25 Şubat 2013 Pazartesi
Fake degree certificate racket busted in Bangalore
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SahilOnline : detail news :: Fake degree certificate racket busted in Bangalore: Six persons has been arrested and Police have busted a racket of fake university certificates, raiding an education society. According to the Police, they have seized fake documents including 113 marks cards, degree certificates and migration certificates of nine universities. They also seized notary stickers, fake seals, computers, printers and Rs 63,500 in cash. According to the sources, the officers from Cheating and Misuse Wing of the Central Crime Branch raided Fortune Education Society in Richmond Town and busted the racket.
College Search Tool - Android Apps on Google Play
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College Search Tool - Android Apps on Google Play: Looking for a college or university for yourself or your kid(s)? Curious about college costs, enrollment, SAT scores? Use our app to search our database of over 3,000 four-year and two-year accredited colleges and universities throughout the U.S. Search by region, state, location (nearby or any specified location), or by (any part of) the school name. View national avg costs. Control search parameters on the Options page: public/private, cost, enrollment, SAT/ACT avg scores, campus setting. For example, search for private schools in the Southwest with cost below $35,000 and with enrollment under 2,500, and avg SAT Math score (admitting class) of at least 520.
College Search Tool - Android Apps on Google Play: Looking for a college or university for yourself or your kid(s)? Curious about college costs, enrollment, SAT scores? Use our app to search our database of over 3,000 four-year and two-year accredited colleges and universities throughout the U.S. Search by region, state, location (nearby or any specified location), or by (any part of) the school name. View national avg costs. Control search parameters on the Options page: public/private, cost, enrollment, SAT/ACT avg scores, campus setting. For example, search for private schools in the Southwest with cost below $35,000 and with enrollment under 2,500, and avg SAT Math score (admitting class) of at least 520.
THE FAKE WARRIORS PROJECT
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THE FAKE WARRIORS PROJECT: Verify retired or discharged military claims made. Report suspected false military claims. Stop the epidemic of military imposters. Urge prosecution of those making phony and wannabee military claims! We are able to verify job applicant's military (retired or discharged) claims. We request actual military records under FOIA. We work with a team of retirees, active duty military, experts, historians and law enforcement personnel. If it's just too good to be true - check it out!
Maine Higher Education--Diploma "Mills" and Accreditation "Mills" - Identifying a "Mill"
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Maine Higher Education--Diploma "Mills" and Accreditation "Mills" - Identifying a "Mill": Identifying diploma mills and accreditation mills is not easy. A number of features of diploma mills are similar to familiar higher education institutions. A number of the features of accreditation mills are similar to well-known accrediting organizations. Nonetheless, prospective students and the public can look for several indicators that suggest an operation may be a diploma mill or an accreditation mill. It is the presence of a number of these features taken together that should signal to students and the public that they may, indeed, be dealing with a "mill."
John Giduck files lawsuit against SOCNET, and Soldier who outed him as a Phony. | Guardian Of Valor
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John Giduck files lawsuit against SOCNET, and Soldier who outed him as a Phony. | Guardian Of Valor: Seems he has been using his claims of SF training etc, to get training contracts from Law Enforcement Agencies. We have seen in a few forums where the LEO’s are now questioning that training. He has now filed a lawsuit against everyone that had anything to do with outing him to the public. This is a big deal, as it is the first lawsuit of its kind since the Supreme Court shot down the Stolen Valor act because they consider it free speech. If he succeeds with this lawsuit it will open the door for every phony out their to launch lawsuits against websites like ours that out these douches. We have obtained Giduk’s real records, and guess what! He served less than 60 days in the military. He could not even make it through Basic Training, but he is out their bilking many from the LEO communtiy with his “Specialized Training”.
24 Şubat 2013 Pazar
Following in the Bartrams' Footsteps
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Panicum virgatum, watercolor by Susan Curnutte (please click the image to enlarge)
American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) initiated a travelling exhibit Following in the Bartram's Footsteps: Contemporary Botanical Artists Explore the Bartram's Legacy featuring artwork of plants grown, sold and introduced by John and William Bartram. The first venue for this exhibit will be Bartram's Garden Gallery in Philadelphia, PA (April 26 - May 24, 2013). Among the accepted artwork were Susan Curnutte's Panicum virgatum and Estelle Levetin's Dipsacus follonum. Both artists are graduates from our School: Estelle in 2010 and Susan 2012 and active members of our BI-community.Congratulations!
Dipsacus follonum by Estelle Deridder (please click the image to enlarge)Denver Botanic Gradens' Certificate in Botanical Art and Illustration (http://www.botanicgardens.org/pageinpage/botanicalillustration.cfm)
Panicum virgatum, watercolor by Susan Curnutte (please click the image to enlarge)American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) initiated a travelling exhibit Following in the Bartram's Footsteps: Contemporary Botanical Artists Explore the Bartram's Legacy featuring artwork of plants grown, sold and introduced by John and William Bartram. The first venue for this exhibit will be Bartram's Garden Gallery in Philadelphia, PA (April 26 - May 24, 2013). Among the accepted artwork were Susan Curnutte's Panicum virgatum and Estelle Levetin's Dipsacus follonum. Both artists are graduates from our School: Estelle in 2010 and Susan 2012 and active members of our BI-community.Congratulations!
Dipsacus follonum by Estelle Deridder (please click the image to enlarge)Denver Botanic Gradens' Certificate in Botanical Art and Illustration (http://www.botanicgardens.org/pageinpage/botanicalillustration.cfm)
Vatican hopes secret files exonerate 'Hitler's pope'
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SOURCE: The Guardian
Author uncovers evidence on Pius XII's wartime efforts to save Jewish refugees
Pius XII has long been vilified as "Hitler's pope", accused of failing publicly to condemn the genocide of Europe's Jews. Now a British author has unearthed extensive material that Vatican insiders believe will restore his reputation, revealing the part that he played in saving lives and opposing Nazism. Gordon Thomas, a Protestant, was given access to previously unpublished Vatican documents and tracked down victims, priests and others who had not told their stories before.
The Pope's Jews, which will be published next month, details how Pius gave his blessing to the establishment of safe houses in the Vatican and Europe's convents and monasteries. He oversaw a secret operation with code names and fake documents for priests who risked their lives to shelter Jews, some of whom were even made Vatican subjects.
Thomas shows, for example, that priests were instructed to issue baptism certificates to hundreds of Jews hidden in Genoa, Rome and elsewhere in Italy. More than 2,000 Jews in Hungary were given fabricated Vatican documents identifying them as Catholics and a network saved German Jews by bringing them to Rome. The pope appointed a priest with extensive funds with which to provide food, clothing and medicine. More than 4,000 Jews were hidden in convents and monasteries across Italy.
During and immediately after the war, the pope was considered a Jewish saviour. Jewish leaders – such as Jerusalem's chief rabbi in 1944 – said the people of Israel would never forget what he and his delegates "are doing for our unfortunate brothers and sisters at the most tragic hour". Jewish newspapers in Britain and America echoed that praise, and Hitler branded him "a Jew lover".
However, his image turned sour in the 1960s, thanks to Soviet antagonism towards the Vatican and a German play by Rolf Hochhuth, The Deputy, which vilified the pope, accusing him of silence and inaction over the Jews. It was a trend that intensified with the publication of Hitler's Pope, a book by John Cornwell.
However, as the Vatican's secretary of state before the war, the future pope contributed to the damning 1937 encyclical of Pius XI, With Burning Anxiety, and, as Pius XII he made condemnatory speeches that were widely interpreted at the time – including by Jewish leaders and newspapers – as clear condemnations of Hitler's racial policies. Due to the Vatican's traditionally diplomatic language, the accusation that Pius XII did not speak out has festered.
Asked why the Vatican had not made the new material available until now or, where stories were known, disseminated them more widely,Thomas said: "The church thinks across centuries. If there's a dispute for 50 years, so what?"
William Doino, a Vatican historian, described Thomas's research as "unique and groundbreaking". He spoke of the book's new insight, for example, into Hugh O'Flaherty, an Irish priest: "Everybody has always praised [O'Flaherty] because he helped Jews and escaped POWs. They made a movie about him, The Scarlet and the Black, with Gregory Peck. However, they always say he was acting on his own authority and that Pius was either aloof or not giving him anything. Gordon has spoken extensively with O'Flaherty's family, who gave him private correspondence and told him that O'Flaherty said that everything was with Pius XII's co-operation."
The book also tells the story of Vittorio Sacerdoti, a young Jewish doctor who was able to work in a Vatican hospital, inventing a fictitious deadly disease that deterred Germans from entering. Dozens of fake patients were taught to cough convincingly.
Thomas interviewed Sacerdoti's cousin, who recalled that as a child she was one of those patients – "feeling there was nothing wrong with her, yet having to cough regularly in the ward".
The Vatican is so excited by The Pope's Jews that it is supporting a feature documentary film being planned by a British producer who has bought the rights to it.
Allen Jewhurst, who has produced documentaries for BBC TV's Panorama, said that, with more than a billion Catholics worldwide, interest in the story is huge. After a meeting with two cardinals at the Vatican, he and Thomas now hope to get exclusive access to the archives. "This will, hopefully, be a definitive film," said Jewhurst.
Thomas, who also wrote the book Voyage of the Damned, about Jewish refugees, recalled: "The Vatican people said, 'How wonderful, the truth out at last'."
"The Pope's Jews: The Vatican's Secret Plan to Save Jews from the Nazis" is published by The Robson Press on 7 March
Author uncovers evidence on Pius XII's wartime efforts to save Jewish refugees
Pius XII has long been vilified as "Hitler's pope", accused of failing publicly to condemn the genocide of Europe's Jews. Now a British author has unearthed extensive material that Vatican insiders believe will restore his reputation, revealing the part that he played in saving lives and opposing Nazism. Gordon Thomas, a Protestant, was given access to previously unpublished Vatican documents and tracked down victims, priests and others who had not told their stories before.
The Pope's Jews, which will be published next month, details how Pius gave his blessing to the establishment of safe houses in the Vatican and Europe's convents and monasteries. He oversaw a secret operation with code names and fake documents for priests who risked their lives to shelter Jews, some of whom were even made Vatican subjects. Thomas shows, for example, that priests were instructed to issue baptism certificates to hundreds of Jews hidden in Genoa, Rome and elsewhere in Italy. More than 2,000 Jews in Hungary were given fabricated Vatican documents identifying them as Catholics and a network saved German Jews by bringing them to Rome. The pope appointed a priest with extensive funds with which to provide food, clothing and medicine. More than 4,000 Jews were hidden in convents and monasteries across Italy.
During and immediately after the war, the pope was considered a Jewish saviour. Jewish leaders – such as Jerusalem's chief rabbi in 1944 – said the people of Israel would never forget what he and his delegates "are doing for our unfortunate brothers and sisters at the most tragic hour". Jewish newspapers in Britain and America echoed that praise, and Hitler branded him "a Jew lover".
However, his image turned sour in the 1960s, thanks to Soviet antagonism towards the Vatican and a German play by Rolf Hochhuth, The Deputy, which vilified the pope, accusing him of silence and inaction over the Jews. It was a trend that intensified with the publication of Hitler's Pope, a book by John Cornwell.
However, as the Vatican's secretary of state before the war, the future pope contributed to the damning 1937 encyclical of Pius XI, With Burning Anxiety, and, as Pius XII he made condemnatory speeches that were widely interpreted at the time – including by Jewish leaders and newspapers – as clear condemnations of Hitler's racial policies. Due to the Vatican's traditionally diplomatic language, the accusation that Pius XII did not speak out has festered.
'How wonderful, the truth out at last'
Professor Ronald J Rychlak, the author of Hitler, the War and the Pope, said: "Gordon Thomas has found primary sources … He has tracked down family members, original documentation and established what really was a universal perception prior to the 1960s. He's shown what the people at the time – victims, rescuers and villains – all knew: that Pius XII was a great supporter of the victims of the Holocaust."Asked why the Vatican had not made the new material available until now or, where stories were known, disseminated them more widely,Thomas said: "The church thinks across centuries. If there's a dispute for 50 years, so what?"
William Doino, a Vatican historian, described Thomas's research as "unique and groundbreaking". He spoke of the book's new insight, for example, into Hugh O'Flaherty, an Irish priest: "Everybody has always praised [O'Flaherty] because he helped Jews and escaped POWs. They made a movie about him, The Scarlet and the Black, with Gregory Peck. However, they always say he was acting on his own authority and that Pius was either aloof or not giving him anything. Gordon has spoken extensively with O'Flaherty's family, who gave him private correspondence and told him that O'Flaherty said that everything was with Pius XII's co-operation."
The book also tells the story of Vittorio Sacerdoti, a young Jewish doctor who was able to work in a Vatican hospital, inventing a fictitious deadly disease that deterred Germans from entering. Dozens of fake patients were taught to cough convincingly.
Thomas interviewed Sacerdoti's cousin, who recalled that as a child she was one of those patients – "feeling there was nothing wrong with her, yet having to cough regularly in the ward".
The Vatican is so excited by The Pope's Jews that it is supporting a feature documentary film being planned by a British producer who has bought the rights to it.
Allen Jewhurst, who has produced documentaries for BBC TV's Panorama, said that, with more than a billion Catholics worldwide, interest in the story is huge. After a meeting with two cardinals at the Vatican, he and Thomas now hope to get exclusive access to the archives. "This will, hopefully, be a definitive film," said Jewhurst.
