Nourishing Christian faith in Israel with new and innovative project

October 29, 2011. (Romereports.com) In the state of Israel, Catholics have always been a minority of course. But nowadays, the profile of this small community is changing.


Fr. David Neuhaus
Patriarchal vicar for Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel “What we are facing is the huge challenge of having thousands of Hebrew speaking Catholics who belong to the migrant communities. They are predominantly children of migrant workers or asylum seekers who have reached Israel.”
Father David Neuhaus lives in Jerusalem. He's the Latin Patriarchal Vicar for Hebrew speaking Catholics. In Israel, he says immigrant workers are mostly from the Philippines and India. Those seeking asylum are predominantly from Sudan  and Eritrea.

Since their children now go to school in Israel, they speak and are taught in Hebrew. To prevent them from loosing their Christian roots, a new project is underway.

Fr. David Neuhaus
Patriarchal vicar the Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel “The publication of Catechism books in Hebrew, which is a totally new project. Teaching religion classes within these communities of migrants.”
This and other issues were discussed by the Latin Bishops of the Arab Region, who recently met in Rome for their annual conference.

It's a challenge they welcome. Especially, since in a way, it brings Christians closer to their roots in the Holy Land.

Fr. David Neuhaus
Patriarchal vicar for Hebrew-speaking Catholics in Israel “To think through our faith in a language which is the original language of the Old Testament which has never been used by Christians as a Christian language. That too, we embrace with enthusiasm.”
Despite some challenges, Father Neuhaus says it's a key moment for the Catholic Church in Israel. Not only because of its collaboration with the immigrant community, but also, he says, because of its reconciliation efforts with the Jewish community.

Hollywood plans newest biblical films on lives of Noah, Moses and Judah Maccabee

October 28, 2011. (Romereports.com)  Hollywood is preparing three big films on biblical personalities. These are the stories of Noah, Moses and Judah Maccabee. On October 3, Paramount Pictures announced the start of the movie production “Noah”. After a tough battle with 20th Century Fox, Paramount came away with the rights to the project.


The film will be directed by Darren Aronofsky and has the same screenwriter from “Gladiator”. While the main actor is slated to be Christian Bale.

The other two biblical projects are being produced by Warner Bros.

The first is the big-budget film “Gods and Kings” about the life of Moses. Among the possible directors, Steven Spielberg has been mentioned as a possibility.

According to The Guardian newspaper, this project could be delayed by the other Warner project on Judah Maccabee from Mel Gibson.

"Porta Fidei", the Pope's letter on the "Year of Faith"

October 17, 2011. (Romereports.com) Benedict XVI's has published his apostolic letter called "Porta Fidei" or "Door of faith" in English. This document officially calls for "Year of the Faith." It will take place from October 11, 2012 until November 24, 2013. It's set to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Vatican II.


This Apostolic Letter emphasizes that "believing is not a private matter" and that faith "has a social responsibility."

Benedict XVI invites Catholics to actively engage on behalf of the New Evangelization to "rediscover the joy of believing and the enthusiasm for communicating the faith."

2011-10-17 Vatican Radio
It was in a packed St Peter's Basilica on Sunday that Pope Benedict XVI declared that the year 2012 to 2013 was to be a"Year of Faith". The Holy Father made the announcement during his homily at a mass for the New Evangelisation. The Eucharistic celebration marked the conclusion of a meeting organised by Pontifical Council for the New Evangelisation, which the Pope addressed on Saturday.

Speaking about his decision to invoke this "Year of Faith" Pope Benedict said it was "to give new impetus to the mission of the whole Church to lead men out of the desert in which they often find themselves, to the place of life, of friendship with Christ".

The Pope explained that the year would be "a moment of grace and commitment to a more complete conversion to God, to strengthen our faith in Him and to proclaim Him with joy to the people of our time."

In order to illustrate the meaning of this "Year of Faith", the Holy Father said he would prepare a special Apostolic Letter and he informed the congregation present that the year would begin "on 11 October 2012, the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, and would end on 24 November 2013, Solemnity of Christ the King",.

During the course of his Homily the Holy Father referred back to the meeting of the Pontifical Council saying, he was delighted that this conference had taken place in the month of October, a month of prayer and just one week before the World Mission Sunday.

The Pope underlined that there was no opposition between the mission ad gentes and new evangelization, although he added the latter was very urgent, "especially in traditionally Christian countries, which have become increasingly "indifferent" and "hostile" to the mission of the Church."

The Pope's sentiments were echoed by those of the President of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, Archbishop Rino Fisichella in his address to the Holy Father at the start of the celebration. He said, the mission of the church now needed "an additional face, that of the new evangelization, primarily, as he put it, for believers to rediscover the strength to believe and the joy of bearing witness."

The Pope looked to history, and to the Gospel on Sunday to re-enforce the importance of a New Evangelization. He said "the theology of history was an important, and essential part of the new evangelization, because the men of our time, after the disastrous era of totalitarian empires of the twentieth century, need to find a comprehensive vision of the world and time, a truly free, peaceful vision."

Turning to the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Thessalonians for inspiration, the Holy Father explained, it demonstrates that in order to be effective, evangelization needs the power of the spirit.

Drawing his homily to a close the Pope Benedict stressed that "the new evangelizers are called to walk in the Path that is Christ, and to make known to others the beauty of the Gospel that gives life before thanking those present for being "protagonists of the new evangelization".

Pope announces a coming "Year of Faith"

October, 17, 2011. (Romereports.com) During his Sunday Mass in St. Peter's, Benedict XVI announced that 2012 would serve as the “Year of Faith.” He made the announcement during a Mass to celebrate the closing of the meeting on the New Evangelization which took place on October 15th and 16th at the Vatican.


Benedict XVI
“It will be a moment of grace and commitment to a more complete conversion to God, to strengthen our faith in Him and to proclaim Him with joy to the people of our time.”

The pope also wrote an apostolic letter explaining the Year of Faith in more detail. He did note that this initiative would serve to help people during their moments of doubt.

Benedict XVI“It will give new impetus to the mission of the whole Church to lead men out of the desert in which they often find themselves, to the place of life, of friendship with Christ, who gives us life in abundance.”

The Year of Faith is scheduled to begin on October 11, 2012 and last until November 24 in 2013.

Special edition of Bible for teenagers sells half million copies

October 6, 2011. (Romereports.com) Reading the Bible can sometimes be a challenge. When it comes to teenagers, the challenge is even bigger. To make things a bit more appealing a group developed a Catholic Bible specifically for teenagers.

It was first published six years ago by an American institute called "Fe y Vida", meaning faith and life in Spanish.

Since it was designed for teenagers, the Bible has main bullet points, short prayers, drawings and easy to read summaries. On their website, one can download a small portion of that Bible to get an idea of its layout. Or one can even take an animated tour of its different sections. A list of resources includes a question and answer portion, with relevant answers for the youth and songs that can be downloaded for free.

Since this youth Bible was first published, the institute has also launched its own facebook and youtube site, to reach out to even more young adults.

For now, the Catholic youth Bible is published only in Spanish and Italian. It's currently being translated into Portuguese. Roughly half a million copies have been sold in the U.S, Latin America and Europe.