Russian President Dmitri Medvedev visits Pope at the Vatican

Analyst Notes New Era of Russia-Vatican Relations

By Jesús Colina

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 17, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI received in audience today Dmitry Medvedev, the president of Russia, during which the two spoke of a mutual desire to strengthen bilateral relations and collaborate in the promotion of human and Christian values.

A Vatican press statement released after the meeting stated that the "cordial" discussions also addressed "the positive contribution interreligious dialogue can make to society," as well as "the international situation, with particular reference to the Middle East."

Medvedev, accompanied by the minister for foreign affairs, Sergey Lavrov, also met with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who was accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for relations with states.

Robert Moynihan, the founder and editor of the monthly magazine "Inside the Vatican," told ZENIT that he considers the meeting to be a confirmation of a new era of collaboration between Russia and the Catholic Church.

"I find this meeting between the president of Russia and Benedict XVI a highly visible confirmation of a multi-year process of ever-improving relations between Russia and the Vatican," said Moynihan. "The two leaders are not talking about theological matters; they are talking about values, about how Russia and the Catholic Church can work together in the cultural and social field."

He continued: "I note that this meeting in Rome takes place just after a week-long visit of Russian orthodox metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, chairman of the Department of External Church Relations and a permanent member of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Moscow, to the United States, where he met with Protestant evangelical as well as U.S. government and Catholic leaders in New York, Washington and Dallas.

"Hilarion delivered precisely this same message everywhere he went in the United States: that Russia is ready to collaborate with the West on cultural and social matters such as support for marriage and the traditional family."

Clear message

"I see Medvedev's visit to the Pope in this context," added Moynihan, who is considered to be an expert in Russia-Vatican relations. "The message seems clear: Russian leaders are taking the initiative to reach out to the West with proposals of cultural and social collaboration. It seems to be a plan.

"In any case, it is one of the most interesting phenomena on the global cultural and political scene, and the pope's meeting with Medvedev is a punctuation mark in this process."

Moynihan said the next step "is still not clear, but I suspect it will be concrete cultural and social initiatives in which western Christians and others of good will will create structures to work with the Russians on some of the great moral challenges of our time."

"And I think," he added, "uniting the financial and spiritual strength of a resurgent Russia seeking its identity with the strength of the Catholics and evangelicals of the West could have dramatic consequences for the impact and success of what we may call those 'traditional values' initiatives in the years ahead."

"The next steps to watch for will be the launching of concrete common efforts, and then a meeting between the Pope and the Russian Orthodox Patriarch, Kirill, perhaps in two years time," Moynihan concluded. "But there are many forces opposed to this developing alliance, so there are likely to be many potholes and obstacles on the road toward truly effective and culture-changing Russian-Vatican collaboration."

Put Simply: Religion Matters

From Real Clear Religion

By Tony Blair

(Note: The following was excerpted from Blair's keynote speech at Monterrey Tecnológico University in Mexico on Tuesday. The full text of the speech can be found here.) 

A new type of debate is taking shape. It can centre around immigration or protectionism but it is above all, about issues to do with culture and integration and it is altogether more vigorous and potentially more explosive. In the Middle East, it is about whether the West fundamentally respects or does not the religion of Islam; and the Israel-Palestine dispute is caught up with it. In Europe, it is about whether our attempt to integrate cultures has succeeded or failed; and insofar as there is a perception of failure, it is about whether our "generosity" in allowing inward migration and encouraging multi-culturalism has been abused. Here it is often felt that the "host" nations are being unfairly taken advantage of by those who want Western benefits but not Western values. The economic challenge is intensifying the cultural one.

In meeting this challenge, democracy and even economic change are not enough. There is a social challenge too. Do we want societies that are open to those who have different faiths and cultures to our own traditions; or do we want, in the face of insecurity and economic crisis, to close down, to look after what some would call "our own" first and foremost? And if we want open ones, what are the conditions for such openness to prevail?

Ronald Reagan Statue to be Unveiled in London's Grosvenor Square

A statue of Ronald Reagan is to be unveiled in London's Grosvenor Square, as part of a year of celebrations to mark the 100th birthday of the former US president.

From The Telegraph

By Harriet Alexander

The 10 foot bronze will be positioned on a pedestal close to the American Embassy, and stand alongside existing statues of two other 20th Century US leaders, Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin D Roosevelt. The Embassy is moving to a new location next year, but the statues will remain in Mayfair.

With the unveiling scheduled for July 4, US Independence Day, the Ronald Reagan Foundation has invited Margaret Thatcher and David Cameron to attend the ceremony.

Condoleezza Rice, the former US secretary of state who worked for the Pentagon during Mr Reagan's presidency, will represent Nancy Reagan, 89, who will be following proceedings from her Californian home.

"President Reagan always referred to the United States' special relationship with Great Britain, especially his personal friendship with Baroness Thatcher," said Rob Bauer, director of external affairs for the Ronald Reagan Foundation.
 

"The Reagan Foundation commissioned the statue to honour that partnership and to celebrate an enduring alliance."

Mr Reagan, who was US president between 1981 and 1989, died in 2004 at the age of 93.

The statue is to be created by Chas Fagan, the American sculptor who created a likeness of Mr Reagan for the Capitol Rotunda in the US Congress.

The Foundation, which is funding the work, hopes that the statue will have as much impact as the 2009 US version.

Mrs Reagan cried as the image was revealed. She said: "This statue is a wonderful likeness of Ronnie. He would be so proud." 

