Prague, Czech Republic, Jan 6, 2010 / 11:04 pm (CNA).- The outgoing Archbishop of Prague Cardinal Miloslav Vlk has warned of the “Islamization” of Europe, calling for Europeans to return to their Christian roots. “The fall of Europe is looming,” he said in an interview published on his website.
"Europe has denied its Christian roots from which it has risen and which could give it the strength to fend off the danger that it will be conquered by Muslims -- which is actually happening gradually,” the cardinal said, according to Agence France Presse.
"If Europe doesn't change its relation to its own roots, it will be Islamized,” added the prelate.
Cardinal Vlk said that immigration and Muslims’ high birth rates have helped Muslims “easily fill the vacant space created as Europeans systematically empty the Christian content of their lives.”
"At the end of the Middle Ages and in the early modern age, Islam failed to conquer Europe with arms. The Christians beat them then,” he continued. "Today, when the fighting is done with spiritual weapons which Europe lacks while Muslims are perfectly armed, the fall of Europe is looming.”
Cardinal Vlk was persecuted by the communist regime toppled in 1989. He was named Archbishop of Prague in 1991 by Pope John Paul II.
He had offered his resignation two years ago at the age of 75, as required by Church law, but Pope Benedict asked him to continue serving.
The cardinal’s successor should be named this week, according to Czech news reports.
Vatican City, Jan 6, 2010 / 11:16 am (CNA).- Following the Epiphany Mass in the Vatican basilica, Pope Benedict XVI recited the Marian Angelus prayer with the public in St. Peter's Square. In his traditional message, the Pontiff exalted the unity between intelligence and faith, which was manifested in the actions and openness of the Magi.
The wise men were men of science, but their knowledge was open to "higher revelations and divine calls," the Pope said.
He also highlighted the humility of the Eastern Kings in stopping to ask directions to the prophesied site of the savior's birth. Despite their status and intelligence, said the Pope, they consulted scribes and priests along the way to ensure that they were on the right path.
This path led them to Bethlehem where they would find the Child with his mother.
They could have expressed disappointment at finding the Child there, noted the Pope, but they remained open to a mysterious surprise and recognized in the Child, the Savior, King and Son of God.
We can look to the Eastern Kings as models of true wisdom, concluded the Pontiff, calling them "authentic seekers of God, capable of living the profound harmony that exists between reason and faith, science and revelation."
In his post-Angelus message, the Pope sent a special greeting to the members of the Eastern Churches who will be celebrating Christmas tomorrow. He also remembered the Missionary Day of the Children, originally promoted by Pope Pius XII in 1950 to educate children to be open to the world and sympathetic to their poorest peers. This World Day coincides with the celebration of the Epiphany and is primarily celebrated in Italy.
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 6, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The Wise Men from the East were not afraid of what would today be considered the "contamination" of science by the Word of God, says Benedict XVI. Instead, they were truly wise, avoiding self-sufficiency and ready to seek answers from others.
The Pope reflected today on the true wisdom of the Magi when he addressed those gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray the midday Angelus.
"The Evangelist Matthew […] stresses how the Magi arrived in Jerusalem following a star, seen at its rising and interpreted as a sign of the birth of the king proclaimed by the prophets, that is, of the Messiah," the Holy Father said. "Arriving in Jerusalem, however, the Magi were in need of the indications of the priests and scribes to know exactly the place where they should go, namely, Bethlehem, the city of David. The star and sacred Scriptures were the two lights that guided the way of the Magi, who appear to us as models of genuine seekers of truth."
The Pontiff noted how the Magi were wise men who "scrutinized the stars and knew the history of peoples."
"They were men of science in a broad sense," he continued, "who observed the cosmos regarding it almost as a great book full of divine signs and messages for man."
But, the Pope affirmed, their learning, "far from making them self-sufficient, was open to further divine revelations and appeals. In fact, they were not ashamed to ask for instructions from the religious leaders of the Jews. They could have said: We can do it alone, we have no need of anyone, avoiding, according to our mentality today, every 'contamination' between science and the Word of God.
"Instead, the Magi listened to the prophecies and welcomed them and, no sooner were they on the way to Bethlehem, than they again saw the star, almost as a confirmation of the perfect harmony between human seeking and divine Truth, a harmony that filled the hearts of these genuine wise men with joy."
Surprised
The search undertaken by the Magi culminated "when they found themselves before 'the Child with Mary, his Mother,'" Benedict XVI added, noting that this was a further indication of their humility.
"They could have remained disappointed, even scandalized," he said. "Instead, as true wise men, they were open to the mystery manifested in a surprising way, and with their symbolic gifts, demonstrated that they recognized in Jesus the King and Son of God."
The Pope pointed to a final detail to confirm "the unity between intelligence and faith: It is the fact that 'warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.'"
"It would have been natural to return to Jerusalem, to Herod's palace and the Temple, to proclaim their discovery," he said. "Instead, the Magi, who chose the Child as their sovereign, protected him in concealment, in keeping with Mary's style, or better, with that of God himself. And thus, as they appeared, they disappeared in silence, content, but also changed by the encounter with Truth. They had discovered a new face of God, a new royalty: that of love."
The Holy Father concluded with a prayer to the Mother of Bethlehem: "May the Virgin Mary, model of true wisdom, help us to be genuine seekers of the truth of God, capable of living always the profound harmony that exists between reason and faith, science and revelation."
