zondag 31 januari 2010
Love is the ‘greatest gift,’ Pope Benedict declares at Angelus
Vatican City, Jan 31, 2010 / (CNA).-
Pope Benedict XVI in his address before the Angelus discussed St. Paul's "hymn of love" and the importance of love as the "badge of the Christian" and the “greatest” gift.
In First Corinthians, the Holy Father said, St. Paul shows us the “way of perfection" in the verses of his "hymn to love." Benedict XVI called the verses of Sunday’s reading "one of the most beautiful pages in the New Testament."
According to Paul, he continued, the way "does not consist of possessing exceptional qualities: speaking other languages, knowing all of the mysteries, having a prodigious faith or doing heroic acts. It consists, rather, of love - agape ... true love, that which God has revealed to us in Jesus Christ.
"Love is the 'greatest' gift, that gives value to all the others," taught the Holy Father.
After quoting excerpts regarding the nature of this love and its manifestation from St. Paul's letter, Pope Benedict added:
"In the end, when we find ourselves face-to-face with God, all of the other gifts will disappear; the only one that will remain eternally will be love, because God is love and we will be like Him, in perfect communion with Him."
"For now, while we are in this world, love is the badge of the Christian ... it is what he believes and that which he does."
Citing his first encyclical "Deus Caritas Est," the Holy Father recalled that love has two aspects: "its meaning and ... its practical realization."
"In Jesus Christ, these two aspects form a perfect unity," he explained. "He is the incarnate Love. This Love is fully revealed to us in Christ crucified."
Benedict XVI concluded by reflecting on the Saints, among whom are a “variety” of spiritual gifts and human characters, but each one’s life is “a 'hymn to love,' a living canticle to the love of God!"
He ended his address by remembering St. John Bosco, the founder of the Salesian Family and patron saint of young people, whose feast is celebrated on Sunday. The Holy Father asked for his intercession "so that priests are always educators and fathers of young people, and that, experiencing this pastoral love, many young people welcome the call to give their lives for Christ and the Gospel."
Church celebrates feast of St. John Bosco
CNA STAFF, Jan 31, 2010 / (CNA).-
Today the Church commemorates the life of St. John Bosco, a priest of humble origins who was devoted to helping boys make something of themselves. Don Bosco’s story is an inspiring example of God’s ability to express his will through dreams.
The founder of the Salesian order, St. John Bosco, began his life as a poor farm boy. Because his father died while John was very young, his mother did her best to hold the family together and was a model of faith for the young John and his brothers.
John was known throughout the village of Recchi, Italy, where he spent much of his youth, for his acrobatics and juggling feats. Conscious of God, he would stop and ask his spectators to join him in prayer before beginning any of his performances.
He used this talent of attracting people’s attention to minister to the young boys who often roamed the streets. His ministry was not accepted by many, as people only saw a rough, unruly and dirty crowd of boys following John Bosco to Mass instead of the miracle of such boys receiving the sacraments.
It s said that Bosco received his mission from God in a dream. When he was nine years old, he dreamed that he was in a field with a group of children. The children started cursing and fighting, so John tried to stop them.
John found himself to be ineffective because he did exactly what they were doing to make them stop. All of a sudden, a man whose face was full of light, covered in a white mantle, appeared. He made John the leader of the group, saying, “You will have to win these friends of yours not with blows but with gentleness and kindness.”
Don Bosco, as the saint was called after he was ordained, spent his entire adult life ministering to the needs of the children on the streets. He worked to help both boys and girls, educating them, bringing them to the sacraments, and teaching them the trades of shoemaking, tailoring, or to run a printing press.
Pope Pius XI encouraged Don Bosco to gather a group together to continue his ministry. With 17 other men, he founded the Salesians, named after St. Francis de Sales. Later, he organized a group of Salesian Sisters to minister to girls. Today, the Salesians are the second largest religious order in the world. Their ministry continues to serve the youth by focusing on the whole person, body and soul united.
St. John Bosco died in 1888 at the age of 73. He is the patron saint of youth, young apprentices, Catholic publishers and editors.
vrijdag 29 januari 2010
Charity, truth and justice must guide Vatican court, states Pope Benedict
Vatican City, Jan 29, 2010 /(CNA).-
The Holy Father addressed members of the Roman Rota, the second highest Vatican court, this morning for the inauguration of the judicial year. In his message, he emphasized the importance of charity, truth and justice in guiding their work, especially as it pertains to upholding the Sacrament of Marriage.
In society today, said the Holy Father, we tend to "contrast justice with charity, almost as if the one excluded the other."
Alluding to a specific example, the Pope explained that "some people maintain that pastoral charity justifies any measures taken towards the declaration of nullity of the marriage bond."
In this case, he maintained, truth "would thus tend to be seen in a functional perspective, adapting itself to the different requirements that arise in each case.”
Pope Benedict XVI told the members of the court that they must uphold the virtue of justice and also be strong, especially "when injustice seems the easiest path to follow, in as much as it involves giving in to the desires and expectations of the parties involved, or to the conditioning of the social environment."
Neither can they neglect charity, he added, because maintaining a "charitable perspective... will help us not to forget that those before us are always people marked by problems and suffering."
And, in the cases of annulment, "whenever there seems to be hope of a successful outcome," said the Pope, they must make every effort to reunite the spouses.
Another important issue regarding justice in annulments, added the Holy Father, involves the avoidance of "pseudo-pastoral demands which place the issue on a merely horizontal plain."
These cases, he said, are typified by the attitude that the importance lies in "satisfying subjective requests in order to achieve a declaration of nullity at any cost, with the aim of overcoming, among other things, the obstacles to receiving the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist."
This, explained Pope Benedict, "would, however, be a false advantage to ease the way towards receiving the Sacraments, at the risk of causing people to live in objective contrast with the truth of their own individual state."
"Both justice and charity require love for truth... (and) without truth, charity slides into sentimentalism. Love becomes an empty shell to be filled arbitrarily. This is the fatal risk of love in a culture without truth."
"The problem arises when the essence itself of marriage becomes more or less obscured," stated the Holy Father, adding that the "examination of the conjugal bond in existential, personalist and relational terms must never be undertaken at the expense of indissolubility, an essential property which in Christian marriage has, with unity, a special firmness by virtue of the Sacrament."
"Marriage enjoys the favor of the law," concluded Benedict XVI, "Therefore, whenever there is doubt, a marriage must be held to be valid until the contrary is proven, otherwise we run the serious risk of remaining without an objective point of reference for pronouncements of nullity, transforming all conjugal difficulties into a symptom of a failed union whose essential nucleus of justice - the indissoluble bond - is thus effectively denied."
donderdag 28 januari 2010
New book on John Paul II gives details on self-mortification, kidnap plot
Rome, Italy, Jan 28, 2010 / 03:24 am (CNA).-
A new book released by a Vatican official on Wednesday details lesser known facts about the late John Paul II, including his self-mortification practices, hand written instructions for his resignation in case of incurable illness, and a plot by Italian militants to kidnap him in the 1980's.