 

 

In Sharp Reversal, U.S. Agrees to Rebuke Israel in Security Council

From Foreign Policy

By Colum Lynch

The U.S. informed Arab governments Tuesday that it will support a U.N. Security Council statement reaffirming that the 15-nation body "does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity," a move aimed at avoiding the prospect of having to veto a stronger Palestinian resolution calling the settlements illegal.

But the Palestinians rejected the American offer following a meeting late Wednesday of Arab representatives and said it is planning to press for a vote on its resolution on Friday, according to officials familar with the issue. The decision to reject the American offer raised the prospect that the Obama adminstration will cast its first ever veto in the U.N. Security Council.

AGENDA: Grinding America Down

The DVD with a chilling message

Ted Baehr, editor of Movieguide has called AGENDA: Grinding America Down "the most powerful expose of the communist, socialist, progressive attempt to take over America produced so far." It is the story of our illegitimate, Marxist president and his fellow travelers. It is the story of how America is being undermined through its educational system and popular culture. It is a chilling look at the reality of what has befallen our country.

The full video is available from WorldNetDaily, which in our opinion has done more than any  publication to expose the evil ones that now occupy  America's highest offices.  The following is a trailer:

What's Wrong with the West?

Is the West in decline because it has lost touch with its Christian roots?

The following is a chapter by Robert P. George and William L. Saunders from Exiting a Dead End Road: a GPS for Christians in Public Discourse, a new book published by Kairos Publications in Vienna, and edited by Gudrun and Martin Kugler. The book can be ordered here.  

The West has faced many challenges in the past, many turning points, from the Asiatic invasions of the Dark Ages to the dark ages of Adolph Hitler and Josef Stalin. And it faces one now -- the eclipse of its historical Christian identity.

In the past, when armies of aggression threatened our society, those threats were met with nerve and with steel. We pray God that steel will never be necessary again, but certainly it will require nerves of steel -- steely determination -- to meet what may be the greatest threat Christianity has faced in its history.

The threat is this: at just the moment when many Christians have lost self-confidence, ideologically doctrinaire secularists have launched a determined attack on all public vestiges of Christianity. They have chosen their moment well, but their attack need not succeed. If Christians will regain the confidence that comes from their Creed, they can arrest the assault being waged in the cause of secularist ideology. Courage was required in the past; it is required again.

Christians are well-equipped for this battle. Christianity enables man to use twin tools in engaging the world and its problems -- reason and faith. Other than the specially revealed truths of faith, all truths are accessible to unaided reason, and, thus, to all people of good will. When Christian citizens contend over issues of importance in the public square, they should be confident that they bring not a narrow sectarianism but an understanding based upon principles of reason -- natural justice, natural law -- in the interest of the common good. 

 

Read the rest of this entry >>

Homosexualists to Force Anglican Church Weddings in UK

After this legislation goes through the homosexualists will set about hounding every priest and vicar who dares to decline them 

From Catholic Online

By Father Dwight Longenecker

Father Dwight Longenecker

England's Daily Telegraph reports here that parliament is preparing legislation to remove the ban on same-sex civil unions being religious. Some years back when they began to allow same-sex civil unions, they made it clear that these ceremonies could not be held in religious premises and were not to include religious elements in any way.

But, of course, the homosexualists complained that this still contravened their civil rights and, because they were not allowed to be "married in church," they were being treated as second class citizens. So now, bowing to their demands, the lawmakers are to allow the same-sex union ceremonies to be religious and for religious leaders to make their premises available for these rituals.

No one will be forced to conduct such services or make their premises available for such service. Oh no, such a thing would never be forced on anyone. Not in modern Britain. No sir. That would never happen, now would it?

It just happens that the homosexualists in Britain are busy, on the other hand, suing anybody they can find who denies them their "rights" -- even to the point of setting them up. So this nice Christian couple who have been running a Bed and Breakfast in a seaside town in Cornwall for years and took joy in welcoming especially a Christian family clientele are being sued by a homosexual couple because they were refused a double room.

The allegations are that the homosexual men knew the stance the couple took (it was advertised on their website) and booked a room there on purpose to push their case. They went to court, and the Christian couple lost.

Anybody, therefore, who thinks that it will stop with permission for homosexuals to have their civil unions in church buildings with religious elements if they want to (but nobody will have to if they don't want to) is seriously deluded. After this legislation goes through, the homosexualists will set about hounding every priest and vicar who dares to decline them the opportunity to conduct their same-sex marriages, and take them to court.

Where will the Church of England stand on all this? The Church of England says they don't allow same-sex unions in church, but certain renegade Anglican vicars are defying both the law of their church and the law of the land to conduct same-sex unions in their churches. They get around it by calling it a "blessing," so Adam and Steve go to the registry office for their civil union, and then they tootle along to the parish church where Rev. Lav "blesses" their union. While there are many more vicars who do not conduct the services, a good number are in favor and many more 'don't really mind.'

We shouldn't be too smug about the Brits being any worse than we are. Because of their stronger national government, it is more nationwide, but in the USA there are plenty of states that already allow same-sex civil unions, and most of the mainstream liberal Protestant denominations are already well into same-sex "marriage." The attempts at lawsuits against people infringing homosexualists' "rights" are also gathering strength.

Get ready. 

 

 

Fr Dwight Longenecker is parish priest of Our Lady of the Rosary parish and chaplain to St Joseph's Catholic School in Greenville, South Carolina. Visit his blog and website at www.dwightlongenecker.com