Burke, 60, retired in June as archbishop of St Louis, Missouri to become Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in the Holy See, in what is effectively the Vatican’s Supreme Court, along side other American curial heads Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Cardinal James Stafford, Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary.

Well known for his orthodoxy, deep piety, and encylopaedic knowledge of canon law (which obviously played a part in his current appointment) he, in 2004, barred US presidential candidate John Kerry, a Catholic, from taking Holy Communion when visiting St Louis, because of his prochoice stance on the issue of abortion rights.

Despite a change in his work location, events at home are still very much in his thoughts and prayers.
 
ITV: How has your new position in Rome, been since you took over as Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura in June?

Archbishop Burke: Pope Benedict XVI transferred me from the office of Archbishop of Saint Louis to the office of Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, on June 27th last. I made my first visit, as Prefect, to the Apostolic Signatura, in early July, but I then returned to Saint Louis to put all of my papers pertaining to the Archdiocese of Saint Louis in order and to prepare my files, books and other personal effects for shipment to the Vatican. Also, I participated in the weeklong celebrations of the Dedication of the Church of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe at La Crosse, of which I am the founder. I returned to Rome on August 23rd last and began my full-time work at the Apostolic Signatura on August 25th last.

ITV: As archbishop of St Louis and bishop of La Crosse, your style of church leadership was very distinctive. Is something lacking in the way some other dioceses are administered throughout the world?

Archbishop Burke: My leadership in the Diocese of La Crosse and in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis was inspired by the directives of the Holy See on the office and ministry of the Diocesan Bishop. I was also inspired by the Regula Pastoralis of Pope Saint Gregory the Great. In a world which is beset with the ideologies of secularism and relativism, it is more important than ever that the Bishop be a strong leader who teaches clearly, celebrates the Sacred Liturgy with the greatest possible reverence, directs and disciplines justly, and gives the best example of the Christian life, of which he is capable. I was trying to do my best, both in La Crosse and in Saint Louis. It is not my place to comment on the leadership of other Bishops.
 
ITV:  In your country an election is about to take place in a couple of days. Archbishop Chaput says Obama is the biggest supporter ever of abortion rights, in a presidential candidate. Should Americans be concerned if he becomes president?

Archbishop Burke: My fellow citizens of the United States of America should be deeply concerned about any candidate for the presidency who supports legislation which permits the destruction of human life at its very beginning, the killing of babies in the womb, or legislation which violates the integrity of marriage and family life. The safeguarding and promoting of human life, from the moment of its inception, and of the integrity of marriage must be the fundamental planks of any political agenda. A good citizen must support and vote for the candidate who most supports the inalienable dignity of innocent and defenseless life, and the integrity of marriage. To do otherwise, is to participate, in some way, in the culture of death which pervades the life of the nation and has led to so much violence, even in the home and in educational institutions.

ITV: In a recent interview you were quoted saying the Democratic Party is fast becoming “the party of death.” Is this a fair statement, when you consider that the Republican administration has become involved in an unpopular war?

Archbishop Burke: It is not my intention to engage in partisan politics. I wish that both of the major political parties in the United States of America were more coherent regarding the right to life. The Democratic Party, however has, over the years, put forth and defended a political agenda which is grievously anti-life, favoring the right to procured abortion and “marriage” between persons of the same sex. One can legitimately question the wisdom of the decisions taken in the war in Iraq, but war in itself is not always and everywhere evil, as are, for example, procured abortion, human cloning, embryonic stem-cell research, and the so-called “marriage” of persons of the same sex. Engagement of the nation in a war cannot be placed on the same moral level as the nation making laws which permit the wholesale killing of the unborn or the artificial generation of human life or experimentation on embryonic human life or “marriage” between persons of the same sex.
 
ITV: By emphasizing the issue of abortion, are some of the US bishops taking single issue politics too far, when the world’s economies are in financial meltdown, obviously a product in part of government policies?

Archbishop Burke: Procured abortion is the fundamental moral issue in the safeguarding and fostering of human life. To make economics or the environment the fundamental political issue, when life itself, in its most innocent and defenseless form, remains unprotected is morally irresponsible. Yes, the government of the United States must address a number of critical issues, including the current and most serious economic crisis. But it must address first its duty to promote the common good by defending the life of every human being, from the moment of its inception, and by safeguarding the integrity of marriage and the family.

ITV: You mentioned Our Lady of Guadalupe in one of your answers. Was the decline in morals as you perceive it, one of the reasons why you approved devotion to Our Lady of America in the archdiocese of St Louis?

Archbishop Burke: The Mother of God, by her apparitions as Our Lady of Guadalupe to Saint Juan Diego, fostered, in a dramatic way, the respect for all human life. Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe brought an end to the cruel practice of human sacrifice, and brought together into one race the Native American and the Europeans who were on the verge of a bloody conflict. I have been praying fervently, through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, that the citizens of the United States of America will vote, on November 4th, for the safeguarding of the right to life and of the integrity of marriage.

The devotion to Our Lady of America is distinct from the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe who also has the title of Mother of America. Devotion to Our Lady of America was approved many years ago by the late Archbishop Paul Leibold of Cincinnati, Ohio. Having studied the devotion and noting, in particular, its emphasis on the gift of the divine life of grace in the individual soul, which is reflected, above all, in the practice of the virtue of purity, I encouraged the devotion in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis. The new enthusiasm for the devotion to Our Lady of America seems providential to me, for it helps the faithful to fortify themselves against the evils of pornography and other violations of pure and selfless love.
 
ITV: You were also very supportive of groups in St Louis, wishing to make use of Summorum Pontificum. With the looser restrictions in the celebration of the Old Mass, is the movement for tradition likely to grow, and what effect is this likely to have on the liturgical reform?

Archbishop Burke: Pope Benedict XVI has made clear his reasons for the promulgation of Summorum Pontificum, among which is the enrichment of the Ordinary Form of the Latin Rite through the celebration of the Extraordinary Form. Such enrichment will be natural, since the Ordinary Form developed organically from what is now the Extraordinary Form. The more that the faithful come to appreciate the Extraordinary Form, the more they will also come to understand the profound reality of every celebration of the Holy Mass, whether in the Extraordinary or Ordinary Form. If I understand the Holy Father correctly, with time, a further reform of the Sacred Liturgy may take place, which more fully draws upon the richness of the Extraordinary Form. The legislation given in Summorum Pontificum, I am convinced, will foster greatly the liturgical reform which was the goal of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council.

[Please join Dr. Robert Moynihan, editor of Inside the Vatican magazine, for a pilgrimage to Rome. You don’t want to miss the “inside the Vatican” tours.]

The address will serve as the keynote address for a conference entitled “The Hope of the Promise: An Exploration of God’s Promise to Israel and its Fulfillment,” which will be held on the two following days on the grounds of Catholic University (Saturday and Sunday, September 27 and 28). The conference is organized by Urbi et Orbi Communications, the publisher of Inside the Vatican magazine.

The archbishop’s remarks will serve also as the keynote address at Inside the Vatican magazine’s 15th anniversary dinner. The magazine was founded in 1993 in Rome.

(Please go to the Inside the Vatican website to obtain tickets for the anniversary dinner or to sign up for conference reservations. Click here.)

Archbishop Sambi, 70, before taking up his post in the United States, served as the Vatican’s representative to Israel and Palestine. He helped arrange Pope John Paul II’s historic pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2000.

Archbishop Sambi is known in Church circles as an energetic and gregarious man with an ability to bring the human touch to diplomatic challenges. He speaks Italian, English, French and Spanish.

Israeli Franciscan Father David Jaeger, a longtime participant in Vatican-Israeli talks, and a speaker at the upcoming conference, said he thought Archbishop Sambi “has a very great gift for making friends with people at every level, high and low, and for getting along and winning the confidence of everyone he meets. He has a friendly, outgoing and engaging personality.”

Among Archbishop Sambi’s greatest qualities, Father Jaeger said, was his “deep and abiding priestly piety.”

Archbishop Sambi was born June 27, 1938, in the northern Italian town of Sogliano sul Rubicone. He was ordained in 1964 and earned degrees in theology and canon law before entering the Vatican’s diplomatic corps in 1969.

