Subject: VISnews 120117
Organization: VIS
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
TWENTY SECOND YEAR - N. 12
ENGLISH
TUESDAY, 17 JANUARY 2012
SUMMARY:
- Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Begins Tomorrow
- Day for Dialogue between Catholics and Jews
- New Director of the Vatican Press
___________________________________________________________
WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY BEGINS TOMORROW
VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2012 (VIS) - The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is
due to begin tomorrow, 18 January, under the theme "We will all be changed
by the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ". The Week is promoted by the World
Council of Churches (WCC), a worldwide fellowship of 349 Churches seeking
unity, common witness and Christian service. The Catholic Church
participates in this ecumenical initiative, despite not being a member of
the WCC.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is traditionally celebrated from 18
to 15 January in the northern hemisphere, and around the time of Pentecost
in the southern hemisphere. It brings together Christian parishes and
congregations from different confessional families all over the world, who
meet and pray together in special ecumenical celebrations.
Each year ecumenical partners in a particular region are asked to prepare
a basic text on a biblical theme. Then an international group with
WCC-sponsored (Protestant and Orthodox) and Roman Catholic participants
edits this text to ensure it is linked with the search for Christian unity.
The text is jointly published by the Pontifical Council for Promoting
Christian Unity, and by the WCC's Commission on Faith and Order which also
accompanies the entire production process of the text. The final material is
sent to member Churches and Roman Catholic dioceses, which are invited to
translate the text and contextualise it for their own use.
This year's theme comes from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians
which promises the transformation of human life - with all its apparent
dimensions of 'triumph' and 'defeat' - through the victory of Christ's
resurrection.
Following the Angelus prayer on Sunday, Benedict XVI invited the faithful,
"as individuals and in communities, to participate spiritually, and where
possible practically in the Week of Prayer, to ask God for the gift of full
unity among the disciples of Christ".
RV/ VIS
20120117 (320)
DAY FOR DIALOGUE BETWEEN CATHOLICS AND JEWS
VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2012 (VIS) - Today in Italy marks the Day for Dialogue
between Catholics and Jews, an initiative launched by the Italian Episcopal
Conference in 1990 with the aim of increasing mutual understanding among the
members of the two religions.
In an interview with Vatican Radio Rabbi Giuseppe Laras, president
emeritus of the Italian Rabbinic Assembly, explained that the aim of the Day
"is to simplify and intensify Jewish-Christian dialogue. To this end, Jews
and Catholics meet to reflect especially on those themes we can confront
together, such as the search for peace and mutual understanding after two
thousand years of misinterpretation and distressing events. Thus, both the
Catholic and Jewish worlds await this Day with high expectations, because
the more dialogue is consolidated the more the risk of anti-Semitism
diminishes".
Some years ago the Italian Episcopal Conference and the Italian Rabbinic
Assembly agreed to dedicate the Days to the Ten Commandments, and the theme
for 2012 is "Thou shalt not kill". Rabi Laras commented: "The command not to
kill is vital for men and women, irrespective of their membership of one
religion or the other. It is vital to respect and honour human life in all
its sacredness and uniqueness. This is an important theme for our own times,
in which throughout the world respect for human life is often ignored and
violated".
For his part, Fr. Gino Battaglia, director of the National Office for
Ecumenism and Inter-religious Dialogue, observed that "the rich Jewish
tradition, developed through millennia of studying the Law, makes a
fundamental contribution. Yet the validity of this Commandment is evident,
and not only in the literal sense of murder being a crime. I am thinking,
for example, of the battle to abolish the death penalty, the problem of
widespread violence, ... and of respect for life. In this sense,
Jesus-Christian dialogue takes concrete form in its commitment to society
and to the world".
.../ VIS
20120117 (330)
NEW DIRECTOR OF THE VATICAN PRESS
VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2012 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio
Bertone S.D.B. has appointed Fr. Sergio Pellini S.D.B. as director general
of the Vatican Press.
SS/ VIS
20120117 (40)
_____________________________________________
For further information and research of documents visit:
www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va
VIS english (text format) sends its news service only to those who have
requested it. If you no longer wish to receive the service, visit the
following link and click on calcel. Don't forget to select language and text
format:
http://press.catholica.va/news_services/press/vis/englinde.php
COPYRIGHT: The news items contained in the Vatican Information Service
may be used, in part or in their entirety, by quoting the source:
V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service
--- NetMgr/2 1.0y+
* Origin: NetMgr+ @ Sursum Corda! BBS Meridian MS USA (1:396/45)
|