Son of a woodcutter, and eighth of twelve children. His father died in a work-related accident, his mother of tuberculosis, and he was adopted at age twelve by a farmer uncle who insisted he work for his keep. Over the years Andre worked as a farmhand, shoemaker, baker, blacksmith, and factory worker. At 25 he applied to join the Congregation of the Holy Cross; Andre was initially refused due to poor health, but he gained the backing of Bishop Bourget, and was accepted.
Doorkeeper at Notre Dame College, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Sacristan, laundry worker and messenger. He spent much of each night in prayer, and on his window sill, facing Mount Royal, was a small statue of Saint Joseph, to whom Andre was especially devoted. “Some day,” Andre believed, “Saint Joseph will be honored on Mount Royal.”
Andre had a special ministry to the sick. He would rub the sick person with oil from a lamp in the college chapel, and many were healed. Word of his power spread, and when an epidemic broke out at a nearby college, Andre volunteered to help; no one died. The trickle of sick people to his door became a flood. His superiors were uneasy; diocesan authorities were suspicious; doctors called him a quack. “I do not cure,” he always said; “Saint Joseph cures.” By his death, he was receiving 80,000 letters each year from the sick who sought his prayers and healing.
For many years the Holy Cross authorities had tried to buy land on Mount Royal. Brother Andre and others climbed the steep hill and planted medals of Saint Joseph on it, and soon after, the owners yielded, which incident helped the current devotion to Saint Joseph by those looking to buy or sell a home. Andre collected money to build a small chapel and received visitors there, listening to their problems, praying, rubbing them with Saint Joseph’s oil, and curing many. The chapel is still in use.
Born
* 9 August 1845 near Montreal, Quebec, Canada as Alfred Bessette
Died
* 6 January 1937 of ‘gastric catarrh’ in the infirmary of Our Lady of Hope convent, Montreal, Quebec, Canada * more than a million people paid their respects at his funeral * his tombstone reads: Pauper, servis a humilis (a poor and humble servant)
Venerated
* 12 June 1978 by Pope Paul VI
Beatified
* 23 May 1982 by Pope John Paul II
Canonized
* pending * on 19 December 2009 Pope Benedict XVI issued a proclamation of a miracle attributed to the intervention of Blessed Andre * canonization recognition expected for 2010
Lord, you have chosen Blessed Brother André to spread devotion to Saint Joseph and to dedicate himself to all those who are afflicted. Grant through his intercession the favour that we now request…
We also pray that the Church may canonize him as soon as possible. Grant us the grace to imitate his piety and charity so that, with him, we may share the reward promised to all who care for their neighbours out of love for You.
EPIPHANY, which in the original Greek signifies appearance or manifestation, as St. Austin observes, is a festival principally solemnised in honour of the discovery Jesus Christ made of himself to the Magi, or wise men; who, soon after his birth, by a particular inspiration of Almighty God, came to adore him and bring him presents. Two other manifestations of our Lord are jointly commemorated on this day in the office of the church: that at his baptism, when the Holy Ghost descended on him in the visible form of a dove, and a voice from heaven was heard at the same time: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
The third manifestation was that of his divine power at the performance of his first miracle, the changing of water into wine, at the marriage at Cana, "by which he manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him." Upon so many accounts ought this festival to challenge a more than ordinary regard and veneration; but from none more than us Gentiles, who, in the persons of the wise men, our first-fruits and forerunners, were on this day called to the faith and worship of the true God.
The call of the Gentiles had been foretold for many ages before in the clearest terms. David and Isaias abound with predictions of this import; the like is found in the other prophets; but their completion was a mercy reserved for the times of the Messiah. It was to him, who was also the consubstantial Son of God, that the eternal Father had made the promise of all "nations for his inheritance"; who being born the spiritual king of the whole world, for the salvation of "all men," would therefore manifest his coming both to those that "were near, and those that were afar off," that is, both to Jew and Gentile.
Upon his birth, angels were dispatched ambassadors to the Jews, in the persons of the poor shepherds, and a star was the divine messenger on this important errand to the Gentiles of the East; conformably to Balaam's prophecy, who foretold the coming of the Messias by that sign.
The summons of the Gentiles to Bethlehem to pay homage to the world's Redeemer was obeyed by several whom the Scripture mentions under the name and title of , or wise men; but is silent as to their number. The general opinion, supported by the authority of St. Leo, Caesarius, Bede, and others, declares for three. However, the number was small, comparatively to those many others that saw that star, no less than the wise men, but paid no regard to this voice of heaven: admiring, no doubt, its uncommon brightness, but culpably ignorant of the divine call it, or hardening their hearts against its salutary impressions, overcome by their passions, and the dictates of self-love.
In like manner do Christians, from the same cause, turn a deaf ear to the voice of the divine grace in their souls, and harden their hearts against it in such numbers, that, notwithstanding their call, their graces, and the mysteries wrought in their favour, it is to be feared that even among many "are called, but few are chosen." It was the case with the Jews, "with the most of whom," St. Paul says, "God was not well pleased."
The wise men being come, by the guidance of the star, into Jerusalem, or near it, it there disappears: whereupon they reasonably suppose they are come to their journey's end, and upon the point of being blessed with the sight of the new-born king: that, on their entering the royal city, they shall in every street and corner hear the acclamations of a happy people, and learn with ease the way to the royal palace, made famous to all posterity by the birth of their king and Saviour. But to their great surprise there appears not the least sign of any such solemnity.
The court and city go quietly on in seeking their pleasure and profit! and in this unexpected juncture what shall these weary travellers do? Were they governed by human prudence, this disappointment is enough to make them abandon their design, and retreat as privately as they can to screen their reputation, and avoid the raillery of the populace, as well as to prevent the resentment of the most zealous of tyrants, already infamous for blood.
