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Papal Inauguration, why isn't our PM going? It's history in the making!

The Papal Inauguration for Pope Francis is on Tuesday, 19 March on the Feast of St Joseph.

The Americans are sending Vice President, Joe Biden to the Papal Inauguration, German Chancellor Angela Mercal is going, and so is Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and the EU President Herman Van Rompuy.

VATICAN CITY - The Roman Catholic Church will roll out the red carpet for world leaders and crowned heads attending the inauguration Mass Tuesday of Pope Francis as he embarks on a ground-breaking papacy.

The occasion promises to contrast with the pomp and circumstance normally associated with grand Church occasions given the disarmingly humble style the new pope has shown in his first few days as the first Latin American leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

An event that poses an inevitable protocol headache for the Vatican -- no official invitations are involved, and some VIPs may turn up unannounced -- will also be a first test of the former Buenos Aires archbishop's ability to navigate choppy diplomatic waters.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault are among key European leaders expected to attend, along with EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barosso.

US Vice President Joe Biden, a practising Catholic, arrived late Sunday to represent Washington at the event precipitated by the shock resignation of Francis's predecessor Benedict XVI.

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner, with whom the former Jorge Mario Bergoglio, as Buenos Aires archbishop, has had tense relations because of opposing views on homosexuality and birth control, is also already in Rome.

Not bad. I do remember when Pope John Paul II died, just watching the sheer number of world leaders who turned up, including American President George W. Bush and even ex-Presidents, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush.

Did NZ Prime Minister, Helen Clark go? I don't recall. No, according to Wikipedia, only the Governor General, Dame Silvia Cartwright and her husband went.

I would have thought our Prime Minister, who seems to turn up at every Big Gay Out in New Zealand might like to head off to Rome to rub shoulders with a number of the world leaders, but strangely enough, he's only sending Chris Finlayson.  Does it not fit with John Key's image to attend a Papal Inauguration?  Probably not as he's championing a same-sex marriage bill that is in line with what Pope Francis says is a machination of the Father of Lies (ie the devil).

Taiwon's President is going, which seems to be causing a little tension with China:

TAIPEI: Taiwan’s leader plans to visit the Vatican for the new pope’s inauguration mass, officials said on Friday, prompting China to warn Taipei against doing anything to inflame their delicate relationship.

In light of the planned trip by Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou for next Tuesday’s mass, Beijing also renewed its demands for concessions from the Vatican in their long-running battle for supremacy over China’s Catholics.

Even Constantianople's Patriarch will be there, first time in almost 1000 years!

Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople has announced that he plans to attend the inaugural Mass of Pope Frances on March 19.

The appearance by the Ecumenical Patriarch--the "first among equals" of all the world's Orthodox leaders--is an unprecedented gesture. The Patriarch of Constantinople has not attended a papal installation since 1054, when Constantinople split from Rome.

This is history in the making!

Related links: World leaders head to Rome for pope's inaugural Mass
Finlayson to represent Govt at Papal Inauguration Mass ~ TVNZ
Taiwan leader to attend papal inauguration ~ The Gulf Today
Unprecedented ecumenical gesture: Patriarch of Constantinople will attend Pope's inauguration ~ Catholic World News

Comments

  1. I guess the Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church won't be going. He seems a little grumpy:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21779987

    "[I hope relations with the Vatican will continue] developing in a positive manner... [but the new Pope] never took an active part in the dialogue between Roman Catholic and Orthodox believers, so it's hard to make any predictions."

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  2. Never rely upon the BBC Sean, they will mislead you every time

    To His Holiness Francis, Pope of Rome


    Your Holiness:

    I congratulate you on your election to the eminent and responsible position of being the First Hierarch of the Roman Catholic Church.

    Under your predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, the relationships between our churches received a new momentum and were characterized by a positive dynamism. I sincerely hope that Your Holiness would promote co-operation between our two churches in the spirit of brotherly love and mutual understanding.

    At your accession to the papacy you chose the name Francis, which recalls famous Catholic saints who have served as an example of sacrificial devotion to alleviating people’s suffering and zealous preaching of the Gospel. In your choice one can see your desire to continue to care for the poor and the afflicted, which you showed in compassion and love over the many years of your service in Argentina, carrying the message of Christ crucified and risen to the modern world.

    This same mission is now a priority for the Russian Orthodox Church, opening the possibility for co-operation and interaction with the Roman Catholic Church.

    Orthodox and Catholics should be determined to combine their efforts to protect harassed and persecuted Christians in various parts of the world, as these people need our support and aid. We need to labour together for the affirmation of traditional moral values ​​in modern secular societies.

    Please accept, Your Holiness, my best wishes for peace, spiritual strength and physical vigour, so that the generous support of God would come to you in the carrying out of your responsible ministry.

    With fraternal affection in the Lord,

    + KIRILL

    Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia

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  3. I suggest we lay off the "machination of the Father of Lies" quip. It is from a private letter, not a public statement, it does not accurately present the Church's position, and is unnecessarily strident and provocative. No need to shoot ourselves in the foot.

    Interesting that Cdl Bergoglio supported gay civil unions as an alternative to Gay marriage.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/argentine-gays-remember-new-popes-war-against-gay-marriage-when-he-was-cardinal/2013/03/15/1829b218-8d96-11e2-adca-74ab31da3399_story.html

    God Bless

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  4. Further to the above - Sean's partial and edited quote is not from Patriarch Kirill but from some minor clergyman and is obviously a response to a particular question.