Thomas, who also wrote the book Voyage of the Damned, about Jewish refugees, recalled: "The Vatican people said, 'How wonderful, the truth out at last'."
"The Pope's Jews: The Vatican's Secret Plan to Save Jews from the Nazis" is published by The Robson Press on 7 March
Home, Sweet Home - The Pope's New Residence
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Pope to live in Vatican monastery established by Blessed John Paul
By Cindy Wooden
SOURCE: Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican monastery where Pope Benedict XVI intends to live began its life as the Vatican gardener's house, but was established as a cloistered convent by Blessed John Paul II in 1994.
When Pope Benedict, 85, announced Feb. 11 that his age and declining energies prompted his decision to resign effective Feb. 28, the Vatican said he would move out to the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo while remodeling work was completed on the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican Gardens.
Pope Benedict said it was his intention to "devotedly serve the holy church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer."
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters Feb. 12 he did not know when the remodeling work would be finished and Pope Benedict could move in. He said, however, that because the monastery is small, the pope would be joined by a small staff, but another community of cloistered sisters would not be moving in.
The monastery -- a building of about 4,300 square feet -- had 12 monastic cells and a chapel. The complex, mostly hidden from view by a high fence and hedges, includes a vegetable garden. It occupies about 8,600 square feet on a hill to the west of the apse of St. Peter's Basilica.
Over the past 19 years, different orders of cloistered nuns have spent fixed terms of three-five years in the monastery. The first community was Poor Clares, then Carmelites, Benedictines and, most recently, Visitandine nuns. The Visitandine community left in November, and by early December the Vatican press office had told Catholic News Service that the monastery would be remodeled before anyone else moved in.
While contemplative nuns generally enter a monastery with the intention of remaining at that convent for life, Blessed John Paul set up a rotation system for the Vatican monastery to honor and highlight the variety of women's religious orders dedicated totally to prayer and manual labor.
The rules of the Mater Ecclesiae convent specified that the aim of the community living there is "the ministry of prayer, adoration, praise and reparation" in silence and solitude "to support the Holy Father in his daily care for the whole church."
An article in the Vatican newspaper announcing the foundation of the monastery in 1994 said, "The presence of a community completely dedicated to contemplation in a strict papal cloister near the See of Peter is an exemplary indication that contemplative life represents a richness and a treasure which the church does not intend to renounce."
A small core of the current building began its life as the gardener's house and included some ruins of a medieval tower that may have been part of the Vatican walls at the turn of the 13th century. In 1960, Blessed John XXIII invited his new archaeological research institute to have its base there. Father Lombardi said the building also was used for a time by Vatican Radio and was even briefly the residence of now-Cardinal Roberto Tucci, a Jesuit and longtime official at the radio.
 (CNS/Paul Haring) |
SOURCE: Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican monastery where Pope Benedict XVI intends to live began its life as the Vatican gardener's house, but was established as a cloistered convent by Blessed John Paul II in 1994.
When Pope Benedict, 85, announced Feb. 11 that his age and declining energies prompted his decision to resign effective Feb. 28, the Vatican said he would move out to the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo while remodeling work was completed on the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican Gardens.
Pope Benedict said it was his intention to "devotedly serve the holy church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer."
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters Feb. 12 he did not know when the remodeling work would be finished and Pope Benedict could move in. He said, however, that because the monastery is small, the pope would be joined by a small staff, but another community of cloistered sisters would not be moving in.
The monastery -- a building of about 4,300 square feet -- had 12 monastic cells and a chapel. The complex, mostly hidden from view by a high fence and hedges, includes a vegetable garden. It occupies about 8,600 square feet on a hill to the west of the apse of St. Peter's Basilica.
Over the past 19 years, different orders of cloistered nuns have spent fixed terms of three-five years in the monastery. The first community was Poor Clares, then Carmelites, Benedictines and, most recently, Visitandine nuns. The Visitandine community left in November, and by early December the Vatican press office had told Catholic News Service that the monastery would be remodeled before anyone else moved in.
While contemplative nuns generally enter a monastery with the intention of remaining at that convent for life, Blessed John Paul set up a rotation system for the Vatican monastery to honor and highlight the variety of women's religious orders dedicated totally to prayer and manual labor.
The rules of the Mater Ecclesiae convent specified that the aim of the community living there is "the ministry of prayer, adoration, praise and reparation" in silence and solitude "to support the Holy Father in his daily care for the whole church."
An article in the Vatican newspaper announcing the foundation of the monastery in 1994 said, "The presence of a community completely dedicated to contemplation in a strict papal cloister near the See of Peter is an exemplary indication that contemplative life represents a richness and a treasure which the church does not intend to renounce."
A small core of the current building began its life as the gardener's house and included some ruins of a medieval tower that may have been part of the Vatican walls at the turn of the 13th century. In 1960, Blessed John XXIII invited his new archaeological research institute to have its base there. Father Lombardi said the building also was used for a time by Vatican Radio and was even briefly the residence of now-Cardinal Roberto Tucci, a Jesuit and longtime official at the radio.
What's next for Benedict and Rome?
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Published on National Catholic Reporter (http://ncronline.org)
| Feb. 12, 2013 NCR Today Benedict Resigns Rome When you're talking about a church with more than 2,000 years of history, you don't get a chance to use terms such as "uncharted waters" very often, but that's precisely where Catholicism finds itself in the wake of Benedict XVI's bombshell announcement that he plans to resign Feb. 28.
At the moment, the list of unknowns about what it all means is considerably longer than the certainties. During a Vatican briefing Tuesday, reporters amused themselves by compiling a list of all the times the spokesperson, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, replied to questions with some version of "I don't have precise information on that." They included:
That uncertainty, however, hasn't put a dent in the flow of analysis and guesswork, more or less informed, in Rome. The following represents what we can say as of today in response to some of the most obvious questions.
Was this truly a surprise?
A handful of intimates obviously had a small window of advance notice. For instance, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, had a canned tribute ready to offer as soon as the pope was finished making his announcement.
For the most part, however, even insiders were caught off-guard. I can testify to that from personal experience. As it happened, I was scheduled to have lunch with a senior Vatican official on Monday, a guy who works just down the hall from the papal apartment. After the news broke, he was as flabbergasted by it as I was.
It's still not entirely clear exactly when Benedict made a firm decision to resign and thus how long the Vatican managed to keep it under wraps.
The editor of the Vatican newspaper wrote Monday that Benedict decided to step down almost a year ago after a grueling six-day trip to Mexico and Cuba last March. Lombardi, however, attempted to play down the importance of that outing, describing it as simply "one stage" in the pope's growing conviction that he no longer had the stamina to do the job adequately. The suggestion was that it's not as if the day after Benedict returned to Rome last March, he had a firm plan in mind.
Lombardi suggested that tentative preparations for Benedict's resignation were under way by November, when a small group of sisters living in a cloistered convent on the Vatican grounds left the facility and work began to convert it into a residence. Lombardi did not say, however, whether at that time it was communicated to anyone that this residence would eventually be occupied by the former pope.
Lombardi also responded to a bit of speculation floated by an Italian paper that perhaps Benedict's decision was related to a medical procedure at a Roman clinic. According to the spokesperson, this was a routine battery change for his pacemaker, which was installed before his election to the papacy.
As a footnote, the Vatican had not officially confirmed before that Benedict has a pacemaker. Friends and people who worked with him in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith knew about it, but popes don't face the same pressure to release medical records as, say, presidents (and candidates for the presidency). The circumstances of the resignation already suggested that the cardinals electing the next pope may be more sensitive to potential health concerns, and this confirmation may add to that pressure.
(One point for the historical record. The coincidence that I happened to be in Rome when this happened has spawned speculation that I must have been in the know. While I'm usually happy to burnish my legend, the truth is that I just got lucky.)
When will the conclave begin?
Msgr. Guido Marini, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, told The Associated Press that under the terms of the event's constitution, it must be held 15 to 20 days after the period of sede vacanate, or "empty chair," begins Feb. 28. Doing the math, that means the conclave would begin somewhere between Friday, March 15, and Wednesday, March 20.
Given the perceived importance of having this wrapped up before Easter on March 31, that likely means the conclave will open on, or shortly after, March 15.
In all honesty, that 15-20 day delay is built into the rules largely to accommodate the circumstances surrounding a papal death, such as the need for cardinals around the world to drop everything and scramble to Rome, as well as allowances for the prescribed period of mourning for the dead pope and the funeral Mass. Since those things aren't required this time, the conclave probably could begin much earlier -- but this is the Vatican, and rules are rules.
Of course, it's impossible to say how long the conclave might take, and therefore when the church will have a new pope. The longest conclave in history took almost three years, the shortest around two hours. Given the Easter deadline and the desire to avoid impressions of gridlock and disarray, however, it's reasonable to think the conclave won't drag on more than a few days at most.
What's Benedict XVI going to do in the meantime?
Lombardi reminded the world this morning that until the bewitching hour of 8 p.m. Feb. 28, Benedict remains fully on the job. Lombardi confirmed he will maintain all the appointments presently on his calendar. They include:
To hear Lombardi and others tell it, he won't have any role at all.
"Benedict XVI will surely say absolutely nothing about the process of election," Lombardi told the media. "He will be retired and will not interfere in any way in the process. You can be assured that the cardinals will be completely autonomous in their decision."
That said, Benedict's imprint is nevertheless destined to be on the conclave in two ways.
First, he has by now appointed the majority of the cardinals who will elect his successor (67 out of 117 who will be under 80 when the sede vacante begins and thus hold the right to vote). In that sense, one can expect these are men who mostly share his outlook on things.
Second, because he's still alive, at least some cardinals may feel special pressure not to do anything that would be perceived as a repudiation of Benedict's papacy, or that they suspect would cause him consternation. How that might translate into choices inside the conclave isn't entirely clear, but it's a piece of the puzzle worth considering.
What will Benedict do after the new pope is on the job?
Here we're really in the realm of the hypothetical, because the only honest answer is that we just don't know.
It's reasonable to think that after some period of near-complete withdrawal to make it clear that the new pope is fully in charge, Benedict might want to resume writing on the scholarly and spiritual topics that have always been his passion.
Lombardi hinted at that possibility Tuesday, saying Benedict's long-awaited encyclical on faith (timed to coincide with the Year of Faith, and completing a triptych with his earlier works on love and hope) would not be ready to go before he steps down. He left open the possibility, however, that Benedict might be able to make use of this material in another form in a private capacity.
Whether Benedict will publish writings while he's still alive, however, or whether he'll take appointments, appear at Vatican events, or otherwise play some sort of public role, is all apparently still being pondered.
What are the implications of all this for future popes?
Once again, Vatican officials have been at pains to say that Benedict's is an "absolutely personal" choice, and that because every situation is different, it's impossible to say what future popes might do.
Lombardi made a special point today of stressing that Benedict wouldn't do anything to tie his successor's hands. He said, for instance, that while Benedict clearly wants a pope to be present at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in July, it will be up the next pontiff to freely decide if he wants to go or not.
(By the way, as of Tuesday, the official World Youth Day website still has a banner reading, "Pope to celebrate closing Mass." Lombardi has to concede that Benedict had told organizers "the pope" would be there, but laughingly added he never said it would be him.)
On the other hand, it's tough not to believe that Benedict XVI in some ways has set a precedent for the next time an aging pope finds himself facing diminishing strength and a set of challenges that arguably exceed his capacities. Italian radio Tuesday morning featured speculation that this could be a first step to a retirement age for pope, along the lines of the requirement for bishops to submit their resignations at 75.
That's one of the reasons some have styled Benedict's resignation a "collegial" act, meaning one that places the papacy more at the level of his fellow bishops rather than treating it as entirely beyond the rules that apply to other prelates.
Source URL (retrieved on 02/13/2013 - 06:39): http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/qa-benedicts-bombshell
Published on National Catholic Reporter (http://ncronline.org)Q&A on Benedict's bombshell
At the moment, the list of unknowns about what it all means is considerably longer than the certainties. During a Vatican briefing Tuesday, reporters amused themselves by compiling a list of all the times the spokesperson, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, replied to questions with some version of "I don't have precise information on that." They included:
- Exactly when will Benedict XVI depart for Castel Gandolfo after the formal end of his papacy at 8 p.m. Rome time Feb. 28, and when exactly will he return to move into a former monastery on Vatican grounds?
- What will happen to symbols of Benedict's papacy, such as papal ring and seal?
- Will Benedict take part in the public ceremonies of his successor, such as the installation Mass of the new pope?
- What will Benedict's title be after he steps down?
- Who exactly will move in with Benedict to run his household and act as aides?
That uncertainty, however, hasn't put a dent in the flow of analysis and guesswork, more or less informed, in Rome. The following represents what we can say as of today in response to some of the most obvious questions.
Was this truly a surprise?
A handful of intimates obviously had a small window of advance notice. For instance, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, had a canned tribute ready to offer as soon as the pope was finished making his announcement.
For the most part, however, even insiders were caught off-guard. I can testify to that from personal experience. As it happened, I was scheduled to have lunch with a senior Vatican official on Monday, a guy who works just down the hall from the papal apartment. After the news broke, he was as flabbergasted by it as I was.
It's still not entirely clear exactly when Benedict made a firm decision to resign and thus how long the Vatican managed to keep it under wraps.
The editor of the Vatican newspaper wrote Monday that Benedict decided to step down almost a year ago after a grueling six-day trip to Mexico and Cuba last March. Lombardi, however, attempted to play down the importance of that outing, describing it as simply "one stage" in the pope's growing conviction that he no longer had the stamina to do the job adequately. The suggestion was that it's not as if the day after Benedict returned to Rome last March, he had a firm plan in mind.
