Potpourri of Popery, Francis of Assisi Edition

Since it’s the feast of Francis of Assisi, I’ll link here the Pope’s message to the 20th interreligious meeting in Assisi a few weeks ago. We get a more precise statement here of what the Holy Father thinks “peace” is –and what its sources are—than from any of the hotly contested hawk’n’dove debates in the Catholic blogosphere.

Despite the differences that mark the various religious itineraries, recognition of God's existence, which human beings can only arrive at by starting from the experience of creation (cf. Rom 1: 20), must dispose believers to view other human beings as brothers and sisters. It is not legitimate, therefore, for anyone to espouse religious difference as a presupposition or pretext for an aggressive attitude towards other human beings.
It could be objected that history has experienced the regrettable phenomenon of religious wars. We know, however, that such demonstrations of violence cannot be attributed to religion as such but to the cultural limitations with which it is lived
and develops in time. Yet, when the religious sense reaches maturity it gives rise to a perception in the believer that faith in God, Creator of the universe and Father of all, must encourage relations of universal brotherhood among human beings.

That's actually much bolder than Regensburg, isn't it? There he posed Muslims a question; here he answers it for them. More.

The gathering that the Servant of God John Paul II organized in Assisi appropriately puts the emphasis on the value of prayer in building peace. Indeed, we are aware of how difficult and, at times, how humanly desperate this process can be. Peace is a value in which so many elements converge. To build it, the paths of cultural, political and economic order are, of course, important, but first of all peace must be built in hearts. It is here, in fact, that sentiments develop that can nurture it or, on the contrary, threaten, weaken and stifle it.

This is the Holy Father's ultimate point: relativism, which does not in fact engage anyone, but rather relegates each tribe to its own ghetto, cannot create peaceful habits or sentiments in the human heart. And neither can ideology, which does the opposite --creates habits of hate --as the Pope told Muslim leaders in his meeting with them at World Youth Day last year.

We are in greater need of this dialogue than ever, especially if we look at the new generations. Sentiments of hatred and vengeance have been inculcated in numerous young people in those parts of the world marked by conflicts, in ideological contexts where the seeds of ancient resentment are cultivated and their souls prepared for future violence. These barriers must be torn down and encounter must be encouraged.

He concludes the letter with an invocation of St. Francis –and the plea that we recover his true legacy, which has been distorted into a kind of eco-syncretism the Poverello would not recognize.

the "Poverello" embodied in an exemplary way the Beatitude proclaimed by Jesus in the Gospel: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Mt 5: 9). The witness Francis bore in his time makes him a natural reference point today for people who are fostering the ideal of peace, respect for nature and dialogue between people, religions and cultures. It is important, however, to recall, if one does not want to betray his message, that it was Christ's radical decision that provided him with a key to understanding the brotherhood to which all people are called, and in which inanimate creatures - from "brother sun" to "sister moon" - also in a certain way participate.

Meanwhile: Continuing his campaign to dissociate himself from John Paul the Great’s embarrassing Marian devotion, Benedict XVI asked the faithful to pray the Rosary during October, the month dedicated to her.

The rosary is a contemplative and christocentric prayer, inseparable from the meditation of sacred Scripture. It is the prayer of the Christian who advances in the pilgrimage of faith, in the following of Jesus, preceded by Mary. I would like to invite you, dear brothers and sisters, to pray the rosary as a family during this month, and in communities and parishes, for the intentions of the Pope, for the mission of the Church and for peace in the world.

Following the Holy Father’s lead, Asia News has the testimony of a Chinese priest about how Faith is transmitted underground –and the role of the Rosary in his vocation.

St. Bartholomew was the topic of today’s audience. Check Zenit for the precise translation later.
Zenit also has an interview with Fr. Schall on God as logos, Allah as will. Many interesting points, but chiefly this, which I wish to God our Catholic pundits would meditate upon:

like John Paul II's trip to Poland, Benedict's visit to Regensburg is providential. Both aimed at the crucial problem of our time. We forget that the papacy is not just another human power, though it is also human. It is uncanny how the contemporary world, to its own surprise, continually finds itself watching the papacy.

Then, more Schall on Benedict, this time from an interview done by Ken Masugi. You’ll want to read the answer to this question:

KM: But why does Benedict choose this particular example from medieval history and philosophy? Surely he knew it would prove inflammatory.

And the German Bishops have a message for Muslims you’ll find interesting.

the prelates rejected outright the attitude of those who continue to fuel the controversy, "persevering in the presentation of accusations, demands and even threats." "The Catholic Church and all people who, in Germany and throughout the world, respect and defend freedom of speech, will never allow themselves to be intimidated," they asserted.

The Pope also had a very interesting message to the bishops of Chad on their ad limina visit recently. Unfortunately it’s not in English, and this Zenit story doesn’t quite hit the point in my view. It's accurate that he speaks of charity as a key to Muslim-Christian dialogue, but his big emphasis is on giving the faithful the Eucharist and on promoting the dignity of the human person as the key to the evangelization of Africa. (Justifying my pet theory that secularism and Islam are, in practice, inadequate responses to human sexuality, with JP II's Theology of the Body, with its understanding of human dignity, being the answer to both. By the way, there's a new and better translation of it out recently.)
And while fishing all these links up, I stumbled on the Pope’s audience with Cardinal Bertone and his family shortly after the Cardinal took the office of Vatican Sec. of State. It’s just a trifle, but charming I think.