Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and representatives of other Orthodox and Anglican churches accompanied Pope Benedict in lighting a candle to launch the Year of St Paul.
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Volunteers refuse WYD powers
Rural Fire Service and State Emergency Service volunteers will not seek "authorised person" status while assisting with WYD in order to avoid "negative interactions with people".
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Vietnam up, US down on WYD numbers
A record number of Vietnamese pilgrims will attend World Youth Day this year but US numbers are down - and 50 Angola pilgrims are stranded in Sydney instead of Adelaide because tour organisers thought the SA capital was only an hour way.
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Celebrate the living spirit: Bishops urge
Australia's bishops have urged Catholics to "celebrate the Living Spirit" to mark Aboriginal and Torres Islander Sunday this weekend.
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Korean priests in Mass protest against US beef
Two hundred South Korean priests have celebrated a street Mass in Seoul to protest an unpopular government decision to resume beef imports from the US.
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Bees for Benedict
Italian scooter manufacturer Piaggio has presented Pope Benedict with two new specially made three wheeled vehicles.
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Feature - Walking away from what they do not know
"People who leave the Church are not leaving because they are rejecting the teachings of John Paul II or Pope Benedict. Most do so because they go to Catholic schools and they think that the kind of warm secular humanism with Christian gloss that they get in Catholic schools is in fact the Catholic faith and it hasn't captured their imagination, their love or their intellect so they are walking away from something that they do not know." - The Catholic Herald
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Featured Website - First Things
First Things is a monthly ecumenical journal concerned with the creation of a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society." It is published by The Institute on Religion and Public Life in the United States of America.
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Film Review - Kung Fu Panda
Kung Fu Panda is essentially a martial arts comedy and is a total action movie. It has striking effects and action sequences and a particularly impressive concluding fantasy sequence which brings DreamWorks to a new level of technological sophistication. There is a strong cultural feel about the movie and it heavily draws on Chinese culture to bring authenticity to its fantasy. - Peter Sheehan, Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting
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Opinion - God is without circumference
His challenge was to see the beauty in every face, even when the owner of that face had long given up on it. Surely, that is to love others as Jesus did—Jesus the One who never gives up on us. If we are to love as Jesus loved, we need to be forgiving people. Forgiving people are bridge-builders and reconcilers. - Fr Chris Gleeson, Madonna
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OPINION
Beyond knowledge to wisdomI believe this is one of the crisis points for contemporary Christianity. Put bluntly, its representatives do not seem wise. Yes, those representatives can give you any amount of information, some of them can even speak knowledgeably of Christian teachings. Wisdom is another thing altogether. - Fr Michael Whelan [More] - Aquinas Academy
FEATURE
Connected across bordersIt is time for leaders of nations to see their national interests as connected with the interests of people on the other side of the globe. We have reached the point where human existence is at stake and our destiny is inextricably linked. If we are to overcome this crisis of climate change we need to think beyond the confines of national states. - Just Comment [More] - Edmund Rice Centre
FEATURED CATHOLIC WEBSITE
Catholic Education Diocese of ParramattaReturning to our education theme, we shine the spotlight on arguably the most innovative Catholic education website in the country. In addition to all the standard features of any CEO site, Parramatta's includes some interactive opinion polls and a competition for students to attempt to ''Become the Executive Director for the day''. The site is also well regarded for its RE and curriculum resources.
- www.parra.catholic.edu.au
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Pope tells NZ PM Clark to watch racial tension
Pope John Paul II has encouraged New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark to foster dialogue in a world "so troubled by the scourge of racial division and conflict".
Miss Clark and husband Professor Peter Davis met the Holy Father at the Vatican on Friday.
During a short speech, the Pope said NZ had always cherished the fundamental values of freedom, justice and peace. It had generously sought to defend and promote those values in the Pacific and beyond.
In his remarks about racial tension, it is not clear that the Pope was referring specifically to the discontent Miss Clark has created this month among the country's Maori over her government's policy on ownership of New Zealand's coastline.
The Holy Father said: "On acknowledging the fundamental God-given dignity of every person, dialogue leads to a recognition of diversity, while opening the mind to the mutual acceptance and genuine collaboration demanded by the human family's basic vocation to unity."
Helen Clark went on to meet the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
She nearly did not make the papal audience. Her convoy from Cassino to Rome was escorted by several police cars but the high-speed dash ran into heavy traffic and reached the Vatican with only minutes to spare.
SOURCE
Helen Clark gifts Pope with NZ bowl during meeting (NZ Herald/NZPA 22/5/04)
LINKS
Pope's Greetings to Prime Minister of New Zealand (Zenit 21/5/04)
Pope Encourages New Zealander to Foster Dialogue (Zenit 21/5/04)
Clark meets Pope for 5 minutes (NZCity/IRN 22/5/04)
Pope speaks of freedom, justice and peace during private audience (NZPA/stuff.co.nz 22/5/04)
PM granted audience with the Pope (Dominion Post/stuff.co.nz 10/5/04)
Pope Blesses New Zealand And Her Peoples (Scoop 23/5/04)
Pope reminds New Zealand prime minister of freedom's heavy price (Catholic News Service 21/5/04)
NEW ZEALAND AND THE VALUES OF FREEDOM, JUSTICE AND PEACE (Vatican Information Service 21/5/04)
Clark could lose majority as Maori fury grows (Sydney Morning Herald 5/5/04)
Pope calls for regulation of media (Ireland Online 23/5/04)
Pope Urges Stronger Defense of Marriage (The Guardian 23/5/04)
Pope Calls for Regulation of Media (The Scotsman 23/5/04)
Happy 84th, John Paul; Lineamenta on Eucharist for bishops synod released; Priests for Life in Rome; Arinze addresses interreligious dialogue; Iraqi prisoner abuse reactions (National Catholic Reporter 21/5/04)
Media is harming the family, says Pope (Reuters/ABC 23/5/04)
Pope will urge Bush to stop using force (The Tablet 22/5/04)
Pope tells U.S. bishops that church needs to do more in support of marriage (Associated Press/Denton Record-Chronicle 22/5/04)
Visit to Switzerland: When young people call, this pope answers (Catholic News Service 21/5/04)
Pope's sash from 1981 shooting to be displayed at Polish shrine (Catholic News Service 21/5/04)
Message of the Holy Father for the 38th World Communications Day (cbcisite.com)
Pope feels "heavy weight" of international crises (Catholic World News 21/5/04)
Media need genuine apostolic spirit in service of life and family, pope says (AsiaNews.it 23/5/04)
MEDIA SHOULD PROVIDE POSITIVE ROLE MODELS (Vatican Information Service 21/5/04)
Pope Says Marriage Is Between Heterosexuals (Reuters 22/5/04)
Peter Cullinane - Bishop of Palmerston North: On being counter-cultural
24 May 2004
