ZENIT, Daily dispatch
The World Seen From Rome
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VATICAN DOSSIER
* Catholic-Orthodox Statement a "Modest 1st Step"
* Synod Aims to Bring Bible to Daily Life
* Holy Land Likened to a "Family Home"
WORLD FEATURES
* Friends Tap Talents of the Disabled
NEWS BRIEFS
* Cardinal Dziwisz: John Paul II Lived Like a Saint
INTERVIEW
* Abortion's Sneaky Rise: Interview With Susan Yoshihara
ROME NOTES
* More on Hogwarts; St. Thérèse Visits Rome
DOCUMENTS AT ZENIT WEB PAGE
* Statement of Catholic-Orthodox Commission
DOCUMENTS
* Papal Address to Focolare Families
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VATICAN DOSSIER
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Catholic-Orthodox Statement a "Modest 1st Step"
Cardinal Kasper Sees Reasons for Hope
RAVENNA, Italy, NOV. 15, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The final document from a commission of Orthodox and Catholics is a modest first step that gives reason for hope, says the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
The document, "Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church: Ecclesial Communion, Conciliarity and Authority," made public today, is the fruit of the Oct. 8-14 plenary assembly of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.
The meeting was held in Ravenna under the presidency of Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Metropolitan Ioannis of Pergamo.
Cardinal Kasper told Vatican Radio that the 46-paragraph text "speaks of the tension between authority and conciliarity -- or synodality -- at the local, that is, diocesan, regional and universal levels."
"The important development," he explained, "is that for the first time the Orthodox Churches have said yes, this universal level of the Church exists and also at the universal level there is conciliarity, synodality and authority; this means that there is also a primate; according to the practice of the ancient Church, the first bishop is the Bishop of Rome." "However," the cardinal continued, "we did not talk of the privileges of the Bishop of Rome, we merely indicated the praxis for future debate. This document is a modest first step and as such it gives rise to hope, but we must not exaggerate its importance."
Difficult road
Cardinal Kasper said that in the next meeting, "we will have to return to the role of the Bishop of Rome in the universal Church during the first millennium. Then we must also talk of the second millennium, of Vatican Councils I and II, and this will not be easy; the road is very long and difficult."
The cardinal also commented that the delegation from the Russian Orthodox Church had abandoned the plenary assembly, explaining that "there was an inter-Orthodox problem over the recognition of the autonomous Church of Estonia" about which Moscow and Constantinople take different views.
"This is an inter-Orthodox question," he reiterated, "and we cannot interfere; yet we are extremely sad and concerned because it is important to us that the Russian Orthodox Church should also participate in our future dialogue. Hence we cannot interfere but we wish to ask Moscow and Constantinople to do their best to find a solution, a compromise."
"If they wish," the cardinal concluded, "we can also facilitate this solution, either at the bilateral level between Moscow and Constantinople, or at the pan-Orthodox level; but there is no doubt that we want the Russian Orthodox Church to participate. It is a very important Church; we do not want to dialogue without the Russians and we wish to work to achieve this aim."
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Synod Aims to Bring Bible to Daily Life
Study on Word of God Considered a Universal Need
VATICAN CITY, NOV. 15, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The upcoming Synod of Bishops on Scripture reflects a need for Catholics to live and breathe the richness of the Bible, said the secretary-general of the body.
Benedict XVI chose to dedicate the Oct. 5-26, 2008, synod to "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church," and Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, secretary-general, said the theme was also considered a priority by the universal Church.
In Wednesday's edition of L'Osservatore Romano, Archbishop Eterovic spoke about the preparations for the synod, and the necessity to help the faithful know Scripture more. His interview echoed recent affirmations from the Pope, who has encouraged more familiarity with the Bible during his reflections on St. Jerome at the Wednesday general audiences.
Archbishop Eterovic said the theme reflects "the anticipation of the universal Church."
In the previous synod two years ago, the prelate explained, "the theme of the word of God already arose as a priority."
He continued: "In the name of the Holy Father, I wrote to the leaders of the Eastern Churches 'sui juris,' to the presidents of the episcopal conferences, to the heads of the dicasteries of the Roma Curia, to the president of the Union of Superior Generals, asking them to propose opportune themes to address. The responses indicated the theme of the word of God.
