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Thursday, 24th April 2008

Russia -- Pope's message to the Russian people meets with a warm response

Königstein, Germany. Father Joaquín Alliende, the international ecclesiastical assistant and president-elect of the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need, has expressed his delight at the warm reception of the Holy Father's message to the Russian people, both among the Russian public and in the international press. It was very pleasing, he said, that the papal greeting should have been so well received not only by Catholics in Russia but also by Orthodox believers and by those in non-Church circles. 

According to Father Alliende, the Pope's greeting had "sprung from the heartfelt desire of the Holy Father to promote the growth of mutual love between the Catholic and the Orthodox Church", as had been evident right from the start of his pontificate. As ACN's spiritual director, Father Alliende had been received in private audience by the Holy Father on the day the message was filmed and had seen for himself how profoundly convinced Benedict XVI had been that he could in this way convey his esteem and affection for all the people of Russia. The Pope's address to the Russian people, which formed part of a documentary film about the life of Benedict XVI, should be seen as "an important step along the road towards a deeper sense of closeness between Catholic and Orthodox Christians", Father Alliende emphasised. 

Peter Humeniuk, ACN's Russia specialist, explained that the documentary film including the papal message had brought the Holy Father closer to many of the Russian people. Viewers had seen the Pope as "a person of great dignity and at the same time kind and warmhearted personality", he said. Many people had been surprised that the Pope was "so human and kind", and many people had found it especially beautiful that the Holy Father had spoken part of his message in Russian, he added. 

One Catholic priest working in Eastern Siberia told ACN that he thought the film had been "a real breakthrough" and would undoubtedly "bear fruit for the Church of God in East and West". It was a source of great pleasure for Catholics to know that the film project had also been approved by the Orthodox Church, he said, for this showed what could be achieved when "our Churches draw closer together". 

The international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need , which is under the direct jurisdiction of the Holy See, sponsored and promoted the film about Pope Benedict XVI. It was first broadcast on April 16, to mark the Pope's birthday, on the Russian State news channel, Vesti. 

emk

 

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Thursday, 17th April 2008

Haiti: Bishops’ Conference expresses solidarity with their people

Königstein, Germany. – The President of the bishops' conference of Haiti, Archbishop Luis N. Kébreau, has written an open letter expressing the closeness and support of the bishops of the country to the people in the current crisis. At the same time they offer words of comfort, solidarity and sympathy to the victims of the violent unrest which has been occurring since the beginning of April this year. The bishops speak of a crisis such as the country has not known hitherto. 

At the same time the letter expresses the condemnation of the bishops' conference for every form of violence. Although the right to demonstrate is "sacred", they say, this gives no one the right "to injure the life or possessions of others". They reserve particular condemnation for the fact that under age children and youths are being exploited "for criminal and deceitful ends". The bishops are fully aware, the letter continues, of the problems to which young people are exposed when they are exploited and manipulated. Hence they call on all those with responsibility in regard to the upbringing of the young to raise them in such a way that they "become worthy citizens who respect the cultural and national patrimony" 

The international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has likewise called for solidarity with the people of Haiti and with the Catholic Church in the country. In October last year a delegation from ACN visited Haiti, and since then the charity has given over €500,000 in aid to the country. 

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world. Since the beginning of April soaring world food prices have led to violent unrest in the country. 

emk

 

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Monday, 14th April 2008

Papal birthday -- Russian television broadcasts message of greeting from the Holy Father to the Russian people

Moscow/Rome/Königstein. For the first time ever, on the birthday of the Pope on 16 April, a state television channel in Russia will be broadcasting a documentary film about Pope Benedict XVI. The climax of the film will be an address by the Holy Father in which, for the first time in history, the Head of the Catholic Church will speak on television to the Russian people and express his regard for them. His message of greeting will be addressed to Patriarch Alexei II, the Head of the Russian Orthodox Church, to Orthodox Christians, to the Catholic bishops and ordinary Catholics in Russia and to all those living on Russian soil. In his address, which will be partly in Russian, Benedict XVI will emphasise above all the necessity of dialogue among Christians.

 

The documentary film was sponsored and promoted by the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need and will be broadcast by the state news channel Vesti. It will also include important stages in the life and work of Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, whose life is as yet little known among the Russian people. Among others interviewed, who formerly accompanied the present Pope during his life will be his elder brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger who, as he himself acknowledges, rarely gives interviews but agreed to make an exception for the Russian film crew. The documentary is introduced by Archpriest Igor Vyzhanov, the secretary for inter-Christian dialogue of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.

 

Both in Rome and in Moscow there is an awareness that the "film and the Papal message are a beautiful symbol of the process of rapprochement between the two Churches" as ACN’s Russia expert, Peter Humeniuk puts it. It was he who has been in charge of the project right from the start and whose ideas formed part of the input for the film. The project was carried out in close collaboration with the Moscow Patriarchate -- and in particular with Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, the Vice Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, who provided expert support for the project -- and likewise with the Apostolic Nuncio in Moscow, Archbishop Antonio Mennini. The film was produced in Saint Petersburg by the interdenominational Christian media agency Blagovest Media, under the direction of Nikolaj Goryachkin in collaboration with the Catholic Radio and Television Network (CRTN), which is based near Frankfurt in Germany and headed by Mark von Riedemann. The Vatican television channel CTV provided extensive archive material for the project. Director Nikolaj Goryachkin paid particular tribute to the helpfulness and cooperation on the part of Father Federico Lombardi, the head of the Vatican press office.

 

Peter Humeniuk comments, "During my journeys throughout Russia I come across many people who express a desire for objective information about the Pope and the Catholic Church. I hope that the film about Benedict XVI will help to meet this need." He added that it was "an occasion of great joy and a historic event" that the Holy Father should address himself personally to the Russian people. He finds it an especially beautiful gesture that the film is being televised on the Pope's birthday.

All in all, Peter Humeniuk believes, the dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church is progressing. ACN sees itself as a "catalyst" in this process, he added, for although the charity is not a direct partner in the interreligious dialogue, it does promote many initiatives that serve this end. In this context he sees the film as "a sign" that Christians are turning towards one another and becoming aware of the shared basis of the two Churches. 

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is an international Catholic pastoral charity under the direct jurisdiction of the Holy See. At the express wish of the late Pope John Paul II, the charity has been committed since the early 1990s to promoting a more intensive dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church. In April 2007, in a private audience, Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to the involvement of ACN in the cause of reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church and warmly approved its work. 

emk