Every Christian must evangelize, Pope tells Roman faithful 
June 14, 2011
"The Church—each one of us—must bring the world the good news that Jesus is Lord," Pope Benedict XVI told a congregation at the Roman basilica of St. John Lateran on June 13. "This announcement must resound anew in regions of ancient Christian tradition."
The Pope laid heavy emphasis on the duty to evangelize as he spoke at a ceremony closing the pastoral year for the Rome diocese. "The faith cannot endure by itself in the world," he said.
To be effective, the Pope continued, evangelization "must come from a heart that believes." To prepare the faithful for the task of evangelization, he strongly urged pastors to "educate people in prayer," and especially the silent prayer that "may permeate our lives and help us discover the truth that dwells in our hearts."
Pope Benedict also recommended using "the way of beauty" as a means of instructing the faithful. He pointed out that the artistic treasures of Rome—so many of them obviously inspired by deep faith—offer a precious resource in this regard.
The Pontiff cautioned against the tendency to express the faith purely in secular categories. He explained:
If mankind forgets God, this is also because Jesus is often reduced to the status of a wise man, and his divinity is diminished if not denied outright. This way of thinking makes it impossible to comprehend the radical novelty of Christianity, because if Jesus is not the only Son of the Father, then God did not enter into the history of mankind.
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Corruption drives persecution of Church in Vietnam June 14, 2011
The greed of local Communist officials is a major contributing factor to the persecution of the Church in Vietnam, according to the director of AsiaNews. "In some ways there is more freedom, but all these freedoms depend on the will of the government, which sometimes will allow or withdraw it," said Father Bernardo Cervellera. "The seminaries, which before were limited to a fixed number of candidates, have now been opened, and there are more and more vocations." "In some areas of Vietnam, for example in the north and among the hill tribes, there is still violence," he added. "In Sung La and other dioceses, and other smaller cities and villages, Catholics cannot celebrate Masses for Christmas or Easter and are prohibited from having catechesis and teaching their children the faith because the local government does not allow any expression of faith at all. In practical terms, they want to destroy the Catholic faith."
Analyzing the causes of the persecution, Father Cervellera said that
Most of the violence against the Catholic Church now in Vietnam happens because of graft and corruption of the Communist Party cadres. Vietnam is in transition. Prior to this transition there was a centralized Communist economy. Now they are moving toward a capitalistic economy and because of this, many cadres of the Communist Party are taking over and becoming owners of buildings … Yes, these Communist cadres take these properties to be their own and develop them as resorts or villas to be later sold in the growing real estate market in Vietnam. The Church however is trying to claim these properties back. It has happened in Hanoi, Saigon, Vinh, and in many places--and the Catholics are right in their request. The response of the Communist regime has been violent. They arrest or beat these Catholics who have demanded a return of their lawful properties.
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