CATHOLIC WORLD NEWS: TUES. NOV. 9, 2010

CATHOLIC WORLD NEWS: TUES. NOV. 9, 2010: HEADLINES-
VATICAN: POPE'S FAREWELL TO SPAIN -
ASIA: SAUDI ARABIA: PRAYERS FOR 17 YEAR OLD GIRL SENTENCED TO DEATH -
AFRICA: DEM. REP. OF CONGO - FR. BAKULENE MURDERED -
EUROPE: SPAIN: WYD HYMN RELEASED- "WE WALK IN CHRIST" -
AMERICA: USA: CARREIRO WINS 2010 CARDINAL BERNARDIN AWARD -
AUSTRALIA: VICTORIA GOVERNMENT TO INCREASE FUNDING FOR CATHOLIC -SCHOOLS
TODAY'S FEAST - NOV. 9 - LATERAN BASILICA -
TODAY'S GOSPEL: NOV. 9: DEDICAITON LATERAN BASILICA: John 2: 13 - 22 -

VATICAN: POPE'S FAREWELL TO SPAIN

Vatican Channel report: Pope's Farewell to Spain: "See You Again in Madrid"On Sunday evening, just before the farewell ceremony at Barcelona international airport, Benedict XVI briefly met Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. They talked about the success of the visit and the government's cooperation with the Church in preparation for World Youth Day in Madrid in August 2011. On leaving Spain, the Holy Father said goodbye to King Juan Carlos. "With God's help," he said, "we shall meet again in Madrid next year." In his address, Benedict XVI expressed his gratitude for "the hospitality and the peoples of this land, so close to my heart" and he recalled the "immense joy" he felt when he consecrated as a minor basilica the Sacred Family church in Barcelona. Still vivid in his memory was Santiago de Compostela. The Pope stressed that pilgrims that cross Europe to visit the tomb of the Apostle were very different but the Faith was the same.http://www.youtube.com/vatican#p/a/u/2/XGAGyaSfS84AGyaSfS84
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ASIA: SAUDI ARABIA: PRAYERS FOR 17 YEAR OLD GIRL SENTENCED TO DEATH
AsiaNews REPORT -Fr. George Sigamony, director of Caritas Sri Lanka, calls on all Catholics to pray after the verdict that decrees the death sentence for Rizana, just 17 years old, in prison on false charges of murder. The Asian Human Rights Commission: "Do not let Rizana Nafeek become a victim of the infamous practice of Saudi Arabia to sentence juvenile offenders to death."It's official: the young girl Rizana Nafeek only 17 years of age, in prison since 2005 on false charges of murder, has been sentenced to death. Fr. George Sigamony, national director of Caritas Sri Lanka, speaks out on his case, and together with AsiaNews launches and appeal for her, and for all migrant workers whose situation has become unsustainable, "Now that, unfortunately, the verdict has been issued, the only thing we can do is continue to pray for her and her situation". The girl's death sentence was upheld on appeal in late October. Rizana, a minor at the time, was sent to Saudi Arabia - on a false passport - to work as a care giver. When the child of her employer died while she was bottle feeding, she was accused of murder and sentenced to death in a sham trial based on a signed confession, the content of which she did not know, because it was written in another language. After obtaining legal protection and a translator, she retracted the confession, explaining that the tragic death was simply an accident. But nothing has helped.Fr. Sigamony has been campaigning for Rizana’s release since 2007. He tells AsiaNews: "We have carried out many campaigns in Sri Lanka, and collected thousands of signatures that we sent to the competent authorities in Saudi Arabia. In addition, we have attracted international attention, thanks to the Caritas network, but without success. " The director of Caritas also underlines another aspect of the situation: "The culprit who sent Rizana to Saudi Arabia illegally [the girl was underage when she started to work] is still alive, free, working and enjoying all his rights : is also to blame. We wish to express our opposition, and urge the Government to implement a policy that protects migrant workers".Meanwhile, the Asian Human Rights Commission (Ahcr) has released a statement: "Do not let Rizana Nafeek become a victim of the infamous practice of Saudi Arabia to sentence juvenile offenders to death." It states that there is need for constant pressure to be brought to bear on the highest authorities, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, and the interior minister, to grant a pardon, and ask forgiveness to the family of the child.According to the Ahcr, Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of executions in the world. According to Amnesty International statistics on death sentences, at least 69 were executed in Saudi Arabia in 2009, 102 in 2008. In late 2009, Amnesty International denounced the presence of at least 141 people on death row in Saudi Arabia, including 104 foreign nationals. Migrant workers from Africa, Asia and the Middle East are the main victims. http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Sri-Lankan-Muslim-teenager-sentenced-to-death-in-Saudi-Arabia.-Appeal-of-Catholics-19941.html
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AFRICA: DEM. REP. OF CONGO - FR. BAKULENE MURDERED
