Pengentasan Kemiskinan: Kaukus Gabungan Kristen dan Muslim

Ending Poverty: a Joint Muslim-Christian Cause

Vatican's Message for End of Ramadan Invites Cooperation

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 11, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Muslims and Christians should be united in overcoming poverty, since impoverishment is something addressed in precepts held dear by people of both faiths, according to the Holy See.

In a message released today for the end of the month of Ramadan, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue encouraged Muslims and Christians to unite in this common goal.

The message was signed by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Archbishop Pier Celata, president and secretary of the council, respectively.

"We all know that poverty has the power to humiliate and to engender intolerable sufferings; it is often a source of isolation, anger, even hatred and the desire for revenge," the Vatican document observed.

The statement goes on to assert that poverty "can provoke hostile actions using any available means, even seeking to justify them on religious grounds, or seizing another man’s wealth, together with his peace and security, in the name of an alleged 'divine justice.'"

This is what makes "tackling poverty" a necessity in confronting "the phenomena of extremism and violence," the message affirmed.

Embrace and combat

The pontifical council document referenced Benedict XVI's message for this year's World Day of Peace in affirming that there is a poverty to be rejected and a poverty to be embraced.

"The poverty to be combated is before the eyes of everyone," the message explained: "hunger, lack of clean water, limited medical care and inadequate shelter, insufficient educational and cultural systems, illiteracy, not to mention also the existence of new forms of poverty [...] marginalization, as well as affective, moral and spiritual poverty."

But the poverty that should be embraced, the statement noted, involves a "style of life which is simple and essential, avoiding waste and respecting the environment and the goodness of creation."

"This poverty can also be, at least at certain times during the year, that of frugality and fasting," the message added. "It is the poverty which we choose which predisposes us to go beyond ourselves, expanding the heart."

In this context, Cardinal Tauran and Archbishop Celata conclude by expressing an invitation: "The poor question us, they challenge us, but above all they invite us to cooperate in a noble cause: overcoming poverty!"

Konferensi Gereja Orthodox: Pergumulan Rohani dalam Tradisi Orthodox

Conference Affirms Christian Call to Battle

Catholic, Orthodox Leaders Send Messages of Support

MAGNANO, Italy, SEPT. 11, 2009 (Zenit.org).- An international conference in the Bose Monastic Community, located outside Magnano, is underlining the importance of the Christian struggle to dominate one's passions and egoism.

This idea of "spiritual combat" is something that Benedict XVI is urging Christians to cultivate, in his message to the 17th annual International Ecumenical Conference on Orthodox Spirituality currently under way.

The meeting, involving Catholics, Lutherans and Orthodox, is focused on the theme "Spiritual Struggle in the Orthodox Tradition."

The conference, which began Wednesday and ends Saturday, is important in advancing Christian ecumenical dialogue, the Pope affirmed in a Sep. 4 statement to the participants.

This idea was also emphasized by the patriarchs of Constantinople and Moscow, who sent similar messages to the congress.

Bartholomew I, Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople, said that these meetings enrich "academic and ecumenical discourse" and are "ample evidence of the unique contribution of monasticism to ecumenical relations among Christian confessions."

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia stated, "In the world we see an uninterrupted struggle between the forces of good and evil," in which it seems that the latter "were never as strong as today."

He continued, "When we see how the contemporary world takes what is black to be white, when deceit appears as truth, and what in the whole of human history was considered sin now no longer is, we understand that the very foundations of the moral and spiritual health of society are threatened."

Temptation

Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, sent a message to the congress to underline the "present importance" of the spiritual struggle, "perhaps more than in the past."

He added, "Both in private life as well as in society we are bombarded by many temptations which take us away from our relationship with the Lord."

This "spiritual struggle against evil" takes place in the heart of every man, said Prior Enzo Bianchi, head of the monastic community, during the opening of the symposium.

He asserted that this struggle "stems from man's fear of death."

Bianchi explained, "Moved by the fear of death, man wants to continue his life by any means; he wants to possess for himself the goods of the earth, he wants to dominate others," believing that in this way "he ensures for himself an abundant life, and justifies all behavior directed to obtaining it, even at the cost of harming others or himself."

Hence, the prior said, it is in the heart "that the return to God can begin," either in "conversion, or succumbing to the seduction of sin and the slavery of idolatry."