Lombardi suggested that tentative preparations for Benedict's resignation were under way by November, when a small group of sisters living in a cloistered convent on the Vatican grounds left the facility and work began to convert it into a residence. Lombardi did not say, however, whether at that time it was communicated to anyone that this residence would eventually be occupied by the former pope.
Lombardi also responded to a bit of speculation floated by an Italian paper that perhaps Benedict's decision was related to a medical procedure at a Roman clinic. According to the spokesperson, this was a routine battery change for his pacemaker, which was installed before his election to the papacy.
As a footnote, the Vatican had not officially confirmed before that Benedict has a pacemaker. Friends and people who worked with him in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith knew about it, but popes don't face the same pressure to release medical records as, say, presidents (and candidates for the presidency). The circumstances of the resignation already suggested that the cardinals electing the next pope may be more sensitive to potential health concerns, and this confirmation may add to that pressure.
(One point for the historical record. The coincidence that I happened to be in Rome when this happened has spawned speculation that I must have been in the know. While I'm usually happy to burnish my legend, the truth is that I just got lucky.)
When will the conclave begin?
Msgr. Guido Marini, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, told The Associated Press that under the terms of the event's constitution, it must be held 15 to 20 days after the period of sede vacanate, or "empty chair," begins Feb. 28. Doing the math, that means the conclave would begin somewhere between Friday, March 15, and Wednesday, March 20.
Given the perceived importance of having this wrapped up before Easter on March 31, that likely means the conclave will open on, or shortly after, March 15.
In all honesty, that 15-20 day delay is built into the rules largely to accommodate the circumstances surrounding a papal death, such as the need for cardinals around the world to drop everything and scramble to Rome, as well as allowances for the prescribed period of mourning for the dead pope and the funeral Mass. Since those things aren't required this time, the conclave probably could begin much earlier -- but this is the Vatican, and rules are rules.
Of course, it's impossible to say how long the conclave might take, and therefore when the church will have a new pope. The longest conclave in history took almost three years, the shortest around two hours. Given the Easter deadline and the desire to avoid impressions of gridlock and disarray, however, it's reasonable to think the conclave won't drag on more than a few days at most.
What's Benedict XVI going to do in the meantime?
Lombardi reminded the world this morning that until the bewitching hour of 8 p.m. Feb. 28, Benedict remains fully on the job. Lombardi confirmed he will maintain all the appointments presently on his calendar. They include:
- The Ash Wednesday service, which will be held in St. Peter's Basilica rather than the traditional station church of Santa Sabina to accommodate the larger than normal number of faithful as well as ecclesiastic dignitaries expected to show up. Lombardi said this will likely be the last large celebration presided over by Benedict XVI in St. Peter's.
- Appointments with Italian bishops making their ad limina visits to Rome, as well as audiences with visiting heads of state from Romania and Guatemala.
- An informal dialogue with the clergy of the Rome diocese, set for Thursday in the Vatican's Paul VI audience hall. By prior arrangement, Benedict agreed to discuss his experiences during the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the first (and presumably only) time he'll do so during this 50th anniversary year.
- The Vatican's weeklong Lenten retreat from Feb. 17 through Feb. 23, in which time most normal functions are suspended.
- His regular Sunday Angelus address Feb. 24 and his regular Wednesday general audience Feb. 27. That event will be staged in St. Peter's Square in anticipation of an overflow crowd wanting to bid the pope farewell.
To hear Lombardi and others tell it, he won't have any role at all.
"Benedict XVI will surely say absolutely nothing about the process of election," Lombardi told the media. "He will be retired and will not interfere in any way in the process. You can be assured that the cardinals will be completely autonomous in their decision."
That said, Benedict's imprint is nevertheless destined to be on the conclave in two ways.
First, he has by now appointed the majority of the cardinals who will elect his successor (67 out of 117 who will be under 80 when the sede vacante begins and thus hold the right to vote). In that sense, one can expect these are men who mostly share his outlook on things.
Second, because he's still alive, at least some cardinals may feel special pressure not to do anything that would be perceived as a repudiation of Benedict's papacy, or that they suspect would cause him consternation. How that might translate into choices inside the conclave isn't entirely clear, but it's a piece of the puzzle worth considering.
What will Benedict do after the new pope is on the job?
Here we're really in the realm of the hypothetical, because the only honest answer is that we just don't know.
It's reasonable to think that after some period of near-complete withdrawal to make it clear that the new pope is fully in charge, Benedict might want to resume writing on the scholarly and spiritual topics that have always been his passion.
Lombardi hinted at that possibility Tuesday, saying Benedict's long-awaited encyclical on faith (timed to coincide with the Year of Faith, and completing a triptych with his earlier works on love and hope) would not be ready to go before he steps down. He left open the possibility, however, that Benedict might be able to make use of this material in another form in a private capacity.
Whether Benedict will publish writings while he's still alive, however, or whether he'll take appointments, appear at Vatican events, or otherwise play some sort of public role, is all apparently still being pondered.
What are the implications of all this for future popes?
Once again, Vatican officials have been at pains to say that Benedict's is an "absolutely personal" choice, and that because every situation is different, it's impossible to say what future popes might do.
Lombardi made a special point today of stressing that Benedict wouldn't do anything to tie his successor's hands. He said, for instance, that while Benedict clearly wants a pope to be present at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in July, it will be up the next pontiff to freely decide if he wants to go or not.
(By the way, as of Tuesday, the official World Youth Day website still has a banner reading, "Pope to celebrate closing Mass." Lombardi has to concede that Benedict had told organizers "the pope" would be there, but laughingly added he never said it would be him.)
On the other hand, it's tough not to believe that Benedict XVI in some ways has set a precedent for the next time an aging pope finds himself facing diminishing strength and a set of challenges that arguably exceed his capacities. Italian radio Tuesday morning featured speculation that this could be a first step to a retirement age for pope, along the lines of the requirement for bishops to submit their resignations at 75.
That's one of the reasons some have styled Benedict's resignation a "collegial" act, meaning one that places the papacy more at the level of his fellow bishops rather than treating it as entirely beyond the rules that apply to other prelates.
Source URL (retrieved on 02/13/2013 - 06:39): http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/qa-benedicts-bombshell
Ukrainian-Catholic to lead government's new religious freedom office
To contact us Click HERE
By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press February 19, 2013
SOURCE: Ottawa Citizen
MAPLE, Ont. - A Ukrainian-Catholic has been picked to lead a new federal office with a mandate to promote religious tolerance globally, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday followed through on an election promise made almost two years ago.
At a mosque north of Toronto, Harper named Andrew Bennett as ambassador of the Office of Religious Freedom, which will operate as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
"It says a lot about the government wanting to promote this aspect of human rights," said Bennett, 40, an academic who has worked for the Privy Council Office.
"It's (about) building awareness about the issue of religious freedom abroad; it's about interacting with the various communities here in Canada who are in the diaspora from these areas where religious freedom is not respected."
In remarks at the Ahmadiyya Muslim community centre and mosque, Harper said religious persecution is an urgent and ongoing global problem. He chronicled abuses against, among others, Jews, Coptic Christians, Muslims and Buddhists.
"Without fear or favour, Canada defends human rights around the world," Harper said. "We have not only spoken out, we have also taken action."
Harper said the location of the announcement underscored the fact that Bennett's job would be to promote religious freedom and tolerance regardless of belief or even non-belief.
Government sources said the Conservatives had a hard time finding someone to lead the office, which will have five full-time employees and come with a modest $5-million price tag that includes $500,000 for operations.
Colleagues described Bennett — currently dean of the 16-student Augustine College in downtown Ottawa — as an energetic, intelligent and empathetic man who at one point pondered the monastic life.
They said he would be able to rise to the political and philosophical challenges that will come with his new position.
"It would be a tough job for anyone but if anyone can do it, it's probably him," college president John Patrick said in an interview.
"He has both the intellectual and diplomatic skills that are needed."
College administrator Harold Visser said Bennett would be able to reach out to all religions.
"There's nothing in me that says Andrew is going to be, as some would suggest, some kind of Christian fundamentalist who's out there to bang the Christian drum," Visser said.
Tuesday's announcement before guests representing several different faiths came after fits and starts that saw government officials touting the imminent creation of the office over the course of the past year.
New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair criticized the initiative for falling short of what he said the government had said it would do.
"The Conservatives have been promising for some time to have a major initiative on promoting democracy," Mulcair said in Calgary.
"If we're going to be pushing for democracy around the world, we should be talking about democratic institutions."
Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community praised the initiative, but said Canada had to be vigilant in protecting its borders from those who wish to immigrate "based on their hidden religious hatred of others."
The Conservatives have maintained the idea for the new department branch came after Harper met Pakistan's minister for minorities, Shabhaz Bhatti, shortly before he was shot to death by extremists in Islamabad in 2011. The extremists accused Bhatti, a Christian, of violating Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law.
Harper praised Bhatti as a person who worked fearlessly for the cause of religious tolerance.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who has met religious figures over the past 18 months as he sought to get the office going, was on a tour of Latin America and could not attend the announcement.
_ With files from Michelle McQuigge in Toronto, Mike Blanchfield in Ottawa, and Lauren Krugel in Calgary.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SOURCE: CBC News
Andrew Bennett, a Christian college dean and former civil servant, has been named ambassador for Canada's Office of Religious Freedom, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today.
"Around the world, violations of religious freedom are widespread and they are increasing," Harper said in a speech at the Ahmadiyya Muslim community centre and mosque in Maple, Ont., north of Toronto.
"Dr. Bennett is a man of principle and deep convictions and he will encourage the protection of religious minorities around the world so all can practise their faith without fear of violence and repression."
Harper first promised the new branch of the Foreign Affairs Department during the last federal election campaign.
Bennett, a Catholic, is dean of Augustine College, a Christian liberal arts college in Ottawa that graduates about 16 students a year. He has a PhD in politics from the University of Edinburgh and a master of arts in history from McGill University in Montreal.
Paul Bramadat of the University of Victoria told CBC Radio's Louise Elliott that Augustine College has a unique position on education — to basically return education to a time before "the acid of modernity," as it says on the college's website. Bramadat also noted that the college's purpose seems to be to prepare students to enter a secular world perceived as hostile.
The college's website says, "Augustine College accepts the model of education that reigned for millennia, until the modern age began to dismantle that tradition."
Before his appointment at Augustine College, Bennett was a government bureaucrat, working for the deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs. He later worked at the Export Development Corporation, and at the Privy Council Office.
Speaking to a group representing various religions, Harper told the story of meeting Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian cabinet minister from Pakistan whom the prime minister described as someone who took great risks to defend persecuted religious minorities in his country, including his fellow Christians. Three weeks after that meeting, Bhatti was assassinated in Islamabad, Harper said. A militant Islamist group took responsibility for his killing.
It has been said that Bhatti was the inspiration for the founding of the Office of Religious Freedom.
In a question-and-answer session with reporters, Harper denied the office would be modelled after its U.S. counterpart, which has been accused of being biased towards Christians.
Harper said that Canada is "a very different country." He added, "Obviously, one of the reasons we're holding this event here today and being hosted by the Ahmadiya Muslim community is to make it very clear that this is not an office to promote a particular religion, this is an office to promote religious diversity and religious tolerance around the world."
Bennett, in his early forties, told reporters he didn't see the office as promoting Christianity over other religions. "This is not about a theological question, it's about a human issue, not a theological issue, so all religions, all people of faith and again those who choose not to have faith need to be protected, their rights need to be respected, so it's promoting that, that's the mandate."
Janet Epp Buckingham, of Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., who was invited to attend the announcement, said that Bennett "is young, he will have a steep learning curve, and as a professor, will have to come to grips with the reality of religious persecution as it exists around the world." She continued, "University professors tend to be, as we put it, in the ivory tower. They're a little bit separated from the cut and thrust of politics. He will be very much under scrutiny, so it will be a very challenging role."
Closed-door meeting
In 2011, a closed-door meeting about the office, organized by the government, was criticized by some scholars after it turned out four of the six panellists being consulted were drawn from Christian religions, with the other two being Jewish and Baha'i.
Don Hutchinson, of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, who was one of the six panellists consulted by the government, told CBC that different religious groups had been widely consulted.
But Colin Clay, an Anglican priest in Saskatoon, who heads both Multi-Faith Saskatoon and Multi-Faith Saskatchewan, said he didn't know of any consultation with his groups and first found out about the proposed Office of Religious Freedom by reading about it in a newspaper.
Asked if the office might be slanted toward Christians, Hutchinson said, "The most persecuted faith on the planet is the Christian faith community. So in striking a balance, one would have to look at the Orthodox or Roman Catholic or evangelical communities as well as the needs of the various Muslim communities and the Baha'i and other groups."
Arvind Sharma, who teaches comparative religion at McGill, told CBC that one of the reasons Christian faiths are the most persecuted is because they are also the most proselytizing in many parts of the world.
"Conversion can mean two things when related to religious freedom", he said. "My right to change my religion and somebody else's right to ask me to change my religion. The person who is trying to convert somebody may use deception, may use threat, may use temptation and so on."
However, Sharma also said, "I see a great opportunity because the office is being set up in Canada and Canada is a self-consciously multi-cultural society, so it has this great opportunity to define religious freedom in a way which is inclusive, which takes the views of all the religions in the world into this view and not just the missionary religions."
