Ignacio Saavedra Tolkien tried to avoid parallels between his stories and the History of Salvation".

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Ignacio SaavedraTolkien tried to avoid parallels between his stories and the History of Salvation".

Ignacio Saavedra, professor of Corporate Communication at the CEU San Pablo University, is one of the members of the scientific committee of the congress on Tolkien to be held soon in Madrid under the title "Tolkien: poetics, myth and language.". There have been numerous Tolkien-centric academic events in recent years, but this one will come as the first season of a series based on Tolkien's work that is already the most expensive in history wraps up.

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Although it is unfortunately common to associate J. R. R. R. Tolkien with the "freak" phenomenon, the truth is that Ignacio Saavedra's approach to the English writer's work has always been in the hands of the Academy.

In 1994 he attended a lecture on Tolkien given at the Complutense University by Professor of Greek Carlos García Gual, who ended his presentation by presenting the audience with a recording of the Oxford professor's voice singing in the Elvish language one of the more than one hundred songs that appear in "The Lord of the Rings". This was the inspiration for Professor Saavedra to create, years later, the musical theater group Endor Lindë (the music of Middle-earth).

As a student of Journalism at the University of Navarra, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the professor of Contemporary Literature included "The Lord of the Rings" in the list of required readings, along with authors such as Thomas Mann, Marcel Proust or Franz Kafka. Shortly afterwards he had the opportunity to meet personally the professor of Theology at the same university, José Miguel Odero, author of the first serious study on Tolkien published in Spain.

The most expensive series on television, in which Amazon has invested more than 200 million euros, has just premiered.

ーThere is no exact figure on the cost of the series. A recent article published in The Wall Street Journal puts it at $750 million not including the marketing campaign.

It narrates events well before the famous sagas of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". How is the series being received by the English writer's followers?

ーThere is a wide range of opinions about the series among Tolkien fans. For many it is quite a betrayal of the writer. The problem is that, when reading opinions, it's hard to know how much of it is thoughtful criticism and how much of it is taking advantage of the series to dump all the accumulated hatred against Jeff Bezos and his empire over the last few years. And to complicate matters further, there is the obsession on the part of many people to see a manifestation of the ideology of "woke"everywhere.

There is a sector of deep connoisseurs of Tolkien's work who have decided not to give their opinion until a certain number of chapters have been released, but they have already expressed their liking for certain dialogues that, in their opinion, are a true homage to the deepest and most positive elements of Tolkien's work.

Finally, let's not forget that Amazon has invested heavily in entertaining opinion leaders to try to get them to publish favorable opinions of the series. What everyone agrees on is that the high investment shows: dazzling sets, rapturous music and careful execution down to the smallest detail to provoke an irresistible attraction in the viewer.

Why is Tolkien's work considered Catholic if the characters do not have a religious rite?

ーIt would be a topic for an entire congress, but the question would become quite clear if there were not so many Catholics who are engaged in intellectual work and who still have not read the Letter of St. John Paul II to Artists. Catholicity is not that the stories have a moral so that the story can be a vehicle for catechesis. Catholicity is that Beauty leads us to God as the only possible origin of such ineffable beauty. When an artist is as authentic as Tolkien was, when he is not a simple wordsmith who knows the tricks to turn a story into a best-seller, the work created reflects the whole inner world of the artist, including the Catholic worldview, if any.

It could be said that Tolkien could not avoid being noticed that he was Catholic, but he tried to prevent the public from drawing any parallels between his stories and the History of Salvation. The problem is that there is a fairly large sector of the Catholic public who have some idea of the Biblical Story but know nothing of mythology and, for example, see in Galadriel a reflection of St. Mary but do not see a lot of characters from various mythologies that could also be an inspiration for the character of Galadriel.

This presumed catholicity is noticeable in details that go far beyond whether there are rites or not. It is noticeable, for example, in the conception of human freedom reflected in the behavior of the characters. It is noticeable in how the story conveys, in a mythopoetic way, that we are all obliged to be very careful with Nature because Nature is a gift from God. This idea began to be connatural among Catholics after the promotion of "Laudato Si", but it was revolutionary when "The Lord of the Rings" was published.

The spiritual beings created by Tolkien in "The Silmarillion", Valar and the Maiar, to what extent is the nature of these beings influenced by your Catholic theological vision?

ーIt's hard to say to what extent, and I wouldn't say that they are spiritual beings, just like that. They are beings endowed with special powers, but not exactly spiritual. It is normal that, observing the behavior of Gandalf, turned protector and guide of Frodo in the fulfillment of his mission, believers think of angels or archangels, but that kind of especially powerful beings, who use that power in the service or against mortals, are so well in other religious, mythological and literary sources from which Tolkien was nourished.

The elves devised by Tolkien do not die, and consider death a gift. Gandalf tells Frodo not to kill Gollum. Considering these two facts, what is your opinion of Tolkien's sense of hope?

ーI must clarify that elves do die, and they died at the time when they had to battle against the hosts of Morgoth. These are big questions, which would give not for a doctoral thesis, but for several doctoral theses. In fact, one of the last doctoral theses on Tolkien defended at the Spanish University is centered precisely on this idea: death as a gift.

That conversation in which Gandalf praises Bilbo's compassion, because "not even the wisest knows the end of all roads" has been what has caused many readers to become staunch enemies of the death penalty. Hope is one of the great themes of Tolkien's work. Not for nothing is the journal of the Spanish Tolkien Society called ESTEL, a word from the Elvish language meaning hope.

Many things could be said about what hope is like in Tolkien's work, but a central idea is that, at bottom, there is not such a great difference between elves and humans. The hope would come from the fact that humans have the gift of death, yes, but they also enjoy a spiritual immortality because their works survive. That survival, in many cases, means being present in songs that speak of times past, which for me is a mythical way of expressing that death is not something definitive.

The convert Evelyn Waugh saw the Second Vatican Council as a betrayal of tradition, which is perhaps true of many people in other historical moments as well. What was Tolkien's perception of the Council?

ーAs far as is known, there was only one aspect of Vatican II that he did not like: the decline of Latin. There are several reasons why Tolkien had a special appreciation for this language. One is that it was one of the first languages he studied, under the guidance of his own mother, who taught Greek and Latin to Tolkien and his brother, during a season when she failed to enroll them in any school.

A second reason why he was hurt by what happened to Latin after the council is that Tolkien was convinced that Latin was a great element of unity. We could say that the irruption of the vernacular languages to the detriment of Latin was perceived by Tolkien as a new version of the Tower of Babel. As a good philologist, he was well aware that a change of language implies a change of thought, which implies a diversity of interpretations of doctrine and, therefore, a risk of disunity.

Lewis and Tolkien, two literary greats with different Christian visions.

ーThe relationship between Tolkien and Lewis is a passionate subject. As any connoisseur of the lives of both writers knows, it had a culminating moment in that walk through that part of Magdalen College called Addison's Walk, at Oxford University. Tolkien knew how to use their shared passion, the love of mythology, as a vehicle to show Lewis the way to God. It is a moment beautifully captured in a recent film, "The Most Reluctant Convert"about the life of C. S. Lewis.

But then two things happened. On the one hand, Lewis preferred to remain in the Church of England instead of opting for the "Roman" Catholic Church of his friend and university colleague. On the other hand, driven by his apostolic zeal, he created stories that were clear allegories of the faith, something Tolkien disliked. Also negatively influencing their friendship was Lewis's marriage to Joy Gresham, which Tolkien did not view favorably.

Did Tolkien have any relevant relationships with other Catholic writers?

ーIn the circle of professors and writers who used to meet in various pubs in Oxford - the famous Inklings - there was also Owen Barfield, whose Catholicism is still the subject of debate. He can be considered the founder of the Inklings, which would already be enough to consider him a decisive man in Tolkien's life.

It was at these Inklings meetings that "The Lord of the Rings" began to be read. It may even be that it was there that Tolkien became convinced that the now famous book was worthy of publication. Verlyn Flieger, one of the most renowned scholars of Tolkien's work today, has thoroughly researched Barfield's possible influence on Tolkien's work and is coming to some pretty strong conclusions. And there is no denying that Catholicism may have been a necessary element in that influence.

We Catholics are very much marked by the beginning of the Gospel of St. John, and the primacy of the Word. The Logos is the driving force of Tolkien's work. I do not think there is any case in which a story that is pure philology has ended up being so popular and, above all, so capable of changing the vision of life on the part of its readers.

