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US SENATE CANCELS RECESS TO FOCUS ON DEFICIT
The US Senate will skip its planned recess for the week of July 4 to focus on cutting the deficit ... The US Senate will skip its planned recess for the week of July 4 to focus on cutting the deficit.The decision follows a scolding by President Barack Obama, who urged lawmakers to reach a deal on raising the government's 14.3 trillion dollar debt ceiling by the start of August to avoid a default. Democrats want to include tax increases or eliminate tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans, while Republicans are widely opposed to tax increases and want to cut government spending. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said lawmakers must find solutions to America's problems. Harry Reid also said lawmakers must forgo their scheduled breaks until an agreement is reached. Listen 00:00:52:10
ASIA/PAKISTAN - MINORITY RIGHTS AND THE FUTURE OF CHRISTIANS: THE CATHOLIC MINISTER IS "CONFIDENT"
Islamabad (Fides Service) - Although the Federal Ministry that presided has just been "dissolved" - after a Provincial decentralization plan approved by ... Islamabad (Fides Service) - Although the Federal Ministry that presided has just been "dissolved" - after a Provincial decentralization plan approved by the Parliament - the Catholic Akram Gill, until yesterday Minister of State for Religious and Minority Affairs is still confident: "The government is trying to protect the security of minorities. The situation is not easy, but we have been assured by Prime Minister Gilani with regards to religious minorities in the life of the nation", he says in an interview to Fides. The guarantees are expected to result, soon, in the establishment of a new "Federal Ministry for human rights and religious harmony", which should absorb some of the skills of the old department. Pakistan abolishes the Ministry of Minorities: was ...
VATICAN RADIO'S LATEST NEWS
Listen to the latest news broadcast produced by Vatican Radio's English Service. Listen to the latest news broadcast produced by Vatican Radio's English Service.
MIDEAST PEACE IN FOCUS AT BRUSSELS MEETING
Palestinian leaders pushed for UN recognition of a Palestinian state this week at a Mideast peace conference in Brussels. The ... Palestinian leaders pushed for UN recognition of a Palestinian state this week at a Mideast peace conference in Brussels. The General Delegate of Palestine to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg, Leila Shahid told participants that statehood for the Palestinian Territories is essential for security and peace throughout the entire region. “We think that we need statehood and independence for the security and the future of our people,” she said, adding, “the two state solution is the only solution that can ensure in the Middle East a peaceful settlement of this conflict.”The Holy See supports statehood for Palestine, and recognizes the need for peace and security in the region to be based on agreements founded in justice. During his ...
ASIA/MYANMAR - PRIESTS AND NUNS HELP 20 THOUSAND KACHIN REFUGEES, VICTIMS OF INDISCRIMINATE REPRESSION
Myitkyina (Fides Service) - "Ethnic cleansing" and "humanitarian emergency" is what is happening in the Kachin State in northern Myanmar, where ... Myitkyina (Fides Service) - "Ethnic cleansing" and "humanitarian emergency" is what is happening in the Kachin State in northern Myanmar, where a conflict is raging between the Burmese army, and the Kachin Independent Army (see Fides 24 and 27.6.2011), as a local priest tells Fides, who requested anonymity for security reasons. Priests and nuns in the diocese of Myitkyina (which covers the territory of the Kachin State) - refers to the priest - "they are doing everything to help the ethnic Kachin refugees, almost all Christians, victims of a brutal repression carried out by the Burmese military". There are about 20 thousand IDPs and the number is constantly increasing: at least 5,000 in Laize (city on the border with China ...
SIGNIFICANT RISE IN IRELAND'S LONG TERM UNEMPLOYED
The number of people signing on for unemployment benefits for over a year in Ireland has risen significantly. According to ... The number of people signing on for unemployment benefits for over a year in Ireland has risen significantly. According to new figures released by the country’s Central Statistic’s Office 50,000 people signed on for welfare assistance in the past year. There was also a slight increase in the live register which showed nearly half a million people on unemployment benefit. Lydia O’Kane spoke to the Director of Social Justice Ireland, Father Sean Healy about these latest figures. He says they are not unexpected adding, “ that a lot of people become long term unemployed by definition after one year”.He goes on to say however that the proportion of people who are long term unemployed in the ...