He worked in Vatican nunciatures in Cameroon, Jerusalem, Cuba, Algeria, Nicaragua, Belgium and India, and was apostolic nuncio in Burundi and Indonesia. In 1998 he was named as nuncio to Israel, apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine, and nuncio to Cyprus.

During his years in Israel, Archbishop Sambi was involved in talks or negotiations on a wide variety of controversial issues with the government of Israel and representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

In preparation for Pope John Paul’s Holy Land pilgrimage, Archbishop Sambi held numerous private meetings with religious and civil officials to work out the detailed itinerary of the visit, which proved to be highly successful.

In 2001, he led a Christian peace convoy to the besieged city of Bethlehem, calling on Israel and Palestinian militants to reject violence and restart negotiations.

In 2002, the archbishop helped end a tense, 39-day standoff between Israeli troops and scores of Palestinian gunmen who had taken refuge in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

The same year, he helped convince Israel to rescind permission for the construction of a mosque adjacent to the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.

In more recent years, Archbishop Sambi has negotiated with Israel to reach an agreement on taxation and financial issues regarding Church institutions in the Holy Land. To date, those talks have not born fruit.

Archbishop Sambi usually sought to downplay differences with Israel, accentuating instead the generally positive direction of Vatican-Israeli relations. He once said the high points and low points of Vatican-Israeli relations were as normal as the ups and downs on a cardiogram.

“It means the heartbeat is normal,” he said.

In late 2004, Archbishop Sambi expressed disapproval of an international gay pride parade planned for Jerusalem in August 2005. The nuncio joined leaders of other faiths in saying it would offend the religious sensibilities of Christians, Muslims and Jews. The event was canceled.

But Sambi has said he feels Israel has failed to keep promises to ease travel restrictions on Catholic clerics and remove taxes on Church-owned property in the Holy Land.

“The Holy See decided to establish diplomatic relations (in 1993) with Israel as an act of faith, leaving to later the serious promises to regulate concrete aspects of the life of the Catholic community and the Church in Israel,” Sambi said in 2007.

“If I must be frank, the relations between the Catholic Church and the state of Israel were better when there were no diplomatic ties,” he continued.

The Vatican diplomat cited a current sore point — the granting of permits for Arab Christian clergy traveling to and around the West Bank, which has been rescinded because of security concerns.

Sambi complained that the Knesset has failed to give necessary approval to various accords that had been signed by both sides, and noted that an impasse over taxes has been discussed on and off for nearly 10 years without resolution.

In 2007, tensions developed between the Vatican and Israel when the Holy See’s ambassador to Israel initially decided to boycott a Holocaust memorial service because of allegations that during World War II Pope Pius XII was silent about the mass killings of Jews.

(Please go to the Inside the Vatican website to obtain tickets for the anniversary dinner or to sign up for conference reservations. Click here.)

The rain softens the edge of today’s July heat, a heat so intense that this afternoon it turned the three great churches of the Sergiev Posad monastery complex in the country outside of Moscow into three boiling cauldrons, though hundreds of Orthodox faithful still crowded inside and stood for hours to celebrate one of the holiest days in the Russian Orthodox calendar, the Feast of St. Sergius of Radonezh (c. 1314-1392), the patron saint of Russia.

Last night, I wrote about attending a Requiem Concert in memory of the last Romanovs and all the other Christians persecuted by the communists in Russia in the 20th century. Yesterday evening, I heard the proclamation of Russia’s spiritual renewal since 1991.

But how profound is that renewal in fact? I cannot say; no one can. 

And there are certainly many signs that suggest that that renewal is incomplete, imperfect, even feeble. Having discarded an avowedly atheist system, many Russians have seemingly embraced a life without any spiritual orientation.

But today I saw evidence of faith in Russia.

St. Sergius is one of the most revered of all Russian Orthodox saints. His life is considered a model of Christian holiness for Russian Orthodox the way the life of St. Francis of Assisi is considered a model of Christian holiness by Catholics. His relics are preserved at Sergiev Posad monastery, and the casket they are contained in is opened so that his bones may actually be kissed by those who wish to venerate him, I was told, only on this day each year.

“Come with me, stay close behind,” Russian Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev said to me.

If I had not been with Hilarion, the composer of the text and music for the Requiem the night before, I would not have been able to even enter the door of the crowded church of the Holy Trinity.

Inside, men and women, bishops, priests and laypeople, the elderly and infants, moved in a slow line toward an open casket. Inside the casket, covered by a cloth, was the 600-year-old body of St. Sergius.

One by one, the believers blessed themselves with the sign of the cross, then bent to venerate the saint by kissing the cloth which covered his skull.

“What is the Orthodox teaching on the veneration of relics?” I asked my Russian colleague, Leonid Sevastianov, who lived for four years at Sergei Posad as a student at the national Russian Orthodox seminary, which is part of the monastery complex. At that time, Sevastianov served as Bishop Hilarion’s sub-deacon.

“Our teaching is the same, in essence, I believe, as the Roman Catholic teaching,” Sevastianov said. “It emphasizes, perhaps a bit more than you do, the concept of divinization.

“We believe, as you do, that humanity suffered a great loss through the fall of Adam. Through sin, human beings lost the capacity to be ‘God-like,’ and only through Christ was this capacity restored.

“We believe Christ’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit, fills the hearts and minds, and also the bodies, of holy men and women, who through much prayer and self-denial, and acts of charity, seek to draw close to God.

“And we believe that very holy men and women sometimes are given the grace to become so filled with God’s holy spirit that they become true images of God. This is the process we call divinization, becoming like God, that is, holy.

“And we believe that even after death, the earthly remains of these saints, having been, as it were, transfigured by God’s holiness, become themselves holy.

“And so we venerate these holy relics, and even bow to kiss them, thinking that, by drawing close to them, we may in some way obtain or partake of that same quality of holiness which characterized the saints. It is thought that the veneration of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh on his feast day is an act of great spiritual power and fruitfulness. We believe that many believers receive the answers to prayers that they pray as they venerate the saint’s remains.”

These words prompted in me a series of reflections, which I thought I would try to summarize here, and which are all rooted in a prayer for my country, and for Russia, and the world today.

There is considerable disagreement among political, socio-economic and religious analysts, in America, and in Rome, about the path Russia is on and will choose.

There is much distrust of the Russians, just as there is much admiration and affection for them. And this is why many are hesitant to believe that a true spiritual renewal may be occurring in Russia.

And they are right to be hesitant.

Russia, as I wrote yesterday, remains a divided country, still seeking to come to grips with its communist and pre-communist past.

And the few sights a foreign visitor is able to see are inevitably too few to be able to form a fair and complete judgment on the direction of an entire people or nation.

But what a visitor can see, he can see.

And what I saw at Sergei Posad today were crowds of faithful, the women with their heads covered, bowing and kissing the relics of a Russian saint.

Hundreds then stood for hours, completely still, in broiling heat, chanting the verses of the saint’s feast in an all-night vigil service.

A friend who was with me, Father Lancelot McGrath, a Catholic priest born in Ireland who now pastors a parish in New Jersey, stood beside me for nearly two hours during the service, despite an aching knee which has required seven surgeries. At one point, moved by the steadfastness of the Orthodox believers, he turned toward me and whispered, “I think our relativistic Western society has done a more effective job of destroying the Christian faith than atheist communism was able to do…”

People are shaped by the ideals they aspire to. They conform their characters to a model, seeking to imitate the attitudes and actions of men and women they admire, and, however imperfectly, becoming what they seek to become.

The same is true of nations. If a nation sets consumption of the maximum number of “goods” as the measure of its health and success — its “gross national production” and its “gross national consumption”  — then the national character will be marked by this decision. The nation will become known for the number of bananas, or beers, or barrels of oil, it consumes. The national character will become concentrated on what is “worldly,” the things of this world and time.

But if a nation sets for itself the goal of producing as many souls as possibly who share in the holiness of God, that nation will become known for the number of holy souls it brings forth, and the number of actions of goodness, truth and beauty those souls perform during their earthly lives.

Two ways are set before nations, as before individuals. One leads toward holiness, and life. The other… in a different direction.

