La verdad sobre Asís. Un inédito de Benedicto XVI - por Sandro Magister

In Chiesa.espressonline.it

"Haré de todo para que sea imposible una interpretación sincretista o relativista del evento". En una carta del Papa a un pastor luterano el verdadero por qué de la convocatoria al encuentro

ROMA, 26 de octubre de 2011 – Lo que sigue es el extracto de una carta escrita por Benedicto XVI el 4 de marzo de 2011 al pastor luterano alemán Peter Beyerhaus, su amigo desde hace mucho tiempo, que le había manifestado sus temores por la nueva convocatoria de la jornada de Asís:

"Comprendo muy bien – escribe el Papa – su preocupación respecto a la participación en el encuentro de Asís. Pero esta conmemoración debía ser festejada de todos modos y, después de todo, me pareció lo mejor ir personalmente, para poder probar de ese modo determinar la dirección de todo el evento. Pero haré de todo para que sea imposible una interpretación sincretista o relativista del evento, y para que quede firme que siempre creeré y confesaré lo que había reclamado a la atención de la Iglesia con la 'Dominus Iesus'”.

Éste es el original alemán del pasaje de la carta:

"Ihre Sorge angesichts meiner Teilnahme an dem Assisi-Jubiläum verstehe ich sehr gut. Aber dieses Gedenken mußte auf jeden Fall gefeiert werden, und nach allem Überlegen erschien es mir als das Beste, wenn ich selbst dort hingehe und damit versuchen kann, die Richtung des Ganzen zu bestimmen. Jedenfalls werde ich alles tun, damit eine synkretistische oder relativistische Auslegung des Vorgangs unmöglich wird und klar bleibt, daß ich weiterhin das glaube und bekenne, was ich als Schreiben 'Dominus Jesus' der Kirche in Erinnerung gerufen hatte".

Este texto inédito del papa Joseph Ratzinger se hizo público el pasado 1 de octubre, con la autorización del destinatario de la carta, el pastor Beyerhaus, al comienzo de un congreso organizado en Roma por la asociación "Catholica Spes" sobre el significado de la convocatoria de Asís.

Y anteriormente el mismo Beyerhaus lo había insinuado en una entrevista concedida al diario alemán "Kirchliche Umschau", en el mes de abril pasado.

Pero la cuestión ha pasado desapercibida. Sólo en la vigilia del encuentro del 27 de octubre ha sido retomada y vuelta a difundir por algunos sitios tradicionalistas.

En el congreso había tomado la palabra el cardenal Raymond Leo Burke, prefecto del Tribunal Supremo de la Signatura Apostólica, quien dijo entre otras cosas:

"No son pocos los riesgos que un encuentro de este tipo puede suscitar respecto a la comunicación mediática masiva del acontecimiento del que, como es claro, el pontífice es bien consciente. Los medios de comunicación masivos dirán, aunque solamente con las imágenes, que todas las religiones se han reunido para orar a Dios por la paz. Un cristiano poco formado en la fe puede extraer la conclusión gravemente errónea que una religión vale tanto como la otra y que Jesucristo es uno de los tantos mediadores para la salvación".

The Truth about Assisi. Never-Before-Seen Words from Benedict XVI - by Sandro Magister

In Chiesa.espressonline.it

"I will do everything I can to make a syncretistic or relativistic interpretation of the event impossible." In a letter from the pope to a Lutheran pastor, the real reason for the convocation of the encounter

ROME, October 26, 2011 – The following is an extract from a letter written by Benedict XVI on March 4, 2011 to Lutheran pastor Peter Beyerhaus, a longtime friend who had told him about his fears over the new convocation of the day of Assisi:

"I understand very well," the pope writes, "your concern about participating in the encounter of Assisi. But this commemoration would have been celebrated in any case, and, in the end, it seemed to me the best thing to go there personally, in order to try to determine the overall direction. Nonetheless, I will do everything I can to make a syncretistic or relativistic interpretation of the event impossible, and to make it clear that I will always believe and confess what I had called the Church's attention to with 'Dominus Iesus'."

