ColumnistsMaria Laura Conte

Ivorian emigration to Europe

The author reflects on who migrates from Côte d'Ivoire to Europe and why, based on scientific research with local organizations. Interestingly, 90 % of those who emigrated and 100 % of potential migrants are educated people.

May 1, 2019-Reading time: 2 minutes

While Europe and its members are hotly debating, between openness and rejection, about the body and the presence of migrants, not everyone knows that in Côte d'Ivoire, one of the countries from which the largest number of people leave, awareness campaigns have been carried out for some years to counteract illegal migration. 

The government also tried to convince them not to leave illegally, by proposing strong messages such as "Eldorado is here!". But Ivorians have good eyes, they can recognize whether or not paradise is the muddy neighborhood without sewage or running water where they live in shacks. 

Now, past experience is offered as a new basis on which to build more structured interventions to combat irregular migration. One of these is called New Hopefunded by the EU and implemented by the international NGO Avsi ong, with six local organizations in Côte d'Ivoire. 

The starting point of this project is a scientific research on who and why they emigrate from this African country, which today has a high GDP growth rate. One of the most interesting data from the research indicates that 90 % of those who emigrated and 100 % of potential migrants who have had the opportunity to leave are educated people.

The reaction to this data is twofold. On the one hand, it can easily be interpreted as follows: those who have studied have a greater self-awareness and wish to try to obtain a better life, to find a decent job. On the other hand, however, it is stressed that education alone is not enough to promote the development of the individual. Education without a means of work pushes people to want to flee, to risk their lives in the Mediterranean and to rely on human traffickers, just to have a chance. Provocatively, could it be deduced that, if all the schools in Africa were closed, the flow of migrants would stop?

The truth that emerges from listening to the testimony of a young migrant who returns, like Claude, to his shack of wood and plastic sheeting in the poorest suburb of Abidjan, is that in the heart of every man there is an irreducible desire that pushes him to find a greater good for himself and his own children. This desire is healthy, and with it, every aid project must become a reality. This desire cannot be betrayed, not even captured by illusory messages, but must be taken seriously and made real. 

The authorMaria Laura Conte

Degree in Classical Literature and PhD in Sociology of Communication. Communications Director of the AVSI Foundation, based in Milan, dedicated to development cooperation and humanitarian aid worldwide. She has received several awards for her journalistic activity.

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ColumnistsJosé María Beneyto

Recovering the best of Europe

The reaffirmation of Europe's roots in the reality of everyday politics is an absolutely necessary condition for European politicians to relentlessly pursue the common good, so that Europe can once again become a beacon in the concert of nations.

April 30, 2019-Reading time: 2 minutes

What is at stake in the European Parliament elections? The course of European politics for the next five years. But the changes that our societies are undergoing will also become more visible. We are clearly living in a time of profound transition. The difficult thing is to discern the positive elements from the apparent sea of confusion in which we move. 

For example, it is foreseeable that there will be a greater fragmentation of the vote and therefore more parties with parliamentary representation. This is the result of an increasingly pluralistic Europe, where there is a ghost that runs through all countries in one way or another: disenchantment and frustration with the establishment, with the "elites", the feeling of fear and anguish in the face of situations that are not understood. 

European policy in the coming years should also provide answers to those European citizens who feel displaced, lacking moral and intellectual resources in the face of the negative consequences of globalization, uprooting, the loss of the security of a steady job, a family, a familiar environment. Immigration, technological acceleration, or uncertainties about the future, together with the vertigo produced by the disappearance of authority referents, are some of the causes of this malaise. It is a malaise more than a civilizationof the civilized. A lack of faith in the face of which all the enormous potential hidden in the idea and roots of Europe seems to remain hidden. Political leaders cannot do everything, they are often very limited in their actions, but it is also true that clear convictions and the ability to weave alliances with civil society can be enormously effective.     

Where is Europe heading? In the 20th century, Europe lost the dominant position it had held in the world for the last five centuries. In relative terms, its population, its gross domestic product and its influence on the planet will continue to shrink. We have to reckon with a G-2, with two very powerful countries competing with each other, the United States and China. The international order must be remade to include continents and countries such as India, Asia and Brazil, whose influence is growing, and other regions, such as sub-Saharan Africa, which were marginalized. Christianity, as St. John Paul II so often affirmed, does not depend on a particular cultural form, but there is no doubt that Europe has historically brought to reality many of the aspirations of the Christian faith.

The authorJosé María Beneyto

Institute of European Studies. San Pablo CEU University

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  • Experiences
  • Catholics on the move. Why mark the X in favor of the Church?
Experiences

Catholics on the move. Why mark the X in favor of the Church?

The months of May and June are coming, and since April you can file your income tax return. Marking the "X" on your tax return is a simple way of collaborating with the Church, it is free of charge, and it shows your commitment and adhesion to the Church and the work it carries out. The Church is a field hospital, as the Pope has been saying, and attends to spiritual needs, but also to material anguish.

Omnes-April 30, 2019-Reading time: 9 minutes

People tend to be fickle, and journalists are not far from that fickleness, understood as inconstancy, or tendency to change, as the dictionary says.

The comment comes from the report that opens the newspaper Xtantos The report is published by the Secretariat for the Support of the Church of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, and can be found in parishes. The title of the report is Support point: against the loneliness of the elderly. 

The task is a beautiful one. More than three hundred people benefit and more than sixty volunteers are behind this work for the benefit of the elderly, who have found in their parishes a place to combat loneliness, thanks to an initiative of the Capuchin Fathers of Gijon.

It is good to see this and many other initiatives that try to alleviate the loneliness of so many people. In the spring of last year, loneliness became the focus of media attention when the British government took the decision to create a ministry or secretary of state for loneliness because of the large number of English people who live alone. Specifically, more than nine million people, both old and young. Around 13.7 percent of the population. 

Palabra echoed the news, and published an extensive work on loneliness. Because experts say that other nations, including Spain, are moving in the same direction. But time goes by, and it seems that nobody remembers the elderly. But it only seems that way. The Church, the Catholics, do, as we have just seen, through this and many other initiatives, both ecclesiastical and civil.

Unemployed, migrants, prisoners

The same thing often happens with the drama of unemployment. On days like these, the media is full of figures. For example, in Spain there are more than 3.3 million unemployed, 14.7 percent of the population, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE). Have we thought about their suffering and how their families live, or rather, survive? Surely we have. But it is also true that time goes by and we forget that suffering, until a new cataract of data appears again. 

However, there are numerous institutions of the Church that do not forget these data, because behind them they see suffering faces. And they do a work, so often silenced, that tries to alleviate this drama, regardless of race, sex, religion, ideology or social condition. For example, Caritas has long been developing insertion workshops for the labor excluded, which is almost the same as saying social. In the November issue, Palabra reported in a report on the commitment to the underprivileged of Banco Sabadell's ethical fund, which helps social projects abroad and in Spain. Some of them focused on the dioceses of Coria-Cáceres, Asidonia-Jerez and Seu de Urgell.

Field hospital

And what about the many thousands of people with diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, tumors of all kinds? And of people in prison who hardly or never receive visits? Or families of migrants who fled misery and hunger in their countries, or cannot find a minimum of accommodation in the country of destination?

When Pope Francis referred to the Church as a "Church of the field hospital did not refer only to material needs, that is, to what could be considered corporal works of mercy, but also, and perhaps primarily, to spiritual needs. But in any case to all of them. This is how he expressed himself in February 2015 in Santa Marta: "This is the mission of the Church: the Church that heals, that cures. I have sometimes spoken of the Church as a field hospital. It is true: how many wounded there are, how many wounded, how many people need to have their wounds healed! This is the mission of the Church: to heal the wounds of the heart, to open doors, to liberate, to say that God is good, that God forgives everything, that God is Father, that God is tender, that God is always waiting for us".

Created "in the image of God"

We should, therefore, as far as possible, update our commitment to care for others, who are so often excluded and in need. As far as we are concerned, the question could be posed as follows: If I don't do it, who will? The examples cited, and many others, allow us to reflect a little more on our role as Christians in the support of the Church. 

Because the possibility of meeting so many people's needs depends on it on so many occasions. Each one of them has been created "in the image of God", so "The human being has the dignity of a person; he is not just something, but someone. He is capable of knowing himself, of possessing himself and of giving himself freely and entering into communion with other persons, and is called, by grace, into a covenant with his Creator."as stated in the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church (n. 108).

Example of the Pope

How many times have we seen or read that Pope Francis goes out on Friday or Sunday afternoons to visit the poor and the sick, or prisoners, in the vicinity of St. Peter's, or in places farther away from Rome. He could dedicate himself to reading or resting, he has already made a few trips this year, and he is 82 years old. But he leaves his couch and walks the streets. A few months ago, Ecclesia reported on this transfer of the Holy Father: "Pope Francis visits field hospital in Vatican square".

"It was around 4:15 p.m. when Pope Francis walked, by surprise, through the columns of St. Peter's Square. From Casa Santa Marta he went to the medical clinic that will provide assistance to the poor, on the occasion of the next World Day dedicated to them on November 18".

"A surprise from the Pope for all the doctors and nurses who from last Monday until next Sunday offer assistance to the homeless, to the needy, to migrants. All medical consultations are free of charge. Francis, as he did last year with the mini-hospital set up in St. Peter's Square for the same reason, wanted to visit them and thank them personally for this service from which more than 200 people have already benefited in these five days".

Church on the way out

Already in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudiumPope Francis targeted this program: "The Church 'going out' is a Church with open doors. Going out to others to reach out to the human peripheries does not imply running into the world aimlessly and without meaning. Often it is rather stopping the pace, putting aside anxiety to look into the eyes and listen, or renouncing urgencies to accompany those who are left by the side of the road. Sometimes it is like the father of the prodigal son, who keeps the doors open so that, when he returns, he can enter without difficulty".

And further on, he referred to the temptation to watch the bulls from the sidelines: "Sometimes we are tempted to be Christians by keeping a prudent distance from the Lord's wounds. But Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others. He expects us to renounce seeking those personal or communal shelters that allow us to keep our distance from the knot of the human storm, so that we may truly accept to enter into contact with the concrete existence of others and know the power of tenderness. When we do so, life always becomes wonderfully complicated and we live the intense experience of being a people, the experience of belonging to a people".

Almost 5 million Spaniards served

Many Christians realize and perceive the immense work that the Church carries out throughout the world in favor of so many millions of people. Many Spaniards value the Church's contribution to the support of the welfare state. "All that social work does not appear in the statistics and is so basic and nuclear that sometimes we are not aware of it, but if it did not exist it would be a suffocation for society because there would be many more lonely and abandoned people."said Alejandro Navas, professor of sociology at the University of Navarra, in a report published by Laura Daniele in ABC.

"The real presence of the Church in the midst of society is indisputable. Of all the institutions that work for others, the Church is the one that carries the most weight. Without this social work that reaches millions of people, society as we know it today would be unsustainable." Fernando Fuentes, director of the Social Pastoral Commission of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), told the newspaper.

In fact, the Church manages to cover the basic needs of 4.8 million Spaniards every year, around 10 percent of the population, and its social and assistance centers have increased by 71 percent. There is a Caritas office in almost every neighborhood, and its more than 80,000 volunteers provide daily assistance to 1.5 million vulnerable citizens.

More statements in favor of the X

Proof that Spanish society values the work of the Church is the increase in the number of people who mark the X on their income tax return, according to EEC officials on February 5. 

These are the most relevant data of the 2017-2018 tax allocation: increased by more than 51,000, the declarations marking the X in favor of the Catholic Church; increased by 51.658 the number of declarations in which the X for the Church was marked, mostly new contributors; taxpayers allocated to the Church 267.83 million euros, 11.6 million more than in 2017, an increase of 4.4 % over the previous year, and the highest figure since the beginning of the current tax allocation system in 2007. In summary, one third of taxpayers mark the X in favor of the Catholic Church (33.3 %).

Practical information and transparency

With the tax allocation made by Spaniards, the Catholic Church now has more resources for the service it provides to society in its religious, spiritual and social dimensions, reports the portal https://www.portantos.es/, which can resolve any doubts on the X question.

The spokespersons of the EEC wanted to thank the collaboration of all those who contribute to this mission with the gesture of marking the X, as well as those who help in the other campaigns carried out throughout the year or support it with their personal collaboration in time and prayer, because "The religious, spiritual and social work at the service of millions of Spaniards is thus sustained".

Likewise, the Church maintains its effort to publicize the mechanism by which taxpayers can decide to allocate a small part of their taxes, the 0.7 %, to the Catholic Church and other purposes of social interest. With this decision, the taxpayer does not have to pay more, nor does he/she receive less back. 

Moreover, in order to emphasize transparency, the Spanish Episcopal Conference presents an annual Activity Report where it is clearly published what the money in the Church's Income Tax Declaration box is used for; how the money is distributed among all the Spanish dioceses from the Interdiocesan Common Fund, and what is the broad work of the Church. Since 2011 this data has been endorsed by the auditors Price Waterhouse Coopers.

In addition, the EEC has recently renewed the collaboration agreement with the NGO Spanish Transparency InternationalThe CEE and the Spanish dioceses are committed to providing management tools, information techniques and supervision to the CEE itself and to the Spanish dioceses.

Regarding some parliamentary criticisms about an alleged favorable treatment in fiscal matters in relation to the Real Estate Tax (IBI), for example, which Palabra has dealt with on several occasions, Fernando Giménez Barriocanal, vice-secretary of economic affairs of the EEC, has stated that "the Church enjoys the same tax regime for property tax, corporate income tax, VAT, transfer tax, inheritance and gift tax and stamp duty as any political party, any trade union or development NGO, or, of course, any other religious denomination". (cfr. Expansion, 31-X-2018).

How does the Catholic Church sustain itself?

The money that the Church receives, and which it devotes to carrying out all its work, within the framework of its purposes -"evangelization, the living of the faith and the exercise of charity", as stated in the Annual Report of Activities of the Catholic Church in Spain of the year 2016-, has different origins: the direct contributions of the faithful, either by means of collections or donations and subscriptions; from inheritances and legacies and also from the tax allocation. The amount received from the percentage of the taxes of the taxpayers who say so is distributed in solidarity from the Interdiocesan Common Fund. And what is this Fund?

The financing of the Catholic Church in Spain is achieved thanks to the Interdiocesan Common Fund, which is, as its name indicates, a common fund from which the funds collected by the Church in the Income Tax Declaration are distributed in solidarity.    

This money is distributed in solidarity among all the Spanish dioceses, so that those with fewer possibilities receive proportionally more. 

On average, it accounts for 25 % of the basic funding of the dioceses, although it depends on the size of each diocese, so it can account for up to 70 % of the resources of the smallest dioceses. This fund is obtained from two main sources: direct contributions from the faithful and tax allocations.

The direct and voluntary contributions of the faithful are obtained through different channels such as collections, donations, legacies, inheritances. However, EEC sources point to the periodic subscription (monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annual) as the most desirable model for the support of the Church. Thanks to this periodicity in financing, the budget can be administered in a more efficient way in order to face the different problems that arise day by day in the dioceses.

Direct and voluntary contributions from the faithful are the main source of funding for dioceses and account for more than one third of the available resources. n

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Twentieth Century Theology

Étienne Gilson and the frontiers between theology and philosophy

Étienne Gilson (1884-1978) was, above all, a great historian of medieval philosophy. But his work has a high theological interest, because it moves on the frontiers between theology and philosophy.

Juan Luis Lorda-April 15, 2019-Reading time: 7 minutes

Étienne Gilson stands out in the field where Christian theologians, besides using philosophy, develop it, giving rise to what can be called "Christian philosophy". It is necessary to be quite precise to understand this expression well. And we had occasion to recall the famous debate of the French Society of Philosophy, in 1931.  

Gilson and Heidegger

The expression "Christian philosophy" was not particularly dear to Gilson, although, so to speak, it stuck to him, because of the much attention he paid to it throughout his life. At first glance it seems a contradiction: either it is philosophy or theology, they are different methods. And that is why Heidegger vents it with a stroke of a pen in his Introduction to metaphysics. In a passage where, by the way, he argues that Christians cannot do true metaphysics, because they cannot place themselves before the being of things with the same radicality as an atheist. Only the atheist radically asks why things are there, and why it is being and not rather nothingness. A Christian takes for granted the explanation of being in God and it seems obvious to him. He does not feel the mystery and strangeness of being. 

To read more

TitleThe Spirit of Medieval Philosophy
AuthorÉtienne Gilson
Pages: 448
Publisher and year: Rialp, 2004

Gilson (or Maritain) would half agree with Heidegger. They would accept that the Christian cannot help thinking "in Christian". However, they would add that he is capable of doing true philosophy, because he is able to distinguish what he can obtain by reason from what he knows by revelation. But evidently their "position" (as Maritain would say, and as he collects Fides et ratio) is different; in this they agree with Heidegger. As Gilson likes to repeat, it is not reason but the person who thinks.  

Gilson attended several of Heidegger's lectures and, according to his biographer (Shook), was moved to tears when he heard him speak about being. But he also thought that Heidegger lacked much historical scholarship and that his Aristotle came from Franz Brentano, and therefore from the scholastic tradition, and was retouched and Christianized. Therefore, like other philosophers and historians of philosophy (Brehier, for example), he was unable to appreciate the Christian philosophical contribution in metaphysics. They thought that Christianity had limited itself to assuming Greek categories and had become Hellenized, but they did not appreciate how much these categories and approaches had changed when they came into contact with Christianity: God (supreme being), being, scale of beings, cause, finality, knowledge, will, freedom, love. Gilson's great theological contribution will be precisely to show this frontier and these influences.

The history and sources of Thomism

Gilson was, above all, a great historian of medieval philosophy. And he contributed in a very important way to make a place for him at the Sorbonne, to be recognized as a subject, because he produced an admirable set of studies on St. Augustine, St. Bonaventure, Abelard, St. Bernard, Duns Scotus and Dante, as well as many articles; and he composed finally a great History of Medieval Philosophy. 

He also devoted much attention to the philosophy of St. Thomas with three synthetic works: the most important one, Thomism (first edition in 1918), which he expanded and improved throughout his life; the second edition, Elements of Christian philosophyThe third and last one, in the form of an essay and without quotations, is a synthesis for his students at the Institute of Medieval Philosophy in Toronto. The third and last, in the form of an essay and without quotations, is the Introduction to Christian Philosophy. 

It should be noted that he did the "philosophy" and not the theology of these authors. But these authors were theologians and not philosophers. Their philosophy is inserted and developed in their theology: they do philosophy by doing theology, because they need it. This is going to be the core of their nuanced idea. In doing theology, they inspire the transformations of the philosophy they use; and that is precisely the acceptable meaning of "Christian philosophy". 

The expression "Christian philosophy" was not particularly dear to Gilson, although, so to speak, it stuck to him, because of the much attention he paid to it throughout his life.

On this point, Gilson polemicized a bit with the members of the Leuven Institute of Philosophy (de Wulf, Van Steenbergen), who really treated them as philosophers. And, moreover, in the case of de Wulf they defended the existence of a more or less unitary "scholastic philosophy". Gilson, as a good historian, was shocked by mixing the sources, because he was aware of their differences, and, in the end, he simply preferred St. Thomas, read in his sources, and not received from an independent Thomistic or scholastic tradition or school.

Scholasticism through Descartes

Gilson recounts his first intellectual steps in a short preface to a brilliant but little known book, God and philosophya collection of four lectures published by Yale University (1941). 

"I was educated in a French Catholic college [at the college and also minor seminary of Notre-Dame-des-Champs], from which I left after seven years of studies, without having heard even once, at least as far as I remember, the name of St. Thomas Aquinas. When the time came for me to study philosophy, I attended a state college whose philosophy professor - a late disciple of Victor Cousin - had evidently never read a single line of St. Thomas Aquinas. At the Sorbonne none of my professors knew the Thomistic doctrine, and all I knew of it was that, if there were anyone foolish enough to set himself to study it, he would find in it only an expression of that Scholasticism which, since the time of Descartes, had become a mere piece of mental archaeology.".

Incidentally, it should be noted that it was in this environment that he would later get a chair of medieval philosophy. This is no small merit. 

At the Sorbonne he was fascinated by a course on Hume by the Jewish philosopher Lucien Lévi-Bruhl. He loved the seriousness of his text-based method. And he wanted to do his doctoral thesis with him. "He advised me to study the vocabulary - and, incidentally, the concepts Descartes had taken from Scholasticism.". And indeed he did the thesis on Freedom in Descartes and Theology and published it in 1913, with a Scholastic-Cartesian Indexwhich is a collection of Descartes' important notions where the scholastic influence is noticeable.

Discoveries and projects

And this is where it all began. Descartes had a scholastic formation, because there was no other where he studied. He learned what intelligence, will and freedom are at the Jesuit La Flèche school, with all the evolutions that these concepts had undergone in the debate on grace and freedom (controversy De Auxiliis). But also the idea of God and of cause and of being. When he wanted to separate himself from what he had learned as unsafe and to re-found philosophy, he could not detach himself from the concepts that his mind handled naturally. For Gilson it was a double revelation. The first, of an evident Christian influence in the considered founder of modern philosophy. The second: "I discovered that Descartes' metaphysical conclusions only make sense when they coincide with the metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas.". 

His vital itinerary would lead him to know better the medieval theologians, extracting their philosophical contribution. And then to try to explain the evolution of the great concepts from Greek philosophy to modern philosophy.

This meant overcoming the Enlightenment prejudice that between Greek philosophy and Descartes there is nothing of philosophy, but in any case, theology. And this would mark the lines of development of his immense work. 

His vital itinerary would lead him, first, to know better the medieval theologians, extracting his philosophical contribution, especially from St. Thomas. And then, with all that historical erudition, to try to explain the evolution of the great concepts from Greek philosophy to modern philosophy. That is to say, to study specifically by areas how this transformation takes place. Up to Gilson's most emblematic book, The spirit of medieval philosophy. Although it is not a formally theological book, it is extremely important for the theology of the twentieth century, because the spirit that animates this philosophy and produces this transformation is the Christian spirit. 

The index of scholastic concepts that he had prepared to study Descartes would serve as his first guide both in synthesizing the philosophy of the scholastic authors and in choosing the concepts from which to tell the story. And from all these subtle relationships between personality, philosophy and theology would emerge his nuanced understanding, collected, with an autobiographical tone, in another of his great books, The philosopher and theology (1960).

The spirit of medieval philosophy

In 1930, Gilson was already 47 years old. He was in the prime of his career. He had achieved almost unanimous academic recognition and respect for medieval philosophy. He had founded the Institute of Medieval Philosophy in Toronto (1929). And he had given many courses at many American universities, being particularly beloved at Harvard. This was because he was a hard worker and gave excellent courses, constantly developing his great themes. Such great erudition allowed him to compose very attractive syntheses and comparisons. Always original, but also rigorous and based on the texts. He never forgot what he learned with Lévi-Bhrul. 

It was under these circumstances that he was invited to deliver the Gifford Lectures at the University of Aberdeen, in two successive years, 1930 and 1931. Lord Adam Gifford (1820-1887) was a successful and well-known Scottish lawyer who bequeathed his fortune so that every year lectures on Natural Theology were given at the major Scottish universities (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and St. Andrew's). Since 1888, these lectures have resulted in an impressive collection of first-rate essays and many classics in the humanities. The lists are worth a look (and there is plenty of documentation. online).

In Gilson's two courses, gathered together in The Spirit of Medieval Philosophytells, point by point, how the great notions of philosophy have been transformed, from their Greek to their modern form, by the impact of Christian revelation, detailing especially the medieval contribution in all its variety. It is a brilliant book, which could only be written by a person who combines so many qualities of method and erudition, as well as great narrative gifts.  

After studying the idea of wisdom or philosophy, we first approach ontology, with the idea of being, its causality, analogy, participation, and God, with his providence. Then, anthropology: from the value of the spirit and the body, through knowledge and intelligence to love, freedom and conscience. It ends with the transversal study of three notions in the Middle Ages: nature, history and philosophy. 

The philosopher and theology

This other book, written when he was 75 years old, is also of great theological interest. It begins by recounting the loneliness and strangeness that a Christian philosopher can feel in an environment that is not very Christian, although he always felt respected and had many friends. He also describes that peculiar status of security that a Christian has on fundamental issues. He recognizes that, in a practicing Catholic, philosophy normally comes later and that, spontaneously, it always occupies a second place in his convictions. 

He recalls his university years, with much gratitude to Bergson, who encouraged so many on the path of philosophy, and who seemed close to converting to Christianity, although Gilson qualifies. He also thanks so many professors and qualifies judgments that seem to him exaggerated or unfair about them (for example, Péguy). 

He goes through the nuances of "Christian philosophy". And in the last chapter, on "The future of Christian philosophy."points out three things: first, that "the future of Christian philosophy will depend, in the first place, on the presence or absence of theologians with scientific training".The author warns that the new technologies are a way to situate and dialogue with the current thinking. He warns that "all metaphysics grow old because of their physics."And this obliges us to be cautious, not to try to agree too quickly. And not to be mistaken about the foundation, which is in faith and in metaphysical convictions (realism and being). Remember, then, the value of the philosophy of St. Thomas on this point. 

Gilson has other books of theological interest, such as The metamorphosis of the city of God, y Sofia's tribulationswith some impressions on post-conciliar drifts. There is also the correspondence he maintained with great theologians, among others De Lubac (already edited) and Chenu, who were his friends, and whom he supported when they encountered misunderstandings and difficulties. 

Laurence Shook's great authorized biography, Étienne Gilson (1984), is magnificent, and the Italian version has an excellent foreword by theologian Inos Biffi. In addition, Vrin has published another voluminous one, by Michel Florian, Étienne Gilson. Une biographie intellectuelle et politique (2018).

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Newsroom

In permanent religious service

There are professions whose raison d'être is availability and they provide services whose effectiveness lies precisely in being able to call on them at the moment of need. There are on-call pharmacies, minimum transport services, emergency telephone... And who takes care of the things of the soul in times of need? 

Javier Peño Iglesias-April 9, 2019-Reading time: 5 minutes

Who can you turn to when the church is closed and you need a word of comfort, or to feel the closeness of God through the sacraments in an unpostponable way? Such a service has been available in Madrid for almost two years. One of its volunteers tells us how they work.

Since the beginning of his pontificate, with his Exhortation Evangelii GaudiumFrancis called us all to missionary conversion: the Church must be a mother with an "open" heart, "with doors open everywhere. This call is concretized in pastoral initiatives that make her maternal face more visible to the world. Like the one launched by the Archdiocese of Madrid on May 15, 2017, which consists of a network of priests who are available to anyone who needs a presbyter between 10 pm and 7 am. It is known as the Urgent Catholic Religious Assistance Service (SARCU). It is active every day of the year. In case of catastrophes, there is an urgent activation service by which all the priests who are part of the Service, through a group of WhatsAppwould be left for mobilization.

SARCU, tell me. How can I help you?

The priests on duty are there to help in urgent and serious cases that require priestly assistance: the dying, situations of vital physical or psychological danger, major accidents or catastrophes, human rights violations that require rapid action, etc. And this with just one call to 91 371 77 17, which is answered by a priest to whom you have to explain the specific situation that motivates the request for help and who will try to channel the appropriate response. 

Sometimes these are cases that can be transferred to a hospital where there are always chaplains on call. Other times it will require specific help that SARCU will try to provide. Fortunately, the help does not remain a one-time assistance, since, after the night service, the same priest who has attended the emergency tries to complete the help in the following days if necessary. Therefore, one of the characteristics of SARCU is to know how to accompany, with the continuity required in each case.

This initiative of the Vicariate of Social Pastoral and Innovation of Madrid, headed by the Vicar, José Luis Segovia, would not be possible without those people who, from the beginning, have been there. From the director, Bienvenido Nieto, to the coordinator, Pablo Genovés, to each of the volunteers who make SARCU a reality that works. At the time of writing this article there were already 57 priests. "But we need more!", Nieto claims. To sign up, it is as simple as sending an e-mail to [email protected]. The way of working includes, in the case of a visit, the figure of the companion: a lay person who accompanies the priest and makes the needy aware that the Church is much more than priests. We are all of us.

A pastoral service of evangelization

One of the priests who attends the Service is Fernando Bielza, who wanted to participate in SARCU even before he was ordained: "For years I have suffered with impotence the sight of churches closed at almost any time of the day or night. That is why, when, while still a deacon, I heard about the creation of this Service, I immediately felt that the Lord was calling me to be the open Church in those hours when almost everyone sleeps. Before my ordination, not yet a year ago, I offered to offer some of my nights as a priest to be the presence of Christ in the darkest hours of many people's lives", states.

And he is working on it: "I've been on duty for four days now and everything happens. For example, the last Monday I was available I received 4 calls, plus an anointing to a dying woman. OSometimes, on the other hand, the phone stays silent all night, he points out. In any case, statistics say there are calls on about two out of every three days.

Fernando tells us about his SARCU journey: "It starts with a WhatsApp from the service coordinator at 9.30 p.m., who reminds you that you are operational that night. From then on you go about your normal life, but knowing that you have to be attentive to the phone for almost 12 hours, because at any time you have to leave the people you are having dinner with, or even get out of bed at whatever time it is to attend to the person who asks you. Some priests have come to celebrate weddings in articulo mortis. In my case, I have only had to go out a couple of times to administer holy anointing or viaticum to a dying person. 

But most of the calls I have fielded have come from people who are distressed in the deep hours of wakefulness. Seen from the outside, it would often seem that these are simply people with a mental imbalance: a man who has urgent doubts of faith in the middle of the night; a woman who claims to have apparitions of the Virgin Mary and is not understood by her priests; a young man who realizes that he urgently needs to go to confession because of 'the night terror' (cf. Ps 90:5); an old woman who feels lonely and, in order not to disturb her family at 5:00 in the morning, calls you... But what is the sign of this nocturnal imbalance of so many men and women who cry out to the presence of the Lord at night? Today, as always, the human spirit is besieged at night by the besiegers (cf. Tob 3:8) who prowl about 'like a roaring lion, seeking whom they may devour' (1Pet 5:8)". 

For Bielza, serving at SARCU is, first and foremost, "Another sign of God's grace to mankind. It is to be the open door of the 'field hospital' that the Church wants to be. It is to be the guardian of God's people, who 'neither slumbers nor rests' (Ps 120:4). A visit, if it is feasible, to give a hug to someone you have never seen in your life and surely will never see again; half an hour of conversation on the phone at 3 o'clock in the morning, about the beauty of life; sometimes falling asleep when someone tells you and tells you their sorrows while the dawn is shining in the window; an hour consoling a sadness...".

Giving a hug, taking communion or arranging a marriage

Bienvenido Nieto, a permanent deacon, has been the director since the beginning of the service. He emphasizes that, above all, the role of the SARCU volunteers is that of the "active listening", since many people call out of loneliness. Taking stock of this time, she recognizes the Religious Assistance Service as something "novel and extraordinarily satisfactory". And it justifies it: "It is to bring the light of Christ to those people who need encouragement and closeness that only the spiritual plane can give. It is the living realization of the Church going out. That which is so often present in pain. And precisely for this reason, we cannot set a timetable for civil servants".. 

Pablo Genovés, also a priest, is the coordinator of SARCU, so to speak, who is in charge of the practical matters of the Service. Organizing schedules, substitutions and so on. He is also in charge of managing with the City Council the permits to circulate in restricted access areas. In addition, the experience of collaborating with other public care services is being very productive: for example, in order to respond to the reality of suicide, last year a specific training course was organized with SAMUR volunteers and some psychologists.

In the midst of dramatic situations there is also room for anecdote. "We have calls from all over Spain and even South America - even a call asking for a marriage over the phone!", he states. Also, a concerned caller once called about an issue with her pet: "The priest who took care of him was one who worked with rescue dogs. They are like winks from God."he says.

The authorJavier Peño Iglesias

Priest, journalist and pilgrim to Santiago.

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Silvia Librada: "That each person has adequate care for all his or her needs".

The Compassionate Cities project is part of the New Health Foundation, a non-profit institution for the observation and optimization of health, sanitary, social care and family and environmental support systems. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life in advanced disease processes, high dependency and the last stages of life.

Omnes-April 8, 2019-Reading time: 7 minutes

Silvia has been part of the project since the foundation was born in 2013. She speaks of the wonderful experience of being part of a project that is concerned that each person with chronic, advanced disease and/or at the end of life has adequate attention to all their physical, social, spiritual, emotional, love and accompaniment needs. Different initiatives of this nature were already being carried out in Europe and were studied from New Health Foundation and on which the project was based Compassionate Cities. Silvia tells us about the process and the fruits of this initiative. 

What are the Compassionate Cities?

-A compassionate city is a city that revolves around the three axes of compassion: identifying the suffering of others, empathizing with it, and mobilizing to alleviate it. A compassionate city makes visible the plight of people with advanced and end-of-life illnesses, empowers itself to have resources to care for people, and mobilizes the entire community to care for people in that situation.

A compassionate city involves all citizens in the care and accompaniment of people at the end of life, in the dignified, humane and compassionate treatment, and provokes a change in the way we look and act with these people. It involves schools, colleges, universities, companies, leisure centers, hospitals, health centers, municipalities, etc., putting the person at the center to meet all their physical, emotional, social, spiritual and spiritual needs and love and accompaniment.

Why did this initiative arise?

-The movement was driven by the International Society for Public Health and Palliative Care (PHPCI), which defined the characteristics of a compassionate city around these people with advanced disease and end of life. The New Health FoundationAfter reviewing models in the literature and from various organizations that had already been promoting these cities, the company developed its own method (All With You) for the development of compassionate cities and communities that began to be implemented in 2015 in the city of Seville, Spain, with the aim that it could be replicated in other geographical areas. 

This method brings together the components of awareness-raising, social empowerment and community intervention, which is when we mobilize to meet with those people who are in a situation of advanced disease, and create community support networks around them.

What have compassionate cities served or are serving for?

-To truly alleviate suffering at the moment of greatest vulnerability in the life of human beings, which is when we have to face the fact that we are going to die. We are unique and we can live with intensity and quality of life until the last day of our life. People should not die in loneliness or poorly cared for or with pain or emotional suffering. We have the opportunity to change the way we look at death, because it is death that teaches us about life. We have many resources to make this transition the best possible, we learn from each experience, and in each of us there is that compassion that allows us to approach the other person and do something to alleviate their suffering. And more and more initiatives are appearing that are committed to truly dignify life until the end.

The word compassion It is not well understood... That is why we had the opportunity with this project to explain it almost every day. It still sounds like condescension, weakness or fragility, pity or pity, and in this age in which material utility conditions any action, it is much less understood. Our societies prefer not to see, as if not seeing would avoid the incontestable fact that we are all going to die and that the people we love are going to die. Living with our backs turned to death will not make death go away, it will only make the road much more difficult. Compassion is the way out and the solution because caring is a true privilege when we turn it into love for others. In the New Health Foundationthanks to the development and promotion of Compassionate Communities and Cities That is what we achieve: to move the entire community around the person with advanced disease and end of life to meet their needs.

Our aim is to make society aware that each person is important and that much can be contributed in their last moments. Every action that is done is an action that remains forever, because it is an act of kindness, love and compassion. And it changes the way we understand life.

What actions are carried out, and where?

-The project has three types of actions, and they always revolve around triple C: Care, Compassion y Community. Firstly, awareness-raising -where we raise awareness of what palliative care is, how to access it, why to access it, the importance of care, the needs of people with advanced illness, the strength of the community, compassion, etc. -. Secondly, training: we hold workshops for family members, volunteers, professionals, young people, the elderly and the general public on techniques for accompaniment and care, community networks, communication and emotional management skills, coping with death and grief and, in general, all the aspects that need to be known in order to alleviate the suffering of people in this situation. 

And, thirdly, we carry out community intervention actions where we make available to family members and people in this situation of advanced disease the figure of the "community promoter" who detects the needs and articulates the community networks (with family members, neighbors, associations, volunteers, etc.) to meet these needs and that the person and his/her main caregiver receive all this care and accompaniment.

The service is free of charge for all participants, as are the awareness-raising and training activities that take place in different parts of the city in order to involve as many people as possible. As for the people in this situation, they are referred to the program by various means: professionals from health centers and palliative care professionals, social workers from the city council, organizations and centers that care for people in this situation, or sometimes even from the community itself. There are many people and entities involved in this project, it is thanks to them that the project grows and manages to reach a little further every day. Thanks to the cohesion of all these actors, we are building compassionate cities, cities that care and change lives.

The more people and institutions involved, the better. Everyone has something to contribute. This is a project of cooperation, coordination, motivation and heart. In the cities there are already many resources to help people, many people who want to do something for others, and associations that get involved, but in many cases they are not well connected. For this reason, from the Foundation and the All With YouWe create a network of all these agents to ensure that each person with advanced disease or end of life receives comprehensive, compassionate and high quality care.

The proposal of Compassionate Communities and Cities of the New Health Foundation has been implemented in cities of different sizes in Spain and Latin America with optimal results in all experiences. All these initiatives are made visible on a map of cities on the web site www.todoscontigo.org from where it is intended to publicize the momentum that the force of compassion is taking in each of these communities and cities.

Who is this project aimed at?

-To anyone who wants to improve their life from compassion, who is willing to help others, who wants to live with intensity every day of their life and who wants to be prepared to take care of their loved ones when they are in this situation.

