EU condemns anti-Christian violence in Egypt, Malaysia

CWN, January 28, 2010

The European Parliament has condemned recent violence against Christians in Egypt and Malaysia, urging the Egyptian government to “guarantee that Coptic Christians and members of other religious communities and of minorities enjoy the full range of human rights and fundamental freedoms-- including the right to choose and change their religion freely-- and to prevent any discrimination against them.”

Praising the recent Malaysian court decision that permitted Christians to refer to God as “Allah,” the Parliament also called upon Malaysian authorities to “carry out thorough and rapid investigations into reported attacks against places of worship and to bring those responsible to justice.”

The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union has praised the resolution and urged Baroness Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative for External Relations, to “translate this priority into action.”

Source: CWN

Wafer controversy: Did Canada's PM take communion?

OTTAWA (AFP) — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper accepted and ate a communion wafer at a Catholic mass and didn't pocket it as critics have alleged, according to his spokesman.

Harper, a devout Protestant, attended last week's state funeral for Canada's former governor general, Romeo LeBlanc, during which a Catholic priest offered him a communion host.

Television images, some of which have been posted on YouTube, showed Harper receiving the host. The camera remained on the premier for several seconds but it did not show him actually place the wafer into his mouth.

A priest holds a Holy Communion wafer

"At the end of the service, he was offered communion. He accepted communion and he consumed it," Dimitri Soudas said Wednesday, quoted by Canadian media.

Soudas spoke in L'Aquila, Italy, where Harper was attending a G8 meeting.

A Catholic official, vicar general Brian Henneberry, raised the controversy by openly wondering what Harper had done with the wafer.

Henneberry, who is chancellor of Saint John in New Brunswick where the funeral took place, said it would be scandalous had the prime minister put it in his pocket.

The speaker of Canada's Senate, Noel Kinsella, rushed to Harper's defense.

"I would like to state that I personally witnessed Prime Minister Harper consume the host that was given to him by Archbishop Andre Richard," Kinsella said in a statement.

"As a Catholic, I was therefore pleased to see the prime minister of Canada express his solidarity and communion with all those present in the sanctuary."

After the G8 summit, Harper is due at the weekend to have an audience with Pope Benedict.

According to Catholic tradition, the host is a representation of the body of Jesus Christ, and some critics of Harper's actions point out that church law dictates that non-Catholics abstain from receiving communion.

Related Article on non-Cathlic receiving Holy Communion.

FULL SCHEDULE FOR POPE'S VISIT TO THE HOLY LAND

Vatican, May. 8, 2009 (CWNews.com) -

The Vatican has published the complete schedule for Pope Benedict XVI (bio -news) during his trip to the Holy Land in May. The Holy Father will visit Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian territories during his voyage, which will take place May 8-15.

The first stop on the papal itinerary is Amman, Jordan. Arriving there on May 8, he will make a courtesy call at the royal palace that afternoon.

Saturday, May 9, he will travel to Mount Nebo and its memorial to Moses, then to the site of Madaba University, administered by the Latin-rite Catholic patriarchate of Jerusalem. Later in the day he will meet with Muslim leaders at Amman's largest house of worship, the Mosque of al-Hussein bin Talal. At the close of the day he will lead a Vespers service at the Melkite Catholic cathedral of St. George.

Sunday morning, May 10, the Pope will celebrate Mass at a soccer stadium in Amman. In the afternoon he will visit the site of Christ's Baptism on the Jordan River.

On Monday, May 11, the Pontiff will fly to Tel Aviv. Traveling by car to Jersualem, he will pay a courtesy call on Israel's President Shimon Peres-- who is due to escort him during his stay in that country-- and later visit the Yad Vashem memorial to Holocaust victims.

Tuesday, May 12, the Pope will visit the religious shrines in the Old City of Jerusalem. He will meet with the Grand Mufti at the Dome of the Rock, then pray at the Western Wall and meet with Israel's chief rabbis. At noon he will join with the Catholic bishops of the region to pray the Regina Caeli at the Cenacle. In the afternoon he will celebrate Mass in the Valley of Josaphat.

On May 13 the Pope will go to Bethlehem, where he will celebrate Mass in Manger Square. In the afternoon, following a visit to the Nativity grotto in the Bethlehem basilica, he will visit the Aida Refugee Camp, speaking there to Palestinian refugees. That evening he will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at his residence in Bethlehem.

