CATHOLIC WORLD NEWS: FRI. JULY 30, 2010: HEADLINES-
VATICAN: POPE VIEWS FILM ON HIS PONTIFICATE AT CASTELGANDOLFO-
POPE: BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR AUGUST-
ASIA: IRAQ: 50 YEAR OLD CHRISTIAN MAN ABDUCTED IN KIRKUK-
ASIA: NEGEV DESERT: BEDOUIN VILLAGE DESTROYED BY POLICE 300 DISPLACED-
AMERICA; USA: DR. HOWELL DISCRIMINATED FOR BELIEFS IS REINSTATED-
AFRICA: DEM. REP. CONGO: CARDINAL MALULA PROCLAIMED NATIONAL HERO-
EUROPE: SPAIN: OVER 100, 000 PILGRIMS TRAVELS TO SHRINE OF ST. JAMES A YEAR-
AUSTRALIA: NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PRIESTS PUBLISH NEW EDITION OF DIRECTORY-
VATICAN
POPE: HOLY FATHER VIEWS FILM ON HIS PONTIFICATE AT CASTELGANDOLFO
At the end of the film, the Pope expressed his thanks to everyone who had participated in the realisation of "this extraordinary spiritual journey", which recounts certain key moments in the life of the Holy Father and of the Church.
"Today too the Church - though as we know she suffers much - is nonetheless a joyful Church", he said, "not an aged Church", but "a young Church" where "the faith generates joy. ... In this film we have seen the richness of the Church's life, the multiplicity of cultures, charisms and different gifts that live in the Church; and we have seen how the one Church continues to live in this multiplicity and great diversity".
"Personally I found it very moving to see certain moments, especially the moment in which the Lord placed the Petrine service on my shoulders, a burden no-one can bear with his own strength alone, but is able to carry only because the Lord carries us and carries me". The Pope also noted how the film shows that Petrine service involves the duty "to express the unity of this historical diversity, and make it visible, concrete".
papal images http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/index.asp
BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR AUGUST
VATICAN CITY, 30 JUL 2010 (VIS REPORT) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for August is: "That those who are without work or homes or who are otherwise in serious need may find understanding and welcome, as well as concrete help in overcoming their difficulties".
His mission intention is: "That the Church may be a 'home' for all people, ready to open her doors to any who are suffering from racial or religious discrimination, hunger or wars forcing them to emigrate to other countries".
POPE ACCEPTS RESIGNATION OF BISHOP
VATICAN CITY, 30 JUL 2010 (VIS REPORT) - The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of Mexico, Mexico presented by Bishop Felipe Tejeda Garcia M.Sp.S., upon having reached the age limit.
ASIA
IRAQ: 50 YEAR OLD CHRISTIAN MAN ABDUCTED IN KIRKUK
Asia News report: A 50-year-old man was taken last night from his office. Crime is up in the city because of the power vacuum in the country. For the past four months, politicians have failed to form a government. For Christians, it is a time of martyrdom.
Kirkuk (AsiaNews) – A group of armed men abducted a Chaldean Christian man last night in Kirkuk. Local sources told AsiaNews that Yonan (Jonas ) Daniel Mammo, 50, was closing his office in the Almas neighbourhood when three armed individuals got out of a BMW and took him.
Mammo is married and has two daughters. He is not a rich man but works at an exchange control office. After he was abducted, he called his wife by phone, saying that he had been taken. Since then, there have been no news from him. Many believe he was kidnapped for ransom.
Violence against Christians in particular and the population in general are becoming increasingly frequent across the country as a result of a power vacuum. Four months since parliamentary election, Iraq’s political parties have not yet been able to form a government.
“The country is in the dark,” a source told AsiaNews, “and in such a situation groups of plunderers and criminals get stronger more and more.”
Last week, a Turkmen colonel and his son were killed downtown. “For Iraqi Christians,” the source said, “bearing witness means martyrdom”.
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Another-Christian-abducted-in-Kirkuk-19076.html
ASIA
NEGEV DESERT: BEDOUIN VILLAGE DESTROYED BY POLICE 300 DISPLACED
The Negev Forum for Coexistence reported the episode. It fears that further evictions will be taking place soon. There are another 44 Bedouin villages in Israeli territory, that have not been recognized by Israeli authorities. The demolition of al-Arakib, took place in spite of the fact that there is an ongoing debate in the Courts over the actual ownership of the land.
The residents of al-Arakib had rights dating back to before the formation of the Israeli state. However, the National Jewish Fund, decided to replace the village with trees for lumber.
