Kidnappers of Irish priest 'demanding $2m ransom'

The kidnappers of Irish priest Fr Michael Sinnott have released a video of their hostage and demanded a $2 million (€1.35 million) ransom.

The video, which was obtained by government negotiators and broadcast on GMA television in Manila today, showed Fr Sinnott (79) holding a copy of the October 22nd issue of a local newspaper.

In the video, an unshaven Fr Sinnott appeals in a weak voice to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, to the Irish Government, to his fellow Columban missionaries and friends “who may have pity... to help so that I can get out of here as soon as possible.”

"They are asking two million US dollars as ransom money,” he said while standing in front of a bed sheet or table cloth in a forested area. We are living in the open, in difficult circumstances. I am still in good health even if I do not have the full medicines.”

The Co Wexford priest said his kidnappers are led by a commander named Abu Jayad.

Fr Sinnott was snatched from his compound on October 11th by six gunmen who barged into the Columban House in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province, 890km south of Manila.

Fears have risen that the missionary was in a critical condition due to dysentery, malnutrition and the absence of the medicine he needs following open-heart surgery four years ago.

Authorities believe that rogue elements of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (Milf) are behind the abduction. The Milf, as well as other Muslim armed gangs and bands of pirates, are known to operate in parts of Lanao del Norte. The Milf has repeatedly denied any involvement.

In a statement this afternoon, Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said the Government will continue to work to secure the safe release of Fr Sinnott. He said he spoke to the Sinnott family early this morning “and they were very relieved to hear that there is further evidence that Fr Sinnott is alive”.

He said he also spoke to Ambassador Richard O’Brien, who has been working with the Philippines government on getting the priest released. Mr O’Brien has also met representatives of the Milf and other agencies working in the area.

“No effort will be spared to secure the safe release of Fr Sinnott as soon as possible,” Mr Martin said.

Father Patrick O'Donoghue, the Philippine head of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban, expressed relief that Fr Sinnott was looking relatively healthy but stressed that no money would be handed over.

”The Columban fathers do not pay ransoms and we never have and I don't think we ever would,” Fr O'Donoghue said, adding that Fr Sinnott would not want one to be paid. ”I could see him wanting that money to be used in ways rather than ransom. It should rather be used for education, for the care of people with disabilities."

Allan Molde, a spokesman of a Philippine government crisis panel dealing with the abduction said local officials had agreed not to pay any ransom and to ask security forces to put more pressure on the kidnappers to free Fr Sinnott.

The military have been informed about the ransom demand but want to validate the authenticity of the material, said military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Romeo Branwer.

"Our forces in the area are ready to use force to free the priest, but we are just awaiting instructions from authorities tasked to negotiate with the kidnappers," Lt Col Brawner said.

The Milf had also offered to help free the priest and sought permission to deploy about 100 of its guerrillas in the area where Fr Sinnott is believed to be held.

Milf spokesman Eid Kabalu said today he did not know of any Abu Jayad but the Milf leadership was aware of Fr Sinnott's general location and the likely identity of his kidnappers. But he said he would not reveal the details while the Milf pursued its own efforts to recover Fr Sinnott.

The area of the southern Philippines where Fr Sinnott is believed to be being held is a known stronghold of the Milf, while armed gangs and the Muslim Abu Sayyaf militant group are also known to operate in the often lawless region. The Abu Sayyaf and other gangs have previously kidnapped priests and other foreigners in the region and demanded ransoms for their release.

Sinn Féin’s Gerry Kelly and former Downing Street chief of staff Jonathan Powell have also been involved in behind-the-scenes talks.
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SIC: IT

State 'needs Catholic university'

The setting up of a Catholic university in Ireland has been called for by a prominent educational leader.

Dr Peadar Cremin, President of Mary Immaculate College of Education in Limerick, said it was time to take stock of the standing of denominational education at third level.

"The State now has seven secular, state-funded universities, as well as 14 institutes of technology. At a time of severe cutbacks in state funding, the dominance of the State . . . has to be a matter of concern."

His call came as a national strategy group is considering the higher education sector.

"Are we satisfied that it has become almost inevitable that the individual's education is to be completed at a state college or university rather than in a Catholic university," he asked.

"If we believe that Catholic education is a lifelong process of human growth and development, including spiritual growth, is it not important that we have a Catholic presence as part of the diversity of the third-level sector?"
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SIC: II

Legacy of Knock's apparition endures over generations

August 21, 1879 Fifteen people claim to witness an apparition outside the south gable at the church in Knock.

They stand in awe saying the rosary for two hours in pouring rain.

Six weeks later, the Archbishop of Tuam John MacHale sets up a commission of inquiry which reports that the "testimony of all, taken as a whole, was trustworthy and satisfactory".

1936 The Archbishop of Tuam Joseph Gilmartin sets up a new commission to examine three surviving 1879 witnesses and is satisfied they confirmed their original statements.

September 1979 The shrine is given the full seal of approval by Rome with the visit of Pope John Paul II.

1986 Knock is put on the spiritual tourist map with the building of its international airport by Monsignor James Horan.

1993 Mother Teresa visits Knock Shrine.

August 14, 2009 Celebrating the 130th anniversary Knock apparition, Cardinal Sean Brady calls for prayers for "the shameful legacy of abuse within the church and in society".

October 11, 2009 Over 5,000 people gather at Knock in hope of seeing the apparition of Our Lady, following the prediction by a clairvoyant. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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SIC: II

We're flocking back to church

THE recession has seemingly sparked a renewed interest in going to church, a new poll revealed last night.

The percentage of people who attend Mass or other church services at least once a month has jumped from 54pc since the beginning of last year and now stands at 65pc of the population, the RedC poll reveals.

The poll, commissioned by the pro-religion think tank the Iona Institute, found that 46pc of the population now attend church on a weekly basis compared to 42pc last year.

It also revealed that 19pc of the population attend on a monthly basis, followed by 10pc who have not attended during the past year and 1pc who never attend.

The elderly are the most likely to attend on a weekly basis, with 70pc of those aged 65 and over attending each week.

However, the poll found that a third of the 18-24 year-old churchgoers attend on a weekly basis, while almost a quarter (22pc) of young people attend once a month or more.

The telephone poll of 1,000 respondents conducted between October 19 and 21 also found that churchgoers are more likely to attend on a weekly basis in rural areas (56pc), compared with 38pc of churchgoers who attend services on a weekly basis in Dublin.

The poll also found that Fianna Fail voters were the most likely to attend on a monthly basis (72pc), followed by Fine Gael (68pc) and Labour (65pc).
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SIC: II

Catholics, Lutherans and Methodists to Mark 10th Anniversary of Justification Declaration

Several commemorative events will be held in Augsburg, Germany, over the next two days to celebrate the signing of a landmark ecumenical agreement made ten years ago between representatives of the the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) and the Roman Catholic Church.

It was on Oct. 31, 1999, that the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ), considered one of the most significant agreements since the Reformation, was signed by church officials from the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation, which today represents 66.7 million of the world's 70.2 million Lutherans.

Members of the World Methodist Council later adopted the document by unanimous vote as well, in 2006, and will be present for this weekend's commemorative events.

"For hundreds of years, the issue of justification by faith divided Catholics and Protestants," said Bishop Gregory Palmer, president of The United Methodist Church’s Council of Bishops, in a released statement. "This agreement celebrates consensus on the basic truths of the doctrine of justification."

As the LDDJ states, "justification was the crux of all the disputes" between the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran tradition, which broke from the former church body and gave rise to the Protestant Reformation. Thus, the two faith groups believed that a common understanding of justification was "fundamental and indispensable" to overcoming the division.

Justification, according to the document, is the forgiveness of sins, liberation the dominating power of sin and death, and from the curse of the law, and it is acceptance into communion with God – all of which is from God alone, for Christ's sake, by grace, through faith in the gospel of God's Son.

In their common understanding, members of the Lutheran church body and the Roman Catholic Church together confess: "By grace alone, in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part, we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit, who renews our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works."

Though the joint declaration does not cover everything that either church teaches about justification, it encompasses a consensus on basic truths of the Christian doctrine.

Still, differences remain over language, theological elaboration, and emphasis in the understanding of justification with regard to such matters as good works but the Lutheran and Catholic churches say those differences do not destroy the consensus regarding the basic truths.

The JDDJ was not signed without objections. Some in the Lutheran tradition were shocked to see their leaders make what they described as a compromising move.

Nevertheless, the joint declaration is often cited as a significant achievement in religious history.

The highlight of the upcoming commemorative celebrations will be a ceremony on Friday evening in the Golden Hall of the Augsburg “Rathaus.”

On Saturday, presentations related to the JDDJ will continue with speakers including the long-serving bishop of the Evangelical Methodist Church in Germany, Dr. Walter Klaiber of Tübingen, and the former president of the German Bishops’ Conference, Cardinal Karl Lehmann of Mainz.

The president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), Cardinal Walter Kasper, and the general secretary of LWF, the Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko, will give the closing remarks.

The festivities will conclude with an ecumenical worship service in the Augsburg Cathedral and a reception.
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SIC: CRMN

New York Times refuses to publish Archbishop Dolan's op-ed on anti-Catholic bias

The New York Times declined to publish an op-ed presented by the Archbishop of New York, Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan, in which he made the point that the “Gray Lady” has been reporting stories with a strong anti-Catholic bias.

In his new blog on the archdiocese’s website, Archbishop Dolan explains that his article was submitted in a slightly shorter form to the New York Times as an op-ed, but the Times declined to publish it.

In the blog version, Archbishop Dolan says that next to baseball, “sadly, America has another national pastime, this one not pleasant at all: anti-Catholicism.”

“If you want recent evidence of this unfairness against the Catholic Church,” writes the Archbishop, “look no further than a few of these following examples of occurrences over the last couple weeks.”

On October 14, in the pages of the New York Times, reporter Paul Vitello exposed the sad extent of child sexual abuse in Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community.

“Yet,” Archbishop Dolan observes, “the Times did not demand what it has called for incessantly when addressing the same kind of abuse by a tiny minority of priests: release of names of abusers, rollback of statute of limitations, external investigations, release of all records, and total transparency.”

“Given the Catholic Church’s own recent horrible experience, I am hardly in any position to criticize our Orthodox Jewish neighbors, and have no wish to do so... but I can criticize this kind of ‘selective outrage,’” he insists.

The op-ed explains that “In 2004, Professor Carol Shakeshaft documented the wide-spread problem of sexual abuse of minors in our nation’s public schools; while in 2007, the Associated Press issued a series of investigative reports that showed numerous examples of sexual abuse by educators against public school students.”

“Both the Shakeshaft study and the AP reports were essentially ignored, as papers such as the New York Times only seem to have priests in their crosshairs,” the Archbishop writes.

The Archbishop then takes issue with a New York Times October 16 “front page, above-the-fold story on the sad episode of a Franciscan priest who had fathered a child.”

“Even taking into account that the relationship with the mother was consensual and between two adults, and that the Franciscans have attempted to deal justly with the errant priest’s responsibilities to his son, this action is still sinful, scandalous, and indefensible.”

“However,” he writes, “one still has to wonder why a quarter-century old story of a sin by a priest is now suddenly more pressing and newsworthy than the war in Afghanistan, health care, and starvation–genocide in Sudan.”

“No other cleric from religions other than Catholic ever seems to merit such attention,” he charges.

Then, on October 21, the Archbishop recounts, “the Times gave its major headline to the decision by the Vatican to welcome Anglicans who had requested union with Rome.”

“Fair enough. Unfair, though, was the article’s observation that the Holy See lured and bid for the Anglicans.

“Of course, the reality is simply that for years thousands of Anglicans have been asking Rome to be accepted into the Catholic Church with a special sensitivity for their own tradition,” he explains.

Nevertheless, the Archbishop of New York says the “most combustible example” was “an intemperate and scurrilous piece” on the opinion pages of the Times by Maureen Dowd, a 57-year-old alumna of Catholic University of America who has a history of anti-Catholic bias.

“In a diatribe that rightly never would have passed muster with the editors had it so criticized an Islamic, Jewish, or African-American religious issue, she digs deep into the nativist handbook to use every anti-Catholic caricature possible, from the Inquisition to the Holocaust, condoms, obsession with sex, pedophile priests, and oppression of women, all the while slashing Pope Benedict XVI for his shoes, his forced conscription -- along with every other German teenage boy -- into the German army, his outreach to former Catholics, and his recent welcome to Anglicans.”

Describing the current visitation of women religious by Vatican representatives as “the matter that triggered the spasm” of Dowd, Archbishop Dolan says that it “is well-worth discussing, and hardly exempt from legitimate questioning.” “But her prejudice, while maybe appropriate for the Know-Nothing newspaper of the 1850’s, the Menace, has no place in a major publication today.”

“I do not mean to suggest that anti-Catholicism is confined to the pages New York Times,” writes Archbishop Dolan, who also admits that “the Catholic Church is not above criticism.”

“We Catholics do a fair amount of it ourselves. We welcome and expect it. All we ask is that such critique be fair, rational, and accurate, what we would expect for anybody. The suspicion and bias against the Church is a national pastime that should be ‘rained out’ for good.”

The Archbishop of New York, also an alumnus of the Catholic University of America with a doctorate in Church History, writes that “my own background in American history should caution me not to hold my breath.”

“Then again, yesterday was the Feast of Saint Jude, the patron saint of impossible causes.”

The full version of Archbishop Dolan’s column is available at: http://www.archny.org/news-events/columns-and-blogs/blog---the-gospel-in-the-digital-age/index.cfm?i=14042
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SIC: CNA

Vatican Celebrates Europe-China "Bridge"

When Jesuit Father Matteo Ricci died in China in 1610, for the first time in the country's history the emperor granted a plot for the burial of a foreigner.

A display at the Vatican is paying tribute to this missionary and what Benedict XVI called his "peculiar capacity" to reach Chinese culture and traditions "with full respect."

A presentation of the exhibit "To the Heights of History. Matteo Ricci (1552-1610): Between Rome and Peking" was held this morning in the Vatican Press Office. Antonio Paolucci, director of the Vatican Museums and organizer of the exhibit, led the presentation.

The exhibit will be on display in St. Peter's Square through Jan. 24, 2010. It was organized by the Committee for the Celebration of the Fourth Centenary of Father Matteo Ricci, in collaboration with the Vatican Museums, the General Curia of the Company of Jesus, and the Pontifical Gregorian University.

The exhibit includes pieces such as portraits of the Pontiffs who promoted evangelization in the Far East during the 16th century, as well as paintings of St. Ignatius of Loyola writing the Jesuits' Constitution and St. Francis Xavier evangelizing Far Eastern lands.

Father Ricci's manuscripts in Italian and Chinese are also included, as are maps drawn by him, and dozens of pieces representing the union between East and West, which show that Father Ricci understood that it is possible to proclaim the Gospel in all cultures.

"Considering his intense scientific and spiritual activity, one cannot but be positively amazed given the innovative and peculiar capacity he had in approaching, with full respect, Chinese cultural and spiritual traditions in their totality," Benedict XVI wrote in a message sent to the Diocese of Macerata -- Father Ricci's birthplace -- for the fourth centenary of his death.

Matteo Ricci's "extraordinary missionary adventure led him to build, for the first time in history, a true bridge of dialogue and exchange between Europe and China," the bishop of the diocese where he was born affirmed today.

Bishop Claudio Giuliodori of Macerata, Italy, added: "Besides paying homage to this giant of the faith and friendship between peoples, the exhibit seeks to provide all with an opportunity to learn about and be inspired by a model of evangelization of the Gospel culture and inculturation that, in many aspects, has no equal in the history of humanity."

Following St. Francis Xavier

Born in Macerata in 1522, a town then located in the Papal States (at present in Italy), Matteo Ricci left for the Far East on May 18, 1577, when he was not yet an ordained priest, with the blessing of Pope Gregory XIII.

Together with 14 companions, he left on this mission journey with the hope of reaching China, where Jesuit St. Francis Xavier had died just two months after Ricci's birth.

He was ordained a priest in 1580 in Goa, at the southern end of the coast of the Indian Ocean. In 1583 he went to live in the city of Zhoqing, in the province of Guangdong, after having endured six years of difficulties. Here he dedicated himself intensely to the study of the language.

In Zhaoquing, Ricci drew a map of the world based on European cartography, making the inhabitants of the area aware that there was a world beyond their wall. For the first time in history, China had a map that included the territories of Europe, Africa and America.

"Ricci brought with him the knowledge of the cartographers of his time, something absolutely new for the Chinese," said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, during today's presentation.

Little by little he won the esteem of the Chinese people, and succeeded in penetrating this very ancient culture. He also translated books on philosophy and mathematics into Chinese.

"I plan to end my life here. (...) Many have been converted, many come to Mass. They go to confession and Communion on the main feasts and are delighted to listen to the Word of God," wrote Father Ricci in a letter to his brother Antonio.

Appreciating Chinese culture and knowing their language, Father Ricci worked exhaustively for evangelization and cultural dialogue in China. He wrote a catechism in that language and published his work "Treatise on Friendship." He also translated Euclid's first books of geometry in collaboration with his friend Xu Guangqi.

Several of his disciples called him "the strange man," because of his European physical features, his different culture and the fact that he lived celibacy.

Father Ricci died in Peking on May 11, 1610. His tomb is still there. His cause of beatification opened in 1983.

Bishop Guidiolori said today that the community of Chinese Catholics residing in Italy is working enthusiastically so that Father Ricci will be raised to the altar.
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SIC: Zenit

With Orthodox: "Little Steps, the Right Direction"

The Vatican's official for promoting Christian unity has characterized the most recent session of dialogue with the Orthodox as "little steps forward in the right direction."

