ZENIT, Daily dispatch
The World Seen From Rome
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VATICAN DOSSIER
* Saudi King and Pope Discuss Need to Aid Families
WORLD FEATURES
* Third of Zimbabweans Could Face Starvation
* Swiss Bishop Named to Iceland
* Lone Catholic Convent Finds Its Place in Romania
* More Conscientious Objection Encouraged
* Church Helps Victims of Mexico Flooding
NEWS BRIEFS
* Glendon "Honored" by Ambassador Nomination
* North Dakota Extends "40 Days for Life" Effort
LITURGY
* Readings on a Feast of the Lord
DOCUMENTS AT ZENIT WEB PAGE
* On Gypsy Pastors and Consecrated Persons
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VATICAN DOSSIER
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Saudi King and Pope Discuss Need to Aid Families
Also Talk of Peace Among Israelis and Palestinians
VATICAN CITY, NOV. 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- For the first time in history, a Saudi Arabian king visited a Pope today; the two discussed the need for collaboration among Christians, Muslims and Jews, especially in supporting the value of the family.
King Abdallah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud met with Benedict XVI today for about 30 minutes in the Vatican. The Saudi Arabian leader then went on to meet with the Pope's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for relations with states.
"The meetings took place in a cordial atmosphere and provided an opportunity to consider questions close to the heart of both sides," the Vatican press office reported. "In particular, the commitment to interreligious and intercultural dialogue aimed at peaceful and fruitful coexistence between individuals and peoples was reiterated, as was the importance of collaboration between Christians, Muslims and Jews for the promotion of peace, justice and spiritual and moral values, especially in support of the family."
The Vatican authorities expressed their hope for the prosperity of Saudi Arabia's inhabitants, the communiqué stated. They also mentioned the positive and industrious presence of Christians.
"Finally," the statement continued, "views were exchanged on the situation in the Middle East and on the need to find a just solution to the conflicts affecting the region, especially that between Israelis and Palestinians."
The 84-year-old king is the custodian of the mosques of Mecca and Medina.
Saudi Arabia and the Holy See do not maintain diplomatic relations.
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WORLD FEATURES
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Third of Zimbabweans Could Face Starvation
Caritas Launches Appeal for $7 Million
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, NOV. 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The secretary-general of Caritas called Zimbabwe a "tragedy," and she says the situation threatens to worsen as nearly one-third of the entire population faces the possibility of starvation.
More than 4 million people in Zimbabwe will face critically low levels of staple foods by early next year unless they receive food aid to survive over the next six months, Caritas reported. The aid organization plans to scale up its operations to provide food for more than 100,000 people until April.
Caritas Internationalis Secretary-General Lesley Anne Knight said, "The people of Zimbabwe are suffering. Harvests have failed as a result of poor rainfall and unsuccessful land reforms. The shops lie empty as the economic crisis worsens. The national health, education and agricultural services have collapsed. Zimbabweans who can are fleeing the tragedy that the country has become."
Caritas has launched an appeal for $7 million. Statistics reported by the aid organization are dire.
Families in rural parts of Zimbabwe have produced only 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of maize for the year. Child malnutrition rates have doubled to 12% since last November. Urban areas are also under threat with 80% unemployment and 8,000% inflation making basic food too expensive to buy.
Rampant corruption
Church leaders in Zimbabwe have blamed President Robert Mugabe's government for overseeing the economic and social collapse, for violating the freedom and fundamental rights of the people, and for failing to tackle rampant corruption.
Knight said, "Unless the international community fills the shortfall in food, Zimbabwe faces a humanitarian crisis. The Zimbabwe government must ensure this food aid gets through to the people who need it most. The government there must also ensure it puts the policies in place, including political reforms, to ensure that a country which in the past was regarded as the regional breadbasket, can once more feed itself."
The country has had a series of poor harvests due to droughts and as a result of a poorly implemented land reform process that has left many new farmers unable to use their land. Zimbabwe produced 40% less food this year than the year before.
Although Zimbabwe is set to import food, even taking into account its projected imports, there is still a 10% gap in the food the nation needs.
At the same time, the economic crisis in Zimbabwe has reduced the ability of the government to deliver health, education and agricultural support services, Caritas reported.
Moreover, the aid organization noted, the full impact of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in Zimbabwe, with prevalence rates of over 20% in those between the age of 19-29, has severally weakened people's capacity to cope in times of need, and life expectancy in Zimbabwe is now estimated at less than 40 years for both men and women.