He concluded, "It is a very hard struggle to try to have a united heart, able to collaborate with the new life wrought in us by the Father, through faith in Christ, dead and risen, in the power of the Holy Spirit: But it is precisely to this fundamental battle that the Christian is called."

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On the Net:

International Ecumenical Conference: http://www.monasterodibose.it/index.php/content/category/19/252/528/lang,en/

Sinagoga Di Jaman Yesus Telah Ditemukan

Synagogue From Jesus' Time Discovered

Uncovered at Site of Future Christian Pilgrimage Center in Magdala

JERUSALEM, SEPT. 11, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The ruins of a synagogue from Jesus' time were discovered during excavations of a site in Magdala where a pilgrimage center is being built on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

The Israel Antiquities Authority, which has been overseeing the excavations, announced this unique archeological find in a press release today.

The Magdala Center excavation began shortly after Benedict XVI's visit to the Holy Land in May, where he blessed the cornerstone of the future building that is being developed under the direction of the priestly congregation, the Legionaries of Christ.

The archeological excavation, directed by Dina Avshalom-Gorni and Arfan Najar of the antiquities authority, began July 27, and approximately one month later the first vestiges of an important find were uncovered.

As the excavation continued and significant findings were added, the conclusion was reached that these ruins are of a synagogue from the first century, possibly destroyed in the years of the Jewish revolt against the Romans, between A.D. 66 and A.D. 70.

In the center of the 1292-square-foot building, the team discovered a stone engraved with a seven-branched menorah [candelabrum].

Avshalom-Gorni explained: "We are dealing with an exciting and unique find. This is the first time that a menorah decoration has been discovered from the days when the Second Temple was still standing. […]

"We can assume that the engraving that appears on the stone […] was done by an artist who saw the seven-branched menorah with his own eyes in the temple in Jerusalem."

Thus far, only six other synagogues have been discovered from the period of Jerusalem's Second Temple.

Extraordinary

This finding is of great interest for the Jewish world, affirmed Shuka Dorfmann, director of the antiquities authority, who visited the site twice and spoke of the extraordinary nature of the discovery and the need to study it deeper.

The Israelite authorities have requested the continued excavation of the area, and that the findings be preserved in that site and be included in the Magdala Center project.

Numerous Israelite and Christian archeologists have already made appointments to visit the ruins in the past days.

Magdala is located just over four miles from the ancient town of Capernaum, where Jesus spent much of his time during his public ministry. It is assumed that he came to this site, now being excavated, at least once to preach.

Magdala is also thought to be the place frequented by many eyewitnesses to the life and works of Jesus, including Mary Magdalene, who was native to this town.

In Galilean towns such as Magdala, Christian communities were born, and until the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, these believers many times shared the synagogues with Jews.

Only after the temple was destroyed in the year 70 was there a more clear separation between Jews and Christians, and at that time the latter created their own places of meeting and worship.

A special place

The initiative to build a center here began when the Legionaries of Christ arrived to Jerusalem in 2004 by the invitation of Pope John Paul II, to take care of the Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center.

The Magdala Center, also in northern Israel like the Notre Dame Center, aims to complement the services offered to pilgrims who visit Jerusalem.

The land where the building is being erected is on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias, also known as the Sea of Galilee.

The Magdala Center, aside from preserving and exhibiting the ruins of this holy place, will offer a hotel for pilgrims to the Holy Land, and a multimedia center that will display the message and life of Jesus and the history of the land.

Another part of the project includes a center that will promote the vocation and dignity of women, inspired by the figure of Mary Magdalene.

Legionary Father Juan María Solana, director of the Notre Dame Center and initiator of the Magdala project, stated, "I knew that Magdala was a holy place and I always had a hunch that it would be a special place for pilgrims of various religions; but the finding that we have made certainly exceeds our expectations."

He continued: "In a moment of prayer at the site, I thought of the last time the faithful gathered here, around the year 70, and how most had been witnesses of the life of Our Lord. I dream of the day that this place will be opened to visiting pilgrims, and I hope it will serve to create bridges and bonds of true love and dialogue between believers of different religions that come together in the Holy Land."

The opening of the Magdala Center is planned for Dec. 12, 2011, though the schedule may have to be adjusted due to the recent discoveries.

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On the Net:

Magdala Center: www.magdalacenter.com

Pontifical Institute Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center: www.notredamecenter.org