From Catholic News Service

Pope says church must participate in cultural debates

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church must participate in modern cultural debates, finding ways to present enduring truths in a serious, yet accessible way, Pope Benedict XVI said. The Pope met Feb. 17 with the editors and staff of La Civilta Cattolica, a Jesuit-run magazine founded by Pope Pius IX in 1850 and one that continues to be reviewed by the Vatican Secretariat of State before publication. By writing about cultural, social and political issues, the Pope said, the magazine helps the Catholic Church in its dialogue with the modern world, identifying positive trends and offering the guidance of the Gospel. Increasingly, modern culture is "closed to God and to his moral law, even if it is not always prejudicially adverse to Christianity," the Pope said.

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Vatican official: Spiritual reform begins with religious

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI is seeking to revitalize the faith life of the church, a "spiritual reform" that must begin with the world's men and women religious, said Archbishop Franc Rode, head of the Vatican office that oversees religious orders. That means religious congregations must take stock, recover their "apostolic dynamism" and shed the excessive secularism of the post-Second Vatican Council period, Archbishop Rode said. Archbishop Rode, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, spoke with Catholic News Service about the challenges facing religious life and the directions being set under Pope Benedict. The 71-year-old Slovenian, a member of the Vincentian order, said the vitality of religious orders has always been essential for spiritual reform in the church. "Throughout the history of the church, religious orders and congregations were always the ones pushing forward, bringing dynamism and a call for holiness. They were always on the front lines," he said.

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Church cautious about analysis of saints' possible remains

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- A French church spokesman expressed caution about a forensic scientist's announcement that he would analyze what might be the remains of St. Joan of Arc. "The precise origin of these objects isn't known -- all we have are some fragments of cloth and human rib," said Bertrand Vincent, spokesman for France's Tours Archdiocese. "Even if these are confirmed as belonging to a young woman of the period, who was burned to death, this won't prove it's Joan of Arc. For now, the church is showing maximum prudence and reserve." Philippe Charlier, professor at Raymond Poincare Hospital, west of Paris, announced that he would analyze the fragments allegedly retrieved from below the stake in Rouen, France, where St. Joan was executed in 1431 at age 19. In a telephone interview with Catholic News Service Feb. 17, Vincent praised Charlier's "professional expertise and good intentions" and said that Tours would "take note" if the project were "conducted seriously, with proper results."

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Bishops call for 'ethical commitment for Peru'

LIMA, Peru (CNS) -- With less than two months to go before the country's general elections, the Peruvian bishops' conference urged candidates, voters and the media to make an "ethical commitment for Peru." In a statement released Feb. 15, the bishops highlighted the country's major problems, including the persistent poverty affecting half the population, economic and cultural inequality, migration, unemployment, corruption, violence, drug trafficking, "attacks on the environment," weak democratic institutions, a shaky legal system, and "ethical relativism." "All the candidates must work for the common good and commit themselves to serving Peru and the Peruvian people," Archbishop Hector Cabrejos Vidarte of Trujillo, president of the bishops' conference, told reporters at a press conference to release the statement. The statement came a day after the leading presidential candidate, Lourdes Flores Nano of the National Unity coalition, announced that if she were elected her government would permit the use of the morning-after pill.

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Lebanese prime minister, Pope discuss religious freedom

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- A week after encouraging Christian and Muslim leaders in his country to promote tolerance and calm, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora met with Pope Benedict XVI. The Vatican said that during their 20 minutes alone Feb. 16 the Pope and prime minister discussed "the common commitment to working to educate the populations in reconciliation and peace, respect for human rights and, particularly, religious freedom." "Special consideration was reserved to the situation of Christians" in Lebanon and "to the contribution they intend to make to the progress of the country," the statement said. After meeting Pope Benedict, the prime minister also met with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state.

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