God always respects our freedom, says Pope

God always respects human freedom and never compels anybody into a connection with him. That was the message of Pope Benedict XVI in his midday Angelus address July 10.

“God does not force us to consider in Him, but draws us to Himself throughout the truth and goodness of his incarnate Son. Love, in fact, always respects freedom,” Pope Benedict said from the balcony of his summer house at Castel Gandolfo, 15 miles southeast of Rome.

The Pope based his end upon the story told by Jesus in today’s Gospel reading: the parable of the sower who plants seed with different degrees of success.

He said that for Jesus the allegory was “autobiographical” because “it reflects the experience of Jesus himself and of his preaching” as “different effects are achieved depending on the kind of reception given to the announcement.”

Pope Benedict then attempted to answer the question consequently raised by the apostles: why does Jesus speak in parables?

The Pope said that Jesus makes a dissimilarity between the general crowd and the apostles.

“To those who have already determined for him, he can speak openly of the Kingdom of God” while to others he must speak in metaphor “to kindle precisely the decision, the conversion of heart” needed. Jesus' parables “require effort to interpret, challenging one’s aptitude but also one’s freedom.”

“After all,” said the Pope, “the real ‘Parable’ of God is Jesus himself, his person, under the form of his humanity, hiding and yet enlightening the same deity.” In this way “God does not strength us to believe in Him, but draws us to himself through the truth and goodness of his incarnate Son.”

Pope Benedict calls for prayer for victims of disaster in Japan

Saying he, too, was shocked by the images of the death and devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Pope Benedict XVI asked people to join him in praying for the dead.

"May the bereaved and injured be reassured and may the rescue workers be strengthened in their efforts to assist the courageous Japanese people," the pope said in English March 13 after reciting the Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter's Square.

Government officials predictable that perhaps 10,000 people lost their lives after the earthquake March 11 and the tsunami it triggered.

Speaking in Italian after the Angelus, the pope said, "The images of the disastrous earthquake and the resulting tsunami in Japan have left us deeply horrified.

"I want to renew my religious closeness to that country's dear people, who with self-respect and courage are dealing with the consequences of the calamity. I pray for the victims and their families and for all who are suffering because of these terrible events. I give confidence all those who, with laudable speed, are working to bring help. Let us remain united in prayer."

Bishop Marcellino Daiji Tani of Saitama, one of the dioceses hit hardest by the disaster, told the Catholic disciple news agency Fides that the catastrophe is a reminder that "life is in the hands of God and that life is a gift from God," and he described the disaster as a challenge for Christians during Lent "to practice and witness to the commandment of love and brotherly love."

However, he also told Fides, "Of exacting concern to us is the situation of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. But we must take courage, with the help of the Holy Spirit."

Two reactors at the Fukushima plant were hit by explosions and another was behind its cooling system. Japanese officials were playing down the health risks posed by the emergency at the plant, but they did order evacuations for hundreds of thousands of people.

In a message March 13 to members of the Orthodox Church, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople said the Japanese disaster demonstrates the threat posed by nuclear power plants and it calls for serious reflection.

"With all due admiration to the science and technology of nuclear energy and for the sake of the endurance of the human race, we counter-propose the safer green forms of energy," the patriarch said.

Pope’s meeting with Russian president signals new era in relationship

Pope Benedict XVI met with president Dmitry Medvedev at the Vatican on Feb. 17 in their first meeting since the Holy See and Russia determined to upgrade their diplomatic relationship in 2009.

Medvedev was accompanied by his wife and several assistants, as well as his minister for foreign affairs, Sergey Lavrov. The Russian president is also in Italy for two days to meet with government leaders and induct a year of cultural exchange between the two nations.

“This is a very important meeting,” the Pope told the Medvedev as they exchanged greetings briefly before concluding the doors for their private audience in the papal library.

After an strangely long encounter of more than a half-hour, the doors were opened again to reporters who witnessed the exchange of gifts.

The Pope received a two-volume set of letters from the former Russian president to foreign heads of state and Pope John Paul II from 1996-99. He also was given “Orthodox encyclopedia” and a painting of the Moscow with a sight of the Russian government headquarters of the Kremlin.

Pope prays for peaceful ending of Egyptian unrest

Pope Benedict XVI prayed for a peaceful ending of the political unrest in Egypt, and the Vatican spokesman said he hoped the changes in the area would lead to greater religious freedom.

"In these days I am following closely the fragile situation of the dear Egyptian nation," the pope told pilgrims at his noon blessing at the Vatican Feb. 6.

"I ask God that this land, blessed by the attendance of the Holy Family, may find again tranquility and peaceful coexistence, in a shared commitment to the common good," the pope said.

It was Pope Benedict's first remark on nearly two weeks of protest demonstrations that have shaken President Hosni Mubarak's nearly 30-year hold on power.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, reviewed the political turmoil in Egypt in a commentary Feb. 5 on Vatican Radio. He said it was not wrong to speak of a "revolution" in countries of North Africa and the Middle East, where extensive political opposition has emerged for the first time.

Father Lombardi said that along with economic causes of the unrest, many people of the region -- particularly young people -- want more freedom and a more responsive government. He noted that at the new Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, leaders of Christian minorities there made similar calls for religious freedom.

"Now there are whole populations that, in order to more fully realize their dignity, are asking to exercise more responsibly the right of citizenship that belongs to every person of whatever religion," the spokesman said.

"If these mostly Muslim nations succeed in the crucial undertaking of growth in dialogue, in the respect of the rights of everyone, in contribution and in freedom, then the world will be a safer place," Father Lombardi said.