Vatican City, Dec 18, 2011 / 03:18 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI told the bishops of New Zealand and the South Pacific on Dec. 17 that the Christian faith provides the best foundation for society, and that promoting the New Evangelization is the best way to build a Christian culture. 

“We know that, ultimately, Christian faith provides a surer basis for life than the secular vision; for it is only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of humanity truly becomes clear,” he told the bishops, who were gathered in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on the final day of their “ad limina” visit to Rome. The visit lasted from Dec. 12-17.  

The Pope noted that throughout their visit the bishops of the South Pacific raised the challenge secularism presents to each of their countries – “a reality that has a significant impact on the understanding and practice of the Catholic faith.”

The progress of secularism is particularly seen in “a weakened appreciation for the sacred nature of Christian marriage and the stability of the family,” he said.

The answer to this onslaught, Pope Benedict said, is to bring the New Evangelization to their shores. He explained that he established the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization last year for precisely this reason.

Pope Benedict and his predecessor have both emphasized the need for the New Evangelization – an effort to re-evangelize countries that were once Christian but have become secularized.

“Since the Christian faith is founded on the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, the new evangelization is not an abstract concept but a renewal of authentic Christian living based on the teachings of the Church,” he said.

The bishops and pastors of the Church are called to be the primary leaders in “formulating this response according to local needs and circumstances” so that all Catholics become “ambassadors of Christ both in the Church and in the civil arena,” said Pope Benedict.

He then spoke to the bishops about the need to care for their priests, urging them to work for “their sanctification, especially those who are experiencing difficulties and those who have little contact with their brother priests.”

If bishops are able to support their priests so that they are good, wise and holy, then these same priests will be “the best promoters of vocations to the priesthood,” he said.

Those young men who do come forward for the priesthood must also “receive a well-rounded formation that will prepare them to serve the Lord and his flock according to the heart of the Good Shepherd,” the Pope told the bishops.

The New Zealand and South Pacific bishops must also help religious brothers and sisters “remain faithful to the charisms of their founders,” so that “their witness to God will continue to be a beacon that points towards a life of faith, love and right living.”

Over the past week, the bishops said in meetings with Vatican officials that they often rely on the assistance of lay missionaries and catechists. The Pope told them to ensure that those catechists receive “a sound and ongoing formation” so that their zeal for the faith will bear much fruit.

Pope Benedict concluded by looking ahead to the Year of Faith, which will begin next October and is intended to give “a fresh impetus to the mission of the whole Church to lead human beings out of the wilderness in which they find themselves.”

The Pope prayed that although “you are spread among many islands and we are separated by great distances,” that one day all of the islands will profess “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all,” through the intercession of “Our Lady, Star of the Sea.”

In total, there are six dioceses in New Zealand. Meanwhile, the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific is made up of the bishops of Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, New Caledonia, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, and three U.S. dependencies – the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa and Guam.

As well as celebrating Mass at the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul, the bishops of New Zealand had a meeting on Dec. 13 with the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to discuss the cause of beatification of Sr. Suzanne Albert. She was a French-born nun who arrived in New Zealand as a young woman in 1860. Albert undertook great works of charity among the sick and orphaned. She died in 1926 in Wellington.

Vatican City, Dec 18, 2011 / 02:17 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI said today that the virginity of Mary guarantees Jesus’ divinity because it proves the Incarnation is solely the work of God.

“The human being that begins to live in her womb takes the flesh from Mary, but his existence is derived entirely from God,” the Pope said Dec. 18 in his final Sunday Angelus address before Christmas.

“The fact that Mary conceived while remaining a virgin is, therefore, essential to the understanding of Jesus and our faith, because it witnesses that it was God’s initiative and above all it reveals who is conceived.” 

So while Jesus is “fully human” and “made of earth,” he “comes from above, from heaven” and is truly “the Son of God.”

Thus, said the Pope, “the virginity of Mary and the divinity of Jesus reciprocally guarantee one another.”
 
Pope Benedict made his remarks to several thousand visitors gathered in St. Peter’s Square. He drew upon today’s Gospel reading, in which the Angel Gabriel told Mary “behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.”

The Pope noted that this fulfilled the “age-old promise” of Isaiah, who prophesied seven to eight centuries before that “a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and call him Immanuel.”

