Vatican Creates New Church Structure For Non-Catholics

Pope Benedict has approved a new church provision that will allow non-Catholics and in particular, the Anglicans, to convert to Catholicism while at the same time, maintaining many of their distinctive spiritual and liturgical traditions.

The Vatican made this decision in response to the disillusionment of some Anglicans over the election of openly gay bishops and the blessing of same sex marriage which has caused a major uproar in the Anglican church not only in England, but across the world.

This never-before provision for Protestants to become a part of the Catholic Church has many Protestant leaders concerned about the breakdown in doctrinal differences between the Catholics and Protestants that came out of the Reformation 500 years ago.

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Pope Calls For A True World Political Authority

Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday condemned the “grave deviations and failures” of capitalism exposed by the financial crisis and issued a strong call for ” to oversee a return to ethics in the global economy.

The pontiff’s call for stronger government regulation was made in his third and eagerly awaited encyclical, Charity in Truth, which the Vatican chose to issue on the eve of the G8 summit of rich nations being held in Italy.

His attack on unbridled capitalism and unregulated market forces was also accompanied by a strong critique of some international aid agencies, which he accused of encouraging abortion, sterilisation and imposing contraception. The pontiff, elected to the papacy in 2005, stirred controversy on his first visit to Africa in March when he said that use of condoms exacerbated the Aids crisis.

While the pontiff’s call for a new political authority is unlikely to go down well with the G8 heads of government, his plea for financiers in particular to refocus on ethics will be reflected in a G8 communiqué bearing the imprint of Italy and Germany in their push for stronger and more co-ordinated “global standards”.

In common with some of the more regulatory-minded members of the G8, the pope does not reject globalisation outright but seeks more forceful implementation of common rules and standards.

Pope Benedict’s emphasis on the need for “forms of redistribution of wealth” is also likely to fuel the debate at the summit – to be attended by 39 heads of government and international institutions – over the failure of several rich nations, most notably Italy and France, to honour past aid commitments.

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Pope in Israel Calls for Palestinian State

Pope Benedict XVI called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian homeland immediately after he arrived in Israel Monday, a stance that could put him at odds with his hosts on a trip aimed at improving ties between the Vatican and Jews.

The pope also took on the delicate issue of the Holocaust, pledging to “honor the memory” of the 6 million Jewish victims of the Nazi genocide at the start of his five-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Benedict touched down in Israel on the second leg of a weeklong pilgrimage to the Holy Land, after spending three days in neighboring Jordan. He is using the tour to reach out to both Muslims and Jews.

In his first public comments upon arriving, Benedict urged Israelis and Palestinians to “explore every possible avenue” to resolve their differences.

“The hopes of countless men, women and children for a more secure and stable future depend on the outcome of negotiations for peace,” he told a welcoming ceremony at Israel’s international airport. “In union with people of goodwill everywhere, I plead with all those responsible to explore every possible avenue in the search for a just resolution of the outstanding difficulties, so that both peoples may live in peace in a homeland of their own within secure and internationally recognized borders.”

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Pope Stresses Deep Respect For Islam

Pope Benedict XVI underlined his “deep respect” for Islam on Friday in Jordan, on his first trip as pontiff to an Arab state, and stressed that religious freedom is a fundamental human right.

He also called the church a spiritual force that could contribute to progress in bringing about peace in the Middle East.

Speaking after a red carpet welcome from Abdullah II and Queen Rania at Queen Alia Airport as he began his eight-day tour of the Holy Land amid strict security, the pope said he came to Jordan “as a pilgrim.”

He said his visit “gives me a welcome opportunity to speak of my deep respect for the Muslim community, and to pay tribute to the leadership shown by His Majesty the King in promoting a better understanding of the virtues proclaimed by Islam.”

The pope also called religious freedom “a fundamental human right.”

“It is my fervent hope and prayer that respect for the inalienable rights and dignity of every man and woman will come to be increasingly affirmed and defended, not only throughout the Middle East, but in every part of the world,” he said.

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Peres Wants To Yield Sacred Sites To Vatican

President Shimon Peres is willing to hand over Israeli sovereignty of key Christian holy sites to the Vatican, a proposition that is reportedly opposed by Interior Minister Eli Yishai and that has ruffled feathers among other senior government officials, Army Radio reported on Monday.

