My cousin Alvaro completed 30 years of priesthood last September 15. He lives in Rome and in 2018 he was diagnosed with ALS.
October 14, 2024-Reading time: 2minutes
My cousin Alvaro celebrated his 30th anniversary of priesthood on September 15. He lives in Rome and is now one hundred percent Italian. He loves the movies of Alberto Sordi and Totò, the cannoli Sicilians and is a cornerstone in his EUR parish. He claims that the last six years of his priestly ministry have been the most fruitful.
In 2018 Alvaro was diagnosed with a degenerative neuromuscular type disease: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He started with one leg, which was unresponsive. From there he went on to carry a cane. Then parishioners gave him a motorized wheelchair. Then he drove a chair that he could steer with the finger that still had mobility. A few months ago, he switched to 24-hour ventilation. In November he will be 60 years old.
As long as possible, he continued to teach pastoral theology at a pontifical university and even managed, in the early stages of his illness, to publish a textbook on the subject, which became an important reference in the field of pastoral theology. best seller. Above all, he continued to exercise his priesthood without interruption. He has spent hours in the atrium of his parish, where people came to chat with him or go to the sacrament of confession. He has concelebrated Holy Mass: first at the altar, now from the nave. He preached when he had enough voice. Thinking of the good he could do for others in his situation with the help of a friend, he has recorded a few short Sunday homilies on his YouTube channel in Spanish and Italian, entitled "the gospel to the sick".
I too have been living in Rome for a few years now and I try to visit Alvaro frequently, in my role as the representative of a large family. His faith and sense of humor make my time with him taste like heaven, in spite of all the hardships. I feel very blessed.
He had passed away John Paul II -On April 2, 2005, the Pope of my youth, whom I had followed whenever he traveled to Spain, along with many other young people of my generation, and I decided to organize a pilgrimage to Rome with my students to attend his funeral on April 8. I proposed it to the seniors of the school where I worked without omitting any of the possible inconveniences we would have to suffer; and the idea was so well received that many of those interested could not come because we could not get enough plane tickets.
There was not a single complaint about always carrying a backpack on our backs, nor about sleeping on the ground in the vicinity of Castell Sant'Angelo, nor about the early start to get to a good spot in St. Peter's Square, as we did in fact manage to do. There was not a single complaint for any reason.
For me, as I have always recognized, that adventure was a great lesson that I have never forgotten: young people are capable of much more than we usually imagine. We returned to Madrid very satisfied with the decision we had made, with the inner satisfaction of having participated in the solemn funeral of a very dear and very holy Pope; and, at the same time, delighted with the adventure we had lived together.
This strong and generous response in favor of the good of the group (to carry out the plan and for everyone to have a good time) showed the virtues of those who formed the group. And I say virtues and not values, as it is more frequent to name them nowadays, because values are enough to know them intellectually; on the other hand, virtues must be lived, which always implies a personal overcoming of our natural tendency to comfort. One may know that being punctual to class is an important value, but living the virtue of punctuality requires leaving the soccer game at recess with enough time to get to class on time, one day, another day... and every day-.
Values and virtues
Values are principles that our intelligence accepts as important, beneficial and desirable, and that guide us to behave well and live positively; for example, honesty, respect and kindness. Values can encompass moral, cultural, aesthetic, social and material aspects, etc. They are intellectual concepts that suggest that a certain personal or social behavior is better than a different one.
Nowadays there is a lot of talk about "educating in values". In reality, there is no other way of educating than in values. Only in reference to them can we discern what is good and what is bad; but there are different categories of values: Christian, communist, Muslim, those of an oriental culture, etc. And it is very important to decide which ones guide our educational task and our life. For the avoidance of doubt, here we take Christian values as a reference point.
Classical ethics clearly distinguishes good from evil; on the other hand, the concept of "value" - which appeared in the 20th century - can be used indistinctly to speak of good or evil, although we do differentiate between positive values and negative values or anti-values.
Aristotle and saint Thomas AquinasOn the contrary, they distinguish good from evil with different terms: virtue and vice. Virtue -according to its etymology- comes from the Latin word viswhich means strength and suggests an impulse to do what is right - is a good habit fixed in the will of a person that disposes him interiorly to do good; while a vice is a defect - St. Thomas spoke of the "vice" of a chair when it is badly built - and can occur in the field of any virtue; but he clarifies that a specific act is not enough, but that "a vice" is an inclination, a way of being that leads us away from what is good.
The virtues, as already mentioned, are strengths of character that help us to be good people. Since ancient times we have spoken of four cardinal virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, from which all human virtues derive. In addition, even if we only mention them, we have the theological virtues: faith, hope and charity, which God gives us freely and which are more powerful aids than the cardinal virtues.
Thus, values are the intellectual concepts that we consider important to discern that a certain behavior is better than another, personally or socially; while virtues go further: they are like "superpowers" that help us to do good consistently and voluntarily. For example, one may be clear in his thinking that honesty - among other things, the ability to treat people as equals and understanding that everyone should have the same opportunities - is very important for coexistence; but being honest requires him to be fair in games with others, so that all participants follow the rules, without cheating others or cheating; and it also helps him to behave in this way.
"Virtue is not something improvised," Pope Francis explained at the General Audience of March 13, 2024; "on the contrary, it is a good that arises from a slow maturation of the person, until it becomes his inner characteristic.
On the other hand, the term "virtue" is currently gaining popularity:
- In the company, some work problems could be solved by developing virtues; for example: certain difficulties to comply with the work, to be punctual, to work as a team, to keep one's word, etc.
- In the field of education, one of the objectives we seek is integral human development, which takes the form of developing human virtues. In some universities such as Oxford or Birmingham, there is already well-developed research on this.
The price and reward of virtues
This is a good time to start clarifying some fundamental issues:
- We need the virtues to do good and fight against evil; they are an indispensable aid to that end: like the wind in the sails of a ship, which pushes it towards its destination, relieving the effort of the oars.
- Developing the virtues presupposes a will trained for effort and sacrifice. Wanting a virtuous life demands that we place pain and suffering in an important place in our life; yes or yes I have to give up what I want and do what I have to do at any given moment; but this does not mean that my life is voluntaristic and sad: love is what makes it possible for us to bear pain and sacrifice with joy and to be very happy even with hardships. This is beautifully expressed in a Navarrese jota, which says: "I crossed the Bardenas, although it snowed and rained, but since I was going to see you, it seemed like spring".
Moreover, when they are for the sake of achieving good, we find meaning in fatigue and suffering, and they bring us happiness.
The following scene from "The Lord of the Rings" is a good illustration. In a moment of despondency due to extreme weakness after days without a bite to eat and the serious threat to the Mission, as he observes the armies of Mordor,
"Suddenly, distant and remote, as if out of the memories of the Shire, lit up by the first morning sun, as the day awoke, and the doors opened, he heard Sam's voice: 'Wake up, Mr. Frodo! Wake up! -If the voice had added, 'Breakfast is served,' he would have been little surprised." It was evident that Sam was anxious.
-Wake up, Mr. Frodo! They have gone, and we had better get away from here too.
-Courage, Mr. Frodo!
"Frodo raised his head, and then sat up. Despair had not left him, but he was no longer so weak. He even smiled, with a certain irony, feeling now as clearly as a moment before he had felt the opposite, that what he had to do, he had to do, if he could, and it mattered little that Faramir or Aragorn or Elrond or Galadriel or Gandalf or anyone else would never know. He took the staff in one hand and the glass vial in the other. When he saw the clear light streaming through his fingers, he held it close to his chest again and clasped it to his heart. Then, turning his back on the city of Morgul, he set out on his way up."
And Frodo was encouraged by the vivid memory of Lady Galadriel presenting him in Lothlórien with the small flask that was lighting him up.
"And you, Ring-bearer," said the Lady, turning to Frodo. For you I have prepared this. He held up a small flask, which sparkled as she moved it, and rays of light flashed from his hand. In this vial,' she said, 'I have gathered the light of Eärendil's star, as it appeared in the waters of my fountain. It will shine even brighter in the middle of the night. May it be for thee a light in the dark places, when all other lights have been extinguished. remember Galadriel!"
This episode shows very clearly how Frodo, the memory of Galadriel gives him courage and courage and, for the love he has for her, he decides to go up again; and at the same time, the light that emerges from the flask she gave him drives him to carry out the Mission, consisting of destroying the Ring in Mordor, to free the world from the slavery of Sauron.
Conclusions
Human virtues are habits that man acquires with continuous effort, that make him a better person, that impel him to act well in a permanent and stable way and help him to reach a successful life that we call "virtuous life"; which does not consist in a heavy burden, or in simply complying with a set of rules and sacrifices. On the contrary, striving for integrity makes one better and happier.
The path that is necessary to follow to develop virtues is arduous, for it is not enough to begin one day to study at the scheduled time, to acquire the virtue of diligence, but it is necessary that, freely and voluntarily, we live acts of diligence every day -and if we fail, we start again-; this perseverance will forge in our will the firm disposition to be diligent as usual; at the same time, we find that it becomes easier and easier to do the tasks at the scheduled time, with simplicity and pleasure. And this can be applied to all human virtues.
But in the development of virtues by the boy or girl, in addition to the repetition of acts, the affective dimension is also of great importance: there are many children who overcome difficulties with the virtue of purity, which they do not manage to overcome, although they try; but suddenly, they fall in love and are reciprocated, and suddenly these difficulties disappear. Love generates a force, an inner energy, which helps to overcome all difficulties.
The next articles will be devoted to human virtues, recalling what they consist of and showing how to help children and students to develop and acquire them. One of my sources of inspiration will be the literature of Tolkien, who created a mythology with the unequivocal intention of encouraging his readers to start on the path of good and the fight against evil, and in which his protagonists stand out for living the virtues we call human - fortitude, detachment, the spirit of service, solidarity, etc. - in their efforts to make a better world. I will also try to show abundant and varied current testimonies that can serve as examples.
The authorJulio Iñiguez Estremiana
Physicist. High School Mathematics, Physics and Religion teacher.
Eloy Gesto. From darkness to the "Light of the Word".
Eloy Gesto is a communications professional. Spanish, from Santiago de Compostela, a book changed his heart and led him to God after a life of indifference to faith. Today Eloy puts his professional knowledge also at the service of God.
Eloy was born into a family that lived a faith of "social consumption": "We would punctually participate in religious social events such as baptisms, weddings, communions." He notes that, despite living like this, "somehow, I was one of the few in the family who, from time to time, thought about God and sometimes even had my conversations with him without knowing it." That "thread" with God, although it became almost imperceptible in the following yearsIt is my Father's hand that has not let go of me"..
Eloy recalls that, although he had no idea of God, he longed for him under other names: "... he was a man of God, but he had no idea of God.I wanted a marriage for life. I came from a family wounded by many problems: economic, but also personal... and, when I got married, I dreamed of that marriage forever. We got married very young and the problems started early. In an attempt to save the marriage I approached God, but in a conditioned way, thinking 'if I approach You, You will fix this'". The marriage broke up, which further distanced Eloy from God. Eventually, the marriage was declared null and void, although he himself did not expect it..
Between 2013 and 2021, Eloy was in this situation of estrangement from the faith. In 2021, after another marriage, he suffered a second divorce and "I sink completely". At that time, a friend of his gave him the following giftA messenger in the nightby María Vallejo-Nájera. Eloy accepted it "as a courtesy". At his friend's insistence, "I started it, almost out of embarrassment... and finished it in three days.". When he finished it: "I sent a message of thanks to my friend and left for the Cathedral of Santiago. There had been a click inside me.
This same friend introduced him to a priest. Eloy went to confession, after dozens of years, began to have spiritual direction and to attend Mass. "I started going to Mass knowing that was the way. There was something that told me, 'Here is the Lord.' Even though I had no knowledge of the liturgy, of its parts, of what was being represented, there was a force that attracted me."
The conversion stage
Started "a wonderful time", Eloy recalls, "When you convert you have a lot of strength. It is a moment of pure faith. Then come other stages when you have to face your own life and you go through darker periods. But in that first period, you live in such a great way even in spite of the suffering!".
Eloy read other works by María Vallejo-Nágera: From Mary to Mary, Strolling through the sky y Between heaven and earth. In them he read about Perpetual Adoration and asked Avelino, the friend who initiated all this, if there was Adoration in Santiago de Compostela. He told him where there was and he began to attend. Once, he remembers, "While I was before the Blessed Sacrament, I heard the Lord say to me: 'Call the mother of your children and ask for forgiveness. I called her, we met in the church and asked for forgiveness".
Medjugorje
Another of the key points of Eloy's return to faith was his visit to Medjugorje. "I don't like to travel. It terrifies me. And there you see me, going alone to Croatia." Eloy points out. "I went without expectations, just because I felt a call. I went to the church in Tihaljina, where there is an almost life-size image of Our Lady and there, I don't know what happened to me, I was crying the whole Mass. Then someone told me about the 'gift of tears'. I don't know. But what I cried were tears of consolation".
In the Light of the Word
What differentiates the Eloy of today from the Eloy of 2021? "I guess you could say that he's becoming less Eloy and more the Lord, or at least he's trying to be." responds. "To draw near to God implies renouncing ourselves in things... ,and above all, trusting in God".
Eloy, a professional in communication, to which he dedicates his time through Inventa Schoolhas launched In the light of the Word, a movement that has as its mission to evangelize through communication. This project gave rise to the event Nuntiarein which, in a new way, the "rediscover something as important as the Word of God." The first edition was attended by 300 people in person and some 4,000 online. In the Light of the Word goes on "with God's times and it will be what He wills."Eloy concludes.
Gabriel Pérez: "López Bravo acted freely, without representing Opus Dei".
Gregorio López Bravo was one of the most prominent Spanish statesmen of the 20th century. A politician and businessman, married with nine children, he was a supernumerary of Opus Dei from 1952 until his death in a tragic plane crash in 1985. The journalist and doctor Gabriel Pérez Gómez has just presented a biography on the character.
Francisco Otamendi-October 13, 2024-Reading time: 5minutes
If he had been born in another historical era, perhaps Gregorio López Bravo (1923-1985) would have been on the fringes of politics, or not so involved in his country's economy. But growing up and maturing in the mid and late twentieth century pushed him to do so. With a solid training as a naval engineer, he was Minister of Industry at the age of 39, in 1962; Minister of Foreign Affairs (1969-1973); and member of Congress in democracy (77-79).
"His decisive contributions to the modernization of the country, to its international projection and, in short, to its prestige, are indisputable", writes Alberto Horcajo, president of Impactunof which López Bravo was a promoter. In fact, in 1981, after leaving politics, he promoted the creation of the Institute of Education and Research for the support of the University of Navarra, which later became the current Impactun Foundation.
The author of the biography, Gabriel Pérez Gómez, has a doctorate in Information Sciences and is a journalist. He has been director of Televisión Española in Navarra and president of the Press Association of Pamplona, and during this time he has immersed himself in thousands of pages of various archives. He considers "of exceptional importance" the memorandum of López Bravo written in the plane that brought him back to Spain after the tense interview he had to have with Pope St. Paul VI in 1973.
Omnes has interviewed numerous members of charisms and institutions of the Church. It has also interviewed faithful of Opus Dei, or about them. For example, it has spoken with the Milanese Marta Risari or the young Lithuanian supernumerary mother Judita VelzieneAnd a few days ago, he published an interview about the Spanish banker and philanthropist Luis Vallswhose faith made him become a social banker. Now, in the thread of current affairs, talks with Gabriel Perez about Lopez Bravo on this biography that edits Rialp.
López Bravo. A biography
Author: Gabriel Pérez Gómez
EditorialRialp : Rialp
Print length: 334 pages
Language: English
To begin with, a common question: What led you to investigate the life of Gregorio López Bravo?
-Well, it was a coincidence. I don't consider myself a biographer, especially when I read passionate and masterfully written biographies. A few years ago, having taken early retirement from TVE and with time on my hands, I embarked on the biography of my father-in-law, Álvaro d'Ors, because I owed him a debt of gratitude for the many things he had taught me. It seems that this book inspired someone from the Impactun Foundation and they proposed me to write this biography of López Bravo, coinciding with the centenary of his birth.
In this biography, you refer to matters of historical interest, because López Bravo, your biographer, played a precise role in them. The Stabilization Plan, the modernization of Spain, how did you approach it? Because the challenge was important.
- First of all, with great respect for the historical facts and then, trying to see the role that, personally, the protagonist played. I leave for the historians as many antecedents and consequences as the actions of my biographer had, from which very interesting monographs can emerge, but that would lead the reader to get lost in a tangle of data.
Because of López Bravo's status as a supernumerary of Opus Dei, he was integrated by the political clichés among the so-called "technocrats", the "Lópeces". But his book states that there were no more than three members of Opus Dei in two or three ministerial cabinets. Moreover, there were divergences among them, not counting opposing intellectuals such as Calvo Serer, also of Opus Dei.
- Of course. It seems to me that there was a very definite political interest in presenting the Work as an obscure organization that tried to take over all the levers of power. What I do is give the figures of the members of the Work who were at the head of some ministry and, at the same time, I echo the insistent preaching of St. Josemaría, in the sense that everyone acts in the professional, social or political sphere according to his own convictions, for which he is personally responsible, and that in no case do these actions represent Opus Dei or the Church. This explains what you point out about the fact that, within the Work itself, there were divergent political positions.
It combines information from numerous archives with documented reports on the plane crash in which he died, or on the tense interview of then Minister López Bravo with Pope St. Paul VI in 1973. Didn't López Bravo have problems of conscience? In fact, he was dismissed during the crisis of that year.
- I have read thousands of pages of the archives he cites. I knew what had been published about Lopez Bravo's interview with St. Paul VI and I had already practically written that chapter when, in one of the last days of consulting his personal archives (more than 120 boxes full of papers), when I thought that nothing of interest was going to appear, I came across a memorandum of Lopez Bravo written on the same plane that brought him back to Spain in which the content of that interview is recounted in synthesis.
It is a document of exceptional importance. As for the personal repercussions of that interview, I have not found anything written by López Bravo that tells how it influenced him, although I suppose he had to do some inner violence: he had to do his work as a minister, at the same time that he knew he was dealing with the Vicar of Christ.
He has a chapter dedicated to his human profile, his friendships... He talks about his austerity, his large family, his help to so many people, to the point of being almost in need after his years in politics, when the opposite is usually the case.
- Gregorio López Bravo gave himself to the exercise of friendship above many things. The testimonies of his friends are overwhelming. Even these days, with the biography just out, I am receiving letters and calls from people who knew him and who tell me details of their relationship with him. And he had friends of all kinds; it even seems to me that he was more friendly with those who thought differently.
The book also reflects the importance he gave to spiritual and doctrinal religious formation. For example, in the formation talks that he hosted in his house for years, whether there were three people or twelve, or his attitude on the day of the coup d'état of 23-F.
- He is a very clear case of a person who acts as he thinks, which leads him to share his spiritual concerns with his friends. Some of them even wondered if his presence in a retreat or in a meditation to which Gregory had invited him was due to his interest in getting closer to God or to the fact of corresponding to his friend's invitation.
"His greatest passion was always politics," his wife, Marián, told you. How did López Bravo handle his resignation from the government, supposedly because of a decision by Carrero Blanco? You say that you attended him before he died in a brutal attack. They had coincided at 9 o'clock Mass in the morning.
- I think he had to recycle himself. Politics and, therefore, public service, had occupied the central years of his life and, when he did not expect it, in full success, presiding over an OECD plenary session at the Château de la Muette, in Paris, he found out that Carrero Blanco did not count on him in the Government he had just formed. He lived from day to day, without a current account that assured him a certain stability, because he never took advantage of his positions to obtain "extra" income, as we see in so many cases in the past and in the present. His friends lent him a hand and he immediately emerged in the business world, to which he devoted his acumen until the fatal accident that took his life.
Pope Francis has addressed a short but significant letter to the faithful of the world 21 new cardinals of the Catholic Church. In addition to welcoming them to the "clergy of Rome" and reminding them that this membership expresses "the unity of the Church and the bond of all the Churches with this one of Rome," the pontiff highlighted three attitudes that, in his opinion, the new members should have cardinals . Three characteristics that the Pope borrowed from the description of St. John of the Cross by the Argentine poet Francisco Luis Bernárdez: "high eyes, joined hands, bare feet".
In this vein, the Pope explains in the letter that these "High eyes"The "broadening of the gaze and widening of the heart, to be able to look farther and love more universally with greater intensity".
Regarding the "Hands together"Francis points to prayer, which is necessary in the Church "to feed the flock of Christ well. Prayer, which is the field of discernment to help me to seek and find the will of God for our people, and to follow it".
Finally, the "Bare feet"The Pope stresses that they allude to being in those "corners of the world inebriated with pain and suffering due to war, discrimination, persecution, hunger and numerous forms of poverty that will demand so much compassion and mercy from you".
The Pope closed his letter to the new cardinals with a call to a life of service: "may the title of 'servant' - deacon - increasingly overshadow that of 'eminence'.
Majority of Francis' cardinals
The 21 new cardinals will join the College of Cardinals on December 8 in what will be the tenth consistory of Francis' pontificate, making him the Pope with the most cardinals in recent years. cardinal consistories created: 10 in thirteen years, while John Paul II convoked 9 in 24 years, and Benedict XVIfive in his years of pontificate.
At present, the College of Cardinals is composed, in its vast majority, of cardinals appointed by Pope Francis. 111 of them have been created by this Pope while 24 others were appointed by Benedict XVI and only six survive from the period of St. John Paul II.
Meet the person who is going on pilgrimage on foot from Cantabria to Bethlehem
Fernando Gutierrez is a lay missionary and founder of a mission in Kenya to assist pregnant teenage mothers. Now he is embarking on a new quest, starting today a pilgrimage of almost 6,000 km from Santo Toribio de Liébana to Bethlehem.
Throughout life we all have to discover who we are, where we come from and where we are going. Most of us follow predictable, typical and comfortable paths. Not so in the case of Fernando Gutierrez, a true seeker of the divine will. Many of those who know him say that he is the most providentialist person they have ever met. Today, October 12, this lay missionary undertakes a new journey, this time from Cantabria to Bethlehem. He tells about it in @peregrinoabelen
Who is Fernando Gutiérrez?
What a question. I'll answer by telling you where I come from and where I'm going. I grew up in Madrid in a Catholic family. I studied in the Passionists and the Jesuits. At the age of 17 I consciously moved away from God. Drugs began to be part of my life and my dealings with girls were a disaster. I was even expelled from the university... My life was guided by pleasure and fun.
And what made you change your life?
Getting to know the Melilla fence and the lives of people fleeing Africa in search of a better life in Europe. After studying journalism I lived in that city and eventually ended up telling the stories of those on the other side of our border. Later I went to cover the Gaza conflict that broke out in 2014. I had always wanted to be a war journalist and, although I was still not reconciled with God, from my African experience I kept asking God what He wanted to tell me with all the suffering I saw around me.
What was the next step?
I went to confession and went to Calcutta, because I had always been attracted to Mother Teresa's dedication, which I had learned about through the media. In my 30s I spent a year with the Missionaries of Charity in India and was truly reborn for the Lord.
What did you learn in India?
To trust in God and seek his will. My sacramental and prayer life grew thanks to the contact I had with the most needy. I learned to live from God, although obviously it is something I have to rediscover every day. I am not a model of anything, that much is clear to me.
In India, Our Lady also put in my heart the desire to take care of the little children, those who no one takes care of and who are Mary's children.
And that is why you founded the Mission of the Sons of Mary?
Well yes, that was the end result. But before that I entered the seminary of the Missionaries of Charity priests and spent four very happy years in Rome and Kenya, until the time came when I saw that God's will for me was to found Mary's Children Mission in Nairobi. I consecrated myself as a lay missionary and started a residence with 15 beds to care for pregnant teenage girls and give them training to enable them to take care of themselves and their children. I also spend a lot of time evangelizing children.
And what do they live on? How is it financed?
In the family of the Missionaries of Charity I learned to live by providence and this spirit has been with me ever since. To tell you the truth, we live from day to day and without asking, but the Lord is always great with us and sends us whatever we need. Many people who have heard about us send us donations.
In the two years of the mission, I have never been alone. There have always been volunteers who have accompanied me and, upon returning to their home countries, have become ambassadors of the project.
Well, as I see that you don't ask, I'm going to put a link to donation website in case any reader feels called upon to help...
(Laughter). Thank you very much.
Fernando giving a catechesis to children.
And now you have decided to go to Bethlehem, for what reason?
The mission in Kenya is going quite well and I feel I should not get attached to it. God has sent another person who has consecrated himself and can take it forward. Since I was not sure what to do, I decided to go and live in Bethlehem for a while to discern God's will. It was there that the most important child in history was born and I feel that God is calling me to be there to see what is the next step he wants for my life.
And where does it come from to walk to Bethlehem from Santo Toribio?
Well, for years I have been friends with Carlota Valenzuela, who made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem on foot two years ago. Now she organizes pilgrimages for groups to Santo Toribio de Liébana. This summer I went on one of them and I felt that God was asking me to walk from the cross to Bethlehem, because in the Christian walk there is no life without a cross.
Well, it is clear that your logic is not of this world... What do you expect to find on this trip?
Many things, really, because it will be many months. Above all, I am open to God's gifts. I have put my trust in him, although that does not mean that I am not afraid of the uncertainty. After all, it is a long trip, I am going without money and asking for lodging to whoever wants to give it to me.
To accompany the bride and groom. Teaching and building love
St. John Paul II gave great importance to Christian courtship, understood as a preparation for the sacrament of marriage, so he took advantage of many occasions to speak about the formation of engaged couples.
Santiago Populín Such-October 12, 2024-Reading time: 8minutes
The pontificate of St. John Paul II, in his reflections on the family, gave great importance to Christian courtship, understood as a preparation for the sacrament of marriage and family life: "You must prepare yourselves for the marvelous commitment of marriage and the foundation of the family, the most important union of the Christian community. As young people You Christians must carefully prepare yourselves to become good spouses and good parents of your family" (St. John Paul II, Meeting with the new generations, Uganda, February 6, 1993).
The Polish Pope insisted on accompanying young people because, among other reasons, youth is a stage in which answers to the great questions of life are sought. This is what he once said in response to the meaning of youth: "What is youth? It is not only a period of life corresponding to a certain number of years, but it is, at the same time, a time given by Providence to each man, a time given to him as a task, during which he seeks, like the young man in the Gospel, the answer to the fundamental questions; not only the meaning of life, but also a concrete plan to begin to build his life. This is the essential characteristic of youth" (St. John Paul II, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope").
He also explained that, in the face of a society that is battered and disintegrated by tensions and problems due to the clash of individualism and selfishness, it is crucial that parents offer their children an "education in love", "an education of love", "an education of love", "an education of love", "an education of love", "an education of love" and "an education of love". sex education clear and delicate" (Cf. St. John Paul II, "Familiaris consortio", n. 37).
This concern for the education of young people was already apparent at the beginning of his pastoral work, when he was a young priest: "The vocation to love is naturally the element most intimately linked to young people. As a priest, I realized this very early on. I felt an inner call in this direction. Young people must be prepared for marriage, they must be taught love" (St. John Paul II, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope").
Teaching and building love
In 1973, in a meeting with university chaplains, Karol Wojtyla said: "Love is, above all, a reality. It is a specific reality, profound, internal to the person. And at the same time, it is an interpersonal reality, from one person to another, communitarian. And in each of these dimensions - internal, interpersonal, communitarian - it has its evangelical particularity. It has received a light" (K. Wojtyla, "Young People and Love. Preparation for Marriage").
Likewise, the term "love" takes on a more mature form at the beginning of his pontificate. In his first encyclical, "Redemptor hominis" (Redemptor hominis)n. 10, John Paul II explained that "Man cannot live without love. He remains for himself an incomprehensible being, his life is deprived of meaning if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate in it vividly". Where do these words have their roots? A possible answer to this question can be found in "Familiaris consortio".n. 11, published a few years after "Redemptor hominis":"God created man in his own image and likeness: calling him into existence out of love, he called him at the same time to love. God is love and lives in himself a mystery of personal communion of love. Creating her in his image and preserving her continually in being, God inscribes in the humanity of man and woman the vocation and consequently the capacity and the responsibility of love and communion. Love is therefore the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being".
