Pope Benedict approves structure for admitting large groups of Anglicans into Catholic Church

Vatican City, Oct 20, 2009 / (CNA)

In a Vatican press conference today, Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, announced that an Apostolic Constitution has been prepared in response to “many requests” from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful wanting to enter into full communion with the Church.

The Apostolic Constitution, which Cardinal Levada said “provides a reasonable and even necessary response to a world-wide phenomenon,” will be a “single canonical model for the universal Church which is adaptable to various local situations and equitable to former Anglicans in its universal application.”

The new canonical structure will allow former Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Church while “preserving elements of distinctive Anglican spiritual patrimony,” said Cardinal Levada. Addressing the status of married clergy, the cardinal said that married Anglican clergy would be allowed to be ordained as Catholic priests just as takes place in the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Similarly, following the same tradition, those priests will not be allowed to be ordained bishops.

These ‘Personal Ordinariates’ will be formed, “as needed, in consultation with local Conferences of Bishops, and their structure will be similar in some ways to that of the Military Ordinariates which have been established in most countries to provide pastoral care for members of the armed forces and their dependents throughout the world,” the cardinal prefect said.

He added: “The provision of this new structure is consistent with the commitment to ecumenical dialogue which continues to be a priority for the Catholic Church, particularly through the efforts of the Pontifical Council for Promotion of Christian Unity.”

One large group of breakaway Anglicans which has been requesting a formal structure to be corporately received into the Catholic Church has been the Traditional Anglican Communion, made up of an estimated 400,000 members worldwide.

Cardinal Levada explained that this initiative “has come from a number of different groups of Anglicans.” He went on to say: “They have declared that they share the common Catholic faith as it is expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and accept the Petrine ministry as something Christ willed for the Church. For them the time has come to express this implicit unity in the visible form of full communion.”

The prefect of the CDF also shared what Pope Benedict's hopes are for the process.

“It is the hope of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, that the Anglican clergy and faithful who desire union with the Catholic Church will find in this canonical structure the opportunity to preserve those Anglican traditions precious to them and consistent with the Catholic faith. Insofar as these traditions express in a distinctive way the faith that is held in common, they are a gift to be shared in the wider Church. The unity of the Church does not require a uniformity that ignores cultural diversity, as the history of Christianity shows. Moreover, the many diverse traditions present in the Catholic Church today are all rooted in the principle articulated by St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians: ‘There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism.'”

Archbishop Augustine DiNoia, the former under-secretary at the CDF until recently, who helped draft the new structure, said: “We’ve been praying for unity for 40 years. Prayers are being answered in ways we did not anticipate and the Holy See cannot not respond to this movement of the Holy Spirit for those who wish communion and whose tradition is to be valued.”

He said there has been a “tremendous shift” in the ecumenical movement and “these possibilities weren’t seen as they are now.” He rejected accusations that the new Anglicans be described as dissenters. “Rather they are assenting to the movement of the Holy Spirit to be in union with the See of Peter, with the Catholic Church,” he said.

Technical details still need to be worked out, and these Personal Ordinariates may vary in their final form, Archbishop DiNoia said. Full details of the Apostolic Constitution will be released in a few weeks but today’s press conference went ahead because it had been planned sometime ago.

Cardinal Levada said 20-30 bishops have made requests, but more details will be given at a later date. Members of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity were consulted and although they were invited to attend today’s press conference, no representatives were able to attend.

The Traditional Anglican Communion broke from the Anglican Communion in 1991 over the decision of the Church of England to ordain women as priests. The TAC, as well as other breakaway groups of traditionalist Anglicans, have been hoping for such a structure ever since. The TAC formally made a request two years ago, after all its bishops signed their approval of the Catechism of the Catholic Church at a ceremony in England. Discussions were protracted owing to the unique nature of such a structure, in particular over whether Anglicans should have their own rite.

Pope Benedict remembers persecuted missionaries on World Mission Sunday

Vatican City, Oct 18, 2009 / (CNA).-

Tens of thousands of faithful attended the Angelus with Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square on World Mission Sunday. Pope Benedict’s words to them recalled missionaries who suffer persecution, including Father Ruggero Ruvoletto, killed in Brazil, and Father Michael Sinnot, kidnapped in the Philippines.

His message, Benedict XVI explained, was inspired by an expression from the Books of Revelation: “The nations will walk by its light.” The light is that of God, revealed by the Messiah and reflected on the Church, the Holy Father added.

“It is 'the light of the Gospel,’ that guides people towards the realization of one great family, in justice and peace, under the fatherhood of one good and merciful God,” Pope Benedict said. “The Church exists to proclaim this message of hope to all humanity, which in our time ‘has experienced marvelous achievements but which seems to have lost its sense of ultimate realities and of existence itself.’"

