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Weekly News In Review

November 6 - 12, 2005
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The following articles were posted at www.understandthetimes.org this past week:

Pope Encourages Spiritual Reading of Scripture At Angelus Address, He Extols "Lectio Divina"
Prince Charles to plead Islam's cause to Bus
Pope reaffirms commitment to inter-religious cooperation, calls on all cultures, religions to respect rights and dignity of
human person
Pope reminds all faithful need Jesus to 'take their hand and lead them to the Father's House' (urges faithful to pray for the
dead)
Pope Urges Better Dialogue With Lutherans
Evolution in the bible, says Vatican
Miracles & Mary: Illinois A Mecca For Sightings
Finding Said to Boost Proof of Goliath
Devotion to Mary growing among Protestants in England
University Of Wisconsin Bans Bible Study
Nazareth Project Uniting Christians, Jews and Muslims
US Names Religious Freedom Violators
U.S. and Europe to Give Iranians New Atom Offer

Article: Roman Catholic Church and the Last Days

November 6, 2005 - Pope Encourages Spiritual Reading of Scripture At Angelus Address, He Extols "Lectio Divina"

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 6, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says the rediscovery of "the ancient practice of 'lectio divina,' or spiritual reading, of sacred Scripture" is one of the fruits of the Second Vatican Council.

Today, when praying the midday Angelus with several thousand people gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope said that "'lectio divina' ... consists of meditating fully on a biblical text, reading and rereading it, 'ruminating it' in a certain sense" and "squeezing all its 'juice' so that it nourishes meditation and contemplation and, like sap, is able to irrigate concrete life."

"As a condition," the Holy Father said, "'lectio divina' requires that the mind and heart be illuminated by the Holy Spirit, that is, by the inspirer himself of the Scriptures and to place oneself, therefore, in an attitude of 'religious listening.'" In earlier addresses, Benedict XVI has strongly encouraged "lectio divina." This was the case on Sept. 16, when he met with 400 participants in the congress organized by the Holy See to commemorate the 40th anniversary of "Dei Verbum," the Vatican II constitution on Revelation. "If this practice is promoted with efficacy, I am convinced that it will produce a new spiritual springtime in the Church," said the Pope on that occasion.

Its history

The first to use the expression "lectio divina" was Origen (circa 185-254), who affirmed that to read the Bible profitably it is necessary to do so with attention, constancy and prayer.

Later on, "lectio divina" became a mainstay of religious life. The monastic rules of Sts. Pacomius, Augustine, Basil and Benedict made the practice of dividing reading, together with manual work and participation in liturgical life, the triple base of monastic life. On Oct. 3, when Benedict XVI addressed prelates at the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist, he especially recommended the practice of "lectio divina."

He said, "In this sense we should follow the 'lectio divina,' listening in the Scriptures to the thought of Christ, learning to think with Christ, thinking the thought of Christ and thus having the same feelings of Christ, being capable of giving Christ's thought and feelings to others."

His words did not go unheeded. Among the propositions the synodal fathers sent to the Pope at the end of the assembly, No. 18 states: "To love, read, study, meditate and pray the Word of God is a precious fruit of the practice of 'lectio divina,' of groups of biblical study and prayer in the family and in small ecclesial communities."

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Article: Islam

October 29, 2005 - Prince Charles to plead Islam's cause to Bush

The Prince of Wales will try to persuade George W Bush and Americans of the merits of Islam this week because he thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion since September 11. The Prince, who leaves on Tuesday for an eight-day tour of the US, has voiced private concerns over America's "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam's strengths.

The Prince raised his concerns when he met senior Muslims in London in November 2001. The gathering took place just two months after the attacks on New York and Washington. "I find the language and rhetoric coming from America too confrontational," the Prince said, according to one leader at the meeting.

It is understood that Prince Charles did not - and does not - believe that the actions of 19 hijackers should tarnish the reputation of hundreds of millions of law-abiding Muslims around the world.

Prince Charles has done more than any other member of the Royal Family in history to understand Islam. He said in 1994 that when he became Supreme Governor of the Church of England, he would rather be "defender of faiths" than "defender of the faith". A year earlier Prince Charles made a speech, acclaimed throughout the Arab world, on relations between Islam and the West. He urged the West to overcome its "unthinkable prejudices" about Islam and its customs and laws.

