News
Byzcath.org News provides news focusing on the Christian East from varous sources and offers links to other sites dedicated to providing the news about the Church.
Churches and organizations that provide news about the Eastern Churches are invited to submit their news stories to us for publication here (use the contact page for submission)..
Materials from the Vatican Information Service, Zenit, CWNews.com and other sources are published here with permission of their owners but may not be republished further without the permission of their original publishers. Please visit these sites to obtain additional general news about the Church. In addition to these sources EWTN News also provides a good general news summary.
Photo: Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I embrace.
- Details
CWNews.com - Gunmen linked with al-Qaeda stormed a Catholic church in Baghdad during Liturgy on October 31.
“They entered the church with their weapons, wearing military uniforms,” said an 18-year-old who survived the attack. “They came into the prayer hall and immediately killed the priest.”
After the gunmen took the worshippers hostage, US troops and Iraqi police stormed the parish in a rescue attempt. One gunman detonated a suicide belt, and a shootout ensued, leaving at least 37 hostages and 7 members of security forces dead along with 5 terrorists.
The Islamic State of Iraq-- the Iraqi al-Qaeda affiliate-- said it was responsible for attacking what it called “the dirty place of the infidel which Iraqi Christians have long used as a base to fight Islam.” The group said that it was taking action in support of Muslims in Egypt, charging that Muslim women are being held hostage by Coptic Orthodox clerics. The group warned that it could take action against the Copts next.
At a midday audience on November 1, Pope Benedict XVI decried the “senseless violence—all the more ferocious because it affected defenseless civilians.”
“Faced with the brutal violence that continues to tear the peoples of the Middle East apart”, the Holy Father added, “I renew my appeal for peace.” Chaldean Catholic Bishop Shlemon Warduni—who visited survivors on Monday, together with Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly—remarked that “the Christian community no longer feel safe, not even in the House of God.” He predicted that the attack would trigger a new round of emigration as Iraqi Christians look for security elsewhere.
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Auxiliary bishop asks prayers for hostages, hostage takers as police regain control of situation in Baghdad church (Vatican Radio)
- Baghdad church hostage drama: death toll hits 39 (The Telegraph)
- Baghdad Church Attack Leaves 37 Dead (Voice of America)
- Pope decries ferocious attack on Iraq’s Christian community (Vatican Radio)
- Baghdad church siege ends in massacre (Vatican Radio)
- Al Qaeda claims responsibility for Baghdad attacks, threats to the Copts (AsiaNews)
- Details
MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD
Rome - During the Fourteenth General Congregation held yesterday afternoon, Friday 22nd October 2010, the Synod Fathers approved the Nuntius, the Message to the People of God, at the conclusion of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops.
The full text (written in Arabic, French, Italian and English) of the English version is published below:
"Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul" (Acts 4:32)
To our brother priests, deacons, monks, nuns, consecrated persons, our dear lay faithful and all people of good will.
- Details
CWNews.com - Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, has distanced the Vatican from comments on Israel made by Melkite Archbishop Cyrille Bustros at a press conference on October 23, the day before the closing of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East. Archbishop Bustros served as president of the commission that prepared the synod’s message to the People of God.
At the press conference, Archbishop Bustros was quoted as saying, “The Holy Scriptures cannot be used to justify the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of the Palestinians, to justify the occupation by Israel of Palestinian lands,” adding, “We Christians cannot speak of the 'promised land' as an exclusive right for a privileged Jewish people. This promise was nullified by Christ. There is no longer a chosen people-- all men and women of all countries have become the chosen people.”
In response, Father Lombardi said that the archbishop was speaking only for himself and that the message itself was the synod’s “only approved written text.”
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Details
CWNews.com - The deliberations of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East concluded on Saturday, October 23, with the approval of 44 propositions that will be presented to Pope Benedict XVI.
These 44 propositions will be the basis for an apostolic exhortation in which the Pope summarizes the work of the Synod. At the Pontiff’s request, the full list of propositions was made public.
The propositions put forward by the Synod fathers naturally reflect the Synod’s final message. Among the noteworthy specific points added to that message, the Synod approved propositions that said:
- "The attention of the whole world should be focused on the tragic situation of certain Christian communities in the Middle East which suffer all manner of trials sometimes even to the point of martyrdom.”
- Important Vatican statements should be translated into Arabic “so that Christians of Arab culture have access to information from the Holy See in their mother tongue.”
- The traditions of the Eastern Catholic churches should be respected and preserved, and the “it would be desirable to study the possibility of having married priests outside the patriarchal territory."
- In the interests of ecumenism, a common date should be set for celebrating Easter and Christmas.
- The Church should provide proper preparation for marriage, and encourage young couples to welcome children.
- Reading of the Old Testament is a good way to acquire proper understanding of Judaism and encourage better relations between Christians and Jews.
- ”We reject anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism, while distinguishing between religion and politics.”
- Christians and Muslims should join in “combating every sort of fundamentalism and violence in the name of religion.”