This was the estimation given by Cardinal Walter Kasper to Vatican Radio today as he evaluated the 11th plenary session of the International Mixed Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

The weeklong session ended Oct. 23 in Paphos.

Cardinal Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said the steps forward are "small and slow," precisely because the topic under discussion is "very complex -- a theme that has carried an emotional weight for many centuries."

The commission was discussing "The Role of the Bishop of Rome in the Communion of the Church in the First Millennium."

"What is important, nevertheless," the cardinal continued, "is that -- despite some demonstrations by a few protestors, above all from the Church of Greece -- all of the Orthodox representatives have decided that the dialogue should continue."

"The relationship between the Catholic and Orthodox members of the commission has been very good, friendly and tranquil," he added.

The next commission meeting will be held Sept. 20-27, 2010, in Vienna, hosted by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn.

For his part, the Orthodox co-president of the commission meeting, Metropolitan Ioannis Zizioulas of Pergamum, noted that the "question of primacy is an ecclesiological problem," and thus "a question of faith."

Metropolitan Zizioulas acknowledged that for Catholic-Orthodox relations, the question of primacy "has had the most tragic of roles" and has "created the greatest problems."

He further observed that Catholic-Orthodox dialogue is the most important of the official dialogues undertaken by the Orthodox Churches, "but at the same time, because of certain situations, the most laborious."

The Orthodox prelate urged "work without ceasing" to bring about the "daily prayer of union among all of us."
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SIC: Zenit

God and Football: The NFL's Chaplains Give Advice

For most of football season, Father James Baraniak wears his green vestment with gold lining when he performs Mass in Green Bay, Wis.

And while it has nothing to do with the Packers' team colors — green is mandated by the Vatican — it is something of a holy coincidence, given the fact that he has been the Packers' chaplain for the past 13 years.

Still, sometimes his primary allegiance with the church causes some playful friction with the team.

"During Advent, I am obligated to wear purple, the color of penitence but also the Minnesota Vikings," he says. "If we play them at that time, you can bet the players will have a bit of fun with me and call me a traitor."

Every football team in the NFL has at least one chaplain to whom the players and coaches can turn for religious guidance.

And though some may question the appropriateness of bringing one popular American Sunday pastime — God — into a considerably more commercial and violent Sunday pastime, the chaplains believe it is precisely their mission to help reconcile the two.

Forget the mysteries of the sacraments — what about the answers to these theological questions: Does God want us to lose? Does he favor the Steelers? What makes Lambeau Field sacred? Is it right to pray for first downs when people are suffering? And who caused that fumble, Jesus or Julius Peppers?

Owners and coaches try to take care of their players physically, financially and psychologically, but they understand that players have spiritual needs too. And the more the players are spiritually at peace, the more they can focus on the game.

Some teams favor a group approach — the Indianapolis Colts, for example, have three go-to spiritual receivers, covering Protestant and Catholic denominations. (The NFL is overwhelmingly Christian; when the occasional Jewish or Muslim player requires counsel, the teams generally outsource.)

And it's not just the players who make use of chaplains' services. On game day, some chaplains can be seen in the cement concourses hustling back and forth from the owner's box to the sidelines quelling anxieties and quieting doubt.

The chaplains are often former professional athletes. Adam Burt, an Evangelical chaplain for the New York Jets, spent 14 seasons in the NHL. As ex-players, they understand the anxieties of always being watched and evaluated, and experience can be next to godliness.

"Moses went through the desert himself before he took the Israelites through it," says Pastor James Trapp of the Atlanta Falcons, who was a defensive back on the 2000 Baltimore Ravens championship team. They aren't paid team salaries but usually fall under the managerial rubric of "player development."

(At least one, the chaplain for the Chicago Bears, has an office in the training complex.)

Financial support comes from their outside work, and players are free to contribute to those ministries, if they choose. The chaplains say the strong faith of many of the coaches and owners creates favorable working conditions, allowing them a wide degree of access.

And on any given Sunday during football season, they need it. There are chapel services prior to the game, and the chaplains often lead the Lord's Prayer pre-game in the locker room and again post-game, with both teams at the 50-yard line.

(Participation is optional, and many players abstain from religious services, not wanting to mix their professional lives with their spiritual ones.)

But the chaplains believe their real value is more long term than game-day ministering. Through teaching Scripture and individual counseling, they attempt to bolster the players' values, so that their priorities, especially when they leave the regulated world of football, do not lead them down the path of self-destruction.

At the same time, the chaplains help the players understand the acceptability of being forceful on the field, even as good Christians.

"The popular perception of Christianity in America, prior to the last 10 to 15 years, has been that being a Christian meant you were soft — you were considered weak, kind of a pushover," says Pastor Trapp. "You're the guy who was going to turn the other cheek. But you read in the Bible that some of those guys were brash and bold and forceful but still had a heart and a desire for God."

In small group-study sessions, chaplains offer guidance for the challenges that come with the players' new money and fame. Carey Casey, chaplain for the Kansas City Chiefs, uses the Book of Proverbs (Chapter 7: 6-27) to warn the players about crafty women they might meet in downtown clubs.

When crises hit, a chaplain can provide paths to repentance; however, most prefer not to help anyone play Monday-morning Christian. Faith, they say, should be cultivated, not used as a fallback position.

When a player gets into trouble, the coaches and management might be tempted to trot out his Christian faith to help with public opinion, but that makes the chaplains nervous.

One's religiosity should assist the players to find direction, not serve as misdirection from what they did wrong.

"The question is: Are you using Jesus for monetary gain or eternal gain?" says Trapp.

"Monetary gain says, 'We have an issue with a guy; let's now throw the Christian hat on. Let's get the media to play that. We don't want to lose money — that's our star player!' But if you're really trying to use Jesus for eternal gain, it's going to show up in the NFL and in our society. That's my encouragement. Stop trying to pimp Jesus."