Pope Benedict then explained the importance of the fact that Mary was “very upset” at the Angel Gabriel’s news and asked “how can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”

“In her simplicity, Mary is wise,” said the Pope, “she does not doubt the power of God, but wants to better understand his will, to fully comply with this will.”

While Mary is “infinitely surpassed” by the mystery of the Incarnation, the Pope reflected, she also “perfectly occupies the place that, at the very heart of it, she was assigned.”

Her “heart and mind are fully humble,” and because of this “singular humility, God expects the ‘yes’ of this young girl to achieve His purpose” while still fully respecting “her dignity and freedom,” he said.

“Mary’s ‘yes’ means both motherhood and virginity,” Pope Benedict observed. 

He finished his reflection on Mary's virginity and Jesus' conception by highlighting the spiritual significance of her faith. Mary's willingness to trust deeply in God and his plan, despite being a virgin, allowed her to "welcome Jesus and his divine life within."

"This is the mystery of Christmas."

Oklahoma City, Okla., Dec 18, 2011 / 01:08 pm (CNA).- Catholic Charities is making transitional care available at the Holy Family Maternity Home in Oklahoma City for teens in crisis pregnancies.

“The goal of this new service is to help the family and the teenage girl who is experiencing an unplanned pregnancy as they work to create a ‘new normal’ in their lives,” said Monica Palmer, associate director for Clinical Services.

“Families often need time and help to adjust.”

As part of the Transitional Care program, Holy Family Home offers short-term residential services in a safe and supportive environment. Each girl enrolled in the program will have a private room with caring staff on duty 24 hours a day, as well as case management to assist in making an educational and a medical plan.

Additionally, Holy Family Maternity Home provides age-appropriate recreational activities including field trips, art and musical events.

“The residents and families will be able to decide on the length of the stay based on their needs,” said Mary Jane Webster, Holy Family Maternity Home director. “If needed, the girl can stay through the birth of her baby and complete the school semester.”

To further help ease the transition, counseling is available through Holy Family Maternity Home to assist both the young mother and her family in the decision of whether to parent or place the child for adoption.

If she chooses to parent, the resident will be given training in parenting and other life skills. Also, as a part of the case management service, families will be given information regarding other community services available.

Staffed by caring professionals, Holy Family Maternity Home is a full service home for young women in crisis pregnancies from throughout Oklahoma. All services at the Holy Family Home are provided at no cost to the young mother or family.

For more information, visit www.catholiccharities.com.

Printed with permission from Sooner Catholic, newspaper for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.

Denver, Colo., Dec 18, 2011 / 07:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Just after Christmas, the Catholic Church remembers its first martyr, and one of its first deacons, Saint Stephen. Roman Catholics celebrate his feast Dec. 26, while Eastern Catholics honor him one day later.

In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke praises St. Stephen as “a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit,” who “did great wonders and signs among the people” during the earliest days of the Church.

Luke's history of the period also includes the moving scene of Stephen's death – witnessed by St. Paul before his conversion – at the hands of those who refused to accept Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.

Stephen himself was a Jew who most likely came to believe in Jesus during the Lord's ministry on earth. He may have been among the 70 disciples whom Christ sent out as missionaries, who preached the coming of God's kingdom while traveling with almost no possessions.

This spirit of detachment from material things continued in the early Church, in which St. Luke says believers “had all things in common” and “would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”

But such radical charity ran up against the cultural conflict between Jews and Gentiles, when a group of Greek widows felt neglected in their needs as compared to those of a Jewish background.

Stephen's reputation for holiness led the Apostles to choose him, along with six other men, to assist them in an official and unique way as this dispute arose. Through the sacramental power given to them by Christ, the Apostles ordained the seven men as deacons, and set them to work helping the widows.

As a deacon, Stephen also preached about Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament law and prophets. Unable to refute his message, some members of local synagogues brought him before their religious authorities, charging him with seeking to destroy their traditions.

Stephen responded with a discourse recorded in the seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. He described Israel's resistance to God's grace in the past, and accused the present religious authorities of “opposing the Holy Spirit” and rejecting the Messiah.

Before he was put to death, Stephen had a vision of Christ in glory. “Look,” he told the court, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

The council, however, dragged the deacon away and stoned him to death.

“While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,’” records St. Luke in Acts 7. “Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’ When he had said this, he died.”

The first Christian martyrdom was overseen by a Pharisee named Saul – later Paul, and still later St. Paul – whose own experience of Christ would transform him into a believer, and later a martyr himself.

