Military archbishop: U.S. invasion led to fewer Iraqi Christians
Rome, Italy, Jan 28, 2012 / 07:03 am (CNA).- U.S. Military Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio says the collapse of Iraq"s Christian population is among the legacies of America's invasion in 2003.
"Yes, you can say in a certain sense that the invasion of Iraq did provoke this tremendous diminution of the Christian population in that country. And what the future holds, that still remains to be seen,' the archbishop for the armed forces told CNA during his visit to Rome on Jan. 16.
His comments come only a month after the final pull-out of U.S. troops from Iraq, where they remained following the invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein. Aid agencies estimate that over the course of eight years, the Catholic population of Iraq fell from over 800,000, to less than 150,000 now
Archbishop Broglio believes Catholicism suffered after the invasion because of a perceived closeness to its previous ruler. He said Saddam Hussein tended "to trust Catholics, and gave them positions of responsibility.' One prominent Iraqi Catholic was Hussein"s Foreign Minister Tarik Aziz.
And even if Catholics "weren"t particularly part of the regime, they became identified with the regime,' Archbishop Broglio said.
"Before, they were a minority that was protected, but now they are a minority that is not protected.'
As President Barack Obama withdrew the last U.S. troops from Iraq on Dec. 15, he said they were leaving behind a "sovereign, stable and self-reliant,' country.
But there are signs that Iraqi Christians' plight has worsened since then.
"At a time of increased political instability, we continue to receive disturbing reports,' said John Pontifex of Aid to the Church in Need on Jan. 20.
He said an attack took place earlier in the month against security personnel outside the residence of Kirkuk's Archbishop Louis Sako.
Archbishop Sako, who was indoors at the time, told Aid to the Church in Need that the situation is less stable now that U.S. troops are gone, with much of the turmoil stemming from the power struggle between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
Pontifex says there is a "ticking bomb regarding Christianity in Iraq.'
"Few Christians, no matter how deep their roots are in the local society, feel able to withstand the pressure to leave.'
Fear of an attack forced Archbishop Sako to cancel the Chaldean Catholics' midnight Christmas celebration last month. Services were moved to the daytime, and Christians were warned not to display decorations outside their homes.
Nevertheless, it appears that many of the Catholics who fled Iraq would return if safety improved.
Monsignor John Kozar, president of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, recently spoke of the "strong determination' some Iraqi Catholics have to go back home. He recently visited Jordan, where many Christians from Iraq now reside.
"I think they have a yearning to return to the homeland, and that homeland for them means practicing their Chaldean-rite Christianity,' the monsignor said. "That has become very, very important to them.'
God"s love will not fail you, archbishop tells leprosy victims
Vatican City, Jan 27, 2012 / 07:26 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski told those affected by leprosy that God's love will never fail them.
In statement for the 59th World Leprosy Day, which will be observed on Jan. 29, the archbishop addressed survivors of the disease and those still suffering from it around the globe.
"He who is in suffering and … prays to the Lord is certain that God's love will never abandon him,' the Archbishop told those who are suffering from the disease.
Archbishop Zimowski, who heads the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, said that those currently being treated for leprosy can and must "express all the riches of their dignity and spirituality.' He also counseled them to be in solidarity with others who have been "equally afflicted and have been marked indelibly by this infection.'
Those who have been cured of the disease can "communicate their gratitude in a practical way' by providing moral support to those still suffering from leprosy and contributing to the identification and prevention of the disease, he said.
"Those who have attained a cure can in this way communicate all their interior riches ... as people touched by suffering and involved in working for the health of the community to which they belong.'
Leprosy, which is also called Hansen"s Disease, has not been eradicated from the modern world, although it continues to decrease every year. The World Health Organization estimated a total of about 200,000 cases in 2010 2011.
Archbishop Zimowski said that God's love and the love of the Church, which is an extension of God's work, "will never fail' them.
Pope Benedict XVI recently chose the gospel passage of Luke 17:19, "Stand and go; your faith has saved you' as the theme for the 20th World Day of the Sick, to be held on Feb. 11.
