Holy See and Russia establish full diplomatic ties

Vatican City, Jul 28, 2010 / 11:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).

Just under two weeks ago Russian officials accepted the credentials of Archbishop Antonio Mennini as the first papal nuncio to their country. The event ushers in a new era of full diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the Russian Federation.

The Vatican's L'Osservatore Romano (LOR) newspaper reported that Foreign Affairs minister Sergei Lavrov met with Archbishop Mennini on July 15 in Moscow to seal full diplomatic relations, which Pope Benedict XVI and president Dmitry Medvedev had agreed to last December. Just a month ago, on June 26, the Holy See accepted the credentials of Mr. Nikolai Sadlichov as ambassador from Russia.

Continue reading at Catholic News Agency (CNA)

CHINA Xiwanzi underground priest arrested again after three years in prison - Asia News

Beijing (AsiaNews) July 2010.

On July 24th authorities in northern Hebei province arrested Fr. Peter Wang, a priest of the Diocese of Xiwanzi. The priest was stopped immediately after being released from prison, where he spent the last three years for having celebrated a Mass with government permission. The authorities want to force Fr. Wang to join the Patriotic Association.

According Ucanews.com, some relatives of the priest were waiting - along with about 20 lay people of the diocese - outside the gates of the Tangshang Jidong prison. As the gates opened at 4 am, Fr. Wang was able to take only a few steps before being grabbed by 4 men, who pushed him into a car and brought him back into the prison.

About an hour after the gates were reopened to allow two police cars pass. The crowd stopped the car to talk to the priest. According to one source, Fr. Wang told them "not to create problems with the police. He added that he was in good health and asked us to let him go". Several hours later, he phoned his sister to say that he was "doing well".

Catholics believe that local authorities would like Fr. Wang to “work in the light of the day by accepting the authority of the government run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association". The fast "re-arrest," they explain, comes from the fact that the police fear that the faithful will hide and protect him once back home.

Continue reading CHINA Xiwanzi underground priest arrested again after three years in prison at Asia News

Wikipedia entry on the Communist backed Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association.

Pope reflects on beauty of radical acceptance of God's call

Vatican City, Jun 27, 2010 / 10:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).

Before reciting the Angelus prayer from the window of his apartment in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, Pope Benedict XVI spoke today about "radical" responses to divine vocations. Referring to Sunday's readings he took up the theme of Christ's call to us and "its demands."

As the Pope looked out over the crowd gathered to join him for the weekly prayer on Sunday at noon, he saw a smattering of Polish flags waving, especially well represented now that the country's children have just begun their summer vacation and brightly colored parasols were used to shelter many of the pilgrims from the intense Mediterranean sun.

Referring to the day's Gospel reading from Luke in which Jesus asks those on the road to Jerusalem to cut their family ties and follow him, the Holy Father explained that the demands Jesus makes of Christians might seem "too tough."

"But," he went on, "in reality they express the newness and the absolute priority of the Kingdom of God that makes itself present in the very Person of Jesus Christ."

He said that, upon further analysis, "it's about that radicalism that is due to the Love of God, to which Jesus himself is the first to obey

Continue reading at CNA - Pope reflects on beauty of radical acceptance of God's call

New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan rips New York Times coverage of Pope

July 2010

Because of all the inaccuracies in the recent coverage of the Catholic Church in the New York Times and other publications, appearing in news articles, editorials, and op-eds, I was tempted to try my best to offer corrections to the multitude of errors. However, I soon realized that this would probably be a full time job.
It is a source of consternation as to why, instead of complimenting the Vatican and a reformer like Pope Benedict XVI, for codifying procedures long advocated by critics, such outfits would instead choose to intrude on a matter of internal doctrine, namely the ordination of women.
But, correcting the paper is not what really matters. What is important is the well-being of God’s people, especially of His little ones.
The bottom line is that the Holy Father, the Vatican, and the Church universal regards with the utmost seriousness the heinous and sinful crime of child abuse and is committed to doing everything it can to ensure that justice is served and that such abuse never happens again.
If critics want to say, “It’s about time,” fair enough. But for critics to continue their obsessive criticism of Benedict XVI, claiming that he just “doesn’t get it,” is simply out of bounds.

Continue reading at the website of the Archdiocese of New York.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s (Pope Benedict XVI) Foreword to U.M. Lang's "Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer"

Ignatius Insight

To the ordinary churchgoer, the two most obvious effects of the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council seem to be the disappearance of Latin and the turning of the altars towards the people. Those who read the relevant texts will be astonished to learn that neither is in fact found in the decrees of the Council. The use of the vernacular is certainly permitted, especially for the Liturgy of the Word, but the preceding general rule of the Council text says, 'Particular law remaining in force, the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites' (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 36.1).