The vocation to love
So, the two texts indicated, "Redemptor hominis".and "Familiaris consortio" show us the "vocation to love" as something fundamental and innate, since they reveal that love is rooted in the mystery of God. Thus, at the origin of every vocation is found the first Love, which is God, and which is based on a love of communion between the divine Persons. Thus man and woman, created as a "unity of the two," are called to live a communion of love and thus to reflect in the world the communion of love that is given in God, "by which the three Persons love one another in the intimate mystery of the one divine life" (cf. St. John Paul II, "Mulieris dignitatem," August 15, 1988, n. 7).
This last statement is also reflected in his work "The Goldsmith's Workshop". In it, Karol Wojtyla expressed this truth with an image: the rings of the spouses are forged by the goldsmith, who represents God. In other words, the wedding rings symbolize not only the decision to remain together, but also that this love will be stable because it is based on Love first, a Love that precedes them and will carry them beyond their expectations. In other words, supported by that first Love, man and woman will be able to remain united and faithful (Cf. C. A. Anderson - J. Granados, "Called to Love: Theology of the Body in John Paul II").
The Pontiff also pointed out that, according to Christian Revelation, the two specific ways of realizing "integrally" the vocation of the person to love are marriage and virginity. Both, in their characteristic form, manifest the deepest truth of man, that of his "being in the image of God". For this reason, he often exhorted to take seriously the experience of love, based on loving like Jesus: "The deepest reason for Christian love is in the words and example of Christ: 'Love one another as I have loved you' (Jn 15:12). This applies to all categories of human love; it applies to the category of committed love, love in preparation for marriage and the family" (St. John Paul II, Meeting with the youth of Lombardy, June 20, 1992).
Love that "goes on being".
St. John Paul II stressed that if human love is loved, there is also a lively need to devote all one's strength to the search for a "beautiful love", because love is beautiful, and young people always seek the beauty of love, they want their love to be beautiful (cf. St. John Paul II, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope"; beautiful love is for John Paul II, long before the beginning of his pontificate, chaste love (cf. K. Wojtyla, "Love and Responsibility"). Moreover, he explains that, since this love cannot be achieved by human strength alone, it is necessary to discover that only God can bestow such a love. God gives us this beautiful love by giving us his Son, so following Christ is the way to find this beautiful love (cf. St. John Paul II, Meeting with the youth of Lombardy, June 20, 1992).
But it is not only a matter of seeking this beautiful love, but also of building it up, because the gift of love demands the task of loving: "Love is never something ready and simply 'offered' to man or woman, but must be worked out. To a certain extent, love never 'is', but 'becomes', at each moment, what each person in fact brings to it and according to the depth of his or her commitment" (K. Wojtyla, "Love and Responsibility").
Bride and groom and chastity
For the construction of love, John Paul II emphasized chastity as fundamental; it is a "virtue that develops the authentic maturity of the person and makes him or her capable of respecting and promoting the 'spousal meaning' of the body" (Cfr. "Familiaris consortio".n. 37). In other words, chastity develops personal maturity, which is reflected in the virtue of responsibility, recognizing the other and responding, in an adequate way, to the good that is in itself.
Chastity has repercussions on the whole of man: as a soul that expresses itself in the body informed by an immortal spirit, he is called to love in this unified totality; thus, love also embraces the human body and the body becomes a sharer in spiritual love (cf. St. John Paul II, "Familiaris consortio" n. 11). For this reason, the Pontiff insisted on the vocation to chastity as an essential aspect of preparation for marriage. He further explained that chastity - which means respecting the dignity of others, since our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit - leads to growth in love for others and for God, as well as helping to prepare for the "mutual dedication" that is the basis of Christian marriage (cf. St. John Paul II, Meeting with the New Generations, Uganda, February 6, 1993).
From his extensive previous studies, he knew well why chastity leads to growth in love: "It has the mission of freeing love from the attitude of selfish joy (...) Often it is thought that the virtue of chastity has a purely negative character, that it is nothing more than a series of refusals. On the contrary, it is a question of a 'yes' from which 'noes' immediately follow. (...) The essence of chastity consists in not allowing oneself to be 'distanced' from the value of the person (...) Chastity in no way leads to contempt for the body, but it does imply a certain humility. The human body must be humble before the greatness of the person, and the human body must be humble before the greatness of love" (K. Wojtyla, "Love and Responsibility").
On the other hand, he warned not to be deceived by the empty words of those who ridicule chastity or the capacity for self-control. For, the strength of a future married love depends on the strength of the actual commitment lived already in courtship, of learning true love sustained in "a chastity that implies abstaining from all sexual relations outside marriage" (Cfr. St. John Paul II, Meeting with the new generations, Uganda, February 6, 1993).
The order of the heart
One can see how the teachings on chastity expounded by St. John Paul II coincide with what is set forth in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, promulgated by him: "The engaged are called to live chastity in continence. In this trial they should see a discovery of mutual respect, an apprenticeship in fidelity and the hope of receiving each other from God. They will reserve for the time of marriage the specific manifestations of tenderness of conjugal love. They should help each other to grow in chastity" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2350).
In his catecheses on human love, in the context of showing how chastity is at the heart of conjugal spirituality, he affirmed: "Chastity is living in the order of the heart. This order allows the development of 'affective manifestations' in the proportion and meaning proper to them" (St. John Paul II, Man and Woman Created Them, Catechesis 131, September 14, 1984).
Furthermore, on another occasion he explained: "When God created us, he gave us more than one way to 'talk' to each other. In addition to expressing ourselves through words, we also express ourselves through our bodies. Gestures are like 'words' that reveal who we are. Sexual acts are like 'words' that reveal our heart. The Lord wants us to use our sexuality according to His plan. He expects us to 'speak' by telling the truth. Honest sexual 'language' demands a lifelong commitment of faithfulness. Giving your body to another person means giving everything to that person. However, if you are not married, admit that you may change your mind in the future. Therefore, total self-giving would be absent. Without the bond of marriage, sexual relations are false, and for Christians marriage means sacramental marriage" (Cf. St. John Paul II, Meeting with the new generations, Uganda, February 6, 1993).
This last point made by St. John Paul II leads us to consider that love has its affective and physical expressions according to the stage it is in. In this sense, courtship is the unique and unrepeatable time of the promise, not that of married life. Therefore, the mutual treatment in a Christian courtship has to be that of two people who love each other but who have not given themselves totally to each other in the sacrament of marriage. For this reason, the engaged couple must learn to discover the meaning and experience of modesty; this will lead them to be delicate in their dealings and in the manifestations of affection, avoiding occasions that can place the other in limiting circumstances (cf. K. Wojtyla, "Love and Responsibility").
To discourage the contrary can lead to nurturing an improper intimacy - determining it reductively to the sexual - and this does not unite, but separates (cf. St. John Paul II, Man and Woman Created Them, Catechesis 41, September 24, 1980). Moreover, they would come to see each other as an object that satisfies their own personal desire, instead of seeing each other as a person to whom love inclines them to give themselves (Cf. St. John Paul II, Man and Woman Created Themselves, Catechesis 32, July 23, 1980).
Finally, it should be emphasized that in order to achieve "living in the order of the heart", we must not forget that we can count on the grace of God to achieve it: "Abide in Christ: this is the essential thing for each one of you. Abide in him by listening to his voice and following his precepts. In this way you will know the truth that sets you free, you will find the Love that transforms and sanctifies. In fact, everything acquires a new meaning and value when considered in the light of the person and teaching of the Redeemer" (Cf. Meeting with the youth of Lombardy, June 20, 1992).
The authorSantiago Populín Such
Bachelor of Theology from the University of Navarra. Licentiate in Spiritual Theology from the University of the Holy Cross, Rome.
Pope Francis never ceases to make appeals for peace. He does so practically every day, expressing in the various circumstances of his ministry the profound desire to stop wars, tear down the walls of hatred and build bridges of fraternity. In these days, particularly intense because of what is happening in the Middle East - without forgetting the "tormented Ukraine"In the past few years, his message of peace has resonated even more strongly in the most diverse contexts.
From the Synod
Beginning with the opening Mass of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on October 2, in which the Pope urged the Church to listen to the Holy Spirit in order to find harmony in differences. Speaking of the "winds of war and the fires of violence" that continue to ravage the world, Francis invited everyone to make the Church a refuge, a place of welcome and protection. He stressed how fundamental it is for the synodal journey to listen to the voice of God, the only one who can guide the Christian people towards solutions of peace and unity. "The solutions to the problems to be faced are not ours, but His," he reiterated, recalling the importance of proceeding with humility, especially in this time marked by conflicts and divisions.
At the Angelus
As he himself announced, also on Sunday afternoon, accompanied by the Synod Fathers, the Pope went to the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray a Rosary for peace. Before the icon of the Salus Populi Romani, Francis implored the Virgin Mary to intercede for the world, so that the prophecy of Isaiah would finally be fulfilled: "They shall break their swords and make plowshares of them, they shall make scythes of their spears; one nation shall not lift up the sword against another nation, they shall learn the art of war no more" (Is 2:4). He went on to express the need to disarm not only physical weapons, but also hearts, so that violence may cease and the path of reconciliation be opened.
To the Christians of the Near East
On the day of prayer and fasting for peace on October 7, the Pope did not want to fail to show his closeness to the Catholics of the Middle East, with a heartfelt letter in which he expressed his sympathy for the direct and indirect suffering caused by war. He repeated that every conflict represents a "defeat" and urged Christians to never tire of asking God for peace. People today do not know how to find peace," he wrote, "and we Christians must not tire of asking for it. And he added a strong call to hope: "Do not allow yourselves to be swallowed up by darkness, but become shoots of hope.
At the General Audience
Finally, in the general audience On Wednesday, October 9, resuming the cycle of catecheses on the Holy Spirit, the Pontiff reflected on the role of the Spirit in creating unity within the Church. He recalled how the Spirit, in the time of the Apostles, moved the Church to extend beyond the borders of the Jewish people, overcoming the divisions between Jews and Gentiles. In the same way, today the Spirit continues to work for unity among peoples and among Christians, teaching that unity is not built around oneself, but around Christ. He then entrusted to the "gracious mother" Mary, "the desire for peace of peoples suffering from the madness of war".
In all Western countries, the fertility rate is well below the replacement rate and continues its downward trend.
October 11, 2024-Reading time: 5minutes
In all Western countries, the fertility rate is well below the replacement rate and continues its steeply declining trend. If this trend continues, many of them will disappear in a few decades.
South Korea is the country with the lowest rate of natality in the world. Given their government's great concern about the problem, they have spent $200 billion on trying to increase their birth rate. Hungary spends 5% of its GDP annually on the same. Both countries and many others are failing.
However, Georgia or Mongolia increased their birth rate a lot without spending practically nothing. How? They understood that fertility is not a question of money, but also of status. Before explaining the importance of status, let's quickly note that the most common explanations for why fertility is collapsing (cost of living, etc) cannot be the whole story.
What does the increase in birth rate depend on?
As the above-mentioned countries and the Nordic countries show, giving people more and more economic benefits to have children does not practically change the situation. We are faced with an apparent paradox: a sustained trend toward lower fertility rates throughout the West, in country after country, generation after generation, with no obvious causal logic. How can this be explained?
There is an underappreciated root cause of this trend, which manifests itself in the form of different causes, real and imagined, and in different geographies. This root cause is status. Social "status" denotes a universal set of human instincts and behaviors.
What is status
Status describes the perceived position of the individual within the group. It denotes his or her social value and place within the formal and informal hierarchies that make up a society. Status has its expression in the behaviors of deference, access, inclusion, approval, acclaim, respect and honor (or their opposites: rejection, ostracism, humiliation, etc.).
Status is obtained and maintained through socially approved behaviors (achievement, etiquette, group defense) or through the possession of recognized "symbols" (titles, wealth, physical attractiveness).
Today's social values are materialistic and are heavily influenced by the woke culture and the like. These imply that the status outcome of having one more child is lower than that of other competing factors. Status has existential importance for many individuals. People commit suicide because of the loss of status.
Georgia
In the mid-2000s, Georgia skyrocketed its birth rate, which increased by 28% and remained high for many years. How did it achieve this? A leading patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilia IIannounced that he would personally baptize and become godfather to all third children thereafter. The births of third children increased so much that, in fact, they eclipsed the decreases in the number of first and second children. This has been widely understood as an exclusively religious phenomenon, but it is better understood if we incorporate the status factor.
Mongolia is another great example. For nearly 70 years, Mongolian leaders have awarded the Order of Maternal Glory to mothers of several children. This has elevated the status of motherhood and helped forge a remarkably pro-birth culture.
Fertility in Mongolia has been consistently 2 and 3 times higher than that of neighboring countries in recent years and has been gradually increasing for the past 20 years, while its neighbors have seen falling birth rates.
True recognition
In Mongolia, the president himself gives an award to every mother who has at least four children. Mongolian mothers of four children receive the Order of Glorious Motherhood. Mothers of six children receive the Order of Glorious Motherhood of Honor. The mothers receive this distinction from the hand of the president himself in a ceremony that is celebrated in style. The women descend the steps of the State Palace in Ulaanbaatar on a red and gold carpet, with the statue of Genghis Khan right behind them.
Several ceremonies are held in each district in order to provide personalized attention to all award recipients. There is also a cash prize, but it is minimal: only US$60 for mothers of six children. Clearly, the motivation for women to have children is not economic, but status in Mongolian society.
This award is so important that even Mongolian consulates are obliged to give it to Mongolian mothers abroad. Status around motherhood is a crucial and underappreciated factor in birth rates. Status is incredibly important to most human beings, and perhaps we seek it more than anything else.
Transcendent sense
Status helps explain the paradox that as societies become wealthier and society loses the transcendent meaning of life, the fertility rate declines. Although absolute well-being has increased, having children in a wealthy, materialistic society offers no increase in relative status.
Education and career compete directly with family life. In cultural groups where parenthood is elevated to a high status, such as in religious groups like traditional Catholics or Modern Orthodox Jews (not to be confused with the ultra-Orthodox), the fertility rate is usually higher.
This may also explain the remarkable fertility in England and Wales during the Victorian era. Queen Victoria passed on a culture that conferred a high status on motherhood, raising nine children herself.
South Korea
Conversely, can status reduce birth rates? Yes, it can. South Korea is the perfect example. Thanks to formalized Korean systems of etiquette, language and titles, social hierarchies there are very clear and explicit. Individuals are incentivized to take whatever measures necessary, however extreme, to ensure that their status within the system is maximized or at least maintained.
This process finds particular expression in the structure of the Korean economy, in which the only high-status employers are the small number of industrial mega-conglomerates such as Samsung (the so-called "chaebols").
The chaebols
In Korea you are not a person of equal status with others if you do not work in one of these chaebols. Chaebols are extremely important for social status in Korea. People devote much of their lives to trying to get a perfect score on the entrance exam to the chaebol of their choice.
Competition is fierce and depends on the performance of each individual in the national exam that determines university places. This exam is so important that even air and road traffic slows to a crawl on the one day of the year when it is held.
All children must receive exceptional training to perform on this exam. This means that parents must pay for private teachers or very expensive academies. This means that most couples do not have large families.
Personal esteem
We all have a psychological need for status. But now that the standard introductory question is "What do you do?", unfortunately "I'm a mother" is not a good answer, because it conveys little status within today's materialistic or "woke" culture of not having children to "save the planet".
Is there then any hope for future generations? Yes, faith and transcendent, non-materialistic religious culture. Modern Orthodox Jewish and traditional Catholic communities have higher fertility rates even though they live in Western countries and their women are university educated or professionally trained, and many of them have prestigious professional careers.
In addition to the definite influence of faith in the transcendence of life and in the divine value of the human, within these groups presenting oneself as a mother of several children enhances their social status.
The message is that we have to find a way to honor motherhood as if our civilization depends on it. Because it certainly does depend on it.
Rome Bio-Medical Campus: social inclusion and active seniors
Among the projects in Rome in favor of the elderly is "Together in caring for the elderly" of the Alberto Sordi Foundation, an entity of the Campus Bio-Medico system in Rome. Its director, Grazia della Torre, speaks of the centrality of the elderly and the promotion of socialization and integration.
Pope Francis has repeatedly and forcefully denounced the throwaway culture that marginalizes the elderly. He warned that "a society that does not respect the elderly, that abandons them, has no future because it loses its memory". He also recalled the importance of grandparents, affirming that they "protect us with their wisdom".
Among the projects that stand out in Rome in favor of the elderly, is "Together in the care of the elderly", by the Alberto Sordi FoundationThe Campus Bio-Medico system entity in Rome.
A special service for seniors with Alzheimer's and related dementias is also currently being promoted. Dementia is an emotional and practical challenge that involves not only those who suffer from it, but also their families and surrounding communities.
Grazia Dalla Torre, administrative director of the Palliative Care "Insieme nella Cura", of the Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico and Business Development of the Alberto Sordi Foundation, spoke to Omnes about these initiatives and the care of the elderly today.
How does the Alberto Sordi Foundation and the Bio-Medical Campus work for the elderly?
- Within the Rome Bio-Medical Campus system, the Alberto Sordi Foundation promotes numerous initiatives for the elderly. Particularly popular among these are the Day Center for the frail elderly and the home social assistance service. A new day center dedicated to people with Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia will soon be opened.
A particularly interesting pilot project, involving some 20 social-health workers, is the stimulation service for people at risk of cognitive impairment, directly in their homes. The operators are coordinated by an educator and a psychologist, figures who interact specifically with the families of the people served.
How does the Alberto Sordi Foundation design its spaces for the elderly?
- The project we propose aims to develop an integrated and flexible network, capable of adapting to the needs of the territory. We want to offer the elderly the possibility of being in the most appropriate place of assistance for each stage of their lives.
In this regard, the Alberto Sordi Foundation's approach is based on several key principles. On the one hand, the centrality of the elderly person. On this principle we have designed this place considering the elderly person as a whole, not only as an individual with health needs, but as a person with a rich and diverse social life.
In addition, we maintain a synergistic and networked approach. Our intervention model is deeply integrated with the territory and other realities operating in the social welfare sector. We actively collaborate with local authorities, associations and, through the Campus System, with health services, to create a support network.
We promote social inclusion and active participation in the elderly. We want our guests, who are really "the owners of the house", to feel an integral part of the community with social, cultural and recreational activities that promote socialization and integration.
We also support families. We are aware of the crucial role that families play in the well-being of the elderly. We offer them support through training programs, counseling and psychological support, ensuring that they can actively participate in the care and treatment of their loved ones.
Finally, we strive for quality: We constantly strive to innovate by adopting the best care practices based on our collaboration with the Bio-Medico University Campus Nursing Degree course. The goal is to ensure a high level of quality care to improve the quality of life and safety of our seniors.
How do you proceed when people need more precise diagnosis and palliative care?
- With a network and continuity approach that includes the Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia and the Palliative Care Center "Insieme nella Cura" of the University Polyclinic Foundation Campus Bio-Medico, of which I am personally in charge.
Are you looking for an integrated health and social care system?
- We are taking steps towards the creation of an integrated network, although not all the elements of the chain have yet been completed. We are working to build these links because we understand that without continuity in the care pathway, the unity of care response, so necessary for the elderly, is not fostered. We firmly believe in this vision, although there are objectives that have already been achieved and others that remain to be achieved.
How do the Alberto Sordi Foundation and the Policlinico Foundation harmonize?
- We share the common goal of improving the quality of life of the elderly through a "One Health" and multidisciplinary approach with a full range of care, from early diagnosis to ongoing support and palliative care, if needed.
Can we therefore speak of a pioneering project?
- Without a doubt we can say that this is a holistic approach, encompassing preventive care, early diagnosis, advanced treatment and continuing care, making it at the forefront of the elderly care sector.
Where is the Alberto Sordi Center?
-It is located inside the first structure of the Campus Bio-Medico built in 200 in Trigoria, about 20 kilometers from Rome, a building dedicated to the care of the elderly, designed according to the vision of Alberto Sordi. This area also houses the Palliative Care Center.
Welfare activities with religious values usually have an added value, why? And what is the characteristic of this apostolic work of Opus Dei, desired by Don Álvaro del Portillo?
- Surely they have a "special protection" that motivates them to a deep sense of mission and charity, derived from religious principles that promote compassion, love of neighbor and commitment to the common good. This motivation is transformed into a positive energy that guides workers in their daily work with dedication and passion.
At our Campus we offer not only material assistance, but also spiritual and emotional support to the people we serve who so desire. This aspect is fundamental to help people face their present moment, especially if it is difficult and full of suffering, with an existential interpretation and hope.
Thanks to Blessed Alvaro del Portillo, the Bio-Medical Campus tries to share the integrated approach between faith and daily work. Opus Dei promotes Christian commitment through the sanctification of ordinary work and active participation in society. This translates into attention to the dignity of the human person, respect for moral values and integrity in the service of others.
A characteristic of the committed Catholic is that of being "uncomfortable", and this has been the case since the first century.
October 10, 2024-Reading time: 2minutes
It doesn't fail. If the dinner with colleagues lapses, bring up the subject of the Opus. If the presentation of your sister's new boyfriend starts to fall into an awkward silence, bring up the subject of Opus Dei. If at work you don't know how to wedge in, bring up the subject of Opus..., no matter when and how; it doesn't matter if you know a lot, a little, or nothing about Opus. Each one of us has an opinion of Opus, always accurate by the way. Let the Founder be removed, that's where I come in, to bring order and to say how things should be and why "now Opus is doing so badly".
It is true that this same dynamic, a few years ago, applied to the Catholic Church in general - "the religion", we used to call it - but in recent months, the Opus Dei has won the category of dessert of all the meals-brunch.
We all have a friend of Opus - it is enough for us that he or she has studied in a school -, we also have an acquaintance who was in Opus and, probably, we know of another one who "they wanted to attract and did not succeed". In short: we have our doctoral thesis ready, with all the data and perspectives.
If before we all had a nun aunt (if you were Basque, two) and therefore, we were expert theologians, now we have transferred it to the Work and we are ready to talk about Opus.
It is undeniable that the Church in general is going through a strange time. All the times of the Church are, in some way, strange. Perhaps it is due to the fact that, by nature, because of the Church militant, purgative and triumphant, it is above humanity itself, but it should not be forgotten that, indeed, today there are many "disconcerted with the Church", in general, inside and outside of it.
The institution that embodies the charisma of Josemaría Escrivá is living moments of certain uncertainty, especially marked by the renewal of its statutes and its "fit" within the ecclesial organization. Let us not forget that, although the Church is vivified by the Spirit, it wants to have well defined the juridical form in which each charism is translated. Nor can we forget that every page of the Gospel -each charism- is a "charism of the Church". ago the Gospel. It does not do so exclusively, but if it is excluded, it is not the Gospel.
Every Catholic knows that he does good and does evil. There are no exceptions. In the Church, therefore, there are no institutions that do good and institutions that do evil absolutely. However, we are aware that, at times, sin has taken on such a magnitude in some people inside and outside the Church that they have become true demons disguised as angels, whether they are members of Opus Dei or staunch opponents of Escriva's work.
It is understandable that those who are not part of the Church, who neither love it nor understand it, devote all their energies to trying to demolish one or another ecclesial institution, be it Opus Dei or another. A characteristic of the committed Catholic is that of being "uncomfortable", and this has been so since the first century, let us not deceive ourselves. More than 2,000 years later, it would be, at the very least, suspicious to be the cream of every cake.
Director of Omnes. Degree in Communication, with more than 15 years of experience in Church communication. She has collaborated in media such as COPE or RNE.
The treasure of having God. 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Joseph Evans comments on the readings for Sunday 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.
Joseph Evans-October 10, 2024-Reading time: 2minutes
Wisdom consists in knowing what is important in life, what are the true treasures of life. And these treasures are not material: they are the treasures of virtue, of love, above all of union with God, because only these last beyond death. Compared to wisdom, "all the gold before her is a little sand".and the silver is "like mud"We are told in today's first reading.
Likewise, the psalm encourages us to appreciate the brevity of life in order to "acquire a wise heart".
But the Gospel presents us with the sad episode of the rich young man who was not able to learn this wisdom. Although he led a clean and decent life - he lived the Commandments - he was not able to respond to Christ's call. When Jesus invited him to sell all that he had, give the money to the poor, and follow him, we are toldAt these words, he frowned and went away sad because he was very rich".. This young man was so used to living in his comfort zone and depending on his riches that he could not accept the challenge of doing without them to follow Christ.
It is frightening to think that one can live a basically good life and still reject God's call.
Jesus says to his disciples: "How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!". The disciples are astonished, no doubt because they still shared the Old Law mentality according to which wealth was a sign of God's blessing. Since Israel did not yet have a clear concept of life after death - only later Old Testament works refer in any way to heavenly reward or the punishment of hell, for example, Wis 3 - it could only conceive of divine favor expressed in material terms. And so Job is rewarded with earthly goods for his faithfulness to God in his trials (see Job 42:12-17).
Peter, once again spokesman for the disciples, says: "You see we have left everything and followed you.". The apostles, except Judas, had the wisdom that the young man lacked. And Jesus announces to them the blessings that come from leaving behind home, family, and possessions: "a hundredfold - houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions - and in the age to come, eternal life."
Note the word "persecutions". Yes, a willingness to suffer for Christ is also part of true wisdom. The second reading points to a source that will help us form a judgment and make the right decisions: the word of God, "sharper than any double-edged sword".
Homily on the readings of Sunday 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Priest Luis Herrera Campo offers his nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
Catholic scientists: Nicolas Monardes, discoverer of fluorescence
On October 10, 1588, Nicolás Monardes, the first known author to report and describe the phenomenon of Fluorescence, died in Seville. This series of short biographies of Catholic scientists is published thanks to the collaboration of the Society of Catholic Scientists of Spain.
Ignacio del Villar-October 10, 2024-Reading time: 2minutes
Monardes (1493 or 1508 - 1588) graduated in medicine in 1533 from the University of Alcalá de Henares and received his doctorate in 1547 in Seville. He was the best known and most widely read Spanish physician in Europe in the 16th century. His books were translated into Latin, English, Italian, French, German and Dutch, and dealt with pharmacology, toxicology, medicine, therapeutics, phlebotomy, iron and snow. Through his writings, the medical practices of the indigenous people in America and also tropical diseases began to be known. In fact, his most famous work is entitled "Historia medicinal de las cosas que se traen de nuestras Indias Occidentales" (Medicinal history of the things brought from our West Indies). In it he catalogued numerous plants and their uses, many of which had been recently discovered in America and some of which, such as tobacco, were introduced in Europe in part thanks to this book.
Monardes' writings were not merely compilations of information, but also reflected his personal observations and experiences. He provided information on the indigenous uses of plants and laid the foundation for understanding their medicinal properties. His work was particularly influential in the development of herbal medicine, an essential aspect of health care in his time. In addition, because of his careful descriptions of drugs and the tests he performed on animals to learn about their medicinal properties, he is considered one of the founders of pharmacognosy and experimental pharmacology. He is also the discoverer of the phenomenon of fluorescence.
On the other hand, Monardes was not a doctor far from everyday life. He practiced his profession with great success and also married and had seven children, some of whom went to America. After the death of his wife in 1577, he wanted to receive holy orders and thus become a priest. Eleven years later he died of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Vatican appoints Pontifical Commissioner Plenipotentiary for Torreciudad
The dean of the Roman Rota, Bishop Alejandro Arellano Cedillo, will be in charge of studying and resolving the conflict between the Opus Dei prelature and the Bishop of Barbastro in relation to Torreciudad.
The Dean of the Roman Rota Tribunal, Msgr. Alejandro Arellano Cedillowill be in charge of studying and resolving the existing conflict between the Prelature of the Opus Dei and the bishop of Barbastro in relation to the Torreciudad.
The daily bulletin of the Holy See dated October 9, 2024 brings a new development regarding the process of talks between the Bishopric of Barbastro and the Prelature of Opus Dei regarding the shrine of Torreciudad. This is the appointment of "H.E. Monsignor Alejandro Arellano Cedillo, Dean of the Tribunal of the Rota Romana, Pontifical Commissioner Plenipotentiary, Delegate of the Holy See, for the Torreciudad complex (Spain)".
The figure of "pontifical commissary plenipotentiary" refers to a delegate of the Pope who has the authority to act on his behalf in specific matters.
This Commissary has full powers to make decisions and take actions in the ecclesiastical and administrative fields. This type of commissary is appointed by the Pope and his function can cover both judicial and executive aspects within the Church.
