Cardinal Says Pope Isn't "Undoing" Vatican II

Denies Media Rumors About Reversal Documents

(Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's closest collaborator is denying media rumors that the Pontiff is working to gradually "undo" the changes implemented after the Second Vatican Council.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Pope's secretary of state, stated this in an interview with L'Osservatore Romano published Thursday.

He addressed the debate surrounding false rumors in the Italian media about supposed documents that would reverse changes in the Church since Vatican II, especially regarding the liturgy.

The cardinal asserted that in order to understand the Holy Father's intentions and actions, it is necessary to consider his personal history, one that included involvement "as a genuine protagonist" in the Conciliar Church.

These other rumors about "presumed documents of reversal are pure inventions," he stated.

The cardinal highlighted some applications of the Second Vatican Council that the Pope has "promoted constantly with intelligence and depth of thought."

In particular, he noted the Pontiff's collaboration in "the most comprehensive relationship" with the Orthodox and Eastern Churches and the dialogue with Judaism and Islam.

These have taken place with a "reciprocal attraction," Cardinal Bertone noted, and have "inspired answers and deeper reflections as never before recorded, purifying memory" and building openness.

He also underlined Benedict XVI's "direct and fraternal, as well as paternal, relationship with all the members of the episcopal college, in the 'ad limina visits' and in the other numerous occasions of contact."

The prelate recalled the Pope's engagement in the Synods of Bishops, through various interventions and reflections.

He added, "Nor should we forget the direct contact established with the heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia with whom he has reinstated periodic audience meetings."

True change

As regards the "reform of the Church," the cardinal affirmed "that it is above all a question of interiority and holiness."

For this reason, he said, the Pontiff concentrates on recalling "the source of the Word of God, the evangelical law and the heart of the life of the Church: Jesus, the known, loved, adored and imitated Lord."

This is the reason he is currently working on the second volume of his book "Jesus of Nazareth," the prelate explained.

The cardinal noted that the Holy Father has in his pontificate made 70 appointments of superiors in the different dicasteries, not counting bishops and nuncios in the world.

As well, the prelate affirmed, he will soon announce "important appointments," in which "the new Churches" will be represented. "Africa has already offered and will offer excellent candidates," he said.

Cardinal Bertone warned against the error of attributing to the Pope all the problems the Church is experiencing in the world and all the statements of his representatives.

He reminded journalists, "Correct information calls for attributing to each one ('unicuique suum') his own responsibility for deeds and words, especially when the latter openly contradict the teachings and examples of the Pope."

68 Protestant Leaders Applaud Encyclical

Call on All Christians to Respond to "Caritas in Veritate"

(Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's latest encyclical was lauded by 68 Evangelical Protestant community leaders from the United States, Canada, England, the Netherlands, Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

In a message released last month, titled "Doing the Truth in Love," a group of university leaders and professors, press editors and presidents of various institutions signed a message to "applaud" the Pope's encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate."

The message called on Christians everywhere to "read, wrestle with, and respond to 'Caritas in Veritate' and its identification of the twin call of love and truth upon our lives as citizens, entrepreneurs, workers and, most fundamentally, as followers of Christ."

It commended the way in which the encyclical "considers economic development in terms of the true trajectory for human flourishing."

The evangelicals echoed the call for "a new vision of development that recognizes the dignity of human life in its fullness, and that includes a concern for life from conception to natural death, for religious liberty, for the alleviation of poverty, and for the care of creation."

They underlined the document's analysis of global affairs that "rejects the oversimplifying polarization of free market and active government solutions."

"Economic institutions," they added, "including markets themselves, must be marked by internal relations of solidarity and trust."

The message affirmed the encyclical's emphasis on "business efforts guided by a mutualist principle that transcends the dichotomy of for-profit and not-for-profit and that instead pursues social ends while covering costs and providing for investment."

Economy of charity

It called on other evangelicals to "rethink who must be included among corporate stakeholders and what the moral significance of investment is."

The evangelicals endorsed "the affirmation that an economy of charity demands space for myriad human communities and institutions, not just for the state and the market, but also families and the many relationships of civil society."

"Ethical globalization," they wrote, "demands of evangelical churches everywhere that we attend to the call to do the truth in love, as we continue to respond to the great commission to 'disciple the nations.'"

They affirmed a shared fear about the "growth of an overweening welfare state, which degrades social and civic pluralism," and agreed that "subsidiarity and solidarity must be held in tandem."

The message voiced a commitment to be, as "Caritas in Veritate" stated, protagonists in the effort for "global solidarity, economic justice, and the common good, as norms that transcend and transform the motives of economic profit and technical progress."

It concluded with a call for "serious dialogue among all Christians and with many others to make these goals practical realities."

Scientist: Pope Was Right About AIDS

Says Abstinence, Fidelity More Effective than Condoms

(Zenit.org).- The director of Harvard's AIDS Prevention Research Project is affirming that Benedict XVI's position was right in the debate on AIDS and condoms.