'It must not become Christian-centric'
Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, a human rights advocate and his party's critic on human rights, welcomed the office and noted that religious freedom is a "fundamental human right under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms."
However, he warned, "it must not become Christian-centric, or it must not appear to prefer a particular religion. In other words, there has to be an egalitarian approach."
Dominic LeBlanc, the Liberal foreign affairs critic, said in a press release, "In regions where this office is likely to be active, religion often conflicts with our understanding of other important human rights – including LGBTTQ and women’s rights. This government must explain how it will guarantee that it does not feed a perception that religious rights are supreme."
Paul Dewar, the NDP's critic for foreign affairs, issued a press release Tuesday, saying, "The Office of Religious Freedoms, as introduced today, represents both a broken Conservative promise and a missed opportunity. Conservatives had repeatedly promised a democratic development agency, but they broke that promise and now they're moving forward on a much more limited and narrow approach."
Dewar noted that Bennett was chosen to lead the agency without any consultation with Parliament or opposition parties.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
See also "Ottawa professor chosen Canada’s ambassador for religious freedom"
By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press February 19, 2013
SOURCE: Ottawa Citizen
MAPLE, Ont. - A Ukrainian-Catholic has been picked to lead a new federal office with a mandate to promote religious tolerance globally, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday followed through on an election promise made almost two years ago.
At a mosque north of Toronto, Harper named Andrew Bennett as ambassador of the Office of Religious Freedom, which will operate as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
"It says a lot about the government wanting to promote this aspect of human rights," said Bennett, 40, an academic who has worked for the Privy Council Office. "It's (about) building awareness about the issue of religious freedom abroad; it's about interacting with the various communities here in Canada who are in the diaspora from these areas where religious freedom is not respected."
In remarks at the Ahmadiyya Muslim community centre and mosque, Harper said religious persecution is an urgent and ongoing global problem. He chronicled abuses against, among others, Jews, Coptic Christians, Muslims and Buddhists.
"Without fear or favour, Canada defends human rights around the world," Harper said. "We have not only spoken out, we have also taken action."
Harper said the location of the announcement underscored the fact that Bennett's job would be to promote religious freedom and tolerance regardless of belief or even non-belief.
Government sources said the Conservatives had a hard time finding someone to lead the office, which will have five full-time employees and come with a modest $5-million price tag that includes $500,000 for operations.
Colleagues described Bennett — currently dean of the 16-student Augustine College in downtown Ottawa — as an energetic, intelligent and empathetic man who at one point pondered the monastic life.
They said he would be able to rise to the political and philosophical challenges that will come with his new position.
"It would be a tough job for anyone but if anyone can do it, it's probably him," college president John Patrick said in an interview.
"He has both the intellectual and diplomatic skills that are needed."
College administrator Harold Visser said Bennett would be able to reach out to all religions.
"There's nothing in me that says Andrew is going to be, as some would suggest, some kind of Christian fundamentalist who's out there to bang the Christian drum," Visser said.
Tuesday's announcement before guests representing several different faiths came after fits and starts that saw government officials touting the imminent creation of the office over the course of the past year.
New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair criticized the initiative for falling short of what he said the government had said it would do.
"The Conservatives have been promising for some time to have a major initiative on promoting democracy," Mulcair said in Calgary.
"If we're going to be pushing for democracy around the world, we should be talking about democratic institutions."
Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community praised the initiative, but said Canada had to be vigilant in protecting its borders from those who wish to immigrate "based on their hidden religious hatred of others."
The Conservatives have maintained the idea for the new department branch came after Harper met Pakistan's minister for minorities, Shabhaz Bhatti, shortly before he was shot to death by extremists in Islamabad in 2011. The extremists accused Bhatti, a Christian, of violating Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law.
Harper praised Bhatti as a person who worked fearlessly for the cause of religious tolerance.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who has met religious figures over the past 18 months as he sought to get the office going, was on a tour of Latin America and could not attend the announcement.
_ With files from Michelle McQuigge in Toronto, Mike Blanchfield in Ottawa, and Lauren Krugel in Calgary.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SOURCE: CBC News
Andrew Bennett, a Christian college dean and former civil servant, has been named ambassador for Canada's Office of Religious Freedom, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today.
"Around the world, violations of religious freedom are widespread and they are increasing," Harper said in a speech at the Ahmadiyya Muslim community centre and mosque in Maple, Ont., north of Toronto.
"Dr. Bennett is a man of principle and deep convictions and he will encourage the protection of religious minorities around the world so all can practise their faith without fear of violence and repression." Harper first promised the new branch of the Foreign Affairs Department during the last federal election campaign.
Bennett, a Catholic, is dean of Augustine College, a Christian liberal arts college in Ottawa that graduates about 16 students a year. He has a PhD in politics from the University of Edinburgh and a master of arts in history from McGill University in Montreal.
Paul Bramadat of the University of Victoria told CBC Radio's Louise Elliott that Augustine College has a unique position on education — to basically return education to a time before "the acid of modernity," as it says on the college's website. Bramadat also noted that the college's purpose seems to be to prepare students to enter a secular world perceived as hostile.
The college's website says, "Augustine College accepts the model of education that reigned for millennia, until the modern age began to dismantle that tradition."
Before his appointment at Augustine College, Bennett was a government bureaucrat, working for the deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs. He later worked at the Export Development Corporation, and at the Privy Council Office.
Speaking to a group representing various religions, Harper told the story of meeting Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian cabinet minister from Pakistan whom the prime minister described as someone who took great risks to defend persecuted religious minorities in his country, including his fellow Christians. Three weeks after that meeting, Bhatti was assassinated in Islamabad, Harper said. A militant Islamist group took responsibility for his killing.
It has been said that Bhatti was the inspiration for the founding of the Office of Religious Freedom.
In a question-and-answer session with reporters, Harper denied the office would be modelled after its U.S. counterpart, which has been accused of being biased towards Christians.
Harper said that Canada is "a very different country." He added, "Obviously, one of the reasons we're holding this event here today and being hosted by the Ahmadiya Muslim community is to make it very clear that this is not an office to promote a particular religion, this is an office to promote religious diversity and religious tolerance around the world."
Bennett, in his early forties, told reporters he didn't see the office as promoting Christianity over other religions. "This is not about a theological question, it's about a human issue, not a theological issue, so all religions, all people of faith and again those who choose not to have faith need to be protected, their rights need to be respected, so it's promoting that, that's the mandate."
Janet Epp Buckingham, of Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., who was invited to attend the announcement, said that Bennett "is young, he will have a steep learning curve, and as a professor, will have to come to grips with the reality of religious persecution as it exists around the world." She continued, "University professors tend to be, as we put it, in the ivory tower. They're a little bit separated from the cut and thrust of politics. He will be very much under scrutiny, so it will be a very challenging role."
Closed-door meeting
In 2011, a closed-door meeting about the office, organized by the government, was criticized by some scholars after it turned out four of the six panellists being consulted were drawn from Christian religions, with the other two being Jewish and Baha'i.
Don Hutchinson, of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, who was one of the six panellists consulted by the government, told CBC that different religious groups had been widely consulted.
But Colin Clay, an Anglican priest in Saskatoon, who heads both Multi-Faith Saskatoon and Multi-Faith Saskatchewan, said he didn't know of any consultation with his groups and first found out about the proposed Office of Religious Freedom by reading about it in a newspaper.
Asked if the office might be slanted toward Christians, Hutchinson said, "The most persecuted faith on the planet is the Christian faith community. So in striking a balance, one would have to look at the Orthodox or Roman Catholic or evangelical communities as well as the needs of the various Muslim communities and the Baha'i and other groups."
Arvind Sharma, who teaches comparative religion at McGill, told CBC that one of the reasons Christian faiths are the most persecuted is because they are also the most proselytizing in many parts of the world.
"Conversion can mean two things when related to religious freedom", he said. "My right to change my religion and somebody else's right to ask me to change my religion. The person who is trying to convert somebody may use deception, may use threat, may use temptation and so on."
However, Sharma also said, "I see a great opportunity because the office is being set up in Canada and Canada is a self-consciously multi-cultural society, so it has this great opportunity to define religious freedom in a way which is inclusive, which takes the views of all the religions in the world into this view and not just the missionary religions."
'It must not become Christian-centric'
Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, a human rights advocate and his party's critic on human rights, welcomed the office and noted that religious freedom is a "fundamental human right under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms."
However, he warned, "it must not become Christian-centric, or it must not appear to prefer a particular religion. In other words, there has to be an egalitarian approach."
Dominic LeBlanc, the Liberal foreign affairs critic, said in a press release, "In regions where this office is likely to be active, religion often conflicts with our understanding of other important human rights – including LGBTTQ and women’s rights. This government must explain how it will guarantee that it does not feed a perception that religious rights are supreme."
Paul Dewar, the NDP's critic for foreign affairs, issued a press release Tuesday, saying, "The Office of Religious Freedoms, as introduced today, represents both a broken Conservative promise and a missed opportunity. Conservatives had repeatedly promised a democratic development agency, but they broke that promise and now they're moving forward on a much more limited and narrow approach."
Dewar noted that Bennett was chosen to lead the agency without any consultation with Parliament or opposition parties.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
See also "Ottawa professor chosen Canada’s ambassador for religious freedom"
23 Şubat 2013 Cumartesi
Holy Land Catholics, Orthodox to celebrate as one
To contact us Click HERE
By Judith Sudilovsky
SOURCE: Catholic News Service
JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Ghassan Rafidi, 53, remembers enjoying celebrating Easter twice as a child in his village of Jifna.
"We had two times to celebrate and two vacations. My father's family gave us gifts on the Greek Orthodox date, and my mother's family on the Catholic," said Rafidi, the son of a Catholic mother and a Greek Orthodox father.
But today the Christian community has shrunk, and it is important that the celebrations be united, he said. Employers honor vacation on only one of the celebrations, putting pressure on families to decide which to celebrate, he said.
"The Muslims always ask us how many Jesuses do we have," he said.
There are many families like Rafidi's, both in Israel and the Palestinian territories, with members belonging to the Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Protestant churches.
For the past 15 years, Catholic parishes throughout the Palestinian territories and many in Israel have been celebrating Easter on the Greek Orthodox date. Now, following a directive from the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, within two years all Eastern Catholics and the Latin Patriarchate in the Holy Land will officially adopt the Greek Orthodox Julian calendar date.
The Latin Patriarchate calls the move a "decisive step toward ecumenism." The official directive will take place after completion of the decree and approval by the Vatican.
"The main reason for the unification of the Easter celebration is for members of the same family, village and parish to be able to have one celebration, and one calendar, and to show the unity and enjoy the unity. We want to give a good example of unity to our non-Christian neighbors," said the Latin Patriarchate chancellor, Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali.
The Latin-rite diocese of the Holy Land includes Israel, the Palestinian territories and Cyprus. Parishes in Jerusalem and the Bethlehem, West Bank, area will be exempt this year because of the Status Quo, the 1852 agreement that preserved the division of ownership and responsibilities of various Christian holy sites. The parish in Tel Aviv has also received an exemption for this year since there are many foreign workers who are members of the parish.
The Greek Orthodox Church follows the Julian calendar and did not adopt the Gregorian calendar, which was implemented by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to correct a miscalculation in the rotation of the earth.
Next year, Easter falls on the same day according to both calendars, so the change by decree will only be adopted in 2015.
The spirit of the holiday is lost if it is celebrated on separate dates, said Father Raed Abusahlia of Holy Family Parish in Ramallah, West Bank. Easter in the Eastern church is all of Holy Week, starting with Palm Sunday, and includes special prayers during the week, he said.
"The liturgy is very beautiful if done together as a family. It can't be spiritual if it is only part of the family," he said. During the week following Easter there are traditional holiday family visits as well, he added.
Father Ilario Antoniazzi of St. Anthony Parish in Rameh, Israel, has been celebrating Easter with the Greek Orthodox for 15 years; he said the date is not important.
"The most important thing is to be together on the feast, to give a good example of our love and to show that we are united in our love," he said.
In the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, the change did not come easily for some parishioners, said Father Agapios Abu Saada of St. Elijah Melkite Catholic Cathedral, who has been pivotal in pushing for unifying the celebration.
"My experience in seeking solidarity ... was not a smooth one," he said. "The decision was not unified even within the same congregation."
He said those initially opposed to the idea were swayed by the joint religious processions during Holy Week.
"Unifying the feast is a vivid Christian testimony in a multicultural and multireligious society," he said. "Christians in the Holy Land are a minority that keeps dividing itself to inner minorities within the minority, creating diverse subcommunities ... which deteriorate the goal of Christians as one unrestricted community living in a multicultural and multireligious society."
Father Abusahlia said some of his parishioners are "a little bit disturbed" because the Greek Orthodox Easter comes so late this year: May 5.
"In the past years, we celebrated it together or with a difference of one week, so they didn't feel it. Now it is very late, with a difference of 35 days. But we will celebrate together, it is good and important," said he said.
The change also involves celebrating Lent and the period between Easter and Pentecost, said Bishop Shomali.
"Christmas is just Christmas and Epiphany, but when we unify the calendar (on Easter) we are unifying 90 days of the year. It is important," he said.
He said he would be happy to see the unified celebration adopted universally by all Christians.
"The solution is to fix one Sunday in April as the date," he said.
Bishop Shomali said although the Catholics did not ask the Greek Orthodox Church to celebrate Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar, he expects they will do so to unite Christians for that feast.
