_WORLD WATCH______________________________
____________________ THE VATICAN ________________

Archives to open
Ahead of schedule
The Vatican archives relating to relations with Germany during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI, from 1922 to 1939, will be opened by the beginning of next year.

Vatican archivists have released a statement saying that they will open the archives ahead of schedule in response to an “extraordinary” request from Pope John Paul II. The papal request, they added, was intended “to put an end to unjust and thoughtless speculation.”

Pope John Paul had previously ordered the opening of all archives for the period up to 1922: the end of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XV. As a long-standing matter of policy, the Vatican opens archives very slowly, to protect the confidentiality of documents that might involve living persons. The complete archives for the pontificate of Pius XI are not currently scheduled to become available to the public until 2005.

Pope John Paul has also asked for extra efforts to allow access to the Vatican archives concerning relations with Germany under Pope Pius XII (1939-1958), to those covering the Vatican’s handling of prisoners of war after World War II.

Canonization dates set
Rome braces for huge crowds
The Vatican has announced the dates for the canonization of Padre Pio, Msgr. Josemaría Escrivá, and Juan Diego, among others.

Pope John Paul will travel to Mexico in July for the canonization of Juan Diego, and continue on to Guatemala for the canonization of that country’s first recognized saint the following day. At a meeting of the ordinary consistory (the cardinals present in Rome) on February 26, Pope John Paul II formally approved the canonization of nine people, and the dates for the ceremonies.

• Padre Pio (1887-1968), the famous Capuchin monk, will be canonized in Rome on June 16.
• Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer (1902-1975), the founder of Opus Dei, will be canonized in Rome on October 6.
• Juan Diego Cuauhtlaloatzin (1474-1548), the Mexican Indian to whom the Virgin Mary appeared at Guadalupe in 1531, will be canonized July 30. The Pope will travel to Mexico after the World Youth Day celebration in Toronto.
• Pedro de San José de Betancur (1619-1667), the first Guatemalan native ever to be canonized, will be raised to the altars at a ceremony the following day, July 31, in Guatemala City.

Rome will be bracing to receive huge crowds for the canonizations of both Padre Pio and Msgr. Escrivá. Several hundred thousand pilgrims flocked to the city for their beatification ceremonies, in 1999 and 1992, respectively. Planning for the canonization of Padre Pio is already well advanced. Those plans call for the temporary installation of large-screen video displays outside the basilica of St. John Lateran, and possibly at the fields of Tor Vergata (the site of World Youth Day in 2000), to accommodate the many pilgrims who will not be able to find a place in St. Peter’s Square. The organizers also plan to place video screens along the Via della Conciliazione, running from St. Peter’s Square down to the banks of the Tiber River, for the overflow crowd there.

Visitors may already find it difficult to arrange for lodging in Rome during the days immediately before and after the event. Organizers admit that as rumors of the canonization date spread, thousands of rooms were reserved—even before the formal announcement.

Undermining democracy
Abortion points toward totalitarianism
Pope John Paul II has issued a stern warning that the acceptance of legal abortion undermines the basis for democracy and human rights.

In an address to the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Holy Father called attention to the “false interpretation of human rights” that could cause democratic governments to lapse into “a form of what amounts to totalitarianism.”

The Pope’s speech was dedicated to the understanding of natural law, and the importance of recovering that understanding today. He said that the acceptance of natural law is particularly crucial at a time when many international documents distinguish between a “human being” and a “human person.” Such a distinction, he argued, “is an artificial one, without scientific or philosophical foundation.”

Nevertheless, on the basis of that artificial distinction, governments might deny human rights to some individuals, the Pontiff said. He took note of the governments which refuse to acknowledge the unborn child as a human person, and observed that if the government can deny human rights to some human beings, the very nature of inalienable rights is attacked.

The acceptance of natural law and natural rights, the Pope continued, provides a solid and objective basis for the defense of human dignity. And he added: “Only on that basis will it be possible to establish any true dialogue and authentic collaboration among believers and non-believers.”

Among the particular problems of contemporary thought which Christians must address, Pope John Paul mentioned “the supposed conflict between freedom and nature.” He made the point that all Christians should be prepared to explain the basis for natural law as a means of recognizing authentic freedom.