Edward Green stated this in an address at the 30th annual Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples in Rimini, sponsored by the lay movement, Communion and Liberation.

Green, an expert on AIDS prevention, said that "as a scientist he was amazed to see the closeness between what the Pope said last March in Cameroon and the results of the most recent scientific discoveries."

He affirmed: "The condom does not prevent AIDS. Only responsible sexual behavior can address the pandemic."

Green continued, "When Benedict XVI said that different sexual behavior should be adopted in Africa, because to put trust in condoms does not serve to fight against AIDS, the international press was scandalized."

The Pope made this statement in a meeting with journalists en route to Africa last March.

The scientist affirmed that the Holy Father spoke the truth. He noted, "The condom can work for particular individuals, but it will not serve to address the situation of a continent."

Change habits

Green added: "To propose the regular use of the condom as prevention in Africa could have the opposite effect."

He explained the phenomenon of human behavior called "risk compensation," whereby a person "feels protected and thus exposes himself more."

The researcher and medical anthropologist asked: "Why has an attempt not been made to change people's customs?"

"The world industry has taken many years to understand that measures of a technical and medical character are of no use to solve the problem," he added.

Green highlighted the successful policies that have been implemented in Uganda to battle AIDS, programs based in the "ABC" strategy: "Abstain, Be faithful, and, as a last resource, use a Condom."

He reported: "In the case of Uganda, an impressive result has been obtained in the fight against AIDS.

"The president was able to tell the truth to his people, to young people, that on occasions some sacrifice, abstinence and fidelity are necessary.

"The result has been formidable."

Bertone: Geen stap terug onder Benedictus

Beweringen dat Benedictus XVI aan de kerktop een terugwaartse beweging wil opleggen en hervormingen van Vaticanum II ongedaan wil maken, zijn ‘pure verzinsels op basis van een eentonig en voortdurend herhaald cliché’. Dat zegt staatssecretaris kardinaal Tarcisio Bertone vandaag in een interview met L’Osservatore Romano.

Vaticanum II en interreligieuze dialoog
Volgens de staatssecretaris staat Benedictus XVI vierkant achter de besluiten van het Tweede Vaticaans Concilie. Hij zet zich daarnaast voortdurend in voor de verbetering en verdieping van het contact met de Oosterse Kerken, met het jodendom en met de islam, benadrukte Bertone tegenover de krant van het Vaticaan.

Primus inter pares
Benedictus heeft verder korte lijnen met de bisschoppen van de Wereldkerk tot stand gebracht, aldus de staatssecretaris. Bij de synodes heeft hij voor de bisschoppen bovendien de mogelijkheid ingevoerd om zich vrij uit te spreken, waarop de paus vervolgens met zijn eigen overwegingen reageert.

Verrassende benoemingen
Vanaf het begin van zijn pontificaat zijn er 70 benoemingen gepasseerd binnen de Curie, nieuwe nuntii en bisschoppen niet meegerekend. Er volgen binnenkort bovendien nog meer belangrijke benoemingen binnen de Vaticaanse ‘ministeries’. Volgens Bertone zitten daar enkele verrassingen bij. Zo levert Afrika veel goede nieuwe kandidaten.

Bisdom Den Bosch zoekt priesterkandidaten op middelbare scholen

Dit jaar nog wil het bisdom Den Bosch speciale roepingenlessen op scholen aanbieden in de hoop dat jongeren zullen kiezen voor het priesterschap. Katholieke middelbare scholen krijgen van het bisdom een brief waarin om hun medewerking wordt gevraagd. Dat meldt dagblad De Gelderlander vandaag.

Speciale lessen
De campagne op de scholen moet tot een toename van het aantal nieuwe priesters leiden. Het bisdom wil op scholen lessen levensoriëntatie gaan verzorgen, waarin jongeren de vraag krijgen voorgelegd wat hun roeping is.

Meerdere roepingen
Volgens pastoor René Wilmink die verantwoordelijk is voor het roepingenpastoraat hebben de lessen niet als doel om jongeren ertoe te verleiden om priester te worden. “Het is geen werving. Dat werkt niet. De roepingenvraag is trouwens veel breder. Het gaat niet alleen om de roeping tot priester, want ook het huwelijk kan iemands roeping zijn. Maar het antwoord op de vraag wat iemand met zijn leven wil gaan doen, kan natuurlijk ook zomaar het priesterschap zijn." Wilmink hoopt dit schooljaar te kunnen beginnen met het geven van de lessen.

Priestertekort
Het bisdom Den Bosch kampt met een nijpend priestertekort. Het aantal inzetbare priesters daalt naar verwachting van 135 nu naar 84 in 2020. Het bisdom wil de huidige 230 parochies in de komende tien jaar samenvoegen tot 57 grotere eenheden.