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Abortion law reform encourages minors to have abortions

The project The bill on Sexual and Reproductive Health and the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (IVE) sent by the Executive to Parliament this summer raises serious legal problems. The elimination of the three days of reflection and information before performing an abortion on minor adolescents, aged 16 and 17, and the annulment of the requirement of parental consent, has been criticized by jurists consulted by Omnes.

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One of the main arguments of the professors, who belong to universities such as CEU San Pablo, Navarra and Francisco de Vitoria, focuses on the deviation of the legal right to be protected, taking into account that the new draft organic law to be considered by the Cortes modifies the Organic Law of 2010 of the government of Rodríguez Zapatero.

"I remembered when Hannah Arendt, a philosopher of Jewish origin, spoke of the banality of evil in the wake of the Jewish extermination," explains Ana Sánchez-Sierra, professor at Institute of Humanities Angel Ayala of the CEU. "Evil has become so banal that we do not even think about what we are doing. In this law, compared with Zapatero's law of 2010, two very important technical issues disappear legally: the nasciturus, the unborn; and another, a concept that was in Zapatero's law, and is found in sentence 53/1985 of the Constitutional Court, which is conscious self-determination, which we professors of bioethics call autonomy, the principle of autonomy".

In Zapatero's law there are terms such as protection of prenatal life, fetal viability," continues Sánchez-Sierra, who quotes verbatim the position of that law: "That both the autonomy of women and the effective protection of prenatal life as a legal right are adequately guaranteed," which is what the ruling of the Constitutional Court said [...]".Ruling 53/1985]. In short, that the unborn was a legal asset and did not have a right to life under Article 15 of the Constitution, but it was a legal asset that had to be protected.

And how was the unborn child protected? The CEU professor answers: "With the idea of conscious self-determination. That is to say, that the woman should be aware, that she should have a period of information and reflection [of three days], which disappears with the new law. It might seem a bit hypocritical, but those three days were like a stumbling block. And now all this disappears.

What is protected?

Pilar Zambrano, Professor of Philosophy of Law at the Universidad de la University of Navarraexplains that "the history of abortion in Spain began with STC 53/1985 where, interpreting Article 15 of the Constitution ("everyone has the right to life and to physical and moral integrity"), it was determined that the unborn child is not a person and, therefore, does not have the right to life, and at the same time it was affirmed that unborn life is a legal right objective that the State is obliged to protect".

"The next milestone was the establishment of a regulatory framework for public health and education policies on sexual and reproductive health (LO 2/2010), in the framework of which the Penal Code was again amended," adds the jurist, and "the general requirement of express consent of parents or guardians was eliminated, in the case of abortion in minors under 16 and 17 years of age. This last reform was reversed in 2015 (LO 2/2015) in view of the lack of protection it entailed for the minors themselves, whose parents are the ones who, indisputably, are in the best position to assess the psychological impact of undergoing an abortion and, therefore, to advise them".

Now, the reform bill, which has already been sent to Parliament as a draft, "takes the baton in this sort of relay race," says Pilar Zambrano., and among other things, (a) eliminates the three-day reflection period that currently operates for the decriminalization of "abortion on demand"; [...], and (e) commits all public administrations to "promote awareness campaigns (...) aimed at the entire population ... in the area of ... the promotion of reproductive rights with special emphasis on the voluntary termination of pregnancy".

In his opinion, "this last novelty is not trivial: in an indirect but clear way, abortion is included among the set of sexual and reproductive rights; which, incidentally, legitimizes its inclusion not only in health policies, but also in educational policies (which are a sub-category of the "awareness-raising" policies explicitly referred to in the law). In other words, it legitimizes the use of the entire state apparatus (supported by the contribution of all taxpayers) to "educate? reform? change? social opinion, inclining it towards the conviction that abortion in any of its forms (on demand, therapeutic or eugenic) is a legal right".

In conclusion, the legal right to be protected seems to have changed. The professor from Navarra points out: "Abortion thus went from being a freedom that the State tolerated as a lesser evil, in view of the difficult circumstances that often contextualize the decision to abort; to a right to a service that involves the entire public health system (LO 2/2010) and; finally, the focus of cross-cutting public policies, health, education and general awareness in the current draft reform".

And concludes: "the preamble of the LO 2/2010 at least simulated coherence with the doctrine established in the STC 53/1985. The current draft abandons this effort completely. It makes no reference to the value of unborn life in its entire text, and tilts the terrain of the woman's decision, almost crudely, in favor of the choice to abort. What other purpose, other than the instigation of abortion, explains the elimination of the duty to inform the woman about the available resources in case she intends to continue the pregnancy; the very short waiting time of three days between informed consent and the performance of the abortion; and the requirement of parental consent in the case of minors?" ` `.

Constitutional majority, at 18 years of age

Another aspect of capital importance, linked to this one, which the jurists consulted emphasize is that of parental authority and the protection of minors under 18 years of age as established in the Spanish Constitution.

María José Castañón, doctoral professor of Criminal Law at the Faculty of Law, Business and Government of the Francisco de Vitoria University (UFV), states, as noted, that "the new law eliminates the informed consent of the parents in the case of abortion for women under 18 years of age (16 and 17 years old). The objective is "to put an end to the obstacles that women continue to encounter in order to terminate a pregnancy"; "a new advance for women and for democracy in our country", he describes.

"This reform is "especially controversial," assures María José Castañón. "The new modification offers the possibility for 16 and 17 year old women to unilaterally make a drastic decision," she adds. "For other types of rights, parental authorization is fundamental if it is not directly prohibited. According to Article 12 of the Spanish Constitution, the age of majority is set at 18 years old since then "full capacity to perform valid legal acts and be responsible for them" is obtained.

In his opinion, "the new law poses a serious inconsistency in our legal system. It is essential to unify this regulatory disparity and to distinguish between consent and knowledge of everything that could affect not only the physical health but also the psychological health of their children".

And refers to the Article 39.3 of the Spanish Constitution, which states the following: "Parents must provide assistance of all kinds to children born in or out of wedlock, during their minority and in other cases where legally appropriate". "They are the legal guardians of minors and until the current age of majority, they have the obligation to look after them," writes the UFV professor.

Is parental authority in question?

In line with this constitutional norm, CEU professor Ana Sánchez-Sierra recalls what the Civil Code prescribes about the duty to care for minors: "Parental authority is regulated in the Civil Code, article 154and says: "parents or legal guardians must watch over them, keep them in their company, feed them, educate them and provide them with an integral formation". I understand that we parents cannot inhibit ourselves from the sexual and affective education of our children. Therefore, how can we not accompany them in this situation? It does not have the appearance of being constitutional, it is a serious issue, because the wound in society can be very deep".

In addition, Sánchez-Sierra comments: "Regarding the question of whether these articles of the Constitution [articles 12 and 39.3] with the Sexual and Reproductive Health and IVE project, "of course, yes. With this empowerment of adolescent girls, what the public authorities are trying to do is, first, to take away the parental authority of the parents and make what they (the adolescent girl) are going to do trivialized".

"I have a 16 year old daughter and I have to give my consent to put her on brackets

If I am not in the consultation room in person, because I am parking, and I tell her: you go in, she does not enter the consultation room, and they tell her: until your mother is there, you will not go in. And I have an ophthalmologist friend, with whom I have discussed this law, who told me: indeed, when a minor comes in, and her mother is not in the waiting room, she is told: you can go in when your mother comes in. I am very shocked by this issue, and we have to do battle with this issue," adds Ana Sánchez-Sierra, who is a professor of the Expert Degree in the Social Doctrine of the Church at the Ángel Ayala Institute of Humanities, at CEU.

In his opinion, "the message that is being sent to adolescents -because the law talks about contraception and the morning-after pill- is as if abortion were a contraceptive of last resort. In other words, the unborn disappears. And laws have a pedagogical function and are the soul of a people".

Human dignity

On the other hand, Pilar Zambrano emphasizes that "the LO 2/2010 and the current reform bill represent a "Copernican" turn in the order of values that sustains the Spanish legal order.

"Article 10.1 of the EC states, in complete harmony with the preamble of the Statement Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948" -the professor from Navarra- that "the dignity of the person, the inviolable rights that are inherent to him, the free development of the personality, respect for the law and the rights of others are the foundation of political order and social peace".

