Bishop: Church Doesn't Interfere With Domestic Affair

PRAVDA, Sept. 27 — Italian bishops rejected accusations that the Church interferes with the country's domestic affairs, insisting the Church should have its say on moral issues, the Russian daily reported.

The long-standing accusations have been renewed recently as the head of Italian bishops, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, said he opposed giving full legal rights to unmarried couples. The comments drew criticism, and on Sept. 23 the cardinal was booed by a small group of students as he received an award in the Tuscan city of Siena.

Bishop Giuseppe Betori, General Secretary of the Italian Episcopal

Conference, added the Church “will never give up … its duty to speak in a clear and strong way in order to enlighten believers and all men of good faith both on matters of faith and ecclesial life and on issues of great moral relevance, such as human life, family, justice and solidarity.”

Pope Greets Israelis and Palestinians in Audience

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Sept. 28 — Pope Benedict XVI issued special greetings to a group of Israelis and Palestinians attending a seminar on peace, the Associated Press reported.

“I greet in particular those Israelis and Palestinians who have come to Rome to participate in the Education to Peace seminar,” the Pope said Sept. 28, speaking in English at his weekly public audience in St. Peter's Square. “Upon all of you, I invoke God's abundant blessings of peace and joy.”

The audience marked Benedict's return to the Vatican after a two-month vacation, first in the Italian Alps near France and then in the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo in the Alban Hills south of Rome.

Benedict XVI Invited to Visit Serbia — Conditionally

PRAVDA, Sept. 29 — Serbian President Boris Tadic met with Pope Benedict XVI and said he hoped the Holy Father could visit the country “very soon,” but said certain preconditions had to be negotiated first with the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Russian newspaper Pravda reported.

Tadic told reporters that the possibility of a papal visit was raised during his 25-minute meeting — the first between a pope and a Serb president. There were some “preconditions” that had to be worked out first, Tadic said, referring to an agreement with the Serbian Orthodox Church to invite the Holy Father.

A pope has never visited Serbia — a traditional ally of Russia — partly due to an enduring rivalry between the Catholics and the Orthodox, the two traditional Christian Churches separated since the Great Schism in 1054.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said Tadic had invited the Pope to visit, and that Benedict had thanked him for the invitation and “expressed hope that such a visit could take place in the future.”