Agenzia Fides REPORT – Fr. Christian Bakulene, Pastor of the Parish of Saint Jean-Baptiste in Kanyabayonga, south of Butembo, in the territory of Lubero (North Kivu), eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, was murdered on November 8th.The priest was on a motorcycle with a friend, returning to his parish, near the village of Mapere, when two armed men in military uniform blocked his way. Before Fr. Bakulene had time to park the motorcycle, one of the two soldiers shot him with several rounds of gunfire. The friend of the priest was unhurt and the two killers did not steal anything. According to local press, it seems the assassination was intended to frighten the priests working in the area. http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=27764&lan=eng
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EUROPE: SPAIN: WYD HYMN RELEASED- "WE WALK IN CHRIST"
CNA REPORT - The hymn for World Youth Day 2011, titled “Firm in the Faith,” was released on Monday. Based on the words of St. Paul, its lyrics declare “we walk in Christ.”The Youth Orchestra of the Community of Madrid and the Youth Choir of the Escolania de El Escorial participated in taping the Spanish-language hymn, which will be distributed starting Nov. 19. The release date coincides with the eve of the Feast of the Virgin of Almudena, the patron saint of Madrid.The song’s seven verses, based on St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, are accompanied by a chorus which says:“Firm in the faith, we walk in Christ,Our Friend, Our Lord,Glory always to Him! Glory always to Him!We walk in Christ firm in the faith.”Auxiliary Bishop of Madrid César Franco, general coordinator of World Youth Day (WYD), authored the lyrics. According to WYD organizers, he said the verses show “the humanity of Christ in the traditional Spanish mystical style, and aim to bring that humanity closer to the young people.”Fr. Enrique Vázquez, a religious music composer, created the music. He said the first challenge was to invent a melody that would help pilgrims “understand, sing and pray the text.”“(T)he verses begin with a more lyrical character which reflect the amazement, admiration, and gratefulness to the person and work of Our Lord,” he explained.The hymn has liturgical, popular and instrumental versions. The instrumental version is intended for large choirs, while the popular version may be accompanied by a guitar.All three versions are available for free on the official WYD website. A multilingual music video of the hymn will be distributed in the future.The hymn is available at http://www.madrid11.com/en/press-office/downloads http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/world-youth-day-hymn-sings-of-firmness-in-faith/
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AMERICA: USA: CARREIRO WINS 2010 CARDINAL BERNARDIN AWARD
USCCB REPORT: Janine Carreiro is Winner of 2010 CCHD Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award (November 8, 2010) — Janine Carreiro, executive director of Brockton Interfaith Community (BIC) in Brockton, Massachusetts, is the recipient of the 2010 Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award, sponsored by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the anti-poverty program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). She will be honored at a reception Monday, November 15, at 5 p.m. during the bishops’ annual Fall General Assembly in Baltimore.Carreiro, 29, is the daughter of immigrants from the Azores. After graduation from the University of Connecticut, she worked as a missioner to East Timor until she and other foreign nationals were forced to leave the country by the Indonesian military. Since 2008, she has worked with BIC, a coalition of Catholic parishes, Protestant congregations, one synagogue, one Cape Verdean Association and a Catholic college.“Janine’s commitment to the poor has taken her around the world and deeply into her own community,” said Bishop Roger Morin of Biloxi, Mississippi, chairman of the bishops’ CCHD subcommittee. “Her commitment is rooted in her Catholic faith, and her work exemplifies what Pope Benedict calls the ‘institutional path’ of charity, something at the heart of the Church’s mission.”In her capacity as an organizer with BIC, Carreiro brought together over 300 concerned citizens with state and local officials in May 2009 to address issues of employment and home foreclosures. In November 2009, she organized a meeting at St. Patrick’s Church in downtown Brockton between over 600 people, members of Congress and the Federal Reserve, leading to loans for unemployed homeowners and action by the Federal Reserve Boston to speed up the loan modification process for troubled homeowners.In these and other cases, Carreiro, aided by her fluency in Portuguese and Spanish, located people within her community with little formal education and trained and supported them to stand up at public meetings and communicate their concerns to public officials. Carreiro is currently working toward a master’s degree in social work at Boston College.The Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award honors a Catholic between the ages of 18 and 30 who demonstrates leadership in fighting poverty and injustice in the United States through community-based solutions. It is named for the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, former archbishop of Chicago and a leading voice on behalf of poor and low-income people, who understood the need to build bridges across ethnic, economic, class and age barriers.