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January 31

Pope calls Hungarian Bishops to use "new aeropaghi" for evangelization

Rome, 31 (NE) Resuming the traditional quinquennial "ad limina" visits to Rome by bishops, which had been suspended during the Jubilee year, Pope John Paul II received yesterday the bishops of Hungary. During the meeting, the Pope recalled that Hungary is now celebrating its first millennium as a Christian nation with the motto "Our past is our hope - Christ is our future."

Addressing the Bishops, the Holy Father expressed his concern for the growing culture of death. He also lamented the "religious indifference which marks many societies today". "Even if He is put on the margins or silenced, God is present", said the Pope. "Certainly, many live as if God does not exist. But the desire for Him is always alive in man's heart. Man, in fact, ... seeks a truth which transcends him because he feels ... that in this is the meaning of his own life."

In closing words, Pope John Paul urged the bishops to renew their pastoral ministry to Christian families, "true domestic Churches," and to pay particular attention to young people. To fulfill these and other pastoral ministries, the Pope advised Hungary's bishops to use not only the traditional forms of evangelization such as preaching, catechesis, retreats and pastoral letters, but to also turn to "the new 'aeropaghi'" of the radio, television and new technologies."

Consistory to be largest held by Pope John Paul II

Rome, 31 (NE) On Wednesday, February 21, at 10:30 a.m. in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father will hold the Ordinary Public Consistory for the creation of 44 new cardinals, according to a communique from the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff made public yesterday. The consistory will be the largest held by Pope John Paul II. Afterwards, on Thursday, February 22, feast of the Chair of Peter, at 10:30 a.m. in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father will preside over the Eucharistic celebration with the new cardinals, on whom he will bestow the cardinalate ring. The consistory itself is a Liturgy of the Word, followed by a profession of faith. The new cardinals then swear their fidelity to the Church, and each new member of the College of Cardinals in turn kneels before the Pope to receive his red hat. Each new cardinal is then assigned to a titular parish in Rome. As it was informed, courtesy visits to the new cardinals will take place on February 21, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., in locations still to be announced.

US Bishop calls youth to be "saints of the new millennium"

Arlington, 31 (NE) "Don't be afraid to be the saints of the new millennium. The Lord wants you to be fearless apostles of the Gospel." Recalling these words from the Holy Father, Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde urged the students at Bishop Ireton High School to pray for divine guidance as they decide which path to take in their earthly journey. "No matter what needs to be changed in our lives, God loves us and reaches out to us where we are. Are we responding to God's reaching out to us? Are we responding to God's love for us?", questioned the Bishop. "Bring God into the conversation to help you decide who you want to be," Bishop Loverde said as well. The Bishop of Arlington also praised the students for their public witness on Jan. 22 at the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., and Mass for Life at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington.

Florida Bishops calls lawyers and doctors to defend life

Miami, 31 (NE) Marking the 28th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, which stripped away protection of law from unborn children at any stage of pregnancy, the Catholic Bishops of Florida have issued a statement encouraging doctors and lawyers to defend life. In their message, the Bishops express their concern for the increasing support to legal actions that "struck down laws protecting the lives of the weakest and most vulnerable members of our human family, unborn children".

"In opposing these decisions and seeking their overturn, we hoped for and expected support from the two professions most dedicated to preservation and defense of human life, those of medicine and law. Sadly, that support has not come." "And today, joined by the entertainment and media industries, there are members in both professions who openly advocate euthanasia and assisted suicide".

In their statement, the Bishops renew their commitment to work, to educate and to pray that the laws of our nation will again respect the lives of every human being, from its very beginning, until its natural end. "With God's help, Roe v. Wade will one day be reversed," the Bishops say in closing.

January 30

Mexican Cardinal condemns experiments with human embryos

Mexico City, 30 (NE) The Archbishop of Mexico, Cardinal Norberto Rivera, stressed last weekend the need to defend life and human rights in our times. In his homily during Sunday Mass, Cardinal Rivera affirmed that the Church encourages respect for the individual and his dignity, from conception to natural death. The Mexican Archbishop said as well that there are people that oppose this duty. "The message of Jesus is rejected by those who do not bear that the defense of one's human rights involves also the defense of other people's human rights", he said. Cardinal Rivera also reiterated his position against cloning and the use of human embryos for experiments. "The human being, from its conception" he affirmed, "deserves all our respect and is not an object of experiment. Studies must be made through other way, and as long as they are beneficial for humanity and not against people, not to destroy human beings that are already conceived." The teachings of Jesus, he stressed, must be entirely accepted "and not be accommodated to our own ideas".