But true virtue makes trials the matter and occasion of its most glorious triumphs. Seeming to be forsaken by God, on their being deprived of extraordinary, they have recourse to the ordinary means of information.
Steady in the resolution of following the divine call, and fearless of danger, they inquire in the city with equal confidence and humility, and pursue their inquiry in the very court of Herod himself: "Where is he that is born king of the Jews? " And does not their conduct teach us, under all difficulties of the spiritual kind, to have recourse to those God has appointed to be our spiritual guides, for their advice and direction? To "obey and be subject to them," that so God may lead us to himself, as he guided the wise men to Bethlehem by the directions of the priests of the Jewish church.
The whole nation of the Jews, on account of Jacob's and Danial's prophecies, were then in the highest expectation of the Messiah's appearance among them; the place of whose birth having been also foretold, the wise men, by the interposition of Herod's authority, quickly learned, from the unanimous voice of the Sanhedrim, or great council of the Jews, that Bethlehem was the place which was to be honoured with his birth, as having been pointed out by the prophet Micheas several ages before. How sweet and adorable is the conduct of divine providence! He teaches saints his will by the mouths of impious ministers, and furnishes Gentiles with the means of admonishing and confounding the blindness of the Jews.
But graces are lost on carnal and hardened souls. Herod had then reigned upwards of thirty years; a monster of cruelty, ambition, craft, and dissimulation; old age and sickness had at that time exasperated his jealous mind in an unusual manner.
He dreaded nothing so much as the appearance of the Messiah, whom the generality then expected under the notion of a temporal prince, and whom he could consider in no other light than that of a rival and pretender to his crown; so no wonder that he was startled at the news of his birth. All Jerusalem, likewise, instead of rejoicing at such happy tidings, were alarmed and disturbed together with him. We abhor their baseness; but do not we, at a distance from courts, betray several symptoms of the baneful influence of human respects running counter to our duty?
Likewise in Herod we see how extravagantly blind and foolish ambition is. The divine infant came not to deprive Herod of his earthly kingdom, but to offer him one that is eternal; and to teach him a holy contempt of all worldly pomp and grandeur. Again, how senseless and extravagant a folly was it to form designs against those of God himself! who confounds the wisdom of the world, baffles the vain projects of men, and laughs their policy to scorn. Are there no Herods nowadays? Persons who are enemies to the spiritual kingdom of Christ in their hearts ?
The tyrant, to ward off the blow he seemed threatened with, has recourse to his usual arts of craft and dissimulation. He pretends a no less ardent desire of paying homage to the new-born king, and covers his impious design of taking away his life under the specious pretext of going himself in person to adore him. Wherefore, after particular examination about the time when the wise men first saw this star, and a strict charge to come back and inform him where the child was to be found, he dismissed them to the place determined by the chief priests and scribes. Herod was then near his death; but as a man lives, such does he usually die. The near prospect of eternity seldom operates in so salutary a manner on habitual sinners as to produce in them a true and sincere change of heart.
The wise men readily complied with the voice of the Sanhedrim, notwithstanding the little encouragement these Jewish leaders afford them from their own example to persist in their search; for not one single priest or scribe is disposed to bear them company in seeking after, and paying due homage to, their own king.
The truths and maxims of religion depend not on the morals of those that preach them; they spring from a higher source—the wisdom and veracity of God himself. When, therefore, a message comes undoubtedly from God, the misdemeanours of him that immediately conveys it to us can be no just plea or excuse for our failing to comply with it.
As, on the other side, an exact and ready compliance will then be a better proof of our faith and confidence in God, and so much the more recommend us to his special conduct and protection, as it did the wise men. For no sooner had they left Jerusalem, but, to encourage their faith and zeal, and to direct their travels, God was pleased to show them the star again, which they had seen in the East, and which continued to go before them till it conducted them to the very place where they were to see and adore their God and Saviour. Here its ceasing to advance, and probably sinking lower in the air, tells them in its mute language: "Here shall you find the new-born king."
The holy men, with an unshaken and steady faith, and in transports of spiritual joy, entered the poor cottage, rendered more glorious by this birth than the most sumptuous stately palace in the universe, and finding the child with his mother, they prostrate themselves, they adore him, they pour forth their souls in his presence in the deepest sentiments of praise, thanksgiving, and a total sacrifice of themselves.
So far from being shocked at the poverty of the place, and at his unkingly appearance, their faith rises and gathers strength on the sight of obstacles which, humanly speaking, should extinguish it. It captivates their understanding; it penetrates these curtains of poverty, infancy, weakness, and abjection; it casts them on their faces, as unworthy to look up to this star, this God of Jacob; they confess him under this disguise to be the only and eternal God: they own the excess of his goodness in becoming man, and the excess of human misery which requires for its relief so great a humiliation of the Lord of glory.
St. Leo thus extols their faith and devotion: "When a star had conducted them to adore Jesus they did not find him commanding devils, or raising the dead, or restoring sight to the blind, or speech to the dumb, or employed in any divine actions; but a silent babe, under the care of a solicitous mother, giving no sign of power, but exhibiting a miracle of humility."
The Magi, pursuant to the custom of the eastern nations, where the persons of great princes are not to be approached without presents, present to Jesus, as a token of homage, the richest produce their countries afforded, gold, frankincense, and myrrh— gold, as an acknowledgment of his regal power; incense, as a confession of his Godhead; and myrrh, as a testimony that he was become man for the redemption of the world.