"Why he is a Saint: The True story of John Paul II," by Monsignor Slawomir Oder, a Church official heading the cause for John Paul II's canonization, was made available in Italian bookstores on Jan. 27. According to the Italian news agency ANSA, Fr. Oder discusses how the late pontiff used to practice self-mortification as part of his devotion.
“Members of his closest entourage, both in Poland and the Vatican, heard with their own ears how Karol Wojtyla used to whip himself,” wrote Msgr. Oder. “There used to be a particular belt, intended for trousers, hanging from a hook in his wardrobe among all his robes.”
Msgr. Oder spoke of how the late Holy Father “used this as a whip and always brought it with him when he went to (the papal summer residence) Castel Gandolfo.” Oder also cites the testimony of Sister Tobiana Sobodka who was in the neighboring room at the summer residence, and witnessed to the Vatican assembly considering John Paul II's cause for canonization. “We would hear the sound of the blows,” she testified.
In his new book, Msgr. Oder also outlines the other self-mortification practices the late Pontiff would undergo such as fasting during Lent – eating only one meal a day, abstention from food before ordinations and sleeping on a hard, cold floor as opposed to a bed. The Polish monsignor wrote that John Paul II began to sleep on the floor as far back as the 1960's and would often rumple the covers of his bed to make it look like he has slept in it.
The book also details hand written documents from John Paul II conveying his determination to continue with his papal duties as long as his health allowed. One document from 1989 states that he would only cease in his ministry “in the case of a lengthy illness, thought to be incurable that prevents me from carrying out my duties sufficiently.” In a 1994 letter, the late Pope also stated “I feel it is a serious conscientious obligation to continue carrying out the task given to me (by God).”
Msgr. Oder also discusses how John Paul II learned shortly before the 1981 assassination attempt that an Italian militant group called the Red Brigades planned to kidnap him.
“Shortly before the attack, the Italian secret services warned that the Red Brigade terrorists has a plan to kidnap John Paul,” Msgr. Oder wrote, explaining that that was why the late pontiff remarked “just like Bachelet” to his secretary on his way to the hospital after being shot. Catholic Judge Vittorio Bachelet was previously assassinated by the Red Brigades.
While presenting his book on Wednesday, Msgr. Oder stated that there has not been an official date set for John Paul II's beatification. Though the process is “well under way” the Congregation of Saints has yet to recognize a miracle attributed to the late Pontiff.
Pope Benedict XVI announced last month that he was declaring John Paul II Venerable and had previously waived a rule requiring that a canonization process cannot being until five years after a prospective saint's death.
Gospel must be shared with technology and personal witness, says Archbishop Chaput
Rome, Italy, Jan 27, 2010 / (CNA).-
The Emmanuel Community hosted a symposium in Rome this week with the theme "Priests and Laity in the Mission," for which Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver gave the keynote address on Wednesday. Following his talk, CNA spoke with the archbishop about how culture is affected by modern technology, a theme that was recently touched on by Pope Benedict XVI.
In his talk, the archbishop analyzed the roots and direction of contemporary culture including the effects that mass media and a "knowledge economy" have on the way we perceive the world.
On Saturday, through his message for the World Day for Social Communications, the Pope called for priests to have more of a presence online while, more importantly, remaining grounded in the faith.
In response to a question from CNA on his views about the use modern technologies as tools for evangelization, Archbishop Chaput said, "You have to be very prudent in your use of new media and new communications," explaining that he remembers the first time he heard a confession in which "people confessed sins that were the result of their access to media."
"We should use it to promote the Gospel, but we also need to guard ourselves from its dangers," he stated.
The archbishop also elaborated on a statement he made in his talk about addressing the "implications both for the Word of God and for the Church" that result from the effects of mass media and modern technology on culture, including its way of isolating people and attacking community.
The danger of spreading the Gospel through technological means rather than face-to-face, Archbishop Chaput said, is that "the Gospel becomes intellectual rather than interpersonal."
Sharing the experience of Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior with someone else is "not just a declaration of 'some' information," he said, adding, "and I don't know that the experience of the Lord Jesus can be shared electronically. I think it has to be shared personally.”
"We have great opportunities of entry into peoples' lives with the media, but we have to understand that it's not enough. There has to be, also, the personal relationship because the Gospel is essentially Trinitarian and, because of that, communitarian."
Summing up his thoughts, the archbishop said, "so I think that we've got to make good use of them but never presume that because we have an active presence in the technologies that it's ever enough.
"The old technology of personal witness and personal encounter and sharing faith is essential to the Gospel."
The archbishop added that using technology to extend an invitation to a community or describe it is useful, "but it can't be an experience of community in itself." Personal contact, he concluded, is "absolutely essential."
Pope encourages pontifical academies to address cultural problems
Vatican City, Jan 28, 2010 / (CNA).-
Pope Benedict XVI met with members of the Pontifical Academies in the Clementine Hall on Thursday morning, following their 14th annual public session a day earlier. Reminding them of the importance of keeping up to date with the contemporary culture and maintaining a degree of "originality" in their research, he called for them to look to the figure of St. Thomas Aquinas for inspiration.
Addressing the 300 members present from seven academies, the Holy Father congratulated them on their "glorious past" and then pointed out that at the present time "contemporary culture, and even more so believers themselves, continually petition the Church to concentrate her reflections and actions in those fields in which new problems emerge.”
Members of the academies, the Pope reminded, "are called to offer a qualified, competent and passionate contribution, so that all the Church... can offer occasions, language and of adequate means to dialogue with contemporary culture and respond effectively to the question and to the challenges that face her in the different areas of knowledge and human experience."
Pontifical academies approach questions concerning everything from philosophical and theological research to reflection on the figure of Mary, the heritage of the Christian witness and artistic creativity.
"As I have said before," continued Pope Benedict, "today's culture is strongly influenced by a vision dominated by relativism and subjectivism and by methods and attitudes that are sometimes superficial and even banal." These, he said, "damage the seriousness of study and reflection and, consequently, also dialogue, exchange and interpersonal communications."
Reflecting on the current situation, the Pope insisted, it is "urgent and necessary to recreate the essential conditions of a real capacity for deeper study and research, so as to dialogue reasonably and effectively confront various problems, with the view of a common growth and a formation the promotes man in his entirety and completeness."
Benedict XVI added that "social harmony and, above all, the formation of young generations" suffer from the lack of points of reference for ideals and morals, and that they should be introduced to "an ideal and practical offer of values and truth, of strong reasons for life and hope."
The need to form young people is "particularly urgent" in forming seminarians, he underscored.
The Holy Father pointed out a model for their work in Saint Thomas Aquinas, whom he said is an "always current model" that can "inspire action and dialogue of the Pontifical Academies with diverse cultures."
Citing the saint's ability to produce "an extraordinary theological synthesis" from Arabic, Jewish and Greek traditions, the Pope called for members of the academies to take a lesson from his "extraordinary and pervasive pedagogic originality."
The "thought and witness of St. Thomas Aquinas prompt us to study emerging problems with great attention, in order to offer adequate and creative responses," he added.
