Pope Benedict XVI

[Rasputin]

بازگشایی دفتر تعامل با اسلام در واتیکان


اقدام پاپ به اهمیت داشتن روابط بهتر با جهان اسلام تعبیر شده است
پاپ بندیکت شانزدهم، رهبر کاتولیک های جهان با تجدید نظر در تصمیم سال گذشته خود، رای به بازگشایی دفتر تعامل با جهان اسلام داده است.
رهبر کاتولیک های جهان سال گذشته رای به حذف این دفتر از ساختار اداری واتیکان داده بود. شورای گفتگوی درون مذهبی سال پیش با دستور بندیکت شانزدهم با دفتر مسایل فرهنگی ادغام شد.

هنوز مشخص نیست که آیا اسقف مایکل فیتزجرالد، رییس بریتانیایی پیشین این دفتر دوباره مسئولیت این بخش را عهده دار می شود یا خیر. مایکل فیتزجرالد، از کارشناسان سرشناس واتیکان در امور اسلامی به شمار می رود و در جهان اسلام، مورد احترام است.

خبرنگار بی بی سی در واتیکان می گوید که انتصاب اسقف فیتزجرالد به عنوان نماینده واتیکان در اتحادیه عرب از سوی جهان اسلام اینگونه تعبیر شد که پاپ بندیکت شانزدهم بیشتر به بهبود روابط با سایر شاخه های مسیحیت تمایل دارد.

خبرنگار بی بی سی می گوید که اقدام رهبر کاتولیک های جهان برای بازگشایی این دفتر، اهمیت فراوانی دارد و به معنای آن است که پاپ برای روابط بهتر با جهان اسلام، اهمیت قائل است.

تحلیلگران بر این باورند که بازگشایی مجدد این دفتر از سوی پاپ به طور ضمنی به معنای پذیرفتن اشتباه در تعطیل کردن آن است.

روابط واتیکان و جهان اسلام از زمان روی کار آمدن پاپ بندیکت شانزدهم دچار تنش هایی شده است. اظهارات وی در آلمان پاپ در مورد تفاوت فلسفی و تاريخی بين اسلام و مسيحيت و رابطه ايمان و خشونت باعث خشم مسلمانان شد و اعتراض های فراوانی را بر انگیخت اگرچه ابراز تاسف وی از آزرده کردن مسلمانان و عبادتش در مسجدی در ترکیه توانست بخشی از آسیب های وارده را ترمیم کند.

[Rasputin]

"Deranged" German man tries to jump on Pope's jeep

A 27-year-old German man described by the Vatican as "clearly deranged" leaped over a barricade on Wednesday and tried to jump on to Pope Benedict's open-topped jeep.

The man took the German Pope's bodyguards by surprise in St Peter's Square, coming within a meter of the pontiff in an episode that brought back memories of the assassination attempt against his predecessor Pope John Paul in 1981.

Television pictures showed the man, wearing a baseball cap, jump out of the crowd and over a wooden barricade as the Pope passed by to start his weekly audience for some 40,000 people.

Hurtling from the Pope's right, he tried to jump on the back of the moving "popemobile" but managed only to touch it before being wrestled to the ground by Vatican security guards.

"He was clearly deranged but did not want to kill or harm the Pope, he only wanted to draw attention to himself," the spokesman said.

After questioning by a Vatican judge the man, who was unarmed, was taken to a psychiatric institution in Italy for testing. His identity was not disclosed.

The man did not appear to be holding anything in his hands nor carrying any bag. Tourists and pilgrims entering St Peter's Square go through airport-style metal detectors and have their bags checked by Italian police.

The Pope, who was elected in 2005, was standing on the open jeep facing forward and looking at the crowd to his left and did not see the man trying to get on the vehicle.

[Rasputin]

Pope unhurt after man lunges at popemobile

Security officers wrestled a man to the ground Wednesday after he tried to jump into Pope Benedict's popemobile during his general audience in St. Peter's Square.

The 80-year-old Pope was not hurt and, appearing not to notice the flurry of activity behind him, continued to wave to the crowd of about 35,000.

The man managed to get within one metre of the Pope, who seemed not to notice the commotion behind him.
(CBC) The man, clad in shorts and a pink T-shirt, jumped over the protective barricades lining the route, hurling himself toward the open-topped popemobile.

He managed to hang on to the back of the Jeep for several seconds before members of the Pope's security team wrestled him to the ground.

A Vatican spokesman identified the man as a 27-year-old German who showed signs of "mental imbalance."

"His aim was not an attempt on the Pope's life but to attract attention to himself," said Rev. Federico Lombardi.

He was questioned by Vatican police and taken to a psychiatric hospital, said Lombardi.

