(CNS PHOTO/POOL VIA REUTERS)
(CNS PHOTO/MAX ROSSI, REUTERS)
During his Sept. 16-19 apostolic journey to the United Kingdom, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his pain over the abuse crisis as he assured young people that Jesus is their greatest hope and friend. He attacked secularism’s rise and called for a return to reason and faith in balance. The pope drew larger-than-expected crowds with, as one British commentator put it, “a shyness that attracts.” Above, suburban London school children awaiting the pope’s arrival; the pope serving Communion to a young man at Mass at Westminster Cathedral, where he confessed his “deep sorrow” to abuse victims.
Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
Pope: faith’s public voice at risk; “dictatorship of relativism” looms By John Thavis LONDON (CNS) – Christianity risks being sidelined in the West and the “voice of religion” must be heard in the public square, Pope Benedict XVI warned British cultural and political leaders. The pope’s speech Sept. 17 laid out his vision of how belief can influence politics and save the principles needed for true democracy. Religion, he said, is “not a problem for legislators to solve, but a vital contributor to the national conversation.” The pontiff addressed some 2,000 leaders in politics, business, the arts and diplomacy in Westminster Hall, a site rich in church-state history. State trumpeters greeted him with a fanfare. An ovation filled the hall as the red-caped Pope took the podium for his nationally televised speech. Westminster Hall, he recalled, was where St. Thomas More, the 16th-century English scholar and statesman, was sentenced to die for opposing King Henry VIII’s break with Rome. He said the saint’s trial underscored a perennial question about how much governments can impose upon citizens and their religious beliefs. Modern democracies, he said, face the challenge of making sure that fundamental moral principles are not determined by mere social consensus.
The pope said the church teaches that the ethical basis for political choices can be found through reason; the church does not dictate these norms as religious truths, but it does promote them in a “corrective” role, he said. This contribution of religion is not always accepted, he said, in part because “distortions of religion” like fundamentalism are seen as creating serious social problems. But he said reason, too, can fall prey to distortions, as when it is manipulated by ideology. In short, he said, the world of reason and faith need each other, and their relationship is a “two-way process.” The pope warned about what he called “the increasing marginalization of religion, particularly of Christianity,” which he said is occurring even in countries that have a reputation for tolerance. He said there are some who argue, for example, that Christmas should not be publicly celebrated because it might somehow offend those of other religions or of no religion. He also complained of a failure to appreciate freedom of conscience and the legitimate role of religion in public debate. Some, he said, openly advocate that “the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere.” On the contrary, religion and politics need to be in dialogue, he said, and one step in that direction was the “unprecedented invitation extended to me today.” DICTATORSHIP OF RELATIVISM, page 12
“A shock for me, a great sadness” Revelations of priestly abuse “have been a shock for me, not only a great sadness,” Pope Benedict XVI told journalists on Sept. 16 while airborne for his apostolic journey to the United Kingdom. “It is difficult to understand how this perversion of the priestly ministry was possible,” he said. The Holy Father, who later in the journey addressed the abuse issue at a public Mass in London and met separately with a victims’ group and the Church’s child protection officers, continued in his response to journalists: “The priest at the time of ordination, after having prepared for this moment for years, says yes to Christ, to be his voice, his mouth, his hands and serve Him with his whole life, so that the Good Shepherd who loves and helps and guides to the truth is present in the world. “How a man who has done this and said this may also fall into this perversion is difficult to understand. It is a great sadness, a sadness that even the authority of the Church has not been sufficiently vigilant and not fast or decided enough in taking the necessary measures. “Because of all of this,” the Holy Father said, “we are in a time of repentance, humility and renewed sincerity.” In his homily at a public Mass Sept. 18 at London’s Westminster Cathedral, the 83-year-old pontiff expressed “my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes, along with my hope that the power of Christ’s grace, his sacrifice of reconciliation, will bring deep healing and peace to their lives.” He acknowledged the “shame and humiliation which all of us have suffered” and invited the audience to trust in the power of Christ’s chastisement to heal the victims, purify the Church and renew the Church’s age-old commitment to the education and care of young people. The Holy Father met with a group of abuse victims the same day. “He was moved by what GREAT SADNESS, page 12
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION On the Street. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 Council’s “elusive” impact . . . .4 Cathedral flower fest . . . . . . . .6 Reader gives Hawking a “D” .14 Weigel: “Pius XII Wars” . . . . .15
Feminine beauty in sacred art ~ Page 3 ~ September 24, 2010
St. Francis Shrine: SF landmark re-opens ~ Page 8 ~
“The Lord Reigns, Clothed in Beauty” ~ Page 17 ~
ONE DOLLAR
Reflection on Luke’s Gospel . .16 Estevez directs Sheen . . . . . . .20
www.catholic-sf.org VOLUME 12
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No. 29