No homosexuals ordained?
Papal spokesman calls for caution
In a provocative interview with an American newspaper, the chief spokesman for the Holy See has indicated that the Church must respond to a growing pedophilia scandal by ceasing to ordain men with homosexual inclinations.

In an interview published on March 3 by the New York Times, Joaquin Navarro-Valls said: “People with these inclinations just cannot be ordained.” The director of the Vatican press office explained that he did not intend to pass a moral judgment on those individuals who have homosexual inclinations, but simply to say that those people “cannot be in this field.”

Navarro-Valls also said that Pope John Paul II has avoided public comment on the pedophilia scandal because he prefers to address his concerns directly to the bishops involved, in private conversations. The Holy Father has spoken to bishops “very explicitly,” he added.

The papal spokesman hinted that at least in some cases, the priestly ordination of homosexual men might be invalid—just as a marriage would be considered invalid if the husband had not told his bride that he was homosexual.

Dehumanizing children
Condemns “artificial womb”
Reacting to the news that scientists are creating an “artificial womb,” Bishop Elio Sgreccia told a Vatican Radio audience that “we are moving down the road to dehumanization.”

Bishop Sgreccia, the vice-president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said that the latest step in the process of artificial human reproduction was a double offense, “because in this case, human procreation takes place outside the sexual act, but also outside the woman’s body.” Such an approach, he said, would be disastrous.

The baby who is conceived in a test tube and nurtured in an artificial womb is “at the mercy of technology,” the bishop continued. He observed that scientists do not know how the psychology of the child is shaped by the months in his mother’s womb, but the “artificial womb” would obviously not provide any support.

Rather than undertaking further efforts to reproduce by artificial means, Bishop Sgreccia said that scientists should redouble their efforts to identify and treat the causes of human infertility, so that couples can reproduce through ordinary marital relations. By that means, he said, parents “can give the gift of life in a more human and natural manner.”

Papal exorcisms
Extraordinary stories from Father Amorth
The official exorcist of the Diocese of Rome has told an Italian newspaper that Pope John Paul II has performed at least three exorcisms during his pontificate.

Father Gabriele Amorth told La Stampa that the Pope carried out the first exorcism in 1982. “This girl was rolling around on the ground. People in the Vatican had never seen anything like it. For us exorcists it is run of the mill,” he said. The latest was that of a 20-year-old woman last September. He said the woman was still under spiritual treatment. “It’s a very serious case: a series of curses,” he said.

Father Amorth said the Pope took part in the exorcisms to show their importance, to show that demonic possession and spiritual warfare are still a reality. “He carried out these exorcisms because he wanted to give a powerful example. He wanted to give the message that we must once again start exorcising those who are possessed by demons,” Father Amorth said.

The priest also related some of his experiences during exorcisms. “I have seen many strange things . . . objects such as nails spat out,” he said. “I have seen levitations, and a force that needed six or eight men to hold the person still. Such things are rare, but they happen,” he said.

Other noteworthy causes
Pius XII, Mother Teresa
The cause for the beatification of Pope Pius XII will be ready for presentation by the end of this year. And the presentation for Mother Teresa of Calcutta could be ready even sooner.

Father Peter Gumpel, the German Jesuit who is the “relator” for the cause of Pope Pius XII (that is, the official with the responsibility for assembling all the evidence to support the cause), has revealed that he is nearing the end of his task. In an interview with the Roman news agency I Media, Father Gumpel also noted that an accurate picture of Pope Pius XII is quite different from the image created by popular media accounts.

The positio for the cause of the late Pope, which will be presented to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, includes testimony from several hundred witnesses, and when complete will fill six volumes, the Jesuit historian said. Two of these volumes are already printed, three more are in the production process, and the final volume is now being edited. Father Gumpel noted that he hoped to complete his work this year, in answer to a request from Pope John Paul II to “accelerate” the cause.

“I have known several popes, and the one who impressed me the most is Pius XII,” said the German Jesuit. He said that the public propaganda campaign against the World War II pontiff should not slow the process of his cause. “I am personally persuaded that the cause for his beatification will be successful one day,” he said.

