Pope entrusts peace in Africa, Ukraine and the world to St. Mary, Queen of Peace

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Pope entrusts peace in Africa, Ukraine and the world to St. Mary, Queen of Peace

In his last words in South Sudan, those of the Angelus, at the end of the Holy Mass with more than one hundred thousand faithful at the John Garang Mausoleum, Pope Francis entrusted "the cause of peace" in South Sudan, in Africa, and in the many countries at war, "such as the martyred Ukraine", "to our tender Mother Mary, the Queen of Peace", with a message of hope.

Francisco Otamendi / Paloma López Campos-February 5, 2023-Reading time: 5 minutes

In his homily at the Mass, following the readings of this Sunday, the Holy Father wished the faithful "to be salt that spreads and dissolves generously to give flavor to South Sudan with the fraternal taste of the Gospel; to be luminous Christian communities that, like cities set on high, radiate a light of good to all and show that it is beautiful and possible to live gratuitously, to have hope, to build together a reconciled future".

"In the name of Jesus, of his Beatitudes," he added with solemn expression, "let us lay down the weapons of hatred and revenge to wield prayer and charity; let us overcome the antipathies and aversions that, over time, have become chronic and threaten to set tribes and ethnic groups against each other; let us learn to put on wounds the salt of forgiveness, which burns, but heals."

"And even if our hearts bleed because of the blows we have received, let us renounce once and for all to respond to evil with evil, and we will feel good inside; let us accept and love each other with sincerity and generosity, as God does with us. Let us take care of the good we have, let us not allow ourselves to be corrupted by evil", he strongly encouraged.

"Salt of the earth, a decisive contribution".

The Pontiff expressed his gratitude to the South Sudanese Christians, and warned them of the danger of seeing themselves as little and of being too weak.

"Today I would like to thank you for being salt of the earth in this country," he said. "However, in the face of so many wounds, of the violence that feeds the poison of hatred, of the iniquity that causes misery and poverty, it might seem to you that you are small and powerless. But, when you are tempted to feel insufficient, try looking at salt and its tiny grains; it is a small ingredient and, once put in a dish, it disappears, it dissolves, but that is precisely how it gives flavor to the whole content."

"In the same way, we Christians, even if we are fragile and small, even if our strength seems small in the face of the magnitude of the problems and the blind fury of violence, can make a decisive contribution to changing history," the Pope added.

"Jesus wants us to do it like salt: a pinch that dissolves is enough to give a different flavor to the whole. So we cannot back out, because without that little, without our little, everything loses its taste. Let us begin precisely with the little, with the essential, with that which does not appear in the history books, but changes history".

"Light of the world: let us burn with love."

Regarding Jesus' expression 'you are the light of the world', Pope Francis stressed that the Lord gives the strength for this.

"Brothers and sisters, Jesus' invitation to be the light of the world is clear. We, who are his disciples, are called to shine like a city set on high, like a lampstand whose flame must never go out," the Pope said. "In other words, before worrying about the darkness that surrounds us, before waiting for something around us to become clear, we are required to shine, to illuminate, with our life and with our works, the city, the villages and the places where we live, the people we deal with, the activities we carry out."

"The Lord gives us the strength for this, the strength to be light in Him, for everyone; because everyone must be able to see our good works and, seeing them," Jesus reminds us, "they will be open with wonder to God and will give Him glory (cf. v. 16). If we live as sons and brothers on earth, people will discover that they have a Father in heaven," the Holy Father recalled.

"We, therefore, are asked to burn with love. Let not our light be extinguished, let not the oxygen of charity disappear from our lives, let not the works of evil take away pure air from our witness. This land, so beautiful and martyred, needs the light that each one of you has, or better, the light that each one of you has," he said in his homily to the crowd of faithful gathered.

The hope of St. Josephine Bakhita

Upon his arrival at the mausoleum, Pope Francis had been able to take a few laps in the popemobile to greet the pilgrims more closely, along with Msgr. Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, Archbishop of Juba, capital of the country.

At the conclusion of the Eucharistic Celebration, the Pope addressed the faithful to express his "gratitude for the welcome received and for all the work you have done to prepare for this visit, which was a fraternal visit of three. I thank all of you, brothers and sisters, who have come in great numbers from different places, spending many hours - even days - on the road. In addition to the affection you have shown me, I thank you for your faith, your patience, all the good you do and all the fatigue you offer to God without getting discouraged, in order to keep going forward".

The Holy Father's final message, following the Angelus, was one of hope. saint Josephine Bakhitaciting Benedict XVIand then in the Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace.

"In South Sudan there is a courageous Church, related to that of Sudan, as the Archbishop reminded us, who mentioned the figure of St. Josephine Bakhita, a great woman who, with the grace of God, transformed her suffering into hope," the Pope said. "'The hope that had been born in her and had "redeemed" her could not be kept for herself alone; this hope had to reach many, to reach everyone,' wrote Benedict XVI (Encyclical Letter, "The Hope that was born in her"). Spe Salvi, 3).

"Hope is the word I would like to leave with each of you, as a gift to share, as a seed that bears fruit. As the figure of St. Josephine reminds us, hope, especially here, is found in the sign of the woman and for this I would like to thank and bless in a special way all the women of the country".

"To hope I would like to associate another word. It has been the word that has accompanied us these days: peace. With my brothers Justin and Iain, whom I thank from the bottom of my heart, we have come here and we will continue to accompany your steps, the three of us together, doing everything possible to make them steps of peace, steps towards peace.

"May hope and peace dwell in you."

The Roman Pontiff then referred to the Virgin Mary, and entrusted the cause of peace to her. "I would like to entrust this journey of all the people with the three of us, this journey of reconciliation and peace to another woman. I am referring to our tender Mother Mary, the Queen of Peace. She accompanied us with her solicitous and silent presence".

"To her, to whom we now pray, we entrust the cause of peace in South Sudan and on the entire African continent. To Our Lady we also entrust peace in the world, in particular the many countries at war, such as the martyred Ukraine."

"Dear brothers and sisters, we return, each one of us three to our headquarters, carrying them even more present in our hearts. I repeat, they are in our hearts, they are in our hearts, they are in the hearts of Christians all over the world!".

"Never lose hope. And do not miss the opportunity to build peace. May hope and peace dwell in you. May hope and peace dwell in South Sudan."

This is how Pope Francis concluded his words, before giving the final blessing, and heading to Juba international airport for the flight back to Rome, in a visit days that had begun at the Democratic Republic of the Congo with numerous meetingssuch as the one that took place with victims of violence.

In the hearts of the South Sudanese people and the world, the reception of the president of the Republic, Salva Kiir Mayardit and the other authorities, the historical ecumenical prayer with the Archbishop of Canterbury and Anglican Primate, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, Presbyterian pastor Iain Greenshields; his meetings with refugees and displaced persons, and with the bishopsand consecrated persons in the country; or their calls to prayer and to follow the example of Jesus, Prince of the Paz.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi / Paloma López Campos

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Ramiro Pellitero: "Pastoral Theology, evangelizing vanguard".

"Christian life is the most fascinating adventure that anyone can set out on. And "the current priority of the new evangelization" places Pastoral Theology at "the forefront of theological and educational work," theologian Ramiro Pellitero, who recently published his manual ‘Pastoral Theology. The evangelizing mission of the Church'.

Francisco Otamendi-February 5, 2023-Reading time: 6 minutes

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"Today it is necessary for the evangelizing dimension of theology to take a 'step forward', to help in a more effective, more extensive and intense way, to a more fruitful dialogue between faith and reason, faith and cultures, faith and science. This is also advisable at the catechetical level, from Christian initiation, because no one loves what he does not know," the professor said. Ramiro Pellitero Iglesiaswho teaches at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarra For more than thirty years, more or less the same subjects as now: Pastoral Theology and Ecclesiology above all.

Previously, Ramiro Pellitero had a degree in Medicine from the University of Santiago de Compostela.

In 1988 he was ordained a priest at the shrine of Torreciudad. In the last 12 years he has collaborated from the university in the formation of religion teachers in schools, in Spain and in countries of America (especially Latin America) and Europe.

Now, as a result of the courses he has been giving on this subject, and more briefly and occasionally in various countries around the world, Professor Pellitero has published 'Pastoral Theology. La misión evangelizadora de la Iglesia' (Pastoral Theology. The Evangelizing Mission of the Church), in Eunsa.

Could you refer to the message, the central idea that you wish to transmit with your book on the evangelizing mission of the Church?

- Above all, the message is that evangelization (taking the Gospel message everywhere and with all the consequences) is the task of every Christian, each one with his or her own gifts, ministries and charisms.

This means trying to live this message personally, and within the framework of the Church as the family that God has willed in the world, through the incarnation of his Son Jesus Christ and the sending of the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, it is a book of theology. And theology is faith (lived) that seeks to understand itself and communicate itself. The current priority of the new evangelization, in this change of epoch, puts this subject (Pastoral Theology) at the forefront of theological and educational work.

To understand evangelization in order to carry it out with authenticity and to think about faith and its consequences from evangelization itself is something that corresponds to every theologian and to all theological disciplines. And at the same time it is convenient that there is a subject that emphasizes this dimension, especially today.

Almost inevitably, its title reminds us of three things: 1) the final command of Jesus Christ: go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel...; 2) Pope Francis' encouragement to be missionary disciples; and 3) his first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii gaudiumwhere he refers to the missionary transformation of the Church...

- Indeed, these three points point to interesting aspects of the evangelizing mission.

First, the missionary mandate of the Lord, which is for every Christian and for the Church as a whole, we could say, in unity and diversity.

Second, the current pontificate invites us to take seriously the universal call to holiness and apostolate proclaimed by the Second Vatican Council, so that all Christians are called, in the terminology of the Aparecida Document (2007), to be missionary disciples.

Third, along the same lines, the call for a missionary transformation of the Church, as a consequence and as a means for the implementation of the last Council.

A transformation - to which Francis' programmatic exhortation Evangelii gaudium (2013) refers - that needs to be carried out with the discernment appropriate to each issue.

Is mission the same as evangelization? What exactly are we sent to do?

- The mission, as the word says (from mittereIn the Church, this great mission, unique and total, is diversified into several tasks: a missionary task in the strict sense (directed above all to non-Christians and non-believers); a task that the Council called "pastoral", which is carried out with and among the Catholic faithful; and a third task aimed at fostering Christian unity (ecumenism).

Evangelization, which today we understand in a broader sense (all that the Church and Christians do to spread the message of the Gospel through our lives) is the implementation, "in action", of the mission.

In short, every Christian is sent to make his or her life a proclamation and witness to the faith, above all where he or she is, counting on God's abundant help and within the framework of the ecclesial family. In addition, he can receive gifts (charisms) to collaborate with others in various tasks or services, within the great evangelizing mission.

The book underlines the evangelizing dimension of Theology, which it has from its very origin. Can you comment on it? What does it add that we say not only Theology, but Pastoral Theology?

- I have already referred to the evangelizing dimension of Theology, which, besides being a science, has an aspect of wisdom for life, since the message of the Gospel leads to a more fully human life, which opens up to eternal life after death. Theology has always done all this.

But today it is necessary for this evangelizing dimension of theology to take "a step forward", to help in a more effective, extensive and intense way, a more fruitful dialogue between faith and reason, faith and cultures, faith and science. This is also desirable at the catechetical level, beginning with Christian initiation, because no one loves what he does not know.

And also because the Christian life is the most fascinating adventure that anyone can propose. Not as an idealized utopia, but as a realistic horizon, which must rely above all on the light and the vital and transforming power of faith.

It must also take into account our limitations, those of each and everyone. That is why theology, in any of its disciplines (systematic, moral, pastoral, historical, biblical) must approach all people with the light of truth and love.

Pastoral Theology, as I pointed out before, is the science that represents and underlines that apostolic evangelizing dimension. It studies the evangelizing mission from its spatio-temporal coordinates, in the "here and now".

It teaches a method (which has to do with discernment) to think theologically about what we do; be it personal apostolic dialogue, preaching and education in the faith, be it liturgical celebrations, be it the help we give to Christian life, in personal or collective means of formation, as well as the accompaniment of families and vocations, and especially of the sick and the most needy in society; without forgetting the social and ecological dimensions of the Christian message.

While moral theology approaches all this from the perspective of the person of the Christian, pastoral theology looks at it from the perspective of the evangelizing action of the Church; but the Church is not only the hierarchy, we are all Christians.

You raise in some chapter the challenges of the new evangelization, since the new evangelization requires a strong missionary inspiration, you write. Tell us a little about these challenges.

- The challenges of the new evangelization derive from our socio-cultural situation: a change of epoch, with great and rapid advances in the scientific and technological fields and at the same time diverse crises of anthropological roots.

From the Christian and ecclesial point of view, as St. John Paul II clearly saw, this requires, in evangelization, a renewal of ardor, methods and expressions. This is not something radically new, because we have always found ways of inculturating the Christian message in dialogue with cultures.

In any case, today it is necessary, for example, to improve the quality of faith education at all levels, in coherence with one's own life and in connection with the many needs we see around us.

Moreover, today, many lay people (Christians who seek holiness in the midst of their work and families, their cultural and social life, etc.) are more aware than those of previous centuries of their responsibility in the Church and in the world.

A responsibility that is manifested personally or as part of groups, movements or other ecclesial realities, in addition to other collaborations that can be carried out as catechists or in other intra-ecclesial tasks.

They feel that evangelization is not something in which they collaborate from time to time, but a mission that they feel as their own, by the mere fact of being baptized, and that they carry out in a different way from sacred ministers or members of religious life; but all carry it out in complementarity.

The Pope, in his recent constitution 'Praedicate Evangelium'. What does this decision mean, in your opinion? Your book is also situated in this nuclear Christian theme.

- As he has explained on several occasions, the prevailing role of the Dicastery for Evangelization corresponds to the impulse Francis wishes to give to the new evangelization. This is in clear continuity with the orientations of the Second Vatican Council and previous pontificates, in an incisive and comprehensive way. In my book, the new evangelization is a red thread that runs through all the chapters.

Any other questions you would like to comment on?

- It should be clarified that the word "pastoral" was used for many centuries almost exclusively in relation to bishops and priests. Since the Second Vatican Council, and increasingly so, it has been used to express the evangelizing mission of the Church in general. Christ is the Good Shepherd (cf. Jn. ch. 10) and every Christian has, in various ways, the care of others. At the same time, in the Church there have always been and will always be shepherds in the hierarchical sense. Moreover, any change in terminology - especially if it affects a mentality that has developed over centuries - involves certain risks.

In this case, some may still think that "pastoral theology" is something only for clerics, but this is not so, even if they, the clerics, have their own way and tasks in the mission of all. That is why sometimes this theological discipline can be called in other ways: Theology of mission, of evangelization or of ecclesial action, etc. All of them are legitimate if one is aware of what one is dealing with.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Vives, Moro and Catalina of Aragón

The prestige of Vives made Erasmus introduce the Spaniard to Thomas More. An episode that would link the figure of Vives to the vicissitudes of the chancellor of England and Catherine of Aragon.

Santiago Leyra Curiá-February 5, 2023-Reading time: 9 minutes

Thomas More had visited Bruges in 1515 as a member of a trade mission and, in 1517, with the same task, he was in Flanders. In March 1520, More read the book by Vives Declamationes Syllanaemoved by the latter's introduction, written by Erasmus. In May of the same year Moro wrote to Erasmus about Vives:

He is already famous as a teacher of Latin and Greek, for Vives is excellent in both languages... Who teaches better, more effectively and more charmingly than he? Erasmus replied to More: I am pleased to see that your opinion of Vives coincides with mine. Vives is one of those who will eclipse the name of Erasmus...I appreciate you the more precisely because he likes you too. Vives is a powerful philosophical mind.

Another significant piece of writing by Vives during these years is his Aedes legum (1520), an eloquent testimony of his concern for the Philosophy of Law.

In the summer of 1520 Erasmus arrived in Bruges with Charles V's entourage and Thomas More was also there, as a member of Henry VIII's royal council, when an alliance with Charles V against Francis I of France was being prepared. It was then that Erasmus introduced Thomas More to Juan Luis Vives. Erasmus was preparing an edition of the works of St. Augustine and had asked Vives to revise the text and write the commentaries to the Civitas Deiof St. Augustine. Vives began in January 1521 the work with a great variety of codices, plagued with deletions, additions and changes, and indicated in many passages the most truthful version. In these CommentsVives surpassed all those who had gone before him and, in spite of his fatigue, had the satisfaction "of consecrating something of his studies to St. Augustine and indirectly to Christ".

In a eulogy that Moro would make to those comments, Moro's attunement with Vives is revealed: it is as if a common star wanted to unite our souls by means of a secret power".

After the death of De Croy in 1521, Vives sought the help of More to obtain the patronage of Queen Catherine and, in July of that year, Vives informed Erasmus that he had been taken under the protection of the Queen Consort of England.

In 1522 Vives, invited by the University of Alcalá to take the chair of Humanities, vacant after the death of Nebrija, did not accept. On October 12, 1522 he addressed a letter to Pope Adrian VI, to which this significant title is given: De Europae statu ac tumultibus. In it Vives expresses his concern for peace and his awareness of the historical reality of Europe.

In January 1523, Vives wrote to his friend Cranevelt: "It seems that my father is involved in a fierce trial involving our family property; I have three sisters, now orphaned and destitute... I am more and more worried with such news... I do not know whether it is wiser to go there or to remain here."

On 10-5-1523, Vives wrote to Cranevelt and Erasmus announcing his plan to travel to Spain via England, making it clear that he had arrived at such a decision with great doubts, only because he saw such a trip as an inexcusable obligation. Two days later he arrived in England in a pitiful state of mind: "everything is very dark and the night haunts me. I am trying to withdraw into an innocent silence". He never made the trip to Spain.

In that year 1523 Vives dedicated to Catalina his treatise De Institutione Feminae Christanae. In August he was promoted, by the chancellor of England Wolsey as professor of Latin, Greek and rhetoric in the Corpus Christi College, in Oxford, founded in 1516 as an Erasmist adaptation for England of the University of Alcalá. At that College, medieval theological authorities were replaced by patristic ones (especially Jerome, Augustine, John Chrysostom and Origen).

In October 1523 the king and queen arrived in Oxford, visited Vives and invited him to spend the next Christmas at Windsor Castle. Vives had just finished writing his pedagogical treatise From Ratione studii pueriliVives' work, a study plan for the seven-year-old princess Maria, which he offered and dedicated to Queen Catherine. During that vacation, the queen found in Vives a good and loyal friend. From Oxford, on 25-1-1524, Vives wrote to Cranevelt: "the queen, one of the purest and most Christian souls I have ever seen. Lately, when we were sailing in a skiff to a monastery of virgins, the conversation fell on adversity and prosperity in life. The queen said, "If I could choose between the two, I would prefer a suitable mixture of both: neither total adversity nor complete prosperity. And if I were forced to choose between these extremes, I would rather have everything adverse to me than too prosperous, for people in misfortune need only some comfort while the prosperous too often lose their heads." His lessons at Oxford lasted until April 1524.

On April 24 Vives returned to Bruges and on May 26, the feast of Corpus Christi, Juan Luis Vives, 32, and Margarita Valdaura, 19, married and went to live in the house of Margarita's mother, the widow Clara Cervent, who needed constant care because of her health condition.

By order of Henry VIII Vives had to return to England in October, which he did on the 2nd of that month. He returned without Margarita, who stayed in Bruges taking care of her mother. In January 1525 he returned to his chair of Humanities. At the beginning of May Vives left Oxford, never to return, and from there he went to London, where he stayed for a week or two in the company of Thomas More. On May 10 he returned to Bruges, where Marguerite was suffering from an eye infection, from which she was cured shortly afterwards. Her mother-in-law's illness prevented her from returning to England in October, and she remained in Bruges until February 1526.

At the request of Charles V's ambassador to England, Vives began his social tract De subventione Pauperum, published in 1526. It is an investigation on the causes of social injustice and a manual on public welfare and the education of the poor and handicapped. It did not reach the Platonic idealization of Moro's Utopia, but it surpasses it in the pragmatism of the program. Vives sees in human miseries the result of the errors and vices of men, among them in a special way the madness of wars.

On October 8, Vives wrote to Henry VIII encouraging him about the reconciliation of all Christian princes. But, in the play of Wolsey's alliance with France against the emperor, Juan Luis Vives was beginning to be frowned upon at the English court, as Wolsey worked to isolate Catherine, alienate his pro-Hispanic courtiers from Henry, and remove Vives from his professorship at Oxford. In this dark period, Vives found a loyal supporter in T. More, whom Erasmus called the man of all seasons. At T. More's house, Vives befriended Thomas's sons-in-law and daughters and the elite of the London intelligentsia. There he met, among others, John Fisher. In More, Vives saw the ideal figure of the new times: a layman of deep Christian faith, respected head of a family, servant of his king and a brilliantly educated intellectual.

In May 1526, Vives was in Bruges writing the dialogue De Europae desidiis et beautiful Turkish. And he remained there until April 1527. At the end of April he sailed from Calais; but Marguerite's anxiety forced him to return to Bruges. The queen begged Vives to return to England to begin his task as Latin teacher to Princess Mary. King Henry had in turn asked Vives to send him a copy of the Adagia He was asked by Erasmus to prepare a reply to a letter from Luther dated September 1525, in which Henry was presented as a victim of the Roman episcopate of England. On July 13, from Bruges, John Louis wrote to Henry sending him the copy of the requested book and informing him that he had prepared an opuscule, in answer to Luther (opuscule that has not been found yet).

On July 4, 1527, Wolsey tried to convince John Fisher that a declaration of invalidity of the marriage between Henry and Catherine was feasible. The treaty of Amiens (4 -VIII- 1527), by which England allied with France against the emperor, meant the doom of Catherine and the beginning of the misfortunes of Vives in Great Britain. Nevertheless, at the beginning of October, fulfilling the promise given to Catherine, Vives returned to England to teach Latin to Princess Mary. In January 1528, Vives wrote to Cranevelt telling him that he was closely watched and, in early February, Wolsey dared to question Vives about his private conversations with Catherine and demanded a written statement from him explaining his part in the plan to inform the pope, through the Spanish ambassador Inigo de Mendoza, about the queen's situation.

Vives did so immediately. In noble and dignified style, he lamented that his human rights -humanum ius- were violated by forcing him to break the secrecy of his private conversations with the queen. It was true that the queen had found in him, her compatriot, a person to whom she could confide her problems. According to Vives, the queen was only complaining about the separation from Henry, a man she loved more than herself. And Vives said: Who can reproach me for listening to a sad and unfortunate woman, for speaking to her with sympathy, for consoling a queen of such noble ancestry whose parents were also my own natural sovereigns? Vives admitted that, at the request of the queen, sanctissima Matron, he himself asked the Spanish ambassador to write to Charles V and the Pope about His Majesty's case. This statement prompted Wolsey to confine Vives to the house of a counselor along with the Spanish ambassador, a confinement that lasted 38 days (from February 25 to April 1, 1528). Fearing reprisals from the emperor, Vives was released on condition that he never set foot in the royal palace again. The queen sent him a messenger recommending him to leave England.

Already in Bruges, in May, he wrote a letter to Erasmus asking him to try something for the cause of Catherine, to which the Dutchman reacted with this unpleasant and unfortunate annotation: Far be it from me to involve myself in the quarrel of Jupiter and Juno. I would rather give every Jupiter two Junos than tear one from him.

In November 1528, Henry VIII guaranteed Catherine the help of two lawyers from Flanders and one of his own choice to assist him in the examination of the process of her marriage by the special legate of Clement VII, Cardinal Campeggio. Catherine appointed Vives, the only Spaniard whom Henry had not explicitly excluded. On November 17, 1528, Vives crossed the channel again with Catherine's two Flemish lawyers and tried to convince the queen to desist from any defense, which he considered a waste of time and a continuation of Henry's sinister game. The queen was very discouraged at first, until she came to show her distance from Vives whose attitude she interpreted as resignation and cowardice. Vives commented it with his friend Juan Vergara: The queen was angry with me because I did not want to put myself immediately at her orders. A few days later, Vives left England forever, lonely, discouraged, bitter and, as an enemy of the king and disobedient to the queen, he was deprived by both of them of the royal pension.

In January 1529, in his treatise De officio maritipaid a warm tribute to Catherine's virtues: "Every time I think of such a woman, I feel ashamed of myself. Among all the examples of fortitude in the midst of adversity that history has offered us, not one can compare with Catherine's truly virile fortitude in the midst of the most adverse circumstances....

Finally, the opinion of Vives ended up prevailing. In May 1529 the trial of the royal marriage began in the presence of Campeggio, Wolsey and several English bishops. There, in June, Catherine proclaimed aloud before Henry her uncompromising love for him and asked him to go no further. Erasmus was blind to Henry's injustice. John Fisher, like Vives, showed unswerving loyalty to Catherine's cause.

