Life in the Woods: 200 Years of Henry D. Thoreau (1817-1868)

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Life in the Woods: 200 Years of Henry D. Thoreau (1817-1868)

This American transcendentalist thinker invites us to reflect on the community of human beings with nature. His book WaldenThe teachings of Aldo Leopold and Pope Francis invite us - although separated by more than a century - to change our behavior in this decisive area of life.

Jaime Nubiola-September 13, 2017-Reading time: 4 minutes

July 12 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Henry David Thoreau. He is an original thinker, a pioneer of ecology and the defense of the natural environment. Thoreau is for many a central element of the American identity.

The life of Thoreau, born in Concorde, Massachusetts, the son of a pencil maker, may seem unremarkable, but it is remarkable for its authenticity. He was a personal friend of prominent thinkers of his time, especially Ralph Waldo Emerson: both were members of the Transcendentalist Club. He devoted his whole life to thinking and writing, becoming a great essayist, poet and philosopher, author of numerous works in which he expounds his ideas on history, the relationship between nature and the human condition, the defense of abolitionism, and his critical stance against taxes or development.

Two of his works stand out for their important influence on today's world: the essay On the duty of civil disobedience (1849), in which he defends the right to insubordination in the face of an unjust state - which will profoundly influence Gandhi and Martin Luther King.- and the work Walden, or life in the woods (1854), a notable precedent of modern environmentalism, which helps to awaken today's concern for the relationship between human beings and the earth they inhabit.

In 1845 Thoreau moves to the shores of Walden Lake, a wooded lot owned by his friend Emerson, where he builds a small cabin where he lives for a little over two years, while he devotes himself to reading, writing and cultivating the land for his livelihood. It should be noted that he has no electricity or running water, although he is supported in his diet by his relatives and friends. Walden or life in the woods is the result of this personal challenge, of this experience of reflection and contemplation of nature. Thoreau himself puts it this way: "I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, to face only the essential facts of life, and to see if I could not learn what I had to teach, lest when I was about to die I should discover that I had not lived. I did not want to live what was not life; it is so expensive to live; [...] and if it [life in the woods] were mean, to get then all its genuine meanness, and publish to the world its meanness, or if it were sublime, to know it by experience and be able to give a true summary of it on my next outing." (p. 90).

What are these essential facts of life? Thoreau devotes several chapters at the beginning of the book to analyze and describe everyday matters such as clothing, furniture (only three chairs to accommodate no more than two people), the making of bread, the construction of his house, the planting of a vegetable garden. But little by little, he turns his attention to other subjects of his interest: the readings that accompany him, the visits he receives, the sounds, the solitude, the animals, the lagoon...

From the outset, Thoreau poses his back-to-nature experience not as a rejection of civilization, nor as a defense of wilderness, but as a search for an in-between territory that integrates nature and culture. He asks: "¿Would it not be possible to combine the robustness of savages with the intellectuality of civilized man?" (p. 24). For him, nature and the human being are closely related, in such a way that he goes so far as to affirm that he is part of nature and it is only in nature that he can discover himself. "This is a delightful sunset, when the whole body is one sense and absorbs delight from every pore. I come and go with strange freedom in Nature, being a part of herself." (p. 127), Thoreau beautifully describes. And he adds: "In the midst of a gentle rain, while prevailingían isI suddenly became aware of the existence of a sweet and beneficial society in Nature". (p. 128).

A thread of continuity can be seen between the first and the second. natural society of Thoreau, the ideas of Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) and those contained in the much more recent Laudato si' (2015). Leopold states in his masterpiece A Sand County Almanac (1949) that the earth is a community to which we belong. This concept - basic in ecology- implies a break with the idea of nature as something external to human beings, as something alien. On the contrary, Leopold proposes to consider the land as a community in which both the whole and each of the parts have value in its own right: the human being is nature that interprets and shapes the landscape.

As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of Thoreau's birth, the idea of the human being as a member of a biotic community helps us understand the role we must play in the conservation of nature. The teachings of the encyclical Laudato si' are a magnificent invitation to deepen our intimate community with the environment in which we live: "We forget that we ourselves are earth (cf. Gen 2:7). Our own body is made up of the elements of the planet, its air is what gives us breath and its water enlivens and restores us" (n. 2).

The invitation to a return to nature and its contemplation as a whole to which we belong turns the defense of the environment into a moral reflection on the meaning of life and a search for ourselves. This quest is capable of recovering the sacred meaning of nature and, simultaneously, of helping us to assume our responsibility as members of this community. The 200th anniversary of Henry D. Thoreau is an excellent occasion to think more deeply about this.

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Father S.O.S

Aging with health

Given that life expectancy is increasing, it is interesting to know which nutritional factors favor healthy aging in maturity and achieve a better quality of life. It is a matter of "adding life to years" as well as "adding years to life".

Pilar Riobó-September 13, 2017-Reading time: 3 minutes

The importance of diet in achieving longevity has been known for many years. Bacon, in the 17th century, highlighted the importance of frugal meals to reach an advanced age. The key could be summarized as avoiding obesity and associated diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. For a healthy life also in old age, it should be prevented throughout life, following the advice given in previous articles.

Over the years, lean mass decreases and fat increases, which, together with the decrease in metabolism, favors overweight and obesity. But the good news is that it appears that mild overweight in the elderly is associated with a lower risk of mortality compared to people of normal weight. However, obesity itself is associated with an increased mortality of 29 %. We do not yet know whether light overweight is really protective, or whether this result is due to the fact that the normal weight group includes people with chronic diseases, diseases that would be the cause of weight loss. In any case, unintentional weight loss in an older person indicates the need for a clinical evaluation to find out the cause.

If we are talking about dementias such as Alzheimer's disease, there is no nutrient that prevents it, but some studies indicate that a higher intake of antioxidants (mainly in fruits and vegetables) and fish throughout adult life reduces the risk of suffering it. Good control of hypertension and diabetes, if present, also protects against brain disease.

Lactose intolerance is also common in the elderly, which manifests itself with digestive discomfort (gas, abdominal pain...) after milk intake. In these cases it is effective to replace milk with yoghurts - in which the lactose has been fermented to lactic acid - so as not to compromise the calcium intake, since the lack of calcium favors osteoporosis, which is so frequent at this age, especially in women. In addition, the elderly often need vitamin D supplements, which acts synergistically with calcium at the bone level.

In the elderly we also often see cases of malnutrition, caused by circumstances associated with age. On the one hand, alterations in taste and smell decrease appetite, and there may be dental problems that prevent proper chewing. There may also be physical disabilities that make it difficult to buy and prepare food. In this case, help from other people or collective canteens may be the solution.

The elderly often take several medications (polypharmacy) that can have side effects (nausea, vomiting, etc.) that interfere with nutrition. Nor should we forget loneliness and psychological disorders, such as depression, which also favor malnutrition situations.

As for vitamin deficiencies, it is not uncommon to find low levels of vitamin B12 in some elderly people. It is usually due to the fact that the absorption of this vitamin is hindered due to age, and sometimes also to the use of drugs that reduce its bioavailability, such as metformin (used by diabetics) and omeprazole and similar (widely used by people with gastric discomfort). The deficiency of this vitamin B12 can cause anemia, and also a dementia that can be reversible with the contribution of this vitamin. It is found mainly in meat, and often the elderly eat little meat, due to chewing difficulties. In people with risk factors for deficiency of this vitamin, the physician may order a blood test to determine the level and, in case of deficiency, prescribe vitamin supplements.

The presence of anemia or iron deficiency in the elderly indicates that the cause of this deficiency should be sought, ruling out chronic blood loss through the digestive tract.

Even visual disturbances are related to diet. Senile cataracts are due to oxidative stress, induced by the action of the sun's ultraviolet rays, the onset of which can be delayed by a diet rich in antioxidants (again, fruits and vegetables).

The authorPilar Riobó

Medical specialist in Endocrinology and Nutrition.

Science

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Colonialist advances. Challenges and responses

The author recalls the call of Pope Francis to deny "the new ideological colonizations that seek to destroy the family".

Juan Ignacio Gonzalez Errazuriz-September 13, 2017-Reading time: 3 minutes

Pope Francis often uses the expression ideological colonization. He defines it as the attempt to impose on peoples ideologies that are alien to their principles. Latin America and Africa are today the territory of these conquests. That affirmation that our Dark America was the continent of hope has been fading in the face of the new colonization. The main "expeditions" colonizers come from the international organizations and the United Nations, which are the instruments of the new "mission".

U.S. liberalism, with power and money, is another ally that allocates its resources to the agenda. "civilizing". State funds for the IPPF (International Planned Parenthood Federation) and their Amerindian and African cronies are proof of this. The invaders have found good and effective accomplices, who work arduously in the imposition of the new ideas. Some are direct agents and others are semi-dormant cooperators, disarticulated in their original thinking, as is the case with the political parties of Christian roots, which have folded to the reforming tide. The colonizing movement is of ancient date. It comes from the rationalism of the eighteenth century, seasoned with the secularism of the twentieth, and seasoned with the relativism of the twenty-first. Those who yesterday brought us Christianity, now come to take it away from us.

The new colonialism has a great containment in the Catholic Church, which has opposed its designs, even though modern ideas have crept into its ranks and have dragged more than one theologian who today are the support of disruptive positions in its bosom. The Church under the guidance of Peter-Paul, John Paul, Benedict and Francis-has not wavered on the essential non-negotiable issues of human dignity, even if human doomsayers say that it is not worth fighting lost battles. To be fair, Protestant evangelicalism, too, broken down into thousands of groups, constitutes an anti-colonialist defense. It cannot, however, be assumed as a whole, because they have given way on some very important fundamentals such as the defense of the indissolubility of marriage, the acceptance of abortion, etc.

Family and gender ideology

The flags of struggle of the colonialist onslaught are well known. Starting from the rejection of any superior norm or principle, we would say the law of God and Christian morality, the colonial ships bear precise names; expansion of divorce and contraception everywhere, and of marriage between persons of the same sex; the spread of gender ideology, "the most artful attack on the Christian faith."The Pope told the Chilean bishops, to get to the adoption of children by homosexual couples; the attempt to take away from parents the education of their children, to leave it in the hands of the State; an exacerbated animalism, which puts the human being at the same level as the rest of the living, and all this supported with harsh laws of non-discrimination that try to stifle any dissidence before the colonial onslaught. Needless to say that attacks on the Church - overt or covert - are part of the invasion program, even when they are careful with the forms and promise not to touch it even with the petal of a rose. All this force counts on enormous economic resources for its deployment.

Pope Francis warns us: "Let us be attentive to the new ideological colonization of the world.óThere are ideological colonizations. There are ideological colonizationsóThey come from outside, that's why I say that they are colonizations. [...] They come from outside, that is why I say that they are colonizations. Let us not lose the freedom of the mission.óThe mission that God gives us, the mission ofóThe family's role in the family. And soí how our peoples at one point in their history came to the maturity to say 'no' to any colonization of the world.s website as a family, we have to be very, very shrewd, very honest, very honest.áand the weak, very strong to say 'no' to any attempt at colonization.s website ideology about the family". (Meeting with families, January 16, 2015).

How long can this onslaught last? Given the long incubation time, it is certain that it will last a long time. That is why it is necessary to ask ourselves how to effectively oppose it, in order to lessen its damage. The Pope himself has given us some clues: he has placed the woman, mother, wife and servant in the main line of defense of Christian values and, in particular, of the family. Her wisdom, intuition and capacity for sacrifice and endurance in hard times is the way not to be lost. Ensuring the development of popular piety, a mass Christian expression, which is able to survive any ideological attack, especially because of the presence in it of the Mother of God, who guides, cares for and encourages the people in their journey.

America is from one end to the other a land of Mary, under whose light rich and poor alike find their bearings in the darkness. Giving more and more attention to young people, who have the gift of prophecy, anticipate the future and are themselves the time to come. Encouraging dialogue between the new generations and our older adults, "the elders of the tribe"In this way, those who announce the future receive the memory of those who have already lived the past and thus transmit the values for the new times, which are none other than the perennial principles of Christianity.

The authorJuan Ignacio Gonzalez Errazuriz

Bishop of San Bernardo (Chile)

Pope Francis

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Where faith becomes culture

Raimundo Ramis García-September 13, 2017-Reading time: 2 minutes

Years ago, a professor of art history and I were talking about the magnificent and famous work of Caravaggio. The vocation of St. Matthew, that we had been able to contemplate serenely on the occasion of an end-of-year trip. Then, this good friend told me half jokingly, half seriously: "Who would have thought that I, who a few years ago was considered an unbeliever, would be explaining to my students what a vocation is, who the apostles were or what a publican was."

As a result of this conversation and the Letter to artists I realized that in my work as a religion teacher in the center where I work, I should not limit myself to offering the students the knowledge of Christian doctrine. I also had to help them discover the beauty of the faith through art and the different subjects that, in one way or another, by speaking to them about man, about history, speak to them about an essential element in the configuration of their lives, the religious fact.

The religious fact

According to teachers of other subjects, showing the religious fact from different aspects helps students to understand that the novel of their lives takes place in a cultural universe that can only be understood from Christian roots. From the beautiful churches that populate their landscapes, the festivals celebrated in their towns and cities, to the names that dress their streets.

Recognizing oneself as part of a culture helps to want to know more about its origins and even to propose to those new members of other societies with different cultures that in a frank and close dialogue they express their doubts, fears, or concerns. Dialogue that, of course, works in both directions.

Making students of religion understand that the Christian faith is a faith that through the centuries has become a culture, can help them discover with new eyes that face so often hidden from their eyes and that appears in their longing for fullness.

The authorRaimundo Ramis García

Teacher at Aitana School (Torrellano, Elche)

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The Holy Father's trip to Colombia

César Mauricio Velásquez-September 8, 2017-Reading time: 2 minutes

"Keep going. Do not let yourselves be robbed of joy and hope". This was Pope Francis' first message upon his arrival in Colombia. Former ambassador César Mauricio Velásquez analyzed this trip in Word, in the July-August issue.

Pope Francis returns to Latin America. This time he visits four cities in Colombia where the greatness and goodness of the continent is lived and reflected, but also its serious problems and challenges.

A continent of contrast: rich in natural and spiritual resources but at the same time with high rates of poverty, crime and exclusion. A region full of youth but threatened by drugs, unemployment and new cheap populisms that have degraded into 21st century dictatorships, full of ideology, blood and corruption in the name of the people.

Pope Francis will find a Colombia that seeks peace, but not at any price, not simply with decrees and papers as has been imposed. His message will have to raise points of unity, respect for institutions and commitment to the social doctrine of the Church and thus respond to the problems of inequality, violence and corruption. It will be a journey to the bottom of the problems generated by drugs and crime. Today, while the so-called peace agreement between the FARC and the Government is being implemented, coca crops are on the rise, from 40,000 hectares in 2010 to 180,000. A clear setback aggravated by other points of this negotiation that opens doors to the laundering of billions of dollars from drug traffickers and guerrillas, without much justice or truth. Reason why, among others, the no vote won in the plebiscite of October 2, 2016 and was later processed without legitimacy before Congress and without popular support.

Like his predecessors - St. John Paul II in 1986 and Blessed Paul VI in 1968 - Pope Francis will condemn the so-called "culture of death", that tendency and eagerness of some to be god in order to end the lives of others, not only with weapons and bombs, but also with abortion, euthanasia and corruption that robs the common good. In this sense, his voice will encourage personal change according to Christ, the only model capable of responding to the whole of existence, because there is no "low-cost" Christianity, as Francis has called it, reflecting on the mediocrity of trinket Christianity, incapable of participating in personal and social transformations. They will be four days of reflection, a visit that will help to refresh the spiritual life of millions of Colombians and to remember that inner peace is indispensable to achieve outer peace, because authentic reconciliation requires truth and justice, solid ground to be able to take a first step.

Pope Francis

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Jesus Christ at the center of Christian life and evangelization

Francis stressed the centrality of Christ in Christian life and mission. It is up to Christians to know, love and follow him.

Ramiro Pellitero-September 1, 2017-Reading time: 9 minutes

In its apostolic and programmatic exhortation Evangelii gaudium Pope Francis points out: "The risen and glorious Christ is the deepest source of our hope. His resurrection is not something of the past; it involves a force of life that has penetrated the world. [This is the power of the resurrection, and every evangelizer is an instrument of this dynamism. (EG, nn. 275-276). It is worth asking what kind of force this force is, how it translates into Christian life and how it influences evangelization. Joseph Ratzinger, towards the end of the section he devotes to the Resurrection in Jesus of NazarethThe author observes that it is not simply a matter of the reanimation of a corpse, nor of the appearance of a ghost or a spirit coming from the world of the dead. On the other hand, the encounters of the risen Jesus with his disciples are not phenomena of collective mysticism (cf. Jesus of Nazareth, IIRome-Madrid 2011, pp. 316 ff).

The Resurrection - the now Pope emeritus maintains - is a event real good, which happens in history and at the same time transcends history. It supposes a qualitative or ontological leap, a new dimension of human life, since a human body is transformed into a "cosmic body", as a place where people enter into communion with God and with each other, forming the mystery of the "cosmic body". the Church. Although the resurrection was not contemplated by any human being (it was not possible), the risen Christ was seen by a multitude of witnesses. At the same time the resurrection is an event discreetIt does not impose itself, but wants to reach people through the faith of the disciples and their witness, in such a way that it will inspire faith in others in the course of time.

The Mystery of Christ is the center of Christian life and of the Church. In its relationship with us, this center could be described by tracing the framework of the salvific plan of the Trinity as an ellipse and in its interior two mutually attracting foci: the Resurrection and the Eucharist. Attracted by these two foci, we can live with capital letters, extending, thanks to the mystery of the Church, the mystery of Christ to all human realities, for in him we Christians move and exist (cf. Acts 17:28).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (cf. nos. 638-655) points out that the Resurrection is the work of the Most Holy Trinity, as a confirmation of all that Christ did and taught. It opens us to a new life, that of the children of God, and is the beginning and source of our future resurrection.

All of this has to do with the power of the Eucharist, which gives us the life of the risen Christ, unites us in the Church as a historical subject. "bearer of Christ's integral vision of the world." (in the expression of R. Guardini), of their feelings and attitudes. The Eucharist nurtures the development and exercise of the priestly character which we receive at baptism and which configures us as mediators between God and mankind.

Hence the need to be aware of the predilection that God has shown us. And that this gratitude be translated into our correspondence of love for the Trinity and active participation in evangelization.

The risen Christ lives in Christians

Christ is at the center of the Christian life, which is life in Ecclesiathe family of God. The Church is, in fact, the "extension" or continuation of the action of the risen Christ, thanks to the anointing of Christians by the Holy Spirit, according to the dimensions of time and space, of epochs and cultures.

According to St. Paul, God the Father purposed to recapitulate all things in Christ (cf. Eph 1:10; cf. Acts 3:21). For this reason he chose us in him (cf. Eph 1:4), he included us in the plan of the risen Christ as the final and definitive stage of salvation, out of love for him and for us.

Christ present in Christiansis the title of a homily delivered by St. Josemaría (cf. It is Christ who passes102-116): this is the Church, and in her we are called to be no longer another Christ, but the same Christ. Christ in union with all Christians of all times. The life of Christ is our life, St. Josemaría affirms (no. 103).

The risen Christ is the alpha and the omega, one might say, the origin of everything and the final point of evolution and of the transformation of the world; and not by the mere intrinsic dynamics of material creation or of the human spirit (Christ is not the fruit of evolution or of human progress), but by the attractive force of the Cross and of the Resurrection (cf. Jn 12:32). This does not mean that Christ despises or forgets our collaboration. On the contrary, he counts on it, that of each one of us and especially of those who, through baptism and thanks to the Holy Spirit, are his members. We are all called to collaborate in this "attraction" that Christ exercises over all things.

Jesus Christ, the center of Christian life

We Christians collaborate in that immense task-to live the life of Christ in the world-which has its center in the Resurrection and is made possible by the Eucharist. We do so with the foundation of the life of grace. And the Church desires that we do so in the most conscious and fullest way possible, starting from our encounter with Christ (cf. St. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter, "The Life of the Eucharist"). Novo millennio ineunte4 ff.) by contemplation of his "mysteries" in prayer, by progressive identification with him through our participation in the Eucharist, and by the service we render to others as a consequence.

To this we are called, each one of the Christian faithful, according to our condition and gifts in the Church and in the world. We try to live the love of the now glorious Heart of the Lord, who continues to have a predilection for the weakest and identifies himself with them (cf. Mt 25:35 ff.). This means that our identification with Christ The first step is to "identify" Him in those most in need, to draw close to them, to serve Him in them, as Pope Francis emphasizes (cf. EG, n. 270).

At the same time, contemplation of Christ and life with Him is necessary for our service to others to be constantly and effectively Christian, that is, fully human in the measure of Christ: "Only if we look at and contemplate the Heart of Christ, will we succeed in freeing our own heart from hatred and indifference; only in this way will we know how to react in a Christian way to the suffering of others, to pain".says St. Josemaría (homily of St. Josemaría). "The heart of Christ, peace of Christians."in It is Christ who passes, n. 166).

The resurrection of the Lord is sacramentally relived in the most important liturgical celebration: the Easter Vigil. The structure of the celebration, with its characteristic elements (such as the rite of the skylight, the readings from the Old and New Testament, and the baptismal liturgy), expresses the reality of the Resurrection, its consequences for us, its capacity to change and transform hearts and the whole of creation.

Now, Christ can only be the center of our Christian life if he is our contemporary, and this derives simply from the fact that he now lives with us, or rather we live with him. The contemporaneity with Christ has challenged Christians such as St. Augustine, St. Teresa of Jesus and Søren Kierkegaard. Christ is contemporary to us by his presence, by his closeness, by the Life he gives us to participate in. And Christ's presence with us encompasses diverse and interconnected forms, such as the Church and the Eucharist. We have already seen this.

According to St. Augustine, Christ also becomes our contemporary when we receive him in those in need (cf. Mt 25:40): "So the Lord was received as a guest, he who came to his own house, and his own did not receive him; but to those who received him, he gives power to become children of God, adopting the servants and making them brothers, redeeming the captives and making them joint-heirs. But let none of you say, 'Blessed are those who were able to receive the Lord into their own home. Do not be sorry, do not complain because you were born at a time when you can no longer see the Lord in flesh and blood; this does not deprive you of that honor, for the Lord himself affirms: "As you did it to one of these, my humble brothers, you did it to me". (Sermon 103, 2).

In his message to the participants of the International Symposium on Catechetics, held in July 2017 in Buenos Aires, Pope Francis wrote: "The more Jesus takes the center of our life, the more he makes us come out of ourselves, decenters us and makes us be close to others.". Luis Ladaria -currently Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith- emphasized that Christ is the center of faith because he is the only and definitive mediator of salvation by being the only one who is able to save the world. "faithful witness" (Rev. 1:5) of the love of God the Father. Christian faith is faith in this love, in its efficacious power, in its capacity to transform the world and dominate time. The concrete love of God that allows itself to be seen and touched in the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. And it comes to us thanks to the fact that we are anointed by the Holy Spirit since our baptism.

Christ's humanity "enlarged" in our humanity by the Holy Spirit - the Church - is the universal sacrament of salvationThe Church is the sign and instrument of his divinity and of the salvation he brings with him (cf. Lumen gentium, nn. 1, 9, 48 and 59). This is one of the principal meanings of the terminology "Mystery of Christ": the salvific plan of the Triune God, made visible and operative in the Church, beginning with the incarnation of the Word through the action of the Holy Spirit. Such is the context in which we are called to relive the "mysteries"-now in the plural-of the life of Christ, many of which we contemplate in the recitation of the rosary, as intensive moments of that one "Mystery" or "sacrament" of salvation.

In the supreme sense, Christ is the only and definitive mediator of salvation. And derivatively, the Church is the only mediator, also in a profound sense, of salvation. No other way by which men can eventually come to God is independent of Christ and the Church (cf. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "The Church is the only mediator, also in a profound sense, of salvation. Dominus Iesus 2000). This helps to discern the different values of religions and to dialogue with them, based on Christian identity.

Like all the "mysteries" of Christ's life - and in this case in a central way with respect to them - that of the Resurrection is mystery of revelation, redemption and recapitulation. These three aspects can be seen in parallel with the three dimensions of the three-fold munus of Christ: prophetic, priestly and royal). It reveals to us the Father's trustworthy and merciful love. It redeems us from sin and eternal death, and makes us free and capable of transforming cultures. It resumes us under Christ, Head of the Church and of the world, and makes us participate in his kingship, whose central content is the offering to God and service to others.

Christ at the center of evangelization

The centrality of the Risen Christ in Christian life is prolonged and completed by his centrality in evangelization. Christ is the center of the Church's mission in all its forms: proclamation of the faith, celebration of the sacraments, Christian existence as a life of service to people and the world, centered on charity.

In the education of the faith this centrality of Christ (let's emphasize it again: from the Complete mystery of Christ) is manifested both in the contents and in the methods, if one can speak in this way, since the two spheres are not completely separable.

The Christocentrism of the Christian faith is -as we are seeing- a trinitarian christocentrismChrist could not be the center if not in the context of the saving action of the Triune God. This has important consequences for the education of the faith. This is pointed out by specialists such as Cesare Bissoli.

At a time of fragility in the traditional forms of faith transmission, the attention to the total mystery of Christ and the personal encounter with him contributes not only to consolidating the foundations of faith, but also to strengthening the foundations of human values and the meaning of life. This has been emphasized by the Popes and has been increasingly taught by the Church's magisterium since the Second Vatican Council.

The mystery of Christ is not only criteria target for the education of the faith (as the center of the contents of the faith), but also interpretive criterion (it is the center that illuminates all the other mysteries, truths or aspects of faith, and is even the center of the meaning of history and of all events).

Christ is also the at the heart of the spirituality and formation of educatorsThey are to be found only in personal communion with Christ. Christ is the center of their life, of their reflection and of the communication of their faith, which begins with the witness of their personal encounter with Christ.

Since catechesis has not only theological but also anthropological and didactic dimensions, educators will have to discover the centrality of Christ in order to enlighten their students. aspects of the Christian message The most difficult to explain at the present time (such as the many references to eschatology and morality), as well as the glimpses of beauty, truth and goodness that emanate from the human values nobles.

From the point of view of method, it has been pointed out that Christocentrism in the education of the faith can take two paths: one path more ontological (exposing the faith in the light of the revelation of Christ) or a more phenomenal (to expose the faith starting from the experience of Jesus himself, and from there to deepen the mystery of God and man), this second one more biblical.

All of this does not oppose, but rather asks that the mystery of Christ illuminate the experiences We want them to challenge our way of understanding and transmitting the mystery of Christ.

On the whole, a Christocentric education requires a pedagogical itinerary, This implies that it should be gradual. This, it is important to insist, begins with the witness that the educator or catechist must give to Christ in the first person, first of all with his or her life and then with the reasons (arguments) for his or her hope. In this way he or she will be able to make those entrusted to him or her a witness to the Lord.

In his first homily this year at Santa Marta (9-I-2017), Francis stressed the centrality of Christ in our life and in our Christian mission. It is up to us meet him -through prayer and the Gospel, worship him -in unity with God the Father and the Holy Spirit- and follow him at -This implies participating in the evangelizing mission of the Church, the family of Christ to which we belong, by placing it at the center of our Christian life, beginning with the Eucharist, even in ordinary circumstances.

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How to help quit pornography

Pornography consumption in the world is growing at an accelerated rate. It has become one of the most alarming addictions of our time because of its physical, psychological, spiritual, etc. repercussions. The author proposes some advice based on experience.

Juan Carlos Vasconez-September 1, 2017-Reading time: 9 minutes

The consequences of such a global situation are not long in coming. Because of its withdrawal syndrome, it can be compared to the addiction of hard drugs such as heroin, cocaine or cocaine. crack. Moreover, because of the tolerance of our society, it is even above these drugs in terms of dangerousness. The spread of pornography and the commercialization of the body has been favored by, among other things, an unbalanced use of internetThis is in fact another problem, but one that is closely related to the one we are dealing with. Such is its diffusion that, in several states of the United States, it has been defined as a "public health crisis".

Ethical dimensions of the problem

In the face of this emergency, it is important to have guides who have the necessary skills to help others get out of pornography. From the point of view of their moral analysis, it is always necessary to keep in mind that this is a serious problem.

Already in the classical interpretation, we find serious warnings. St. Thomas affirms that, from the moral point of view, lust corrupts prudence, that is, "the ability to judge reality adequately and objectively and to be governed by sound mental principles.".