The Church, he continued, feels the urgency of working to ensure that the sovereignty of Christ is fully realized. The Pontiff expounded, “All of its members and articulations cooperate in this project, according to the different states of life and charisms.”

“On this World Mission Sunday I remember the missionaries, priests, religious and laity, who devote their lives to bringing the Gospel into the world, also facing hardships and difficulties and sometimes even real persecution. I think, among others, of Father Roger Ruvoletto, a Fidei Donum priest, recently killed in Brazil, and Father Michael Sinnot, a religious, kidnapped a few days ago in the Philippines.”

Pope Benedict publicly thanked the Pontifical Missions for their valuable service rendered in animation and education to mission and urged all Christians to a gesture of sharing, in material and spiritual help of the young, poorer local Churches.

Benedict XVI concluded by speaking about Sunday’s feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, whose Acts of the Apostles narrates “the spread of the Christian message to the ends of the known world.”

“Let us invoke his intercession, together with that of St. Francis Xavier and Saint Theresa of the Child Jesus, patroness of missions, and the Virgin Mary, so that the Church may continue to spread the light of Christ among all peoples,” the Holy Father concluded. “I ask you also to pray for the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, which in recent weeks is taking place here in the Vatican.”

DI BINTINUEBE DJADUMINGU SIKLO B

Promé Lektura : Isaias 53, 10-11
Salmo : Salmo 33, 4-5, 18-19, 20. 22
Di dos Lektura : Hebreonan 4, 14-16
Evangelio : Marko 10, 35-45


Pa tur hende? El a bini pa duna su bida pa tur hende? I pa terorista- i violadornan, pa ladron i pa bandidunan pa ateonan i esnan ku no sa loke nan ke den bida...? Pa tur hende...?
Nos tin miedu ku ta SI . Hesus a bini p'asina nos tur tin bida i bida den felisidat. Por ta ku hendenan no a deskubrí Dios i ainda no a saboriá e alegria di sinti nan mes ruman di otro, ei ta nan pena i nan tristesa, hopi ta biba odiando òf amargá ku ta meskos ku biba sin ta felis. Esaki ta nos testimonio di kreyentenan den e mundu di awe: Nos mester ta testigu di e amor di Dios ku ta hasi di nos sirbidó di otro.
Ora un hende bisa ku e tabata ke biba manera "e promé kristiannan..." , di bèrdat ta sinti gana di hari, pasobra semper e evangelio di awe ta bin den nos mente. E disipelnan ku a kombibí ku Hesus, ku a skucha su bos direktamente i a kompartí pan kuné; ku a mira su milagernan... no tabata mihó ku nos, kasi lo bisa ku nan no a resaltá pa nan gran fe ni pa nan afan di sirbishi na otro. Un kos ta ... “ta ku Kristu” i otro hopi distinto ta “sigui Kristu”. Ta kere ku e apòstelnan riba e dia ei a keda den e promé parti. Nan tabatin mentalidat di kualke ser humano. Nan tabata buska e mihó puestonan i no di stima mas. Nan tabata kere si pero den sentido di haña rekompensa. Nan tabata pensa si pero ku aktitut di rekohé fruta. Asina nos ta komo hende ora Señor no a yega den nos intimidat.
No laga nos gaña nos mes, nos tur ke pa nan rekonosé nos trabou. Nos sa ku un persona di bèrdat ta trahadó ora e gradisí pa trabou ku a hasi p’e. Únikamente esnan trahadó sa di balorá trabou di e otro. Diferensia den bida kristian ta ku nos trabou no tin ku bai uní únikamente na espektativa di rekonosementu humano. Por ta ku otronan no ta rekonosé bo lucha i trabou, bo sakrifisio i preokupashonnan, pero ki grandi ta di duna bida pa otro sin interes, sin buska rekompensa! Únikamente Dios i abo sa balor di kada kos ku abo a hasi pa otro. Amor di Dios lo ta bo salario i bo rekompensa, bo sindikato i bo reinvindikashon mas urgente.
Gloria humano ta opskuresé gloria di Dios . Si move den kriterionan humano lo bo no komprondé. Mester "nase di nobo". Hopi bia den nos orashon diario nos ta hasi manera e apòstelnan, nos ta bisa Dios kua ta nos proposishonnan, kiko e mester hasi, na lugá di ta nos ta esnan ku ta laga Dios hasi loke mester pa nos.
E otro disipelnan a rabia ku nan pasobra nan tabata buska preferensia. Boso no ta kere ku nan tabata pensa ku tabata inoportuno pidi esaki, sino pasobra kada un tabatin deseo pa nan mes, ku loke e diesnan tambe a demonstrá nan ambishon. Hesus a probechá e okashon para skual nan tur.
Hopi bia den nos Iglesia nos ta mira ehèmpel di hende ku ke sobresalí riba tur otro.
Ora hende ta mira Iglesia nan ta hasié ku kriterionan únikamente humano, di tal manera saserdotenan ta "destiná", ser "obispu" o "vikario" ta un enkargo masha importante, i no bisa nada mes di ser Papa...
Mare nos por transmití na e rumannan ku sirbishi, spesial na esnan mas débil i den nesesidat di sosiedat, ta e kaminda pa hasi Dios presente den nos mundu. Ora nos haña nos mes dilanti di nos Señor, E lo no puntra nos ni e dògmanan, ni di Beibel, ni e mandamentunan i ni sikiera e sakramentunan, sino kon nos a biba den aktitut di sirbishi i disponibilidat. Ta puntra kon ainda tin kristian únikamente preokupá pa e puresa doktrinal ora en realidat Evangelio ta invitá nos na e puresa di bida i di kurason...
Únikamente un kristian ku por sirbi otro ta esun ku tin amor komo meta den su bida. Outoridat, segun Kristu, ta den sirbi e ruman.
E mihó manera di eksperensiá bida ta di sa ku tur loke un hende a biba ta bal la pena, ku el a hasi kada kos na su momento i ku e no a laga asuntunan pendiente pa un mañan ku lo no yega. Tempu di Dios yama "awor".
E apòstelnan tabata ke privilegio pa futuro. Pober di nos si den presente nos no deskubrí ku dor di duna, segun ehèmpel di Hesus, ta nos mihó rekompensa, nos mihó rekonosementu.

