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St. Augustine of Hippo Rome, Italy, Sep 4, 2009 / 10:08 am (CNA).- In a letter he sent Thursday to Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity,  Pope Benedict XVI has underscored that the teachings of St. Augustine are a path seeking unity with the Orthodox. The message from the Pope was sent to Cardinal Kasper as the 11th Inter-Christian Symposium gathered in Rome. The meeting was organized by the Franciscan Institute of Spirituality of the Pontifical University Antonianum and the Aristotle Orthodox Theological Faculty of Thessalonica.In his message, the Holy Father expressed his gratitude...

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Aug 30, 2009 / 11:14 am (CNA).- At Sunday’s Angelus prayer in the courtyard of Castel Gandolfo’s apostolic palace, Pope Benedict XVI recalled the previous week’s liturgical memorial of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine of Hippo and model and patron of Christian mothers. “Much is recounted about her in her son’s autobiography ‘The Confessions,’ a masterpiece among the most read works of all time,” Pope Benedict said. “There, we understand that St. Augustine imbibed the name of Jesus with maternal milk and was educated in the Christian religion by his mother, the principles of which...

As observers continue to decipher the meaning of Benedict XVI’s latest encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, all appear to agree that the passage of note, the passage that may prove historic in its implications, is the one that is already becoming known as the “world political authority” paragraph: In the face of the unrelenting growth of global interdependence, there is a strongly felt need, even in the midst of a global recession, for a reform of the United Nations Organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth....

President Obama met with Pope Benedict XVI last week at the Vatican. During the meeting, the Pope provided the president with a copy of his new encyclical letter, Caritas In Veritate. Most of the press coverage has focused on the pro-life elements of the treatise and the obvious disagreements between the Church and President Obama over issues such as abortion and embryonic stem-cell research. But it should be noted that the Pope’s encyclical dedicates as much (if not more) time to the issues of globalization and the current economic crisis, and in this respect the Pope and the President are...

Adam Smith, 18th-century author of The Wealth of Nations, might easily be a struggling, under-employed hack in today’s cultural milieu. People are not interested in the “invisible hand” of self-interested capitalism. They want very visible hands—the big, boorish, bear claws of government—to fix the global economic crisis. Free markets are a fool’s errand, we are told, a playground for corporate predators. Into this cultural moment arrives the latest encyclical from Pope Benedict XVI, “Caritas in Veritate” (Charity in Truth). Its large themes are economic development, globalization, environmental protection, and the culture that promotes a more humane economic system. Anyone hoping...

VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican spokesman says Pope Benedict XVI has been taken to a hospital in northern Italy after slipping and falling during his vacation in the Alps. The Rev. Federico Lombardi says Benedict "slipped and got hurt" but that "it doesn't seem to be serious."... The ANSA news agency reported that Benedict walked into the hospital with an aide.

Pope Benedict XVI has sacked two Vatican officials over the readmission of a British Holocaust-denying bishop to the Roman Catholic Church. He also abolished the Vatican department responsible for the lifting of the excommunication of Richard Williamson, who is one of the leaders of the Society of St Pius X. The rehabilitation, in January, threatened to undo decades of work to heal rifts between Catholics and Jews. The German-born Pope was forced to apologise to Jewish leaders and atoned by visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Israel in May. The incident made Pope Benedict, one of the most admired...

ENCYCLICAL LETTERCARITAS IN VERITATE OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF BENEDICT XVI TO THE BISHOPS PRIESTS AND DEACONS MEN AND WOMEN RELIGIOUS THE LAY FAITHFUL AND ALL PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL ON INTEGRAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN CHARITY AND TRUTHINTRODUCTION1. Charity in truth, to which Jesus Christ bore witness by his earthly life and especially by his death and resurrection, is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity. Love — caritas — is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace. It is...

