By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
The first rabbi ever to address a Synod of Bishops today praised the church?s commitment to dialogue with Jews, but he also issued a reminder of Jewish/Catholic tensions by indirectly criticizing the late Pope Pius XII, the wartime pope whose alleged silence during the Holocaust has long been a subject of controversy.
On Thursday, Benedict XVI will lead a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Pius XII in 1958.
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
By the standards of an institution often accused of lacking media savvy, the Vatican is engaged these days in an all-out communications blitz to promote the subject of the Synod of Bishops that runs Oct. 5-26: the Bible.
In conjunction with the opening of the synod, Italian television is broadcasting a round-the-clock marathon that will see the entire Bible read aloud, both Old and New Testaments from cover to cover, over the course of seven days and seven nights. While the broadcast is not a Vatican initiative, the Holy See nevertheless is serving up its most A-list ?talent? to ensure its success: Pope Benedict XVI kicked things off Sunday night by reading the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, and the Vatican?s Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, will bring the 138-hour broadcast to a close on Saturday with the last chapter of Revelation.
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
Already, one clear theme seems to be emerging at the Synod of Bishops on the Bible: the desire for a deeply spiritual way of reading Scripture, one that lies beyond both empty piety and parsing the text to death through historical and literary study.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec City, the relator of the synod, issued a strong call this morning for what he called ?spiritual exegesis? of the Bible, premised not just on cognitive understanding but, above all, on personal faith and commitment.
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
It sounds suspiciously like a joke in search of a punch-line: ?The pope, a rabbi and a Jesuit walk into a bar.? Change the word ?bar? to ?synod hall,? however, and it's no joke, but rather the agenda for Monday afternoon?s session of the Synod of Bishops on the Bible, in what promises to be among the early highlights of the three-week event.
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
By the standards of a church with over 2,000 years of history, the Synod of Bishops was essentially born yesterday. It was founded in 1965 by Pope Paul VI at the close of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), as a means of giving bishops around the world a voice in the governance of the universal church.
Since the synod is a relatively recent arrival, it?s probably not surprising that it continues to break new ground. Even so, the edition which meets Oct. 5-26 in Rome, with the theme of ?The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church,? is distinctive for at least ten ?firsts? it will occasion:
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
Opening the Synod of Bishops on the Bible this morning, Pope Benedict XVI urged the bishops gathered in Rome for the next three weeks to think big -- asking them to ponder how the Bible can fuel renewal "from the family to schools, culture, work, free time and other sectors of society and our lives.?
The clear hint was that the pope does not want this synod to be primarily an inward-directed affair, concerned with the role of the Bible in internal church affairs, but rather one with a much broader horizon.
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Perhaps the most prominent Catholic backer of the presidential aspirations of Barak Obama today predicted warm U.S./Vatican relations under an Obama administration, arguing that it would enable new partnerships built around the church?s social teachings.
Douglas Kmiec, former legal counsel for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, also said that while he has given ?no thought? to the prospect of serving as Obama?s ambassador to the Vatican, he would ?never rule anything out.?
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
For an institution as deeply anchored in tradition as the Catholic church, debates over the past inevitably shape the present ? because how history is remembered often drives how today?s challenges are perceived.
That point was illustrated afresh on Saturday, Sept. 20, which marked the 138th anniversary of the papacy?s loss of temporal power. On that day, Republican forces under King Emmanuel II of Italy breached Porta Pia, one of the gates of Rome, and quickly overwhelmed what was left of the papal armies. That moment in 1870 marked the collapse of the Papal States and the unification of Italy under a civil power.
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
For the Vatican press corps, Pope Benedict XVI?s Sept. 12-15 trip to France was an historic occasion, entirely apart from anything the pope said or did. As it happened, the four-day voyage marked the final papal trip for the legendary Italian vaticanista Luigi Accattoli of Corriere della Sera, Italy?s daily paper of record.
It was the 95th and last papal trip for Accattoli, who has been with Corriere since 1981. He turns 65 in December, and under that paper's fairly rigid policies, he?s obligated to retire.
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
By conventional standards, Jesus? mother is not a major figure in the New Testament. Her name appears barely a dozen times; famously, Mary is mentioned more often in the Qur?an than in the Christian Bible. Yet despite that relatively low profile, few figures in Scripture have been the subject of greater controversy.
For some Protestants, Mary has long loomed as a symbol of Catholicism?s penchant for ?adding? to the gospel, in this case an almost blasphemous level of devotion to a mere human being. For some feminists, veneration of Mary as both virgin and mother sets an impossible standard for women, thereby perpetuating male dominance. For many secularists, the body of miraculous lore surrounding Mary, especially her reported apparitions in various parts of the world, strains credibility in a special way.