SOURCE: Catholic News Service
JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Ghassan Rafidi, 53, remembers enjoying celebrating Easter twice as a child in his village of Jifna.
"We had two times to celebrate and two vacations. My father's family gave us gifts on the Greek Orthodox date, and my mother's family on the Catholic," said Rafidi, the son of a Catholic mother and a Greek Orthodox father.
But today the Christian community has shrunk, and it is important that the celebrations be united, he said. Employers honor vacation on only one of the celebrations, putting pressure on families to decide which to celebrate, he said. "The Muslims always ask us how many Jesuses do we have," he said.
There are many families like Rafidi's, both in Israel and the Palestinian territories, with members belonging to the Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Protestant churches.
For the past 15 years, Catholic parishes throughout the Palestinian territories and many in Israel have been celebrating Easter on the Greek Orthodox date. Now, following a directive from the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, within two years all Eastern Catholics and the Latin Patriarchate in the Holy Land will officially adopt the Greek Orthodox Julian calendar date.
The Latin Patriarchate calls the move a "decisive step toward ecumenism." The official directive will take place after completion of the decree and approval by the Vatican.
"The main reason for the unification of the Easter celebration is for members of the same family, village and parish to be able to have one celebration, and one calendar, and to show the unity and enjoy the unity. We want to give a good example of unity to our non-Christian neighbors," said the Latin Patriarchate chancellor, Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali.
The Latin-rite diocese of the Holy Land includes Israel, the Palestinian territories and Cyprus. Parishes in Jerusalem and the Bethlehem, West Bank, area will be exempt this year because of the Status Quo, the 1852 agreement that preserved the division of ownership and responsibilities of various Christian holy sites. The parish in Tel Aviv has also received an exemption for this year since there are many foreign workers who are members of the parish.
The Greek Orthodox Church follows the Julian calendar and did not adopt the Gregorian calendar, which was implemented by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 to correct a miscalculation in the rotation of the earth.
Next year, Easter falls on the same day according to both calendars, so the change by decree will only be adopted in 2015.
The spirit of the holiday is lost if it is celebrated on separate dates, said Father Raed Abusahlia of Holy Family Parish in Ramallah, West Bank. Easter in the Eastern church is all of Holy Week, starting with Palm Sunday, and includes special prayers during the week, he said.
"The liturgy is very beautiful if done together as a family. It can't be spiritual if it is only part of the family," he said. During the week following Easter there are traditional holiday family visits as well, he added.
Father Ilario Antoniazzi of St. Anthony Parish in Rameh, Israel, has been celebrating Easter with the Greek Orthodox for 15 years; he said the date is not important.
"The most important thing is to be together on the feast, to give a good example of our love and to show that we are united in our love," he said.
In the northern Israeli port city of Haifa, the change did not come easily for some parishioners, said Father Agapios Abu Saada of St. Elijah Melkite Catholic Cathedral, who has been pivotal in pushing for unifying the celebration.
"My experience in seeking solidarity ... was not a smooth one," he said. "The decision was not unified even within the same congregation."
He said those initially opposed to the idea were swayed by the joint religious processions during Holy Week.
"Unifying the feast is a vivid Christian testimony in a multicultural and multireligious society," he said. "Christians in the Holy Land are a minority that keeps dividing itself to inner minorities within the minority, creating diverse subcommunities ... which deteriorate the goal of Christians as one unrestricted community living in a multicultural and multireligious society."
Father Abusahlia said some of his parishioners are "a little bit disturbed" because the Greek Orthodox Easter comes so late this year: May 5.
"In the past years, we celebrated it together or with a difference of one week, so they didn't feel it. Now it is very late, with a difference of 35 days. But we will celebrate together, it is good and important," said he said.
The change also involves celebrating Lent and the period between Easter and Pentecost, said Bishop Shomali.
"Christmas is just Christmas and Epiphany, but when we unify the calendar (on Easter) we are unifying 90 days of the year. It is important," he said.
He said he would be happy to see the unified celebration adopted universally by all Christians.
"The solution is to fix one Sunday in April as the date," he said.
Bishop Shomali said although the Catholics did not ask the Greek Orthodox Church to celebrate Christmas according to the Gregorian calendar, he expects they will do so to unite Christians for that feast.
Vatican hopes secret files exonerate 'Hitler's pope'
To contact us Click HERE
SOURCE: The Guardian
Author uncovers evidence on Pius XII's wartime efforts to save Jewish refugees
Pius XII has long been vilified as "Hitler's pope", accused of failing publicly to condemn the genocide of Europe's Jews. Now a British author has unearthed extensive material that Vatican insiders believe will restore his reputation, revealing the part that he played in saving lives and opposing Nazism. Gordon Thomas, a Protestant, was given access to previously unpublished Vatican documents and tracked down victims, priests and others who had not told their stories before.
The Pope's Jews, which will be published next month, details how Pius gave his blessing to the establishment of safe houses in the Vatican and Europe's convents and monasteries. He oversaw a secret operation with code names and fake documents for priests who risked their lives to shelter Jews, some of whom were even made Vatican subjects.
Thomas shows, for example, that priests were instructed to issue baptism certificates to hundreds of Jews hidden in Genoa, Rome and elsewhere in Italy. More than 2,000 Jews in Hungary were given fabricated Vatican documents identifying them as Catholics and a network saved German Jews by bringing them to Rome. The pope appointed a priest with extensive funds with which to provide food, clothing and medicine. More than 4,000 Jews were hidden in convents and monasteries across Italy.
During and immediately after the war, the pope was considered a Jewish saviour. Jewish leaders – such as Jerusalem's chief rabbi in 1944 – said the people of Israel would never forget what he and his delegates "are doing for our unfortunate brothers and sisters at the most tragic hour". Jewish newspapers in Britain and America echoed that praise, and Hitler branded him "a Jew lover".
However, his image turned sour in the 1960s, thanks to Soviet antagonism towards the Vatican and a German play by Rolf Hochhuth, The Deputy, which vilified the pope, accusing him of silence and inaction over the Jews. It was a trend that intensified with the publication of Hitler's Pope, a book by John Cornwell.
However, as the Vatican's secretary of state before the war, the future pope contributed to the damning 1937 encyclical of Pius XI, With Burning Anxiety, and, as Pius XII he made condemnatory speeches that were widely interpreted at the time – including by Jewish leaders and newspapers – as clear condemnations of Hitler's racial policies. Due to the Vatican's traditionally diplomatic language, the accusation that Pius XII did not speak out has festered.
Asked why the Vatican had not made the new material available until now or, where stories were known, disseminated them more widely,Thomas said: "The church thinks across centuries. If there's a dispute for 50 years, so what?"
William Doino, a Vatican historian, described Thomas's research as "unique and groundbreaking". He spoke of the book's new insight, for example, into Hugh O'Flaherty, an Irish priest: "Everybody has always praised [O'Flaherty] because he helped Jews and escaped POWs. They made a movie about him, The Scarlet and the Black, with Gregory Peck. However, they always say he was acting on his own authority and that Pius was either aloof or not giving him anything. Gordon has spoken extensively with O'Flaherty's family, who gave him private correspondence and told him that O'Flaherty said that everything was with Pius XII's co-operation."
The book also tells the story of Vittorio Sacerdoti, a young Jewish doctor who was able to work in a Vatican hospital, inventing a fictitious deadly disease that deterred Germans from entering. Dozens of fake patients were taught to cough convincingly.
Thomas interviewed Sacerdoti's cousin, who recalled that as a child she was one of those patients – "feeling there was nothing wrong with her, yet having to cough regularly in the ward".
The Vatican is so excited by The Pope's Jews that it is supporting a feature documentary film being planned by a British producer who has bought the rights to it.
Allen Jewhurst, who has produced documentaries for BBC TV's Panorama, said that, with more than a billion Catholics worldwide, interest in the story is huge. After a meeting with two cardinals at the Vatican, he and Thomas now hope to get exclusive access to the archives. "This will, hopefully, be a definitive film," said Jewhurst.
Thomas, who also wrote the book Voyage of the Damned, about Jewish refugees, recalled: "The Vatican people said, 'How wonderful, the truth out at last'."
"The Pope's Jews: The Vatican's Secret Plan to Save Jews from the Nazis" is published by The Robson Press on 7 March
Author uncovers evidence on Pius XII's wartime efforts to save Jewish refugees
Pius XII has long been vilified as "Hitler's pope", accused of failing publicly to condemn the genocide of Europe's Jews. Now a British author has unearthed extensive material that Vatican insiders believe will restore his reputation, revealing the part that he played in saving lives and opposing Nazism. Gordon Thomas, a Protestant, was given access to previously unpublished Vatican documents and tracked down victims, priests and others who had not told their stories before.
The Pope's Jews, which will be published next month, details how Pius gave his blessing to the establishment of safe houses in the Vatican and Europe's convents and monasteries. He oversaw a secret operation with code names and fake documents for priests who risked their lives to shelter Jews, some of whom were even made Vatican subjects. Thomas shows, for example, that priests were instructed to issue baptism certificates to hundreds of Jews hidden in Genoa, Rome and elsewhere in Italy. More than 2,000 Jews in Hungary were given fabricated Vatican documents identifying them as Catholics and a network saved German Jews by bringing them to Rome. The pope appointed a priest with extensive funds with which to provide food, clothing and medicine. More than 4,000 Jews were hidden in convents and monasteries across Italy.
During and immediately after the war, the pope was considered a Jewish saviour. Jewish leaders – such as Jerusalem's chief rabbi in 1944 – said the people of Israel would never forget what he and his delegates "are doing for our unfortunate brothers and sisters at the most tragic hour". Jewish newspapers in Britain and America echoed that praise, and Hitler branded him "a Jew lover".
However, his image turned sour in the 1960s, thanks to Soviet antagonism towards the Vatican and a German play by Rolf Hochhuth, The Deputy, which vilified the pope, accusing him of silence and inaction over the Jews. It was a trend that intensified with the publication of Hitler's Pope, a book by John Cornwell.
However, as the Vatican's secretary of state before the war, the future pope contributed to the damning 1937 encyclical of Pius XI, With Burning Anxiety, and, as Pius XII he made condemnatory speeches that were widely interpreted at the time – including by Jewish leaders and newspapers – as clear condemnations of Hitler's racial policies. Due to the Vatican's traditionally diplomatic language, the accusation that Pius XII did not speak out has festered.
'How wonderful, the truth out at last'
Professor Ronald J Rychlak, the author of Hitler, the War and the Pope, said: "Gordon Thomas has found primary sources … He has tracked down family members, original documentation and established what really was a universal perception prior to the 1960s. He's shown what the people at the time – victims, rescuers and villains – all knew: that Pius XII was a great supporter of the victims of the Holocaust."Asked why the Vatican had not made the new material available until now or, where stories were known, disseminated them more widely,Thomas said: "The church thinks across centuries. If there's a dispute for 50 years, so what?"
William Doino, a Vatican historian, described Thomas's research as "unique and groundbreaking". He spoke of the book's new insight, for example, into Hugh O'Flaherty, an Irish priest: "Everybody has always praised [O'Flaherty] because he helped Jews and escaped POWs. They made a movie about him, The Scarlet and the Black, with Gregory Peck. However, they always say he was acting on his own authority and that Pius was either aloof or not giving him anything. Gordon has spoken extensively with O'Flaherty's family, who gave him private correspondence and told him that O'Flaherty said that everything was with Pius XII's co-operation."
The book also tells the story of Vittorio Sacerdoti, a young Jewish doctor who was able to work in a Vatican hospital, inventing a fictitious deadly disease that deterred Germans from entering. Dozens of fake patients were taught to cough convincingly.
Thomas interviewed Sacerdoti's cousin, who recalled that as a child she was one of those patients – "feeling there was nothing wrong with her, yet having to cough regularly in the ward".
The Vatican is so excited by The Pope's Jews that it is supporting a feature documentary film being planned by a British producer who has bought the rights to it.
Allen Jewhurst, who has produced documentaries for BBC TV's Panorama, said that, with more than a billion Catholics worldwide, interest in the story is huge. After a meeting with two cardinals at the Vatican, he and Thomas now hope to get exclusive access to the archives. "This will, hopefully, be a definitive film," said Jewhurst.
Thomas, who also wrote the book Voyage of the Damned, about Jewish refugees, recalled: "The Vatican people said, 'How wonderful, the truth out at last'."
"The Pope's Jews: The Vatican's Secret Plan to Save Jews from the Nazis" is published by The Robson Press on 7 March
Home, Sweet Home - The Pope's New Residence
To contact us Click HERE
Pope to live in Vatican monastery established by Blessed John Paul
By Cindy Wooden
SOURCE: Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican monastery where Pope Benedict XVI intends to live began its life as the Vatican gardener's house, but was established as a cloistered convent by Blessed John Paul II in 1994.
When Pope Benedict, 85, announced Feb. 11 that his age and declining energies prompted his decision to resign effective Feb. 28, the Vatican said he would move out to the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo while remodeling work was completed on the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican Gardens.
Pope Benedict said it was his intention to "devotedly serve the holy church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer."
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters Feb. 12 he did not know when the remodeling work would be finished and Pope Benedict could move in. He said, however, that because the monastery is small, the pope would be joined by a small staff, but another community of cloistered sisters would not be moving in.
The monastery -- a building of about 4,300 square feet -- had 12 monastic cells and a chapel. The complex, mostly hidden from view by a high fence and hedges, includes a vegetable garden. It occupies about 8,600 square feet on a hill to the west of the apse of St. Peter's Basilica.