Future Copt Cardinal says designation is "sign of trust" for Egyptian Catholics

Rome, 30 (NE) "A sign of trust given not only to me but also to our Church, the Catholic Copt Church, that is a minority in Egypt," stated Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, Stephanos II Gathas, after Pope John Paul II made public his nomination as Cardinal. "The Pope's designation," he stated, "is an encouragement for all of us, and an invitation to be more united to the Roman Church. Therefore we thank the Lord and express our acknowledgment to the Holy Father who visited Egypt last year." "He is the first Pope to have come to our country. This has greatly encouraged all the Egyptian Catholics," he added.

Patriarch Ghattas was born in Egypt on January 16, 1920. He was ordained priest on March 25, 1944 in Rome. In that same year he entered the seminary of the Congregation of the Mission in Paris. During 15 years he worked in the popular missions in Lebanon and Egypt. In May, 1967 he was elected Bishop. After this he was named administrator of the Patriarchate of Alexandria and on June 9, 1986, he was named Patriarch. He has made numerous trips to Canada, Australia and the United State, where he founded the first parish of Copt Catholics.

"Copts" is the name for Christians in Egypt, a part of the Church whose history goes back, according to the tradition, to the preaching of Saint Mark in Alexandria. During much time the Bishop of Alexandria was the only Bishop in Egypt and therefore the Council of Nicaea granted him the title of "Patriarch of Alexandria" in 325. This title is still maintained. Since mid V century, due to the monophysitic heresy, the Church in Egypt suffered a series of events that separated it from communion with Rome. The definitive reunification would become concrete in the XIXth century, when Pope Leo XII established the Copt Catholic Patriarchate. Today there are around 200,000 Catholic Copts, divided in 6 dioceses and more than 100 parishes.

Chile: Senate salutes Archbishop Errazuriz for his nomination as cardinal

Santiago de Chile, 30 (NE) The Senate in Chile unanimously approved a project presented by its president, Andres Zaldivar, to congratulate Archbishop Francisco Javier Errazuriz of Santiago, for his nomination as cardinal by Pope John Paul II. Expressing wishes for his success in his new responsibilities, the approved text highlighted the performance of the Archbishop of Santiago, underlining his permanent commitment to his community and his untiring search for peace, unity and reconciliation of Chileans. The El Mercurio newspaper informed that the text also acknowledges the effort of the Church in Chile in favor of a national reconciliation.

Cardinal Bevilacqua calls to proclaim Gospel of Life with courage

Philadelphia, 30 (NE) Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, urging the faithful in Philadelphia to announce the "Gospel of Life," just as the Lord Jesus did, exhorted everyone to "raise his prophetic voice and help our culture keep these issues before the eyes and ears of the public, by private and public conversations, letters, and, of course, continuous prayer and sacrifice." "Unfortunately, there are many voices today that are contrary to Jesus' Gospel of Life. These contrary voices do not express the abundant life which God invites us to share. These contrary voices reflect, instead, a culture of death that threatens to irreparably harm us and our society," stated the Archbishop of Philadelphia. He emphasized the spiritual and moral blindness of a culture that "in spite of a growing rhetoric that contradicts it," doesn't defend the weakest, who "are daily oppressed and who have no resource to the law," for the "law doesn't even recognize them as persons."

January 29

Pope makes public names of 7 more Cardinals

Rome, 29 (NE) Pope John Paul II made public yesterday the names of the two Cardinals he named "in pectore" during the consistory held in 1998. Addressing faithful from his window overlooking St. Peter's Square, before the Sunday Angelus prayer, the Pope also made public the names of five other Bishops who will be made Cardinals in the consistory to be held February 21. As the Holy Father announced yesterday, Archbishop Marian Jaworski of Leopoli of the Latins (Ukraine) and Archbishop Janis Pujats of Riga (Letonia) where the two names of Cardinals kept secret during the last consistory.