"It is not, therefore, a theme the Pope has chosen casually, but is the fruit of a wide ecclesial consultation."
Deepening
The secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops suggested that the theme of Scripture needs deepening 40 years after the Second Vatican Council dogmatic constitution "Dei Verbum."
And, he said, "many contributions of the lay faithful who live deeply the sense of this great community experience" are arriving to the secretariat of the Synod, he said.
Archbishop Eterovic said he considers the synod's date a "happy coincidence" with Benedict XVI's call for a Year of St. Paul: "With St. Paul, also we are invited to rediscover and proclaim the word of God."
"We should act in a way that the faithful can know sacred Scripture more," Archbishop Eterovic stated.
He suggested that it will be opportune to reflect on the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and go deeper in the relationship between Scripture, Tradition and magisterium.
"The challenge we have before us is to help people better approach the word of God each time," he affirmed.
"For many, the only point of contact with sacred Scripture is in the Sunday liturgy. This is positive, but more is needed," he added. "People have to be driven to 'breathe' the richness of Scripture."
Archbishop Eterovic considered the pastoral objectives of the synod: "Deepening in the doctrinal reasoning, seeking to extend and encourage the practice of encounter with the Word as a source of life in the various fields of experience, proposing to Christians and men of good will adequate and easy ways to listen to God and speak to him."
"The faithful will know afterward how to translate the indications reached here to their personal, family and social life," he said. "Thus the word of God will have a more evident impact."
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Holy Land Likened to a "Family Home"
Cardinal-Designate Laments Christians' Emigration From Region
VATICAN CITY, NOV. 15, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The Holy Land belongs to everyone, and is like a family home that all need to collaborate in maintaining, said the prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches.
And the phenomenon of emigration among Eastern-rite Christians worries the Holy See, and in particular Benedict XVI, affirmed Cardinal-designate Leonardo Sandri, who will receive a red hat in the Nov. 24 consistory.
In an interview granted to L'Osservatore Romano last Saturday, on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, the prefect said, "The Holy Land is everyone's land. It is the family from which we come. It's the home that has to be maintained and loved."
The phenomenon of migration "is a real challenge at present. We are worried, as is the Pope. People uprooted from their original traditions run the risk of losing the deep religious values that guided their lives as individuals and communities," he affirmed.
In this context, the dicastery is attentive "to the Vatican institutions entrusted with the pastoral care of migrants and seeks to awaken a sense of responsibility about this irrepressible phenomenon in the ecclesial communities of origin and destination," the prefect said.
Rites
Cardinal-designate Sandri explained that his congregation supports the pastors of local Churches entrusted with the care of migrants, and also encourages the establishment of structures that can meet people in their own rites.
"But it also makes an effort," he pointed out, "to raise awareness in the entire Catholic community," so that, "with due prudence, they may be welcoming and capable of involving public institutions to address the root of the problem."
And the root lies in the "lack of peace, because of which, many large Eastern regions suffer greatly," the prelate contended.
The Vatican congregation also gives priority to charitable aid sent to these regions, the prefect affirmed.
"Order and equity in gathering and distributing goods stimulates the growth of the already praiseworthy charity directed toward the holy places," confirmed Cardinal-designate Sandri.
The prefect encouraged the Church to help the Holy Land, particularly by going there on pilgrimage. "May all desire to help that land that Pope Benedict XVI [] called 'the silent witness of the earthly life of Christ.'"
Still, he said, "the first charity continues to be, in whatever case, invoking God to end all violence."
Anniversary
Pope Benedict XV (Bishop of Rome from 1914 to 1922) founded what would later be called the Congregation for Eastern Churches "to clearly show that the Church of Christ is not Latin, Greek, or Slavic, but catholic," and that "it doesn't admit discriminations among her children," Cardinal-designate Sandri explained.
The papal initiative immediately took on also the form of an institute, "so those in the East could deepen in the knowledge of Eastern traditions and make them know to the Latin world," he added.
"The congregation has remained faithful to the papal mandate," Cardinal-designate Sandri said. "Respecting the place of the individual Churches, it has promoted pastoral, liturgical and disciplinary life."
