Sunday, April 4, 2004

************************************

LENT 2004

"Receive children, the future of humanity": Message of His Holiness John Paul II for Lent 2004 (full text) http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=311

The Pope recalls the tragedy of thousands of children: “The little brothers and sisters of ours who suffer from hunger, war and illness make an anguished appeal to the world. May their mute cry not go unanswered!” - appeal to build the civilisation of love in the “beloved region of the Great Lakes ”. http://www.fides.org/eng/news/2004/0403/29_2037.html

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand http://www.caritas.org.nz/lent.asp The theme of Caritas' Lent appeal for 2004 is “The Spirit of Hope is at Work in the World” taken from Pope John Paul II’s World Day of Peace Message, 1998. The donations Caritas receives from this appeal help fund development projects around the world. Donations by credit card are most welcome and may be made by opening the Lent appeal link.

***********************************

CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS NZ

http://www.cathcom.org.nz

** Media Releases **

** New Zealand Bishops' statement on proposed Civil Union legislation (02 Apr 2004) The New Zealand Catholic Bishops' Conference has written to Members of Parliament regarding the proposed Civil Union Bill. The full statement elaborates on the points summarised here, and critiques the Labour Party's policy on Rainbow Issues....

Michael King – RIP 30 March 2004 (01 Apr 2004)... In the 1990s Michael King accepted an invitation to write a history of Catholics in New Zealand. The book, "God’s Farthest Outpost", was published in 1997. His open-mindedness and the non-judgemental approach produced a work of lasting significance....

Euthanasia is Not the Answer (01 Apr 2004) “Calls to legalise euthanasia fail to recognise the real needs of the terminally ill and their caregivers,” said Father Michael McCabe, Director of the Nathaniel Centre, the Catholic Church’s Bioethics Centre....


** International News **

Vatican tells US bishops to get over sex abuse Imam tells Cathedral congregation about shared convictions Pell says Church growth requires firm grip on Gospel demands Cardinal says materialism threatens families NZ Catholics pay tribute to leading historian Survey finds Irish Caritas most fun place to work

************************************************************

FROM THE SECULAR PRESS

Obituary: Michael King, eminent historian NZPA 31 March 2004 http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2861891a11,00.html Michael King was born in Wellington on December 15, 1945. He grew up on the Pauatahanui arm of Porirua Harbour and was educated at Catholic schools in Plimmerton, Auckland and the Hutt Valley....

Obituary: Michael King NZ Herald 01.04.2004 http://tinyurl.com/2sx7s The death in a car fire of author and historian Michael King and his second wife, Maria Jungowska, was a dark end for a man who in most respects seemed at the zenith of his career as a writer and historian....

Holy site for business forum (photo) 0http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2864491a13,00.html The Dominion Post 3 April 2004 By visiting the Vatican last month, Public Trust chief executive Pat Waite fulfilled a long-held ambition and at the same time learnt lessons he is certain will add value to the New Zealand business environment. A practising Catholic, Mr Waite was a guest of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the International Christian Union of Business Executives at a conference held in the Vatican City on March 5 and 6....

Byzantium's icon painters were the Mel Gibsons of their day — and more The Economist (UK) http://www.economist.com/books/displaystory.cfm?story_id=2535873 [Illustrated article on an exhibtion of the artistic and spiritual achievements of late Christian Byzantium at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York]


In recent days, scenes from the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ—all of them images designed to make people think harder about the relationship between spiritual authority and earthly power—have had an unaccustomed impact on New Yorkers. Thus far, at least, we might be speaking of Mel Gibson's blockbuster film, “The Passion of The Christ”—or of another, rather more rarefied event that will nonetheless make a deep impression on American consumers of high culture: the opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of a wonderfully rich selection of the artistic and spiritual achievements of late Christian Byzantium, and its imitators in the Slavic world....

**********************************************

FROM THE OVERSEAS CATHOLIC PRESS & NEWS AGENCIES

150,000 in U.S. to join Church on Holy Saturday, including 24,000 who will be baptized http://zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=51639 Washington, DC (Zenit.org).- More than 150,000 Americans will join the Catholic Church on Holy Saturday, through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, says the U.S. bishops' conference. About 24,000 of the group will be baptized, confirmed and receive Communion for the first time at the Easter Vigil, and 36,000, who already have been baptized, will embrace full membership in the Catholic Church....

The enduring fascination of sin Weekly confession has virtually disappeared, yet we still yearn for reconciliation says Fr Timothy Wright Catholic Herald (UK) http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/Main_Feature.htm

Pell lobbies for World Youth Day Sydney 2008 http://www.cathnews.com/news/403/170.php Sydney's Cardinal George Pell has confirmed that he has been talking with Vatican officials about the possibility of Sydney hosting World Youth Day in 2008....

***********************************************

MARIST MESSENGER

April 2004

http://www.maristmessenger.co.nz/index.php

Full text from April's Messenger ...

