Pope: Ecumenism, close to the Churches of Jerusalem 
Benedict XVI recalls the trials faced by Christians in the Holy Land and the Middle East, even to the sacrifice of life. Every division is "an offense to Christ." This requires a process of conversion of the Church. Appointments for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: the meeting of the Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Ancient Oriental Churches, Vespers in the basilica of St. Paul, on 25 January. 

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity this year is an opportunity to rally around the "Churches and Ecclesial Communities of Jerusalem, gathered together in an ecumenical spirit", said Benedict XVI Sunday, addressing the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square for the Angelus.
The reason for this closeness is twofold: first, because the theme of the week (celebrated January 18 to 25) "is a passage from Acts, which summarizes in a few words the life of the early Christian community in Jerusalem : 'United in the teaching of the Apostles, , fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer' (Acts 2:42). "
The second reason is that the issue has been proposed by the same Churches and ecclesial communities (Protestant communities) in Jerusalem. "We know - said the Pope - how many trials our brothers and sisters of the Holy Land and the Middle East must face. Their service is therefore more precious, confirmed by a witness that, in some cases, even arrives at the sacrifice of life. So while we welcome with joy the insights offered by the communities living in Jerusalem, we gather around them, and this becomes for all an additional factor of communion. "
"Even today - he continued - to be sign and instrument of intimate union with God and unity among men in the world, we Christians must base our lives on these four 'pillars': listening to the Word of God transmitted in the living Tradition of the Church, fraternal communion, the Eucharist and prayer. Only in this way, remaining firmly united to Christ, can the Church effectively carry out its mission, despite the limitations and failings of its members, despite the divisions. "
"Each division in the Church is an insult to Christ," the pontiff said. At the same time it "is always in Him, the only Head and Lord, that we may find ourselves together, through the inexhaustible power of his grace."
Benedict XVI, taking up a theme of the Gospel in today's Mass, then invited all to conversion: "The serious commitment to conversion to Christ is the way that leads the Church, in God's time, to full visible unity. The ecumenical meetings which these days are multiplying around the world are a sign of this. "
The pope also recalled the ecumenical appointments of the coming two days: tomorrow, 24 January, "a session meeting of the Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Ancient Oriental Churches" for January 25, the solemn celebration of Vespers the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul at the end of the week.

Pope: conscience does not mean a la carte morality, but seeking the truth 
In today's world there is "a sense of insecurity, primarily due to social and economic instability, exacerbated by a weakening of the perception of ethical principles that underpin the law and personal moral attitudes, which give strength to the rules that govern society". 

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - In the current relativistic culture, an idea is spreading that "there are no objective reference points in determining what is true from what is not true, instead it is the individual, with his or her insights and experiences , that is the measure thereof, and so each person therefore their own truth, their own morality. " For Christians, however, the conscience is the human capacity to recognize the truth, and, before that, the opportunity to hear its call, to try and find it".
From these two visions, mentioned today by Benedict XVI, opposing consequences emerge. In the first case "religion and morality tend to be confined within the sphere of the subjective, the private: faith with its values and its behaviour, in short, is no longer entitled to a place in public or civil life".  While in the case of the Christian perspective "man needs to know how to be open to the truth and to goodness, to welcome them in a free and conscious manner." Hence the need for "god and man to meet each other again" and for institutions rediscover their moral roots.


"The new challenges that emerge on the horizon demand that God and man may once more meet, that society and public institutions rediscover their "soul ", their spiritual and moral roots, to give new substance to ethical values and legal references, and then practical action. The Christian faith and the Church can not cease to offer its own contribution to promoting the common good and an authentic human progress. "

Jesus is called "Sanctification"

"Jesus is called "Sanctification", because he is purity, so that what is pure may be filled with his pureness.  He is "Redemption", because he sets us free from the bonds of sin and gives himself in exchange for us as a ransom sufficient to cleanse the world.  He is "Resurrection", because he raises us up from this world and leads us on to life, done to death though we were, by sin. 