Thus, for a person who watches pornography and is trying to quit, self-judgment will never be a good counselor and may betray him or her in moments of moral temptation or sensitivity. Although the desire to change is crucial, to tell the truth, it is not enough in itself. It is necessary to provide the means: finding someone to help and give guidelines in this struggle has become fundamental. It must be borne in mind that the contents of this business are increasingly "more degraded, rude, violent", and the access to them, because of Internetis becoming easier and more precocious. Getting out of the dependence that is created is not easy, and the pastors invite to "trust in the mercy of the Lord". and to "seek appropriate help and support".

Often it is the youngest who get caught. It is not uncommon for boys or girls to fall into this vice when they are only 10 or 12 years old, driven by bad friendships, curiosity or the efforts of companies engaged in this business.

It affects everyone, if their needs are not met. moral effects

Many of the "advocates" of pornography use assume that pornography consumption is victimless "entertainment." They often support the idea that someone (male or female) who views pornography in isolation is "not hurting anyone."

Although most people believe that only men view pornography, reality shows that women are not immune to it. Both women and men share the same brain effects regarding pornography use. In the case of women, it often manifests itself more through the use of erotic chat rooms and reading erotic or sexually explicit stories. Men, on the other hand, get very hooked on images. Both manifestations are equally damaging and difficult to overcome.

Lust is a vice that generally hates the light and therefore flees from it. Its most vile strategy is precisely to hide in secrecy so that, like cancer, it grows slowly. When the person who suffers from it seeks help, a spiritual director who will lead him to put light, immediately lust loses a great part of its influence..

Differences between vice and addiction

We could define three categories of pornography consumers:

occasional, i.e., if the problem occurs only sporadically;

those who incur in the form of a habit or vice, since it is then not only a question of occasions in which this conduct occurs, but of repetitions with the frequency of the habitual;
finally, those who have developed the addiction, and we speak then of an addiction in the manner of other deviant behaviors that are imposed despite the contrary will of the person concerned.

While the first case can be overcome by strengthening the will and attending the sacraments, the other two need external help. On many occasions it can be difficult to distinguish between addiction and vice. Vice is a bad operative habit, which inclines a subject to perform a certain type of act.

With classical anthropological terminology, St. Augustine speaks of the differences between weakness (vice) and sickness (addiction): "Weak is he of whom it is feared that he may succumb when temptation arises; sick, on the other hand, is he who is already overpowered by some passion, and is as it were hindered by some passion from approaching God and accepting the yoke of Christ.".

If this vice continues to take root more and more, which can be a matter of time - short or long, depending on the case - the behavior becomes compulsive, and when this compulsion ends up affecting the main spheres of the person (family, work, interpersonal relationships) tending to become generalized, we are dealing with an addiction, one has gone from being weak to being sick. We can say, in short, and concluding with the moral differences between the consumers of "this poison", that addiction is a vice that has become pathological: the person becomes incapable of stopping this behavior.

Keys to effective assistance

The case must first be evaluated. For those who have reached addiction, it is necessary to have the help of a professional, for example, a trusted physician who can guide the patient and facilitate timely mediation to mitigate the attacks of craving. In addiction, brain activity works in an unbalanced way.

I now try to give some guidelines to help the occasional or those who have acquired the vice.

This is not an easy process. The helper should exercise patience and know how to encourage, especially when there are relapses, which can sometimes occur after many weeks of continence. Personal prayer is fundamental; for example, praying the Luminous Mysteries of the Holy Rosary every day.

Positive attitude is key. As Pope Francis encourages us: "To be instruments of God's mercy that passes through a gesture, a word, a visit. And this mercy is an act to restore joy and dignity to those who have lost it.". Quitting a vice is not easy, it requires a lot of effort and personal work. But it can be overcome, you can get out of it. Unlike drugs, pornography has a faster recovery period, but it is still a process, it requires perseverance and companionship. Therefore, it is best to avoid making them feel additional shame and guilt. If a person is trying to change their behavior, it is not helpful to make them feel ashamed or guilty about their actions. It is smarter to help them find other things that motivate positive change rather than ridicule their negative behavior.

Proposing regular meetings to see progress and discuss struggles will be a good way to follow up. It is especially useful to make it easier for the person to contact you when he/she feels at times of greatest weakness, if he/she feels that he/she will be overcome by the temptation to look at obscene images, then suggest that he/she call us with confidence and ask for help. Sometimes it is just a few words of comfort and prayer. You can also look for someone among his friends who can provide that help, you can help him to choose that person, in some cases it may be the parents or spouse. This is what is known as an "accountability partner"; finally, you can also get virtual help at https://www.rtribe.org/

Helping to recognize the problem

When it is recognized that it is serious and that help is needed, work can begin. Accepting that there is a problem, knowing that you are weak and in need of assistance is the first step in getting out of the addiction. Many times it will be enough to explain that watching pornography, in combination with an impure act, has an effect on the brain similar to other addictions, that is, it produces a large amount of dopamine in the brain released by a strong release of hormones. In large quantities, dopamine changes the neuronal connections, causing thinking to become more superficial, and the affected person becomes harsher in dealing with others, less sensitive to the needs of others, etc. The process of reabsorption of dopamine lasts approximately nine days, during this time the person will be more exposed to relapses.

It may also help to reflect that pornography hinders the person's ability to make clear decisions (due to the same destructive effect on the brain: damage to the frontal lobe, responsible for decision making) and distorts the person's vision of bodies, relationships and sexuality. In other words, those who watch pornography become dehumanized; they no longer see their partners and other people as human beings but as sexual toys that exist for their own satisfaction.

Purification

These images have been engraved in the mind and are difficult to erase. But we must not allow discouragement, but recommend ways to cleanse the memory:

-Frequent confessionThis sacrament contains a healing grace that acts in the interior of man. Encourage people to go to confession. In particular, immediately after each fall and frequently to obtain the grace necessary to purify oneself.

-Attendance at the EucharistGod gives his grace through the sacraments, which help us to overcome temptations. Everything depends on God, without him we can do nothing. Therefore, it can be recommended to attend Holy Mass more frequently.

-Memorizing paragraphs of ScriptureThe daily reading of the Holy Scriptures, learning by heart some verses, to purify little by little the interior until transforming the thoughts in a positive way, helps to cleanse the memories. Also, at the hour of temptation one can repeat, again and again, these verses.

-PrayThere are many testimonies of how the prayer of the Holy Rosary has helped many people not to fall into the vice of pornography. The invocation to the Mother of God and St. Joseph is a winning strategy.

-Using sacramentalsThe Holy Water, the crucifixes, are means that also help to overcome temptations.

–Apostolate: In the experience of human life there are a few remedies that always work. When it comes to great disappointment and very intense pain, there is one remedy that works infallibly, provided it is applied carefully and consistently: it is to get out of oneself and help others.

Establish protection strategies

It is important that the person commits to remove, delete and destroy all stored pornographic material and any audiovisual elements that lead to memories or thoughts that stimulate lust. Even -if possible- stop using or listening to those things that ignite temptation. The idea is to avoid everything that can feed the sight, since images have a great influence on thoughts.

Have a filtered internet connection at home. It is also a good idea to install a reporting (or accountability) filter on each device that notifies a third party (the "accountabily partner") of general network usage activity, as well as attempts to access harmful material. It helps a lot to lose anonymity, to be clear that anything that passes the device will be known. The two most commonly used filters are: Qustodio y Covenant Eyes.

Care must be taken with the Smartphone or tablets: charge them outside the room, or hand them over to parents at night. If this is the case, cancel the data plan, which is often the main problem, and place the screens in a common place: not where you can be left alone, because it is when you are isolated that you are most tempted.

Two other useful tips. Avoid isolation and loneliness, and avoid bad company. Many times, indeed, bad friends are the cause of relapsing into the vice, either because they talk about it or send photos or messages that encourage to feed this problem. They should be avoided or silenced. chats.

Self-discipline

This concept is closely linked to that of willpower. A person with self-discipline is one who, while preferring to be doing something else he/she wants, uses reason to determine the best course of action, i.e., the subject does what he/she knows is best to do, but in opposition to personal motivations. Encouraging self-discipline and becoming self-disciplined in something involves helping to shape and monitor oneself to achieve a goal or personal improvement. For the fight against pornography will be very important. Some help to create positive habits, for example: making the most of time, exercising, reading good books, exercising in some domestic work (responsible work) and looking for positive thoughts.

Help the one the person wants, or at least wants to want. When you want an end, you want the means that effectively lead to that end, even if they are hard and difficult means. The will is absolutely necessary for those who want to get out of pornography. This is what Jesus Christ demanded before his miracles: Do you want to be cured (cf. Jn 5:6); What do you want (cf. Mk 10:51); If you want... (cf. Mt 19:17,21). Such a will obviously has degrees; it is not the same in everyone, but there are fundamental characteristics that are repeated in everyone: it is persevering, tenacious, firm (and becomes stronger and stronger as it repeats its actions), it overcomes failures by restarting the works that go wrong (because, despite having a firm will, the person is not exempt from mistakes, errors or frustrations), accepts challenges, overcomes falls and is able to finish the works undertaken (not leaving them halfway).

Getting out of this vice is not immediate, you have to be prepared for the disappointment of relapse. Relapse does not mean that we are not making progress. Trust in the power of God, following the advice given by Benedict XVI: "In the battles of the soul, strategy is often a matter of time, of applying the appropriate remedy, with patience, with stubbornness.". It is highly advisable to study why "falls", learn from them and add your learning to the arsenal of knowledge, ideas and strategies you need to defeat this giant. There are some ways to do so, for example, the app Victory helps to keep a record and motivations of the fall which then serves to establish new strategies.

The advice of St. Josemaría, who knew modern man so well, will also be useful, as he tells us in his most widely read book, The Way: "How deep is your fall! -Start the foundation from the bottom. -Be humble. -Cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies`. -God will not despise a contrite and humiliated heart.".

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Integral ecology

Caring for the elderly, a fundamental task of the Church

Many Christian families face illness, old age and the difficulties of life with a supernatural sense and common sense. As an extension or as a complement to this family atmosphere, initiatives have arisen in which the elderly are welcomed in a family home. In this article, we will mention two of them: the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Little Sisters of the Elderly Homeless.

Pablo Alfonso Fernández-September 1, 2017-Reading time: 5 minutes

On October 13, 1978, the day before the conclave that elected John Paul II, Polish Bishop Andrzej Maria Deskur suffered a brain injury that left him immobilized for the rest of his life. A great friend of the Pope, the new Pontiff's first visit was to Gemelli Hospital, where Deskur was admitted. From then on, his visits to his sick friend became frequent, and he acknowledged that all the work he did as Pope was supported from that wheelchair.

This event at the beginning of his pontificate was like a foretaste of the witness that St. John Paul II gave to the world by accepting his own limitations, and his last weeks -he died on April 2, 2005-, in which the whole world could follow the deterioration of his health, were a living catechesis on the value of sickness and old age.

Today, too, this witness is necessary. This is why Pope Francis often refers to the role of grandparents; and, on the occasion of the Synod of Bishops on the family, he dedicated some Wednesday audiences in 2015 to grandparents. He thus wanted to recall that old age has a special grace and mission in the Church and in society, and especially the prayer of the elderly, which is a great gift for the Church: "We need elders who pray."said the Pope. And he assigned to the elderly a role in the Church's task of evangelization: "Grandfathers and grandmothers form the permanent choir of a great spiritual sanctuary, where the prayer of supplication and the song of praise sustain the community that works and struggles in the field of life." (hearing, 11-III-2015).

The role of the elderly is vindicated by Pope Francis every time he meets with families or young people. Thus, commenting on the Gospel scene of the presentation of Jesus in the temple, he says of the elderly Simeon and Anna: "These two elders represent faith as memory. Grandparents are the wisdom of the family, they are the wisdom of a people! And a people that does not listen to the grandparents, is a people that dies!" (speech to families, October 26, 2013).

Culture of discard versus culture of life

The loneliness, apathy and neglect in which many of our grandparents find themselves is a consequence of the generalized selfishness that has promoted a throwaway cultureas Pope Francis constantly denounces.

And only from a culture of lifeas St. John Paul II asked us to do, it is possible to counteract the harmful and selfish influence of the culture of discard. One of the most important testimonies that Christians can offer today is the care of the elderly and sick, who are increasingly numerous and more and more neglected.

There are many Christian families in which sickness, old age and the difficulties of life are faced with a supernatural sense and common sense. As an extension of this family atmosphere, and sometimes as a complement when it is lacking, initiatives have arisen in the Church in which the elderly are welcomed in a family home. In this article we will mention two of them: the Little Sisters of the Poor and the Little Sisters of the Homeless Elderly.

"Mi casa": a home for old and young people

The Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor was founded in 1839 in Cancale, a fishing village in Brittany, France, where Jeanne Jugan felt the impulse to take into her home an abandoned elderly blind woman, to whom she gave her own bed. Today, there are 32 countries where this institution, composed of 2,800 religious sisters, works, who take a vow of hospitality and carry out their mission in fraternal communities. Their houses, some 200 in number, are a living testimony of prayer, tenderness for the elderly and the promotion of educational activities in the cities where they are located.

The influence of their service reaches not only the elderly people they care for and their families, but also the young people who collaborate in their activities, either directly or through schools and educational institutions. A high school student, after participating in a festive gathering at one of the Little Sisters' houses, assured that he was going to spend more time with his grandparents, whom he had forgotten a bit. Another classmate of hers decided to return on more occasions on her own, because of the pleasant time she had spent chatting with the elderly and helping with the distribution of the food: "I've seen them so happy about the visit that I have to come more often."he said.

St. Jeanne Jugan was canonized in 2009 by Benedict XVI. In the homily of the canonization, the pontiff proposed her example in the service of the elderly as "a beacon for our societies, which have to rediscover the place and unique contribution of this period of life.".

Attached to the Congregation is an Association of lay people with 2,000 members who commit themselves annually to serve God in the love of the elderly following the example of humility and trust of St. Jeanne Jugan.

"Caring for bodies to save souls."

A similar story is at the origin of another Congregation dedicated to the care of the elderly: the Little Sisters of the Helpless Elderly. In 1872, the Spanish priest Saturnino López Novoa was living in Barbastro (Huesca), when one day he took in a sick woman who died a few months later. This event sparked in the priest, now in the process of beatification, the desire to found a religious institute for women to care for the poor and the elderly, both materially and spiritually.

Her wish became a reality thanks to the harmony with the concerns of a woman, Teresa Jornet, who found in the service of the elderly in need the way to fulfill her desire of total dedication to God. The following May 11, feast of Our Lady of the Forsaken, the new Congregation began its journey, when 10 nuns took the habit and opened the first house in Valencia. They placed as patrons of the Congregation the Virgin of the Forsaken, St. Joseph, for righteousness of heart, and St. Martha for joy in service. They currently have 204 homes in 19 countries, where they put into practice the motto of their foundress: "caring for bodies to save souls".. St. Teresa Jornet was canonized by Paul VI in 1974.

Those who have come into contact with the Little Sisters of the Elderly discover how the human affection and family warmth that permeates their homes is born of their evangelical commitment, and spreads to those who receive it, thanks to the care they take in their acts of worship and their joyful participation in various practices of piety. "Since I have been in this house, I pray the Rosary every day, and I notice that Our Lady helps me to improve my character and to have great peace."I was confessed to me by a grandfather who was not particularly pious before he entered the nursing home.

These initiatives, as well as many others that have arisen as a manifestation of charity in the Church, are still alive. And they remind us of the value of the life of our elders, something that Pope Francis has expressed on several occasions when speaking of his grandmother Rosa. On the day of his ordination to the priesthood, Jorge Bergoglio received a letter from his grandmother in which she said: "May these my grandchildren, to whom I have given the best of my heart, have a long and happy life, but if on some day of sorrow, illness or the loss of a loved one fills them with grief, may they remember that a sigh in the Tabernacle, where the greatest and most august martyr is, and a glance at Mary at the foot of the Cross, can bring a drop of balm to the deepest and most painful wounds.".

Since then she has always carried them with her in her breviary, and she admits that she reads them often and that they do her a lot of good.

The authorPablo Alfonso Fernández

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Kazakhstan, Frontier Church. Religious harmony in the face of radicalism

With a large Muslim majority, Kazakhstan, the largest country in Central Asia, gives preferential treatment to four religious groups - Muslims, Orthodox, Catholics and Jews - because it considers them traditional. With tolerance and harmony, it avoids radical Islamism.

Antonio Alonso Marcos-September 1, 2017-Reading time: 5 minutes

"Dear brothers, I encourage you to continue the work you have undertaken, wisely valuing the contributions of all. I take this opportunity to thank the priests and religious who work in the various ecclesiastical circumscriptions, in particular the Franciscans in the Diocese of the Most Holy Trinity in Almaty, the Jesuits in Kyrgyzstan, the Conventual Franciscans in Uzbekistan, the religious of the Institute of the Incarnate Word in the missio sui iuris in Tajikistan, and to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in the missio sui iuris in Turkmenistan": chese were the words that Benedict XVI used to bid farewell to the bishops of Central Asia during their visit ad limina in 2008.

The Kazakh state has stressed since its inception 25 years ago that in order to maintain social peace it is necessary to strictly observe religious harmony, mutual respect between faiths.

Thus, in a country with a large Muslim majority -11 out of 16 million inhabitants-, the relationship with the other religions and Christian confessions -Orthodox (5 million), Catholics, etc.- is excellent, and the country's authorities try to preserve religious plurality. It is good for the government that Orthodox, Catholics and Jews are working there, because it slows down and prevents the arrival of radical Islamism.

The Church in Kazakhstan is therefore a minority, dedicated mainly to serving Catholics scattered throughout the country. It can carry out its activities normally, but ad intraThe company has no external manifestations, although there is the possibility of intervening on television or being invited to speak at the university, for example.

Although there are no reliable official statistics, it is estimated that there are about 200,000 Catholics in the country, concentrated mainly in the north (in the dioceses of Astana and Karaganda) and in the south (in the diocese of Almaty), where more deportees arrived during the Stalin era.

The variations in the number of believers depend, to a large extent, on the number of children that Catholics have, since in these lands, religion is understood more as a cultural issue (inheritance) than as a personal decision. For this reason, cases of conversion from one religion to another are rare, as are cases of atheism.

Radiography

In Kazakhstan, about 90 priests - including religious - carry out their priestly ministry, assisted by more than 100 nuns of many different nationalities: Kazakh, Polish, Korean, Italian, German, Slovak, Indian, etc.

There are three dioceses and an apostolic administration in the west. In the north, St. Mary's in Astana, ruled by Archbishop Peta, assisted by Auxiliary Bishop Schneider. In the south, Holy Trinity, in Almaty, ruled since 2011 by Bishop Mombiela, who presides over the bishops' conference; in the center, Karaganda, with Bishop Del 'Oro; in the west, the Apostolic Administration of Atyrau, ruled by Father Buras.

The Almaty diocese has several parishes: Almaty (cathedral), Kapchigay, Taldikorgan, Taraz and Shimkent, one in each city. And near Kapchigay, there are two priests who are trying to recover the parishes of two villages: Nura (Polish majority) and Yetichen (mainly Koreans).

There are two Marian shrines in Kazakhstan, one in Oziornoye and the other in Karaganda. The National Shrine of St. Mary, Queen of Peace, in Oziornoye, is dedicated to the miracle that Our Lady performed when she appeared to a group of starving deportees, pointing them to a hidden or inconspicuous place in the steppe where there was plenty of fish and thus they were saved. The one in Karaganda is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Fatima.

In the cathedral of Karaganda is buried the recently beatified Polish priest Vladislav Bukovinski, who died in 1974 having spent 14 years in various concentration camps during the harshest years of communism.

Bishop Aleksander Jira, who is in the process of beatification, is also buried there. At that time, the priests had to exercise their ministry in secret and were sometimes denounced and arrested; today religious freedom is guaranteed by the Constitution and the laws of the country.

Presence of Catholic institutions

On the other hand, various religious congregations, movements and prelatures are active in Kazakhstan. Among others, Opus Dei has been in Almaty since 1997, a diocese where Communion and Liberation is also present. Families of the Neocatechumenal Way are located in different parts of the country.

The Franciscans run the cathedral parish of Almaty and the parish of Taldikorgan, a city 260 kilometers from Almaty. The Incarnate Word Missionaries run the parish of Shimkent, where Incarnate Word Sisters also work. The Missionaries of Charity of Mother Teresa of Calcutta have a house in Almaty. In Kapchigay, the Handmaids of the Immaculate Virgin Mary (Polish congregation) have a home for orphaned and abandoned children. Finally, there are two Discalced Carmelite monasteries in the north, one in Karaganda and the other in Oziornoye.

Thirteen priests from Kazakhstan are currently working in Kazakhstan, 5 of them in the diocese of Karaganda, 7 in the diocese of Astana and 1 in the Apostolic Administration of Attirau; two of the bishops of Russia are also Kazakhs, namely the bishop of Novosibirsk and the bishop of Irkust; and a few other Kazakh-born priests are ministering in other countries, such as France and Germany. In the interdiocesan seminary of Karaganda, the only one in the country, there are 5 or 6 Kazakh seminarians and 4 from other nearby countries.

First evangelization

The first Christians appeared in Central Asia around the third century, along the Silk Road. The Nestorians made an important contribution to the evangelization of Central Asia. In the 13th century Christians in these territories reached their peak with the arrival of Franciscan and Dominican missionaries, who built monasteries in those boundless spaces. At the same time, the first bishops appeared on the scene. Diplomatic relations were established between the Holy See and the Great Khan and other rulers of the Central Asian states.

Pope Nicholas III tried to organize the young church and gave it a diocesan structure. He entrusted the mission to the Franciscan Gerard of Prato in 1278. Unfortunately, progressive Islamic advances halted Christianization in Central Asia. The rulers favorable to Christianity were dethroned and a dynasty hostile to Christians was installed. The missionary work of the Franciscans came to a sudden end in 1342, when Khan Ali destroyed the episcopal monastery in the city of Almalik and sentenced the Franciscan bishop Richard de Burgandy, his five Franciscan brothers and a Latin merchant to death for refusing to abjure their Christian faith.

With the socialist revolution of October 1917, the Catholic Church in Russia experienced the most horrific persecution under the bloody and bloody communist machine. Multitudes of Catholics were deported to the steppes of Central Asia, and there many of them met their death. Other Catholics managed to survive and became, thanks to Stalin, the embryo of what is today the Catholic Church in these lands.

With the dissolution of the USSR, the Holy See established diplomatic relations in 1992 with Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan and in 1996 with Tajikistan (there was a civil war between 1992 and 1997). The high point of the Catholic presence there was the visit of John Paul II at the end of September 2001.

Holy Rosary and Eucharist

The most widespread devotion is the recitation of the Holy Rosary. In Soviet times, the practice of praying the rosary was a way to keep the faith and the spirit of prayer alive in the absence of priests and the prohibition of having religious objects or literature.

Another widespread devotion is Eucharistic adoration, with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament before Holy Mass. In the Cathedral of Astana a permanent exposition of the Blessed Sacrament has been carried out for years, in which the whole diocese participates, since faithful from all the parishes come according to a schedule and shifts already established beforehand.

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan's legislative framework is similar to that of Kazakhstan, with great respect for religious freedom. Moreover, Kyrgyzstan is, from a constitutional point of view, the most democratic in the region, although, unfortunately, not the most stable, as it has undergone several revolutions. From the point of view of canon law, it was erected as a missio sui iuris in 1997. The current Apostolic Administrator is a Jesuit, Slovenian Janez Mihelcic.

The authorAntonio Alonso Marcos

Professor Universidad CEU San Pablo

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Education

Teaching Religion in the 21st century, a changing art form

When researching the history of pedagogy, it is easy to realize that it is a changing art, which requires the teacher's ingenuity and professionalism to adapt. But it is important not to abandon the good, and to keep in mind that adolescents, like children, are accustomed to short tasks. The key is that the students acquire knowledge, and that the subject of Religion serves for their personal development.

Arturo Cañamares Pascual-September 1, 2017-Reading time: 5 minutes

We hear that lately students are finding it harder than in the past to maintain their attention in the classroom. Perhaps this is because they are "digital natives" and that we may have taught them to interact in different ways with the environment. Technologies have contributed to this, with their continuous "banners", that distract from what was being done; the way of watching television as a family, changing channels frequently; and even the way of talking to them, with short questions and answers that only seek information and not the development of their imagination and ability to explain themselves.

But it is what it is, and we teachers have to adapt. It is true that we can no longer teach as we did in the twentieth century, because we are not in the twentieth century. When you do a little research into the history of pedagogy, you soon realize that it is an art that is changing and that it requires the teacher's ingenuity and professionalism to adapt to each situation. It is very important not to abandon the good things: a master class is absolutely irreplaceable and cannot be missing among the strategies frequently used in the classroom. But as we said, if students now demand their own way of learning, we will have to know how to work with it.

Well, how to do it? Adolescent boys and girls, just like younger children, are very used to doing short tasks: if we look at it, it is their usual way of being: they use a toy for a while, leave it and start watching TV, then they go to get the cell phone and play a few games... The class can be a reflection of their way of acting: first they listen for a while, then work in groups, then make a diagram..., and then go back to listening. We have to take advantage of the strategies and methods that the latest teaching experiences offer us, keeping in mind the good of our students.

Useful strategies and resources

I will make a small inventory of some of the strategies and resources that have proven to be most useful, knowing that the final criterion must be the teacher, who knows his or her students and their learning rhythms best. Not all of them are included, nor are they intended to be. It is only intended to be a short list of some that have already been implemented in some centers and the results are satisfactory. Before starting with the list, it remains to warn of the prudence that the teacher must make of these resources without forgetting that the most important thing for their students is that they acquire some knowledge and that, especially in the subject of Religion, they serve them for their personal development. Here is the inventory:

1. Master class. The teacher explains and the students attend. When it is well prepared, it is very useful and, as mentioned above, irreplaceable. But it does not have to occupy the whole class or classroom session. It is important to accompany it with other resources: to make an outline of what is being discussed on the blackboard or to write the most relevant questions on it; to use a power point with a few slides (better with good images and little text); or read from the book some more relevant text.

2. Cooperative work (called in pedagogy TBL, which comes from Team-Based Learning). Make small work teams where each student has a role, which can be coordinator, secretary, speaker... and indicate the work to be developed.

3. Thinking skills. The use of different ways of accessing information that seeks a double purpose, that they learn to think and that they learn the subject matter. For example, the use of metaphors to understand a concept, to look for the causes of what we are studying, to find evidence about an event or notion explained, to promote critical and reflective thinking about reality, etc.

Gamify (new anglicism used in our profession). Use small games in class to enhance attention, once the teaching objectives foreseen in that unit have been achieved. We recommend visiting the educational website https://kahoot.it/ free to use, where you can create your own questions.

5. Ask students, preferably in groups, to make presentations on the following topics power-point that they then have to use to explain a topic. It is also useful to create a classic mural and have them go out to exhibit it as a group.

6. Encourage interest in reading a book (especially the Gospel, lives of saints, etc., or with younger children "The Bible as told to children"). How to encourage this? By reading a little bit in class and making them imagine the scene narrated and then saying that they can continue at home.

7. Use the portfolio to collect the evidences learned in class; or in the traditional way, to paste in the notebook the activities carried out in class. But the portfolio can also be used to record the progress made by each student (metacognitive analysis of their learning).

8. Theatricalize some scenes from the Gospel or the Old Testament (a living nativity scene at Christmas is the most obvious example, but other scenes can also be sought: the sacrifice of Isaac, the Sinai covenant, the prodigal son, the resurrection of Lazarus...). A resounding success is assured if it is accompanied by some small costumes and have sheets of paper with what everyone should say. This year we have dramatized in 3rd ESO (Secondary) the martyrdom act of St. Justin and St. Fructuosus and companions: the students told me that this way they had understood what martyrs are and what the current persecuted Christians are suffering.

9. Flipped classroom. It is to record a tutorial that makes the teacher sharing with his students a short video in which he explains a content of the class or how to work an exercise. The students watch it at home and come back with what they have learned. The class will start solving the doubts that have arisen.

As you can see, the strategies and modes are very varied. When a painter paints a picture, he does not use only one color. Rather, the work of art emerges when he is able to compose with different colors, or even to combine several materials. The class is a major art, because the result is our students. The challenge is great but worth it.

Religion class

Finally, we must comment on something that is even more important than the different resources used: the need for each Religion class to be a class that has a series of characteristics that are specific to it and that we will briefly enumerate, since it is worthwhile to reflect on whether we are taking them into account:

1. The Religion teacher must teach "in the style of the Lord": He taught with parables, adapting himself to the understanding of those who listened to him. He did not speak in the same way to the doctors of the law as to the simple people. It is also part of that "style" to show deep respect and affection for our students, a reflection of God's love for them.

