Kamis, 22 Oktober 2009

Uskup Agung Anglikan Menyambut Baik Solusi Benediktus XVI

Anglican Archbishop: Our Prayers Have Been Answered
Welcomes Pope's Offer of Personal Ordinariates

BLACKWOOD, South Australia, OCT. 20, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The prayers of Anglicans wishing to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church have been more than answered today, according to the primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion.

Archbishop John Hepworth said this today in a statement that responded to the Vatican announcement that Benedict XVI would allow Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the Anglican spiritual and liturgical tradition.

This policy has been established in a forthcoming apostolic constitution, and it responds to requests from Anglicans who have expressed wishes to become Catholic, particularly as the Anglican Tradition continues to take steps toward opening their priesthood and episcopate to women and active homosexuals, and blessing same-sex unions.

Between 20 and 30 Anglican bishops have made such a request.

The constitution was announced at a press conference at the Vatican today, offered by Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Hepworth, who also heads the Diocese of Australia in the Anglican Catholic Church in Australia, said that the Traditional Anglican Communion is "profoundly moved by the generosity of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI."

Dedicated to unity

"He offers in this Apostolic Constitution the means for 'former Anglicans to enter into the fullness of communion with the Catholic Church,'" Hepworth explains. "He hopes that we can 'find in this canonical structure the opportunity to preserve those Anglican traditions precious to us and consistent with the Catholic faith.'

"He then warmly states 'we are happy that these men and women bring with them their particular contributions to our common life of faith.'"

"May I firstly state that this is an act of great goodness on the part of the Holy Father," continued Hepworth. "He has dedicated his pontificate to the cause of unity."

"It more than matches the dreams we dared to include in our petition of two years ago," he added. "It more than matches our prayers.

"In those two years, we have become very conscious of the prayers of our friends in the Catholic Church. Perhaps their prayers dared to ask even more than ours."

The archbishop said he would take the offer of the Holy See to each of the national synods of the Traditional Anglican Communion.

"Now the Holy See challenges us to seek in the specific structures that are now available the "full, visible unity, especially Eucharistic communion," for which we have long prayed and about which we have long dreamed. That process will begin at once," he affirmed.

Noting that the Anglican Office of Morning Prayer included the Hymn of Thanksgiving, the Te Deum, Hepworth added: "It is with heartfelt thanks to Almighty God, the Lord and Source of all peace and unity, that the hymn is on our lips today.

"This is a moment of grace, perhaps even a moment of history, not because the past is undone, but because the past is transformed."

Benediktus XVI Buka Jalan Bagi Anglikan Masuk ke Gereja Katolik

Pope Paves Way for Anglicans to Enter Church
Apostolic Constitution to Establish "Personal Ordinariates"

VATICAN CITY, OCT. 20, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Groups of Anglicans will now be able to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the Anglican spiritual and liturgical tradition.

This policy has been established in a forthcoming apostolic constitution the Vatican announced today.

It responds to requests from Anglicans who have expressed wishes to become Catholic, particularly as the Anglican Tradition continues to take steps toward opening their priesthood and episcopate to women and active homosexuals, and blessing same-sex unions.

Between 20 and 30 Anglican bishops have made such a request.

The constitution was announced at a press conference at the Vatican today, offered by Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

A statement from the congregation explained that with the apostolic constitution, "the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony."

These groups of Anglicans will be overseen and guided through the personal ordinariate, the leader of which will normally be chosen from among former Anglican clergy.

Married priests

The statement from the Vatican explained that the constitution "provides for the ordination as Catholic priests of married former Anglican clergy."

It clarified that "historical and ecumenical reasons preclude the ordination of married men as bishops in both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches."

Thus, the apostolic constitution stipulates that the leader of the personal ordinariate be "either a priest or an unmarried bishop."

