The Weekly News In
Review
Newsletter is a
compilation of the news articles that have appeared
on the Understand The Times website during the
previous week.
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November 5 - Card. Tauran: a journey of dialogue between Christians and Hindus, in respect of freedom
Article: One World Religion
Vatican City (AsiaNews) -
Dialogue between believers of
different religions
is a "necessary
journey", in order to build a world of
peace,
but it must be based upon
shared respect and the acceptance of religious
freedom. Cardinal
Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical
council for inter-religious
dialogue has written to Hindus for Diwali,
the festival of lights, in a message entitled
"Christians and Hindus :
Determined to Walk the Path of
Dialogue".
To
his "dear friends" the Cardinal writes
"the world around us is
yearning for peace. Religions promise peace
because they trace their origin
to God who, according to Christian
belief, is our peace. Can we,
as believers of different religious
traditions, not work together to
receive God's gift of peace and to
spread it around us so that the
world becomes for all people a better
place to live? Our
respective communities must pay urgent attention to
the education of believers,
who can so easily be misled by deceitful and
false
propaganda".
"Like all human relationships, -
continues the message - those between people of
different religions need to be
nourished by regular meetings, patient
listening, collaborative action,
and above all, by an attitude of mutual
respect".
"Only through
dialogue, avoiding
all forms of prejudice and
stereo-typed ideas about others and by
faithful witness to our religious
precepts and teaching, can we truly
overcome conflicts.
Dialogue between followers of different
religions is the necessary path
today; indeed it is the only appropriate
path for us as
believers". Concludes cardinal Tauran -
"Together, in
collaboration, we can do much to build a society of
harmony and a world of
peace".
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November 5 - Experts say climate change threatens national security
Article: One World Government
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Climate change could end globalization by
2040 as nations look
inward
to conserve scarce resources and conflicts flare when
refugees flee rising seas and
drought, national security
experts
warned on Monday.Global
cooperation based on a resource-rich
world could give way to a
regime
where vital commodities are scarce, Fuerth
said at
a
forum to release "The Age of
Consequences."
"Some of the
consequences could essentially involve
the end of globalization
as we
have known it ... as different parts of the Earth contract
upon
themselves in order to try to conserve what they need
to
survive," said Fuerth, who
was national security adviser
to
former Vice President Al Gore.
Rich countries could
"go through a 30-year
process of kicking people away from the
lifeboat" as the world's
poorest face the worst environmental
consequences, which he said
would
be "extremely debilitating
in moral
terms."
"It also suggests
the
kinds of hatreds that build up between different
groups will
be
accentuated as these groups attempt to move to more
clement
locations on the planet,"
Fuerth said.
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November 5 - Most diverse Christian gathering ever to discuss unity and common witness
Article: Ecumenical Movement - Misc.
A unique
gathering of high level church leaders to start
Tuesday 6 November near
Nairobi, Kenya, features the
broadest range of Christian traditions
ever represented at a global
meeting, allowing for a discussion of
unprecedented ecumenical
breadth on what Christians are called to do -
together if possible - in the
world today.
The 6-9 November gathering,
called the Global
Christian Forum, brings together
about 250 high level representatives of all
the main Christian traditions
and of their global organizations at the
Jumuia Conference Centre in Limuru,
near Nairobi.
The Forum's stated purpose is
to create a new,
open space in which a broad range of
Christian churches and interchurch
organizations can gather in a
multilateral setting to foster mutual
respect and explore and address
together common challenges. It aims to
include all streams of Christianity,
including those which have not been in
conversation with one another.
In Limuru about half of the participants will
be Evangelicals and
Pentecostals.
Over four days, with the
theme "Our Journey with Jesus
Christ, the Reconciler," participants will
discuss how best to
promote dialogue and co-operation
on issues of Christian unity and common
witness to the world. They
will debate proposals for the future of the
Forum, and it is hoped that a
"Letter to the Churches" will
summarize the results of the meeting.
