“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” (John 15: 18,19)

Christian values (indeed religious values in general) are truly inconvenient to a great many aspirations. Among them: greed, cruelty, hedonism, sodomism, materialism, consumerism and a number of other "isms" that make the rich richer and the powerful more powerful. I don't blame them for trying to do without Faith.

Knitting the Fabric of Christianity

Spoken yesterday by the Holy Father, these are the words professed by a man who wants to knit the fabric of Mankind:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As you know, I have just returned from my first Apostolic Journey to the United Kingdom, and I wish to send my affectionate greetings to all those I met and those who contributed to the visit through the media during four days, which have begun a new and important phase in the long-standing relations between the Holy See and Great Britain.

Last Thursday, I was honoured by the warm welcome of Her Majesty The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in Scotland’s historic capital Edinburgh. Later that day, I celebrated Mass in Glasgow in the presence of many bishops, priests, religious and a great concourse of the faithful against the backdrop of a beautiful sunset at Bellahouston Park, within sight of the place where my beloved predecessor celebrated Mass with the Scots twenty-eight years ago.

Upon arriving in London, I met thousands of Catholic students and schoolchildren at a very joyful celebration, reminding all of us of the excellent and essential work being done by Catholic schools and teachers throughout the land. I then had the pleasure of meeting the clerical and lay representatives of different religions and of discussing the search for the sacred common to all men.

Later, I had the honour of calling upon His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury who has come on several occasions to meet me in Rome. Our meeting at Lambeth Palace, in the presence of the Bishops of the Church of England, was very cordial and fraternal. I then crossed the river to Westminster where I was given the unprecedented opportunity to address both Houses of Parliament gathered in Westminster Hall on the importance of a fruitful dialogue between religion and reason, a theme as relevant in the time of Saint Thomas More as it is in our own day. Finally that day, I had the privilege of kneeling in prayer with the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Tomb of Saint Edward in Westminster Abbey, and of giving thanks to God with the Archbishop, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland and other British Christian leaders, for the many blessings God has bestowed upon our efforts to re-knit the fabric of our Christian fellowship.

The next morning, I had the pleasure of greeting Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Ms Harriet Harman, leader of the Opposition, before celebrating Mass in Westminster Cathedral, with a liturgy evocative of the best of the English musical tradition in the celebration of the Roman rite. That afternoon, I was welcomed very cordially by the Little Sisters of the Poor and the elderly people they look after. There I also had the chance to thank and encourage those charged with the safeguarding of children in Britain. That evening I participated at a beautiful vigil of deep prayerfulness and stillness at Hyde Park with tens of thousands of the faithful.

On Sunday morning, I travelled to Birmingham where I had the joy of celebrating the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman. Later that day, after a warm and fraternal meeting with all the Bishops of Britain, I was bidden farewell by Prime Minister Cameron during a very cordial speech at Birmingham International Airport on the Government’s wish to build a partnership for development with the Catholic Church and others.

Sunday, then, was a moment of deep personal satisfaction, as the Church celebrated the blessedness of a great Englishman, whose life and writings I have admired for many years and who has come to be appreciated by countless people far beyond the shores of his native land. Blessed John Henry Newman’s clear-minded search to know and express the truth in charity, at whatever cost to his own personal comfort, status and even friendships, is a wonderful testimony of a pure desire to know and love God in the communion of the Church. His is surely an example that can inspire us all.

© Copyright 2010 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Lula's Legacy

The Brazilian media is gagged, seduced and/or bullied into submission by parties in the government. That is the ONLY explanation why they are not yelling into the four winds against the perspective of perpetuating a regime that has thrown ethics out the window along the last eight years.

Presidential elections are up next month in Brazil. Lula has become Brazil's international poster boy for progress and social equity. The forerunner is Luis Inacio "Lula" da Silva's successor. Yet, the Internet and the printed press is booming with corruption scandals and a shady past that almost never makes it into the televised media. Why is that?

Scandal after scandal, the present government has managed to stay in power despite a flood of corruption and impunity that reaches down from the presidential palace, through the senate and into the lowest echelons of society. The damage done by leaving unpunished those that were amply proven guilty is permeating every level of our Society and is being perpetuated in our contemporary culture. From shoplifting to abuse of power to fraud, Brazilian Society has learned the lessons taught by the presidential palace in Brasilia.

Yet, the charismatic figure of Luis Inacio – the captivating ignorant immigrant worker that made president – has managed to divorce itself from each and every scandal simply by denying that he had any knowledge of them or even that they happened. On the streets, people are doing the same when they crash their cars or are caught stealing.