First meeting between Holy See and Lefebvrists to take place October 26

Vatican City, Oct 15, 2009 / (CNA).

Several months after Pope Benedict lifted the excommunications of four Society of St. Pius X bishops, the Director of the Holy See's press office, Father Federico Lombardi, announced today that the first meeting with representatives of the society will take place in Rome on Monday, October 26.

The meeting will be attended by a number of individuals, including Archbishop Guido Pozzo, secretary of the Ecclesia Dei Pontifical Commission; Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF); Dominican Father Charles Morerod, secretary of the International Theological Commission and consultor with the CDF; Archbishop Fernando Ocariz, Vicar General of Opus Dei and consultor with the CDF; and Jesuit Father Karl Josef Becker, also a CDF consultor.

According to Father Lombardi, the meeting will take place at the Palace of the Holy Office, which is where the CDF is housed. “The conversations will focus on open doctrinal questions and will remain confidential. A statement will be released at the conclusion of the meeting,” Lombardi explained.

After Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications of the four Lefebvrist bishops, the Vatican Secretary State issued a statement on February 4, 2009, explaining a series of demands that the Lefebvrists must meet including “full recognition of the Second Vatican Council” and of the magisteriums of all the Popes since Pius XII.

On March 10, the Holy See released a letter from Pope Benedict XVI to the bishops of world in which he explained the reasons for lifting the excommunication, noting that “until the doctrinal questions are clarified, the Society has no canonical status in the Church, and its ministers – even though they have been freed of the ecclesiastical penalty – do not legitimately exercise any ministry in the Church.”

Despite this clear warning, the Lefebvrist bishops ordained a group of priests at the end of June, which prompted a statement from the Holy See’s Press Office reiterating what the Pope said in his letter to the world's bishops.

Holy See asks sick to pray for priests, beatification of John Paul II

Vatican City, Oct 13, 2009 / (CNA)

Writing in the context of the Year for Priests, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, the President of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, has sent a letter to those who are sick and suffering, asking them to pray for priests and the beatification of Pope John Paul II.

The purpose of the Year is to call the whole Christian community to “rediscover the beauty of the priestly vocation and thus to pray for priests,” the archbishop said, noting that this includes the sick.

Archbishop Zimowski reminded sick people in his October 1 letter that priests play an important role in their lives. “A priest at the bedside of a sick person represents Christ himself, the Divine Physician, who is not indifferent to the fate of those who suffer. Indeed, through the sacraments of the Church, administered by a priest, Jesus Christ offers to a sick person healing through reconciliation and the forgiveness of sins, through anointing with holy oil and lastly in the Eucharist, in the viaticum in which Christ himself becomes, as Giovanni Leonardi used to say, ‘the medicine of immortality’ by which ‘we are comforted, nourished, transformed into God, and participants in the divine nature,” he wrote.

The head of the Council for Health Care Workers also pointed out that the conclusion of the Year for Priests coincides with the 25th anniversary of the founding of Pontifical Council. Pope John Paul II, he recalled, founded the Council on the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes to demonstrate the Church's care for the sick.