Local Catholic community prepares for Papal visit

Beit Hanassi could not be reached for comment on Monday, as it does not issue statements to the press while the president is abroad.

According to the radio report, the president is exerting pressure on the government to give up sovereignty over six sites, including the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the Coenaculum on Mount Zion, Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, and the Church of the Multiplication on the Kinneret.

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Pope’s Visit To Israel Fraught With Potential Minefields

The official Israeli government Web site for Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming trip to Israel and the West Bank promotes the May 11-15 visit as a “Bridge for Peace.”

Others, however, describe it as a potential minefield where various factions may try to exploit the pope’s presence for political gain.

“Both Jewish and Muslim ideologues are determined to stop the pope crossing that bridge,” wrote Catholic religion journalist Damian Thompson in his blog for the U.K. Telegraph, “either by smearing him as an anti-Semite or by making his visit to a Palestinian refugee camp look like a politically motivated reproach to Israel.”

The German-born pontiff leaves for the Middle East on May 8; he will spend three days in Jordan before flying to Israel.

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Pope To Visit Israel – Hopes To Build Catholic-Jewish Ties

A papal trip to the Holy Land would be a decisive step in overcoming the problems that still dog Catholic-Jewish relations, a senior Vatican official said.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican official in charge of relations with Jews, made his remarks in an interview Wednesday in the official Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.

The Vatican has said that a papal trip to Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories may still take place in 2009 despite the current violence in Gaza.

Kasper said progress had been made in Jewish-Catholic relations over the past year but “there is no lack of problems.” He underscored two issues in particular: the reintroduction of a “prayer for the Jews” into the Good Friday liturgy and the continuing controversy over the role of Pope Pius XII during the Holocaust.

“I’m convinced then that the pope’s hoped-for trip to the Holy Land would be decisive to overcome prejudice and incomprehension that mark our relations with Judaism,” he said.

via ‘Papal visit to Israel could help Catholic-Jewish ties’ | Jewish News | Jerusalem Post.

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• Pope ‘to visit Holy Land in May’

Blair a Secret Catholic At No10

Tony Blair was a secret Catholic throughout his years in office, according to one of his former advisers.

Lance Price, who was a Downing Street spokesman, recalled that, a year after being elected, Mr Blair asked him to ‘’squash” a report that he had told the Archbishop of Siena ”in my heart I feel more of a Catholic”.

Mr Price told the Today program on BBC Radio 4 that Mr Blair had told him, ”I don’t discuss my Catholicism with anybody.” He went on, ”I thought what he meant to say was, ‘I don’t discuss my Christianity with anybody.’ But looking back, I think, in his heart he was a Roman Catholic throughout the time that he was prime minister.” Mr Price was commenting on a program to be shown on BBC1 yesterday in which the former prime minister appears to express regret that he was not more open about his religion while at No10. In an interview for Christmas Voices, Mr Blair says, ”It would have caused such a palaver if I had done it while I was still in office.” But he admits most people would not have minded. ”Probably we could have been a little more adventurous on this without bringing the house down.”

Mr Blair, whose wife is a Catholic and whose children have been brought up in the faith, was received into the Church last December. Independent

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Plans Underway For Pope To Visit Israel

Plans are being finalised for Pope Benedict XVI to visit Israel in May next year, the Vatican has confirmed.

The Pope had intended to make the announcement himself at Christmas, Vatican sources said. However the news was leaked this week by the Israeli daily Haaretz. Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said diplomatic contacts were under way to prepare a trip, and the Israeli Ambassador to the Holy See, Mordechay Lewy, said the visit was ”very probable”.

Mr Lewy added that ”a visit by the pope to the Holy Land would have incomparable historic value and he himself has already announced his desire to go there”.

Israel and the Vatican have only had full diplomatic relations since 1993. There remain a number of unresolved issues, including the Vatican’s request for custody of Christian sites in Israel such as the room of the Last Supper on Mount Zion and a church in Caesaria linked to St Peter. The Vatican is also seeking tax exemptions for Church property in Israel.

The most recent cause of tension however is the controversy surrounding the Vatican’s plans to beatify Pius XII, the wartime pontiff whom many Jews criticise for his alleged failure to speak out against the Nazi Holocaust. In October, the Israeli Social Affairs Minister, Yitzhak Herzog, said plans to beatify Pius XII – the step before sainthood – were ”unacceptable”.

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