The holy kings being about to return home, God, who saw the hypocrisy and malicious designs of Herod, by a particular intimation diverted them from their purpose of carrying back word to Jerusalem where the child was to be found. So, to complete their fidelity and grace, they returned not to Herod's court; but, leaving their hearts with their infant Saviour, took another road back into their own country.
In like manner, if we would persevere in the possession of the graces bestowed on us, we must resolve from this day to hold no correspondence with a sinful world, the irreconcilable enemy to Jesus Christ; but to take a way that lies a distance from it, I mean that which is marked out to us by the saving maxims of the gospel. And pursuing this with an unshaken confidence in his grace and merits, we shall safely arrive at our heavenly country.
It has never been questioned but that the holy Magi spent the rest of their lives in the fervent service of God. The ancient author of the imperfect comment on St. Matthew, among the works of St. Chrysostom, says they were afterwards baptized in Persia by St. Thomas the apostle, and became themselves preachers of the gospel. Their bodies were said to have been translated to Constantinople under the first Christian emperors.
From thence they were conveyed to Milan, where the place in which they were deposited is still shown in the Dominicans' church of that city. The emperor Frederick Barbarossa having taken Milan, caused them to be translated to Cologne in Germany, in the twelfth century.
Silvio Berlusconi proved he was on the mend after his attack by inviting a glamorous young Italian MP to a birthday celebration.
He has barely left hospital for injuries sustained in an assault in Milan last month. But the Italian prime minister, who bears scars to his face from the Dec 13 attack, was photographed beaming as he sat next to Michaela Biancofiore, a member of his People of Freedom party.
He invited her to his villa at Arcore outside Milan, where he is recuperating after a man with a history of mental illness smashed a souvenir of the city's Gothic cathedral into his face, leaving him with a fractured nose, two broken teeth and cuts to his lip.
The pair celebrated Miss Biancofiore's 39th birthday with a cake on which a cartoon crafted from icing depicted the young MP with out-sized breasts and a low-cut blouse and the prime minister with his arms around her, sticking his middle finger up in the air.
The caricature was a reference to a rally which Mr Berlusconi attended with the young MP in Bolzano, northern Italy, in 2005, in which he told jokes to supporters and raised his finger in apparent defiance of his political enemies.
"When he saw the cake, he laughed a lot, but it stretched the stitches on his face and that made him recall the attack," said Miss Biancofiore, who is a senior member of the prime minister's governing coalition in the northern region of Trentino Alto Adige.
She said that while she was afraid that the encounter might be subject to "gossip and slander", nothing improper had happened between her and the prime minister and that they were not alone during the birthday celebrations at his residence, Villa San Martino.
Mr Berlusconi had been "generous and kind as usual", she told the newspaper Corriere della Sera, adding she had ordered the cake herself.
Mr Berlusconi, 73, is being divorced by his wife of 20 years, Veronica Lario, 53, after a string of episodes involving starlets and showgirls.
He underwent a medical check-up at the weekend, with doctors saying he was making a satisfactory recovery.
His personal doctor, Alberto Zangrillo, said the billionaire premier had respected medical advice not to engage in any public activity, including cabinet meetings, for two weeks after the attack.
He is expected to return to public engagements at the end of this week.
(ANSA) - Vatican City, January 4 - The Rome Jewish Community on Monday confirmed that a visit to the capital's synagogue by Pope Benedict XVI will go ahead as planned, easing fears of a rift following polemics last month over Pius XII.
The Vatican's decision to advance the wartime pope closer to sainthood angered the Jewish community and had sparked fears that Benedict's January visit to the Rome Synagogue would be cancelled. Pius XII, criticized by many for failing to openly condemn the Holocaust, was recognized as 'venerable' in mid-December, the second of four stages in the canonization process. But a statement by the Jewish Community of Rome, published by the Vatican press office, confirmed that Benedict's visit to the Synagogue would take place as scheduled. ''Pope Benedict XVI will visit the Great Synagogue of Rome on the afternoon of January 17,'' the statement said. ''The meeting will take place on Catholic-Jewish Dialogue Day, which this year coincides with the Roman Jewish holiday of 'Moed di Piombo'''.
Moed di Piombo is a festival celebrating miraculous rains that saved Rome's Jewish ghetto from burning to the ground after a pogrom in 1793.
Catholic-Jewish Dialogue Day, a worldwide event, was established by John Paul II in 1990, four years after he became the first pope ever to enter a synagogue with his landmark visit to the temple in Rome. Benedict will now become the second pope in history to visit the Rome Synagogue. The Jewish community revealed he had accepted their invitation last March and the pontiff announced his official acceptance at the beginning of the Jewish New Year in September.
Benedict has worked hard to ease tensions between Jews and Catholics since his election in 2005, widely condemning Holocaust denial and reiterating his commitment to Catholic-Jewish relations.
One of his first acts as pope was to send a message to Rome's Jewish community vowing to continue John Paul II's legacy of dialogue and respect.
The summer after his election, Benedict made his first visit to a synagogue in the German city of Cologne, followed by an April 2008 visit to New York's historic Park East Synagogue.
In May 2009, he prayed at Israel's Yad Vashem monument commemorating the Holocaust.
However, he did not enter the adjacent museum where a caption accuses Pius XII of not doing enough to save the Jews, and Jewish-Catholic tensions have flared up more than once since Benedict took office.
In 2008, the Italian Jewish community boycotted Jewish-Catholic Dialogue Day ceremonies after Benedict reinstated an Easter prayer calling on Jews to convert.