In response to the news of the appointment, the Prelature of Opus Dei has stated that "the authorities of the Prelature will be at the total disposition of Bishop Arellano, collaborating in whatever is necessary, with filial adherence to the Holy Father" while, for its part, the diocese of Barbastrina insists that "it has full confidence in reaching with this intervention the resolution of this matter that constitutes an opportunity to regularize the status of Torreciudad and to erect it, canonically, as a sanctuary."
Alejandro Arellano Cedillo
The recently appointed Pontifical Commissioner Plenipotentiary for Torreciudad, Monsignor Alejandro Arellano Cedillo is Spanish, a native of Olías del Rey (Toledo).
Bishop Arellano is a member of the Priestly Confraternity of the Operators of the Kingdom of Christ. He completed his ecclesiastical studies at the San Ildefonso Theological Institute and obtained a degree in Ecclesiastical Studies from the Faculty of Theology of Northern Spain.
He then moved to Rome to study for a licentiate and doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest in 1987, in the archdiocese of Toledo.
He has served as Adjunct Judicial Vicar in the Archdiocese of Madrid and diocesan judge in the dioceses of Toledo and Getafe. He was Magistrate of the Tribunal de Rota of the Apostolic Nunciature in Spain and in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Prelate Auditor of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.
In 2021 he was appointed dean of the Roman Rota Tribunal by Pope Francis and in the same year was appointed as president of the Court of Appeals of the State of the Vatican City.
He is also a consultor to the Dicastery for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life and a consultor to the Dicastery for the Clergy, to which Opus Dei has belonged since it was so decided by the Motu Proprio Ad charisma tuendum.
Unity is achieved by placing Christ at the center, Pope urges
The unity of Pentecost is achieved by placing Christ, and not oneself, at the center, Pope Francis said at the General Audience of this Wednesday of October. It is the Holy Spirit who ensures "universality and unity". In addition, the Holy Father urged us to pray the rosary every day this month, entrusting ourselves into the hands of Mary.
Francisco Otamendi-October 9, 2024-Reading time: 4minutes
Pope Francis' cycle of catecheses dedicated to the Holy Spirit began on May 29, and this Wednesday morning, October 9, the eighth session of the cycle took place at the Audience The pilgrims came from Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina and Brazil, among other places.
"In this catechesis we reflect on the Holy Spirit and the Church in the Acts of the Apostles. The author of this sacred book - who is the Evangelist Luke - highlights the universal mission of the Church as a sign of a new unity among all peoples. There are, therefore, two movements: universality and unity", the Pontiff said at the beginning of his reflection.
Universal mission of the Church
"The account of the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost begins with the description of some preparatory signs - the rushing wind and the tongues of fire - but finds its conclusion in the affirmation: 'And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit' (Acts 2:4). St. Luke - who wrote the Acts of the Apostles - underlines that it is the Holy Spirit who assures the universality and unity of the Church".
"The immediate effect of being "filled with the Holy Spirit" is that the Apostles 'began to speak in other tongues' and went out of the Upper Room to proclaim Jesus Christ to the multitude," he continued. "In doing so, Luke wanted to emphasize the universal mission of the Church, as a sign of a new unity among all peoples".
Church outward, 'another Pentecost'.
In two ways we see the Spirit working for unity, the Pontiff pointed out. "On the one hand, he pushes the Church outward, so that she can welcome more and more persons and peoples; on the other, he gathers her within herself to consolidate the unity achieved. It teaches her to extend herself in universality and to gather herself in unity."
The first of the two movements, universality, we see in action in Acts chapter 10, in the episode of the conversion of Cornelius, he added, "On the day of Pentecost, the Apostles had proclaimed Christ to all Jews and observers of the Mosaic law, whatever the people to which they belonged. It took another 'Pentecost', very similar to the first, that of the house of the centurion Cornelius, to induce the Apostles to broaden the horizon and break down the last barrier, the one that separated Jews and pagans (cf. Acts 10-11).
The Gospel was going out of Asia and into Europe
"To this ethnic expansion is added the geographical one. Paul - we read again in Acts (cf. 16:6-10) - wanted to proclaim the Gospel in a new region of Asia Minor; but, it is written, 'the Holy Spirit prevented him'; he wanted to go to Bithynia 'but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit him'. One discovers immediately the reason for these surprising prohibitions of the Spirit: the following night, the Apostle received in a dream the order to pass into Macedonia. The Gospel was thus leaving his native region, Asia, and entering Europe," the Pope emphasized.
Unit. Council of Jerusalem-Synod
The second movement of the Holy Spirit - the one that creates unity - is seen in action in Acts chapter 15, in the development of the so-called Council of Jerusalem. "The problem is how to ensure that the universality achieved does not compromise the unity of the Church," Francis stressed.
"The Holy Spirit does not always bring about unity suddenly, with miraculous and decisive interventions, as at Pentecost. He also does it - and in most cases - with a discreet work, respectful of time and human differences, passing through persons and institutions, prayer and confrontation. In a way, we would say today, synodal".
"This is what happened, in fact, at the Council of Jerusalem, for the question of the obligations of the Mosaic law to be imposed on converts from paganism. Its solution was announced to the whole Church in the words that are well known to them: 'It was the Holy Spirit's judgment and ours...' (Acts 15:28).
Difficult also in marriage and in the family
On the other hand, the Holy Spirit" gathers the community intimately around Christ, the 'bond of unity. However, we know that achieving and maintaining unity in the Church is not easy, as is also the case in other areas," the Successor of Peter continued, referring to the area of marriage and the family.
"A point of examination to see why it is so difficult for us is to see who we put at the center. Let us not forget that the unity of Pentecost, that is, the unity made possible by the Spirit of God, is realized by placing Christ at the center and not ourselves."
How it is achieved: moving forward together toward Christ
Pope Francis concluded his catechesis by pointing out that "the unity of the Church is unity among people and it is not achieved by acting in a theoretical way, but in life. We all want unity, we all desire it from the depths of our hearts; yet it is so difficult to achieve that, even within marriage and the family, unity and concord are among the most difficult things to attain and even more difficult to maintain."
"The reason is that everyone wants, yes, unity, but around his own point of view, without thinking that the other person in front of him thinks exactly the same about "his" point of view. In this way, unity only moves away."
"The unity of Pentecost, according to the Spirit, is achieved when one strives to put God, and not oneself, at the center," he stressed. "Christian unity is also built in this way: not by waiting for others to join us where we are, but by moving forward together towards Christ. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us to be instruments of unity and peace."
Month dedicated to the missions and to Mary: daily rosary
In this month dedicated to the missions, the Pontiff recalled, let us ask the Holy Spirit to help us renew our baptismal commitment, and may Christ be the cornerstone of our lives, to offer a joyful witness of the unity and peace that He gives us.
Finally, the Pope went on to encourage us to pray to the Virgin Mary. "The month of October, dedicated to the Holy Rosary, is a precious occasion to enhance this traditional Marian prayer. I exhort all of you to pray the Rosary every day, abandoning yourselves trustingly into Mary's hands."
"To her, our solicitous Mother, we entrust the suffering and the desire for peace of peoples suffering from the madness of war, especially the tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar. Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, Sudan".
Miguel Ángel Martín: "The romantic vision incapacitates to succeed in marriage".
Miguel Ángel Martín Cárdaba believes in true love, that is why he has written "Why others will fail in love... but not you", a book with which he wants to break with the false expectations that the most romantic people have about marriage to open the door to a much deeper vision of love.
Miguel Angel Martín Cárdaba has a PhD in Communication and a degree in Philosophy. His experience with young people made him realize that love has become so romanticized that, in the face of marriage, many have false expectations that lead them to fail in their relationship.
With the goal of helping people succeed, he has published "Why others will fail in love... but you won't."The first chapters will seem pessimistic to all those romantics who love love love. The first chapters will seem pessimistic to all those romantics who love love the love of HollywoodBut when you finish the book you discover that the author really believes in love, but in real love.
In this interview with Omnes, Miguel Ángel Martín Cárdaba talks about false expectations in marriage, the difference between falling in love and love, and the reasons why he has written this book.
Why others will fail in love... but you won't.
AuthorMiguel Ángel Martín Cárdaba
EditorialRialp : Rialp
Print length: 140 pages
Language: English
Your book might seem a bit pessimistic at first, despite the title. It offers scientific studies on the reasons why "love ends" and does not hide the high rate of relationship failures, why did you choose precisely that way of telling things?
- I believe that the first thing you need to do in order not to fail at something is to have the right expectation. The most guaranteed formula for failure is not knowing the dangers and difficulties. What I wanted with the book was to draw a map where you can see both the treasure and the dangers along the way.
Do you believe then that romantics, with their expectations in love, can have successful marriages?
- This new romantic generation has to change the perspective a bit and I would like my book to work as a vaccine or antidote against a "romantic" and sentimental vision of love. That is a vision that, in my opinion, incapacitates you to succeed.
Why have we romanticized love so much that we have lost sight of the reality of marriage?
- Initially, marriage was not understood as a relationship in which the most important thing is the feeling, that came with Romanticism, a period in which love and infatuation were identified, thus confusing many later generations. In the book I try to separate these two concepts, which together confuse but separately can enrich us.
What is the difference between infatuation and love?
- Falling in love is the most dramatic and apt part of a story. All the romantic stories we consume today are not really love stories, but falling in love stories. Real love stories start when the movie ends. The love part is more prosaic, more day-to-day and less entertaining to tell, even though it is fascinating to live it.
Feeling and love are closely related, and feeling is part of the experience of love. Many acts of love are provoked by feelings and there are feelings that lead to acts of love, but they are different things.
Falling in love is passive, it is something that happens. However, love is active, it is a decision. You can decide to love another, to sacrifice yourself for the other person, to seek their good above your own, without basing it on your feelings. Falling in love is selfish and easy, but love is devoted and effortful. On the other hand, feeling changes, while love, as an act of the will, is lasting.
It is true that falling in love is a very beautiful and magical part, but the true conception of love is even more magical.
The beginning of the book is discouraging, because it offers many figures and results of studies that can break the pretty picture we have of marriage. How do you encourage the reader to continue with the book to get to what it offers at the end?
- The first part of the book is a "dose of reality" and may be difficult for some to tolerate. That is why at the beginning of the whole I put a disclaimer assuring you that I believe in love. The message of the book overall is hopeful and the second part of the book is even optimistic, but first you have to dismantle the misleading ideas that are nice to believe but make it very difficult for you to succeed in marriage.
I think of the book as a medicine. You don't like the taste, but it's good to take it and when you look back you're even grateful that someone gave you that "dose of reality".
In the book you expose heartbreaking cases of couples that break up, why is it that so many people do not succeed in love?
- The initial feeling of infatuation cannot last infinitely. The feeling fades but the key is to understand that this infatuation is not love. When the feeling does not go with you, you have to make an effort and that is the key to success in a relationship.
After the analysis you have made, can you give us a definition of marriage?
- Marriage is a relationship of mutual dedication that is built. While compatibility between the parties is advisable, those who have been married for 50 years tell you that compatibility is not a requirement, but a consequence of loving each other.
Love is not two puzzle pieces that fit together, but two realities that merge to become a single reality. In marriage two people give themselves to build something together, to make the other happy and, as a consequence, they themselves are happy.
Christian music is experiencing a new mass phenomenon in many communities. Some of these new compositions are performed in the liturgy, especially in the context of Eucharistic adoration. The present article wishes to invite a new consideration of liturgical music and to propose a discernment of some concrete manifestations in our ecclesial communities.
Liturgical music is a perennial reality in the history of salvation. Some scholars want to find the beginning of liturgical singing in the King David's "reform". However, Scripture is full of this sacramental manifestation from the beginning, and how can we fail to recognize in the song of Moses crossing the Red Sea with the people one of the foundational liturgical hymns of the Judeo-Christian tradition?
Throughout the centuries, the Church has been heir to this form of worship of God and has expressed the faith "musically". In other words, it has celebrated the faith by praising and singing, just as the apostles learned from the Son of God himself. This fundamental element of the celebration of the Christian mystery has developed over the centuries and across cultures, becoming a vehicle not only for the worship of God but also for evangelization and catechesis. Through music, Christians have proclaimed the kerygma and learned the catechism.
Faithful transmission of the faith
To such an extent has religious music been important in the transmission of the truth of the contents of the faith that the Church, throughout the apostolic succession, has always taken care to discern and verify the concrete expressions and forms of the various musical creations. In fact, Catholic pastors, preachers and missionaries have often made use of this means to transmit the dogmatic formulas of the Councils, and thus make the complicated simple to the people.
Who has not learned the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed by singing it in the liturgy of the Church? Now, also the schismatics and heretics throughout the centuries made use of religious songs to spread their errors. It is famous how the Arians spread among the faithful their denial of the divinity of the Son of God through simple and catchy songs. For this reason, councils such as that of Laodicea (364) or our Third Council of Toledo (589) came to prohibit certain songs full of errors that eventually managed to confuse the faith of the simple.
In recent years, our liturgical communities and assemblies are experiencing a new explosion of musical creation. This phenomenon, far from being a cause for concern, should be seen as a real opportunity to promote evangelization and renew the liturgical and spiritual experience of our faithful. Thanks to music, and quality music, the people of God can be sustained in the Christian life and nourished in their journey of spiritual maturity. Nevertheless, learning from other periods in the history of the Church, it is appropriate to accompany these new musical forms and manifestations appropriately, as well as to carry out theological and pastoral discernment. In the following, we would like to point out certain aspects to take into account and to evaluate some of the more and more common manifestations.
Religious music and liturgical music
First of all, it is convenient to state that not all religious music is liturgical music. In fact, music with religious content (such as pop, rock or Christian folk music) is not the same as religious music, also known as popular music, which has a context of devotion, prayer, praise or pilgrimage. In other words, one thing are musical phenomena such as Hillsong, Marcos Witt, Danilo Montero or Matt Maher, and another, musical compositions such as a saeta for a Holy Week procession. This distinction does not pretend to be a value judgment, since all this type of music has a great value, but also a specific nature and context. In the same way, general Christian and religious-popular music is not the same as liturgical music.
This distinction has its own value, since logically each expression of the Church's pastoral ministry and mission will need a particular expression. There is a difference between a first proclamation event, a playful-festive day of the youth ministry of a diocese or parish, a catechesis for children or a solemn vespers in the village church on the occasion of the feast of the patron saint.
Chanting the liturgy
Having made this first distinction, it is worth recalling a basic axiom of liturgical music on which we wish to focus. This idea could be expressed as follows: The liturgy is not sung in the liturgy, but the liturgy is sung.. In fact, the ecclesial tradition has always taught that music is an intrinsic element in the nature of the liturgy (as well recalled by the Vatican Council II). In the celebration of the Mystery, the music is not decoration or complement but the same ritus and the same prex.
The gestures and words intrinsically united in the sacramental celebration are sung, and it is for this reason that in the liturgy the melody has always been at the service of the words and the meaning of the rite being celebrated and not the other way around. In this sense, the constant effort of the ministers to ensure that the people of God sing the liturgy and that the liturgical compositions accompany the rite, the sacred text, the liturgical season and the correct expression of Catholic doctrine is commendable.
Musical tradition
The musical tradition of the Church itself bears witness to this reality. The passing of the centuries and the discernment of ecclesial authority have been the appropriate sieve that has allowed the transmission of only those hymns and liturgical chants that possessed true artistic quality, as well as a correct expression of Catholic unity and truth. Think of Gregorian chant as one of the greatest treasures of our tradition.
Today, this explosion of musical creativity must be accompanied from a liturgical, theological and pastoral point of view. A first question in this last area should be addressed by pastors: Is the new musical current of the last 25 years succeeding in expressing the true faith of the Church? Is this type of music "pop music" for singing, or is it "pop music" for singing, or is it "pop music" for singing? in the liturgyor is it true "liturgical music", for the purpose of singing the liturgyIs it not observed, rather, that what this new music is achieving is to express mere religious feelings, or to connect with religious feelings of the postmodern subject?
Right place, right time
Without wishing to generate any controversy but with the desire to establish a serene and constructive dialogue, as Pope Francis asks today, we would like to show two examples among many of how Christian pop music used uncritically in the liturgy may not respond to the proper nature of the liturgy: to celebrate the faith of the Church.
The first example is a song that has been sung at expositions of the Blessed Sacrament in our parishes for years: "Miracle of Love". The second is one of the most recent hits of the Christian music scene that is already being sung in the liturgy: "La Fila". These compositions, without underestimating the musical value they may have as a popular movement, should attract the attention of every minister of the Church. Even more so, when it can be a means of learning the faith and expressing the spiritual and liturgical experience of our young and not so young people.
In these songs one can find statements that in a "pop" sense could perhaps be interpreted (with effort) catholically, but which, in any case, for liturgical celebration carry such imprecision, even doctrinal error, that ecclesiastical authority should consider their acceptance.
Miracle of Love
In the first song, we hear the following: "Jesus, here present in real form. [Miracle of love so infinite that you, my God, forget your glory and your majesty for my sake". This song, beyond the strong individualistic and intimate imprint that detracts from the mystery of ecclesial communion that is the Eucharist, contains two ideas that are not found in the faith of the Church. In the first place, Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is in sacramental form, not real. His presence is real and true, but the external form - the species - is that of the Eucharistic bread.
If one could speak of a presence in real form, beyond the strangeness of the expression, it would be the real form of Jesus Christ in heaven that the sacrament makes present on the altar and in the soul of the faithful at communion. If this idea can be "forcibly" understood in the Catholic sense, it is the second one that cannot be admitted. Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist has not been stripped of his glory and majesty, for the presence in the sacrament can only be that of heaven, exalted in glory and seated at the right hand of the Father.
In a way, it seems as if the letter wanted to rely on the Pauline doctrine of Philippians 2:6-7, but this is only attributable to the incarnation of the Word, not to the transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. In the Eucharist, Christ no longer possesses the condition of a slave but that of "constituted Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead" (Rom 1:4). The sacramental form, although it veils the exalted and glorified condition of Christ, does not divest him of it.
The Row
For its part, the second song has at least a couple of doctrinal errors no less serious. Errors that, as was the case in Nicene times, the faithful can sing them unconsciously, but which should not be disregarded by the ministers, who must watch over the pastoral good of the simple faithful. The song "La Fila" begins by singing: "The most important Fila of my life, a few minutes separate me from the moment of meeting my lover face to face, with God the flesh...".
This musical expression, which represents sacramental communion as an intimate encounter between spouses (a similarity that is not common in the tradition to speak of the faithful who receive the Eucharist), speaks of the sacramental encounter as a "face to face" encounter. This formulation does not express the true faith of the Church, denying the reality of the "veil" or "garment" of the "sacred sign" and disfiguring both the sacramental and the eschatological dimension of our faith.
Precisely, sacramental communion is a grace of real union if the faithful receive communion in grace, but "in mystery", under the sacramental veil. Communion "face to face" is proper to the beatific vision in heaven. What idea or expression of faith can one who interiorizes the meaning of this letter heard virally and repeatedly attain?
The Word becomes flesh
A little further down, another expression of the song states so clearly a doctrinal error that a correct interpretation is difficult. This is how this musical hit sings: "And slightly elevated, and with an answered amen, at last I see a bread that has become human". This lyric, which is already being sung in our Eucharistic celebrations, affirms a reality totally foreign to the Christian faith.
Who has become human is the Word of God. "And the Word of God became flesh". This is confessed and sung in the liturgy of the Church, for God has truly become man without ceasing to be God (Council of Chalcedon). The "hypostatic union" is a fundamental key to our faith that is sung in wonderful ways in liturgical music.
Transubstantiated bread and wine
Moreover, if God has never become bread (the Church already condemned in the ninth century to speak of the substantial change of bread and wine as if it were in the image of the incarnation of the Word), what has no precedent in the history of theology is that "the bread of offerings becomes man". Our faith confesses that the whole substance of the bread is transubstantiated only in the substance of the body of Christ, making the whole Christ present by the "real concomitance".
The same is true of the wine, which is transubstantiated only in the blood of Christ, making the whole Christ present by the "real concomitance". Therefore, not only does it not make sense to speak of "a bread that becomes man," but, if one could speak in this way very figuratively, it would not express the nature of the new reality operated by the Holy Spirit in each species. To top off the picturesque expression, that conversion of the bread into "a human" leaves the divinity of Jesus Christ in such a disheartening silence that it is difficult to accept a reading respectful of the Eucharistic faith.
Some of us might think that such an analysis of Christian pop songs used in the liturgy is an exercise in "scrupulous theology and pastoral care". The present article only wishes to launch a challenge to all those pastoral agents who wish the best for our faithful, that is, a pastoral that leads them to live a true mature experience of faith in the Church and in our society. A challenge that may involve effort and even incomprehension, but which is always carried out by the pastors of the Church as a consequence of love for the Church and the people of God.
The restoration process of the baldachin of St. Peter's continues
The restoration of St. Peter's baldachin is a complex process that will be completed on October 27.
Andrea Acali-October 8, 2024-Reading time: 4minutes
The restoration of the baldachin of St. Peter's will be completed on October 27 and the San Pedro Factory organized a visit that allowed journalists to climb the scaffolding to admire the works firsthand.
"The restoration is a memorable event," commented Cardinal Gambetti, the Pope's vicar for Vatican City and archpriest of the Vatican basilica. Gambetti explained how the date chosen to unveil the baldachin is "significant because it recalls the day of prayer for peace desired in Assisi by John Paul II and because it concludes the synod with a solemn Eucharistic celebration." The Pope, the cardinal added, visited the works and appreciated the work done.
The cardinal went on to say that the baldachin "has been restored to its original splendor and thus expresses the meaning of what the basilica contains, the beautyThe Eucharist expresses all this better than any other event. The Eucharist expresses all this better than any other event. The pallium says it before the tomb of Peter, the first witness to the faith. In the Eucharist shines forth the beauty of the Church, a reflection of what Jesus did by shedding his blood on the altar of the cross, and later what the apostles and their successors did. The fact that we can once again admire the munificence of this apparatus is, I believe, an opportunity to thank it. We are walking towards the jubilee of hope. I am convinced that something will happen, every jubilee is a step in history".
Gambetti also announced that the ancient seat of the Chair of Peter, taken from Bernini's Gloria in the apse of the basilica, will be displayed for the veneration of the faithful. Scientific analyses are being carried out to guarantee its conservation: "Few have seen the seat, we will place it at the foot of the baldachin until December 8 to admire this testimony of the apostolic tradition," the cardinal concluded. The last time the chair was exhibited was exactly 50 years ago, in 1974.
Restoration of the baldachin
The restoration, directed by engineer Capitanucci and Dr. Zander, employed a team of restorers and members of the Vatican laboratories, and was carried out with the support of the Order of the Knights of Columbus. In addition to the baldachin and the cathedra, the glass of Michelangelo's Pietà is also being restored.
Capitanucci explained the difficulties of access to the canopy. The last major restoration took place about 250 years ago. It was nine months of work, of which the first 45 days were dedicated only to taking samples and perfecting the technique. "All this" - he continued - "has also allowed us to intervene in the chair".
Restoration details
Capitanucci highlighted two details. The first is technical: the shine of the gold will be the element that will stand out in the center of the basilica, but then "there is the color of the leather effect that has highlighted the cleaned bronze". The canopy, in fact, has the size of a palace (about 30 meters at the cross), but the conception with which it was made is that of a processional element, one of the cloths that accompanied and covered the celebrants.
The second is an aspect of the "lived life". Apart from the signatures of the "sampietrini", the workers who worked on the construction and restoration of the work, "many elements have been found that refer to minute life: from remains of nuts to cigarette packets from the 1920s, to expense notes, even from the eighteenth century, small drawings and coins and inscriptions such as "I came with my son and tomorrow he will come in my place". Objects thrown into the wooden cavity under the four large angels. Which shows, Capitanucci concluded, that "the canopy is supported by human effort".
The materials
Giorgio Capriotti, one of the restorers of the team of four companies that collaborated in this undertaking, explained that the most difficult thing "was to coordinate in a short time focusing on conservation issues, which are complex. We have a polymeric monument, composed of bronze, with the problem of oxidation that comes with such a large environment, with exposure to dust and what is deposited on the parts of the canopy. Then there was the problem of substances that arbitrarily overlapped during routine maintenance and had to be removed. The luster of the gold could only be perceived under very bright lights. This method was also used for the chair."
In addition to bronze, the materials used to manufacture the canopy are embossed copper, both with gilding, in the most visible parts with up to seven layers of gold leaf; and wood, in the sky and in the ribs of the attic of the structure, covered with gilded copper. The interior of the columns, made of cast bronze with all the figures in one piece, is filled with concrete, which supports the entire structure like gigantic pillars. It also sits on a "risky" area, because underneath is the void of the Vatican grottoes: "Both the engineers who built the canopy and our engineers who built the scaffolding, which weighs several tons, had to calculate how much weight the floor could support," Capriotti continues. Now the problem will be maintenance to preserve this shine and "the Vatican Museums are carrying out studies, with more effective control and methods to remove the particles".
Finally, preliminary conservation analyses of the relic of St. Peter's chair relic are underway, while the restoration of Bernini's Gloria, where the chair is normally kept without being visible, will be completed on November 11.
Mission shifts from Europe to other areas, say 3 new cardinals
The Pope is opening up the Church, and the mission is moving to other continents, three of the nine senior ecclesiastics appointed by the Pope as cardinals at the Synod, out of the total of 21 he will create at the December 8 consistory, said today at noon. The cardinals "represented" in some way Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Francisco Otamendi-October 8, 2024-Reading time: 3minutes
"This Pope's trip to Asian countries helps us understand the importance of Asia. And this time there are three new cardinals Asia -Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines-. This means that the mission is moving from Europe to other areas of the global south. The center of the Church is no longer in Europe, but in the global south," said Archbishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo (Japan), newly appointed Cardinal, at a press conference today to report on the work of the Second Session of the Synod being held in Rome.
This is the significance of the appointment, the Japanese archbishop responded to questions from journalists. "I know some of the cardinals, because I have worked at Caritas Internationalis, and I already knew some of the cardinals."
"The Synod needs to hear from cardinals from different regions."
"We can rejoice in this openness of the spirit of this Pope who wanted to associate all parts of the universal Church," said in the same vein the Archbishop of Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Mgr Ignace Bessi, another of the next cardinals.
"The fact of appointing cardinals from different countries, from different continents, is a sign that the Pope is opening the Church, and the Church needs to listen. It is the key word of this Synod, but in order to listen there need to be people who speak, cardinals who come from different regions of the world, who can express themselves, and the Holy Father can listen to their voice, and they will listen to the voice of the Pope," added Monsignor Bessi.
"This is the Catholic nature of the Church, a universal Church. All parts, all regions, have something to say. This Synod is a model, the model of the Church in which everyone is heard. The important thing is that we have all been baptized in Christ and all have the same dignity."
"An extraordinary universality"
"When we say Catholic, we do not refer only to a religious creed, but we want to indicate an openness, a generosity proper to God, who is capable of dialoguing with all differences, cultures, peoples". "And surely this richness, or this diversity, of the College of Cardinals is an expression of this way of being Catholic. It is beautiful this concern of the Holy Father towards different cultures," said the Monsignor Jaime SplengerO.F.M., archbishop of Porto Alegre (Brazil), and president of the president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) and of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM), also named cardinal.
"The cardinal of Mongolia has 1,500 faithful, I have 4 million faithful in my diocese, but this is not a criterion. The criterion is another. And if we keep in mind the history of the Church in the last hundred years, how many cardinals were there at the beginning of the 20th century, and where did they come from?
"We are different from one another, but there is something that unites us, and it is precisely here where the beauty and greatness of the College itself lie," added the president of CELAM.
Nine cardinals out of the next 21 at the Synod
Yesterday, at the usual press conference to report on the work of the Synod, Cardinal Grech emphasized the participation in the Synod of 9 of the 21 new cardinals announced yesterday by the Pope: Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi, Pablo Virgilio Siongco David, Ladislav Nemet, Jaime Spengler, Ignace Bessi Dogbo, Dominique Mathieu, Roberto Repole, Timothy Peter Joseph Radcliffe.
In today's appearance, it was reported that the circles discussed Christian initiation, synodal conversion, the deepening of the diaconate, fraternal relationships, and the concept of synodality, among other topics. The Archbishop of Tokyo said in the conference that it is necessary to "lay the foundations of synodality, what synodality means".