The Hague, The Netherlands, Dec 17, 2011 / 07:09 pm (CNA).- The Netherlands’ bishops and leaders of Catholic religious orders are “shocked” by a new report from a commission investigating sexual abuse in the Catholic Church in the country.

“It fills us with shame and sorrow,” they said Dec. 16. “For us, religious and bishops, for the entire faith community, but also for society as a whole, it is painful to observe that a number of priests and religious failed when it came (to) conscientious behavior toward children and young people.”

Between 10,000 and 20,000 children suffered abused at Church institutions between 1945 and 2010. Perpetrators numbered in the hundreds and included priests, brothers and lay people in religious orders and congregations.

The investigation defined abuse as ranging from “unwanted sexual advances” to rape.

Wim Deetman, a Protestant former government minister, lead the commission, which was set up by the Catholic Church last year.

He said it was untenable to believe that leaders did not know there was a risk. He also stated that abuse continued, in part, because bishops and religious orders sometimes worked on their own to deal with the abuse and did not “hang out their dirty laundry.”

However, the commission concluded that “it is wrong to talk of a culture of silence” in the Dutch Catholic Church as a whole.

It did find evidence that “sexually inappropriate behavior” among the Salesians of Don Bosco “may perhaps have been part of the internal monastic culture.”

The commission received about 1,800 complaints of abuse at Catholic schools, seminaries and orphanages. It commissioned a broader survey of 34,000 people for a more comprehensive analysis of the scale and type of sexual abuse in the Church and in the broader society.

It found that 1 in 10 Dutch children suffered some form of sexual abuse, a rate rising to 1 in 5 among children who spent part of their youth in an institution like a boarding school or children’s home.

The perpetrators are not the only ones to blame, the Dutch bishops’ letter acknowledged.

“Church authorities who did not act correctly and did not give priority to the interests of and care for these victims also share in this blame. We deeply regret this abuse. Given the responsibility that we have assumed from our predecessors, we empathize with the victims and offer them our heartfelt apology.”

Violating the integrity of anyone, especially a child, is “reprehensible,” they stated.

They cited the report’s findings that the Church had a culture in which “no one spoke about sexuality or about sexual abuse.”

But neither “times nor circumstances can excuse the terrible suffering caused to children and their families,” the bishops said.

The bishops and directors of the Conference of Dutch Religious said they want to work to “do justice to the victims,” restore their respect, and help them heal as much as possible. They also offered apologies to parents who believed that they had entrusted their children to safe institutions and to “honorable” priests and religious.

The letter pledged to take “all measures” under Church and civil law when there is any suspicion of sexual abuse. The public prosecutor will be informed according to Dutch law when there is any suspicion.

“The Bishops' Conference and the Conference of Dutch Religious will exert abiding effort to do all that is needed and to remain accountable.”

The commission has referred 11 cases of alleged abuse to Dutch prosecutors, who opened only one investigation on the grounds the other 10 cases lacked sufficient details and happened too long ago to prosecute.

Cardinal Adrianus Johannes Simonis, the archbishop emeritus of Utrecht, said the report shows a “bleak picture” of the nature and extent of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. He agreed with the “regret and shame” expressed by other Dutch Catholic leaders and offered his sincere apology to the victims.

“This should never have happened,” he said Dec. 16.

The Dutch bishops have written a joint letter responding to the report. They have sent it to each diocese’s priests, deacons and pastoral workers. They ask that the letter be read during Mass this weekend and published in other ways.

Almost 1 in 3 of Netherlands’ 16 million people identify as Catholic.

Belmont, N.C., Dec 17, 2011 / 12:48 pm (CNA).- Hundreds of Belmont Abbey College students flocked to the Wheeler Center on the Belmont Abbey campus Dec. 1 to get fired up for the upcoming "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" build that is taking place in the Charlotte area on Dec. 11-17.

Joining in on the evening's presentations were leaders of Belmont Abbey College, Bellamy Homes and Endemol USA, the producers of the popular television show.

Belmont Abbey College, in partnership with Bellamy Homes, "Extreme Makeover" and other sponsors, will rally around one local family to build them a new, safe home. The project will require more than 3,000 volunteers.

Dr. William Thierfelder, president of Belmont Abbey College, said that when the college was contacted about this opportunity he didn't know anything about the show personally, but after speaking to people about what "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" does for families, he knew that it was divine providence.

