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Remembering the Farhūd
Iraq’s Kristallnacht: Seventy Years Later
by Robert S. Wistrich
Seventy years ago, on June 1, 1941, the most dramatic and violent pogrom in the Arab Middle East during World War II took place in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Known in Arabic as the Farhūd, this devastating pogrom left approximately 150 Jews dead, hundreds more wounded, and led to the ransacking of nearly 600 Jewish businesses. The grim events of June 1-2, 1941 were the Iraqi Arab equivalent of the mass violence on Kristallnacht, which had taken place some two and a half years earlier across Nazi Germany. The anti-Jewish riots were mainly led by Iraqi soldiers (bitter and frustrated by their defeat at the hands of the British Army), some members of the police and young paramilitary gangs, swiftly followed by an angry Muslim population that went on the rampage in an orgy of murder and rapine.
The pogrom struck at what was the most prosperous, prominent and well-integrated Jewish community in the Middle East — one whose origins went back more than 2,500 years — long before there was any Arab presence in the country. The 90,000 Jews of Baghdad, it should be said, played a major role in the commercial and professional life of the city. However, in the 1930s they already found themselves confronted by an increasingly virulent anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist propaganda in the Iraqi press and among nationalist political groups. This agitation treated the intensely patriotic Iraqi Jews as an alien, hostile minority who had to be ejected from all the social, economic and political positions it held in the Iraqi state.
Iraqi Arab nationalists, like their counterparts in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt, had been much influenced in the 1930s by the rise of Nazi Germany. Hitler’s National Socialism attracted them as a spectacular, authoritarian model for achieving Iraqi national unity and a wider union of Arabs in the region. It was no accident that the pro-German ideologue of pan-Arabism, Sati al-Husri, exerted a major influence on Iraqi education after arriving in Baghdad in 1921, or that Michel Aflaq, the chief theoretician of the Iraqi and Syrian Ba’athists had also absorbed German national-socialist ideas while studying in Paris between 1928-1932. The Director General of the Iraqi Ministry of Education in the 1930s, Dr. Sami Shawkat, was another fanatical ideologue, especially active in instilling a military spirit (resembling the German Nazi model) in Iraqi youth. He also developed radically anti-Jewish ideas which were heavily indebted to Nazi anti-Semitism. In a book published in Baghdad in 1939, These Are Our Aims, Shawkat openly called for the annihilation of the Jews in Iraq, as a necessary prerequisite for achieving an Iraqi national revival and fulfilling the country’s “historical mission” of uniting the Arab nation.
Significantly, it was also in Baghdad that the first official Arabic translations of parts of Hitler’s Mein Kampf appeared in 1934. In order not to offend Arab sensibilities the final translation “edited” out Hitler’s racial theories about inferior “Semites” — making it clear that anti-Semitism related only to Jews, not to Arabs. The Iraqi translator of Hitler’s “magnum opus” was Yūnus al-Sab’āwī, a young Nazi enthusiast and extreme anti-Semite. A close confidant of nationalist officers in the Iraqi army, Al-Sab’āwī came to play an important role in Iraqi politics. From April to June 1941 he even served as Iraqi Minister of Economics. Al-Sab’āwī was indeed one of the architects of the Farhūd in which his anti-Semitic para-military youth group also took part. Al-Sab’āwī had earlier established a close connection with Nazi Germany’s Ambassador to Iraq in the late 1930s, Dr. Fritz Grobba. The latter was a distinguished Orientalist (fluent in Arabic, Persian and Turkish) who eventually convinced Hitler that helping Arab nationalists to throw off British control of Iraq should be part of German strategy. Grobba also contributed much through the networks he had established in Iraq, towards spreading the idea that Iraqi Jews were a “fifth column” of Great Britain — sworn enemies of Germany and of the Arab nation. Equally, Palestinian nationalists, led by the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini (who had fled to Baghdad in the late 1930s), conducted an especially vicious campaign to incite a jihad among the local Arab population against Great Britain, Zionism and the Jews of Iraq. The Mufti — a close ally of Hitler during the four years he spent in Berlin between 1941 and 1945 — would also exert a particularly toxic influence on the pro-Nazi politician Rashid Ali al-Kailani, whose successful anti-British coup had forced the unpopular Hashemite Regent Abd al-Ilāh to flee the country. The coup brought to power on April 1, 1941 some of the most rabid Jew-baiters in Iraq. Anti-British and anti-Semitic propaganda now reached a zenith that greatly contributed to the violence that burst forth two months later.
Ironically enough, it was the decisive victory of the British and the return of the Regent on June 1 that immediately provoked the pogrom, an act of unparalleled revenge by the Muslim masses against the Jews of Baghdad that expressed their deep disappointment at the fall of the popular Rashid Ali regime. The British Army, now encamped on the outskirts of Baghdad, could easily have intervened but it chose not to do so, dubiously claiming this would have damaged the prestige of the (pro-British) Regent in the eyes of his own people. The British behaved in a similar fashion on several occasions in Mandatory Palestine, in Libya (November 1945) and in Aden (December 1945) — standing by as Arab mobs killed defenseless Jews. In fact, for most Iraqi Muslims in 1941, the British were perceived as oppressive colonizers, the Jews as their “agents” and the German Nazis as “anti-imperialist” saviors! But German military assistance, when it finally came, was too little and too late to save the Rashid Ali regime.