Because the highs can be so electrifying and the defeats so crushing, players often want help contextualizing the season. Their professions depend on victory, but the Vince Lombardi Trophy can signify something greater than a big win.

When asked if a Super Bowl ring serves as an idol for the players, Trapp puts his spin on football's Holy Grail: "Every time I think about the Super Bowl, I think about the season. Every time I think about the season, I think about the relationships. And the Super Bowl doesn't even compare to the season and the relationships — because the Super Bowl is long gone, but the relationships are still here and still solid and still growing."

The playoffs mean more time to do unto your teammates as you would have your teammates do unto you.

After the 7:30 a.m. Mass for the Packers on game day, Father Baraniak heads over to St. Norbert College, four miles from Lambeau, and officiates at Mass for the students.

(Some of them, he admits, come to his service because they know he'll finish in time to get to the game.)

By kickoff, Baraniak can be seen on the sidelines in his clerical collar and black garments (his team-color vestment left at the rectory), ready for whatever might get thrown his way.
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SIC: TIME

German cardinal stresses Catholic role in toppling Berlin Wall

A German cardinal said various commemorations of the collapse of the Berlin Wall ignore contributions by the Catholic Church.

"It is simply untrue, as many critics maintain, that the church was introverted -- just the opposite," said Cardinal Joachim Meisner of Cologne, who served as bishop of Berlin 1980-88.

"Throughout these years, Christians formed a living protest against this inhuman system," said the cardinal.

"Yet in the many declarations, speeches, interviews and books appearing for the 20th anniversary, the church's role is being evaluated and covered only very superficially, even by Catholics."

On Nov. 9 Germans will commemorate the 1989 fall of the wall, which divided West Germany from the communist-ruled East Germany for 28 years. The anniversary will include a "Festival of Freedom" in Berlin, during which 1,000 giant foam dominos will be toppled along the route of the wall.

In an Oct. 26 article in the Die Welt daily, Cardinal Meisner said that under communist rule the Berlin Diocese never adjusted its boundaries, and church officials refused to participate in state ceremonies. Berlin became an archdiocese in 1994.

"The complete absence of our bishops on such occasions was always seen as relativizing the system," said Cardinal Meisner. "Diplomatic representatives in East Berlin repeatedly emphasized their admiration for the Catholic Church's stance."

Cardinal Meisner said most commentaries had focused only on the final steps in Germany's reunification, without mentioning "the 999 steps taken earlier," in which Catholics played a key role.

The cardinal said the Catholic Church had been viewed as a "tolerated subtenant" of East Germany, but had managed to provide "an annoyance, a protest against the unified mass and an actual testimony for Christ."

He added that lay Catholics had offered a "biblical testimony of nonparticipation" by boycotting communist institutions, such as the "Jugendweihe" youth enrollment, and by continuing daily social and charitable activities.

Cardinal Meisner said some commentaries recalled the role of Lutheran churches as gathering places for protesters, while ignoring key events such as a 1987 Catholic Katholikentag festival that brought 100,000 people onto the streets of Dresden.

"My words to the main Mass at that festival, that we would follow no other star than the Star of Bethlehem, were clearly understood as a political signal," the cardinal added.

"I think today of the many people who helped bring about the events of Nov. 9, 1989, through unspectacular resistance along the way. They deserve their own monument, or at least to be included in the historical record," he said.

The 124-mile Berlin Wall, separating the German capital, was completed Aug. 13, 1961, after 3.5 million East Germans, a fifth of the population, fled to West Germany. The wall later was strengthened with guard towers and a mined "death strip."

Crossing points in the wall were opened by East Germany's communist regime during a wave of revolutionary change in Eastern Europe, paving the way for Germany's formal reunification in 1990.
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SIC: TCSC

Ukrainian sectarian, a pope hopeful, held on charge of rape

The Kiev Police detained Oleg Kulik, a leader of the so-called “Ukrainian Orthodox autocephalous canonical church,” suspected in sexual violence against women of his parish.

Law enforcement agencies earlier received complaints from women who claimed that Kulik entranced them by reading prayers and then convinced them it was not a sin to have sex with him as they would give birth to “divine children,” Ukrainian edition of the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily reported on Friday.

The paper further said that Kulik was a monk of St. Michael Monastery in Kiev in the 1990s, where he first told about his “specialness,” he called himself Christ, sprouted beard and grew long hair, then announced he would head “the Kiev Patriarchate” and the Russian Orthodox Church and afterwards become a Pope of Rome.

Kulik, who now introduce himself as Moses, was exiled from the convent and left for the USA.

He returned in Ukraine in 2002 and started attracting people to his sect. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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SIC: IFR

The English church that embodies a papal vision

Few better places outside London than Eric Mendelsohn's and Serge Chermayeff's De La Warr Pavilion, built in 1935 on the front at Bexhill-on-Sea in Sussex, could be chosen to mount an exhibition commemorating the 175th anniversary of the foundation of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1834.

Long considered one of the pioneer buildings of the International Modern Style, it was described by Charles Reilly soon after completion as "a revelation from another planet in the rococo redness of that terrible town".

Others, like Henry-Russell Hitchcock, recognised it in 1936 as "the most conspicuous and successful modern building in England".

While today Alan Powers, the organiser of the exhibition, Mind into Matter, for RIBA South East, argues that since its restoration in 2005, "the pavilion has become a place to bring people who need to be convinced that Modern architecture has a positive and life-enhancing quality".

This austere exhibition breaks new ground in the appreciation and understanding of architecture. Composed of architectural drawings and outstanding photographs taken by Nigel Green, the exhibition selects eight exemplary buildings that many will find unfamiliar and surprising.

Victorian and Edwardian enthusiasts will welcome Charles Barry's Reform Club, Deane and Woodward's Oxford Museum, Philip Webb's Clouds House and Ninian Comper's St Mary's, Wellingborough. Secure, if recondite, ground there.

The modernist will find the De La Warr Pavilion as familiar as the Parthenon, but what of Alison and Peter Smithson's Economist Group buildings in St James's, London, Craig and Collinge's Royal Mail Mechanised Letter Office at Hemel Hempstead and Tony Fretton's British Embassy in Warsaw?