Relations with Jews and Israel came under further strain in 2009, when the Pope lifted the excommunication of bishop Richard Williamson, a member of an ultra-traditionalist Catholic society and a vocal Holocaust denier.
The Vatican's decision to elevate Pius XII along with the popular John Paul II in mid-December prompted several days of angry debate.
In a bid to repair the damage, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi issued a detailed statement explaining why Pius XII had been recognized as 'venerable'. He said there was no reason to expect Pius and John Paul would proceed to beatification - the next step towards canonization - at the same time. He said there was no certainty over when or even whether Pius would be beatified. Lombardi insisted the move had not been intended as a hostile act towards Jews. He also explained the elevation reflected Pius XII's ''relationship with God and his faith'' and was not an assessment of the pontiff's ''operational choices''. Rabbi Giuseppe Laras, president of the Italian Rabbinical Association, immediately welcomed the Vatican's response, citing its ''conciliatory tone'' and ''explanation that the move was not intended as an inflammatory one''. He said canceling the visit would have ''negative consequences'' but the Jewish Community has only now given official confirmation of the visit.
Detractors claim Pius XII did not do enough to save Jews, but his supporters say he did not speak out loudly so he could help Jews behind the scenes. Jewish groups say the only way to settle the issue of Pius's wartime role is to open the Vatican's archives on the war years.
The Vatican has been cataloguing the secret files for several years but says the sheer number of documents means it will be unable to open its archive before 2015 at earliest
Read more about the Great Synagogue of Rome here and here.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Having respect for every human being and for all of creation as God's handiwork and having trust in God's overwhelming love are the keys to peace and to a better future, Pope Benedict XVI said.
Marking the new year with the celebration Jan. 1 of the feast of Mary Mother of God and of World Peace Day and with Angelus recitations Jan. 1 and 3, Pope Benedict reminded Christians that God's promises require a response.
"The divine plan is not accomplished automatically, because it is a plan of love and love generates freedom and asks for freedom," he said during his Angelus address Jan. 3.
While God's kingdom of peace and justice already is being realized on earth, he said, "every man and woman is responsible for welcoming it into his or her own life day by day. So 2010 will be better or worse to the extent that people, accepting their own responsibility, learn to collaborate with the grace of God."
"There are problems in the church and in the world, as well as in the daily lives of families, but thanks to God our hope does not depend on improbable prognostications and even less on economic forecasts. Our hope is in God," he said.
The pope also spoke about personal responsibility Jan. 1 when he was commenting on the theme he chose for World Peace Day 2010: "If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation."
The resources of the earth must be used with justice and wisdom, he said during his Angelus address Jan. 1.
"I want to underline the importance that the choices of individuals, families and local administrations have in protecting the environment," he said.
In educating people to respect creation, the pope said, they must be helped to recognize that the human beings God created in his own image and likeness require special respect and protection.
"If we must take care of the creatures around us, how much more care must we have for people -- our brothers and sisters," he said. "On the first day of the year, I want to appeal to the consciences of those who are part of any kind of armed group. To each and every one I say: Stop, reflect and abandon the path of violence."
In his homily during the morning Mass in St. Peter's Basilica Jan. 1, Pope Benedict said people will respect the environment only to the extent that they respect themselves and others, because true respect for creation means seeing all creation as a reflection of God, the creator.
Teaching people to respect others must begin early in childhood, he said.
"From the time they are small, it is important to educate children to respect others, even when they are different from us," he said.
Children who are part of multiethnic classes have an advantage, he said, because the faces of the children "are a prophecy of the humanity we are called to form: a family of families and peoples."
"The smaller these children are, the more they elicit from us tenderness and joy for an innocence and brotherhood that is evident: despite their differences they cry and laugh in the same way, they have the same needs, they communicate spontaneously and play together," he said.
However, the pope said, the smiles of too many children are extinguished by suffering and their hearts are poisoned by violence.
In them, one can see "faces lined by hunger and disease, faces disfigured by pain and desperation. The faces of these innocent little ones are a silent appeal to our responsibility," the pope said.
Recognizing their helplessness, "all the false justifications for war and violence fall away. We simply must convert to projects of peace, lay down weapons of every kind and, all of us together, make a commitment to building a world more worthy of humanity."
Born in New York, Elizabeth Seton married and became a mother of five children. After her husband's death, she converted to Catholicism and founded the American Sisters of Charity, a community of teaching sisters which began Catholic schools throughout the United States, especially helping with the education of underprivileged children. Mother Seton laid the foundation of the American parochial school system and was the first native-born American to be canonized.
This wife, mother and foundress of a religious congregation was born Elizabeth Ann Bayley on August 28, 1774 in New York City, the daughter of an eminent physician and professor at what is now Columbia University. Brought up as an Episcopalian, she received an excellent education, and from her early years she manifested an unusual concern for the poor.
In 1794 Elizabeth married William Seton, with whom she had five children. The loss of their fortune so affected William's health that in 1803 Elizabeth and William went to stay with Catholic friends at Livorno, Italy. William died six weeks after their arrival, and when Elizabeth returned to New York City some six months later, she was already a convinced Catholic. She met with stern opposition from her Episcopalian friends but was baptized a Catholic on March 4, 1805.
Abandoned by her friends and relatives, Elizabeth was invited by the superior of the Sulpicians in Baltimore to found a school for girls in that city. The school prospered, and eventually the Sulpician superior, with the approval of Bishop Carroll, gave Elizabeth and her assistants a rule of life. They were also permitted to make religious profession and to wear a religious habit.
