Every January, Americans take to the streets in a march for life that, for the first time, instead of heading to the Supreme Court, will head to Capitol Hill.
In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court made history and created controversy. The justices overturned the Roe v Wadewhich established as a principle the right of women to have the right to aborting the baby.
Since the Court issued its decision, state governments have taken legislative action either to protect women seeking abortions or to outlaw abortions. The complicated web of U.S. legislative and political bodies is a very complex one, and there is still a long way to go in the fight for the right to life. To continue the progress, many "pro-life" people have taken to the streets of the country in a march for life.
Roe v. Wade
In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that included in the constitutional right to privacy was the right to abortion, whereby a woman may choose to terminate a pregnancy.
Since then, abortion became legal and was practiced in thousands of clinics throughout the country, protected by the public authorities. Not only was abortion no longer an unpunished act, but the ruling declared it a fundamental right.
Planned Parenthood v. Casey
That 1970s ruling suffered a first blow in 1992, with another new decision by the Court. A new case brought to light the flaws in the privacy arguments on which the right to abortion was based. In one clear example, it was argued that a married woman was required to inform her husband and sign a document attesting to this, which clearly violated the right to privacy. In addition, many clinics were required to write reports before performing abortions.
This 1990s ruling changed the legislative landscape regarding abortions, but did not outlaw them. It was annulled, in part, Roe v. WadeHowever, there was still a fundamental right to end the life of the unborn.
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization
In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a new ruling. This time, the blow was much more definitive. The U.S. justices completely overruled Roe v. WadeThe right to abortion is not included in the constitution and there are not enough historical roots to consider it, even in a subjective way, as an essential element to be defended by the laws.
Pro-life demonstrators after sentence overturned Roe v. Wade (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)
This sentence implies that states can regulate with much more freedom the access to abortion, so that it can be completely illegalized by political institutions or still be allowed to be practiced. Each state, therefore, makes the decision, always bearing in mind that the right to abortion does not exist, or at least not in the constitution.
March for Life
Every year during the month of January, pro-lifers take to the streets of the United States to fight for the rights of the unborn. Before taking to the asphalt and filling the cities, "pro-lifers" gather for a vigil, leaving everything in God's hands and praying for the unborn. But the 2022 March for Life, which has also had its vigil, is different from previous years, since the battle has already been won at the Supreme Court. The next step is the Capitol, that is, the seat of Congress.
Mass celebrated in Washington to kick off 2022 vigil for life (CNS photo/Bob Roller)
Having established a basis in case law (which plays a fundamental role in the U.S. legal process), the pro-life movement now wants to seek support in the directly legislative and representative sphere, which is why they are turning to the political chambers.
The specific request? That congressmen support the right to life or step down from public office. The goal? To continue to protect the rights of the unborn by increasing the 60,000 babies that have already been saved since it was cancelled Roe v. Wade.
Pope Francis has recorded a video with a message for all those young people who will attend World Youth Day this August in Lisbon. The Holy Father emphasizes with surprise the 40,000 young people who have already registered and shows joy for it. About the participants, Francis says: "the young people who come are because, deep down, they are thirsty to participate, to share, to share their experience and to receive the experience of others. He thirsts for horizons".
The Pope invites us "in this meeting, on this Day, to learn to always look to the horizon, to always look beyond. Do not erect a wall in front of your life. Walls close you in, the horizon makes you grow. Always look at the horizon with your eyes, but look above all with your heart. heartbeat".
The Holy Father concludes his message with a brief blessing: "May God bless you, and may the Virgin watch over you. Pray for me, I pray for you. And don't forget: no walls, yes horizons".
The theme was chosen by a local group in the United States convened by the Minnesota Council of Churches. It is an invocation taken from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (1:17): "Learn to do good, seek justice". It is the theme that serves as the backdrop for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
The International Commission jointly appointed by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, now a Dicastery, and the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches, and charged with reviewing the Week's grant, met with delegates from the Minnesota Council of Churches in Bossey, Switzerland, September 19-23, 2021.
The local group that wrote the grant was made up of men, women, mothers, fathers, all people who could tell their stories and heal their wounds. Representatives of different worship experiences and spiritual expressions, both from the indigenous peoples of the United States and from the immigrant communities - forced or voluntary - who now call this region home, and who show - as Alessandro Di Bussolo writes today in Vatican News - an amazing ability to tell and heal their own stories.
The Minnesota group also included immigrants and victims of racism. The members of the group were also an expression of urban and suburban regions and numerous Christian communities. This fostered deep reflection and an experience of solidarity enriched by multiple perspectives. From the members of the local Minnesota group, the desire that their personal experience of being victims of racism as human beings could serve as a witness to the wickedness of those who do not hesitate to offend and denigrate their neighbors. Along with the desire that Christians, thanks to the divine gift of unity, overcome the divisions that prevent them from understanding and experiencing the truth that we all belong to Christ.
During the Week of Prayer, Pope Francis, after this morning's general audience, will celebrate Mass on January 22, Word of God Sunday, at 9:30 a.m. in St. Peter's Basilica. Three days later, on January 25, in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls at 5:30 p.m., the Pope will celebrate Second Vespers to close the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on the Solemnity of the Conversion of the Apostle Paul.
A few historical notes may help to better understand the spirit and content of the Week: an ecumenical initiative of prayer in which all Christian confessions pray together for the attainment of the full unity that is the will of Christ himself. Traditionally, it is celebrated from January 18-25, because it falls between the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter and the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. The Episcopalian Reverend Paul Wattson officially initiated it in Graymoor (New York) in 1908 under the name Octave for the Unity of the Church, in the hope that it would become a common practice.
This initiative arose in Protestant circles in 1908; since 1968, the theme and texts of the prayer have been elaborated jointly by the Faith and Order Commission of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, for Protestants and Orthodox, and by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, for Catholics (predecessor of the current Dicastery).
As has been said, the first hypothesis of a prayer for the unity of the Churches arose in the Protestant sphere at the end of the 18th century; and in the second half of the 19th century a Union of prayer for unity began to spread, supported both by the first Assembly of Anglican bishops at Lambeth (1867) and by Pope Leo XIII (1894), who invited it to be included in the context of the feast of Pentecost. Later, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Joachim III wrote the patriarchal and synodal encyclical Lettera irenica (1902), in which he called for prayer for the union of believers in Christ. It was finally the Rev. Paul Wattson who proposed the celebration of the Octave for the first time in Graymoor (New York), from January 18 to 25.
In 1926, the Faith and Order movement initiated the publication of Suggestions for an Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity, while in 1935, Abbot Paul Couturier in France promoted the Universal Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, based on prayer for "the unity willed by Christ, by the means willed by Him." In 1958, the Centre Oecuménique Unité Chrétienne in Lyon, France, began preparing material for the Week of Prayer in collaboration with the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches.
In 2008, the first centenary of the Week of Prayer was solemnly celebrated worldwide with various events. The motto of the Week of Prayer, "Pray continually" (1 Thess 5:17), expressed the joy of one hundred years of common prayer and the results achieved.
Meeting of the Pope with the Italian Confraternities
In his recent meeting with the Confederation of Confraternities of the Dioceses of Italy, Pope Francis encouraged these associations of the faithful to articulate their journey along three fundamental lines: Gospel, ecclesiality and missionary spirit.
On January 16, the Pope Francis received at the Vatican representatives of the Confederation of Confraternities of the Dioceses of Italy. This organization was founded in the Jubilee Year 2000 and projects itself towards the year 2025, when the next Jubilee will be celebrated.
In Italy, it currently has about 3,200 realities (there are as many confraternities in the country that are not registered in this association) and two million members.
History of the Brotherhoods
The experience of the Confraternities has a very ancient history, beginning around the 8th century with the equal participation of consecrated and lay people.
Long before the first religious orders were established, many Confraternities were already practicing works of charity and mercy, and working to increase public worship and popular piety.
The 14th century saw a new development with the creation of the Companies of the Body of Christ and of Mercy, and later those of Charity and of Divine Love, which founded hospitals and shelters for the needy. At this time, practically all the religious orders created Confraternities.
In the 16th century an evolution took place with the appearance of the archconfraternities; they were part of a network of confraternities, performed more pious works and various obligations, and enjoyed greater indulgences.
In later centuries, when the phenomenon of the missions developed, the Brotherhoods developed in new countries, where they represented works of evangelization.
During the Napoleonic era, almost all the confraternities were suppressed and their property confiscated. Only those with a purely religious character managed to survive.
In Italy, in the 19th century, confraternities that had a charitable purpose were distinguished from those that had a cultic purpose; confraternities that performed charitable works came under the control of the state authority.
An 1890 law confiscated all wealth-generating assets of all confraternities for worship purposes, leaving only the oratories and churches, and suppressed the charity offices and the charity congregation.
As already mentioned, in the year 2000 a reform desired by Pope John Paul II took place, which established the Confederation of Confraternities of the Dioceses of Italy. This reality of the Church thus had official recognition with the new century, protected by ecclesiastical authority.
In Europe, the brotherhoods are developing with significant numbers not only in Italy but also in other countries, with an overall volume of 27,000 confraternities and more than 6 million members. The most impressive presence is in Spain (13,000 with more than three million members).
The words of Pope Francis
In his meeting dedicated to this reality of the Church, the Pope referred to the Second Vatican Council on the theme of the presence of the laity in the Church "called by God to contribute, almost from within as leaven, to the sanctification of the world".
In the context of the new evangelization," the Pope said, "popular piety constitutes a powerful force of proclamation that has much to give to the men and women of our time. I encourage you to cultivate with creative and dynamic commitment your associative life and your charitable presence, which are founded on the gift of the Baptism and imply a path of growth under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let yourselves be animated by the Spirit and walk".
The Pope's invitation to the confraternities was to articulate their path around three fundamental lines: gospel, ecclesiality and missionary spirit.
This indication means: to walk in the footsteps of Christ by cultivating daily listening to the Word of God, reading each day even a small piece of the Gospel, and the centrality of Christ in one's own life in an intense life of personal and liturgical prayer; to walk together through community moments of fraternal dialogue, formation, discernment and deliberation and a living contact with the local Church; to walk announcing the Gospel, giving witness to one's faith and caring for the brothers, especially for the new poverties of our time.
At the end of his speech, Pope Francis addressed the representatives of the confraternities with affectionate words, renewing his invitation to them "to be missionaries of love and of the tendernessmissionaries of the mercy of God, who always forgives us, always waits for us and loves us so much".
Word of God: "We proclaim to you what we have seen".
On the third Sunday in Ordinary Time, the whole Church celebrates the Sunday of the Word of God and there are many documents that speak of Sacred Scripture.
On the third Sunday in Ordinary Time, the universal Church celebrates the Sunday of the Word of God. Through an apostolic letter in the form of a motu proprio, Aperuit IllisPope Francis instituted this feast in September 2019.
The purpose of this Sunday is to "highlight the presence of the Lord in the lives of all the faithful". For this reason, it is important that in the days leading up to the celebration the People of God prepare themselves to take advantage of this day dedicated to the Word. There are many ecclesial documents that delve into Sacred Scripture and its centrality in the life of the Church.
Aperuit Illis
Pope Francis, in the letter Aperuit IllisThe relationship between the Risen Lord, the community of believers and Sacred Scripture is intensely vital for our identity. If the Lord does not introduce us, it is impossible to understand Sacred Scripture in depth, but the opposite is also true: without Sacred Scripture, the events of the mission of Jesus and his Church in the world remain indecipherable".
This Sunday's liturgical celebration allows "the Church to relive the gesture of the Risen Lord who opens for us the treasure of his Word so that we can proclaim this inexhaustible richness throughout the world".
What the Holy Father wishes is that "the Sunday dedicated to the Word may make the people of God grow in religious and assiduous familiarity with Sacred Scripture, as the sacred author taught already in ancient times: this Word 'is very close to you: in your heart and in your mouth, so that you may fulfill it'" (1 Corinthians 5:17).Dt 30,14)".
Dei Verbum
The Second Vatican Council prepared a dogmatic constitution, Dei Verbumon divine revelation. In this document they explain that "the Church has always venerated the Sacred Scriptures as well as the Body of the Lord Himself, never ceasing to take from the table and distribute to the faithful the bread of life, both the word of God and the Body of Christ, especially in the Sacred Liturgy".
This explains the need for "all ecclesiastical preaching, like the Christian religion itself, to be nourished by Sacred Scripture". For we must not forget the greatness of the Bible, since "the words of God expressed in human tongues have become like human speech, just as once the Word of the Eternal Father, taking the flesh of human weakness, became like men".
Verbum Domini
Benedict XVI published an apostolic exhortation,Verbum DominiThe theme of the meeting was "The Word of God in the life and mission of the Church. In it, he emphasizes "the urgency and the beauty to proclaim the Word so that the Kingdom of God, preached by Christ himself, may come. We renew in this sense the awareness, so familiar to the Fathers of the Church, that the proclamation of the Word has as its content the Kingdom of God (cf. Mc 1,14-15)".
But why do we need the Word so much? Benedict answers clearly: "The divine Word illumines human existence and moves the conscience to review its own life in depth, because the whole history of humanity is under the judgment of God".
Catechism of the Catholic Church
When we contemplate the Word, it is essential to remember what is stated by the Catechism of the Catholic ChurchGod is the author of Sacred Scripture". However, we cannot forget that "the Christian faith is not a "religion of the Book". Christianity is the religion of the "Word" of God, "not of a written and mute Word, but of the incarnate and living Word" (St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Homilia super missus est, 4,11: PL 183, 86B)".
Inspired by Dei VerbumThe Catechism points out three keys for interpreting the Bible according to the Spirit who inspired it:
"Pay great attention to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture. In fact, however different the books that compose it may be, Scripture is one because of the unity of God's plan, of which Christ Jesus is the center and heart, opened up since his Passover (cf. Lc 24,25-27. 44-46)".
"Reading Scripture in "the living Tradition of the whole Church." According to an adage of the Fathers, Sacra Scriptura pincipalius est in corde Ecclesiae quam in materialibus instrumentis scripta ("Sacred Scripture is more in the heart of the Church than in the materiality of written books"). In fact, the Church contains in her Tradition the living memory of the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit gives her the spiritual interpretation of Scripture (...secundum spiritualem sensum quem Spiritus donat Ecclesiae [Origins, Homiliae in Leviticum, 5,5])".
"Be attentive "to the analogy of faith" (cf. Rm 12, 6). By "analogy of faith" we understand the cohesion of the truths of faith among themselves and in the total project of Revelation".
Many things can be said about fetuses, but there is no doubt that their heart beats. And, although I am not a doctor, I would wager that this miniscule palpitation accelerates when some stress disturbs its threatened existence.
January 20, 2023-Reading time: 4minutes
The fact that elections are to be held in a few months' time has given rise to a whole media coven that astonishes me. I am one of those who, out of sheer inertia, still watch the news at three in the afternoon or at nine at night, despite the indoctrination to which the small screen has been subjecting us lately.
In times like these, one would expect them to report on winter storms, the never-ending Ukrainian war, the prospects for overcoming inflation and the economic crisis... what do I know!
However, for the past week, day after day, the first quarter of an hour has been devoted to the terrible news: an autonomous community has decided that women who wish to have an abortion at public expense are obliged - or recommended or perhaps simply advised (versions vary) - to listen for one minute to the heartbeat of the little being they carry inside them before eliminating it!
Oh, scandal! The parties have taken a stand; some of their representatives have torn their garments again and again (I suppose they use velcro tunics for this purpose; otherwise it would cost them dearly). Even the government has gone on the warpath, ready to apply the legislation in force (tightening it if necessary) to proceed against the autonomy that has had such a pretense, whose councilors do not seem to be in complete agreement on the terms of the initiative either.
Since at this point in the movie we citizens have become quite skeptical about the motivations of the political class, it does not seem rash to suspect that in this dispute very few are guided by any other principle than mere electoral profitability. If so, the indignant proclamations in one direction or the lukewarm pronouncements in another would only obey the hope of winning a few thousand votes, or losing as few as possible.
It is true that pollsters seem to be wrong lately with disconcerting frequency. In such a context, I must confess my satisfaction that some have made their bet by turning their backs on such miserable accounting.
Calculations and strategies aside, what is the point, after all, to listen? What's wrong with that? Tyrians and Trojans are urging us every day to listen to the voice of the least favored sectors of society: minorities, the marginalized, the oppressed, those who do not know how to express themselves nor have lawyers to stand up for them?
Well, from birth until they learn to speak, children express themselves by crying and smiling; before that, only with little kicks and heartbeats. The little kicks are somewhat later, so that the heartbeat is an obligatory procedure to announce: "Here I am!" Everyone is free to understand the gesture as they wish.
It used to be thought that cardiac pumping only started at one and a half months of gestation, then it was found to begin as early as 21 days and lately it seems that even shortly after two weeks after conception.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang!" It is not a complicated message, but it is certainly a repeated and insistent one: it is estimated that we all do it 100,000 times a day, 35 million times a year and more than 2.5 billion times in the course of an octogenarian lifetime. Unless, of course, something - for example, an accident or illness - or someone - a murderer or a feticide - interrupts the speech before its natural end. Some people think that it is not so bad after all. It all depends.
Charles Aznavour, for example, composed a beautiful song in which he only asked his lover "to hear your young heart beat in love". Nor do millions of couples who excitedly go to their first appointment with the sonographer require more circumstantial messages.
Of course, it was not so simple before: the phonendoscope had to be applied to the pregnant womb and I suppose that the interested party would not know very well how to distinguish her own heartbeat from that of the baby.
But times change, and not always for the worse: now it is more difficult to silence the voice of the voiceless. That reminds me that I met a Jesuit who worked in Caracas, in the slums. He told me that the shantytowns climbed up the slopes of the mountains surrounding the capital. "Better this way," he added, "there is no way to disguise them..." Something not very different happens with what I am commenting on.
Many things can be said about fetuses, such as affirming their alleged "subhuman" condition, their insufficient biological autonomy, their lack of consolidated rights, etc. It fills me with admiration that there are people capable of dusting off the writings of ancient authors to document that the insertion of the "immortal soul" in the fetus is a "subhuman" condition. nasciturus (a soul in which, by the way, most of those who forge such arguments do not believe either) occurs with as much or as much delay.
In short, they are very careful to deny that they are "persons", taking advantage of the fact that the only thing the poor little ones know how to do inside the uterus is to make a gesture as if they were sucking their thumb. They may or may not have a soul; they may or may not be persons; they may or may not suck their thumb; but there is no doubt that their heart beats. And, although I am not a doctor, I would wager that this miniscule palpitation accelerates when some stress disturbs their threatened existence.
I have only been a father once. My daughter weighed 850 grams at birth: there was no way to keep her in her natural place until term. She knocked on the doors of the planet when, according to today's guidelines, she was still "abortable". I had the opportunity to observe her many times in the incubator, where the lamp lit to control the bilirubin level made her little body semi-transparent: I could see her veins and also (but not hear) her heartbeat. I can testify that she clung to life like a limpet, even though I was told when she was admitted to the hospital that she could do so under her mother's name: she had not yet earned the right to have one of her own.
I don't know if you have seen a television series in which several professional blacksmiths get together to forge and test the bladed weapons that the jury proposes to them. At the end, the sword, cutlass or scimitar is wielded against a hanging quarter of beef until it splits in two, after which the craftsman is congratulated and told: "Congratulations: your weapon is ready. kills".
The example is gruesome and surely in bad taste, but it serves me to add that we can argue ad nauseam about the presence or absence of rights in the unborn. But we still have the opportunity to congratulate the mother-to-be - and by extension the father - by telling them: "Congratulations: your 'thing late." Let us take the opportunity to repeat it to them as long as there is no law forbidding us to do so.
The Pontifical Oriental Institute organized an ecumenical prayer in the Church of St. Anthony Abbot in Rome on the occasion of the week of prayer for Christian unity in the Church.
At this meeting it became clear how Christian unity is not only possible, but begins with the relationships between individual Christians.
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Mission of light. Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Joseph Evans comments on the readings for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.
Joseph Evans-January 19, 2023-Reading time: 2minutes
"Once the Lord humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but then He has filled with glory the way of the sea, the other side of the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles."we read in today's first reading from the prophet Isaiah.
But how did God humble Galilee, and how did He glorify it afterwards? He humbled it by allowing it to be razed to the ground by the brutal Assyrian invaders in the eighth century B.C. And he gave it temporary glory under the pious king of Judah, Hezekiah, who reconquered it, so that for a time it regained its splendor.
However, this brief glory was only a foreshadowing of the much greater glory that would come to Galilee when God himself, "the light of the world," would later become incarnate and live in the Galilean city of Nazareth.
Although veiled while walking the earth, Jesus Christ, "the true light, which enlightens every man."came into the world in Galilee (Jn 1:9), so that John could write later: "We have beheld his glory, glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father." (Jn 1:14).
Thus, in today's Gospel, Matthew appropriately applies to Jesus the words of Isaiah: "The people who walked in darkness saw a great light; they dwelt in earth and shadows of death, and a light shone on them"..
Christ then begins his "mission of light" by calling for repentance, teaching and proclaiming the kingdom and healing sickness. Turning away from sin - the deepest form of darkness - and returning to truth brings light to the world, as well as tender care for those experiencing suffering.
But, for this mission Christ sought the cooperation of men, particularly through his Church, and thus we see him call his first disciples. He says to them: "Come after me and I will make you fishers of men."
In other words, you will be my instruments to bring people out of the darkness of the sea - which symbolizes chaos and death - to the light of day and to dry land, which symbolizes life and security in God.
We see some apostles casting their nets into the sea, and others mending them. The work of evangelization, of bringing light to the world, must be a constantly renewed effort, with frequent reviews, evaluations and, when necessary, rectification, to correct what has gone wrong.
Today is also Word of God Sunday. The Word of God in the Writing is light for the world and light for our souls, and we must try to bring it to others in new and creative ways.
As St. Paul says to the Corinthians, it is far greater than mere human "wisdom," however eloquent it may be, because it contains within itself the power of the cross of Christ (1 Cor 1:17).
The more we plunge into the depths of God's Word, the more inspired we will be to launch ourselves into the work of evangelization.
Homily on the readings of Sunday, 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaa brief one-minute reflection for this Sunday's readings
The affair of the Dutch Catechism (1966-1968) provoked one of the most significant crises of the post-conciliar period. On the 50th anniversary it was neither remembered nor celebrated, especially because the little Dutch Church that remained was not for triumphalism, but for selling empty temples.
Dutch Catholics had been a persecuted and marginalized minority in an officially Protestant country since independence from Spanish rule (1581). They had survived by uniting and creating a strong Catholic climate. They had a solid system of catechesis and training of catechists and priests. And, in the 20th century, they had managed to emancipate themselves and become the majority religious group, with many Catholic institutions, a strong identity and many missionaries spread all over the world.
But the times of prosperity and development of the post-war period were changing the ideals of life. Sacramental practice (until then averaging over 70%) was declining. And, since the early 1960s, before anywhere else, the use of contraceptives had become widespread among Catholics, which immediately decreased family size and the number of seminary candidates (and perhaps also fineness of conscience and full adherence to the Church). But the issue remained as if veiled in the background. Less heroic times were coming for a Christianity that also felt the need to distance itself from such a net past. The traditional distancing from the Protestants no longer made sense either.
A little history and context
Since 1956, the Dutch episcopate had asked the professors of the Pastoral Institute of the Catholic University of Nijmegen for a Catechism for children. Later it was thought that it would be more profitable to make it for adults (1960). It was hoped that this would be done by the end of the Vatican Council II (1962-1965) to collect their suggestions, and was published in 1966. Many groups and hundreds of people were involved in the process, but the intellectual guidance is due to the Dutch Jesuit Piet Schoonenberg (1911-1999) and the Belgian-born Dominican Edward Schillebeeckx (1914-2009), professors at the Institute. Both would play an important role in the crisis of the Catechism and would evolve towards critical doctrinal positions. Schillebeeckx was a voice heard at the Council, although he was not appointed peritus.
At the Council, a dialectic had been created, at times, between a majority that wanted fundamental changes and a more conservative minority; a dialectic that was constantly cheered in the media (surely, because it seemed the most interesting and was what it understood best). In addition, the excessive role played in the past by the Holy Office had been censured. This created an atmosphere of detachment from Roman institutions and the prominence of Central European theologians. The good offices of Pope Paul VI and the good will of the bishops (who were at all times addicted to the popes, as Alberigo himself confesses in his Brief history of Vatican Council II) succeeded in getting the documents approved with huge majorities and in a climate of communion. To some they seemed inadmissible concessions; and in public opinion, an atmosphere was created that explains the subsequent attitude of resistance (and disdain) of the Dutch theologians to Rome's proposals.
The gaps in the Catechism
At first glance, the text of the Catechism is narrative and interesting, with a fairly successful and integrated distribution of the different aspects of the faith. It is striking that it begins with the human situation in the world, trying to positively (and perhaps naively) take up the legacy of the different religions, including Marxism, as expressions of the search for God. It also wants to integrate the perspectives of the sciences, especially evolution. Although to gather them in a Catechism could lead one to think that everything is the same. On the other hand, it was quite demanding for the average reader.
However, the problems were not there and could go unnoticed (as happened to many Dutch bishops fully confident in their theologians). The problems stemmed from two basic intentions. The first was to get along with the Protestant part of the country, especially on sensitive issues, improving the Catholic explanations, but also avoiding what could displease them. This directly affected the Mass as sacrifice and satisfaction, the Eucharistic presence, the identity of the ordained priesthood and its distinction from the common priesthood, and the ministry of the Pope.
On the other hand, they wanted to reach a modern world that was more cultured and less willing to believe anything. This led them to look for soft formulas, to avoid difficult subjects (original sin, miracles, the soul) and to interpret "less credible" aspects such as the virginal conception of Mary, the angels and the resurrection as metaphors. They became convinced that all these things were not properly matters of faith and were free to seek a symbolic interpretation.
On the other hand, the editors, perhaps inspired by Rahner, sought alternative expressions to the traditional formulas of the faith (dogmas), substituting "philosophical" terminology. This required rather difficult and unusual reconstructions of central themes (Trinity, personality of Jesus Christ, sin, sacraments), which lost precision. More than in affirmations openly opposed to the faith, the problem of the Catechism was in what was not affirmed or was reinterpreted. But this was not easy to see on a first reading.
First reactions
All, theologians and bishops, were satisfied and proud of the result. Cardinal Primate Alfrink asked Schillebeeckx to make a final revision for the nihil obstat and presented it in public with enthusiasm (1966). The book aroused much national and international interest. It was the first post-conciliar catechism.
But opposition immediately arose from more traditional Christian groups who had already been observing the evolution of the Nijmegen theologians. They exposed the shortcomings in a militant magazine (Confrontatie) and sent a letter to the Pope which was published in the Catholic press (De Tijd). This was extremely irritating for the theologians and disconcerting for the bishops, who tended to support the theologians. The latter responded very harshly to those whom they considered much less prepared than themselves.
Paul VI immediately understood that he had to intervene. In agreement with Cardinal Alfrink, he appointed a mixed commission with three theologians resident in Rome (Dhanis, a Belgian, and the Dutchmen Visser and Lemeer) and three members of the Pastoral Institute of Nijmegen (Schoonenberg, Schillebeckx and Bless, who was the director). They met at Gazzada in April 1967, but the Institute's delegation refused any change which it considered an abdication of its principles.
