Wanna Email the Pope?

Knock yourself out! :-) Here's his email address:

benedictxvi@vatican.va

No mention yet of how many emails he's received since the address went out (two days ago, I think), but I can imagine it's quite a bit! :-)

hmmm . . . now we just need to wait for Pope Benedict's blog! :-)

***EDIT***
Zenit news service reports:

Date: 2005-04-22
60,000 Send E-mails to Benedict XVI
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 22, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Of the 60,000 messages that Benedict XVI has received in less than 48 hours, more than half -- 31,000 -- were written in English. The next biggest language group were in Italian (13,000) and Spanish (6,000). The messages, sent to benedictxvi@vatican.va and other similar addresses, were also written in German, Portuguese and French. Striking among the messages are some from nonbelievers who request prayers. Others are from Catholics who assure their prayers and thank the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger for having accepted the mission to be Pope. There are also messages from young people, who wish him "all the best."

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo

Vegetarian Christians

OK - so I'm finally getting around to talking about vegetarians . . . and I find that I don't really know much about the subject, and that it really isn't something I think I'll get too passionate about one way or the other. Having said that, I do have a few thoughts on the subject:

1. We can't look to Jesus and say "we should eat only meat" or "we should eat only vegetables." The Gospels really don't go into Jesus' dietary requirements, and where they do there is no subtext that says "only eat what Jesus ate." . . . Though as I say this, I'm envisioning a whole new campaign: WWJE: What Would Jesus Eat? :-)

2. The few dietary norms found in the rest of the New Testament are prescriptive: drink a little wine at night to aid digestion, etc. The one place where it talks about eating/not eating meat, the discussion is in the context of eating meat offered to idols/false gods. A dietary commandment it is not :-)

3. I perused PETA's website and supplementary materials. I know they don't have the most sterling reputation, but I was disturbed at what I learned about animal treatment, especially chickens, pigs and cows (our main sources of meat here in the US). I learned that many of them are abused, neglected, and in conditions that are less than sanitary and less than charitable. Even though I don't see animals as "other humans," I think the treatment of many of them, in the single-minded pursuit of greater profit margins, is inexcusable. The slight nudge that I may make because of that is to look for more products that come from well-treated animals (free range chickens and eggs, for example) to help support those businesses that don't mistreat their animals. The cost is a bit more (I've discovered that free-range eggs cost twice as much as normal eggs!), but my conscience rests a bit easier. :-)

4. After perusing PETA's website and other vegan web sites, it almost seems like becoming a vegetarian is a conversion to another faith - some of the web sites were very . . . devotional in their tone and approach to the subject of diet. While I acknowledge that eating more grains and veggies is good, I still think that as omnivores we are allowed the occasional BBQ. :-)

So my conclusion? Eat more veggies, fruits and grains, and maybe try to look at where your meat is coming from. But having to be meatless? Not a fundamental Christian practice . . . and thank God for that! - I do love my fajitas! :-)

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo

Pope Benedict XVI

The collective Catholic world shouted in joyful exultation as we received the 265th pope - Pope Benedict XVI (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger). :-)

I posted this on a mailing list I belong to: I reproduce it here as a means of answering questions about what a pope does:

I'll quote this straight from "The Incredible Book of Vatican Facts and Papal Curiosities" by Nino Lo Bello. It doesn't quite answer your question, but it does give some good background:

What happens to a man when he becomes pope?

• he assumes a new name and loses most of the civil ties that bind him to his country
• he finds his daily life regulated - he has his own confessor - who must be a Jesuit priest - who visits the Vatican once a week to listen to the Pope's confession [of his sins]
• he finds that in theory he has full power over the Roman Catholic Church and every decree requires his approval. He can obey or ignore precedent. He can set aside tradition, write or rewrite constitutions, proclaim dogmas on his own and change disciplines without consultation. Although on certain matters, the pope is supposed to seek counsel and advice from the College of Cardinals, he is empowered to make up his own mind and take action. On matters of high policy, he may do as John XXIII did when, without calling in the curia cardinals for their views, he decided to go ahead with the Ecumenical Council.
• he finds that he can be judged by no man. He is tantamount to a sovereign who cannot be brought to court.

The Pope can do the following:

• approve or sanction or suppress religious orders
• grant indulgences
• beatify or canonize saints
• appoint bishops and name cardinals
• erect, administer, alter, or suppress bishoprics
• assign an auxiliary bishop to one who is incapacitated
• found and legislate for papal universities
• issue liturgical books
• administer the temporal goods of ecclesiastical foundations
• erect and govern missions dependent on the Holy See
• call, preside over, and adjourn ecumenical councils
• regulate holy days and Catholic feasts
• introduce new rites and abrogate old ones
• issue ex cathedra decretals on belief
• introduce or alter or suppress Church laws on any subject
• defend doctrine against heresies
• relax oaths and vows for members of religious orders who want to return to secular life
• give matrimonial dispensations
• act as a court
• establish rules of judicial procedure
• establish censures or punishments
• organize courts for hearing cases

One more interesting tidbit from the same book:

• the Pope does not draw a salary & does not have a private bank account

My shorter answer:
The pope's day to day activities include

• keeping up with world news (every morning he receives a synopsis from a dozen major world newspapers on world news)
• hosting audiences (the pope has general and private audiences almost every weekday while at the Vatican)
• praying (the pope will celebrate Mass daily, either in his private chapel, in the Basilica, or both; he will also spend several hours in prayer, meditation, and scripture reading)
• governing the worldwide Catholic Church (he has several bureaucratic bodies that help him administer the Church, regional Bishop's conferences, as well as administrative commissions, but he is still fundamentally the CEO of the Catholic Church)

Hope that helps! :-)

As to the Pope's title . . . the office of Pope has many titles attached to it - some of the other ones (which I'll prob be raked over the coals for!) are:

• Bishop of Rome
• Successor of the Prince of Apostles
• Vicar of Jesus Christ
• Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church
• Servant of the Servants of God [my personal favorite!]
• Patriarch of the West
• Primate of Italy
• Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province
• Sovereign of the State of Vatican City

Concerning the title Vicar of Jesus Christ . . .