Drafters of the Final Document
Also yesterday, Sheila Pires, secretary of the Information Commission, pointed out that "the assembly plans to elect the members of the Commission for the drafting of the final Document".
In fact, as reported by Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication and president of the Commission for Information, the four ex officio members are Cardinals Grech and Hollerich, and special secretaries Battochio and Costa.
Of the remaining 10 with supervisory mission, three have been appointed by the Pope (Prof. Bonfrate, Gregorian University; Cardinal Ferrao, Archbishop of Goa and Damao (India), and Sr. Leticia Salazar, San Bernardino, USA. And seven by geographical zones: Card. Ambongo, of Kinshasa; Card. Rueda, Bogotá; Catherine Clifford (U. S. Paul, Ottawa); Fr. Davedassan, Malaysia; Card. Aveline, Marseille (France); Bishop Khairallah of Lebanon; and Bishop McKinlay of Oceania.
Pope's Letter to Catholics in the Middle East
The session recalled the dispatch of a Letter of Pope Francis to the Catholics of the Middle East. And at the opening of the work, reported Paolo Ruffini, Cardinal Grech recalled that it is "a day of prayer and fasting", by the will of the Pope, in the spiritual atmosphere of the Rosary for peace prayed yesterday in Santa Maria Maggiore. "Prayer, fasting, but also charity," Ruffini pointed out, recalling that Cardinal Konrad Krajewski had announced in the Aula a collection of funds destined in particular for the parish of Gaza and the parish priest, Father Gabriel Romanelli.
Members of the Synodal Assembly congratulate the Pope on his feast day
Participants of the Second Session of the Synod of Bishops congratulate Pope Francis on his saint's day on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi on October 4.
Pope Francis prayed a Rosary for peace in the Basilica of St. Mary Major on October 6, the day before the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel.
The Pontiff invited the members of the Second Session of the Synod of Bishops to join him and the whole Church in asking Holy Mary for an end to conflicts in the world.
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According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church in its point number 1806, "Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern in all circumstances our true good and to choose the right means to achieve it (...)".
What does it sound like to be prudent? To keep our mouths shut and not talk too much lest we make a mistake? To restrain an impulse? To what?
A prudent person is one who is accustomed to do things according to reality. We could say that it is a synonym of good sense, common sense or good sense to act: first he weighs, discerns, and then acts.
Having said this, we highlight the three fundamental elements that make up the virtue of prudence: principles, discernment and the rule of the will.
Indeed, without true and good principles, it is impossible to act according to reality. Without discernment to guide us in the concrete situation before us, principles remain vague and lyrical declarations of a goodness that is more desired than real.
And with the two previous aspects, principles and discernment, but without the rule of the will, everything remains a mere fruitless desire, and leads to the hopelessness of not being able to achieve concretely the good for our lives.
Now, the role of the will is not to love plumbly, although sometimes it is necessary to do so.
And, in fact, there is no prudence without the daily exercise of the acts that principles inspire and discernment indicates.
This exercise would be diligent, determined or without dispersion or hesitation. Once I have acted, I will evaluate what I have done, so that the good achieved will inspire me for future actions.
The reason for prudence in married life
Applying the prudence we described to the reality of marriage, and in order not to abuse the space available to us in this periodical, we will focus on the specific principles of marriage, namely: unity, indissolubility and fecundity. Thus, in addition, we will give a strictly practical approach to this dissertation.
Unity and prudence in marriage
The principle of unity is the basis of all others. Human love is born and grows only in the unity of the spouses.
Outside of this very special union and friendship of two different people who give themselves to each other in a reciprocal and complementary way, love, specifically love in its sexual dimension, disappears, because it loses its essence of virtue and becomes false, toxic and possessive.
To discern whether a marriage is wisely living the unity that its reality demands, one might ask: Do I know my spouse well? Do I know what he/she likes and dislikes? What tastes or hobbies do we share? Am I willing to give up some of my individual tastes for my spouse? Do I see the world through his/her eyes and understand it? Am I on his/her side? Do I seek what is best for both of us? Do I care for my spouse? Do I care about what he/she feels, thinks and does? Do I respect his/her freedom and trust my spouse?
Indissolubility and prudence in marriage
Secondly, with regard to indissolubility, we would define it as the form of unity and fidelity over time. Indeed, without belief in indissoluble unity, there is no way to maintain conjugal love, nor is justice done to the dignity of the person.
When I consider prudence in the context of the indissolubility of marriage, I can ask myself a few questions: Am I willing to keep my marriage promises? Do I often meditate on them? Do I take care of the exclusivity of my commitment? Am I aware of the things that can hinder or make the indissolubility of my marriage impossible?
Fertility and prudence in marriage
Another principle is fecundity. On the openness to life that the active sexual life of the couple must have, much has already been written and quite clearly: there is neither unity, nor indissolubility, nor true fidelity, if the sexual life of the couple is closed to life.
It is very important to understand that sexual life is an essential aspect of the fruitfulness of marriage; but it is not the only one, nor is it the foundation.
Fecundity is first and foremost the flourishing of the persons who become spouses. Marriage is necessarily fruitful, and not only in the procreation of the childrenSometimes they do not have, but in kindness, compassion, mutual aid and help to others.
Fruitfulness is a characteristic feature of all love, for all loves, whether conjugal, parental, filial, friendship, etc., are called to bear fruit: dedication, generosity, understanding, time, details.
But the fruit of the transmission of life is what is specific and exclusive to conjugal love in the sphere of fecundity, its mark of identity in comparison with other loves, with which it shares the rest of the fruits.
Without all that is involved in making one's own life fruitful and noble, the procreation of children does not express true fruitfulness, but rather compulsion and not infrequently, we might say, abandonment and sadness.
Discernment questions on fertility lived prudently: Am I willing to give my life for my family? Do I know that this surrender implies, more than a heroic act, to do it day by day? Do I take care of my sexual life as an expression of love, tenderness and respect towards my spouse?
Fecundity is not a question of the number of children, that is for each couple to decide according to their circumstances, but an attitude, and a guiding principle.
Finally, we should recall the important role of prudence in the virtuous life of those who consider it as such, since it is the "auriga virtutum", or guide of virtues, as St. Thomas Aquinas emphasized. And also in the marital sphere, prudence seems to us to be the guide or conductor of the rest of the virtues that guarantee a successful marriage.
The expression "something divine" -quid divinum- in St. Josemaría Escrivá
October 8 marks the 57th anniversary of the Mass on the campus of the University of Navarra at which St. Josemaría delivered his homily. Passionately loving the worldin which he speaks of this "something holy, divine, hidden in the most common situations, which it is up to each one of you to discover".
Javier Rodríguez Balsa-October 8, 2024-Reading time: 10minutes
By training I am a Teacher, Psychopedagogue and Bachelor in Religious Sciences; currently I teach Religion -among other subjects- in a School; as a faithful of Opus Dei I have been struck -from a few years ago- by the expression quid divinum - or "something divine" in Spanish- "algo divino" in English-.used on several occasions by St. Josemaría Escrivá and I have studied the various explanations given for it and its practical usefulness in the life of an ordinary Christian.
The expression quid divinum used by the saint in his homily at the University of Navarra on October 8, 1967, highlights the spiritual and theological dimension of his preaching. According to Professor José Luis Illanes, this expression underlines the importance of the sacred and divine in the saint's message. Although there are various interpretations of this expression, they all seek to deepen its theological meaning.
At the same time, it is important to note that St. Josemaría used in his message, both oral and written, expressions that were easy to understand. However, this did not prevent him from using statements with a profound theological content, which require adequate training to be fully understood.
After researching to unravel its purest and most practical meaning, I found various explanations that are of great help to the spiritual life of an ordinary Christian, especially for those who aspire to sanctify themselves through their daily occupations.
For example, St. Josemaría often spoke of the importance of "contemplative prayer," which is a form of prayer in which one seeks to be in the presence of God and open one's heart to his transforming action. This form of prayer can be difficult to understand for someone unfamiliar with the spiritual life, but once its meaning is grasped, it can be a powerful tool for growing in one's relationship with God.
In short, although St. Josemaría's teachings may contain profound theological concepts, his message is addressed to all Christians, regardless of their background or previous knowledge. His aim was to help ordinary people to encounter God in the midst of their ordinary occupations and to live a holy life in the midst of the world.
"Quid divinum"use and explanations of the expression
St. Josemaría was certainly familiar with this Latin expression, which, according to the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, means "the inspiration proper to genius"; but we should not stick to its etymological meaning but rather to the meaning given to it in the message of the Homily and in other texts. So we must read calmly the context of the expression and the intention with which it is used.
Monsignor OcárizPrelate of the Opus Dei and Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, gave a spontaneous explanation on the quid divinum during a dialogue in the "International Congress on Labor." When asked the question: "Father, what is the quid divinumMonsignor Ocáriz responded, providing a valuable perspective on its meaning.
The question and the extensive and rich response were:
(Question): "Father, I am a philosophy teacher in Seville. My question is very simple and very straightforward. quid divinumwhat is the quiddivinumthat something holy, divine, that I have to discover? Maybe you tell me that it is also ascetic, but I don't know if there is a part that you can enlighten me".
(Answer): "Discovering the quiddivinum I would say that it is - you can think otherwise, what I am saying now is not a truth of faith - it seems to me that discovering the quiddivinum is, above all, to discover the love of God for us. To see in people, in circumstances, in the materiality of human endeavors, in setbacks, to see there an expression of God's love for us, which, from the existential point of view, I think is the most important truth of faith. The most important truth of faith is the Trinity, the Incarnation..., but, deep down, for our life, for our daily existence, what these truths also indicate to us above all is God's love for us. As you remember, St. John, in an almost solemn way, says "we have come to know and believe in the love that God has for us". As if to summarize: what has happened? That we have come to know and believe in the love that God has for us.
Then discover the quiddivinum is to see in people someone whom God loves; even if it is not seen, to believe that there, behind everything, is the love that God has for us".
I think this spontaneous explanation is excellent and helps us to perceive our Creator as close, showing us that He is looking for us and that we can find Him in the little things of everyday life. If we manage to discover the quid divinum In our daily life, we will be participating in the best way of approaching God and loving him and others for him, as St. Josemaría expressed it.
Likewise, professors Illanes and Méndiz indicate that ".The expression "something divine" appears here, and in other passages of the homily, always in Spanish. It may, however, have its origin, in our opinion, in the Latin formula quid divinum, of pre-Christian root, which was used in antiquity to speak of perfection or genius in art, of the curative properties of certain waters, etc., and also, more philosophically, of the intellect in man and of the laws that govern the world (cf. Cicero, De Legibus, I, 61). The founder of Opus Dei probably knew this source, but in this homily he prefers to use it in Spanish, perhaps so as not to have to translate it.." (Conversations with Monsignor Escriva de Balaguer, historical critical edition, Ed. RIALP 2012).
In his homily delivered in Navarre, St. Josemaría said: "In a laboratory, in the operating room of a hospital, in the barracks, in the university chair, in the factory, in the workshop, in the field, in the family home and in the whole immense panorama of work, God is waiting for us every day. And a little further on: "There is no other way, my children: either we know how to find the Lord in our ordinary life, or we will never find him".
It can be deduced that it is not one thing the something divine, but it is God himself whom we meet because "he waits for us every day". Why, then, does he use the expression "there is something holy, divine, hidden in the most common situations, which it is up to each one of you to discover."? (Homily "Loving the world passionately").
Something divine and everyday at the same time
What is this "something holy, divine" if not God himself? we may ask ourselves. Perhaps the interpretation is that God wants to transmit "something" to us, which could be translated as "Someone", "that it is up to each one of you to discover".
The Founder of Opus Dei uses it again later, with a nuance: "This doctrine of Sacred Scripture (...) must lead you to carry out your work with perfection, to love God and mankind by putting love into the little things of your daily routine, discovering that something divine that is enclosed in the details."So the "something divine" is enclosed in the details, in the small things, those that people do every day, when we put love.
For the third time he uses it when referring to human loveI have reminded you: "Do things with perfection, I have reminded you, put love in the small activities of the day, discover -I insist- that something divine that is enclosed in the details: all this doctrine finds a special place in the vital space, in which human love is framed".
The expression is also used by St. Josemaría in some other homilies, such as in the case of "Toward Holiness.""We are convinced that there is no evil, no contradiction, that does not come for good: thus joy and peace are more firmly established in our spirit, which no human motive can tear away from us, because these visitations always leave us something of their own, something divine. We will praise the Lord our God, who has done marvelous works in us, and we will understand that we have been created with the capacity to possess an infinite treasure.
In order to know a reality in depth, people try to discover its constituent parts, the functions they have and the relationships between them, and this does not happen in God, since in Him there are no constituent parts. Thus, when we speak of the Will of God, of His Infinite Love, Goodness, Providence and Mercy, as well as of His Immensity, Omnipotence, Essence and Being, we are speaking of the same thing, because in God they are all identified, they are the same God. And in Him what most magnifies and elevates us is His Love, which is found in His Love. "by putting love into the little things of your daily routine".
St. Josemaría, therefore, urges that in work, in ordinary occupations and in relationships with others-especially in the family sphere-Christians should put love into their work so as to find God's love, knowing that this love is hard work, diligence, diligence and sacrifice.
He himself says it in his homily "God's work": "I like very much to repeat - because I have experienced it well - those verses of little art, but very graphic: my life is all about love / and, if I am skilled in love, / it is by force of pain, / that there is no better lover / than he who has suffered much. Go about your professional duties out of Love: carry out everything out of Love, I insist, and you will see -precisely because you love, even if you taste the bitterness of misunderstanding, injustice, ungratefulness and even human failure itself- the wonders that your work produces. Tasty fruits, seed of eternity!".
Ernst Burkhart and Xavier delve into detail; thus, they ask: What does it mean that profane activities are not "exclusively profane", but hide "a divine something"? These authors provide a detailed and profound theological explanation, addressing the topic in a comprehensive manner: The quid divinumThis "something holy" that it is up to each one of us to discover is like the imprint that God has left on all things by creating them in Christ and for Christ; an imprint that entails a call to cooperate freely with God in order to orient everything to Christ. Let us look at it in steps. The "something holy" is not only the divine presence of immensity, with which he sustains all creatures in being, although St. Josemaría undoubtedly alludes to this presence when he writes that we find this invisible God in the most visible and material things. The "something holy" also refers to God's designs concerning human activities that have earthly realities as their object.
However, this is not the only thing that quid divinumeven though it embraces it. When the Christian deals with temporal realities in his professional, family or social activity, he can discover, with the light of faith, "their ultimate supernatural destiny in Christ," as it says in the quoted text. It is not that there is something supernatural in things, but that the Christian can order to the supernatural end (the only ultimate end) the activities that have created realities as their object; he can discover that God calls him to place Christ in the exercise of these activities, to order them to his Kingdom. For this, of course, he must strive to carry them out with perfection, in accordance with his own laws. But this is not enough. Ultimately, he must seek his own perfection as a child of God in Christ through these activities: he must strive for identification with Christ through love and the virtues informed by love. Then it can be said that he has found the quid divinumHe is putting Christ at the summit of his work, because he puts Him at the summit of his own heart, which is where He wants to be elevated and to reign.
Elements of that divine something
We have, therefore, two elements of the quid divinum. One is perceptible with the light of reason and is in the object of every temporal activity: its own laws, willed by God, with its immediate end. The other presupposes the previous one, but is only perceived with the light of faith, because only faith allows us to "see its ultimate supernatural destiny in Jesus Christ.
They go on to say that "That something holy is discovered by the love that the Holy Spirit pours into hearts. When this happens, the very activity that is being carried out becomes a matter of prayer, of dialogue with God. A dialogue that can sometimes take place with words and concepts, considering the "something holy" that has been discovered. But at other times it may not need words or concepts: it can be contemplative prayer that transcends the quid divinum. Let us recall once again some words of St. Josemaría: We recognize God not only in the spectacle of nature, but also in the experience of our own work (Christ Is Passing By, 48).
This "something holy," says St. Josemaría, is "hidden," as if it were hidden behind common situations or had the same color as them, so that we need to make an effort to discover it. The quiddivinum is an opportunity for sanctification (and apostolate) that often does not shine to human eyes. It is right in front of us, in the heart of what we do, but it is necessary to look for it with interest, as one looks for a treasure. And much more than an earthly treasure, because sanctity is at stake here.
Other explanations of the expression quid divinum Professor Ana Marta Gonzalez points out that "This corresponds to another crucial aspect of St. Josemaría's message: the appreciation of contingency as the privileged place for the manifestation of God, precisely because it is there, in that space of contingency, that man exercises and materializes his freedom. Both of these things are contained in St. Josemaría's invitation to find the quiddivinum that is enclosed in the details, and that it is up to each one to discover.
It is not just a pious recommendation, but a matter of noticing the kairos, the opportunity and the value of the present moment, in which God's presence becomes material and in some way visible to us: to do well the things we have in hand is no longer just an ethical requirement, derived from our position in human society, but the concrete opportunity offered to us to correspond to God's gift and to materialize his presence in the world of mankind, showing that not because it is ordinary does it cease to be transforming.(World and the human condition in St. Josemaría Escrivá. Christian Keys to a Philosophy of the Social Sciences. Romana, No. 65, July-December 2017, p. 368-390)
Another exhibition can be found at the Opus Dei website: "That quiddivinum that it is up to each one to discover, thus helping others to be encouraged to discover it, is simply "the will of God in those small and large details of life", that is, what gives value and transcendent meaning to ordinary life is that, in and from it, God says what he expects from each one".
The presence of God for a Christian and the call he makes to cooperate with his plans are two sides of the same coin, inseparable and linked. And this is where what St. Josemaría indicated when he said, "God waits for us every day," comes into play. We are present to him and we have him present to respond to his permanent call.
But waiting for God is not like our waiting, which can be static; God does not spend his time "doing something else" while waiting for our response. God is present in the life of each person in a dynamic way, he always offers love and asks for love, he gives himself to us and asks us, he is a gift and a task.
This is also stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church when it teaches us that "in all his works, God shows his benevolence, his goodness, his grace, his love; but also his reliability, his constancy, his faithfulness, his truth".
Conclusions
Taking into account the various explanations it can be concluded:
Discovery of Divine Love: Discover the quid divinum involves recognizing God's love manifested in all aspects of life, from people and circumstances to efforts and difficulties.
Hidden in the Commonplace: According to St. Josemaría, the "something holy" is "hidden" behind common situations and requires a conscious effort to discover it. It is not always evident to the naked eye and requires an active search.
Prayer and Dialogue with God: The activity discovered as "something holy" becomes a means for prayer and communication with God. This dialogue can manifest itself in words and concepts, or it can be a contemplative prayer that transcends the understanding of the quiddivinum.
Personal Perspective: The perception of the quid divinum as an expression of divine love is a personal vision, not a universally established truth of faith.
Mutual Inspiration: By discovering the "quid divinum", one not only finds value and purpose in one's own life, but can also motivate others to seek the same.
Will of God: The quid divinum represents the will of God manifested in both the small and the great aspects of life, giving ordinary existence a transcendent value and meaning.
The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross celebrates its 40th anniversary
The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross is celebrating its 40th anniversary and in his inaugural address for the 2024-2025 academic year, the Prelate of Opus Dei, Fernando Ocáriz, encouraged the members of the academic institution to cultivate the virtue of patience, without which "it is impossible to wait on the fulfillment of the Lord's promises".
– Supernatural Pontifical University of the Holy Cross begins its 40th academic year. In his inaugural address for the 2024-2025 academic year, Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz, Prelate of the University, said Opus Dei and Grand Chancellor of the University, encouraged the members of the academic institution to "work with patience, trusting in hope".
Fernando Ocáriz took advantage of his speech to express his gratitude for "all the graces received" during the four decades of work, a work that is "at the service of the universal Church". Along with this look at the past, the Prelate of Opus Dei expressed his confidence in the future of the institution and, echoing the Jubilee Year of Hope convoked by the Pope, encouraged those present to "frequently ask for the grace of patience". Without this virtue, said Bishop Ocáriz, "it is impossible to hope for the fulfillment of the Lord's promises.
To be open "to the work of the Spirit".
The inauguration of the academic year began with a Mass presided over by Monsignor Giovanni Cesare Pagazzi, Secretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education. In his homily, Pagazzi invited the members of the University to open themselves "to the work of the Spirit," without fear of how its "transforming power" might present itself.
The Secretary of the Dicastery was also in charge of giving the inaugural lecture of the course. During his lecture, he emphasized the role of the university as a "house of study" and a place for the transmission of knowledge. The university must therefore be a place where students feel that their professors "foster confidence, free them from fear, build an inner space, stimulate effort and promote a good habit."
After Monsignor Pagazzi's lecture, the Rector, Fernando Puig, underlined in an inaugural address the Christian identity of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. This identity allows for a "humanly well-done" work that provides students with a quality formation. The Rector also spoke briefly about the new Strategic Plan 2024-2029 that the University is preparing to continue improving its work.
The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in figures
After Fernando Puig's words, Hugo Francisco Elvira Ramos, representative of the students, spoke, thanking all the people who have made possible "the lively and dynamic community that our University is today".
These previous generations have had a clear impact, as shown by the figures offered by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. In recent years, the academic institution has had nearly 15,000 students from 129 countries. Of these students, 75 have been named bishops or created cardinals. Of all these students, more than 7500 completed their studies with a scholarship, provided thanks to the approximately 25,000 benefactors of the University.
Pope to Middle East Catholics: "You are a seed beloved by God".
Pope Francis has sent a letter to Catholics in the Middle East on the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel. In his message, the Pontiff shows his closeness to all those suffering because of the war.
One year after the Hamas attack on IsraelPope Francis has sent a letter to letter to the Catholics of the Middle East, assuring them of his prayers. As is now frequent, the Holy Father insisted that "war is a defeat", but that "years and years of conflict seem to have taught us nothing".
Francis described the Catholics of the Middle East as "a small, defenseless flock, thirsty for peace" and thanked them for their desire to remain in their lands, together with their ability "to pray and love in spite of everything".
"You are a seed loved by God," said the Pope, who also encouraged them not to allow themselves to be "swallowed up by the darkness that surrounds you." The Pontiff invited Catholics living in these war zones to be "shoots of hope", to "bear witness to love in the midst of words of hatred" and to foster "encounter in the midst of confrontation".
In his message, Pope Francis repeated that "as Christians, we must never tire of imploring God's peace". This is precisely the origin of the day of prayer and fasting that he called last week for October 7. "Prayer and fasting," the Pontiff explained, "are the weapons of love that change history, the weapons that defeat our only true enemy: the spirit of evil that foments war."
Pope joins in the pain of all
In addition, the Pope has shown his closeness to all people living in the Middle East, regardless of their religious confession. Francis addresses his affection to "mothers who weep", to "those who have been forced to leave their homes", "those who are afraid to look up because of the fire that rains down from heaven" and "those who thirst for peace and justice".
The Holy Father also took advantage of the letter to thank the "sons and daughters of peace for consoling the heart of God, wounded by the wickedness of humanity" for their work. He also thanked the "bishops and priests, who bring God's consolation to those who feel alone and abandoned". To them he addresses a request: "look to the holy people whom you are called to serve and let your hearts be moved, putting aside, for the good of your flock, every division and ambition".
The Pope concluded his message by asking for the intercession of the Virgin Mary, "Queen of Peace" and St. Joseph, "Patron of the Church".
In some democratic countries politicians assume practices typical of totalitarian systems, using history to create an official version of the facts and inspire the laws of a country in a certain political direction.
October 7, 2024-Reading time: 4minutes
"He who controls the past controls the future; and he who controls the present controls the past." is a phrase from George Orwell's famous novel 1984. With these words, the lucid and courageous British writer reflected the pretension of the totalitarianisms of the 20th century to dominate the historical narrative in the service of their interests of power and domination.
At the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, we find that unfortunately totalitarian systems are not exclusive to the past 20th century, but continue in our century and it seems that they will continue to accompany us in the future. XX, but continue in our century and it seems that they will continue to accompany us in the future. Those sinister political regimes of the last century in which the State concentrated all powers in a single party (communist, fascist, national socialist or whatever it was called on each occasion) and controlled social relations under a single official ideology have not disappeared from the scene. Today we observe that about 40% of the world's population lives under dictatorial systems.
Apart from a long list of current dictatorships, there are democratic countries in which the politicians in power assume practices typical of totalitarian systems. One of them is to use history to fix an ideology and an official version of history that is the only accepted one and thus control all social relations and inspire the laws and customs of a country in a certain political direction.
There are two examples that are close to our cultural environment: the black legend (initially promoted by England and France to confront Spanish predominance in the 16th century but later assumed by Spaniards and Latin Americans with often spurious political and economic interests) and the Spanish democratic memory (understood as the articulation of public policies that claim to comply with the principles of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition for those who suffered persecution or violence during the civil war and Franco's dictatorship in the 20th century).
It has become a cliché to talk about the paramount importance of storytelling in political communication. The story is nothing more than the will to convey a message using narrative structure. And when we talk about a message, we are really talking about our "point of view". Whenever a message is conveyed using the simple narrative structure (presentation, development and denouement) it is easier to understand, easier to remember and easier to pass on to others. If we apply this to the history of a country, so that we can establish a kind of "storytelling", it is easier to understand, easier to remember and easier to transmit to others. "official history" The "good guys" and the "bad guys" can be very effective in achieving ideological predominance and a prolonged stay in power.
There is no objection to everyone telling their country's history as they see fit, based on what they have read, heard or experienced. And it is understandable that political parties use political communication as best they know how to convey their messages. The problem arises when an individual or a political group uses public funds, institutions and the public education system to impose an official narrative that suits their political interests.
In a true democracy, the political power should not establish a truth or an official history in which its political option appears as the only acceptable and healthy one for the life of the country, while at the same time it uses all public resources and all the power of the State to position the opposition parties and the citizens who support them as enemies of the good of the nation. This political Manichaeism goes directly against the ideological and political pluralism necessary to speak of a healthy democracy and not of a system that is installed in totalitarianism or is heading towards it.
The Spanish black legend continues to be used by various totalitarianisms -and not only by them- in Latin America (Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua) with the aim of identifying a culprit for the ills they suffer other than the current rulers. The so-called democratic memory is being used in Spain by the PSOE -with the excuse of the just reparation to the victims of the Franco dictatorship- to fix a compulsory historical narrative in which this party is the protagonist of all social advances while the opposition and anyone who opposes it is a fascist, heir of a bloody dictatorship that ended 50 years ago.
It seems that the anti-Spanish black legend has been and still is useful in Latin America as a "scapegoat" to blame for all the ills suffered by some of their countries without many people realizing that perhaps the current situation is due more to the work of the independence leaders of the 19th century and their heirs in the last two centuries than to the three centuries of Spanish viceroyalties that left societies far more advanced than those found when our ancestors arrived in America, which are also those of most of these Latin American leaders. Two centuries after the American independence processes, it seems at least suspicious to continue blaming Spain for the backwardness of their countries and the human rights abuses caused by their current satraps.
Regarding the democratic memory, when a political party, which has ruled Spain for 6 years during the Second Republic and the Civil War and almost 30 years of the current democracy, arrogates to itself the exclusivity of the story of the history of Spain during the twentieth century, we can speak of political manipulation with spurious interests. History, let alone the history of a century as conflictive as the past in Spain, cannot be in the hands of any political party because it is difficult for it not to take advantage of the situation for totalitarian purposes. The pretension of being the only party in Spain with the right to judge the actions and deeds of other Spaniards during decades of the past is also totalitarian.
In a democracy there cannot be a party that says how to judge the history of the country or who are the good and who are the bad. That should be freely judged by historians and citizens, not by the political power. The interest in keeping alive the memory of a political regime that ended 50 years ago by a party with 145 years of history -and not a few blood crimes behind it and the current collaboration of one of its former presidents with the Venezuelan dictatorship- is truly suspicious and should not be admitted due to the serious risk of democratic deterioration it entails.
In a democracy, political power must limit itself to guaranteeing freedom of thought, information and expression, for if it engages in limiting these freedoms for political reasons, it is undermining the foundations of democracy and paving the way for totalitarianism. We cannot allow in our democratic societies any form of "ministries of truth".
Two young Spaniards, Nacho and Carlos, are the driving forces of Cyrenea platform that links beneficiaries and donors for food aid and basic services and psychological care for vulnerable families.