A STRUGGLE IGNORED
The Catholic Bishops of Southern Africa have raised their concern regarding news of a request by the Government of the ... The Catholic Bishops of Southern Africa have raised their concern regarding news of a request by the Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland for a financial bailout by the South African Treasury. It is understood that an amount of R10 Billion is needed to keep the Swazi Government afloat and the administration from collapsing. The SACBC bishops point out that Swaziland is currently in the throes of an unprecedented financial and societal crisis. It has the highest HIV & AIDS infection rate in the world (26%); the lowest life expectancy in the world (32 years); an unemployment rate of 40% and rising; and extreme poverty with 70% of its population living below the poverty line of less than US$6 a day; a State of Emergency that has ...
UK STRIKES OVER PLANNED PENSION CUTS
Teachers and civil servants marched through the streets and picketed government buildings across Britain on Thursday to protest planned pension ... Teachers and civil servants marched through the streets and picketed government buildings across Britain on Thursday to protest planned pension reforms. Echoing protests across continental Europe against austerity measures imposed to reduce debt, the strikes are the first in what unions say will be a wave of action against steps by the British government that will cut the value of public sector pensions.“The impact of public expenditure cuts has only really started over the last few months,” says Charles Wookey, Assistant General Secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. “Unemployment is just beginning to rise now. But many of the effects, I think, will become much more apparent over the next 12 months.”Unions say about ...
ICC PRESSURES LIBYA OFFICIALS FOR ARREST
Members of Muammar Gadhafi's government are being asked to turn the Libyan leader over to the International Criminal Court ... Members of Muammar Gadhafi's government are being asked to turn the Libyan leader over to the International Criminal Court. ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo says officials in Tripoli have an obligation to arrest Gadhafi. Ocampo says the Interim National Council, formed by opposition groups, could also implement the warrant. He says NATO, however, does not have any mandate to carry out an arrest of Gadhafi. Listen 00:00:54:82
FIRES THREATEN US NUCLEAR LAB
A wildfire is advancing on the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory in New Mexico, which stores thousands of drums of nuclear ... A wildfire is advancing on the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory in New Mexico, which stores thousands of drums of nuclear waste. The fire has forced the evacuation of the entire city of Los Alamos, 11,000 people. The nuclear facility covers nearly 100 square kilometres. The lab was created during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project to build the atomic bomb. In the decades since, the lab has evolved into a major scientific and nuclear research facility. There are thousands of drums of nuclear waste at the facility, as well as material for the assembly of atomic weapons. Lab officials said there was very little risk of the fire reaching nuclear material, since the flames would have ...
July 2, 2011Church in the World
IF LEONARDO WERE A CHIMERA
The attribution of the «Salvator mundi» is erroneous
The theme of Salvator Mundi (frontal view of half-bust of the Savior ...
The attribution of the «Salvator mundi» is erroneous
The theme of Salvator Mundi (frontal view of half-bust of the Savior, right hand raised in blessing and with a globe of the earth in the other hand) was approached by Leonardo very late in his career, around 1515, possibly in view of a French commission or on behalf of Major Gian Giacomo Trivulzio who died in 1518 in Amboise, France, where Leonardo himself would die a year later.The “Salvador Mundi” erroneously attributed to Leonardo There is no documentation of this, except for two splendid studies in Windsor of the stole and Christ’s arm raised in blessing, of a style and technique similar to those figure sketches and studies dated ...
MOVEMENT IN THREE PARTS - THE CREED AS A BOND OF LOVE, ACCORDING TO JOHN HENRY NEWMAN
Beginning with the certainty of the union between the I and the Father/Creator, the Creed, according to Newman, ceases ...