At the final working meeting, the Synod fathers also elected a council of 11 prelates to monitor the implementation of the Synod’s recommendations. The council includes three patriarchs from the Middle East and two cardinals from the Vatican; 8 are bishops of Eastern Catholic churches. The members are:
- Coptic Catholic Patriarch Antonios Naguib of Alexandria, Egypt;
- Retired Latin-rite Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem;
- Syrian Catholic Patriarch Ignace Youssif III Younan of Antioch, Lebanon;
- Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches
- Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue;
- Melkite Catholic Archbishop Cyrille Salim Bustros of the Eparchy of Newton, Massachusetts;
- Armenian Catholic Archbishop Boutros Marayati of Aleppo, Syria;
- Maronite Catholic Archbishop Joseph Soueif of Cyprus;
- Chaldean Catholic Bishop Antoine Audo SJ of Aleppo, Syria;
- Maronite Catholic Bishop Bechara Rai O.M.M. of Jbeil, Lebanon; and
- Chaldean Catholic Bishop Shlemon Warduni, an auxiliary of Babylonia, Iraq
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Details
CWNews.com - The topic for the next meeting of the Synod of Bishops will be the “new evangelization,” Pope Benedict XVI has announced.
During his homily at that Mass concluding the Middle East Synod on October 24, the Pontiff revealed that he has chosen the theme for the next ordinary assembly of the Synod, which will be in 2012. The topic will be “the new evangelization for the transmission of the Christian faith.”
Like his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, Benedict XVI has spoken frequently of the need for a “new evangelization” to restore the vigor of the faith especially in societies that were once thoroughly Christian, but have slipped into secularism. He pointed out that a similar theme had arisen frequently during the Synod for the Middle East: “the need to present the Gospel anew to people who do not know it well or who have even moved away from the Church. Frequent mention was made of the need for a new evangelization in the Middle East.”
Earlier this month Pope Benedict created a new office at the Vatican, the Pontifical Council for New Evangelization. In the motu proprio establishing it, the Pope wrote that new body would respond to the “phenomenon of abandonment of the faith” that has “become progressively more evident in societies and cultures that were, for centuries, impregnated with the Gospel.” He appointed Archbishop Salvatore (“Rino”) Fisichella as the first president of the new pontifical council.
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
- Details
CWNews.com - The Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, in a final message on October 22, issued an urgent call for renewal and for peace in the region.
“We are now at a turning point in our history,” the Synod statement declared. The message included pleas for unity among the many different Catholic traditions of the region, for religious freedom, for peace in the Holy Land and in Iraq, and for justice for the Palestinian people.
The statement included general observations about the situation in the Middle East and a series of messages addressed specifically to different groups: Catholics living in the region, Catholics elsewhere in the world, other Christians, Muslims and Jews, and the international community.
Acknowledging the many Eastern-rite Catholic churches that are active in the Middle East, the Synod encouraged work to “strengthen communion within every sui iuris Church, and between the Catholic churches of different traditions.” The Synod reminded Catholics of all traditions that unity within the Church is a prerequisite for successful ecumenical work and for relations with other faiths.
In its handling of the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Synod message expressed sympathy for the plight of “the Palestinians who are suffering the consequences of the Israeli occupation: the lack of freedom of movement, the wall of separation and the military checkpoints, the political prisoners, the demolition of homes, the disturbance of socio-economic life and the thousands of refugees.” However, while the reference to Israeli “occupation” provoked some angry responses from Israeli readers, the Synod also acknowledged the continuing threat to Israel’s security, and the final message “reflected on the suffering and insecurity in which Israelis live.” The message also paid special attention to “the continued suffering of the Church in Iraq,” noting that Christians are under siege there, and many young Iraqi Christians are leaving their homeland to find safety and opportunity elsewhere—threatening the continued existence of an ancient Christian community.
To Christians throughout the Middle East, the Synod offered support and praise: “We commend you for your perseverance in times of adversity, suffering and anguish.” The message also offered cautions against secularism and consumerism. “Be strong in your Christian values,” the bishops exhorted their people.
Recognizing the many Christians who have left the region, and established small communities of Eastern Catholics in other lands, the Synod included a message of sympathy and support for these Eastern Christians living in the “diaspora.”
The Synod message concludes with a series of messages addressed to different groups:
- To other Christians, the statement observes: “We share the same journey.” The Synod encourages “all initiatives for ecumenical dialogue in each of our countries.”
- To Jewish people, especially in Israel, the Synod expresses the hope that continuing dialogue “can bring us to work together to press those in authority to put an end to the political conflict which continues to divide us and to disrupt daily life in our countries.”
- To Muslims the Synod issues a call for dialogue that will establish reciprocal respect and understanding of religious freedom, leading to “acceptance of pluralism and mutual esteem.”
- To the international community, and especially political leaders, the Synod makes an appeal for efforts to bring an end to violence and a vindication of the rights of people in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon.
In its message to the international community the Synod makes a general statement:
We condemn violence and terrorism from wherever it may proceed as well as all religious extremism. We condemn all forms of racism, anti-Semitism, anti-Christianism and Islamophobia and we call upon religions to assume their responsibility to promote dialogue between cultures and civilizations in our region and in the entire world.
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.