2. The Religion class has to move in very defined coordinates: it must show Jesus Christ as the center of all revelation, within our Trinitarian faith, and we will explain that Jesus has saved us; we will explain what the Church is, who are part of it, and we will show its mission, giving abundant examples of lives achieved in the saints.

3. The message transmitted in the subject must be complete, without omitting fundamental questions, even if some are more difficult to explain; and it must be meaningful for the students, that is, it must support the new contents in the knowledge already known, both in Religion and in the rest of the subjects.

4. The subject of Religion is not, as it is often said, a "Maria". We must treat it with rigor and assert its right: participating in the teachers' cloisters, that it is included in the curriculum, that it is effectively offered to parents (which, by the way, is demanded by almost 70 % of the families). For our part, we will also protect this quality by taking good care of the classes: it is well known that students detect when a class is prepared or not, which teacher does or does not appreciate their subject.

It only remains to wish you a good course. Do not hesitate to write if you want help or if you want us to comment on any of the aspects studied in this article.

The authorArturo Cañamares Pascual

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Religion Class

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Pope's teachingsRamiro Pellitero

The urgent unit

August 31, 2017-Reading time: 3 minutes

The Pope's teachings in the last month find a special orientation in the Solemnity of Pentecost. As on the first Pentecost in history, the Church returns each year to gather around the Virgin Mary to prepare herself for a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And like every year, this one too, while celebrating the same thing, always brings new gifts.

The Prayer Vigil, held in Rome's Circus Maximus, allowed the Pope to thank God for the 50th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, "a current of grace of the Spirit," and to recall the example of the martyrs of the present time in order to point out once again the task that the Holy Spirit is setting for the Church today: "Today the unity of Christians, united by the power of the Holy Spirit, in prayer and action for the weakest, is more urgent than ever. To walk together, to work together. To love one another. The Holy Spirit makes the disciples a new people, whose members receive a new heart. To each one he gives a gift and gathers them all together in unity. The new people created by the Spirit is characterized by both diversity and unity. To walk together requires overcoming two frequent temptations: to seek diversity without unity, and to seek unity without diversity. The interventions of Francis in the month of June can well be reviewed by noticing the balance between unity and diversity, pillars of the communion that sustains the missionary commitment.

On Pentecost, the Pope wanted to make public the Message for the next World Mission Sunday. In a world confused by so many illusions, wounded by great frustrations and fratricidal wars that unjustly affect especially the innocent, Francis invites us to ask ourselves about the foundation of mission, its center and its vital attitudes. On the Solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity, of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, and of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, he has shown us the source and summit of Christian life, the beginning and end of ecclesial communion. "In the fragmentation of life, the Lord comes to meet us with the loving fragility that is the Eucharist," the sacrament of unity. In his Wednesday Audience catecheses on hope, Francis proposes the prayer of the Our Father as a "wellspring of hope," the medicine of God's love to overcome the wound of discouragement and the discreet company of the saints, whose existence assures us that Christian life is not an unattainable ideal, but is possible with grace.

Addressing the plenary session of the Congregation for the Clergy, Francis praised the new Ratio fundamentalis as a document that offers the keys to an integral priestly formation. With special concern the Pope referred to young priests, encouraging them and asking the bishops to show them paternal closeness. Francis gives them three pieces of advice: pray without tiring, walk always and share with the heart.

Recognizing the witness of two parish priests, Primo Mazzolari and Lorenzo Milani, was the main reason for the intense apostolic visit to Bozzolo (Diocese of Cremona) and Barbiana (Diocese of Florence). To renew the ardor and passion of the Church's missionary action, the Pope has announced to the Pontifical Mission Societies the dedication in autumn 2019 of an extraordinary time of prayer and reflection on the mission ad gentes. With the members of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Francis reflected on three points: valuing the role of women, educating to fraternity and dialogue. "In today's complex society, characterized by plurality and globalization, there is a need for greater recognition of the capacity of women to educate to universal fraternity." "Widening the spaces for a stronger feminine presence" is part of the urgent unity that the Holy Spirit urges in the Church.

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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ColumnistsMaria Laura Conte

The "Davos" of cooperation

Global inequalities and the serious refugee problem require the collaboration of all. Jobs and education are essential to help these people regain their dignity.

August 30, 2017-Reading time: 2 minutes

At the beginning of June, the EDD (European Development Days) were held in Brussels. It is the "Davos" of cooperation, as someone calls this two-day event that brings together parties concerned by the challenge of development: European institutions and Member States, NGOs, companies, different realities of civil society.

At the heart of a Europe that on the one hand produces and on the other builds walls, always in search of a unifying identity, the question has arisen as to how to rebalance the plane now tilted under the weight of global inequalities.

Thus, among the many words that are pronounced in these "events", there is one that seems to stand out: collaboration, cooperation between the different actors. The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Junker, has pointed this out, as have the leaders of African countries: we do not want the intervention of the neocolonialist mold, but we are considering interventions on which we can work together. And what are these initiatives that are indispensable for achieving the sustainable development goals?

Reality always comes back to two main issues that go hand in hand: the demand for work and education. Those who work in refugee camps, to cite just one example, know from experience that a cash-for-work project allows those who are housed for a long time in camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Kenya to regain their dignity and not have to move too far away from their homeland. And Europe can contain the arrival of new desperate people.

But work is not enough. Work without education is likely to be hard to breathe, and vice versa. Education without work creates frustration. But beware: education must be of quality, and along with the transmission of technical knowledge, it is also "openness" and critical use of reason. This is, for example, the challenge of the project Back to the FutureAVSI is carrying out with other partners in Lebanon and Jordan. The numbers help to understand its scope: 30,000 children involved in Lebanon; 10,000 in Jordan; and a total of 200,000 indirect beneficiaries.

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 "jihadists" and extermination. The Koran reduced to ideology

Omnes-August 28, 2017-Reading time: < 1 minute

Jihadism" is, in the author's opinion, the new sect of the "hashassins", similar to the one that existed in the 11th century. And the "jihadists" have turned the Koran into an exterminating ideology.

–Manuel Cruz–

Trying to understand modern "jihadism" may be an exercise in futility from our new Western mentality. But if instead of "jihadism", as is done in the vast majority of the media, we were to speak of the "Islamic sect of assassins", we could perhaps come closer, by means of more accurate language, to defining them and, therefore, to fighting them better. There was already in the 11th century another sect called the "hachassins", from which... full text for subscribers only.

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Twentieth Century Theology

Eros and agape, by Anders Nygren

Juan Luis Lorda-August 28, 2017-Reading time: < 1 minute

Juan Luis Lorda In the prologue of the work we read: "The purpose of this research is twofold: first, to investigate the Christian idea of love. And, then, to illustrate the main changes it has undergone in history. It seems reasonable to suppose that theologians will have paid special attention to these questions, because the idea of love occupies - not to say that it is - the central place of Christianity [...]. But when one looks at the treatment the subject has received among recent theologians, one finds that it has been one of the most neglected." Since Eros and Agape was translated into English, German, French and Spanish (among other languages) everything has changed.

When Anders Nygren published in 1932, in Swedish, the first part of his study Eros and Agape, he could not have imagined that it would have a worldwide repercussion, and that it would... full text for subscribers only.

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ColumnistsXiskya Valladares

We cannot remain indifferent

August 24, 2017-Reading time: 2 minutes

With this title, Xiskya Valladares has published in Palabra de julio-agosto an article on Islam. It was before the attack in Barcelona.

The advance of Islam in Europe and Spain has to do, of course, with pure demography, but it is also a consequence of relativism, superficiality and lack of Christian witness.

The Islamization of Europe is a declared objective of many Islamist leaders. The first was Houari Boumedienne, in 1974, at the United Nations, who explained the method: "The wombs of our women will give us victory". The most recent was Muammar Gaddafi, in 2006, and he said the same thing: "Islam will conquer Europe without firing a shot". And he gave the reason: "Some people believe that Muhammad is the prophet of the Arabs or Muslims. This is a mistake. Muhammad is the prophet of all people."

Statistics on the growth of Muslims in Europe confirm their endeavor. In Spain, which is not among the most Islamized European countries, the number of Muslims in 2016 was almost 2 million, a 4% of the total population, and of them 42 % were legally Spanish. But this upward trend is global. The latest Pew Research Center report says that Christianity today represents 31.2 % of the world's population and Islam, 24.1 %. And it estimates that in 2060 Christianity will be 31.8 % compared to 31.1% for Islam. There is more data: increase in the number of mosques, of neighborhoods governed by Sharia, appearance of Islamic universities, jihadists in politics and the armed forces, etc. And I am talking about Muslims, not terrorists.

It seems to me that these are the results of relativism, religious superficiality, lack of witness and faith commitment, and the work of atheistic and populist ideologies that infect the "people of the Cross". Apart from the obvious Muslim proselytism. And I do not invite to the Catholic proselytism, but to present the Gospel to our contemporaries without shame and without fear in an attractive way and knowing how to give reason of our faith. They have the right to know it. These are times of mission. Not only because the European Christian roots of many centuries are at stake, but also because we are responsible for the gift of the faith we have received. We cannot remain indifferent.

The authorXiskya Valladares

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Pope Francis' profound journey

César Mauricio Velásquez-August 24, 2017-Reading time: 2 minutes

Pope Francis

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Integral ecology

Theology supports the ecological conversion proposed by the Church

Pope Francis published his encyclical Laudato si' on June 18, 2015. It is the first one specifically dedicated to the environmental issue. It received high praise from religious leaders and scientists and it would be paradoxical if it did not find the same reception among Catholics.

Emilio Chuvieco Salinero, Silvia Albareda Tiana and Jordi Puig Baguer-July 4, 2017-Reading time: 11 minutes

Undoubtedly, this encyclical, which calls for an ecological conversion on the part of all, has been the most widely read and quoted document of the Catholic hierarchy in recent decades, particularly among people who are not usually close to the Church.

The word conversion has deep roots in Christianity. It refers to a radical modification of attitudes and, consequently, of behavior. Conversion implies a change of life, which traditionally denotes the passage from a condition far removed from faith to another in which we live fully, or even the transition from one religious creed to another. Therefore, the expression "ecological conversion" implies a profound transformation in our relationship with the earth, which the encyclical describes as our "common home". Pope Francis applies it in this sense when he calls for a new approach, a new way of valuing and contemplating the earth, coming to consider it as a gift, as our home, which we must take care of for our own benefit, for the benefit of other human beings - present and future - and of other creatures, reviewing our daily behaviors that, perhaps inadvertently, cause serious environmental and social damage. As a result of the ecological conversion of each one of us, we will be able to enlighten a new concept of progress that will make the well-being of present and future generations compatible with its extension to all and the flourishing of other forms of life.

Continuity of the Magisterium

The concept of ecological conversion does not originate with Pope Francis. It was first enunciated by St. John Paul II. Already in his message for the World Day of Peace in 1990, he had indicated, referring to the environmental question, that "true education for responsibility entails an authentic conversion in thinking and behavior". A few years later, at the General Audience of January 17, 2001, he indicated that "it is necessary to encourage and support the 'ecological conversion' which in recent decades has made humanity more sensitive to the catastrophe towards which it was heading", and a couple of years later, in a text addressed to the pastors of the Church, he added: "An ecological conversion is therefore needed, to which the bishops will make their own contribution by teaching the correct relationship between man and nature. This relationship, in the light of the doctrine of God the Father, creator of heaven and earth, is of a ministerial type. In fact, man has been placed at the center of creation as a minister of the Creator" (Pastores Gregis, 2003, n. 90).

In the same vein, Benedict XVI included numerous references in his writings to the environmental issue, indicating the importance of addressing a change of mentality that will have an effective impact on our way of living: "We need an effective change of mentality that will lead us to adopt new lifestyles, whereby the search for truth, beauty and goodness, as well as communion with others for common growth, are the elements that determine the choices of consumption, savings and investments" (Caritas in veritate, 51).

Like his predecessors, Pope Francis considers that ecological conversion implies a change in lifestyles, but he extends this concept to multiple other facets: "It should be a different outlook, a way of thinking, a policy, an educational program, a lifestyle and a spirituality that form a resistance to the advance of the technocratic paradigm" (Laudato si', 194). In short, the Holy Father proposes a complete program, in which the spiritual dimension and solidarity reign in the midst of the material and its use. A program that encompasses many aspects and ultimately justifies the relevance of the term ecological conversion and its prominent role in the encyclical (which covers an entire section: points 216 to 221).

The encyclical does not disavow technology, as some have criticized it, but sees it as a tool for solving problems, not as a solution to them. There is little point in relying on technology if we continue to keep our priorities on personal profit, on the excessive accumulation of resources: in short, if we continue to identify happiness with material possession and refuse to accept the moral root of the evils that afflict us, the "violence of the heart," which is the one that is insistently pointed out. In this framework, technology will only serve to patch up the problem, at best, and at worst to perpetuate the injustices hidden behind an unfocused social and economic model. For this reason, the encyclical encourages all believers to adopt a new attitude towards other human beings and other creations, to recover some basic elements of Catholic theology that have perhaps been diluted in recent centuries, such as the sacred meaning of all creation, the sacramental value of the material, or its intrinsic call to grateful contemplation of the beauty inscribed in God's works.

Any of the great religions of humanity considers that the world is the work of a divine being, a gift, and that the immensity, beauty and perfection of creation is a manifestation of God that puts us in contact with Him. Therefore, any religious tradition approaches nature with great respect and veneration. In the Christian tradition, as in other monotheistic religions, God does not confuse himself with the world, but neither does he separate himself from it. If the world was created by God, it is necessarily good, as the first chapter of Genesis repeatedly indicates: "And God saw that it was good".

Biblical basis

The relationship of the human being with other creatures is reflected in two chapters of Genesis. In the first, corresponding to the Yahwist tradition, it is indicated that the creation of man is in some way a "culmination", since he is the only creature that can properly be defined as "image and likeness" of God. In this line, man is given a predominant role, which leads him to have a certain dominion over the others. However, as many theologians have pointed out, the well-known text: "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that creeps upon the earth" (Gen 1:28), cannot be read in isolation and interpreted as a theological justification of a predatory attitude towards nature, but rather as a call to responsibility: "Ecological conversion leads the believer to develop his creativity and enthusiasm, to solve the dramas of the world [...]. He does not understand his superiority as a motive for personal glory or irresponsible dominion, but as a different capacity, which in turn imposes on him a grave responsibility that springs from his faith" (Laudato si', 220).

Delegated and responsible control

In short, it is not a matter of absolute dominion over creation, but of delegated authority, which implies giving an account to God for the way we have treated his creatures and the rest of human beings. This tradition of environmental stewardship is supported by multiple passages of Sacred Scripture. Already in the second chapter of Genesis it is indicated that God, after creating man, "left him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it" (Genesis 2:15), which indicates a kindly relationship with the environment. We must not forget that the name given to the first human being (Adam) has the same Hebrew root as the word soil (Adamah); therefore, he must be considered as part of the same Earth that he inhabits: "We forget that we ourselves are earth" (Laudato si, 2). This same sense has the Latin translation of these terms: homo and humus, which deeply shows our connection with the environment. In short, we are creatures, part of a much larger whole, and we have bonds of biological and theological communion with other created beings.

This is the main theological basis for the care we owe to nature, of which we form part in an integrated whole, even though each of us transcends it spiritually. For this reason, as Pope Francis points out, it is essential to recover the Catholic theology of Creation in order to redirect our relationships with other creatures and change our role from that of exploiters, so often unconscious and involuntary due to the concealment implied by the complexity of the markets that supply us, to that of custodians of Creation, committed to respecting it: "The best way to put the human being in his place, and to put an end to his claim to be an absolute dominator of the earth, is to re-propose the figure of a Father creator and sole owner of the world, because otherwise the human being will always tend to want to impose on reality his own laws and interests"(Laudato si', 75). We cannot continue to consider ourselves the only beings with value before God. This is theologically, metaphysically and biologically absurd.

This is continuously manifested by our body, which absolutely needs a relationship with the rest of the material creation in order to breathe, nourish and live. The world has evolved in enormously diverse ways, many millions of years before human beings existed. All those creatures that existed on the face of the Earth before our arrival have been dear to God, have given Him glory by their very existence, and have played a key role in the diversity and richness of the species we now know. Psalm 136 expresses it with great beauty when it states: "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his love endures forever! [He alone has done wonders, for his love endures forever. He has made the heavens with understanding, for his love endures forever; he has established the earth upon the waters, for his love endures forever. He made the great lights, because his love endures forever; the sun to rule the day, because his love endures forever; the moon and the stars to rule the night, because his love endures forever". Since all creatures are the fruit of God's love, they praise and bless him by their very existence, as the book of the prophet Daniel (3:57-90) and Psalm 148 propose: "Praise the LORD from the heavens [...] Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you stars of light, praise him, you heavens of the heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Praise the LORD from the earth, you monsters of the sea and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind, executor of his word, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and cedars all, wild beasts and all cattle, creeping things and birds that fly"!

To the extent that Christian contemplation has lost sight of this reality, its relationship with the Creator has been impoverished. All creatures have an intrinsic value, they are not mere instruments to satisfy our needs: "But it is not enough to think of the different species only as possible 'resources' to be exploited, forgetting that they have a value in themselves. Every year thousands of plant and animal species disappear, which we will no longer be able to know, which our children will no longer be able to see, lost forever. The vast majority become extinct for reasons that have to do with some human action. Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God with their existence, nor will they be able to communicate their own message to us. We have no right to do so" (Laudato si', 33). It is not surprising, then, that Francis invites us to "become painfully aware, to dare to turn what is happening to the world into personal suffering, and thus to recognize what contribution each of us can make" (Laudato si', 19).

Trinidad and Incarnation

Along with the theology of creation, Laudato si' also points to other very new theological aspects to support ecological conversion. Just as the Trinity is based on the relationships between the Three Persons, the human person is also shaped by his or her relationships, but not only with God and with other human beings, but also with other creatures, to the extent that we depend on them to maintain the symphony of life: without plants we would not have oxygen or food, without micro-organisms there would be no fertility in the soil, without certain insects the plants would not pollinate. As the Pope points out: "The more the human person grows, matures and is sanctified, the more he or she enters into relationship, when he or she goes out of himself or herself to live in communion with God, with others and with all creatures" (Laudato Si', 240).

But Christianity is also based on the recognition of the Incarnation, that God became Man in order to save us. To despise the natural, the material, is in some way to reject the redeeming value of the Humanity of Jesus Christ. In the face of these spiritualistic dualisms that have had a certain influence in the history of Christianity, Pope Francis reminds us that: "Jesus lived in full harmony with creation [...]. He was far from philosophies that despised the body, matter and the things of this world. Yet these unhealthy dualisms came to have a major influence on some Christian thinkers throughout history and disfigured the Gospel" (Laudato si', 98).

Along the same lines, both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches recognize the salvific value of the seven sacraments. All of them are supported by material signs, which are an image of the grace that they signify and through them confer: water, bread and wine, which are fruits of the earth. Somehow, in the Eucharist God "becomes" that same nature to which he already gave existence from his eternity before the sacramental action, thus remaining in the bread. This is why it is so proper in the Holy Mass to praise God in the name of Creation, whose firstborn we are: "Rightly do all your creatures praise you," we say in the third Eucharistic prayer of the Roman Missal. In short, as the Holy Father points out, "the Eucharist unites heaven and earth, embraces and permeates all creation. The world that came from God's hands returns to him in happy and full adoration" (Laudato Si', 236).

Fundamentals of social justice

In addition to the reasons of dogmatic or sacramental theology, for a Catholic, respect and care for the natural environment is also based on motives of social justice, which is why, traditionally in the Church, reflection on the care of nature has taken place within the framework of moral theology. In addition to the reasons mentioned above, care for the common home also has a very important social dimension, which has already been alluded to and which we wish to emphasize here, in keeping with the central attention that Francis attributes to this aspect in the encyclical. The Earth's resources should serve to meet the needs of all human beings, present and future: we cannot waste them irresponsibly, for we would be cutting off the possibilities of sustenance and progress for our neediest brothers and sisters. On this point, and referring to private property, Francis refers to a particularly demanding appeal of St. John Paul II: "God has given the earth to the whole human race so that it can sustain all its inhabitants, excluding no one and privileging no one" (Centessimus annus, 31).

As Pope Francis reminds us, environmental degradation has social impacts, and it is the most vulnerable populations (the poor, the excluded from society) who suffer the most serious consequences. For this reason, it is necessary to recognize that the lines for the solution of environmental problems: "require an integral approach to combat poverty, to restore dignity to the excluded and simultaneously to care for nature" (Laudato si', 139). It is worth recalling in this regard that many entities of the Catholic Church have for years included environmental care programs in their tasks of promoting human development. For example, Caritas International has had a specific climate justice program for a decade, and the national committees, together with Manos Unidas, work actively to mitigate the impacts of environmental degradation on the weakest people and societies. Moreover, we must not lose sight of the fact that there is a human ecology, which leads to respect for the ultimate truth of every person, his or her intrinsic dignity, regardless of his or her condition, age or social situation. As Pope Francis rightly says: "When the value of a poor person, of a human embryo, of a person with a disability - to give just a few examples - is not recognized in reality itself, it is difficult to hear the cries of nature itself. Everything is connected" (Laudato si', 117).

This social dimension of environmental problems explains why it is an eminent field of interreligious dialogue. These problems concern all human beings, regardless of their religious or ideological positions. As stated in Laudato si', the seriousness of environmental issues "should provoke religions to enter into a dialogue among themselves aimed at caring for nature, defending the poor, and building networks of respect and fraternity" (Laudato si', 201). Along these lines, we would like to report on the Torreciudad Declaration, the fruit of a seminar between environmental scientists and leaders of different religious traditions (www.declarationtorreciudad.org). The declaration underlines the importance of dialogue between science and religion to promote better care of the common home, following the line of dialogue promoted by the encyclical Laudato si'. The statement is open for adherence to people of any creed or ideology and has recently been referenced by the prestigious journal Nature (2016: vol 538, 459).

The authorEmilio Chuvieco Salinero, Silvia Albareda Tiana and Jordi Puig Baguer

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The Catholic Charismatic Movement celebrates its 50th anniversary, a time of maturity

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal celebrated its 50th anniversary in Rome, the highlight of which was a prayer vigil in the Circus Maximus. Pope Francis took part in part of the program, joining in the songs and prayers of the 50,000 faithful from all over the world gathered there. What is the charismatic movement? What is its role in the life of the Church today, after these fifty years?

Jesús Higueras Esteban-July 4, 2017-Reading time: 7 minutes

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal traces its origins to the Duquesne retreat, held in Pittsburgh (United States), from February 17 to 19, 1967. From that moment on, people began to speak of Catholic "Pentecostals", Catholic Pentecostal Movement or Catholic Neo-Pentecostalism; but both the term "movement" and the adjective "Pentecostal" were soon abandoned, and the new reality was designated with the name of "Pentecostal". Renewal in the Spirit, o Christian renewal in the Spirit.

However, the name that has prevailed in most of the countries has been that of Charismatic Renewalwhich has spread rapidly and is now present in more than 200 countries. It is estimated that some 120 million Catholics around the world have experienced with its help the grace of a new Pentecost and a renewal of their lives.

This movement began to spread throughout Spain in 1973, and little by little it spread throughout the national territory. At present there are about 600 groups in our country.

A life-changing reality

On the day Pope Paul VI first received the representatives of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, in 1975, the Lauds hymn of the breviary included a phrase of St. Ambrose that read: "Laeti bibamus sobriam profusionem Spiritus."i.e, "let us drink with joy of the sober abundance of the Spirit".spirit". Recalling this, the Pope told those present that these words could be the program of the Charismatic Renewal: to revive in the Church that era of enthusiasm and spiritual fervor that made the faith of the first Christians so vibrant and strong.

Baptism in the Spirit has, in fact, been revealed as a simple but effective means to carry out this program.

There are endless testimonials from people who have had the experience. It is a life-changing grace. At the International Congress of Pneumatology, held at the Vatican in 1981 on the occasion of the XVI centenary of the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople, speaking about the Charismatic Renewal and baptism in the Spirit, the theologian Yves Congar said: "One thing is certain: it is a reality that changes people's lives."

It was Pope Montini who appointed the Belgian Cardinal Leo Josef Suenens - one of the moderators of the Second Vatican Council - as his representative in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, with which he felt deeply identified and which he guided and supported in its beginnings with his writings and his presence.

St. John Paul II said on October 30, 1998: "The Catholic Charismatic Renewal has helped many Christians to rediscover the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, in the life of the Church and in the world; and this rediscovery has awakened in them a faith in Christ overflowing with joy, a great love for the Church and a generous dedication to her evangelizing mission."

Benedict XVI stated: "We can affirm that one of the elements and positive aspects of the communities of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal is the prominence that the charisms or gifts of the Holy Spirit assume in them, and their merit is to have recalled their relevance in the Church"..

Pope Francis spoke this way a few days ago, in this last month of June: "Fifty years of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, a current of grace of the Spirit. And why a stream of grace? Because it has neither founder, nor statutes nor governing bodies. Of course, in this current multiple expressions have been born which, certainly, are human works inspired by the Spirit, with different charisms and all at the service of the Church. But the current cannot be dammed, nor can the Holy Spirit be enclosed in a cage"..

What spirituality?

We see, therefore, how the Roman Pontiffs praise this spiritual reality that has just celebrated its golden jubilee in the Church. But what does charismatic spirituality really consist of? Is it something specific to a group or can all members of the Church drink from it?

In the Acts of the Apostles, the phenomenon of baptism in the Spirit appears as something habitual in the life of the Christian communities (cf. Acts 1:5; 11:15-16; etc.), in such a way that this practice was also taken up by numerous Fathers of the Church in the first centuries of Christianity.

The Charismatic Renewal groups begin with a seminar of initiation to the life in the Spirit, which usually lasts seven weeks, and within which, during a day of retreat, the baptism in the Spirit takes place, in which a priest and then several brothers impose their hands on each of those who receive the baptism. outpouring of the Spirit.

This is a most beautiful experience in which you experience in a new way the love of God for every human being, not so much as a rational discourse but as an experience that definitively marks your life. You understand that your whole history has been woven by the Holy Spirit, who at no time abandoned you, but without your knowing it, led you to an encounter with the Risen Christ.

Because, ultimately, Christ is in the Charismatic Renewal the center of everything, and the Spirit is invoked to lead us to Jesus, who continues to be a present character that intervenes in your life and transforms it.

Pillars on which the Charismatic Renewal is based

If we had to choose the "pillars" on which the Charismatic Renewal is based, or the themes on which it has the greatest impact, they would be the following:

Gratuity. It is essential to remember that God the Father loved us before the creation of the world; therefore, before we could do any work to please him. Salvation is not won by human works, but is accepted as a free gift that we do not deserve. Of course, this does not annul the Catholic doctrine of merit, but it helps us to flee from any kind of spiritual voluntarism that could make us believe that we "deserve" Heaven or salvation. Christ is the only Savior of man, and He freely offers that grace to all who acknowledge Him as Lord. Sanctifying grace is free but not "cheap", since it cost all the Blood of Christ, which leads us to be constantly grateful for our redemption and to live in constant gratitude, fleeing from complaining and useless victimhood.
Praise. If anything characterizes the groups of the Renewal it is the joy of praise, which is strong, joyful, anointed by the Spirit, since with our songs, our gestures and with our whole being we want to bless the God who calls us to life to be the praise of his glory. It is very characteristic of all charismatic groups to want to manifest unashamedly the joy of salvation, as Mary did in the Magnificat, exulting with joy in the Lord. It is said that they are noisy groups, in which hands are raised and the Lord is blessed with loud voices, although there are also moments of silent adoration before the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, in which adoration becomes a way of life.
Spiritual poverty. God calls people of all kinds to participate in charismatic groups, but he rejoices in a special way in those who apparently do not possess great human qualities, but are full of divine gifts; for we must not forget how, in Paul's preaching, the Apostle reminded us that the foolishness of this world has been chosen by God to confound the wise and the powerful.
Gifts and charisms. Perhaps this dimension is the one that most "clashes" with the mentality of our times, since gifts such as those described by the Apostle Paul in the Letter to the Corinthians are not infrequent in charismatic communities: the gift of tongues, of healing, of prophecy and so many others that are given for the edification of the community. They are not gifts or charisms that place those who receive them above others. Quite the contrary. They are services that help others to be closer to God.
Sense of community. One of the manifestations of the Spirit is the clear awareness that God gives you brothers in a community, with whom to share faith and praise, in such a way that one of the pillars of the Renewal is the testimony that each brother voluntarily gives in the community of the passage of God in his life. It may seem childish, or even too sentimental, but without a doubt the Lord uses the testimony of others to confirm us in our faith. Each week the group gathers to praise and receive a teaching, and ends with a time of testimony, which is just as important as the previous one.
Ecumenism. From the beginning, the Renewal has experienced as a strong sign of the Spirit the search for the unity of the Body of Christ, which is the Church.