"What other clearer demonstration of abandonment of the principle of respect for the inherent dignity of every human being," comments the professor, "than a legislator who confers on himself the power to distribute the passport of dignity at will, among different categories of human beings according to what their stage of development is or, worse, according to what their physical or mental capacities are? What clearer sign of the abandonment of the principle of free development of the personality of women, than to spare them information, advice and time for deliberation, three basic conditions of any free choice?"

Minors, unimputable

María José Castañón, for her part, devotes some thought to imputability, and assures that "a minor under 18 years of age for criminal purposes is "unimputable", he/she does not serve a prison sentence. In the worst case scenario, he or she will be sent to a juvenile detention center for the sole purpose of re-education or reinsertion", states the jurist from the Francisco de Vitoria University.

The concept of imputability, clarifies Castañón, "is a legal concept with a psychological basis on which the concepts of responsibility y guilt. Whoever lacks these capacities, either because he lacks sufficient maturity (minors), or because he suffers serious psychic alterations (mentally deranged), cannot be declared guilty nor can he be held criminally responsible for his acts".

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Vocations

Message for WYD Lisbon 2023

Pope Francis' message for the 37th World Youth Day to be held in Lisbon from August 1 to 6, 2023.

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Dear young people:

The issue of WYD Panama was: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). After this event, we set out on the road to a new destiny.Lisbon 2023-Let God's pressing invitation to rise up echo in our hearts. In 2020 we meditate on the words of Jesus: "Young man, I say to you, arise" (Lk. 7:14). Last year we were inspired by the Apostle Paul, to whom the Risen Lord said: "Arise! I make you a witness of the things you have seen" (cf. Acts 26:16). In the stretch that remains before reaching Lisbon, we will walk alongside the Virgin of Nazareth who, immediately after the Annunciation, "rose up and departed without delay" (Lk 1:39) to go and help her cousin Elizabeth. The verb common to all three themes is to rise, an expression that - it is good to remember - also takes on the meaning of "to rise again", "to awaken to life".

In these recent times, which have been so difficult, when humanity, already tested by the trauma of the pandemic, is torn apart by the drama of war, Mary reopens for everyone, and especially for you, who are young like her, the path of closeness and encounter. I hope, and I firmly believe, that the experience that many of you will live in Lisbon next August will represent a new beginning for you, young people, and - with you - for all humanity.

Maria stood up

Mary, after the annunciation, could have concentrated on herself, on the worries and fears due to her new condition. But no; she trusted fully in God. She thought rather of Elizabeth. She got up and went out into the sunlight, where there is life and movement. Although the angel's shocking announcement may have caused an "earthquake" in her plans, the young woman did not allow herself to be paralyzed, because in her was Jesus, the power of the resurrection. Within her was already the Lamb slain, but always alive. She got up and set out, because she was sure that God's plans were the best possible plan for her life. Mary became the temple of God, the image of the Church on the way, the Church that goes out and puts herself at the service, the Church bearer of the Good News.

To experience the presence of the Risen Christ in one's own life, to encounter him "alive", is the greatest spiritual joy, an explosion of light that can leave no one "still". It sets us in motion immediately and impels us to bring this news to others, to bear witness to the joy of this encounter. This is what animated the haste of the first disciples in the days following the resurrection: "The women, fearful but full of joy, went quickly away from the tomb and went to tell the disciples the news" (Mt 28:8).

The resurrection stories often use two verbs: to awaken and to arise. With them, the Lord urges us to go out into the light, to let ourselves be led by Him to cross the threshold of all our closed doors. "It is a significant image for the Church. We too, as disciples of the Lord and as a Christian community, are called to rise up quickly to enter into the dynamism of the resurrection and let ourselves be guided by the Lord on the paths that he wants to show us" (Homily on the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, 2022).

The Mother of the Lord is the model of young people in movement, not immobile in front of the mirror.
contemplating her own image or "caught" in the nets. She was totally oriented toward the
exterior. She is the paschal woman, in a permanent state of exodus, of going out of herself towards the great
Another who is God and towards the others, the brothers and sisters, especially the more
needy, as was her cousin Elizabeth.

...and departed without delay

St. Ambrose of Milan, in his commentary on Luke's Gospel, writes that Mary set out for the mountain because "full of joy and without delay [...] she felt impelled by the desire to fulfill a duty of piety, eager to render her services and hastened by the intensity of her joy. Filled already totally with God, where could Mary go in haste if not to the heights? Indeed, the grace of the Holy Spirit ignores slowness". Mary's haste is, therefore, the solicitude of service, of joyful proclamation, of prompt response to the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Mary let herself be challenged by her elderly cousin's need. She did not back down, she did not remain indifferent. She thought more of others than of herself. And this gave dynamism and enthusiasm to her life. Each of you can ask yourself: How do I react to the needs I see around me? Do I immediately think of a justification to disengage myself, or do I take an interest and make myself available? Of course, you cannot solve all the world's problems. But perhaps you can start with the ones closest to you, with the problems in your own area. Mother Teresa was once told, "What you are doing is just a drop in the ocean". And she replied, "But if I didn't do it, the ocean would be one drop less.

How many people in the world are waiting for a visit from someone who cares for them! How many elderly people, how many sick people, prisoners, refugees need our compassionate gaze, our visit, a brother or sister who breaks the barriers of indifference!

Dear young people, what "rush" moves you? What makes you feel the urge to move, so much so that you cannot stand still? Many - affected by realities such as pandemics, war, forced migration, poverty, violence, climatic catastrophes - ask themselves: Why is this happening to me? Why just me? Why now? Therefore, the central question of our existence is: For whom am I? (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Christus vivit, 286).

The haste of the young woman of Nazareth is that of those who have received extraordinary gifts from the Lord and cannot help but share, to make the immense grace they have experienced overflow. It is the haste of those who know how to put the needs of others above their own. Mary is an example of a young person who does not waste time seeking the attention or approval of others - as happens when we depend on "likes" on social networks - but moves to seek the most genuine connection, that which arises from encounter, sharing, love and service.

Since the Annunciation, from the time she went to visit her cousin for the first time, Mary had not
stops crossing time and space to visit her children in need of her solicitous help. Our
If it is inhabited by God, walking leads us directly to the heart of each of our
How many testimonies we receive from people "visited" by Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ.
Jesus and our Mother! In how many remote places of the earth, throughout the centuries -with
apparitions or special graces - Mary has visited her people! There is practically no place in
this earth that has not been visited by her. The Mother of God walks among her people,
moved by a loving tenderness, and assumes its anguish and vicissitudes. And there where there is a sanctuary,
a church, a chapel dedicated to her, her children flocking in great numbers. How many expressions of
popular piety! Pilgrimages, feasts, supplications, the welcoming of images in homes and so many others are concrete examples of the living relationship between the Mother of the Lord and her people, who visit each other.

The "good" rush always pushes us upwards and towards others

The good haste always pushes us upwards and towards others. There is also a rush that is not good, such as the one that leads us to live superficially, to take everything lightly, without commitment or attention, without really participating in the things we do; the rush when we live, study, work, go out with others without putting our heads, much less our hearts, into it. It can happen in interpersonal relationships: in the family, when we do not really listen to others or dedicate time to them; in friendships, when we expect a friend to entertain us and satisfy our needs, but we avoid him immediately and turn to another if we see that he is in crisis and needs us; and even in affective relationships, between boyfriends and girlfriends, few have the patience to know and understand each other thoroughly. We can have this same attitude at school, at work and in other areas of daily life. Well, all these things lived in haste are unlikely to bear fruit. There is a risk that they will remain sterile. This is what we read in the book of Proverbs: "The plans of the industrious man are pure gain; he who is hasty - evil haste - ends in destitution" (21:5).

When Mary finally arrived at the home of Zechariah and Elizabeth, a wonderful encounter took place. Elizabeth had experienced a prodigious intervention of God upon her, who had given her a son in her old age. She would have had reason enough to speak first of herself, but she was not full of herself, but inclined to welcome her young cousin and the fruit of her womb. As soon as she heard her greeting, Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. These surprises and irruptions of the Spirit occur when we experience true hospitality, when we put the guest at the center, and not ourselves. This is also what we see in the story of Zacchaeus. In Luke 19:5-6 we read: "When Jesus came to the place [where Zacchaeus was], he looked up and said to him, 'Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house. Zacchaeus came down quickly and received him joyfully."