Here’s an admirable man, one that was given a great opportunity: the chance to really make a difference and change Brazil for the better. He had everything going for him. He had the presidency, the majority in the senate, the ample support of the people, an economy fixed by the previous administration and ready to boom and everything else a man could ask for in order to become a statesman. He could have changed this country beyond imagination by promoting good education and genuine opportunity by generating infrastructure for further growth.
Instead, Luis wasted it all and gave in to corruption to remain a dirty politician supporting his friends and family within the government. Why? Was it just greed? Was it incompetence? No. He is not the “ignorant immigrant” he wants us to believe. Here’s a fox masquerading as lamb.

His policy? The oldest possible: Bread and Circus. Circus is the cascade of scandals playing out on the tele every night, with NOT A SINGLE guilty party being prosecuted or arrested. They are sacked alright, but nothing is confiscated nor is anyone made to pay for their treachery. Bread is the change money he gives away as alms to the poor in the Northeast of the country. Notice that he didn’t solve the problems with the health infrastructure, nor did he build a future for these people by improving education and businesses. He but gave them a little money each month under the premise that they needed it to get out of misery. He didn’t give them jobs, he didn’t give them lessons, he gave them alms. His criterion for the value he gave them? The number of children in the family. You don’t have to be a genius to see where this will lead, do you?

Now Luis’ successor is nothing without his figure. She is not charismatic, nor can she claim to have been poor or ignorant at any point in her life. She is not a feminist, she is not an exemplary mother, she is not even one of the people. She was just a rebel who resorted to crime to keep her failed rebellion going. What is she today? Just another corrupt politician claiming to have brought Brazil out of poverty; claiming to have solved issues that had been already solved for her.

Just the other day her right hand and successor as the Cabinet Minister was implicated in a corruption scandal and sacked. She was the fourth Cabinet Minister that was sacked on corruption scandals. She is still free and Luis claims ignorance yet again. Just the other day a citizen who protested against the first Cabinet Minister (Luis' personal friend) was arrested upon returning to Brazil. No charges were made. He died in prision of a "virulent illness" forty-eight hours latter.

As for Luis’ legacy, that will certainly be the destruction of even the most basic moral values and the corruption of an entire society. Never a statesman, always just another dirty politician.

There should be no separation between what we believe and how we live. When a man forgoes his concience to "belong" in the crowd, he brings dismay to himself and to those he loves. When a leader forgoes his conscience to gain popularity, he leads a whole nation through a short path into chaos and oblivion.

Benedict XVI: Beware of Marginalizing Religion

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” (John 15: 18,19)

Those of you who have been following this blog know very well that I constantly express concern over the breaking of moral values in our present global society. More than a few times have I raised red flags over the fact that religious people are marginalized and sometimes even persecuted because their moral values are inconvenient in a materialistic society bent on consumerism.

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, during his recent ground-breaking visit to London, expressed similar concerns. He urged civil leaders to consider religion a "vital contributor" to nations. He further said to diplomats, academics, entrepeneurs and religious leaders that religion "is not a problem for legislators to solve, but a vital contributor to the national conversation."

"In this light," he further said, "I cannot but voice my concern at the increasing marginalization of religion, particularly of Christianity, that is taking place in some quarters, even in nations which place a great emphasis on tolerance. There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere," affirmed the Holy Father at Westminster Hall.

"There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none. And there are those who argue - paradoxically with the intention of eliminating discrimination - that Christians in public roles should be required at times to act against their conscience." He added with concern.

"These are worrying signs of a failure to appreciate not only the rights of believers to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, but also the legitimate role of religion in the public square. I would invite all of you, therefore, within your respective spheres of influence, to seek ways of promoting and encouraging dialogue between faith and reason at every level of national life. Your readiness to do so is already implied in the unprecedented invitation extended to me today," the Pope observed. "And it finds expression in the fields of concern in which your government has been engaged with the Holy See."

The Holy Father further described the role of religion in political debate as "to help purify and shed light upon the application of reason to the discovery of objective moral principles. This 'corrective' role of religion vis-à-vis reason is not always welcomed," the Pontiff acknowledged, "though, partly because distorted forms of religion, such as sectarianism and fundamentalism, can be seen to create serious social problems themselves."

