Uskup China Yang Loyal Ke Paus Dipaksa Untuk Menghadiri Pelantikan Uskup Patriotik

Chinese Prelates Forced to Official Church Meeting

Patriotic Association Aims to Elect New Officers

ROME, DEC. 7, 2010 (Zenit.org).- Several Chinese bishops loyal to Rome have reportedly been forcibly taken to Beijing to participate in the assembly of the Patriotic Association.

According to AsiaNews, dozens of bishops were forced to the capital to participate in the assembly, where a national president of the Patriotic Association and a president of the council of Chinese bishops are to be elected.

The Catholic Patriotic Association is the body through which the Chinese government recognizes religious personnel and registers places of worship. Religious practice is only permitted in China with the oversight of the association.

This explains the difference between the "national" or "official" church, and the faithful who oppose such control and who wish to obey the Pope directly. The latter constitute the non-official, or underground, Church.

AsiaNews reported that various underground bishops claimed illness to avoid attending the assembly. Others are in Beijing, but refusing to concelebrate Masses with official bishops. Still others were physically forced to attend.

Bishop Feng Xinmao of Hengshui was taken by police officers despite members of the faithful and priests who tried to shield him, AsiaNews reported. One parishioner was injured in the exchange. Once in custody, the bishop was kept in isolation and taken Monday to Beijing for the meeting.

UCANews estimates that some 40 bishops and about 300 priests, religious and laity are attending the meeting.

Growing colder

Forcing underground bishops to attend the Beijing meeting shows China taking another step to distance itself from the Vatican.

In late November, the nation took a turn against normalized relations by ordaining a bishop without pontifical mandate.

Kaukus Kongres AS Desak Presiden Obama Untuk Mengingat Tuhan

US Lawmakers Urge President to Remember God

Say Obama Misstated National Motto

WASHINGTON, D.C., DEC. 7, 2010 (Zenit.org).- A group of US lawmakers are urging President Barack Obama to remember the nation's religious heritage as expressed in its national motto and foundational documents. 

Congressman Randy Forbes of Virginia, along with 42 bipartisan members of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, sent a letter to the president Monday in which they pointed out that he recently misspoke when he said the national motto is “E Pluribus Unum” (out of many, one), and asked him to publish a correction.

Since 1956, the official national motto of the United States has been “In God We Trust.” The motto also appears in the national anthem, and on the nation's currency.

In a speech given Nov. 10 to students in Jakarta, Indonesia, Obama said that the United States and Indonesia share a similar history: "It is a story written into our national mottos. In the United States, our motto is 'E Pluribus Unum.'"
The members of the Congressional Prayer Caucaus said that it was "unacceptable" for the president to misrepresent the national motto: "The president is the primary representative of our nation to the world, and whether mistake or intention, his actions cast aside an integral part of American society.”

“President [Ronald] Reagan once warned that 'If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under,’” the letter added.

The lawmakers also lamented that on various occasions, the president has omitted a reference to the Creator when quoting the Declaration of Independence. Instead of stating that all are "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights," the lawmakers assert that Obama stated that "each of us are endowed with certain inalienable rights."

The letter said that the "omissions and inaccuracies" misrepresent the United States, and undercuts "important parts of our nation’s history.”

“Trust in God is embedded into the fabric of society and history in the United States," the note concluded. "If we allow these threads to be pulled, we will begin to unravel the very freedoms that birthed America.”

The Congressional Prayer Caucus is a bipartisan group of Members of Congress dedicated to preserving America's religious heritage and protecting religious liberties.

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On the Net:

Full text of the letter: http://www.forbes.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=216891

Amanat Yesus untuk Indonesia

Disampaikan oleh Yesus kepada Vassula di Jakarta tanggal 25 Februari 1995

Amanat Yesus sbb:

Hari ini Aku telah membawa engkau (Vassula) ke sini, ke Indonesia, sebagaimana pula telah Kukumpulkan kalian semua sebagai satu persekutuan. Katakanlah kepada mereka:

Janganlah menganggap bahwa Allah tidak dapat didekati. Allah ada di dekatmu, dan mengasihimu ...Hormatilah nama-Nya.

Kembalilah kepada-Ku dan ubahlah hidupmu, serta hiduplah suci, sebab Kuduslah nama-Ku. Izinkanlah Aku mendandanimu kembali. Untuk ini Aku memerlukan penyerahan menyeluruh dirimu. Satu-satunya perlindunganmu adalah Hati-Ku. Dengarkanlah dan pahamilah: Aku telah bersabda bahwa seluruh daging adalah seperti rumput, dan keindahannya seperti bunga liar di ladang. Namun rumput mengering dan bunga-bunga menjadi layu, sedangkan sabda-Ku tetap abadi, ... dan jiwamu akan tetap hidup.

Biarkan jiwamu dalam keadaan damai dengan Aku pada hari Aku akan menjemputnya, agar engkau mewarisi Kemuliaan-Ku. Janganlah menipu dirimu sendiri sekarang, dan mengatakan: "Jiwa, engkau kini sudah memiliki banyak hal. Ambillah barang-barang yang tersedia. Nikmatilah waktu ini dan berfoya-foyalah dalam kekayaanmu. Nyatalah sudah bahwa warisan itu adalah milikmu." Sadarilah anak-Ku, betapa jiwamu telah kaubiarkan tumbuh liar.

