CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD: SUN. NOV. 21, 2010

CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD: SUN. NOV. 21, 2010: HEADLINES-

VATICAN: POPE: CHRIST THE KING MESSAGE AND CLARIFICATION ON CONTRACEPTIVES -

EUROPE: ENGLAND: DIOCESE RAISE FUNDS FOR ORDINARIATE -

AMERICA: USA: BISHOP SOTO NAMED CHAIRMAN -

ASIA: IRAQ: ARCHBISHOP APPEALS FOR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT -

AUSTRALIA: PARENTS CAN APPEAL FOR CLASSES -

AFRICA: UGANDA: DIOCESE ESTABLISHES PANEL TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS -

TODAY'S FEAST: PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN -
TODAY'S MASS READINGS: NOV. 21: SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING -

VATICAN: POPE: CHRIST THE KING MESSAGE AND CLARIFICATION ON CONTRACEPTIVES

RAD. VAT. REPORT: Pope Benedict celebrated the Feast of Christ the King by celebrating the Mass of the Rings, in which he gave the ring of office to the 24 new Cardinals he created on Saturday.During his homily he reflected on Christ the King, reigning from the Cross.During a discourse which described in detail the scene surrounding Jesus on the Cross, the Pope mentioned those who mocked him, and called to him to come down from the Cross. He told the Cardinals that the Gospel of the day calls us to be with Jesus and Mary: “Do not ask him to come down from the cross, but stay there with him.”The Pope said the cross was the critical point of the faith of Simon Peter and the Apostles. He said he and the Cardinals are called to be deeply united, first of all in the lordship of Christ, thinking and acting according to the logic of the Cross – which is never an easy thing to do.After the Mass, Pope Benedict greeted pilgrims for the Sunday Angelus from his window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.“I extend a warm welcome to the English-speaking visitors here today. I greet especially those who have travelled to Rome in order to be present for this weekend’s Consistory, and to pray for the twenty-four new Cardinals… On this feast of Christ the King, we ask the Lord to guide our efforts to proclaim the good news of his Kingdom to people everywhere. Upon all of you, and upon your families and loved ones at home, I invoke God’s abundant blessings.”The Pope also offered his prayers Christians who suffer persecution and discrimination, especially in Iraq. He said he was spiritually close with these brothers and sisters who give the highest testimony of faith rendered to God. http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=440910
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VATICAN: CLARIFICATION OF POPE'S STATEMENT ON CONTRACEPTIVES
RADIOVATICANA REPORT:
The head of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, has issued a statement clarifying passages of the book Light of the World, in which Pope Benedict discusses AIDS and condom use.The statement says Pope Benedict states that AIDs cannot be solved only by the distribution of condoms, and, in fact, concentrating on condoms just trivializes sexuality, which loses its meaning as an expression of love and becomes like a drug.At the same time, the Pope considered an exceptional situation in which the exercise of sexuality represents a real risk to the lives of others. In this case, the Pope does not morally justify the exercise of disordered sexuality, but believes that the use of condoms to reduce the risk of infection is a "first step on the road to a more human sexuality”, rather than not to use it and risking the lives of others.Father Lombardi’s statement clarifies Pope Benedict XVI has not reformed or changed the Church's teaching, but by putting it in perspective reaffirms the value and dignity of human sexuality as an expression of love and responsibility.http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=440913
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EUROPE: ENGLAND: DIOCESE RAISE FUNDS FOR ORDINARIATE
CATHOLIC HERALD REPORT: The dioceses of England and Wales have pooled a quarter of a million pounds to fund the Ordinariate, it was announced today.The news was announced at a press conference this morning by Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, president of the Catholic bishops’ conference of England and Wales, and Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark.Archbishop Nichols said that according to the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus the clergy are the responsibility of the Ordinariate, financially and otherwise, but that the bishops had been looking at putting together money from contributors and trusts to form a fund. He said the dioceses have put in a quarter of a million pounds.He said: “We’ll do it together to start with and then it all depends on the Ordinariate.”Bishop Alan Hopes, who has been one of the bishops in charge of liaison with Anglicans wanting to take up an ordinariate, added that places in which groups were formed, the local dioceses would provide help to Anglican clergy coming over both in terms of housing and financial aid.The archbishop stressed that the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus was in no way about “acquiring property through this”He said “the simpler route is the best in that those who come in use Catholic churches.” But he said that the question of buildings would be settled on a local basis, depending on the size of the groups of Anglicans and the arrangements made by the local churches.http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2010/11/19/dioceses-give-quarter-of-a-million-to-fund-ordinariate/
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AMERICA: USA: BISHOP SOTO NAMED CHAIRMAN
USCCB REPORT: Bishop Soto Named Chairman of Subcommittee on Catholic Campaign for Human DevelopmentWASHINGTON (November 19, 2010) — Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, California, has been named the new chairman of the Subcommittee on the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), the domestic anti-poverty program of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The appointment was announced November 17, during the executive session of the Fall General Assembly of the USCCB.