From the inside . . .

 

Pope receives Spanish Prime Minister

This morning in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, His Holiness Francis received His Excellency Mr. Mariano Rajoy Brey, prime minister of Spain. Prime Minister Rajoy then met with the Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

Dr Patrick Pullicino: ‘It is important to declare yourself’

“Humans are totally spiritual creatures,” says Dr Patrick Pullicino, a professor of clinical neuroscience at the University of Kent. When we look at the human body, “everything we see, to my mind, is basically spiritual; the physical is just a coating”. For Dr Pullicino – a Catholic, NHS consultant doctor and scientist – the scientific and spiritual worlds are very close. “When you start to understand atomic function, science meets the spiritual,” he says.

This view has become uncommon, however, as the two world views are consistently portrayed as being in conflict with one another. The theory that science and religion are opposed can be traced back to the second half of the 19th century, according to the Catholic historian of science Maurice Crosland in his new book Science Under Suspicion. More than a century later it is still widely accepted and has become more prominent in recent years, popularised by vocal scientists like Richard Dawkins.

How, when we read of Islamist atrocities against Christians, are we to contain and overcome the temptation to turn against Muslims?

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A comment by By WILLIAM ODDIE

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Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) doesn’t tell us about horrific acts committed by Muslims against Christians in order to make us reject Muslims. They do it to demonstrate how much Christians in Muslim countries, where there is sometimes uncontrolled hatred by the majority Muslim population of the Christians in their midst, need our help and our support and our prayers.

I know that most of the actual violence is either incited or carried out by Islamist extremists who don’t represent the moderate Muslim majority. I know, at least, that that’s what I ought to think; and I wish I always did. But when I hear of the story of a fifteen year-old boy, hung upside down for weeks by Islamist “radicals” to encourage his family to collect a huge ransom, which made it necessary to sell everything they possessed including their house, who by the time they had handed over the ransom was in a coma and died in hospital shortly afterwards; when I consider that this family is now not only traumatised but destitute: I’m sorry, but when I hear such stories, it inspires me with feelings of total rejection of Muslims, tout court. I ask myself at such times how many “moderate” Muslims there really are: are they a huge majority? A small majority? Or actually a minority?

Should Pope Francis sell off the Vatican’s art collection and give the money to the poor? The answer is an emphatic ‘No’

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A comment by By WILLIAM ODDIE

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Already, Pope Francis has simplified the papacy, probably in some ways which are irreversible. He and the concelebrating cardinals at his installation wore very plain white chasubles (Pope Benedict wore gold), and he has worn very simple – not to say, in one case, distinctly cheap-looking – Mass vestments since. When seated in the presence of various groups, he has replaced throne-like seating with a simple, white chair, and has lowered platforms so as to be more at the same level as his interlocutors. He has replaced papal red shoes by plain black ones. He will not be wearing the gorgeous red ermine-trimmed mozzetta worn by his predecessors. And so on.

Pope Emeritus Benedict’s health ‘has deteriorated

The Vatican has admitted that the health of Pope Emeritus Benedict has deteriorated, after an experienced Holy See watcher claimed that “we won’t have him with us for very much longer”.

Benedict, 85, who made history by becoming the first Pope since the Middle Ages to voluntarily step down, has looked increasingly frail in his few public appearances since his resignation on Feb 28.

Pope Francis to revolutionise running of church with new advisory panel

Pope Francis presaged a revolution in the running of the Catholic church when, at the weekend, he announced the formation of an eight-strong panel of cardinals from all parts of the world who are to advise him on governance and the reform of the Vatican.

The Italian church historian Alberto Melloni, writing in the Corriere della Sera, called it the “most important step in the history of the church for the past 10 centuries”. For the first time, a pope will be helped by a global panel of advisers who look certain to wrest power from the Roman Curia, the church’s central bureaucracy.

Five thoughts on the pope’s new ‘G8’

A Vatican announcement that Francis has named eight cardinals to advise him on governance represents the first concrete step towards the reform that was so much in the air during the run-up to the conclave that propelled a Latin American outsider to the papacy.

Five points seem most noteworthy about the “G8” that will likely be the new pope’s most important sounding board.

1. A cabinet, not a blue-ribbon commission

In some early reporting, the mission of this body has been described as helping Francis to reform the Roman Curia. Yet reading the announcement, that’s not what it says. The key line states that Francis has assembled this group “to advise him in the government of the universal church”, and only then “to study a plan for revising the Apostolic Constitution on the Roman Curia, Pastor Bonus.”