It is a project that reaches everyone, because we are all going to live this experience of caring and being cared for.

Who is in charge of managing it?

-In Seville, it is managed by New Health FoundationHowever, the Foundation is also supporting other entities for the implementation in other cities. We are talking about companies in the health sector (insurance companies and hospitals), public institutions (city councils, councils, etc.), private or third sector organizations in the health, social or community sectors (associations, foundations, residential centers, companies providing care services, volunteer organizations, etc.), professional associations, scientific societies, and companies in the city that want to support the project through their Corporate Social Responsibility. 

Thus, in each city where the project is underway, it is managed by a different promoter entity together with the New Health Foundation. Our hope is that it will spread more and more and that it will be implemented in many cities.

What stories have you encountered in the development of the project?

-There are many stories that emerge every day and each one of them is full of life and hope. As an example, last December we launched, within the framework of the project, the book 20 Stories of CompassionThe book, in which stories are narrated with real testimonies of people who have participated in Seville With YouThe stories are based on experiences about the power of compassion at the end of life. For this motivating bet, the New Health Foundation was honored to have the support and collaboration of the City Council of Seville and of the Andalusian Health Serviceas well as all the people who provided their testimonies. The interesting repercussion of this issue is now extended with the launching of a traveling exhibition of the same name that will be shown in places in Seville during 2019.

The stories we meet are everyday and it fills us with joy to see how with very little, a lot is done. These stories highlight the value of people's lives to the end. Stories like the one Johnatan shares with us about his experience as a volunteer: "I am very happy to see how much is done with very little.Saying goodbye a you love deeply is a way to give value to the time that has remained in your life. yourlife, each person who is by your side is a contribution. To be at the end of the one you love is a contribution. a privilege, sad, hard, difficult, but always a privilege". Or Amparo about her son Jesús and how his friends were with him until the end: "I am very proud of him.Those boys learned to laugh in the hospital, to be blood donors, to give company during long afternoons at home when their strength was failing. Jesus and his friends knew what honor, dignity, commitment, responsibility, respect and, of course, friendship meant. They were brothers chosen in a moment in life".

The people and experiences we meet every day teach us that it is possible to talk about death, that we have the strength to help others. The project is really simple, it is just that, to connect: needs with help, people with people, life with life. That is the community we want to build, the one we want to live in until our last day. The power of compassion is very great, together we protect each other, together we take care of each other, together we live together.

On a personal level, what does it mean to you to be part of a project like this?

-Living it professionally and personally has been and continues to be a wonderful experience because you receive a response from the society that wants to care, to accompany, that wants to know, that has needs and is looking for answers. 

The return of this project day by day is to see that it is possible. To see day by day that there are people willing to help, that the greatest satisfaction perceived is that of helping others, that children and young people are the answer to this change, and that all this improves the care, quality of life and satisfaction of family members and networks. Moreover, it is an innovative project, adapted to each community, to each city. In promoting it we saw that it was necessary to know in depth how to do it, I even encouraged myself to develop my doctoral thesis on the development of compassionate communities and it is being a whole experience of knowledge and reality. 

We imagined it, we got excited and we decided to do it. When you are passionate about a project like this, you don't get confused. You know you are on the right path. And my greatest satisfaction is to see the response from society and from those who are making it possible day by day. n

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"Christ is the most beautiful youth of this world."

Signed by the Pope at the sanctuary of Loreto, the apostolic exhortation in the form of a Letter to Young People that gathers the fruits of the last synod of bishops on Young people, faith and vocational discernment.

Giovanni Tridente-April 2, 2019-Reading time: < 1 minute

As announced, on March 25, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, Pope Francis signed the post-synodal apostolic exhortation in the form of a Letter to Young People at the Marian shrine of Loreto. Christ lives, our hope.

In this unusual way - outside the Vatican, so to speak - the Holy Father wanted to entrust to Our Lady the fruits of the Synod of Bishops that took place last October on the theme: "The Holy Virgin Mary is the Mother of God". Young people, faith and vocational discernment. This choice links him in a certain way with his predecessor St. John XXIII, who also came to Loreto to entrust him with the progress of the Second Vatican Council, which he convoked...

Click here to purchase the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation to Young People and to All the People of God

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Gabriella Gambino: "The Church is a woman, a wife, a mother".

The day of March 8, internationally dedicated to women, was an occasion for debate and reflection. Here is a point of view.

Giovanni Tridente-April 2, 2019-Reading time: < 1 minute

On March 8, a day universally dedicated to women, the Faculty of Communication of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome hosted a round table to reflect on the role of women in the Church. The initiative, aimed primarily at journalists working in the field of religious information, was addressed by three important speakers with important assignments in the Holy See: the director of the theological-pastoral section of the Dicastery for Communication, Nataša Govekar; the director of the Vatican Museums, Barbara Jatta; and the undersecretary for the section dedicated to life of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, Gabriella Gambino.

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  • Spain continues to be a cradle of saints
Dossier

Spain continues to be a cradle of saints

In 2018 the Pope has authorized the approval of several decrees related to processes of beatification and canonization of Spaniards. Some come from the time of the war that bloodied Spain in the 1930s. All of them, very close to us in geography and time.

Alberto Fernández Sánchez-April 2, 2019-Reading time: 7 minutes

On March 12, 1622, Pope Gregory XV elevated to the dignity of the altars Francis Xavier, Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Jesus, Isidore Labrador and Philip Neri. The citizens of Rome, with a certain irony, said that day that the Pope had canonized four Spaniards and a saint. And the fact is that Spain has been throughout history, and continues to be, a fertile land in which great saints have flourished and illuminated the life of the Church.

A rigorous and exhaustive process

God's dream for every Christian is holiness, to live and make transparent the divine life in one's own life. And the Church, who is holy, never ceases to beget children who live in holiness, providing them at every moment with superabundant means to attain this goal. From among all her holy children, she proposes some as models and intercessors for all God's people through the solemn act of canonization.

This act is preceded by a long and meticulous process, in which the life, death and reputation for sanctity after death of each of the Servants of God who are proposed as candidates for canonization are carefully investigated. The process begins in the diocese in which the Servant of God died, gathering as much information as possible, both documentary and testimonial, about the person and the historical circumstances in which his or her life unfolded. Once all this information has been compiled, it is sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome, where it is studied in detail by groups of historians, theologians, bishops and cardinals, before a vote is taken, which is presented to the Pope, the sole judge in the Causes of Saints, for his approval of the publication of the corresponding decree that allows either the beatification of a Servant of God or the canonization of a Blessed.

In the case of martyrdom, when it is demonstrated that the Servant of God suffered a violent death in hatred of the faith, beatification is immediately permitted. In cases other than martyrdom (by way of virtue or of a life given in charity), it is necessary that before beatification the Pope approves, even after an exhaustive process, a miracle attributed to the intercession of the Servant of God. For the canonization of a Blessed, whether or not he is a martyr, a new miracle is necessary.

Spaniards near the altars

Since 2018, Pope Francis has authorized the approval of several decrees of martyrdom, virtues and miracles related to processes of beatification and canonization of Spanish Servants of God. In addition to the miracle attributed to the intercession of Mother Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa, for which she was canonized on October 14, and the miracle that will allow the beatification of Guadalupe Ortiz de Landázuri in Madrid on May 18, the Holy Father has recognized the martyrdom of the already beatified Spaniards Esther Paniagua and Caridad Álvarez, Augustinian Missionary Nuns beatified on December 8, 2018 in Algiers; of Ángel Cuartas Cristóbal and 8 companions, seminarians from Oviedo; of Mariano Mullerat y Soldevila, layman and father of a family; and of María del Carmen Lacaba Andía and 13 companions, Franciscan Conceptionists. 

And together with these martyrdoms, the virtues lived to an extraordinary degree by two Discalced Carmelites, Mother María Antonia de Jesús and Sister Arcángela Badosa Cuatrecasas; by Sister Justa Domínguez de Vidaurreta e Idoy, Daughter of Charity; Francisca de las Llagas de Jesús Martí y Valls, professed nun of the Second Order of St. Francis; Manuel García Nieto, Jesuit priest; Don Doroteo Hernández Vera, diocesan priest and founder of the Evangelical Crusade; and Alexia González Barros, a young laywoman of 14 years of age.

"A huge cloud of witnesses surrounding us."Our brothers, who have grown and matured in holiness in different states and circumstances of life, very close to us in geography and in time, and who continue to show us, in the words of Pope Francis in his last exhortation Gaudete et exsultate, "holiness, the most beautiful face of the Church".

The servant is not more than his Lord

As stated by Andrea Riccardi in the recently published Spanish edition of the book The century of martyrs (Encounter, p. 422), "The martyrdom of many Christians is not only an episode of the terrible war that has bloodied Spain, leaving deep wounds. There is a particularity that cannot be forgotten or smoothed over: the martyrs were killed because they were Christians and ministers of worship, expressions of a Church, whose presence had to be erased from Spanish society by violent and rapid methods.". There are tens of thousands of victims who died as Christians during the religious persecution in Spain in the 1930s.

Among them are the martyred seminarians of Oviedo, beatified in the Holy Basilica Church Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador on March 9 by Pope Francis' representative, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. In his homily he pointed out that they were young people "from simple Christian families and from a humble social class, children of the land of Asturias"., "They were enthusiastic, cordial and devoted to the Seminary lifestyle of prayer, study, fraternal sharing and apostolic commitment. They were always determined to follow the call of Jesus, despite the climate of religious intolerance, being aware of the insidiousness and dangers they would face. They knew how to persevere with particular fortitude until the last moment of their lives".. 

They were between 18 and 25 years old and were eagerly preparing themselves for the priesthood, for the dedication of their lives in pastoral ministry. However, the Lord had prepared for them a more radical surrender, the shedding of blood to bear witness to their Lord and Master. One of them, Blessed Sixto Alonso Hevia, asked his parents: "If something happens to me, you have to forgive.". It is the response of the martyr to the hatred that takes his life.

On March 23, Cardinal Becciu presided, in the cathedral of Tarragona, the beatification of the martyr Mariano Mullerat i Soldevila, a layman, husband, father of five daughters and beloved doctor in Arbeca and the surrounding towns, shot on August 13, 1936. A courageous witness of the faith, who days before being arrested and killed, in the climate of tension and religious persecution that was palpable in the streets, and aware of the danger he was in as a prominent Catholic, answered a neighbor who asked him if he did not fear for his life: "Peret, trust in God! And, if we see each other no more, see you in heaven!".

God willing, the Prefect of the Causes of Saints will visit our country once again for the beatification of Maria del Carmen Lacaba Andia and 13 companions of the Order of the Franciscan Conceptionists, which will take place on Saturday, June 22, in the Cathedral of the Almudena in Madrid. A new event of grace that will allow to venerate as martyrs these 14 brave women, who did not cower before threats, beatings or torture, not even before death itself. Ten of them, expelled from their monastery in Madrid, took refuge in the house of some benefactors, in an apartment on Francisco Silvela Street. Denounced by one of the doorkeepers of a nearby building, they suffered daily torture, humiliation and humiliation at the hands of the militia for several weeks until they were shot on November 8, 1936. One of them, Sister Asunción Monedero, was paralyzed. Two other of the future blessed belonged to the monastery of El Pardo (Madrid), from where they were expelled. Also taking refuge in the house of a friendly couple, they were discovered on August 23 and later shot.

The other two nuns in the group belonged to the Escalona monastery in Toledo. They were transferred to a prison in Madrid where they were tortured and shot in October. The people of Madrid are so devoted to these martyrs that the old Sagasti Street, where the monastery was located, was renamed Conceptionist Martyrs Street.

Love to the extreme in ordinary life

Pope Francis has declared 7 Spaniards venerable since the beginning of 2018 to date. This affirms that each of these Servants of God have lived in an extraordinary way the theological virtues (faith, hope and charity), the cardinal virtues (justice, prudence, fortitude and temperance), and the virtues of poverty, obedience, chastity and humility, according to their condition and state in life. If a miracle attributed to their intercession is demonstrated, they can then be proclaimed blessed.

The story of Venerable Mother Maria Antonia of Jesus (1700-1760) is a clear proof that God has a unique and unrepeatable path of holiness for each person. Married and mother of two children, she felt how the desire to love the Lord grew stronger and stronger in her heart. A woman to whom the Lord gave great mystical graces, she was a teacher of young people who joined her, desiring to lead the life of prayer and penance that they saw in her. She founded the Discalced Carmel of Santiago de Compostela. The Venerable Francisca de las Llagas de Jesús Martí y Valls (1860-1899) also received great mystical graces, which she always lived with profound humility in the hiddenness of her convent in Badalona. Before she was 39 years old, God had made her grow in an extraordinary way the spirit of penance, reparation for the sins of the world, and an exquisite charity towards her sisters.

Venerable Sister Arcángela (1878-1918), a Discalced Carmelite, whose fame for charity and service to the sick continues to this day, is another Spanish nun whose virtues have been recognized by Pope Francis. During the nights she would get up up up to eight times to attend to the most needy. Even the day before her death, despite being practically consumed by tuberculosis, she got up just in case the sick she was attending to needed anything. Charity is an unmistakable sign of holiness, as in the case of the Venerable Sister Justa Domínguez de Vidaurreta e Idoy (1875-1958), Provincial Superior of Spain of the Daughters of Charity, who dedicated her life to the formation of religious, to the missionary expansion of the Congregation and, in short, to making present the love of Christ towards the poor and needy, following the Vincentian charism.

Two priests have been recognized in recent months as venerable. Father Manuel Nieto SJ (1894-1974), was an excellent spiritual master, and those who knew him agree on the profound mark that this priest of humble appearance left on their lives. His epitaph reads: "Life of continual prayer. Penance for love of Christ. Generous dedication to the poor. Priestly heart.". And Don Doroteo Hernandez Vera (1901-1991), founder of the Secular Institute Evangelical Crusade. He wrote, among many other things, some lines that without him knowing it, would turn out to be autobiographical: "If we are to be apostles, the first thing we have to do is to live what we teach. Incarnate what we are going to teach. That is why Jesus Christ first worked and then taught.". 

And to top it all off, shortly before the Synod on young people was held in Rome, Alexia González Barros was declared venerable. At the age of 14, she showed the world the maturity of knowing how to joyfully accept the ordeal of an illness for love of the Lord.

Much more could be written about all these brothers of ours, so close to being declared Blessed. But let these brief outlines serve to show how holiness continues to be present in the life of the Church on pilgrimage in Spain. The upcoming beatifications and the Servants of God we have presented are proof of this. And who knows if in a few years' time the person who is now reading these pages will not also be among these witnesses of faith, hope and charity. Why not? n

The authorAlberto Fernández Sánchez

Episcopal Delegate for the Causes of the Saints of the Archdiocese of Madrid

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ColumnistsXiskya Valladares

The Christian's mission

The Mission of the Church is, therefore, prophetic. It includes evangelization (proclamation) and social responsibility (denunciation).

April 2, 2019-Reading time: 2 minutes

The Church has the task of doing what Jesus did. And Jesus was a prophet of his time. But what is a prophet? The Greek word prophets can mean "one who speaks" or "advocates". A prophet is a person who speaks God's truth to others on contemporary issues.

Some, moreover, at the same time reveal details about the future. Isaiah, for example, touched both the present and the future; he boldly denounced against corruption in his day (Is 1:4) and delivered great visions of Israel's future (Is 25:8).

The Bible names more than 133, among them 16 women. The first to appear is Abraham (Gen 20:7). Then, in the New Testament, John the Baptist (Mt 3:1) who announced the coming of Jesus as prophet, priest, king and messiah. The early church also had its prophets (Acts 21:9). And at the end of time, Revelation 11 says that there will be two "witnesses" who will prophesy from Jerusalem.

The Mission of the Church is, therefore, prophetic. It comprises evangelization (proclamation) and social responsibility (denunciation). The prophet denounces: Claiming above all exclusivity in the love of God; denouncing social injustice, defending the rights of the poor and underprivileged; and, in politics, intervening when political leaders neglect what God wants for his people. The prophet announces: He generates hope; he opens history and the horizons of the people towards a future of salvation and fulfillment.

We cannot be authentic Christians if we are not prophets. But the prophet is persecuted, rejected and humiliated. If his proclamation and denunciation are not of God, he does not resist. Therefore, he must be filled with the Holy Spirit. The powerful of this world will want to eliminate him in many ways because the truth that comes from God is too uncomfortable for them. 

The authorXiskya Valladares

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ColumnistsJuan Pablo Cannata

Overcoming gossip and adjective culture

The flip side of a plural society is a lot of people thinking and feeling very differently about fundamental issues of life. When these key issues enter the public debate, it usually happens that positions become polarized and labels appear that define each position, reducing the other to a label.

April 2, 2019-Reading time: 2 minutes

 Pope Francis delivered a memorable homily at the penitential liturgy with young prisoners in Panama and dwelt on this point, brought to the logic of everyday life: "We put labels on people: this one is like this, this one did this. These labels, in the end, the only thing they achieve is to divide: here are the good and there are the bad; here are the righteous and there are the sinners. And Jesus does not accept that, that is the culture of adjectives. We love to adjectivize people, we love it. What is your name? My name is 'good'. No, that is an adjective. What is your name? Go to the person's name: who you are, what you do, what illusions you have, how your heart feels. The gossipers are not interested, they quickly look for the label to get rid of them. The culture of the adjective that disqualifies the person, think about it, so as not to fall into this that is so easily offered to us in society".

Jack Valero, founder of the project Catholic Voiceswas in Uruguay in March, offering seminars, conferences and interviews. In the program This is my mouth explained his proposal to address controversial issues: "Our method is based on speaking from the other person's point of view.". When someone criticizes the Church, "at the heart of that is a good thing: we look for it, we go there and we talk about it." It is proposed to "unite and explain, not battle; not have two sides fighting."

This relational perspective ties in with the Pope's proposal for overcoming labels: "Eating with publicans and sinners, Jesus breaks the logic that separates, excludes, excludes, andand falsely divides between 'good and bad'.How does Jesus do it? He does it by creating links capable of making new processes possible".

The new processes that emerge from the bonds are, among others, new conversations, more open, in which each one can express his or her identity with a willingness to listen: to learn, to understand and also to respond. A conversation can bring distance or rapprochement; that is why, when it comes to dealing with controversial issues, one of those fundamental issues in life, it is important to evaluate whether the relationship with the other person is strong enough to contain tensions and channel them towards fruitful paths of understanding and friendship.

The authorJuan Pablo Cannata

Professor of Sociology of Communication. Austral University (Buenos Aires)

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ColumnistsMauro Leonardi

The path to holiness

April 2, 2019-Reading time: 2 minutes

-Text MAURO LEONARDI

-Priest and writer @mauroleonardi3

In thanking Dom Gianni, Abbot of San Miniato, for the exercises preached to the Curia, the Pope underlined the itinerary that every believer is called to follow. "Faith, he said, is to abandon yourself firmly in what you do not yet see, hope is to hope for what you firmly believe, to love is to be in the presence".

The way of holiness is not to fill oneself with theorems, not even those of theology, but to walk the paths that open before us. During his preaching, Dom Gianni mentioned many important cultural references: we must not forget, however, that the time of holiness is to live the present vigilantly, especially that which seems to have no relevance.   

"Vigilant present." because God is the eternal present, and if we want to live in his footsteps we must live in the present in his image. Vigilance consists in living without melancholy and without blockades towards the past and without escapes towards the future. Yes to memory and hope; yes to the ability to have projects, but without revolutions that want to overthrow everything immediately with the radical intention of "starting from scratch".

The path of holiness thus becomes a prayer to know the beauty and greatness of a path in which God manifests himself to us in a particular way, not by what happens but by how we listen to what happens in the present moment. It is therefore necessary to pray in order to be open to all that God works through us and to be able, in a second moment, to be grateful and rejoice for how much he works in our life and through us. Life is a path that we walk at night, when the sun has not yet risen. So, the lantern we carry with us must light the way and we must overcome the temptation to examine the valley with our little light. If we were to make this mistake, the valley would not be illuminated and, moreover, we would not know where to put our feet.

The authorMauro Leonardi

Priest and writer.

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ColumnistsJosé Carlos Martín de la Hoz

The archives of Pius XII

As the years go by and public and private funds are dedicated to providing resources and people, private and institutional archives are opened and classified. In this way, the documents necessary to write the true history, the one that is made with sources, increase.

April 2, 2019-Reading time: 2 minutes

Logically, researchers dedicated to contemporary history publish articles and books and give lectures, and in this way, little by little, a more complete analysis of the historical reality, although always provisional, reaches the non-specialized public. In any case, contemporary history requires, in addition to the publication of sources, which we have mentioned, the necessary time to be able to acquire the necessary perspective, the sharpness of dwelling and the deep knowledge of the facts and their possible repercussions.

Thus, in a few years, with what is being published, the provisional historiography is turning around and the facts of the recent history of Europe and of the Church in Europe are becoming better known in a more documented way and, therefore, the clichés, commonplaces and black legends that have so much influence on the confidence in the Church and in families, to which people and institutions have a particular right, are being dispelled.

An example of what we have just explained has taken place with the recent opening of the extensive documentation in the Vatican archives on the pontificate of Pope Pius XI, which has provided contemporary historiography with very important documentation. 

Along these lines, Professor Vicente Cárcel Ortí, a great connoisseur of these archives, has been publishing from this documentary collection some works related, for example, to the position of the Holy See with respect to the government of the Second Republic in Spain, and to the relations with the government during the Civil War and, finally, about the long process and the Roman doubts regarding the acceptance of the relations of the Church with the Franco regime. It is interesting, therefore, to reread Vicente Cárcel's introduction to his volume to understand the meaning of the opening of these archives, the work required and also the measures taken by the Vatican Archives for the use of these funds (cfr. Vicente Cárcel Ortí, Pius XI. Between the Republic and FrancoMadrid 2008).

The Holy See's decision to open part of the archives of the pontificate of Pope Pius XII falls along these lines. As is well known, the Church had recently opened the Vatican archives up to Pius XI, i.e. up to 1939, so opening up to 1945, for example, would make it clear forever how both Pius XII and his collaborators contributed to peace in the world, to the defense of the Jewish people and how they confronted the totalitarian ideologies that ravaged Europe, both Nazism and Communism.

The authorJosé Carlos Martín de la Hoz

Member of the Academy of Ecclesiastical History. Professor of the master's degree in the Causes of Saints of the Dicastery, advisor to the Spanish Episcopal Conference and director of the office of the Causes of Saints of Opus Dei in Spain.

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  • It's not just another day - it's International Day of Life!
Tribune

It's not just another day - it's International Day of Life!

On March 25, the International Day of Life was celebrated in Spain and in many countries, especially in Latin America. The author describes the massive march of March 24 in Madrid and its messages. The slogan Yes to Life reflects the strength of the culture of life.

Alicia Latorre-April 2, 2019-Reading time: 3 minutes

It's not just any march, it's not just another day, it's the International Day of Life! It is the celebration of all, the moment to unite without exception for the most just and urgent of causes. And that is why, one more year, we have taken to the streets. And it has been wonderful. If you were there, I don't need to explain it to you. If you were not able to go, look for the images and video at www.sialavida.es So much good was sown, that we can only thank God and so many people who have made it possible with their work, patience and enthusiasm.

Why March 25 and since when in Spain? The first International Pro-Life Congress was held in Madrid in 2003. Associations with a long history of helping pregnant women in difficulties participated and helped in its preparation, integrated in the Spanish Federation of ProVida Associations. At this Congress and after a worldwide survey of more than 20,000 groups and associations from different countries, it was overwhelmingly agreed to declare March 25 as the International Day of Life. This day was already celebrated in some countries and from then on, in many more. First El Salvador in 1993; later, Argentina, with the Day of the Unborn Child; and also Guatemala, Chile and Costa Rica. Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic followed. And nowadays this day is celebrated in Venezuela, Uruguay, Peru, Mexico, Cuba, Ecuador, Philippines, Austria, etc. 

In Spain, a further and definitive step was taken in 2011. The existing associations, together with others recently created, decided that every year, around March 25, they would take to the streets together to give a united testimony in defense of all human life. Associations from the fields of research, health and education, defense of the family and work with people with different capacities and needs also joined in. In order to guarantee unity and continuity, they established minimum agreements. They chose green as a symbol of hope. The motto chosen was Yes to Life which implied a positive and constructive response to all personal and social situations and dilemmas concerning human life and its dignity. Together they would finance the event. Thus the platform was formed Yes to Life which brings together some five hundred associations in Spain that defend life from conception to its natural end. It also has international members. We have been in existence for nine years.   

What is the message? What is intended? First of all, to show the greatness of human life. That is why we state in the first point of the manifesto that "all Human life is valuable, unique and unrepeatable and has a dignity that is not lost with age, illness or adverse circumstances. That is why it is entitled to have its right to life recognized, without exception, both in law and in daily life, with conditions in keeping with its dignity, especially in moments of greatest vulnerability".

Also "We support advanced research and medicine, which respect and care for human life from beginning to end, natural procreation and humanization at all levels. Therefore, we reject techniques that destroy, manipulate and trade in human life at any stage of its existence".    

We do not like at all that the objective of this call is diverted or used as electoral propaganda or that it is highlighted more if this or that politician has gone. But not wanting political flags does not imply passivity in the face of politics, far from it. That is why "We ask politicians of all stripes to make the defense of human life and its care a priority and urgent matter, in which they become involved with knowledge and conviction and legislate without fissures or exceptions, for the right to life of all, to help pregnant women in difficulties, to allow access to palliative care for those who need it and to adequately care for people with special needs, those who are sick, elderly or suffer violence of any kind.

We are not alone in these demands. Especially in Latin America they are fighting a very crude battle against those who want to introduce abortion in their laws. We have been in close contact with them and at the event we had some words of unity and encouragement. Everything went really well, and we are very happy. Almost seven hundred young volunteers are a sign of the vitality of the initiative: a big thank you to everyone.                                

Next year, God willing, the date is March 22, always looking for the Sunday closest to the 25th. The last point of the manifesto summarizes our thoughts and commitment:"We are convinced of the overwhelming force of the culture of life and its transformative and therapeutic power. That is why we are here one more year, ready to continue working for it day by day, to show the truth and generosity it contains. That is why we will remain faithful to this International Day of Life. That is why we say a strong and firm Yes to Life!

The authorAlicia Latorre

President of the Spanish Federation of Pro-Life Associations, coordinator of the Yes to Life Platform.

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  • Bishop Juan Ignacio González Errázuriz: "The meeting on abuse has laid the foundations for effective action".
Latin America

Bishop Juan Ignacio González Errázuriz: "The meeting on abuse has laid the foundations for effective action".

The recent meeting on the guardianship of minors held in Rome "has turned out to be an immense good for the Church and for the world." says the Bishop of San Bernardo, Juan Ignacio González, who underlines the priorities of Pope Francis. The Chilean prelate has an extensive legal career. He received his law degree from the Catholic University, was a professor at the same university, procurator, lawyer, and later, doctor in Canon Law.

Omnes-April 2, 2019-Reading time: 6 minutes

The drama of child abuse has plagued the Church in Chile, to the point that the Chilean bishops placed their office at the disposal of Pope Francis in May of last year. At the same time, the Holy Father received some victims of sexual abuse in Rome. In January of this year, the leadership of the Episcopal Conference was received by the Pope in a long meeting, which was prolonged in a lunch at Santa Marta.

In these last meetings, more selective, were present Cardinal Ezzati, the president, vice-president and secretary general of the Episcopal Conference -Bishops Santiago Silva, Rene Osvaldo Rebolledo and Luis Fernando Ramos, respectively-, and the bishop of San Bernardo, Juan Ignacio Gonzalez. As we go to press, the Pope has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Ezzati, who turned 77 years old in January, as Archbishop of Santiago de Chile, and has appointed the current Bishop of Copiapó, Bishop Celestino Aós Braco (Artaiz, Navarra, 1945), as Apostolic Administrator. 

   Days before, at the conclusion of the Roman meeting, Palabra was able to talk to Juan Ignacio González, bishop since 2003, a law graduate and doctor in Canon Law, who together with Bishop Luis Fernando Ramos was spokesman for the Chilean bishops after the historic meeting of the prelates with Pope Francis in May 2018. Here is his brief analysis.

A few weeks ago, the meeting held in Rome on the drama of abuse and the guardianship of minors in the Church came to an end. How do you evaluate it?

-The meeting convened by Pope Francis in Rome to study and reach agreements to put an end to the shameful evil of sexual abuse of minors by consecrated persons has turned out to be an immense good for the Church and for the world. It is the beginning of a new moment. Not only does it disprove the criticisms and comments about the unwillingness of the Church, the Pope and the bishops and superiors to extirpate this evil, but it has laid the foundations for new and effective action at all levels. The Church has been seriously affected by this evil, but she knows that from her own wound she must enlighten all men and women, that only from the powerful light of Christ, they can arrive at the Truth (Lumen Gentium1), to repair as far as possible the wrongs caused to specific persons who have suffered them and to adopt measures so that they do not occur in the future.

   The development of the meeting, the publicity and clarity with which things have been expressed, makes this will evident. Some nations that have already suffered particular moments of crisis (United States of America, Australia, Ireland, Chile) and where very radical and concrete measures have been adopted, are, in some way, the footprint to follow for others: guidelines, procedures, protocols, agreements with civil authorities, etc. are a part of the path to follow, but not enough, because spiritual evils must be fought with weapons of the same nature.

What would you highlight from Pope Francis' speech?

-The Pope's closing speech was strong and courageous, without sparing words, without fear. He did publicly something that few dare. He placed the sexual abuse of minors in its true context. "The first truth that emerges from the available data is that the perpetrators of abuse, i.e. violence (physical, sexual or emotional) are mainly parents, relatives, husbands of female children, coaches and educators. Moreover, according to 2017 Unicef data for 28 countries worldwide, 9 out of 10 girls, who have had forced sexual relations, report having been victims of a person known or close to the family". 

   And then he offered official data from various organizations, without forgetting to mention pornography with minors on the web, sex tourism, etc. But the Pope did not shield himself from what has been happening in the Church: "The inhumanity of the phenomenon on a worldwide scale is even more serious and scandalous in the Church, because it contrasts with her moral authority and ethical credibility. The consecrated person, chosen by God to guide souls to salvation, allows himself to be subjugated by his human frailty, or by his sickness, becoming an instrument of Satan. In the abuses, we see the hand of evil that does not even spare the innocence of children. There are not enough explanations for these abuses against children".

He used the words "mystery of evil".

-Indeed. Textually, he said: "We must humbly and courageously recognize that we are faced with the mystery of evil, which rages against the weakest because they are the image of Jesus. This is why there is a growing awareness in the Church today that we must not only try to limit the very serious abuses with disciplinary measures and civil and canonical processes, but also decisively confront the phenomenon both inside and outside the Church.".

Let's talk about the causes, and the solutions...

-Nor did the Pope shy away from looking for the causes, the real causes. "Which is, therefore, the existential "meaning" of this criminal phenomenon? Considering its breadth and human depth, today it can be none other than the manifestation of the spirit of evil. If we do not keep this dimension in mind, we will be far from the truth and without real solutions [...]. Behind and within this is the spirit of evil, which in its pride and arrogance feels itself to be the lord of the world and thinks it has conquered. I would like to tell you this with the authority of a brother and a father, certainly small and sinful, but who is the pastor of the Church who presides in charity: in these painful cases I see the hand of evil that does not even forgive the innocence of the little ones. And this leads me to think of the example of Herod who, driven by the fear of losing his power, ordered the massacre of all the children of Bethlehem. Behind this is satan". 

The Pope knows well that the solutions in the Church are not the work of sociology, psychology or medicine, which logically help, but do not completely heal the evil. And so he goes to them directly. "And just as we must take all the practical measures offered to us by common sense, science and society, we must not lose sight of this reality and take the spiritual measures that the Lord himself teaches us: humiliation, acts of contrition, prayer, penance. This is the only way to overcome the spirit of evil. This is how Jesus overcame it". 

It is the path of the centrality of Christ, so often reiterated by the Pope in his letters to the people of God in these times. If you don't go that way, you don't go anywhere. We speak, we write, but only God converts when he finds an open heart.

The Pope asked to move away from ideologies.

-Francis also sees dangers in the attitudes to be adopted in the fight against evil, which can be summarized in "to be above all ideological polemics and journalistic politics that often instrumentalize, for various interests, the same dramas experienced by the little ones.". In this line, he asked to follow the path of collaboration: "The time has come to work together to eradicate this brutality from the body of our humanity, adopting all the necessary measures already in place at the international and ecclesial levels. The time has come to find the right balance between all the values at stake and to give uniform guidelines for the Church, avoiding the two extremes of righteousness, provoked by a sense of guilt for past errors and the pressure of the media world, and self-defense. that does not address the causes and consequences of these serious crimes".

In your opinion, what are the priorities that the Pope has indicated?

-Fully aware of his responsibility, the Pope designs and proposes a way forward for the whole Church, once again going against those who say and write that there is talk but nothing is done. These are priorities on which we must base norms, procedures and common conduct: 1. The protection of minors. 2. 3. A true purification. Formation. 5. Reinforce and verify the guidelines of the Episcopal Conferences. 6. 6. Accompanying abused persons. 7. The digital world. 8. Sex tourism. 

Each of these measures is followed by a detailed explanation of its content, so it is advisable to see the Pope's complete text on the proposed topics. To day after the end of the meeting, the necessary resolutions began to be adopted in order to put them into practice. The words of St. Ambrose in the early days of the Church come true again and again: "It is only natural that in the midst of this troubled world the Church of the Lord, built on the rock of the Apostles, should remain stable and stand firm on this unshakable foundation against the furious assaults of the sea (cf. Mt 16:18). She is surrounded by the waves, but she is not tossed about, and though the elements of this world roar with an immense clamor, she nevertheless offers to those who are weary the great security of a harbor of salvation."

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Culture

Living human love

What began as a project to accompany single mothers and AIDS patients has now become a life formation program for children, young people and adults in any situation.

Omnes-March 27, 2019-Reading time: 3 minutes

-TEXT Alicia Gómez-Monedero

Fernando del Castillo met Nieves Tomillo in November 1991, at a congress on the family organized in Rome. At that time, St. John Paul II summoned leaders from all countries dedicated to the theme of family and life and urged them to dedicate themselves full time to the task of caring for the family and life through testimonies, talks and courses.
That is why Fernando (BA in Philosophy and Letters and Master in Couple and Family Therapy), left his job as a high school teacher. Nieves (BA in Philosophy and Letters and in Psychopedagogy), who was working at the European Community in Brussels at the time, also returned to Spain after leaving her job.. "We began to meet as an association under the guidance of Alfonso López Quintás, an educator and professor. Our office was a cafeteria and we started with the assistance part, that is, accompanying single mothers and AIDS patients".says Fernando. "It was something totally vocational, we shared what was ours, our knowledge, our time, our being and with the anthropology of López Quintás we began to give talks to young people, the elderly and teachers. Word of mouth was what made us known in different schools and parishes."continues the professor.

Why didn't I meet you before?
A turning point was the trip they made to Seville, invited by the Adorers to their house of welcome to speak to the women who were there. It was in 1992, shortly after the beginning of this adventure. They spoke of their experience of courtship, of human love. "Why wasn't I told about this before?"is the question a young woman asked him. She was coming off drugs after prostituting herself to get them and, after getting into a brawl, committing a crime of homicide. Upon his release from the halfway house he would face several years in prison. At that moment, Fernando and Nieves realized that, in addition to accompanying single mothers and AIDS patients, it was necessary to prevent and do everything possible to prevent the young people of that time from becoming the sick and single mothers of the future.. "With that anecdote we saw that we had to go to young people before they got into prostitution camps and so we started, telling our own testimony, how we saw what human love was like."recalls Fernando. And soon after, affective-sexual education workshops emerged. These were the beginnings of what is today the Fundación Solidaridad Humana.

A taboo
In the years 1992-1993, talking openly about sexuality was not common. However, and seeing the need to respond to advertising campaigns that encouraged young people to use contraceptive methods (thus trying to avoid early pregnancies, but achieving the opposite), Nieves and Fernando began to talk about sexuality in an orderly and well-lived way. Not only to young people, but also to parents, teachers and even priests. They thus entered the Subcommittee on the Family of the Episcopal Conference (where they have been for 12 years) and also spoke to the bishops.
Giving talks in schools and youth groups in parishes, they realized that 14 and 15 year olds were shocked by their testimony because it made them reflect and see that the solution was not the condom.. "We started with young people but soon we also addressed parents and teachers because we saw that otherwise the message would be inconsistent over time."explains Fernando. "We also set about providing formation in seminaries and novitiates."because this is an area of life that affects and encompasses everyone.

For all
"We have reached many thousands of people: we have spoken to 14,000 students a year, and with our publications we have reached many more people, and thousands of people have passed through our courses."is Fernando's assessment after 27 years in business.
Within its program there are workshops for all ages and all situations. The accompaniment in any stage of life that requires it, is fundamental. For example, the Human Love Course is aimed at engaged or married couples, "because life as a couple is not easy and because when the marriage is not going well, the dampness and the cracks begin. The part affects the whole, if the marriage is not right, the children feel it and suffer".. Then, there are also workshops on how to talk to your children about sexuality, so that they do it well and do not get ahead of themselves. "pornography or an 'expert' that might confuse them"..