- Gregory of Nazianzus - 'On the Son' from Theological Orations

Caravaggio - 'Jesus, St. Thomas and Disciples'

'On God and Christ' - Gregory of Nazianzus

"The Son actively produces submission to the Father [in humanity], while the Father wills and approves submission to the Son. Thus it is that He effects our submission, makes it His own, and presents it to God."... "[Jesus] in Himself... expresses our [human] condition. We had once been forsaken and disregarded; then we were accepted and now are saved by the sufferings of the impassible [God]," - as He cried "My God why have You forsaken me" from His cross Jesus spoke not for himself, but for all humanity; in His self-sacrifice He answered humanity's question, He did not leave us orphans.

- "On God and Christ - 'On the Son' " - Gregory of Nazianzus

"The Father indicates the outline [of His will for the world], whilst [Jesus] the Word makes a finished product, of the same realities."

400 year-old Malaysian-Latin Dictionary: proof of use of the word Allah 
Christians in Malaysia still can not use the word "Allah" to refer to God, because the Ministry of the Interior has requested a suspension of sentence in favour of a Catholic newspaper. The Church has reissued a dictionary from 1622 as evidence of the use of "Allah" well before the twentieth century, contrary to Muslims claims. 

Kuala Lumpur (AsiaNews / Agencies) - While the Malaysian Court hesitates to close the case of the use of the word "Allah" by Christians, in a dispute that has dragged on for over a year, the Catholic Church has reprinted a rare Malay-Latin Dictionary that appears to be an invitation to resolve the dispute, as well as proof of the Christians claims. The "Dictionarium Malaicum-Latinun" and " Latinum - Malaicum" was published for the first time in 1631 in Rome. Church leaders say that is proof that the missionaries played a key role in the exchange of knowledge and culture between Europe and the countries of southeast Asia 400 years ago.
Lawrence Andrew, a priest who worked for 11 years to reprint the dictionary, said it is a critical tool to minimize the wrong belief that the spread of Christianity in the local languages of Malaysia is a recent phenomenon of the twentieth century. "This is to say that Christianity has been here for a long time: 400 years, "says the director of the Herald Weekly, the local Church newspaper.
The newspaper has defended the right to use the word "Allah" to mean the Christian God against the Interior Ministry. It won the High Court battle on December 30, 2008, but the Ministry was able to get a suspended sentence, and the newspaper still can not use the term.
The Court of Appeal in Putrajaya has yet to set a date for the hearing. And there is much to be done to speed up the procedure: there are no time limits, and it is not unusual for years to pass before a case is reviewed. Andrew presented a copy of the dictionary as historical evidence to support the request of the Church, after the Interior Ministry sought the opinions of Islamic scholars to support its thesis.
The priest says he had received permission to reprint the dictionary from the Vatican 12 years ago, but that he did not have the resources to carry out the project. A single copy of the original still exists, and must be kept at the Pontifical Urbanianum University in Rome. Andrew said that the pronunciation of words can be difficult to transliterate and to read for a person today, but he decided not to update the form and the pronunciation of the words "so that no one can say that we have changed it".

ST. VINCENT PALLOTTI—1795-1850

Feast: January 22 __________________________________

St. Vincent Pallotti,

From Rome, Vincenzo Pallotti worked selflessly looking after the poor in the urban areas of the city for most of his life. He had an intense devotion to the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity, and to the Virgin Mary. His contemporaries, including the pope, considered him a saint during his life. He longed to send missionaries to other parts of the world and founded the Union of Catholic Apostolate, the Society of the Catholic Apostolate that became the Pious Society of Missions. He strongly believed, in the spirit of St. Paul, that God wanted to save all people, and it was his intention to start a Catholic Apostolic Society. Although his visionary desire to unite the factions in the Church and to encourage lay apostolic activity did not bear fruit within his lifetime, he did his utmost to encourage this vision in others. Pallotti was in fact deemed a patron of Vatican II for his efforts toward building unity in the Church through such practices as inviting the people of his community to worship in the Roman parishes of Eastern Catholic Churches.

