Pope Asks for More Aid to World's Poor.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI signed his latest encyclical Monday, a text on ways to make globalization more attentive to meeting the needs of the poor amid the worldwide financial crisis.

The document, entitled "Charity in Truth," is expected to be published soon.

The pope has said his third encyclical will outline the goals and values that the faithful must defend to ensure solidarity among all peoples.

Benedict has frequently spoken out on the financial crisis, urging leaders to ensure the world's poor don't end up bearing the brunt of the downturn even though they are not responsible for it. He has said the downturn shows the need to rethink the whole global financial system.

The pontiff announced he had signed the document Monday, a major Catholic feast day, after celebrating a Mass during which he told new archbishops they must be models for the faithful, guiding them and protecting them as shepherds care for their flock.

Thirty-four new archbishops, including the new archbishop of New York, Monsignor Timothy Dolan, received the pallium, a band of white wool decorated with black crosses that is a sign of pastoral authority and a symbol of the archbishops' bond with the pope.

Benedict said the archbishops should be like Christ "who as a good shepherd carried on his back humanity — the lost sheep — to bring them home."

Benedict has been working on "Caritas in veritate," as the encyclical is known in Latin, since 2007 but held back on issuing it so that he could update it to reflect the global economic crisis.

An encyclical is the most authoritative document a pope can issue. Benedict has written two in his four years as pope: "God is Love" in 2006 and "Saved by Hope" in 2007.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/a...tican_pope
[Edited 6/30/09 11:20am]

I call the Pope the Holy Father and the thread gets a response because people don't like that is one of his honorific titles. I post a thread where he asks for the poor to receive more attention from the wealthy and not one response?

Question: The Vatican is rich. Why don't they help contribute some money to the poor.

Edmonton, AB - - If you're happy and you know it your hands, if you're happy and you know it do a

luv4u said:

Question: The Vatican is rich. Why don't they help contribute some money to the poor.

1. "The Catholic Church has pots of money."

Caritas Internationalis is funded by fees from national members and from private donations. Caritas members raise their money mostly from the support of the Catholic community. Our budget is small compared to the work we do. All our members are committed to good stewardship.

2. "Caritas wastes all its money on bureaucracy."

All our members have a commitment to keeping costs down to a minimum while at the same time operating at the highest standards of professionalism. Because we are part of the local communities where we work, we pay local salaries and rates. Our members who work internationally pledge to only spend around 10 percent on admin.

3. "Caritas only helps Christians."

Caritas works without regard to religion, gender, or ethnicity. We help feed 300,000 people in Darfur where Islam is the predominate religion. Caritas Egypt has 1000 staff, over 99 percent of whom are not Christian. Caritas works in Chechnya, Somalia, India, the Holy Land, Iran, and so on.

4. "Poor people are lazy."

Caritas does not believe in handouts but hand-ups. Poor people can’t afford to be lazy. They’re working hard to survive and give their families a chance. They need our solidarity to be able to transform their own lives.

5. "Caritas is about converting people to Christianity."

Caritas is committed to the prophetic message of the Gospels, but that does not mean trying to convert people. It means giving support to communities whatever their religion. We wouldn’t be allowed to work where we do if our mission was anything else.

6. "Aid money goes to corrupt leaders."

Caritas money goes directly to the beneficiaries and not through national governments. Caritas takes part in building up civil society to hold corrupt government officials to account.

7. "Campaigning for change is pointless."

Look at some of the campaigns we’ve worked on. The anti-landmines campaign brought in a ban, the Jubilee Debt Campaign wiped off millions of dollars of unpayable debt, and the Make Poverty History campaign increased aid flows by billions of dollars.

8. "Caritas is separate from the Catholic Church."

Caritas is an expression of the Church’s social work. It’s as much part of the Church as going to Mass on Sunday, priests, bishops, and the Catholic communities they serve. All our members work with the support of the local bishops and Caritas Internationalis is recognised by the Vatican.

9. "The Catholic Church is part of the problem not part of the solution for HIV and AIDS."

Church and Caritas organisations provide 25 percent of the care to people living with HIV in Africa. Caritas disseminates accurate information, discourages stigma, and encourages compassion. Caritas advocates for better laws to give access for all to care, treatment, support and education.

10. "Aid does not do any good."

Tell that to the 24 million people who receive healthcare, education, have access to cleaner water, or those who get food, shelter, clothing, and compassion when disaster strikes, thanks to people supporting Caritas.

http://www.caritas.org/index.html

http://www.vatican.va/rom...04_en.html

Why don't they melt down some of that gold that they have all over the place at vac city?

lazycrockett said:

ehuffnsd said:

Edmonton, AB - - If you're happy and you know it your hands, if you're happy and you know it do a

A starving child looking at a pretty picture doesn't fill his/her stomach. just sayin.

