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The Chuch Around the World

Contents - Sep 2005 - Buy a copy now Editorial: Support the 2005 Fighting Fund! - Peter Westmore Events: Sydney to host World Youth Day 2008 - AD2000 REPORT News: The Chuch Around the World Canadian Bishops' cave-in to 'renegade Catholicism' under fire Priesthood: America's 'vocation rich' dioceses: latest success stories analysed - AD2000 Report Can reverence at Mass make a comeback? - Michael Ryan Interview: Benedict XVI and the power of the Eucharist - Fr John Corapi Education: Catholic schools of the future - Br John Moylan CFC Cinema: The Church under Nazism: a sensitive film portrayal in 'The Ninth Day' - Michael E. Daniel (reviewer) BOOKS: The Myth of Hitler's Pope: How Pope Pius XII Rescued Jews from the Nazis - Thomas E. Woods Jr (reviewer) A religious response to evil ideologies - John Rego Letters: Liturgy - John Daly Letters: Liberal manifesto - Dr Peter Gilet Letters: Fatima and Benedict XVI - Paul MacLeod Letters: Society of St Pius X - Fr Kevin Robinson Events: C.S. Lewis Seminar - Sat 17 Sept 2005 2pm-9pm Letters: Ethical medicine? - Dr A.W. Hartwig Letters: Latin Mass - Richard Congram Letters: Simple Catechisms - Rosanna Sherman Letters: Gnosticism Letters: Good reading - E. Pickering Books: GOING AGAINST THE STREAM: Ethical Aspects of Ageing and Care, by Peter Jeffery - Kerrie Allen (reviewer) Books: THE ART OF GIVING by Francine Black - Kerrie Allen (reviewer) Books: THE PATH OF LIFE: Benedictine Spirituality for Monks and Lay People - Gabrielle Walsh (reviewer) Books: STAIRWAY TO THE UPPER ROOM: Daily Meditations on the Gospel Readings - Michael Gilchrist (reviewer) Books: The Holy Shroud, by Antonio Cassanelli - Gabrielle Walsh (reviewer) Books: More good reading from AD Books Reflection: Benedict XVI: how to make the new evangelisation more effective - Fr Dennis Byrnes PP

Benedict XVI on Europe's Christian roots

Speaking before the Angelus prayer on 24 July to a group of some 8,000 pilgrims in Les Combes, in Italy's Valle d'Aosta, where he was vacationing, Benedict XVI recalled Europe's deeply Christian roots and challenged the continent to return to them.

He noted the day's feast was that of the Apostle James, "whose relics are venerated in the famous shrine of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, the destination of countless pilgrims from all over Europe." He also recalled the recent feast day of St Bridget of Sweden, patroness of Europe, and the 11 July feast of St Benedict, whom he called "another great patron of the 'old continent'." It was, he said, "natural to pause and reflect on the contribution that Christianity has made, and continues to make, to the building of Europe."

Benedict then turned to the pilgrimage made by Pope John Paul II in 1982 to Santiago de Compostela, "where he performed a solemn 'European act' during which he pronounced these memorable words: 'I, bishop of Rome and pastor of the Universal Church, from Santiago, address to you, old Europe, a cry full of love: Return to yourself! Be yourself! Discover your origins. Revive your roots. Experience again those authentic values that made your history glorious and your presence in other continents beneficial'."

Benedict added: "He returned to this theme on the occasion of World Youth Day 1989 held at Santiago de Compostela, expressing his hope for a Europe without frontiers, a Europe that does not deny the Christian roots from which it grew and that does not renounce the true humanism of Christ's Gospel. How appropriate this call remains today in the light of recent events on the European continent."

Catholic News Agency

Sydney's grant for adult stem cell research

The Sydney Archdiocese announced in July that a grant of $100,000 was being made available to further research into adult stem cells. It was the second such grant.

In 2002, Cardinal Pell had announced that a $50,000 grant was to be made available to a research team at Griffith University led by Professor Alan Mackay-Sim, whose team was conducting research into the development of therapies to utilise stem cells extracted from patients' nasal lining to replace those lost to disease.

