‘Rise up!’ Pope Benedict tells Africa at close of Synod

Vatican City, Oct 25, 2009 / 10:01 am (CNA).-

Pope Benedict XVI’s homily for the close of the Synod of Bishops for African concluded the Lord of history does not tire of renewing oppressed humanity since the time of Moses. “Rise up, African continent, the land which received the Savior when as a child he had to flee with Joseph and Mary to Egypt so as to save his life from the persecution of King Herod,” Pope Benedict proclaimed.

Benedict XVI’s homily turned to Sunday’s first reading from Jeremiah. In the Book of Lamentations, there is an announcement of hope for the people of Israel, laid low by the invasion of the army of Nebuchadnezzar, the devastation of Jerusalem and the Temple and the deportation to Babylon.

In the Gospel, Jesus encounters along the road to Jerusalem Bartimaeus, who has lost his sight. “God is light and creator of light,” the Pope explained. “Man is the son of light, made to see light, but has lost his sight and wanders.”

“Brothers, we give thanks because this ‘mysterious meeting of our poverty and the greatness’ of God is realized also in the Synodal Assembly for Africa, which today concludes,” he added. “God has renewed his call: ‘Courage! Rise up…”

“And also the Church in Africa, through the bishops, come from all the Countries of the Continent, from Madagascar and the other islands, has received the message of hope and light to walk the way leading to the Kingdom of God,” the Holy Father continued. “Bartimaeus becomes a witness to the light, giving a firsthand account of healing, renewal, regeneration.”

“This is the Church in the world, a community of persons reconciled, workers of justice and peace, ‘salt and light’ amid a society of men and nations… Moving testimony has demonstrated to us that even in these most dark moments of human history, the Holy Spirit is at work transforming the hearts of victims and persecutors so that they recognize brothers.”

The Pontiff directed the synod fathers to the example of the encyclical “Populorum progressio,” elaborated by the Servant of God Paul VI and which missionaries have realized and continue to realize promoting a respectful development of local culture and locale. The Pope added, “After more than forty years, this appears to be the only logic capable of freeing the African people from the slavery of hunger and sickness.”

Before the Angelus prayer, Pope Benedict spoke of the rich reality of the local Churches presented by the Synod Fathers. Animated by the Word of God and the Eucharist, he explained, the Church works so that “no one is without the necessities to live and so that all can have an existence worthy of a human being.”

Benedict XVI said he shared the joys of the Christian communities, “which continue to grow in quantity and quality.” He added, “Naturally, the actual problems of Africa and the great need of reconciliation, justice and peace were immersed in the Assembly.”

“Today I desire to address all the African populations, especially those that share the Christian faith, so as to ideally entrust to them the ‘Final Message’ of the Synodal Assembly,” the Holy Father continued. “Dear brothers and sisters who hear me in Africa, I entrust in a special way to your prayers the fruit of this work of the Synod Fathers and I encourage you with the words of the Lord Jesus: You are the salt and light of the beloved African land!”

The Holy Father concluded by recalling next year’s Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, for which the “instrumentum laboris” will be presented during his visit to Cyprus.

After the Angelus prayer, the Pontiff extended his greeting to thousands of faithful gathered outside of Milan, Italy’s cathedral for the beatification of Father Carlo Gnocchi:

“Father Gnocchi worked ‘to restore the human person,’ gathering children orphaned and mutilated by the Second World War and offering them help and education. He gave his all until the very end and dying, donated his corneas to two blind children. His work has continued to develop and today the Father Gnocchi Foundation offers rehabilitation therapy to needy people of all ages. While I greet Cardinal Tettamanzi, Archbishop of Milan, and rejoice with the entire Ambrosian Church, I make my own the theme of this beatification: ‘Alongside life, forever.’”