As much as it can be understood in its context, it was a clear manifestation of hybris The Institute also adopted an ugly and inappropriate but effective media strategy by presenting the issue before the Magisterium and preferred confrontation to the communion proper to the Church and to theological work. In addition, the Institute adopted an ugly and inappropriate but effective media strategy by presenting the issue to the establishment of the Dutch Church (highly addicted to and influenced by the Pastoral Institute) and to the general public as a confrontation between dogmatic, scholastic and backward Rome and pastoral, modern and open Nijmegen: the cliché, suggested in the interviews, was repeated everywhere (still today).
Commission on Cardinals and Corrections
After the failure of Gazzada, Paul Vl appointed a deliberately international commission of cardinals (June 1967): Frings, Lefebre, Jaeger, Florit, Browne and Journet. These sought the support of an international commission of theologians: in addition to Dhanis, Visser and Lemeer, De Lubac, Alfaro, Doolan and Ratzinger. They composed a set of concrete corrections to be introduced into the text, page by page. At the same time they recognized its pastoral value and declared that it affected only a few points (20 % of the text). In agreement with Cardinal Alfrink, a team was appointed to carry it out: Dahnis and Visser representing the cardinals and, on the Dutch side, Bishop Fortmann and the Jesuit professor of the Mulders Institute, but the latter refused to participate.
Some points have already been mentioned. Particularly disconcerting was the refusal to use the idea of satisfaction and the sacrificial value of the Mass, strongly rooted in the Gospels. The identification of the Eucharistic presence and conversion as a change of meaning (Schillebeeckx's inspiration) which, no matter how realistic an interpretation one might wish to give it, always sounds insufficient. The rather allegorical interpretation of the virgin birth of Christ. The consequent feeling that the whole doctrine is subject to change according to the spirit of the age. And that there is neither a fixed morality nor grave sins.
The Institute refused to correct the text and promoted translations into German, French, English and Spanish, without rectifications or nihil obstatThis was a serious policy of fait accompli, but they were sure that their proposal was the future of the universal Church and they were ready to defend it at any cost. It was a serious policy of fait accompli, but they were sure that their proposal was the future of the universal Church and they were ready to defend it at any cost.
It was then decided to convert the corrections into a "Supplement" of about 20 pages, which could be added to the unsold volumes of the various editions and translations, with the approval of the publishers. The corrections had to be transformed and simplified into a coherent text. It was a bad solution. Cándido Pozo published this text with commentaries (Corrections to the Dutch CatechismBAC 1969). In the Spanish edition (1969), by Herder, it was pasted at the end. In the copy that I handle it has been torn off, leaving only the letter of Bishop Morcillo that presented it.
Parallel complications
In 1968, Pope Paul VI published his encyclical Humanae vitaeThe Council had reserved the subject for the Council (like that of priestly celibacy) and it was the fruit of much study and prayer. The issue had been reserved at the Council (like that of priestly celibacy) and was the fruit of much study and prayer. But it could not have come to Holland at a worse time.
Since 1966, the Dutch Church had launched a Synod to implement the wishes of the Second Vatican Council. The third session (1969) was greatly affected by the climate created by the issue of the Catechism and by the reaction to the Humanae vitae, and became an open response to the establishment The ecclesiastical system (while the bishops were caught in the middle). The Munich theologians Michael Schmauss and Leo Scheffczyk, foreseeing the repercussions in Germany, prepared a critical analysis of the synod in The New Dutch Theology (BAC, 1972).
The Creed of the People of God
Maritain, a French thinker and convert in his youth, followed with concern the Dutch events and it seemed to him that a solemn magisterial act was needed to reaffirm the great points of faith. He wrote to his friend Cardinal Journet, who had participated in the corrections, to convey the idea to the Pope, who held Maritain and Journet in high esteem. The Pope liked it and asked them to prepare a text, which gave rise to the Creed of the People of God, solemnly proclaimed in the Vatican on June 30, 1968, as the closing of the year of faith and, symbolically, of the conciliar period.
It was written with an evident parallelism with the questions raised by the Dutch Catechism. They are almost the same ones that, in a patent or latent form, have affected and are still present in the Church. Although one can add in particular the "Christology from below", which is often only a reconstruction of the figure of Christ, stripping it of its divine dimension and turning it into a man who is a friend of God and, in a certain way, assumed by Him. This was not so clearly expressed in the Dutch Catechism, but it is as initiated. It will also be the later tendency of Schillebeekcx (and Küng).
The Church in the Netherlands after
Thus Holland led the way and partly inspired the post-conciliar crisis that, to varying degrees, affected all Western countries. The old and strong cohesion of the Catholic institutions in Holland made the effects more immediate, traumatic and profound, with a drastic decrease of candidates to the priesthood and of practicing Christians, thousands of departures of priests (about 2000, in the decade of the sixties), religious (about 5,500) and nuns (about 2700), according to data from Jan Bots (The Dutch experienceCommunio, IV, 1, 1979, 83). And an important disorientation of Catholic institutions.
Paul Vl tried to rectify it with some episcopal appointments against local wishes (De Simonis, in 1971 and Gijsen, in 1972), which obtained some fruits in a very distorted environment.
A beautiful counterpoint is the story of Cornelia de Vogel, professor of ancient philosophy at the University of Utrecht, who converted to Catholicism after a long journey, splendidly recounted in her autobiographical account. From Orthodox Protestantism to the Catholic Church (available in French). In 1972, in the face of the rebellion that the appointments of Paul VI had provoked, he wanted to give his assessment of the situation of the Dutch Church in an inspired book To the Catholics of the Netherlands, to all (1973).
At the beginning of his pontificate, John Paul II summoned the Dutch bishops to Rome for a special Synod (1980). And he visited Holland in 1985, amidst one of the most violent protests of all his trips. Over the years, a Church greatly reduced after the gale, but more serene and recomposed also with the help of emigrants, faces its future with faith and assumes its role of witness and evangelization in a very secularized context and with an atheist majority.
Enrique Alonso de Velasco's article may provide more information, The crisis of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands in the second half of the 20th Centuryavailable online.
Pope Francis: "The heart of Jesus is a pastoral heart".
Pope Francis continued his catechesis on apostolic zeal during the general audience. This time he focused on the figure of Jesus Christ as a model of evangelization.
Pope Francis has taken up the catechesis on apostolic zeal. This time he focused his preaching on the figure of Jesus and his pastoral heart, "the unsurpassable model of proclamation. Christ, who is the Word of God, "is always in relationship, always going out". Being the Word, he is the Word, who "exists in order to be transmitted, communicated". In short, Jesus is the "eternal Word of the Father who comes to us. Christ not only has words of life, but makes of his life a "word of life". WordHe lives always directed towards the Father and towards us".
The beginning
The Pope invites us to fix our gaze on Jesus' journeys, in which "we see that in the first place is intimacy with the Father, intimacy with the Father, intimacy with the Father, intimacy with the Father, intimacy with the Father, intimacy with the Father, intimacy with the Father. prayerJesus gets up early, while it is still dark, and goes to deserted areas to pray. It is there, "in this relationship, in the prayer that unites him to the Father in the Spirit, that Jesus discovers the meaning of his being man, of his existence in the world as a mission for us".
To go deeper into this, Francis analyzes the first public appearance of Christ: "Jesus does not make a great prodigy, he does not launch a message with effect, but mingles with the people who were going to be baptized by John. Thus he offers us the key to his action in the world: to wear himself out for sinners, becoming in solidarity with us without distance, in the total sharing of life".
In this way, says the Holy Father, we can see that "every day, after prayer, Jesus dedicates his entire day to proclaiming the Kingdom of God and to people, especially the poorest and weakest, sinners and the sick".
The pastoral heart of Jesus
It is easy to identify Jesus with a concrete image. The Pope points out, "Jesus himself offers it to us, speaking of himself as the Good Shepherd, the one who - he says - "gives his life for the sheep". In fact, being the shepherd was not just a job, which required time and much commitment; it was a true way of life: twenty-four hours a day, living with the flock, accompanying it to pasture, sleeping among the sheep, caring for the weakest. In other words, Jesus does not do something for us, but gives his life for us. His is a pastoral heart.
The pastoral care of the Church
Francis points out the comparison between the mission of Jesus and the action of the Church, which is often described as "pastoral". In evaluating this activity, "we must compare ourselves with the model, Jesus the Good Shepherd. First of all, we can ask ourselves: do we imitate him by drinking from the wellsprings of prayer, so that our heart is in tune with his?"
The Pope invites us to keep in mind chapter 15 of the Gospel of Lukewhere the parable of the lost sheep is found. In this we can see the pastoral heart that "suffers and risks. He suffers: yes, God suffers for the one who leaves and, while we mourn him, he loves him even more. The Lord suffers when we distance ourselves from his heart. He suffers for those who do not know the beauty of his love and the warmth of his embrace. But, in response to this suffering, he does not close himself off, but risks: he leaves the ninety-nine sheep that are safe and ventures out for the one lost one, doing something risky and also irrational, but in keeping with his pastoral heart, which is nostalgic for those who have gone; not anger or resentment, but an irreducible longing for us. It is the zeal of God".
With this, Pope Francis concludes by saying: "Do we have similar feelings? Perhaps we see as adversaries or enemies those who have left the flock. Meeting them at school, at work, on the streets of the city, why not rather think that we have a beautiful occasion to witness to them the joy of a Father who loves them and has never forgotten them? There is a good word for them and we have the honor and the burden of carrying it. Because the Word, Jesus, asks this of us. Perhaps we have been following and loving Jesus for a long time and we have never asked ourselves if we share the sentiments, if we suffer and risk in tune with his pastoral heart! It is not a matter of proselytizing so that others may be "of our own", but of loving so that they may be happy children of God".
Pope Francis opts for a culture of encounter based on gestures of closeness and personal friendship with the leaders of different Christian confessions. His travels and audiences confirm this.
Andrea Gagliarducci-January 18, 2023-Reading time: 6minutes
In the Angelus of December 18Pope Francis appealed for a solution to the situation in the Lachin corridor, the only point of contact between Nagorno-Karabakh (or Artsakh, according to its ancient Armenian name) and Armenia.
The blockade of the corridor by some activists threatens to provoke a humanitarian tragedy, while maneuvers in that corridor, and in Nagorno Karabakh in general, have long raised questions about the future of the region's Christian heritage.
However, that call also had another meaning. It was a call that came to the rescue of a "sister" church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, and Patriarch Karekin II, who met several times with Pope Francis and welcomed him to Armenia in 2016.
– Supernatural last meeting between the two was in October 2021, when Karekin II was accompanied by the head of human rights to denounce the crimes taking place in the region. Contacts, however, are frequent, and the appeal made five days ago to the leaders of all the sister Churches certainly did not go unnoticed by Pope Francis.
The episode is noteworthy because it relates the way Pope Francis carries out ecumenism. Several times he smilingly recalled an old joke that if all theologians were put on an island, ecumenism would immediately follow. But the Pope then went on to say that theology is indeed useful for ecumenical dialogue. He, however, prefers to focus on something else: on gestures of closeness and personal friendship.
Ecumenical gifts
What is certain is that the entire pontificate of Pope Francis is studded with "ecumenical gifts". Last week, three pieces of the Parthenon kept in the Vatican Museums were returned to Greece, directly to the Orthodox Archbishop Ieronymos, with whom the Pope had met a year ago during his trip to the country.
Earlier, on June 29, 2019, Pope Francis suddenly decided to donate a relic of St. Peter to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew.
And then there is the ecumenism of relics. The ultimate example is that of the relic of St. Nicholas taken from the body of the Saint in Bari and brought to the veneration of the faithful in Russia in 2017. Also in 2017, it was the relics of St. Philip that were sent to Smyrna, to the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The bloody tunic of Thomas Beckett, the English bishop murdered by the sword in Canterbury Cathedral, was loaned to the Anglican Church and from St. Mary Major returned to Canterbury in 2020, on the occasion of the celebrations of the 850th anniversary of the martyrdom of the martyr of Albion. Also in 2020, Pope Francis donated the relics of St. Clement and St. Potitus to Patriarch Neofit of Bulgaria.
These are all gestures intended to foster gestures of détente with sister Churches. Pope Francis, in fact, leaves the task of defining the theological issues to the Dicastery for the Promotion of Christian Unity. In general, it relies on encounters, on personal relationships, to bring about a practical ecumenism that shows sister Churches working together.
Pope Francis' ecumenical trips
Part of this strategy is the long-planned "ecumenical journey" to South Sudanwhere he will be with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Anglican Primate, and Moderator of the Church of Scotland Iain Greenshields. Pope Francis will be in South Sudan on February 4-5, 2023, at the end of a trip that will take him to the Democratic Republic of Congo from January 31 to February 3.
The trip had been planned for some time, and relations with Anglican Primate Welby had grown closer on the eve of this trip. On April 11, 2019, Archbishop Welby was also at the prayer meeting for the civil and political authorities of South Sudan that Pope Francis had wanted at the Vatican.
It was the time before the pandemic, and Pope Francis had planned no less than two ecumenical trips in 2020. In addition to the one to South Sudan, a longer trip to Greece was also planned, following in the footsteps of St. Paul, with the Patriarch Bartholomewwho has always shown his closeness to Pope Francis, at his side.
Due to the pandemic, the trip to Greece could not take place as planned in 2020. When it took place in December 2021, conditions were different, and it was decided to make a trip with a stop in Athens and a quick detour to Lesbos, where the Pope had already been.
However, the fact that it was to be done says a lot about the direction Pope Francis wants to give to ecumenical dialogue. Suffice it to say that most of the nations Pope Francis has visited in Europe are Orthodox-majority: in 2019 it was Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia and Romania. In 2021, Cyprus and Greece.
Now a visit to Serbia is planned, which has also been offered for a meeting between Pope Francis and the Patriarch of Moscow Kirill. Difficult terrain because of the opposition of the local Orthodox Patriarchate to the canonization of Cardinal Aloizije Stepniac, Archbishop of Zagreb during the years of World War II, considered by the Orthodox a Nazi collaborator - for this, the Pope has also created an Orthodox Catholic commission that has not led to any definitive conclusion -.
In addition, trips have been made to countries with a Protestant majority. In Sweden in 2016, Pope Francis went to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, launching a joint statement between Caritas Internationalis and Lutheran World Service.
And not to be forgotten is Pope Francis' visit to Switzerland, first to the headquarters of the World Council of Churches and then to Bossey in 2018, again underlining the desire to be present.
Relationship with the Moscow Patriarchate
It is not surprising, then, that the Pope seeks personal encounters rather than big speeches. He held talks with his "dear brother" Bartholomew both on his last trip to Bahrain in November 2022 and on his trip to Kazakhstan in September 2022. And it is not surprising that the countries that are making the greatest effort to show their commitment to dialogue and shake off a difficult image (Kazakhstan and Bahrain, but also the United Arab Emirates and Iraq) have always invited the Pope to interreligious meetings where he can also hold "ecumenical bilaterals".
Since its trip to Kazakhstan In September 2022, Pope Francis also met with Metropolitan Antonij, who heads the Patriarchate's Department for External Relations. Patriarch Kirill, who had confirmed his participation and then cancelled it at the last moment, was scheduled to be there. With Antonij there was talk of a possible second meeting between the Patriarch and the Pope, scheduled for June in the Holy Land, which was then cancelled and made difficult also by some statements of Pope Francis, who - speaking about the videoconference he held with Kirill in March this year - had hinted that he had ordered the Patriarch: "We are not clerics of the State".
And so the possibility of a meeting fizzled out, against the backdrop of a war in Ukraine that has seen the Patriarch take very clear pro-war positions, while Cardinal Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, has not hesitated to define some of these positions as "heretical".
For the Pope, however, the meeting must be held, along the lines of the February 2016 meeting in Havana. The background of the war in Ukraine makes everything more difficult, including calibrating the eventual final declaration. The thermometer of the relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church will be able to gauge the situation in February: will the usual annual commemorative meeting be held in Havana? And in what form? That remains to be seen.
Ecumenical reconciliation in Ukraine
Meanwhile, another possibility could also exist on the Ukrainian front, where for the past 25 years there has been a All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations representing the 95% of the religious mosaic of Ukraine.
This council, which is also very active in supporting the local population, has written a letter to the Pope, requesting the possibility of a meeting, and it is expected that his visit to Rome will take place in January, during the Week for Promoting Christian Unity.
It would be an important visit, a way of seeking peace also through ecumenical dialogue. But it would also be a visit that would have to be calibrated well, in meetings, ways and terms, bearing in mind that Ukraine is also an ecumenical battleground. There, in fact, the declaration of autocephaly (autonomy) of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 2019 had triggered the so-called "Orthodox schism".
The autocephaly had been granted by Bartholomew, the first of the Synaxis of Orthodox Churches, but had provoked the firm protest of the Patriarchate of Moscow, which had also withdrawn from all the bodies co-chaired by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, including the Catholic-Orthodox Theological Commission.
Moscow considered Ukraine its canonical territory and, among other things, autocephaly had been perceived precisely as a further distancing of Ukraine from Russia, which also influenced the Russian narrative about the current war.
Everything, in the end, will depend on how things shape up. Pope Francis continues with his idea of the culture of encounter, leaving the debate to theologians. Will it be enough?
Cardinal Porras, new Archbishop of Caracas (Venezuela)
Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Baltazar Porras, who was already ruling the archdiocese as apostolic administrator since July 2018, and had been archbishop of Mérida since 1991, as archbishop of Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. Caracas had been without a titular archbishop since 2018, following the resignation of Cardinal Jorge Urosa, who died in 2021.
Francisco Otamendi-January 18, 2023-Reading time: 2minutes
Baltazar Porras, now 78 years old, was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in the consistory of November 2016.
In the Roman Curia he is a member of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, and of the dicasteries for the Clergy; for the Laity, Family and Life, for Culture and Education, as reported by the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CEV).
On the other hand, in the Archdiocese of Merida, Cardinal Baltazar Porras is immediately succeeded by Archbishop Helizando Teran, OSA, who had been appointed coadjutor archbishop, with the right of succession, on March 19 of last year.
In Venezuela and on his trips to other countries, such as the one he made to the United States in May of last year to present a relic of the Blessed José Gregorio Hernándezknown as "the doctor of the poor".
Cardinal Baltazar Porras has advocated a negotiated solution for the country, so that Venezuela can return to a democratic path, despite many unsuccessful attempts over the years.
Critical of the Maduro regime
At the same time, the cardinal has been critical of the regime of President Nicolás Maduro. For example, in the aforementioned trip, he pointed out that "there has always been a lack of real willingness on the part of the regime not only to talk, but to enter into an understanding and this means that in a good part of the population, to speak of dialogue in Venezuela is almost a bad word".
According to statements by Cardinal Baltazar Porras, the Maduro government currently feels "calm and secure" because the pandemic has allowed it to avoid protests.
This does not mean that Venezuelans are happy, but rather that there is "repression" and "militarism", as reported by Efe news agency.
In spite of some improvements, Cardinal Porras denounced "a situation of poverty growing", which explains, among other things, "the number of people who continue to leave the country".
The difficult role of the bishops of Venezuela
The bishops of Venezuela, in a pastoral exhortation published after concluding the Plenary Assembly a few days ago, have pointed out, among other things, that "our country continues to live a deep political, social and economic crisis. A scenario that calls into question the management model that for more than twenty years has guided the destinies of the nation".
In this context, the first vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, has just criticized that Bishop Victor Hugo Basabe took advantage of the homily of the procession of the Divine Shepherdess, last Saturday, to make, in his opinion, "politicking" against the government of President Nicolás Maduro.
During the plenary session, January 7-12, the bishops elected as president Jesús González de Zárate, Archbishop of Cumaná; and as first vice-president, Monsignor Mario del Valle Moronta Rodríguez, Bishop of San Cristóbal, was ratified.
Monsignor Ulises Gutiérrez, archbishop of Ciudad Bolivar, was also elected as second vice-president and the bishop of La Guaira, Monsignor Raúl Biord, as secretary general of the CEV.
The authorFrancisco Otamendi
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Pablo BlancoUnity makes the Gospel message more credible".
During the week of prayer for Christian unity, the theologian and professor of the University of Navarra, Pablo Blanco, points out that "union all at once, so to speak, is today a utopia".
– Supernatural Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has once again brought to the forefront the panorama of the different Christian confessions that exist in the world. Progress in ecumenism and relations with the Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant Churches has been remarkable in recent years.
Pablo Blancoprofessor of Dogmatic Theology at the University of Navarra and collaborator of Omnes, has compiled in his book "Ecumenism Today", an interesting synthesis of the current situation of this dialogue between the Catholic Church and the rest of the Christian confessions, the reality of these confessions as well as the advances towards unity that the Church has experienced, especially in the last decades.
Although Blanco does not hide the fact that "the union all at once, so to speak, is today a utopia", his bet is centered on announcing, with word and life, the full message of Jesus Christ, since he is the one who "conquers the minds and hearts of the people".
Each year, the Church celebrates not one day, but a Week for this Christian unity. How important is it or how can we highlight the timeliness of this intention?
-Yes, it is the Octave for Christian Unity. It used to be celebrated on the eve of Pentecost, to invoke the Spirit for unity.
Pablo Blanco Sarto
Later on, the eight days preceding the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul were fixed in order to express that -without conversion, ours and that of other Christians- there is no unity.
The Second Vatican Council affirms that "spiritual ecumenism" (Unitatis Redintegratio 4) is the "soul of ecumenism": without conversion, without prayer, without holiness there will not be that unity that only the Holy Spirit can bring us.
Wouldn't this intention of unity go against the good of plurality, also for the Church? How to combine this diversity (gifts, charisms...) in a unity of Christians?
-The unity of the Church is like the unity of the Trinity: three distinct Persons and one true God. In the Church, there must be this diversity that becomes a richness that looks towards the good of working and praying together. That is to live communion from one's own difference, whether one is Eastern, or from different Western traditions; Asian, African or American. Difference enriches us when we know how to add.
The anecdote that occurred at the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, in 1910, can also serve us today. There, an Easterner stood up and said: "You have brought us Christ and we are grateful to you". "But you have also brought us your divisions", he continued. "Please bring us Christ, but not your divisions." Unity makes the Gospel message more credible, and that is why the missionary and ecumenical movements have been united from the beginning.
In his book Ecumenism today, makes a descriptive map of Christians today as well as the key steps in ecumenical dialogue What would you highlight about this path?
-There are other very good books on ecumenism in our language, but in the case of Ecumenism today, I have tried to offer an updated reading of the teachings of the Catholic Church on ecumenism. First of all, the documents of Vatican II, but also the teachings of recent Popes and the new Vademecum of ecumenism.
All this allows us to draw a map, where we can situate the situation of the Catholic Church in relation to the Orthodox, the Anglicans and the Protestants.
For each one there is a different topic of conversation and dialogue, but with everyone we must pray, talk and work. On this path we have to work together for peace, the poor and the environment, for example. This is the so-called "ecumenism of the hands". But we must also address doctrinal questions to see what unites us and what still separates us. This is the "ecumenism of the head", and an ecumenism without a head would be an ecumenism without a north, without orientation, without a common horizon.
But above all we need the "ecumenism of the heart": the spiritual ecumenism we were talking about; that of conversion, prayer, holiness. We must pray more, for one another and with one another. Then the Spirit will grant us the gift of unity.
Pope Francis also speaks to us of the "ecumenism of blood", because of how Christians - of both confessions - die to bear witness to their faith. This also unites us. I usually add the "ecumenism of language": to try to speak well of one another.
The last three Popes have been key in the advancement of dialogue with the other Christian confessions. We remember Benedict XVI: How do you evaluate the gestures of Benedict XVI, in particular with Lefevbrians and Anglicans, which brought so much criticism, inside and outside the Church?
-Yes, Benedict XVI took important steps first of all with the Orthodox, reestablishing dialogue with these sister churches in 2000 and studying the issue of the Petrine primacy with the Ravenna Documentin 2007, as John Paul II had requested in the encyclical Ut unum sint.
With the Lefevbrians, everything possible was done to seek a formula for communion with Rome, but their rejection of the doctrine of Vatican II - precisely on ecumenism and interreligious dialogue - has not succeeded in unblocking the talks.
As for Protestants, Ratzinger intervened in the first person in the 1999 Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, already signed by Lutherans, Methodists, Anglicans and Reformed. It is a good beginning that should lead to future conversations on the idea of the Church, on the sacraments and on ministry. The methodological question of how to read Scripture is also pending.
With the Anglicans, a way of achieving unity was tried that could perhaps bear fruit in the future: with the personal ordinariates created in 2009, these communities reached full communion with Rome, while the latter recognized the legitimacy of the Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican liturgy. A formula that, if successful, could lead to new steps with other Christian confessions.
It is true that, at the level of the major confessions, dialogue is well advanced, but is it not utopian to think of future unity with the diversity existing in the confessions born of the successive Reformations?
-Yes, a union all at once, so to speak, is today a utopia. That is why this formula of reaching full communion community by community allows us to respect the conscience of each believer, while at the same time it does not unnecessarily accelerate the times.
Ecumenism requires patience, said Walter Kasper, and has something of the slow ascent of the mountain. We must nourish patience and hope, and of course continue to take steps. Someday, God willing, we will reach the top and give each other that embrace of unity.
Relations with the Orthodox Church are now at a delicate point, especially with the Russian Patriarchate Do you see signs of hope between the two confessions?
-Indeed, the problem of the Catholic Church with the Orthodox is first of all a problem between Orthodox.
However, Pope Francis is promoting dialogue at different levels with all the patriarchates, without being influenced by political issues. He has directed harsh words against Patriarch Kirill of Moscow on the occasion of the war in Ukraine, which suggest a brotherly correction, like the one Paul also made to Peter on the question of Antioch.
In this case, it is Peter who corrects but, as happened in the early years of Christianity, if we know how to welcome these corrections fraternally, the Church will reach the heights it achieved in the first centuries.
How to establish a fruitful ecumenical dialogue without "diluting" the founding principles of the Church, especially with regard to morals and sacramental life?
-The fullness of faith is fundamental to achieve true unity. Sometimes we are tempted to dilute the message in order to gain more followers, but experience has shown us precisely the opposite.
What conquers the minds and hearts of the people is Christ, and that is why we must preach his message in its entirety. This also applies to moral and sacramental questions, which are always more controversial.
Questions such as the defense of life and the family, gender, the nature of the Eucharistic faith or the nature of the ministry itself must also be addressed with the seriousness and delicacy they require.
The history of the Armenian nation is surprising for its inexhaustible richness and the evolution of what was one of the first evangelized lands, cradle of civilization and progress.
Let us imagine a great empire that, in the first century A.D., extends from the Mediterranean to Persia and also dominates the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
It is a great empire, prosperous and rich in culture and traditions. Its origins date back to the reign of Urartu (name given to the mountain known in the Bible as Ararat, due to an incorrect translation of Assyrian sources) and, in its vast territory, there are three great lakes: Lake Van, Lake Urmia and Lake Sevan.
In this empire an ancient Indo-European language was spoken, Armenian, whose current alphabet is the invention of a saint, Mesrop Mashtots. Translated the Bible Armenian, reinforcing in its people an identity based, for almost two millennia, on the inseparable link between Christian faith, language, culture and traditions.
Christianity, in fact, had already been introduced in Armenia in the first century of the Christian era, by the apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus, but it was not until the governor Tridates III, converted and baptized by St. Gregory the Illuminatorwhen it became, in 301, the state religion, a few decades before Rome!
