Tag Archives: Catholic Church

Putin may benefit from historic meeting of pope and patriarch

VATICAN CITY/MOSCOW (Reuters) – A meeting between Pope Francis and Russia’s Orthodox Patriarch Kirill on Friday could not happen without a green light from President Vladimir Putin, diplomats and analysts say, and he may be one the beneficiaries.

In a landmark step towards healing the 1,000-year-old rift between the Western and Eastern branches of Christianity, the two religious leaders will meet in Havana on the pope’s way to Mexico.

“There is no doubt the Kremlin took part in making this decision,” said Gleb Pavlovsky, a political analyst and former Kremlin adviser in Moscow. “Otherwise the meeting would not have happened.”

Putin has aligned himself closely with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), making Friday’s two-hour private meeting not just a religious event but politically charged as well, especially when Russia is at odds with the West over Ukraine and Syria.

“Putin clearly sees the value of his relationship with the ROC and the ROC’s relationship with the pope,” said a diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“He understands the pope is a big player on the world stage and I think that he would be happy about having the possibility of using the improved relations between the Vatican and the ROC to get the Kremlin’s view across to the Vatican,” he said.

Alexander Volkov, Russian church spokesman, said that while a joint declaration will dwell on the Middle East’s persecuted Christians, tensions between Russia and the West may be brought up in the talks.

“This is one of the burning issues and we can assume it will be reflected in the dialogue. It can’t be ruled out,” he said.

DIFFERENT POPE, WARMER TIES

Relations between Moscow and the Vatican have improved steadily since the reign of Pope John Paul II, a Pole who had an inbred suspicion of Russia and who died in 2005. But Francis is an Argentinian with no historical baggage associated with the East-West divisions of Europe after World War Two.

In 2013, Moscow was pleased after Francis opposed a proposed U.S.-led military intervention in Syria, a key Russian ally.

Last year, Catholics in Ukraine accused Francis of being soft with Moscow when he described violence in Eastern Ukraine as “fratricidal”. They saw it as a product of foreign aggression.

One commentator said Francis’ view was perhaps “blurred by ecumenical correctness” in the hopes of a meeting with Kirill.

In an interview with Reuters, Cardinal Kurt Koch, head of the Vatican office for Christian unity, was non-committal when asked if the meeting could help Putin. “I think Putin agrees with the meeting, but I can’t say more,” he said.

Russia’s ambassador to the Vatican, Alexander Avdeyev, said the two Churches organised the meeting but that it could “help politicians and diplomats” with policy decisions.

“The two Churches clearly understood that all threats and challenges in the world threaten both of them and cooperation has to be stepped up to fight nationalism and terrorism,” he told Reuters.

The meeting, which will put another historic notch on Francis’ legacy, came after two years of secret contacts in Rome, Moscow and Havana, Vatican and diplomatic sources said.

Agreement was clinched last autumn but the ROC wanted to keep it under wraps for several more months, one Vatican source said.

The Russian Church had long accused Catholics of trying to convert people from Orthodoxy after the break-up of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The Vatican denied the charges and both sides say that issue has largely been resolved.

One sore point remains the fate of church properties that Soviet dictator Josef Stalin confiscated from Eastern Rite Catholics in Ukraine and gave to the Russian Orthodox there. After the fall of communism, Eastern Rite Catholics took back many church properties, mostly in western Ukraine.

The meeting was brokered by Cuban President Raul Castro, who hosted the pope in Cuba last year. The Vatican helped arrange the rapprochement between Cuba and the United States.

(Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

Pope asks Protestants for forgiveness for persecution

ROME (Reuters) – Pope Francis asked Protestants and other Christian Churches for forgiveness for past persecution by Catholics as the Vatican announced on Monday he would visit Sweden later in the year to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

Speaking at an annual vespers service in St. Paul’s Basilica in Rome attended by representatives of other religions, he asked “forgiveness for the un-gospel like behaviour by Catholics towards Christians of other Churches”. He also asked Catholics to forgive those who had persecuted them.