Acting as the saint, with trust in 'human reason' and its possibilities, concluded the Pope, "we must ... always draw from the richness of the Tradition in the constant search for the 'truth of things.'"
Archbishop Chaput addresses the reality of Satan
Rome, Italy, Jan 28, 2010 / CNA).-
On Wednesday, the Emmanuel Community's annual symposium in Rome was addressed by Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, who spoke on the task of evangelizing the modern culture and what he called religious leaders' embarrassment to discuss the existence of Satan.
The American archbishop spoke for half an hour at the Pontifical Lateran University to an audience ranging from college students to people in their 70s. His speech, entitled, “The Prince of this World and the Evangelization of Culture,” was part of a symposium that lasted from Jan. 25-27 and was dedicated to looking at "Priests and Laity in the Mission."
Archbishop Chaput began his talk by reflecting on the human desire for beauty and transcendence.
“We are creatures made for heaven; but we are born of this earth. We love the beauty of this world; but we sense there is something more behind that beauty. Our longing for that 'something' pulls us outside of ourselves,” he said.
Examining what God enabled man to do when He created him, the Denver archbishop observed that “God licenses us to know, love and ennoble the world through the work of human genius. Our creativity as creatures is an echo of God's own creative glory.”
But “we live in a time when, despite all of our achievements, the brutality and indifference of the world have never been greater,” the archbishop underscored as he surveyed the modern culture that Christians are called to evangelize.
In his estimation, “God has never been more absent from the Western mind than he is today. We live in an age when almost every scientific advance seems to be matched by some increase of cruelty in our entertainment, cynicism in our politics, ignorance of the past, consumer greed, little genocides posing as 'rights' like the cult of abortion, and a basic confusion about what – if anything at all – it means to be 'human.'”
Archbishop Chaput then warned of the dangers of creative genius, saying that our human accomplishments can lure us into a “will to power” within politics and science and an “impulse to pride” within art and high culture.
“Genius breeds vanity. And vanity breeds suffering and conflict.”
The roots of this vanity, explained the archbishop, can be traced back to the very first “non serviam” that Satan uttered.
Reflecting on the hesitancy of religious leaders to speak about Satan, Archbishop Chaput said, “It is very odd that in the wake of the bloodiest century in history – a century when tens of millions of human beings were shot, starved, gassed and incinerated with superhuman ingenuity – even many religious leaders are embarrassed to talk about the devil.”
“In fact,” he observed, “it is more than odd. It is revealing.”
“Mass murder and exquisitely organized cruelty are not just really big 'mental health' problems,” he continued. “They are sins that cry out to heaven for justice, and they carry the fingerprints of an Intelligence who is personal, gifted, calculating and powerful.”
The archbishop recalled that in the late 1920s, as “the great totalitarian murder-regimes began to rise up in Europe,” Raissa Maritain wrote an essay, “The Prince of This World,” in which she described Satan's works: “
“Lucifer has cast the strong though invisible net of illusion upon us. He makes one love the passing moment above eternity, uncertainty above truth. He persuades us that we can only love creatures by making Gods of them. He lulls us to sleep (and he interprets our dreams); he makes us work. Then does the spirit of man brood over stagnant waters. Not the least of the devil's victories is to have convinced artists and poets that he is their necessary, inevitable collaborator and the guardian of their greatness. Grant him that, and soon you will grant him that Christianity is unpracticable. Thus does he reign in this world.”
The archbishop added: “If we do not believe in the devil, sooner or later we will not believe in God.” The devil is “the first author of pride and rebellion, and the great seducer of man. Without him the Incarnation and Redemption do not make sense, and the cross is meaningless.”
“Satan is real. There is no way around this simple truth.”
Archbishop Chaput then praised Pope Benedict XVI for his commitment throughout the years to speak often and forcefully against the “culture of relativism” and called on the Catholic faithful to fulfill what he believes is their primary vocation.
“We have an obligation as Catholics to study and understand the world around us,” the archbishop said. “We have a duty not just to penetrate and engage it, but to convert it to Jesus Christ. That work belongs to all of us equally: clergy, laity and religious.”
“We are missionaries,” he continued. “That is our primary vocation; it is hardwired into our identity as Christians. God calls each of us to different forms of service in his Church. But we are all equal in baptism. And we all share the same mission of bringing the Gospel to the world, and bringing the world to the Gospel.”
Archbishop Chaput concluded his address by encouraging the faithful to have no fear in approaching what some may view as a daunting task.“We should not be afraid to believe and to love; it took even a great saint like Augustine half a lifetime to be able to admit, that 'late have I loved thee, Beauty so old and so new; late have I loved thee.'”
“God calls us to leave here today and make disciples of all nations,” exhorted the prelate. “But he calls us first to love him. If we do that, and do it zealously, with all our hearts – the rest will follow.”
dinsdag 26 januari 2010
Message of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) to the Church and People of Haiti
The Antilles Episcopal Conference at the meeting of its Permanent Board in Port of Spain Trinidad on Thursday 21 January 2010 expressed its deep concern for the suffering of the people of Haiti in the aftermath of last week’s devastating earthquake and fully endorsed and made its own the following message of solidarity issued by the Bishops of the territories of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Cayenne who form part of the AEC.
The message is as follows:
“If one part is hurt, all the parts share its pain. And if one part is honoured, all the parts share its joy.
Now Christ's body is yourselves, each of you with a part to play in the whole. (I Cor. 12, 26)
Gathered in Fort-de-France for their Annual Meeting on 19 January 2010, the Bishops of the French Speaking ecclesiastical province Antilles-French Guiana, in close communion with the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) of with they are members, send this message to Bishop Kebreau, President of the Haiti Bishops Conference, and through him to the Church in Haiti.
It is with deep sadness that we have learnt about the devastating earthquake which destroyed Port-au-Prince and its surroundings.
We wish to assure you that our dioceses share in the pain and suffering of mourning families. In our prayers we present to our Heavenly Father our brother in the Episcopacy Archbishop Joseph-Serge Miot, the priests, religious sisters and brothers, seminarians and all the other victims of this terrible earthquake. We are committed in full solidarity with you in whatever support you consider appropriate and particularly through Caritas, the Church Humanitarian Agency.
The Church community in Haiti is especially close to ours in that we benefit from the pastoral ministry of many Haitian priests, together with sisters and many faithful who live among us. Their faith is an example for us and their suffering is our suffering.
It is to the Risen Lord, source of all Hope, that with you we present our most fervent prayers and we assure you of our deepest affection in Him.
Pope asks for constant prayers for Christian unity
Rome, Italy, Jan 26, 2010 / (CNA).-
The Holy Father closed the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with Vespers at the Roman Basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-walls on the Monday evening. In his homily he emphasized that everyone is called to seek "full communion between all of the disciples of Christ."
Cardinal Walter Kasper, the president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the archpriest and abbot of the basilica and a host of cardinals, bishops and representatives from other Christian Churches joined Pope Benedict XVI in the celebration of Vespers. The evening prayer service coincided with the Solemnity of the Conversion of St. Paul, whose tomb is under the altar of the basilica.
