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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 blesses statue of Opus Dei founder
Pope Benedict XVI yesterday blessed a statue of the founder of Opus Dei, saying he hopes it will serve as inspiration for those who passed by to "do one's daily work in the spirit of Christ." 
The Guardian/Associated Press reports that the six metre white Carrara marble statue, placed in a niche of the outside wall of St Peter's Basilica, depicts Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer with his hands open in a welcoming gesture and two cherubs at his feet holding a sculpted Bible. Balaguer founded Opus Dei in Spain in 1928.
"May all those who stop to contemplate the statue be encouraged to live their daily work in the spirit of Christ and in ardent love for the work of redemption," said Benedict, who stopped to bless the statue at the end of his general audience before returning to Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence in the Alban hills outside Rome.
Opus Dei has more than 80,000 members worldwide, many of them lay people but also hundreds of priests and bishops.
Its mission - to give lay people a dynamic role in spreading the word of God - was backed by the late Pope John Paul II, who championed the movement as a means of confronting the secularization of society and reinforcing his conservative doctrine. But Opus Dei - Latin for "God's work" - is also accused of secretive, cult-like practices.
Sculptor Romano Cosci, present at the unveiling ceremony, worked two years on the statue, which joins eight others depicting saints. The Vatican authorized statues to be placed in the three dozen niches of the basilica's exterior wall in 1999.
"I hope that my work can transmit, at least in part, all that St. Josemaria gave to me and in truth to all," the artist said at the unveiling ceremony. He also recounted a fall from the scaffolding during which he hit his head was taken to a hospital. "Thanks to God (and St. Josemaria) I was not seriously injured," he said.
John Paul canonised Escriva in 2002, only 27 years after his death, one of the shortest waiting times in Vatican history. In 1982, John Paul granted the organization the status of personal prelature, showing his favour for the group known for its rigorous defence of Church teaching.
The ceremony was attended by five cardinals and several hundred pilgrims, many of them Opus Dei members.
SOURCE
Pope Blesses Statue of Opus Dei Founder (The Guardian/Associated Press 14/9/05)
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
Opus Dei Australia | A Statue of St. Josemaria in St. Peter's
Warrane College
Escrivaworks
ARCHIVE
Vatican writer´s fair and balanced assessment of Opus Dei (CathNews 30/3/05)
Opus Dei founder canonised (CathNews 8/10/02)
1000 Aussies fly to Rome for Opus Dei founder canonisation (CathNews 3/10/02)
MORE OPUS DEI STORIES
Tim Wallace: It's time to stop demonising David Clarke (Crikey 14/9/05)
Richard Vella: In defence of Opus Dei (Crikey 14/9/05)
Kate Mannix on Opus Dei (ABC Radio The Religion Report 14/9/05)
Michael Whelan on Opus Dei (ABC Radio The Religion Report 14/9/05)
Opus Dei Member Richard Vella (ABC Radio The Religion Report 14/9/05)
Pope blesses statue of St. Josemaria Escriva (Vatican Information Service 14/9/05)
Pope blesses statue of St. Josemaria Escriva (Catholic News Agency 14/9/05)
MORE POPE STORIES
Pope Benedict XVI: Signs (Vatican Radio English Features 14/9/05, audio - requires Real Player)
Popes: The Cluny Trend (Vatican Radio English Features 14/9/05, audio - requires Real Player)
The temple: Visible sign of communion between God and man (Vatican Information Service 14/9/05)
Pope blesses statue of St. Josemaria Escriva (Vatican Information Service 14/9/05)
Old Testament Temple points toward Christ, symbolizes God's presence with His people, says Pope (Catholic News Agency 14/9/05)
Pope blesses statue of St. Josemaria Escriva (Catholic News Agency 14/9/05)
Vatican Radio to air special on life of Benedict XVI (Catholic News Agency 14/9/05)
Put God at center of social life, Pope urges (Catholic World News 14/9/05)
Statue of St. Josemaria unveiled at St. Peter's (Catholic World News 14/9/05)
Pope Blesses Statue of Opus Dei Founder (The Guardian/Associated Press 14/9/05)
Pope Asks About Migration and Poverty in Mexico (Zenit 13/9/05)
Pope Points to Example of Francis of Assisi
Radio-Novel Looks at Life of Joseph Ratzinger
Postulator Launches a Prayer Chain
Paul Collins on his biography of Benedict XVI (ABC Radio The Religion Report 14/9/05)
NCR’s John Allen on his biography of Benedict XVI (ABC Radio The Religion Report 14/9/05)
15 Sep 2005