"It all started more than two years ago. as a result of some sandwiches"., recalls Nacho, one of the initiators of Cyrenean. "Every morning I passed a poor man, Jordi, at the traffic lights. Every day he would ask me for money. I never give money, and I would tell him so, but what I started to do was to go to the nearby bar, pay him for a coffee and a sandwich and he could go and have it whenever he wanted."
As a result of this almost daily action, Nacho thought about the possibility of taking it "on a large scale", so that there would be people who could give money knowing perfectly well how it would be used. This is how it was conceived CyreneA digital platform through which individuals and companies can make donations knowing to whom they are destined and what the money is invested in.
On its websitewww.cirineov.es explains perfectly how to become a donor or how to approach them to channel aid.
Their motto, "Donate with transparency and full impact" perfectly defines the fundamental lines of a project with which these two young people from Madrid help fifty families... for the time being.
The beneficiaries
More than 90 families have already received help for their basic purchases or for psychological support through CyreneHow do you choose the families or individuals you help? "We don't do it ourselves directly because we are not a foundation, not an NGO."explains Carlos. "We collaborate with CáThe families are the ones who carry out the filtering and indicate the families to be helped and their needs. They are the ones who do the filtering and indicate the families to help and the needs they have. After that, we get in touch with them and start our direct Cirineo-beneficiary relationship".
Carlos and Nacho almost always speak of "beneficiary families" because most of those who receive this assistance are families with small children, although they also have small children. "Individuals have been helped, especially with psychological care.
The aid is maintained until the association indicates them or until the beneficiaries themselves state that they no longer need it: "Recently a family that had been on food assistance for quite some time told us that they had found work and wanted that assistance to go to other families."
In addition, a direct relationship is established with each beneficiary: "Every time they consume an aid, in addition to sending the ticket and a thank you to the donor, we also ask them about their day-to-day life. We avoid generating a feeling of pity, the questions are along the lines of: What are your dreams? How are the children's grades? Do you do anything special for Christmas?". This information is shared with the donor, but the entire donor-recipient relationship is done through Cyreneto avoid any kind of "dependence".
Donors
Cyrene has more than 300 donors, companies and individuals, who support dozens of families in different parts of Spain. The "standard" donations range from 5 euros per month to 50 euros, which can be used to sponsor a family, but generosity has no limit upwards. Once the donation is started, donors receive information about the destination of the donation and photos so that they are aware of where and how the help has been spent. When a family is helped, they also receive a thank you message from that family and a follow-up of their progress.
However, the donors do not "choose the beneficiary", as the initiators explain: "On the website we have the option of sponsoring a family directly by donating 50 euros a month and you can decide in which city you want the help to take place."The beneficiary family is determined by the organization or the parish Caritas that knows the family.
One thing distinguishes donors from Cyreneare younger than average -they are in their thirties-. and "they give twice as much as the Spanish average".. The initiators of the project are proud of this committed youth, which is explained, on the one hand, by the ease of donation, through the platform of www.cirineov.esThe company is also committed to total transparency in how and by whom the donated money is received and invested.
Nacho and Carlos. Founders of Cyrene.
Member businesses
The main idea of Cyrene is that 100% of the amount donated goes to the beneficiary. The project is supported by a commission that the project charges to the businesses adhering to the project. CyreneIn other words, the beneficiaries spend this donation in a specific establishment that is a member of the platform and it is the latter that pays a commission to the platform for its support.
Currently, they work with a network of supermarkets that is present in almost all major Spanish cities and several psychology practices.
"Our dream is to also be able to offer ophthalmology, dentistry...etc. services. We are talking to other providers to get into school supplies and clothing." A dream that, although difficult at the moment because there are still only two people behind the project, is a dream that, although difficult at the moment because there are still only two people behind the project. CyreneThe company is looking forward to making the project a reality in the near future.
How does it work?
The beneficiaries through Cyrene receive, in the form of a voucher with a QR code associated with it, the amount allocated by the donor. With this voucher, they can go to the participating store to Cyrene and make the necessary purchase. Once the purchase has been made, send the ticket to Cyrene and from here it is sent to donors. "Full transparency", The initiators emphasize, "that's the main thing in Cirineo".
"We don't want to make dependent people." Carlos and Nacho emphasize, "We work with associations or foundations that are directly familiar with the needs of the families and can follow up on them. We want to be an additional contribution in the process of these families to get out of poverty".
At present, Cyrene works with beneficiaries and associations in five Spanish cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Lugo, Vigo and Guadalajara. Most of the people "they come through different parish Caritas, but there are some other foundations and associations. For example, in Madrid, we also work with RedMadre, which assists mothers-to-be in complicated situations."
The more donations and recurring donations, the more help we provide
"The people we help depend, of course, on the money we can count on from donors, so we try to make the donation recurring." explain. "It is important for us to have the ability to know how many families we can help. The more donors, the more families we can help and, the more recurrence, the easier it is to have a forecast so that we don't have to stop helping anyone for lack of donations.".
To date, more than 70,000 euros have been allocated to these basic necessities or psychological support for vulnerable families through Cyrene which expects to continue to grow in order to serve an increasing number of families.
After several months of rumors about the possibility of the Pope organizing a new consistory, this Sunday Francis announced the names of the 21 new cardinals.
At the conclusion of today's Angelus, Pope Francis announced the creation of 21 new cardinals. The tenth consistory in eleven years of pontificate will take place on December 8, 2024, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
As usual in the cardinal appointments of Pope Francis, the prelates come from many parts of the world. For the first time there is no Spanish prelate. There are 4 Italian bishops, 4 Latin American bishops and none from the United States.
This is the complete list:
1. H.E. Msgr. Angelo Acerbi, Apostolic Nuncio. Carlos Gustavo CASTILLO MATTASOGLIO, Archbishop of Lima (Peru). Vicente BOKALIC IGLIC C.M., Archbishop of Santiago del Estero (Primate of Argentina). 4. Luis Gerardo CABRERA HERRERA, O.F.M., Archbishop of Guayaquil (Ecuador). 5. Archbishop Fernando Natalio CHOMALÍ GARIB Archbishop of Santiago de Chile (Chile). 6. Bishop Tarcisio Isao KIKUCHI, S.V.D., Archbishop of Tokyo (Japan). 7. Bishop Pablo Virgilio SIONGCO DAVID, Bishop of Kalookan (Philippines). 8. Ladislav NEMET, S.V.D., Archbishop of Beograd-Smederevo, (Serbia). 9. Jaime SPENGLER, O.F.M., Archbishop of Porto Alegre (Brazil). 10. Ignace BESSI DOGBO, Archbishop of Abidjan (Costa d'Avorio). 11. Jean-Paul VESCO, O.P., Archbishop of Alger (Algeria). 12. Bishop Paskalis Bruno SYUKUR, O.F.M., Bishop of Bogor (Indonesia). 13. Dominique Joseph MATHIEU, O.F.M. Conv., Archbishop of Teheran Ispahan (Iran). 14. Archbishop Roberto REPOLE, Archbishop of Turin (Italy). 15. Bishop Baldassare REINA, Auxiliary Bishop of Rome, Vicar General of the Diocese. 16. Francis LEO, Archbishop of Toronto (Canada). 17. H.E. Msgr. Rolandas MAKRICKAS, Coadjutor Archbishop of St. Mary Major. 18. Mykola BYCHOK, C.Ss.R., Bishop of the Eparchy of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne of the Ukrainians. Timothy Peter Joseph RADCLIFFE, OP, theologian. Fabio BAGGIO, C.S., undersecretary of the section for Migrants and Refugees of the Dicastery for Integral Human Service. George Jacob KOOVAKAD, official of the Secretariat of State, responsible for papal travel.
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U.S. Catholics join day of prayer and fasting for peace
Following Pope Francis' invitation, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, invited the country's bishops and parishioners to "join in fervent prayer for an end to violence and open the way to reconciliation and peace."
To commemorate the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, Pope Francis has called on Catholics to observe a day of prayer and fasting for peace on October 7. In response to this call, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishopsinvited the bishops and parishioners of the country to "unite in fervent prayer for the end of violence and to open the way to reconciliation and peace.
In a letter sent to the U.S. bishops on Oct. 2, Bishop Broglio points out that both the loss of life in Israel and Gaza and the increase in hate crimes in the U.S. have led to a rise in the number of people killed in Israel and Gaza. United States are a source of great pain.
Compassion, he said, "is not a zero-sum game. We hear the cries of lament from all our Israeli, Palestinian, Jewish, Muslim and Christian brothers and sisters who have been traumatized by these events. We join in mourning for those who lost their lives and share the fervent desire for lasting peace," the prelate said.
In this regard, Bishop Broglio called to combat all forms of hatred towards Jews and Muslims and to work for lasting peace. Our faith, Broglio said, teaches us to have hope even in the darkest circumstances, because Christ has risen from the dead: "from death, God brings forth a new creation. As this anniversary approaches, at a time of anguish and trauma, let us look for ways to express our solidarity with our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters. Let us commit ourselves to working for lasting peace in the land where the Lord Jesus was born," he concluded.
St. Bruno, founder of the Carthusian Order, refused ecclesiastical appointments in order to lead a life of silence and prayer. Thanks to him, there are now 23 Carthusian monasteries in the world; the most recent was founded in South Korea.
On Sunday, October 9, 2011, Benedict XVI traveled to the Carthusian monastery of Serra San Bruno; his predecessor, St. John Paul II, had already been there on October 5, 1984. The name of this town belonging to the Italian province of Ancona, in the Marche region, comes from St. Bruno, who founded the monastery in 1091.
During his visit, Benedict XVI referred to the contemplative life: "Ecclesial communion needs an interior strength, that strength that Father Prior recalled a moment ago, quoting the expression 'captus ab Uno', referring to St. Bruno: 'held by the One', by God, 'Unus potens per omnia', as we sang in the hymn of Vespers. The ministry of pastors draws from contemplative communities a spiritual sap that comes from God". And further on: "This vocation, like every vocation, finds its response in a journey, in a search that lasts a lifetime".
St. Bruno and the sobriety of the Carthusians
St. Bruno founded the Carthusian Order, which is considered the strictest within the Catholic Church. The sobriety of the Carthusians is reflected not only in their lifestyle, but also in their liturgy, based on that elaborated by St. Bruno and his companions. This liturgy includes many times of silence and lacks musical instruments, although it incorporates Carthusian chant, similar to Gregorian chant but more austere.
On the official website "chartreux.org"After having directed for a long time the cathedral school of Reims, Master Bruno, 'a man of deep heart', responding to the divine call of an exclusive life for God alone, entered the Chartreuse massif in 1084 with six companions to revive in the West the spirit of the Desert Fathers. He then founded another monastery in Calabria, where he died in 1101". His death occurred on October 6, the date on which the Catholic Church celebrates his memory.
Birth of the Order
Bruno was born around the year 1030 in Cologne, in present-day Germany, and from a young age he stood out for both his intellect and his piety. He studied in Reims, where he later served as a teacher and respected canon. His struggle against simony, the purchase of ecclesiastical offices, marked him deeply, leading him to seek a life apart from ecclesiastical politics and material goods.
The Christian perfection he longed for was found, together with a group of companions, in a life fully dedicated to prayer and contemplation: in 1084, Bishop Hugo of Grenoble, a former student of Bruno, gave them an inhospitable and rocky piece of land in the French Alps. There they founded La Grande Chartreuse, the mother monastery of the Carthusian Order. This monastery became a model of monastic life centered on silence, prayer and manual labor.
The Carthusian monks live in almost absolute seclusion, spending most of their days in solitude, in their own cells, where they pray, meditate and do manual labor. Community meetings are rare and conversations are limited. Once a week they are allowed to talk during a community walk, and the rest of the time they communicate by sign language.
Papal court and last years of St. Bruno
However, Bruno was not able to fully enjoy his retreat for many years. In 1090, Pope Urban II, another former student of his, summoned him to Rome. Although he deeply desired to live in solitude, Bruno obeyed, but soon discovered that life at the papal court was not compatible with his ascetic spirit. He turned down the offer to be named archbishop of Reggio in Calabria, opting to return to the solitary life in an even more remote location, where he founded his second monastery in La Torre, Calabria.
He spent his last years in this hermitage, surrounded by lay people and clerics who shared his search for the perfect life in contemplation and silence. His death, on October 6, 1101, marked the end of a life dedicated to God, but also the beginning of a veneration that would last throughout the centuries.
Despite the austerity of his life, Bruno's influence was profound and lasting. His legacy spread rapidly through the Carthusian Order, which spread throughout Europe and reached its peak in the 16th century, with some 5,600 monks and nuns distributed in 198 monasteries.
Unlike other religious orders, the Carthusians did not seek the formal canonization of their founder for centuries. Only in 1514, under the papacy of Leo X, was Bruno's sanctity officially recognized by a papal decree confirming his veneration, without the need for the traditional canonization process. Later, in 1623, his feast was extended to the universal Church, thus consolidating his place in the history of Catholic spirituality.
The Carthusian Order today
Bruno's impact on Christian spirituality lies in his rejection of the temptations of power and wealth, and in his pursuit of a life dedicated exclusively to prayer and service to God. In an age marked by corruption and ambition for power within the Church, Bruno stood out for his purity of heart and integrity, qualities that inspired his contemporaries and continue to serve as a model for Carthusian monks today.
Today, the Carthusian Order continues to exist, with 23 Carthusian monasteries (18 of monks and 5 of nuns) around the world, where some 270 monks and 60 nuns follow the precepts of their founder. The Carthusians continue to live by the strict rules established by Bruno more than 900 years ago, maintaining the practice of silence, constant prayer and manual labor, and embracing the order's motto: "Stat crux dum volvitur orbis" ("The cross stands firm as the world turns"). A widespread motto holds that the Carthusian order has never been reformed because it has never been deformed ("Nunquam reformata, quia nunquam deformata").
The professional vocation in the teachings of St. Josemaría
Professor Diego Poole has presented this paper at the Convention of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholarsof the Catholic University of America. The article deals with the concept of professional vocation in the teachings of St. Josemaría.
Diego Poole-October 6, 2024-Reading time: 12minutes
Alvaro D'Ors, one of the most prestigious professors of Roman law, in the last class he gave to his students at the University of Navarra, drew on the blackboard a triangle, and wrote on each side the following three phrases: "amas si sirves", "sirves si vales", "vales si amas".
These three sentences, apparently so simple, contain a very relevant truth about the meaning of human work, which I intend to recall in this paper, and which constitutes the essence of the message of Opus Dei.
"You love if you serve."
To love someone is to procure his good by rendering him some service to the extent of his needs and our possibilities. Y professional work is our daily way of servicethat is, to love.
It is a deformation of Christianity to reduce charity only to charitable practices (giving alms, attending a soup kitchen, giving catechesis...), and worse still, to reduce them to practices within the ecclesiastical precincts.
For a Christian in the midst of the world, the daily place for the practice of charity is professional work.
Therefore, the more technically trained we are (as doctors, teachers, engineers, policemen...) the better we can serve others.
And living charity, through work well done, is the principal evangelizing manifestation. Therefore, work done out of love for the person it serves is an excellent form of evangelization, because it is the ordinary way of living charity.
At its core, the value of any job is measured by the service it provides to others. A job well done is a service well done to someone else. No one is a good professional regardless of the service he or she renders to others. Therefore, one cannot be a good professional and a bad person; nor can one be a good person and a bad professional. In fact, the definition of profession includes the service rendered, and when it does not serve anyone, it is not that one is a bad professional, it is that one is not even a professional. For example, a shoemaker is not a shoemaker who makes excellent shoes and then burns them, nor is a speaker who gives "excellent" speeches to a non-existent audience. Without good service, there is no good work; and without service there is no work at all.
Morale is not a requirement extrinsic to the profession, as a series of additions that make the profession itself more meritorious, but rather morale helps define the profession. And the first rule deontological of any profession or trade is the requirement to have a good knowledge of the rules and regulations of techniques of such profession or trade.
"You serve if you're worth it."
You serve if you are worth, that is, if you are competent in your profession, if you are well prepared, if you study to perform your profession better and better, if you are up to date with the latest techniques; you serve if you are punctual, if you listen to your colleagues, your clients, your patients, your students... To serve well, good will is not enough, you need constant work, study, technical competence. If you are a doctor and you are a bad doctor, you are a bad person. And the same if one is a student, but does not study, he is a bad person. Our whole life must be a renewed effort to serve others better every day, and this requires professional competence.
In addition, the quality of the work reconfigures the moral personality of the subject, in a virtuous circle (or vicious, depending on the work). In this way, each worker will be able to understand his work as a true work of art, which he performs every day, on others, on the world and on oneself.
"You're worth it if you love."
In the end, each man is worth what his love is worth. St. Josemaría often said that everyone is worth what his or her heart is worth.
Man was created to love. And if he does not love, if he closes in on himself, he betrays his vocation, the call of God to unite with Him, in Himself, and in others. Jesus Christ revealed to us what the examination of the final judgment that will determine the eternal fate of each of us will be like: "For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to me". (Matthew 25:35-36)
Scott Hahn, in his magnificent book Ordinary Work, Extraordinary Grace: My Spiritual Journey in Opus Deiexplains that it was not that God made man and woman for work, but that "he made work for man and woman, because only through work could they be made like God". With grace, which makes us like God, we were given the gift of work, so that we might serve men as God serves them. The Lord did not leave the world incomplete because of a factory defect, but for man to complete it. serving and their brothers and sisters. Achieving the perfection of Creation by herself is not the purpose of work, but for the service it renders to man and to God. To work is to love our brothers, and in them, God. All work is, at the same time that a service to men, an act of adoration to God.
"All the works of men are done as on an altar, and each of you, in that union of contemplative souls which is your day, says in some way your Mass, which lasts twenty-four hours, in expectation of the next Mass, which will last another twenty-four hours, and so on until the end of our life.".
God associates man with his creative work in the service of man, but he also associates him with the redemptive work of his Son Jesus Christ. Among the many extraordinary lights that St. Josemaría received, on October 6, 1966, during the celebration of Holy Mass, he experienced very vividly the effort of the Holy Mass, through which God made him see that the Mass is true hard work, and that work is a Mass.
"In my sixty-fifth year, I have made a wonderful discovery. I love to celebrate Holy Mass, but yesterday it took me a tremendous effort. What an effort! I saw that the Mass is truly Opus Dei, work, as it was work for Jesus Christ in his first Mass: the Cross. I saw that the office of the priest, the celebration of the Holy Mass, is work to make the Eucharist; that one experiences pain, joy and fatigue. I felt in my flesh the exhaustion of a divine work" "I have never found the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice so difficult as on that day, when I felt that the Mass is also Opus Dei. It gave me a lot of joy, but I was left crumbs (...) This can only be seen when God wants to give it"..
Ernesto Juliá commented that God made St. Josemaría see this, so that he could teach it to everyone,
"That the Work will be realized to the extent that work becomes Mass, and that the Mass will be fully realized to the extent that it becomes work in the life of Josemaría Escrivá and in the life of each one of those called to the Work, just as Christ's life was work".
"This is the doctrine that Josemaría Escrivá must remember in the bosom of the Church. The difficulty that now arises [in understanding the Opus Dei] will also help the Church to understand itself betterThe spiritual life of the Christian is a 'Mass,' 'a work of God,' for the Mass is the whole 'work' of Christ presented to God the Father for the redemption of the world. The spiritual life of the Christian is a 'Mass', 'a work of God', for the Mass is all the 'work' of Christ presented to God the Father for the redemption of the world.".
Working session at the congress of the Catholic University of America.
Scott Hahn, commenting on this, writes in the aforementioned book:
"We work so that we can worship more perfectly. We worship as we work. When the early Christians searched for a word to describe their worship they chose leitourgia. a word which, like the Hebrew word ábodah could indicate ritual worship, but it could also mean 'public service,' such as the work of the street sweepers, or the men who light the street lamps at nightfall. The meaning becomes evident to those who know the biblical languages, whether or not they are familiar with the tradition of the Catholic liturgy."
St. Josemaría often spoke of the "unity of life" of the Christian to refer precisely to this achievement that all life (most of our time in life is spent at work) is an act of adoration of God. In one of St. Josemaría's most famous writings, considered by many to be the Magna Charta of Opus Dei's spirituality, we can read:
"God calls you to at your service in and from the civil, material, secular tasks of human life: in a laboratory, in a laboratory, in a laboratory, in a laboratory, in a laboratory, in a laboratory, in a laboratory, in a laboratory, in a laboratory, in a laboratory.óin a hospital, in the barracks, in theátedra universitaria, in the fáIn the factory, in the workshop, in the field, in the family home and in the entire immense panorama of work, God awaits us every day.ía. Know this well: there is something holy, something divine, hidden in the most difficult situations.áThe most common problems, which it is up to each and every one of you to discover.
I used to tell those university students and workers who came to me in the 1930s that they had to know how to materialize the spiritual life. I wanted to keep them away from the temptation, so frequent then and now, to lead a double life: the interior life, the life of relationship with God, on the one hand; and on the other, distinct and separate, the family, professional and social life, full of small earthly realities.
No, my children! That there cannot be a double life, that we cannot be like schizophrenics, if we want to be Christians: that there is only one life, made of flesh and spirit, and that is the one that has to be –in the soul and in the body– God is holy and full of God: this invisible God, we find him in the most sacred things of the world.áand materials.
There is no other way, my children: either we know how to find the Lord in our ordinary life, or we will never find him. That is why I can tell you that our age needs to give back to matter and to situations that seem more vulgar their noble and original meaning, to place them at the service of the Kingdom of God, to spiritualize them, making of them the means and occasion of our continuous encounter with Jesus Christ.
(...) On the horizon line, my children, heaven and earth seem to meet. But no, where they really come together is in your hearts, when you live your ordinary life in holiness..."..
Conclusions (some, among many others):
Professional work is part, and an important part, of the vocation to holiness itself.
This is an idea that repeats St. Josemaría on many occasions. Being unfaithful to our professional obligations, of service to others, is a way of being unfaithful to Christianity.
When I was studying law at a public university in Madrid, which had an oratory and a religious chaplain, elderly and very pious, he once stopped me in the corridor of the faculty and said to me, more or less (not literally, but almost): "Diego, do you know something? I am beginning to understand you. Today one of the boys who comes from an Opus Dei school confessed to me; he accused himself of 'not studying'. I had never heard that sin before.
Professional work, by placing us in relationship with others, already shows us the sense of mission of our faith.
Faith is practiced not only by going to church, but also, and much more frequently, by going to work. When I give talks on the Christian apostolate, I often repeat that our "apostolic activities" are always full of people, because, for example, a doctor always has a hospital (public or private, Catholic or not, it doesn't matter) full of patients to attend to; a teacher (in a public or private school, Catholic or not, it doesn't matter) has his classrooms full of students to teach; a driver has his bus full of passengers to serve; a stewardess, a musician, a movie actor, a circus clown, a policeman, a miner, a soldier, a sailor, a housewife..... They all have their activities full of people to serve, and they are all apostolic activities, and if they are good professionals, they are all full of people. When St. Josemaría was asked for statistics on the apostolic fruits of Opus Dei, he could not answer, because the work of the Work is countless. When St. Josemaría was asked in 1967, "How do you see the future of Opus Dei in the years to come," he replied:
"Opus Dei is still very young (...) The work that awaits us is enormous. It is a sea without shores, because as long as there are men on earth, no matter how much the technical forms of production change, they will have a work that they can offer to God, that they can sanctify. With the grace of God, the Work wants to teach them to make that work a service to all men of any condition, race, religion. By thus serving men, they will serve God". .
And all this does not mean "instrumentalizing" work in order to "evangelize" but rather giving work its deepest meaning, as our principal work of service and, therefore, of love.
Christians need to be educated from childhood about the evangelical relevance of their professional work.
Young people must be made to understand that professional success is measured by the service they provide to others, and for it to be a good service, they need to be well trained. They are not trained to stand out, but to serve.
This spirit is not only Opus Dei's, but the patrimony of the universal Church,
The Work, as Paul VI emphasized in a handwritten letter addressed to St. Josemaría on October 1, 1964, was born in our time "as a vigorous expression of the perennial youthfulness of the Church. The Church is continually renewing herself, and at times she seems like a ship about to be shipwrecked, but always, in every epoch of history, she is revitalized by the Holy Spirit who guides her.
Persecution will be constant
Opus Dei is persecuted, and will be so as long as the devil is at large, just as Christians of all times have been and will be persecuted, and the more they are persecuted, the more faithful they are to the Gospel. "When the river flows, it carries water", say some skeptics in the face of criticism against the Work. And we Christians respond, at least in our inner self: Jesus Christ was God, and... they crucified him. Look at the success. And precisely on the cross, when they thought they had won, Jesus triumphed definitively over evil, over the devil and death.
At a time when there were people, also within the hierarchy, who wanted to harm Opus Dei, St. Josemaría, a few months before his death in 1975, in a meditation addressed to some of his sons, said to them:
"What can we be concerned about on earth? Nothing! And what is the power of those people? Before the power of God who is with us, it is nothing! And the Saracen hatred of these ecclesiastics and of those whom they handle like monkeys, what can it do against God who is with us? Nothing! And they have the heights and we are in the valley, they have the power and we do not, what does it matter if God is with us! Nothing! Then, the important thing is that God is with us. And then, peace, serenity". .
Instaurare Omnia in Christo
Instaurare omnia in ChristoSt. Paul says to those in Ephesus, and St. Josemaría adds: renew the world in espíJesus Christ, place Christ on high and at the entrance of the world.ñof all things.
The world is waiting for the fullness of its form, which will be given by the reign of Christ. Everything is in place for that end.
It is not in vain that the seal of the work is the cross within the world (like a last that maintains its shape).
On the other hand, God made St. Josemaría see with an extraordinary light the attractive force of the cross if we Christians imprint it in the midst of the world. It was on August 7, 1931, barely two years after God had made him see Opus Dei. What did St. Josemaría see? He himself tells us:
"At the moment of raising the Sacred Host, without losing the proper recollection, without being distracted - I had just made in mente the offering of Merciful Love -, there came to my mind, with extraordinary force and clarity, that of Scripture: 'et si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad me ipsum' (Ioann. 12, 32). Ordinarily, before the supernatural, I am afraid. Then comes the 'ne timeas', it is Me. And I understood that it will be the men and women of God who will raise the Cross with the doctrines of Christ above the pinnacle of all human activity... And I saw the Lord triumph, drawing all things to Himself".
Magnanimity
With this mentality, we Christians must go through the world convinced that we are the strength of God, the salt of the earth, the light of the world.
When, in the 1950s, two young professionals were traveling by train to Galicia (a region in northwestern Spain) to spread Opus Dei there, another passenger approached them and asked: "Are you from the Navy" (because Galicia is home to the Spanish Naval Academy). And one of them, without flinching, answered: "No. We are from the one that is going to happen".
Opus Dei teaches much more than work ethics; it is a theology, a metaphysics of work.
From what we have seen, the spirituality spread by Opus Dei is not a simple "work ethic," as Max Weber said about Calvinist ethics. It is a true "theology of work," a metaphysics of work.
We must work with perfection
It goes without saying that we must always work to the best of our ability, because if work is our offering to God, we must place on the altar a job well done, like Jesus Christ in his workshop and on the cross. "Bene omnia fecitSt. Josemaría said, paraphrasing the Gospel of Mark, and he added:He has done everything admirably well: the great wonders, and the small, everyday things, which dazzled no one, but which Christ performed for the world.ó with the fullness of him who is perfectus Deus, perfectus homo, perfect God and perfect man..
Taking care of the little things
Convince yourselves that ordinarily you will not find room for dazzling feats, among other reasons, because they do not usually present themselves. On the other hand, you will not lack occasions to demonstrate your love for Jesus Christ through the small and ordinary things.
This is not elitism
Opus Dei has sometimes been accused of targeting the best professionals. This is not true. It is addressed to everyone. But whoever learns this spirituality, becomes better every day. Whoever does not want to better himself every day, will not understand this spirit. This eagerness to excel does not consist in standing out from others, but from oneself.
