The text of Pope Benedict's Motu Proprio granting priests universal permission to celebrate the Tridentine Rite of Mass has been leaked overnight. And it looks as if the prayers of traditionalists have been well and truly answered.
Benedict XVI says he hopes that the family can be supported both by the Church and by state assistance. "The family has the right to the state's assistance to fully realize its mission."
Here is a Vatican translation of the common declaration signed by Benedict XVI and Chrysostomos II, Orthodox archbishop of New Justiniana and all Cyprus.
(Zenit: B16 address to AC2)
(Zenit: AC2 address to B16)
The Vatican has accused organisers of an internet poll to find the 7 new "wonders of the world" of deliberately ignoring Christian monuments.
Germany is drawing up detailed plans to stop strategic assets falling into the hands of "giant locust funds" controlled by Russia, China and Middle East governments. Finance minister Peer Steinbrück said "telecoms, banks, post, logistics and energy" were among the sectors that would be shielded from sovereign wealth funds, the new state trusts that are fast swamping global asset markets. In an added twist, he said "private finance houses" would also be restricted from taking over Germany's crown jewels, an apparent reference to Anglo-Saxon hedge funds and private equity groups.
The UN Secretary-General says international efforts to ensure Kosovo's self-governance may falter. He said while the UN-administered Serbian province's progress has been encouraging, the advances could soon unravel unless its future status is determined.
International law, which has never been in good health, is on its deathbed once again. The new disease is called Kosovo. The old order is crumbling before our very eyes. Russia has firmly upheld the territorial integrity of Georgia and Moldova, in line with international law and even though its relations with these states are far from ideal. What should it do now, support separatist tendencies on its border? Or withdraw from the UN? This reminds me of the demise of the League of Nations and of the run-up to WW2.
President Putin received visiting Bavarian Prime Minister Edmund Stoiber and his spouse in the presidential countryside residence of Novo-Ogaryovo west off Moscow Thursday night. Putin and Stoiber had an official meeting in the Kremlin earlier in the day, with Stoiber telling reporters later it lasted several hours. He said they had a conversation in an open and friendly atmosphere and discussed the entire spectrum of problems present in relations between Russia and Germany, as well as Russia and the EU at the moment. After the end of the talks, Stoiber told reporters that Germany supports Russia's proposals on how to solve the problems pertaining to US plans to deploy elements of the national anti-ballistic missile system in Europe.
President Putin met with Edmund Stoiber on Thursday for talks on trade and economic ties between Russia and Bavaria, one of Germany's most prosperous states. Putin said trade turnover between Bavaria and Russia had reached $10 billion, and he praised Stoiber, saying his government managed a a budget surplus in 2006 for the first time in 30 years.
The button of the stopwatch counting down the invasion of northern Iraq by the Turkish army was probably pressed on Tuesday, at an impromptu meeting between the Turkish President and the Prime Minister. The surprise meeting on Tuesday has sparked speculation that the assault is near.
A former Knesset member, international leftist Jewish leader and senior activist of Israel's "peace camp," which seeks Israeli retreats from strategic territory, wants Israel to cease being a Jewish state and encourages all Israelis to obtain foreign passports. "To define the state of Israel as a Jewish state is the key to its end. A Jewish state is explosive. It's dynamite."
Egypt's foreign minister said he will soon travel to Israel to discuss a peace initiative revived by Arab countries earlier this year. The Arab peace initiative was first launched in Saudi Arabia in 2002 and revived at a summit in Riyadh in March.
There is no doubting the risks that this crucial Western ally is running: his moderation has made him the repeated target of assassination. But control of what increasingly resembles a failed state is slipping from his grasp.
(LX op-ed: Pakistan's catch-22)
A top EU diplomat said that the 27-member European bloc wants a political solution to Iran's nuclear issue and that the EU wants to prevent escalation of sanctions on Tehran.
Senior cleric Ayatollah Kashani has said that Press TV news network should illuminate the world community by broadcasting true reports. "World nations are not our enemies and the Press TV network is tasked with giving insight to the world community by providing a true account of events." He voiced satisfaction over the airing of the round-the-clock English-language Press TV channel at the time when the giant news networks are serving the interests of the world arrogance. He also said Iran's nuclear energy is an indisputable right and that the false claims of the enemies will not force Iran to forego its right. "The enemies claim that Iran is after developing nuclear weapons, but it is a shear lie."
I see that our befuddled, subliterate president is likening U.S. troops in Iraq to the soldiers of the Continental Army: this is true, but only in the Bizarro World sense employed by Bush and his neocon minions, who live in an alternate universe where up is down, right is wrong, and the invasion of Iraq is a great triumph. With Bizarro George in the White House, the world is again inverted – or, rather, has reverted back to its pre-American state, with a ravenous Empire put in place of our old Republic, and a half-mad Emperor sitting in the Oval Office.
[WAR: Again, the US started under George III and it will end under the 3rd George.]
In the last 6 years, America's brutality, unrestrained aggression, and violation of our own professed values have been transformed from destructive aberration into our defining attributes. And the world's population sees that transformation quite clearly and, as a result, their view of America has transformed along with it.
What is the proper term to refer to those of you who live in the United States of America? The word "American" is so deeply embedded in your nation's identity that it may seem curious to you that there could be any discussion about it, but some people — in Latin America, for example — find it offensive, while others, including some in France, simply find it imprecise.
Storms that began May 23 continued pounding Texas. Another round of heavy rain drenched parts of eastern Texas early today. With rivers and lakes filled already filled to the brim, emergency officials braced for more of the flooding that has severely damaged or destroyed 1,000 homes and killed 13 people. All of Texas' major river basins are at flood stage, the first time that has happened since 1957.
Sweltering residents across the West headed for lakes and rivers on Thursday, seeking relief from triple-digit temperatures expected to set records through at least today. Temperatures in part of the West were climbing so high that authorities warned residents of southern Nevada, southeastern California and northwestern Arizona that outdoor activities could be dangerous except during the cooler early morning hours.
Watching many British consumers en route to a debt crisis has been like observing drivers of cars with faulty brakes, heading confidently towards the edge of a cliff. When alerted to looming disaster, these debtors and motorists kept giving the same reply: "Relax, everything's in control." Then, whooosh!
(LT cartoon: A perfect storm)
Criticism of Sarkozy's interventionist language and unapologetic intent to ignore EU budget rules is mounting. The question that Eurocrats, central bankers and fellow politicians are asking is the same they asked 3 years ago: Is the man who wants to shake up France's labor market and ignite economic growth with a flurry of tax cuts the liberal European he claims? Or is he an old-style Gaullist in modern disguise?
(UPI: France's Sarkonomics)
They can manipulate as much as they want but it is all in the US dollar! It is my opinion that those powerful short interests - both legal and illegal -are frantic to cover and are therefore pulling out all the stops. Dirty tricks, use of media pals, and all the usual underhanded methods seem to populate everything these days from gold to gold shares of good value.
The Bank of England raised interest rates Thursday for the 5th time in little less than a year and the president of the European Central Bank hinted at a possible rate increase later this year as policy makers around the world respond to the threat of accelerating inflation.
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