Over the past 19 years, different orders of cloistered nuns have spent fixed terms of three-five years in the monastery. The first community was Poor Clares, then Carmelites, Benedictines and, most recently, Visitandine nuns. The Visitandine community left in November, and by early December the Vatican press office had told Catholic News Service that the monastery would be remodeled before anyone else moved in.
While contemplative nuns generally enter a monastery with the intention of remaining at that convent for life, Blessed John Paul set up a rotation system for the Vatican monastery to honor and highlight the variety of women's religious orders dedicated totally to prayer and manual labor.
The rules of the Mater Ecclesiae convent specified that the aim of the community living there is "the ministry of prayer, adoration, praise and reparation" in silence and solitude "to support the Holy Father in his daily care for the whole church."
An article in the Vatican newspaper announcing the foundation of the monastery in 1994 said, "The presence of a community completely dedicated to contemplation in a strict papal cloister near the See of Peter is an exemplary indication that contemplative life represents a richness and a treasure which the church does not intend to renounce."
A small core of the current building began its life as the gardener's house and included some ruins of a medieval tower that may have been part of the Vatican walls at the turn of the 13th century. In 1960, Blessed John XXIII invited his new archaeological research institute to have its base there. Father Lombardi said the building also was used for a time by Vatican Radio and was even briefly the residence of now-Cardinal Roberto Tucci, a Jesuit and longtime official at the radio.
(CNS/Paul Haring) |
SOURCE: Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican monastery where Pope Benedict XVI intends to live began its life as the Vatican gardener's house, but was established as a cloistered convent by Blessed John Paul II in 1994.
When Pope Benedict, 85, announced Feb. 11 that his age and declining energies prompted his decision to resign effective Feb. 28, the Vatican said he would move out to the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo while remodeling work was completed on the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican Gardens.
Pope Benedict said it was his intention to "devotedly serve the holy church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer."
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters Feb. 12 he did not know when the remodeling work would be finished and Pope Benedict could move in. He said, however, that because the monastery is small, the pope would be joined by a small staff, but another community of cloistered sisters would not be moving in.
The monastery -- a building of about 4,300 square feet -- had 12 monastic cells and a chapel. The complex, mostly hidden from view by a high fence and hedges, includes a vegetable garden. It occupies about 8,600 square feet on a hill to the west of the apse of St. Peter's Basilica.
Over the past 19 years, different orders of cloistered nuns have spent fixed terms of three-five years in the monastery. The first community was Poor Clares, then Carmelites, Benedictines and, most recently, Visitandine nuns. The Visitandine community left in November, and by early December the Vatican press office had told Catholic News Service that the monastery would be remodeled before anyone else moved in.
While contemplative nuns generally enter a monastery with the intention of remaining at that convent for life, Blessed John Paul set up a rotation system for the Vatican monastery to honor and highlight the variety of women's religious orders dedicated totally to prayer and manual labor.
The rules of the Mater Ecclesiae convent specified that the aim of the community living there is "the ministry of prayer, adoration, praise and reparation" in silence and solitude "to support the Holy Father in his daily care for the whole church."
An article in the Vatican newspaper announcing the foundation of the monastery in 1994 said, "The presence of a community completely dedicated to contemplation in a strict papal cloister near the See of Peter is an exemplary indication that contemplative life represents a richness and a treasure which the church does not intend to renounce."
A small core of the current building began its life as the gardener's house and included some ruins of a medieval tower that may have been part of the Vatican walls at the turn of the 13th century. In 1960, Blessed John XXIII invited his new archaeological research institute to have its base there. Father Lombardi said the building also was used for a time by Vatican Radio and was even briefly the residence of now-Cardinal Roberto Tucci, a Jesuit and longtime official at the radio.
What's next for Benedict and Rome?
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Published on National Catholic Reporter (http://ncronline.org)
| Feb. 12, 2013 NCR Today Benedict Resigns Rome When you're talking about a church with more than 2,000 years of history, you don't get a chance to use terms such as "uncharted waters" very often, but that's precisely where Catholicism finds itself in the wake of Benedict XVI's bombshell announcement that he plans to resign Feb. 28.
At the moment, the list of unknowns about what it all means is considerably longer than the certainties. During a Vatican briefing Tuesday, reporters amused themselves by compiling a list of all the times the spokesperson, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, replied to questions with some version of "I don't have precise information on that." They included:
That uncertainty, however, hasn't put a dent in the flow of analysis and guesswork, more or less informed, in Rome. The following represents what we can say as of today in response to some of the most obvious questions.
Was this truly a surprise?
A handful of intimates obviously had a small window of advance notice. For instance, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, had a canned tribute ready to offer as soon as the pope was finished making his announcement.
For the most part, however, even insiders were caught off-guard. I can testify to that from personal experience. As it happened, I was scheduled to have lunch with a senior Vatican official on Monday, a guy who works just down the hall from the papal apartment. After the news broke, he was as flabbergasted by it as I was.
It's still not entirely clear exactly when Benedict made a firm decision to resign and thus how long the Vatican managed to keep it under wraps.
The editor of the Vatican newspaper wrote Monday that Benedict decided to step down almost a year ago after a grueling six-day trip to Mexico and Cuba last March. Lombardi, however, attempted to play down the importance of that outing, describing it as simply "one stage" in the pope's growing conviction that he no longer had the stamina to do the job adequately. The suggestion was that it's not as if the day after Benedict returned to Rome last March, he had a firm plan in mind.
Lombardi suggested that tentative preparations for Benedict's resignation were under way by November, when a small group of sisters living in a cloistered convent on the Vatican grounds left the facility and work began to convert it into a residence. Lombardi did not say, however, whether at that time it was communicated to anyone that this residence would eventually be occupied by the former pope.
Lombardi also responded to a bit of speculation floated by an Italian paper that perhaps Benedict's decision was related to a medical procedure at a Roman clinic. According to the spokesperson, this was a routine battery change for his pacemaker, which was installed before his election to the papacy.
As a footnote, the Vatican had not officially confirmed before that Benedict has a pacemaker. Friends and people who worked with him in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith knew about it, but popes don't face the same pressure to release medical records as, say, presidents (and candidates for the presidency). The circumstances of the resignation already suggested that the cardinals electing the next pope may be more sensitive to potential health concerns, and this confirmation may add to that pressure.
(One point for the historical record. The coincidence that I happened to be in Rome when this happened has spawned speculation that I must have been in the know. While I'm usually happy to burnish my legend, the truth is that I just got lucky.)
When will the conclave begin?
Msgr. Guido Marini, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, told The Associated Press that under the terms of the event's constitution, it must be held 15 to 20 days after the period of sede vacanate, or "empty chair," begins Feb. 28. Doing the math, that means the conclave would begin somewhere between Friday, March 15, and Wednesday, March 20.
Given the perceived importance of having this wrapped up before Easter on March 31, that likely means the conclave will open on, or shortly after, March 15.
In all honesty, that 15-20 day delay is built into the rules largely to accommodate the circumstances surrounding a papal death, such as the need for cardinals around the world to drop everything and scramble to Rome, as well as allowances for the prescribed period of mourning for the dead pope and the funeral Mass. Since those things aren't required this time, the conclave probably could begin much earlier -- but this is the Vatican, and rules are rules.
Of course, it's impossible to say how long the conclave might take, and therefore when the church will have a new pope. The longest conclave in history took almost three years, the shortest around two hours. Given the Easter deadline and the desire to avoid impressions of gridlock and disarray, however, it's reasonable to think the conclave won't drag on more than a few days at most.
What's Benedict XVI going to do in the meantime?
Lombardi reminded the world this morning that until the bewitching hour of 8 p.m. Feb. 28, Benedict remains fully on the job. Lombardi confirmed he will maintain all the appointments presently on his calendar. They include:
To hear Lombardi and others tell it, he won't have any role at all.
"Benedict XVI will surely say absolutely nothing about the process of election," Lombardi told the media. "He will be retired and will not interfere in any way in the process. You can be assured that the cardinals will be completely autonomous in their decision."
That said, Benedict's imprint is nevertheless destined to be on the conclave in two ways.
First, he has by now appointed the majority of the cardinals who will elect his successor (67 out of 117 who will be under 80 when the sede vacante begins and thus hold the right to vote). In that sense, one can expect these are men who mostly share his outlook on things.
Second, because he's still alive, at least some cardinals may feel special pressure not to do anything that would be perceived as a repudiation of Benedict's papacy, or that they suspect would cause him consternation. How that might translate into choices inside the conclave isn't entirely clear, but it's a piece of the puzzle worth considering.
What will Benedict do after the new pope is on the job?
Here we're really in the realm of the hypothetical, because the only honest answer is that we just don't know.
It's reasonable to think that after some period of near-complete withdrawal to make it clear that the new pope is fully in charge, Benedict might want to resume writing on the scholarly and spiritual topics that have always been his passion.
Lombardi hinted at that possibility Tuesday, saying Benedict's long-awaited encyclical on faith (timed to coincide with the Year of Faith, and completing a triptych with his earlier works on love and hope) would not be ready to go before he steps down. He left open the possibility, however, that Benedict might be able to make use of this material in another form in a private capacity.
Whether Benedict will publish writings while he's still alive, however, or whether he'll take appointments, appear at Vatican events, or otherwise play some sort of public role, is all apparently still being pondered.
What are the implications of all this for future popes?
Once again, Vatican officials have been at pains to say that Benedict's is an "absolutely personal" choice, and that because every situation is different, it's impossible to say what future popes might do.
Lombardi made a special point today of stressing that Benedict wouldn't do anything to tie his successor's hands. He said, for instance, that while Benedict clearly wants a pope to be present at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in July, it will be up the next pontiff to freely decide if he wants to go or not.
(By the way, as of Tuesday, the official World Youth Day website still has a banner reading, "Pope to celebrate closing Mass." Lombardi has to concede that Benedict had told organizers "the pope" would be there, but laughingly added he never said it would be him.)
On the other hand, it's tough not to believe that Benedict XVI in some ways has set a precedent for the next time an aging pope finds himself facing diminishing strength and a set of challenges that arguably exceed his capacities. Italian radio Tuesday morning featured speculation that this could be a first step to a retirement age for pope, along the lines of the requirement for bishops to submit their resignations at 75.
That's one of the reasons some have styled Benedict's resignation a "collegial" act, meaning one that places the papacy more at the level of his fellow bishops rather than treating it as entirely beyond the rules that apply to other prelates.
Source URL (retrieved on 02/13/2013 - 06:39): http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/qa-benedicts-bombshell
Published on National Catholic Reporter (http://ncronline.org)Q&A on Benedict's bombshell
At the moment, the list of unknowns about what it all means is considerably longer than the certainties. During a Vatican briefing Tuesday, reporters amused themselves by compiling a list of all the times the spokesperson, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, replied to questions with some version of "I don't have precise information on that." They included:
- Exactly when will Benedict XVI depart for Castel Gandolfo after the formal end of his papacy at 8 p.m. Rome time Feb. 28, and when exactly will he return to move into a former monastery on Vatican grounds?
- What will happen to symbols of Benedict's papacy, such as papal ring and seal?
- Will Benedict take part in the public ceremonies of his successor, such as the installation Mass of the new pope?
- What will Benedict's title be after he steps down?
- Who exactly will move in with Benedict to run his household and act as aides?
That uncertainty, however, hasn't put a dent in the flow of analysis and guesswork, more or less informed, in Rome. The following represents what we can say as of today in response to some of the most obvious questions.
Was this truly a surprise?
A handful of intimates obviously had a small window of advance notice. For instance, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, had a canned tribute ready to offer as soon as the pope was finished making his announcement.
For the most part, however, even insiders were caught off-guard. I can testify to that from personal experience. As it happened, I was scheduled to have lunch with a senior Vatican official on Monday, a guy who works just down the hall from the papal apartment. After the news broke, he was as flabbergasted by it as I was.
It's still not entirely clear exactly when Benedict made a firm decision to resign and thus how long the Vatican managed to keep it under wraps.
The editor of the Vatican newspaper wrote Monday that Benedict decided to step down almost a year ago after a grueling six-day trip to Mexico and Cuba last March. Lombardi, however, attempted to play down the importance of that outing, describing it as simply "one stage" in the pope's growing conviction that he no longer had the stamina to do the job adequately. The suggestion was that it's not as if the day after Benedict returned to Rome last March, he had a firm plan in mind.
Lombardi suggested that tentative preparations for Benedict's resignation were under way by November, when a small group of sisters living in a cloistered convent on the Vatican grounds left the facility and work began to convert it into a residence. Lombardi did not say, however, whether at that time it was communicated to anyone that this residence would eventually be occupied by the former pope.
Lombardi also responded to a bit of speculation floated by an Italian paper that perhaps Benedict's decision was related to a medical procedure at a Roman clinic. According to the spokesperson, this was a routine battery change for his pacemaker, which was installed before his election to the papacy.
As a footnote, the Vatican had not officially confirmed before that Benedict has a pacemaker. Friends and people who worked with him in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith knew about it, but popes don't face the same pressure to release medical records as, say, presidents (and candidates for the presidency). The circumstances of the resignation already suggested that the cardinals electing the next pope may be more sensitive to potential health concerns, and this confirmation may add to that pressure.
(One point for the historical record. The coincidence that I happened to be in Rome when this happened has spawned speculation that I must have been in the know. While I'm usually happy to burnish my legend, the truth is that I just got lucky.)