DI TRINTA DJADUMINGU SIKLO B

Promé Lektura : Yeremias 31, 7-9
Salmo : Salmo 126, 1-6
Di dos Lektura : Hebreonan 5, 1-6
Evangelio : Marko 10, 46-52

E pasashi aki tin komo sentro aktitutnan di Bartimeo, pa loke ta parse importante pa nos analisá e aktitutnan aki, ku Marko ta presentá komo modelo pa e kristian ku ke sigui Hesus. E promé aktitut di e siegu ta un akto di reflekshon interno: Bartimeo ta rekonosé ku e no por mira, i e sa ku su situashon por ta mihó. E di dos aktitut ta di rekonosé den Hesus e hende ku por kambia su bida, Bartimeo tin fe den Hesus i ta p'esei e ta realisá su di tres akshon: grit’é i kana bai serka djE, no ta import’é kibra ku skema òf stroba, e tabata sa ku Hesus lo por a salb’é. Por último, despues di haña den Hesus sanashon pa su sieges , Bartimeo ta sigui Hesus riba e kaminda.
Ademas di e aktitutnan di Bartimeo, ta signifikativo akshon di e komunidat ku ta aktua mas komo opstákulo ku komo yudansa p'asina e siegu por mira: nan no ta lag'é papia ni aserká Hesus, tampoko nan ta intersedé p’e, sino ku nan ta preferá pa e keda siegu i pa e no “molostiá” Hesus. (Esaki ta duna nos base pa reflekshoná riba nos aktitut dilanti di hopi hende ku ke sali di nan sieges i no ta haña den nos aliento pa sigui dilanti.)

Kuantu siegu awe ta kana sin ku ta rekonosé nan komo tal? Siegunan ku no ke mira nesesidat di nan próhimo, siegunan ku ta buska felisidat den plaser i inresponsabilidat, siegunan ku ta kana sin sa pa unda nan ta dirigí nan mes, siegunan ku no ta mira loke nan tin i por lo tantu no ta duna loke nan mester, siegunan pa trabou, siegunan pa alkohòl i bisio, siegunan pa nan egoismo, siegunan ku no ke rekonosé nan kulpa den pleitu di famia, siegunan ku no por mira den felisidat di nan pareha e fuente di nan felisidat, siegunan ku no por haña den Kristu e fuente di nan amor, siegunan pa nan forma mediokre di biba bida. Enfin, ta parse ku tin hopi Bartimeo entre nos i talbes kada un nos por identifiká nos mes ku algun tipo di sieges. Pa nos tur e pasashi aki tin un palabra: na promé lugá bo mester por rekonosé bo sieges; di dos, lo bo tin ku vense e flohera ku ta indusí bo pa sigui biba den e sieges aki; i di tres, kere den Hesus, asérkE, no tene miedu pa pidié su salbashon; i por último, disidí di siguié.

Hesus no por sana nos sin nos mes , Hesus lo a pasa bai i e siegu nunka lo a mira si e no a pone di su parti; Hesus tabatin mester di akshon di e siegu pa por a kur’é. Pero loke ta mas importante ta loke ta sosedé na final, e siegu, unabes ku e por a mira, a sigui Hesus. Si nos aserka Hesus únikamente pa E por resolvé nos sieges, pero si unabes E yuda nos, nos alehá nos mes di dJE, e ora ei nos no por bisa ku nos a kaba ku nos sieges.

Rekuperá nos bista, o ser salbá pa Hesus, ta enserá un kambio di bida, un kambio di aktitut, ku ta tradusí su mes den siguimentu de Kristu. Ora un hende yega na mira, i e duna su mes kuenta di e hopi ku el a pèrdè pasobra e tabata leu di Kristu, e no por hasi nada otro ku bras’é i siguié. Esaki ta biba serka di djE, den orashon, pa medio di su Palabra, asta den Komunion; i tambe sirbiE, den solidaridat, mizerikòrdia i hustisia.

Pues laga nos aserká Hesus, rekonosiendo nos “siegesnan”, pidiend’ E su salbashon i pa nos disidí di kana riba su kaminda, kaminda di goso inmenso, di inmenso amor i pas; pero tambe di kompromiso, responsabilidat i solidaridat.

Theology without faith is a mere intellectual exercise

Understanding the Faith requires friendship with Christ, Pope says

Vatican City, Oct 21, 2009 / 10:44 am (CNA).-

Pope Benedict XVI addressed almost 40,000 people on Wednesday about a figure known as “the last of the Fathers of the Church,” St. Bernard of Clairvaux. The Holy Father spoke to the gathered faithful about how St. Bernard's example should show them that true understanding of the Faith requires an “intimate relationship with the Lord” and profound faith.