“I am honored to have the confidence of my brother bishops as I assume the chair for the subcommittee for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development,” said Bishop Soto of the appointment. “CCHD has been an important national pastoral enterprise dedicated to infusing American Society with the Catholic values of human dignity, solidarity, and communion.”Bishop Soto succeeds Bishop Roger Morin of Biloxi, Mississippi, who in his last public report to the bishops said, “At this time of growing poverty, we need a renewed, strengthened, faithful CCHD more than ever.” The bishops expressed their gratitude for Bishop Morin’s leadership in challenging times.On the recent Review and Renewal of CCHD, Bishop Soto said, “I am grateful for the work of the previous committee that has re-tooled CCHD so that it can be even more effective in its mission. I am eager to have CCHD serve as an agent for bringing the pastoral priorities of the USCCB to the neighborhoods and towns where Catholic people strive to practice their faith, especially those who are poor and marginalized.”He added, “My committee will continue to monitor the progress for the implementations of the new guidelines. God's people are the Church's best resource for the mission of New Evangelization. CCHD will continue to invest in them so that they can be the protagonists of the Gospel, announcing the joy and hope of the Lord Jesus to a weary world.”Bishop Soto has served as bishop of Sacramento since 2008. He is chairman of the USCCB Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, a member of the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, and a consultant to the Committee on International Justice and Peace. He has also served as chairman of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) for the past four years.Founded in 1969, CCHD’s mission is to address the root causes of poverty in the United States by promoting community self-help organizations and transformative education. To learn more about CCHD, visit: www.usccb.org/cchd/ http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2010/10-219.shtml
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ASIA: IRAQ: ARCHBISHOP APPEALS FOR PRAYERS AND SUPPORT
ASIA NEWS REPORT: Archbishop Louis Sako appeals for solidarity from brothers and sisters in the West. Since 2005, 900 Christians have been killed, among them five priests and the archbishop of Mosul, 52 churches have been attacked. A message for the Italian Church on the eve of a day of prayer and solidarity with the persecuted Christians of Iraq, wanted by the Italian Bishops' Conference.Kirkuk (AsiaNews) - "Do not leave us alone in this time of tribulation" is the appeal that the archbishop of Kirkuk, Msgr. Louis Sako, has sent to AsiaNews for publication in Italy on the eve of a day of prayer and solidarity for Christians in Iraq, wanted by the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI). Tomorrow, in all the parishes in Italy there will be moments of prayer for persecuted Christians and especially for Christians in Iraq. The Day also aims to raise awareness in Italy and Europe, so they may double their efforts toward Iraq. Yesterday Cardinal. Angelo Bagnasco, president of CEI, spoke to AsiaNews, saying that “Italy and Europe cannot look away because what is at stake is religious freedom, which is the basis for all other forms of freedom".In his appeal, supported by other Iraqi bishops, Msgr. Sako reveals that "since 2005, 900 Christians have been killed, among them five priests and the archbishop of Mosul, 52 churches attacked. Many families have been forced to leave their homes and flee to save their children and their Christian faith. " Here is the appeal sent by Msgr. Sako to AsiaNews:Appeal to our brothers and sisters in ItalyOur people in Iraq today are persecuted, threatened and suffer martyrdom. Since 2005, 900 Christians have been killed, among them five priests and the archbishop of Mosul, 52 churches attacked. Many families have been forced to leave their homes and flee to save their children and their Christian faith.We are ready to do everything to preserve our faith and our loyalty to Christ. We are conscious that martyrdom is the charism of our Church. This is what gives us the strength to stay and persevere.Our ordeal is heavy and seems long. The carnage that took place at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation in Baghdad on October 31 has profoundly shaken us.We are losing patience, but not faith or hope. We need the prayers and moral support and fellowship of our Christian brothers and sisters of the West. Without their support and solidarity we feel alone and isolated. Do not leave us alone in this time of tribulation. Our journey can continue with your help and your prayers.http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Archbishop-of-Kirkuk-appeals-to-the-Church-and-Italy-20045.html
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AUSTRALIA: PARENTS CAN APPEAL FOR CLASSES
CATH NEWS REPORT: Although ethics classes will be voluntary for NSW primary schools, the Sydney Morning Herald has confirmed that parents who want the classes for children will be able to appeal to the Education Department if the principal and the majority of the school community opposes.The state cabinet is expected to approve the introduction of ethics classes to primary schools today after a successful trial this year. They will begin as early as term one next year.As long as the St James Ethics Centre, which will run the classes, is able to provide volunteers and there is a reasonable number of children to attend them, the department will ensure they are offered.Students in years 5 and 6 are likely to be the first to be offered the classes, because they are the years in which the trial was run. Eventually classes will be offered in years K-6.The Minister for Education, Verity Firth, will take the proposal to cabinet having received 745 submissions in response to an independent report on the trial that was published last month.Of the submissions, only 15 were against the introduction of ethics classes. However, many of those in support came via a form letter organised by the lobby group parents4ethics. http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=24258
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AFRICA: UGANDA: DIOCESE ESTABLISHES PANEL TO RESOLVE CONFLICTS
ALL AFRICA REPORT: BUukedi Diocese has established a panel to resolve conflicts between rivals vying for local government and parliamentary seats in the region ahead of the 2011 general elections.The diocesan Bishop, Dr. Nicodemus Okille, said a spate of violence in the sub-region has shown the church the importance of creating harmony in the area.The diocese covers Budaka, Busia, Tororo, Butaleja, Kibuku and Pallisa districts."Incidents of political violence have prevailed in the region to the extent that we can't sit back and watch each of the warring parties angrily reach for each other's necks," Okille said.He made the remarks while addressing journalists at the diocese headquarters in Tororo town on Sunday.He said a group of eminent personalities of integrity have been assigned to carry out the role of reconciling the warring parties in the region.The panel will, among other things, bring the warring parties to a round table and seek to resolve their problems amicably and have peaceful elections in the region."I am appealing to the community and the politicians in the region to consider dialogue as a solution to political differences, rather than violence," Okille added http://allafrica.com/stories/201011190220.html
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TODAY'S FEAST: PRESENTATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin MaryFeast: November 21Information:Feast Day:November 21Religious parents never fail by devout prayer to consecrate their children to the divine service and love, both before and after their birth. Some amongst the Jews, not content with this

