Pope Benedict XVI Prays For Peace In Libya And Syria

VATICAN CITY,  May 15  - Pope Benedict prayed for peace in both Libya and Syria following Sunday's Regina Coeli.

"I continue to follow with great concern the dramatic armed conflict in Libya that has caused a high number of casualties and suffering, especially among the civilian population.

"I renew an urgent appeal that the paths of negotiation and dialogue prevail over those of violence, with the help of international organizations that are working toward finding a solution to the crisis," he stated on May 15.

The Pope's comments came on a day that other key figures called for an intensification of military action in Libya. The head of the U.K.'s armed forces, General Sir David Richards, said he wants to see bombing restrictions on NATO forces eased. He now wants to target direct attacks upon the infrastructure propping up the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

NATO's military action is currently guided by the terms of the U.N. resolution which only permit the use of force in protecting civilians. The Pope said he's praying for those innocently caught up in the conflict which has been ongoing since February when rebels first took up arms against Colonel Gaddafi.

"I assure you, also, my sympathy and prayerful commitment with which the Church assists the local population, particularly by religious in hospitals."

The Pope then turned his prayers and thoughts to Syria.

"My thoughts also go to Syria, where it is urgent to restore a partnership geared towards harmony and unity. I ask God that there is no further bloodshed in the homeland of the great religions and civilizations, and urge the authorities and all citizens to spare no effort in seeking the common good and in accommodating the legitimate aspirations for a peaceful future and stability."

Since March, the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is estimated to have killed over 800 pro-democracy campaigners and imprisoned 10,000 others.

Pope's emissary prays at scenic Matsushima

Cardinal Robert

An emissary of Pope Benedict XVI on Monday visited a disaster-hit tourist spot in Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, to pray for victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Cardinal Robert Sarah offered the prayers aboard a sightseeing boat cruising the Matsushima area, which is dotted with small islands devastated by the tsunami.

"People in Matsushima are helping those in neighboring towns who were seriously affected by the disaster even though they themselves are also victims. I was moved to see people helping each other," Sarah said.

The Roman prelate came to Matsushima, one of Japan's three most-celebrated scenic sites, referred to collectively as "Nihon Sankei" (Three Views of Japan) at the invitation of Deputy Mayor Koichi Nishimura.

Nishimura developed connections with the Roman Catholic Church in 1995 when he helped disaster relief activities as a volunteer worker at Kobe's Takatori Catholic Church after the Great Hanshin Earthquake, in which more than 6,400 people died.

Nishimura became aware of the cardinal's impending visit through an email magazine from the church.

"I am rejoicing that my activities 16 years ago are now producing fruits in this manner," Nishimura said. "I hope the cardinal's visit will help promote Matsushima's recovery as a tourist spot."

 

Foreign victim tally at 24

The government has confirmed the deaths of 24 foreigners from the magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami that struck east and northeast Japan on March 11, but several dozen others are still missing, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Monday.

The ministry has so far listed the dead as nationals of China, Canada, South and North Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United States.

The police have asked the families of those unaccounted for via diplomatic missions in Tokyo to submit DNA samples to help identify the bodies, the official said.

The missing foreigners include nationals of China, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam, he added.

In the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake, which struck Kobe and its vicinity, around 150 foreigners were among 6,434 victims.

As of Sunday, the death toll from the twin disasters on March 11 had reached 15,057, with 9,121 people still unaccounted for.

Serbian Orthodox Church to Decide on Pope Visit

Whether or not the head of the Roman Catholic Church will arrive in Nis to celebrate 1,700 years since the Edict of Milan was adopted will be known in the next few days, Balkan Insight has learned from a source in the SPC.

The Edict of Milan was signed by emperors Constantine I and Licinius in 313 and announced religious tolerance in the Roman Empire.
Constantine was born in Naissus, modern day Nis.
The Vatican generally says that the Pope will visit countries which have a Catholic minority only with the consent of the majority church in the country.

If the Serbian Orthodox Church agrees to invite Pope Benedict at its annual meeting on Monday, church leaders expect that he will attend the commemoration in Nis.

Serbian Patriarch Irenj, who was previously the Bishop of Nis, stressed even before coming the leader of the SPC that a visit by the pope would help improve relations between Orthodox and Catholic Christians.