"As the theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, 'You are witnesses of these things,' has reminded us, our call is to be missionaries of the Gospel," Pope Benedict said in his homily.
He recounted the story of St. Paul's conversion and his subsequent life of devotion to preaching the Word of God, which "reached it's culmination in his martyrdom," as a model of the Christian witness.
This event and the appearance of Christ among the Eleven after his death, continued the Pope, were those to which the disciples thereafter bore witness, as have believers in Christ "in every time and place."
Christian witness, "then as now, is born of the encounter with the Risen, it's nurtured by the constant relationship with Him, encouraged by the profound love of Him. Only the person who has experienced feeling Christ present and alive... sitting at table with Him, listening to Him so that their heart burns, can be His witness!" the Pope taught.
"The communion and the unity of the disciples of Christ is... a particularly important condition for greater credibility and effectiveness in the their witness."
The Holy Father concluded his message by saying that "each of us is called to do our part to take those steps that bring us towards full communion between all disciples of Christ, without ever forgetting that this is, above all, a gift of God to pray for constantly.
"In fact,” Benedict XVI stated, “the force that promotes the unity and the mission streams out from the fertile and exciting encounter with the Risen One, as happens to Paul on the road of Damascus and for the Eleven and the other disciples gathered in Jerusalem. The Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, says 'yes' that Her Son's wish is realized as soon as possible, 'that they may all be one... that the world may believe.'"
The ecumenical movement marks a milestone this year, celebrating a century since the missionary conference between representatives from Protestant and Anglican Churches met along with a single orthodox delegate in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1910. The goal of the gathering was work towards unity and define a shared approach to spreading the Good News.
maandag 25 januari 2010
Pope pledges Catholic institutions' continued presence in Haiti
Vatican City, Jan 23, 2010 / (CNA).-
The Press Office of the Holy See has released the content of two letters written by Pope Benedict XVI to leaders in Haiti following the country’s devastating earthquake. In the notes, the Holy Father expressed the solidarity of the Church with the people of Haiti and the intention of Church institutions to do everything in their power to restore “hope for the future.”
In separate letters sent on Jan. 16 to the President of Haiti, Rene Preval, and the president of the Haitian Catholic Bishops' Conference, Archbishop of Cap-Haitien Louis Kebreau, the Holy Father transmitted his "fervent prayer for all of the people touched by this dreadful catastrophe" and assured the presence of the Catholic Church in providing continued assistance to the tragedy’s victims.
He expressed his prayer that God take the deceased into "the peace of his Kingdom," especially Archbishop Serge Miot "who shared the fate of so many of his faithful." The Pontiff also asked for consolation for the families of victims, "who, often, haven't been able to give a decent burial to their disappeared loved ones."
The Holy Father hailed the quick response of the international community in coming to the aid of the Haitian people and assured President Preval of the Catholic Church's intentions to stay beside those affected by the disaster and to do everything possible to help give them “hope for the future.”
In the letter to the archbishop, the Pope also pledged the continued presence of the Catholic Church in providing emergency aid and "patient" reconstruction in devastated areas. He then entrusted the hearts of the people to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, that she direct them to choose solidarity over isolation.
ARCHBISHOP Lawrence Burke, SJ, first archbishop of the Bahamas, died in Kingston, Jamaica, at 7 o'clock last night after a long battle with cancer.
On February 9, 2004 Archbishop Burke was appointed the fourth Archbishop of Kingston and was installed on May 2, 2004, at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Kingston.
zondag 24 januari 2010
Church is ‘rich and vital organism’ in its unity, remarks Pope at Angelus
Vatican City, Jan 24, 2010 / (CNA).-
Citing the reading in Sunday's liturgy from First Corinthians, Pope Benedict XVI used St. Paul's comparison of the Church to the body in his words before the Angelus. He then expressed his hope for continued progress among believers on the occasion of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
In describing the Church in its unity as a body under the "head" of Christ, Pope Benedict explained that the Apostle Paul aimed to "communicate the idea of unity in the multiplicity of the charisms, which are the gifts of the Holy Spirit."
"Thanks to these the Church presents itself as a rich and vital organism, not uniform, fruit of the only Spirit that guides all to a profound unity, assuming diversity without abolishing it and realizing a harmonious whole."
The Pope mentioned that he wished to emphasize the role of the Church in maintaining the "presence of the risen Lord" during the current Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. He said, "It's really in Christ and the Spirit that the Church is one and holy, it is an intimate communion that transcends human capacity and sustains it."
"We will invoke from God the gift of the full unity of all disciples of Christ and, in particular, according to the theme of this year, we will renew the commitment to being joint witnesses to the crucified and risen Lord.
Benedict XVI reiterated the sentiment that he has expressed so often, that "The communion of Christians... makes the announcement of the Gospel more credible and effective, as affirms Jesus himself praying to the Father on the eve of his death, 'that they may all be one... that the world may believe’."
The Holy Father finished the address with a prayer for the intercession of Mary to achieve continued progress in the communion of Christians in order to "transmit the beauty of being one in the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will conclude Monday, January 25, coinciding with the feast of the conversion of St. Paul. The Pope and members of the various other Churches ecclesial communities in Rome will join together for Vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-walls.
Benedict XVI remembers life of St. Francis de Sales
Vatican City, Jan 24, 2010 / (CNA).-
Speaking before today’s Angelus, Pope Benedict recalled the life of St. Francis de Sales. "He dedicated himself with great yield to preaching and spiritual formation of the faithful, teaching that the call to sainthood is for all people and everyone has a place in the Church.”
Due to St. Francis de Sales' evangelization, it is estimated that 72,000 people were converted to the Catholic faith in his native France. He was known for his gentleness and humility, penchant for preaching and great dedication to the Church.
On Saturday, in light of the celebration of the saint's feast day, the Pope released his Message for the World Day for Social Communications in which he emphasized the need for today's clergy to make use of modern technology and especially to be a presence for truth and wisdom online. The Pontiff remarked that it "will not only enliven their pastoral outreach, but also will give a 'soul' to the fabric of communications that makes up the 'Web.' "
On Sunday, the Church celebrates the feast day of this priest who is the patron of journalists and Catholic press.
Holy Father encourages online priestly ministry
Vatican City, Jan 23, 2010 / (CNA).-
In his message for the 44th World Day for Social Communications, Pope Benedict calls for priests to "make astute use" of available technology in becoming a presence as community leaders on the web. However, he urges them to remain "less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart."
The 2010 World Day for Social Communications will take place on May 16 under the theme "The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word." The Holy Father’s message was released today.
The aim of this year's message is to draw attention to the possibilities for priestly ministry offered within the "important and sensitive pastoral area of digital communications."
For every priest, states the Holy Father in the message, fulfilling the fundamental priority of building up God's communion "necessarily involves using new communications technologies."
"Priests stand at the threshold of a new era: as new technologies create deeper forms of relationship across greater distances, they are called to respond pastorally by putting the media ever more effectively at the service of the Word."
Pope Benedict emphasizes that "broad new vistas for dialogue, evangelization and catechesis" can be opened up in cyberspace with the presence of priests, living out their traditional role as community leaders in the world of digital communication.