As to future priests, the statement explained: "The seminarians in the ordinariate are to be prepared alongside other Catholic seminarians, though the ordinariate may establish a house of formation to address the particular needs of formation in the Anglican patrimony. In this way, the apostolic constitution seeks to balance on the one hand the concern to preserve the worthy Anglican liturgical and spiritual patrimony and, on the other hand, the concern that these groups and their clergy will be integrated into the Catholic Church."

Worldwide

The Vatican statement said the apostolic constitution provides a "reasonable and even necessary response" to what it called a "worldwide phenomenon."

It offers a "single canonical model for the universal Church which is adaptable to various local situations and equitable to former Anglicans in its universal application."

The profile of a "personal ordinariate" is similar in some ways to that of a personal prelature (Opus Dei is the only personal prelature right now) or the military ordinates, wherein a bishop has ecclesiastical authority over people of the armed forces and their families, regardless of their geographical location.

Many individual Anglicans have already entered into full communion with the Catholic Church.

Sometimes there have been groups of Anglicans who have entered while preserving some "corporate" structure, the Vatican statement noted, offering the example of an Anglican diocese in India and some parishes in the United States.

"In these cases, the Catholic Church has frequently dispensed from the requirement of celibacy to allow those married Anglican clergy who desire to continue ministerial service as Catholic priests to be ordained in the Catholic Church," the statement explained.

Enriched

According to Cardinal Levada: "It is the hope of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, that the Anglican clergy and faithful who desire union with the Catholic Church will find in this canonical structure the opportunity to preserve those Anglican traditions precious to them and consistent with the Catholic faith.

"Insofar as these traditions express in a distinctive way the faith that is held in common, they are a gift to be shared in the wider Church. The unity of the Church does not require a uniformity that ignores cultural diversity, as the history of Christianity shows. [...]

"Our communion is therefore strengthened by such legitimate diversity, and so we are happy that these men and women bring with them their particular contributions to our common life of faith."

--- --- ---

On ZENIT's Web page:

Full text of Vatican statement: www.zenit.org/article-27268?l=english

Minggu, 11 Oktober 2009

Bapanya Penderita Kusta Jadi Orang Kudus


Paus Benediktus XVI mengukuhkan lima orang Kudus baru, termasuk seorang pastor Belgia, Josef De Veuster, yang hidup bersama dengan para pasien kusta di kepuluan terpencil di Hawaii pada abad 19.

Para umat Katolik asal Hawai memenuhi Lapangan Santo Petrus saat pengukuhkan itu diumumkan, Minggu (11/10) pagi. Termasuk mereka yang datang adalah seorang warga Hawaii, Audrey Toguchi, yang sembuh dari penyakit kanker paru-paru. Vatikan menyebut itu adalah sebuah keajaiban. Toguchi mengaku sembuh setelah berdoa untuk Josef De Veuster atau dikenal dengan sebutan Bapa Damienus. Bapa Damienus dikenal sebagai bapanya penderita kusta yang akhirnya meninggal dunia karena kusta di pulau Molokai.

Empat orang Kudus lainnya, dua asal Spanyol, satu lagi seorang pastor Polandia serta seorang biarawati asal Perancis. Paus mengatakan kelima orang Kudus itu memperoleh kesucian dan kesempurnaan karena berani "menentang arus" masyarakat.


MINGGU, 11 OKTOBER 2009 | 17:42 WIB



KOTA VATIKAN, KOMPAS.com


Selasa, 06 Oktober 2009

Without God We are Nothing

Cardinal Pell Shares "Dangerous Ideas"
Says to Atheists: Without God We're Nothing

SYDNEY, Australia, OCT. 5, 2009 (Zenit.org).- In a packed Sydney Opera House studio Sunday evening, Cardinal George Pell confronted the myth of modern atheism in the first ever Festival of Dangerous Ideas.

The archbishop of Sydney gave a conference titled "Without God We Are Nothing," shortly after one of the most prominent exponents of modern atheism, British journalist Christopher Hitchens, presented the claim that "Religion Poisons Everything."