The Farhūd has been incomprehensibly ignored or downplayed both in Zionist historiography and even more in general histories of the Middle East. Arab historians have been silent or else falsified the facts and there are even Israeli and Jewish writers who have unconvincingly tried to dismiss its importance. Yet this traumatic event was indeed of seminal importance. It proved beyond reasonable doubt the strength of Arab nationalist anti-Semitism and of Nazi-style incitement on a Muslim population that had come to see in its patriotic Jewish minority “the enemy within.” The Jews of Iraq, seventy years ago, suddenly found themselves in the crossfire of three converging forms of murderous anti-Semitism — that of the German Nazis, the Palestinian exiles in Baghdad led by Amin el-Husseini, and Iraqi pan-Arab nationalists. Ten years later, the government of Iraq under the pro-British Nuri es-Said, expropriated, dispossessed, disenfranchised and brought about the forced emigration of nearly 120,000 Iraqi Jews, thereby cruelly terminating the oldest of all Diaspora histories. This was not only a crime against humanity but an insufficiently acknowledged part of the history of the Holocaust. The Farhūd exposed with shocking clarity just how vulnerable the Jews in Arab lands really were and what their fate was likely to be under any decolonized Arab regime in the future, especially if there was a breakdown of law and order.
Despite the “Arab Spring” not much has changed for other minorities in the Middle East in the last 70 years. As for the Jews, from Morocco to Iraq and Iran they would be “ethnically cleansed” after 1945 by their Muslim rulers. The Farhūd already represented the writing on the wall for those willing to read it. The reinforcement of a strong Israel was and still remains the only viable long-term answer to the repetition of such horrific atrocities in the future.
Prof. Robert S. Wistrich is the director of The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the author of A Lethal Obsession: Anti-Semitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad (Random House, January 2010). This article is a condensed version of a recent lecture on the 1941 pogrom in Baghdad hosted by the Center in Jerusalem.
Link roundup
When it's completed this fall, Riverside's Hillcrest High School will be a high-tech academic hub with wireless Internet, a robotics lab, digital smart boards in every classroom and a first-rate performance hall worthy of any "Glee" hopeful.2. Young Jason Kidd.
But no students.
Sapped by state budget cuts, the Alvord Unified School District doesn't have the money to turn on the lights or hire staff for the $105-million campus.
3. It's a tremendous shame George Takei hasn't been able to show off his personality until the last few years.
Gates of Vienna News Feed 5/31/2011
In recent weeks a number of protests known collectively as “los indignados” have taken place in central Madrid, with demonstrators objecting to the government’s austerity measures and financial mismanagement. The young Spanish protesters have inspired similar movements in Italy, France, and most recently Greece.Also in Greece, immigrant criminals have been coping with the current financial crisis by kidnapping illegal immigrants and torturing them until their families pay ransom. Athens police have just arrested fourteen Pakistanis and Afghans who are suspected of being part of the kidnapping ring.
In other news, the maximum possible fine will be levied against the Bulgarian nationalist party Ataka for recent attacks by its members on Muslims praying on the street in front of a mosque in downtown Sofia.
To see the headlines and the articles, open the full news post.
Thanks to AC, Andy Bostom, C. Cantoni, Caroline Glick, CSP, Fjordman, Gaia, Insubria, JD, Kitman, Steen, Takuan Seiyo, and all the other tipsters who sent these in.
Commenters are advised to leave their comments at this post (rather than with the news articles) so that they are more easily accessible.
Caveat: Articles in the news feed are posted “as is”. Gates of Vienna cannot vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the contents of any individual item posted here. We check each entry to make sure it is relatively interesting, not patently offensive, and at least superficially plausible. The link to the original is included with each item’s title. Further research and verification are left to the reader.
Dark Horse Review Roundup
1. Hellboy The Fury #1 by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo features outstanding art, and the issue feels packed with panels. You can read a few preview pages here, but they're easily the most boring in the issue, and the preview really does the issue a terrible disservice. You can preorder the issue with the sweet Francesco Francavilla alternate cover for 20% off at TFAW.
2. Also excellent is Witchfinder: Lost and Gone Forever #5 featuring art by John Severin. The zombie cowboy army is nice, but I wish the preview showed off the witch (sorry, I'm not allowed to post anything other than what's in the public preview). This issue's also 20% off at TFAW, and I'll definitely be placing the collection on my wishlist when it's available.
3. By comparison, other than Dave Stewart's colors, I have nothing nice to say about BPRD The Dead Remembered #3 - - it feels like such a retread of previous Hellboy/BPRD stories.
4. And I didn't bother finishing Solomon Kane Red Shadows #3.
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Agriculture Was Brought into Western Europe by Southern European Males
Analysis of DNA from 29 skeletons found in France, highlighted this difference between the mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome. Males had moved from the Mediterranean to western Europe. Most of the males in the 29 skeleton group were related, so when the males arrived they stayed on the land with their new hunter gatherer wives.
The southern males had a problem: they did not have the lactose tolerant gene of central Europeans. They had to drink fermented milk from sheep and goats. Adult central European males could easily digest milk from cows.
More work is being done to further clarify how and when agriculture spread across Europe.
