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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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Kiwi bishop challenges Synod to review communion ban for divorced
Archbishop John Dew of Wellington has told the Synod of Bishops meeting in Rome that the Church should re-think its rule that bars divorced Catholics who remarry from receiving communion. 
The Leading the Charge news agency reports that Archbishop Dew compared the plight of Catholics who wanted to receive communion but were barred from it to hunger in the world. Dew spoke on on Tuesday evening and the Vatican released the text on Wednesday.
The Church does not recognise civil divorce and only allows annulments, rulings by Church courts that say a marriage never existed because it lacked prerequisites such as free will or psychological maturity by one or both partners.
Millions of Catholics around the world who have divorced in civil courts and remarried outside the Church still consider themselves good Catholics. But they are banned from receiving communion, which the Church teaches is the body and blood of Christ, because they are considered to be living in sin.
"As bishops, we have a pastoral duty and an obligation before God to discuss and debate the difficulties burdening so many of our people," Dew told the synod of more than 250 bishops who will draft final recommendations to the Pope at the end of their three-week meeting.
"Our Church would be enriched if we were able to invite dedicated Catholics, currently excluded from the Eucharist, to return to the Lord‘s table," he argued.
"There are those whose first marriages ended in sadness; they have never abandoned the Church but are currently excluded from the Eucharist," he said.
While the late Pope John Paul was firm on their exclusion from the Eucharist, Pope Benedict has indicated that he might be more flexible.
He told priests in July that the plight of the divorced and remarried should undergo further "study" because theirs was "a particularly painful situation."
The Pope said at the time that such Catholics should be welcomed into parishes even if they could not receive communion.
SOURCE
Review communion ban for divorced, bishop says (Leading the Charge 5/10/05)
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
Synod of Bishops
Instrumentum Laboris
ARCHIVE
ARCHIVE
Pope talks to Synod about collegiality (CathNews 5/10/05)
Pope opens Synod with Eucharist link to peaceful, just society (CathNews 4/10/05)
Aussie Synod expert stresses Eucharist values before rules (CathNews 29/9/05)
Two Australians on auditors list for October Synod (CathNews 27/9/05)
Synod tipped to stress Sunday Mass obligation (CathNews 28/9/05)
Pope names four mainland Chinese bishops to October synod (CathNews 9/9/05)
Synod threat to youth masses (CathNews 25/7/05)
MORE STORIES
Bishop urges communion review (NewstalkZB 6/10/05)
Fourth General Congregation (Vatican Information Service 5/10/05)
Meeting of language groups (Vatican Information Service 5/10/05)
Bakhtiari brothers seek return to Australia (ABC TV Lateline 5/10/05)
Open mike at synod lets everyone know about pope's dental appointment (Catholic News Service 4/10/05)
Bishops call for increased respect for sacredness of Eucharist: reception in the mouth, focus on preparing with confession (Catholic News Agency 5/10/05)
Synod chooses committee to prepare final document (Catholic World News 5/10/05)
Vatican Clamps Down on Info From Meeting (The Guardian/Associated Press 5/10/05)
The Synod So Far... (Vatican Radio English Features 5/10/05, audio - requires Real Player)
Bishops Discussing Communion in the Hand
Pope's Meditation at Synod's First Meeting
Summary of Synod Assemblies 1980-1991
6 Oct 2005