The cardinal stated that although there are many people, including anti-theists and provocateurs, who regard God as an enemy, recent developments in physics and biology have strengthened the case for God, reported the Archdiocese of Sydney in a press statement.

He noted, however, that despite the affirmations of science, God cannot be contained within that field's framework since he is outside space and time.
The prelate affirmed that "the God for which we are arguing is not a God of the gaps, not a God who is brought in to paste over the gaps in our present scientific knowledge, which might be filled later as science progresses."

Rather, he said, this God explains "the whole of the universe, which is not self-explanatory, including the infrastructure and elements we understand scientifically."

Cardinal Pell made reference to Antony Flew, a philosopher who converted from atheism, who affirmed, "How can a universe of mindless matter produce beings with intrinsic ends, self replication capabilities and 'coded chemistry?'"

The cardinal pointed out that science involves the study of physical bodies such as sub-atomic particles, but to answer the question of why these particles exist, the inquirer must move from physics to metaphysics, and find the solution in philosophy.

Only 17% of people do not accept the existence of God, the prelate affirmed, striking down the claim that "most Australians are godless."

The reason God is not spoken of in society, he said, is the current secularist hostility to Christianity.

Culture wars

"Often God gets caught up in the secular hostility to the Christian defense of human life, especially at the beginning and end, the Christian defense of marriage, family and the linking of sexuality to love and life," Cardinal Pell affirmed.

He added: "Here in these culture wars lies the origin for most of the hatred of God and religion, while the new violence of a minority of Islamist terrorists has given Western secularists new grounds to attack all religions.

"However it is much safer to attack Christians!"

Nonetheless, the cardinal affirmed, God has "international popularity," which can be seen in some current trends. For example, he said, some statistics show that China, despite its religious freedom issues, could have measured the largest Christian population worldwide at the end of the 21st century.

In conclusion, the prelate stated that he is personally intrigued at the fact that there are so many people in the Western world today who are "unable to believe," especially those with a Christian or Jewish cultural background.

He said, "For me the issue is too important" to be subjected to self-indulgence or left on the level of polemics.

"I will continue to believe in the one true God of love because I maintain that no atheist can explain the smile of a child," Cardinal Pell affirmed.

He noted that in this light, current natural disasters such as the recent tsunami "also reminds us brutally of the problem of innocent suffering."

"But such suffering is worse if there is no afterlife to balance the scales of misfortune and injustice," he asserted, "and worse again if there is no innocence or guilt, no good or evil, if everything has the moral significance of froth on a wave."

The cardinal affirmed once again, "Without God we are nothing."

Senin, 05 Oktober 2009

Paus Menentang Kolonialisme Baru


Paus Benediktus ke-16 membuka pertemuan khusus (sinode) uskup-uskup Afrika di Vatikan, Roma, Minggu (4/10).

Dalam pidatonya Paus menentang apa yang disebut bentuk baru kolonialisme negara-negara Barat. Menurut Sri Paus, zaman kolonialisme politik memang telah berakhir, tapi saat ini warga Afrika menghadapi ancaman lain.

Menurut Paus negara-negara Barat mengekspor "limbah beracun" ke Afrika. Yang dimaksudnya adalah materialisme dan kurangnya nilai-nilai moral. Sri Paus memuji kekayaan budaya dan spiritual benua Afrika. Ia menyebut Afrika adalah "paru-paru spiritual" dunia.

Pertemuan sinode diikuti hampir 200 uskup dari 53 negara Afrika. Dalam tiga pekan mendatang mereka membahas peran Gereja Katolik Roma dalam perang melawan ketidakadilan sosial di Afrika.

Ini untuk kedua kali Roma menggelar sinode uskup Afrika. Yang pertama diselenggarakan tahun 1994, semasa genosida Rwanda. Gereja Katolik berkembang lebih cepat di Afrika ketimbang di negara-negara lain di dunia. Tiga dasawarsa belakangan jumlah umat Katolik Roma di Afrika meningkat hampir tiga kali lipat.