“Because of this providential anniversary,” Archbishop Zimowski wrote, “I am near to each one of you and I invite you, dear sick brothers and sisters, to unceasingly address your prayers and the offering up of your sufferings to the Lord of life for the holiness of your well loved priests, so that they can with devotion and pastoral charity perform the ministry that is entrusted to them by Christ, the physician of bodies and souls.”

During the Year for Priests, he encouraged the faithful who are sick and suffering to “rediscover the beauty of the prayer of the Holy Rosary for the spiritual benefit of priests, in a special way during the month of October.” He also exhorted the sick to participate in Mass and adoration of the Eucharist, “every first Thursday and every first Friday of the month, which are respectively dedicated to devotion to the Eucharist and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”

“I would like to remind you that in praying for priests one can obtain special indulgences this year,” the archbishop added.

Looking ahead to April 2010, the Polish archbishop asked for their prayers for the pilgrimage of hospital chaplains that is being first in the French towns of Lourdes and Ars to mark the Pontifical Council's anniversary.

Archbishop Zimowski summed up his prayer requests by saying, To you, therefore, dear sick and suffering brothers and sisters, I entrust the Church which needs your prayers and sufferings, the person of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, and all the bishops and priests in the world, who strive every day for your sanctification. I ask from you a special prayer for priests who are sick and afflicted in their bodies who every day experience, like you, the weight of pain, together with the force of saving grace which comforts and heals the soul.”

The Polish prelate also urged the sick to pray for “the beatification and canonization of the Servant of God John Paul II” recommending that they offer a prayer for the needs of the Church, authored by the late Pontiff.

Benedict XVI: Jesus calls us to the total gift of our lives.

Holy Father canonizes five new saints

Vatican City, Oct 11, 2009 / (CNA).

Today, Pope Benedict XVI canonized five new saints in St. Peter’s Basilica, including Fr. Damian of Molokai. During his homily, the Holy Father noted that all of the saints followed the invitation of Christ: "Come, follow me!"

Speaking to the faithful packed in St. Peter’s Basilica this morning, the Pope described the invitation of Christ saying that he "invites his disciples to the total gift of their lives, without calculation and human self-interest, with a wholehearted faith in God."

This call, the Holy Father continued, is welcome by the saints who "place themselves in humble obedience" to follow the Lord.

They no longer focus on themselves, the Pope explained, but by their "logic of faith," they choose "to go against the trends of the time living according to the Gospel."

Benedict XVI then gave a brief description of each of the five newly-canonized saints: a bishop, a Trappist brother, two priests and a nun.

Archbishop Zygmunt Szczesny Feliński of Warsaw, founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Family of Mary, was committed to evangelization and support for the poor, defending the oppressed during the Russian occupation of Poland, and was sentenced to 20 years in exile in Jaroslaw on the Volga. "His gift of himself to God and man," the Holy Father said in Polish, was "full of confidence and love," and "becomes a shining example for the entire Church."

To those younger generations today who "are not satisfied with what they have," the Pontiff gave the example of Rafael Arnaiz Baron, who came from a wealthy family and was a bit "of a dreamer." He died when he was 27 years old, a Cistercian oblate, considered one of the greatest mystics of the twentieth century.

The Pontiff next spoke of Dominican Father Francisco Coll y Guitard, founder of the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation Blessed Virgin Mary. Through his preaching, the saint spread his love of the Word of God and the Sacrament of Reconciliation among people especially the young.

Father Damian, the famous apostle of lepers, at 23 years of age left Flanders, Belgium to go on a mission to modern day Hawaii. "Not without fear and loathing," Pope Benedict underlined, "Father Damian made the choice to go on the island of Molokai in the service of lepers who were there, abandoned by all. So he exposed himself to the disease of which they suffered. With them he felt at home. The servant of the Word became a suffering servant, leper with the lepers, during the last four years of his life."

He continued, "To follow Christ, Father Damian not only left his homeland, but has also staked his health so he, as the word of Jesus announced in today's Gospel tells us, received eternal life."

The figure of Father Damian, Benedict XVI added, "teaches us to choose the good fight not those that lead to division, but those that gather us together in unity."

And finally, the Pope spoke of St. Mary of the Cross, of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and her "wonderful work to help the most vulnerable elderly." He noted that her initiatives and goals are "still valid today, given that many elderly people suffer from multiple poverty and loneliness, sometimes even being abandoned by their families."

The Pope concluded by inviting all present "to allow themselves to be attracted by the shining example of these saints, to be guided by their teachings so that our entire life becomes a hymn of praise to God's love."