** The Focus for April 2004 concerns freedom from resentment, the number one spiritual disease

** Thy Kingdom come by Fr Michael Cruickshank sm. A wise spiritual guide gives excellent advice

** A different Rosary by Fr John Rea sm

** Death of a marist. Fr Paul Bergin sm was a marist missionary who died aged 51 on 15 February,2004

** Character formation by Fr Austin Woodbury sm, a noted philosopher

Also in the April's Marist Messenger: CaFE - a wonderful catechesis ... Being convinced that God love me ... Choice to let go ... God's forgiving love ... Thy Kindgom come ... My problem with God ... Happy the gentle ... A service of remembrance

*****************************************

"THE PASSION"

Catholic Bishops Blast Gibson's 'Passion' Reuters 01/04/2004 http://xtramsn.co.nz/entertainment/0,,3918-3224464,00.html French Roman Catholic bishops have officially denounced Mel Gibson's controversial film "The Passion of the Christ," which just opened in France, as potentially anti-Semitic and a distortion of Christian teaching. In an unusual statement on a commercial film, the bishops' conference said the traditionalist Catholic Gibson had made a film that might not be anti-Semitic but "could be used to support anti-Semitic opinions" ...

French Jews fail to get "Passion" film banned http://tinyurl.com/2ow9u Paris (Reuters) - A bid by three Jewish brothers to have Mel Gibson's controversial film "The Passion of The Christ" banned in France as anti-Semitic has failed after a Paris court found no reason to stop its premiere this week. "The film in question, which is a very realistic adaptation of the final hours of Christ's life, cannot be considered an incitement to hatred and violence against Jews or an affront to their dignity and security," the ruling on Monday read....

Archbishop Rosales: “Watch ‘The Passion!’” http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=553 Pastoral message corrects an Antisemitic approach to the film Manila (AsiaNews) – Mons. Guadencio Rosales, archbishop of Manila, has issued a four-page pastoral message, urging the Christians of his archdiocese to view Mel Gibson’s film “The Passion of the Christ”, calling it a “serious labour of love, painstakingly made, of genuine artistic and religious value.”...

Pirated copies of "The Passion" used to evangelize http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=558 Chinese Christians fear that Mel Gibson's film will not be shown due to government censorship. Meanwhille first private viewings of the film are accompanied by prayer gatherings and young agnostics want to know more about the faith...

‘The Passion of the Christ’ a hit in Beirut, Damascus http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=9408 Mel Gibson's controversial film "The Passion of the Christ," accused by some Jewish organizations of encouraging anti-Semitism, is drawing a sizeable if unexceptional audience [in Beirut] while apparently touching an emotional nerve in the Syrian capital, Damascus...

“The Passion of the Christ” resounding success as moviegoers search for traces of anti-Semitism AsiaNews 2 April, 2004 http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=571 Ramallah (AsiaNews) – Basciar is just seven years old, but has managed to obtain a pirated copy of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”. Palestinians, Muslims and Christians are all drawn to the film – and not merely for religious reasons but also due to the media blitz the movie has received....

Catholics and non Catholics welcome “The Passion of the Christ” http://www.asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=557 Jakarta (AsiaNews/Ucan) – Catholic clergy and lay people in the Jakarta area who have viewed the by-now famous film directed by Mel Gibson, “The Passion of the Christ”, say that the film has been an asset to their Lenten reflections and has deepened their appreciation of Jesus’ sufferings....

Gibson's Passion works miracles at box office http://tinyurl.com/2fcw4 Frenzy And Fury As Jesus Film Hits South Africa Sunday Times (Johannesburg) March 28, 2004 http://allafrica.com/stories/200403291231.html

Propaganda or masterpiece? The Passion – the verdict The Tablet (UK) 27/3/04 http://www.thetablet.co.uk/cgi-bin/register.cgi/tablet-00866 As Mel Gibson’s film goes on general release around the world, we asked experts for their views ...

*************************************************

"THE WORD FROM ROME"

http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/

A weekly column in the National Catholic Reporter by the paper's full-time Vatican correspondent John L. Allen

Summary of the column for April 2, 2004: Reader response to report on U.S. bishops' norms for sexual abuse; Vatican and the White House 'kiss and make up'; Talking with young American Catholics; Archbishop George Carey's take on Islam; Anglican theologian on the ecumenical movement.

*************************************************

EVENTS

Jesus 4 Real Ministries http://www.jesus4real.org.nz "A voluntary lay ministry committed to building up the faith in Catholic teenagers" Camp for Years 11-13: Wednesday 14 April to Sunday 18 April, Paraparaumu (near Wellington). Full details on the Website and from Anne and Andy Lovell, tel (06) 364 3141


Auckland Catholic Eucharistic Convention, 16th to 18th April 2004 http://www.eucharistic-convention.com Logan Campbell Theatre, Auckland Showgrounds, Greenlane Road, Auckland. Two-page write-up in 'NZ Catholic' March 21-Apr 3 p.14-15; further details in 'NZC' April 4-17 p.14. Full details on the Convention's Website.

***************************************************

EMPLOYMENT

[Teaching vacancies in New Zealand Catholic schools are advertised in the Education Gazette: http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/vacancies ]

[Vacancies in Catholic Youth Ministry are advertised on the Job Bank page of the National Council for Young Catholics: http://ncyc.org.nz ]

Presenters, 'NZ Catholic' newspaper 'NZC' wishes to employ good communicators in Northland, Auclland, Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Nelson-Marlborough, West Coast, Otago and Southland. Details in 'NZ Catholic' April 4-17 p.23 and from Dennis Augustine, NZ Catholic, PO Box 147-000, Ponsonby, Auckland 1034

*************************************************