During the liturgy, a priest carrying pieces of paper with names written on them moved through the crowd. A Russian Orthodox priest standing next to me, his long hair knotted in a pony tail, beads of sweat on his brow, reached out and took about 20 of the pieces of paper.

I wondered if he would pray for all of the people whose names were written on the sheets. And I even thought, seeing that dozens of names were written on the sheets, “In this heat, given natural human weakness, perhaps he will skip over a few of the sheets, and not read and pray for all the names…”

So I watched the priest, as the choir chanted, and the members of the congregation bowed and blessed themselves, keeping vigil by the body of St. Sergius.

And the priest read all the names. He looked at each page, moved his finger down the list, bowed his head, and then went on to the next page, page after page.

How does one measure such human activity? Is prayer something one can account for in a modern economy? Do hours of prayer “produce” anything measurable for the “gross national product”?

This is the deep question beneath the cultural and economic crisis looming over the West, and the world.

In Russia, on this day, I saw evidence of another type of “economy,” in which human charity and human concern for others can weave a mystical web, unmeasurable by ordinary, pragmatic, secular standards, and yet revelatory of a higher nature, and destiny, for human beings, than the one our secular icons propose to us.

In this sense, the renewal of religious faith in Russia, in light of the long night of atheism the nation passed through in the 20th century, is remarkable even if it is incomplete, and a cause of hope for our world.

Here is a link to an article about the life of St. Sergius: http://sendstudio.giga-sj-001.net/users/link.php?UserID=223188&Newsletter=4956&List=44&LinkType=Send&LinkID=13675
 

She was a young Russian woman, dressed in a white gown, and she was performing here tonight at the world premiere of a “Requiem Concert” in Russia’s largest church, Christ the Savior, in a commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the execution of the last Russian Czar and his family — Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra, their four daughters Olga, Tatyana, Maria, and Anastasia, and their son, Alexei — on the night of July 17, 1918.

In her weeping, the soloist was not alone. Many of the more than 2,000 people who filled into the concert hall of the largest basilica in Russia, the Church of Christ the Savior, bombed by Stalin and rebuilt in the 1990s, wept openly as they listened and watched the tragedy of the last Romanovs unfold.

Outside, a summer rain fell.

The story of the last days of the Romanovs is well known. Czar Nicholas II, embroiled in a terrible war with Germany and Austro-Hungary, decided to abdicate his throne on March 15, 1917. Without a single strong leader, Russia was soon in political turmoil. Out of the turmoil, the tiny but compact and single-minded Bolsheviks emerged as Russia’s new rulers toward the end of 1917.

Nicholas and his family were soon placed under house arrest. They gardened, read books, prayed. Then, in the summer of 1918, on the evening of July 17, they were taken to the basement room of their prison, and shot to death. Their bodies were then burned.

Russia had made a clean break with its monarchical, and Christian, past.

The age of the “dictatorship of the proletariat” and of anti-Christian state atheism had begun.

For almost two hours this evening, a Russian orchestra and choir alternated with historical and scriptural readings, accompanied by a skillfully done video documentary containing never-before-seen footage from the time of the Russian Revolution, to meditate on the Romanovs, and on the communist persecution of religion in Russia which followed for 73 years (1918-1991).

The historical texts and music were by the Russian Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev, bishop of Vienna, Austria, for the Russian Orthodox in central Europe. Alfeyev also participated in the performance, reading Scriptural passages in which the sufferings of Christ seemed to foreshadow the sufferings of his followers in communist Russia.

The Russian voices soared majestically, filling the hall. The images projected on the screen showed the last days of the Romanovs — and moved the soloist to shed a tear…

The Vatican’s current representative in Russia, Papal Nuncio Antonio Mennini, an affable career Church diplomat who has labored for the past two years in Moscow to build a relationship of trust between Rome and the Russian Orthodox, was present in the front row throughout the performance. Also present were a number of Russian political leaders, but not the counrty’s highest leadership.

I sat next to Mennini, and when the final crescendo, a cry of faith transcending all suffering and death entitled “Come, let us worship,” concluded, in the quiet instant before the crowd erupted with applause, Mennini, who had seemed hesitant about the whole affair at the outset of the performance, turned slightly toward me and spoke a single word: “Bella!” (”Beautiful!”).

That is sufficient commentary: the performance was beautiful.

But it was more than that.

It was a cultural and socio-political watershed for the Russian Orthodox Church in post-communist Russia, stating the case more forcefully and persuasively than ever before that Russia needs to acknowledge, and repent, of the crimes of her communist past in order to build a new, post-Soviet Russia.

The performance was woven of somewhat contrasting elements, containing aspects of a concert (that is, a purely cultural event) and of a religious service (the Scripture readings, the location — inside the largest church in Russia).

But there are two things which especially stand out about tonight’s performance.

The first: the sheer density of the emotion.

No one can contemplate the bloody murder of four lovely, educated, refined, innocent girls, and their young brother, without a shudder. This sense of horror is multiplied by the sense that the children in some way represented the nation itself. The czar “incarnated” the “essence” of the Russian nation, according to the monarchical thinking of the age, and his children were thus the “future” of the nation. To see them live so vibrantly, and then see their lives snuffed out so brutally, would bring a tear to many Russian, and non-Russian, eyes, and did.

Sound, sight, and moments of silence tonight combined to create a sense of being transported back in time, back to the World War I period, of being “eyewitnesses” to acts of terrific brutality and terrible barbarism. (There were moments in the film footage showing the actual execution of prisoners by pistol shots to the head.)

So this was not simply a musical performance, but a multi-media “tour de force.”

The archival material uncovered by a team of Russian researches in recent months concerning the life and last hours of the Romanov family includes rare century-old photographs and film footage.

These images, particularly the smiling or pensive faces of the four daughters and the frail son, displayed on a enormous screen behind the orchestra, seemed to bring the viewer into direct contact with Olga, Tatyana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei.

The orchestral music, the voice solos and choruses, and the photos and films gripped the audience.

This meditation on the murder of a family became a first-hand experience of a tragic injustice which unfolded inexorably before the audience, ending with shocking images of the children’s lifeless bodies being burned and buried.

The second remarkable thing about this Requiem: the meditation does not end with the death of the Romanovs in 1918.

It is not focused on the last Czar alone, and on his family, though the anniversary of their deaths provided the occasion for the Requiem.

Rather, the performance continues after the deaths of Nicholas and Alexandra and their children, right through the 1920s and 1930s, examining the tragic consequences for religious faith in Russia of the victory of the communists: the hundreds and thousands of Orthodox priest, nuns and laypeople imprisoned and executed — and the many Catholics also arrested and killed. (This was mentioned in the performance.)

Thus, this performance transcends Russia’s royal family, and takes up in a compelling way the “great question” of Russia’s choice and and destiny and suffering during the 20th century.

In this sense, the Requiem is far from a “nostalgic recollection” of the “good old days of the czars.”

Instead, it is a searing socio-political critique of the atheism and persecution of religious belief central to Russia’s communist regime.

In this performance, therefore, the Russian Orthodox Church sets forth a powerful, emotionally compelling case for public recognition on Russia of the crimes of the Soviet period (the performance was blessed by Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexi II, although he did not personally attend, reportedly because of meetings with the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Cyprus, who is visiting Moscow in these days).

The orchestra was directed by a Russian general, Valery Khalilov, and was comprised of musicians from the Russian Armed Forces. This suggests that the Russian government gave its blessing to this Church Requiem for the last czar.

But Russia, like every country, is not simple, and Russia today remains deeply divided about the course it should take in the 21st century. And many around the world are watching with interest and concern as Russia seeks its way.

Though the Russian Orthodox Church is resurgent (near the end of the performance are the words: “We believe that Russia today is recovering by the prayers of all the new Russian martyrs, both named and nameless, and that faith is being restored on the whole territory of our great country”), there still remains a strong communist current in Russia, at least 15% of the population.

The communists tend to be defensive about the “Soviet time” and resist calls to “close the book”  on that period of Russian history (as some Church spokesman have urged).

I spoke today about the concert, and about Russia, with the head of the Publishing Council of the Moscow Patriarchate, Father Vladimir Soloviev, the principal sponsor of the event.

“Russia stands at a crossroads,” Father Vladimir told me. “We are struggling to decide what our national attitude will be toward our communist past. For example, there are some who argue that we should remove Lenin’s body from his mausoleum beneath Red Square, at the center of Russia, and re-name those streets and subway stations in our cities which commemorate communist leaders.

“I personally think we should do this. We cannot fully celebrate our great national festivals on Red Square as long as Lenin’s mausoleum stays in Red Square. Let it stay anywhere else, but not in Red Square.

“But not everyone in Russia agrees with us,” Father Vladimir continued. “There are many who remain nostalgic for the communist time, many who were trained in Marxist doctrine to disdain and hate the Church.

“Russia is not a unified society, not yet. We are divided.

“This is why we chose to organize this Requiem Concert. This is not a liturgy, not a Church celebration, but a cultural event. We want to participate in the cultural debate in Russia today, and make our case.

“And that is a case we feel we can win. It is the case for Christ, for Christian values, for family values.

“Among the primary aims of the communists was the destruction of the family. Lenin was opposed to the family.

“And as we proceeded forward with this project, we realized that the suffering of one family, the family of Nicholas and Alexandra, the father, mother, son and daughters, all executed, could remind us of all families, and that recalling the death of the Romanovs could be an important moment for Russian society. All families need the Church, and the Church needs all families. And we think the members of the royal family, in their martyrdom, should become the official patrons of the family in Russia.”

Father Vladimir said his Publishing Council is now preparing a number of new projects in defense of traditional Christian and family values, and he stressed that the Russian Orthodox Church is open to collaboration on these projects with Catholics, Protestants and all men and women of good will.

“The Russian Orthodox Church has never been closed in on itself,” Father Vladimir said. “We have always been open to the outside world, to sharing our faith with others and to receiving from others the gifts of their insight and faith.”

The Moscow Patriarchate, in preparing tonight’s Requiem Concert, was supported by two American groups: the Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Urbi et Orbi Communications, the publisher of “Inside the Vatican” magazine. To support this concert, Urbi et Orbi received donations from Cardinal William Keeler, the retired archbishop of Baltimore, Maryland, and two American Catholic laymen, Lawrence Neuhoff of Dallas, Texas, and Charles Parlato of New York, New York.

At a reception after the Requiem, Russian Orthodox Church officials publicly thanked the Bradley Foundation and Urbi et Orbi for their support, and awarded representatives of both the highest award the Russian Orthodox Church can bestow on any layman, the Order of St. Daniel.

Bishop Hilarion concluded tonight’s Requiem for the Romanovs with these words: “The horror of a national tragedy could not destroy the hope for a breakthrough to light and the inspired certainty that the triumph of evil would be fleeting, and would be followed by a bright future, by growth in spiritual perfection, by restoration and revival. The heroism of the martyrs of the 20th century contains a reflection of the future Kingdom which is transfiguring everyone and everything to live in peace through Christ.”

This means that the 23rd World Youth Day had the smallest crowd attendance in another country. (Previously that record was set by Denver in 1993 with a tally of 500,000 people, and there are no recorded figures for Buenos Aires in 1987.)

However, in the opinion of many overseas journalists this was the best organized, and certainly the most innovative, being held in winter among other reasons. According to Fr Matthew Gamber SJ of Chicago, “I have been to several WYD’s, and this was by far the best. Cologne a few years ago was a bit of a disaster in terms of logistics”.

This year’s event was completely 21st century in the online nature of registrations and accreditation of other professionals, and before the event Cardinal Pell had launched http://www.xt3.com, a way WYD pilgrims could socially interact with each other, to which thousands had signed up for in just a couple of weeks.

The Stations of the Cross held through the streets of Sydney at some of its prominent landmarks, was for many the highlight of the six day event also drawing strong accolades in comparison to previous ones at other WYD’s.

Today’s Mass began in a spectacular way with helicopter fly over by the Pope and then a motorcade in his Popemobile.

This took place after 200,000 people slept the night out in the cold following the Evening Vigil at the racecourse.

Pope Benedict preached in his homily a challenge to all the young people there, “What will you leave to the next generation? Are you building your lives on firm foundations, building something that will endure? Are you living your lives in a way that opens up Space for the Spirit in the midst of a world that wants to forget God, or even rejects him in the name of a falsely-conceived freedom?…What difference will you make?”

Later on he said to the youth to tremendous applause, “The Church especially needs the gift of young people, all young people. She needs to grow in the power of the Spirit who even now gives joy to your youth and inspires you to serve the Lord with gladness. Open your hearts to that power! I address this plea in a special way to those of you whom the Lord is calling to the priesthood and consecrated life. Do not be afraid to say “yes” to Jesus, to find your joy in doing his will, giving yourself completely to the pursuit of holiness, and using all your talents in the service of others!”

The highlight of the Mass was the Holy Father confirming 24 people - 14 Australians and 10 internationals, something never done in any previous World Youth Day.

The Holy Father wore for the Mass also the traditional looking pallium he has been sporting in Rome for the last couple of months, and distributed communion to kneeling communicants on the tongue. Again another first for a Pope doing this in a country outside Italy. (In 1970 when Paul VI visited Australia, newer postures for receiving communion had not been introduced yet).

Aside from an Aboriginal dance early in the Mass, the liturgy had a distinctly traditional feel to it, with both Latin and English used. The Pater Noster was sung by Benedict in Latin.

At the end of the Mass Cardinal George Pell thanked Pope Benedict for hosting World Youth Day in Australia saying, “Your Holiness… just a few days after your election as Bishop of Rome, you said that the historic days of April 2005 taught us that ‘the Church is not old and immobile; she is young.’

“So we give thanks for World Youth Day, which is a gift for the Church as a whole, for both those old and young. At World Youth Day, the Church appears as she truly is, alive with energetic energy”.

During the Angelus address Pope Benedict revealed that the next World Youth Day would be held in Madrid in 2011, to thunderous cheers from the thousands of Spanish pilgrims.

A few hours after the end of proceedings, rain started to fall in Sydney which had stayed away for the whole of the events. This prompted a nonreligious TV anchor to ask, “One would have thought there was a special plan in this”. To which a journalist replied, “Well that is something worth thinking about”.

N.B. The previous evening, a night-time Randwick Racecourse was transformed into a sea of colour and candle light, as the Holy Father called on the faithful to hear Christ’s great promise and pray together, as his Apostles did.

“Tonight, we do the same. Gathered before our much-travelled Cross and the Icon of Mary and under the magnificent constellation of the Southern Cross, we pray,” he said

“We recall our parents and grandparents who walked alongside us when we, as children, were taking our first steps in our pilgrim journey of faith.

“Now many years later, you have gathered as young adults with the Successor of Peter. I am filled with deep joy to be with you.”

The Pope also spoke about the role of the Holy Spirit in the Augustinian tradition. He said, “He noted that the two words ‘Holy’ and ‘Spirit’ refer to what is divine about God; in other words what is shared by the Father and the Son - their communion.”

The crowd went completely silent when later on the Blessed Sacrament was brought out for adoration, as they were for the Consecration at Mass the next day.

Pope Benedict touched down according to schedule on Shepherd One (the papal Alitalia jet) in slightly overcast conditions at 3 pm on the afternoon of Sunday, 13 July at the Royal Australian Air force Base (RAAF) in Richmond New South Wales to be greeted by Australian Prime Minster Kevin Rudd, NSW Premier Morris Iemma and other government officials.

After the Pope walked down the stairs from the plane in his very visible red shoes, he was also greeted by a wealth of local ecclesiastical personages including Cardinal George Pell Archbishop of Sydney, Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, (director of WYD08) and Bishop Max Davis of the Military Ordinariate of Australia.  Shortly after, the Holy Father was on his way to his holiday retreat at the Opus Dei Kenthurst Study Centre, (on the outskirts of Sydney) where he will relax for three days before participating in the massive World Youth Day celebrations, which already have attracted thousands of young visitors from all around the world to Sydney, Australia’s largest city.

Shepherd One amused spectators with the Vatican and Australian flags flapping in the breeze, on the nose of the aircraft as it touched down.

For his first visit to Australia, this was the longest journey of his life, the AZ4000 taking 19 hours to travel the 16, 418 km from Rome to Sydney. There was a brief refuelling stop in Darwin, in the Northern Territory, but contrary to some expectations, the Pope did not meet anyone there. Now Australia along with the United States and Turkey, are the only countries to be visited by all the pilgrim popes.

The Holy Father was accompanied by 72 passengers on the flight, including 27 members of the papal entourage and 43 accredited Vatican journalists, including the innovative Editor of L’Osservatore Romano, Professor Giovanni Maria Vian.

Church officials on board included Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, Director of the Holy See Press Office, and Msgr Guido Marini, Master of Liturgical Ceremonies of the Holy Father. Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity was already here in Australia, ahead of the Holy Father, and was included among the greeters.

There were no official speeches at the welcoming, other than some brief conversation between Pope Benedict, and government and Church officials before being driven to Kenthurst.

The positive welcome comes on the news that like during Pope Benedict’s recent visit to the US, a formal apology will be given to victims of clerical sexual abuse. This was apparently at the urging of Cardinal Pell, who intuitively recognized that like papal visits in other parts of the world, they are used as vehicles of protest by disgruntled individuals, both inside and outside the Church.

On the papal flight, Pope Benedict mentioned to journalists how World Youth Day was the perfect occasion for the Holy Spirit to come down upon the faithful, and also spoke of the widespread journey through the breadth and width of Australia, of the WYD cross, and icon of the Virgin Mary, saying how this has had played a part in revitalizing the faith of the young people of the nation, ahead of WYD events in Sydney.

World Youth Day runs from July 15 to 20, and at the final Mass on Sunday is expected to attract a crowed of 500,000 persons from over 100 countries. It will be the biggest international event in the history of Australia.

Andrew Rabel, an Australian journalist, is covering the Pope’s trip to Australia.

In sweltering 100-degree heat, the Patriarch of the Latin Church in the Holy Land, Michel Sabbah, today celebrated his last Mass as Patriarch after 20 years as the leader and “voice” of the Catholic Church here.

The Vatican announced officially in Rome at noon today that the successor to Sabbah as Patriarch would be Monsignor Fouad Twal, 67, a Palestinian born in Jordan who is a veteran of the Vatican diplomatic corps (at one o’clock in Israel, which is one hour before Rome in time, the church bells tolled to announce the decision).

Sabbah reached the ordinary age of resignation for a bishop on March 19, when he turned 75, and submitted his resignation at that time. The Vatican quickly accepted. Twal was at Sabbah’s side throughout the Mass today, and again at a reception after the Mass in the Notre Dame Center just outside the walls of the Old City. King David founded Jerusalem in 1004 B.C. to be the capital of Israel.

The historic Mass was celebrated in an overflowing “Church of the Agony,” located amid ancient olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane (”Gethsemane” means “olive press”).

The church is also known as the “Basilica of All Nations.” The church’s altar is next to the stone traditionally believed to be where Jesus sweated tears of blood as he prayed on the night of his arrest that “not my will, by Thy will be done,” and where today dozens knelt and prayed, their hands touching the exposed stone, after the Mass was over.

And so one era for the Church in the Holy Land ended today, the first day of summer, and another began.

The ceremony was joyful, serene, peaceful — but stiflingly hot. Many of the monsignors present, in their heavy white robes, and many of the faithful in attendance — dozens of whom had to stand throughout the 2-hour liturgy — used the program for the ceremony to fan their faces, and wiped rivulets of sweat from their brows and necks.

Cardinal John Foley, Grand Master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, dressed in his cardinatial red, was present from Rome, and was given a special seat near the altar. He was accompanied by an international delegation of Knight and Dames. The Knights of the Holy Sepulcher do very important work supporting the Catholic churches, schools and hospitals in the Holy Land.

Also present was Franciscan Father Pierbattista Pizzabella, the Custodian of the Holy Land, representatives from many Orthodox and Protestant churches, and members of Patriarch Sabbah’s family.

At the moment of consecration, the church bells rang out over the garden and the city. During the ceremony, the faithful, including many young people, joined their voices to those of the choir, making the basilica echo with their praise of God.

The entire ceremony took place in a church which dates originally from 380 A.D., and which was rebuilt in 1150 and again in 1924. There are two rows of five great yellow-orange marble columns which rise along the nave. In the apse at the front of the church is a powerful mosaic depicting the agony of Christ in the Garden, with the three disciples, Peter, James and John, off to one side, sleeping under an olive tree. The sky in the background is a deep blue, which casts its glow over the entire church.

The mosaic centers on the halo around Christ’s head. He leans against a stone, praying that “this cup” might pass from him. It is divinity, then, and the holiness which is the essential quality of divinity, which is at the center of this mosaic, and so at the center of the artistic design of this church.

Under the apse mosaic are written these words: “Apparuit autem illi angelus de coelo, confortans eum. Et factus in agonia prolixus orabat. Et factus est sudor eius sicut guttae sanguinis decurrentes in terram.” (Luke 22:43-44) (”And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, comforting him. And in great agony he prayed for a long time. And it happened that his sweat was like drops of blood running down to the ground.”)

The situation in Israel for the Church today is complex. Jerusalem is peaceful. As I write, I am sitting in a café on a narrow street in the Old City, at 11 at night, and people are sitting quietly at tables nearby, talking, and strolling in the streets.

But the situation of the Catholic and Christian community here, in the land where Jesus walked, is difficult. The Christians are only about 2% of the country’s population, and many feel squeezed in between the much larger Jewish and Muslim populations.

During his farewell homily, Sabbah reflected at length on the mystery of the Passion. He also called, as so often in the past, for justice and peace, in security, for the Israelis and Palestinians in the Holy Land. He invited the Christians in the Holy Land to find their joy in the gift of self, like Jesus at Gethsemane, and in the joy of the Resurrection.

The new Patriarch, Twal, addressed a greeting to those present at the end of the Mass, in Arabic and in French, praising his predecessor for his work, and inviting everyone to join him tomorrow, for his solemn installation, in the Basilica of the Resurrection, “by the empty tomb, which gives to us the reason for our joy: Christ is Risen, he is Risen indeed!”

Note: The following interview with the new Patriarch of Jerusalem was conducted by the Custody of the Holy Land, which is an official Church organization, entrusted by the Holy See with caring for the interests of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, and it is posted on their web site — ITV Editor.

Who are you, Msgr. Twal?Patriarch Fouad Twal: I am the fifth of the nine children of the Twal family of Jordan. I studied at the Beit Jala seminary, then I worked at the Patriarchate for five years as vicar before being sent to Rome to study Canon Law and International Law at the Lateran Pontifical University.

Twal: First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to the Custody and to each of its members for all the good that they do. During these two years, every time that I had occasion to go down to the Holy Sepulcher, accompanied by the Franciscan “custodians” who guard me, I was very happy to get to know them. But of course, I would like there to be even closer relationships and collaboration. To this end, I will meet with the superiors. But they are doing an indispensable work, I admire them, encourage them, and thank them from the bottom of my heart. Truly, I wish for more collaboration and even more friendship. I already find our Arab priests of the Custody very nice. They surround me with their attentions, and I them with my paternal affection.===========

More than 300,000 people will be accommodated within the racecourse for the Final Mass, and a further 200,000 or more will participate from Centennial Park, to be known for the event as the Southern Cross Precinct.
 
Workers will install 35 large video screens, and more than 60 lighting towers, according to WYD08 Director of Event Planning and Operations, Mr Ian Steigrad.  There will also be the construction of 4,000 makeshift public toilets, all part of an unprecedented logistical operation outdoing Sydney’s hosting of the Olympic Games in the year 2000.
 
This will also require the employment of 8,000 volunteers, with whom Pope Benedict will hold a special audience.
 
The state government in New South Wales has even set up a temporary statutory body known as the World Youth Day Co-Ordination Authority, which has the responsibility to administer public transport, health, safety and security during the events, requiring the assignment of 4,000 police officers, who will be stationed at different points around the city.
 
Prominent Australians such as fashon designer Carla Zampatti, cricketer Matthew Hayden, and former prolife Senator John Herron, have been appointed as the official WYD patrons.
 
Each person will receive in their WYD pack, a sim card created by Telstra (official WYD08 communications carrier), which will enable Pope Benedict each day to send text messages to pilgrims.
 