It has happened to many of us that, unexpectedly, Jesus came to meet us: for the first time, we experienced in him a closeness, a respect, an absence of prejudice and condemnation, a look of mercy that we had never found in others. Not only that, we also felt that it was not enough for Jesus to look at us from afar, but that he wanted to be with us, he wanted to share his life with us. The joy of this experience awakened in us a rush to welcome Him, an urgency to be with Him and to know Him better. Elizabeth and Zechariah welcomed Mary and Jesus. Let us learn from these two elders the meaning of hospitality! Ask your parents and grandparents, and also the older members of your communities, what it means for them to be hospitable to God and to others. It will do them good to listen to the experience of those who have gone before them.

Dear young people, it is time to set out again without delay on the path of concrete encounters, of a true acceptance of those who are different from us, as happened between the young Mary and the elderly Elizabeth. Only in this way will we overcome distances - between generations, between social classes, between ethnic groups and categories of all kinds - and even wars. Young people are always the hope of a new unity for a fragmented and divided humanity. But only if they have memory, only if they listen to the dramas and dreams of their elders. "It is not by chance that war has returned to Europe at a time when the generation that lived through it in the last century is disappearing" (Message for the Second World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly). An alliance between the young and the old is necessary, so as not to forget the lessons of history, to overcome the polarizations and extremisms of this time.

Writing to the Ephesians, St. Paul announced: 'Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For Christ is our peace; he has united the two peoples into one, breaking down the wall of enmity that separated them through his own flesh' (2:13-14). Jesus is God's answer to the challenges of humanity in every age. And this response, Mary carried within her when she went to meet Elizabeth. Mary's greatest gift to her elderly relative was to bring Jesus to her. Certainly, concrete help is also invaluable. But nothing else could have filled Zechariah's house with such great joy and meaning as the presence of Jesus in the Virgin's womb, which had become the tabernacle of the living God. In that mountainous region, Jesus, by his presence alone, without saying a word, delivered his first "sermon on the mount": he proclaimed in silence the blessing of the little ones and the humble who entrust themselves to God's mercy.

My message to you, young people, the great message of which the Church is the bearer, is Jesus!

Yes, Himself, His infinite love for each one of us, His salvation and the new life He has given us. And Mary is the model of how to welcome this immense gift into our lives and communicate it to others, making us in turn bearers of Christ, bearers of his compassionate love, of his generous service to suffering humanity.

All together in Lisbon!

Maria was a young woman like many of you. She was one of us. Bishop Tonino Bello wrote about her: "Holy Mary, [...] we well know that you were destined for voyages on the high seas, but if we force you to sail close to the coast, it is not because we want to reduce you to the levels of our small coastline. It is because, seeing you so close to the shores of our discouragement, we can be saved by the awareness that we too have been called to venture, like you, on the oceans of freedom" (Maria, mujer de nuestros días, Paulinas, Madrid 1996, 11).

From Portugal, as I recalled in the first Message of this trilogy, in the 15th and 16th centuries, numerous young people - many of them missionaries - set out for unknown lands, also to share their experience of Jesus with other peoples and nations (cf. WYD 2020 Message). And to this land, at the beginning of the 20th century, Mary wished to make a special visit, when from Fatima she sent to all generations the powerful and admirable message of God's love that calls to conversion, to true freedom. To each and every one of you I renew my warm invitation to participate in the great intercontinental pilgrimage of young people that will culminate in WYD in Lisbon in August of next year; and I remind you that on November 20, the Solemnity of Christ the King, we will celebrate World Youth Day in the particular Churches of the whole world. In this regard, the recent document of the Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life - Pastoral Guidelines for the Celebration of World Youth Day in the Particular Churches - can be of great help to all those involved in youth ministry.

Dear young people, I hope that at WYD you will once again experience the joy of encountering God and your brothers and sisters. After long periods of distance and isolation, in Lisbon - with God's help - we will rediscover together the joy of the fraternal embrace between peoples and between generations, the embrace of reconciliation and peace, the embrace of a new missionary fraternity! May the Holy Spirit kindle in your hearts the desire to rise up and the joy of walking together, in synodal style, abandoning false frontiers. The time to rise up is now! Let us rise up without delay! And, like Mary, let us carry Jesus within us to communicate him to all. In this beautiful moment of your lives, go forward, do not postpone what the Spirit can do in you. With all my heart I bless your dreams and your steps.

Rome, St. John Lateran, 15 August 2022, Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

FRANCISCO

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Cardinal CzernyReligion can demonstrate the unity that war tends to destroy".

Papal almoner to return to Ukraine

Rome Reports-September 12, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute

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The pontifical almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, will travel to Ukraine for the fourth time on behalf of Pope Francis.

Among the objectives of this fourth visit is to offer concrete help to the various diocesan Caritas organizations on the front lines.

AhNow you can enjoy a 20% discount on your subscription to Rome Reports Premiumthe international news agency specializing in the activities of the Pope and the Vatican.

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German synodal journey continues, with controversy and alternative proposals

The German Synodal Path will create a Synodal Commission to prepare a permanent Synodal Council.

Crisis at the beginning of the Assembly due to the refusal of some bishops to approve a document. Unbearable pressure was exerted on those who had voted against it.

José M. García Pelegrín-September 12, 2022-Reading time: 6 minutes

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The German Synodal Path concluded its fourth Assembly on Saturday evening, September 10, after the very beginning - on Thursday, September 8 - a real sensation, a situation that, from the reactions it provoked, was not in the plans of either the leaders of the Synodal Path or of the immense majority: the first of the texts to be put to the vote, entitled "Basic Guidelines for a Renewed Sexual Ethic" - in reality, a radical change of traditional doctrine following the dictates of "sexual diversity" - did not obtain the required majority among the bishops' votes.

According to the statutes of the synodal process, two qualified majorities are required for final approval of a text: two-thirds of all the votes cast in the assembly, and two-thirds of the votes cast by the bishops. Of the 57 votes cast by bishops, 31 voted "yes" and 22 "no"; 3 abstained.

After the first moment of bewilderment, a practically unbearable pressure began to be put on the bishops who had voted against. In tears, the co-president of the synodal path, Irme Stetter-Karp, reproached them for not having taken the floor in the debate to make their position clear; a somewhat fallacious argument, since whoever has attended previous Assemblies knows that whoever dared to express a minority opinion - defending Tradition and the doctrine of the Church - was the object of murmurs of disapproval and even booing. Moreover, as Cardinal Rainer Woelki of Cologne said in a speech, a group of that minority - led by Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg - had time and again presented alternative documents, available on the Internet, which, however, were never taken into account.

Pressure on the synodal path

At the press conference early in the morning of Friday the 9th, Irme Stetter-Karp, who is also president of the Central Committee of German Catholics, further increased the pressure on the "dissident" bishops and accused them of pursuing a "blocking strategy". She even hinted at an ultimatum: if the blockade continued, the Central Committee would leave the Assembly.

In order to get out of the "crisis", several measures were taken: on the one hand, the time for each intervention was increased from one to two minutes, in order to make it easier for those who were against a certain text to express their objections; in addition, the president of the Bishops' Conference and co-chairman of the synodal process, Georg Bätzing, met with the bishops behind closed doors. As a result, a very large number of bishops took part in the discussion of the basic text "Women in Church Services and Ministries" without the expressions of disapproval that had been customary in previous assemblies.

Intimidation

Two other circumstances contributed to the approval of the text, also by the bishops. On the one hand, a measure of intimidation: the requirement that the votes be taken by roll call - with the corresponding publication on the Internet - and, on the other hand, that the tone of the document was somewhat toned down; Thus, this text on women in the Church is now presented not as a demand for priestly ordination for women, but as a "consultation with the supreme authority of the Church (Pope and Council)" as to whether the doctrine of "Ordinatio sacerdotalis" of John Paul II (1994), in which the Pope established as definitive doctrine the impossibility of the ordination of women in the Catholic Church, can be revised.

Thus, the text was approved with only 10 votes against (and 5 abstentions) of the 60 bishops present. Even so, the rest of the document - the tone of which is reflected in the remark with which it was introduced: "what needs to be argued is not why women can be ordained, but why they cannot" - continued to maintain the same literal tenor.