In July 1529, Vives dedicated his magnificent treatise to Emperor Charles V. De Concordia et Discordia Generis Humania masterpiece, a profound meditation on the correlations between the disorder of human passions and international disasters.

A few weeks later, he offered a rehearsal, De Pacificationeto Alonso Manrique, Archbishop of Seville and General Inquisitor of Spain. There, Vives tells him: To be an inquisitor of heretics is a task so dangerous and elevated that, if you were ignorant of its true purpose and aim, you would sin gravely, especially because there the properties, reputations and existence of many people are involved. It is astonishing that the authority granted to the judge, who is not free from human passions, or to the accuser, who in many circumstances can be a cynical slanderer moved by hatred, is so wide....

On January 13, 1531 he wrote a brave message to Henry, in which, among other things, he said: Your Majesty asks me the opinion of the Universities on those words of Leviticus: "The brother shall not marry his brother's wife>>... I beg you to think for a moment what you are going to do in such an important matter... and where you are going... What is the purpose of this war? A wife? You have her already, and such as the one you covet neither in goodness nor in beauty, nor in lineage or nobility can compare with her... You have already a daughter, thank God, of magnificent disposition; you can choose at your pleasure your son-in-law such as you could never do with your own son.

At the end of 1531 he was in a position to invite Beatriz, his youngest sister, to move from Valencia to Bruges because the result of the inquisitorial process had turned her into a complete pauper. In August 1532 Vives told his friend Vergara that the emperor regularly assigned him 150 ducats, which, he added, covered more or less half of my expenses.

Moro resigned as chancellor in May 1532, following the dictates of his conscience. In June 1533, Catherine was humiliated with the coronation of Anne Boleyn; a few months later, Princess Mary, Vives' ward, was declared a bastard and excluded from the succession to the crown. Henry VIII was excommunicated by the Pope. In May 1534, Vives told Erasmus that Moro and Fisher were in prison. In July 1535, Fisher's head was replaced on London Bridge by that of Thomas More. In January 1536, Catherine died completely abandoned in poverty. In July 1536, Erasmus died in Basel and his disciples were persecuted by the Spanish Inquisition.

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Historic ecumenical prayer by Pope and religious leaders in South Sudan

Pope Francis' witness of unity with Christian leaders such as Anglican Justin Welby, Presbyterian pastor Iain Greenshields, and South Sudan Council of Churches President Thomas Tut Puot Mut, who gave the final blessing together, is an important call for peace in the country. "Jesus' way is to love everyone," the Holy Father reminded.

Francisco Otamendi-February 4, 2023-Reading time: 5 minutes

The ecumenical event held at the mausoleum John Garang of Juba, the South Sudanese capital, was perhaps the most emblematic of Pope Francis' visit to South Sudan, dubbed by the Holy See as an 'ecumenical pilgrimage of peace'.

The Anglican Archbishop confirmed it Justin WelbyHe said that never before had there been a pilgrimage of peace like the one that has now taken place in South Sudan, initiated at the Vatican in 2019 with the encouragement of Pope Francis.

The Archbishop of Canterbury said: "My dear brothers, Pope Francis and Moderator Iain, and I, are here as part of your family, your communion, to be with you and to share in your suffering. We have undertaken this pilgrimage of peace as it has never been done before, ever. We cannot, we do not want to be divided."

He then added, quoting St. Paul: "Nothing on earth can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. Nothing can separate those of us who share that love. The blood of Christ unites us, regardless of our differences. It alone is sufficient for our salvation. We need no more sacrifices. My sister and my brother are never, never, never my enemies".

In South Sudan, the mausoleum of John Garang is a symbol for the population. Located in the center of Juba, the capital of the country, this space where the tomb of the father of independence, who led the Liberation Movement of the people of South Sudan until 2005, and who was vice president and president of the government, is of great importance for the South Sudanese nation. The ecumenical ceremony was attended by President Salva Kiir Mayardit, and other authorities of the country.

Development of the event

Rev. Thomas Tut Puot Mut, president of the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC), introduced the prayers, and recalled that there are still refugees in neighboring countries, and many others are internally displaced from their homes and villages, due to flooding, communal disputes and unwanted violence.

"May the pilgrimage of peace to South Sudan," he said, "arouse and empower in us the spirit of change, which includes hope, reconciliation, forgiveness, justice, good governance and unity in the implementation of the Revitalized Agreement on Conflict Resolution in the Republic of South Sudan."

"Let us confess our faith together"

For his part, the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, Rev. Iain Greenshields acknowledged that he was there at the invitation "of the Archbishop and the Pope to this historic pilgrimage for peace," and that "this visit was promised during the spiritual retreat at the Vatican in 2019."

Moderator Iain Greenshields noted in his brief address that "there is a strong legacy of churches working together for peace and reconciliation in South Sudan," a theme that Pope Francis would later address, and that "they played a key role in the peaceful achievement of the nation's independence. We hope to foster the continued unity of the churches for the common good in South Sudan, for justice and fullness of life for all the people."

"We pray for the guidance and wisdom of the Holy Spirit," he said, "that this ecumenical pilgrimage of peace to South Sudan may increase in all of us the spirit of change; that it may empower us all to seek hope, reconciliation, forgiveness, justice and unity in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. [Let us turn to God and confess our faith together".

"First and foremost, pray."

Pope Francis, who spoke at the end of the ceremony, began by noting that "from this beloved and martyred land many prayers have just been raised to heaven. As Christians, praying is the first and most important thing we are called to do in order to do good and have the strength to walk".

In fact, the appeal to "prayer" - "first of all, pray" - was the main argument of his speech, although he completed it with a concrete reference to "act" and "walk".

"The great effort of Christian communities in human promotion, solidarity and peace would be in vain without prayer. Indeed, we cannot promote peace without first having invoked Jesus, 'Prince of Peace' (Is 9:5)," the Holy Father said.

"In our parishes, churches, assemblies of worship and praise, let us be assiduous and unanimous in prayer (cf. Acts 1:14), that South Sudan, like the people of God in Scripture, may "reach the promised land"; that it may dispose, with tranquility and justice, of the fertile and rich land it possesses, and be filled with that promised peace, although, unfortunately, not yet obtained."

"Whoever follows Christ chooses peace, always."

"Secondly, precisely for the cause of peace, we are called to work," the Pope continued. "Jesus wants us to 'work for peace' (cf. Mt 5:9); that is why he wants his Church to be not only a sign and instrument of intimate union with God, but also of the unity of the whole human race (cf. Lumen gentium, 1)."

"This is the peace of God," he continued, "not just a truce to conflicts, but a fraternal communion, which is the result of conjugating, not dissolving; of forgiving, not being above; of reconciling, not imposing. So great is the desire for peace from heaven that it was announced at the moment of Christ's birth: 'on earth peace to those whom he loves' (Lk 2:14).

Francis went on to state even more clearly the choice Christians must make: "Dear brothers and sisters, those who call themselves Christians must choose which side to be on. Those who follow Christ always choose peace; those who unleash war and violence betray the Lord and deny his Gospel".

"The style that Jesus teaches us is clear: to love everyone, because all are loved as children of the common Father who is in heaven. The Christian's love is not only for those who are close to him, but for everyone, because everyone in Jesus is our neighbor, our brother and sister, even our enemy (cf. Mt 5:38-48). This is all the more true for those who belong to the same people, even if they are of a different ethnic group. Love one another as I have loved you' (Jn 15:12), this is the commandment of Jesus, which contradicts any tribal vision of religion. That they all may be one' (Jn 17:21), this is Jesus' fervent prayer to the Father for us believers".

"Let us strive, brothers and sisters, for this fraternal unity among us Christians, and let us help each other to transmit the message of peace to society," the Pope encouraged, "to spread Jesus' style of nonviolence, so that in those who profess to be believers there is no more room for a culture based on the spirit of revenge; so that the Gospel is not just a beautiful religious discourse, but a prophecy that becomes a reality in history."

"South Sudan's ecumenical heritage".

Finally, the Catholic pontiff urged to "walk". "The ecumenical heritage of South Sudan is a precious treasure; a praise to the name of Jesus; an act of love for the Church, his bride; a universal example towards the path of Christian unity. It is an inheritance to be guarded in the same spirit. May the ecclesial divisions of past centuries not influence those who are evangelized, but may the seed of the Gospel contribute to spreading greater unity.

"May tribalism and factionalism, which fuel violence in the country, not affect interfaith relations. On the contrary, may the believers' witness of unity have an impact on the people," he added, encouraging us to pray "every day for one another and with one another; working together as witnesses and mediators of the peace of Jesus; walking along the same path, taking concrete steps of charity and unity. In everything, let us love one another deeply and sincerely (cf. 1 Pet 1:22)".

Pope Francis concludes his stay in South Sudan with the celebration of Holy Mass on Sunday, in the same place where the ecumenical prayer was held: the iconic mausoleum of John Garang, and with an intense call to prayer and to work for the peace.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Pope Francis: "Peace requires a new impulse".

Pope Francis arrived on February 3 in South Sudan, on the second and final leg of his apostolic journey to Africa. During these days he will be accompanied by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.

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Pope Francis landed in South Sudan on February 3, a land to which he arrived "as a pilgrim of reconciliation, with the dream of accompanying them on their journey of peace". During his meeting with the country's authorities and the diplomatic corps, he emphasized precisely this characteristic: "it is the hour of peace".

Francis considered this visit as an itinerary that starts "precisely from the search for the sources of our coexistence. Because this land, which abounds with many goods in the subsoil, but, above all, in the hearts and minds of its inhabitants, today needs to quench its thirst again in fresh and vital springs".

The Holy Father referred to the authorities as those sources that the inhabitants need. Therefore, "future generations will honor or erase the memory of your names on the basis of what you do now, because, just as the river leaves the springs to begin its course, so too the course of history will leave behind the enemies of peace and will give renown to those who worked for peace."

The Pope called for an end to the violence in Sudan, saying: "Enough of bloodshed, enough of conflict, enough of aggression and mutual accusations about who is guilty, enough of leaving the people thirsty of peace. Enough of destruction, it is time for construction. We must leave behind the time of war and bring about a time of peace".

He later added that ending violence implies commitment "in favor of a transformation that is urgent and necessary. The peace and reconciliation process requires a new impetus".

Meeting with bishops, priests and consecrated persons

During his meeting with the bishops, priests and consecrated persons, the Pope wanted to focus on the evangelizing work of all these people, launching a question: "How to exercise the ministry in this land, along the banks of a river bathed by so much innocent blood, while the faces of the people entrusted to us are furrowed with tears of pain?" The answer to the question is sought by the Pope in Moses, in his docility and in his intercession.

Francis pointed out that Moses approached God with awe and humility, "he allowed himself to be attracted and guided by God". Therein lies the example, so "let us trust in his Word before using our words, let us meekly welcome his initiative before focusing on our personal and ecclesial projects; for primacy is not ours, primacy is of God". Being docile, continues the Holy Father, "makes us live the ministry in a renewed way."

Regarding intercession, Francis said that "the specialty of pastors must be to walk in the midst: in the midst of sufferings, in the midst of tears, in the midst of hunger for God and the thirst for love of brothers and sisters. Using images, he invites everyone to look at the hands of Moses, which are usually described as being raised to heaven, extended or grasping the staff. This, which seems simple, is not easy, because "to be prophets, companions, intercessors, to show with one's life the mystery of God's closeness to his people can require giving one's life".

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Culture

Omnes Forum: "Interreligious dialogue, a path to fraternity".

"Interreligious dialogue, a path of fraternity". is the theme of the Omnes Forum that will take place on Thursday, February 16, 2023, on the occasion of the International Day of Human Fraternity. It is organized jointly by Omnes and the Episcopal Subcommission for Interconfessional Relations and Interreligious Dialogue of the Spanish Episcopal Conference. It will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the aula magna of the postgraduate campus of the University of Navarra in Madrid.

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For the past few years, February 4 has been celebrated as the Day of the Fraternity Human.

A day in which, as explained by United Nations, The aim is to highlight "the contribution that people of all religions and beliefs make to humanity, as well as the contribution that dialogue among all religious groups can make to a better knowledge and understanding of the common values shared by all humanity".

In fact, 4 years ago today, a meeting took place between Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad al-Tayyib in Abu Dhabi, which led to the signing of the document entitled "....Human fraternity for world peace and common coexistence.".

This document, a key document within the pontificate of Pope Francis, underlines "the importance of reviving the religious sense and the need to reawaken it in the hearts of the new generations, through healthy education and adherence to moral values and appropriate religious teachings, so that individualistic, selfish, conflicting tendencies, radicalism and blind extremism in all its forms and manifestations may be confronted."

Forum "Interreligious dialogue, a path to fraternity".

Within this framework, Omnes has organized a Forum, together with the Episcopal Subcommission for Interfaith Relations and Interreligious Dialogue of the Spanish Episcopal Conference on this issue.

Under the heading "Interreligious dialogue, a path of fraternity". the Forum will take place, in person, on the following day. Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in Aula Magna of the Postgraduate Headquarters of the University of Navarra in Madrid.

The meeting will be attended by the Bishop of Solsona, Francisco ConesaPresident of the Episcopal Subcommission for Interfaith Relations and Interreligious Dialogue; Moshe BendahanChief Rabbi of Spain and Mohamed Ajana El Ouafi, Secretary of the Islamic Commission of Spain.

The Forum, organized by Omnes together with the CARF Foundation, will also be broadcasted on the Internet. Youtube for those who cannot attend in person.

As a follower and reader of Omnes, we invite you to attend. If you would like to attend, please confirm your attendance by sending an email to [email protected].

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Unity and peace. Pope arrives in South Sudan

In the second stage of his pilgrimage of peace in Africa, Pope Francis has arrived in Juba, capital of South Sudan. This is the first visit by a Catholic pontiff to this country, ravaged by decades of war, with the motto "I pray that all may be one". He is accompanied by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Presbyterian Reverend Dr. Iain Greenshields.

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In the early afternoon, after a flight of more than three hours from Kinshasa, an official reception was held at the airport of Juba, capital of South Sudan, for Pope Francis, who will visit the President of the Republic, Salva Kiir, and the Vice-Presidents. He will then meet with the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps.

Tomorrow, the Pontiff will hold a meeting with priests, consecrated men and women and seminarians at the Cathedral of St. Teresa, and in the afternoon an ecumenical prayer service will be held at the John Garang Mausoleum. On Sunday there will be Holy Mass at the same mausoleum, after which the Holy Father will proceed to the airport in Yuba to return to Rome.

For years, Pope Francis, together with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welbyand the moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Presbyterian Reverend Dr. Iain Greenshields, have together pushed for the peace process in South Sudan to end the civil war following the 2013 coup d'état.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, will be accompanied in South Sudan by his wife, Caroline Welby who has visited South Sudan on several occasions, to support the women of the Church in their role as "peacemakers".

More than 400,000 dead

In a meeting with Vatican journalists,Father Alfred Mahmoud Ambaroa South Sudanese priest of the Diocese of Tombura-Yambio and pastor of Mary Help of Christians in the city of Tombura, recalled "the drama of the war and the consequent humanitarian emergency in South Sudan, so much so that it led the Pope to summon the highest South Sudanese religious and political authorities, together with the Archbishop of Canterbury, to Casa Santa Marta in April 2018 for an ecumenical spiritual retreat."

President Salva Kiir and the vice-presidents-designate, including Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabior, widow of South Sudanese leader John Garang, and Riek Machar, leader of the opposition, went to the Vatican, as reported by Omnes. "Those days were crowned by the Pope's unprecedented and shocking gesture of getting down on his knees," Father Alfred continued, at the end of a speech in which he implored the gift of peace for a country disfigured by more than 400,000 dead, and then kissed the feet of South Sudan's leaders. "May the fire of war be extinguished once and for all," the Pontiff said, reiterating once again his desire to visit the country.

"Stalled peace process"

South Sudan is much smaller than the Republic of Congo, but slightly larger than Spain. It has 644,000 square kilometers and about 1.7 million inhabitants. It gained independence from Sudan in 2011, after decades of war. While Sudan is Arab and Muslim (90 %), the population of South Sudan is black and mostly Christian, and more than half are Catholic (52 %). Nine percent are other Christians; Muslims, 6 %; and other faiths, 32 %.

As reported by Pontifical Mission Societies Roy Zuniga, a Comboni missionary, who with ten parishioners from his parish will travel six hours through dangerous areas to meet with the Pope. Fr. Zuñiga, who knows the situation in the country well, hopes that the Pope's visit will give a boost to the peace process, "we hope for a miracle", he said. In his opinion, "we hope that he will undo the knot, we are stuck with the peace process".

Of the 13.7 million inhabitants, around 7.2 million, more than half, are Catholic, there are 7 ecclesiastical circumscriptions, and 300 priests, 185 diocesan and 115 religious, reports the Holy See on South Sudan.

With the Bishops of the DR Congo

What did the Pope say in his last meeting in the Democratic Republic of Congo? After meeting with priests, religious men and women, and seminarians, in a meeting Particularly moving, and far from the crowds of the past days at the airport of Ndolo and the young people, the Holy Father asked the bishops of the Congolese nation, at the headquarters of the Episcopal Conference, to dedicate time to prayer, to be close to God, to the Eucharist.

"Let us take care of our closeness to the Lord so as to be his credible witnesses and spokespersons of his love to the people," he encouraged them. "Let it not happen that we think we are self-sufficient, much less that the episcopate is seen as the possibility of climbing the social ladder and exercising power. And, above all, let not the spirit of worldliness enter, which makes us interpret the ministry according to criteria of personal benefit".

"First of all," he stressed, "I would like to invite you to allow yourselves to be embraced and consoled by the closeness of God. For us, who have received the call to be shepherds of the People of God, it is important to be grounded in this closeness to the Lord, to 'structure ourselves in prayer', to spend hours before Him. Only in this way will the people entrusted to us draw close to the Good Shepherd, and only in this way will we truly become shepherds, for without him we can do nothing (cf. Jn 15:5).

Next June you will celebrate the National Eucharistic Congress in Lubumbashi, the Holy Father reminded you in his last message: "Jesus is truly present and active in the Eucharist; there he gives peace and restores, consoles and unites, enlightens and transforms; there he inspires, sustains and makes his ministry effective. May the presence of Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, conqueror of evil and death, transform this great country and always be your joy and your hope. I bless you from my heart. And please continue to pray for me".

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Dossier: all about the German Synodal Way

In the February issue of Omnes magazine, we offer our readers an extensive dossier dedicated exclusively to the "Synodal Way" taking place in Germany. In it, its protagonists have the floor. However, it also contains the Vatican's statements, especially in relation to some of the proposals of the Synodal Way, which hardly correspond to Catholic doctrine and morals.

Maria José Atienza-February 3, 2023-Reading time: < 1 minute

The February issue of the magazine is available for purchase at here.

In the last few weeks, the Holy See has opposed the creation of a Synod Council in the form proposed by the Synodal Way. This has once again demonstrated the course of some parts of the Church in Germany, as is evident from some documents of the Synodal Way.

In its 30 pages, the dossier reproduces interviews with several of the main protagonists of the Synodal Way: with the President of the German Bishops' Conference, Dr. Georg Bätzing, and the President of the Central Committee of German Catholics, Dr. Irme Stetter-Karp, with the Bishop of Regensburg, Dr. Rudolf Voderholzer, and the philosopher of religion Prof. Hanna B. Gerl-Falkovitz. Gerl-Falkovitz.

The dossier also contains an important interview with Cardinal Marc Ouellet, until recently Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, who, together with Cardinals Parolin and Ladaria and in consultation with Pope Francis, represents the positions of the Holy See on this issue. The dossier also contains the analysis of the renowned journalists Alexander Kissler and Peter Hahne, as well as the opinion of "normal" Catholic Christians.

Because of its interest, the Dossier will also be offered in German.

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Alder, Nicaraguan seminarian: "The Pope asked us to be courageous".

Latin America

The Lord of Miracles of El Sauce

In January Nicaragua celebrates the Solemnity of the Lord of Miracles of El Sauce. In 2023 the 300th anniversary of this feast will be celebrated.

Néstor Esaú Velásquez-February 3, 2023-Reading time: 4 minutes

It is four o'clock in the morning of January 15, 2023. The day of the Solemnity of the Lord of Miracles has arrived in El Sauce, a municipality of the Department of Leon in NicaraguaThe atmosphere is festive and joyful in its National Sanctuary which celebrates its feast on the third Sunday of January. An endless line of pilgrims continues passing in front of the Consecrated Image of Our Lord of Miracles of El Sauce, in its chapel that since its novena receives thousands of pilgrims, coming from different parts of Nicaragua and even Central America.

During the first days of January and, especially, so far this year, pilgrims visit this national shrine to thank the Lord for the favors and miracles received, especially to benefit from the plenary indulgence granted by the Holy See to celebrate the Jubilee on the three hundredth anniversary of the arrival of the venerated and ancient image to these lands. On December 1st, 2022, Monsignor Sócrates René Sándigo Jirón, bishop of the diocese of León, opened the holy door in the national sanctuary, starting the jubilee year of the Lord of Miracles of El Sauce.

An impressive testimony is to see hundreds of pilgrims who enter the sanctuary on their knees, fulfilling a promise, some traveling on foot or by cart for days, as do the pilgrim carts that leave from Villanueva in Chinandega along rural roads, crossing rivers and streams to reach the National Sanctuary and arrive at the feet of the consecrated image of forty-two centimeters of a blackened Christ.

The Black Christ

This is a replica of the Black Christ of Esquipulas in Guatemala and that three hundred years ago on a pilgrimage through Central America, stopped in the Guayabal Valley, -which is the old name of this town-; it was on October 18, 1723 after passing through Jinotega and on its way back to Guatemala decided to stay in these Nicaraguan lands. This is how the population interpreted it after river floods, illnesses and even the death of its commander Guadalupe Trejos made it impossible for the image to leave the Guayabal valley, even in spite of the request of the bishop of Guatemala. The venerated image remained in that valley, attracting everyone to her feet where they begged for favors and graces, under the shade of a willow tree.

In their festivities are the pilgrims who stay under the shadow of his Sanctuary, those who decide to stay next to the house of the Lord of Miracles, which is transformed, in the words of a pilgrim, "in the house of all". They place hammocks or carry sheets and quilts and lay them on the ground to wait for their feasts, to live these days and give thanks for so many favors received.

The center of these celebrations is the Eucharist, during the day the Holy Mass is celebrated at different times and hundreds of people line up waiting for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Beautiful acts of popular piety and faith are witnessed, such as waiting for hours in line to enter the chapel where the consecrated image is located despite the heat, the cold and the sun. Even at dawn an endless line of pilgrims walk along the little road in a special way on the day of her solemnity and likewise in the octave of her feasts.

The Solemnity

On the Solemnity, the Holy Eucharist was presided by Monsignor Sócrates René Sándigo Jirón, Bishop of the Diocese of León. During the homily he emphasized: "This Jubilee Year in our National Shrine gives us a very beautiful possibility, to go on pilgrimage, to go through the holy door, to go to confession, to pray for the Pope and to receive Holy Communion. It allows me to purge my sorrows before the Lord of Miracles, to purge my sins, to gain indulgences, because the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, through the shed blood of Christ, which is well represented in the image of the Lord of Miracles that arrived almost three hundred years ago to our lands, allows me to do so".

Father Alberto Munguía, rector and parish priest of the Shrine pointed out that this jubilee year is: "A time of grace where at the feet of the Lord of Miracles of El Sauce we can receive his graces and what better grace than to receive the forgiveness of our sins".

Monsignor Francisco Tigerino, Bishop of the Diocese of Bluefields and former rector and pastor of this Shrine presided the Holy Eucharist on January 22 on the octave of its feast. During the homily he said: "Jesus Christ crucified is the one who has drawn us to this city, he has summoned us and we have come with the confidence that the Lord always hears our cry, when our request is according to the will of the Father... In our pilgrimage through this world we must remember what God wants from us. How does he want us to serve him? How does he want us to be close to him? And most importantly, how does God want to manifest His glory through us?".

This year thousands of pilgrims are expected to cross the Holy Door and celebrate with joy the Jubilee Year of the Lord of Miracles in El Sauce, giving thanks for its three hundred years in Nicaraguan lands. Today as yesterday, pilgrims are still called to beg favors and raise a prayer at the feet of the Lord of Miracles in El Sauce. Crucified.

The authorNéstor Esaú Velásquez

Alder, Nicaraguan seminarian: "The Pope asked us to be courageous".

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Books

"Beauty," an essay by Roger Scruton.

Many artists have become disoriented and relativize the value of beauty in art. In fact, many have opted to replace beauty with a bad joke.

Juan Ignacio Izquierdo Hübner-February 3, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

When I finished reading the essay on "The beauty"Roger Scruton, I remembered an incident I witnessed in Art Theory class that represents quite well one of the fundamental problems of my generation.

The professor was presenting classical art with images and was moderating the discussion on its valuation. Suddenly, a student, who had apparently become confident, raised his hand and asked: "But how do you, professor, know what is beautiful and what is not?

