Catholic News 2

(Vatican Radio) Promoting interfaith and ecumenical relations are the two main goals of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem, which is currently marking the 50th anniversary of its foundation.

Set up in the wake of Pope Paul VI’s historic visit to the Holy Land and supported by the U.S. University of Notre Dame, it offer a wide variety of conferences, study programmes and research opportunities for scholars, students, religious pilgrimage groups or simply local people interested in interreligious dialogue.

Philippa Hitchen is visiting Tantur this week and found out how interfaith efforts are attempting to address the Palestinian-Israeli conflict:

Listen: 

I learnt a new Arabic word today: Wasatiyyah. It means ‘the middle way’ or moderate, but also balanced, just and fair. The opposite, in other words, of extremist, unbalanced, discriminatory, unfair.

‘Wasatia’ is also the name of a movement launched exactly a decade ago by a Palestinian professor and peace activist, Mohammed Dajani. If you’ve heard his name before, it’s most likely in connection with the uproar he caused a couple of years ago when he led a group of students from Jerusalem’s Al Quds university to visit the Auschwitz Nazi death camp. It was part of a joint project - with groups from two Jewish universities visiting a Palestinian refugee camp - to help young people see firsthand the suffering that has shaped the identity of those on the other side of the conflict.

Dajani’s efforts grew out of his own experience of seeing how well Israeli doctors treated his mother and father when they needed urgent medical attention – the last thing he’d expected as he grew up demonizing Israelis and calling for the destruction of their country.

Today he’s well known for his interfaith work and his efforts to teach young Muslims that this concept of ‘Wasatia’ or moderation is at the heart of Islamic belief and practice, just as Aristotle taught that the golden mean was the ideal of Greek philosophy and ethics.

Dajani and noted Jewish scholar, Rabbi Ron Kronish, founder of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, were two of the keynote speakers at a conference I attended in Jerusalem on Tuesday on how to promote moderation and reconciliation in the midst of the conflict here.

Most interestingly I noted a number of young Jewish and Muslim participants networking and exchanging ideas on how to promote respectful discussion of these difficult issues on facebook and other social media sites.

But can such scholarly debates really make any difference at the grass roots here, where people of faith seem unable to make any positive impact on the interminable political stalemate?

I put the question to Professor Dajani at the end of the conference. He smiled and said, “Look, you have learnt a new word, ‘wasatia’ today.” Every time a Palestinian or Israeli learns that word and turns from extremism to moderation, our dreams become hopes and peace can move one step closer.

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(Vatican Radio) In this week's edition of There's More in the Sunday Gospel than Meets the Eye, Jill Bevilacqua and Seàn-Patrick Lovett bring us readings and reflections for the Fourth Sunday of Lent. Listen:

Gospel           Jn 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38

As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth.
He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva,
and smeared the clay on his eyes, and said to him, 
"Go wash in the Pool of Siloam" — which means Sent —.
So he went and washed, and came back able to see.

His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, 
"Isn't this the one who used to sit and beg?"
Some said, "It is, "
but others said, "No, he just looks like him."
He said, "I am."

They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees.
Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath.
So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see.
He said to them,
"He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see."
So some of the Pharisees said,
"This man is not from God,
because he does not keep the sabbath."
But others said,
"How can a sinful man do such signs?"
And there was a division among them.
So they said to the blind man again, 
"What do you have to say about him,
since he opened your eyes?"
He said, "He is a prophet."

They answered and said to him,
"You were born totally in sin,
and are you trying to teach us?"
Then they threw him out.

When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out,
he found him and said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
He answered and said, 
"Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?"
Jesus said to him,
"You have seen him, and
the one speaking with you is he."
He said,
"I do believe, Lord," and he worshiped him.

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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis has greeted participants in a Vatican conference on the value and values of water promoted by the Pontifical Council for Culture.

Wednesday, March 22, marks the 25th iteration of World Water Day, instituted by the United Nations in 1992.

The conference is entitled “Watershed: replenishing water values for a thirsty world”.

During his greetings to English speakers at the General Audience, Pope Francis gave a special welcome and encouraged participants in their work.

“I am happy that this meeting is taking place, for it represents yet another stage in the joint commitment of various institutions to raising consciousness about the need to protect water as a treasure belonging to everyone, mindful too of its cultural and religious significance. I especially encourage your efforts in the area of education, through programmes directed to children and young people. Thank you for all that you do and may God bless you!”

Speakers at the one-day event include Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture and of the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archaeology, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States, and Cardinal Peter Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development.

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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis has appealed for Catholics around the world to participate in the ’24 Hours for the Lord’ initiative, taking place on 23-24 March.

The initiative is an opportunity for people to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Pope Francis at his General Audience said, “I invite all communities to live faithfully the appointment of 23 and 24 March to rediscover the Sacrament of Reconciliation: ’24 Hours for the Lord’.”

All churches around the world are being asked to offer the Sacrament, a request made by the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization.

The Holy Father said it was a privileged moment to experience the Father’s mercy.

“I hope that this year also such a privileged moment of grace on the Lenten journey will be lived in many churches around the world in order to experience the joyous encounter with the mercy of the Father, who welcomes and forgives everyone.”