Receive much more
For Fernando, also as a married man and father of a family, the Fundación "It has been very helpful. I can say that I receive more than I give, because when you dedicate yourself to this you experience a lot in someone else's head and you are seeing things that happen to you and that give me a life lesson. It has helped me a lot in my family to express myself, to open my heart, to live a healthy sexuality and many other things".. To participate in the foundation's courses and workshops, obtain more information and view its publications, please visit its website: www.fsh.es

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ColumnistsSergio Requena Hurtado

The seminary, everyone's mission

In every seminary there is a future being forged and it is everyone's responsibility to maintain and encourage them so that every day more and more good pastors are formed there.

March 7, 2019-Reading time: 3 minutes

On December 6, 2016, the Congregation for the Clergy made public the new edition of the Ratio Fundamentalis-the document on which the formation plans of Major Seminaries around the world are based. It replaced the previous one of 1985, which in turn was an update of the one promulgated in 1970. Our current formation plan for the Seminaries of Spain is inspired precisely by that document, and dates from 1996. Many years have passed, and changes have occurred at a dizzying pace, the world we are called to serve is no longer what it was then.

The changes have occurred not only in the media, where perhaps they have been more evident, but also in the way we relate to one another. It is striking to note the perception that society today has of the figure of the priest, which is very different from what it had just a few years ago. The historical context is diverse, and so is the society and culture in which priests are immersed. Each one of them asks himself how to better serve men and the society in which he lives, the Church also asks herself in this historical moment, on how to better form the priests of today and tomorrow, so that they can be better servants.

The Episcopal Commission for Seminaries, with the help of experts and the Advisory Council of Rectors, has been working for some time on a new Formation Plan for Major Seminaries. We are reaching the final stretch, we hope that soon the rectors and formators of our Seminaries will have this valuable tool at their disposal in the task of forming future generations of priests. This document describes the formative process that they must go through, from the seminary years - initial formation - to those after ordination - permanent formation. They are two moments of a single "discipleship and missionary" journey, which crosses their entire existence, from baptism and other sacraments of Christian initiation, passing through the moment of their entry into the Seminary, and reaching the end of their lives.

The current panorama of vocations in Spain, in a time and circumstances that are not at all easy, shows us that in the Spanish Seminaries around nine hundred minor seminarians and more than one thousand two hundred major seminarians are being formed, which, although these numbers are similar to those of recent years, continue to speak to us of the urgency that we have to pray and work for vocations.

The theme of this year's Seminar day is The Seminary, everyone's missionreminds us that we have to make this diocesan institution our own. Our Seminaries, small or large, hold a future that is forged in each of these institutions today. It is the responsibility of all of us to maintain and encourage them so that every day more and more good pastors are formed there. From my time as a seminarian until today - I have been a priest for 24 years - beyond the changes that have taken place, and of which I have spoken above, I recognize in these young men the hunger for God and the desire to give their lives for their brothers, they are involved in the joys and frustrations of their contemporaries. Their witness is, so to speak, a flame that does not go out, a fire that lights other fires, a witness that leaves no one indifferent, seeing them fills me with hope.

Why is it necessary to celebrate Seminary Day? First, to make the Christian community aware that the Seminary is everyone's mission, our responsibility. Secondly, it is necessary to remember that we have to create in our families and parishes a favorable environment in which God's call can be heard and grow. And thirdly, because we have to be grateful for the lives of so many priests who have been important to us, who have made God's love and mercy present to us, and without whom we would not be who we are.

The authorSergio Requena Hurtado

Director of the Secretariat of the Commission of Seminaries and Universities, EEC

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The Vatican

Fortunato Di Noto: "Vigilance and action; we owe it to the children".

– Supernatural Association Meter is one of the first and most active organizations in the fight against pedophilia. Its founder, Sicilian parish priest Fortunato Di Noto, speaks to Palabra.

Giovanni Tridente-March 7, 2019-Reading time: 3 minutes

Don Fortunato Di Noto has been a priest since 1991, and since 1995 he has led the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in his hometown of Avola, in the province of Syracuse, on the island of Sicily. A few years earlier, together with a group of people of good will, he founded the Association Meter -from the Greek "mother", hence "mothering" and "womb"- (https://www.associazionemeter.org), which from the very beginning has applied itself with determination in the field of the protection of minors, in the fight against pedophilia and online pedopornography, becoming a point of reference in Italy, where it also collaborates with investigative and judicial bodies. In this interview with Palabra he explains some aspects of his experience and of this sad phenomenon.

-Don Fortunato, 30 years ago you were one of the pioneers in the fight against the sad plague of child abuse. How was your mission born?
The advent of the Internet gave me the opportunity to see the first images (videos and photos of abuse) of children who were suffering, and so I began in the parish with a commitment that was not intended to be only occasional or to follow a trend, but would soon become permanent.
At the beginning we were isolated, we were laughed at, humiliated and condemned: nobody believed what we denounced day after day. Nor did we have the laws or the sensitivity that today is still slow to grow. The first motion in the world, from the Italian Parliament, dates back to 1997.
This was the beginning of a commitment against new forms of slavery. Pedophilia and pedopornography are a crime against humanity. Let us hope that everyone agrees on this.

In so many years of fighting against pedo-criminality, what idea has been made of the tragic phenomenon that affects, first and foremost, large sectors of civil society?
Will you believe me if I tell you that we have reported that thousands of newborns have been victims of abuse? And if I told you that in the last 16 years we have reported about 30 million photos and videos with children ranging in age from a few days to 12 or 13 years? And that we have taken in and accompanied more than 1600 victims? There are 23 national and international police operations that between 2003 and 2018 have started as a result of the signals made by Meter. 
The numbers of the phenomenon are impressive: 134,222 web pages corresponding to links to more than 30 million photos and videos; 2,639 people reported; 1,066 people investigated; about 400 arrests in Italy and worldwide. Not to mention that thousands of complaints have not been pursued by the police forces. I am not saying this out of vanity, but rather to collect the concrete action to stop every abominable predatory act against the little ones and the weak. Many times, in order to help understand the phenomenon, we have had to show concretely the work of Meterwhich takes place 24 hours a day. The official protocols with the Italian Postal Police, and with others in various parts of the world, bring to light that the number of children involved in this clumsy market is enormous, with an unquantifiable business and for the concrete lack of international exchange and collaboration.

-The Church, evidently, has not been immune from this drama. Where, in your opinion, do the roots of such horror lie?
The Church is to be loved, because despite the scandals -lamentable and condemnable according to justice and zero tolerance- she is a loving and welcoming mother, where the little ones have always found welcome and protection. The Church is not a multinational that produces abusers of the small and vulnerable. Abuse is abuse, no matter where it comes from. And the Church has always confronted the perversion of its faithful, priests and baptized laity. That "I renounce Satan and all his works and all his seductions" is a constant battle. And perhaps it is necessary to start from the formators and from the conscience of the type of priest we want today.

-At the end of February, the Holy Father gathered all the presidents of the world's bishops' conferences at the Vatican to reflect on this tragedy. For your part, what do you consider fundamental to defeat this "monster", as someone has defined it?
The good news is that we are not in year zero. Monsters are recognized, and it is possible to know the phenomenon concretely. Acts of sexual abuse start from the seduction of a sick and perverse love, seductive and manipulative, which instead of giving life offers death and devastating trauma. We must listen to the victims, devastated and with permanent signs of the damage suffered. We will not win, but we have to fight. We will not save all the children, but for some we have to do it. To watch and act: to watch and act on the normalization of pedophilia and the consumption of pedopornography, and to accept that in love there is no age. Also in the Church.

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Msgr. Ladislav Hučko: "More space should be given to celibacy and favor the common life of priests."

Sometimes the different discipline in the Eastern Churches is adduced to suggest changes in the Roman Church's regulation on priestly celibacy. But the reality of the Eastern Churches is little known, also with regard to the priesthood.

Alfonso Riobó-March 5, 2019-Reading time: 9 minutes

To learn about the discipline of Greek Catholics on celibacy and the orientations that can result from their experience, we turned to Bishop Ladislav Hučko, Apostolic Exarch for the Czech Republic. He was born in Prešov (eastern Slovakia) into a family where generations of married priests had succeeded one another. Excluded from theological studies by the communists, he earned a doctorate in physics and was later ordained a priest. He has been a formator of seminarians. He also holds a doctorate in theology and is a professor of dogmatic theology. Ordained bishop in 2003 in Prague, he has been Secretary General of the Czech Episcopal Conference.
In the conversation that follows, Bishop Hučko explains the regulation of celibacy in the Eastern Churches; he points out the positive and negative aspects, as shown by experience; and, among other things, advances the proposal that the space granted to celibacy be widened, while favoring the common life of priests.

What is the discipline of celibacy in the Greek Catholic Church?
-The discipline of celibacy in the Greek Catholic Church (which was united to the Latin Church by the Union of 1596) is governed by the same principles as in the Orthodox Church today, although it is not easy to compare them exactly, because the practical forms may be different. However, this discipline basically consists in the fact that married men can be ordained, but ordained celibates can no longer marry.
A major problem arises when the woman dies or abandons the priest; the situation is then resolved on a case-by-case basis. If the woman dies... the priest can be reduced to the lay state and remarry. And if she abandons him, the situation is worse, because the marriage is valid.

Why is it stated that bishops (among Greek Catholics, eparchs and exarchs) must be celibate? Is there a theological or practical reason?
-Neither one nor the other. It is a consequence of historical development. We probably agree that it is easier to choose celibacy (at least at that particular moment) than to give one's life for the faith, out of fidelity to Christ, as was frequent in the first centuries of Christianity. After the
In the fourth century, many substituted the martyrdom of blood for the sacrifice for Christ in their exclusive ser- vice. St. Paul also writes clearly about this, saying that for the Christian it is better to remain unmarried than to marry (at that time it was thought that the second coming of Christ was near). And this for several reasons, which were not only practical.
The first councils demanded celibacy for priests and deacons. After the division of the Roman Empire into an Eastern Empire (under the influence of Constantine the Great) and a Western Empire (Rome), different cultural and civilizing influences began to impose themselves in each of the two zones. In the West a weaker emperor ruled, and there the Pope assumed power and government progressively, and was recognized by the entire Christian world, although not always to the same extent or with the same degree of obedience. In Constantinople, on the other hand, a sovereign reigned and the model that today we call Caesaropapism was established. For example, among other things, the Caesar also decided who was to be archbishop, and later patriarch. As far as ecclesiastical celibacy is concerned, Cardinal Alfons M. Stickler studies it in a very scientific way in a publication (Der Klerikerzölibat. Seine Entwicklungsges- chichte und seine theologischen Grundlagen, Taschenbuch, July 23, 2012; Czech translation: O cirkevním celibátu. Jeho dějiny a teologické základyEpiscopal Conference of Czech Bishops, Prague 2008); in the following I will rely on their data and arguments. The first express testimonies on the continence of clerics come from the Popes Siricius (letter of Pope Siricius to Anicius, bishop of Thessalonica, in 392; also, to the question on the obligatory continence of the senior clerics, in the letter Direct of 385 Siricius replies that many priests and deacons, who beget children also after ordination, act against an inviolable law that binds the older clerics since the beginning of the Church) and Innocent I. Pope Leo the Great, in 456, writes on this question to Bishop Rusticus of Narbonne: "The law of continence is the same for altar servers (deacons) as for priests and bishops...". Therefore, it is certain that continence was required from the beginning (although there were married priests and deacons before ordination), but after ordination they were no longer allowed to make use of marriage. Hence when it is published somewhere that this or that holy bishop was married, it is true, but that only to a certain extent and up to a certain time. That today there are married Eastern priests is a consequence of this praxis that married men were ordained, who then could not make use of marriage. After a certain time, however, this was changed by the Second Trullian Council in 691. This Second Trullian Council, or Quinisextus, was a council of the Byzantine Church alone. It was convoked and attended by its bishops, was promoted by their authority and rested decidedly on the authority of Caesar. The Western Church has never recognized this council as ecumenical, despite repeated attempts and pressure from Caesar. The Roman Church recognizes the Trullan canons as a particular right that was taken into consideration without recognizing it only insofar as it does not contradict current Roman praxis, even though it is clear to researchers that the texts of the Synod of Carthagena of 419 that it uses were manipulated and used in a sense contrary to the original meaning. Consequently, according to the conclusions of the Trullian Council, bishops remained celibates obligatorily (if they were married, they had to separate from their wives...), but priests could be married and continue to live with their wives even after ordination. That is, they could be married before ordination, but could not be married after ordination. The difference between the praxis of the Eastern and Western Church is also based on different practical and theological reasons. In the Eastern Church the priest was from the beginning (although many do not like to hear it) more an administrator of the sacraments than a spiritual director and teacher. This was above all the bishop. And the administrator of the sacraments was often considered in the Orthodox Church more of an official or manager than a spiritual father. That is why it was the monks, the religious, from whom the candidates for bishop were chosen.

So, can it be said  that  the  exclusion of the possibility from that contract matrimonio the priests  now  ordered, obeys to a purely disciplinary reason?
-To do so would be in contradiction with the history and praxis of both the original Eastern Church and the Western Church. It has not been done until it was introduced by the separate Protestant Churches.

Does admission to the priesthood of a married man depend solely on the personal decision of the candidate?
-The admission of a married man to the priesthood depends on his preparation, his spiritual level and his studies, and is regulated by the needs, as well as the requirements, of Eastern Canon Law (the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches). As a general rule, a young person first prepares himself in the seminary for five or six years, and then decides whether or not to marry. Before that, the bishop and superiors decide whether he is a worthy candidate, that is, whether he meets the necessary moral and intellectual requirements. There are practical difficulties in the case of married priests. For example, except for the first two or three years, my grandfather was in a parish all his life (1913-1951). And the same was true for almost all priests. They were not transferred very often.
Today it is different, but that does not mean it is easy. During my sixteen years of service in the Czech Republic I have transferred maybe two or three priests out of thirty-five.

Does the Church also assume the support of priests' families?
-You can't separate one thing from the other. But sometimes it is a complicated problem, at least as far as the Czech Republic is concerned. Here, we usually do not have our own churches and parsonages, but we have to rent them, and we rent them to Roman Catholic parishes, paying them a small rent, in addition to a rent for parish housing.
Until recently the State paid parish employees from its budget, but since an agreement was reached with the State in 2013 whereby the State returned its property to the Church (to the Churches) and will continue to pay for 30 years plus compensation for the non-restituted patrimony, the Churches must live from their own sources, although for a certain time the State will finance the Church for 17 years with an ever decreasing sum.
It is a somewhat complicated process, and is currently being fought in the Czech parliament by the communists, who are demanding that compensation be taxed at 19 %. They have the support of the current coalition government. Quite a few of our priests, especially those in smaller parishes, also have other jobs to support their families.
When the priest has a large parish with many faithful, they also take care to support the priest. An example: Ukraine. In the Czech Republic, each diocese has at its disposal a certain amount of money to support the priests. But if the parish is small and we want to take care of the faithful, either we raise the priest's salary (not very often) or we look for some other source of income. In recent times some priests who are in smaller parishes also help parishes of the Latin rite (which need it because of the shortage of vocations) and in return they receive help. But first they must obtain the authorization of the Congregation for Oriental Churches, which is called the faculty of "birritualism". In this sense, it depends a lot on how big the parish is that the priest has. If it is large and has good faithful, they never let the priest have a hard time... And not only that, but they contribute to the parish to the extent of their possibilities.

In what way does the above influence the number of vocations? Are there enough vocations?
-So far, yes, but it is not certain what will happen in the future, because being a priest in today's conditions is not easy and, although sometimes it may seem easier, serving faithfully is more difficult if you have a family. If the priest takes on his mission with a sincere and pious approach and wants to strive for holiness, he has to be a holy father and a holy husband, as well as a holy priest. He has two families: his family and the parish. And not everyone succeeds. Or else he gives preeminence to one and neglects the other... Those who succeed are really saints. And I must say that nowadays they are not few.

Based on your experience, do you consider this system satisfactory, or do you think it should evolve in some way?
-This system has its weak sides, but in certain circumstances also its strong aspects. It is objective that the married priest cannot devote himself to his faithful as much as the unmarried one, and his family duties often also partially hinder his intellectual preparation. He has to worry more about feeding his family, especially if he has several children. In case of difficulties with the children, he suffers a lot personally, and the parish is also affected. There are difficulties with transfers to another parish. Many times the family is affected by the absence of the father, especially during the most important liturgical feasts.
On the other hand, it cannot be denied that in certain circumstances this system also has a very positive influence on the faithful, as well as on the person of the priest or the family. But only if, as a family, they give an example of Christian life to others, to their environment. We know that in the fifties, when priests were forced to accept the obligatory passage to the Orthodox Church, often it was precisely their wives who supported them so that they would persevere and not sign their acceptance, and they went into exile with them with a willing spirit. This is what happened in the case of my father.
It is also very positive that the priest does not live alone, and does not become an individualist or a solitary or rare person. In the Eastern Church (also in the Catholic Church) there are few priests who live or work alone. They either live in celibacy, most of them in religious congregations, or in a family. Man is a social being, and it is natural for him to live with others, although it cannot be denied - as we know from many biographies of saints, but also of our Savior himself - that dedicating short periods of time to meditation in solitude is very necessary and beneficial for the human dimension of the person.
The future will show which aspect will prevail in the life of the Church. In my family, my father, my grandfather and my great-grandfather were Greek Catholic priests; and no doubt from this family tradition, when I wanted to go to the seminary my father told me that if I wanted to be a (Greek Catholic) priest, the best thing to do was to get married.
In my opinion, the ideal would be that, following the initial tradition of the Church, celibacy should be given more space, and at the same time the common life of priests should be favored. And that the eventual ordination of married men - where there are not enough priests - be limited only to those who are already elderly and whose children already lead an independent life, the so-called "married men". viri probati. The decision on whether or not to return to the initial system should be up to the councils or the pope.

Could you tell us if the same regulation applies in the Orthodox Churches?
-The discipline of the Orthodox is substantially the same, although among them there are many things that are much freer (marriage discipline, confession in common, intellectual preparation of the priests...), while in others they are, on the other hand, stricter (required fasts, duration of prayers...).
As far as I know, in the question of the marriage of clerics they have in principle the same general principles as we do. With regard to their concrete praxis, I cannot pronounce myself with sufficient foundation.

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The Vatican

Minors: "May the activities and places of the Church always be fully secure".

From February 21 to 24, an important meeting of all the presidents of the bishops' conferences, the superiors of religious congregations and various members of the Roman Curia was held at the Vatican to reflect on the drama of child abuse in the Church.

Giovanni Tridente-March 5, 2019-Reading time: 6 minutes

"We want all Church activities and places to always be fully safe for minors; that all possible measures be taken to ensure that such crimes are not repeated; that the Church once again be absolutely credible and reliable in its mission of service and education for the little ones according to the teaching of Jesus".

With these words, pronounced at the end of the Angelus from the window of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis symbolically closed the significant meeting on the "guardianship of minors".The meeting, which was held at the Vatican from February 21 to 24, was attended by some 200 members of the ecclesiastical hierarchy, including presidents of bishops' conferences from around the world, representatives of the superiors of religious congregations and various collaborators of the Roman Curia.

It was a "symbolic" closure, because in substance it is the beginning of a new approach to the phenomenon of abuse of minors by members of the Church, which undoubtedly follows a path begun many years ago, already under the pontificate of St. John Paul II, and pursued with determination by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, but which is now entering a more dynamic and proactive phase.

For four days, what we could call the "apex" of the Church has carried out a painful penitential journey, and has had to look in the face that "too much" evil that for too long has been allowed to wound even the deepest viscera of the ecclesial community, ruining the existence of those whom Jesus Christ always considered the most privileged treasure to safeguard: the children.

Certainly, the problems will not magically disappear, because evil entered the world with the "first man" and because God wants his children to be always free. But having taken this great step of humiliation, which has not avoided the mention of the worst responsibilities of those who should have supervised that certain crimes did not occur, allows us to hope that the right direction has finally been taken.

Testimonials

It was significant that the many cardinals and bishops representing the Church throughout the world were able to hear, from the living voice of those wounded for life, the dramatic testimonies of the abuses they have suffered at the hands of those who should have cared for them.

And it is a good thing that finally the obsessive safeguarding of the good name of the Church, of the diocese, of the bishop or of the parish community is no longer at the center of the problem, but the victims, the victims, who above all must be guaranteed that they will be believed (taking seriously what they have to say) and fully supported. There is no point in hiding, and past experience has shown that this is the cause of other evils, other abuses, other and infinite physical and moral dramas.

Pope Francis was present for the entire duration of the meeting, in which prayer was the primary focus, a prayer that was certainly penitential but also one of invocation of the Holy Spirit, so that in this small ecclesial cenacle the light of healing for all and the necessary action of reparation and safeguarding could enter.

Much has been said, much has been heard, much has been prayed, much has been rectified, much has been debated. Now each one, when he returns to his community in the various corners of the planet, will have to transmit to those who remained there this new mentality of taking charge of the problem in an active and proactive way, so that, as Pope Francis has repeated, the problem can be solved, "all Church activities and places are always fully safe for minors"..

Concreteness

So much material was handled at the meeting that the organizing committee decided to meet in the following days to carry out a necessary and timely follow-up, which could be along the lines of the "concreteness" that the Holy Father had asked for in his opening speech on abuse.

Because it is true that diagnoses are necessary to honestly frame the phenomena, but once the problems and causes are known, it is necessary to move on to therapies and heal the broken bodies sadly marked by evil. In addition to other reasons, at least because "the saint Town God is looking at us and expects from us not simple and obvious condemnations, but concrete and effective measures to be adopted".said the Pope.

Among the first concrete initiatives to be taken, he told reporters at the last press conference, he said briefing organized by the Stampa Room The moderator of the meeting, Federico Lombardi, will be a member of the Motu own of the Pope "to strengthen the prevention of and the fight against abuse in the Roman Curia and in Vatican City State"The new law will be accompanied by a new State law and the appropriate guidelines.

For its part, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will publish a vademecum which will help the bishops of the world to understand clearly what their duties and competencies are.
At the request of the Holy Father, the following will also be created task forces of competent persons to assist episcopal conferences and dioceses that encounter difficulties in dealing with these problems, or to take appropriate initiatives.

The program of the event included three intense days of conferences - dedicated to three specific topics: responsibility, accountability e transparency-The sessions were always introduced by the opening prayer and were punctuated by spaces for questions and group work, the conclusions of which were presented at the end of each day.

As we were saying, the testimonies of victims of abuse from various nations and continents were striking and at the same time necessary, and were offered each day, also as a reason to accompany the group prayer, two speakers in the morning and one in the afternoon, always introduced by the opening prayer and punctuated by spaces for questions and group work, whose conclusions were presented at the end of each day.

Those in charge of relations have been cardinals and bishops, but also three women, a nun and two laywomen, from different backgrounds to show that this is a global phenomenon.

Penance

The washing of the "penitential liturgy", celebrated at the end of the third day, also had a strong emotional impact, also because of the clarity with which all the bishops gathered in the Sala Regia before the image of the bleeding Crucified One asked for forgiveness, confessing the violence they had committed. "respect for minors and young people"the inability to protect "those who were most in need of our attention."the coverage given to the culprits and the reduction of the victims to silence, omitting the "help when it was needed".

In the final speech of the meeting, delivered at the end of the Holy Mass with all the participants also in the Sala Regia, in order to maintain the necessary climate of recollection and prayer, Pope Francis stressed that although it is a widespread phenomenon worldwide - as shown by a series of statistics from qualified organizations - in the case of the Church it acquires greater gravity and scandal. "because it contrasts with their moral authority and ethical credibility.".

Mystery of evil

It is difficult to find a plausible explanation as to why this occurs, but an answer can certainly be reached by recognizing that "humbly and courageously", "that we are before the mystery of evil, which rages against the weakest because they are the image of Jesus.". "Satan"The Holy Father added outside the text. Without recognizing this dimension "we will be far from the truth and no real solutions"..

Therefore, in addition to practical measures, it is especially important to take the following measures "measures The spiritual exercises that the Lord himself teaches us: humiliation, acts of contrition, prayer, penance. This is the only way for defeat the spirit of evil. Thus Jesus overcame him"..

Afterwards, the objective will be to "listen, to protect and care for abused, exploited and neglected minors, wherever they may be".and the Church will do so - Pope Francis suggested - in four specific dimensions, ranging from the primary objective of the guardianship of children, with a change of mentality for the protection of children, to a change of mentality for the protection of children's rights. "to combat the defensive-reactionary attitude of safeguarding the Institution, for the benefit of a sincere and decisive search for the good of the community."and cultivate "seriousness flawless." The first step is to demand a correct and balanced selection and formation of candidates to the priesthood, to further strengthen the guidelines of each of the Episcopal Conferences, and to accompany those who have suffered abuse, without neglecting the immense phenomenon of the "digital world", which often facilitates access to this evil, and "sex tourism", a worldwide scourge to be combated and repressed.

Conversion and humility

Nevertheless, the Pope wanted to thank so many priests and religious who spend their lives to proclaim the Gospel, and educate and protect the little ones and the defenseless, giving their lives in the following of Jesus; and concluded by affirming that the best and most effective result in this renewed journey in the service of good and truth can only come from a "personal and collective conversion" and from "the humility to learn, listen, assist and protect the most vulnerable".

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Culture

"My mission is to make a mark."

You can be an entrepreneur, a passionate art lover and a mother of ten children. You can, and you can do it with joy. Pilar Gordillo proves it to us.

Alicia Gómez-Monedero-March 5, 2019-Reading time: 3 minutes

"Defining yourself is very difficult, very complex."says Pilar when I ask her to introduce herself. "I am many things: a woman, a wife, a mother and a professional in the world of events and cultural entertainment." explains.
Pilar lives in Toledo, is married to Santiago and they are the parents of 10 children.

On more than one occasion he has seen surprised faces when saying that yes, there are ten of them, but it's that "For me, a child is not a decision, but it is the fruit of the fact that God is great and can handle anything and gives that and more".

I can't help but ask her what it's like to be a mother of a large family and an entrepreneur. And her answer is delightful: "Because the fruit of a person who has an engine of love inside, which is given to him every day from heaven, is to bear more fruit."

It is that simple and that complex. "It's totally logical." he tells me, "to have one child, not to be afraid to have another, to be happy when the fourth one comes, to jump into the pool together and to surprise you on the way because the sixth one is coming".

Far from creating overwhelm and confusion, "There is more and more love at home, more communion, more presence of Him. So what fears can there be?".

Art and passion
Pilar speaks passionately about her family. But it is this same passion that has launched her into entrepreneurship, because Pilar is also passionate about art. That is why she studied art history.

"In the city of Toledo I found a great opportunity to communicate art to the general public who are the tourists, who have time and move in an atmosphere of relaxation enough to listen and also have a need to understand the why and wherefore of the works of art they contemplate".she explains.

And this is where entrepreneurship is born, and it is born Evoking you, "of passion, of being full of life and inner strength",  because this strength leads to bearing fruit, "to give life, which is to support a family, which is to seek the best for my children, which is to do things for others, which is the logical fruit of having a business, to give good things to others."

Evoking you is aimed specifically at corporate leisure. It is offered to companies that ask for meaningful, cultural leisure; for them, when they finish a meeting at seven o'clock in the evening in a city that is totally closed, thanks to Pilar, "Monuments are opened exclusively to be visited with care, with pampering, with live music, accompanied by gastronomy, small theatrical performances, poetry recitals. They are not complements but a whole, it is the mass that unites and gives meaning and leaves a mark, because my mission is to leave a mark, to cultivate people, to arouse talent and culture that guarantees it".

All kinds of experiences

But how is it possible to arouse all this by seeing, for example, El Greco's The Burial of Count Orgaz? "Because I reach the deep meaning of this art." responds Pilar. She specializes in sacred art and has been told on more than one occasion that she is a believer, "because I live those existential truths, I know God and I share Him as I experience Him, as I savor Him and as I value Him in my life. This is what I offer and it shows."

You only have to listen to her, because in her voice and in the way she expresses herself you can sense all this. Pilar also says that she has had all kinds of experiences after these visits: "Some people tell me that I have helped them pray or that, for a moment, they have touched heaven listening to me. Even non-believers have given me hugs because I made them feel things they had never felt before. And I see how their eyes light up.. I've been with women's magazine editors who didn't want to get up from where we were, and asked me to continue telling more, because they experience that there is depth in that artwork, that there is a delight beyond what they knew.".

To be able to do all this, Pilar reveals to me that her secret is prayer, "which is like eating every day.". It may seem really complicated to have some time alone with God, but she answers me that ultimately, "it's a matter of priorities, so even if I'm late to the office one day I can't stand up without prayer."

The authorAlicia Gómez-Monedero

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Pastoral perspectives in a rural setting

For almost two years now, as pastor, I have been ministering to 9 villages in the Ribera del Duero region of Burgos, a beautiful area in the province of Burgos, Spain.... I correct myself: when I was writing these lines, the bishopric called me to tell me that two more villages have been added to my list. So with Roa, the largest, there are now 11 villages.

Alfredo Pérez Bustillo-February 21, 2019-Reading time: 5 minutes

In this still short period of time I am having the opportunity to get closer to a peculiar pastoral reality, which I did not know so directly before. I say peculiar and not difficult, because difficulty is a common feature today in all evangelization work.

If the faithful "no longer come

If there are some places where the characteristic of the "Church going out" that Pope Francis likes so much can be found, this could be one of them. For two fundamental reasons.

The first reason is that the people here live in scattered population centers; in reality, there are too many towns for too few people.

The second reason is that, with the exception of the confraternities, practically all forms of organized apostolate (apostolic movements, liturgical groups, etc.) have disappeared. This has happened even in the largest population center I serve, the town of Roa (with some 2,300 inhabitants), with the exception of children's catechesis and Caritas.

As for the confraternities, they are very numerous especially in this last village, but in general they are very detached from the life of the parish. It is in such a situation that the qualification of "Church on the move" would come into play. A characteristic of the pastoral attitude that has now become necessary is given by the realization that the faithful no longer "come": it is necessary to go out to meet them and take every opportunity to "be present".

In this regard, I have found that the most direct and effective way to achieve this goal is to visit the sick. They always appreciate it, and it also creates the opportunity for them to approach the sacraments and to get to know their families. Another advantage is that in this way the priest "forces" himself not to shut himself up in an office.

Too many tasks for the pastor

Unfortunately, and although it may seem otherwise, taking care of so many people takes a lot of time to perform administrative tasks that for a long time have been left too exclusively on the shoulders of the pastors: the care of temples, the administration of the little income, being aware of parish properties..., and of the heating, and the "supply" of small things and material that the liturgy demands.

In these tasks, I miss on the part of the bishopric the provision of lay personnel to take care of everything (but mainly the issue of conservation of temples), thus enabling the priest to put his heart and head only in the pastoral care of people.

Awakening evangelists

But visiting the sick is not enough. It is clear that we need new pastoral experiences that we call "first proclamation", going to the core of the Gospel, as the Apostles and the first Christians did. I would summarize it in the urgent need to awaken for everyone
the evangelizer within each baptized person. In this sense, I have set myself two tasks for the time being

The first is to get closer to the confraternities, to involve them more in the life of the parishes. We have organized periodic meetings of confraternities, which we hold every second Monday of the month. And in perspective is to go to the penitential confraternities, so that they feel more responsible for Lent and Holy Week. At the same time, we also meet with the Marian brotherhoods in the months of May and October. Evidently, all this in the largest of the towns I attend.

What pastoral problems arise in the smaller villages? In these, visits to the sick and elderly are always possible. The main difficulty is the number of Sunday Masses and the abundance of popular festivals.

To this day, each town continues to have its Sunday Mass (I am assisted by a priest who is in the diocese studying), because it has always been that way. Masses are celebrated every Sunday in towns between which the distances between them are derisory (only 5, 6, or 7 kilometers). It is not easy to find a solution, because of the strong resistance of the people to move: most of them are very old and argue that they have always had Mass.

I am planning to concretize the idea of holding a meeting with one or two people from each town, those who feel more connected with their parish, to make known the work that falls on the few priests, and for them to see the pastoral needs of this small territory. Most of them hardly know what is happening pastorally in the next village. And so, once we see the situation clearly, I hope to be able to organize together a pastoral care more coherent with the reality and more realistic with the possibilities. Besides, it may be the way to help each other.

The one-on-one

Very probably there could be many more initiatives than the ones mentioned above. Life takes you, and I try to keep up to date on pastoral experiences of New Evangelization, as is the case of the Alpha Courses, which could perhaps be carried out in this environment as well.

However, the method that never fails is the personal and informal encounter with people, in the street, in the markets or in the thousand and one occasions that living among them gives you. It is when you make friends with people that the opportunity to bring them closer to God becomes truly real. In the two years that have already passed, among the faithful of these parishes I have known more, many more, personal situations than, for example, in the four years I spent in a parish of Burgos of 7,000 inhabitants.

Here is one at the foot of the street. I try to find any excuse to go out, especially in summer.

You always meet someone you know, almost everyone you greet and they greet you. I approach the groups of older people sitting in the cool air. And, of course, the religious topic often comes up. Briefly, in passing, you are given the opportunity to say a word of clarification, an invitation, a word of encouragement, a joke, etc. But in this "street ministry" there is something else of interest. People do not come to the office for almost nothing. There are several people who, after meeting and greeting me on the street, ask me questions, a concern arises, etc. In this way I have made friends with the faithful whom I try to help on a regular basis in their personal situations that require guidance. Evidently, we have all realized by now that it is family problems that make people suffer the most. And even, oh fat miracle, I see myself with the boys and girls who have been confirmed in these two years. I say "big" because most of the parish priests say they don't even see them. I see them on the street, several of them, and I go up to them from time to time and greet them and remind them that God is also with them at Sunday Mass, for example. I try not to be a nuisance, not to be a "bad boy", as they sometimes say, neither with them nor with anyone else.

Because it turns out that on many occasions, upon seeing you, some people approach you and say more or less: "I wanted to talk to you, or to you.". And they expose to me their concern, or their problem. I understand, with all this, that even the figure of the priest awakens a certain interest. He represents the religious, sometimes the ecclesial, sometimes a trustworthy person, to whom one can tell problems that one would not even tell one's friends. It is not the ultimate pastoral marvel but, in the end, this way of meeting people is very effective, it gives wonderful opportunities to make friends and to have an "office in the street" where, even if only for a few minutes, you can really follow people's lives. Of course, there have also been more established friendships and the opportunity to delve deeper into the issues. To give just one example, this is the origin of the case of a person who is in the process of obtaining a marriage annulment. Since he told me his case, I saw, without being an expert, that it was a textbook case. It is going well, and he will be able to regularize his current situation. The same should be said of having been able to approach the life of the confraternities, a peculiar world that I knew nothing about. I am trying to make them more pastoral and to serve the evangelization of their members.

Light of the Holy Spirit

I believe that we will have to entrust these questions much more to the Holy Spirit, so that he may enlighten everyone, in order to find ways that will lead to a more effective pastoral care that is not reduced only to Sunday.

It should be kept in mind that other pastoral initiatives can and should also be carried out during the week. In due time, it will be necessary to take turns for Sunday Masses. And, if it is feasible, on Sundays when the priest is not present, it will be convenient to have celebrations of the Word.

The authorAlfredo Pérez Bustillo

parish priest in 11 towns in the diocese of Burgos

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Dossier

To train in Religion is to transmit knowledge

Religion class is not a privilege of the Church, but a right of parents, which provides knowledge and formation to students.

Alberto Cañas-February 13, 2019-Reading time: 9 minutes

I do not know if you have noticed, but when politicians do not know what to talk about, need to cover up some of their corrupt acts or need to change their discourse, they always resort to the well-worn topic of "the Religion class" or the Church-State Agreements of 1979, that is, to take the former out of school and to revise the latter, and even revoke them. All in the name of freedom, secularism and progressivism. A moment that we are now living intensely.

But, what is ERE (School Religious Education)? Why Religion in schools? Is it the same as catechesis? Is ERE voluntary or compulsory? And in public schools? What and how is it evaluated? Who teaches it? Why do they want to do away with it? What difficulties do we Religion teachers have on a daily basis? I will try to answer these questions with simplicity and clarity, from my experience as a teacher of Religion in the public school for the last 24 years.

The ERE in the Constitution and the 1979 Agreements

As there are many attacks, comments and all kinds of tricks against the ERE, the teachers of Religion in the public school have had to learn some basic legislation to defend ourselves. There are two fundamental articles in the Spanish Constitution of 1978, Article 16 and 27.

Article 16 states: "The ideological, religious and worship freedom of individuals and communities is guaranteed without any limitation in its manifestations other than that necessary for the maintenance of public order protected by law.". And in section 3: "No confession shall have a state character. The public authorities shall take into account the religious beliefs of Spanish society and shall maintain the consequent relations of cooperation with the Catholic Church and other denominations.".
It is in tune with what the Second Vatican Council says: "Between the State and the Church there must be mutual respect for the autonomy of each party.".

Article 27 of the Constitution proclaims: "Everyone has the right to education. Freedom of education is recognized.", y "The public authorities guarantee the right of parents to ensure that their children receive the religious and moral formation that is in accord with their own convictions."
Finally, Article 10 states: "The rules relating to the fundamental rights and freedoms recognized by the Constitution shall be interpreted in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the international treaties and agreements on the same matters ratified by Spain."