The Pontifical Oriental Institute "has given necessary cultural help, focusing on the formation of future pastors, consecrated persons and lay educators."
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WORLD FEATURES
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Friends Tap Talents of the Disabled
A Sant'Egidio Group Exhibits Artistry of the Handicapped
ROME, NOV. 15, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The handicapped need to know that they are not condemned to a life alone but can contribute to change the world, says Stefano Capparucci, a member of the Catholic lay Community of Sant'Egidio.
Capparucci was describing the philosophy behind the Friends Movement of the community that works to find ways to best use the talents and gifts of the disabled.
"It is our desire for the disabled to know that their handicap is not significant enough that they can't help others," he told ZENIT.
Exhibit
This week, the Friends Movement is sponsoring the second annual exhibit "Children of the World, the World of Children: Work of Disabled Artists," in the Trastevere district of Rome.
The exhibit, under way through Sunday, features the work of 330 artists from 12 studios around Rome, and is sponsored by the city and numerous other organizations, museums and businesses.
"Some of the artists are unable to speak, but they are able to communicate their world through their painting," explained Capparucci.
The paintings, artistically framed, revolve around themes such as Africa, Christ's birth, and families. They range from the abstract, to more traditional styles, including one classic-looking icon of the Blessed Mother and the Child Jesus.
The pieces are for sale and proceeds go directly to the Sant'Egidio DREAM Program (Drug Resources Enhancement against AIDS and Malnutrition) in Africa.Dining
Trattoria degli Amici (Friends Restaurant) is another venture of the Friends Movement.
In the heart of touristy Trastevere, the restaurant blends in with the many other eateries. It provides opportunities for the handicapped, through jobs as support staff, and by featuring the paintings of disabled artists year round.
The restaurant's wait staff is all-volunteer, with only the chefs and the handicapped employees taking wages. The profits also go directly to the DREAM program.
Not just helping those with disabilities, Capparucci affirmed, "the Friends Movement also explains to people who are a little afraid of the handicapped world: It is not a world of sadness but a world of great joy."
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NEWS BRIEFS
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Cardinal Dziwisz: John Paul II Lived Like a Saint
Prelate and George Weigel Receive Honorary Degrees
BARCELONA, Spain, NOV. 15, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz said working with Pope John Paul II was a tremendous grace, because the Pontiff lived like a saint.
The cardinal, who is now archbishop of Krakow, and author George Weigel both received an honorary doctorate from the University Abat Oliba CEU in Barcelona on Wednesday.
At a press conference before the ceremony, both spoke of their relationship with John Paul II. Cardinal Dziwisz was John Paul II's personal secretary for 39 years. And Weigel wrote a well-known biography of the Polish Pope, called "Witness to Hope."
Cardinal Dziwisz said, "For me, it was a tremendous grace to work at his side. He lived like a saint, because the man became holy during all of his life."The cardinal explained that John Paul II said he received his assassination attempt as a grace, because the Church needed it that way.
The cardinal also affirmed that even as a youth, Karol Wojtyla prayed prostrate on the floor with his arms in the form of the cross.
Regarding the Pope's social teaching, Cardinal Dziwisz recalled that John Paul II received a lot of criticism, but always tried to stay firm, independent of political conditions.
Weigel mentioned his appreciation for Cardinal Dziwisz's work as the Pope's secretary, noting the cardinal's "great spiritual life" and affirming that he "tried not to shut doors, but rather to open them."
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INTERVIEW
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Abortion's Sneaky Rise: Interview With Susan Yoshihara
NEW YORK, NOV. 15, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Though not a single U.N. human rights treaty mentions abortion, treaty bodies have pressured 93 nations 122 times to legalize abortion in the last decade, says the executive vice president of a lobbying group.
In this interview with ZENIT, Susan Yoshihara of the Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), discusses a recently released document she co-authored with Douglas Sylva titled "Rights by Stealth." The white paper explains how tactics by U.N. treaty bodies are being used to promote the legalization of abortion without the awareness or consensus of member states.
Q: In your white paper, "Rights by Stealth," you raise the issue of how nongovernmental organizations, through the use of "treaty bodies," have been successful at introducing abortion as a human right. What is a treaty body and how are they able to function under the U.N. system?