New synod council

Something similar also happened on the morning of Saturday the 10th when an "action" text on the erection of a Synodal Council for the whole of Germany was discussed, with the aim of giving continuity to the synodal journey. According to the text presented, its function would be to coordinate the work of the Bishops' Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics. This Council would openly confront the note from the Holy See last July, which recalled that the synodal path "is not empowered to oblige the bishops and the faithful to adopt new forms of government".

A compromise formula was then reached: instead of approving the creation of a Synodal Council, it was a matter of voting on a "synodal commission" in charge of preparing it: "we are not making any final decision today"; both the Bishop of Eichstätt, Gregor Maria Hanke, and the Bishop of Görlitz, Wolfgang Ipolt, strongly recommended studying the document of the International Theological Commission on the Synodal Council. synodality and referred to the fact that "what is important, above all, is that we discover the spiritual part of synodality and deepen it". During the vote, the bishops were struck by the high number of abstentions: 10; only 6 voted against, compared to 43 in favor.

Promoting a new sexual ethic

On the other hand, the fact that the fundamental text on renewed sexual ethics was rejected does not seem to have any practical consequences either. Bishop Georg Bätzing announced that - despite the vote against it - he would bring the text, "as a result of the work of the synodal journey," to the "level of the universal Church," namely to the ad limina visit in November in Rome and to the continental meeting of bishops in view of the Synod of Bishops on synodality in January.

He also announced that the Bishops' Conference would discuss this text at its ordinary assembly at the end of September, and also that he would use it in his own diocese, Limburg, which was also announced by the Bishop of Dresden, Bishop Heinrich Timmerevers. However, Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau expressed his surprise and disagreement: "I wonder if you are not anticipating something that was always foreseen in case there were no majorities"; if this were the case, "each diocese would go its own way and we would end up with the division that we wanted to avoid".

In addition, on Saturday, three texts related to the "new sexual morality" were approved - in first reading, so that the final decision is postponed to its presentation, after several modifications, in the following synodal assembly for its second reading - one of them on "Sexual Diversity" that - according to one of the participants in the assembly, Dorothea Schmidt - "questions the doctrine on creation". However, none of the bishops present made a critical intervention on the matter. In approving this text, the synodal assembly urges all dioceses to appoint "LGBTI*" ministers to "sensitize" the faithful to issues of sexual diversity. They also ask the Pope to "open to transsexual persons all ministries linked to ordination".

It should be noted that these "action" texts should not have been voted on, since the basic text from which they emanated - "Basic Guidelines for a Renewed Sexual Ethics" - had been rejected on Thursday afternoon. Although Cardinal Reinhard Marx had warned of this, the Assembly presidency turned a deaf ear to the warning and allowed the vote to proceed.

Homosexual priests

The text "De-tabonization and normalization: on the situation of non-heterosexual priests", also approved in first reading, demands the recognition of non-heterosexual priests and asks the bishops to advocate, at the universal level, the abolition of the ban on the ordination of homosexual priests. Bishop Oster again expressed his skepticism: this text poses a dilemma for the bishops; when they speak about homosexuality and "possibly problematize it" they are exposed to the risk of being seen as an attack on people with a homosexual orientation.

Finally, the Assembly assented, in the first reading, to the text on "Proclamation of the Gospel by women, by word and sacrament," which advocates "opening up" preaching to women, as well as for dioceses to study the possibility of the laity-men and women-administering baptism; the same can be said of marriage.

Before this vote, five participants of the Assembly formally requested that the vote be taken by secret ballot, in accordance with the statute of the synodal way; according to this, in this case, the vote must be by secret ballot. However, the presidency of the Assembly overruled this request, citing an ad hoc "interpretation" of the statute, forcing the vote to be taken by roll call. Marianne Schlosser, Professor of Theology at Vienna and winner of the Ratzinger Prize for Theology, was "outraged" by the authoritarian way in which this decision was made; immediately after the vote, she left the Assembly.

At the end of the Assembly, Irme Stetter-Karp returned to speak about the bishops; with a certain air of smugness, she said: "It is positive that the bishops have understood that the situation was serious; but they could have expressed their opinion earlier". And, looking ahead to the Synodal Council: "We are ready to make difficult decisions together with the German bishops".

The fifth -and foreseeably last- Synodal Assembly will be held in March 2023.

* Text updated at 5:22 pm.

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Two narratives on the evangelization of America

Latin America

Rodrigo GuerraOnly what is assumed is redeemed".

"The social sciences become victims of themselves when they absolutize a fragment and turn it into a supreme hermeneutic criterion," says Rodrigo Guerra, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, in this interview.

Maria José Atienza-September 12, 2022-Reading time: 8 minutes

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Rodrigo Guerra holds a doctorate in philosophy from the International Academy of Philosophy in the Principality of Liechtenstein, is founder of the Center for Advanced Social Research (CISAV, Mexico) and Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

A few weeks ago, Guerra was one of the speakers at the I International Hispano-American Congress organized by UNIR and the UFV. At that meeting, Guerra recalled that "Latin American culture has a non-rationalist substratum, based on the Catholic faith, which defends the dignity of the person". In this interview with Omnes, he talks about this basic substratum of Latin American culture.

For some time now, we have been witnessing a vindication of pre-Columbian cultures that accuse the missionaries of eliminating / wiping out a previous culture or social systems in order to impose "the Christian and Europeanist vision". Is this statement true?

- Contemporary historiography is managing to overcome the ideological simplifications of yesteryear. For example, those that were spread around 1992, on the occasion of the V Centenary of the discovery of America. Both the "black legend" and the "pink legend" are the fruit of a univocal rationality that denies the analogical "ethos" of Latin American baroque culture.

Without analogy, there are no fine nuances, there is no analytical and differentiated understanding of a complex process, such as the arrival of European peoples to America.

On the other hand, something that beyond the academic controversies, always helps to look at things with a greater perspective, is the guadalupano event. The rationality introduced by St. Mary of Guadalupe is the one that allows miscegenation, the inculturation of the Gospel and the decisive option for the poorest. This logic, undoubtedly, compensates the military perspective of the conquerors and opens an original way of evangelization for the missionaries, starting in 1531. Pre-Hispanic cultures were undoubtedly harmed. The Spanish crown, for example, had no elements to announce the cross, except through the sword. European diseases also decimated the population. But the experience of the encounter with a motherhood coming from heaven, which announces the "most true God for Whom one lives", generated a sociologically identifiable originality. It generated a new people: Latin America, the "Patria grande", the unique fraternity that allows an Argentine and a Mexican to recognize each other as "brothers", in spite of the distance.

The Church has asked for forgiveness for historical errors committed, not only in Latin America but in other places as well. Would this request for forgiveness be necessary if the facts were contextualized in each period?

- Faith in Jesus Christ unites us all. Not only synchronically but diachronically. For this reason, we are mysteriously in solidarity with the sins committed in the past by some Catholics, and for this reason, today we must all relearn to ask for forgiveness. It is not only the Pope who must do so. It is I, in the first person, who must reconcile myself with my history.

The unity of peoples is not the unity of ideologies, of political power or of the market. The unity of peoples is reconciled plurality, it is an empirical experience of re-encounter and embrace, thanks to which it is possible to continue walking. When a nation does not mourn its mistakes, neither will it find a way to rejoice in its victories. That is why the message of the gospel is so important.

Only from Christ, people and cultures can overcome easy antagonism, fanatical radicalism and social fracture.

Is history betrayed when viewed through the paradigms of the present?

- The science and art of interpreting history is a complex exercise. Every hermeneutic act requires not only fine-tuned theoretical tools -such as analogy- but also the exercise of virtues, especially prudence. Prudence allows us to recognize the finite as finite and the transcendent as transcendent simultaneously on the plane of the practical.

In other words: history is betrayed when it is seen as a mere empirical phenomenon that does not possess a metaphysical horizon. It is the metaphysical horizon that allows a double movement: on the one hand, to recognize the fact in its context, so as not to judge it from categories that may be improper to it, such as those coming from another epoch.

But, on the other hand, the metaphysical understanding of history also makes it possible to judge the fact in its meta-historical perspective. This perspective is not something "exogenous", but the ultimate meaning of the real-concrete that appears as a requirement if the totality of the factors of the real are taken in.

In the school of thought from which yours truly comes, the metahistorical understanding of a fact practically coincides with the perennial demands of an integral anthropology, which, in looking at the person as "the most perfect of nature", also understands him as the most singular, and therefore, as the most "historical".