Tuesday July 7, 2009 Best Pro-Life Quotes from Pope Benedict XVI's New Encyclical In new encyclical Pope Benedict slams population control, urges openness to life Compiled by John-Henry Westen   ROME, Italy, July 7, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Today the much-anticipated social encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate (Truth in Love) was released, after being delayed for a year due to the global economic crisis. The encyclical includes several passages of great interest to those involved in the pro-life movement. The most pertinent and striking passages dealing with the life issues are reproduced below. To read the complete...

Pope Benedict XVI today announced the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman. The declaration means that the Anglican vicar, who shocked Victorian England by converting to Catholicism, will be given the title 'Blessed'. It also puts Newman just one stage away from becoming the first English saint in about 40 years.

Festivities in Rome this weekend for the dedication of an Orthodox church on the grounds of the Russian Embassy near the Vatican attest to a surprising but marked warming of relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Vatican in recent months, according to church officials and analysts. If trends hold true, they add, a meeting of the pope and the patriarch of the Orthodox Church in Russia may be close. Whether even that could begin to overcome the centuries-old hatred surrounding the two churches’ conflicting authority over Christians is another question. To mark the dedication Sunday of the Church...

VATICAN CITY – Critics of the Catholic Church's social teachings are trying to intimidate Pope Benedict XVI into silence, the Vatican charged Friday in responding to attacks on the pontiff's remarks about AIDS and condom use. In a strongly worded statement, the Vatican defended the pope's view that condoms aren't the answer to Africa's AIDS epidemic and could make it worse. On his way to Africa last month, he said the best strategy is the church's effort to promote sexual responsibility through abstinence and monogamy. France, Germany, the United Nations' AIDS-fighting agency and the British medical journal The Lancet called...

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and throughout the world,From the depths of my heart, I wish all of you a blessed Easter.  To quote Saint Augustine, “Resurrectio Domini, spes nostra – the resurrection of the Lord is our hope” (Sermon 261:1).  With these words, the great Bishop explained to the faithful that Jesus rose again so that we, though destined to die, should not despair, worrying that with death life is completely finished; Christ is risen to give us hope (cf. ibid.).  Indeed, one of the questions that most preoccupies men and women is this: what is there after...

Dear Brothers and Sisters,Saint Mark tells us in his Gospel that as the disciples came down from the Mount of the Transfiguration, they were discussing among themselves what “rising from the dead” could mean (cf. Mk 9:10).  A little earlier, the Lord had foretold his passion and his resurrection after three days.  Peter had protested against this prediction of death.  But now, they were wondering what could be meant by the word “resurrection”.  Could it be that we find ourselves in a similar situation?  Christmas, the birth of the divine Infant, we can somehow immediately comprehend.  We can love the...

[Some time ago, your PP promised to weigh in on the flap regarding the Pope's comments on condoms which have been widely condemned as backward and stupid by just about everyone in every country. Instead, I'm going to let someone much more personally involved to do so. But before reading, consider the plight of the Holy Father. His job is to eludidate the teaching of Christ and his Church. It is not in his job description to acomodate the teaching of Christ to the sensibilities of the modern world. At some point, those of us who are Christians have...

Hell hath no fury like a feminist writer directing a hissy fit at the pope. Bonnie Erbe -- the US News & World Report contributing editor and PBS "To the Contrary" host who argued that Bristol Palin is more "mature" than her abstinence education-advocating mother -- finds the pope "horrifically ignorant" when it comes to HIV/AIDS. What exactly did the pontiff say that set Erbe off? Try, "AIDS cannot be overcome by the distribution of condoms," hardly a controversial, implausible statement, but one that, to Erbe, showed the pope has "no sympathy" for women in Africa. Yet in the...

Enough! No--Too much! Amid all the justified outrage we all feel at Bernie Madoff and the AIG bandits, let us save some intense outrage for Pope Benedict XVI. After insulting Muslims by declaring in 2006 that Muhammad had brought "things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached," after reiterating (through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) in 2008 that the subject of the ordination of women is not even open for discussion and declaring that anyone involved with the ordination of women will be automatically excommunicated, after lifting...

LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI TO THE BISHOPS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH concerning the remission of the excommunication of the four Bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre ( Rome , March 10, 2009) Dear Brothers in the Episcopal Ministry! The remission of the excommunication of the four Bishops consecrated in 1988 by Archbishop Lefebvre without a mandate of the Holy See has for many reasons caused, both within and beyond the Catholic Church, a discussion more heated than any we have seen for a long time. Many Bishops felt perplexed by an event which came about unexpectedly and...

Last year, in a post entitled, "Reform: can you deal with it?", your PP spoke about an imaginary priest, formed after Vatican II, whose entire belief system is based on the common misinterpretations of the Council, and what would happen to him should the Latin Church actually engage in a real reform of the Liturgy. I summarized his new Post-Vatican II faith as follows: And he is the priest referred to above: the one who, if faced with a general and comprehensive reform of the Western Liturgy—to use Cardinal Ratzinger's words—"standing wholly in the legacy of the traditional Rite," would...

BERLIN (Reuters) - Nearly four years after a rare outburst of national pride over the election of a German pope, Germans are falling out of love with Pope Benedict because of his rehabilitation of a bishop who denies the Holocaust. Prominent Catholics, politicians and newspaper commentators in Joseph Ratzinger's homeland are pulling no punches in their criticism of his lifting of the excommunications of four bishops, including one who denies the extent of the Holocaust. Chancellor Angela Merkel also criticized him, prompting a sharp response from the Vatican. "Worldwide criticism of the Pope," read the front page of top-selling daily...

Science Intrudes Into Morality Dec 23, 2008 — The Pope recently declared that we need to save humanity from self-destructive behaviors, like homosexuality. Can science intrude on questions of human behavior and morals? New Scientist thought so; a blog entry today says the Pope “misuses science to attack homosexuality.”One would think that moral behavior would lie outside the field for a scientific news source, but online news editor Rowan Hooper went on, mocking the Pope’s claim that the church has a role in saving “human ecology” like scientists have a role in protecting tropical forests. Hooper called this “a bizarre...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Fahad al-Deweesh, a vice president at a Persian Gulf investment firm, is getting e-mails from old finance classmates at the University of Southern California he hasn't heard from in years, asking what the job market here looks like for Americans.

Castel Gandolfo, Jul. 25, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki met with Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) on July 25 at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. Pope Benedict underscored his concern about the Christian minority in Iraq during the conversation. A Vatican statement released after the meeting noted that the Holy Father had decried the continuing violence in Iraq and pointed out that the bloodshed has taken a heavy toll on "the Christian communities which strongly feel the need for greater security." The Pope also spoke about the needs of Iraqi refugees and-- returning...

The traditional Latin Mass – effectively banned by Rome for 40 years – is to be reintroduced into every Roman Catholic parish in England and Wales, the senior Vatican cardinal in charge of Latin liturgy said at a press conference in London today. In addition, all seminaries will be required to teach trainee priests how to say the old Mass so that they can celebrate it in all parishes. Catholic congregations throughout the world will receive special instruction on how to appreciate the old services, formerly known as the Tridentine Rite.

There’s an urban legend making the rounds about Pope Benedict’s visit to the United States. The story goes that Vice-President Cheney asked the pontiff what he’s been reading. The Holy Father replied that he’s been researching “the Arian heresy.” Cheney, thinking the pope meant “Aryan,” said, “That must be interesting for you, since you lived through it. And Benedict responded, “I’m old, but I’m not that old.” It’s a funny story, and I’m told it appeared in the London Times. But I’m afraid I couldn’t find confirmation anywhere on the Web. So I went over the head of the World...