Pope: Calumny destroys the work of God in people

The destructive force of calumny was the focus of Pope Francis’ homily for Mass on Monday morning celebrated with staff from the Vatican’s telecommunications office and internet services.

The Pope drew inspiration from the daily readings, in particular the first reading that recounts the episode of Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, being dragged before the Sanhedrin because of his witness to the Gospel. Pope Francis noted that Stephen was a victim of calumny. He is accused of “false witness” but it is not a “fair fight, a fight between good men”, noted Pope Francis, because Stephen’s enemies chose the path of a dirty fight, “the path of calumny”. Calumny he continued is worse than sin – it is the direct expression of Satan.

Millions face starvation as world warms, say scientists

Millions of people could become destitute in Africa and Asia as staple foods more than double in price by 2050 as a result of extreme temperatures, floods and droughts that will transform the way the world farms.

As food experts gather at two major conferences to discuss how to feed the nine billion people expected to be alive in 2050, leading scientists have told the Observer that food insecurity risks turning parts of Africa into permanent disaster areas. Rising temperatures will also have a drastic effect on access to basic foodstuffs, with potentially dire consequences for the poor.

SYRIA – To die or leave? The Maronite Archbishop of Damascus talks about the unanswered dilemma of Syrian Christians

Christians in Syria “must choose between two bitter chalices: to die or leave.”

A dilemma that involves the whole ecclesial reality in this battered Country, and is told by the Maronite archbishop of Damascus Samir Nassar in a vibrant testimony to Fides Agency.

The Catholic archbishop of the Eastern rite outlines the many ways in which death seizes the lives of millions of defenseless civilians, Christians and Muslims, in the war-ravaged Syria: bombs, car bombs, snipers, lack of medical care , malnutrition, and lack of adequate food for diabetics, heart patients and nursing. Before this disaster, everyone thinks of going away, even if the escape somehow “is another way of dying,” more slowly.

World Youth Day organizers expect attendance bump from Argentine pope

Members of the local organizing committee for World Youth Day say with the recent election of an Argentine pope, they expect up to 2.5 million young people at the international event in Rio de Janeiro.

“We currently have 200,000 pilgrims already registered, but registrations go on until the last day of the event,” said Carol de Castro, press coordinator for the local organizing committee. She said the committee expects 800,000 pilgrims to have registered by the start of the event, which runs July 23-28.

The Vatican has not announced the exact dates Pope Francis will attend but has indicated it will be his first international trip.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon praises Pope Francis

At a reception in New York City to celebrate the election of Pope Francis and Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, offered effusive praise for the new pope. Ki-Moon called Francis a “bridge builder” and invites the new pope to the United Nations.

The event was organized and hosted by Archbishop Francis A. Chullikatt, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, and held at the Japan Society in midtown Manhattan, to celebrate the inauguration of the pontificate of Pope Francis.

US bishops urge support for international arms treaty

In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, a representative of the U.S. bishops’ conference asked that the Obama Administration hasten to review and sign a treaty to decrease arms trade.

“As a world leader and a major arms exporter, our nation should set a positive example for other nations to follow in efforts to reduce the flow of weapons into situations that violate human rights and cause terrible suffering,” said Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa in a letter.

In an April 2 vote at the United Nations, the U.S. joined a large majority of countries worldwide in agreeing to adopt a treaty that would regulate international trade in conventional weaponry.

But, come June 3 when the treaty opens for signature, President Obama will still need sign it and it remains unclear if U.S. will ratify it – a move which would need two-thirds of the senate’s approval.

Bishop Pates, who serves as chair of the Committee on International Justice and Peace for the U.S. bishops’ conference, urged Secretary Kerry “to expedite a thorough review of the Treaty so that the President can sign it in early June.”

Francis: A step towards collegiality

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Pope Francis’ reasons for deciding to appoint eight cardinal advisers

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The decision, announced by Francis last Saturday, to set up a sort of “privy council” composed of eight cardinals from all five continents, represents the first concrete step in response to the pre-Conclave congregation discussions. The announcement came on the day that marked a month since Francis was elected to the papacy. The eight cardinals have been given an open-ended mandate and their tasks will include making proposals for the long-awaited Curia reform and helping the Pope govern the universal Church.

Theirs will not be a “commission”, just a work group with consultational powers. But it’s an important sign as it shows that an attempt is being made to involve the group of cardinals, who – with the exception of the President of the Governorate, Giuseppe Bertello – are or were residential archbishops and held important roles in their respective bishops’ conferences.