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At the end of the conference, the author projected this short video:
Dated October 1, 2024, the new motu proprio issued by Pope Francis titled ".La vera bellezza"(True Beauty), a measure with which he intervenes on the structure of the Diocese of Rome in an attempt to resolve the long-standing problems arising from the urban separation between the historic center and the periphery. A decision that is not only an administrative measure, but a pastoral response to a challenge that concerns the identity and mission of the diocese of which the Bishop of Rome is the head and which, as such, presides in charity over all the other particular Churches of the world.
Reasons for the reform
The choice of Pope Francis has a fundamental reason: in recent decades, the urban growth of Rome has created a clear division between the historic center and the suburbs. While the core closest to Vatican City, but also to the other papal basilicas, has become a symbolic place and an exclusive destination for pilgrims and tourists, the peripheries have developed rapidly, creating at the same time new pastoral and social needs.
This made it necessary to think of a reorganization that would integrate the historical center into the pastoral dynamics of the peripheries. In this sense, the characteristic "five prefectures" of the Central Sector will be distributed in the four existing peripheral sectors: North, East, South and West. The objective - the Pope explains in the motu proprio - is to favor greater unity in pastoral management and to make the historic center more accessible to all the faithful of the diocese, not only to pilgrims and tourists.
After all, the very center of Rome, with its churches rich in history and art, should not be perceived as a place separate from the daily life of the city, but as an integral part of the spirituality and faith lived by the Romans. In this sense, the upcoming Jubilee of 2025 may be an opportunity to strengthen this link: even the faithful in the suburbs will be more inclined to rediscover the spiritual heritage of the historic center. Obviously, it will be "a path that will require several months of work".
Pastoral continuity
As may be evident, this measure is part of the broader context of the attention that Pope Francis has always paid to the needs of the poor. peripheriesboth geographically and existentially. From the beginning of his pontificate, the Pontiff has insisted on the need for a Church that goes out of her security to reach out to everyone, especially the most marginalized. The reorganization of the Diocese of Rome reflects this vision: eliminating the division between the center and the peripheries means promoting a Church that is more united and capable of witnessing to its mission more effectively.
Four principles
The motu proprio "True Beauty" is based on four principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church, which Francis had already highlighted in his apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium": "time is superior to space", "reality is more important than the idea", "unity prevails over conflict" and "the whole is superior to the part". Principles that he now applies to his diocese, with the aim of building a Church that is more open, inclusive and capable of responding to the challenges of the present and the future.
In particular, Pope Francis stresses that time is a crucial element in pastoral life: time to encounter Christ, time to grow in faith and time to live in community. An invitation to rediscover the beauty of ecclesial unity and to live the faith in a more integrated way, towards a future of greater communion, charity and openness. In this way, Rome is confirmed as a spiritual point of reference for the whole world.
Salvador Rodea, Superior General of the Teatinos: "I believe that we know our charism perfectly well and we want it to be assumed as it is".
Interview with the leader of the Teatinos on the V centenary of their foundation. As a result of this event, he explains the nature of their charism, their identity, mission and the discernment process they are carrying out about their future.
The Theatines, the first religious order composed solely of priests, celebrated the 500th anniversary of their foundation on September 14, 2024. In addition to this occasion, a pilgrimage was made to the St. Peter's Basilicawhere Pope Francis received them with great affection. There addressed an invitation to themFidelity must be renewed. There can be no fidelity that is not renewed; remaining founded on the old, yes, but at the same time ready to demolish what is no longer necessary to build something new docile to the Spirit and trusting in Providence.".
Its name comes from the diocese of the Italian city of Chieti, Theate in Latin, where one of the founders, Pietro Carafa, later Pope Paul IV, was bishop.
Omnes had the opportunity to interview its Superior General, Father Salvador Rodea González, a 54-year-old Mexican engineer, who was re-elected at the 168th General Chapter for a second six-year term, until 2028. He shared some of his thoughts, among them the commitment to strengthen identity; to be creative in adapting whatever is necessary to make people fall in love with Jesus Christ and the process of discernment about future missions "ad gentes" to the East.
The Franciscans and Dominicans are older than you, but the Jesuits are not, are they?
-That's right, the Franciscans, like the Dominicans, are about 800 years old, although we are the first different form of religious, which is called "clerics". We were born in 1524, as an institute of consecrated life with religious life. We are not mendicants like the Franciscans or the Mercedarians, but we are clerics, that is, priests. And fraternal life is one of our great characteristics.
Are you the first religious order composed solely of priests?
-Yes, at the beginning they were all diocesan priests and they took the three vows and began to live in community.
It was said that at the end of the day the theatines gave to the poor everything they had not used.
-It was a very radical idea at the time of St. Caetanus, to live from the Altar and the Gospel, just enough, just enough, nothing more. No fixed income, no business, simply with what was necessary. Providence provided enough to eat. It was a very radical life at that time.
Can you give us some examples?
-There are always people, especially among the richest, who, wanting to save their souls, offer things or have churches and convents built or buy indulgences. There were many who approached us with this intention. For example, in his letters to Count Oppido of Naples, St. Caetan warns him: "If you continue to bring things, we will close this house"; in fact, we try not to have more than what is necessary, what is needed, so as not to lose this radicality.
Your order was born before the Council of Trent. Is it part of the Counter-Reformation?
The term Counter-Reformation has always been used, but the correct term would be Catholic reform, because St. Cajetan did not intend to respond to Luther and other reformers, but to carry out a Christian reform from within the Church, with the charism of the reform of the priesthood.
Let us not forget that St. Caetanus was an apostolic prothonotary, therefore he knew many details of the time about the religious and secular clergy, he knew the excesses and vices, and he considered that things could not go on like that.
So it was with St. Caetanus that a reform among the clergy began?
-In fact, the origin of the reform comes from St. Catherine of Siena, it was forged in the 15th century, ending in the 16th century with the Council of Trent.
What about the Jesuits?
-They were born in 1540, that is, 16 years after the Theatines. St. Caetano was related to St. Ignatius of Loyola and there are two theories: one that the Pope wanted the Jesuits to join us, and the other the opposite. But there were charismatic characteristics that prevented this fusion.
If I am not mistaken, in the audience Pope Francis indicated that "it is said that the Theatines had something with the Jesuits"....
-In fact, one of the founders of the Theatines was Pietro Carafa and it is said that when he was elected Pope Paul IV, St. Ignatius trembled, he considered the fact adverse to his order, instead Paul IV confirmed the Jesuits.
The charisma has changed today, what is the challenge before you?
-The charism should be the same, adapting it to the present time. The Theatines suffered in 1910 a loss of the originality of the charism, because there were only 16 Theatines left in the Order in the whole world. Then Pope St. Pius X, who had great devotion to St. Caetan, said that it was necessary to prevent them from disappearing. The Prefect of Consecrated Life at that time proposed that two congregations of Diocesan Right that were on the island of Mallorca unite to strengthen the Theatines.
Since the Theatines were already an order of pontifical right, the name was kept, but with this fusion they became more than a hundred with the Ligurians and those of the Holy Family, losing a little the essence by uniting these different spiritualities. Then the Superior General of that time asked to return to the study of the sources and then followed the foundations in Mexico, Argentina and later in Brazil, always looking for the originality of the charism, adapting it but without losing the essence.
What then is the main challenge for the Theatines today?
-I believe that we Theatines know our charism perfectly well, and we want it to be assumed as it is. That is why we are always working on initial and ongoing formation, because we want there to be a clear identity.
The second challenge is to be creative and, therefore, to understand the figure of the world; otherwise, we work as we did in the 16th century. On the other hand, today the image of the world is different and that of the 21st century even more so, so we must understand how to adapt ourselves in order to reach our people, inviting them and making them fall in love with Our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the great challenge.
What is most attractive about theatines in today's world, especially among young people?
-Among the young people who knock on our door to become theatines, what attracts them most is fraternal life in the face of a world that invites individuality, selfishness and consumerism.
They also have other apostolate structures, don't they?
-Even though we live from Providence, we have schools and houses of spirituality. These are part of a dynamic of Church life aimed at preparing young people, children and families through education. In this way, instead of giving them a bag of food, we prepare them for tomorrow by giving them the tools they need to face the future. Better than receiving an apple is being able to grow it. Although education was not a charisma that existed at the beginning, it is a charisma that we inherited from the Ligorians.
Could you give me an example?
-In the city of Cali, Colombia, when we arrived in a neighborhood with so much violence, we thought of a dining hall for the children, then we saw that it was not enough and we built a school. But how do you do it when the children come without having breakfast? And then when they leave they go to places where there is violence... So we adapt everything: they come to school, go to class, have breakfast, follow lessons, have lunch, play sports and in the afternoon they go home.
This neighborhood has changed after 30 years, to the point that it has been upgraded to a higher category, and now we are in difficulties because the taxes have increased significantly, before it was category 5, now it is category 3 and therefore we cannot maintain it. What do we do? Do we give it to the diocese or do we change the neighborhood to work in? We need to reflect on these things.
How many priests are in the order?
We are 147 priests, 7 deacons, 5 solemnly consecrated, about twenty first-professed theologians, as well as novices and aspirants, mostly from Mexico and Brazil.
In Argentina there is a lot of devotion to San Caetano as the patron saint of bread and work, why?
-It is a devotion that was born almost spontaneously thanks to Mama Antula. She was the one who brought it to the convent where they started. They built a chapel there and the train that came to Buenos Aires from the interior of the country used to arrive there, and when people got off the train they thought they would find work and there was the statue of San Cayetano. God uses unthinkable means.
Were there particular difficulties in some countries?
-We had a wonderful presence in some countries from which it was necessary to leave for reasons of war or because we could not get there, in Asia, in the Caucasus, in Armenia, in Africa. Although now we are receiving invitations from these places and listening to the voice of the Spirit, because some confreres feel the desire to go to other cultures and are opening their hearts. In fact we are in the West, but not in Asia or Africa. And probably we will have a missionary branch 'ad gentes' as it was said in the Second Vatican Council. We are in discernment. Although here in Europe we need to re-evangelize, the voice of the Spirit does not tire and opens new doors.
How to get out of the crisis and save the marriage
Although it is sometimes difficult to see it, there are many reasons for wanting to save your marriage: the good of the couple itself; the good of the children, if there are any; and the good of society.
Recently in a conversation I had with a devastated man, he expressed: "I don't know what is going on but I don't like the fact that I take care of one man's children while my children are taken care of by another".
He came to me for guidance in times of confusion and pain. It had been a couple of years since he separated from his wife and both of them already had a new partner. At the time, they both thought their relationship was unsustainable and saw divorce as the only solution.
But their current reality screams at them that they did not bet on a real solution, but succumbed to the modern deception of immediate gratification.
Now they both want to go back. They wish they could be reunited but they are afraid.
Recognizing crises
In the face of crisis, we can either self-destruct or grow. Crisis involves facing unexpected circumstances for which we are unprepared. They come into our lives to make us aware of our strengths. But if we rush, we lose the opportunity to grow and, paralyzed, we opt for what appears as an immediate solution. In marital crises, we may be haunted by the phrase: "I'm leaving today" or "You're leaving now! But it is necessary that we opt for real solutions, that we choose to grow and not to victimize ourselves.
Saving the marriage
So I ask that if you are going through a crisis in your marriage, you stop before making any decisions and consider this path of blessing for both of you, for all of your marriage, and for all of your life. family.
First of all, to save your marriage you have to want it: a little willingness and with the right tools, you will take your relationship to an enviable level. Stop. Think that you don't really want to end your marriage, but rather the problems in it.
There are many reasons for wanting to save your marriage: the good of your children (studies support the conviction that the best psychological and emotional development of children occurs in homes where mom and dad love each other); the good of the couple itself (there is ample evidence that a well-matched marriage feels good physically and emotionally); and the good of society (the social fabric is broken down in many ways by divorce and separation).
Making decisions in the midst of conflict is a mistake with serious consequences: calm down, there is no hurry. Tell your spouse: "I need help and I will seek it".
Nourish hope: to think that it is not possible to live together in peace under the same roof is a delusion. Everything has a solution with a sincere effort and with God's help.
Avoid accusations: it does not work at all to be underlining everything that the other does wrong under the eyes of the spouse who feels frustrated. The best thing to do is to think carefully about the personal changes that need to be made, recognizing that no human being is perfect, neither are we. I can commit myself to changes in my own behavior. If I have vices, accept with peace that they are hurting me and those I should love the most. Work to replace those vices with their equivalent virtues. Seek personal help before proposing couples therapy.
To cleanse the heart of all kinds of grievances: to know how to forgive, to act as if the offense had not occurred, to stop anchoring oneself in the past and to decide to improve in the present.
Persevere in the fight: your marriage needs you. Even if the other has declared that he or she no longer loves you or can do nothing, you are on the team of Jesus Christ who said firmly: "what God has joined together let no man put asunder" (Mt 19, 4-6). It is not about begging for love, but giving it with maturity. We should not encourage codependency but work to become the best version of ourselves. It is about bringing marriage to a joyful maturity in love.
Lean on God: turn to the expert in love. Let us pray and ask for prayers from those who love us. Let there be no doubt: God wants unity.
A new conquest must be undertaken. Dedicate yourself to falling in love with your spouse every day. Stop seeing what he does not give you and start giving what you have stopped giving because of your own resentments.
Fulfill your own responsibility and put the rest in God's hands. Do you want the good wine of love to reach your home? Do your part, fill the water jars to the brim and God will work the miracle.
What has happened to us so that even something as pleasant for some and economically interesting for others as tourism has become a source of conflict?
Tourismphobia is a trend that I know well because I am lucky enough to live in one of the world's most fashionable tourist destinations: Malaga. My city keeps appearing in the rankings of the most desired places to visit. Its pleasant climate, its wide cultural and museum offer, the beauty of its streets, beaches and natural landscapes, the friendliness of its people (forgive the immodesty), and its unique gastronomy have made it an enviable place where everyone wants to come to live or at least spend a few days.
The benefits of this trend for the people of Malaga are unquestionable, as the income from tourism benefits everyone, but there are also many drawbacks that we have to suffer: young people have to look for a house outside the city because they cannot access the real estate market, rising prices of basic products, overcrowding of streets and public spaces, disappearance of traditional commerce...
Tourism overcrowding and tourism phobia
Tourist overcrowding has the paradoxical power to transform unique spaces, and therefore admired, in common and hateful. A Malaga without muscatel, espetos and pescaíto, because what tourists like are hamburgers and imported beer, would not be the city that inspired Picasso; and a Malaga with beaches, museums and bars crowded to the point of not finding room, would not be the City of Paradise that the Nobel Vicente Aleixandre sang about; and a Malaga without Malagueños, would not be the city that Antonio Banderas takes for idem. The same could be said of other cities such as Venice, Rome, Athens or Cancun. Finding the right balance is difficult and it is up to the institutions to get down to work so as not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
However, today I would like to reflect on another no less important perspective for finding solutions to the problem of tourismphobia, and that is the way we behave when we go sightseeing. I remember with great affection Ana, a saintly woman of my family. parish that, during pilgrimages, she would not allow the service staff to make her room in the hotels where we stayed for several nights. She said that the bed was the first thing she had made every morning since she was a little girl and that, because she was away from home, she was not going to stop doing it. "This way, besides," she would tell me with the shining eyes of someone preparing a surprise, "I'll give the girl a treat when she comes into my room."
His attitude helped me to understand that tourists should be aware that the places they pass through are not their home. But not, as many do, to be uninhibited and behave as they would not do at home; but to be extremely respectful and careful, as when you are a guest in a strange home. Because one leaves the next day and if I have seen you I do not remember, but the people who work there and those who live in that city, deserve my consideration and thanks for their hospitality.
The essence of tourism
Without going to the extreme of Ana, whose attitude could put a lot of people out of work if it spreads, we should review what tourism means to us: is it a superficial experience that consists only of seeing new things and indulging our senses without caring about who is around us or, on the contrary, do we seek to admire beauty, enrich our spirit and meet people from other places?
In this regard, the recent message from the Holy See on the occasion of the World Tourism Day advocated placing the culture of encounters at the center of tourism activity, so strongly defended by Pope Francis "the encounter," says the text, "is an instrument of dialogue and mutual knowledge; it is a source of respect and recognition of the dignity of the other; it is an indispensable premise for building lasting bonds".
Tourists or pilgrims?
We must seek to encounter others because we are pilgrims in a world in which countries are ever closer, but people are ever farther apart. For this reason, Pope Francis recently invited young people not to be mere tourists, but pilgrims. "May your journey," he told them, "not be simply a passing through the places of life in a superficial way: without capturing the beauty of what you encounter, without discovering the meaning of the roads you travel, capturing brief moments, fleeting experiences to preserve them in a selfie. The tourist does this. The pilgrim, on the other hand, immerses himself fully in the places he finds, makes them speak, makes them part of his search for happiness".
That is the key, not to lose sight, at home and abroad, that we are pilgrims and we are just passing through. So "¡Buen camino!
Journalist. Graduate in Communication Sciences and Bachelor in Religious Sciences. He works in the Diocesan Delegation of Media in Malaga. His numerous "threads" on Twitter about faith and daily life have a great popularity.
Dialogue and inculturation of the faith. Keys to the Pope in Asia and Oceania
On his longest apostolic journey to date Pope Francis has sought to bring a message of hope and closeness to the faithful of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore.
What has the Pope said in the countries of Asia and Oceania that he has visited? There are those who look for "novelties" in the papal teachings, but what is important is what he says in the different contexts.
Following in the footsteps of the previous pontiffs, he has visited Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor y Singapore. Already in Rome, at the general audience of the following Wednesday (18-IX-2024), he thanked God for having granted him "....do as an old Pope what I would have wanted to do as a young Jesuit, because I wanted to go there as a missionary.".
Compared to the current situation in Europe, he noted, the Church is much more alive in those places, and he has seen this by listening to the testimonies of priests, nuns, lay people and above all "catechists, who are the ones who carry out evangelization".
Faith, fraternity, compassion
In Indonesia, Christians are few in number (10 %) and Catholics are a minority (3 %). In a place where Muslims are very numerous, the Pope admired the nobility and harmony in diversity, so that Christians can witness to their faith in dialogue with great religious and cultural traditions.
The motto of the visit to that country was ".faith, fraternity and compassionvalues that the Pope underlined for everyone, starting with Christians (cf. Speech at the Cathedral of Jakarta, "The Pope has stressed the importance of the following values, 4-XI-2024). In this framework, the Gospel enters every day in the concrete, in the life of every people, welcoming it and giving it the grace of the dead and risen Jesus.
Dialogue and collaboration among believers
Francis held an interreligious meeting in Jakarta at the Istiqlal Mosque (cf. Speech 5-IX-2024), designed by a Christian architect and linked to the Catholic Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption by the "subway tunnel of friendship". The Pope encouraged the faithful to continue with this communication in the life of the country: "I encourage you to continue along this path: that all of us, all together, each cultivating our own spirituality and practicing our own religion, may walk in search of God and contribute to building open societies, founded on mutual respect and mutual love, capable of isolating rigidities, fundamentalisms and extremisms, which are always dangerous and never justifiable".
In this perspective, he wanted to give them two orientations. First of all, always see in depth, because beyond the differences between religions, differences in doctrines, rites and practices, "...," he said.we could say that the common root of all religious sensibilities is one: the search for an encounter with the divine, the thirst for the infinite that the Most High has placed in our hearts, the search for a greater joy and a life stronger than death, which animates the journey of our lives and urges us to go out of ourselves to meet God.". And he insisted on the fundamental: "Looking in depth, perceiving what flows in the most intimate part of our lives, the desire for fullness that lives in the depths of our hearts, we discover that we are all brothers, all pilgrims, all on the way to God, beyond what differentiates us.".
In doing so, he alluded to one of the key issues of these days: the significance of religions, and the dialogue and collaboration between believers (cf. the analysis of Ismatu Ropi, an Indonesian Muslim academic, in Alpha and Omega12-IX-2024). A few days later he would tell the young people in Singapore: "all religions are a path to God". (Encounter, 13-IX-2024). This is so, and it is fulfilled in the religions themselves and to the extent that they respect human dignity and do not oppose the Christian faith. This is not said, therefore, in reference to the deformations of religion such as violence, terrorism, Satanism, etc.
On the other hand, neither did the Pope affirm that religions are equivalent to each other, or that they have the same value in the Christian perspective (cf. the Declaration on the Christian Faiths of the Church of Jesus Christ of Nazareth). Nostra Aetate of the Second Vatican Council and the subsequent magisterium (cf. the Declaration Dominus Iesus, of 2000).
In fact, Catholic doctrine teaches that religions, along with elements of truth and goodness, have elements that need to be purified.
Secondly, Francis invited us to take care of the relationships between believers. Just as a subway passage connects, it creates a link, "what really brings us closer is creating a connection between our differences, taking care to cultivate bonds of friendship, attention, reciprocity.".
In fact, far from any relativism or syncretism, these links, as previous Popes have also insisted and practiced, "...are the result of the same bonds that have been established in the past.allow us to work together, to walk together in the pursuit of some goal, in the defense of human dignity, in the fight against poverty, in the promotion of peace. Unity is born of personal bonds of friendship, of mutual respect, of the mutual defense of the spaces and ideas of others.".
In other words, it is "promoting religious harmony for the good of humanity"The Joint Declaration prepared for this occasion is along these lines (cf. Istiqlal joint statement).
"In it we assume responsibility for the great and sometimes dramatic crises that threaten the future of humanity, particularly wars and conflicts, unfortunately also fueled by religious instrumentalizations; but also the environmental crisis, which has become an obstacle to the growth and coexistence of peoples. Against this backdrop, it is important that the values common to all religious traditions be promoted and strengthened, helping society to 'eradicate the culture of violence and indifference'.’".
A beacon of light and beauty
The Pope said in his audience on Wednesday, September 18 that in Papua New Guinea he found "the beauty of a missionary Church, going forth". This archipelago, where more than eight hundred languages are spoken, appeared to him as an ideal environment for the action of the Holy Spirit that "loves to make the message of Love resonate in the symphony of languages"..
The country has a great Christian majority and a quarter of them are Catholics. There he highlighted the evangelizing work of the missionaries and catechists; the atmosphere of understanding, without violence; the horizon of fraternity and human development as "leaven" of the Gospel. "Because"He said, evoking the magisterium of his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI, "....there is no new humanity without new men and new women, and this can only be done by the Lord.".
"To all who profess to be Christians." noted upon arrival in the country, "I strongly urge you not to reducefaith to an observance of rites and precepts, but that it consists in love, in loving and following Jesus Christ, and that it can become a lived culture, inspiring minds and actions, becoming a beacon of light that illuminates the path. In this way, faith will be able to help society as a whole to grow and find good and effective solutions to its great challenges."(Meeting with the authorities at the "APEL Haus", Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 7-IX-2024).
Inculturation of faith and education
Francis turned his attention to East Timor, the youngest country in Asia: about 65 % of the population is under 30 years of age, it has 98 % Catholics and, at the same time, it is a poor country in need of support, starting with literacy.
In his history, he noted at the general audience of the 18th, "highlights the strength of the human and social promotion of the Christian message."where the Church has collaborated with all the people in the process of independence, on the road to peace and reconciliation.
"It's not about"He pointed out, recalling the visit of John Paul II in 1989 to those lands, "....of an ideologization of faith, no, it is faith that becomes culture and at the same time illuminates, purifies and elevates it. (...) It is necessary to inculturate faith and evangelize cultures.". This is another key to the Pope's trip.
He encouraged them to continue on this path to overcome new challenges: emigration and unemployment, poverty, alcohol consumption among young people. He urged them to carefully train the future ruling class of the country, with the support of the Social Doctrine of the Church: "Invest in education, in education in the family and in education at school. An education that puts children and young people at the center and promotes their dignity. (...) The enthusiasm, freshness, projection towards the future, courage and ingenuity, typical of the young, together with the experience and wisdom of the elderly, form a providential mixture of knowledge and generous impulses for tomorrow."(Meeting with the authorities at the Presidential Palace in Dili, 9-IX-2024)
In his meeting with the Catholic hierarchy and pastoral collaborators (cf. Speech in the cathedral of Dili, 10-IX-2024) he invited them to care for and spread the perfume of the Christian message.. To this end, he proposed to combat mediocrity, spiritual lukewarmness and worldliness, and to promote evangelization with a spirit of service, taking care to provide adequate formation: "Do not stop deepening in the doctrine of the Gospel, do not stop maturing in spiritual, catechetical and theological formation, because all this is necessary to announce the Gospel in this culture of yours and, at the same time, to purify it of archaic and sometimes superstitious forms.".
"Let us remember that with the perfume we must anoint the feet of Christ, which are the feet of our brothers and sisters in faith, beginning with the poorest. The most privileged are the poorest. And with this perfume we must take care of them. The gesture that the faithful make when they meet you is eloquent here,priests: they take the consecrated hand, bring it close to their forehead as a sign of blessing.".
During the Mass in Dili, the capital of the country, in which half of the population (about 700,000 people) participated, he proposed to them to become small before God (cf. Homily, 10-IX-2024). bullying (Encounter, 11-IX-2024).
Nothing is built without love
The last stop of his trip was Singapore, a country very different from the previous ones, at the forefront of the economy and material progress. With few Christians but alive and committed to fraternal dialogue between ethnic groups, cultures and religions. Even in wealthy Singapore there are the "little ones" who follow the Gospel and become salt and light, witnesses of a greater hope than that which economic benefits can guarantee.
During the Mass he celebrated at the national stadium, the Singapore Sports Hub (cfr. Homily, 12-IX-2024) among the great skyscrapers stressed that nothing is built without love, although some might think that this is a naive statement.
Finally, in the meeting with young people (Catholic Junior College(13-IX-2024) asked them to cultivate a healthy and constructive critical spirit: "Young people must be courageous enough to build, to move forward and to get out of the 'comfort' zones. A young person who always chooses to spend his life in a 'comfortable' way, is a young person who gets fat. But he does not fatten his belly, he fattens his mind.". Then you have to take risks, to go out, not to be afraid to make mistakes. We must use the media in such a way that they help, not enslave.
Talking about marriage is, perhaps, one of the most important attitudes in the world. punkWe Catholics are called to defend, promote and incarnate.
October 4, 2024-Reading time: 2minutes
The Real Academia Española de la Lengua (Royal Spanish Academy of Language) describes, in its third meaning, the term punk as a "musical movement that emerges as a youth protest and whose followers adopt unconventional attire and behavior".. According to this description, to speak of a so-called marriage, marriageis perhaps one of the most important attitudes punkWe Catholics are called to defend, promote and incarnate.
To show, not only that a solid marriage between a man and a woman can be lived in spite of all the trials and tribulations - rivers, muds and mire - but also that this unique, imperfectly perfect relationship is not only plausible, but also the healthiest thing for a society (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, 52)
In that marvel of a text, the Letter to Diognetus, referring to the first Christians, we read that "just like everyone else, they marry and beget children, but they do not get rid of the children they conceive. They have the table in common, but not the bed.". Eighteen centuries later, if we want to "to be in the world what the soul is in the body", we are called to see ourselves reflected in this definition. Today more than ever, the revolution that the world and society need has, at its epicenter, marriage.
Along with this conviction, we cannot ignore the fact that our society is intimately wounded in this primordial nucleus that is marriage, especially in what we call the West: gender ideology, the ease of divorce, the numerous broken families, fierce individualism..., make it urgent that the Church, each one of us Catholics, from our own vocation, respond to this call for healing. Recovering marriage is, perhaps, the "sign of the times" of our passage through the world.
With this recovery we speak of family accompaniment, preparation for marriage, formation of affectivity and, above all, of welcoming all those who come to this "field hospital" or those who must be sought out on the outskirts of our society.
As a priest who organized a macro-wedding for a score of couples who had not received the sacrament of matrimony noted: "We'll have to stain ourselves! We'll have to do something to make those who 'won't marry' at least consider getting married!"
"The good of the family is decisive for the future of the world and the Church."the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia. For this reason, marriage, the first constituted family, continues to be a pastoral challenge for the laity, priests and consecrated persons in which we must invest creativity, effort and time. Yes, we will have to get dirty!
The Second Session of the Synod aims to be "a service of the Church to the world".
The members of the Second Session of the Synod of Bishops hope that this journey of the People of God will become "a service of the Church to the world," in which freedom, harmony and peace will stand out.
After the morning's work, some members of the Second Session of the Synod of Bishops gave a press conference to talk about the beginning of these days, which will last until the end of October.