[This article by Jim Akin is a good companion to the previous post about Arch-Tame Wuerl. Jim is director of apologetics and evangelization at "Catholic Answers" and is a contributing editor of This Rock. --PP] Abortion Is the Black Hole of Moral Issues A Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for Holy Communion, if he were to deliberately vote for a candidate precisely because of the candidate’s permissive stand on abortion and/or euthanasia. When a Catholic does not share a candidate’s stand in favor of abortion and/or euthanasia but votes...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict is expected to meet the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams on Monday in only the second official meeting between the two religious leaders, a Vatican source said on Sunday. The meeting comes less than two months after the Vatican's top officials for relations with Islam criticised Williams as mistaken and naive for suggesting that some aspects of Sharia law in Britain were unavoidable. The spiritual leader for the world's 77 million Anglicans, Williams -- who sparked a political storm with the Sharia comments -- last held talks with the Pope in November 2006. Ties...

ROME (AFP) — The Vatican on Friday dismissed the US newsweekly Time's annual list of the world's 100 most influential people as "bizarre and arbitrary," saying the Holy See was pleased that the pope was not included. "I am happy about this absence (of Pope Benedict XVI) from the list, whose composition is kind of bizarre and arbitrary," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told AFP. Lombardi said he doubted whether the magazine took fully into account the pope's spiritual and moral authority. This year's list does include the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama as well as the patriarch of the...

Vatican City, Apr 30, 2008 / 04:06 pm (CNA).- Following today's general audience, Benedict XVI received a group of Iranian Muslims who have been meeting biannually for the last 12 years with the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. The dialogue between the Vatican and the Muslim group resulted in an agreement on faith and reason, violence and religion and the method for dialogue. The Vatican is being represented in the discussions by a delegation led by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, while the president of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization of Tehran, Iran is leading their group. Representatives from both groups...

Paris, Apr 29, 2008 / 12:37 pm (CNA).- The Bishops’ Conference of France has officially announced that Pope Benedict XVI will travel to France for the 150th anniversary of the Marian apparitions that took place in Lourdes. The trip, which is scheduled for September 12-15, 2008, will begin with a greeting by French officials after which the Holy Father will head to the College des Bernardins where he will address the “world of culture.”  Then the Pope will pray vespers at the Cathedral of Notre Dame.  Following the prayer service, he will address young people gathered at the Cathedral.  On...

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 27, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Rumors suggesting that Benedict XVI's health is failing are "baseless," confirmed the Vatican. Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, said this in statements to the press after the French newspaper Le Figaro published an article Saturday that raised questions regarding the Pontiff's health. The report also speculated on future successors to the papacy. The spokesman said the article's assertions, published less than one week after the Pontiff ended his five-day apostolic trip to the United States, were "paradoxical.� “Benedict XVI is well and it is paradoxical that doubts about his...

In the aftermath of the U.S. visit by Pope Benedict XVI, traditional Catholics are asking a troublesome question: Did pro-choice politicians receiving Communion at the papal Masses indicate the pope had softened on the abortion question? The answer is no. On the contrary, it reflected disobedience to Benedict by the archbishops of New York and Washington. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sens. John Kerry, Christopher Dodd and Edward M. Kennedy received Communion at Nationals Park in Washington, as did former mayor Rudolph Giuliani at Yankee Stadium in New York. Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington and Cardinal Edward Egan, archbishop of...

Their names are Shadow, Butch, Misty, Rusty, Sparky, Sunshine, Esther, Marty and Spunky. They are cats, some former strays, some tiger-striped. But to Jan Fredericks of Wayne, N.J., they are family, they are God’s creatures and deserving of compassion. And in Pope Benedict XVI, Ms. Fredericks, the chairwoman of the fledgling American branch of Catholic Concern for Animals, believes that she has found a kindred spirit: Along with an enormous entourage and a message of peace, the Pope brought with him to the United States a lifelong love of cats.