I understand that it is fashionable to speak of "paradigms". However, the paradigms of the times are not the ultimate horizon of intelligence. If they were, we would be in an insurmountable prison which, among other things, would impede historical progress. The real horizon of human intelligence is reached when the person is educated in non-censorship, in maximum realism, in openness to the possibility of a gift that exceeds our own pre-judgments and surprises us. Nothing more current than Gregory of Nyssa, when he says: "Only amazement knows".

Do we suffer from a kind of fear, on the one hand, or hyperesthesia in the face of any comment that could be labeled "colonialist"? Have we in the Church also fallen into a reductionist attitude with respect to our history of propagating the faith?

- The contemporary denunciation, in certain schools, of a "colonial" thought that imposes itself from the logic of the master and the slave, shows how indebted we are to Hegel today. The "decolonial" perspective, on the other hand, vindicates situated knowledge and the desire to dismantle the dense Eurocentrism that exists in some environments. When these issues are approached without clearly identifying their Hegelian heritage, and therefore their immanentist limitation, they easily become discursive traps. Many premises are accepted from the outset that need to be critically analyzed.

This is not the place to do this exercise. I simply dare to say that the social sciences, on many occasions, become victims of themselves, when they absolutize a fragment and turn it into a supreme hermeneutic criterion. Today we need a more holistic perspective in order not to betray reality. I share the need to think-in-context. I share the need to denounce the perverse instrumental rationality. I agree that there are still subtle and not so subtle mechanisms of colonization, for example, in Latin America. But also, along with all this, I am convinced that we are called to something more.

It is only possible to speak of the strength of the context and the importance of "the situated" from a higher parameter that exceeds them. If we do not do so, even our own affirmation of the importance of the contextual will have to be contextualized, and so on, in an endless process.

In the Church we also easily fall into socio-analytical "fashions", explicitly or covertly. But it is precisely in the experience that we call "Church", not in its concept, not in its theory, but in the "experience" of empirical friendship that is the "Ekklesia" where I learned to love my people, my history, with all its wounds of "colonial" origin, and to discover that the master-slave dialectic does not have the last word. Reality has tensions, some of them very painful, but the true overcoming of them, the true "Aufhebung", is achieved by seeking a superior synthesis under the logic of the extreme gift, that is to say, under the re-encounter with the essential-Christian. This is why it is important to read Romano Guardini and Gaston Fessard. For this reason, among others, we must allow ourselves to be educated by Pope Francis.

Experience shows that the good news of the Gospel, lived in communion, is a source of renewed humanity, that is to say, of true development.
Rodrigo Guerra. Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America

Did faith really contribute to the development of the peoples of the Americas?

- North America consists of Canada, the United States and Mexico. Central America ranges from Guatemala to Panama. South America ranges from Colombia to Patagonia. In South America, and in general, in the entire Latin American region, since 1531 faith has been the most important factor of liberation and struggle for the dignity of all, especially the last and the excluded.

Those who seek to maintain that faith has not contributed to the development and emancipation of Latin America are heirs of the old enlightenment and the old theories of secularization. The latter, by the way, did not come true in Latin America, as even the most absent-minded observer can attest on any December 12 at Tepeyac.

Those who currently think that faith has not contributed to the development of Latin America would do well to meditate carefully on the "Nican Mopohua"; the work of Vasco de Quiroga; the arguments of Bartolomé de las Casas and Francisco de Vitoria in favor of the equal human dignity of the indigenous people; the very rich viceregal culture; and, very especially, the Latin American baroque, for example, in Puebla, Peru or Ecuador. There is nothing better to break illuminism than to make a pilgrimage on foot for weeks to some Marian shrine with our poor people, to visit the Jesuit reductions in Uruguay, to live the experience of a popular festival in Nicaragua, to read aloud Sister Juana Inés de la Cruz, to kneel at the tomb of Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero in El Salvador, or to carry the coffins of two elderly Jesuits recently murdered by organized crime in the Sierra Tarahumara.

Beyond theories and discourses, it is in experience that we can see that the good news of the Gospel, lived in communion, is a source of renewed humanity, that is, of true development.

If we look at many of the Ibero-American cultural traditions, we realize that the Christian faith joined previous traditions, contributing to their validity. Is South America an example of inculturation of faith?

- South America, Central America and Mexico are good examples of inculturated evangelization and inculturation of the Gospel. In each country there is a different modulation. But in all of them, some degree of inculturation is recognizable. However, the most adequate word to describe this phenomenon is not "union" between Christian faith and "previous traditions" but "incarnation".

In the mystery of the Incarnation, everything human is assumed, because only what is assumed is redeemed. The "analogy of the Incarnation," as St. John Paul II said, is what guides an adequate relationship between the Christian faith and cultures. Only in this way is there no destruction, but a patient and tender embrace. An embrace that assumes all pre-Hispanic signs and languages, in order to purify and elevate them through grace.

The logic of destruction is not part of the Christian proclamation. Someone once said to me: "but sin must be destroyed". In fact, indigenous sin and European sin must be "destroyed" with the mercy and tenderness that come from the heart of Jesus. It is mercy that "extirpates" sin. Never the annihilation of the other. It is God's mercy that saves. Anything else is violent Pelagianism. To evangelize in a radically inculturated way is at the heart of the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego.

¿How do you experience, from an American and Catholic perspective, the process of de-Christianization that is taking place in many places?

- In small neoconservative circles, de-Christianization is seen in terms of civilizational collapse. At various moments in the history of the Latin American Church, the conservative reduction of Christianity to moral norms has provoked erroneous diagnoses of the cultural crisis. Symmetrically, as in a mirror, the de-Christianization seen from progressive groups is celebrated with joy. The reduction of Christianity to the "ideology of common values" also leads to misdiagnoses about the challenge of the present moment. The identification of the progress of the kingdom of God with the apparent "progress" of contemporary relativistic society ends up affirming that true Christianity is that of secularized, purely "humanist" communities.

De-Christianization exists more because of the weakness of those of us who prefer a bourgeois Christianity, accustomed to exist within a comfort zone, than because of the "perversity" and "strategy" of anti-Christian tendencies.
Rodrigo Guerra. Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America

Both positions are a serious mistake. Neoconservatives and progressives, apparently opposed, are children of the same illuminist matrix. The theological reading of history made by the Latin American bishops from the II General Conference of the Episcopate (Medellin, 1968) to the V General Conference held in Aparecida (2007), is diverse. The processes of de-Christianization coexist with new searches that mean that the human heart continues to yearn for a fullness of truth, goodness, beauty and justice that only Christ can fulfill and surpass. Let me put it another way: the Latin American Church is the daughter of the Second Vatican Council. In the Council there is full awareness of the drama of our times. But this drama is not faced with fear of the world, nor with naive approval of its "worldly" inertia.

The "de-Christianization" of persons, families and societies is more than an "enemy", it is an "opportunity" to repropose with vitality an empirical, experiential, sacramental Christianity, not reactionary, but communitarian and missionary. For this, it is necessary, curiously, to love the world passionately. Not in order to overlap its deviations. But to embrace it and recognize that in it always dwell and will dwell motions of the Holy Spirit that precede us in the missionary dynamism.

In other words: de-Christianization exists more because of the weakness of those of us who prefer a bourgeois Christianity, accustomed to exist within a comfort zone, than because of the "perversity" and "strategy" of anti-Christian tendencies. This is why it is so opportune to listen to Pope Francis when he speaks to us of the "Church going out", turned to mission, not to reaction. She is turned to the peripheries, that is to say, to the extreme zones, full of risks, but in need of Christ.

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ColumnistsMaria Candela Temes

Polarizing the papacy

The Pope's work has always elicited diverse and even opposing reactions. However, to reduce the figure of the Pope to a merely political level or to consider him from the logic of confrontation is not only erroneous, but also unjust.

September 12, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

The logic of polarized discourse tends to employ a contrasting language through which a world divided into two irreconcilable principles is configured: conservative and conservative-conservative. versus progressive, right versus left, traditionalist versus liberal, they versus us. Yes or no. Black or white. No nuances. This opens an impassable gap that makes any attempt at dialogue or understanding between the two sides sterile.

This antagonistic panorama is applied by many analysts who deal with religious information and Vatican news to the papacy of Francis, presenting the Church as two divided factions and placing the Roman Pontiff on one's own side or the opposite, depending on the editorial position of the particular media outlet.