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Swiss Bishop Named to Iceland
Prelate Studying Language of His New Flock
REYKJAVIK, Iceland, NOV. 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Most episcopal appointments do not require learning a new language, but for Bishop Pierre Burcher of Switzerland, his new post means mastering Icelandic.
Benedict XVI named Bishop Burcher, until now auxiliary bishop of Lausanne and Freiburg, Switzerland, as the new leader for the Diocese of Reykjavik.
The bishop told ZENIT that his study of Icelandic is already under way.
Bishop Burcher succeeds Bishop Joannes Gijsen, who resigned for reasons of age.
Pierre Burcher was born in Fiesch, Switzerland, in 1945. He was ordained a priest in 1971, for the Diocese of Lausanne and Freiburg.
In 1994, he was named auxiliary bishop of his home diocese. He was ordained to the episcopacy that year.
He is a member of the Vatican Congregation for Eastern Churches. In the Swiss Episcopal Conference he was director of the Section for Interreligious Dialogue and president of the Group for Working With Islam.
"I knew I was being prepared for something, but I never would have expected this appointment," he told ZENIT. "I welcome it in trust and abandonment to Christ the Good Shepherd. I'm happy and completely calm."
Another immigrant
The prelate explained why a Swiss would be named bishop of Iceland. "A large part of the Scandinavian countries -- Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden -- form only one Catholic diocese and the Catholics are basically immigrants. There are few local priests, and therefore, the bishops provide them from other European countries," he said.
"At the same time, the Church doesn't stop at the borders of the diocese," the bishop affirmed. "Our episcopal ministry calls us to have, as St. Paul told the Gentiles, a 'preoccupation for all the churches.'"
"I'm happy to discover the Church in Iceland and in the Scandinavian countries. As a shepherd of everyone, I will be an immigrant bishop among immigrants, " he noted.
He will take possession of the diocese this month, although no date has been set.
Only about 2% of Iceland's population of 300,000 are Catholics.
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Lone Catholic Convent Finds Its Place in Romania
Benedictine Religious Praying for Unity
ROME, NOV. 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- A small bell, a gift from Pope John Paul II, marks the passing of time in the first Catholic convent in the territory of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Mater Unitatis houses cloistered women religious in the town of Piatra Neant.
The bell was given to the Polish Pontiff in 2000 by the president of Hungary. It is a replica of the same bell that Pope Pius V ordered to be rung in thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary on Oct. 7, 1571, after the victory of Lepanto.
More than four centuries later, the tolling of that bell again marked a decisive moment for Christianity. The Benedictine monastery was dedicated last month, also on Oct. 7.
The project of establishing the convent began in 1994. Bishop Petru Gherghel of Iasi, Romania, visited Mother Maria Cristina Pirro at St. Andrew the Apostle in Frosinone, Italy, telling her of his desire to be able to build in Romania a convent as beautiful as hers.
"Although we are very poor," Mother Cristina told ZENIT, "it has been these Italian nuns who have permitted this dream to come true. Thanks goes also to the regent of the prefecture of the Pontifical Household, Monsignor Paolo De Nicolo, and so many benefactors, above all Italian, who have believed in the cloistered nuns' project."
Ready to sacrifice
The abbess related how the nuns asked Our Lady of Loreto to intercede. "You know that we have received an invitation to found a monastery," she said they told Mary, "but you know also that we have neither youth, nor money to build it. We are nevertheless willing to make whatever sacrifice, and if you want this monastery, you will obtain vocations and money."
Thirteen years later, the convent was founded. It is set among three Orthodox monasteries. "We saw there the hand of providence," confessed the woman religious.
John Paul II spoke of the project as "a providential initiative," predicting that the monastery could be converted into a "central force of spiritual liveliness, according to the spirit of St. Benedict."
Complications
The nuns ran risks, such as when they had to pay for the land and construction of the monastery. On June 30, 1997, Mother Cristina entered Romania carrying the money necessary to complete the negotiation.
If she had been stopped upon entering Romania, she said, officials would have taken everything. "Today, I would have made a transfer, but then, there was no bank to turn to," the nun explained. "On crossing the border station, I entrusted myself to Jesus, to the Mother of Unity, to my guardian angel and to all the saints and souls in purgatory."
Everything went well, but other problems arose. "Because of the instability of the Romanian government, we feared that they would not give Catholic nuns, and especially foreigners, permission to build the monastery in the Orthodox country," Mother Cristina said.
She added: "They advised me then not to speak of the project. The story circulated that the parish acquired land to build a retreat house for priests."
