Catholic san Francisco
Pope delivers lessons on religion, reason, church beliefs
Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
REGENSBURG, Germany (CNS) — Returning to the city where he once taught theology, Pope Benedict XVI offered a fundamental lesson in what the church believes and why it should proclaim the faith clearly in today’s anxious and violent world. In a sermon before an estimated 300,000 people in Regensburg Sept. 12, the pope said it was necessary to recognize the modern “pathologies” associated with reason and religion and the ways that “God’s image can be destroyed by hatred and fanaticism.” In light of these distortions, he said, Christians need to “state clearly the God in whom we believe and proclaim confidently that this God has a human face.” “Only this can free us from being afraid of God, which is ultimately at the root of modern atheism. Only this God saves us from being afraid of the world and from anxiety before the emptiness of life,” he said. Speaking from beneath a hillside canopy overlooking a field on the edge of the city, the pope said he was “a bit taken aback” by all the preparation work for his visit. He offered what he called “an inadequate thank you.” On his left was placed a huge cross, which the pontiff called “a sign of God’s peace in the world.” The phrase underlined what has become a subtext of the pope’s six-day visit and a theme of his papacy: that Christianity does not threaten people, but offers a vision based on love. Tomas Miklos, a sugar factory worker in Regensburg, said this basic message of the German pope was resonating with younger generations. He stood with other worshippers on one of the manicured plots of grass installed for the Mass. “I think the pope is trying to bring a new way of seeing things. Instead of war, we create love: That’s the message younger people want to hear, and it’s enough,” he said. “We see all these terrible images of Iraq, Israel, Beirut. And the pope is saying something about all that: Christianity is love,” he said. “I think this is bringing younger people closer to the church,” POPE LESSONS, page 6 he added.
( C N S P H O T O / K A I P FA F F E N B A C H , R E U T E R S )
By John Thavis
Pope Benedict XVI waves to pilgrims after a Mass held on Islinger Field near Regensburg, Germany, Sept. 12. In a sermon before an estimated 300,000 people, the pope said it was necessary to recognize the modern pathologies associated with reason and religion and the ways that “God's image can be destroyed by hatred and fanaticism.”
National conference on global poverty set for Oct. 27-28 in San Francisco By Maurice Healy A national conference on global poverty, “POINT SEVEN NOW, Keeping America’s Promise to Make Poverty History,” will be held in San Francisco Oct. 27-28 at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The title of the conference refers to goals, which were adopted by the nations of the world in September 2000 at the United Nations Millennium Summit, aimed at reducing extreme poverty and improving the lives of those living in the world’s poorest countries by the year 2015. Governments of the most developed countries agreed to
increase their aid to the poorest countries, pledging the equivalent of 0.7 percent of their countries’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP) each year for development assistance. Scheduled speakers at the twoday conference include Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Vatican’s Office of Justice and
Peace; David O’Brien, director of the Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at Holy Cross College; Margaret O’Brien Steinfels, co-director of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture; Jeffrey Sachs, chair of the Earth Institute at Columbia University; Rev. Brian Hehir, professor of the Harvard Divinity School;
Charles Geschke, chairman of the board and co-founder, Adobe Systems; and others. Foundational sponsors of the POINT 7 NOW conference include the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco; Catholic Relief Services; Catholic Health Care West; Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought at the University of San Francisco; Seton Institute; Department of Social Development and World Peace, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Quinn Colloquium of the Archdiocese of San Francisco; and the University of San GLOBAL POVERTY, page 5
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION Ground Zero prayer . . . . . . 3 News-in-brief. . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Pregnant women program ~ Page 7 ~
Nun’s murder mysteries . . . 8
Faces of global poverty
Analysis and comment . 12-13 Scripture and reflection . . . 14
~ Pages 10-11 ~ ‘Everyone’s Hero’ movie review ~ Page 17 ~
September 15, 2006
SEVNTY-FIVE CENTS
Datebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Classified ads . . . . . . . 18-19
www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 8
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No. 25