From the beginnings of the Church, the Petrine ministry has been an instrument of union and a guarantee of catholicity. The "shepherd my sheep". (Jn 21:16) of Jesus to Peter has had a constant echo throughout the history of the pontificate, even in its darkest hours. The Pope is a sign of unity for all the baptized, regardless of their origin, ideology or even political orientation.

To apply to Francis this logic of the two opposing poles is not only unjust or inappropriate, but also harmful. The Pope, like every educated man, has his own ideas about the temporal solution to the world's problems, but this personal vision does not impose itself on his role as guide of the universal Church. And it is not right to impose it on him from outside.

The Pope is a pastor, not a politician, no matter how much he governs the Vatican State. His leadership is spiritual. Now that we are in the midst of a reform of the Vatican curia, with the promulgation on March 19 of the apostolic constitution Praedicate EvangeliumThe Pope will meet in Rome on August 29 and 30 with the College of Cardinals to reflect on this legislative text, so perhaps it is worth remembering.

The authorMaria Candela Temes

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Cinema

Cartoons to watch with the family

Ida is a radiant, bright and precocious girl who arrives new at the colorful school at Winterstein Castle. There she finds an unwelcoming atmosphere, except for Benni, a peculiar and shy student who is not very popular.

Patricio Sánchez-Jáuregui-September 12, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

The school of magical animals

DirectorGregor Schnitzler

HistoryJohn Chambers, Arne Nolting, Viola Schmidt, Oliver Schütte

Ida is a radiant, bright and precocious girl, who arrives new to the colorful school at Winterstein Castle. There she finds an unwelcoming atmosphere, except for Benni, a peculiar and shy student who is not very popular and takes refuge in his fantasies of pirate adventures. At first, Ida will be attracted to Jo, the school rebel. This relationship will push Benni aside.

The class she is a part of is in for a surprise with the arrival of teacher Cornfield, a quirky teacher who will win the children over with her charm, introducing her brother, the also enigmatic Mortimer Morrison, owner of a "magical pet store". The students will become a "magical community" when they enthusiastically and excitedly welcome two talking animals, a turtle and a fox, who will choose to be Ida and Benni's pets. At the same time, other disturbing events will start to happen: disappearance of things, graffiti and various vandalisms, etc. Ida, Benni and their pets will have to join forces to discover the mischievous vandal and thief.

This imaginative semi-musical proposal in the purest style of the children's novels of The Fivecreates a juvenile detective adventure with all sorts of charms and without many pretensions. A colorful and colorful world with a moral, where the values of friendship, acceptance and honor are highlighted. A fable of real image and animated animals where the voices of these and their unconditional friendship serve to instill important messages to children, strengthen their self-confidence and help them find their role. All without losing sight of the idea of making them laugh and dream.

Eminently familiar, fantastic and adventurous. The film is based on the saga best seller international (7 million copies sold and translated into 25 languages) of German children's books by Margit Auer (writer) and Nina Dulleck (illustrator), which began its run in 2013. A correct, hour-and-a-half-long film, it hits the screens on September 9, with its sequel about to be released in the country of origin, where the first one was a hit with more than one million viewers.

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Synodal process enters continental phase

The General Secretariat of the Synod has received the syntheses of the Bishops' Conferences concerning the first synodal phase of the Synod of Bishops' Conferences. "listening to God's people"which concluded in June. Starting this September, the second phase, the continental phase, will begin, leading to the universal discussion of the bishops in October 2023.

Giovanni Tridente-September 12, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

The "local consultation phase" (dioceses, episcopal conferences, synods of the Eastern Church) of the synodal process of the universal Church, which will culminate in October 2023 with the "universal phase," has concluded. Beginning this September, the journey continues with the "continental phase", which provides for a new discernment on the text of the first Instrumentum Laboris -prepared by the General Secretariat of the Synod, this time, however, limited to the cultural specificities of each continent.

The phase that has just ended includes the "syntheses" prepared by each of the Bishops' Conferences, which in turn had collected the contributions of the particular Churches. They have been sent to the General Secretariat of the Synod, integrating a truly capillary consultation and immersed in the territory, as was the intention of Pope Francis. It is not by chance that, opening this extensive journey of spiritual and ecclesial discernment, in October 2021 the Pontiff invited to be "pilgrims in love with the Gospel, open to the surprises of the Holy Spirit."without losing "the graced occasions of encounter, of mutual listening, of discernment.".

Proposals from all countries

From the documents sent to Rome, it is possible to get an idea of what was kept in the heart and mind of the "people of God"The Church has offered it the opportunity to be a protagonist and to express itself freely, following a detailed and programmed path. Certainly, we must not absolutize the "answers" and even less the "proposals" which, as the Holy Father himself recalled, referring in particular to the German synodal path, will have to be examined later within the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be held in Rome in 2023.

Therefore, these syntheses have no "executive" value, but it cannot be ruled out that they represent the true sentiment in the souls of the faithful. They will certainly be a dynamic and a content to be taken into account for the Church's journey in this third millennium.

Without wishing to be exhaustive, let us look at some of the clues that emerge from the contributions sent to the Secretariat of the Synod by the main European Episcopal Conferences: Spain, Italy, France and Germany. Each document includes an introduction on the experience gained, reporting also some figures on the involvement of the working groups of the various ecclesial realities; a list of pre-eminent themes, formally about ten; a concluding part with concrete proposals to continue the path of involvement undertaken.

Spain

In the case of the Spanish Church, 14,000 synodal groups involved more than 215,000 people, mostly lay people, but also consecrated persons, religious, priests and bishops. More than 200 cloistered monasteries and 21 secular institutes participated. As in the case of other countries, the participation was of people already committed to the life of the Church, mostly women; there was little participation of young people and families, and of people who were distant or non-believers. There was no lack of doubts or initial uncertainty about this "listening phase", about whether it really served any purpose.

In terms of the ten points highlighted, the first is the role of women, an issue that is seen "as a concern, necessity and opportunity"The presence in the Church's organs of responsibility and decision making is indispensable. Concerns "the low presence and participation of young people in the life of the Church".The family is considered a priority area for evangelization. There is also an awareness of the question of the "family" as a priority area of evangelization.sexual abuse, abuse of power and abuse of conscience".and the need to institutionalize and strengthen "lay ministries".together with a "qualified presence of the Church in the rural world".The main focus is on popular religiosity, with specific attention to the elderly, the sick, migrants, prisoners and other religious denominations.

"We have been able to listen to each other, we have been free to speak, we have experienced hope, joy, illusion, courage to fulfill our mission, with a strong sense of community to continue on our journey and to do it together. We are deeply grateful for having been able to be protagonists in the process," say the protagonists.

Italy

On the Italian front, 50,000 synodal groups were formed for a total participation of half a million people.

"The synodality was not simply talked about, but lived, also taking into account the inevitable fatigue: in the work of the team, in the discreet and solicitous accompaniment of the parishes and the realities involved, in the pastoral creativity put into action, in the ability to plan, verify, collect and return to the community", the Italian synthesis points out, indicating that "the experience was exciting and generative" for those involved.

As for the "ten cores". around which the reflections that emerged from the diocesan syntheses - collected in about 1,500 pages - were organized, a plurality of themes emerged, priorities that for the Church in Italy represent as many as the following "works" to work on in the coming years.

Part of the need to "listen" to all the actors of social life, from the young to the marginalized, "welcoming" The plurality of situations and living conditions that inhabit a territory is thus brought into close proximity. The importance of the "relationships"of a "celebration" the centrality of the "communication"the strong desire to "share" and the inescapability of "dialogue". Every ecclesial community should be lived as a "home" and not as a club, avoiding self-referentiality and closed-mindedness. Finally, it is necessary to be at the side of the people. "in any state of life". All this must be carried out by means of a "method" based on the principles of spiritual conversation, to continue this listening process.

France

150,000 people participated in the synod process in the national phase in France from October 2021 to April 2022. Once again, their participation was appreciated. In the introduction to the synthesis document, it is stated that the proposals do not have the value of a theological judgment, but are intended to guide subsequent discernment within the Church, with regard to true "challenges that have emerged from this consultation.".