The Armenian Apostolic Church did not participate in the Council of Chalcedon (451), (the one, to understand, in which it was affirmed that Christ is only one person in whom two natures coexist, one human and the other divine). The Catholic Church itself separated definitively in 554.
Although defined, over the centuries, as "monophysite," the Armenian Apostolic Church considered this doctrine heretical, preferring instead to consider the nature of Christ as unique, but the fruit of the union of the human and divine natures, (Monophysitism, on the other hand, a theory elaborated in the 5th century by the Byzantine monk Eutyches and condemned by the Council of Chalcedon, denies the double nature, divine and human, of Christ, recognizing in him only the divine nature).
Although weakened and progressively dismembered, being at the crossroads of empires such as the Roman and Persian, and later the Arab and Turkish, even in the ninth and tenth centuries of our era, Armenia remained a prosperous nation, especially from the religious and cultural point of view, to the point that its new capital, Ani (now a few meters from the Turkish border), was called "the city of a thousand churches".
Torn between nations
Despite its flourishing culture, Armenia was divided between the newly formed Ottoman Empire and the Safavid Persian Empire, especially after the Turks took Constantinople (1453). However, for several centuries, due to Seljuk Turkish incursions into their territory, many Armenian subjects had fled to the Mediterranean coast and there the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia was founded, which extended over much of eastern Anatolia. This kingdom was also known as Lesser Armenia or Little Armenia.
From that moment on, the division between Eastern and Western Armenians became a fact of considerable importance, especially at the time of the last and most important partition between the powers of this people who had always been in the balance between powers stronger than themselves.
In fact, after the Russo-Turkish wars, especially the one fought between 1877 and 1878, and the subsequent Treaty of St. Stephen, the territory corresponding to what is now the Republic of Armenia was annexed to the Russian Empire.
Armenians in the Ottoman Empire
As for Lesser Armenia, it remained under Ottoman control, which in any case officially administered it from 1639, the date of the definitive separation of Western and Eastern Armenia, sanctioned by the Treaty of Zuhab, which ended the Ottoman-Safavid war of 1623-1639 by assigning Western Georgia, Western Armenia and Mesopotamia to the Ottoman Empire, while keeping Eastern Armenia and Eastern Georgia, as well as Azerbaijan, under Safavid rule.
However, the distinction between Western and Eastern Armenia also acquired importance from the cultural point of view, since the Armenian language itself is divided into two branches, Western Armenian (today almost extinct, after the annihilation of almost all its speakers due to the great Genocide carried out by the Turks) and Eastern Armenian, the official language of the Republic of Armenia.
The Armenian presence in Anatolia, as we have seen, is however much older than the official subdivisions we have mentioned. In fact, it is well documented as early as the 6th century B.C., that is, some 1,500 years before the arrival of the Seljuk Turkmen.
Under the Ottoman Empire, like the other minorities, the Armenians also found themselves subject to a state entity founded on a religious rather than an ethnic basis: the sultan was also "prince of the believers", therefore caliph of the Muslims of any ethnicity (Arabs, Turks, Kurds, etc.), who were considered citizens of the world. The Sultan was also the "prince of the believers", thus caliph of the Muslims of any ethnicity (Arabs, Turks, Kurds, etc.), who were considered citizens of the world. milletwhich provided for all non-Muslim religious communities to be recognized as a "nation" within the empire, but with an inferior legal status (according to the Islamic principle of dhimma). Christians and Jews, therefore, did not participate in the government of the city, paid exemption from military service through a capitation tax (jizya) and a land tax (kharaj), and the head of each community was its religious leader. Bishops and patriarchs, in other words, were thus civil officials immediately subject to the sultan.
However, in the 19th century, a series of reforms came into effect to "modernize" the Ottoman Empire, including through greater integration of non-Muslim and non-Turkish citizens, protecting their rights through the application of the principle of equality before the law. These reforms, known as Tanzimat, were enacted from 1839 (under Sultan Abdül Mejid I) until 1876.
And it was precisely during this period when, out of a total population of some 17 million inhabitants, a large number of Christians of different ethnicities and confessions lived in Ottoman territory. Armenians, in particular, numbered at least two million. The Armenian Patriarchate estimated around 1914 that there were some 2,925 Armenian towns and villages, of which 2,084 were in eastern Anatolia alone.
Armenians were a minority in many of the places where they lived, but in certain districts they even outnumbered Turks (in other parts of Anatolia, the same was true of Greeks and Assyrians).
Although the majority of the Ottoman Armenians were peasants, a portion of them constituted the commercial elite of the Sublime Doorespecially in the most important urban centers. However, the economic power they wielded did not reflect their political representation and influence, which were rather scarce and made them especially vulnerable.
The Hamid massacres: prodromes of genocide
In this context, Russia, taking advantage of the weakness of the Ottoman Empire and its recent territorial acquisitions, wishing to secure an outlet to the Mediterranean Sea, decided to extend its influence to the territories inhabited by the Western Armenians who were still part of the Porte. The latter, to their regret, were increasingly considered pro-Russian by the Constantinople authorities and, encouraged by the Russians and despite the reforms enacted since 1839, began to revolt against Ottoman rule, raising self-determination and territorial claims and founding two revolutionary movements: Hënchak (Armenian: the bell) and Dashnaktsutyun (the union).
Meanwhile, Sultan Abdülhamid, with the aim of repressing any nationalist sentiment in the minority ethnic groups of his empire, drastically increased taxes on his subjects of Armenian origin, also fueling strong resentment in his Kurdish neighbors. Consequently, faced with the rebellion of the more radical members of the Armenian community, the Kurdish tribes massacred thousands of Armenians in 1894, burning and looting their villages.
Hoping to draw the world's attention to their cause, Armenian revolutionaries occupied a bank in Istanbul in 1896, provoking the sultan's reaction. In the riots that followed, known as the Hamidian Massacres, violence spread rapidly and affected most Armenian-inhabited cities in the Ottoman Empire. The worst atrocities affected, among others, the cathedral of Urfa, where three thousand Christian civilians had taken refuge and were burned alive.
Figures indicate, as a consequence of the Hamidian massacres, more than 50,000 Armenians massacred by groups of Turkish and Kurdish Muslims, whose actions, however, as in the later great Genocide (which we will discuss in a later article) were coordinated by government troops.
The authorGerardo Ferrara
Writer, historian and expert on Middle Eastern history, politics and culture.
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In Argentina there is a special devotion to the Virgin Mary, who is considered the patroness and founder. To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the presence of this devotion, the Archdiocese of Rosario is organizing a Marian Year.
January 17, 2023-Reading time: 3minutes
The objective is to pray for peace, honoring the 250 years of the presence of an image of Our Lady of the Rosary, sculpted in Cadiz (Spain), which the people of Rosario consider "Founder" of the city, a fact that has been symbolically declared in the civil sphere, both by multiple resolutions of the respective Municipality, as well as by provincial and national laws.
Devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary dates back to 1730, when the city was an insignificant hamlet. The love for the Lady of the Rosary grew in a booming way, especially since the arrival of the image commissioned to a sculptor from Cadiz.
In addition to beseeching God, through the intercession of his blessed Mother, for peace, Archbishop Eduardo Martin has promoted that specially blessed replicas of the image, during this time of grace, travel to each and every home, so that peace may effectively reign in them; and he did so by inviting the faithful to receive it in their homes with singular devotion.
Rosario is one of the main cities in the country, with its lights and shadows. As a specific anecdotal fact, we can not fail to point out these days that it is the cradle of great world-renowned leaders in sports and that it is a port and working, agro-industrial and cereal city. But, here are the shadows, drug trafficking in the last 20 years is wreaking havoc, and the main one is the following: there is no peace in the hearts.
The Virgin of the Rosary is recognized as patroness and founder of the city. And this year, as the local bishop rightly points out, it will be an opportune time for "to remember and keep alive the roots that make our identity deep, reaffirming Rosario as a city of Mary, and our archdiocese as an archdiocese of Mary"..
The Marian Year has been the object of attention of Pope Francis, who in addition to granting the usual plenary indulgences, wanted to address a singular and moving message to all the Catholic faithful of the city.
The Pope lived until his election as Roman Pontiff in the city of Buenos Aires, close to Rosario, and is well aware of the main problem of insecurity that afflicts the population: drug trafficking (with all its derivatives: crime, poverty, robbery, family breakdown, irreparable brain damage...). In this regard, he highlights the motto of the Marian Year: "With Mary of the Rosary we mission for peace"..
Bishop Eduardo Martín pointed out: "We need to live in safety and peace in our society. There is so much blood shed, so many families torn apart, so many innocent people who have lost their lives. Therefore, we implore Our Lady for the gift of peace and we commit ourselves to be instruments of that peace that the Lord gives us, being missionaries for peace.".
The Lady of the Rosary is venerated for having dispensed countless graces to her devotees, curing illnesses, bringing rain in times of drought and, above all, protecting the population from the neighboring epidemics and from the bloody attacks of the natives who plagued the population with robberies, kidnappings of women and children, and multiple murders.
According to history, the devotion to the Virgin touched the hearts of the natives, initially hostile, giving way to peace and fraternal coexistence with the settlers, generating attraction for Christian baptism. Thus, in a relatively short time of immense peace (less than one hundred years), Rosario, a city located on the banks of the Paraná River, became a remarkable locality, endowed with one of the main grain exporting ports in the world. This would have been impossible without peace and unity with the natives.
In light of this historical fact, it is worth noting that, 250 years ago, the problem of insecurity in Rosario was external (indigenous hostiles), whereas now it is predominantly internal: drugs and murders; in fact, Pope Francis, in his message, alludes to the almost 300 homicides committed in the city during this year 2022.
Therefore, in contrast to other times, when the Virgin was invoked for external peace (the "malones" (the "malones") that scourged the population), now we pray for the internal peace of hearts, for the young people who are victims of drugs trying to escape from the inner existential void, for the absence of family values, and of the family itself, which gives rise to many hearts overwhelmed with pain and resentment.
This is the great objective, to heal the people of Rosario from within, so that they can go on pilgrimage through this life, with joy and peace, in union with their brothers and sisters, towards the heavenly homeland. May God grant that this objective may spread to so many other places in the world where similar problems are growing.
My parents, who were neither musicians nor sports stars, composed, every day, with their simple lives, the best melody ever heard, the most beautiful verses ever heard, the most spectacular play.
January 17, 2023-Reading time: 3minutes
That first day of school after the 1985 vacation will never be forgotten. Wearing the brand new Casio made me the most popular person in school for a day. Everyone wanted me to show it to them, to show them all its functions, to listen to its alarm and watch it turn on in its night mode.
It was water resistant to a depth of 50 meters, a feature that in my almost half century of life I have not been lucky enough to ever need, but that certainly made the difference between "my Casio" and all the other watches that might exist in my great little universe of life.
I tell this nostalgic anecdote in these days in which the Japanese brand has come to the fore following the mention of it by a famous singer in her song of spite against the ex-football player father of her children.
I admit that, at first, I also let myself be carried away by the morbid taste for sauciness by scrutinizing the lyrics, until a talk show host on a radio program made me wonder how what the song says would affect the couple's children now and in the future.
While those of us who have no emotional attachment enjoy the spectacle, like children at the playground fight, the punches and kicks really hurt; if not to the adults, who after all have taken advantage to monetize each blow, then to some children for whom the two most important people in their lives have become public enemies.
Parentscalled to teach their children, through their mutual respect and affection, what love is, become the worst possible examples of what it means. And without love, which is the greatest force in the universe, what is the meaning of this life?
In that year of 1985, I didn't know how much a Rolex cost, nor did I need to, but I was used to luxury: the luxury of having a father and a mother who, with their ups and downs, with their differences and agreements, even with their quarrels and arguments, respected each other deeply, gave each other, forgave each other?
In short: they loved each other.
In my house we were swimming in abundance, but not in money, because we were always just making ends meet, but in loyalty, understanding, generosity and even intergenerational solidarity, because grandma lived with us.
A mother-in-law at home is not always easy, but there was love there to smooth out the rough edges and to patiently bear with each other's shortcomings.
Seeing the current scenario, in which couples fall apart as fast as the millions of reproductions of the controversial video on Youtube, I am more and more convinced that the best legacy I can leave to my children is not measured in euros, because there are not enough euros to pay for it, and it is called the example of what love is.
Because, in what exclusive school or expensive university do they teach the most important of human potentialities? What prestigious laboratory can decipher the formula for the true source of happiness, which is love?
In that year of '85, my parents, who were neither musicians nor sports stars, composed, every day, with their simple lives, the best melody ever heard, the most beautiful verses ever heard, the most spectacular play.
I am the son of two world stars that no one knows, nor do I need to, because their legacy is not of this world; it is eternal, truly immortal, unattainable materially.
When I think of that Casio from 1985, I think of how little a child needs to become a happy adult. It is enough for him to know that love exists, that there is someone capable of giving his life for him, without expecting anything in return, and that in wars, even if they are only verbal, everyone loses. Thanks dad, thanks mom.
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.
The local churches of the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan have begun the countdown to the arrival of Pope Francis in these territories. Aid to the Church in Need has convened a conference with two of the organizers of these visits.
Local churches in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan have begun the countdown to the arrival of Pope Francis in these territories. Aid to the Church in Need has invited two organizers from these countries to speak on the next visit of the Holy Father.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of Congo is the largest country in the Sub-Saharan Sahara and, despite the richness of its nature and resources, it lives in poverty. Six thousand people live on less than two dollars a day. This deficiency is also noticeable in education, which is very poor.
The logo of the Pope's visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (CNS photo/Holy See Press Office)
The situation is aggravated by humanitarian crises, worsened by the COVID pandemic and the Ebola disease. In addition, violent conflicts in the eastern part of the country are causing a great deal of instability.
With all this, Father Godefroid Mombula Alekiabo has expressed his joy for the visit of Pope Francis to the territory. According to him, the visit of the Holy Father responds to his role as a leader of the Catholic Church, as a father who goes to visit his children.
Father Godefroid has highlighted the great role the Church plays in the country. Many schools, hospitals and businesses belong to the Church, but this was not always the case.
In 1971, the government took over the three universities in the Democratic Republic. A year later, they forced the removal of all Christian symbols from schools and hospitals. Seeing the devastating consequences of this, they had to ask the religious institutes, a few years later, to resume educational activity.
Godefroid considers that the Church is the voice of the opposition in the country but that it is too economically dependent on the outside. However, from a more positive point of view, he praises the local Church's ability to adapt the liturgy to the culture of the territory, affirming that "the liturgy is very much alive in the DRC".
This priest hopes that the Pope's visit will help the efforts being made for unity and reconciliation, taking into account three pontifical documents that are especially important for the country's faithful: Fratelli Tutti, Laudatoyes y Christusvivit.
In concluding his speech, Father Godefroid pointed out three pillars on which the situation in the country should be understood. On the one hand, that the war and violent conflicts in the territory greatly hinder the path towards unity and destroy the opportunities of young people who are "God's now". On the other hand, he emphasizes that the presence of foreign multinationals that deplete the country of its natural resources with selfish motives encourages confrontation. However, as a third key point, the priest has pointed out that the reform of the situation goes through individuals, not through institutions. In his opinion, change is in the hearts of men and must be achieved through mutual understanding, not by force.
Knowing all this, Father Godefroid hopes that the Pope's visit will contribute to peace and unity. He hopes that the Holy Father will also meet with the big businessmen of the country and that the issue of tribalism, which causes so many problems within the national territory, will be discussed.
South Sudan
The logo of the Pope's visit to South Sudan (CNS photo/ Holy See Press Office)
Father Samuel Abe is in charge of the organization of Pope Francis' visit to South Sudan. During his speech he pointed out the civil conflict in which the citizens of the country are involved. Faced with this situation, the bishops and priests insist on the need to live in peace. However, despite communication between the local Church and the Government, efforts are not bearing fruit.
Years ago, representatives of the Church of South Sudan went to the Vatican asking for a visit from the Holy Father. The trip has not been possible for years due to difficulties from both sides. Now that Francis is finally coming to the country, citizens have expressed their joy.
On the other hand, Father Samuel emphasizes that the visit, together with other religious leaders, launches a message of peace and unity, of cooperation. This, he says, is much needed given the internal situation in South Sudan.
Samuel hopes that the Pope's visit will open a new chapter in the life of the country to end conflicts and promote peace. peace among citizens.
Cultivating love for the Eucharist completely changes the hearts of the faithful, as demonstrated by a group of parishioners in a church in California, United States.
Daniel Seo-January 16, 2023-Reading time: 4minutes
The Catholic desire for the authenticity As we live in this era in which we have abandoned privacy, new challenges accompany it: a cacophony of apps that steal our attention on our phones, alarming news, business strategies that commodify attention and new technologies that satisfy any desire man can imagine. The need to detox from the digital noise and recover the essence of being Christian have become significantly relevant. But the question remains, what is the best way to do it?
While many doctrinal aspects can restore the integrity of our Roman Catholic identity, there is one central tradition that will never be given sufficient emphasis: personal devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.
The Campaign logo for the "Eucharistic Revival" project in the United States (CNS photo / USCCB)
This decision of the Bishops' Conference comes in response to the survey conducted by the PEW Research Center nationally in 2019. This indicated that 69% of North American believers believe that the bread and wine used in the Communion are "symbols of the Body and Blood of Christ". This sobering statistic was made prior to the pandemic of the COVID-19. One can only imagine how much the statistics can give food for thought in this post-pandemic era. Many parishioners, even before the pandemic, were obviating face-to-face attendance at Mass, "Why go to church if my bishop has said he can watch Mass from the television?"
I hear this question and I say to myself: Still? Where do I start? Like the priestI answer directly to God for correcting or not correcting this child of his. But if I correct him, how much gentleness should I use without withholding the truth? In today's prevailing culture, which persists in coddling the minds of Americans, a poorly handled correction can lead an offended soul to abandon for a long time the Bride of Christ. On the other hand, a soul lost through cowardice can jeopardize a priest's eternal salvation. Evangelizing today sometimes resembles juggling eggs, one wrong move and it's all over. Therefore, I am thrilled by the campaign launched by the Bishops' Conference and I fully support it.
Come and see
All we have to do is bring our families, our friends, co-workers and neighbors to Jesus. We leave it to Him, the Physician of souls, to prescribe what is necessary to revitalize them. His visits are like those of the first disciples, John and Andrew, "Jesus turned and, seeing that they were following Him, He asks them, "What do you seek?" They answered him, "Rabbi (which means Master), where do you live?" He said to them, "Come and see.""
Inviting people who have drifted away from the Church to Eucharistic adoration has always been, and continues to be, a powerful antidote for lost sheep, or any sheep. Since I started the "Eucharistic Revival"In my church, I have witnessed incredible graces that give me much hope for the future. Since May 2022, I have been organizing a nightly Eucharistic adoration in my current assignment at the Korean Catholic Center".Our Lady of Peace"in Irvine, California.
I cannot explain how much the members of my church have grown during these last months. I am seeing God's grace bear much fruit through numerous conversions.
Cold indifference
But first, I must confess something. When I settled in for my new pastoral assignment at this center on July 1, 2022, I became concerned about the pretentiousness of some members of the parish regarding the liturgy and, in particular, about the Eucharist. Many times consecrated hosts would fall on the floor during Communion. Once one of the parishioners dusted off the host by wiping it on his pants but, in general, there was a feeling of indifference towards the Eucharist and many of the faithful came to receive Communion as if it were just another gesture of an ancient rite.
I recognized then that they could not be totally blamed for their ignorance and that what they needed was to be encouraged to more. So when the nightly adorations began, there was a sudden change in the attitude of many parishioners. They grew in two virtues: docility and humility!
A contagious faith
A group of parishioners who frequently "come and see" Christ in these adorations are beginning to join His Sacred Heart. This group, which is not officially constituted to express their thanksgiving, has grown in piety and has acquired practices for reverencing God that are more traditional. Their presence in the liturgy Sunday Mass has transformed the parish community. Now, a large number of parishioners receive Communion in their mouths, the vast majority kneel to receive Communion, many remain praying for a while after Mass for thanksgiving. I am very grateful to see their sincere desire to accompany Christ during Communion. More and more people are coming to church, the Bride of Christ is purifying herself, and she is more beautiful than ever.
We have much to pray for in terms of the future of the Church during this transition between the Epiphany and Lent of 2023. One thing is certain, however, and that is that the Lord accompanies us at all times and in all circumstances with a simple invitation: "Come and see".
The authorDaniel Seo
Priest in charge of Our Lady of Peace Church in California, USA
The Pope travels to DR Congo and South Sudan. "Mbote François"Welcome, now you are welcome
The videos "Mbote François"were edited in 2022 on Youtube to prepare for the Pope's visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Then it could not be, but now it is, and also to South Sudan. "Mbote", in Lingala, the main language of Kinshasa, means "Bonjour"and it is the usual greeting (good morning, hello). The Congolese people are very enthusiastic about the Pope's peaceful and ecumenical trip (January 31-February 5).
Alberto García Marcos-January 16, 2023-Reading time: 5minutes
On December 1, 2008, the media confirmed and published the program of the Pope Francis' trip the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan. The trip was initially scheduled for July 2-5, 2022. Francis' invitation to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan had arrived last year in order not to lose the "trust" and feed the "hope" of a meeting as soon as possible.
It was July 2, the day on which the Pope was to leave, until July 7, "for a pilgrimage of peace and reconciliation". but it had to be postponed to allow for the treatment of the knee that the Pope was undergoing at the time.
"Do not let your hope be stolen from you!", Francis then asked in a video message addressed to the people of the DRC and South Sudan, in which he expressed his regrets "for having been forced to postpone this long-awaited and long-awaited visit". To them, therefore, he entrusted the great mission of "turning the page to open new paths" of reconciliation, forgiveness, peaceful coexistence and development.
A few months passed, and the announcement of the meeting in 2023 arrived on December 1, with the program of the trip, the logo and the motto of the two stages. It will be Francis' fifth visit to the African continent. He previously traveled to Kenya, Central African Republic and Uganda (2015), Egypt (2017), Morocco (2019), and Mozambique, Madagascar and the Republic of Mauritius (2019).
Suffering in silence
From January 31 to February 5 of this year, the world's spotlight will be focused on these two African countries that have been suffering in silence for a long time. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the largest and most populous countries in Africa. In a constant demographic growth, it is an almost totally Christian country (90 %) and with a considerable number of Catholics. In fact, Catholics make up 53 %, other Christians, 41 %, Muslims, 1.4 %, and traditional and other religions, 3.5 %. More than 200 ethnic groups live in the DRC, the majority being Bantu.
Future and present of the Church, the population is deeply believing and religious, which contrasts with the increasingly secularized Western society. Catholics or not, all look to Pope Francis as the bearer of hope and consolation. Suffering is the daily bread of millions of people struggling to live, or rather to survive. Lack of infrastructure, extreme poverty and in some areas the presence of violence make life difficult. But the Congolese do not lose hope and joy, and continue to dream of a better world.
Kinshasa, the capital, continues to grow in population. To the demographic growth are added the people coming from the interior of the country with a constant flow. It is impossible to know the number of inhabitants, estimates vary in the millions. A city in constant ferment, preparing for the arrival of the Pope. Quite a challenge for the organization, which will have to channel between one and two million people expected for the Mass at Ndolo Airport.
Training and dynamism challenge
From a religious point of view, Kinshasa, in particular, addresses the multiplication of the so called "Églises de Réveil".The Catholic Church faces a great challenge in the formation of its faithful, who are under great pressure from friends, relatives and itinerant preachers. The Catholic Church faces a great challenge in the formation of its faithful who are under great pressure from friends, relatives and itinerant preachers. The coming of the Pope will be an opportunity to evangelize and "close ranks" around the hierarchy of the Church.
The dynamism of the Congolese Church is a source of hope and consolation for the universal Church. It is one of the rare countries where vocations to the priestly and religious life continue to grow. Far from the conflicts that shake the Church in Europe and North America, the Church continues to expand, new parishes open, new movements and congregations are born.
Eastern Congo, without peace
For more than twenty years, the east of the country has not known peace. Dozens of militias, with the complicity of neighboring countries and politicians thirsty for wealth, are confronted by the presence of the Blue Helmets [UN], who have been on Congolese soil since the conflicts began. Displacements and humanitarian crises are constant.
In recent months, tens of thousands of people have left their homes and fields to flee a war that is difficult to understand. The so-called M23 rebels, armed like a regular army, have installed themselves a few kilometers from the city of Goma, with a population of more than one million inhabitants, which was probably the reason for the cancellation of this stage of the trip originally planned. The Catholic Church, faced with the real danger of balkanization of the east of the country, organized a peaceful march on the second Sunday of Advent to denounce the silence and complicity of foreign countries.
"All reconciled in Christ". This is the motto of Pope Francis' trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo. In June 2022, the streets of Kinshasa and Goma were filled with posters announcing the Pope's arrival. The population was preparing itself with enthusiasm, and the announcement of the delay was hard to accept. Before the new dates, the enthusiasm is contained, everyone hopes to see the dream come true. The Congolese are a warm people, and they will give an unforgettable welcome to the Holy Father.
South Sudan: unity
South Sudan has been a newly independent country since 2011. The civil war of 2013 has produced large population displacements and a humanitarian crisis. The wounds in the country are still raw and everyone is waiting for the Pope who will come with a message of peace and hope. The Church celebrates St. Josephine Bakhita on February 8, three days after the Pope's visit. The life of this saint says a lot about the suffering of this African people, but also about hope in a God who is love and does not forget the cries of suffering of his daughters and sons.
Sudan is Arab and Muslim (90 %), while the population of South Sudan is black, and more than half are Catholic (52 %), as in DR Congo. Nine percent are other Christians; Muslims, 6 %, and of other faiths, 32 %. Pope Francis will make this trip together with Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Jim Wallance, moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. A sign of unity and an example to the people to put aside divisions. The motto of the trip says it all: "I pray that all may be one." (Jn 17). A journey of peace and at the same time of ecumenical character.
Kneeling before leaders at war
In April 2019, Pope Francis left the world one of the images of his Petrine ministry when he received at the Vatican the main South Sudanese leaders, and kissed their feet to beg them to stop killing each other and reach a peace agreement.
"It is very important to remember that 'peace' was the first word that the voice of the Lord pronounced to the Apostles after his painful passion and after having conquered death." said the Pope to the South Sudanese authorities. And he stressed that he addressed them "the same greeting", so that it is possible to "to kindle a new light of hope for all the people of South Sudan."
Peace is possible!
Francis added that God has given each of us a mission among our people: "We ourselves are members of the people and have a particular responsibility and mission: to serve it, and it has chosen us to be its collaborators in building a more just world."
Finally, the Pope revealed: "My thoughts go primarily to the people who have lost their loved ones and their homes, to the families who have been separated and never found again, to all the children and elderly, to the women and men who suffer terribly due to conflicts and violence that sow death, hunger, pain and tears.". "I will never tire of repeating that peace is possible!", exclaimed the Holy Father at the end of his speech. An appeal that was echoed, and which he now repeats constantly on the occasion of the war in Ukraine.
At the Angelus today, Pope Francis reflected on the figure of St. John the Baptist, whose "spirit of service" is shown in the Gospel. Considering the work done by the Forerunner, says the Holy Father, "one might think that he would be given a prize, a relevant position in the public life of Jesus." But this does not happen. On the contrary, "once his mission is accomplished, John knows how to step aside, he withdraws from the scene to leave the place to Jesus".