If Pope Benedict visits Serbia, it would be the first visit by a pope in years.

It remains unclear, however, whether the bishops will agree to extend an invitation to the pope.

"It's no secret that there are bishops sitting in the council who not only strongly oppose the visit but also sharpen the politics of ecumenism," the source in the SPC said.
On one hand, Serbia wants to maintain top relations with The Vatican because it has not recognised the independence of Kosovo. On the other hand, the source in the SPC said that the stance of other Orthodox churches, especially the Russian Church, plays a major role in deciding whether or not to extend an invitation.

"Some church authorities believe that head of the Serbian Orthodox Church should meet Pope Benedict only after Moscow's Patriarch Cyril meets the pope," the source added.
The idea to invite the pope to Serbia was first "pushed" by the head of a former state union of Serbia and Montenegro, Svetozar Marovic, during his visit to The Vatican in 2003.
The Council is also set to discuss the reorganisation of some dioceses, and the extradition of former bishop Artemije.

Family credits pope with miracle

Christopher Lukasik was building shelves when a metal rod hit his eye, tearing about a third of his optic nerve fibers and leaving everybody from his doctors to his family wondering whether he would ever see again.

Lukasik's mother began to pray to Pope John Paul II, who will be beatified Sunday. The ceremony at Vatican City is the penultimate step towards the late pontiff's sainthood.

"All I could think about is to pray to Pope John Paul II. I just felt him with me and I knew he would be the one that would heal my son," said 67-year-old Joanna Lukasik of Chicago, who grew up near the late pontiff's hometown of Wadowice, Poland. "I was driving to the hospital and I was begging him and crying and begging him to save his vision and that's what happened."

Doctors say he was lucky. Lukasik's mother says it was a miracle.

Lukasik's story is one of thousands of testimonials being collected through a website set up by the Diocesan Tribunal of the Vicariate of Rome. It was created to help Pope John Paul II with his candidacy for Beatification and Canonization.

More than one million people are expected in Rome this weekend for the beatification ceremony, the biggest event at Vatican City since John Paul II's death six years ago. Hundreds of thousands of Catholic faithful will gather in St. Peter's Square to witness the beatification. That will mean Pope John Paul II can be referred to as "blessed" and that one miracle has been confirmed in his or her name. Another miracle is required for canonization, the formal act of declaring someone a saint.

The current pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI, waived the standard five-year waiting period to put John Paul II on the fast track to sainthood. This was an extraordinary response to the millions of mourners who gathered at St. Peter's Square for the pope's funeral crying out, "Santo subito!" (Sainthood now!)

Lukasik's mother credits divine intervention by John Paul II for healing her son, Christopher, after his accident in 2007.

"I know Pope John Paul II did it for him. And that's why always in difficult times I will always pray to him because he was the one that gave me a miracle," she said during an interview with CNN at her Chicago home.

She said for three days there seemed no hope for her son's right eye, which bled continuously.

"Even the specialists couldn't tell what happened. They cannot see it, if he lost vision or not," she said.

Ophthalmology specialist, Dr. Kirk Packo, was one of those who examined the younger Lukasik at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. He said it was difficult to determine what would happen since Lukasik's eye was full of blood.

He explained that when the metal rod hit his right eye, it spun it around and tore about a third of his nerve fibers.

"Christopher was a hair close to being blind in that eye," Packo said. "He got really lucky."

But Lukasik's mother said it was a miracle, one made possible because of her strong cultural connection with the pontiff and fervent faith in his healing powers.

Joanna Lukasik grew up in John Paul's hometown of Wadowice, Poland, before immigrating to the United States in 1963.

In the 1960s, she said, she volunteered to serve meals at the Urszulanki convent in Rokiciny-Podhalanski. It was there, she says, she got to know Bishop Karol Wojtyła - who would later adopt the name John Paul II as pontiff.

"I remember Bishop Karol Wojtyła used to come to the convent and meet with his friend Bishop Bolesław Kominek," Lukasik said. "He was such a kind soul; you could feel goodness from him. But also I could sense that I was near someone that was truly close to God."

