Pope: Church’s contraception teaching is only way to understand human sexuality
6 October 2008
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Loading ....- Marking the 40th anniversary of “Humane Vitae,” Pope Benedict XVI has sent a message to the president of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, in which he praises the Church’s teaching on contraception as the only way to understand the truth about human sexuality.
The papal message sent to Msgr. Livio Melina, president of the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family, examines the wisdom of Paul VI’s Encyclical “Humanae Vitae.”
That important document, writes Pope Benedict, “deals with one of the essential aspects of the vocation of marriage, and of the specific path to sanctity deriving therefrom. In fact, the married couple, having received the gift of love, are called in their turn to give themselves to one another unreservedly.”
Noting that the “possibility of procreating a new human life is inherent to the complete giving of the spouses,” Pope Benedict explains that contraception seeks to “deny the intimate truth of married love.”
Given the hindsight of 40 years, Benedict XVI writes that we are better able to understand “how decisive it was to our understanding of the great ‘yes’ implicit in conjugal love.”
In the light of the Encyclical “children are not seen as the aim of a human project but are recognized as an authentic gift, to be welcomed with an attitude of responsible generosity towards God, Who is the primary source of human life.”
That being said, the Holy Father also acknowledges that, “during a couple’s life serious situations may arise that make it prudent to separate the births of children or even suspend them altogether. It is here that a knowledge of the natural rhythms of a woman’s fertility become important.”
“Methods of observation that enable a couple to determine periods of fertility,” he continues, “allow them to administer what the Creator wisely inscribed in human nature without disturbing the integral meaning of sexual relations. In this way the spouses, while respecting the full truth of their love, can modulate the expression thereof in accordance with these rhythms. … Clearly this requires a maturity in love, … and mutual respect and dialogue.”
The Pope also asks why the world and many faithful are unable to accept a teaching about sexuality that “explains and defends the beauty of conjugal love in its natural expression.”
Although “technological solutions to the great human problems often seem the easiest,” the Pope cautions, “in reality they hide the basic problem which concerns the meaning of human sexuality and the need for responsibility so that its exercise may be an expression of personal love.”
“Technology cannot substitute, … when love is at stake. Indeed, as we well know, not even reason is enough. … Only the eyes of the heart can perceive the requirements of a great love capable of embracing the entire truth of human beings,” writes the Pope.
The Pope finishes his Message by expressing the hope that the congress to commemorate “Humanae Vitae” may bring “abundant fruits and contribute to helping spouses hold their course with ever greater wisdom and awareness, encouraging them in their mission to be credible witnesses of the beauty of love before the world.”
USAID denies funding to international abortion group complicit in coercive abortions
.- Assistant Administrator for Global Health Dr. Kent Hill with the U.S. Agency for International Development has denied funding to the UK-based abortion organization Marie Stopes International (MSI) on the grounds that it is complicit in “coercive abortion and involuntary sterilizations” in China.
MSI has denied the accusations, the Population Research Institute (PRI) reports in its weekly briefing.
PRI president Steven W. Mosher applauded the decision, saying MSI’s “aggressive promotion of abortion, and its longstanding collaboration with China’s coercive program leave little doubt that it is not only aware of the massive human rights abuses that have resulted in that country, but is actively collaborating with it.”
According to Mosher, the USAID decision will cut back MSI’s population control programs in a number of African countries, including Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe, and Kenya.
MSI claimed that the lack of funding would leave African women few options besides abortion.
Mosher responded to this claim, calling it “particularly risible, coming as it does from the very agency that is responsible for many of the abortions that are performed in Africa in the first place.”
He also claimed that PRI investigations have revealed that MSI is “one of the biggest abortion actors in Kenya.”
Mosher praised USAID’s decision, saying:
“The Bush Administration is to be congratulated for its consistent enforcement of a policy that is supported by the vast majority of the American people–a policy in which PRI is proud to have played a part–and which benefits women and girls by defunding predatory agencies which seek to rob them of their fertility. Marie Stopes International needs to decide what its purpose is: performing abortions, often in violation of national laws, or providing legitimate health care to women.”
Mosher explained that the Kemp-Kasten Amendment, passed during the Reagan presidential administration, prohibits U.S. foreign aid from funding any organization that “supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization.”
President Ronald Reagan first invoked the law to deny funding to the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) because of its complicity with China’s one-child policies, Mosher said in the PRI briefing.