During the hearing, the following spoke Giacomo Costa Riccardo Battocchio, both Special Secretaries of the Assembly; María de los Dolores Palencia Gómez and Monsignor Daniel Ernest Flores, both Delegate Presidents of the Assembly; and Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication.
The Prefect was the first to speak and confirm that the members of the Second Session will try to appear daily before the media to comment on the work of the day. Ruffini also explained that the essential elements of this Second Session are spirituality and prayer, as shown by the retreat with which everything began.
The Prefect commented that "the world situation is very much on the minds and in the hearts of those participating in the Synod," so the day began with a prayer for peace.
The Synod is a way
For his part, Giacomo Costa began his speech by assuring that the Second Session is not a mere repetition of what happened in 2023. He assured that "we have learned a lot" and that the members of the Assembly are "called to go one step further than last year".
The Special Secretary then clarified some ideas about the Synod of Synodality, the first of them echoing Pope Francis: "This is not a parliamentary assembly, but a place of listening and communion". Costa developed this by assuring that "the Synod is a place to opt for Life" and to "take a step towards forgiveness", proof of which is the Penitential Act that took place within the framework of the Assembly.
On the other hand, the Secretary General pointed out that these days of work are not "the final destination", but that there is still a long way to go. So much so, that until the month of June 2025 all the People of God can send their contributions to the working groups. The General Secretariat of the Synod "will be in charge of compiling the contributions and delivering them to the interested working groups".
From this stems a fundamental idea that Pope Francis has often repeated: the most important thing about the Synod is not the topics discussed, but learning to work together as a Church.
Synodal, missionary and merciful Church
Monsignor Riccardo Battocchio, also Special Secretary, spoke about the importance of the Penitential Act, which is part of the search for union with the whole Church. "The penitential act"He said "it seeks to set the tone for the whole assembly", "to give a style to the Church", which becomes aware of the reality of sin.
Alongside this wound, he continued, the Church observes that "the love of God does not tire, but makes us capable of living new relationships". This gives us the opportunity to become what Msgr. Battocchio called a "missionary and merciful synodal Church.
Battocchio also highlighted the work of the theologians in this Second Session, during which their task will be to facilitate "attentive listening and theological understanding of the contributions at the individual and group levels. Thanks to them, the Special Secretary stressed, "it will be possible to draw up a final document.
The Synod and the harmony of perspectives
For her part, María de los Dolores Palencia Gómez expressed her joy during the press conference for the opportunity given to the delegate presidents and facilitators to meet beforehand to resolve doubts and create community". Thanks to this, "the Assembly has begun with much encouragement and freedom".
The Delegate President conveyed her feeling "that the journey is made together" and that the idea is not to draft a final document, but to "work" and "deepen" the issues in order to fulfill the objective of "the mission", that is, to evangelize. Palencia Gómez ended his speech by summarizing the Synod as "a service of the Church to the world".
The last to speak was Monsignor Daniel Ernest, who reiterated that the members of the Assembly have not "arrived at the same place as last year" but have grown". He also defended the synodal method as an opportunity for each member of the People of God to offer his perspective.
"Perspective is not an enemy of truth, but the normal way of acting in the Church," said the Delegate President. As an example of this, he pointed to the four Gospels. In the same sense, he affirmed that "it is important for the Church to listen, not to accept everything that others say, but to understand".
Trini and Alberto: "Marriage is for enjoyment. We are lovers."
First they wrote 'Sex for nonconformists'.. Now, Trini Puente, Alberto Baselga and Antonio Tormo (+), have written '.Marriage for nonconformistsin which they launch a positive and realistic message about marriage. The October issue of Omnes magazine is about marriage, a topic of universal interest, and this interview can be an appetizer of what you will find in the dossier.
Francisco Otamendi-October 3, 2024-Reading time: 8minutes
The authors of 'Marriage for Nonconformists' make it clear that "there will be compromises, as in any human relationship, but marriage is for enjoyment". But neither should an unrealistically 'happy' marriage be presented, in which no mention is made of challenges.
They consciously repeat one word, "lovers.". They love the term "lovers" because "that's what we spouses are: experts at loving and letting ourselves be loved," they say.
A flash on the authors of this book, edited by RialpTrini Puente has directed educational centers for 20 years, and is director of the 2rd cabinet. And her husband, Alberto Baselga, has a master's degree in Promotion and Sexual Health from the Uned. Both have a master's degree in Marriage and Family from the University of Navarra and are professors at the UIC in Barcelona. Antonio Tormo, director and scriptwriter of more than 50 documentaries, has just passed away.
Neither in the book nor in the interview they avoid any topic, for example, sexuality, "nuclear in marriage", or the need to "recover the tenderness and the looks of love". To expand, these are her Instagram accounts, @lonuestro.infoand on Facebook, lonuestro.info.
Let's get to the conversation.
His book is written by six hands. Talk a little about the third co-author, Antonio Tormo, a man of cinema.
-Antonio has been a great friend, teacher and confidant, and he has just passed away. We met many years ago, but we never imagined that we would write a book together. When we started working on the book, his health had already begun to deteriorate.
We felt privileged to have shared so many meetings, chatting about the book, about the good we wanted to do and how to get it there. In his unwavering optimism, he used to say: "Let it be a timeless book. That, years from now, if someone reads it, nothing will sound old to them."
He was a man of great faith, and now that faith has been confirmed. He had a deep love for God and Our Lady. He was a person without prejudice, who wanted to help everyone, regardless of whether or not they shared his ideas. We thank God for having found him on our path and for having accepted us as his apprentices.
We also thank professors Jaime Nubiola, Lucas Buch and José Brage who helped us with recommendations and clarifications. And of course to all the friends who read the manuscript and gave their opinion.
Marriage is to be enjoyed, you reiterate. The desire to love and be loved, and for life. And yet, the social perspective is often quite negative.
- We always say that marriage is for enjoyment, not for bitterness. There will be compromises, as in any human relationship, but to exaggerate that aspect is a mistake. Neither should an unrealistically 'happy' marriage be presented, in which challenges are not mentioned, or if they are presented, solutions are offered that are not useful because of their simplicity, but that inexperienced people take as true.
This is dangerous because it creates expectations that are not real. Young people are enthused without verifying if they have the formation and the necessary qualities to live marriage to the fullest. It is not a matter of motivating them, but of forming them in the truth. And the truth is sufficiently attractive, for those who have this vocation, to enthuse them.
There is a word they repeat a lot, and it seems consciously. Lovers. Love stories.
- We love the word "lovers" because that is what we spouses are: experts in loving and letting ourselves be loved. It is a word that we must recover to define those married couples who struggle every day to increase their love.
Knowing how to be happy is key in life and, of course, in marriage. In the book we include real life examples of people who have or have not known how to be happy. First you have to desire happiness and then put in place the means to achieve it. This is an important theme that we develop in depth.
How to have good sex in marriage, is the title of one section. We ask you.
- This book is intended for believers and non-believers alike. Sometimes, on our Instagram, we get asked, "As Catholics, what should we do in sexuality?" What many don't know is that God has placed sexuality in human beings and has given us the instructions through revelation. We know what makes us happy and what does not. What we Catholics must do is to make this message known without putting God as an excuse, using the intelligence He has given us. Since this message is for all mankind, not only for Catholics, isn't it?
The first thing is to see sexuality as something clean, willed by God. In the book we explain that sex is meant for marriage, and only in this context is it truly fulfilling. Outside of it, you do not receive the benefits that God has prepared and it does not make you a better person. In marriage, on the other hand, it does. Good sex in marriage makes you a better person. At Marriage for nonconformistsWe stop to explain it in detail because, said in this way, it is surprising. It seems that sex is something permitted, consented to, in marriage, but not something holy and desired by God.
To despise sex is to despise something fundamental to human nature, they say.
- We go a step further and say that, to a certain extent, to despise sex is to do God a disservice. As we mentioned before, God has placed sex in the world for marriage, and when it is used outside of it, it is detracted from. We must recover that clean look towards what is a divine gift, a means to give glory to God within marriage.
Satisfactory sexual relations, enjoyed by both partners, strengthen the marriage. They help to forgive more easily, increase complicity, and facilitate the education of children, since the couple better understands each other's point of view. Enjoying sex in marriage is not something minor; those of us who have experienced it know that it strengthens mutual understanding and affection.
What about when you turn one year older? Male and female sexuality are different.
- Indeed, male and female sexuality are very different, and in the book we address this topic in depth, explaining it from a scientific point of view. We analyze the male and female brain, exploring where sexual desire resides and what differences exist between the two. We also analyze how everyday concerns affect desire. It's not just a question of education; there is an important biological basis.
Over the years, these differences become more pronounced, so it is essential to get to know each other well and talk openly about what each of you likes. A good tip for married couples is to schedule intimate encounters. This does not detract from spontaneity, but allows you to prepare the ground and disconnect the brain to enjoy the moment.
The more we talk about sex in marriage, the easier it will be to explain it to our children. We also discuss in the book how to approach the subject of sexuality with children.
Oral sex, the so-called sex toys, anal sex. In the book they talk about it openly. Some practices are sold as if it were Disneyland.
- Many young people believe that certain practices are forbidden to them because they are Catholic, such as anal sex. In this book, we address this issue bluntly, explaining what this practice consists of, so that each person can reflect on whether it is something good in itself or a bad use of their sexuality.
Although in pornography, both visual and written, it is presented as something appetizing and natural, our vision is quite different. Here we explain the preparations, risks and consequences that many people are unaware of.
We know that this chapter may come as a surprise, but we believe it is necessary to speak honestly. It is important for anyone to have a clear understanding of what anal intercourse is all about, and for our young people to have access to the right information to decide for themselves whether or not this practice enhances their sexuality.
Children. Birth rates are very low in the Western world, with some exceptions. One suffers with this issue. Some consideration of natural methods.
- It was another subject that took us many hours to discuss and meditate on. It cannot be trivialized. Contraceptive methods have taken hold in society and among Catholics. Having a large family is seen as irresponsible or something complicated to advise.
Natural methods were intended as a way to learn about a woman's fertility rhythms and to better understand her sexuality, not to compete in effectiveness with the pill, condoms, IUDs, etc.
The use of natural methods is something very intimate in the couple and of conscience. The number of children is something that concerns the conscience of the spouses. Hence the importance of forming their conscience well. To trivialize it from one extreme or the other is to oversimplify an issue that must be resolved by the couple. In the book we try to deal with it objectively.
In your book you talk about phases of love in marriage, childhood, adolescence, maturity. Can you explain this for a moment?
- Marriage, married life, is not something static and immutable; it is like people, who go through childhood, adolescence and maturity. Childhood represents the early days, when everything is easy and we are ready for anything. Then come the mortgage, children, daily coexistence, work, political families, etc., factors that make us enter a complicated stage. It is what we call the adolescence of love. Depending on the case, this stage will be more or less complicated.
Without going through this stage, mature or true love will never be achieved. We must try to go through this phase in the best possible way and mature our love as soon as possible. As in biological adolescence, there will be people - in this case, married couples - who will remain in adolescence all their lives, without reaching true love. On the contrary, others will overcome this stage soon and come to enjoy their marriage quickly.
A good formation and a good accompaniment will make many marriages happy and set an example to their children and to society.
Marriage breakups are frequent, despite the fact that the bride and groom, when they got married, only had eyes for their wife or husband. How do you keep your heart? They talk about infidelities...
- Marriage is the most complicated relationship, but it is the only one that leads to true love. Just because it is natural does not mean that it is easy. Jesus reproaches the Pharisees for having adapted marriage to their needs. Haven't we done the same?
In order for everyone to fit in, have we not lowered our standards, allowing married couples to settle for a flat and shallow married life? We speak of the original marriage, that which is in the core of the human being and which leads him or her to give glory to God.
The bride and groom, once married, must take care of that love and be accompanied by couples who enjoy their relationship or by trained people with the necessary knowledge to help them. It is necessary to make a real transformation in marriage preparation.
As for infidelities, it seems that only sexual infidelity is mentioned. In the book, we mention some others, such as infidelity of the heart. This consists of closing oneself to the other, not accepting anything he or she offers. In some cases, we pretend to have a 'happy marriage', but deep down in our hearts we are closed to love. There are many cases that we describe in the book, and we also deal with more infidelities that complicate the path to true love.
The penultimate one: How do you 'recover' the wife, or husband, in marriage? Perhaps we have experienced it. What is your recipe?
- There is no magic formula, but what is essential is the willingness of both parties to heal and strengthen the relationship. It is about remembering the love that once united you and that, over time, may have been neglected.
In our book, we offer some practical advice, such as learning to express each other's needs. Often, marriages that run into difficulties are not only due to selfishness, but also to lack of communication or poor advice.
It is important that both parties understand the mistakes they may have made and, with mutual support, work to fix them. The good news is that most problems can be solved, as long as there is commitment and a sincere desire to regain love.
And the last one. It is moving to see you talk about tenderness, about the look... The world is hard, sometimes implacable. Happy marriages improve society, they conclude.
- Our objective with this book is to make marriages happy and therefore stable. What good are stable marriages if they are not happy? Bright and cheerful homes begin with happy marriages. Maintaining them is relatively easy. Striving for happiness is what makes the difference. Tenderness and loving glances must be recovered. In our book we try to explain how.
Tenderness and glances are not sentimentality, they are the food for love. The real transformation of our society will be made by happy marriages.
If we want to create a new Christian culture as an alternative to the present one, what are the steps we should take?
October 3, 2024-Reading time: 5minutes
We are called to be salt and light in our present world, however complex it may be. We must care for our brothers and fight with all our strength for the regeneration of our society. We have not chosen it, but this is the time that God has given us to live among our brothers and sisters, to walk at their side. As Gandalf said to Frodo Baggins: "We cannot choose the times we live in, the only thing we can do is decide what to do with the time we have been given." God has given us this time, and we are responsible for opening new paths, as well as keeping our heritage alive. But then, if we want to create a new Christian culture to serve as an alternative to the one that is already emerging in our world today, what are the steps we should take?
In my life I have had many teachers, as Gandalf was for Bilbo. Fernando Sebastián, Archbishop of Pamplona and Bishop of Tudela, with whom I had the privilege of working side by side as delegate for education in the diocese of Navarre.
I once heard an idea from him that helped me to situate myself in this point we are discussing. He was giving a lecture in which he precisely analyzed our world and pointed out three circles of action on which a society should be reformed.
The first, said the Aragonese cardinal, was that of personal conversion. Everything must start from there. Otherwise, any reform or change will be built on sand. At a time when people are clamoring for the reform of socio-political structures, in reality what is most urgent is the transformation of persons, of each person, beginning with my own conversion.
The second part of Augustine's sentence brings us back to this initial point: "Nos sumus tempora; quales sumus, talia sunt tempora."(We are the times; as we are, so will be the times). Perhaps, if we look at the times in which we live, we will realize how we are. Simply by turning the phrase around, it reflects the degree of vitality of Christians living in these times, as a mirror would. It is undoubtedly a spur. And at the same time it shows us the only way to start again. To begin with our conversion.
This first circle seems to me to be particularly important today. Conscience is the last redoubt of freedom in a society in which there is the possibility of directing our impulses by knowing every last corner of our life thanks to the big data (data intelligence). They know what we like, they serve us appropriate content, personalized for us, according to our age, place where we live, preferences, etc.
And they have the ability to guide our behaviors and shape our thinking. Never has the capacity to manipulate people been so powerful. That is why the authentic cultural resistance, the true barrier against the most radical alienation, is a man configured by Christ.
The second circle is that of close relationships. Starting with one's own family, which is undoubtedly the first and foremost social nucleus. D. Fernando called us to take care of our family and to live as Christians, as a domestic church, our ordinary life. How many resonances also came to me when I heard these words! And how we have had to live it in the times of confinement by COVID-19! The domestic church has become a tangible reality in that time when we were locked up in our homes; it was not a simple theological idea.
That family circle, that first social instance, is the most important and fundamental when it comes to generating a new society, radically alternative to the one offered by today's world. Never before has the witness of a united, fruitful family, with faithful spouses who love each other in any situation, been so striking. Today, this type of relationship is radically countercultural, but it lays the solid foundation for a new way of understanding life.
Giving our children the gift of faith is the best gift we can give them, but it is also a way of building the society of tomorrow. Transmitting the faith, passing the witness from generation to generation, is the best evangelization that the Church can do.
We must transmit a faith that is alive, that teaches our children to live in the midst of this world and to be committed Christians themselves. Many times I hear parents who live in fear of the world they are going to leave their children. I like to remember the phrase of Abilio de Gregorio: "Do not worry about the world you are going to leave to your children, but about the children you are going to leave to this world". The education of children is a great contribution to the creation of a new Christian culture.
In this second circle of social relations, Father Fernando encouraged Christian families to create bonds and community with other families that have the same criteria, the same values that emanate from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the next step to be taken, the one we have to take in order to build a new society. We have to create bonds, establish relationships between families that have the same vision of the world in order to create a small community in which being a Christian is something natural.
Fernando invited us to participate, together as Christians, in the civil society closest to our lives, the reality in which we are immersed: the community of neighbors, our children's school council, the neighborhood parties, our work in the office... How much life we can give in all these environments, creating a true current that is born from the Good News of the Lord! Everything is transformed when Christians live it.
And neighborhood communities can truly be community and not constant quarrels; neighborhood festivals can be celebration and unity, creative and joyful; work can become a nucleus of friendship, with close ties that go beyond the merely economic.
This second circle has always been vital in confronting totalitarian regimes. It was the cultural struggle that St. John Paul II maintained, for example, with his theater group in communist Poland. Small nuclei of identity that, by various means, keep their roots alive and transmit them to others.
The third circle is that of political life. When a new culture, new relationships, a new vision of life in civil society is born, then naturally a new politics will be born. The great institutional relationships, the unions, the political parties, the media... all of this will be Christianized, in truth, when the previous circles have vitality.
Because, as we know, the great temptation is to think that when a supposedly Christian political party wins the elections, when there are powerful means of communication that can carry the Gospel as others spread its messages, then everything will be solved. But experience tells us that, in the best of cases, this would be a giant with feet of clay that would end up crumbling.
This is the way forward: to build from the bottom up, to lay the foundations of the building, to dream, perhaps, of great projects for the future, doing the small actions that we can and must do in the present.
Teaching Delegate in the Diocese of Getafe since the 2010-2011 academic year, he has previously exercised this service in the Archbishopric of Pamplona and Tudela, for seven years (2003-2009). He currently combines this work with his dedication to youth ministry directing the Public Association of the Faithful 'Milicia de Santa Maria' and the educational association 'VEN Y VERÁS. EDUCATION', of which he is President.
Fidelity, God's plan. 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Joseph Evans comments on the readings for Sunday 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a brief video homily.
Joseph Evans-October 3, 2024-Reading time: 2minutes
God's plan for marriage is truly beautiful. As today's readings show, it all began when God gave Eve, the first woman, as a wife to Adam, the first man. Adam is delighted to see her. She is the companion, the equal, that he could not find in the rest of creation. And the text concludesFor this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh".
But things soon went awry. Adam and Eve fell into sin and began to blame each other: Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. All sorts of abuses ensued, particularly the mistreatment and oppression of women, such as polygamy and divorce. To try to improve things, Moses later allowed divorce, requiring that the divorced woman be given at least a certificate of divorce, so that she would have some legal status to protect her.
And this brings us to today's Gospel, where the Pharisees ask Jesus about this question. "Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife?", and cite Moses' permission for divorce. But Jesus gives a surprising answer. "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses wrote this commandment".
"Because of the hardness of your heart"and the permission to divorce came from Moses, not from God. Jesus then reminds them of God's original plan. In other words, permission to divorce was never God's plan: it was only a concession made by man. "because of the hardness of your heart". Even the disciples are surprised, but Jesus insists: divorcing your spouse and trying to remarry is not a true marriage, it is adultery because, if your first marriage was valid, you are still married. And he concludes: "For what God has joined together, let no man put asunder".
To accept divorce is to doubt God and His power. It is almost blasphemy. When God unites two people, he unites them by his power with an unbreakable bond and we should not doubt it.
And with divorce comes that other great evil, contraception. So it is interesting that, having made it clear that divorce is evil, Jesus then shows his love for children. "Let the children come to me: do not hinder them, for the kingdom belongs to such as these.of God". Then we read: "taking them in his arms, he blessed them by laying his hands on them". The Bible only shows God encouraging and blessing openness to life. Nowhere does God discourage us from having children.
Homily on the readings of Sunday 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Priest Luis Herrera Campo offers his nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
Pope to pray a Rosary for peace and calls for a Day of Prayer
"In this dramatic hour of our history, as the winds of war and violence continue to devastate entire peoples and nations," Pope Francis revealed this morning, at the opening Mass of the October Synodal Assembly, that on Sunday he will ask the Virgin Mary in a special way for peace, praying the Rosary in St. Mary Major, In addition, he has called for a Day of prayer and fasting on October 7.
Francisco Otamendi-October 2, 2024-Reading time: 6minutes
The dramatic days and hours of war and violence in the Middle East, together with the other existing wars, such as in Russia and Ukraine, have prompted Pope Francis to turn to the intercession of Mary Most Holy to ask for the gift of peace.
Next Sunday he will go to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he will recite the Holy Rosary, "and I will address to Our Lady a request," which he did not specify. "And if possible, I also ask you, members of the Synod, to join me on this occasion."
"And on the following day (October 7, feast of Our Lady of the Rosary), "I ask everyone to live a Day of Prayer and Fasting for peace in the world. Let us walk together, let us listen to the Lord, and let us allow ourselves to be led by the breeze of the Spirit," he said at the conclusion of a Mass in St. Peter's Square. Holy Mass opening of the Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
Synod: "Discerning together the voice of God".
At the beginning of his homily at Mass on October 2, the Pope referred to today's memorial and outlined some guidelines for the members of the Synod.
"We celebrate this Eucharist in the liturgical memory of the Holy Guardian Angels, at the reopening of the plenary session of the Synod of Bishops. Listening to what the Word of God suggests to us, we could take three images as a starting point for our reflection: the voice, the shelter and the child," the Pope said.
"First, the voice. On the way to the Promised Land, God advises the people to listen to the "voice of the angel" that He has sent (cf. Ex 23:20-22)."
"It is an image that touches us closely, because the Synod is also a journey in which the Lord places in our hands the history, dreams and hopes of a great People of sisters and brothers scattered throughout the world, animated by our same faith, driven by the same desire for holiness so that, with them and through them, we may try to understand what path to follow to get where He wants to lead us."
"It is not a parliamentary assembly."
"It is a matter, with the help of the Holy Spirit," the Successor of Peter stressed, of "listening to and understanding the voices, that is, the ideas, the expectations, the proposals, in order to discern together the voice of God speaking to the Church."
"As we have repeatedly reminded,Ours is not a parliamentary assembly, but a place of listening in communion, where, as St. Gregory the Great says, what someone has in himself partially, another possesses completely, and even if some have particular gifts, everything belongs to the brethren in the "charity of the Spirit" (cf. Homilies on the Gospels, XXXIV)".
No agendas to impose
The Pope disqualified "arrogance", and warned "not to turn our contributions into points to defend or agendas to impose, but let us offer them as gifts to be shared, ready even to sacrifice what is particular, if this can serve to bring forth, together, something new according to God's plan".
"Otherwise, we will end up locked in a dialogue among the deaf, where each one tries to "take water to his own mill" without listening to others and, above all, without listening to the voice of the Lord". "The solutions to the problems we face are not ours, but His. Let us listen, then, to the voice of God and of his angel", he stressed.
The Holy Spirit, master of harmony
As for the second image, the shelter, Francis pointed out that "wings are powerful instruments, capable of lifting a body off the ground with their vigorous movements. But, even though they are so strong, they can also fold and narrow, becoming a shield and a welcoming nest for the young, in need of warmth and protection.
This image is a symbol of what God does for us, but also a model to follow, especially in this time of assembly".
He also recalled that "the Holy Spirit is the master of harmony, who, with so many differences, is able to create a single voice".
Making us small
With regard to the third image, that of the child, the Pope recalled that "it is Jesus himself, in the Gospel, who "places him in the midst" of the disciples, showing him to them, inviting them to convert and become little like him. This paradox is fundamental for us.
The Synod, he said, "given its importance, in a certain sense asks us to be 'big' - in mind, heart and outlook - because the issues to be dealt with are 'big' and delicate, and the scenarios in which they are situated are broad and universal",
And quoting Benedict XVI, he said: "Let us remember that it is by making us small that God 'shows us what true greatness is, indeed, what it means to be God'" (Benedict XVI, Homily on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, January 11, 2009).
"It is not by chance that Jesus says that the children's angels "in heaven are constantly in the presence [of] the heavenly Father" (Mt 18:10); that is, that the angels are like a "telescope" of the Father's love.
In conclusion, he prayed that "we ask the Lord, in this Eucharist, to live the coming days under the sign of listening, of reciprocal custody and humility, to listen to the voice of the Spirit, to feel welcomed and welcomed with love, and to never lose sight of the trusting, innocent and simple eyes of the little ones, of whom we want to be a voice, and through whom the Lord continues to appeal to our freedom and our need for conversion".
Penitential vigil on the eve
Yesterday evening, on the eve of the Mass to begin the work of the Synodal Assembly, the Pontiff expressed his shame for the sins of the Church and asked for forgiveness from God and the victims....
The Pope stated that sin "is always a wound in relationships: the relationship with God and the relationship with the brothers", and added that "no one is saved alone, but it is equally true that the sin of one releases effects on many: just as everything is connected in good, so it is also connected in evil".
In the Penitential celebration The testimonies of a survivor of sexual abuse, of a volunteer engaged in the reception of migrants and of a nun from Syria were heard, narrating the drama of war.
Requests for pardon read by seven cardinals
At the same time, several cardinals read apologiesThe Pope himself wrote. It was necessary to call by name and surname our main sins, "and we hide them or say them with too polite words," Francis pointed out.
In fact, seven well-known cardinals asked forgiveness for the sins against peace (Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay); creation, indifference to the needy and migrants, indigenous peoples (Cardinal Michael Czerny); the sin of abuse (Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley); the sin against women, the family, the youth (Cardinal Kevin Farrell); the sin of doctrine used as a stone to be thrown (Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez); the sin against the poor, poverty (Cardinal Cristobal Lopez Romero, Archbishop of Rabat). Kevin Farrell); the sin of doctrine used as a stone to be thrown (Card. Victor Manuel Fernández); the sin against the poor, poverty (Card. Cristóbal López Romero, Archbishop of Rabat): the sin against synodality, understood as the lack of listening, communion and participation of all (Card. Christoph Schönborn).
"Today we are all like the publican."
Pope Francis acknowledged that the healing of the wound begins with the confession of the sin we have committed and reflected on the Gospel of St. Luke that narrates the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector.
The Pharisee "expects a reward for his merits, and thus deprives himself of the surprise of the gratuity of salvation, fabricating a god who could do nothing but sign a certificate of presumed perfection. A man closed to surprise, closed to all surprises. He is closed in on himself, closed to the great surprise of mercy. His ego makes no room for anything or anyone, not even God."
But "today we are all like the tax collector, with our eyes lowered and ashamed of our sins," the Successor of Peter said. "Like him, we stand back, clearing the space occupied by vanity, hypocrisy and pride - and also, let us say it, to us, bishops, priests, consecrated men and women, clearing the space occupied by presumption, hypocrisy and pride." Therefore, he added, "we could not invoke the name of God without asking forgiveness from our brothers and sisters, from the earth and from all creatures.
Restoring "broken trust" in the Church
"How could we pretend to walk together without receiving and giving the forgiveness that restores communion in Christ," the Pope concluded. Confession is "the opportunity to restore trust in the Church and in her, trust broken by our mistakes and sins, and to begin to heal the wounds that do not stop bleeding, breaking the unjust chains," he said, citing the book of Isaiah. In this sense, the Pope said: "We would not want this weight to slow down the path of the Kingdom of God in history", and admitted that "we have made our share, even of mistakes".
Pope's Prayer
The Pope finally encouraged the intercession of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, patroness of the missions, and said this prayer:
"O Father, we are gathered here conscious that we need your loving gaze. Our hands are empty, we can only receive as much as you can give us. We ask your forgiveness for all our sins, help us to restore your face which we have disfigured by our unfaithfulness. We ask forgiveness, feeling ashamed, of those who have been wounded by our sins. Give us the courage of sincere repentance for conversion. We ask this by invoking the Holy Spirit to fill with his grace the hearts you have created, in Christ Jesus our Lord. We all ask for forgiveness, we are all sinners, but we all have hope in your love, Lord. Amen.