The title is in reference to the sacramental theology of the Catholic Church. (Here using the word sacrament to mean something visible/tangible which both represents and points to something invisible/intangible). We see Christ as the Primordial Sacrament of God - Jesus was a visible/tangible person that both represented and pointed to the invisible/intangible God. Once Christ ascended back to heaven, the Church became the sacrament of Jesus - the Church became the visible/tangible presence of the invisible/intangible Christ. Each person then, in a certain sense, becomes a sacrament of Jesus (for each person taken together makes up the Body of Christ on earth now) - we are the hands and feet of God on earth. The title points to that universal priesthood of every believer, but in a special way is applied to the Pope as the successor to Peter and the first apostles - in an ordained fashion, he is the representative of the Church, hence he is the representative of Jesus on this earth. No pope, and certainly no church teaching, would look to the pope as *the* presence of Christ on earth, but we do accord him the special title of being one who is "first among equals" - the leader of the worldwide catholic church which is the presence of Jesus Christ on this planet until he comes again in his glory.

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo

Prayer Request

I haven't updated in over a week - sorry :-(

I do, however, have a quick prayer request and a brief musing. Two of my younger brothers (Eric and Rick, for those that know them) were in two separate car accidents in different parts of the world at the same time.

Weird.

The Story
Eric wasn't injured at all (it was a 5 mph collision), but he was driving home from a dealership, having just purchased a 2004 vehicle (and being very proud of his first official car purchase, too). They had this extremely low-speed collision as they were driving off from a red light; it was raining heavily, and his friends car skidded/hydroplaned (sp) over to the right and scraped against my brothers car. The door where his friends' car bumped into him is now unusable, but it's already being taken care of by the insurance. Again, neither one was hurt, but I can imagine I would be really hurt (emotionally / spiritually / etc.) if the car I had just driven off the lot was already in need of cosmetic surgery.

Rick was in his truck (also relatively new - purchased several months ago) with his fiancee. They were hit on the side; Rick went to the emergency room because of pain in his abdomen - his fiancee declined the emergency room. My brother was told he had been been bruised in his abdominal area, but thankfully there were no serious internal injuries - he'll just be really sore and swollen for a while. His fiancee has a doctor's appointment this morning to make sure she's OK.

The Prayer Request
So please pray / meditate / send good vibrational energies / perform rituals for my two brothers and one future sister-in-law.

The Musing
So . . . I'm feeling kinda bummed out this morning. Part of it is that I stayed up later than usual, waiting for news and passing on news as I got it. But part of it is just the . . . I don't know . . . the injustice, the unfairness of it all. Here are two really good guys, and I don't say that just because they're related to me. I like them as people. Both are in the military, with Rick having served time out in the Middle East and Eric hoping to go there soon. Rick and his fiancee are planning on getting married this Friday - now I'm wondering how that'll go, especially because he's in a lot of pain and she hasn't gotten checked yet for any injuries that may not have been apparent last night.

It just seems so random . . .

And yeah, I'm rambling a bit, and I'm a bit shook up because I could have easily, if circumstances had been just a wee bit different, lost two people that I care deeply about. I was worried about them . . . I'm still worried about them, hoping that no complications arise this week or next week because of the accidents . . . worried that they'll have enough money to cover the expenses of medical care and car repair . . . worried because they're my little brothers and I'm so far away from them that I can't go and hug them and just give them my presence and whatever comfort they need that I can give.

So I guess it's a prayer request for me, too. :-)

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo

Another Try for Catholicism :-)

I found another on-line quiz, this one strictly for Christian denominations. I took it, and this time I came out much more Catholic! :-)

My list from there is:
1) Eastern Orthodox
2) Roman Catholic
3) Evangelical Lutheran
4) Episcopal/Anglican
5) Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
6) Methodist/Wesleyan Church
7) Seventh-Day Adventist
8) Mormonism
9) Unitarian Universalism
10) Unity Church

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo (who's still trying to convince everyone that he really is Roman Catholic!) :-)

Pope John Paul II

Just a quick update in the midst of my busyness . . .

I pray for the soul of our holy Father Pope John Paul II. I was privileged to meet him personally my senior year in college (1994). I was privileged to celebrate Mass in his private chapel with about 30 other people present. And I was privileged to grow up as a Catholic while he served as the Servant of the servants of God.

I mourn him as a man who had a deep and abiding devotion to our God, to our Lord, and to the Church entrusted to his care and guidance. I mourn him as a man who was devoted to the youth and young people of this world. I mourn him as a man who, in his last days, became a living homily for those who are ill, sick, unable to take care of themselves, suffering, and dying. I mourn him as my spiritual leader and the temporal leader of the worldwide Catholic church.

But most of all I mourn him because, in the brief week that I spent in the Vatican, I had to acknowledge him as a man of great personal holiness. Every time that I was in his presence I could feel the peaceful, passionate, prayerful devotion for our crucified and risen Lord.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon him.

May he rest in peace.
Amen.

May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.
Amen.

Blessings & Peace,
Hugo