general consecration of their children, offered them to God in their infancy, by the hands of the priests in the temple, to be lodged in apartments belonging to the temple, and brought up in attending the priests and Levites in the sacred ministry. It is an ancient tradition, that the Blessed Virgin Mary was thus solemnly offered to God in the temple in her infancy. This festival of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, or, as it is often called by the Greeks, the entrance of the Blessed Virgin into the Temple, is mentioned in the most ancient Greek Menologies extant.By the consecration which the Blessed Virgin made of herself to God in the first use which she made of her reason, we are admonished of the most important and strict obligation which all persons lie under, of an early dedication of themselves to the divine love and service. It is agreed amongst all masters of Christian morality, that everyone is bound in the first moral instant of the use of reason to convert his heart to God by love; and if divine faith be then duly proposed to him (which is the case of Christian children) by a supernatural assent to it, he is bound then to make an act of faith; also an act of hope in God as a supernatural rewarder and helper, and an act of divine charity. Who can be secure that in the very moment in which he entered into his moral life and was capable of living to God, did not stain his innocence by a capital omission of this duty? How diligent and solicitous are parents bound to be in instructing their children in the first fundamental mysteries of faith, and in the duty of prayer, and in impressing upon their tender minds a sense of spiritual things in a manner in which their age may be capable of receiving it. These first fruits of the heart are a sacrifice of which God is infinitely jealous, an emblem of which were all the sacrifices of first fruits prescribed in the old law, in token that he is our beginning and last end. Such a heart, adorned with the baptismal grace of innocence, has particular charms. Grace recovered by penance is not like that of innocence which has never been defiled; nor is it the same happiness for a soul to return to God from the slavery of sin, as for one to give him her first affections, and to open her understanding and will to his love before the world has found any entrance there. The tender soul of Mary was then adorned with the most precious graces, an object of astonishment and praise to the angels, and of the highest complacence to the adorable Trinity, the Father looking upon her as his beloved daughter, the Son, as one chosen and prepared to become his mother, and the Holy Ghost as his darling spouse.Her first presentation to God, made by the hands of her parents and by her own devotion, was then an offering most acceptable in his sight. Let our consecration of ourselves to God be made under her patronage, and assisted by her powerful intercession and the union of her merits. If we have reason to fear that we criminally neglected this duty at the first dawning of our reason, or, if we have since been unfaithful to our sacred baptismal engagements, such is the mercy and goodness of our gracious God, that he disdains not our late offerings. But that these may be accepted by him, we must first prepare the present he requires of us, that is, our hearts. They must be washed and cleansed in the sacred laver of Christ's adorable blood, by means of sincere compunction and penance; and all inordinate affections must be pared away by our perfectly