In fact, Pope Francis in the last meeting, a few weeks ago, went so far as to affirm that there is a special grace in the Renewal to pray and work for the unity of Christians, because the current of grace passes through all the Christian Churches; and prayer meetings between different confessions under the sign of the Spirit are frequent. No Christian feels strange in a charismatic community, because the praise is always the same.

Two organizational models

Prayer groupsThey are independent of each other, without statutes or superiors, but only leaders, called servants, without juridical authority, but always subject to ecclesiastical authority. Each group elects some servers whose main functions are to meet to discern in prayer what is appropriate for the group; to propose and, if necessary, coordinate the appropriate services, such as reception, order, music, etc.. There are also regional and national servers, especially for the organization of events, assemblies, etc.
Alliance communities, that occur when a group of charismatics commit themselves to bylaws, vows, tithes and other structures. This model emerged in the United States from the charismatic community. The Word of Godand has been widely distributed in countries such as France, Belgium, Italy and Germany. Among the alliance communities most recognized for their development and international expansion are the People of Praisethe Emmanuel Communitythe Community of the Beatitudes and the community Servants of the Living Christ.

The Charismatic Renewal is coordinated worldwide by the ICCRS, International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Servicesor International Charismatic Renewal Services), and the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Associations, based in Vatican City.

It is necessary to add that there are many ecclesial realities that have emerged in the light of the Charismatic Renewal in these fifty years in the life of the Church, because the Lord has wanted to use this current of grace to raise up movements of holiness that crystallize in institutions, associations and other figures that do not coincide exactly with the Renewal, but that take from it numerous attitudes before the divine grace.

At no time has the Renewal wanted to become just another institution within the great richness of the Church. In the words of Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, it is a cloud that discharges on the earth the water of the Spirit that will make it fruitful, but it has no desire for institutional permanence: the cloud fulfills its task and then it can disappear when it is no longer necessary.

In any case, the charismatic dimension has never been lacking in the Church, giving rise to so many fruits of holiness in history. Charism and hierarchy are two irreplaceable and inalienable dimensions that Christ wanted for his Church, in such a way that one without the other would give rise to an institution empty of the Spirit, who alone is always the protagonist of every evangelizing action.

In the Charismatic Renewal, Christ is the center of everything, and the Spirit is invoked to lead us to Jesus, who continues to be an actual character that intervenes in your life and transforms it.

Many ecclesial realities have emerged in the light of the Charismatic Renewal in these fifty years, because the Lord has wanted to use this current of grace to raise up movements of holiness.

The authorJesús Higueras Esteban

Parish Priest of Santa María de Caná, Madrid

Pope Francis

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The awareness of being a pilgrim leads the Christian not to lose hope

July 4, 2017-Reading time: < 1 minute

In his letter to the Romans, St. Paul urges us to live "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation and constant in prayer." Pope Francis, in his Wednesday catecheses, has been encouraging us to grow in hope. But what are the obstacles that make this difficult? How can we exercise this necessary theological virtue and overcome discouragement, despair or the deceitfulness of presumption?

–José Manuel Martín Quemada

The virtue of hope concerns in a very particular way our condition as creatures and, above all, the desire for God that God himself has placed in the heart of the person. Therefore, in a very particular way, hope is the virtue of holiness. It is the one that structures our walk towards God, and the one that sustains us along the way, as described in Cristina, daughter of Lavrans, the great epic of Norwegian literature. In that work, the protagonists resist in the good despite their mistakes and sins, and emerge from the desire for God present in their journey. The author Sigrid Undset herself will convert to Catholicism soon after finishing the novel, attracted by a Christian "humanity" based not on a vain moralism, but on the possibility of a greater understanding of the human and its higher destiny...

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Latin America

Bishop García Ibáñez: "The Cuban people are eager to know God better".

Omnes-July 3, 2017-Reading time: 2 minutes

The Archbishop of Santiago de Cuba, Monsignor García Ibáñez (Guantánamo, 1945), is an engineer from the University of Havana and has been a priest since 1985. Since 2009 he has presided over the Conference of Bishops of Cuba, with whom he recently went to Rome for the visit to the Vatican. ad limina Pope Francis. He assures that the Holy Father "is very close to us" y "very knowledgeable".

- Rafael Miner

There is a lot of noise about Cuba. Especially political. However, the Church continues on its course, and the Cuban bishops were with Pope Francis a few weeks ago during his visit to Cuba. ad limina. Back on the island, Palabra located in Madrid Monsignor Dionisio García Ibáñez, president of the Conference of Cuban Catholic Bishops since 2009, who has received in Cuba, already as bishop, three Popes: St. John Paul II (1998), Benedict XVI (2012) and Francis (2015).

The brief talk revolves around the visit to Rome, and also on aspects that are not usually addressed when talking about Cuba, for example, the faith of the Cuban people.

Monsignor, what has the Pope told them?

-The visit ad limina can be described as very good. We have seen the Pope very prepared, very well informed about the topics we had discussed with him, and very cordial. We have freely raised many concerns, but above all we have informed him even more. The visit began with a spiritual retreat, because it is not just a matter of seeing each other and giving reports. That is what any company does. We have seen him very welcoming, close, as he was with us in his visit to Cuba, in the Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Caridad del Cobre. For us, it is very important to share the experiences in our church with the Pastor of the universal Church.

You referred to the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre. You also received Benedict XI, as Archbishop of Santiago. And you spoke of the devotion to the Virgin of the people of Cuba with beautiful words.

-Yes, I told her that this little image before which she came on pilgrimage has accompanied us for 400 years. Catholics and non-Catholics, believers and non-believers, come to her shrine because in her we discover God's love for us, or because we discover her presence since the origins of our nation.

Can you tell us about the faith of the Cuban people?

-The Cuban people is a believing people. It can be said that all the years we had strong limitations for the life of the Church, for the practice of faith, did not put an end to their religiosity....

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A new generation is committed to the most needy in Venezuela

Omnes-July 3, 2017-Reading time: < 1 minute

Young people are making their way in Venezuela. The country's convulsive economic and political situation has prompted many university students and graduates to reverse the trend of going abroad and stay to support the nation. In times of severe humanitarian crisis, social assistance initiatives are multiplying to the point of becoming networks.

-TEXT. Marcos Pantin, Maracaibo (Venezuela)

The rector of the university emerges from the cloud of tear gas that spreads through our house of studies. He carries a fainting student in his arms. He does not go to the infirmary. He goes to the Radio room of the School of Social Communication which, sheltered from the detonations and gases, has become a field infirmary. Since then, the appearance of the rector became a legend in the collective memory of our university.

These are the student protests of 2007. The then President Chavez pushes for a referendum to approve his indefinite reelection and to modify the Constitution to establish the Communal State. The communal model, copied from Cuban communism, strips the citizen of the right to vote directly and transfers it to the communal cells, conditioned to official approval and enlisted in the government party...

Economy

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Africa Madrid. The adventure of teaching

Africa has been teaching Religion for more than 20 years. She is currently a teacher at IES Rayuela in Mostoles. She teaches students of all grades of Secondary and Baccalaureate. She is also a catechist in the Sacred Heart parish of Alcorcón. Before Religion, she taught Art History.

Omnes-June 12, 2017-Reading time: 3 minutes

"Being a religion teacher was not in my plans, although I had always been interested in religious topics. In Ciudad Real I had studied in a school of nuns. I wondered why they were so happy and in love with God. I wanted to know more."says Africa. She decided to study theology, motivated by a friend whose wife taught religion. "Without realizing it, I was changing. I was called to teach at the school. I started teaching Religion, and I discovered what made me happy. It has nothing to do with any other subject because of the closeness you have with the students, the topics you deal with and the questions they ask you."

Africa considers that teaching Religion also teaches Art History, because culture is connatural to religions. She applies knowledge of Art History to the subject, as well as literature and other forms of cultural expression. "We consult sources, to learn from experts more aspects about the topics discussed. There are many things about faith that can be reasoned. I only give them tools to reflect. I try to transmit that to them with objective sources, listening, without closing their minds." He adds: "we give Catholic Christian culture, not catechesis".

First and foremost, he stresses the importance of the subject: "I think every religion teacher has to be aware that this subject is very important. I tell my students not to navel gaze. Life doesn't work the way you want it to". In addition, he reminds them that "Whatever Jesus said, he did. He taught forgiveness.

During the interview, you can sense the passion Africa feels in her commitment to teaching. Although she has been through many difficult situations, she boasts of her optimism, vital to solve all kinds of problems.

Recognizes that "Several people have complimented me on how much they knew. Because what is taught with love is easily learned. What really moves them is that the things I tell them about are not stories. There are many reasons to thank God for. When you are happy or sad, He is with you. The key is that you convey something that moves you. I am often asked why I am so happy. I am a very lucky person. Someone has even told me that he has never been happier to enter a subject like this, and that if I didn't do these activities with these students, other places would do them for us". In fact, on one of the cultural excursions they have taken, a tour guide was surprised by the pupils' knowledge of Africa.

He explains that it was decided to put Religion in Bachillerato two hours a week: first thing in the morning and seventh hour (those who did not study it did not have class). Even so, with the possibility of sleeping more and leaving an hour earlier, Africa has always had huge groups of high school students. "They love, they are passionate about everything that comes from Jesus. They think about his courage. I want them to believe that they can change the world." Self-confident, she makes it clear that she has never had any complexes. "Because what I do is very important, because you're not doing it for you, you're doing it for the Lord. It fills me up to see that you are making people better."

In addition, after school hours they do volunteer work, where the vast majority of their students also collaborate, whether in soup kitchens, hospitals, etc. One of the places where they do solidarity work is the San Simón de Rojas soup kitchen in Móstoles. One of the experiences that has impacted him the most is the encounter with a former student of his who was in poverty. For this reason, he urges his students to take advantage of the opportunities available at the school. "Whenever we do an activity, they write a reflection. It makes a big impression on them."

In February he was fortunate enough to meet Pope Francis in person at the Vatican. "It has marked my life." she commented emotionally recalling this experience. She felt his closeness, said she loved him and thanked his family and students for his blessing. It has been an incentive for her enthusiasm for life and for her profession. With teachers like Africa the subject of Religion is very well learned.

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María Zambrano (1904-1991) today

The Malaga-born philosopher María Zambrano -who lived in exile most of her life- denounced an even more serious exile in modern culture: the flight of reason from its sacred origin.

Jaime Nubiola-June 12, 2017-Reading time: 4 minutes

Many have heard of María Zambrano: poet and writer, republican activist, woman committed to women, thinker in exile, brilliant disciple of Zubiri and Ortega. However, these labels are no more than clichés more or less distant from what was truly at the center of María Zambrano's experience and vital thought.

The center of his thinking

María Zambrano was born in Vélez-Málaga in 1904 and died in Madrid in 1991. She lived her beginnings and end in Spain; however, from 1939 to 1984, a long exile took her to sister countries in America and Europe. Rome will be fundamental, becoming the knot that binds one and the other, all of them well present in his work. The category exile is central to her thinking and helps to understand the epitaph she herself chose for her tombstone in the cemetery of the village in Malaga where she was born: Surge, amica mea, et veni ("Arise, my beloved, and come!"). This call of the Beloved to the beloved, coming from the Song of Songs, is surely the most accurate expression of his philosophical and vital enterprise.

For María Zambrano, exile, more than a political and social issue, is the consequence of a tearing, which entails a fall and demands redemption. As she shows in Philosophy and poetry (1939), it is about the tearing apart of the Logos divine and logos The human experience is already present in the origins of the personal experience of the human being -in the divine creation of beings- and is also reflected in the historical development of reason -in the human creation of knowledge-. Putting the logos in harmony with the Logos The divine is the founding concern of Zambrano's philosophical reflection, it is the expression of his mediating mission, of his poetic reason.

Fundamental rationalism

The first consequence of this tearing apart is the forgetfulness of the origin. Reason will forget that it is the fruit of a will and will be lost amidst delusions of sufficiency and autonomy. As he points out in Thought and poetry in Spanish life (1939), from Parmenides to Hegel, a rationalist horizon has been unfolding that infects everything and everyone: it is the passion to enclose everything in a definition or in an idea, leaving aside the sacred depth of reality that remains uncontrollable and that opposes this supposed self-sufficiency of the human being. It can be seen that even the attempt at amendment carried out by the vitalisms of the twentieth century, after the idealisms of the nineteenth, has the same deficiency: "Where it was said reasonis said later lifeand the situation remains substantially the same", writes Zambrano.

Why does everything remain the same? Because of the reverie of believing to possess everything, while what one possesses is always a all cut out. It is not things that are being left out, but what is truly marginalized, thrown into the hell of irrationality, is reality itself, transcendence and the Transcendent itself. In this critique of modern discursive reason, Maria Zambrano will coincide with Benedict XVI to the point that it seems that words and thought are lent to each other: where Zambrano says that "reason affirmed itself by closing". (Philosophy and poetry1939), Benedict XVI will speak about "a kind of pride of reason [...] that considers itself sufficient and closes itself to contemplation and to the search for a Truth that surpasses it." (Speech to the Pontifical Council for Culture, 2008). In this same sense, María Zambrano shows the ineffectiveness of this cut-out reason. We need only refer to the prologue of the first edition of Man and the divine (1955), which is the work of his that best corresponds to his fundamental philosophical interest. There he writes that "Man does not free himself from certain things when they have disappeared, let alone when it is he himself who has succeeded in making them disappear. Thus, that which is hidden in the word, almost unpronounceable today, God".. God is a mysterious reality that, even if denied, will always be in absolute and intact relationship with human beings.

Put the logos in the Logos

The existence of the human being depends on his relationship with the sacred and absolutely transcendent reality; hence, in the midst of the nostalgia for the origin, the human being goes through the path of anguish or through the path of meaning. Maria Zambrano's philosophical mission consists entirely in giving back the logos at Logos. For this it is necessary that reason be true reason and not the substitutes derived from rationalism. Human reason, capable of rediscovering its origin, cannot be superficial, external, belligerent, acid, sad. On the contrary, it must be, "something that is reason, but wider".Zambrano will write to the poet Rafael Dieste (1944). Or as the invitation of Benedict XVI in the Regensburg speech (2006), "broaden our concept of reason and its use.".

At the core of this reason -which in Zambrano's terminology is "like a drop of oil" o "like a drop of happiness"- a new articulation of knowledge will have to take place. Of all knowledge and, in a very special way, of those that are considered as knowledge of meaning: philosophy, poetry, religion. All three are genuine expressions of the activity and passivity of human knowledge. All three are born of the same placenta which is the sacred and in the recognition of their mutual and many debts they will find -we will find- the clarity and the light of the original unity. For this reason also, twenty-five years after her death, the thought of María Zambrano is more current and necessary than ever.

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Arterial hypertension: the silent killer

One in four people has high blood pressure. However, in 30 % of cases, they are unaware that they are hypertensive: hypertension often has no symptoms. This is why it has been called "the silent killer".

Pilar Riobó-June 12, 2017-Reading time: 3 minutes

People with high blood pressure have an increased cardiovascular risk. Specifically, they are three times more likely to have a coronary problem (such as a heart attack) and six times more likely to develop heart failure. In addition, hypertension is the first risk factor for brain disease, and an important factor in kidney disease.

But do not panic if you have high blood pressure: the risk decreases with correct and sustained treatment.

Blood pressure is the force exerted by the blood on the walls of the arteries. Systolic pressure (the "maximum") indicates the pressure produced by the contraction of the heart; diastolic pressure (the "minimum") indicates the "distensibility" or tone of the vascular system. Blood moves because of this pressure difference.

We speak of hypertension when blood pressure (BP) is above 140/90 mmHg; but from 120 mmHg of maximum BP and 80 mmHg of minimum BP there is a continuous and growing relationship with mortality due to vascular diseases of the heart or brain. It is also considered high at lower levels in the case of diabetics and patients who have had heart problems.

Since the pressure can vary according to the circumstances, it is sometimes necessary to repeat the measurement several times. But the permanent elevation of the pressure translates into an anomalous situation of the arteries, which lose part of their elasticity and thus force the heart to make more effort to expel the blood at a higher pressure. This results in hypertrophy of the heart muscle, which leads to heart, kidney and brain problems and even dementia.

Occasionally, blood pressure may increase due to a stress reaction; this is called "emotional hypertension". One of its variants is known as "white coat hypertension", which occurs in the doctor's office due to stress when taking blood pressure. Even if the stress is not a major problem, it tends to recur in many everyday situations and, in the end, can make the hypertension permanent. Therefore, these usually stressed people need to have their blood pressure checked regularly.

As hypertension is chronic, it requires lifelong follow-up. Sometimes dietary treatment and increased physical exercise may be sufficient. Influencing nutritional factors are obesity (it is estimated that about 25 % of hypertension cases are related to obesity), lack of exercise and excess salt or alcohol. Often medication, even several associated drugs, must also be used to achieve adequate control.

It is common for patients to measure their blood pressure at home, with one of the electronic devices available on the market. In addition to avoiding "white coat" hypertension, this favors the desirable participation of the patient in the control of the disease and the efficacy of the drugs, except in cases of an anxious personality that leads to obsessive blood pressure measurement.

The most reliable devices are still the classic mercury ones, but the electronic ones avoid the problems derived from the toxicity of this material and are easy to use and inexpensive. It is advisable to choose the arm ones, as the wrist ones are less easy to use correctly. The finger ones are not very accurate. The cuff or inflatable chamber should be the right size, neither short nor long. The chamber should cover 80 % of the arm circumference, which avoids falsely high readings. All devices should be checked at least once a year. As for the number of self-measurements to be performed, at least three days is advised, taking duplicate readings at two times of the day (morning and evening).

The authorPilar Riobó

Medical specialist in Endocrinology and Nutrition.

Science

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ColumnistsJuan Pablo Cannata

South America: let unity prevail

Rivalry and political tensions in many countries lead to tension. But the Church encourages a culture of encounter and dialogue.

June 7, 2017-Reading time: 2 minutes

The region is experiencing a worrisome socio-political polarization. I am not referring to the fact that elections in recent years have been decided by very tight percentages, but rather to the fact that the rivalry of "models" includes a cross disqualification: each party thinks that the other is hurting the country, and the governance pacts -so friendly in theory- are diluted in permanent confrontations.

Meanwhile, the Church is trapped in a political framework that puts pressure on its pastoral and social proposal: it generally assumes the good intentions of both, reminds popular governments of the importance of respecting institutions; and the neoliberals or center-right, the priority of caring for the poor in every economic measure.

In this context, Pope Francis asked on Easter Sunday that "peaceful solutions" to overcome tensions "political and social" in Latin America. The situation in each country is different, in general, much more than what is perceived from Europe. However, the divisions are real in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay...; more calm in Peru because of the economic success, and in Uruguay, because of the more serene social style; and more extreme in Venezuela.

Following this line, concerned about the tension, the Argentine bishops came out in unison during Holy Week to call for fraternal unity. Bishop Arancedo, president of the bishops' conference, warned that "a divided country does not provide solutions to people's problems", and noted: "it is necessary and urgent to recreate a culture that has its source in dialogue and respect, in honesty and exemplarity, within the institutional framework of the powers of the State".

For his part, Bishop Lozano (Social Pastoral Commission) considered that it is necessary to "to build a homeland of brothers"; Bishop Stanovnik, of Corrientes, asked to beware of the temptation of division and confrontation; and, finally, Cardinal Poli, of Buenos Aires, said that "if there is no reconciliation, there is no homeland, there is no future".

In the face of socio-political division, the Church advocates building bridges, the culture of encounter and dialogue, and promotes a logic that overcomes confrontation and places society in the perspective of the common good. It is up to Christians to ensure that this preaching becomes a reality, and that - as the Pope says in the Evangelii Gaudium-, unity prevails over conflict.

The authorJuan Pablo Cannata

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

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ÁLVARO SÁNCHEZ LEÓN

ColumnistsOmnes

'Despasito'.

June 7, 2017-Reading time: 2 minutes

In the field of the defense of women's dignity, how little coherence can be observed between what is claimed by the media's informative content and the rest of the content.

-Journalist

@asanleo

Turn up my radio, this is my song. Note the letters. Despacito. Summer is here to make you happy and the music goes wild turning a transparent speech into a melody, because the fish dies by the mouth, with Fito's permission.

Beyond the words spoken in public, full of politically correct semantic balances, the naturalness of the Latin music that sprinkles the disco nights and the summer vacuums are a loudspeaker of what goes deep inside.

Part of Latin pop is a parenthesis in the global campaign for dignity, equality, respect, and veneration of the role of women in a world with more common sense than testosterone.

The rhythm of the waves that flood the summer barracks are beautiful women like Venus turned into Avignon ladies to use, abuse and throw away. The things clear, you hear. Disguised as eternally fleeting loves, the impulses are disguised and sung as a aserejé of unabashed exhibitionism. It is that contemporary authenticity that converts into verses the drainage of the hearts as if we all lived in Big Brother.

On the tracks of the record companies dance the meats, while they succumb soft arguments that place women on the throne of societies for the sake of possible worlds. Between laughter, rum and wobbles, the sewer stagnates with Caribbean slime.

The same radio stations that defend every woman in their newscasts hum in their musicals the hymns that destroy their essence. The same newspapers that shoot against every symptom of machismo are refreshingly turning Luis Fonsi into the lion king. The same TV stations that highlight a camera in every corner of gender violence, join the degrading choreography of the dale-mamasitahere, right on the beach.

I can't find in the supermarket sunscreen against female skins drilled to the tasty sound of the latino power dance.

The music also feral the wild beasts. You know. The hit of these summers top will eventually become epic The barbecue by Georgie Dann. And it wasn't that either, my amol.

The authorOmnes

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Spain

Secularist sectors are trying to deprive the Church of the ownership of its properties

Omnes-June 2, 2017-Reading time: 4 minutes

For ideological reasons and with hardly any legal arguments, some groups are taking advantage of the immatriculations of Church properties to generate a contrived controversy.

–Diego Pacheco

In mid-May, the judge of the Administrative Contentious Court No. 5 of Zaragoza suspended as a precautionary measure the process of immatriculation of the Cathedral of San Salvador (La Seo) and the church of La Magdalena by the city council. It thus annulled an agreement of March 27 by which the Zaragoza consistory established the initiation of administrative and judicial actions to obtain the domain of these temples and thus annul the immatriculation of these properties already practiced in favor of the domain of the Church.

The magistrate argues in her decision that the report presented by the city council does not contain a single reasoning on the feasibility of what it intends to carry out. And, above all, "Nor does the report contain the slightest indication of the possible rights that the City Council of Zaragoza may have over the aforementioned temples, in order to propose the actions mentioned in the agreement". In addition, the legal report that must accompany this type of municipal agreements, required by law, is not sufficient, according to the judge. "so that the members of the municipal corporation have an accurate knowledge of the circumstances of the case."from there the judge's adoption of this precautionary measure: to ensure that local corporations make a thoughtful use of judicial actions.

Undisputed ownership

Therefore, the disentailment attempt of the Zaragoza consistory to snatch La Seo -which is the cathedral of Zaragoza, the main temple of a diocese- from the Church, and its seizure project so that these two temples become public property, is aborted for the time being.

The head of communication of the archbishopric of Zaragoza, José Antonio Calvo, has pointed out that the archbishopric has taken the municipal agreement with peace of mind, because "legality and jurisprudence support us". Calvo expresses his confidence that the justice system will "will prove us right" in case the consistory of the Aragonese capital decides to claim before the courts. The recent decision of the judge of the Administrative Court No. 5 of Zaragoza suggests so. "If they claim public ownership, they will have to prove it, but this is impossible", because both the Cathedral of La Seo as well as the parish of Santa María Magdalena. "are ecclesiastical institutions since their inception in the late eleventh century". and the Church's dominion over these assets "it has been peaceful, uncontested and notorious." over time. Jlegally, these properties belong to the Church. "for a whopping 800 years; therefore, it is undisputed.". And so it is with many other temples, which have belonged to the Church since time immemorial.

The record is later

Calvo added that these properties are older than the land registry, which was created in the second half of the 19th century. Y like "it was so notorious" that belonged to the patrimony of the Church, as was the case with the assets of municipalities and other administrations, "we were exempted from the ability to register them.". For this reason, a decision of the Supreme Court establishes "that it is not unconstitutional for the Catholic Church to immatriculate property, but that it has been deprived of this possibility for decades". E The objective of the immatriculation of these properties has been to "to give publicity to a property that already existed, not to take possession of the property at the time".because the registry "makes visible what is already a property, but does not give it."

Likewise, Calvo has assured that the registration was legal and in no case there was fraud of law, given that at the time of the immatriculation of the two properties (in 1987 and 1988) the regulations established an exception to the immatriculation for the temples destined to the Catholic cult, due to their notoriety. The idea was to give "transparency to the situation of assets that since time immemorial, without any dispute and with all due evidence, are ours".because the Church "it is an institution older than the State". and therefore "sometimes we don't have the title deeds."because there was no agency to issue them.

Religious use at risk

For the archbishopric of Zaragoza, the initiative of the city council constitutes, under the banner of a misunderstood secularism, "an attack on the civil rights of the institutions and against legitimate freedom". "It wants to deprive the Church of property." when it is the Church that "has created, maintains and preserves the life and purpose of its own." of these buildings, which are a place of "gathering of Christians". and, at the same time, "religious expression". If the city council were to take over the ownership of these two temples, "the main purpose for which they were created would become secondary."because although "it is said that they would remain spaces of worship, conflicts would be assured".

For Calvo, it is about "a conflict artificially created by ideological and secularist causes that want to expel the Church from societyof public life and that seek confrontation". And should the municipal initiative go ahead, he concludes, "Zaragoza would be a less free place."

The problem, says the archbishopric spokesman, is that the city council's initiative could become, if it is not stopped by the courts, a "systematic process of seizure and confiscation of assets"..

The diocese's lawyer, Ernesto Gómez Azqueta, doubts "that the city council has the necessary legitimacy". to initiate this type of initiative; "would correspond, in any case, to the Government of Aragon or to the Government of the nation"..

For his part, the vice-secretary for economic affairs of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Fernando Giménez Barriocanal, has indicated that he does not know "why do you want to deprive Catholics of the goods they rightfully possess?" and also stressed that "some of these municipalities that say that the Church is appropriating these assets, do not understand for what purpose and what is the use that is made of them, which is a religious use."

He added that "if the mayor of Zaragoza wants to go to pray to the Seo he can go, and if he wants to use any other public resource he can do it".

Barriocanal reiterated that the immatriculation of property "it is not an irregular procedureThe company's mission is to provide citizens with goods that are really rendering an enormous service".. It also recalls that there are "challenge mechanisms". "Sf the municipality has the deed of ownership of La Seo, it can prove that it is the municipality that has built it. and the holder will be able to exercise the actions as when any other citizen discovers that in the property registry appears a property that is his and that appears in the name of another".

Contribute to society

Giménez Barriocanal also insists that the assets of the Church are always open to society and that the Church's assets are always open to the public. "bring great social and economic benefit. Each cathedral represents an average of 140 million euros of wealth in the Spanish economy".. In addition, these assets generate 1,500 jobs.

It now remains to be seen what action the Zaragoza City Council will take, although experts say it would be a resounding failure.

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Pope declares Jacinta and Francisco children saints, "an example for us".

Omnes-June 2, 2017-Reading time: 5 minutes

The little shepherds Jacinta and Francisco are already the first non-martyrs and youngest saints of the Church. Pope Francisco declared them in Fatima, before thousands of pilgrims, as an example of holiness for the world.

–Ricardo Cardoso, Vila Viçosa (Évora, Portugal) and Enrique Calvo, Viseu (Portugal)

On May 12 and 13, the Catholic world (and not only) turned its gaze to Fatima. It was 100 years since, in that same place, the Blessed Virgin had begun a new era for the life of the Church and the world. Against a backdrop of death and the overcast world of 1917, "a woman brighter than the sun" (as the children used to say) gave a new hope to the heart of Humanity. And, one hundred years later, hundreds of thousands of people, their hearts full of faith and hope, thronged Fatima to gaze at "that one" woman, who continues to be brighter than the sun and who inundates us all with her motherly tenderness.

This love that flows from the Immaculate Heart of Mary continues to radiate to the world in many ways. That is why, after a rigorous process and a miracle attributed to Francisco and Jacinta Marto, Pope Francis chose this centenary to canonize the two children, becoming the youngest non-martyr saints of the Church.

In this canonization, although it is important to know the miracle and to thank God for the gift of this very canonization, it is even more urgent to discover the witness of faith and Christian life of the two little shepherds.