The Christian
traditions represented at the Forum
meeting in Limuru are:
African
Instituted, Anglican, Baptist,
Evangelical, (Roman) Catholic, Disciples
(Churches of Christ), Friends,
Holiness, Lutheran, Mennonite, Methodist,
Moravian, Old Catholic, Eastern
and Oriental Orthodox, Pentecostal,
Reformed, Salvation Army, Seventh-Day
Adventist, United and Uniting
Churches.
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A new campus for the "New Evangelization"
Article: Roman Catholic Church And The Last Days
Comment from Understand The
Times:
The New
Evangelization program implemented by
Pope John Paul II has one major goal in
mind - this is to "rekindle
amazement" and focus on the
Eucharistic Jesus. Accompanying the New
Evangelization is also the re-
implementation of Eucharistic adoration -
worshiping the Eucharistic Jesus that is
usually placed in a container
called a monstrance. The Bible clearly
warns that worshipping objects made
in the image of God is an
abomination.
Denver, Nov
6, 2007 / 07:57 am (CNA).-
After 18 years without a Catholic presence
at Loretto Heights Campus in
Denver, Colorado, the Augustine Institute
has succeeded in bringing Christ
to the campus in the form of a Catholic
graduate school
in response to
JPII's call for a
New
Evangelization.
This past summer, the Augustine Institute
moved from its rented space at the
John Paul II Center for the New
Evangelization in Denver to the top floor of
the Teikyo Loretto Heights administration
building, the highest point in
Denver. The new location, which
means new classrooms, a chapel for the
school, a student lounge, and the
convenience of having the professors'
offices near each other, has been well-
received by the current students and
administration.
Director of Admissions, Sandra
Chamberlin, told CNA, "Our new location at
Loretto Heights is a complete blessing
from the Lord. When we received
permission to have
the Blessed Sacrament on campus,
I knew the Lord had
great things in mind for
our time here at Loretto Heights."
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November 7 - 'Iran has 3,000 centrifuges working at enrichment plant'
Article: Wars And Rumors Or Wars
Iran has achieved a landmark,
with 3,000 centrifuges fully
working in its controversial uranium
enrichment program,
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced
Wednesday. Wednesday's claim was his first
official statement that the plant
is now fully operating all those
centrifuges.
US experts say 3,000 centrifuges are in theory
enough to produce a nuclear
weapon, perhaps as soon as within a year.
Iran
says it plans to expand its enrichment
program to up to 54,000
centrifuges at Natanz in central Iran - which
would amount to the level of
industrial-scale uranium enrichment.
"Our response is:
'Who are you to make
comments
about the Iranian nation ... do
we ask you how many machines you have,"'
Ahmadinejad added.
He also said he had
bluntly refused a recent offer to
negotiate with the United States over
Iran's nuclear activities.
"I, as your
representative, told those who brought the message
that
we didn't ask for talks ... If talks are to be
held, it is the Iranian nation
that has to set conditions, not the
arrogant and the
criminals," Ahmadinejad said.
"The world must know that this
nation will not
give up one iota of its nuclear
rights ... if they think they can get
concessions from this nation,
they are badly mistaken," he
concluded.
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November 6 - More evangelicals concluding God is green
Article: Social Gospel
The evangelical
awakening
to climate change
is still a work in progress, but as the
politically powerful
movement becomes more active in
environmentalism,
political leaders will have to take notice or risk
losing their
jobs, a prominent evangelical leader said
Tuesday.
In a sermon shortly before his death in
May,
Falwell criticized
"naive Christian leaders"
for being
"duped" by environmentalism,
which he told his
congregation at
Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., was
"Satan's attempt to redirect the
church's
primary
focus" from evangelism.
"We're putting it in a biblical
context," Cizik
said. "We're saying whatever the past
was,
it's a new day. It's
the 21st century, and we are the new
evangelicals, and
we have a broad agenda. And caring for the Earth
is one of those
things."