On Sunday 20 April 2008, Pope Benedict XVI visited the site of the terrorist attack in New York City, 11 September 2001. While there he offered the following prayer.O God of love, compassion, and healing,look on us, people of many different faithsand traditions,who gather today at this site,the scene of incredible violence and pain. We ask you in your goodnessto give eternal light and peaceto all who died here —the heroic first-responders:our fire fighters, police officers,emergency service workers, andPort Authority personnel,along with all the innocent men and womenwho were victims of this tragedysimply because their work or servicebrought them here...

The White House welcoming ceremony for Pope Benedict XVI to America was truly inspiring. The U.S. Army band and chorus performed an amazing rendition of the Battle Hyman of the Republic. The Pope spoke about the greatness of America. On Sunday I was the emcee at Springfest, a family fun festival in Deltona, Florida. Deltona is the fulfillment of MLK's dream where blacks, whites, Hispanics and others live and play together. Inspired by the tremendous celebration of God and country at the White House, I felt compelled to do the same at Springfest. I asked the Sheriff's dept. motorcycle officers...

NEW YORK CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI will always have his detractors, but even his toughest critics will admit that this past week the aging pontiff brought the need to heal the clergy sex abuse crisis high up onto his papal platform.Whether one believes that reform is coming or that Benedict’s speeches are merely words on a page, the pontiff has confronted the thorny issue in ways that defied expectations.Before the Holy Father set foot on American soil, he told reporters aboard the papal airplane that pedophile priests left him “deeply ashamed.� During his homily at St. Patrick’s Cathedral...

- Pope Benedict XVI, nearing the end of his six-day trip to the United States, opened a rare window yesterday evening into his own struggles as a child in Nazi Germany, telling a large rally of seminarians and young Catholics that his difficulties in that era helped him understand the challenges that young people face. (snip) "My own years as a teenager were marred by a sinister regime that thought it had all the answers," he told the seminarians and young people outside St. Joseph's Seminary, in the Dunwoodie section of Yonkers. "Its influence grew, infiltrating schools and civic bodies,...

Pope Benedict XVI has spoken out for the first time about growing up under the "monster" of Nazism. Speaking at a youth rally in New York, the German-born pontiff said his teenager years had been "marred by a sinister regime". Earlier, during a Mass at St Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan he spoke out again about the suffering of victims of paedophile Catholic priests. On Sunday, he is due to visit the scene of the 9/11 attacks in New York. Pope Benedict's tour of the US is his first visit to the country since being elected head of the Catholic Church...

Washington DC, Apr 19, 2008 / 01:05 pm (CNA).- The President of Franciscan University of Steubenville, Father Terence Henry, TOR, has given his reaction to Catholic News Agency on the Pope’s message to Catholic university leaders. Father Henry said that he believes Pope Benedict’s address taught that authentic Catholic education “springs from the heart of the Church.” Father Henry was particularly struck by Pope Benedict’s idea that Catholic institutions are “instruments of hope” to the world and to young people. “There are some out there who think that authentic freedom means to speculate on everything under the sun,” Father Henry...

"One of the blessings of being the President is I get to see firsthand how people are motivated by the fundamental truths articulated by the Holy Father."

For 25 remarkable minutes, the shepherd of the world's 1 billion Catholics met with a handful of victims in the worst scandal to ever tarnish the U.S. church. One man, abused as an altar boy, said he placed his hand over Pope Benedict XVI's heart as he pleaded with him to fix the problem of sexual abuse of minors. The pontiff apologized to his guests for not being perfectly fluent in English, and "for everything," according to another victim. Plans for the secret meeting were kept quiet. But two Boston-area victims of abuse shared details of the meeting in interviews...

RightNation.US member lyria checked out the scene as the visiting Benedict XVI made his way through the nation's capitol today. According to a delightfully hilarious post by lyria, the hawkers were strange enough, but: The real show was the protesters. I love a good freakshow. When I heard the angry voice through the bullhorn, I was expecting a gay rights group, a reproductive rights group, or maybe something about female ordination or the pedophilia scandals. No..... They were protesting the existence of Catholicism. No, really, they were. I am not joking. Once I realized it, I started looking for the...