---Editors: For more information about CCHD, visit http://www.usccb.org/cchd/. For more information about the Bernardin Award, contact Jill Rauh at 202-541-3297. http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2010/10-200.shtml
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AUSTRALIA: VICTORIA GOVERNMENT TO INCREASE FUNDING FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
CATH NEWS REPORT: Victoria's Labor Government has promised a 40 percent increase in funding for Catholic and independent schools, if re-elected, The Age reports.Catholic and independent schools welcomed the historic funding boost, which would see a future Labor government increase funding to $711 million by 2014, but the Australian Education Union said it was surprising as it pre-empted the outcome of a federal review into private school funding.Under the promised $199.7 million boost, private school students would receive 25 per cent of the cost of educating a student at a public school from the state government. Teachers from needy non-government schools would also receive $5 million for professional development.Mr Brumby said Labor would deliver independent and Catholic schools three times the level of funding they received when the ALP came to office. ''This provides a guaranteed funding stream as Labor will establish an ongoing 25 percent linkage for Catholic and independent schools,'' he said.Victorian Independent Education Union general secretary Debra James said the funding commitment put Victoria on par with other states.''Over a third of Victorian students attend non-government schools, many that operate on the smell of an oily rag,'' she said.Independent Schools Victoria chief executive Michelle Green was also pleased, but said even with the proposed extra funding, private schools would receive less government support than state schools.Catholic Education director Stephen Elder said the decision would be welcomed by Catholic schools, which served some of the state's most disadvantaged areas. http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=24141
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TODAY'S FEAST - NOV. 9 - LATERAN BASILICA
Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in RomeFeast: November 9Information:Feast Day:November 9This is the oldest, and ranks first among the four great "patriarchal" basilicas of Rome. The site was, in ancient times, occupied by the palace of the family of the Laterani. A member of this family, P. Sextius Lateranus, was the first plebian to attain the rank of consul. In the time of Nero, another member of the family, Plautius Lateranus, at the time consul designatus was accused of conspiracy against the emperor, and his goods were confiscated. Juvenal mentions the palace, and speaks of it as being of some magnificence, "regiæ ædes Lateranorum". Some few remains of the original buildings may still be traced in the city walls outside the Gate of St. John, and a large hall decorated with paintings was uncovered in the eighteenth century within the basilica itself, behind the Lancellotti Chapel. A few traces of older buildings also came to light during the excavations made in 1880, when the work of extending the apse was in progress, but nothing was then discovered of real value or importance. The palace came eventually into the hands of Constantine, the first Christian emperor, through his wife Fausta, and it is from her that it derived the name by which it was then sometimes called, "Domus Faustæ". Constantine must have given it to the Church in the time of Miltiades, not later than about 311, for we find a council against the Donatists meeting within its walls as early as 313. From that time onwards it was always the centre of Christian life within the city; the residence of the popes and the cathedral of Rome. The latter distinction it still holds, though it has long lost the former. Hence the proud title which may be read upon its walls, that it is "Omnium urbis et orbis ecclesiarum mater, et caput".It seems probable, in spite of the tradition that Constantine helped in the work of building with his own hands, that there was not a new basilica erected at the Lateran, but that the work carried out at this period was limited to the adaptation, which perhaps involved the enlargement, of the already existing basilica or great hall of the palace. The words of St. Jerome "basilica