With proper formation on how to use these technologies appropriately and competently, "shaped by sound theological insights and reflecting a strong priestly spirituality grounded in constant dialogue with the Lord" priests have the opportunity to "introduce people to the life of the Church and help our contemporaries to discover the face of Christ."
"Yet," cautions the Holy Father, "priests present in the world of digital communications should be less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart, their closeness to Christ."
With their wisdom and preparation, he continues, priests' presence online "will not only enliven their pastoral outreach, but also will give a 'soul' to the fabric of communications that makes up the 'Web’."
"A pastoral presence in the world of digital communications, precisely because it brings us into contact with the followers of other religions, non-believers and people of every culture, requires sensitivity to those who do not believe, the disheartened and those who have a deep, unarticulated desire for enduring truth and the absolute."
The Pope reiterates the essential quality of the priest's spiritual life and solid grounding in faith to his ministry through new technologies at the end of the message, saying that he "must always bear in mind that the ultimate fruitfulness of their ministry comes from Christ himself, encountered and listened to in prayer; proclaimed in preaching and lived witness; and known, loved and celebrated in the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation."
The message ends with a renewed invitation to the clergy, "to make astute use of the unique possibilities offered by modern communications. May the Lord make all of you enthusiastic heralds of the Gospel in the new "agorà" (gathering place) which the current media are opening up."
zaterdag 23 januari 2010
Priest recounts story of survival at seminary in Haiti
Port au Prince, Haiti, Jan 23, 2010 / (CNA).-
Father Augustin Almy, a diocesan priest who was in the Port-au-Prince seminary at the time of its collapse on January 12, spoke to CNA this week sharing the story of his survival and describing the devastation in Haiti following the earthquake.
Speaking to CNA outside the remains of the seminary this week, Fr. Almy explained that at the time of the earthquake, he was in his second-floor room of the seminary watching television. “Suddenly I heard a noise...then I saw the walls coming down as the whole house began to collapse.”
“After about five or six minutes there was silence. I got out and saw that the seminary was completely destroyed. I tried to get back in but it was impossible. The seminarians were scared, and I realized I had escaped death,” the priest said.
Fr. Almy noted that there “are still some seminarians missing, but we can tell from the smell coming from inside that they have died.” Also, he continued, “we cannot find a professor of canon law and have not been able to access his room to see if he is dead or alive.”
Not only did the seminary collapse, but “the chapel was totally destroyed and we cannot celebrate Mass there. We have to celebrate outside.”
Speaking about the immediate needs they have, Father Almy said it was urgent that “the few possessions that remain be secured. Looters are coming from all over and they don’t realize that the seminary is not disappearing. We have to continue forward despite the catastrophe.”
“We also need to recover the bodies of the deceased out of respect and to prevent the spread of disease. Friends are helping us with food and water,” but “we are without power,” the priest said.
vrijdag 22 januari 2010
Benedict XVI reconfirms Cardinal Bertone as Vatican Secretary of State
Vatican City, Jan 21, 2010 / (CNA).-
In a letter published today by L’Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI confirmed that Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone will remain Vatican Secretary of State although he has reached the age at which prelates are required to submit their resignation to the Vatican.
The cardinal celebrated his 75th birthday on December 2, 2009.
In the letter dated January 15, the Holy Father thanked Cardinal Bertone “for the good carried out” during the years of his “priestly and episcopal ministry.” The Pope then expressed his appreciation for the “long course” of their collaboration stemming from the cardinal's “work as consultant to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”
“I also recall your delicate work in establishing dialogue with Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre,” the Pontiff continued. Also, “I will never forget the visit in Vercelli, which was for me an occasion for a renewed encounter with a great witness of the faith, St. Eusebius of Vercelli.”
After noting that it was John Paul II who called the cardinal to serve in the Roman Curia, Pope Benedict expressed his admiration for the “sensus fidei” (sense of faith) of Cardinal Bertone, as well as his “doctrinal and canonical” training which has enhanced his work “in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.”
Because of all these qualities, the Holy Father continued, “I decided in the Summer of 2006 to name you my Secretary of State, and today they are the reasons for which I would like to retain your valuable collaboration.”
In conclusion Pope Benedict XVI expressed his best wishes to the cardinal for his work, entrusting him to the Mary Help of Christians.
woensdag 20 januari 2010
Pope asks for prayer to achieve visible unity of all Christians
Vatican City, Jan 20, 2010 / (CNA).-
Pope Benedict developed his catechesis at the general audience on Wednesday around the theme of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The Pope spoke of the importance of "visible unity between Christians," inviting the faithful to invoke the Lord's assistance to "develop fraternal relations and promote dialogue."
This year's Week focuses on the Bible verse, "you are witnesses of these things," which Benedict XVI meditated on through two questions: the first, "What are these things?" and the second, "How can we be witnesses of these things?"
"The mystery of the Passion and the gift of the Resurrection" are the answers to the first question, explained the Pope, who added that "by knowing Christ we know the face of God" and "in Christ, the distant becomes close."
We can be witnesses to "these things," he continued, "by knowing Him personally, ... and truly meeting Him in our life of faith, and thus we can contribute to the novelty of the world, to eternal life."
The Holy Father affirmed the evolution of the ecumenical movement in the last 100 years to its current role in promoting fraternal relations between Churches and ecclesial communities.
He also commented on the scope and success of the movement, saying, "Since Vatican Council II the Catholic Church has forged fraternal relations with all the Churches of the East and ecclesial communities of the West.” With most of these groups, he continued, she "has been able to find points of convergence, even consensus, on various matters, thus strengthening our bonds of communion.”
"Over the last twelve months, the various dialogues have made important progress," the Pope pointed out, referring specifically to the 10th anniversary of Catholic-Lutheran dialogue established within the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification and progress in talks with the Anglican Church.
Pope Benedict underscored that the unity of Christians is fundamental to spreading the Gospel to the non-Christian world, asking how Christians can be credible in announcing Christ as "the only Savior of the world and our peace" if we are not unified in facing a "world that does not know Christ."
The Holy Father added that much has been done to establish dialogue with the Eastern Churches and ecclesial communities in recent history and that progress "has been achieved in collaboration and in fraternity in all these years."
However, he continued, "Ecumenical work is not a linear process, the old problems that arose in another age lose their importance, giving way to problems and difficulties of our own time. For this reason we must always be willing to accept a process of purification, through which the Lord makes us capable of unity."
The Pope wrapped up his speech by reaffirming the need for a shared witness to Christ and inviting prayer "for the complex ecumenical reality (and) for the promotion of dialogue."
Nuncio unharmed after second earthquake in Haiti
Port au Prince, Haiti, Jan 20, 2010 / CNA).-
Despite Haiti being hit with a second earthquake early Wednesday morning 35 miles from from the Capital city of Port-au-Prince, the Apostolic Nuncio in Haiti is reported to be safe and unharmed.
“It was a 6.1 quake!” Archbishop Bernardito Auza told CNA via email on Wednesday. “Pretty strong. It rattled the house. We are sleeping in the garden, but in that moment I was inside the house,” the prelate explained.