The George W. Bush Administration reviewed UNFPA’s activities in 2001 and determined they did not violate the Kemp-Kasten Amendment, granting it $21.5 million. In 2002, the Bush Administration canceled $34 million, repeating the prohibition each year after, because of evidence provided by PRI showing that the organization was involved in forced abortions and forced sterilizations.
Bishops’ synod will pave the way for Biblical studies, says Benedict XVI
.- After celebrating the opening Mass for the 12th general assembly of the Synod of Bishops at the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, Pope Benedict XVI made the synod the focus of his words before the recitation of the Angelus. The Holy Father invited his audience to support the work of the synod on the Bible with their prayers, invoking in a special way “the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary, the perfect Disciple of the Divine Word.”
Speaking to 20,000 faithful present in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict recalled morning Mass at the Roman basilica and reflected on the origins of bishops’ synods.
“This is an important body, instituted in September of 1965 by my venerable predecessor, the servant of God Paul VI, during the final phase of Vatican Council II, to carry out an order contained in the Decree on the Pastoral Office of Bishops in the Church, ‘Christus Dominus’. These are the ends of the synod: foster close union and collaboration between the Pope and the bishops of the entire world; to provide direct and precise information on the situation and problems of the Church; to foster agreement on doctrine and pastoral actions; and to address topics of great importance and relevance.”
The Pope said that the Greek word sýnodos, composed from the preposition syn, that is “with,” and from odòs, which means “way” or “street,” “suggests the idea of ‘paving the way together.’”
The current synod on the Bible will last for three weeks and includes 253 “synod fathers”: 51 from Africa, 62 from the Americas, 41 from Asia, 90 from Europe and 9 from Oceania, who will study and discuss the “working document” alongside numerous experts and auditors, men and women. There will also be “fraternal delegates” from other Churches and ecclesial communities present.
After the Angelus, Pope Benedict directed these words towards the English-speaking pilgrims: “I am happy to greet all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present for this Sunday Angelus prayer. In today’s Gospel Jesus speaks of his death at the hands of those who did not heed the voice of God and progressively closed their hearts to truth, justice and love. Let us pray with confidence that the Lord will guide our steps and grant us patience and constancy in doing God’s holy will! I wish you all a pleasant stay in Rome, and a blessed Sunday!”
Proposed Freedom of Choice act would increase abortions, Bishop Finn says
Mosaic of portraits being prepared for World Meeting of Families 2009
.- The organizing committee of the Sixth World Meeting of Families has invited the families of the world to send their pictures to be part of a “Mosaic of the Families,” which will be unveiled during the event in January of 2009 in Mexico City.
The Ruiz Tolentino family of Ecapetec, Mexico, was the first to respond to the call by the organizing committee, which will use the pictures for the mosaic that will be an image of Pope Benedict XVI.
Up to now some 300 pictures have been sent in from 25 countries around the world.
Families interested in sending in their pictures have until December 12, 2008, to send them to the following email addresses: fotoemf2009@gmail.com (Spanish) and/or photowmf2009@gmail.com(English).
Pictures should be sent as JPGs, with the name of the head of the family (or of the one sending the picture), the family’s last name, the country of origin and the city of residence. The pictures should not exceed 4 megabytes and should not be taken with a cell phone camera
Iraqi Christians suffer ‘paralyzing fear,’ Archbishop of Baghdad reports
.- Jean Sleiman, the Latin-rite Archbishop of Baghdad, recently spoke to an Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) event in Westminster, England, saying a “paralyzing fear” still grips Iraq’s Christian communities. The archbishop said “very real persecution” remains a threat alongside intense pressure to conform to rigorous Islamic standards, driving many Christians to leave the country.
The archbishop, a Lebanese Carmelite who pastors approximately 5,000 Latin-rite Catholics in Iraq, spoke of the situation in the country before a crowd of more than 400 at the Aid to the Church in Need UK’s annual Westminster Event this past Saturday.
Archbishop Sleiman said most Christians in Iraq still want to leave the country despite the decline of violence in and around Baghdad and the reconstruction efforts in Kurdish areas in the north. He said Baghdad, Mosul, and other regions remained hot-spots of persecution and violence against minority groups.
The Christian population numbered over one million before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, but is now barely 400,000.
“Emigration remains the dream of most people. The hope of emigration – even when it is not realistic – represents a kind of salvation for the people,” Archbishop Sleiman said.
“Very real persecution” remains a huge threat for Christians in some areas, he explained. In other regions “co-existence under pressure” means that Christians are forced to adopt Islamic practices, including dress and veil-wearing. Christians are also pressured to leave.
Even those seeking sanctuary in the Kurdish north of Iraq are suffering exploitation masked by generosity and good-will in the regional government’s church reconstruction projects.
