As Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States nears, John L Allen Jr.’s weekly column over at the National Catholic Reporter provides us with some valuable insights into just what the Holy Father thinks of the United States. Like usual, Allen has obviously done his research. This is worth reading.
I hope the ambassador is wrong on this…
US, Vatican share goals in Iraq, American ambassador says
Rome, Mar. 26, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The new US ambassador to the Holy See says that Pope Benedict XVI and President George W. Bush will explore their common goals– including the pursuit of religious freedom, human rights, and a stable democracy in Iraq– when they meet during the Pontiff’s visit to Washington in April.
In an interview with Vatican Radio, Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon said that the Pope and the President had found ample common ground in previous discussions. “They hit it off, so to speak,” she reported.
Questioned about the war in Iraq, and the Vatican calls for further efforts to safeguard the Christian minority there, the US envoy observed that after the death of Archbishop Paul Faraj Raho, the US and the Vatican issued statements that were “very much in the same vein– condemning the violence, condemning terrorism, and especially condemning religion as a pretext for terrorism.” The situation in Iraq is difficult, however, she said, because “there are elements in society that are determined to defeat the common aim of the United States and the Holy See.”
Acknowledging that there was “some initial disagreement” between the Vatican and the US regarding the war in Iraq, Glendon said that today the two parties share a common goal there: “to promote the building of a free and democratic and stable society where persons of all religious faiths will be protected.”
Article from Catholic World News
Pope Benedict XVI’s second encyclical, Spe salvi, was released today in eight languages. The encyclical is on Christian hope and is I’m sure worthwhile (though likely somewhat controversial). Hopefully I’ll have a chance to read it over January and write a post on it.
The following is an excerpt from the Pope’s Lent message this year:
“They shall look on Him whom they have pierced.” Let us look with trust at the pierced side of Jesus from which flow “blood and water” (Jn 19:34)! The Fathers of the Church considered these elements as symbols of the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. Through the water of Baptism, thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit, we are given access to the intimacy of Trinitarian love. In the Lenten journey, memorial of our Baptism, we are exhorted to come out of ourselves in order to open ourselves, in trustful abandonment, to the merciful embrace of the Father (cf. Saint John Chrysostom, Catecheses, 3,14ff). Blood, symbol of the love of the Good Shepherd, flows into us especially in the Eucharistic mystery: “The Eucharist draws us into Jesus’ act of self-oblation … we enter into the very dynamic of His self-giving” (Encyclical Deus caritas est, 13). Let us live Lent then, as a “Eucharistic” time in which, welcoming the love of Jesus, we learn to spread it around us with every word and deed. Contemplating “Him whom they have pierced” moves us in this way to open our hearts to others, recognizing the wounds inflicted upon the dignity of the human person; it moves us, in particular, to fight every form of contempt for life and human exploitation and to alleviate the tragedies of loneliness and abandonment of so many people. May Lent be for every Christian a renewed experience of God’s love given to us in Christ, a love that each day we, in turn, must “regive” to our neighbour, especially to the one who suffers most and is in need. Only in this way will we be able to participate fully in the joy of Easter. May Mary, Mother of Beautiful Love, guide us in this Lenten journey, a journey of authentic conversion to the love of Christ. I wish you, dear brothers and sisters, a fruitful Lenten journey, imparting with affection to all of you, a special Apostolic Blessing.