"But since the taxes were very high, they suggested we explain the purpose of the building. The Orthodox monasteries paid little or almost nothing. We informed the bishop, who chose a new name: Monastic Center 'Mother of Unity,' to which the government even gave juridical status in 2002."
Future unity
Today, everyone knows that the monastery is Benedictine and called "Mater Unitatis." Even more, the city council, after the first solemn religious profession of Sr. Maria Lauretana Balasin in 2003, planted a road sign directing to the convent with the title in Romanian "Maica Unitatii."
Above this, another arrow points to the nearby Orthodox monastery of Bisericani. "In this coincidence?" Mother Cristina asked with a smile. "We see prefigured in it the union that will be brought about one day between the Catholic and the Orthodox Churches."
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More Conscientious Objection Encouraged
Social Doctrine Group Notes Range of Cases
VERONA, Italy, NOV. 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Though the right to conscientious objection is being violated by some countries, there are more and more occasions in which a Christian should pay recourse to it, says a Church social-doctrine group.
Stefano Fontana, director of the Cardinal Van Thuân International Observatory for the Social Doctrine of the Church, recalled in a statement Friday that abortion and euthanasia are not the only cases where conscientious objection is required.
He noted, "Benedict XVI has recently recalled that pharmacists have the duty of engaging in conscientious objection."
Fontana offered a series of examples: "Let's think about a nurse who works in a hospital where abortions are performed. Let's think about the employees of a city council where same-sex civil unions are registered.
"Let's think about a person who works in a laboratory where the selection of human embryos is performed or about those who work in publishing houses or televisions that produce pornographic material or the many lawyers and judges that often have to deal with borderline cases."
Politics
Thus, the director affirmed, conscientious objection has become a political issue.
"For these reasons, we have to undertake a thorough reflection on conscientious objection in politics, and consider it not only as an 'opposition' but also as 'renewal,' that is, as a commitment that is not only negative but also positive and propositional," he contended.
However, Fontana pointed out that "alongside the widening of the range of cases in which we are called upon to exercise a conscientious objection, we also see frequent denials of this right."
He affirmed that both the multiplication of cases calling for conscientious objection, and the denial of the right are products of relativism.
Relativism "advocates an almost absolute freedom of conscience, but if a city council employee would refuse to register a homosexual couple, that same relativism would not let him, and would denounce that freedom of conscience as an imposition and a violation of the freedom of conscience," Fontana said. "This is one of the subtlest aspects of the 'dictatorship of relativism.'"
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Church Helps Victims of Mexico Flooding
Thousands Still Await Evacuation
MEXICO CITY, NOV. 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Church in Mexico and the Caritas aid organization are aiding thousands of families who lost everything in the flooding that devastated the southern state of Tabasco.
Flooding left 800,000 people homeless and more than half of the low-lying state under water when the Grijalva River swelled its banks earlier this week after days of heavy rains. Thousands of people are reportedly still in their homes, waiting for rescue teams to reach them.
The local Caritas is responding to the situation by distributing aid such as food and water to the affected communities. The floodwaters have heightened the risk of water-borne diseases such as cholera and dengue fever.
"This is the worst disaster in Mexico's recent history. The rains are expected to continue so we think it will only get worse," said Caritas Latin America Coordinator Father José Antonio Sandoval. "Already we've seen that people are coming together in solidarity and support.
"The picture is becoming clearer, and we know we face an immediate task of providing emergency aid for tens of thousands of survivors. Once the waters have receded, we will have a better idea of the long-term cost."
Caritas Mexico is evaluating the disaster to see what will be needed to support rehabilitation and reconstruction to help the survivors. Tabasco is one of the poorest areas of Mexico, and the long-term rebuilding effort is expected to be a major operation.
Caritas Mexico has set up 14 centers in Mexico City to start collecting aid to help the people of Tabasco.
"As the Church, we are inviting people to contribute to a national collection to show our solidarity as well as to unite in prayer with our brothers and sisters who have been affected," said Bishop Carlos Aguiar Retes, president of the Mexican episcopal conference. "This financial support allows us to collaborate with our sister diocese in Tabasco so that they can bring aid to those most in need."
Caribbean
Catholic Relief Services announced Friday an initial commitment of $1.5 million toward emergency relief and recovery assistance for thousands of people affected by a series of storms in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba.
The aid organization, which is working closely with Caritas Mexico and Caritas Tabasco, has pledged $1 million to provide food, water, blankets and other basic emergency supplies to thousands of affected families in that country.
Long-term recovery efforts will likely include agricultural rehabilitation -- about 90% of Tabasco's crops were inundated by the floods -- and housing construction and repair.