This student's question could be expanded: Are all aesthetic opinions of equal value, or can we say that there are some that are not? best than others, is it reasonable to say that someone's taste could be best Is beauty a merely subjective value, something like a capricious and individual pleasure, or is it rather a reality present in things and a necessity of the human soul?

The question is pressing, as many artists have become disoriented and relativize the value of beauty in art. Moreover, many have opted to replace beauty with a bad joke.

One of the pioneers of this fashion was Marcel Duchamp, who exhibited with an unusual success in New York his objet trouvé titled "La Fontaine" (1917), that is, a porcelain urinal. A joke that at the time had some humor, I suppose, but that has derived in other repetitive, unpleasant and shamelessly ugly gestures.

The author

Let us pause for a moment to make introductions. Sir Roger Scruton (United Kingdom, 1944-2020) is a name we can only pronounce with nostalgia. F

e was a philosopher who dedicated himself to "asking questions"; a conservative man, a specialist in aesthetics and political philosophy, author of more than fifty books and a regular contributor to newspapers and magazines such as The Times, Spectator y The New Statesman.

A nice man, a culture hero, whom I recommend to visit at Youtube to admire what it means to be a gentleman English.

To get an idea of his style and influence, we can use the image chosen by Enrique García Máiquez to describe him: "His figure has acquired quixotic profiles. He tackled the windmills of nihilism and has shown that they were not phantasmagorias, but powerful systems of thought, with complicities in subjective comforts and shared laziness, which could grind, as if it were no big deal, the values of the West".

About "Beauty".

One of the values of the West that Scruton set out to defend, and did so as the best, was beauty. He devoted to this subject several writings and an essential documentary he made with the BBC (Why Beauty Matters2009); among all this, it is worth noting the essay Beauty (2011), translated into Spanish as The beauty (Elba, Barcelona, 2017).

The book is, in itself, beautiful. They are short chapters, very well linked together and written in a pleasant, informative and refined style that seems to invite the reader to have an important, serene and enriching conversation.

The content is brilliant. What are the broad outlines? Here they go: Beauty is not only a subjective experience, but also a necessity inscribed in our human nature. There's fabric here, so I put it another way: Beauty is the path that leads us away from the spiritual desert and leads us home.

As the author says in the book's introduction: "I argue that beauty is a real and universal value, rooted in our rational nature, and that the sense of beauty plays an indispensable role in shaping the world of humans".

If beauty is objective, literary criticism and the humanities make sense. To affirm this is a powerful and urgent bet, in which philosophers of the stature of Plato, the Earl of Shaftesbury, Kant, etc. participate, each one contributing nuances and differences, but all agreeing that beauty is an objective and necessary value for our existence. That we have forgotten about it is something, at least, critical.

Beauty is described as an essential resource to redeem our suffering, expand our joy and live more in accordance with our dignity; it is not a subjective whim, but a universal human need.

While we are (mis)living only for the useful and the pleasurable, Scruton reminds us that beauty exists, surrounds us and awaits us. The difference between embracing beauty or putting it off is radical: we can continue to live in a hostile world, or we can strive to return to our home.

As you can see, the issue is a major one.

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Pope Francis: "Africa is the smile of the world".

Francis to priests and consecrated persons: "Through you God consoles his people".

Emotional gratitude marked the prayer meeting that Pope Francis held with priests, deacons, consecrated men and women and seminarians in the cathedral of Kinshasa.

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Pope Francis' trip to the United States Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan continues its course. An intense agenda is marking the papal days. The third day culminated with a prayer meeting with priests, deacons, consecrated men and women and seminarians in the cathedral of Kinshasa.

The meeting, which coincided with the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, "a day on which we pray in a special way for consecrated life", as the Pope recalled, began with words of welcome from Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu.

The Archbishop of Kinshasa wanted to emphasize that the Pope's visit "gives us reason for hope" and pointed out that "closeness to the Lord, fidelity to Gospel values and the joy of serving and accompanying the people of God in their search for greater dignity are the guarantees of an authentic, true, joyful and fulfilling priestly and religious life".

The Archbishop emphasized that, even with the difficulties of poverty, social problems, etc., that the country is experiencing, there are many and numerous vocations in the Church for which he gives thanks to God.

Available to go to the peripheries of the world

A priest, Father Léonard Santedi, Sister Alice Sala and seminarian Don Divin Mukama were in charge of addressing their testimonies to the Holy Father. The Pope also spoke about the main themes of their speeches: generosity in responding to the call, being the consolation of God on earth and the formation and life of piety.

"To discover in the suffering faces of the poor the face of the Lord demands a greater awareness of our duty as pastors" said the priest who described his priestly mission as that of "bearing witness to God with courage in a world hostile to Gospel values".

For her part, Sister Alice Sala asked the Pope to be the voice of the Congolese on "the world stage so that the fate of the people may prevail over the interest of our natural wealth".

The generosity of the Congolese people was another of the aspects highlighted by the religious, who recalled how "the Congolese consecrated persons are present in all the social works of our country; others are sent as missionaries throughout the world. We are available to go wherever the Church needs us, even to the peripheries of our world"; a reality that can be seen in many religious families in Europe and North America where, at the present time, we are sent as missionaries, the majority of vocations come from Africa and Asia.

Divin Mukama, who told the Holy Father how "the seminaries of the DRC strive, day after day, to be true frameworks for the formation of more humane pastors, in love with apostolic zeal, ready to share the joys and sorrows of all the Congolese people" and stressed that "the seminarians are true signs of hope" in a society that lives the current challenges as well as all the tribal problems and confrontations that the nation still suffers from.

Overcoming spiritual mediocrity, comfort and superficiality

For his part, Pope Francis addressed those present in a grateful tone with which he recalled that despite the difficulties in which they live "there are numerous vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life. Therein lies the abundance of God's grace, which acts precisely in weakness".

He called on priests, deacons, consecrated men and women and seminarians to be "echoes of the promise of God's consolation" and warned that "if we live to "serve" the people instead of "serving" the people, the priesthood and the priesthood will be "in the hands of God". consecrated life become sterile".

In this line the Pope underlined three "challenges to face, temptations to overcome: spiritual mediocrity, worldly comfort, superficiality".

With regard to the first, spiritual mediocrity, Francis encouraged those present to keep and take care of "certain liturgical rhythms of prayer that accompany the day, from the Mass to the breviary. In this sense, he encouraged to "set aside every day an intense time of prayer, to be with our Lord, heart to heart" and to have recourse "also to the prayer of the heart, to brief 'ejaculatories'" in the time of activity.

He also warned those present about "a great risk linked to worldliness, especially in a context of poverty and suffering: that of taking advantage of the role we have to satisfy our needs and our comforts".

A spiritual wear and tear, the Pope pointed out, through which "we lose the heart of the missionwhich is to go out of the territories of the self to go towards the brothers". Francis encouraged the complete dedication of body and spirit of consecrated persons and priests, underlining the "beautiful thing of being luminous signs of total availability to the Kingdom of God, living celibacy".

Finally, he addressed in a special way the seminarians and those responsible for the formation of priests to whom he reminded them that "the formation of the clergy is not optional. I say this to seminarians, but it is true for everyone: formation is a path that must always continue, throughout life".

People do not need officials of the sacred or professionals distant from the people, the Pope pointed out, stressing that "the ministry to which they are called is precisely this: to offer closeness and consolation, like a light always burning in the midst of darkness.

Finally, he encouraged those present to be "docile to the God of mercy, never allowing themselves to be broken by the winds of division".

This is the last full day of Pope Francis in the Democratic Republic of Congo since on Friday, after the meeting with the Congolese bishops, the second stage of this intense apostolic journey begins with the arrival of the Holy Father. to South Sudan.

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Pope Francis met with young people and catechists in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Pope Francis met with catechists and young people at the Martyrs' Stadium in Kinshasa. He asked those who attended the meeting not to look at him, but to look at their own hands, for "God has placed in your hands the gift of life, the future of society and of this great country."

Continuing with this image, he said: "All hands are similar, but none is equal to the other; no one has hands equal to yours, that is why you are a unique, unrepeatable and incomparable treasure. No one in history can replace you. Ask yourself then, what are my hands for, to build or to destroy, to give or to hoard, to love or to hate?" And therein lies the fundamental decision.

Thousands of catechists and young people came to see the Pope (CNS photo/Paul Haring).

Trying to reach the heart of each person, Francis addressed the young people as follows: "Young people who dream of a different future, from your hands tomorrow is born, from your hands can come the peace that is missing in this country. But, concretely, what is to be done? I would like to suggest some ingredients for the future, five, which you can associate with the fingers of your hand".

Five fingers, five ingredients

"To the thumb, the finger closest to the heart, corresponds. the prayerthat makes life beat. It may seem an abstract reality, far from tangible problems. However, prayer is the first ingredient, the most essential, because we alone are not capable". The Pope said that we need the water of prayer to give life.

"Prayer is necessary, a living prayer. Do not address Jesus as a distant and distant being to be feared, but as the best of friends, who gave his life for you." Addressing everyone, he asked, "Do you believe this, do you want to choose prayer as your secret; as the water of the soul; as the only weapon you will carry with you; as a companion on your journey every day?"

Regarding the index finger, the Pope said: "With this one we indicate something to others. The others, the communityThis is the second ingredient. Friends, do not let your youth be spoiled by loneliness and isolation. Think always together and you will be happy, because community is the way to be well with oneself, to be faithful to one's calling".

Young people danced before the Pope during the meeting (CNS photo/Paul Haring).

But this finger-pointing also entails a danger. For this reason Francis warned: "Beware of the temptation to point the finger at someone, to exclude someone else because he or she has a different origin from you, of regionalism, of tribalism, which seem to strengthen you in your group and, instead, represent the negation of the community".

Then "we come to the middle finger, which rises above the others almost to remind us of something essential. It is the fundamental ingredient for a future that lives up to your expectations. It is honesty. To be a Christian is to witness to Christ. Therefore, the first way to do this is to live righteously, as He wishes. This means not allowing ourselves to be entangled in the snares of corruption. The Christian can only be honest, otherwise he betrays his identity.

And after the middle finger, comes the "fourth finger, the ring finger. This is where the wedding rings are placed. But, if you think about it, the ring finger is also the weakest finger, the one that is the hardest to lift. It reminds us that the great goals of life, love in the first place, pass through fragility, effort and difficulties. These must be lived, faced with patience and confidence, without being overwhelmed by useless problems".

Along with this fragility comes a supernatural consequence. "In our fragility, in crises, what is the strength that allows us to go on? The sorry. Because to forgive means to know how to start again. To forgive does not mean to forget the past, but to not resign oneself to its repetition. It means changing the course of history. It is to lift up those who have fallen. It is to accept the idea that no one is perfect and that not only I, but everyone has the right to start over".

The list of ingredients begins to run out, "prayer, community, honesty, forgiveness. We have come to the last finger, the smallest. You might say, I am small and the good I can do is a drop in the bucket. But it is precisely littleness, making oneself small, that attracts God. The key word in this sense is service. He who serves becomes small. Like a tiny seed, it seems to disappear into the earth, yet it bears fruit. As Jesus tells us, service is the power that transforms the world. So, the little question you can tie to your finger every day is: what can i do for others? That is, how can I serve the Church, my community, my country?"

The Pope ended his speech with some words of encouragement: "I would like to tell you one last thing: never be discouraged. Jesus believes in you and will not leave you alone. The joy you have today, take care of it and do not let it fade away". In communion with one another, "come out together from the pessimism that paralyzes. The Democratic Republic of Congo is waiting for a different future from your hands, because the future is in your hands. May your country once again become, thanks to you, a fraternal garden, the heart of peace and freedom in Africa. Thank you.

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Pope Francis: "Hope must be conquered".

Pope Francis' trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo continues. In his last meetings he met with victims of violence and with representatives of some charities in the country.

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The Pope's apostolic journey continues in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Among his latest meetings are talks with victims of violence in the east of the country and with representatives of charities in the territory.

Victims of violence

During the meeting with the victims of violence, the Pope thanked the courage of the people who told their testimonies, adding that "it is only possible to cry, remaining silent". He wanted to express his closeness saying: "Your tears are my tears, your pain is my pain. To every family in mourning or displaced because of burned villages and other war crimes, to the survivors of sexual assaults, to every wounded child and adult, I say: I am with you, I would like to bring you God's caress. His tender and compassionate gaze rests upon you. While the violent treat you as objects, the Father in heaven looks at your dignity and says to each of you: "You are precious in my eyes, for you are precious, and I love you".

Francis condemned the use of violence and weapons. "It causes shame and indignation to know that the insecurity, violence and war that tragically strike so many people, are fueled not only by external forces, but also internally, for interests and to obtain advantages. I turn to the Father who is in heaven, who wants all of us on earth to be brothers and sisters. I bow my head humbly and, with pain in my heart, I ask forgiveness for the violence of man against man.

Praying to God, the Pope said: "Father, have mercy on us. Comfort the victims and those who suffer. Convert the hearts of those who commit cruel atrocities, which dishonor all humanity. And open the eyes of those who close them or look the other way in the face of these abominations."

Condemning the attitude of those people who promote conflicts or take advantage of them, the Pope urged striving for peace all together. "What can we do, where to start, how to act to promote peace?"

"First of all, no to violence, always and in any case, without conditions and without "buts". No to violence! Loving one's own people does not mean nurturing hatred towards others. On the contrary, loving one's own country means refusing to give in to those who incite the use of force." This is not so easy, because "to truly say 'no' to violence it is not enough to avoid violent acts; it is necessary to extirpate the roots of violence".

On the other hand, "we must say a second no: no to resignation. Peace requires combating discouragement, unease and mistrust, which lead us to believe that it is better to be suspicious of everyone, to live apart and distant, instead of holding hands and walking together".

Peace implies effort, "a future of peace will not fall from the sky, but it will be possible if resigned fatalism and fear of involvement with others are banished from our hearts. A different future will come, if it is for all and not for some, if it is in favor of all and not against some".

In addition to the "no's", some "yes" is necessary. "First of all, yes to reconciliation," says the Pope. "Finally," the Pope added, "yes to hope." This hope is "a right that must be conquered".

Francis ended his speech by alluding to Christ: "May Jesus, our brother, God of reconciliation who planted the tree of life of the cross in the heart of the darkness of sin and suffering, Jesus, God of hope who believes in you, in your country and in your future, bless all of you and console you; may he pour peace into your hearts, into your families and throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo. Thank you.

Charitable works

Addressing the representatives of charitable works, Pope Francis began by saying, "you are the forest that grows every day in silence and makes the air quality better, that you can breathe."

In response to what the workers of works of solidarity told him, Francis commented that he was "surprised by one thing, and that is that they did not simply tell me about social problems or list many facts about poverty, but above all they spoke of the poor with affection. You spoke of yourselves and of people you did not know before, and who are now familiar to you, with names and faces. Thank you for this look that knows how to recognize Jesus in the least of your brothers and sisters".

"I would like to give voice to what you are doing, to foster growth and hope in the Democratic Republic of Congo and on this continent. I have come here motivated by the desire to give a voice to those who have no voice. Francis showed great compassion with all the testimonies told to him and expressed his desire that aid to the most vulnerable will always remain a priority in the Church.

In this regard, the Pope commented: "Believers in Christ must never sully the witness of charity, which is a witness to God, by seeking privileges, prestige, visibility or power. This is an ugly thing, which must never be done. No, the means, the resources and the good results are for the poor, and those who deal with them are always called to remember that power is service and that charity does not lead to resting on one's laurels, but requires urgency and concreteness. In this regard, among the many things to be done, I would like to highlight a challenge that concerns everyone and to a great extent this country. What causes poverty is not so much the absence of goods or opportunities, but their inequitable distribution.

The exercise of charity in the service of others is primordial, but, "first of all, charity requires exemplarity. In fact, it is not only something that is done, but it is an expression of what one is. It is a way of life, of living the Gospel. Therefore, it requires credibility and transparency".

Also encouraging us to work in unity, the Pope said: "Thank you very much because you have touched my heart. You are of great value. I bless you and I ask you, please, to continue to pray for me, because I need it. Thank you.

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Photo Gallery

"Walking for peace".

Sudanese women walk to Juba, the capital of Sudan to see the Pope in the "Walking for Peace" pilgrimage led by Catholic Bishop Christian Carlassare of Rumbek, Anglican Bishop Alapayo Manyang Kuctiel of Rumbek and Rin Tueny, governor of Lakes State.

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Vatican launches appeal to help the Holy Land

Bishop Vives urges to learn from the Christians in Jordan

Archbishop Joan Enric Vives Sicilia, Bishop of Urgell and Co-Prince of Andorra, encouraged to learn from Christians Jordanians "the sense of interreligious coexistence and generosity in caring for those who suffer", following the annual meeting of the Bishops' Coordinating Committee for the Holy Land in Jordan.

Francisco Otamendi-February 2, 2023-Reading time: 4 minutes

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The Bishops' Coordinating Committee for the Holy Land (Holy Land Coordination) has had this year its annual meeting in Jordan in January. Archbishop Joan Enric Vives Sicilia has been participating in the Coordinating Committee for years on behalf of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), and assures that a bond of friendship has been created with most of the participating bishops and with those of the Holy Land.

The meeting was attended by bishops representing the bishops' conferences of Canada, the United States, England and Wales, France, Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Spain, the Nordic countries, South Africa, Switzerland, Albania, Slovakia and the Anglican Church, as well as delegates from the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE) and the Commission of European Bishops' Conferences (COMECE), and communication officers from the bishops' conferences and Catholic organizations related to the Holy Land.

As Pope Francis noted during his visit to Jordan in 2014: "The Christian communities (...) present in this country since apostolic times contribute to the common good of the society of which they are fully a part". Indeed, the bishops have heard "the important role that Christians play in building bridges of hope between communities"and encourage "to the pilgrims from our different countries to come and meet with these Christian communities, and to visit the important holy sites in Jordan."

Omnes has spoken with the Archbishop Joan Enric VivesThe Jordanians' "hospitable love" for refugees from other countries was emphasized.

You claim to have witnessed the efforts of people inspired by the Gospel to defend human dignity and human rights. For example, in supporting those fleeing violence in Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Can you expand on this idea?

-Jordan was generous to Palestinian refugees after the war with Israel and has been generous to Iraqis and Syrians, as well as to other Middle Eastern peoples who have been displaced there. I don't know if we in the West are aware of the enormous effort of hospitable love that this entails, and of the instability and sometimes persecution that lingers in neighboring countries.

What is the purpose of these meetings of bishops in the Holy Land? In your case, could you share with us some of the main impressions that these meetings, and in particular this year's meeting in Jordan, have left in your heart?

-We talked about the five "pes": prayer, pilgrimage, pressure, presence, presence and someone has added this year, permanence. And in explaining this we say that we go to the Holy Land in a spirit of communion with the Christians who live and suffer there, praying and celebrating the Eucharist with them, which is very much appreciated and mutually reinforcing.

The spirit is that of pilgrims who learn from the Holy Places and let ourselves be filled by the grace of the pilgrimage to the Holy Land which, according to the felicitous expression of Benedict XVI, is "the fifth Gospel" that reveals Jesus Christ. We seek to "put pressure" on the authorities and political leaders of the States involved and at the same time on our own societies and political authorities to contribute to peace and reconciliation of the peoples and religions present there.

It is a matter of being present and emotionally knowing the reality of the Holy Land, so that Christians feel encouraged and accompanied in the presence they make by being the "living stones" of the Holy Land. Finally, it is also important that they persevere in their faith and faithful witness there and the Christians of the world also, at their side, helping them and living the real communion with all of them.

The Lord's baptism and the beginning of his ministry took place in Jordan. How have you seen the Christian communities there? How can we encourage them in their difficulties, and learn from them in any case?

-They are fervent and united communities, which are not afraid to bear witness to their faith, and at the same time are creative and faithful to their Jordanian homeland, to which they contribute as much as other communities. There is unity in the country and the Hashemite dynasty on the throne enjoys the esteem of Jordanian society. We can learn the sense of interfaith coexistence and generosity in caring for the suffering.

Let's talk about peace. In their final communiqué, they referred to the Hashemite Royal Family as peacemakers and promoters of interreligious dialogue, and to the respect for human dignity in Jordan, in contrast to increasing violations against this dignity in other parts of the Holy Land. The Coordinator has encouraged a peace process...

-The Coordinating Committee does not have a political mission, but in the Middle East everything is intertwined. In Jordan there is stability and respect for minorities to create a united society. If we look at the other side of the Jordan, in Israel and Palestine, the bishops defend the internationally advocated position: two states, Israel and Palestine, recognized and living in peace, with stable borders and a status for the holy city for the three great religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But this is difficult to achieve because of instability and disregard for human rights.

These meetings are attended by bishops representing numerous bishops' conferences, as well as those in charge of communications for these conferences and Catholic organizations that work and collaborate in the Holy Land. What role can the media play in relation to the Holy Land?

-If we do not succeed in communicating what we have experienced there and the situation of Christians in the various countries of the region, we will not be able to do so. Holy Land we will not achieve an essential element for the Coordinating Committee. Here lies the importance of the media, which must overcome certain informative clichés. We must refine the communication of what is happening there and provide true information with criteria of accuracy, timeliness, relevance and comprehensibility. Living communion requires us to be vigilant of what is happening in those lands.

Any message of encouragement you wish to send now that you have returned from the Holy Land.

-To thank the Christian communities for their tenacity throughout a glorious and martyrial history to remain in the Holy Land and save the holy places and relevant to the Holy Scriptures for all Christians.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Sunday Readings

The salt and light of Christian witness. Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Joseph Evans comments on the readings for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.

Joseph Evans-February 2, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

Light is a dominant theme in today’s readings, linked with healing. We all have that experience ourselves: wounds heal better when exposed to sunlight. So in the first reading from Isaiah, God encourages us to care for the needy: "Then will your light shine like the dawn, and your wound will be quickly healed" Helping others heals us and takes us out of our own darkness into light. How many people have found that helping the needy frees them from their own angst and complications.

The theme continues in the psalm: "the good man is a light in darkness for the upright”;he lends, he gives to the poor; “his head will be raised in glory".There is something glorious, full of light, in helping others. Even in the first reading, St Paul insists that his teaching was not based on human philosophy, which so often can become dark and twisted, but only on "a demonstration of the power of the Spirit".In other words, with the light of God, not the obscurity of merely human thought.

In the gospel Jesus puts salt and light together. Salt had a double function in the ancient world. Not only did it add taste to food, as it still does today, but it also preserved from corruption at a time when there weren’t fridges and ice couldn’t be guaranteed – certainly not in Mediterranean countries. Jesus here is talking of our Christian witness: we must act in society like salt. Salt works discreetly, mixing with other spices: too much of it is unpleasant but too little makes the food bland.

Christians must act – discreetly but really – in the world both to give taste and preserve from corruption. If we don’t speak out and aren’t noticed, we become like salt which has lost its taste "and can only be thrown out to be trampled underfoot by men."This happens when we stay silent in the face of evil and corruption. We can’t necessarily end evil but we can at least denounce and limit it. We are ‘salted’ through prayer and study, through self-control and good use of time. This is the internal ‘salt’ of the action of God inside us.

And then we come to light. Christ calls us to be "the light of the world, a city built on a hill-top". The saints especially have been this light, "shining for everyone in the house" of the Church. This light again must be internal, the action of God in our souls which shines out to others. It is not the proud ostentation of the Pharisees seeking human praise. Rather, our goal is that people "seeing our good works, give the praise to the Father in heaven". When we testimony witness to Christ through the excellence of our work and the love of God and neighbour which inspires it, when we stand up for our conscience even at the cost of great suffering, we are truly "the light of the world".

Homily on the readings of Sunday V in Ordinary Time (A)

The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaA few minutes of reflection for this Sunday's readings.

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"Forgiveness is a source of peace," Pope encourages in Kinshasa

"Let us decide to be witnesses of forgiveness" and "conscience of peace", Pope Francis encouraged the Congolese at the Holy Mass at the airport of N'dolo (Kinshasa). Upon his arrival, he greeted them in the popemobile; and at the end, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, Archbishop of Kinshasa, entrusted the visit of the Holy Father to the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Congo.

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"Bandeko, bobóto" [Brothers and sisters, peace] Reply: "Bondeko [Fraternity], bondéko". "Esengo, joy: the joy of seeing you and meeting you is great; I have longed for this moment, thank you for being here!" said Pope Francis to the crowd that gathered at the Ndolo airport (Kinshasa), to attend the Eucharistic Celebration with the Pope.

From there, Alberto Garcia Marcos, a priest, points out the impressive welcome received by the Pope "worthy of the faith and hope of the Congolese people in all that the Pope represents. A 25 km long line without flashing lights accompanied Francis from the exit of the airport to the National Palace".

One of the choirs during the evening ©Alberto García Marcos

Many people spent the night at the Ndolo airport, where the Mass took place, and it went by quickly. During that time, García Marcos pointed out, there were songs, dances and confessions: "Abbé Odón, one of the priests who heard confessions, began at nine o'clock at night and finished at 2:30 in the morning. Some choirs helped to liven up the passing of time".