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VATICAN: POPE: PRAYER INTENTION FOR JUNE AND A CENTURY OF MUSIC
PONTIFICAL INSTITUTE OF SACRED MUSIC CELEBRATES A CENTURY
VATICAN CITY, 31 MAY 2011 (VIS REPORTS) - On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music, the Holy Father sent a letter to Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, chancellor of the institution. The letter, which was published today, was read at the institute last Thursday, 26 May. (IMAGE SOURCE: RADIO VATICANA)
Benedict XVI recalled that Pope St. Pius X founded the Higher School of Sacred Music, which two decades later was elevated by Pius XI to a pontifical institute. The Holy Father stated that, in order to clearly understand the identity and mission of that Institute, it was necessary to know that St. Pius X founded it "eight years after having issued the Motu Proprio 'Tra le sollecitudini' on 22 November 1903, with which he brought about a profound reform in the area of sacred music, turning to the great tradition of the Church against the influence exercised by profane music, above all of the operatic type".
This magisterial intervention, in order to be implemented in the universal Church, needed a center of studies and teaching that would faithfully and appropriately transmit the directives indicated by the Supreme Pontiff according to the authentic and glorious tradition that dates back to St. Gregory the Great. In the span of the last 100 years, this Institution has assimilated, developed, and expressed the doctrinal and pastoral teaching of the pontifical documents, as well as those of Vatican Council II, concerning sacred music, to illumine and guide the work of composers, chapel maestros, liturgists, musicians, and all instructors in this field".
The Pope then emphasized how, since St. Pius X until today, "even though evolving naturally, there has been a substantial continuity of the Magisterium on sacred music". In particular he cited Paul VI and John Paul II who "in light of the conciliar constitution 'Sacrosanctum Concilium', reiterated the purpose of sacred music, that is to say, 'the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful' and the fundamental criteria of the corresponding tradition...: a sense of prayer, dignity, and beauty; full adherence to liturgical texts and expressions; the assembly's participation and, therefore, the legitimate adaptation to local culture, at the same time maintaining the universality of language; the primacy of Gregorian chant as the supreme model of sacred music and the careful assessment of other expressive forms that make up the historical-liturgical patrimony of the Church, especially but not just polyphony; and the importance of the 'schola cantorum', particularly in cathedral churches".
"However, we always have to ask ourselves: Who is the true subject of the liturgy? The answer is simple: the Church. It is not the individual or the group that celebrates the liturgy, but it is primarily God's action through the Church with its history, its rich tradition, and its creativity. The liturgy, and thus sacred music, 'lives from a correct and constant relationship between healthy traditio and legitimate progressio', keeping always in mind that these two concepts ... are interwoven because 'tradition is a living reality that, therefore, encompasses within it the very principle of development and progress'", the Pope concluded.
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BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR JUNE
VATICAN CITY, 31 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for the month of June is: "That priests, united to the Heart of Christ, may always be true witnesses of the caring and merciful love of God".
His missionary intention is: "That the Holy Spirit may bring forth from our communities many missionaries who are ready to be fully consecrated to spreading the Kingdom of God.".
BXVI-PRAYER INTENTIONS/
VATICAN CITY, 31 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father appointed as members of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura: Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches; Cardinal Paolo Sardi, patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta; and His Beatitude Bechara Boutros Rai, O.M.M., Maronite Patriarch of Antioch, Lebanon.
ASIA: SRI LANKA: POLICE CHARGE 18,000 PROTESTERS
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Colombo (AsiaNews) – Catholic priests and human rights activists have firmly slammed the brutal police crackdown on thousands of Free Trade Zone workers who staged a protest yesterday in Katunayake. Protesters are against a proposed Private Sector Pension bill, which they deem deeply flawed because it does not guarantee workers a lifetime pension (see Melani Manel Perera, “Sri Lanka: pension guaranteed ‘until funds run out’,” in AsiaNews, 17 May 2011). “Independent protest is a right of every free citizen,” said Fr Reid Shelton Fernando, a Catholic priest. “What has happened shows that, in this country, people cannot exercise one of their fundamental rights.”According to some witnesses, police stormed a number of factories looking for demonstrators. They also blocked the main entry point to the zone in order to stop people from leaving. After a few hours, workers were able to force the blockade, allowing some 18,000 people to pour into the streets where they clashed with police. Witnesses said police also tried to prevent the wounded from being taken to hospitals.
Fr Sarath Iddamalgod, a Catholic priest, was in a local temple with six Buddhist monks when the mayhem broke out. “We saw the police launch tear gas to stop the demonstrators.”
“The government is trying to crush peaceful protests,” Laxman Rosa, a Christian political activist, said. “This is a total violation of human rights, the right of freedom of expression and the right to defend workers’ rights.”
Unofficial sources have also reported three deaths. Freddy Gamage, who writes for theMeepura newspaper, said that 216 wounded people are in the Negombo hospital. One of them has a gunshot wound to the leg and is in the intensive care unit.
The proposed Private Sector Pension Bill law would set up three pension funds to provide workers with retirement benefits but only as long as the pension fund does not run out of money. In practice, this means workers will contribute a fixed percentage of their salary to fund their pension plan and will be entitled to benefits upon retirement. However, should the plan run out of money, they would receive nothing.
AMERICA: USA: KNIGHTS AND SISTERS OF LIFE HOST PILGRIM CENTER AT WYD FOR ENGLISH SPEAKERS
- The Knights of Columbus and the Sisters of Life are sponsoring and hosting a pilgrim center for English-speaking participants at World Youth Day in Madrid.
Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson said the center will provide “a place of rest, prayer and fellowship for English-speaking pilgrims from around the world” where they can join friends and participate in “a spectacular outpouring of faith.”
Activities at the center will be free and scheduled around the World Youth Day event program. Events include Masses and devotions, catechesis sessions, concerts, speakers, witness testimonies, prayer and movie screenings.
Other events at the site include a Eucharistic procession and an outdoor Way of the Cross.
Eucharistic adoration and Confession will be available continuously at the site throughout the week.
The center, named “Love and Life: A Home for English-Speaking Pilgrims,” is co-sponsored by Holy Cross Family Ministries, Canada's Salt and Light Television, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, the Apostleship of Prayer, the World Youth Alliance and the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.
The Knights and the Sisters hosted a smaller pilgrim center at World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney.
More than one million pilgrims are expected to participate in the Madrid World Youth Day gathering, which begins on Aug. 16 and ends Aug. 21. Pope Benedict XVI will also celebrate Mass at the event.
A smartphone application for the “Love and Life” center is available through its website, http://wydEnglish.org.
AFRICA: IVORY COAST: 27, 000 DISPLACED PEOPLE RECEIVED BY CATHOLIC MISSION
"The situation gets more and more dramatic: 27,000 people living within the space of a small parish. Each of them live in just a square meter. The sanitary and health conditions are so poor, "says Bishop Gaspard Beby Gnéba, Bishop of Man to Fides, and Duékoué is part of this territory.
The UNMCI (United Nations Mission in Côte d'Ivoire) ensures the safety of these people while Caritas provides meals and health service. The presence of UN soldiers, however, is not sufficient to reassure the refugees and bring them back home. "The uncertainty is still very strong. But the real problem is that these people have no home to go back to because their homes have been ransacked, destroyed and burned, "said Mgr. Gnéba. "It is urgent to find another place for these people, as well as guaranteeing security to those who still have a home and want to return. You then need to rebuild destroyed homes, " concluded the Bishop of Man (LM) (Agenzia Fides 31/05/2011)
AUSTRALIA: DISCUSSIONS ON FUTURE OF WILCANNIA-FORBES DIOCESE
CATH NEWS REPORT: Parishioners and faithful were given the chance to have their say on the future of NSW's Wilcannia-Forbes Diocese at a special meeting held in Forbes Monday night, reports theForbes Advocate.
Bishop Kevin Manning, currently Apostolic Administrator for the Wilcannia-Forbes Diocese, said the meeting was part of the terms of reference of an investigative committee established to examine the viability of the diocese.The public meeting, held in the hall opposite St Laurence's church on Johnson Street, followed a similar meeting earlier in the day between parish priests of the diocese and a special committee established by NSW bishops.
The diocese includes 22 parishes in an area occupying about half of the state.
Bishop Manning said part of the committee's role was to consult with as many stakeholders as possible in the diocese. "There have been suggestions that some parishes be aligned with adjoining dioceses," Bishop Manning said.
"But there is a feeling that the people of the diocese would like to stick together with improved services," he said. "One of the biggest things is the travel. In some cases priests are driving 250km on Sundays just to say Mass."
EUROPE: COMECE SUMMIT SPEAKS OF 'ARAB SPRING'
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The 'Arab Spring' was at the heart of this year’s annual summit meeting of European faith leaders with the Presidents of the EU Institutions. This was the seventh high-level meeting which took place at the invitation of President José Manuel Barroso and was co-chaired by Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament and Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council.
Comparisons were made with the wave of freedom and democracy in central and eastern Europe in 1989, which led to the reunification of the Continent, European leaders are willing to take the momentum of the Arab Spring to establish peace, democracy and prosperity around the Mare Nostrum. On 8 March, the European Commission issued a series of proposals establishing a partnership for the southern Mediterranean. In this context, the EU institutions intend to join forces with all partners who share the same willingness to defend and promote the same universal values. “I strongly believe that these challenges cannot be met without the active contribution of religious communities” stated President Barroso.
Mr Buzek, President of the European Parliament, acknowledged that the revolutions in the Arab world were made by the people themselves expressing a deep call for Freedom and Justice. “These are not our revolutions, but these are our values” he stated, recalling the decisive role played by Churches in central Europe in fighting for Solidarity and Freedom 20 years ago.
Twenty senior representatives from the Christian, Jewish, Muslim religions as well as from the Buddhist communities answered the invitation and shared their experience and thoughts with the EU leaders.
Cardinal Marx, Vice President of COMECE emphasised that faith is a positive force, which invites and calls for a constructive shaping of the world. With a reminder that the limitation of power and violence is at the heart for democratic regimes, the Cardinal recalled that faith protects against fantasies of omnipotence. “The human being is free but not omnipotent. Therefore faith and religions from a Christian perspective represent a source for a free state order”
“Christians are the natural allies of all those who love freedom” stated Cardinal Nycz, the Archbishop of Warsaw. He particularly asked the EU institutions to stand for religious freedom in the southern Mediterranean, recalling that this fundamental right not only covers freedom of worship but, most of all, freedom of conscience.
COMECE President Mgr van Luyn regretted that the coexistence of different religious communities in the Middle-East and North Africa was often manipulated to set them against each other. “God wants us to be Christians in and for our Middle Eastern societies. This is our mission and vocation - to live as Christians and Muslims together.”