And the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says in its article 26.3: "Parents shall have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children". In short: Spain is a non-denominational state, not secular and much less secularist. This means that there is no official religion in Spain, but there is an obligation to make possible the constitutional right of parents to choose the type of training and education they believe appropriate for their children, with respect to their religious beliefs and ideologies. The Catholic Religion class is not a privilege of the Church, but a right of parents recognized in our Constitution (arts. 16 and 27) and in the Declaration of Human Rights.

The current legislation, in accordance with the 1979 Church-State agreements, states that the aforementioned ERE (school religious education) is mandatory for schools and optional for students. That is to say, the schools are obliged to offer it, but the students are not obliged to take it.

Parents have to decide at the beginning of the school year or when they enroll their children in school whether to opt for Religion or Values. Until a couple of years ago, the other option was "Educational Attention". This last term, better known as alternative, was confusing and mischievous, because it made many parents think that children who did not take Religion were going to receive something similar to "private" classes. This was not the case. In the best of cases, the educational attention dealt with a plan to promote reading (in the Community of Madrid) or work on a book of values; but the reality was very different: games, movies, computer room, free study..... Quite unfair competition.

With the current Education Law (LOMCE), the optional Religion is a subject called Ethical and Social Values, which is evaluable but very open to the free interpretation of the teacher who teaches it, so we return to a similar situation. And even in some bilingual schools the subject of Values is taught in English, while Religion is in Spanish, which makes many parents opt for the former. After a lot of "fighting", we are getting that this is not the case.

The time used for the subject of Religion is two weekly sessions with a total of an hour and a half in primary education and a proportional time in early childhood education. But the LOMCE has not been developed by the Royal Decrees necessary to regulate a myriad of details for its operation, and has left the door open to reduce the timetable to a single session and even to the disappearance of the subject at some educational stage. We will have to wait and see what happens with the new government.

The teachers in charge of teaching it must have the same training and qualifications as the rest of the teachers in the center. That is to say, the diploma in Teaching (currently Degree) in any of its specialties (for Early Childhood and Primary Education), the degree in Theology or Religious Sciences (for ESO and Baccalaureate), and the DEI (Ecclesiastical Declaration of Suitability), today known as DECA in both cases. The teacher is proposed by the bishop and hired by the competent educational authority (in the case of Madrid, by the Consejería de Educación de la Comunidad de Madrid).

ERE and catechesis

The subject of Religion ensures the integral formation of the person. For an education to be truly integral, it must work on all areas of the person: the physical, through Physical Education, psychomotor skills and sports; the mental, with the traditional subjects, Language, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Music, etc.; the emotions and feelings and the relationship with others; and finally, the spiritual with the Religion class.

Evidently, these areas are not totally watertight and interact with each other, forming a whole that is the person, created in the image and likeness of God. If we work on the first three and forget the fourth, the formation of the person is clearly incomplete. It is about the integral formation of the student, favoring multiple intelligences and developing all the dimensions of the person, including the spiritual and emotional.

In current pedagogical language, it is developed in what is called "competencies" (competence in linguistic communication, social and civic competence, cultural and artistic competence, competence in learning to learn, competence in autonomy and personal initiative, competence in knowledge and interaction with the physical world). I will not spend time explaining how the subject of Religion works and how it fits into each of these competencies.

Religion class is not catechesis. They are distinct, but complementary to each other. The Religion class takes place in the school. That of the catechesis, the parish, the Christian communities and above all, the family. In the catechesis the necessary knowledge to live the faith and to celebrate it is received. Hence, a great part of the catechesis deals with the preparation to receive the sacraments.

In catechesis, children (I will refer to children's catechesis for the sake of comparison with ERE, although adult catechesis exists) will learn the prayers, gestures and liturgical meanings; they will study catechism, the sacraments and participate in religious celebrations. They should also become aware of belonging to the Christian community, to the Church. It is true that some of the topics covered in catechesis are common to those of ERE, but their approach and methodology must be, by definition, different.

Our roots

In school religious education, we work on faith-culture dialogue. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive, as some say. The child in school learns to know the environment around him and to understand the world in which he is going to live and is given the "tools" (knowledge and strategies) to be able to adapt to it and survive successfully. And whether we like it or not, we have had 2000 years of Christianity and 4000 years of Judaism. The basis, the roots of our current society is Greece (Philosophy), Rome (Law) and Christianity (which in turn has its roots in Judaism).

And all this cannot be ignored. Some examples: our holidays are Christian -in Madrid, of all the holidays we have, only the Constitution, Labor Day or Community Day are not religious holidays-; our names, those of our streets and those of some localities have a Christian etymology or a religious fact or character; many of our greetings, social formulas, sayings and proverbs are of religious origin, for its biblical reference or the history of Christianity; our landscapes, urban or rural, are dotted with religious buildings and symbols: churches, cathedrals, monasteries, hermitages, monuments, crosses...; our history, literature, art, music, have a multitude of facts, characters and religious works or related to Religion.

The faith-culture dialogue is a dialogue with the rest of the subjects in order to understand the world from a Christian worldview. The contribution of Christianity to our culture is taught: to science, history, art, philosophy, literature...

And as for values... where do the values that are given in the subject with the same name come from? Solidarity, empathy, generosity, forgiveness, tolerance, forgiveness, peace, love... These are evangelical values. Education in values is an essential pillar of the Religion curriculum!

General objectives of the Religion area

  • To be more specific, here are the general objectives of the Religion Area for Primary Education, from 6 to 12 years old:
  • To know the basic aspects of religions, relating them to Christianity. To recognize the founders and some distinctive elements of the great current religions.
  • To know the Bible, its structure and meaning.
  • To discover God's action in nature and in the person.
  • Identify some fundamental characters of salvation history and their response of faith, in particular the person of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary.
  • To value the newness of God's love that saves us from sin and death.
  • Identify the meaning of some basic formulations, expressions and texts of the Christian message.
  • Identify the Church, know the presence of God and his grace in the sacraments, and the ecclesial service rendered by the apostles and their successors.
  • To understand and distinguish the sacred, festive and celebratory meaning of feasts and their rites. Analyze the hierarchy of values, attitudes and norms that make up the Christian being, and apply them to the different situations of life.
  • life.
  • To value that the Christian faith implies assuming responsibilities, the sense of Christian action and commitment, and an attitude of tolerance and respect for the ethical systems of different religions.
  • To know, value and respect the religious, artistic and cultural heritage.
  • To discover that man's eternal destiny begins here as a gift arising from Christ's victory over death.

Multidisciplinary knowledge

Religious education does not evaluate faith (impossible by definition), as the detractors of the subject claim. It evaluates concrete and scientific knowledge and content: the names of the major prophets, the kings of Israel, the location of the Red Sea or Mount Sinai, books of the Bible and their location in the Old Testament or in the New, knowing how to draw a map of Israel in the first century and locate the Jordan River, Lake Gennesaret and the main cities in the life of Jesus, to cite a few examples.

This faith-culture dialogue turns the Religion course into a multidisciplinary area, a compendium of many fields of knowledge: history, geography, literature, art, music, film, philosophy, morals, ethics, science... Thus, a student who attends and takes advantage of Religion classes will be better prepared than one who does not.

And not only for those who study art history, as I was told not long ago by a graduate in this subject, but I myself have been able to experience it in a cultural outing with children of 9 or 10 years of a school where I worked years ago, to the Prado Museum.

Ignorance, a great enemy

Moreover, faith needs formation, and ignorance is one of its greatest enemies. Ignorance and lack of formation make of our faith a giant with feet of clay, which collapses with nothing.

How many young people from religious families, who during their childhood and adolescence have even attended the parish and frequented the sacraments, arrive at the university or start working, and in a few months they abandon their life of piety and move away from the Church because some classmate or teacher has told them that Religion is all lies, myths that science has overcome.

They talk to them about the theory of the evolution of the species, the Big Bang, or any other theory of the origin of the universe, they recommend them readings by well-argued atheist philosophers, they talk to them about the riches of the Church, the Inquisition... And then that young person, or those young people, without adequate training, feel defrauded, swindled, cheated, deceived... defeated!

With a good religious formation that includes a serious and rigorous exegesis, the young person will have enough strength and security to refute all this bombardment with serious and scientific arguments and be victorious in the defense of his faith without complexes.

But returning to the subject of this article, we can say that it is common to find many adult Christians (even with university education) with the same formation they received when they prepared to receive their first Communion. Imagine what would happen if people were to remain with the academic level acquired at the age of eight or nine in Language or Mathematics. Well, that's how we are in religious matters.

And if you don't believe me, there are the TV quizzes and what happens when they ask something about religion: from answering that the first three kings of Israel were the "magi", to saying that the commandments are twelve.

The authorAlberto Cañas

Religion Teacher

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Democracy and religion in dialogue at the World Congress of Law

The theme Democracy, Constitution and freedom will be the focus of the World Congress of Law, to be held in Madrid this February, convened by the World Jurist Association. The social role of religion will also be discussed.

Omnes-February 8, 2019-Reading time: 4 minutes

-TEXT Carlos de la Mata Gorostizaga
Lawyer, General Secr. of the Madrid Vivo Foundation

There are many moments in history when attempts have been made to remove, even eradicate, the role of religion in public life. Examples range from the French Revolution, to its persecution during all kinds of war conflicts, through the communist regime of the former USSR, Nazi Germany or Mao Tse Tung's China. In all of them, there are numerous cases in which religions have been persecuted and ostracized, or even disappeared. But in the 21st century, there should be no room for a lack of dialogue with different religions in a framework of coexistence and fraternity. As Pope Francis said in his recent address to the Diplomatic Corps in Rome, "the particularities [of different religions] are not an obstacle to dialogue, but the sap that nourishes it with the common desire to know truth and justice". Both questions, truth and justice, are intrinsic to the human person, and have been treated and analyzed throughout history by philosophers from Plato, with "his idea of the good" to Hegel. But although these ideas of truth and justice may have a certain idealistic character, experience throughout history has shown us that it is in democracy that the concepts of truth and justice have been best embodied, because it is in this political system, as we understand it, that men can express themselves freely.
Dialogue and mutual understanding is the best way to work on differences, and in a democratic state there must be room for all religions, and therefore, we must work with them. Spain is a clear example of how, after such a painful conflict as a civil war and 40 years of dictatorship, it has been possible to establish a solid democracy, under the protection of a constitution that guarantees full freedom of religious practice, as indicated in Article 16, "the ideological, religious and worship freedom of individuals and communities is guaranteed without any limitation, in its manifestations, other than that necessary for the maintenance of public order protected by law.". Numerous international organizations that promote democratic values contemplate religious freedom as one of their pillars. From the European Convention of Human Rights of the Council of Europe, in its article 9, to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of the United Nations, in paragraphs 1 and 2 of its article 18.
We live in a society in which the "liquid modernity" coined by Zygmunt Bauman is becoming more and more prevalent. It is an individualistic, hedonistic society in which there is no room for community values and, therefore, individual selfishness prevails over the common good of society, and in which the lack of moral convictions and the absence of values seem to be more successful than giving oneself to others. The 21st century fears and abjures the concept of neighbor. President Macron himself stressed that in societies such as the French one "weigh" not only the effects of the economic crisis, but also relativism and nihilism, agreeing with Pope Benedict XVI.
The question of Democracy and Religion, in many occasions, especially in Europe, has been expressed as something opposed to each other; and this has been historically seen in a very different way in societies such as the North American one, which has always considered the religious fact as something positive. There, religious freedom has always been the first freedom. And it continues to be the first freedom enshrined in the First Amendment of the American Constitution. Undoubtedly another example of how democracy and religion can and should be compatible.
Undoubtedly, in today's hyperconnected society, in which the immediacy of social networks allows us to access all kinds of news in a matter of minutes, the lie of a lifetime, the so-called "post-truth", has become reality and belief for many people at the click of a button.
That is why a democracy and a constitution are so necessary in modern society, not only to guarantee the rights of individuals, but also to guarantee the fulfillment of duties that provide a framework of coexistence for all.
As President Macron recently recalled, "the Church [let us extrapolate this to all religions], which tried to disengage itself from temporal questions would not respond to the end of its vocation". Because the common good of society also requires the commitment of all religions to it. Whatever the belief of the individual.
The role of the denominations and their commitment to democracy in Spain is beyond doubt. The solution to many of our current problems lies in men and women and in their commitment, as individuals, to society and the democracy that protects us. On many occasions, the attack on the different religions and their role in society has been masked with the defense of secularity, and therefore, the discrimination of many people for the mere fact of being Catholics, Muslims, Jews, etc.
If we were to understand that the defense of secularism means that men and women who practice a religious confession cannot participate in public life, we would be falling into, and therefore justifying, the numerous cases of dictatorships that in the name of the "people" have persecuted, imprisoned and murdered millions of people throughout history.
As Macron said, when he spoke of the death of Colonel Beltrame during a terrorist attack, "Some saw in this gesture the acceptance of the sacrifice rooted in his military vocation [...] and others, especially his wife, interpreted this act as the translation of his ardent Catholic faith prepared for the supreme test of death [...] Some may consider this gesture to be in conflict with secularism [...]. [...] Some may consider his intentions to be in conflict with secularism. [...] Secularism does not have as its function to deny the spiritual in the name of the temporal, nor to uproot from our societies the sacred part that nourishes so many of our fellow citizens.".
Undoubtedly this space for dialogue that the Fundación Madrid Vivo intends to provide during the World Congress of Law, we believe that it is ideal to demonstrate that the union between democracy and religion is not only intrinsic to the human person, but is increasingly necessary to provide values to a society that is increasingly lacking in them.

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Spain

I was in prison and you came to see me

The accompaniment of persons deprived of liberty is one of the fundamental pillars of pastoral work. Over time, this accompaniment has been perfected and materialized in other actions such as workshops and shelters.

Alicia Gómez-Monedero-February 7, 2019-Reading time: 5 minutes

"We take care of all kinds of situations no matter what the person has done." says Mariola Ballester Siruela, director of the Prison Ministry of the diocese of Orihuela-Alicante. Mariola has been part of the pastoral for 24 years and this is her fourth year in charge of it. Ballester tells Palabra that once she enters through the prison door "what I have in front of me are people and not criminals, because if I saw them like that, we would be labeling them and that's not fair"..

The work of Prison Pastoral Care in Spain "is the action of the Church in the prison world which is divided into three areas: religious, social and juridical", Florencio Roselló, a Mercedarian and Director of the Department of Prison Pastoral Care of the EEC: "The religious one as the presence of the Church; the social one because there are many realities that affect the person who is in prison: family, work, food...; and the legal one that orients and helps prisoners in their judicial processes, and works so that the laws are increasingly fairer and more humane."explains the director.

"We also work on prevention, going to high schools and colleges to tell about experiences with people who have been released from prison as a way to sensitize young people to this reality."continues Roselló.

 Volunteering and workshops

Volunteering is the foundation on which this work is based, since it is nourished by people who offer their time altruistically to dedicate themselves to the workshops in the prison. Roselló explains that "Inside, we work in the religious area with workshops on catechesis, formation, the Bible... and in the social area with programs on conflict resolution, values, self-esteem, etc. But the end is not the subject that is treated, but the workshop is the means to reach the person."Florencio tells us.

There are also reading workshops or film forums in which the inmates meet at the established time and day, watch a film and then discuss it with the volunteer in charge. "These workshops foster another type of relationship and, in many cases, the inmates open up in a different way because they know they are talking to people on the street, it's not the same as with their peers in the yard or with officials." explains Mariola, who is responsible, together with another volunteer, for a mediation workshop. "They are spaces of rapprochement, it is a freer relationship because they know that there is no one there to judge them." continues.

Every two years, each diocese's pastoral ministry draws up a program establishing the workshops to be carried out. These are presented in the penitentiary centers, directed by the Treatment Board and it is the deputy director of treatment, once approved by the Board, who sends them to the General Secretariat of Penitentiary Institutions of the Ministry of the Interior in Madrid where they are approved to be carried out.

The offer to inmates in the different prisons distributed throughout Spain is made both through the prison social workers and through the prison social workers, "with whom we have a close collaboration"The prison is also a place where the prison is located, as well as by advertisements in the different prison modules.

 Accompaniment

"The most constant presence is that of the chaplain."says Father Florencio. "He visits the different modules and there are those who come to talk, others to confess and others do not come, but the presence of the priest is there, the accompaniment is present.". Also, thanks to this approach, inmates are offered participation in various workshops.

"Being in prison entails deprivation of liberty but not of living the creed of their faith." explains Roselló, "The prison ministry makes the Church and the liberating message of Jesus present in prison. To visit the prison is to visit Christ himself who is imprisoned"..

Shelter homes

Another concern of the Prison Ministry is the situation of prisoners who are released from prison, either on furlough or on third degree, when the inmate goes on to serve his sentence in an open regime center, in semi-liberty. For this purpose, they have prepared shelters in each diocese.

"In many cases, when the prisoner's family is far away or the family ties are deteriorated, during the furlough he has nowhere to go. This is why there are shelters available".explains Mariola.

In the diocese of Orihuela-Alicante there are two of them, one for men, from the Obra Mercedaria Foundation (of the Mercedarians of the province of Aragon), and another for women, provided by the Daughters of Charity.

These houses, in the case of the Orihuela-Alicante diocese, are supported by donations. Therefore, every Christmas the diocese launches a campaign to raise funds to keep them open. The funds raised are also used to provide scholarships to the families of the prisoners for food, school meals, books, medicines and other urgent needs, to facilitate telephone communication with the family so that they can visit the prisoners in prison and to help them to find employment to help them build their lives based on the values of work, effort and social responsibility.

Responses

In some cases, pastoral care has the role of helping to assess whether prison is the place for certain people with very complicated situations. This was the case of Ana (not her real name). A foreigner, young, university student, painter and Christian, she had to flee her country because of persecution. Her family paid a mafia to obtain false passports to allow her to leave the country. Precisely for this reason she was detained upon her arrival in Spain and, ill-advised by the mafia, did not ask for asylum when she arrived in our country. After trying to leave our borders several times, she was arrested again and sent to Fontcalent prison. From there Mariola was notified to visit her.

Ana spoke almost no Spanish and it was difficult for them to understand each other. The penitentiary center asked the Pastoral Delegation to sign her reception in the women's house and Ana was classified in third grade. She left the prison module and went to the social insertion center. The prison requested her political asylum, which was granted. Ana spends her weekends at the Orihuela-Alicante diocese's women's shelter, and will be able to study Spanish and look for a job.

The work of the Prison Pastoral Care Ministry throughout Spain is "enormously good and I believe that we are indeed responding to many situations that would otherwise be much more painful for people and their families." summarizes Mariola.

Why worry?

"Because we want a better functioning society." says Father Florencio. We know that the inmates in prison are there for their crimes, but we do not know everything that surrounds them and what has led them to commit that offense, be it more or less serious. Pope Francis' question when he goes to visit a prison is very revealing: "Why them and not me, am I better than them? The Pope makes a reflection, if he had been born in the family of many who are in prison, possibly he would also be in prison." says the director of the Pastoral. "As Concepción Arenal, a 19th century penalist, used to say, 'hate the crime and pity the delinquent'. Whoever is in prison is the son of the same Father as I am, he is my brother and deserves respect and help to get out of the situation in which he finds himself."Roselló assures Father Roselló.

Fruits

"I start from the sower", says Father Florencio. "We often don't see the fruits because when they are released from prison we lose contact with them. It is logical because it would be to make them remember a story that normally we want to forget. But we do understand that what the Church sows then gives us pleasant and positive surprises.".

The authorAlicia Gómez-Monedero

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ColumnistsMaria Laura Conte

Syria, a painful wound that requires solidarity and patience

Tens of thousands of refugees have returned, but many families are still fleeing Syria. The reconstruction of Syria, economically, socially and morally, requires a lot of help and will be slow.

February 7, 2019-Reading time: 6 minutes

If there is an issue that in all latitudes has the power of rupture and division, it is today that of migrants and refugees. It separates deeply, and creates conflicts between those who are open to acceptance and the challenge of integration, and those who believe that the only solution is the closure of ports and borders, rejection.

But if there is one place in the world where this problem is intertwined with complex geopolitical dynamics, to the point of becoming the battleground of warring powers, it is the Middle East. In particular, the case of Syrians who have been living outside their homeland for years is a cry to which the world seems to have become accustomed. Some 6 million Syrians have been displaced in the country itself, while 5.6 million are currently registered as refugees with UNHCR, the UN agency for this huge group of people. The majority are in Turkey, which is home to 3.6 million, to which must be added around one million refugees in Lebanon, some 700,000 in Jordan and 250,000 in Iraq, according to the agency.

The international press, which tries to avoid partisan readings, periodically looks at the subject with emblematic titles that help to delineate the scope and impact of this prolonged presence of unwanted guests over the years.

Description of the crisis

In recent months, The Economist has addressed the drama of with these headlines: "Syrian refugees may become the new Palestinians.", "Syrian refugees, a pawn on the Syrian chessboard." o "The long road home.". All the articles insisted that voluntary returns are simple to talk about, but complicated to put into practice due to a number of obstacles that they do not fail to mention.
Even the New York Times has again been forceful on the migration issue at the end of 2018, and countries in the European Union joined in its qualifier: "It's an act of murder."They stated to refer to the management of sovereign governments in the Mediterranean flows.

The situation of Syrians abroad was also discussed at the economic and social summit of Arab countries held in Beirut in mid-January this year. The Lebanese and regional press highlighted the differences between the countries' representatives. Contrary to Lebanese expectations, it was not possible to adopt a strong common position on the return of Syrian refugees to their homes, but only a general reference was made to Arab countries to address the issue responsibly, and an appeal "the international community to redouble its efforts". in order to allow everyone to return to their homes and villages.

1.5 million Syrians in Lebanon

The Lebanese government expected more. In the Arab media one can often read that, according to the Lebanese executive, the 1.5 million Syrians present in Lebanon must be helped to return home, a larger number than the UNHCR statistics, which is equivalent to one third of the Lebanese population.

The Patriarch of the Maronites, Cardinal Bechara Boutros Raï, has referred to this issue: "The economic, social, cultural and political consequences are disastrous. It was right to respond in an emergency, but this situation continues at the expense of the Lebanese and Lebanon."he said during an official visit to France in 2018, going so far as to speak of the risk of "demographic imbalance" and of the "change of identity", which they corroborate in their own country with general indifference: "Sometimes we feel a bit foreign in our own country.".

Already in 2013, the year in which Pope Francis invited to a world peace vigil to stop a threat from the United States, the situation of Syrians in Lebanon was described by analysts as follows "bombe àretardement"or delayed bomb, which no one has yet de-activated, by the way.
At the end of December, the Lebanese newspaper L'Orient-LeJour published the news of the voluntary return of about a thousand Syrians. It had prepared the ground by publishing background information on the fatigue of diplomacy in the management of the Syrian "repatriation"The current regime is divided between those who maintain that the current regime has no intention of recovering the exiles, and those who allege evidence to the contrary.

Are 1,000 repatriations out of 1.5 million Syrians in Lebanon too many or too few? For L'Orient-LeJour it was especially important to detail the list: 70 refugees left Ersal, a locality of Békaa on the Syrian border; 60 left Tyre, 55 were from Nabatiyé, 27 from Saïda, others from Tripoli and Abboudiyé, etc., a list that seemed almost a consolation for the average Lebanese (even today, the most supportive is exhausted).

Poor, hungry, homeless...

At the same time, the annual study conducted by the three UN agencies (UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP, World Food Programme) on the situation of Syrian refugees in the land of cedars was presented in Beirut: despite improvements in some areas due to the humanitarian response, the situation of refugees remains precarious, and this is a lapidary statement.
The percentages presented were disastrous: 69 % of Syrian refugee families are below the poverty line; and more than 51 % live on less than $2.90 a day, the survival threshold. How do they manage? Either they find cheap food, or they don't eat and send the children to work.
88 % of Syrian refugees are in debt: in 2018 the average was a debt of $800, in 2018 over $1,000. The rate of early marriages is growing and if, on the one hand, children aged 6-14 are increasing, 80 % of 15-17 year olds are out of school.
Added to this are the problems associated with obtaining residency and birth certificates: in 2018, 79 % of Syrian children born in Lebanon were not registered. Finally, the number of families living in non-permanent facilities is growing: in 2017 they were 26 %, in 2018 they reached 34 %.
Poor, indebted, hungry, homeless and jobless. It is this uncertainty of their fate that fuels the ticking of the delayed pump. It may or may not be heard, but it affects everyone.

Why don't they come back?
We are now talking about an almost completely pacified Syria, again under the control of President Assad. And why don't they return? The reasons of the refugees are different: they fear, once again, reprisals, being arrested as deserters; they have no place to return to the destroyed villages, no job waiting for them. Whoever flew over the sea or the ocean, or went up towards northern Europe, why should he leave the situation of "security" achieved to return to the uncertainty of the Middle East? President Assad has been defending for months that Syrians, especially businessmen, are welcome if they return, but there are those who accuse him of using the reconstruction phase to settle outstanding scores and favor those who have been loyal to his government. Moreover, as The Economist reported last summer, Assad himself commented: "Syria has gained a safer and more homogeneous society."referring to the new composition of the population.

How does this year look like?

For UNHCR, if 37,000 Syrians returned in 2018, they could reach 250,000 in 2019. A prediction that will be valid if the main obstacles cease to exist: obtaining documents and certificates of ownership of land and houses, the history of the amnesty announced for those who have abandoned military service, but also the security of mined rural areas, and the recognition of the one million small Syrians born abroad.

Meanwhile, the UN agency has asked donors for 5.5 billion in support to neighboring countries to provide medical care, food, education and psychosocial support to refugees, help in the reconstruction of houses, bridges, roads, factories and power plants in the shadow of the great ambition of Russia and China, two powers interested in taking over this promising market. Nor does the EU want to be left out of the humanitarian and reconstruction game, in view of its geopolitical positioning.

When trying to calculate the value of the material reconstruction, we are talking about 300 billion dollars, which escapes the exorbitant cost of rebuilding a social fabric worn out by 8 years of war. Every link, every network, every relationship between the different communities that maintained the strange balance of Syrian society has failed.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, was last summer in Duma, the main city of Eastern Guta, 10 kilometers from the capital, Damascus. During years of battle, the area was completely devastated, culminating in an intense battle when the government retook control of the city.

Thousands of families had to flee the city; 125,000 people now live in the area, compared to a population of around 300,000 before the crisis. Despite the collapsed buildings and piles of rubble, some of the displaced are returning to rebuild their homes and lives. However, with very few homes still standing, and few basic services, Grandi warned that the humanitarian needs of the population remained immense.
"In the midst of the ruins, there are children who need to go to school, who need to be fed, who need to be clothed."he added. "What we must do is help the people, beyond politics; as we all know, the political situation in this conflict is already quite complex. For the moment, the basic needs are the ones that must be urgently addressed.".

A capillary and patient performance

On the other hand, who is away from home and has raised children who have never seen his country, can he trust that his neighbor will no longer turn against him? Even those who stayed in their homeland, and spent years awake in their sleep, or suffered every day with the roar of mortars, those who lost friends, brothers, fathers in the war, who have been scarred in the body by deep wounds, will they all be able to start again?

A painful wound crosses these lands and no external multimillionaire investment can suture it because it is too pro- found. Only a new work starting from the most basic, a patient capillary action from the school, from the education of the youngest, can offer some possibility. But in the long, very long term.

The authorMaria Laura Conte

Degree in Classical Literature and PhD in Sociology of Communication. Communications Director of the AVSI Foundation, based in Milan, dedicated to development cooperation and humanitarian aid worldwide. She has received several awards for her journalistic activity.

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  • The responsible and social use of Church goods. A call for transparency
Experiences

The responsible and social use of Church goods. A call for transparency

The good use of Church goods is accompanied by an increasingly determined effort for transparency. The author analyzes some aspects of the economic management of ecclesiastical institutions and offers suggestions for the future, with reference to the practices that usually fall under the heading of "corporate social responsibility".

Ángel Galindo García-February 7, 2019-Reading time: 10 minutes

With this brief presentation I intend to approach, in order to be faithful to the title assigned, those needs of the Church, with its problems, solutions and challenges that can help to know the actions of the Church itself in its various institutions (bishoprics, religious orders, parishes, Caritas, volunteer groups) whose organization, management and objectives are close or can be close to what today we call Corporate Social Responsibility. We will focus in particular on strategies to respond to the challenges of the future.

Introduction

It is difficult to make a detailed study of the institutions of the Church with general conclusions in economic matters or proper to the field of the administration of goods. Each Diocese and Religious Institute has its own methods and ways of administering according to the place, country and socio-cultural context to which it belongs. For this reason, we will refer concretely to the Spanish context, providing data that have in part their origin in the reflection made from the experience acquired by the contact with the Administration of a concrete Diocese and the field of social moral theology, where I am situated as a specialist.

To begin with, I am convinced that there are many Church actions that are organized in this sense, although they have not taken advantage of the organizational offers that the current official institutions offer so that these ecclesiastical actions can be considered as belonging to Corporate or Business Social Responsibility.

In many cases, as is the case with European legislation directed from its headquarters in Brussels, there are innumerable obstacles to recognizing Corporate Social Responsibility institutions that carry a "church" or "religious" adjective.

European secularism is an almost insurmountable barrier to requests from Catholic Church organizations. Likewise, although the terms "entrepreneurial" or "corporate" do not seem to fit well with the socio-religious function of the Church, nevertheless in practice and in history they function as entrepreneurially organized social actions and respond to motivations born of a group or community social responsibility.

On the other hand, in the history of the Church there have always been continuous actions that demonstrate this social dimension characterized by communitarian group responsibility: in many cases created by the Church itself, and in others it can be considered a pioneer.

Strategies to be used for the future

But the Church, like other institutions, finds it difficult to implement solidarity actions in an economic context characterized by corruption and competition. For this reason, we will now take a brief look at some of the problems it encounters and some proposals for the future to respond to the challenges that arise in the Church.

1. Problems: errors and weaknesses

We start our reflection from some sociological data. One of the great problems facing the Church is the image that has been created of it in Spain.

The image of the Church may partly explain the attitudes of Spaniards towards the presumed wealth of the Church and the good living of the clergy.

The most comprehensive study ever carried out in Spain on the relations of the Spanish Church with society concluded that the majority of Spaniards, 63 %, think that the Church is rich (very or fairly rich), while slightly more than a quarter think the opposite.

This generalized perception may be erroneous and unfounded, it may be the heir to stereotypes that are now empty and the product of a falsified historical memory, but its influence on the attitudes and behavior of Spaniards can hardly be disputed. The socio-logical aphorism is once again true: "When people define institutions as real, they become real in their consequences" (cfr. González-Blasco and González-Anleo, report presented for the social study in order to organize the contribution of the Spanish Catholic faithful to the economic support of the Church, photocopied pages pp. 139-144, 1992).

Although it is difficult to identify, however, it must be said that critics are more frequent among the "insiders", the Catholic faithful themselves, among whom almost half, 47 %, declare themselves annoyed.

This is due to a lack of formation and information or both, or perhaps because the ecclesial message of a poor Church and of the poor has, logically, penetrated them more than the little or no information they have received.
nothing religious.

Whether the economy of the Church is transparent or not, the versatility of Spaniards in relation to the economic financing of the Church must be denounced here.

In 1990, only 25 % affirmed that non-denominationalism was incompatible with the State's financial support of the Catholic Church. This was also the opinion of 19 % of believers.

In 1996, slightly more than half of Spaniards thought that the Church should renounce State aid, a proportion that was considerably inflated if the answers came from the United Left or were re-religious.

In the same year of 1996, the SIGMA 2 study for the Spanish Episcopal Conference reported that more than half of the respondents thought that the Church had sufficient resources to carry out its work, and 17% thought that these resources were excessive. It was not surprising, therefore, that 57 % maintained that the Church should be financed by the contributions of Catholics.

Whatever the case may be, what is certain is that the Catholic Church in Spain saves the State and Society only with the expenses in the care of the artistic patrimony more than what Society helps the Church for its maintenance. And this does not include the immense savings that the Church makes to society in the fields of health, education, volunteering, etc.

2. Proposals and solutions for the future

We now introduce some proposals and suggestions for the future, which should be based on some basic principles and methods for the proper use of Church assets, subsidies and their management.

2.1. Basic principles

In order to be open to Corporate Social Responsibility, generalized forms of personal, family and institutional contributions must be created. Individuals and institutions, ecclesial or social, must be aware of their contribution to the Church and society.

All diocesan institutions must be aware of this, since they all have a direct or indirect relationship with the economic question.

3º. It is important that the economic councils of the parishes be formed by lay people, but not just any lay person, but those who understand economic matters with different levels of participation: administration, investment, etc.

4º. Today it is fundamental, both as a moral and strategic value, the information of the economic situation of every type of ecclesial institution (parish, confraternity, etc.). The information models should be similar to those used in the civil field so that the information is transparent and clear.

5º. The management and economic support of the Dioceses must be the responsibility of the juridical persons of the Diocese: brotherhoods, associations, confraternities, sanctuaries. For this, it is necessary to create "an economic order".

6º. For the sake of clarity, efficiency and incorruptibility, it is advisable to use certificates of contributions for tax deductions and similar purposes in the civil order.

7º. It should not be forgotten that the communication of goods is something essential in the Church, not only of the local Churches among themselves, but especially with the poorest Churches.
of the world.

2.2. Some concrete proposals

We briefly mention some concrete proposals that may vary according to the country, culture and social context in which the Christian community develops. In any case, they should be considered in their historical and dynamic sense.

1ª. The personal and family quota. The duty of financing the Church depends to a large extent on its Catholic components. This contribution can be made by the ordinary means: bank, personal collection, etc. This type of contribution can be supplemented by a monthly collection. There should also be special support for those who have not been able to attend the time of the collection or those who are not believers and wish to collaborate.

2ª. Suppression of some forms of financing. The reason for this suppression, according to culture and region, lies in the fact that they have little to do with the style of Social Responsibility. These are forms that mark a personal rather than community responsibility, historically acceptable because of the personal detachment that they entail: collections at Masses on working days; collections on the occasion of the celebration of the sacraments; collections at funeral services; brushes; candle boxes at above-cost price.

3ª. New forms of financing. These new forms reflect a more genuine social and community responsibility: donations and offerings at Eucharists anonymously; periodical subscriptions; implementation of family quotas, facilitating the banking medium; use of bank terminals; affinity card to participate in the percentage that banks give for bank use; patronage of companies and foundations; stimulating donations to the Church from legacies and legacies of priests and laity; homologating the systems of collaboration of movements, associations, confraternities, etc.

4ª. Paths of reflection. In any case, it is necessary to reflect on several aspects: on the Church's need for financial means to fulfill its goals. To make an analysis of the needs that the Church can face today. To look for advantages and disadvantages of the new forms of collaboration.

In this sense, the Church needs good advisors in the field of investment. However, it is difficult to find the right place to invest. It is difficult to find investment funds that are totally clean. Therefore, on many occasions it will be necessary to follow the slogan that "the best is the enemy of the good". The Church should promote mixed investments: join with other institutions to invest its assets.

2.3. Financial subsidies to the Catholic Church

Difficulties are also encountered, in the case of Spain, with regard to the subsidies it receives from the State. It must be recognized that the Catholic Church is not the only one that receives direct financing from the State. But this does not mean that the indirect financing received by other denominations is proportionally lower or less well regulated.

In the case of the Catholic Church, the mechanism devised for this purpose has formal similarities with a system of "religious tax" which in reality is not such, since direct financing is always assured regardless of the result of such tax, since it is established that the State may allocate to the Catholic Church a percentage of the yield from the taxation of income or net worth or another of a personal nature.

For this purpose, each taxpayer must expressly state, in the respective tax return, his or her intention regarding the disposal of the affected portion. In the absence of such a declaration, the corresponding amount shall be used for other purposes (Art. 2.2).

This last part is reformed in the last administration, distinguishing and separating the two destinations. It is clear that it is not an amount added to the amount payable for personal income tax, but it is deducted from such tax, so it is clear that we are not dealing with an autonomous tax.

The mechanism is contrived in the extreme, without any practical significance, since in the end the Church receives the same money, updated, that it received prior to the implementation of this system.

But this is not the only aid the Church receives from the State. To this must be added, among other things, the payment of the salaries of Catholic religion teachers, chaplains in the armed forces, in prisons and in hospitals, of which other denominations receive nothing officially.

In any case, this aid is considered to be in proportion to the services rendered by such personnel to the company. Therefore, they should not be considered as aid per se, but as payments for services rendered.

A different matter is the consideration of the economic valuations that the Church contributes to society for these services, an expression of the Social Responsibility that the Church itself has been practicing for centuries.

Likewise, in the legal system and in social praxis we find tax exemptions from various taxes that can be found both in tax legislation and in agreements with other religious denominations. This custom is a recognition by society of the social and solidarity action of the ecclesiastical institution.

Finally, it is worth noting a reference to donations. Whether the donation is made to the Catholic Church or in favor of the confederations that have signed agreements, a percentage (10 %, 15 %) of the donation may be deducted from the individual's own income tax return.

It must be taken into account that in the case of non-profit ecclesiastical institutions, they do not fall under ecclesiastical law but under the general law applied to other civil institutions.