Beginning with the certainty of the union between the I and the Father/Creator, the Creed, according to Newman, ceases to be an imprint and becomes a inter-subjective and loving bond. It is just this loving revelation which will lead him from the Byzantine Fathers to Protestantism to the Catholic Church. Let us follow the movement of loving subjectivity in three tempos.

Youthful portrait of NewmanThe concept of faith as an imprint of the Creator in the believer, of his icon and his economy, was developed in the 9th century. Insisting on the deposit/reception/inscription of the pact with the Creator, that economy risked inverting the believer into what Newman calls “unworldnesness”: retiring from the world. Instead, thanks to ...
CORRECTNESS AND RIGOR EVEN IN DELICATE SITUATIONS - LETTER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNION OF ITALIAN JEWISH COMMUNITIES
On the occasion of the newspaper's 150th anniversary, Renzo Gattegna, President of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, sent ...
On the occasion of the newspaper's 150th anniversary, Renzo Gattegna, President of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, sent our editor-in-chief the following letter.

To the Editor of the Osservatore Romano
Professor Giovanni Maria Vian
Vatican City

Dearest Professor Vian,

I read with great pleasure the letter addressed to you by Benedict XVI on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of L’Osservatore Romano, which highlights, among other things, the merits of the newspaper of the Holy See in promoting dialogue between the Catholic world and Judaism.

I wish, on this happy anniversary for your newspaper, to send you a sign of my affection and friendship, which I ask you to extend to the entire staff.

In particular, I ...
EUROPE/ITALY-ANNUAL REPORT OF "AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED": 5,587 PROJECTS FUNDED IN 153 COUNTRIES
Rome (Fides Service) – The 2010 Annual Report of the Work of Pontifical Right "Aid to the Church that Need" (ACN ... Rome (Fides Service) – The 2010 Annual Report of the Work of Pontifical Right "Aid to the Church that Need" (ACN), founded by Father Werenfried van Straaten in 1947 has been published: in 2010 ACN raised a total of donations never reached in 63 years, with a bidding increment of 13.5% compared to 2009. The 86.9 million euros have financed 5,587 projects carried out in 153 countries around the world, paying particular attention to those in which the Church has more difficulty in carrying out her mission. According to the statement received by Fides, last year, ACN supported 10,645 seminarians in their studies, collected 1,245,352 intentions of Masses, 417 projects were launched for the construction ...
AFRICA/NIGERIA - CARDINAL OKOGIE: "NO TO ISLAMIC BANKING, BECAUSE IT IS A PLAN TO SUBJUGATE CHRISTIANS"
AFRICA/NIGERIA - Cardinal Okogie: "No to Islamic Banking, because it is a plan to subjugate Christians" Lagos (Fides) - Cardinal Anthony ... AFRICA/NIGERIA - Cardinal Okogie: "No to Islamic Banking, because it is a plan to subjugate Christians" Lagos (Fides) - Cardinal Anthony Olubunmi Okogie, Archbishop of Lagos, has expressed his opposition to the proposal of the Federal Government, through the Central Bank of Nigeria, to endorse the commencement of Islamic Banking in Nigeria. In a release signed by Monsignor Gabriel Osu, Director of Social Communications of the Archdiocese of Lagos, of which a copy was sent to Fides, Cardinal Okogie said that the efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, is to obtain the approval of the Islamic bank, is part of a plan to transform Nigeria into an Islamic state. "We condemn such move in all ...