The Vatican announced that on Oct. 31 Francis would go to the southern Swedish city of Lund, where the Lutheran World Federation was founded in 1947, for a joint service with Lutherans to launch Reformation commemorations that will continue throughout the world next year.

Martin Luther, a German, is credited with starting the Protestant Reformation in 1517 with writing 95 theses – said to have been nailed to a church door in Wittenberg – criticising the Catholic Church for selling forgiveness from sins for money.

It led to a violent, often political schism throughout Europe and Christianity, prompting among other things the 30 Years’ War, the destruction of English monasteries, and the burning of numerous “heretics” on both sides.

Catholic traditionalists have accused Francis of making too many concessions to Lutherans, particularly in a “common prayer” that both religions will use during the 2017 commemorations.

They say the prayer, which will be used during the pope’s visit to Lund, excessively praises Luther, who was condemned as a heretic and excommunicated.

Francis, however, has made dialogue with other religions one of the hallmarks of his papacy.

He has already visited the Lutheran church of Rome, the Waldensian protestant community in northern Italy, and Rome’s synagogue. This year he is due to become the first pope to visit the Italian capital’s mosque.

While his predecessors have visited Protestant churches, Francis has come under criticism from traditionalists who accuse him of sending confusing signals about inter-faith relations.

They have also contested guidelines issued this month for the “common prayer”.

“The Reformation and Martin Luther are repeatedly extolled, while the Counter-Reformation and the Popes and Saints of the 16th century are passed over in total silence,” the traditionalist blog Rorate Caeli said.

Theological dialogue between Roman Catholic and Lutherans began in the late 1960s after the Second Vatican Council. But Catholics and Lutherans are still officially not allowed to take communion at each other’s services.

When he visited Rome’s Lutheran church last year, traditionalists attacked Francis for suggesting in answer to a question that a Lutheran woman married to a Catholic man could decide for herself if she could take communion in her husband’s church.

(Additional reporting by Alistair Scrutton Editing by Richard Balmforth and Ralph Boulton)

Pope: Divorce Can Be Morally Necessary

The head of the Catholic Church says that divorce can be morally necessary in certain situations.

“There are cases in which separation is inevitable. Sometimes it can become even morally necessary, precisely when it comes to subtracting the weaker spouse, or small children, from more serious injuries caused by arrogance and violence, by humiliation and exploitation, and by indifference,” the pope said according to the New York Post.

The Pope has been focusing on family issues as he prepares for an October synod (or meeting of bishops) to talk about the family.  One of the issues that will be discussed is divorced Catholics who remarry without going through the church process.

One of the points of contention is expected to revolve around giving communion to divorcees.  Currently they are banned from communion because the church says marrying another person is a sin.

The Pope also appeared to be reaching out to those in situations where a spouse or parent is abusive.

“Around us we find several families in so-called irregular — I don’t like this word — situations, and we pose ourselves many questions. How can we help them? How can we support them? How can we support them so that children do not become hostages of their father or mother?” the pope said.

Eleven Christians Killed Every Hour, Says Catholic Bishop

The chair of the council for Justice & Peace of the Irish Catholic Bishop’s conference is speaking out about Christian persecution around the world, saying that 11 Christians are killed every hour for their faith in Christ.

Bishop John McAreavey cited a Pew Research survey showing Christianity is the most prosecuted religion around the world with persecution against them reported in 110 countries.

“Many of these countries have significant trade links with Ireland. Persecution is increasing in China. In North Korea a quarter of the country’s Christians live in forced labour camps. Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the Maldives all feature in the 10 worst places to be Christian,” McAreavey said.  “According to the International Society for Human Rights, a non-religious organization, 80 percent of all acts of religious discrimination in the world today are directed against Christians.”