John the Baptist, says the Pope, "preached to the people, he gathered disciples and has formed them for a long time. And yet he does not tie anyone to himself. This is difficult, but it is the sign of the true educator: not to tie people to oneself."
Free of charge service
It is in this example that we find today's lesson: "In the spirit of serviceJohn the Baptist, with his ability to make room, teaches us something important: freedom from attachments. Through the Baptist, the Gospel emphasizes that "service implies gratuitousness, caring for others without any advantage for oneself, without second aims". The sole objective must be to show "that the reference point of life is Jesus".
The Pope applies this idea of service to different vocations. Thus, he says: "Let us think how important this is for a priest, who is called to preach and celebrate not for the sake of prominence or interest, but to accompany others to Jesus. Let us think how important it is for parents, who raise their children with many sacrifices and then must leave them free to go their own way in work, in marriage, in life".
The Pope is aware that this is not easy: "Freeing oneself from one's attachments and knowing how to set oneself aside is difficult, but it is very important: it is the decisive step to grow in the spirit of service".
A brief examination of conscience
In conclusion, Francis invites us to ask ourselves some questions: "Are we capable of making room for others, of listening to them, of letting them be free, of not tying them to us by pretending to be grateful? Do we draw others to Jesus or to ourselves? And even more, following John's example: do we know how to rejoice when people set out on their own path and follow their call, even if that implies a little detachment from us? Do we rejoice in their achievements, sincerely and without envy?"
And since MariaThe Pope invites us to place ourselves under her protection, saying: "May Mary, the handmaid of the Lord, help us to free ourselves from attachments in order to make room for the Lord and make room for others.
Professor of Theology and Omnes collaborator, Pablo Blanco, is one of the most important scholars of the work of Benedict XVI.
Author of a complete biography in Spanish on the Pope emeritus, Blanco points out that 'Jesus of Nazareth' is his life's work.
In this work, Benedict XVI, "not only does it contain much of his thought, but he also speaks of the one who was the object of his last words, as has been revealed in recent days".
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.
There, at Cuatro Vientos, in spite of the storm, Benedict XVI stood firm under the rain at the altar and, before the thunderous silence of more than a million faithful, adoring Jesus on his knees, he spoke to us of the centrality of Christ, the way, the truth and the life.
January 15, 2023-Reading time: 3minutes
"Jesus, I love you!". These were the last words of our beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the early hours of December 31. With these words, which sum up his whole life, he left us to go to the Father's House.
The news of his death at the end of the year, while shocking us, should prompt us to pray with confidence for him who has been like a father in the faith for all Christians and to give many thanks to God for his life and ministry as successor of Peter.
A particularly eloquent witness in these last ten years 'sustaining the Church with his silence', as Pope Francis said a few days ago. He defined himself at the beginning of his pontificate as a 'humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord'.
In his testament, made public on the occasion of his death, the words, "Remain firm in the faith! Do not let yourselves be confused!" are impressive. In this writing, which dates from 2006, he reveals the depths of his heart: gratitude to God for the gift of family, which marked the life of faith of such an outstanding theologian; recognition of the presence of God in the difficult and winding ups and downs of life; the richness of the contact with so many people throughout his life.
It is a call to trust in God, who ultimately guides the history of mankind with the power of his Love, revealed in Jesus Christ, who has made the Church truly his body, despite all her defects and inadequacies, the intimate relationship between faith and reason, faith and true science, faith and the right interpretation of Sacred Scripture.
There are so many milestones that we could recall from his pontificate, especially from his very rich magisterium! In Spain we have had the grace of having him among us on several very significant occasions.
All of them are worthy of being remembered, but there is no doubt that the adoration vigil at Cuatro Vientos, during WYD 2011 in Madrid, was an absolutely unforgettable experience for all of us.
In spite of the storm, he stood firm under the rain at the altar and, before the thunderous silence of more than a million faithful, adoring Jesus on his knees, he spoke to us of the centrality of Christ, the way, the truth and the life.
Jesus Christ has been the center of his life and of his pontificate. The gift he has given us with his three-volume work on Jesus of Nazareth indicates this. Surely, one of the best testimonies of gratitude that we can give at this time is to reread and study his rich and tasty magisterium, accessible to all, because despite his lofty theology, his recipients were the simple faithful, whose faith he was always determined to defend, protect and increase from the cold and harsh winds of secularization.
Those words with which he begins his encyclical Deus Caritas est continue to resonate in my heart: "One does not begin to be a Christian by an ethical decision or a great idea, but by an encounter with an event, with a Person, which gives a new horizon to life and, with it, a decisive orientation".
We ask the Lord to give rest in his bosom to the good and faithful servant. Moreover, we ask the Eternal Father that our beloved Benedict may continue to watch over us, the Church and the world, from heaven.
Personally, I thank the Lord for having received episcopal ordination through him. Thank you, Benedict! Thank you, Lord!
Bishop Cristobal Lopez: "Being a missionary is not a question of geography".
Today, January 15, is celebrated in Spain the Day of Missionary Childhood, promoted by the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), which is the instrument of the Church in charge of sustaining the mission territories.
Today, the second Sunday in Ordinary Time, we celebrate in Spain the Day of the Missionary Childhood. Morocco is a country that every year receives assistance from Pontifical Mission Societies and, specifically, through Infancia Misionera, obtains funds for children's projects, such as shelters, dining halls, etc. The Archbishop of Rabat, Monsignor Cristóbal López Romero, a Salesian priest and religious, talks in this interview about the work of Infancia Misionera. OMP in Morocco.
What projects does the Pontifical Mission Societies have in Morocco?
- The two archdioceses in Morocco, Rabat and Tangier, present various religious, social and cultural projects to the Pontifical Mission Societies every year.
Among the cultural activities, support for libraries and cultural centers in Meknès, Beni-Mellal, Rabat and Casablanca stands out. These centers are places of encounter and Islamo-Christian dialogue, as well as a service to students of various levels who do not have adequate places for study at home.
In the social field, we highlight the Effetá school for the deaf and dumb, the Lerchundi Home for school support for children from underprivileged families, the shelter for girls (Dar Tika) who need to be protected, the Lalla Meriem orphanage and the Rural Center for Social Services, which offers dispensary, day care and women's training.
In the religious field, I can mention support for the Christian formation of young university students, financial aid for catechesis for children and the maintenance of pastoral assistants at the service of parishes and diocesan activities.
To all this must be added the aid that the dioceses receive each year for their ordinary operations.
What does this aid mean for the Church?
-Without the aid received through the OMP it would be very difficult for us to maintain and carry out all these projects.
It is a gesture of solidarity from the Churches that have more possibilities towards those who, for various reasons, have less. And this sharing of goods is an eminently Christian gesture.
Have you noticed an evolution in people's generosity and involvement over the years?
-If we are referring to the "northern" countries, I don't know.
For our part, we are trying to raise the awareness of the Christian communities in Morocco so that, within their limited possibilities, they may also collaborate, both in the World Mission Day collection and in the direct support of projects through the parishes.
It is already a great achievement that, despite the pandemic and the economic crisis, our contribution to the OPMs is maintained. And although quantitatively it does not represent much, it is very significant that we also contribute from our poverty.
What is the work of the missionaries in Morocco like?
-That of every Christian in all times and in all places. We must leave aside the idea of the missionary as a person who leaves his country to go to another... Being a missionary is not a question of geography, but of spirit and mission.
In Morocco, as elsewhere, the mission of Christians (all missionaries!) is to announce and build the Kingdom of God, a kingdom of love, justice and peace.
In Morocco we try to carry out our mission as an absolute minority (0'08% of the population), working not against but with our Muslim brothers.
What do you hope for the future of children in the Church of Morocco?
We are a Church with few children, because most of the Christians are sub-Saharan university students. There are few families... But we do not work only for Christian children, but for everyone. And there, among the Moroccan population, we do have millions of children for whom we would like a decent future in terms of food, health, family, education and home. Although the country has improved a lot, there is still much to be done.
On January 15 we will celebrate Missionary Childhood Day and this year we want to highlight something that is fundamental in the life of Christians: we cannot be isolated Christians!
January 15, 2023-Reading time: 2minutes
This sentence is inspired by a well-known saying from the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas The three musketeersOne for all, all for Him".
On January 15, we will celebrate the Missionary Childhood Day This year, we want to emphasize something that is fundamental in the life of Christians: we cannot be isolated Christians! Faith is lived in community and shared with our brothers and sisters.
As indicated by Benedict XVI on his last trip to Spain: "To follow Jesus in faith is to walk with Him in the communion of the Church. It is not possible to follow him alone. Whoever gives in to the temptation to go 'on his own' or to live the faith according to the individualistic mentality, which predominates in society, runs the risk of not meeting Him or of ending up following a false image of Him." (WYD 2011 Closing Mass).
And this is what we wanted to highlight with the chosen slogan: One for all, all for Him. What joy the children of the world feel when they know they are loved, welcomed and protected by the Church!
How beautiful it is to make the children of the world see that the Church is a big family in which everyone is important. Children have the right not to be alone!
The missionaries are, in many parts of the world, the family of the little ones... the place where they know that they will not be judged, doubted or ignored.
Missionaries are, also for the Christian families with whom they work pastorally, the instrument that God has to help the faithful to feel they are Church, to know they are Church... united to all the baptized of the world, wherever they are, and united to Christ, who is the head of that Church.
"It would be illusory to pretend to love one's neighbor without loving God; and it would also be illusory to pretend to love God without loving one's neighbor. The two dimensions of love, love of God and love of neighbor, in their unity, characterize the disciple of Christ." (Francis, 4-11-18).
It is certainly not the same thing to talk about hagiography, or the life of a saint, as it is to talk about a book that gathers hundreds of them. Literally 366, because the author saw fit to include St. Dositheus on February 29 and not to forget that, even every four years, there is always much to celebrate in the Church.
The reissue of The house of the saints is one of those decisions for which we should be grateful to Catholic publishers. In this case, CEU editions picks up the baton from that first edition of The house of the saints that published Rialp in the early nineties of the last century.
Its author, Carlos Pujol, collects not only the history but also part of the legacy, the artistic manifestations and a reflection, fully current and full of common sense, of one of the most important saints and saints which, on each day of the year, the Church proposes as an example of life.
The house of saints. A saint for every day of the year
Author: Carlos Pujol
Editorial: CEU Ediciones
Pages: 465
Year: 2022
City: Madrid
The result is a collection of stories that point to a common point, you and I can and should be saints. Because "there are saints, there are saints" of all kinds and conditions.
We find well-known saints such as Charles Borromeo, John Baptist de la Salle or Teresa of the Child Jesus, but did you know Saint Pafnucio, who is celebrated on September 11? Could you tell us something about the life of Saint Liduvina or Saint Hospice? Do you know when the Church celebrates Saint Dimas, the saint "in extremis"? Well, all of them are part of that catalog of the santos to which all Christians are called to belong.
Although The house of the saints does not present itself as a scholarly study on holiness, the reality is that, among its pages, we find nuns, mothers of families, priests and hermits, queens and the poor. The book also includes feasts and memories of ancient tradition such as the visitation of the Virgin Mary, the faithful departed or Christmas. It is not a study but it is, without a doubt, a thoughtful consideration of the universal call to holiness.
Short stories, to be read in a couple of minutes and that awaken, without a doubt, the desire to know more about the lives of these men and women, of all times, who made God the beginning and the end of their lives... not without certain vicissitudes in their stories.
The commentaries, vibrant and full of supernatural and human meaning, are an undeniable help in identifying the reality of these stories of holiness in our own lives.
More than three decades ago, Pujol included some saints who have been canonized in recent years and whose biographies were entrusted to friends and admirers of Carlos Pujol. Catholic Association of Propagandists does not forget Luis Campos, Ricardo Plá, Alfonso Sebastiá, Luis Belda and Miguel Vilatimó, all of them martyrs of the religious persecution in Spain in the years 1936 - 1939 and blessed belonging to the ACdP.
Anointing of the sick, the sacrament that is not talked about
The Anointing of the Sick is a sacrament that we are often afraid to talk about. This article is a reflection on what could be the sacrament of consolation.
Lorenzo Bueno-January 14, 2023-Reading time: 8minutes
Anointing of the sick is a sacrament instituted by Jesus Christ, hinted at as such in the Gospel of St. Mark (cf. Mk 6:13), and recommended to the faithful by the Apostle James: "Is any one of you sick? Let him call the priests of the Church, let them pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him" ( James 5:14-15). It is especially intended to comfort those troubled by sickness. The Tradition The living tradition of the Church, reflected in the texts of the ecclesiastical Magisterium, has recognized in this rite, specially designed to help the sick and purify them from sin and its consequences, one of the seven sacraments of the New Law (cf. CIC, n. 1510).
The doctrine on this sacrament
The Second Vatican Council promulgated: "Extreme Unction, which can also and more properly be called Anointing of the Sick, is not only the sacrament of those who are in the last moments of their lives. Therefore, the opportune time to receive it begins when the Christian begins to be in danger of death through sickness or old age" (Sacrosanctum ConciliumBy the sacred anointing of the sick, the whole Church entrusts the sick to the suffering and glorified Lord, so that he may relieve and save them. She even encourages them to unite themselves freely to the passion and death of Christ (cf. LG 11).
Later on, it became clear: "The family of the patients and those who, at whatever level, care for them, have a primary part to play in this comforting ministry. It is up to them in the first place to strengthen the sick with words of faith and common prayer, and to commend them to the suffering Lord; and as the illness becomes more serious, it is up to them to warn the pastor and to prepare the sick person with prudent and affectionate words so that he may receive the sacraments at the opportune moment". (Praenotanda: Anointing and pastoral care of the sick, n.34).
"Remember the priestsIt belongs to their mission to visit the sick with constant attention and to help them with unfailing charity. They should stimulate the hope of those present and foster their faith in the patient and glorified Christ, so that, bringing with them the pious affection of Mother Church and the consolation of faith, they may comfort believers and invite others to think of eternal realities" (Ibid., n. 35).
"The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is administered to the seriously ill by anointing them on the forehead and hands with olive oil duly blessed, or, according to circumstances, with another oil of plants, and pronouncing once only these words: By this holy anointing, and by your kindly mercyMay the Lord help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit, so that, freed from your sins, he may grant you salvation and comfort you in your sickness". (CCC, n. 1513)
Therefore, it is appropriate to receive the Anointing of the Sick before a major operation. And the same can be applied to the elderly people (CCC, n. 1515).
Suffering
The Catechism of the Catholic Church adds: "Illness can lead to anguish, to withdrawal into oneself, sometimes even to despair and rebellion against God. It can also make a person more mature, help him or her to discern in their lives what is not essential in order to turn to what is essential. Very often, sickness leads to a search for God, a return to him" (CCC n. 1501). By his passion and death on the Cross, Christ gave a new meaning to suffering: from then on it configures us to him and unites us to his redeeming passion. (CCC, n. 1505).
Heal the sick! (Mt 10:8): The Church has received this task from the Lord and seeks to accomplish it both by the care she provides for the sick and by the intercessory prayer with which she accompanies them (CCC, n. 1509).
The graces of this sacrament
The first grace of this sacrament is of consolationThe grace of peace and courage to overcome the difficulties proper to the state of serious illness or the frailty of old age. This grace is a gift of the Holy Spirit who renews trust and faith in God and strengthens against the temptations of the evil one, especially the temptation to discouragement and anguish in the face of death (CCC, n. 520).
Thus, the special grace of the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick has the following effects:
- the union of the sick person to the Passion of Christ, for his good and that of the whole Church;
- consolation, peace and encouragement to bear the sufferings of sickness or old age in a Christian way;
- the forgiveness of sins if the sick person has not been able to obtain it through the sacrament of penance;
- the restoration of bodily health, if it is convenient to spiritual health;
- preparation for the passage to eternal life (CCC 1532).
Pastoral experience teaches that the sick and elderly who receive Holy Unction with faith are not frightened, but find strength, hope, serenity and consolation. The Second Vatican Council gave a more directed approach to orienting the meaning of sickness, pain and death itself with faith in God's mercy. It is a sacrament of salvation that helps to be at peace in times of suffering.
The Church and the sick
Pastors, chaplains in hospitals and nursing homes, and volunteers in the Pastoral Care of the Health Care Ministry offer a careful service of personalized attention to the sick. Their presence among the sick is a response to Jesus' invitation to carry out the work of mercy of "visiting the sick".
The Church, who is present at the most significant moments in the lives of the faithful, accompanies them with special affection and tenderness as they prepare for the definitive transition to a new life in their encounter with God. The whole Christian community prays for them, that the Holy Spirit may grant them "wisdom of heart".
It is not easy at times to assess whether the sick person has the intention, at least habitual and implicit, to receive this sacrament, that is to say, the unchallenged will to die as Christians die, and with the supernatural aids intended for them. But in case of doubt it is better to suppose that he does, since only God knows his conscience and can judge him, and we commend him to His mercy.
Although the Anointing of the Sick can be administered to those who have already lost their senses, care must be taken to ensure that it is received with knowledge, so that the sick person can be better disposed to receive the grace of the sacrament. It should not be administered to those who remain obstinately impenitent in manifest mortal sin (cf. CIC, can. 1007).
If a sick person who has received Anointing recovers his health, he may, in the case of a new serious illness, receive this sacrament again; and, in the course of the same illness, the sacrament may be repeated if the illness worsens (cf. CIC, can. 1004, 2).
Finally, it is important to keep in mind this indication of the Church: "In case of doubt as to whether the sick person has reached the use of reason, is suffering from a serious illness or has already died, this sacrament is to be administered" (CIC, can. 1005).
Charity and illness
In practice, for many Catholics, it is difficult to speak of the Anointing of the Sick, because they associate it with the deathThey do not know or do not want to bring it up with their family and friends. It is another problem of the lack of faith and Christian formation, because they do not know the meaning of this sacrament of hope.
If we educate in the afterlife and in the vocation of eternity, the experience of illness would be an awareness to face, now or later, death and the judgment of God. Sickness invites us to remember that "for God we live, for Godwe die; whether we live or die, we are the Lord's, whether we live or die."(Rom. 14:8). In old age some balances are altered that compromise the harmony and unity of man, so that for the purposes of the subject of the sacrament of Anointing is equated to the disease.
When we speak of "pain" or "illness", we all know that there are also "spiritual" pains and illnesses, which are not exactly the same as psychic ailments. In any case, the unity of the human being means that a spiritual affliction can have somatic consequences and vice versa. That is why this sacrament of Anointing also has consequences on the peace of the sick person. It is a pastoral error and a lack of charity to delay the administration of Holy Unction until the sick person is in agony, or a little less, and perhaps already deprived of consciousness.
As we said, the sacrament gives graces to take on the cross of sickness, which becomes present long before the imminence of death. We say lack of charity because a Christian is deprived of the sacramental graces, which have precisely the fruit of helping him to assume the reality of sickness or old age.
Illness is a reality that is ambivalent in terms of salvation. It can be lived in intimate union with Christ in his sorrowful Passion, in a spirit of penance and offering, with patience and serenity. But it can also be lived, unfortunately, with rebellion towards God and even with despair; with impatience, with doubts of faith or with distrust in the mercy of God. To "live it in Christ", with the eyes of faith, supposes overcoming the natural difficulty and repugnance to accept pain and death. For this victory, the ordinary channel of grace is the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.
An increasingly infrequent sacrament
The publicity brochure for the diocesan church day included a statistic on the administration of the sacraments, and as for the Anointing of the Sick the figure was sadly ridiculous. Of course, since no parish accounts are kept for this sacrament, the data can only be approximate. But what is certain is that little is known about it, and few request it spontaneously, which could mean a deficit in the catechesis of what this sacrament means and produces.
Pastoral care of the sick, especially if they are in danger of death, has always been a priority for all Christians and especially for priests, who are the ones who can administer this Anointing.
I remember impressive gatherings with village priests, who told precious stories of the spiritual aid they gave to the dying, in sometimes difficult circumstances, and with marvelous results. When there were not so many means to alleviate anguish and pain in agonies, the calming effects were very striking.
Today, hospital and parish pastoral care is usually a guarantee for offering this sacrament to those who ask for it. Although there were many sad and justified complaints from the faithful in the early days of the pandemic. But how many ask to receive the Anointing? Fewer and fewer. Only if it is also offered to those who do not practice, explaining to them what it consists of, its nature and effects, is it possible to help a good number of the dying in that final trance.
Fear
I am not dealing here with the administration of the sacrament to the elderly in parishes or nursing homes. This practice helps to separate this sacrament from death, so as not to "frighten" by not associating it exclusively with the dying. It is often enough necessary to overcome the fear of death by familiesmore than that of the patient who is going to die and knows it. It is sad to see how little respect and love for personal freedom is shown by relatives who oppose a priest visiting a person in danger of death. The so-called "pacts of silence" are a sad sign of the failure of faith in some families.
If a good quality of life is promoted catechesis If Christians knew the formula used and the consoling prayers of the rite, there would be nothing but peace, consolation and gratitude for this help at such an important moment as the transition to Life.
May we become aware that we Christians are obliged to prepare ourselves as well as possible for death. It is the duty of those close to the dying to see to it that he receives the Anointing, either by presenting to him the convenience of doing so or by mentioning that he is in a situation of danger, with common sense and charity. Normally the sick person welcomes the suggestion with serenity, especially if it is explained to him that it is for his own good.
The Chosen: "The Jesus shown in the series connects with the audience because he is so believable!"
In this choral interview, three of the actors from the hit series The Chosen have shared their experience and their vision of this project, which has become an unquestionable option within the religious-themed film narrative. The Chosen shows the "could have been" story of the Apostles and the holy women with remarkable historical and biblical accuracy, and through a moving drama with no lack of humor.
Their names are Elizabeth Tabish, Noah James and Amber Shana Williams, but many know them, through the hit series The Chosen as Mary Magdalene, Andrew and Tamar.
Omnes was with them during the promotion of the third season of this series in Spain. The chapters are published, progressively, on the various platforms on which The Chosen is being aired. This third season gradually delves into some of the "complicated" moments of Christ's life.
The Chosen has been an unexpected success for its creators. The first two seasons and this third one, which has just begun, have accumulated more than 450,000,000 views in more than 140 countries and in 56 languages.
The project has been made possible thanks to the crowfunding that, since its inception, Angel Studiosthe producer of The ChosenThe crowdfunding campaign, launched to finance this series, has been the largest in the history of audiovisual productions: for the first season, more than 19,000 people donated 11 million dollars, and for the second and third seasons, more than 40 million dollars have been raised.
The project comprises 7 seasons, with more than 50 episodes. The success of its first and second seasons through its mobile application led the production company to broadcast the first two seasons in different movie theaters on the occasion of the premiere of the third installment of the series.
Its director, Dallas Jenkins, is an evangelical Christian, married since 1998 to writer and teacher Amanda Jenkins, and the father of four children, the last of whom was adopted.
Among the actors of The Chosen we meet people from all walks of life and from many different cultures. The actor who plays Jesus, Jonathan Roumie, is the son of an Egyptian father and an Irish mother. He was baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church, but converted to Catholicism. In the cast there are actors of Orthodox tradition and Christians of various denominations, from Jewish families or even agnostics. However, everyone points out that The Chosen has changed the way they look at Jesus and, especially, how they see him in their own lives.
"The most meaningful experience", "one of my biggest personal challenges"...., this is how the actors who embody these "chosen" men and women define the experience of being part of the cast of The Chosen. The chat with Elizabeth Tabish, Noah James and Amber Shana Williams is pleasant, funny and simple. Three actors who have been surprised and encouraged by the success of a religious-themed series in their professional lives.
What was your experience of giving voice and face to the Apostles and women saints? What struck you most?
–[E. Tabish] Since I cast the role, I felt very identified with the figure of Mary Magdalene. In the first episode, she is in a desperate situation, with no future, depressed. I myself have gone through those experiences, so making it real in the character was easy, you could almost say it was a catharsis, because, later on, Mary Magdalene lives that encounter with Jesus and begins to follow him. In the same way, I myself have personally advanced and I feel more confident in the project, in the character itself.
-[N. James] In my case, whenever I play a role or do a job, I try to bring something of my own personality to the character, to the project I'm doing. I think that, deep down, we all have something of Andrew or Mary Magdalene or Tamar... or Romeo or Juliet... It's a matter of looking at oneself and saying, "I've always had something of my own: "Ah, this part of me is chained to this trait or that trait of the character."and so on in different circumstances and situations. In my life, I always try to be as cheerful as Andrés, and it is also true that I am as stressed as Andrés himself. I put something of myself to make the character believable, real.
-[A.S. Williams] The reality is that we have realized, also on the set itself, that we are often very similar to our characters, and we even comment on it among ourselves: "You're just as stressed as Andrew!" o "You're as impulsive as Peter!".
Professionally, when you are an actor, the last thing you want is for your acting to look fake. Our goal, as actors, is to bring what you are to the character, all the traits you can offer to the character, because everyone is everyone. Our goal, then, is to be part of these characters, of these stories. To become part of it to be as authentic as they are, honest, believable. We have the task of finding those points that you have more in common with your character, with your role. And, with those things, even if there are small differences, find the way to transmit it and, at the same time, that the character itself inspires us. A relationship is created between the actor and the character. You always have to have a special respect for the character; it's not about judging the character but about respecting him and being honest with him and with the story.
Regardless of whether you are believers or not, has this series changed your conception of Jesus Christ?
-[A.S. Williams] Mine did, completely. My father was a minister in our community, in charge of the hymns. I grew up with an image of Jesus associated with statues or paintings on the walls. A very "heavenly" Jesus, inaccessible. Sometimes I wondered if I could really talk to him. I think, at times, the experience was almost dramatic.
When I met with The Chosen this changed. The Jesus that shows The Chosen connects with the audience - not only with believers, but also with those who are far from the faith or are not believers - because he is such a credible Jesus! A Jesus who dances, who laughs, who brushes his teeth, who speaks with authority, like a king, but doesn't give a cold command. It is very refreshing.
I think it reminds us that Jesus lived as a man, that he had his daily needs, he was not a stranger to what we are. He makes us feel that we belong to his world. Everyone who sees this Jesus can say "I love it, I love this man." Because it is a Jesus who smiles at me, it is a Jesus who tells us that we don't have to be perfect to be in his presence. A Jesus who speaks to us and reminds us that he is here for us, for that redemption and that we can do it, we can follow him. I believe that The Chosen does an excellent job in this human portrait of Christ.
Is it difficult to bring to life Mary Magdalene or an apostle of whom we may have preconceived ideas?
–[E. Tabish] In my case, playing Mary Magdalene, I know many portraits of her, painted over the years. She is also a figure that, in our film work, has been treated on several occasions. There have been many stories, many speculations about her, about what she was, her profession, or how she is seen in the Gospels.
The reality is that the little we know about Mary Magdalene we know from what appears in the Gospels.
In my case, I have tried to avoid these other interpretations and focus on what appears of her in the Gospels and, along with this, to study what a woman like her might be like, her customs, the culture of her time... and to put my own emotions into her heart.
I have had a lot of respect for this character because I love the great love he has for Jesus and how he follows him.
-[N. James] That's right. Also, in my experience, the first step is to approach the character with as much respect as possible. In the case of The ChosenMoreover, we are making a story that "could have been" and that is a story that, in a certain way, we have seen for hundreds of years in paintings, in stained glass windows....