"We are
asking all 45,000
churches
associated with NAE to, if you will, go green,"
he
said.
Cizik cited EPA statistics projecting that if
all
of the estimated
300,000 houses of worship in the United States -
"that's Protestant, Catholic,
Muslim mosques,
everybody" -
were to sign on, "we would save $200 million
annually"
for core ministerial
purposes.
"Climate change threatens human
lives, and
the environment is clearly on the
mainstream
of the evangelical
agenda," the Rev. Jim Wallis, president of
the liberal
evangelical group Sojourners/Call to Renewal, told
the
assembly. The
Rev. Richard Land, president of the Ethics and
Religious Liberty
Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention,
countered with the
conservative evangelical philosophy that God
created the world
to support humanity, saying:
"The Bible
says the Earth is for human
betterment."
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November 7 - China Bans Bibles from 2008 Olympics
Article: Misc.
China is
banning Bibles from the Olympic Games
next year allegedly for security
reason, according to reports
Tuesday.
The Bible is on a list of items -
which include video cameras and cups -
prohibited at the 2008
Summer Olympics, according to Fox News. This
means Christian athletes will not have
access to
Bibles in their Olympic village
housing.Moreover, the
communist and officially
atheist country is banning all religious
symbols at Olympic facilities in
Beijing and
warning visitors to not bring
more than one copy of the Bible with them
to China.
"The banning of
Bibles and religious symbols by athletes in the
Olympic Village by the
Chinese government is evidence that
it has not progressed to the
level of civility that is worthy of hosting
the international Olympic
games," the Rev. Dr. Keith Roderick,
Washington representative for
Christian Solidarity International, told
The Christian Post.
"The Olympics should be an
occasion to promote
the higher aspirations of
humanity - respect for human rights, peace and
unity," he
continued. "Yet, the
Chinese
government has opted to
make a statement of intolerance and disregard
for universally accepted
human rights."
He pointed out other
religious freedom violations in China such as
increase
surveillance of house church meetings,
Bible trainings, and baptisms
as the Games nears.
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November 7 - Mission Meets Innovation at Largest Outreach Convention
Article: Emerging Church
Thousands have converged in San Diego
for the self-claimed single largest gathering
focused solely on outreach
and featuring much of today's most innovative
and fastest growing churches
in the country.
This year's convention, under the theme
"Converge:
Where Mission Meets Innovation," aims at
energizing and
refocusing
outreach efforts to help churches reach their
surrounding
communities for
Christ.New to the
annual event is the
"Idea Tour" where participants can take a
self-guided tour of
exhibits showcasing proven
ministry ideas
such as creating blogs, AIDS action, and using film
for outreach. Also,
a grand exhibit hall will give attendees the
chance to browse
through and meet with more than 125 exhibitors
about unique
outreach tools that can be used in their own
churches.
Leading the general sessions are former
NFL player
Miles
McPherson, futurist
Leonard
Sweet, and
emerging church leader Dan Kimball.
The
latter two will talk
about the "landscape" of faith, culture and
psychographics in
the world and help church leaders navigate a
course to reach
the unchurched in their local
communities.
Other features at the National Outreach
Convention
include 60
workshops and the popular
Night of
Comedy which can
also be used as an outreach tool. The
convention
concludes Nov. 10.
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November 8 - US fears Israeli strike against Iran over latest nuclear claim
Article: Wars And Rumors Of Wars
A claim by
President Ahmadinejad that Iran has 3,000
working uranium-enriching
centrifuges sent a
tremor across the world
yesterday amid fears that Israel would respond
by bombing the country's
nuclear facilities.
Military sources in
Washington said that the
existence of such a large
number could be a "tipping point",
triggering
an Israeli air strike. The
Pentagon is reluctant to take military
action against Iran, but
officials say that Israel is a "different
matter".
