Pope alerts world to Sinai hostage horror
Catholic san Francisco
VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI issued an urgent Advent season worldwide appeal for prayer for victims of violence and intolerance. In his Angelus address on Dec. 5, the second Sunday of Advent, he pointed in particular to hundreds of African and Middle Eastern migrants who are being held in the Sinai desert by human traffickers and are experiencing what people familiar with the situation have described as almost unspeakable suffering. The pope noted “the continuous attacks that occur in Iraq against Christians and Muslims,” election-related violence in Egypt and a dramatic situation in the Sinai where Bedouin human traffickers have taken hundreds of people hostage, subjecting them to torture to extract payments from their relatives living abroad. The pope asked all to pray “that the coming of Jesus may bring consolation, reconciliation and peace.” SINAI HOSTAGE, page 19 (PHOTO BY ARNE FOLKEDAL/CATHOLIC SAN FRANCISCO)
Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
Archbishop George Niederauer blesses the new Blessed Sacrament Chapel at St. Charles Church in San Carlos Dec. 5 during rededication ceremonies for the newly remodeled church. For the archbishop’s homily, and a story on the rededication, see Page 13.
Social media and kids: Do you know who is tracking your child? By Valerie Schmalz It used to be that parents only had to warn children about talking to strangers. Now they need to keep apprised of apps that allow predators, bullies or just nosy friends to track their children’s travels in real-time and view private Facebook postings and photos. Children are the most vulnerable in a digital world in which it is increasingly hard to keep anything SOCIAL MEDIA AND KIDS, page 3
Catholics, Orthodox Christians join in East-West pilgrimage By Archbishop George Niederauer Together with my good friend and brother in faith, His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco, I was privileged to join 28 Orthodox and Catholics on an ecumenical pilgrimage to Rome, Athens and Constantinople (Istanbul), Nov.21-Dec. 2. Why a pilgrimage? Church reunion cannot simply be imposed from the top, a “trickle down” process from patriarchs, popes and theologians to laymen and women, parishioners in the pews. The grassroots Christians of Orthodoxy and Catholicism need to meet and get to know each other and each other’s churches and traditions. We need to pray together, to work together, and to like and love each other. That’s why 28 of us made “A Journey of Faith: East and West.” Other clergy pilgrims included Metropolitan Nikitas, based at The Patriarch Athenagoras Orthodox Institute in Berkeley; Father John Bakas, pastor of St. Sophia Cathedral in Los Angeles; as well as Bishop Tod Brown of Orange; Auxiliary Bishop William Justice of San Francisco; and Msgr. John Talesfore, rector of St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral in San Francisco. The other 21 participants were laywomen and men, about evenly divided between Orthodox and Catholics. At the present time Orthodox Christians throughout the world number about 300 million, Catholics about 1.1 billion. For the first 1,000 years of Christian history the churches of the East and the West were united in faith and worship. They recognized and prayed for one another,
and met in Council, especially to preserve unity in the teaching of the faith. Over time, differences in language, faith expression and culture, as well as the difficulties of effective communication, led to misunderstandings and to a definitive break or schism in 1054 A.D. Periodic efforts at reunion failed, in no small part because of historical misdeeds such as the Fourth Crusade, in 1204.
What we share gives us joy and hope: the common Creed of the Council of Nicaea, the teaching of the Apostles and the ordained ministry passed down from them, the inspired Word of God in Scripture, the seven sacraments. After 900 years of silence, distrust and misunderstanding, Orthodox Patriarch Athenagoras and
Pope John XXIII began a mutual fraternal outreach that has widened and developed during the last fifty years. During that time the Ecumenical Patriarchs in Constantinople and the Popes in Rome have met with each other and have withdrawn historic official declarations against each other. For years now there have been regular international meetings of Orthodox and Catholic representatives, and here in the United States the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation continues to meet to discuss steps toward a reunited Church in full communion (this Consultation’s most recent meeting issued a joint communiqué on Oct. 2 of this year.) The emphasis along this path toward reunion is necessarily on what we Orthodox and Catholics have in common, while acknowledging and working through the real differences and stumbling blocks. What we share gives us joy and hope: the common Creed of the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.), the teaching of the Apostles and the ordained ministry passed down from them, the inspired Word of God in Scripture, the seven sacraments (most centrally, the Eucharist), a shared moral teaching, as well as an understanding of faith and an appreciation of Christian spirituality rooted in the Fathers of the Church, East and West, including St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, St. Leo the Great, St. Gregory Nazianzen and St. Basil. In future articles I hope to share with you some of our experiences on this ecumenical pilgrimage.
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION New Seattle archbishop . . . . . .3 Court reviews Prop. 8 . . . . . . .5 Preparing for Mass changes . . .7 Pope models Catholic thought14 Archbishop Dolan’s election . .15
Conference examines coming generational crisis ~ Page 9 ~ December 10, 2010
Italian priest in Sudan ~ Page 12 ~
Trouble in Bethlehem . . . . . . .17 We 12 kings: a new look at the Magi Scented holy cards . . . . . . . . .19 ~ Page 4 ~ www.catholic-sf.org
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No. 38