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A US Coast Guard officer who refused to be injected with a vaccine derived from the remains of an aborted child has won an exemption from the required vaccination.
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Pope thanks "wifes of Christ"
Pope Benedict yesterday thanked consecrated virgins for their "total gift" to Christ encouraging them to "always irradiate the dignity of being the wife of Christ."
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Mail and penny drop for WYD
Preparations for World Youth Day have stepped up a notch with a letter drop to half a million Sydney homes and the release of a commemorative colour coin of the Pope.
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Priest in supermarket trolley protest
Melbourne parish priest, Fr Noel Brady, has launched a protest against unsightly supermarket trolleys left abandond in streets for up to three months.
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Call to follow WA and reject cloning
Sydney archdiocese policy officer, Dr Brigid McKenna, has welcomed a decision by the Western Australian Legislative Council to reject cloning as a victory for "commonsense science and morality."
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US churches offer mortgage help
With US lenders threatening to repossess 650,000 homes in the first quarter of 2008, Catholic parishes are mobilising to offer assistance to mortgage distressed homeowners.
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Feature - A new dawn for Sorry Day
It is time for this country to build new relationships and to be open to future possibilities, we commit ourselves to deep, on-going dialogue with our indigenous sisters and brothers on further ways of moving forward. - Fr Mark Raper, Pathways
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Featured Website - Ron Rolheiser
This is the website of one of the best known Catholic priests in the western world. Fr Rolheiser is best known through his writings and lecturing on spirituality and prising open the Word in such a clear, beautiful and heart-inspiring style.
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Film Review - Shutter
Based on a 2004 Thai film of the same name, Shutter is an American/Japanese production. If you can take the shocks and violence of this genre, this film is worth the admission price for the cinematography alone. - Fr Richard Leonard, Australian Catholic Office for Film and Broadcasting
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Opinion - Middle class creep in Irish Church
During the transformation of Irish society from a largely rural and agricultural economy to an industrialised one there occurred a failure of imagination in the Irish Church. - Fr Oliver Rafferty, The Catholic Herald
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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 commends lifelong friendship with Jesus
Pope Benedict XVI urged children to cultivate a lifelong friendship with Jesus because he would guide them, help them make the right decisions in life and help them become better people.
"We need this friendship with God, who helps us make the right decisions, to mature as human adults," he said on Saturday to a crowd of nearly 150,000 people, mostly young children who had just celebrated their first Communion earlier this year.
During a colourful, festive ceremony in St. Peter's Square featuring clowns, people on stilts, singers and dancers, the pope led eucharistic adoration as well as a warm and informal catechesis based on the questions posed to him by several children.
One by one, seven children came up to the pope and asked him questions on the microphone about why it is important to go to Mass and to confession and what their teachers mean by the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.
"But how can that be?" asked one boy. "I can't even see him."
With a polite laugh, the pope smiled and explained that there were lots of important things that exist even though they cannot be seen. Intelligence and reason, for example, as well as electricity are all things that are invisible, but one knows they are there because one can see their effects, the pope said.
"We don't see electrical current, but we see the light" it produces, he said.
The Holy Father was visibly delighted at the children's questions, which in some cases drew a hearty laugh from the pontiff and his audience for their poignancy and sincerity.
Going to confession before Communion "is necessary only when one commits a truly grave sin that has deeply offended Jesus in such a way that the friendship has been destroyed and one must start all over again," he said.
However, just as people clean house or children pick up their room "at least once a week, even if the mess is always the same," the faithful should make a habit of going regularly to confession, he added.
In response to other questions, the pope explained what Jesus meant when he said he was the bread of life, saying, "Jesus is food for the soul." Both the body and spirit need nourishment in order to both "grow and reach fullness."
He also explained eucharistic adoration as "recognizing Jesus as my Lord who shows me the life to follow." Adoration is a time to tell Jesus, "I am yours and I pray that you, too, will always be with me," he said.
Some of the prayers offered by the children included an appeal to the faithful and to government leaders to remember and respond in some way to "all the children of the world who suffer from war, disease and a lack of food, education, medicine and affection."
Another child asked God "to grant us holy priests who can celebrate the Eucharist in your name and give to everyone the Word and Bread of Life."
SOURCE
Pope urges children to cultivate lifelong friendship with Jesus (Catholic News Service 17/10/05)
MORE STORIES
Pope Benedict: Of Past And Present (Vatican Radio English Features 17/10/05, audio - requires Real Player)
Other Pontifical Acts (Vatican Information Service 17/10/05)
Pope to the FAO: Encourage inter-cultural dialogue (Vatican Information Service 17/10/05)
Papal catechesis for children who received first communion (Vatican Information Service 17/10/05)
Holy Father visits Pontifical Ethiopian College (Vatican Information Service 17/10/05)
Benedict XVI grants interview to Polish Television (Vatican Information Service 17/10/05)
Pope Benedict plans Polish visit (BBC 16/10/05)
Pope Benedict XVI to visit Poland in June 2006 (Monsters and Critics/United Press International 16/10/05)
Pope Benedict unites himself to moving Eucharistic Adoration (Catholic News Agency 17/10/05)
John Paul made Pope world representative of Christianity, Benedict tells Polish TV (Catholic News Agency 17/10/05)
Rosary, evangelization, became symbols of John Paul II’s pontificate, says Pope Benedict (Catholic News Agency 17/10/05)
Pope Benedict to children: gift of Eucharist is worth more than all the rest of life (Catholic News Agency 17/10/05)
Poverty must be fought without cease, says Pope (Catholic News Agency 17/10/05)
Pope John Paul II Remembered On 27th Anniversary Of His Election As Pontiff (Catholic Bishops Conference of India 17/10/05)
Papal catechesis for 100,000 First Communicants (Catholic World News 17/10/05)
Papal audiences drawing unexpected crowds (Catholic World News 17/10/05)
Benedict XVI lauds John Paul II in Polish TV interview (Catholic World News 17/10/05)
John Paul II recorded final message, former secretary discloses (Catholic World News 17/10/05)
Sunday audience: papal praise for John Paul II, appeal for the poor (Catholic World News 17/10/05)
Pope, Cardinal Sodano denounce food shortages (Catholic World News 17/10/05)
Faithful Mark John Paul II Anniversary (The Guardian/Associated Press 16/10/05)
Benedict Recalls John Paul As Moral Voice (The Guardian/Associated Press 17/10/05)
John Paul Lauded on Election Anniversary (Leading the Charge 17/10/05)
18 Oct 2005