Pope Benedict XVI, the Vicar of Christ, the 265th Successor of Peter, Shepperd of the Church founded by Jesus Christ, has arrived in the United States of American, landing at Andrews Air Force Base in Bethesda, Maryland at 1558 hours. The Holy Father was greeted by U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife Laura. He is the first world leader that President Bush has ever greeted on the tarmac upon arrival in the United States. Details of the Holy Father's visit can be found at: Christ Our Hope: Pope Benedict XVI Apostolic Journey to the United States

Pope Benedict has arrived in the U.S. The pontiff's plane, named "Shepherd One", landed at Andrews Air Force Base just before 10 in the morning Hawaii time. The President, first lady, and their daughter Jenna greeted him as he walked out of the plane. It is the first time the president has met a foreign leader at the Maryland base. This is Pope Benedict's first visit to the U.S. as the pontiff. He will be only the second to visit the White House. His trip tomorrow will mark his 81st birthday. He will hold a papal mass in Washington Thursday,...

He's coming! Associated Press, filing its report from the airborne Shepherd One [picture], has the first coverage: "Vatican officials selected four questions to be read by the journalists to the pontiff aboard the plane." BBC Quotes him as saying: "It is more important to have good priests than many priests." The pope usually conducts a press conference aboard the plane when he on a long flight. There had been some talk that he might cancel it this time rather than go through what happened in Brazil again - where a comment of his sparked a frenzy of (confused) debate...

Today the President signed the Honor of Education and Sharing Day Proclamation. Also today the President presented the Lifetime President's Volunteer Service Award to Chick fil-A Inc. founder Truett Cathy. The President met the Pope at Andrews Airforce Base the first time during his Presidency that he has gone to Andrews Airforce to welcome an overseas dignitary. Pray for President Bush -- Day 2770 Today Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified before the House Armed Services Committee. Enjoy your visit to Sanity Island

THREE years ago, in the final weeks of Pope John Paul II's papacy, the Vatican's diplomatic service took great care to distance the Catholic Church from American foreign policy, in order to protect Christians in mainly Muslim lands from being tarred with the same brush as the Bush administration. But as his successor Pope Benedict XVI arrives on Tuesday April 15th for a five-day trip to the United States, the gap between the Vatican and America seems to have narrowed a great deal. The Vatican fear that Middle Eastern Christians would pay a high price for the perceived misdeeds of...

At the open-air mass in St. Peter's on April 2, the third anniversary of the death of John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI spoke movingly – he brought mist to the eyes of our little group of visiting Americans – of John Paul's life, and the meaning of his suffering. "Among his many human and supernatural qualities he had an exceptional spiritual and mystical sensitivity," said the pontiff, who knew John Paul long and intimately. (Those who hope for swift canonization please note: "supernatural." Benedict the philosopher does not use words lightly.) He spoke of the distilled message of John...

I guess it was only a matter of time, but Archbishop Marini has written a book. And why not? When you've been in power for a long time, and some new upstart boss comes along and replaces you just like that, there's only one thing to do: vent your spleen in a juicy, tell-all book designed to embarrass all the enemies you made on the way up, particularly the boss who just replaced you, so that they all go skulking around thinking to themselves, "Well, I guess he showed us." Of course, that's all in your imagination, since your new...

Dear Brothers and Sisters,In his farewell discourse, Jesus announced his imminent death and resurrection to his disciples with these mysterious words:  “I go away, and I will come to you”, he said (Jn 14:28).  Dying is a “going away”.  Even if the body of the deceased remains behind, he himself has gone away into the unknown, and we cannot follow him (cf. Jn 13:36).  Yet in Jesus’s case, there is something utterly new, which changes the world.  In the case of our own death, the “going away” is definitive, there is no return.  Jesus, on the other hand, says of...