Even before President
Ahmadinejad's announcement,
a US
defence official told The Times yesterday:
"Israel could do
something when they get to around 3,000 working
centrifuges. The
Pentagon is minded to wait a little longer." US
experts say 3,000 machines
running for long periods could make enough
enriched uranium for an
atomic bomb within a year.
Israel responded by serving notice
that it
would not tolerate a nuclear
Iran. "Talks never did, and never will,
stop rockets,"
said Ehud Barak, the Defence Minister, after
talks
with the security cabinet.
Concern about Israel's intentions has
been
heightened by its recent air
strike on a suspected nuclear plant in
Syria. In 1981 Israel
destroyed Saddam Hussein's Iraqi nuclear
reactor, and as the sole - if
undeclared - nuclear power in the region,
it now
considers Iran the most serious threat to
its security. Mr
Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be "wiped
off the map".
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November 9 - Tony Blair to become Catholic 'within weeks'
Article: One World Religion
Tony Blair is to become
a
Roman Catholic within weeks. The former prime
minister will be received into
his new church in a mass at the private
chapel of Cardinal Cormac
Murphy-O'Connor, the leader of the
Roman Catholic Church in
England and Wales.
Mr Blair,
in one of his final
acts as prime minister, met
Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican when he
told him of wish to leave the
Church of England.
But a friend of Mr Blair said:
"It is something he has
wanted to do for years but knew it would be
easier after he had left office.
Tony and Cherie are both thrilled."
All four of the Blair
children were baptised as
Catholics and the family used to attend Mass
at St Joan of Arc Church in
Islington when he was opposition leader.
The Tablet reported that Mr Blair was
invited to
be received into the Church in Rome but
his advisers discouraged the
idea, believing it might seem like Catholic
triumphalism.
To complete his
conversion, Mr Blair
must recite the Catholic creed and state:
"I believe and profess all
that the holy Catholic Church believes,
teaches, and proclaims to be
revealed by God."
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November 9 - China to ensure respect for religious freedom during 2008 Olympics
Article: Misc.
New Delhi,
Nov.9 : China has said that it
will ensure a respect for
religious freedom during next
year's Olympic Games in Beijing, and rubbished
reports that references to the
Bible would be prohibited.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao was
particularly critical of the
Catholic News Agency report, saying: "As far as I
know, Chinese religious
affairs authorities and the
Beijing Olympic organizers did
not and would not issue such a rule and this is a total
rumour."
"According to the Chinese laws,
foreigners are
allowed to bring in religious objects or materials, be it
print or audio or
video, for personal use," The China Daily
quoted Jianchao, as saying.
Li said that a
religious service center
will be set up in the Olympic Village and religious
services, from Christian,
Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu to Buddhist, will be
available to athletes next
summer.
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November 9 - 'Apocalyptic scenario' if Egypt, Saudi go nuclear: Israel minister
Artcile: Israel And The Last Days
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Egyptian and Saudi
nuclear ambitions, on top of Iran's atomic
drive, will lead to an
"apocalyptic scenario", a
senior Israeli cabinet minister said in
comments published on Friday.
"If Egypt and Saudi Arabia
begin nuclear programmes, this can bring
an apocalyptic scenario upon us,"
Strategic Affairs
Minister Avigdor Lieberman told the
English-language Jerusalem Post
newspaper.
"Their intentions should
be taken seriously and the declarations
being made now are to prepare the
world for when they decide to actually do
it," said
the minister, responsible for coordinating
Israeli efforts against a nuclear
Iran.
Lieberman, who heads the
ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, also
told the Jerusalem Post that
Pakistan could pose a major threat to
Israel.
"If the Taliban or
(Al-Qaeda leader Osama) bin Laden get
control (of Pakistan), they will have
nuclear weapons for terror use and they
don't hide their opinions about
Israel," he
said.
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November 8 - Kid contemplatives: UW neuroscientist's project aims to give middle-schoolers tools of 'mindfulness' and meditation
Artcile: Emerging Church
Homework and
tests are logical answers, if proof of
success is a higher GPA. But
when the goal is to produce a more
emotionally sturdy and
thoughtful person,
researchers suggest the
ability to be still and contemplate is what can
make a positive
difference.