Yoshihara: U.N. human rights treaty bodies are groups of unelected, unaccountable bureaucratic officials before whom U.N. member states must appear every few years and report on how they are implementing the various U.N. human rights treaties. They have no enforcement mechanisms, and the members act in their personal capacity with no oversight or accountability to a single member state.
Half of the treaty body that monitors the 1979 Women's Convention is made up of nongovernmental representatives, mostly advocating abortion rights. Even though not a single U.N. human rights treaty mentions abortion, the treaty bodies have pressured 93 nations 122 times to legalize abortion in the last decade. Last year, Colombia legalized abortion, citing statements by U.N. human rights treaty bodies in support of its decision.
Q: You describe treaty bodies as "changing soft norms into hard laws." How does this happen without ratification by member states?
Yoshihara: "Soft norms" become "hard law" simply getting repeated over and over by the right people, especially so-called high legal authorities. If repeated often enough, the theory goes, it will become customary international law -- "hard law" -- that all nations will be legally obligated to observe regardless of whether or not they are parties to any specific treaties.
This theory is rejected by traditional legal scholars, but is promoted by various law professors and social scientists in many prominent institutions of higher learning today.
The way treaty bodies promote abortion rights is by reinterpreting -- misinterpreting, that is -- existing rights in negotiated U.N. documents to include abortion and then repeating these misinterpretations in their country reports. They find abortion rights in the right to life, since "unsafe" abortion might threaten women's lives, the right to equality before courts, since women might be imprisoned for illegal abortion, the right to freedom of movement to travel abroad for an abortion, privacy, freedom of expression, freedom from torture, and so on.
Q: What are the philosophical underpinnings motivating those who are using treaty bodies to change both the U.N. rights treaties and international law?Yoshihara: The philosophical underpinning of the abortion rights movement is largely radical feminism. This version of feminism asserts that men and women are locked in a class struggle and that abortion rights are fundamental to empowering women in that fight.
Feminist legal theory emerged from the critical legal studies movement of 1960s and 1970s academia. Now defunct, this school asserted that law is not just, but is only a tool of the rich and powerful that oppresses the weak.
What is ironic is that the reproductive rights agenda is highly elitist, despite the rhetoric. They enjoy the backing of elite academic institutions and massive funding from the most powerful foundations such as Ford, Rockefeller and Gates.
But they view with envy the grass-roots support of the American pro-life movement. Their inability to change hearts and minds is arguably why they rely on the complex inner workings of bureaucracies to advance their agenda.
Q: How does this affect weaker nations, such as Colombia and other Latin American countries, who are opposed to legalizing abortion in their own countries?
Yoshihara: U.N. documents are abused by U.N. agencies, treaty bodies and domestic abortion activists to fool or coerce governments to change their laws on abortion.
In 2005, the Human Rights Committee "found" Peru in violation of its obligations because of its laws protecting the unborn, and the committee told Peru it had committed "cruel and inhuman treatment" against a young woman who could not get an abortion.
These "findings" were then used to convince Colombian officials that they had to legalize abortion in order to abide by the treaties. Unfortunately, the Colombia high court believed it and legalized abortion last year.
And it's not just small states that get coerced in this way. The U.S. Supreme Court cited an amicus brief in the case of Lawrence vs. Texas, overturning sodomy laws that referred to treaty body authority over U.S. law.
Q: Does the Holy See's strong objection to abortion have anything to do with movements seeking to eject them as a permanent observer at the United Nations?
Yoshihara: For various reasons, advocates for abortion as a human right view religion, and the Catholic Church in particular, as one of their most formidable barriers to reaching their goal. Both sides of the debate credit Pope John Paul II with thwarting the near miss or near victory at Cairo in 1994.
For this very practical reason, and also because aggressive secularism informs the work of various members of the movement, undermining the Church is essential.
The longtime president of Catholics for a Free Choice [CFFC] was in charge of the agenda at the most recent conference for the movement. For years, CFFC has run a flagging campaign to eject the Holy See from its permanent observer status at the U.N.
Member states resoundingly support the Holy See's status, over the objections of feminists. In fact, it could be said that one result of CFFC's "See Change" campaign is that the Holy See's status has been upgraded by unanimous consent of the General Assembly.