"It's Christ's direct call, to help those in need. We were approached with this opportunity, so I took it as Christ's divine providence that maybe this is something we should be involved with...To me this about our mission here. The Benedictine spirit has always been to help people in need...the monks have always done that here at the college...I really see this as an extension of their charism."

Bellamy Homes partners Frank Hereda and Wade Miller thanked the students and others gathered at the pep rally for their excitement and interest in making a difference in one family's life.

"We're so thrilled that you came out tonight... We're going to build an entire house in one week... It's your efforts that are going to get this done," Miller said. "It's amazing to me how fast we're going to get it done.

"We hope that these extreme things are going to lead to extreme feelings inside of all of us and we'll take that spirit and go out and impact the community."

Helping to energize the crowd were Otis from 95.1, the Chris Lane Band playing hit music, the South Point High School Marching Band, some of the TopCats (the Carolinas Panthers Cheerleaders), and the LadyCats (the Charlotte Bobcats dance team).

"Extreme Makeover Home Edition" is an Emmy award-winning reality program which airs Fridays from 8 to 9 p.m. EST on ABC.

For updates about the “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” project going on in the Diocese of Charlotte, go online to www.catholicnewsherald.com.

Printed with permission from Catholic News Herald, newspaper for the Diocese of Charlotte, N.C.

Vatican City, Dec 17, 2011 / 10:03 am (CNA).- Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, says he regrets never having met and chatted with atheist writer Christopher Hitchens, who died Dec. 15 at age 62. 

“I would have liked the idea of dialoguing with him beyond the controversies and preconceived attitudes,” said Cardinal Ravasi on his blog Dec. 16.

Since earlier this year, Cardinal Ravasi’s Pontifical Council has hosted a series of events around Europe in which atheist and agnostic intellectuals have engaged in dialogue with their Catholic counterparts.

The initiative, inspired by Pope Benedict, is known as the Courtyard of the Gentiles and is named after area in the Temple of Jerusalem where Jews and Gentiles could meet and discuss.
 
“I had no way of inviting Hitchens to enter the courtyard,” wrote Cardinal Ravasi, who has invited several high-profile atheists to events in recent months, including Pope Benedict’s World Day of Peace gathering in Assisi in October.  

In his analysis of Hitchens’ worldview, Cardinal Ravasi drew an analogy to a conversation once held between the French Catholic philosopher Jean Guitton and the cancer-stricken French President Francois Mitterrand.

Guitton explained that his experience as a philosopher told him humanity had “the choice between two solutions: absurdity and mystery.”

When Mitterrand asked if the two concepts were not, in fact, identical, Guitton replied “no, absurdity is an impenetrable wall against which we splat in suicide,” but “mystery is a ladder you climb from step to step towards light and hope.”

“Christopher Hitchens,” observed Cardinal Ravasi, “had chosen the first solution, denouncing religion as ‘the main source of hatred in this world.’”

Cardinal Ravasi hopes that the Courtyard of the Gentiles will be “a space open to the light in which they meet and clash – absurdity and mystery.”

As a “man of faith,” he always hopes “to see the young rebel turn towards the light and go up step by step to the ocean of love in which all the hatred in the world is immersed.”

His final hope for Christopher Hitchens was that “death was for him ‘a door that opens and breaks into the future,’” Cardinal Ravasi said, recalling the aphorism of the English writer Graham Greene, who said that death for him “would be like entering a new infancy.”

English-born Christopher Hitchens made his name over many decades as a writer and critic for various American publications such as Vanity Fair and The Atlantic. His most extensive treatise against religion came in his 2007 book “God is Not Great.”

Interestingly, one of his most significant opponents in the ensuing debate was his younger brother and fellow writer, Peter Hitchens, who penned the 2010 book “The Rage Against God.”
 
Both men had, in fact, started on the political far-left but later in life took very different intellectual paths.

“While I was making my gradual, hesitant way back to the altar-rail, my brother Christopher’s passion against God grew more virulent and confident,” wrote Peter earlier this year.

“As he has become more certain about the non-existence of God, I have become more convinced we cannot know such a thing in the way we know anything else, and so must choose whether to believe or not. I think it better by far to believe.”

The two brothers only publicly debated the existence of God and goodness of religion once, before a large audience in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, in April 2008.

Christopher Hitchens died Dec. 15 from pneumonia, a complication of his cancer, in the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He was married twice and leaves behind three children.