In 1809 Elizabeth moved her young community to Emmitsburg, Maryland, where she adopted as a rule of life an adaptation of the rule observed by the Sisters of Charity, founded by St. Vincent de Paul. Although she did not neglect the ministry to the poor, and especially to Negroes, she actually laid the foundation for what became the American parochial school system. She trained teachers and prepared textbooks for use in the schools; she also opened orphanages in Philadelphia and New York City.
She died at Emmitsburg on January 4, 1821, was beatified by Pope John XXIII in 1963, and was canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1975.
Pope Benedict XVI's personal secretary has visited the mentally disturbed woman who assaulted the pontiff at Mass on Christmas Eve.
Monsignor Georg Gaenswein saw Susanna Maiolo at a psychiatric clinic near Rome at the pontiff's request.
The Vatican confirmed the visit after Italy's Il Giornale newspaper said it had taken place on New Year's Day.
It added that a judicial case opened against Ms Maiolo by the Vatican authorities would "run its course".
The Roman Catholic world was shocked by the attack, in which Ms Maiolo leapt over a barrier at St Peter's Basilica and brought the 82-year-old Pope to the ground at the beginning of the Mass.
She was quickly overpowered and Benedict, who was not injured, proceeded with the service.
Attacker 'forgiven'
Ms Maiolo, 25, attempted an identical lunge at the Pope during the same Mass in 2008, but was restrained by security guards.
Monsignor Gaenswein made the visit to convey Pope Benedict's concern for the woman's situation, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told the Associated Press news agency.
Handout picture released by police on 25 December 2009 shows Pope's alleged assailant, Susanna Maiolo.
He saw Ms Maiolo at a hostel for people with psychiatric problems in the town of Subiaco.
According to Il Giornale, the papal aide brought her a rosary and told her the Pope believed in her good intentions and had pardoned her.
The paper added that an elderly French cardinal, Roger Etchegaray, who suffered a broken hip during the incident in St Peter's, had also passed on his forgiveness.
Fr Lombardi said he did not want to comment on what was said at the meeting but added: "Every Christian pardons."
Asked about the judicial proceedings, he said it had still to be determined if the woman, who has a history of psychiatric problems, could be held legally responsible for what she did.
P. Giuseppe Bertaina D. Eduardo de la Fuente Serrano D. Juan Gonzalo Aristizabal Isaza D. Daniel Matsela Mahula D. Lionel Sham D. Révocat Gahimbare P. Gabriel Fernando Montoya Tamayo P. Jesús Ariel Jiménez D. Ramiro Ludeña P. Lorenzo Rosebaugh Padre Ernst Plöchl Jorge Humberto Echeverri Garro D. Habacuc Hernández Benítez Eduardo Oregón Benítez Silvestre González Cambrón P. Gisley Azevedo Gomes Don Mariano Arroyo Merino Ricky Agusa Sukaka D. James Mukalel P. Leopoldo Cruz D. Cecilio Lucero D. Ruggero Ruvoletto D. Evaldo Martiol D. Oscar Danilo Cardozo Ossa William Quijano D. Ed Hinds Don Louis Jousseaume Suor Marguerite Bartz D. Hidalberto Henrique Guimaraes P. Miguel Angel Hernandez Don Jean Gaston Buli Don Daniel Cizimya Nakamaga Padre Louis Blondel Suor Denise Kahambu Muhahyirwa P. Jeremiah Roche Don Alvino Broering Don Jaramillo Cárdenas
The solemnity of the Mother of God, which now coincides with the octave-day of Christmas and the beginning of the new year, was probably assigned this day because of the influence of the Byzantine Church, which celebrates the synapsis of the most holy Theotokos on December 26. This is in accordance with the Eastern practice of honoring secondary persons on the day after the feast of the principal personage (in this case, the birth of Christ).
The Coptic Church celebrates this feast on January 16, but in the West, as early as the fifth century, the feast was celebrated on the Sunday before Christmas, although in France it was celebrated on January 18 and in Spain on December 18. Even before Pope Sergius introduced four Marian feasts in the seventh century (the Birth of Mary, the Annunciation, the Purification and the Assumption), the octave day of Christmas was celebrated in Rome in honor of the Maternity of Mary.
Later, in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the feast of the Circumcision was added, although it had been introduced into Spain and France at the end of the sixth century and was later included in the Missal of Pope St. Pius V. The recent liturgical reform has restored the original Roman practice, which replaced the pagan feast of the New Year, dedicated to the god Janus, with this feast honoring the Mother of God.
A popular movement began in Portugal in the eighteenth century for a feast honoring Mary's maternity, and in 1914 the date of the feast was fixed at October 11. It was extended to the entire Latin Church in 1931, the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Ephesus. The restoration of the feast to January 1, which falls in the Christmas season and has an ecumenical significance, coincides with other anniversaries; for example, the octave day of Christmas, the circumcision of the Infant Jesus (assigned to the first Sunday of January); the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus (which dates back to 1721); and the day for peace, introduced by Pope Paul VI.
In the encyclical Marialis Cultus (1974) Pope Paul VI states: "This celebration, assigned to January 1 in conformity with the ancient liturgy of the city of Rome, is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery of salvation. It is meant also to exalt the singular dignity which this mystery brings to the 'holy Mother . . . through whom we were found worthy . . . to receive the Author of life.' It is likewise a fitting occasion for renewed adoration of the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad tidings of the angels, and for imploring from God, through the Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace. For this reason . . . we have instituted the World Day of Peace, an observance that is gaining increasing support and is already bringing forth fruits of peace in the hearts of many" (no. 5).
Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, our Lady's greatest title. This feast is the octave of Christmas. In the modern Roman Calendar only Christmas and Easter enjoy the privilege of an octave. According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the Solemnity of Circumcision of Our Lord.
"Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. In this sense the Church's Tradition has often read the most beautiful texts on wisdom in relation to Mary. Mary is acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as the "Seat of Wisdom." — Catechism of the Catholic Church 721
Like the Churches of the East, Rome wished to honor the Virgin Mother of God during the days after Christmas. As a result the ("Anniversary of St. Mary") made its appearance on January 1 in the seventh century; it has accurately been called "the first Marian feast of the Roman liturgy." — The Church at Prayer
On New Year's Day, the octave day of Christmas, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Holy Mother of God. The divine and virginal motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a singular salvific event: for Our Lady it was the foretaste and cause of her extraordinary glory; for us it is a source of grace and salvation because "through her we have received the Author of life" (127).
The solemnity of 1 January, an eminently Marian feast, presents an excellent opportunity for liturgical piety to encounter popular piety: the first celebrates this event in a manner proper to it; the second, when duly catechised, lends joy and happiness to the various expressions of praise offered to Our Lady on the birth of her divine Son, to deepen our understanding of many prayers, beginning with that which says: "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, sinners."
In the West, 1 January is an inaugural day marking the beginning of the civil year. The faithful are also involved in the celebrations for the beginning of the new year and exchange "new year" greetings. However, they should try to lend a Christian understanding to this custom making of these greetings an expression of popular piety. The faithful, naturally, realize that the "new year" is placed under the patronage of the Lord, and in exchanging new year greetings they implicitly and explicitly place the New Year under the Lord's dominion, since to him belongs all time (cf. Ap 1, 8; 22,13)(128).
A connection between this consciousness and the popular custom of singing the Veni Creator Spiritus can easily be made so that on 1 January the faithful can pray that the Spirit may direct their thoughts and actions, and those of the community during the course of the year (129).
New Year greetings also include an expression of hope for a peaceful New Year. This has profound biblical, Christological and incarnational origins. The "quality of peace" has always been invoked throughout history by all men, and especially during violent and destructive times of war.
The Holy See shares the profound aspirations of man for peace. Since 1967, 1 January has been designated "world day for peace."
Popular piety has not been oblivious to this initiative of the Holy See. In the light of the new born Prince of Peace, it reserves this day for intense prayer for peace, education towards peace and those values inextricably linked with it, such as liberty, fraternal solidarity, the dignity of the human person, respect for nature, the right to work, the sacredness of human life, and the denunciation of injustices which trouble the conscience of man and threaten peace.
The pope has called for peace and the protection of children as he celebrated a Mass to mark the start of 2010.
Pope Benedict XVI said peace began with mutual respect between people, regardless of their ethnicity or faith.
He said the shared characteristics of children such as laughter and tears made it clear all men were brothers.
Marking the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace, the pope appealed to armed groups to "stop, reflect and abandon the way of violence".
"Respect others, regardless of their skin colour, nationality, language, religion," he said.
The leader of the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics added that the value of respect for all should be taught from an early age.
He remarked that it was increasingly common for children from different countries and backgrounds to share the same classroom.
"Their faces are a prophecy of the kind of humanity we are called upon to create: a family of families and peoples," said Pope Benedict.
Pictures of young people caught up in conflicts with faces "disfigured by pain and desperation" were a silent appeal for peace, said the 82-year-old pontiff.
He also called for people to take more care of the environment, saying that the degradation of man led to the degradation of the planet.
Pope Benedict was speaking in St Peter's Basilica a week after he was knocked down in the Rome cathedral by a woman during a Christmas Eve liturgy.
The pontiff was unhurt in the melee, but an elderly French cardinal broke his hip.
The Vatican said the 25-year-old woman involved was mentally unstable.
From the time they are small, it is important to educate children to respect others, even when they are different from us. It already is more common to have school classes composed of children of various nations, but even when this does not occur, their faces are a prophecy of the humanity we are called to form: a family of families and peoples. The smaller these children are, the more they elicit from us tenderness and joy for an innocence and brotherhood that is evident: despite their differences, they cry and laugh in the same way, they have the same needs, communicate spontaneously and play together. The faces of children are like a reflection of how God sees the world. So why extinguish their smiles? Why poison their hearts?
Unfortunately, the icon of the Mother of God of Tenderness finds its tragic opposite in the sad images of many children and their mothers at the mercy of wars and violence: refugees, asylum seekers, forced migrants. Faces lined by hunger and disease, faces disfigured by pain and desperation. The faces of these innocent little ones are a silent appeal to our responsibility: before their helpless condition, all the false justifications for war and violence fall away. We simply must convert to projects of peace, lay down weapons of every kind and, all of us together, make a commitment to building a world more worthy of humanity.
During the Christmas season, we recite a Psalm that contains, among other things, a stupendous example of how the coming of God transforms creation and provokes a kind of cosmic feast. This hymn begins with a universal invitation to praise: ‘Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name.’ Then, at a certain point, this appeal extends to all creation: ‘Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound; let the plains be joyful and all that is in them. Then let all the trees of the forest rejoice.’
The celebration of faith becomes the celebration of humanity and of creation: it is that celebration, which at Christmas, also is expressed through the decorations on the trees, the streets and in our houses. Everything blooms because God has appeared among us.
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 1, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Peace begins when we look at one another as persons, regardless of race, nationality, language or religion, Benedict XVI says. But, he maintains, this is only possible when God dwells in our hearts.