Father Michael Van der Peet, who is working with Father Brian Kolodiejchuk as postulator for the cause of Mother Teresa, announced early in March that his work might be complete before Easter.

Father Van der Peet told the Italian daily Avvenire that work would soon be completed on the positio for the founder of the Missionaries of Charity. That document will summarize the 80 volumes of documents and oral testimony collected on the life of Mother Teresa.

Once a positio is completed, it is examined by a panel of theologians appointed by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. If that panel finds evidence that the candidate lived a life of “heroic virtue,” their recommendation, with the approval of the Congregation, is relayed to the Pope, who could then proclaim the candidate “Venerable.” The subsequent approval of a miracle related to the prospective saint’s intercession clears the way for beatification.

In the case of Mother Teresa, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints is aleady examining reports of a miracle: the case of a 30-year-old woman, Monika Besra, in India, who suddenly recovered from both tuberculosis and a stomach tumor after neighbors prayed for Mother Teresa’s intercession.

Ordinarily, a cause for beatification cannot begin until five years after the candidate’s death. But the cause of Mother Teresa—who died on September 5, 1997—is already well advanced because in 1999, Pope John Paul II waived the usual waiting period. The Pope explained that he was making that unusual move in response to the widespread popular demand for a speedy process in Mother Teresa’s case.

Evangelizing cyberspace
Cautious optimism about the Internet
In two documents released on February 28, the Vatican has called for a creative but cautious use of the Internet as a means of evangelization.

The Pontifical Council for Social Communications introduced Ethics in Internet and The Church and the Internet simultaneously. The two documents—published in Italian, English, Spanish, German, French, Polish, and Portuguese —are available on the web site of the Pontifical Council.

Ethics in Internet begins with the recognition that the Internet has enormous power, as the latest in a series of developments that have “eliminated time and space as obstacles to communication.” Archbishop John Foley, the president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, observed in his remarks about the document that the Church should recognize this new medium as “an opportunity and a challenge, and not a threat.”

However, the Internet does pose some new and troublesome problems, the document notes. There are Internet sites devoted to the exploitation of human beings (for instance, through pornography), the cultivation of hatred, and the spread of inaccurate and inflammatory information. Also, the immediacy of the Internet culture can add to the problems of consumerism, manipulation, and a purely individualistic outlook.

Balanced against those problems, the Pontifical Council notes that the Internet can “broaden education and cultural horizons, break down divisions, and promote human development.” If all people have access to the Internet, it can also increase the level of participation in public dialogue, as well as provide easier access to information of all sorts.

Ethics in Internet concludes with a series of general recommendations. Although the document argues against “prior censorship by government,” it states flatly: “Regulation of the Internet is desirable.” The Pontifical Council calls for self-regulation among users, and the development of a code of ethics to govern Internet use.

The Church and the Internet addresses the particular question of how the Catholic Church can make use of the new medium. Again urging caution, and commenting on the need to give all of the world’s people equal access to the new medium, the Vatican document lays heavy emphasis on the virtue of creativity. The new medium provides nearly boundless opportunities for evangelization, the Pontifical Council says; the challenge is for individual Catholics to find new ways of using those opportunities, reaching out to new people with initiatives that will promote the spread of the Gospel.

Collectors’ bonanza
Debut of the Vatican's euro
For ardent coin collectors, March 1 was a day to remember. On that date, the Vatican’s own version of the euro was introduced into circulation, and thousands of collectors rushed to obtain the first kits featuring the new coin.

In anticipation of the rush, Vatican officials set up signs asking coin specialists to go to the Vatican numismatic bureau, so that the long lines of collectors would not interfere with pilgrims and tourists in St. Peter’s Square. Swiss Guards, assisted by Italian police, helped to control the long lines that gathered early in the morning and remained throughout the day.

By the time the coins actually went on sale at 9 o’clock, an estimated 1,000 people were waiting. Some had arrived before dawn, bringing chairs and food to keep themselves comfortable as they waited for the doors to open. Once the Vatican workday began, police allowed the collectors to enter the office, 20 at a time. By noon, officials connected with the sale reported that virtually all of the 65,000 “first-date-of-issue” kits available for sale had already been taken.