quondam Laterani" (Ep. lxxiii, P.L., XXII, col. 692) seem to point in this direction, and it is also probable on other grounds. This original church was probably not of very large dimensions, but we have no reliable information on the subject. It was dedicated to the Saviour, "Basilica Salvatoris", the dedication to St. John being of later date, and due to a Benedictine monastery of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist which adjoined the basilica and where members were charged at one period with the duty of maintaining the services in the church. This later dedication to St. John has now in popular usage altogether superseded the original one. A great many donations from the popes and other benefactors to the basilica are recorded in the "Liber Pontificalis", and its splendour at an early period was such that it became known as the "Basilica Aurea", or Golden Church. This splendour drew upon it the attack of the Vandals, who stripped it of all its treasures. St. Leo the Great restored it about 460, and it was again restored by Hadrian I, but in 896 it was almost totally destroyed by an earthquake ("ab altari usque ad portas cecidit"). The damage was so extensive that it was difficult to trace in every case the lines of the old building, but these were in the main respected and the new building was of the same dimensions as the old. This secondchurch lasted for four hundred years and was then burnt down. It was rebuilt by Clement V and John XXII, only to be burnt down once more in 1360, but again rebuilt by Urban V.Through these various vicissitudes the basilica retained its ancient form, being divided by rows of columns into aisles, and having in front an atrium surrounded by colonnades with a fountain in the middle. The façade had three windows, and was embellished with a mosaic representing Christ as the Saviour of the world. The porticoes of the atrium were decorated with frescoes, probably not dating further back than the twelfth century, which commemorated the Roman fleet under Vespasian, the taking of Jerusalem, the Baptism of the Emperor Constantine and his "Donation" to the Church. Inside the basilica the columns no doubt ran, as in all other basilicas of the same date, the whole length of the church from east to west, but at one of the rebuildings, probably that which was carried out by Clement V, the feature of a transverse nave was introduced, imitated no doubt from the one which had been, long before this, added at S. Paolo fuori le Mura. It was probably at this time also that the church was enlarged. When the popes returned to Rome from their long absence at Avignon they found the city deserted and the churches almost in ruins. Great works were begun at the Lateran by Martin V and his successors. The palace, however, was never again used by them as a residence, the Vatican, which stands in a much drier and healthier position, being chosen in its place. It was not until the latter part of the seventeenth century that thechurch took its present appearance, in the tasteless restoration carried out by Innocent X, with Borromini for his architect. The ancient columns were now enclosed in huge pilasters, with gigantic statues in front. In consequence of this the church has entirely lost the appearance of an ancient basilica, and is completely altered in character.Some portions of the older buildings still survive. Among these we may notice the pavement of medieval Cosmatesque work, and the statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, now in the cloisters. The graceful baldacchino over the high altar, which looks so utterly out of place in its present surroundings, dates from 1369. The stercoraria, or throne of red marble on which the popes sat, is now in the Vatican Museum. It owes its unsavoury name to the anthem sung at the ceremony of the papal enthronization, "De stercore erigeus pauperem". From the fifth century there were seven oratories surrounding the basilica. These before long were thrown into the actual church. The devotion of visiting these oratories, which held its ground all through the medieval period, gave rise to the similar devotion of the seven altars, still common in many churches of Rome and elsewhere. Between the basilica and the city wall there was in former times the great monastery, in which dwelt the community of monks whose duty it was to provide the services in the basilica. The only part of it which still survives is the cloister, surrounded by graceful columns of inlaid marble. They are of a style intermediate between the Romanesque proper and the Gothic, and are the work of Vassellectus and the Cosmati. The date of these beautiful cloisters is the early part of the thirteenth century.The ancient apse, with mosaics of the fourth century, survived all the many changes and dangers of the Middle Ages, and was still to be seen very much in its original condition as late as 1878, when it was destroyed in order to provide a larger space for the ordinations and