WYD events will include morning catecheses at 300 locations throughout the city, the Youth Festival which will include a large Vocations Expo, (New York’s Sisters of Life will be conducting a Life Expo at Darling Harbour) and the Stations of the Cross through the streets of Sydney, to be televised to a worldwide viewing audience of 1 billion persons. (SBS TV Australia well known in the country for its long commitment to multculturalism, is the host broadcaster).  This will be covered by the presence in Sydney for WYD08, of 3,000 journalists and media organizations from all around the world.  On the Saturday before the vigil, a 10 km Pilgrim Walk will begin from Mary MacKillop Place in North Sydney, over the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge (which will be closed to traffic), to Randwick.
 
Readers of Inside the Vatican will be pleased to learn that preparations are also well in place for Juventutem 2008 (employing the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite), a comparatively new WYD event, which will also include performances of Gregorian chant, and the celebration of traditional vespers by Cardinal Pell, in a parish church. Bishop Basil Meeking of New Zealand (who acted the role of Leo XIII in the movie Thérèse, one of the patron saints of WYD08), will conduct a catechesis for those attending.
 
Pope Benedict has requested to meet disadavantaged young persons living in Sydney, and will share a meal with 12 young people, coming from the different continents. He will also hold a special Mass in St Mary’s Cathedral for invited seminarians and youth involved in various Catholic apostolates.

The nuncio continued, “The pope will pray for Australia and the young pilgrims of the world so that they may be filled with the Holy Spirit and be witnesses to Christ.”
 
This will be the first World Youth Day in Australia (and only the second in the Southern Hemisphere) and will mark the first visit of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI to Australia, expected to attract several hundred thousand pilgrims from a number of countries.

He met first in the morning with President George W. Bush and about 10,000 carefully selected guests at the White House, and then with all of the US bishops in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception next to The Catholic University of America, where several thousand people gathered to greet him.

Today at 10 a.m., Benedict will celebrate a public Mass at Nationals Park, the new baseball stadium in Washington D.C. About 50,000 people are expected to attend.

Here below are the key texts from Day 2, along with an insightful report from one of Italy’s leading Vatican watchers, Sandro Magister, and the transcript of answers the Pope gave on the airplane on April 15 as he flew toward America.

The key phrase in the morning address at the White House: “The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate.”

The key phrase during his late afternoon meeting with the bishops: “It is becoming more and more difficult, in our Western societies, to speak in a meaningful way of ’salvation.’ Yet salvation — deliverance from the reality of evil, and the gift of new life and freedom in Christ — is at the heart of the Gospel. We need to discover, as I have suggested, new and engaging ways of proclaiming this message and awakening a thirst for the fulfillment which only Christ can bring.”

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Full Text: Pope Benedict XVI’s White House Speech, April 16, 2008

WASHINGTON, April 16, 2008 — In the first papal visit to the White House in 29 years, Pope Benedict XVI greeted President Bush and nearly 10,000 others in attendance with warm prayers of hope and prosperity. Here is the entire text of the pontiff’s speech:

Mr. President,

Thank you for your gracious words of welcome on behalf of the people of the United States of America. I deeply appreciate your invitation to visit this great country. My visit coincides with an important moment in the life of the Catholic community in America: the celebration of the two-hundredth anniversary of the elevation of the country’s first Diocese Baltimore to a metropolitan Archdiocese, and the establishment of the Sees of New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Louisville. Yet I am happy to be here as a guest of all Americans. I come as a friend, a preacher of the Gospel and one with great respect for this vast pluralistic society. America’s Catholics have made, and continue to make, an excellent contribution to the life of their country. As I begin my visit, I trust that my presence will be a source of renewal and hope for the Church in the United States, and strengthen the resolve of Catholics to contribute ever more responsibly to the life of this nation, of which they are proud to be citizens.

From the dawn of the Republic, America’s quest for freedom has been guided by the conviction that the principles governing political and social life are intimately linked to a moral order based on the dominion of God the Creator. The framers of this nation’s founding documents drew upon this conviction when they proclaimed the “self-evident truth” that all men are created equal and endowed with inalienable rights grounded in the laws of nature and of nature’s God. The course of American history demonstrates the difficulties, the struggles, and the great intellectual and moral resolve which were demanded to shape a society which faithfully embodied these noble principles. In that process, which forged the soul of the nation, religious beliefs were a constant inspiration and driving force, as for example in the struggle against slavery and in the civil rights movement. In our time too, particularly in moments of crisis, Americans continue to find their strength in a commitment to this patrimony of shared ideals and aspirations.

In the next few days, I look forward to meeting not only with America’s Catholic community, but with other Christian communities and representatives of the many religious traditions present in this country. Historically, not only Catholics, but all believers have found here the freedom to worship God in accordance with the dictates of their conscience, while at the same time being accepted as part of a commonwealth in which each individual and group can make its voice heard. As the nation faces the increasingly complex political and ethical issues of our time, I am confident that the American people will find in their religious beliefs a precious source of insight and an inspiration to pursue reasoned, responsible and respectful dialogue in the effort to build a more humane and free society.

Freedom is not only a gift, but also a summons to personal responsibility. Americans know this from experience almost every town in this country has its monuments honoring those who sacrificed their lives in defense of freedom, both at home and abroad. The preservation of freedom calls for the cultivation of virtue, self-discipline, sacrifice for the common good and a sense of responsibility towards the less fortunate. It also demands the courage to engage in civic life and to bring one’s deepest beliefs and values to reasoned public debate. In a word, freedom is ever new. It is a challenge held out to each generation, and it must constantly be won over for the cause of good (cf. Spe Salvi, 24). Few have understood this as clearly as the late Pope John Paul II. In reflecting on the spiritual victory of freedom over totalitarianism in his native Poland and in eastern Europe, he reminded us that history shows, time and again, that “in a world without truth, freedom loses its foundation”, and a democracy without values can lose its very soul (cf. Centesimus Annus, 46). Those prophetic words in some sense echo the conviction of President Washington, expressed in his Farewell Address, that religion and morality represent “indispensable supports” of political prosperity.

The Church, for her part, wishes to contribute to building a world ever more worthy of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26-27). She is convinced that faith sheds new light on all things, and that the Gospel reveals the noble vocation and sublime destiny of every man and woman (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 10). Faith also gives us the strength to respond to our high calling, and the hope that inspires us to work for an ever more just and fraternal society. Democracy can only flourish, as your founding fathers realized, when political leaders and those whom they represent are guided by truth and bring the wisdom born of firm moral principle to decisions affecting the life and future of the nation.

For well over a century, the United States of America has played an important role in the international community. On Friday, God willing, I will have the honor of addressing the United Nations Organization, where I hope to encourage the efforts under way to make that institution an ever more effective voice for the legitimate aspirations of all the world’s peoples. On this, the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the need for global solidarity is as urgent as ever, if all people are to live in a way worthy of their dignity as brothers and sisters dwelling in the same house and around that table which God’s bounty has set for all his children. America has traditionally shown herself generous in meeting immediate human needs, fostering development and offering relief to the victims of natural catastrophes. I am confident that this concern for the greater human family will continue to find expression in support for the patient efforts of international diplomacy to resolve conflicts and promote progress. In this way, coming generations will be able to live in a world where truth, freedom and justice can flourish a world where the God-given dignity and rights of every man, woman and child are cherished, protected and effectively advanced.

Mr. President, dear friends: as I begin my visit to the United States, I express once more my gratitude for your invitation, my joy to be in your midst, and my fervent prayers that Almighty God will confirm this nation and its people in the ways of justice, prosperity and peace. God bless America!

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Full Text: Pope Benedict XVI’s Address to US Bishops, April 16, 2008

Here is the text of the address Benedict XVI gave today to the bishops of the United States at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. At the end he answers three questions posed to him by the prelates.

