Pope Benedict XVI denounced "terrorist ideologies" that spur violence in God's name as he opened a meeting Monday of bishops from around the Middle East.Pope Benedict said such ideologies were based on false gods and should be "unmasked." The pontiff made the off-the-cuff remarks at the opening working session of the meeting, or synod, which was called to address problems the minority Catholic Church faces in the largely Muslim region. In his remarks to the synod participants, Pope Benedict lamented the forces at play in the world that "enslave" men and threaten the world, citing drugs as well as "terrorist ideologies. The make violence apparently in the name of God, but it's not God: These are false divinities that must be unmasked. They are not God." Is war ever the right answer? Didn't Jesus Christ come to replace the hate and violence with peace and love? Doing something that we know is wrong and saying it is in the name of God does not make it right. Let's pray for an end to hate, violence and war in this world.
The twelve apostles chosen by Jesus formed the bedrock of the early Church , and their Catholic identity is deeply rooted in their direct relationship with Christ and the mission He entrusted to them. The Catechism of the Catholic Church highlights this foundational role, stating that Jesus "instituted the Twelve as 'the seeds of the new Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy'" ( CCC 860 ). These men were not simply followers; they were handpicked by Jesus, lived intimately with Him, witnessed His miracles and teachings firsthand, and were specifically commissioned to preach the Gospel to all nations ( Matthew 28:19-20 ). Their unique position as eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and their reception of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, established them as the authoritative leaders of the nascent Church, a reality echoed in the writings of early Church Fathers like Ignatius of Antioch, who emphasized the apostles' authority as repre...
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