"And in their turn" he added, "these distortions of religion arise when insufficient attention is given to the purifying and structuring role of reason within religion. It is a two-way process. Without the corrective supplied by religion, though, reason too can fall prey to distortions, as when it is manipulated by ideology, or applied in a partial way that fails to take full account of the dignity of the human person. Such misuse of reason, after all, was what gave rise to the slave trade in the first place and to many other social evils, not least the totalitarian ideologies of the twentieth century."

"This is why I would suggest that the world of reason and the world of faith - the world of secular rationality and the world of religious belief - need one another and should not be afraid to enter into a profound and ongoing dialogue, for the good of our civilization," he included.

In enphasizing the ongoing cooperation between the UK government and the Holy See in several fields as an example of the aforementioned cooperative effort between religion and government, Benedict XVI stated, "I hope and pray that this relationship will continue to bear fruit, and that it will be mirrored in a growing acceptance of the need for dialogue and respect at every level of society between the world of reason and the world of faith. For such cooperation to be possible, religious bodies -- including institutions linked to the Catholic Church -- need to be free to act in accordance with their own principles and specific convictions based upon the faith and the official teaching of the Church."

"In this way," he asserted, "such basic rights as religious freedom, freedom of conscience and freedom of association are guaranteed."

The Holy Father couldn't be more correct. I think we took millenia to develop moral codes and ethics that enable human society and make it viable for us to live alongside one another in some measure of civility and harmony, and now that is placed in geopardy by the "priests of consumerism"; the radical secularists.

Say what you will, but the moral values proposed by religion have been paramount in this process of creating a viable society. The so-called "liberties" that people take as a novelty today are nothing more than a return to the chaotic demi-societies of the ancient world, when people valued power and worshiped riches and sought only the excuse to pursue their own convenience by force of arms. We evolved from that into something better and now some want to throw it away.

If we want a global society to work: Keep religion. Keep the Faith.

On Cardinal Walter Kasper’s Comment:

The English media has very vehemently capitalised on Cardinal Kasper’s slip of the tongue, but an objective look at the remark could actually be construed very positively.

Just before the historic Papal visit to the UK this past week, Cardinal Kasper commented to a German magazine something to the effect that “arriving at Heathrow airport was like landing in a Third World country.”

The comment obviously referred to the disarray of incoming passengers arriving into Heathrow and the great volume of them that are made to line up in huge queues according to national origin.

This is a caustic – though otherwise innocent – remark pointing to the fact that the sheer volume of foreign visitors passing through the English airport awards it an untidy feeling not at all unlike the street markets of "Third World" countries.

Nevertheless, parties in the UK media greatly exaggerated the remark and attempted to link it to the Pope’s declaration on how extremisms in secular and atheist movements can be harmful to society in general. Ros Atkins, the host of BBC’s World Have Your Say programme, asked me during his interview on this Friday the 17th weather I thought that the Cardinal thought the UK similar to a Third World Country on account of the secularist tendencies of UK society.

At the time, my wits were insufficient to come up with a particularly good answer in the allotted time, but here’s what I wanted to say then:

First and foremost, the very term “Third World country” is imprecise and completely prejudiced. It was coined to refer to economically underdeveloped societies and latter associated with corruption and social decay. However, there are so-called “Third World” countries like South Africa and Brazil that generate technology ahead of the “First World” in several fields and are amongst the leading world economies (Brazil is the 9th and is economically ahead of many European nations). Hence, it would be incoherent to assume that a “Third World” country is underdeveloped in any particular secularist point of view.

Secondly, nowadays the “Third World” tends to be more spiritually inclined than the “First World”. This is not to say there is no secularism in “Third World” nations or no religion in the "First World", but the truth is there are more religious people in these nations.

It could be argued that spiritualism is more present there because there is greater need, in which case the Vatican would be well aware of it because the Catholic Church is the single largest Humanitarian and Charitable organisation in the globe.

Equally, it could be argued that there is greater religiosity in the “Third World” because there are less materialistic distractions to deviate people from what’s truly important, in which case calling the UK a “Third World” nation would actually be a compliment.

Be that as it may, the largest concentration of Roman Catholics is in Latin America, which itself is composed solely of “Third World” countries. A cardinal of the Vatican would certainly know such facts and would not hint at any link between secularism, social underdevelopment and “Third World” nations.