Security tightened after 9/11
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, the Vatican has tightened security in St. Peter's Square when the Pope is present. All visitors must pass by police to get into the square, with some walking through metal detectors or being searched with metal-detecting wands.

When the Pope uses the popemobile in St. Peter's, it is usually uncovered; when he travels overseas or outside the Vatican, he usually uses one outfitted with bulletproof glass. He is protected by a combination of Swiss Guards, Vatican police and Italian police.

The late pope John Paul II was the first pontiff to use one of the vehicles that came to be known as the popemobile, after two attempts on his life.

In 1981 he was shot by a Turkish gunman in St. Peter's Square, while a year later a priest carrying a bayonet lunged at John Paul during a visit to a church in Portugal.

In 2002, John Paul appealed to the media to stop referring to the custom-made vehicle as the popemobile, because he believed the title was undignified.

[Rasputin]

دیدار بوش با پاپ


جورج بوش در اولین مرحله از سفر به ایتالیا با پاپ دیدار کرد
جورج بوش، رییس جمهوری آمريکا وارد واتیکان شده و برای اولین بار با پاپ بندیکت شانزدهم دیدار کرده است.
قرار است آقای بوش پس از دیدار با پاپ، با رومانو پرودی، نخست وزیر ایتالیا گفتگو کند.

جورج بوش امروز در ایتالیا احتمالا در مورد جنگ عراق و گزارش های مربوط به سیاست کشورش در مورد دستگیری مظنونین تروریسم و انتقال آنها به کشورهای ثالث برای بازجویی، تحت فشار قرار خواهد داشت.

هم پاپ و هم جورج بوش در مسائلی چون مخالفت با سقط جنین، ازدواج همجنسگرایان و کمک به بیماران بدحال برای پایان دادن به زندگی آنها، با هم اتفاق نظر دارند اما پاپ بندیکت شانزدهم نیز مانند پاپ قبلی، ژان پل دوم، مخالف جنگ عراق است و احتمال دارد موضوع وضعیت وخیم زندگی صدها هزار مسیحی عراقی را که به دلیل حملات فرقه ای از کشورشان گریخته اند، با آقای بوش در میان بگذارد.

پاپ در سخنرانی عید پاک گفته بود: "از عراق هیچ چیز مثبتی بیرون نمی آید، کشوری که در اثر ادامه کشتارها و فرار جمعیت غیرنظامی پاره پاره شده است."

آقای بوش همچنین گفته امیدوار است بتواند در مورد تغییرات در چین و آینده کوبا پس از کاسترو با پاپ گفتگو کند اما تاکید کرده قصد دارد عمدتا به سخنان پاپ گوش فرادهد.

گفتگوهای امروز رییس جمهور آمريکا با رومانو پرودی، نخست وزیر ایتالیا یک روز پس از آن صورت خواهد گرفت که دادگاهی در شهر میلان، محاکمه غیابی 25 مامور سازمان اطلاعات مرکزی آمریکا، سیا، و یک افسر ارتش این کشور را آغاز کرد. اتهام این افراد، ربودن یک روحانی مصری از ایتالیا در سال 2003 و تحویل مخفیانه وی به مصر است. گفته می شود این فرد در مصر شکنجه شده است.

انتظار می رود هزاران نفر در جریان سفر یک روزه آقای بوش به رم علیه جنگ عراق تظاهرات کنند.

پلیس نگران است تظاهرات به خشونت کشیده شود و سفارت آمریکا به شهروندان آمریکایی هشدار داده است از تظاهرکنندگان فاصله بگیرند.

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Blair's Catholic conversion "coming soon"

TONY Blair is expected to tell the Pope he wants to become a Catholic at a meeting in Rome today.

Friends have predicted Blair will convert "sooner rather than later" after leaving No10.

The Prime Minister, who stands down on Wednesday, is due to meet Pope Benedict XVI along with wife Cherie and daughter Kathryn.

All of the Blair children have been brought up in Cherie's Catholic faith and the PM has often celebrated Mass with his family.

RAF chaplain Father John Walsh has regularly held the service for them at Chequers for the past four years.

The priest is also thought to have been preparing Blair for his conversion.


Britain has never had a Catholic PM and Blair is thought to have delayed the move to avoid a host of problems, including the possibility of disrupting the Northern Ireland peace process.


It could also have compromised his role in the appointment of Church of England bishops.


Blair is understood to also want to discuss the Middle East with the Pope. He is expected to be confirmed as an international peace envoy to the region over the weekend.


On the prospects of Blair meeting the Pope, his official spokesman said: "It's entirely appropriate that the Prime Minister meets the Pope from time to time."


US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has proposed him as representative of the "Quartet" - America, the United Nations, the EU and Russia.


The group was formed to press for a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict but the position of envoy has been vacant since April last year.