With the canonization, the Church invites us to follow his example of simplicity of heart, of mortifications and prayers of reparation, and of intimacy with "Hidden Jesus" in the Tabernacle. For this, we now count on the intercession of St. Francisco and St. Jacinta to help us to be like them.

It is also important to say that the canonization of the two children is a stimulus for us to look at Sister Lucia, who stayed with us until a few years ago, and to whom many graces are being attributed.

The Pope, moved

Pope Francis was also a pilgrim among thousands of pilgrims. It was indeed St. Peter, in his successor, who visited the Mother, who on the Cross had been given by the Lord to his disciples. He was received with great affection by the Portuguese authorities in Portuguese territory, he was welcomed in Fatima with great enthusiasm by thousands of people, and in profound silence, the successor of St. Peter met the Mother of God, while all the people, gathered in silence, had their eyes fixed on the encounter with these two pillars of our faith.

In the evening, the esplanade of the shrine was transformed into a sea of candles, prayers were said in many languages, and everyone understood each other because it was all about love for Our Lady. In his simplicity, Pope Francis made sure that all the attention was for Our Lady and not for his visit. Therefore, his restraint in his gestures, his determination to look at Our Lady and, at the end of the celebration, with the white handkerchief, he emotionally said goodbye to Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima using the traditional greeting of the Portuguese people, while singing: "O Fatima, farewell, Virgin Mother, farewell!".

We have Mother!

Regardless of the conditions in which one is in Fatima, the truth is that one never wants to leave, because as the Holy Father said with a strong voice in his homily: "Temos Mãe!" (We have a Mother!). For this reason, the moment of leaving Mother is always hard and exciting, full of nostalgia and the Portuguese feeling of "saudade".

One leaves with the body, but the heart remains with Our Lady, receiving from this Mother the care that only she knows how to give us. I would like to have the audacity to invite everyone to Fatima. This year cannot pass without visiting our Heavenly Mother in the sanctuary of Fatima. And, on your return, fill her with the emotion of the "saudade" with the refrain of the canticle with which we bid farewell to the Blessed Virgin: "A final prayer, as I leave you, Mother of God: may this immortal cry always live in my soul:
O Fatima, Farewell! Virgin Mother, Farewell!". May this immortal cry live forever in our souls, because we have a Mother!

Three elements of the message

The previous months have gradually revealed the depth, timeliness and urgency of knowing and taking part in all that the Virgin Mary has said to all of us through the little shepherds of Fatima. The little shepherds were the recipients of a great proclamation, but the message was not addressed only to them and to their time. Each one of us, in our own time, rediscovers the intensity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ who calls us to conversion and to participation in his Kingdom.

A century has passed since the apparitions of Fatima, which took place in the midst of World War I, in which Portugal participated with many of its children, and before the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia. These circumstances are not unrelated to the content of the message. Now, in the midst of the centenary of these particular revelations, we can ask ourselves: what remains of Mary's wishes and petitions?

Consecration coupled with devotion

In the spirit of simplicity, we recall that there are three clear elements of the message. Namely: to pray the Rosary every day; to make reparation for the conversion of sinners; and to spread devotion to her Immaculate Heart throughout the world. This last point serves well to make known the faith and holy life of the little shepherds, especially that of St. Jacinta. It should be noted that there are two realities in Our Lady's words - devotion and consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary - which are united and mutually implied.

Lucia says in her Memoirs that in the apparition of July 13, our Mother showed hell to the shepherds and asked them to stop offending God:

"To save (souls from hell, God wants to establish devotion to My Immaculate Heart in the world. If (men) do what I tell you, many souls will be saved (...) and they will have peace. The war (World War I) will end. But if they do not stop offending God, in the reign of Pius XI another worse one will begin. (...) If they heed My requests, Russia will be converted and they will have peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, promoting war and persecutions in the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated. Finally, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, which will be converted, and a time of peace will be granted to the world".

Jacinta's testimony

The youngest of the visionaries had a true passion for the Immaculate Heart of Mary, besides testifying that our Mother is the Mediatrix of graces and Coredemptrix. After the apparition of July 13, where hell was shown to them, Jacinta said:

"I'm so sorry I can't take communion. (I was not old enough) in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary". And he often repeated: "Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation".

Lucia says that Jacinta " he added at other times with his natural simplicity:

- I love the Immaculate Heart of Mary so much! It is the Heart of our Heavenly Mother! You don't like to say many times: Sweet Heart of Mary Immaculate Heart of Mary! I like it so much, so much!" He even gave recommendations to his cousin Lucia: "(...) Love Jesus very much, the Immaculate Heart of Mary and make many sacrifices for sinners!"

Or this one: "I am almost ready to go to Heaven. You remain here to communicate that God wants to establish devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the world. When you have to say that, do not hide! Tell everyone that God grants graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and that they should ask her.

Pope Francis

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Latin America

Corpus Christi in Patzún, a focus of Eucharistic piety

Omnes-June 2, 2017-Reading time: < 1 minute

Patzún, a city in the Guatemalan highlands, is already a focus of Eucharistic piety, with a Corpus Christi procession that is three centuries old. Devotion to the Sacramental Lord has spread to many places.

–Juan Bautista Robledillo, Guatemala City

Patzún is a Guatemalan city of about 54,000 inhabitants, mostly of indigenous population, which stands out among other things for its Eucharistic piety, manifested in its maximum splendor on the day of Corpus Christi with its rich and colorful carpets. Although this tradition is lived throughout the country, Patzún (land of the sunflower), is emblematic for its colorful, for the participation of all its people, even non-Catholics, and more and more come from all over the country and foreign tourists...

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Contemplation in times of WhatsApp

The times in which we live are characterized by an enormous widening of the frontiers of communication. For some years now, technology has been the backbone of the lives of men and women.

Juan Carlos Vasconez-June 2, 2017-Reading time: 9 minutes

We are all faced with the challenge of living with technology, whose frontiers are expanding in our time, and to channel its use positively, so that it helps us to develop as persons and does not become a wall that isolates us from God or from others.

Says the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CEC) that the human heart is the dwelling place where I am, or where I dwell, the place of truth, of encounter and of the Covenant. It is in the heart that communion with God and with others takes place, which constitutes the end of man, and from which derives the integration achieved by the person, in body and in spirit.

For the heart to remain free and open to God, it needs to detach itself from earthly attachments, subtle threads, worldly attachments, forces that make it insensitive and lethargic. And, the catechism concludes, although one cannot meditate at all times, one can always enter into contemplation, regardless of one's health, work or affective conditions. The heart is the place of search and encounter, in poverty and in faith (CEC, n. 2710).

This is a decisive affirmation: the contemplative gaze on the Lord is the loving union with the divine Will, to make the heart seek and rest in God, to rest in Him; for which, it must be detached from all created things. Although one must love the world passionately, one must not center one's happiness on earthly goods: these are just that, means, and the heart must not become attached to them, for this disordered affection would separate it from Love, would leave no room for God, and would end up enslaving the heart.

Freedom of heart is a grace of God that we can ask for in our supplications, but it is also a good to be sought with our effective desire and with our efforts: trying to make the affections, the powers and the senses more and more attentive to the Lord.

As a consequence, we freely desire -because we feel like it- that our powers and senses, our heart, be free of everything that could be an obstacle, however small, to the love of God. The freedom of the heart is freedom, the mastery to live. "as those who have nothing, yet possessing everything." (2 Cor 6:10); it is the freedom and glory of the children of God, which Christ acquired for us by his death on the Cross, and which requires detachment to attain.

This inner mastery that produces this freedom is not something automatic, but is obtained through the repetition of positive acts. It is like a gymnastics of the spirit that leads us to live detached from the goods we use. In this sense, it is also normal for the Christian to ask himself how to ensure that technology does not become a bondage, that the heart does not become excessively attached to it, that its use is orderly. At times, it may be necessary to regulate it, so that it can be sanctified.

A contemporary of ours, St. Josemaría, the saint of the ordinary, as St. John Paul II called him, encouraged us to seek holiness in ordinary work. It is said that he put a tile in his workroom, next to a crucifix, with these words: "Sanctis omnia sancta, mundana mundanis." (all things are holy for the saints; worldly, for the worldly). And he commented that, when seeking the Lord, it is very easy to discover the quid divinum in everything, so as not to depart from the law of God and to conduct himself as a good son.

As the development of society offers new technical means to carry out a great number of activities, it is liberating that the spirit of detachment is incarnated in new manifestations. In this we recognize a prudent soul, a person who, being attentive to God, is able to discover in new situations what is appropriate and what is not.

Concentrate to pray well

Concentration is the state of a person who fixes his thoughts on something, without being distracted. Some people complain that when they begin to pray, after a short time, their mind goes elsewhere. And the fact is that praying demands a certain discipline, control over our senses and faculties; in short, to pray we must concentrate and to concentrate we must discipline ourselves.

St. Charles Borromeo warns that to pray well we have to prepare ourselves. Otherwise, when you go to raise your heart to God, a thousand thoughts will come to mind and distract you from your task. That is why the saint helps us to ask ourselves: before going to the oratory, what did you do? how did you prepare yourself? what means did you put into practice to keep your attention?

If we want to concentrate for prayer, we have to protect these moments and ensure a minimum preparation. To ensure interior recollection is not only during prayer, but also before we begin to pray; it will be indispensable to recollect the imagination, the external senses, etc. This is greatly helped by preventing the imagination from wandering madly, for example, by not devoting attention to the device every time we have nothing to do, or when we are a little bored.

In fact, people who have an inner life try to find a happy medium between the "fast world" of hyperconnectivity and the "slow world" of contemplation. Today's digital devices have the advantage of allowing us to be constantly connected, but this condition - in itself positive - also becomes distracting, as it constantly claims our interest. Therefore, each of us must decide what deserves our attention and how to find that happy medium.

A healthy digital diet favors the acquisition of virtues such as patience, constancy, simplicity: the temper of sanctity. It can also avoid unnecessary states of tension, insecurity or isolation.

Prudence and concentration

Prudence is the cardinal virtue that helps to discern and distinguish what is right from what is wrong and to act accordingly; it is the ability to think, in the face of certain events or activities, about the possible risks they entail, and to adapt or modify one's behavior so as not to receive or produce unnecessary harm. This is a very important skill that we should all acquire: think before acting.

Prudence refers to the knowledge of the actions that we should desire or reject. The prudent man compares the past with the present in order to foresee and arrange for future action; he deliberates on what may happen and on what should be done or omitted in order to achieve his end. Prudence implies knowledge and discourse.

On a practical level, in order to pray well, it will be very useful to be prudent in the digital world. It is effective to ask ourselves what things are positive, to what extent it is worthwhile for technology to occupy our time. Choose some places where technology is not invited. Define when it is preferable to dispense with virtual contact because physical contact is more appropriate, because it is something more delicate or when it is necessary to add gestures or tones of voice, which help to convey the message more appropriately.

We must also develop prudence when acting as a receiver. Pope Benedict XVI called our attention to the fact that many times "the significance and effectiveness of different forms of expression seem to be determined more by their popularity than by their intrinsic importance and validity. Popularity, in turn, often depends more on fame or persuasive strategies than on the logic of argumentation. Sometimes, the discreet voice of reason is stifled by the noise of so much information and fails to arouse attention, which is reserved instead for those who express themselves more persuasively." (Message for the 47th World Communications Day). The calls "fake news", fake news, have flooded the web, social networks have provided a platform with which facts, or pseudo-facts or post-facts, spread faster and among more people.

It is important to pay attention not only to the veracity of the information but also to its timeliness. When we ask ourselves: why can't I watch a three-minute video now, we should think that it is not only a question of time, but that we should avoid getting used to following all the stimuli that appear around us, and that distract us from the activity we are doing at that moment.

In short, prudence will help us to know when to intervene to change or avoid behaviors that have become common on social networks; in short, to take advantage of digital technologies, but without allowing ourselves to be governed by them.

Knowledge: studiositas vs. curiositas

It is St. Thomas Aquinas who defines these two terms. First, he defines the studiositas like "a certain enthusiastic interest in acquiring knowledge of things.". The more intensely the mind applies itself to something thanks to having known it, the more its desire to learn and to know develops regularly. The firm application towards knowledge on the part of the intellect grows with practice; thus, the desire to know overcomes the desire for comfort or simply laziness.

The second term is the curiositas, explained as "wandering restlessness of the spirit"It manifests itself in the insatiability of curiosity, agitation of the body and instability of place and determination that is often the first manifestation of acedia: a sadness of heart, a heaviness of the human spirit that does not want to accept the nobility and dignity of the human person that is intimately related to God.

Never before in history has so much data of a personal or intimate nature been made available to anyone; this information can easily arouse curiosity. Technological innovation has led to a shift towards increasingly trivial products and services, linked to the culture of image and self. Again, temperance will help us to choose. Not everything that is published interests me. Just because it is on the net and made available -even if it is by the interested party himself- does not mean that there is an obligation to find out about it, to see it, to read it, etc.

In a world in which interest, even morbid interest, is often imposed by unedifying events, or when many get ahead by taking advantage of the unleashed curiosity of so many, it is worthwhile to act with fortitude so as not to fall into this obsessive preoccupation with knowing everything. It will be much more difficult for a person who is outwardly focused, dominated by curiosity-which manifests itself, for example, in the desire to be informed about everything, not wanting to "miss anything"-to concentrate on prayer.

Practical advice

The following are some "good practices" from personal experience that can help to have a freer heart and facilitate concentration for better prayer.

Almost all the possibilities that digital technologies offer me are good, but not all of them suit me. St. Paul's reply to some people in Corinth, who were trying to justify themselves, is very enlightening: "Everything is lawful for me. But not everything is convenient. Everything is lawful for me. But I will not let myself be dominated by anything." (1 Cor 6:12). A Christian who seeks holiness does not limit himself to asking if it is licit -if it is possible- to do this or that. What must be asked is: will it bring me closer to God? It will be healthy to make some small decisions that will help us preserve our attention for the more important things. Deciding which apps to use and which websites to follow can have a surprisingly powerful impact on how we spend our time.

As far as possible, unnecessary distractions should be avoided. For this, it may be convenient to disable unnecessary digital alerts, cancel notifications of messages, emails and new interactions. No one needs alerts from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., instantly. All they do is distract and waste time by tirelessly checking the device.

It is worthwhile to set priorities, uninstall from the smartphone games or social networks that are there to fill the dead time or to "kill time" in front of the screen. This not only saves battery life, but avoiding these distracting temptations makes it easier to concentrate.

It can be convenient to choose one way of doing things and take advantage of it. The greater the range of opportunities to perform a given task, the more difficult it will be to choose what to pay attention to at the moment. Choosing the right apps installed, avoiding duplication and overlapping.

It is good to remember that social networks are designed for users to invest a great deal of time. Entering them is a new experience every time, because "friends" or "contacts" are a constant source of news that demands attention: purely textual or visual updates (as in the case of an image or a photo album), or even audiovisual (video clips). If no limits are set, they will take up all the time available.

Therefore, it will be advantageous to apply a bit of order with social networks. Sometimes it may be appropriate to connect at a certain time, or to set a number of times a day to look at them. Define a maximum time of daily use for each social network, so that they do not take up all your free time. It is important to read books, consume deeper contents that normally need more time for abstraction, respect the times when we are face to face with our friends and family.

It will also be useful to take care of the way of interacting within social networks, as it should be marked by prudence, which often advises focusing more on the quality of the connections themselves than on the quantity. It is more important to select topics that are worth writing about, and to reflect on them sufficiently for the contributions to be valuable, than to say a lot of insignificant things at great speed.

To pray well, it is very important to take care of your sleep. smartphoneThe alarm clock, before going to sleep can significantly affect our quality of sleep and decrease the melatonin that our body produces. It is worth buying an alarm clock and charging electronic devices outside the bedroom, as it reduces the temptation to check it at night or first thing in the morning. It may also be worthwhile to install a app like Quality Time to have an automatic shutdown schedule at night and reconnection in the morning.

It is essential to respect silence. In particular, during our moments of prayer, Holy Mass, Rosary; for which it will be convenient to use the airplane mode or simply to leave the smartphone outside the enclosure where we are praying. Moreover, self-knowledge is important in the life of every person, and to understand ourselves better we need silence; Pope Francis warns us: "The speed with which information follows one another exceeds our capacity for reflection and judgment, and does not allow for a measured and correct expression of oneself.".

Silence is indispensable to learn to pray, to maintain a contemplative life. St. John Paul II spoke of "zones of effective silence and personal discipline, to facilitate contact with God.". People who strive to be contemplatives in the midst of the noise of the crowd, know how to find the silence of the soul in permanent conversation with the Lord.

Take care at mealtimes. Avoiding the use of digital devices at mealtimes helps to keep the conversation going and to maintain the family atmosphere. According to several surveys, checking information or answering messages at the table is becoming a sign of lack of education. In addition, it makes it easier to have spaces or moments where electronic devices are not used; it helps us to improve our temperance and to know how to do without them when they are not necessary.

Finally, we always have recourse to Our Lady, to ask her that we may acquire that contemplative life, to follow her example and to treasure the important things, reflecting on them in our hearts.

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Immaculate Heart of Mary. The message of Fatima is alive

The three elements of the message - prayer of the Rosary, reparation and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary - are animated by the last one, the soul of them all.

Enrique Calvo-June 1, 2017-Reading time: 3 minutes

Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is not a novelty in the Church. It is enough to see how during the 19th century, before the apparitions, the Holy Spirit gave rise to religious institutes - such as the Claretians or the Adorers - with this Marian invocation; and also how Leo XIII, in 1889, granted plenary indulgence to the devotion on First Saturdays to the faithful who went to Confession, received Holy Communion and prayed the Rosary.

What is new is that Mary wanted to associate the devotion of the first five Saturdays to that of the Immaculate Heart, with the condition of being a Reparatrix.

Let us remember that in the second apparition at Fatima, that of June 13, the Virgin Mary indicated that Jesus wanted to spread devotion to his Immaculate Heart on earth, and that Lucia would remain alone on earth to carry out this mission. Francisco and Jacinta would soon go to Heaven.

Then the shepherds saw a great manifestation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, surrounded by thorns that seemed to be buried in Him. "We understand - said Lucia- that it was the Immaculate Heart of Mary outraged by the sins of humanity, who wanted reparation".

What does it consist of?

Later, in the Pontevedra apparition of February 10, 1925, the required conditions were indicated to Lucia:

"O my daughter, my Heart surrounded by thorns, which ungrateful men nail to me at every moment with blasphemies and ingratitude. You, at least, come to console Me and say that all those who for 5 months in a row, on the first Saturday, go to confession, receive Holy Communion, and pray a Rosary and keep Me company for 15 minutes, meditating on the 15 mysteries of the Rosary, in order to atone for Me, I promise to assist them at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for the salvation of those souls".

Five years later, in the apparition of May 29, 1930 in Tuy, Jesus indicated to Lucia why it is 5 and not 8 months.

"My daughter, the reason is simple: there are five kinds of offenses and sins against the Immaculate Heart of Mary: blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart; Blasphemies against Her perpetual virginity; blasphemies against Her divine maternity, refusing at the same time to receive Her as Mother of men; blasphemies of those who seek, publicly, to spread in the hearts of children indifference, contempt - and even hatred - for This Immaculate Mother; the offenses of those who outrage Her directly in Her sacred images.

... Here, My daughter, is the reason why the Immaculate Heart of Mary is asking Me for this small reparation.

From these words it follows that what offends Mary are sins against faith in Her person.

Consecration in 1984

Consecration is inseparably linked to devotion. Let us note that, according to Lucia's Memoirs, the specific consecration of Russia is united to devotion to her Immaculate Heart, and will be a grace through this Heart. Years later, in Pontevedra, on December 10, 1925, Our Lady indicated how the consecration should be done, "with express mention of Russia and in communion with all the bishops".

We will not speak of the various consecrations to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Popes during the 20th century as the fruit of the message. We simply affirm that the consecration was actually carried out - as Our Lady wished - on March 25, 1984 in the Vatican, by St. John Paul II. Lucia assures this in her letter of November 8, 1989: "It is done as Our Lady requested, as of March 25, 1984."

Graces medianera and correndentora

It is a truth that can be seen in several moments. In the first apparition of the Angel, in the spring of 1916, he affirmed:

"The hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to your supplications." And in the third, from the fall of 1916, in the Angel's PrayerThrough the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we ask for the conversion of poor sinners.

And finally, when Lucia knew that she would remain alone on earth, Our Lady said: "No daughter, (...) Don't be discouraged. I will never leave you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the path that will lead you to God." (13-06-1917).

As already indicated, in the texts of Lucia's Memoirs, Jesus wants to save men through the Immaculate Heart. This is more clearly indicated in the vision of Mary to Lucia in Tuy on June 13, 1929. The visionary understands that the vision represents the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity, the redemptive Sacrifice of the Cross, the sacrifice of the Eucharist, and the singular participation of Mary, under the Cross, with her Heart, in all the moments of the Salvation of the world.

Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is really a prayer of intercession, and reparation is not generalized, but very specific: for offenses against Her Immaculate Heart or, if you will, against Her love as Mother and Coredemptrix. A century later, we can say that the message of Fatima is alive, because Mary reveals to us what her Immaculate Heart desires for the salvation of her children.

The authorEnrique Calvo

Viseu (Portugal)

Virgin Mary

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Journalists and priests, Mexico's two most dangerous professions

Omnes-May 24, 2017-Reading time: 2 minutes

Along with journalism, the priesthood is the most dangerous profession in Mexico, denounces the Mexican weekly magazine 'From faith'. in an editorial entitled 'Black Monday'.

-Jaime Sánchez Moreno

Violence seems to have taken over Mexico, a country where up to 70 murders are recorded every day. Around 99 % of the crimes suffered by priests and journalists go unpunished by the country's authorities.

Recently, Javier Valdez Cárdenas, founder of the weekly newspaper Ríodocewas shot dead in Culiacán, in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. On the same day Jonathan Rodríguez Córdova died and his mother, Sonia Córdova Oceguera, was assaulted. Both were editors of the weekly El Costeño de Autlan, in Jalisco.

On the other hand, Father José Miguel Machorro was stabbed while celebrating mass in the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Mexico by the "Teacher's Day". These are just two examples of the risks faced by journalists and priests in Mexico.

Journalists "they fell for defending the truth", and priests," the weekly adds, "whose vocation is the spiritual service of the faithful, are now targets of crime for being uncomfortable in the prophetic task of announcing and denouncing, for guiding their communities along paths of a more dignified life in the face of the corrupters of the social fabric".

Continuing Education Assembly

In this context, the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM) is holding the National Assembly of the Clergy near Mexico City, where the challenges facing the Mexican clergy in the face of the enormous level of violence that plagues the country are being addressed.

The Assembly will take place until Friday, May 26. The main theme of this cycle is the impact of ongoing formation on pastoral life. The lay and pastoral perspectives of priestly ministry in the world will also be discussed. On Thursday, Msgr. Faustino Armendariz will speak on the theme Pastoral perspective of priestly ministry from the Pastor's point of view.

Priests

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Twentieth Century Theology

The theological and human wisdom of Gerard Philips

Juan Luis Lorda-May 12, 2017-Reading time: 7 minutes

Gerard Philips (1899-1972) was an excellent theologian of Louvain but, above all, a protagonist of the Second Vatican Council. To his faith, his wisdom, his work, his knowledge of languages and people, we owe much of the work that led to the approval of the Dogmatic Constitution of Vatican II. Lumen Gentium as the drafting of this document, the most important of the Council.

–Juan Luis Lorda

"It may seem a bit strange to write, during a spiritual retreat, a memoir about the Council. But it does not seem to me a deviation (perhaps I am deluded). Because in this story, it is God who shows the way, an extraordinary and sometimes inexplicable way.". This is how Gerard Philips records his impressions, experiences and memories on April 10, 1963, in personal notes that will be published posthumously in 2005 (Conciliation cardsPeeters, Leuven 2006, 94-95).

A challenging task

"When I pray, it seems clear to me that we all have to raise our eyes to Him, I mean, to take the risk of looking at Him without conditions, simply; [...] with the right will to use our intelligence and not to spare ourselves any work and, perhaps first, to be receptive and patient, without becoming tense.". The next day he writes that he tries to understand each position well, not to offend anyone, and that everyone can feel reflected in the text. But it is not a work of compromise, but he achieves this, on the one hand, by going deeply into the doctrine and making an effort to substantiate and express the ideas very well; and, on the other hand, by devoting much time and affection to listen to and explain himself to those who might feel uncomfortable. This welcoming commitment will also be the will of Paul VI, who will achieve the approval of the documents with very large majorities, ninety percent of the bishops.

Philips, for example, gained the confidence of Father Tromp, a great figure of the Gregorian University (author of Mystici Corporis) and main inspirer of the preparatory document on the Church, which had been rejected as too scholastic, thus leaving him in a snubbed position (to tears, Philips recalls). He also overcame the initial strong reluctance of Cardinal Ottaviani, prefect of the Holy Office and thus responsible for the withdrawn preparatory documents. Philips, who is a man of faith, knows how to appreciate the love for the Church of these men, even if their theology has been overtaken by the great renewal of inspirations during the first half of the 20th century.

This, and the fact that he is a great Latinist, makes him an indispensable expert. In the Council Journal Congar, the references are multiplying: "Msr. Philips' temperament is admirable, aided by a perfect command of Latin. He has a remarkable grace, a deep amenity, which come from an inner respect for others and for truth. If everything were in his image, how well everything would go!" (7-III-1962).

Lumen Gentium

When he writes his notes, much has already happened at the Council. Philips has been working since the Preparatory Commission. And unforeseen, providential circumstances have placed him in a position he had not sought. Cardinal Suenens, now Primate of Belgium, dissatisfied with the initial approaches of the Council, asked him to draft an alternative document to the De Ecclesiawhich it then disseminates.

This puts Philips in a rather compromising situation because, on the one hand, he is part of the team that drafted with Tromp the preparatory document to be presented to the assembly (he drafted, for example, the chapter on the laity); and, on the other hand, he appears as the author of an alternative that the Preparatory Commission learns about from the outside. It was not going to be the only alternative, because the German bishops, not to be less, launched another (written by Grillmeier) with inspirations of Rahner and Ratzinger, which is based on the idea of the Church as original sacrament, but does not succeed because it is judged too complex (and with a bad Latin). However, the main inspiration will be accepted (with the soft form given by Philips) in the first number of the Constitution: "The Church is in Christ as a sacrament, that is, a sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the whole human race.".

After the initial paralysis of the Council, with the rejection of all the documents prepared by too many scholastics, Philips' version remains as a basis for restarting the document on the Church. But only with a delicate work of making himself understood and forgiving the "betrayal" did he succeed in uniting wills. And then he carried out an enormous office work to sincerely accept all the corrections, improvements and additions suggested by the bishops. He manages to find suitable formulas for difficult issues such as the relationship between the Primacy and the collegiality of the bishops, or the criteria of belonging to the Church (to what extent non-Catholics or even non-Christians belong). And when it is decided to integrate into Lumen gentium the text on the Virgin instead of publishing it separately, he writes it himself (chapter VIII).

Other conciliar works

In addition to being a member of the subcommittee that prepares Lumen Gentiumwas elected assistant secretary of the Conciliar Commission on the Faith (December 2, 1963), which is the theological guide of the Council. He is the most executive figure and the one who talks the most with all the theologians, but he also talks with Paul VI, who sincerely appreciates him. He is called upon in the drafting of Dei Verbumon the sources of revelation, to which he contributed important clarifications. And he is considered as the person who has to homogenize and revise the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et spes).

Too much work, which he welcomes without reservation. He often repeats Non recuso laborem (no refusal of work). Until, at the beginning of the last session of the Council, with everything already prepared, a heart attack (October 25, 1965) forced him to return to Louvain. He would not be able to participate directly in the joy of reaching the end. He then reaffirmed a conviction: "We already know that God doesn't need anyone.". He did not feel indispensable. He was a man with a spiritual background who, in the midst of overwhelming work and emergencies, never failed to find time to devote to prayer and to pray the rosary, as those who lived with him testify.

From Sint Truiden to Leuven

Gerard Philips was born in 1889, in Sint Truiden (St. Trond), a Flemish Belgian town about 70 kilometers from Brussels (with a soccer team), in a very practicing Catholic family, as most of them were then in Belgium (and even more so in the Flemish area). He had another brother who was a priest, a religious sister, another married sister and the third, Roza, dedicated her life to helping him, both as a personal secretary and in household chores.