It does appear that his 'Society of the Catholic Apostolate' was suppressed by Pope Gregory. It offended some of the sensibilities of Roman society. Dr. Gaynor seems to suggest that the Jansenists were at work in this. The Decree of dissolution fell into disuse (went into limbo), when the Pope was enlightened as to the good work done by the Society. However, as soon as Vincent died in 1850 there was more trouble and presumably the original Decree of dissolition was unearthed. When Vincent's last defender Cardinal Lambruscini died in 1854, the name of the Society was abruptly changed to "The Pious Society of Missions". This lasted until 1947 when "by a gracious act of the Holy See" the original name of the society was restored.

When Pallotti's body was exhumed in 1906 and 1950, examiners found his body to be completely incorrupt^{[citation needed]} (see Dr. Gaynor's book), a sign of holiness in the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church. His body is enshrined in the church of San Salvatore in Onda, in Rome, where it can be seen, still intact. He was canonized in the year 1963 by Pope John XXIII.^[1]

His followers are the Pallottines, still operating internationally. They follow his motto, "The love of Christ impels us" (Caritas Christi Urget Nos). Members of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate work as everyday missionaries to "renew faith and rekindle love." They work to fulfill the mission of their founder in the modern world. The Pallottines have major houses in Britain, Germany, New York, Poland, India, Ireland and several other locations.

During the Christmas Season, a Nativity scene that Saint Vincent himself made is put on display at the Vatican, in the Basilica's Square, before the Christmas Tree. Vincent promoted the celebration of the Octave of the Epiphany as an act of unity with his Orthodox brethren who celebrate Christmas on Jan 6th. www.wikipedia.org

European Parliament condemns persecution of Christians

January 21, 2011

Members of European Parliament have passed a resolution condemning violence against Christians in Iraq and Egypt.
"I think we are in a very significant moment in the history of the European institutions, because for the first time we declared this kind of judgment, the fact that there exists the problem of persecution of Christians," said Mario Mauro, an Italian member of the European Parliament.



Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• MEP's adopt resolution condemning attacks against Christians (Vatican Radio)

Rediscover moral roots of society, Pope urges

January 21, 2011

In a January 21 meeting with police official of Rome, Pope Benedict XVI said that it is crucial to uphold clear moral principles at a time when the public fears "that moral consensus is breaking down."
The Pope's comments, calling for a revival of public morality, were interpreted by many reporters as a subtle reference to the personal scandals plaguing Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. But in fact the Pontiff's remarks were addressed to a broader sense of turmoil in society—a sense that all ethical standards have been called into question. The Pope spoke of "a sense of insecurity, primarily due to social and economic instability, but also exacerbated by a weakening of the perception of ethical principles that underpin the law and personal moral attitudes, which always give strength to the rules that govern society."
In such a climate the public witness of the Church is especially important, the Pope argued. He observed that many people today think that all morality is subjective, "because modern thought has developed a reductive view of conscience, according to which there are no objective references in determining what has value and what is true; rather, each individual provides his own measure through his own intuitions and experiences, each possesses his own truth and his own morals."
The result of this subjective approach, the Pope continued, is that "religion and morals tend to be confined to the subjective and private sphere; and faith with its values and its modes of behavior no longer merits a place in public and civil life." The importance of faith is "progressively marginalized," he said, at precisely the time when the witness of faith is most important.
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• May Society, Public Institutions Rediscover Moral Roots (VIS)
• Pope says society and public institutions need to rediscover their soul (Vatican Radio)
• Pope makes moral appeal to Italian public officials (BBC)
• Pope weighs in as Silvio Berlusconi sex scandal deepens (Guardian)

Political motives for Al Azhar's break with Vatican?