Pope Benedict began his catechesis by describing the life of the celebrated French saint.

Born in 1090 in Fontaines, France to a "numerous and fairly well off” family, Bernard studied grammar, rhetoric and dialectic. At 20 years-old he entered the monastery of Citeaux, which the Pope described as a “more rigorous” monastic foundation than the existing ones of the time.

In 1115 he was sent by St. Stephen Harding, third abbot of Citeaux, to found a new monastery at Clairvaux, where Bernard himself became abbot. At Clairvaux the saint "insisted on the importance of a sober and restrained lifestyle, in food, in clothing and in the structures of the monastery, at the same time encouraging support and assistance for the poor."

Together with his theological writings and homilies, including the celebrated Sermons on the Song of Songs, Bernard maintained a vast correspondence, developed warm friendships with his contemporaries, defended sound doctrine, and combated heresy and outbreaks of anti-Semitism. Benedict XVI recalled Bernard’s writings against the heresy of the Cathars who despised the material and the body and thus despised the Creator. This monk defended the Jews, so much so that a rabbi, Ephraim, “addressed a stirring tribute” to him.

Pope Benedict also pointed out that St. Bernard wrote a very special book on how to be a good pope for a pupil of his, Bernardo Pignatelli, who became Pope Eugenius III.

Bernard of Clairvaux died in 1153.

Turning to the value of St. Bernard's teachings for modern Christians, the Holy Father The Pope highlighted "two central aspects” of Bernard's teaching which concern Jesus Christ and Mary his most holy mother. The Monk expressed "the Christian participation in the love of God.” "It is from this that he was given the title of Doctor Mellifluous,” the Holy Father expounded. “His praise of Christ, in fact, flows like honey."

Bernard of Clairvaux loved to repeat, "there is one name that matters, that of Jesus of Nazareth.”

For Bernard "true knowledge of God lies in a personal and profound experience of Jesus Christ. Faith is first of all an intimate personal encounter with Jesus, the experience of his closeness, of his friendship and his love. Only in this way can we learn to love him and know him even more. Let us hope that this can happen in all of us," Pope Benedict said.

Bernard also emphasized the "privileged place of the Virgin in the economy of salvation." "It is no coincidence," said Benedict XVI, “that Dante puts on the lips of the Doctor Mellifluous his sublime prayer to Mary: 'Virgin Mother, daughter of thy Son, humble and exalted more than any other creature, fixed term of eternal counsel.'"

St. Bernard's ideas, Pope Benedict concluded, "stimulate not only theologians but all believers.”

“At times we think we can resolve the fundamental questions about God, mankind and the world using only the power of reason. St. Bernard however, solidly rooted in the Bible and the Fathers of the Church, reminds us that without a deep faith in God, nourished by prayer and contemplation, an intimate relationship with the Lord, our reflections on the divine mysteries are in danger of becoming a futile intellectual exercise, and lose their credibility."

Manual for proper celebration of the Mass officially presented to the Pope

Vatican City, Oct 21, 2009 / (CNA).-

Cardinal Antonio Canizares, Prefect of the Congregation for the Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, today officially presented Pope Benedict XVI with the “Compendium eucharisticum,” aimed at helping priests to properly celebrate Mass.

The compendium, which was officially published on October 19, is a collection of study materials, prayers and meditations related to the celebration of the Eucharist. According to Cardinal Canizares, it is “a response to the desire of the Holy Father and the request made by the bishops during the 2005 Synod on the Eucharist.”

According to the daily edition of L’Osservatore Romano, the document “puts together texts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, prayers, theological explanations of the Roman Missal’s Eucharistic prayers and everything that may be useful for the correct understanding, celebration and adoration of the Sacrament on the altar.”

L’Osservatore Romano also explained that the Pope’s desire is that the compendium will help both priests and laity in “believing, celebrating and increasingly living out the Eucharistic Mystery.” The Holy Father also hopes that it will stimulate “every faithful person to make of their own lives a spiritual worship,” the paper added.

The compendium has been published in Italian by the Vatican’s publishing house and will soon be available in other languages, including English.

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.”