He entered the seminary of Sint Truiden in 1917, and after two years of philosophy he was sent to the Gregorian for theology (1919-1925). Among his companions was the future Cardinal Suenens, with whom he would have a long and complex relationship. Ordained in 1922, he presented a dissertation for the newly created degree of "Master of Theology" on The raison d'être of evil according to St. Augustine (1925). Back in his diocese, he was entrusted with the teaching of philosophy (1925-1927), but he was soon taken to Liège to teach dogmatics (1927-1944): he covered practically the entire diocese and distinguished himself by paying great attention to positive theology: that is, to the previous study of the themes in Sacred Scripture, patristics and the history of theology. In this way he acquired an admirable theological culture, which would be of great value to him later on.

In full maturity, he was called to Louvain to contribute his historical and patristic knowledge to dogmatics (1942-1969). As an upstart (and with an unofficial mission), he had to overcome initial reluctance, managing in a few years to gather many professors in lively theological gatherings, which lasted for many years. Leuven was really at a spectacular moment: Charles Moeller, Thills, Onclin, Ceuppens.

Other pawns

Philips was never just an office theologian. He saw theology as an exercise of priestly ministry, and he made it compatible, from the beginning to the end of his life, with an intense pastoral dedication.

He took a keen interest in the Catholic Action promoted by Pius XI (1928) and was chaplain and leader throughout his priestly life (1928-1972). This was the basis of his theological interest in the laity (he became a recognized expert), but it also obliged him to develop his gifts as a communicator in order to translate speculative theology into a language understandable to ordinary people. It will help him in his conciliar mission.

In addition, he succeeded another ecclesiastic as senator of the Christian Social Party (1953-1968), and played an active role in promoting Christian initiatives, taking care, however, not to mix the things of God with those of Caesar. Many important issues were at stake: secularization of education, evangelization and education in the Congo (later independence). In addition, he carried out a priestly work of personal attention to many senators and organized retreats. He learned a lot about how to gain support and conciliate wills, and how to distinguish between an adversary and an enemy.

If we add to this his remarkable facility with languages, we must recognize that he was a very well prepared person when he was called to participate in the conciliar tasks.

Return home and comment to Lumen gentium

His return home allowed him to renew his usual teaching in Louvain until his retirement in 1969. He tried to attend to some of the many invitations to explain aspects of conciliar theology and wrote his great commentary to Lumen Gentiumin two volumes: The Church and its mystery in the Second Vatican Council.

It is certainly a major work of twentieth-century ecclesiology, because it is the most informed commentary on the ecclesiology of the Council. No one better than Philips knows what is behind each expression, because he has had to measure one after the other. The work does not abound in historical or anecdotal references that would have added to its interest, but they can be found in the published notebooks.

The last few years

In addition to the health problems (repeated heart attacks), there is the pain of the linguistic division of the University of Louvain, which ends in a total division, like that of Solomon's child (but here it is carried out). And he is much more pained by the situation of the Church, which he sees deteriorating very soon in Holland, but also in Belgium. He complains about those who want to promote a Vatican Council III without having read Vatican II. And he tries to carry out a theological apostolate and dialogue with dissidents (Schoonenberg), not always with success. In addition, he does extensive outreach work.

Trinitarian Inhabitation and Grace

Moved by an impulse of spirituality, he then wrote an important series of articles on grace, in the magazine Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienseswhich are later collected in a magnificent monograph: Trinitarian Inhabitation and Grace. It is one of the best books that can be read on the history of the doctrine of grace. It has three great successes. First, instead of speaking of grace in an abstract and often reified way, it always relates it to the living action of the Holy Spirit and Trinitarian spirituality. Secondly, it has a profound scriptural and patristic inspiration that combines perfectly with the contribution of scholasticism. Thirdly, this focused access allows him to understand much better the Orthodox tradition, which depends a lot on Gregory Palamas (14th century). And thus overcome painful misunderstandings.

In the Introduction to this remarkable book opens its spirit: "In these times when the fundamentals of faith seem unhinged and theologians write about the death and burial of God, it may seem presumptuous to prepare a book on personal union with the living God. However, to get out of the malaise that reigns around us there is nothing more effective than to explore the doctrine of the Church and of true theology on our person-to-person union with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.".

Conclusion

He is still devoting his last efforts to preparing a beautiful article about Mary in the plan of salvation. In this way, his work, not very extensive but very valuable, reflects well the great interests of his theological career: the Church, grace, Mary. His heart could take no more and he died on July 14, 1972 in Leuven, where he lived with his faithful sister Roza. He will be buried in his place of origin, Sint Truiden.

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Our Lady's message, one hundred years later

Ricardo Cardoso-May 11, 2017-Reading time: 2 minutes

We are accustomed to a society full of messages, incapable of the perennial and absorbed in thousands of activities. To confront this society of ours with a message from 100 years ago, and with an intensity and depth that transcends us is, a prioria task non grata and with a content intended for historical archives. Normally, we are left with our prejudices and our human vision.

The message of Fatima requires not only a believing attitude, but also a capacity to read the events of present history and the world of mankind.

In the 21st century

It is true that the first decades of the twentieth century invited the need for divine intervention on behalf of mankind. But looking at these first two decades of the 21st century, we cannot presume that there has been a radical regenerative change in the safeguarding of man. The truth is that, with greater awareness and with much more violence, the greatest attacks on human dignity and its ethical protection are being committed.

Today, the greatest geo-strategic errors are being projected in the world of national and international politics; military defense today has a destructive force as it never had before; the persecution of Christians and the Church is radically aggressive; Christian life becomes more and more a place of witness and martyrdom, and the world spreads its desire to achieve the "death of God" with its theoretical and practical atheism.

A perennial invitation

As we reach the year 2017, it does not seem to me that we are celebrating a historical centenary, but rather the radical perenniality of the message of Fatima. Our Lady casts her gaze upon us not only one hundred years ago but today, and invites us to be with her, to implore Peace for the whole world and to offer, in total love, sacrifices for the conversion of all those who, distant from God, experience the world of death and sin.

Today, Our Lady's question to the little shepherds touches our hearts: "Do you want to offer yourselves to God to bear all the sufferings that He would like to send you, as an act of atonement for the sins by which He is offended and of supplication for the conversion of sinners?"

It is true that in this changing world it is not easy to continue offering one's life in prayer and sacrifice. But the truth is that none of this is new. At the dawn of this first centenary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin at Fatima, the Heart of Jesus asks of us total generosity in a life of prayer and sacrifice, a constant Eucharistic intimacy that makes us probe and draw closer to the Trinity, and a deep trust that pierces our hearts with the certainty that His Immaculate Heart will be our refuge and the way that will lead us to God... And "at last, my Immaculate Heart will triumph!"

The authorRicardo Cardoso

Vila Viçosa (Evora, Portugal)

Virgin Mary

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Vocations

Lay people and life. Anti-bubbles and refreshing

Omnes-May 11, 2017-Reading time: 4 minutes

Peter Morgan is my right-hand man. My Perry Mason. Here today. Tomorrow there. An effective and responsible literary resource. A special envoy. My webcam.

I have sent him to the Zarathustra Institute, a thriving academic reference, where the social leaders who will pay our pensions are trained via taxpayers.

"Hello, Peter. I need you." And my fantastic friend comes rushing over, like Kitt. I would like to commission a simple survey. High School. 1st of Bachillerato. Anonymous. Does not subtract points for evaluation. It can be written in red. Let them be free to answer this question: what is a layperson for you?

Peter arrives. He greets an enthusiastic teacher who teaches humanities. An oasis. She, delighted with the experiment.

Twenty minutes later, Peter returns home reading the answers. It is spring. Also in El Corte Ingles.

"A lay person is one who helps the priest pass the money basket at Mass."

"A layman is a guy like from another generation who is very religious. My grandfather I think is a layman."

"Laica is a girl with a super long skirt. Kind of like a nun, but not locked up in a convent."

"Laywoman is the woman who cannot be priest. For now.

"Laywomen are the ones in the choir of the parish where we made Communion. Sonia, Isa, and these. They are getting married. Very nice, by the way.

And so on, 36.

We order the answers. We underline them. We value them. Some of them make us laugh. It is not laughter of the the-world-is-so-good. No. We understand perfectly well what Zarathustra's students mean. Nothing is more positive than reality, and perceptions are also reality.

Laico-ca is a confusing term, also in the Dictionary of the Real Academia Española de la Lengua (Royal Spanish Academy of Language). The voice of philological wisdom says: "Who has no clerical orders". In the negative. Defensive. Its origin also arises by contraposition. It means "of the people" and was opposed to the voice of "clerics".

We take notes, think and lay out an outline. Monica, the teacher, has asked Peter to come back with her balance sheet and he lands back at school. The young people are on exams, but they are curious to see what the party is all about.

We have prepared a Prezi very cool one entitled: "Christians in jeans and the humanization of the future".

I read like this, straight from the screen.

A layman is not a half-priest. He is an ordinary Christian, who takes the subway, uses the subway, uses whatsappreads the press, studies or works, has friends, listens to Spotify, go to NetflixShe is fashionable, has personality, and a sense of humor, and goes to Mass and wants to be happy.

A lay person is a person like you who, in addition, has a Christian conscience, feels like one more in the Church, loves, reads and seconds what the Pope says, and tries to convert his faith into concrete deeds, because he has the challenge of being coherent.

Laika was the rocket dog from Mecanoand is written with k. The laity with c do not live in the extramundo. They seek many things, although they don't always get them. Life is long, and no one said the goal was to be perfect on the first try. They fight to be good citizens, a subject whose syllabus ranges from improving society to throwing papers in the wastebasket. They fight to be good friends. And they fight to be good professionals. Like all Christians, they must be a professional reference in their field and make the most of their talents for the society in which they vibrate.

A layperson is not a loose verse. He is a synalepha: a bridge of union, an agent of unity among the people he enjoys living with.

A layman is not a Taliban of his principles. As a Christian, he defends the freedom of consciences above all else.

A layperson is a source of joy. Not only of jajajas. Yes, of aspirations in the background and in good and holy peace.

A layman is a bold guy who moves, who collaborates, who helps, who has illusions, who searches, who finds, who encourages, who mobilizes. A layman is a guy who is interested in things, because nothing human is alien to him. A layman is anti-bubble and refreshing.

A layperson does not apostolize with sermons, it does not impose doctrines, nor dogmas, nor does it give lessons. It does not what-you-have-to-do-is-what-I-tell-you. It sets an example.

A laywoman is that wonderful mother who takes care of her children like gold, who unites the different generations of the family, who combines home and work, who loves, who enjoys the good things in life. Who opens her eyes. Who laughs. Who cries. Who prays the Angelus. Who goes to the supermarket. Who goes to the movies. Who takes care of herself. Who cares.

A layperson is a gentleman. Who combines home and work like the laywoman of yesteryear. Who grows. Who plays sports. Who prepares food. Who talks to his children. Who watches Madrid on the big screen. Who buys flowers for his wife. Who goes to confession. Who sweeps. On the inside. And outside.

A laywoman is not middle-aged. It can be you. With your cool shoes. With your artfully lined folders. With your colorful notes. With your comings and goings, your helmets, your parish, your friends, your friends, your people, your cinema, your world, and everyone's world.

I have laymen of 14, 32, 46, 58, 60, 74..., healthy, sick, married, single, blue, green, but never Martians. Like that one: the one with the jeans.

Peter Morgan tells me that Astrid, the girl who bites the pen with disdain in the front row, has taken an interest in the subject.

That's it.

You go to Zarathustra with the Lumen Gentium. Go and tell us about it.

The "anti-bubble and refreshing" part is what made them laugh the most. We hadn't thought about it, but yes. Isotonic drinks are a good metaphor to explain this chapter.

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Vocations

Vicente Bosch. "The laity manifest that the Christian spirit is capable of empowering and vivifying everything human."

Enrique Carlier-May 11, 2017-Reading time: 4 minutes

D. in Theology and director of the journal Annales TheologiciProfessor Vicente Bosch, of the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, teaches courses on lay and priestly spirituality in Rome and is the author of several publications.

He was kind enough to meet with us to address this relevant theological question - lay spirituality - which the Vatican Council, rather than defining it, "described" it. In passing, we also talked about his recently published book, which constitutes a true and novel course on the question of lay spirituality.

You have titled your book Sanctifying the world from withinWhat is the fundamental proposal you make in it?

-The whole content of the book could be summarized in this central idea: to be a layperson is a way of being a Christian, with all the richness that the Christian vocation entails; to be a child of God, to be called to holiness, to be a member of the Body of Christ and, therefore, to be responsible for the mission of the Church. And the laity is distinguished by its secular character, that is, by its insertion in the world to sanctify it from within and to sanctify itself in that endeavor.

The Second Vatican Council seemed to describe the laity more for what they are not - neither priest nor religious - than for what they are. Isn't that a way of undervaluing them?

Of course, the lay person is not a second-class Christian: one who, not having the "vocation" of a priest or religious, stays in the world and marries. No!

The lay vocation also carries with it the Christian attitude of overcoming selfishness, of fighting against evil tendencies, of exercising detachment, but living it in the heart of the world and not by distancing oneself from it.

It is relatively common to affirm that the characteristic of the laity is secularity. But, in your opinion, what exactly is secularity?

-Secularity is an unavoidable dimension of the Church, not only because she too is in the world (some authors defend this), but mainly because she has the responsibility to bring the world to God.

The Second Vatican Council affirmed that "the mission of the Church is not only to offer men the message and grace of Christ, but also to permeate and perfect the whole temporal order with the spirit of the Gospel." (decree Apostolicam actuositatem, 5). Therefore, to affirm that secularity is a merely sociological note, a simple fact, is to fail to grasp the profound theological meaning of secularity: the sanctification of the world is the mission of the Church.

All Christians - including priests and religious - participate in this responsibility, but the way in which the laity participate in this task is something proper and peculiar to them, precisely because of their insertion in all spheres of society. With their lives, the laity manifest the capacity of the Christian spirit to empower and vivify all that is human.

However, sometimes the model layperson is the one who dedicates more time to the parish or to ecclesial activities.

-With Christifideles laici (30.XII.1988) St. John Paul II wanted to reaffirm and deepen the conciliar doctrine on the laity and, among other things, he warned against the risk - confirmed with facts in the post-conciliar period - of "clericalizing" the laity, that is, of supposing that the maturity of a lay person is evaluated according to the time and energies he devotes to the parish or to other ecclesiastical structures: he/she is filled with assignments and ministries, forgetting that the laity builds up the Church, primarily, with his/her free and responsible action of evangelization of temporal realities.

Most lay people lead busy lives due to their professional, family and social obligations. How can they live in the world and in the Church while feeling more and more co-responsible for their mission?

-It is surprising that, with some exceptions, the theological and pastoral literature tends to present the "vocation and mission of the laity in the Church and in the world." (subtitle of the Christifideles laici) channeled in two parallel spheres or lanes: that of the Church, on the one hand, with its participation in liturgical life, in the parish community and in ecclesiastical structures; and, on the other, the world, the framework of its professional and social activities.

The expression "in the Church and in the world" is valid to signify the layperson's belonging to the People of God and to civil society, but it would be misleading to present the Church and the world as two distinct realities in which the layperson acts alternatively.

To insist on this dualism leads to a double theoretical and practical error: the fracture of the necessary unity of life of the lay faithful; and, above all, the lack of recognition of the "ecclesial" character of the action of the laity in the world. Church and world are indivisibly intertwined: ecclesial life aims at the growth of charity and this is materialized in human relationships and in the effort to improve the world, and - at the same time - the intra-worldly action of the laity (family, work, society) builds the Kingdom, here on earth, which is the Church.

You have recently published a study on the laity.

-The book, published in the collection Subsidia Theologica published by BAC, was born as a manual for the subject "Lay Spirituality" of the Licentiate cycle in the specialization of Spiritual Theology, with the experience of fourteen years of teaching this subject.

Although its origin is academic, it constitutes an adequate instrument for all those readers interested in knowing the history, theology and spirituality of the laity. It is precisely spirituality that is the object of study of the volume-as the subtitle points out-but its correct understanding requires a prior historical and theological context that is developed in six of the fifteen chapters.

What other characteristic features of lay spirituality would you point out?

-I understand that, in addition to what has been said so far, some other characteristic traits belong to the spiritual experience proper to the layperson.

For example, a particular Christian experience of the human and a special sensitivity to the human. I would also add a theological love of the world, that is, an appreciation and esteem for earthly realities, their values and their purpose.

In addition to this, the layperson must possess a positive appreciation of ordinary life and know how to discover the supernatural value present in the most ordinary tasks.

Another characteristic point is professional competence and a sense of responsibility, since the lay Christian is aware that the world is the place in which he sanctifies himself.

I would add two more notes: the laity's own awareness of the ordination to God of all earthly realities - in fact, this is where a good part of their contribution to the Church's mission is situated - and the accentuation of their sense of personal freedom, because it is proper for the laity to opt with personal responsibility for those options that are left to the free discussion of men and women.

The authorEnrique Carlier

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Accompanying young European Catholics; looking at them with sympathy and confidence

May 9, 2017-Reading time: 3 minutes

Faced with the culture of nothingness, which has little to say to young people, the Christian educator must look at young people with sympathy and confidence and show them Christ.

- Bishop Juan José Omella

Archbishop of Barcelona

In March, a symposium on the accompaniment of young people was held in Barcelona, organized by the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE). This meeting was attended by 275 experts from all over Europe in the areas related to the accompaniment of young people in the different Episcopal Conferences: youth, vocations, universities, teaching and catechesis. Along with the presentations of experts in accompaniment, there was an exchange of experiences of good practices of various European pastoral movements and initiatives present, as well as the testimony of young people.

I had the honor of participating in the inaugural session that took place in the Aula Magna of the Conciliar Seminary of Barcelona, together with the Archbishop of Valencia, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares and the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols. In my speech I welcomed all the participants to our city, recalling some words of Pope Francis, which framed the activity of this symposium: "Accompanying young people requires leaving one's own pre-made schemes, meeting them where they are, adapting to their times and rhythms; it also means taking them seriously in their difficulty to decipher the reality in which they live and to transform an announcement received in gestures and words, in the daily effort to build one's own history and in the more or less conscious search for a meaning for their lives.".

With regard to this accompaniment of young people, Cardinal Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, gave a beautiful reflection entitled Evangelization and good practices of accompaniment. In his speech he pointed out that "To accompany means to lead the person into the depths of his or her existence, to discover the presence of a call to truth, the key to the realization of freedom, which allows us to go beyond ourselves in order to trust fully in the mysterious plan of God that gives meaning and significance to life. Vocations are not based on the qualities that one possesses, but rather the opposite can be said: the correspondence to a vocation consists in giving value and support to all that one already is. Helping to discover the primacy of God in our life and the power of his grace are the instrument through which we can consciously contribute to directing our own existence"..

These days of work were accompanied by moments of intense prayer, which reached their culmination in the Eucharist celebrated at the Sagrada Familia on Thursday, March 30, presided over by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the CCEE. Previously, experts in the work of Antoni Gaudí, the sculptor Etsuro Sotoo and the theologian Armand Puig, introduced those present to the path of beauty for the evangelization of young people, and gave a guided tour of the Sagrada Familia.

Another memorable moment that I would like to highlight was the fair of good practices in the field of evangelization and accompaniment of young people. This was a wonderful opportunity, which allowed a rich exchange of proposals and suggestions through an exhibition of various initiatives carried out in Europe by different youth movements, religious congregations and dioceses. These initiatives were selected with a view to their application in the European socio-cultural context.

Finally, I would like to share with you and make my own the words that Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco pronounced in the concluding session of the symposium and that, I believe, summarize well the work done. The Cardinal referred to the figure of the educator in today's context, characterized by "the culture of nothingness". The Christian educator must above all raise his gaze to Christ, the true and only teacher. While contemporary culture seems to "have nothing to say to young people, nothing meaningful that will enliven their hearts and fulfill their existence."However, in the person of Jesus "all human virtues shine forth in an eminent way, the full humanity of man shines forth, that humanity which our age risks not recognizing and reducing the person to a liquid state".

Let us look at the younger generation with great sympathy and confidence: "It will be up to them to be the new evangelizers, convinced that evangelizing today means teaching people the art of living! Ours is a particularly arduous time; it is the hour that Providence has given us, which we embrace with trust and love.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity offered by Palabra magazine to thank the organizers and participants for their work. I trust that together we have contributed to finding ways to help revitalize youth and vocation ministry in our Church with an eye to the upcoming Synod of Bishops dedicated to young people, faith and vocational discernment convened by Pope Francis for October 2018.

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Feminist and pro-life groups agree in criticizing "surrogacy".

Omnes-May 5, 2017-Reading time: 4 minutes

An informative day on surrogacy has triggered protests from feminist groups and LGTBI collectives that see in this practice an exploitation of women.

–Enrique Carlier

It is curious, but on "surrogacy" two groups as ideologically distant as feminist organizations and LGTBI (lesbian, gay, transgender, bisexual and intersex) groups, on the one hand, and pro-life associations, on the other, agree on the same thing: that it is a "surrogate motherhood" and that it is a "surrogate motherhood". "exploitation of women", however reproductive or altruistic it may be.

On May 6, a mobilization is planned by the State Network Against Surrogacy (comprising some 50 feminist groups) to protest against the so-called Surrofair fair in MadridThe event was organized by a consultancy on surrogacy in Ukraine.

Weeks before, representatives of this Network demanded from Madrid City Hall and the Autonomous Community of Madrid their duty of "prohibit this fair from taking place with the law in hand." "It would be like allowing a fair on drug trafficking." said Sonia Lamas, spokeswoman for the platform. They warned that surrogacy threatens women's rights, that "they are not cattle to satisfy the breeding desire of a few".. In addition, "clashes with the law in force and with the rights of the child".

Alicia Miyares, president of We Are Not VesselsThe surrogacy contract implies the renunciation of the right of the surrogate mother to "a fundamental right". of the pregnant woman to the filiation of the child and added: "Can you imagine a contract in which one of the parties irrevocably waives its right to vote?". It is not about "one more assisted reproduction technique". y "it is not comparable to egg donation", because here a human being is donated and "a creature is not donated".

She was also critical of an "altruistic" surrogacy: it would be a "altruistic" surrogacy. "cover". "What they want is a law, however restrictive, to register foreign-born children." because in Spain there are not many women willing to gestate for others.

Ramón Martínez, vice-president of We are different and on behalf of the LGTBI collectives, defended the adoption of children and stressed that "the solution to parenting is not to ride roughshod over women's rights".

For Elena Rábada, president of the Feminist Party, surrogacy "is very close to human trafficking networks". On the other hand, he questioned: "Why is organ trafficking unethical and surrogacy unethical?".

It is also original that these feminist groups and LGTBI collectives now use, to oppose surrogacy, the argument of pro-life associations to denounce the introduction of abortion.

– Supernatural State Network Against Surrogacy says he is wary that the number of cases in Spain will reach a thousand: the figure will be inflated to make people believe that it is a social necessity.

Some relevant aspects

Talking to Elena Postigo Solana, PhD in Bioethics and coordinator of the Chair of Bioethics at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. Jerôme Lejeune Foundationhas clarified some aspects of "surrogacy". First of all, it would be better to speak of "surrogacy", because what is surrogated is the woman's gestation. And "surrogate motherhood" does not properly designate what happens, because it is not only the womb that is rented, but the whole person of the gestational carrier.

He points out that surrogacy is becoming a very lucrative business, which has generated the so-called "reproductive tourism" in developing countries.

Evidently, there is no right to the child that justifies a hypothetical right to surrogacy, and although it may respond to an initially altruistic motivation, surrogacy is often preceded by an agreement to pay compensation or to cover health care costs.

Current legal framework

Legally, the surrogacy contract in our country is considered null and void by Article 10 of Law 14/2006, of May 26, 2006, on assisted human reproduction techniques. The mother is the one who gives birth. The nullity of this contract is based on the dignity of the pregnant woman and the child, who cannot become an object of business; neither can their bodies.

In criminal terms, surrogacy is typified as a crime in article 221 of Organic Law 10/1995, of November 23, 1995, of the Penal Code. This law punishes those who, with financial compensation, give a child, descendant or any minor to another person, even if there is no relationship of filiation or kinship, avoiding the legal procedures of guardianship, foster care or adoption, with the purpose of establishing a relationship analogous to that of filiation. It carries a prison sentence of one to five years and four to ten years of disqualification for the exercise of parental authority, guardianship, guardianship or custody.

Despite this regulation, Spain has recognized surrogacy filiation by surrogacy from a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of June 26, 2014. And the registration in the Civil Registry of a child born outside Spain through surrogacy is allowed based on the interest of the minor. But the prohibition on surrogacy has not been modified.

In other countries

Although in some countries such as Albania, Georgia, Croatia, the Netherlands, Russia, the United Kingdom, Greece and Ukraine surrogacy is legal, in the vast majority of European states it is prohibited. In addition to Spain, it is expressly forbidden in Austria, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and France. However, as has happened in Spain, the aforementioned judgment of the European Court of Human Rights has also led to the recognition of the right of surrogacy by surrogacy throughout the European Union.

It is partially tolerated in Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland or the Czech Republic. In Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Monaco, Romania, San Marino and Bosnia-Herzegovina there is no regulation expressly prohibiting this practice.

Outside Europe, it is recognized in seven states of the United States as well as in Mexico, Australia, India and Thailand. In the latter two countries, in order to limit reproductive tourism, governments prohibit surrogacy for foreigners.

According to Elena Postigo, the cost of surrogacy varies. In the United States, where annual surrogacy births have doubled in the last six years to nearly 2,000, renting the services of a surrogate costs $225,000; in India or Thailand, about $72,000. In the case of India, the world's largest surrogacy market, the surrogacy business generates 2.3 billion dollars a year.

Elena Postigo warns that surrogacy is always accompanied by fertilization in vitroThe medical, ethical and legal implications are very serious (e.g., the right of the child to know the paternity of the donor parent is violated). The medical, ethical and legal implications are very serious (for example, the right of the child to know the paternity of the donor parent is violated). For all these reasons, before legislating on this matter, it should be studied in detail, although he considers that such a practice should be prohibited, as other countries in our environment have done. n

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How to reach the necessary maturity to get married

Many engaged couples ask themselves: will I be able to live together and give myself to another person as husband and wife and start a family? These lines offer some guidelines to accompany the engaged couple and help them reach a maturity that will allow them to build their future marriage on solid foundations.

Wenceslao Vial-May 5, 2017-Reading time: 9 minutes

An elderly lady attending Mass with her contemporaries once said to her parish priest: "Don't talk to us so much about divorce, we are not ready for that anymore. If we have a husband, we are not going to leave him now". Would that newlyweds, young women and men, could repeat a similar statement: "If I have promised you a love forever, I will not leave you now." It is the deep desire of one who falls in love. I have not met couples who have promised each other a temporary "I love you", an "I love you" with conditions: only as long as you are young or as long as you are healthy, or until you lose your attractiveness.

Forever" is reached by the path of courtship, which is a process as natural and ancient as that of maturity. But if the process of maturity has as its goal the harmony of the personality and, therefore, does not end, courtship must have an end with two possible outcomes: either a goodbye as good friends, or a "forever"... It will be a period of mutual knowledge and attentive understanding, a stage to decide on the next step, the donation of one to the other. As in any human event, psychological and spiritual factors are also involved in this path and can determine its success or failure.

The bride and groom should discern whether they are in a position to share a life project with the other person, whether they are in a position to build a family together.

The purpose of these lines is to accompany those who are on the path of courtship in their decisive questions: Am I mature enough to take the next step? Am I capable of giving myself to a you? We will begin by recalling some general aspects of maturity, to know, so to speak, the score on which the growth in love is drawn, and to warn of possible difficulties.

Maturity in general

Maturity is not a state, but a lifelong process. It refers both to the fullness of being and to its proper development and growth. The mature person is capable of making a project his own. Unlike a fruit, the human being is always ripening and can even regress: he can become green again. For this reason, he needs not only sun and time, but also someone to support him and education in a home that serves as a model.

The characteristics of maturity are order, coherence and the primacy of intelligence and will over the affective world, that complex web of emotions, feelings, passions and moods. Reason illuminates interiority and allows us to intuit, for example, that in a couple's interpersonal relationship there are seasons: not everything is spring or courtship, but there are autumns and winters?

Animals usually manage quite well without their parents, thanks to the instincts connatural to their being. Young humans don't work like that: we need the experience of the older ones, to avoid the same mistakes. Maturity goes beyond growing old: it means maintaining boldness, a smile, enthusiasm and vitality, despite a decline in physical energies. Perhaps Plato, who said that it takes 50 years to make a man, was not far off the mark.