McAreavey said that the persecution of Christians in the Middle East is “a threat to our common humanity” and that the stability of the entire planet is at risk because of the violence in the region.  He also condemned Western leaders who are not taking steps to help persecuted Christians.

“Perhaps because of a fear of being seen as less than aggressively secular in their own country,” he said, many governments of majority Christian countries in the West seem reluctant to give direct aid to churches and religious minorities.”

McAreavey defined the loss of religious freedom and persecution as something that “can run from subtle cultural exclusion of the religious voice from the public square and refusal to accommodate reasonable differences of conscience to active discrimination, forced displacement, exploitation and loss of life.”

Vatican Admits Consideration of Canonization of Mother Teresa

A Vatican spokesman has confirmed that Mother Teresa could be canonized during the Jubilee for Mercy in 2016.

Fr. Federico Lombardi said nothing has been formally scheduled but that her canonization is “a working hypothesis.”

“There is no official date but you can say that the Congregation for the Causes of Saints is studying the cause,” Fr. Lombardi told Catholic News Agency.

A celebration of the life of Mother Teresa has been scheduled as part of the events for the Jubilee of Mercy.  The possible canonization would take place the day before the scheduled remembrance on September 5, 2016.

September 4th is scheduled to be a day of jubilee for workers and volunteers of mercy.

The canonization for Teresa has significant support within the church.

“Who more than Mother Teresa can be recognized today as one who lived the works of mercy, and who more than she could be capable of sustaining the commitment of millions of people – men, women, youth – in various forms of volunteer work express the beauty of the mercy of the Church?” Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization said.

The Vatican admits planning would be necessary for a canonization because over 300,000 people came to the Vatican for Teresa’s beatification ceremony in 2003.

President Discusses Need For Fathers At Catholic Event

President Obama addressed the Catholic-Evangelical Summit on Overcoming Poverty at Georgetown University Tuesday and spoke of the importance of faith and family.

“Faith-based groups across the country and around the world understand the centrality and the importance of [poverty] in a intimate way — in part because these faith-based organizations are interacting with folks who are struggling and know how good these people are, and know their stories, and it’s not just theological, but it’s very concrete. They’re embedded in communities and they’re making a difference in all kinds of ways,” Obama said.

The President went on to say that impacting youth was vital for society.

“When I think about my own Christian faith and my obligations,” Obama continued, “it is important for me to do what I can myself — individually mentoring young people, or making charitable donations, or in some ways impacting whatever circles and influence I have. But I also think it’s important to have a voice in the larger debate. And I think it would be powerful for our faith-based organizations to speak out on this in a more forceful fashion.”

The President specifically spoke of the need for fathers to stay with their families, especially in the black community.

“I am a black man who grew up without a father and I know the cost that, I paid for that. And I also know that I have the capacity to break that cycle, and as a consequence, I think my daughters are better off.”

The summit had a goal to “make overcoming poverty a moral imperative and urgent national priority.”

Raul Castro Says Pope Inspiring Him To Return To Faith

Cuban President Raul Castro says he has returned to the Catholic Faith after a meeting with Pope Francis.

“I will resume praying and turn to the Church again if the Pope continues in this vein,” Castro said after a 50-minute private audience with Francis at the Vatican on Sunday.

“As I’ve already told my council of advisers, I read all of the Pope’s speeches,” he added, according to CNN. “I promise that I will go to all of his Masses — and with satisfaction. I left the meeting this morning impressed, very impressed by his knowledge, his wisdom, modesty, and by all the virtues that we know he has.”

Catholic activity in Cuba was suppressed by the government after the revolution and several media outlets like the BBC say that they cannot say for sure that Castro is being completely serious with his comment.

“The fact that the man who helped lead the Cuban Revolution would even joke about returning to the Catholic Church shows just how far the relationship between Havana and the Vatican has moved forward recently,” offered BBC correspondent Will Grant from Havana.