"'In Pectore', that is, in the heart," said the Pope "I had last Sunday other names that, for different reasons, I have kept until today." They will "also be counted among the Cardinals that I will create in the consistory of February 21", he added. These are: Archbishop Lubomyr Husar, Archbishop major of Lviv of the Ukrainians; Archbishop Johannes Joachim Degenhart of Paderborn (Germany); Archbishop Julio Terrazas Sandoval of Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia); Archbishop Wilfrid Fox Napier of Durban (South Africa) and Bishop Karl Lehmann of Mainz (Germany).

After the Marian prayer, the Pope expressed once again his solidarity to the victims of the earthquakes in El Salvador and India, calling international organizations to help the victims of the natural disasters that have killed thousands of people.

Taiwan: Catholics committed in evangelization of mainland China

Rome, 29 (NE) The Catholic Church in Taiwan is committing herself to be a bridge for the evangelization of mainland China, highlighted this week Cardinal Jan Pieter Schotte, Secretary general of the Synod of Bishops. In declarations to Fides during his trip to Taiwan, Cardinal Schotte said that Church in the island "welcomed the mandate issued by the Pope in 1984. It is giving serious attention to his call to be a bridge between the universal Church and the Church in mainland China, today a martyr Church."

The Cardinal stressed that this is being achieved "not so much through great projects and programmes in China, but rather through 'normal' contact with Chinese Catholics." "For example" he explained, "contact between families, between priests, or religious, whose acquaintance was made either before the separation or after. Also through exchange of teachers and religious who go to mainland China to give formation courses or updating conferences." This approach, he emphasized, "makes use of every opportunity to demonstrate genuine concern for the Church in mainland China. This sort of approach can step over the limits set by Beijing's 'official' attitude towards the Church and the Holy See."

Regarding the reality of the Church in Taiwan, Cardinal Schotte noted that the island has "one of the most developed societies in the Far East. Progress means ever higher standards of living and here lies the challenge to the Church in Taiwan, pastoral work must be adapted to meet the changing times." "The Church" he said, "must develop new pastoral activity in towns and parishes to help people discover the religious dimension of life, and not to be content with reaching only material wellbeing."

Thailand: new shrine in honor of Blessed martyr priest

Philadelphia, 29 (NE) Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, Archbishop of Philadelphia, announced recently that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will dedicate the year 2001 to the promotion of vocations to the priesthood. During a news conference the Cardinal announced the initiative, that will be known as "Philadelphia Priest Call". In an effort to reach as many men as possible, the Archdiocese will air television and radio messages that promote priestly vocations and will publish advertisements in major Philadelphia area newspapers as well as college newspapers. Billboards throughout the five-county area of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia are in place and there is also an emphasis on the internet.

"We have always been blessed with a good number of vocations in our archdiocese", said Cardinal Bevilacqua during the news conference. "Yet, our needs are always great… The world offers so many vocational choices nowadays. Young men today may not even consider a priestly vocation. Philadelphia Priest Call will try to change that." "Many people think that identifying prospective vocations is solely the job of the priest. This is simply not true. We are asking teachers, parents, parishioners, co-workers, and family members to look at a young man they know and ask the question, 'would he make a good priest?'" said Cardinal Bevilacqua.

Thailand: new shrine in honor of Blessed martyr priest

Rome, 26 (NE) Archbishop Antonio Franco, Apostolic Nuncio in the Philippines, expressed his support to the new president of the Philippines, Gloria Arroyo, and encouraged unity in the country. In a meeting with the new president, speaking on behalf of the diplomatic corps in Manila, Archbishop Franco said that "on behalf of the governments and the international organizations that we represent in the Philippines, we come here to present your Excellency with warmest and sincerest felicitations and prayers for the new office that the Filipino people have entrusted to you." The Apostolic Nuncio specially stressed that "it is time to heal and rebuild," and assured President Arroyo of international support and cooperation to reach her goal. Meanwhile, Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, President of the Bishops' conference, called the new president to "work for the common good of the country, especially the poor, and to uplift the image of the Philippines, which should be a progressive, truly democratic country with a government of integrity and honesty."

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