January 21, 2011

Egyptian politics and personal rivalries may have contributed to the decision by Al Azhar University to break off talks with the Vatican, according to one leading analyst.
Father Bernardo Cervellera, the director of the AsiaNews service, suggests that Al Azhar, and influential institution in Cairo, may have fallen into step with the political strategy of President Hosni Mubarak:

In an attempt to determine the next presidential election in his favour, Mubarak is trying not to upset the Muslim world. Critics of the Vatican have this aim: lay the blame on the Christian and Western Pope, thus stroking the frustrations of the Muslims towards the (so called) Christian West. Al-Azhar has simply latched on to this trend.

However, Father Cervellera also detects another factor in the Egyptian institution's decision. Since early in January, he says, Al Azhar had been complaining about the Vatican's decision to include a Jordanian priest, Msgr. Khaled Akasheh, in the delegation for bilateral talks. The reason for Al Azhar's opposition is obscure, but the Muslim scholars may have objected to the inclusion of a native Arab with a thorough knowledge of the Qu'ran.



Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Al-Azhar against the Vatican: politics and pettiness (AsiaNews)
• Top Islamic scholars suspend talks with Vatican (CWN, 1/20)

Australian ordinariate embraces Japan

Australian ordinariate will embrace Anglicans in Japan

January 21, 2011

An ordinariate for Anglicans seeking to join the Catholic Church in Australia, which will be set up by Pentecost, will extend to include Anglicans in Japan, according to an Anglican bishop involved in planning the initiative.
Bishop Harry Entwistle is one of four Anglican prelates in the Australian region who will be ordained as Catholic priests as the ordinariate is established. Another 28 priests have indicated their desire to enter the ordinariate.



Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Anglican Ordinariate for Australia up by Pentecost, to include Japan (The Record)

The Servant of God Jan Tyranowski on the way to the altars

The Servant of God Jan Tyranowski on the way to the altars

The following comes from the Salesian News Agency in Rome:

On November 19 the Postulator General of the Salesian Family, Fr Enrico dal Covolo was received by the Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz. Among matters dealt with in their cordial meeting were the causes beatification and canonisation of Jan Leopold Tyranowski, a lay man, and Fr Jan Swierc and companions.

The Postulator was accompanied by the Vice Provincial Fr Dariusz Bartocha, and the Vice Postulator of the cause of beatification and canonisation of Tyranowski, the Salesian Fr Adam Nyk.

In the troubled times of the Second World war Jan Tyranowski (1901-1947) was a valued co-worker in the "St Stanislaw Kostka" Salesian parish in Krakow. At that time because of the Nazi persecution the parish of Debniki, in Krakow was almost entirely without priests. In these same years the Servant of God played a fundamental role in the story of the vocation of Karol Wojtyla, the future John Paul II. He had founded the "Living Rosary" Group from among whose numbers many priestly and religious vocations emerged including that of the young Karol.

It was Jan who first introduced Karol Wojtyla to the writings of St. John of the Cross, the Spanish mystic who would be one of his great inspirations in life. It was from St. John he would learn that union with God requires a person to give up everything; everything they know as well as all that the own. Looking back he would feel that in Jan Tyranowski he had a living example of that quest for union with God before his very eyes: He was one of those unknown saints, hidden amid the others like a marvellous light at the bottom of life, at a depth where night usually reigns. He disclosed to me the riches of his inner life, of his mystical life. In his words, in his spirituality and in the example of a life given to God alone, he represented a new world that I did not yet know. I saw the beauty of a soul opened up by grace.
In the course of the audience with the Archbishop the Postulator spoke, in addition to the cause of Tyranowski - since last year entrusted to the Salesian Postulator's Office -, about the diocesan enquiry regarding Fr Jan Swierc and his companions in Krakow, martyred in 1942.

Posted by Padre Steve at 2:58 PM