Finally, secularist nations tend to be more materialistic and very economically developed, which is not to say that all predominantly secularist societies are particularly developed. The United Kingdom is recognised throughout the globe as a developed nation, a “First World” country. It is also recognised as a great nation for all of what its people have achieved over the centuries. A German-born person of Cardinal Kasper’s age, who has grown old in the aftermath of World War II, would know very well the UK’s worth as an economy and as a military power, and would not think it a "Third World" nation. In fact, Pope Benedict XVI has, throughout his discourse whilst in the UK, continually reaffirmed his admiration for the people of the United Kingdom and his respect for the social development of the nation.

Taken together, the three arguments above point to the fact that:

A. The Vatican respects the people of the UK and holds the nation in high regard
B. The Vatican values the peoples of “Third World” countries and hold them in high regard
C. The UK media distorted the cardinal’s comment to generate controversy where there was none. The comment was taken out of context and associated to the Pope’s own lucid message under a different light than that which had been originally meant.

So, if one has even half the wit necessary to understand an attempt at inflammatory rhetoric, it should be plain enough that the entire episode had very little to do with Cardinal Kasper’s slip of the tongue, and very much to do with prompting public opinion against the Catholic Church to further a very persecutory agenda; even as the Pontiff was attempting to improve relations with the people of the UK.

To me the Papal visit happening under such adverse scenario means that some are trying more than others to reach out and establish some common ground; amongst them The Queen and The PM of England and The Pope, all of whom agreed that the visit was necessary; thus making it into a State visit.

Conversely, the blind hatred displayed by certain groups among the English people goes to show how important it was for the Pope to have visited at this particular moment.

The unfortunate fact on all this was that this frivolous inflammatory effort by parties in the UK media found fertile ground in the already disproportioned animosity against the Catholic Faith that has been build into the people of the United Kingdom.

Personally, I feel pity for the share of intolerance and short-sightedness that can sometimes surface in an otherwise great nation, such as the United Kingdom, and I pray that understaing and respect come once more to dominate the hearts and minds of the people of the UK so that they may be called "British" and not "Brutish".

BBC Says Pope is a "Plaintiff"

The following text was extracted from the BBC UK web site:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11333448

"The plaintiff also said that a 'dictatorship of relativism' threatened 'to obscure the unchanging truth about man's nature, his destiny and his ultimate good.'"

Notice the word "plaintiff" in place of "pontiff". Does this show what the BBC really thinks of our good Pope Benedict XVI? One can hope not, but in my opinion, it does.

Yesterday I was contacted by the BBC World Service with a new invitation to partake in today’s programme World Have Your Say, which clearly intends to focus on recent controversies preceding the pontiff’s visit to the UK and on the Pope's remark on radical secularism. Can we hope for an objective view, or is it liklier that we'll witness the discontextualisation of quotes again?

In speaking to Ben, one of the producers of the show, one finds a level-headed man who admits having no personal experience of the Catholic Church (or religion) and a man who admits the Church is under attack.But why do people fear the Church in progressive countries?

The answer is simple: Because they have little contact with it, they are easily convinced of the demonization of priests and Popes. They do not see the good that the Church quietly pursues in promoting education, health institutions, charity and spiritual solace around the globe. In speaking to Pearce, a jolly techie visiting the studio from Britain, I found that this is a little our own fault for not making a fuss of what we do, but then again, by doctrine, we're not supposed to.

Here comes the key question: Why? Why is the Catholic Church specifically (and religion in general) under attack? Could it be that Catholics stand against socio-economic tendencies that seek to generate and concentrate wealth in detriment of human dignity and world ecology? Could it be that Christian values and morals are contrary to rampant consumerism and offer a perennial form of fulfilment that far outdoes the ephemeral pleasures of an hedonistic society?

If you can honestly answer this question, then you will be well into understanding why religion is under attack in Western Society. You will then understand the motive behind the banner.

Though yesterday's quick discussion over the phone took us through subjects such as why western laws once attempted to ensure freedom of religion and at the same time governments pressure the Church into giving up some of its values. We analysed ever so briefly why there is animosity against Christian thought and its relation to consumerism and materialism among other power driven agendas. Today's show never even touched the subject, which was a little disappointing. Even when I brought it up to Ros Atkins, the host, he just steered away from it.

The truth of the matter is: We're in all of this together. That's the message Pope Benedict is trying to convey. "Respect" and "tolerance" are key concepts if we are ever to build a world-wide community.

Did the show focus on this? Yeah a little, so there's a pat on the back for the BBC. As for the "Third World" slip of the tong by the Pope's Cardinal, well, after the "plaintiff for pontiff" slip of the keyboard at the very BBC, I think it could have been left out.

At least I'm glad the BBC corrected their "typo".