The theme of the initiative this year comes from the Gospel according to Saint Matthew: ‘I desire Mercy’ (Mt 9:13).

Pope Francis last Friday presided over a Lenten penitential service in St. Peter's Basilica in anticipation of the initiative.

People around the world can show their support for the initiative by using the #24hoursfortheLord hashtag.

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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis has encouraged the Migrantes Foundation in their work of welcoming migrants and refugees, saying their situation is the "greatest tragedy" since the Second World War.

“I encourage you to continue your efforts of welcoming and hosting migrants and refugees, favouring their integration and taking into account the rights and mutual obligations of those who welcome them and those who are welcomed.”

The Pope called their situation a “tragedy”.

“Let us not forget that today’s problem of refugees and migrants is the greatest tragedy after that of the Second World War.”

Pope Francis' words came during his Wednesday General Audience.

The Migrantes Foundation is an arm of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) and promotes the pastoral care of migrants and refugees arriving in Italy.

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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Wednesday called for an ongoing commitment to welcome and integrate forced migrants and refugees and described the current migration phenomenon as the world’s greatest tragedy after the Second World War.
  
Speaking on Wednesday to crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the weekly General Audience, the Pope also continued his catechesis on Christian hope and appealed to the faithful to ‘re-discover’ the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

In his appeal, launched after the catechesis, Pope Francis reminded all Catholic communities to participate in the upcoming “24 hours for the Lord” initiative on 23rd and 24th of March with Churches across the globe offering the Sacrament of Confession as a “privileged moment of grace” during our Lenten journey.

And speaking to an Italian association that offers services and help to migrants and refugees upon their arrival and a long-term process of integration, the Pope highlighted the rights and the responsibilities of those who receive and of those who are received, and described the current migration crisis as the greatest tragedy after World War 2.

His words come just days before EU Heads of State or Government convene in the city to mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome. 

In his catechesis meanwhile, Pope Francis reflected on a reading from Saint Paul which focusses on the attitudes of steadfastness and encouragement.

They are intimately connected to the reality of Christian hope because ours, he said, is a God of steadfastness as he loves us perseveringly and never tires of consoling us.

He is also a God of encouragement, he continued, who calls us to be close to the weak and the needy with whom he asks us to be strong and to be sowers of hope.

What’s more, the Pope continued, Christians are called to spread hope by supporting and encouraging one another, especially those in danger of faltering.  But we do so, he concluded, with the strength provided by the Lord, who is our unfailing source of hope.  

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Palermo, Italy, Mar 22, 2017 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Hollywood precedent notwithstanding, an Italian bishop has announced that known members of the mafia cannot be godparents for the Catholic sacraments of baptism or confirmation.

The diocesan decree came from Michele Pennisi, Bishop of Monreale, near Palermo in Sicily, Italy.

“The mafia has always taken the term godfather from the church to give its bosses an air of religious respectability, whereas in fact the two worlds are completely incompatible,” the bishop said in the announcement.

He admitted that it may be hard to enforce, given the secrecy of the mafia, the Guardian reported.

“If someone has not been convicted we cannot judge people on rumours, without proof,” he said, adding that he would not ban anyone willing to repent of their actions.

“If one of them admits to having done wrong, asks to be pardoned for the bad they have done, in that case we can discuss a path of conversion.”

Pennisi has been outspoken against the mafia before, and received death threats in 2008 after he banned Catholic funerals for known mobsters.

According to Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera, Bishop Pennisi made the decision after Giuseppe Riina, son of the notorious “boss of bosses” ‘Toto’ Riina, was allowed to act as a godfather at the Catholic baptism of his nephew.

“But the Christian godfather must guarantee the child’s education and upbringing in the faith and how can he do that if his life is in contradiction of the gospel, if it is violent and totally ruled by the god money. There is a total incompatibility here and we’ve got to be clear about that...” Bishop Pennisi said.

The move is just the latest in attempts by Church authorities to crack down on the notorious and influential groups in the country.

In 2014, Pope Francis said that members of one of the most notorious mafia groups, the “’nDrangheta” were excommunicated from the Church.

“The ‘nDrangheta represents the adoration of evil and total contempt for the common good...Those who in their lives have chosen this path of evil are not in communion with God, they are excommunicated...” he said at the time, according to the Irish Times.

This year, on March 21, Italy’s first “National Day for Remembrance and Commitment to Remembering the Victims of the Mafia”, Pope Francis sent a message to Mafia victims gathered in Locri, Italy, expressing his “spiritual closeness” to them.

The Holy Father said that he “hopes that the meeting will help to reflect on the causes of the numerous violations of law and legality, which in many cases lead to violence and criminal offenses.”

Pope Francis also assured his prayers for those who “fight the social problem of crime and corruption” and offered his apostolic blessing.

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Vatican City, Mar 22, 2017 / 03:57 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday Pope Francis said each person must strive to imitate the perseverance and consolation of God, which not only gives us the strength to keep going, but also to help others who are in difficulty.

“Perseverance we can also define as patience; it’s the ability to support, to remain faithful, even when the weight seems to become too big, unsustainable, and we are tempted to negatively judge and abandon everything and everyone,” the Pope said March 22.