Washington D.C., Dec 17, 2011 / 07:34 am (CNA).- A U.S. federal commission that works to support religious freedom around the world was reauthorized Dec. 16 by Congress through 2018, just hours before it was scheduled to go out of existence.

In a statement after the U.S. House vote on Dec. 16, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) described the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom as “a beacon of hope” for those whose religious liberty is under attack.

“These individuals long to have their plight known and their cause championed,” he said, adding that he was “grateful” that Congress recognized the importance of the commission’s work.

Congressman Wolf co-authorized the legislation that created the commission in 1998, to call attention to religious liberty violations around the world.

The commission advises the president, U.S. Congress and State Department on the status of international religious freedom.

It presents an annual report on religious liberty abusers and recommends that specific countries which tolerate “particularly severe” violations of religious freedom be designated as “countries of particular concern.”

The commission’s funding was originally set to expire at the end of September, but a series of brief extensions was granted by Congress over the next three months, allowing it to continue its work for a few weeks at a time.

The latest extension was set to expire at 5 p.m. on Dec. 16. The commission had already begun winding down operations so it could close its doors by the end of the day, before it was reauthorized by Congress on the morning of Dec. 16.

Commission chairman Leonard Leo told CNA on Dec. 9 that reauthorization was necessary for the commission to continue to function properly.

He explained that the temporary extensions had made it difficult for the commission to operate effectively because the threat of being shut down was always imminent.

The House of Representatives had approved a bill to reauthorize the commission in September, but the process was stalled for months because Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), the second most powerful Democrat in the Senate, reportedly placed a secret hold on it, preventing it from coming to a vote in the Senate.

Durbin finally allowed the bill to come to a vote on Dec. 13, after amending it to place a two-year limit on commissioners and putting them under the same travel restrictions as employees of the Department of State.

The reauthorization bill was unanimously approved by the Senate. Although several members of the House objected to the late addition of Durbin’s amendments, they accepted the legislation on Dec. 16 to save the commission from going out of existence at the end of the day.

Rep. Wolf said the commission’s work of speaking out against religious freedom abuses is “of the utmost importance.”

He commended the commission for its work to highlight abuses in countries such as Sudan, Pakistan and China, and emphasized the severity of the ongoing battle for religious freedom.

He referenced a recent study indicating that about 70 percent of the world’s population lives in a country with significant religious liberty restrictions.

Rep. Wolf stated that the reauthorization “sends a clear message” that international religious freedom remains “a U.S. foreign policy priority.”

Vatican City, Dec 16, 2011 / 05:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As dark fell over St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 16, a young Ukrainian boy switched on the lights for the Vatican’s Christmas tree, a 98-foot spruce donated by his homeland.
 
The tree is “a significant symbol of Christ’s nativity because, with its evergreen boughs, it reminds us of enduring life,” said Pope Benedict XVI at a meeting earlier in the day with a group of Ukrainian bishops – Catholic and Orthodox – that oversaw this evening’s ceremony.

“The spruce is also a sign of popular religiosity in your country,” he told them, “and of the Christian roots of your culture. My hope is that these roots may increasingly reinforce your national unity, favoring the promotion of authentic shared values.”

The tree is decorated with 2,500 silver and gold ornaments and topped with a bright star. This evening’s lighting ceremony combined traditional folk music from the Ukraine, provided by a youth choir in national costume, with operatic Italian music played by the Vatican’s Gendarmerie band.

The thousand-strong crowd seemed to be equally Ukrainian and Italian, with many blue and yellow Ukrainian flags in evidence.

In his earlier remarks, Pope Benedict touched on how Ukraine “has been a crossroads of different cultures” over the centuries, a “meeting point for the spiritual richness of East and West.” He urged Ukrainians to “tenaciously” adhere to the values of the faith as they live out their “unique vocation” of being a crossroads.
 
The Pope said he hoped today’s events in Rome would inspire in all Ukrainians “a renewed desire to live and witness to the faith with joy and promote the values of life, solidarity and peace, that the Nativity of Christ every year before us again.”

The Ukrainian tree is located next to the central obelisk in St. Peter’s Square. Alongside it is the soon-to-be-unveiled Vatican nativity scene. These Christmas displays are a fairly recent tradition, having started in 1982 during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.

Pope Benedict said these seasonal traditions are a “part our communities' spiritual heritage … which we must seek to conserve, even in modern societies where consumerism and the search for material goods sometimes seem to prevail.”

