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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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Opus Dei priest says it's OK to see Da Vinci Code
The director of Sydney's Archdiocesan Adult Education Centre has told the ABC that while the film The Da Vinci Code is riddled with historical errors, he is pleased that it has created unprecedented interest in Opus Dei.
Fr John Flader said that despite some "glaring misrepresentations of Opus Dei", the organisation is not "freaked out" by Dan Brown's book which he says will help guide people to the Opus Dei website where "they're going to get positive information."
"They're wondering, what is this extraordinary institution that has monks, which of course we don't have, and is out to murder people, which of course we don't do, and nonetheless it leads people beyond that; people seeking truth to come to Opus Dei, and hopefully they'll find the truth, and it'll serve Opus Dei's purpose," he said.
Fr Flader denied that Opus Dei fosters "secrecy and weirdness" but defended the practice by some of its members of bodily mortification such as self-flagellation and the use of the cilice.
"Opus Dei is ordinary lay faithful and a few priests like myself, seeking holiness in the middle of the world, wherever we have centres and wherever there are members they're very well known, it's just very ordinary people," he said.
But he told the ABC: "Within Opus Dei there are a very small part of the penitential practice, that is most of the members don't use them, the married ones certainly do not, the single ones generally do."
"A small part of what we do, involves the cilice and the disciplines, but it's exaggerated of course in Dan Brown's book," he said.
Asked whether Fr Flander would recommend the movie version of the book, which comes out in May, he said that it will be a good thriller but viewers should ignore the historical references in the movie.
"If one looks at it as a work of history, then it certainly is not that, it is just so riddled with errors of history and art etc, that one has to ignore that whole part," he said.
"But if one takes it merely as a thriller, it's going to be good."
SOURCE
Opus Dei welcomes Da Vinci interest (ABC Arts 27/4/06)
John Flader on Opus Dei (ABC Radio Religion Report 27/4/06)
LINKS (not necessarily endorsed by Church Resources)
Opus Dei
The Da Vinci Code – an invitation to learn the truth (Australian Catholic Bishops Conference)
Deciphering Da Vinci (Catholic Australia)
Jesus Decoded (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)
The Da Vinci Code (Sony Pictures)
Catholic Adult Education Centre
MORE STORIES
Bishops respond to false claims in Da Vinci Code (Catholic Weekly 30/4/06)
Da Vinci youth forum (Catholic Weekly 30/4/06)
Code ad removed from Roman church front (Catholic World News 27/4/06)
Most Catholics not fazed by 'Code' talk (USA Today 25/4/06)
Church officials angry with Da Vinci Code ad display (Catholic World News 25/4/06)
Christians take aim at Da Vinci film (The Age 24/4/06)
Historian plans to teach Da Vinci Code in course (Scoop 21/4/06)
The code that's set to break records (London Telegraph 21/4/06)
Opus Dei to counter 'Da Vinci' portrayal (Monsters and Critics 26/4/06)
Opus Dei, Vilified in `Da Vinci Code,' Runs Global MBA Schools (Bloomberg 26/4/06)
Open Letter to Sony (Opus Dei 6/4/06)
Film Showing the Real Opus Dei Released (Opus Dei 17/4/06)
Opus Dei urges Sony to include disclaimer in Da Vinci film (Catholic News Agency 18/4/06)
Group demands Da Vinci disclaimer (BBC 16/4/06)
28 Apr 2006
