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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 says terror attacks 'offend God and humanity'
Pope Benedict XVI has spoken of the terrorist attacks in Egypt, Turkey, Iraq and the UK, calling on God to convert the hearts of those responsible for the bloodshed.
Catholic News Service reports that the Holy Father was speaking after praying the Angelus on Sunday at the Alpine retreat where he has been holidaying.
May "God stay the murderous hand" of the terrorists who are driven by "fanaticism and hatred" and may he "convert their hearts" to the ideals of reconciliation and peace, he said.
Bomb blasts on Saturday at the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh were the latest in a string of terrorist attacks to hit Europe and the Middle East. The predawn explosions in Egypt left at least 88 people dead, according to reports from local hospitals.
Upon hearing the news of the Red Sea resort-town blast, Pope Benedict expressed his "heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims" in a telegram sent the same day to local church and government authorities.
The message, sent on behalf of the pope by the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, reiterated the pope's condemnation of such "senseless acts" of violence that cause "so much suffering to civilian populations."
"His holiness appeals to all to renounce the way of violence" and "instead to embrace the way of peace," the telegram said.
While investigators suspect diverse Islamic militant groups to be behind the different terrorist attacks, Pope Benedict told reporters he believed the violence was not aimed against Christianity.
"I feel the intention is far more general and not specifically against Christianity," he said on Sunday after a meeting with priests and deacons of the Valle d'Aosta region where he is vacationing.
When asked by journalists whether Islam could be thought of as a religion of peace, the pope said, "I would not like to use big words to apply generic labels."
Islam "certainly contains elements that can favour peace; it also has other elements; we must always seek the best elements," he said.
SOURCE
Pope condemns wave of 'abominable terrorist attacks' (Catholic News Service 25/7/05)
MORE STORIES
Telegram for bomb attacks in Sharm Al-Sheikh (Vatican Information Service 23/7/05)
Angelus: May god halt the murderous hand of terrorists (Vatican Information Service 24/7/05)
Pope: Recent attacks not directed against christianity (Vatican Information Service 25/7/05)
Pope Benedict to finish book during vacation (Novosti 25/7/05)
Being pope ain't easy, Benedict XVI says (Monsters and Critics/United Press International 25/7/05)
The first 100 days of Benedict XVI (ABC Radio National The Religion Report 27/7/05)
Israel angered at Pope's anti-terror sermon (Reuters 25/7/05)
Pope calls attacks on Egypt ‘senseless’; calls on terrorists to renounce violence (Catholic News Agency 25/7/05)
Pope calls on Europe to ‘return to its Christian roots’; for youth to become ‘leaven’ (Catholic News Agency 25/7/05)
Pope calls on God to ‘block the murderous hand’ of terrorists, convert their hearts (Catholic News Agency 25/7/05)
Pope Benedict meets with priests, deacons of Valle d’Aosta, surprises reporters with brief interview (Catholic News Agency 25/7/05)
Pope says terror attacks cannot be defined as anti-Christian (Catholic News Agency 25/7/05)
Japan’s Bishops Deliver Message of Peace at 60th Anniversary of A-Bombs (Christian Today 25/7/05)
Terrorism not specifically "anti-Christian," Pope says (Catholic World News 25/7/05)
Pope begs God: stop terrorists (Catholic World News 25/7/05)
Pope again reflects on Europe's Christian heritage (Catholic World News 25/7/05)
Vatican aide rebuked after Pope's exclusion of terror in Israel (Ecumenical News International 25/7/05)
Pope Won't Condemn Islam Over Bombings (The Guardian/Associated Press 25/7/05)
Israel Criticizes Pope Over Terror Message (The Guardian/Associated Press 25/7/05)
Benedict's 100 days: New style, old ideas (Mail and Guardian 25/7/05)
The need to be freed: in time of Benedict, the accent is on prayers of deliverance (The Spirit Daily)
Pope asks God to stay hand of 'assassins' (Reuters/Times of Malta 25/7/05)
Pope's Writing Projects Under Wraps (Zenit 24/7/05)
Pope Asks Prayers to Halt the Hand of Terrorists (Zenit 24/7/05)
Holy Father Hopes Youth Will Be a Leaven in Europe (Zenit 24/7/05)
Benedict XVI to Meet With Muslims in Cologne (Zenit 24/7/05)
Pope's Writing Projects Under Wraps (Zenit 24/7/05)
Pope Benedict XVI: On Europe's Christian Roots (Zenit 24/7/05)
Benedict XVI, Vatican II and Modernity (Zenit 24/7/05)
26 Jul 2005