Lima, Peru, Dec 16, 2011 / 04:45 pm (CNA).- Some 100,000 Catholics gathered in the northern Peruvian city of Otuzco to celebrate the feast day of Our Lady of the Gate on Dec. 15.

Otuzco – located 8,000 feet above sea level in the Andean region of La Libertad – welcomed the crowds, who prayed, sang and performed traditional dances. 

Participants crafted and donated hundreds of different vestments for the statue of Our Lady of the Door, with enough for the figure to be decorated each year until 2022.

According to local history, Dutch pirate ships arrived at the Peruvian port city of Trujillo in 1674 to continue the pillaging they began in Guayaquil and Sana. Residents became alarmed and sent messengers to all the neighboring towns to warn of the danger, including the city of Otuzco.

Citizens in Otuzco decided to place a state of the Immaculate Conception at the entrance gate to the city. For three days, they prayed to the Virgin Mary and the pirates never disembarked from their ships.

The event was seen as miracle and the people of Otuzco decided to build a shrine on the spot where the statue had been placed and dedicate it to Our Lady of the Gate.

Vatican City, Dec 16, 2011 / 02:16 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI believes the various crises that afflicted society in 2011 can be met with hope in the coming year if parents introduce young people to Jesus and teach them Christian values.

“It is not ideologies that save the world, but only a return to the living God, our Creator, the guarantor of our freedom, the guarantor of what is really good and true,” the Pope says in his message for the 45th World Day of Peace, which will be observed Jan. 1, 2012.

“And what could ever save us apart from love? Love takes delight in truth, it is the force that enables us to make a commitment to truth, to justice, to peace, because it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things,” he writes.

The World Day of Peace is marked by the Church each year on Jan. 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. It was first introduced in 1967, inspired by Pope John XXIII’s encyclical “Pacem in Terris” (Peace on Earth), which was published in 1963.

Pope Benedict XVI’s message for this year’s celebration was unveiled on the morning of Dec. 16 at a Vatican press conference hosted by Cardinal Peter Turkson, chairman of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and the council’s secretary, Archbishop Mario Toso.

In his address, the Pope says that people should look to 2012 with an “attitude of confident trust,” despite the “crisis looming over society, the world of labor and the economy” in 2011. He describes how, for many, “a shadow has fallen over our time, preventing us from clearly seeing the light of day.”

And yet “human hearts continue to wait for the dawn” with that type of expectation that is “particularly powerful and evident in young people,” Pope Benedict says, explaining that the idealism and enthusiasm of the youth are the reason he chose the theme “Educating Young People in Justice and Peace” for his 2012 message.

He is convicted that “the young, with their enthusiasm and idealism, can offer new hope to the world.”

The Pope says that realizing this hope will involve “communicating to young people an appreciation for the positive value of life” and “awakening in them a desire to spend their lives in the service of the Good.”

This job of education in justice and peace, adds the Pope, must be carried out by adults who do not “simply parcel out rules and facts” but who are “authentic witnesses” that live out what they teach.

The Pope notes that this education takes place first in the family, which is where “children learn the human and Christian values which enable them to have a constructive and peaceful coexistence.” It is also in the family that they “learn solidarity between the generations, respect for rules, forgiveness and how to welcome others.”

These lessons and values require that children have “the most precious of treasures: the presence of their parents,” he says, although recognizing that the pace and demands of modern life can sometimes make this difficult due to “working conditions which are often incompatible with family responsibilities.”

Pope Benedict also mentions the role of professional educators, calling on them to reinforce the values children receive at home, so they will “reassure families that their children can receive an education that does not conflict with their consciences and their religious principles.”

At the same time, the Pope warns that education can be distorted and destroyed by a “dictatorship of relativism,” which obscures the fact that “deep within his conscience, man discovers a law that he did not lay upon himself, but which he must obey.”

It is in recognizing this natural moral law, he says, that people are best able to exercise their freedom and live a “just and peaceful coexistence.”

Conversely, “human rights are seriously threatened by the widespread tendency to have recourse exclusively to the criteria of utility, profit and material possessions” in making decisions about life.

Pope Benedict concludes with a challenge to young people “not yield to discouragement in the face of difficulties and do not abandon yourselves to false solutions which often seem the easiest way to overcome problems.”

Young people should not be afraid of commitment, hard work, sacrifice and the choice of paths in life that “demand fidelity and constancy, humility and dedication,” he writes.