The last three represent unconsidered historical territory, but so, in this unforeseen survey divided into intervals of 25 years, do the rest because I suspect that, given their competitors, none of their architects would have expected to be included in such a record.

There is no Pugin, Mackintosh, Voysey or Lutyens, no Giles Gilbert Scott, Basil Spence, Norman Foster or Richard Rogers; the obvious is studiedly omitted. Being exemplary does not mean being familiar, nor does unfamiliarity mean being mediocre.

In this setting exemplary means that there is something of permanent value to learn from each building.

We are taken into their architects' minds and, as Powers explains: "Each of the selected buildings has a strong sense of purpose, including a desire to teach a lesson, but also to serve a particular set of needs, practical and symbolic."

For Catholic and Anglican visitors the inclusion of St Mary's, Wellingborough, Comper's masterpiece set in a Midlands industrial suburb, has much to teach because it was the most profoundly Catholic church built in England in the 20th century when the Church was seen as a historic faith and its significance transcends its denominational boundaries.

Powers describes it as "one of Britain's unforgettable architectural experiences" and goes beyond aesthetic appreciation by analysing its uniqueness as a place of worship and the integrity of planning.

Most visitors are entranced by the beauty of the interior but few recognise the powerful depth of thought subsumed in tradition that lies behind the synthesis of styles and its function as a church of the Eucharist.

The altar stands beneath a ciborium magnum of burnished gold set within gilded, white and black iron screens as the liturgical heart and inspiration of the building.

At the present time no church in England embodies so fully Pope Benedict XVI's understanding of the hermeneutic of continuity in theology, doctrine and liturgical development, and the place of beauty within it, than this matchless church.

Comper's mature planning, based on fourth-century North African basilican models, helped to bring life to Christian worship and Powers makes the startling point that "this was, in its way, as revolutionary as Walter Gropius's Fagus Factory of 1911, often seen as the founding of Modernism".

He goes further by identifying other similarities - "the search for light as a spiritual quality in buildings, and the desire to symbolise community". Comper's theories remain to be tested.

The freshness and brilliance of Powers's approach to architecture and buildings not only enable people to see and understand them better but comprehend the design process and the continuity of expression achieved in buildings of markedly different, sometimes alien, appearance.

What binds these eight disparate buildings together is the variance of Classicism even when stripped of historical references.

So Fretton's abstract glass embassy at Warsaw, completed this year, suggests not only Mies van der Rohe but the German neo-Classical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, a contemporary of Charles Barry, who inspired Mies, thus linking the last building in the exhibition to the first, the Reform Club, completed in 1843. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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SIC: TCH

Unionists defend 'No pope here' online campaign

UNIONISTS have defended pledging their support for a 'No pope here' campaign on a popular social networking website.

DUP politicians, including Mid-Ulster MLA Ian McCrea, are among numerous members of Facebook who have signed up to an online group venting their opposition to a potential papal visit to Northern Ireland.

The group, which currently contains 65 members, was set up in September when speculation first arose that Pope Benedict XVI could visit the Province next year.

It was claimed the pontiff's possible presence could be as part of a trip to the UK as early as January.

Mr McCrea, who previously posted views on his own personal website that a papal visit would "face the vent of Protestant opposition", said he had been invited to join the Facebook group by its administrator.

"I have a right to my opinion and I don't believe the pope is welcome here in Northern Ireland," he told the News Letter.

The DUP man said he was opposed to any visit both on the grounds of community relations and his own personal Christian views.

"The pope sets himself up as the ruler of all men - as the head of the Church. However, the scripture teaches that Christ is the head of the Church."

He added: "There is nothing sinister in joining the group - we are Protestants opposed to a papal visit."

The Mid-Ulster representative has been joined on the Facebook by political colleagues, including DUP councillors Brian Graham and Ian Stevenson.

When contacted by the News Letter, Mr Graham said he "could not remember" adding his name to the anti-Pope campaign, but nonetheless defended his decision to be associated with the group.

When asked why he had joined, the Antrim councillor replied: "There is no specific reason but I don't think the situation here is suitable (for a papal visit) and I don't think it would be a wise decision."

Mr Stevenson, a Ballymoney councillor, said he could personally not accept such a visit due to his Protestant beliefs and principles.

"I do fully believe a significant proportion of people would welcome it but I theologically have great differences and in my own conscience I could not accept such a visit," he said.

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SIC: BN

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor's new appointments in Rome

The Vatican announced that the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has appointed Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, Emeritus Archbishop of Westminster, as a member of the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

In a mark of extraordinary esteem, Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor to two important Vatican congregations that select bishops for most dioceses of the Latin-rite Catholic Church worldwide.

The German pontiff has named him to both the Congregation for Bishops and of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

Both congregations have many tasks including the erection, suppression and division of dioceses, as well as the supervision of the bishops in these dioceses, but their most important function relates to the appointment of bishops.

They screen and vet all the candidates to be bishops and present the Pope with a list of three names, in order of their choice, for him to make the final decision. He accepts their first recommendation in well over 90% of cases.

The Congregation for Bishops handles the appointments of bishops for most of the Latin Churches in Europe and the Americas. It appoints about 135 bishops each year for these two continents.

The Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, formerly known as Propaganda Fidei, is an enormous operation and is a kind of 'mini-Vatican' in relation to the mission territories.

It appoints bishops for about 1000 dioceses (roughly 37% of the world's dioceses) in mission territories, which are mainly in Africa and Asia (excluding the Philippines), but also include Oceania (excluding Australia) and some areas in the Americas.

This Congregation appoints about 50 bishops worldwide, each year.

In his new role, Cardinal Cormac will be directly involved in the appointment of Bishops for England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, as well for countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and Oceania.

Normally cardinals and a small number of bishops are appointed to these positions while they are still head of a diocese or a Vatican office.

The appointments are usually for a five-year period, and are renewable. It is highly unusual for the Pope to appoint a retired bishop or cardinal to such positions for the first time.