Referring to the project of the Order of the Dominicans to create an Open University in Bagdad, Mgr van Luyn recalled that Churches in the Middle East and North Africa are promoting similar projects of education, intercultural dialogue and citizenship, which, he trusts the European Commission will support and partner.
Source: COMECE
TODAY'S SAINT: MAY 31: VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Visitation of the Blessed Virgin
Feast: May 31
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| Assuming that the Annunciation and the Incarnation took place about the vernal equinox, Mary left Nazareth at the end of March and went over the mountains to Hebron, south of Jerusalem, to wait upon her cousin Elizabeth, because her presence and much more the presence of the Divine Child in her womb, according to the will of God, was to be the source of very great graces to the Blessed John, Christ's Forerunner. The event is related in Luke 1:39-57. Feeling the presence of his Divine Saviour, John, upon the arrival of Mary, leaped in the womb of his mother; he was then cleansed from original sin and filled with the grace of God. Our Lady now for the first time exercised the office which belonged to the Mother of God made man, that He might by her mediation sanctify and glorify us. St. Joseph probably accompanied Mary, returned to Nazareth, and when, after three months, he came again to Hebron to take his wife home, the apparition of the angel, mentioned in Matthew 1:19-25, may have taken place to end the tormenting doubts of Joseph regarding Mary's maternity. |
SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/V/visitationoftheblessedvirginmary.asp#ixzz1NzOZ7hY3
TODAY'S GOSPEL: MAY. 31: LUKE 1: 39- 56
39In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah,40and she entered the house of Zechari'ah and greeted Elizabeth.41And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit42and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!43And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?44For behold, when the voice of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leaped for joy.45And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord."46And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,48for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;49for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.50And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation.51He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts,52he has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree;53he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.54He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,55as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity for ever."56And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her home.
VATICAN: POPE: MARIAN CHARACTER OF CATHOLICISM AND OTHER NEWS
CATHOLICISM MEANS MARIAN CHARACTER
VATICAN CITY, 28 MAY 2011 (VIS REPORT) - This afternoon in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received members of the "Mariä Verkündigung" Marian Congregation of Men of Regensburg, Germany. They had come to the Vatican to celebrate with the Pope the 70th anniversary of his induction in that congregation in the Archbishopric Seminary of St. Michael of Traunstein, Germany.
IMAGE SOURCE: RADIO VATICANA)
The Pope recalled that when he entered the seminary, Europe was going through "a dark age. It was a time of war. One after the other, Hitler had subjugated Poland, Denmark, Benelux, and France. In April of 1941 ... he had occupied Yugoslavia and Greece. It seemed that the continent was in the hands of this power that, at the same time, put the future of Christianity in doubt. We had been admitted to the Congregation but shortly thereafter the war against Russia began. The seminary was dissolved and, before it was able to reassemble, the congregation was scattered to the four winds".
That is why, the pontiff continued, his entry in the "Mariä Verkündigung" was not "an 'exterior fact', but it stayed with me as 'an interior fact' because it had always been clear that Catholicism could not exist without a Marian character, that being Catholic meant belonging to Mary".
"Here, through the bishops' ad limina visits", the Holy Father commented, "I constantly sense how people - especially those in Latin America but in other continents as well - can entrust themselves to the Mother; how they can love the Mother and, through the Mother, can then learn to love Christ. I sense how the Mother continues to give birth to Christ; how Mary continues to say 'yes' and to bring Christ to the world".
"Mary is the great believer. She has taken up Abraham's mission of belief and made Abraham's faith into concrete faith in Jesus Christ, thus showing us all the way of faith, the courage to entrust ourselves to the God who puts Himself in our hands, the joy of being His witnesses. Then she shows us the determination to remain fast when all others have fled, the courage to remain at the Lord's side when he seems lost and thus to bear the witness that led to His Passion".
"I am thus very grateful", the Pope concluded, "to know that in Bavaria there are approximately 40,000 congregants; that still today there are men who, together with Mary, love the Lord. Men who, through Mary, are learning to know and to love the Lord and who, like her, bear witness to the Lord in difficult times as well as happy ones; who remain with Him under the Cross and who continue to live the Passion joyfully together with Him. Thank you all for continuing to hold this witness high, so that we might know that there are Catholic Bavarian men and members of the congregation who continue along the path initiated by the Jesuits in the XVI century and who continue to demonstrate that faith doesn't belong to the past but always opens itself to 'today' and especially to 'tomorrow'".
AC/
BENEDICT XVI RECALLS HUNGARIAN COMPOSER LISZT
VATICAN CITY, 28 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon, in the Paul VI Hall of the Vatican, Benedict XVI attended a concert offered in his honor by the President of the Republic of Hungary, Pal Schmitt on the occasion of Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union and the bicentenary of the birth of the Hungarian composer Franz Liszt.
At the end of the concert the Holy Father thanked tenor Istvan Horvath, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra and the State Choir, which performed several compositions by Liszt: Festmarsch zur Goethejubiläumsfeier, Vallee d'Overmann, and the Ave Maria: Die Glocken von Rom, inspired by a Psalm.
Benedict XVI pointed out that the three pieces "have aroused a wide range of feelings: from the joy and festive tone of the march, to the meditation of the second piece with its insistent and aching melody, to the attitude of prayerfulness we are invited to by the Ave Mary ".