Senin, 5 Oktober 2009 | 04:59 WIB
VATIKAN, KOMPAS.com-http://internasional.kompas.com/read/xml/2009/10/05/04595645/paus.menentang.kolonialisme.baru

Bicarakan Timur Tengah, Paus Umumkan Sinode

Paus Benediktus XVI pada Sabtu (19/9) mengumumkan pelaksanaan pertemuan khusus untuk membahas upaya perdamaian di Timur Tengah. Pihak Tahta Suci mengatakan pertemuan yang bakal dihadiri oleh para uskup dan para patriak atau pemimpin Gereja Katolik Ortodoks diselenggarakan tahun depan. Tepatnya, pada 10 hingga 24 Oktober. Di dalam ritus Gereja Katolik, pertemuan khusus tersebut dikenal sebagai sinode.

Paus dan Tahta Suci sudah lama aktif untuk mengupayakan perdamaian Timur Tengah melalui diplomasi. Perlindungan terhadap umat Kristiani di Tanah Suci dan pemberian dukungan kepada semua orang di seluruh dunia yang memperjuangkan damai di Timur Tengah menjadi salah satu landasan langkah diplomasi Paus dan Tahta Suci.

Sabtu, 19 September 2009 | 18:52 WIB

VATICAN CITY, KOMPAS.com -  http://internasional.kompas.com/read/xml/2009/09/19/18525936/bicarakan.timur.tengah.paus.umumkan.sinode

Paus Angkat Tiga Uskup Baru Vietnam

Pemimpin tertinggi Gereja Katolik Paus Benedictus XVI telah mengangkat tiga uskup baru untuk Vietnam. Para uskup baru itu diberi tanggung jawab untuk mempererat hubungan dengan pemerintah komunis Vietnam.

Pernyataan resmi Vatikan, Sabtu (25/7), menyebutkan, ketiga uskup baru itu adalah Mgr Joseph Vu Duy Thong untuk Keuskupan Phan Thiet, Mgr Pierre Nguyen Van De untuk Keuskupan Thai Binh, dan Joseph Nguyen Nang untuk Keuskupan Phat Diem.

Bulan lalu, Paus Benediktus menyampaikan harapannya yang besar untuk terjalinnya hubungan yang lebih sehat antara Gereja Katolik Roma dan pemerintah Vietnam. Di Vietnam, jumlah umat Katolik mencapai enam juta orang, dan termasuk jumlah terbanyak di Asia.

Ketegangan antara umat beriman --sebutan untuk penganut Katolik-- dan pemerintah sudah berlangsung lama, sejak 1954. Pemerintah mengawasi dengan ketat umat Katolik. Pemerintah juga selalu menolak pengangkatan pemimpin gereja.

Akan tetapi, akhir-akhir ini hubungan antara Gereja Katolik dan pemerintah itu makin cair. Perdana Menteri Nguyen Tan Dung bahkan menemui Paus ketika ia mengunjungi Vatikan pada tahun 2007. Tan Dung adalah pemimpin tertinggi negeri itu yang pernah bertemu Paus.

Awal pekan ini kantor berita Asia News mengutip pernyataan Kardinal Pham Minh Man yang menyatakan bahhwa Presiden Vietnam akan bertemu Paus di Vatikan pada bulan Desember mendatang.

Sabtu, 25 Juli 2009 | 21:19 WIB

VATICAN CITY, KOMPAS.com-  http://internasional.kompas.com/read/xml/2009/07/25/21195962/paus.angkat.tiga.uskup.baru.vietnam

Jumat, 02 Oktober 2009

Djohan Effendi, Merayakan Perbedaan


Ikut merasa sakit dengan mereka yang tidak punya kebebasan, Djohan Effendi—1 Oktober 2009 genap 70 tahun—lebih dari 40 tahun menjadi penggiat dialog agama. ”Agama itu bukan penjara,” tegasnya.

