter Tatchell, leader of gay rights group OutRage!,
accused Cardinal Winning of championing discrimination. "He
is acting like the leaders of the Afrikaner Church in South
Africa during the apartheid regime," he told today's Times
newspaper. "They advocated discrimination against black
people. He is supporting discrimination against gay and
lesbian people. The cardinal is storing up prejudice and
intolerance. His scaremongering is provoking false fears
and worries."
In an ambitious project called the "Pope's Charity Project" the Jubilee Committee has launched a program that will feed between 500-600 homeless a day and provide inexpensive or free housing for poor pilgrims coming to Rome for the Jubilee. Meals will be distributed from St. Peter's, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls Basilicas in an effort to comfort and care for the vast wave of homeless that is increasing in Rome during the Jubilee Year. They've also arranged for an adopt-a-homeless person campaign throughout Rome and extended it to the area of poor pilgrims as well by arranging with religious organizations and families to accommodate free housing for those who can't afford the luxury of a hotel, hospice or bed and breakfast. continued inside.
VATICAN CITY, JAN 17 (ZENIT).- The Jubilee Committe has launched the
"Pope's Charity Project" to feed the homeless of Rome and poor pilgrims.
Since the beginning of the new year, 7 homeless persons have died in
Italy because of the cold, making their tragic lives news only after
their deaths.
In keeping with the project, within the next two weeks 500 meals will be
distributed free of charge in Rome every day (including a plate of hot
Italian pasta, a snack and a beverage). The distribution points are the
four main Basilicas of the Holy Year: St. Peter's in the Vatican, St.
John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls and St. Mary Major.
In order to implement this project, the Vatican counts on the support of
food business enterprises that will make available much of the goods
that will be distributed.
200 meals a day will be distributed on the Via Pfeiffer, next to the
Vatican; 100 in the Passionist Convent near St. John Lateran, and an
additional 200 in St. Paul's and St. Mary Major, on land owned by the
Vatican.
According to Angelo Scelzo, director of the Communications Office of the
Vatican Jubilee Committee, the "Pope's Charity Project" is directed
primarily "to the neediest of the city, to the indigent, and to pilgrims
of scarce resources, to whom the Jubilee wishes to give special
attention," at John Paul II's insistence.
The Jubilee Committee has also approached the religious communities in
the Eternal City to undertake similar initiatives. One of them is "Casa
Dono di Maria," at No. 9 Via del Santo Ufficio in the Vatican. This is
the center opened by Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her religious, at
John Paul II's request. Normally, this center gives food to anyone in
need at specified times. It is one of six houses of the Missionaries of
Charity in Rome.
Another Catholic organization that is very dynamic in the field is the
St. Egidio Community, which not only feeds hundreds of beggars every
day, but also goes out to find them in the freezing streets. The members
of this Community commit themselves to "adopt" one of these men and
women marginalized by the consumer society, and become their friend. The
members say that the hardest part of life for the homeless is generally
loneliness.
In addition, 400 houses of Italian dioceses and religious institutes
have confirmed that they will offer accommodation to Jubilee pilgrims at
economical prices. Some 40 communities will offer free hospitality.
Together, these two endeavors add up to 26,000 beds available for those
coming to Rome during the year 2000.
The Committee for the Preparation of the Jubilee has used the money
obtained from the sale of the Jubilee's official logo to create a
Solidarity Fund dedicated to help poorer pilgrims. Trips and stays in
Rome will be paid for by this Fund, whose president, Völker Goetz, said
that to date the Fund has raised $16 million.
Combining the data of these Catholic institutions, it is estimated that
around 6,000 persons live on the streets of Rome.
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Spearheaded by Focalare Founder Chiara Lubich, other founders and directors of new lay movements reconvened in Rome this week after the successful Pentecost encounter in 1998 when 150,000 poured into Rome. The purpose is share ideas for the common good to improve their own ministries and make the lay movement stronger and more committed. continued inside.
ROME, JAN 18 (ZENIT).- For the first time ever, the founders and
directors of new Movements and Ecclesial Communities met in Rome to
spend some time together, and exchange ideas, experiences, and good
times.