Sadarilah anak-Ku, betapa pedihnya Aku melihat engkau gersang. Aku selalu mengasihimu dengan kasih abadi. Kurangilah kepedihan-Ku. Hapuskanlah kepedihan-Ku dan kembalilah kepada-Ku, yaitu Bapamu, Penciptamu, Penyelamatmu dan Hidupmu. Berdoalah dari dalam hatimu, dan Aku akan mendengarmu. Pengampunan akan diberikan kepadamu bila engkau memintanya!

Indonesia, arahkan langkahmu kepada langkah-Ku, sebab Hari-Ku dekat, dan sewaktu Aku datang, Aku akan datang dengan Api. Maka, izinkanlah Aku untuk menemukan engkau layak bagi Kerajaan-Ku ...Mintalah Berkat-Ku dan Aku akan memberikannya kepadamu. Ayah mana yang akan menolak kesejahteraan anaknya?

Maka, betapa terlebih-lebihnya Aku, Sumber Kasih, akan memberikannya kepada siapapun yang memintanya! Aku berada di dekat kalian hai putri dan putra, dan Aku memberkati kalian, dan menawarkan Damai-Ku kepadamu. Datanglah dan akukanlah dosa-dosamu ke hadapan-Ku, dan Aku akan menanggapi jeritan pertobatanmu.

Vassula, Aku adalah Yahweh, Bapamu yang Terkasih dan Bapa segenap manusia. Pujilah Aku dan ikutilah Aku tanpa menunda. Bangunlah sekarang dan berdoalah Bapa Kami sebagaimana Aku menghormati engkau dengan mengajarkannya kepadamu. Aku mengasihi engkau dengan lemah lembut!

Paus Benediktus XVI: Kondom Dibolehkan Asal...

Paus Benediktus XVI mengeluarkan pernyataan, Sabtu (20/11/2010), mengenai penggunaan kondom. Ini menunjukkan terlihatnya perubahan sikap Gereja Katolik Roma soal penggunaan kondom.

Benediktus menyatakan bahwa penggunaan kondom dibolehkan atas beberapa kasus untuk mencegah penyebaran AIDS. Pernyataan ini dikeluarkan sebagai bentuk pembolehan pihak gereja terutama sikap mereka selama ini yang menentang penggunaan alat kontrasepsi artifisial termasuk kondom.

"Ada banyak kasus khusus di mana penggunaan (kontrasepsi) dibolehkan. Sebagai contoh ketika seorang prostitusi dan ini akan menjadi langkah awal dari sikap moral yaitu tanggung jawab untuk menghidupkan kepedulian bahwa tak semuanya dibolehkan dan tak seorang pun boleh melakukan sesuatu sesuka hati mereka," kata Benediktus.

Analisis Senior Vatikan CNN, John Allen, menyatakan komentar Benediktus ini tak mengubah kebijakan pejabat Vatikan namun ini menunjukkan sikap kepausan yang fleksibel gereja atas kontrasepsi.

"Saya kira apa yang ingin dikatakannya adalah ketika seseorang menggunakan kondom tidak akan mencegah lahirnya kehidupan baru di mana ini selalu jadi perhatian Gereja Katolik Roma namun mencegah penyebaran penyakit lebih baik," jelas Allen. (Widyabuana/Tribunnews)


21 Nov 2010
Source:http://health.kompas.com/index.php/read/2010/11/21/18322522/Paus.Benediktus.XVI.Kondom.Dibolehkan.Asal...-8

Anglicans defect to Rome

 THE Catholic Church will announce this week that 50 Anglican clergy are defecting to Rome following the Church of England's moves to introduce women bishops. Photo: Bishop of Ebbsfleet Andrew Burnham likes pointy hats but not women clergy. Photo: AP

Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, will disclose on Friday the Vatican's plan to welcome the departing priests, including five bishops.

Hundreds of Anglican churchgoers will join them in the Ordinariate - a structure introduced by the Pope to provide refuge for those disaffected with the Church of England. The number of departing worshippers is predicted to double as the new arrangement begins to take shape. The Right Reverend Andrew Burnham, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet, said clergy were dismayed at the liberal direction of the Church of England and the way traditionalists had been treated.

''There's only a certain amount of time you can accept being described as the National Front of the Church of England,'' he said. ''We're seen as out of date for not accepting women's ministry as equal, but the debate concentrates on sociology rather than theology.''

The bishop accused the church of repeatedly breaking promises to make proper provision for opponents of the ordination of women.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, complained last year that the Pope's offer to disaffected Anglicans had put him in an ''awkward position''. He went further last month, saying he was ''very taken aback that this large step was put before us without any real consultation''.

The invitation was made last year after secret meetings between the Vatican and some Anglican bishops.

TELEGRAPH

15 Nov 2010
Source:http://www.theage.com.au/world/anglicans-defect-to-rome-20101114-17soh.html