On Thursday, May 14, Pope Benedict will travel into Galilee, and celebrate Mass in Nazareth. He is scheduled to meet with the Israeli prime minister there in the afternoon, then address religious leaders in the Annunciation basilica. On Friday, May 15, his last day in the Holy Land, the Pontiff will be back in Jerusalem, making visits to the Greek Orthodox patriarchate, the Armenian patriarchal church of St. James, and the Holy Sepulchre basilica. That afternoon he will return to Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv, for a brief departure ceremony and his return flight to Rome. He is due back at the Vatican by early Friday evening.

'Angels & Demons' film is harmless

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Reviewers at the Vatican's newspaper have passed judgment on "Angels & Demons," finding the religious thriller commercial and inaccurate, but concluding it is "harmless" entertainment and not a danger to the church.

L'Osservatore Romano ran a review and an editorial in Wednesday's edition, critiquing the movie based on the Dan Brown best-selling novel of the same name.

"Angels & Demons" had its world premiere Monday in Rome, after director Ron Howard charged that the Vatican interfered with getting film permits to shoot scenes in the city — a contention the Vatican said was a publicity stunt.

The newspaper wrote that the movie was "a gigantic and smart commercial operation" filled with "stereotyped characters." The paper suggested moviegoers could make a game out of finding the many historical inaccuracies in the plot.

However, L'Osservatore praised Howard's "dynamic direction" and the "magnificent" reconstruction of locations like St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. Much of the film was shot on sets that painstakingly recreated church landmarks.

The film offers "more than two hours of harmless entertainment, which hardly affects the genius and mystery of Christianity," L'Osservatore's reviewer wrote. It's "a videogame that first of all sparks curiosity and is also, maybe, a bit of fun."

"Angels & Demons" features Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon of "The Da Vinci Code" fame, played by Tom Hanks. In the film, the Vatican turns to Langdon after an ancient secret brotherhood called the Illuminati kidnap four cardinals considered front-runners to be the next pope, and threaten to kill one an hour and then explode a bomb at the Vatican.

On Sunday, Howard said the Vatican had interfered with his efforts to get permits to shoot some scenes. A Vatican spokesman said the statement was designed purely to drum up publicity for the film.

Top church officials strongly objected to "The Da Vinci Code" because it was based on the idea that Jesus married and fathered children and depicted the conservative Catholic movement, Opus Dei, as a murderous cult.

Pope - 'pilgrim of peace' in Holy Land

Vatican, May 4, 2009.  Pope Benedict XVI will travel to Israel next week as "a pilgrim of peace," he told a group of American philanthropists at a May 2 audience. The Holy Father told members of the Papal Foundation that the Holy Land "has been plagued by violence and injustice," creating "a general atmosphere of mistrust, uncertainty, and fear - often pitting neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother."

Facing these problems – which are aggravated by the worldwide economic crisis – the people of the Holy Land are badly in need of Christ’s message of peace, the Pope told his American gusts. He asked prayers for the success of his mission and for the people he would visit. “May they receive the gifts of reconciliation, hope, and peace,” he prayed.

Meanwhile, more than 100 rabbis have signed “United in Our Age,” a statement welcoming Pope Benedict to Israel.

“We - rabbis and Jewish leaders - warmly welcome you and your mission of peace to Israel,” the statement says. “With one voice, we are united in our commitment to interreligious dialogue, to opening more paths to increased understanding, and to continually recognize and strengthen the important relationship between Catholics and Jews worldwide.”

On another development, the Vatican downplays the tensions for the papal trip to Israel. Briefing reporters on May 4, a week in advance of the trip by Pope Benedict XVI to Israel, Archbishop Antonio Franco, the apostolic nuncio in the Holy Land, said that the papal visit should not be a time to call attention to controversies, but to promote warmer relations among peoples.

Science Cannot Disprove Faith

4-March-2009 -- Catholic World News Brief

Science Cannot Disprove Faith, Cardinal Argues

March 03, 2009

Speaking at the opening of a Vatican conference marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin's Origin of Species, Cardinal William Levada said that it is "absurd" to suggest that modern science can disprove the existence of God. The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said that scientific inquiry and religious faith are separate endeavors, and it is a logical error to think that one could determine the other. Christian doctrine does not explain the physical processes by which Creation took place, the cardinal observed. "We believe that however creation has come about and evolved, ultimately God is the creator of all things," he explained. Briefly addressing the debate over Creationist theory, the American prelate said that the Church would not take a stand on a properly scientific issue. "The Vatican listens and learns," he said. 

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