renouncing in spirit, honours, riches, and pleasures, and being perfectly disengaged from creatures, and ready to do and suffer all for God, that we may be entirely his, and that neither the world nor pride, nor any irregular passion may have any place in us. What secret affections to this or that creature lurk in our souls, which hinder us from being altogether his, unless they are perfectly cut off or reformed! This Mary did by spending her youth in holy retirement, at a distance from the commerce and corruption of the world, and by the most assiduous application to all the duties and exercises of a religious and interior life. Mary was the first who set up the standard of virginity; and, by consecrating it by a perpetual vow to our Lord, she opened the way to all virgins who have since followed her example. They, in particular, ought to take her for their special patroness, and, as her life was the most perfect model of their state, they ought always to have her example before their eyes, and imitate her in prayer, humility, modesty, silence, and retirement.Mary lived retired until she was introduced into the world and espoused to St. Joseph. Some think her espousals were at first only a promise or betrothing: but the

ends assigned by the fathers, seem rather to show them to have been a marriage. These are summed up by St. Jerome as follows: that by the pedigree of Joseph, the descent of Mary from the tribe of Juda, might be demonstrated; that she might not be stoned by the Jews as an adulteress; that, fleeing into Egypt, she might have the comfort and protection of a spouse. A fourth reason, says St. Jerome, is added by the martyr Ignatius: that the birth of the Son of God might be concealed from the devil. The words of that apostolic father are: "Three mysteries wrought by God in silence were concealed from the prince of this world. the virginity of Mary, the bringing forth of her Son, and the death of the Lord." Not that God could fear any impediment to his designs from the devil; but he was pleased to effect these mysteries in silence and without worldly show and noise, that pride and hell might, by his all-wise and sweet providence, be more meetly triumphed over, whilst the devil himself hastened his own overthrow by concurring to the mystery of the cross. From the marriage of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, St. Austin shows that marriage requires no more than the mutual consent of the will between parties who lie under no impediment or inability to an indissoluble individual society of life. In this holy marriage we admire the incomparable chastity of Mary and Joseph; and the sanctity and honour, as well as the patronage and example, which that holy state receives from this mystery. In certain particular churches the espousals of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph are honoured with an office on the 23rd of January.
SOURCE http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/P/presentationoftheblessedvirginmary.asp
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TODAY'S MASS READINGS: NOV. 21: SOLEMNITY OF CHRIST THE KING
2 Samuel 5: 1 - 31Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron, and said, "Behold, we are your bone and flesh.2In times past, when Saul was king over us, it was you that led out and brought in Israel; and the LORD said to you, `You shall be shepherd of my people Israel, and you shall be prince over Israel.'"3So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron; and King David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD, and they anointed David king over Israel.Psalms 122: 1 - 51I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD!"2Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!3Jerusalem, built as a city which is bound firmly together,4to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the LORD.5There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David.

Colossians 1: 12 - 2012giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.13He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.15He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation;16for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities -- all things were created through him and for him.17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.18He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent.19For in him all the fulness of God was pleased to dwell,20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross

Luke 23: 35 - 4335And the people stood by, watching; but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!"36The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him vinegar,37and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"38There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."39One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!"40But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?41And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong."42And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."43And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
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