“Be confident in your youth and its profound desires for happiness, truth, beauty and genuine love! Live fully this time in your life so rich and so full of enthusiasm.”

In doing so, young people can be assured that they are “never alone,” because the Church offers them confidence, encouragement and “the most precious gift she has: the opportunity to raise your eyes to God, to encounter Jesus Christ, who is himself justice and peace.”

Washington D.C., Dec 16, 2011 / 06:17 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The fact that the number of Americans getting married is at a record low is due to changes in society’s values, public policy decisions and economic factors, says sociologist Dr. W. Bradford Wilcox.

He was responding to a Dec. 14 Pew Research analysis that indicates marriage rates in the U.S. are at a record low, as young couples are delaying marriage longer than ever before.

According to Pew Research Center’s analysis of U.S. Census data, only 51 percent of adults in the U.S. are currently married, compared to 72 percent in 1960. In addition, new marriages in America dropped by five percent between 2009 and 2010.

While the decline in marriage is taking place among all age groups, it is most drastic among young adults. The analysis observed that only 20 percent of adults between the ages of 18 and 29 are married, a drop from 59 percent in 1960.

Part of the decrease in currently married individuals may be tied to young adults delaying marriage, the report said. Both men and women are about six years older when they enter into their first marriage than couples 50 years ago were.

The analysis suggested that divorce is a factor in the decreasing percentage of adults who are currently married. However it noted that divorce rates have leveled off in the last 20 years after climbing in previous decades.

A similar decline in marriage has been observed in most other “advanced post-industrial societies” and in some less developed nations as well, said the report, noting the trend has continued in both good and bad economies. 

Wilcox attributed the decline in marriage to multiple social changes in recent decades.

Difficulties in finding stable work may lead couples to cohabit or delay marriage, he told CNA.

In addition, the culture has shifted, becoming more individualistic and accepting of alternatives to marriage, including premarital sex and cohabitation.

Wilcox also pointed to how marriage is no longer privileged in many public policies and is sometimes even financially penalized by law, creating an incentive for couples to remain unmarried.

Religion also makes a difference, he said, pointing to a 2010 report on marriage in America that the National Marriage Project coauthored. 

The report found that non-religious people are “much more likely to divorce than are the religiously committed” and that cohabitation is more common among non-religious people.

Americans have become increasingly disengaged with institutions, including churches, which have reported declining membership over recent decades, Wilcox observed.

The decrease in couples who marry could harm American society, he said.

Married couples are statistically happier and children do better when they are raised by married parents, exhibiting a lower likelihood of being depressed or using drugs.

New Haven, Conn., Dec 16, 2011 / 03:03 am (CNA).- The Knights of Columbus' annual campaign reminding millions of Americans to “Keep Christ in Christmas” is in full swing with radio ads, signs, billboards, Nativity scenes and Christmas cards.

“In a society where Christmas has often become shorthand for shopping, many who celebrate Christmas can lose sight of its true meaning,” Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said Dec. 15.

“Those who celebrate Christmas give gifts to each other because it is the day on which we celebrate the greatest gift: God’s gift of his son to the world,” he explained. 

“Christmas is about 'peace on earth toward people of good will' and we think that’s a message worth remembering.”

The campaign's list of initiatives this year include English and Spanish-language radio spots encouraging people to remember Christmas in various ways, such as helping those less fortunate. The Knights of Columbus have also sent a public service announcement to television networks and hundreds of local broadcast stations and cable systems.

The global Catholic fraternal order has led the “Keep Christ in Christmas” program since the early 1960s. It was originally organized by the Christian Mothers of Milwaukee, which later became the Council of Catholic Women.

Last year, the public service announcements reached more than 38 million television viewers and 34 million radio listeners.

Locally, Knights of Columbus councils have been busy placing billboards and signs, sponsoring Nativity displays or selling religious Christmas cards.

The national organization also encouraged the councils to hold a Christmas tree or Nativity scene lighting ceremony on the first Tuesday of December. The Supreme Council has erected a nativity scene on the Green in New Haven, Conn., near the organization’s headquarters and is organizing a “Posada” Christmas procession on Dec. 20.

In New Jersey, however, a “Keep Christ in Christmas” banner sponsored by a local council in the town of Pitman garnered opposition from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation.

A local man complained that the banner hangs from two town-owned light posts over a street and was posted by members of the town’s fire department.

