Word: vatican
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...What's more, after his return to Rome, word came over the weekend that Benedict's pick to take over the Vatican office for the clergy, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, had opened the door to a future discussion on celibacy in the priesthood. This came just weeks after the Pope held a meeting with Vatican cardinals that explicitly reaffirmed the Roman Church's longstanding ban on married clergy...
...Gestures: The gradual reversal over the past week of Benedict's original opposition (as a Cardinal in 2004) to Turkey's eventual entry into the European Union - alluded to both by Vatican officials and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan - was symbolically sealed like a gift on Thursday with the Pope's joint declaration with the Orthodox Patriarch that referred "positively" to European Union expansion. Notably the two Christian leaders cited the singular priority of religious freedom for any joining E.U. members...
Thankfully, this ecumenism is not limited to a strictly religious arena, for politics ought to go hand in hand with spiritual dialogue. Though the Vatican has adamantly claimed that this trip had no political overtones, the mildly Islamic government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan desperately needs a political hand for Turkey’s bid to enter the European Union. And true enough, Benedict landed at the political heart of the Turkish Republic, Ankara, before going to Istanbul today. Turkey can only benefit from the Pope’s visit...
...Turkey closed the school in 1971 in line with strict secular laws that prohibit private religious higher education. Priests are currently trained in the U.S. and Greece. "Sure we can train priests elsewhere," says Karioutsos, "You can train a Catholic priest anywhere in the world, but training at the Vatican is completely different. We have a strong spiritual and historic connection here...
...contention between Turkey and the Orthodox community is Ankara's refusal to recognise the patriarch as ecumenical, meaning head of the Orthodox Christian community worldwide. Turkey believes acknowledging this would be one step towards the patriarchate eventually demanding some form of autonomy on its territory, much like the Vatican. "The title ecumenical has accompanied the Patriarch for 15 centuries, it's not a 20th century invention," says Archbishop Demetrios of America. "It refers to a spiritual function...