That Pope Benedict has decided to name Cardinal Cormac to these two important posts is an indicator of the great respect and high esteem which he enjoys with both the Pope and senior Vatican officials.

His new appointments will bring him a heavy work-load. He will have to study many dossiers in advance of each meeting, and must be prepared to express his opinion and vote on the individual candidates. Insiders confirm that being a member of these two congregations is "a very time consuming task".

This work will also require a lot of travel as all the meetings are held in the Vatican. He will be expected to attend and participate in the fortnightly meetings of the Congregation for Bishops, and in the monthly meetings of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

Each meeting usually lasts a whole morning.

Given the heavy work load and travel, the overwhelming majority of the active bishops and cardinals who come to the meetings are from the Roman Curia.

Only a very small number of those living outside Italy come regularly to these meetings in Rome, but one who does is the American Cardinal Justin Regali, who flies in every two weeks for the meeting of the Congregation of Bishops.

In the USA they call him "Papa Justiniano", and few doubt the role he plays in the appointment of American bishops.

Cardinal Cormac learned of his new role in the universal Church during his recent visit to Rome (October 14-20) when the Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, informed him of the Pope's decision.

As a result of this decision, the former Archbishop of Westminster is now one of about a dozen cardinals (most of them from the Roman Curia) who are on both congregations.

Pope Benedict has given him a role of great importance which will have an impact on the future of the Universal Church in many lands.

It also takes him deep inside the corridors of power in the Vatican. Normally a person is appointed to each of these positions for a five-year period, until he reaches the age of 80.

Cardinal Cormac will hold these posts until he reaches the age of 80 on 24 August 2012.
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SIC: ICN

Vatican newspaper critiques dissident theologian

The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, has criticised the Swiss-born Roman Catholic theologian Hans Küng after he accused Pope Benedict XVI of an "unecumenical luring away" of discontented Anglicans by setting up a special structure to admit them into the Catholic Church.

A column signed by the editor, Giovanni Maria Vian, in the 29 October edition of the newspaper said the article by 81-year-old Küng published the previous day in several European newspapers, including La Repubblica in Rome, contained "lies and inaccuracies".

The Vatican announced on 20 October that Pope Benedict XVI is to set up a structure to "allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church, while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony".

Observers have said the scheme is directed mainly at Anglicans who disagree with the ordination of women and of homosexuals.
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SIC: Spero

Episcopal bishop opens door to Catholics

In the wake of Vatican plans to make it easier for Episcopalians to become Catholic, the Episcopal bishop of Maryland would like to make one point clear: The door swings both ways.

Lost in talk of the splintering of the Anglican Communion, Bishop Eugene Taylor Sutton says, is the appeal that the 45,000-member Episcopal Diocese of Maryland has held for former Roman Catholics and others looking for a big-tent church.

While attention focused on the conversion en masse last month of a Catonsville-based order of Episcopal nuns to the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland has received three former Roman Catholic clergy in the past couple of months, Sutton says.

"We just want to remind people that this switching from Anglicans becoming Roman Catholics goes both ways," Sutton said. "Many, many laypeople in our churches came from the Roman Catholic Church. We get many clergy."

He spoke a week after Vatican officials said the Roman Catholic Church would create structures to welcome the Anglican (called Episcopalian in the U.S.) clergy and laypeople who have asked about joining.

The surprise move comes amid a growing divide among conservatives and liberals in the worldwide Anglican Communion over the ordination of women, acceptance of gay clergy and the celebration of same-sex relationships.

The Episcopal General Convention, the principal governing body of the church in the United States, voted this year to declare homosexuals eligible for any ordained ministry and began writing prayers to bless gay unions.

A smaller group has broken away to form the Anglican Church of North America, a conservative body seeking separate recognition within the Anglican Communion.

Others have "crossed the Tiber," church slang for joining the Roman Catholic Church. In September, 10 of the 12 members of the All Saints Sisters of the Poor were welcomed into the Catholic faith at a Mass celebrated in their Catonsville chapel by Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien.

The Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore has declined to comment on the Vatican announcement last week. A spokesman said Thursday that officials are waiting to hear more details before speaking.

Sutton says the two churches enjoy good relations here. He says he consults with his counterparts at the archdiocese when a Catholic priest wants to join the Episcopal diocese, and vice-versa.

"We actually get several inquiries a year," he said. "We know we can call up the archbishop or [Auxiliary] Bishop [Denis J.] Madden and say, 'Give us the lowdown on that person.' Now, we have a few from our side who go there, and they'll call on us. We don't want to give each other bad apples."

He has not spoken with anyone at the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore since the Vatican announcement, in part because he doesn't see it having much impact here. While there is a minority in the diocese that is frustrated with the direction of the Episcopal Church on social issues, he says, no one is threatening to leave over them.

"We don't know how many Anglicans are going to go over to the Roman Catholic Church on this," he said. "There probably aren't going to be any more than there would have been a month ago. And the percentages are very small."

He is supportive of the moves to embrace women and homosexuals. The first African-American leader of a diocese whose founding bishop owned slaves, Sutton sees them as part of a larger arc of progress.

"The church was wrong on slavery - many parts of the church," he said. "The church was wrong in the Crusades. The church was wrong with Galileo. The church was wrong with women. The church was wrong with people of a different so-called race. The church, increasingly, we find it was wrong with people who are oriented toward the same gender.

"In every case, the church was saying, 'That's a change that leaves the faith.'

"No," Sutton said. "It may be that the Holy Spirit is leading us into the change. I think so."
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SIC: TBS

Anglican leader to meet pope on November 21: Vatican

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, spiritual leader of the world's Anglicans, will meet Pope Benedict XVI on November 21, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi confirmed Friday.

Lombardi told AFP that Rowan's visit to the Vatican was "already planned" before the Vatican's October 20 announcement of a structure for welcoming Anglican converts into the Roman Catholic Church.

Williams will be on hand for celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of Johannes Willebrands, a Dutch cardinal who was a pioneer in Catholic ecumenism and who died in 2006.