When I have had to prepare the character of the apostle Andrew, what I have always tried to do is to ask myself what it would mean for me to be fishing for hours and not catch anything, or to pay my taxes, over and over again, and see that, in spite of everything, I lose my boat... How would I feel in the face of those realities? It is true that we can see paintings, other people's interpretations but, mainly we have to make our own, create a relationship with that material, create the character in each moment.
How would you define The Chosen?
–[E. Tabish] Without a doubt, for me it has been the project with the most personal meaning. It is a rare opportunity for actors to be able to work on a project, to finish the season, to be able to see it, to have feedback and, even more so, to do another season and continue to grow as actors, with each other, inspiring each other. Even in the third season.
I think it was almost a life purpose for me to be included in something so special. And so it has been.
-[N. James] I think it has been by far the most rewarding project I have been a part of. The Chosen It has also been the job that has challenged me the most, both as an actor and as a person. It has also been the most challenging project to shoot, especially due to the weather elements. We had to shoot while roasting in the heat, or in the rain, in cold water for hours... Sometimes the most rewarding things are the most challenging. And this has been true for The Chosen.
-[A.S. Williams] For me it has been a key experience and, above all, a surprise.
We all had hopes that someday The Chosen would have its success, but we could not have imagined, not even remotely, the global impact the series is having today. It's a blessing to see it grow and, especially, it's shocking to see how the level rises with each season. The first season is fantastic and that improves throughout the project.
My own character is a surprise, for example. Regarding this role I think that The Chosen takes a lot of risks because, in my case, it's not a character with a well-known name in the Bible. Tamar represents many people. She brings together many people who, in the Gospels, do not have a specific name. The friends of the paralytic who hang him from the ceiling, the women who accompany Jesus in his ministry, etc., we don't know them all by name, but Tamar represents all of them.
Which scene from the series do you like the most?
–[E. Tabish] Oh, with many. Although I think the scene that I enjoyed recording the most, my favorite, is when, in the second season, Mary Magdalene feels lost again and leaves. She comes back and doesn't feel able to talk to Jesus and then Mary, Jesus' mother brings her to him. It's a beautiful moment when Jesus tells her that she doesn't have to be perfect, that God just wants her heart. That scene moved me because, deep down, he said it to me. It is something I carry with me.
-[N. James] The scene that I think I will never forget is the miracle of the fish in episode four of the first season. It was one of the most difficult scenes to film. We spent 14 or 15 hours in the water, which was very cold... We had to gather the fish in the boat, putting them together, they were like little donkeys that escaped from our hands... not knowing if the visual effects were going to work. In fact, for several days we didn't know if the scene worked, and when you see it, once it's produced, it's great.
-[A.S. Williams] My favorite scene is also in the second season. It is the one in which the apostles and the women are sitting around the fire and a fight begins about "whether you have the right to be here or not", "if I do things this way or that way". In the background, they are focusing on themselves, on what they deserved or not... At that moment Jesus appears exhausted, worn out after having been listening and healing people all day long, and it is a moment of humiliation for those people. It is a scene that reminds us that we have to stop, and leave our egos, our opinions or disputes because Jesus is giving himself to others.
I also especially like the scenes of Jesus with his mother, how he looks at her, how they talk to each other, because Jesus has a mother! And all of them are impressive.
The CEU Angel Herrera Awards, created in 1997, are intended to recognize the social, teaching and research work of individuals and groups in the CEU field. Among this year's award winners are WYD, Pontifical Missionary Works and the influencer @soyunamadrenormal.
Since 1997, CEU has been celebrating the CEU Ángel Herrera, in order to recognize the social, research and teaching work of different people or groups. This year, in the XXVI edition, the award winners are organizations such as WYD, or influencers as "Soyunamadrenormal".
The jury is composed of three persons, being different for each category of the awards, whose names will be made public on the day of the awards ceremony.
Dissemination of Catholic culture
– Supernatural World Youth DayThe event, which will take place this August in Lisbon, has received an award for its "diffusion of Catholic culture to recognize, from the protagonism of young people, the promotion of peace, union and fraternity among peoples and nations around the world".
When considering the winner, the jury also appreciated that this event provides "an experience of the Universal Church, fostering the encounter with Jesus Christ and constituting for young people a place of birth of vocations for marriage and consecrated life".
Best paper on the Social Doctrine of the Church
The jury also recognized the best work in the field of the Social Doctrine of the Church, awarding the prize to journalist María Ángeles Fernández and the communications team of Pontifical Mission Societies.
Ethics and values
In the category related to the transmission of values, the award was granted to the Nemesio Rodríguez Foundation and Vicente del Bosque. On the other hand, the award went to the influencer Irene Alonso, known in the social networks as "soyunamadrenormal"for its dissemination of marriage and family values through its digital platforms.
Solidarity, development cooperation and social entrepreneurship
Lastly, the jury recognized the work of the Kirira Foundation, which has been fighting against female genital mutilation for years.
Abrahamic religions in favor of human-centered technology
Representatives of the Jewish and Muslim religions sign at the Vatican the Rome Appeal for the Ethics of AI, the document of the Pontifical Academy for Life dedicated to ethics in the implementation, development and use of Artificial Intelligence. They were subsequently received by the Pope.
"Religions accompany humanity in the development of human-centered technology through a shared ethical reflection on the use of algorithms." This was the comment Pope Francis made on Twitter on the sidelines of the joint signing of the Rome Appeal for AI Ethics by Catholics, Jews and Muslims on Jan. 10 at the Vatican's Casina Pius IV.
The joint signature of the #RomeCall for #AIEthics from Catholics, Hebrews and Muslims is a sign of hope. Religions accompany humanity in the development of human-centered technology through ethical reflection on the use of algorithms. #algoretica
Pope Francis himself had received the signatories shortly before in the Clementine Hall: together with Archbishop Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV) and promoter of the Appeal, were Rabbi Eliezer Simha Weisz and Sheikh Abdallah bin Bayyah.
Also present were Microsoft president Brad Smith, IBM global vice president Dario Gil and FAO chief economist Maximo Torero Cullen, who themselves had signed the document in 2020 in a first public initiative promoted by PAV.
Technology at the service of the common good
In his speech, the Pontiff reiterated how technology must always be placed at the service of the common good of all, and one of the conditions for achieving this goal is "fraternity", which in turn requires attitudes of justice and peace.
A clear reference to his latest encyclical Fratelli Tutti, but also an appeal to prevent algorithms from influencing civil coexistence in any malicious way.
The Pope gave as a concrete example the practice related to the applications of asylum seekers, specifying how it is not acceptable "that the decision on the life and destiny of a human being be entrusted to an algorithm."
Algorithms that decide fate
This type of practice is widespread in some European countries for use by their respective migration and refugee offices (the Band in Germany, for example) and has also been criticized and assessed as incorrect in some circumstances by AlgorithmWatch, an NGO that studies algorithms and their impact on society. Unflattering judgments were also made by European Digital Rights (Edri), a body that defends digital rights at the European level.
What matters to the Pope, and therefore to the Church, is that "the discriminatory use of these tools does not take root at the expense of the most fragile and excluded". Hence it is good that a dynamic be created throughout the world that can promote and develop a kind of "digital anthropology", based on three specific coordinates: "ethics, education and law" - the three areas of impact of AI The Convocation highlights the different worldviews, as is the case of the different religious traditions.
Rome's call for AI ethics
The Rome Appeal for AI Ethics is essentially one of the latest official documents promoted by agencies of the Holy See on the issues of the Artificial Intelligence and the impact these systems can have on humans.
Promoted for the first time by the Pontifical Academy for Life In February 2020, this declaration had the merit of being signed not so much and not only by academics of the Vatican Academy - as happened in the past for similar documents - but mainly by exponents of the main technological organizations and institutions of public importance, who took it upon themselves to adhere to the document.
Companies need a "soul supplement
As Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia recounts in the book Anima digitale. La Chiesa alla prova dell'Intelligenza Artificiale.(Tau Editrice), the Call starts from a question and a reflection by Brad Smith, President of Microsoft. "He himself confided to me that he needs a kind of 'soul supplement' in the company."
In short, "engineers find solutions, but the solutions are not ethically indifferent: we need to be aware and responsible not only for the use of the devices, but also for the ethical implications present in every phase of their production cycle, which involves different subjects, from researchers to engineers and from politicians to citizens. This is the origin of our relationship of dialogue and collaboration".
This shows, Paglia continues, that "technologies need men and women who are aware and attentive, so that they can project themselves towards improvement, towards positive social and individual development".
The Rome Appeal is also, for the moment, the only text - of the many signed over the years at the Vatican level concerning AI - to have been presented at a conference with journalists at the Holy See Press Office. Submitted to the Vatican Secretariat of State for approval, it led to the creation of the "RenIAssance"The project is now supported by the project.
Available in English, it refers to it as a "document of shared commitments" through which to stimulate the sense of responsibility of organizations, governments, institutions and the private sector for a future in which technological advances and digital innovation are at the service of "human genius" and creativity, without causing their progressive substitution.
At the 2020 signing, IBM's Kelly reiterated on behalf of himself and the company a shared responsibility to ensure that all emerging technologies are developed and used for the good of humanity and the environment.
For the President of Microsoft, it is always important to promote a respectful debate on these issues, including solid ethical principles that can help solve the great challenges of today's world.
Catholic educators have a key and crucial mission: to introduce our students to the love of Christ. The love that was the focus of Benedict XVI's last words.
The last words of Benedict XVI on his deathbed, before his death, as his personal secretary tells us, were "Jesus, ich liebe dich" ("Jesus, I love you", in German). In that crucial moment in which we find ourselves alone before the Lord, there is no room for imposture; what has marked our life flows directly from the heart. And the summary of the German pope's life was this great and unique love.
With this, Pope Benedict XVI, that great teacher, gave us a great lesson, the last and definitive one. Only love is what marks life. Only that which we have loved is what will remain eternal. At the sunset of life, as St. John of the Cross said, we will be examined in love. Only in that.
Perhaps it would not be superfluous for those of us who dedicate ourselves to education and the transmission of the faith to remember this lesson. The mind and the will must be formed. It is necessary to introduce into the mystery of the supernatural. One must commit one's life and give it away. But all this is worthless if it is not done out of love, as the Apostle Paul reminded the Christians of Corinth.
That is why our main mission is, above all, to introduce children and young people to this love story. To accompany them in getting to know Jesus Christ. To introduce them to this personal relationship, which is the essence of Christianity. And with our own life, to teach them that Christ, alive and risen, is the great love of our life.
This is the farthest thing from sappiness and sentimentality. Only a true love sustains the yes in difficulty, crosses the frontiers of pain, becomes definitive until death. Especially the love of Christ has very little to do with 'butterflies in the stomach', because it is a real love, but transcendent. And if it can be touched, it is in the flesh of the wounded brother, it is in the daily Bread. And that gives for few butterflies. It is enough for something much greater. To intuit that love that only fits in the heart of God.
My question as an educator is whether we are really introducing young people to that love of Christ. Because if we are not, no matter how much paraphernalia we put up, we will do absolutely nothing. Pope Benedict constantly reminded us of this. Being a Christian is born of an encounter, not of a moral conviction. And that encounter with Jesus cannot leave us indifferent. As our youth catechists used to repeat to us, 'it is not possible to know Jesus and not love him; it is not possible to love him and not follow him'.
Therefore, the first step is to make Jesus known. And the main way to do this is to introduce them to a prayerful relationship with Scripture. Reading and praying the Gospel will be the way that can put young people in contact with the Word Incarnate. And teach them to discover him in the silence of our own soul, in the last recesses of our being.
Music in particular, and art in general, will be a door that will help to awaken sensitivity and facilitate this encounter. But the body to body, the contact, the touching that love demands, is given in prayer and, in a privileged way, in the bread of the Eucharist.
St. Manuel Gonzalez, the bishop of the abandoned tabernacle, speaking of a girl who wanted to receive her First Communion early, said that he was reluctant because of her young age and therefore encouraged her to wait. But the girl argued with the wisdom of her heart that she needed to receive communion, 'because to love each other you have to touch each other'. That was enough to convince the holy bishop.
To love each other you have to touch each other, you have to touch each other. Love is born from a personal encounter.
Benedict XVI gives us that definitive lesson of tender and intimate love in his last words. His heart beat to the rhythm of that love. His last breath was to proclaim with a voice at once faint and powerful that love is the ultimate word that sustains our life.
Teaching Delegate in the Diocese of Getafe since the 2010-2011 academic year, he has previously exercised this service in the Archbishopric of Pamplona and Tudela, for seven years (2003-2009). He currently combines this work with his dedication to youth ministry directing the Public Association of the Faithful 'Milicia de Santa Maria' and the educational association 'VEN Y VERÁS. EDUCATION', of which he is President.
In the Sierra Norte de Madrid hides a path that bears a peculiar similarity with the pilgrimage of the hobbits through Middle Earth. Its 122 kilometers are an experience that brings walkers closer to the grandeur of Creation.
"The Way" allows you to travel to the mythical Middle-earth where dwarves, elves or orcs walked. The valley of Moria, Bree, Rivendell, the Shire, Hobbiton, the Top of the Winds and many more key places of the film and the book will make you feel the protagonist of your inner and outer journey while you will discover a fascinating nature and develop a sense of wonder, beauty and care of it". This is how the people in charge of the Camino del Anillo describe this pilgrimage in their web page.
Pedro de la Herrán, manager of this initiative, talks to Omnes about this project to which everyone is invited, whether they love it or not. Lord of the Ringswhether they are simply sports or nature lovers.
Where did the idea of doing this Camino come from?
"El Camino del Anillo" was born as a rural development initiative to promote the forgotten villages of the Sierra Norte de Madrid. When the films of The Lord of the RingsWe realized the extraordinary geographical resemblance between this peculiar Sierra and the scenarios created by Tolkien. That's how the idea of inviting people to visit Middle-earth in Madrid came up. In this way, in addition, people could experience the beauty of nature and the literatureof encounter with oneself and with others".
Why is the Archdiocese of Madrid involved?
"The initiative needed a structure to support it. The Archdiocese saw in this a possibility to do good for the Sierra de Madrid, while promoting a spiritual path of encounter with Creation. Today it is very fashionable to talk about climate change and sustainability. Although these are important topics, we forget that a true environmental ethic The starting point is to understand what nature is and who we human beings are in relation to it. The Catholic Church sees nature as a gift from God that we must take care of, as a common home where we learn to love each other and allow ourselves to be loved by God. In this way, admiration and care for nature arise on their own".
The map of the pilgrimage (Photo: El Camino del Anillo website)
How does doing this Path help people spiritually?
"When you do the Path you encounter the deep psychological fabric of Tolkien's characters, with whom you feel identified. Destroying the ring is a lifelong battle, it's about making a radical choice for good, which you can't do without the help of a company of friends (a ring community) who bet on you and help you destroy your ring forever. People who walk the Way of the Ring encounter their inner self, the ineffable potency of the beauty of the ring, and the power of the beauty of the ring. CreationI have the opportunity to be in the company of people who love you, even if they don't know you. It is a unique experience.
Can God be found by making this pilgrimage? How?
"God can be found through the beauty of Creation and the company of others. In every detail of nature we discover that we are loved by a Creator who has put everything in its place, and we discover ourselves as part of that almost infinite beauty that unfolds in light and life. Moreover, the affection and unconditional service of the people who accompany you invites you to understand life as a communion in which we all go together, in which each one is for the other and life acquires a new meaning".
What is most important in terms of preparation?
"The attitude of amazement. We prefer not to tell you too much about what you will find. We usually say that the Camino speaks, that the forests speak, that the light speaks. Of course you have to have a bit of fitness and desire to walk, but the most important thing is to open your heart to let yourself be surprised. On the Camino we make an experience from WOW to AH. "WOW, how wonderful". "AHH, I understand why everything is so wonderful.". You only understand this experience when you live it first hand."
What is the main spiritual benefit of doing the Ring Road?
"Most people find peace and serenity. These come from understanding that life is not about doing a lot of things or meeting society's expectations. On the Camino you discover that life is about letting yourself be loved. When you return home, you have understood new keys that open you to the community and to the Creator.
What are the rings or dragons we usually fight today?
"That's for everyone to find out. It's not about political structures or criminal plots. It's something inside. Faramir's greatest enemy was not Sauron, but his temptation to put on the ring of power and rule by manipulating reality. The real enemy is what you find in your life that doesn't let you be. free of the whole, is the temptation to do good by using evil. Only if you have hope that beauty and good exist will you be able to wish to destroy the ring. And you will only succeed in fulfilling that desire if you have a community of friends betting on you. Nowadays it is often said that you have to be good, but not foolish. It's an example of the attachment we have to evil. What if we managed to be truly good, to always choose good, and if we had a heart that didn't mind sacrificing our lives for the ideals that really matter?"
The publication in Spanish of "Healing and Vocation" recovers the work written by the Americans Pellegrino and Thomasma, which brings together a collection of works under a single common thread, namely, how natural reason and faith in medicine should conform.
A translation of the book Helping and healingpublished in 1997 by the Americans Pellegrino and Thomasma, considered by many to be the fathers of modern medical ethics. The work represented the culmination of the authors' prolific scientific and humanistic production. At the time, Pellegrino, a physician, was 77 years old, while Thomasma, younger and a philosopher, was 58 years old. Both were professors at Georgetown University in Washington DC.
The book is just over 300 pages long. The first 50 pages contain the extraordinary analysis by Dr. Manuel de Santiago, translator of the work and connoisseur, like few others, of Pellegrino's life and works.
In the introduction to the original text, the authors make it clear that the book is a compilation of articles from previous years, some of which have had little circulation. The purpose of the book is to bring together a collection of works under a single common thread, namely, how natural reason and faith in medicine should conform. The aim is to formulate a new and true ethical doctrine of medicine, based on the morality of the medical act. In an unprecedented way, the medical profession is seen by the authors as a Christian moral enterprise.
De Santiago recognizes several stages in Pellegrino's life, ranging from a secular period to the final stretch of great religious dimension. In between, there was a scientific period linked to his activity as an internist, a teaching period as a university professor and a humanistic period, focused on the consideration of human values in medical practice. From that moment on, Pellegrino embarked on the reconstruction of medical ethics, basing it on the virtues, which had been recovered at the time by great contemporary philosophers such as Alasdair MacIntyre and Elizabeth Anscombe, both converts to Catholicism. Faced with the rise of principlism and the bioethics of Beauchamp and Childress, Pellegrino emphasizes beneficence, the search for the good of the patient, as the main foundation of morality in medical practice.
Healing and vocation. Religious commitment in health care
AuthorsManuel de Santiago Corchado; Edmund Pellegrino; David C. Thomasma
Editorial: EUNSA
Pages: 332
Year: 2022
City: Pamplona
It was in 1986 that Pellegrino's turn to the religious perspective from the more secular, medical virtue-based view took place. The trigger was a symposium on philosophy and medicine organized by Georgetown University. From that moment on, Pellegrino configured medical morality based on the virtue of charity, transformed into compassion for the patient. Compassion is much more than pity or sympathy, it is feeling and suffering with the patient and accompanying him in his fragility as a human being. Even so, respect for the conscience of the physician must prevail over certain autonomous requests of the patient.
A medical ethics founded on the virtues and regulated by charity is for Pellegrino an ethics of agape, which goes beyond the principles, rules and obligations of physicians, but not to absorb or deny them, but to perfect them. In this way, medical practice becomes a means of service to others, a specific mission - vocation - to which God has called the physician.
Pellegrino was invited to become a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, founded by St. John Paul II in 1998. His thought identified with the Pope's Christian personalism. Faced with the relativism and pluralism of secular society, a legacy of the Enlightenment, where technological advances seemed to provide an answer to everything, Pellegrino wants to recover medical practice with moral philosophy and the light of faith.
The authorVicente Soriano
Physician. Specialist in virus infections and genomics. Editor-in-chief of the journal AIDS Reviews. Advisor to the National AIDS Plan, he has also been advisor to the WHO, as well as researcher in multiple international clinical trials and in projects of the European Commission. Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the UNIR. Author of numerous publications.
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Msgr. Luis Argüello: "All the charisms of the Church are necessary".
For the past four years the name of Luis Argüello has been linked, essentially, to the General Secretariat of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, but, since last November, Bishop Luis Argüello has had a single and clear mission: to shepherd the diocesan Church in Valladolid. A see in which he has already served as auxiliary to his predecessor, Bishop Ricardo Blázquez, and in which he has lived his entire priestly life.
Archbishop Luis Argüello García will be the Archbishop of Valladolid as of July 2022. With a degree in Civil Law, he was a university professor before entering the seminary. His profound analysis of reality and his knowledge of the human being remain from his facet as a professor, as well as a vast culture that finds its way into the conversations and interventions of the one who has been, for four years, the spokesman of the Spanish episcopate.
His new stage in the Church in Valladolid, today's society, secularization, are some of the topics that appear in this conversation with Omnes in which Bishop Argüello extends his analysis from the lands of Castile and León to the universal Church.
You are not "new". Valladolid has always been your diocese and you have served there as auxiliary bishop. But isn't a certain novelty required of every new bishop?
-The Church always combines fidelity and novelty. In this sense, my own position in Valladolid is also situated in this balance. On the one hand, I have already shared many responsibilities during these years in Valladolid. From there, there is a path of fidelity; but I believe that the very characteristics of the Church of Valladolid and of the society of Valladolid itself demand of me and of the whole diocesan Church an impulse of novelty. In what points? I would say that in everything that means the transmission of the faith, both proclamation and Christian initiation. A call to a new way of be in the territory and in society and an encouragement to witness the newness of the love of Jesus Christ to our contemporaries.
He speaks of the proclamation of the faith. Listening to the Church seems to be less and less, especially among young people. Is there no interest, or do we not know how to address today's world?
-I think there is a bit of both. The whole path of secularization, of the autonomy of people and society with respect to God, and of what the Church means, has a singular accent. Not only in young people, but also in people under 60 years of age, who happen to be the parents of children and adolescents. It is precisely the secularization of today's generation between 40 and 60 years of age that has the greatest influence on the lack of knowledge of Jesus and the Church that many children, adolescents and young people have.
On the other hand, there is a cultural environment that offers other "attractions" to the undoubtedly searching heart of teenagers and young people.
Evidently the Church, the Christian communities, the life of the parishes..., also have their responsibility. Perhaps, at the time of the proposal of catechesis, formation of adolescents and young people, etc., we have continued in an inertia without taking into account this great change of the vital, family and cultural context in the environment of schools, institutes or the environment that enters through the screens.
However, I believe that generalizations, besides being unfair, are misleading. A few months ago we experienced the Youth Pilgrimage in Compostela (PEJ'22) and it is true that there were 12,000 people in the group of young Spaniards, that is to say, a drop. But in that meeting we perceived in the young people a special search for a new meaning, for that which is more explicitly supernatural, if I may use the expression, and not so much for "activities". I was surprised, for example, by the interest shown by the young people in the workshops on reason and faith, science and faith, the study of some of today's fashionable philosophers, a way of dealing with series or movies. A concern of the participants themselves was expressed: that of wanting to give a reason for their faith to their high school and university classmates. This also exists.
I am more and more convinced that the era in which we live is a post-secular era, and the accents of the Church's life are still marked, in many cases, by the experience of the pre-secular era.
In this post-secularity there are unsuspected searches, the most varied, sometimes the most bizarre; but there are also searches for meaning, for spirituality and for God.
So, is it about giving a new proposal?
-Exactly. It is about offering, without complexes, what we believe and what we try to live. With humility, with a greater trust in grace.
One of the characteristics of this post-secular time is that the Church, in the West, is coming out of centuries and centuries of a mixture between society and the Church, which has marked certain relationships with the powers that be. We are still there, because these processes last a long time, they last for centuries, and we have to have a new way of being in the territory.
In Castilla y León there are lots of small municipalities, of few inhabitants, scattered..., and in all of them, the big building is the church. In all of them, there is a tower with a bell tower and, until not long ago, under each tower there was a hood.
Today, our way of being in the territory is different. Our way of understanding the parish must be different. This in what refers to the territory. And then, the way of being in the society; in which there is a crossroads because, for certain aspects, the great majority of our society of these Castilian-Leonese municipalities continues being Catholic: to celebrate the feasts of the patron saint, in the Holy Week, in Christmas. But then, in many aspects of daily life, people live as if God did not exist, also in the small towns,
Bishop Chaput points out that we consider faith "a nice piece of furniture that we have inherited" and that it does not fit in our modern little apartment....
-In many cases, I believe that this is the case, and sometimes even without the modern little apartment. But, at the same time, there is a search, there is restlessness, because the Lord is always ahead.
What we speak of as an "ecclesial transformation" is part of a social shift in which the extreme praise of the autonomy of the individual as opposed to the common good, of freedom as opposed to love, generates dissatisfaction, generates discomfort. A very concrete malaise that is called "loneliness", that is called "consumption of psychotropic drugs"; in the limit, it is called not knowing what to do with life.
On the other hand, there is a hidden desire that appears in thousands of small causes of fraternity, of the common good, of care for creation, etc. This is what Pope Francis often emphasizes.
The characteristic of the kerygma of Francis is that he is Trinitarian. The center is always the announcement that Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death, but together with this, to announce God the Creator and, from there, all that arises from the affirmation of creation: the ecological dimensions. To announce also that God is Father. From there, it is born to speak of fraternity, of bonds, of alliances.
These two heartbeats are strong in the hearts of our contemporaries, but sometimes they seem impossible to live, because the heartbeat of autonomy is considered stronger than that of fraternity.
Another issue that is implicit when talking about a Castilian-Leonese seat is that of heritage. Are we turning churches into mere museums?
-The main challenge of most of the temples in Castilla y León is that they are closed, that they are not even open to be visited. The second challenge is their conservation, because we have received them from previous generations. The third is that some buildings that are maintained and can be opened for what they were created for, that is, to make possible the entrance to an environment that places us before the mystery of God and his presence.
In a time like ours, which is missionary, and in which many people do not know the codes of the temple itself and do not recognize the real presence of the Lord in the Tabernacle, we also have the challenge that the opening and the visit, perhaps at the beginning with a more historical-cultural criterion, can be an opportunity to know what the temple is, what the temple means, and also what the Tabernacle means with a lighted lamp.
This is a question that has been discussed, especially in relations with public administrations. Because many of these constructions were built as ecclesiastical buildings, but it is also true that they were built at a time in which the gap between society and the Church that I have already mentioned was very large.
On the other hand, the Church is aware that it alone cannot maintain many of these buildings located, many times, in small towns. This is something that not only happens in Castilla y León but also in other parts of Spain.
We recognize that they are ecclesial places and that their raison d'être is the celebration of worship, but we must remember that "worship" and "culture" have the same root. What is the problem? That, unfortunately - not only in churches but in life in general - culture has more to do with cultural products and less and less to do with the cultivation of the naturawhich is what defines us as humans.
Today "culture" is very fashionable. As soon as you get careless, you hear about culture: the culture of wine, the culture of the green hoopoe..., but you don't really know what that means. Rather, what one perceives is that there are cultural products.
The risk of our ecclesial patrimony is that it becomes just another cultural product, measured only by its economic value. Evidently its economic value is not negligible, especially in a time of strong economic crisis..., but what is genuinely cultural is that which cultivates human nature. The temples add to this colloquium between culture and natura that which, for a believer, constitutes the key to both: grace. The grace that is in the naturaThe grace that becomes culture, a way of life, and that transforms nature into new life, into eternal life.