Consolation, on the other hand, “is the grace of knowing how to welcome and show in every situation, even those largely marked by delusion and suffering, the presence and compassionate action of God.”

He noted how these two attitudes are highlighted by St. Paul in his letter to the Romans, both in reference to scripture and to God himself, who is “the God of perseverance and consolation.”

Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience, the Pope continued his catechesis on the virtue of Christian hope, saying the qualities of perseverance and consolation shed light on what having hope really means.

Francis noted how in the day’s reading from Romans Chapter 15, St. Paul reminds us that these attitudes are communicated throughout scripture. The Word of God, he said, “leads us to turn our gaze to Jesus, to know him better and to conform ourselves to him, to increasingly become more like him.”

By calling the Lord “the God of perseverance and consolation,” the apostle is revealing the nature of God as someone “who always remains faithful to his love for us and takes care of us, covering our wounds with the caress of his goodness and his mercy.”

“He’s perseverant in love for us, he never tires of loving us,” he said.

Pope Francis then pointed to how in the passage, St. Paul also insists that “we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”

While the phrase “we who are strong” could seem presumptuous, the Pope stressed that when understood with the logic of the Gospel, “we know that it’s not like this. Rather, it’s precisely the opposite because our strength doesn’t come from us, but from the Lord.”

“Whoever experiences in their own lives the faithful love of God and his consolation is able, even obliged, to be close to his weakest brothers and to take charge of their fragility,” he said.

The Pope stressed the importance of doing this “without complacency,” but as “a channel that transmits the gifts of the Lord,” sowing hope to the world. Witnesses of hope “are needed today,” he said, but noted that unfortunately “it’s not so easy” to do.

However, Francis cautioned that this lifestyle doesn’t mean dividing the community so that “some are from ‘group A,’ which is the strong, and others ‘group B,’ which is the weak.”

Instead, it means having the same attitude toward one another that Christ did, he said, adding that the Word of God “nourishes a hope that is concretely translated in sharing, in reciprocal service.”

This reciprocity is essential, he said, because “even those who are strong sooner or later find themselves fragile and in need of comfort from others; and vice versa, in weakness one can always offer a smile or a hand to the brother in difficulty.”

But this is only possible “if we put Christ and his Word at the center,” Pope Francis said, and urged faithful to thank God for giving us his Word through scripture.

“We never thank God enough for the gift of his Word,” he said, stressing that “it’s there that we become aware of how our hope is not based on our own abilities and our own strength, but on the support of God and on his fidelity and love.”

At the end of his audience Pope Francis also gave a shout-out to those participating in the “Watershed” Conference currently taking place in Rome in honor of the U.N. World Water Day, and which is being co-hosted by the Pontifical Council for Culture and the Argentinian Chapter of the Club of Rome.

“I am happy that this meeting is taking place,” he said, “for it represents yet another stage in the joint commitment of various institutions to raising consciousness about the need to protect water as a treasure belonging to everyone, mindful too of its cultural and religious significance.”

The Pope then made an appeal for his “24 hours for the Lord” event, which takes place each year on the fourth Friday and Saturday of Lent

“I hope that also this year this privileged moment of grace on the Lenten path is lived in many churches in order to experience the joyful encounter with the mercy of the Father, and that everyone welcomes and forgives,” he said.

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Mexico City, Mexico, Mar 22, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Some 30,000 people gathered last Sunday for the 17th March for Life, Peace and Migrants in Tijuana, Mexico.

Led by the Archbishop of Tijuana, Francisco Moreno Barrón, participants marched from the former bullfighting stadium, Toreo de Tijuana, to the Tijuana Auditorium, where they arrived at 11:30 am.

Before the march on March 19, the Archbishop of Tijuana prayed for the migrants and young people depicted on the wall at Aeropuerto y Cuauhtémoc Norte Boulevard. “We want to make present on this wall all our brother migrants, not just those who cross this border, but all the migrants from all over the world,” the prelate said.

“The entire human community is one family, which came forth from the hands of God out of love. And we are called to live united in love as one family,” he added.

The archbishop said that “unfortunately because of selfishness in the world, the selfishness in the human heart, walls have been raised up, not just in past times, but also in the present, which seek to divide us, alienate us and also at times to confront us.”

Instead of walls, he said, what is needed are “spaces, elements, bridges which would rather bring us closer together and help us build fraternity, so that we can live in peace and realize in our midst God's dream for his children: that they live united and in peace.”

The State Government Religious Affairs officer, Marco Antonio González, representing the Government Undersecretary, said that “the importance of this march for us is the fact that the Catholic Church is proclaiming, supporting the need we have as a community to promote values and principles.”

The march started around 9:00 am and began with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. During the march, Archbishop Moreno carried a cross as a symbol of the crosses that migrants carry.

“I invite you to remain united as a Church, making our contribution to building a better society in the Archdiocese of Tijuana, I invite you to be builders of peace, to fight for life and to have an open heart to our migrant brothers,” the prelate exhorted.

After the march, the archbishop celebrated a Mass in the Tijuana Auditorium.

 

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