Applications for this new research grant were invited from Australian-based researchers, with both new and existing projects eligible.

Cardinal Pell explained: "The breakthroughs in adult stem cell research are exciting and impressive. The achievements to date in this area far surpass anything that has been attained in the area of embryonic stem cell research. The Catholic Church always supports good science working from a good ethical foundation, and the Archdiocese of Sydney is delighted to be able to collaborate with researchers making inroads in this vitally important area."

The grant will be awarded on the recommendation of an independent assessment panel, whose members include experts on science and ethics, according to a number of criteria. Receipt of the grant is conditional on the securing of matching funds from other sources.

Chinese seminary staff at papal audience

Pope Benedict XVI welcomed 28 seminary instructors from China to his public audience on 3 August. Their presence, and the Pope's hearty welcome, was a fresh indication of Vatican efforts to improve ties with Beijing. Since Pope Benedict's election in April, there have been repeated signs of Vatican efforts to expand the freedom of the Church in China - alternating, in a confusing pattern, with fresh indications of the Chinese Government's hostility towards the "underground" Catholic Church.

The seminary instructors were on a visit to Rome after a week of training at a seminary in Germany. According to the AsiaNews service, the priests were affiliated with the "official" Church, approved by the government. AsiaNews reported that the "official" seminaries in China have 1,000 students training for the priesthood, while the "underground" Church has about 800 seminarians.

"I greet with particular affection the group of priests from China," Benedict said, as he acknowledged different groups attending the Wednesday audience. The Chinese clerics, who were seated at the front of the crowd, responded by standing and singing a hymn. The papal audience was held at the Vatican, with Benedict travelling by helicopter from his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo to speak to about 6,000 people.

Catholic News Agency

Catholic students need to challenge secular culture

Over 200 students from across Australia attended the Australian Catholic Students Association (ACSA) Annual National Conference held at St John's College, University of Sydney, from 15-17 July 2005.

The Conference theme, "Be Not Afraid", challenged students to help create a Catholic culture on the secular tertiary campuses. Speakers contributing to this debate included Fr John Fleming, President of Campion College and Director of the Southern Cross Bioethics Institute, Dr Tracey Rowland, Dean of the John Paul II Institute, and Dr David Daintree, Rector of St John's College.

Fr Fleming, speaking at the academic dinner attended by Cardinal George Pell, challenged students to see a greater connection between faith and reason, shedding light on the relevance of the Church's teachings to their particular field of studies.

Sydney's Auxiliary Bishop, Anthony Fisher, called on students to seek wisdom and congratulated the students on their dedication to the work of ACSA.

The National President, Daniel Hill, said, "The mission of ACSA is to support and encourage Catholic students in the spiritual, intellectual, pastoral, and human development of their faith, in seeking to build a Catholic culture to bear witness to the truth, in both word and action.

"The ACSA absolutely supports the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church, and expresses its fidelity to the Magisterium and the Holy Father, through active participation in the life and the mission of the Church in the work of the new evangelisation. It also joyfully and enthusiastically promotes and propagates the social teaching of the Church."

President Bush on evolution teaching

While President George Bush's remarks on 1 August that the theory of intelligent design ought to be taught along side of evolution in America's schools angered some, others applauded the remarks, which call for a "fair debate."

In the President's statement, made to members of the Texas media, he said that "Both sides ought to be properly taught so people can understand what the debate is about."

According to an official transcript of the interview session, Bush added: "Part of education is to expose people to different schools of thought ... You're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, and the answer is yes."

John G. West of Seattle's Discovery Institute, said in a statement that President Bush was to be commended for defending free speech on evolution, and supporting the right of students to hear about different scientific views about evolution."

The President's remarks came less than two months after Austrian Cardinal Christof Schšnborn, in a New York Times guest editorial, clarified the Church's position on evolution saying that "neo-Darwinian", evolution, or the idea that there is no intelligent design behind creation, is incompatible with the Catholic Church and in conflict with nature itself.