An additional $500,000 will support relief efforts already under way in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba, where Tropical Storm Noel, the deadliest storm to hit the region since Jeanne in 2004, lashed the Caribbean earlier this week.
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NEWS BRIEFS
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Glendon "Honored" by Ambassador Nomination
Hopes to Continue Dialogue Between U.S. and Holy See
BOSTON, Massachusetts, NOV. 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Mary Ann Glendon says she is "deeply honored" by U.S. President George Bush's announcement that he will nominate her as the ambassador of the United States to the Holy See.
Bush announced Monday his intention to nominate Glendon, who is a Harvard law professor and president of the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences. If the nomination is confirmed by the Senate, Glendon will succeed Francis Rooney, who has held the post since 2005.
Glendon told ZENIT, "If confirmed, I would be especially pleased to follow in the footsteps of my fellow Bostonian, Ray Flynn, and all the other ambassadors who have so ably contributed to excellent relations between the United States and the Holy See."
The professor began her work with the Vatican in 1994 when Pope John Paul II appointed her to lead the Holy See delegation to the U.N. 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing.
"My hope," Glendon said, "is that my background in international legal studies, together with my familiarity with Catholic social thought, will aid me in continuing the fruitful dialogue that presently exists between the United States and the Holy See on a range of international issues, including human rights, religious freedom, trafficking in human persons, development, and the fight against hunger, disease and poverty."
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North Dakota Extends "40 Days for Life" Effort
Participants Decide to Keep Going With Campaign
FARGO, North Dakota, NOV. 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Though the 40 Days for Life campaign ended Sunday in Fargo, participants have decided to extend it at least 10 more days, hoping their state will be the first to stop abortion-on-demand.
The campaign is an ecumenical effort of prayer, fasting, community outreach and 24-hours-a-day prayer vigils outside abortion facilities across the nation. The North Dakota effort began Sept. 26 and was scheduled to end on Nov. 4.
But at a midnight Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary on Sunday, Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo told the participants, "We can never, ever, if we are truly of Jesus Christ, forget to pray for those who do not know the truth. Our Lord has told us clearly in the Gospel, 'Pray for those who persecute you and utter all kinds of false slander against you.' He tells us to love our enemies. Hard words at times to hear and yet he himself practiced that from the cross, when he prayed, 'Father forgive them for they know not what they do.'"
People were gathered in prayer at the Red River Women's Clinic on Monday, Day 41, despite a cold North Dakota climate. Colleen Samson, head of the campaign organizing committee, announced that the prayer schedule will be reviewed again after 10 more days are completed.
Trend setting
The decision was made as a result of input from participants, Samson said. "God has been speaking in the hearts of countless people that North Dakota will be the first state in our nation to be free of the evil of abortion-on-demand."
The bishop said in the midnight Mass homily, "We must keep and place ourselves before the Lord, begging for his mercy, begging for his forgiveness, begging that he act upon the hearts and minds of those who are pro-abortion. We must pray especially for Catholic politicians who have sold out to the Father of Lies and are guided by Satan and not by Christ, that they may come to have their eyes opened to see what they are supporting, because any Catholic politician who supports the so-called right to abortion is putting the salvation of his or her soul in jeopardy.
"Whether they believe it or not, they are doing it, especially in this day and age when the Catholic teaching is so clearly proclaimed."
Bishop Aquila recognized those who persevered in prayer during the 40 days, and spoke of the future. "It is important for us to continue to work for life. Just because these 40 days are complete, it does not mean that we give up our fight for life and turn back to the way that we were living. We must be ever more ardent and zealous in our prayer."
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LITURGY
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Readings on a Feast of the Lord
And More on Late Arrivals to Mass
ROME, NOV. 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Legionary of Christ Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university.
Q: When a feast of the Lord, which may or normally does occur on Sunday, is celebrated on a weekday, how many readings are used at Mass in addition to the Gospel? Examples would be the Baptism of the Lord, the Transfiguration, and the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica. The default taken by readers, because there are two readings in the lectionary and no indication of what to do, is to read both. I am inclined to say that since the proper number of readings on a feast is one, only one need be read. This would be in conformity with all the other changes made for these feasts when they occur on a weekday: no Creed, no first vespers, etc. Next, if I am correct, is the Old Testament or the New Testament reading to be taken? Or is it a choice of the celebrant? -- A.T., Charlottesville, Virginia
A: This question is probably best answered by referring to the general principles found in the calendar.
Two things must be considered: 1) the table of precedence that determines which feasts are celebrated whenever two celebrations coincide, and 2) the elements proper to each class.
