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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No signs of slowdown as Pope prepares for vacation
Pope John Paul II leaves the Vatican today for a two-week stay in northern Italy's Aosta Valley.
No public activities are planned, and no stream of visitors will be coming through the door of his wood-and-stone chalet. He can see Mont Blanc out his bedroom window, and he'll probably take drives to some of the most scenic mountain vistas in Europe.
At the end of two weeks, the Holy Father returns to his summer villa at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome until the end of September.
Last year he also found time to write a book, a recently published memoir on his years as a bishop. Until it was announced this spring, people had no idea that's how the pope spent his last summer vacation.
Catholic News Service has observed in a feature article that while Pope John Paul II may have been packing his bags for a summer vacation, events at the Vatican showed no sign of winding down in late June and early July.
Meanwhile Canadian Primate Cardinal Marc Ouellet has predicted that the next Pope will cut a "more modest" figure than Pope John Paul II.
Catholic World News reports that he says this will allow for more collegial governance of the Church.
It quotes an interview conducted by the Roman news agency I Media, in which Cardinal Ouellet observed that the primacy of the Pope has been "very strongly represented by John Paul II."
The Pope who follows him, the Oouellet suggested, is likely to take a less prominent role. He would probably have "a different style of pontificate, which would allow collegiality to function differently."
Cardinal Oullet made it clear that he did not intend his words as a criticism of Pope John Paul II.
"I would praise the Lord if he would send us another leader of the same stature," he said.
However, the cardinal reasoned, different men bring different skills and styles to the papacy, and "there are alternations in the history of nations and of the Church."
SOURCE
Summer days: No signs of slowdown as pope prepares for vacation (Catholic News Service 2/7/04)
Next Pope likely to be more collegial, cardinal predicts (Catholic World News 2/7/04)
LINKS
Catholics slam Pope sitcom (Bath Chronicle 2/7/04)
Vatican sources no longer ruling out papal visit to Ireland (Irish Times 2/7/04)
Signs of Catholic-Orthodox Communion Are Needed, Says Pope (Zenit 2/7/04)
Pope Backs Collaboration With Anabaptists (Zenit 2/7/04)
Common Ground lecture; Tough document on Anglican crisis; Patriarch of Constantinople in Rome; Jews press for campaign against anti-Semitism in Latin America; Pope to Lourdes; Once more on human trafficking (National Catholic Reporter 2/7/04)
The Pope: Catholics and Orthodox Together to Reawaken the Christian Roots of Europe (AsiaNews.it 4/7/04)
Pope Emphasizes Inter-Denominational Dialogue (Voice of America 4/7/04)
Pope returns to tradition with Alps retreat (Reuters 4/7/04)
Patriarch Invites Pope To Visit Istanbul (Associated Press/Tehran Times 4/7/04)
Pope Prepares for Holiday (The Scotsman 4/7/04)
Bruderhof community meets Pope (Independent Catholic News 2/7/04)
Pope and Patriarch sign joint declaration (Independent Catholic News 2/7/04)
Summer days: No signs of slowdown as pope prepares for vacation (Catholic News Service 2/7/04)
Ecumenical Orthodox patriarch invites pope to Turkey in November (Catholic News Service 2/7/04)
Vacationing Pope goes for a drive (CathNews 17/7/04)
5 Jul 2004
