"Gravely flawed" – that's the dire warning of medical experts who have seen
copies of the proposed guidelines for "Ministry to Persons with Homosexual
Inclinations," to be released by the Catholic Bishops of the United States at
their annual conference in Baltimore next week.
LIRA Diocese Catholic Bishop the Rt. Rev. Joseph Franzelli received a 14-year-old orphan as a gift. This was in recognition of his pastoral work at Lwala primary school, Alito sub-county in Apac district.
Franzelli, who was on a one-month pastoral tour, was also given six sheep, four goats, about 15 litres of honey and money. The gifts were handed over at a ceremony at the school campus recently. He had confirmed over 200 Christians at the school chapel.
The boy’s guardian, Miscellanea Auma, said the Primary Four boy, only identified as
Onyung, is expected to devote his life to church work and perhaps become a
priest.
The recent October edition of “La Civiltà Cattolica” – the authoritative
magazine of the Rome Jesuits printed with the supervision and authorization of
the Vatican authorities – opens with a jaw-dropping editorial on Islam. The
editorial furnishes a very detailed and alarming description of fundamentalist
and terrorist Islam, behind which “there are great and powerful Islamic states”:
an Islam aiming at the conquest of the world and fostered by violence “for the
cause of Allah.” But it does this without even the slightest note of criticism
of this nexus of violence and faith. And it is as if this nexus were an
inescapable reality, against which the West and the Church should do little or
nothing: little at the practical level – it’s enough to look over the scant
measures against terrorism that are recommended – and nothing at the theoretical
level.
Pope Benedict XVI prays at the tomb of Pope John Paul II today...The Diocese of Joliette has issued a press release after the mainstream
media erroneously reported that the Vatican had given permission for a Catholic
priest who supports abortion and homosexual 'marriage' to run for public
office.
Both a Canadian Press story, published in several papers, and a CBC
story claimed that the Vatican granted Fr. Raymond Gravel special permission to
run for politics. Gravel is representing the Bloc Quebecois, a separatist
party which is also known for its support of abortion and homosexual
'marriage'.
The first line of the press release from the diocese states: "No 'green
light' was given by the Vatican." It continues, "The Bishop of Joliette
did not receive any permission from Roman Authorities regarding the plans of Fr.
Raymond Gravel."
Among the various religious groups, 76 percent of Protestants, 64 percent of Catholics and 30 percent of Jews said they are "absolutely certain" there is a God while 93 percent of Christians who describe themselves as "Born Again" feel certain God exists.
When questioned on whether God is male or female, 36 percent of respondents said they think God is male, 37 percent said neither male nor female and 10 percent said "both male and female."
Only one percent think of God as a female, according to the poll.
Asked whether God has a human form, 41 percent said they think of God as "a spirit or power than can take on human form but is not inherently human."
As to whether God controls events on Earth, 29 percent believe that to be the case while 44 percent said God "observes but does not control what happens on Earth".
Twice, the pope deviated slightly from his written address to underline
certain fundamental ideas.
The first time, citing St Bernard, he said that looking at the saints
serves to “awaken in us the great desire of holiness”. And he added
spontaneously: “Awakening the desire to be close to God, in the great family of
friends of God. Being close to God in his family is the vocation of all
Christians”. Here is a twofold concern of the pope: that holiness should not be
considered as something exceptional, and that it should be seen in relation to
God. He said: “To be saints, it is not necessary to undertake extraordinary
works and actions, or to possess exceptional charismas.” Above all, he wants to
instil the idea that the true dignity of man comes through holiness and
relationship with God. Bearing in mind the secularized world, which tends to do
without God and to exclude Him, the pope said: “The example of the saints is an
encouragement for us to follow in the same footsteps, and to experience the joy
of those who trust in God, because the only true reason for man’s sadness and
unhappiness is living far from Him.”
The second improvisation came as the pope was talking about the
Beatitudes, the Gospel of today’s Mass. The Gospel of the Beatitudes is often
used by some theologians to present a Christianity “of values” (poverty, hunger,
justice, peace workers and so on), detached from the person of Jesus. The pope
was clear: “In reality, the Blessed one par excellence is only Him, Jesus. It is
He, in fact, who is truly poor in spirit, afflicted, meek, the one who hungers
and thirsts for justice, merciful, pure in heart, and a peace worker. It is He
who is persecuted in the cause of right”. And spontaneously he added: “The
Beatitudes show us the mystery of death and resurrection, which is the mystery
of Jesus.” He continued: “With the Beatitudes, Jesus points out to us how to
follow him and to imitate him. In the measure that we welcome his invitation and
seek to follow it, we too can participate in his Beatitudes.”
Thus, the emphasis of Benedict XVI corrects a confused concept
that makes holiness a sort of “religion of civic values”, without testifying to
the Christian roots. At the same time, he opens a door to dialogue with the
Protestant world, which is often critical about the saints and devotion to them:
holiness is following Christ, not divinization operated by man. The pope said:
“Holiness calls for constant effort, but it is possible for all because, more
than the work of man, it is above all a gift of God, three times Holy... With
Him [with Christ] the impossible becomes possible and even a camel can pass
through the eye of a needle (cfr Mk 10:25). With his help, only with his help,
is given to us to become perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect (cfr Mt
5:48).”