The archbishop reported how the charity Caritas’ general director thanked a Kurdish official for building homes for displaced people from Baghdad.
The officer replied: “We did it for us [Kurds]. We know that you will leave and these houses will be ours.”
Instead of relocating Christians, Archbishop Sleiman said, “the best way to protect, not only Christians but all the citizens, is to bring back the state of law in Iraq.”
He also criticized plans for a Christian “enclave” around the Nineveh Plains, saying the scheme only promotes “a ghetto.”
The Iraqi government recently announced plans to remove the quota requirements for minority group seats in provincial councils, which could affect Christian representation.
New technique advances embryonic stem cell alternative
.- Researchers have refined an experimental process that could produce stem cells without needing to create and destroy human embryos. The process turns adult cells into what are called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells) believed to have high potential for therapeutic treatments for many severe medical conditions. New research has reportedly eliminated iPS cells’ tendencies to become cancerous.
“We have removed a major roadblock for translating this into a clinical setting,” Harvard University stem cell researcher Konrad Hochedlinger told the Washington Post.
“I think it’s an important advance,” he continued.
Hochedlinger and his fellow researchers published their research online yesterday in the journal Science.
Last year scientists discovered how to generate iPS cells by introducing four genes into mice adult cells using retroviruses. The genes changed the cells into a state similar to that of embryonic stem cells.
However, such retroviruses can cause cancer in animals and can integrate their own DNA into that of the host cells.
Hochedlinger and his colleagues used a different virus, called an adenovirus, to introduce the same four genes into mice adult cells.
“The adenovirus will infect the cells but then will clear themselves from the cells. After a few cell divisions there are no traces of the virus in the cell,” Hochedlinger said, according to the Washington Post. “You can’t tell the virus was ever there.”
Tests showed that the cells produced by the new method were indistinguishable from embryonic stem cells and could be transformed into any type of tissue such as lung, heart, brain, and muscle.
Unlike the retrovirus-treated cells, the adenovirus-treated cells do not produce cancerous tumors.
“What our experiment shows is you can do this without an integrating virus. You do not need integration of the DNA into the genome to produce iPS cells,” Hochedlinger said.
Robert Lanza, a stem cell researcher at Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass., called the research a “huge step forward,” saying the cancerous properties of earlier iPS cells prevented clinical therapies from being developed.
“The use of iPS cells to treat or even cure human disease may not be far away,” Lanza told the Washington Post.
Rudolf Jaenisch, a professor of biology at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, praised the new findings but said the new process is 100 times less efficient than the retrovirus technique.
According to the Washington Post, Hochedlinger said his team is trying to streamline the production process, perhaps by supplementing the new genes with chemicals that flip biological switches.
Critics of embryonic stem cell research praised the findings as evidence that ethically questionable embryonic research is unnecessary.
“This is the latest in a line of studies showing that the practical problems associated with using ‘reprogrammed’ adult cells are rapidly being solved,” Richard Doerflinger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in an e-mail to the Washington Post.
Hochedlinger and others argue research on embryonic stem cells must continue because it is unclear whether other stem cell therapies will prove effective.
Benedict XVI recalls humility of John Paul I on the 30th anniversary of his death
.- On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the death of John Paul I, Pope Benedict I dedicated his Sunday Angelus to the Pontiff whose reign lasted 33 days.
Speaking from a balcony in the courtyard of the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Benedict recalled Sunday’s readings. In the Parable of the Two Sons, Jesus calls on sinners to convert and teaches humility as the means to accepting the gift of salvation.
In his Letter to the Philippians, St. Paul writes, “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves.” St. Paul’s sentiments are the same as those of Jesus, who out of love for humankind, became man and died on the cross. The verb used – ekenôsen – literally means that Jesus “emptied himself” and “makes clear the profound humility and infinite love of Jesus, humble servant par excellence.”
The Pope said that the biblical texts brought to mind John Paul I. The deceased Pontiff chose the same episcopal motto as St. Charles Borromeo: Humilitas. One word synthesizes the Christian life and indicates the indispensible virtue of who, in the Church, is called to serve in a position of authority. In one of his four General Audiences, John Paul I repeated Jesus’ words: “Learn from me because I am gentle and humble of heart.” Humility can be considered John Paul I’s spiritual testament.
Pope Benedict explained that John Paul I used examples from daily life. The Venetian Pontiff’s simplicity, the Holy Father continued, “was a means of solid and fruitful instruction, which, thanks to the gift of an excellent memory and vast culture, was enriched by numerous citations of church and secular authors.” He was an unmatched catechist, in the footsteps of St. Pius X, his countryman and predecessor, first in Venice, then in Rome.