A feast is distinguished from an ordinary day or the memorial of a saint by its proper formulas and by adding the Gloria. It has the same number of readings as other weekdays (two, including the Gospel) but these are almost always specifically chosen to reflect the feast.
If a feast, for example, the Visitation of Our Lady or the feast of an apostle or the Evangelist Luke, happens to coincide with a Sunday, then it is omitted for that year because Sunday has precedence.
However, when a feast of the Lord, such as the Presentation, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and the other examples given above, coincide with a Sunday of ordinary time, it has precedence and is celebrated instead of the corresponding Sunday.
When this happens, however, all of Sunday's specific liturgical elements, such as the two readings and the Gospel and the profession of faith, are conserved. This is why the lectionary provides two readings (rather than one) plus the Gospel for these feasts.
When the feast of the Lord falls on a weekday it reverts to the normal liturgical elements proper to a feast and has only one reading and the Gospel. The celebrant can freely choose which of the two first readings is to be read, along with the prescribed Gospel text.
This freedom of choice is not always specified in the lectionaries. But it is clearly stated in official guides and calendars published by many bishops' conferences such as the one published by the Latium ecclesiastical province that includes Rome.
If two readings and the Gospel were to be read, then we would then have three rather than two classes of festive celebrations: solemnities, feasts, and feasts of the Lord, a distinction not contemplated in any liturgical document.
Finally, the dedication of St. John Lateran is counted as a feast of the Lord because Rome's cathedral was first of all dedicated to "the Most Holy Savior" while the dedication to Sts. John the Baptist and the Evangelist were added at a later date.
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Follow-up: Arriving After the Gospel — No Communion
With respect to our piece on arriving late for Mass (Oct. 23) several readers pointed out opinions stating that one fulfilled the obligation if one arrived before the offertory.
These opinions were generally written before the Second Vatican Council and reflected the liturgical situation and canonical thought of the times. Back then, the first parts of the Mass were frequently referred to using expressions such as "pre-Mass" or "Mass of the catechumens."
Likewise the obligation to assist at Mass was frequently couched in strictly juridical terms and under pain of mortal sin which naturally led to questions as to the legal extent of the obligation.
I believe that the opinion that the offertory is a cut-off point is no longer valid.
First of all, while the obligation remains in force, canon law no longer explicitly obliges under pain of mortal sin. This does not mean that deliberately or negligently missing Mass is no longer a mortal sin; it is, but not in virtue of a canonical stricture.
In large part this is because one of the criteria in reforming the Code of Canon Law was to remove the obligation under pain of mortal sin from ecclesiastical precepts. Any sinfulness involved would depend on the circumstances and attitude toward God's will of the person who failed to fulfill the obligation.
Second, one of the most important aspects of the liturgical reform was to revaluate the Mass as a single act of worship, which must be attended in its entirety in order to be true to its nature.
This moving away from the juridical focus of the obligation and the stress on the wholeness of the Mass is why one is unlikely to ever find any official view suggesting arriving at the offertory, or any other moment of the Mass, as sufficient to fulfill the Sunday obligation.
Rather, each person must examine the causes of his lateness and act in good conscience out of love of God and fidelity to his will.
In this context, when I mentioned in my earlier column that a person who arrived after the consecration should not receive Communion, it was not to suggest that the consecration is a cut-off point. Rather, it simply suggested that missing the consecration is practically equivalent to missing Mass and not just arriving late.
The reason for refraining from Communion at this stage is out of respect for the Eucharist. That sacrament should be received after a proper spiritual preparation according to the mind of the Church.
Thus, I believe that a person finding himself in this situation through no fault of his own, and with no possibility of attending a later Mass, should rather prefer to wait till Mass is over and ask the priest to administer Communion outside of Mass according to the approved rites.
Of course, there might be special exceptions even to this. It is impossible to foresee all possible situations. I believe, however, that we should insist on proper reverence in administrating holy Communion according to the Church's mind and rites, and always strive to give the Eucharistic Lord all the love and respect that he deserves.
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Readers may send questions to liturgy@zenit.org. Please put the word "Liturgy" in the subject field. The text should include your initials, your city and your state, province or country. Father McNamara can only answer a small selection of the great number of questions that arrive.
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DOCUMENTS at ZENIT Web Page
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On Gypsy Pastors and Consecrated Persons
VATICAN CITY, NOV. 6, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The concluding statement from the 1st World Meeting of Gypsy Priests, Deacons and Religious Men and Women, promoted by the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, can be found at the ZENIT Web page.
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