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VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - N° 205
DATE 14-11-2012
Summary:
- THREE WAYS TO KNOW GOD: THE WORLD, MAN AND FAITH
- COMMEMORATION OF BLESSED JOHN PAUL II'S ITALIAN PARLIAMENT VISIT
- BENEDICT XVI'S “THE INFANCY NARRATIVES” TO BE PRESENTED ON 20
NOVEMBER
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
___________________________________________________________
THREE WAYS TO KNOW GOD: THE WORLD, MAN AND FAITH
Vatican City, 14 November 2012 (VIS) - Three ways to knowing God (the world,
the human being and the faith) provided the theme for Benedict XVI's
catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in the Paul VI Hall.
The Holy Father began by explaining that "God's initiative always precedes any
initiative on the part of man, and, even on our journey towards Him, it is He
Who first illuminates and guides us, while always respecting our freedom. ...
God never tires of
seeking us, He is faithful to the man He created and redeemed, and He remains
close to us because He loves us. This is a certainty which must accompany us
every day".
"We know that today the faith faces no lack of difficulties and trials, and
its often poorly understood, contested and rejected. ... In the past, in the
West, in a society held to be Christian, the faith was the environment in
which people moved.
Reference and adherence to God were, for most people, part of their daily
lives, and it was those who did not believe who felt the need to justify their
incredulity. In our world the situation had changed, and believers have to be
increasingly able to
give reasons for their faith. ... Our own times have seen the emergence of a
phenomenon which is particularly dangerous for the faith. There exists, in
fact, a form of atheism, which we define as 'practical', in which the truths
of faith and religious
ritual are not denied but are simply held to be irrelevant to daily existence,
detached from life, useless. Often, then, people believe in God superficially
but live as if He did not exist. In the final analysis, however, such a
lifestyle
turns
out to be even more destructive, because it leads to indifference towards the
faith and towards the question of God.
"The fact is", the Holy Father added, "that separation from God reduces man to
a single horizontal dimension. This reduction was one of the fundamental
causes of the totalitarian systems which had such tragic consequences last
century, and of the crisis
of values we are currently witnessing. Obscuring the reference to God has also
obscured the ethical horizon".
Faced with this situation the Church, "faithful to Christ's mandate, never
ceases to affirm the truth about man and his destiny", said the Pope. Yet, he
asked, "what responses is the faith called to give - with 'mildness and
respect' - to atheism,
scepticism and indifference to the vertical dimension, so that the men and
women of our time may continue to question themselves about the existence of
God, and follow the paths that lead to Him? I would", he said, "like to
mention some of these paths,
which derive both from a natural process of reflection and from the power of
the faith itself. They are: the world, man, and faith".
Referring to the first of these paths - the world - the Pope expressed the
view that "we must recover and restore to modern man the chance to contemplate
the creation, its beauty and structure. The world is not some shapeless mass;
rather, the more we
know it, the more we discover its wonderful mechanisms, the more we see a
design, a creative intelligence. Albert Einstein said that the laws of nature
reveal 'an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the
systematic thinking and
acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection'".
To explain the second path - the human being - Benedict XVI quoted from the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, saying: 'With his openness to truth and
beauty, his sense of moral goodness, his freedom and the voice of his
conscience, with his longings for
the infinite and for happiness, man questions himself about God's existence'".
Turning finally to consider the faith, the Pope noted how "believers are
united to God, open to His grace and to the force of charity. ... Their faith
is not afraid to show itself in daily life, it is open to a dialogue which
expresses profound
friendship for all men and women, and is able to bring the light of hope to
our need for redemption, happiness and future life. Faith means meeting God
Who speaks and works in history. ... A single Christian or a community who are
diligent and faithful
to the project of the God Who first loved us, are a great help to people
experiencing indifference or doubt about His existence and action".
Nowadays, "many people have a limited concept of Christian faith, which they
identify as a mere system of beliefs and values, and not as the truth of God
revealed throughout history in order to communicate directly with mankind.