At four o'clock in the morning, "little by little the faithful arrived and crowded the airport. Like a game of tetris, the squares were filling up. At 6:30 a.m. there was already an electric atmosphere. Abbé Kola, threatened the waiting with the direction of various songs in agreement with the people. Difficult to explain if you don't live it".

The objective was the Mass, to pray for peace and justice, and the Pope gave practical advice: that everyone should take out their crucifix and embrace it, "to share their wounds with those of Jesus".

The Congolese present represented in some way the 50 million Catholics in the country. Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with its more than 60 bishops and 6,160 priests (4,200 diocesan and 1,900 religious), together with the Archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo.

Joy and peace

The Holy Father began his homily by speaking of joy, of Easter joy, in order to relate it to peace. "The Gospel has just told us that the joy of the disciples was also great on Easter night, and that this joy arose 'when they saw the Lord' (Jn 20:20). In this climate of joy and amazement, the Risen Lord speaks to his disciples. And what does he say to them? First of all, these words: 'Peace be with you' (v. 19). It is a greeting, but it is more than a greeting: it is a sending".

"Because peace, that peace announced by the angels on the night of Bethlehem (cf. Lk 2:14), that peace that Jesus promised to leave to his own (cf. Jn 14:27), is now, for the first time, solemnly given to the disciples," the Pope noted.

He went on to ask: "How can we preserve and cultivate the peace of Jesus? He himself points us to three sources of peace, three wellsprings to continue to nourish it. They are forgiveness, community and mission". And he developed them.

Back to the beginning

"Let us look at the first source: forgiveness," the Holy Father said. "Jesus says to his own: 'Sins will be forgiven to those whose sins you forgive' (v. 23). But before giving the apostles the power to forgive, he forgives them; not with words, but with a gesture, the first that the Risen One performs before them."

"The Gospel says that he 'showed them his hands and his side' (v. 20). That is, he shows them his wounds, he offers them to them, because forgiveness is born of wounds. It is born when the wounds suffered do not leave scars of hatred, but become a place to make room for others and to welcome their weaknesses. Then frailties become opportunities and forgiveness becomes the path to peace'.

Francis' message to the Congolese was: we can always be forgiven and start again. "Together, today we believe that with Jesus we always have the possibility of being forgiven and starting over, and also the strength to forgive ourselves, others and history."

"This is what Christ desires," he added: "to anoint us with his forgiveness to give us peace and the courage to be able to forgive as well; the courage to perform a great amnesty of the heart. How much good it does us to cleanse our hearts of anger, of remorse, of all resentment and envy!"

"May this be the opportune moment for you, who in this country call yourself a Christian, but commit acts of violence; to you the Lord says: Lay down your arms, embrace mercy," the Pope encouraged.

There is no peace without fraternity

"Let us now look at the second source of peace: the community. The risen Jesus does not address the disciples individually, but gathers with them; he speaks to them in the plural, and to the first community he gives his peace. There is no Christianity without community, just as there is no peace without fraternity. But, as a community, where do we have to walk, where do we have to go to find peace?", Pope Francis asked.

"For us there is also this risk; to be together, but to walk on our own, seeking in society, and also in the Church, power, career, ambitions. However, in this way, instead of following the true God, we follow our own self, and we end up like those disciples: locked up at home, empty of hope and full of fear and disappointment," he said, before answering the question.

This was his response to the second point: "The way is to share with the poor. This is the best antidote to the temptation to divide and worldliness. To have the courage to look at the poor and listen to them, because they are members of our community and not strangers to be eliminated from sight and conscience. To open our hearts to others, instead of concentrating on our own personal problems or vanities.

Mission of peace in the world

"We come, finally, to the third source of peace: mission," the Roman Pontiff affirmed. "Jesus says to the disciples: 'As the Father has sent me, even so I send you' (Jn 20:21). [...]. In a word, he sent him for everyone; not only for the righteous, but for everyone.

"Brothers, sisters, we are called to be missionaries of peace, and this will give us peace," the Pope noted. "It is a decision; it is to make room in our hearts for everyone, it is to believe that ethnic, regional, social and religious differences come later and are not obstacles; that others are brothers and sisters, members of the same human community; that everyone is a recipient of the peace that Jesus has brought to the world. It is to believe that Christians are called to collaborate with everyone, to break the cycle of violence, to dismantle the plots of hatred".

Priests waiting for Mass to begin ©Alberto García Marcos

"Yes, Christians, sent by Christ, are called by definition to be consciences of peace in the world," Francis added. "Not only critical consciences, but above all witnesses of love; not claimants of their own rights, but of those of the Gospel, which are fraternity, love and forgiveness; not seekers of their own interests, but missionaries of the passionate love that God has for every human being." Concluding his homily, the Pope asked us to "decide to be witnesses of forgiveness, protagonists in the community, people on a mission of peace in the world".

Cardinal Ambongo: "great communion".

After the celebration, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo noted that "for the Catholic faithful in Kinshasa and throughout our country, your presence here is a sign of encouragement and consolation, and constitutes, at the same time, a moment of great communion and gathering around His Holiness".

"Thank you for being here for our families, for each and every one of us, for our people. I am sure that the Eucharist you have presided over will consecrate us more and more to Christ and will obtain for us the grace of true and lasting peace, so much desired by our country. I entrust the remainder of your stay in our country to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Congo".

The authorFrancisco Otamendi / Alberto García Marcos

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The Pope travels to DR Congo and South Sudan. "Mbote François"Welcome, now you are welcome

Pope Francis: "Africa is the smile of the world".

"Do not touch the Democratic Republic of Congo, do not touch Africa. Stop suffocating it, because Africa is not a mine to be exploited or a land to be plundered," said Pope Francis upon his recent arrival in Kinshasa. It was one of his main messages, together with the request that "violence and hatred have no place in the hearts and lips of anyone".

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In his speech before the authorities, representatives of civil society and the world of culture, and the diplomatic corps, in the presence of the president of the Democratic Republic of the CongoFelix Tshisekedi, the Holy Father, as a "pilgrim of reconciliation and peace," opened his heart and acknowledged that "I have longed to be here and I have finally come to bring you the closeness, affection and consolation of the entire Catholic Church. I would like to speak to you through an image that symbolizes well the luminous beauty of this land: that of the diamond".

Indeed, the Pope first addressed the entire country with the figure of the diamond: "Dear Congolese men and women, your country really is a diamond of creation; but you, all of you, are infinitely more valuable than any good that can spring from this fertile soil".

"I am here to embrace you and remind you that you are of inestimable value, that the Church and the Pope have confidence in you; that they believe in your future, in a future that is in your hands and in which you deserve to invest the gifts of intelligence, sagacity and industriousness that you possess," the Pope added.

"Courage, Congolese sisters and brothers," Francis encouraged. "Rise up, take back in your hands, like a pure diamond, what you are, your dignity, your vocation to protect in harmony and peace the house you inhabit. Revive the spirit of your national anthem, dreaming and putting into practice its words: 'Through hard work, we will build a country more beautiful than before; in peace'."

Hit by violence

In the background of the Pope's words, as is obvious, was the violence that has plagued, and continues to plague the east of the country, but we must not resign ourselves, he asked from DR Congo: "Looking at this people, one has the impression that the international community has almost resigned itself to the violence that devours them. We cannot get used to the blood that has been flowing in this country for decades, causing millions of deaths without many knowing it. Let it be known what is happening here".

"In your country, which is like a continent within the great African continent, it seems as if the whole earth breathes," he continued. "But while the geography of this green lung is rich and varied, history has not been equally generous. The Democratic Republic of Congo, tormented by war, continues to suffer, within its borders, conflicts and forced migrations, and continues to suffer terrible forms of exploitation, unworthy of man and of creation," the Pope stressed.

"This immense country full of life, this diaphragm of Africa, struck by violence like a punch in the stomach, has long seemed to be out of breath. And while you, Congolese, struggle to safeguard your dignity and territorial integrity in the face of deplorable attempts to fragment the country, I come to meet you, in the name of Jesus, as a pilgrim of reconciliation and peace," he said.

Economic Colonialism

Pope Francis denounced in a large part of his address to the Congolese authorities and people the "tragic fact that these places, and more generally the African continent, continue to suffer various forms of exploitation. After political colonialism, an equally enslaving 'economic colonialism' has been unleashed."

"Thus, this country, abundantly depredated, is not able to benefit sufficiently from its immense resources: it has come to the paradox that the fruits of its own land make it a "foreigner" for its inhabitants. The poison of greed has bloodied its diamonds", he stressed.

In the Pope's words, it is "a drama to which the most economically advanced world tends to close its eyes, ears and mouths. However, this country and this continent deserve to be respected and listened to, they deserve space and attention".

"Do not touch the Democratic Republic of Congo, do not touch Africa. Stop suffocating it, because Africa is not a mine to be exploited or a land to be plundered," the Holy Father cried out. "Let Africa be the protagonist of its own destiny. May the world remember the disasters committed over the centuries to the detriment of local populations and not forget this country and this continent."

The Pope then prayed "that Africa, the smile and hope of the world, may become more important; that it may be spoken of more, that it may have more weight and representation among nations. May the way be opened for a diplomacy of man for man, of peoples for peoples, which is not centered on the control of areas and resources, nor on the objectives of expansion and the increase of profits, but on the opportunities for the growth of the people".

"Dear friends, diamonds, which are usually rare, abound here. If this is true with regard to the material riches hidden beneath the earth, it is much more so in reference to the spiritual riches contained in hearts," the Pope affirmed. "And it is precisely from hearts that peace and development remain possible because, with God's help, human beings are capable of justice and forgiveness, of concord and reconciliation, of commitment and perseverance in making the most of the talents they have received."

Transparency, promoting the law

The Pope also referred to general issues in the country: he asked "to favor the holding of free, transparent and credible elections; to further extend participation in peace processes to women, youth and marginalized groups; to seek the common good and the security of the people above personal or group interests; to strengthen the presence of the State throughout the territory; to take care of the many displaced persons and refugees. We must not allow ourselves to be manipulated and bought by those who want to keep the country in violence, to exploit it and make shameful business; this only brings discredit and shame, along with death and misery".

At this point, he quoted St. Augustine: "Centuries ago, St. Augustine, who was born on this continent, was already asking himself: 'If we take justice away from governments, what do they become but bands of thieves on a grand scale?' (De civitate DeiIV, 4). God is on the side of those who hunger and thirst for justice (cf. Mt 5:6). It is important not to tire of promoting law and equity in all areas, opposing impunity and the manipulation of laws and information," he encouraged.

Investing in education

Finally, the Roman Pontiff encouraged the promotion of educational opportunities and investment in education. "The most valuable diamonds of the Congolese soil, who are the children of this nation, must be able to count on solid educational opportunities, which will allow them to make the most of the brilliant talents they possess."

"Education is fundamental, it is the road to the future, the path to be taken to achieve full freedom for this country and the African continent," he said. "It is urgent to invest in it to prepare societies that will only be consolidated if they are well educated, that will be autonomous only if they are fully aware of their potentialities and capable of developing them with responsibility and perseverance. However, many children do not go to school; how many, instead of receiving a decent education, are exploited!

"Too many children are dying, subjected to slave labor in the mines. Let no effort be spared to denounce the scourge of child labor and put an end to it. How many girls are marginalized and their dignity violated! Children, girls, young people are the hope, let us not allow it to be suppressed, but let us cultivate it with passion!"

The Pope celebrates Holy Mass today at Ndolo Airport. In the afternoon he will meet with some victims of violence in the east of the country at the Apostolic Nunciature. Finally, he will meet with representatives of some charities, also at the Nunciature.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Pope calls for "aid without handouts" in Congo

Rome Reports-February 1, 2023-Reading time: < 1 minute

"Africa is not a mine to be exploited or a soil to be plundered."These were some of the first words of Pope Francis when he set foot on African soil.

Francis asked local authorities to act with transparency and to invest in education. He also asked the international community to help develop countries like this one without falling into the kind of assistance that hinders development.

AhNow 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.

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"To educate in the contemplation of beauty is to open the mind to its essence."

ColumnistsAntonio Moreno

The beauty of the family

At a time when ugliness is in vogue, it is essential to highlight the beauty of the Christian family, a sign of God in the world.

February 1, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

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I am amazed at the phenomenon of the ugly fashionthe ugly fashion. A current that denies the beautiful and elegant in favor of the transgressive, the disruptive or directly the ugly. It is another symptom of a society that has lost the sense of transcendence. The followers of this trend succumb to a pair of sneakers. crocs 700 euro heel, a 1,400 euro bag that resembles a garbage bag or a 3,600 euro oversize coat that fits you and your three best friends. By the way, how do you know if a coat is too big for you? oversize? I will ask in Balenciaga.

The fact is that, nowadays, everyone can dress well, because mass production has brought to the people the fashion that was previously only available to a few. The designs of the big brands are imitated in record time and distributed over the Internet at popular prices, so it is increasingly difficult to distinguish themselves from the masses. How to achieve this distinction and exclusivity? Well, by dressing ugly.

Many contemporary artists participate in this crazy search for originality with works that seek to disturb more than to thrill, to disturb more than to elevate the spirit. To attract attention and have your work seen you need scandal, morbidity, disruption... But what sensations come after? After the astonishment, there is only the search for the next admiration and then the next "oh!" which will be the end of the line. But there is no satisfaction, no satiety. As in the infinite loop into which the addictive algorithm of Tik Tokone always wants more. A new, albeit ephemeral, emotion for the benefit of the Chinese social network that gains more the longer it keeps us hooked.

Beauty, a projection towards infinity

However, what happens when one contemplates a truly beautiful work of art? Does one not feel that the aesthetic emotion has led him to come out of himself? Does the true artist not succeed in making the one who contemplates his work transcend it? Whoever admires a beautiful painting, watches a great film, reads a good article or novel, or listens to a quality piece of music comes out of himself, looks at others, travels to another place, to another time. Whoever sees, listens to or reads a work of art makes the author's feelings his own, but adds his own, and this fusion is projected upwards, towards infinity.

It is the same thing that happens to us when we contemplate a sunrise, listen to a storm or watch the hypnotic flight of a flock of birds. And the fact is that human beings carry within them a natural taste for the good, the true, the just... and the beautiful. Simone Weil said that "In everything that arouses in us the pure and authentic feeling of beauty there is really the presence of God. There is almost a kind of incarnation of God in the world, whose sign is beauty".

Let this long introduction be used to frame the celebration, in a few days, of Marriage Week, which the Church proposes every February around St. Valentine's Day. During this time, the Christian community will present to the world its proposal for the family in the face of other models proper to our times. Perhaps those of today are more striking, more impacting and more coolBut the beauty of the family is irresistible, even if trend gurus claim it is old-fashioned.

The Christian family, founded on the indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman, open to children, with a commitment to equality, fidelity and mutual self-giving, has that transcendent natural beauty that speaks to us of eternity, that elevates us to infinity, that seems to fulfill our aspirations. A beauty that is nothing other than a sign of God in the world.

The authorAntonio Moreno

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

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The Order of Malta: actuality and architecture

Order of Malta's renewal process finalized

The process of renewal of the new governing bodies of the Order of Malta concluded a few days ago. The Order of Malta had been undergoing a "review" for several years, accompanied by the request of the Holy See and, in particular, Pope Francis.

Giovanni Tridente-February 1, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

In September of last year, by decree of Pope Francis, the new statutes of the Order of Malta, the constitutional charter and the related Melitense CodeThe Chapter was held on 25 January 2023, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.

Led by the Pope's Special Delegate, Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi - who has overseen the entire renewal process in recent months - and by Lieutenant Grand Master John Dunlap, the Chapter then elected in recent days all the members of the Sovereign Council, who will remain in office for six years.

The French friar Emmanuel Rousseau (Grand Commander) and the Italians Riccardo Paternò de Montecupo (Grand Chancellor), Fra' Alessandro de Franciscis (Grand Hospitaller) and Fabrizio Colonna de Paliano (Receiver of the Common Treasury) were elected as high officials for the period 2023-2029, practically reconfirmed after the appointments made by Pope Francis when approving the new Constitution.

The nationality of the Councilors of the Sovereign Council is more varied: Friar João Augusto Esquivel Freire de Andrade, Friar Roberto Viazzo, Friar John Eidinow, Friar Mathieu Dupont, Friar Richard J. Wolff, Brother Francis Joseph McCarthy, Brother Michael Grace, Brother Clement Riva Sanseverino and Brother Josef Blotz.

The Extraordinary General Chapter was attended by 111 members of the Order of Malta from all five continents.

The way of the Gospel in the Order of Malta

Before the Chapter was held, Pope Francis had wanted to be present through a message to the participants, in which he reaffirmed the special characteristics of the Order as an evangelizing mission in favor of the neighbor and especially those in difficulty, the afflicted. Knowing that "to build a more just world, there is no other way than that of the Gospel; we are called to begin with ourselves, practicing charity wherever we live".

Forgiveness and reconciliation

One cannot forget the reference to mutual forgiveness and reconciliation "after moments of tensions and difficulties experienced in the recent past", with the awareness of knowing how forgiveness is also a sign of freedom and generosity, "expression of a merciful heart", just, following the example of the Lord.

Unit

Finally, Pope Francis recalled the importance of unity within the Order, precisely in order to be credible in its work, knowing full well that conflict and opposition damage the mission and distance it from Christ.

"The gratuitousness and fervor with which you have embraced the Johannine ideal are well represented by the octagonal cross you wear: it recalls the evangelical beatitudes, with the eight points of the Maltese cross. Be proud and worthy of it, remembering him who, on the cross, gave his life for our salvation".

At the conclusion of the Chapter, the members were received in audience by the Holy Father at the Vatican. On this occasion, the Pontiff expressed his satisfaction for the success of the process that led to the election of the new Officers. And also for the new commitments on the front of vocations to the Order of Malta. In particular, it was decided to reopen a novitiate and the importance of initial and ongoing formation for all members was emphasized.

The Order of Malta and the needy

Francis then shared a reflection on the terms that qualify the Order: sovereign, military, hospitable. He reiterated the generosity and commitment to solidarity of all the members, who, thanks also to international diplomatic juridical protection, can be close to those most in need.

In the Order, the witness of the Gospel must never fail "in the struggle against all that opposes it," the Holy Father added, nor in the expression of closeness and tenderness to all who suffer, as good shepherds and good Samaritans. These are characteristics proper to the hospitaller tradition of the Order, following the example of the Founder, Blessed Gerard, who cared for pilgrims in Jerusalem in the Hospital named after St. John the Baptist.

The authorGiovanni Tridente

Order of Malta

The Order of Malta: actuality and architecture

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Latin America

San Sebastián de Yumbel: magnet of popular religiosity

Thousands of Chileans have participated, after the pandemic, in the pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Saint Sebastian in Yumbel.

Pablo Aguilera-January 31, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

After a forced break due to the pandemic, the pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Saint Sebastian in Yumbel (Chile) has once again gathered thousands of people. An ancient and deep-rooted devotion in this American area has returned with great force.

In the year 1859 the construction of the sanctuary temple of Saint Sebastian was finished, located next to the main square of Yumbel, a town of the Archdiocese of Concepción, in the south of Chile. The main attraction of the temple is an ancient image of the martyr Saint Sebastian, made of cedar wood, 73 cm high.

This was honored in the city of Chillán in the 17th century. But the attack of the Araucanians led by the toqui Butapichún to that city in 1655, motivated the Spaniards to move the image of Saint Sebastian to the vicinity of Yumbel to prevent it from being desecrated. The image was found in some haystacks and moved to the town's main square. In 1663, an ecclesiastical judge awarded the image of Saint Sebastian to Yumbel, whose inhabitants claimed the right to find it.

The increase in devotion and the beginning of the first pilgrimages date back to 1878, when the fame of the Saint transcended the borders of Yumbel and the area and spread throughout the rest of Chile and abroad.

In the sanctuary there are two important dates during the year, the feast of the saint that is celebrated on January 20 and March 20. On the eve of the feast, on the 19th, the liturgical activities begin with the recitation of the Holy Rosary and the sacrament of Penance. Then, from midnight, the Holy Mass is celebrated every two hours and in the afternoon the great procession through the streets of the city begins.

Due to the COVID pandemic, this pilgrimage had to be suspended in 2020, and only this January it was finally resumed without restrictions.

The Archbishop of Concepción, Fernando Chomali, commented that the sanctuary of St. Sebastian "is a very precious treasure. There the faith of people of all ages and socioeconomic status is expressed, constituting a bond of unity and fraternity. Those who go to the sanctuary are people of faith who transmit their faith to their children. This is a guarantee of God's presence in our midst. These are days of great joy and hope for the Church and for Chile".

This year, between January 20 and 22, a large number of pilgrims arrived: about 700,000 people. It can be said that this great manifestation of popular religiosity returned with force after the pandemic.

After the pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Lo Vasquez, San Sebastian continues to be the second most popular pilgrimage in Chile.

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Borja BarraganIf the Church invests, it is so that these goods bear fruit that can be used for the benefit of needs".

Integral ecology

UFV and Sabadell join forces in a graduate course

The Francisco de Vitoria University and Sabadell Bank are offering a postgraduate course on Financial Advisor for Religious and Third Sector Entities. They have extended the registration period until February 15.

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The bank Sabadell and the Francisco de Vitoria University offer a Financial Advisor for Religious and Third Sector Entities course in the Graduate School of the university. The deadline for enrollment has been extended and now closes on February 15.

This online course starts on the first day of March and is structured in a curriculum divided into seven modules: hierarchical structure of the ChurchThe Firm's expertise includes: taxation, patrimony, social doctrine of the Church, development cooperation and the third sector, financial asset management, compliance and money laundering.

The program is characterized by flexibility in learning. As for the entry profile, the course is aimed at professionals who have some level of responsibility in the sector of religious or third sector entities, administrators and bursars.

The objectives of these studies are related to the capacity for analysis and evaluation, the design and development of innovative projects for the entities in question, and the provision of advice to clients.

More information can be found on the web page of the coursewhere you can also download the registration form.

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Borja BarraganIf the Church invests, it is so that these goods bear fruit that can be used for the benefit of needs".

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Georg BätzingI like being a Catholic, and I will continue to be one".

Omnes is now bringing forward an excerpt from the interview on the Synodal Council with the President of the German Bishops, Georg Bätzing.

Alfonso Riobó-January 31, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

On February 1, Omnes magazine published a comprehensive dossier on the situation of the Church in Germany. It contains analyses and interviews with the main protagonists in Germany and in Rome, among them Cardinal Marc OuelletThe following are also present: the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops until yesterday; the President of the German Bishops, Georg Bätzing (Bishop of Limburg); Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg; the President of the Central Committee of German Catholics, Irme Stetter-Karp; the philosopher Hanna-Barbara Gerl-FalkovitzJosé M. García Pelegrín, Alexander Kissler and Peter Hahne, etc.

The title of the dossier is: "The dilemma of the Church in Germany". Georg Bätzing, our correspondent in Berlin, José M. García Pelegrín, asks him about the expression he used at the end of the "ad limina" visit in November, when he said: "We want to be Catholics, but in a different way".

Georg Bätzing speaks during a lecture to German bishops (CNS photo/Harald Oppitz, KNA).

Bätzing's response is partly conciliatory. Let us now highlight these sentences: "I like being a Catholic and I will continue to be one. The Catholic Church, in its worldwide dimension and in its historical continuity, is something very precious and venerable. But, like all living things, it only remains true to itself and only remains itself if it changes. A living organism that does not change always stiffens and dies. A valuable asset becomes a museum object if it is not used in times of change. In my experience and assessment, this also applies to the Catholic Church." At the same time, he is adamant about the future of the Synodal Way, and in particular about the creation of a Synodal Council which he hopes to have in place by 2026, despite recent warnings from the Holy See.

Thus, Cardinal Ouellet, in the interview with our director Alfonso Riobó, affirmed: "The question of the Synodal Council is a problem of structure. If the structure of the Synodal Council leads to the establishment of a mode of operation such as we have seen in the Synodal Way, and if this is how the Church in Germany will be governed in the future, I have already told the bishops very clearly: this is not Catholic. It is not Catholic. It may be the praxis of other churches, but it is not ours. It is not, because it does not conform to Catholic ecclesiology and to the unique role of the bishops, derived from the charism of ordination, which confers on them the freedom to teach and to decide."

However, the hitherto Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops is confident that the dialogue with the German Bishops' Conference can continue: "The response of the President of the Conference, Bishop Bätzing, says, in a certain way, that they will respect the entire canonical order. That is good. That means that the dialogue must continue".

The fifth and last Assembly of the Synodal Way will be held March 9-11. We will have to see how the warnings of the Holy See are received and, independently of this Assembly, how the dialogue with the Holy See continues.

The full interview and the entire contents of the Omnes dossier will be available for purchase starting February 1 in the issue of Omnes HERE.

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Sister Lucia Vitoria: "A more solid catechist formation is needed".

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Álvaro GonzálezGood training helps to prevent marital breakups".

"The situations of pain in broken families, and the need for well-prepared professionals to assist those who wish to do so," have prompted a new Master's Degree, 80 % percent online, of Continuing Education in Matrimonial Law and Canonical Procedural Law, which the University of Navarra will offer in Madrid from September.

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Professor Álvaro González Alonso, academic director of the program, told Omnes that it is the only master's degree in Spain in this field of training that is mostly online and is approved by the Holy See. This allows, according to the official note, that it can be taken into account by the bishops as a qualification to perform specific functions in the ecclesiastical courts.

Statistics indicate that seven out of ten marriages break up today in Spain; and in other countries there are similar rates. The breakdowns allow Álvaro González to affirm that "we are living in complicated times", and "the knowledge of the reality of marriage as a natural institution is indispensable to deepen in the authentic identity of the family".

We talked to Professor González Alonso about marriage, breakups, cohabitation before marriage, causes of marriage annulment, and the master's degree. In his opinion, "the human being has a spousal dimension that has not been drowned by the environment".

What motivated the Faculty of Canon Law to organize this master's degree in Madrid?

-The main motive is the desire to serve the Church and society, in conformity with the Magisterium and the natural truth of marriage. Certainly we are living in difficult times and we often encounter painful situations in broken families. We are convinced that a good formation helps to prevent marital breakups and to improve support for spouses in their married life.

For this reason, the master's degree is integrated with pastoral care and directed to the service of married couples in their concrete reality, through competent professionals in this field. In short, the main motive is to serve the Church and society, helping to discover the human and Christian mystery of marriage and the family.

It seems frequent, in marriage breakup processes, that some spouses seek a civil divorce, and then, if they celebrated a religious wedding, ask for nullity in an ecclesiastical court, in order to remarry again in the Church. Are there professionals prepared to assist or accompany people in these situations?

-The situation described is undoubtedly a reality. The reasons may be varied and include both the initial lack of interest in following a canonical process, in some cases, and the practical dimension of resolving these difficulties from the legal point of view, with reference to the affective and economic family situation. In these circumstances, the presence of well-prepared professionals to assist those who wish to know the truth about their marriage is revealed as a pressing need, bearing in mind that knowledge of the juridical aspects of marriage, on many occasions, is part of the accompaniment of the Christian faithful.

Moreover, the process of declaration of nullity is a service to the marital vocation, since it is intended to serve the spouses in order to clarify or restore their state of life, with respect to God and to their spouse. Understanding this dimension of the marital vocation helps to see the usefulness of the canonical process.

Can you describe the main causes of nullity that are alleged in Spain? Regarding consent, do young people know the identity of Catholic marriage? Sometimes nullities are requested by couples who have been married for months.

-Each Tribunal will have its own experience regarding the causes it is called upon to hear, but it seems to be generalized that a considerable number of the canonical processes of matrimonial nullity refer to the psychic incapacity of the contracting parties, due to various anomalies and, in many processes, to the immaturity of one or both of them.

Immaturity in itself is not a cause of nullity, but it is relevant when it becomes a real psychic incapacity that prevents the granting of full matrimonial consent. Another widespread reason that is at the origin of numerous processes is the exclusion, on the part of one or both parties, of some of the properties or essential elements of marriage.

The early breakup of many marriages also responds, in part, to a lack of preparation and education: growth in human virtues, an adequate and profound concept of love, formation on the reality of marriage itself, a sense of commitment, having lived a good courtship dealing in depth with the fundamental issues of present and future life, etc.

At the same time, we also perceive the strength of marriage and how this aspect of natural law is still alive in every person. We could say that God's imprint on the institution of marriage is not in crisis and that marriage is engraved in human nature.

Does it influence the canonical process to have lived together before getting married, or to celebrate a marriage? marriage without the intention of having children?

-The experience of having lived together before, in many cases, is not good. The bride and groom could make this experiment out of insecurity, to convince themselves that the other is the right person... but it has a part of deception since, while they are not married, both are "on alert", ready to win and maintain the affection of the other, since the permanence is not assured. When taking the step after the marriage, sometimes this alertness relaxes and the misunderstandings begin.

That is to say, previous cohabitation is different from marital cohabitation, since temporariness and perpetuity are radically different experiences: the exclusivity of marriage goes beyond living as a couple. In fact, it is common for many women who live together to make marriage a requirement for their boyfriends in order to have a child. In this sense, previous cohabitation has an influence on marital histories, but not on the validity of a union. That said, if one were to state in what way cohabitation or not cohabitation previously affects, it can be perceived that marriages that do not cohabit are stronger and break up less.

On the other hand, those who come to the altar without the intention of having children, are excluding one of the purposes of marriage and, therefore, seeking a different reality of what marriage is. However, it is easy to perceive in most of the couples, both the desire for marriage to last a lifetime, as well as the desire to be parents. Here it can be seen that the human being has a spousal dimension that has not been watered down by the environment.

What does the Pope, and the recent regulations of the Holy See, ask of members of ecclesiastical tribunals to work and decide in nullity proceedings?

-The Holy Father has pushed hard for a reform of the processes of matrimonial nullity, with the idea of making it as easy as possible for those who want to know the truth about their marriage. In this 2015 reform, a series of measures were established to help the Tribunals to be closer to the faithful - both in physical distance and in human closeness - and to make the processes more agile and shorter.

The master's degree is also aimed at people working in the field of marriage mediation or in counseling tasks for couples in difficulty: mediators, lawyers, psychiatrists or psychologists...

-That's right. The curriculum has an interdisciplinary training dimension that makes it useful for those who develop other functions, in particular for those who have to accompany and guide married couples in this situation of difficulty or crisis. The objective is the specialization and updating of professionals who work or wish to work in ecclesiastical tribunals or in the counseling and guidance phase.

Therefore, the range of persons to whom it may concern is wide: the parish priests who have to assess the opportunity to offer the way to initiate a procedure of declaration of nullity; the lawyers who must file a lawsuit after hearing the husband or the wife; the judges, who will have to pass judgment taking into account what has been alleged and proven by the parties.

Finally, how is the master's program structured?

-From the beginning, the idea was to provide a practical, flexible and personalized learning experience, adapting it to the requirements of the Holy See for this type of program. The master's degree combines a didactic mix of online personal work (80 %) and face-to-face teaching (20 %), developed over an academic year, which is divided into two semesters, with a total of 60 ECTS.

Online learning involves individual student work, with the guidance and help of the teacher. It allows a personal organization of the pace of study and a personalized follow-up, essential in this type of teaching. Classroom teaching will be given intensively in two weeks -one at the beginning of the first semester and the other at the end of the second-, at the campus of the University of Navarra in Madrid.

In addition to the approval of the Holy See, the master's degree has a markedly international projection, due to the universality of canon law and the teaching method adopted.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Experiences

I have seen Ratzinger!

A month ago, the whole world bade farewell to Benedict XVI. Thousands of people came to St. Peter's Basilica to say goodbye to Joseph Ratzinger. In those lines and waits, anecdotes followed one after the other.

Vitus Ntube-January 31, 2023-Reading time: 4 minutes

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"Ho visto Maradona, ho visto Maradona....

I remembered this song after a meeting that Monday morning when we went to pay our last respects to the late Pope Benedict XVI.

Fans of the Napoli soccer club, here in Italy, sang that song expressing their joy at having seen Maradona play soccer in their city.

When that boy came out of the basilica after having prayed before the remains of Pope Emeritus, he exclaimed to me: I have seen Ratzinger! I have seen Ratzinger!

I met him in the long line of those who set out to brave the early morning cold to pay their last respects to the late Pope.

We were among the many who came to thank him. We know we cannot write editorials, eulogies or share personal anecdotes of the Pope, but we were convinced that we knew him, that we have met him, that he has influenced us.

It turns out that my acquaintance is doing his doctoral thesis on the work of Joseph Ratzinger and so he had more ideas than I did. In short, I had a very interesting conversation with this man, let's call him Giuseppe.

Giuseppe shared a conversation he had with a friend the night before, when he informed him of his plan to go to the wake. The friend asked Giuseppe why he was going to see a dead person and he spontaneously replied, "Well, I'm going to see the living among the dead."

The queue was long with, so we had time to talk about many things revolving around Ratzinger's works mainly, to remember phrases from books or speeches we had liked, anecdotes from his personal life, scenes from Peter Seewald's biography, etc.

We were convinced that we had both met him. We spoke of his love for the liturgy, of his elegance, of how he always wore his white shirt and cufflinks well under his cassock, we remembered that in his first appearance on the balcony of St. Peter's Square he wore a black sweater under his white cassock, and then it was the last time we saw him with such a sweater.

We didn't know why, but we came to the conclusion that the moments after his election as Pope must have been peculiar moments. Besides, we could not forget his red shoes. I was reminded of what Chesterton wrote about Thomas Becket in his book Orthodoxy. He said that Becket wore a garment of camel's hair under his gold dress, and got the benefit of the hair garment while the people in the street got the benefit of the gold.

We don't know what Ratzinger wore under the red shoe or his overall elegance, but we are convinced that we had the benefit of the red shoe while he had the other.

We remember the eulogy he wrote for Ida Friederike Görres, in which he asked if we could give thanks for someone's death. She convinced us to give thanks even at her own passing. So we gave thanks.

We use the words he wrote on that occasion, "Can we give thanks in this death? I think we can and should say yes. We give thanks to God that she existed, that this insightful, courageous and faithful woman was given to the Church in this century. We give thanks for her writings, for the way she was and will continue to be present to many people through her writings. We give thanks for the way God led her, step by step. And we give thanks for the death He gave her." If we substitute the "she" for "he", we see how apt her words were for that occasion.

At one point in the conversation, we mentioned his discourse on the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, which is a living hymn of stone and light in praise of the unique act of human history that is the Incarnation.

In a way, he was alluding to Victor Hugo's work on Notre-Dame. At that moment, Giuseppe commented on a text by Victor Hugo about Balzac in which he said that the work left by Balzac is elevated, solid, of granite steps, a monument. He concluded by saying that the great ones make their own pedestal; the future takes care of the statue.

Ratzinger is one of the greats. He has left his pedestal with his work and his life. We would put the statue. We already have the pedestal. We owe the statue to the future generation, we paid a part of our share in that debt of gratitude we owe Pope Benedict when we took care of the statue. We would also dare to climb the pedestal he has already built.

Just as we were talking about statues, I suggested to Giuseppe that perhaps we could start by proposing a text of his that would enter into the Office of Readings of the Liturgy of the Hours. It would be a good starting point for him, who loved the liturgy very much. Didn't we read a text of St. Paul VI the other day in the Office of Readings, I asked him rhetorically.

One thing that is evident now is that Ratzinger unites. Giuseppe and I have bonded. I started by calling him an "acquaintance". I think it is fair to say that a seed of friendship has been sown.

Not long after that, I sent him a message saying that maybe the second paragraph of Deus Caritas Est, "We have believed in God's loveThe Christian can thus express the fundamental choice of his or her life. One does not begin to be a Christian by an ethical decision or a great idea, but by the encounter with an event, with a Person, which gives a new horizon to life and, with it, a decisive orientation", could be the one who will enter into the office of readings.

He has answered me saying to be patient, to read and reread what he has written and that possibly we will find something soon. In the meantime I am reading his texts, and this is the only way to prepare the statue.

The authorVitus Ntube

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Poverty, tensions and women, challenges ahead of Pope's visit to Africa

Africa is marked by strong contrasts: great natural wealth and poverty, as is the case in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan, countries visited by Pope Francis. Social tensions and violence against women are other challenges in this ecumenical journey of peace, which concludes in South Sudan, land of St. Josephine Bakhita.

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"The Pope's visit For us it represents a grace from God, we feel blessed," Monsignor Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala, Bishop of Tombura-Yambio, in South Sudan, told Omnes a few months ago. "This will be a historic trip; no pontiff has ever crossed our borders before," he added.

In fact, St. John Paul II visited Zaire, today's Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on two occasions, but did not cross over to South Sudan. Now, Pope Francis will do so, on an ecumenical trip, and he has been inviting for some time now pray for him.

Indeed, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welbywill visit South Sudan with Pope Francis and the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Most Reverend Dr. Iain Greenshields, from February 3-5. Archbishop Welby has issued a call to prayer, urging prayers for the people of South Sudan ahead of their historic joint visit, "Our visit is a pilgrimage of peace. We come as servants to amplify the cries of the South Sudanese people," who continue to suffer from conflict, flooding and famine.

Extreme poverty

That a medium dedicated for years to information on Africa, Black World, of the Comboni Missionaries, whose founder, saint Daniel ComboniThe fact that the magazine, a bishop who died in Khartoum (Sudan) in 1881, has dedicated two consecutive front pages in November and December to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is food for thought.

Pope Francis' fifth apostolic journey to Africa is one reason. But in addition, violence against women in African countries - and also in European, American and Asian countries, as is well known - remains at the forefront. And extreme poverty is appalling in countries such as those the Holy Father will now visit, DR Congo and South Sudan, even if they have great mineral wealth.

For example, the coltan used in the manufacture of cell phones is largely extracted in the mines of the Congolese republic, which is also rich in gold, copper or diamonds. However, the Congolese Gross Domestic Product was, in 2021, 494 euros, so it is at the bottom of the table of countries, while the standard of living of its inhabitants is "very low" in relation to the 196 States in the ranking. In South Sudan, the GDP per capita was even lower, 359 euros last year, so its standard of living can be qualified in the same way.

Helping Africa

Prior to the covid, Enrique Bayo, director of Black WorldIn these pages, he stressed that "this is the time to increase collaboration with African countries, and the opportunity to rethink a system that exacerbates inequality between and within countries, degrades the environment and endangers our humanity. Helping Africa is helping ourselves. Everything is interrelated, Francis repeats, let us get rid of the illusion that we can be well off while Africa suffers. To help Africa is to help ourselves," he repeated.

Pope Francis, writes the Comboni publication, "is well aware of the human suffering hidden in statistics such as those of Doctors Without Borders, as he recently stated in an online meeting with young Africans, whom he invited to rebel against this situation of oppression in order to bring about a true liberation of women in Africa."

Hope and optimism

In addition to the aforementioned denunciations, complementary views also stand out recently, such as those of the coordinator of the Studies and Documentation Department at Manos Unidas, Fidele PodgaHe told Omnes that ending hunger is not a utopia, and that "current agricultural production would be enough to feed almost twice the world's population.

On the other hand, the president of the NGDO Harambee, Antonio Hernández DeusThe African woman stands out for her hope and optimism," he said. Education, health, the promotion of women and professional development are the main lines of action of Harambee in Africa, an initiative born of the canonization of St. Josemaría Escrivá.

Nigerian economist Franca OvadjeThe recipient of the Harambee 2022 African Women's Empowerment and Equality Award, said last year at Omnes that, in her opinion, "empowering women to believe in themselves can only be achieved through education".

Saint Josephine Bakhita

The Apostolic Nuncio to the Republic of the Congo, Monsignor Ettore Balestrero, said that the Congolese nation "is a predominantly Christian country, with Catholics representing the largest group. There have been difficult periods, with more or less open persecutions, and there are martyrs among the missionaries and among the natives. This is the case of Beatus Anuarite and Isidore Bakanja, beatified by St. John Paul II, respectively in Kisangani in 1985 and in Rome in 1994.

The patron saint of South Sudan is saint Josephine Bakhita (Darfur, Sudan, 1869 - 1947, Schio, Italy). On October 1, 2000, she was canonized by St. John Paul II, after having been beatified by the same Pope in St. Peter's on May 17, 1992, together with St. Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei.

The feast of this African religious saint, who at the age of nine was kidnapped and then sold into slavery up to six times, is celebrated on February 8.

Since 2015, the universal Church has been celebrating on that day the World Day of Reflection and Prayer against Human Trafficking, promoted by Pope Francis.

Caroline Welby

Ms. Welby has just stated that the women of South Sudan are "incredible women of strength," many of whom endure the trauma of displacement, sexual violence and the daily fear of abuse in their own communities.

Referring to South Sudanese women, Caroline Welby has said, "Many live with the trauma of displacement in their own country, refugees in other countries, sexual violence and the daily fear of abuse in their own homes and communities. And yet they are also incredible women of strength, praising God and turning to him for and turning to him for comfort. It is a privilege to walk alongside them, and I pray that their example will be in South Sudan and around the world," he said.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Naprotechnology. An answer to fertility or female cycle problems.

Family

Neurotechnology and religion, inseparable?

Naprotechnology is a method that helps to solve reproductive and gynecological disorders in women. It is inspired by the magisterium of Pope Paul VI, especially in the document Humanae Vitae, but this does not imply that it is exclusive to Catholics.

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There are many couples who wish to have children but are unable to do so for various reasons. More still are the people who, finding themselves in this situation, resort to solutions such as in vitro fertilization or surrogacy to satisfy their desire to be parents.

In the face of these situations, a different response is emerging, inspired by the encyclical of Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae. This option is naprotechnology. Naprotechnology, developed by Dr. Thomas W. Hilgers, uses biomarkers analyzed with the Creighton model. This allows the woman to learn more about her fertility and the health personnel to identify reproductive problems or gynecological disorders. Thanks to this method, the alterations suffered by women in the gynecological area can be corrected, with the aim of restoring both fertility and health.

Although naprotechnology is born from the magisterium of a Pope, one cannot run the risk of reducing it to a Catholic way to regulate the birth rate. On the contrary, Venancio Carrión talks in this interview about the relationship between naprotechnology and other religions. Venancio has a degree in Philosophy, a master's degree in Bioethics and a master's degree in Family Pastoral. He is also an affective-sexual monitor. He is the president of Naprotecthe Spanish Association of Naprotechnology. This association is responsible for the training, dissemination and promotion of Naprotechnology and its professionals in Spain and some countries in Europe and America.

In his answers, Venancio draws on his experience in accompanying couples who come to the association. In this interview, he explains the reasons why naprotechnology is not a restrictively Catholic option, but open to everyone.

What is Christianity's conception of marriage and family based on?

-Presence of God and sanctification of the spouses. From a Christian vision, before the separation in different confessions, marriage is a natural reality elevated by the Sacrament: God becomes present in a human reality and converts it into a place of divine Presence and therefore a place of sanctification, being with the spouse we are with God. In the spousal relationship there is a glimpse of the relationship between the divine persons, albeit in an accidental and contingent way. A marriage God makes himself present in this relationship that human freedom has "created".

It is precisely in this context of the generation of love for the freedom of two persons and the Presence of God, where it makes sense that a new human being arrives.

Although naprotechnology has a strong Catholic base, the faithful of other denominations are also turning to it. Is this for purely medical reasons or do you think there is more to it?

-For both reasons, first of all, Naprotechnology and Restorative Medicine are first of all medicine. The real medicine seeks a good for the human being and that is why it is an attraction for any human being, for any couple that is in a situation where children do not come it is "natural" to go to this way, it is what they are looking for since always, the problem is that they are only presented with reproduction techniques. Secondly, it is easier for people of Christian beliefs to come, but also Jews and Muslims. Anyone who shares the same vision of marriage; the union of man and woman, the place par excellence for the arrival of the human being.

How are marriages of other denominations accompanied?

-From the Association we carry out exactly the same type of accompaniment, focusing on the human side and facilitating all the steps for the medical side, respecting beliefs, but praying for everyone. Regarding the latter, I would like to share an anecdote. In a counseling session I detected that the couple belonged to a non-Catholic group. A second call confirmed my suspicion. They had already spoken with the "catechist" and he authorized them to continue with the process, but they expressed their concern about whether a priest was going to say a prayer over them as part of the process. My response was immediate, "family, this is a medical process, no priest has to lay hands on you, but have no doubt that we have been praying for you and your situation from the very beginning".

What things about marriage and children can be learned when dealing with people of other religions?

-The same suffering can be seen in all families. No one gives them reason or helps them along the way. In some communities they can be frowned upon if no children come out of the marriage. Precisely in the face of this suffering, we seek to provide help so that a journey can be made without harming the love of the spouses and to help them, even if they are not aware of it, on their path of sanctification. We help them to continue to place God, who is the source of all fruitfulness, at the center of their covenant. We do not detect great differences in the essentials, since it is a very human path that responds to the essence of the marital commitment. Certainly when it is illuminated by faith, it becomes more bearable and it is possible to discover fruitfulness where it seemed that it did not exist.

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Initiatives

Finland. Catholic Diaspora in non-Catholic temples

The task of evangelization in Finland requires initiative and imagination, because the nearest Catholic parish, for many, can be hundreds of kilometers away. Thanks to the gift of ecumenism, Lutherans and Orthodox allow Catholics to celebrate the liturgy in their churches in 20 cities.

Raimo Goyarrola-January 30, 2023-Reading time: 5 minutes

The whole of Finland is a single diocese. In a country of five and a half million inhabitants, the diocesan registry gives the figure of just 17,000 Catholics. But the reality far exceeds the statistics. We estimate that there could already be more than 30,000 Catholics in Finland.

Thanks be to God, for several years we have had a steady annual growth of 500 new Catholics. Half of them come through the baptism of children and adults, and the other half through the arrival of immigrants and refugees. Throughout the country we have 8 Catholic parishes spread over an area of 338,440 square kilometers.

With these data it is easy to understand that our pastoral work goes beyond the parishes understood as places where the people of God congregate. As Pope Francis so often encourages us, we are a Church on the move. A Church in search of her children scattered throughout the vast Finnish geography. Not in vain, for many, the nearest parish is 50 kilometers, 100 kilometers, 300 kilometers away....

To care for these faithful we also have the immense gift of ecumenism. In Finland ecumenism is a concrete and generous miracle. One of the reasons is that we are able to use non-Catholic churches throughout the country. Every month we celebrate in 20 non-Catholic churches that the Lutheran Church and the Orthodox Church lend us in 20 different cities.

Immigrants now priests

The first great wave of Catholic refugees arrived as a consequence of the war in Vietnam and communist persecution. One of the families that fled, overcoming indescribable difficulties, had the great gift of receiving in its midst the priestly vocation of one of the sons, who is now a parish priest in Tampere, the second largest city in the country. Four other cities are served from there.

The same joy befell another family fleeing the fratricidal war in Rwanda. The father of the family was killed while fleeing with his wife and children. The first-born son also discovered his priestly vocation in Finland. He is the current pastor of Helsinki Cathedral. From the capital he travels to half a dozen cities.

Pastoral work is very dynamic and also requires a spirit of initiative and imagination. I would like to share with readers two personal experiences. The first began in January 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic was universally declared. A Catholic family in Kerava, a small town about 40 kilometers from Helsinki, asked me to celebrate Mass in their home on a Sunday. I gladly accepted on the condition that they would invite known Catholics from the area. Two families came. The following month we had four families together, so the apartment was already too small.

Talking to the Catholic parish priest in the Kerava area, I proposed contacting the local Lutheran church to see if they had a chapel where we could meet and celebrate Mass on Sundays. When I explained the project to the Lutheran pastor he was very happy and said he would be honored to have Catholic Mass in his parish. He let us use a chapel attached to the large complex of parish buildings. The first Mass in the chapel came and there were 20 of us.

But the first Covid restrictions began in Finland. The condition set by the pastor was prudent as we were already in the pandemic. He asked me not to exceed 20 participants. The next Sunday came and there were 27 of us. We had outgrown the chapel. Once again, I was surprised by the generosity of the pastor, who offered us another larger chapel where 100 people could easily fit. I currently celebrate there once a month for 70-80 people. Our goal is to use the city church with a capacity of 300 people. Just the number of Catholics that I estimate there are within a 15 kilometer radius of Kerava. Everything will come.

Some non-Catholic Christians come and participate in our Mass. Some out of curiosity, others out of devotion. This has been the case of a young Pentecostal couple who live near the church where we celebrate. They have not missed any Catholic Mass and after adequate catechetical preparation they joined the Catholic Church at the end of last October. At the last two Masses there were a couple of families unknown to me who turned out to be Lutherans. It is apparent that God uses our Mass to draw other Christians into full communion. The Lutheran pastor knows this and expresses his gratitude to the Lord. This is Finland.

African Catholics in Finland

On the other hand, five years ago we started a chaplaincy in the diocese to provide pastoral care for Africans living in Finland. Our parishes in Helsinki have become too small for the large number of African Catholics who wish to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord in the Eucharist. In addition, many of them have very complicated work schedules, often working on Sundays and with long distances to travel to reach the Catholic Church.

On one occasion, a Lutheran pastor told me that at Mass in his parish there were many Africans, probably Catholics, because of the way they participated in the liturgy. It was clear that we needed a larger and closer church, where we think most Africans live in the metropolitan city.

We went to talk to the Lutheran bishop of Helsinki who welcomed us warmly. He immediately offered us the parish where he had been pastor before being elected bishop. The church is well located and well connected by various means of transportation. Moreover, it has a capacity for almost a thousand people.

Two priests of African origin live in Helsinki: one from Rwanda and the other from Cameroon. The latter has been appointed chaplain for pastoral work with Africans. The chaplaincy has been celebrating Mass every Sunday in the Lutheran church since September of this year. More than 350 people gather to the rhythm of African music and dances. Each week, a choir from an African country also takes turns organizing the liturgy: Kenya, Cameroon, Nigeria, Congo, Ivory Coast, Uganda, South Sudan..... There is no problem in filling the 52 Sundays of the year with representatives from 52 countries or tribes.

Also Latin American

In this last period, dozens of Catholics fleeing from Venezuela and Nicaragua are arriving from Latin America. When a refugee arrives in Finland, the authorities carefully examine his case. If they consider them suitable for admission to the country, they provide them with accommodation, courses to enable them to work and Finnish language classes. It is a challenge for us to meet them, as they are not asked about religion, and in their first weeks they are given accommodation outside Helsinki, sometimes far away from Catholic parishes. We are getting to know many of them and they tell their compatriots. Folk festivals are occasions for gathering and sometimes begin with Mass. In a small town 230 kilometers from Helsinki there is a very lively community of Latin Americans. There the Eucharist is celebrated once a month in Spanish for them, in an Orthodox church.

We are in dialogue with the civil authorities in order to be a reference in the reception of people coming from countries with a Catholic majority. There is a willingness to cooperate. We are few but the effort is worth it. For many the integration in the country goes through their integration in their Catholic community. It is an important work that requires patience and audacity to go outside the walls of the Catholic structure itself, and to look for people where they are, even if it is 500 kilometers away.

The authorRaimo Goyarrola

Omnes correspondent in Finland.

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The Catholic Church in Congo and South Sudan

Anselme Ludiga, a Congolese priest from the Diocese of Kalemie-Kirungu, and Fr. Alfred Mahmoud Ambaro, a South Sudanese priest, describe the reality that Pope Francis will encounter during his visit to both countries.

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Francis' invitation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. had been not to lose "confidence" and to nurture the "hope" that a meeting would take place, as soon as conditions permitted.

It was July 2, the day the Pope was scheduled to leave, until July 7, "for a pilgrimage of peace and reconciliation" in those lands, which was later postponed to allow for the knee treatment the Pope was undergoing at the time.

"Do not let your hope be stolen!", Francis then asked in a video message addressed to those populations, in which he expressed his regret "for having been forced to postpone this long-desired and long-awaited visit".

To them he entrusted the great mission of "turning the page to open new paths" of reconciliation, forgiveness, peaceful coexistence and development. And to these lands the Pope had sent Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to "prepare the way".

The moment has arrived: on Tuesday, January 31, the Holy Father's visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan officially begins.

Anselme Ludiga, a Congolese priest of the Diocese of Kalemie-Kirungu (former pastor of St. John Mary Vianney in Kala), and Father Alfred Mahmoud Ambaro, a South Sudanese priest of the Diocese of Tombura-Yambio and pastor of Mary Help of Christians in the city of Tombura.

South Sudan, yearning for peace

Father Alfred, who has been in Rome for four years and holds a degree in Psychology from the Salesian Pontifical University, recalled "the drama of the war and the consequent humanitarian emergency in South Sudan, so much so that it led the Pope to summon the highest South Sudanese religious and political authorities together with the Archbishop of Canterbury to Casa Santa Marta in April 2018 for an ecumenical spiritual retreat."

President Salva Kiir and the vice-presidents-designate, among them Rebecca Nyandeng De Mabior, widow of South Sudanese leader John Garang, and Riek Machar, leader of the opposition, went to the Vatican. "Those days were crowned by the Pope's unprecedented and striking gesture of getting down on his knees," Father Alfred continued, "at the end of a speech in which he implored the gift of peace for a country disfigured by more than 400,000 dead, and then kissed the feet of South Sudan's leaders. "May the fire of war be extinguished once and for all," the Pontiff said, reiterating once again his desire to visit the country.

12 million inhabitants of South Sudan, the current president is Catholic, as are the vast majority of citizens, mostly pastors and farmers. Six dioceses, one archdiocese, all bishops are duly appointed.

These are some of the figures recalled by Father Alfred Mahmoud Ambaro, not without first drawing attention to the fact that "South Sudan separated from Khartoum with the 2011 referendum, after almost fifty years of war".

The peace treaty between the two states marked a milestone in the separation of the southern region of Sudan. A five-year transitional period, during which Juba would have enjoyed broad autonomy, was to be followed by the referendum on self-determination, in which 98.83% of voters voted in favor of secession.

The new state is crippled not only by conflict, but also by a prolonged famine, which has caused 2 million deaths and 4 million refugees and displaced persons. The infrastructure is almost completely destroyed. Added to this is a weak welfare state that has to cope with various humanitarian emergencies. Hence the ethnic conflicts that erupted between 2012 and 2013, especially in the Jonglei region.

Economically, oil accounts for 98% of South Sudan's revenue". With the disintegration of Greater Sudan, 85% of crude oil reserves remained in the South, but the only usable pipelines are through the North.

The dispute over the "right of way", for which Khartoum demanded a high price, led the Southern government to halt extraction from January 2012 until March 2013, when it resumed following a new agreement with Khartoum.

Even today - adds Fr. Alfred - the skirmishes between ethnic groups persist. In politics, they are reflected in the tensions between President Salva Kiir Mayardit (Dinka), Vice President Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon (Nuer) and opposition leader Lam Akol Ajwin (Shilluk).

In August 2022, the U.S. decided to end support for the monitoring mechanisms of the peace process in South Sudan precisely because of the inability of national leaders to find agreements to implement their international commitments."

The hope is that Pope Francis, concluded the South Sudanese priest, will be able to respond to the expectations raised by the very motto chosen for his trip, taken from the Gospel of John: "I pray that they may all be one" (John 17).

The logo contains the dove, the outline of the map of South Sudan with the colors of the flag, the cross and two intertwined hands. All symbolic images. Above the contours of the map of the country appears the dove, carrying an olive branch to represent the desire for peace of the Sudanese people. Below the dove are the outlines of the map of South Sudan with the colors of the flag. In the center, two hands intertwined to represent the reconciliation of the tribes that form a nation. Finally, the cross, depicted on the right, to represent the Christian heritage of the country and its history of suffering.

The Church of the Congo, watered by martyrdom

For his part, Father Anselme Ludiga, student of Communication at the Pontifical University of the Holy Crossshared some reflections on the apostolic journey to the Democratic Republic of Congo, mentioning first of all the historical events related to the evangelization of the country, which "dates back to the end of the 15th century when, in May 1491, Portuguese missionaries baptized the ruler of the kingdom of Kongo, Nzinga Nkuwu, who took the Christian name of Joao I Nzinga Nkuwu. In turn, the court and the inhabitants of the kingdom converted to the ruler's religion.

The capital kongo also changed its name from Baji to San Salvador. In 1512, the kingdom of Kongo (the former name of the country that would later become the Congo) established direct relations with Pope Leo X, after sending a delegation to Rome headed by King Alfonso's son, Henry. He was consecrated titular bishop of Utica by Pope Leo X in 1518, becoming the first bishop of black Africa.

During the 16th century, missionary work continued in the Kingdom with the arrival in 1548 of four Jesuits to open a college. The growth of Catholics led the Holy See to erect the diocese of San Salvador in 1585, followed by that of Manza-Kongo at the end of the century. With the creation of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith ("de Propaganda Fide") in 1622, a new impetus was given to the mission in the kingdom of Kongo and in neighboring Angola, with the sending of a Capuchin mission in 1645.

In 1774, the mission of the French secular priests began. A setback for missionary action - Father Anselme emphasizes - occurred in 1834, when Portugal, to whom the evangelization of the Kingdom had been entrusted, suppressed the male religious orders in the overseas possessions and in the metropolis.

Missionary action was resumed in 1865, when the French Fathers of the Holy Spirit (Spiritans) began their mission in the Kingdom. With the beginning of the Belgian penetration, other missionary orders arrived in the Congo: Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) in 1880; Missionaries of Scheut in 1888; Sisters of Charity in 1891; Jesuits, who returned for the second time in 1892.

The missionary work bore fruit: in 1917 the first Congolese priest was ordained. In 1932 the first Conference of the Episcopate of the Belgian Congo was held. The Catholic Church is also credited with founding the country's first university, Lovanium University, opened by the Jesuits in 1954 in Léopoldiville, now Kinshasa. In 1957, the first faculty of theology in Africa was created.

In the 1950s the local clergy was consolidated. In 1956 the first Congolese bishop, Bishop Pierre Kimbondo, was consecrated. In 1959, Monsignor Joseph Malula was appointed Archbishop of Léopoldiville and, ten years later, Cardinal.

Anselme Ludiga concludes his interesting and timely historical excursus, "the Church went through a difficult period due to the nationalist policy of President Mobutu, who, in the name of a return to the "authenticity" of the local culture, opposed the Catholic Church, considered as an emanation of European culture.

The Church reaffirmed its mission and its inculturation in the local society through the document "L'Eglise au service de la nation zaïroise" in 1972 and, in 1975, the document "Notre foi en Jésus Christ". After the nationalization of Catholic schools, in 1975, the Congolese Episcopal Conference published the "Déclaration de l'Episcopat zaïrois face à la situation présente" (Mobutu had changed the name of the country to Zaire).

The two visits of Pope John Paul II, in 1980 and 1985, revitalized the local Catholic community. The second visit of Pope John Paul II took place on the occasion of the beatification of Sister Clementina Anuarite Nengapeta, martyred in 1964.

In 1992-94, an important recognition of the social role of the Catholic Church was the attribution of the presidency of the National Sovereign Conference for the Transition to a Democratic System to Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, Archbishop of Kisangani and current president of the Episcopal Conference of Congo.

Finally, some data related to the current situation of the Catholic Church: 90 million inhabitants of the Congo today, more than half of whom are of the Christian faith. 48 dioceses, 6 ecclesiastical provinces, 44 ordained bishops, more than 6000 priests.

All reconciled in Jesus Christ" is the motto of the trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose logo shows the Pope in the center of a map of the country that reproduces the colors of the flag. Inside, some elements of the biodiversity of the Congolese land.

The map," explains the organizing committee, "is open to the West to show the welcome given to this great event and the fruits it will bear; moreover, the colors of the flag, skillfully distributed, are very expressive. The yellow color, in all its aspects, symbolizes the richness of the country: fauna and flora, terrestrial and subway. The red color represents the blood shed by the martyrs, as it is still happening today in the eastern part of the country. The blue color, in the upper part, wants to express the most ardent desire of every Congolese: peace.

The authorAntonino Piccione

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The Beatitudes, a blueprint for holiness. Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Pope Francis: "Each one is a sacred and unique gift".

The Pope prayed the Angelus with the faithful in St. Peter's Square and gave a brief meditation on the Beatitudes, focusing on poverty of spirit.

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Pope Francis took advantage of the Angelus prayer, together with the usual meditation beforehand, to speak about poverty of spirit. Francis took his cue from the Sunday readings, with the passage from the Gospel of St. Matthew that speaks about the beatitudes.

The Holy Father points out that the first and fundamental of these beatitudes is the one that refers to poverty of spirit. The poor in spirit "are those who know that they are not enough for themselves, that they are not self-sufficient, and live as mendicants of God: they feel in need of Him and recognize that good comes from Him, as a gift, as grace. Those who are poor in spirit treasure what they receive; that is why they do not want any gift to go to waste.

The Pope points to this very concrete characteristic: that nothing should go to waste. "Jesus shows us the importance of not wasting, for example, after the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, when he asks that the leftover food be collected so that nothing is lost. Not wasting allows us to appreciate the value of ourselves, of people and of things. Unfortunately, however, this principle is often neglected, especially in the richest societies, where the culture of waste and discarding dominates".

Challenges against waste

Taking this example of Christ, Francis proposes three challenges to fight against the tendency to waste. First, "not to waste the gift that we are. Each one of us is an asset, regardless of the qualities we have. Every woman, every man is rich not only in talents, but also in dignityis loved by God". This is not a mere witticism, but has its basis in the Gospel. "Jesus reminds us that we are blessed not because of what we have, but because of who we are". This challenge, therefore, implies an action that the Pope concretizes as follows: "Let us fight, with God's help, against the temptation to consider ourselves inadequate, mistaken, and to pity ourselves."

The second challenge is the following: "not to waste the gifts we have". In this regard, Francis mentions the large amount of food that is thrown away every year, which clashes with the world famine crisis. For this reason, the Pope claims that "the resources of creation cannot be used like this; goods must be guarded and shared, so that no one lacks what is necessary. Let us not waste what we have, but spread an ecology of justice and charity!"

The third and final challenge consists in "not discarding people". The throwaway culture that prevails today tends to use people until they are no longer useful, "and this is especially true of the most fragile: the unborn, the elderly, the needy and the disadvantaged. But people cannot be thrown away, never! Each one is a sacred and unique gift, in every age and in every condition. Let us respect and promote life always!"

A brief examination of conscience

The Pope ends his sermon by inviting us to make a brief examination of conscience, to analyze our heart. The questions Francis poses are: "First of all, how do I live poverty of spirit? Do I know how to make room for God, do I believe that He is my good, my true great good? wealthDo I believe that He loves me or do I throw myself away with sadness, forgetting that I am a gift? And then: am I attentive not to waste, am I responsible in the use of things, of goods? And am I available to share them with others? Finally: do I consider the most fragile as precious gifts that God asks me to guard? Do I remember the poor, those who are deprived of what they need?"

The Holy Father places everyone under the protection of St. Mary, "Woman of the Beatitudes," so that she may help us "to bear witness to the joy that life is a gift and the beauty of making ourselves a gift."

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Kyrgyzstan to have its first Catholic cathedral

The cathedral, which will soon begin construction, will be located in Biškek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. The Catholic faithful number half a thousand in a predominantly Muslim nation.

Federico Piana-January 29, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

There is an event in Kyrgyzstan that can certainly be considered historic: the construction of the first Catholic cathedral. The place of worship, the first stone of which was blessed at the Vatican by Pope Francis, will be built in Biškek, capital of the Central Asian nation, until 1991 one of the socialist republics that made up the Soviet Union.

The great novelty lies not only in the fact that the cathedral will be built many years after the fall of communism - somewhat later than in other post-Soviet countries, where the construction of cathedrals and churches flourished between the early 1990s and 2000 - but also in the fact that the Catholic Church is clearly in the minority. "How many Catholics are there in Kyrgyzstan? More or less 500, while there are six parishes in total," Damian Wojciechowski, a Jesuit, bursar of the Apostolic Administration of Kyrgyzstan and head of the cathedral construction project, explains to Omnes.

A small group when compared to the number of the entire population: more than 5 million, mostly Muslims, while the state is officially secular.

Small building, big symbol

In Biškek, for now, there is only one parish, located on the outskirts of the city. "With the new church, everything will be different," says Wojciechowski, explaining that the cathedral - whose construction is expected to begin in the next few weeks and last a few years - will not be huge, "it will measure only 300 square meters. It will be as small as our community. But the most important thing is that it will be a tangible sign of the presence of our faith throughout the country. And this is what we really needed.

Next to the cathedral, a large pastoral center will also be built to accommodate the many activities of the faithful that now take place in some private homes.

"Our houses", Wojciechowski points out, "are really small and are not suitable for these initiatives. And then we have to add that in the same pastoral center will also live some priests and our Apostolic Administrator, while some rooms will be used for Caritas offices."

The closeness of the Church

Kyrgyzstan is a young nation: according to the latest available data, at least 50% of the population is under 25 years old. "But Kyrgyzstan," reveals Wojciechowski, "is also a poor society, just think that at least 1.5 million people work in Russia because there are no jobs here."

Complicating matters is the high rate of corruption and political instability. Thus, the construction of the new cathedral can certainly be seen as a gesture of closeness of the Church to a population that suffers and needs to be supported and accompanied in its social redemption.

"In addition to witnessing to Jesus with our evangelization, we want to show that all Christians are proud citizens of Kyrgyzstan and want to do something good for this country," Wojciechowski concludes.

The authorFederico Piana

Journalist. He works for Vatican Radio and collaborates with L'Osservatore Romano.

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Spain

Call to communion in the synodal process by the Spanish bishops

Faced with the "resistances" detected in the synodal itinerary, which the team of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE) called "polarizations", Cardinal Juan José Omella, president of the Episcopal Conference, urged "not to be afraid" of this listening process and to be "cum Petro and sub Petro, the one chosen by the Lord".

Francisco Otamendi-January 28, 2023-Reading time: 4 minutes

In the presentation of the synthesis text with the contributions that dioceses, religious congregations, movements and different groups have sent to the synodal team of the Episcopal Conference, and shortly before its content was made public, Cardinal Omella went so far as to speak of "there are seas and rivers that want to drown the process undertaken in the universal Church" at the request of the Pope.

However, he added, "the Spirit urges us to walk together, without losing love, communion and hope", "united to Christ, cum Petro and sub Petro, with Peter, who is the one chosen by the Lord", "Peter resisted Christ, but Christ chose him".

In this way, the Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona and President of the EEC appealed to a "growing yearning for communion and rejection of division", and detected that "perhaps we have neglected prayer, do we believe in prayer?" he asked. "Without a life of prayer we can do nothing," and he recalled that "only after Pentecost were the disciples 'cor unum and anima una'."

"Recovering Christian fraternity".

Archbishop Luis Marín, undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, then spoke. General Secretariat of the Synodso as to onlineVicente Jimenez Zamora, and the coordinating bishop of the synodal team, Bishop Vicente Jimenez Zamora. Both also referred to the obstacles to the synodal process, in the presence of the vice-president of the EEC and archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Carlos Osoro, the secretary general of the Bishops' Conference, Monsignor Francisco César García Magán, and more than a hundred people attending the meeting.

Msgr. Luis Marín recalled that "the synodal dimension of the Church has been present since its origins. "The spirituality and climate of prayer", "recovering the sense of Christian fraternity", valuing "the richness of the variety of vocations and sensibilities", are some of the other characteristics of the synodal process. "Be courageous, be generous," he encouraged, and "let us walk together with humility, availability and hope."

The coordinating bishop and archbishop emeritus of Zaragoza, Bishop Vicente Jiménez Zamora, focused his remarks on "memory" and "commitment" and pointed out that the synod process "is being a grace of God", which "is a milestone in the Church".

Jiménez Zamora will be accompanying Cardinal Juan José Omella, representing the EEC, to the European Continental Assembly of the synodal process, to be held in Prague from February 5 to 9, together with the secretary of the synodal team, Father Luis Manuel Romero; Sr. María José Tuñón, ACI, who this morning led the introductory prayer, as responsible for consecrated life and member of the synodal team, and Dolores García Pi, president of the Forum of the Laity and also a member of the same synodal team of the Episcopal Conference.

The text summarizes

The presentation of the synthesis, which is available at hereThe final text, with the contributions to the document, was presented by three members of the synodal team: Isaac Martin, Olalla Rodriguez and Dolores Garcia Pi. The three reminded that it is not a closed and definitive text, because the final text will be presented in Prague at the beginning of February, and to which contributions can still be sent.

Among other aspects, the following can be summarized:

1.- Polarizations.

It is detected that "the same polarizations existing in society are present within the Church: the polarization between diversity and unity and the need for dialogue (among ourselves, at the ecumenical level and with society); the polarization between tradition and renewal (particularly in the liturgy and in language); the polarization between the pyramidal Church and the synodal Church (which is manifested in our structures).

On the other hand, "the trinomial 'communion, participation and co-responsibility' appears repeatedly in the contributions, admitting that there are impediments to grow in them, particularly due to the resistance of the clergy and the passivity of the laity. The tension of clericalism that leads to confusing service with power is strongly detected. We are pained by the existing distances between the members of the people of God of different vocations and the loneliness in which some of them live. A first step to address this is the formation in seminaries and novitiates and that received by the laity".

Gift of the Holy Spirit

2. Images and some contributions.

"The biblical image of the tent seems to us very suggestive and enlightening as a symbol of what we are called to be: a Church going out, made up of diverse and plural people who, from the desire to be more welcoming every day, but without forgetting the foundation of unity, open its doors and make itself present, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit".

"The synodal process should not be conceived as a solution to the problems of the Church as a whole, but as a gift of the Holy Spirit that calls us to active listening, profound dialogue and communal discernment through the methodology of spiritual conversation."

"We also sense that, in order to walk together, a continuous personal conversion is necessary in each of the members of the Church, starting from listening to the Word of God, prayer and the sacraments, emphasizing the centrality of the Eucharist.

The synodal process is helping to raise awareness of the common dignity of all the baptized and the need to revitalize it in order to grow in co-responsibility and a sense of belonging to the Church. All this is perceived with greater strength in the laity, but it also appears in pastors and in the consecrated life".

3. Church on the move. Ecumenism, popular religiosity, family ministry.

"The invitation to be a Church that goes out, in the context of the secularization that we are experiencing in Europe and Spain, continues to resound with intensity. For this reason, the longing for a missionary Church, with open doors, where the cry of the poorest and most vulnerable is heard, without forgetting the cry of the earth".

"A novel experience has been the great coincidence in the importance of ecumenism and interreligious dialogue, which broadens the space of our tent, the Church. In addition, the value of popular religiosity and the fundamental role that family pastoral care should have is intuited", the text points out.

Here are some of the ideas of the synthesis of the proposal of the Church in Spain for the continental assembly in Prague (February 5-9). The presidents of the 39 bishops' conferences of Europe will meet from the 10th to the 12th of the same month, according to Luis Manuel Romero, and the first session of the Synodal Assembly will take place in Rome from October 4-29.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Kinshasa warms up

The countdown to the arrival of Pope Francis in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo has begun and the final details of the preparations for the visit of the Holy Father are being finalized.

Alberto García Marcos-January 28, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

When there is a big event in sight, the months are counted, then the days are counted, and finally the hours are counted. Well, we are already in that phase where we count the hours until the arrival of the Pope.

It must be said that the city took a while to wake up. Like the apostle Thomas, everyone was waiting to play "the tripThe Pope's words "with the hands, and see it with the eyes to believe. But, a few days before the Pope's arrival, the doubts have been dispelled. The Pope is coming to Congo and, more precisely, to its capital: Kinshasa.

The governor of the city has written a communiqué encouraging the citizens to make an effort to leave the city clean and to give a good welcome to the Pope. Catholic schools and parishes have divided the route to greet Francis as he passes from the airport to the Nunciature (25 kilometers). But not only Catholics want to see him. The Pope will pass through one of the most populated and lively neighborhoods of the city. The aerial view will be impressive, everyone wants to see the Holy Father.

A group of volunteers helps with preparations for the Pope's visit

After greeting the authorities at the Palace of the Nation, the Pope will go directly to the Nunciature, where the Luc Gillon Choir, which was born in the heart of the University of Kinshasa, will welcome him with their songs. A group of boys and girls dressed as the National soccer team of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the San Lorenzo team (the Pope's Argentinean soccer team) will welcome him with open arms.

The young people are organizing to spend the night at the Ndolo Airport, where the Pope will celebrate Mass. More than one hundred confessionals will be set up there to attend to all those who want to reconcile with God. Different choirs will enliven the evening with their songs. The Congolese have music in their blood, and singing always goes hand in hand with dancing. There will also be times for prayer, in particular, the four parts of the Holy Rosary.

At 7:30 a.m. the airport doors will close. The night will be busy and in the early hours of the morning the flow of people will continue, similar to that of an anthill before the rain. More than a million people are expected to attend the Mass. We pray that the rain will respect us and that among so many people, everything will go well.

– Supernatural Holy Mass Will it last an hour and a half. Alone? many ask. Well, it looks like it will, including the singing and communion. Everyone is intrigued, because here we are rather used to longer Masses.

The authorAlberto García Marcos

Kinsasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

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United States

Abortion and jurisprudence in the United States

The Canon Law Section of the Madrid Bar Association organized a conference on the legal protection of fundamental rights. Three speakers addressed the subject from different perspectives, including the jurisprudence of the United States in relation to the rights of the unborn.

Paloma López Campos-January 28, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

In a day On the legal protection of fundamental rights organized by the Canon Law Section of the Madrid Bar Association, Professor José Ignacio Rubio spoke on the right to life in the United States. His lecture was entitled "The right to life of the unborn in the jurisprudential doctrine of the U.S. Supreme Court: from Roe to Dobbs (1973-2022)".

Professor Rubio's presentation began with a quotation from Benedict XVIIt was in Europe that the notion of human rights was first formulated. The fundamental human right, the presupposition of all other rights, is the right to life itself. This applies to life from the moment of conception until natural death. Consequently, abortion cannot be a human right; it is exactly the opposite, it is a profound social wound" (Benedict XVI, Address to the Diplomatic Corps in ViennaSeptember 7, 2007).

It is precisely that primary and sacred right to life that the U.S. courts denied on January 22, 1973 through the Roe v. Wade ruling. It has taken five decades for this ruling to be overturned.

The premises of Dobbs v. Jackson

After a long road, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 through a new decision, Dobbs v. Jackson. In this ruling, several premises were established, as Professor Rubio explained.

Among them is, first, that abortion is not a federal right. The abortion as a right has no basis in the Constitution, history and tradition of the nation. In fact, throughout American history abortion was, at some stages, considered a crime.

Nor can a supposed right to abortion be based on the amendments that have been made to the Constitution, as explained by the judges in Dobbs v. Jackson. José Ignacio Rubio points out that all this shows that abortion became "a freedom decreed by the Supreme Court as if it were a legislative body".

Another of the premises pointed out was respect for state sovereignty. After explaining the fourteenth amendment of the U.S. Constitution, related to the protection of life, Professor Rubio pointed out that, according to some authors, abortion is also unconstitutional because it goes against this amendment.

On the other hand, the speaker pointed out that the Dobbs v. Jackon judgment is silent in relation to other possible rights. Contrary to what some voices tried to denounce. Therefore, this Supreme Court decision does not affect contraception, freedom in sexual relations or same-sex unions.

United States after Dobbs

José Ignacio Rubio mentioned some of the possible scenarios that could occur in the United States following the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling. Each State will legislate the matter as it sees fit and, respecting the jurisprudence, three different things can happen: that abortion is completely prohibited in a State; that it is permitted for the time being, given that the laws for the change are blocked in the legislative bodies; or that abortion is entirely legal, or legal with limits.

Professor Rubio quickly explained the current situation in the United States, providing data on current legislation. He explained that:

-Abortion is legal, based on the viability of the baby, in 15 states.

-Abortion is legal up to 24 weeks in 4 states.

-Up to week 22 in 7 states.

-Up to week 20 in 1 State.

-It is legal up to 18 weeks in Utah.

-Abortion is permitted up to 15 weeks in 2 states.

-It is allowed up to week 6 in Georgia.

-Abortion is legal without gestational limit in 5 states and in the capital, Washington, D.C.

-Abortion is illegal in 13 states.

A grave injustice

At the end of the presentation, José Ignacio Rubio explained some of the reasons why he considers abortion to be a great injustice, mentioning in the first place that this (misnamed) right, in reality, "deprives the unborn of the right to life". In addition, it "injures the integrity and the physical and psychological health of the mother, even if the act is consensual". On the other hand, the injustice is committed against the whole community, since it is deprived of a good and "injects society with a dose of violence". And finally, abortion is a grave injustice because it "attacks a right of God".

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Prague hosts the European continental stage of the Synod

From February 5 to 12, 2023, the capital of the Czech Republic will host the continental assembly of the Synod of Bishops coordinated by the Council of European Bishops' Conferences.

Giovanni Tridente-January 28, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

The continental Synodal Assembly, in which Catholic Churches from all over Europe will participate, will be held at Prague (Czech Republic) from February 5 to 12. It will be coordinated by the Council of Bishops' Conferences of the Continent (CCEE), in collaboration with the Bishops' Conference of the host country and the Archdiocese of the capital.

Some 200 delegates will attend, including representatives of the local Churches and representatives of the most representative ecclesial realities at the European level (February 5-9), as well as the 39 presidents of the Bishops' Conferences (February 9-12). A further 390 delegates will participate online. During the assembly, communities of contemplative life from all over Europe will hold a continuous silent adoration to accompany the work.

Announcing and presenting the initiative, Vilnius Archbishop and CCEE President Gintaras Grušas spoke of. "an opportunity to renew our mission to proclaim Jesus", which in today's time and especially in Europe represents "the truest and most urgent response to today's many challenges".

The logo of the European stage

The logo chosen for the continental stage of the Synod in Europe takes up the official logo of the General Synod, the diversity of the People of God on the way, which in this case crosses the Charles Bridge, symbol of Prague; on the right is the tower of the Old Town Bridge (the place where the king passed on the day of his coronation), while on the left is outlined the Cathedral of St. Vitus, Wenceslas and Adalbert, the most sacred places of the capital and of the entire Republic and where the February assembly will be held. The symbol of the bridge is also intended to represent the connection between shores and divided worlds, which the concept of synodality itself helps to overcome by establishing relationships.

"This Synod must not deprive us of the desire to be new missionaries." Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg and General Rapporteur of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, confided in a recent speech."The mission of the Church is to proclaim Christ, to proclaim our commitment to creation, but also for justice and peace, and the commitment of all God's people."

The seven international meetings

As explained at the time by the General Secretariat of the Synod, the European Continental Synodal Assembly is one of the seven international meetings that the Bishops' Conferences of the major regions of the world will hold until the summer of next year, to reflect on the Document for the Continental Stage arising from the preliminary consultation 2021/2022 (national stage). The other regions are Latin America and the Caribbean (CELAM), Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), Asia (FABC), Oceania, North America and the Middle East.

The objective is to deepen the discernment on the perceptions that emerged in the previous listening session, in order to formulate more precisely the questions that remained unanswered, as well as to better substantiate and deepen the perceptions coming from the local Churches. It will also be an opportunity to involve those realities living on the margins of the Church that were probably not intercepted in the previous phase. It should be clear that, even in this continental circumstance, no answers will be proposed and no lines of action will be decided on the issues raised in the consultation, as the Secretariat of the Synod has repeatedly made clear.

The working document

With regard to the Document for the Continental Phase, the Secretariat clarifies that it should be considered as an authentic guide for a permanent discernment that should continue in the next phase.

At the end of each "continent's" Assembly, a subsequent final document will be drafted which should reflect the voice of the people of God from that specific region of the world. The 7 continental documents will then be sent to the General Secretariat of the Synod and will form the basis for the Instrumentum Laboris for the General Assembly of October 2023 (first phase) and the following year, as established in recent months by Pope Francis.

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Latin America

Pope Francis' diplomacy in Nicaragua

Pope Francis has explained that in Nicaragua there are problems for the Church, but there is also dialogue. Pontifical diplomacy does not remain inactive, and has been adapting its approach according to the situations. As a principle, its approach is to guide local bishops, rather than intervene head-on.

Andrea Gagliarducci-January 27, 2023-Reading time: 5 minutes

There seems to be a sentence already written for the bishop of Matagalpa, Rolando Alvarez, arrested last August at the height of a series of activities that led the Nicaraguan government presided over by Daniel Ortega to forcibly close down various Church media activities as well. And it seems that this sentence could be avoided if Bishop Alvarez decides to leave the country. A self-exile would be the third expulsion of a bishop from Nicaragua since Daniel Ortega has been in power.

Last year, in fact, the affected was Archbishop Waldemar Sommertag, apostolic nuncio, who was expelled from the country in March 2022 in a decision that the Holy See described in a communiqué as "inexplicable". Inexplicable, but not unexpected, considering that in the previous months Ortega had already given a strong diplomatic signal. Indeed, the representative of the Holy See is always, by international convention, the dean of the Diplomatic Corps accredited in a country. But Ortega had decided that no, there would no longer be a dean, effectively marginalizing the diplomat of the Holy See.

Earlier, it was the auxiliary bishop of Managua, Silvio Báez, who was called upon by the Pope Francis to Rome in 2019, in a sudden decision amid an upsurge in violence.

But there was an even more distant precedent: in 1986, Pablo Antonio Vega, bishop-prelate of Juigalpa and vice-president of the Bishops' Conference of Nicaraguahad been exiled from Nicaragua. The same fate had befallen that year Monsignor Bismarck Carballo, who was spokesman for the archbishop of Managua.

Therefore, there would be the possibility of Bishop Alvarez's self-exile. Who, on the other hand, would be willing to face imprisonment rather than accept to leave his homeland. A choice that, however, could also create problems for the diplomatic line chosen by Pope Francis.

The Pope and Nicaragua

The Pope has devoted several appeals to Nicaragua since the crisis erupted in 2018. There was a precise reason. At the beginning of the crisis, arising from a pension reform by the Ortega government but symptomatic of broader discontent among the population, there seemed to be a space for the Church to mediate in the so-called national dialogue.

The bishops had been called as "mediators and witnesses". But their role had become impossible when the clashes between the Nicaraguan authorities and the protesters resumed. The Church, in June 2018, had suspended its presence in the so-called national dialogue. In response, it had been singled out by the government as a pro-opposition force, with an escalation that had even led to an aggression, on July 9, 2018, against Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes, Archbishop of Managua, his auxiliary Baez and Nuncio Sommertag.

Nevertheless, the Holy See's intent was still to establish a dialogue, believing that at least an interlocution between the parties would be useful. In time, it would become disillusioned.

Pope Francis then changed his approach. He began to space out public appeals, called Bishop Baez to Rome and tried to calm things down. The principle was not to go against the government, but rather to find ways of collaboration. Nuncio Sommertag had also been successful in some situations, even negotiating the release of some political prisoners.

The Pope's practical diplomacy

This is the practical diplomacy of Pope Francis, applied also in other situations, and often precisely on the Latin American continent. In Venezuela, for example, where participation in dialogue was maintained only until the will was felt to involve the Holy See, and where the Holy See has never opposed President Nicolás Maduro; in fact, there has been a new contact during the recent visit to Caracas of Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, substitute Secretary of State.

Public appeals have been distanced, and Nicaragua has not even been mentioned in Pope Francis' Christmas message "Urbi et Orbi". On that occasion, the Pope limited himself to asking that Jesus inspire "the political authorities and all people of good will on the American continent in the effort to pacify the political and social tensions affecting several countries". He made no direct reference, except for the later mention of the Haitian people.

In short, the last time the Pope spoke publicly about the situation in Nicaragua was on August 21, following the arrest of Bishop Alvarez.

The Pope had made another reference on September 15, at the press conference on the return flight from Kazakhstan. "On Nicaragua," the Pope said, "the news is clear, all of it. There is dialogue, at this moment there is dialogue. There has been talk with the government, there is dialogue. This does not mean that everything the government does is approved or everything is disapproved. No. There is dialogue, and when there is dialogue it is because there is a need to solve problems. At this moment there are problems. At least I hope that Mother Teresa of Calcutta's nuns will return. These women are good revolutionaries, but of the Gospel! They do not make war on anyone. On the contrary, we all need these women. But let's hope they will come back and it will be resolved. But continue the dialogue. Never, never stop the dialogue. There are things that are not understood. Putting a nuncio on the border is a serious thing diplomatically, and the nuncio is a good guy, who has now been appointed elsewhere. These things are difficult to understand and also to swallow."

Signals from the Holy See

Although the Pope had thus shown his displeasure at the dismissal of the nuncio, he preferred not to continue with formal protests and wall against wall. Dialogue, indeed. Thus, Archbishop Sommertag has been assigned another nunciature, that of Senegal, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau and Mauritania, and there is still no new "ambassador of the Pope" in Managua.

The decision to transfer the nuncio is not only a concession to Ortega's pressures. It is also a way of giving a signal. Because by vacating the nunciature, which is now headed by the chargé d'affaires, a clear signal is given that the Holy See is not legitimizing, through dialogue, the actions of the government.

It is a protest that has strong diplomatic language, and indicates that the Holy See in no way wants to legitimize Ortega's actions. But the signal appears to be one of surrender, and understandably so.

The accusations against the bishop

Among other things, because it encounters a difficult situation, which is that of Bishop Alvarez. He was arrested along with 18 other priests in the episcopate of Matagalpa on August 19, 2022. Since then he has remained under arrest, and is now being tried on charges of subversion and attacking democratic principles. The news reports speak of clandestine hearings, held in secret and without the possibility for the bishop - who is also administrator of Esteli - to appoint a lawyer.

Therefore, two alternatives remain: either the bishop serves a harsh sentence for "criminal conspiracy aimed at harming national integrity and disseminating false news to the detriment of the State and society", or the bishop leaves the country, going into self-exile. The latter solution would allow the Ortega presidency to get out of the affair, which has provoked widespread international protests.

Alvarez's arrest was the culmination of a series of activities against the Church and human rights in general. Among the highlights: some Mother Teresa missionaries have been expelled within hours, accused of aiding terrorism and other things; local Church magazines, newspapers and television channels have been shut down with administrative orders; hundreds of political prisoners and presidential candidates are in jail.

Pontifical diplomacy

Pope Francis, however, has decided not to tackle the situation head-on, but rather to guide the local bishops towards a dialogue that could also have its drawbacks, but which nevertheless keeps contact with the local reality alive.

There have been diplomatic contacts, even at a high level - in August 2018, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, had a phone call with the then Vice President of the United States, Peter Pence, on the issue - but, in general, the Pope prefers to leave the decision in the hands of the local Churches, which are accompanied by papal diplomacy and on which he only intervenes on rare occasions.

It is a common policy, which is also applied in Nicaragua. It remains to be seen to what extent it will be successful.

The authorAndrea Gagliarducci

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Culture

Vatican "School of Arts and Crafts" has students again

Stonemasons, masons, marble workers, decorators, carpenters... These and other ancient trades will be learned by the 20 students who this year begin a peculiar academic journey in "St. Peter's Factory", the oldest professional workshop in the world, inside the Vatican walls.

Leticia Sánchez de León-January 27, 2023-Reading time: 4 minutes

250 years away, but with a historical continuity of several centuries, the so-called "St. Peter's Factory" in the Vatican inaugurated last January 16 its new "School of Arts and Crafts", where the centuries-old skills that have kept St. Peter's Basilica standing since the 15th century will be taught.

A work of centuries

Anyone who visits St. Peter's Basilica (a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1982) can get an idea of the work involved in its conservation and routine maintenance. It is the so-called "St. Peter's Factory", which has been working on it for several centuries since its construction. Moreover, the Factory, according to the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus of 1988 of Pope John Paul II, "will continue to take care of everything concerning the Basilica of the Prince of the Apostles, both for the conservation and decoration of the building, and for the internal discipline of the custodians and of the pilgrims who come to visit the temple".

In addition to the daily work - and very much in the future, one might add - the Factory wants to continue transmitting this "practical knowledge", "within an educational community, where the spirit of fraternity and the integral human growth of each person prevails, as an alternative to loneliness and the growing professional individualism", according to the press release published on the occasion of the inauguration of this academic year 2023.

Craftsman by profession

This marks the beginning of the "pilot" course with 20 students - twelve boys and eight girls - from Italy, Peru, Germany and Belarus, who will learn the centuries-old trades for the conservation and repair of the great basilica under the guidance of the highest masters of the factory.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, president of the Factory and of the Fratelli Tutti FoundationThe two entities promoting the initiative, emphasized at the opening ceremony that "students will learn traditional crafts, adapted to new technologies to monitor the state of conservation of paintings, marble, stucco and mosaics".

It is, therefore, an ambitious project that is expected to last, following the path initiated in the eighteenth century when the Factory instituted the Pontifical Studio of the Arts, which was attended by young masons, stonemasons, carpenters, etc., and which made the institution a technical center of excellence.

At that time, attendance at the School was free and was aimed at young artisans from all over Rome: it was open in the afternoons and on holidays to allow students to work in the morning. Even then, the aim was to pass on to the new generations the traditional technical knowledge and skills necessary for the conservation of the great church.

According to the press release issued by the Holy See on the occasion of the inauguration of the new "School of Arts and Crafts", the objective pursued is twofold; on the one hand, the personal and human growth of the young people admitted and, on the other hand, a clearly academic objective: the students will have to develop their manual skills, and will learn everything necessary about the materials used as well as the technological and technical skills appropriate to each type of material or work.

It is planned that each academic year will include cycles of theoretical lectures as well as seminars. There will also be guided visits to various Italian locations. Students "must be fluent in Italian and have a humanistic background, with studies in Art History," explain the organizers.

A workshop with history

The history of the Fabbrica di San Pietro dates back to the 15th century, during the pontificate of Pope Nicholas V, when work began on the reconstruction of the choir of St. Peter's Basilica. At that time it became evident that there was a need for an adequate management of the imposing work of the basilica and for an internal organization especially dedicated to dealing with the innumerable difficulties involved.

At the beginning of the 16th century, the configuration of the organization was not yet well defined when Pope Julius II decided to start working on the reconstruction of the Constantinian basilica, which at that time was in ruins.

It was in the last months of 1505, during the reconstruction works, that the pontiff initiated a precise and clearly delineated configuration of the San Pietro Factory as an institution specifically charged with the maintenance of the work of the 16th century. Specifically, he entrusted to a group of people the task of "presiding over the great work and collecting the oblations of the faithful for such a pious and praiseworthy work" through the Apostolic Constitution Liquet omnibus.

In 1523, Pope Clement VII, in order to obtain stricter technical and administrative control and to eliminate certain abuses that had occurred, appointed a commission of sixty members chosen from among the officials of the Roman Curia, belonging to all nationalities and with special knowledge in architectural, economic and legal aspects, to take charge of the construction and administration of the Basilica.

This "college" had full decision-making autonomy and was under the immediate dependence of the Holy See, being invested with the broadest powers; in fact, it had its own tribunal and its own representatives in the twenty-four "commissariats" of the Papal States.

At the end of the 16th century, the final works of the basilica were completed and at the beginning of the 17th century Pope Paul V definitively instituted the Sacred Congregation of the Fabric of St. Peter and made it a pontifical congregation.

During the following years, the competencies and attributions of the Factory changed; the tribunal and all its representations were abolished; some procedures were streamlined and others were eliminated. Some members of the Congregation were summoned to meet monthly in the so-called Particular Congregation and thus a small management group began to emerge, called to untangle the juridical, administrative, organizational and technical knots aggravated by the succession of planners.

With the 1908 reform of Pope Pius X, the Congregation was reduced to deal exclusively with the administration of the Fabbrica, and in 1967, following the general reform of the Roman Curia carried out by Pope Paul VI, the Congregation ceased to exist as such and was counted among the Palatine Administrations. With the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonus In 1988, the Factory's competencies were established and remain so to this day.

Tens of thousands of people visit the Basilica every day, accessing various areas, each with its own conservation and maintenance conditions: the dome, the Vatican grottoes, the Vatican Museums, the so-called "Scavi" or archaeological excavations under the present Basilica where the foundations of the first church were built and where the tomb of St. Peter is located.

It is clear that the Vatican Basilica, because of its size and historical-artistic richness, requires continuous maintenance and disciplined organization of repairs and conservation of all the works of art it contains, so it can be said that the work carried out by the employees of the St. Peter's Factory is irreplaceable. The know-how centenary will continue to be passed on to young artisans, at least during this course.

The authorLeticia Sánchez de León

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Msgr. García MagánTo justify violence in the name of God is to take God's name in vain".

Spain

Salesian wounded in Algeciras attack, out of danger

The Salesian religious who was attacked yesterday afternoon in the Church of San Isidro de Algeciras, Antonio Rodriguez Lucena, is "out of danger after the intervention carried out at night," according to a press release. press release of the Salesian community.

Francisco Otamendi-January 26, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

The Salesian community of Algeciras reported at mid-afternoon that Antonio Rodriguez Lucena, the Salesian attacked yesterday by a radical Islamist, "is recovering from his wounds and is awaiting medical discharge". Shortly after, they shared the photo that heads this information with the news that the parish priest of San Isidro de Algeciras was already in the community "wrapped by his brothers".

The community and the entire Salesian family of Algeciras has expressed "the strongest condemnation of all forms of violence, which can have no place in the society in which we live, and continues to pray for the eternal rest of Diego Valencia, the sacristan of the Church of La Palma, a very dear and dedicated person".

At the same time, he wishes to "show our closeness and affection to his family, and the diocese of Cadiz and the society of Campo de Gibraltar so that, together, we remain committed to the pursuit of the common good".

Antonio Rodríguez (left) with Toño Casado.

In the photographs to which Omnes has had access, we can see the Salesian Antonio Rodriguez Lucena with his community, and in the other one the same Salesian with Toño, priest of the parish of El Pilar, who is in charge of the formation of the Effetá El Pilar group in Madrid, and who is currently in Algeciras.

Toño commented that "Don Antonio returned home with a fright in his body, a lot of stitches in his neck, and a story to assimilate. But look at his smile. That comes from faith".

"In conversations with Juan Francisco Huertas, director of the Salesian communityAntonio Rodriguez himself said that 'thank God everything has passed and I am waiting to be discharged, to continue celebrating the feast of St. John Bosco'".

In addition, "he thanked the many expressions of affection and messages of interest in his health. The Salesian asked for "a lot of tranquility, which I have, and let us never lose heart because the one who animates our life is always God and Mary Help of Christians".

The General Secretary Francisco César García Magán, this morning strongly condemned the murder of Diego Valencia, and pointed out, however, that "we cannot and should not demonize collectives or groups in general" as a result of these crimes.

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

Spain

Msgr. García MagánTo justify violence in the name of God is to take God's name in vain".

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Pope asks for short homilies "born from the heart".

Rome Reports-January 26, 2023-Reading time: < 1 minute

Pope Francis has once again called on priests to prepare their priests for the homilies so that they are not philosophy classes and are brief.

In this regard, he recalled the advice of a homiletics professor: "An idea, an image and an affection. Let people keep an idea, an image and something that has moved their hearts".

The Pope made this reflection during a meeting with participants in a course on liturgy.

AhNow 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.

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Photo Gallery

United States prays for life

A priest incenses the monstrance with Jesus Sacramentalized in the Life Fest in Washington, USA. The event was held for the first time this year, sponsored by Sisters of Life y Knights of Columbus.

Paloma López Campos-January 26, 2023-Reading time: < 1 minute

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Spain

Msgr. García MagánTo justify violence in the name of God is to take God's name in vain".

The Secretary General of the Spanish Episcopal Conference expressed the sadness and pain of all the Catholic faithful for the murder of Diego Valencia and stressed that "we cannot identify terrorism with any religion".

Maria José Atienza-January 26, 2023-Reading time: 3 minutes

The murder of Diego Valencia, sacristan of the parish of La Palma de Algeciras at the hands of an alleged Islamist has shocked the whole of Spain. The Secretary General of the Spanish Episcopal Conference has strongly condemned the murder and pointed out, however, that "we cannot and should not demonize collectives or groups in general" as a result of these crimes.

The Algeciras attack

A radical Islamist "lone wolf" sowed terror in the town of Algeciras, Cadiz, on Wednesday evening, January 25. Shortly after 19:30 the individual entered the parish of San Isidro where he seriously wounded the parish priest and several parishioners and then went to the nearby parish of La Palma where he began to throw elements of worship.

The sacristan, Diego Valencia, tried to stop him and the man hit him repeatedly with a machete causing his death at the entrance of the church. Shortly thereafter, the man was arrested and brought to justice.

The condemnation of this event as well as the expressions of condolences to the family and friends of Diego Valencia and the diocese of Cádiz and CeutaThe Secretary General and spokesman for the Spanish Episcopal Conference at the breakfast meeting organized by New Economy Forum in Madrid.

Bishop Francisco César García Magán expressed the sadness and sorrow of all the Catholic faithful for the victims of this event. In this sense, he pointed out that Diego, "offered his life in a certain way for the priest" pastor of the Church to whom, apparently, the attack was directed.

The bishop has strongly condemned this attack, pointing out that "when violence is justified in the name of God, it is taking the name of God in vain. Regardless of what name God takes for that justification".

Along with this, García MagánHe pointed out that, in view of these events "we cannot and should not demonize collectives or groups in general" and recalled the condemnation of the attack expressed yesterday by the Spanish Islamic Commission.

We cannot identify terrorism with any religion

"We cannot identify terrorism with any religion", stressed the spokesman of the Spanish bishops. García Magán confirmed that yesterday he was able to speak with the diocesan bishop of Cádiz and Ceuta, Monsignor Rafael Zornoza Boy, who was in Algeciras at the time.

Along with this painful topic, the Secretary of the Spanish Bishops wanted to emphasize in his speech that the fact of his presence in a forum such as the one that welcomed him responds to the inherent relationship of the Church with the world that surrounds it. This relationship, he said, "has a Christological foundation: God becomes man in a given space and time. The Church has this relationship in order to be in the world and to be in the world. The evangelizing mission of the Church is a mission in space-time". A reason that, in his opinion, grounds the voice of the Church in the issues that mark the history of the human being.

The second of the major issues that the bishops' spokesman was asked about centered on the abortion law and some measures that the government of the community of Castilla y León offers to the mother to listen to her baby. the beat of the child's heart before making the decision to abort.

At this point, García Magán stressed that the Church has to defend life "in all its aspects, totally. Not only at the moment of its conception, but also when it has no other way out than crossing the Mediterranean in a boat to live, when it is sick or when it suffers domestic violence.

Likewise, the EEC spokesman stressed that he hopes that, in the case of abortion, there will be a "social maturation" that will lead to seeing its terrible reality, as has been experienced in the case of domestic violence or slavery.

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Books

Estefania LanderasThe Lord wants children to know Him".

The artist Estefanía Landeras presents a collection of books for children with the aim of bringing the gifts of the Holy Spirit closer to the little ones.