Archbishop Auza reported that the nunciature, located in Petionville south-east of downtown Port-au-Prince, is alright as well. Due to the building's structural uncertainty since the Jan. 12 earthquake, he has been sleeping outside in a tent.
Today's tremor struck the beleaguered country just eight days after the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake left tens of thousands dead and even more injured and homeless.
Nuncio in Haiti says Church should use 'moral authority' to distribute aid
Port au Prince, Haiti, Jan 20, 2010 / (CNA).-
The Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, Archbishop Bernardito Auza called on volunteers in the country to use “their moral authority” in distributing aid arriving in Port-au-Prince. Due to logistical complications such as lack of transportation, it has been difficult for donations to reach victims of the January 12 earthquake.
In an exclusive interview with CNA outside the Apostolic Nunciature in Petionville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, the archbishop urged those bringing aid to distribute it without waiting for greater security to be put in place.
“The Church must trust her moral authority in this task. Together with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), we have set up 12 aid-distribution stations. We cannot wait to have sufficient security in order to distribute (the aid), so we must make use of the moral authority we have as part of the Church of Christ,” the nuncio continued.
“We have to trust in that moral authority and do this work so that the people who need the aid can receive it,” he added.
The nuncio also announced that the funeral for Archbishop Serge Miot of Port-au-Prince will take place on Saturday, January 23.
Rescuers find body of Vicar General in Haiti
The body of Vicar General Charles Benoit was found beneath the ruins of the Port-au-Prince Cathedral today, a week after the catastrophic earthquake that wreaked havoc on the Haitian community. Vicar General Charles Benoit was discovered with his hands around a reliquary which contained a host inside. Despite the bad news, rescuers were encouraged by a dramatic two hour rescue that took place Wednesday. Enu Zizi, 60, had been trapped beneath the rubble in the Port-au-Prince Cathedral since the devastating quake hit last Tuesday evening local time. Zizi's first words upon being pulled from the wreckage were to tell her rescuers, “I love you.” Caritas worker Ruth Schoffl translated Zizi's message for her fellow rescuers and said, “It was like witnessing a small miracle.” “After a week of searching we heard this voice. I was able to speak to her, translating for the rescue team,” said Schoffl. The Cancun Mexico Rescue Brigade and the South African Relief Team are credited with rescuing Enu,who, aside from injured lips and a possible broken leg, was not critically hurt. “The rescue of Zizi has been the best thing in the team we have experienced,” said Ahmed Bham, leader of the South African Relief Team. “It is the first time we have saved somebody's life after such a long time after the quake.” “The team has got an energy boost,” he continued, “and we are heading out to do more work as there is still hope.”
zaterdag 16 januari 2010
Pope Benedict's Invitation to Prayer for Haiti
At the end of today's general audience, held in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope launched an appeal "for the dramatic situation currently being experienced in Haiti."
"My thoughts go in particular to the population hit just a few hours ago by a devastating earthquake which has caused serious loss of human life, large numbers of homeless and missing people, and vast material damage. I invite everyone to join my prayers to the Lord for the victims of this catastrophe and for those who mourn their loss. I give assurances of my spiritual closeness to people who have lost their homes and to everyone who, in various ways, has been affected by this terrible calamity, imploring God to bring them consolation and relief in their suffering. I appeal to the generosity of all people so that these our brothers and sisters who are experiencing a moment of need and suffering may not lack our concrete solidarity and the effective support of the international community. The Catholic Church will not fail to move immediately, through her charitable institutions, to meet the most immediate needs of the population."
Prayer
God of all creation, as we weep with our family in Haiti, console us. In this time of crisis, open our eyes to look beyond the disaster to see Christ in our brothers and sisters in Haiti, as Christ sees us. Be with us as we stand in solidarity with those living and working in Haiti. Be with us in our mourning and guide our efforts to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, comfort the grieving and stand for justice. With your mercy, sustain us at this time as we continue to work for peace and justice. Amen.
For the Haitian people, that help comes to them quickly and comfort comes to those who hurt. Lord, hear our prayer.
For the lost or buried, that they are found and reunited with their loved ones. Lord, hear our prayer.
For the relief workers, that they have the tools they need, the courage and the strength to respond fully. Lord, hear our prayer.
For the families in Haiti and in the United States who are waiting to hear from loved one, that good news comes to them. Lord, hear our prayer.
For those whose who have perished, may their souls rest with you, O Lord, where they will find eternal love.
Amen
vrijdag 15 januari 2010
Vatican spokesman says 'only real comfort' in Haiti is love
Rome, Italy, Jan 15, 2010 / (CNA).-
As Haiti reels from the destruction left by Tuesday's devastating earthquake, messages of support and prayers are coming in along with aid from every corner of the globe, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi says "the only real comfort" of these days in Haiti is this "generous and genuine love."
“The world is rightly shaken by the tragedy of the people of Haiti," already some of "the poorest of the Earth," said Fr. Lombardi on “Octavo Dies,” weekly television program that will be aired on Saturday through the Vatican Television Center.
"Also the Church, that lives with its people, has been directly and painfully hit by the deaths of so many of its members," he continued, referring to the death of Archbishop Serge Miot of Port-au-Prince, in particular, and the disruption of the Church's activities on the island.
Fr. Lombardi called attention to the reaction of Pope Benedict who "immediately raised his voice with vibrant words of spiritual participation and a call for solidarity" along with "innumerable others, from all countries, in particular the closest on the American continent." In this massive response, said the Jesuit, we see yet again that "the gravity of the tragedy becomes an occasion for an extremely vast contest for solidarity and love."
"This generous and genuine love is possibly the only real comfort, the only big answer to this sea of pain, as the love of Christ that dies on the cross is the only real answer to the suffering of man."
In his message, Fr. Lombardi quoted the words of a Haitian priest who said that amidst the many man-made and natural catastrophes to which the people of the island have grown accustomed, they always regain hope, "and this is a Christian Hope. For Haitians, love is stronger."
This is the love that was present in the work of so many now deceased social and pastoral workers, "witnesses of solidarity," said Fr. Lombardi.
"We should continue to accompany, through the solidarity of love, to bring back - yet another time - the hope and the love of the Haitians, of the poor and suffering of the world."
donderdag 14 januari 2010
Exclusive: Papal nuncio gives dramatic report on Church in Haiti
Port au Prince, Haiti, Jan 14, 2010 / (CNA).-
In an exclusive email to CNA, the Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, has revealed the details surrounding the death of the Archbishop of Haiti, the condition of the buildings at the nunciature, the archdiocese and the major seminary, as well as an updated body count of priests, religious, and seminarians in Port-au-Prince, which was hit by a massive earthquake on Tuesday.
“Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has a great presence here,” said the nuncio. But due to the difficult situation, the lack of clean water, and the fact that all the gas stations are closed, they are contemplating moving their headquarters to the nearby town of Gonaives. Today, leaders from CRS and Caritas will meet with the nuncio and his staff at the nunciature.
Archbishop Bernardito Auza reports that the “good and smiling archbishop of Port-au-Prince,” was waiting on his balcony for a ride to a ceremony when the earthquake hit.
