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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 Christian community needs commitment to Gospel
The love and unity that are essential marks of a truly Christian community cannot endure without a strong commitment to truth and fidelity to the Gospel, Benedict XVI said.
According to Catholic News Service the pope said at his weekly general audience that those who believe in Christ and want to live in communion with his church have "a precise obligation" to "interrupt communion with those who have moved themselves away from the doctrine that saves."
Differences and divisions have marked the history of the church since its beginning, he said, "and we should not be surprised that it exists today as well."
Preserving the unity of the church requires a firm commitment to loving others and to holding fast to the truth, the pope said during an audience talk marked by repeated departures from his prepared text.
"Truth and love are two sides of the same gift that comes from God and is preserved in the church thanks to the apostolic ministry," he said.
With some 30,000 people gathered in a windblown St Peter's Square, Pope Benedict explained that, while the church was born of the Holy Spirit and lives by the Spirit's grace, Jesus also gave the church a structure with the apostles and their successors, the bishops, to be "authentic custodians and witnesses of the deposit of truth."
The First Letter of John, he said, contains the Bible's strongest admonition about the obligation of believers to love one another, but it also "addresses with drastic severity those adversaries who were once members of the community, but are no longer."
"The family of the children of God, in order to live in unity and peace, need someone who safeguards them in truth and guides them with wise and authoritative discernment," the pope said.
The bishops are called to protect and promote the truth while also serving as "ministers of love - they always must be aware of the inseparability of this double service of truth and love," he said.
Pope Benedict ended his main talk in Italian by asking his audience to pray for their bishops and for him, asking God to ensure that through their ministry "the light of truth and love will never be extinguished in the church and the world."
Photo credit: Stefano Spaziani
SOURCE
Christian community needs commitment to truth, Gospel, says pope (Catholic News Service 5/4/06)
MORE STORIES
The Church of love is also the Church of truth (Vatican Information Service 5/4/06 - temporary url)
Peace for the Basque Country, memory of John Paul II (Vatican Information Service 5/4/06 - temporary url)
Meeting of World Youth Day leaders (Vatican Information Service 5/4/06 - temporary url)
Pope: "Stop communion with those far from saving doctrine" (AsiaNews.it 5/4/06)
Pope urges Philippines to evangelise the East, says Cardinal Rosales (AsiaNews.it 5/4/06)
Pope prays for peace in Basque region, illuminated by St. Francis Xavier (Catholic News Agency 5/4/06)
Those not in truth break from unity of Christ's Church, says Pope (Catholic News Agency 5/4/06)
Church must defend truth against unbelievers, Pope says (Catholic World News 5/4/06)
Papal prayers for Basque peace (Catholic World News 5/4/06)
Pope should drop more titles, Orthodox leader says (Catholic World News 5/4/06)
Pope to participate in Thursday-evening WYD session (Catholic World News 5/4/06)
Rónán Mullen: Pope Benedict's success is down to priorities, style and content (Irish Examiner)
Benedict XVI Adds Penance Service for Holy Week (Zenit 4/4/06)
Man Can't Suffer for Sake of Science, Warns Pope (Zenit 4/4/06)
Universities Have a Vocation, Says Pontiff (Zenit 4/4/06)
6 Apr 2006