… In reality, at
the basis of all doctrine and values is the encounter between man and God in
Jesus Christ. Christianity, rather than a moral or ethical code, is first and
foremost the experience of love in welcoming Christ", Benedict XVI concluded.
___________________________________________________________
COMMEMORATION OF BLESSED JOHN PAUL II'S ITALIAN PARLIAMENT VISIT
Vatican City, 14 November 2012 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio
Bertone S.D.B. has sent a message in the name of the Holy Father to the
presidents of the Italian Senate and Chamber of Deputies, Renato Schifani and
Gianfranco Fini, to
commemorate ten years since Blessed John Paul II's visit to the parliament.
"The public session of 14 November 2002 in the Hall of Montecitorio
constitutes a memorable page in the history of relations between Italy and the
Holy See, an event enriched by the authoritative presence of the venerable
figure of the Blessed Pontiff,
who greatly desired the meeting in spite of his precarious health".
"Ten years on, in a social context rendered more difficult by the consequences
of the economic crisis already predicted at the time, it is necessary to
recall his invitation to seek nourishment in the vital lymph of Christianity
which inspires the
social and cultural identity of Italy, and its mission in Europe and the
world. Even in the most difficult times, this spiritual and ethical heritage
continues to provide sufficient resources to renew people's consciences and
lead them towards the
common good, especially those called to sit in parliament.
"The Supreme Pontiff therefore hopes that constant collaboration between Italy
and the Holy See, and between the State and the Church, will continue to
support the progress of Italy, in particular families in their their primary
educational and social
role, and all citizens, especially in matters of civil responsibility".
___________________________________________________________
BENEDICT XVI'S “THE INFANCY NARRATIVES” TO BE PRESENTED ON 20
NOVEMBER
Vatican City, 14 November 2012 (VIS) - The Vatican Publishing House and
Rizzoli Publications today announced that the book "L'Infanzia di Gesu", the
third volume of Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI's trilogy on Jesus of
Nazareth, will be presented to the
press on 20 November. The book is due to appear in English with the title
"Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives".
The book will be presented at 11 a.m. in the Pius X Room (Via dell'Ospedale 1,
Rome), and the speakers will include Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of
the Pontifical Council for Culture, Maria Clara Bingemer, professor of
theology at the
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Fr. Giuseppe Costa S.D.B.,
director of the Vatican Publishing House, and Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J.,
director of the Holy See Press Office, who will act as moderator.
___________________________________________________________
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 14 November 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:
- Fr. Darci Jose Nicioli, C.SS.R., rector of the National Sanctuary of
Aparecida, Brazil, as auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Aparecida (area
1,300, population 198,000, Catholics 167,800, priests 102, permanent deacons
2, religious 363). The
bishop-elect was born in Jacutinga, Brazil in 1959 and ordained a priest in
1986. He studied in Campinas, Sao Paulo and Rome, and has held a number of
academic and pastoral posts.
- Msgr. Jose Avelino Bettencourt, nunciature councillor, as chief of protocol
of the Secretariat of State. He was born in the Azores, Portugal, in 1962 and
ordained a priest in 1993. He entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See
in 1999, and has
served in the apostolic nunciature of the Democratic Republic of Congo and in
the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State.
___________________________________________________________
Per ulteriori informazioni e per la ricerca di documenti consultare il
sito: www.wisnews.org e www.vatican.va
Il servizio del VIS viene inviato soltanto agli indirizzi di posta
elettronica che ne hanno fatto richiesta. Se per qualunque motivo
non si desidera continuare a riceverlo, si prega di visitare nostra pagina
dinizio:
http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vis/italinde.php
Copyright (VIS): Le notizie contenute nei servizi del Vatican
Information Service possono essere riprodotte parzialmente o totalmente
citando la fonte: V.I.S. - Vatican Information Service.