ASIA/MYANMAR - CARITAS, THE ONLY ORGANIZATION COMMITTED TO THE HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY IN THE SCENE OF WAR
Banmaw (Fides Service) - To meet ongoing humanitarian emergency in northern Myanmar - scarred by civil war between the army and rebels ... Banmaw (Fides Service) - To meet ongoing humanitarian emergency in northern Myanmar - scarred by civil war between the army and rebels of the Kachin Independent Army (see Fides 06/30/2011) - Caritas has put into the field every possible effort, despite the risks that today's work assistance involves: is what sources in the diocese of Banmaw refer to Fides. Given its local roots, Caritas is the only organization working on the ground to help more than 20 thousand refugees, given the inability to operate in Myanmar for other humanitarian organizations and fighting still going on. In addition to the diocese of Myitkyina, which covers almost the entire territory of the Kachin state, even the Diocese of Banwam is affected by ...
AFRICA/SUDAN - MOTHERS FORCED TO GIVE BIRTH ON THE ROADSIDE: "THE SITUATION OF DISPLACED PEOPLE OF ABYEI IS STILL DRAMATIC," SAYS THE APOSTOLIC ADMINISTRATOR OF MALAKAL
Juba (Fides Service) - "The situation of displaced people of Abyei remains dramatic, despite the arrival of some humanitarian aid", said ... Juba (Fides Service) - "The situation of displaced people of Abyei remains dramatic, despite the arrival of some humanitarian aid", said Mgr.Roko Taban Mousa to Fides, Apostolic Administrator of Malakal in southern Sudan, in whose jurisdiction Abyei is included, an area disputed between north and south Sudan. The homonymous capital was occupied by the military in Khartoum on 21 May (see Fides 25/5/2011). Tens of thousands of villagers have fled provoking a serious humanitarian crisis. "Tens of thousands of people are still living in the open in the woods, under the incessant rain. Food and medicines continue to be scarce. The situation of mothers is particularly dramatic, who have been forced to give birth along the roadside and ...
WORLD AT PRAYER FOR PRIESTS
Friday, July 1st, 2011 marks the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus – a feast that since 2002 has ... Friday, July 1st, 2011 marks the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus – a feast that since 2002 has also been the World Day of Prayer for Priests. The founder and president of the Christopher Inn International, Joan Johnson was recently in Rome to present the CI International project, which is for a completely lay-funded and operated house of retreat and ongoing formation for Catholic clergy from throughout the world. Chris Altieri asked Joan to share her thoughts about why it is important for laity to support priests with prayer.
REMARKS OF ABBOT HEIM, OCIST ON RATZINGER PRIZE
Below is an English translation (with transcription of his Latin remarks) of Prof. Maximilian Heim's speech on receiving the ... Below is an English translation (with transcription of his Latin remarks) of Prof. Maximilian Heim's speech on receiving the Ratzinger Prize. Abbot Maximilian Heim's Acceptance Speech for the Ratzinger-Prize Held in Rome on June 30th, 2011. The Theologian as cooperator veritatis Sanctissime Pater! Vobis – non meo tantum nomine, sed his quoque duobus theologis, qui una mecum praemii palmam tulerunt, annuentibus – tota mente ac animo sincero gratias ago maximas ac plurimas pro illo honore, quo commodule brabeo hoc theologico Ratzingeriano exornati sumus. Liceat mihi inter laureatos natu minimo et Vobis, Sanctissime Pater, pro benevolentia Vestra et Vobis, eminentissime domine, pro verbis honorificis prolatis necnon toti coetui festivo gratias referre. Aperte mihi confitendum est me in conspectu illius stupendi operis ...
PONTIFICAL COUNCIL PARTNERS WITH BIOTECH COMPANY
74 year old Bernie Van Zyl died but was brought back to life in a U.S. hospital some years ... 74 year old Bernie Van Zyl died but was brought back to life in a U.S. hospital some years ago. He suffered from congestive heart failure, a condition for which there is no real cure. Bernie was waiting for a heart transplant when he heard about the potential of adult stem cells as treatment for heart disease. He participated in a clinical trail to repair his heart using his own adult stem cells and made a complete recovery – and has since written two books to tell people how the extraordinary therapy changed his life. College freshman Bethany Pappalardo suffered surprise attacks of multiple sclerosis that would leave her legs and even her whole body numb. After receiving an adult ...