Referring to the 13th Psalm, the Pope explained that this piece "has given us the idea of the quality and profundity of Liszt's faith. It is a Psalm in which the one praying encounters difficulty, the enemy surrounds him, besieges him, and God seems absent, seems to have forgotten him. His supplication becomes anguished in light of this abandonment: 'How long, O Lord?', the psalmist repeats four times".
"It is the cry of a man and of humanity", the Pope continued, "feeling the weight of evil in the world. Liszt's music has conveyed this feeling of weight and anguish but God does not abandon him. The Psalmist knows this as does Liszt; as a man of faith, he knows it. Out of anguish is born an invocation full of trust that overflows into joy, 'My heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with me'. And here Liszt's music is transformed: tenor, choir, and orchestra raise a hymn of total entrustment to God who never betrays, never forgets, never leaves us alone".
BXVI-CONCERT/
DIALOGUE BETWEEN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND ANGLICAN COMMUNION
VATICAN CITY, 28 MAY 2011 (VIS) - The Anglican - Roman Catholic International Commission has completed the first meeting of its new phase (ARCIC III) at the Monastery of Bose in northern Italy (17-27 May 2011).
According to a communique issued by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, "the commission is chaired by Archbishop David Moxon (Anglican Archbishop of the New Zealand Dioceses) and Archbishop Bernard Longley (Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham), and comprises eighteen theologians from a wide range of backgrounds across the world".
"In response to the programme set forth by Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Rowan Williams in their 2006 Common Declaration, discussions have focussed on the interrelated issues: the Church as communion, local and universal, and how in communion the local and universal Church come to discern right ethical teaching. The programme also required the Commission to re-examine how the 'commitment to the common goal of the restoration of complete communion in faith and sacramental life' is to be understood and pursued today, and to present the work of ARCIC II in its entirety with appropriate commentaries to assist its reception".
"The commission", continued the communique, "will seek to develop a theological understanding of the human person, human society, and the new life of grace in Christ. This will provide a basis from which to explore how right ethical teaching is determined at universal and local levels. ARCIC will base this study firmly in scripture, tradition, and reason, and draw on the previous work of the commission. It will analyze some particular questions to elucidate how our two Communions approach moral decision making, and how areas of tension for Anglicans and Roman Catholics might be resolved by learning from the other".
"The commission will continue its work along the lines it has proposed in preparation for its next meeting in 2012".
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VATICAN CITY, 30 MAY 2011 (VIS) - On Saturday, 28 May, the Holy Father appointed:
- Archbishop Diego Causero, currently apostolic nuncio to the Czech Republic, as apostolic nuncio to Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein.
- Msgr. Antonio Neri, an official of the Congregation for the Clergy, as under secretary of the same congregation.
- as members of the Congregation for Bishops: Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, and Bishop Emeritus Lorenzo Chiarinelli of Viterbo, Italy.
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KNOWLEDGE OF GOSPEL PRODUCES TRUE JOY
VATICAN CITY, 29 MAY 2011 (VIS) - This afternoon Benedict XVI appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to pray the Regina Coeli with the thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
The Pope commented on the passage from the Acts of the Apostles from the sixth Sunday of Easter when Phillip, "one of the deacons, arrived in a city of Samaria. There he preached the Risen Christ and his proclamation was accompanied by numerous healings. The episode ends very significantly: 'There was great joy in that city'. This expression, which basically communicates a sense of hope, strikes us every time. It is as if it said: 'It is possible! It is possible for humanity to know true joy because, wherever the Gospel reaches, there life flourishes".
"Phillip and the other disciples, with the strength of the Holy Spirit, carried out in the villages of Palestine what Jesus had done: they preached the Good News and worked miraculous signs. It was the Lord who acted through them. As Jesus announced the coming of the Kingdom of God, the disciples announced the Risen Jesus, proclaiming that He is Christ, the Son of God, baptizing in his name and driving out every illness of body and spirit".
The Holy Father affirmed that "reading this passage, one thinks spontaneously of the Gospel's healing power, which throughout the centuries has 'watered' so many peoples like a beneficial river. Some great saints brought hope and peace to entire cities - think of Charles Borromeo in Milan during the time of plague; Mother Teresa of Calcutta; and those many missionaries, whose names are known to God, who have given their lives to bring the news of Christ and to make profound joy flourish among persons".
"While the powerful of this world sought to conquer new territories for political and economic interests", he continued, "Christ's messengers went everywhere with the purpose of bringing Christ to human beings and human beings to Christ, knowing that He alone can give true freedom and eternal life. The Church's vocation today is still evangelization: to the many the peoples who have not yet been 'watered' by the living waters of the Gospel as well as to those who, although having ancient Christian roots, are in need of new nourishment to bear new fruit and to rediscover the beauty and joy of the faith".
The Pope pointed out that "Blessed John Paul II was a great missionary, as an exhibit organized in Rome in these days documents. He re-launched the mission 'ad gentes' and, at the same time, promoted the new evangelization".
After praying the Regina Coeli, the Pope noted that "last Saturday in Cerreto Sannita, Italy, Sr. Maria Serafina of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (born Clotilde Micheli), was proclaimed Blessed. Born in Trentino, she founded in Campania the Institute of the Sisters of the Angels. On recalling the 100th anniversary of her birth in heaven, we rejoice with her spiritual daughters and all those devoted to her".
Addressing the Polish pilgrims, Benedict XVI noted that "yesterday was the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the death of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, the 'Primate of the Millennium'. Invoking the gift of his beatification, let us learn from him a total abandonment to the Mother of God. Let his trust, expressed with the words: 'I have entrusted all to Mary', be a special model for us. Let us recall this at the end of the month of May, which is especially dedicated to the Virgin".
