November 4, 2007
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** DAILY READINGS:
First Reading:
Wis 11:22-12:2
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/reading.php?n=1258
Psalm:
Ps 145:1-2, 8-9, 10-11, 13, 14
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/reading.php?n=1259
Second Reading:
2 Thess 1:11-2:2
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/reading.php?n=1260
Gospel:
Lk 19:1-10
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/reading.php?n=1261
** SAINT OF THE DAY:
St. Charles Borromeo
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint.php?n=645
** TOP STORIES:
- The love in the human heart is the force that renews the world, says the Pope.
** MORE HEADLINES
- Bishops defend right of pharmacists to conscientious objection
- The Bible among objects prohibited at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
- Analyst anticipates Brazilian government will push to legalize abortion against will of majority
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TOP STORIES
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The love in the human heart is the force that renews the world, says the Pope.
(http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10873)
VATICAN CITY, November 4 (CNA) - While presiding over the Angelus prayer this Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized that love, acting in the human heart, is the force that renews the world.
The Pontiff commented that the Gospel, the passage of Zacchaeus, reminds us that Jesus called him from the tree saying: "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." (Lk 19:5).
"What a message in that simple phrase," exclaimed the Holy Father. "Jesus calls on his behalf to a man despised by all. Today, yes, right now is for him the moment of the salvation".
He continued, because of the Father, rich in mercy, Jesus wants to 'seek and to save what was lost'; the Pope explained. "Once again the Gospel says to us that the love, from the heart of God and operating through the heart of the man, is the force that renews the world".
Pope Benedict XVI then recalled the memory of the great Italian saint, whose feast we remember today, Saint Charles Borromeo, Archbishop of Milan, whom he described as an untiring reformer who "put into practice the Council of Trent", and that led six provincial synods and eleven dioceses; he founded seminaries to train a new generation of priests; he constructed hospitals and he defended the rights of the Church against the powerful"
"His motto – he added - consisted of a single word ` Humilitas'. The humility led him to the Lord Jesus, to resign himself to become servant of all".
Finally, the Pope remembered "my venerated predecessor John Paul II, who took with devotion the name (Karol, Carlos)" and entrusted to him "all the bishops of the world for whom we invoke as always the heavenly protection Holy Mary, Mother of the Church."
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MORE HEADLINES
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Bishops defend right of pharmacists to conscientious objection
(http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10871)
SANTIAGO, November 2 (CNA) - The president and general secretary of the Chilean Bishops' Conference came to the defense of the "legitimate right" of pharmacists to exercise conscientious objection and not sell the so-called "morning after pill," this week.
In dialogue with the press, conference president, Bishop Alejandro Goic of Rancagua, referred to the sanctions against pharmacies that refuse to sell the drug. "I believe the legitimate right to conscientious objection exists and you cannot be intolerant towards a conscience that does not want to contribute to the promotion of a pill that could be abortive when scientific doubt regarding the issue still exists," the bishop said.
Likewise he reiterated that reasonable scientific doubts exist about Levonorgestrel, the main ingredient in the morning after pill.
"In one of two hypotheses that exist today regarding the abortifacient nature of the pill, it is not therapeutic, it simply impedes gestation of a new life, and if gestation has already occurred, it destroys it. Nobody can oblige [me] by law to act against my conscience," Bishop Goic said.
Conference secretary general, Bishop Cristian Contreras, said, "The issue is much wider than the sanctions against pharmacies. We have been specific about the issue innumerable times: the issue is life, how we address the issue of life. We see that when there are doubts about the existence of a human being we must always choose the safer option."
"I think it is providential what Pope Benedict XVI said about the freedom of conscience that people must have when we are dealing precisely with a drug that can have an abortifacient effect," he added.
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The Bible among objects prohibited at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
(http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10868)
BEIJING, November 2 (CNA) - Organizes of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing have published a list of "prohibited objects" in the Olympic village where athletes will stay. To the surprise of many, Bibles are among the objects that will not be allowed.
According to the Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport, organizers have cited "security reasons" and have prohibited athletes from bearing any kind of religious symbol at Olympic facilities.
Other objects on the list include video cameras and cups.
The Spanish daily La Razon said the rule was one of a number of "signs of censure and intolerance" towards religious objects, particularly those used by Christians in China. Currently in China five bishops and fifteen priests are in prison for opposing the official Church.
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Analyst anticipates Brazilian government will push to legalize abortion against will of majority
(http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=10872)
RIO DE JANEIRO, November 2 (CNA) - A renowned analyst in Brazil anticipates that the country's government will not stop its campaign to legalize abortion, despite recent polls that show a majority of Brazilians oppose the practice.
Carlos Alberto Di Franco, an expert in ethics, communication and media strategy, pointed to the results of a recent poll by the Datafolha firm, which indicated only three percent of Brazilians consider abortion to be a "morally acceptable" act, and eighty-seven percent totally reject it.
"The results of the poll are a bucket of cold water for the pro-abortion strategy of Health Minister Temporao and confirm a tendency manifested in previous polls. The campaigns of the government do not correspond to the real Brazil," Di Franco said.
However, he said the "legalization of abortion, regardless of the euphemisms used by some and the ambiguity of the president, is a priority of the government of Lula. Public opinion is aghast at the articulated campaign that they seek to impose, against the express will of society and in the name of 'democracy,' the elimination of the first fundamental human right: the right to life."
"The legalization of abortion is the first link in an immense chain of the culture of death," he said, noting that after abortion is imposed the next step will be euthanasia. "Brazilians are against abortion. This is not an opinion, it is a fact measured by an opinion poll," DiFranco continued. "Therefore the government should move forward with caution. The legalization of abortion would be, right now, a completely anti-democratic action. Moreover, there is the question of principles. Democracy is the system that most genuinely respects the dignity of the human person," he said.
"Therefore, despite the force of the emotional marketing that is behind the pro-abortion campaigns, the anti-democratic venom that is at the bottom of the abortion slogans is worrisome. It is incomprehensible how we will obtain a more just and dignified society for human beings through the death of others. There is an indissoluble bond between the practice of abortion, the massacre of Carandiru and other attacks on life: the human being is considered a disposable object," DiFranco explained.
DiFranco noted that violence toward children and young people, the climate of insecurity blowing through the large urban centers are "a logical consequence of the culture of death."
(END)
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