3. Challenges and conclusions

To conclude this contribution, I will only refer to one challenge in the form of a conclusion, and that is the one that can be deduced from the social responsibility that arises from canonical legislation: ecclesiastical legislation on the responsibility of the faithful in the economic support of the Church.

With this legislation, the possibilities for the Church to activate and enhance corporate social responsibility among its institutions and faithful are enormous.

History is witness to the great works of solidarity and responsibility that have been done and are being done. In any case, the capacity of imagination and generosity of many of its pastoral agents and priests is still lacking.

The Code of Canon Law points out above all the right of the Church to demand from its faithful the material goods necessary for the achievement of its own ends: "The Church has the native right to demand from the faithful the goods it needs for its own ends" (can. 1260). This will be the juridical framework from which the institutional Church can promote Corporate Social Responsibility.

These ends proper to the Church coincide with the mission entrusted to her by Jesus Christ, her Founder, and unfold in four areas (cf. can. 1254.2):

a) to worship God, principally through the public prayer of the Church and the sacraments: places are necessary for the exercise of worship and various material means and movable goods for its exercise.

b) livelihood of those persons who dedicate themselves entirely to a ministry in the Church, mainly clerics;

c) apostolic works, aimed at preaching the Gospel and faith formation;

d) works of charity, especially with the most needy, thus witnessing to the way of life proper to the disciples of Jesus.

To this right, logically, corresponds the obligation of all the Christian faithful to collaborate financially to the support of the Church. Thus, can. 222, § 1, located in the fundamental rights of the faithful, says: "The faithful have the duty to help the Church in her needs. So that she may have what is necessary for divine worship, apostolic and charitable works, and the proper support of ministers.". This canon is an expression of the fifth commandment of the Holy Mother Church: "Help the Church in her needs".

The diocesan bishop must urge the faithful to do this duty (cf. can. 1261, § 2). As for the concrete form of the contribution, apart from pointing out a principle of freedom (can. 1261, § 1) so that they can make the contributions they deem opportune, it is determined that the Episcopal Conference can dictate norms in this regard: "Lend aid to the Church by the faithful by means of the subsidies requested of them and according to the norms established by the Episcopal Conference." (c. 1262).

The Episcopal Conference has not given any norm in this regard. According to the canon cited above, it can do so without requesting a special mandate from the Holy See, but the Decree must be reviewed by the Holy See (cf. can. 455).

On the other hand, the diocesan Bishop can, in case of grave necessity and after consulting the College of Consultors and the Council for Economic Affairs, impose an extraordinary and moderate contribution on individuals subject to his jurisdiction (can. 1263). In any case, when receiving offerings from the faithful, it is to be kept in mind that the will of the donor is to be scrupulously respected, and therefore it is not licit to use them for a different purpose: "Obligations made by the faithful for a particular purpose can only be earmarked for that purpose." (c. 1267, § 3).

In conclusion, there are many responsible activities that the Church and its institutions are carrying out at present. There are more that could be carried out within the framework of Corporate Social Responsibility, taking into account the capacity for solidarity that it has demonstrated over the centuries.

But the Church needs to have confidence in itself, to value what it is doing, to eliminate complexes in its relationship with society and to make the powers that be consider the Church's social action as an effective contribution to building a participatory society.

In this sense, it must know how to use the instruments of civil society, even though it is aware that it is exposed to the risks inherent in a wild and complex economic society. On this path it may make mistakes, as the human being that it is, but it will get it right if it joins the process promoted by the institutions that value and promote Corporate Social Responsibility.

The authorÁngel Galindo García

Vicar General of the Diocese of Segovia

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Spain

The Ecclesia thread, a new stage after 80 years

With the hashtag #renovadosparaevangelizar, and after almost 80 years of journalism, the magazine Ecclesia presented a new stage in its informative journey to a large audience at the Fundación Pablo VI in Madrid on October 22.

Omnes-January 25, 2019-Reading time: 2 minutes

The event was attended by a broad representation of different ecclesial institutions, including the bishops who are members of the Episcopal Commission for the Media, as well as the media delegates of the Spanish dioceses, who were in Madrid to participate in their annual assembly.
Irene Pozo, TRECE's Content Director, moderated a lively debate between Jesús de las Heras, director of Ecclesiaand the directors of WordAlfonso Riobó, and Vida NuevaJosé Beltrán, who analyzed various aspects related to religious information and the way in which challenges such as the rise of digital content and the growing number of digital media can be addressed. fake news.

Luis Argüello, as well as the president of the Episcopal Media Commission, Bishop Ginés García Beltrán, had words of support, recognition and encouragement for the team from Ecclesia. "These are two bodies on which we depend."The latest issue of the magazine, which reflects the wish of the Secretary General, points out: "A renewal that goes beyond aesthetics to narrate the Gospel in a new way and to call society to the culture of encounter".

"Ecclesia is one thread, but there are others like Word or New Life, and hopefully together we can make a network for this ecclesial discernment that summons our fellow citizens to the culture of encounter and that Ecclesia helps spread the Word for a New Life." added Luis Argüello, making a play on words..

For his part, Ginés García Beltrán recalled that Ecclesia is The Church is "the unofficial organ of the Spanish bishops and wants to remain so". "It does not want to be, nor does the Church -he added, "We want it to continue to be faithful to the Church and to respond to the challenges it faces today, opening new paths and, as in the past, being an instrument of synodality, with a double mission: to communicate and transmit the voice of the Pope and the pastors, but also to gather the life of the 70 particular Churches in Spain, with their rich reality of associations, movements and congregations".

The director of Ecclesia, Jesús de las Heras, pointed out, among other things, that "The Second Vatican Council is indebted to Ecclesia. Moreover, the reception of the Council was more possible thanks to Ecclesia.". According to De las Heras, "Now we come with a new skin, but the soul has to remain the same because we are Ecclesia, we do not hide our identity. You will see it in the logo: we do not hide the cross. Nor can we hide our purpose: to look at ourselves, to self-referentialize? No, to evangelize.

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ColumnistsJuan Pablo Cannata

Colorful handkerchiefs

The "pañuelización" in Argentina, between those in favor of the legalization of abortion (green handkerchiefs) and those against (light blue handkerchiefs), can raise walls, writes the author. The Gospel invites to communicative solidarity: it does not aspire to win but to convince and inspire, it aims to argue without defeating. 

 

January 11, 2019-Reading time: 2 minutes

The debate for the legalization of abortion in Argentina did not produce a law -the bill was rejected by the Senate in August after long months of public discussion-, but it did produce a new form of social activism: the colored handkerchiefs. The campaign for legal, safe and free abortion won the streets on the necks, wrists and backpacks of thousands of women, back in March, when everything was just beginning. The expanding tide generated its adversary: the light blue handkerchief of "let's save both lives".. Between slogans and colors, the media talked about the feminist green wave and the submerged light blue wave.

This dynamic of activism, both folkloric and efficient, builds a series of masks that hide the unique and unrepeatable face of each person, with its history, its emotions, its postures and its nuances. And when the handkerchiefs become "bandannatization" walls are built and bridges are destroyed: the binary logic of the political-legislative debate hijacks the complexity of everyday life and pigeonholes it into a simplistic for/against that becomes exclusionary.

People usually predisposed to recognize the good intentions of others, to listen in order to understand motives and to dialogue in order to find better solutions, are trapped in the bichromatic reduction, almost always fed by the most extreme all-or-nothing positions.

Cross disqualification is always at hand and coexistence cracks: friendships are strained, family atmospheres are broken. The temptation of the cultural war unfolds all its charm and the calls for the culture of encounter sound like distant bells, typical of an ideal or fictitious world, inhabited by naive or lukewarm people. The logic of the handkerchiefs ignites militancy, but entails the risk of dehumanizing the militant: turning him into an enemy and hiding his face, his doubts, his intentions, his need for help.

Cross disqualification is always at hand and coexistence cracks: friendships are strained, family atmospheres are broken. The temptation of the cultural war unfolds all its charm and the calls for the culture of encounter sound like distant bells, typical of an ideal or fictitious world, inhabited by naive or lukewarm people. The logic of the handkerchiefs ignites militancy, but entails the risk of dehumanizing the militant: turning him into an enemy and hiding his face, his doubts, his intentions, his need for help.

I recently heard that dialogue is like a table: it unites us as well as separates us. We are together, but each in his or her own place. There is a common, shared place of openness. The scarfing forces to monologue, it is insular and self-referential. It works for the politics of the rift, but not for the transcendence of the Gospel, which invites to a path of communicative solidarity: it does not aspire to win but to convince and inspire, and proposes to argue without defeating. It imagines a world of a thousand faces, in which colored scarves are anecdotal accessories.

The authorJuan Pablo Cannata

Professor of Sociology of Communication. Austral University (Buenos Aires)

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The Vatican

Congratulations to the Roman Curia: "Light is always stronger than darkness".

In his address to the cardinals and collaborators, the Pope expressed his disgust for the drama of child abuse and the definitive commitment to confront it seriously and promptly.

Giovanni Tridente-January 10, 2019-Reading time: 3 minutes

"Light is always stronger than darkness.". It was from this observation that Pope Francis addressed this year's reflection to all those who serve in the Roman Curia, from cardinals to collaborators in the nunciatures, on the occasion of the exchange of Christmas greetings.

The very birth of Jesus, which took place in a socio-political context fraught with tension and darkness, summarizes the divine logic that does not stop in the face of evil, but radically transforms it into good, giving Salvation to all men, the Pope explained.

Francis then mentioned the difficult moments that have characterized the Church's last year, "onslaught by storms and hurricanes". and by the consequent loss of confidence of some who have ended up abandoning it; others who, out of fear, or for the sake of other ends, have tried to strike at it; and still others who have been satisfied with these tensions. Nevertheless, the Pope reminded us, there are very many who continue to cling to it in the certainty that "the power of hell will not defeat it".

Many are the "afflictions" that characterize the pilgrimage of the Bride of Christ in the world. Her first thought was directed to immigrants, victims of fear and prejudice, surrounded by so many "afflictions". "inhumanity and brutality". He then spoke of the new martyrs, of so many persecuted, marginalized and discriminated Christians, who in spite of everything, are still suffering from the same fate as their brothers and sisters. "they continue to bravely embrace death so as not to deny Christ".. Thank God there are "numerous good Samaritans"youth, young people, families, charitable and volunteer movements.

The testimony of the latter, unfortunately, cannot hide the infidelity of some sons and ministers of the Church, particularly responsible for "abuses of power, conscience and sex".. And this is the great uncovered nerve, which the Pope addressed without half-measures in his speech. "Also today there are 'anointed of the Lord,' consecrated men, who abuse the weak, using their moral power and persuasion. They commit abominations and continue to exercise their ministry as if nothing had happened.". These are people who "they do not fear God or his judgment, they only fear being found out and unmasked".and by doing so "tear the body of the Church apart".causing scandals and discrediting its mission of salvation.

Very hard words, pronounced with a lump in the throat, precisely because it is a curse. "that cries out the vengeance of the Lord."The Church does not forget the suffering of the many victims. In the face of these abominable acts, the Church will do everything to bring to justice those who have committed them and will always - unlike in the past - face these cases seriously and promptly, making use of experts and trying to transform mistakes into opportunities. The goal is to eradicate this evil not only from the Church, but also from society. The Pope then launched an appeal to abusers: "Repent and surrender yourselves to human righteousness, and prepare yourselves for divine righteousness.".

Among other afflictions, that of the infidelity of those who "betray their vocation, their oath, their mission, their consecration to God and to the Church", sowing tares, division and confusion, like modern Judas Iscariots who sell themselves for thirty pieces of silver.
The last part of Francis' speech was dedicated to the joys of the past year, from the Synod on youth, to the steps taken in the reform of the Roman Curia, to the new Blesseds and Saints. "that adorn the face of the Church and radiate hope, faith and light."among them the 19 martyrs of Algeria.

It is also a reason to rejoice "the great number of consecrated persons, of bishops and priests, who daily live their vocation in fidelity, silence, holiness and self-denial.". With their testimony of faith, love and charity "illuminate the darkness of humanity"working on behalf of the poor, the oppressed and the last.

To bring light - Pope Francis concluded - we must be aware of the darkness, be vigilant and watchful with the will to continually purify ourselves, humbly recognizing our mistakes in order to correct them, rising from our falls and opening our hearts to the only true light, Jesus Christ, who can transform the darkness and overcome evil.

It is Christmas, in fact, which gives "the certainty that the Church will emerge from these tribulations even more beautiful, purified and splendid".

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Latin America

The isthmus of the American continent prepares WYD 2019 as a call to joy

World Youth Day (WYD) Panama 2019 will take place from January 22 to 28. Thousands of young people will attend the event with the Pope. Panama, Central American Isthmus, joins forces.

Eduardo Soto-January 9, 2019-Reading time: 6 minutes

When asked why the Archbishop of Panama, Monsignor José Domingo Ulloa Mendieta, accepted the challenge of organizing a World Youth Day (WYD), with all the logistical complications and the exhausting human and intellectual effort involved, he responds with brevity and lucidity: "Because young people (all, regardless of creed, race or social status) are the present and at the same time the hope for a better future. Without them, change will not be possible".

Monsignor Ulloa thus coincides with Pope Francis, who is determined to show the capacity of the little ones to make great transformations. Yes, the little ones, those are the ones who are in His Holiness' sights. In this group are also the young, whom the Pope identifies as victims of a "throwaway culture".where only those who allow themselves to be manipulated and molded to the whim of the "globalization of indifference".

World Youth Day (WYD) is a meeting of young people from all over the world with the Pope, in a festive, religious and cultural atmosphere, which shows the dynamism of the Church and gives testimony of the actuality of the message of Jesus. It was created with the aim of fostering a personal encounter with Christ, which changes lives; promoting peace, unity and fraternity among the peoples and nations of the world, through youth as ambassadors and; developing processes of new evangelization aimed at young people.

For that reason, it would be a mean thing to look at WYD as an opportunity exclusively for economic reactivation. Those 300,000 young people who could arrive in Panamanian territory bring a much more comprehensive revival, especially of illusion, to a Central American isthmus plagued by war, tyranny and corruption.

It is true that for every dollar invested, the return can be three or four times that amount, assuming a budget in which 80 % of the funds come from the young pilgrims, who pay for their registration, food and transportation. It is also true that tourism and country image will be the great material winners.

With the protection of Our Lady

WYD is celebrated every year on Palm Sunday, and every two years the Pope chooses a theme and a venue where young people from all over the world will meet and celebrate their youth, their beliefs, their culture and much more. The imminent WYD will be held in Panama from January 22 to 27, 2019, under the motto "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done unto me according to Thy word."(Lk 1:38). Of course, this great event involves a great deal of organization and preparation. For this reason, a local organizing committee has been appointed with different directions that support, mostly voluntarily, the formation of the scheme that will work in this important week.

Activities: catechesis

Within WYD there are activities that are proper to the event, both religious and recreational. On the first day, pilgrims begin to arrive at their place of lodging, either with a host family or in a school or gymnasium that has been designated for this purpose. On Tuesday, the catechesis begin, which are given by bishops and cardinals from all over the world, and will also be in the official languages of WYD, which are Spanish, English, Italian, Portuguese and French. The catechesis only take place during the morning hours; in the afternoon the pilgrims decide what kind of activity they want to do. They can do some sightseeing, pilgrimage in the churches and monuments known in the host country, or attend the Vocation Fair or Youth Festival that we will explain later.

 Events with the Pope
The Holy Father arrives in the country on Wednesday the 23rd, and on Thursday his first meeting with the youth takes place. Following this, on Friday, there will be a Way of the CrossThe WYD's characteristic element, to remember the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

The most popular event is the vigil that takes place between Saturday and Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of youth and adults attend and stand in prayer, vigil, and with the Blessed Sacrament exposed. It is customary for tents to be erected and for people to bring sleeping bags to stay overnight at this vigil and be ready for the Mass of sending forth presided by the Holy Father on Sunday morning.

Youth Festival and Vocational Fair

Two of the activities that characterize WYD and that are important for the recreation and knowledge of the pilgrims are the Youth Festival and Vocational Fair. The Youth Festival was created with the purpose of uniting young people from around the world through the sharing of their artistic and religious talents, faith and life experiences. This expression will be manifested in a variety of artistic, musical and theatrical events, art exhibitions, meetings and much more. The festival will be held in different strategic and touristic points of Panama City so that all pilgrims can enjoy the festival, regardless of the distance from their lodging.

The festival will begin on Monday, January 22, 2019, before the start of the main WYD activities, and will last until the Sunday after the final Mass, in the afternoon and evening hours.

The Vocations Fair is an event that promotes all the charisms and vocations offered by the Catholic Church, and religious congregations, ecclesial movements and lay associations also participate in it. It will be held in a well-known park of the city, called Parque Omar, which will also serve as the venue for the Park of Forgiveness where the sacrament of reconciliation will take place.

Days in the dioceses

A week before World Youth Day, the Days in the Dioceses or pre-Day will take place, created with the purpose of getting to know a little more about the host country and all the dioceses that make it up. In the case of Panama, because it is a small country, with only 8 ecclesiastical jurisdictions in its geographic territory, Costa Rica has joined.

The pre-WYD is an optional activity that is not attended by the same number of pilgrims that attend WYD. However, it is an excellent opportunity to create a beautiful experience, make an evangelizing mission and meet people who will remain in our hearts for the rest of our lives.

Volunteers, key

One of the elements that make a WYD possible is the volunteer work that thousands of people offer for the love of God and WYD. For the Panama event, registration closed with more than 30,000 volunteers on the list, of which 5,000 are international. There are several types of volunteering, among which stand out the local volunteering, which focuses on the parishes of Panama, companies, universities and non-governmental organizations; the diocesan volunteering, which includes all the people who want to volunteer in the dioceses of Panama and Costa Rica; the international volunteering, which can be both short stay, that is, during the period of WYD, and long stay that are in the country several months before the day and are validated by their episcopal conferences.

On the other hand, the local Organizing Committee is accepting virtual help with translations, graphic design, editing, and any other work they feel can be done long distance.

All these aspects have the Central American isthmus as electrified. Every day thousands of e-mails, chats and posts on social networks shake tens of thousands of young people who are in the final stretch for a spiritual reactivation. They know that the history in their countries will change, and that it will be like that in the whole Church, with them as protagonists.

Promotion of boys

For Pope Francis and Archbishop Ulloa, the most important benefit is in the human and spiritual promotion of young people. In August of last year, during his visit to Colombia, His Holiness pointed out: "I have chosen Panama, the isthmus of the American continent, to host World Youth Day on the 19th. I am certain that in every young person there is an isthmus hidden; in the hearts of all our young people there is a small and elongated piece of land that can be traversed to lead them to a future that only God knows, and to Him belongs. [It is up to us to pre-establish new proposals to awaken in them the courage to take risks, together with God, and to make them, like Our Lady, available".

In a Central American region where the majority are young people, these words of the Pope, in addition to consolation, bring with them the hope of better days in the context of WYD. To these young men and women, the Pope reiterates: "I am sure that, although noise and confusion seem to reign in the world, this call [Jesus'] continues to resound in the heart of each one to open it to full joy."

The service "revolution

In the video message in preparation for WYD in Panama, the Pope also exhorted young people to disrupt the powers of this world with the "service revolution", in dialogue with God and in an attitude of listening, like Mary.

The "yesThe courageous and generous example of the Virgin Mary is the example the Holy Father uses to explain the meaning of "the Virgin Mary's courage and generosity". "going out of oneself" and "putting oneself at the service of others". Francis emphasizes that the desire of many young people to "helping others," of "doing something for those who suffer." is the "youth strength", able to change the world and "disrupting the great powers of this world: the 'revolution' of service".

And it is in the "dealing with God and in the silence of the heart". where you discover "one's own identity and the vocation to which the Lord calls", expressed in different ways, the Pope explains, underlining that "The important thing is to discover what the Lord expects of us and to be brave enough to say yes. When referring to the Virgin MaryShe was a "happy woman because she was generous with God who was open to the plan he had for her", the Pope explains that "God's proposals are to make our life fruitful and make many smiles and hearts happy".

The authorEduardo Soto

Director of Communications at WYD Panama 2019

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Clericalism and theology of freedom

Leaving space for the conscience of the faithful, without trying to replace it, and at the same time helping them in the formation of their conscience, is an exciting and possible task.

Ángel Rodríguez Luño -January 9, 2019-Reading time: 10 minutes

This reflection stems from Pope Francis' criticism of clericalism, a vitiated mentality and attitude that is the cause of many evils. Francis has referred to this deformed mentality on various occasions and in different contexts, some of them very sad, such as that of the Letter to the People of God August 20, 2018.

We will not deal here with these problems, nor will we attempt an exegesis of the Pope's words. These were only the occasion to reflect on a broader problem of which clericalism is only a part. In my opinion, the deepest root of clericalism - and of other phenomena related or similar to it - is the misunderstanding of the value of freedom or, perhaps, the subordination of its value to others that seem more important or more urgent, such as, for example, security and equality. The phenomenon does not occur only, and perhaps not even primarily, in the ecclesiastical sphere, but has multiple manifestations in the civil sphere.

Freedom is a reality that is difficult to grasp and has many mysterious aspects. Two questions of fundamental importance are particularly complex: the freedom of creation and the creation of freedom; that is, that God's creative act is entirely free and that it is possible to create true freedom. Here I will deal only with the second question.

God created human beings free
It is not easy to understand how God can create authentic freedom. The Church has taught this tirelessly. Thus, for example, the Constitution Gaudium et spes, of the Second Vatican Council, affirms that "True freedom is an eminent sign of the divine image in man. God has willed to leave man in the hands of his own decision so that he may spontaneously seek his Creator and, freely adhering to him, attain full and blessed perfection." (n. 17)

However, many think that, framed within the general plans of divine providence and government, very little really depends on human freedom. After all, as they say, God is capable of writing straight with crooked lines. That is, even if men do wrong, God is able to put everything right and the result is good. On the other hand, from the theoretical point of view, it is not easy to conceive as definitive a power of choice and action that is caused or given by another.

The debates on divine contest and predestination, as well as the famous controversy of auxiliisare a sufficient example. From a different philosophical perspective, the same difficulty made Kant think that human autonomy is incompatible with any kind of presence of God and his law in human moral behavior. In my opinion, the Christian theology of creation should lead one to see things differently.

In creating man and woman in his image and likeness, God fulfilled his plan to place before them true partners, capable of sharing in the goodness and fullness of God. For this to happen, they had to be truly free, that is, able to recognize and autonomously affirm the good because it is good (which inevitably entails the possibility of denying the good and affirming the evil). To obey necessarily and with complete exactitude the cosmic laws that manifest the greatness and power of God there are already the stars of heaven; only with freedom appear the divine image and likeness, whose value is far superior to that of the forces of the universe.

Indeed, man's free adherence to God is worth more than the starry sky. So much so that God prefers to accept the risk of man's misuse of freedom rather than to deprive him of it. Certainly, the suppression of freedom would avoid the possibility of evil (and, with it, all suffering); however, it would also make impossible the most valuable good, the only one that truly reflects divine goodness.

That is why God assumes human freedom with all its risks. The wisdom literature of the Old Testament expressed this beautifully: "It was he who at first made man, and left him in the hands of his own free will. If thou wilt, thou shalt keep the commandments, that thou mayest remain faithful to his good pleasure. He hath set before thee fire and water, whither thou wilt thou mayest put thine hand. Before men is life and death, whichever each one prefers, it will be given to him." (Sirach 15:14-17). Man is free to prefer life or death, but whichever he prefers will be given to him.

Free, with all the consequences

Because God creates true freedom and assumes its risks, it is not clear that he wanted to give man a safety net - like the one that protects the tightrope walkers in the circus - to neutralize the serious consequences of its possible misuse. It is true that God takes care of us through his providence, but he does so by granting us an active participation in it. With our intelligence we are able to know better and better the reality in which we live and to distinguish what is good for us from what is bad for us. To freedom is united the capacity and the obligation for each one to provide for himself, and our provision is respected.

To be more precise - and with regard above all to moral guilt and not so much to the penalties that have their origin in it - the mercy of God has given us a certain safety net: Redemption. In fact, the very painful way in which it was carried out, through the blood of Christ (cf. Ephesians 1:7-8), makes it clear that it is not simply a "clean slate". On the contrary, the Creator takes man's freedom radically seriously. It is not a game, and therefore God does not prevent the unfolding of the consequences of our actions in their connection with those of others and with the laws that govern the material world, the psychic and moral equilibrium, and the social and economic order. It is true that the benevolence and grace of God help us, but they presuppose the free human decision to cooperate with them. As we read in the Letter to the Romans: "All things work together for good to those who love God." (Romans 8:28).

However difficult it may be to understand from a theoretical point of view, human freedom represents a truly absolute point, framed in a relative context and dependent on God. It is due to my freedom that some things do not exist that could have existed if I had made another decision. And to my freedom it is also due that there are some things that might not have existed if my decision had been different.

Nor can man's natural sociability serve as an alibi for obscuring the value of freedom. Human society is a society of beings free. With regard to solidarity, the theology of creation emphasizes that all people are equal before God. They are equally his children, and therefore brothers and sisters to one another. Particularly in the New Testament, solidarity is reinforced and surpassed by charity, which constitutes the core of Christ's moral message. However, two observations must be made to show that the interpretation of solidarity and charity cannot be to the detriment of freedom and responsibility, which entails the obligation to provide for oneself unless circumstances such as illness, old age, etc. prevent it. The first is that charity towards those in need cannot be understood as a license for some to live voluntarily at the expense of others. St. Paul says this in no uncertain terms: "For even when we were with you we gave you this rule: if anyone is unwilling to work, let him not eat. [...] We command and exhort you in the Lord Jesus Christ to eat your own bread by laboring quietly." (2 Thessalonians 3:10,12).

The second is that Christian charity presupposes Christ's teaching on the distinction between the political order and the religious order: give to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's (cf. Matthew 22:21). A fusion in this area would prevent the existence of charity which, by its very essence, is a free act. The parable of the rich man Epulon and the poor man Lazarus contains a harsh condemnation of those who make a selfish and unscrupulous use of their goods, failing to fulfill their grave obligation to help those in need. However, it does not say - nor does it suggest - that the coercive force of the State should be used to deprive the fortunate of their goods, so that the public authority can then redistribute them. Christ teaches, in short, that we should be willing to voluntarily help those in need. In no passage of the New Testament is the violent suppression of legitimate liberty authorized in the name of solidarity or charity.

Clericalism

Thus we come to the question that opened these pages. The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy has three meanings of the word "clericalism": 1) excessive influence of the clergy in political affairs; 2) excessive intervention of the clergy in the life of the Church, which impedes the exercise of the rights of the other members of the people of God; 3) marked affection and submission to the clergy and their directives. These meanings give a sufficient idea of the phenomenon, but they would need updating. It does not seem that today the clergy can have an excessive influence on political affairs. It does not even want to, among other things because these matters have assumed a complexity that is too great and too heavy for those who are not politicians by profession.

More significant, however, is the word with which clerical intervention is qualified: it is a question of "excessive" interventions. And excess is not essentially a question of quantity or breadth, but of direction. Clericalism is excessive because it is illiberal: it invades and overrides the legitimate freedom of other persons or institutions, in the civil or ecclesiastical sphere. Thus, instead of making possible the exercise of personal freedom, it tries to direct it in an almost forced way towards what is considered -perhaps for good reasons- better, truer and more desirable. This is why I said at the beginning that, in my opinion, clericalism presupposes a deficient understanding of the theology of freedom (of its value in the eyes of God), and consequently of the theology of creation.

If I must be fair, I must make it clear that in my more than 40 years of priesthood I have rarely seen the clerical mentality among priests who, because of their pastoral assignments, are in close contact with the faithful. It is easier to find it among those who, for one reason or another, live among books or papers, and have little occasion to appreciate the human competence and Christian wisdom often displayed by the lay faithful. I will now refer to a few aspects of clericalism; a complete treatment of the subject would require, as is logical, much more space.

Some expressions of clericalism

The first expression, which has already appeared in these pages, is the scant valuation of human freedom. It may be considered a good, a gift of God, but it is certainly not the most important. In its relationship to the good, freedom contains a paradox: without good, freedom is empty or even harmful; without freedom, no good is possible. human. The clerical mentality always tips the balance in favor of the good, and in extreme cases is willing to sacrifice freedom on the altar of the good. In this way it seems to forget that God's logic is different, for He did not want to suppress our freedom in order to avoid its misuse. There is a tendency to see freedom as a problem, when in fact it is the presupposition that makes it possible to resolve any conflict well.

The underestimation of freedom is followed by an underestimation of sin. And this is not because of a belief in divine compassion (which, thank God, is very great, and to which the writer of these pages is committed), but because we do not realize that God's respect for us does not allow him to treat us like unconscious children. If this were so, men would offend, kill, destroy... but then the Father would come to repair what was destroyed, and the game would end well for all, both for the victims and for the criminals. The New Testament does not allow us to think like this. It is enough to read the passage of chapter 25 of St. Matthew about the final judgment. Precisely because he created us really God treats us neither as children nor as irresponsible puppets. The attitude that we criticize has nothing to do with the "spiritual childhood path". of which saints such as Thérèse of Lisieux and Josemaría Escrivá speak, and which is placed in the very different context of spiritual theology. This "way" has nothing to do with softness or superficial irresponsibility, and is perfectly compatible-as the lives of these two saints demonstrate-with a radical affirmation of human freedom.

Third, the undervaluation of freedom also occurs in the civil sphere. For some, citizens would be incapable paupers to whom the state should provide universal protection, as broad as possible, without even asking them if they need or want it. With such protection, it is apparently given free of charge but in reality it has very high costs, both economic and, above all, anthropological. The omnipresent and invasive State is described by Tocqueville as "An immense and tutelary power that is responsible only to ensure the enjoyment of citizens and to watch over their fate. Absolute, meticulous, regular, careful and benign, it would resemble the paternal power, if its aim were to prepare men for manhood; but, on the contrary, it seeks only to fix them irrevocably in childhood and wants citizens to enjoy themselves, provided that they think only of enjoying themselves [...]. In this way, it makes every day less useful and rarer the use of free will, encloses the action of liberty in a narrower space, and gradually takes away from every citizen even the use of himself." (Democracy in America, III, IV, 6). This is not an image of the past. Even today it is very common for parties to try to achieve their own political ideals by trampling on the freedom of those who think differently, and sometimes they even want to eliminate them. Respect for the freedom of the political adversary is a precious stone that we rarely find in today's world.

My last point concerns the idea that, by virtue of our good intentions, God will stop the consequences of the natural processes that we freely set in motion. It is as if charity could spare us the knowledge of the laws and wills of created things - and, in particular, of human society - to which the Second Vatican Council referred with the expression "the laws and wills of nature". "just autonomy of earthly realities". According to Gaudium et spes: "By the very nature of creation, all things are endowed with consistency, truth and goodness of their own and their own regulated order, which man must respect with the recognition of the particular methodology of each science or art." (n. 36). The clerical mentality, on the other hand, speaks of earthly things without knowing well their genesis, their consistency and their development; it applies to these realities principles that correspond to other spheres of reality and, thus, proposes measures that end up producing the opposite of what was intended. An example of the latter can be seen when one moves from the religious plane to the political plane - and from the latter to the former - with astonishing ease. Political or economic problems are attempted to be solved without taking into account basic principles of political or economic reality, thus violating the reality of things.

Added to this is the tendency to explain everything only for their ultimate causes. If we open a book on universal history, we will see that there have been numerous wars. By affirming that all of them have their cause in human malice or in original sin, we say something true, but that, by explaining everything, ends up explaining nothing (at least, if we are interested in understanding what happened and in preventing future conflicts). For a similar reason, a language made up of words of vague meaning is used, as for example "human dignity", that establish empty consensuses. To continue with the example of dignity, it is the case that everyone defends it, but the different subjects (or groups) do so in order to defend behaviors that are contradictory to each other. In this way, a nominal agreement on dignity can be reached, but it is ultimately a false consensus among people who, in reality, agree on almost nothing. The result is that, in the end, public discourse is reduced to pure rhetoric.

I have only wanted to point out some of the consequences of clericalism. Enough to understand that a serious reflection on these problems is necessary. This will be for the good of all, and first and foremost for the Church. Indeed, the vindication of freedom, in which the image of God in man is reflected, can only mean a boost for the People of God and for all of us who are part of it. Fortunately, there is now a set of circumstances that allow us to hope that such a reflection will take place.

The authorÁngel Rodríguez Luño 

Professor of Fundamental Moral Theology
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Rome)

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Euthanasia law "disadvantages the most vulnerable" in the face of social pressure

In some countries, a debate is underway to legalize euthanasia, which is presented as a compassionate solution. However, experts convened by the ForumWord have offered consistent arguments in defense of patients and "give life at the end of his life" through Palliative Care, at a colloquium held in Madrid.

Rafael Miner-January 8, 2019-Reading time: 10 minutes

The delegate of the Holy See to the World Medical Association (WMA) and member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Pablo Requena, affirmed in the debate organized by the World Medical Association (WMA) and member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Pablo Requena, in the debate organized by the World Medical Association (WMA). ForumWord that a euthanasia law such as the one being promoted in Spain is going to "disfavor" to the "more vulnerable".

In his opinion, "It is not a question of right or left. What is more, a person on the left would have to realize that the most vulnerable are going to be disadvantaged with a law of this type." said Requena at the colloquium on "What is dying with dignity?", held at the Banco Sabadell headquarters in Madrid, and presented by Alfonso Riobó, director of the magazine Palabra, which organized the event.
"Sometimes these laws are presented as a way to build a freer society... but is it true? Freer perhaps for a few, but less free for many who find themselves in a situation of helplessness, alone, without the necessary conditions to 'live with dignity' the last moments of their lives.", added physician and theologian Pablo Requena.

In his opinion, this law "aims to give the possibility to a few to freely choose the moment of their death". y "it puts a very heavy burden on thousands of people who, if such a law exists, will have to ask themselves every day why they should continue to be a burden to their family and to society"with the resulting "load and strong pressure". According to Requena, these types of laws are presented as regulations that "make the country and the people freer", but he invited to ask "if it really is so".

It does not help to die better

The speaker, who is a professor at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, reflected
in this way at another time: "When we speak of dignity, the Kantian idea immediately comes to mind, according to which dignity is that which has no price, which cannot be bought and sold, and therefore something very characteristic of the human person, something that distinguishes us from animals and things. That is where the discourse should start from"..

"Euthanasia does not offer death with dignity, it simply anticipates the moment of death, but it does not help you die better. What does help you die better is proper medical care, a competent and compassionate care team, family and society."he said. At the same time, he underlined with equal intensity that "It is not necessary to do everything possible to preserve life: sometimes it is thought that euthanasia is necessary to deal with therapeutic obstinacy and the extreme medicalization of death, as if not having a law allowing euthanasia means that we will have to live surrounded by tubes and machines. This is not true. Modern medicine has been considering for more than 40 years now the limit to aggressive therapeutic action"..

Pablo Requena also told some stories about illustrious Belgian, Dutch and British doctors with whom he has dealt in recent years, in order to support the thesis that euthanasia is not good for society. Among others, Theo Boer, who after years of supporting the euthanasia policies of the Dutch government - almost 5 percent of all deaths last year in the Netherlands were due to euthanasia - has now stated that "whoever opposed the law was right.". In the Netherlands "charity has disappeared" y "the law has effects on the whole of society".said Boer with regret. "Looking back on it, I say we were wrong. Euthanasia has slowly become more and more normal and widespread."he adds.

Pro-euthanasia doctors regret it

During the colloquium, Requena acknowledged that it is "very difficult" answer the question "What is to die with dignity?" because "dignity is used to defend as well as to attack." euthanasia. On the other hand, referring to the stories mentioned above, which have helped him to reflect on the issue, he commented that a former president of the Dutch Medical Association, whom he met at the World Medical Association meetings, told him that his father had died in great pain. "This story made me think that each story is unique and unrepeatable and one can never put oneself in this particular patient who perhaps asks to be helped to die. This has helped me to know how to differentiate between the personal situation of the person who may ask for euthanasia at a given moment and the social and political situation of interest in a country."he said.

Pablo Requena drew two conclusions. First, "palliative care has achieved what bioethics has not: to unite in ordinary clinical practice the best technical competence with a profound vision of man and his mystery".". And second: "Physicians for the most part oppose euthanasia because it is not part of medicine.". Requena recalled that this is the position of the WMA, adopted by the 39th Assembly held in Madrid, in October 1987, reaffirmed by the 170th Council Session in Divonne-les-Bains, in France, in May 2005, confirmed by the 200th WMA Council Session held in Oslo, Norway, in April 2015.

In the European panorama of recent months, the parliament of Finland, the paradigm of the welfare society, has rejected the legalization of euthanasia after five years of debate. Portugal has also rejected it, albeit by a small margin. And in France, as Palabra reported, with the debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide in full swing, 175 associations have reached an agreement to subscribe to twelve reasons against its legalization.

"Let them take us more seriously."

The president of the Spanish Society of Palliative Care (Secpal), Rafael Mota, who also intervened as a guest speaker, began by saying that he came to the forum "to talk about life, not death."and assured from his long daily experience that "people don't want to die, but they don't want to suffer, and if you don't give them options...". With Palliative Care we affirm the people that "we are going to help them live until they die.".