The archbishop pointed out that those afflicted by leprosy can find particular comfort in the Pope's scripture selection because it speaks of Christ's healing of the 10 lepers who were "readmitted to the community and reintegrated into the social occupational fabric.'
He expanded on the scripture passage by pointing out that the leper who returned to thank Jesus showed that "reacquired health is a sign of something more precious that mere physical healing.' The healing that the leper experienced was also a sign of salvation through Christ.
Archbishop Zimowski noted the many volunteer organizations that have helped in reducing the number of cases of leprosy, especially the Raoul Follereau Foundation based in Bologna, Italy.
He urged those involved in treating leprosy to fight against the disease and to continue their work "tenaciously' to reduce relapse cases.
Year of Faith is Pope's response to 'profound crisis'
Vatican City, Jan 27, 2012 / 01:48 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The upcoming 2012-2013 "Year of Faith' seeks to awaken humanity at a critical moment, Pope Benedict XVI said as he addressed the Church's highest doctrinal office on Jan. 27.
"In vast areas of the earth the faith risks being extinguished, like a flame without fuel,' the Pope told assembled members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who met in a plenary session on Friday.
"We are facing a profound crisis of faith, a loss of a religious sense which represents one of the greatest challenges for the Church today.'
Pope Benedict hopes the Year of Faith, which will run from Oct. 11, 2012 to Nov. 24, 2013, will contribute "to restoring God's presence in this world, and to giving man access to the faith, enabling him to entrust himself to the God who, in Jesus Christ, loved us to the end.'
"The renewal of faith,' the Pope announced, "must, then, be a priority for the entire Church in our time.'
His remarks to the doctrinal congregation came two days after the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul, the final day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
The Pope spoke about the quest to reunite all Christians, as he acknowledged that ecumenical efforts had not always served to strengthen believers' faith.
Along with the "many good fruits that have emerged from ecumenical dialogue,' there are also "risks of indifference and of false irenicism' which give the appearance of unity, without regard for truth.
In today's world, the Pope observed, there is an "increasingly widespread' perception "that truth is not accessible to man, and that, therefore, we must limit ourselves to finding rules to improve this world.'
"In this scenario,' he noted, "faith comes to be replaced by a shallow-rooted moralism,' which can cause the dialogue between Christian groups to become superficial.
"By contrast, the core of true ecumenism is faith, in which man encounters the truth revealed in the Word of God.'
Pope Benedict told officials of the doctrine congregation, the office he led before his election to the papacy, that controversial issues cannot be downplayed or ignored in talks between the Catholic Church and other Christian churches and communities.
Matters of faith and morals, he said, "must be faced courageously, while always maintaining a spirit of fraternity and mutual respect … In our dialogues we cannot overlook the great moral questions about human life, the family, sexuality, bioethics, freedom, justice and peace.'
By defending the Church's authentic tradition, he observed, "we defend man and we defend the creation.'
Next Church doctor is model for evangelization
Rome, Italy, Jan 26, 2012 / 05:59 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Today's world can learn a lot from St. John of Avila, according to those who have studied the life of the next Doctor of the Catholic Church.
"St. John of Avila is far from us in time, but nearby for his figure, his life, his evangelizing witness and for his teaching," Archbishop Juan del RÃo MartÃn of Spain's Archdiocese for Military Services told CNA.
Archbishop del RÃo MartÃn was one of three experts on the Spanish saint who gathered in Rome on Jan. 20 for the presentation of a new book in Spanish that explores the writings of St. John of Avila.
The archbishop, who wrote his doctoral thesis on St. John of Avila"s teachings, believes that Pope Benedict made an investment in the future of the Church by choosing the 16th-century saint as the Church's newest doctor.
The Pope has called the Church to a new evangelization, he notes, and in the "Apostle of Andalusia' she has a "model of how to evangelize."
St. John of Avila was born in 1500 in the town of Almodovar del Campo, 155 miles south of Madrid. A Christian of Jewish descent, he studied law at the University of Salamanca, before being ordained a priest. He went on to become a great preacher, author and mystic, writing works that influenced St. Theresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross and St. Francis Borgia, among others.