The Vatican announced last week that Pope Benedict XVI has approved a new structure to ease the way for Anglicans -- including married priests -- to join the Roman Catholic Church.

The Holy See said the move was a response to "numerous requests to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in various parts of the world who want to enter into full and visible communion."

The Anglican church has been confronted by a growing split over the ordination of women and gay marriage.

Several conservative Anglican priests have defected to Catholicism since the ordination of women was adopted from 1984 in various branches of the Anglican Communion and by the Church of England as a whole in 1992.

Most vocal on the issue has been an Australia-based group, the Traditional Anglican Communion, whose leader Bishop John Hepworth made a formal request to the pope in 2007 for its members to be allowed into the Catholic fold.

The TAC, which split from the Anglican Communion in 1991, claims a membership of some 400,000 -- of whom several hundred are thought to want to convert to Catholicism.

The Church of England is the mother church of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which has about 77 million followers.

The Catholic Church counts some 1.1 billion faithful.
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SIC: AFP

Pope invited to visit North East UK

Pope Benedict XVI has been invited to speak at Durham Cathedral when he visits the UK in 2010.

The invitation, from a partnership of Anglicans and Catholics, follows a visit by a Vatican representative to Durham University in March.

It was made by Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, and is supported by Bishop Seamus Cunningham of the Catholic diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.

If accepted, it would be the first Papal visit to north-east England.

Bishop Wright said: "Durham has in recent years become a major global centre for ecumenical work and the close interlinking of cathedral and university means that Durham is well placed to host an event which is simultaneously academic and ecumenically spiritual."

The North East has a rich Christian heritage. Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, in

Northumberland was a base for Christian evangelising in the 7th Century.

And Wearmouth-Jarrow monastery was home to the influential Benedictine Monk, the Venerable Bede, whose tomb can be found at Durham Cathedral.

The City of Durham MP, Roberta Blackman-Woods said: "The possibility of a papal visit to Durham and to Durham Cathedral, a site of unparalleled beauty, would be of tremendous benefit to the North East.

"I'm sure that the people of Durham would feel great pride in welcoming Pope Benedict and the world's media."

Pope Benedict's UK trip is set to be the first official state visit by a pontiff - John Paul II's visit in May 1982 was on a pastoral basis and did not follow an official invitation by the UK government.
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SIC: BBC

Prayers For The Deceased

Our Father….

Hail Mary….

Glory Be….

Eternal light shine upon them, and may their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us (x3)

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us (x3)

Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel:

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -by the Divine Power of God -cast into Hell, Satan and all the Evil Spirits,who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen

All Saints Day - November 1st

Solemnity celebrated on the first of November.

It is instituted to honour all the saints, known and unknown, and, according to Urban IV to supply any deficiencies in the faithful's celebration of saints' feasts during the year.

In the early days the Christians were accustomed to solemnize the anniversary of a martyr's death for Christ at the place of martyrdom.

In the fourth century, neighbouring dioceses began to interchange feasts, to transfer relics, to divide them, and to join in a common feast; as is shown by the invitation of St. Basil of Caesarea (397) to the bishops of the province of Pontus.

Frequently groups of martyrs suffered on the same day, which naturally led to a joint commemoration.

In the persecution of Diocletian the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day could not be assigned to each.

But the Church, feeling that every martyr should be venerated, appointed a common day for all.

The first trace of this we find in Antioch on the Sunday after Pentecost. We also find mention of a common day in a sermon of St. Ephrem the Syrian (373), and in the 74th homily of St. John Chrysostom (407).

At first only martyrs and St. John the Baptist were honoured by a special day.

Other saints were added gradually, and increased in number when a regular process of canonization was established; still, as early as 411 there is in the Chaldean Calendar a "Commemoratio Confessorum" for the Friday after Easter.

In the West Boniface IV, 13 May, 609, or 610, consecrated the Pantheon in Rome to the Blessed Virgin and all the martyrs, ordering an anniversary.

Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to all the saints and fixed the anniversary for 1 November.

A basilica of the Apostles already existed in Rome, and its dedication was annually remembered on 1 May.

Gregory IV (827-844) extended the celebration on 1 November to the entire Church.

The vigil seems to have been held as early as the feast itself.

The octave was added by Sixtus IV (1471-84).

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SIC: CW

Prayer for the Increase of Priestly and Religious Vocations

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Eternal Father,

Son of the Virgin Mary,
we thank you for offering your life in sacrifice on
the Cross, and for renewing this sacrifice
in every Mass celebrated throughout the world.

In the Power of the Holy Spirit
we adore you and proclaim
your living presence in the Eucharist.

We desire to imitate the love you show us
in your death and resurrection,
by loving and serving one another.

We ask you to call many young people to religious
life, and to provide the holy and generous priests
that are so needed in you Church today.

Lord Jesus, hear our prayer.

Amen.

Prayer For Priests

O Jesus, our great High Priest,

Hear my humble prayers on behalf of your priest, Father [N].

Give him a deep faith a bright and firm hope
and a burning love
which will ever increase
in the course of his priestly life.

In his loneliness, comfort him

In his sorrows, strengthen him

In his frustrations,

point out to him that it is through suffering
that the soul is purified,

and show him that he is needed by the Church,

he is needed by souls,

he is needed for the work of redemption.

O loving Mother Mary, Mother of Priests,
take to your heart your son who is close to you

because of his priestly ordination,

and because of the power

which he has received

to carry on the work of Christ
in a world which needs him so much.

Be his comfort,
be his joy,
be his strength,

and especially help him

to live and to defend
the ideals of consecrated celibacy.

Amen.

Prayer To St Mark The Evangelist

PRAYER
(traditional language)

Almighty God, who by the hand of Mark the evangelist hast given to thy Church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God:
We thank thee for this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

PRAYER
(contemporary language)

Almighty God, who by the hand of Mark the evangelist have given to your Church the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God:
We thank you for this witness, and pray that we may be firmly grounded in its truth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.