When the bishops of the Church in Castille Ages of Man, The founding text already speaks of faith-culture dialogue and of a Samaritan Church in the face of these realities of a society that is dissolving as what was to be the hallmark of the Church in Castile. Evidently, for many people, Ages of Man is only a cultural brand that is measured by the economic value it leaves in the hospitality industry, in other respects, Ages of Man tries to tell, year after year, a story that has to do with the genuinely cultural proposal of the Church.
You know the Spanish Church in depth. In recent EEC documents, the need for unity among Christians has been repeatedly mentioned. Do you perceive a division within the Church? Are there opposing currents?
Disunity is always anti-evangelical; currents are not.
We are Catholics. We are not one of those multiple Churches that came out of the Reformation in which, every time an accent or a diversity arises, a new Church emerges.
In the Catholic Church, the different sensibilities are sometimes called charisms, which have given rise to religious congregations, movements, communities..., distinct in the Church and all recognized and proclaiming the same Creed and recognizing in the successors of the Apostles the principle of unity.
Catholic communion is not a communion in a uniformity in which we all live with exactly the same intensity the same pages of the Gospel.
In times of crisis, it is true that a typical phenomenon occurs: that of tension between different perceptions. Some brothers place the accent on one side and others on the other. We speak again of fidelity and novelty.
Times of great change place the Church in polarizations. Sometimes from good intentions and sometimes from the consequences of original sin.
Pope Francis is the first Pope to come from a southern megalopolis; this is a bit disconcerting for us Europeans. But Pope Wojtyla, who came from a Poland that had suffered two totalitarianisms, or the intellectual stature of Benedict XVI... who arrived after centuries of Italian Popes, were also disconcerting.
In this pontificate, Pope Francis emphasizes the importance of the kerygmathe (Evangelii Gaudium) and to proclaim the kerygma, one must be holy (Gaudete et exultate). This kerygma that we are announcing places us in a social colloquium, because the kerygma has an incarnation (Fratelli Tutti)...
The moral proposal that we have to make has a root, which is an anthropology, and that anthropology has a light, which is Christology, Christ. To enter into moral debates with individuals who do not share the anthropology or who reject that in Christ, the incarnate Word, "what it means to be man" has been manifested "to man" is, to say the least, complicated.
The Pope calls us to proclaim what is essential and from there to build a proposal of person and morals. This is easy to say and, indeed, there are those who may feel disarmed in the face of great social and moral debates. They may be right, if we do not have a great commitment to the proclamation of Jesus Christ, the Father and the Holy Spirit.
To evangelize personal situations as varied as the present ones, all the charisms of the Church are useful and the different sensitivities must be united in a founding communion, the acceptance of the creed and the centrality of the Eucharist.
A living spring. Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (A)
Joseph Evans comments on the readings for the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.
Joseph Evans-January 12, 2023-Reading time: 2minutes
It is delightful to listen to today's second reading (1 Cor 1:1-3) and to perceive the freshness of early Christianity. St. Paul addresses one of the first Christian communities and does so with great beauty, calling them "those sanctified by Jesus Christ, called saints with all who in every place call upon the name Our Lord Jesus Christ."
It reminds them, and us, of their (our) call to holiness. To be a Christian is to be called to holiness, regardless of where we are geographically or existentially. How? First of all, through prayer to Jesus, who is the Lord of all.
It is worth remembering who the Corinthians were: people from the city of Corinth in ancient Greece, which Paul had evangelized. Corinth was a pagan city famous for its immorality. Paul has to scold the Corinthians for dividing into factions and for tolerating a scandalous case of incest. The Corinthians loved the extraordinary, the special gifts of the Holy Spirit - speaking in tongues and prophesying - and the apostle has to help them understand that what matters much more is love: not the extraordinary gifts, but the daily effort to love one another.
The conversion of these Corinthians to Christianity is part of the fulfillment of the first reading (Is 49:3,5-6). God's salvation is coming to "the ends of the earth", including pagan Corinth. It is not only for Israel, but for all. Hence Paul tells the Corinthians that he is "their Lord and ours".
Today's readings can remind us of our own call to holiness, and the need to keep alive the freshness of Christianity, without allowing it to stagnate in our lives or communities. It may happen that we will have to live and witness in an immoral place. We will have our faults and excesses, and at times we will need to be corrected. But it is better to be corrected for excess of passion than for lack of it. Whatever could be said of the Corinthians, it would not be that they lacked enthusiasm.
But this enthusiasm is not merely a human feeling. Thus, today's Gospel (Jn 1:29-34) points out its source: the action of the Holy Spirit in our souls. Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit, "he is the Chosen One of God" and the Spirit rests upon him. John the Baptist is recalling the scene of Christ's baptism in the Jordan River. In this way, he invites us to also enter into those waters to live our baptism in our daily lives. Baptism is not simply a past event. Its waters must well up in us every day. It is a living spring, pouring forth good water, the grace of God, which is then poured out on others through our example and our witness to Christ: with our family and friends, in our leisure and in our place of work or study.
Homily on the readings of Sunday II in Ordinary Time (A)
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaa small one-minute reflection for these readings.
George Pell, the Australian cardinal who was unjustly accused of abuse and imprisoned for more than a year, has died at the age of 81. In the photo, Cardinal Pell during the opening mass of the WYD in Sydney in 2008.
"One for all and all for Him", the new motto of Infancia Misionera
Next Sunday, January 15, will be celebrated the Day of Missionary Childhood. This day will be preceded by a press conference to present the new motto of this initiative of the Pontifical Mission Societies: "One for all and all for Him".
On Wednesday, January 11, a press conference was held about Infancia Misionera, one of the initiatives of Pontifical Mission Societies (OMP). José María Calderón, national director of OMP Spain, and Jaime Palacio, coordinator of the Corazonistas Foundation and lay missionary in Peru for 12 years with his wife and five children, took part in the conference.
Missionary Childhood and the Pontifical Mission Societies
– Supernatural Missionary Childhood was born in France to encourage the youngest to join the task of evangelization that all Christians have since their baptism. The main protagonists of this work are the children, with the aim of creating "a relationship of communion" among the youngest members of the Church, as José María Calderón pointed out.
The Pontifical Mission Societies The "help from the rich to the poor" is not "help from the rich to the poor, but help among Christians". It cannot be reduced to an economic level, says Calderón, but must include spirituality and the joy of faith.
Calderón mentions that it is important for him that the children know that "the Church is not your neighborhood, your school or your parish, but that the Church is in the whole world. There are many children in the world who live their faith and they too are important".
The PMS is not limited to this task with the children. "We must make Christians and all people of good will aware that the children need our collaboration," says the national director.
One for all and all for Him
This year's motto is taken from a work by Alexandre Dumas, "The Three Musketeers". It is important to know that in this world "many do not have a family life and, if they do, it is very poor. The Church is there for them to learn.
Spain and Missionary Childhood
Calderón points out that "Spain is one of the countries that contributes the most to Infancia Misionera. This should awaken a sense of responsibility and pride to continue this work. In 2021, more than two million euros were raised from Spain for the work of OMP.
José María Calderón, National Director of OMP Spain (Flickr / OMP)
A concrete example of Infancia Misionera's work
The Church's missionary work is present in more than 1,000 countries. This year we have taken as an example a territory, Yurimaguas, in Peru, which covers an area equivalent to twice the size of Catalonia. This vicariate has been in existence for a century and is entrusted to the Passionist missionaries.
Jaime Palacio, coordinator of the Corazonistas Foundation and lay missionary in Peru (Flickr / OMP)
Jaime Palacio is a lay missionary who has lived for 12 years in Yurimaguas. There he has had his five children and has presented himself at the press conference to give his testimony about the missions in Peru. He describes the difficulty of transportation, which must be done through rivers or airplanes, the cultural and natural richness, "one has the feeling that one has arrived at the end of the world or, on the contrary, one has arrived at the beginning, at Paradise".
Palacio reports that the first thing the Church did when it arrived in this area of Peru was to organize a network of schools to bring education to all the regions. The most important thing right now is food, as there is a lack of breakfasts and meals to combat child malnutrition.
The other major pillar of the missions in Peru is health care, as health centers are being built to serve all the people living there. Difficulty of mobility makes the situation worse, so a strong healthcare network needs to be established.
Below is the video with the complete speech by Jaime Palacio and José María Calderón:
Pope Francis held a general audience today in the Paul VI Hall. After greeting the faithful gathered there, he announced the beginning of a new cycle of catechesis, focused on "the passion for evangelization, that is, apostolic zeal".
Referring to this zeal, the Pope mentioned that it is "a vital dimension for the Church. The community of the disciples of Jesus, in fact, is born apostolic, missionary". The Holy Father immediately pointed out that the attitude missionary is not proselytizing, "one has nothing to do with the other", the Pope wanted to emphasize.
The need to evangelize
Francisco points out that the Holy SpiritFrom the outset, he has shaped a Church that goes out "so that it does not turn in on itself, but is outgoing, a contagious witness of Jesus.
"It can happen," warns the Pope, "that apostolic zeal, the desire to reach out to others with the good proclamation of the Gospel, diminishes." "There are Christians closed in on themselves, who do not think of others, but when Christian life loses sight of the horizon of proclamation it becomes ill," says Francis.
When the Church loses her passion for evangelization, "faith withers. Mission, however, is the oxygen of Christian life, it invigorates and purifies it". To kindle this apostolic zeal, Pope Francis announces that during this cycle of catecheses he will delve deeper into the Scripture and then he will take as a reference people who have lived the evangelizing mission, "so that they can help us to fan the fire that the Holy Spirit wants to make burn in us always".
Matthew's example
To begin his catechesis, Francis looked first of all at the Gospel passage describing Matthew's call. "Everything begins with Jesus," the Pope points out. Matthew was a despised man, a traitor, a publican. "But in the eyes of Jesus, Matthew is a man, with his miseries and his greatness." The Holy Father invites us to realize that "Jesus does not look for adjectives, Jesus always looks for nouns".
"While there is a distance between Matthew and his people," he continues, "Jesus draws near to him, because every man is loved by God". Christ thus shows us that "this gaze that sees the other, whoever he may be, as a recipient of love, is the beginning of the Gospel passion. Everything starts from this gaze".
The Pope invites us to ask ourselves "how we look at others, how often we see the defects and not the needs". "Jesus looks at everyone with mercy and predilection," says Francis, and we must learn from his example.
"Everything begins with the gaze of Jesus," the Pope points out. Christ, calling Matthew, "sets him on the move towards others, makes him leave a position of supremacy to put him on a par with his brothers and open to him the horizons of the service". This idea is fundamental for Christians, for we must know how to "get up, set out on the road towards others, seek others".
The first thing that happens once Matthew responds to Christ's call is that the tax collector returns home, welcoming the Master, but "he returns changed and with Jesus. His apostolic zeal does not begin in a new, pure and ideal place, but there where he lives, with the people he knows".
Announce, today, now
"We should not expect to be perfect," says Francis, "and to have come a long way behind Jesus in order to bear witness to him. Our proclamation begins today, where we live". This mission of proclamation, moreover, "does not begin by trying to convince others, but by bearing witness every day to the beauty of the love that has looked upon us and lifted us up".
It is essential to remember, Pope Francis warns, "that we proclaim the Lord, we do not proclaim ourselves". "The Church grows, not by proselytizing, but by attraction", the Holy Father repeats, because those who "proselytize do not have a Christian heart".
"This testimony attractive and joyful is the goal to which Jesus leads us with his gaze of love and with the outward movement that his Spirit arouses in our hearts". Francis concludes the audience by asking us to assess whether our gaze resembles that of Christ.
George Pell, the Australian cardinal who was the Vatican's former prefect of finance and who was unjustly accused of abuse, died early this morning of cardiac arrest following complications from hip replacement surgery he underwent on January 10.
"An innocent person could have been convicted."
The last years of Cardinal Pell's life have been marked by his spending more than a year in prison after being convicted of five charges related to the abuse of two choir boys. In June 2002, Archbishop Pell stepped aside from his duties as Archbishop of Melbourne when he was accused, for the first time, of sexual abuse of a minor. An ecclesiastical investigation was unable to find sufficient evidence to substantiate the allegation, which dated back to 1961.
A year later, Archbishop Pell was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II. As he himself pointed out in an interview on this occasion, preaching the message of Christ and clearly presenting the doctrine was, in his view, the only way to ensure the continued growth and fidelity of the Catholic Church.
Cardinal Pell participated in the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI and the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis. He was appointed by Pope Francis as inaugural prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, a role he technically held from 2014 to 2019. Although, as early as 2017 Pell took a leave of absence from his prefect position to return to Australia to deal with allegations of historical sexual abuse of minors. He staunchly defended his innocence throughout the process that led to a conviction on December 11, 2018 on the five charges against him. Two days later, Pope Francis removed him from his inner circle of cardinals.
On March 13, 2019, Cardinal Pell was sentenced to six years in prison. After 13 months of imprisonment, he was released in April 2020 following his second appeal.
During his stay in prison, eight months in solitary confinement, Cardinal Pell wrote his thoughts and experiences in the book "Prison Diary". The book reflects the irregularities in his trial, the loneliness he experienced and even the regret for the suspicion that many people in the Church had towards him and the abandonment he suffered even in ecclesiastical circles.
In a decision handed down on April 7, 2020, the High Court of Australia overturned that conviction, concluding that there was "a significant possibility that an innocent person may have been convicted because the evidence did not establish guilt to the requisite standard of proof."
Pope Francis himself was grateful for the Australian cardinal's witness of faith, forgiveness and courage in a private meeting on October 12, 2020, six months after the High Court of Australia overturned the cardinal's conviction on sex abuse charges.
Cardinal Pell pointed out that his experience of wrongful conviction in prison helped him to understand the suffering of Christ: "Whoever does not accept his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple," recalled the cardinal, who admitted that this passage through suffering "makes it difficult for Christians".
The President of the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, SDB, has noted that "Cardinal Pell has provided strong and clear leadership within the Catholic Church in Australia, as Archbishop of Melbourne and Archbishop of Sydney and as a member of the Bishops' Conference for more than 25 years. As we remember him and reflect on his legacy, I invite all Catholics and other people of good will to join in prayer for Cardinal Pell, a man of deep and abiding faith, and for the repose of his soul."
For his part, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Sydney and Primate of Australia, Archbishop Anthony Fisher, O.P., celebrated Mass for the Cardinal who died on January 11 in St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, where he will be buried. Anthony Fisher, O.P., celebrated Mass for the Cardinal who died on January 11 at St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, in whose crypt he will be buried.
Life of Cardinal George Pell
George Pell was born on June 8, 1941 in Ballarat, Australia, the son of George Arthur and Margaret Lillian Pell. His father was a non-practicing Anglican; his mother was a devout Catholic of Irish descent.
Pell attended St. Patrick's College in Ballarat from 1956 to 1959. An outstanding soccer player, after college he signed with what is now the Australian Football League, but then felt the call to the priesthood, so he began his theological studies in 1960 at Corpus Christi College Regional Seminary.
In 1963, Pell continued his studies at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, and graduated in Theology in 1967. During his final year of studies, he was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Ballarat on December 16, 1966, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.
In 1971, he received a doctorate in Philosophy and Church History from Oxford University (England), and in 1982 he obtained a master's degree in education from Monash University (Australia). As a priest, he held various parish and diocesan positions, including episcopal vicar for education and rector of Corpus Christi Seminary.
In 1987, George Pell was appointed auxiliary bishop of Melbourne (Australia). On July 16, 1996, he was appointed Archbishop of Melbourne. Five years later, on March 26, 2001, he was appointed Archbishop of Sydney, and was sworn in on May 10, 2001.
In June 2002, Archbishop Pell stepped aside from his duties when he was accused, for the first time, of sexual abuse of a minor. An ecclesiastical investigation could not find sufficient evidence to corroborate the allegation, which dated back to 1961.
In a consistory held on October 21, 2003, Archbishop Pell was created a cardinal by Pope John Paul II.
He was also a member of various positions in the Roman Curia. There he served on the Pontifical Council for Peace and Justice, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. In 2002, he was appointed chairman of Vox Clara, the committee that advises Divine Worship and the Sacraments on liturgical translations into English. He was also a consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Family. He was a member of the steering committee of the International Catholic Migration Commission, and a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization. In 2012, he was appointed a member of the Congregation for Bishops.
Cardinal Pell participated in the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI and the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis. He was appointed by Pope Francis as the inaugural prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, a role he technically held from 2014 to 2019. His vision and determination to restore cleanliness and transparency to Vatican finances brought him no small amount of pressure.
In 2017, Cardinal Pell took a leave of absence from his position as prefect to return to Australia to face allegations of historic sexual abuse of minors. He staunchly professed his innocence throughout the trial that led to a unanimous conviction on December 11, 2018 on all five charges against him. Two days later, Pope Francis removed him from his inner circle of cardinals.
Cardinal Pell's conviction was made public on February 26, 2019. Archbishop Mark Coleridge of Brisbane, then president of the Australian Bishops' Conference, said in a statement at the time that "the news of Cardinal George Pell's conviction on historic charges of child sexual abuse has shocked many across Australia and around the world, including Australia's Catholic bishops."
On March 13, 2019, Cardinal Pell was sentenced to six years in prison with a non-parole period of three years and eight months. After 13 months of incarceration, he was released in April 2020 following his second appeal. Just over a year later, the High Court of Australia overturned that conviction, concluding that there was "a significant possibility that an innocent person may have been convicted because the evidence did not establish guilt to the required standard of proof."
Álvaro Sánchez León: "Ratzinger was not a clericalist".
"Emeritus. Rewinding Ratzinger" arrives in bookstores with a choral portrait of the Pope Emeritus that the world said goodbye to on the last day of 2022.
Emeritus. Rewinding Ratzinger signed by the journalist Álvaro Sánchez Leon draws a multicolored portrait of the Pope Benedict XVI. More than 40 close testimonies of collaborators, friends, biographers of Ratzinger and Vaticanists make up a unique and surprising picture that presents us the priest, neighbor of Borgo Pio and almost unknown, the profound and serene theologian, the humble pope who stepped aside despite the incomprehension of many.
Álvaro Sánchez León (Seville, 1979) is a freelance journalist specialized in interviews and social reports and author of, among other titles On earth as in heaven. Stories with soul, heart and life by Javier Echevarría. (Rialp, 2018) or Spain in pause (2022) talks with Omnes about this new book about a Benedict XVI different and, at the same time, close.
At Emeritus. Rewinding Ratzinger You offer different portraits of Benedict XVI. What has struck you the most? Has the Pope Emeritus also been a new discovery for you?
-This book is a unique portrait painted with words, but made with different journalistic techniques. With the voices of people who have dealt with him first hand, with his texts, his words, his actions and his imprint, I try to focus directly on the soul of a person who was Pope and who will always be an oxygen tank for the whole Church.
My professional specialty is interviews that seek to get to know people in depth. In this case, I do a polyphonic interview with the desire to hit the target of one of the most powerful world figures of our time.
I have been struck by many things: the authentic goodness, the close intelligence, the coherence, the simplicity... Ratzinger's life is a straight upward line. If one follows it closely, one also rises.
For me it has been a discovery to get deep into her soul, into her story, into the beyond of her gaze, and to see to what extent a person who prays, who thinks and lives naturally what she loves can transform everything she touches with a marvelous discretion.
You also collected portraits of the closest Ratzinger, that discreet priest who lived in Borgo Pio, what was the Ratzinger of "on foot" like?
-Joseph Ratzinger has been - is! - a simple person who has been truly understood only by simple people, which is why the Roman neighborhood of Borgo Pio, where he has lived since he landed in Rome to lead the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith until he was elected Pope, is the urban sauce where we know the person better, without curial attachments, and without academic recognitions.
The doorman of his building in Piazza della Città Leonina, the shoemaker, the tailor, the baker or the waiter in front of his house remember him as a good priest with an aversion to self-importance. Shy, but close.
Years have passed, and all these crucial anonymous people I have interviewed are excited to talk about him, because after opening their souls to him, listening to his stories and contemplating his kindness, they consider him as someone of the family whom they had the honor of meeting on the rebound. For many of them, these neighborhood encounters have probably changed their lives.
Ratzinger is an interesting model for many men of the ecclesiastical hierarchy to meditate once again on how to exercise an office in the Church and why positions do not matter if they do not serve to become saints along the way.
Álvaro Sánchez León. Author of "Emeritus. Rewinding Ratzinger."
The priestly vocation and the life of priests has been one of Benedict XVI's theological "passions" What stands out about his conception of the priesthood and his vocation?
-The day of his ordination to the priesthood was the happiest day of his life, as he himself recounts in his autobiography. From an early age, young Joseph was brought up in a Christian home where following God's will was the best gift to oneself. With a world war as a pre-seminary, his priestly soul was forged in a very close inner relationship with the only model of his life: Jesus Christ.
Ratzinger was "a priest on fire" until the end of his days. His example without wanting to set an example may be the best lung for some priests whose hearts have been frozen by the circumstances of life.
A few things stand out about his priesthood, because they are attractive and very contagious. On the one hand, he understands the priesthood as a bridge between God and men that only works if his inner life is the fundamental pillar. On the other hand, his priesthood is open arms to all humanity. Although he had little pastoral practice, because he was immediately required by the hierarchy of the Church to become a bishop, cardinal, and Papaused his intellectual sensitivity to console, with his search for truth, many heads and many restless hearts.
From his biography without fireworks, his vision of the priest as a servant who does not drop his rings, even if they are Peter's rings, is appealing. Ratzinger is an interesting model for many men of the ecclesiastical hierarchy to meditate once again on how to exercise an office in the Church and why positions do not matter if they do not serve to become saints along the way.
And a final, very luminous note. Although Ratzinger wanted to be a priest since he was a child and asked the Kings for children's breviaries, he was never a clerical person. He understood perfectly the role of the laity in the Church and gave wings to all the movements that helped people to meet God in the midst of the world. He was such an all-rounder that his priestly ministry was an embrace of all humanity with the twin arms of reason and faith.
What legacy does Benedict XVI leave in the Church?
-When Benedict XVI resigned, this assessment was already made, although perhaps now that ten years have passed, we are more aware of that legacy. In any case, it is too soon to speak of a legacy with certainty.
My impression is that Benedict XVI left a Church that is clearer, more essential, more dependent on Jesus Christ, more balanced between reason and emotion, more serene, more faithful, and more modern in its openness to the intellectual peripheries.
There are many non-practicing people who live a powerful thirst for transcendence, but do not find an answer in the Church. For whatever reason. Many of these people feel very comfortable reading Benedict XVI, because they understand that their magisterio is so united to the Truth made flesh that it leaves no one indifferent. They see that his words are not theory, but life in the first person, and that is so authentic that it demolishes many prejudices and illuminates the illusions that satisfy the depths of our hearts.
The resignation of Benedict XVI has been one of the events that has marked the Church in recent decades and, at the same time, difficult to understand for many Catholics. How can this decision be understood?
-Anyone who knows Ratzinger's soul knows that a decision made in conscience can only be the result of a virtuous consensus between the will of God and the freedom of man.
There are thousands of thrillers and many movies about that resignation, but he himself explained on more than one occasion that it was a decision taken for health reasons. Period. There is no wax but what burns. That is how simple is the life of the Pope Emeritus. He, who is smart and humble, and who knows himself, knows that to be Pope he needs a vigor that he does not have, and he gives way.
Many people have better understood this great man after that discreet resignation. To go into the background voluntarily is something that is not understood in this society of spotlights, power and glory. To go down to the back room to pray for the unity of the Church and to be happy behind the curtain is a teaching like a temple.
Catholics who are dedicated to judging intentions will never understand that.
Catholics and non-Catholics who value the freedom of upright consciences not only respect, but applaud the life of truth of a courageous priest who has staked all his cards on the exclusive judgment of what God thinks.
Emeritus. Rewinding Ratzingerpublished by the editorial Palabra and which will soon be on sale, has counted on the testimonies, among others, of the former director of Vatican Communications during the pontificate of Benedict XVI, Federico Lombardi; his personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gänswein or the prelate of the Opus Dei, Fernando Ocáriz, but also anonymous characters like other anonymous characters, such as the tailor, the shoemaker or the baker of Benedict XVI from his time as a cardinal.
Pope Francis has published a video with the intention he entrusts to the World Network of Prayer. These monthly videos are intended to join the Pope in praying for specific intentions of the Holy Father.
The Pope Francis has made public its intention to prayer for the month of January. Through this initiative, Francis entrusts his World Network of Prayer with concrete proposals for the whole world to pray with him for various intentions. This time he asks for prayers for educators:
"I want to propose to educators that they add a new content in teaching: the fraternity. Education is an act of love that illuminates the way for us to recover the sense of fraternity, so that we do not ignore those who are most in need. vulnerable. The educator is a witness who does not deliver his mental knowledge, but his convictions, his commitment to life. One who knows how to handle well the three languages: that of the head, that of the heart and that of the hands, harmonized. And hence the joy of communicating. And they will be listened to much more attentively and will be creators of community. Why? Because they are sowing this testimony. Let us pray that educators may be credible witnesses, teaching fraternity instead of confrontation and helping especially those who are not in a position to be a witness to the community. young people most vulnerable".
Pope Francis has published a brief message for the 31st World Day of the Sick, which will be celebrated on February 11. The Holy Father began by warning that "sickness is part of our human experience. But if it is lived in isolation and abandonment, if it is not accompanied by care and compassion, it can become inhuman".
Francis points out that these experiences of illness allow us to "see how we are walking: if we are really walking together, or if we are on the same path, but each one is on his own, looking out for his own interests and leaving others to fend for themselves".
The sick and the synodal journey
The Pope invites that, taking into account the synodal journeyLet us take advantage of the World Day of the Sick to "reflect on the fact that it is precisely through the experience of fragility and illness that we can learn to walk together according to God's way, which is closeness, compassion and tenderness.
Echoing a passage from the book of the prophet Ezekiel, Francis reflects that "the experience of straying, sickness and weakness are part of our journey in a natural way, they do not exclude us from the people of God; on the contrary, they bring us to the center of the Lord's attention, who is Father and does not want to lose any of his children along the way". It is, therefore, God himself who teaches us "to be truly a community that walks together, capable of not allowing itself to be infected by the culture of discarding".
The encyclical Fratelli Tutti
The Pope recalls his encyclical Fratelli Tuttisigned on October 3, 2020, in which he delves into the parable of the Good Samaritan that Jesus tells in the Gospel. Francis says about this parable: "I chose it as a axisas a turning point, in order to be able to leave the "shadows of a closed world" and "think and develop an open world" (cf. n. 56).
Reclaiming the timeliness of the message pronounced in the aforementioned Gospel passage, the Holy Father affirms that "there is a profound connection between this parable of Jesus and the many ways in which today the fraternity". Thus, continuing with the comparison, he observes that "the fact that the beaten and stripped person is abandoned by the roadside represents the condition in which many of our brothers and sisters are left when they are most in need of help."
Analyzing the situation of the victim in the parable, the Pope says that "the important thing here is to recognize the condition of loneliness, of abandonment. This is an atrocity that can be overcome before any other injustice, because, as the parable tells us, all that is needed to eliminate it is a moment of attention, the inner movement of the compassion". The attitude of the Samaritan, then, "without even thinking about it, changed things, generated a more fraternal world".