The UN have confirmed Blair's appointment is "under discussion". His audience with Benedict XVI will be his second since the German succeeded John Paul II in April 2005.


In the past, the PM has insisted he has no plans to convert. But Catholic priest Timothy Russ, whose parish includes Chequers, once embarrassed Blair by revealing the PM had asked for advice on moving between churches.


Reports also claim Blair will have lunch at the Venerable English College in Rome with the Archbishop of Westminster.


He would be the first PM to visit the college, which was founded to train priests, and some observers say it is a signal the Catholic Church is prepared to take him into their fold.

[Rasputin]

Pope says China "suffocates" faith, urges dialogue

Pope Benedict on Saturday decried Chinese state restrictions on religious freedom that "suffocate" the Church and sow division amongst that country's Catholics, in his most significant address on China to date.

But the Pontiff also extended an olive branch to Beijing, saying he hoped to strike an agreement with officially atheist China, where millions of Catholics worship under a state-controlled church that does not recognize his authority.

Others worship in "underground" churches loyal to the Holy See.

"It is true that in recent years the Church has enjoyed greater religious freedom than in the past," the Pope said.

"Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that grave limitations remain that touch the heart of the faith and that, to a certain degree, suffocate pastoral activity."

China has had no diplomatic ties with the Vatican since 1951, two years after the Communist takeover, something the Pope said he wanted to change.

"The Holy See remains open to negotiations, so necessary if the difficulties of the present time are to be overcome," the Pope wrote.

Although the Vatican estimated there are only between 8 million and 12 million Catholics in China, the Pope expressed hope that it would prove fertile ground for evangelization in the future.

"During the first Christian millennium the Cross was planted in Europe and during the second in the American continent and in Africa," the German-born Pope wrote, in a letter addressed to China's bishops, priests and faithful.

"During the third millennium a great harvest of faith will be reaped in the vast and vibrant Asian continent."

REACHES OUT TO BISHOPS

Tensions have repeatedly flared over the appointment of bishops. China refuses to allow the Vatican to appoint them, saying this would be interference in its internal affairs.

But the Pope said the ability to appoint bishops is a fundamental part of the ability to fully "exercise ... the right of religious freedom".

He also said bishops appointed without Church approval were "illegitimate".

Despite China's actions, the Pope said that all but "a very small number" of the bishops in China had sought the Pope's blessing. Many, he said, had secretly received a "clandestine consecration."

Significantly, the Pope reached out to those bishops who were not yet in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

He said that as long as they were ordained by other bishops who had Vatican approval, they could exercise their ministry validly, even if they were "illegitimate". He expressed hope they would come into full communion with the Church.

As for the faithful, he urged them to seek out clergy who were in communion with the Pope. But, if that were not viable, the Pope said they should attend Church regardless.

The Pontiff steered clear of one long-time sticking point in relations -- the Holy See's recognition of Beijing's diplomatic rival Taiwan.

Beijing has insisted that diplomatic ties cannot be resumed unless Rome first severs links with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade province.

[Rasputin]

The reaction to Pope Benedict XVI's characterization of Protestants as not really belonging to the "true Church" set off a wave of global upheaval.

Evangelicals burned the pope in effigy in the United States. Catholic cathedrals were burned down in Europe. Catholic missionaries were attacked in Asia. Catholic Bibles were thrown on a bonfire in Africa. Protestants kidnapped priests and nuns in Latin America and held them for ransom. Threats on the life of the pope poured in from around the world

You saw all this on the news, right?

Oh, you didn't?

You mean non-Catholic Christians did not rise up in anger and violence when insulted by the pope? Why is that?

After all, look at what happened in the Islamic world when Pope Benedict ever so gently chided its history.

Last fall, Pope Benedict gave a speech at Regensburg, Germany, in which he quoted a 14th century text that denounced as "evil and inhumane" Muhammad's decree that Islam could be spread by the sword.

Within hours of the address, priests in Islamic countries were murdered and churches were burned. Muslims "protesting" the speech -- because it insulted their "peaceful" religion -- shot an African nun in the back. Threats were made against the life of the pope. When the pope traveled to Turkey two months later, he was met by tens of thousands of angry demonstrators.

With that recent experience in mind with what we're told is "the religion of peace" should we not have expected the non-Catholic Christian world to ignite like a powder keg when insulted by Pope Benedict?

Yet, it did not happen. Why?

It's quite simple.

Christians, generally speaking, though constantly criticized by non-believers as intolerant, are actually the most tolerant, peaceable people in the world. They believe in debate. They believe in dialogue. They believe in lively and free expression. They believe in permitting others to speak their minds -- even when they profoundly disagree with what is said.