other pontifical functions which take place in this cathedral church of Rome. The original mosaics were, however, preserved with the greatest possible care and very great success, and were re-erected at the end of the new and deeper apse which had been provided. In these mosaics, as they now appear, the centre of the upper portion is occupied by the figure of Christ surrounded by nine angels. This figure is extremely ancient, and dates from the fifth, or it may be even the fourth century. It is possible even that it is the identical one which, as is told in ancienttradition, was manifested to the eyes of the worshippers on the occasion of the dedication of the church: "Imago Salvatoris infixa parietibus primum visibilis omni populo Romano apparuit" (Joan. Diac., "Lib. de Ecclesia Lat.", P.L. CXCIV, 1543-1560). If it is so, however, it has certainly been retouched. Below is seen the crux gammata, surmounted by a dove which symbolizes the Holy Spirit, and standing on a hill whence flow the four rivers of the Gospels, from whose waters stags and sheep come to drink. On either side are saints, looking towards the Cross. These last are thought to belong originally to the sixth century, though they were repaired and altered in the thirteenth by Nicholas IV, whose effigy may be seen prostrate at the feet of the Blessed Virgin. The river which runs below is more ancient still, and may be regarded as going back to Constantine and the first days of the basilica. The remaining mosaics of the apse are of the thirteenth century, and the signatures of the artists, Torriti and Camerino, may still be read upon them. Camerino was a Franciscan friar; perhaps Torriti was one also.The pavement of the basilica dates from Martin V and the return of the popes to Rome from Avignon. Martin V was of the Colonna family, and the columns are their badge. The high altar, which formerly occupied the position customary in all ancient basilicas, in the centre of the chord of the apse, has now beyond it, owing to the successive enlargements of the church, the whole of the transverse nave and of the new choir. It has no saint buried beneath it, since it was not, as were almost all the other great churches of Rome, erected over the tomb of a martyr. It stands alone among all the altars of the Catholic world in being of wood and not of stone, and enclosing no relics of any kind. The reason for this peculiarity is that it is itself a relic of a most interesting kind, being the actual wooden altar upon which St. Peter is believed to have celebrated Mass during his residence in Rome. It was carefully preserved through all the years of persecution, and was brought by Constantine and Sylvester from St. Pudentiana's, where it had been kept till then, to become the principal altar of the cathedral church of Rome. It is now, of course, enclosed in a larger altar of stone and cased with marble, but the original wood can still be seen. A small portion was left at St. Pudentiana's in memory of its long connection with that church, and is still preserved there. Above the High Altar is the canopy or baldacchino already mentioned, a Gothic structure resting on four marble columns, and decorated with paintings by Barna of Siena. In the upper part of the baldacchino are preserved the heads of the Apostles Peter and Paul, the great treasure of the basilica, which until this shrine was prepared to receive them had always been kept in the "Sancta Sanctorum", the private chapel of the Lateran Palace adjoining. Behind the apse there formerly extended the "Leonine" portico; it is not known which pontiff gave it this name. At the entrance there was an inscription commemorating the dream of Innocent III, when he saw the church of the Lateran upheld by St. Francis of Assisi. On the opposite wall was hung the tabula magna, or catalogue of all the relics of the basilica, and also of the different chapels and the indulgences attached to them respectively. It is now in the archives of the basilica.
SOURCE http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/D/dedicationofstjohnlateranbasilicainrome.asp
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TODAY'S GOSPEL: NOV. 9: DEDICAITON LATERAN BASILICA: John 2: 13 - 22
John 2: 13 - 2213The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.14In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business.15And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.16And he told those who sold the pigeons, "Take these things away; you shall not make my Father's house a house of trade."17His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for thy house will consume me."18The Jews then said to him, "What sign have you to show us for doing this?"19Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."20The Jews then said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?"21But he spoke of the temple of his body.22When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken
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