Greetings in Christ. Here is the first edition of JesusCaritasEst Catholic News World.
Canada
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and family pose for a photo with Pope Benedict XVI during a private audience at the Vatican. (Tiziana Fabi/Associated Press)
This week Prime Minister Harper attended the G8 summit. He and his family met with Pope Benedict XVI.
Harper was quoted as saying: "It was an honour to meet Pope Benedict and hear his perspective on a number of important issues, including human rights and an ethical response to the global economic crisis." Harper, his wife Laureen and two children Ben and Rachel spent some time with the Pontiff. They exchanged gifts at the end of the meeting. (With files from: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/07/11/harper-pope.html)
USA
President Obama and his wife also met with the Holy Father. The Pope provided the President with the document: 'The Dignity of the Human Person'. This document emphasizes the value of Human life in all its stages. (With files from:http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=34043)
International
4 Baghdad Churches were bombed in 24 hours. 8 people were injured in these bombings. Due to the violence in this area, approximately 1 million Christians have fled Irag in recent years.
Vatican
On June 19, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated the "Year for Priests".He said: "Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for responding to my invitation and coming in great numbers to this celebration with which we inaugurate the Year for Priests. I greet the Cardinals and Bishops, in particular the Cardinal Prefect and the Secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, together with the officials of that Congregation and the Bishop of Ars." (With files from:http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20090619_anno-sac_en.html)
On June 29, the Pope released a new Encyclical entitled: "Caritas in veritate". It follows the Pope's first Encyclical "Deus Caritas Est" and speaks of the Church's social doctrine. Here is an excerpt:
1. Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity. Love — caritas — is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is a force that has its origin in God, Eternal Love and Absolute Truth. Each person finds his good by adherence to God's plan for him, in order to realize it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth he becomes free (cf. Jn 8:22). To defend the truth, to articulate it with humility and conviction, and to bear witness to it in life are therefore exacting and indispensable forms of charity. Charity, in fact, “rejoices in the truth” (1 Cor 13:6). All people feel the interior impulse to love authentically: love and truth never abandon them completely, because these are the vocation planted by God in the heart and mind of every human person. The search for love and truth is purified and liberated by Jesus Christ from the impoverishment that our humanity brings to it, and he reveals to us in all its fullness the initiative of love and the plan for true life that God has prepared for us. In Christ, charity in truth becomes the Face of his Person, a vocation for us to love our brothers and sisters in the truth of his plan. Indeed, he himself is the Truth (cf. Jn 14:6).
(With files from: http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html)