“The intensity of the earthquake pushed him down off the balcony headfirst and he died immediately on impact,” the nuncio told CNA. Since there is no electricity, his body has been moved to Gonaives. The Archbishop Auza suggested an immediate burial, but the suggestion was not adopted since it would conflict with local tradition and would be taken as an insult.
The vicar general of Port-au-Prince, Monsignor Charles Benoit, and the Chancellor, Don Cherie, are still under the pile of rubble from the four-story building that housed the archdiocesan offices.
Archbishop Auza said “the chancellor seems to be dead, but we still have hope for Monsignor Benoit.” “We don’t have the numbers, but there are several dead priests and male and female religious whose bodies haven’t been recovered from the rubble,” he added.
On Wednesday evening the nuncio said he visited the major seminary, where he found only one building left standing. Only one priest from the formation team is unaccounted for as of yet. Nine seminarians are confirmed dead, and four more are still missing. Archbishop Auza also visited various religious communities and expressed the Holy Father’s “concern and solidarity.”
The nunciature, where Archbishop Auza lived, has been destroyed as well, even though it is in a part of the city that was not damaged as heavily. The nuncio explained that he and the personnel are sleeping in the garden. Despite the demise of the nunciature, the archbishop and his staff are hosting many meetings, with bishops from around the country flocking to the nunciature as a place to “coordinate and make decisions.”
Fearing a tsunami, many people have also left the city for the hills, Archbishop Auza said. Though a tsunami is unlikely, he is of the opinion that it is better for people to leave the capital, as there is nothing there for them. In the city itself, people walk around aimlessly. Many are also sleeping in the streets, he related.
Archbishop Auza also relayed an assessment of the airport in Port au Prince, saying it is incapacitated. As of yesterday, not one airplane bearing aid had arrived. Due to the earthquake, the control tower collapsed and is completely destroyed. Today, the first arrival, an American military plane, is expected.
woensdag 13 januari 2010
Pope's representative to Haiti gives first-hand account of destruction
Port au Prince, Haiti, Jan 13, 2010 / (CNA).-
Speaking with the Vatican's Fides news agency, the Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, described the devastation in the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince. He reported on what he had observed of the situation of religious and government officials in the area and described widespread destruction.
Archbishop Auza stated his observations of the situation in the capital to Fides, saying, "Port-au-Prince is totally devastated. The cathedral, the archbishop's office, all of the big churches, all of the seminaries have been reduced to rubble."
The nuncio said that the resident priest at that cathedral had informed him of the likely death of Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot as he was buried under rubble along with hundreds of priests and seminarians. Other news reports confirmed that the archbishop did pass away in the earthquake.
Auza reported that many government buildings had been razed. All of the Ministry buildings but one were on the ground, as were the Presidential Palace and the schools.
"Parliament with the Senators, the schools with the children, the supermarkets were reduced to nothing," the nuncio stated.
The nuncio had made his way across the city to see the Haitian President and "express his condolences and solidarity" and found that, because they had been outdoors, he and his family had been saved although their home had crumbled.
People who live in front of the collapsed U.N. headquarters had reported to Auza that the head of that mission, Hedi Annabi, was trapped inside with hundreds of others.
The nuncio said that he had returned to his residence later in the morning to find "Priests and Sisters in the street, no longer with homes. The Rector of the seminary saved himself, as did the Dean of studies, but the seminarians are under the rubble. You hear yells everywhere from underneath the rubble."
"The CIFOR (according to Fides, an institute of study for religious men and women) collapsed with students inside that were participating in a conference. The office of the nuncio resisted (the earthquake), there was no one injured, but all of us are in shock!" he said.
"So many things were broken, including the tabernacle, but we are more fortunate than others. Many relatives of the personnel are dead, their houses destroyed. Everyone is asking for help. We will have a problem with water and food before long. We cannot go inside and stay there for very long because the ground continues to shake, so we're camping out in the yard."
Haitian archbishop killed by devastating earthquake
Port au Prince, Haiti, Jan 13, 2010 / (CNA).-
The Italian daily La Repubblica reported the death of Archbishiop Serge Miot, Archbishop of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince at 4:44 a.m. (CDT). According to the brief report, his body was found in the rubble of the archbishop's office. They also reported that the Vicar General, Msgr. Benoit, was still missing.
According to the Vatican's Fides news agency, Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti, Archbishop Bernardito Auza was reported as saying:
"Port-au-Prince is totally devastated. The cathedral, the Archbishop's Office, all of the big churches, all of the seminaries have been reduced to rubble. The same luck for the Ministry buildings, the Presidential Palace, the schools. The Parish Priest of the Cathedral, who was spared, told me that the archbishop of Port-au-Prince would have died under the rubble, together with hundreds of seminarians and priests that are under the ruins."
zondag 10 januari 2010
Christ was born so that mankind can be reborn in baptism, Pope Benedict teaches
Vatican City, Jan 10, 2010 / (CNA).-
Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord on Sunday morning by offering Mass in the Sistine Chapel where he would also baptize a group of children. Later, in his address before the Angelus, the Pope would elaborate on the meaning of Baptism for the realization of life.
The Holy Father, referring to the Baptismal celebration in the Sistine Chapel that marked the end of the Christmas liturgy, said that Baptism "suggests very well the global sense of the Christmas festivities, in which the theme of becoming children of God, thanks to the coming of the only Son in our humanity, constitutes a dominant element."
"He was made man so that we can become children of God. He was born so that we can be reborn."
These concepts are a "great motive of reflection and hope," added Benedict XVI, as they come up repeatedly in the liturgical texts of Christmas. Rebirth, he said, is thus realized in the sacramental sign of Baptism, as it manifests the mystery of making men the adopted children of God.
"Through this sacrament man becomes truly son, son of God."
From the point of Baptism onward, continued the Pope, the life of the Baptized becomes one of "achieving freely and knowingly that which from the beginning (was) received as gift."
In this light, he elaborated, the phrase "become what you are” represents “the basic educative principal of the human person redeemed by grace."
To illustrate this achievement, the Pontiff compared Christian growth to human growth to adulthood. Just as a person grows from complete dependence to maturity, he said, he or she does the same in their faith from Baptism to the realization of being able to "invoke God knowingly as 'Abba - Father' to turn to Him with gratitude and to live the joy of being his child."
In Baptism, continued the Holy Father, "a model of society" in brotherhood is also derived, and this sense of brotherhood comes from the "humble but profound knowledge of being children of the only heavenly Father."
"As Christians, thanks to the Holy Spirit received at Baptism, we have a kind of gift and commitment to living as children of God and brothers, to be like "yeast" of a new humanity, united and rich in peace and hope."
Pope Benedict XVI concluded by saying that to achieve this maturity, in addition to the Father in Heaven, we are helped along the way by "a mother, the Church, of which the Virgin Mary is the perennial model." He then entrusted the newly baptized children and their families to Mary.
vrijdag 8 januari 2010
Security official guarantees Pope's safety
Vatican City, Jan 8, 2010 / (CNA).-
Security official Salvatore Festa, who coordinates activity between the Italian police who serve at the Vatican and Holy See officials, guaranteed Pope Benedict's security, as new measures have been taken following the Christmas Eve incident in which the Pope was pulled to the ground by a disturbed woman.