Q: Do you see this methodology being used in other areas of law?
Yoshihara: Misinterpretation of the articles of the treaties and heavy influence of powerful nongovernmental organizations on bureaucracies responsible for agenda setting takes place at the European Union and other regional bodies as well. Nor is it isolated to human rights or international social policy.
The effect of this agenda is that by abusing the treaties and overstepping their mandates, treaty bodies erode the consent upon which international law rests. States who negotiated and ratified the treaties do not know from year to year what their obligations are under the conventions. The very concept of international obligation is undermined.
To reverse the trend, states can push back and take to task the unaccountable, unelected bureaucracies. In the case of abortion, states can use the U.N. treaties to protect national laws that promote genuine human rights.
Even abortion advocates admit that the treaties provide the basis for states to assert the right to life of the unborn. They certainly support national laws that do so. National leaders just need to say so.
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ROME NOTES
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More on Hogwarts; St. Thérèse Visits Rome
Dumbledore's Homosexuality Has No Textual Basis
By Elizabeth Lev
ROME, NOV. 15, 2007 (Zenit.org).- In the wake of my last column, I received a deluge of e-mail regarding the piece on J.K. Rowlings' betrayal of her readers. I pointed out that declaring one of the principal characters, Dumbledore, to be homosexual after having sold millions of books to children is a deceitful act.
The responses to this piece were very revealing. I was duly chastised by those who had never succumbed to the books, who noted that secularist literature was bound to carry "a sting in its tail."
Most ZENIT readers, from teenagers to grandparents, responded with brief and enthusiastic messages. Others, however, criticized the harsh tone I took in the piece, interpreting this as lack of charity toward my homosexual Christian brothers and sisters.
The column was about Rowling and her deceptive behavior, not Dumbledore, who is a fictional character. Any struggles with his sexuality or decision to live chastely are merely figments of the reader's imagination, since they aren't even hinted at in the text.
The character only exists insofar as what Rowling describes on the pages. We don't know what he does when not appearing in the chapters. In her seven books, Rowling developed her headmaster as a devoted teacher and a moral anchor when it comes to good and evil. To add a sexual dimension to the character is not only untruthful, but also tricky.
What if, at her next conference, she announces that Dumbledore had a few homosexual experiences when a young man at Hogwarts? What if she then reveals a tortured double life he was forced to lead away from judgmental eyes? Once you've opened the door to an aspect unsupported by the text, anything becomes possible.
Which brings me back to the point. This is not about Dumbledore, this is a piece about the integrity of an author who wrote books for children and then decided to pander to her adult audience.
Rowling is an artist. She transmitted a captivating vision of an imaginary world through her words and storytelling. To retroactively try to use her art as propaganda is like pop stars discussing politics.
Homosexual, by definition, contains an erotic element. It defines not merely the feeling of affection or love for a person of the same sex, but a physical desire. It introduces a sexual dimension which is not only unnecessary, but inappropriate for children's books.
Rowling's magical world has no homosexual dimension. There aren't even unmarried people living together. Thousands of parents combed the text looking for inappropriate moral models while Rowling wisely remained silent about all of her characters' sexuality. The sudden addition of a sexual element has no root in the magical world she created.
The exegesis of Dumbledore's admission that he was strongly influenced by a close friend makes a sad commentary on how our age has reverted to the pagan era of equating love with sensuality.
In the final book when Dumbledore admits to Harry that he was swayed by his friend, he says, "You have no idea of how much his words inflamed me." Silly me, I thought of my old art history teacher and how I moved to another country to study with her.
What never occurred to me was that Dumbledore was describing a sexual longing. Not a crush, which does not a homosexual make, but desire for physical union with another man. How disappointing that Rowling, so creative and brilliant in other matters, should reduce this to a matter of sexuality.
Most of the critical letters were framed in charitable terms, but a few e-mails, ostentatiously signed by Ph.D.s or professors, illustrated the error of my ways in patronizing tones I would not take with even my most recalcitrant students.
I didn't write the piece for academics, but for Christian parents, pastors and children, who feel rightly betrayed. It was a word of solidarity to people who work and live at the frenetic pace of this age and who find challenges to good Christian formation at every turn.
