Papal Year in 2010

Hi all ….. hope you are all enjoying this season?

We’ve come to the end of the new. World organizations and cooperate businesses are reviewing the year 2010. Kevin M. Clarke has reviewed the papal year for 2010. Here is the big news in the catholic world for 2010. I hope you enjoy this…..

Benedict XVI has faced his share of troubles, but has endured daunting challenges with remarkable resiliency. He enters the New Year perhaps all the stronger for his battles.
The Pope started his journey in Malta, an island upon which the Apostle Paul was shipwrecked; Portugal, where the Holy Father celebrated Mass on the anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady; Cyprus, where the Pope presented a special document ahead of the special synod of bishops on the Middle East; the United Kingdom, where the Pope beatified John Henry Cardinal Newman; and Spain, where the Holy Father himself made pilgrimage in to the "House of St. James".

The Church received six new saints in October. Australia received her first saint in Mary MacKillop, a nun who gave her life to the education of the nation's poor. Canada also received St. André Bessette of the Congregation of the Holy Cross; a simple brother known for his miraculous cures and deep mysticism and Blessed Newman was elevated to the ranks of the beatified in U.K
Documents and teachings

A new Council for the New Evangelization in the Roman Curia was created in September, That same month, the release of the apostolic exhortation "Verbum Domini" marked a significant moment in the Church's teaching on sacred Scripture and its role in the Church. "Verbum Domini" will become standard reading alongside Vatican II's "Dei Verbum" in classes of sacred Scripture in colleges and seminaries around the world for years to come. (If you are in the seminary the course is called VATICAN II)
Controversies and battles

2010 was not without its share of controversial stories. The sex abuse scandals continued to plague the Church, particularly in Ireland, leading to a type of "persecution" from within and giving the enemies of the Church plenty of room to attack. Nonetheless, the Pope met the sorrowful revelations with words of comfort for victims and multiple apologies on the one hand and forthright words of accountability on behalf of the Church on the other.

Media attacks upon the Pope reached its highest point in March, when the New York Times -- in bringing forward the case of Father Lawrence Murphy of Milwaukee -- thought they had unveiled the smoking gun that would finally link Cardinal Ratzinger with the sexual abuse scandals. Yet, despite the lengths the Times took to smear the Pope's name and disgrace the Church, no direct link to Cardinal Ratzinger could be established. Rather, Catholic commentators thoroughly exposed the errors and sloppiness of the Times' coverage.

The sad irony in the media attacks were noted by Archbishop Timothy Dolan during Holy Week at St. Patrick's Cathedral: "No one has been more vigorous in cleansing the Church of the effects of this sickening sin than the man we now call Benedict XVI."

In November, the Pope sparred with the leadership of communist China over the illegal ordination of a bishop. The Vatican and China had advanced in their relations in recent years, despite the lack of religious and civil rights for the country's inhabitants. But the new developments strained relations. (I WILL WRITE MORE ON THIS NEXT YEAR ; THE CATHOLIC CHURCH LOYAL TO ROME IN CHINA AND THAT ROYAL TO THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT)

Finally, the biggest news for me is the issue of condom use in Africa. ahead of the release of Light of the World (published by Ignatius Press), journalist Peter Seewald recounts an interview with the Pope, L'Osservatore Romano publish some comments from the Pope on the morality of condom use by male prostitutes in Africa. It was a big hit… to be honest, I have little to say here as this concern core catholic doctrine of sexual morality and the moral evil of contraception.

Following the regrettable episode, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith this Wednesday clarified that "the Holy Father was talking neither about conjugal morality nor about the moral norm concerning contraception," but rather about "the completely different case of prostitution."

originally review by Kevin M. Clarke from zenith.org.

Posted in: Catholic Church in africa