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News Bytes for Your Parish Bulletin
New Web Portal
The Vatican has a new Web portal that will bring news from various Church sources to the same site. News.va includes news from L'Osservatore Romano, Vatican Radio, the Fides agency, which reports on missions, and other media. Archbishop Claudio Celli, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, explained why Benedict XVI supported the project. The Pope, Archbishop Celli, has declared, "I want to be present where people come together." News.va does not have a specific editorial line, but rather gathers material from existing media.
On Same-Sex Attraction
A human person is much more than a sexual orientation or a simple identification with the homosexual or heterosexual lifestyle, say the bishops of Canada. The episcopal conference's doctrinal commission stated this in a pastoral letter on ministering to "adolescents and young adults who question their sexual identity or experience feelings of same sex attraction." The bishops urge those with such attractions to follow Christ's example of living a chaste and unselfish life. "Chastity," the letter states, "teaches the way of self-mastery."
News Bytes for Your Parish Bulletin
- Summit to Explore New Media in Latin America
- Archbishop: Church Must Learn Language of Youth
- Argentina Sending Official Delegation to Youth Day
- Cardinal Cañizares Reflects on John Paul II's Legacy
Service of Media
Journalists can serve society by helping people to know not only what is happening each day but also why it is happening, says Benedict XVI. In an address to members of an assembly of the European Broadcasting Union, the Pope noted the media's "patient research" for "daily truth," an endeavor supported by the Church in its "adherence to the truth that is Christ." He recalled the mission to promote and encourage dialogue between faith and reason. "Religion does not seek to manipulate non-believers, " the Holy Father said, "but to assist reason in the discovery of objective moral principles."
Aiding the Victims
The Church's work with regard to sexual abuse of minors by the clergy is to aid victims, but also to prevent abuse by promoting a healthy attitude toward sexuality in the seminaries, says a Vatican aide. Monsignor Charles Scicluna, the promoter of justice of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, spoke of the primary role of bishops in addressing the abuse crisis. He added: "The formation of the clergy must be accompanied by the formation of the community. The latter is important also to guarantee the healing of victims, who, because of the weight they carry within, feel 'outside' the community itself."