--Boundary_(ID_V22+ZEZK7rFTg0+qoryebA)
Content-type: text/html; CHARSETUS-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
VISnews121114
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE YEAR XXII - N° 205DATE 14-11-2012
Summary: - THREE WAYS TO KNOW GOD: THE
WORLD, MAN AND FAITH -
COMMEMORATION OF BLESSED JOHN PAUL II'S ITALIAN PARLIAMENT VISIT -
BENEDICT XVI'S “THE INFANCY NARRATIVES” TO BE PRESENTED ON 20
NOVEMBER - OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS ___________________________________________________________
THREE WAYS TO KNOW GOD: THE WORLD, MAN AND FAITH
Vatican City, 14 November 2012 (VIS) - Three ways to knowing God (the
world, the human being and the faith) provided the theme for Benedict XVI's
catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in the Paul VI
Hall.
The Holy Father began by explaining that "God's initiative always precedes
any initiative on the part of man, and, even on our journey towards Him, it is
He Who first illuminates and guides us, while always respecting our freedom.
... God never tires
of seeking us, He is faithful to the man He created and redeemed, and He
remains close to us because He loves us. This is a certainty which must
accompany us every day".
"We know that today the faith faces no lack of difficulties and trials, and
its often poorly understood, contested and rejected. ... In the past, in the
West, in a society held to be Christian, the faith was the environment in
which people moved.
Reference and adherence to God were, for most people, part of their daily
lives, and it was those who did not believe who felt the need to justify their
incredulity. In our world the situation had changed, and believers have to be
increasingly able to
give reasons for their faith. ... Our own times have seen the emergence of a
phenomenon which is particularly dangerous for the faith. There exists, in
fact, a form of atheism, which we define as 'practical', in which the truths
of faith and religious
ritual are not denied but are simply held to be irrelevant to daily existence,
detached from life, useless. Often, then, people believe in God superficially
but live as if He did not exist. In the final analysis, however,
such a lifestyle turns out to be even more destructive, because it leads to
indifference towards the faith and towards the question of God.
"The fact is", the Holy Father added, "that separation from God reduces man
to a single horizontal dimension. This reduction was one of the fundamental
causes of the totalitarian systems which had such tragic consequences last
century, and of the
crisis of values we are currently witnessing. Obscuring the reference to God
has also obscured the ethical horizon".
Faced with this situation the Church, "faithful to Christ's mandate, never
ceases to affirm the truth about man and his destiny", said the Pope. Yet, he
asked, "what responses is the faith called to give - with 'mildness and
respect' - to atheism,
scepticism and indifference to the vertical dimension, so that the men and
women of our time may continue to question themselves about the existence of
God, and follow the paths that lead to Him? I would", he said, "like to
mention some of these paths,
which derive both from a natural process of reflection and from the power of
the faith itself. They are: the world, man, and faith".
Referring to the first of these paths - the world - the Pope expressed the
view that "we must recover and restore to modern man the chance to contemplate
the creation, its beauty and structure. The world is not some shapeless mass;
rather, the more
we know it, the more we discover its wonderful mechanisms, the more we see a
design, a creative intelligence. Albert Einstein said that the laws of nature
reveal 'an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the
systematic thinking
and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection'".
To explain the second path - the human being - Benedict XVI quoted from the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, saying: 'With his openness to truth and
beauty, his sense of moral goodness, his freedom and the voice of his
conscience, with his longings
for the infinite and for happiness, man questions himself about God's
existence'".
Turning finally to consider the faith, the Pope noted how "believers are
united to God, open to His grace and to the force of charity. ... Their faith
is not afraid to show itself in daily life, it is open to a dialogue which
expresses profound
friendship for all men and women, and is able to bring the light of hope to
our need for redemption, happiness and future life. Faith means meeting God
Who speaks and works in history. ... A single Christian or a community who are
diligent and faithful
to the project of the God Who first loved us, are a great help to people
experiencing indifference or doubt about His existence and action".