Pope Francis has been very critical of the world’s economic systems.

“Jesus affirms that you cannot serve two masters, God and wealth,” Francis said in an interview back in January about the Vatican report titled “This Economy Kills.”

“Is it pauperism? No, it is the Gospel.  Jesus tells us that it is the ‘protocol’ on the basis of which we will be judged, it is what we read in Chapter 25 of Matthew: I had hunger, I had thirst, I was in prison, I was sick, I was naked and you helped me: dressed me, visited me, you took care of me,” Francis argued.

“This attention to the poor is in the Gospel, and in the tradition of the church, it is not an invention of Communism and [we] need not ideologize it, like sometimes happened in the course of history.”

Cuba Builds First Catholic Church Since 1959

The first Catholic Church in 55 years is coming to Sandino, Cuba.

The construction is significant because a number of priests were exiled, jailed or killed in the 1959 Cuban Revolution and the rise of Fidel Castro.

“There is money to begin, building materials to begin, and we have the permissions to start, so everything is ready,” said Jorge Enrique Serpa Pérez, the bishop of Pinar del Río, according to Breitbart News.

Members of the American Catholic Church, especially those serving Cuban refugees and exiles in Florida, were very skeptical about the reason for the government allowing the new church to be built.

“First, I am concerned that normalizing diplomatic ties without addressing [Fidel] Castro’s horrendous human rights record serves as a defacto endorsement for one of the most oppressive regimes in recent history,” said the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.

“As a result of Castro’s totalitarian rule, millions live in poverty, thousands lie in prisons, and many have lost their lives. In addition, the God-given rights of Cuban citizens are held hostage to governmental persecution.”

Father Cyril Castro says that the new church is proof that the faith is not lost in Cuba.

“People can say that Catholicism was lost in Cuba, but it’s not true,” he added. “The family of faith has endured. In fact, we are showing the fruit of those roots.”

Russell Moore, Rick Warren Join Pope’s “Interfaith Conference”

Two major evangelical Christian leaders have accepted invitations from Pope Francis to take part in a worldwide “interfaith conference on marriage and family.”

In addition to Catholics and Christians, the “Complementarity of Man and Woman” conference will feature leaders from Judiasm, Islam, Hinduism and multiple other faiths.

Moore, a driving force in the Southern Baptist Convention, wrote on his website that he is attending because he will take the true gospel of Christ anywhere that he’s invited and he hopes to be able to reaffirm the true definition of marriage.

“I hope that this gathering of religious leaders can stand in solidarity on the common grace, creational mandate of marriage and family as necessary for human flourishing and social good,” Moore wrote.  “I also hope that we can learn from one another about where these matters stand around the world.”

Warren and others who have reached out to the Catholic Church have received criticism that they are ignoring the truth of the Gospel the conflicts with parts of Roman Catholic teachings.

New York Archdiocese Plans To Merge 100 Parishes

Mergers and closures are coming to New York’s Catholic churches.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan said that 112 parishes will be marged into 55 parishes this year and as many as 33 churches will be closed.

“This time of transition in the history of the archdiocese will undoubtedly be difficult for people who live in parishes that will merge,” stated Dolan. “There will be many who are hurt and upset as they experience what will be a change in their spiritual lives, and I will be one of them.”

The steps are part of a 2010 plan implemented by the church called “Making All Things New.”  The plan was to encourage long term pastoral planning.

The New York Times reported that many congregants at churches slated to be closed were not happy about the move.

“There were gasps and tears at Holy Rosary Church in East Harlem. At Sacred Heart in Mount Vernon, congregants shared mournful embraces,” the Times’ Sharon Otterman wrote. “And at Our Lady of Peace on the East Side, parishioners pledged a fight … From Staten Island to the Catskills, there was anguish for congregations that learned that their churches would be effectively shuttered and relief among those whose parishes were spared.”

The closures are attributed to low regular attendance and fewer ordinations of Priests.