In a letter to the world’s seminarians, Pope Benedict XVI said the world needs priests and pastors who can serve God and bring God to others. The Pope encouraged seminarians to overcome any doubts about the value of the priesthood and priestly celibacy that may have been prompted by priests who “disfigured” their ministry by sexually abusing children. He said that “even the most reprehensible abuse cannot discredit the priestly mission”.
The Pope wrote that many people are no longer aware of God and instead seek escape in euphoria and violence. The priesthood is again viewed as outmoded, yet priestly ministry is crucial in helping people see God’s presence in the world, he said.
Cardinal ready to go to jail over draft law
Cardinal Ricardo Vidal of Cebu, The Philippines, who retired on October 15 at the age of 79, said on the eve of his retirement he was willing to go to prison rather than accept the provisions in proposed legislation that provides for widespread distribution of contraceptives, including abortifacients such as the intrauterine device.
“God forbid, but if they succeed, I would be the first to go to jail because I will break the law,” Mgr Vidal said. “We’re not supposed to talk against it once it becomes a law, but I am willing to go to jail because I will continue to talk about, and go against it.” The law, he says, sanctions those who speak out against it.
Brazilian bishops rebuke bishops
The National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB) has rebuked the conference’s South Region 1, which has urged Catholics not to vote for a candidate Dilma Rousseff. Ms Rousseff, who is the favourite of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is the frontrunner in the October 31 presidential election. The leading prelate in South Region 1 is Cardinal Odilo Scherer of Sao Paulo.
In 2007, Ms Rousseff called for the legalisation of abortion in the world’s largest Catholic nation.
In its statement, the CNBB’s justice and peace commission said the bishops of South Region 1 do not speak for the nation’s bishops. “The CNBB does not suggest any candidate, and recalls that the choice is a free and conscious act of each citizen,” the statement continues. “Faced with this great responsibility, we urge Catholics to consider ethical criteria, especially unconditional respect for life, family, religious freedom, and human dignity.”
Suggestions to strengthen Middle East Church
Specific synod suggestions for a common Catholic-Orthodox celebration of Easter, wider authority for Eastern Catholic patriarchs – including participation in conclaves to elect a pope – and the need for local dialogue with Muslims and Jews were repeated in the provisional report of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East.
The synod will end today with Mass presided over by Pope Benedict.
The continuing emigration of Christians from the Middle East, especially the emigration of the young and the well-educated, threatens the very survival of Christianity in the region in which it was born, the report said. Christian leaders and all people of good will must pressure their political leaders to work for a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and an end to the ongoing violence and instability in Iraq, it said.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)