Djohan Effendi tidak sedang bicara politis atau upaya membangun citra. Dia bicara hal yang substansial tentang kebebasan beragama dan berkeyakinan sebagai hak eksistensial manusia. Bukan basa-basi, melainkan aktif mempraktikkan teologi toleransi dengan tujuan memperkuat fondasi dan wawasan kebangsaan. Baginya, Indonesia dengan berbagai keragaman dan perbedaan merupakan berkah yang perlu disyukuri dan dikembangkan.

Terbentang panjang rekam jejaknya. Sejak tahun 1967, bersama Ahmad Wahib dan Dawam Rahardjo, Djohan mengembangkan teologi toleransi dalam diskusi kelompok Limited Group di Yogyakarta. ”Inisiatif kegiatan digagas Wahib. Nama Limited Group berasal dari Dawam,” kata Djohan merendah.

Bersama Mukti Ali, dosen mereka di IAIN Sunan Kalijaga (UIN Sunan Kalijaga), Yogyakarta, awalnya kegiatan ini hanya melibatkan empat orang. Lama-lama bergabung pula sejumlah tokoh agama lain, seperti Dick Hartoko SJ, JWM Bakker SJ, dan Purbowinoto. Buku Pergolakan Pemikiran Islam: Catatan Harian Ahmad Wahib, refleksi pembaruan kelompok diskusi mingguan itu, sempat menghebohkan. Kontroversi merebak menyangkut gugatan anak-anak muda terhadap berbagai hal yang tabu dalam Islam.

Kegiatan Limited Group ibarat pembuka kunci pembaruan. ”Padahal sebelumnya istilah pembaruan di kalangan Islam masih tabu.” Otokritik yang mereka lakukan ibarat bola salju menggelindingkan pembaruan dalam Islam.

Memang, inklinasi merayakan perbedaan Djohan terbentuk semakin liat di Yogyakarta, semasa kuliah di Fakultas Syariah IAIN Sunan Kalijaga (1963-1970). Dia memperoleh lahan subur yang dipupuk oleh kehadiran Mukti Ali, yang waktu itu masih sebagai dosen. Lingkungan intelektual yang terbiasa diskusi bebas membentuk intelektualitas Djohan yang dari sono-nya pluralis dan moderat. Limited Group menyemarakkan diskursus keislaman.

Menurut Djohan, para pendiri negara ini sudah menaruhkan fondasi visi kebangsaan Indonesia. Pancasila merupakan warisan amat berharga, bekal mengembangkan visi kebangsaan. Mereka pun merumuskan teologi yang diterima semua kalangan. Kaum Muslim rela menghapuskan tujuh kata dalam klausul Piagam Jakarta dan menghentikan hasrat mendirikan negara Islam. Kebebasan beragama merupakan pertaruhan kelestarian Indonesia yang dibangun atas kemajemukan. Indonesia merupakan melting pot yang menyatukan berbagai unsur agama.

Kedudukan sebagai pejabat Departemen Agama dan penulis pidato-pidato Soeharto yang berkaitan dengan masalah keagamaan membuka ruang bagi kesempatan mewujudkan ide-ide kemajemukan dalam keputusan politis, termasuk meletakkan dasar-dasar toleransi dan kehidupan umat beragama.

Ketika Mukti Ali sebagai Menteri Agama—Djohan begitu lulus IAIN tahun 1970 ditarik ke Departemen Agama dan kemudian staf pribadi menteri—hidup subur upaya dialog antaragama. Pada masa itu berkembang berbagai bentuk terobosan, mulai dari dialog antaragama, dialog antarumat beragama, sampai dialog karya sebagai awal dari dialog iman.

Dalam pidato penganugerahan gelar ahli peneliti utama (profesor riset) tahun 1992, Djohan menyinggung keberadaan kelompok minoritas seperti Konghucu. Pernyataan ini diminta agar dicoret. ”Saya tak mau. Dalam pidato, kalimat itu saya ucapkan.”