Fear of fragility
Francis continues his message with a resounding affirmation: "we are never prepared for illness". The Pope goes further when he says that "we are afraid of vulnerability and the pervasive culture of the market pushes us to deny it. There is no place for fragility. And so evil, when it bursts in and assaults us, leaves us stunned".
The consequences of this soon become apparent and "it may happen, then, that others abandon us, or that it seems to us that we should abandon them, so as not to be a burden to them. Thus begins the solitudeand we are poisoned by the bitter feeling of injustice, by which even Heaven seems to close in on us".
Not only are relationships with others affected, but also "it is difficult for us to remain at peace with God". Faced with this, the Pope considers it necessary that "the whole Church, also with regard to sickness, be confronted with the Gospel example of the Good Samaritan, so as to become an authentic field hospital".
The experience of fragility is a reminder that "we are all fragile and vulnerable; we all need that compassionate attention, which knows how to stop, approach, heal and lift up. The situation of the sick is, therefore, a call that interrupts indifference and slows the pace of those who advance as if they had no sisters and brothers."
The World Day of the Sick
For all these reasons, the World Day of the Sick is important and timely, since "it not only invites to prayer and closeness to those who suffer. It also aims to sensitize the people of God, health institutions and civil society to a new way forward together".
Returning to the above-mentioned Gospel passage, the Pope says that the conclusion of the parable of the Good Samaritan suggests to us how the exercise of fraternity, initiated by a face-to-face encounter, can be extended to organized care".
Recalling the great crisis initiated by the COVID 19 pandemicThe years of the pandemic have increased our sense of gratitude to those who work every day for health and research," Francis said. But, from such a great collective tragedy, it is not enough to come out of it honoring a few heroes. It is essential that "gratitude be accompanied by an active search, in each country, for strategies and resources so that all human beings are guaranteed access to care and the fundamental right to health.
"Take care of him."
The Pope concludes his message with the appeal made by Jesus Christ through the parable: "Take care of him" (Lk 10:35) is the recommendation of the Samaritan to the innkeeper. Jesus also repeats it to each one of us, and at the end he exhorts us: "Go and do likewise". As I emphasized in Fratelli tuttiThe parable shows us with what initiatives a community can be rebuilt starting from men and women who make the fragility of others their own, who do not allow a society of exclusion to be built up, but who become neighbors and raise up and rehabilitate the fallen, so that the good may be common" (n. 67)" (n. 67).
Situations of pain remind us that "we were made for the fullness which is attained only in love. It is not an option to live indifferently in the face of pain" (Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti, n. 68).
Francis also invited that "on February 11, 2023, let us also look to the Shrine of Lourdes as a prophecy, a lesson entrusted to the Church in the heart of modernity. It is not only what works that counts, nor is it only those who produce that count. Sick people are at the center of the people of God, who go forward with them as a prophecy of a humanity in which everyone is valuable and no one must be discarded." Along with this, the Pope commended the intercession of the Virgin Mary for all the sick and the people who take care of them, and sent them his blessing.
"All for you", the testimony of a young seminarian
A young man who leaves his job and enters the seminary, in love with God, vocations and the Eucharist. Diego de La-Chica tells in Omnes his testimony as a seminarian.
"If we had faith, we would see God hidden in the priest like a light behind glass, like wine mixed with water." This affirmed the Saint Curé of Ars. Diego de La-Chica, a young seminarian, has a heart in love with God that he has given completely to be that crystal that lets the light pass through. In Omnes he recounts his testimony in the seminary, explaining his day to day life, what impresses him most about his vocation and his relationship with Christ.
How do you go from being a psychology student to a seminarian in Navarra?
I was already working, I had finished my degree and I had done my master's degree. Before starting the master's degree, I already saw it more or less clearly, but I was quite dizzy. Before finishing the master's degree, which lasted a year and a half, when I had been there for a year, I took the plunge. I talked to the rector and I did a year of propaedeutic, which is an introductory period that is mandatory in Spain.
During the propaedeutic year, I was becoming more and more eager because I could see that the Lord was calling me. The hardest part was leaving my job. I had been working at Proyecto Hombre for five months, I was in the residential part, with people who spend nine months there. I learned a lot from them, I had a lot of fun. It was a very nice job that I really liked and it was the hardest thing for me to leave.
Does your work as a psychologist and your studies help you to understand things or allow you to project yourself better in your work as a priest?
Of course they have helped me, in the seminar We have two psychology courses. In Proyecto Hombre I realized that many people had problems that were not psychological or physical, but spiritual.
I believe that psychology is very important. In spiritual direction, in confession or for the work in parishes, it is convenient that you know about psychology, to be able to enter well, to know the causes.
Nevertheless, the mercy of the Lord is the only one who knows, but you can help them to see from the point of view of psychology. This needs to be nuanced, but I think that studies can help.
What is your day-to-day life like at the seminary?
The schedule changes a lot from Monday to Friday but we, except for Monday, have personal prayer at a quarter to seven. At a quarter to eight we have Mass with Lauds, and at half past eight we have breakfast. Then, from a quarter to nine o'clock until five past one or ten to two o'clock, depending on the subjects, we have class.
Then we do the intermediate hour, a prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. At the end of the hour, we eat, clean up and clean up. From three to four o'clock we usually have free time, which is almost always dedicated to sports. At half past five we have a snack and after that, depending on the day, there are lectio divina, adoration, formation with external visits, etc.
After dinner, some of us prayed the RosarioThen we make compline (another prayer) and after ten o'clock there is silence until the next morning.
In your hands will be the Body and Blood of Christ, you will be another Christ, how do you react when you know that?
It depends on the moment. Sometimes you think about it and it's crazy. There are times when I have a feeling of vertigo and fear because I am a sinner, I am still a sinner as always. Many times we are not aware of it, but in some course, in which we are talking about the parts of the Mass, we have deepened in the mystery, in the apocalyptic language and its way of being expressed in the Mass. Holy MassYou think about it, you live it, and when you see it, you hallucinate.
There is a silly thing that happens to me a lot and that is that there is a moment in the Mass when I am aware that there is Christ, behind Christ, holding Christ. When the priest, who is Jesus, raises Jesus the Eucharist behind Christ the altar, it's crazy.
The more you are aware of what the Mass is, of what each thing means, everything becomes more beautiful and, at the same time, you realize that it is something serious. In fact, I believe that the devil often attacks with this, making you think that there is nothing more, that the only important thing is the Eucharist and that everything else is the same; or he makes you see that you are nothing and that you don't deserve any of this. While it is true that we do not deserve it, we cannot do anything that would make us deserve to hold Christ, and even less to consecrate his Body and Blood.
Is knowing that you are going to consecrate what impresses you most about your vocation?
I would say yes. That and forgiving sins which is also crazy. Or baptizing, making someone a child of God. A lot of times we see it in glimpses, but all the sacraments are a hoot.
What must a boy be clear about before entering the seminary?
There is nothing that can be imposed, of saying that he has to be 100% clear about it, because then no one would enter the seminary. The only thing is that the person, to a greater or lesser extent, is really aware that God is saving him and that the vocation is not a thing for you. Now I'm not just talking about the priesthood, any vocation is one of surrender. The marriage is clearly a complete surrender to God through your husband or wife.
You have to be clear, to a greater or lesser extent, about your dedication, and that vocation is a gift that you do not deserve, that it is to serve God and to know that He has saved you. If you do not see Christ as savior, it makes no sense for you to enter the seminary.
It is also important to be able to love other vocations and to be open to whatever the Lord asks of you. In general, to know what your vocation is, to be able to listen to God and to know what he is really asking of you, you have to be open to whatever vocation he is calling you to. For that you have to love those vocations. Another thing is that you see that it's not your thing, that's normal.
Has your relationship with Christ changed since you are in the seminary and you know you are going to be a priest?
Partly yes and partly no. The prayer It's getting easier, there are more and more issues, just like with a friend. In that sense, I would say that the relationship has changed in that it is more, but not in that it is different.
During the lectio divina We take the Sunday readings, meditate on them and share with each other what the Lord tells us in that prayer. There I do notice that God speaks in many ways and one of them is through people.
When I was in Proyecto Hombre there was a man, an avowed atheist, who teased me a lot for being Catholic. We got along very well and one day he asked me to baptize him. I told him that I could not because, without being a priest, I could only baptize him in danger of death. He replied that because he was not baptized, he was already in danger of death. God speaks a lot through these things, and I notice that especially in the lectio.
This is one of the points that helps me the most and that I like the most about the seminar in prayer. It is crazy that when you are in church helping, you listen to the readings several times, you remember what your companions have said because the Lord has inspired them and that also speaks to you. You enjoy the Mass very much. You pray and you are very close to the Lord.
To be an acolyte, to be an altar server, is madness. You have God two meters away at the moment of Consecration. You see, you understand the things that God wants to say to you.
In the end, prayer is knowing and talking with God who knows you and loves you. You get to know Him, you let Him know you more, you get to know yourself more and you are surprised at how God has been helping you at every moment. You become aware of the signs and signals that He has been leaving for you to realize what your vocation is, which can be very small things but which are for you, which is the language you need. The Lord does everything for you and it is wonderful.
Master of the sonnet, his poetic voice is easily recognizable for its classicism, its transparency, its fervor, its fluidity, its human simplicity and its positive breath, managing to create from the most vivid emotion a very personal world where beauty is a constant flow of inspiration and joy.
He opened the doors of his home and his family to me; he gave me the gift of his friendship; he dedicated one of his books (Toast), which I prologued for him; he ended up being one of those people who are missed when they physically disappear. The Valdepeñero Paco Creis, one of his closest confidants, pointed out three traits of his character that are worth taking into account: purity in love, clarity in faith and cleanliness in his ideals; three traits that define him humanly and spiritually and, besides being an excellent and prolific poet, we had him for a close, lively, enthusiastic person, one of those that are worth frequenting. His home -especially that Madrid room surrounded by books and paintings that constituted his office- was the setting for many gatherings where the reading of verses, both his own and those of the other guests, flowed like wine in an endless feast.
In perfect consonance, therefore, they were united in López Anglada her kindness, her cordiality, her ability to listen and, of course, her poetic creativity. Within the latter, there is a subtle thread that configures her: naturalness. From it, she was able to approach any subject, giving it lyrical consistency. In a special way, spousal love stands out, present throughout her literary trajectory, although perhaps it is convenient to broaden the thematic arc to everything that surrounded her: his children, his homeland, his military profession, his city of birth (Ceuta), the town of Fontiveros (where his remains are buried together with those of Maruja, his wife), Burgohondo (Ávila), his favorite authors (Saint Teresa of Jesus, Saint John of the Cross, Antonio Machado, Gerardo Diego), his friends and, without a doubt, God, to whom he sang on multiple occasions in a sparkling manner as a continuous presence in his personal life, particularly visible in Territory of the dreamwith which he won the Fernando Rielo World Prize for Mystical Poetry in 1995: a book of maturity, written almost in the "slum of old age", as Jorge Manrique would say, but fresh, exciting, full of luminosity, with the wise experience of one who knows that "life must be filled with hope".
Poetic autobiography
It is, in fact, his own biography, in the hustle and bustle of age, to which he constantly sings, as if existence were a "today is always still" in the Machadian saying. And he is seen in love, writing one of the most joyful, neat, passionate and beautiful love stories of post-war Spanish poetry, where the beloved has her own name or is called "friend", or "my love", or is a continuous reference to which he appeals incessantly; and so, she inspires him a sonnet as well as an ode, because she is: "my love".the struggle that lifts / the soul from the sand and the body from the hours" and, since he has known her, "only this orchard / of snow and lilies surrounded / where you, exact and unique, / complete the destiny taking me to tomorrow / matters.". Poetry all of it integral, pundonorosa, optimistic, of the most exalted of the contemporary lyric, of the one that moves to the gratitude to God for so encouraging source of inspiration. And it is here, precisely here, in his love poems, where a large part of his most inspired verses are contained
And next to the beloved -the fruit of mutual love- the children. From the firstborn: "petal almost, small, / but present, / continuing my life / foreverto the one who devotes herself to the craft of pottery: "...".One of my daughters is a potter. Know this, friends; with her hands she takes / the clay and makes me a dove (...)"; passing through the experience of the first eight descendants, whom she celebrates in inspired sonnets in "Redondel de los ocho niños" ("Roundel of the eight children")"or by the contemplation of the whole of its offspring: "Earth and love my offspring; / earth for pain and light that burned / to light the dark places / where today you are and everything is already white, / where today the earth is childlike and pure, / where today God and I see you, my children.". Undoubtedly, samples of poems in favor of his progeny are not lacking.
At the same time, his friends -poets and painters stand out- are another of his preferences. As the compositions he writes to them are frequent, I will not focus on any specific one. Without theories, without abstract approaches, in each of them he shows his persevering cult to friendship with commendable, emotional texts, attentive to draw from others, in the words of Pedro Salinas, "his best you".
Territory of the dream
However, as I have already pointed out, God is his most intense intimate experience. In general, in his first poems he sings of him or names him by linking him to his beloved. It will be with the passing of the years when his presence becomes more solid, direct, raw and flaming; sometimes threaded with the theme of death. Territory of the dream is, in this sense, as I have already said, his great religious poetry book. Although he has published other books in which he fervently approaches specific events in the biography of Saint John or Saint Teresa of Jesus, or relives in versified form the unforgettable visit he made with his wife to Holy Land in 1983, it is only in this collection of poems that he reaches his deepest expression of his approach to God. Thus, the volume is presented in principle as a succession of disquieting, interrogative poems, in which the Calderonian idea prevails that this life is possibly a dream -the real one will be the one that comes later: eternal life-. Whether it is or not, he is not driven to pessimism, to desolation, but to the conviction -it is confirmed time and time again- that God is on his side: "You, by my side, listening to me"and that the mere fact of thinking about him is more than enough to confirm his existence: "I am not a man, I am a woman.I think, therefore you exist"This consideration should not be understood as a projection of his own conscience but as a reality different from himself, to whom he addresses himself fundamentally with the appellative "Lord". Thus, the poems follow one after the other in a dialogical manner, going through some of the most pressing concerns of his vital trajectory: his children, his inner despairs or the verification of his own existence in the world.
Temporariness
These first texts are followed by a curious section full of surrealist images, "Parables", made up of five poems of very different orientations but with a common thread: temporality as the place where the existence of human beings is forged and where dreams, hopes, joys and even the thought of another possible future life can be found. This section is followed by "Exit to the light": four compositions equally written in a complex, rapturous atmosphere, with an almost Lorca-like flavor, in which different episodes framed in the poet's childhood, in his battle with words and in his eagerness to discover points of light to which to cling,
The end of the Territory of the dream is formed by the section "Face to Face": nine sonnets of Eucharistic flavor - wisely constructed, emotional, confidential, very much in the line of Anglada's poetry, but delicious as falsillas for prayer - which once again reveal the poet loaded with humanity and simplicity that López Anglada was, convinced that "to live is tomorrow", which is why he leaves written in a magnificent poem of The hand on the wall -also with splendid religious texts.–: "My heart remembers that to live is tomorrow, / (...) My soul, / everything is ready. Don't miss me tomorrow". With this in mind, he lived to the fullest.
Pope denounces "attempts by international forums to impose a single way of thinking".
The Holy Father's address to the diplomatic corps addressed topics such as the right to life, religious freedom, ideological totalitarianism and condemnation of the global arms race.
The Blessing Room hosted the Audience of the Members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See for the presentation of New Year's greetings to Pope Francis.
A wide-ranging speech in both length and content. The meeting of Pope Francis with the members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See was the scene of an "invocation for peace in a world that sees divisions and wars growing" as the Pope wanted to point out.
The Pope once again referred to the third world war that we are currently experiencing "in pieces" and wanted to recall the key points of the EncyclicalPacem in terris of St. John XXIII, which is now 60 years old and, unfortunately, is still very relevant today.
Pope Francis wanted to frame his speech in the context of the sixtieth anniversary of the Encyclical Pacem in Terris of St. John XXIII. As the pontiff wanted to point out, the nuclear threat that then loomed over the world "is still evoked today, plunging the world into fear" and he directly pointed out his concern about "the stalemate in the negotiations on the resumption of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known as the Agreement on the Iranian nuclear program".
"Today the third world war is underway in a globalized world, in which conflicts seem to directly affect only some areas of the planet, but which substantially involve everyone," the Pope pointed out. In this war in pieces, the Pope recalled the current conflict in Syria, the increase in violence between Palestinians and Israelis, the situation in the southern Caucasus, the dramas experienced by the populations of Burkina Faso, Mali and Nigeria and the situation in Myanmar. In all of them, the Pope denounced, "the lethal consequences of a continuous recourse to the production of armaments are always highlighted", a reality in the face of which Francis categorically affirmed that "no peace is possible where instruments of death proliferate".
Abortion, a violent attack on peace and the dignity of life
The Pope wanted to follow the four "fundamental goods" contained in Pacen in terris: truth, justice, solidarity and freedom.
With regard to the first, Peace in truth, the Pope pointed out that "peace demands that above all life be defended, a good that today is endangered not only by conflicts, hunger and disease, but all too often even in the womb, affirming a presumed "right to abortion."
A clear condemnation of abortion and antinatalist policies was repeated in the Pope's speech, which pointed out the "'fear' of life, which in many places is translated as fear of the future and of the future of the Church. difficulties in starting a family or having children" and that leads to the reality of a demographic winter, such as the European one, which is difficult to bear in a welfare state.
In this regard, the Pope wanted to make "an appeal to the consciences of men and women of good will, particularly those with political responsibilities, to work to protect the rights of the weakest and to eradicate the culture of discarding, which unfortunately also includes the sick, the disabled and the elderly".
Denouncing ideological totalitarianism
Perhaps one of the strongest points of this year's address to diplomats was the Pope's denunciation of the lack of freedom in the world. The Pontiff went beyond the "known" shortcomings of to denounce the "growing polarizations and attempts in various international forums to impose a unique way of thinkingThis prevents dialogue and marginalizes those who think differently".
Faced with the representatives of various nations of the world, the Holy Father pointed to "an ideological totalitarianism that promotes intolerance towards those who do not adhere to supposed positions of 'progress'" and that employs "more and more resources to impose, especially on the poorest countries, forms of ideological colonization, creating, moreover, a direct link between the granting of economic aid and the acceptance of such ideologies".
Nor did the Pope want to forget the ideologization to which the educational system has been subjected in many countries that try to impose educational laws that violate the freedom of conscience and belief of families. The Pope recalled that "education always requires full respect for the person and for his or her natural physiognomy, avoiding imposing a new and different confused vision of the human being".
Religious freedom, one of the issues that most concerns the Pope today, also played a part in this speech. In this regard, Francis recalled that "one-third of the world's population lives in a world in which persecution because of their faith. Along with the lack of religious freedom there is also persecution on religious grounds."
The Pope has put the spotlight on violence and the discrimination against Christians that occur not only in places where Christians are in the minority but "where believers the possibility of expressing their own convictions is reduced. in the sphere of social life, in the name of a misinterpretation of inclusion. Religious freedom, which cannot be reduced to mere freedom of worship, is one of the minimum requirements necessary to live in dignity".
Migration, labor and care for the planet
Finally, following the line expressed in documents such as Fratelli Tutti or Laudato Si', the pontiff wanted to emphasize "three areas, in which the interconnectedness that unites humanity today emerges with particular force": migration, work and economy and care for the planet.
With regard to migration, Francis again called for "strengthening the normative framework, through the approval of the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, so that adequate policies can be implemented to welcome, accompany, promote and integrate migrants.
At the same time, he called for "giving dignity to the company and to work, combating all forms of exploitation that end up treating workers in the same way as a commodity" and, finally, he recalled the negative effects that climate change is having on the most vulnerable populations.
The Pope closed his speech by pointing out "the weakening, in many parts of the world, of democracy and the possibility of freedom" and launched an almost utopian wish "it would be beautiful if sometime we could meet only to thank the omnipotent Lord for the benefits he always grants us, without being obliged to enumerate the dramatic situations that afflict humanity" before thanking the diplomatic representatives gathered there.
How do translators preserve the spirit of Scripture while adapting the original text to modern languages? What is the greatest challenge in translating texts? Have we lost essential details by not reading Sacred Scripture in its original language? Why are there so many different versions of the Bible? Luis Sánchez Navarro, professor at the University of San Dámaso, answers these questions.
Luis Sánchez Navarro-January 9, 2023-Reading time: 2minutes
The Bible was written to be translated. He who said "go and do disciples And I am with you to the end of the age" (Mt 28:19-20) was entrusting to the Twelve the task of bringing the Gospel to all people of all times. And that has required, requires and will require translation. Therefore, every generation is called to translate the Bible.
Translation and "betrayal
Linguistic theory explains that exact translation is impossible, since each language is different and prevents automatic equivalences between terms and expressions; therefore, the act of translation is already an interpretation. But this, inevitably, also allows the transmission of the message. The Italian motto has become famous traduttore traditoreThe expression could also be translated as "traitor translator"; an exact translation 100% is impossible. But the expression could also be translated as "transmitting translator" (traditore derived from traditio, "tradition"): the translator thus becomes a channel for perpetuating a text.
Translation is a delicate art, for it requires a double fidelity: to the author and to the reader; but this tension is not mutually exclusive, but fruitful. Moreover, Bible translation is even more complex because the human author is joined to the divine Author. Therefore, between fidelity to the reader and fidelity to the Author, the latter must prevail, as the unforgettable Fr. Manuel Iglesias, eminent translator of the New Testament into Spanish in the last fifty years, maintained. However, this new "actor" generates a singular fact: because it turns out that the Author, God, is alive, and therefore is capable of speaking. today through a word of yesterday.
Therefore, any attempt to strip the word of its mystery must be discarded. It is up to the believing reader to enter into that mystery to discover the light it unfolds. For this reason, the translation must always seek fidelity to the original, always, of course, with the utmost linguistic accuracy and care. It will be up to the editor to provide (in introductions or notes) those explanations he considers necessary to illuminate this translation, to indicate other possible translations and to show its timeliness.
Sacred Scripture and Liturgy
In view of the above, there are different types of translations; for example, a translation for study (which favors a maximum closeness to the original languages: Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek) is not the same as a translation for study (which favors a maximum closeness to the original languages: Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek) or a translation for study (which favors a maximum closeness to the original languages: Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek). liturgical (in which sober and dignified beauty prevails in order to proclaim). But all of them must express that double fidelity that, privileging the Author, seeks to enlighten the mind and heart of the reader. Finally, it should be noted that the reading of Sacred Scripture is always an ecclesial act; therefore, its most proper setting is the liturgy. In this context, there is no fear of missing essential data: the Holy Spirit is concerned with introducing the listener or reader, by means of this word, to the Revelation of the living God. The Bible, given to the people of God, allows every Christian to enter into this relationship of love; therefore, the Church teaches us that the saints give us the genuine "translation" of the Gospel (see Benedict XVI, Apostolic Exhortation Verbum DominiNo. 48-49).
The authorLuis Sánchez Navarro
Professor of New Testament II Faculty of Theology San Dámaso University
Freedom, sanctity and reason in the teaching of Benedict XVI
Joseph Weiler, the winner of the Ratzinger Prize 2022, the last of those that the Pope Emeritus was able to see during his lifetime, reflects in this article on Benedict XVI's conception of freedom and religion.
Joseph Weiler-January 8, 2023-Reading time: 11minutes
A Pope speaks urbi et orbiHe was not only the bishop of Rome, but also a moral guide for the whole world, for people of all confessions, including non-believers. This was never more evident than in his famous Regensburg speeches and in his address to the Bundestag, the German parliament.
Reading Ratzinger is, in a way, like reading the Scriptures. It is open to more than one interpretation. What follows, then, is my interpretation, without claiming to be the only one, or even the best possible one. Caveat, reader!
Freedom "from" religion and freedom "against" religion in a secular world.
What is the "civic religion" that unites all Europeans? We certainly believe in the need for liberal democracy as the framework within which our public life must develop. Free elections with universal suffrage, the protection of fundamental human rights and the rule of law constitute the "holy trinity" of this civic faith.
Freedom "from" religion is enshrined in all European constitutions. But it is commonly understood, and rightly so, that it also includes freedom "from" religion. This is positive and negative religious freedom in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
However, freedom "from" religion poses a challenge to liberal theory. We have no similar notion, for example, of freedom "from" socialism. Or of freedom "from" neoliberalism. If a socialist government is democratically elected, we expect policies that derive from and implement a socialist worldview, obviously respecting the rights of minorities. And, whether we like it or not, we are expected to comply with the laws that concretize these policies, even if we are not socialists. The same would happen, for example, with a neoliberal government. But if it is a Catholic-oriented government that is elected, taking freedom "from" religion seriously means that this government's hands are tied when it comes to passing laws derived from its religious worldview.
Indeed, one of the greatest political philosophers of the twentieth century, John Rawls, has argued that our democratic practice itself, regardless of whether it is left-wing or right-wing, must always be based on arguments derived from human reason, whose rules can be shared by all regardless of their ideological orientation, and therefore be open to persuasion and change of opinion. Religion, Rawls has affirmed without attributing to it a disparaging connotation, is based on incommensurable and non-negotiable truths, self-referential and transcendental. And, therefore, unsuitable for the democratic terrain.
We have, therefore, two challenges within our multicultural society composed of believers and non-believers.
The first: how can liberal theory explain and justify freedom "from" religion? Of course, there are many attempts to rationalize this question within a liberal framework. None of them really convince me. Ultimately, if a socialist has the right to impose his worldview on society, why should the same be denied to a Catholic?
And the second, the Rawlsian one: what claim do groups of believers have to participate in democratic life - as people of faith - if, in fact, the religious worldview is (and is) linked to non-negotiable, self-referential and transcendental truths?
In my opinion, Benedict, with his speeches in Regensburg and in the Bundestag, has given the most convincing answer to these two challenges.
II. John Paul II, followed by Benedict, was in the habit of claiming freedom of religion as the most fundamental of all freedoms. In our secular culture, this affirmation was generally received with an indulgent smile: "What freedom would you expect a Pope to privilege?", interpreting such an affirmation in a corporatist sense, as if the Pope were a union leader concerned with securing benefits for his members. There is nothing ignoble about the shepherd caring for his flock, but this interpretation overlooks the true meaning of the Pontiff's position.
What had not received enough attention, in all the uproar caused by the comments of the Pope in RegensburgThe main focus of the religious freedom to which the Pontiff alluded was the fact that, in the religious freedom to which the Pontiff alluded, attention was concentrated on freedom of religion. in the face of religion: the freedom to adhere to the religion of one's choice or of not being religious at all. Benedict forcefully articulated all of this, and explicitly showed what was already expressed in the Dignitatis Humanaeof Vatican II, which John Paul II had emphasized, and which is certainly also part of the magisterium of Pope Francis.
Note well: his justification and defense of freedom "from" religion was not an expression of, nor a concession to, liberal notions of tolerance and freedom. It was the expression of a profound proposal nun. "We do not impose our faith on anyone. Such proselytism is contrary to Christianity. Faith can only develop in freedom," the Pope affirmed in Regensburg, addressing his faithful and the whole world. Thus, at the heart of religious freedom is the freedom to say "no" even to God.
