News Brief

Pope Urges UN to Return to Founding Texts

Addressing members of the UN, diplomats and civil servants, issued on September 16, 2008, on the occasion of the prayer meeting organized for the opening of the 63rd session f the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, pope Benedict XVI gave a short message. He reiterated “his appeal to international officials to make again their own the high moral vision and the high principle of justice which are found in the founding texts of the United Nations.”

The pope also told international diplomats and UN members that he was praying God to give them “the counsel, and the strength necessary to accomplish the urgent task which the United Nations would face in the coming months.” He also supported the UN’s initiatives to “ensure that the whole of mankind share the benefits of globalization.” Lastly, he recalled “with gratitude” his visit to the seat of UN, on April 18, 2008, when he had already stressed the “ideals which inspired the founders” of the institution. In front of the ambassadors and diplomats of the member countries, he had expressed the wish that the institution “accomplish its founding inspiration, to wit, to become a center coordinating the activities of the Nations so as to reach the common goals of peace and development.” (Sources: Apic/Imedia)

Cardinal Tauran Invites Muslims to Defend the Family

In a message released towards the end of the month of Ramadan, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, invited “Christians and Muslims” to “work jointly to safeguard the dignity of the family. He stressed that “Christians and Muslims held the family in high esteem.”

Thus, they “must not hesitate to commit themselves not only to help families in difficult situations but also collaborate with all those whose desire is to ensure the stability of the family as an institution, and the exercise of parental responsibility, especially in the domain of education.” (Source: Apic)

We can only wonder whether the Roman prelate has any idea of the status of women in a family where polygamy is practiced!

Rabbi Invited To Speak During Bishops’ Synod

Shear-Yashuv Cohen, co-chairman of the Commission of Dialogue between Israel and the Holy See, and Chief Rabbi of Haifa (Israel) has been invited to take part into the General Assembly of the Bishops’ Synod on the theme “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church”, due to open in Rome on October 5, 2008. “It is a sign of hope,” he told the American News Agency CNS. He will be the first member of a non-Christian religion ever to address the bishops of the whole world. The rabbi will address the issue of the central place of the Jewish tradition in the Bible and the importance of the Old Testament. (Source: CNS)