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  • Christian Unity. "Abide in my love and you will bear abundant fruit."
ColumnistsSister Carolina Blázquez OSA

Christian Unity. "Abide in my love and you will bear abundant fruit."

January 14, 2021-Reading time: 4 minutes

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2021

Since 1908, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has been celebrated every year from January 18 to 25. It was the first ecumenical initiative supported and encouraged by the Catholic Church. 

The target The main objective of this proposal is to double. First, it is a a propitious time to know and feel the pain and the drama of the divisions within the Church of Christ.. These divisions, which have arisen throughout history mainly because of the sin of Christians themselves, but also because of complicated historical, cultural, social and theological processes, wound the ecclesial being and are a scandal to the world. 

On the other hand, this week of prayer, as its name suggests, is a week of prayer. an invitation to pray, to implore, to beseech, to ask for the grace of unity for all Christians in the certainty that this is a gift from heaven, it is the work of the Spirit in us. Only from a dynamic of ever deeper and more sincere conversion to God of each of the faithful and of the Churches and Christian communities, will we be able to reorient our lives towards the Unity that is the life of the Trinity and that flows from it as grace for the world. Thus, with this annual ecumenical event, it is underlined that other possible ecumenical initiatives, at the theological, social and testimonial levels, find their foundation and encouragement in spiritual ecumenism.

Each year the material to guide prayers and meditation keys The daily Mass is prepared by a group of Christians of various denominations, generally from the same region or country. This year, 2021, it was the Community of Grandchamp who took on this task. The chosen theme introduces us to the Heart of Christ, to his life of communion with the Father and his desire for communion with mankind, by orienting us towards the so-called "farewell discourses" of the Gospel of John, in chapters 14 to 17. Specifically, the quotation is from Jn 15:5-9, in which the image of the vine and the branches symbolizes communion with Christ as the only way to communion among brothers and sisters. "Abide in my love and you will bear abundant fruit.".

This year we are also invited to get to know the ecumenical witness of the Grandchamp community. A female religious community born in the heart of the Protestant Reformation in the midst of the Second World War. The birth of an experience of religious life is, in the history of the Reformation, an event of grace of the Spirit, which in its creativity continues to give rise to new evangelical experiences and to renew the life of the faithful. Since the abolition of the religious vows by Luther in the 16th century, religious life had disappeared in Protestantism, and yet, at such a crucial moment in history as the first half of the 20th century, in response to the terrible humanitarian drama of the Second World War, with a strong ecumenical and contemplative imprint there arose, very much in harmony with the Taizé Community, This experience of monastic inspiration within the Churches of the Reformation, thus ratifying what the Second Vatican Council will declare as ecclesial elements that are present outside the visible enclosure of the Catholic Church and that, since they come from Christ and belong by right to the Church of Christ, show that we are already living a unity among Christians, not complete, but real and true.

Settled in Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel, the community of Grandchamp began thanks to a small group of women who felt a growing desire to open up paths of spirituality for themselves and others through retreats, prayer meetings and spiritual formation. These were held sporadically in Grandchamp, but they became so serious and strong that some of them felt called to start a community life dedicated mainly to prayer, work and hospitality. 

In 1940, the first of these women settled in Grandchamp and was joined almost immediately by another. In 1944, Geneviève Micheli arrived and led the community in its first steps until she passed the baton to Sr. Minke de Ivres, who was responsible for the community for almost thirty years from 1970, accompanying and supporting the difficult years of maturing and consolidation of the community. In the early years, the sisters elaborated their rule of life under the protection of the Taizé Community and under the influence of the book of the great Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Community living.

The community has been growing, and is currently made up of more than fifty sisters from different countries and Christian denominations, with some missionary or mercy experiences in other parts of the world, especially those most marked by poverty or injustice.

The hayloft of the old farmhouse that was once the monastery of Grandchamp is the present chapel of the community. It is a precious icon of this life: the image of the Trinity of Rublov in the center, the Word always open, a large wooden cross, simple and poor as was the life of Christ on this earth, beautiful and harmonious in fraternity, open to the world, joyful and full of color. Its evangelical style, inspired by the first Christian communities of Jerusalem, has made of this place and this fraternity of life a space of communion and unity where every Christian can feel recognized, welcomed and loved unconditionally.

The authorSister Carolina Blázquez OSA

Prioress of the Monastery of the Conversion, in Sotillo de la Adrada (Avila). She is also a professor in the Faculty of Theology at the San Dámaso Ecclesiastical University in Madrid.

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Integral ecology

Solidarity, the key after the pandemic. Fratelli tutti's proposal

The year in which we wish to overcome the pandemic and some of its consequences has just begun. Some have even been positive: it has exposed other elements of a deeper crisis, pointing the way forward. We have the opportunity to bet on the key elements, some of which can be found in the recent encyclical of Pope Francis Fratelli tutti.

Jaime Gutiérrez Villanueva-January 14, 2021-Reading time: 2 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsOne year after the encyclical 'Fratelli tutti', what has changed?Related NewsRe-reading Fratelli Tutti: complexity, action and dreamsRelated News"Fratelli Tutti": Friendship and fraternity, dialogue and encounter.

"Only by recognizing the dignity of every human person, can we revive a worldwide desire for brotherhood among all of us." (FT 8). Pope Francis has given the Church his third encyclical entitled Fratelli TuttiAll brothers and sisters". Developed in eight chapters, it constitutes a compendium on fraternity and social friendship. It was inspired mainly by St. Francis of Assisi and his testimony of love for all people that knew no boundaries.

An encyclical of the time

Fratelli tutti addresses the novelty of the times in which we are livingThe world is becoming increasingly divided between the impoverished and the affluent. It also alerts us to the consequences of the global pandemic We are living through (exposing our false securities, the inability to act together, the discarding of the poor and weak for the sake of profitability). On the other hand, the Covid-19 has also accelerated the the call to universal fraternity that the Gospel and the Social Doctrine of the Church insistently make to us..

The Holy Father speaks to us of dreams that have been shattered into pieces, such as fraternity and equality, and that have not been extended to all humanity. True wisdom must involve an encounter with reality. It is necessary to put concrete faces to the affirmations we make. 

Like the Good Samaritan

When we read this encyclical, we will all feel challenged and upset. In the face of so much pain in our world, in the face of so many wounds, the only way out is to be like the good samaritan. We all have something of the wounded man on the road, the Good Samaritan or those who pass by. It is about propose an encounter with those who are fallen on the road and adopt the attitude of the Good Samaritan.

If we are truly aware that we are all brothers and sisters, those who come to our land must be welcomed as such. We must have a heart open to the whole world and the Pope emphasizes how to bring the local into dialogue with the universal.

The key to solidarity

Among other virtues, the encyclical stresses solidaritywhich "is to think and act in terms of community, of prioritizing the life of all over the appropriation of goods by some. It is also fighting structural causes of poverty, inequality, lack of jobs, land and housing, denial of social and labor rights. It is to confront the destructive effects of the Empire of money. [...] Solidarity, understood in its deepest sense, is a way of making history." (FT 116). Solidarity is also one of the points of support to channel it precisely at the present time. 

The Pope warns us that a capitalism of discarding seems to be triumphingprecarious work and subsidies. Freedom and equality are in danger. Let us not expect everything from those who govern us.Let's start from the bottom and one by one, to the last corner of the world. Let us dream as one humanityEach one with his own voice, all brothers and sisters. Many of us who recognize ourselves as children and call God our Father want to be a sign and instrument of this exciting project.

RelatedRelated NewsOne year after the encyclical 'Fratelli tutti', what has changed?Related NewsRe-reading Fratelli Tutti: complexity, action and dreamsRelated News"Fratelli Tutti": Friendship and fraternity, dialogue and encounter.
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  • Harambee 2021 Award recognizes the advancement of women in science
Culture

Harambee 2021 Award recognizes the advancement of women in science

Maria José Atienza-January 13, 2021-Reading time: 2 minutes

Duni Sawadogo promotes the "Women and Science" project in her country and fights against the trafficking of counterfeit medicines that especially affect the most vulnerable.

– Supernatural Ivorian Ivorian scientist, Duni Sawadogohas been recognized, this year, with the Award Harambee to the Advancement and Equality of African Women.

Sawadogo in her country by promoting the training of women university students and scientists, and also by promoting the Women and Science" project. Another of the aspects that have made it worthy of this award is the fight against trafficking in counterfeit medicines which mainly affects the most vulnerable, such as the poorest women and children, and which, according to Dr. Sawadogo, generates more money than drugs and has a special and worrying incidence in Africa.

Awarding of the prize

The award will be presented, at a online gala on March 4by H.R.H. Doña Teresa de Borbón dos Sicilias, Honorary President of Harambee and D. Nicolas Zombré, Group Chief Executive Officer Pierre Fabre in Spain, which sponsors this award.

Biography of Duni Sawadogo

Duni Sawadogo, D. in Pharmacy from the University of Abidjan. y Ph.D. in Cell Biology and Hematology from the University of Navarra is Professor of Biological Hematology and Principal Investigator at the School of Pharmacy of the University of California, Berkeley, USA. Felix Houphouet Boigny University, of Abidjan. During the pandemic, Dr. Sawadogo has been appointed as a member of the Steering Committee for the AIRP (Autorité Ivoirienne de Régulation Pharmaceutique). A body similar to the European Medicines Agency, which has approved covid-19 vaccines.

Similarly, AIRP makes safe, effective and inexpensive medicines available to the population, because in Côte d'Ivoire, as in most developing countries, there is a large market for counterfeit and substandard medicines sold outside the official distribution circuit. It also works to promote the creation and development of the pharmaceutical industry.

Harambee Project

Harambee -which in Swahili means all together- is an international project of solidarity with sub-Saharan Africa that collaborates with educational, health or assistance projects, promoted and carried out by
Africans themselves in their own countries. All its volunteers work in solidarity, without receiving any remuneration. In 2021, Harambee will develop projects in Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda.

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The Vatican

General Audience: Praise God always, in good times and in bad.

David Fernández Alonso-January 13, 2021-Reading time: 2 minutes

The Holy Father continued his catechesis on prayer, commenting on the prayer of praise on this cold Roman Wednesday. The Audience took place in the Library of the Apostolic Palace, as usual due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"Jesus praises the Father". Pope Francis began the catechesis by underlining the example of Christ, which we must all imitate. Throughout the Gospel we see how Jesus praises the Father because he feels he is a son of the Most High. In this sense, we should also follow his life and praise the Lord, an attitude proper to the "....the simple, humble people who welcome the Gospel". The small children are aware of their own limitationsand in God the Father all recognize each other as brothers and sisters.

Whom does praise serve?

The Pope poses the question: who does praise serve, us or God? For indeed, "the prayer of praise is useful to us. The Catechism defines it as follows: "He participates in the beatitude of pure hearts that love him in faith before seeing him in glory".".

In the same vein, Francis refers to difficult situations, to contradictions, such as those that many people are suffering in recent times. It is then - the Pope advises - that we have to follow Jesus more closely, because in those moments of difficulty, Jesus also praises the Lord. In such cases, prayer of praise purifies the soul, helps us to look far away.

The example of San Francisco

Already at the end of the catechesis, the Pope wanted to make use of the teachings of St. Francis, who ".He praises God for everything, for all the gifts of creation, and also for death, which he courageously manages to call "sister". The saints show us that we can always be praised, in good times and in bad, because God is the faithful Friend, and his love never fails.".

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Vocations

Holy priests: Saint Dominic of Guzman

The year 2021 marks the 800th anniversary of the death of St. Dominic of Guzman, one of the great holy priests of the Middle Ages, a man of deep prayer who "only talked to God or about God". With him we begin a series that will review some of the holy priests in the history of the Church.

Manuel Belda-January 13, 2021-Reading time: 3 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsHoly priests: Saint John of Avila

St. Dominic of Guzman is one of the great holy priests of the Middle Ages. He was born around 1172 in Caleruega (Burgos). At the age of fourteen he went to study Liberal Arts and Sacred Scripture at the University of Palencia. There he manifested his charity towards the poor, for during a period of terrible famine, he sold his books to give the money obtained to the poor. This meant parting with valuable codices, painstakingly collected during years of laborious study, giving up a patrimony that would be almost impossible to rebuild later.  

His beginnings in the priesthood

He was ordained a priest at the age of 25, forming part of the chapter of canons regular of the cathedral of Osma (Soria). In 1203 he accompanied his bishop, Diego de Acebes, on a delicate mission to arrange the marriage of the son of King Alfonso VIII of Castile with a Danish princess. On their return from Denmark, in 1206, they met in the French city of Montpellier the papal legates, Pedro de Castelnau and Raul de Fontroide, sent by the Pope to repress the heresy of the Cathars or Albigensians, and convinced them that for their preaching to be effective, they had to give an example of evangelical poverty and renounce the ostentatious luxury they displayed. The bishop and Dominic stayed in the south of France to preach against this heresy.

The Order of Preachers

Bishop Diego soon returned to his diocese to recruit new preachers and died there in 1207, so Dominic had to continue the preaching work by himself, but soon after he was joined by a group of priests, attracted by his evangelical ideal. In 1215 he founded his first religious house in Toulouse with his first two disciples, who joined him by religious profession to form a community. The same year the bishop of the diocese, Folco, officially approved it, which represents the origin of the Order of Preachers. The next step was to obtain pontifical approval, since at that time the only institutionalized preachers were bishops. To this end he accompanied Bishop Folco to Rome for the Fourth Lateran Council (1215), and there he met Pope Innocent III, who encouraged him to put into practice his program of religious and pastoral life. In 1216 he returned to Rome, where Pope Honorius III definitively approved the new Order of Preachers.

In 1218 the two main convents of the Order were founded, the one in Paris and the one in Bologna, since these two cities were the main centers of the culture of the time. The General Chapter of 1220 confirmed the election of Dominic as Superior General, who in the Dominicans is called "Master of the Order", a position he held until a few months before his death. The last year of his life was dedicated, by order of the Pope, to organize two convents in Rome, one for nuns, San Sisto, and another for friars, Santa Sabina, which later became the generalate house of the Order. 

Death and spiritual legacy

He died on August 6, 1221 in Bologna. Shortly before his death he said to his spiritual children: "Do not weep; I will be more useful to you and bear more fruit for you after my death than with all that I have done in my life." He was canonized by Gregory IX in 1234. His contemporaries present St. Dominic as a man of deep prayer, with a phrase that has become a classic: "He only talked to God or about God."

No work of his has been preserved. Of his correspondence, which must have been numerous, only a letter in Latin to the Dominican nuns of Madrid has come down to us. 

St. Dominic's personal spirituality is transmitted through his foundational charism to the Order of Preachers. As George Bernanos writes: "If we could raise a single and pure gaze on the works of God, this Order would appear to us as the very charity of St. Dominic, realized in space and time, as if his prayer had become visible."

The desire for the salvation of souls

This spirituality is characterized by the common end, which consists in the desire for the salvation of souls. This requires a specific end, preaching, which is subordinate to the previous one. The preacher gives to others the treasure he has accumulated in contemplation. This is the fundamental difference between the Order of Preachers and the previous monastic Orders, which "spoke to God" and often "of God", but did not have a directly apostolic orientation, but their specific end was the contemplative life. In the Order of Preachers, on the other hand, the apostolic end is placed at the same level as the contemplative end. Later St. Thomas Aquinas would summarize this fact with the phrase: Contemplata aliis tradereto give to others the fruit of one's contemplation.

If the common end of the Order of Preachers is the salvation of souls and its specific end is preaching, the indispensable means to reach both ends is the assiduous study of the Sacred Sciences, which replaced the manual work of the monks in the Orders previous to that of St. Dominic. Study constitutes the dominant passion of this Order. The liturgy defines the saint as Doctor Veritatis, y Veritas is the motto of the Order of Preachers.

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RelatedRelated NewsHoly priests: Saint John of Avila
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  • Starting a family, secondary for 3 out of 4 young people
Family

Starting a family, secondary for 3 out of 4 young people

Starting a family continues to lag far behind career advancement and travel for a large majority of young Spaniards, according to the barometer of families in Spain. GAD3presented today by The Family Watch.

Rafael Miner-January 12, 2021-Reading time: 3 minutes

Photo credit: Jessica Rockowitz/Unsplash

The formation of a family continues to be a "chimera" for most young people, according to the barometer. 83 % of respondents under 45 think that there are greater difficulties than in previous generations. to do so.   

The percentage is high. And when this age group was asked about their priorities for the next five years, the following stand out in this order: to prosper professionally (89 %), to further their studies (62 %), and to travel and learn about other cultures (59 %), ahead of starting a family, which only 26.3 percent, or one in four, plan to do so. 

Twelve months ago, this percentage was 40 percent, a decrease of almost 14 percent, according to fieldwork by the consulting firm GAD3first in a pandemic situation.

María José Olestigeneral director of the foundation The Family Watch, think-tank of family studies, has stated that These data explain, in part, the reasons for the profound demographic crisis affecting our country, something that, together with the current pandemic situation and its economic consequences, does not predict that it will change in the coming years".". 

The youth perspective may have something to do with another piece of information from the barometer: a large majority of respondents (85 %) say that the economic situation in Spain is bad. On the other hand, the loss of purchasing power affects half of Spanish families (50 %) but especially those who have lost their jobs (72 %). Despite the difficulties resulting from the pandemic, the majority of families (56 %) say that they have provided help to family, friends and NGOs during this time. 

In response to several questions, María José Olesti pointed out that "Maternity is not given the importance it has in social, political and labor life... On the contrary, women who want to be mothers are penalized. It is necessary to continue with the aids in social policies, in which we are at the bottom in Europe". 

Reconciliation, a pending issue

One of the questions in the survey asked how easy it is for them to reconcile their work with their personal and family life. 17.8 percent answered "a lot", 43.9 "quite a bit"and 29.4 percent "little", percentages quite similar to those of the previous year. Sara Morais, research director at GAD3recalled that every year the fertility rate in Spain is reduced, which stood at 1.24 in 2019. Two years earlier, in 2017, the rate was 1.3, according to official data.

Internet and minors

Another of the issues of most concern to families, according to The Family WatchThe main issues that the company is concerned about are Internet use, access to gambling and adult content, such as pornography, and the styles and behaviors of minors on the Internet. 

Despite recent measures promoted by both the gaming industry and the authorities, almost 9 out of 10 households still consider that minors have very easy access to online gambling and video games.

The study indicates that 8 out of 10 households consider that "controls" what minors view on the network, and 78 % establish rules for use and schedules. 65 % of respondents acknowledge that adult content has been accessed during the pandemic months. 

An important measure for 74 % of the surveyed families would be that when contracting an Internet lineThe company has been asking operators and political parties for years to limit access to certain content (pornography, online games, etc.), something it has been requesting from both operators and political parties".. 

 In his opinion, "It would be a quick and easy way for parents to protect their children and prevent them from accessing content that does nothing to help their development as people, without having a high level of knowledge of the Internet. In countries such as France and Italy it has already been implemented and Spain should follow the same path", they say.

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Spain

"For many of these children the Church is their only family."

Maria José Atienza-January 12, 2021-Reading time: 2 minutes

– Supernatural Missionary Childhood Day, The event, which will be held on January 17, focuses this year's campaign on the Church's work with abandoned, malnourished and witchcraft-accused children in the Yendi area (Ghana).

The director of OMP SpainJose Maria Calderon, Jose Maria CalderonIn this year dedicated to the figure of St. Joseph, the missionary childhood campaign is framed in the return of the Holy Family from Egypt to Nazareth, a way to involve children and families in the missionary work of Catholic identity. 

Msgr. Vincent Sowa Boi-Nai, Bishop of Yendi (Ghana) was the first of the guests to take the floor to explain the situation of children in his diocese.

The bishop distinguished four types of children that the Church, through the projects promoted with the help of the Pontifical Mission Societies, attends to: abused children, children with birth defects: blindness, lameness..., abandoned minors and "brilliant" children who need help to succeed in order to continue their studies. 

In the first group, Msgr. Vincent Sowa Boi-Nai, has highlighted the work of the Sisters of St. Gilda who teach mothers how to grow their own vegetables, raise goats and sheep and prepare nutritious meals for the children. 

Regarding children with birth problems, the bishop pointed out the lack of access to prenatal and perinatal care and the danger of certain traditional pseudo-medicinal practices that endanger their lives or cause them further problems and deformities. 

Another group, also mentioned by Sister Therese Stan, the second participant in the press conference, is the high number of children abandoned on the streets, some of whom are accused of being possessed after suffering, many times, from the wrong health care. 

This nun, who has taken in children accused of witchcraft in the Nazareth Home by Yendi, has narrated the harshness of many of the lives of these children who, at just a few years old, are abandoned or threatened in their own family environments.

The Nazareth Home is, for many of them, the only possibility to live and receive the necessary medical care. A work that, as she emphasizes, is carried out thanks to faith. 

A common point of all those who have presented this campaign has been to point out how the Church, through the institutions and congregations working in this fieldis, for these children, "the real and sometimes the only family they have".".

This year's Missionary Childhood Day, like the World Mission Sunday, will have a strong presence in digital channels. On the web https://infanciamisionera.es testimonies of missionaries and recipients of aid and projects that can only go ahead with the generosity of all. In addition, the way to collaborate has been facilitated, either through a donation by transfer or bizum. 

All the materials of this campaign can be downloaded from the same website so that children can be aware and participate in this work.

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  • Bishop Antonio Gómez Cantero, new coadjutor bishop of Almeria
Spain

Bishop Antonio Gómez Cantero, new coadjutor bishop of Almeria

Maria José Atienza-January 8, 2021-Reading time: < 1 minute

The current bishop of Teruel and Albarracín assumes the assistance in diocesan governance together with Msgr. Adolfo González MontesThe company has been headquartered in Almeria since 2002 and will be 75 years old next November.

The Holy See made public at 12:00 noon today, friday 8 January 2021that the Pope Francis has appointed a Bishop Antonio Gómez Cantero coadjutor bishop of Almeria.

 Bishop Gómez Cantero is currently bishop of Teruel and Albarracínwhich joins the current vacancies on the Spanish map.

The Holy See thus responds to the request of the Bishop of Almeria, Msgr. Adolfo Gónzalez Montesto have a coadjutor bishop in the diocese.  

Short biography

Bishop Antonio Gómez Cantero was born in Quijas (Cantabria) on May 31, 1956. He studied high school at the minor seminary of Carrión de los Condes and ecclesiastical studies at the major seminary of San José de Palencia. He was ordained a priest on May 17, 1981. He obtained a licentiate in Systematic-Biblical Theology in the Catholic Institute of Parisin 1995.

The November 17, 2016 Pope Francis makes public his appointment as bishop of Teruel and Albarracín. He received episcopal ordination on January 21, 2017.

At the time of his episcopal appointment he was vicar general and curial moderator (2008-2017) of the. diocese of Palencia, of which he was diocesan administrator from May 8, 2015 until June 18, 2016. 

In the Spanish Episcopal Conference, he is a member of the Episcopal Commission for Social Communications since March 2020 and Consiliary of the Spanish Catholic Action since October 2018.

The figure of Coadjutor Bishop

According to the code of canon lawThe coadjutor bishop immediately becomes bishop of the diocese to which he was appointed when the diocese becomes vacant. It also determines that he is to be appointed vicar general by the diocesan bishop.

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EditorialOmnes

It's time to look ahead

January 8, 2021-Reading time: 2 minutes

The first issue in which our magazine has the new masthead of Omnes marks an exciting moment, the first step of a great project... and at the same time assumes the stupendous trajectory of the magazine Palabra, which continues its numbering.

Notes the time to look ahead, after having highlighted in the November issue the continuity of the with the story that began in September 1965.

We are facing the new definition of a multiplatform religious information media, which will have its main bases in the printed magazine and in a digital portal, omnesmag.com along with their social networks.

What's new in Omnes is not the new name, nor an updated website; nor is it about eliminating the printed magazine or replacing it with a digital version. This is a new approach to the whole of our environment.

The contents of the print edition and the digital portal will be different, because the digital channel will allow more agility and greater attention to aspects of current affairs that escape the monthly cadence, which until now was exclusive. The editorial line and orientation will be the same. in these two channels, and consistent with what has been the Word so far.

The effort will be to convey the context together with the data, the analysis together with the event, the background of the issues together with the news. The style of the information will also have defining characteristics, because Omnes is not only a journalistic initiative focused on a particular field, in this case religious information: it is a serene way of assuming a responsibility in the common task of evangelization.

In fact, inform about the Church as you wish to do so Omnes is a necessity with which many people, who feel the desire to to promote an "outgoing" Christianity, that is to say, one that is open, joyful and positiveThe Pope, the Church and the faith, which is missed when reading so much information about the Pope, the Church and the faith that underlines the scandalous and disturbing, or that is biased or distorted; and which meets the needs of those who - more and more - are grateful to be informed about things as they are, going, whenever possible, to the original sources and words, without looking for an easy echo by encouraging divisions.. This is also why it is addressed to all, to Omnesof any situation, condition or age.

The drafting of Omnes knows that it shares this goal with its subscribers and other readers, both current and future readers. Make Omnes requires the collaboration of all those who value and share it. In our time, projects that move forward are collaborative: they are driven by the community of people who understand that they are worthwhile.. In the following pages, readers will discover various ways to participate in this adventure: collaborate, subscribe, contribute, contribute, make known, advertise, disseminate.

We count on everyone, therefore.

Welcome to Omnes!

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The World

Human fraternity marks Pope's trip to Abu Dhabi

Both Pope Francis' visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and his visit to Morocco at the end of March represent a profound intensification of the peace dialogue with Islam. The Pope celebrated the first ever public Mass in the Arabian Peninsula.

Ferran Canet-January 7, 2021-Reading time: 7 minutes

 Pope Francis' trips, like those of his predecessors, take place at the planned destinations, but they could not be properly understood without the Holy Father's words on the outbound and especially on the return flight with journalists. In the visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), whose main cities are Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the same thing happened.

On the return flight, the Pope introduced the dialogue in this way: "Ha has been a travel too brief but for me has has been a great experience. I want that each travel be We want each of our days to be for the writing of daily history. No story is small, every story is big and worthy. And even if it is ugly, dignity is hidden and can always emerge.".

Pope Francis then referred to the UAE: "He seen at a modern country, I was struck by the city. Even the cleanliness of the city, I wondered how they water the flowers in this desert. It is a modern country, it welcomes many people and it is a country that looks to the future: for example, in the education of children. They educate looking to the future. Then I was struck by the water problem: they are looking for the near future to take water from the sea and make it drinkable, even water from the humidity and make it drinkable. Always looking for new things. I have also heard them say: we will run out of oil and we are getting ready. It has seemed to me an open country, not closed. Also the religiosity: it is an open Islam, of dialogue, a fraternal Islam, of peace. I underline the vocation for peace that I felt I had, in spite of the problems of some wars in the area"..

In the spirit of Vatican II

An open Islam, of dialogue, fraternal, said the Holy Father. Indeed, a relevant aspect of the conversation with the media focused on the document on human fraternity signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb.
The declaration is an invitation to reconciliation and fraternity among all believers, also between believers and non-believers, and among all people of good will. Thus the Pope commented: "One thing I want to say and I repeat it clearly: from the Catholic point of view, the document has not moved a millimeter beyond the Second Vatican Council. Nothing. The document has been produced in the spirit of Vatican II.".
The Holy Father also referred to possible divergences among Muslims. "In the Islamic world there are different opinions, some more radical, some not. Yesterday, in the Council of the Wise there was at least one Shiite and he spoke well. There will be discrepancies between them..., but it is a process, processes must mature, like flowers, like fruit."

Intrahistory of the document

The Pope explained that the text "was prepared with much reflection and also praying. Both the great Imam with his team and I with mine, have prayed so much to achieve this document, which is born of faith in God, who is the Father of all and the Father of peace. It condemns all destruction, all terrorism, from the first terrorism in history, which is that of Cain. It is a document that has been developed in almost a year, with back and forth, prayers... it has been left to mature, a little confidential, not to give birth to the child before its time. For it to be mature", reported Andrea Tornielli from the plane.

As for other impressions of the visit and its results, the Pope told the media: "For me it was very touching to meet with the wise men of Islam, a profound encounter, they were from different places and various cultures. This also indicates the openness of this country to a certain regional, universal and religious dialogue. Then I was impressed by the interreligious convention: it was a strong cultural event. And I mentioned in the speech, what you did here last year on the protection of children on the Internet. Today, child pornography is an 'industry' that makes a lot of money and preys on children. This country has realized this. There will also be negative things... But thank you for the welcome."
On the papal flight, not all the questions were soft Vaseline. For example, this one: "The Grand Imam Al-Tayyib emphasized the issue of Islamophobia - why wasn't something also said about Christianophobia, about the persecution of Christians?"

This was the Pope's response: "I I have talked about it. Not at that time, but I am frequently talking about it. I think the document was more about unity and friendship. But it condemns violence and some groups that call themselves Islamic - even though the sages say that's not Islam - persecute Christians. I remember that father in Lesbos with his children. He was thirty years old, he cried and told me: I am a Muslim, my wife was a Christian and the Isis terrorists came, saw his cross, asked him to convert and after his refusal they cut his throat in front of me. This is the daily bread of terrorist groups: the destruction from the person. By that the document has has been from strong conviction.

Confirmation in faith

Although it is difficult to have exact data, it is estimated that the Catholic faithful number around one million people between UAE, Oman and Yemen, which make up the Apostolic Vicariate of South Arabia, all of them immigrants. Some 80 % are of Latin rite and the rest from various Eastern countries, from more than a hundred countries of origin and with a strong presence from Southeast Asia.
At the end of the Holy Mass, which was attended by some 150,000 people (including several thousand Muslims), the Holy Father greeted some of the religious authorities (the Maronite Patriarch, the Armenian Patriarch, bishops from various countries and rites, etc.) and civil authorities. He also greeted the boys and girls who had helped at the Mass. The last person he greeted, without being planned, was Eugene, an Italian Capuchin priest of 90 years, of which he has spent 60 years in different countries of the Arabian Peninsula.
It was a greeting-homage; an embrace of the Pope to one of the priests who arrived at the beginning of the modern history of the Church in this part of the world. It was a silent, long embrace, lasting more than a minute, as the Armenian Patriarch pointed out, an emotional embrace, in which Pope Francis kissed Eugene's hand, while those who were there kept a great silence.
This meeting seems to me a good summary of one of the two reasons for the Holy Father's trip to Abu Dhabi: to confirm in the faith the hundreds of thousands of Catholics living in the Emirates and, with them, the several million who live in the entire Arabian Peninsula. To help give them visibility.

Year of Tolerance

The first reason for the visit was the invitation to participate in the interreligious meeting on peace, on the occasion of the "Year of the Tole- rancia" promoted by the Emirati government in 2019. The meeting was also attended by the Grand Mufti of the Cairo Mosque, whom Pope Francis referred to as a brother and friend. At the end of the meeting they signed the aforementioned declaration, a historic document on human fraternity.
The Pope was not just another guest. This is evidenced by the many details on the part of the civil authorities (from the involvement in covering the organizational needs to the welcoming and farewell ceremonies). And it is also proven by the joy of so many Emiratis (police, military and civilians who participated in the organization of the Mass). The UAE is proud to be a pioneer in religious coexistence. They have maintained diplomatic relations with the Holy See since 2007. In 2017, they created the Ministry of Tolerance, headed by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, and have declared the current Year of Tolerance.
The Pope's visit comes at the invitation of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. In addition to the Pope, the Emirates has invited the Grand Mufti of Al-Azhar, one of the highest authorities in Sunni Islam, head of the Al-Azhar Mosque and University in Cairo.
The Holy Father recently recalled: "I will soon have the opportunity to visit two Muslim-majority countries, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. These will be two important occasions to further enhance interreligious dialogue and mutual understanding between the faithful of both religions, on the eighth centenary of the historic meeting between St. Francis of Assisi and Sultan al-Malik al-Kāmil.".

First public Mass

For the first time a public Mass has been held and the Abu Dhabi government has granted holiday to those who were to attend. "We Muslims recognize the importance of Pope Francis' impending visit. This trip signals that tolerance, compassion and dialogue enable understanding and peace. Pope Francis will admire the beauty of a peaceful global community composed of people from some 200 countries. He joins all of us in praising our Creator for making us a unique individual and bridging our differences with universal values." explained the Minister of Tolerance before the visit.
The Holy Father took the opportunity to recall the need to truly live in respect for diversity while recognizing differences. And in the homily of the Mass, commenting on the beatitudes, he encouraged Catholics especially to be sowers of peace. Referring to relations with non-Christians, he explained: "I visit cite St. Francis, when he gives instructions to his brothers on how to present themselves to the Saracens and non-Christians. He writes: 'Do not engage in litigation or strife, but be subject to every human creature for God's sake and confess that you are Christians'".

Encouragement and gratitude to the faithful

The Pope celebrated the Mass according to the Latin rite, but he kept in mind the variety and richness of the Church in this land. This diversity was also felt in the languages used (English, Italian and Latin by the Holy Father, in addition to Arabic, French, Tagalog, Konaki..., in the prayers of the faithful).

"You here know the melody of the Gospel and live the enthusiasm of its rhythm. You are a choir composed of a variety of nations, languages and rites. [in reference also to the choir that sang during the Eucharist, which manifested the diversity of which the Pope spoke].A diversity that the Holy Spirit loves and wants to harmonize more and more, to make a symphony. This joyful symphony of faith is a witness that you give to all and that builds up the Church", he said in his homily.

He also wanted to encourage the faithful. Many are far from their families, fatigued by work schedules, far from the nearest church: "Certainly, for you It is not easy to live far from home and perhaps to feel the absence of the most beloved people and the uncertainty about the future. But the Lord is faithful and does not abandon his own. [Faced with a trial or a difficult period, we may think that we are alone, even after being with the Lord for so long. But at such times, even if he does not intervene quickly, he walks beside us and, if we go forward, he will open up a new path. For the Lord is a specialist in making things new, and he knows how to open new paths in the desert.

The Pope had words of thanks to the faithful: "A Church that perseveres in the word of Jesus and in fraternal love is pleasing to God and bears fruit. I ask for you the grace to preserve peace, unity, to take care of one another, with that beautiful fraternity which means that there are no first- and second-class Christians. Jesus, who calls you blessed, gives you the grace to go forward without discouragement, growing in mutual love and love for all".

The authorFerran Canet

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Culture

Covid-19 vaccines and ethics

The Holy See's delegate to the World Medical Association and member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Pablo Requena, analyzes the morality of the use of Covid-19 vaccines.

Pablo Requena-January 4, 2021-Reading time: 4 minutes

If someone were asked on the street if they thought that the whole issue of the pandemic caused by Covid-19 was a simple matter, few would answer in the affirmative.

More than a year has passed since the first cases of what has quickly become a worldwide epidemic were described, and many questions remain unanswered, despite the fact that a large part of the global scientific world has set to work on it in a way that is difficult to find precedents in the history of medicine and scientific research.

It is striking that so many categorical statements appear on social networks about the characteristics of the virus, the immunological reaction it provokes or the management that should be made of the pandemic. In addition to all these questions, there have been some that refer to the ethical aspects of coronavirus infection.

The morality of vaccines

In recent months much has been written about Covid-19 vaccines and their connection with abortion. The subject is a serious one and for this reason the Note published on December 21 last year by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the morality of the use of certain Covid-19 vaccines. In reality, what this Note says, at a theoretical level, had already been said by the same Congregation in 2008, in numbers 34 and 35 of the Instruction Dignitas personaein dealing with the use of illicit human "biological material" of illicit origin. However, it was opportune to remember it, because many Catholics are unaware of this text and have doubts about the morality of the use of vaccines against Covid-19.. 

Different degrees of responsibility

The Note writes something that has been recalled in recent documents of the Magisterium on bioethics: that the Church has no particular competence in scientific matters, and all it does is to offer a light for the discernment of ethical questions. In this case, the question that arises is whether it is licit to use a vaccine in whose production or validation process cell lines from fetal tissue derived from induced abortions have been used.

The brief Note explains, following Dignitas personaewhich in the use of cell lines derived from abortion there are different degrees of liabilityHe gives as an example the different moral assessment of possible actions within a large pharmaceutical company, depending on whether it is the managers who propose its use in certain research or the professionals who do not have decision-making power over the materials to be used.

It then offers the answer to the moral problem that some Christians put on pointing out that it is "morally acceptable to use Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process."provided that alternative vaccines are not available. made without the use of such cell lines of illicit origin. This condition is currently met in most cases, as potential users cannot choose the type of vaccine, as it depends on the governmental organization.

Could there be cooperation to evil?

The reason used in the document to justify this response is that the type of cooperation in the wrongdoing that could be incurred is remote. When speaking of cooperation to evil (the document uses the moral category "passive material cooperation"), it is not assumed that using the vaccine today implies any causal link with the abortion that was performed thirty or forty years ago, but rather that the use of these cell lines may in some way promote the use of embryonic or fetal material in laboratories.and justify or make more tolerable the destruction of embryos or abortions related to such use.  

Moreover, the Note goes on to explain, the moral duty to avoid this type of cooperation is not binding if there is a serious cause, as in this case to avoid the spread of the infection with all its negative consequences. It is important to understand that the reasoning of the Vatican Congregation is not of a proportionalist type, since it starts from the consideration that the object of the act being carried out, that is, the immunization of the population, is morally good. Moreover, as is also explained, this response does not legitimize either the abortions that gave rise to these cell lines or the use of these cell lines..

Is vaccination mandatory?

Another issue addressed by the Note is that of mandatory vaccination.. Here it is important to distinguishing the legal level from the ethical level. The first refers to the indications that the public authority requires from citizens. For the time being, in countries where the vaccine has begun to be used, it is not required by law: it is simply advised. But in some places, or for certain categories of subjects, the public authority could make vaccination compulsory if it considers it necessary for the public good. From an ethical point of view, it is clear that there is a certain moral obligation to avoid infecting others and, as in other infectious diseases, the safest way would be vaccination.. For this reason, the Note states that "the morality of vaccination depends not only on the duty to protect one's own health, but also on the duty to protect one's own health. duty to pursue the common good".

And what about poor countries?

A final ethical problem of no little importance that the Note mentions, albeit very succinctly, is the one that refers to the universal access to vaccines. He speaks of the moral imperative to "ensure that vaccines that are effective and safe from a health point of view, and ethically acceptable, are also accessible to the poorest countries and at no excessive cost to them". A more developed presentation on this subject is given in the recent "Note from the Vatican Commission Covid-19 in collaboration with the Pontifical Academy for Life Vaccine for all. 20 points for a fairer and healthier world" (29.12.2020).

The authorPablo Requena

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TribuneJosé María Torralba

Will as engine and will as heart

Formation is not only an intellectual occupation, but a process that embraces all the dimensions of the person. It implies a certain balance between the different human powers, and a work of moral and spiritual education.

January 4, 2021-Reading time: 3 minutes

In recent years we have often heard about the risks of voluntarism in the moral and spiritual education of people, especially the young. This is an important issue, because the will is the faculty with which we exercise our freedom. If education consists in teaching how to use freedom, the first thing to do is to form the will well.

The thought of William of Ockham is often pointed to as the origin of the deformation of moral life that is voluntarism. In fact, the English theologian proposed the so-called divine voluntarism which, for the purposes of this article, can be summarized as follows: something is either good or evil because God says so, and not the other way around. In this approach, reason is not capable of knowing what good it achieves by following the moral law, beyond knowing that with its will it is obeying God. However, and apart from the concrete historical development of moral theology, I believe that this association between Ockham and voluntarism obscures rather than illuminates the current meaning given to this spiritual phenomenon.

In my opinion, it would help to distinguish between "theological voluntarism" (Ockham's, on why an act is good or due), "spiritual voluntarism" (which refers to a certain way of experiencing the effort to be better) and "rationalism" or moral intellectualism (which considers that it is enough to know the good in order to do it). Rationalism is clearly opposed to theological voluntarism, since it considers that what is decisive is the capacity of human reason to know the good. The moral law is fulfilled because and why obeying God is a good thing to do is well. What is striking is that, in this scheme, "spiritual voluntarism" is closer to moral intellectualism than to Ockham's position. 

The voluntarist person is rather rationalist, since it is his reason that directs - in a despotic way - the will. He is clear about what is good and does it, even if he is not attracted to that particular good. What is lacking is to develop the capacity to love the good. Therefore, the problem is not one of inflation, but of atrophy of the will. The voluntarist needs more will, but in the sense that I will explain below.

Following a venerable tradition that goes back at least as far as St. Augustine, we can distinguish two dimensions of will, which I will call the will "as motor" and the will "as heart", both of which are necessary for personal growth, but each has its own function. If we were to consider them as two extremes, we would have that if someone only developed the will as a motor, he would have a technical conception of the human being, centered on the efficiency of achieving what he proposes, without needing anyone. From the moral point of view, what he would seek is his own perfection. At the other extreme, cultivating the will as the heart would lead to understanding the person as someone incarnated, interested in making his life fruitful, aware that what is truly valuable can only be received as a free gift from others or from God. In the moral sphere, the goal would be love.

The distinction serves to explain that the problem of spiritual voluntarism consists in reducing the function of the will to being a motor, that is, to the capacity to carry out correct actions. On the other hand, the risk of understanding the will only as the heart would be to end up in a kind of spiritual quietism, as if there were no need to make an effort to achieve the good and to grow morally. 

The will as heart is not to be understood in a "sentimental", changeable or superficial way, but as it is understood, for example, by Hildebrand in The heart. There he refers to the heart as the spiritual center of the person and the organ of his affectivity. Precisely what the voluntarist needs to do is to cultivate his affections, so that he not only does good because sabe that it is the right thing to do, but because it ama and identifies with him. This is possible because the good always bears someone's name: the good are actions that we perform for or with other people. 

Spiritual voluntarism leads one to organize one's own life without - in the end - needing the help of others. On the other hand, those who cultivate the will as a heart face difficulties together with others, counting on their help. He trusts especially in God, as Torelló explains in He first loved us. The voluntarist is easily discouraged, because he sees the limitations of his motor. He needs to grow in hope, which is the virtue that prepares the will to fully receive the gift of God, grace. 

The key to the education of the will is that the person discovers that goods (friendship, love, service or justice) fill his life and fill his heart. Certainly, this is a process in which, especially at the beginning, willpower (the motor) is very necessary. But it alone is not enough to keep on doing good, especially as time goes by. Engines get old and break down. On the other hand, if affective identification with the goods of one's own life is achieved, it will require less and less effort to remain faithful to them.

The authorJosé María Torralba

Director of the Core Curriculum Institute of the University of Navarra

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Pope's teachings

St. Joseph, a brave and creative heart

Three major themes appear in the Pope's teachings these weeks: he continues his catechesis on prayer, an ecumenical Vademecum for the local Churches has been published under his blessing, and he has written an apostolic letter on St. Joseph. 

Ramiro Pellitero-January 2, 2021-Reading time: 5 minutes

In this article we focus on the letter Patris corde, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the declaration of St. Joseph as patron of the universal Church.

Beginning the "Year of St. Joseph". 

With the letter Patris corde (December 8, 2020) the Pope calls for a "Year of St. Joseph" until December 8, 2021. He says his goal is to "that love for this great saint may grow, so that we may be impelled to implore his intercession and imitate his virtues.". 

Secondly, the figure of St. Joseph takes on the role of the pandemic prominenceby placing Francisco not only as a "intercessor, support and guide" in these times of difficulty, but as a special representative and patron of those "ordinary people"They have worked, they have instilled hope and they have prayed, holding us all in their hands. In many cases, they have even given their lives for others.

"Jesus saw the tenderness of God in Joseph." (n. 2), who also taught him to pray. Also for us "it is important to encounter the Mercy of God, especially in the sacrament of Reconciliation, having an experience of truth and tenderness". (ibid.). There God welcomes us and embraces us, sustains us and forgives us. 

In a manner similar to that of Mary, Joseph said. "be it done" to God's will, even if it only manifested itself to him in dreams. And so he was able to "teach" obedience to Jesus: "In the hidden life of Nazareth, under the guidance of Joseph, Jesus learned to do the will of the Father." (n. 3) that passed through the Passion and the Cross (cf. Jn 4:34; Phil 2:8; Heb 5:8). The Pope even says: "I wish to imagine that Jesus took from Joseph's attitudes the example for the parable of the prodigal son and the merciful father (cf. Lk 15:11-32).".

José "welcomed" The role of husband of Mary and father of Jesus, which God asked of him, was a very important part of his life. And that shaped his inner life: "Joseph's spiritual life does not show us a way that explainsbut a way that welcomes" (n. 4). 

Although God's plans surpassed his expectations, he acted with fortitude, taking on with "creative courage". even those that seemed contradictory, unexpected or even disappointing. On these occasions, God often brings "to bring out resources in each of us that we didn't even think we had." (n. 5). 

Custodian of Jesus and Mary, the Church and the Needy

Specifically, José "I knew how to transform a problem into an opportunity, always putting trust in Providence first.". Thus he was able to guard and serve Jesus and Mary (cf. Homily at the beginning of the Petrine ministry19-III-2013). And it is now the custodian of the ChurchThe motherhood of the Church is manifested in the motherhood of Mary. 

Consistently, as Jesus himself expressed (cf. 25:40), Joseph continues to care for the most needy, because in them he continues to see the "Child" that is Jesus and Mary, who (as mother of mercy and spouse of Christ) also identifies with them. "That is why St. Joseph is invoked as protector of the indigent, the needy, the exiled, the afflicted, the poor, the dying." (Patris corde, n. 5). "From Joseph" -The Pope proposes "we must learn the same care and responsibility: to love the Child and his mother; to love the sacraments and charity; to love the Church and the poor. In each of these realities there is always the Child and his mother." (ibid.).

Model and employer of workers

Since Leo XIII (cf. Enc. Rerum novarum, 1891), the Church proposes St. Joseph as a model worker and patron of workers. In contemplating the figure of St. Joseph, Francis points out in his letter, we can better understand the meaning of work, which gives dignity, and the important place of work in the plan of salvation. On the other hand, today we should all reflect on fatherhood.

 "The work" -writes the Pope. "it becomes an occasion of fulfillment not only for oneself, but above all for that original nucleus of society which is the family." (Patris corde, n. 6). 

And in relation to the current situation, he points out: "The crisis of our time, which is an economic, social, cultural and spiritual crisis, can represent for everyone a call to rediscover the meaning, importance and necessity of work in order to give rise to a new 'normality' in which no one is excluded. The work of St. Joseph reminds us that God made man himself did not disdain work. The loss of work that affects so many brothers and sisters, and which has increased in recent times due to the Covid-19 pandemic, should be a call to review our priorities." (ibid.).  

What does it mean to be a parent? 

In the last part of his letter, the Pope pauses to consider how Joseph knew how to be a father "in the shadows" (citing Jan Dobraczyński's book, The shadow of the Father, 1977, Palabra, Madrid 2015). 

Today, Francis believes, we need fathers everywhere. In our society, children often seem to have no father. And the Church also needs fathers, both in the literal sense, good family fathers, and in a broader sense, spiritual fathers of others (cf. 1 Cor 4:15; Gal 4:19). ¿But what does it mean to be a parent? The Pope explains suggestively: "To be a parent means to introduce the child into the experience of life, into reality. Not to hold him, not to imprison him, not to possess him, but to make him capable of choosing, of being free, of going out." (n. 7). And he thinks that the word "castísimo"The Christian tradition, which places Joseph next to Joseph, expresses that "logic of freedom" that every parent must have in order to love in a truly free way. 

From "self-sacrifice" to gift of self

Francis observes, introducing a decisive reflection, that all this would not be considered by St. Joseph as a "self-sacrifice"This could give rise to a certain frustration; but rather, with greater maturity, as a gift of self, as the fruit of trust in God. That is why St. Joseph's silence does not give rise to complaints but to gestures of trust. This is the way it is. Today's language, typical of a culture in which the Christian perspective fails, no longer sees sacrifice as a gift of self, but only as a costly path, and does not discover its connection with life and joy. At the same time, it needs parents who give themselves generously to the education of their children.

"The world" -he points out- "needs parents, reject the masters, that is: reject those who want to use the possession of the other to fill their own emptiness; refuse those who confuse authority with authoritarianism, service with servility, confrontation with oppression, charity with assistentialism, force with destruction." (ibid.). 

Francis invites us to overcome this (merely human) logic of sacrifice and to rediscover the gift of selfThe path to happiness and self-fulfillment, with all its beauty and joy, is the path to happiness and self-fulfillment. It is necessary to change logic, because "the logic of love is always a logic of freedom." (ibid.). 

In the present educational moment, this proposal of the Pope, as a fruit of the contemplation of St. Joseph, is a powerful light source: to reject the logic of possession and to exchange it for the logic of love, which consists in giving oneself. In the case of parents, at the service of the care, education and true freedom of the children entrusted to them by God.

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Culture

Borges sees God all the way to the end

After a first fascicle where we began to investigate the presence of God in the poetry of Jorge Luis Borges, we continue in this second article until we conclude that "he leaves an open door to a God in whom the essence of his life could lie".

Antonio Barnés-January 2, 2021-Reading time: 4 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsBorges, a writer in search of meaning

We continue following the clues of the concept of God in the Argentine poet Jorge Luis Borges. In the collection of poems, In Praise of the ShadowWe extract some verses from "Fragments of an apocryphal gospel": 

12. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they see God.

15. Let the light of a lamp be lighted, though no man see it. God will see it.

32. God is more generous than men and will measure them with another measure.

49. Happy are those who keep in memory the words of Virgil or of Christ, for they will give light to their days.

In these fragments, Borges carries out a kind of imitation of some evangelical phrases, and the 32 could be a variation of "with the measure you measure you will be measured", but to say that God is more generous than men and will measure them with another measure is a distinctly Christian and biblical thought: God's mercy, God's love and God's intelligence far exceed our expectations.

At The eye of the tigers (1972) we read a fragment of the poem "Religio medici, 1643": 

Defend me, Lord. (The vocative does not imply Nobody. It is only one word of this exercise that reluctance carves out.

From time to time Borges wants to make it clear that he is an agnostic, that he doubts, that he ignores what the word actually means. Mr.In other cases, however, it is used without any kind of footnote.

At The Deep Rose (1975) there is a poem titled very significantly "De que nada se sabe" (Of which nothing is known):

Perhaps human destiny
of short joys and long sorrows
is an instrument of Another. We ignore it;
giving God's name does not help us.

He writes "it does not help us", but in Borges there is a serene search without stridency throughout his life. There is an inquiry, a speculation about meaning, time, eternity, death, life.

At The Iron Coin (1976) we read in a poem entitled "The End":

God or Maybe or Nobody, I ask you

its inexhaustible image, not oblivion.

He doubts but does not deny, he doubts but seeks: "I ask you / his inexhaustible image, not oblivion". Here he does not want oblivion. Here he asks for non-forgetfulness. Perhaps Spinoza has taught him oblivion and perhaps his own mind, his own readings, and his own freedom of thought make him think that it cannot all end in oblivion.

In the poem "Einar Tambarskelver" we read:  

Odin or the red Thor or the White Christ...
Little matter the names and their gods;
there is no other obligation but to be brave

This thought again has a stoic aftertaste: I don't know who he is, but I'm looking for him.

"In Iceland the dawn," another poem, we read:

It is the shadow glass in which you look
God, he doesn't have a face.

God does not have a face, the God of the philosophers certainly does not have a face. The God of the Old Testament does not have a face either, although he sometimes presents himself with anthropomorphic attitudes. The only face that God really has is Christ, the visible image of the invisible God. But Borges's philosophical aftertaste tends to impose itself. 

In "Some Coins" there is a short poem inspired by a verse from Genesis:

GENESIS, IX, 13

The arc of the Lord crosses the sphere

and blesses us. In the great pure arc

are the blessings of the future,

but there is also my love, who waits.

It is a poem inspired by Genesis and therefore fully in tune with the biblical text, and Borges glosses it because he is also rewriting in some way a book that fascinates him: the Bible. 

There is a poem dedicated to Baruch Spinoza.

Someone builds God in the twilight.
A man begets God. [...] 

The sorcerer insists and carves
God with delicate geometry;
from his illness, from his nothingness,
continues to erect God with the word.

We can consider this poem by Borges quite sincere in that he is probably describing what Spinoza or many philosophers do: construct a God to their measure, to their rational measure, to their geometric measure, and perhaps -following Borges with the perhaps- it is not the authentic God.

Another poem: "For a version of I King".

The path is fatal as the arrow
but in the cracks is God, who lurks.

He stresses once again the force of destiny, but in that crack "there is God". 

In "You are not the others":

There is no pity in the Fairy
and God's night is infinite.

The same idea of infinite dissolution that we saw at the beginning of our tour through Borges' poetry. 

At La Cifra -In 1981, we read a curious poem dedicated to an angel with many biblical resonances:

Lord, that at the end of my days on earth
I did not dishonor the Angel.

It seems that it is the angel of paradise, the angel that expels Adam and Eve, and ends the poem with this authentic prayer: "Lord, at the end of my days on Earth, may I not dishonor the Angel". In another poem of the same collection of poems The figure entitled "To run or to be" we read: 

Perhaps on the other side of death

I will know if I have been a word or someone.

This text seems to us decisive: "a word or someone". What sediment has Occam's nominalism really had in modern and contemporary philosophy? Perhaps it is a cliché, but perhaps because it is a cliché it is true. "Whether I have been a word or someone": all that diatribe of universals. But Borges says "perhaps" on the other side of death I will know if I have been a word, a flatus vocis or someone. Because if God exists and God is on the other side, and I am in His mind not as a file in a computer memory, but I am in His mind as a being dear to Him, I will have regained a full identity. 

The Conjured (1985), the last collection of poems, we read in a poem entitled "La tarde": 

it may well be that our short life

is a fleeting reflection of the divine.

It seems that at the end of his life Borges' search for meaning, his search for God, is becoming more and more accentuated. And in one of his last poems entitled "Góngora" he writes:

Such spoils

have banished God, who is Three and is One,

of my awakened heart. [...]

Who will tell me if in the secret archive

of God are the letters of my name?

I want to get back to the common things:

Water, bread, a pitcher, roses...

He returns to the previous idea of whether I am a word or someone: Who will tell me if the letters of my name are in God's secret archive? Until the end of his life, Borges, starting from an agnosticism induced by his father's education, by his readings, leaves an open door to a God in whom the essence of his life may lie. 

The authorAntonio Barnés

RelatedRelated NewsBorges, a writer in search of meaning
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The Vatican

World Day of Peace: Prophets and witnesses of the "culture of care".

A new horizon of peace for humanity is discovered through a "culture of care" which, while caring for the weakest and most vulnerable, makes us aware that we belong to the same human family. Pope Francis explains this in his Message for the World Day of Peace, which is celebrated on January 1.

Giovanni Tridente-January 1, 2021-Reading time: 4 minutes

To eradicate the culture of indifference, discarding and confrontation, and thus build a society based on fraternal relationships, giving priority to the care of others and of creation, through a generalized protagonism of women. It is with this desire-certainly not a new one-that Pope Francis' reflection at the beginning of the year 2021 to heads of state, heads of international organizations, spiritual leaders and the faithful of the various religions and to all people of good will is born.

The occasion is offered by the Message for the celebration of the World Day of Peace, which for 54 years has been celebrated on January 1 by intuition of the Holy Predecessor, Pope Paul VI, having as its theme "....The culture of care as a path to peace". 

The culture of care

The Pontiff develops this culture in seven points, beginning with the model of ".Creator God"recalling how in many religious traditions there are narratives in which it is evident that the human creature is entrusted with a special vocation".in the care of". With a series of historical references, the first quintessential example of this "God's project for humanity"The Pope's commentary is set out in the Book of Genesis, which recounts Adam's commission to cultivate and guard the Garden of Eden, both to make the earth productive and to protect it by preserving its capacity to sustain life.

Likewise, Scripture presents God as "....model of care"The Prophets also emphasize the importance of the individual human being as well as the harmony of creation, starting with the poorest of the poor.

This closeness of the Father - Pope Francis explains - was also manifested in the ministry of Jesus, who with compassion "He came to the sick in body and spirit and healed them; he forgave sinners and gave them new life."He healed us by freeing us from the slavery of sin and death.

Today, therefore, it is up to the followers - the Christians - to show this adherence to the "....culture of careas did the core of the first generation, practicing generosity so that none of them would be in need, making the community "...".a welcoming home, open to all human situations, ready to take care of the most fragile of people".

The social doctrine of the Church

To illuminate this path "of spiritual and corporal mercy"The Holy Father proposes some principles of the Church's social doctrine, a precious patrimony".from which to extract the "grammar"of carethe promotion of the dignity of the human person - "the promotion of the dignity of the human person" - "the promotion of the dignity of the human person".an end in itself, never a mere instrument to be appreciated only for its utility."solidarity with the poor and the helpless - which is seen as "not as a statistic, or a means to be exploited and then discarded when it is no longer useful, but as our neighbor, our companion on the road."concern for the common good, taking into account "....its effects on the entire human family, bearing in mind the consequences for the present and for future generations"and the safeguarding of creation, as is abundantly explained in the encyclicalLaudato si'.

This "compass" of principles is offered by the Pope to all those responsible for nations, for the economic and scientific world, for communication and education, in order to give a new direction to the process of globalization, as something that challenges all of us together".to become prophets and witnesses of the culture of care, to overcome so many social differences". The Pontiff then says he is convinced that all this will be possible ".only with a strong and broad protagonism of women in the family and in all social, political and institutional spheres.".

This document makes a new appeal to stop investing in arms and other military expenditures, and to allocate these resources to a world fund for the definitive elimination of hunger, thus contributing to the development of the poorest countries, as already requested last October at the World Food Day.

A family task

This whole process of inculturation cannot do without education, which, according to the Pope, must necessarily be promoted in the family - which "... must be a family, a community, a community of believers...".it is necessary to put the family in a position to fulfill this vital and indispensable task."- in collaboration with schools, universities, but also the subjects of social communication, "called upon to transmit a system of values"The Church's role in the world must be respected, with respect for all peoples, all traditions and the fundamental rights that derive from them, without forgetting the role of the Church in the world.

All these aspects, brought together and carried out in a global and interdependent manner, can truly advance all peoples".towards a new horizon of love and peace, of fraternity and solidarity, of mutual support and hospitality.".

Joseph's example

Taking a step back, references to this approach to care also appear in the recent Apostolic Letter Patris CordePope Francis inaugurated the Year of St. Joseph last December 8, with which he pronounced beautiful words for every Christian to follow.

In this context, referring to Mary's spouse, the Pope emphasizes his "creative courage"This is demonstrated on all those occasions when the family of Nazareth was faced with difficulties, from the lack of lodging before giving birth to the flight into Egypt. On all the occasions when Joseph - as God does with each of his children -, animated by this desire to "take care" (of the wife, of the child) preserves those treasures that the Lord had entrusted to him, he shows the true meaning of responsibility and stewardship.

The precedents

If one considers the previous seven years of his pontificate and the messages suggested by Pope Francis for this special World Day that has turned fifty, a common thread stands out in the themes that are emphasized-emblematically-beyond the actuality of the human phenomenon in its historical context: aspects related precisely to care.

In the first two years, 2014 and 2015, "fraternity" was in fact the key theme of the Pope's reflection at the beginning of each calendar year. Then, the need to overcome indifference, to overcome violence, to take care of migrants and refugees, also through good politics, as well as dialogue, reconciliation and ecological conversion, last year.

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The Pope explains the prayer of thanksgiving

The Holy Father Francis held the last general audience of this year, in which he continued with the catechesis on prayer.

David Fernández Alonso-December 30, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsGeneral Audience: Praise God always, in good times and in bad.Related NewsThe Pope at the Audience: "I assure you of my prayers for Nigeria".

On this occasion, the Pope has focused on the prayer of thanksgivingusing the passage where Jesus heals ten lepers, but only one returns to thank and praise God for the grace received.

The Eucharist, thanksgiving

"For us Christians, -says Francisco- the giving of thanks has given name to the most essential Sacrament there is: the Eucharist.". Continuing along these lines, the Pope explains that precisely the Greek word Eucharist means that, thanksgiving. He then develops a series of reflections around gratitude, starting from the first reason for which we are indebted: the gift of life.

To dilate the heart before the coming of the Savior

Encountering and dealing with Jesus leads us to broaden our sense of gratitude. "This "grace", which the Christian shares with everyone, is extended in the encounter with Jesus. The Gospels testify that the passage of Jesus often gives rise to joy and praise to God in those who encounter him.". In fact, the Christmas stories are permeated with people with this heart dilated by the arrival of the Savior: "And we too have been called to participate in this immense exultation.".

Joy, fruit of prayer

The Pope encourages us to foster this encounter with Jesus, that leads us to true joy and deep. "Let us try to be always in the joy of the encounter with Jesus. We cultivate joy. However, the devil, after having deceived us, always leaves us sad and alone. If we are in Christ, no sin and no threat can ever prevent us from continuing our journey with joy, together with so many companions on our journey.".

Finally, the Holy Father encourages us to never stop giving thanks. "If we are bearers of gratitude, the world also becomes better, maybe just a little, but it is enough to transmit a little hope. Everything is united and connected, and everyone can do his or her part wherever he or she is. The path to happiness is the one that St. Paul described at the end of one of his letters: "The path to happiness is the one that St. Paul described at the end of one of his letters: "Pray constantly. In everything give thanks, For this is what God, in Christ Jesus, wants from you. Do not extinguish the Spirit"."

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RelatedRelated NewsGeneral Audience: Praise God always, in good times and in bad.Related NewsThe Pope at the Audience: "I assure you of my prayers for Nigeria".
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The World

Lisbon will receive WYD symbols on January 27th

Maria José Atienza-December 29, 2020-Reading time: 3 minutes


The pilgrim cross and the icon of Our Lady "Salus Populi Romani" are scheduled to arrive in the Portuguese capital in a month's time. On January 27th they will be welcomed by the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and the Portuguese dioceses at the Cathedral of Lisbon.

The arrival of the WYD symbols is a moment of special relevance in the calendar of the next World Youth Day, to be held in Lisbon in 2023.

Welcoming of symbols

Only the representatives of each diocese and the members of the Local Organizing Committee will be able to be present at the celebration of the reception of the Cross and the icon in the Lisbon Cathedral. These symbols were given to the Portuguese delegation on November 22, Christ the King Sunday, in a celebration presided over by Pope Francis at the Vatican.

After their arrival in Lisbon and official welcome, they will begin the traditional pilgrimage through the Portuguese and some Spanish dioceses and communities.

Since the election of Lisbon as the next venue for WYD, the Portuguese dioceses are promoting various activities of preparation, prayer and volunteering, in preparation for this world event.

XXVIII World Youth Day

This will be the 28th edition of the World Youth Days and, for the first time, it will take place in Portugal. An essentially Marian WYD, in the land of the apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, and whose chosen theme for this meeting is "Mary arose and departed without delay." (Lk 1:39), which presents Mary simultaneously as a woman of charity and as a missionary woman.

In fact, the logo of this WYD has the Cross as a central element. It is crossed by a path where the Holy Spirit appears and Mary is always present through the Rosary, a prayer that she expressly asked to be prayed in her apparitions to the little shepherds of Fatima. The colors (green, red and yellow) evoke the Portuguese flag.

The pilgrim cross 

Standing 3.8 meters high, the pilgrim cross, built for the Holy Year in 1983, was entrusted by John Paul II to young people on Palm Sunday of the following year, to be carried around the world. Since then, the pilgrim cross, made of wood, began a pilgrimage that has already taken it to five continents and almost 90 countries. It has become a true sign of faith. 

He has traveled through several nations on foot, by boat and even using unusual means such as sleds, cranes or tractors. He has gone through the jungle, visited churches, juvenile detention centers, prisons, schools, universities, hospitals, monuments and shopping malls. During his travels he has faced many obstacles: from air raids to transportation difficulties, such as the impossibility of traveling because he could not fit in any of the available airplanes. 

He established himself as a sign of hope in particularly sensitive places. In 1985, he traveled to Prague, in what is now the Czech Republic, at a time when Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain, becoming a sign of communion with the Pope. Shortly after 9/11, he traveled to Ground Zero in New York, where the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people took place. He also visited Rwanda in 2006, after the country suffered a devastating civil war. 

The icon of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani 

Since the year 2000, the pilgrim cross has been accompanied by the icon of Our Lady. Salus Populi Romaniwhich depicts the Virgin Mary with the Child in her arms. This icon was also introduced by Pope John Paul II as a symbol of Mary's presence among the young.

Measuring 1.20 meters high and 80 centimeters wide, the icon of Our Lady of the Salus Populi Romani is associated with one of the most popular Marian devotions in Italy.. There is an ancient tradition of carrying it in procession through the streets of Rome to ward off dangers and misfortunes or to ward off plagues.

The original icon is in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, where Pope Francis goes to pray and lay a bouquet of flowers before and after each apostolic journey. 

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A crucial law for the reform of the Curia arrives: financial management

David Fernández Alonso-December 28, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes

At the end of a year that will be marked by the coronavirus pandemic, the Holy See continues to work in all areas. And today we have been able to see another of its fruits: has been enacted the law in the form of motu proprio regulating certain competences in economic matters and financial reform of the Holy See, which closes another stage of the long-awaited reform of the Curia.

The Holy Father has already had anticipated in a letter to Secretary of State Mons. Parolin the the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) for the management of financial and real estate assets..

Better organization

The Pope assures that "a better organization of the administration, control and supervision of the economic and financial activities of the Holy See, in order to guarantee a transparent and efficient management and a clear separation of competencies and functions, is a fundamental point in the reform of the Curia".

In this way, and based on this principle, the Holy Father affirms that the Secretary of StateThe Roman Curia, which supports it more closely and directly in its mission, and represents an essential point of reference for the activities of the Roman Curia, should not perform these functions in economic and financial matters already attributed by competence to other Dicasteries..

Transfer of assets

Therefore, this new apostolic letter issued today by Pope Francis takes up in a concrete way what he had already announced:

  • As of January 1, ownership of funds and bank accountsand real estate investments, including participations in investment companies and funds. will be transferred to the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA)..
  • The Secretariat of State will transfer, no later than February 4, all its liquid availability in current accounts attributed to the Institute for the Works of Religion in foreign bank accounts.
  • The APSA shall establish a budget appropriation called ".Papal Funds"This will be part of the consolidated balance sheet of the Holy See, for greater transparency. And it will have a separate accounting for the "St. Peter's obolus"and the "Holy Father Discretionary Fund".

Towards total transparency

All funds and economic-financial management will be supervised by the Secretariat for the Economy.as defined by its own statute and by the regulations in force, with the sole exception of those entities for which the Holy Father has provided otherwise.

Finally, the so-called Administrative Office of the Secretary of State maintains only the human resources necessary to carry out activities related to its internal administration, the preparation of its budget and final accounts, and other non-administrative functions performed to date.

Therefore, it is clear that the path towards total transparency in the economic and financial management of the Holy See.The reform of the Roman Curia is being carried out by Pope Francis.

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Spain

The Holy Year of Compostela begins on December 31

The Compostela Holy Year 2021 will begin next December 31, starting at 4:30 p.m. with the opening of the Holy Door of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

Maria José Atienza-December 28, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes

The ceremony of the Opening of the Holy Door in the Cathedral of Santiago marks the beginning of this Compostela Year 2021. It will be the last day of this year 2021, December 31, when this Holy Door of the Jacobean cathedral will be opened.

From that moment on, the Holy Year will begin and, therefore, the plenary indulgence of the Jacobean Jubilee will be granted. As is tradition, the requirements to obtain it are: to visit the Cathedral, to receive the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist and to pray for the Pope's intentions. The indulgence can be applied for oneself or for a deceased person.

Opening Ceremony

Due to pandemic-driven restrictions, the celebration will be limited in terms of attendeesIn fact, as already announced by the Archdiocese, a group of authorities and a representation of the diocesan life of Santiago will be able to be inside the basilica.

The ceremony, which will begin at 4:30 pm. can be followed, both through Televisión de Galicia and through the Youtube channel. of this television channel.

After the opening of the Gate, the procession of authorities, pilgrims and representatives of various Jacobean entities will take place. Afterwards, the Holy Mass will be celebrated inside the Cathedral presided by the Archbishop of Santiago, Monsignor Julián Barrio.

Other celebrations

After the Opening Eucharist, outside the church, there will be the projection of a video welcoming the Compostela Holy Year, which can also be seen on the channels that will broadcast the entire event. Finally, the celebration will conclude with a performance of traditional Galician music in the Plaza de la Quintana.

What is a Compostela Holy Year

The Holy Year of Compostela is a time in which the Church grants singular spiritual graces to the faithful. It is Compostela Holy Year when July 25, the Commemoration of the Martyrdom of St. James, falls on a Sunday.. It occurs with the periodicity 11, 6, 5, 6 years. It has its origin in 1122, with Pope Calixtus II, later confirmed by Pope Alexander III in the Bull "Regis aeterni" of 1179, conferring perpetuity.

On the occasion of the celebration of this Compostela Holy Year 2021, the Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, Julián Barrio Barrio, has written the Pastoral Letter "Get out of your land! The Apostle Santiago is waiting for you!" in which he highlights the "opportunity to rediscover the vitality of faith and mission received in Baptism" that this event represents. He also recalls that those who make the pilgrimage to Santiago do not seek "above all a route full of scenic charm and historical heritage, but the path of conversion towards God and towards men. The pilgrimage is a manifestation of popular piety. You walk with the Church to be challenged by the Word of God and thus be salt, leaven and light for others".

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Our father St. Joseph

The Discalced Carmelites of the Monastery of St. Joseph of Avila share with us their deep devotion to St. Joseph in this year dedicated to the holy patriarch.

Omnes-December 27, 2020-Reading time: 4 minutes

The figure of Joseph of Nazareth is as sympathetic as he is popular. Today thousands of devotees and admirers follow him, pray to him, invoke him. But it was not always so.

Perhaps few today remember who was the promoter of this unique devotion so forgotten for centuries: St. Teresa of Jesus, the wanderer of God, the great mystic of Carmel. Miraculously cured by him of an irreversible paralysis at the age of twenty-five, she remained so grateful to him all her life, so fond of him, that she placed almost all her foundations under his patronage, celebrating his memory with a great feast.

The Discalced Carmelites of the first Teresian foundation have long experience of this. St. Joseph of Avila is the first monastery in the world to have the holy Patriarch as its titular. We have always considered him the master, the father, the owner, the protector, and our mouths are full when naming him with that endearing invocation, so typical of the Order of Carmel: Our Father St. Joseph. It is even recounted in the canonization processes of the saint how, among the first discalced women, it was not uncommon for them to sometimes feel him walking among them. Her feast has always been celebrated in this monastery with great enthusiasm and solemnity.

As for images, there are two in our convent that have a peculiar history. The one on the façade, the work of Giraldo de Merlo, which represents the saint holding the Infant Jesus by the hand -who in turn holds a carpenter's saw in his hand- was a personal gift from King Philip III. And the one that presides over the altarpiece of our church -from the school of Manuel Pereira- was canonically crowned at the end of the IV Centenary of the Teresian Reform in 1963, and is one of the only two images of Saint Joseph crowned in Spain.

Devotions and other practices of piety have never been lacking in our community, such as the Seven Sundays, the recitation of his sorrows and joys on the 19th day of each month. or the Month of St. Joseph, being constant nourishment for our prayer life. In our community there is the custom, on the first day of March, to place on the altar of the choir, under a beautiful image of the saint, a case that serves as a pedestal where the sisters introduce their petitions in the form of a personal letter with this address: N. P. S. José. El Cielo. In them we express to the holy Patriarch the intentions that we carry deepest in our hearts, echoing also the needs of the whole world, among which stand out those of our relatives, friends and devotees who ask us to entrust them to us.

But perhaps where this endearing love for the father of Jesus is most evident is in the constant recourse to his father. In a year of severe and persistent drought, the sisters made a procession through the orchard, each one carrying a picture of St. Joseph. In a year of severe and persistent drought, the sisters made a procession through the orchard, each one carrying a picture of St. Joseph (in all the cells we have a very simple one) and obtained the desired rain.

It happens to all of us, When we began our novitiate in this convent, we noticed something very special about the figure of St. Joseph.. Other saints - be they of the Carmelite Order or those of the universal Church - are loved, prayed to and given as gifts. But with N. P. S. Joseph we all have a trust and a predilection that can only be compared to the love for Christ and his Blessed Mother. For us, St. Joseph is as if he were a kind father to whom we all turn when other resources fail. His image always presides in the altar of the choir and even when we place another image because it is a feast of another devotion, we always add a small image or a small picture so that St. Joseph is never missing.

As for more spiritual aspects, there is no doubt that the example and presence of St. Joseph have profoundly marked the history of the community. As the Saint says in her writings: "Let us be somewhat like our King, who had no home except in the portal of Bethlehem where he was born and the cross where he died. These were houses where one could have little recreation" (Road to Perfection 2, 9). Or, as St. Peter of Alcantara added when he contemplated the first dovecote, on the eve of his foundation: "Truly this house of St. Joseph is proper, because it represents to me the little hospice of Bethlehem". St. Joseph has always been like the little house of Nazareth, a poor convent, small, silent, with little noise. When one reads the biographical sketches of our ancient mothers - of some of them very little is known - one realizes that they all followed this humble path, without glitter, without exteriority. Just like the great saint of silence, the saint without prominence who was N. P. S. Joseph. There is nothing in this house that calls the attention, but a life of prayer, work, obedience and joy as the life of the Holy Family of Jesus could have been. Here there are no flashy things, no extraordinary events, but the sanctification of everyday life to the rhythm of the Gospel, in that quiet and hidden heroism that forges the saints who will never ascend to the altars, but who are no less saints for that. And that style of life is, without a doubt, the one that Our Blessed Mother dreamed for us, following in the footsteps of the Father of Christ.

N. P. S. Joseph is the Father and Protector of our monastery. He is the one who gets us out of trouble, the one who serves as our salvation in the face of any serious or minor need. He is our model of virtues and the best teacher of prayer. This is your house. That is why we know that he takes good care of it and that, in four and a half centuries, he has never allowed anything to happen that could seriously harm the community. The great Saint already said, when she narrated the foundation of St. Joseph of Avila: "He (St. Joseph) would keep us at one door and our Lady at the other" (Life 32, 11).

We thank Pope Francis for his precious inspiration to dedicate a year to St. Joseph. We hope that many will take advantage of the graces of this Jubilee year and that love for this great saint will grow.

Discalced Carmelites St. Joseph of Avila

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  • Bishop Omella recalls that "St. Joseph could not celebrate the birth as he wished".
Spain

Bishop Omella recalls that "St. Joseph could not celebrate the birth as he wished".

The Archbishop of Barcelona and president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference addressed a Christmas message broadcast on Trece TV to all the Spanish faithful.

Maria José Atienza-December 24, 2020-Reading time: 3 minutes

Bishop Juan José Omella wanted to emphasize, in this message, that it is Christ "who gives meaning to our joys and sorrows, who accompanies us when things are going well and who sustains us when things go wrong", words that are especially meaningful at the present time. 

The teachings of Christmas

During this message, the president of the EEC underlined the teachings contained in "that first Christmas". He summarized these teachings in the following points:

Humility. With the vision of a helpless child, the Archbishop of Barcelona wondered if all Christians should not learn to become small and put ourselves on the same level as the smallest ones.

The example of Joseph. Before a year marked by the figure of the patriarchal saint, the president of the EEC wanted to highlight the figure of St. Joseph, a man who, like many families "Nor was he able to celebrate Christmas where he wanted to, nor with those he wanted to. The people of the place could not welcome them or did not want to welcome them. They thought that, with them, they could not fit them all and they left out the best, the most needy (...) Leaving them out, they missed the best. May this not happen to us".

Finally, he referred to the pastorssimple men, who "once again they are setting an example for us, practicing that special solidarity that exists among those who suffer." 

Christmas of a hard year

Bishop Omella wanted to emphasize that "we are celebrating the Christmas Eve of a very hard year.", marked by "a pandemic that has caused a lot of pain and has taken the lives of many people". and that has brought about situations of isolation or loneliness in these days, a pain to which Bishop Omella has invited "to put the best of ourselves so that those who suffer from this sadness feel the warmth of our company".

Call to serve the common good

Likewise, with an eye on the uncertain economic outlook of our country, the President of the EEC asked the political leaders and the public and private institutions "to provide the necessary means so that this new social and economic crisis passes as soon as possible. This is now the concrete expression of their vocation to serve the common good, without which there is no true political charity" and he offered the help of the Church "called, at this time, to reach out to the last home to bring company, comfort and help". 

Bishop Omella expressed his special gratitude for the work of the The people in charge of health care, doctors, priests in hospitals, the military in nursing homes, those responsible for logistics, cleaning, basic services, workers in supermarkets, schools, etc.," he said. So many people and social institutions". who have shown "greatness of spirit", going out to help the other ".on many occasions, risking their own safety".

Charity with the most needy

Finally, the Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona called on the faithful to live, "a more solicitous charity, a more intense prayer, a stronger commitment, especially to the poorest and neediest".while, for those who do not share the gift of faith, he has encouraged them to "to build an open fraternity, which allows to recognize, value and love each person beyond the physical proximity, beyond the place in the universe where he/she was born or where he/she lives." .

Bishop Omella concluded his message by recalling that ".In the midst of pain we celebrate Christmas, we relive the mystery of a God who became one of us to show us his tenderness and love. The authentic Christmas is and will always be a source of hope.

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The crisis is movement and opens to the newness of the Spirit in the Church.

Giovanni Tridente-December 21, 2020-Reading time: 3 minutes

Christmas 2020 Greeting from Pope Francis to the Roman Curia

It is a reflection with a eminently spiritual background that Pope Francis expressed this year to the Cardinals and members of the Roman Curia on the occasion of the exchange of Christmas greetingson December 21. On this basis, he built a broad reflection around the "meaning of the crisisThe "pandemic" the world is experiencing as a result of the pandemicThe Church, but which encompasses all spheres of history at the same time, including, of course, the Church and its members.

As we have been accustomed to since its inauguration, with the first years in which it began to list the famous "...".diseases"In this year as well, the Pope invited those who render an operative service to the spread of the Gospel through the Vatican organs to broaden their horizons. the Pontiff did not skimp on his fatherly counselThis time, it is aimed at overcoming any form of conflict, or rather, at extract from the many crisis situations the best seeds for evangelization.

Crises in salvation history

We were talking about the spiritual background, with ample reference to the crises experienced by so many of us. biblical characters who, with their ability to recognize the signs of the times, were the great protagonists of salvation history. From Abraham, who was in crisis because he had to leave his land; or Moses, who had lost his self-confidence; to Elijah, who was gripped by doubt about the messianic identity of Jesus; to the emblematic Paul of Tarsus, who was in crisis about his security and became the one who later pushed the Church beyond the confines of Israel. Even Christ himself, through the many experiences of crisis lived in the temptations, in Gethsemane in solitude, or on the Cross feeling abandoned. 

The key to hope

There is an element that the Pope sees in the teaching of all these experiences, and it is that of the hopeThe first is to show how we cannot stop at a superficial analysis of situations, even tragic ones, because this would be unrealistic. God, in fact, "continues to grow the seeds of his Kingdom among usas evidenced by the numerous testimonials of work "...".humble, discreet, silent, loyal, professional, honest"that many do in the Roman Curia itself.

In the light of the Gospel

The crises, therefore, must be seen in the light of the Gospel - that among other things "is the first to put us in crisisthat is, as a time of the Spirit, in which we learn to nourish "..." - that is, as a time of the Spirit, in which we learn to nourish "...".an intimate confidence that things are about to take on a new shape, arising exclusively from the experience of a Grace hidden in the darkness". For as Sirach says, "gold is tested by fire, and men are welcome in the crucible of pain.".

Critical situations are then welcome, including "scandals, falls, sins, contradictions, short-circuits in witnessing"as long as they are taken as something that makes us "dying to a certain way of being, reasoning and acting that does not reflect the Gospel". The crisis, in fact, "is movement, it is part of the journey".

Here the Pope recalls, for example, the reform of the Roman Curia, warning that it should not be understood as ".a patch from an old dress"or the simple drafting of a new Document, but rather to ensure that "our fragility should not become an obstacle to the proclamation of the Gospel.".

One of the obstacles to this acting in grace and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit that Pope Francis warns of in his address is represented by the "conflictswhich always create contrast, competition and antagonism: the guilty on one side and the righteous on the other, as well as dividing the Church into categories, betraying its true nature, "...".a Body perpetually in crisis precisely because it is alive".

What to do during the crisis?

In addition to accepting it as a time of grace -suggests the Pope-, we must not tire of praying with confidencewith great peace and serenity, waiting in hope, as the Apostle to the Gentiles reminds us, and keeping us away from conflicts (gossip, gossip, self-references).

Pope Francis' latest invitation to all members of the Roman Curia and their collaborators is. that this Christmas they take a generous interest in the poorbecause "to truly know God, one only needs to know those who welcome the poor who come from below with their misery.".

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Family

The Pope announces the "Amoris Laetitia Family Year".

The Special Year dedicated to the family will begin on March 19 and will last until the 10th World Meeting of Families in Rome, scheduled for June 2022.

Maria José Atienza-December 21, 2020-Reading time: < 1 minute

The Holy Father summons the Special Year dedicated to the familywhich will be inaugurated on March 19, 2021, the fifth anniversary of the publication of the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia. A time that presents itself as an opportunity to reflect on and deepen the rich content of the Apostolic Exhortation, the fruit of an intense synodal journey that is still continuing at the pastoral level.

Among its objectives are:

To make families the protagonists of the family ministry.

Raising awareness among young people of the importance of formation in the truth of love and self-giving, with initiatives dedicated to them.

Broadening the outlook and action of family pastoral care to become transversal, to include spouses, children, young people, the elderly and situations of family fragility.

The initiative, which bears the name of Year "Amoris Laetitia Family"It will be marked by pastoral proposals and instruments that will be made available to ecclesial realities and families, will conclude with the celebration of the 10th World Meeting of Families in Rome in June 2022.

– Supernatural web site of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life will be in charge of this year's report.

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Year of St. Joseph: good husband

We begin a series of articles on St. Joseph, which will help us to deepen our understanding of the figure of the holy patriarch, and to "grow in love for this great saint, so that we may be led to implore his intercession and imitate his virtues, as well as his resolve," as Pope Francis encourages us.

Alejandro Vázquez-Dodero-December 21, 2020-Reading time: 3 minutes

In his apostolic letter of December 8, 2009, he wrotePatris Corde- Pope Francis invites us to live a year dedicated to the spouse of Mary and, therefore, father of Jesus Christ: St. Joseph. This on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of his declaration as patron of the universal Church.

A very special espousal and paternity, since he was a man of great faith and many other virtues, some of which we will address in this first fascicle and others.

A "normal" man, an exemplary man

First of all, we should consider what would be the first impression of a "normal" man, just one more among his own people, who finds himself involved in the great mission of carrying out the double vocation of spouse of the Mother of God and father of the Son of God. For a first impression would be astonishment and gratitude, for sure. Because he was a man of God, and only from that condition we understand that he embraced with generosity the plan traced for him from Above; but amazed before such an exalted mission, and in any case grateful for the trust that the Lord had placed in him.

In what does the greatness of this saint consist? In that he was the husband of Mary and father of Jesus.

Evidently his behavior is an example to follow, and very accessible, because, as we said, he was a normal, simple man. Although the Lord endowed him with many virtues, and to a supreme degree, he did not have the divine gifts that his immaculate wife and his son, redeemer of humanity, did receive.

Good husband, committed and free

The Jewish tradition of the time led Myriam -who would be the Blessed Virgin- to marry Joseph, the artisan of Nazareth. The relatives with whom Myriam lived at that time would be in charge of the preparations for the wedding ceremony, since her parents, Joachim and Anna, had probably already passed away.

Joseph belonged to the house of David, and the holy Gospel says -Mt. 1:19- that he was a righteous man. That man was entrusted to Mary as her husband, without prejudice to the firm determination of the young Jewish girl to remain a virgin forever, as we can deduce from the answer she gave to the Archangel Gabriel -Lk. 1:34- when he offered her to be the Mother of God: How is this to be done? Because I do not know a man. Thus, Joseph would unite himself to his wife by submitting to the virginity that she would propose to him, thus consecrating himself as her virginal husband.

The chastity of St. Joseph, fruit of his pure and generous heart, must be united, as Pope Francis suggests to us in the Patris Cordeto his free spirit, for chastity".is in being free from the desire to possess in all areas of life. Only when a love is chaste is it a true love.". He loved because he wanted to, and in this way, accepting Mary in and from her circumstances.

From his purity and freedom he fully accepted Mary, who was in a state in the space of time between their betrothal union and the moment when, according to Jewish tradition, the husband should take his wife and take her to his own home. He humbly assumed the pregnancy of his wife, accepted the divine plan for him and Mary, which was that he should limit himself to being the legal father of Jesus, and no more.

From the moment he received the commission to take care of the Virgin, marrying her, Joseph put that mission - freely, because he wanted to - before any other project that he had in hand, that he had planned for the future. Generous, dedicated, in love.

A good husband, a committed husband, a free husband.

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Dr. Centeno: "Palliative medicine improves well-being and alleviates suffering".

Rafael Miner-December 17, 2020-Reading time: 4 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsBishops warn of social failure of euthanasia lawRelated NewsArguments and responses to euthanasia

The scarce presence these days of physicians specialized in palliative care is striking. Dr. Carlos Centeno, director of Palliative Medicine at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra, claims: "To the patient who asks for help, we can give it. Let us be allowed to help, to relieve, what we doctors have done all our lives."

"Today euthanasia is demanded in society, even in law, for many things that have a solution. Medicine also has many things to say in the face of suffering that at times can be intolerable. Medicine has something, and I know it is effective, because I have seen it in action so many times".

This is how the Dr. Carlos Centeno, Director of Palliative Medicine of the Clinic and of the Atlantes research team of the Culture and Society Institute of the University of Navarra.. "Certainly some patients may come to ask for help that we can't give. That can happen. In our country it is going to happen in the near future, it may happen that a patient may ask us for help to advance death, and a physician cannot do that, that is what I think. A physician is there to serve life, and he is there to alleviate. The 'ethos' of medicine is to be at the patient's side to relieve him. We exist because there are people who suffer"..

"Our society, for thousands of years, has spawned a profession, or several professions, of people dedicated to alleviating human suffering." adds the palliativist. "Ojo, we also like to cure. We like to heal when we can. We feel like doctors there too. But where we really identify ourselves, where we see our identity, is when we relieve those we can't cure.. In suffering we are still there to alleviate".. 

Dr. Centeno, with many years of experience in Palliative Medicine, addresses the difficulties. Especially of understanding and a good understanding of what Palliative Care is.. "There are many things on which we all agree. But there may be things on which there is no agreement, points of view that concern principles or the way of understanding society, or the way of understanding autonomy without any other consideration; but there are many other principles on which we will agree. And, of course, we are going to agree on how to act, on how to act. Let us be there; we do not want to confront anyone, we do not want to challenge anyone; we do not want to contradict those who think differently from us; no. We have to be physicians, we can help. We have to be doctors, we can help.

Comprehensive care

Last Wednesday, the specialist was a speaker, together with members of his team, at a conference organized by the Core Curriculum Institute of the University of Navarra, titled Science and values of palliative care, with more than five hundred participants.

In one of his speeches, Carlos Centeno played a video of an interview conducted by Jordi Évole on laSexta Dr. Carlos Gómez Sancho, who commented, among other things, that the patients who had requested euthanasia were very few: three or four out of many thousands.

When asked what pain medication they were taking, they said two or three Nolotil a day. As soon as they were given some morphine, and treated appropriately, the desire to die disappeared, the doctor said.

This point was addressed at the conference by Dr. Ana Serranowhich analyzed the main myths of palliative care, as a treatment intended only for dying patients, in the last moment of their life. In reality, he said, they are part of the integral process of patient treatment, where they should "The patient's choice, even at home, can be made by all professionals and in the place of his choice. Contrary to the myth, palliative care does not consist of being drugged with morphine until the end", noted.

The advancement of specialized palliative care, ie, "treat patients earlier", is another aspect that Centeno insists on, based on various studies on quality of life in different groups of patients. Moreover, he adds, patients with early palliative care live on average several months longer. His summary is "the sooner the better".

The specialist recalls that more than 20 clinical trials analyze how palliative care improves the patient's quality of life and reduces anxiety and depression.improving their mood. "Palliative medicine does not focus only on treating the disease, but offers comprehensive care, including the family." points out. 

Euthanasia and palliative care

Dr. Centeno calls for understanding of the sick and their families who ask for help in dying. And at the same time he explains that "When you listen to them openly, what they ask for is the security of assistance, help to get rid of pain, fear or anguish, and not to prolong their suffering. And in all this we can help, states.

In their conversation, the medical director qualified as false the expression palliative care versus euthanasia'.. In his opinion, "What is optional is to euthanize someone; this person will be euthanized, this one will not, that is optional. Some want it and others do not want it. However, palliative medicine is not optional. Palliative medicine is obligatory..

He went on to elaborate on the argument: "Palliative medicine is for everyone, for everyone who has intense suffering from a serious illness. It is advanced end-of-life medicine. What cannot be done is not to apply it. That is why palliative care is for everyone, not for a few, and they are mandatory. There is no one, doctor, nurse, who can approach someone who is suffering at the end of life and not do what a palliative medicine team does, which is to take care of them in a comprehensive way, work as a team with others, alleviate the symptoms they are having, provide wellness with quality of life.".

The conference highlighted the cost savings of palliative care in health care, and the lack of investment in palliative medicine in Spain. compared to European countries.

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@Rezandoconbelen: A Daily Spiritual Menu

Omnes-December 17, 2020-Reading time: 5 minutes

The means are always the same, but the channels change over time and expand the possibilities. Now there are many resources in the digital world, and among them WhatsApp and Instagram, which are the ones used by the initiative we are presenting.

The home confinement that we experienced in Spain and in many other latitudes a few months ago revealed the tremendous spiritual need we have for God. And the fact is that, many times... we seek and do not find. Or rather, it is difficult for us to know where the sources to look for are. Because the means are always the same: the word of God, prayer and the sacraments. But the channels change with time and need to be adapted to the personal circumstances of each one.

In this sense, in recent months there has been a vast proliferation of digital resources that try to bring God closer to people and people closer to God. However, this is not the case of the network that concerns us today. The network @rezandoconbelen has been in operation for a year. Its promoter, Belén, tells us about her motivations for starting this adventure. 

The origins

The chats @rezandoconbelen can be better understood if I tell a little of my life story. Because, in the end, it is an initiative that arose from my personal prayer. I am neither a priest nor a nun, nor do I belong to any ecclesial movement; I am simply a woman who wants to live in love with Jesus Christ, a laywoman who is clear about her baptismal commitment, understood as the universal call to holiness and the living out of Our Lord's command: "Go and preach the Gospel.". But, above all, the word that resonates most strongly within me has been and will continue to be this: "Give freely what you have received freely".

I have not done anything special: I have simply put at the service of others what I have received from the Lord. I have understood that we are all a true and authentic gift of God for others; each one of us has been created in his image and likeness, we come from Love and we are destined to Love. This is well understood when we discover, in a personal way, the restlessness that St. Augustine expressed so beautifully: "You made us Lord, for you, and our heart is restless, until it rests in you.".

Since I was young I dreamed of doing great things; I have had an intense professional and personal life. I am an architect by training and, after completing an MBA in Economics and Business Management, I have dedicated 25 years to management.

I am married and have 2 wonderful children, and I am the first born of a large family, which is one of my greatest prides. I have always considered my family as an emotional breakwater, which has made me strong and resilient in hardship. A few years ago I published my first personal development book. As I tell in those pages, I am proud of many things; everything good has been a gift and the bad, tests that make you stronger and purify you.

However, at this moment in my life, what excites me and warms my heart is this evangelization initiative. I see it as one way, among many, of setting in motion thehe Church on the way out Pope Francis is asking so much of us. In this sense, the chats @rezandoconbelen were born in a natural way, as a need to communicate the greatness of Christ's love, the beauty of the Word of God. Also the wonder of a Church that is mother and teacher, even though it can so often be obscured by the miseries of us Christians.

Our faith is not irrational but supernatural, and there are many reasons to believe and it is necessary to understand them and make them known. On the other hand, God is not reached only by reason but above all by the heart; I advocate an intelligent love, based on a good religious formation and knowledge of the doctrine of the Catholic Church; but, above all, in prayer, in dealing with the Lord in the Eucharist and devotion to Our Heavenly Mother, Mary. To be a Christian, more than fulfilling precepts is, above all, to love. And, above all, to let oneself be loved by the Lord, to let oneself be molded by the Holy Spirit, like clay in the hands of the potter. 

A three-course menu

For some time now, I myself have been a member of several Spanish and Latin American groups that disseminate a wide variety of digital initiatives, especially via WhatsApp. Usually one receives a daily content: the Gospel commentary, a reflection, a video, etc. However, it seemed necessary to me to create a daily spiritual menu for each soul, because what may help some may not be useful to others.. 

That is how I came up with the initiative to set up my chats. @rezandoconbelen as a three-course spiritual menu that, usually consists of: -an audio (elaborated by me) about the holiday or the theme of the day, together with some supporting material (usually pictures, articles, catechesis of the Pope, etc.); -a commentary on the Gospel of the day; -a prayer. 

Depending on the special times, there may be a fourth point. For example, in November, a catechesis on the blessed souls in purgatory has been incorporated; in Advent it is a preparation for Christmas. The theme has a common thread, linked to the liturgical moment celebrated by the Church: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, etc. There are also special months: May and October are more dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the devotion of the holy rosary; June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart, etc.

It is important to make it clear that the variety of daily content is not intended to be heard or followed in everything, but rather that everyone can choose what best suits his or her soul. 

A chat for every age

At the moment there are four chats running through WhatsApp. Three of them (Praying with Bethlehem, Youth y Pills) have the aforementioned structure and, at this time, the content is very similar among the three, with the exception of the Gospel commentary, which is always different.

The most recent project to join this network was Children praying with Bethlehem. It is intended for children from 4 to 12 years old. It also has three points, which vary according to the rhythm of the liturgical season. Although the structure is similar to that of the adults, the Gospel commentary is only sent on Sundays. The second point is usually a formative video. 

This chat is especially intended for parents and grandparents, priests and catechists, who can find in it a reinforcement in the wonderful work of helping the little ones to grow in faith and in the love of Jesus and Mary.

The four chats @rezandocobelen are silent WhatsApp groups, with free entry and exit. Only the administrator sends material, to avoid distractions and communication among participants, who usually do not know each other. People join by receiving a link, which can be shared to all those who may be interested in this content.

I also have a profile on Instagram, called @rezandoconbelenThe audio is only a reminder of certain liturgical feasts or some news of the Church. In the future, I do not rule out opening a YouTube channel or similar to post there, at least, the daily audios. 

From these lines, I wish everyone a happy Advent and a beautiful Christmas, in the midst of this pandemic that speaks to us of our indigence and the need to be more humble and more fraternal. 

-Belén Regojo

Instagram: @rezandoconbelen

WhatsApp: + 34 615 08 76 76 (to request access link)

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Integral ecology

Arguments and responses to euthanasia

The euthanasia bill has prompted numerous pro-life initiatives and arguments in Spain. In parallel, the Netherlands is becoming another argument before the promoters of compassionate euthanasia.

Rafael Miner-December 16, 2020-Reading time: 4 minutes

It was February 11, 2019, feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, a day that the Church dedicates in a special way to care and prayer for the sick. On that date, a bill on euthanasia, promoted by the current government, was presented and approved in the Spanish Parliament. 

Most were probably oblivious to what was coming. A law that sought to give the green light to conduct aimed at ending the life of a person with a serious or irreversible illness, for "compassionate" reasons and in a medical context.. This is how the Spanish Society of Palliative Care defines euthanasia. What was beginning to take shape was what very few countries in the world have approved: Holland, Belgium, recently Canada....

In the Netherlands, for example, nearly 5 percent of deaths in 2018 were due to euthanasia, reported the Holy See's delegate to the World Medical Association (WMA), Pablo Requena, in a ForumWord. The extension of euthanasia in the Netherlands, once it has been legalized, has grown to such an extent that some physicians and other experts, such as the Protestant theologian and bioethicist Theo Boer, have ended up opposing these policies, and have stated that "A considerable number of people already consider euthanasia as the only good death. Nor has another objective of the law been achieved, to bring to light the cases that occurred in the gray zones. There are still thousands of cases of termination of life-some even without prior request-that are neither declared nor evaluated by the committees. I think we have seen that supply creates demand." 

In the Netherlands "charity has disappeared", y "the law has effects on the whole society", "in 20 years you will be like in Holland", said Theo Boer in Alpha and Omega. Another interesting case is that of Dr. Berna van Baarsen, a specialist in medical ethics, who resigned from one of the five regional evaluation committees to oversee euthanasia in the Netherlands, says Tomás Chivato Pérez, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at CEU San Pablo University. 

Sliding slope

Professor Chivato Pérez has called the Dutch experience with euthanasia as that of a "slippery slope". In other words, euthanasia is first decriminalized for incurable diseases; then for chronic diseases with intractable pain; then for mental illnesses, and now they are studying its application to healthy people over 70 years of age who request it.

Demand to be helped

Now, after nearly two years, the bill may become law, and it seems appropriate to know both the main arguments put forward by the promoters of euthanasia and assisted suicide, as well as the attitude of Christians to pain and suffering. 

In November 2019, the Episcopal Subcommission for the Family and the Defense of Life of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) published the document. Sowers of hope. Welcoming, protecting and accompanying in the final stage of this life. The text, elaborated with a pedagogy of questions and answers, was presented by the then Bishop of Bilbao and president of the Episcopal Subcommission for the Family and Defense of Life, Msgr. Mario Iceta, the physician Jacinto Bátiz, who has been in charge of the Palliative Care Unit of the San Juan de Dios Hospital in Santurce (Vizcaya) for more than 25 years, and the nurse Encarnación Isabel Pérez. 

Monsignor Iceta recalled that "The relationship between the patient and the health professionals is based on trust", and stressed that "There is no demand to die, there is a demand to be helped. The human being has been created to be happy, therefore, to refuse pain is fair and not reprehensible. Nowadays medicine offers a good therapeutic arsenal for suffering". 

He then stressed the importance of "palliative medicine in the face of terminal illness".because, as stated by Dr. Jacinto Bátiz, who now directs the Instituto para Cuidar Mejor, "Palliative medicine eliminates the suffering of the sufferer, (while) euthanasia eliminates the person who suffers" (El Debate de hoy)

The document Sowers of hope, by its nature "vital", is not a document dedicated only to the ethical condemnation of euthanasia, "It shows that the Christian faith is capable of illuminating the final moments of earthly life. In this sense, it is a profoundly optimistic document."Iceta concluded.

Responses

The main postulates that are used to promote euthanasia and assisted suicide, according to Sowers of hopeare four: unbearable suffering, compassion, dignified death and the concept of absolute autonomy.

Ante unbearable sufferingThe solution is palliative care, because it is the duty of physicians and healthcare personnel to alleviate the patient's suffering and pain, the text states.

Compassion. As Dr. Bátiz pointed out, the most humane thing to do is not to provoke death, but to welcome the patient and support him or her in times of difficulty, providing the necessary means to alleviate suffering and suppress pain, not the patient, as euthanasia claims.

 Death with dignity refers to the concept of freedom (I die when I want to) and quality of life. In reality, a person's life has dignity because he or she is a person, and not because of the quality of his or her life.

Absolute autonomy. The dignity of the person cannot be conceived only from the point of view of autonomy, because then human beings who do not have autonomy (children, the mentally handicapped, coma patients...) will not have dignity. Autonomy is not absolute, and finds its limitations in the disease itself, in medication and in other situations of the patient's life.

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Pope Francis: "Look with the eyes and heart of God".

David Fernández Alonso-December 16, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes

As Christmas draws ever closer, Pope Francis has continued to reflect on prayer at Christmas. catechesis that he is carrying out at the Wednesday audience. As we approach the final stretch of Advent, the Holy Father reminds us of the importance of intercessory prayerto pray from the Heart of Christ.

Next to the Nativity Scene

"Who prays, never turns his back on the world". Thus begins the address of Pope Francis on Wednesday, December 16. The Holy Father addressed all Christians from the Library of the Apostolic Palace. accompanied by the Mystery - the ensemble of the Holy Family - and the Christmas tree..

The Pope recalled that the Christian's prayer excludes no oneeven those who do not pray or those who are distant. Christians - the Pontiff said - "sometimes withdraw from the world, in the secret of one's own room, as Jesus himself recommends (cf. Mt 6:6), but wherever they are, always have the door of their heart openAn open door for those who pray without knowing that they pray; for those who do not pray at all but carry within them a stifled cry, a hidden invocation; for those who have made a mistake and have lost their way..."Just as God leaves no one aside, the Christian prays for everyone, even for himself.

In tune with the Heart of Mercy

True prayer is in tune with the merciful Heart of God. In this sense, Francis reminds us that Christ is the principal intercessor before God. And that whoever prays imitates Christ and is in tune with Him, so that he also intercedes for others or for himself.

Referring to the parable of the prayer of the Pharisee and the publicanFrancis warns us of a false prayer. A prayer like that of the Pharisee is a prayer that closes the heart, that moves away from the true humility that brings us closer to the heart of Christ.

audience pope francisco

Seeing with the eyes and heart of Christ

Those who have a responsibility, the Pope reminds us, have the mission of look with the eyes and heart of Christ. To pray tenderly for all those around us, for one another. "The Church, in all its members, has the mission to practice intercessory prayer. In particular, it is the duty of those who are in a role of responsibility: parents, educators, ordained ministers, community superiors.... Like Abraham and Moses, they sometimes have to "defend" before God the people entrusted to them. In reality, it is a matter of looking with the eyes and heart of God, with the same invincible compassion and tenderness as God.".

Finally, before imparting the apostolic blessing especially to children, the elderly and the suffering, the Pope has encouraged to speed up the pace towards Christmas. Remembering that the birth of Jesus took place in the midst of difficulties, such as those we are suffering in recent times, he encouraged us to prepare ourselves with joy.

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Why are they accelerating the promotion of euthanasia?

Rafael Miner-December 16, 2020-Reading time: 4 minutes

The defense of the life of the most vulnerable, in this case the elderly and the sick, and the protagonism of families and society in education (the social demand), are principles that have come to the forefront of attention of the Spanish bishops, observing the speed with which the government coalition is promoting its social agenda.

-Text Rafael Miner

Indeed, these days in the Congress of Deputies the successive approvals of one of the objectives of the current parliamentary majority take place: the legal regulation of euthanasia, known by its promoters as "euthanasia". "death with dignityThe aim is to configure as the public provision, by the State, of an alleged "public service". "right to die".

The regulation of euthanasia by organic law must still pass through the Senate, but its processing continues with unusual speed, as if its approval were an endorsement. progressive to management, and without taking into account weighty arguments, such as the urgency of promoting palliative care in Spain, in accordance with European standards.

Processing without dialogue

"The processing has been carried out in a suspiciously accelerated manner, in a time of pandemic and state of alarm, without listening or public dialogue."The Spanish bishops denounced a few days ago in a Note, reported by this website. For the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), "the fact is particularly serious, since it establishes a moral rupture; a change in the aims of the State: from defending life to being responsible for the death inflicted; and also of the medical profession, 'called as far as possible to cure or at least to relieve, in any case to console, and never to intentionally provoke death'".

In the letter, the bishops expressly added their support to the words of Pope Francis: "Euthanasia and assisted suicide are a defeat for everyone. The answer to which we are called is no never abandon those who suffer, never give up, but care and love in order to give hope".  

 On the occasion of the XXVIII World Day of the Sickthe Pope himself sent a letter to the professionals of the messagein which it can be read: "Dear health care workers, every diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, research, treatment or rehabilitation intervention is aimed at the sick person, where the noun 'person' always comes before the adjective 'sick'. Therefore, let your action constantly keep in mind the dignity and life of the person, without giving in to acts that lead to euthanasia, assisted suicide or to ending life, even when the state of the disease is irreversible.".

Responsible decisions

Following the messages of Francis and the Holy See, the Spanish bishops issued their Note on very specific aspects: 1) "We invite to respond to this call with prayer, care and public witness. that favor a personal and institutional commitment in favor of life, care and a genuine good death in company and hope".. 2)"We ask those who have responsibility for making these serious decisions to act in conscienceaccording to truth and justice". Y 3) "We call Spanish Catholics to a Day of Fasting and Prayer on Wednesday, December 16, 2010.e, to ask the Lord to inspire laws that respect and promote the care of human life. We invite as many people and institutions to join this initiative".

The bishops recalled that the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "with the express approval of Pope Francis, published the Letter Samaritanus bonus on the care of persons in the critical and terminal phases of life. This text illuminates the reflection and moral judgment on this type of legislation. Also the Spanish Episcopal Conference, with the document Sowers of hope. Welcoming, protecting and accompanying in the final stage of this life, offers some clarifying guidelines on the issue".

The most vulnerable, disadvantaged

In a colloquium organized by ForumWordThe delegate of the Holy See to the World Medical Association, Pablo Requena, stated that, in his opinion, "It is not a question of right or left. Moreover, a person on the left should realize that the most vulnerable are going to be disadvantaged with a law of this type." said Requena at the forum, held at Banco Sabadell's headquarters in Madrid.
"Sometimes these laws are presented as a way to build a freer society..., but is it true? Freer perhaps for a few, but less free for many who find themselves in a situation of helplessness, alone, without the necessary conditions to live with dignity the last moments of their lives....", added physician and theologian Pablo Requena.

It is also worth mentioning the opinion of the Spanish Bioethics Committee (CBE), the government's advisory body, which unanimously rejected the grounds for the euthanasia bill in early October. of the Executive. Among other things, he stated that "there are solid health, ethical, legal, economic and social reasons to reject the transformation of euthanasia into a subjective right and a public service". At the same time, he cautioned that legalizing euthanasia as a right "may affect the future of the most vulnerable people".", y The "means to start a path of devaluation of the protection of human life whose borders are very difficult to foresee, as the experience of our environment shows us".

Progressive issue?

The Committee also rejected that euthanasia could be considered as a "progressive achievement" [...], the network reported Cope October 9. "Neither euthanasia nor aiding suicide are signs of progress, but a retrogression of civilization. In a context in which the value of human life is often conditioned by criteria of social utility, economic interest, family responsibilities, and public burdens or expense, the legalization of early death would add a new set of problems." said the experts.

Among other media that echoed the report, El País spoke with Federico de Montalvo, president of the Bioethics Committee and professor at the University of Comillas, who told the newspaper: "We consider that neither ethically nor legally there is a right to die. Law and freedom are different things. In his opinionIn the cases that occur, there are two options. One, of a legal nature, is already being complied with to a certain extent because the Penal Code regulates compassionate homicide in a very benevolent manner. The second, of a medical nature, is not fully developed and explored in Spain: palliative care and, within this, the protocolization of palliative sedation, which not only refers to terminal illnesses, but also to those who are in a situation of distress or chronicity".

You may be interested in:

The euthanasia debate

Day of prayer to ask for laws respectful of life

Bishops warn of social failure of euthanasia law

The defense of life is at the center of "Artisans of life and hope".

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Spain

Day of prayer to ask for laws respectful of life

Maria José Atienza-December 15, 2020-Reading time: < 1 minute

Spanish Catholics are called tomorrow, December 16, to a day of fasting and prayer to "ask the Lord to inspire laws that respect and promote the care of human life". 

The Day, promoted by the Spanish Episcopal Conference, aims to unite in prayer the Catholics of Spain and all those who wish to adhere to it, in order to "ask the Lord to inspire laws that respect and promote the care of human life". This was stated by the Spanish bishops in the note published on December 11, titled "Life is a gift, euthanasia a failure.".

The imminent approval of the law on euthanasia is a serious setback for Spanish society, which urgently needs to promote the study and practice of palliative care and not the economist and anti-humanist bet that the legislative text on euthanasia implies.

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The Vatican

A unique nativity scene at the Vatican

David Fernández Alonso-December 12, 2020-Reading time: 5 minutes

The Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello and the bishop Fernando Vérgez Alzagarespectively President and Secretary General of the Governorate of the Vatican City State, inaugurated this afternoon the nativity scene and the lighting of the Christmas tree installed in St. Peter's Square.at 17.00 in the afternoon. The ceremony took place in compliance with the rules to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, which is leading to changes in the Pope's usual events, such as the recent private visit to Piazza di Spagna to pray before the Immaculate Conception, or the Christmas Eve Mass he will celebrate at 7.30 p.m. on the evening of December 24.

Official delegations from the places of origin of the crib and the tree have been present, from Castelli in Abruzzo the crib and from the municipality of Kočevje in southeastern Slovenia the fir tree.

A unique nativity scene

The monumental Nativity, composed of large ceramic statuesLorenzo Leuzzi, the extraordinary commissioner for post-earthquake reconstruction, Giovanni Legnini, the president of the Abruzzi Region, Marco Marsilio, and the president of the Province of Teramo, Diego Di Bonaventura. 

In this manger of the Abruzzi there are strong references to the history of ancient artThe collection includes a series of sculptures from Greek to Sumerian art, as well as Egyptian sculpture. One of the figures in the ensemble is particularly striking: it is a astronaut. It seems that the Grue students wanted to include historical events of humanity, including the landing on the moon. In addition, in the objects that enrich the crib and in the pentachromy with which the works have been decorated, one finds the memory of local ceramic art.

The statues were made with ring modules that, superimposed, form cylindrical busts. In some of the figures, especially in the use of color, one can perceive the experimentation and renovation of the ceramic art developed in those years in the Grue Lyceum. The first public exhibition of the Nativity took place in Castelli, in the parvis of the mother church in December 1965, then, at Christmas 1970 it was the turn of the Trajan's Markets in Rome and, a few years later, in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Tel Aviv.

A fir tree from Slovenia

At the lighting of the Christmas tree - the majestic fir (Spruce abies) of 30 meters high and weighing 7 tons - have participated, among others, the archbishop Msgr. Alojzij CviklVice-President of the Slovenian Episcopal Conference, H.E. Dr. Anže LogarMinister of Foreign Affairs and H.E. Dr. Jože PodgoršekMinister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food. 

The spruce comes from Kočevje, a village in the basin of the river Rinža. The Kočevsko region is one of the Slovenian territories where nature is most intact, considering that forests cover 90% of its territory. The fir tree chosen for St. Peter's Square grew near Kočevska Reka.6 kilometers as the crow flies from the impressive virgin forest of Krokar, which is one of the primordial forests still intact. This virgin forest is one of two Slovenian forest reserves, the other being Snežnik-'drocle (in the Notranjska region), one of 63 primordial ancient beech forest sites on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

Spruce, which became widespread in Slovenia in the second half of the 18th century, accounts for more than 30% of forest resources and is the most economically important tree species. Since ancient times it has been a symbol of fertility. and in folk tradition it is often used for ceremonies such as May 1st or Christmas celebrations. In the Bela Krajina region, a spruce tree decorated with flowers and fabrics was traditionally carried in procession on the feast of St. George. The tallest spruce tree in Europe, "Sgermova smreka", is 61.80 meters tall and is located in the Pohorje massif in Slovenia. It is about 300 years old, has a circumference of 3 meters and 54 centimeters, and its diameter exceeds one meter.

The humility of the Holy Family

This morning, the Castelli and Kočevje delegations were received in audience by Pope Francis for the official presentation of the gifts. The Holy Father expressed his gratitude for the gifts and reminded, referring to these two icons of Christmas, that "help to create a Christmas atmosphere favorable to live with faith the mystery of the Redeemer's birth."The Pope spoke of "evangelical poverty"He said that the poverty of which the manger speaks to us, that is, a poverty that makes us "blessed". And he paused to contemplate ideally the characters: 

"As we contemplate the Holy Family and the various characters, we are drawn to their disarming humility. Our Lady and St. Joseph go from Nazareth to Bethlehem. There is no place for them, not even a small room (cf. Lk 2:7); Mary listens, observes and keeps everything in her heart (cf. Lk 2:19,51). Joseph looks for a place for her and the child who is about to be born. The shepherds are protagonists in the manger, as in the Gospel. They live in the open. They keep watch. The announcement of the angels is for them, and they go immediately to look for the Savior who is born (cf. Lk 2:8-16).".

An admirable sign

The Pope took the opportunity to encourage us to reread the letter he signed a year ago in Greccio about the manger: "This Christmas too, in the midst of the suffering of the pandemic, Jesus, small and defenseless, is the "Sign" that God gives to the world (cf. Lk 2:12). An admirable sign, like the letter from the manger that I signed a year ago in Greccio. It will do us good to read it again these days".

Finally, thanking everyone from the depths of his heart for these gifts, the Holy Father expressed his wishes for a hope-filled Christmas celebration, extending them to his family and fellow citizens. "May the Lord - expressed - reward them for their availability and generosity".

Christmas set - the Italian nativity scene and the Slovenian fir tree will remain in the square until January 10, 2021.Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the day that concludes the Christmas season.

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Integral ecology

Bishops warn of social failure of euthanasia law

Maria José Atienza-December 11, 2020-Reading time: 4 minutes

The bishops have issued a note in which they highlight the "moral rupture" that the approval of the euthanasia law in Spain represents and urge the promotion of palliative care instead of procuring death.

The euthanasia law is now in its second phase of processing after passing through the Senate. A law that, instead of promoting the care of the weakest, it opens the door to a sieve of provoked deaths, by providing, for example, that the so-called "right-to-die benefit" can be provided in homes as well as in nursing homes or social-health centers.

In view of the first step in the approval of this law, which is expected to be passed in February, approximatelythe bishops of the Spanish Bishops' Conference have published a note in which they express their total opposition to this legislation, which contemplates provoked death as the most "a shortcut that allows us to save human and economic resources"..

They also urged the promotion and development of palliative care in our country, "which helps to live through serious illness without pain and to the integral accompanimentand therefore also spiritually, to the sick and their families".

Day of prayer for life

The prelates have also called on Spanish Catholics to a Day of Fasting and Prayer next Wednesday, December 16to ask the Lord to inspire laws that respect and promote the care of human life". 

NComplete letter from the Spanish Episcopal Conference in view of the approval of the euthanasia law in the Spanish Congress of Deputies

The Congress of Deputies is about to finalize the approval of the Organic Law regulating euthanasia. The processing has been carried out in a suspiciously accelerated manner, in times of pandemic and state of alarm, without listening or public dialogue. The fact is particularly serious, since it establishes a moral breach; a change in the purposes of the Statefrom defending life to being responsible for the death inflicted; and also of the medical professionThe aim is "to cure or at least to alleviate, in any case to console, and never to intentionally provoke death". It is a proposal that matches the anthropological and cultural vision of the dominant systems of power in the world.

2.- The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the express approval of Pope Francis, published the letter Samaritanus bonus on the care of people in the critical and terminal phases of life. This text illuminates the reflection and moral judgment on this type of legislation. Also the Spanish Episcopal Conference, with the document Sowers of hope. Welcoming, protecting and accompanying in the final stage of this vine.a, offers some clarifying guidelines on the issue.   

3.- We urge the promotion of the palliative carethat help to live the serious disease without pain and to the integral accompanimentand therefore also spiritually, to the sick and their families. This holistic care relieves pain, consoles and offers the hope that comes from faith and gives meaning to all human life, even in suffering and vulnerability.

4.- The pandemic has highlighted the fragility of life and has aroused demand for care, at the same time as indignation at the discarding of care for the elderly. Awareness has grown that ending life cannot be the solution to a human problem. We have appreciated the work of health care workers and the value of our public health care system, even calling for its improvement and greater budgetary attention. Death by provocation cannot be a shortcut that allows us to save human and economic resources in palliative care and integral accompaniment. On the contrary, in the face of death as a solution, it is necessary to invest in the care and closeness that we all need in the final stage of this life. This is true compassion.

5.- The experience of the few countries where it has been legalized tells us that euthanasia incites death to the weakest. By granting this supposed right, the person, who is experienced as a burden on the family and a social burden, feels conditioned to ask for death when a law presses him or her in that direction. The lack of palliative care is also a expression of social inequality. Many people die without being able to receive this care and only those who can afford it are able to pay for it. 

With the Pope we say: "Euthanasia and assisted suicide are a defeat for everyone. The response to which we are called is never abandon those who suffer, never give up, but care and love in order to give hope.". We invite you to respond to this call with prayer, care and public witness that will foster a personal and institutional commitment to life, care and a genuine good death in companionship and hope. 

7.- We ask those who have responsibility in making these serious decisions to act in conscienceaccording to truth and justice. 

8.- Therefore, we call upon Spanish Catholics to a Day of Fasting and Prayer next Wednesday, December 16to ask the Lord to inspire laws that respect and promote the care of human life. We invite as many people and institutions to join this initiative. 

We pray to Mary, Mother of Life and Health of the Sick and to the intercession of St. Joseph, Patron of the Good Death, in his Jubilee Year.

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The Vatican

Lectorate and Acolyte for men and women

Until now, only men were allowed, either as preparatory ministries for eventual access to holy orders, or as a path outside the priesthood, since these are lay ministries.

Giovanni Tridente-December 11, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes

With the motu proprio "Spiritus Domini" the Pope has modified canon 230 of the Code of Canon Law, establishing that women can also accede to the ministries of the Lectorate and the Acolyte, with a liturgical act that institutionalizes them.

Pope Francis' decision follows the recommendations of several synodal assemblies and a doctrinal development.which has highlighted how certain ministries instituted by the Church are based on the common condition of being baptized with the royal priesthood received in the sacrament of baptism.".

It is no coincidence that the new law bears the date January 10, the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

Co-responsibility of all the baptized

In a letter sent to the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pope also explains the theological reasons for his choice, which refer to the renewal outlined by the Second Vatican Council and to the urgency of rediscovering "... the newness of the Church and the newness of the Church".the co-responsibility of all the baptized in the Church, and in particular the mission of the laity".

It was the recent Synod for the Amazon that urged the conferring of ministries on men and women, precisely to increase awareness of their own baptismal dignity.

Increased recognition

In fact, the Pope explains, by offering this possibility of access to the ministry of the Acolyte and the Lectorate to lay men and women of both sexes, "increase the recognition, through a liturgical act (institution), of the precious contribution that many lay people, including women, have long been making to the life and mission of the Church".

And he clarifies: "the variation in the forms of exercise of non-ordained ministries, moreover, is not the simple consequence, on the sociological level, of the desire to adapt to the sensibilities or the culture of the times and places, but is determined by the need to allow each particular Church, in communion with all the others and having as the center of unity the Church in Rome, to live the liturgical action, the service to the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel in fidelity to the command of the Lord Jesus Christ.".

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Responsibility for Christian unity

The Second Vatican Council pointed out the theological basis for the ecumenical task: baptism and the "elements of truth and good" that the Churches and ecclesial communities that are not in full communion with the Catholic Church possess. This moved in the perspective of the whole Church, of the universal Church.

Ramiro Pellitero-December 10, 2020-Reading time: 6 minutes
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On the occasion of the new Ecumenical Vademecum (".The bishop and Christian unity", published on December 4, 2020), intended for fostering Christian unity from local churches and individualsFirst, it is worth considering the importance of this task, which we call ecumenism. Secondly, we present the contents and most relevant aspects of the document.

Unity, a task for everyone

1. The council taught that the promotion of Christian unity is integrated in the great and unique "Mission". of the Church (to bring humanity to God) because Christ expressly willed it. Christ affirmed that, in the fulfillment of that Mission, he was Christian unity is a necessary condition, and so he prayed for her in his priestly prayer just before his passion: "May they all be one; as You, Father in me and I in You, may they be in us, for the world to believe that you have sent me". (Jn 17:21).

Therefore, the unity of Christians, which is gift of the Holy Spirit before it is our task, it has a model deep and supreme in the unity of the Trinity. And it has a purpose in history: "for the world to believe"The purpose of the mission. All Christians have a responsibility to spread the Gospeleach according to his or her own circumstances. Therefore, all of us must also participate in the ecumenical task, which is an important part of evangelization. 

Prayer with faith

In addition to this fundamental motive, other motives can be adduced. These are the ones pointed out by John Paul II when he wrote about the prayer of Jesus. "The invocation that be one is, at the same time, an imperative that obliges us, a strength that sustains us and a salutary reproach for our idleness and narrowness of heart. The confidence of being able to achieve, even in history, the full and visible communion of all Christians rests on the prayer of Jesus, not on our abilities." (Letter Novo millennio ineunte, 2001, n. 48).

Previously, the holy Pope Wojtyla had stated that "the Church must breathe with its lungs."the western and the eastern (encyclical Ut unum sint, 25-V-1995).

In short, missionary (or evangelistic) commitment and ecumenical commitment go togetherThe fundamental witness that we Christians have to give in order to carry out our evangelizing mission is, above all today, that of our unit. This is why this unity is urgent and concerns all Christians. (Among other fundamental texts to orient oneself in matters of ecumenism, it is necessary to highlight: the decree Unitatis redintegratio, at 1964, of the Second Vatican Council; the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, 1990; the Directory for the application of the principles y rules about the ecumenism, of 1993; and the encyclical of John Paul II Ut unum sint 1995).

Continuity of the ecumenical task

2. This ecumenical vademecum is therefore in relation to the encyclical Ut unum sint, of John Paul II (1993). In it he confirmed the ecumenical commitment that the Catholic Church has acquired at Vatican II. irreversibly. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of this encyclical, Pope Francis had already announced this "vademecum for bishops". in a letter to the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity on June 24 of this year. 

This vademecum recalls the the duty and obligation of the bishops to promote Christian unity in their own Church. and also among all the baptized (since the bishop, as a member of the episcopal college, also participates in the "...").request for all Churches"). 

The document consists of an introduction and two parts. 

The following aspects are highlighted in the introduction: the search for unity is essential to the nature of the Churchfaith that the other Christians have with the Catholic faithful a common royal communionThe conviction that the unity of Christians is a fundamental element in the vocation of the whole Church (it also concerns the local or particular Churches and, therefore, the bishops as visible principles of unity; the service it wishes to render to the local or particular Churches and, therefore, to the bishops as visible principles of unity. vademecumas a guide for the bishop in his role of discernment. 

Promotion inside and outside the Church

– Supernatural first part shows the promotion of ecumenism within the Catholic Churchin its own life and structures, as a challenge first and foremost for Catholics. Bishops should promote dialogue with other Christians, orienting and directing ecumenical initiatives that take place within Catholic communities. To this end, they should organize ecumenical structures and take care of the ecumenical formation of all the faithful (laity, seminarians and clergy), as well as the media in relation to this topic. 

The second part delves into the relations of the Catholic Church with other Christians. Explain the various modalities of the ecumenical task in this engagement with other Christian communities. It should be kept in mind that in practice much ecumenical activity will involve several of these modalities simultaneously.

Pope Francis lights candle during interreligious meeting in Assisi

Modalities of ecumenical activity

1) The "spiritual ecumenism"(based on prayer, conversion and holiness on the part of all). 

He stresses the importance of the Holy Scriptures, the "purification of memory" (which St. Paul VI began at the time of the Second Vatican Council, and to which Francis has contributed in 2017 with the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation) and the "ecumenism of blood" (because of the persecution and martyrdom of Christians).

2) The "dialogue of charity"based on human fraternity and, above all, on baptism. This is the framework of the "culture of encounter" promoted by Francis.

3) The "dialogue of truth"It is a dialogue that does not seek the lowest common denominator, but rather a dialogue that is not a dialogue of the lowest common denominator, but rather a dialogue of the common denominator. It is a dialogue that does not aim at the lowest common denominator, but rather at "shall be made with the acceptance of the whole truth." (encyclical Ut unum sint, 36). This dialogue takes the form of theological dialogue It requires "reception" (i.e., discernment and assimilation by Christian communities of authentically Christian teaching).

4) The "dialogue of life"In the field of evangelizing and pastoral mission, in service to the world and through culture, with patience and perseverance.

In this fourth context, three areas can be distinguished: 

Pastoral, practical and cultural ecumenism

a) What is called the "pastoral ecumenism"that is, the promotion of Christian unity through pastoral ministry, in the missions, catechesis, sacramental life and liturgy, and the welcoming of those who wish to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. 

b) The "practical ecumenismThe "common service of Christians in the various fields of ethics and social justice, care for the most needy, care for life and the created world, etc., is emphasized. The common service of Christians is emphasized as a testimony of their faith and hopeThe aim is to promote an integral Christian vision of the dignity of the person. 

It is also important to interreligious dialogue between Christians and other religious traditionswhose purpose is to cooperate and establish good relations with believers of different religions, although it is a different task from the ecumenical one. As already pointed out in the 1993 Ecumenical Directory, through this mutual ecumenical cooperation in dialogue with other religions, Christians can deepen the degree of communion that exists among themand can combat anti-Semitism, religious fanaticism and sectarianism. 

c) The "cultural ecumenism"The aim is to promote understanding of each other's cultures and to promote the inculturation of the Gospel through concrete common cultural projects (academic, scientific or artistic).

Real dialogue

As has been said in recent days, ecumenism has a lot to do with the dialogue. For this reason, bishops must be people of dialogue, they must promote it as a method of evangelization and encourage the existence of spaces for dialogue at all levels. Certainly, the dialogue has been regarded as an icon of ecumenism. Dialogue does not replace the proclamation of faith, but is a way and a path that Jesus himself walked, to lead us to truth and fullness of life. 

This vademecum offers guidelines and "practical recommendations" for the exercise of ecumenism in the local and particular Churches. It is a good opportunity to rekindle faith and prayer, commitment and responsibility of Christians in this area, which is so important for various reasons, as stated in the conclusion of the document, "death and resurrection from Christ mark the victory definitive from God about the sin y the division; the victory about the injustice y about all form from wickedness.".

Therefore, as Cardinal Ouellet rightly pointed out in the presentation, "a Catholic never tires of taking the first step towards rapprochement, because the charity that inhabits him obliges him to forgive, to share and to persevere in his commitment"..

You can also read a commentary to the new vademecum of the former apostolic exarch for the Catholics of the Byzantine rite in Greece, Father Nin.

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RelatedRelated NewsThe encyclical Ut unum sint on its 25th anniversaryRelated News"The Church is called to cultivate the gift of unity."Related NewsEcumenism of hearts
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Cinema

Pablo Moreno, Famiplay 2020 Special Award

The director of "Un Dios Prohibido" or "Red de libertad" has won the recognition granted by the jury of the I edition of these Famiplay awards. In addition, it is now possible to vote among the proposals for the winner of the Audience Award.

Maria José Atienza-December 9, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes

The jury has awarded the Famiplay 2020 Special Prize to Pablo Moreno for his constant dedication to directing and producing high quality films with solid Christian values.

Among his best known titles are "Luz de Soledad", "Red de libertad" and "Un Dios prohibido".

Through its production company, Contracorriente Producciones, and the Rodriwood initiative, which promotes the region of Ciudad Rodrigo (Salamanca) as a natural film set, encouraging rural and business development in the area, Moreno is an example of entrepreneurship.

In addition to rewarding Pablo Moreno's career, this Special Award is intended to recognize the efforts made by the company to dissemination of Christian values and thus promote training and education through audiovisual language.

Voting period for the Audience Award is now open.

Along with the publication of this award, The voting period to choose the winner of the Audience Award opens today, a particular award granted directly by Internet and social network users through the website famiplay.com/famiplay-awards.

After analyzing the more than 200 applications received, the Famiplay jury has selected the 5 finalists competing for the Audience Award:

  • Friday Coffee. It was born more than 12 years ago as a meeting of friends and today it has become a large group of mothers who, through talks and testimonies on Youtube and Instagram, share a coffee every Friday morning with the Virgin to continue falling in love every day with their families, their homes and life.
  • The 11pm rosary. Initiative transformed into a Youtube channel where more than 195,000 subscribers gather every night at 11 pm to pray the Holy Rosary live.
  • Bosco Films. Film distributor that looks for films of high artistic quality, with stories that defend human values and, thus, be that "forest" that brings freshness, gives back fresh air and reminds with each film what is really important.
  • Silver Foil. Project born with the illusion of sharing stories with values based on faith and charity, creating quality literature and promoting family reading through children's books, youth and family.
  • The Kerygma. Initiative that, after 20 years working in the jewelry industry, has made its own interpretation of the icon of the Virgin of Nazareth painted by Kiko Argüello in jewelry version, simplifying the image to the maximum and taking it to its essence.
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The Vatican

The bishop and Christian unity

Father Manuel Nin, former apostolic exarch of the Catholics of Byzantine rite in Greece, comments and analyzes the new Ecumenical Vademecum published by the Holy See, which places the bishop as the protagonist of ecumenical action.

Manuel Nin-December 9, 2020-Reading time: 7 minutes
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"The Bishop and Christian Unity: An Ecumenical Vademecum". With this title and giving it in the presentation in the Vatican press room a very notable importance, it was published on Friday, December 4 this document, endorsed with the approval of the Holy Father and supported, in the presentation to the media, by the presence of four cardinal prefects of two dicasteries of the Roman Curia: of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and of the Congregations for the Oriental Churches, for Bishops and for the Evangelization of Peoples. 

         It is an important document that goes through - practically re-reading and updating - the great magisterial documents of the past 60 years, from Unitatis Redintegratio from the Second Vatican Council, passing through the Directory for the application and principles of ecumenism of 1993 and the encyclical Ut unum sint from St. John Paul II, to the pontifical interventions of Popes Benedict XVI and Francis. 

The bishop, protector of unity

         Further elaborating on what has been said in the preceding documents, the Vademecum (Vad) focuses in a special way on the role of the bishop.The Church, of every bishop of the Catholic Church, in ecumenical dialogue with the other Churches and Christian communities. The bishop is the bond of communion within each Christian Church, and above all of the Church of which he is pastor, and towards all those who are baptized in Christ: "...".The ministry entrusted to the bishop involves a service to unity. To the unity of his own diocese and to the unity between his local Church and the universal Church. It is a ministry with a special meaning: the search for the unity of all Christ's disciples.." (Preface). This will be, we could say, the guiding thread of the whole document: the bishop is the one who creates and guards, who protects the unity in his Church: "The bishop, as shepherd of the flock, has the precise responsibility to bring all together in unity. He is the "principle and visible foundation of unity" in his particular Church." (n. 4). Let us keep in mind that the ecclesiological dimension of the episcopal ministry is taken up by the Vad mainly from the Lumen Gentium of Vatican II. In the very introduction to the document and almost as a sure foundation on which it will rest throughout its pages, the Vad clearly indicates the bishop as the source of unity in his Church by that which he teaches, and by that - the Mystery - which he celebrates, and in all that he does and lives as shepherd of his flock: "...its teaching of the faith, its sacramental ministry, and the decisions of its pastoral governance." (n. 4). 

         The document is divided into two parts: a first part devoted to the promotion, formation and dissemination of the ecumenical journey in the Catholic Church -giving special emphasis to the structures of ecumenical dialogue in each particular Church and to the formation of the laity, seminarians and clergy in the ecumenical dimension, and a second part in which the relations of the Catholic Church with other Christians are presented, and emphasizing the spiritual dimension on which ecumenism must be based. Specifically in three fundamental aspects of ecumenical dialogueThe dialogue of charity, the dialogue of truth and the dialogue of life. I do not intend to summarize the whole document in these lines. I would simply like to highlight a few points that seem fundamental to me. 

Pope Francis appointed Father Manuel Nin apostolic exarch of Byzantine rite Catholics in Greece in 2016.

Communion and dialogue

         In the first placeThe Vad emphasizes on several occasions how the bishop is the man of communion and dialogue with and among the faithfuland with and among the faithful and brethren of other Christian confessions: "..."....bishop as a man of dialogue, who engages people of good will in a common search for the truth through a conversation marked by clarity and humility, and in a context of charity and friendship" (n. 7). The bishop is also a teacher on the ecumenical journey, teaching always: "....with love for the truth, with charity and with humility..." (n. 11). These are fundamental attitudes and dispositions both on the part of the bishop and on the part of those who are delegated to the formation of clergy and laity in the dioceses. This formation in the ecumenical journey foresees that it should always be done without compromise, in which unity is built to the detriment of truth. This is a fundamental aspect of the dialogue with the other Churches. and Christian communities, which has been underlined in a special way by the pontifical magisterium in recent decades. Love of charityThis means avoiding polemical presentations of Christian history and theology that could lead to confrontation rather than dialogue. Finally, love and humble attitudewhich allows us to see what "what God accomplishes in those who belong to other Churches and Ecclesial Communities"affirmed by St. John Paul II in Ut unum sint. 

The common prayer

         Secondly, The Vad underlines in a very clear way the three fundamental aspects of ecumenism: dialogue of charity, dialogue of truth and dialogue of life, as the Popes of the last decades of the Catholic Church have shown in their doctrine and gestures. An ecumenism based on dialogue and prayer for Christian unityand above all founded on the profound conversion of heart and holiness of life of Christians. Prayer for Christian unity, a common prayer based on biblical and liturgical texts common and fundamental to all Christian Churches.I note how the Vad is also well aware of the difficulties that arise because ".... the Lord's Prayer, the Psalms, the liturgical feasts, the saints and martyrs in common, the monastic and consecrated religious life itself ....some Christian communities do not practice joint prayer with other Christians" (n.17). Ecumenism as a path founded on hope and also on suffering and the cross. A dialogue of charity that will always lead us to discover the other as a brother in Christ (n. 25). A dialogue of truth, in the second place, which has as its basis theological dialogue in order to be able to recompose unity in faith. Finally, the dialogue of life, inasmuch as: "The truths jointly formulated in theological dialogue call for concrete expression through joint action in the pastoral field, in service to the world and through culture... ...Catholics are asked to practice in equal measure two twin virtues of ecumenism, patience and perseverance....." (n.31). 

Intermarriage, an ecumenical venue

         In third placeThe Vad covers two issues or problems that have not yet been fully resolved or equally accepted by all Christian Churches: the issue of mixed marriages and the issue of the communicatio in sacris, communion with the Holy Mysteries, the sacraments, the sacraments. With regard to mixed marriages, the Vad insists on the authority of the diocesan bishop with regard to the permissions to be given by the bishop.and presents the subject under two interesting aspects: intermarriage as a place of ecumenism, of encounter between two Christian traditions and at the same time as a place of suffering that is experienced within a blended family.: "Mixed marriages should not be considered as problems, since they are often a privileged place where Christian unity is built... However, pastors cannot remain indifferent to the pain of the division of Christians, which is experienced perhaps more acutely than in any other context. The pastoral care of interdenominational families, from the initial preparation of the couple for marriage to their pastoral accompaniment once they have children...." (n.35). With regard to the communicatio in sacrisThe Vad underlines how on the one hand the celebration of the sacraments expresses full communion within a Church, and how each sacrament constitutes full participation in the means of grace, and on the other hand clearly expresses how the celebration and administration of the sacraments among the various Christian Churches which are not in full communion remains an area of serious tension (n. 36).

Cardinal Kurt Koch Ecumenism
Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, on the day of the presentation of the vademecum.

The document reaffirms what had already been specified in previous documents, namely, that the administration of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, penance and the anointing of the sick, should be reserved for participation in the full communion of a Church. It will be the bishopand here we find the common thread of the whole document, the one who must discern the opportunity to administer a sacrament to a member of another Christian confessionThe administration of a sacrament should never be a simple courtesy or kindness, but is always a means for the sacrament's administration. administering a means of salvation and God's grace. In number 37, the Vad touches on another important and at the same time delicate subject, namely the change of ecclesial affiliation, especially on the part of members of the clergy. It insists on the one hand to welcome Christians of other Christian denominations who join the Catholic Church with joy. and at the same time avoiding any form of triumphalism, and on the other hand informing in a clear and precise way what it means to leave the Catholic Church. 

Practical and cultural ecumenism

         Finally, the Vad presents two forms of ecumenism that are new and certainly positive in our present time: the practical ecumenismThe second is what the document calls the "assistance and help in dramatic moments of history between different Christian Churches"; and the third is what the document calls the "assistance and help in dramatic moments of history between different Christian Churches". cultural ecumenismi.e.: "all the efforts of Christians to better understand their respective cultures, aware that, beyond cultural differences, they share in varying degrees the same faith expressed in different ways." (n.41). 

         Each of the Vad sections carries a series of recommendations and practical advice for reflection and ecumenical preparation at the diocesan level. Interesting and useful is the appendix of the Vad, which lists the various Churches and Christian confessions involved in ecumenical dialogue with the Catholic Church. A useful and positive document, the Vad makes a rereading of the texts of the magisterium of the preceding decades, emphasizing the value and necessity of ecumenism in itself and within each Church, and also underlining the role of the bishop as the link and guarantor of ecclesial communion in his own Church, and towards the other Churches and Christian confessions.

+P. Manuel Nin. Titular Bishop of Carcabia, Apostolic Exarch.

 

The authorManuel Nin

Former apostolic exarch of the Catholic Church in Greece

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RelatedRelated NewsNew ecumenical vademecum: the bishop as protagonistRelated NewsAn ecumenical assessment of the 50th anniversary of Unitatis redintegratio
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Spain

EWTN Spain begins broadcasting today

Maria José Atienza-December 8, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes

The Catholic audiovisual media network, founded by Mother Angelica, begins broadcasting today, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, on the main Spanish media platforms.

EWTN - Eternal Word Television Network - was born from the initiative of the Franciscan Mother Angelica who, together with six nuns, founded a small television channel with the aim of being a means of proclaiming the truth as defined by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. Since its inauguration in August 1981, EWTN has grown to become the largest religious media network in the world.

As of today, EWTN is present on the channels of the following platforms: Movistar - 143, Vodafone - 212 and Orange - 92with which more than 7 million households Spanish viewers will have the possibility of accessing content designed for the whole family and with a wide variety of offerings. EWTN España's own programming will be broadcast from 9h to 13h (Outside these hours, it is not EWTN Spain). The rest of the day, the programming will be available on your Youtube channel.

Among the contents The programs that can be seen on EWTN starting today include all Vatican events, special programming for times such as Christmas or Lent, movies, talks and debates, and cartoons for the youngest viewers.

EWTN has no advertising and is financed exclusively by donations, so they continue to ask for help to make this project a reality. informative and educational to bring people closer to the faith, to defend and grow Christian values in our society.

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Spain

December 8: Seminar Day

Maria José Atienza-December 5, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary is accompanied, this year, in the Spanish Church, by the celebration of Seminary Day.

The day, which is usually celebrated around the feast of St. Joseph, had been postponed to this date because of the COVID pandemic. Under the slogan "Missionary pastors". the identity of the ministerial priesthood is highlighted as highlighted in the explanation of the Spanish Episcopal Conference for this day: "Priests, insofar as they share in the priesthood of Christ, Head, Shepherd, Spouse and Servant (PDV, n. 15), are truly called "pastors of the Church"; and insofar as they are sent by Christ, with the Apostles (Mt 28:19ff), they are essentially missionaries within a Church that is all missionary".

As the bishops of the Commission for Clergy and Seminaries of the EEC point out in the pastoral theological reflection they have published for the day "The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is for the Church in Spain the appropriate occasion to help all the People of God to become aware of the importance of the Diocesan Seminary, home and heart of the Diocese, where the seeds of vocations to the ministerial priesthood germinate.".

They also wanted to emphasize the publication of the new Ratio Fundamentalis Institutions Sacerdotalis The new training plans of the seminaries, which focuses on the training of the students in the "participation in the one mission entrusted by Christ to his Church: evangelization in all its forms".

The Seminary Day has been celebrated since 1935 with the aim of raising priestly vocations through awareness, addressed to the whole society, and in particular to the Christian communities. A day in which the collection is destined to the diocesan seminaries, for their maintenance, continuity, scholarships for seminarians... etc.

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New ecumenical vademecum: the bishop as protagonist

The document "The Bishop and Christian Unity: An Ecumenical Vademecum"The document is the fruit of three years of work and was approved by Pope Francis on June 5. The fruit of three years' work, and approved by Pope Francis on June 5, the document contains 42 points and is divided into two parts.

Ricardo Bazan-December 4, 2020-Reading time: 3 minutes

Continuity from the Unitatis redintegratio

During the presentation press conference, Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, explained that the document is based on "the Decree Unitatis redintegratio of the Second Vatican Council in the Encyclical Ut unum sintand in two documents of the Pontifical Council: the Ecumenical Directory and The Ecumenical Dimension in the Formation of Those Engaged in Pastoral Ministry.". However, it is not a mere repetition of such documents, but a more concrete and orderly presentation, with the novelty of offering practical recommendations at the end of each section.

A guide for bishops

The purpose of the document is to "to assist and guide the Catholic bishops in their service of promoting Christian unity through their ministry". Thus we find ourselves with a text designed to help the bishops to carry out and fulfill this ecumenical responsibility, which is not just another responsibility of their episcopal ministry that can be postponed or carried out in an optional way, "but more than a duty, it is an obligation".

The structure of the vademecum

The text contains two parts. The first part is entitled "Promoting ecumenism in the Catholic Church"The book deals with what the Catholic Church must do to fulfill its ecumenical mission, which is a real challenge for Catholics. This part highlights the structures and persons active in the ecumenical field, both at diocesan and national level, as well as the use of the media, a point to which he pays special attention as very useful tools in the development of ecumenical dialogue.

The second part is entitled "The Catholic Church's relations with other ChristiansThe "Dialogue of the Catholic Church", and includes the four ways in which the Catholic Church relates to other Christian communities, namely, spiritual ecumenism, the dialogue of charity, the dialogue of truth and the dialogue of life.

Inspiring the development of ecumenical action

Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, in St. Peter's Square on the day of the presentation.

As Cardinal Kurt Koch pointed out at the presentation of the vademecum "....However, it was not a question of repeating these documents, but of proposing a brief, updated and enriched synthesis of the themes that have been presented during the last pontificates and always from the bishop's point of view: a guide that can inspire the development of ecumenical action and that is easy to consult.".

Indeed, this would be one of the most enriching elements of the present document which is concretized in those practical recommendations at the end of each section together with a series of principles, which serve the bishop as a guide and offer experiences and ideas for a healthy ecumenism, as the same document states: "...".First of all, ecumenism does not consist in a compromise solution, as if unity had to be achieved at the expense of truth. On the contrary, the search for unity leads to a fuller appreciation of the truth revealed by God.".

Towards unity

For this, remember that "the virtue of charity demands that Catholics avoid polemical presentations of Christian history and theology and, in particular, that they avoid misrepresenting the positions of other Christians. (cf. UR 4, 10)". On the contrary, it urges us to seek points of contact, such as prayer, conversion and holiness; the reading and study of the Holy Scriptures; the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity; common feasts and liturgical cycles such as Christmas, Easter and Pentecost; ecumenical pilgrimages; etc.

Finally, the vademecum presents the existing Catholic documents on ecumenism, as well as an appendix with a list and a brief presentation of the dialogue partners of the Catholic Church at the international level. The latter is very interesting because it allows to know the other agents with which the Church carries out this dialogue, so that the bishops are properly informed to carry out this mission on which special attention and interest has been given.

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ColumnistsJosé Enrique Fuster

A new challenge of global Catholic information and formation

In taking on this magazine, the Centro Academico Romano Foundation aims to make it available to all readers interested in current and reliable information on Catholicism and its work in the world, with an approach rich in formative resources.

December 4, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes

With gratitude to Ediciones Palabra S.A. and its President, Rosario Martín G. de Cabiedes, for the enthusiasm and efficiency with which they have edited and distributed the magazine Palabra for so many years, and also thanking the agreement reached for the transfer of the magazine Palabra to Centro Académico Romano Fundación (CARF) as a complementary instrument for its mission, I greet all the subscribers and readers who since 1965 have made the magazine your means of ecclesial and doctrinal information.

CARF's mission is to render a service to the Church, especially by obtaining financial means to help the human, intellectual and spiritual formation of priests, seminarians and religious from the five continents and especially from dioceses that lack the necessary resources.

In taking on this magazine, the Foundation intends to make it available to all readers interested in current and reliable information on Catholicism and its work in the world, with an approach rich in formative resources. Among them, it is thinking, in particular, of all the dioceses of the world and, of course, of the priests and religious who are already familiar with CARF, so that it can serve as a support for them in the exercise of their priestly ministry.

The magazine, with its director for the last eleven years, Alfonso Riobó, will maintain the same editorial line that inspired it at its beginnings in 1965, when the Second Vatican Council was being celebrated, and since then, modulating it to the needs of the times and adapting its edition to technological advances, which will now mean that, in addition to the current printed edition, it will also be published in digital format.

Friends and subscribers of Palabra, I want to greet you and tell you that this new challenge will only be feasible with your help. You enjoy it and know its usefulness. Please help us to spread it among many people and institutions: lay people, parishes, priests, consecrated persons and religious institutions, sponsors, advertisers, etc., in order to increase subscriptions and obtain financial support to make it sustainable. Thank you in advance for your understanding and help.

The authorJosé Enrique Fuster

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Centro Académico Romano Foundation

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Dossier

Companies have a life. From generation to generation

Rosario Martín Gutiérrez de Cabiedes-December 4, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes

Great projects are those that are continually renewed, that do not grow old, because there are people willing to continue the task they undertook in the past, with new ideas and increasingly ambitious destinations. This is the case of our magazine Palabra.

The underlying social changes related to globalization, technological progress and different forms of communication have been accelerated by a society that has suddenly found itself confined. In a few months we have made progress that would have taken years without a pandemic. But pandemic or not, vaccine or no vaccine, these changes are here to stay.

Technological evolution makes it possible to access enormous amounts of information from the remotest corner of the planet. For us, reaching every corner has become an obsession, a pressing need.

At the same time, we are witnessing with bewilderment the negative consequences of an increasingly uninformed society. Fake news" invade communication networks, making it difficult to distinguish reliable sources. We have more information than ever before, but we are misinformed.

In this environment, Palabra magazine, always a reliable, precise and contrasted source, must shine more brightly, like the lighthouse that shows the navigator the safe route. And so, to our obsession to go further, we add this second challenge, to make ourselves more visible where we already are.

However, a major challenge remains: the profound change in today's society. A liquid, diffuse society, without anchor, without commitment, without criteria.

Our magazine wants to provide you with information and answers. Companies and projects have life. They advance by building on what has been built by previous ones. At Palabra magazine we also want to continue growing, without changing our DNA. That is why we are handing over the baton to the CARF Foundation, which will take on the challenges of this new stage as editor of the magazine. A new generation that joins the previous ones and will strengthen it.

I congratulate all of you, because we are going forward stronger than ever.

The authorRosario Martín Gutiérrez de Cabiedes

President of Ediciones Palabra S.A.

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A living being

Omnes-December 3, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes

Text: José Miguel Pero-Sanz, director of Palabra from 1969 to 2009

The editor of the magazine that, until today, was called "Palabra" and that I had the honor of directing for 40 years (from 1969 to 2009), asks me for a not very long article. I thank him.

When I received this small assignment, I remembered how, when I asked the writer José María Pemán to write an article for Palabra, his daughters warned me that it should be "short"because his father was not up to much.

Vision for the future

Those of us who have known Palabra magazine since its beginnings are aware that, since its inception, this magazine has always looked to the future. Palabra magazine was born 55 years ago with the idea of accompanying the life of Catholics and to be a reference in the panorama of religious information, accompanying a life supposes, therefore, to develop, to change, to assume new challenges, maintaining the untouchable essence that gives it meaning. 

The progress I am talking about has accompanied the trajectory of the magazine Palabra in every sense, from the physical location of its editorial office in the streets of Hermosilla, Alcalá, Cedaceros, General Porlier and Arturo Soria (I seem to remember that also, for some months, in Gran Vía) to what we could call its "internal" development.

More in-depth has been the evolution that has led it to become a magazine "for the clergy of Spain and Latin America". to the point of addressing a wide public, of a certain cultural level, desirous of serious Catholic information and documentation. Both characteristics of this publication that has experienced key moments in social and ecclesiastical life during its more than half a century of life. 

The journal has also undergone changes in terms of ownership: it has had numerous owners: a natural person, a corporation, or a publishing house, up to the Centro Académico Romano Fundación. Changes that, however, have never altered the heart or the editorial line of this publication. 

What does all this mean? That "Omnes" is a living being, with a rich past, a dignified present and, above all, a fascinating future.

His life has always been forward looking and I am happy to witness his life in this new stage.

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Dossier

How did the interview with St. Josemaría come about?

Omnes-December 3, 2020-Reading time: 6 minutes

–Text: Pedro Rodríguez: Founder and first editor of Palabra magazine

I was the director of Palabra since its origin (1965), but in January 1967 I left Spain and I was in Rome, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany until the end of June 1967. In the plan of the small "little council" for the preparation of the future Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarra (Alfredo García, José María Casciaro and Pedro Rodríguez), I was to dedicate myself fully to the projected Faculty which, in the form of a Theological Institute, would begin in October of that year. The trip was planned in relation to this project: to inform about our future Faculty in Universities and ecumenical environments. In my absence, the assistant director of the magazine, Mr. Carlos Escartín, who would remain as director when I moved to Pamplona, substituted me at the head of Palabra.

During my absence from Europe, but shortly before my return, according to Carlos E., an old dream we had in Palabra was revived in conversation with Manuel Arteche: to do an interview with St. Josemaría Escrivá. Manolo A. said that it might be the right moment and Carlos E. formally made the request and processed it through the Regional Commission of the Opus Dei in Spain.

I returned to Madrid on June 28 of that year and immediately reconnected with the magazine of which I was editor, but very conscious that this would no longer be my main work, nor could it be, since I would devote myself full time to the University of Navarra. When I arrived in Madrid, I helped Alfredo García Suárez and Pepe Casciaro in the complex operation of our transfer to Pamplona, since in October I would begin the first year of my degree course.

In mid-July Emilio Navarro called the editor of the magazine to say, on behalf of Manuel Arteche, that Father (that's what we called St. Josemaría) had accepted and that, in principle, he was willing to give an interview to Palabra. I was not in the editorial office that day. Emilio was answered by Carlos, who told me right away and I called Manolo Arteche, who was the Spiritual Director of the Spanish Region: there was indeed a positive response from Rome about the interview, indicating that the magazine would send Father a questionnaire of 18 questions.

We worked hard to prepare them and I believe that in two or three days it was finished. We worked in Hermosilla 22, then the editorial office of the magazine, in that nice meeting room and editorial gatherings that we had there. The four of us from the management team were there: Carlos Escartín, Alberto García Ruiz (Alberto recently told me about those sessions), Gonzalo Lobo and myself.

Word was then a magazine of priestly content, formally addressed to the clergy. The criterion that guided us in the elaboration of the questionnaire was this: in the present situation of the Church, of the Work and of the application of the Council, what is it that - thinking of our readers - is of interest to ask Father? In what things, principally, do we need and need his guidance and magisterium?

We discussed it a lot until we arrived at the formulation of the questions that seemed appropriate to us. Thus we came up with not 18, but 21 questions, which we kept. We typed up the questionnaire and sent it to the Regional Commission so that they could send it to Father. Manolo Arteche contributes a very interesting fact: from the Commission they sent the questionnaire to Rome just as it was, without changing a comma and without including any draft or outline of answers of any kind, which they had not asked for. Therefore, the answers were all elaborated in Rome.

Summer 1967 and the answers

On August 4, we left for Pamplona, together with José Morales, Alfredo García, Pepe Casciaro, for a ten-day stay dedicated to the preparation of the initial academic course of the Theological Institute, with the idea of returning to Madrid once it was over. Carlos and Gonzalo remained in Madrid for the magazine.

Our session in Pamplona lasted 12 days and took place in a Center of the Work on Carlos III Street: about 12 teachers gathered there. On the 15th, at the end of the "conclave", there was a change of plans and I, instead of returning to Madrid, went with Alfredo to Islabe, near Bilbao, for the annual formation course from August 16 to September 11. At the end of the Course, Alfredo returned to Pamplona and I went to Madrid to organize my formal and definitive transfer to Pamplona, where I arrived on September 17.

Father had spent the summer in Italy and arrived in Spain through the Irun border. Florencio Sánchez Bella, César Ortiz and some other members of the Commission were waiting for him. On September 13 he arrived in Elorrio, in Vizcaya, where he stayed for a week. Rafael Camaño, who was one of those who was there with Father, returned to Madrid on the 18th taking with him - according to the diary of the Center on Diego de León Street - the sheets of paper with Father's answers to the questionnaire we sent him. Interesting is the entry in the diary (September 18, 1967): "We have received the interviews with Father that will be published in the magazine Palabra and in Gaceta Univ.

These documents are very important and shed a clear light on current problems such as the 'aggiornamento', the laity, the work of priests, their freedom of association, etc. In the afternoon Cesar called from Islabe to give some indications. It is very likely that Father will come to Madrid this week".

He answered all the questions except the last one, number 21, which he judged inappropriate (we were asking him about the most urgent concerns of Paul VI. An autographed remark of Father - according to what Manolo A. told me - pointed out that it was not correct to speak about what the Pope says to one in private audience). I was in Pamplona, as I said, when Father's reply arrived.

Mock-up and final details

The interview, which arrived in Madrid, as we saw, on September 18, immediately, against the clock, began to be laid out. I made a quick trip from Pamplona to Madrid at the end of September to see how the presentation and layout of the magazine was going, a trip that Gonzalo Lobo, who was in charge of the layout, remembers very well. But I quickly returned to Pamplona. Carlos Escartín and Gonzalo Lobo were, in fact, in charge of the whole operation of printing the October 1967 issue of Palabra, in which the interview was to be included.

There is an interesting anecdote. Carlos -that was what we had agreed- was the one who signed the "entradilla" or introduction of the interview, which was written in the editorial office. However, when Palabra de octubre came out, it was signed by me. Carlos recalls that, when he came to Pamplona for the October events (the issue of Palabra had just appeared and thousands of offprints of the interview were made), I told him how surprised I was to see myself signing that text, which I had not written. He gave me this reason: that he had been asked for it by the Regional Commission, telling him that it was logical that the interview with Father should appear signed by the director of the magazine.

A few months ago we informed our readers that, overcoming the resistance of Bishop Escrivá de Balaguer, a book will soon be published containing a selection of some of his writings (cf. Palabra, 21 [1967] 11). While the book is on the street, we would like to make available to all those who read it these reflections with which the Founder of Opus Dei responded to our brief questionnaire.

The current life of the Church, the horizons that are opening up for pastoral work, the reality of the laity and Christian life, the demands of freedom and the dignity of the human person, the renewal of the ecclesial task, the ecclesiological transcendence of Opus Dei, are the themes on which we have focused this interview. These pages, the only ones of their kind to date, reveal the supernatural desires and concerns of the Founder of Opus Dei, desires, concerns and realities of faithful service to Jesus Christ and his one Church, to all Christians and to all men and women of good will.

We can only express our joy at being able to publish these pages, which respond to a desire we have had for a long time. We would also like to thank Bishop Josemaría Escrivá for the breadth, clarity and frankness with which he has treated us. In doing so, we would also like to add our gratitude and our affection, which do not find easy expression in these brief lines. Pedro Rodriguez." In any case, the surprising reference in it - in the entradilla - to the "immediate book" of our Father - which never appeared - leads me to think that there were hands other than those of Alfredo García or Manolo Arteche, but the latter does not remember).

The reference, by the way, is to an article I published in the June issue of the magazine, entitled Contribution to a theology of the organized apostolate. (Word 21 [1967] 9-15), which in a footnote includes this bold statement about a book of our Father's that I am completely unaware of. I wrote the article while I was in Louvain and sent it in March of that year. It is almost certain, because of the subject matter, that it must have been consulted in Rome (although I seem to remember that I sent it - from Switzerland - to the Spanish Commission). I think that this footnote (which is included in the entry) is an addition suggested in Rome. I do not remember anything, but it is unthinkable that I would have included it on my own. All this must be in the file of that article in the General Archives of the Prelature.

Included in the book Conversaciones

Father left Elorrio for Molinoviejo, the retreat house located in the province of Segovia, on Thursday 21, and stayed there until Sunday 24. From September 24 to October 5 he was in Lagasca, from where he left for Pamplona. Manolo recalls another anecdote. When the interview was already composed -it was composed very quickly-, Carlos Escartín gave him the sheets in case Father wanted to see them, and Manolo took them to Molinoviejo and showed them to our Father, who remarked the impropriety of the matter: "Why are you bringing them to me, so that I can correct them? That's what proofreaders are for....

The interview was carefully published with our Father on the cover of the issue (photo chosen by Gonzalo Lobo). It was sold by the thousands at the Pamplona events and is the first chapter in the immediate book -this one, yes- of Conversations with Monsignor Escrivá de Balaguer..

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Dossier

From Word to Omnes: A history that continues to be written

The stage in which Palabra magazine is now immersed would not have been possible without the history that supports it and gives it meaning. To continue to be a reference in the analytical panorama of socio-religious information constitutes a new challenge to which it must respond with excellence, as it has done throughout its more than 50 years of life.

Omnes-December 3, 2020-Reading time: < 1 minute

Here is an explanation of this name change, the reasons for it, the memories of those who have edited its pages over the years and our commitment to the future.

A new name: Omnes

How the interview with St. Josemaría came about.

By Pedro Rodríguez. Founder and first director of Palabra magazine

Revista Palabra: A living being

José Miguel Pero-Sanz, director of Palabra from 1969 to 2009

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Dossier

A new name: Omnes

With Omnes we want to open this window of analysis and reflection on the issues that today occupy the hearts and minds of Catholics.

Omnes-December 3, 2020-Reading time: 3 minutes

Omnes [all] 'omnis, omne' : "all". 

"I will give him a white pebble, and, written on it, a new name, which no one knows except the one who receives it." (Rev 2:17). A new name, by which she will be known, that describes what she is, that "conforms" her.

Choosing a name is always a difficult task. The name is more than a set of letters, it is an identification, an identity, a kind of line that says what we are, that speaks of our own nature, of our mission.

To name is to give life.

Continuity and openness

For this reason, when the magazine that until now has walked with such a great name as Palabra, faced the challenge of starting a new stage, it became clear, for many reasons, the the need to choose a new name for this project, a name that would maintain the essence of the project. At the same time, it should be open to everything that occupies the life of the Church and society today and to everyone, to people, their concerns, their questions.

To everyone and everything

At Omnes we want to include those 'everyone' who have built this magazine throughout its more than 55 years of life: directors, promoters, friends, readers, patrons..... And also those who will continue to be part of this life that continues: young people and all of us who are already familiar with the digital medium.

OmnesFinally, he points to catholicity. With OmnesWith this new digital news portal, we will also reach, more quickly and effectively, all those who are interested in the life of the Church in other countries.

And with Omnes we want to open this window of analysis and reflection to the issues that today occupy the hearts and minds of Catholics: issues that are increasingly complex and universal, affecting all spheres of our Christian, social and civic life....

Starting next January, Omnes will continue to bring to life the inheritance received, taking on challenges and broadening horizons to continue to be a reference in Catholic information today.

The logo

Javier Errea.

Director of Errea Comunicación, creators of the new image.

Omnes is an inclusive term, as is the evangelical message: it is addressed to all people, of any race and condition.

The same goes for our new media: it continues with that same warm, welcoming, dialoguing spirit. Where there is room for everyone.

Where we can all understand each other, or at least build bridges to do so. In the Old Testament, Psalm 117 says: "Laudate Dominum omnes gentes" ("Praise the Lord all nations, all nations"). This is the vocation of Omnes. Omnes is, moreover, a Latin word and, as such, international. It is not a regional denomination or subject to any context that would limit its clarity. From a graphic point of view, the logo is transparent, exclusively typographic.

For its composition, a beautiful typography called Voyage, that is, journey, has been used. Which is what the word, the Gospel message and those who carry it around the world do: travel. To move. To go where those who need it most are, those who are waiting, perhaps without knowing that they are waiting for it. 

Omnes is written in lowercase for two reasons: because it makes the logo more compact and because lowercase letters are modest, more friendly, less imposing. Omnes does not come in shouting and does not come in punching the table; it is not arrogant like the capital letters, but delicate and respectful.

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EditorialOmnes

Omnes: the continuity and future of Palabra magazine, in the company of readers

December 3, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes

In the November print issue we reported on the projects for the digital expansion of Palabra magazine and its change of publishing entity. We continue our communication with readers about our projects, to present to them something so significant as a name change in the headerfrom the next issue (January 2021), you will receive this magazine under the name of Omnes.

This change is an inevitable consequence of the previous one - the change of publishing entity - and is explained in relation to the next one - the great project of a new web portal, complementary to the printed magazine - of which we will give all the details in the next January issue.

The "Palabra" masthead has identified us since September 1965, creating a rich tradition and a guarantee of reliability, which it now inherits. Omnes. The purpose is to give them continuity and timeliness, while avoiding any possible confusion with Ediciones Palabra S.A. publications.

Omnes it will be the same Palabra magazine as always, more up to date and in a better position to achieve greater efficiency.. It will adapt to the current modes of communication and to the habits that have already become the majority, in which printed paper and digital resources coexist. This is an objective shared and supported by all those who participate or have participated in the life of the magazine. In this issue, the creator and first director of Palabra, Pedro Rodriguezas well as his successor for many years, José Miguel Pero-Sanz, and the current director, Alfonso Riobówho remains at the helm of the publication. The president of Ediciones Palabra and the president of the board of trustees of the CARF Foundation also did so in the November issue. And we have no doubt that readers are also delighted.

For readers and friends, nothing substantial changes. They will continue to receive the same magazine in the same way, with the same contents and in accordance with the same editorial line.l. Varies the new header, Omnesthat much. Of course, if Omnes means "all", among them the first ones are you. In your company we continue our journey.

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– From Word to Omnes: A history that continues to be written

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  • iMisión unveils its "7 secrets to evangelize on the Internet".
Spain

iMisión unveils its "7 secrets to evangelize on the Internet".

The digital evangelization platform launches its new offer of online courses CONECTA with which it intends to train Catholics to be digital evangelizers.

Maria José Atienza-December 3, 2020-Reading time: < 1 minute

Xiskya ValladaresThe sisters of the Purity of Mary and the Marianist priest, Daniel Pajuelo, are the driving force behind these Evangelizing on the Internet through which these two "influencers" want to train Catholics in the spirituality of digital evangelization and in all those tools and techniques that allow them to move with ease and manage their social networks in a more professional way. 

This first CONECTA course, which is carried out through the Udemy platform, has the following objectives to help all those interested in Internet evangelizationThe objective of the seminar is to provide the participants, whether they are consecrated persons, religion teachers, youth, managers of online communities, etc., to learn about the evangelical criteria that allow discernment in this type of mission, as well as the teachings of the magisterium of the Catholic Church on digital evangelization and practical cases of digital evangelization.

In addition, they will discuss the risks and opportunities offered by the Internet in the field of evangelization that make evangelization on the Internet fail and how to practically manage this type of task.

Specific courses

In addition to knowing the keys to proclaim and live the Gospel in the digital environment, iMission will provide specific training modules for each social network: Being a missionary on Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Tik Tok or Twitter. For this purpose, it will count on the participation of well-known evangelists in the digital environment such as Ester PalmaSpanish missionary in South Korea or Paulina Núñez, community manager of Regnum Christi in Spain.

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Father S.O.S

Psychological strategies for spiritual accompaniment (III)

After establishing in the first and in the second delivers the framework and foundation of the spiritual accompaniment relationship, and how to encourage it to be an asymmetrical relationship that is created bidirectionally, we now look at tools for communicating effectively.

Carlos Chiclana-December 3, 2020-Reading time: 3 minutes

The following tools can be used to communicate effectively in the context of spiritual accompaniment.

Active listening

In addition to listening and finding out what he/she is saying, we want to understand very well what he/she is conveying. For this, it is necessary to focus completely on what he tells us and what he does not tell us - about which we will ask him if it is appropriate -, to understand the meaning of what he communicates in the context of his desires, illusions and projects.

For this we will make it easier for you to express yourself fully, to be sincere; we will assess whether there is a difference between your words, tone of voice and body language and what we know about your recent life. I will extract the essence of what he communicates to help him get to it, without getting lost in long descriptive stories.

In addition to looking at him and sitting so that the body is also receptive to the signals, we can summarize, paraphrase, reiterate and mirror what he has said to ensure that he is able to express himself, that I hear and understand him. 

My words will be coherent with what you tell me, because I respond to the thread of yours, not to my own preconceived ideas. I integrate and build from your ideas, suggestions and goals. 

We will seek to serve him according to his needs and objectives, and to accompany him according to the needs he raises, his concerns, goals, values and beliefs about what he considers important to him, possible to achieve or not. 

I will try to encourage, accept, explore and reinforce him to express his feelings, perceptions, concerns, beliefs, suggestions, etc., or be able to come clean because he knows and feels that he is welcomed and not judged, in order to be able to continue towards the objectives. 

Ask powerful questions

It may be useful to ask open or very direct questions that help him to reflect on himself, his life, his project and thus put himself in the real scenario:

  1. that reflect that I have found out how he/she is, what is happening, what he/she needs, what he/she wants, how he/she lives the situation. This way I reinforce active listening and that shows that I understand the understanding of their point of view;
  2. that speak of discovery, awareness, commitment or action. For example, questions that challenge their assumptions or prejudices, their false beliefs, their bad habits; that open horizons, contribute unsuspected ideas or generate new illusions;
  3. that are open and provide greater clarity, possibilities or new learning;
  4. that lead you to look forward, to what you want, to grow, and not so much to justify yourself or look to the past. 

Accompany with hypotheses

With experience, you learn that you are not God and that you do not have God's will in a magic wand. So, when you have thought and prayed about something for another person, you trust the action of the Holy Spirit in you and at the same time you trust the action of the Holy Spirit in the other person; and you respect the freedom of the other person, and you ask the questions in hypothesis mode: could it be that..., would it help you if..., have you considered if it would be good to move forward where you want it to..., would it help you if..., have you considered if it would be good to move forward where you want it to..., have you considered if it would be good to move forward where you want it to...? 

In this way you leave space to God, to the freedom and responsibility of the other person, you do not impose what you consider and, in addition, there are more probabilities of "success" and less need for control-security on your part.

Communicate directly

Use language that is understood, appropriate, univalent and respectful. It should have the greatest positive impact, be clear, without euphemisms, well articulated, direct in contributing and sharing impressions and opinions. Clearly state the objectives, agenda, purpose of the means, plans, etc. Use metaphors and analogies to help illustrate an issue or paint a picture with words. Reframe, to help understand from another perspective what he/she wants or what he/she is unsure of.

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  • Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957): 75 years after receiving the Nobel Prize
Culture

Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957): 75 years after receiving the Nobel Prize

Gabriela Mistral's poems reveal a loving look at a world in which God is not a stranger. The Chilean Nobel Prize winner invites us to think radically about existence and to discover God's mercy in the most basic needs of human beings.

Jaime Nubiola-December 2, 2020-Reading time: 4 minutes

In the Elqui Valley, in the northern lands of Chile, the sky is intensely blue during the day. Already dark, so dry, with its three hundred clear nights a year, the sky is limpid to be imbued with stars. The sound of the river that gives its name to the valley can be heard clear and accelerated. The sun hits hard, filling the vines; the abruptness of the stony mountains allows the land to be cultivated almost only where the Elqui has been conquering space. Gabriela Mistral knew and deeply loved her native land and its people. There she also learned to meet God and to admire his works.

December 10, 2020 will mark 75 years since the Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American writer to receive this award (1945). Her works Desolation (1922), Tenderness (1923) y Tala (1938) are probably the ones that made her the winner of this award. Ibáñez Langlois writes: "Oblivious to fashions and manners, rooted in her own tradition - the biblical sentiment, Castilian poetry, the rural essences of the country - this little northern teacher wrote some of the most heartbreaking and tender stanzas in the language.". And, for his part, Neruda will affirm in 1954 about the Sonnets of death, published forty years earlier: "The magnitude of these short poems has not been surpassed in our language. It is necessary to walk centuries of poetry, to go back to the old Quevedo, disenchanted and rough, to see, touch and feel a poetic language of such dimensions and hardness.". We transcribe the first of these sonnets, which illustrates well the strength of the young Mistral's expression at the age of 25:

From the icy niche in which men put you,
I will bring you down to the humble and sunny earth.
That I should fall asleep in it men did not know,
and that we have to dream on the same pillow.

I'll lay you down on the sunny ground with a
a mother's sweetness for her sleeping child,
and the earth has to become softness of cradle
to receive your body as a child in pain.

Then I will sprinkle soil and rose dust,
and in the bluish and light moon dust,
the light offal will be imprisoned.

I'll walk away singing my beautiful revenge,
because in that hidden depths the hand of no one
will come down to dispute your handful of bones!

Gabriela Mistral was born in Vicuña, in the north of Chile, in a family of limited resources; she was educated very poorly, but she went far because of her talent, her persevering work and the help of people who noticed her worth. Mistral began teaching as a teacher's assistant at the age of 15 and did not stop doing so while she lived in Chile, at the same time she began to write. Her first writings date back to 1904 and she will obtain the Chilean National Poetry Prize in 1914 with her Sonnets of death. In 1922 he moved to Mexico to collaborate in the Mexican educational reform and later he will hold various consular representations of Chile in different countries of Europe and America. He died of pancreatic cancer in New York in 1957 at the age of 67. He donated the rights of his works to the promotion of the children of Montegrande, the village where he grew up.

Today's reader is impressed by Gabriela Mistral's poems not only for their sonorous musicality, but also for their deep religiosity. The poet had an intense experience of God. In the Poem from ChileFor example, as he travels through the long geography of his homeland, contemplating the desert north, he writes:

In thirsty white lands / abrasion items / the Christs called cactus / watch from the eternal.

God is present everywhere, perhaps as a counterpoint to the harshness of life, but also as the ultimate response to the beauty and sweetness found in nature. Like Pope Francis years later, Mistral was deeply captivated by the light and strength of St. Francis of Assisi. For example, in Motifs of St. Francis remembers his voice:

"How St. Francis would speak! Who would hear his words dripping like a fruit, of sweetness! Who would hear them when the air is full of dry resonances, like a dead thistle! That voice of St. Francis made the landscape turn towards him, like a countenance; it hastened the sap of love in the trees and made the rose loosen its sweetness. It was a quiet song, like the one that water has when it runs under the small sand"..

Gabriela Mistral had to face many difficulties in her life, including those of the "drynesses of which the Saint speaks". and of which it says they are "the hardest temptations" (The companions of St. Francis: Bernardo de Quintaval). Perhaps that is why his gaze was especially merciful and his attitude towards creation respectful like that of a bee: "I want, Francisco, to go through things like this, without bending a petal." (The delicacy). Devotee of il poverello of Assisi and an assiduous reader of his Little flowersbelonged to the Third Order of St. Francis. In fact, she bequeathed the medal and the parchment that accredit her Nobel Prize to the people of Chile and they are under the custody of the Franciscans in the same museum where the bible that she used to use, a rosary of ceramic beads and metal medals and a carved and polychrome wooden crucifix of hers from the XVIII century are kept. She was buried with the Franciscan habit by her express wish.

It has been 75 years since the Nobel Prize was awarded to this poet. Although in recent years there has been special interest in investigating other aspects of her personal life, it is a good opportunity to reread her texts in verse and prose, to be moved by her sensitivity and to learn from her religiousness fused "with a lacerating yearning for social justice".

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TribuneMontserrat Gas Aixendri

Religions and peace

Pope Francis offers in his recent encyclical Fratelli tuttia positive and hopeful vision of the contribution of religions to human fraternity and peace.

December 2, 2020-Reading time: 2 minutes

Every attack in the name of religion raises the question of the role of beliefs in society. There are those who tend to see religion as a source of conflict and violence, and therefore support its elimination from public life. On the contrary, Pope Francis offers in his recent encyclical Fratelli tuttiThe book, a positive and hopeful vision of the contribution of religions to human fraternity and peace, is one of the deepest yearnings of the human heart, which cannot be achieved spontaneously and requires the contribution of individuals and institutions. One of the deepest longings of the human heart, it is not achieved spontaneously, and requires the contribution of individuals and institutions. The Encyclical addresses this question along three axes: it unveils the roots of a violence falsely linked to religion; it recalls that in religion are the values of authentic peace; finally, it maintains that the contribution of religious communities to peace requires respect for religious freedom. 

Francis condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. Violence does not find its foundation in religious convictions, but in their deformations. Benedict XVI has already recalled that fundamentalism is a distortion of authentic religion and arises when the purifying role of reason is not taken into account. The key to distinguishing what is genuinely religious from what is not lies in full respect for human dignity. Secondly, there is an undeniable connection between the tenets of the main religious traditions and the values linked to peace. Most of the sacred writings and their traditions contain messages of concord. Moreover, religious ethics are capable of promoting attitudes such as humility, patience and compassion, which are fundamental to the promotion of peace. Among these, the capacity to forgive and to reconcile, a theme strongly emphasized in Christianity, occupies a preeminent place. An authentically religious life must produce fruits of peace and fraternity, because religion strengthens the union with the divinity, and also a more solidary relationship among men. 

Finally, the Pope affirms that recognizing God is always a good for our society; and, on the contrary, the deprivation of religious freedom ends up leading to the trampling of human dignity. Also fundamental is the role of religious leaders, called to work in the construction of peace, not as intermediaries, but as authentic mediators, who keep nothing for themselves, knowing that the only gain is that of peace. Fratelli tutti is a decisive contribution to reaffirming the role of religions. They are called to build a lasting peace.

The authorMontserrat Gas Aixendri

Professor at the Faculty of Law of the International University of Catalonia and director of the Institute for Advanced Family Studies. She directs the Chair on Intergenerational Solidarity in the Family (IsFamily Santander Chair) and the Childcare and Family Policies Chair of the Joaquim Molins Figueras Foundation. She is also Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Law at UIC Barcelona.

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