Paloma López Campos-January 26, 2023-Reading time: 7 minutes

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Estefanía Landeras, mother, artist, interior designer... She is known for her artistic project ELA RUAJ. After ruminating on the idea for years, in 2023 he launched the first book of a collection for children that aims to explain the gifts of the Holy Spirit to the little ones through illustrations and two endearing characters: the little girl Celeste and the dragonfly Ruaj.

The first book is Celeste and the fortress. On the day of the presentation, the artist talks to Omnes about the creative process, the idea behind the collection and evangelizing with young children.

Where did the idea of making a collection of children's books about the gifts of the Holy Spirit come from?

-It has been a very natural process. The idea was born from what I do, which is to make religious art works, in the field of the sacred art. When I started to become a little more serious about painting - because I am an interior designer, I specialize in eliminating architectural barriers - we moved to Bogota. We stayed there for three years and I started painting as a hobby.

When I returned to Spain, I had already closed the studio, let's say I had put the profession aside. When I came back I had to reinvent myself but I didn't see my way through the interior design branch. Then I decided to go into art, which I had always loved and had never been able to make that decision.

I put it in the Lord's hands and there I began to paint and sign it with my initials, which are ELA, and then Ruach, which means everything related to the Holy Spirit in Hebrew.

Before making this decision, I thought about what I wanted to tell, and I decided to tell the best thing I have, what makes me happiest in this life, which is the faith that my parents have passed on to me. Then I began to paint the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I made a series of seven and, as I was commissioned, I painted a gift. This is how these seven works came to light.

While I was performing them, I was the first to be impressed by each gift, because I saw myself as a divine instrument to give these gifts to the people who entrusted them to me. At the same time, I thought of the children, because I transmitted all this to my children and told them about it in a natural way. That is how the idea of the collection was born.

Estefanía Landeras with the book "Celeste y la fortaleza".

That was the inspiration, but there was no pretense. It was just an idea, to say that it would be nice for children to know more about the Holy Spirit, because they talk to us about God, Jesus and the Virgin Mary, but what about the Holy Spirit? At least that was my perception, that we keep Him a bit in the shadows.

Two years went by and in my head I was thinking about the characters, about how I wanted the main character, Celeste, to be. I imagined the pages. I had it all in my head but I couldn't materialize it, because I didn't have the means, I do art but I'm not an illustrator.

But in the end everything turned "upside down". These are things of God, who does what He wants when He wants. What we have to do is to keep the antenna on. In 2022, when I gave birth to my fifth daughter, I started working on the project, Alex Rooney, Baganguda and I, and in just a few months we were working on it. Celeste and the fortress has already seen the light. The next one, which is the gift of advice, is already written as well.

How do you combine being a mother, artist, interior designer and writer?

-Putting everything in God's hands. It sounds a bit ethereal, but that's how it is. We have to go little by little, day by day, with our eyes fixed on Heaven. I have very clear priorities, first and foremost my family. Since I had my first daughter, I have focused my profession on her. As a woman and as a professional, I consider that my children come first. From there, the rest of the things come from there.

There is no secret. The Holy Spirit is like that, he is creative. He leads you, He gives you energy, He guides you, you just have to let Him do it, which is not easy either.

In the end, I combine it with many falls and looking at Heaven a lot. He lifts you up and guides you again.

How can we explain to the youngest children such complex topics of religion as the Holy Spirit?

-This is what I talk about in the works I paint. Not everything that one sees, is. It is not necessary to see to believe. There are many things that we have around us that we do not see and that exist. What separates us from being aware of the Holy Spirit is a very thin veil.

But I believe that children, and with this in mind we made the whole collection, are spectacularly creative. They are open to everything. They receive the things we talk to them about with judgment, that is, they ask questions, they question. They are open and they are not stupid, so they recognize the truth.

Deep down, explaining these things to children is not so complicated, because it is something that we all carry inside us. We all have that stamp.

I believe that art is a very accessible means for children to awaken this curiosity. The Lord wants children to know him, but he wants them to know him for real, not to be told a lot of nonsense.

What is so special about the characters in the book, Celeste and Ruaj?

-Celeste has something very special. She is the typical person you meet in life and she has a different light, which does not necessarily imply that they know God. Celeste, in fact, does not know God. She discovers him, little by little, from the first gift, which is strength, after the death of a loved one. She is a child who realizes the greatness that surrounds us and recognizes in creation that there is something more. There are certain wonders that cannot be explained. Precisely because of this, she is called Celeste, she is a somehow celestial child.

Ruaj is a dragonfly. That animal has a very strong connection with my mother. She died eight years ago and the dragonfly is an animal that has a lot of meaning for me. I wanted to honor in some way my mother, who opened my eyes and made me fall in love with Jesus.

In addition, Ruaj, being a dragonfly, has this volatile, electric, brightly colored, fast and ethereal character. He is the only character that has real symbolism. He is the Holy Spirit, but not in an obvious way.

Why was fortitude the first gift?

-When I was considering starting the collection, it was a bit overwhelming to choose where to begin. With the gift of fortitude I have a personal story, because it's the only work with which I have a really strong connection. The work of fortitude came about because of a loss. I have asked the Holy Spirit for this gift many times and I have a very strong experience of how effective the gift is.

I based the work on a photograph I took in Madrid in the middle of a very strong storm. There was a small tree that did not move, it seemed impassive in front of everything that was happening around it.

Given my experience with this gift, it is easy for me to talk about it. I had the history, the experience, the memory that my children have of their grandmother, because after my mother's death I had to ask for a lot of strength. It was easy for me to start here.

How do the gifts of the Holy Spirit relate to the happiness you mention in the book? How can we explain it to children?

-The moment God lets you know that if you put Him at the center, it is a puzzle that is ordered, your eyes are opened. There is an illustration in the book that speaks precisely of this. splat. If God is not present in your life in a firm, daily, central way, it is very difficult to be happy.

I speak from my experience, I am neither a theologian nor a philosopher. But as a person of faith, as a Catholic and a Christian, I realize that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are pills of happiness, which one has at hand and asks for. They are a path to immediate happiness. You don't have to wait for death, the Lord wants us to be happy now, here and now.

I came to know all this very late. They tried to explain it to me many times but I didn't have the humility to see it until I fell for it. I think it is easier to understand it if you get to know it in a natural way from childhood. Then life presents itself in a different way.

Can you also tell us a little bit about the Ela Ruaj project?

-I started when I returned to Spain, with my children, and I realized that I had to reinvent myself. I wanted to fulfill both my family vocation as a mother and my evangelizing vocation, without ceasing to be present in my children's lives. With the theme of art, I saw that I had a chance to undertake and combine everything. I put it in the Lord's hands and told him that I was going all out with him.

Glued to the Holy Spirit like a limpet, I have been doing everything. Almost three years later I continue to paint more and more, I receive more and more commissions -I only work on commission, I do not make collection funds- and, to my surprise, I am selling what I paint.

The art is a loudspeaker on earth of the things of Heaven. I paint the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the Creation, the virtues, the theological virtues, etc. I try to materialize, in some way, that which is present in our lives, which we hear so often, but do not see.

My paintings do not represent anything, that is not the idea. They are a little window that opens to Heaven so that we can know the love of God, who wants to meet you.

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Sunday Readings

The Beatitudes, a blueprint for holiness. Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

Joseph Evans comments on the readings for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.

Joseph Evans-January 26, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

The Gospel of Matthew, written primarily to evangelize the Jews, presents Jesus as the new and great Moses. Moses had been the great savior and lawgiver of Israel, God's instrument to lead them out of slavery, who received a special law from God on Mount Sinai. But Jesus is a greater Savior because he is God himself, and not only receives a law from God, but gives a new law as God himself.

Matthew shows Jesus ascending a mountain, as Moses ascended Sinai. Being himself the lawgiver, Jesus sits down. And while Moses listens, Jesus speaks. Then, to begin his Sermon on the Mount, and as the spiritual summit of the mountain, Jesus gives us the beatitudes. The beatitudes (from the Latin "beati") are the ways to receive God's blessings and, ultimately, to share his blessing in heaven. They are the blueprint for holiness. Seemingly simple, the more you consider them, the more demanding they seem.

Holiness begins with poverty of spirit. This is the door to the other beatitudes, because we only begin to receive God's blessings when we appreciate our absolute need for them. A rich person thinks he does not need God. Then comes meekness, which has nothing to do with weakness. Moses, "a very humble man, more than anyone else on the face of the earth." (Num 12:3), led his people to the Promised Land. Then Jesus says: "Blessed are those who mourn." those who are not content with this earth, those who bitterly lament the evil and make amends for it.

The next beatitude is "to hunger and thirst for righteousness", which has a double meaning: to seek personal holiness, to be a righteous man, as a man of righteousness. St. Joseph (cf. Mt 1:19), but also social justice. Indeed, one thing leads to the other: we want God's law to be fulfilled in our own lives and in society. Holiness is never a form of evasion, but leads us to transform the world around us, to make it more like God wants it to be.

Then comes the call to live mercy. We cannot expect to receive it if we do not practice it with others. We will never enjoy beatitude if we are not able to sympathize with and forgive others. A blessed heart is not a hard heart.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Lust and deceit blind us to God. Only a pure heart is capable of love, and holiness is loving God and others. Next comes: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God." How difficult it is to promote peace; but the more we do it, the more peace there is in our soul, the more we will be children of God.

The last beatitude is like the conclusion of the others: we are blessed when we encounter persecution, because this will lead us to heaven. A life of holiness provokes the wrath of Satan, and we must reckon with his attacks. But if we stand firm, our "reward will be great in heaven".

Homily on the readings of Sunday, 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)

The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaA short one-minute reflection for this Sunday's readings.

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Francis focuses the Church's missionary action on the Eucharist

On the occasion of the 97th World Missionary Day of the Church, which will take place on October 22, Pope Francis outlined the profile of missionary disciples and of the Church's missionary action, commenting on the passage of the disciples of Emmaus, and encouraged everyone to "contribute to this missionary movement with prayer and action".

Francisco Otamendi-January 25, 2023-Reading time: 4 minutes

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The Message The Pope's message for the upcoming World Mission Sunday, dated on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, has three sections. The first, like the entire text, is based on the Gospel passage of the disciples of Emmaus, and recalls the "hearts that burned 'while [...] he explained the Scriptures to us'. "In mission, the Word of God enlightens and transforms the heart," the Holy Father points out.

"In the Gospel account, we perceive the transformation of the disciples from some suggestive images: the hearts that burn when Jesus explains the Scriptures, the open eyes upon recognizing him and, as a culmination, the feet that set out on the road," the Pope writes as an introduction. "Meditating on these aspects, which trace the itinerary of missionary disciples, we can renew our zeal for evangelization in today's world."

The second emphasizes the "eyes that 'opened and recognized him' in the breaking of the bread. Jesus in the Eucharist is the summit and source of the mission.

And the third emphasizes the "feet that set out on the road, with the joy of announcing the Risen Christ. The eternal youth of a Church always going forth".

"Those two disciples were confused and disillusioned, but the encounter with Christ in the Word and in the broken Bread kindled their enthusiasm to set out again for Jerusalem and announce that the Lord was truly risen," the Pope adds.

Proximity to all missionaries

The Holy Father expresses his "closeness in Christ to all missionaries throughout the world, especially to those who are going through a difficult time. The Risen Lord, dear brothers and sisters, is always with you and sees your generosity and your sacrifices for the mission of evangelization in faraway places. The sun does not shine every day of your life, but let us always remember the words of the Lord Jesus to his friends before his passion: 'In the world you will have to suffer, but take courage: I have overcome the world' (Jn 16:33).

In the final part of his message, the Roman Pontiff emphasizes that "everyone can contribute to this missionary movement with prayer and action, with the offering of money and sacrifices, and with one's own witness. The Pontifical Mission Societies are the privileged instrument to promote this missionary cooperation in the spiritual and material sphere. For this reason, the collection of donations for World Mission Day is dedicated to the Pontifical Work for the Propagation of the Faith".

Mutual cooperation and getting on the road

In addition, the Pope highlights two ideas. First, cooperation among all. "The urgency of the Church's missionary action naturally presupposes an ever closer missionary cooperation of all her members at all levels. This is an essential objective in the synodal itinerary that the Church is traveling with the key words communion, participation and mission."

Secondly, the profile of the synodal itinerary. This "itinerary is in no way a withdrawal of the Church into herself, nor a process of popular polling to decide, as one would do in a parliament, what is to be believed and practiced and what is not, according to human preferences. It is rather a setting out on a journey, like the disciples of Emmaus, listening to the Risen Lord who always comes to meet us to explain to us the meaning of the Scriptures and to break the Bread for us, so that we can carry out, with the power of the Holy Spirit, his mission in the world".

The Eucharistic Bread, missionary action par excellence

Referring to the Eucharist - the Pope cites Jesus as "Jesus the Eucharist" - Francis writes that "breaking the Eucharistic Bread, which is Christ himself, is the missionary action par excellence, because the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Church's life and mission".

And he expressly quotes the recently deceased Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVI recalled: 'We cannot keep to ourselves the love that we celebrate in the Sacrament [of the Eucharist]. It demands by its very nature that it be communicated to all. What the world needs is the love of God, to encounter Christ and to believe in him. For this reason, the Eucharist is not only the source and summit of the Church's life; it is also the source and summit of her mission: "A Church that is authentically Eucharistic is a missionary Church" (Apostolic Exhortation, no. 3). Sacramentum caritatis, 84)".

Pope Francis goes on to describe the elements necessary to carry out the mission: "To bear fruit, we must remain united to him (cf. Jn. 15:4-9). And this union is realized through daily prayer, particularly in adoration, being in silence before the presence of the Lord, who remains with us in the Eucharist. The missionary disciple, lovingly cultivating this communion with Christ, can become a mystic in action. May our heart always yearn for the company of Jesus, sighing the vehement request of the two Emmaus pilgrims, especially when night falls: "Stay with us, Lord" (cf. Lk 24:29).

A cheerful advertisement

"As those two disciples 'told the others what had happened to them on the road' (Lk 24:35)," the Holy Father continues, "so too our proclamation will be a joyful narration of Christ the Lord, of his life, of his passion, death and resurrection, of the wonders that his love has worked in our lives.

Finally, the Pope encourages the Catholic world: "Let us also set out again, enlightened by the encounter with the Risen Lord and animated by his Spirit. Let us set out with fervent hearts, eyes open, feet on the way, to enkindle other hearts with the Word of God, to open the eyes of others to Jesus in the Eucharist, and to invite everyone to walk together on the path of peace and salvation that God, in Christ, has given to humanity. Holy Mary of the Way, Mother of the missionary disciples of Christ and Queen of the missions, pray for us".

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Cardinal Marc OuelletThe Synodal Council proposed in Germany would mean renouncing the episcopal office".

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, held an interview with Alfonso Riobó, the director of Omnes, which will be published in full in the February issue of Omnes magazine.

Alfonso Riobó-January 25, 2023-Reading time: 4 minutes

The Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Marc Ouellet has granted an interview to Omnes. We now anticipate some of his answers: those concerning the situation created by the recent cross-cutting between the Vatican Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, with the signature also of the Ouellet and Cardinal Luis Ladaria, and specifically authorized by Pope Francis, on the one hand, and Bishop Georg Bätzing, Bishop of Limburg and President of the German Bishops' Conference, on the other.

The exchange of letters originates in the consultation addressed to the Holy See by five German bishops as to whether it is possible for them, or even obligatory, to participate in the Commission which, according to the will of the so-called Synodal Way, would constitute a "Synodal Council" for the government of the Church, which could substitute or condition the authority of the bishops.

The Holy See was consulted on December 21; it responded with a letter dated January 16 and received by Bätzing on January 20, and the latter published his reaction on January 23.

The following day, the Omnes interview with Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, took place in Rome. The full conversation deals with various aspects of the German Synodal Way and will be published in Omnes magazine on February 1.

The role of bishops

Ouellet's position on the Synodical Council raised is that: "Whether the structure of the Synodal Council will lead to the establishment of a functioning Synodal Council like what we have seen, and whether that is to be in the future the mode of government of the Church in Germany, I have already told the bishops very clearly [during the ad limina visit in November].This is not catholic. It may be the praxis of other Churches but it is not ours. It is not, because it does not conform to Catholic ecclesiology and to the singular role of the bishops, derived from the charism of ordination, which implies that they must have their freedom to teach and to decide.

There is a subtle formula here, by which they could voluntarily decide to resign and accept in advance the majority vote of this eventual Council. What is certain is that this cannot be done; it would be to renounce the episcopal office.

The answer, in a way, says that they are going to respect the whole canonical order. That is good. That means that the dialogue must continue. We are waiting for them to tell us more concretely what they want to do, and of what nature this renunciation will be. On this we have quite serious objections"..

Cardinal Marc Ouellet during his interview with Omnes on January 24, 2023 in Rome.

It is clear that the dialogue must be continued

The dialogical and fraternal tone of the Secretary of State's letter does not preclude a clear and categorical tenor regarding the possibility of a Synodal Council such as the one intended up to now.

Says Ouellet to Omnes: "They have no competence to do this.". And he is cautious about Bätzing's expressed willingness to go ahead, while guaranteeing respect for canonical norms: "If they want to do it this way, they must show it. In what form will it be? From experience we don't see it that way; on the contrary, experience tells us that this is dangerous.".

Omnes asks him about the successive stages in this path of dialogue, which both parties want to keep open, and he responds: "We will see in what way the dialogue will continue. Now he has to respond to the Secretary of State. Then, we will see how we continue the dialogue, because it is clear that we have to continue it, also to help them to stay in the Catholic channel.".

The five bishops who raised the initial question (those of Cologne, Eichstätt, Augsburg, Passau and Regensburg) could even decide not to participate in the Commission that would constitute the disputed "Synodal Council".

We asked Cardinal Ouellet if that would mean the end of the Synodal Way itself, to which he replied: "This Path causes division, and it is one of the things I told them: division not only in the Church, but also in the world episcopal college, as was seen with the bishops who intervened to express their concerns from what they hear. The unity of the world episcopate is absolutely fundamental for the Church, especially in a world that is moving towards a 'third world war' that is already underway. The world episcopate is an extraordinary force for peace, which we need to protect and maintain. The fact that all these proposals could sow confusion among God's people does not help world peace either, nor peace in the Church.".

The president of the German Bishops' Conference, Bishop Bätzing, and also the other leaders of the Synodal Way, seem determined to go ahead with their project, which - they assure us - will respect the norms in force.

Cardinal Ouellet is confident: "I trust in the grace of God and in the episcopate, which will gradually integrate our responses, and they will adjust themselves, they will look for ways to make the participation of the laity acceptable and to listen to them. This is what the Second Vatican Council wanted, which established that there should be a presbyteral council, a pastoral council, etc., at the parish, diocesan and universal levels... However, these things are still not applied in many dioceses of the world, which do not live this basic synodality. Now, between saying that these structures of listening must work, and saying that from now on it will be decided democratically, and the bishops accept in advance the result of the vote... there is a huge margin, huge! The Church is hierarchical, it is not democratic.".

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Pope to WYD host families: "Young people are going to universalize their gaze".

The Holy See and the organizing committee of the Lisbon 2023 World Youth Day have released a short video addressed to families who will host one or more of these pilgrims in their homes.

Maria José Atienza-January 25, 2023-Reading time: < 1 minute

With a little less than 7 months to go before the start of the World Youth Day which will bring together in Lisbon to hundreds of thousands of young people, Pope Francis addresses, on this occasion, the families who, during these days, will welcome in their homes young pilgrims of other nationalities.

In the video, the Pope points out that the arrival of these young people will, in a certain way, revolutionize homes. "In bourgeois terms, we would say, they are going to be a discomfort," notes the Pope who, however, adds, "they are going to leave the seed of another point of view, they are going to relativize them in so many things that they see themselves safe and see that they can do or live in another way."

In the video, which is only two minutes long, the Pope thanks the generosity of these host families who "not only do it to serve, but also to open themselves to another way of seeing life". The young people who will spend these days in his home, as if they were "his children or younger relatives, will universalize them," the Pope affirms, because the richest experiences of the young people are those of their own families. World Youth DaysThe most common experiences, on many occasions, are those that are lived in host families. With this gesture, "the universe will enter your home and will leave with its experience in other young people. This is called opening up to the horizon," concludes the Pope.

This message joins the previous video messages that Pope Francis has addressed to volunteers and participants in the upcoming World Youth Day.

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Pope Francis: "When joy is missing, the Gospel does not pass".

January 25, Feast of the Conversion of the Apostle Paul. A day that is particularly suitable for dealing with the theme that Pope Francis has addressed: the characteristics of the first proclamation: joy, liberation, light, healing and amazement.

Maria José Atienza-January 25, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

The weekly catechesis of Pope Francis focused, on this day coinciding with the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, on the characteristics of the first proclamation. The Gospel of Luke in which Jesus announces in the synagogue of Nazareth that in him is fulfilled the passage read from the prophet Isaiah was the guide for this audience in which the Pope highlighted five elements that this Gospel highlights about the encounter with Jesus, about the first announcement: joy, liberation, light, healing and amazement.

"We cannot speak of Jesus without joy, because faith is a wonderful story of love to share," the Pope said, speaking of joy as the key to the proclamation of Christ. "When joy is lacking, the Gospel does not pass" and the Pope recalled the saying that a sad Christian is a sad Christian.

The second element, liberation, gave the Pope the opportunity to deny that Catholics should proselytize, since Francis identifies proselytism with the imposition of burdens, thus affirming that "those who proclaim God cannot proselytize, cannot put pressure on others, but rather lighten them" and emphasized that, although it is evident that the Christian life entails sacrifices, "those who witness to Christ show the beauty of the goal rather than the fatigue of the journey".

Light was the third element glossed by the Pope. Francis pointed out how the healing of the blind, their return to see the light, was a messianic sign and a miracle never before narrated in the Bible because "it is not just a matter of physical sight, but of a light that makes us see life in a new way. There is a "coming to the light", a rebirth that happens only with Jesus. Then life is no longer a blind progression towards nothingness, but comes from the love of the Father, who cares for us, his beloved children. It is wonderful to know that our life is a gesture of love and this call to love and sometimes we forget it in the face of the mundane," the Pope improvised.

The last part of the catechesis was especially developed by the Pope who "deviated" from the script several times to deal with the last two points: healing and amazement.

In relation to healing. The Pope affirmed that "what oppresses us, above all, is precisely that evil that no medicine or human remedy can cure: sin" but Christ has turned the tables: "The good news is that, with Jesus, the ancient evil does not have the last word, the last word is the outstretched hand of Jesus, who heals us from sin, always and freely. Brothers and sisters, let us not forget, God forgets everything. God forgives us all our sins, for that He has no memory. We only have to approach Him. Jesus is always waiting for us to forgive us. But Father, I do the same things always, and He will do the same things always, He will embrace us and forgive us".

Finally, the Pope referred to the "surprises of God": "with Christ the grace that makes life new always comes and always amazes", Francis stressed, emphasizing that "the Gospel is accompanied by a sense of wonder and newness that has a name: Jesus".

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Books

St. Paul, the great lion of God

Taylor Caldwell is one of the most prolific authors of the twentieth century. In the early 1970s, she published a novelized biography of St. Paul, entitled The great lion of God.

Paloma López Campos-January 25, 2023-Reading time: 2 minutes

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Janet Miriam Holland, known as Taylor Caldwell, was born in 1900 in Manchester. At the age of seven she moved with her family to New York, where she grew up and began to write. She is one of the most prolific authors of the twentieth century, although her work is not as well known as it should be. We know about forty of her works, but she wrote many more, not counting the 140 that her husband decided to burn one day.

His books are not always easy to find. The most outstanding titles can be found in some online stores, maybe even in a bookstore. But you often have to scour the web before you can get your hands on a copy. Caldwell's works are like little jewels that, in order to obtain, require the earth to be disturbed.

A biography of St. Paul

Among his writings is a novelized biography of St. Paul. The great lion of God is one of those works that delves into a character in such a way that, when the reader closes the book, he or she has the impression of having met the apostle to the Gentiles.

Throughout a few paragraphs full of color, references to God and imagination, Caldwell gradually builds the world of Paul of Tarsus. The figure of this saint is made human, without ever losing sight of the greatness of the character.

Paul is a flawed man with a strong temperament and extraordinary intelligence. His zeal for God is contagious and, as the reader soon realizes, dangerous.

Caldwell succeeds in drawing a portrait of St. Paul that becomes incredibly close. His world, his person, his thoughts, cease to be something distant and become the reality of a fellow traveler.

Of course, we cannot forget that the book is a novel and therefore, although it is historically accurate, it also contains additions from the author's mind, who takes advantage of what the New Testament tells us to imagine the context of the apostle. We do not know many things about St. Paul and, precisely because we do not know them, we can neither affirm nor deny that this is how the Englishwoman tells us.

Even those who don't believe the Bible can enjoy Taylor Caldwell's magnificent display of his writing talent, which reveals an artistic and profound knowledge of God.

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