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WORD OF GOD, CONSOLATION AND CHALLENGE FOR CHRISTIANS IN INDIA
VATICAN CITY, 30 MAY 2011 (VIS) - "The Second Vatican Council reminds us that, among the more important responsibilities of bishops, the proclamation of the Gospel is pre-eminent", said Benedict XVI today to the prelates from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India at the end of their ad limina visit, emphasizing that it is "a source of satisfaction that the proclamation of God's word is bearing rich spiritual fruit in your local Churches, especially through the spread of small Christian communities in which the faithful come together for prayer, reflection on the Scriptures and fraternal support".
"Every effort should be made", he continued, "to stress that individual and group prayer is, by its very nature, born of and leads back to, the wellspring of grace found in the Church's sacraments and her entire liturgical life. Nor can it be forgotten that the word of God not only consoles but also challenges believers, as individuals and in community, to advance in justice, reconciliation and peace among themselves and in society as a whole. ... In fidelity to the new commandment to love one another as the Lord has loved us, Christians of all times and places have striven to serve their fellow human beings selflessly and to love them with all their heart. After all, love is God's gift to humanity; it is his promise and it is our hope".
"In this light, I am pleased to note the impressive signs of the Church's charity in many fields of social activity, a service borne in a particular way by her priests and religious. ... The Church's schools prepare young people of all faiths and none to build a more just and peaceful society. Church agencies have been instrumental in the promotion of microcredit, helping the poor to help themselves. In addition, they promote the Church's healing and charitable mission through clinics, orphanages, hospitals and innumerable other projects aimed at promoting human dignity and well-being ... May Christ's faithful in India", the Pope prayed, "continue to assist all those in need in the communities around them, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion or social status, out of the conviction that all have been created in God's image and all are due equal respect".
In conclusion, the Holy Father spoke of "the grave challenges which threaten to undermine the unity, harmony and sanctity of the family", which the bishops had referred to him, and about "the work which must be done to build a culture of respect for marriage and family life. A sound catechesis which appeals especially to those preparing for marriage", he said, "will do much to nourish the faith of Christian families and will assist them in giving a vibrant, living witness to the Church's age-old wisdom regarding marriage, the family, and the responsible use of God's gift of sexuality.
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ENTHUSIASM AND COURAGE GIVE START TO PROCLAIMING CHRIST
VATICAN CITY, 30 MAY 2011 (VIS) - This afternoon the Holy Father received participants in the plenary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, instituted in October of 2010, along with its president, Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella.
Referring to the theme of the next synod of bishops in October of 2012, the theme of which will be "The New Evangelization and the Transmission of the Christian Faith", the Pope said that "the term 'new evangelization' recalls the need of a new way of evangelizing, especially for those who live in a situation like today's where the development of secularization has left deep marks on even traditionally Christian countries".
"The crisis we are living through", he stated, "carries with it signs of the exclusion of God from people's lives, a general indifference to the Christian faith, and even the intention of marginalizing it from public life. ... Moreover, the phenomenon of people who wish to belong to the Church but who are strongly determined by a vision of life that is opposed to the faith is often seen".
Benedict XVI emphasized that "proclaiming Jesus Christ, the sole Savior of the world, is more complex today than in the past, but our task continues to be the same as at the beginning of our history. The mission hasn't changed, just as the enthusiasm and courage that motivated the apostles and first disciples should not change".
The Church's message, he continued, "needs to be renewed today in order to convince modern persons, who are often distracted and insensitive. That is why the new evangelization must find the ways to make the proclamation of salvation more effective, the salvation without with life is contradictory and lacking in what is essential. This includes those who remain tied to Christian roots but who have a difficult relationship with modernity. It is important to make them understand that being Christian is not a type of outfit that one wears in private or on special occasions, but something living and totalizing, capable of taking all that is good in modernity".
The Pope expressed the desire that in the plenary's work these days, the members and consultors outline "a plan to help the entire Church and the particular different Churches in the commitment of the new evangelization; a plan whereby the urgency of a renewed evangelization takes charge of formation, particularly that of the new generations, and is united to the proposal of concrete signs capable of making the Church's response in this particular moment clear".
"If, on the one hand, the entire community is called to revive the missionary spirit in order to offer the new message that persons of our times are hoping for, it cannot be forgotten", he finished, "that the lifestyle of believers needs real credibility, as much more convincing as the more dramatic is the condition of the persons to whom it is addressed".
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CARDINAL MARX TO TAKE POSSESSION OF TITULAR CHURCH
VATICAN CITY, 30 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Today the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff announced that on Sunday, 5 June, at 10:30am, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of München und Freising (Munich), Germany will take possession of the title of San Corbiniano at Via Carlo Orff, 12.
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VATICAN CITY, 30 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received Norbert Lammert, President of the "Bundestag", the German parliament, accompanied by an entourage.
On Saturday morning, 28 May, the Holy Father today received in separate audiences:
- Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches,
- Six prelates from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India on their ad limina visit:
- Bishop Sebastian Thekethecheril of Vijayapuram,
- Bishop Stephen Athipozhiyil of Alleppey,
- Bishop Vincent Samuel of Neyyattinkara,
- Bishop Selvister Ponnumuthan of Punalur, and
- Bishop Stanley Roman with Bishop Emeritus Joseph Gabriel Fernandez of Quilon.