Nowadays, "many people have a limited concept of Christian faith, which
they identify as a mere system of beliefs and values, and not as the truth of
God revealed throughout history in order to communicate directly with mankind.
… In reality,
at the basis of all doctrine and values is the encounter between man and God
in Jesus Christ. Christianity, rather than a moral or ethical code, is first
and foremost the experience of love in welcoming Christ", Benedict XVI
concluded.
COMMEMORATION OF BLESSED JOHN PAUL II'S ITALIAN PARLIAMENT VISIT
Vatican City, 14 November 2012 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio
Bertone S.D.B. has sent a message in the name of the Holy Father to the
presidents of the Italian Senate and Chamber of Deputies, Renato Schifani and
Gianfranco Fini, to
commemorate ten years since Blessed John Paul II's visit to the parliament.
"The public session of 14 November 2002 in the Hall of Montecitorio
constitutes a memorable page in the history of relations between Italy and the
Holy See, an event enriched by the authoritative presence of the venerable
figure of the Blessed
Pontiff, who greatly desired the meeting in spite of his precarious
health".
"Ten years on, in a social context rendered more difficult by the
consequences of the economic crisis already predicted at the time, it is
necessary to recall his invitation to seek nourishment in the vital lymph of
Christianity which inspires the
social and cultural identity of Italy, and its mission in Europe and the
world. Even in the most difficult times, this spiritual and ethical heritage
continues to provide sufficient resources to renew people's consciences and
lead them towards the
common good, especially those called to sit in parliament.
"The Supreme Pontiff therefore hopes that constant collaboration between
Italy and the Holy See, and between the State and the Church, will continue to
support the progress of Italy, in particular families in their their primary
educational and
social role, and all citizens, especially in matters of civil re
ponsibility".
BENEDICT XVI'S “THE INFANCY NARRATIVES” TO BE PRESENTED ON 20
NOVEMBER
Vatican City, 14 November 2012 (VIS) - The Vatican Publishing House and
Rizzoli Publications today announced that the book "L'Infanzia di Gesu", the
third volume of Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI's trilogy on Jesus of
Nazareth, will be presented to
the press on 20 November. The book is due to appear in English with the title
"Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives".
The book will be presented at 11 a.m. in the Pius X Room (Via dell'Ospedale
1, Rome), and the speakers will include Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president
of the Pontifical Council for Culture, Maria Clara Bingemer, professor of
theology at the
Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Fr. Giuseppe Costa S.D.B.,
director of the Vatican Publishing House, and Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J.,
director of the Holy See Press Office, who will act as moderator.
Vatican City, 14 November 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:
- Fr. Darci Jose Nicioli, C.SS.R., rector of the National Sanctuary of
Aparecida, Brazil, as auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Aparecida (area
1,300, population 198,000, Catholics 167,800, priests 102, permanent deacons
2, religious 363). The
bishop-elect was born in Jacutinga, Brazil in 1959 and ordained a priest in
1986. He studied in Campinas, Sao Paulo and Rome, and has held a number of
academic and pastoral posts.
- Msgr. Jose Avelino Bettencourt, nunciature councillor, as chief of
protocol of the Secretariat of State. He was born in the Azores, Portugal, in
1962 and ordained a priest in 1993. He entered the diplomatic service of the
Holy See in 1999, and has
served in the apostolic nunciature of the Democratic Republic of Congo and in
the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State.
Per ulteriori informazioni e per la ricerca di documenti consultare il
sito: www.wisnews.org e www.vatican.va Il servizio del
VIS viene inviato soltanto agli indirizzi di posta elettronica che ne
hanno
fatto richiesta. Se per qualunque motivo non si desidera continuare a
riceverlo, si prega di visitare nostra pagina dinizio: http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vi
/italinde.php
Copyright (VIS): Le notizie contenute nei servizi del Vatican
Information Service possono essere riprodotte parzialmente o totalmente
citando la fonte: V.I.S. - Vatican Information Service.
--Boundary_(ID_V22+ZEZK7rFTg0+qoryebA)--
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