When will the conclave begin?
Msgr. Guido Marini, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, told The Associated Press that under the terms of the event's constitution, it must be held 15 to 20 days after the period of sede vacanate, or "empty chair," begins Feb. 28. Doing the math, that means the conclave would begin somewhere between Friday, March 15, and Wednesday, March 20.
Given the perceived importance of having this wrapped up before Easter on March 31, that likely means the conclave will open on, or shortly after, March 15.
In all honesty, that 15-20 day delay is built into the rules largely to accommodate the circumstances surrounding a papal death, such as the need for cardinals around the world to drop everything and scramble to Rome, as well as allowances for the prescribed period of mourning for the dead pope and the funeral Mass. Since those things aren't required this time, the conclave probably could begin much earlier -- but this is the Vatican, and rules are rules.
Of course, it's impossible to say how long the conclave might take, and therefore when the church will have a new pope. The longest conclave in history took almost three years, the shortest around two hours. Given the Easter deadline and the desire to avoid impressions of gridlock and disarray, however, it's reasonable to think the conclave won't drag on more than a few days at most.
What's Benedict XVI going to do in the meantime?
Lombardi reminded the world this morning that until the bewitching hour of 8 p.m. Feb. 28, Benedict remains fully on the job. Lombardi confirmed he will maintain all the appointments presently on his calendar. They include:
- The Ash Wednesday service, which will be held in St. Peter's Basilica rather than the traditional station church of Santa Sabina to accommodate the larger than normal number of faithful as well as ecclesiastic dignitaries expected to show up. Lombardi said this will likely be the last large celebration presided over by Benedict XVI in St. Peter's.
- Appointments with Italian bishops making their ad limina visits to Rome, as well as audiences with visiting heads of state from Romania and Guatemala.
- An informal dialogue with the clergy of the Rome diocese, set for Thursday in the Vatican's Paul VI audience hall. By prior arrangement, Benedict agreed to discuss his experiences during the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the first (and presumably only) time he'll do so during this 50th anniversary year.
- The Vatican's weeklong Lenten retreat from Feb. 17 through Feb. 23, in which time most normal functions are suspended.
- His regular Sunday Angelus address Feb. 24 and his regular Wednesday general audience Feb. 27. That event will be staged in St. Peter's Square in anticipation of an overflow crowd wanting to bid the pope farewell.
To hear Lombardi and others tell it, he won't have any role at all.
"Benedict XVI will surely say absolutely nothing about the process of election," Lombardi told the media. "He will be retired and will not interfere in any way in the process. You can be assured that the cardinals will be completely autonomous in their decision."
That said, Benedict's imprint is nevertheless destined to be on the conclave in two ways.
First, he has by now appointed the majority of the cardinals who will elect his successor (67 out of 117 who will be under 80 when the sede vacante begins and thus hold the right to vote). In that sense, one can expect these are men who mostly share his outlook on things.
Second, because he's still alive, at least some cardinals may feel special pressure not to do anything that would be perceived as a repudiation of Benedict's papacy, or that they suspect would cause him consternation. How that might translate into choices inside the conclave isn't entirely clear, but it's a piece of the puzzle worth considering.
What will Benedict do after the new pope is on the job?
Here we're really in the realm of the hypothetical, because the only honest answer is that we just don't know.
It's reasonable to think that after some period of near-complete withdrawal to make it clear that the new pope is fully in charge, Benedict might want to resume writing on the scholarly and spiritual topics that have always been his passion.
Lombardi hinted at that possibility Tuesday, saying Benedict's long-awaited encyclical on faith (timed to coincide with the Year of Faith, and completing a triptych with his earlier works on love and hope) would not be ready to go before he steps down. He left open the possibility, however, that Benedict might be able to make use of this material in another form in a private capacity.
Whether Benedict will publish writings while he's still alive, however, or whether he'll take appointments, appear at Vatican events, or otherwise play some sort of public role, is all apparently still being pondered.
What are the implications of all this for future popes?
Once again, Vatican officials have been at pains to say that Benedict's is an "absolutely personal" choice, and that because every situation is different, it's impossible to say what future popes might do.
Lombardi made a special point today of stressing that Benedict wouldn't do anything to tie his successor's hands. He said, for instance, that while Benedict clearly wants a pope to be present at World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in July, it will be up the next pontiff to freely decide if he wants to go or not.
(By the way, as of Tuesday, the official World Youth Day website still has a banner reading, "Pope to celebrate closing Mass." Lombardi has to concede that Benedict had told organizers "the pope" would be there, but laughingly added he never said it would be him.)
On the other hand, it's tough not to believe that Benedict XVI in some ways has set a precedent for the next time an aging pope finds himself facing diminishing strength and a set of challenges that arguably exceed his capacities. Italian radio Tuesday morning featured speculation that this could be a first step to a retirement age for pope, along the lines of the requirement for bishops to submit their resignations at 75.
That's one of the reasons some have styled Benedict's resignation a "collegial" act, meaning one that places the papacy more at the level of his fellow bishops rather than treating it as entirely beyond the rules that apply to other prelates.
Source URL (retrieved on 02/13/2013 - 06:39): http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/qa-benedicts-bombshell
Ukrainian-Catholic to lead government's new religious freedom office
To contact us Click HERE
By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press February 19, 2013
SOURCE: Ottawa Citizen
MAPLE, Ont. - A Ukrainian-Catholic has been picked to lead a new federal office with a mandate to promote religious tolerance globally, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday followed through on an election promise made almost two years ago.
At a mosque north of Toronto, Harper named Andrew Bennett as ambassador of the Office of Religious Freedom, which will operate as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
"It says a lot about the government wanting to promote this aspect of human rights," said Bennett, 40, an academic who has worked for the Privy Council Office.
"It's (about) building awareness about the issue of religious freedom abroad; it's about interacting with the various communities here in Canada who are in the diaspora from these areas where religious freedom is not respected."
In remarks at the Ahmadiyya Muslim community centre and mosque, Harper said religious persecution is an urgent and ongoing global problem. He chronicled abuses against, among others, Jews, Coptic Christians, Muslims and Buddhists.
"Without fear or favour, Canada defends human rights around the world," Harper said. "We have not only spoken out, we have also taken action."
Harper said the location of the announcement underscored the fact that Bennett's job would be to promote religious freedom and tolerance regardless of belief or even non-belief.
Government sources said the Conservatives had a hard time finding someone to lead the office, which will have five full-time employees and come with a modest $5-million price tag that includes $500,000 for operations.
Colleagues described Bennett — currently dean of the 16-student Augustine College in downtown Ottawa — as an energetic, intelligent and empathetic man who at one point pondered the monastic life.
They said he would be able to rise to the political and philosophical challenges that will come with his new position.
"It would be a tough job for anyone but if anyone can do it, it's probably him," college president John Patrick said in an interview.
"He has both the intellectual and diplomatic skills that are needed."
College administrator Harold Visser said Bennett would be able to reach out to all religions.
"There's nothing in me that says Andrew is going to be, as some would suggest, some kind of Christian fundamentalist who's out there to bang the Christian drum," Visser said.
Tuesday's announcement before guests representing several different faiths came after fits and starts that saw government officials touting the imminent creation of the office over the course of the past year.
New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair criticized the initiative for falling short of what he said the government had said it would do.
"The Conservatives have been promising for some time to have a major initiative on promoting democracy," Mulcair said in Calgary.
"If we're going to be pushing for democracy around the world, we should be talking about democratic institutions."
Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community praised the initiative, but said Canada had to be vigilant in protecting its borders from those who wish to immigrate "based on their hidden religious hatred of others."
The Conservatives have maintained the idea for the new department branch came after Harper met Pakistan's minister for minorities, Shabhaz Bhatti, shortly before he was shot to death by extremists in Islamabad in 2011. The extremists accused Bhatti, a Christian, of violating Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law.
Harper praised Bhatti as a person who worked fearlessly for the cause of religious tolerance.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who has met religious figures over the past 18 months as he sought to get the office going, was on a tour of Latin America and could not attend the announcement.
_ With files from Michelle McQuigge in Toronto, Mike Blanchfield in Ottawa, and Lauren Krugel in Calgary.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SOURCE: CBC News
Andrew Bennett, a Christian college dean and former civil servant, has been named ambassador for Canada's Office of Religious Freedom, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today.
"Around the world, violations of religious freedom are widespread and they are increasing," Harper said in a speech at the Ahmadiyya Muslim community centre and mosque in Maple, Ont., north of Toronto."Dr. Bennett is a man of principle and deep convictions and he will encourage the protection of religious minorities around the world so all can practise their faith without fear of violence and repression."
Harper first promised the new branch of the Foreign Affairs Department during the last federal election campaign.
Bennett, a Catholic, is dean of Augustine College, a Christian liberal arts college in Ottawa that graduates about 16 students a year. He has a PhD in politics from the University of Edinburgh and a master of arts in history from McGill University in Montreal.
Paul Bramadat of the University of Victoria told CBC Radio's Louise Elliott that Augustine College has a unique position on education — to basically return education to a time before "the acid of modernity," as it says on the college's website. Bramadat also noted that the college's purpose seems to be to prepare students to enter a secular world perceived as hostile.
The college's website says, "Augustine College accepts the model of education that reigned for millennia, until the modern age began to dismantle that tradition."
Before his appointment at Augustine College, Bennett was a government bureaucrat, working for the deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs. He later worked at the Export Development Corporation, and at the Privy Council Office.
Speaking to a group representing various religions, Harper told the story of meeting Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian cabinet minister from Pakistan whom the prime minister described as someone who took great risks to defend persecuted religious minorities in his country, including his fellow Christians. Three weeks after that meeting, Bhatti was assassinated in Islamabad, Harper said. A militant Islamist group took responsibility for his killing.
It has been said that Bhatti was the inspiration for the founding of the Office of Religious Freedom.
In a question-and-answer session with reporters, Harper denied the office would be modelled after its U.S. counterpart, which has been accused of being biased towards Christians.
Harper said that Canada is "a very different country." He added, "Obviously, one of the reasons we're holding this event here today and being hosted by the Ahmadiya Muslim community is to make it very clear that this is not an office to promote a particular religion, this is an office to promote religious diversity and religious tolerance around the world."
Bennett, in his early forties, told reporters he didn't see the office as promoting Christianity over other religions. "This is not about a theological question, it's about a human issue, not a theological issue, so all religions, all people of faith and again those who choose not to have faith need to be protected, their rights need to be respected, so it's promoting that, that's the mandate."
Janet Epp Buckingham, of Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., who was invited to attend the announcement, said that Bennett "is young, he will have a steep learning curve, and as a professor, will have to come to grips with the reality of religious persecution as it exists around the world." She continued, "University professors tend to be, as we put it, in the ivory tower. They're a little bit separated from the cut and thrust of politics. He will be very much under scrutiny, so it will be a very challenging role."
Closed-door meeting
In 2011, a closed-door meeting about the office, organized by the government, was criticized by some scholars after it turned out four of the six panellists being consulted were drawn from Christian religions, with the other two being Jewish and Baha'i.
Don Hutchinson, of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, who was one of the six panellists consulted by the government, told CBC that different religious groups had been widely consulted.
But Colin Clay, an Anglican priest in Saskatoon, who heads both Multi-Faith Saskatoon and Multi-Faith Saskatchewan, said he didn't know of any consultation with his groups and first found out about the proposed Office of Religious Freedom by reading about it in a newspaper.
Asked if the office might be slanted toward Christians, Hutchinson said, "The most persecuted faith on the planet is the Christian faith community. So in striking a balance, one would have to look at the Orthodox or Roman Catholic or evangelical communities as well as the needs of the various Muslim communities and the Baha'i and other groups."
Arvind Sharma, who teaches comparative religion at McGill, told CBC that one of the reasons Christian faiths are the most persecuted is because they are also the most proselytizing in many parts of the world.
"Conversion can mean two things when related to religious freedom", he said. "My right to change my religion and somebody else's right to ask me to change my religion. The person who is trying to convert somebody may use deception, may use threat, may use temptation and so on."
However, Sharma also said, "I see a great opportunity because the office is being set up in Canada and Canada is a self-consciously multi-cultural society, so it has this great opportunity to define religious freedom in a way which is inclusive, which takes the views of all the religions in the world into this view and not just the missionary religions."
'It must not become Christian-centric'
Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, a human rights advocate and his party's critic on human rights, welcomed the office and noted that religious freedom is a "fundamental human right under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms."
However, he warned, "it must not become Christian-centric, or it must not appear to prefer a particular religion. In other words, there has to be an egalitarian approach."
Dominic LeBlanc, the Liberal foreign affairs critic, said in a press release, "In regions where this office is likely to be active, religion often conflicts with our understanding of other important human rights – including LGBTTQ and women’s rights. This government must explain how it will guarantee that it does not feed a perception that religious rights are supreme."
Paul Dewar, the NDP's critic for foreign affairs, issued a press release Tuesday, saying, "The Office of Religious Freedoms, as introduced today, represents both a broken Conservative promise and a missed opportunity. Conservatives had repeatedly promised a democratic development agency, but they broke that promise and now they're moving forward on a much more limited and narrow approach."
Dewar noted that Bennett was chosen to lead the agency without any consultation with Parliament or opposition parties.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
See also "Ottawa professor chosen Canada’s ambassador for religious freedom"
By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press February 19, 2013
SOURCE: Ottawa Citizen
MAPLE, Ont. - A Ukrainian-Catholic has been picked to lead a new federal office with a mandate to promote religious tolerance globally, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday followed through on an election promise made almost two years ago.