The Bedouins have lived in the Negev for over 1000 years. There are about 80,000 Bedouins living there now. They are not recognized by the Israeli government and they do not have access to services as electricity and running water. While the plight of the Palestinians in Israel/Palestine is widely reported, that of the Bedouins, who are a tiny minority, is rarely mentioned.
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=16575
AMERICA
USA: DR. HOWELL DISCRIMINATED FOR BELIEFS IS REINSTATED AT U OF ILLINOIS
News spread rapidly of the censure earlier this month of Dr. Howell, whose scheduled classes next fall had been cancelled based on one student's complaint that an email from the professor to students in the class explaining how homosexuality is incompatible with the natural moral law amounted to "hate speech."
The university was soon deluged with opposition from within UIUC and beyond. Even the school's Atheists, Agnostics, & Freethinkers group expressed outrage at the professor's silencing. Howell, who had taught "Introduction to Catholicism and Modern Catholic Thought" at the university's Department of Religion since 2001, had also taught at the school's diocesan-run Newman Center for 12 years.
According to a UIUC statement sent to LifeSiteNews.com, the school "will continue Kenneth Howell’s adjunct appointment for the fall semester, and has offered him the opportunity to teach Religion 127, Introduction to Catholicism." However, the statement itself focuses on the school's decision to pay the salary of instructors teaching Catholic studies courses. St. John's Catholic Newman Center had previously funded the instructors.
"The university values its relationship with the Newman Center and plans to continue offering courses in Catholic studies," stated the school. UIUC also indicated that a university committee would continue investigating the matter.
The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney who represented Howell in the case expressed cautious gratitude at the reversal. ADF had sent a letter to the University demanding that the school reverse the decision, or else face legal action.
"We are extremely pleased that the university has asked for Dr. Howell to return to the classroom," ADF attorney David French told LifeSiteNews.com in an email Thursday afternoon, calling the move "a great victory for academic freedom, for Dr. Howell, and — crucially — for the students of the University of Illinois."
"The university is continuing its committee proceedings related to Dr. Howell’s case, and we’ll be carefully monitoring these proceedings to make sure that his rights are protected now and in the future," he said.
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jul/10072912.html
AFRICA
DEM. REP. CONGO: CARDINAL MALULA PROCLAIMED NATIONAL HERO
The Archbishop of Kinshasa underlined that Cardinal Malula was a source of inspiration for the activity of future generations and politicians, for culture, for the nation and for the Church. “For his tireless search for excellence and perfection, his lapidary statement: ‘a Congolese Church in a Congolese nation', for his search for an African conscience, we are grateful to the government for proclaiming Cardinal Albert Malula a national hero” said Archbishop Monsengwo.
The Catholic Church in Congo is celebrating the Year of Cardinal Malula ( 20 September 2009 to 20 September 2010), an initiative to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the deceased Cardinal's ordination as a Bishop and 20 years since his death.
Celebration initiatives have included a series of conferences on different aspects of the Cardinal's personality. From 11 to 13 July a second series of conferences, following the first in March (see Fides 15/3/2010) was held on the theme “Cardinal Malula, a man of culture”.
The speakers described Cardinal Malula, the man of culture. “The Cardinal was one of the first African theologians to promote the inculturation of Christian values. He was an excellent writer, a man deeply committed to the political debate, an avid reader, a great composer of music (he composed many hymns for the Congolese rite), a lover of the arts and an admirer of African cultural values such as matrimony. The Cardinal left an incommensurable legacy to the Catholic Church in Congo and in the rest of whole world. One rarely spent an evening with him without engaging in some discussion” Archbishop Monsengwo recalled and he concluded his intervention expressing disappointment that in this year dedicated to Malula “choirs in Kinshasa have not sung hymns composed by Cardinal Malula, although he left us hundreds of them”.
http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=27180&lan=eng
EUROPE
SPAIN: OVER 100, 000 PILGRIMS TRAVELS TO SHRINE OF ST. JAMES A YEAR
With the feast day falling on Sunday, 2010 is being celebrated as a jubilee year for pilgrims. Over 100,000 pilgrims a year walk great distances along the Camino de Santiago (Way of St. James) to reach the saint's tomb.
The Eucharistic celebration in the Basilica of St. James on Sunday was concelebrated by more than 30 bishops, including Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela Julian Barrio.