Then again as religious as I am, which is nil, I'll leave you in peace.

luv4u said:

lazycrockett said:

Edmonton, AB - - If you're happy and you know it your hands, if you're happy and you know it do a

lazycrockett said:

There are many religions who make their contribution helping the worlds poor too.

Edmonton, AB - - If you're happy and you know it your hands, if you're happy and you know it do a

luv4u said:

ehuffnsd said:

Edmonton, AB - - If you're happy and you know it your hands, if you're happy and you know it do a

ehuffnsd said:

Dancelot said:

The only beneficial and ultimately sustaianble form of charity the poor should get is contraception and abortions. Thus being given the self determination to limit the amount of soon to be starving mouths they bring into existence. Feeding and housing them only offers a safety net to breed more and the problem only increases.

Probably not a popular position with old popey pants.

ehuffnsd said:

I am an ex-Catholic,

If the Pope lived more like Mother Theresa his plea might have more weight.

When Mother Theresa was given a limo by Pope John Paul II she turned right around and sold it. People may not always have agreed with her views on the Virgin Mary, abortion etc but they respected her integrity.

When a person claims to be a Christian and looks like they try to emulate Christ in lifestyle their words seem more heartfelt.

I am now studying with a different Christian denomination and can go on and on about the Catholic Church both negatively and possitively.

My point is they desperately need another Mother Theresa as a spokesperson if they want to truely be heard, respected,and stop shrinking and start growing.

dollwoman said:

I take it he is speaking to catholics, because he can claim no authority over others, right? So my guess what he is saying to his followers is to get out there and help poor people somehow, and if that is too much work, put more in the poor box. I'm sure we all on this forum help others in one way or another. He speaks of financial system problems and it's possible his bookkeeper has been talking to him. All Charities have administration costs, some more than others, it can actually be a good business if one is at the top of the administration. I don't think the hat is a good idea though, special garments made of special stuff is pompous.

rodman2 said:

ehuffnsd said:

rodman2 said:

ehuffnsd said:

VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI has urged G-8 leaders meeting in Italy next week to rewrite global financial rules and defend the world's poor from the effects of the economic downturn, the Vatican said Saturday.

In a letter to Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who will chair the summit, Benedict appealed to leaders to "listen to the voice of Africa and of the countries that are less developed economically."

Benedict said the economic crisis means there is a "real risk not only that hopes to emerge from extreme poverty will be dashed, but that populations that so far have benefited from a minimum of material well-being will fall into poverty."

The pope called on the leaders to "reform the international financial architecture" to avoid the speculative operations blamed for the crisis and ensure public and private credit is made available for economic development and job creation, especially in poor regions.

He also urged leaders to improve access to education and jobs, and to work to create a "fair international trade system" by completing the stalled Doha round of world trade talks.

The pope has frequently spoken out on the crisis, urging leaders to rethink the global financial system and ensure the world's poor don't end up bearing the brunt of the downturn, even though they are not responsible for it.

In the letter published Saturday by the Vatican, Benedict recalled that such issues are also dealt with in his latest encyclical, which outlines ways make globalization more attentive to meeting the needs of the poor amid the crisis.

The document, the most authoritative a pope can issue, was signed last week and is expected to be published Tuesday, on the eve of the G-8 summit.

Some of the participants will visit the Vatican, including U.S. President Barack Obama who will have his first meeting with Benedict on Friday.

In his letter to Berlusconi, Benedict also wrote that all nations must be included on key decisions and multilateralism must be strengthened not only in the economic field but also on issues including security, disarmament, heath and the environment protection.

"All needs must be taken into careful consideration, not only those of the most important nations or of those with greater economic success," he wrote in the letter dated July 1. "Only this can make such decisions truly applicable and sustainable in time."

Leaders from the Group of Eight industrialized nations and other countries will meet for three days starting Wednesday in the quake-hit city of L'Aquila.

The summit, originally set to take place in the posh Sardinian island of La Maddalena, was moved to the mountain town to highlight the population's plight after the area was hit by a devastating earthquake in April.

Benedict praised Berlusconi's decision to move the summit, saying that such a gesture, as well as the national and international relief efforts in the quake zone, could serve as an example for how the world's problems should be tackled.

"This supportive mobilization could serve as an invitation to the members of the G-8 and the governments and peoples of the world to face the current challenges united," Benedict wrote in the letter.

NewSystem said: