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Cardinal Pizzaballa celebrates Mass in the Basilica of the Annunciation

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem thus inaugurates the Jubilee Year in the Holy Land

Editorial Staff Omnes-January 2, 2025-Reading time: < 1 minute
Evangelization

Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzus, families of saints

Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, bishops and doctors of the Church, were united by a deep friendship, fought against Arianism, and their liturgical memory is celebrated today, January 2.   

Francisco Otamendi-January 2, 2025-Reading time: < 1 minute

In the families of both there were numerous saints. Saint Basil, born in Caesarea in the year 329, received from his father the foundations of the Christian doctrine. His sister Macrina and his brothers Peter, bishop of Sebaste, and Gregory of Nyssa, were also elevated to the altars. Gregory Nazianzen also had a sister, Gorgonia, and a brother, Caesarius, saints.

Basil traveled through Pontus, then Egypt, Palestine and Syria, attracted by the life of monks and hermits: he aspired to a life of silence, solitude and prayer. On his return to Pontus, he met a former fellow student known in Athens, Gregory of Nacianzo, with whom he founded a small monastic community. But then he left his retreat to settle in Caesarea, where he was ordained priest and then bishop.

Its fight against the Arianism developed in doctrine and charity. Faced with the Arians who defended their possessions, Basil argued that if everyone was content with what was necessary and gave what was superfluous to his neighbor, there would be no more poor people. As for Gregory, Emperor Theodosius sent him to Constantinople (formerly Byzantium, now Istanbul), to combat the Arian heresy. With his exemplary doctrine and life, the city returned to orthodoxy. They are known as Cappadocian Fathers.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

From Aristotle to Lalachus

The controversial image of Lalachus in the Spanish TV chimes reopens the debate on freedom of expression. Is it progress to normalize the insult and gratuitous mockery of institutions and beliefs, while we move forward in other areas of respect?

January 2, 2025-Reading time: 2 minutes

As a result of the controversial image shown by Lalachus in the chimes of Spanish Television, I remembered a letter to the editor that I published in El País May 16, 2016. It read as follows (sorry for the self-quote): 


"We have a problem in this country when it comes to understanding freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is not the right to insult, nor the right to freely offend the feelings of others. 

One can be against the Church, nationalism, homosexuals or stamp collectors, but that does not give the right to express anything, anywhere and in any way. Storming chapels half-naked in the middle of liturgical ceremonies, whistling a hymn at the moment it is officially played, mocking others' religion with caricatures, or calling someone a faggot because of their sexual orientation, do not seem to be ways of rationally expressing a contrary opinion. Rather, they seem to show a desire to insult others. 

To disagree on any of these issues there are more appropriate contexts and forms, especially if we intend to build an open and tolerant society. As Aristotle said, "anyone can get angry, that's very easy. But getting angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way, that is certainly not so easy". 


Eight years have passed since this publication, but unfortunately, it seems that we have not made progress in this matter, quite the contrary. 

Recently, the Spanish government has proposed to eliminate the crime of offenses against religious feelings and insults to the Crown. Although it may be argued that this measure seeks to strengthen freedom of expression, in practice it seems to open the door to the normalization of gratuitous insult and mockery of institutions and beliefs that are meaningful to many citizens.

It is deeply sad to observe how, as a society, we have made remarkable progress in sensitivity to sexist, racist or homophobic language, but we do not apply the same standard to other contexts. We strive to protect certain groups from vexatious language, and that is a commendable achievement. However, why don't we extend that same principle of respect to other areas? Why does offense towards a religious faith, an institution or a cultural symbol seem to enjoy special protection?

It is not a matter of restricting legitimate criticism or debate on issues of public relevance. On the contrary, a truly free and plural society needs spaces for dissent and questioning, but always with respect and rationality. 

Confusing the freedom of expression with the right to humiliate not only distorts its meaning, but also erodes the values that should sustain peaceful coexistence.

The authorJavier García Herrería

Editor of Omnes. Previously, he has been a contributor to various media and a high school philosophy teacher for 18 years.

The World

Memory and forgiveness: a conference on how to rebuild relationships

The International Congress "Common Memory and Collective Forgiveness", organized by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in May 2025, will reflect on collective forgiveness as a tool for social and institutional reconciliation, combining academic, spiritual and practical perspectives in the framework of the Jubilee 2025.

Giovanni Tridente-January 2, 2025-Reading time: 3 minutes

At the heart of the upcoming Jubilee 2025, an event that, as we know, invites the faithful throughout the world to reflect on the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation, the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross is preparing to host the international congress "Common Memory and Collective Forgiveness." The event, to be held in Rome on May 6-7, 2025, will be a moment of encounter, study and dialogue, supported by the Dicastery for Evangelization and organized by the Christianity and Society Center of the Faculty of Theology, in collaboration with the Mexican Confederation of Businessmen Coparmex.

The objective is to address the theme of collective forgiveness and shared memory, in an attempt to make an important contribution to the reflection on conflicts and the possibility of rebuilding human and institutional relationships.

The essence of collective forgiveness

As the organizers explain, forgiveness, often considered a personal act, can also take on a collective dimension. Indeed, communities and institutions that experience shared suffering - be it war, oppression or social conflict - need tools to process the past and build a different future. In this sense, the memory of the offense, rather than being a kind of spiritual prison, can become an act of liberation and reconciliation, allowing us to recognize the vulnerability of others as well as our own.

This dynamic will be addressed through complex questions such as: how can societies collectively forgive? Is it possible to reconcile groups divided by decades of hatred or misunderstanding? What is the role of institutions in creating an enabling environment for forgiveness?

The appeal to academics

One of the special features of the initiative is the collection of scholarly contributions through a call for papers open to philosophers, theologians, historians, jurists, sociologists and other experts. Those interested may propose - until January 31, 2025 - reflections on topics such as historical memory and transitional justice, narratives of memory through art and the media, the relationship between education and memory or the role of public policies in the preservation of historical memory. Accepted contributions will be presented during the conference and published afterwards.

International participations

The Congress program is spread over two days, with presentations on key issues such as justice and forgiveness, the importance of documentary memory and the role of spirituality in the reconciliation process.

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Bishops' Conference, will offer a reflection on forgiveness in the context of war, and Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Patriarch of Jerusalem, will share his unique perspective on the possibility of forgiveness in the Holy Land.

Other talks will explore innovative topics, such as the impact of social media and artificial intelligence on the culture of forgiveness, featuring Professor John D. Peters of Yale University.

Forgiveness as a path of hope

Within the framework of the Holy YearIn addition to deepening theoretical aspects, the Congress also aims to represent a concrete invitation to look at forgiveness as a path of hope and individual and collective transformation. After all, Pope Francis often stresses that forgiveness is never a sign of weakness, but an act of strength that can change the course of history. In this perspective, the reflection will not only be academic, but also spiritual and practical, seeking to propose new paths of reconciliation that can be an inspiration for society and individuals.

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Resources

The pathology of evil

Evil, the result of our inner contradictions, affects both individuals and societies. Martha Reyes explores its roots in distorted perceptions, uncontrolled feelings and lack of faith, proposing a return to divine design to overcome it.

Martha Reyes -January 2, 2025-Reading time: 10 minutes

In Genesis 2:7 "God breathed His breath of life into man after forming him from the dust of the ground". We are the creator's design to reflect His image and likeness. Therefore, it stands to reason that despite our internal struggles, we are fashioned and destined to prefer the good, the good and the pleasing to God, and to be creatures of His pleasure exhibiting characteristics of His divine nature. 

In addition to these spiritual reasons, during the evolutionary processes we human beings realized that there are also many socioeconomic benefits for choosing good over evil. By directing our sociology and psychology of life around the original design and desire of the Creator, we discover what it is to live in healthy coexistence, united by alliances and behaviors that favor us, sharing "the fruits of the earth and the work of man". Everything is a requirement to remain in peace and not in conflict, growing and prospering, ensuring the survival of all. It is anthropological and universal. 

In practically all religions we observe that a part of the religiosity has been dedicated to the reverence to the deity, and the other part, to the healthy interrelated coexistence. The Judeo-Christian faith dedicates most of its teachings to exhort humanity to this faith that invites to reverence to God and to the brotherhood that produces palpable fruits. In the Old Testament Moses gives us the commandments of God's law, and then we read in Deuteronomy 28:1-2: "If you obey the voice of the Lord your God and do all the commandments that I command you today, he will set you far above all the nations of the earth. And because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, all kinds of blessings will come upon you and overtake you." Psalm 133, 1 says "See how good and pleasant it is for brethren to live together". And in the New Testament there are countless exhortations to healthy living together, as for example in Ephesians 4, 31-32 "Root out from among yourselves all anger, outbursts, wrath, clamor, insults, and all kinds of malice. But be kind and understanding to one another, forgiving each other, just as God forgave you in Christ". 

It is in our DNA to prefer good over evil and to orient our lives toward noble and worthy causes. Yet, history reminds us how easily we give up our original healthy and peaceful essence to become entangled in social conflicts, divisions, quarrels, wars and destruction. For example: half of all marriages will end in divorce. Worldwide, 150 million children live in orphanhood, abandonment or misery. Six out of 10 children and one out of 5 women suffer from abuse. We have lost count of the number of human beings who have perished in historical wars: perhaps one billion over 21 centuries, with 108 million killed in the 20th century alone. 

Today, developed countries spend an average of $225 billion a year on humanitarian aid to poor countries, but at the same time, global military spending on conflicts between countries and nations is $2.44 trillion. Spending on health and medicine exceeds 10 trillion dollars to supposedly keep our populations healthy. At the same time, addictions claim five times more lives than cancer and AIDS. What strange dichotomies! What governs human hearts capable of, on the one hand, manifesting many moments of moral nobility, and on the other hand, opting for contrary tendencies of indifference, violence or destruction? It is irrational! It is madness! 

In Romans 7:15, St. Paul, frustrated with his indomitable behaviors, said: "I do not understand my own actions: I do not do what I want and I do the things I hate". Could this be the struggle we all engage in within ourselves? 

Let us remember that Adam and Eve were appointed the custodians of the earth, of everything living and visible. But instead of living in gratitude and satisfaction with all that was good around them, they preferred to go towards the one thing forbidden and unknown: to eat of the restricted tree or fruit, in total disobedience to God's will. The eyes, the appetite and the cravings of the heart, went after that which had limits, instead of enjoying the rest of creation to the full, at their leisure.

These continuous acts of disobedience to God continue to rob us of our dignity as sons. Comparable to the sad story of Esau, son of Isaac and brother of Jacob in Genesis 25, 24 onwards. Esau was a skilled hunter who one day, ironically and mysteriously, preferred to sell his birthright with all its anointings and blessings, for a miserable plate of lentils. And what about King David? In the history of Israel there have been no reigns like that of David and his son Solomon, and yet David allowed himself to be intoxicated by passion until he became an adulterer and murderer (2 Samuel 11). And there are many such stories. 

How to explain these contradictions? What dark and strange forces sometimes operate in the human mind and heart that expose great weaknesses and vulnerabilities? We prefer to blame the devil and evil spirits for our mistakes and misfortunes. Yes, it is true that the Bible presents a real being by the name of satan who is the author of mean and destructive plans. Besides being the tempter in the wilderness who tried to trip up Jesus' messianic mission, in John 10:10 Jesus himself said: "The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy, while I have come that they may have life and have it to the full". Even so, Jesus also clarifies that there are internal enemies that make us sin, and to these we must pay much attention. Mark 7, 21: "For from within the heart of man proceed evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, adulteries". 

Why do we give in so much to these corrupt instincts? Why don't we recognize that evil only brings us destruction and loss? Why don't we know how to control our unbridled impulses in order to opt for what is best in our nature? Mainly because we are hostages of feelings that often dominate reason. Just as there are beautiful feelings (love, peace, gratitude, joy, hope), there are others that become paralyzing forces or destructive currents. We so easily feed back on rejection, dislike, hatred, sense of revenge, prioritizing thoughts of domination and narcissistic plans, that we sabotage our possibilities of dimensioning ourselves with superior qualities. These negative feelings fermented within us are the triggers of a system of systematic and integral self-destruction. They are like acid that corrodes understanding and mental and social health. They are primitive tendencies that we have not learned to overcome. 

THE EMPOWERERS OF WICKEDNESS 

1- Disfigured perception of reality

Evil feeds on obstructed perception. This emotional or spiritual blindness drags us into confusion and misinterpretation, warping our sense of honest evaluation. When our perception does not match reality, we judge life and others harshly. We lose the gift of empathic communication and obstruct opportunities for reconciliation. This is where the prejudices and distancing that are so detrimental to us are born. 

Matthew 6:22 explains it this way: "Your eye is the lamp of your body. If your eyes are sound, your whole body will have light; but if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be in darkness." 

2- Uncontrolled feelings

Resentment, desire for revenge, envy, unregulated anxiety, despair, distrust, bitterness, arrogance, are the feelings that contribute most to mental imbalance and social destabilization. 

3- Lying and deception

John 8, 44. (The devil) "When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies". 

Lies have many slaves, and truth has few soldiers. Evil finds refuge in lies and falsehood. Lies erode social trust. It damages our relationships and damages our self-esteem by sabotaging our dignity and prestige. When others realize that we have lied to them, they feel emotionally and intellectually mocked. Lying promotes distrust and division, dismantles credibility, which is the backbone of authority.  

4- The philosophies that govern us socially

The sociology and philosophy of life that our humanity adapts, if they are not aligned with our original spiritual, neurological and psycho-affective configuration, will be unsustainable. Social misconceptions of happiness and success are to blame for generating an exaggerated nonconformism and selfishness in many human beings. Modern cultures exalt superficiality and popularity, and have replaced the wise guide with celebrity, even as corrupt lifestyles have become normalized, desensitizing us from the initial impact of what we once considered shocking and repulsive. Folly dethrones wisdom. 

5- Collective hysterias 

These expose just how susceptible and impressionable we are to any indoctrination that appeals. It is easy to see how social and political movements such as fascists, communists and terrorists have dragged the masses throughout history, but lead them to throw themselves over the precipices of deception and decadence.  

6- Fear and cowardice

They produce silence, cover-up, blind obedience, and complicity. We sell our prestige, dignity, honesty, emotional stability, and spirituality, for fear of rejection, finger-pointing, irrelevance or loss. 

7- Distorted or disfigured concept of justice and mercy. 

When the laws of a country or the actions of legislators favor the guilty more than the innocent, we will not effectively stop or eradicate evil. Rather, we operate in complicity with evil by becoming its enablers. We have exchanged harsh and deserved punishment as a deterrent to stop the growth of evil for disproportionate and misplaced mercy, excusing and justifying acts of violence by proposing that the offender is just another victim. Before absolving a fault we must know how to explain the scope of the offense and promote the conviction of the error. 

8- Misinterpretation of free will and unfounded freedoms

We are not free to take, to assault, to impoverish others, to harm ourselves, to destabilize society, or to usurp the rich to satisfy the poor. Free will is not licentiousness: it must be monitored by good judgment, good sense and universal mercy. 

9- Money, the root of all evils

1 Timothy 6:10-11 "For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, for which some have been led astray from the faith by coveting it, and have tortured themselves with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and kindness."

God's master plan articulated by Jesus in several of his messages is that our provision is assured by the provident God of Our Father, who daily clothes and feeds even the simplest creatures of creation. When we understand God's providence, we will no longer be controlled by the survival instinct, but reconfigured by the grace and love offered by the providing Father.  

10-Lack of faith and religiosity

Jesus' message attempts to bring our conscious and unconscious impulses back into alignment with God's will, our original design. This is why faith and religion are so important in the life of man. Just as we yield to the pathology of evil, let us always remember what Luke 17:20 says: "At that time, to some Pharisees who asked him when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, 'The kingdom of God will not come spectacularly, nor will you proclaim that it is here or there; for behold, the kingdom of God is within you'".

How do we overcome the pathology of evil? 

1Assuming His divine nature

Making conscious efforts to make changes to carnal, destructive and enslaving behavior patterns in order to dimension ourselves through life as authentic children of God accompanied by His grace, manifesting life testimonies of people who are seeking self-control and holiness. 

Romans 8:29-30: "For whom God foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren; and those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified, he also glorified." 

2 Peter 1:4-7: He has granted us the greatest and most precious thing that can be offered: you become partakers of the divine nature, escaping the corruption that in this world goes hand in hand with desire. Therefore, make every effort to increase your faith with steadfastness, steadfastness with knowledge, knowledge with the mastery of instincts, mastery of instincts with steadfastness, steadfastness with piety, piety with brotherly love and brotherly love with charity. 

2Transforming ourselves with spiritual weapons

Conversion is more than a change in behavior: is the equivalent of a new birth, making resolutions of amendment that lead to a firm resolve to fight hard not to err again. The true conversion that is achieved with sincere repentance and the grace of God implies a radical transformation of ways of thinking and acting: to clothe the soul with a new essence. To achieve this we will sometimes have to face human battles and spiritual battles. With the help of spiritual weapons, we will fight those battles. 

John 3:4-6: "Can he enter into his mother's womb and be born again? Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit". 

Ephesians 6:13-17: "Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Therefore stand firm, having girded your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation for preaching the gospel of peace." 

3Cutting and uprooting 

Matthew 18, 8 says: "If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame, than having two hands and two feet, to be cast into eternal fire". 

Evil approaches our lives with violent plans. We must respond with decisive and assertive decisions to stop it in time, without ambivalence and with great determination. Old bitterness or old resentments continue to ferment and foment more conflicts. Through counseling, reconciliation dialogues, the sacrament of confession, prayer, retreats and intense processes of inner healing, the cracks and doors that were left open by the traumas of the past, like wounds that never healed, can be closed. 

4Arming ourselves with gifts

Of courage, resilience, discernment, awareness of error, gift of knowledge and gifts of detachment, to choose to get rid of the erroneously acquired and exchange it for the pearl of greater value. 

Luke 19:8: "Zacchaeus He said resolutely to Jesus, 'Lord, I will give half of my goods to the poor, and whoever I have unjustly exacted from you, I will repay four times as much. 

3- Modeling the teachings of love and mercy of the Gospel 

Jesus' teachings are full of exhortations to mercy. Even in the Lord's Prayer, Jesus makes it clear that if we do not forgive those who offend us, we have no spiritual legitimacy to ask God's forgiveness. Some great examples of mercy are in: 

- Luke 10, 25-37, in the procedure of the Good Samaritan.  

- Matthew 18, 22, in the unconditional forgiveness of the 70 times 7.

- Matthew 5, 6 and 7, living under the creed and moral codes manual, healthy life proposals spelled out in the Sermon on the Mount.  

Let us also remember that forgiveness is a contract of amendment. For there to be conviction of error, the act of forgiveness must be accompanied by an understanding of the scope of the harm. 

4- To teach the new generations the faith and unbreakable moral codes. 

Psalm 90:1: "Lord, you have been a refuge for us from generation to generation."

Psalm 145:5: "From generation to generation your deeds are celebrated, your exploits are recounted." 

There are irreplaceable values for the formation of healthy communities: love and respect for life, family, fear of God, charity, social responsibility, among others. But besides teaching values, we must accompany our children to have a personal relationship with God and a spiritual encounter of genuine conversion. After receiving the sacraments of baptism and confirmation, many children will not have the opportunity to continue growing in faith if they do not have the moral and spiritual formation that their parents should provide.  

5- Announcing the good and denouncing evil 

Evil must be faced with courage and rightness, even if it implies sacrifices and renunciations; this is what it means to be prophets for these times. 

Jeremiah 1:8-10: "Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you," says Yahweh. Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth, saying to me, 'At this time I put my words in your mouth. This day I charge you with peoples and nations: You shall uproot and tear down, you shall destroy and destroy, you shall build and plant.'"

To unmask deceit, rapacious wolves, lies under the guise of truth, even if it means losing admiration and human prestige, is what we, the children of truth, are called to do. 

In conclusion: We have to activate all the spiritual gifts and instincts that will help us to subdue our human vulnerabilities. By enabling the most sublime gifts that are all under our possibilities, we will overcome the pathology of evil with the healthy and beneficial of the spiritual nature that faith, conversion and baptisms of grace that produce real changes.  

Ephesians 4:23: "Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes".

The authorMartha Reyes 

PhD in Psychology

The Vatican

What a pilgrim should know (before arriving in Rome, and after arrival)

Although the Jubilee 2025 will take place in the various local Churches, the city of Rome will be the nerve center of this year of grace in which pilgrims, individuals or groups, will have at their disposal a series of aids to make the most of the Roman days.

Omnes-January 2, 2025-Reading time: 3 minutes


Reception pointPilgrim Center / Pellegrini Center 

The Pilgrims' Center - Information Point is the point of reference for pilgrims and tourists who wish to be informed about the upcoming Jubilee of 2025. The designated premises are located in Via della Conciliazione, 7 and are open from Monday to Sunday, from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm. 

At the Pilgrims' Center you will receive the main information on how to participate in the pilgrimage to the Holy Door and in the events that are being prepared, as well as on the volunteer service.

Basic information is provided on the Jubilee and on the routes within Rome, such as the Pilgrimage of the Seven Churches, the itinerary of the Women Doctors and Patronesses of Europe and the itinerary of the European Churches. A team of operators is always available at the Info Point facilities.

The Pellegrini Center will be responsible for welcoming those arriving in Rome, will be the center for managing reservations and access, and will be a point of reference for pilgrims and volunteers in case of any eventuality.


Getting around RomePilgrim Card

It is a free and nominal digital card, necessary to participate in the Jubilee events and to organize your pilgrimage to the Holy Door.

It will also give access to discounts on transportation, accommodation, restaurants, mobility and cultural events.

The card can be purchased only and exclusively by registering on the registration portal, which can be accessed through the following web site https://register.iubilaeum2025.va/login or through the official Jubilee application. 

After entering their data, pilgrims receive a QR code for personal identification and an account in the app.


EventsHow do I register? for events?

After necessarily obtaining the Pilgrim Card and logging in with your account from the site or app, you will be able to register for the pilgrimage to St. Peter's Holy Door and for all the main Jubilee events. 

This registration tool allows for the orderly organization of access, both to the Holy Door of St. Peter's and to the main events for which a large number of pilgrims are expected. 

The portal allows you to register individually or in groups, report any disability, modify or cancel reservations, and manage the time, day and month of the pilgrimage.

Portal services to register: https://register.iubilaeum2025.va/home


Gr groups - Special visa for pilgrimages organized by dioceses or local Churches 

A special "Tourism-Jubilee" visa is available exclusively for those participating in pilgrimages to Rome organized by the local Churches, or by a community belonging to the diocese.

The Visa Center of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and the Dicastery for Evangelization (DPE) have agreed on a Modus Procedendi that can facilitate the issuance of entry visas to Italy for the faithful who wish to go on pilgrimage to Rome and other holy places in Italy.

The form and practical instructions can be found at this web address:

https://www.iubilaeum2025.va/es/pellegrinaggio/visto-pellegrini.html

It is important to know that:

There must be a local Responsible appointed by the Ordinary of the diocese, who fills out the list of participating pilgrims using the form that can be downloaded from the above-mentioned website, and becomes the guarantor before the Italian Government, and submits it to the competent Embassy or Consulate for the application for the visa. 

For further information, please consult the portal Il Visto per l'Italia, made available by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation at the following address: https://vistoperitalia.esteri.it/home/en - type of view: Tourism.

The functions of the local responsible person are indicated on the web site. The e-mail address to which the copy of the list should be sent is [email protected]

It is advisable to submit the list at least 40 days before the planned departure of the pilgrimage. It is still possible for any citizen who requires a visa to apply for his or her own visa to enter Italy without the need to use this procedure.

The Vatican

Four milestones of Francis' pontificate in 2024

Pope Francis concludes 2024 with key milestones: the encyclical Dilexit NosHe also participated in trips to Asia and Europe, the closing of the Synod of Synodality, and the beginning of the Jubilee of Hope, in spite of his delicate health.

Maria Candela Temes-January 1, 2025-Reading time: 4 minutes

In a Basilica of St. Peter resplendent after the restoration works of the Baldachin and Bernini's chair, Pope Francis said goodbye yesterday afternoon to the year 2024, accompanied by thousands of faithful, with the recitation of Vespers -prayer proper of the Liturgy of the Hours- and the singing of the Te Deum in thanksgiving. 

It is understandable that the Roman Pontiff looks back on the year that has just ended with gratitude, because given the decline in his health that he suffered throughout 2023, more than one would have described some of the milestones he has reached in the last twelve months as improbable. 

The Pope's health

The year 2024 began as a big question mark. Last February, a strong flu caused Francis respiratory problems and he went to the Gemelli Hospital on the Tiber Island to undergo a CAT scan to rule out possible pneumonia. This ailment was prolonged, preventing him in March, during Holy Week, from delivering the Palm Sunday homily and attending the annual appointment at the Colosseum for the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday. In the liturgical ceremonies of the last few days we have been able to see that, although he is trying to take care of himself, his voice is breaking and the discomfort is still not resolved. 

The intense pain he suffers in his knee has also continued -for years he has been suffering from cartilage deterioration and arthrosis-, so that seeing the Pope being carried from one side to the other in a wheelchair has become a common sight. In any case, Peter's successor has not lost his porteño humor. When asked about a bruise that recently appeared on the right side of his face, he amusedly commented -after the December 7 consistory in which he named 21 new cardinals- that it was due to a punch thrown by a bishop whom he had not wanted to name a cardinal. In reality the bruise was the result of accidentally hitting his chin on the bedside table.

Writings, travels, the synod and the jubilee

If we have learned anything in these 11 years of his pontificate, it is that Francis is the Pope of surprises. Drawing strength from an iron will and with a lucidity that is surprising for a man of 88 years of age -let us not forget that he is the third longest-lived Pontiff in the history of the Church-, he has continued to guide the Church and has given us important moments. Among so many others, here are four of them:

1- Document Dignitas Infinita and the encyclical Dilexit Nos

On April 8, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith - headed by Argentine Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández - issued the Declaration Dignitas Infinita on human dignity, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the UN. Among other issues present in the public opinion, the Church declares in this document the sex change and surrogate motherhood as contrary to the dignity of the person. 

October saw the release of the Encyclical Dilexit Nos on the human and divine love of the Heart of Jesus Christ. Francis wanted to revitalize devotion to the Sacred Heart, which has become the missing piece in a pontificate centered on mercy, the crowning of the Year of Prayer and the best precedent for the Jubilee of Hope.

2- The trip to Southeast Asia and to Luxembourg and Belgium

September was the month of travels, with two very different journeys. On the one hand, the Pope made an apostolic visit from the 2nd to the 13th to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. As he remarked during an audience on the Wednesday following his return, he thanked God for having been able to "do as an elderly Pope" what he "would have liked to do as a young Jesuit", that is, to be a missionary in Asia and preach the Gospel there. 

Just two weeks later, from the 23rd to the 26th, he landed in Luxembourg and Belgium, two countries of ancient Christian tradition where the phenomenon of secularization is growing. The media described this trip as difficult, as the Pope had to face accusations of child abuse within the Church. In addition, after his visit to the Catholic University of Louvain, the academic center published a communiqué expressing "its incomprehension and disapproval of the position expressed by Pope Francis on the place of women in the Church and in society" on the occasion of the speech he gave there.

3- Closing of the Synod of Synodality

After four years of work and a profound process of listening, prayer and sharing, the so-called Synod of Synodality came to an end in 2024 with the concluding assembly in October, at the end of which the Final document. This document called for greater participation of the laity in the life and structure of the Church, as well as greater transparency and accountability. The Pope ordered its publication as if it were a document of his own magisterium and asked the universal Church to put it into practice. 

Dozens of lay men and women, priests and nuns participated in this synod as voting members, although Francis made it clear that it is not a "parliamentary assembly" with various factions, but an effort to understand the history, dreams and hopes of "brothers and sisters scattered throughout the world, inspired by the same faith, moved by the same desire for holiness".

4- Beginning of the Jubilee Year of Hope

The beginning of the Jubilee, with the motto "Pilgrims of Hope", was the great event with which Francis crowned the year that has just ended. The Pontiff celebrated the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica on the evening of December 24. He then celebrated Mass on Christmas Eve. He concluded his homily with these words: "Sister, brother, on this night the holy door of God's heart opens for you. Jesus, God with us, is born for you, for me, for us, for every man and woman. And, you know, with Him joy blooms, with Him life changes, with Him hope does not disappoint."

Two days later, on the 26th, he wanted to be present at the extraordinary opening of a Holy Door in the Rebibbia prison, the largest penitentiary center in Italy, located on the outskirts of Rome. The Pope opened the second Holy Door of the Jubilee 2025 in the presence of some 300 people, including inmates, their families, directors and prison staff. This year of indulgence and forgiveness for the whole Church will last until January 6, 2026. 

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The World

Paula Aguiló: "In Ukraine they face Christmas in a surprisingly hopeful way".

After her seventh trip to Ukraine, Paula highlights the faith and hope of believers in the midst of war. During her mission, she toured orphanages, shelters and religious communities, bringing humanitarian and spiritual aid in extreme conditions.

Javier García Herrería-January 1, 2025-Reading time: 3 minutes

Paula Aguiló (@misionucraniaesp) has completed her seventh trip to Ukraine with the aim of bringing humanitarian aid. On this occasion, the 26-year-old from Madrid traveled with her friend Marta, covering a large part of the country between November 1 and December 5. She finances her travels by soliciting donations from acquaintances, relatives and anyone willing to help. During her stay, she focuses on supporting Catholic and Orthodox communities facing increasing hardship and attrition.

Today, January 1st, World Day of PeaceWe take a closer look at the war in Ukraine, so often mentioned by the Pope in his prayers, to learn more about how it affects believers. 

How do the believing population in Ukraine cope with Christmas?

- In a surprisingly hopeful way. People, even in the midst of such a harsh reality, are abstracted to focus on the mystery of Christ's birth. It is a faith-filled celebration that does not take away the pain, but allows them to experience a powerful spiritual connection, even with suffering increasing every day from the loss of loved ones and the hardships of war.

How many places did you visit during this last mission?

- I was in four orphanages, three religious communities and two houses of mercy. We also spent time in makeshift shelters, such as parishes that have become care centers for mothers and children. Of course, we also visited many people in their homes. Finally, I worked near the front with friends who are dedicated to collecting bodies of soldiers and civilians to return them to their families.

On this occasion you were accompanied by Marta. Where do you find people to accompany you in such crazy projects?

- Well, I guess God puts people in my way (laughs). I was living in the Holy Land for two months to get to know and pray in the land of Jesus. There I met Marta, another Spanish girl, who was also on pilgrimage there. Friendship and prayer did the rest and, in fact, she accompanied me a few months ago in the VI mission to Ukraine.

What impacted you the most in this seventh mission?

- The emotional exhaustion of the people and the cruelty of war strategies, such as attacks on electrical infrastructures in the middle of winter, leaving the population in extreme conditions. I was also impressed by the perseverance of faith and hope in the midst of all this.

Who are the people who have marked you the most? Who do you remember when you close your eyes?

- I think a lot about Oressa, an elderly woman in a nursing home with whom I communicate without words (we don't have a common language). I also think of the children in the orphanages and of my friends who are still working at the front under very hard circumstances.

How does this work affect you personally?

- The return is always hard. It takes me time to readjust and catch up on my sleep. The mission requires patience with myself and my process. Fortunately, I spent Christmas with my family and now I have time to pray calmly. 

How do you live your spirituality during these missions?

- Faith is the reason for our work. Marta and I pray together when we can, although sometimes circumstances do not allow it. Prayer times and the rosary are daily and we are almost always able to attend mass. 

On the other hand, we always try to make the church a meeting point for the people we serve, even if the parish is bombed out or has been closed for years. We give the material from there and remind everyone that everything we do is thanks to God.

Any Church institution that you would highlight for its work there?

- The ones I deal with the most are the Sisters of the Incarnate Wordwho do an admirable job. Now, not to understand this recognition as something exclusive, it is a sample button based on my particular experience. On the other hand, in eastern Ukraine, most communities are Orthodox and have a heroic dedication.

What message would you like to share in closing?

- The mission has taught me the power of hope, even in the most extreme adversity. Anyone can be a beacon of light in the darkness, whether through action, prayer or support for those on the ground. The Jubilee year that has just begun can help us discover this in depth.

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Mother of God!

Science reveals that mothers retain cells from their children throughout their lives, benefiting their health and creating a permanent bond. This microchimerism invites us to reflect on the mystery of Mary as Mother of God and Marian dogmas.

January 1, 2025-Reading time: 4 minutes

If you are a mother, this is of interest to you: living cells of your children remain in your body and their youth protects you from many diseases, including cancer. Your cells also remain in your children all their lives. On this January 1st, solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, this gives much food for thought.

The phenomenon is called microchimerism and, in a recent conference, the Professor Emeritus of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of Malaga, Ignacio Núñez de Castro, pointed out that "these cells of the child will appear in the heart, in the brain or in the mother's blood. They are pluripotent stem cells, whose main mission is to help the mother when she needs them. They are the explanation, continues this scientist, for a fact that "I have been observing for a long time: multiparous women are very long-lived, because they keep the remains of those children. That life they have given has given life to them," he concludes. 

In the face of those who promote the so-called surrogacy, pretending to assimilate a woman's body to an incubator that is rented for nine months, biology shows us what most of us already knew by intuition: the physical relationship of the mother with her children does not end with childbirth, it lasts a lifetime, there is a bond that surpasses any other relationship and remains throughout the years. 

This cellular exchange, Núñez de Castro adds in his paper, which can be searched for at Youtube with the title "Dignity and vulnerability of the embryo".This means that mothers carry inside themselves even part of the children they did not get to know because their pregnancies did not reach full term. In other words, mothers carry within them even part of the children they did not get to know because their pregnancies did not reach full term. Do women who suffer for having miscarried voluntarily or involuntarily know that this child will be forever by their side, helping them to heal their wounds? 

Also on the eighth day, this time since Christmas, we celebrate Mary's feast day as "Mother of God". It is one of the oldest denominations by which the Christian community refers to the Virgin. Although it was not until the 5th century when the Council of Ephesus officially attributed this title to Mary, there is evidence that, at least since the third century, the expression was already in common use in the Church. In this century is dated the oldest papyrus found so far that collects a popular prayer, which still is, and which reads:

Under your protection we take refuge, holy Mother of God;

do not reject the petitions that we address to you in our needs,

but deliver us from all danger,

O ever Virgin, glorious and blessed!

Kristyn Brown of The Saints Project

As on so many other occasions, it was the faith of the simple people that made the hierarchy end up recognizing that truth: that if Christ was God, Mary could not be anything other than the Mother of God and hence her extraordinary exceptionality. The "full of grace", the "blessed among women" was considered by the first Christians as a creature like no other. 

The data now offered to us by science help us to understand in depth that her special relationship with God was not only mystical, nor was it limited to the moment of the angel's greeting, the pregnancy or the first years of the child's life, but that pluripotential cells of Jesus - the second person of the Blessed Trinity as man, the one conceived by the work and grace of the Holy Spirit - lived within her during his entire earthly life. Likewise, cells of Mary (the cellular exchange during gestation is two-way) lived within Jesus during his 33 years of life and accompanied him in his Passion, Death and Resurrection. That "and you, a sword will pierce your soul" takes on an even deeper meaning.

And one last interesting fact pointed out by Professor Núñez de Castro. Microchimerism is not only limited to the exchange of cells between mother and child, but the younger siblings also receive part of those "lost" cells left by the older ones in the maternal body. 

Questions such as: Was it necessary for Mary to be the Mother of God to be preserved from original sin in order to be able, to a certain extent, to merge with the flesh of the Holy of Holies? (Immaculate Conception) Was it necessary for those divine cells that the mother of Jesus harbored not to pass to other subsequent descendants in order to preserve their exceptional nature? (Perpetual Virginity) Would not the resurrection of Jesus and his ascension body and soul to heaven also imply the same destiny for his mother, bearer of the same genetic material? (Assumption). Mother of God, Perpetual Virginity, Immaculate Conception and Assumption of Mary. The four Marian dogmas in intimate relationship. 

At the beginning of this Jubilee Year on the occasion of the 2025th anniversary of the birth of God, I express my amazement at the mystery of life that science is helping us to discover, and also at the mystery of an exceptional woman in the history of humanity. Contemplating with amazement how finely God has spun his incarnation, I can only exclaim today: "Mother of God!

The authorAntonio Moreno

Journalist. Graduate in Communication Sciences and Bachelor in Religious Sciences. He works in the Diocesan Delegation of Media in Malaga. His numerous "threads" on Twitter about faith and daily life have a great popularity.

Pope's teachings

Cardinals, Mary and peace

The words of Pope Francis to the Cardinals in his homily on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and in his message for the World Day of Peace are useful to all the faithful. A new year is beginning and, this time, a Jubilee year! What does it have in store for us and how should we walk in it?

Ramiro Pellitero-January 1, 2025-Reading time: 4 minutes

In his homily during the consistory for the creation of the new cardinals (7-XII-2024), Pope Francis presents the ascent of Jesus to Jerusalem and the attitude of the disciples. "While Jesus travels a grueling uphill road to Calvary, the disciples think of the flat, downhill road of the victorious Messiah.". 

We must not be scandalized, the Pope adds, quoting Manzonibecause "such are the contradictions of the human heart."It is done. But we must be attentive to follow the way of Jesus. 

Following the way of Jesus

This means, first of all,"to return to Him and put Him back at the center of it all". For in both the spiritual and pastoral life, "we always need to return to the center, to recover the foundation, to divest ourselves of what is superfluous in order to clothe ourselves with Christ. (cfr. Rm 13, 14)"

Secondly, it means "cultivating a passion for the encounter", for Jesus never walks alone: "His union with the Father does not isolate him from the vicissitudes and pain of the world.". On the contrary, because he came into the world to heal wounds and lighten the burden of the human heart, to remove the burden of sin and break the chains of slavery. Therefore: "What should animate your service as cardinals is the risk of the journey, the joy of the encounter with others and the care of the most fragile.".  

Third and last, to follow the way of Jesus also means, "to be builders of communion and unity"because that was Jesus' mission.

For this reason, the successor of Peter tells the cardinals, fixing his gaze on them and taking into account their diverse histories and cultures, which represent the catholicity of the Church: "The Lord calls you to be witnesses of fraternity, artisans of communion and builders of unity. This is your mission".

Mary, daughter, mother and wife

In the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary (December 8, 2024), the Pope celebrated Mass with the new cardinals. In his homily, he invited them to focus on three aspects, three dimensions of beauty in Mary's life: as daughter, as bride and as mother.

The Immaculate as a daughter. Although the texts do not tell us about her childhood, they present her to us as a young woman rich in faith, humble and simple. "She is the 'virgin' (cf. Lk 1:27), in whose gaze is reflected the love of the Father and in whose pure heart, gratuitousness and gratitude are the color and perfume of holiness. (...) For Mary's life is a continuous self-giving.".

Companion and servant of God

The second dimension of her beauty is that of a wife, for she is "the one that God chose as a partner for his salvation project" (cfr. Lumen gentium, 61). This also means, Francis points out, that "there is no salvation without women, because the Church is also a woman.". She replied yes, "I am the handmaid of the Lord." (Lc 1, 38). 

"Servant' - Francis observes - not in the sense of 'submissive' and 'humiliated', but as a 'reliable', 'esteemed' person, to whom the Lord entrusts the most precious treasures and the most important missions.". (This, it should be noted, should be characteristic of every Christian, more to the extent of awareness of one's own vocation and mission).

Hence, its beauty reveals "reveals a new aspect: that of the fidelity, loyalty and care that characterize the reciprocal love of spouses.". This is how St. John Paul II sees it when he writes that the Immaculate "has accepted the election as Mother of the Son of God, guided by spousal love, which 'consecrates' a human person totally to God." (Encyclical Redemptoris Mater, 39) (Attention, because Francis is describing the substance of spousal love).

And finally, the third dimension of beauty, that of mother. In fact, we always represent her alongside her children in the various circumstances of her life. "Here the Immaculate is beautiful in her fruitfulness, that is, in her knowing how to die in order to give life, in her forgetting herself to take care of those who, small and defenseless, cling to her.". (This is undoubtedly a vocation to motherhood, including the so-called "spiritual motherhood").

Real, achievable and concrete model

However," the successor of Peter points out, "there is a risk that we may consider Mary's beauty as something distant, too lofty, unattainable. 

But Mary is a real, attainable and concrete model. And in fact, we receive that beauty in seed with baptism. "And with her we are entrusted with the call to cultivate it, like the Virgin Mary, with filial, spousal and maternal love, grateful in receiving and generous in giving, men and women of 'thank you' and 'yes', said with words, but above all with life.". 

Three proposals of the Pope for the Jubilee Year

The message for the 2025 World Day of Peace ("Forgive us our trespasses, grant us peace.") is part of the ordinary Jubilee that has just begun. It has four parts.

First of all, we are invited to situate ourselves "listening to the cry of threatened humanity"(John Paul II spoke of the "structures of sin" (Encyclical Letter Sollicitudo rei socialis, 36). It is convenient that "all, together and personally, we feel called to break the chains of injustice and, thus, proclaim God's justice" (n. 4).

The second part asks "A cultural change: we are all debtors". "The cultural and structural change to overcome this crisis will come about when we finally recognize that we are all children of the Father and, before Him, confess that we are all debtors, but also all necessary, necessary to one another." (n. 8). 

Third, Francis makes three concrete proposals: 1)"a notable reduction, if not a total cancellation, of the international debt burdening the destiny of many nations"(John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Tertio millennio ineunte, 51); 2) "the elimination of the death penalty in all countries of the world.s" (cfr. Bull Spes non confunditfor the 2025 Jubilee, 10); and 3) "The Jubilee of 2025, 10)".the establishment of a world fund to eliminate hunger once and for all"and facilitate sustainable development in the poorest countries, in contrast to climate change (cfr. Fratelli tutti262 and other recent interventions of the Pope). 

The last part is entitled "The goal of peace". This involves a profound and practical change of attitudes at the personal and social level, a "disarmament of the heart" (John XXIII)."Sometimes, something simple is enough, such as 'a smile, a gesture of friendship, a brotherly look, a sincere listening, a free service'" (n. 14 of the message; cf. Spes non confundit, 18). For, "in effect, peace is not achieved only with the end of war, but with the beginning of a new world, a world in which we discover ourselves different, more united and more brothers and sisters than we had imagined.". 

A duty for today's Church

The Church today has two fundamental issues on the table: the first is the imperative need for an adult, serious and responsible personal formation.

January 1, 2025-Reading time: 2 minutes

There is no real awareness of the danger of sects. This affirmation of the expert in this terrible reality, Luis Santamaría, defines, with crude sincerity, a situation that cries out for a renewed commitment to training at all levels to prevent the expansion of pseudo-religious groups. 

From time to time, it is true, and often due to lurid news, society becomes aware, temporarily, of what it means to enter the hell disguised as salvation that are the sects. 

Our society, we cannot deny it, cries out in silence for God and, at the same time, avoids finding him by falling into the nets of esoteric practicesThe current fragility and lack of frontiers of the Internet have provided a fruitful breeding ground for spiritualist currents and destructive sects. 

The Church today has two fundamental issues on the table: the first is the imperative need for an adult, serious and responsible personal formation. 

The faith received is not enough if it is not cared for. "Many people, even having grown up in a Christian environment, resort to techniques and methods of meditation and prayer that have their origin in religious traditions alien to Christianity and the rich spiritual patrimony of the Church. In some cases this is accompanied by the effective abandonment of the Catholic faith, even unintentionally." the Spanish bishops recalled in their doctrinal note on Christian prayer My soul thirsts for the living God, published in 2019. 

Rediscovering the unfathomable richness of the Catholic faith, of the liturgy and especially of the various forms of prayer that have made saints across centuries and cultures remains a challenge for every Catholic. 

Along with this return to the roots of our faith, to this personal relationship with the living Christ, the Church must return today, as in the first centuries, to the first proclamation. A mission that sows in a strange land and that, especially in the West, continues to fill the mouth more than ecclesial actions and projects. 

After a year dedicated to prayer and at the dawn of a new universal Jubilee, these two axes may well be the guides for renewed personal and community missionary action. 

We too will have to begin the conversation with those Samaritans of life who seek, without knowing it, the true source of living water, even though their steps are burned by the errant paths of empty spiritualities that wound body and soul. 

For the cure, the true quenching of the thirst of the soul, comes only from Christ and through Him.

The authorOmnes

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Evangelization

Saint Sylvester I, the Pope of the Constantinian era

St. Sylvester, whose feast day is today, December 31, was the first Pope of the Church who did not have to hide in the catacombs. His collaboration with Emperor Constantine in the 4th century brought about the transition from pagan Rome to Christian Rome. Saint Melania is also celebrated today.  

Francisco Otamendi-December 31, 2024-Reading time: < 1 minute

In 313, during the papacy of the African Melchiades, the emperors Constantine (West) and Licinius (East) granted freedom of worship and tolerance to Christians with what was called the Edict of Milan. The following year, Sylvester, a Roman priest, was elected pope, leading the time of pagan Rome to the Christian Romeand assisted in the construction of the great Constantinian basilicas.

Pope Sylvester coincided for many years with Emperor Constantine, whose edict marked the emergence of the concept of religious freedom, it has been stressed. The Wild Potato suggested to Constantine the foundation of St. Peter's Basilica on the Vatican hill, on the tomb of the apostle. Thanks to this collaboration between Constantine and Pope Sylvester, the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls also came into being.

San Silvestre contributed to the development of the liturgy, and changed the names of the days of the week that recall pagan divinities, leaving only Saturday and Sunday, and calling the other days "fairs". It is possible that during his papacy the first Roman martyrology was written. His body was buried in Rome, in the cemetery of Priscilla (335).

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

The World

Religious practice in Auschwitz: the faith the gas chambers could not kill

Although the vast majority of those interned in Auschwitz were Jews, there were also a significant number of Catholics, mainly Poles. Many of them managed to practice their faith in hiding, leaving testimonies that reveal the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

José M. García Pelegrín-December 31, 2024-Reading time: 5 minutes

Auschwitz, the German name for the Polish town of Oświęcim, has become the most recognizable symbol of the National Socialist genocide (Holocaust/Shoa). In the complex comprising the main camp, Auschwitz I, and the Auschwitz II-Birkenau extermination camp, located three kilometers from the original, approximately 1.1 million people were murdered.

Of the total of more than 5.6 million victims of the Holocaust, one million Jews lost their lives here. The camp was liberated by Red Army troops on January 27, 1945.

However, not only Jews were interned in Auschwitz, but also Gypsies, homosexuals and Poles, many of them intellectuals, including numerous clergymen. Between 1940 and 1945, at least 464 priests, seminarians and religious, as well as 35 nuns, were deported to Auschwitz from Poland and other countries of occupied Europe: France, the Czech Republic, Austria, the Netherlands and Germany. Most of them lost their lives in Auschwitz and in other camps to which they were later transferred.

In September 1940, following the intervention of the Apostolic Nuncio in Berlin, Monsignor Cesare Orsenigo, with the National Socialist government, there was a certain concentration of clergy in the Dachau camp.

Of the 2,720 interned clergy, 1,780 were Poles, and 868 of them perished in the camp. This does not mean that clergy were no longer sent to Auschwitz; deportations continued in the years that followed, as is confirmed by the accounts of the internees and surviving documents.

Documents on religious life

In the concentration camps, under the direction of the SS - a particularly anti-Christian organization within the pagan Nazi regime - any religious activity was strictly forbidden, and the possession of objects of worship was punished with extreme severity. However, these prohibitions did not succeed in preventing the celebration of acts of worship and the administration of sacraments; the official website of the "Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum"documents numerous testimonies in this regard, supported by their corresponding sources.

It is a documented fact that, especially in Dachau, where a considerable number of priests were concentrated in the so-called "priests' barracks 25487", clandestine masses were celebrated. For these celebrations, hosts and sacramental wine were used, which were secretly brought in by civilian workers. In this camp, Karl Leisner was even ordained to the priesthood on December 17, 1944. 

Confessions in Auschwitz

Confessions were also frequently made in the concentration camps. Inmates recalled the profound relief and comfort they experienced after confessing, although they had to do so discreetly. Karol Świętorzecki, prisoner number 5360, described his confession in Auschwitz: "In the late autumn of 1940, I confessed to a priest after being transferred to Block No. 2. Later I found out that in the neighboring block, No. 3, there was a Jesuit priest. I found him and asked him to hear my confession, which happened after the evening roll call, next to the wall of block No. 3. The priest asked me if I could communicate something to his superior at the Jesuit monastery in Warsaw, in case I was released from the camp. I complied with his request.

When the priests were transferred from Auschwitz to Dachau, "the farewells and confessions were endless," according to the testimony of Jesuit Father Adam Kozłowiecki. Another inmate, Władysław Lewkowicz, recounts having confessed to Fr. Maximilian Kolbe. In addition to giving confessions, priests distributed communion to inmates who requested it. On some occasions, the SS discovered these practices, and the punishment consisted of 25 lashes, as Paweł Brożek testified.

In Auschwitz, children born in the camp were also baptized, as some of the women arrived pregnant. These babies had little chance of survival. In such circumstances, the camp midwives baptized the newborns with their mothers' permission.

Maria Slisz-Oyrzyńska, prisoner number 40275, recounts one of these christenings: "On the night of December 5-6, 1943, the first child was born in our block 17. The mother was a Polish woman from Sosnowiec. She gave birth to a boy, and the delivery was assisted by Stanisława Leszczyńska, a midwife from Łódź. When the child was born, she said to me, 'and now let's baptize him.' I was his godmother, the first godchild in my life; the mother wanted him to be baptized with the name Adam. Uttering the right words, Stanisława Leszczyńska baptized little Adam." Another witness recalls that, as the front was approaching, Mrs. Leszczyńska "suddenly came running and said that she had to have all the children who had not yet been baptized brought to her, to baptize them."

In Auschwitz, surprisingly, some marriages were also celebrated. Anna Kowalczykowa recalls a celebration of this sacrament: "When I left the 'hospital', I was still weak. However, I returned to my work in the kitchen. I remember that one day the capo Zofia Hubert burst into the kitchen and said: 'Come: Irka Bereziuk... is getting married'. We went out. Irka was standing by the fence that separated the men's camp from the women's camp, and on the other side were Mietek Pronobis and another prisoner, who was a priest. Irka and Mietek were holding hands through the barbed wire, and the prisoner standing next to Mietek was blessing them."

In addition to the sacraments administered, groups dedicated to communal prayer were formed in Auschwitz. Sylwia Gross testifies: "In May 1944, I organized May devotions in praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary in my hospital block. One of the convalescents drew a figure of the Virgin Mary on white cardboard and I placed on her head a crown of white roses that I had made from tissue paper. I placed my rosary in the shape of a heart near the picture. Next to this temporary chapel, we sang the songs of May".

Facing death

Maria Slisz-Oyrzyńska also recorded the collective prayers of the inmates in the rosary, the frequent prayers for the dying and a cross owned by one of the inmates: "When October came, we prayed the rosary in the evenings. When a Polish woman was dying, we would say the prayer for the dying. One night, in November 1943, there was a Polish nun dying in one of the bunks; I don't know by what miracle she had a cross, which she held in her hand. She was consciously praying with us the prayer for the dying. I admired his courage and peace at that moment. There was a Yugoslav woman dying on the next bunk and around her there were also Yugoslav women standing praying in their language.

Some clergymen from parishes near Auschwitz became actively involved in the care of the internees. Although the commandant, Rudolf Höss, refused the request of the Bishop of Krakow, Cardinal Adam Sapieha, to celebrate Mass at Christmas, arguing that it violated camp regulations, the priest Władysław Grohs, arrested for clandestine activities and imprisoned in Auschwitz, emphasized the great commitment of clergy from Auschwitz and nearby parishes in assisting the internees, providing them with food, liturgical vessels and the necessary species to celebrate Mass. To coordinate these activities, a clandestine Committee for Aid to Political Prisoners in the Auschwitz Camp was established, chaired honorarily by Canon Jan Skarbek, who extended its work to other parishes, encouraging clergy and parishioners to offer their help.

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The Vatican

Martínez Camino: "The seal of Benedict XVI's pontificate could be 'If you want freedom and love, welcome and adore the Truth'".

Bishop Juan Antonio Martínez Camino recalls the spiritual and human legacy of Benedict XVI, highlighting his profound theological teaching, his personal closeness and his impact on the Church in Spain.

Maria José Atienza-December 31, 2024-Reading time: 4 minutes

Today marks the second anniversary of the death of Benedict XVIa key figure in the recent history of the Church. The auxiliary bishop of Madrid, Bishop Juan Antonio Martínez Camino, who had the opportunity to meet him during his visits to Spain, shares in this interview a close and enriching perspective on the Pope Emeritus.

From his personal memories to the impact of his spiritual and theological legacy on the Church in Spain, Bishop Martínez Camino reflects on the depth of his teaching, his human charism and the unforgettable moments he lived with him.

Two years ago Benedict XVI passed away. For you, who knew and treated him, what did his death mean to you? 

- The death of a person whom one loves and to whom one owes much is always a spiritual blow. That was the case when I received the news that Benedict XVI had died. I had not had much personal contact with him, but I appreciated him and I appreciate him very much. His discernment of the dramatic situation of the post-conciliar Church was a great help to me.

I remember that in January 1985, on the train back to Frankfurt, I read his "Report on Faith" in one sitting. That was one of those readings that marked my life. I have since read a good part of his extensive theological work; and Deus caritas est and, above all, Spe salvitwo unforgettable encyclicals. Then came the surprise of being named bishop by him. 

You were involved in two major events in Spain in which you participated. Benedict XVIHow did the Holy Father experience those moments? What would he highlight from those days? 

- In Valencia I had the good fortune, as Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference, to be among those who received him at the Manises airport. He came happy and, as always, very attentive to people and details.

In Madrid, I was not only able to be at Barajas to welcome him, but also to share a meal offered by the host of WYD, Cardinal Rouco, to the Pope, his companions and the bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Madrid and the Executive Committee of the Episcopal Conference. We were twenty-four people, including the Pope. The atmosphere was serene and familiar, but at the same time solemn and unique.

The next day, the summer thunderstorm that surprised us during the Cuatro Vientos VigilIt was the perfect occasion to highlight the spiritual peace that Benedict XVI carried in his soul, in the midst of all the gales. 

You also personally attended Benedict XVI in his visits to Spain. What was Benedict XVI like in his close relationship, what anecdotes or personal facts do you remember from those days? 

- I had the opportunity to deal with it more closely in 1993, when Cardinal Ratzinger came to close a Theology Course on the then recently published "....Catechism of the Catholic Church". It was one of the summer courses of the Complutense University, in El Escorial. I went to pick him up at Barajas. I don't remember why, we talked about Toledo and he told me he had never been there. I proposed him to stay one more day and accompany him to the City of the Tagus. He accepted.

At the end of the course, we went in my small car to Toledo. Olegario González de Cardedal and Josef Klemens, Ratzinger's secretary, were also there. Archbishop Marcelo, whom I had warned by telephone of the illustrious visit, was delighted to welcome us for lunch. After a spectacular concluding toast, Cardinal de Toledo offered a room for a siesta. Cardinal Ratzinger looked at the clock, thanked us for the gesture and told us that we had better continue enjoying Toledo. It was three o'clock in the afternoon on July 10! At that hour, there were no birds in the streets... He liked Spain very much and he liked not to waste time.

Don Marcelo presents a gift to Cardinal Ratzinger, at the end of the lunch on July 10, 1993, in Toledo. Martínez Camino, third from the left.

How did Benedict XVI see the Church in Spain? What did those two great meetings mean for the Church in Spain? 

- Ratzinger was an extraordinarily learned man and a theologian of exceptional stature. He deeply appreciated the role played by Spain in the living Tradition of the Church. It can be easily verified just by reading his great book "Jesus of Nazareth", where he recognizes how great Spanish saints are a special presence of Christ and his Spirit not only in the past, but in the present and future of the Church. He mentions, in this order Teresa of AvilaJuan de la Cruz, Ignatius of Loyola and Francisco Javier, among others.  

The two events to which you refer, as well as your pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela and the consecration of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelonaare for the Church in Spain a perennial call to holiness and evangelization, which he considers inseparable.  

The phrase "Do not be afraid" marked the pontificate of John Paul II. In your opinion, what would you say was the hallmark of Joseph Ratzinger's pontificate? 

- Responding to his challenge, I would venture to express the hallmark of Benedict XVI's pontificate in this other phrase: "If you want freedom and love, welcome and adore the Truth".

Convent of Santo Domingo, tomb of El Greco, Toledo, July 10, 1993. The interviewee, second from the left.
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Benedict XVI. Time to respond

Benedict XVI marked my youth with his simplicity and his teachings, especially through "Deus caritas est", where he showed a closer face of God.

December 31, 2024-Reading time: 2 minutes

My first World Youth Day was that of Paris. The coldness that the French capital seemed to show before the multitudinous meeting of a Catholic pontiff with thousands of young people was an almost paradoxical contrast to the warmth that the sun gave to the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims with warm hearts. There I met a dedicated John Paul II, as I would later see in Rome and Madrid... My last WYD was the one in Madrid, for which I had been working as a volunteer for a year before.

If John Paul II was the Pope of my early youth, Benedict XVI was the Pope of my mature youth. The German Pope, without knowing it, knew how to pick up my vital bewilderment and transform it into a path towards God, especially through "Deus Caritas est"This "circular" encyclical taught me that love proceeds from God and is directed to God, and made me see Christ with a human heart as no one had ever seen him before.

Madrid 2011 was also the last World Youth Day of Pope Ratzinger. That day in which a storm succeeded sweltering heat seemed to sum up the life of every Christian. "God loves us. This is the great truth of our life and it gives meaning to everything else," Pope then repeated.

There, in that airfield of Cuatro Vientos, kneeling, while the water fell through the hats of the kit, while the praying silence was more thunderous than the lightning, there I realized that the God who looked from the custody of Toledo "was"; that He was there, next to the old man who, absorbed, contemplated Him, as if He were alone, in a secluded chapel.

When, two years ago, we had breakfast with the news of the Benedict XVI's march to heavenThe memory that kept recurring in my mind was that of that adoration on the mud, of so many lives, like mine, that without much fuss, found their meaning in those days. That is why December 31, for the last two years, has for me an additional connotation to the end of the year and it is that of the beginning of a new stage, that of realizing that certainty of a living God whom I saw in an airfield next to the Pope of Love.

The authorMaria José Atienza

Director of Omnes. Degree in Communication, with more than 15 years of experience in Church communication. She has collaborated in media such as COPE or RNE.

The Vatican

Pope opens Holy Door in a Roman jail

Rome Reports-December 30, 2024-Reading time: < 1 minute
rome reports88

Unlike the beginning of the Jubilee at the Vatican, the 88-year-old pontiff showed a more dynamic attitude, leaving aside his wheelchair for this special occasion. During his visit, Francis addressed a message of hope to the inmates.

Francis indicated that "closed hearts, hard hearts, do not help us to live. Therefore, the grace of a Jubilee is to break, to open... and, above all, to open hearts to hope".

In addition to solemnly inaugurating the Jubilee, the Pope wanted to highlight a worrying social wound: the crisis in prisons. In Italy, in 2024 alone, about 90 people deprived of their freedom took their own lives before this visit, a problem exacerbated by overcrowding and the lack of adequate staff to care for inmates.


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The World

13 missionaries killed in 2024, according to Vatican report

13 Catholic missionaries and pastoral agents were killed in Africa, America and Europe, highlighting the sacrifice of those who serve in contexts of violence and injustice.

Javier García Herrería-December 30, 2024-Reading time: 3 minutes

The Vatican-linked Fides News Agency has presented its annual report on missionaries and pastoral workers killed around the world. This year, 13 Catholics have lost their lives violently, including eight priests and five lay people, mainly in Africa and America, the continents most affected.

Figures from other reports, both from Catholic and secular institutions, coincide in pointing out that, in the last decade, more than 3,500 Christians lose their lives every year because of their faith. This is possibly one of the most unnoticed tragedies.

Figures for the last decades

From 2000 to 2024, 608 missionaries and pastoral agents have been killed, according to Fides data. In 2024, Africa leads this tragic statistic with six victims, America records five murders and Europe, two. The stories of their lives reflect their dedication to Christ and to others, often in environments marked by conflict, inequality and danger.

According to information compiled by Agenzia Fides, during the decade 1980-1989, 115 missionaries died violent deaths, although this figure is probably lower than the actual number, since it is based only on confirmed cases. In the period 1990-2000, the figure rose dramatically to 604, partly due to the Rwandan genocide, which left at least 248 victims among church personnel. In 1994, 274 pastoral agents were recorded as killed, adding up to 248 victims in Rwanda (including 3 bishops, 103 priests and 112 religious) and 26 in other countries. Between 2001 and 2022, the total number of pastoral workers killed reached 544.

Africa: a region marked by insecurity

In Africa, six murders of pastoral workers were recorded. In Burkina Faso, François Kabore was killed by a group of pastoral workers. jihadist while leading a prayer meeting, and catechist Edouard Zoetyenga Yougbare died in brutal circumstances after being kidnapped.

In Cameroon, Father Christophe Komla Badjougou was the victim of a robbery in Yaoundé, while in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Edmond Bahati Monja, a journalist with Radio Maria, was killed for his investigative work. South Africa saw the murder of two priests: William Banda, killed in Tzaneen Cathedral, and Paul Tatu, shot in Pretoria.

America: assassinations in contexts of inequality and repression

In America, five pastoral agents were murdered. In Colombia, Don Ramón Arturo Montejo was killed during a robbery. In Honduras, Juan Antonio López, a well-known social justice advocate, was murdered after denouncing links between local authorities and organized crime. In Ecuador, Father Fabián Arcos Sevilla was found dead days after his disappearance.

In Mexico, Father Marcelo Pérez Pérez was gunned down in San Cristóbal de las Casas, and in Brazil, Steve Maguerith Chaves do Nascimento was shot dead on his way to mass, a crime that shocked his community.

Europe: a less common scenario, but not free of violence

Although less frequent, Europe also recorded two murders in 2024. In Spain, Franciscan friar Juan Antonio Llorente died after a brutal attack in his monastery, and in Poland, Father Lech Lachowicz died after being assaulted in his rectory. These cases highlight that violence can reach even the most seemingly safe environments.

These missionaries, although not seeking notoriety, have become witnesses of Christian love in the midst of extreme situations. Pope Francis, during the Angelus on September 22, recalled their legacy: "I am close to those who see their fundamental rights trampled upon and to those who work for the common good." Their lives, dedicated to faith and service, are seeds that germinate and bear fruit, showing how the sacrifice of these men and women continues to transform hearts and communities around the world.

Evangelization

Transfer of the remains of the Apostle St. James to Galicia

On December 30, the Church commemorates the transfer of the body of St. James the Apostle from Xaffta (Palestine) to Galicia, after his martyrdom, to be buried in the place where the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela stands today. In addition, St. Felix I, Pope, is celebrated.    

Francisco Otamendi-December 30, 2024-Reading time: < 1 minute

This Monday the traditional National Offering will be made by the Royal Delegate during the Mass of the Feast of the Virgin Mary. Translation (transfer) of the remains of St. James the Apostle in the Cathedral of Santiago, presided over by the Archbishop Monsignor Francisco Prieto. The royal delegate on this occasion will be Miguel Ángel Santalices, president of the Galician Parliament, appointed by King Felipe VI. Santalices served as royal delegate in the Offering to the Apostle on July 25.

The death of St. James the Apostle is the only one of the holy Apostles that the New Testament recounts (Acts of the Apostles); and the oldest reference to the tomb of St. James is by St. Jerome (331/420), as he has written in Omnes the specialist in the History of the Apostle James, Ángel María Leyra Faraldo (+). The Martyrology of Florus of Lyon (between 808 and 838) records "the birth (to Heaven) of the blessed Apostle James, brother of John the Evangelist, beheaded by King Herod in Jerusalem"..

Apostolic catalogs from the 6th to the 8th centuries refer to the transfer of the body of St. James the Apostle. "In the year 829, Alfonso II declared that the garments of this Blessed Apostle, that is, his most holy body, have been revealed in our time. Which, having heard, I went with the magnates of our palace to pray and venerate, with great devotion and prayers, such a precious treasure, and to proclaim him Patron and Lord of all Spain", he says. Ángel María Leyra Faraldo.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

Evangelization

Pati.te: "I felt the Lord saying to me: Work with the talents I have given you".

Patricia Trigo, known as Pati.te, developed her love for drawing since she was a child. Now she has turned her passion into a tool for evangelization. Her illustrations transmit tenderness, joy and the love of God, winning over thousands of followers around the world.

Javier García Herrería-December 30, 2024-Reading time: 5 minutes

From an early age, drawing has been a passion for Patricia Trigo (also known as Pati.te). Although she began her professional path studying Advertising and Public Relations in Pamplona, a decisive year in the United States brought her closer to the world of animation, taking her love for drawing to a new dimension. In 2016, she opened an account on Instagrambut soon became a platform to connect the hearts of thousands of people. With more than 170,000 followers, her work not only beautifies, but also inspires many people to renew their faith. 

Your drawings show the joy of faith and the tenderness of God, especially through depictions of the Holy Family. Where did this vision of God come from?

- I am the seventh in a family of ten siblings. We received the faith at home and I attended a great school that fostered my spiritual growth. However, after college, my relationship with my faith began to change profoundly, especially during a year I spent in the United States. During that time, I questioned everything: how could God allow suffering? I felt lost, anxious and almost depressed. My mother was very supportive, even suggesting that I go to the doctor, but I knew that my problem had a spiritual background.

Thanks to a wonderful priest I met, I began to rediscover a Jesus who is a friend, who suffers with us and loves us in a way that I had not fully understood. That idea touched me deeply. I also discovered the "spiritual childhood" of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, something that resonated very much with me. I realized that I could not do it all alone, that I had to trust God as a child trusts her father. It was a great learning experience for me. It transformed not only my spiritual life, but also my artistic vision. I began to draw from the heart, reflecting that renewed faith and sharing it with others.

One of the recurring themes in your work is the Virgin Mary. Where does this strong bond with her come from?

- The Virgin Mary has always played a very important role in my life. Since I was a little girl, my parents told me about her love and care. But it was during this process of conversion and spiritual search that I really felt her presence in a very special way. In 2019, I went with a group of young people from the parish to Fatima, and there I rediscovered the Virgin Mary as a mother who tucks you in, who tells you not to worry and that she is there for you. I saw her as the shortest and most tender way to reach God. 

Hearing again the story of the little shepherds and how, as children, they faced so many difficulties for telling the truth (that they had seen Our Lady and had a message to give) reminded me of the importance of spiritual childhood: to trust fully in God and in his love. It was like an encounter with Our Lady that gave me a new peace and strength to move forward.

And that's when you decided to dedicate yourself to evangelization?

- In Fatima I had the idea of making an illustration of the Virgin with me before we hugged, both of us excited. I thought of uploading it on May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, but I was hesitant because I was worried about how it might affect my professional career (at the time I was working in the world of animation in a completely secular production company). I remember that, in prayer, I told Our Lady: "If I share it and something goes wrong, it's your fault. If I'm out of work, you'll see". (laughs).

So I uploaded it, and it was a boom! The response was incredible. The followers grew, I received beautiful messages, and even media outlets became interested in my work. I realized that being authentic and sharing my faith could inspire others.

What happened next? How was Pati.te born as a recognizable brand?

- A few months after Fatima, COVID arrived and the parable of the talents challenged me a lot. I felt that the Lord was telling me: "Work with what I have given you". That, together with the message that our life on Earth is to prepare us for Heaven, helped me to stop being ashamed to share my faith openly. 

In confinement I began to share more drawings related to faith. I would draw phrases that inspired me, such as one by St. Therese: "The elevator that will lift me to heaven is your arms, Jesus". This led to an illustration of Jesus, the Sacred Heart, playing with a little girl, tickling her. He alternated such drawings with more mundane ones, such as of Rosalia, but the response to religious illustrations grew.

What difficulties did you encounter along the way?

- At Christmas 2020 (when I was already receiving messages from people interested in commissions, in buying prints, media seeking me for interviews) I had a moment of intense prayer and discernment. On the one hand I saw that my work was bringing people closer to God and, on the other hand, I also found out that there were debates on Twitter about my work, some saying that my illustrations bordered on blasphemy, for drawing the Holy Family happy or the San Jose playing the guitar. I got really overwhelmed because I thought, "They're right, I'm nobody, I don't have a theology degree, what if I'm doing something wrong? 

I went to my uncle, who is a priest, for advice. He reassured me a lot and encouraged me to go ahead. Since then, I pass on to him the illustrations I have doubts about.

What does it mean to you now to illustrate about your faith?

- Now I see it as a mission. At first I was afraid to be open with my faith, but with time I understood that it was a talent I had to share. Through my illustrations I try to transmit that love of God, that humanity of the saints and that closeness of the Virgin Mary that have transformed me so much. 

At first I had the saints as something almost impossible to reach, as if they were perfect and out of our level. But when I began to read more about them, I discovered their humanity, their struggles, and that transformed me. For example, seeing how St. Teresa of the Child Jesus had normal difficulties, like getting along with other nuns, or how Mother Teresa of Calcutta faced spiritual darkness, made me understand that they too had challenges similar to ours. What set them apart was that they never gave up because they had God's grace. That inspired me to see that holiness is not an exclusive path for some, but something possible if you let God act in your life to sanctify it. Because in the end God is the one who makes you holy, He only needs us to let Him act.

How do you see the impact of artificial intelligence on art? Does it worry you? To tell you the truth I was alarmed when I saw that at the end of November that your website was under construction. 

- (laughs). No, I'm not really worried about AI. I'm optimistic about a job like mine. I think AI challenges us to be more human and to go deeper into what we do. It can be a tool, but it will never replace the emotional and spiritual connection that handmade art has. In the end, I think it will make human art more valuable and appreciated.

And with respect to my website Don't worry, it is now fully operational, with Balconeras and new Christmas cards. There is nothing better than giving something that, in addition to being beautiful, helps to evangelize! 

The Vatican

35 Jubilees and 58 Jubilee Ways in the Eternal City

The moment of welcome, physical or virtual, in the official area for the Holy Year 2025, in Via della Conciliazione, 7, will be the first embrace of the pilgrim who approaches Rome to gain the Plenary Indulgence in 2025. There will be 35 Jubilees for groups, 58 optional Jubilee Ways to visit, catechesis and cultural events.

Francisco Otamendi-December 30, 2024-Reading time: 8 minutes

Although more than 30 million people are expected in Rome for the 2025 Jubilee summoned by Pope Francis, the Plenary Indulgence can also be gained in every diocese. The Roman Pontiff will open the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica on December 24 of this year. He will first preside at the Eucharistic Celebration at 7:00 p.m., followed by the rite of the Opening of the Holy Door. A brief concert of bells will announce the solemn moment, which begins a year of grace for the world.

But the Pope ordered in the bull Spes non confundit that, in addition to Rome, the faithful will be able to gain the Indulgence in their place of residence, because the diocesan bishops will open the Jubilee Year in all cathedrals and co-cathedrals on December 29, two days before the end of the year.

In addition, the Holy Father will also open a Holy Door in the Roman prison of Rebibbia. It will be the first time this will happen in a penitentiary, noted the Pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, last October 28. The Pro-prefect emphasized that on December 26 Rebibbia will be "symbol of all the prisons in the world"..

Closeness to prisoners

Along the same lines, the last great Jubilee of the coming year will be that of prisoners, on December 14, thus emphasizing the importance of attention to prisoners and their social reintegration, as expressed by the Holy Father in the Bull of Convocation.

"In the Jubilee Year, we are called to be tangible signs of hope for so many brothers and sisters who live in conditions of hardship."Pope Francis wrote in the Bull. "I am thinking of the prisoners who, deprived of their freedom, experience every day - in addition to the harshness of imprisonment - the emotional emptiness, the restrictions imposed and, in many cases, the lack of respect. I propose to the governments of the world that in the Jubilee Year they take initiatives to restore hope; forms of amnesty or remission of sentences aimed at helping people to regain confidence in themselves and in society; paths of reintegration into the community, with a concrete commitment to the observance of the law"..

May, June-July and October, more numerous

Instead of a single gathering of millions of people, which would be impossible, the Jubilees will be held in succession throughout the year 2025, by social sectors.

The first one to be convoked is that of communication. After the one for the Missionaries of Mercy at the end of March, the one for the sick and the health world will take place at the beginning of April, which is expected to be very large in number.

May is one of the months with the largest number of events: six Jubilees, among which are those of workers and businessmen, and two that are also expected to be very well attended: those of the confraternities and families, with children, grandparents and the elderly; and that of the Eastern Churches.

June will open with the Jubilee of Movements, and will conclude with a gathering of seminarians and bishops, and finally with sacerdsotes. And a month later, at the end of July, Rome will host the Youth Jubilee, which, after the gatherings of the last World Youth Days (WYD), such as the one in Lisbon, is also expected to be numerous and, of course, noisy. 

After the catechists in September, October will be another important month, in which there will be the month of migrants, the missionary world and consecrated life, Marian spirituality, and the educational world to close the month.

Probably following in the wake of the Assisi meetings, the meeting of the poor will take place in mid-November and, as mentioned, the major events end with that of the prisoners, in addition to the concluding Eucharistic celebrations on December 28 in the particular Churches, and on January 6, 2026, Epiphany of the Lord, in Rome.

Two million young people in the year 2000

In these weeks, not a few people remember the last Jubilee in the year 2000. The crowds of young people who flocked to Rome in August for that WYD may not have been expected. Around two million filled the expanse of Tor Vergata. St. John Paul II told them: "Dear friends who have traveled so many miles by all means to come here, to Rome, to the tombs of the Apostles, let me begin my meeting with you by asking you a question: What have you come here to seek? You are here to celebrate your Jubilee, the Jubilee of the young Church. Yours is not just any journey: if you have set out on this journey, it is not just for reasons of entertainment or culture. Let me repeat the question: What have you come here to seek, or rather, whom have you come here to seek? And the Pope himself replied: "The answer can only be one: you have come to seek Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ who, however, is looking for you first!"

Gianluigi de Palo was there

Among those thousands of young people was Gianluigi (Gigi) De Palo, today president of the Foundation for Birth, the driving force behind the General States of Birth, which Pope Francis attends every year, 

Husband and father of five children, who was also involved in the organization of WYD, recalls how the Pope's words that night engraved his life: "It was a bit of a spiritual testament, it was an invitation not to resign oneself to the Third Millennium.". And not resigning was a generation composed today by many mothers and fathers despite the difficulties: "If I got married and had children, I owe a lot to that night."The president of the Foundation stressed once again.

58 Roman temples

The pilgrimage to the Seven Churches, conceived by St. Philip Neri in the 16th century, is one of the oldest Roman traditions, explains the official Jubilee 2025 website (iubilaeum2025.va/it.html). It is about 25 kilometers winding through the city, reaching the Roman countryside, the catacombs and some of Rome's great basilicas.

Among the Seven Churches are what could be called the "four great churches" (St. Peter's, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls), and three others: the basilicas of St. Lawrence Outside the Walls, the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, and St. Sebastian Outside the Walls.

The 'Iter Europaeum

The Way of the Churches of the European Union Iter Europaeumincludes stops at 28 churches and basilicas. All are historically linked to European countries for cultural and artistic reasons, or by a tradition of welcoming pilgrims from one of the European Community countries.

Each of these temples has a story that tells the official website. If there is something that characterizes Rome is the number of monuments and buildings found in its old town. One can be mentioned by way of example, called Santa Maria in Ara Coeli or Aracoeli (altar of Heaven). It is located on the Capitoline Hill, at the end of a steep staircase consisting of 124 steps.

The present construction was built in the twelfth century, but there was already a church in the ninth century, built on the ruins of a temple dedicated to Juno Moneta. Legend has it that on this hill the Sibilla Tiburtina foretold the arrival of Christ to Emperor Augustus: "Haec est ara Filii Dei." where its name comes from, "Ara Coeli".

About European women saints

The organizers state that this pilgrimage around the figures of European saints wishes to draw attention to women proclaimed by the Church as Patronesses of Europe and Doctors of the Church.

Those chosen are significant churches that can recall these figures of sanctity, because of the link with the title of the church itself, as in the case of St. Bridget in Campo de Fiori; or because of the presence of relics, as in Santa Maria sopra Minerva, where the body of St. Catherine of Siena is found. 

Other temples are Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza, with its university history, suitable to remember the figure of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, philosopher and martyr. Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, patron saint of musicians, refers to Hildegard of Bingen, who developed music among other arts. Trinità dei Monti, related to France, may host the memory of St. Therese of the Child Jesus. 

Finally, Santa Maria della Vittoria, with the Ecstasy of St. Teresa by Bernini, recalls the figure of St. Teresa of Avila. Only among the latter are the foundress St. Teresa of Jesus and two other Discalced Carmelite nuns.

Jubilee churches

Twelve churches have been designated as meeting places for pilgrims. In these temples there will be catechesis in different languages to rediscover the meaning of the Holy Year, there will be the opportunity to experience the sacrament of Reconciliation and to nourish the experience of faith with prayer, according to the official website. To avoid unnecessary length, we will talk about only two of them, although they have a technical data sheet on the official website of the Jubilee.

Our Lady of Divine Love 

The Sanctuary of Divine Love, located 12 km from the well-known Domine, quo vadis?has been an important pilgrimage destination since 1740. That year a lost pilgrim, pursued by ferocious dogs, invoked the Madonna painted on the tower of Castel di Leva and was saved. The sanctuary, erected in 1744, witnessed a vow of protection made by the Roman people in 1944 during World War II, for which Our Lady interceded, preventing the destruction of Italian cities. 

Since then, the feast of the sanctuary is commemorated on the day of Pentecost. Our Lady of Divine Love, a Byzantine icon, symbolizes the relationship between Mary and the Holy Spirit. The original fresco was moved from the tower to the church in 1744. The sanctuary today represents "a spiritual and festive oasis" for pilgrims, it is noted.

Santa Maria in Monserrato degli Spagnoli

Santa Maria in Monserrato was founded in 1506 in the area of Campo Marzio after the construction of a hospice by the Confraternity of Our Lady of Monserrat in Catalonia. The project of the present church was entrusted to Antonio de Sangallo the Younger in 1518.

In the church there are important works by Sansovino and Annibale Carracci, such as "San Diego de Alcantara", while in the portico of the Spanish College there is the bust of Pedro Foix Montoya, a work by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The large facade, with two orders, was designed by Francesco da Volterra. The interior has a single nave divided by high pilasters composed with side chapels and a large apse. Among other valuable works inside, there is the fresco over the arch of the central chapel on the right, by Francesco Nappi, depicting the Dormition of the Virgin; the one on the left, by Giovanni Battista Ricci, known as Novara, shows the Coronation of Our Lady of the Assumption.

Caravaggio by Chagall

While the Holy See is donating Caravaggio's "Deposition" to Expo Osaka 2025, which will last from April 13 to October 13, 2025, the 'White crucifixion'. by Marc Chagall from the Art Institute of Chicago. The painting will be located in the new Museo del Corso, in Palazzo Cipolla, with free admission until January 27, at the conclusion of the Jubilee of the world of Communication.

A pain full of serenity 

Cristina Uguccioni wrote a few years ago in La Stampa that "when Pope Francis was asked what his favorite work of art was, the Pope replied that Marc Chagall's White Crucifixion.". A work that, according to what he told journalists Sergio Rubin and Francesca Ambrogetti (in the volume Papa Francesco. Il nuovo Papa si racconta)- "is not cruel, but full of hope. It shows a pain full of serenity".

Marc Chagall, who was born in 1887 in Vitebsk, Belarus, and belonged to a Jewish family, painted the canvas in 1938 in Paris, where he had long resided with his family. "Europe was living one of the most tragic moments in its history: Hitler would invade Poland the following year and for the Jews the time of pain had begun: it goes back precisely to the autumn of '38 the Night of Broken Glass, an event that marked the beginning of the most violent phase of the anti-Semitic persecution carried out by Nazism"

Art historian Timothy Verdon tells Uguccioni that "the White Crucifixion (work of considerable dimensions, 150 x 140 cm), is a painting of vivid colors (...), a painting with a dreamlike style dear to Chagall, who often treated biblical themes with a truly enchanting lyricism."Verdon continues. 

"The crucifix, great emblem of the Christian West".

"At the center of Pope Francis' favorite work is the large crucifix to which comes a very white and divine light coming from above: Christ, with his face reclining and his eyes closed, seems to sleep."Ugoccioni describes.

And Verdon adds: "In White Crucifixion, Chagall chose the great emblem of the Christian West, the crucifix, to tell of the terrible suffering endured by his people: the Jewish Jesus, nailed to the cross, becomes its symbol. For the artist, who was not a Christian and did not consider Jesus the son of God, Christ represents the Jewish martyr of every age, the innocent victim of abuse and violence."

Pope Francis defined the 'White crucifixion'. like "rich in hope"Christian hope - he said in a recent catechesis, recalls the interviewer - "is a fundamental element of the Christian hope. "is the expectation of something that has already been realized and that will certainly become a reality for each of us".

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Books

Juliana Manrique: "Family conversations humanize us".

The economist and coach Juliana Manrique has just published 'The transforming power of words'. In an interview with Omnes, she acknowledges that in most of the cases she is presented with there are difficulties in interpersonal relationships. And she is an enthusiastic fan of conversations in families, as a couple, with children and friends.  

Francisco Otamendi-December 29, 2024-Reading time: 3 minutes

Juliana Manrique's book aims to help to have satisfactory interpersonal relationships, which are "a source of happiness". It is not necessary to advance much in the reading of 'The transforming power of words', to realize that we are in front of an unconditional of the conversation, which is "human and humanizes us", "without mobiles in front". "Not to converse is to cancel ourselves voluntarily", she assures.

Economist, master's degree in journalism, professional coach and member of the association AECOP-As a member of the Spanish Coaching Association, her current work is focused on training teachers and professionals in other business areas, and on accompanying clients in individual sessions who want to address personal challenges by improving their communication. She also collaborates with the Spanish Resilience Institute and the association "Mejora tu Escuela Pública".

In the interview we asked him about different profiles of people, and about words that appear frequently on his pages. 

At the beginning of your book, you define yourself as a "coaching professional", coach (trainer). Is it about accompanying, advising? Only in labor relations?

- Coaching is a methodology of accompaniment in which different tools are used. A client comes to you with a work objective or concern, and as the person is a unit, obviously his improvement influences all areas of his life.

What is its purpose? Perhaps the subtitle gives us a clue.

- Most of the cases that are presented to me, and I believe that this is the heritage of humanity, have a large component of difficulties in interpersonal relationships. In this sense, there is suffering, and this book wants to help to have satisfactory interpersonal relationships, which are a source of happiness.

Please reveal an author who has worked on these ideas, and whom you may cite. Does coaching have anything to do with psychology?

- There are many... If I have to say one, I'll go with Stephen Covey, full of humanity and common sense; one of his books is a classicThe 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

Coaching does differ from the work of a psychologist; although there are psychologists who are trained as coaches. In my case, I work with my client on objectives that involve the whole person. They improve her and her whole environment.

I mention some words that you frequently quote, and tell me what they suggest to you, a flash. For example, accompaniment. 

- Welcoming and interest in people.  

 Conversation. 

- Learning.

Listen. 

- Be present at 💯.

 Multitasking

- Activism.

Emotions. 

- Involuntary response to everything that enters us through the senses.

We often talk about work or business coach, sports coach, educational coach... You are a coach in Humanae Foundation. A word for people with problems in their jobs, or who lose their jobs.

- It would be a great reduction of reality to use only one word in the face of problems in the work environment or to be left without a job. In some cases, accompaniment may be needed to help us respond in such a way that it is a personal growth. There is a whole process of acceptance and response to the situation.

Another one to reconcile work and family, sometimes complicated. What priorities do you advise?

- Priorities have to be present in our behaviors; because they speak of the meaning of our life and the kind of people we want to be or what kind of family we want to build.

Spiritual. A brief piece of advice. 1) We begin with people who are far from the faith and the Church, but with a restless heart, as St. Augustine said, who are searching for something.

More than advice, I would suggest that they look back, and with "the art of questioning" (mayeutics), help them to reflect and discover the divine presence in these life experiences.

2) Young married couples, sometimes also far from religious practice.

- For a harmonious development of the personality, especially when it is a question of undertaking a life project in common, it is advisable to work on all the dimensions, and among them is the spiritual dimension.

3) Mature marriages, years struggling.

- The art of conversing, of sharing and continuing to work on all those skills of admiration, listening, empathy, kindness, understanding, assertiveness...

 4) Elderly, grandparents.

- In any life cycle it is important to know that you have talents, which you have to put at the service of society... If you don't, they rot and no one benefits from them.

 Any questions you would like to comment on?

 - Encourage conversations in families; spend time together to get to know each other, self-knowledge, learn from each other, enjoy each other, etc. In my work as a coach I like to make sure that what my client wants to achieve is in line with the real values and so all the learning is internalized.

Juliana Manrique. The transforming power of words

AuthorJuliana Manrique
Number of pages: 150
Language : English
The authorFrancisco Otamendi

Newsroom

Top 10 most read Omnes news in 2024

2024 has been a year of growth for Omnes and we would like to welcome 2025 by recalling the best news of the year that is closing.

Javier García Herrería-December 29, 2024-Reading time: < 1 minute

Throughout this year, Omnes has brought you daily news from a Catholic perspective. Here is a selection of the key information published on our website over the past twelve months.

A column by Javier Segura on Benedict XVI's vision of the Church.

Interview with the "most powerful" woman in Opus Dei on illness and caregiving

Creative ideas to make the most of Lent

The Pope's proposal for the Torreciudad case

Explanation of the biblical prophecies on the ceiling of the Chapel of the Crucifixion of the Holy Sepulcher.

Online training for 6000 catechists around the world

A growing devotion in Central America, Mexico and the United States

Announcement of the publication of a new encyclical

Celebrating St. Joseph on March 19

Antonio Moreno's column on the opening of the Olympic Games

Gospel

In the hands of the Virgin. Mary Mother of God (C)

Joseph Evans comments on the readings of Mary Mother of God (C) and Luis Herrera offers a brief video homily.

Joseph Evans-December 29, 2024-Reading time: 2 minutes

Just as Mary had gone "in haste" to see her cousin Elizabeth (Lk 1:39), the shepherds go "in haste" to Bethlehem to discover "Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger." The events of the conception and birth of Christ seem to be accompanied by a holy haste, of which Mary is a full participant, as if, after centuries of slow and sinful dullness, God's saving action hastened life. 

Mary also shows a quiet, contemplative attitude, as we have already considered (see my meditation for year A), but contemplation is not lethargy. There is a joy, a liveliness, even a quickness, that comes with God's intervention in our lives. Those in love know this very well: things speed up when one is in love, even the heart seems to beat faster. It could not be less with divine love. This is expressed and celebrated in that great Old Testament song of divine and human love, the Song of Songs: "A rumor...! My beloved! See him, here he comes, leaping over the mountains, prancing over the hills. " (Song 2:8).

The Church gives us this feast to begin each year, so that we may place ourselves in Our Lady's hands and also so that we may learn from her how to face the year ahead. Certainly with her prayerful and contemplative attitude: "Mary, for her part, kept all these things, pondering them in her heart." But also with the speed of her love and generosity, running with her to help those in need, and running to her, because where she is, we always find Christ, her Son.

And in Mary's presence, like the shepherds, we have the courage and confidence to proclaim all that we have seen and learned about Christ: "...".they told what they had been told about that child". With Mary's gentle encouragement, and that of Joseph, everyone feels confident to play their role and make their contribution: men, women, rich, poor, workers, scholars... And after this encounter with the Holy Family, the shepherds can return to the work "giving glory and praise to God". The encounter with Mary becomes an encounter with Christ and leads us to face life - and the new year that begins - with a profound joy in God.

But suffering does not take long to become present. Mary and Joseph will have to witness the beginning of Christ's suffering in his circumcision, through which Jesus enters and identifies himself with the people of Israel. And Mary identifies herself with the suffering of Jesus, as she will do later on the Cross. Thus, she teaches us the holy haste, the contemplative spirit and the willingness to suffer in union with Christ.

Homily on the readings of Mary, Mother of God (C)

Priest Luis Herrera Campo offers his nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.

Latin America

The Pass of the Traveling Child: A Cuenca tradition that renews faith

Christmas in Ecuador is a time of profound religious and cultural significance, full of traditions that express the faith and identity of the Ecuadorian people.

Juan Carlos Vasconez-December 28, 2024-Reading time: 4 minutes

Since colonial times, the Church has promoted devotion to the Child Jesus through novenas, masses and the construction of nativity scenes. However, the Passing of the Child, with its characteristic processions and symbolic richness, is a more recent tradition that has flourished with particular strength in cities such as Watershed and Riobamba.

The Pase del Niño consists of a procession in which an image of the Child Jesus, generally dressed in luxurious clothing, is carried through the streets. This image can be of different sizes and materials, from small figures to large sculptures that require several people to be transported.

During the procession, various traditional characters participate such as the Curiquingue, Sacha Runa, Yaruquíes and Punín dancers, the Diablo sonajero, clowns, and even dogs. Each one has a specific costume with cultural and symbolic meanings, performing dances and performances that tell stories and represent aspects of Andean life and cosmovision.

The Traveling Child

One of the most unique and recent manifestations is the Pase del Niño Viajero, a celebration that in a few decades has become deeply rooted in the city of Cuenca. This phenomenon invites us to reflect on how traditions are built and evolve, enriching the faith experience of communities.

Its origin is recent, it is an image of the Child Jesus sculpted in 1823. After passing through several generations of a family from Cuenca, the image came into the hands of Monsignor Miguel Cordero Crespo, who in 1961 took it on pilgrimage to Holy Land. Upon his return, the image was baptized as the "Traveling Child", giving birth to a tradition that would eventually become one of the most important in the city.

The night before the parade, outside the prioste's house (the layman who organizes the procession that year), an evening is held in honor of the image of the Niño Viajero. It begins at 6:00 p.m. and is always attended by neighborhood residents and special guests. 

The following day begins with a mass in honor of the Child, followed by the distribution of bread and coffee to the attendees. The program concludes with a fireworks display, music and folkloric dances.

During the tour, the main characters are children disguised as biblical figures, shepherds, gypsies, jíbaros, saraguros, otavalos and mayorales. The latter are particularly striking and interesting, as they represent peasants from the provinces of Azuay and Cañar, who enjoyed great power and prestige among the hacienda workers. Their costumes (stylizations of the attire of the cholos and cholas of the region) are, therefore, very colorful and elegant, as a symbol of wealth. 

They always drive horses or carts covered with fine blankets or wool and silk fabrics, and adorned with the "castle" (a set of food arranged in the form of garlands with fruits, vegetables, chocolates, liquor bottles, toys, guinea pigs, pigs, etc.). 

The Traveling Child Pass 2024

This December 24, Cuenca vibrated again with the faith and enthusiasm of the Passing of the Traveling Child. Thousands of faithful gathered in the streets to accompany the procession, which this year departed from the Eloy Alfaro traffic circle to accommodate the large number of attendees. Floats, parades, bands and dancers filled the route with color and music, which culminated in San Blas.

At 10 am, the image of the Traveling Child, dressed in an elegant costume, began its journey in a vehicle adorned with flowers. As it passed by, the faithful threw rose petals from the balconies, creating a multicolored carpet. The atmosphere was one of joy and devotion, with songs, prayers and expressions of gratitude to the Child Jesus.

Cardinal Luis Gerardo Cabrera presided the Eucharist in the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Cuenca, where moments of deep emotion were experienced. The day before, the traditional change of godparents took place, in which the Salesian family, the merchants of the El Arenal Free Fair and the Army received the responsibility of guarding the Traveling Child until next year.

Curiosities that enrich tradition

The Traveling Child Pass is a tradition full of singularities that make it even more attractive:

  • El Niño Viajero, globetrotter: The original image of the Child Jesus toured religious sites around the world in 1961.
  • Two replicas for the party: Two replicas are used for most events, including the procession on December 24.
  • General of the Police: El Niño Viajero has been appointed General of the Police and has even worn the uniform of the Tarqui grenadiers.
  • Mayorales, symbols of tradition: The "mayorales" represent the most important employees of the haciendas of Azuay and Cañar. Their costumes and the decorations of their horses are very expensive.
  • Chicha for everyone: One family has been preparing and giving away thousands of liters of chicha to attendees for 40 years.
  • A mixture of the sacred and the profane: The Traveling Child Pass includes biblical characters, as well as "diablo humas", "cholos" and even characters from popular culture.
  • A feast for the palate: Food abounds in the parade. You can find traditional dishes such as hornado and cuy, as well as bread, fruits and sweets.

The Passing of the Traveling Child is an example of how popular faith is expressed with creativity and originality, generating new traditions that enrich the life of the community and strengthen cultural identity. It is a celebration that invites reflection on the deep meaning of Christmas and its ability to unite people around the figure of the Child Jesus.

Jesús Poveda and the silenced protest: Where are the limits of the defense of life?

The arrest of Dr. Jesús Poveda allows us to reflect on the ethical and legal limits in the defense of life. From Michael Sandel's criticism of the pro-life position, the need for an honest and free debate on the value of life and abortion is raised.

December 28, 2024-Reading time: 3 minutes

Once again this year, Dr. Jesús Poveda has gone to his appointment in front of the Dator clinic in Madrid. It is a ritual that this Spanish pro-life leader attends every December 28, the day of the martyrdom of the Holy Innocents. Poveda shows up at the door of the clinic, the police ask him to leave, he sits on the ground and the agents take him away for contempt of authority. As Poveda often repeats, "we do assistance 364 days a year and one day only one day we do passive resistance".

The scene is no more controversial, but it is very timely to reflect on the ethical, legal and social limits of the defense of life, a debate that remains one of the most polarizing of our time. Beyond the controversies and headlines, what is really surprising is the intensity of the moment: a peaceful protest and an arrest that seeks to silence something deeper than mere ideological dissent.

Sandel's criticism of pro-lifers

Philosopher Michael Sandel, 2018 Princess of Asturias Laureate and one of Harvard's most acclaimed professors, posits in. "Against Perfection." an argument that deserves our attention. As a member of the U.S. President's bioethics advisory committee, for years he listened to the opinions of renowned physicians for and against abortion. What struck him, however, is that most pro-life gynecologists are on friendly terms with colleagues with whom they disagree on this issue. According to Sandel, this is a huge inconsistency, because if he believed that abortion involves the death of millions of innocent human beings, his reaction and activism would be much more vehement. 

In his opinion, the lukewarmness with which many pro-lifers express their rejection of abortion is evidence that, deep down, they do not fully believe in what they are defending. As proof, he points out that very few devote 50 euros a year to the cause and their activism is usually limited to participating in one or two demonstrations. On closer inspection, it is difficult not to concede that he is partly right.

Inconsistency in the pro-abortion discourse

Paradoxically, Sandel's criticism of the "incoherence" of pro-life actions can also be applied to the pro-abortion discourse. Many countries, including Spain, have moved toward extreme restrictions that seek to prohibit even praying in front of abortion clinics. This not only limits the right to freedom of speech and conscience, but also reveals a contradiction in the pro-abortion narrative. If abortion is a legitimate medical intervention devoid of serious ethical implications, why so vehemently repress any form of peaceful opposition? Are we not in a pluralistic and free society?

The ban on praying in the vicinity of abortion clinics is a clear example of how the debate is not just about defending individual rights, but about silencing uncomfortable speech. Is this not a tacit admission that the issue is morally thorny? Instead of confronting the debate, it seems to seek to avoid any reminder that what goes on inside clinics is not an ethically neutral act.

Where are the limits?

The dilemma posed by Sandel and the actions of activists like Jesús Poveda confront us with essential questions about the limits of the defense of life. What are we willing to sacrifice for what we consider just? What kind of protest is valid and proportional when it comes to issues as fundamental as human life?

For those who believe that life begins at conception, the defense of life cannot be limited to words. Nor can one resort to violence or coercive imposition, as this would compromise its moral legitimacy. However, between these two extremes, is there not room for gestures and actions that seek to raise public awareness of this problem? Is it not valid to offer an ultrasound scan to those who are considering abortion? Is it not legitimate to offer aid, both public and private, to women who face the drama and difficulty of continuing their pregnancy?

One cannot demand coherence from those who defend life while they are prohibited from freely expressing their convictions. The arrest of Dr. Poveda during a peaceful protest highlights this contradiction: on the one hand, pro-lifers are accused of not being coherent with their convictions and, on the other hand, legal restrictions are imposed on them that limit even symbolic acts such as praying in front of an abortion clinic. This approach hinders an honest debate on the value of life and abortion, silencing one side. We must guarantee the right of all to express their positions; only in this way is an authentic and fair dialogue possible.

The authorJavier García Herrería

Editor of Omnes. Previously, he has been a contributor to various media and a high school philosophy teacher for 18 years.

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Evangelization

The Holy Innocents, vanguard of martyrs

On December 28, the Church remembers the massacre of the children of Bethlehem and the whole region, from two years old and under, ordered by King Herod in his attempt to kill Jesus, as narrated in the Gospel of St. Matthew (2:1-18).   

Francisco Otamendi-December 28, 2024-Reading time: < 1 minute

The Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land are usually commemorate This episode takes place in the Grotto of the Holy Innocents, connected through a passageway to the Nativity in Bethlehem. A few meters away is the grotto of St. Joseph, the place where the angel spoke in a dream to St. Joseph to ask him to flee to Egypt, "for Herod is going to look for the Child to kill him".

The Church venerates these innocents as martyrs and celebrates them close to Christmas. At the wish of Pius V the celebration was elevated to a feast. Some have doubted the veracity of the account of St. Matthew, but the Second Vatican Council in its Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum reaffirmed the character historical of the Gospels.

Benedict XVI, in 'Jesus of Nazareth', points out that "it is true that we know nothing about this fact from non-biblical sources, but taking into account so many cruelties committed by Herod, this does not prove that the crime did not take place". The Pope Francis deplored the "slaughter of innocents in the world: in the womb, on the roads of the desperate in search of hope, in the lives of so many children whose childhoods are devastated by war".

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

Resources

"O Tannenbaum": the story of the famous carol

"O Tannenbaum," "Christmas Tree," is one of the most famous Christmas carols in the world and turns 200 years old this year.

Veit-Mario Thiede-December 28, 2024-Reading time: 4 minutes

In the last quarter of 1824, Ernst Anschütz (1780-1861) published the "Musikalisches Schulgesangbuch". It contains the carol "O Tannenbaum", which he had written himself. The song has become a carol that is sung all over the world and has established predecessors and curious successors.

Its author is much less known than the song itself. Ernst Anschütz was born in 1780 in the mountain village of Goldlauter near Suhl. His father was a local vicar and wanted Ernst to succeed him one day. Although he studied theology, philosophy and pedagogy in Leipzig, he decided not to accept the pastorate of Goldlauter which had been reserved for him for two years after his father's death. He remained in Leipzig to work as a teacher at the Erste Bürgerschule, organist and cantor at the Neue Kirche and as a private teacher of singing, piano, viola, violin, cello and clarinet. However, his salary was so poor that he struggled to support his wife and seven children. Nevertheless, he was a respected man in Leipzig.

"The fir tree" and much more

However, he left no public trace there. Neither the First Citizens' School, nor the New Church, nor his grave have survived the passage of time. However, the city archives have preserved photographs of Anschütz and the manuscripts of some of his best-known songs. These include "Der Tannebaum," written in October 1824 and known today as "O Tannenbaum." He also wrote the lyrics to "Fox, you stole the goose" in June 1824. "The Mill Vibrates by the Stream" followed in April 1835, and you can ask to see these pieces.

The same is true of the copy of his unpublished eight-page autobiography preserved in the City History Museum. In it he speaks at length of his "Musical School Hymnal," published in four volumes from 1824 to 1830 by Carl Ernst Reclam. It contains mainly songs of praise to the Lord, along with joyful hunting, hiking and children's songs, but also repeated laments for the rapid passage of time.

In the hymnal, the pieces composed or endowed with lyrics by Anschütz are accompanied by songs and melodies by other composers, such as Luther, Bach, Klopstock or Mozart. Anschütz writes: "If I calculate all the costs involved, I have gained little or nothing from this work. That this work was not without value is shown by the fact that strangers and friends stole from me and lined their notebooks and exercise books with my works. But it has always been my lot in life that where I sowed, others reaped; where I planted, others plucked the fruit."

Christmas instead of love sorrows

But Anschütz also drew inspiration from other composers and lyricists. The immediate predecessor of his Christmas Tree Song comes from Joachim August Zarnack. In 1820, he published a collection of songs containing the tragic love song "O Tannenbaum". Anschütz largely adopted its first stanza. He turned Zarnack's "You are green not only in summer, but also in winter, when it ices and snows" into "You are green not only in summer, but also in winter, when it snows." For Zarnack, the evergreen fir tree symbolizes eternal love. In contrast, the other three verses of his song lament infidelity: "O girl, O girl, how false is your disposition." Anschütz, on the other hand, strikes a consoling note by singing of a hopeful Christmas instead of the sadness of love: "How often a tree of yours has not delighted me at Christmas." The last verse reads, "O fir tree, your dress will teach me something: hope and constancy give strength and comfort at all times."

Like Zarnack, Anschütz adapted his Christmas Tree Song to the melody of the song "Long Live the Carpenter's Mate", which first appeared in print in 1799. Numerous texts are sung to this tune, with or without direct reference to Anschütz. For example, the hymn "Red Flag" of the British Labour Party or the hymn of Maryland and other US states. During World War I, there was the version "O Hindenburg, O Hindenburg, how beautiful are thy victories". After the defeat and abdication of Wilhelm II, the mocking song "O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, the emperor has cut in burlap" emerged.

A noble branch

The song of the evergreen fir tree has a long tradition. Zarnack took it from a nursery rhyme published by Clemens Brentano in the third volume of the song collection "The child's magic horn" (1808): "O fir tree, O fir tree, you are for me a noble branch, you are so faithful, hard to believe, green in summer as well as in winter". Brentano, in turn, was inspired by an old Silesian folk song, which says: "O fir, O fir, thou art a noble branch. You grow in winter as in summer." The Coburg court composer Melchior Franck (1579-1639) then wrote: "O fir, O fir, thou art a noble branch! You green our winter, our dear summer." Apart from the opening words "O fir tree", this version corresponds to a verse from the 16th century love song "A stable boy hangs his bridle high up on a Christmas tree".

On the initiative of Goldlauter-Heidersbach district mayor Matthias Gering and his fellow campaigners, Deutsche Post issues the special stamp "200 years of the carol O Tannenbaum" in December. Unfortunately, the promoters were unable to include Ernst Anschütz's name on the stamp. Thus, public tribute to Anschütz remains a unique feature of his hometown. In front of the vicarage where he was born is a memorial stone. Its metal relief lists Anschütz's most famous songs and presents us with his portrait. The model was the portrait Willibald Ryno Anschütz painted of his father around 1830. The song trail created in Anschütz's honor also ends at the vicarage and runs four kilometers uphill and downhill around Goldlauter, located on the southern slopes of the Thuringian Forest, with six stations that invite you to sing along.

The lyrics of the songs are written on boards. The corresponding melody can be consulted via an app. The station in front of the vicarage encourages you to sing "O Tannenbaum".


This is a translation of an article that first appeared on the website Die-Tagespost. For the original article in German, see here . Republished in Omnes with permission.

The authorVeit-Mario Thiede

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Initiatives

DECRUX: Evangelizing homes with light and prayer

Decorative candles are one of the most fashionable accessories in decoration at the moment. With ingenuity and a desire to evangelize, a young man from Madrid launched DECRUX, prayer candles that, this Christmas, are a version of the German tradition of the Children singers of the Star or SternsingerThe Three Wise Men, who bring the blessing to the homes and remember the Three Kings.

Maria José Atienza-December 27, 2024-Reading time: 5 minutes

Less than a year ago, Borja Pérez de Brea was not very aware of what he was "going to form" with DECRUX. This young man from Madrid, a member of the Lourdes Hospitality and a servant in the Emmaus movement, decided to launch an original evangelization project: high quality and carefully designed candles.

These candles are symbolically blessed, are customizable and all have a prayer for different intentions. A way to bring a Christian presence to every home and help different charitable causes.

Lourdes, the origin of DECRUX

"DECRUX was born in Lourdes," its founder, Borja, told Omnes. "We are hospitallers and we accompany the sick to ask for their healing. And that's where we realized the power of light for a sick person to ask for healing. That's where the idea came to me: to unite the prayer candle, which is a deeply Christian symbol, because Jesus is the light of the world, with the decorative candle for the home.

Borja Pérez de Brea

From that first idea, Borja began to develop what today is DECRUXThe first thing that came out of it was that a lot of details started to emerge. From the name, DECRUXThe logo is the three crosses of Calvary together, which also evokes a lit candle, which is also very beautiful. The lid is made of wood, also recalling the wood of the cross and even, in the pack of three C+M+B candles, the matches are black, symbolizing the nails of the Lord's cross".

DECRUX was born in March 2024 and, since then, thousands of candles have already been sold through its website or in points of sale such as the Baluarte space in Madrid. "It has been very successful because of the personalization.

Through the web, you can not only choose a prayer that we already have -for the family, for the children...- but you can also personalize your own, so that it reaches you at home. In addition, the profits are donated to a charity or project of your choice.

The candles are also symbolically blessed by various communities, parishes and religious entities with which this project collaborates through grants.

Solidarity projects and initiatives

Since its birth, DECRUX is designed to be a way to help projects and initiatives, promoted by Catholic communities or with a Christian imprint, whether solidarity, evangelization... etc.

At present, there are many projects with which it collaborates and many others with which it is in the process of doing so: "we help single mothers who have chosen life, the sick; we have a mission electrification project in Guatemala that we are helping, we help the disabled with brain injuries and we are preparing a collaboration aimed at children with autism. Now, we are collaborating with the Sisters of Charity of PaiportaThey are doing an impressive job after the DANA, and it is one of the projects to which people are devoting the most these days".

"The idea of finding a reality and a social project that the sail can help finance," Borja emphasizes, "is a way of fundraising for those projects with which we share ideals. And we do this by introducing a Catholic object around a prayer, as a way of evangelizing the home".

A life project

"DECRUX It is my life project," says Pérez de Brea, "I work in a multinational, I don't 'live' from this, in the material sense, but it is, without a doubt, my life project. At DECRUX I combine my professional vocation as an entrepreneur with my calling to serve God and to help the sick and disabled as a hospital worker. It has marked a before and an after. Everything I do, or that happens to me, is so great and is from God that it makes me have to continue. That is to say, there is like a force above me that makes me not be able to stop. That is why I say that the project is guided by the Holy Spirit and by Our Lady".

In addition to Borja, there are two more people as partners of DECRUX but, above all, a community of people who "put themselves at the service of the project selflessly, philanthropically, and each one with what they believe they can contribute" and who, taking the term from Emmaus, are called "servants": "There are those who contribute their knowledge of design, or help to learn about new projects, or those who go to the workshop and help with the handling of the candles".

Handled by people with disabilities

One of the characteristics of these sails is that, from their very creation, they already have a sociolaboral integration purpose.

The candles are assembled in a workshop of PRODISa foundation committed to people with intellectual disabilities to help them in their personal development and their inclusion in the labor market.

Each candle carries a small sign indicating this fact: "that's why no candle is the same, because everything is made by hand and by boys and girls with intellectual disabilities".

At the beginning, Borja recalls, "I did everything myself at home. People started coming to help me and we realized that we had to do it differently. That's how we came into contact with PRODIS and we're happy.

C+M+B, the Germanic home-blessing tradition

In this Christmas season, DECRUX has recovered, for Spain a beautiful and ancient Germanic tradition, (explained for Omnes in this article)The "Reyes Magos" (Wise Men): that of the visits of children dressed as the Magi to the houses of a parish, bringing the parish priest's blessing and collecting money for the poor.

The houses visited are marked with *C+M+B which means "Christus mansionem benedicat" ("Christ bless this house") and also has the connotation of referring to the initials of the names of the Kings in their original language: Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar.

A priest explained this custom to Borja who saw the possibility of "transferring" it to the candles. DECRUX creating a pack of three small tealights with the initials C+M+Bwhich are sold together with a chalk to mark the door of the house because "the idea is that the houses are blessed with the pack. That's what we want, to bless the houses of Spain," says Borja.

Evangelization

St. John the Apostle welcomed Mary's universal motherhood

St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, whom the Church celebrates on December 27, was the depository of signs of predilection for Jesus Christ. He was the only apostle at the foot of the Cross, and there he received the Mother of Jesus as the spiritual Mother of all men.   

Francisco Otamendi-December 27, 2024-Reading time: < 1 minute

In his Gospel, St. John recounts the vocation of the first apostles, including his own: "John (the Baptist) and two of his disciples were there again, and when he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "This is the Lamb of God. The two disciples (Andrew and the young John) asked Jesus, "Rabbi, which means Master, where do you live? He answered them, "Come and see. They went and stayed with him that day. It was about the tenth hour". 

Andrew told his brother Simon (whom Jesus called Cephas, the first Pope), and John told his brother James, sons of Zebedee and Salome. They were fishermen from Galilee. St. John is mentioned in the Gospels, for example, when he asked Jesus at the Last Supper who was going to betray him, and for remaining on Calvary with the Lord on the Cross, with Mary Magdalene, Mary of Clopas and other women, when they all fled.

"Jesus, seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved" (writes the evangelist), said in agony to his mother from the tree, 'Woman, behold, your son!' Then he said to the disciple, 'Here is your mother'" (Jn. 19:25-27). There Mary's motherhood was established, notes the Church. In four lines, the Gospel of John quotes the word mother 5 times. He wrote the Apocalypse (Revelation), and with the Virgin Mary lived in Ephesus, from where he evangelized Asia Minor.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Via pulchritudinis: The experience of beauty and its transcendent meaning

The experience of beauty connects with the transcendent knowledge of God. The "Via Pulchritudinis" integrates the cosmological and anthropological ways. Through creation, love and the human vocation, divine beauty is revealed as ultimate fullness, orienting the human being towards communion with the Creator.

José Miguel Granados-December 27, 2024-Reading time: 5 minutes

The ways for the knowledge of the existence and being of God are of two types. On the one hand, cosmological ones: the famous five ways from St. Thomas Aquinas are surely the best synthesis of philosophical and Christian thought on the subject. Through them we come to discover the true God as the unmoving mover, the uncaused cause, the necessary being, the supreme perfection and ultimate end of all creatures. 

Ultimately, God is attained by human reason as the Personal Logos who is at the origin of creation and ensures the harmony of all that exists. "The truly divine God is the God who has manifested Himself as logos and has acted and acts as logos full of love for us" (Benedict XVI, Speech at the University of Regensburg, 12-9-2006). This fundamental reflection on the Maker of the world demonstrates the reliability of thought, language and science. God constitutes the infinite wisdomthe mind and heart of the universe. 

Anthropological ways

On the other hand, many thinkers (such as St. Bonaventure, Descartes) and mystics (such as Saint Teresa of JesusSt. John of the Cross, saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) have reflected on the anthropological pathways for the knowledge of God, in a inner journey that explores the intimacy of the human being, his or her deepest longings and his moral conscience. Here God appears as the ultimate meaning of human dignity, life, justice, freedom, love and history. This human fullness, which finds its root and culmination in God, is manifested in virtuous persons of exalted humanity and, especially, in the luminous, attractive and convincing witness of the lives of the saints.

The link between both types of ways can be discovered in the understanding of God as the supreme perfection and the inexhaustible source of the best blessings: for God alone fulfills the promise of life engraved in great desires human beings, with the abundance of material and spiritual gifts that it bestows upon us. Surely the most eloquent exponent in this field of inner inquiry is Augustine of Hippowho begins his intellectual and spiritual autobiography with the splendid declaration: "you have made us, Lord, for you and our heart will be restless until it rests in you" (Confessions, Book I, Chapter 1).

The experience of beauty as a vocation

Human beings - unlike animals and robots, which lack rational knowledge, self-awareness and free will - are capable of finding many forms and expressions of beauty that attract him in the spiritual quest for fulfillment and happiness. There are countless examples of experiences of beauty in the naturein the art and in the life of people. Indeed, a marvelous landscape, the study of the mineral, vegetable and animal world by the natural sciences, a symphony or musical melody of mathematical perfection, the beautiful work of a genius of the figurative arts, the literary story or the real narration of a valuable existence for its dedication and generosity... fascinate and fill human existence with enchantment.

A necessary manifestation of great wisdom consists in discovering that, in its very essence, the beauty of creation refers back to its source, which is the infinite beauty of the Creator, a mysterious and inexhaustible fountain of life and goodness. For, separated of its original source, the beauty of the world and of human existence becomes something poor, outdated and vain which, in the end, turns out to be harmful and causes boredom, because it locks the person into low goals and frustrates the expectations of unlimited human desire.

Indeed, he who sets his heart on created things with a disordered affectivity, apart from their divine author and their holy laws -which are inscribed in human nature and can be discovered by the well-formed conscience- will unfortunately remain disappointedbecause the infinite yearning of our restless heart cannot be satiated by mere finite realities.

On the other hand, he who succeeds in finding in the wonders of creation and, especially, in the countless expressions of human love, a glimpse or reflection and participation in the infinite beauty of the Lord and, furthermore, in his intentional actions, truly places his heart in God, will find fully fulfilled the promise of the hope of full life contained as an existential call in every flash of beauty and in every human desire.

Eros as a promise

An important area of this experience of beauty is in the experience of falling in love between man and woman (love attraction or eros); where reductive and erroneous interpretations, such as the puritanical rigorist, the utilitarian hedonist or the romantic emotivist, necessarily lead to the destructive failure of people and societies. 

In contrast, a proper understanding of the spousal love -which corresponds to the "essentially human experience", illuminated by the revelation of the divine Word, as taught by the theology of the body John Paul II - allows us to discover it as a vocation to weave a faithful and fruitful communion: a home as a place of welcome and self-giving, a cradle, school and sanctuary of life, and this through the commitment of total self-giving in the conjugal covenant. In this way, the divine plan inscribed in the body and in the desire of the heart of man, created male and female in the image of God, reaches its true meaning in the conjugal covenant. dimension of transcendenceThe beauty of the eternal love to enter into the family communion of the divine persons is reflected and expanded. 

Idolatry and redemption of the heart

There is a serious danger of being attracted, cheat and trapped by the attractiveness of things that seduce with great intensity, increased by the confused and mendacious propaganda of ideologies, until they become false idols, which turn out to be parasites that steal and enslave the infinite yearnings of the heart. This profound experience of frustration -and the resulting overcoming The experience of this experience, with the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit, is rightly expressed by St. Augustine himself as a decisive experience of his own: "Late I loved you, beauty so old and so new, late I loved you! You were inside me and I was outside, and so from the outside I sought you; and, deformed as I was, I threw myself on these things that you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. I was held far from you by those things which, if they were not in you, would not exist. You called to me and cried out, and broke my deafness; you shone and shone, and cured my blindness; you breathed out your perfume, and I breathed it in, and now I long for you; I tasted of you, and now I hunger and thirst for you; you touched me, and I long for the peace that comes from you." (Confessions, Book X, chapter 27).

Accompanying on the path to eternal beauty

For all these reasons, the following are needed teachersand educational communities to guide people in this indispensable inner path of transformation toward the ultimate cause and the inexhaustible source of the beauty of human life and of true love. We also need experts in prayer, for, as John Paul II affirmed, we need experts in prayer, "beautiful love is learned above all by praying." (Letter to families, n. 20). 

In this journey towards the fullness dreamed by God for his children, the Church, expert in humanity, has the urgent mission of accompanying, instructing, healing and restoring hope, following the light of the beauty that shines in Jesus Christ. For "the Son of God, by becoming man, has brought into the history of humanity the whole of the human race". the evangelical richness of truth and goodnessand with it he has also stated a new dimension of beauty" (John Paul II, Letter to artists, n. 5).

In short, the Lord has left traces and glimpses of his infinite beauty in creatures and in the human heart, as clear signs or indications for his children so that we may find the way to the Lord's will. pathways to mysteryof his Heart, the only one who saves because he fulfills our great yearnings for eternal beauty.

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Evangelization

St. Stephen, protomartyr: stoned to death, he died forgiving

The Church celebrates on December 26, in the Octave of Christmas and feast day in many places, the first martyr (protomartyr), St. Stephen. One of the first to follow the Apostles, he was stoned after his testimony about the history of Salvation, and forgave his murderers.        

Francisco Otamendi-December 26, 2024-Reading time: < 1 minute

A Greek or Jew educated in Hellenistic culture, St. Stephen was highly esteemed in the Jerusalem community. His name appears in the Acts of the Apostles (chapter 6) as the first among the seven chosen to help the Apostles in their mission, and he is described as "a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit".

After explaining his imprisonment and incarceration, Chapter 7 of the Facts his discourse on the history of Israel, and his martyrdom. After his final words - "I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" - they stoned him to death. He died with these words: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them". "Saul approved of his death," writes St. Luke.

The place of St. Stephen's martyrdom in Jerusalem is traditionally located outside the Damascus Gate, today the church of Saint-Etienne. In Christianity, the devotion St. Stephen was strong from the beginning. His martyrdom has been recorded in art. Dante speaks of him in the 'Divine Comedy'. In Italy alone, 14 municipalities bear his name.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

Culture

Bach's music for the coming King

In the season of Advent, the hope of the Parousia of Jesus Christ as King and Savior of all peoples merges with the memory of his first coming in the Incarnation. Before this, the believer cultivates the virtue of hope, and tries to make grateful memory, to present to the Savior his petitions and to be ready to open to him the doors of the heart. All this is expressed musically in this cantata.

Antonio de la Torre-December 26, 2024-Reading time: 5 minutes

J.S. Bach, Cantata BWV 61, Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland

The celebration of the first Sunday of Advent of 1714 was the occasion that moved Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) to compose the cantata that bears the number 61 in his catalog of works, and whose title (taken from the first phrase of its text, as in all Bach's cantatas) is Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland ("Come now, Savior of the nations"). This is the first verse of a very popular hymn in the Lutheran liturgy, which in turn is based on the German translation of the Gregorian hymn Veni Redemptor gentiumwhich tradition attributes to St. Ambrose.

At that time the German genius, having completed his stages in Mühlhausen and Arnstadt, was serving as a composer at the court of Weimar, where he was employed as a Konzertmeister of the Protestant dukes Wilhelm Ernst and Ernest Augustus of Saxe-Weimar. As such, he was obliged to compose one cantata a month for religious celebrations, where the music-loving dukes wanted the best possible music for divine worship.

Bach Cantatas

They certainly succeeded with this cantata, since the beginning of Advent was a liturgical moment in which music had special importance. The other three Sundays of Advent were usually celebrated in Lutheran churches with simpler compositions, awaiting the musical splendor of Christmas. This explains why up to three cantatas written by Bach for the first Sunday of Advent are preserved.

The first is the one we are dealing with, belonging to his first year in Weimar, and therefore with a certain character of premiere of the new Konzertmeister in the new liturgical year. The other two were composed in 1724 (BWV 62, already in his second year as Cantor of St. Thomas in Leipzig) and in 1731 (the cantata BWV 36). All three express musically the content of the biblical readings that were read that day: the entry of Jesus as Davidic King into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-9) and the exhortation to be awake (Romans 13:11-14).

For his first Advent cantata in Weimar, Bach has a fairly small musical staff: three vocal soloists (tenor soprano and bass), a small four-voice choir and the usual baroque string ensemble with basso continuo. The economy of means, convenient in view of the great musical investment that would be required for the approaching Christmas season, does not prevent the result from being brilliant, since in this cantata Bach's talent as a dramatist and his genius as a composer, which is already shown in a mature and consolidated style, are especially noticeable.

The King's entry into his Court

This cantata begins, in fact, with a gesture of remarkable dramatic character, since the opening chorus that we expect to find in a cantata is presented no more and no less than over an overture in the style of French opera. Since the end of the 17th century, the operas performed at the Versailles court of Louis XIV, and later in those of almost all of Europe, begin with a three-part overture that is performed with the entrance of the King.

The first part is a solemn march, which announces the coming of the monarch to the theater, the next is a fast fugato section that energizes the king's presence, and the third is a repetition of the initial march to indicate that the performance begins. Well, Advent being the time to await the arrival of the King, Bach designs the opening chorus with the scheme of the French overture, with an intention that any of his educated listeners in Weimar would obviously perceive.

In the opening march, the choir sings voice for voice the first verse of the hymn that gives the cantata its title ("Come now, Savior of the nations"); then the four voices sing the second verse in unison ("show the Virgin Born"). It is followed by a quick and lively choral fugue in which the choir sings the third verse ("may the whole world admire him"). Finally, the initial march is repeated as the choir in unison repeats the choral melody singing the fourth verse ("for God has arranged such a birth"). The Son of God, and of the Virgin, is about to enter as Savior King into his Court, where all the nations of the earth are gathered.

Announcement and faith

In Bach's mature cantatas (those corresponding to his Weimar period, and even more so those composed in Leipzig), the initial chorus is followed by a succession of recitatives and arias. The former, with a simple accompaniment, usually serve the solo voice to announce and expound the content of the faith. In the latter, with a wide and careful instrumental clothing, the soloist expressively sings his faith made prayer. Although this division between the announcement (the recitative) and the faith (the aria) does not always occur, it can help us to understand and follow the spiritual path that Bach proposes in each of his cantatas.

In the case of BWV 61, the tenor announces in a recitative the faith in the Incarnation of the Savior, as the beginning and root of all his comings into this world. After a simple exposition, the cello, which until now only accompanied as a basso continuo, is wonderfully animated in the final words of the announcement: "You come and shine your light full of blessings". A new dramatic device that reminds us of the need to announce the blessed light that the Savior King will bring. The tenor then transforms his announcement into an expression of faith in the aria that follows the recitative. It is a prayer asking Jesus for protection and blessing, sung with an unstoppable jig rhythm (a very lively dance that used to be danced at weddings and popular festivities) that evokes the joy of love and faith in the Savior.

The Word and the music

After this choreography of faith, Bach hits us with a new dramatic gesture. A recitative in a minor key entrusted to the bass, which represents the Vox Christibursts against a background of strings in pizzicato. The minor color evokes the darkness and the night, the pizzicato which plucks the strings of the instruments, suggests the sharp knock of someone knocking on a door. The contrast with the previous aria could not be more dramatic, thus preparing the listener to pay attention to the words of this recitative, which announces the presence of Jesus at the door of every believer with the same words of the Apocalypse: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock..." (Revelation 3:20).

With this harsh change of tone, the spiritual journey of this cantata leads us from the coming of the King to the actual presence of Christ knocking at the door of every heart. Before this announcement, the believing heart intones a song of welcome in faith to the God who calls us. This is what the soprano does in the aria that follows this imposing recitative. An aria of sweetness and intimacy, where faith meditates in its melody over a simple cello accompaniment, where one responds to the call of the Savior ("Open, heart, wide open, for Jesus is coming and is going to enter").

The soprano sings open on a figure of three ascending notes that the cello will recall throughout the aria, in which, indeed, the heart rises; however, when the soprano sings the last verse ("Oh, how happy I shall be!") the cello makes a rippling stream of eighth notes flow, which seem to evoke the sea of happiness received by the heart that has listened awake to the call of the King who knocks at the door and has been able to open itself to Him. Once again, the Word of God finds in Bach's music an admirable reflection.

To end the cantata, Bach does not resort to the austere final chorale that will be de rigueur in the Leipzig cantatas, but composes a brief but lively choral fantasy. Voices and instruments express the joy and lively expectation contained in the text that closes the cantata ("Amen, amen! Come, beautiful crown of joy, do not delay! I eagerly await you").

The spiritual path has led us from the solemn proclamation of the King's entry into court to the musical painting of the attitudes that this awakens in the believer: joy, petition, availability, surrender and certain hope. Those who listened in the chapel of the ducal court of Weimar to the cantata with which Bach premiered his musical production for Advent, would probably experience some of these attitudes thanks to the suggestive spiritual force of its author. Possibly also today it will continue to awaken in the hearts of many listeners these attitudes that the arrival of Advent proposes to us. It can be verified by listening to this carefully chosen version of the Netherlands Bach Societywhich includes English subtitles to enjoy the music and the words at the same time.

The authorAntonio de la Torre

Doctor of Theology

Resources

The city of Bethlehem: history and archaeology

The historical importance of Bethlehem is undeniable: for the Jews, because David was born there and was to reign over Judah and Israel from 1013 to 966 BC. For Christians, because it is the place where the Savior, Jesus, was born, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

Gustavo Milano-December 26, 2024-Reading time: 11 minutes

Long before Abraham arrived in the Holy Land, Canaanite peoples were already living there with small cities built and fortified with walls. This is the case, among others, of Bethlehem, whose origins date back to about 3000 BC. It is a city located on a hill almost 800 m above the level of the Mediterranean Sea. In reality, its original name is not "Bethlehem" as its transliterated Hebrew version conveys it. Lahmo is the Chaldean god of fertility, called by the Canaanites "Lahama", and to him they dedicated the city, considering the fertile fields that cover it. There are indications that those first inhabitants built a temple to that god on the same hill where the Basilica of the Nativity is located today. In 1969 Shmarya Gutman and Ariel Berman identified the Canaanite city on the same hill, but the excavation has not been carried out. And about two kilometers southeast of Bethlehem, Lorenzo Nigro's team discovered a necropolis of the same period.[1].

Bethlehem of Judah

Although only 8 km from Jerusalem, the city of Bethlehem was never among the most populated of the kingdom of Judah, which lasted from 928 to 586 BC. The earliest recorded extra-biblical mention of Bethlehem today is in a letter found at the archaeological site of Amarna, Egypt, from the 14th century BC. In this document Abdi-Heba, the Egyptian governor of Jerusalem at the time, asked Pharaoh Amenhotep III to send him archers so that he could recapture the city of "Bit-Lahmi," where the Hafiru had revolted.[2].

However, its reference in the Bible is more abundant. The first is in Gen 35:16-19, when it is narrated that Jacob and his family were passing through there after leaving Bethel. In this passage the city Ephratah is first mentioned, and then it is mentioned again, but with the clarification "i.e. Bethlehem". Also the prophet Micah called it "Bethlehem Ephrathah" (cf. Mic 5:1). The point is that "ephrata", in Hebrew, indicates the fertility of the land, which had already given the name to this city in Canaanite times, although referring to the god of fertility, and not to fertility directly. What the Hebrews did was to substitute the name of the god of fertility for a Hebrew word with a phonetic similar to the aforementioned "lahama", such as "lehem" (bread, which somehow also alludes to the wheat and barley plantations of the city), and to add a kind of surname that translated the substituted word. From there came the "ephratah". In addition, in Jos 19:15 a Bethlehem is mentioned, attributed to the inheritance of Zebulun, located therefore to the south of Galilee.[3]. However, "efrata" could also be used to disambiguate them.

Due to the little importance of this other Bethlehem, with the passage of time the one in Judah became famous, making the surname "Ephratah" dispensable. This is implied by the inscription "Bethlehem" on a seal from the 8th-7th centuries BC found in 2012 by the archaeologist Eli Shukron, of the Israel Antiquities Authorityon the outskirts of the Old City of Jerusalem.[4]. Apparently it was an administrative or fiscal document sent from the capital.

Continuing with the question of the fertility of the region, a fundamental factor for there to be life, Francisco Varo explains that "the city was located on a hill, and at its foot were the wheat and barley fields, as well as olive groves and vineyards. Economically it was of some importance, being a market for small livestock, since the shepherds of sheep and goats, who roam with their flocks the neighboring desert of Judah, used to camp on the outskirts of the town."[5].

In the same line, the book of Ruth refers that "Boaz came from Bethlehem" (Ruth 2:4) and that he was the owner of cultivated land, in which, by the way, Ruth herself worked when she met him. And 2Sm 23:16 speaks of a "well that is by the gate of Bethlehem", from which those who went with David gave him to drink and he refused, even after saying: "Who would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate? About that, Gonzalez Echegaray says that "lacking fountains in its enclosure, Bethlehem was supplied with rainwater contained in fresh cisterns dug in the rock, already famous since ancient times."[6]. According to Cabello, "it seems that the Roman aqueduct that passed through the city made it improve its situation a little as there were no water sources in its precincts. Being a city of passage to the fortresses of Herodion and Masada in the time of Herod the Great and controlling the main route connecting Jerusalem with Hebron also gave it some life."[7]. These last two cities were about 30 km apart, and it was very convenient to make a stop almost halfway in Bethlehem to replenish energy and rest a little.

Its historical importance for the Jews, in fact, comes precisely from the great-grandson of Boaz and Ruth, David, who was born there and was to reign over Judah and Israel from 1013 to 966 BC, when the monarchy was still unified, according to the biblical account of the First and Second Books of Samuel and the First Book of Kings. For Christians, on the other hand, it is also added that the birth of Jesus also took place there, according to the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Below we will analyze the relationship between the two most central biblical characters of each Testament.[8] with the city of Bethlehem.

Bethlehem of David

In Judg 17:7, when the sacred author says "Bethlehem of Judah", he is referring to the region rather than to the tribe. In fact, the tribe of Judah had occupied a large part of what later became the southern kingdom, that is, from near Bethlehem to Kadesh-Barnea, in the Negev desert, excluding the vicinity of Beersheba, inhabited by the tribe of Simeon. As great cities of Judah, Hebron, in the mountainous region, and Lachish, in the plain of the Sephelah, stood out. 

Another factor that made Bethlehem a relevant city is that the tomb of Rachel, the matriarch, wife of Jacob and mother of Joseph and Benjamin, and the third holiest place in Judaism, is venerated there.[9]. At the birth of her second son, she happened to be in Bethlehem, and there she died (cf. Gen 35:16-19). 

But by far the Jewish personage who made Bethlehem most famous was David. That is where his family comes from (cf. 1 Sam 17:12-15) and that is also where he was anointed by the prophet Samuel. From that time on, the young shepherd boy put himself at the service of Saul, the now aged king of Israel, and played lyre for him when the latter was feeling unwell, which calmed him down. After David's victory over Goliath, in a context in which Saul no longer enjoyed such prestige among the people, David became the king's son-in-law and a great friend of Jonathan, Saul's son. In short, after pursuing David, Saul commits suicide when he is wounded in a battle against the Philistines. Some divisions arise over the possible successor, but David gains the confidence of the chiefs and is appointed king in Hebron. He then chooses as a neutral city to be the capital of the kingdom the one called Jebus, that is, the city of the Jebusites, which corresponds to part of what would become Jerusalem. And there he reigned for decades. 

An interesting episode is that later Bethlehem was besieged by the Philistines, when King David was there (cf. 2Sm 23:14). González Echegaray adds that "it seems that in the high eastern part of the city [of Bethlehem], where today the basilica of the Nativity is located, the memories of David's family were still preserved, and probably there lived some who considered themselves his descendants" (cf. 2Sm 23:14).[10]. David died and is buried in the ancient Jebusite area of Jerusalem, today called the "City of David".

He was succeeded by his son Solomon, who reigned from 965 to 928 BC. At the end of his reign, his sons were divided, as was the kingdom. In Jerusalem, Gibeon and Jericho, very close north of Bethlehem, lived the tribe of Benjamin, whereupon the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were summoned by Rehoboam after the death of his father Solomon (cf. 2Chr 11:1-12). The tribe of Simeon, in turn, with the passage of time dwindled until it was assimilated into the tribe of Judah. Thus Rehoboam unified the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and became king of Judah, with his capital in Jerusalem, while the general Jeroboam became king of Israel, with his capital in Samaria, ruling over the territory of the other Israelite tribes.

Apart from the ancient Canaanite walls, the Bethlehemite city was fortified and walled by Rehoboam, David's grandson (cf. 2Chr 11:5-12). In this context, the most prominent cities were Jerusalem, Lachish and Beersheba, the latter in the desert area further south of Hebron. "The city [of Bethlehem] had been repopulated on the return from the Babylonian exile with exiles native to the place (cf. Esd 2:21; Neh 7:26), and one of its sources of income must have been trade in sheep, which grazed, as they do today, in the vicinity of the adjoining desert of Judah (Lk 2:8,15; 1Sm 16:11,19; 17:15,34-35)"[11].

Although already quoted above for another purpose, historically it is at this time that the prophet Micah, who lived in the 8th-7th centuries BC, is situated. In Mk 5:1 we read: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though so small among the clans of Judah, out of you shall come forth to me one who is to be ruler in Israel; his origins are very ancient, from days of old". Made centuries after David, this prophecy is interpreted as messianic, and applies to Jesus.

Bethlehem of Jesus

Numerous studies were made on the relationship between the city of Bethlehem and Jesus, which allowed a greater precision in the data, in comparison with David and all the previous characters. From the precise date and the concrete site of his birth within the city, to the reason why Mary and Joseph were there. In this section we will also talk about the Basilica of the Nativity which is located in the elevated part of the Bethlehemite city.

Although the Gospels of Mark and John do not say that Mary gave birth in Bethlehem, neither do they say otherwise, nor do they place this event in another locality. Therefore, no further disputes arise on this matter. However, the Matthean and Lucan Gospels, when locating the birth of Jesus in that city, do it in the context of a census, and on this there are divergences.

The first Gospel simply says: "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judah in the time of King Herod" (Mt 2:1), and a little further on quotes the well-known prophecy of Micah. On the other hand, Luke contextualizes more the journey of the Holy Family to the city of David: "In those days an edict was promulgated by Caesar Augustus that everyone should be registered. This first census was made when Quirinus was governor of Syria. Everyone went to register, each to his own city. Joseph, being of the house and family of David, went up from Nazareth, a city of Galilee, to the city of David called Bethlehem in Judea, to register with Mary his wife, who was with child" (Lk 2:1-4). Since the birth of Jesus took place between the years 6 and 4 BC, and the census of Quirinus took place ten or twelve years later, it seems that the information does not add up.[12].

Citing Pierre Benoit's study, González Echegaray summarizes it as follows: "The census referred to in the Gospel is due, in effect, as it says, to a general attempt to census the population of the empire, at least in its eastern zone, in accordance with the dispositions of the emperor Augustus. It also included the associated states, such as the kingdom of Herod. It must have begun around 7 BC, Saturninus being governor of Syria, and then continued under the government of Varus at the end of the reign of Herod, to conclude in the time of P. Sulpicius Quirinus (year 6 AD) with the change of administration (...). This census therefore bore in Judea the name of Quirinius, and so the Gospel cites it, although in fact it had begun earlier, even some years before the birth of Jesus."[13].

The same author clarifies why the trip to the place of origin of each family was necessary: "The fact that the Gospel of Luke points it out as the reason for the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem implies, in effect, that it was a census prior to the one directly related to the tributum capitisThe census was not a census, since it affected the inhabitants of Judea and Galilee equally. Moreover, one might think that in some way it was also related to the cadastral situation, since it would not be necessary to go to the 'place of origin' to register only for a census of an individual character, if it were not linked to the problem of identifying family properties in the countryside".

In turn, Murphy-O'Connor does not hesitate to affirm that "Mary and Joseph were natives of Bethlehem, and only went to Nazareth because of the atmosphere of insecurity generated by the Herodian dynasty (cf. Mt 2). Their long residence in Galilee gave Luke the impression that they had always lived there, and so he had to find a reason to place them in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth (cf. Lk 2:1-7). He mistakenly invoked the census of Quirinus, but this took place on 6 AD."[14]. On the other hand, another author mentions a certain plan of Judaization of Galilee, which Joseph and many other Jews would have been part of, and that is why he went there with his family.[15]. In any case, for the moment we can only keep the question open, given the limited information available.

Moreover, according to the Lucan account, the birth of Jesus took place in a stable (cf. Lk 2:6-7): "And when they were there [in Bethlehem], the time came for her [Mary] to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the room". The study of the terms used by the evangelist leads us to understand that the birth took place not in an inn, but in a house built in a cave in a mountain.[16]. Perhaps the house in question or part of it served as a stable, since a manger was located in it. According to Pfeiffer[17]The tradition that Jesus was born in a cave in Bethlehem dates from the second century, i.e., it is not properly from the apostolic period. But Murphy-O'Connor, in turn, picks up on the fact that "pre-Constantinian pottery and masonry suggest that these caves [the cave traditionally thought to be the one in which Jesus was born and other caves further north] were in use in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD."[18]. In this sense, the thesis that it was a conventional house built in front of a cave, and not an inn, is plausible. The fact that the birth took place in the portion dedicated to the animals may have been to preserve the intimacy of the family moment, because it is possible that they were not alone in that house.

Finally, as a curious fact, in spite of Jesus having been in so many cities during his public life, among them many near Jerusalem, there is no record that he visited Bethlehem as an adult. Perhaps that is why Mary's son is not known as "Jesus of Bethlehem", but as "Jesus of Nazareth", notwithstanding the convenient link with King David that this would entail.[19].

However, upon arriving in Bethlehem, the visitor will find the Basilica of the Nativity. If in Roman times the cave where Jesus was originally born and its surroundings had been covered by a "sacred wood" of Adonis, in 325 AD the emperor Constantine had a basilica built on the site of the Nativity.[20]. According to Eutychius of Alexandria (9th-10th centuries), after the Samaritan revolt of 529 AD, "the Emperor Justinian ordered his envoy to demolish the church of Bethlehem, which was small, and to build another with such splendor, size and beauty that no other church in the Holy City could surpass it".[21]. In fact, in 1934 archaeologists William Harvey, Ernest Tatham Richmond, Hugues Vincent and Robert William Hamilton confirmed that the building dates back to the time of Justinian, and were able to reconstruct the floor plan of the Constantinian basilica, which was located on the same site as the current one.[22]. The Justinian work was completed in 565 AD, and the present basilica of the Nativity is essentially the structure built by Justinian with some minor maintenance alterations or non-structural additions.


[1] Cf. Pedro Cabello, Biblical archeology. Córdoba: Almuzara, 2019, p. 494.

[2] Cf. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, The Holy Land. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 229.

[3] Adrian Curtis, Oxford Bible Atlas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 132.

[4] Hair, op. cit., p. 494.

[5] Francisco Varo in: The Bible in your environment. Estella: Verbo Divino, 2013, p. 48.

[6] Joaquín González Echegaray, Archaeology and gospels. Estella: Verbo Divino, 1994, p. 99.

[7] Hair, op. cit., p. 494.

[8] This is the opinion of John Bergsma in the book The Bible step by step (Madrid: Rialp, 2019), that David is the central character of the entire Old Testament, since Jesus is better known as the son of David than as the son of Abraham or the son of Moses, for example. And obviously Jesus is the central character of the New Testament.

[9] Hair, op. cit., p. 494.

[10] González Echegaray, op. cit., p. 100.

[11] González Echegaray, op. cit., p. 99.

[12] González Echegaray, op. cit., p. 70.

[13] González Echegaray, op. cit., p. 70.

[14] Murphy-O'Connor, op. cit.p. 230 (my translation).

[15] González Echegaray, op. cit., p. 40.

[16] González Echegaray, op. cit.., p. 100.

[17] Charles Pfeiffer, Biblical-archeological dictionary. El Paso: Mundo Hispano, 2002, p. 68.

[18] Murphy-O'Connor, op. cit.., p. 237.

[19] Curtis, op. cit.., p. 149.

[20] Pfeiffer, op. cit.., p. 68.

[21] In Murphy-O'Connor, op. cit., p. 233.

[22] Hair, op. cit., p. 494.

The authorGustavo Milano

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Gospel

Of parents and children. Holy Family (C)

Joseph Evans comments on the readings from Holy Family (C) and Luis Herrera offers a brief video homily.

Joseph Evans-December 26, 2024-Reading time: 2 minutes

It is not surprising that families can have problems and misunderstandings. Even the best family of all, the Holy Family, had a misunderstanding, as we read in today's Gospel (Lk 2:41-52). It seems that there was a misunderstanding: Jesus stayed in the Temple and did not tell his parents. When they finally find him, worried and sick after three days searching for him, he does not show much compassion and is surprised that they did not think he would be in the Temple, his Father's house. 

Jesus is the perfect man and puts God before everything else, although, as a real and therefore limited man (which is part of his human nature), in a somewhat adolescent way he does not consider the concern he would cause his parents by doing so. We are told that his parents "did not understand" what it said.

Jesus shows us the attitude that children should have toward their parents. First to God, but then obey their parents. "He went down with them and went to Nazareth and was subject to them.". But Our Lady shows us the attitude that parents should have: to pray. "His mother kept all this in her heart." More praying than talking. We also see the perfect relationship between Joseph and Mary, which is a great example for spouses. Joseph usually takes the initiative, as when he took Mary and Jesus to Egypt and back.

But on this occasion, he holds back and lets Mary speak, since the questioning of Jesus' actions would more appropriately come from her than from him. Joseph and Mary show us a perfect husband and wife team. Each respects the competence and authority of the other. 

The first reading teaches us a beautiful lesson. Hannah had miraculously conceived Samuel when she thought she would never conceive. But now she gives him back to God. She is willing to dedicate her son to the Lord and goes to the temple to do so. Parents have to receive their children as a gift from God and be willing to give them back to him. And we may have to be prepared to be surprised by our children. Even Mary and Joseph had to be surprised. Sometimes God has to teach us a lesson, to surprise us through our children and the unexpected free choices they make. They belong to themselves, not to us; and moreover, they belong to God.

Homily on the readings of the Holy Family (C)

Priest Luis Herrera Campo offers his nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.

The Vatican

Jubilee 2025 begins: A Church with open doors and a hopeful outlook

Pope Francis opened the Jubilee Year of Hope with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica, in a ceremony that was a summary and culmination of his pontificate.

Maria Candela Temes-December 26, 2024-Reading time: 3 minutes

On the 24th at 7:00 p.m. Rome time, Pope Francis began the start of a new Jubilee Yearwith the rite of the opening of the holy door in the atrium of St. Peter's.

It was a ceremony of great liturgical beauty and charged with symbolism, which preceded the celebration of the Holy Mass of the Nativity of the Lord in the Vatican Basilica.

The call Jubilee of Hope which the Church has just released will run until January 6, 2026.

Remembrance of the Jubilee Year 2000

In the atrium of the imposing temple, in front of a door surrounded by flowers, the Pope performed a rite that has been celebrated for 600 years, since Martin V first opened the gate of the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

The memory inevitably flew back to what happened a quarter of a century ago, when John Paul II He crossed the door of St. Peter's wrapped in a brightly colored rain cape, commemorating the two thousand years of redemption.

The Pope at the threshold of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, after opening it and inaugurating the Jubilee 2025. (Photo CNS/Vatican Media)

The same tired and prayerful gesture of the Polish Pope on that night was also seen in Francis, who wore a simple white robe and was seated in a wheelchair, due to his delicate health condition.

At 88 years of age and more than a decade of Petrine ministry, seeing him cross the holy door had a special expressive force, because we witnessed an image that summarized the magisterium with which he has been guiding the Church for eleven years.

Already in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, which is the programmatic letter of his pontificate, published in November 2013, spoke of his desire for "a Church with open doors."

Another phrase, "in the Church there is room for everyone," has been the leitmotiv of his preaching in recent months, since he repeated it with insistence in the World Youth Day in Lisbon in August 2023. 

The first to cross the holy gate

This openness and universality were present throughout the ceremony. After the Pope, 54 faithful from five continents - some from places like Egypt, Eritrea, Vietnam, Samoa or Papua New Guinea - entered through the holy door.

At the Mass, the prayer of the faithful began with a petition in Chinese and included, not coincidentally, another in Arabic praying for peace.

The offerings were carried by people dressed in their regional costumes: Asian, Arab and African costumes, the feathers and blanket of an American Indian, and the typical attire of the Argentine gauchos.

At another time, children from various countries brought a floral offering to the Child God.

Children from 10 nations bring flowers to a statue of the Baby Jesus in front of the altar for Christmas Eve Mass (CNS Photo/Lola Gomez).

A pontificate of hope

The Christmas Eve celebration was the culmination of a pontificate that has underscored the centrality of mercy in the life of the Church.

We saw a Pope recollected in prayer, worn out, supported to go through a door that symbolizes reconciliation with God and above all symbolizes Jesus Christ, who proclaimed himself "the door of the sheep". 

Francis himself personifies the hope that the Church preaches to her children in this Holy Year. This theological virtue was the theme of his homily of the MassBrothers and sisters, this is the Jubilee, this is the time of hope. It invites us to rediscover the joy of the encounter with the Lord, it calls us to spiritual renewal and commits us to the transformation of the world, so that this may truly become a Jubilee time". In a world torn by war and pain, the Pope came from the new world leaves us a legacy of hope.

The Vatican

Stories of hope at the gates of the Jubilee

Pope Francis finally opened the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, inaugurating the Jubilee Year. The first day brought with it stories of hope amidst the waiting and cold of Rome.

Luísa Laval-December 25, 2024-Reading time: 4 minutes

The day announced by the Pope Francis finally arrived, and the Church opened its doors for the Jubilee Year of Hope. The wait for the opening and Christmas Mass was marked by cold and strong winds in St. Peter's Square. Even so, this did not prevent some 25 thousand people from attending the ceremony from outside (while 6 thousand were inside). On this first day of the Jubilee, it was possible to meet faces and stories that convey hope.

About an hour and a half before the start of the Mass and the cold was getting colder, a group of international students from the choir Nuova Voce began to sing typical Christmas songs to liven up the atmosphere. They sang in different languages: English, Spanish and even Polish.

"The wait was getting long and the cold too, so we decided to start singing to make the time pass faster," says choir director Ana Serrano. "It was a nice moment to share the beauty of Christmas. At the end, the Italians asked us to sing. Tu scendi dalle Stelle, the best-known Italian Christmas song, and many joined in."

Although many withdrew after the Opening of the Holy DoorThe choir members were impressed by the active participation of the faithful during the Mass. The people followed the songs, knelt on the concrete and kept long moments of silence in prayer. Those present will remember the rows of hundreds of priests distributing communion to the crowd that followed the ceremony on the giant screens in the square.

Crossing paths

Software programmer Balita Diaz witnessed an unconventional encounter. A Brazilian woman was explaining every step of the Mass in English to a South Korean man. At the end of the ceremony, she discovered that the young woman had converted to Catholicism only three years ago and had come on her own to participate in the opening of the Jubilee. They had never met before, and the only thing that united them was the bench near the Altar of Confession inside St. Peter's Basilica.

During the two days she was in Rome, the Brazilian told how she prayed to be able to enter the Basilica on the day of the Mass, as there was a strict entrance control. When the day came, she finally made it through the lines (perhaps with a little "jeitinho brasileiro", as they say in her country).

The South Korean, for his part, is not a Catholic, but commented that he had long wanted to cross a Holy Door. "Being here, I really feel like a man of faith," he said. The young woman encouraged him to come closer to the faith, and, who knows, maybe they could meet at the next World Youth Day in Seoul in 2027, already converted.

The realization of a dream

Arriving in Rome is for many a big dream, especially for those who come from far away. Brazilians Sofia Valadares and Ana Cecília, both 22 years old, share their dream of participating in the opening of the Holy Door.

"My dream was always to visit Rome and see the Vatican. I nurtured this desire for many years and finally achieved it in 2024. In the end, as God always has better plans than ours, I was able to be in Rome for Christmas and, guess what, just on the day the Jubilee! I couldn't be happier with the 'coincidences' that happened on this trip," says Sofia, who is 22 years old and a psychologist.

"Coming to Rome was always a dream since my childhood. I grew up in a home where the central decoration of the living room was a miniature of the Pietà. Thus, not only the objects, but also all my principles and values were formed and matured in the Catholic faith," says Ana Cecilia, a medical student. "To know this place, the cradle of so many important decisions, where our beloved Pope is, and to show him our affection, means a lot to me." 

When asked what the Jubilee meant to each of them, they said they were struck by the universality of the Church.

"It is very beautiful to see the meaning of the word. Catholic before my eyes. Seeing so many people united by the same faith filled me with hope," says Sofia. "It is no surprise to anyone that the world desperately needs faith. Seeing so many wars and misfortunes every day can sadden any heart. The Jubilee is important precisely because of this: it represents a light that shines, it is the candle placed on the altar that burns with love. The world needs this. I need this. That love nourishes the hope we so badly need in today's world."

Ana Cecilia adds: "Although I am not Italian, I felt at home when I arrived here. The first impressions of the Jubilee filled my heart with joy. This is the first one in my life, as I was not born during the previous one. I see the Jubilee as an opportunity to meet ourselves, others and Jesus. I came to Rome to meet the pillars that support my faith, and I have received many other blessings from God."

As we left the Basilica, the wind was cold, but there was the warmth of smiles on the welcoming faces of the volunteers, many of whom sacrificed part of their Christmas night to support the ceremony. This was the first night of the 2025 Jubilee. The square reinforces its role as a place where paths and stories meet. We look forward to many more testimonies of hope coming to the Eternal City.

The Vatican

This is how the ceremony for the opening of the Holy Door took place.

Rome Reports-December 25, 2024-Reading time: < 1 minute
rome reports88

The solemn opening of the Holy Door marked the beginning of the Jubilee of Hope. The ceremony, full of symbolism and tradition, brought together people from different parts of the world, who participated in a historic moment. The Holy Father opened the door from a wheelchair.

Pope Francis stressed that the Ordinary Jubilee, which will take place throughout 2025, will be a Holy Year centered on an unshakable hope. This hope transcends the personal sphere of each believer, embracing also society as a whole, human relations and the defense of the dignity of each individual.


Now you can enjoy a 20% discount on your subscription to Rome Reports Premiumthe international news agency specializing in the activities of the Pope and the Vatican.

Photo Gallery

Pope opens the Holy Door of the Jubilee of Hope

Francis pauses in prayer before opening the Holy Door that inaugurates the Jubilee of 2025.

Editorial Staff Omnes-December 25, 2024-Reading time: < 1 minute
Resources

Nine poems to pray by the Nativity Scene

Discover 9 inspiring poems to pray by the crib this Christmas. Verses that connect the soul with the beauty of the mystery of the Nativity.

Javier García Herrería-December 24, 2024-Reading time: 3 minutes

Who has entered the Bethlehem portal?

Gerardo Diego

Who has entered the portal,
in the Bethlehem portal?
Who came through the door?
who has entered, who?

The night, the cold, the frost
and the sword of a star.
A male -florid rod-
and a maiden.

Who has entered the portal
by the open and broken ceiling?
Who has entered that sounds like this
celestial uproar?

A scale of gold and music,
sharps and flats
and angels with tambourines
dorremifasoles.

Who has entered the portal,
in the portal of Bethlehem,
not for the door and the roof
nor the air of the air, who?

Flower on bud impact,
dew on the flower.
Nobody knows how it came
my Child, my love...


St. Joseph's Lullaby

Lope de Vega

Joseph: Sleep, and I will watch over you.
the dream, and I will sing to you
a thousand songs, as it comes
the one whose soul is inside your soul,
to give you milk from the breast.

My Child, how do you find yourselves
With me, do you not answer: "
well you can, if you want,
that tongue to the stones you give.
Hey, my eyes, don't you speak?

Look, I am listening.

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. @OSV News/Debbie Hill

The straws of the manger

Lope de Vega

The straws of the manger
child of Bethlehem
today are flowers and roses,
tomorrow they will be gall.

You cry between straws,
of the cold you have,
my beautiful child,
and from the heat as well.

Sleep, holy Lamb;
my life, do not cry;
if the wolf hears you,
will come for you, my good.

Sleep between straws
that, although cold, you see them,
today are flowers and roses,
tomorrow they will be gall.

Those that to keep you warm
so soft they look so soft today,
tomorrow will be thorns
in a cruel crown.

But I don't want to tell you,
although you know it,
words of regret
on days of pleasure;

that even though such large debts
in straws you charge them,
today are flowers and roses,
tomorrow they will be gall.

Leave in tender weeping,
divine Emmanüel;
that pearls between straws
are lost for no reason.

Do not think your Mother
that already Jerusalem
prevent your pain
and weeps with José;

that even if they are not straws
crown for king,
today are flowers and roses,
tomorrow they will be gall.


Juan Ruiz, Archpriest of Hita

Santa Maria,
daylight,
be my guide
yet.

Give me grace and blessing,
of Jesus consolation,
so that with devotion
I can sing your joy.

You had seven joys:
one when you received
salutation
of the Angel; when you heard it
you, Mary, conceived
God-Salvation.

The second was fulfilled
when he was born of you
without pain,
of the angels served;
and was later known
by Salvador.

And it was your third joy
when the star appeared
to demonstrate
the true path;
to the King and Queen
was in guiding.


Lope de Vega

What have I that you seek my friendship?
What interest follows you, my Jesus,
that at my door covered with dew
do you spend the winter nights in the dark?
Oh how hard my insides were
I wouldn't open you up! What a strange ranting
if from my ingratitude the cold ice
dried the sores of your pure plants!
How many times the Angel said to me:
"Alma, lean out of the window now,
you will see with how much love to call porphyria!"
And how many, sovereign beauty,
"Tomorrow we will open it for you," he replied,
for the same answer tomorrow!

Palma Vecchio, Sacred Conversation. @WebWalleryofArt

Why do you come, child?

Alejandro Domingo

Why do you come, child?
why you have come,
to this cold land;
waste of life.

You want our arms
to keep you warm,
and my heart;
waste of love.

Come then, since you want to,
since you are so eager for our company,
to this poor house that is so empty,
that awaits you so much and sighs so much

Give him his owner, his light and his life,
that without your warmth, it is impossible to be.
Stay with me, don't leave me now.
And I, like Joseph and without making noise
with much affection I want to take care of you.


Ruben Dario

-I am Gaspar. Here I bring the incense.
I come to say: Life is pure and beautiful.
There is a God. Love is immense.
I know everything by the divine Star!

-I am Melchior. My myrrh scents everything.
There is God. He is the light of day.
The white flower has its feet in mud.
And in pleasure there is melancholy!

-I am Balthazar. I bring the gold. I assure
He is the great and strong.
I know everything by the pure star
that shines in the diadem of Death.

-Gaspar, Melchior and Balthazar, be quiet.
Love triumphs, and invites you to its feast.
Christ rises, makes light out of chaos
and has the crown of Life.


Enlarge the door, Father

Miguel de Unamuno

Enlarge the door, Father
because I can't get through;
you made it for the children.
I have grown up, to my regret.

If you don't enlarge the door,
for pity's sake,
bring me back to blessed age
in which to live is to dream.

Stained glass window at St. Aloysius Church in New York. @OSV News/Gregory A. Shemitz

I have just seen 

Lope de Vega

I have just come from watching, Anton,
a child of such poverty,
I gave him for diapers
the fabrics of the heart.

Read more

Bethlehem is dying and its star is extinguished in each one of us.

Our faith has a geography, a precise location, and there are those who, for generations for more than two thousand years, have guarded these places and perpetuated the Christian presence.

December 24, 2024-Reading time: 3 minutes

I spoke to Rony Tabash on the phone the other day and my heart broke. I could hear him bustling at the counter of his store, and in the background I could hear the call to prayer from the nearby mosque. That unmistakable chant immediately transported me there, to Bethlehem, to the centrally located Manger Square, where the bells of the iconic Church of the Nativity, whose walls have stood since the time of Justinian, also ring out. 

However, my nostalgic memories came face to face with reality: "Belen is dying," Rony told me. "It doesn't feel like Christmas here. There are no decorations, no lights or anything. Entering the Church of the Nativity is scary; it's empty."

To hear this from Rony, one of the most stubbornly optimistic people I've met in my life, is to hear this from Holy Land, is really bleak. "Last year, we had hope that the war would end before Christmas, but this year... People don't expect a good life or good news, they have lost hope." 

The shadow of the conflict in Gaza is long. In addition to the direct casualties - some 45,000 dead, tens of thousands wounded and more than a million displaced - the war has put the lives and businesses of many people beyond the Strip, in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, in jeopardy. This is the case of the small city of Bethlehemwhose economy revolves around Christian religious tourism: hotels, restaurants, souvenir and handicraft stores, guides, transportation... 

The Tabash family has held, since 1927, The Nativity Storeone of the first gift stores in Bethlehem. They sell jewelry and all kinds of religious articles. It was created at the time of the British Mandate of Palestine, has survived the wars of '48 and '67 and has witnessed the intifadas. In recent years, the closures imposed by the coronavirus pandemic for two years, were a hard blow to the entire tourism sector in the city. Holy LandThe number of pilgrims was at an all-time high. The lines to kneel for just a few seconds at the place where Jesus was born were up to two or three hours long and stretched out of the basilica to the middle of the square. 

Just as tourism was beginning to pick up and recover pre-pandemic figures, the outbreak of the war in Gaza clouded the horizon once again. Fourteen months later, there is no light, not even the light of the star of the emblematic Christmas tree that was placed every year in the Manger Square. Neither last year nor this year has there been a tree. The terrible war in the Strip and the harsh conditions in which they find themselves cast a shadow over a holiday that until recently brought together pilgrims from all over the world.  

"We opened because my father wants to open the store, but we have no sales. It's a miracle we're hanging on." Indeed, many are not holding on. About 70 families from Bethlehem's Christian minority have left this year, perpetuating a bloodletting that has lasted more than a hundred years and decimated the Holy Land's Christian population. "My experience is that those who leave don't come back," says Rony. 

However, what really shook me in my conversation with him was not grief for the Christians of Belenbut our indifference. An indifference fruit of ignorance, of blindness. Because Bethlehem is not a mythical place, it is real. HIC (here), is the word that is read in many of the holy places together with the corresponding Gospel verse. Our faith has a geography, a precise location, and there are those who, for generations for more than two thousand years, guard those places and perpetuate the Christian presence. "We are soldiers who are here to resist, we are the 'living stones'," Rony was telling me with the strength of one who firmly believes in his mission. "But the Christians have to come, it is also their responsibility," there was a hint of frustration, of weariness in his voice. "They can't leave us alone." 

We have left them alone. There where the star shone, there where the angels sang, there where Hope was born, they see only darkness. And they are leaving. They are leaving Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem, those places so dear to us that, I insist, are not locations of stories or legends, they are the Here that Jesus Christ wanted to dwell on earth. "You have to come, to touch, to be part of this place." We are part of those places and those places are part of us, and we owe that in part to people with first and last names. Rony Tabash is just one of them. 

"Christmas is the light in the darkness," he told me, "but we need prayers, because we have lost hope." If Christmas dies in Bethlehem, something will have died in each of us, but that can only be understood by those who have been there and touched. This is the Holy Land. Those who have tasted it know it. 

Culture

St. John of Kety, professor at the University of Krakow and parish priest

The Church celebrates on December 23, the eve of the birth of Jesus, St. John of Kety, professor and theologian at the University of Krakow in the fifteenth century, then pastor for a few years. On the same day is commemorated St. Victoria of Tivoli, virgin and martyr of the third century, not to be confused with St. Victoria of Cordoba, also a martyr (November 17).      

Francisco Otamendi-December 23, 2024-Reading time: < 1 minute

St. John of Kety or Kanty (1390-1473), so called in allusion to his birthplace in Poland, also known as St. John Cantius, was a Polish priest and theologian who taught for many years at the University of Krakow or Jagielloniki, in whose Faculty of Theology he studied in the twentieth century, until his priestly ordination in 1946, St. John Paul II. In fact, the Polish Pope was very devoted to St. John of Kety.

The professor was esteemed for his austerity and his love for the poor and sick people. When he became a university professor, every day he would give lunch to a poor person. He would say: "Jesus Christ is coming". Pope Francis, in a message sent in 2022 to the Grand Chancellor of the John Paul II Pontifical University in Krakow, said that its history is marked by scientific and educational achievements and the "spirituality created by its holy founders, professors and students".

Saint Victoria (III century), was a young Christian martyr of Tivoli, near Rome, it seems that sister of Saint Anatolia. She did not want to marry or sacrifice to idols, and an executioner plunged a knife into her heart.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

Paris is worth a mass (or not)

The absence of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, in significant religious events is an imposition of a secularist vision that silences the religious dimension in public life.

December 23, 2024-Reading time: 2 minutes

I have been thinking for some time about the non-attendance of our authorities, and more specifically of the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, at various Eucharistic celebrations held for recognized social reasons. The last two cases have been those of the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the funeral for the dead in the DANA in Valencia. In both cases the normality of social life would have made it advisable to attend who is the representative of all Spaniards.

In the French capital, the highest authorities in the world gathered in an act that was highly symbolic due to the unique nature of the building that was being restored. In Valencia, the grief of the victims required to be accompanied by the highest authority in the country, believer or not. We all know that a funeral is not only attended by believers, but by all the people who want to express their feelings of grief and accompany those who are suffering the loss of a loved one. The King and Queen were present, but the President of the Government did not want to be there.

Beyond the confessed atheism of the president of our country, there is a secularist option in this decision not to attend any religious event, by which he intends to impose on the whole society his own particular vision of the place of religion in social life. In reality, by appealing to the neutrality of the State in this area, it is imposing a silencing of the presence of God, which is the current form of imposing, de facto, atheism on all citizens.

I still remember the secular state funeral that on the occasion of the COVID 19 pandemic was invented to replace the religious ceremony. In fact, the Government presented as a great milestone, as a social advance, the fact that for the first time there was no religious ceremony to pray for the deceased and it was replaced by a civil ceremony, without any mention of God. And so it is. It is not a healthy laicism, that which Pope Francis called for during his last visit to France, that is being promoted with this type of action. It is, in fact, a substitution. What is wanted is that the State be the one to channel and give the answer to the questions about the meaning of life. An answer that dispenses with God and the belief in an afterlife. An answer allegedly neutralbut which is materialistic and atheistic.

We all know that the healthy secularity of the State entails respect and freedom for all religions to contribute their principles and their activity to build a more humane society. Religion is one of the most important facets for many people. Secularism should be the space in which each one of us can express ourselves as we are, not the space in which we all have to stop being ourselves and keep silent about our beliefs.

It is clear that this is not the vision of our current leaders and that, therefore, believers are challenged to make visible the presence of religion in our daily lives, both in the public and private spheres.

And this is a task that is incumbent upon all of us. Especially the laity.

The authorJavier Segura

Teaching Delegate in the Diocese of Getafe since the 2010-2011 academic year, he has previously exercised this service in the Archbishopric of Pamplona and Tudela, for seven years (2003-2009). He currently combines this work with his dedication to youth ministry directing the Public Association of the Faithful 'Milicia de Santa Maria' and the educational association 'VEN Y VERÁS. EDUCATION', of which he is President.

Books

Álvaro Núñez Iglesias: "The only thing that explains the Truce of 1914 in the Great War is Christmas".

As Christmas came in 1914, soldiers from both sides in World War I jumped out of their trenches and went out to meet the enemy, unarmed, and exchanged gifts, sang Christmas carols and other songs, and congratulated each other on Christmas. It was a great Christmas story. Álvaro Núñez Iglesias recounts its intricacies to Omnes.  

Francisco Otamendi-December 23, 2024-Reading time: 6 minutes

"The only thing that explains the Christmas Truce of 1914 is Christmas," says Professor Álvaro Núñez about his book. Because the Truce in World War I (1914-1918) was not only a cessation of hostilities: it was an act of brotherhood, of fraternization, of joint celebration, of Christmas songs in unison. "Yes, Christmas music was decisive. It was the common 'language' in which the contenders could understand each other." 

The author has published in Meeting this exciting documented account of hundreds of testimonies of British, French, Belgian or German soldiers who sang, drank, played, exchanged objects and addresses with the enemy, and hundreds of fragments of diaries of the First World War, in which between 9 and 11 million soldiers died, the vast majority of them soldiers, and as many millions of civilians, in addition to some 20 million wounded. 

The events took place while the military high command forbade any truce, and the politicians deplored it. Álvaro Núñez (Quetzaltenango, 1955), professor at the University of Almería, father of three children, reveals to Omnes what moved him to write the book, the appeals of the Popes, the premonitory words of Churchill, the letter of a German lieutenant to his beloved Trude, the song of 'Silent Night'...

Why this book? You have been a lawyer, a magistrate.

- Yes, it is true, but as a university professor, I have been writing for more than forty years and, whenever the subject matter has allowed it, I have put passion into my legal writings. And passion is what I feel about Christmas, and especially about this unique event, in the true spirit of Christmas, which was the Truce of 1914.

Reasons to study the Truce of '14 and write about it? Above all, the desire to tell a truth (with all its evidence) that is beautiful and that, moreover, invites us to be good, and because in Spain the colossal dimensions of what happened on the Western Front at Christmas 1914 are unknown. 

However, it has also been influenced by the fact that a European Commissioner wanted to prevent people from explicitly congratulating Christmas a few years ago and that twenty-five years ago -I remember it perfectly well- someone said to me: 'Álvaro, Christmas has twenty years left'. It will not happen that I will die, of course, but if that were the case, I would like to die first. In the end, if this has not been the main reason for this book, it has been a great incentive: to collaborate with the story of that enormous truth so that this does not happen.

The summer of 1914 was supposed to be calm and peaceful in Europe. What happened to trigger a Great War with millions of deaths?

- As I say in the first lines of the book, wars, like deadly diseases, begin long before their terrible manifestation. In the case of the Great War, the powers of the time had been preparing the ground for a possible war for some time. 

But nothing foreshadowed a war in that summer of '14. Nor did the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his wife in Sarajevo necessarily determine the war. The real cause, what made the war unstoppable and 'worldwide', was, I believe, the July 23rd ultimatum of Austria-Hungary to Serbia: Serbia could not accept it in all its terms, and the resulting war could not be only regional, given the system of alliances that would immediately be set in motion.

The Pope Pius XWhy did the cessation of hostilities he proposed fail to bring about peace? Benedict XV?

- Before saying why it failed, I would like to point out that the truce was accepted by several contenders: UK, Belgium, Germany and even Turkey accepted. Neither Russia nor France accepted. The first, because Russian Orthodox Christmas is celebrated on January 7, more than two weeks after Catholic, Protestant and Anglican Christmas. The second, because it did not want to interrupt its ongoing operations.

It must also be said that the Catholic 'patriots' - Austrians, Germans and French - were more patriotic than Catholic (I am referring to those in their offices, in their newspapers, in their homes, not those at the front) and did little to echo the Pope's plea. 

A young Churchill had wondered what would happen if the armies laid down their arms at the same time. What happened so that, at Christmas 1914, the soldiers would lay down their arms and want to celebrate Christmas with their enemy?

- Yes, Churchill's words, in a letter to his wife, were prescient. Churchill, from the experience he had as a military man and as a war reporter himself, knew that there might arise at some time, somewhere, a feeling of understanding, a desire for rapprochement between enemies; that some soldier might see in the enemy a brother who suffered the same misfortune as himself and against whom he had nothing. 

This explains, in the context of trench warfare, the existence of brief truces, of understandings between contenders in order to make the war smoother (the live and let live system), but it does not explain the Christmas Truce. The only thing that explains the Christmas Truce is Christmas. Because the Truce was not just a truce, that is, a cessation of hostilities: it was an act of brotherhood, of fraternization, of joint celebration, of Christmas songs in unison. Yes, Christmas music was decisive. It was the common 'language' in which the contenders could understand each other. It was, in many cases, the spark that caused tempers to cool and men to come out of their trenches to embrace each other. 

What was the attitude of the military commanders, of the soldiers? And the politicians?

- The High Command, in each of the armies, prohibited any truce and, with respect to that Christmas truce, demanded that those who had participated be held accountable, but, in the end, took no disciplinary action (with some exceptions).

The front-line officers were another matter. They consented and, in many cases, agreed to the truce and participated in the fraternization. The Christmas Truce was not a soldiers-only truce. 

Politicians, in all cases, in all countries, deplored the Truce.

How were you able to document these numerous truces, summarized in what you call 'The Christmas that stopped the Great War'? The work is laborious, with 886 notes.

- The book is the product of a person who does not know how to write in any other way; who needs to prove everything he says. It is a professional defect like any other. Hence, all the documentation, all the sources, all the quotations. The collection of sources has certainly been laborious, but I have had help and also the good fortune that the official sources, British and French, are very accessible.

In the book there are many stories of soldiers who told their truce to the media, in the middle of the war. To cite one, a letter in 'The Times' of January 2, 1915. Can you mention one (s) that moved you the most?

- Yes, the book tells many little stories of those Christmas days. The book could have been written differently, but from the very beginning I wanted to give voice to the protagonists. The letters are the most precious source, not the most surprising, because the most surprising thing is that the diary of a battalion tells what happened in detail. The letters are exciting because of what they tell, because of how the soldiers tell it - it is doubtful that today, boys of eighteen or early twenties, write so well - and because they tell it from the mud of their trenches, with their hands frozen with cold - mittens on - and with all the emotion of something they have lived through and that, as many say, they will not forget as long as they live. 

The letters are really moving...

- Emotional? I have cried many times, and even today, after four years of work and two years that have passed since I finished the book, my voice breaks when I read a letter. 

But he asks me for one, and I don't know which one to offer him... Well, this is one among many: that of a German lieutenant who begins: "My beloved Trude, [...] since then it has been raining incessantly, and outside, in the trenches, the water is again knee-deep. On the other hand, the English opposite have become quite quiet since Christmas. Not a single shot was fired on Christmas Eve. The soldiers made an armistice, although the commanders had forbidden it. English and Germans came out of their trenches on the first holiday, gave each other presents and sat together for a long time in the middle of the enemy trenches. Then our people sang 'Silent Night' and brought a Christmas tree to their enemies." 

I loved two pages with the Truce Songbook. 

- I'm very happy to hear that. It's proof that music had a lot to do with it. In a few days, by the way, I have organized a choral concert with some of the carols that appear in that list.

Finally, did they try another Christmas Truce in 1915 or thereafter? Because the Great War lasted four years, is this initiative transferable to today's wars in any way?

At Christmas 1915 there was no Truce in the sense of a halt to the war and fraternization between enemies as occurred in 1914, but there were some truces, one of them told by Robert Graves. 

The reason it did not happen again is very simple: the High Command was forewarned and prevented any attempt at a Christmas truce.

As for the possibility of such a truce happening again, I do not want to rule it out, even though Christmas no longer represents for many Europeans the sacred moment of the birth of Christ, when it is inconceivable to kill each other and, instead, absolutely natural to embrace each other. However, for this to happen, it would require trench warfare.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

Gospel

A foretaste of heaven. Christmas (C)

Joseph Evans comments on the Christmas readings (C) and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily on his YouTube channel.

Joseph Evans-December 22, 2024-Reading time: 2 minutes

The Christmas Day reading is always the profound prologue to the Gospel of John. It is as if - after the excitement of Christmas Eve, with the angels singing and the shepherds hurrying to see the child God - the Church wants us to pause and consider the depth of the mystery.

Through the testimony of St. John, we are invited to meditate on what is literally the most extraordinary event in all of history: the almighty God, the eternal Word with the Father, who lowers himself to assume the human condition. 

He, the Creator, becomes - in his human nature - a creature. He, who is light in Himself - "God of God, light of light"He, who is the full revelation of the Father, accepts not to be known, ignored by all, except by some poor shepherds and exotic foreigners. He, who is the full revelation of the Father, accepts not to be known, ignored by all in his humble birth, except for a few poor shepherds and exotic foreigners. The loving Creator accepts to be rejected by his creatures - most of them are indifferent, Herod persecutes him - and he is rejected by all. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."

As the Fathers of the Church put it in bold language: God became man so that we might become God. That is, so that we might participate in the divine nature (cf. 2 Pet 1:4). In the divine Son made man we are divinized, made like God. 

The child lying in the manger offers us his own divinity, of which we participate through grace, prayer, the reading of the Scriptures, works of love and his reception in the Eucharist. How many mothers, adoring their child, say to him, "I would eat you!", words that only express their desire for union with their child. What for them is only a desire, for us becomes a reality in the Eucharist. The child God whom we contemplate with loving awe enters into us in the host and, in a mystical way, we enter into him. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.(eucharistically, in us) and we have beheld his glory: glory as of the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth."But they were only reflections of glory, and even veiled glory, as when the angels celebrated the birth of Christ, or at the Transfiguration, or at the Resurrection. Through these reflections we yearn for the full vision, when "we will see God as He is"(1 Jn 3:2). Jesus, "God, the only begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, is the one who has made him known.". It is knowledge through faith, like light through the cloud. The joy of Christmas impels us to seek that full vision of God in the afterlife. If Christmas is a time of joy, despite all the ways we find to spoil it, how infinitely wonderful must be the eternal joy of heaven.

Homily on the Christmas Readings

Priest Luis Herrera Campo offers his nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.

Culture

Rachel Carson's "The Sense of Awe": from beauty to ethical commitment.

At this point in the 21st century, Rachel Carson's voice continues to invite us not only to admire nature, but to commit ourselves to its protection, convinced that something much deeper is at stake in this task.

Marta Revuelta and Jaime Nubiola-December 22, 2024-Reading time: 4 minutes

Rachel Carson (1907-1964) was a marine biologist, writer and ecologist, well known and loved in the United States of America, where she was born and lived. She was an essential figure in the environmental movement of the 20th century. Born in 1907 in Pennsylvania, she showed from a very young age an enormous fascination for nature, which eventually developed into a career focused on protecting the environment and raising awareness of the dangers that threaten it.

It was the renowned professor Jordi PuigThe University of Navarra, who told us about Carson when we expressed our interest in the area of environmental thinking. His book The sense of wonder 1956 was the book to start with, the gateway, a rite of passage. It is a short essay that can be read in less than two hours. In the pleasant publication made by Ediciones Encuentro in 2021, the original manuscript of the book is reproduced on the last pages, written in rapid handwriting and many crossings out, as if someone were writing down his ideas and impressions urgently, so as not to forget anything.

A world of small things

The sense of wonder brings together some of the experiences lived by the author with her grandnephew Roger, twenty months old, whom she took care of when he was orphaned. Little adventures: a night raid in a storm, an early morning walk in the forest, invented names for animals, plants, lichens, a game to avoid stepping on trees... "And then there is a world of small things that is rarely seen. Many children, perhaps because they themselves are small and closer to the ground than we are, notice and enjoy the small and unnoticed. Maybe that's why it's easy to share with them the beauty that we tend to miss because we look too quickly, seeing the whole and not the parts." (p. 49).

A precocious talent

Rachel Carson began studying English Language and Literature at the College for Women in Pittsburgh, but soon switched to biology. She had been reading and writing a lot since she was a child; she began writing when she was eight and published her first short story when she was eleven. So the first thing one notices when reading this book is that it is very beautifully written. It has a very simple language and the ideas appear with great precision. It could be said that it "reads itself" because it is natural and sincere. This is a characteristic of his texts, even those that are more technical. He always writes simply and beautifully. And, surely, this is the secret to reach a whole legion of readers who were inspired to move from reading to action. 

Pesticides and ecological devastation

In his best known and most influential work, Silent Spring (1962), Carson described the devastating effects of the use of pesticides such as DDT on ecosystems using a metaphor: a future without birdsong and the sound of life. The publication of this work provoked immediate controversy. By denouncing the negative consequences of pesticide use, Carson was challenging the large chemical industries and the public perception of the dubious safety of some of their products. His storytelling mobilized an American society that, until then, had been blind to the side effects of modernization and progress in this area. With a clear and empathetic voice, Carson not only presented data, but humanized the ecological devastation, making it palpable and emotional for his readers. This work, though nuanced and even challenged with time and subsequent research, was a catalyst for the modern environmental movement, prompting environmental policy reforms and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States.

Carson's persuasiveness comes, in our opinion, from the source of her ideas. She does not simply give information about facts, but shares her enthusiasm for the beauty of nature. Only beauty can move us to commitment because it points to that intimate place where we are part of nature: "One way to open your eyes to unappreciated beauty is to ask yourself: what if I had never seen it, what if I knew I would never see it again?" (p. 44).

Be amazed by nature

At a time when we are moving further and further away from effective contact with nature, it is comforting to be carried away by Carson: "The game consists of listening, not so much to the whole orchestra as to discern the instruments separately, and trying to locate the musicians." (p. 57). We live far from nature from many points of view. Not only do we live in big cities, but we also live surrounded by artificiality. Our lives are increasingly immersed in artificial, human-made environments that subtly lead us to a relativistic view of morality, culture and truth. So when Rachel Carson asks "What is the value of preserving and strengthening this sense of awe and wonder, this recognition of something beyond the boundaries of human existence, is exploring nature just a pleasant way to spend the golden hours of childhood or is there something deeper?"he replies: "I am sure there is something deeper, something that endures and has meaning." (p. 63).

The brief book The sense of wonder is an invitation to reconnect with nature and to appreciate its beauty with the eyes of a child, reminding us that only through this deep connection can we truly commit ourselves to its protection.

The authorMarta Revuelta and Jaime Nubiola

ColumnistsAntonio Basanta

The Nativity Scene speaks to us

Nothing in Christian tradition and devotion is as inseparable from Christmas as nativity scenes, born precisely at the moment when the Church made official the celebration of the Birth of Jesus at the Council of Nicaea, the first of the ecumenical ones, in 325.

December 21, 2024-Reading time: 3 minutes

From those first representations around the cradle of Jesus, with songs, dialogues, rites and stagings - so linked to the primitive theatrical forms - would derive the living nativity scenes, much earlier than those that, halfway through the 13th century, began to be performed with round figures, first in monasteries and convents, then in churches, later in royal or noble palaces and already in the 17th century in the houses of the nobility, began to be carried out with round figures, first in monasteries and convents, then in churches, later in royal palaces or palaces of the nobility and, already in the 17th century, in the houses of the wealthy bourgeoisie, a preamble to the absolute democratization of nativity scenes; when the people, the simple and humble people also made this manifestation their own in their own homes, giving rise to the popular nativity scene that, in its various versions, has reached our days.

So full of ingenuity, sympathy and imagination. A Nativity Scene "of proximity", especially for the children who play and enjoy it, because there is nothing closer to the Love that Jesus redefines and projects than the joy and happiness around his generous coming. 

Talking about the nativity scene is to speak of faith, history, culture, art, craftsmanship. And to submerge ourselves in an infinity of ethnographic, anthropological and, above all, poetic, symbolic and religious clues, because there is nothing in it that does not obey a learning purpose, a doctrinal didactic. On the contrary, everything conforms to a code that must be rediscovered in order to understand how many keys it treasures. 

And so, in a nativity scene, the river is not just any riverbed, but the river of Life itself, which is also home to its main fish, the ICTYSwho comes to redeem all the other little fishes we drink and drink and drink again, without ever being satiated with his baptismal water. 

The mill becomes the place where the harvest, the wheat, the ears of corn - always metaphors of Jesus and the Christian community - are transformed into the flour with which the Bread that Christ wants to share with us is made, even if none of us is worthy to enter our home. A process that, in the mill, also marks sequence and destiny. That is why, when we see its blades turning in a nativity scene, we will know that they indicate the inexorable passage of time. But if they remain static, they will be a hopeful sign of eternity. 

The bridge is always an evocation of Jesus Himself, Who, by His hand, leads us from one shore to the other: from the earthly to the heavenly, from the natural to the supernatural, from sin to forgiveness and fraternity.

Fountains and wells represent the essential figure of the Virgin Mary. The first, as an allusion to purity and the generation of life, as every nativity scene is also a tribute to motherhood. The others, as elements of transition, of connection and intermediation between the hidden and the diaphanous. And what else is Mary if not a link par excellence, our most loving protector, always conciliation, always shelter, always refuge?

This allegorical condition is also present in many of the figures that populate our nativity scenes. Like those shepherds who carry on their shoulders a bundle of firewood, a direct allusion to fire and, by extension, to the fogarTo the home; to that special warmth that can only be breathed in the heart of the family. 

And what about those who carry all kinds of fruits: chestnuts of virtue, cherries of marriage (which are always born in pairs) and of marital fidelity, figs of fertility and good fortune, pomegranates of friendship, apples of sin redeemed, oranges evocative of one of our most beautiful Christmas romances? Or what of those who represent the most varied trades, the most diverse labors - blacksmiths, carpenters, fishermen, spinners, washerwomen, carters, reapers, sowers... -, that work must be a permanent offering in response to all that God has granted us.

The palm trees are full of legend. Abrupt the mountains, as arduous as the difficulties we have to face in life. Narrow the gorges, deep the valleys, so often copious in tears. And winding roads, always winding, traced by the doubt that accompanies us as humans, only frank and open when they reach the Portal; when they bring us closer to the Love that resides in it, because only in the Love of Jesus does life widen, the light dissipates the darkness and the cold gives way to the warmest beat of the heart.

Everything in the crib is there because He wants it. And he does it as he has always taught us: through simplicity and humility. That is why we will only be able to go through his proposal if, as the classical saying goes, we lower ourselves. How generous he was when, without ceasing to be God, he wanted to become man! And, in this way, to dwell not only in, with, with, from, from, to, before, under, under, for, by, towards, to, until, after, over, and never against or without, but, above all and endearingly, "among us". 

A prepositional choice that is the most expressive testimony of His grace and blessed benevolence.

The authorAntonio Basanta

D. in Hispanic Literature from the Complutense University of Madrid.

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Vocations

Pamela Egas. Mother and digital apostle

A communicator, wife and mother, Pame discovered her faith inspired by St. Josemaría. This Peruvian woman promotes the digital apostolate in TalkwithJesus.com, motivating volunteers and encouraging conversions. His life reflects holiness in everyday life and trust in God.

Juan Carlos Vasconez-December 21, 2024-Reading time: 2 minutes

Her name is Pamela, although she is known as Pame. This social communicator by profession, wife and mother of three children, is characterized by a serene and affable personality.

We can say that she always looks for the positive in those around her and is distinguished by a friendly and cordial treatment towards everyone.

Although her childhood and adolescence were spent in an environment that was alien to religious practice, while she was living in another country the seed of faith germinated within her thanks to the reading of a book by St. Josemaría Escrivá on the family. This fortuitous encounter with the work of the Spanish saint awakened in her a spiritual restlessness that led her to seek a greater closeness to God.

The awakening of faith

Motivated by the reading, Pame began to attend Mass more frequently and to receive the sacrament of reconciliation on a regular basis.

However, it was the birth of her third child, Alonso, and a new change in her husband's job that prompted her to take a more determined step in her faith journey. With the desire to strengthen her spiritual life and pass it on to her children, she decided to deepen her religious formation.

Moved by this restlessness and desire to improve, she approached the chaplain of her eldest son's school for guidance and asked him for the location of the Opus Dei center closest to her home. Thus, she began to participate in activities of Christian educationThey receive personalized spiritual attention, practice mental prayer and frequent the sacraments with greater constancy.

It was in Quito, during a trip seven years ago, that she finally committed herself to God in a deeper way, joining Opus Dei as a supernumerary.

Apostolate in the digital era

Pame finds great personal satisfaction in serving and building sincere relationships with the people around her, knowing that God uses everyone to reach out to others.

Her eagerness to transmit the faith has led her to become involved in various apostolic initiatives, such as initiating formation talks for her friends or acquaintances of her friends.

His participation in the following projects is especially noteworthy TalkWithJesus.comwhere it has been since the beginning. This online platform, driven by volunteers and priests, offers a space for encountering Jesus Christ through resources such as podcasts, content on social networks and training courses. The aim is for people to get to know Jesus, engage in dialogue with him, internalize his message and put it into practice in their daily lives.

With volunteers

Their work consists in maintaining the enthusiasm of the more than 70 volunteers who collaborate with the initiative. There are also many stories of conversions and coming closer to God. Pame sees each one as a true miracle and a gift from God.

Her story encourages us to follow her example, seeking holiness in the ordinary circumstances of our lives and trusting in the action of divine grace at work in hearts.

Evangelization

Saint Dominic of Silos, exemplary abbot of monasteries

A Spanish abbot of the Benedictine Order, Saint Dominic of Silos was prior in the 11th century of the monasteries of Santa María de Cañas, San Millán de la Cogolla, and Silos, later called Saint Dominic of Silos in honor of his name. This saint, whom the Church celebrates today, December 20, is considered a great restorer of monasteries, also in terms of spirituality and knowledge.  

Francisco Otamendi-December 20, 2024-Reading time: < 1 minute

Born at the dawn of the year 1000, in the bosom of a modest family dedicated to cattle raising, as a young man he took care of his father's flock, although he soon paid attention to his studies in order to be ordained a priest. He applied to the Monastery of San Millán de la Cogolla, which practiced the Rule of St. Benedict. After a few years of monastic life, he was appointed prior of the Monastery of Santa María de Cañas, which depended on San Millán. Domingo restored it and the church was consecrated.

The monks of San Millán noticed his work and asked him to be their prior. In this assignment, King Don García of Navarra asked him for the church's goods, but Domingo defended the patrimony of the house and the church. This attitude led to his dismissal and confinement in Castile, where he sought the support of King Ferdinand, who appointed him abbot of Silos.

Santo Domingo de Silos reformed this monasteryHe was in dire straits, and built up a great library that enriched culture, and renewed and promoted the spiritual life of the Benedictines and the Church, until his death in 1073.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

Evangelization

Kénosis: "All the songs we compose are born from prayer".

Kénosis is not a musical group, but an apostolate of Regnum Christi born from a deep desire to evangelize through music. Their next album "Don y tarea" picks up this call and puts their work at the "service of the Church".

Paloma López Campos-December 20, 2024-Reading time: 3 minutes

The components of Kénosis do not define themselves as a musical group; they prefer to speak of apostolate. They turn their prayer into songs, so that the 32 members who come together to compose and sing make the gift of music a task that they put "at the service of the Church".

Kénosis has just released "Cuando Él reina", the first single from their new album "Don y tarea". In this interview with Omnes they share their creative process and show the richness that Catholic music can bring to one's prayer life.

What inspired the theme of this first single and why have you decided to make it the first track you release from the album?

- The inspiration is an encounter with Christ, which occurred in a moment of prayer that the community had during an activity of the Kingdom of Christ. For us, as apostles of the Kingdom, we were praying and asking ourselves in what we place our security. From that prayer a very beautiful reflection was born, because we discovered that God gives us a gift and entrusts us with a task. With the song we emphasized that call to follow Christ, realizing that what is impossible for man is possible for God, and we wanted it to be the first one on the album because it shows the essence of the Regnum Christi.

What role do Regnum Christi's own spirituality and faith play in your creative process?

- In the process we are very clear that the protagonist is God. Our purpose is to evangelize, rather than being a musical group we are a apostolate of Regnum Christi and our purpose is to bring God to others through music. Therefore, any song we compose must be born of prayer, it is prayer made song.

How do you manage the collaboration between the different members of the group to ensure that each brings his or her personal stamp without losing the unity of the message?

- We are a family and we all identify in our hearts a seed placed by God, who calls us to evangelize through music. As we all have this desire in our hearts, it makes it easier to be available. We identify this apostolate as a gift and a task, which facilitates respect, availability and organization.

What makes your new album unique within the Catholic music genre?

- More than something different, our album complements very well the call of the Church. There are many people composing very good things, so our goal is not to offer something better than the rest, but something that shows that complementarity and is a response to correspond to the Church and the gift of God. We want to give ourselves through this task.

Photograph by Fr. Nicolás Núñez @RC

What can Catholic music offer today's young people?

- Catholic music that is born of prayer allows people to pray through it. That facilitates the creation of a community and an encounter with Christ, which is something young people thirst for. Also, thanks to music we can put words to what we are feeling even when we don't know exactly what it is.

In the specific case of our new album, with each song we want to accompany a type of prayer. We want the young people to find in the songs a message that is pleasing to the ear and that Jesus reaches them through the music.

How do you relate this to the album title, "Gift and Task"?

- We have received the gift of being able to express ourselves through music. Like any gift, this brings with it a responsibility, it demands a response. We have decided to put this gift at the service of the Church, which is now embodied in this new album.

In what ways do you consider that music strengthens your spirituality and your relationship with God?

- Many times when words are not enough, music can express what you carry in your heart. Music can unite us to God in some way and can even help us to identify things that we carry inside because the lyrics of a song touch us in a special way. On the other hand, thanks to music we can enter into communion with other people. The prayer of others, made into a song, also becomes our prayer.

For us, as Kenosis, we are aware that more than a musical group, we are participants in the ministry of music. As the Church militant, we are asked to unite with the angels and the Church triumphant. We are called to be one in the communion of saints, to be Church in that communion. Thanks to this ministry of music, we can see Heaven touch Earth and bring Earth closer to Heaven.

Hope begets joy

Joy and hope are not fictitious or naive postures; they are fruits of the Holy Spirit. Advent is a good time to prepare our hearts and welcome these fruits, thus heeding the invitation made by Pope Francis in his Bull: hope does not disappoint.

December 20, 2024-Reading time: 3 minutes

It is said that on a silent night, four lighted candles were talking to each other. The first one said: "I am peace, but people cannot have me among them, so I will extinguish myself". So she did. The second one said: "I am faith, but in this world I am already like an accessory, I don't think I'm not going anymore", and it also went out. The third one complained: "I am love, but people do not know my importance, there is no point in keeping it burning". The fourth candle was still lit when a little boy entered the room. He felt sad to find his candles extinguished, he began to cry when he heard the fourth candle speak and said to him: "don't worry, nothing is lost if I am still lit, I am hope, use me to light the other three candles again".

Hope moves us to start again!

Neuroscience connects hope with joy in a directly proportional way. Believing that the best will come helps to face the day to day effectively. It maintains a cheerful attitude because it augurs well for the future. Dr. Rodrigo Ramos Zúñga has written a book entitled: "Neuroanatomy of Hope". In it he presents some scientific studies that clearly identify areas of the brain that are stimulated by psychoemotional processes such as hope and its relationship with the joy of living. 

December is a month that calls us to joy, because in spite of everything, hope resurfaces when we realize that the positive change that Christ brings to each soul truly renews families and the whole of society. In the words of St. Josemaría: "Joy is a necessary consequence of our divine filiation, of knowing that we are loved with predilection by our Father God, who welcomes us, helps us and forgives us.

The Word of God calls us strongly: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks to God in every situation, for this is his will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophecy, put everything to the test, hold fast to what is good, avoid every kind of evil" (1 Thessalonians 5, 16-21).

My mother's example

In a very special way, I think my mother personifies this call. A few hours ago I went to pick her up at the airport as she came home to spend a few days with us. She has the gift of joy and knows how to carry it everywhere with her formidable 82 years of age. 

I arrived at the airport for her, when I saw her I could feel the beating of her heart singing the joy of the reunion. Her gaze shines and her smile bursts out. Just seeing her is already infecting my heart... an endearing hug and the sweet word: "Welcome!"

Before we got to the car he had already enriched me with his hope-filled comments. She told me that she had a special encounter with a wise woman who was traveling on the same flight. As they went through the respective checks, they called my mom for an extra check of her small carry-on luggage. She was worried, looked nervous and heard the lady behind her say, "don't worry, everything will be fine". And so it was. They just checked and let her through right away.  

They continued together to the boarding room and during the ride they talked; the pretty lady repeated this phrase two or three more times: "everything will be all right". My mom asked her why. "It is the greatest teaching that my grandmother left me," she said, "God is the father of love and always watches over us, we must have confidence. And he continued: "You lost your peace for a minute and we must avoid that, before any setback always say 'everything will be fine'".

When my mom finished the storytelling she said, "This left relief in my heart. I learned something new and I liked it. I told her so and thanked her".

At that moment I also felt hope. Joy is not a fictitious or naive posture, it is the fruit of the Holy Spirit! All must not be well for us to experience joy; it is compatible with adversity, even with pain. In a poetic and realistic way, St. Josemaría said that joy has its roots in the form of the cross. It implies accepting our reality with peace, with the certainty that God is there to make us better people, to guide our steps along the path of hope, knowing with certainty that he fulfills his promises. 

This Advent, let us prepare our hearts and heed the invitation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Pope Francis in his bull: hope does not disappoint. In it he calls us to live a Jubilee year that rekindles hope. Let us be "birds of good omen" and share the good news, the good experiences, the good memories and the good desires and resolutions. There will be no better future if we do not talk about it and strive to build it together.

Lupita Venegas greets Pope Francis during an audience (Osservatore Romano)
The authorLupita Venegas