In 2023, the CARF Foundation has assisted 2,171 students. Of these, 427 are European, 415 were born in the Americas, 214 in Africa, 169 in Asia and 11 in Oceania. To help all these students, the Foundation had 8,972,838 euros, from wills and legacies, periodic and one-time donations, and income and revenues derived from the assets belonging to the organization.
As the document detailing the 2023 fiscal year points out, CARF allocated more than five million euros in aid. Of all the available resources, more than 76 % went to the formation of seminarians and priests; almost 8 % to administrative expenses; 6.85 % to labor costs; 4.45 % to advertising and marketing; almost 4 % to amortization and depreciation; and, finally, 0.77 % to the Patronage of Social Action.
Institutions
The CARF Foundation contributed 3 million euros to help maintain the academic institutions and residences in Rome, and another 2 million euros for the same purpose in Pamplona.
The institutions maintained by the Foundation are:
- Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Rome),
- the faculties of ecclesiastical studies of the University of Navarra (Spain),
- the international ecclesiastical college Sedes Sapientiae (Rome),
- the Altomonte and Tiberino priestly colleges (Rome),
- the Bidasoa international seminar (Pamplona)
- the Echalar, Aralar and Albaizar halls of residence (Pamplona)
- Los Tilos Residence (Pamplona, Spain)
In addition, throughout 2023 the Foundation contributed 55,440 euros to attend to various material needs of priests and seminarians. Among the projects to which this money was given are medical aid for seminarians and priests, the provision of liturgical objects and support for parishes with few resources.
CARF Foundation students
The report published by the Foundation indicates that the average annual cost per student is 18,000 euros, broken down as follows:
-11,000 euros for room and board
- 2700 euros for university tuition
- 800 euros for human and spiritual formation
- 3,500 euros of allowance for academic training
On the other hand, personal costs are borne by the students themselves, their diocese or the religious congregation to which they belong.
Of the 2171 students assisted by the CARF Foundation in 2023:
- 925 are theology students,
- 193 study philosophy,
- 251 are pursuing studies in Canon Law,
- 120 receive training in Social and Institutional Communication,
- 647 are members of the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences,
- 35 attend as listeners.
In addition, the Foundation can proudly say that four alumni who earned its grants at some point received an Episcopal appointment in 2023. These alumni are:
- Juan Manuel Cuá Ajucum, bishop of Quiché (Guatemala)
- Teodoro León Muñoz, Auxiliary Bishop of Seville (Spain)
- Francisco José Prieto, Metropolitan Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela (Spain).
Throughout 2023, the institution launched four campaigns that received a great response from donors and benefactors:
- Share God's smile on earth: put a face to your donation". Through this campaign, those who help the students know the biography of the beneficiary.
- Help sow the world with priests: no vocation should be lost". This initiative seeks to promote vocations to the priesthood on the Internet and social networks.
- You give life to the Church: donate legacies and wills in solidarity". With this campaign, the CARF Foundation obtains a large part of its financial resources.
- "Donate a backpack of sacred vessels". With this initiative, all seminarians graduating from the seminary "Sedes Sapientiae" and in Bidasoa, receive a backpack with sacred vessels and an alb.
What is CARF?
The CARF Foundation was founded in 1989 with the mission of promoting vocations to the priesthood and assisting seminarians in their studies. It is committed to the human, academic and spiritual formation of those who benefit from its scholarships, and upholds the values of responsibility, innovation, transparency and closeness between benefactors and students.
In FY2023 the organization undertook a rebranding, updating its brand identity, and has increased its social media presence to reach more people.
From the table to the Mass, from Emmaus to the celebration
A catechetical explanation, from the hand of the disciples of Emmaus, of the main moments and attitudes that we can live in the celebration of the Holy Mass.
Javier Sánchez Cervera-August 10, 2024-Reading time: 6minutes
Important things are explained many times and in many ways. What always helps the most is the example, the actions themselves, but we must recognize that a good story can make a teaching unforgettable.
Let's start with the story. It happened on the very day of Jesus' resurrection with two of the Master's followers who, disillusioned, returned home cursing the day they had set their hearts on Jesus. St. Luke tells the story in chapter 24 of his Gospel.
Let's get started.
Let us acknowledge our sins
At Mass, as in life, Jesus always walks with us, but whether we are able to recognize him is another matter. The disillusioned disciples of Emmaus saw nothing, they were not even able to distinguish Jesus when he came to their side.
In our case, we have so many things on our hands that, at the beginning of the Eucharist, the priest wishes us that "... we will be able to do the same...".the Lord be with you"and it certainly is. Another thing is that, like Cleopas and his friend, we realize it. Jesus, who is already walking beside them, asks them: "What conversation is that you're carrying on the road??". "Out of what the heart is full the mouth speaks." Jesus had said at the beginning of his ministry. So the question was not a simple curiosity. The Master who has come to "heal broken hearts". (Is 61:1) needs us to open our hearts to get down to work. In the Mass the moment parallel to this is the one where we are encouraged to "let us acknowledge our sins" with the silence that follows. There we open our hearts to Christ, who will come later to mend the wounds.
Listening to the Word of God
The two heartbroken walkers poured out all their frustration with the mysterious Companion who took an interest in them: all that has gone wrong, the unanswered prayers, the dashed hopes, the useless work..... Along with this, their own cowardice in running away and leaving the Master alone in the face of his enemies and the way he was killed, in part, because of them. To his words we, in the Eucharist, add: "Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy."
Open the heart, we can begin to change it through hearing. Faith begins with the ear - "fides ex auditu". (Rm 10:17), and they are now going to listen to the best lesson of Sacred Scripture that has ever been pronounced in the history of mankind: "And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was referred to him in all the Scriptures." (Lk 24) At Sunday Mass we do this by reading two readings, the psalm, the Gospel and, finally, with the preaching of the homily. It is an intense but very necessary block, because there, as on that day, Jesus really speaks to us.
And boy, did he talk! He began by calling them "hard of understanding". That journey opened their ears, their eyes, their hearts and filled them with fire, and they, as they walked on, did not even realize it. Such is prayer, such is the reading of the Word of God.
Requests
"When they came near the village where they were going, Jesus made a gesture to go on. But they urged him, 'Stay with us.
Believe it or not, at this point they still didn't know who it was that was with them, although the strength of his words was so great and he had captivated their hearts in such a way that they were afraid to be alone again, to go back to "the old ways" and they looked for that excuse to beg him to stay. And he did.
We too, after listening to his Word, formulate our supplications, "we pray to the Lord" May he stay and illuminate with his presence so many places that, if he were not there, would frighten us: sickness, wars, hunger, injustice, death....
Offertory
At last, now calmer, seated at the table, they will move from words to deeds. Jesus was always more about works than words, although, on this occasion, words were very necessary. Now they are going to share food, which is as much as sharing life. Sitting at someone's table was, for the Jewish people, a way of manifesting intimacy with that person, the union of friendship, the desire to be one. An unattainable desire in the case of God and man. Until He came.
At Mass We see how the priest begins to prepare the altar-table. It is a delicate ritual full of simple but significant gestures: unfolding the corporal where the Body of Christ will be placed; preparing the chalice with the wine, sign of the divinity of Jesus with a few drops of water, sign of our poor humanity; offering it to the Father and praying, bowed down, so that this sacrifice may be a sign of our poor humanity; and then, as he bows down, praying for the sacrifice of the Body of Christ to be offered to the Father. "be pleasant in your presence". At the end of these signs the priest washes his hands to prepare his body and soul for what is going to happen next. We already know, Cleophas and his friend had no idea.
Consecration
"He went in and stayed with them. And being at table, he took bread and said the blessing; then he broke it and gave it to them. Then the eyes of the disciples were opened and they recognized him." (Lk 6).
The words he chose were the same, the way he pronounced them, the gesture as he took the bread and then broke it. They had already seen it elsewhere. They recognized that it was the same one he had said to them for the first time at the Last Supper: "Take and eat, this is my body."
Exegetes say that the account of the Last Supper is the first thing that was put in writing and that small papyri with copies of Jesus' words and gestures on the evening of the Last Supper are the first to be written down. Maundy Thursday circulated among the first Christian communities. Well, those same gestures and those same words were repeated by Himself after His resurrection at Emmaus and are repeated by Himself through His priests every day on the altar of all the churches of the world. The disciples recognized it at that moment. May we never get used to the mystery -that is what it is called- of transubstantiation!
Communion
Amazed, the walkers did not stop looking at the Consecrated Bread, recognizing the presence of Jesus in their midst. This Presence will be, from now on, what sets the rhythm of our spiritual life, the "source and summit of our Christian life". (LG 11).
The teaching was already sown in their hearts for them and for the whole Church until the end of time. Jesus' promise was fulfilled: "I am with you all the days until the end of the world."(Mt 28:20). That is why Jesus already "had disappeared from his sight" (Lk 6), but is still truly, substantially present in the Eucharist.
To receive Communion is to receive this Consecrated Bread, which is truly Jesus. He himself had said it in the discourse of the Bread of Life: "The bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world." (Jn 6:51), "he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (Jn 6:54).
The disciples of Emmaus stared at the Consecrated Bread and with what emotion they would put it in their mouths! Jesus is now "flesh of his flesh", truly becomes one with us to heal our broken hearts, to give us eternal life, to "divinize" us.
Thanksgiving
Both of them - and all of us - now become aware of the immense love of Christ manifested in the Eucharist. The presence of Jesus draws them inward and there they recognize the fire of his love. When they finish praying, they comment: "Were not our hearts burning within us, as he spoke to us on the way and explained the Scriptures to us?". They finally understand the work the Lord is doing with them.
For us, those minutes of quiet after communion are golden. They are moments to enter into the depths of our heart where He is and to enter into a dialogue of love with the one we know loves us. A dialogue that could well run with this template: "I love you, I thank you, I ask for your forgiveness, I ask for your help".
Return home
The word "Mass"comes from the Latin text of the Eucharist. At the end of the celebration the priest would say: "Ite, missa est". That is to say: "Now you are sent". So much joy cannot be only for a few. The discovery of God's love leads us to proclaim it to others, beginning with those closest to us. Cleopas and his friend - you and I - "And at that very moment they set out on their journey and returned to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and the others gathered together [...] they told what had happened to them on the road and how they had recognized him in the breaking of the bread." (Lk 6).
In the same way, as we leave this encounter with the Master, we too can give witness to all of the love that He has for us and how He has remained - hidden - forever in the Eucharist.
The authorJavier Sánchez Cervera
Parish Priest in San Sebastián de los Reyes(Madrid)
August 9 marks the 82nd anniversary of Edith Stein's murder in Auschwitz. Her life was characterized by the search for truth and spiritual fulfillment.
"Come, let's go for our people." With these words, Edith Stein addressed her sister Rosa on the notorious Auschwitz ramp on August 9, 1942, on her way to the gas chamber. On August 2, both Carmelite nuns had been arrested in Utrecht along with 244 other Catholic Jews, in retaliation against Dutch bishops who publicly criticized the Nazi occupation. The words Edith Stein had written years earlier proved prophetic: "The world is on fire: the battle between Christ and the Antichrist has openly broken out; if you decide for Christ, it may cost you your life". Edith and Rosa were murdered because of their Jewish ancestry.
For Edith Stein, being a Christian and a Catholic without denying her Jewish roots was not a contradiction. She was baptized at the age of thirty, on January 1, 1922, the day of Jesus' circumcision; she deliberately chose this date to emphasize that her conversion was not a renunciation of Judaism. In Cologne, since 1999, a bronze monument entitled "Group with a saint" has stood in front of the archbishop's seminary. The woman seated on the stool, leaning thoughtfully on a Star of David, represents the young Edith Stein. Standing is the nun holding Christ on the cross.
As a religious name she chose Teresia Benedicta a Cruce, "blessed by the cross". One of her main works is entitled "The Science of the Cross". She not only carried the cross after her arrest, but also during the painful estrangement from her family after her baptism. At her beatification on May 1, 1987, Pope John Paul II described her as "Jewess, philosopher, nun and martyr".
The search for truth
She was born in Breslau on October 12, 1891, on Yom Kippur, one of the most important Jewish holidays. During a stay with her sister Elsa and brother-in-law Max Gordon in Hamburg in 1906, the 15-year-old later recounted, "I deliberately stopped praying, of my own free will." However, her search for truth continued throughout her life.
In Hamburg, she first came into contact with scientific thought, as Max was a physician. In the fall of 1911, Edith enrolled at the University of Breslau to study Germanic philology, history and philosophy. She soon discovered the work of the philosopher Edmund Husserl and his phenomenology.
Husserl sought direct access to phenomena by eliminating preconceived ideas about appearances. His aim was a "pure" awareness of things as they objectively are. "Toward things themselves," was Husserl's maxim, which Edith Stein followed enthusiastically. After her doctorate, she worked as an assistant to this professor and devoted herself intensively to research.
Edith Stein wrote her dissertation for a professorship, but was rejected by the faculty in Göttingen as well as in Kiel and Hamburg. As a woman, and a Jew, she had no chance. In the early years of the Weimar Republic, she wrote treatises on national politics and increasingly reflected on her own image of God.
Edith Stein's baptism
She studied the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and the mystical writings of St. Teresa of Avila, an encounter that led her to baptism, without rejecting Judaism. Edith Stein recognized the links between the two religions and never denied what Christianity owed to Judaism. However, her baptism came as a shock to her family. Her niece Susanne Batzdorff-Bieberstein recalled: "By becoming a Catholic, our aunt had let her people down".
After her baptism, Edith Stein worked as a German teacher at the Dominican convent of St. Magdalen in Speyer. Although she initially lived outside the convent walls, she drew closer to the monastic life. She continued her scientific search for truth in her works of religious philosophy and immersed herself in the truths of faith by following the "Quaestiones disputatae de veritate" of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Edith Stein sought new ways to relate reason to faith and to fill it with her own experience of God. She compared the modern phenomenology of her great model Husserl with the teachings of Aquinas: "Our age is no longer satisfied with methodological considerations. People are unstable and are looking for a foothold. They want a tangible, substantive truth, to be demonstrated in life. They want a 'philosophy of life,' and they will find it in Thomas Aquinas."
Patroness of Europe
Commemorative plaque
After the Nazis came to power, Edith Stein was forbidden to do any public work. In 1935, at the age of 44, she entered the contemplative order of the Discalced Carmelites and took the name Teresia Benedicta a Cruce. On December 31, 1938, she fled to Holland, where she lived in the Carmel of Echt and wrote her testament, in which she offered her life and death to Christ for the sanctification of her order and to "atone for the unbelief of the Jewish people".
Despite criticism from the Jewish side, because she was not killed because of her Christianity but because of her Jewish origins, she was beatified on May 1, 1987, and canonized on October 11, 1998. A year later, St. John Paul II included her among the patronesses of Europe.
Edith Stein's life was characterized by a constant search for truth and a deep desire for spiritual and intellectual fulfillment. Her commitment to philosophy and her subsequent entry into Carmel bear witness to her unwavering dedication to her convictions and her faith. His murder in Auschwitz remains a testimony to the immeasurable suffering experienced by the Jewish people during the Shoa.
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"Forgive us our trespasses, grant us your peace" is the motto chosen by Pope Francis for the 2025 World Day of Peace. The Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development explains that this title "corresponds to the biblical and ecclesial understanding of the Jubilee Year"..
The Holy Father has been inspired by the encyclicals "Laudato Si'" y "Fratelli Tutti" to choose the theme of the day that the Church will celebrate on January 1, 2025. His choice is intended to highlight "the concepts of hope and forgiveness, which are at the heart of the Jubilee, a time of conversion that calls us not to condemn, but to reconciliation and peace".
The Dicastery hopes that both the World Day of Peace and next year's Jubilee will bring about "much needed spiritual, social, economic, ecological and cultural change."
Thanks to this conversion, the Dicastery concludes, "a true peace can flourish" that is not limited to the end of conflicts, but also involves "the healing of wounds and the recognition of the dignity of each person".
Many saints have insisted that good humor is characteristic of the Christian and Pope Francis himself affirms that "a sad Christian is a sad Christian".
On June 14, 2024, Pope Francis met with comedians from all over the world. During the meeting, the Pontiff highlighted the work of these professionals, whose "precious gift" "allows us to share and is the best antidote to selfishness and individualism".
The Holy Father is not the only one aware of the importance of joy. Throughout history, many saints have emphasized that good humor is a great virtue, characteristic of the Christian.
So much so that St. Thomas More wrote a prayer to ask the Lord to grant him the habit of taking things well: "Grant me, O Lord, a good digestion, and also something to digest. Grant me health of body, with the good humor necessary to maintain it. Give me, Lord, a holy soul that knows how to make the most of what is good and pure, so that it will not be frightened by sin, but will find a way to put things back in order. Grant me a soul that does not know boredom, murmuring, sighing and lamenting, and do not allow it to suffer excessively because of that overbearing being called: 'I'. Give me, Lord, a sense of humor. Grant me the grace to understand jokes, so that I may know in life a little joy and be able to communicate it to others."
Good humor and evangelization
St. Josemaría Escrivá knew well that communication is essential for evangelization. For this reason, in point 661 of The Way, he wrote: "Long faces..., brusque manners..., ridiculous appearance..., an unpleasant air: is this how you hope to encourage others to follow Christ? A difficult task, indeed. The same is the opinion of Pope Francis, who affirms that "a sad Christian is a sad Christian".
However, it is important to note that good humor does not equal naivety. This is something Gilbert Keith Chesterton knew well, as his texts demonstrate. The English author's writings are full of common sense, a fine irony and good humor that overwhelm the reader. Defending the faith? Of course, but without losing the smile.
Another great example of this is St. John Paul II, who loved to laugh. Joaquín Navarro-Valls, who was very close to him, often emphasized the Pope's good humor, not in spite of everything, but with everything. The Polish Pontiff also emphasized in a general audience "the ability to turn into a joyful smile, in the right measure and in the right way, the things heard and seen", as St. Thomas Aquinas preached.
Good humor, a thing of saints
Pope Francis, in the encyclical "Gaudete et exsultate"The saint is able to live with joy and a sense of humor. Without losing realism, he enlightens others with a positive and hopeful spirit".
It can be said, therefore, that good humor is a thing of saints, a virtue that brings us a little closer to Heaven and allows us to realize the words of St. Paul in his letter to the Philippians: "Rejoice in the Lord always; I tell you again, rejoice".
How much we complain. In fact, every language has several words to describe different ways of complaining. Certainly, there is a lot of complaining in today's readings. Elijah complains. He is fed up and asks God to take his life. In his defense, he had reason to feel sorry for himself. He had just confronted the 450 prophets of the false god Baal and, although he had been victorious, he felt very lonely: persecuted and the only prophet defending the true God, when all the others had abandoned him to worship false gods.
We can also complain too much, often with First World problems. We focus on what we don't have, and not enough on God's gifts. Our complaining about what we think we don't have leads us to doubt Him. But if we trust Him, He will not let us down.
Elijah complained, but God took care of him. He gave him the miraculous bread and water, which appeared on the stone, twice. And with that bread and water he was able to walk 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb, where he would meet God. If we are faithful to God as Elijah was, He will give us everything we need: miraculously when necessary, although He usually uses ordinary means.
The miraculous food eaten by Elijah, the miraculous bread eaten by the Jews in the desert, all point to a greater miracle, the miracle of the Eucharist of which Christ begins to speak in today's Gospel and which he will explain more in next Sunday's reading.
We are invited to prepare our hearts for this gift. And one way to do this is precisely to foster in our souls a sense of gratitude. We do not appreciate the Eucharist because we are not sufficiently grateful. We complain about what we do not have and, therefore, we despise this great gift.
In the Gospel, there are also complaints. "The Jews murmured at him because he had said, 'I am the bread come down from heaven.'" This complaint and the reference to bread would remind any Jew of the Israelites in the desert, when God brought them out of Egypt. Then too they complained, and precisely for lack of bread. And then they complained when they got bread that they wanted meat. And they complained when there was no water. Each time God gave them what they wanted: bread, meat, water. They took the gift, but they did not recognize the giver.
Homily on the readings of the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Priest Luis Herrera Campo offers his nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
Pope Francis has resumed the general audiences and has begun a new phase in his cycle of catechesis, centered "on the work of Redemption, that is, on Jesus Christ".
Pope Francis has resumed the audiences after his break in July. In this new cycle of catechesis "we are entering the second phase of salvation history". During his next audiences, the Pontiff will deepen "the work of Redemption, that is, in Jesus Christ".
To introduce the theme, the Holy Father focused on "the Holy Spirit in the Incarnation of the Word". Taking the verses that speak of the Incarnation in the Gospels of St. Luke and St. Matthew, the Pope explained that the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit in the Incarnation of the Word. Church "has picked up this revealed datum and soon placed it at the heart of his Symbol of faith".
Mary, the bride par excellence
Since the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 381, the Pope stressed, Catholics have affirmed with faith "that the Son of God 'by the power of the Holy Spirit was incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary and became man'".
Pope Francis said that since it is a datum collected in an ecumenical council, "all Christians profess together this same Symbol of faith". On the other hand, the Catholic Church has based itself on it to compose one of its best-known daily prayers, the Angelus.
The article of faith contained in the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople "allows us to speak of Mary as the Bride par excellence, who is the figure of the Church," the Pontiff explained. Thanks to this, the Vatican Council II was able to draw a parallel between the figure of Mary and that of the Church, mother of the children of God through Baptism.
Pope Francis concluded the catechesis "with a practical reflection for our life, suggested by Scripture's insistence on the verbs 'to conceive' and 'to give birth'". Like Mary, who "first conceived, then gave birth to Jesus," the Church must first welcome the Word of God "and then give birth to it through life and preaching."
At the end of the audience, the Holy Father greeted several French and Spanish-speaking pilgrims, as well as Irish and Portuguese Catholics, among others. Finally, he again called for a cease-fire in the Middle East, Ukraine, Myanmar and Sudan.
From Qumran to the Tablet, Approaches to the Bible Today
The Bible has been and continues to be the inspiration for the main artistic manifestations. Therefore, in this article there is a list with a multitude of resources to get to know the Word of God better.
"Although the Christian faith is not a 'religion of the Book': Christianity is the 'religion of the Word of God', not of 'a written and mute word, but of the incarnate and living Word'". With these words, Benedict XVI introduced the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation "The Word of God".Verbum Domini"The Word of God in the Church. God, who manifested himself fully in Christ, -logos-, word, leaves in the Bible a privileged way of encounter and relationship to mankind of every time and place.
The Bible has been and continues to be the inspiration for the main artistic expressions: music, painting, architecture... are proof of this. In the last two centuries, moreover, these arts have been joined by the cinema and new formats of communication, giving rise to a new way of approaching God and the Church in a secularized society.
This article presents a list of resources in different formats that can be used to learn more about the Bible.
Podcast. "The Bible in a Year".
A plan of 365 podcasts directed, in its English version, by the priest Mike Schmitz. It is one of the best known projects of "Ascension", a multimedia network dedicated to the creation of Catholic faith formation content and digital content.
"The Bible in one year is"Mike Schmitz and a guided prayer to help listen to the voice of God in his Word, that is, to "concretize" God's call in daily life. The podcast follows an original way of Bible reading devised by Jeff Cavins that, through fourteen narrative books of the Bible, tells the biblical story from beginning to end. Since its launch in January 2021, "The Bible in a Year" has had nearly 700 million downloads and is available on all major podcasting platforms.