This is the original German of the passage from the letter:

"Ihre Sorge angesichts meiner Teilnahme an dem Assisi-Jubiläum verstehe ich sehr gut. Aber dieses Gedenken mußte auf jeden Fall gefeiert werden, und nach allem Überlegen erschien es mir als das Beste, wenn ich selbst dort hingehe und damit versuchen kann, die Richtung des Ganzen zu bestimmen. Jedenfalls werde ich alles tun, damit eine synkretistische oder relativistische Auslegung des Vorgangs unmöglich wird und klar bleibt, daß ich weiterhin das glaube und bekenne, was ich als Schreiben 'Dominus Jesus' der Kirche in Erinnerung gerufen hatte."

These never-before-seen words from pope Joseph Ratzinger were made public last October 1, with the authorization of the recipient of the letter, Pastor Beyerhaus, at the beginning of a conference organized in Rome by the association "Catholica Spes" on the meaning of the encounter in Assisi.

And previously, Beyerhaus had referred to it in an interview with the German newspaper "Kirchliche Umschau" last April.

But the matter went unnoticed. Only on the eve of the October 27 encounter was it revisited and reissued by a few traditionalist websites.

One of the speakers at the conference was Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, prefect of the supreme tribunal of the apostolic signatura, who said among other things:

"There are a number of dangers that such an encounter could bring in terms of the mass media communication of the event, of which – as it is clear – the pontiff is well aware. The means of mass media communication will say, even with the images alone, that all religions have come together to ask God for peace. A poorly formed Christian could draw from this the gravely mistaken conclusion that one religion is as good as another, and that Jesus Christ is one of the many mediators of salvation."

A Catholic manifesto in support of the Pope Assisi III

by Alberto Carosa

In Vatican Insider

A mayor risk for the upcoming Assisi gathering in late October, as shown in the current heated and raging debate, is for the event to be manipulated by a number of the media and then presented in a way poles apart from the Pope’s very intentions.

In a communiqué by the Holy See press office dated 2 April 2011 and in subsequent please, the Holy Father asked for the faithful to support him, both spiritually and with their presence there, in this ideal pilgrimage in the city of Saint Francis.

During a relevant symposium in Rome on October 1^st, 2011, don Mauro Gagliardi, a young theologian and professor attached to the Pontifical university “Regina Apostolorum” who is also consultor in the Vatican for the office of the Papal liturgical celebrations and the Congregation for Divine Worship and Disciplines of Sacrament, decided to heed the Pope’s call in the most concrete and practical way: a manifesto setting the record straight with regard to the true interpretation key of the Assisi initiative in full compliance with the will of the Holy Father. A manifesto that should obviously be circulated/printed/posted as widely as possible in any for of media around the world.

“Holy Father, in obedience to your request, we are preparing ourselves in prayer for the forthcoming World Day of Prayer for Peace, due to be celebrated twenty-five years after its first edition, which was promoted by Your predecessor, Blessed John Paul II.

We are prepare ourselves to this day with a spirit of faith, in the double relevance of this virtue: with personal faith in the Lord, who guides His Church through the work of her legitimate pastors, and with faith in the truth that God revealed in Christ for our salvation. It’s in the light of this faith that we value the Assisi Day and accompany you in your pilgrimage of peace.

We are also preparing in a spirit of charity, that is with true love towards those religious men who will gather in Assisi under Your presidency. Following the teachings of Blessed John Paul II, let us reach out with charity to them, proclaiming with love and frankness our firm conviction of faith that Jesus Christ is the only Savior of the world and that true peace is only in Him.

Together with you, Holy Father, we are meeting our non Christian brothers to confirm their sound aspirations and their legitimate desire for peace, which they manifest through the prayers proper of their own religions. If this prayer is not and cannot be ours, if it is not therefore possible to pray together; and if we Christians, in the light of the word of truth of the Gospel, identify errors and gaps in their religions, nevertheless we appreciate the sincere search of God and the human prayer, beseeching for the Almighty to give the world justice and peace.

Thus avoiding any hint of syncretism or relativist interpretation, as if the Day of Assisi should involve a surrender of Christianity in so far as its profession of absoluteness and truth is concerned, we support your efforts, Holy Father, for every single human being to be brought closer to the mystery of Christ the Lord. Together with you, Your Holiness, we repeat and announce that there is no other name given among men by which they can find salvation except in the Name of Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, yesterday, today and forever”.