Continue reading Cardinal Ratzinger’s Foreword to U.M. Lang's Book "Turning Towards the Lord: Orientation in Liturgical Prayer" at Ignatius Insight

China’s Divided Catholics Seek Reconciliation

NPR July 20, 2010. Second of five parts

For decades, China's Catholics — estimated at more than 12 million — have been bitterly divided. Some worship in China's government-sanctioned Catholic churches, others in "underground" churches loyal to the Vatican.

But three years ago, Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter to Chinese Catholics — the first from a pope in more than a half-century — urging reconciliation. Yet China's Catholics have struggled to follow these instructions.

Early morning in Sheshan, on the outskirts of Shanghai, Catholics kneel on the ground in front of the pilgrimage shrine to the Virgin Mary, known as the Marian shrine. A cacophony of prayer rises as different groups of pilgrims conduct their services, singing hymns of praise almost loud enough to drown each other out.

Continue reading China’s Divided Catholics Seek Reconciliation : NPR

New Courage apostolate in Oakland a sign of change

Catholic News Agency 22nd July 2010

A new chapter of the Courage apostolate has opened in Oakland to minister to Catholics and others who have same-sex attractions. A California Catholic paper said the event showed a “landmark shift” away from other regional groups’ dissent from Catholic teaching on chastity and homosexuality.

The formation of the chapter was announced in the July 19 edition of The Weekly, a chancery publication for the clergy, religious, employees and parish staff of the Diocese of Oakland.

“Do you know someone who identifies her/himself as Gay/Lesbian, Homosexual, or Same-Sex Attracted and feels that this keeps her/him from taking full part in the life of the Church? If so, consider talking to her/him about Courage where we believe that the Catholic Church welcomes all of her children and is our home,” the chapter’s notice read, according to the California Catholic Daily.

The national Courage website explains the apostolate’s outlook: “By developing an interior life of chastity, which is the universal call to all Christians, one can move beyond the confines of the homosexual identity to a more complete one in Christ.”

Continue reading New Courage apostolate in Oakland a sign of change, newspaper says :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Brisbane Courage.

German inquiry into top cleric ends with no proof

The Associated Press 22nd July 2010

BERLIN — German prosecutors say investigators have found no proof that would justify holding the country's top Roman Catholic cleric responsible for hiring a priest known to have sexually abused minors.

Prosecutor Christoph Hettenbach says in a statement released Wednesday that the investigation into Freiburg Archbishop Robert Zollitsch has been closed.

The southwestern city of Konstanz had been investigating an unidentified complaint that alleged Zollitsch was responsible for hiring a priest in 1987 known to have sexually abused minors. Zollitsch now heads the German Bishops Conference and at the time was in charge of human resources at the Freiburg diocese.

The archdiocese has rejected the allegations.

The Associated Press: German inquiry into top cleric ends with no proof

Indiana Planned Parenthood Caught On Tape Giving Fabricated Medical Information

From Gloria.tv: Indiana Planned Parenthood Caught On Tape Giving Fabricated Medical Information

St Mary’s South Brisbane

St Mary's South Brisbane

It’s been more than a year since the departure of Peter Kennedy and his followers from St Mary’s Catholic Church South Brisbane. The following article discusses the issue that ultimately brought the dispute to a head.

BY WHOSE AUTHORITY?...A BISHOP HAS ULTIMATE AUTHORITY IN A DIOCESE

The following article was written by Rev Dr David Pascoe, Associate Professor of St Paul's Theological College at the ACU National Brisbane Campus:

The Second Vatican Council is one authority that has not been questioned in the sad division within the Catholic Church around the standoff between the parish priest of St Mary’s, South Brisbane, and Archbishop John Bathersby of Brisbane.

On the one hand, Fr Peter Kennedy publically appeals to Vatican II for how St Mary’s is an expression of the council’s teaching.

On the other hand, Archbishop Bathersby grounds his assessment that St Mary’s is not in communion with the Catholic Church on the council’s theology of communion.

For some, of course, the above opposition might be all too easily resolved. My side is in the right; the other is in the wrong! But going beyond this all too simplistic view one way toward some resolution is to go back to the sources and ask the question: what does Vatican II teach on the legitimate authority for the ongoing formation of the Church?
Continue reading at Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane: Media Releases