Dr. Mota, re-elected president of Secpal last June, and medical director of Integrated Palliative Care Programs at the New Health Foundation in Seville, called on politicians to "take us more seriously"He revealed that at the beginning of one of the bills, the political party Ciudadanos called them to ask for advice. However, they have felt "deceived" because the suggestions they submitted have not been taken into account. "They didn't take us seriously."he reiterated. One of the allegations they raised is that people can ask for more time off from their workplaces to accompany their dying relatives, since they currently only have three days for this purpose. Now, "many have to take a leave of absence due to depression."he said. "Giving life at the end of life."This is how Dr. Mota defined the palliative care offered by the teams of professionals in this specialty, which should not be reserved for the last moments, but rather should be requested "earlier in the day" to make it more effective, he added. Rafael Mota then referred to the "compassionate cities" project, which aims to provide training to all social sectors: in the family, in schools, associations, etc. The aim is to raise awareness and train street people in the end-of-life processes and how they can help people in their environment. It arose in the United Kingdom and is being developed all over the world, including Spain. In his opinion, "we have to create a network to guarantee the patient that he will receive our support, not only to die in peace, but to help him live with dignity until he dies."he said.

That it permeates society

In a statement to Palabra, Rafael Mota recalled that his association wishes to "We have to transmit a message that permeates society, to transmit the many profound experiences of life, of intensity of life, that all of us who work in Palliative Care live in first person on a daily basis. We have to do it from Secpal, but also from numerous instances, because together and united we will have more strength.".

"If we are able to reach the people on the street, transmitting the values we have been learning on a daily basis, accompanying thousands and thousands of patients at the end of their lives and their families, society itself will demand the highest scientific and human quality of care from our governments. Only then will we achieve our goals of accreditation and recognition of our work.", he points out.

Contacts after Christmas

The president of Secpal said that they will meet with the Socialist Party after Christmas to discuss the last details of the law, which is pending revision. "Among other things, we ask that there be a political will to develop palliative care in all the autonomous communities, whether at home or in hospitals, so that in Spain, to die well, does not depend on a particular city, but is something that everyone can receive quality care in their end-of-life process, which is still very deficient".Mota told Religión Confidencial.

"Spain has great professionals in palliative care but they are overburdened."said Rafael Mota. The internist assumes that "society needs this right, and end-of-life care needs to be elevated to a speciality.". "We do not reach all diseases, nor all audiences, for example, children. We have to create a network to guarantee the patient that they will receive our support, not only to die in peace, but to help them live with dignity until they die."he stressed.

Therapeutic obstinacy

One of the issues that is most strongly argued in an attempt to legalize euthanasia is that without this law it would not be possible to limit the so-called "therapeutic incarceration". In part of his speech, as noted, and in several conversations during his quick stay in Madrid, the doctor and priest Pablo Requena referred to it, since it is recent publication of a book of his with the provocative title. "Doctor, don't go all out!". This refers to the common request to doctors to do everything possible to save the life of a person, usually a family member.

The physician and professor explains the reason for the book. "I intend to show, based on recent clinical literature, that limitation of therapeutic effort is common in medical practice. From a bioethical point of view, it is a manifestation of good practice, since it is not always appropriate to use the entire therapeutic arsenal available. Limitation is a concretization of the classic principle of medical ethics 'primum non nocere', of which the principle of non-maleficence is its modern version.". The delegate of the Holy See to the WMA explained his views to Palabra, and referred to a detailed explanation in an interview granted to medicos y pacientes.com, the website of the Organización Médica Colegial. Here is a summary of his argumentation on this matter. "I think that medicine has changed a lot in the last 100 years... and that is one of the reasons for the birth of bioethics in the 1960s. Today, there are many contexts in which the possibility of limitation is planned, from cardiopulmonary resuscitation to ECMO (artificial support of the respiratory and cardiopulmonary systems), chemotherapy, etc., to the use of bioethics.".
So, what role does the growing scientific and technological progress play in situations that, in some cases, reach the so-called therapeutic incarceration? Requena answers:

"The entry of technology in medicine has certainly brought great benefit to the patient in many pathologies. At the same time, it has generated ethical questions that did not exist before, and which have not always found the healthcare operator in a position to face them. Personally, I do not like the term 'therapeutic incarceration', since the physician is very rarely 'incarnated' with the patient..., although I recognize that it has become part of the usual way of talking about these issues. But it is true that, at times, we find what some call 'therapeutic obstinacy': the attempt to continue fighting to the end, even in situations where it would be more appropriate to put aside therapies in view of a cure, and concentrate on the palliation of the patient.".

The limits

The question now is: what would be the limits? How can we know? Paul says
Requena: "This is precisely the question the book tries to answer. It seems to me that, in the determination of these limits, which is sometimes really complicated, some concepts of classical medical ethics, such as the principle of proportionality, as well as the categories of bioethical reflection, among which autonomy and quality of life stand out, can be of help. I have the impression that an effort is needed to manage all these concepts, and to avoid the temptation to resort to overly simplistic 'ethical recipes'.".

When in doubt or asked who should make decisions in critical situations, the Holy See's delegate to the AMM is clear: "In a very synthetic way we can summarize by saying that it is up to the physician to establish the limits of good clinical practice for the pathology of the patient they are treating. It is the physician who establishes whether a hypothetical treatment is futile or not. At a second stage, when he has already established which possible treatments are considered reasonable, he must talk to the patient to see which therapeutic course he prefers"..

Pablo Requena concludes: "It is increasingly common to find in the medical and bioethical literature the expression 'share decision making'. I consider it a good synthesis between two extremes that do not help good practice: medical paternalism that considers the patient as if he were a minor, and decisional autonomy that reduces the physician to a technician who must carry out his own wishes."The last question concerns the assumption that the patient no longer has the capacity to decide. Who should do it then? Your answer: "In the case of patients who are unable to decide, the legal representative, who in many cases is a family member, should be consulted. This person will be able to decide what he/she considers best for the patient within the limits that the referring physician proposes as appropriate.".

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Euthanasia

"Conduct (action or omission) intentionally aimed at ending the life of a person who has a serious and irreversible illness, for compassionate reasons and in a medical context." (Spanish Society of Palliative Care). "The deliberate act of ending a patient's life, even if it is of the patient's own free will or at the request of family members, is unethical. This does not prevent the physician from respecting the patient's wish to let the natural process of death take its course in the terminal phase of his illness." (World Medical Association).

Palliative Care

Palliative care, or Hospice-type care, as it was called in many countries, is the
Palliative care is a special type of care designed to provide comfort and support to patients and their families in the final stages of a terminal illness. Palliative care aims to ensure that patients have the days that they need to live in the last stages of their lives.
They will remain conscious and free of pain, with their symptoms under control, so that their last days can be spent with dignity, at home or in a place as close as possible, surrounded by the people who love them.

More about Palliative Care

Palliative care neither accelerates nor stops the dying process. It does not prolong life, nor does it hasten death. It is only intended to be present and to provide specialized medical and psychological care and emotional and spiritual support during the terminal phase in an environment that includes home, family and friends.

Terminal illness

In the situation of terminal illness, some important characteristics concur. The fundamental elements are: presence of an advanced, progressive, incurable disease; lack of reasonable possibilities of response to specific treatment; presence of numerous intense, multiple, multifactorial and changing problems or symptoms; great emotional impact on the patient, family and therapeutic team, closely related to the presence, explicit or not, of death; limited life prognosis. It is essential not to label a potentially curable patient as terminally ill (Spanish Society of Palliative Care).

Assisted or assisted suicide

"Physician-assisted suicide, like euthanasia, is unethical and should be condemned by the medical profession. When the physician intentionally and deliberately assists the person to end his or her life, then the physician is acting unethically." (World Medical Association). In assisted suicide, it is the patient himself who activates the mechanism that ends life, even if he needs another or others to carry out his purpose. In euthanasia, it is another person, most of the time a physician, who provides the drugs to end the patient's life.
to administer them himself.

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Hans Zollner, SJ: "We need people who are serious about safeguarding minors".

Interview with Fr. Hans Zollner, member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and president of the Center for the Protection of Minors of the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Giovanni Tridente-December 31, 2018-Reading time: 12 minutes

By decision of the Pope, the Jesuit priest is also among the organizers of the February meeting of the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences of the world, convened by Francis on the theme of the protection of minors. Palabra interviewed him on the occasion of this meeting.

From February 21 to 24, Pope Francis has summoned to the Vatican the Presidents of the Bishops' Conferences from around the world to discuss together the protection of minors and the prevention of cases of abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.

This is a real novelty, since for the first time the issue is being addressed systematically and with the highest representatives of the world episcopate. For the occasion, the participants in the meeting were urged to follow the example of the Holy Father and meet personally with victims of abuse before the meeting in Rome, in order to become aware of the truth of what happened and to feel the suffering that these people have endured.

Hans Zollner, a Jesuit, member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and president of the Center for the Protection of Minors at the Pontifical Gregorian University, to whom the Pope has entrusted the organizational secretariat of next month's meeting.

The priest, who is also a psychologist, tackles the issue in its entirety, narrating his experience and pointing out the truly important aspects for effective prevention, starting with the formation of the clergy and the safeguarding of the weakest, for a definitive awareness of the phenomenon.

P. Zollner, in 2002, St. John Paul II, speaking to the cardinals of the United States of America about the abuse scandal that was breaking out in those months, expressed his wish that all that pain and discomfort would lead to a "holy" priesthood and episcopate. Can it be said that an initial awareness of the seriousness of the phenomenon can be traced back to that period?

–To tell the truth, the awareness of some people in the Church regarding this phenomenon began much earlier. For example, the Council of Elvira, in Spain, 1,700 years ago, had already written regarding scandals stemming from sexual abuse. Canon 71 states: "Men who rape boys will not receive communion, not even at the end.". However, since 2002, as has been observed, something different has been happening.

The problem of sexual abuse of minors has moved from a taboo status to the space of public discourse in the Church, and also in society. This is due to many reasons, not the least of which is the attention that the media has directed to this problem.

The words of John Paul II on the occasion of the meeting with the U.S. Cardinals are relevant today: "Abuses on young people are a serious symptom of a crisis that hits not only the youth but also the world as a whole.ónot only to the Church, but also to society as a whole"..

On that occasion, the Polish Pontiff spoke of an authentic crime, recognizing the need to establish useful criteria for the establishment of a new law. -Was this really the case?

–We can notice many changes after the 2002 meeting, particularly in the Church in the United States.

After the rigorous performance of the so-called Dallas Charterprivate audits have shown that dioceses such as Boston have created Catholic environments that are now among the safest places for children.

Adults who work with children have received rigorous training, and there is greater attention to the selection of those who can work with children. Where prevention precautions have been taken, we can see measurable and positive results.

The pontificate of Benedict XVI has witnessed an unveiling of scandals, this time coming from Europe, and in particular from Ireland. The letter that the Pope emeritus addressed in 2010 to the bishops of that region is moving....

–As the Pontiff said precisely in that letter: "No one imagines that this distressing situation will be resolved any time soon. Positive steps forward have been taken, but many more remain to be done.".

Benedict XVI was also the first Pope to meet on several occasions with victims of abuse. He has thus expressed the importance of the Church attending to those who have suffered from these crimes....

–We can say that, without a doubt, the leadership of the Church has not always functioned with full awareness of the magnitude of the problem. We see this constantly. Benedict XVI did much to fight against abuse, even before he became Pope, during his activity as head of the Doctrine of the Faith. He had the courage to act, against the wishes of many, to bring to light the crimes of Marcial Maciel, for example, and others. However, when asked why he had not been more aggressive in dealing with the problem as Archbishop of Munich, he replied: "For me... it was a surprise that also in Germany there were abuses on this scale."as told in the book The light of the world.

Pope Francis has continued this attention to victims by regularly receiving in Santa Marta, in a strictly private manner, those who bear the wounds of abuse. Do you think that this type of meeting can alleviate in some way the suffering of these people?

–I have been a witness, when I accompanied two people who had been sexually abused by priests. On July 7, 2014, Pope Francis invited to Santa Marta two Englishmen, two Irishmen and two Germans, all victims of clergy sexual abuse. One of these people presented the Holy Father with a postcard reproducing the image of the Pietà. He was the last to speak to the Holy Father. He was telling the story in the presence of his wife, and he began to cry. He said: "I see this [the Pietà] as a sign: Mary was with her son, but I had no one by my side.".

Pope Francis took the card, and did not say much. At the end he promised the man that he would pray for him. A year later, in October 2015, after Mass, the Pope said: "¿How are the two people [who were abused]? Tell Mr. Tal that his card is in the corner of my room where I pray every morning.". These two people have returned to the Church, and they both collaborate in parish life.

Both agree that the spiritual trauma was the most difficult part of their experience. They could not pray, they had not found any meaning nor did they believe in the God represented by the priests who abused them. It must be said that this was mostly due to inertia, and the refusal of the Church authorities to truly listen to them.

In 2014, a year after your election, Pope Francis instituted the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, of which you are Secretary. What exactly does this body deal with?

–I think it is important to emphasize that the work of the Pontifical Commission does not focus on individual cases, which remain under the jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In accordance with the mission indicated to it by the Holy Father himself, its members focus primarily on three main areas: listening to victims, providing guidance, and offering education and formation of Church personnel, whether clerics, religious or lay.

What is the degree of awareness that you have been able to register about this phenomenon at the level of the local Churches?

–In the last few years, traveling to more than 60 countries to promote the activity of Safeguarding (safeguarding), I have experienced the deep unity that the Catholic faith can bring: we share one creed, we celebrate the same Eucharist, we teach one catechism. I have also experienced the unity we share in the problems we face as a Church. Certainly, it is disturbing to know that sexual abuse of minors has been committed in every province and territory of a diocese. At the same time, as we acknowledge this reality, we agree that it is in our common interest to contribute to a culture of safeguarding. It is clear that there are cultural factors that make it impossible to create a univocal solution for all places. I remember, for example, when I was in Bangkok, Thailand, at a meeting of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences. Eleven countries were represented, each with its own problems regarding the behavior of the clergy, but all with enormous differences in awareness and willingness to talk about the problem, partly because of a very pronounced culture of shame that surrounds sexuality in Asia. There the Church is faced with the challenge of bringing about an understanding of behavioral issues and overcoming the inhibitions surrounding the subject.

Quite different is the culture of Sweden, a country with puritanical roots, which now instead promotes a very liberal understanding of how to express and experience sexuality. Here the challenge is in communicating how freedom of expression and self-determination have limits in relation to a child's rights.

In Malawi, in southern Africa, I have given a series of seminars for religious. Here, the important factor is poverty. For example, many people can share a small room: parents, six children, a cousin and a grandparent. The boundaries of relationships are blurred. Sexual activity is not hidden, and girls can easily be abused within the family.

Traditional rites of passage to adulthood have faded, whereas they were once a cultural factor that gave indications on how to live sexuality within the community. Added to this is the corruption of the police and a broken legal system.

Therefore, the challenge here is to spread awareness and education, to enable young people to know their rights and be able to self-determine, as well as to help parents intervene to build strong communities where abuse is prevented.

In recent months, unpleasant news has arrived: again from the United States, with the Pennsylvania report, from Germany and from Ireland or Australia. It is clear that these are cases from the past, but why are they coming to light just now?

–We are undoubtedly facing a cultural shift. In the last year, particularly in the United States and Germany, there has been a broad movement of people who have united around the hashtag #MeToo. This movement focuses primarily on sexual abuse as an abuse of power.

If in the United States in 2002, and in Germany in 2010, the crisis referred to a culture of "omertà"The second wave is more focused on the power used in sexual abuse of those who are at a disadvantage in a power relationship.

What has become of the Vatican's internal tribunal to judge cases involving bishops and clerics accused of failing to adequately protect victims?

–As the indications of the Motu Proprio make clear Like a loving motherThere is no need for another Tribunal in the Vatican, but the execution of the internal procedures of the competent Congregations with respect to superiors (of which there are many: the Secretariat of State, the Congregations for Bishops, for Religious, for the Laity, for the Oriental Churches, for the Evangelization of Peoples), when a complaint of negligence or abuse of power is made.

You are also president of the Institute of Psychology of the Pontifical Gregorian University. What contribution can you give the human sciences in the prevention of this phenomenon?

–Many indications could be given here, but I will mention three things that are among the most important for a good prevention strategy.

The first is to train people to be formators for the dioceses, competent personnel who can run a diocesan formation office. Safeguarding (safeguarding) and be in a position to handle questions and needs that arise at the local level. They should be well acquainted with the civil laws and canon laws that relate to this area; be in contact with those local organizations and agencies that can be seen as allies in preventing abuse. The second thing, connected to the previous one, is to have a clear policy on the conditions under which various people can work with young people, what processes of screening (screening) are being applied, what behaviors and situations should be avoided, and what should be done if anyone becomes aware of questionable or alarming behavior in any way.

Finally, and this is the most important, the Safeguarding of those most in need must become an issue that is in everyone's heart: we need models of people who take the issue of safeguarding seriously and show the community, with their enthusiasm and conviction, that this is an integral aspect of the Gospel message.

Is training from the early years of the seminary, then, central?

–Two things are particularly important in seminary formation. First, an attitude of commitment to interior growth and interiorization. Without a deep faith and an integrated personality that embraces all the emotional, relational and sexual aspects, the person is not in a position to advance along the path of vocation with a serious and sustainable commitment that lasts over time.

The second attitude is the perspective of self-giving. The priestly and religious vocation should not aim at self-complacency: "I feel good with myself and with my God". Only on solid and mature foundations can a person begin to follow the call of the Lord, who asks to renounce everything, including the certainties created within the Church, the expectations of power and roles, as well as the possible closures.

The scandal of child abuse is often linked to the obligation of celibacy. What is your assessment of this debate?

–There is no direct causal effect between celibacy and sexual abuse of minors. Celibacy by itself does not lead to abusive behavior in a mono-causal sense; all scientific reports and those commissioned by governments in recent times say so. It can, however, become a risk factor when celibacy is not well lived over the years, leading people to various types of abuse: of money, of alcohol, of internet pornography, of adults or of minors.

The key point is that almost none of those who molest minors live a life of abstinence from sexual relations. And secondly, 95 % of all priests are not molesters, and therefore celibacy obviously does not lead to abusive behavior as such, but only over time. Statistically, it is observed that an abusive priest abuses on average for the first time - this is a scientifically established fact - at the age of 39; if we look at the data concerning other categories of people, we notice that a coach, a teacher or a psychologist are convicted of abuse for the first time at the age of 25. Therefore, celibacy is a problem if it is not lived, if it is not integrated into a healthy lifestyle.

There are Bishops' Conferences that are ahead of others in these matters. If you had to take stock of the awareness of the phenomenon, worldwide and after fifteen years since the first awareness, what would you say?

–In recent years - especially since 2011-2012, following the letter of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the Bishops' Conferences of May 3, 2011, and the symposium Towards healing and renewal February 2012 at the Gregorian University - awareness of the seriousness of the facts and the need for action has grown.

The meetings of Popes Benedict XVI and Francis with the victims, the creation of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, the recent letters of the Holy Father to the Chilean Episcopal Conference and to the People of God during the last few months: all this has contributed enormously to a change of attitude throughout the world. And I am a witness of this in first person, because I have been invited to speak in countries such as Papua New Guinea, Malawi or San Salvador, to name but a few.

Regarding the recent Letter of Pope Francis to the People of God on the suffering that these crimes cause to the body of the Church, the text attributes to "clericalism" the main cause of their perpetuation. Do you agree?

–There is undoubtedly a problem with clericalism, if it is understood as a tendency of some people to define themselves and live more on the basis of the office and position they hold than on the basis of their own personality and individual capacities.

Clericalism does not exist only in the clergy. I have been taught this by some lay people who often tell me about their peers who show "clerical" attitudes, and this is also a problem. It is proven when some people cling to prestige, and measure their importance on the basis of the number of secretaries they have, the type of car they drive, and so on.

On the other hand, some consider that the cause of the abuses must be sought in the phenomenon of widespread homosexuality among priests. You, who have studied this phenomenon, to what extent do you consider this assertion plausible?

–There is a lot of talk about it today. Some would say that we have a certain proportion of homosexuals among the clergy; this is already clear, and we should not deny it. But it is equally clear that attraction to a person of the same sex does not automatically lead to abusive behavior. And, based on my experience and what I have read, I would add that not all people who have committed abuse, whether priests or men of any other kind, identify themselves as homosexuals, regardless of their behavior.

However, whether homosexual or heterosexual, the priest is asked to live coherently the commitment of celibacy. The central question regarding the abuse of minors (and adults) is not, therefore, about the orientation of one's sexuality, but about power: this is how the victims describe it, and we also verify it in the personalities and dynamics of the abusers.

In February, Pope Francis summoned all the Presidents of the Bishops' Conferences on the subject of the protection of minors, and you were appointed as a member of the organizing committee. Why is this initiative important?

–The February meeting is important because, for the first time, we will speak in a focused and systematic way about the systemic-structural aspect of abuse and its coverage, silence and inertia in action against this evil. The Pope himself has invited us to confront the nexus between "sexual abuse, abuse of power and abuse of conscience". Sexuality is always, also, an expression of other dynamics, among other things of power.

Can you anticipate how the work will proceed and if any particular decisions are expected at the end of the meeting?

–There will be conferences, working groups and thematic lines. The three days of work will have the following themes "responsibility, accountability, transparency"These are topics that have been much discussed in recent months and that, in a way, Pope Francis has put on the Church's agenda with his letters to the bishops in Chile and to the People of God.

Summarizing all your experience in this field, are you confident?

–I think we are realizing that the ways, the instruments and our thoughts about what God wants from us are no longer adequate, neither to respond to what has happened in recent years and decades, nor to continue our journey of faith in today's world, seeking God and following the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I am confident because God has set many people in motion so that they can once again bear witness to Him in a credible and convincing way.

I am confident because I have met so many people who spend themselves completely for a more sincere service, for a care for the most vulnerable, for a Church that follows its Lord, the Lord who chose to die for salvation instead of reigning according to political and power criteria.

Nevertheless, trust ultimately rests in the Lord of history, who accompanies and guides us, in his own way and according to his plans.

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ColumnistsRamiro Pellitero

Advent, a time of mercy

Mercy is at the same time, a gift (a gift from God), a sign of the unity between truth and love; and, in our time, a culture thatWe, especially Christians, have to promote.

December 17, 2018-Reading time: 5 minutes

As Christmas approaches, we can say: God is at the door. God's salvation has been compared to a door. The door has an arch and mercy can be seen as the keystone, bovéda key, that holds the arch. Mercy as gift, sign and culture is a good way to stand at the gates of Christmas.

What St. John XXIII already called "the medicine of mercy" (cf. Opening Speech of the Second Vatican Council(October 11, 1962) is one of Pope Francis' keys to the renewal of the Church.
Piero Coda writes about this in an essay on Francis' thought (La Chiesa è il Vangelo, Città del Vaticano 2017): "Mercy - God's gift - is the prism for looking at and witnessing to the joyful and liberating truth and transforming power of the Gospel" (p. 111).

According to R. Cantalamessa, "mercy is not a substitute for truth and justice, but a condition for finding them" (in "L'Osservatore Romano", 30-III-2008).

For St. Augustine," observes Coda, "as long as one does not understand that the meaning of every truth and commandment expressed in Sacred Scripture is charity, one is far from understanding the truth (cf. From Doctrina Christiana, I, 36.40).

Thus, Coda believes that the primacy of mercy - as a style of life and mission proposed by Francis - is above all "a crucible of purification for the life of the Church and for the discernment of the life of her presence in history" (p. 112).

This is, as the Italian theologian understands, the real keystone or cornerstone of the apostolic exhortation. Amoris laetitiaIt is not a matter of discounting the truth of the call to evangelical perfection, but of becoming one with each person in order to open with love, from the interior of each situation, the path that leads to God" (Ibidcf. 1 Cor 9:22).

Hence, we can see mercy, at the same time, as a gift (a gift from God), a sign of the unity between truth and love; and, in our time, a culture thatWe, especially Christians, must promote. Let us take a closer look at each of these three aspects.

2. Mercy, gift and sign. Therefore, when Francis says that the Church is a "field hospital," it is an eloquent image that translates the style of Jesus expressed in the parable of the Good Samaritan, as Paul VI pointed out at the end of the Second Vatican Council and the Argentine pope picked up in his document of convocation to the Year of Mercy. It is worth rereading this long quote: "We would rather note how the religion of our Council has been primarily charity... The ancient story of the Samaritan has been the guideline of the Council's spirituality... A current of affection and admiration has flowed from the Council to the modern world. It reproved errors, yes, because charity demands it, no less than truth, but, for people, only invitation, respect and love. Instead of depressing diagnoses, the Council has sent to the contemporary world encouraging remedies, instead of dismal omens, messages of hope: its values have not only been respected but honored, its ceaseless efforts sustained, its aspirations purified and blessed... There is something else we must emphasize: all this doctrinal richness is directed in a single direction: to serve man. Man in all his conditions, in all his weaknesses, in all his needs" (Paul VI, Allocution, 7-XII-1965).

In our times, Piero Coda maintains that, in the face of the wounds that affect us - not only physical and material wounds, but also those that infect the heart, soul and spirit, intelligence and will -, "to speak of field hospital makes us intuit the gravity of the situation in which humanity finds itself, torn by an ideological war in which the truth and the very beauty of the image of God in man, created as male and female to reflect in creatures the life of fruitful communion of the Most Holy Trinity, are at stake" (pp. 113 f).

It is a matter of confronting, "with the strongest medicine which is mercy as a witness to the truth of love", the constant attempt, present in the history of humanity, to twist God's creative plan.

And he thinks that if mercy were to be internalized in the mind and heart and assumed as a criterion of judgment and action, it would facilitate a realistic vision of politics, economics and law.
So much for the reflection of Piero Coda. It is very interesting to see mercy as a witness or sign that effectively communicates the union between truth and love.

3. Every day of our life is time of mercy and we Christians must work for a more culture of mercy.

The Pope noted at the end of the Year of Mercy: "This is the time of mercy. Every day of our life is marked by the presence of God, who guides our steps with the power of the grace that the Spirit instills in the heart to shape it and make it capable of love. It is the time of mercy for each and every one, so that no one may think that he or she is outside the nearness of God and the power of his tenderness. It is the time of mercyIt is the time of mercy, so that the weak and defenseless, those who are far away and alone, may feel the presence of brothers and sisters who support them in their needs. It is the time of mercy, so that the poor may feel the gaze of respect and attention of those who, overcoming indifference, have discovered what is fundamental in life. It is the time of mercy, so that every sinner may never cease to ask for forgiveness and to feel the hand of the Father who always welcomes and embraces" (Apostolic Letter "The Father's Love"). Misericordia et misera, 20-XI-2016)

If this is "every day", what will it not be in a time such as Advent, which leads to Christmas; for at Christmas the Incarnation of the Son of God has become visible and with it our salvation?

Finally, how can a culture of mercy be shaped or made possible? This is Francis' answer:
"The culture of mercy is shaped by assiduous prayer, docile openness to the action of the Holy Spirit, familiarity with the life of the saints and concrete closeness to the poor. It is a pressing invitation to be clear about where we must necessarily commit ourselves. The temptation to remain in the 'theory of mercy' is overcome to the extent that it becomes a daily life of participation and collaboration" (Letter of the Holy Father). Misericordia et miseraat the conclusion of the Year of Mercy, n. 20).

When he speaks of closeness to the poor, it is appropriate to take into account "new forms of poverty and fragility where we are called to recognize the suffering Christ (...): the homeless, drug addicts, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly who are increasingly lonely and abandoned; migrants (...); the various forms of human trafficking (...); women who suffer situations of exclusion, abuse and violence" (Evangelii gaudium210-212).

That is to say that we must care for the poor, whether they are poor materially, morally, culturally or spiritually. And in practice, this will give us many occasions to exercise the works of mercy and spiritual.

Ultimately, mercy is a gift of God that comes to us continuously if we are willing to receive it. And so, every day is time of mercy. It is also a signRecalling the classic definition of sacrament (sign and instrument of saving grace), one could say that mercy is an "efficacious sign" of the unity between truth and love.

And to paraphrase what John Paul II said about faith, it could be said that mercy must become a culture so that it can be a mercy that is fully accepted, fully thought out and faithfully lived.

The authorRamiro Pellitero

Degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Santiago de Compostela. Professor of Ecclesiology and Pastoral Theology in the Department of Systematic Theology at the University of Navarra.

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The family, asset and permanent reference

The family responds to the deepest truth of the humanity of man and woman, to the intrinsic constitution of man as a gift and image of God. The quality of society is linked to the being and existence of the family, which is like a miniature church.

December 10, 2018-Reading time: 3 minutes

 The final document of the Synod dedicated to young people summarizes, in a brief phrase, a conviction that has always been shared in all times and places. "The family" -reads n. 32: "is a main point of reference for young people". It is an asset and a reference for everyone as it sufficiently testifies to the history of peoples and cultures in different times and places.

Family and society

It is an asset and a reference that cannot be absent in the life of society. It is in the family that the very foundation of society is born and develops. It is in the family where, by common and universal law, the human person begins and carries out his integration into society. So important is the link between the family and society that it can be concluded that the quality of society is linked to the being and existence of the family. Society will be what the family is.

This relationship between society and the family is clearly demonstrated by expressions such as the family is the first natural societythe first and vital cell of society, etc. The family responds to the deepest truth of the humanity of man and woman, to the intrinsic constitution of man as a gift and image of God. But it only fulfills this function to the extent that the family space becomes an experience of communion and participation, through formation in the true meaning of the family. freedomthe justice and the love.

Family and Church

The function "irreplaceable" The role of the family in the development of society, as a fundamental space for the human person, is also essential for the Church. To the point that, "among the many ways that the Church follows to save man, "the family is the first and most important"". (John Paul II).

One of the keys to penetrate the family-Church relationship is the consideration of the family, as a domestic church. Between the Church and the family there is a relationship of such a nature that it can be said that the family is like a miniature church. And since it is founded on the sacrament of marriage, the relationship it originates is sacramental in nature. It moves in the line of mystery and necessarily determines the participation of the Christian family in the mission of the Church. It is "a particular action of the Church"to be considered as own y original. It is not an assignment received from the hierarchy of the Church. This is also the reason why the family, in carrying out its mission, must always proceed in communion with the Church.

   What a family. We are witnessing a cultural change that makes it necessary to clearly determine the reality that we want to designate with the terms "cultural" and "social". "marriage" y "family". Not infrequently they are used to indicate forms of coexistence that are even opposed to each other.

It is therefore necessary to determine the way to identify and access the truth or identity of the family. And that is none other than the "meaning that marriage and family have in the plan of God, creator and savior."  Because "any conception or doctrine that does not sufficiently keep in mind this essential relationship of marriage and the family with its divine origin and destiny, which transcends human experience, would not understand its deepest reality and would not be able to find the exact way to solve its problems." (Paul VI).

A design of God for the family, the knowledge of which is within the reach of the lights of reason alone: "sinks its roots in the deepest essence of the human being and only from it can it find its answer". But it is also clear that man is not alone in this access to truth. He can count on the help of Revelation, which makes it easier and safer to arrive at the truth. To this end, the recent Magisterium of the Church has made use of expressions such as "the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman". o "the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman, which is, moreover, the origin of the family.".

The authorAugusto Sarmiento

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Guest writersMaría Lacalle Noriega

Helping young people to live true love

At the Synod, young people have shown that they have an immense need to feel loved, and to really love. They are looking for something great, something beautiful. They turn to the Church for answers. Let us not disappoint them. And let us not be naïve, because they need a lot of help.

December 10, 2018-Reading time: 3 minutes

The Synod of young people has once again shown that the institution they value most is the family. This may seem surprising given the crisis that marriage and the family have been going through for decades. But young people sense - some of them even though they have never experienced it - that the family is the ideal place for full personal development. And in their hearts is the longing for a home, for a full welcome, for unconditional love such as can only be experienced in the bosom of a family.

Since the 1960s, the basic pillars of marriage and the family have been undermined and a lifestyle based on fierce individualism, on the rejection of all commitment and of any reference to truth, and on a conception of freedom as something absolute, without content, has been imposed. As far as sexuality is concerned, it has been detached from love, commitment and openness to life, coming to be considered a mere source of pleasure, something private and purely subjective, something belonging solely and exclusively to the intimacy of each individual, leaving it to the discretion of the subject to give any meaning to his own sexuality and to the relationships he may establish.

But this lifestyle has not brought more happiness or fuller lives, but quite the opposite. It has brought loneliness and uprootedness, much suffering and deep emotional wounds.

At the Synod, young people have shown that they have an immense need to feel loved, and to really love. They are looking for something great, something beautiful. They turn to the Church to find answers on which to build their lives and to found their hope. Let us not disappoint them. And let us not be naive. Young people, who were born immersed in the cultural environment we have described above, and often without having had an experience of true love, need a lot of help.

We must help them to confirm their hope, to overcome the anthropological pessimism in which many are immersed due to the affective wounds within them, making them see that true love is possible. That it is not an ideal reserved for only a few, that it is within the reach of those who are determined to "querer querer", especially if they are open to God's help.

We must help them escape from the culture of individual rights, which runs radically counter to a culture of love and responsibility and is destroying families.

We must help them to overcome the false idea that freedom is an autonomous and unconditioned force, without bonds or norms. We must help them to overcome the absolutization of sentiment and to rediscover that the inner dynamics of married love includes and needs reason and will and is open to paternity and maternity, harmonizing human freedom with the gift of Grace.

Marriage, even if it is the union of a single man and a single woman, can hardly be lived in the solitude of the two, and even less than ever in this society of ours, which is so focused on the desires and the provisional. Spouses need to be accompanied, especially in the first years of marriage (40 % of marital breakups occur in the first seven years). Families can and should accompany other families by building authentic communities that strengthen their members and bear witness to true love in the midst of the world.

We must help them not to be afraid, because the Good Shepherd is with us as he was at Cana in Galilee as the Bridegroom between spouses who give themselves to each other for life. In the heart of the Christian there must be no room for apathy, nor for cowardice, nor for pessimism. For Christ is present. This is why St. John Paul II addressed Christian spouses with these words: "Do not be afraid of risks! Divine strength is much more powerful than your difficulties!" (GrS, 18).

The authorMaría Lacalle Noriega

Director of the Center for Family Studies. Francisco de Vitoria University (UFV).

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Guest writersFernando Vidal

Young people and positive conjugality

The family is the most important and deepest personal and social dimension for young people, who aspire for the family and conjugality to be expressed with the greatest possible transparency, depth and authenticity.

December 10, 2018-Reading time: 2 minutes

It is not easy to get a true picture of the relationship and opinions that young people currently hold about the family. There are many people interested in making young people think one thing or another. The media and commercial advertising are continuously shaping the public image of young people and want to orient it according to their interests.

There is a great distance between the family of opinion -that which is maintained in speeches, in conversations or in the media- and the family of experience -that which people truly live, that which they have in their hearts and longings. This is something we have studied extensively in the family report (www.informefamilia.org).

The main note that characterizes the relationship of young people with the family is very positive. The family is the most important and deepest personal and social dimension of young people. All surveys and research show that it is the main source of trust and is an indispensable aspect of their lives.

The young people express immeasurable gratitude to their families and want to build a family of their own in their future.

The family is the most original, universal and profound component of the human condition, so it should come as no surprise that young people express such a powerful appreciation.

And yet it is surprising because the family is a counter-cultural community in today's society. As much as the dominant culture is invaded by individualism and utilitarianism, the family's logics of solidarity and giving constitute its strongest resistance.

Family ties are the most persistent and some of them are irreversibly forever. This is also contradictory to what Pope Francis calls the "family bond. throwaway cultureThe apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

However, young people yearn not for a little bit of life but for the whole of life. Youth does not want a little bit of life but the whole of life. Their hearts beat with yearnings for wholeness and greatness, ready to give everything and even more. That is why they are reluctant to do without the source of their deepest experiences and bonds, the family.

For this very reason, they also aspire for the family and conjugality to be expressed with the greatest possible transparency, depth and authenticity. The crisis of the conventional institutionalization of conjugality in favor of new formulas -such as unmarried couples- expresses this search.

Other interests are also at work, such as those that weaken community bonds - our society has suffered from what Bauman has termed "the Great Unbinding"- and the very dimensions of law and institutionality. Perhaps excessively identified with the power of the State and of the great potentates of capital, culture and religions, they are considered to be coercive and not sufficiently genuine dimensions.

However, young people continue to place conjugal love - a life partner - as the greatest aspiration they can feel. They continually sing it, write it, show it by all the means at their disposal. In any case, conjugality always finds a way to become institutionalized, albeit in informal ways.

The greatest threat to the family is the weakening of ties, even the most crucial ones, such as the paternal-maternal-filial and conjugal ones. To resist the wave of disengagement, young people will need not only their desires, but also to rebuild institutions - which are not primarily a phenomenon of power but a phenomenon of universality and intergenerational communication - including the conjugal community, which is the greatest possible friendship between human beings. It is time to rebuild positive conjugality.

The authorFernando Vidal

Director of the University Institute of the Family, Comillas Pontifical University.

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Guest writersPablo Velasco Quintana

Vocational logic in the family

Article 72 of the final document of the Synod has a paragraph that reminds the family of the vocational logic of the family. It is hard, because it puts us in front of our weakness, but it is a vital challenge.