Obviously, that freedom must have an external dimension: the State must guarantee by law to all freedom "from" religion and freedom "against" religion. But no less important, as I understood his message, was inner freedom. We Jews say: "Everything is in the hands of God, except the fear of God". That's the way God wanted it, leaving the choice to us. True religiosity, a true "yes" to God, can come from a being who not only has the outer material conditions, but also the inner spiritual capacity to understand that the choice, yes or no, and the responsibility for that choice, is ours.
Benedict has thus made freedom "from" religion a theological proposition. This is, after all, the heart of the Second Vatican Council and of Ratzinger's contribution to the Council and its subsequent interpretation. This, in turn, has a profound anthropological significance. Religious freedom touches the deepest notion of the human being as an autonomous agent with the faculty of moral choice, also with respect to his own Creator. When Hebraism and Christianity express the relationship between God and man in terms of covenant, they celebrate this double sovereignty: the sovereignty of the divine offering and the sovereignty of the individual to whom it is offered.
I believe that everyone, believers and non-believers alike, can understand that if one accepts the existence of an omnipotent Creator, insisting as an intrinsic religious proposition on the freedom to say no to such a Creator is fundamental to the very understanding of our human condition. In this sense it is paramount that John Paul II and Benedict XVI have defended the primacy of religious freedom: it stands as an emblem of the very ontology of the human condition. Of what it means to be human.
One can go a step further. Quoting James, Benedict XVI explains in his homily at Regensburg (to which too little attention has been paid) that "the regal law," the law of the kingship of God, is also "the law of freedom." This is puzzling: if, by exercising this freedom, one accepts the transcendental regal law, how can this constitute a real enhancement of one's freedom? Does not the law, by its very nature, imply accepting restrictions on our freedom?
I understand Benedict to have said that by acting outside the bonds of God's law I simply become a slave to my human condition, to my human desires. In the words of St. Ambrose: "Quoam multos dominos habet qui unum refugerit!". To accept the law of God, as the "governing law," the law of the One who transcends this world, is to affirm my inner freedom in the face of anyone and anything in this world. There is no better antidote against all forms of totalitarianism in this world. This is true freedom.
IIIWhat then of the second challenge, the Rawlsian one? In my understanding of the Bundestag speech, Benedict did not reject the Rawlsian premise. Without mentioning it by name, Ratzinger did not challenge Rawls' premise, but his erroneous understanding of Christianity.
When Catholics, Benedict argued, enter the public sphere to advance proposals on public norms that can become binding in law, they do not make these proposals on the basis of revelation and faith or religion (even though they may coincide with these). It is part, as we have seen, of Christian anthropology that human beings are endowed with the faculty of reason, common to humanity, which, moreover, constitutes the legitimate language of general public normativity. The content of the Christian question within the public sphere will therefore be in the realm of practical reason: morality and ethics as often expressed through natural law. If I may give an example, when Cain killed Abel, he did not turn and say to the Lord: you never told me that killing was forbidden. Nor does the reader of Scripture raise such an objection. It is understood that by virtue of their creation (for believers in the image of God) we all have the ability to distinguish between the just and the unjust and do not need divine revelation to do so.
Nor is this a concession to secularism. It is an inevitable outcome of the religious propositions that informed the Regensburg discourse. To adopt a publicly binding norm based solely on faith and revelation would violate precisely that deep, religiously grounded commitment to religious freedom, for which forced faith is a contradiction and is contrary to the divine will.
It is also a bold proposition. Yes, on the one hand it constitutes the Catholic's entry visa into the normative public square on an equal footing. At the same time, it imposes a serious and severe discipline on the community of faith. The discipline of reason could force a revision of moral positions. Gone is that joker in the deck, "This is what God has commanded." This is not part of shared public reason. If you adopt a language, you have to speak it correctly in order to be understood and to be convincing. And this also applies to the language of reason.
The value of sanctity
IV. I now turn to what I consider to be an extraordinary teaching addressed specifically to the community of the faithful, and which is opportunely found in the homily at Regensburg, rather than in the famous address to the academic community.
The nexus between general normativity and reason is seductive and, in a certain sense, constitutive of Christian identity. But here lies an interesting danger for the homo religiosus. This is the danger of reducing one's religiosity to ethics as it is often expressed in natural law, however important it may be.
"Social issues and the Gospel are inseparable" was one of the central messages of the homily in Regensburg. It is a striking phrase. For me, the more interesting question is: why did the Pope find it necessary to remind his flock that social concerns and the Gospel are inseparable?
I will now begin to answer this question, with the obvious humility and distrust that derives from the fact that I, an outsider, enter the terrain of a faith community to which I do not belong. If I am wrong, I would be happy to be corrected.
The Pope warned us, believers in general, and more specifically his Catholic flock, of the danger of considering that the Christian demand for public normativity expressed through the language of general reason applicable to all human beings, exhausts the meaning of a religious life or even of Christian normativity.
Social issues," as an expression of morality and ethics, are central to the Abrahamic religions, but by themselves they do not define religious sensibility, religious impetus or religious meaning. After all, religion does not have a monopoly on morality and ethics. An atheist can lead an ethical life and have an interest in social issues no less noble than believers.
The religious category par excellence, the one that has no equivalence or correspondence in a secular vision of the world, is sanctity. To reduce religion exclusively to social-ethical concerns, however important they may be, leads to a fatal diminution of the meaning of holiness. Of course, holiness is not separate from ethics and morality. Morality and ethics are necessary conditions, but they are not sufficient for holiness. Holiness is not exhausted in ethics and morality. It denotes something more: closeness to God's love for us and our love for Him, His presence in our whole existence.
I want to share a famous passage of Scripture, found in both the Old and New Testaments - Love your neighbor as yourself - which I think perfectly matches Benedict's insistence in his homily that social issues and the Gospel are inseparable.
Where is this passage found for the first time? It is in Leviticus, chapter 19. A very special chapter in the entire Bible because it explicitly addresses the notion of holiness.
"The Lord said again to Moses, 'Speak to the whole community of the Israelites and command them, 'Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy'" (Lev 19:1-2).
It is this chapter where the precept "Love your neighbor" is found. But we all tend to forget the end of that passage. It is not simply "Love your neighbor as yourself", but "Love your neighbor as yourself", I am the Lord". And it is this final part that introduces the homo religiousus in the notion of holiness, which goes beyond the common morality of all humanity.
I want to emphasize that, in my opinion, the "added value" of holiness does not make the religious superior to his lay brothers and sisters. It simply makes him different.
Let me investigate the deeper meaning of "Love your neighbor as yourself - I am the Lord", and offer an interpretation.
Above all, the prescription of love goes beyond our normal understanding of ethical behavior that can be translated into natural law. No one would think of transposing into secular law the duty to love our neighbor. This is rather a manifestation of Catholic normativity, exquisitely expressed in the Gospel according to St. Matthew: "And if anyone asks you to go with him one mile, go with him two."
Second, the final part-I am the Lord-explains why this famous passage is found in a chapter that begins with the prescription to seek holiness. When we fulfill the obligation to love our neighbor, we are not only expressing our love for our neighbor and ourselves. Its fulfillment is also an expression of our love for the Lord. And this is where holiness resides.
I find it significant that Benedict gave us this teaching in the context of the Eucharistic celebration. For, insofar as I understand them, the various sacraments, prayer, the Mass in general and the Eucharistic celebration in particular, as well as all other similar practices, are the means by which the Church offers the believer the possibility of expressing love and devotion to the Lord. And this surely goes beyond simply leading an ethical life.
If there is any merit in this interpretation, it is that it contains a remarkable historical irony.
At the time of prophets such as Amos and Isaiah, and obviously in the Gospel, the faithful had to be reminded that faith and holiness could not be attained simply by following sacraments and rituals if these were not accompanied by ethical behavior and the royal Law of Love.
Today, the situation is reversed and it is necessary to remind believers that the richness of the religious sense is not exhausted simply in leading an ethical and solidary life. To lead an ethical life is a necessary condition, but certainly not sufficient. Ethical conduct and solidarity must be accompanied by a relationship with the divine, through prayer, through the sacraments, seeking the hand of the Creator in the world He has created.
It is part of the modern condition that makes many of the faithful almost ashamed of the Gospel, of the sacraments, as well as of the statements, the words used and the practices that express the sacramental aspects of their religion and faith. These appear, irony of ironies, as "unreasonable" (try telling that to St. Thomas Aquinas or St. Augustine!) And this phenomenon is widespread among all the children of Jacob/Israel.
The prophet Micah preached: "Man, you have been taught what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to practice righteousness, to love godliness, to walk humbly with your God" (Mic 6:8). Walk humbly, not in secret!
I would like to end on a personal note. I have had the privilege of meeting Pope Benedict on three occasions. Once was in 2013, shortly before his retirement, a rather brief meeting in which I introduced him to two of my daughters. The second occasion was a few years later, when at his request I was invited, to my surprise, since I had never formally been a student of Ratzinger, to deliver the keynote lecture at the celebrated "Ratzinger Schülerkreis," his Circle of Disciples, after which I had the sheer pleasure of having a long one-on-one conversation with the Pope Emeritus: pure theology. And, finally, our last meeting took place about a month ago, together with Fathers Fedou, Lombardi and Gänswein, on the occasion of the Ratzinger Award 2022. These encounters have remained indelibly etched in my mind. His parting words were meaningful and touching: "Please, my regards to your daughters".
Jorge Gutiérrez: "Pornography addiction is silent and slow".
Jorge Gutiérrez is a director of the entity. Dale Una Vuelta, a project that aims to provide information about the problematic consumption of pornography and to help people suffering from pornography addiction.
Jorge Gutiérrez is director of Give It A Spin. In this entity they aim to provide information, prevent and recover people with addiction to pornography or its problematic consumption.
In this interview, Jorge Gutiérrez talks about the consumption of pornography, its relationship with women's rights, changes in behavior and new platforms for sexual content.
Data indicate that pornography is consumed by more men than women, why is this?
Jorge Gutiérrez, director of "Dale Una Vuelta".
- The data, in fact, are that conclusive. All surveys and all studies always speak of an overwhelming majority of men rather than women in consumption. Although it is true that more and more women are watching pornography. We do notice that everything that has to do with addiction or problematic use of pornography is much more exclusive to men than to women.
Among the reasons, it is often said that it has a lot to do with the way of being and the nature of men and women. Men are usually stimulated much more by sight than women. The male has a slightly more primary sexuality and this is manifested in the fact that the consumption of pornography is overwhelmingly higher in men.
Why is pornography consumption related to aggressive sexual behaviors?
- You have to put everything in quotation marks. There is a lot of debate on this and it would not be very scientific to say that there is an obvious causal relationship between pornography consumption and violence. But it is true that it can be said that pornography facilitates, normalizes and, sometimes, is a preliminary step to violent attitudes. Women who consume pornography also normalize male aggression towards women.
On the other hand, there are people who say the opposite. Sometimes the consumption of pornography avoids precisely a violent attitude because you avoid taking action, let's say.
It is true that with the violence seen in pornography this is a stimulus and, of course, it is being seen lately even more in these assaults on minors.
What kind of changes occur in the structure of the brains of people addicted to pornography?
- There are more and more studies on behavioral addictions, such as this one. Neuroimaging studies show that there are similar changes in the brain of someone who consumes addictive substances with someone who consumes pornography in a problematic, compulsive or harmful way. This means that it affects similar areas of the brain and has the same neurological circuits affected as with other types of substances.
Does this mean that one is equally addictive as the other? No. Do they affect in the same way? No. Neither. But there is a very similar relationship between substance use and behavioral addictions.
The experts in neurology and addictions are the ones who will have to give the information, but certainly in the last fifteen years many more studies have been done than in the previous hundred years on these issues and it can be seen that both things have similarities.
Why is there an increasing consumption of pornography?
- I think that, to the extent that everything is much more accessible than before, it makes it much easier. You have to take into account that there are more and more people with cell phones and at a younger age.
Also, in society, in the whole issue of content, sex in general is considered almost as another consumer good. It seems to have been normalized. It also seems that if you consume this content in moderation, nothing happens, it is a way to learn and to entertain yourself. What happens is that it is not easy to stop, it is very addictive, it is one of the greatest pleasures you have in your pocket at any time of the day. This has been seen to have a great impact.
The latest data on sexual relations reveal that there are fewer than a few years ago. One of the causes is because there is much more Internet accessto digital sex, etc. Pornography requires less effort, no preamble, it's straightforward and it's free. It's a winning combination in that sense.
What do you think about platforms such as OnlyFansthat leave the door open to the sale and purchase of pornographic content?
- It is one more step towards identifying prostitution with pornography. There is almost no difference between one and the other. We say it is the pornography 3.0.
It's the last cry, the last step where it becomes very attractive. You are no longer just a spectator of a series of videos and images, now you have the possibility of interacting with another person. That creates even more intensity. In quotation marks, it also seems to create more intimacy. It feels like you're with a person alone who you can ask whatever you want. It also, quote-unquote, seems like there is more proximity. On the other hand, it gives the feeling of greater exclusivity, because you think it is you who is being attended to.
Some people say that "virtual boyfriends" are created. In a naive way, everything seems closer and more intimate. It's an important step of change. The problem with pornography is that you are always looking for something else, something different.
Why are women's rights so closely related to the fight against pornography?
- Nowadays pornography is sexist, the vast majority of it uses women. In the end, this reification of pleasure directed at men using women, often in a violent way, attacks women from different points of view.
On the one hand, many of the women who are in pornography are exploited or deceived. And when they are in the industry because they want to be, it's usually out of necessity.
On the other hand, many women suffer the problems of the consequences of their partners' consumption of pornography. Their partners sometimes want to imitate acts they have seen in pornography that are demeaning.
Another way in which it greatly affects women is through how they respond when they discover that their partner is viewing pornography. At Give It A Spin We have a section called "Nosotras" which is aimed at this public, which are women who often feel differently than men the consumption of pornography by men. For women it is usually something very hard that involves a great pain, a feeling of betrayal and infidelity. It distances them from their partner, creates a great lack of communication and they may feel guilty.
It is good to explain to women that it may happen that the man still loves her but also consumes pornography.
How do you rescue a relationship wounded by pornography?
- We know examples of couples who have managed to solve it. Forgiveness, communication and the ability to forgive each other are very important. It takes a lot of patience and a lot of time.
In this life everything can be arranged. It is important that both give in and understand each other. I think it is necessary, sometimes, to talk more and start to put solutions step by step.
Knowing all this,what is the main consequence of pornography addiction?
- The main consequence is the lack of empathy and sensitivity in relationships. One loses the capacity for an affective relationship, in short, the capacity to love the person one is with. One becomes more and more distant. This seems to me the hardest thing.
Another clear consequence is the lying, the isolation, the isolation. One very complicated thing about pornography addiction is that it is very silent and slow. It can take a long time before you realize that there is an underlying problem. Habits are created that are difficult to change.
It also happens many times that men have some kind of sexual dysfunction, because they accumulate so many hours of erotic scenes that it is difficult for them to relate sexually. They reach an extreme in which they need a very strong stimulus.
But I would highlight, as the main consequence, the lack of empathy and sensitivity in relationships with other people, not only with your partner.
Pope Francis is convinced that only universal fraternity and common divine filiation can transform our world today.
January 8, 2023-Reading time: 2minutes
Is there really a cure that can heal the world from the wounds caused by selfishness, wars, violence, indifference?
Pope Francis is convinced that this medicine exists, and it has a name: universal fraternity. He has repeated it many times during his almost ten years of pontificate. Each of his magisterial documents contains a clear reference to how today it is more urgent than ever that each heart abandon its own selfishness and allow itself to be infected by the heart of the other, in an empathetic and not simply superficial way.
In his recent message to the 56th World Day of Peace In his address, the Holy Father again explained how the hard lesson of Covid-19 made all humanity understand that there can be no peaceful future if we do not help one another, that no one can save himself alone. The dimension of universal fraternity also concerns States and governments. Diplomatic relations cannot but be permeated with mutual respect and support, otherwise tensions, rivalries and conflicts are generated.
The most flagrant example is the war in Ukraine. Precisely in relation to the lack of universal fraternity, the Pope judges the Russian aggression "a defeat of all mankind and not only of the parties involved".. To be truly solid, the universal fraternity must rest on what Pope Francis calls a solid and indestructible pillar: the awareness of common divine filiation. The historic document on Human brotherhood for world peace and common coexistence, signed in Abu Dhabi in 2019 with the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, makes it clear that every religion leads the believer to see in the other a brother to support and love. "From faith in God, creator of the universe, of creatures and of all human beings - equal by His mercy - the believer is called to express this human fraternity, safeguarding creation and the entire universe and supporting every person, especially the neediest and poorest.", reads the text. Here, this indication, as simple as it is true, makes it seem a deep offense to God that religious teaching incites hatred, revenge and holy war. Universal fraternity, in short, is the only way out for the world, even if it seems fragile, and each of us - believer or not - must practice and defend it. The alternative is a humanity without hope, lost in its immeasurable sorrows.
The authorFederico Piana
Journalist. He works for Vatican Radio and collaborates with L'Osservatore Romano.
How important are the affections in the spiritual life, and how are they to be considered in the examination of conscience and in prayer? The Pope has dedicated his Wednesday audiences in recent months to this topic, not from the perspective of the spiritual director or companion (except for the last catechesis), but from the perspective of self-knowledge.
According to the Spanish dictionary, to discern means to distinguish something from something else, especially in the field of the human spirit. That is, in the spiritual realm. In Christianity, the discernment is usually linked to the process that precedes human actions, in an attempt to act in conformity with the will of God. It is often associated with the virtue of prudence ("right reason in acting"), even if, in the most popular meaning, this term simply sounds like precaution or caution; in reality, prudence can also lead us to act promptly and boldly, and always with justice and generosity.
Discern to decide
In his first catechesis (cf. General Audience, 31-VIII-2022), Francis explained that discernment concerns us all, because it has to do with life choices or decisions, most of them quite ordinary (food, clothing, something in relation to work or others).
Both in common life and in the teachings of the Gospel we are taught the importance of making the right decisions. This involves knowledge, experience, affection and will, as well as effort (because life does not give us everything for granted) and freedom. We can choose because we are not animals, but that is also why we can make mistakes in our choices.
The Pope places himself in the perspective of anthropology and ethics, which requires knowledge of oneself and of what is good to do here and now. From the Christian point of view, discernment requires above all a filial relationship with God, but also friendship with Jesus Christ and the light of the Holy Spirit.
The paths of the heart
On the second Wednesday (cf. General Audience, 7-IX-2022), Francis gave the example of Ignatius of Loyola, who knew how to recognize the passage of God with him.
Discernment is a help to recognize the signs with which God makes himself found in unforeseen situations, even unpleasant ones; or, on the contrary, to perceive something that makes the path worse.
Within this framework, the Pope's teachings can be divided into three parts: the elements of discernment; a special consideration of desolation and consolation; and a third part on verification, vigilance and aids in discernment.
The elements of discernment
Francis referred first of all to familiarity with the Lord (cfr. General Audience, 28-IX-2022), above all to the trust that we must manifest to him through prayer (cfr. General Audience, 28-IX-2022). In prayer we must treat him - he proposes - with simplicity and familiarity, as a friend..
"This familiarity overcomes the fear or doubt that his will is not for our good, a temptation that sometimes crosses our thoughts and makes the heart restless and insecure, or even bitter.". This is the secret of the saints. Often the obstacles to following the Lord are above all affective, of the heart. In this sense, sadness or fear before God are signs of distance from God, as we see in the case of the rich young man in the Gospel (cf. Mt 9:17ff.). But Jesus does not force him to follow him.
"Discerning what is going on inside us". -The successor of Peter points out. "it is not easy, because appearances are deceiving, but familiarity with God can gently dissolve doubts and fears, making our life more and more receptive to his 'kindly light', according to the beautiful expression of St. John Henry Newman".
He adds that, just as two spouses who live together for a long time end up resembling each other, prayer makes us similar to Jesus. For this we need closeness to him, an "affective closeness," treating him as the faithful friend who never abandons us, and not only with words, but also with gestures and good works.
Knowing yourself and your desires
Secondly, the Pope spoke about knowing oneself (cf. General Audience, Oct. 5, 2022). He points out how at the root of spiritual doubts and vocational crises there is often a lack of knowledge of ourselves, of our personality and of our deepest desires; for "almost all of us hide behind a mask, not only in front of others, but also when we look in the mirror." (Thomas H. Green).
Discernment is necessary - the Pope points out in terms of our digital culture - in order to "to know the passwords of our heart, to which we are most sensitive, to protect ourselves from those who present themselves with persuasive words to manipulate us, and also to recognize what is really important to us, distinguishing it from the fashions of the moment or flashy and superficial slogans".". The truth is that we often let ourselves be carried away by feelings provoked in this way.
For all this, the examination of conscience helps. And it does not refer to the examination prior to sacramental confession (to discover the sins of which we are to be accused), but to the general examination of conscience at the end of the day. "General examination of conscience of the day: what has happened in my heart this day?A lot has happened....Which ones? Why? What traces did they leave in the heart??".
The third "ingredient" of discernment is the desire (cf. General Audience, October 12, 2022). Francis takes this term not in the sense of the desires of the moment, but of its etymology: de-sidusIt is important to know what our desires are and how they are, and to make sure that they are great and operative desires, because sometimes we remain in complaints (cf. Jn 5:6 ff), which rather dwarf or atrophy the desire.
Reading one's own life
In the fourth place, Francis dwelt on the importance, for discernment, of knowing "the book of one's own life"(cf. General Audience, October 19, 2022). If we do this, we will be able to detect so many "toxic" or pessimistic elements that hold us back (I am worthless, everything is going badly for me, etc.), perhaps with the help of someone who can also help us to recognize our qualities, the good things that God sows in us.
It is good to have a "narrative approach", not to stop at a specific action, but to include it in a context: "Where does this thought come from? What I am feeling now, where does it come from? Where does what I am thinking now take me? Have I had it before? Is it something new that comes to me now, or have I encountered it before? Why is it more insistent than others? What does life want to tell me by this?"
Desolation and consolation
In a second part of the catechesis, Francis went on to deal with "the matter" of discernment, focusing on the binomial desolation-consolation. First, the desolation (cf. General Audience, October 26, 2022) or spiritual sadness.
Knowing how to manage spiritual sadness
Desolation has been defined as a "darkness of the soul" (St. Ignatius of Loyola), as a "sadness" that does not have to be bad. Sometimes it has to do with remorse for something bad we have done, and it is an invitation to take the road. In these cases, as St. Thomas points out, it is a "pain of the soul", a warning, like a red light, to stop.
At other times," Francis explains, "it can be a temptation with which the devil wants to discourage us on the path of good, he wants to shut us up within ourselves and make us do nothing for others: to paralyze us in our work or study, in prayer, in persevering in our vocation. Jesus gives us the example of how to reject these temptations with firm resolve (cf. Mt 3:14-15; 4:11-11; 16:21-23).
In any case, we should ask ourselves about the root of this sadness (cf. General Audience, November 16, 2012), knowing that God never abandons us and that with him we can overcome every temptation (cf. 1 Cor 10:13). But do not make hasty decisions in such situations.
We must learn and take advantage of this desolation. "Indeed." -If there is not a little dissatisfaction, a little healthy sadness, a healthy capacity to live in solitude and to be with ourselves without running away, we run the risk of always remaining on the surface of things and never getting in touch with the center of our existence," the Pope warns.
Therefore, the Pope advises, it is not good to remain in a "state of indifference" that would make us inhuman to ourselves and to others. A "healthy restlessness" as experienced by the saints is good.
On the other hand, desolation gives us the possibility to grow, to mature in our capacity to give ourselves to others freely, without seeking our own interest or our own well-being. In prayer we must learn to be with the Lord, while we continue to seek him, perhaps in the midst of that temptation, or that emptiness that we experience. But without leaving prayer, because his answer always comes.
True and false consolations
Consolation is also present in the spiritual life (cf. General Audience, November 23, 2010), in the form of lasting joy, peace and harmony, which strengthen hope and fill us with the audacity to serve others, as Edith Stein writes.
But we must distinguish spiritual consolation from false consolations, perhaps noisy and showy, but which are passing enthusiasms that are sought for their own sake (out of self-interest), instead of seeking the Lord. Discernment will help us to distinguish true consolations (which bring deep and lasting peace) from false ones. In the latter, evil can appear from the beginning, for example, in the form of evasion of one's duties; at other times it appears in the middle, perhaps by seeking ourselves; or at the end, because it leads us to treat others badly.
For this reason, Francis points out, we must learn to distinguish the "goods" that may be apparent, in order to seek the true goods that make us grow. For all this, it is necessary to examine one's conscience every day. what happened today. With attention to the consequences of our affections.
Verification, monitoring, discernment aids
In a third part of these catecheses, Francis invites us to look at the phase after decisions have been made, in order to confirm whether or not they have been adequate (cf. General Audience, 7 December 2022). We have already seen the importance of the passage of time in this, and also the observation of whether these decisions bring us lasting peace.
For example, "if I make the decision to dedicate half an hour more to prayer, and then I realize that I live better the other moments of the day, I am more serene, less anxious, I perform my work with more care and pleasure, even the relationships with some difficult people become easier...: all these are important signs that support the goodness of the decision taken".. The spiritual life is circular: the goodness of a choice is beneficial for all areas of our life. Because it is participation in God's creativity.
There are other signs that can confirm whether it was a good decision: to consider the decision as a response of love to the Lord (not born of fear or obligation); to "feel in one's own place" (he gives the example of the two points in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, from where the columns are aligned), that is, to grow in order, integration and energy; to remain inwardly free in that situation (and not having an obsessive or possessive attitude), respecting and venerating God with confidence.
Watching so as not to fall asleep
After the decision, the attitude of vigilance is also important (cf. General audience, 14-XII-2022), so as not to become drowsy, not to get used to it, not to let ourselves be carried away by routine (cf. Lk 12:35-37). The successor of Peter stresses that this is necessary to ensure perseverance, consistency and the good fruit of our decisions.
Those who become too sure of themselves lose humility and, through lack of vigilance of heart, can let the devil back in (cf. Mt 12:44ff). This can be linked, Francis points out, to bad pride, to the presumption of being just, of being good, of being at ease; to excessive confidence in oneself and not in the grace of God. We have lost the fear of falling and with it humility... and we end up losing everything.
In short, this is the advice: "Watch over your heart, because vigilance is a sign of wisdom, it is a sign above all of humility, because we are afraid of falling and humility is the master path of the Christian life".
The Gospel in your pocket
At the General Audience of December 21, 2012, the Bishop of Rome proposed some aids for discernment, which seems difficult or complicated, but which is necessary.
The principal aids are the Word of God and the doctrine of the Church. The Word of God is found in Sacred Scripture (especially in the assiduous reading of the Gospels) with the help of the Holy Spirit.
This is why Francis insists, as he has done on other occasions: "Let's take the Gospel, let's take the Bible in our hands: five minutes a day, no more. Carry a Gospel in your pocket, in your bag, and when you travel, take it and read a little during the day, letting the Word of God come close to your heart.".
He also points out, in accordance with the experience of the saints, the importance of contemplating the Lord's passion and seeing it in the Crucifix; recourse to the Virgin Mary; asking the Holy Spirit for light (which is "discernment in action") and treating him with trust, together with the Father and the Son.
In the last catechesis the Pope pointed out the importance of spiritual guidance and of making oneself known in order to know oneself and to walk in the spiritual life.
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What happens in the first eight weeks of life?