In 2008, local middle school
students will among those
who participate in a
national pilot project that
studies the effects of contemplation in the
classroom, says
Richard Davidson, a University of Wisconsin
researcher/neuroscientist.
(Time magazine selected him as one of the
world's 100 Most Influential
People of 2006.)
"We're still
trying to understand how these
practices work" scientifically, in
a grade K-12 setting, Dunne
says. "It seems likely that there are things
that can be done to regulate emotions
effectively."
"The brain can change in
response to training," he
says, dismissing any notion of
unwarranted mind control.
"I think this is actually
deprogramming"
children from media influence and "returning the
mind to
its natural, unprogrammed
state."
"In my view, it's not
a religious issue," says
Keating, because of the many forms that
contemplation can take. "Silence is not
denominational, and it can be
practiced in a methodical way."
Sitting in silence for 20
minutes, twice a day,
"gradually introduces us
to our deeper self," but the academic
world "allows no time or
place to pursue this" in an organized manner.
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November 10 - Cardinal Poupard's Address at Mount Hiei
Artcile: Ecumenical Movement - Other Religions Uniting With Roman Catholics
I wish to
begin my reflection by recalling here the
memory of the late Venerable
Etai Yamada, former
Head of the Tendai Buddhist
denomination. May the merciful God the
Father bless his soul and
grant him eternal rest.
This was a moment when
the widespread hope for
peace induced many people to
dream of a different world, where relations
between peoples would
develop, safe from the nightmare of war, and where
the "globalization"
process would unfold under the banner of a peaceful
encounter of peoples and
cultures in the context of a common
international law inspired by
respect for the needs of truth, justice
and solidarity"[1].
All of us
see in religious fundamentalism an
attitude radically opposed to
God. Terrorists exploit not just
people, they destroy the truth
of God: they turn the true God into an
idol to be used for their own
purposes. The
tragedy which took place on
September 11th 2001 in the U.S.A. and the
subsequent terrorist attacks in
other parts of the world, are the
results of this
fundamentalism. The
Through the path of interreligious
dialogue we
can build peace in our world.
We begin by affirming and promoting the
uniqueness and dignity of
each human person who, we Christians believe,
is created in the image and
likeness of God.
"We cannot truly pray to God
the Father of all if we treat any
people in other than brotherly
fashion, for all men are
created in God's image" (n. 5). Despite the
fundamental differences that
exist between religious traditions, we can
still recognise that we
are all part of one human family obliged
for the sake of peace, to treat
each other as brothers and sisters.
A
mature understanding of this fundamental
religious sense, encourages
all of us to live and work as one
universal brotherhood under
one Fatherhood of God. This inspires
respect, friendship and
tolerance, the foundation of peaceful
relationships in families,
between communities and all human
beings.
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We hope the Weekly News In Review has been a
blessing to you.
In Jesus,
Roger Oakland
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Hizbullah held its largest ever training exercise near
southern Lebanon's border with Israel in preparation
for a response to any Israeli offensive, the Shi'ite
group's deputy leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem said
Thursday.
Sawat al-Balad quoted Kassem as saying that the
exercise staged last week involved "enormous and
important" maneuvers that were carried out so that the
group "won't be caught by surprise."
According to the leader, Hizbullah had acquired a
weapons arsenal that was capable of reaching all
parts of Israel. "The exercise was unrestricted and
was meant to cover all of the territory of the Zionist
entity and not simply to strengthen our forces,"
Kassem claimed.
"The drill was part of an obligation to make our
presence and readiness known and [to show] that we
act how we see fit," he added.
The exercise lasted for three days and was reportedly
the largest in Hizbullah's history. According to a report
in the Al Akhbar newspaper, one of the exercise's
main objectives was to convey to Israel the "big
surprises" Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah had
threatened to unleash if Israel attacks Lebanon.