Bukan penjara

”Pada setiap agama mengandung kebenaran,” kata Djohan Effendi, di kantornya Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace (ICRP), Cempaka Putih, Jakarta. Agama bukanlah penjara, tetapi sarana evolusi diri mencapai pencerahan tanpa batas. Adanya berbagai agama adalah anugerah. Itulah pencarian spiritual yang tulus. Sebuah penziarahan bersama. Djohan merasa sedih ketika terjadi pertikaian yang berlatar belakang agama di Indonesia. Agama tak bisa dilihat hitam putih. Semua dikembalikan kepada humanisme dengan kemanusiaan yang mempersatukan.

Mengutip pernyataan salah satu temannya, teolog Katolik, Hans Kung, Djohan berkata, mempelajari bermacam-macam agama berarti memperoleh perdamaian. Dalam setiap agama ditemukan perdamaian. Tak salah kalau dia kemudian terlibat dalam berbagai lembaga yang mempertemukan agama-agama, seperti di Majelis Budhayana Indonesia, DIAN/Interfidei, Madia, dan ICRP—lembaga yang dia bersama-sama ikut dirikan—kantor yang kini menjadi salah satu terminal kegiatan Djohan sehari-hari.

Begitu lulus sarjana tahun 1970, bersama Mukti Ali, ia lagi-lagi memperoleh lahan subur mengembangkan dialog agama. Setelah lima tahun sebagai staf pribadi Menteri Agama, Djohan dikaryakan di Sekretariat Negara. Karier sebagai penulis pidato Soeharto selesai ketika Djohan mendampingi KH Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) berkunjung ke Israel, tahun 1984, kunjungan yang memperoleh banyak tentangan di Indonesia.

Ketika Malik Fadjar sebagai Menteri Agama, Djohan diangkat sebagai Kepala Litbang Departemen Agama. Dia berkantor selama 24 jam. ”Rumah”-nya berupa kamar istirahat, satu pintu masuk dengan ruang tamunya di Lantai II Kantor Balitbang Departemen Agama, Jalan MH Thamrin. Setiap tiga bulan sekali pergi ke Geelong, di Victoria, Australia, sebab selain istri dan ketiga anaknya tinggal di sana, Djohan tengah menempuh kandidat doktor di Universitas Deakin, Geelong. Dia memperoleh gelar doktor (2005) dengan disertasi tentang pemikiran progresif kalangan muda NU, kiai muda NU, dan wanita NU.

Tidak selantang Gus Dur atau Nurcholish Madjid (Cak Nur), inklusivitas Djohan Effendi termasuk liberal yang rajin mengampanyekan dialog antaragama, membangun jaringan di antara mereka, serta punya perhatian besar kepada kelompok minoritas.

Dalam rangka perayaan 70 tahun usianya, terbit dua buku: Sang Pelintas Batas. Biografi Djohan Effendi yang ditulis Ahmad Gaus AF serta Merayakan Kebebasan Beragama—bunga rampai tulisan koleganya tentang persoalan yang selama ini digeluti Djohan Effendi. Peluncuran kedua buku itu akan dilaksanakan 6 Oktober.

Persisnya ulang tahun tanggal 1 Oktober, mengapa baru 5 Oktober (diskusi terbatas) dan 6 Oktober dirayakan? ”Habis Lebaran. Teman-teman masih mudik, belum kumpul semua,” sergah Siti Musdah Mulia, Ketua Umum Pengurus Yayasan ICRP.

Penulis: St.Sularto 

Kamis, 1 Oktober 2009 | 04:25 WIB
Source:http://cetak.kompas.com/read/xml/2009/10/01/04250027/djohan.effendi.merayakan.perbedaan

♥ HATIMU MUNGKIN HANCUR, NAMUN BEGITU JUGA HATIKU

 ♥ *HATIMU MUNGKIN HANCUR, NAMUN BEGITU JUGA HATIKU* sumber: https://ww3.tlig.org/en/messages/1202/ *Amanat Yesus 12 April 2020* Tuhan! Ini ...