Cardinal Tauran: Islam Not as Tolerant as Christianity

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, Jan. 2 — A senior Vatican official called attention to the fact that Christian societies are far more tolerant toward Muslims than Islamic states are toward Christians, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The Australian newspaper cited an interview by the French Catholic daily La Croix with Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, former Vatican foreign minister until last fall.

Cardinal Tauran, a sharp critic of the U.S. war on Iraq, said, “There are too many majority Muslim countries where non-Muslims are second-class citizens,” where Christians are forbidden to build churches or evangelize.

Cardinal Tauran cited “the extreme case of Saudi Arabia, where freedom of religion is violated absolutely — no Christian churches and a ban on celebrating Mass, even in a private home.” At the same time, the cardinal noted, every Christian-dominated state in the world grants Islamic residents religious liberty.

The Herald noted that during last year's celebrations in Rome of Pope John Paul II's 25th anniversary as Pope, several cardinals spoke publicly about the challenge of relations with Islam, suggesting it would be a major issue for the next pope, as the challenge of communism was at the beginning John Paul's pontificate.

Vatican Outraged as Priest Joins Reality TV Show

THE SCOTSMAN, Jan. 9 — Church officials in Rome are calling it an insult to the Church. It's certainly a source of controversy — and publicity for the Italian version of the “reality TV” show “Big Brother,” which plans to feature a 40-year-old priest as a contestant this month.

“This is completely unacceptable and beyond a joke,” Cardinal Ersilio Tonini, the retired archbishop of Ravenna-Cervia, told The Scotsman. “It's a form of challenge to the Church by the program-makers. As for the priest in question, it is irresponsible of him and an insult to his vocation. I strongly urge the priest's local bishop to intervene at once and stop this spectacle.”

The show will lock the priest along with 11 other housemates in a Rome studio modeled on a large private home to compete for the $185,000 prize given to the last remaining contestant.

The Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano has called the program “immoral … futile, ambiguous and parasitical … based on empty protagonists that feed a morbid curiosity and transform man into nothing more than merchandise on display on a market stall.”

Pope Will Change His Ash Wednesday Service

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Jan. 10 — In what the Associated Press called “the latest sign of concern over his frail health,” Pope John Paul II has called off the traditional papal Ash Wednesday service, with which the Pope has traditionally begun Lent, personally distributing ashes at the ancient St. Sabina's Basilica.

The Holy Father, who has been notably more robust in his recent public appearances, will instead hold a prayer ceremony and distribute ashes in a Vatican auditorium to mark the holy day, the Associated Press reported, citing Vatican news services.

The change will save John Paul a difficult trip across the city of Rome, which would involve switching vehicles and ascending the Aventine Hill.