At a mosque north of Toronto, Harper named Andrew Bennett as ambassador of the Office of Religious Freedom, which will operate as part of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
"It says a lot about the government wanting to promote this aspect of human rights," said Bennett, 40, an academic who has worked for the Privy Council Office. "It's (about) building awareness about the issue of religious freedom abroad; it's about interacting with the various communities here in Canada who are in the diaspora from these areas where religious freedom is not respected."
In remarks at the Ahmadiyya Muslim community centre and mosque, Harper said religious persecution is an urgent and ongoing global problem. He chronicled abuses against, among others, Jews, Coptic Christians, Muslims and Buddhists.
"Without fear or favour, Canada defends human rights around the world," Harper said. "We have not only spoken out, we have also taken action."
Harper said the location of the announcement underscored the fact that Bennett's job would be to promote religious freedom and tolerance regardless of belief or even non-belief.
Government sources said the Conservatives had a hard time finding someone to lead the office, which will have five full-time employees and come with a modest $5-million price tag that includes $500,000 for operations.
Colleagues described Bennett — currently dean of the 16-student Augustine College in downtown Ottawa — as an energetic, intelligent and empathetic man who at one point pondered the monastic life.
They said he would be able to rise to the political and philosophical challenges that will come with his new position.
"It would be a tough job for anyone but if anyone can do it, it's probably him," college president John Patrick said in an interview.
"He has both the intellectual and diplomatic skills that are needed."
College administrator Harold Visser said Bennett would be able to reach out to all religions.
"There's nothing in me that says Andrew is going to be, as some would suggest, some kind of Christian fundamentalist who's out there to bang the Christian drum," Visser said.
Tuesday's announcement before guests representing several different faiths came after fits and starts that saw government officials touting the imminent creation of the office over the course of the past year.
New Democrat Leader Tom Mulcair criticized the initiative for falling short of what he said the government had said it would do.
"The Conservatives have been promising for some time to have a major initiative on promoting democracy," Mulcair said in Calgary.
"If we're going to be pushing for democracy around the world, we should be talking about democratic institutions."
Members of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community praised the initiative, but said Canada had to be vigilant in protecting its borders from those who wish to immigrate "based on their hidden religious hatred of others."
The Conservatives have maintained the idea for the new department branch came after Harper met Pakistan's minister for minorities, Shabhaz Bhatti, shortly before he was shot to death by extremists in Islamabad in 2011. The extremists accused Bhatti, a Christian, of violating Pakistan's controversial blasphemy law.
Harper praised Bhatti as a person who worked fearlessly for the cause of religious tolerance.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, who has met religious figures over the past 18 months as he sought to get the office going, was on a tour of Latin America and could not attend the announcement.
_ With files from Michelle McQuigge in Toronto, Mike Blanchfield in Ottawa, and Lauren Krugel in Calgary.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
SOURCE: CBC News
Andrew Bennett, a Christian college dean and former civil servant, has been named ambassador for Canada's Office of Religious Freedom, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today.
"Around the world, violations of religious freedom are widespread and they are increasing," Harper said in a speech at the Ahmadiyya Muslim community centre and mosque in Maple, Ont., north of Toronto.
"Dr. Bennett is a man of principle and deep convictions and he will encourage the protection of religious minorities around the world so all can practise their faith without fear of violence and repression." Harper first promised the new branch of the Foreign Affairs Department during the last federal election campaign.
Bennett, a Catholic, is dean of Augustine College, a Christian liberal arts college in Ottawa that graduates about 16 students a year. He has a PhD in politics from the University of Edinburgh and a master of arts in history from McGill University in Montreal.
Paul Bramadat of the University of Victoria told CBC Radio's Louise Elliott that Augustine College has a unique position on education — to basically return education to a time before "the acid of modernity," as it says on the college's website. Bramadat also noted that the college's purpose seems to be to prepare students to enter a secular world perceived as hostile.
The college's website says, "Augustine College accepts the model of education that reigned for millennia, until the modern age began to dismantle that tradition."
Before his appointment at Augustine College, Bennett was a government bureaucrat, working for the deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs. He later worked at the Export Development Corporation, and at the Privy Council Office.
Speaking to a group representing various religions, Harper told the story of meeting Shahbaz Bhatti, a Christian cabinet minister from Pakistan whom the prime minister described as someone who took great risks to defend persecuted religious minorities in his country, including his fellow Christians. Three weeks after that meeting, Bhatti was assassinated in Islamabad, Harper said. A militant Islamist group took responsibility for his killing.
It has been said that Bhatti was the inspiration for the founding of the Office of Religious Freedom.
In a question-and-answer session with reporters, Harper denied the office would be modelled after its U.S. counterpart, which has been accused of being biased towards Christians.
Harper said that Canada is "a very different country." He added, "Obviously, one of the reasons we're holding this event here today and being hosted by the Ahmadiya Muslim community is to make it very clear that this is not an office to promote a particular religion, this is an office to promote religious diversity and religious tolerance around the world."
Bennett, in his early forties, told reporters he didn't see the office as promoting Christianity over other religions. "This is not about a theological question, it's about a human issue, not a theological issue, so all religions, all people of faith and again those who choose not to have faith need to be protected, their rights need to be respected, so it's promoting that, that's the mandate."
Janet Epp Buckingham, of Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., who was invited to attend the announcement, said that Bennett "is young, he will have a steep learning curve, and as a professor, will have to come to grips with the reality of religious persecution as it exists around the world." She continued, "University professors tend to be, as we put it, in the ivory tower. They're a little bit separated from the cut and thrust of politics. He will be very much under scrutiny, so it will be a very challenging role."
Closed-door meeting
In 2011, a closed-door meeting about the office, organized by the government, was criticized by some scholars after it turned out four of the six panellists being consulted were drawn from Christian religions, with the other two being Jewish and Baha'i.
Don Hutchinson, of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, who was one of the six panellists consulted by the government, told CBC that different religious groups had been widely consulted.
But Colin Clay, an Anglican priest in Saskatoon, who heads both Multi-Faith Saskatoon and Multi-Faith Saskatchewan, said he didn't know of any consultation with his groups and first found out about the proposed Office of Religious Freedom by reading about it in a newspaper.
Asked if the office might be slanted toward Christians, Hutchinson said, "The most persecuted faith on the planet is the Christian faith community. So in striking a balance, one would have to look at the Orthodox or Roman Catholic or evangelical communities as well as the needs of the various Muslim communities and the Baha'i and other groups."
Arvind Sharma, who teaches comparative religion at McGill, told CBC that one of the reasons Christian faiths are the most persecuted is because they are also the most proselytizing in many parts of the world.
"Conversion can mean two things when related to religious freedom", he said. "My right to change my religion and somebody else's right to ask me to change my religion. The person who is trying to convert somebody may use deception, may use threat, may use temptation and so on."
However, Sharma also said, "I see a great opportunity because the office is being set up in Canada and Canada is a self-consciously multi-cultural society, so it has this great opportunity to define religious freedom in a way which is inclusive, which takes the views of all the religions in the world into this view and not just the missionary religions."
'It must not become Christian-centric'
Liberal MP Irwin Cotler, a human rights advocate and his party's critic on human rights, welcomed the office and noted that religious freedom is a "fundamental human right under our Charter of Rights and Freedoms."
However, he warned, "it must not become Christian-centric, or it must not appear to prefer a particular religion. In other words, there has to be an egalitarian approach."
Dominic LeBlanc, the Liberal foreign affairs critic, said in a press release, "In regions where this office is likely to be active, religion often conflicts with our understanding of other important human rights – including LGBTTQ and women’s rights. This government must explain how it will guarantee that it does not feed a perception that religious rights are supreme."
Paul Dewar, the NDP's critic for foreign affairs, issued a press release Tuesday, saying, "The Office of Religious Freedoms, as introduced today, represents both a broken Conservative promise and a missed opportunity. Conservatives had repeatedly promised a democratic development agency, but they broke that promise and now they're moving forward on a much more limited and narrow approach."
Dewar noted that Bennett was chosen to lead the agency without any consultation with Parliament or opposition parties.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
See also "Ottawa professor chosen Canada’s ambassador for religious freedom"
22 Şubat 2013 Cuma
Registration for 2013 courses opens tomorrow!
To contact us Click HERE
(Constance Sayas, watercolor)
Registration for the spring 2013 courses opens tomorrow, 9 a.m. Course catalog can be viewed by clicking here (Google account needed). You can register on-line, per phone or in person.
Happy hunting and good luck for tomorrow! Denver Botanic Gradens' Certificate in Botanical Art and Illustration (http://www.botanicgardens.org/pageinpage/botanicalillustration.cfm)
(Constance Sayas, watercolor)Registration for the spring 2013 courses opens tomorrow, 9 a.m. Course catalog can be viewed by clicking here (Google account needed). You can register on-line, per phone or in person.
Happy hunting and good luck for tomorrow! Denver Botanic Gradens' Certificate in Botanical Art and Illustration (http://www.botanicgardens.org/pageinpage/botanicalillustration.cfm)
Bird Illustration Course at El Charco del Ingenio Botanical Garden
To contact us Click HERE
(Alifie Rojas, graphite)
The Bird illustration course at El Charco del Ingenio Botanical Garden (San Miguel de Allende, GTO, Mexico) started with studying the different parts of the bird in the classroom then continued with live sketching of chickens and ducks. Finally everybody was illustrating from photos using also 3-dimensional model as helping tool to solve the perspective issues. Some of the students had not done any illustration prior to this class and the progress made during the 5-day course was amazing. Congratulations for all the 14 students; congratulations and thank you for Maestro Randy Raak. Students from San Miguel de Allende and those who were travelling from distance (some all the way from Mexico City) very happy for the learning experience. SBAI (School of Botanical Art and Illustration) will be back! Please see images from the class by clicking here.
(Lots of individual guidance, Maestro Raak and Pakina)Denver Botanic Gradens' Certificate in Botanical Art and Illustration (http://www.botanicgardens.org/pageinpage/botanicalillustration.cfm)
(Alifie Rojas, graphite)The Bird illustration course at El Charco del Ingenio Botanical Garden (San Miguel de Allende, GTO, Mexico) started with studying the different parts of the bird in the classroom then continued with live sketching of chickens and ducks. Finally everybody was illustrating from photos using also 3-dimensional model as helping tool to solve the perspective issues. Some of the students had not done any illustration prior to this class and the progress made during the 5-day course was amazing. Congratulations for all the 14 students; congratulations and thank you for Maestro Randy Raak. Students from San Miguel de Allende and those who were travelling from distance (some all the way from Mexico City) very happy for the learning experience. SBAI (School of Botanical Art and Illustration) will be back! Please see images from the class by clicking here.
(Lots of individual guidance, Maestro Raak and Pakina)Denver Botanic Gradens' Certificate in Botanical Art and Illustration (http://www.botanicgardens.org/pageinpage/botanicalillustration.cfm)
Your Gift Will Double!
To contact us Click HERE
(Karen Cleaver, watercolor)
As 2012 comes to a close, the School of Botanical Art & Illustration has been generously offered a challenge grant in the amount of $7,500. For every new dollar donated to the School of Botanical Art and Illustration between today and December 30, 2012, funds will go to scientific equipment (such as microscopes) and other teaching tools – and most importantly, be matched by a donor up to the amount of $7,500. This is a great opportunity to enhance the School’s resources. The timing is perfect! Your gift will be fully tax deductible as allowed by law.
You can transfer your gift in three different ways: 1. Process your secure gift online by clicking here or the following link: www.botanicgardens.org/annual-fund· Click on donate now button. Select “BI Challenge (by 12/30/2012)” from the designationdrop-down menu. 2. Deliver or mail your check payable to Denver Botanic Gardens by Friday, December 28, 2012. Our address: DBG, 909 York Street, Denver, CO 80206. Please add “BI Challenge” on the memo line. 3. Call the Gardens’ Director of Development, Johanna Kelly at 720-865-3517.
Thank you for your consideration and your constant support of botanical art and illustration here at the Gardens.Denver Botanic Gradens' Certificate in Botanical Art and Illustration (http://www.botanicgardens.org/pageinpage/botanicalillustration.cfm)
(Karen Cleaver, watercolor)As 2012 comes to a close, the School of Botanical Art & Illustration has been generously offered a challenge grant in the amount of $7,500. For every new dollar donated to the School of Botanical Art and Illustration between today and December 30, 2012, funds will go to scientific equipment (such as microscopes) and other teaching tools – and most importantly, be matched by a donor up to the amount of $7,500. This is a great opportunity to enhance the School’s resources. The timing is perfect! Your gift will be fully tax deductible as allowed by law.
You can transfer your gift in three different ways: 1. Process your secure gift online by clicking here or the following link: www.botanicgardens.org/annual-fund· Click on donate now button. Select “BI Challenge (by 12/30/2012)” from the designationdrop-down menu. 2. Deliver or mail your check payable to Denver Botanic Gardens by Friday, December 28, 2012. Our address: DBG, 909 York Street, Denver, CO 80206. Please add “BI Challenge” on the memo line. 3. Call the Gardens’ Director of Development, Johanna Kelly at 720-865-3517.
Thank you for your consideration and your constant support of botanical art and illustration here at the Gardens.Denver Botanic Gradens' Certificate in Botanical Art and Illustration (http://www.botanicgardens.org/pageinpage/botanicalillustration.cfm)
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