At the end of the celebration, the Holy Father invited everyone to greet each other with the sign of peace, which symbolizes reconciliation and the desire to walk together in unity.
Francisco Aparicio: "Faith made Luis Valls a social banker".
The history of Spanish banking cannot be understood without Luis Valls-Taberner (1926-2006), executive vice-president of Banco Popular since 1957, at the age of 31, and then president (1972-2004). The banker left an extensive legacy of social action and thousands of people supported by the foundations he promoted, Francisco Aparicio told Omnes. The late 'red priest' of Vallecas, Enrique Castro, called him 'the banker with sandals'.
Francisco Otamendi-October 2, 2024-Reading time: 8minutes
Luis Valls-Taberner Arnó, born in Barcelona into a family of family of the Catalan bourgeoisie, in 1926, he was the fifth of six brothers and was six years older than the youngest, Javier, who would be co-president of Popular with him for years.
Luis Valls' parents were deep believers, and he studied at the Jesuits, Marists and La Salle Brothers, and then Law at the University of Barcelona. He earned his doctorate and taught at the universities of Barcelona and Madrid. In his early twenties, the young Valls discovered his vocation to Opus Dei, and asked for admission as a numerary.
"This way of taking his faith to the ultimate consequences of a vital commitment made him an absolutely atypical banker in his time. Austere, supportive, freedom-loving and with a humanist spirit", Francisco Aparicio describes him. Valls helped the Communist Party and Comisiones Obreras, as well as religious institutions -especially many convents of nuns-: it was something constant in his social action. It became famous the recurrent question that he always asked them "What do you need?
To learn more about Luis Valls, Omnes spoke with Francisco Aparicio (Cartagena, Murcia, 1955), a lawyer who knew and treated Luis Valls for more than 25 years, and was his executor. They worked together on many projects, and he has succeeded him in the foundations for example, Fundación Hispánica, and in the management and vision of its social action.
Modern social responsibility, and the concept of CSR, emerged in the United States in 1953. It would take decades to reach the codes of good governance in Spain. But there were pioneers, for example Banco Popular, founded in 1926...
- Luis Valls, president of Banco Popular for several decades, was no ordinary banker. Despite leading one of the most profitable financial institutions in the world, Valls did not behave like a typical businessman. Affectionately nicknamed "the banker with sandals" by Enrique Castro, also known as the 'red priest', Valls combined his financial vision with a deep social vocation. This nickname was no accident; his commitment to helping others was something that defined him.
At 1957, at the age of 31, Luis Valls was appointed executive vice-president, and began to Banco Popular's social action, what did it consist of?
- Luis Valls promoted the creation of several foundations with a clear objective: to help those who truly needed it, always separating the actions of the bank from those of the foundations. They were two independent worlds.
He put this vision into practice when, shortly after taking the helm of the bank, he proposed that the "statutory fees", i.e. the annual fees they were entitled to receive for being directors, should be donated to social causes.
The sum of these annual donations was the great source of the foundations, the vehicle through which the social action was carried out. In addition, and throughout more than 50 years of this social action, many friends, acquaintances and good-hearted people donated large amounts of money as one-time, non-recurring donations. These two sources of income nourished the foundations inspired by Luis Valls to help thousands of people and institutions.
He always understood that Banco Popular's purpose went far beyond just being an example of seriousness, profitability and business soundness, Valls wanted to go further with a vision of social banking, a new dimension.
Luis Valls reportedly had one of the lowest salaries of the presidents of Spanish financial institutions, and he also donated a large part of it to foundations, to expand opportunities for people. Is this the case or is it a well-intentioned hoax?
- Many are surprised that Luis Valls, president of one of the most important banks in the country, was not motivated by personal gain. He was a person totally detached from material things and there are many traits and behaviors that prove it. He was the bank president who received the lowest salary in Spain, although there is no doubt that his salary was very high. In 2004, almost at the end of his mandate, his colleagues multiplied his salary by 3 or 4 compared to the Catalan banker (750,000 euros per year compared to more than 3 million euros for the leaders of the banking sector at that time).
If that were not enough, almost all his money Valls was donating during his career to help individuals and institutions. It is well known his austerity in his dress, always elegant and correct, but, it is said, he was only known for 6 suits. Many more examples are recounted in Testimonials at his web page.
Were the accounts of the foundations transparent? They did not advertise their work?
- Transparency, as in the bank, was non-negotiable in the foundations. All accounts were always supervised by the corresponding public body and, obviously, by the governing bodies of each foundation. Everything is conveniently reflected in the books and, in summary form, is accessible on the foundations' websites.
You report that he personally took care of the requests that came into his office. Was he generous or stingy? Tell us your philosophy: What is it to help without appearing?
- The foundations were governed by some basic principles that are described in detail in the "Criteria for Action", a document that set out their identity and the way to proceed in their management. Some of them are striking, such as the fact that they never wanted to be the only ones to support the initiative; they asked you to look for other travel companions to share the risk. At the same time, I was able to verify that the idea was solid.
Other examples are the insistence on "saying no early if it was not clear to you so as not to make people wait" and not publicizing the approval of a loan to avoid the "call effect". Thousands of people testify to their appreciation for the work of foundations in their lives, families and institutions.
The work of the foundations was not only to provide financial resources, but also advice on the implementation of projects, contacts or suppliers and other needs beyond the monetary ones. In the foundations, they accompanied people in meeting their challenges and took a long-term interest in the progress and achievement of objectives.
Valls was extremely careful with the management of resources. For him, every donation or loan had to be a carefully considered and absolutely viable decision.
Can you tell us about the credits or honor loans that you launched?
- Just as in other cases, foundations specialize in topics such as art, road safety, immigration or other laudable initiatives, in the case of the foundations inspired by Valls, the focus was on the individual and his or her specific needs. It did not matter the area of activity or the personal task that each person carried out, only his or her need was relevant and to know if and how he or she could be helped.
There are thousands of actions that foundations have carried out and continue to carry out in these almost 50 years. Some in Spain, but many others outside our borders. One of the principles of the foundations stands out, especially with students. It was common to find cases in which part of the debt was forgiven in exchange for extraordinary grades. It is a gesture that shows how the essence of the foundations and their founding spirit was to help the progress of people, of society, always giving the best that we all have inside.
To make Luis Valls' open-mindedness explicit, it is reported that Banco Popular was one of the first to support Santiago Carrillo's Communist Party and Comisiones Obreras. It also helped more than a few convents of nuns.
- He was open-minded, conciliatory and, according to many "a liberal"This made him a friend in all areas of the political spectrum. Moreover, being his political convictions close to the Christian democracy, he made good friends in the PSOE and in Workers' Commissionsfor example. As a banker, he took this independence to its ultimate consequences, his being the first bank (for a time, the only one) to grant credit to the Communist Party before the 1978 elections.
In his twenties, Valls discovered his vocation to Opus Dei and asked for admission as a numerary. Did his vocation and spirituality influence his professional life as a banker, humanist and philanthropist?
- At the age of 21 he applied for admission to Opus Dei, a Catholic organization of which he was a member until his death. This way of taking his faith to the ultimate consequences of a vital commitment made him an absolutely atypical banker in his time. Austere, supportive, freedom-loving and with a humanist spirit, Luis Valls was a very relevant character of his time and one of the so-called "free men" of his time. Big Seven of the bank.
Your commitment to religious bodies Valls' social action -special attention was paid to many convents of nuns- was a constant feature of his social action. Valls visited and took an interest in congregations with extreme needs, which he helped, advised and accompanied. Not only with money via loans through the foundations, but also by offering them suppliers who could help them and, always, being very close to them by visiting them or taking an interest in their needs by telephone.
Many other congregations benefited from the sensitivity of Luis Valls and his team of collaborators. The recurring question he always asked them, "What do you need?" became famous.
One point that caused controversy after the death of Luis Valls was the relationship of people in the Bank with the co-president for some years, Javier Valls, Luis' brother.
- Family was an axis in Valls' life. Although his origins and a large part of them resided in Barcelona, he never lost the link with his mother and siblings. His father died when Luis was very young. The family bond also took shape in the bank, where up to three brothers, Pedro, Felix and Javier, worked with him.
The succession at the bank, when Luis was already ill and elderly, was unanimously endorsed by the Board of Directors. Ángel Ron, who worked with Valls for more than 20 years, was the person chosen. A competent and recognized person in the sector and, for those who wanted to look for other relationships, not linked to Opus Dei, he led the institution almost until 2017, when the bank passed into the hands of Banco Santander.
Some people wondered why his brother Javier, Vice-Chairman for so many years, was not his successor. It is not easy to know the reasons, but what does seem clear is that the Board of Directors unanimously accepted his resignation and appointed Ángel Ron as Chairman: unanimity in a Board of Directors implies a prior consensus accepted by all. On the other hand, a different proposal from the then recently deceased Chairman of the Board was not even discussed, and this was not a matter that would have been left to chance.
My personal impression is that some people do not understand the freedom of the people of Opus Dei in the questions of professional, social, political, economic, etc. But the interviewee is you.
- Indeed, there are some people, a few, who still do not understand freedom, and there are some people, a few also, who do not understand that there are people who can give their life or their time to God and to others, and, with certain frequency, they look behind every behavior for profit, self-affirmation or power. They are not the majority, far from it.
For those who have this way of thinking, it may be difficult to imagine that the faithful of Opus Dei are as free as any other Catholic in professional, social, political or economic matters, and that they do not act in groups. Specifically, in the history of Banco Popular, there have been several situations in which two Opus Dei members have coincided on the Board of Directors or among the directors, with projects that are not only different but even antagonistic: this is normal, since each has his own opinions and his own ways of dealing with the problems of the company.
Tell me, in conclusion, any quality or virtue of Luis Valls. And some defect, because we all have defects.
- Valls, like all people, had faults and virtues. Some say that he was somewhat dry in his manner, since grandiloquence was not his best attribute and, at times, according to some collaborators, "he was not easy to understand". He was somewhat reserved and, at times, enigmatic. It was not easy to know what he was thinking and some claim that he had an intimidating gaze with long silences.
We are in front of a multifaceted person who was much more than a great banker, a humanist and a philanthropist. An unrepeatable figure, good, hardworking and generous. He was a prudent character and many emphasize that he liked to influence much more than to command.
Luis Valls created a different way of banking and helping society. Thousands of employees, shareholders, the media and tens of thousands of beneficiaries through his foundations are witnesses to this, and will continue to be so in the years to come thanks to the daily work of the management team of Patronato Universitario, Fundación Hispánica and Fomento de Fundaciones.
The Second Session of the Synodal Assembly will take place from October 2 to 27. When it ends, the phase of reception of the conclusions throughout the Catholic Church will begin, as indicated by Pope Francis.
Giacomo Costa SJ-October 2, 2024-Reading time: 4minutes
The Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops opens on October 2. At its conclusion, on October 27, the phase of discernment by the pastors will conclude and the phase of reception of the conclusions in the whole Church and in each of the local Churches will begin, in the forms and modalities to be indicated by Pope Francis.
The task of the Assembly is to seek answers to the guiding question indicated by Pope Francis, "How to be a synodal Church in mission?", and to indicate concrete ways of putting them into practice, in relation to the themes proposed in the "Instrumentum laboris" for the Second Session (IL2).
IL2 opens with the prophet Isaiah's vision of the messianic banquet (25:6-8), thus clarifying that the horizon of a synodal Church is mission at the service of God's desire that all human beings and all peoples be invited to the banquet of his Kingdom. Without a clear perspective of missionary proclamation, the Synod would run the risk of being only a self-referential exercise.
The text of IL2 is organized in four sections, which correspond to the first four modules of the work of the assembly. By reading its summary one can realize what is at stake in the Second Session and its relevance for the life and mission of the Church.
Fundamentals and relationships
The first section, "Foundations," outlines the theological horizon in which the work must be situated. It is not a treatise on ecclesiology, but touches on points such as the sacramental nature of the Church, the shared sense of synodality, the reciprocity between men and women in the Church, and the dialogue between the Church's differences, which does not compromise its unity, but rather enriches it.
The second section, "Relationships," focuses on the relational fabric of which the Church is composed, indispensable for sustaining persons and communities. The emphasis on relationships responds to the desire for a Church that is less bureaucratic and closer to people, which is associated throughout the world with the terms "synodal" and "synodality." But it is also in line with Christian anthropology.
As Benedict XVI has written, "the human creature, as a spiritual creature by nature, is fulfilled in interpersonal relationships. The more authentically she lives them, the more her personal identity matures" ("Caritas in veritate", n. 43).
Attention to relationships is expressed in concreteness. Thus, the following are addressed: the relationship between charisms and ministries; the ways in which the Church is "perceived as home and family" (IL2, n. 33); the peculiar nature of ordained ministers (bishops, priests and deacons) and their relationship with the rest of the People of God; the exchange of gifts that binds the local Churches together in the one universal communion. The gaze is never turned inward, but remains focused on the mission, since it is precisely the quality of relationships that makes the proclamation of the Gospel credible.
Roads and places
The third section, "Pathways," focuses on the processes of fostering and developing relationships, promoting harmony in the community through the ability to face conflicts and difficulties together.
The issues of formation and discernment are addressed here, as well as a reflection on decision-making processes based on the participation of all and the recognition of differentiated responsibility among the members of the community according to the role of each one, with a view to an inalienable, but not unconditional, decision-making competence of hierarchical authority. Finally, this section addresses the promotion of a culture and concrete forms of transparency, accountability and evaluation of the work of those in positions of responsibility.
Finally, the fourth section, "Places," focuses on the concreteness of the contexts and the variety of cultures in which the Church lives. The latter represents a crucial challenge for a Church that defines itself as Catholic, that is, universal, and wants to be able to welcome everyone without asking anyone to uproot himself or herself from his or her own culture. Here there is room for the Bishop of Rome's service to unity, the most appropriate forms for its exercise in today's world and the search for institutions and structures capable of promoting unity in diversity and diversity in unity.
The Holy Spirit and the Synod Assembly
The outcome of the discernment of the Synodal Assembly cannot be predicted, but some results already achieved can be recognized. Synod 2021-2024 shows that it is possible to imagine participatory paths on a global scale and that people with very different, if not opposing, points of view can meet, dialogue and, above all, be willing to listen together to the Holy Spirit and discern what he is inviting them to.
It is precisely the fact of sharing the same Trinitarian faith that is the cornerstone for mutual acceptance and for the uncompromising articulation of perspectives that may seem quite distant. Thus it was also possible to experiment with an articulation of the global and the local - that is, the universal and the particular - that escaped both homogenization and particularism. This was certainly a first attempt, which will have to be further improved.
A key factor in all this is the method-which has become characteristic of the synodal process-based on conversation in the Spirit. With the necessary adaptations to the different contexts, it proves capable of promoting, in an atmosphere of prayer and readiness for mutual acceptance, a consensus that escapes polarization. These results encourage us to look forward to the Second Session, but even more so the certainty, repeatedly confirmed, that the protagonist of the Synod is the Holy Spirit.
The authorGiacomo Costa SJ
Special Secretary of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
Hadjadj will address in this meeting the deep moral wound of the abuses committed within the Church and the roots of the evil involved in the actions of those who perpetrate these crimes. All this in a conversation with journalist Joseba Louzau about Fabrice Hadjadj's latest book, Wolves disguised as lambspublished by Encuentro and in which the author puts his gaze and his deepest reflection on what it means, for the life of the Church, the realization of a painful reality that, in some cases, came to be dressed in apparent sanctity, like wolves disguised as lambs.
The Omnes Forum, which is sponsored by the CARF Foundation and Banco Sabadell, will take place on on-sitethe next October 24, 2024at 19:30 h. at the Postgraduate Headquarters of the University of Navarra in Madrid (C/ Marquesado de Santa Marta, 3. 28022 Madrid).
UPDATE
The capacity for this event is full. If you wish to receive the video of the event, a few days after its celebration, you can request it through the following e-mail address [email protected]
Synod members hold retreat prior to Second Session
The members of the Second Session of the Synod of Bishops, which begins in Rome on October 2, met beforehand to celebrate a retreat that ended with a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
Enrique Alarcón, before the Synod: "It is the Spirit who guides us".
Of the 17 Spanish male members of the Synod, Enrique Alarcón was the only layman in 2023. In addition, there were 4 women: two other laywomen, Eva Fernández Mateo and Cristina Inogés, and two religious sisters. Now, Enrique Alarcón, former president of Frater, facing the Second Session of the XVI Synodal Assembly in Rome, October 2-27, asks for prayers for the Pope and the Synod.
Francisco Otamendi-October 1, 2024-Reading time: 2minutes
"I will have to be in the Synodof course. The appointment was not for a part of the Synod, but for the whole Synod, and this is the second part. With courage in my heart, and with concern for the responsibility that comes with something so great, which has been placed in the hands and hearts of those of us who are there".
This is how Enrique Alarcón comments to Omnes on his preparations to participate in the Second Session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality in Rome, where 365 members - 269 bishops and 96 non-bishops, not definitive figures - will meet with the Pope to answer the question: "How to be a missionary synodal Church," as Ricardo Battocchio, special secretary of the Assembly, explains in the October issue of Omnes magazine.
"A month is a long time, it means a lot of preparation for me to get around, with the issue of the electric wheelchair, luggage... Fortunately, there is the humility of my wife, who gives up a month of her work, and comes there, so that I can be there. So we are going to the Synod in 2 for 1", adds Enrique Alarcón.
"We know what faith is like: walking sometimes in the shadows."
"We trust that it is the Lord who is guiding us at this moment in history, and the Church has to respond. Even if it costs us, even if sometimes we do not see it. But we know what faith is like. It is to walk, sometimes in the shadows, in the fog, but it is the Spirit who guides us. And this is where the Synod will bear fruit. Just as the first Assembly did, so will this one, and in that confidence we will be there," the former president of the Synod told Omnes. Frater (Christian Fellowship of People with Disabilities), which he has chaired for several years.
During the first Assembly, Enrique Alarcón He told Omnes: "The presence of a Pope in a wheelchair is impressive". "Listening in the Holy Spirit should permeate the Church."
"Prayer for the Holy Father, for all, for me."
When we told him about our intention to pray for the Assembly, Enrique Alarcon said: "Thank you for your prayers, for your prayers. For me, I need it, to see if I can have enough physical and mental strength to endure the long days of work. The work there is very deep, very serious, as you know. And for everyone. For the Holy Father, because we need the work to bear fruit. So thank you very much. A big hug, and courage and go ahead with everything forever, see you later, my friend".
As for Frater, he adds: "I'm feeling fine, I still have some autumn aches and pains, but we're getting there. In Frater everything is moving forward, calm, it is the first year that the new team is here, it is a year of running in. But they are already planning things, they are moving a lot, visiting the dioceses, with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of encouragement, as Frater should".
Mass at the beginning of the Synod
Official opening of the work of the Synodal Assembly with a concelebrated Mass in St. Peter's Square on the feast of the Guardian Angels, Wednesday, October 2, the program includes a penitential celebration presided over by the Pope with the testimonies of three victims of abuse, war and indifference to migration. Among the new features: four forums open to the public. You can consult here the outline of the Instrumentum Laboris of the Synod, and the Letter of the Holy Father to Cardinal Mario Grech, dated February 22 of this year.
Mario Marazziti: "Old age is the litmus test of our civilization".
On the occasion of the International Day of Older Persons on October 1, writer Mario Marazziti tells Omnes that "this hyper-consumerist world produces waste, including human waste", and speaks of Pope Francis' meeting with grandparents and the "sting of loneliness".
Francisco Otamendi-October 1, 2024-Reading time: 6minutes
Mario Marazziti is an essayist and leader of RAI, editorialist of "Corriere della Sera" and member of the Italian National Commission of Inquiry on Social Exclusion. Historical spokesman of the Sant'Egidio Community, he is one of the coordinators of the international campaign for the abolition of capital punishment and for a better quality of life for the elderly, and was part, together with Nelson Mandela, of the mediation team that put an end to the civil war in Burundi. Marazziti was a member of the Italian Parliament, chairman of the Human Rights Committee and of the Social Affairs and Health Committee of the Chamber of Deputies.
In addition, Mario Marazziti is one of the promoters of the humanitarian corridors, the program that allows the most vulnerable forced refugees to arrive safely in Europe, and accompanies their social integration with the help of civil society. He is also one of the animators of the Età Grande (Great Age) Foundation, promoted by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Academy for Life of the Holy See, to help Western societies to value the life of the elderly in society.
Talking to Marazziti was not easy. When he was not in Syria or on another trip, he was preparing the meeting of grandparents with Pope Francis, or tasks of the Età grande Foundation. In the end, we practically became friends.
What does the Età Grande Foundation do?
- In the Paul VI Hall, on April 27, 2024, thousands of grandparents and grandchildren gathered around Pope Francis, in a strange time like ours, at the initiative of the Età Grande Foundation. It was created to restore dignity to old age and to start precisely from the "extra years", which feed the "material culture of discarding", the reconstruction of the ability to live together and also revive European humanism. It was like a vision of the world as it could be. That of the two world wars, that of reconstruction, that of democracy.
The future is reborn from here to escape the flattening of the present and the absence of dreams. By giving representation to the voice -ignored- of millions of elderly people and, together with them, of grandchildren, who in a world flattened on the present receive the memory and the value of the other, antidote against contemporary haste and loneliness, Pope Francis' catechesis on old age was given content, and a vision was drawn.
At the meeting there were testimonies...
- These days I have been wondering what is the difference between a father's love and a grandfather's love. It is a different love. It is a love, perhaps, "purer". Our only task is to love it. "Transmit without pretending," said a grandfather, Fabio. And this wisdom of gratuitousness was confirmed by his granddaughter Chiara: "With my parents, with my sister, it is an enormous love, but within this greatness there is also conflict. With my grandparents it is a more tender, complicit, patient love".
Gratitude and concern for others are like medicine in a world where everything is sold and everything is bought. And where the very word old age is frightening, like the conquest that it is.
Sofia, a 91-year-old woman born in Rome, explained it in personal terms: "I have wrinkles, but I don't feel like a burden. My personal experience leads me to say that it is possible to age well. The real burden of life is not old age, but loneliness." After the death of her husband, she decided to live with other people. She visits and telephones the elderly in institutions, and receives many young people in a co-housing of the Community of Sant'Egidio: she tells them the story of the war in Rome, the bombings, the solidarity, the choice to hide the Jews from Nazi persecution. A living and good memory for today.
Give us some thoughts on the Pope's words.
- Pope Francis, following John Paul II's Letter to the Elderly on the eve of the Great Jubilee, last year dedicated an entire cycle of catechesis to this age, to the "magisterium of fragility": a key to helping the world emerge from the "throwaway culture", of which migrants and the elderly are almost necessarily a part in a hyper-consumerist world that produces waste, including human waste. Old age as a litmus test of the level of our civilization.
The marginalization of the elderly corrupts all seasons of life, not just old age. She often returns to the fact of what her grandmother learned about Jesus, who loves us, who never leaves us alone, and who urges us to be close to one another and never exclude anyone. And the teaching never to take an elderly relative away from the table and the house because he or she has become ill.
Pope Francis embodies and communicates a Christianity rooted in the Gospel, which knows well that next to the sacrament of the table is the sacrament of the poor: the parable of the Last Judgment in chapter 25 of Matthew, the presence of Jesus and his body in each person alone, abandoned, poor, in each of these "my little brothers and sisters" is not incidental, it is constitutive. And he places this Gospel wisdom at the service of a bewildered world, which empties or inverts the meaning of words, which loses the sense of the horror of war to the point of turning it into a habitual companion: and thus makes the old man to whom we owe everything inapparent.
What happened to Covid-19 and the elderly?
- After the pandemic we could have understood: "We are in the same boat". But it seems that those who are not yet grown up always think that they are in another boat and have another destiny. In the Covid-19 pandemic, more than 40 % of all the victims of the first wave, in Italy, in Spain, in Europe, in the West, were elderly people in institutions. Another 25 % were elderly at home. This means that, given that the elderly in an institution represented only 3 % of the total number of elderly, the home alone, without services, without doctors, protected 15 times more the life of an elderly person in an institution.
This should have triggered a radical change in the overall welfare of the elderly, creating models of proximity, innovative forms of co-housing, small assisted living facilities, a continuum of networked social welfare services centered on the home, integrated home-based socio-health care, multiplying protected hospital discharges, since most pathologies are chronic, not acute. On the other hand, investments in nursing homes and institutions, which offer a guaranteed significant financial return, are on the rise.
There are many studies showing that loneliness doubles the risk of death from the same chronic diseases. But the system cannot change. In Italy a step forward has been taken with the law 33/2023, a historical turning point, which points out these actions at least as a complementary care pathway, but it is still underfunded. It may be the beginning of a counterculture and a rethinking. And then there is the Charter of the Rights of the Elderly, which the Gran Edad Foundation is also beginning to disseminate in Europe. These are starting points, which must be disseminated.
How can we ensure a fuller and better quality of life for the elderly?
- We started to do everything possible to keep our elderly at home. And to ask for support from public facilities, insurance, financial sector, in nurses, services, caregivers. It is a saving for healthcare and a gain for society. Even in the extreme phases of life, not in the acute ones. Our grandchildren will see that even dying is part of life and that there is great emotional intensity even when there is little life. They will not want us to end our days in loneliness and isolation, as when their hospitalized grandparents "disappeared," never to reappear after the Covid.
I know of many experiences promoted by the Community of Sant'Egidio of conviviality among elderly people, together with a caregiver, who fend for themselves; there are hundreds of them. They would all be people destined to an institution and to be a social cost, as well as human.
Can you share some indicators from Italy?
- In a Europe of 448.8 million people, with an average age of 44.5 years, and 21.3 % aged 65 and over, the average age in Italy was 45.7 years in 2020, and growing at a faster rate: 24.1 % aged 65 and over, and 46.5 years on average in 2023.
New births, as is well known, are declining rapidly, 379,000 in the last year. With a birth rate of 6.4 per thousand inhabitants: and it was 6.7 the previous year. But in Italy only happens before what also happens in France, in Spain.
Finally, some comments on the Ipsos research on the pastoral care of Italian dioceses with the elderly, presented at the Etá Grande Foundation.
- The Catholic Church itself, which is neither "denialist" nor "giovanilist" [youth activist], is well aware that the hair of many Christians is graying or whitening, but it does not yet have an active and specific response to these "extra years" which are a blessing, but risk being a curse. Ipsos research has for the first time studied the Church and its attitude towards older people. There is more attention than in the surrounding world, but mostly in the 'social and health' chapter, not in the 'people' chapter, brothers and sisters.
In Italy there are 14 million, but in the Church there is nothing like the attention it rightly pays to the less than 200,000 young adults who marry each year. Imagination is needed. And not just habit. Let us initiate this counter-narrative, which frees the world from fragmentation and reduces the sting of loneliness, which is the true pandemic of our time.
The Second Session of the Synod of Bishops will take place in October 2024, so the Pope has asked Catholics around the world to join him in praying for the shared responsibility of all the baptized in the mission of the Church.
The Pope Francis asks Catholics to pray during the month of October "for a shared mission", that is, the evangelizing task that corresponds to all the baptized. With the Second Session of the Synod beginning on October 2, the Holy Father wants to recall, through this intention, that "all Christians are responsible for the mission of the Church".
Francis explains that "we priests are not the leaders of the laity, but their shepherds". The call of Christ, which is addressed to all equally, reminds us that vocations complement each other, that "we are community". Therefore, the Pope adds, "we must walk together on the path of synodality".
The Pontiff continues his message stressing that all Catholics must "bear witness with our lives and take co-responsibility for the mission of the Church". This responsibility belongs to all the baptized, who "are in the Church in their own house and have to take care of it".
The synod as a sign of co-responsibility
The Pope concludes by asking that "we pray that the Church may continue to support by every means a synodal way of life, under the sign of co-responsibility, promoting participation, communion and shared mission among priests, religious and laity".
Pope Francis took advantage of his visit to Belgium to beatify Ana de Jesus, a disciple of St. Teresa of Avila. The now blessed was the one who was responsible for collecting the works of the great Spanish saint and mystic.
Anne of Jesus is widely known in Belgium, the country where she died after founding several monasteries there.
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