Christopher Lukasik also has own special connection to Pope John Paul II. In 2004, three years before he was nearly blinded, he met the pope during a youth trip.

"When I actually touched his hand,I did feel something I have never felt around any another human being, which in all honesty was probably my first actual spiritual experience," he said. "I could feel some sort of energy in his presence like electricity moving through my body."

Lukasik said that encounter made him realize Pope John Paul II was in the realm of a higher power. Like his mother, he believes this encounter could be the very blessing that helped him overcome his injury.

"If one person suffers trauma and another person suffers trauma, one heals better than the other. It might be a physical thing or it might be something spiritual," he said. "Going into it and actually believing in the church, I'm sure it helped me get my mind off the issues and helped my body heal more."

In the years since his eye injury, Lukasik said he thinks often about the profound impact the pope made on his life.

"I am very proud he is going to be beatified, and it couldn't have happen to a better person," he said. "Maybe people will gain some knowledge as to what he did when he was alive and all the good that he did for the world."

Catholic Church only true church, Vatican says

The Vatican issued a document Tuesday restating its belief that the Catholic Church is the only true church of Jesus Christ.

The 16-page document was prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a doctrinal watchdog that Pope Benedict used to head.

Pope Benedict XVI was elected Pope in April 2005.

(Plinio Lepri/Associated Press)

Formulated as five questions and answers, the document is titled "Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church."

It says although Orthodox churches are true churches, they are defective because they do not recognize the primacy of the Pope.

"It follows that these separated churches and communities, though we believe they suffer from defects, are deprived neither of significance nor importance in the mystery of salvation," it said.

The document adds that Protestant denominations — called Christian Communities born out of the Reformation — are not true churches, but ecclesial communities.

"These ecclesial communities which, specifically because of the absence of the sacramental priesthood … cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called 'churches' in the proper sense," it said.

The document is similar to one written in 2000 by the Pope — who was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the time — that sparked an angry reaction from Protestant groups.

"I suspect there will be some reactions that are rather passionate," said Raphaela Schmid, director of the Becket Institute, a group that advocates religious freedom. "I hope they will not be angry because we all try to understand about each other."

The document is issued by Benedict's successor in doctrinal matters, Cardinal William Levada, and endorsed by the Pope, said Reuters.

The decree comes days after liberal Catholic and Jewish groups spoke out against the Pope's move to authorize the wider use of a traditional Latin mass.

The Tridentine mass includes a prayer for the conversion of Jews. Its use was restricted following the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965.

Pope Benedict issued a decree last week authorizing its broader use in an effort to reconcile with followers of an ultratraditional excommunicated bishop.

The Jewish Anti-Defamation League in New York called it a "body blow to Catholic-Jewish relations."



Source : CBCnews

What Divides Catholics and Protestants?

As Pope Benedict XVI continues with his highly publicized visit to the United States, some may wonder what the major differences are between Catholicism and Protestantism – the two main Christian bodies in the world.

(Photo: AP Images / Gerald Herbert)

President Bush and Pope Benedict XVI walk down the Colonnade of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, April 16, 2008, following an arrival ceremony on the South Lawn.

Perhaps the biggest difference is their views on the sufficiency and authority of Scripture. Traditionally, Protestants believe that the Bible alone is sufficient in teaching man all that is necessary for salvation from sin, and contains the standard in which Christians should measure their behavior.

Catholics, however, do not believe that the Bible alone is enough, and instead hold that the Bible and sacred Roman Catholic traditions are equal in authority, as noted by Got Questions Ministries, which provides biblically-based answers on spiritually-related questions in its Web site, GotQuestions.org.

Roman Catholic doctrines, such as purgatory, praying to the saints, veneration of Mary, have little or no basis in the Scripture, but are based on Roman Catholic traditions.

Another major difference is the office and authority of the pope. There is no equivalent position to the pope in Protestantism because of the belief that no human being is infallible and that Christ alone is the head of the church. Protestants believe that the spiritual authority of the church is based on the Word rather than apostolic succession, and that all believers through the Holy Spirit can understand the Word.

For Roman Catholics, on the other hand, the pope is the “Vicar of Christ,” and stands in the place of Jesus as the visible head of the Church. Therefore, his teachings are considered infallible and effective over all Christians.