Ebook . The Holy Bible (EUNSA)
This Holy Bible in Spanish offers an interesting collection of resources for understanding and contextualizing biblical texts. Each book opens with an introductory explanatory text to which are added commentaries on the passages. In addition, this Holy Bible contains an Appendix with references to the Old Testament in the New, a glossary of measurements, weights and coins, the feasts of the Jewish calendar, etc., as well as a series of maps that help to understand and physically locate the events narrated in the books of the Bible. In its ebook version, very easy to use, the explanation of the passages and the internal links make the reading agile and understandable.
The audiobook edition of the University of Navarra Bible brings together for the first time in audio the texts of the Navarra Bible and brief introductions to each book.
Series. "The Chosen."
Undoubtedly, one of the audiovisual phenomena of recent years. The series created by Dallas Jenkins and financed by crowdfunding has become one of the most important phenomena in the Christian panorama. Although its creators are not Catholics, they have several Catholics as advisors or even among its actors, as in the case of Jonathan Roumie, in charge of playing Jesus.
The series recreates the story "around the Sacred History" of Christ and his disciples within a script characterized by the depth of their conversations and the ability to capture the viewer. The figure of a "very human" Jesus who, at the same time, does not dilute his divine nature, is one of the best balances achieved in a series that has just premiered the fourth of its seven seasons and has been seen by more than 500 million people.
Derral Evesproducer of "The Chosen"In Omnes, he stated that "for the Catholic Church, the use of audiovisual language can be a powerful tool for dissemination, connection with the public and transmission of messages in a powerful way". Not in vain, in the "community" of The Chosen there are thousands of messages from people who had never heard of Jesus or the Bible and have come to it thanks to the viewing of the series.
Film. "The Passion."
"The Passion"The film was a turning point in today's religious cinema. After the religious blockbusters of the mid-twentieth century, the U.S. film industry had paid marginal or low-cost attention to religious themes. The film, directed by Mel Gibson, was scripted by the director himself with Benedict Fitzgerald, based on the Gospels and inspired by the works The Mystical City of God, by the venerable María Jesús de Ágreda, and The Sorrowful Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a book by Clemens Brentano detailing the visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerick.
The film, which narrates the hours of the Passion, death and ends with the Resurrection of Christ, was harshly criticized for the realism with which Gibson depicts the passion of Christ. An accusation that Gibson himself refuted by stating that "we have become accustomed to seeing pretty crosses on the wall and we forget what really happened. We know that Jesus suffered and died, but we don't really realize what that means. I didn't realize it either until now.
The film, which starred Jim Caviezel as Jesus, Maia Morgenstern as the Virgin Mary and Monica Bellucci as Mary Magdalene, proved to be a box-office success and a film that changed lives. In recent years, there has been talk of a sequel to this film, which is now twenty years old and still very topical.
Books. "The Portico of the Bible" and "Footprints of Our Faith".
These are two volumes published by the Saxum Foundation designed to assist and enrich the knowledge of the Bible and the pilgrimage to Holy Land.
"Pórtico de la Biblia", a work by Jesús Gil and Joseángel Domínguez, makes a didactic and elaborate tour through the books that make up the Bible. The books are not presented in canonical order but in chronological-temporal order, following the order in which they were written, which helps to frame the moment of the Scripture or to which the biblical books refer in the context of universal history.
For each book, the literary genre, the story told or its historical context, the time and process of composition, authorship, main teachings, key concepts, relevant aspects of the structure and central passages are detailed.
The charts are accompanied by illustrations from National Geographic Magazine and data on the oldest surviving manuscripts for each book.
"Footprints of our Faith", by Jesús and Eduardo Gil, is a guide to help prepare for the encounter with Jesus that a pilgrimage to the Holy Land entails. The volume "presents the reasons why we venerate some sites, the ones that all pilgrimages usually visit, as truly related to the life of Jesus" as Jesús Gil points out.
The authors have recourse to data from Sacred Scripture, historical testimonies and the results of archaeological research to give reasons for the veracity of each site. They also include spiritual notes to help the reader meditate on the Gospel scenes, so that the Word of God may effectively resonate in one's own life.
Book. Seeing Jesus through Peter's eyes.
This volume, the first in the new collection "Meditating the Bible," comments on each passage of the Second Gospel from the perspective of the "composition of place" practiced by St. Ignatius, St. Teresa and St. Josemaría. He illustrates the words and places of the Gospel, but without resorting to the imagination of the possible, but not real; only from geography and archaeology, from the documents of the time - the Old Testament, Philo, Flavius Josephus, intertestamental or rabbinic literature -, and from the stylistic features of the Gospel itself, which suppose the enunciation from a witness of the events. In short, in the Gospels we have, on a weekly basis, what we can know about Jesus. In the hands of his readers the means for that seed to become grass, stem and leafy tree.
Exhibition. "The Mystery man".
A unique exhibition about "the man of the Holy Shroud". This is basically "The Mystery man"This traveling exhibition, created by Artisplendore, a cultural management company specializing in sacred art, has already toured several locations in Europe. The exhibition breaks down, over six exhibition areas, the most important aspects of the figure of Jesus of Nazareth, the condemnation and death of Christ, the Shroud, forensic studies on the Shroud, a spectacular immersive room and, finally, the highlight of this exhibition, the room where the body recreated from the Shroud is exhibited.
This reproduction is, for its creators, "the key differentiating point of this exhibition with respect to others that we have been able to see". The life-size body shows the wounds depicted on the Shroud, which are identified with the Gospels' account of Christ's passion. Next to this reproduction, there is also a life-size copy of the Shroud. In this way, the spectator perceives, in three dimensions, the results of an investigation that has been in progress for more than fifteen years.
From August 1 until August 31 the ostension of the body will be in the Cathedral of Sigüenza. From September the complete exhibition of "The Mystery Man" will be in Barcelona.
Solemnity of the Transfiguration: five centuries of devotion in El Salvador
This year, Catholics in El Salvador celebrate the Solemnity of the Transfiguration with the theme "500 years evangelizing. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever", in honor of the 500th anniversary of the first Mass celebrated in Central America.
José Daniel Mejía Fuentes-August 6, 2024-Reading time: 4minutes
The month of August in El Salvador is a period full of unique festive, cultural and religious events. In this small republic, the patron saint festivities are held in honor of the Divine Savior of the World. On August 5, a procession with the image of the patron saint departs from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, traveling through the main streets of the capital until it reaches the metropolitan cathedral of San Salvador. Here, year after year, there is a representation of the Transfiguration. The following day, a solemn Mass is celebrated, presided over by the archbishop and concelebrated by the Salvadoran Episcopal Conferencewith the participation of priests and lay people from all over the country.
According to a chronicle of the XVII century, the feast of the Divine Savior of the World has been celebrated since 1526. At that time, it was commemorated only on August 6 and had a mainly civic character, due to the foundation of the town of San Salvador (1525), by Don Pedro de Alvarado. The celebration included carrying the "royal banner" through the main streets with a lucid accompaniment of knights. However, on some occasions, the festivity was moved to Christmas. For example, President Gerardo Barrios decreed the change on October 25, 1861 because August was the "most rigorous time in the rainy season".
Representation of the Divine Savior of the World
The procession
The image of the Divine Savior of the World, colloquially known as "El colocho" because of his curly hair, was sculpted by the master Silvestre García in 1777. García is credited with the civic and religious character of the celebration, since he organized an annual feast to the patron saint with a novena and jubilee. Previously, at the end of the 16th century, King Philip II had donated an image of the Savior of the World for the procession.
Since 1777, the traditional route of the procession went from the church El Calvario to the Plaza de Armas, where the transfiguration took place. With the construction of the new cathedral in Plaza Barrios, the image was moved there. In 1963, Monsignor Luis Chavez y Gonzalez extended the route from the Sacred Heart Basilica to the Metropolitan Cathedral. However, the "calvareños" protested the modification of their tradition, and the archbishop promised that every August 5 in the morning, the Divine Savior of the World would visit the church of El Calvario, a promise that is kept until today.
The descent
In 1810, in the atrium of the parish church, today El Rosario church, a "great volcano" was built with the image of Jesus Christ on top. This tradition originated the metal monument of 15 meters high that is used for "the descent", on top of which is the globe and on it, the image of the Divine Savior of the World. At a certain moment, the globe opens and the image descends dressed in red to resurface dressed in white.
The nickname "The Descent" has two possible explanations: one of a religious nature, evoking how the disciples of Jesus take his body down from the cross and place it in the tomb, anticipating the Resurrection; and another topographical, since the church El Calvario was located in a higher position than Plaza Libertad, according to the old cadastre of the city.
Each year the patronal feast has a different motto. The 2024 theme is "500 years evangelizing. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever", in honor of the 500th anniversary of the first Mass celebrated in Central America on May 12, 1524 in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala.
Attendees at the procession on the Solemnity of the Transfiguration
History and religion of El Salvador
Every August 6, St. Oscar Romero used to offer a pastoral letter in which he addressed the challenges of the Salvadoran Church of the time and made a profound analysis of the most serious problems of the country. For example, in his last exhortation he said: "to call ourselves the Republic of El Salvador and to celebrate the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord every August 6 is a privilege for Salvadorans. This name, given by Captain Pedro de Alvarado and recalled by Pope Pius XII in 1942, reflects the divine providence that assigns to each people its name, place and mission. To hear every year in the liturgy that our patron saint is the Son of God and that we must listen to him is our most precious historical and religious legacy and the greatest motivation for our hopes as a nation".
The Salvadoran martyr had the ability to integrate in his interpretation of the history of El Salvador a profound religious sense. In the context of the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the first mass in Central America, this capacity is particularly suggestive. It is undeniable that the heritage of faith is deeply linked to the cultural encounter between Europe and America.
At the Last Supper, Jesus was saying goodbye to his disciples before the imminent passion, but he "invented" an unsuspected way to stay: the Eucharist.
August 5, 2024-Reading time: 3minutes
The last supper that Jesus shared with his apostles shortly before being tortured and executed must be one of the most represented banquets in history. What we know of that meeting brings together very suggestive elements: the thirteen diners, the institution of the Eucharist, the imminence of the Passion, the complicity of John, the betrayal of Judas, the somewhat reckless audacity of Peter, even the menu rehearsed for centuries by the pious Jews.
Many artists have been inspired by the evangelical scene to create paintings, sonnets, stained glass windows, performances or symphonies. Probably, everyone was or is aware that something extraordinary happened there, that in that meeting of friends God had an outstanding role, that he did something unsuspected for men, for us. That is why we Christians attach so much importance to it.
Among the most recent representations, the one composed by Juan Antonio Bayona in a very subtle way for the final scene of The snow society. The 16 survivors of the Fairchild are still convalescing in an overflowing Chilean hospital while their families travel excitedly from Uruguay to join them after 72 days. They are starving, dazed and happy. They allow themselves to be washed and driven from one place to another, one smiles gratefully to the young nun who is healing him, another seems absorbed in his memories as they remove the layers of clothing that have allowed him to survive in the mountain, a third receives his girlfriend and his parents radiantly. And when it seems that the luminous glances of all of them are about to give way to the credits, they suddenly gather in a room, sit close together around the four beds plunged in the twilight and silently bid the viewer farewell with this very elegant tribute -they too- to Leonardo da Vinci and, above all, to the dinner that another group of friends shared two thousand years ago with the Son of God in the "great hall" of a private house in Jerusalem.
I don't know why Juan Antonio Bayona wanted to end his extraordinary film in this way, I suppose the story that appears in the book had something to do with it. The snow society about the moment when the young rugby players who had survived the initial accident discuss the possibility of feeding on the bodies of their dead teammates.
Pedro Algorta undoes the prejudices and apprehension of almost everyone else with a reflection directly related to the Last Supper: "Isn't the sacrament of communion just that, eating the body of Jesus Christ to receive God and eternal life in our hearts? Years later, when he recalled that decisive moment, he summed it up poignantly: "Our friends had died so that we might continue to live. We were obliged to feed on their flesh. It was not simple cannibalism, but an act of enormous love.
That is exactly what it is about: an "enormous" act of love. Jesus was saying goodbye to his disciples in the face of his imminent passion, but he "invented" an unsuspected way of staying: the Eucharist. He did it to give himself completely, to continue to be close to us, to be accessible for ever and ever. That is why it is said of the Eucharist that it is a mystery of love.
A few months ago, a 16 or 17 year old girl from Seville told me that she usually goes to mass every Sunday with her parents, and that also in the parish and at school they advise her to do so, and that she has taken it for granted, but that deep down she does not know why mass is so important.
-What happens at Mass so that everyone reminds me that it is worth going? -I wanted to know.
I could have answered him at length and documented, but at that moment the first thing that came to my mind was another question:
-Can you imagine if every Sunday you were invited to join the Last Supper?
The opening of the heart. 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Joseph Evans comments on the readings for Sunday 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.
Joseph Evans-August 5, 2024-Reading time: 2minutes
What is striking about today's Gospel is the trouble Jesus takes to cure the man brought to him, who was deaf and had trouble speaking. "He, drawing him away from the crowd, alone, put his fingers in his ears and with the saliva touched his tongue. And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him: Effetá (that is, 'open up')." The man was healed and could hear and speak freely. Why did Jesus do all this? It was not his usual practice. He usually healed on the spot, simply with a word.
One possibility is that the man's physical state expressed a spiritual state: the lack of sincerity, the unwillingness to make himself known. There are people who go through life dodging the truth. They don't want to hear it or say it. Sincerity is openness to the truth.
Often, people dodge the truth by seeking anonymity, getting lost in various ways: in the crowd, at a party, in the workAnything rather than face themselves, their conscience, God. And here Jesus takes the man apart, precisely away from the crowd. We need to talk to Jesus alone, to be sincere with him, to let him tell us what we need to hear, without avoiding or denying it. Jesus puts his fingers in the man's ear, as if he had to try harder to cure his deafness. As if God had to "try harder" to speak to those who do not want to listen to him.
Then comes the next phase of the miracle: Jesus touched his tongue with his saliva. This man was not completely mute. In the New Testament we find other people possessed by a "mute demon". They cannot say a word. That is the worst condition: people who do not speak, who do not ask for help. But this man was not so bad. He just had a speech impediment. Spiritually speaking there are people who say something about the problem, but not all of it, a part, but not the whole.
Then we learn: "looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him: Ephphethah (that is, 'open up')". This sigh could express God's sorrow at human insincerity. He is saddened by our resistance to his grace. It is God's sigh for those whom he wanted to help but who rejected him.
All this teaches us the importance of being sincere in those areas where God wants to help us: confession, spiritual guidance, with our own parents, teachers and guides, and also, when necessary, with medical specialists who have the necessary expertise to help us.
Homily on the readings of the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Priest Luis Herrera Campo offers his nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
These simple lines are intended as a well-deserved tribute to María Luisa Curiá Martínez-Alayón and to the millions of women throughout history who have freely decided to sacrifice part or all of their professional careers and their possible personal brilliance to devote themselves to their children and family.
August 5, 2024-Reading time: 4minutes
My mother was born on March 30, 1942 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary Islands) and was baptized in the church of La Concepción in that city. Her parents were Jesús Curiá Cabra, born in San Sebastián and Clemencia Martínez-Alayón Guerra, born in Tenerife. Her godfather was her grandfather, the Valencian veterinarian Severo Curiá Martínez. He made his first communion in 1949 at the age of 7 at the Pureza de María school, where he was confirmed in 1952 at the age of 10, his older brother Ángel being his confirmation godfather. After the eldest, came her brother Néstor and, younger than her, Jesús and Carlos.
In 1958 he finished high school at the Pureza de María school. In the conservatory of Santa Cruz de Tenerife he studied music theory, aesthetics, music history and up to the 6th year of piano (he did not finish the 7th and 8th years because his father encouraged him to go abroad to learn languages). He spent the academic year 1959/1960 in France, studying French and French literature at the "Cours Albert le Grand" of the Dominican Sisters of Bordeaux. From 1960 to 1962 he studied Secretarial Studies at St. Godric's College (Hamstead, London). There he also obtained the "Lower Certificate in English" and the "London Chambers of Commerce".
For a year he worked in Tenerife in the shipping company Cory, a job he left to move to Madrid. Once in Madrid, he worked for a year in the English company Fertiberia. In 1964 he obtained the "Proficiency" in English at the British Institute and in 1966 he took a course at the Official School of Languages in Madrid. During those years she also studied international shorthand in English, French and Spanish at the Samper Academy in Madrid. From 1966 to 1968 she worked as a management secretary at the British-Dutch company Unilever.
Vocation
In 1966 she applied for admission as a supernumerary of Opus Dei to the Alcor Hall of Residence in Madrid, which she got to know thanks to a former neighbor from Tenerife who invited her to visit it on one occasion. During Holy Week of that year she went to Rome with other young women of her age and was able to meet personally St. Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer, who received her and her friend Ana Rodríguez Corazón in a living room of Villa Tevere, the central headquarters of Opus Dei in Rome. These events would have a decisive importance in the deep Christian convictions that she transmitted to her entire family.
In March 1966 she met Ángel María Leyra Faraldo (Ferrol, 25-II-1938 - 27-VIII-2021) at a party. Ángel noticed her and asked for her phone number so he could call her. After two years of courtship, they would marry in the Pontifical Basilica of San Miguel on August 10, 1968 and would travel in her Seat 600 on their honeymoon to Catalonia. In the monastery of Montserrat they promised the Virgin that they would give that name to their first daughter, as they did a year later. Before having their first daughter, Montse, who would become a doctor in Classical and Semitic Philology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, taught English for a year at the Besana School. In 1970 his son Miguel Angel was born, who would become a philosopher, doctor in theology and ordained priest in 2000. In 1972 his daughter María José was born, a graduate in Business Administration and currently married with a daughter.
English Philology
In 1972 she moved to La Laguna because her husband was assigned to the Universidad Laboral de la Laguna. There her children Ana Isabel (1974, graduated in Teaching, currently married and with two children), María Luisa (1976-2014, graduated in Law, married and mother of four children) and Pablo (1976), who died a week after birth due to complications in childbirth, were born. In 1974 she passed the university entrance exams for those over 25 years of age at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of La Laguna to begin her first year of English Philology, studies that she had to interrupt because she could not combine them with the attention she wanted to give to her already large family. In 1978 the whole family moved to Madrid. In 1980 his last son, Santiago, doctor in Law and university professor, was born.
In 1985/1986 she took a course in English Literature at the British Institute and in 1987 she took a course in English Teaching Techniques at the British Council. For years she gave private English lessons to students between 13 and 18 years of age and worked as a translator and transcriber.
Tribute to the delivery
Nowadays it is difficult for many fathers or mothers -because of the way contemporary society has been configured- to allow themselves to give up their professional careers to devote themselves to the care and education of their children, those who decide to bet on life against the "generous" opinion of many that there are too many of us on this planet. There is now more talk of achieving the so-called "work-family balance", which does not seem to be going too well judging by family health indices at least in the West.
At present, my mother is living in her usual house in Mirasierra as she enters old age, widowed, surrounded and cared for by her children, whom we love and admire very much. These simple lines want to be a well-deserved tribute to her and to the millions of women -more numerous than men, although there have also been men- who throughout history and also today have freely decided to sacrifice in part or totally their professional career and their possible personal brilliance to dedicate themselves to their children and their family, being truly happy living a true love: giving their lives for others and reaping the abundant fruits of their dedication, as Jesus Christ taught us from the luminous mystery of the Cross. Thank you very much, Mom.
A sunny and hot Rome welcomed the Angelus prayer of Pope Francis from the balcony of the papal buildings with hundreds of pilgrims who, despite the high temperatures, wanted to accompany the pontiff in the traditional Marian prayer.
After the prayer to Our Lady, the Pope fixed his gaze on Lebanon, recalling, first of all, the recent beatification of Patriarch Stefano Douayhy, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, who, as the Pope emphasized, "was a witness of hope in a difficult time".
The Pontiff expressed his closeness and prayer for the Lebanese people who, today, are also suffering complicated and violent moments. He prayed for the families of the victims of the explosion that took place 4 years ago today in the port of Beirut, in which 217 people died and more than 7,000 were injured.
Do not suffocate God's word of peace.
Pope Francis has expressed his concern over the ongoing violence in the Middle East and prayed that the conflict "does not spread further". In addition to
the populations of Israel, Palestine and Lebanon - with mention of the Druze community present in these areas - the Pope did not forget Myanmar and launched a strong appeal to stop the wars. "Enough! Do not suffocate God's word of peace! War is a failure," the pontiff strongly emphasized.
Venezuela was also present in this prayer. Referring to the difficult times in the Latin American country, the Pope addressed an appeal to "all to seek the truth and avoid violence among the population, for the good of the people and not for partisan interests".
Finally, he remembered those affected by the recent torrential rains in India, especially in the state of Kerala.
Before taking his leave, the Pope wanted to highlight the feast of the Holy Curé of Ars that the Church celebrates on August 4 and thanked so many parish priests "who with zeal and generosity, sometimes with great suffering, spend their lives for God and their people" and asked the faithful to give the parish priests a round of applause before wishing them a good lunch and a good Sunday.
St. Thomas Aquinas, a synthetic understanding of reality
The year 2024 marks the 750th anniversary of the death of St. Thomas Aquinas, who found in Aristotelian thought the confirmation of his own synthetic vision of reality, based on a dynamic understanding of beings.
José Manuel Giménez Amaya and José Ángel Lombo-August 4, 2024-Reading time: 4minutes
It has often been said that Thomas Aquinas is a thinker of synthesis. He received from Alberto Magno fundamental teachings on Aristotle and Neoplatonism, elaborated by both on a Christian basis.
Along with Sacred Scripture and the Fathers of the Church, Thomas Aquinas was also familiar with the classics of Greco-Roman culture and Arabic philosophy. This capacity for synthesis explains, to a large extent, why his vision would be proposed, centuries later, as a sure basis for the study of philosophy and theology, despite the suspicion that Aristotelianism had aroused in the thirteenth century.
If we consider this initial rejection, the insistence of Aquinas in proposing Aristotelian thought is even more surprising. It seems reasonable to think that he found, in the Stagirite, a confirmation of his own synthetic vision of reality.
This vision was based on a dynamic understanding of beings from their causes: the integrity of matter and form (substantial "hylemorphic" unity) and the orientation of all movements towards an end (teleology of nature).
Metaphysics
This understanding of reality implied a metaphysics that was at the same time unitary and dynamic. Hence neither Aristotle nor Thomas Aquinas had a rigid conception of substance: for them, every substance possesses some degree of activity, and the substances par excellence are natural beings and, more precisely, living beings. In turn, life is given according to degrees, that is, plants, animals and intellectual beings.
From this unitary and dynamic metaphysics, Aquinas arrived at an anthropology equally opposed to dualism and monism. Rational nature includes body and soul, and is the principle of free activity. Therefore, this anthropological understanding of the human being had notable consequences for ethics.
Free activity is open to the universal good, which the human being is capable of attaining by himself. This good is the most excellent and constitutes his happiness, which is life attained. However, insofar as we are a unity of soul and body, our activity does not consist exclusively in performing actions, but also in receiving the influence of the actions of other beings. The direction towards the ultimate end requires, therefore, the rational order of both actions and passions, and this order is given by the virtues.
Insofar as we need the action of others, the rational being requires the collaboration of other rational beings. Therefore, the good of each individual is in continuity with that of others. Rational beings tend to this common good by configuring among themselves a unity, which is human society. In this way, sociability is constitutive of our nature.
A unitary vision
At the beginning of these lines, we asked ourselves what Thomas Aquinas had seen in Aristotle in order to follow his philosophy in fundamental areas such as metaphysics, anthropology and ethics. According to what we have said, the key lies in a synthetic understanding of reality, which proves to be a valid interpretation insofar as it allows us to bring different philosophical traditions into dialogue, with a unitary and dynamic vision of the multiplicity of beings.
Aquinas' thought has also been the object of multiple readings. These conceptions sought, at bottom, to approach the unitary and dynamic vision of beings to which we referred earlier. In other words, Thomas Aquinas, like the Stagirite, aspired to a synthetic understanding of reality.
Basically, Aquinas' thought sought to maintain continuity with Aristotle, but not from the point of view of a particular school, but as an adequate access to reality. This is what has traditionally been known as the philosophia perenniswhich has been interrupted, in a certain way, in modernity. One manifestation of this has been the fragmentation of knowledge into partial perspectives and a certain renunciation of reaching an understanding of things in themselves.
From here, it is understood how the renewal of a philosophical approach along the lines of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas must fulfill at least three conditions. The first is that it be open to a continuity in the knowledge of things. The second is that it be capable of establishing a dialogue with other traditions that can be found on common ground. The third is that it must seek to overcome the fragmentation of knowledge in order to access reality in its unity and dynamism.
MacIntyre and other proposals
In recent times, there have been several attempts to approach a realist philosophy, along the lines of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas. One of the proposals that seems to us the most remarkable is that made by the Anglo-Saxon thinker Alasdair MacIntyrewhich distinguishes itself by accessing the Aristotelian-Thomistic philosophy precisely through ethics.
In MacIntyre's case, his point of departure is a modern context -analytic philosophy, Marxism, psychoanalysis-, in which he feels dissatisfied at not finding answers that give reason for the human being, in a unitary way, in his acting in relation to others. Thus, for him, modernity has been weighed down by individualism and the fragmentation of the human being. This is why he initially proposed the recovery of the Aristotelian notion of virtue, through a narrative conception of human life, which is interwoven with that of others within a common tradition.
Teleology in Thomistic thought
However, the British author becomes aware of the fundamental role of teleology in achieving this unitary conception of human life. In this search, he discovers Thomas Aquinas as a reader of Aristotle, which brings him progressively closer to clearly metaphysical approaches and to a more unitary vision of knowledge.
In this process, he also discovers in greater depth the relevance of the unity of body and soul in the human being, and in this research he recognizes the importance of biology in order to adequately understand the nature of rational beings. In this way, that rational nature is shown not only in its spiritual-corporeal unity, but also in its own vulnerability. This condition signifies a reciprocal dependence among rational beings, which manifests the capacity to give and receive in the relationship with others.
The Scottish philosopher comes to this conclusion by understanding in depth not only the spiritual-corporeal integrity of each human being in himself, but also the unity of one with another in a common life. At this point, he realizes that Aquinas's approach continues the Aristotelian conception of the human being as a unitary and social being. Alasdair MacIntyre has thus had the audacity to recognize that Thomas Aquinas has taken Aristotle further than Aristotle himself.
The authorJosé Manuel Giménez Amaya and José Ángel Lombo
University of Navarra and Pontifical University of the Holy Cross
Witnesses of the Transfiguration. Transfiguration of the Lord (B)
Joseph Evans comments on the readings of the Transfiguration of the Lord and Luis Herrera offers a brief video homily.
Joseph Evans-August 4, 2024-Reading time: 2minutes
The importance of the Transfiguration is reflected in the fact that it is recounted in all three synoptic gospels. Matthew, Mark and Luke considered it to be a remarkable event in the life of Christ, which each should relate in his own way. This year, year B, we are offered Mark's version, which provides a series of graphic descriptions that suggest precisely what tradition tells us: that Mark presents the preaching of Peter. Although somewhat crude in form, and without great literary polish, Mark often gives details that really suggest an eyewitness.
Thus, in this account, we are told not only that Christ's garments looked like "white as light" (Matthew) or "glowed with radiance" (Luke), but that "turned dazzling white, as no fuller in the world can leave them.". Peter must have been very impressed by the whiteness of Christ's garments at that moment and sensed that they had entered a totally new, heavenly dimension. It also emphasizes more than the other Gospels the fear of the three disciples, particularly his own: "I didn't know what to say, as they were scared.". And only Mark tells us that the three disciples were arguing among themselves. What was meant by "rising from the dead"?.
It is about someone who was there, who saw the extraordinary whiteness of Christ's garments, who felt intense fear and who spoke with James and John about what happened on the mountain. Indeed, as the first reading tells us, precisely from the second epistle of Peter: "We had been eyewitnesses of his greatness. For he received from God the Father honor and glory when from the sublime Glory was transmitted to him that voice: 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And this same voice, transmitted from heaven, is the one we heard while we were with him on the holy mountain." (2 Pet 1:16-18).
The Jesus who would soon show himself weak and despised, almost too ugly to be looked at, as Isaiah prophesied (cf. chapter 53), here gives a glimpse of his glory to his three closest disciples. Just as God the Father especially revealed to Peter the divine and messianic condition of Christ (cf. Mt 16:17), here he helps him to understand more deeply the pre-existent glory of our Lord. Through Peter, through the Pope, we better understand both the divine glory of Christ and how much he lowered himself to suffer for us. Through the Church we enter more deeply into the cloud of the mystery of Christ, which is dark, terrifying and full of light at the same time. Peter is able to say in his second epistle, with a plural that suggests the voice of the Church under the authority of the popes: "Thus we have more confirmed the prophetic word and you do very well to pay attention to it". (2 Pet 1:19).
Vocal prayer is considered the most basic form of addressing God. And it is. The danger is that from there to undervaluing it is only a step away. In this year dedicated to prayer, prior to the next Jubilee, it is not superfluous to ponder its importance.
José Ramón Pérez Arangüena-August 3, 2024-Reading time: 5minutes
Three years ago, during a catechesis on prayer, Francis said: "Please, let us not fall into the pride of despising vocal prayer. It is the prayer of the simple, the prayer that Jesus taught us: Our Father, who art in heaven...".
Scope
When we ask ourselves what is meant by a vocal prayer, it is not difficult for the mind to go at first to the Our Fatherto the Hail Mary and that splendid pairing of both sentences which, together with the Gloria to the Trinity, constitutes the Holy Rosary.
Then perhaps we realize that they also fall into the category from the sign and salute, the My Lord Jesus Christthe Hail or the Angelus to so many other prayer formulas, whether they are shorter, such as ejaculatories and litanies, or longer.
These include the Divine Office and the entire Mass, with its I confessthe Gloria, the Credo, the consecration of the Eucharistic speciesand everything else.
In short, vocal prayer is the elevation of the soul to God expressed in words, whether they are words of adoration, praise, gratitude, repentance, relief, lament, complaint, submission, supplication or any other verbal expression of filial dealings or relationship with Him.
And there is still more, as stated in n. 2700 of the Catechism of the Catholic ChurchThe words encompass both spoken and mental words.
All of which is equivalent to saying that vocal prayer includes personal and group prayer; the most popular and the less notorious, whether public or private, exterior or interior; the read and the spontaneous; that of one's own authorship and that composed or formulated by others; the prayed, psalmized or sung and, of course, the liturgical.
We thus discover a very broad and rich spiritual panorama - how could we pretend to despise it!
Native tradition
The Christian tradition of vocal prayer has clear antecedents in the Jewish psalms. In the Gospel of the infancy it is evident in the successive canticles of Mary (Lc 1,46-55)Zechariah (Lc 1,68-79) and Simeon (Lc 2,29-32).
Christ promoted this tradition. If supplication or supplication is one of the first and most classic manifestations of vocal prayer, the Gospel narrates that Jesus repeatedly urged his disciples to turn with promptness, reiteration and firm hope to their heavenly Father in the face of any need: "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." (Mt 7,7).
In addition, the Gospels collect living, practical and masterful examples from Jesus himself, illustrating different modes of vocal prayer. Here is a sample.
Of course, the Our FatherHe taught his immediate and future followers to first give glory to God, and then to ask him with complete confidence for useful and daily things, forgiveness of offenses and strength in the face of sin, as well as hope in the face of physical and moral adversity.
There are also frequent personal prayers of praise and thanksgiving to Christ, such as this one: "....I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and learned and revealed them to the simple." (Mt 11,25).
Or his filial acceptance of the crude divine will: "My Father, if it is possible, take this cup away from me, not as I wish, but as You wish." (Mt 26,39).
Or his pitiful complaint pending on the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mt 27,46), which the bystanders heard and some interpreted in their own way. In that mortal tessitura, it undoubtedly constitutes a true prayer, probably emitted at a choppy rhythm of suffocation, which coincides with the initial phrase of the long Psalm 22, which -let us not forget- culminates with the recognition of the wise greatness of God's action, sometimes incomprehensible to men.
Deceptive image of the Rosary
Years ago, a college student confided in me:
–I didn't understand the Rosary before. Until I started praying it.
And from what he told me next the matter had to do with me, because apparently, some time ago, I had said something like:
–Cut the crap, Juan, and start praying at least one mystery.
I did not remember it. But he had caught the wave (of the Holy Spirit), he began to pray it and happy, very happy to understand and enjoy it, he was gradually expanding it. So much so that after a few months, he was already shelling out five mysteries.
El Rosario integrates various prayerful planes, all of them of great meditative and contemplative value, the most evident of which is the repetition of Our Fathers, Hail Marys and Glories.
In view of this, there are those who emphasize the difficulty of maintaining attention. They are right. But this does not justify not praying it either, because things only work out when all the factors are harmonized.
And, if not, where is the intention, the ruminating on the mysteries, the time invested and stolen from other tasks, the very fact of praying it, the history of 98 percent of the saints canonized since the Middle Ages or the wisdom of Mary Most Holy in asking for it from then until today?
In the end, the Rosary is affection, affection for Her as a way to God. And to grasp this, it is necessary to pray it, as my friend Juan discovered.
In this sense, nothing could be further from the reality of a meditative and/or contemplative man or woman than to disdain vocal prayer. Among other reasons, because he or she uses it numerous times a day as an excellent resource for cultivating his or her interior life, either when celebrating or attending Mass, praying the Rosary and many other prayers, or as a fuel unequivocal of filial dealings with God.
Simplicity
Pope Francis affirms that the vowel "is the prayer of the simple".
Being simple is not the same as being simple, dull, insubstantial. Simplicity is one of the most endearing virtues. It does not denote unconsciousness or childishness, but a lack of duplicity, deceit and artifice. It is what Jesus praises in Nathanael when they meet on the banks of the Jordan (Jn 1,47). The simple person is honest and trustworthy. Hence, in turn, he trusts in God and prays to him with hope and perseverance. As a child, when he was a child, and later, with the appropriate maturity for each occasion.
One begins to pray with vocal prayers in childhood and, if there are no major crises, continues with them throughout one's life, while growing in an effective way in one's personal dealings and dialogue with God.
Thus it was pointed out St. JosemaríaWe begin with vocal prayers, which many of us have repeated as children: they are ardent and simple phrases, addressed to God and to his Mother, who is our Mother.
Still, in the mornings and afternoons, not one day, usually, I renew that offer that my parents taught me: O my Lady, O my Mother, I offer myself entirely to you. And, in proof of my filial affection, I consecrate to you this day my eyes, my ears, my tongue, my heart.... Is this not - in a way - a principle of contemplation, an evident demonstration of confident abandonment?" (Friends of God, 296)
In adulthood, there are those who begin or begin again with such prayers, depending on the type of conversion to God. ex novo to the Church, or to the faith abandoned since youth.
In such a case, we confessors have ample experience of penitents who come to be reconciled after five, ten or more years and who, when asked if they have prayed something during that period, however little, they say yes, that when faced with a difficulty or moved by a sudden impulse, they have sometimes found themselves praying one or more of the following prayers Hail Marys. To which it comes out spontaneous to gloss:-.You see, it is because of that prayer to the Virgin that you are here today.
"Early Christians", a website to discover the roots of Christianity.
The "Early Christians" website, created by a group of university students, gathers data and information on the way of life of the communities of the first centuries of Christianity.
The web "Early Christians"is a portal dedicated exclusively to the way of life, the faith, and the data we currently know about the first centuries of Christianity. "Our main objective," say those currently responsible for the website, "is to make known and disseminate the example of the life of the first followers of Christ, the fidelity with which they lived their faith, despite the difficulties and persecutions they suffered. We believe that in the 21st century the early Christians are more relevant than ever and can be a source of inspiration for the new evangelization".
Regarding the design of the page, they indicate that the portal "is intended to be like a family album for Catholics. Therefore, the page is designed in an attractive way, with informative rather than academic content, so that anyone interested can learn and teach the history of the first Christians".
Responsible for the website "First Christians".
Early Christians as a reference
The idea was born "in the summer of 2006 and was launched in October of that year. Those who started the project shared two fundamental ideas: an understanding that the life of the early Christians was fascinating and yet they were hardly known. Over the years, several generations of university students have taken over the project with the same convictions and the hope that more and more people will discover this treasure.
It was an innovative project because, at the time, "there was no website that addressed the subject from a Catholic perspective. So we decided to fill this gap. We considered it important to bring the model of life of the first Christians as a reference for the world of the 21st century. This is because, according to the founders, they want to "bring the idea of imitating and living like the first Christians who, with the example and strength of their ordinary life, managed to change the world in which they lived, closer to the people of today. Moreover, we are living in a very propitious moment for this. I believe that it is good for all of us to know the life of the first Christians and learn from them how to conduct ourselves in these times in which there are new persecutions".
In addition, those responsible for the project consider that "we owe a great debt of gratitude to our brothers of the first centuries; in some way they were heroes, they had a lot of merit, they deserve our veneration and gratitude: if we are Christians today, we owe it to them".
There are many things that strike them about the first communities: "Their life was a gamble in which the destiny of the Church and of mankind was at stake. And they were faithful. They converted an empire. The first Christians are so interesting because of their paradoxical character: first of all, they are people who lived thousands of years ago, in a world apparently very different from ours; and yet, on learning about their lives and listening to their words, we feel that they challenge us with great force, that they manage to get to the heart of the concerns and struggles of Christians of the 21st century. Their witness has a unique freshness, because of their closeness to the origins of our faith. The early Christians have an extraordinary cultural relevance. In a special way, when it comes to understanding the world in which we live and the interaction between Christianity and the contemporary world. European culture is shaped by Christianity, and therefore by the efforts of the first Christians. They are the famous 'Christian roots' of Europe. It is important to emphasize this, because Christianity spread throughout the world precisely from Europe".
To know the first centuries
In addition, the website contains information on a wide variety of topics related to the life of the early Christians. Jaime tells us that topics such as "who they were, how they lived, the persecutions, the expansion of Christianity, the Acts of the martyrs, the Fathers of the Church, the catacombs, etc." are covered.
In addition, "the page hosts some documents and videos (on our Youtube channel). It also offers lists of books and films related to the world of early Christianity, as well as archives of the acts of the martyrs or the situation of Christianity in the first four centuries. We also have sections such as 'Treasures of Romeor 'Places of the Holy Land', which arouse a lot of interest. Another of our great themes is that of the persecuted Christians who continue to give today a testimony very similar to that of the first Christians".
User feedback
Time has shown that, far from being a secondary topic, the life of the early Christians is of interest to a great many people. "There are already thousands of people subscribed to the site," Jaime Alonso de Velasco, one of those currently responsible for the site, told Omnes, "who are eager to receive the free weekly newsletter with news about the life of the early Christians.
Some not only subscribe to the newsletter, but also decide to send a message: "Over the years we have received hundreds of messages of support and thanks from all over the world. It is very gratifying to see that you are encouraging people in difficult circumstances to live their faith. In those moments, the example of the life of the first Christians has sustained them and helped them a lot. From a catechist in the Amazon jungle who thanks us for what our web site has helped her; a priest from Ghana, a mother of a large family in Brazil, a lawyer from Washington D. C., a Scottish university student, and many people from difficult countries for Christians such as Cuba, Russia or Indonesia. In this regard, the English version of our website, which has spread all over the world".
Women protagonists of medieval history: Adelaide, the holy regent
In this series of articles, José García Pelegrín traces the lives of four women who played a leading role in medieval history in Germany. St. Adelaide of Italy is the protagonist of this installment.
Throughout the Middle Ages, women stood out in a male-dominated world and exerted a lasting influence on society and the Church. Significantly, at the dawn of the (Holy) Romano-Germanic Empire, during practically the entire 10th century, four female figures emerged who played a crucial role in the consolidation of the kingdom.
In 919, Henry I was elected king of the "East Frankish kingdom", becoming the first king who did not belong to the Frankish dynasty, but to the lineage of the Liudolfinger. This marked the beginning of the "Othonid" or "Saxon" dynasty, since before his election he was Duke of Saxony. This transition marked the beginning of German history by consolidating the division of the Carolingian Empire into three parts, with the grandsons of Charlemagne. The eastern part, ruled from 843 by Ludwig, known as "the Germanic", would be the cradle of Germany.
A young widow
Adelaide, daughter-in-law of St. Matilda of Ringelheim, who was the wife of Henry I, is the daughter of King Rudolf II of Burgundy and Bertha of Swabia. The early years of her life are marked by vicissitudes that reveal the close relations between different kingdoms and how these were sealed more by marriages than by
treaties. After the death of her father in 937, her mother married Hugo of Arles, king of "Italy" (practically the former possessions of the Lombards), while Adelaide was betrothed to Hugo's son, Lotario. They married in 947 after Hugo's death.
However, Lotario, who became king of Italy after the death of his father, was poisoned in 950. Although Berengarius of Ivrea, Lotarius' successor (and presumed murderer), insisted that Adelaide marry his son Adalbert, she refused. The young widow was imprisoned in a castle, but managed to escape with the help of a priest.
Marriage to Otto I
Adelaide sought the help of the young German king Otto I, who defeated Berengarius, conquered Pavia and married the young widow in 951. In 962, Otto I was crowned emperor, uniting the so-called "Kingdom of Italy" (the north of the peninsula) with the Romano-Germanic Empire.
Adelaide was familiar with the Cluniac reform due to her Burgundian ancestry. As empress, she promoted the expansion of the Cluniac order in Germanic lands. After the death of her husband, Adelaide assumed the regency of her son, the young Otto II, with Majolus of Cluny as her chief advisor. After the early death of Otto II in 983, Adelaide again assumed the regency, this time together with her daughter-in-law Theophanes. Together they directed the destinies of the empire together with Archbishop Willigis of Mainz.
Adelaide, Empress
After the death of Theophanes in 991, Adelaide took it upon herself to rule the empire alone. Even silver coins were minted showing on one side the name of the young Otto III and on the other side the name of his grandmother "Athalhet". After her grandson Otto III came of age in 994, Adelaide devoted herself to charitable work and promoted the foundation of monasteries.
Finally, she retired to the monastery she herself had founded in Seltz, in northern Alsace, where she died in 999. Her tomb became a pilgrimage destination and the Cluniacs promoted her veneration. She was canonized by Pope Urban II in 1054.
Vedastus Machibula: "I have in my heart the desire to serve God wherever it is needed".
Vedastus Machibula was born in 1999 in Tanzania. The son of a Catholic mother and a non-Christian father, he will be ordained to the priesthood in August 2024. A vocation that was born out of a question to his mother.
Born into a large family, Vedastus Machibula was educated in the faith by his mother. Their village was 7 kilometers from the nearest church and, every Sunday, they attended the celebration of the Word. On some occasions, they were also able to have the Eucharist, when the priest was able to come. Now, thanks to a grant from the CARF Foundationwill be ordained a priest and serve in his home country, Tanzania.
How did you come to consider a priestly vocation?
-On Sundays we went to the Office of the Word celebrated by the catechists. On one occasion, a priest came to town and began to celebrate Mass. I was very young and I realized that it was different from what the catechists did. I was very interested in how he celebrated the liturgy and, when I got home, I asked my mother "Mom, why was today different, who is that man who celebrated today?". My mother told me what a priest was and what is the difference between priests and catechists.
She pointed out to me the importance of priests for salvation and to help others to know Christ. I asked why we did not have a priest every Sunday and she answered that it was impossible, because the two priests of that parish attended thirty-three churches. So I told her: "When I grow up I want to be a priest to help the church in my village, that they always have priests to teach them the faith and to celebrate the sacraments." My mother explained that I would have to study hard and be very disciplined and encouraged me, if that was my path, to talk to my father in case they could pay for my studies.
This is what happened when, at the age of 14, I wanted to go to the minor seminary. My father told me "I will pay whatever you need to make your dreams come true. Although I am not rich, I know how important it is to study. We may lack even what we need to live, but you will not lack what you need for your studies". This always made me try very hard, because I know how hard it has been for my family.
He will soon be ordained a priest. What is he asking God at that time?
-Indeed, I will be ordained to the priesthood at the end of August. I thank God for this gift that he is going to give me soon. That desire to serve God wherever he needs me, which I had from the first day, I have kept in my heart with the help of God and Our Lady.
The world needs priests, it needs the sacraments. I ask God to help me remember why I wanted to be a priest, why I want to be a priest and why I will fight to remain faithful until the last moment. These words of St. Peter "Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you." have been my prayer before God in the difficult moments of my journey, because the Lord always knows the interior of our heart.
In your country, what are the main challenges facing the Catholic Church?
-The Catholic Church in Tanzania is a very young church with less than two centuries of life. Among the challenges, for example, there are many young (and old) people who live together but are not married in the Church.
Moreover, in some places the culture of polygamy is still strong. Another area is the practice of traditional religion, which many practiced before receiving the faith and which is difficult to abandon completely.
Along with this, the Church is always striving to improve the life of the community both in the academic and socio-economic fields and has been a very important instrument in maintaining peace and development in the country.
How does formation at the University of Navarra and in a seminary such as the University of Navarra help you in your vocation and future priestly life? Bidasoa?
-My stay in Pamplona has been wonderful. I leave Pamplona a different person than I was four years ago. I have been impressed by both the human and academic formation.
Being in Pamplona has been a gift because people from five continents, from different cultures, thoughts, each with their own peculiarities, but united together by Christ under his Church.
This is a marvel that clearly manifests the catholicity of the Church, because the Catholic Church has no limits, it reaches wherever God wants it to go and God always wants the Church to reach the whole world.
There are many factors that lead men to commit evil and, many times, those who do it are nothing more than pawns in the service of the prefect, the king, the republic or the pressure group of the day, which has been changing names.
August 1, 2024-Reading time: 3minutes
The parody of the last supper that Paris 2024 offered to millions of spectators around the world gives us the opportunity to explain the greatest revolution in history, which was not the French revolution, but precisely that of that Jew and his 12 friends.
At the opening ceremony of the Olympic Gamesthe cradle of chauvinism offered us an exhibition of its patriotic pride. Nothing to object to because, after all, organizing the Olympics is, above all, a marketing operation to demonstrate power for political and economic purposes.
Proud of their bloody revolution, Marie Antoinette beheaded included, they showed the world their best triumphs and values, including that of unlimited freedom of expression including the right to show those "scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity" that forced the French bishops to ask for explanations from the organization.
Going back in history to illuminate this event, the first image that came to my mind is another moment of mockery and derision experienced by Jesus himself. It is when, after being crucified, he prayed: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do". Did the authors and performers of the show really know how painful this kind of mockery can be for a believer? Did they know exactly what the scene meant and who they were parodying?
In Andalusia, where I live, a region where the deep-rooted popular religiosity is being a tremendous brake on secularization, there are few people under 30 who would know St. Peter from St. Paul, and many thousands who believe that Mary Magdalene was Jesus' partner and that the Holy Trinity is a Marian invocation. Seriously, I have proof. Religious ignorance has reached unsuspected limits in recent years.
Nor do I suck my finger to believe that no one knew that the scene was intended to provoke and scandalize, an essence of drag aesthetics, but didn't the Roman soldiers who were crucifying Christ also know that they were committing an injustice? And yet Jesus interceded for them before the Father.
There are many factors that lead men to commit evil and, many times, those who do it are nothing more than pawns in the service of the prefect, the king, the republic or the pressure group of the day, which the thing has been changing names. First of all, therefore, to the authors and interpreters, my prayer because "they do not know what they are doing".
The second Gospel moment that challenges me is the one in which the Master said: "You have heard that it was said: 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth'. But I say to you, do not stand up to the one who wrongs you. On the contrary, if one slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek". The slap on the right cheek is that which is given with the back of the hand as a sign of contempt, so as not to stain even the palm with the face of the other.
The first response that occurs to all of us when we are the object of an injustice, of a mockery, is to return not only an eye for an eye (which in itself was a moral advance in its time), but the same damage multiplied by at least two or three. And this is where the greatest revolution in history makes its appearance, the one introduced by Christ betting on love for the enemy, turning the other cheek, returning good for evil.
In this regard, Benedict XVI reflected: "Love of enemies is at the heart of the 'Christian revolution', a revolution that is not based on strategies of economic, political or media power. It is the revolution of love, a love that ultimately does not rely on human resources, but is a gift of God that is obtained by trusting solely and unreservedly in his merciful goodness. This is the novelty of the Gospel, which changes the world without making noise. This is the heroism of the "little ones," who believe in God's love and spread it even at the cost of their lives."
May the Church be ever smaller, more distant from power, less offended by itself and more offended by the affronts to the dignity of its brothers and sisters; a community of little ones ready to evangelize without limits, to love without fear of affronts, to be witnesses even to martyrdom, like those apostles now parodied.
And, to conclude my evangelical reflection on the Olympic controversy, another phrase from the Passion of Jesus. One that sums up what the Gallic bishops wanted to say and to which the majority of Christians and people of good will who believe in truth, democracy, respect, dialogue and tolerance subscribe. It is the one pronounced by Christ in the house of Annas. While giving his testimony and after receiving a slap from which he could not even protect himself because he was tied up, he said to his aggressor (and repeats today in the city of the Bastille): "If I have failed to speak, show what I have failed to do; but if I have spoken as I should, why do you strike me?
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.
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Nicholas Spencer: "Both science and religion contribute to progress".
Nicholas Spencer is part of "Theos Think Tank," a group of experts on religion and society that seeks to stimulate public debate through research. In this interview with Omnes he talks about the relationship between science and faith, which, he says, "is going to become the most important issue of our century."
Nicholas Spencer is a member of "Theos Think Tank"He is also a member of the International Council on Religion and Society, a think tank on religion and society that seeks to stimulate public debate through research. He also holds a degree in Modern History and English from Oxford University and a PhD in Philosophy from Cambridge University.
He is the author of several books and articles. His latest, "Magisteria: The Entangled Histories of Science and Religion", is currently only available in English and was published on March 2, 2023. In it he discusses the historical relationship between science and religion, which is much more complex than popular myth allows us to understand.
Nicholas's view is that the relationship between science and religion "is going to become the most important issue of our century, because science is increasingly capable of redesigning human nature". He believes that some advances, such as the famous "GPT Chat" tool, "are much larger pieces of development than the space we have for ethical reflection on them. And that is a religious question, because it goes back to the idea of the human."
Given his extensive experience in research on issues related to science and faith, in this interview he talks about issues such as the boundaries between one and the other, their link with politics or the possible future consequences of the great advances that are currently taking place.
How do science and religion help us, in their own unique way, to answer the question of who we are?
– To answer this you need to go back to what science and religion are, and they both are very slippery entities. Science is an attempt to gain an objective, or at least neutral, understanding of the material world. Humans are material beings, so science is a deck at understanding us in that way.
But we humans are also complex. We are persons, in the sense that our emerging complexity has produced in us something that might be called a soul. We naturally resort to the language of the soul to try to explain the emerging personal dimension of human nature. And religion, to put it negatively, is parasitic on that dimension. More positively, religion is one of the areas, probably the most prominent, in which we relate to each other and to reality on a personal level.
One of the arguments for this is that you have to understand humans at multiple levels. To only understand as though scientific methods, as material, organisms, you end up dehumanizing us. If you only understand us as “spiritual beings”, you’ll ignore our vitally important material presence.
So that is why both science and religion can contribute positively to a fully rounded understanding of the human.
Can we have a truly positive view of progress without the religious concepts of a human being, dignity and the moral system that a Providence implies?
– Progress naturally depends on some kind of teleology, some kind of end point. You can only have progress if you have something to which you can progress.
Now, I do think it is possible to have forms of progress completely devoid of any religious or spiritual, or even moral, framework. For example, is it better to have less physical pain than more physical pain? And if you are moving towards there is less physical pain, that is progress of a kind. So I don’t think the very idea of progress is entirely dependent on having a moral or spiritual framework. You can progress in purely secular terms.
However, I believe that because we are the kind of creatures we are, we also crave a form of moral and spiritual progress.
Our Western civilization has made incredible progress over the centuries, both in science and religion. Are there any correlations between these two areas that could explain this progress?
– Without a doubt, science, as technology and engineering, has transformed the face of the earth and human life in a relatively short period of time. And the world is overwhelmingly religious, and likely to become more religious, in the 21st century.
However, politics, which has a very bad reputation today, is probably more important than science or religion as a vehicle for progress. A case in point is the eradication of cholera disease in the 19th century. The scientific understanding of the disease and the humanitarian desire to eradicate it, which often came from a religious impulse, were coordinated through government and state, through politics, and then cholera was completely eradicated.
Science and religion both contribute, but very often they require the kind of public coordination through politics to achieve that progress.
You’ve talked about certain scientific revolutions that were theologically based. How do science and religion get intertwined without stepping over one another?
– Something to remark here is that science and religion, as we understand them today, are pretty modern terms. If we go back two hundred years or so, people did talk about science and religion, but they didn’t talk about them in the way we do.
In the United Kingdom, up until the middle of the nineteenth century, there was a very significant overlap, socially, conceptually and intellectually, between science and religion. One of the reasons why there was tension and conflict between science and religion at this time was the two different magisteria, which were socially pulled apart. And since then the question has been what is the relationship between science and religion. Some argue that they are totally separate magisteria, one dealing with facts, the other dealing with values. Therefore, they can’t overlap one another.
You can delineate the different magisteria. However, my argument is that in one very important area they overlap, and that’s when it comes to us, human beings. When you're talking about us you can’t make the distinction between facts and values that easily.
So, the tension today comes from the perspective that in certain matters both science and religion have a very proper role to play. And that requires careful negotiation. It’s not enough to say they are separate. When we are talking about artificial intelligence or genetic engineering, abortion or life extension, all of these things are important scientific issues in our century. But it is also meddling with the idea of what it means to be human, and that is a deeply religious question.
Why did you write your book “Magisteria: The entangled histories of science and religion”? What was the idea behind it?
– So, I’ve been working on science and religion on and off for fifteen years or so. I’m acutely aware that the default public opinion is that the two are in conflict and that, historically, they’ve always been in conflict. That is a narrative that is born of the late nineteenth century, from a period of tension, and in particular to very influential histories of science and religion that argued that the long standing relationship between has been one of perpetual conflict.
In the academic world, the discipline of the history of science and religion is a relatively new one. The academic world has totally overturned that picture, showing that the relationship is much more complex and far more positive than the popular myth allows. But has never filtered down to the general public. I did a series on the BBC a few years ago telling the story, and “Magisteria” was the book basically on the back of that.
Centuries ago, a lot of scientists were christians, but nowadays, the most popular names in the scientific areas label themselves as atheists. How would you explain this change?
– Actually, the picture is a lot less dramatic and exciting. Is not that the scientists stopped being religious, so much that society is a lot less religious. The broad view is that the proportion of religious scientists is roughly equal to the portion of religious people in the country. Or more precisely, it’s roughly equal to the proportion of people in the socioeconomic class from which scientists are drawn that are religious. Broadly speaking, a society’s scientists are about as religious as the society itself.
Why was the “Theos Think Tank” born? What is its purpose?
– We are a Christian think tank, we’ve been going for seventeen years now. We were founded with the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, but we are not affiliated with any particular denomination. We exist to tell a better story about Christianity, specifically faith generally in contemporary public life.
A better story in two ways: better in the sense of more accurate, since research is at the heart of what we do; but also better in the sense of more engaging and coherent.
Through the “Theos Think Tank” project you’ve talked about the relation that exists between beauty, science and religion. What can you tell us about this correlation between the three elements?
– This was part of a bigger project that the Catholic University of America started. I did a small element of the UK research, because I had a particular interest in aesthetics.
The rule of thumb is that there is some deep resonance between the true and the beautiful. Some famous researchers do think that beauty is a guide to truth. That has a lot of resonance but in some scientists, rather than others. Physicists are more likely to say that. And it also depends on a particular understanding of beauty, which is aesthetically a bit questionable. It treats beauty as synonymous with elegance, simplicity and symmetry. And a lot of theorists of aesthetics think that is not a particularly accurate definition of beauty.
So the research was an attempt to know how much of a resonance there is. And the response is that there was some, but it was heavily qualified. Beauty can be used as a heuristic in scientific endeavors, but if so, it needs to be handled with extreme care.
What is our responsibility as Christians towards science?
- The short answer is to celebrate and support. The long answer is to pay careful attention to what happens, because in a sense there is no such thing as science, there are scientists. There are times in history when Christians have been adamantly opposed to science and totally wrong, and there are other times when they were absolutely right. So the longer answer is to examine carefully because not all science is equal.
Do you think that religion works as a marker of the limits for science? Would it be possible to have those limits without religion?
– The first thing to say is that you can absolutely limit science without religion, and there are examples of atheist societies limiting science, quite wrongfully, but there was no problem in limiting science. Similarly, there are innumerable committees of ethics around the world that question and place limits in the practice of science today.
Broadly speaking, I’m very pro investigating through science. Limits should be on how one does it, rather than in the fact of doing it. And then, crucially, the limits on the use of what one does with the information one acquires.
So, yes, there should be some limits on science, but we should do that tentatively.
You are a person with a broad perspective when it comes to the dialogue between religion and science. Knowing all the advances that are being made, do you feel hope or fear when you think about the future?
– That question is almost always answered by knowing what kind of person you are. I’m not optimistic by nature, therefore I’m not optimistic about the future, but that says more about me than it does about the future.
But as a more precise answer, I’m not anxious about Artificial Intelligence becoming conscious and sentient. What I’m anxious about is the way in which AI will be used by nefarious actors who wish to manipulate reality. I’m not worried so much about what new technologies will do to us, but about what other human beings will do to us with new technologies.
The food that does not perish. 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
Joseph Evans comments on the readings for the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.
Joseph Evans-August 1, 2024-Reading time: 2minutes
Too often we blame God for what he does not give us, instead of thanking him for what he does give us. At the beginning of time, Satan sowed suspicion about God, making him appear as a tyrant and a killjoy: "God is a tyrant and a killjoy.He said to the woman, 'So God has told you not to eat of any tree in the garden?'" (Gen 3:1). Adam and Eve fell into their trap, allowing themselves to doubt God, and that suspicion has entered us through original sin. That is why, in today's first reading, the people complain when they seem to lack bread and meat, and do not take into account that the God who had so extraordinarily saved them from slavery in Egypt could also have thought of how to feed them in the desert. Indeed, God provides them with the miraculous bread of manna. Shortly thereafter he will give them meat, causing a migratory flock of quail to land - tired and weak - right there in the desert to satisfy the people's craving for meat.
But if we reduce God to a food delivery service - and then complain when, from time to time, He doesn't seem to deliver - we lose a lot. We try to satisfy our body, but we fail to satisfy the far more important needs of our soul. And this is what Jesus is trying to teach people in today's Gospel. After having enjoyed a feast of bread provided by him, people want another one. But our Lord has to tell them: "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you have seen signs, but because you have eaten bread to your fill. Labor not for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give you; for him the Father, God, has sealed.".
We can reduce Christianity to its material benefits. A feast becomes a mere excuse to eat well, or even, as we see - alas - in the case of some popular feasts, to drink to excess. It is not fasted for love of God, but as an act of vain dietetics. People insist on seeking material bread. Jesus offers them a much greater bread, the bread from heaven, which happens to be both his word in Scripture and his body in the Eucharist. This bread alone gives us eternal life. When we give priority to our bodily desires, we will never be satisfied. When, instead, we desire God's spiritual food, we enjoy the material food more and find spiritual meaning, and even joy, when it is lacking.
Homily on the readings of the 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
In a meeting of more than 50,000 altar servers with Pope Francis, the pontiff stressed the importance of serving in the Eucharist, where God is made truly and concretely present in the Body and Blood of Christ.
"Thank you for coming here, as pilgrims, to share the joy of belonging to Jesus, of being servants of his Love, servants of his wounded Heart that heals our wounds, that saves us from death, that gives us eternal life". With these words, Pope Francis addressed the more than 50,000 altar servers from 88 dioceses in 20 countries around the world who are participating in the "XIII International Altar Servers Pilgrimage".
The Holy Father encouraged young people to keep "in your heart and flesh, like Mary, the mystery of God who is with you, so that you can be with others in a new way."
The meeting with the Pope was the highlight of the pilgrimage, which runs from July 29 to August 3. It is organized by the International Association of Altar Servers, Coetus Internationalis Ministrantium (CIM), founded in November 1960 in Altenberg, near Cologne. The event is held every four to five years, although this year's edition, initially scheduled for 2023, was postponed due to the COVID pandemic. The vast majority of participants come from Germany: in the previous edition, in 2018, of the 68,000 altar servers 48,000 were German; this time, the Germans were about 35,000, ranging in age from 13 to 27.
In his address to the young people, Pope Francis spoke about the pilgrimage's motto, "With you", considering it very meaningful because it links the mystery of life and love in a single word. The Pope explained that this "with you" takes on new meanings when the acolytes perform their service in the liturgy, where the protagonist is God. Quoting Jesus, he recalled: "Where there are two or three gathered in my Name, I am present in their midst". He stressed that this is fulfilled in a supreme way in the Eucharist, where the "with you" becomes the real and concrete presence of God in the Body and Blood of Christ. The Pope emphasized that both priests and acolytes are witnesses to this mystery, and that in receiving Holy Communion, we can experience that Jesus is "with us" spiritually and physically.
According to the Pope, this "with you" can also be offered to others, to fulfill the commandment to love one another as he has loved us: "You too can say to your neighbor 'I am with you' not with words, but with deeds, with gestures, with your heart, with concrete closeness: weeping with those who weep, rejoicing with those who rejoice, without judgment or prejudice, without closure, without exclusion. Also with you, who I do not like; with you, who are different from me; with you, who are a foreigner; with you, even if I feel that you do not understand me; with you, who never go to Church; with you, who say that you do not believe in God".
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg and current president of the CIM, addressed the Holy Father on behalf of the altar servers present: "We want to be friends with all people, but this desire is only effective when we extend a hand to those who are going through problems. Cultivating a friendship with God helps us to cultivate friendship with the poorest," he said. Representatives from the 20 countries present carried handfuls of incense to a large censer to remind them of the difficulties faced by young people around the world, such as disease, war, indifference in their homes and lack of opportunities.
In addition to the meeting with the Pope, the young people participate in daily Mass and attend formation meetings, specifically catechism classes, as well as concerts, workshops and meetings. The motto of the 2024 pilgrimage, "With You," is based on Isaiah 41:10: "Fear not, for I am with you." The CIM board emphasized that without altar servers something crucial is missing in the Church, and that their witness in service and in daily life is fundamental. With the altar servers, the Church is fulfilled in the world, celebrating worship, being community and giving witness.
Johannes Wübbe, Auxiliary Bishop and Apostolic Administrator of the currently vacant Diocese of Osnabrück, is one of the organizers of the meeting, in his capacity as president of "Commission XII - Youth" of the German Bishops' Conference. Wübbe emphasized the significance of the motto "With You", which includes a triple promise: the biblical promise of God, the promise of the Church to the altar servers and the promise of the altar servers to God and the Church. He also said he is "proud of the courageous example of these young people," who are the young face of the Church, because "with their commitment, which takes many forms, they are present where the Church lives and are joyful witnesses to the Gospel despite all the questions and doubts they may have."
The International Altar Boys' Pilgrimage is one of the biggest youth pastoral events of the Church in Germany.
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Princetown University's Aquinas Institute will host a conference in October that will address divisive issues from a Catholic point of view: inclusion, diversity and equity.
It will be attended by professors, writers and religious leaders and its objective is to open the debate in the Catholic sphere to find answers to areas that generate controversy in the faith.
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Two young girls sing during a meeting with Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square on July 30, 2024. Alongside them, more than 50,000 altar servers from 20 countries made the pilgrimage to Rome for this international gathering.
Tradition as a method of transmission of divine Revelation
During the XXXVII Salamanca Conversations, various professors and theologians met at the Pontifical University of Salamanca to discuss the role of Tradition as a means of transmitting divine Revelation.
On May 30 and 31, the Pontifical University of Salamanca celebrated the XXXVII Salamanca Conversations. During these two days, different experts spoke about the role of Tradition as a means of discovering Revelation.
The rector, Santiago García-Jalón de la Lama, the dean of the faculty of TheologyFrancisco García Martínez and the conference coordinator, Gonzalo Tejerina Arias, inaugurated the Talks on May 30.
Fundamental theological aspects
On the first day of the conference, the speakers dealt with the fundamental theological aspects of Tradition according to the Catholic perspective. The presentations were given by professors and theologians, the first one being "Anthropology and Theology of Tradition", presented by the coordinator of the event. Next, Fernando Llenín Iglesias, director of the Higher Institute of Theological Studies of Oviedo, spoke on "Tradition of Faith. Magisterium of the Church".
For his part, the professor of the Compostela Theological Institute, Benito Méndez Fernández, dealt with the "Doctrinal nuclei of the teaching of the Council of Trent and Vatican II". Finally, the professor of the Pontifical University of Salamanca, Fernando Rodríguez Garrapucho, exposed "the dialogue with the Protestant Reformation regarding Tradition".
Tradition in the ecclesial reality
On the 31st, the participants of the Conversations explored the relevance of Tradition in various ecclesial realities. The first speaker of the day was Professor Gaspar Hernández Peludo, who gave a session entitled "The Fathers of the Church and Patrology in the consideration of Tradition".
Later, Professor Juan Carlos Fernández read a text by Luis García Gutiérrez, member of the Higher Institute of Theology of Astorga and León, entitled "The Liturgy, a primordial element of the tradition of faith". To conclude, Pablo Largo Domínguez, from the Institute of Religious Life, presented to the audience the theme "The Mother of the Lord and Mariology from the determining perspective of the faith tradition of the people of God".
The Salamanca Conversations ended with a meeting between the Dean of Theology, the Secretary General Mirian Cortés Diéguez, the coordinator of the meeting, directors and secretaries of centers that maintain a link with the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical University of Salamanca.
Piero Coda: "The model of being a clerical Church has come to an end".
Omnes interviews Piero Coda, secretary general of the International Theological Commission and in charge of coordinating a synodal working group in view of the second session of the Synod.
The journey towards the second session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will take place at the Vatican next October, does not stop. After the presentation of the "Instrumentum laborisThe "Vademecum", which took place last July 9 in the Vatican press room, is now expected to be published, which should contain a reasoned commentary on this working text.
Piero Coda, secretary general of the International Theological Commission and professor of dogmatic theology at the Sophia University Institute of Loppiano, confirmed the news. The theologian, called to coordinate a synodal working group in view of the second session, explains in an interview to Omnesthat this vade-mecum, presumably ready by mid-August, will be very useful because "it will offer perspectives of theological, pastoral and canonical deepening".
Intense prayer, an important step
Among the many steps that must be taken to arrive at the opening of the second synodal session, there are some that should be considered of primary importance. First of all, Coda explained, "it is desirable that the local Churches, the Episcopal Conferences in particular, examine the 'Instrumentum laboris', as should the members of the next session of the Synod." Without forgetting, he added, the dimension of prayer that "should be intense especially on the part of communities, monastic institutes, cloistered nuns and, of course, all the people of God".
But accompanying the preparation of the new synodal phase should also be, according to the theologian, "the possibility of deepening through the media, such as social networks, to make not only the entire people of God aware of the importance of this event, but also to filter the demands of the Synod in a broader social and cultural sphere."
Choral instrument
The "Instrumentum laboris", in essence, is considered the fruit of listening to the requests coming from the local Churches, Episcopal Conferences, ecclesial movements, religious and lay people from all over the world. Piero Coda, summing up, defines it as a choral instrument: "And we could add that it can also be considered a rather original instrument in the path that the various synodal events have so far positively followed: the proposals made at the local level have become central in determining the perspective and the concrete contents of the 'Instrumentum laboris'. Which, as can be imagined, starts from the synthesis report of the first synodal session".
The three dimensions
The "Instrumentum laboris" has three dimensions: that of relationships, that of paths and that of places. "It is a good perspective - the theologian affirms - to decline what is the fundamental theme of the Synod: how to be a synodal Church. And how to be a synodal Church implies, in the first place, a vision and a practice of relationships within ecclesial life that conforms to the synodal and missionary vocation of the People of God." Relationships, he adds, that "must mature thanks to concrete paths and that finally must be incarnated in places where the synodal nature of the whole Church, global and local, is expressed".
Ministerial church
In the chapter dedicated to relationships, among other instances, the "Instrumentum laboris" highlights the one dedicated to ordained ministries and the possibility of giving life to new ministries. Coda is convinced that "a very deep and articulated awareness is maturing that the ministeriality of the Church is not only the prerogative of what we know as ordained ministries-episcopate, presbyterate and diaconate-but implies a promotion, linked also to the various ecclesial contexts of the world, of the instituted ministries and a valorization of the baptismal ministry, of those born of the sacrament of confirmation and of the sacrament of marriage. A totally ministerial Church founded on the discernment of the action of the Holy Spirit".
Change of pace
In the pathways dimension, there is an aspect of transparency, accountability, and evaluation that is not limited to the scope of the abuse The issue of sexual and financial abuse must also affect pastoral plans, methods of evangelization and the way in which the Church respects the dignity of the human person. "It could be said that the issue of sexual, power and psychological abuse is but the tip of an iceberg, that is, of an essentially pyramidal, verticalist and even clerical model of being Church, which by now has come to an end," argues Coda.
The secretary of the International Theological Commission hopes that on this "there will be a profound change of step capable of concretely reversing the methodology of participation and governance of the Church capable of putting in place valid mechanisms of verification and transparency".
Places of incarnation
But what are the places, of which the "Instrumentum laboris" also speaks, in which all this must be incarnated and which must avoid two risks: that of extreme particularism and that of abstract universalism? Bishop Coda gives a clear answer: "They are places rooted in specific contexts, such as parish communities in communion with other ecclesial communities. Then there are the dioceses, the regional Episcopal Conferences, the groupings of the Churches at the continental level, without forgetting the universal Church with the ministry of the Pope through the instrument of the Roman Curia, instrument of communion between the bishops and the whole synodality of the People of God".
The Olympic Games and the relevance of Catholics in contemporary culture
The opening of the Olympic Games in Paris has once again drawn public attention to fundamental questions about the relationship between faith, culture and modern society.
The recent inauguration of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has reignited the debate on the presence and role of Christian values in contemporary society. The event, which traditionally celebrates world unity and diversity, has become the center of a controversy involving several members of the Catholic Church and has once again drawn public attention to fundamental questions about the relationship between faith, culture and modern society.
At the center of the controversy was an artistic representation during the opening ceremony that, according to many observers, seemed to recall the iconography of Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper", but reinterpreted in a "queer" key. Several Catholic bishops expressed their strong disapproval, calling the depiction "repugnant" and "disrespectful" to the sacred symbols of Christianity.
In this climate of tension and debate, the voice of the Italian historian Andrea Riccardi, founder in 1968 of the Community of Sant'Egidiothe international lay movement committed for decades to peace, hospitality and the poor. In an interview granted to the newspaper "Avvenire" of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Riccardi reflects articulately on the role of Catholicism in contemporary culture, proposing a vision that goes beyond mere opposition.
In particular, there is an urgent need to "reawaken faith and passion, without which no true cultural initiative is possible", especially as we witness the worldwide phenomenon of the "deculturation of religion and religious phenomena".
A meditated faith
The central concept of the thought of the founder of the Community of Sant'Egidio revolves around the idea of a "thought-out faith", taking up an intuition of St. John Paul II: "A faith that does not become culture is a faith that is not fully accepted, not entirely thought out, not faithfully lived".
This view suggests that Catholicism, in order to maintain its relevance and incisiveness in the contemporary world, must engage in a deep and continuous dialogue with culture, rather than limiting itself to defensive or condemnatory reactions. Moreover, Bergoglio thought the same way when he was archbishop in Buenos Aires, Riccardi recalls, underlining the continuity of a thought that sees culture as a vital expression of faith.
The historian Riccardi, who is also professor emeritus at the University "Roma Tre", does not hide his concern for the current situation of Catholicism: "The fragility of the current expression of Catholic culture - he reflects - derives from the fragility of the faith lived, even more, from the fragility of our communities and from the refusal to say a word of importance". More than "of importance", in fact, this word often has only the character of an indignation as an end in itself. It is a sign of a fragility that manifests itself in a "Catholicism huddled in the corners of urban life", not very proactive.
Culture born of passion
Thus, the solution does not lie in a simple appeal to Catholic intellectuals, as if they were the only bearers of reasoned thought, but in the awakening of passion in Christian communities: "The real problem is the low level of passion in Christian communities". Instead, it is necessary to be aware - the historian adds - that "every cultural operation is born of a great passion, and let us say also of the great passion unleashed by faith".
Quoting Paul VI, Riccardi recalls that: "The world suffers for lack of thought". A concept later expanded by Pope Francis: "The world is drowning for lack of dialogue".
Reflection and dialogue
This opens up a new perspective on how Catholicism can maintain its relevance in an increasingly pluralistic and secularized society. Instead of retreating into a defensive or confrontational posture, Riccardi proposes, following the example of successive popes, a Catholicism that actively engages with contemporary culture, offering that extra critical thinking, capable of dialoguing at the same time with the complexity of the modern world.
The crucial challenge is how to maintain one's own identity and values in constructive dialogue with a rapidly changing society. Certainly, there is no need to fear confrontation, from which can emerge an opportunity for renewal and growth, also for the faith itself, which knows how to make itself relevant in today's global context.
A faith that must undoubtedly be reawakened, possibly with great passion.
Courtship, a love project that requires education and maturation
Santiago Populín Such, a student of Theology at the University of Navarra, writes in this article about the project of love that God has for engaged couples and explains that the path of courtship, the search for that love, is not something simple, it requires education, purification and maturation.
Santiago Populín Such-July 29, 2024-Reading time: 6minutes
In the speech to the bride and groom On September 11, 2011, Benedict XVI said that "every human love is a sign of the eternal Love that created us and whose grace sanctifies the choice of a man and a woman to give their lives to each other in marriage. Live this time of engagement in the confident expectation of such a gift". And he specified: "the experience of love has within it the tension towards God". These words are, in a way, a key to a correct understanding of the truth of human love.
If human love is a sign of eternal Love - since we are the image and likeness of God - and, moreover, tends towards Him, it is possible to say that human love transcends in its origin and in its destiny. This is because "God is the source of love," as Benedict XVI said in 2007 (cf. Message to the youth of the world on the occasion of World Youth Day).
Engagement and love of God
The Pope commented that this reality is underlined by St. John when he affirms that "God is love", "by which he does not only mean that God loves us, but that God's very being is love". He continued his message by posing the question: "How does God-Love manifest himself to us? He answered that it is through Christ, true God and true man, that we have come to know love in all its fullness. In a particular way, "the manifestation of divine love is total and perfect in the Cross. Therefore, Jesus Christ is the way for every man, also for engaged couples, because he reveals the love of God".
In "Deus caritas est"Pope Benedict XVI explainshow the initial attraction, "eros", is understood as a sign and a seed whose fruit or result achieved is "agape", the oblative love capable of giving life in abundance. In other words, love cannot, in its beginning, be the result of human action, simply because it is greater, because it exists before, because it precedes both the lover and the beloved; God is love, He is first.
Falling in love as enlightenment
In this sense, falling in love is a transcendent reality; it is born as a passion because man cannot manufacture it and also because, by its very nature, it takes him beyond himself. It carries, in its own internal dynamics, a tension that, respected and cultivated, will bear the fruit of a love of self-giving, of oblation. In this way, the experience of falling in love is a kind of illumination that allows us to contemplate reality from the heart of God.
In his message to the youth of the world on the occasion of the 22nd World Youth Day 2007, Pope Benedict XVI pointed out that one area where young people are called to express love and to grow in it is in their preparation for the future that awaits them: "If you are engaged, God has a plan of love for your future marriage and your family. He also encouraged them to dare to love, to seek a strong and beautiful love, capable of turning every life into a joyful realization of giving themselves to God and to others, following the example of the One who, through love, has conquered hatred and death: Jesus Christ. He also reminded them that love is the only force capable of transforming people's hearts, making relationships between men and women fruitful.
Love requires education
In his 2011 address to engaged couples, Benedict XVI encouraged couples to educate themselves in love. In particular, he highlighted three aspects they need to learn about love:
First of all, he pointed out the freedom of fidelity, "which leads to reciprocal custody, to the point of living for each other". For, as he said on May 12, 2010: "fidelity over time is the name of love". This means that love needs time to express itself fully, to bring out all that is good and to smooth out all the rough edges.
Secondly, he encouraged people to prepare themselves to choose decisively the "forever" that connotes love, indissolubility; he explained that it is a gift that must be "desired, asked for and lived". He added: "and do not think, according to a widespread mentality, that living together is a guarantee for the future. To burn stages ends up 'burning' love, which instead needs to respect the times and the gradualness in the expressions; it needs to give space to Christ, who is capable of making human love faithful, happy and indissoluble". Indissolubility is then a matter of an affirmation, of choosing to love for life, that is to say, that it is possible to love forever.
Thirdly, he indicated that fidelity and continuity in loving one another will make them capable of being open to life, of being parents: "the stability of your union in the sacrament of marriage will allow the children that God wants to give you to grow with confidence in the goodness of life".
The Pope concluded his address by saying that fidelity, indissolubility and the transmission of life are the pillars of every family, a true common good, a precious patrimony for the whole of society. And he specified: "From now on, base your path towards marriage on them and bear witness to them also to your contemporaries: it is a precious service!".
Love requires maturity
In "Deus Caritas Est" n. 6, Benedict XVI asks himself how love is to be lived, to which he responds: "(...) love is to care for the other and to be concerned for the other. It no longer seeks itself, it no longer seeks to immerse itself in the intoxication of happiness, but rather it longs for the good of the beloved: it becomes renunciation, it is ready for sacrifice, indeed, it seeks it (...)".
In these words of the Pope there is explicitly the idea of an itinerary, a path of purification of "eros". As I have already pointed out, "eros" must open up to "agape" and merge with it; human sexuality must allow itself to be shaped by its divine model. That is to say, in the Christian vision, the love of courtship must be both "eros" and "agape," although logically this love lacks the elements proper to the specifically conjugal acts that comprise marriage.
To seek the good of the other mentioned by the Pope is a sign of maturity, because to mature love is to take care of the other and to be concerned about the other (cfr. "Caritas in veritate" n.11). Love knows how to wait, seeks the happiness of the other, refuses the use of any person. In this context, a mature couple knows that love is not only physical pleasure and thus can reach the other in the totality of his or her person.
Engagement and purification
At the VII World Meeting with Families in June 2012, the Pope commented to a young engaged couple from Madagascar that the passage from falling in love to courtship, and then to marriage, requires interior decisions and experiences. He explained that love must be purified, that it must follow a path of discernment - which is courtship - in which reason and will play a key role in making falling in love a true love; "reason, feeling and will must be united", because with all three, it is possible to say: "Yes, this is my life".
The Pope evoked the wedding at Cana as an image to express this idea: "I often think of the wedding at Cana. The first wine is very good: it is the falling in love. But it does not last until the end: a second wine must come, that is, it must ferment and grow, mature. A definitive love that really becomes a 'second wine' is better, better than the first. And this is what we have to look for".
In this process of purification and maturation, the virtue of chastity plays a fundamental role. In his address to the youth of the world on the occasion of the XXII World Youth Day 2007, Benedict XVI said that the time of courtship - essential to build the marriage-It is "a time of waiting and preparation, to be lived in chastity of gestures and words. The Pope emphasized that chastity allows "maturing in love" and "helps to exercise self-control, to develop respect for others, which are characteristics of true love that does not seek first and foremost one's own satisfaction and well-being"; characteristics that are signs of psychological maturity.
The beauty of courtship
In this project of love, we must not lose sight of the fact that there will be joys as well as difficulties, which are necessary for this "educating, purifying and maturing of love". "A beauty made only of harmony is not true beauty; it lacks something; it is deficient. True beauty also needs contrast. The dark and the luminous complete each other. In order to ripen, the grape needs not only the sun, but also the rain; not only the day, but also the night" (Cfr. Meeting with priests, August 31, 2006). Finally, it is right to point out that the love of the bride and groom - and later that of marriage - will only become full in heaven, since "the experience of love has within it the tension towards God".
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 recalls that the Mass is communion among Christians
In his meditation before praying the Angelus, Pope Francis spoke about the importance of three gestures that become a reality at every Mass: offering, giving thanks and sharing.
During the Angelus from Sunday On July 28, Pope Francis deepened on the gestures, repeated in the Eucharist, narrated in the Gospel in the passage of the miracle of the loaves and fishes.
In the gesture of the child in the Gospel, who offers Christ the loaves and fishes he has, the Pontiff saw an example that "we always have something good to give". In the Eucharist, "this is underlined when the priest offers on the altar the bread and wine, and each one offers himself, his own life." Although it seems that we give little, the Holy Father explained, God works miracles with what we give.
This is precisely why we must remember to "give thanks," Francis pointed out. A thanksgiving that consists in "saying to the Lord with humility, but also with joy: 'All that I have is your gift, and to thank you I can only return to you what you have first given me'".
The Pope and the gesture of sharing
However, the Pontiff warned that a further step must be taken: "sharing". At Mass this gesture becomes a reality in Communion, "when together we approach the altar to receive the Body and Blood of Christ." This is, Francis said, "a very beautiful moment that teaches us to live every gesture of love as a gift of grace, both for the one who gives and for the one who receives: an occasion to grow together as brothers and sisters, ever more united in charity."
As usual, the Pope concluded his meditation by posing some questions for personal reflection: "Do I truly believe, by God's grace, that I have something unique to give to my brothers and sisters, or do I feel anonymous, 'one among many'? Do I thank the Lord for the gifts with which he continually shows me his love? Do I live sharing with others as a moment of encounter and reciprocal enrichment?"
Finally, Francis asked the Virgin Mary to "help us to live each Eucharistic celebration with faith, and to recognize and savor every day the 'miracles' of God's grace."
Pope Francis: "Confrontation between generations is a deception".
The IV World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly will take place on Sunday, July 28. The theme chosen by Pope Francis, "In old age do not forsake me" (Psalm 71), underlines how "loneliness is a bitter companion in the lives of so many older people", and reveals that setting generations against each other "is a deception".
Francisco Otamendi-July 28, 2024-Reading time: 6minutes
In the year of preparation for the Jubilee, which the Holy Father wished to dedicate to prayer, the theme of the IV Jubilee of the Year of Prayer was World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly is taken from Psalm 71, the invocation of an old man who relates his story of friendship with God.
By valuing the charisms of grandparents and the elderly and their contribution to the life of the Church, the Day aims to encourage the commitment of the entire ecclesial community in building bonds between generations and in the fight against loneliness, aware that, as Scripture affirms, "it is not fitting for a man to be alone".
"Very often loneliness is the bitter companion of the lives of those who, like us, are elderly and grandparents. As bishop of Buenos Aires, I often had occasion to visit homes for the elderly and I noticed how few visits these people received; some had not seen their loved ones for many months," writes the Pontiff in his Message for the July Day.
A progressive approach to the elderly
In its Programmatic Exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium"Reflecting on the throwaway culture, the Pope mentioned, among others, the poor, the homeless, migrants and refugees, unborn children, and he also mentioned "the elderly who are increasingly alone and abandoned".
Then, especially since the institution in 2021 of the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, celebrated throughout the Church on the fourth Sunday of July, near the commemoration of St. Joachim and St. Anne, the grandparents of Jesus, the Pope's attention and dedication to this growing social group has been on the rise. In part perhaps also due to Francis' difficulty in fending for himself.
The first example was the 18 catecheses on old age in 2022, with lessons on humanity and Christian anthropology, analyzed in Omnes by Ramiro Pellitero. After World Youth Day 2023, in the first half of this year there have been four dates on which the Pope and the Holy See have fixed their attention in a special way on the elderly and the aged. These were the launch of the Message for the IV World Day, focused on old age and loneliness; the Pope's meeting with six thousand grandparents and grandchildren in the Paul VI Hall and its presentation; the Message to the symposium on palliative care organized by the Canadian Bishops' Conference together with the Pontifical Academy for Life; and now the upcoming World Day on July 28.
The texts were complementary and focused on the need to be together, as a family, without excluding anyone, with love, in a society full of specialists in doing many things, but selfish, individualistic, which only achieves "the impoverishment of humanity". Today's world encourages people not to depend on others, to believe in themselves alone, living as islands, said the Pope, attitudes that only create a lot of loneliness.
After learning of the theme of the July Day, the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, declared: "I am deeply grateful to the Holy Father for having chosen as the theme of the Day the following theme IV World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly the verse from Psalm 71: 'In old age, do not forsake me. It is the 'prayer of an old man', which reminds us that loneliness is an unfortunately widespread reality that afflicts many elderly people, often victims of the throwaway culture and considered a burden on society".
Some features of the Message
"God never abandons his children. Not even when age advances and strength wanes, when gray hairs appear and social status declines, when life becomes less productive and runs the risk of seeming useless. He does not pay attention to appearances and does not disdain to choose those who for many are irrelevant. He does not discard any stone; on the contrary, the 'older' ones are the sure foundation on which the 'new' stones can rest to build the spiritual edifice together". Thus begins the Pope's message for the IV World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly.
In the Bible, the Holy Father adds, "we find the certainty of God's closeness at every stage of life and, at the same time, we find the fear of abandonment, particularly in old age and in times of sorrow. This is not a contradiction. Looking around us, it is not difficult to see how these expressions reflect a reality that is more than evident".
Confronting old and young, a "distorted idea
Francis reflects in a special way in his text that today's society "nourishes persistent generational conflicts between young and old". "Today there is a widespread belief that the elderly burden the young with the cost of the assistance they require." However, the Pontiff warns that this "is a distorted perception of reality," because "the contrast between the generations is a deception and a poisoned fruit of the culture of confrontation." The problem, the Pontiff affirms, is that when we lose sight of the value of each one, "people become a mere burdensome burden." This belief is so widespread that the elderly end up accepting it "and come to regard themselves as a burden, wishing to be the first to step aside."
In his argument, the Pope warns against the trap of individualism, permeated by this confrontational mentality. Seeing oneself in old age, "in need of everything," one finds oneself alone, "without any help, without anyone to count on. It is a sad discovery that many people make when it is too late. In the face of the prevailing culture, the Holy Father proposes the biblical example of Ruth, who stays with her mother-in-law Naomi. She "teaches us that to the plea 'do not forsake me' it is possible to answer 'I will not forsake you'. Her story allows us to "walk a new path" and "imagine a different future for our elders," reports Paloma López Campos.
The elderly, treasure of the Church
The Pope takes advantage of his message to thank "all those people who, even with many sacrifices, have effectively followed the example of Ruth and are taking care of an elderly person, or simply show every day their closeness to relatives or acquaintances who have no one".
Francis concludes by encouraging Catholics to be close to the elderly and to recognize "the irreplaceable role they have in the family, in society and in the Church". He also gives his blessing to "dear grandparents and the elderly, and all those who accompany them," promising to pray for them and asking them to pray for him as well.
Francis, with six thousand grandparents and grandchildren
The immediate precedent for this Day was the Pope's meeting with six thousand grandparents and grandchildren in the Paul VI Hall, organized by the Età Grande (Great Age) Foundation, with the encouragement of its president, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life. "Grandparents and grandchildren are two extreme generations that cannot live without the intermediate ones. This is a magisterium that adults and young people must listen to," assured Archbishop Paglia at the presentation.
At the meeting, which was also introduced by the comic actor Lino Banfi, the Pontiff stressed that "love makes us better, enriches us and makes us wiser". And he expressed it "with the desire to share the ever-youthful faith that unites all generations, and which I received from my grandmother, from whom I first met Jesus." "From her I heard the story of that family in which there was the grandfather who, as he no longer ate well at the table and got dirty, they threw him out, they put him to eat alone. It was not a nice thing to do, in fact it was very bad! So the grandson put in a few days with the hammer and nails, and when dad asked him what he was doing, he replied, 'I'm building a table for you to eat by yourself when you're old!' This my grandmother taught me, and I've never forgotten it since."
"Old people see far, because they have lived so many years," the Pope noted, "and they have so much to teach: for example, how bad war is. I, a long time ago, learned this from my grandfather, who had lived through the First World War and who, through his stories, made me understand that war is a horrible thing. Seek out your grandparents and do not marginalize them, for your own sake: 'The marginalization of the elderly (...) corrupts all the seasons of life, not only old age'".
The Pope concluded: "It is not by chance that it was two elderly people, I like to think of them as two grandparents, Simeon and Anna, who recognized Jesus when he was brought to the Temple in Jerusalem by Mary and Joseph (cf. Lk 2:22-38). They welcomed him, took him in their arms and understood - they alone understood - what was happening: that God was there, present, and was looking at them with the eyes of a child. They alone understood, when they saw the little Jesus, that the Messiah had arrived, the Savior they were all waiting for".
The event had begun an hour and a half before the Pope's arrival, with the testimony of the so-called "grandfather of Italy", the comic actor Lino Banfi, and the singer Al Bano, together with Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia, who called Lino Banfi the grandfather of Europe, and the latter in turn "grandfather of the world" to Pope Francis.
Of the hundreds of synagogues that existed in Berlin in 1930, only ten remain today. The best known is the so-called "New Synagogue" on Oranienburger Strasse.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Berlin had more than one hundred synagogues. The first large synagogue was built in 1714 by Jewish families who had arrived from Vienna 40 years earlier.
Frederick William I, Margrave of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia (1620-1688), known as the Great Elector, invited them in the hope that their skills and business relationships would boost the city.
In this context, it is worth remembering that, unlike cities such as Cologne, Frankfurt and Nuremberg, which were highly populated in the Middle Ages and early modern period, Berlin did not boom until the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
Not only Berlin, but also the whole of Brandenburg had been sparsely populated until then. For this reason, after the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), Frederick William first attracted the French Huguenots, who were known as expert merchants.
The majority settled in Berlin, making up 25 percent of the population in 1701. But the Jewish community also grew rapidly, especially with the influx of those fleeing the pogroms in their countries of origin.
In 1860, some 28,000 Jews lived in Berlin. Between 1855 and 1875, the synagogue on Oranienburger Strasse was built, seating 3,200 people, reflecting the growing confidence of the Jewish community.
The center of Jewish life was not far from there, between the Hackescher Markt and the Alexanderplatz - the setting for Alfred Döblin's famous novel "Berlin Alexanderplatz" (1929).
In 1905, Berlin was home to 130,487 Jews, 4.3 percent of the population. Numerous synagogues were built; the last, in the Wilmersdorf district, was consecrated on September 16, 1930.
However, most of them were destroyed during the "Pogrom Night" of November 9, 1938. Today, only ten synagogues remain in Berlin, the best known being the "New Synagogue" which, as mentioned above, stands on Oranienburger Strasse.
The New Synagogue
In 1856, the Jewish community acquired land on Oranienburger Strasse and in 1857 an architectural competition was held for a new synagogue. Eduard Knoblauch, an architect who was a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts, chaired the competition committee, but eventually took charge of the design himself.
When he became seriously ill in 1859, he was replaced by Friedrich August Stüler, Prussian court architect, who designed the interior. The synagogue was consecrated on September 5, 1866, in the presence of Reich Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
During the pogroms of November 1938, members of the SA attempted to set fire to the New Synagogue. Wilhelm Krützfeld, head of the nearby police station, intervened to protect the building, pointing out its status as a protected monument.
Thanks to his intervention, firefighters extinguished the fire, saving the synagogue. Krützfeld later suffered harassment at work; today, a memorial plaque commemorates his courageous action.
Once the consequences of the fire had been eliminated, the New Synagogue could again be used for religious services as of April 1939. The dome had to be painted with camouflage paint due to the threat of Allied air raids.
After a last religious service in the small prayer hall on January 14, 1943, the Wehrmacht took over the building.
At the beginning of the so-called Battle of Berlin by the British Bomber Command, the synagogue was severely damaged on the night of November 23, 1943. However, further damage was caused to the building when the ruins were used as a source of building materials after the war.
This led to its partial demolition in 1958. After the division of Berlin, the New Synagogue first remained in the Soviet sector and, since the creation of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1949, in East Berlin.
In 1988, while the GDR was still in existence, reconstruction work began on the ruins. In 1995, already after the German reunification, the "Centrum Judaicum" was inaugurated.
This museum and cultural center houses one of the most important archives on German Jewry. The museum deals with the themes of German-Jewish history: enculturation, the self-image of German Jews, persecution and genocide, the reconstruction of communities and the rediscovery of Jewish Berlin.
All this makes the building a landmark not only for Berlin, but also an internationally recognized symbol of the history of Berlin and German Jewry.
Architecture and Symbolism
The 3,200-seat New Synagogue building reflected the steady growth of the Berlin community, which had quadrupled to 28,000 people in the two decades prior to 1866, mainly due to immigration from the eastern Prussian provinces.
Its enormous cost of 750,000 thalers reflected the socio-economic rise of the Jews in Berlin. Its architectural design, with Moorish and Oriental influences, evoked the Alhambra in Granada, but also followed Indian models.
On the one hand, this was framed in the context of Orientalism, a widespread fascination with the Orient that had already led to the use of such motifs in European buildings since the 18th century.
From a Jewish perspective, however, the use of Moorish and Orientalizing architecture implied something else: a reference to the Spanish Middle Ages, anchored in the collective memory as the "Golden Age", as a model of a supposed coexistence between Christians, Muslims and Jews.
Also, an association with the geographical and cultural origins of Judaism in the East, which can be interpreted as an affirmation, translated into architecture, of a self-confident Judaism.
In other words: this architecture was the manifestation of the struggle for social equality, if you will, for an almost equal dialogue.
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Emmanuel Lokossou: "Old age is a source of wisdom and inspiration".
Winner of the CEU Awards for Life 2024, Salesian Effioh Emmanuel Lokossou (Dogbo, Benin, 1993), priest of the parish Cristo Liberador de Parla (Madrid), and student at the CEU San Pablo University, explores the challenges facing society with old age. In an interview with Omnes, he defends old age as an opportunity, not a fatality, and refers to African culture.
Francisco Otamendi-July 26, 2024-Reading time: 7minutes
Population aging is not only a worrying phenomenon for high-income societies, but has become a problem of concern for all countries, since, according to the World Health Organization, "by 2050, 80 % of the world's population will be aged by 2050. majors will live in low- and middle-income countries."
The choice of the theme of the seniors to qualify for the CEU for Life Awards 2024 arose because "when speaking of the defense of life, the first thing that comes to mind is abortion or euthanasia"; however, "the care of the elderly is a very current issue, as Pope Francis points out," explains Effioh Agossou Emmanuel Lokossou, born in Benin (Africa), 30 years ago, who made his pre-novitiate in Burkina-Faso, and the novitiate in Togo. Effioh Lokossou also worked in Ivory Coast, and arrived in Spain in 2018 to study theology. He was ordained a deacon by Cardinal Carlos Osoro in 2022, and a priest by Archbishop Pascal N'KOUE, Archbishop of Paraku (Benin), last year.
In addition to studying a degree in Audiovisual Communication at the CEU San Pablo University, Effioh attends, as mentioned above, the parish Cristo Liberador and is responsible for the direction of the Juveliber Youth Center, both in Parla (Madrid). Together with the Salesian priest, the CEU Institute of Family Studies, directed by Carmen Fernández de la Cigoña, has awarded this year to the MEPs Isabel Benjumea and Margarita de la Pisa, for their public defense of Life.
Emmanuel, what are the main challenges facing society with respect to population aging?
-The first challenge is the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases among older adults. As longevity increases, we are also seeing a recrudescence of health conditions that require more specialized medical care. Moreover, this raises the imperative need to develop health systems that not only address the diseases themselves, but also take into account the overall well-being and quality of life of the aging population. For this reason, and following in the wake of Pope Francis, we would say that it is not enough to draw up care plans alone, but that there is an urgent need to implement projects of existence. In other words, the measures undertaken must prioritize human dignity above all else.
Loneliness and social isolation are other challenges that deserve special attention in the current context in which we live. In our society, older people, not infrequently, face situations where the loss of loved ones, retirement and decreased mobility can contribute to a sense of isolation. This phenomenon not only affects their emotional state, but can also have implications for their physical health. Within the challenges of aging, the need for comprehensive care emerges as another critical component. Beyond conventional medical care, a holistic approach that considers both medical and social aspects is required.
In your opinion, how can we transform these challenges into opportunities? Comment on the African culture.
- First, old age, far from being seen as an inevitable decline, should be considered a stage of enrichment and wisdom. Following in the footsteps of the current Bishop of Rome, let us say that older people are like trees that continue to bear fruit over the years, contributing to society with their experience and knowledge accumulated over the years.
Undoubtedly, their long professional careers and personal lives give them a unique perspective that can be shared to guide younger generations and address contemporary challenges with wisdom and understanding. In this vein, a popular adage from African cultures states that when an old person dies, a library burns. Connecting the dots, when we recognize the intrinsic value of the experience and wisdom of older people, we not only give them the respect and dignity they deserve, but also enrich our communities and strengthen the social fabric with greater inclusion and appreciation for generational diversity.
Second, it is necessary to point out that old age is an opportunity because it favors deep reflection and reevaluation of priorities. In other words, it is a stage for personal growth and the search for greater meaning in life.
Finally, the elders are an unquestionable opportunity for the younger generation, for if we do without them, it is impossible for us to achieve the alliance between generations. Indeed, with their vast experience and wisdom, they help young people to face challenges and make courageous decisions. Moreover, as guardians of collective memory, they transmit stories, traditions and values that are fundamental to preserving cultural identity and a sense of belonging.
What is the contribution of the Christian tradition to the care of the elderly?
- The Christian tradition offers a rich and meaningful perspective on old age, which can make a valuable contribution to the reflection on the care of the elderly in contemporary society that we are offering.
First, the Christian tradition emphasizes the intrinsic value of every human being, regardless of age or state of health. Rooted in the principles of love, compassion and mercy, Christianity highlights the intrinsic value of every human being created in the image and likeness of God. From this perspective, old age is understood as a stage of life that deserves profound respect and dignity. This teaching is derived from biblical passages that honor the elderly and exhort respect for their wisdom and experience.
Jesus himself gave us an example by showing compassion and concern for the elderly during his earthly ministry, healing the sick and comforting the afflicted. In Jesus' pastoral praxis, the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-35) highlights the importance of helping those in need, regardless of their age or condition. It is clear that the Christian tradition invites us to welcome and value the elderly as precious members of the human family. In a world increasingly focused on youth wrapped in consumerist ideologies and productivity, the Christian tradition reminds us of the importance of valuing and respecting the elderly as bearers of history, wisdom and faith.
Pope Benedict XVI, in his pontificate, emphasized the crisis of individualism and lack of solidarity in modern society, pointing out how this especially affects the elderly, who are often marginalized or excluded.
On the other hand, Pope Francis, in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti, addresses the need to build a culture of encounter and solidarity that includes all generations, recognizing the vital role of the elderly in this process. In a world marked by fragmentation and division, the Argentine Pope stresses the importance of recovering the community dimension and the value of the experience and wisdom of the elderly. He stresses how intergenerational dialogue and respect for the elderly are fundamental to building a more just, inclusive and humane world for all. Let us recall that in addition to the 15 catecheses he has on old age, Pope Francis is the one who instituted, in 2021, the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly.
What should be the role of the family in the care of the elderly?
- Clearly, families are at a crossroads as they try to meet work and financial obligations while attempting to provide adequate care for their elderly loved ones. Not infrequently, this situation has led to emotional stress and tension within the family, especially when members feel overwhelmed by the demands of caregiving and the feeling of not being able to adequately meet the needs of the elderly. As a result, many family members are forced to make difficult decisions about the care of the elderly, such as using professional caregiving services or transferring them to nursing homes, which can lead to feelings of guilt and conflict.
In the face of all this, it is imperative to rescue and promote values that strengthen the role of the family as the fundamental unit of society. The rapid evolution of modern life has led to a distancing from what is essential, often relegating the care of the elderly to the background. However, in the midst of an ephemeral world, there is a need for a change of mentality, a renewal that invites us to live every event from the perspective of the wisdom of the heart. The human family needs to reconnect with what is most precious: love, respect and intergenerational solidarity. In a world in which we renounce having children to the detriment of giving more value to animals, we need to stop and ask ourselves transcendental questions.
The renewal to which we appeal implies a return to the roots, a revaluation of family ties and a commitment to the full and perfect dignity of every human being. It is time to foster a culture of care and life, where the legacy of the elderly to the community is recognized and honored, and where any form of discrimination or exclusion is rejected.
As public authorities, how can governors help?
-Governors have a crucial responsibility in creating policies and programs that support the care of the elderly and strengthen the role of the family in this regard, since it is up to them to organize the structures of society.
First, they have a duty to ensure equitable access to quality health services for the elderly in order to promote their well-being and dignity in society. This implies not only ensuring the availability of adequate facilities and health professionals, but also facilitating access to medicines, treatments and specialized care.
Second, governments should promote work-family reconciliation. In this regard, it is essential that they enact laws and policies that recognize and support the work of workers who are also family caregivers. One of the key measures would be the implementation of paid leave specifically for the care of elderly family members. Another important measure is the promotion of flexible working hours. Third, governments should encourage education and training for family caregivers.
The application of Artificial Intelligence is very topical. How can it help in the care of our elders?
- The Artificial Intelligence (AI) is emerging as a promising tool to improve the care of the elderly in multiple ways. First, AI can be used to monitor the health of older adults continuously and noninvasively, through wearable devices or smart sensors embedded in the home, and can detect early signs of health problems, allowing for rapid and preventative intervention.
In addition, AI can assist in customizing care plans for each individual, taking into account their medical needs, personal preferences, and unique circumstances. However, it is critical to address the ethical and privacy challenges associated with the use of AI in elder care. Transparency in data processing is essential so that users understand how their personal data is used and for what purposes. In addition, it is critical to obtain informed consent from seniors before using any AI-based technology in their care. Protecting users' privacy must also be a priority.
Finally, it is important to remember that AI should not supplant human interaction in the care of the elderly, but complement it. Human-centered care remains fundamental to meeting the emotional, social and physical needs of the elderly.
In caring for people, Jesus also cares for their stomachs. Love nourishes. Any mother can tell you that. And God, who is infinite father and infinite mother, takes care that we have something to eat. This is clearly seen in the episode of the feeding of the five thousand, which is today's gospel. A similar episode in Matthew further underscores Jesus' concern (see Mt 15:32). John, in his typical emphasis on Christ's divinity, focuses more on his control of the situation. Thus, when Jesus asks Philip where they can get bread for the people to eat, John comments: "I was saying it to test him, for he well knew what he was going to do.".
When the disciples want to dismiss the crowd (Mt 14:15), Jesus replies: "No need for them to go, feed them yourselves." (Mt 14:16). In today's Gospel from John, both Philip and Andrew express their helplessness in the face of the need to feed so many. While refusing to let them dodge the situation, Jesus takes the reins. God always does this: He demands that we play our role, but the really effective role is His, and we must always remember that. If Philip and Andrew, in response to Christ's question, had jumped up and started running in search of bread, they would have exhausted themselves uselessly. The proper response to any problem is to be willing to do what we can, always knowing that what really matters is what God does. We are only instruments of his action, just as we see the apostles helping to distribute the bread.
We must always remain calm. A small detail in today's Gospel says a lot. Jesus says to the disciples: "Tell people to sit on the floor.". And God had already foreseen it, for we are told: "....There was a lot of grass in that place." God thinks of everything. A little boy had very little to give, his five barley loaves and two fish, but he gave everything. The disciples, at least, had the good sense to talk to Jesus - to pray - in the midst of their inadequacy. With a little generosity and willingness on the part of some, with a little prayer, God then does the rest, by far. And Our Lord even tells the disciples to gather up the leftovers afterwards so that nothing is wasted. Awareness of the enormity of divine power must not lead to waste. God may multiply food, but he does not want us to waste it.
Homily on the readings of the 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for these Sunday readings.
The Eiffel Tower decorated with the Olympic rings sparkled on the night before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games to be held in Paris between July 26 and August 11, 2024.
The fourth edition of the Day of Grandparents and the Elderly aims to bring more attention to the local dioceses in two ways: visiting the elderly and celebrating a Mass in which they can participate.
The motto chosen for this day is: "Do not cast me away in my old age". Those who visit the elderly during this day have the possibility of gaining the plenary indulgence.
Now you can enjoy a 20% discount on your subscription to Rome Reports Premiumthe international news agency specializing in the activities of the Pope and the Vatican.
Marta Pedrajas: "The Pope's visit to Santiago would be very significant".
"Pope Francis has always shown interest in promoting the values of the Way of St. James. His visit to Santiago de Compostela would be very significant, given the impact of those of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI," Marta Pedrajas, director of the Chair of European Studies of the Camino de Santiago of the Paul VI Foundation, told Omnes.
Francisco Otamendi-July 25, 2024-Reading time: 3minutes
A visit by Pope Francis to Santiago de Compostela, against the backdrop of those made by his predecessors; his promotion of the values of the Camino de Santiago as the culture of encounter; the Christian roots of Europe and the values of fraternity, solidarity and peace that the Camino promotes, which are key in the face of wars, are topics that the philosopher and economist Marta Pedrajas, director of the Chair of European Studies of the Way of Saint James of the Paul VI Foundation and the archbishopric of Santiago de Compostela.
At the end of last year, the Archbishop of Santiago, Francisco José Prieto, stated in the constitution of the ChairTo say the road to Santiago is to discover the roots of what we are so that we are also very clear about the roads we have to travel. The road to Santiago reminds Europe of who it is and where it comes from and what it has to continue to mean at this moment. This road continues to be a horizon of hope and meaning, for believers and non-believers alike".
Omnes has been giving informative attention to the Camino de Santiago since its launch. In July 2021, for example, it published in the July-August summer issue a Special of 48 pages entitled On the way to SantiagoThe book, on the occasion of the Compostela Holy Year, with illustrious signatures, numerous photographs and practical information for pilgrims.
In this interview, director Marta Pedrajas points out that "the Camino is more than a route; it is a journey of encounter with oneself, with others, with beauty, with the divine. My personal experience is that they should let themselves be carried away, let themselves be surprised and be willing to let themselves be transformed by the experience".
In March of this year, the Chair of European Studies of the Way of St. James of the Paul VI Foundation and the Archbishopric of Santiago de Compostela was launched. Can you point out some of its main objectives?
- The objectives of the Chair are to revitalize the Christian roots of Europe, taking as a model the Way of St. James, and to create and strengthen the culture of encounter as proposed by Pope Francis in his magisterium, as in The Joy of the Gospel, Fratelli Tuttigoing to the last, to the peripheries, promoting solidarity and human rights.
On this feast of the Apostle St. James, it seems appropriate to recall some ideas of the Archbishop of Santiago, Francisco José Prieto, regarding the pilgrimage.
- Bishop Francisco José Prieto emphasized in his talk that the Way of St. James is a transforming and spiritual experience. The pilgrimage is not only a physical journey, he invited to be open to a process of inner change, to launch into the adventure with an open heart, since the journey offers a unique opportunity for reflection, personal growth, the encounter with beauty and, therefore, with the divine.
Both the general director of the Paul VI Foundation, Jesus AvezuelaYou, as well as yourself, have referred to the importance of this route for the structuring of Europe, and how the values it embodies can help to face current challenges such as the search for peace in the face of the wars in Ukraine and Russia, or in Palestine and Israel. Is that correct? Any comments?
- That is correct. Both Jesús Avezuela and myself have highlighted the importance of the Way of St. James as a symbol of European unity and identity. And the values of fraternity, solidarity, encounter and peace that the Camino promotes can serve as a guide to face contemporary challenges. These values are essential to build a more peaceful and cohesive, fairer and more united future in Europe and in the world.
St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI visited Santiago de Compostela on historic occasions. Will Pope Francis be able to visit Santiago?
- The visit of Pope Francis to Santiago de Compostela would be very significant, given the impact of the visits of his predecessors, St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI. But whether it is possible or not, Pope Francis has always shown his interest in promoting the values of the Way of St. James as the culture of the Encounter, and his commitment to the spiritual and cultural revitalization of Europe.
A word of encouragement to this year's walkers, and to those who are hesitating to undertake the path. Do you have personal experience? A piece of advice?
To this year's walkers and to those who are considering undertaking the Camino de Santiago, I would say to them that they should be encouraged to live this unique experience with an open heart. The Camino is more than a route; it is a journey of encounter with oneself, with others, with beauty, with the divine. My personal experience, let yourself be carried away, let yourself be surprised and be willing to let yourself be transformed by the experience.
Villanueva University students learning through service to others
Villanueva University's service-learning methodology combines the practical application of the knowledge acquired in the course of study with collaboration in a meaningful service to the community.
Obtain credits by renewing the patient directory of a palliative hospital, study the legal channels for obtaining aid for mothers in vulnerable situations or devise and implement programs to help students who go to aid foundations.
All these ideas are part of the Service Learning methodology, an initiative that develops the Villanueva University and through which students put into practice their knowledge in different areas while collaborating with social dynamization projects, helping people with disabilities or from vulnerable environments and NGODs.
In this way, in addition to completing their academic training, students are part of social change, and learn first-hand about service applications for their professional work.
It is not a matter of lucubrations or a theoretical application but, as Guiomar Nocito, director of the Impronta Program, where Service Learning is integrated, points out, "the projects carried out with the Service Learning methodology are real projects, in which they have to put knowledge and skills into practice to solve a problem or meet a need of people who need it at the present moment. This is a challenge for the student, who at the same time that he learns, contributes with his work. There is a greater motivation for learning, an increase in civic awareness, and more meaningful learning. Service Learning transforms students, helps them to prioritize their values and to see that their learning is useful, that it serves a purpose".
A plus of interest for students
A statement corroborated by Paloma Martínez. This young law student collaborated, through this program, with the ONGD Harambee and, as she explains to Omnes, "I have had the opportunity to learn and hone key skills, such as international project management, fundraising and collaboration with various entities. The methodology has allowed me to increase my awareness of current social issues, understand the importance of committing to equality and social justice. It has also taught me the value of teamwork and the need for efficient and transparent management in cooperation projects".
Jorge, who was part of two projects, one for Harambee on the regulation and obtaining of funds for NGOs, and the second with Redmadre on aid to pregnant women and new mothers, expresses himself in a similar way. This young man emphasizes that "from the first one I would highlight all the research at international level in the different countries and their regulation of laws and aid, and from the second one, it was interesting to have to do the research, but I would highlight that my work was the first published study on women, abortion and money in the community of Madrid, asking more than 1000 women anonymously if, if they had had aid, they would have continued with their pregnancy, as well as the number of pregnant women in the Community (there was no data on either of these two statistics)".
Various projects
There are many and varied projects that form part of this learning model at Villanueva University: from the Atresmedia Foundation and others such as Prodis, Vianorte-Laguna oWhat Really Mattersto NGOs such as Harambee. To select the projects, the Service Learning Office contacts the entities, "to get to know them and determine how we can collaborate," explains Nocito.
In addition, "a study is made of the teaching guides, and we talk to teachers who may be interested in integrating these projects into their subjects. The projects must contribute to a community and fit perfectly with the objectives and development of the subject's competencies. After this, there is a meeting between the entity and the teacher, in which action plans are generated and the project is outlined".
The university proposes the projects to the students and then follows up. Paloma emphasizes that when she was approached to work with Harambee, she found it a "unique opportunity to grow both professionally and personally".
A learning model that students highly recommend. In Paloma's words: "They offer a unique opportunity to contribute to important social causes, which is very rewarding both personally and professionally. These projects allow us to apply academic knowledge in a practical environment, developing essential skills such as project management, information seeking and collaboration. In addition, the experience fosters personal growth by increasing awareness of global issues and cultivating a sense of social responsibility, which can inspire a lasting commitment to social justice and equality." In Jorge's words, "I felt like I was doing real work, helping people directly, and not just writing to get a grade, so my effort was much greater because I was not doing it for me, but for other people's real problems".
Guiomar Nocito sums up this methodology clearly: "This initiative is directly linked to our way of training the professionals of the future, who are aware of the impact that their work can have on the environment, apart from their own professional development. There is nothing as stimulating as learning by working on the real needs of the environment with the aim of improving it, which is why our university project integrates service to society into the teaching activity".
The Way of St. James is destined to leave a serious impression on the pilgrim, to the point of influencing his interiority, to lead him to reflection and, in this way, to make him find himself.
José Fernández Lago-July 25, 2024-Reading time: 10minutes
The pilgrim, in a broad sense, is a man on a journey. It is characteristic of the pilgrim, in the first place, not to feel himself master of the land he treads on, because, as soon as he removes his feet from it, he has to worry about the ground he has yet to cover. The pilgrim goes ahead on the road, in order to reach a goal.
Strictly speaking, on the other hand, it is the one who goes to or returns from Santiago. Dante Alighieri distinguished between those who set out on the road to Santiago de Compostela, and the "Palmeros", who were on their way to Santiago de Compostela. Holy Land. Both were distinguished from the "Romeros", who went to Rome to visit the tombs of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul. Only those going to or returning from Santiago were considered "pilgrims".
Certainly in Dante's time, the Road to Santiago de Compostela was a spiritual path, a path of penance, in search of a certain forgiveness, whether civil or religious.
Camino de Santiago, the way of the spirit
Precisely John Paul II, on his first pilgrimage to Santiago, in 1982, focused on the transcendent vision of the Way of St. James. From there he addressed some words to Europe, asking it not to forget its roots, but to recover those values that made its history glorious and its presence in other continents beneficial. With these words he called on it to rebuild its spiritual unity.
That is why the Archbishop of Santiago, in his Pastoral Letter "Salt of your land", with which he wanted to prepare the Holy Year of 2021, says that the Way of St. James is a path of the spirit of the human person, which rebels against the danger of disappearing under the sphere of materialism.
The beginning of the pilgrimages to Santiago
The beginning of the pilgrimages took place in the ninth century, shortly after the discovery of the tomb with the remains of the apostle and Athanasius and Theodore, two of his disciples. As soon as King Alfonso II the Chaste heard about it, through the embassy of the bishop of Iria Flavia Teodomiro, the king went to Santiago with his family, thus becoming the first pilgrims.
In the tenth and eleventh centuries the number of pilgrims increased, and in this line continued during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. However, in the years prior to Covid 19, the number of those arriving at the tomb of the apostle St. James the Greater was much greater than it had been throughout history.
Motivations of traditional pilgrims
The road is destined to leave a serious impression on the pilgrim, to the point of influencing his interiority, to lead him to reflection and, in this way, to make him meet himself.
As a consequence, the change that takes place in the pilgrim has to be such that he becomes a deeply renewed man. It is conversion that makes him change not only in the thoughts that he harbors in his mind, but also in order to be consistent in his own life. Even if the difficulty of the journey makes one sad, the return, once that experience has been lived, is an explosion of true joy.
Normally the pilgrimage to Santiago sought forgiveness for one's own sins, and at the same time the intercession of the apostle was requested to obtain forgiveness for the sins of the pilgrim's relatives. On other occasions what was sought was to fulfill the civil penalty that had been imposed on them. There were also those who fulfilled a vow they had made while making the pilgrimage. Finally, there were those who arrived in Santiago substituting for those who had the obligation to do so. Those who did so were called "pilgrims by commission".
The Road to Santiago today
Since 1993 there has been a great propaganda from the civil world, in order to get a large number of people to come to Santiago and visit the city. Hence the religious sense of pilgrimage is not common to all those who come to Santiago, and especially to those who go there.
Among those who are starting out, there is no lack of those who are trying to change the system of ordinary life they have lived until then. Others seek to meet people who have the same desire to share their experiences. There are also those who, with a concern similar to that of their partner, wish to meet him or her along the way.
Attitudes more characteristic of the true pilgrim are those of those who try to contemplate the testimonies of those who have left their mark on the road, and try to live their spirituality, stimulated by this experience, in relation to the Creator and Lord of humanity, who has made everything they encounter along the way.
Others feel nostalgia for the love they had for Jesus and Our Lady when they were children, and wish to recover it, opening themselves to the calls of God, who makes himself felt more in solitude than in bustle. For this reason, they hope to achieve it along the Way of St. James.
Statue of the apostle St. James the Greater in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela (Flickr / Contando Estrelas)
Destination: inner freedom
Finally, the best attitude of today's pilgrim is that of one who lives his faith, received from God, and, taking into account that James was one of Jesus' favorite disciples, wants to go on pilgrimage to where the remains of the apostle are, in the hope that it will help him to imitate him and thus imitate the Master.
A few years ago, Pope John Paul II said in a letter addressed to Bishop Julián Barrio Barrio, on the eve of the Holy Year, on the occasion of the opening of the Holy Door: "The pilgrim is not simply a wayfarer: he is, more than anything else, a believer who, thanks to the experience of life, and with his gaze fixed on the fearlessness of the Apostle James, wants to follow Christ faithfully".
The Archbishop of Santiago, for his part, says in his Pastoral Letter "Get out of your land", on the occasion of the Compostela Holy Year 2021, that, although the geographical end of the pilgrimage is the House of Santiago, the goal of the pilgrimage is inner freedom, the freedom of the children of God, to which God the Father calls us.
Pilgrim symbols
The "Liber Sancti Jacobi" or "Codex Calixtinus" says that the way of the pilgrimage is good, but arduous. For this reason, at the beginning of the pilgrimage, the pilgrim receives a backpack and a walking stick.
The backpack is the symbol of "a small pantry, always open". In order to truly follow the Lord, the goods used in the pilgrimage must be used to help the poor. In an even more spiritual sense, we should accompany ourselves with "the rucksack of our life on our journey towards God, who wants to remain for us the companion on the path of our earthly existence.
Another object that the pilgrim receives before starting the journey is the staff or walking stick, to support him on uneven terrain and in the ascent and descent of the mountains, as well as for the pilgrim to defend himself from wolves and some dogs that may come his way along his journey. In the spiritual realm, it symbolizes the defense of those who walk, to overcome the difficulties and temptations that arise along the way.
The gourd is usually shown hanging from the traveler's staff. This one would find in some occasions sources to satisfy his thirst; but in others, as long as a person of the place where he was walking did not help him to solve his problem, giving him a little water, he would have to support his thirst in numerous occasions... In the gourd, the water is kept fresh, so that, if the case arises, it can also be useful to offer water in good conditions to a companion on the way. The gourd also has a spiritual meaning. In the biblical tradition it signifies the inner life, which conveys a certain scent of perfume, indicating the purity of heart of those who live their faith.
Finally, the scallop shell that the pilgrim takes home is used to drink water on the return journey, and also becomes a testimony of having made the pilgrimage.
The "Liber Sancti Jacobi" says that the two shells of the mollusk serve the pilgrim as armor for the Christian's own defense. They are like the two aspects of charity: love of God and love of neighbor, an excellent fruit of the pilgrimage.
Pilgrimage and Jubilee
The Compostelan Jubilee is intimately related to pilgrimage. It is true that, even if it is not the time of Jubilee, pilgrimage can be extremely useful.
Pope Calixtus II was the first to grant a Jubilee to the Diocese of Santiago de Compostela, with which he granted in 1122 many indulgences for those who made the pilgrimage to Santiago. Rome had also granted occasional Jubilees, at least in the years 1000, 1100 and 1200, like the one granted by Calixtus II. However, Calixtus II, far from surprising us, seems very logical, since, when he was archbishop of Vienne in the Delphinate, he must have visited Santiago on more than one occasion. In fact, his brother Raymond of Burgundy was Count of Galicia; and Guido of Burgundy himself, known since 1119 as Pope Callixtus II, attended the burial of Raymond, whose remains are today in the Chapel of the Relics in the Cathedral.
Santiago de Compostela Cathedral (Wikimedia Commons / Jrjunior 223)
In the year 1181, by means of the Bull "Regis Aeterni", Pope Alexander III gave stability to the Compostelan Jubilee, turning into Jubilee years all those in which the feast of St. James on July 25th fell on a Sunday.
Looking at the practical realization of the Compostelan Jubilee, throughout history it has always been held normally, even when it coincided with the Roman Jubilee and the Holy See used to suspend local indulgences, so that they could participate in the Jubilee of the Eternal City. However, Sixtus V established that, even if local indulgences were ordinarily suppressed, the Compostelan Jubilee would always be celebrated. Leo XIII ratified the same in his Bull "Deus Omnipotens": that what was established by Alexander III should never be cancelled or abrogated, but always valid and perpetually efficacious. Thus, ordinary Holy Years have always been celebrated, in periods of 5, 6, 5 and 11 years, and there have also been Extraordinary ones.
The road to Santiago, paradigm of the road of life
Since the road to Santiago is a road of faith, we must look for everything that means help for the believer who walks this path that leads to the encounter with the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of John.
In the first place, the believer, sensitive from faith to what he perceives in nature, becomes especially receptive, and even sublimates what is meant by the fragrance of the fields, the richness of the water flowing from the mountain, the beauty and perfume of the flowers, and the joyful movement of the animals enjoying freedom,
On the other hand, the pilgrim meets along the days of his journey some companions who share his own path, with whom he crosses paths on more than one occasion. It is logical to hope that, both along the way and at the end of the day, they will meet again in the albergues. If a closer relationship is required because of a physical problem, the pilgrim should see this as a call from God to help the companion in need.
On the other hand, if two or more pilgrims are staying in the same hostel, this is the best time to exchange experiences. The Holy Spirit will be the one who awakens in each pilgrim the response of faith and a lively hope.
Along the way, those who pass through it will find expressions of faith, often accompanied by artistic delicacies. Architects or lesser men built churches, where local people or strangers had the opportunity to live and express their faith. The footsteps of pilgrims, throughout history, also left their footprints there.
Today the wayfarer should find out at what times the churches are open and at what times of the day they celebrate the Eucharist, in order to strengthen his spirit by participating in the memorial of our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus receive Jesus himself in his heart.
In addition to the importance of participating in the Holy Mass, the pilgrim has enough time to live in solitude and to look upwards. Among the Saints, who enjoy the presence of God, the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus and our mother, occupies a preferential place. To her we can say the Hail Mary, and even pray the Rosary, to meditate on the mysteries of the life of Christ and of his most holy mother. This Virgin Mary, who encouraged St. James in moments of weakness, also accompanies the pilgrim on his way to the tomb of the Apostle St. James.
Listening to the Lord during the Camino
The believer who walks towards this goal has plenty of time to be attentive to the Lord. God takes advantage of these moments of openness to make the opportune calls. If in the book of the Apocalypse, precisely when addressing an unfaithful Church, like that of Laodicea, Jesus says that he stands at the door and knocks, and that if anyone opens to him, he will come in and eat with him, how much more so if he is addressing a person in search, who is trying to be faithful to God and to mankind.
(Wikimedia Commons / Graham Stanley)
On one occasion, shortly after Jesus died, when two disciples were returning home to Emmaus, disillusioned by the death of the One in whom they had placed all their hope, He appeared to them and conversed with them, until He made Himself known. The Lord will want to enter into the interiority of the pilgrim, to guide him in his life. This will be possible because the Lord has not left us alone, but has sent us his Spirit, so that, as St. Paul says to the Ephesians, we may cry out to God, calling him Father, we may know the hope to which he calls us, and we may understand the riches of glory that God gives as an inheritance to his Saints.
At the end of the journey, the pilgrim should enter the Jacobean sanctuary and participate in the liturgy that will be celebrated there. The pilgrim arrives with a spirit of humility, and trying to pray with the heart, strengthened by the encounters with the Lord on the road just completed. If he receives the Sacrament of Penance, he will find the peace of the Spirit; and, in the Holy Years, the plenary indulgence, which will make him leave renewed, by divine grace.
The time after the pilgrimage
The paschal experience of the pilgrim along the road to Santiago will be confirmed by the testimony of the Apostle, the friend of the Lord, at his tomb. As a consequence, the pilgrim who was once a pilgrim of hope will have to bear witness in the future to his faith in the risen Christ, who is the foundation of our hope; and he will have a special interest in practicing love of God and neighbor.
The Archbishop of Santiago de Compostela, in his Pastoral Letter "Pilgrims of Faith and Witnesses of the Risen Christ," on the occasion of the Holy Year 2010, clearly expressed his thoughts on the matter. In trying to carry out his task, the pilgrim, who has allowed the Lord to purify his heart, will bear witness in the future to what he has seen and heard in his inner self.
To do this, without further delay, he must try to put into practice what he has lived along the way, and always be attentive to the word that the Lord wishes to address to him, and often receive in communion Christ himself, who is the pledge of future immortality.
St. Karbel, an example of asceticism for today's Church
Pope Paul VI emphasized during the canonization of St. Karbel in 1977 that this Maronite monk recalls, through the witness of his life, the importance of recollection in seeking God.
Pope Paul VI canonized Chárbel Makhlouf on October 9, 1977. This Maronite monk profoundly marked the lives of all those who knew him in the Lebanonand even today there are thousands of people who claim to receive favors through the priest's intercession.
St. Karbel was born in 1828 in the village of Beqakafra, Lebanon. At the age of 23 he entered a Maronite monastery, took solemn vows in 1853 and was ordained to the priesthood at the age of 31.
Deeply in love with Christ, the Maronite monk was known for his lifestyle, dedicated to prayer and fasting. St. Karbel withdrew to live in solitude in a hermitage that was part of the monastery of Annaya. However, his isolation was interrupted by the visits he received. He achieved a reputation for holiness during his lifetime and, because of his gift for healing the sick, many people came to him in search of a cure for their ailments.
Saint Karbel and the search for God
However, these events are not the most extraordinary. St. Cherbel is the first saint of Lebanon, since his canonization in 1977. Pope Paul VI called the monk "a paradoxical peacemaker" and "a worthy representative of the Churches of the East and of their high monastic tradition. Beyond the miracles performed by St. Karbel, even during his lifetime, what stands out about him is his impact on the Catholic Church and even on those of other faiths, such as Muslims.
But the goal of this monk was not to attract attention for his lifestyle or his ability to appeal to people of different backgrounds. The reason for his actions, as Paul VI expressed, "was the pursuit of holiness, that is, the most perfect conformity to the humble and poor Christ." Karbel's decisions were guided by "the unceasing search for God alone, which is the hallmark of the monastic life, accentuated by the solitude of the eremitical life".
Depth of spiritual life
Anticipating the mentality that prevails today, Pope Paul VI wondered whether the example of St. Karbel might not lead some "to suspect, in the name of psychology, that this uncompromising austerity is an abusive and traumatic disregard of the healthy values of the body and of love, of friendly relations, of creative freedom, of life in a word".
To consider the lifestyle of the monk and his companions in this way is, in the words of the Pontiff, "to show a certain short-sightedness in the face of an otherwise profound reality". Christ himself was demanding of his disciples, the Pope pointed out, although the prudence that superiors and the Church as a whole must exercise and demand cannot be disregarded.
To see a contempt for life in the asceticism of monks, Paul VI explained, "means forgetting the love of God that inspires it, the Absolute that attracts it." It is, in short, "to ignore the resources of the spiritual life, which is capable of bringing a depth, a vitality, a mastery of being, a balance that is all the greater because it has not been sought for its own sake."
St. Karbel, a reminder for today's world
In spite of this, Paul VI emphasized that the vocation of St. Karbel is not the only one in the Church, but that it is nourished by the different charisms. However, the witness of lives like that of the Lebanese monk are necessary for "the vitality of the Church" and to incarnate "a spirit from which no one faithful to Christ is exempt".
St. Cherbel is for the Church and society a very important witness. As the Pope emphasized at his canonization, "today's social life is often marked by exuberance, agitation, the insatiable search for comfort and pleasure, combined with a growing weakness of the will: it will only recover its balance through an increase in self-control, asceticism, poverty, peace, simplicity, interiority and silence".
Paul VI concluded his homily by indicating that the life of Karbel teaches us that "to save the world, to conquer it spiritually, it is necessary, as Christ wishes, to be in the world, but not to belong to all that in the world leads away from God".
San Rafael, a story of faith in a deprived district of Barcelona
The project of the parishes of San Rafael and San Mateu consists of the restoration of the old chapel of the Institut Mental de la Santa Creu in Nou Barris, Barcelona, which has been unused for more than thirty years, and the construction of a new church and a new parish center. "We are crazy about the Lord," Iñaki Lejarcegui told Omnes.
Francisco Otamendi-July 23, 2024-Reading time: 4minutes
"We want a new church to be a meeting place for all the entities of the neighborhood, where we can celebrate the faith and extend charity to the most needy in society. With the collaboration of all the parishioners of the parishes of San Rafael and San Mateo we want to move forward with this project that aims to recover the historical, cultural and faith heritage of the neighborhood," says the parish of San Rafael. San Rafaelwhose owner is Mn. Ferrán Lorda.
A parish priest whom we asked a few days ago, in an impromptu telephone conversation, about the walk from Barcelona to the World Youth Day in Lisbon last year, which was reported by Omnes and numerous media.
In fact, almost a hundred young people from the Barcelona parishes of Sant Mateu and San Rafael de la Guineueta made the Barcelona-Lisbon journey on foot, during 40 days, because they intended, "in some way, to reproduce the great pilgrimage of the people of Israel recounted in the Exodus, which traveled for forty years through the desert to enter the promised land. It is "1,276 kilometers on foot!", they said.
Barcelona-WYD Lisbon, "a great loudspeaker".
In addition, the parishioners set the goal that "the pilgrimage would be a 'great loudspeaker' where we can announce that the young people of our parishes want a new temple for St. Raphael. A temple where we can gather to celebrate the faith, our encounter with Christ," Ferrán Lorda explained to Omnes.
They sought sponsors to donate one euro for each kilometer of the Barcelona-Lisbon route for the restoration project. And they raised 130,000 euros, which have been added to the million euros already raised by the parish. At present, approximately another million euros is needed to complete the 2.2 million euros of the total planned cost of the works, including the restoration work on the interior of the chapel and the construction of the new parish center.
The project: two temples, one of Perpetual Adoration
La Guineueta is one of the thirteen neighborhoods that make up the district of Nou Barris of Barcelona. It has an area of 0.61 km² and a population of over 15,000 inhabitants. Within its area is the Guineueta park and the Central Park of Nou Barris, south of which is the headquarters of the district of Nou Barris and the Fòrum Nord de la Tecnologia.
Iñaki Lejarcegui, volunteer and parishioner of the parish, comments on the recent solidarity concert of the Barcelona Youth Symphony Orchestra organized by San Rafael: "Spectacular. This is one of the most deteriorated neighborhoods in Barcelona, with many economic and social problems, with a lot of immigration, school dropouts, very dysfunctional families, a complicated neighborhood. In this context, to organize a cultural activity in which the string group of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra comes to perform Vivaldi or Handel is light years away from the knowledge that people may have. Our expectation was to reach two hundred and fifty people, maybe three hundred, and we reached almost five hundred people".
The parish of San Rafael is now in two kind of barracks or warehouses, united, where the chapel is, and two more rooms, one for Caritas and another multipurpose room, for catechesis and other activities for the parish of San Rafael. And many years ago, around fifty years ago, the idea of having our own parish for the neighborhood came up. This is what has been in the making, Lejarcegui adds.
When the dismantling of the Mental Hospital was completed, a part of the structure remained standing, which is where the headquarters of the Nou Barris district is located, and the chapel of the Mental Hospital, which was totally destroyed. The chapel, with a capacity for 80 or 90 people, has already been restored on the outside, and the entire interior is missing. Behind the chapel, in the esplanade that is being recovered from the mountain, the new temple will be built there.
Once the chapel has been restored, the goal is to make it a chapel of Perpetual Adoration in Barcelona. It has a neoclassical structure, very beautiful, the oldest of the whole neighborhood that is still standing. The truth is that there are few chapels of Perpetual Adoration in Barcelona, he says. For the first phase of the project the parish already has the funds, with contributions from the neighborhood, benefactors, etc. About half of the funds are missing, the second part.
Social action: Luke project, Nazareth, Simon, Lazarus...
"Since there are few priests, the diocese is grouping parishes," explains this volunteer, who has worked for many years as a salesman in different cities. "St. Matthew and St. Raphael parishes are grouped together, and they generated the Ginesta Associationwith the aim of bringing together the social action of care for families and people in the neighborhood in a single entity".
That is why there is the Lucas project, of which Lejarcegui is a volunteer, which is a project to support students, children, tutoring and follow-up classes, and also help for families, family support for parents and couples. There is also the Nazareth project, a food bank for needy families, evaluated with Caritas and the social services of the City Council.
Ginesta also has the Simon project for the formation of immigrants, and Lazaro, the newest one, for disabled children and their families, autistic, with Down's syndrome, etc. All of them are integrated with the Youth Center and other groups, and every Saturday at 8 o'clock, at the end of the activities, they have a Mass. "We are a family," says Iñaki, who is with Mn. Ferrán "for whatever he needs".
"Welcomed by the Lord".
When asked what lies behind his dedication as a volunteer, Iñaki Lejarcegui replies. "We are volunteers and nobody gets paid here, and I am talking about almost 425 people who make up the team of volunteers in the two parishes. The big word is that here you enter and you feel welcomed by the Lord. We do everything for the Lord. We are crazy, yes, as we are sometimes told, we are crazy for the Lord. That's our thing. And we have the support of the bishopric, of Cardinal Omella, of the auxiliary bishops, of everyone".
X National Eucharistic Congress concludes in the United States
The 10th National Eucharistic Congress in the United States ended by encouraging Catholics to live a "new Pentecost" and to be authentic Eucharistic missionaries.
On July 21, the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in the United States came to a close. After five days of activity in Indianapolis, the country's Catholics set out on their journey home in the hope that the Eucharistic Revival bring to the Church a "new Pentecost".
Those attending the National Eucharistic Congress were also able to attend impact sessions and massive adorations during the last three days. The theme of the third day was "In Gethsemane". As explained by the organizers of the event, the objective of focusing on the Passion of Christ was the purification and restoration of hearts.
Throughout the day, participants prayed the Rosary for America, attended Holy Mass, received impact sessions on the family or the apostolate and were able to attend an exhibit on the Shroud of Turin.
The Eucharistic Congress on the streets of Indianapolis
The theme for the fourth day was "This is my body". On the Congress website they indicated that, "taking the early Church as a model, this day will form the participants as disciples of Jesus Christ to live the Gospel in their love for God and neighbor".
A special highlight of this penultimate day was the opportunity for attendees to participate in a Mass with the liturgy of the Eastern Rite, officiated by Msgr. Joy Alappatt and Archbishop Borys Gudziak. In the afternoon, the sessions focused on topics such as Eucharistic theology, the social mission of the Catholic and digital evangelization.
In addition, social networks were filled with photos showing the great procession that went through Indianapolis. As part of the event, Christ crossed the streets of the U.S. city followed by thousands of people: young people, seminarians, lay people, the elderly and entire families.
The last procession of the Eucharistic Congress toured the city of Indianapolis (OSV News photo / Bob Roller).
A new Pentecost
The fifth day had as its theme "To the ends of the earth". The impact sessions focused on encouraging Catholics to be Eucharistic missionaries and organizers announced that they are preparing a new pilgrimage from Indianapolis to Los Angeles during the spring of 2025.
The National Eucharistic Congress concluded with a closing Mass presided over by the papal delegate, the Cardinal Tagle. During his homily, the Cardinal conveyed to those present the Pope's wish that the Congress would result in the conversion of Catholics to the Eucharist. By appreciating the treasure of the Body and Blood of Christ, the papal delegate affirmed, the faithful will truly be able to be evangelizers.
Once everything was over, the thousands of attendees returned home with the mission constantly repeated throughout the five days: Catholics are authentic missionaries, called to "joyfully proclaim the Gospel in every corner of our nation".
The next phase of the Eucharistic Revival is now beginning in the United States, the third year of this initiative, called the "Year of Mission," and the last of this project led by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The 60th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council is only a few months away. This great Council of the 20th century, the first truly universal one, has been a determining factor for the Church today and is a constant reference in the Magisterium of recent Popes.
Omnes discussed these issues with Cardinal Agostino Marchetto, considered one of the leading experts on the Second Vatican Council.
Agostino Marchetto, a native of Vicenza, was ordained a priest in 1964. At a very young age he entered the Vatican diplomatic career and worked in the representative offices of the Holy See in Zambia, Cuba, Algeria, Portugal and Mozambique.
He was nuncio in countries such as Madagascar and Mauritania, Tanzania o Belarus and, from 2001 to 2010, he was Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. He was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023.
How to explain the Second Vatican Council, especially to the youngest?
- When Pope John XXIII arrives at the See of Peter, he convenes a Council after the unsuccessful attempts made by the other popes, because they thought that the opportunity was not there or that the situation was not yet sufficiently mature. It is clear that he wanted a Council that could respond to the world what the Church is and at the same time what the Church can do for the world.
These were the two great fundamental questions posed by Paul VI: "Church, what do you say about yourself and what do you say to the world today?" in a changed world, a new world in which we find ourselves, with a crisis already present.
The situation was not entirely calm when Pope John XXIII convoked Vatican II. Paul VI also had the desire to respond to the evangelization and integral human promotion of today's world.
In addition, John XXIII had a great experience between East and West, he had the capacity and historical and conciliar formation, as well as the propensity and ability to convene and guide the Second Vatican Council, as long as he could because of his age.
You were young at the time.
- I was still in the seminary. I listened and perhaps I was also surprised by the courage of the Church in this new reality and this desire to face today's world, so I followed everything with great interest.
I am from Vicenza, and in the seminary we had a professor who, when he came from Rome, brought all the publications, especially in French, concerning the Council, and he was so kind that he left them for us to consult.
I confess that at that time, through the publications, I felt all this birth that was being lived for the good of the Church and the world and to be faithful to the message of evangelization.
The Second Vatican Council did not want to be dogmatic but pastoral, what does that mean?
-Let us take "calmly" this affirmation that "he did not want to be dogmatic but pastoral", since there is no pastoral if there is no dogmatic and doctrinal reality to support it, right? This is my thought.
Evidently those who say "we want something dogmatic and not pastoral" are forgetting what we see in the constitution of the Church. Let us see how much dogma there is there, in the sense of theological truth, of what is the tradition of the Church, the word of God and all the other realities that make up the mystery of the Church.
So we cannot make these distinctions as some do, because if we do, we make a division and we no longer find ourselves.
This is the big issue: we have to think of Vatican II as a basis of dogma, in the sense of tradition and of the harmonious development of the unity of the one subject Church, as I was saying Benedict XVIThe Pope's thought is the thought of all the conciliar popes, from Pope John XXIII to our Pope Francis.
A person who claims not to believe in the last popes, nor in the current pope, no longer belongs to the Church.
– It is clear, as you rightly say.
Does the same apply to those who do not believe in the Second Vatican Council?
- In fact, I think it is the same thing, now in this situation of the latest schismatic crisis we have recently faced, there are two difficulties in recognizing the catholicity of this archbishop, namely: first, that he does not accept the present Pope; second, that he does not even accept the Vatican Council II.
Therefore, if these two dimensions are not accepted, the person who expresses himself in this way - although always with the desire to help, to welcome, to walk together, to dialogue - if these two realities are not accepted, he places himself outside the Catholic Church.
It is not the Catholic Church that expels them - there may also be a tribunal, there may be a sentence, etc., and that is another matter - but he is the person who has put himself outside the Catholic Church.
So, can there be self-exclusion even if the Church does not make a pronouncement?
– This is perfectly applicable to a person who does not accept the Pope and when he does not accept the Second Vatican Council, because they are two elements that characterize the schism with respect to the Catholic Church.
In the case of Msgr. Carlo Maria Viganó It would seem that the excommunication occurred because there are followers who may believe that he is Catholic and so the Church makes it clear that he is not. But in reality would he have self-excluded himself much earlier?
- Excuse me, a Catholic bishop who is ordained by another bishop who is excluded from Catholic communion, do you think he can still be called a Catholic?
Beyond the Viganó case, there are people who question Vatican II. To what extent can it still be said that these people are Catholics?
– If you have the disposition for a real dialogue with the Catholic Church, we can still wait for you to find the possibility to clarify your position and understand the position of the Catholic Church. But if it is a matter of principle, you must clarify your things and find your position.
Could that person be said to be a Christian but not a Catholic?
- You make a distinction that seems normal to me. Although I would add that being Catholic today is an extraordinary way to help Christian unity.
Today, like the land of Asia to which St. Francis Xavier set sail, it is our land that is the land of mission.
July 22, 2024-Reading time: 4minutes
The ship to sail from Lisbon to the Indies was being prepared and the FranciscoThe restless heart, impatient divine, longed for this moment to arrive. Many at the Portuguese court wanted the young priests of this new order founded by the former soldier from Guipuzcoa to stay in Lisbon.
There was so much to do there! Surely it was much more important to renew the religious spirit in that city, which was the center of that great maritime empire, than to be lost on an island in who knows what sea.
Francis did not listen to these reasons. He knew he had a mission and did not want to delay fulfilling it. José María Pemán puts some verses in Francisco's mouth that express his spirit very well:
I am more a friend of the wind,
lady, that from the breeze...
And you have to do good quickly,
that evil wastes no time!
It is true. Evil never misses an opportunity. The children of darkness are shrewder than the children of light (cf. Lk 16:1) and we must do good quickly. It is not enough to fight evil, to be on the defensive. It is not enough to wait to be called to lend a hand. It is necessary to do good, to set ourselves in motion, to activate a militant and committed lifestyle.
I am sure that St. Francis Xavier would encourage us today to live this way and would give us a few keys to live as missionaries in the place in the world where God places us.
Feeling with the Church. The first interior attitude that we must cultivate is a unity of hearts with the Church, with the Pope, with our bishops. We must signify our love for the Church, even in the most difficult times. And we must be impeccable in this attitude. There is no mission without unity with the pastors. Francis himself went on mission as ambassador of the king of Portugal, but also as nuncio of the pope.
Ecumenical ecclesial visionThe same way St. Francis Xavier felt from the shores of Lisbon when he was about to embark on his mission. Without capillismswith ecclesial breadth, with a Catholic, universal outlook. We are not here to do our own work, but to serve the Church. A Church in which we all need each other. No one charism has everything. We all form a single body with charisms that enrich the rest.
At the forefrontWhatever expression we use, we know that our place is at the front. And each one of us knows what his place is. It is more a question of an attitude than a place. Capable of hearing the cry for help of those who live close to us. Always seeking new paths for the Gospel.
Discernment. More necessary than ever in a complex world, in constant change, which is losing references. Francis had to make every effort to listen to the new cultures that presented him with unsuspected challenges for evangelization. Today we listen to the Spirit, to follow the paths that we must begin to open in this new world.
Availability. Attitude of dedication, to serve where it is needed. Committed. Men of their word, who answer for what they have to do. Men who can be trusted. Almost nothing! Because without this unconditional commitment there is no mission.
Practical. The militant, the missionary, does not lose himself in reflections and speeches, but sets himself in motion. He does not put obstacles, he solves them. At the same time, he is aware of the urgent need for formation that provides the keys for action, that structures the mind and the heart.
No to the bourgeois spirit. The missionary knows how to live from a healthy inner tension that prevents him from being comfortable. He does not live from security, but from trust in God. He cultivates a spirit that nourishes a necessary hardiness and human and spiritual strength. Tiredness, fatigue and persecutions are an essential part of the life of every missionary.
Men of communion. In all the places where the missionary finds himself, he must create bonds, build bridges; within the Church and in society. Drawing closer to those who apparently are not our own, but who are our brothers and sisters, with whom we share our destiny in eternity. It will not be easy. We will not be understood many times. Communion demands a martyr's love.
Creativity and initiative. We are not snipers, but we must have a capacity for initiative with which to contribute to the joint mission. Initiative and docility, together. New times require new wineskins. St. Francis Xavier used all his ingenuity to reach out to everyone. From the poor pearl fishermen besieged by the terrible badagasto the emperor of Japan. To each one he knew how to speak to the heart in a completely different way.
Praying rearguard. We live by prayer. Our action is born from it. We rely on the contemplative life. And we ourselves know that we have to cultivate the life of prayer as the best lever to move hearts and to anchor ours in the Lord.
The ship that will take Francisco to the Indies, bordering Africa, is approaching. He does not know it, but this voyage will take thirteen months, including one that will have to be stopped for lack of wind. But there is no fear in his eyes, but an expectant illusion and a strong desire to leave now.
A last memory of his heart flies to his Navarrese lands, to the haughty tower of the castle whipped by the wind. And as the ship sails away and the coastline blurs, a smile is drawn on Javier's lips, echoing that of the Romanesque Christ before whom he prayed so many times as a child.
We stay in the harbor, in old Europe, watching the ship sail away. We know that our land is also mission land.
Holy Mary, be worthy of me! -Mother, take care of all of us who have felt this call and have embarked on the mission of your Son; protect us in the stormy waters that will endanger our lives; give us the breath of the Spirit for our sails when we seem to stop and run out of strength to continue; show that you are our mother and that you are always near us, taking care of us.
We are yours, Saint Mary's, for a reason. And we are at the service of Jesus Christ, eternal king and universal lord.
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.
At the Angelus on the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Pope encouraged us to make compatible "rest in the spirit in the midst of daily activities" and the compassion for others of Jesus. He also called for a truce of peace in wars, on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Paris that will take place from July 26 to August 11.
Francisco Otamendi-July 21, 2024-Reading time: 2minutes
In the gospel of this Sunday, July 21, St. Mark relates that the apostles tell Jesus what they had done and taught, and the Lord says to them: "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while. Then, when they disembarked, "Jesus saw a crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things".
In commenting on this Gospel, before the recitation of the Marian prayer for the AngelusIn St. Peter's Square, the Pope said that he speaks of "two things: rest and compassion. And the two are linked. Only if we learn to rest can we have compassion.
On a very hot Sunday in Rome, where many families were present among the Romans and pilgrims, the Pontiff warned about "haste" and the "dictatorship of doing", in a society dominated by the desire for results, we become agitated, and we lose sight of "the essential" with a tiredness of body and spirit. Pope Francis emphasized that Jesus showed his concern for the weariness of his disciples: "Perhaps he is sensing a danger that can also affect our life and our apostolate".
As an example, he mentioned the "enthusiasm in carrying out the mission, or work, as well as the role and tasks entrusted to us", which "make us victims of activism". Faced with a "society that is often a prisoner of haste, but also for the Church and for pastoral service: let us be attentive to the dictatorship of doing!" the Pope reiterated.
Finding time for family love
In the family sphere, so many times the father leaves the house when the children are asleep, and returns when they are already in bed at night. "It is a social injustice" that this happens, Francis pointed out. "It is necessary to find time for the children and for family love".
In conclusion, the Pope asked whether we know how to find moments for ourselves and for the Lord, or whether we are in a hurry. And he referred to the inner desert that we must find in the midst of the noise, and to "rest in the midst of daily activities". "May the Holy Virgin help us to "rest in the Spirit" also in the midst of all our daily activities, and to be available and compassionate towards others," the Holy Father prayed.
"Athletes, messengers of peace."
After praying the Angelus, the Pope pointed out that sport has a great "social force" and asked that we "pray for peace" and also for an "Olympic truce" for peace, on the occasion of the upcoming Paris Olympics, in the face of so many wars such as those in the martyred Ukraine, Palestine and Israel, Myanmar, etc. Let the athletes be "messengers of peace", he encouraged, recalling the Message sent to the Metropolitan Archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, in which he pointed out that the Games are "by their very nature, bearers of peace, not war".
The Olympic Games are an occasion to "overcome differences and opposition" and to "strengthen the unity of the nation"; an occasion "to break down prejudices, to promote esteem where there is contempt and mistrust, and friendship where there is hatred," the Pontiff said. "May God have mercy on us," he wrote in the message to Archbishop Ulrich. "May he enlighten the consciences of the rulers about the grave responsibilities incumbent upon them, may he grant the peacemakers success in their efforts and may he bless them."
Central Asia, with its rich history and cultural diversity, has witnessed the presence of various religions over the centuries, having suffered most especially from the USSR's Marxist persecution of all forms of public worship of any religion.
July 21, 2024-Reading time: 4minutes
I have published several reviews on my professional stays in two Central Asian countries, in legal seminars organized by the European Union, within the program LEICA (Law Enforcement In Central Asia) that took place last January and April 2024. This publication is not of a professional nature, but its purpose is to relate my experience in a very important aspect of my life.
Central Asia, with its rich history and cultural diversity, has witnessed the presence of various religions throughout the centuries, having suffered especially the Marxist persecution of the USSR to all forms of public worship of any religion during the decades in which these peoples and the five nations that make up this region (which are known in Spain as the "tanes" republics because of the ending in "tan" of their names, which have gone unnoticed for us) have lived under the Soviet regime.
In this article I narrate my personal experience with the people of these countries, from whom I highlight their correctness, education and availability "to help you in whatever you needed", something that happened to me every so often, because in addition to the difficulty of the language -I only understood them in the farewells, when they knew I was Spanish, they would say 'Barsa" or 'Hala Madrid' - I was also "lost and disconnected", without wifi and without data (so the cell phone was only useful to check the time and take pictures) and, specifically, my experiences in the cities of Almaty (Almaty) and Almaty (Almaty).Kazakhstan), Tashkent and Samarkand (Uzbekistan), where the Christian community - to which I will now refer - has left a significant mark, which today remains, with its restrictions and limitations, very present.
Kazakhstan
In Almaty, the largest city of Kazakhstan, in addition to the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (the same name as the Archdiocese created by Pope St. John Paul II), there is also the Bishop's Chapel, José Luis Mumbiela (born in Monzón, Huesca), president of the Episcopate of Central Asia, who has dedicated his life to priestly service, first in a parish in Lleida and now in this region.
To be able to attend the Eucharist, taking communion in both species, and other acts of worship in that chapel was a luxury, especially because I coincided with the First Communion of a young Kazakh and I could see the sincere exteriorization of a community of people, many of them converts from Islam. I was impressed by the story of Polish origin, after the Stalinist deportation, of Our Lady of Peace (Virgin of Ozornoye, patroness of Kazakhstan) who appears in a painting in which she and the Child Jesus are seen, both with Kazakh features, to whom the miracle of the fish in a frozen lake is attributed.
Also in Almaty, in the house АЛЛМАРАСАН (Almarasan), a center of Opus Dei that serves as a place of residence, study and meeting for many young Kazakhs in that city, I also had the great privilege of attending the celebration of the Eucharist and participating in friendly gatherings with Spaniards and Hispanic Americans who work and live there. I felt very much cared for and I lived those days feeling the strength of the prayers of so many people for the healing of my nephew Juan who was very seriously ill due to a compartment syndrome and sepsis in one leg, all this derived from the fracture of the tibia and the rupture of an artery that he suffered during a soccer match in Asturias.
I thank God for these "communion of saints" and Santi de Lasala and Nico Zambrana who helped me so much and accompanied me during those days of the past harsh winter (at least for those of Mediterranean climate) with temperatures below zero.
Uzbekistan
In Uzbekistan, a land at the crossroads of cultures, the Catholic community is also present. In its capital, Tashkent, there is the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart and the convent house of the Missionaries of Charity of St. Teresa of Calcutta, dedicated to the poor and most needy, who celebrate the Eucharist every day at an early hour, allowing the rest of the day to be used for professional activities with the European and Asian colleagues who were summoned there.
Going to the monastery-residence of Mother Teresa's nuns means, first, to go into the suburbs of the city and, after passing the door of the street, to find an oasis of peace, love and prayer. It is a pleasure to see them all in their white and blue sari and to feel the grace of God in their prayers and their presence. It was providential that on the first day I met Valodia ("recommended" by Santi from Almaty), with his wife and son, who took such good care of me and who are so well known and dear to the women. sisters. I will never forget how attentive they all were to that Westerner with dark features who, without warning, showed up at Mass and with whom they shared many moments of community prayer. Sister Maria Kolbe, of Polish origin, was the means that the Lord gave me to feel so sheltered?
Next to Valodia in the convent-house of the Missionaries of Charity in Tashkent
Having finished the work in Tashkent, after the closing and farewell to the authorities, attendees, organizers and the faithful English-Spanish-Russian translator, I traveled on my "free day" by train to Samarkand, a historic city known for its Islamic architecture, capital of the Silk Road and astrological science in the time of Tamorlan. I will never forget a couple of tourists from southern Russia who told me they were Muslims and were going to visit the impressive mosques of this city, with whom I shared the carriage and who helped me so much, even taking me in "their little Yandex" (cab via internet application), cramped and with all the suitcases on the seats (there, where three fit, four fit), to the hotel. In Samarkand is the Church of St. John the Baptist, attended by Fathers Ariel and Paul, born in Argentina (which is clear from the image of Our Lady of Lujan inside the church and in the home) who invited me to a delicious snack with dulce de leche, along with Cati, a young Uzbek girl who was being initiated into Christianity. Despite being a minority in a predominantly Muslim country, Catholics in Samarkand maintain their faith and the temple where the Sacraments are administered.
I thank God for the wonderful experiences he has given me in meeting with such wonderful people and with brothers and sisters in the Faith in such different and distant places, where God is the same Love all over the world. I had to tell about it.
Pablo Blanco: "The best of Joseph Ratzinger's theology is yet to come".
On November 30, 2023, Pablo Blanco Sarto received the Ratzinger Theology Prize from Cardinal Pietro Parolin. As he shows in this interview, he is convinced that the legacy of Joseph Ratzinger is not only current in the Church, but is key to understanding it.
Pablo Blanco Sarto received the Ratzinger Prize for Theology from Cardinal Pietro Parolin on November 30, 2023. In this interview with Omnes he talks about the figure and, above all, the legacy of Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI, whose work and thought, as he himself says, we do not yet know the full extent of his work and thought.
How did you receive the news of the Ratzinger Theology Prize 2023?
- Naturally, with joy and gratitude. Joy because to receive an award named after someone to whom I have dedicated part of my studies is an honor. Ratzinger is possibly one of the best theologians of the turn of the millennium. To have his name next to mine is a great good fortune.
And gratitude because it is a recognition of my work, also with a certain sense of relief, because it means that I was not so far off track when I interpreted Joseph Ratzinger's thought.
On December 31, 2022, Benedict XVI left us. How has Pope Ratzinger's pontificate marked the Church? What are, in your opinion, the key points to understand this pontificate and his historic resignation?
- It was a brief but intense pontificate. He left us a luminous magisterium with his three (and a half) encyclicals, his catecheses on the history of the Church and his inspired homilies.
He continued with the clean-up operation that John Paul II had already begun in the sexual abuse cases, and extended it to the economic and financial sphere.
Finally, he left the gesture of renunciation, which is an example that still gives us food for thought. It is a practical teaching on the way of exercising ministry in the Church, which is very useful for us to remember at this time.
You are part of the editing team for Joseph Ratzinger's Opera Omnia. Is there much more to know about the Bavarian Pope's works?
- In German they are finishing volume 15, the last one, although they will later add an appendix with recovered texts. After the Polish, the Spanish translation is the fastest. But it is certain that this compilation, directed by the Pope Emeritus himself, is only the beginning. Interest in Ratzinger's thought is growing every day, especially among younger students. This suggests that Ratzinger's best is yet to come: he is not only a great theologian of the past, but a promise for the future.
In his speeches to La Sapienza (2008) and Regensburg - both controversial - the Pope speaks with particular clarity about faith and reason. What do you think are Joseph Ratzinger's main contributions in this regard?
- Yes, now Ediciones Rialp has published these texts with commentaries by Catholic, Protestant and Muslim authors on the Regensburg speech. The echo it has had in the intellectual world is impressive. In the case of the speech not delivered at La Sapienza, it has been less studied, but it contains some truly revolutionary ideas, such as when he presents philosophy and theology as "twin sisters".
I think that this year's Ratzinger Prize, awarded to a theologian and a philosopher, both with studies in both fields, is an exemplification of this very Ratzingerian idea.
Ratzinger himself acknowledged that he never stopped being a university professor. How did Ratzinger understand university teaching and teaching and research work? Do you think that this teaching vocation was transferred to his task as pastor of the Church?
- Yes, Ratzinger has been both a professor and a pastor: as a professor he always took into account this pastoral, practical dimension of theology; as a pastor, he always focused on the doctrinal, intellectual dimension of the teachings that the Church imparts. It might seem that his dedication to pastoral tasks prevented him from developing a more extensive theology, and in a certain sense this is true. But this weakness also became in him a strength. His theology is not enclosed in an ivory tower, but is open to the pastoral and missionary needs of the whole Church.
George Weigel has even stated that Joseph Ratzinger should be named Doctor of the Church, do you agree with this statement?
- He would first have to be canonized, but his teachings are clearly arousing more and more interest for their beauty and depth. For both. That is why I like to see Ratzinger's thought projected into the future. What comes next does not logically depend on my forecasts. God will tell.
Beatriz Fra: "We want to win back the souls of young people for Christ".
Beatriz Fra was one of the presenters of the Eucharistic Marian Youth Day, an initiative that aims to bring young people closer to God by relying on the two pillars of the Church: the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary.
From July 5 to 7, hundreds of young people came to Covadonga to celebrate the Eucharistic Marian Youth DayThe "On the Move" association's initiative aims to remind Catholics of the importance of the Eucharist.
With the motto "Lift up your hearts", as explained on their website, the organizers of the day hope that this project will serve to "revive and strengthen the faith of young people in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, hand in hand with Mary".
To learn more about what happened during those days in Covadonga, Omnes interviewed Beatriz Fra, in charge of the diffusion and presenter, together with her husband, of the Eucharistic Marian Youth Day.
Why did you think it was important to hold such a youth-oriented event?
- It all comes from a survey that was conducted in the United States. Many of the young people who belong to the association "On the Move" see the Eucharist as a charism that we have, we have had a personal encounter with the Lord in the Eucharist and we have realized how important it is. At the same time, we have realized that in this world there is a direct attack on the Lord Eucharist, even within the Church, where it is often not treated with sufficient respect.
Going back to the beginning, a few years ago a survey came out in the United States showing that 70 % of Catholics do not believe in the real presence of Christ in the Church. Eucharistbut live it as something symbolic. This news in the United States is very alarming and the Episcopal Conference responded with different initiatives to solve it.
We also wanted to do something. From there, the idea was born to take young people to a formation, experience and community meeting to show what the Eucharist means. At that moment the association "En marcha" was born.
We have focused it on young people partly because many of the association's volunteers are young people and because we understand that, as John Paul II said, they are the hope of the Church.
What is the connection between the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary?
- For us there is a connection between the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary because we are 100 % Catholics. We Catholics have those two pillars. St. John Bosco had a dream in which he observed that the boat of the Church is sustained in the face of the tribulations of the world only if it is supported by the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary. We realize that being Catholic is a richness precisely because we have such specific things as the gift that the Lord has given to his Church with the Eucharist and with our Mother.
Our Lady has acted many times in our lives as a Mother who brings us closer to her Son, who explains to us the mysteries that perhaps in a rational way we do not understand, but that through prayer with Our Lady we are able to understand better.
A Catholic cannot live without the sacraments, but neither can he live without the presence of the Virgin Mary in his daily life. We want young people to be able to take advantage of these two unique gifts of our Catholic faith.
Why was Covadonga chosen precisely for the Eucharistic Marian Youth Marian Day?
Attendees (JEMJ)
- We wanted it to be both a Eucharistic and a Marian day, so we looked for a place with the presence of the Virgin Mary, also because a special grace is experienced there. Since the day took place in Covadonga, the event took on a tinge of reconquest of souls. The motto of the day was "Lift up your hearts" and what we wanted was that, drinking from our own history, the young people would realize what a treasure we have. Let them know that we have to fight to live it personally, but we also have to fight so that other young people can share it.
Just as many centuries ago in Covadonga Don Pelayo, under the protection of our Mother, had the strength to reconquer Catholic Spain, we too want to reconquer the souls of young people for Christ.
Terms such as "reconquest", "don Pelayo" and "struggle" are quickly politicized, especially in social networks. How can we avoid falling into this game of ideologies and politics?
- If you have clear ideas and put the Lord at the center, you achieve balance. We must give importance to what is really important. We have not wanted to enter into ideological or political issues. Of course, we love our country and we are proud of it, but we have not entered into the game of political acronyms and we are not going to do it. Our battle is different.
With great simplicity and tranquility we know what we want, the rest does not matter to us. We do not do things to have human fruits, we do it for love of the Lord and the Church.
Priests were available to administer the sacrament of Confession even throughout the night. Why is this sacrament so necessary?
- It was clear to us that there is a battle against sin and, thanks be to God, we are not alone, we are within the Church. The Lord has left us wonderful weapons, such as the sacrament of Confession.
For us, Eucharist and Reconciliation are two sacraments that go hand in hand. In fact, in a meeting of volunteers a few days before the beginning of the Marian Eucharistic Youth Day, the volunteers were asked to freely go to the sacrament of Confession to be in a state of grace.
None of this would have been possible without the priests who were completely available. There was a priest who told us that you could tell that the Lord had poured Himself out by the number of confessions. Christ touched the hearts of many young people who came to be reconciled with Him.
The young people were able to attend workshops with various experts on topics such as the Eucharist, culture and the persecuted Church. What were the criteria for choosing these topics and the speakers?
- We wanted the young people to be able to be trained in a dynamic way, and that is the origin of the Eucharistic workshops.
The role of persecuted Christians was very central, because we felt it was important for young people to know the testimonies of our brothers and sisters in faith who are giving their lives.
Enriching and fun workshops were also held in close collaboration with associations such as "Valiván" or the Hogar de la Madre.
The young people during one of the prepared sessions (JEMJ)
What fruits have you observed in the young people after the Eucharistic Marian Youth Day?
- We are impressed. It was the first day and the first fruit that I see is in my husband and me. The heart rested in a healthy environment, where the Lord was at the center. What we experienced there, the joy on the faces of the people, the willingness and dedication of the volunteers... It was impressive.
Eucharistic Adoration during the Eucharistic Marian Youth Day (JEMJ)
Next year, the Day will be held again, are you confident that it will be a long-term project that will become a tradition?
- We are constantly in the hands of the Holy Spirit. Seeing the fruit of this first Day, we think it would be good to continue with the initiative. From now on we are in the hands of the Lord, the only thing we do is to work for Him and for His Church.
What is needed in the formation of children and young people so that they do not doubt the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist?
- In the end it is a grace of God, but we have to put the young people "in range". We must give young people what they need, without watering down their formation. The heart of the young person is made for the Truth and for great things.
God is alive, there is no need to put words in His mouth, He speaks directly to the young man and He is in love with him and wants to talk to him. Therefore, when one really shows the greatness of God as he is, God pours himself out.
The Catholic Church took up the tradition of the Jewish people in which, every 50 years, the Jubilee was a year designed to help reestablish better relationships with God and with others.
During this time, debts were forgiven, slaves were freed and land was returned to its owners.
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Luis Alberto RosalesCARF's work goes ahead because there are three saints who are very committed to it".