As an evangelical Christian, I was disappointed the pope would approve a document that characterized my faith as "defective" because I did not submit to his authority and the authority of priests but instead live only by the authority of God and His Word.

I disagree with the pope that the church Christ established on this Earth had anything to do with an institution run by men. The church Christ started was not a building. It was not a corporation. It was not a set of rules. It was and is a relationship between Creator and His creation.

Nevertheless, no matter how profoundly I disagree with the pope on this issue, I am not even slightly tempted to burn down Catholic churches or take nuns and priests hostage. I don't think many other non-Catholic Christians are either -- as evidenced by the quietude we have experienced in the world since the pope's action.

There's a lesson here.

Some non-believers like to portray Christian fundamentalists and Islamic fundamentalists as cut from the same cloth. I think the reaction to these two separate pronouncements from the Vatican illustrates just how profoundly ignorant, unenlightened and bigoted such conclusions are.

No heads were chopped off in the creation of this column.

No children were recruited into the suicide bomber profession as a creation of this column.

No women were stoned to death in the creation of this column.

And none of those things will happen as a result of the pope's difference of opinion with the non-Catholic Christian world.

No, I don't want to kill the pope because of his wrongful conclusions about me and my faith.

[Rasputin]

Pope's secretary warns of Islamization of Europe

Pope Benedict XVI's private secretary warned of the Islamization of Europe and stressed the need for the continent's Christian roots not to be ignored, in comments released Thursday.

"Attempts to Islamize the west cannot be denied," Monsignor Georg Gaenswein was quoted as saying in an advance copy of the weekly Sueddeutsche Magazin to be published Friday.

"The danger for the identity of Europe that is connected with it should not be ignored out of a wrongly understood respectfulness," the magazine quoted him as saying.

Gaenswein also defended a speech Benedict gave last year linking Islam and violence, saying it was an attempt by the pontiff to "act against a certain naivety."

[Rasputin]

[Rasputin]

Pope 'refused audience for Rice'

Pope Benedict XVI refused a recent request by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss the Middle East and Iraq, Vatican sources say.

The Pope refused a request for an audience during the August holidays.

Senior Vatican sources told the BBC the Pope does not normally receive politicians on his annual holiday at the Castelgandolfo residence near Rome.

But one leading Italian newspaper said it was an evident snub by the Vatican towards the Bush administration.

Christian rights

There are at least two reasons why Pope Benedict may have decided peremptorily against a private meeting with Ms Rice.

First, it was Ms Rice who just before the outbreak of the Iraq war in March 2003 made it clear to a special papal envoy sent from Rome, Cardinal Pio Laghi, that the Bush administration was not interested in the views of the late Pope on the immorality of launching its planned military offensive.

Secondly, the US has responded in a manner considered unacceptable at the Vatican to the protection of the rights of Iraqi Christians under the new Iraqi constitution.

The Bush administration has told the Vatican that as coalition forces have not succeeded in securing the whole territory of Iraq, they are unable to protect non-Muslims.

Instead of meeting the Pope, Ms Rice had to make do with a telephone conversation with the Vatican's number two, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who was visiting the US during August on other business.

[Rasputin]

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VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican on Monday ruled out a trip by Pope Benedict XVI to Israel in the immediate future, saying the two sides must settle long-standing differences over property, tax exemptions and visas.

Israel recently renewed a standing invitation to the pope, who has said he would like to visit.

"The pope has a great desire to go to Israel, but along with general conditions of peace there should be positive signs on relations with the Holy See," the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, told a media briefing on the situation of Christians in the Holy Land.

The Vatican and Israel established diplomatic ties in the early 1990s, but they still must resolve the status of expropriated church property, tax exemptions for the church and permits for Arab Christian clergy traveling to and around the West Bank.

[Rasputin]

Muslim delegation expected at Vatican this week for talks

A delegation of Muslim officials is expected at the Vatican this week for talks aimed at arranging a summit between the Pope and Muslim leaders, both sides said Monday.

The preparatory talks -- on Tuesday and Wednesday -- come as the result of a Muslim call for dialogue in the wake of a controversial speech by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 seemingly linking Islam with violence.

One member of the Muslim delegation, Sergio Yahya Pallavicini, said the encounter was aimed at "firming up the likelihood of a meeting with the pope," whilst the Vatican called the talks "purely of a technical nature."

The talks are the result of an initiative by the Jordanian Prince Ghazi bin Muhammed bin Talal, who brought together 138 Muslim leaders from various sects from 43 countries in an open letter last year urging peace.

That move in October 2007 came one year after the pope gave a speech at Regensberg University in Germany which angered some Muslim leaders for using a quote which seemed to equate Islam with violence.

The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, underlined the pope's "complete willingness" to meet with Muslim leaders "to see what unites us, without minimising or ignoring our differences."