Rowling took their money, seduced their children and then tried to influence their offspring into thinking about, and ultimately embracing homosexuality.
Sophistry and the doublespeak of tolerance try to confound harried parents who want to live the Christian mission to love, but the good people who were let down by Rowling should not be made to feel "homophobic" or less Christian because they denounce what was a wrongful act on the part of a children's author. Nor should they be belittled as if their Christian conscience were no match for the sophisticated arguments of the intelligentsia.
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Little Flower Welcomed
Last week, Rome received a delightful visit. The relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux -- the Little Flower -- were brought to the Eternal City.
For one week her mortal remains were transported with great pomp and honor from the Russian College, which bears her name, to various churches in the city, concluding with all-night adoration at the Church of St. Agnes in Piazza Navona.
Everywhere she went, she was greeted with prayers, flowers and songs, bringing a swath of joy to the first cold dark days of November.
Thérèse, born in 1873, visited Rome only once in her brief lifetime. At the age of 15, her father brought her here on a pilgrimage, where she met Pope Leo XIII at the papal audience.
She knew she was called to serve God as a religious sister, but had been denied entry into the Carmelite order because of her youth. She asked the Pope to allow her to join the order, but Pope Leo counseled her to obey her superiors.
Thérèse visited the Mamertine prison and the Colosseum, praying at the sites of the Roman martyrs. Meditating on their example, she put aside her own frustrations. Shortly after her return to France, the local bishop permitted her to join the convent.
Within the convent Thérèse thrived spiritually although her health soon began to decline. Under obedience, she wrote the "Story of a Soul" with her mother superior, outlining with simplicity her "little way."
She succumbed to tuberculosis at the age of 24, after an exemplary witness of embracing suffering for the love of Christ, and was canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925.
Once she joined the Carmelites, the Little Flower never traveled any further than her hometown, and yet she was named patron saint of missions because of her ceaseless intercession for missionaries and her promise to spend her heaven doing good on Earth. From her little world, she was able to see the biggest picture of all.
Ten years ago, in October 1997, Pope John Paul II declared Thérèse a doctor of the Church, although she had never earned a university degree or taught a course.
She was the youngest of the 33 people in the history of the Church to receive this exalted title. In his homily, John Paul II declared that "her spiritual itinerary shows such maturity and the intuitions of her faith expressed in her writings are so vast and so profound, that they merit a place among the great spiritual masters."
Thérèse's autobiography was a best-seller throughout the 20th century and has offered spiritual guidance to millions of souls. Her simplicity and faith resonate in the longing to do something meaningful for God and others in all of us.
Thérèse takes a refreshing view of academic posturing when she writes: "When I read spiritual treatises, in which perfection is shown with a thousand obstacles in the way and a host of illusions round about it, my poor little mind soon grows weary. I close the learned book, which leaves my head splitting and my heart parched, and I take the holy Scriptures. Then all seems luminous, a single word opens up infinite horizons to my soul, perfection seems easy."
In a society that esteems learning over wisdom, and titles over virtue, Thérèse's "little way" reminds us that God chooses what the world deems foolish to shame the proud.
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Elizabeth Lev teaches Christian Art and Architecture at Duquesne University's Italian campus. She can be reached at lizlev@zenit.org.
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DOCUMENTS at ZENIT Web Page
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Statement of Catholic-Orthodox Commission
RAVENNA, Italy, NOV. 15, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The document from the Oct. 8-14 plenary assembly in Ravenna of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, "Ecclesiological and Canonical Consequences of the Sacramental Nature of the Church: Ecclesial Communion, Conciliarity and Authority," can be found at the ZENIT Web page. See: www.zenit.org/article-21012?l=english.
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DOCUMENTS
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Papal Address to Focolare Families
"Your Task Is a Silent and Deep Commitment to Evangelization"
VATICAN CITY, NOV. 15, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of Benedict XVI's Nov. 3 address to the New Families Movement of the lay Catholic Focalare Movement.