But one does not have to wait for senescence to reach an appropriate level of maturity in various areas of life, including that of raising a family. Women and men mature gradually, each in their own way and with their own psychology. In adolescence, a greater identity is acquired, and the following years are marked by a progressive increase in intimacy. Identity and intimacy are very important characteristics for future interpersonal relationships. Young people are expected to acquire their own vision of the world and of themselves. The influence of the group, the models they choose for themselves and the control of the instinctive forces that are awakened will be key. The adolescent forms a personal life plan.

From childhood, we also mature outside of ourselves. It is this characteristic, or self-transcendence, that will most influence our dealings with other people. How important it is to foster it from the earliest years, when little by little boys and girls abandon the "mine, mine!" that characterizes childhood. Thus they acquire the ability to be faithful and to love, necessary for marriage, which will open the way to integrity, care and wisdom. Psychology confirms that "maturity increases as life separates from the immediacy of the body and self-centeredness." (G. Allport).

Signs of maturity of the bride and groom

Along with these general notes, the bride and groom, who must have overcome the identity crisis of adolescence, have as a goal to know whether it is possible to a common project. For this it is good that the humusIt is important that the base or ground on which you want to build is similar: the culture, language and religion are in agreement and favor a good relationship. It is important that both know their past, in particular their families of origin. The courtship comes with a history, in which there may also be wounds that are projected. It will be necessary to ask if the values and ideals are the same. As Saint-Exupéry wrote, "To love is not about looking at each other, but about looking in the same direction".

It will be the communication in the difference that makes possible the deep knowledge and, with it, the answer to so many questions. Maturity is in understanding the discrepancies, in not pretending to modify them at all costs or to put the hope in a "it will change when we get married". A superficial or dazzled treatment does not allow to see the defects of the other person. This itinerary of mutual knowledge is also hindered today by those who trivialize sexuality, or deny all types of differences between men and women: genetic, physiological, psychological, linguistic, etc.

In order to reap good results from courtship it is essential to respecting the stages. Love knows how to wait, seeks the happiness and the good of the other, rejects the use of any person. No one can be considered a disposable object. Mature couples know that love is not only physical pleasure, and they reach out to each other in their psychology and spirituality. Thus, the eros gives way to a full love, characterized by the capacity for sacrifice and self-giving. A paradox is discovered: that loving implies suffering. The egocentric affectivity of "I love you because you make me feel good" is overcome.. With only physical and anticipated intimacy nothing is seen of all this. "Burning out the stages ends up burning out the love." (Benedict XVI, Speech, 11-IX-2011).

The mature person lives his or her sexuality in a human way. It transforms instinct into tendency: it recognizes a great and elevated purpose in the reproductive capacity, it turns acts into gestures full of meaning. It does not stop at physical communication but opens itself to the spirit. To reach these heights of love, chastity is needed, which is like a vaccine against egocentrism. Whoever is loved chastely knows that he or she is in the presence of unconditional love, and that he or she will not harm him or her. Only if one lives this aspect well does one really get to know the other. This virtue protects freedom and truth, and becomes a jewel that adorns the personality. In this way it is possible to decide the passage from infatuation to complete self-giving in marriage.

It can also happen that, after a period of getting to know each other sufficiently, in which peaceful conversations abound, it is discovered that there is little in common, few points of contact on which to found a stable relationship. It will then be a sign of maturity to interrupt the process, even if a certain attraction persists, since "nothing is more volatile, precarious and unpredictable than desire." (Francisco, Amoris laetitia, 209).

Perceiving out-of-tune notes

The idealization of the other is a danger that breaks the harmony of the relationship and can be perceived from outside the couple, like an out-of-tune note. It can be the result of multiple factors, as for example the complicity in the vice, which blinds and does not allow to see the defects. When looking at reality from the point of view of pleasure, the shortcomings of the personality remain on an unattainable plane. On the contrary, realism leads to loving the other person with his or her defects, and not only in spite of them... It is not a matter of looking for a perfect you and knowing if I am attracted to him or her, but of understanding that this ideal does not exist and of asking oneself serenely: will I always be able to talk to this person?

On any maturity note you can lack of healthy tension. Signs of this tension are true love capable of sacrifice. Those who are anchored only in pleasure, in an uncontrolled sexuality, may find an equilibrium, an appearance of unstable and self-enclosed security. "We cannot treat the bonds of the flesh lightly, without opening some lasting wound in the spirit." (Francisco, audience 27-V-2015). Psychology shows that a sexual relationship always leaves an indelible mark. Premature initiation of sexual activity can lead to the sterility of love, and even extinguish the pleasure that was sought.

It happens as in the exploited land, which needs more and more chemicals to become fertile again. Healthy tension is missing, looks become cloudy. And, paradoxically, new unhealthy tensions are created, such as a false sense of fidelity, reflecting rather an emotional dependence, towards the person who has been an accomplice in the relationships. This exaggerated tension damages the strings of the soul and pays with disillusionment. It opens the way to a series of superficial relationships, in which everything is all the same, in the culture of the disposable.

The priority of pleasure obscures the deep purpose of sexuality and sex. It leads to being satisfied with "feeling good and nothing more", to living disconnected from the ethics necessary to build one's personality. The exaltation of pleasure seeks justifications beyond good and evil, such as the slogan "the body is mine", reminiscent of childhood. This way easily leads to a rejection of maternity and paternity. The spirit is unable to fly, because it has lost its wings, it lacks the tension of true love. The relationship of courtship and the maturity of each person cannot be analyzed only experimentally. Nor can it be measured by "tasting", as one would do with an apple: if after the first bite I notice that it is not ripe, I leave it; if I don't like it, I throw it away and look for another one. It bears repeating: people are not used.

Achieving harmony

Forever" is possible and cannot be improvised. These words should sound as a background note. It is necessary to remember that women and men are capable of making definitive decisions. This is what the Pope said to the bride and groom: "Please, we must not let ourselves be defeated by the 'culture of the provisional'. This culture that invades us all today, this culture of the provisional. It doesn't work!" (Francisco, speech 14-II-2014).

In order to be in a position to make definitive decisions, it is necessary to accept the possibility of being wrong. Nietzsche warned that, unlike animals, human beings possess the capacity to make promises. It should be added that he is also capable of keeping them. And without faith in an eternal destiny, this is more difficult.

In courtship, harmony can only be achieved by an interpretation that two people are trying to to do well. It will be better if we try to tune every string, both those of general maturity and those of the Christian message of the beatitudes. These are a program centered on love, with practical suggestions to distinguish the true goods from the mirages, to sound the right note at every moment.

Throughout the concert, there will be no lack of fatigue. There are more difficult moments and notes that are hard to reach. As Thibon wrote, "The obstacles are made to overcome them. Love, colored in the beginning by an illusory perfection, due to desire and imagination, will not be able to last without will.".

Speaking of courtship, St. Josemaría said that, "Like any school of love, it must be inspired not by the desire for possession, but by a spirit of devotion, understanding, respect and gentleness". It is a process that requires time and dialogue. Sometimes there are many internal and external challenges that make it difficult. It is not possible to achieve harmony in the midst of so much noise. It is also necessary to "disconnect" from anonymous networks and encourage fun, interests and friendships. off line, to get to hear.

To summarize, the main notes of harmony in courtship are: to consider love as sacrifice, to respect and love the other, to move from instinct to tendency, to control emotions with intelligence, to know how to wait and to be open to a fruitful dialogue. The process should not be so short that it prevents knowledge, nor so long that it leads to routine. Love, like music, has something immaterial, which seeks the good of the person we love and lasts in time.

The orchestra conductor

"The alliance of love between man and woman is learned and refined. I allow myself to say that it is an artisanal alliance. To make of two lives a single life is almost a miracle, a miracle of freedom and of the heart, entrusted to faith". (Francisco, audience 27-V-2015). To achieve this, a Christian has the loving assistance of the Holy Spirit, who can well be seen as the orchestra conductor. When he acts in the soul, harmony is achieved.

The maturity of the engaged couple is a long process that begins in childhood. Marriage preparation courses are not enough, but an extensive catechesis is required, especially in the family of origin. It is there that one learns that a good life project is worthwhile and that one acquires responsibility. It is there that one understands the language of the body, the psyche and the spirit. If we want many young people to say I "I will love you forever and I will not leave you", we need to enhance the value of coherence and identity, foster dialogue and mutual knowledge, true wisdom of the mind and heart. In this way they will be able to create new currents, rather than going against the current, they will joyfully influence many others.

In this adventure they count on the help of God's grace and that of others, also to renew love every day. We are not inert pieces of ebony or ivory on a piano keyboard. The harmony that is attempted will be imperfect, proper to free and imperfect beings. In the trial period that is courtship, it will be useful to ask oneself, and to ask the Lord, if one is in conditions to continue towards a common project with another person. This song written by Paul McCartney is a good reflection of the anxiousness to elucidate doubts:

Ebony and Ivory live together
in perfect harmony
Side by side
on my piano keyboard,
oh Lord, why don't we?

The authorWenceslao Vial

Physician and priest.

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The apparitions of Fatima and the faith of the little shepherds, hope for the world

Ricardo Cardoso-May 3, 2017-Reading time: 5 minutes

Speaking of the times to come, Jesus refers that "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (cf. Mt. 24:35). From these words of Jesus we can conclude that his Mother will continue to make resound in the heart of wounded humanity the need to look again to her Lord, seeking the One who cares for her in Love. For this reason, the service of God's Love continues to resound in successive generations who, since 1917, have been listening to what Our Lady transmitted to the little shepherds at Fatima: her Message.

The first supernatural manifestation was in 1915, on the Cabeço mountain. The narrations of Sister Lucia (Memoirs of Sister Lucia) indicate that, while she was with three friends (Teresa Matias, Maria Rosa and Maria Justino), "When noon came, we ate our snack, and then I invited my companions to pray the Rosary with me, and they gladly joined in. Hardly had we begun, when, before our eyes, we saw, as if suspended in the air, above the trees, a figure as if it were a statue of snow that the sun's rays made transparent". For these girls, immersed in prayer, the doubt remained as to who the figure was.

First appearance of the Angel

In the spring of 1916 another supernatural manifestation took place. This time everything is clearer, since the angel himself makes himself known "Fear not! I am the Angel of Peace. The Angel takes the initiative and invites them to pray: "Pray with me!". Sister Lucia says that, at that moment, the Angel, "kneeling on the ground, he bowed his forehead to the ground."

The attitude of the one sent by God is followed by the children: "Transported by a supernatural movement, we imitate him and repeat the words we hear him utter." From the Angel's initiative comes the act of Eucharistic and Trinitarian adoration.My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love you. I ask your forgiveness for those who do not believe, do not worship, do not hope and do not love you.".

Repair and Communion

In the summer of the same year, 1916, the second supernatural manifestation of the Angel took place, but this time, while they were resting by the Arneiro well. The Angel said to them: "What are you doing? pray! pray much! The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy upon you. Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High".

The children asked him how they should do it, and the Angel concretized: "Of all that you can, offer a sacrifice as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and of supplication for the conversion of sinners [...]. Above all, accept and bear with submission the suffering that the Lord sends you". He adds: "Thus bring peace to your homeland. I am your Guardian Angel, the Angel of Portugal".

In the autumn of 1916, the third supernatural manifestation of the Angel took place. The children had just finished the rosary when he appeared to them. "holding in his hand a Chalice and on it a Host, from which some drops of blood were falling into the Chalice. Leaving the Chalice and the Host suspended in the air, he prostrated himself on the ground and repeated the prayer three times: -Holy Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, I adore you profoundly....".

Then he gave the children Holy Communion, telling them:"Take and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God".

Apparitions of Our Lady: May 13

The study and knowledge of the supernatural phenomenon of the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima require a balanced reading of the faith, far from emotional sensationalism or intellectualism. Thus, the starting point will always be what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us. In any particular revelation, its function is not that of a "improve" o "complete" The purpose is not to define the definitive Revelation of Christ, but to help to live it more fully in a certain epoch of history.

In the apparitions of the Virgin Mary, as described in the Memoirs of Sister LuciaThe colloquial stories in which the Blessed Virgin speaks with closeness, tenderness and the heart of a Mother are impressive.

In the first apparition, on May 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin surprised them while they were escaping from a storm. Right there, where the Capelinhasaw "on a holm oak a Lady, dressed all in white, brighter than the sun, radiating a light clearer and more intense than a crystal glass, filled with crystalline water, pierced by the rays of the most ardent sun. We stopped in amazement at the apparition. We were so close that we stood within the light that surrounded Her, or that She radiated".

The Virgin Mary asks them about their willingness to accept God's mission for them.Do you want to offer yourselves to God to bear all the sufferings that he would like to send you, as an act of atonement for the sins by which he is offended and of supplication for the conversion of sinners? And in their response - "Yes, we do."-These little children assumed, with maturity, the collaboration with the designs of God's saving Love. In this same apparition, Our Lady asks them to meet her there every month and to pray the rosary every day.

Praying the rosary for conversion

On June 13, Our Lady reveals to them that she will take Francisco and Jacinta to heaven very soon. Lucia asks: "¿I stay here alone?". Our Lady's answer is not only for Lucia, because it continues to echo in every believing heart: "No, daughter. And you suffer a lot? Don't be discouraged. I will never leave you. My Immaculate Heart will be your refuge and the path that will lead you to God." This Mother's Heart is the place of tenderness and security, the sure path that leads to God.

In the third apparition, on July 13, Our Lady continues to insist on the recitation of the rosary as a means to obtain many graces for various intentions, especially peace and the conversion of sinners.

As with the apparitions of Angel, Our Lady also insists on constant prayer and sacrifices for the conversion of sinners and allows them to see the sufferings of hell.

On the other hand, Our Lady speaks to them about God's plans and the risks facing humanity: "You have seen Hell, where the souls of poor sinners go; to save them, God wants to establish devotion to My Immaculate Heart in the world. If you do what I am going to tell you, many souls will be saved and you will have peace. The war will end. But if they do not stop offending God, a worse one will begin in the reign of Pius XI. When you see a night illuminated by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign that God gives you that He will punish the world for its crimes by means of war, hunger and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father.

Consecration and some time of peace

"To prevent it." -continued the Virgin Mary, "....I will come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the first Saturdays. If they will heed my requests, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have to suffer much, various nations will be annihilated. Finally, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, which will be converted, and it will be granted to the whole world.only in time of peace".

The Virgin Mary also advises them to pray the rosary, "After every mystery you shall say: O Jesus My God, forgive us, deliver us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially the most needy!

In the October apparition, Our Lady tells them to build a chapel in her honor, and to ask that sinners amend their ways and "do not offend God Our Lord any more, who is already very much offended". When it finished, it rose to the sky, and it was then when the nearly seventy thousand people who were there witnessed the miracle of the sun, which made rotational turns in its periphery, giving off sparks of light, and acquired different colors that spread throughout the Earth, with a duration of 8 to 10 minutes, say the protagonists and scientists.

"The first condition for beatification is to have practiced the virtues to a heroic degree and it was said that children did not have that ability." Portuguese Cardinal Saraiva Martins recalls. "But in the case of the little shepherds Jacinta and Francisco it is not so, because they showed a heroism that I would like to find in many adults", he assures. The Pope does not declare them saints because of Our Lady's apparitions, but because of how they lived their faith, he adds.

The authorRicardo Cardoso

Vila Viçosa (Evora, Portugal)

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Pope strengthens Christian Egypt. Some challenges for African Catholics

Omnes-May 3, 2017-Reading time: < 1 minute

Pope Francis has denounced in Egypt "any attempt to justify any form of hatred in the name of religion, and has promoted ecumenical and interreligious dialogue with Muslims and Orthodox Christians. As a result of this trip, Palabra has published an extensive report on some of the challenges facing Catholics in Africa.

-Edward Diez-Caballero, Nairobi (Kenya)

Joseph Pich, Johannesburg (South Africa)

"Mina was only 25 years old. She went, like any other Sunday, to pray in church and met her death." This is the testimony of Shahib, Mina's cousin, following the terrorist attack that has bloodied two churches in Egypt.

One of the witnesses to the attacks, Hoda Mikhail, said he did not understand how this could happen. Here in Egypt, "Muslims and Christians are brothers. Terrorism will not achieve its goals." collected El Mundo.

Palm Sunday was celebrated all over the world, but in Egypt it became Good Friday. Christians from St. Mark's Church in Alexandria and St. George's Church in Tanta, 90 kilometers north of Cairo, were martyred in the middle of Holy Week.

The inhabitants of these two cities will take time to forget this attack that undermines the pleasant coexistence in this African country.

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ColumnistsXiskya Valladares

Stop Pope hoaxes

April 18, 2017-Reading time: 2 minutes

A serious and mature Catholic must be critical of the hoaxes that, more and more frequently, circulate on the web and are attributed to the Pope.

- Xiskya Valladares

Religious of the Congregation of the Purity of Mary.

@xiskya

Lately, Pope Francis seems to be spilling his gourmand messages, surprisingly unbecoming of a pontiff. "We know God doesn't use Facebook.", "Christmas is you, when you decide to be born again every day and let God into your soul.", "We need saints without veils, without cassocks."... and a lot of "cheesiness" that can surprise anyone with two fingers in front.

It is about hoaxes (hoaxes) that circulate on the web, for example, by whatsapp or by email. Chain messages that contain some phrase that the Pope has said and to which someone has added the rest of his own harvest. The issue has become so serious that the Holy See has spoken out: "These types of texts circulating on the internet attributed to Pope Francis generally do not say on what date and with what occasion he said those words. Because in such a case it would be easy for anyone to go to the official website of the Holy See and check if they are really the Pope's words." (News.va, 3 December 2015).

Many people would like the Pope to really say those words, almost always because he can apply them to someone else. And so they have arisen: from someone who wants to impose his thought and attributes it to the Pope in order to give him more authority. But this is deception. As is the great number of calls for prayers that reach us as if they were from the Pope.

There are people who say that they do not do wrong by sharing prayers, vigil calls, and all kinds of hoaxes of the pope. False. Neither prayer is magic, nor can it contribute to deceiving people. This is sin.

This type of chain messages arose in ancient times associated with religious themes. No wonder atheists laugh at us and consider us primitive, we put it on a platter every time we are fearful, scrupulous or superstitious before these chains. It is difficult to understand that a serious and mature Catholic would fall for such emotional manipulations.

The authorXiskya Valladares

Pope Francis

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ColumnistsCésar Mauricio Velásquez

The globalization of the trap

Corruption is also combated with prevention, sanctions and penalties. Something is wrong when in the family, at school or among friends, no one corrects and no one gives guidance, or when principles of life are not transmitted through good example.

April 18, 2017-Reading time: 2 minutes

Corruption has no limits or conditions, nor ideologies. This is demonstrated by the millionaire bribes, kickbacks and double payments made by the Brazilian transnational Odebrecht, in exchange for winning large public works contracts in a dozen Latin American countries.

An unprecedented case that evidences the globalization of cheating, in which politicians and governments of various tendencies, as well as businessmen, bankers and advertisers, participate. While the investigations are progressing, the indignation of citizens is also growing, demanding drastic laws to stop and punish the corrupt: nothing stops them, because for them "The law is made the law, the trap is made.

The condemnation and claim against corruption in governments should be extended to the private sector which, as in the Odebrecht case, shows the relationship between public needs and the offerings of the private sector. A relationship in which large-scale networks are discovered, and that in the end must focus on individual deterioration, on the lack of values and respect of the people who lead and decide.

As in the case of drugs, corruption is also fought with prevention, punishment and penalization. Two similar evils that essentially compromise the human formation, character and social conscience of each person. Just as flirting with drugs can begin with marijuana, flirting with corruption begins with cheating at school, lies at home, duplicity with friends and cynicism in gambling.

It is understandable that something is wrong when in the family, school or friends' environment nobody corrects, nobody guides or simply observes the liar and advantageous as a clever child or youngster, or even smart for the challenges of this changing world. Something must be wrong when life principles are not transmitted by the good example of parents, teachers and adults.

Perhaps for all these reasons, Pope Francis defines corruption as "an evil greater than sin" and as "a process of death", something unworthy that bends the will to the "god money, god welfare and god exploitation". A world of darkness from which, according to Francis, the only way out is through sincere and transparent service to others.

The authorCésar Mauricio Velásquez

America

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"My path to the Catholic Church".

I, formerly a Lutheran and now a Catholic

The author explains the path of his conversion from Lutheran to Catholic and the meaning he discovered along the way. He was helped by conversations with a Lutheran pastor; the example of other converts; the support of Lutheran family and friends....

Ville Savolainen-April 18, 2017-Reading time: 7 minutes

It was 1987 when I saw the light in a village in the interior of Finland. A few days later I was baptized in the Lutheran Church, as my family belongs to it. I am the firstborn of nine siblings. My parents wanted from the beginning to give us a solid Christian formation. We used to go to the Lutheran mass, and to various activities that the parish offered to the children.

In the Nordic countries the presence of the Lutheran Church is very strong. In Finland it reaches almost 75 % of the population. It has the status of a national church, with some tax advantages that help to organize the task of forming and serving many people. Until 2000, the president of the Republic appointed the Lutheran bishops of the country. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, is a minority in Finnish societyThe Church, barely 0.2 % of the population. Many Lutherans have seen it as "the bogeyman", something with very negative connotations and arousing distrust: it was so for me as well.

I don't know how to explain it, but since I was a child I suffered from the division and separation of Christians. I was interested in understanding the reason for these divisions. At the same time, the feeling that something was missing was growing inside me. I was about 15 years old when I expressed this concern at home.

In the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, I had always been struck by the liturgical piety, the silence inside the church, the joy and peace. Moreover, with their beauty, art, decoration and, above all, the celebration of the Mass, their churches had a certain attraction for me. As a young man I was very interested in philosophy, and I devoured classical literature, as well as boxing, my favorite sport at the time.

In Finland there is a long-established custom among Lutheran youth between the ages of 15 and 16. It is the Confirmation camp. It is usually two weeks of summer where a course of Christian formation is given to young people who wish to receive Confirmation. This makes it possible to receive Holy Communion without the need to be accompanied by an adult. Today, more than 80 % of Finnish young people participate in these camps. They pray, sing, talk, swim, organize barbecues... A few days of intense contact with God and with others, enjoying the forests and lakes that Finnish nature has to offer. At this meeting there is always a pastor and some young volunteers, who have been specially trained for the occasion. I was also one of those young volunteers. I helped dozens of young people to get closer to God and the Church.

There I met a Lutheran pastor who was finishing his doctoral thesis at the University of Helsinki and was very interested in Catholic pious practice. With him I had long and interesting conversations about philosophy, especially the Ethics of the Catholic Church.tic to Nicomacheus, of Aristotle. At the same time, this pastor taught me to live a contemplative life with the help of intense prayer.

At that time, the Catholic Church often came to my mind. I took advantage of my trust and friendship with that pastor to talk about some aspects of Catholic doctrine. He explained to me the significance of the Pope and his ministry in the Catholic Church, and the difference in the concept of sacrament in the two Churches. He also explained to me the particular role of the Catholic priest in the Church. He gladly corrected some inaccurate ideas I had about the cult of the Virgin Mary and the saints, purgatory and the infallibility of the Pope. Those conversations, full of patience on the part of the pastor, were decisive in my decision to join the Catholic Church later on. In fact, I asked myself why we are not all Catholics. This, precisely thanks to the honesty of a Lutheran pastor.

I started to actively participate in programs that were organized for young people in various camps and Lutheran youth clubs. I also participated with my friends in the activity offered by our parish. But little by little I noticed inside me that my Lutheran life was falling short. Something else was missing. It did not fill me completely. At that moment I had the intuition that the Catholic Church would fill this void completely: there I would find the fullness of the means of salvation and the means for my fulfillment as a Christian.

There was no human reason for making that decision; indeed, those reasons were rather contrary. Nor was there any burning desire or great evidence in the decision. Just a small inkling that hovered in my mind and heart.

My baptismal godmother, in the course of time, had gone from being an active Lutheran to a convinced agnostic. One Christmas day, listening to a homily of John Paul II on the radio, she decided to become a Catholic. With this in mind, I decided to go to her. She told me about her life of faith as a Catholic in Finland, where they were a minority and parishes were counted on the fingers of one hand. I was very impressed by her consistency of life. So many times alone and far from other Catholics, and yet so close to all the Catholics in the world. I decided to go to Mass with her when I traveled to Helsinki. There she introduced me to the priest.

Then I decided to go to Mass on my own every Sunday. For a Lutheran it is not obligatory to attend Sunday Mass, and in fact one usually goes only two or three times a year. However, it is customary to go to the parish to pray, sing, drink coffee or eat something and talk about topics related to the faith. For me it was a big leap in quality and quantity. But I gave it a try.

I started going to Sunday Mass in Kouvola, where I met the parish priest, a priest of Polish origin. At that time in the Catholic Church in Finland there were hardly 20 priests, all of them foreigners except one. From the first moment I felt at home. I was sure that when I entered the door of that parish for the first time, there could be no more excuses or hypocrisy in my life. To walk through that door was to never turn back. I had to live consistently as a Catholic Christian. There I began a weekly course on Catholic doctrine, and Sunday Mass became my flesh and blood. After a prudent time, when I was ready, I joined the Catholic Church by professing the Creed and receiving the sacrament of Confirmation. Many Lutheran friends also attended this very special ceremony for me.

When I am asked why I joined the Catholic Church, I do not know how to explain it well in words. It was clear that my family, my relatives, my friends had a decisive influence. What's more, I always counted on their support. And, curiously, all of them are Lutherans. I see clearly that God calls through other people. On the other hand, I was faithful to the intuition that I felt inside me, producing an enormous change in my life: from a small seed a tree has grown.

For me, joining the Catholic Church is not an end in itself, but a beginning. As a Lutheran I felt a bit individualistic. Yes, I was surrounded by people, but I was alone, with my own life and my own salvation. Moreover, I saw how the meaning of the Lutheran ministerial priesthood was weakening and becoming more and more worldly, in accordance with the circumstances dictated by society. This caused in me a very strong reaction of rejection.

In the Catholic Church I saw that priests are stewards of the mysteries of God. I enjoyed receiving them: confession from time to time, holy Mass and my prayer life. I found participation in Sunday Mass to be an effective medicine for my own hurts, shortcomings and worries. Regularity in prayer and the sacraments protect me from many evils. A good and healthy diet never hurts, even if sometimes I do not get enough.

I am now married. My wife is Lutheran and we have two little daughters baptized in the Catholic Church. We go to Mass together, pray together and try to form the girls in the Catholic faith. My wife's help in this task is indispensable. It says a lot about her generosity and dedication, because even though she is a Lutheran, she fully accepts the decision we make about the Catholic education of our children. For this, the best way to form my children is by my own example as a good Catholic. When my wife became pregnant with our first child, I began to understand better that I am called to be a better person, a better Christian, a better Catholic and, above all, a better father.

Two years ago I met by chance with isä Raimo, priest of the Opus Dei and vicar general of the diocese, at Oulu airport in the center of the country, as I was seeing off my newly married brother. A isä Raimo had known him for a long time, but we lived more than 400 kilometers apart. A few days before we met at the airport, I had moved with my wife and two daughters to live in Helsinki. There I would start my PhD in economics. He asked me if we could meet one day in Helsinki. I began to have regular spiritual direction with him and so I also got to know Opus Dei. With the help I am receiving I notice how I am growing step by step in my inner life, understanding better what it means to love God and others and to forget myself. Perhaps the focus I had as a Lutheran on my own salvation is now opening up to that dimension of service to others. I have been chosen for the apostolate starting with my own family and friends wherever I am.

When my friends ask me what it means to be a Christian, I answer that it means to imitate Christ, to try every day at home, at work, with friends, to put people before oneself, trying to love them all.

For me, being Catholic means that I joyfully accept and understand that I need the help that the Church offers me, especially through the sacraments, precisely in order to imitate Christ and serve others with love.

In the Mass, God himself gives himself anew for us in his humility in the form of bread and wine, so that he can live within us and transform us from within, making us like him. When we are unable to love our neighbor, he offers us forgiveness through the sacrament of Penance. In the same way, we too learn to humble ourselves and forgive others.

"When I am asked why I joined the Catholic Church, I am asked, 'Why did I join the Catholic Church? I do not know how to explain it well in words. I was faithful to the feeling I had in my inner self. For me, joining the Catholic Church is not an end in itself, but a beginning.". "My wife is a Lutheran and we have two young daughters baptized in the Catholic Church. We go to mass together, we pray together, and we try to I have to form the girls in the Catholic faith. My wife's help is indispensable.

The authorVille Savolainen

"My path to the Catholic Church".

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Tapani Ruotsalainen: "The common testimony of the same faith would be of great strength".

Omnes-April 18, 2017-Reading time: < 1 minute

Tapani Ruotsalainen is a pastor of the Lutheran church, and is in charge of a community near Lapland. In this interview he offers for Word a personal testimony about the meaning of the Protestant Reformation and the ecumenical effort that impresses with its honesty.