"Evolution", he said, "in the sense of common ancestry might be true, but evolution in the neo- Darwinian sense - an unguided, unplanned process of random variation and natural selection - is not. Any system of thought that denies or seeks to explain away the overwhelming evidence for design in biology is ideology, not science."

Catholic News Agency

Pastoral Letter: rebuilding Queensland's priesthood

Coinciding with Vocations Week, from 7-14 August, came release of A Pastoral Letter of the Bishops of Queensland on Vocations to the Priesthood, as well as an Open Letter to the Priests of Queensland from Father Michael McCarthy of the Holy Spirit Seminary in Brisbane, which serves all five Queensland dioceses.

In their Pastoral Letter, the bishops spelled out the seriousness of the situation: "In some ways we need to start again, to rebuild the priesthood of the Queensland Church. There is a gap in age and formation needing to be bridged between the majority of priests who are working in our parishes and those whom we believe Christ is calling and will continue to call in the future."

Fr McCarthy confirmed this concern: "There are currently nine men in the Holy Spirit Seminary at various stages of their formation and we are hopeful of more joining the Seminary in the near future."

The Pastoral Letter meanwhile foreshadowed changes in the seminary program: "The Bishops of Queensand are working towards a new future for the priesthood by reconfiguring the Holy Spirit Seminary and its formation program and the educational program offered by St Paul's Theological College."

Details of this "reconfiguring" were not spelled out, but no doubt the bishops will have studied the programs of other Australian and overseas seminaries.

Jerusalem pool discovery verifies Scripture account

Workers in Old Jerusalem have stumbled upon the ruins of the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus, in the Gospel of John, heals a man blind from birth - the new find is being praised as a discovery which helps to prove the historical authenticity of the Bible.

James H. Charlesworth of the Princeton Theological Seminary was quoted by the Los Angeles Times saying, "Scholars have said that there wasn't a Pool of Siloam and that John was using a religious conceit" to illustrate a point. "Now we have found the Pool of Siloam ... exactly where John said it was."

A gospel that was thought to be "pure theology is now shown to be grounded in history," he added.

Archeologists say that the pool which appears in John's Gospel was built around the First century BC and destroyed by the Roman Emperor Titus in 70 AD.

The sewer line repair which led to the discovery was being overseen by Eli Shukron of the Israel Antiquities Authority who, according to the LA Times report, was "100 per cent sure it was the Siloam Pool," when his group saw two steps unearthed by the workers.

The account of the pool in the Gospel of John shows Jesus encountering a man there who had been blind since birth. Jesus' disciples thought that the man was blind because of some sin of his own or his parents.

Jesus then responds that the man is blind so that God's work might be revealed in him, spits in the dust to make mud and rubs it in the man's eyes telling him to wash himself in the Pool of Siloam.

Catholic News Agency

NFP classes for marriage preparation in US diocese

On 19 July, Bishop Samuel J. Aquila announced that the Diocese of Fargo would begin requiring couples preparing for marriage in that diocese to complete courses in Natural Family Planning, the Church's only accepted form of birth regulation.

Fargo follows the Archdiocese of Denver, the first in the US to implement the requirement some years ago.

According to diocesan spokeswoman Tanya Watterud, couples will receive training in Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body "and complete a full course of instruction on an approved method of natural family planning as part of their marriage preparation program."

Bishop Aquila said: "[T]hrough my personal experience in preparing couples for marriage and through discussions with priests, I have seen a great need for this instruction to help couples fully live the sacrament of marriage."

Young adults, he added, "need to know and they deserve to know the plan that God has for them regarding their sexuality and the conjugal love they will share as husband and wife."

Rachalle Sauvageau, Director of Fargo's Respect Life office, said the course was not just for engaged couples. Noting that many who use contraception decide to abandon it within the first months or years of marriage, she said that, "as they grow and gain a deeper understanding of each other and their faith, couples often turn toward natural family planning, realising it is best for them physically, emotionally and spiritually."

Catholic News Agency

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 18 No 8 (September 2005), p. 4