December 10, 2018-Reading time: 3 minutes

I am not at all surprised that the most voted article of the final document of the synod on young people was the one on the family, which "has the task of living the joy of the Gospel in daily life and sharing its members according to their condition".

How liberating to think of a place where we are wanted for ourselves, as such. Where we don't have to bring our résumé and we don't have to win our place in a competition. This is wonderful, because then we can affirm that the family is indeed the foundation of love, education and freedom.

The French philosopher Fabrice Hadjajd explains it beautifully when he warns against treating the family as a secondary reality, of "to base the family on love, education and freedom, because they are not factors to distinguish it from other forms of community."Because a community can be a place of love, or a school is also, and much more professionally, a place of education; or a company can be, even with legal support, a place where freedoms are respected. "As a consequence, to consider the family only on the basis of love, education, and freedom, to base it on the good of the child as an individual, one as a child, and on the duties of parents as educators and not as parents, is to propose a family that is already defamiliarized.".

To this definition we must add two parental experiences when our children are born or when we welcome them. 

The first is joy in the face of this undeserved gift received, which exceeds our expectations.

The second, new challenges for which we are not well prepared, an enormous inadequacy, an incapacity with respect to the task, which comes with time underlined by our clumsiness and our evil. Chesterton explained it wonderfully with that example of the mother who receives her son at home after a good play session outside on a rainy day. The son is up to his neck in mud, and the mother washes him, because she knows that she has not only the mud in front of her, but that underneath that dirt is her son. Because education has more to do with ontology than with ethics, with the nature of the filial relationship.

But this article 72 of the Synod has a second paragraph that reminds the family of the vocational logic in the family. It is a hard paragraph, because it confronts us with our weakness and temptation. "to determine children's choices" invading the space of discernment. The life of holiness is a personal story with God, personal and non-transferable.

It is not a matter of imitating the saints to the letter, because that would be impossible. The exact circumstances are not given, and besides, the Lord can only count to one. It is to recognize that our conversion must be conquered continually by placing ourselves at the mercy of our unique human experience.

Moreover, this path is all-encompassing, it is not only applicable to some watertight compartments of our life, and it is universal because it affects everyone else. My neighbor does not care about my life of holiness.

In this I am reminded of a Venetian expression that the writer Claudio Magris once explained in an article: "far casetta", he said, "I have a family" which represents this false and small family harmony based on the rejection of others: "And then the family can truly become a Theater of the World and of the human universe: when, playing with our brothers and sisters and loving them, we take the first and fundamental step towards a greater fraternity, which without the family we would not have learned to feel so vividly."

Thus, the reading of the aforementioned article 72, "The Gospel story of the adolescent Jesus (see Lk 2:41-52), subject to his parents, but able to separate himself from them in order to care for the things of the Father"The family is a vital challenge, and even if we get a lump in our throat, we will understand that family is holding hands through the jungle of the world, that it continues to support our children even when they no longer physically cling to us.

The authorPablo Velasco Quintana

Publisher of CEU Ediciones. CEU San Pablo University

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Guest writersM. Pilar Lacorte Tierz

Accompanying young families at school

Despite the obvious signs of crisis that the family is going through in our society, there are many families who respond with generosity, joy and faith to their vocation, even in the face of obstacles, misunderstandings and suffering. Young families need accompaniment.

December 10, 2018-Reading time: 4 minutes

Young people continue to value and perceive the family as a community of reference, as stated in article 32 of the Final Document of the Synod of Bishops on Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment. Moreover, two of the articles unanimously approved (nn. 72 and 95) refer to the need for the family and accompaniment as key elements of the new evangelization.

There is no doubt that the first accompaniment a human being receives takes place in his or her own family. Family relationships are not merely "functional". The personal relationships that are woven in the day to day, with the shared life within families are identity relationships. And it is precisely this shared daily life, the means by which human beings grow in our personal dynamisms and learn the most personal capacity, we learn to love. Certainly, the various crises in families can make it difficult for family relationships to unfold their educative power. Many young people who have already grown up in a family and in a society that has not been able to accompany them in this natural learning of the unconditional nature of family love, may have shortcomings that increase the normal difficulties in their family life, when these young people form their own family. In this way, we could enter into a situation "looping", It might be thought that they will inevitably reproduce in their own families the disaffection experienced in their families of origin. However, this is not the case. It is precisely this experience of lovelessness that leads them to long for something different for themselves and their children. But they need to know how to do it, since they lack the experience.

At Amoris Letitia the need to accompany new families, especially in the first years of family life, is pointed out (n. 211). As Juan José Pérez Soba affirms, "it is not good for the family to be alone.". This is why it is necessary to creatively search for new "spaces of accompaniment". where young families can receive training, support and shared experience. The first years of a family are a time of great effort to adapt and reconcile many areas in a new and still unknown reality: work, friends, family of origin, parenthood, etc. New spouses and parents often live this first stage of life together with a feeling of isolation and overwhelm in the face of numerous difficulties and challenges they had not even imagined. Increasingly, these young couples lack the support of the family environment, or the formation that comes from the experience lived in their families of origin.

It is also a stage in which husbands and wives usually have little time and means available; therefore, it is necessary to look for ways in which they can be accompanied in their task as fathers and husbands in their daily life environment. One place where young parents naturally look for such support is the school. It is precisely in the first years of school life -which coincide with the first years of families- when parents turn to the school for help, also for their family life. Proposing accompaniment from the Christian school is a call to look at the reality of families from a different perspective.

Although it may seem that this is something that does not correspond, or that it implies further complicating the specific teaching function of the educational centers, the school can and should support families. The trust that all accompaniment needs is given in a natural way in the family-school relationship. Moreover, the school of Christian inspiration has an added factor that seems important to me: it can be a natural environment of coexistence, in which families accompany other families, thus favoring a climate in which family life is valued as personal enrichment, and difficulty is not understood as failure, but as something connatural to any interpersonal relationship, which is possible to overcome and which is the way to love.

To make this proposal of accompaniment a reality is a requirement that calls for treating families as they are, that is to say, in a familiar way. It is not a question of substituting for parents or "direct them" from the school in its educational task. It is rather a question of "empower them" and give them back their leading role in the educational task in the family context. To accompany from the school is to help each family discover its specificity, its originality. It is not a question of giving prescriptions, advice or solutions. It is rather to reinforce their role and help them discover the natural tools of education in the family context. It is a task that needs to start from experience, to perceive conflicts as something natural, and to help them develop the ability to overcome crises.

The proposed accompaniment is not a technique, nor does it require additional space or time; it is an attitude, a habit, a way of understanding teaching and the role of the school, at the service of families. It demands above all formation and commitment so that families are not abandoned, who often live their crises alone, in an atmosphere of superficiality, with no one to take care of them. Pope Francis has recalled on several occasions the gap that is opening up between family and school, and the need for both to go hand in hand. The school can be a good point of support, an "angle of repose" that helps each family to be what it can become.

The authorM. Pilar Lacorte Tierz

Institute of Higher Studies of the Family, International University of Catalonia (UIC)

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Debate

Synods in the life of the Church

The holding of the Fifteenth Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops this year, October 3-28, at the Vatican in Rome, prompts a brief reflection on the Synod of Bishops in the Catholic Church.

Geraldo Luiz Borges Hackman-November 19, 2018-Reading time: 9 minutes

The suggestion of a possible institution of Synods was presented to Pope Paul VI during the celebration of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council. At the origin of this proposal is the experience of the ancient Church, which met to deal with questions pertinent to its ecclesial life, and the desire to collaborate more closely with the successor of Peter in the pastoral care of the universal Church. From an etymological point of view, the word synod appears from two Greek words, syn (together) and hodos (ways), meaning "to walk together," to indicate that the bishops "walked together," among themselves and in communion with the pope, on matters of relevance to their particular Churches. The bishops' suggestion called, therefore, for a return to this traditional practice of the Church.

Brief history of the Synods after Vatican II

Accepting this request, Pope Paul VI, on September 14, 1965, announced to the Council Fathers, re-united at the opening session of the fourth period of the Council, the decision to institute, on his own initiative and by his authority, a body called the Synod of Bishops, which would be composed of bishops appointed for the most part by the Episcopal Conferences and approved by the Pope, and convoked, according to the needs of the Church, by the Roman Pontiff, for the purpose of consultation and collaboration with the Petrine ministry, when, for the general good of the Church, this seemed opportune to him. The following day, Pope Paul VI, with the Motu Proprio Apostolica sollicitudo (cf. AAS 57 [1965], pp.775-780.), instituted the Synod of Bishops in the Catholic Church as a permanent institution, by means of which bishops, elected from the various parts of the world, would render more effective assistance to the supreme Pastor of the Church, establishing its constitution: 1) it is a central ecclesial institution; 2) it must represent the entire Catholic episcopate; 3) it must, by its nature, be perpetual; 4) as regards its structure, it will perform its functions, at the same time, temporarily and occasionally.
In the same year, the conciliar Decree Christus Dominus, in number 5, reiterates the importance that the new institution will have in the life of the Church by having the collaboration of the Catholic episcopate, so that it can represent and manifest more effectively the solicitude for the universal Church, as part of the vocation of every bishop. The first regulations for the functioning of the Synod were published on November 8, 1966, and were revised and expanded with the decree of November 24, 1969, followed by subsequent norms. On September 29, 2006, with the Ordo synodi episcoporum, new norms regulating the organization and functioning of the Synod of Rome were published. However, the general legislative framework of the Synod is to be found in canons 342-348 of the Code of Canon Law canon 46 of the Latin canon, as well as in canon 46 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.

Recently, on September 15, 2018, Pope Francis, with the Apostolic Constitution. Episcopalis communio, has determined some changes in the functioning of the Synod. In the first place, Pope Francis recognizes the benefits that the Synod of Rome has brought to the life of the Church since its institution, in these fifty years of its realization, as a valid instrument of the Synod of Rome. "The Assemblies have not only been a privileged place of mutual knowledge among the bishops, common prayer, loyal confrontation, deepening of Christian doctrine, reform of ecclesial structures and promotion of pastoral activity throughout the world, but have also given a notable impetus to the subsequent pontifical magisterium. In this way, such Assemblies have not only become a privileged place of interpretation and reception of the rich conciliar magisterium, but have also given a notable impetus to the subsequent pontifical magisterium." (n. 1). It then broadens participation in the Synod, in addition to experts and auditors, to include "fraternal delegates", who are those invited from Churches and ecclesial communities not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church, and some special guests, to be designated by virtue of their recognized authority.

Nature, characteristics and types of Bishops' Synods

The Synod of Bishops is an institution of the universal Church, which is convoked on certain occasions and which manifests the collegial collaboration of the bishops with the Pope and of the bishops among themselves, in such a way that they can reflect on certain themes that affect the Church in the whole world or in some country or continent. This is how Vatican II expresses itself: "The bishops chosen from the various regions of the world, in the manner and disposition which the Roman Pontiff has established or may hereafter establish, render to the Supreme Pastor of the Church a more effective assistance by constituting a council designated by the name of episcopal synod, which, since it acts in the name of the whole Catholic episcopate, manifests at the same time that all the Bishops in hierarchical communion are sharers in the solicitude of the whole Church" (Christus Dominus, 5).

The fundamental characteristics of the Synod are four: universality, episcopal collegiality, the diverse forms of its convocation and its consultative activity. The initiative of Pope Paul VI to institute the Synods, following the desire and suggestion of the bishops during the work of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, shows the intention of the new institution to express episcopal collegiality, that is, to contribute to the collaboration of all the bishops of the whole world with the universal pastoral task of the Church exercised by the Pope, the universal pastor, sharing with him the pastoral solicitude for the whole Church. Episcopal collegiality was one of the important themes recovered by the last Council (cf. Lumen Gentium, 22, Christus Dominus, 4), overcoming the understanding of bishops as mere representatives of the Pope in their particular Churches or in rivalry with him, and affirming the hierarchical communion of the entire episcopal college - the bishops of the whole world - with the pastoral solicitude of the Pope for the whole Church (cf. Previous Explanatory Note, paragraphs 1 and 2). Episcopal collegiality is linked to universality, as is shown by the fact that the Synod is an institution of both the Latin Church and the Eastern Catholic Churches. This note of universality is particularly evident in the general assemblies of the Synod, since the entire Catholic world is represented in their composition and functioning.

According to the recent Apostolic Constitution of Pope Francis, there can be three types of Synod: the ordinary General Assembly, which deals with matters concerning the good of the universal Church; the extraordinary General Assembly, if the matters to be dealt with, which concern the good of the universal Church, require urgent consideration; and the special Assembly, when matters concerning primarily one or more specific geographical areas are to be dealt with (see articles 1, § 2, 1st, 2nd and 3rd). It adds in § 3: "If he deems it opportune, particularly for reasons of an ecumenical nature, the Roman Pontiff can convoke a synodal assembly according to other modalities established by him." The Pope is the President of the Synod, and the Synod is directly subject to him (cf. Article 1, § 1). The consultative character of the Synod is maintained, but it can become deliberative, if the Pope so determines, according to article 18, paragraph 2. The phases of the Synod are the following: the phase of preparation, the phase of celebration of the assembly of bishops and the phase of implementation of the decisions of the Synod.

Synod celebrations to date

Fifteen ordinary assemblies of the Synods of Rome have been held so far, fourteen of which have already published documents. The dates, the theme discussed and the final document of each synodal assembly are given below:

- 1st: from 29-IX to 29-X-1967. Subject: Principles to be observed in the revision of the CIC; dangerous views and atheism; seminary renewal; mixed marriages and liturgical reform. Final document: Principia quae.

- 2nd: from 30-IX to 6-XI-1971. Theme: The ministerial priesthood and justice in the world. Two final documents: Ultimis temporibus (ministerial priesthood) and Convenient ex universe (justice).

- 3rd: from 27-IX to 26-XI-1974. Theme: Evangelization in the contemporary world. Final document: Evangelii nuntiandi (DECEMBER 18, 1975).

- 4a: from 30-IX to 29-X-1977. Theme: Catechesis in our time. Final document: Catechesi tradendae (16-X-1979).

- 5a: from 26-IX to 25-X-1980. Theme: The mission of the Christian family in today's world. Final document: Familiaris consortio (NOVEMBER 22, 1981).

- 6a: 29-IX to 29-X-1983. Theme: Penance and reconciliation in the mission of the Church. Final document: Reconciliatio et paenitentia (DECEMBER 2, 1984).

- 7th: from 1-X to 30-X-1987. Theme: The vocation and mission of the laity in the Church and in the world twenty years after the celebration of the Second Vatican Council. Final document: Christifideles laici (DECEMBER 30, 1988).

- 8a: from 30-IX to 28-X-1990. Theme: The formation of priests in the present circumstances. Final document: Pastores dabo vobis (MARCH 25, 1992).

- 9a: from 2-X to 29-10-1994. Theme: Consecrated life and its mission in the Church and in the world. Final document: Vita consecrata (MARCH 25, 1996).

- 10th: September 30 to October 27, 2001. Theme: The Bishop: servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the hope of the world. Final document: Gregorian shepherds (16- X-2003).

- 11a: from Oct. 2 to Oct. 23, 2005. Theme: The Eucharist: source and summit of the life and mission of the Church. Final document: Sacramentum caritatis (22-II-2007).

- 12a: from 5-X to 26-X-2008. Theme: The Word of God in the life and mission of the Church. Final document: Verbum Domini (30-IX-2010).

- 13th: from 7-X to 28-X-2012. Theme: The new evangelization for the transmission of the Christian faith. Final document: Evangelium Gaudium (24-XI- 2013).

- 14a: from 4-X to 25-X-2015. Theme: The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world. Final document: Amoris laetitia (19- III-2016).

- 15a: from 3-X to 28-X-2018. Theme: Young people, faith and vocational discernment.

There have been three extraordinary assemblies:
- 1st: from October 11 to October 28, 1969. Theme: Cooperation between the Holy See and the Episcopal Conferences. Final document: Prima di concludere.

- 2nd: from 25-XI to 8-XII-1985. Theme: Twentieth anniversary of the conclusions of the Second Vatican Council. Final document: Ecclesia sub Verbo Dei mysteria Christi celebrans pro salute mundi.

- 3a: 5-X to 19-X-2014: The pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization. There was no final document.

Pope John Paul II convoked some Special Assemblies of the Synod, with a particular purpose. They are the following:

- 1a: from 14 to 31-I-1980. Particular Synod for the Netherlands. Theme: The pastoral situation in the Netherlands. Document: Reconnaissants envers Dieu (31-I-1980).

- 2nd: from 28-XI to 14-XII-1991. First Special Assembly for Europe. Theme: We are witnesses to Christ who set us free. Document: Tertio millennio iam (DECEMBER 13, 1991).

- 3rd: April 10 to May 8, 1994. First Special Assembly for Africa. Theme: The Church in Africa and its evangelizing mission for the year 2000: "You will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8). Document: Ecclesia in Africa (SEPTEMBER 14, 1995).

- 4a: from 26-XI to 14-XII-1995. Special Assembly for Lebanon. Theme: Christ is our hope: renewed by his spirit, in solidarity we are witnesses of his love. Document: A new hope for Lebanon (10-V-1997).

- 5a: from 12-XI to 11-XII-1997. Special Assembly for America. Theme: Encounter with the living Jesus Christ, a cause for conversion, communion and solidarity in America. Document: Ecclesia in America (22-I-1999).

- 6a: April 19 to May 14, 1998. Special Assembly for Asia. Theme: Jesus Christ the Savior and his mission of love and service in Asia: "I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly" (Jn 10:10). Document: Ecclesia in Asia (NOVEMBER 6, 1999).

- 7th: from 22-XI to 12-XII-1998. Special Assembly for Oceania. Theme: Jesus Christ and the peoples of Oceania: following his way, proclaiming his truth and living his life. Document: Ecclesia in Oceania (NOVEMBER 22, 2001).

- 8a: October 1-10 to 23, 1999. Second Special Assembly for Europe. Theme: Jesus Christ living in his Church, source of hope for Europe. Document: Ecclesia in Europa (JUNE 28, 2003).

- 9a: October 4-X to October 25, 2009. Second Special Assembly for Africa. Theme: The Church in Africa at the service of reconciliation, justice and peace. Document: Africae Munus (NOVEMBER 9, 2011).

- 10th: from 10-X to 24-X-2010. Special Assembly for the Middle East. Theme: The Catholic Church in the Middle East: communion and witness. "The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul" (Acts 4:32). Document: Ecclesia in Middle East (14-IX-2012).

The contribution of the Synods to the Church

The Synods of Bishops have contributed effectively to ecclesial renewal and have established themselves as an effective reception of post-conciliar ecclesiology, particularly as a means of close collaboration with the Petrine ministry, thus reflecting the nature of the pastoral office of the bishops and of hierarchical communion, since these Synods, insofar as they represent the Catholic episcopate, contribute to the participation of all bishops in hierarchical communion in the solicitude for the universal Church (cf. Christus Dominus, 5). In this way, they bring about episcopal collegiality - collegial affection - reaffirmed by Vatican II as one of its fundamental characteristics. For this reason, Pope Francis affirms: "In a providential way, the institution of the Synod of Bishops took place in the context of the last ecumenical Assembly. In fact, the Second Vatican Council, 'following in the footsteps of the First Vatican Council' and in the furrow of the genuine ecclesial tradition, deepened the doctrine on the episcopal order, concentrating in a particular way on its sacramental and collegial nature. It has thus become definitively clear that each Bishop simultaneously and inseparably possesses the responsibility for the particular Church entrusted to his pastoral care and the concern for the universal Church" (Apostolic Constitution on the Episcopal Ordination of Bishops of the Catholic Bishops' Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faithful). Episcopalis communio, 2).

The topics addressed so far in the ordinary General Assemblies, as well as in the Extraordinary and Special Assemblies, have represented in each era a pastoral need, and thus have favored the growth of the life of the Church, by pointing out the direction in which the Church should walk with

in order to carry out its mission of evangelization (cf. Evangelii Nuntiandi, 14) and, also, to determine guidelines for pastoral action in these various regions.

The debates during the Synods constitute updated information for the Pope and, perhaps, suggestions for the exercise of the Petrine office, constituting a privileged moment for the government of the Church in communion. The praxis of the post-synodal exhortations portrays the challenges posed to the Church and the coordinates along which the Church must walk in order to achieve a more effective evangelization capable of reaching the people whom the Gospel of Jesus Christ must call to conversion.

Thus, the intention of Pope Paul VI in instituting the Synods is achieving its goal. The Catholic faithful can now thank God for the fruits brought by the Synods and pray that they will continue to be precious moments for the life of the Church of Jesus Christ.

The authorGeraldo Luiz Borges Hackman

Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Soul (PUCRS), Brazil ([email protected])

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ForoPalabra: What is dying with dignity? Perspectives on euthanasia and palliative care.

ForoPalabra organizes the colloquium "What is dying with dignity? Perspectives on euthanasia and palliative care", with the intervention of Dr. Rafael Mota, physician and president of the Spanish Society of Palliative Care, and Msgr. Pablo Requena, delegate of the Holy See to the World Medical Association and member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, as well as professor of bioethics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Rome).

Omnes-November 19, 2018-Reading time: < 1 minute

ForoPalabra organizes the colloquium "What is dying with dignity? Perspectives on euthanasia and palliative care", with the intervention of Dr. Rafael Mota, physician and president of the Spanish Society of Palliative Care, and Msgr. Pablo Requena, delegate of the Holy See to the World Medical Association and member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, as well as professor of bioethics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Rome).

The colloquium will take place on December 13, 2018, at 7:30 p.m., in the auditorium of Banco Sabadell, calle Serrano 71, 28006 Madrid.

As is well known, in different countries there is an intense debate, including parliamentary initiatives, on the possibility of legalizing the provocation of death of persons suffering as a consequence of illness. Sensitivity to situations that cause pain has increased, and euthanasia is presented as a compassionate solution.

However, many physicians and other health professionals stress that it is pain and suffering that must be eliminated, through so-called palliative care, not the lives of these people who, with appropriate care, will be able to make decisions more freely.

These and other issues related to accompaniment in critical moments of life will be the subject of the colloquium organized by the ForumWord December 13.

For security and capacity reasons, please confirm your attendance at: [email protected]. Please also write to us at this address if you would like someone else to attend.

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Twentieth Century Theology

St. John Paul II, theologian

A pontificate as long and as intense as that of John Paul II (1978-2005) left an immense mark on all aspects of the life of the Church and also on theology. But one can go a little further and ask: was he really a theologian?

Juan Luis Lorda-November 19, 2018-Reading time: 3 minutes

Let's try to make an overview of the theological impact of St. John Paul II and answer this interesting question. Had he not been Pope, it is unlikely that a 20th century Archbishop of Krakow would have come to occupy a prominent role in the universal history of the Church or of theology.

In the first place, because few can fit in that top: the collective cultural memory can barely keep up to a dozen authors, who are being renewed. And that of the most cultured can reach, perhaps, a hundred. It is practically impossible that an author who wrote in Polish at a time when that nation was subjected to the general blockade of a communist regime would have become known, translated and read all over the world. There were no channels.

A comparison with Paul VI

The pontifical election placed him in the forefront of history and gave his person and thought a universal significance. And, of course, he himself played that role with full awareness. And here a comparison is in order. When Paul VI was elected Pope, he assumed the responsibility of the pontificate. For him, the change of name meant that Giuseppe Montini had to disappear so that Paul VI could act as pastor of the Church. Everything personal, including his family, was relegated to the background. He used his many years of experience in government to bring the Council to a successful conclusion and served there and then, for example in Humanae vitae (1968), a deep work of criteria, always seeking the mind of the Church. And for that, he consulted a lot.

In comparison, the figure of John Paul II has something unique: having experienced in his life the great issues and tragedies of the twentieth century, he believes that Providence has forged in his soul convictions and orientations that he must bring to the universal Church, which is going through a difficult time. Not because they occurred to him, as would be proper to a megalomaniac, but because they are lights of the Spirit. And these points, it seems to me, are the key points of his pontificate and where he will have the greatest theological impact. Let us try to go through them.

The spirit and the letter of the Council

First, in order of category, is his intense and direct involvement in the development of Gaudium et spesThe document was intended to reflect the Church's position in the modern world. This made him an authoritative witness and interpreter of the Council, a millenary event of the Church, at a time when "the struggle of interpretations" and the choice between "re-formation and rupture", as Benedict XVI would later call it, were at stake. Think, for example, of the immense work of the historian Giuseppe Alberigo in reconstructing a "spirit of the Council" perfectly outside the letter approved in the documents: turning the intentions and intuitions of the theologians and Fathers with whom he sympathized into the real Council.

Wojtyla's experience, on the other hand, was forged by doing the letter, together with great theologians (De Lubac, Congar, Daniélou, Moeller, among others) and with the Council Fathers. And this forging of Gaudium et spes gave a general orientation to his pontificate: what was the Church to do in the world, what was he to do as Pope; precisely what he had indicated Gaudium et spes. Hence the constant attention to this document in the great acts of his pontificate, from the first to the last.
It is a great good fortune, a Providence of God, that in such a confusing time for the Church, as was the post-conciliar period, the Pope was such a qualified witness of the Council. And this would be reinforced with Benedict XVI, also a witness and participant in the Council.

Love and responsibility

Karol Wojtyla's second doctrinal and theological contribution to the universal Church has a broader scope, starting with his first experiences as a priest in his work with the youth of Krakow. He soon realized that the Church needed a positive doctrine on sexuality as a basis for sexual morality. A sexual morality based on what is or is not sinful was not sufficient and even counterproductive. The doctrine of sexuality had to be based on the anthropology of sexuality considered in a Christian way. From his talks and courses to young people would emerge a book as original as Love and Responsibility, published while he was working at Concilio (the French version would carry a foreword by De Lubac). But up to that point it is only a private contribution

The argument of Humanae vitae

The question took a turn with the decision of Paul VI, during the Council, to reserve for himself the study of birth control (contraception). Paul VI appointed several commissions in Rome to study it. While the Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla also formed one in his diocese with collaborators and professors. And they were in contact until the last moment. The encyclical Humanae vitae rules that the use of unnatural means of contraception is not licit and points to the idea that it is immoral to separate the unitive and procreative meaning of the conjugal act. The decision is not based on that argument, but presents it. It can be seen that it was the argument that Cardinal Wojtyla maintained with his Krakow team.

From that moment on, Archbishop and Cardinal Wojtyla was committed to several conferences in defense of Humanae vitaedeveloping the argument and basing it on...

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Archbishop of Maracaibo: "Evangelizing in time and out of time is the first challenge".

The general crisis in Venezuela is wearing down the population: more than three million people have left the country. In this context, what is the first challenge for the Venezuelan bishops? Pope Francis asks them to be close to the people and to foster trust in God. Bishop José Luis Azuaje, president of the Episcopal Conference, applies this closeness: evangelization is the first challenge.

Marcos Pantin-November 19, 2018-Reading time: 8 minutes

In the antechamber of the archbishop's office there is an atmosphere of cordial rivalry. There are many of us who aspire to an audience with Mons. José Luis Azuaje Ayala, president of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference and metropolitan archbishop of Maracaibo. The general crisis in the country has worn Venezuelans down. More than three million have emigrated in recent years. The figures published by Caritas International are staggering: poverty levels, hyperinflation, food and medicine shortages are unprecedented. And always under the incessant threat of unleashed and unpunished criminality.
The government remains deaf to the clamor of the people. Protests have risen throughout the country and have been mercilessly repressed. The number of political prisoners is increasing day by day and, with few exceptions, they are treated inhumanely. Everything tends to radicalize the sadness and undermine the hope of a bewildered people.
In this gloomy panorama, Venezuelans distrust both the government's promises and the opposition's appeals. However, they go to churches to hear the government speak.
of God. It is a delicate challenge for our Pastors.

How does pastoral action in Venezuela respond to the rapid social deterioration of the country?
-The Church on pilgrimage in Venezuela has made a great effort to renew itself. An example of this effort was the Plenary Council of Venezuela held between 2000 and 2006. Since then we have been working on the implementation of its resolutions.
It has not been an easy task. These years have been undermined by the political, economic and social problems that have hindered the realization of many of the proposed objectives. For example, a high percentage of those who made up the work teams in the pastoral areas have emigrated. Nevertheless, the Church continues to work, perhaps not as projected to the multitudes, but towards the catacombs where faith and hope are poured out like a torrent of grace.

What are the main challenges facing the Church in Venezuela?
-From this reality we have taken on serious pastoral challenges that we can formulate as questions: how to evangelize in the midst of a political and economic disaster that has plunged the majority of our population into poverty and the despair it brings? How to transmit the essence of the Christian message showing Jesus Christ as the Light of the world and the center of our life story, in a social reality where human rights are not respected and human dignity is trampled upon? What means to use so that the message reaches and sustains men and women in the midst of their sufferings?
To evangelize in time and out of time: this is the first challenge in the midst of so much confusion for society and institutions. For this we need a profound renewal of the Church that allows us to dialogue from the Gospel with the diverse realities of today's world. We live amidst so many circumstances that contradict the Gospel of Jesus Christ... It is necessary to listen to reality in order to find spaces for dialogue and discernment that will foster a credible and lasting process of evangelization.

Can you mention other current challenges?
-The promotion of human dignity is a challenge that concerns the Church in general. The Gospel has a very close relationship with the life of each person. The center of the Gospel is the merciful love of God manifested in Jesus Christ sent to redeem us, to save us, to free us from the bonds of personal and social sin. The Gospel of dignity clashes with so many manifestations of unjust structures in order to come to the defense of the most affected and vulnerable.

How should we live solidarity in this context?
-Another challenge for the Church is to teach solidarity in a world that promotes individualism and the culture of every man for himself. Solidarity is a Christian expression of active charity. Solidarity is to sustain, to remain in constant openness of service to others. In the face of the tendency to individualism and relativism, we find in solidarity a nucleus of elements well disposed to generate community in action, which also favors the implementation of justice.
Latin America is a great region. It has all the necessary elements to project itself as the realization of hope in the full light of day. We must return to love, to respect for others, to decency in the management of public affairs, to ethics, to morality in institutions.
Corruption and bad policies wreak havoc on our reality day by day. We must return to God. Our gaze must focus on the one who put everything on the line to save us: Jesus Christ.

What do the 50th anniversary of the CELAM conference in Medellin suggest to you?
-The proposals of Medellin are a light that has illuminated the ecclesial conscience and the history of faith of our peoples. They are a starting point for large-scale ecclesial transformations: doctrinal, pastoral, human promotion, renewal of ecclesial structures. In Medellín, an updated reading of the Second Vatican Council was proposed, and from it, possibilities of service and creativity have opened up in the evangelizing and pastoral sphere, together with human promotion and the struggle for justice and peace in a permanent option for the poor.
The proposals of that time have been updated in each of the General Conferences of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopate. The most current is that of Aparecida in 2007. Times change, culture is transformed and, therefore, the Church must seek the best ways to convey the only message that does not change: the person of Jesus, his word and his work. The message is always reflected from the reverse side of history, from the poor and excluded, from those who feel in need of God. The spirituality that emerges from Medellin allows us to witness with greater clarity the love and mercy of God in the midst of our reality.

Many people abroad are concerned about what is happening in our country. What can you tell them about the Church in Venezuela?
-I can say that it is a humble and simple Church, which carries out the religious experience of God from the experience of everyday life. It is a mother Church, because it accompanies its sons and daughters in the different processes of growth in faith.
It is a merciful Church that helps millions of people in need and cries out for justice in the face of the situation of poverty and violence in which we find ourselves. At the same time, it is a Church that reflects on and is analytical of the global reality of society and all that affects the person. We are a Church that has been impoverished along with the people, but from that same poverty and with full freedom we draw the strength to help those who need our help without making distinctions.

Do you see the faith rooted in the people?
-The Venezuelan Church, from the popular religiosity, manifests its love for holiness in the person of the saints. The patronal feasts are truly feasts for the joy of knowing that they share in the holiness of their patron saint. The various traditions are transformed into religious experiences animated by faith.
We have a synodal Church that has convoked all the people of God to deliberate and propose the necessary pastoral elements for evangelization through the Plenary Council of Venezuela and the national and diocesan Pastoral Assemblies. It is a Church that keeps alive the communion with the other Churches of the region and with the Holy Father Francis. It is a Church that does not close the channel of God's grace to anyone, but motivates the encounter with the Lord in every life experience.

What values do you consider vital in the recovery of the country and its institutions?
-Communion is a fundamental value. For the future, we must be united in faith. Sociological postulates are not enough, but above all, communion based on what we believe and in whom we believe. Communion generates fraternity, the profound sense of recognizing others as they are, with their differences, but always seeking common ground. A value that has been generated in depth in these times is solidarity. I speak from my country. In times of poverty and inequality, the value of solidarity flourishes. To be in solidarity is to go out of oneself to assume the other in his own needs, it is not only to give what I have, but mainly to give myself as a human being and Christian in the accompaniment of others.
of the town's historical journey.

Could you tell us about the Christian sense of the struggle for justice?
-He has not left our country, because he is where those who suffer are and he identifies with them: with the poor and those who suffer and put their trust in the Lord. The Cross is a saving sign for them. They cling to it because they know that after it comes the Resurrection, liberation.
We must foster respect for the dignity of the human person as a permanent value that nourishes the struggle for justice in the pursuit of freedom. The person and his dignity is the precious focus that God loves, so he invites every person to build his kingdom of peace, justice and love. But not in any way, but by raising the banner of freedom and justice.

How do you see Pope Francis' contribution projected over time?
-I believe that Pope Francis is opening a new stage in the life of the Church. With his life and his magisterium he urges us to go to the essential, avoiding distractions or superficialities that distract the Church from what is proper and permanent: to evangelize in the essential and from the essential: the person of Jesus Christ.
Pope Francis teaches us that what once seemed of little value - the peripheries - are now essential for the renewal of the Church and of cultures. He shows us this with his apostolic journeys: not to the center but to the peripheries, as if to draw strength from weakness. He insists on giving value to what seemed secondary, detaching himself from human securities that impede continuous processes, in order to go to the felt reality, which springs from the human heart and the heart of culture. It is to put the Church in a permanent state of mission, renewing structures and giving way to everything that privileges the merciful mission.

Leads to the essential...
-I believe that Pope Francis is doing what a Pope should do: encouraging, going to the essence of the message. Moreover, he is ridding the Church of certain evils that have hovered over her and, in a prophetic way, he is preparing her to enter into dialogue with a world that tries to ignore her, to disregard her. With parresia the Pope carries the weight of renewal, and does so looking to the future with hope. We see this in the convocation of the synod of young people, in the agreement with China and his ongoing outreach to minorities. Everything is done with joy, because the Christian cannot remain contemplating the wealth he has received, he must give it, he must give it to others.
to announce it, to be in permanent departure.

What was your experience during the recent visit ad limina?
-The visit ad limina was for us an extraordinary experience of communion and fraternity. In these years our episcopate has been renewed: many of them attended this event for the first time. The experience of these days has been a profound sign of unity as Church. We experienced this communion in a special way with the Holy Father Francis, who attended us with great serenity and inner peace. He is truly a man of God. The meeting of the entire episcopate with him became a sign of hope for our ministry: we felt that we are sustained by this firm rock in the Petrine ministry.

So, the Pope is keeping an eye on Venezuela?
-Pope Francis knows our reality very well. He has encouraged us to continue to attend to our poor people, to be with them, to be present wherever we are needed, to remain close to the people and to know how to resist the onslaught of injustice and evil that scourge our communities. It urges us to foster trust in God and the Blessed Virgin; to form and build a community of life in the solidity offered by closeness to our brothers and sisters; to pray and keep alive the flame of hope.
Visiting and praying in the four major basilicas allowed us to renew our service with a universal sense. The bishop serves humanity, without distinction or preference. Likewise, the visit to the congregations and dicasteries of the Holy See has allowed us to make known the efforts made by the Church in Venezuela to serve the people of God in the extension of the Kingdom of Heaven. In short, it was a kairosfull of joy and commitment.

What was the Pope's latest request to the Venezuelan bishops?
-The whole visit was carried out in a very simple way, but with great depth, especially in the reflections we held in each of the dicasteries. It has been a real impulse for the action of the Church in Venezuela in terms of evangelization, the sense of communion, the sense of service to charity, and the sense of formation.
The audience with the Holy Father lasted about two and a half hours. His last request, which filled us with great joy. He asked us to be close to the people: to always stay close to them, to never abandon the people of God in spite of the problems that may arise at the social, political, economic, cultural, religious or any other level.

The authorMarcos Pantin

Caracas

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Synod: an invitation to walk together

The work of the XV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, dedicated to the theme of young people, faith and vocational discernment, concluded a few days ago, and it is to this event that we have reserved the opening Dossier of this issue.

Giovanni Tridente-November 19, 2018-Reading time: 2 minutes

An intense month in which more than 300 synod fathers and auditors discussed the possibility of renewing the face of the Church based on the needs, concerns and dreams of the new generations, in order to accompany them on the path of life and receive from them an evangelizing impulse.