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ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI TO MEMBERS OF "THE NEW FAMILIES MOVEMENT"
Clementine Hall Saturday, 3 November 2007Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Welcome and thank you for coming to visit me. You come from the five continents and belong to The New Families Movement which came into being 40 years ago in the context of the Focolare Movement. You are thus a branch of Focolare and today form a network of at least 800,000 families working in 182 nations, all committed to making their home a "focolare" [hearth] which radiates in the world the witness of a Gospel-style family life. I offer each one of you my most cordial greeting, which I extend also to those who have wished to accompany you at our meeting. I greet in a special way your leaders who have conveyed your common sentiments and described to me your Movement's working methods as well as its goals. I thank you for the greetings you have brought me from Chiara Lubich, to whom I send my warm good wishes, thanking her because she continues to guide the large family of the Focolare with wisdom and unswerving attachment to the Church.
As has just been recalled, it is precisely in the context of this vast and praiseworthy institution that you, dear married couples, place yourselves at the service of the world of families with an important and ever timely pastoral action that has four orientations: spirituality, education, sociability and solidarity. Your task is effectively a silent and deep commitment to evangelization with the goal of testifying that only family unity, a gift of God-Love, can make the family a true nest of love, a home that welcomes life and a school of virtue and Christian values for children. As you confront the many social and economic, cultural and religious issues that challenge contemporary society in every part of the world, your work, truly providential, is a sign of hope and an encouragement for Christian families to be a privileged "space" where the beauty of making Jesus Christ the focus and of faithfully following his Gospel is proclaimed in everyday life, sometimes despite many
difficulties. Indeed, your meeting's theme: "A house built on the rock -- the Gospel lived, a response to the problems of families today", emphasizes the importance of this ascetical and pastoral itinerary. The secret is precisely to live the Gospel!
Rightly, therefore, in the work of the assembly during these days, in addition to contributions that illustrate the situation of today's families in the different cultural contexts, you have planned to deepen your knowledge of the Word of God and to hear the testimonies that show how the Holy Spirit acts in hearts and in family life, even in complex and difficult situations. Only think of the uncertainties of engaged couples as they face definitive decisions for the future, of the crisis of couples, of separations and divorces as well as irregular unions, of the condition of widows, of families in difficulty and of welcoming abandoned minors. I warmly hope that also thanks to your commitment, pastoral strategies may be identified to cope with the increasing needs of families today and the multiple challenges that face them, so that they will not fail in their special mission in the Church and in society.
In this regard, in the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Christifideles Laici," my venerable and beloved Predecessor John Paul II noted that the Church maintains that for the faithful, "the first and basic expression of the social dimension... is the married couple and the family" (n. 40). To bring this vocation to fruition, the family, aware that it is the primary cell of society, must not forget that it can find strength in a Sacrament desired by Christ to reinforce the love between man and woman: a love understood as a gift of self, reciprocal and profound. As John Paul II likewise observed: "The family has the mission to guard, reveal and communicate love, and this is a living reflection of and a real sharing in God's love for humanity and the love of Christ the Lord for the Church, his Bride" ("Familiaris Consortio," n. 17). Thus, according to the divine plan, the family is a sacred and sanctifying place and the Church, which has always been close to the family, supports it
in this mission, especially today when the internal and external threats to it are so numerous. In order not to succumb to discouragement, divine help is essential; thus, every Christian family must look with trust to the Holy Family, the original "domestic Church" in which "through God's mysterious design, it was in that family that the Son of God spent long years of a hidden life. It is therefore the prototype and example for all Christian families" (ibid., n. 45).
Dear brothers and sisters, the humble and holy Family of Nazareth, the icon and model of every human family, will not let you go without its heavenly support. Nonetheless, your ceaseless recourse to prayer, to listening to the Word of God and to an intense sacramental life is indispensable, together with a constant effort to live Christ's commandment of love and forgiveness. Love does not seek its own interests, it does not harbour rancour for evil received but rejoices in truth. Love "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (I Cor 13: 5-7). Dear brothers and sisters, continue your journey and be witnesses of this Love which will make you increasingly the "heart" and "leaven" of the entire New Families Movement. I assure you of my remembrance in prayer for each one of you, for your activities and all those you meet in your apostolate, and with affection I now impart to you all the Apostolic Blessing.
© Copyright 2007 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
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