During Archbishop Barrio's homily, he said that the solemnity of the patron saint of Spain, "motivates us to be conscious of our Christian condition, commending ourselves to his patronage in order to be faithful to the apostolic tradition that lays the foundations for our faith, revitalizing our identity ... "
Emphasizing the necessity of allowing God to be present in one's life, he said "man is a pilgrim open to the transcendent, capable of transforming society through the love of God poured out in his heart."
Over the past two millenia, Archbishop Barrio noted "there has never been a lack of tests for Christians," and that St. James openly professed his faith amidst persecution. However, he cautioned, "in spite of the suffering (persecutions) cause, they do not consititute the most serious danger for the Church.
"She suffers, in fact, the greatest damage from what contaminates the faith and the Christian life of her members and communities, eroding the integrity of the mystic Body, weakening her capacity of prophecy and witness, tarnishing the beauty of her face."
Underscoring that Christian commitment needs to continue today in spite of pessimism and the temptation to give up earthly responsibilities, he said, "we must not ignore the necessities of the faith."
Living in a world where "wheat and chaff" grow together, "the effort to reduce evil must be persistent, knowing that the offering of the Gospel is a humanizing route for the future," the archbishop said.
Pope Benedict XVI also remembered the feast day after Sunday's Angelus, recalling the "deep" roots of the tradition of venerating St. James and saying he hoped to make his own pilgrimage there in November. "Following the footsteps of St. James," he prayed, "let us continue the journey of our lives while bearing constant witness of faith, hope and charity."
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/jubilee-year-brings-over-100000-pilgrims-to-shrine-of-st.-james/
AUSTRALIA
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PRIESTS PUBLISH 2010-2011 EDITION OF DIRECTORY
Cath News report: The National Council of Priests of Australia has published the 2010-11 edition of The Official Directory of the Catholic Church in Australia, on behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.
"Those less familiar with the Church and its structure and organization will also find it a useful way of getting a clearer idea of the "who," "what" and "where" of making connections with church personnel and agencies."
The 900-page directory lists over 23,000 entries, giving "a rich picture of the workings of the Church in Australia", according to a media statement.
"As usual, the National Council of Priests, through its staff, have made a very practical and useful contribution to the life of the Church by compiling, editing and publishing the more than 23,000 entries which are contained in the proceeding pages of this latest edition.
"It is no small task to keep abreast of the never-ending changes in people, structures and contact details, and I take this opportunity to thank them for their efforts to ensure the accuracy of these entries based on the information provided to them, and for making these available and accessible in a variety of attractive formats."
http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=22627
TODAY'S SAINT
St. Peter Chrysologus
BISHOP
Information: Feast Day: July 30
Born: 406 at Imola, Italy
Died: 2 December 450 at Imola, Italy
Born at Imola, 406; died there, 450. His biography, first written by Agnellus (Liber pontificalis ecclesiæ Ravennatis) in the ninth century, gives but scanty information about him. He was baptised, educated, and ordained deacon by Cornelius, Bishop of Imola, and was elevated to the Bishopric of Ravenna in 433. There are indications that Ravenna held the rank of metropolitan before this time. His piety and zeal won for him universal admiration, and his oratory merited for him the name Chrysologus. He shared the confidence of Leo the Great and enjoyed the patronage of the Empress Galla Placidia. After his condemnation by the Synod of Constantinople (448), the Monophysite Eutyches endeavoured to win the support of Peter, but without success.
A collection of his homilies, numbering 176, was made by Felix, Bishop of Ravenna (707-17). Some are interpolations, and several other homilies known to be written by the saint are included in other collections under different names. They are in a great measure explanatory of Biblical texts and are brief and concise. He has explained beautifully the mystery of the Incarnation, the heresies of Arius and Eutyches, and the Apostles' Creed, and he dedicated a series of homilies to the Blessed Virgin and St. John the Baptist. His works were first edited by Agapitus Vicentinus (Bologna, 1534), and later by D. Mita (Bolonga, 1634), and S. Pauli (Venice, 1775) — the latter collection having been reprinted in P.L., LII. Fr. Liverani ("Spicilegium Liberianum"), Florence, 1863, 125 seq.) edited nine new homilies and published from manuscripts in Italian libraries different readings of several other sermons. Several homilies were translated into German by M. Held (Kempten, 1874).
SOURCE http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/P/stpeterchrysologus.asp
TODAY'S GOSPEL
Matthew 13: 54 - 58
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54 and coming to his own country he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?
55 Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
56 And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?"
57 And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house."
58 And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.