On Saturday afternoon the Holy Father met with:
- Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli O.F.M., apostolic vicar of Tripoli, and
- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
EUROPE: FRANCE: VIGIL FOR LIFE GATHERS LARGE CROWD
LifeSiteNews.com REPORT - The historic 13th century cathedral of Paris, Notre-Dame de Paris, filled up completely last Thursday evening from 8:30 onward in answer to the call of Cardinal André Vingt-Trois to a Vigil for Life. It was the second initiative of its kind by Paris’ archbishop: a similar event took place last year on the 27th of May and attracted many faithful.
This year the vigil was placed under the patronage of Blessed John Paul the Second and was highlighted by readings from Evangelium vitae. Readings from the Gospel, personal experiences proclaimed by lay-people and modern hymns made up the first part of the vigil. This was followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament during which the cardinal pleaded for life on his knees in front of the main altar, facing the monstrance. He prayed for those who had let themselves be driven into acts of death: “Do not remember our sins, but the faith of your Church.”
Cardinal Vingt-Trois reminded the faithful that when life is scorned, God is scorned also.
Among the lay-people who bore witness to life was Jean-Guilhem Xerri, president of the association “Aux captifs la liberation” (“For captives, freedom”) which works with homeless people living in the streets of the larger French cities.
A newly-wedded couple presented their experience of giving life together with their one year-old child, Pierre, startling the “audience” with their banal and lengthy accounts of personal conflict, dirty socks and reconciliation in order to proclaim the grandeur of God and to adapt to the new situation of being parents. The couple was chosen to speak although the young man only proposed marriage one year after they had been living together: in marriage, they said, they found a “new meaning” in their sacramental union, and a way to downplay conflict.
This choice of the couple was seen by some observers to be a pastoral choice of the Catholic Church in France which recently opened a “family blog” presenting all the “new” types of living together and parenting.
All eight bishops of the Parisian region, Ile-de-France, were present in the cathedral. Mgr Nicolas Brouwet, auxiliary bishop of Nanterre, who spoke out recently against the “Contraception Pass” which is being distributed to 10th-graders in Ile-de-France by the Regional council, opened the vigil with these words :
“Our society is anxious to protect human rights, but it is capable of great violence against the unborn, persons at the end of their life and the handicapped. The Gospel of life wants to change our lives, and our whole community.”
He pleaded the cause of love, fidelity, and chastity - a word rarely used in current homilies in France.
During the event there was little mention of abortion, euthanasia and other typical “culture of death” themes.
The fact that the cardinal of Paris is organizing these vigils is nevertheless regarded as a hopeful sign by the more active pro-lifers in the French Catholic Church, who have been dismissed for many years as extremists.
AMERICA: BRAZIL: 3 ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS KILLED
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ASIA: SYRIA-YEMEN: DEATHS AND INJURIES DUE TO VIOLENCE
Sanaa (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Last night in Yemen, the army attacked thousands of people who have peacefully occupied Liberty Square (pictured) in the southern Taiz for four months, demanding the resignation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Meanwhile Syria has authorised military interventions against the population.
In Taiz the protesters say the army removed the barricades with a bulldozer, attacking with guns, tear gas and water cannons and setting some tents on fire, killing at least 20 demonstrators and wounding 150 others. The crowd responded by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. News agencies reported the statements of al-Sadek Shugaa, head of a field hospital, according to whom soldiers indiscriminately fired on the crowd.
Previously more than 3 thousand people protested before the Government Palace, also near Taiz’ Liberty Square, demanding the release of six protesters arrested May 26. According to Al Jazeera, some soldiers had joined the protesters.
Since January, people have been protesting against the government, supported by some influential tribal leaders, but President Saleh has made no concessions and refused to sign an agreement obtained through mediation by the Arab Gulf States, for the transition to democracy. The fear is that the prolonged conflict favours the penetration of Islamic terrorists. Army sources claim that four soldiers were killed today and dozens were injured near the city of Zinjibar, in an attack by militants from al-Qaeda. Apparently the city is under the control of more than 300 armed rebels, possibly al-Qaeda since May 27.
Tension is building in the country, last week there were violent clashes between the army and the Hashed tribal militias who support the opposition.
Meanwhile, yesterday morning the Syrian army surrounded and attacked the cities of Rastan and Talbisa with dozens of tanks and helicopters. In Talbisa there was a large demonstration against the government on May 27. The troops then began a house to house manhunt to arrest opponents of the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Protesters say the military first cut water, electricity and communications in the cities and report at least seven civilians dead (11 according to other sources), and over 100 wounded, while the military says it is carrying out an operation against " armed terrorist groups." But it is difficult to get objective news, after the authorities expelled foreign journalists. The two cities have been the scene of protests since March, at first with a demand for democratic reforms, and later demands for the resignation of Bashar, which have continued despite the crackdown by armed forces. There is also talk of more than 1000 deaths and 10 thousand arrests. The authorities say 143 soldiers have been killed by armed rebels.
In both countries the situation is beyond the control and the government trying to regain supremacy with progressive violence. But this is leading to an escalation of armed clashes, with the population and tribal groups who arm themselves with a growing risk of outbreaks a real civil war. Tomorrow at Antalya in Turkey 3-day conference of Syrian opposition groups will begin.