He is credited with re-evangelizing the southern Spanish region of Andalusia after it was reclaimed from the Moors.
The Apostle of Andalusia is now venerated in Spain as the patron of the nation's priests.
In fact, Pope Benedict chose a meeting with priests and seminarians during World Youth Day celebrations this past August in Madrid to declare that the saint would become a Church "doctor."
He hoped that "the word and the example of this outstanding pastor will enlighten all priests and those who look forward to the day of their priestly ordination."
The recognition places St. John of Avila among 33 others, such as Sts. Thomas Aquinas, Augustine and Therese of Lisieux, whose contributions have been declared a source of truth and of value to Christians in all times. Church "doctors" are also required to have manifested "eminent learning" and "great sanctity" in their lives.
MarÃa de la Encarnación González, the postulator of the saint's cause for being declared a Church doctor, said that John of Avila truly lived out his faith and knew how to share it.
"St. John of Avila was a great communicator. Therefore, the work he did has led him to this point where the Pope considers that he demonstrated all of the requisites to become a Doctor of the Church," she said.
Though no date has been announced for his installation, it is significant that the Pope has chosen him to be a doctor as a "new evangelization" movement gears up in the Catholic Church.
Not only has a special Vatican department been created to oversee these efforts in the West, but bishops from around the world will come to Rome in Oct. 2012 to discuss the topic for three weeks.
"How do we evangelize in the 21st century?" asked Archbishop del RÃo MartÃn. Catholics must learn to express their love for Jesus Christ the way St. John of Avila did when he said he felt "leased by Christ,' the archbishop remarked.
"In Jesus Christ," he said, "was revealed a God of love, who preaches and sends out love. And that love must be shown to men through the word, the sacraments and charity."
Fr. Lombardi: Vatican corruption charges 'well beyond reality"
Vatican City, Jan 26, 2012 / 04:11 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The official Vatican spokesman says an Italian television broadcast claiming to disclose financial corruption at the Vatican exaggerated the situation.
Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., questioned the "debatable' journalistic methods employed in the broadcast"s "diffusion of private documents.'
The information in the program stretched "well beyond reality,' he said in a Jan. 26 statement, adding that "the general situation of the government is not as negative as they want to make people believe.'
Accusations of financial mismanagement in the Vatican were broadcast Jan. 25 on a prominent Italian television network in a show entitled "Gli intoccabili.'
The program claimed that Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò now the Pope"s official representative to the U.S. wrote a private letter to Pope Benedict XVI on March 27, 2011, asking not to be transferred to the U.S. while new measures aimed at cleaning up the Vatican"s financial situation were being implemented.
Archbishop Viganò was serving as the second in command for the Governatorate of Vatican City, before he was appointed as the new nuncio to the United States in October 2011.
In his work at the Holy See, he introduced financial controls and accountability procedures that transformed a multi-million dollar deficit into a significant surplus in just one year.
In a Jan. 26 statement, Fr. Lombardi responded to the broadcast, lamenting that it has become "all too familiar' to find biased reporting about the Catholic Church.
He stressed that governing the Vatican City-State is very complex, and said that the situation was presented in "a partial and banal way' so as to exalt "the negative aspects.'
Fr. Lombardi noted the many positive effects of Archbishop Viganò"s actions as Secretary General of the Government. He said that an accurate analysis of the financial changes within the Holy See must take into account changing markets and economic situations, as well as a notable increase in visitors to the Vatican Museums.
He also commented on the "significant expenses' required to meet the Vatican"s important non-economic goal of supporting the universal Church.
The Vatican spokesman also underscored that Archbishop Viganò"s appointment as the apostolic nuncio to the United States showed Pope Benedict"s great trust in him.
Holy See officials, Fr. Lombardi said, continue to be guided by the standards of "healthy administration and of transparency' to which Archbishop Viganò committed himself.
Fr. Lombardi also said that the Vatican government is willing to "pursue all appropriate options,' including possible legal action to defend the reputation of the Vatican officials mentioned in the broadcast.