Here are three important contributions from people who have closely followed the work of the Assembly on the three cardinal aspects of its work: youth dynamism, the importance of vocational discernment and the renewal of pastoral ministry. The authors are Chiara Giaccardi, who worked on the drafting of the final document; Gonzalo Meza, a priest and journalist, who closely followed the communication of the work; and Giuseppe De Virgilio, also a collaborator with the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. Another article highlights the most salient aspects of the final document, which appeared when the magazine was already at the printing stage, and some of the complementary events that characterized the journey of the assembly, including the canonizations of October 14, among them those of Pope Paul VI and Archbishop Oscar Romero.

A PATH WITH YOUNG PEOPLE, FOR A GENERATIVE CHURCH

TEXT - Chiara Giaccardi. Professor of Sociology at the Catholic University of Sacro Cuore in Milan; collaborator of the Special Secretary of the Synod of Bishops.

A new style for a generative Church, which places young people at the center, assumes their attention and lets them go with responsibility to bring their contribution to the new evangelization. This is one of the aspects that, according to sociologist Chiara Giaccardi, emerged in the course of the Synodal Assembly, which also saw young people become its protagonists.

The Church in these days walks with young people, and entrusts them with the task of helping her rebirth: young people as "mayeutas" of a new Church, of a pastoral conversion more necessary than ever, after so many sexual and financial scandals, but more simply after so much tiredness or intellectualism that...

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50 years of Sant'Egidio: "friends of God, of the poor and of peace".

Months before May '68, on February 7, Andrea Riccardi started the Sant'Egidio movement in Rome with a group of students. Fifty years have passed, and the Pope has encouraged them to continue being "friends of God, of the poor and of peace", in the words of their leader in Madrid, Tíscar Espigares.

Rafael Miner-November 18, 2018-Reading time: 5 minutes

A little over a month ago, Tíscar Espigares, the person who started the Sant'Egidio community in Madrid in 1988, emotionally attended a Eucharist of thanksgiving for the 50th anniversary of the movement, celebrated in the Almudena Cathedral by the Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid, Carlos Osoro.
They were accompanied by the President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia; the Nuncio of His Holiness in Spain, Monsignor Renzo Fratini; Auxiliary Bishop José Cobo; the Nuncio of His Holiness in Spain, Monsignor Renzo Fratini; vicars and priests.

There were many lay people, families and children from the Peace Schools, the elderly, refugees, new Europeans, the Youth for Peace, and a multitude of friends and representatives of various institutions and other religions.

Espigares, as head of the movement in the Spanish capital, addressed everyone. We will continue to be "friends of God, of the poor and of peace," he said. "Friendship is a word of great value for Sant'Egidio and the bond that unites everyone with this community present in Madrid. Friendship with the poor has helped us to be both realists and dreamers. Realists because they make us see reality as it is, often with great harshness; but also dreamers because their pain pushes us every day to fight and dream so that the world may change".

Tíscar thanked in a special way Andrea Riccardi, founder of Sant'Egidio "for his great love for the Word of God, a love that he has always transmitted to us with great passion, and that has made it possible for this family of Sant'Egidio to grow here in Madrid".

The Cardinal Archbishop of Madrid, Carlos Osoro, denounced in his homily that "the greatest scandal of this world" is "to remain impassive before the misery and injustice of millions of human beings, the aggressiveness, the violence, the destructive disqualifications, the wars, the experience of millions of men and women without work, without wages". And he thanked the Community of Sant'Egidio for combating these situations with works and words from the "radicalism of the following of Jesus Christ".

The Pope in Trastevere

But the highlight of the celebration of 50 years for the Community of Sant'Egidio, on a global scale, was the Pope's emotional visit to the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, of which the Cardinal of Madrid is the titular.

There, in March, the Holy Father addressed the Founder, the leaders and all those present in connection with the international movement: "You did not want to make this feast just a celebration of the past, but also and above all a joyful manifestation of responsibility for the future. This makes us think of the Gospel parable of the talents [...]. Each one of you, whatever your age, is also given at least one talent. In it is written the charism of this community, a charism that, when I came here in 2014, I summed up in these words: prayer, poor and peace. The three 'p's."

The Holy Father referred to the sowing of friendship: "By walking in this way you help to make compassion grow in the heart of society - which is the true revolution, that of compassion and tenderness - to make friendship grow instead of the ghosts of enmity and indifference".

Upon his arrival, Francis thanked everyone for the welcome, with special mention to Andrea Riccardi and Marco Impagliazzo: "I am happy to be here with you on the fiftieth anniversary of the Community of Sant'Egidio. From this Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, the heart of your daily prayer, I would like to embrace your communities scattered throughout the world. I greet you all, in particular Prof. Andrea Riccardi, who had the happy intuition of this path, and the President Prof. Marco Impagliazzo for the words of welcome".

The Pope was moved by the testimony of Jafar, a 15-year-old refugee who fled Syria with his mother and arrived in Italy from Lebanon in one of the humanitarian corridors promoted by the institution. Shrapnel from a bomb that fell in Damascus blinded his mother as she tried to protect her other young son.

With great force, the Vatican correspondents assure us, the Holy Father encouraged them to "continue to be close to the elderly, sometimes discarded, who are your friends. Continue to open new humanitarian corridors for refugees from war and hunger! The poor are your treasure!

Humanitarian corridors

One of the initiatives for which the Sant'Egidio movement is best known are, as the Pope recalled, the humanitarian corridors in aid of migrants and refugees. The Pope said during his visit to Trastevere: "For many people, especially the poor, new walls have been erected. Diversities are occasions of hostility and conflict. We still need to build a globalization of solidarity and of the spirit. The future of the global world is to live together: this ideal demands a commitment to build bridges, to keep dialogue open, to continue to meet".
He also referred to "the great fears in the face of the vast dimensions of globalization" and that fears "are often concentrated against those who are foreign, different from us, poor, as if they were an enemy".

These corridors have allowed in these years to legally transfer to Italy hundreds of refugees coming from countries in conflict, especially Syria. It is a project promoted by Sant'Egidio, the Federation of Evangelical Churches and the Valdese Church, which offers people fleeing their countries in conflict legal and safe ways to reach Europe, preventing them from getting into the hands of human traffickers.

Once in the Old Continent, they receive daily assistance, live in parishes, religious institutes, private apartments or with families, learn the language and customs, and begin a process of social and work integration in the host country.

The first agreement of these humanitarian corridors was signed in Italy in December 2015 and allowed until 2017 to bring to the transalpine country one thousand refugees. The pact was renewed with the Italian authorities to repeat this figure again until 2019.

Following Pope Francis, the Community of Sant'Egidio has assured over the years that "we cannot allow the Mediterranean Sea to become a wall, a wall of water that engulfs the lives of men, women and children", "nor a new cemetery of Europe", in the Pope's words.

To sum up, the reality of Sant'Egidio is not limited to the corridors. We must remember here the peace agreements in several countries (Mozambique is emblematic), and the maintenance of the spirit of Assisi - interreligious prayer meetings initiated by St. John Paul II -, the help to thousands of poor people in many places - Sant'Egidio is present in seventy countries -, the training programs for thousands of young people in nations and cities in crisis...

The poor are family
Initiatives around the world have multiplied. Tíscar Espigares, a young university student in 1988, now a biologist and professor of ecology in Alcalá, started out in Madrid with some friends "taking affection and friendship - because we had nothing - to the Pan Bendito neighborhood, where the Toledo road starts: there were many problems, drug addiction...". It was the first Peace School in the capital of Madrid.

Today, the service can be provided to thousands of people, as in Rome and in so many cities around the world, in the same spirit: "For us, the poor are family, they are not just bodies to clothe, to feed, they are people with the same needs we have, of affection, friendship, dignity, someone to call you by name. It is very important. And we would get together to pray. It was the School of Peace, which is the name we give to this service," he explains to Palabra in the vicinity of the church of Nuestra Señora de las Maravillas, in Madrid's Calle del 2 de Mayo. If you want to know more, go there.

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Paul VI, from the Second Vatican Council to dialogue with the world

Ecumenical impulse and pastoral renewal of the Council, ecclesial reforms, dialogue with everyone, meeting with Patriarch Athenagoras I, historic interventions at the UN, Bombay or Medellin, and encyclicals such as Ecclesiam Suam, Populorom Progressio or Humanae Vitae. Such was the pontificate of Paul VI, a person of deep prayer and serene reflection.

Mª Teresa Compte Grau-October 15, 2018-Reading time: 7 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsThe mystery of Paul VI

"The pontificate of Paul VI has already been defined before History, whatever its final results, whether it fails or triumphs, since, in any case, it will be the pontificate of a Pope who truly tried to dialogue with all men.". These words were written by the philosopher and friend of Paul VI, Jean Guitton, in his book Dialogues with Paul VIpublished in 1967.
It was the first time that a Pope had openly dialogued with a layman. And, in this case, with a layperson to whom he L'Osservatore RomanoThe Pope's newspaper, the Pope's newspaper, had reproached him for daring to write a book about the Virgin Mary. But the Pope did not mind. He had taken seriously the Church-world dialogue and the role of the laity within the Church.

Biographical sketch

Born on September 26, 1897, Giovani Battista Montini grew up in the heat of journalistic and political battles. His father, Giorgio Montini, a journalist and lawyer, was also a member of parliament for the Popular Party founded by Dom Sturzo and president of Catholic Action. At the age of 23, Montini was ordained a priest; at 25 he joined the Secretariat of State and only a year later was assigned to Poland. On his return to Rome, and from his work in the Secretariat of State, he developed a close and trusting relationship with Cardinal Pacelli. When Pacelli became Pope in 1939, Montini became, together with Cardinal Tardini, one of Pius XII's closest collaborators.

In 1954, Pius XII appointed Montini archbishop of Milan. From this archdiocese, he engaged in numerous meetings with workers and trade unions, politicians, artists and intellectuals, which earned him the first criticisms of those who always looked at him with suspicion for being liberal and progressive. It was John XXIII who named him cardinal in December 1958, which took him on several occasions to Africa and the United States. In 1961, when John XXIII had already announced the convocation of the Second Vatican Council, he was appointed to the Central Preparatory Commission, as well as a member of the Commission for Extraordinary Affairs. Only two years later, in 1963, he was elected Pope.

Renovation and refurbishment

They say that when John XXIII announced the convocation of the Second Vatican Council, Montini, then Archbishop of Milan, exclaimed: "This boy doesn't know what a hornet's nest he's stirring up.". It was up to Paul VI, beginning in June 1963, to make it possible for the convocation made four years earlier by John XXIII to bear fruit, and fruit that would last. And so it was Paul VI who made possible the culmination of the Second Vatican Council and its closure in December 1965. And if this task was arduous, the task of accompanying, encouraging and guiding the enormous work that was the post-conciliar period would be no less so.

To Paul VI we owe the ecumenical impulse and the pastoral renewal of Vatican II, the ecclesial reforms in the area of synodality, the creation of the Episcopal Conferences, as well as the reforms of papal elections and the definitive liturgical reform encouraged by the Council. The reforms that Paul VI was orienting towards the interior of the Catholic Church were accompanied by very important reforms also with regard to Church-world relations according to the teachings of the pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes.

Paul VI was the Pope of dialogue, as his first Encyclical testifies Ecclesiam Suam (1964). He was the first Pope to make international trips. Let us recall his visit to the United Nations Organization on the 20th anniversary of its foundation, his speech at the ILO headquarters during his trip to Switzerland, as well as his trips to Bombay, on the occasion of the International Eucharistic Congress, and to Medellin to celebrate the II General Assembly of the EC. We cannot forget his transcendental trip to the Holy Land in which he met with the Patriarch of Constantinople Athenagoras I and with whom he expressed his firm commitment to the path of ecumenism, or his trips to Uganda, Iran, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Indonesia, among others.

Paul VI instituted the World Day of Peace, created the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, redirected the Social Doctrine of the Church along the lines initiated by the Second Vatican Council, reformed Vatican Diplomacy, deepened the Ostpolitik The first of his six cardinal consistories was held during the pontificate of John XXIII, in which he deepened the internationalization of the cardinalate, just as his predecessors had done.

The Pope's presence and encouragement at the III World Congress of the Secular Apostolate, a meeting of great value for the Spanish laity, which was plunged into a deep crisis as a result of episcopal resistance to deepen the autonomy of the laity, or the convening of the first Vatican Commission for the study of women in the early seventies, should be taken into account.

Paul VI was a reforming Pope who in fifteen years of Pontificate published six encyclicals, fourteen apostolic exhortations, and more than one hundred apostolic letters. Among all his magisterial documents, his first encyclical stands out, Ecclesiam Suampublished on August 6, 1964; Populorum Progressiopublished on March 26, 1967 and, most certainly, Humanae Vitaepublished on July 25, 1968.
In addition to these three major documents, there are two others that have had a significant impact on the general public: the apostolic exhortation Evangeli Nuntiandipublished on December 8, 1975, and the apostolic letter Octogesima Adveniens which, in commemoration of the encyclical Rerum Novarum of Leo XIII, was published on May 14, 1971.

A look at his Magisterium

Ecclesiam Suamknown as the encyclical of dialogue, is, in a way, the one that marks the pontificate of Paul VI, if we follow, among others, the words of the philosopher Jean Guitton that appear at the beginning of these pages. Paul VI believed and worked from the Papacy so that the encounter between the Church and the world, in the theological-doctrinal wake of Vatican II, would allow a reciprocal knowledge from which sincere relations of friendship could spring.

Paul VI firmly believed in dialogue as a way and a style that allows us to seek the truth in others and in ourselves. Clarity, gentleness, trust and prudence are the characteristics of a colloquy that allows one to make oneself understood from humility and that is only possible if one trusts fully in one's own word and in the acceptance of the other in order to advance on the path of truth.

It is from the logic of dialogue that Paul VI advanced in his social Magisterium. Dialogue with the world requires being attentive to the signs of the times and to the injustices that compromise human dignity. Populorum Progressio, the "magna carta del desarrollo".is a response to the appeal that the Second Vatican Council makes to the whole Church, especially in its pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes (GS), so that he may respond to the joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties of the men and women of his time.

The decade of the 1960s, rich in contrasts and paradoxes, made the world aware of the profound imbalances and inequalities between a rich world of stability and wealth and an impoverished world in which human beings lacked the most basic goods for their survival. In a world in which the logic of economic growth prevailed, Populorum Progressio dared to question the new developmentalist gospel. If economic growth is necessary, wrote the Pope, recalling GS, if our world needs technicians, he added, it needs even more men of profound reflection who seek a new humanism. Development, true development for all human beings and for all peoples, is the passage from less human conditions of life to more human conditions of life. For the raison d'être of development does not lie in having, but in being and, therefore, in the full development of the vocation to which each and every one of us is called.

And Christianity serves this task, the task of full humanization. As the Exhortation states Evangelii Nuntiandi, "(...) between Evangelization and human promotion (development, liberation) there are indeed very strong links. Links of an anthropological order, because the man to be evangelized is not an abstract being, but a being subject to social and economic problems. Links of a theological order, because the plan of creation cannot be dissociated from the plan of redemption that reaches very concrete situations of injustice to be fought and justice to be restored".. Because salvation and sanctification, let us not forget, also involve freeing ourselves from those situations of injustice that impede the full development of our humanity or, which is the same thing, the full development of our vocation which, in the last analysis, is the call to sanctification.

The good press enjoyed by the three documents mentioned above seemed to be overshadowed by the publication of the Encyclical Humanae Vitae. Historical and cultural reasons explain why all the focus on this document was on the question of the morality or immorality of artificial means for making responsible decisions on the issue of parenthood. I sincerely believe that this is unfair. And that the injustice was committed and continues to be committed, in equal parts, by those who continue to insist on reducing this document to this issue when, in fact, it deals with preliminary questions.

Paul VI spoke of conjugal love, the transmission of life and the care of life. Humanae Vitae was a document sequestered for decades that deeply marked Pope Paul VI and that has also profoundly marked the Catholic Church inwardly. The question deserves, after the attention that Pope Francis has devoted to it on its 50th anniversary, a new look in a world in which human life risks being reduced to a force whose value resides in its productivity and, therefore, in the benefits and profitability that it can produce.

Friendships and dialogue

Perhaps it would be worthwhile to reread Humanae Vitae in the light of what only three years later Paul VI published in Octogesima Adveniens with regard to the technocratic paradigm and the invasive mode that scientific-technical reason deploys on human existence. In essence, this same critique was the underlying one in Populorum Progressio in denouncing developmentalism based on technical mastery and economic growth. Approaching the question of human life from these perspectives would help us today to link human life and social justice in order to better respond to the anxieties and sorrows, the joys and joys of the women and men of our time.

Paul VI, as some have maliciously maintained, was not a Hamlettian Pope, but a man of deep prayer and serene reflection, who cultivated the friendship of philosophers and intellectuals. He was a friend who wept and pleaded at the kidnapping and assassination of Aldo Moro, who knew how to meet and dialogue with those who, apparently or avowedly, were far from the Christian faith and the Catholic Church, a man of deep Marian devotion who liked to recite the beautiful verses of Canto XXXIII of the Divine Comedy and who say thus: "Vergine Madre, figlia del tuo figlio, umile e alta più che creatura, termine fisso d'etterno consiglio, Donna, se' tanto grande e tanto vali, che qual qual vuol grazia e a te non ricorre, sua disïanza vuol volar sanz' ali. In te misericordia, in te pietate, in te magnificenza, in te s'aduna quantunque in creatura è di bontate". (Dante, Divine Comedy, Canto XXXIII): "Virgin Mother, daughter of your Son, humble and loftier than any other creature, fixed term of the eternal counsel. Lady, you are so great and worth so much, that he who desires graces and does not accept you, his desire wants him to fly without wings. In you mercy, in you pity, in you magnificence, in you all that is good in the creature is united". (Dante, Divine Comedy, Canto XXXIII).

The authorMª Teresa Compte Grau

Paul VI Foundation

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My experience of an aspect of Archbishop Romero's life

The canonization of Monsignor Romero is very close. Cardinal Rosa Chávez, Auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador, had the opportunity and the pleasure of sharing moments of his life with the Salvadoran priest. Thus, he documents some aspects of the life of Oscar Romero, from his personal knowledge and from a source of great richness, still to be explored: the notes that Romero took during his spiritual retreats.

Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez-October 11, 2018-Reading time: 7 minutes

I have thought several times if it would be interesting to share my experience with Monsignor Romero on a specific point: his relationship with Opus Dei.

I intend to offer only a few snippets and details that only I know and I think it is worth sharing them on the eve of his canonization. To do so, I will also use an almost unpublished source: his spiritual retreat notes from before he became bishop until a month before his assassination.

Monsignor Romero and Don Fernando

Father Óscar Romero, like all the bishops of the country at that time, received a visit from the then Father Fernando Sáenz Lacalle -Don Fernando- to ask him to put in writing his support for the canonization of the founder of Opus Dei. The laudatory text written by the future Archbishop of San Salvador is well known. By the way, when he was appointed bishop of Santiago de María, he subscribed all the priests of this small diocese to the magazine Word.

When I was a seminarian I accompanied Father Romero a couple of times to the Doble Vía Residence in San Salvador, where university students lived, mostly from the eastern part of the country, run by the Work. He was very close to the Work and had an Opus Dei priest as spiritual director. I believe the latter was Don Fernando and he consulted with him before accepting the election as auxiliary bishop of San Salvador. It is recorded that he asked Don Fernando for advice in relation to the Archbishop of that time, Luis Chávez y González and, above all, with his auxiliary Arturo Rivera Damas. And, on his part, the Nunciature entrusted him to be attentive to the actions of these prelates and to inform the Vatican in a timely manner if he noticed anything in the pastoral line of these hierarchs that was not in accordance with the norms of the Church.

Years later, when Monsignor Romero succeeded Monsignor Chávez in the archiepiscopal see, we entered a very different scenario: Monsignor Romero, in his programmatic pastoral letter The Easter Church (April 1977), praises his predecessor in a very beautiful way when he affirms that he holds the helm of the archbishop's ship "with the respect and delicacy of one who feels he has received a priceless inheritance to continue to carry and cultivate it across new and difficult horizons." (p. 5).

In the same pastoral letter, right in the middle of the text, he describes his utopia of the Church, taking it from the Medellin documents: "May the face of a Church that is authentically poor, missionary and paschal, detached from all temporal power and boldly committed to the liberation of the whole man and of all men and women become ever clearer". (Youth, 15). The word "paschal" appears in capital letters in the text. We are at the beginning of his archiepiscopal ministry and he has already had to pick up the corpse of the first murdered priest, Father Rutilio Grande.
He made that utopia a reality, signing it with his blood: he left us a martyrial Church, free from all power and totally committed to the poor and the suffering. Monsignor Romero was, as the bull of beatification says, "pastor according to the heart of Christ, evangelizer and father of the poor, heroic witness of the Kingdom of God".

Pope Francis himself completed this beautiful description of the witness of Christ the following day, at the hour of Regina Coeliby pointing out that "this diligent shepherd, following the example of Jesus, chose to be in the midst of his people, especially the poor and the oppressed, even at the cost of his life." (May 24, 2015).

We are at the beginning of three dramatic years marked by a deep polarization even within the Church. In El Salvador, "rereadings" of Medellin abounded; it is good to remember this when we have just celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of this capital event for the Church in Latin America. And it is opportune to underline that only in this continent was there an official "reception" of the conciliar documents. It was a time when nuances hardly existed: "You have to define yourself."said the most radical apostles of liberation, "either you are with the oppressed people or you are with the oppressors.".

It was with this reality that the venerable pastor had to struggle. And in this context he confided to me that he was receiving strong pressure to force Opus Dei to assume fully those approaches, which some considered "the archdiocesan line".. In spite of everything, Monsignor Romero maintained his friendship and relationship with the members of the Work, listening attentively to their observations and suggestions. Proof of this is that on the day of his death he had spent the whole morning, at the invitation of Don Fernando, who came to pick him up at the archbishopric, by the sea. They were accompanied by several priests and they devoted themselves mainly to studying documents related to priestly formation. Upon returning from the trip, Monsignor Romero went to the Jesuit house in Santa Tecla and went to confession. This is recorded by several testimonies, the most reliable being that of his confessor, the Jesuit Segundo Azcue. An hour later the sacrilegious murder took place.

Opus Dei appeared again on the scene when, after the unexpected death of Monsignor Arturo Rivera Damas, Romero's immediate successor, Monsignor Fernando Saenz Lacalle, who was born in Spain but arrived in El Salvador recently ordained as a priest, was elected Archbishop of San Salvador. Let us remember that the first reaction of many people was not favorable to Monsignor Saenz. In this context, the magazine Word published a brief note by Rutilio Silvestri in which he argued that it was obvious that the charge fell precisely on one of the best friends of the murdered pastor, since for a long time he had been his confidant and even his spiritual director. It would be interesting to critically explore this facet of the priest and bishop Oscar Romero, as well as his relationship with the Work during the three years of his intense and difficult shepherding of this portion of the Church of God.

The spirituality of Opus Dei in the spiritual writings of Monsignor Romero

As an initial contribution, I will turn to a practically unpublished source: his spiritual retreat notes, which cover the period from 1966, when he was not yet a bishop, to the retreat he made a month before his death, in February 1980. These notes are now available to the public, although still in selective form. They total 324 pages. On each page we find the notes written in his own handwriting and, at the top, the transcription in block letters to facilitate the reading of the handwritten text.

In the retreat he made on the shores of Lake Ilopango in September 1968 (the previous year he had celebrated his silver jubilee as a priest), there were several allusions to The Way, the famous little book of St. Josemaría. In the meditation on sin he notes these resolutions:
"More inner life, more service to others. Negatively: strategy. Moving away from danger (Camino). Plan of life. Fight venial sin: be perfect. Longing for reparation and penance (The Way). Time for spirituality (...). I will die. Autumn... I will be a dead leaf (The Way). Humility. The world will go on. No one remembers those who have passed". And in making an examination of conscience, he notes: "Most importantly, an act of love (Camino)".

In these detailed notes, we find at the end several references to the magazine Wordone while meditating on the Gospel of Martha and Mary (The Way: The Tabernacle in Bethany). In the final part he transcribes this quote from a letter of the Prelate written in 1950: "Each one must sanctify his profession, sanctify himself in his profession, sanctify with his profession.". There is even room for an anecdote of St. Josemaría, which he told in a talk when he heard that his mother had just died: "The mother of the priest must die three hours after the son.".

From November 10 to 14, 1969, he participated in the retreat preached by Father Juan Izquierdo, of Opus Dei. At this time, Romero was serving as Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of El Salvador and could only be present intermittently because he had to fulfill tasks entrusted to him by Monsignor Pedro Arnoldo Aparicio, president of the episcopate. However, he is disappointed that there is not an adequate climate for an encounter with God: "Lack of recollection. The 'mancha brava' definitely broke the silence... I interrupted my retreat on the 11th, which I dedicated everything to prepare the agenda [...]. On the 12th, I wake up again in Apulo. I will do what I can these three days".. E

n the next page, write down briefly: "January 26 (1970). Confession with Father Xavier"..
A few lines below we find this sentence, written on April 21, 1970: "The Nuncio notifies me of the Pope's will. I must respond tomorrow. Consultation with Father Fernando".. The next day he writes down what the latter tells him; it is worth transcribing it in full: "Positive elements: line of spiritual direction. a) Faced with the basic problem: take it as sacrifice, expiation and take seriously the amendment: escape from occasions, intense life of prayer and mortification. b) Faced with the temptation of triumphalism: see it as a serious responsibility, a service that is not easy, a work in the presence of God. c) Faced with the temptation of faint-heartedness: see it as work before God, service and guidance to millions of souls. The Good Shepherd gives his life for his sheep"..

Next, dated June 8, 1970 (Colegio Belén), he writes: "On April 21 (21 it had to be!) at about 6 p.m. the Nuncio notified me of my designation as auxiliary bishop to Archbishop Archbishop. I was to respond the following day. I consulted Fr. Sáenz, Dr. Dárdano, Fr. Navarrete".. Below is a brief summary of what each of the respondents tells you.

A safe guide in the midst of the storm

What he wrote down below marked the novice bishop with fire: "The Plenary Assembly of the Episcopate of Central America and Panama in Antigua Guatemala: May 27 - June 2. Plenary Assembly of the Episcopate of Central America and Panama in Antigua Guatemala. A true grace of the first order: living together with so many good bishops, the reflection of Bishop (Eduardo) Pironio, the liturgy, my work...".

The beloved Argentinean bishop, whose cause for canonization was introduced several years ago, preached the retreat in the Vatican in 1974 at the invitation of Pope Paul VI. He repeated the same retreat the following year, in July, before the bishops of the Central American Isthmus in Antigua Guatemala. Monsignor Romero was at that time assistant secretary of SEDAC (Episcopal Secretariat of Central America) and he took detailed notes of each of the twelve meditations preached by Pironio.

There Monsignor Romero understood the true meaning of Medellin as a salvific event that embodies in the dramatic Latin American reality the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. And there he strengthened a friendship that would turn the Argentinean bishop into his advisor, his confidant and even into his tears cloth in each of the visits that the martyred archbishop would make to the Vatican. This appears clearly in the Diary of Monsignor Romero and is known to all.

May these lines serve to better understand the first Salvadoran saint. May the aroma of his holiness - rosemary is an aromatic plant - spread throughout the world.

The authorCardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez

Auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador

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Kerstin Ekbladh: Let us not be ashamed "to be known as Christians".

Kerstin Ekbladh, a Lutheran woman who worked for 28 years in the Swedish national electricity company and has been a deacon in the Lutheran Church since 2005, will be received into the Catholic Church in December in Malmö. In the interview she points out that there are more and more conversions in her country, that some friends comment that "in a couple of generations of Popes we will all be one Church."and that "many people seem to have everything they need in life, and they don't feel they need God".

Richard Hayward-October 1, 2018-Reading time: 2 minutes

She has been a deacon in the Swedish Church, and now she has decided to become a Catholic. I meet Kerstin Ekbladh at Our Savior's Church, where she will be received into the Catholic Church in a few weeks.

When I arrive at the church, he is outside chatting with a former colleague of his from the Swedish Church, who happened to be passing by at the time. He seems a bit surprised by Kerstin's decision to become a Catholic, but wishes her good luck.

Could you tell us something about yourself? Where you were born, what religion you were raised in, when you became a Lutheran deaconess, or if you are married or single.

-I was born in 1955 in Limhamn, Malmö, and I am an only child. My parents attended church once or twice a year, for example at Christmas and Easter, but they were not particularly religious. However, they were very supportive and made me feel safe. As a result, I did not go to church very often, although I was baptized and confirmed in the Swedish Church. Then, later, a fellow married to a priest in the Swedish Church invited me to sing in the church choir. I enjoyed it so much that I think I can say that I sang for myself through church, liturgy and faith.

I got a teaching degree, but then I worked for 28 years in something quite different, Elverket, national electricity company. But around the year 2000 changes were made in the company, and we were all laid off and had to look for new jobs. In my case, I finally started teaching at a Christian elementary school in Malmö.

One day, when I was talking to one of our priests, he suggested that I could work in the Swedish Church. I liked the idea and trained to become a församlingspedagog (parish educator). And a few years later, on September 4, 2005, I was ordained a deacon (when it happened, exactly 50 years had passed since my baptism).

I have never been married. In a sense, you could say I've been "married" to music and songs. And I have always had many friends, both at work and outside of work. I know a lot of Catholics, and one of my best friends is a very active Catholic in the parish. And whenever I accompanied her to Catholic services, I always felt very comfortable with the liturgy.

Most Swedes are Lutherans. The Catholic bishop of Stockholm, Cardinal Anders Arborelius, has pointed out in Word that the number of Catholics in Sweden is increasing, due to immigrants and conversions. What attracted you to Catholicism?

-Yes, I agree that more and more people are converting to the Catholic Church. A priest in the Swedish Church who has been very close to my family recently told me that all of his children, their spouses and grandchildren had become Catholic.

In my case, I think I can say that I have lived the spirit of Catholicism without realizing it. I have always felt very inspired by Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

I started going to Bible study sessions led by Björn Håkonsson (a Catholic deacon) in the 1990s; at that time that meant traveling 80 kilometers from Malmö to Helsingborg, where the classes took place. Now the classes are held here in Malmö.

The authorRichard Hayward

Malmö (Sweden)

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Liturgy and education in affectivity

Together with prayer and spiritual combat, the liturgy is an important means for the formation of the Christian's personality.

October 1, 2018-Reading time: 6 minutes

How does the liturgy help to form the personality, authentic values, affectivity?
Together with prayer and spiritual combat (cf. Exhortation Gaudete et exsultate, chapter V, nn. 150-175), the liturgy is an important means for the formation of the Christian's personality. Today many are unaware of this. Education in the faith requires a good liturgical and catechetical-sacramental ("mystagogical") formation.

In a book by Dietrich von Hildebrand ("Liturgia y personalidad", ed. Fax, Madrid 1963), written in the thirties, this German philosopher provides arguments that are still current today. He stresses that the formation of the personality is not the primary purpose of the liturgy. The purpose of the liturgy is the glory and praise of God and, derivatively, that of imploring God's graces. At the same time, the liturgy, when well lived, has a pedagogical effect on people: it transforms our interior and opens us to the values (valuable contents) that are presented to us in the liturgy so that we can make them our own: the glorification of God the Father, the revelation of the face of Christ, the action of his Spirit on us, precisely to transform us into Christ.

The liturgy - he continues - teaches us to respond appropriately, also with our affections - wonder and gratitude, desire and joy, enthusiasm and love - to those objective values (it is not a matter of "likes") that are offered to us in the Mass and the other sacraments; values that have to do with God and his works (the creation of the world, the redemption and sanctification of man). It is not, therefore, a matter of subjectivist pleasures, but of a response to what is valuable in itself.

The difference between the egocentric man and the theocentric man depends on this capacity for response on our part, which the liturgy educates. The former, in its most radical version, is dominated by pride and concupiscence: he is blind, indifferent or hostile to values and above all to God. In other cases, the egocentric person - even if he possesses a certain spirituality - may help another person or even turn to God. But he does so for a "moral" purpose, to grow spiritually himself, and not out of love for others or for love of God.

The egocentric person, if he repents of a wrong committed or stops before the beauty of a moral value that he discovers in another person or before the greatness of God, will do so as if he were savoring his own (and not entirely true) "piety", in order to "deserve more" or to "become more perfect", instead of giving himself totally to that which is worthwhile in itself. And then, precisely because of this selfish reaction, he is deprived of an authentic transformation.

Therefore-and these are reflections that we can use today to form those who participate in the sacraments-a good liturgical education also teaches us to free ourselves from what Pope Francis calls worldliness or spiritual corruption (cf. Exhort. Evangelii Gaudium, nn. 93-97; Exhort. Gaudete et exsultate, nn. 164-165). This is so, because the most important thing in the liturgy is not what we do, but what God does.

Hildebrand explains that those who are formed in the spirit of the liturgy (in prayers, acclamations and chants, gestures and words) will be inclined to give an adequate response to everything precious: the beauty of created nature, the moral beauty of neighborly love..., as a radiance of God's glory. All this, as a joyful gratitude and a happy acceptance. Not as a painful demand of those who feel obliged to such a response. Not out of selfishness, but out of love. A love that is fulfilled in Eucharistic communion, for Christ has promised: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him" (Jn 6:56). It will not be egocentric but theocentric.

At the same time, the German philosopher warns of a mistaken vision of theocentrism, on the other extreme: to think that only that of God is of value, while "our own", the personal, "our" thanksgivings and acts of adoration or sacrifices (we could add: our works, the joys and sorrows of ordinary life) would have no value.

In the face of this, a good liturgical education - through a true spirit of prayer: giving thanks, asking forgiveness, uniting ourselves to the will of God - teaches us a whole hierarchy of values: it teaches us what the different realities (friendship, the beauty of creatures, etc.) are worth before God and for the love of God. It teaches us that, through the values of reality (of its authentic values), God calls us continually. It removes us from an attitude - frequent at least in his time, according to the author - of mere spectators or aesthetes who remain contemplating a "beautiful" or "interesting" thing, without feeling challenged by what the liturgy is really worth.

Looking at our situation today, we would have to recognize that, since the liturgy is so unknown and undervalued, many are deprived of this education in affectivity and in the values proper to a Christian. To this we could add the rediscovery, after Vatican Council II, of the sanctifying value of ordinary realities, when they are lived in a Christian spirit.

Indeed, the Council declared that, especially in the case of the lay faithful, "all their works, their prayers and apostolic initiatives, their married and family life, their daily work, their rest of soul and body, if done in the Spirit, and even the very trials of life if patiently borne, become spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Pet 2:5), which in the celebration of the Eucharist are piously offered to the Father together with the oblation of the Lord's body. In this way the laity, too, as worshippers who in every place act in a holy manner, consecrate the world itself to God" (Lumen Gentium, 34).

Returning to the reflections of our author on the need to respond adequately to objective values, among them those of the liturgy, Hildebrand is very clear: "Precisely in this internal adequacy with the objective hierarchy of values lies the mystery of true personality" (p. 90, emphasis added). As an example, he cites the Gospel character who sells all he has in order to obtain a single pearl of great value (cf. Mt 13:45-46). Not everything is worth the same. And this, he proposes, must then be translated into all levels of personal conduct: adoration of God, respect for others, the value of work well done, freedom and health, contact with nature and art, the meaning of material goods, the difference between pleasure and happiness, etc.

The philosopher argues that true personality is measured or defined by what we love, by the goods that attract us, by the ability to sacrifice what is worth less for what is worth more; ultimately, by the longing for God, which gives wings to our whole being and makes all values truly full. The liturgy - not only in the Mass but also, for example, in the "liturgical year," where some feasts give way to others that celebrate "what is most valuable," the central mysteries of the Christian faith - teaches us this hierarchy of values which, in the Christian perspective, objectively governs reality.
So much for Von Hildebrand's remarks.

Turning again to our own time, it is worth recalling how the now emeritus Pope Ratzinger has pointed out that in the liturgy, in addition to the mysteric aspect (the actualization of the Paschal Mystery of Christ's passion and resurrection), the existential aspect must be considered. That is, the fact that in receiving the Eucharist we cease to be separate individuals and become the Body of Christ - the Church: we are no longer many separate "I's", but united in the same "I" of Christ. This is why the liturgy is the heart of being Christian: because by opening ourselves to Christ we open ourselves to others and to the world, we break the original sin of selfishness and we can become truly just. The liturgy transforms us and with it begins the transformation of the world that God desires and of which he wants us to be instruments (cf. Meeting with the priests of the Diocese of Rome, 26-II-2009; Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, nn. Deus caritas est, nn. 12ff).

A few days ago, in a video message to an international congress of catechists, Francis reminded them that their task consists in "the communication of an experience and the witness of a faith that sets hearts on fire, because it stirs the desire to encounter Christ". And in the Christian life as a whole, education in the faith "finds its vital lymph in the liturgy and the sacraments". In the sacraments, whose center is the Eucharist, Christ becomes contemporary with the Church, and therefore with us:

"He makes himself close and near to all those who receive him in his Body and Blood, and makes them instruments of forgiveness, witnesses of charity to those who suffer, and active participants in creating solidarity among people and peoples". Thus "he acts and works our salvation, allowing us to experience from now on the beauty of the life of communion with the mystery of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" (Videomessage, 22-IX-2018). Thus we also see how the liturgy educates our values and our affections.

The authorRamiro Pellitero

Degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Santiago de Compostela. Professor of Ecclesiology and Pastoral Theology in the Department of Systematic Theology at the University of Navarra.

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