The town mayor Michael Batten told Fox News that a similar banner has hung over the street during the holiday season for the last half century. He says the present banner hangs on private property above a county road and will remain posted until he hears otherwise from the town’s attorney.

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson told Fox News that the controversy is “politically correct nonsense.”

“We're trying to remind Christians that Christmas is a religious holiday,” he said. “It's not about shopping. By keeping Christ in Christmas, we're just underlining the first six letters in the word Christmas. That's the message we're trying to remind people.”

In 1995, the Knights of Columbus won a U.S. Supreme Court case that secured the right to display a crèche on the Town Green of Trumbull, Connecticut.

Washington D.C., Dec 16, 2011 / 01:13 am (CNA).- The U.S. bishops announced the launch of a renewed media effort to promote a better understanding of poverty in America. 

The new initiative unveiled by the bishops’ Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development will include a refurbished website, a new social media presence and daily events for Poverty Awareness Month in January.

Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, who leads the bishops’ efforts to fight poverty through the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, explained that the culture of life must start with a love “that binds us to the hopes and joys, the struggles and the sorrows” of the poor and afflicted in society.

According to the U.S. bishops’ conference, 15 percent of total Americans and nearly 25 percent of children live in poverty.

The Poverty USA campaign will feature updated statistics in a special section on the bishops’ conference website. A new Facebook page has also been launched for the campaign, providing resources for families, individuals and parishes.

Visitors to the page can also participate in Poverty Awareness Month by joining the Facebook event and taking part in daily activities during the month of January to increase their understanding of domestic poverty.

Noting the widespread scourge of poverty in America, Bishop Soto spoke of the importance of solidarity with those who struggle in any capacity.

“We march with immigrant families toward a society made stronger and safer by their inclusion,” he said. “We embrace the mother and her unborn child, giving to both of them hope and opportunity.”

“We measure our own health by the quality of care we give to those most vulnerable,” he added. “We labor with those whose work is burdensome.”

Dublin, Ireland, Dec 15, 2011 / 07:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Irish government signaled on Wednesday that it would accept a visit next June by Pope Benedict for the Dublin International Eucharistic Congress, giving encouragement to organizers who had feared hopes of a papal visit had all but gone.

Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore told an Irish parliamentary committee Dec. 14 that “(i)n order to remove any misunderstandings, I would like to make it clear that should the government be informed by the Holy See that Pope Benedict wishes to visit Ireland at a time of mutual convenience – for instance at the occasion of next year’s Eucharistic Congress – I have no doubt that the government will respond positively.”

In October, when asked a similar question, Gilmore told the parliament that “an invitation has not issued nor is one currently under active consideration.”

The organizers of the Eucharist Congress saw his statement as a rebuff to the idea of a papal visit. A month later, Gilmore also closed the Irish embassy to the Holy See in Rome, after 82 years in existence.

Gilmore asserted on Dec. 14 that the decision to close the Vatican embassy was purely a financial one based on “diminishing resources” for his department.

He also sought to clear up any “misunderstandings” about his government’s attitude toward a possible visit by the Pope, explaining that “according to normal diplomatic practice, invitations to heads of state to visit another country are neither sought nor issued in public.”

Instead, he said that “a formal invitation is issued only after notification that the head of state wishes to visit and dates have been agreed.”

The 50th International Eucharistic Congress will take place in Dublin from the June 10 to 17, 2012. Held every four years, the congress brings together Catholics from across the globe to pray and study the meaning of the Eucharist.

The Dublin event is expected to attract about 25,000 visitors per day, with 80,000 attending the final Mass at the city’s Croke Park Stadium. The organizers have issued an invitation to Pope Benedict and are still waiting for a response from the Vatican.

“The primary focus of the Congress is people’s encounter with Jesus Christ, but if the Pope also came that would be a real bonus. So I obviously welcome Mr. Gilmore’s comments,” congress organizer Fr. Kevin Doran told CNA Dec. 15.

Fr. Doran said that over the past six months he has received nothing both “generous support” from Ireland’s diplomatic staff across the world as he has worked to organize the congress.

In contrast, relations between the Dublin and Rome have been strained since Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny launched a blistering attack on the Catholic Church in July.

He accused the Vatican of attempting to “frustrate an inquiry” into clerical abuse in the Diocese of Cloyne, County Cork. The Vatican rejected his accusation and a spokesperson for the Prime Minister later stated that he was not referring to any specific incident. However, Kenny has refused to withdraw his remarks or apologize for them.