–Raimo Goyarrola, Helsinki

¿What has the Lutheran Reformation meant to you?

-I'm from a small town in northern Finland. When I was a child, if you were a Christian, the only possibility to belong to the Church was in the Lutheran Church. When it came to church, for me it was only the Lutheran Church. In the north of the country there were neither Catholics nor Orthodox. There were some members of the Free Reformed Churches, but very few.

When I was in high school I heard about the Catholic Church in religion class and in history class. I must admit that it was a very partial view, totally biased from the Lutheran point of view. In the 1960s-1970s the Finnish media hardly reported about the Catholic Church. Today the situation has radically changed....

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What happened, what we commemorate

Omnes-April 17, 2017-Reading time: < 1 minute

500 years ago, Martin Luther wrote a paper containing 95 theses opposing the practice of indulgences and posted it on the door of the Wittenberg Palace Church on October 31, 1517. What was the significance of that step? What are we commemorating on this anniversary?

–Pablo Blanco Sarto

University of Navarra

[email protected]

In preparation for the 500th anniversary of Luther's death, the Catholic and Protestant bishops of the German regions of Thuringia and Upper Saxony - places linked to the German reformer - published a joint pastoral letter in February 1996, in which they highlighted some positive aspects of Luther's figure, while lamenting the crisis experienced by the Church in the 16th century. Among the positive aspects promoted by the German reformer, the Germanic prelates highlighted the love for Scripture and the deepening of the doctrine of justification. For Luther this doctrine meant the rediscovery of God's mercy: he himself describes how, by studying Scripture, he came to the idea that God's justice is not that of a cruel God who punishes the sinner, but the merciful love by which God justifies the sinner.

What happened

The 1996 text signed by both denominations continued: "Studies on the history of the Reformation carried out in recent decades in an ecumenical spirit show us today a more nuanced picture of what happened then."The work is now free of the strong passionate and polemic charge of the circumstances of the time. "After centuries of dispute" -they add, "we have come to the conclusion that we agree on some essential points"....

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The Vatican

Card. Baldisseri: "The Church wants to help young people understand values".

Giovanni Tridente-April 12, 2017-Reading time: 9 minutes

Ahead of the upcoming Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, scheduled for October 2018, PALABRA has interviewed the Secretary General of the Synod, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, to learn firsthand how the organizational machinery is going. The topic will be. "Young people, faith and vocational discernment.". In this way, the Church "listens to the voice, sensitivity and faith of young people".

–Giovanni Tridente, Rome

A lover of classical music and an accomplished pianist, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri welcomes us on the second floor of the Bramante Palace, in Via della Conciliazione 34, where the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops has its headquarters. We are accompanied during the interview by a grand piano, on which the Cardinal will play a pleasant composition in honor of Our Lady before taking his leave.

Born in San Pietro in Campo, Tuscany, he has been a priest since 1963 and a bishop since 1992. Before moving to Rome, he worked for 39 years in various Nunciatures on four continents: from Haiti to India and from Japan to Paraguay, passing through Paris.

As Secretary of the College of Cardinals, he closely followed the work of the General Congregations of the last pre-conclave. On the day of Pope Francis' election to the papal throne, he placed his cardinal's lapel on Lorenzo Baldisseri's head, as if advocating his immediate creation as a cardinal, which was confirmed in 2014, when he had already assumed the guidance of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.

In this interview for Palabra, he gives a preview of some of the features of the upcoming Synod on Youth.

Your Eminence, tell us a little about yourself. We know, for example, of your passion for the piano and for classical music...

-Music has always accompanied me throughout my life. It is a passion that I have cultivated since I was young, and then during my seminary years in Pisa. During the five years I was a parish priest, I enrolled at the conservatory to perfect my piano studies. I then moved to Rome, where I completed my studies in law, theology and music.

Finally, I studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy. From that moment on, on the occasion of my diplomatic service, I have traveled to various places. The first stage was the Nunciature of Guatemala. I then carried out this work for 39 years before returning to Rome.

What do you remember of those years as Apostolic Nuncio in various countries: Haiti, India, Japan, Paraguay and also in Paris?

-They have been very interesting years, both from the ecclesial point of view and from the political point of view, because of the things that have happened. These years have allowed me to have a broad vision of reality and, above all, to experience a Church that is missionary in its deepest nature. By leaving Europe and traveling to other continents, I have been able to discover a Church that is truly on the frontier.

It has been, therefore, an extraordinary experience that has opened my horizons and enriched me, especially if I think about the contrast with other religions and cultures. In this, music, which is a universal language and a formidable instrument for relationships, has also helped me a lot.

In 2007 you participated in the V Latin American Episcopal Conference in Aparecida... Did you already know Archbishop Bergoglio?

-To tell the truth, I met Cardinal Bergoglio, like so many other archbishops and bishops, on that occasion, without any particular contact beyond formal greetings. I was Apostolic Nuncio in Brazil and did not have many exchanges with Argentina.

Rather, I believe that our relationship began to be consolidated during the pre-conclave phase. As Secretary of the College of Cardinals, I was in charge of assisting the Dean in directing the work of the twelve General Congregations, and the future Pontiff probably considered that I was performing that task well. When he called me to head the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops, he referred to that experience and those organizational aspects as reasons for entrusting me with this new mission.

Let's move on to current events. After families, youth, how did the choice of the theme for the Synod of Bishops to be held in October next year come about?

-In order to arrive at the choice of the topic, we have followed what is indicated by the Ordo Synodi. After some initial indications from the Fathers who participated in the last General Assembly, we sent a letter to the Councils of the Hierarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches, to the Episcopal Conferences, to the dicasteries of the Roman Curia and to the Unions of Superiors General to gather their opinion. The XIV Ordinary Council of the Synod was also consulted.

At the top of the list of topics that came up was that of young people. The Pope, for his part, wanted to consult the cardinals gathered in Consistory and here too there was a certain unanimity. With regard to the theme as such, it must be said that it includes all young people of every faith and culture, from 16 to 29 years of age. We want to reflect on faith; this is what we are proposing and, consequently, also on vocational discernment.

Since the last Assembly, the synodal procedure and the way in which each Father makes his contribution have been modified. Why these changes?

-The synodal experience, now in its fiftieth year, has led us to think about how to improve the development of the Assemblies, especially in the area of methodology. We have therefore adopted a dynamic more appropriate to participation and listening. We also consider the preparatory phase to be fundamental, and for this reason we ask the Episcopal Conferences to work on the transmission of the theme on the ground, in an immediate and participative way, and not as something rather optional.

In a word, we wanted the discussion to directly involve the greatest number of people in the parishes and in the various aggregations of the faithful. It was necessary, in short, to overcome the danger of the consultation losing its significance among the countless other activities that take place in a diocese.

This time Pope Francis has written a letter to young people in his own handwriting. A novelty...

-Yes, I would say it was a very nice decision on the part of the Pope. Francis wanted to write a letter in his own handwriting so that young people would feel encouraged and accompanied by their common father. In this way the Pontiff captures the esteem of young people and shows that he is present from the beginning in the synodal journey that we have just embarked upon. He exhorts young people to participate actively, because the Synod is for them and for the whole Church, and he listens to the voice, the sensitivity, the faith and also the doubts and criticisms of young people.

Previously, the so-called "questionnaire" had been introduced in the preparatory phase. What is the usefulness of this instrument?

-First of all, the questionnaire allows us to summarize in questions the content of the Document and from there to have an immediate reaction to what the text itself asks for. I would insist that it is an integral part and not a simple appendix to the Document.

The elements that emerge from the responses will be used for the drafting of the Instrumentum LaborisThe text is then given to the Synod Fathers before the Assembly. Since the times demand it, we have also set up a web page on the Internet to consult directly with young people about their expectations in life. They themselves will be able to follow the various phases of preparation for the Synod and share their reflections and experiences.

It has caused an impact that, in addition to some general questions, there is a specific part for each of the geographical areas of the planet...

-In fact, in addition to the fifteen questions proposed to everyone, indistinctly, three specific questions are added for each geographical area; and answers are requested only from those belonging to the continent in question. This is also a way of responding to the objection that we often propose texts that are too "western". It is therefore a way of broadening the horizon of the discussion.

When you look at the world of young people, what comes to mind?

-I think that young people today need to overcome their fear of the future. One has the impression that they do not follow at all that typical spontaneity that leads them to launch themselves into the adventure of life. Probably because they do not have very clear ideas. The values that we had firmly as a reference in the past are today under severe test.

Then there is also the variety of offers, so they do not know which is the right path to follow. That is why we, as the Church, want to help them to discern, to understand what the true values are and where they are to be found.

In what sense does the Church want to "listen" to young people?

-The theme of listening is fundamental. That is why Pope Francis insists so much on learning to listen, and not only to dictate or to say.

This is also, in a certain sense, the meaning of accompanying. Being with people, physically and also through the media, means establishing a dialogue. If there is an attitude of dialogue, we will certainly be more successful, because young people do not want to be guided blindly, but accept guidance only if there is this space of freedom.

It is necessary to help them because, as I said before, the maturation process has become slower, the years of decisions to choose one's own path and one's own life project have been delayed.

This is especially true in Europe, but also in other continents, because globalization means that the same concerns are being experienced all over the world. As a Church, we must be very present in these changes.

The second part of the document goes into the specifics of the topic: faith, discernment and vocation.

-Faith" is the proposal that we make, and we must explain that it is about a person, Jesus in person. Young people do not look too much at the abstract, at concepts, but they look at persons; in this way, the discourse can become attractive to them. The experience of Jesus as a person then becomes a witness for everyone.

As far as vocation is concerned, it is a question of asking how I can serve humanity. Jesus himself came and showed us the way. At this point, our proposal, confronted with the world of youth, becomes discernment.

When talking about young people, what is meant by "discernment"?

-Discernment is to ask oneself which is the path I can take in life. This path requires someone to accompany the young person and help him/her to reflect on the multiplicity of proposals, and then lead him/her to love the person of Jesus as such, choosing the path that is more in line with his/her aspiration. It should not be forgotten that the young person has received the faith through baptism, but it will become sterile if it is not nourished afterwards.

The theme of vocation is often associated today with the "consecrated" world....

-On the other hand, we want to give it a broad value. We considered it important to broaden the horizon also in the context of the previous synodal experience, which has left us with an even deeper dimension of the family. The family is a vocation, a choice of life. In the same way, we want to reflect on youth life.

It seems to me that a significant part of the Synod will be devoted to youth ministry.

-This is an important aspect, because of its specificity. The world of youth calls us to a particular challenge. There is a need to take an interest in young people through a renewed, more dynamic pastoral ministry, with creative proposals. In the third part of the Questionnaire we mentioned before, we had foreseen the modality of "sharing practices or initiatives". In this way we want to circulate knowledge of experiences, often of great interest, that are being developed in the various regions of the world, so that they can be of help to all.

How does this tour fit into the upcoming World Youth Day in Panama 2019?

-In this regard, we are working closely with the Dicastery for the Laity to combine the two preparatory processes together. From April 5 to 8, the General Secretariat will also participate in the usual International Meeting that is organized in the period between one WYD and another. On this occasion we will present the Preparatory Document and the dynamics of consultation in the particular Churches with those responsible for Youth Ministry in the Episcopal Conferences.

What are the next steps to be taken by the Synod Secretariat?

Among the more immediate activities, in September we will promote a reflection on the reality of youth in the contemporary world, on the occasion of a three-day Study Seminar to which specialists from various countries will be invited, but which on the last day will be open to all those who wish to participate. In the wake of what the Pope said in his homily on December 31, 2016, we want to question ourselves on the "debt" we owe to young people, to think about how to assume "responsibility" by planning educational itineraries, places and spaces, so that they can be truly inserted into society and thus contribute to the realization of their dreams for a more just and humane future.

From your privileged observatory in Rome, having also the possibility of sounding out so many local Churches, what is the state of the Church in the world today?

-I believe that today the Church in the world is in a state of missionary evangelization, not only because the Pope wants a "Church going out", but also because this dynamism comes from the grassroots. A missionary Church in the broadest sense of the word, which includes not only the regions known as such, but all of them in their very nature.

If we then think of the intuition of Pope Benedict XVI to institute a special dicastery for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, which refers in particular to Europe, we understand that this process has been underway for some time. Certainly, a strong impulse is given every day by Pope Francis, who does not hide the fact that as a young man he wanted to be a missionary.

What can the vitality of young churches teach us today?

-They teach us that faith is a great gift. The young Churches, confronted with other cultural and religious realities, witness to the awareness of having received a great gift, baptism, which elevates them spiritually and places them in communion with the whole Church.

This universality and this bond that they feel with the Pope and the bishops makes their faith solid and is at the same time a witness for all of us.

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A world reference. Ecumenism in Finland

The author is a member of the official Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue group in Finland. The group is finalizing a joint document on the Church, the Eucharist and the ordained ministry that it hopes to present to the Pope in October, amid a climate of trust that he describes as exceptional.

Raimo Goyarrola-April 12, 2017-Reading time: 9 minutes

"But this speaker, is he Lutheran or Catholic?". This is what a German Lutheran bishop asked the person sitting next to him in amazement. This was the case at the recent International Symposium on Luther and the sacraments held at the Roman Gregorian University in February of this year. The speaker in this case was Jari Jolkkonen, Lutheran bishop of Kuopio, a Finnish city. The topic of his presentation was the sacrament of the Eucharist according to Luther. This symposium was sponsored, among others, by the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity. About 300 people attended, mostly from Germany. A total of 15 theologians from Finland participated from both confessions, in response to the express invitation of the Pontifical Council itself.

"But this speaker, is he Lutheran or Catholic?". Although the reason for this exclamation starts from a perplexity that is at least distant, it seems to me to evidence very well the difference between the current German Lutheran and Finnish theology. This question is at the heart of the work that we are developing in the official Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue group in Finland. For three years now we have been meeting six Lutheran and six Catholic theologians to study and deepen our understanding of the Church, the Eucharist and the ordained ministry. The joint document is progressing. Our goal is to present it to the Holy Father next October.

This time of conversation and personal contact has helped us to realize how close we are in professing the same faith, with some explanatory differences that do not imply opposing or incompatible contents. In the minds of our Lutheran co-workers, they consider themselves closer to Catholics than to German Lutherans. And so it is. The situation in our country is unique. It is said that comparisons are usually not good, and perhaps even less so in the ecumenical sphere, but the reality shows that the ecumenical dialogue with Lutherans in the Nordic countries is light years away from that in the center of Europe. Within the Nordic countries, Finland is also special, I would say exceptional.

Peculiar Lutheran reform in Finland

This exception in Finland is largely due to historical reasons. The Christian faith came from the hands of St. Henrik, the first bishop assigned to a proper see in Finland at the beginning of the 12th century. The Lutheran Reformation entered our country at the hands of the King of Sweden, to whose crown the Finnish lands belonged. All Lutheran historians have recognized that the fundamental motive was economic and social. The Catholic Church in Finland was a living Church, rooted in the hearts and consciences of the Finnish people.

The Lutheran Reformation as a theological, liturgical and disciplinary concept was gradually penetrating into the modus credendi et vivendi of the Finnish people and hierarchy. In fact, it has been documented that until after 1600, tabernacles and Eucharistic worship were still preserved in several churches scattered along the southwest coast, where the majority of the population lived. The Finns did not have to ostentatiously emphasize, as was done in Germany, their separation from Rome. The Finnish people were simple and pious. Today, more than 80 stone churches are preserved. Considering that most of the churches built were made of wood and burned down, this number speaks of a widespread and deep faith: wherever several families lived in a small village, they had their own church.

Mikael Agrikola is considered the first Lutheran bishop. He studied in Germany, where he met Luther and his desire for reform. On his return to Finland he devoted much effort to the translation of Holy Scripture, liturgical texts and prayers into Finnish. He was elected bishop, already in separation with the see of Peter, by the king of Sweden. But Agrikola did not see with good eyes a Church submitted to the temporal power. He wanted to stage this dissatisfaction by returning to the liturgical vestments used in Catholic times, and made a missal based on the old Catholic missal approved for Finland.

In fact, in Finland the line of an episcopal succession and a liturgy that has continued to develop parallel to the Roman one has been preserved. In the current ecumenical dialogue we are studying whether they have also preserved the apostolic succession. The Lutherans claim this. This is a delicate issue, since apostolic succession is not understood without Tradition and without universal communion in the episcopatus unus et indivisus. Some fundamental differences in the field of morals, and the introduction in 1986 of the ordination of women, speak to us of a possible deep breach not only of a pastoral but also of a doctrinal component. These are issues that we face and will face with sincerity, respect for the truth and trust in divine grace.

Council of Churches in Finland

The Ecumenical Council of Churches was established in Finland just over 100 years ago. For some years now, the Catholic Church in Finland has also been a full member of the Council. There is always a representative of the Catholic Church on its standing committee. A lot has been done and a lot of progress has been made. To give an example, it can be said, without exaggeration, that Finland is the birthplace of the most affective and effective worldwide rapprochement with the Pentecostal Community. Here we had an official meeting with representatives of both confessions, in which delegates sent by the Holy See also participated. Something special happened at that meeting. The Holy Spirit touched the minds and hearts of everyone. Something like suddenly a veil disappeared that made it difficult to see the face of the other interlocutor as a brother in Christ. And this happened in Finland.

The Orthodox Church of Finland, dependent on the Patriarchate of Constantinople, has about 60,000 faithful (almost 2 % of the population). With it there is a fraternal relationship full of affection and trust. They allow us to use their temples to celebrate Holy Mass on Sundays, due to the scarcity of Catholic parishes. On one occasion, after their Divine Liturgy which I attended in their cathedral in Helsinki, I was surrounded by priests and deacons exclaiming with sorrow, but with hope: "When will we be one Church!". We agreed that we need to pray, purify ourselves and dialogue more. In fact, months later, we organized a theological conference where we discussed the sacraments and the Petrine ministry. It was a unique experience to realize that we are practically one and the same Church. It was agreed that the Petrine ministry would be discussed in more detail at a later date. No one doubts that it is the main stumbling block.

Ecumenism is necessary. The great challenge, in my very personal opinion, is not to reduce it to talking about and dealing only with what unites us. It is important to enter into themes and aspects in which there are differences of appreciation. A real risk that we are feeling in the Ecumenical Council is to focus only on social issues, injustices, immigration, violence, wars. We have to be courageous to face theological issues that separate us, as John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis have insisted several times. Without fear or prejudice, but we have to deal with anthropology, sacramentology, marital morality, bioethics, etc.

Together with both the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the Orthodox Church, we are going to develop a theological agenda for the coming years, where we can get to know each other better and try to iron out possible differences. Undoubtedly, for this we count on the light of the Holy Spirit.

Ecumenical delegation in Rome

For almost 30 years, a pilgrimage to Rome has been organized on the feast of St. Henrik, patron saint of Finland. videre Petrum. This ecumenical delegation meets uninterruptedly with the Pope every January. It is a small delegation, only 10 people. On the Catholic side, the bishop of Helsinki, whose diocese includes the whole country, is present, accompanied by a priest who takes turns with others every year. On the Lutheran side, a bishop participates, also in turn, with some pastors. This official reception of the Pope is exceptional. It began after John Paul II's trip to Finland in 1989. He came back very impressed by what he saw here. On his return to Rome, he showed his interest in strengthening the dialogue with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

The atmosphere of these meetings is very pleasant and familiar. There are official speeches, obviously. But the atmosphere is not "official" at all. This meeting with the Pope is followed or preceded by a guided visit to the tomb of St. Peter, where we pray for unity. In addition, every year we alternate the celebration of a Catholic Mass and a Lutheran liturgical service, also called by them "Mass". With special permission from the Holy See, at the Catholic Mass the Lutheran bishop preaches the homily, and at the Lutheran Mass the Catholic bishop preaches. In addition, on these days we pray the Liturgy of the Hours together.

This private meeting with the Pope, together with the visit to the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, where we had a conversation with its president, are another example of the exceptional situation we are experiencing in Finland.

Dialogue: Church, Eucharist and Ministry

But let us return to the bilateral theological dialogue with the Evangelical Lutheran Church. We had the last session in Rome just before the above-mentioned symposium. Previously, Cardinal Kurt Koch had visited us in Helsinki in 2015. He offered us some guidelines that we could follow when drafting the document. And there we set out with great enthusiasm. Starting from the mystery of the Church and its sacramentality, we could focus on the sacrament of the Eucharist. It would be a matter of examining with theological honesty and in depth what the Eucharist means, its liturgical celebration as a memorial of Christ's redemptive sacrifice on the Cross, as Communion and as the real and substantial presence of Christ. In the face of such an immense mystery, we should ask ourselves if there is any other way to understand the Eucharist. mysteryanother sacramento that makes the Eucharist possible. For this we would study the ordained ministry and its apostolicity, the episcopate and its sacramentality, the ministry of unity and its necessity.

I do not anticipate the results. I only ask for prayers. Cardinal Koch, in his opening speech at the aforementioned symposium, referred to our Finnish dialogue as a worldwide reference document. Among us Finns, a kind of healthy pride was born, as well as a sense of enormous responsibility. So far we have taken several giant steps in the doctrinal rapprochement between our two Churches. What if, with God's grace, we dare to take a further leap forward? This will be seen before next Christmas.

"Cum Petro", without hesitation. "Sub Petro, open possibility

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland has its headquarters in Turku, the ancient capital of Finland, then a territory subject to the kingdom of Sweden. That was the first episcopal see, from which St. Henrik promoted the evangelization of the country. Today, there are many Lutheran archbishops of that city who present themselves as successors of St. Henrik. It may sound like an honorific title or a mere anecdote, but the fact is that according to a widespread feeling within the Lutheran hierarchy, the present Evangelical Lutheran Church is the continuation of the Catholic Church in Finland. On the one hand, this is clearly not the case. And this causes some misunderstandings. But on the other hand, it says a lot about the underlying idea: they feel they are in continuity with the Catholic Church of the 16th century and in a certain way in communion with Peter.

Today, any Christian in the ecumenical sphere would accept the desirability of a ministry of unity for the whole Church of Christ. Many would even look favorably upon the subject of such a ministry in the Pope. Finland, as always, is ahead of the curve. Not only is this ministry of unity desirable, it is also necessary. The Evangelical Lutheran Church accepts a ministry of unity, and this would be the Petrine ministry. The communion cum Petro is necessary to be in communion with the universal Church. The question arises when one asks what it means to be in communion with the universal Church. sub Petro. In the dialogue we are jointly trying to answer this crucial question. God willing, the paper will provide an answer with the Finnish Lutheran conditions for accepting the sub Petro.

Church on the way out

I like to consider, and I said it personally to Pope Francis last month, that the last word Jesus spoke before ascending to heaven was "Finland". "I will be with you until the end of the world.". On a two-dimensional map of the earth, at least in Europe, Finland is on top of it. The snows and ices of separation are melting. By praying, dialoguing and working together that divine water will also irrigate other countries and ecumenical dialogues.

The time has come to proclaim the Gospel together. There is no more time to lose. The world, suffocated by so much personal and social sickness, cries out for hydration, oxygenation and spiritual nourishment. The common witness of the Word of God, sustained by common prayer, will lead us to unity.

On the occasion of a long trip to northern Finland, I spent the night at the home of a good friend of mine, a Lutheran pastor. The next morning, obviously with his permission, I celebrated Mass in the living room. He participated very piously by answering the various prayers. At the end of the Mass I thanked him for being able to celebrate Mass. With eyes wet with tears, he replied that it was he who thanked me for celebrating Mass, because "for the first time Jesus has been physically in my house"..

In short, ecumenism is to let Jesus into our home, into every heart, every community, every Church. Only He, with the power of the Holy Spirit, can carry out his own petition to the Father: "ut unum sint". And in Finland the Spirit is blowing hard. n

Some references

St. Henry (Henrik). Apostle and first bishop based in Finland, he lived in the 12th century. On his feast day (January 19) an ecumenical delegation goes to Rome.
Gustav I of Sweden (Gustav Vasa). He reigned in Sweden from 1523. He established Protestantism in the country.
Mikael Agrikola. First Lutheran bishop, died in 1557. He is considered the first writer in the Finnish language.
Percentages. 73.7 % of Finns are Lutheran, 2 % Orthodox and 0.2 % Catholic.

The authorRaimo Goyarrola

Omnes correspondent in Finland.

Ecumenism

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Rilke and the young poet

More than 100 years ago Rainer Maria Rilke wrote ten letters to a young poet who wanted to learn to write poetry. Those letters, collected in a memorable book, are still relevant today because they vitally appeal to today's readers who long to be poets.

Jaime Nubiola-April 11, 2017-Reading time: 4 minutes

For years now, the book I have most frequently given to students who approach me to ask me how to learn to write is the work of Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926). Letters to a young poetoriginally published in 1929. In that volume are collected the ten letters that between February 17, 1903 and December 26, 1908 Rilke wrote to the young Franz Xaver Kappus, then a student at the Military Academy in Vienna. Several years ago I gave that book as a gift to the young poet Ana Gil de Pareja and I am delighted to bring to these pages today some of what she wrote to me after her excited reading:

"I started reading Letters to a young poet I was engrossed, underlining page by page what touched my heart. It is a book to reread when life pulls at more than one part of ourselves, when we are in despair, when we feel an anguished loneliness or when we need good advice that delves into the depths of the soul". That is what I admire most about this book by Rilke: that what could help the young poet with those letters reaches the depths of a reader today.

Rilke with his letters manages to awaken the restlessness of the future writer not by persuasion, but by teaching. He is a master at awakening the passion of Kappus's literary vocation, showing him the pleasure of seeing beyond what many see, that is, discovering the beauty of the ordinary. "If you find your daily life poor, do not accuse it; blame yourself, tell yourself that you are not poet enough to extract its riches. For the true creator there is no poverty and no platitudes." (p. 24). With his letters Rilke guides the young man's attention to what is truly important. And, in a way, he also guided my discovery of what is truly valuable.

The great poem may not please everyone, but our souls are not very different from one another. We have all suffered similar pains, for we all, in one way or another, wear the same skin. It is the poet who knows how to describe the sensations he perceives, describes his appearance, his scent, his reactions to his environment, his wounds and scars... He is the one who is in charge of making a real jewel out of the ordinary in the rough; the poet is like a polisher of reality.

The polisher's job is to erase all the marks that have been left on the jewel during its processing. He must be attentive to concentrate on treating the jewelry entrusted to him with the utmost delicacy. Patience is also a necessary quality in this work, as the finishing of the jewelry can be very time consuming. Therefore, in addition to the skill and precision needed to carry it out, what you need above all is a great desire to turn your work into a work of art.

Simone Weil has written that intelligence can only be moved by desire, and I believe that this is how Rilke understands the work of the poet. The true poet writes not because he is born with a pen in his hand, but because what is really born in him is a great desire to write and a deep need to do so. The work of an artist arises because he really wants to create his work, because it is born from the depths of his being to give life to give life to those who contemplate it.

As I read those pages I felt that my great illusion was -like Kappus- that of being a great poet. However, how could I know then whether poetry was mine? "Ask yourself in the quietest hour of your night: have I got the need of writing? Dive into your innermost being to get an answer. And if it is affirmative, if you are able to answer this serious question with a simple and resounding 'Yes, I must,' then build your whole life around that need." (p. 23). Even the famous singer Lady Gaga has this phrase tattooed on her left arm in the original German. It comes from the first of the letters and shows, in particular detail, the point I am getting at. My writings may not be better than those of the great writers, but they are a piece and voice of my own life. Therefore, I had to ask myself whether it was my duty to raise my voice so that it could be heard, because no one else could say what I had to tell the world. My words were and will remain unique and unrepeatable.

Faced with this discovery, the soul of a restless writer is not indifferent. This book has enlivened my illusions to show the richness of the ordinary, to tell the world the great stories that have not yet been told because no one has yet discovered them. Those stories that have long belonged to us and that by bringing them to life can come to belong to others. In short, I discovered that my vocation was writing, because the beauty was not only in my writings, but above all in their purpose, that is, in what they provoke in those who read them. I understood that this effect is born in each singular soul: the success of the writer resides in the authenticity of his soul and in how he manages to show it to the world in a transparent way, without shadows or contrasts. The great poet does not succeed because he writes excellent things, but because he transmits his own belief to those who have the capacity to believe what he believes. Beliefs and deep looks, unique and unrepeatable, that embellish the world: that is what the young poet works on".

So much for what the young poet Ana Gil de Pareja wrote to me. For this beautiful testimony -and for so many others that I have accumulated over the years- it seems to me that it is worthwhile to continue recommending the reading of this book today.

Literature

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