The Pope concluded by encouraging his audience to thank God for the gift of John Paul I to the Church and to cultivate the late Pontiff’s humility.
The Holy Father then prayed the angelus, greeted those present in various languages and gave his Apostolic Blessing.
Holy Father recalls summer travels, honors confessor of St. Faustina
.- Following the praying of the Angelus on Sunday, Benedict XVI reflected on the events of the summer months and expressed joy at the beatification of the confessor of St. Faustina Kowalska.
After announcing that he will conclude his time at the summer residence at Castel Gandolfo by returning to the Vatican, the Holy Father gave thanks to the Lord, “for all the gifts He has given me during this time,” particularly, he gave thanks for: “World Youth Day in Sydney, of the period of rest I spent in Bressanone, of the visit to Sardinia and of the apostolic trip to Paris and Lourdes.”
He continued, “I am also thinking of the chance I have had to stay in this house where I am able to relax and work during the hottest months. I send a particular greeting to the community of Castelgandolfo with a heartfelt thank-you to the bishop, the mayor and the forces of law and order.”
The Holy Father then turned to address the Polish pilgrims, particularly to those gathered in the city of Bialystok, Poland for the beatification of Servant of God Michael Sopocko, who served as the confessor and spiritual father of St. Faustina Kowalska.
It was at Fr. Sopocko’s suggestion, the Pontiff continued, that St. Faustina “described her mystical experiences and the apparitions of Merciful Jesus in her famous ‘Diary.’ Thanks also to his efforts, the image of ‘Jesus, in You I trust’ was painted and made known throughout the world.”
Fr. Sopocko was “a zealous pastor, educator and propagator of the cult of Divine Mercy,” said the Pope, going on to note that “in the house of the Father my beloved predecessor John Paul II will rejoice at his beatification. He it was who entrusted the world to Divine Mercy and hence I repeat his words: ‘May God rich in Mercy bless you all’!”
Hindu Fanatics Burn Down House of Sisters of Mother Teresa
By Nirmala Carvalho
9/29/2008
Sister M. Suma, the regional superior, prays for the “persecutors”, that they may repent of their violence and “make peace with God” for their actions.
NEW DELHI, India (AsiaNews) - On September 25, Hindu fundamentalists attacked and burned down the house of the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, in the village of Sukananda, district of Kandhamal.
Sister M. Suma, the regional superior of the order, is still reeling from the incident, and recalls the words spoken by Mother Teresa before her death: “When I am dead, I will not stay in paradise, but I will walk throughout the world, wherever darkness prevails, to illuminate it with the Light that comes from the love of God”. The sister says that she finds “comfort” in these words, despite the “sufferings” and persecutions” suffered by the Christians in India.
“I am certain”, the sister tells AsiaNews, “that Mother Teresa is here with us, and brings hope and comfort to those who have lost everything”. Together with her fellow sisters, Sr. M. Suma prays for the “persecutors”, that “they may repent of the violence they have committed”, and may make “peace with God” for the violence, death, and destruction that they have caused toward “the Christians” in the district of Kandhamal. “We offer our sufferings for them”, the sister continues, so that they may finally discover “the light that is Truth”.
On Thursday, September 25, at about eleven in the evening, a crowd of 700 people poured into the streets - in violation of the curfew imposed by the authorities - armed with axes, swords, and iron bars, and attacked the house of the Missionaries of Charity in the village of Sukananda. Fortunately, the house was empty at the time. They Hindu fanatics destroyed the building and everything on the five acres of adjoining property. They also destroyed the local church, continuing their devastating fury until two o’clock on the morning of the 26th.
“There was no one at home”, the sister continues, “because when the violence erupted against the Christians, we took our few belongings and moved to our house in Bhubaneshwar. We brought with us the tabernacle, the altar, and especially the Dalit and tribal girls whom we were sheltering; we left only a small image of Mother Teresa, who is the source and reason of our mission. At the moment of the assault, only our Mother was in the house”.
Yesterday, Sr. M. Suma met with the governor of the state of Orissa, Muralidhar Chandrakant Bhandare, to whom she confided that the attack was the work of “demonic forces”operating in the region; the governor said that he “agreed” with the sister. Solidarity with the sisters is also being expressed by the archbishop of Bhubaneshwar, Raphael Cheenath, who calls the religious of Mother Teresa “frontline missionaries”, and for this reason more exposed to danger.