    Metropolitan Hilarion is the Russian Orthodox Church's representative at the inaugeration which is highly appropriate

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  5. You know Chris Sullivan we have a new Pope in Rome, a wonderful and inspiring thing and yet somehow the converstiona gets turn to gays.

    How does this narcissitic and self absorbed group always mananage to make everything about them.

    Christaians are being martryed even as we speak in Syria, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and other places and yet we are talking about, in relation to the head f the Catholic Church, a bunch of privileged, over fed, silver spoon tossers whining that we don't want to rewrite marriage laws to pander to their vanity.

    How about some perspective Chris Sullivan

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  6. There are plenty of homosexuals being martyred too.

    The Church stands with them, for their human rights.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violence_against_LGBT_people

    God Bless

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  7. Hi Chris,

    yes we should stand for anyone's right to life. Forgive me if I misinterpret you but I don't think you mean that.

    Always remember that people, regardless of their sexual expression, if they are not following Christ, are lost. And for that they need God to reveal Himself to them, along with the faithful witness of Christians. This does not include telling them lies about any form of sin, when that time is right.

    I guess you know this too.

    God bless you too!
    Matthew.

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  8. Whats with that wikipefia link Chris Sullivan.

    Sure homosexuals get a hard time in some countries but then so do lots of other people

    Homosexuals in the west are not a victim group Chris Sullivan, they are a manipiulitve group who have learned how to make people such as yourself bend to their every whim by whining how hard they are done by when they are not.

    In Russia they have banned their silly little games and stupid marches and once upon a time i would have thought that was wrong - but no more. After all the lies and deceptions that have come from the so called "LGBTQI..... community" - phhht

    Stop being played like a fiddle Chris Sullivan.

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  9. Chris,

    At this point whatever Pope Francis may or may not have said with regards to civil unions is not a direct quote, it's only this person says he did this or another person speaking for him says something else, and any evidence that might exist is in a language most of us can't read. So, until he actually says something specific that directly contradicts this Vatican document, Consideration Regarding Proposals to give Legal Recognition to Unions between Homosexual Personsr, I'm going to treat it the same way I did the initial reports of him being some sort of collaborator to the regime, in that it doesn't fit and therefore it's unlikely to be true.

    I like the "machinations of the Father of Lies" quote - it has a certain something to it.

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  10. Lucia,

    The person who said it was Bergoglio's official biographer. And the law to do it was introduced by an Opus Dei MP in Argentina.

    The NZ Catholic Bishops supported some form of legal recognition of same sex unions in a submission 12 years ago. Having the state recognise your living together relationship is a natural law human right and flows from one's humanity. It applies to homosexuals just as it does to 2 friends living together in a stable relationship of friendship. The NZ Catholic Bishops supported legal recognition of such relationships during the Civil Union Bill discussion.

    That does not contradict your Vatican document which applies to recognising relationships AS IF THEY WERE MARRIAGE, which is quite a different thing.

    God Bless

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  11. More info here:

    http://millennialjournal.com/2013/03/16/breaking-news-popes-official-biographer-says-he-supported-gay-unions/

    The story has been confirmed by Federico Wals, Cardinal Bergoglio’s spokesman in response to the 2010 proposal to legalize gay marriage in Argentina:

    http://www.infonews.com/nota.php?id=80541&bienvenido=1

    (If you don't read Spanish, run it thru google translate).

    God Bless

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  12. The fact that John Key was born a Jew and is the leader of a secular country are enough reasons not to bother attending

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  13. So that fact that John Key is Prime Minister, was born a New Zealander and represents NZ in important affairs of state should always be trumped by self-interest?

    Whereas the big gay out is a better way to raise the profile for future votes - there goes that self-interest again.


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  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  15. The NZ Catholic Bishops supported some form of legal recognition of same sex unions in a submission 12 years ago

    Did they relly Chris Sullivan?

    Hmmmmm

    Bishops' last-ditch bid to block Civil Union Bill

    Why did you write that Chris Sullivan?

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  16. It's Chris's interpretation on what they have written. We had a conversation a few months back on the same subject.

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  17. More on the Holy Father's support for same sex Civil Unions:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/20/world/americas/pope-francis-old-colleagues-recall-pragmatic-streak.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0#h[]

    http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/cautions-pope-francis-and-recognition-gay-unions

    Other Catholic leaders are on board too:

    Earlier in the year, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia of the Pontifical Council for the Family gave an interview to an Italian newspaper in which he basically said the church opposes gay marriage, but is open to other legal arrangements for protecting peoples' rights.

    God Bless

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  18. Hmmmm....

    I wouldn't call Pope Francis' position, 'support for same-sex civil unions' as such.

    We will probably get more clarification on this issue soon, as it's causing a bit of a stir.

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  19. Chris,

    In your first comment you said....I suggest we lay off the "machination of the Father of Lies" quip. It is from a private letter, not a public statement, it does not accurately present the Church's position, and is unnecessarily strident and provocative. No need to shoot ourselves in the foot.


    Do you mean that you feel that the church does not teach that the devil does not help cause such problems ? We so seldom hear mentinof the reality of the constant workings of satin now days ... do you feel that it should stay that way ?

    Shalom

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