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Article: Ecumenical Movement - Other Religions Uniting With Roman Catholics

November 8, 2005 - Pope reaffirms commitment to inter-religious cooperation, calls on all cultures, religions to respect
rights and dignity of human person

Vatican City, Nov. 08, 2005 (CNA) - As world religious leaders meet this week in Turkey for a conference seeking collaboration between the world's three major monotheistic religions--Christianity, Judaism and Islam, Pope Benedict reaffirmed the Church's commitment to "tirelessly" seek cooperation between peoples, cultures and faiths.

Representatives from the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity announced the second international conference today, which is focusing on the theme: "Peace and Tolerance - Dialogue and Understanding in South East Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia."

... Pope Benedict concluded his message by asking Cardinal Kasper to take the opportunity of the conference "to reaffirm the Catholic Church's strong commitment to work tirelessly for cooperation between peoples, cultures and religions."

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Article: Roman Catholic Church and the Last Days

November 11, 2005 - Pope reminds all faithful need Jesus to 'take their hand and lead them to the Father's House' (urges
faithful to pray for the dead

Vatican City, Nov. 11, 2005 (CNA) - Earlier today, Pope Benedict presided at a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica commemorating deceased cardinals and bishops, and noted that during November in particular, the Church must pray and offer "its redeeming sacrifice for the souls of the deceased faithful."

...Specifically recalling his predecessor, the late John Paul II, Pope Benedict affirmed how "he left us, among other shining examples, that most precious example of prayer. At this time too, we take up his spiritual heritage, in the knowledge that his intervention continues even more intensely from heaven."

The Pope also specifically named five cardinals who have died over the last twelve months: Juan Carlos Aramburu, Jan Pieter Schotte, Corrado Bafile, Jaime Sin and Giuseppe Caprio, saying that, "Today, together with their souls, we entrust to the Lord those of the archbishops and bishops who, over the same period, concluded their earthly journey."

..."Whoever trusts in Jesus", continued the Pope, "places his faith in God Himself. ... We human beings need a friend, a brother to take us by the hand and accompany us to 'the Father's house,' we need someone who knows the way well.""Jesus is the way open to everyone," he said, there is no other. And those that appear as 'other' ways, in as much as they are authentic lead back to Him, otherwise they do not bring life.

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Article: Roman Catholic Church and the Last Days

November 7, 2005 - Pope Urges Better Dialogue With Lutherans

Pope Benedict XVI said Monday that ecumenical talks with Lutherans had run into new challenges and called for greater efforts at dialogue in the years before the 500th anniversary of the start of the Protestant Reformation. Benedict, who has made uniting all Christians a priority of his pontificate, made the comments to Bishop Mark Hanson, president of the Lutheran World Federation, during a Vatican audience.

The pope said, however, that differences on the issue remain and need to be addressed. He repeated his hope that future ecumenical talks not deal solely with "institutional" questions of the church but delve into what he called "the true source of all ministry in the church." "We are aware that our fraternal dialogue is challenged not just by the need to verify the reception of these shared formulations of doctrine in our respective communions, but even more so today by a general climate of uncertainty regarding Christian truths and ethical principles which formerly went unquestioned," he said.

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Article: Roman Catholic Church and the Last Days

November 7, 2005 - Evolution in the bible, says Vatican

THE Vatican has issued a stout defence of Charles Darwin, voicing strong criticism of Christian fundamentalists who reject his theory of evolution and interpret the biblical account of creation literally.

Cardinal Paul Poupard, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said the Genesis description of how God created the universe and Darwin's theory of evolution were "perfectly compatible" if the Bible were read correctly.

His statement was a clear attack on creationist campaigners in the US, who see evolution and the Genesis account as mutually exclusive.

"The fundamentalists want to give a scientific meaning to words that had no scientific aim," he said at a Vatican press conference. He said the real message in Genesis was that "the universe didn't make itself and had a creator".

This idea was part of theology, Cardinal Poupard emphasised, while the precise details of how creation and the development of the species came about belonged to a different realm - science. Cardinal Poupard said that it was important for Catholic believers to know how science saw things so as to "understand things better".

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Article: Roman Catholic Church and the Last Days

November 9, 2005 - Miracles & Mary: Illinois A Mecca For Sightings

Millions make pilgrimages every year to Fatima and Lourdes, Medjugorje and Guadalupe. Pope John Paul's dedication to Christ's mother and the focus on the "divine feminine" in the Passion of the Christ and the Da Vinci Code have all brought greater attention to the Virgin Mary. Devotion to her has increased in all Christian faiths, and Illinois seems to have become a mecca for Mary sightings.

Alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary have soared, especially here in Illinois with dozens in just the past two decades. "I looked up and saw the liquid coming from her eyes," said V. Rev. Philip Koufos at St. Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church. "We were confused and scared."

