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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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Israeli wall severs ancient pilgrimage route
An ancient pilgrimage route that follows in Jesus' footsteps, from the place where he raised Lazarus from the dead to Jerusalem, is about to be severed by the construction of Israel's nine metre wall.
According to Catholic News Agency, which cites a report in the UK Telegraph, the cutting of the three-kilometre path, from Bethany over the Mount of Olives and down past the Garden of Gethsemane into the Old City, will end a 1,600-year tradition begun by early Christian pilgrims.
The wall stands above the site revered as the place where Jesus performed the miracle of Lazarus a few days before his crucifixion. The Gospel of John describes how the miracle led many Jews to walk from Jerusalem to see what had happened.
Exactly the same route was used by 4th-century Christians, who travelled in large numbers to Bethany, located east of Jerusalem, for a service on the second Sunday before Easter.
Archaeological evidence also shows that Bethany was a thriving Jewish town in Jesus' time. The remains of ancient homes with ceremonial Jewish bathing cisterns were found near Bethany when the wall was being erected, and the route of the wall was diverted to protect the Jewish artifacts.
But today, Bethany is a Palestinian town, outside the wall, with a large Arab population. The wall has made life extremely difficult for thousands of Bethany residents who used to commute into Jerusalem for work.
The local economy has also suffered. The short drive from Jerusalem to Lazarus' tomb now requires pilgrims to make a one-hour detour. The thousands of pilgrims who used to come monthly have now trickled to a few hundred.
Israel is increasingly referring to the wall as the country's new eastern border. When the border is formalised, pilgrims will have to cross an international frontier.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague has declared the wall illegal, saying that it is being built on occupied land, but Israel continues to argue that it is a necessary defense against suicide bombers.
SOURCE
Israeli wall severs ancient pilgrimage route that follows Jesus' footsteps to Jerusalem (Catholic News Agency 18/4/06)
ARCHIVE
Vatican sees "weighty sentence" against Israeli wall (CathNews 13/7/06)
MORE STORIES
Pope weighs invitation to visit the Holy Land (The Tablet 15/4/06)
Security Wall to Bar Pilgrims' Path (Zenit 15/4/06)
Easter Message of Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch (Zenit 15/4/06)
Holy Land's Christians caught in midst of conflict (Reuters 12/4/06)
In the name of God do not boycott the Palestinians, say Jerusalem Church leaders (AsiaNews.it 12/4/06)
Easter message from Patriarch of Jerusalem (Independent Catholic News 12/4/06)
19 Apr 2006