The meeting, an initiative of Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare
Movement, took place at the Pontifical Athenaeum "Regina Apostolorum,"
the univeristy directed by the Legionaries of Christ. The meeting was a
follow-up to the commitment made by the movements in the presence of
John Paul II during the historic 1998 Pentecost encounter, which
gathered some 150,000 members of these new Communities in St. Peter's
Square. The Holy Father considers these Movements and Communities a
"sign" of the work of the Holy Spirit in our times.
On that occasion, Lubich had publicly assumed the responsibility to
become a link of unity and communion among all these organizations, a
responsibility she carried out by calling this meeting. In addition to
Chiara Lubich, professor Andrea Riccardi, founder of the St. Egidio
Community; Fr. Marcial Maciel, founder and general director of the
"Regnum Christi" Movement; Fr. Michael Marmann, president of Schönstatt;
and Salvatore Martinez, general coordinator of Renewal in the Spirit in
Italy, attended yesterday's meeting.
Following this event, which was outstanding for its cordiality and
spontaneity, the participants bid one another farewell promising another
get together in the near future. The participants gave special
congratulations to Lubich, who will be celebrating her 80th birthday
later this month.
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Taking up the fanatic cry of a holy jihad against Christians fostered by militant Muslims in the Spice Islands and Bali, Islam extremists in Mataram on the Island of Lombok took up the battle cry and tried to storm a police station where Christians were huddling in fear. A full force of law officials have done all they can to protect the Christians as their churches are being torched day and night and the violence intensifies. continued inside.
MATARAM, Indonesia (CWNews.com) - Police fired rubber
bullets at rioters in Mataram today, to prevent them from
reaching Christians sheltering at the police station as
violence against Christians escalated on the Indonesian
island of Lombok.
A police spokesman said security forces had gone to full
alert as rioting by extremist Muslims entered a second day,
emptying the resort area of tourists. He said one person had
died so far after being hit by a rubber bullet and 52 people
have been arrested.
The fighting erupted on Monday at a rally of tens of
thousands of Muslims in Lombok, protesting the government's
inability to stem violence in the Malukus region between
Christians and Muslims that has claimed over 2,000 lives in
the past year. Some Muslim leaders in Indonesia have called
for a holy war against Christians and the Lombok fighting
appeared directed at them as most of the churches on the
island were destroyed.
Indonesia is the most populous Muslim majority nation in
the world, although the Maluku region, formerly the Dutch
colony known as the Spice Islands, has a sizeable Christian
minority. The country's worst economic crisis in decades as
well as political turmoil have escalated tensions between
the groups, spilling into outright violence between
religious gangs. Many Christians are ethnic Chinese and are
perceived as being wealthier than the general populace, much
as Jews were portrayed in 1930s Nazi Germany.
President Abdurrahman Wahid, a Muslim, has vehemently
rejected the idea of taking armed action against
Christians, and threatened harsh action against radicals
who tried to fuel the conflict.
The shocking announcement of a Mexican priest who was strangled and stabbed to death numerous times by a ruthless robber has caused the Holy See to raise the red flag in alerting all priests and religious the world over to take extreme caution in these days of violence and irresponsibility among people everywhere when ministering to those who seek Church services to make sure there are others present and they are truly in need of help and not intent on crime. continued inside.
VATICAN CITY, JAN 18 (ZENIT).- There was real commotion in Rome after
receiving the news of the murder of Mexican priest, Fr. José Ignacio
Flores Gaytan, who died strangled in the city of Torreon, after being
knifed 13 times.
According to authorities, the killer was a robber who wanted to steal
the priest's car and his cellular phone.
The news was published today on the front page of the Vatican's
L'Osservatore Romano newspaper, and in "Avvenire," the newspaper of the
Italian Episcopal Conference; it was also carried on Vatican Radio.
After hearing the news, observers of religious affairs said that in many
countries of Africa and Latin America, common delinquency is
specifically targeting priests and men and women religious, as they are
usually vulnerable, defenseless victims who often direct assistance
structures that have materials that malefactors wish to steal.
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