Dear Brother Bishops,

It gives me great joy to greet you today, at the start of my visit to this country, and I thank Cardinal George for the gracious words he has addressed to me on your behalf. I want to thank all of you, especially the Officers of the Episcopal Conference, for the hard work that has gone into the preparation of this visit. My grateful appreciation goes also to the staff and volunteers of the National Shrine, who have welcomed us here this evening. American Catholics are noted for their loyal devotion to the see of Peter. My pastoral visit here is an opportunity to strengthen further the bonds of communion that unite us. We began by celebrating Evening Prayer in this Basilica dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a shrine of special significance to American Catholics, right in the heart of your capital city. Gathered in prayer with Mary, Mother of Jesus, we lovingly commend to our heavenly Father the people of God in every part of the United States.

For the Catholic communities of Boston, New York, Philadelphia and Louisville, this is a year of particular celebration, as it marks the bicentenary of the establishment of these local Churches as Dioceses. I join you in giving thanks for the many graces granted to the Church there during these two centuries. As this year also marks the bicentenary of the elevation of the founding see of Baltimore to an Archdiocese, it gives me an opportunity to recall with admiration and gratitude the life and ministry of John Carroll, the first Bishop of Baltimore - a worthy leader of the Catholic community in your newly independent nation. His tireless efforts to spread the Gospel in the vast territory under his care laid the foundations for the ecclesial life of your country and enabled the Church in America to grow to maturity. Today the Catholic community you serve is one of the largest in the world, and one of the most influential. How important it is, then, to let your light so shine before your fellow citizens and before the world, “that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Mt 5:16).

Many of the people to whom John Carroll and his fellow Bishops were ministering two centuries ago had travelled from distant lands. The diversity of their origins is reflected in the rich variety of ecclesial life in present-day America. Brother Bishops, I want to encourage you and your communities to continue to welcome the immigrants who join your ranks today, to share their joys and hopes, to support them in their sorrows and trials, and to help them flourish in their new home. This, indeed, is what your fellow countrymen have done for generations. From the beginning, they have opened their doors to the tired, the poor, the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free” (cf. Sonnet inscribed on the Statue of Liberty). These are the people whom America has made her own.

Of those who came to build a new life here, many were able to make good use of the resources and opportunities that they found, and to attain a high level of prosperity. Indeed, the people of this country are known for their great vitality and creativity. They are also known for their generosity. After the attack on the Twin Towers in September 2001, and again after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Americans displayed their readiness to come to the aid of their brothers and sisters in need. On the international level, the contribution made by the people of America to relief and rescue operations after the tsunami of December 2004 is a further illustration of this compassion. Let me express my particular appreciation for the many forms of humanitarian assistance provided by American Catholics through Catholic Charities and other agencies. Their generosity has borne fruit in the care shown to the poor and needy, and in the energy that has gone into building the nationwide network of Catholic parishes, hospitals, schools and universities. All of this gives great cause for thanksgiving.

America is also a land of great faith. Your people are remarkable for their religious fervor and they take pride in belonging to a worshipping community. They have confidence in God, and they do not hesitate to bring moral arguments rooted in biblical faith into their public discourse. Respect for freedom of religion is deeply ingrained in the American consciousness - a fact which has contributed to this country’s attraction for generations of immigrants, seeking a home where they can worship freely in accordance with their beliefs.

In this connection, I happily acknowledge the presence among you of Bishops from all the venerable Eastern Churches in communion with the Successor of Peter, whom I greet with special joy. Dear Brothers, I ask you to assure your communities of my deep affection and my continued prayers, both for them and for the many brothers and sisters who remain in their land of origin. Your presence here is a reminder of the courageous witness to Christ of so many members of your communities, often amid suffering, in their respective homelands. It is also a great enrichment of the ecclesial life of America, giving vivid expression to the Church’s catholicity and the variety of her liturgical and spiritual traditions.

It is in this fertile soil, nourished from so many different sources, that all of you, Brother Bishops, are called to sow the seeds of the Gospel today. This leads me to ask how, in the twenty-first century, a bishop can best fulfill the call to “make all things new in Christ, our hope”? How can he lead his people to “an encounter with the living God”, the source of that life-transforming hope of which the Gospel speaks (cf. Spe Salvi, 4)? Perhaps he needs to begin by clearing away some of the barriers to such an encounter. While it is true that this country is marked by a genuinely religious spirit, the subtle influence of secularism can nevertheless color the way people allow their faith to influence their behavior. Is it consistent to profess our beliefs in church on Sunday, and then during the week to promote business practices or medical procedures contrary to those beliefs? Is it consistent for practicing Catholics to ignore or exploit the poor and the marginalized, to promote sexual behavior contrary to Catholic moral teaching, or to adopt positions that contradict the right to life of every human being from conception to natural death? Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted. Only when their faith permeates every aspect of their lives do Christians become truly open to the transforming power of the Gospel.

For an affluent society, a further obstacle to an encounter with the living God lies in the subtle influence of materialism, which can all too easily focus the attention on the hundredfold, which God promises now in this time, at the expense of the eternal life which he promises in the age to come (cf. Mk 10:30). People today need to be reminded of the ultimate purpose of their lives. They need to recognize that implanted within them is a deep thirst for God. They need to be given opportunities to drink from the wells of his infinite love. It is easy to be entranced by the almost unlimited possibilities that science and technology place before us; it is easy to make the mistake of thinking we can obtain by our own efforts the fulfillment of our deepest needs. This is an illusion. Without God, who alone bestows upon us what we by ourselves cannot attain (cf. Spe Salvi, 31), our lives are ultimately empty. People need to be constantly reminded to cultivate a relationship with him who came that we might have life in abundance (cf. Jn 10:10). The goal of all our pastoral and catechetical work, the object of our preaching, and the focus of our sacramental ministry should be to help people establish and nurture that living relationship with “Christ Jesus, our hope” (1 Tim 1:1).

In a society which values personal freedom and autonomy, it is easy to lose sight of our dependence on others as well as the responsibilities that we bear towards them. This emphasis on individualism has even affected the Church (cf. Spe Salvi, 13-15), giving rise to a form of piety which sometimes emphasizes our private relationship with God at the expense of our calling to be members of a redeemed community. Yet from the beginning, God saw that “it is not good for man to be alone” (Gen 2:18). We were created as social beings who find fulfillment only in love - for God and for our neighbor. If we are truly to gaze upon him who is the source of our joy, we need to do so as members of the people of God (cf. Spe Salvi, 14). If this seems counter-cultural, that is simply further evidence of the urgent need for a renewed evangelization of culture.

Here in America, you are blessed with a Catholic laity of considerable cultural diversity, who place their wide-ranging gifts at the service of the Church and of society at large. They look to you to offer them encouragement, leadership and direction. In an age that is saturated with information, the importance of providing sound formation in the faith cannot be overstated. American Catholics have traditionally placed a high value on religious education, both in schools and in the context of adult formation programs. These need to be maintained and expanded. The many generous men and women who devote themselves to charitable activity need to be helped to renew their dedication through a “formation of the heart”: an “encounter with God in Christ which awakens their love and opens their spirits to others” (Deus Caritas Est, 31). At a time when advances in medical science bring new hope to many, they also give rise to previously unimagined ethical challenges. This makes it more important than ever to offer thorough formation in the Church’s moral teaching to Catholics engaged in health care. Wise guidance is needed in all these apostolates, so that they may bear abundant fruit; if they are truly to promote the integral good of the human person, they too need to be made new in Christ our hope.

As preachers of the Gospel and leaders of the Catholic community, you are also called to participate in the exchange of ideas in the public square, helping to shape cultural attitudes. In a context where free speech is valued, and where vigorous and honest debate is encouraged, yours is a respected voice that has much to offer to the discussion of the pressing social and moral questions of the day. By ensuring that the Gospel is clearly heard, you not only form the people of your own community, but in view of the global reach of mass communication, you help to spread the message of Christian hope throughout the world.

Clearly, the Church’s influence on public debate takes place on many different levels. In the United States, as elsewhere, there is much current and proposed legislation that gives cause for concern from the point of view of morality, and the Catholic community, under your guidance, needs to offer a clear and united witness on such matters. Even more important, though, is the gradual opening of the minds and hearts of the wider community to moral truth. Here much remains to be done. Crucial in this regard is the role of the lay faithful to act as a “leaven” in society. Yet it cannot be assumed that all Catholic citizens think in harmony with the Church’s teaching on today’s key ethical questions. Once again, it falls to you to ensure that the moral formation provided at every level of ecclesial life reflects the authentic teaching of the Gospel of life.