The Holy Father reflected on how to achieve true and lasting peace during his homily today in a Mass at St. Peter's for the feast of Mary, Mother of God. Jan. 1 marks the annual celebration of the World Day of Peace.
"To meditate on the mystery of the face of God and man is a privileged path that leads to peace," the Pope suggested. "This [peace], in fact, begins by looking upon others with respect, recognizing in the face of the other a person, regardless of the color of his skin, his nationality, his language or his religion."
"But," he continued, "who, if not God, can guarantee [that we see] what we could call the 'depth' of the face of the person? In reality, only if we have God in our hearts are we in a condition to detect in the face of others a brother in humanity -- not a means, but an end, not a rival or an enemy, but another 'I,' a facet of the infinite mystery of the human being.
"Our perception of the world and, in particular, of our peers, essentially depends on the presence within us of the Spirit of God.
"It is a type of 'resonance': One who has an empty heart does not perceive anything more than flat images, lacking depth. But, the more we are inhabited by God, the more sensitive we are to his presence in those who surround us -- in all creatures, and especially in other people."
Nevertheless, the Pontiff acknowledged, the "human face, marked by the harshness of life and evil" sometimes struggles to be an "epiphany of God."
"Therefore," he continued, "in order to recognize and respect each other for what we truly are, that is, brothers, it is even more necessary to make reference to the face of a common Father, who loves us all, despite our limits and errors."
Unveiling God's face
Benedict XVI's homily was a reflection on the face of God and the faces of man, which he proposed as a key for understanding the issue of peace in the world.
"The face is the expression of the person, par excellence," he suggested. "It is what makes him recognizable and where he shows sentiments, thoughts and intentions of the heart."
"God," the Holy Father continued, "by nature, is invisible. Nevertheless, the Bible also applies this image to him. [...] The whole of biblical history can be read as a progressive unveiling of the face of God, up to the point of his full revelation in Jesus Christ."
Referring to Mary's title as Mother of God, the Pontiff explained that "the face of God has taken a human face, allowing himself to be seen and recognized in the son of the Virgin Mary."
"She who guarded in her heart the secret of divine maternity was the first to see the face of God made man in the tiny fruit of her womb," he reflected.
"A mother has a very special relationship -- unique and exclusive in every way -- with a newborn," the Pope continued. "The first face that a child sees is that of his mother, and this gaze is decisive for his relationship with life, with himself, with others, with God. It is decisive as well so that he can become a 'child of peace.'"
The Holy Father went on to offer a reflection on the Byzantine icon of the Virgin of Tenderness, which depicts the Child Jesus with his cheek against that of his mother: "The Child looks at the Mother, and she looks at us, almost as if reflecting to what she observes, and praying, the tenderness of God, descended in them from heaven and incarnated in this Son of Man that she carries in her arms.
"But this same icon also shows us in Mary the face of the Church, which reflects upon us and upon the entire world the light of Christ, the Church through which the Good News arrives to every person."
Laughing together
Benedict XVI maintained that it is important to be educated in respect for those who are different starting in childhood.
He renewed his call to "invest in education, establishing the objective -- beyond the necessary transmission of technical-scientific notions -- of a broader and deeper 'ecological responsibility,' based in respect for the person and his fundamental rights and duties."
"Only in this way can a commitment to the environment truly become education in peace and the construction of peace," he contended.
The Holy Father observed that "today it is ever more common to have the experience of classrooms made up of children of various nationalities, though also when this doesn't occur, their faces are a prophecy of the humanity that we are called to form: a family of families and peoples."
These children, he said, "despite their differences, cry and laugh in the same way; they have the same needs; they communicate spontaneously; they play together ..."
"The faces of children are like a reflection of the vision of God for the World," the Pontiff affirmed. "Why then wipe away their smiles? Why poison their hearts?
"Unfortunately, the icon of the Mother of God of Tenderness finds its tragic opposite in the sorrowful images of so many children and their mothers in the claws of war and violence: fugitives, refugees, forced immigrants."
The Bishop of Rome spoke of "faces eroded by hunger and sickness, faces disfigured by pain and desperation." And he declared: "The faces of innocent little ones are a silent call to us to take responsibility: Before their helplessness, all of the false justifications for war and violence come crashing down."
"We should," the Pope affirmed, "simply become designers of peace, lay down every class of weapons and commit ourselves together to building a world more worthy of the person."
A cosmic celebration
Benedict XVI contended that people are capable of respect to the degree that they "carry in their own spirits a full sense of life."
"Otherwise, [the person] will be led to despise himself and what is around him, to lack respect for the environment in which he lives, for that which is created," the Pope cautioned. But, "one who knows how to recognize in the cosmos the reflection of the invisible face of the Creator is led to have greater love for creatures, more sensitivity for their symbolic value."
"There exists, in fact, a very direct link between respect for the person and the safeguarding of creation," he contended. "The duty [to protect] the environment is derived from that to [protect] the person considered in himself and in relation to others."
"If the person is degraded, the environment in which he lives is degraded; if the culture tends to nihilism -- if not in theory, then in practice -- nature cannot fail to pay the consequences," the Holy Father affirmed.
And he reflected that there is a reciprocal influence between the face of the person and the "face" of the environment.
"When human ecology is respected in society," he said, "environmental ecology will also draw out benefits."
Finally, Benedict XVI emphasized that the "coming of God transfigures creation and creates a type of cosmic celebration."
"The celebration of faith becomes a celebration of the person and all that is created," he suggested. "The Church renews this mystery for people of every generation; she shows them the face of God so that, with his blessing, they can walk the path of peace."