When this icon at the St. Nicholas Albanian Orthodox Church apparently started weeping in 1986, word spread quickly. More than 2 million people have reportedly visited the icon.

And there's a reason the church rarely debunks the sightings."I think the church wants to pay attention to the true impact of Mary and the emotion of her apparitions can stimulate us to the kind of action that she herself," Fragomeni said.

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Article: Biblical Archeology

November 11, 2005 - Finding Said to Boost Proof of Goliath

Archaeologists digging at the purported biblical home of Goliath have unearthed a shard of pottery bearing an inscription of the Philistine's name, a find they claimed lends historical credence to the Bible's tale of David's battle with the giant.

While the discovery is not definitive evidence of Goliath's existence, it does support the Bible's depiction of life at the time the battle was supposed to have occurred, said Dr. Aren Maeir, a professor at Bar-Ilan University and director of the excavation.

"What this means is that at the time there were people there named Goliath," he said. "It shows us that David and Goliath's story reflects the cultural reality of the time." In the story, David slew Goliath with a slingshot.

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Article: Roman Catholic Church and the Last Days

November 10, 2005 - Devotion to Mary growing among Protestants in England

London, Nov. 10, 2005 (CNA) - Devotion to Mary is growing among Anglicans, Fr. Noel Wynn told the New York Times. Fr. Wynn is the director of the Roman Catholic Marian shrine in Walsingham, known as "England's Nazareth."

... According to the New York Times, the number of Protestant pilgrims visiting the Marian shrine and staying overnight has risen since 1999, from 10,000 to 12,000.

Protestant worshipers in Walsingham often belong to the Anglo-Catholic tradition, which accords greater reverence to the Virgin Mary than other Protestant sects, and uses the bells and incense like in the Roman Catholic liturgy.

The shrines also appeal to other Christians, and the Orthodox and Methodist churches in the town are indicative of this.

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Article: Apostasy

November 8 2005 - University Of Wisconsin Bans Bible Study

"They're prohibited from leading or organizing those events in their rooms or in their residency halls where they have supervisory authority over other students."

The penalty ranges from a letter of reprimand to dismissal and loss of scholarship. Jeremy Tedesco is with the Alliance Defense Fund.

"Does he have to give up his religious rights in order to be an RA? He can't ever hold a Bible study in his own dorm room, he can't potentially pray with another student in his dorm room. I don't know where this ends."

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Article: Ecumenical Movement - Christianity Uniting with other Religions

November 9, 2005 - Nazareth Project Uniting Christians, Jews and Muslims

The Marian center is being established, using buildings around the Basilica of the Annunciation, to focus on the mystery of the Mother of God.

In a statement to ZENIT today, Bishop Marcuzzo explained that the project is a "small miracle" of "unity and peace," as it has united for the first time the churches of the Holy Land: Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant.

The bishop said that the Jewish authorities favor this project and that it has the support of Muslim believers who venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary. "When you hear talk of the Holy Land, unfortunately you hear about conflicts, war, terrorism, violence, death," he said. "Here is a project that unites Christians of all denominations, including Protestants, and finally also Muslims and Jews."

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Article: Ecumenical Movement - Misc.

November 9, 2005 - US Names Religious Freedom Violators

"These are countries where governments have engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom over the past year," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Washington Tuesday...

The eight named as "countries of particular concern" (CPCs) are Burma, China, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam...

The Commission has recommended CPC status for all eight of the countries named Tuesday, as well as three others -- all Muslim states -- Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan...

Addressing a press conference, U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom John Hanford said although the department was not designating any new CPCs now, the law did allow it to add countries to the list at any stage of the year.

"Presently, we are in the late stages of our discussions with one or two potential 'Countries of Particular Concern' and we may have an announcement to make in the near future," he said, without naming them.

The 2005 report said that CPCs Eritrea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam, along with non-CPCs Uzbekistan and Laos, were hostile toward minority or non-approved religions...

Other countries criticized for less serious infringements included Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brunei, Cuba, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka and Turkey.

France, Germany and Belgium were cited for restrictive legislation and practices to brand minority religions as dangerous "cults" or "sects."

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Article: Wars and Rumors of Wars

November 10, 2005 - U.S. and Europe to Give Iranians New Atom Offer

The Bush administration and three European allies have approved a new offer to be made to Iran in a last-ditch effort to head off a confrontation over its suspected nuclear weapons program.

The proposal would permit Iran to conduct very limited nuclear activities on its own soil, but would move the process of enriching all of its uranium to Russia, American and European officials said.

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