In this regard, a matter of deep concern to us all is the state of the family within society. Indeed, Cardinal George mentioned earlier that you have included the strengthening of marriage and family life among the priorities for your attention over the next few years. In this year’s World Day of Peace Message I spoke of the essential contribution that healthy family life makes to peace within and between nations. In the family home we experience “some of the fundamental elements of peace: justice and love between brothers and sisters, the role of authority expressed by parents, loving concern for the members who are weaker because of youth, sickness or old age, mutual help in the necessities of life, readiness to accept others and, if necessary, to forgive them” (no. 3). The family is also the primary place for evangelization, for passing on the faith, for helping young people to appreciate the importance of religious practice and Sunday observance. How can we not be dismayed as we observe the sharp decline of the family as a basic element of Church and society? Divorce and infidelity have increased, and many young men and women are choosing to postpone marriage or to forego it altogether. To some young Catholics, the sacramental bond of marriage seems scarcely distinguishable from a civil bond, or even a purely informal and open-ended arrangement to live with another person. Hence we have an alarming decrease in the number of Catholic marriages in the United States together with an increase in cohabitation, in which the Christ-like mutual self-giving of spouses, sealed by a public promise to live out the demands of an indissoluble lifelong commitment, is simply absent. In such circumstances, children are denied the secure environment that they need in order truly to flourish as human beings, and society is denied the stable building blocks which it requires if the cohesion and moral focus of the community are to be maintained.

As my predecessor, Pope John Paul II taught, “The person principally responsible in the Diocese for the pastoral care of the family is the Bishop … he must devote to it personal interest, care, time, personnel and resources, but above all personal support for the families and for all those who assist him in the pastoral care of the family” (Familiaris Consortio, 73). It is your task to proclaim boldly the arguments from faith and reason in favor of the institution of marriage, understood as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, open to the transmission of life. This message should resonate with people today, because it is essentially an unconditional and unreserved “yes” to life, a “yes” to love, and a “yes” to the aspirations at the heart of our common humanity, as we strive to fulfill our deep yearning for intimacy with others and with the Lord.

Among the countersigns to the Gospel of life found in America and elsewhere is one that causes deep shame: the sexual abuse of minors. Many of you have spoken to me of the enormous pain that your communities have suffered when clerics have betrayed their priestly obligations and duties by such gravely immoral behavior. As you strive to eliminate this evil wherever it occurs, you may be assured of the prayerful support of God’s people throughout the world. Rightly, you attach priority to showing compassion and care to the victims. It is your God-given responsibility as pastors to bind up the wounds caused by every breach of trust, to foster healing, to promote reconciliation and to reach out with loving concern to those so seriously wronged.

Responding to this situation has not been easy and, as the President of your Episcopal Conference has indicated, it was “sometimes very badly handled”. Now that the scale and gravity of the problem is more clearly understood, you have been able to adopt more focused remedial and disciplinary measures and to promote a safe environment that gives greater protection to young people. While it must be remembered that the overwhelming majority of clergy and religious in America do outstanding work in bringing the liberating message of the Gospel to the people entrusted to their care, it is vitally important that the vulnerable always be shielded from those who would cause harm. In this regard, your efforts to heal and protect are bearing great fruit not only for those directly under your pastoral care, but for all of society.

If they are to achieve their full purpose, however, the policies and programs you have adopted need to be placed in a wider context. Children deserve to grow up with a healthy understanding of sexuality and its proper place in human relationships. They should be spared the degrading manifestations and the crude manipulation of sexuality so prevalent today. They have a right to be educated in authentic moral values rooted in the dignity of the human person. This brings us back to our consideration of the centrality of the family and the need to promote the Gospel of life. What does it mean to speak of child protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through media widely available today? We need to reassess urgently the values underpinning society, so that a sound moral formation can be offered to young people and adults alike. All have a part to play in this task - not only parents, religious leaders, teachers and catechists, but the media and entertainment industries as well. Indeed, every member of society can contribute to this moral renewal and benefit from it. Truly caring about young people and the future of our civilization means recognizing our responsibility to promote and live by the authentic moral values which alone enable the human person to flourish. It falls to you, as pastors modelled upon Christ, the Good Shepherd, to proclaim this message loud and clear, and thus to address the sin of abuse within the wider context of sexual mores. Moreover, by acknowledging and confronting the problem when it occurs in an ecclesial setting, you can give a lead to others, since this scourge is found not only within your Dioceses, but in every sector of society. It calls for a determined, collective response.

Priests, too, need your guidance and closeness during this difficult time. They have experienced shame over what has occurred, and there are those who feel they have lost some of the trust and esteem they once enjoyed. Not a few are experiencing a closeness to Christ in his Passion as they struggle to come to terms with the consequences of the crisis. The Bishop, as father, brother and friend of his priests, can help them to draw spiritual fruit from this union with Christ by making them aware of the Lord’s consoling presence in the midst of their suffering, and by encouraging them to walk with the Lord along the path of hope (cf. Spe Salvi, 39). As Pope John Paul II observed six years ago, “we must be confident that this time of trial will bring a purification of the entire Catholic community”, leading to “a holier priesthood, a holier episcopate and a holier Church” (Address to the Cardinals of the United States, 23 April 2002, 4). There are many signs that, during the intervening period, such purification has indeed been taking place. Christ’s abiding presence in the midst of our suffering is gradually transforming our darkness into light: all things are indeed being made new in Christ Jesus our hope.

At this stage a vital part of your task is to strengthen relationships with your clergy, especially in those cases where tension has arisen between priests and their bishops in the wake of the crisis. It is important that you continue to show them your concern, to support them, and to lead by example. In this way you will surely help them to encounter the living God, and point them towards the life-transforming hope of which the Gospel speaks. If you yourselves live in a manner closely configured to Christ, the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep, you will inspire your brother priests to rededicate themselves to the service of their flocks with Christ-like generosity. Indeed a clearer focus upon the imitation of Christ in holiness of life is exactly what is needed in order for us to move forward. We need to rediscover the joy of living a Christ-centred life, cultivating the virtues, and immersing ourselves in prayer. When the faithful know that their pastor is a man who prays and who dedicates his life to serving them, they respond with warmth and affection which nourishes and sustains the life of the whole community.

Time spent in prayer is never wasted, however urgent the duties that press upon us from every side. Adoration of Christ our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament prolongs and intensifies the union with him that is established through the Eucharistic celebration (cf. Sacramentum Caritatis, 66). Contemplation of the mysteries of the Rosary releases all their saving power and it conforms, unites and consecrates us to Jesus Christ (cf. Rosarium Virginis Mariae, 11, 15). Fidelity to the Liturgy of the Hours ensures that the whole of our day is sanctified and it continually reminds us of the need to remain focused on doing God’s work, however many pressures and distractions may arise from the task at hand. Thus our devotion helps us to speak and act in persona Christi, to teach, govern and sanctify the faithful in the name of Jesus, to bring his reconciliation, his healing and his love to all his beloved brothers and sisters. This radical configuration to Christ, the Good Shepherd, lies at the heart of our pastoral ministry, and if we open ourselves through prayer to the power of the Spirit, he will give us the gifts we need to carry out our daunting task, so that we need never “be anxious how to speak or what to say” (Mt 10:19).

As I conclude my words to you this evening, I commend the Church in your country most particularly to the maternal care and intercession of Mary Immaculate, Patroness of the United States. May she who carried within her womb the hope of all the nations intercede for the people of this country, so that all may be made new in Jesus Christ her Son. My dear Brother Bishops, I assure each of you here present of my deep friendship and my participation in your pastoral concerns. To all of you, and to your clergy, religious and lay faithful, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of joy and peace in the Risen Lord.

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Here follow the texts of three questions posed to the Pope, and his three responses.

Question 1. The Holy Father is asked to give his assessment of the challenge of increasing secularism in public life and relativism in intellectual life, and his advice on how to confront these challenges pastorally and evangelize more effectively.

Answer 1. I touched upon this theme briefly in my address. It strikes me as significant that here in America, unlike many places in Europe, the secular mentality has not been intrinsically opposed to religion. Within the context of the separation of Church and Sta