In an interview with L’Osservatore Romano, Festa recalled that during the Christmas Eve Mass, measures were immediately taken to protect the Pontiff when the young Swiss woman, Susana Maiolo lunged at the Holy Father.
Festa noted that Vatican official Domenico Giani reacted immediately to the situation.
Speaking later about the special training provided to those who protect the Holy Father, Festa explained that the first thing the security guards are taught “has to do with guaranteeing the Pope's security without keeping him from fulfilling his mission to the people.”
“You cannot keep the Pope from approaching the railings to greet or bless those who seek or call out to him. For this reason, his closest agents receive a specific kind of training.”
These members of the security team periodically receive updated training sessions to learn new safety techniques, Festa explained, thus ensuring that the Pope is provided the best protection possible.
In response to a question about persons who wish to harm Pope Benedict XVI, Festa explained that a second tier of undercover security agents are specially trained to spot dangerous people...in order to intervene rapidly under any circumstances.”
Festa also noted that security agents who control the entrances into St. Peter’s Square and operate the metal detectors “receive special instruction on how to identify every object that is scanned, even if the most sophisticated techniques are used to camouflage it.” He added that so far, no weapons have been found among those in attendance.
Injured French cardinal to be released from hospital
Rome, Italy, Jan 7, 2010 /(CNA).-
Cardinal Roger Etchegaray will soon be released from the hospital after being admitted on Christmas Eve for a broken leg. The prelate was injured in a fall caused by Vatican security as they attempted to impede a disturbed woman from approaching Pope Benedict XVI as he processed in to St. Peter's Basilica to celebrate Mass.
According to the Italian daily La Repubblica, the cardinal is recovering and will be sent home by January 10.
Etchegaray underwent surgery for a complete arthroprosthesis of the right hip on Dec. 27 at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome to repair a fractured femoral neck, reported Fr. Federico Lombardi in a statement from the Vatican Press Office on that day.
As for the 25-year old Susanna Maiolo, the Swiss woman that jumped a barrier to allegedly embrace the Pontiff, she is still being held in the Angelluci psychiatric hospital in a small city near Rome.
True faith in Christ requires real humility, Benedict XVI teaches
Vatican City, Jan 6, 2010 / (CNA).-
Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the Mass of the Epiphany this morning at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, accompanied by hundreds of clergy and thousands of the faithful. In his homily, the Holy Father called for authentic humility to “start walking the road” indicated by "the star" of the Lord.
On the feast of the Epiphany, the church celebrates the arrival of the Magi to the nativity. These Eastern Kings, said the Pope, came from a distant land to give homage while those who were in nearby Bethlehem and Jerusalem neglected the signs and remained ignorant of the savior's birth.
We run the same risk today "even though the few in Bethlehem have become many, the believers in Jesus Christ always seem to be few,” the Holy Father cautioned.
"Many have seen the star, but only a few have understood the message."
Despite possessing the knowledge to see and find the Lord, many are impeded by "too much confidence in themselves, the pretext of perfectly knowing the reality..." he added.
The presumption of forming a definitive judgment on the workings of the world, continued the Pontiff, closes a person's heart and makes it "insensitive to the novelty of God." This trust in self rather than in God makes many think it impossible that He could be great enough to reduce himself to our size and to be approachable, he explained.
"What is lacking is authentic humility to know how to submit to that which is great with authentic courage, which leads us to believe in that which is truly great, even if it is manifested in a defenseless Child," the Pope stated.
The answer, he said, is that we must have the "evangelical capacity to be children at heart ... and to allow ourselves to start walking on the road indicated by the star, the way of God."
The Pontiff added that "The Lord ... has the power to render us capable of seeing and of saving us. So, we want to ask Him to give us a wise and innocent heart, one that permits us to see the star and his mercy, to start walking on his road (and) to find him and be inundated by the great light and the true joy that he brings to this world."
St. Peter's Basilica now safer for Pope following Christmas security breach
Vatican City, Jan 5, 2010 /(CNA).-
Changes have been made at St. Peter's Basilica after a security breach on Christmas Eve that left the Pope on the floor and a cardinal hospitalized. A meeting was held between heads of security and the Vatican Secretary of State in the days following the incident and at least one visible measure has been taken to prevent similar disturbances in the future.
According to Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale, the obvious modification is a widening of the aisle in which the Pontiff, concelebrants and accompanying servers process to the altar. Barriers that before separated Pope Benedict from attendees by a couple of steps have been moved farther outwards to expand the procession space.
While the number of guards will remain the same, reported Tornielli, the extra yard or so on each side will create more space for them to maneuver, thus reducing the risk of an event similar to that of Midnight Mass on Dec. 24 in which a mentally unstable woman was able to reach the Pope as she was being blocked by Vatican security chief Domenico Giani.
In the rush to protect the Pope, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray was bumped to the ground by security staff at which time he suffered a broken femur.
With the new layout, such outcomes will be less likely.
The Pope will still be free to approach those present at basilica celebrations for blessings and greetings, but now he will cover a little extra distance in the name of safety.
Thus far, no official description has been made by the Vatican of any other changes to security procedures within the Vatican and there is no word of how many fewer seats will be available for liturgical celebrations due to the expansion of the central aisle.
Benedict XVI tells youth not to fear a religious vocation
Vatican City, (CNA).-
On the last day of 2009, Pope Benedict XVI led first vespers at the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica. In addition to singing the Te Deum hymn, he exhorted young people to have the courage to pursue their vocation.
The Te Deum is sung in thanksgiving to the Lord in the Catholic churches of the world on December 31 of each year. In his remarks, the Holy Father noted that this is a time to "put the various events of our lives – major and minor…under the sign of salvation and accept the call God makes to guide us toward a goal beyond time itself: eternity."
"We are called to say with our voices, hearts and lives our ‘thanks’ to God for the gift of his son, …for family, for community, the church and the world," he continued.
Pope Benedict gave special thanks for those who live and work within the Diocese of Rome, of which he is bishop. He praised efforts within the city to follow in the footsteps of Christ and encouraged further participation of the faithful "to be able to offer a valid contribution to the edification of the Church."
In the message, Benedict XVI put special emphasis on the importance of reaching youth with God’s Word. "Rome needs priests that are courageous announcers of the Gospel and, at the same time, reveal the merciful face of the Father."
The Pontiff invited young people "to not be afraid to respond to the complete gift of their own existence to the call that the Lord makes to them to pursue the way of priesthood or the consecrated life."
The Holy Father also recommended a return to the "lectio divina," the reading of Sacred Scripture accompanied by prayer, because "the Word, believed, announced and lived pushes us to solidarity and sharing."
Pope Benedict XVI concluded his message by expressing his wish that the 25th anniversary of World Youth Day, to be celebrated on March 25, 2010, be a day of "reflection and invocation to obtain from the Lord the gift of numerous vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life."