There was no shortage of listening difficulties "the voices of the most fragile, reaching and mobilizing young people". or involve priests in a more capillary way. Given that the work was carried out while the report on sexual abuse by an independent commission was raging in France, which also had a worldwide echo, one of the significant points of the process was to revive "the need to take care of each other".together with the inspiration of "a more fraternal Church"..

Other aspects considered the urgency of putting the Word of God first, as well as the recognition of the equal dignity of all the baptized through the implementation of ministries that are "at the service of the encounter with God and the encounter with people".. Equal dignity must be reserved to men and women, just as the different charisms must be recognized and supported. An important point is dedicated to the liturgy, which should be an expression of "....depth and communion"..

Germany

Lastly, Germany, already immersed in a "synodal journey" of its own starting in 2019 and often at the center of more than a few controversies. In this case, the response was much lower and less enthusiastic, probably precisely because it was a "parallel" experience. The document, in fact, recognizes that the number of believers involved did not even reach 10 % and that, in fact, it was impossible to involve people far from the Church or non-believers.

A number of points highlight critical aspects of the synodal process itself, such as the passive participation of the laity, the widespread doubt that the Church is sincere in its desire to truly listen, the lack of spiritual depth and faith, the self-referential language of the very vademecum proposed by the Synod Secretariat....

What emerges from the report, however, is the desire to give meaning back to the Eucharist, possibly through "an interpretation of the rites, a concrete and understandable language that speaks of the reality of the people".. Reference is made to the possibility of highlighting the charism of women through more active participation. With regard to the Church's dialogue with society, Catholics are divided "between those who want to distance themselves from the world and those who, on the other hand, feel a critical-constructive contemporaneity." with today's world. In this context, "there is a need for ever greater cooperation and a common Christian witness also in ecumenism"..

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Pope Francis: "God excludes no one, he wants everyone to be at his banquet".

This Sunday's parables of mercy were the backdrop for Pope Francis to gloss on one of his favorite themes, God's tenderness towards mankind.

Javier García Herrería-September 11, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

One of the highlights of Pope Francis' pontificate is how he has highlighted the mercy of God. The Gospel of the Prodigal Son this Sunday, September 11, was a natural occasion to return once again to this idea. "God is just like that: he excludes no one, he wants everyone to be at his banquet, because he loves everyone as his children."

God's heart is that of a good father, who "comes to look for us whenever we have gone astray". Even if a person possesses an abundance of material goods, he cannot be completely happy if he suffers for a loved one who is going astray. "The one who loves is concerned about what he misses, is nostalgic for the one who is absent, seeks the one who is lost, waits for the one who has wandered away. For he wants no one to be lost. Brothers and sisters, God is like this: he does not remain 'quiet' if we are far from him, he is grieved, he is deeply moved and he begins to search for us, until he takes us back into his arms".

God is father and mother

A true father, a true mother, loves her children unconditionally, without calculation or measure. For this reason, Pope Francis points out that the "Lord does not calculate loss and risks, he has the heart of a father and mother, and he suffers when he misses his beloved children. Yes, God suffers for our remoteness, and when we are lost, he awaits our return. Let us remember: God is always waiting for us with open arms, whatever the situation of life in which we have been lost."

As usual in the preaching of the Holy Father, he ends his words with some questions that serve as an examination of conscience for the faithful. On this occasion, he said: "Do we feel nostalgia for those who are absent, for those who have distanced themselves from the Christian life? Do we carry this inner restlessness, or do we remain serene and unperturbed among ourselves? In other words, do we really miss the one who is missing in our community? Or are we comfortable among ourselves, calm and blissful in our groups, without having compassion for the one who is far away?"

True Christian fraternity includes all people, regardless of how they think or how they like them. For this reason, the Pope launched some final questions underlining the Catholic, universal mentality of the Christian heart: "Do I pray for those who do not believe, for those who are far away? Do we attract those who are far away by means of God's style, which is closeness, compassion and tenderness? The Father asks us to be attentive to the children he misses the most. Let us think of someone we know, who is close to us and who perhaps has never heard anyone say to him or her: 'You know, you are important to God'".

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Eduardo Calvo: "People of other faiths are happy that the Pope is coming."

Bishop of Karaganda (Kazakhstan) explains Pope's upcoming trip

Adelio Dell'Oro, Bishop of Karaganda in Kazakhstan, gave a breakfast briefing for journalists on the Pope's upcoming apostolic journey.

Antonino Piccione-September 11, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

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"We Catholics, according to our abilities and sensibilities, seek to cooperate on the path of peace, harmony and development, mainly in three directions: beauty, selfless help and prayer."

With his intervention at the meeting promoted online this morning by the ISCOM Association (about thirty correspondents were present), Msgr. Adelio Dell'OroBishop of Karaganda (Kazakhstan), helped shed light on a number of issues related to Pope Francis' upcoming trip: the origin and intentions of the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions (the event that brings together various religious leaders from around the world) and the presence of the Catholic Church in the former Soviet country.

Born in Milan in 1948, Dell'Oro was curate for 25 years in two parishes of the diocese of the Lombard capital. In 1997, he left as a fidei donum missionary to Kazakhstanwhere he remained until 2009, when he returned to Italy. Pro-rector of the Guastalla College in Monza and resident in the parish of Cambiago, at the end of 2012 he was appointed bishop with the office of apostolic administrator of Atyrau. He has been bishop of Karaganda since January 31, 2015.

Sense of the congress

"Accepting the invitation of the civil and ecclesial authorities, Pope Francis will make the announced apostolic journey to Kazakhstan from September 13 to 15." This is how, at the beginning of August, a communiqué from the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, formalized the visit of the Holy Father to the city of Nur-Sultan on the occasion of the VII Congress of leaders of world and traditional religions, convened to discuss the socio-spiritual development of humanity in the post-pandemic era and in the context of the convulsive geopolitical situation.

A Congress - explains Dell'Oro - organized for the first time in 2003, coinciding with the second anniversary of the apostolic journey of John Paul II (September 22-27, 2001), by the then President of the Republic Nursultan Abievich Nazarbaev, inspired by Pope Karol Wojtyła, who two years earlier, addressing young Kazakhs, had invited Muslims and Christians to build a "civilization based on love" and to make Kazakhstan "a noble country, without borders, open to encounter and dialogue."

The Assisi meetings

The model? The "Day of Prayer for World Peace" convened in Assisi by John Paul II in January 2002, with the aim of reaffirming the positive contribution of different religious traditions to confrontation and harmony among peoples and nations in the wake of the tensions that followed the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Since then, since 2003, the Congress has been held regularly every three years, with the exception of the seventh edition, which was postponed for a year due to the pandemic, and will be held at the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation. Over time, the initiative has become a catalyst for interfaith and intercultural dialogue around the world to foster the resolution of religious and political conflicts. Four years ago (October 2018), the last Congress was attended by delegations from 45 countries.

"First of all," Dell'Oro reflects, "it is necessary for religious leaders to establish stronger and closer relationships of proximity at a time when religions themselves are being challenged: the great issue of the exclusion of God from modern societies is significantly affecting religions, which must rediscover the ability to be credible in this time. Then there is the question of the interest of the new generations, who are less and less attracted to the religious element and the traditions that religions represent. The question of the credibility of religions therefore arises from the fundamental assumption: how does one experience God? How does one experience faith? How can one appreciate the value of religions? Religions are for peace.

Personal encounters

A peace that is also built through direct and personal encounters between leaders. In this sense, the Bishop of Karaganda does not hide his regret - "it grieves me" - for the non-participation of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in the Congress of Kazakhstan: "it would have been a remarkable contribution, meeting with Pope Francis", to put an end to what the Pontiff himself has described as "a war of particular gravity, both for the violation of international law, and for the risks of nuclear escalation, and for the strong economic and social consequences. It is a third world war in pieces".

Moreover, in order to consolidate relations between China and the Holy See, "the news that President Xi Jinping will visit Kazakhstan on the same day that Pope Francis will be in the Central Asian country next week is to be welcomed," according to Dell'Oro.

Expectation

The visit of Pope Francis to Kazakhstan arouses great expectation from the point of view of the Catholic community, in a country that is 80% Muslim, given that the Christian faith, in its Catholic form, for some 60 years was communicated with the almost total absence of priests and, therefore, of the sacraments, with the exception of baptism, which was mostly administered clandestinely. "During the Soviet era," Dell'Oro stresses, "there were no ecclesiastical structures.

Then semi-clandestine priests appeared, survivors of concentration camps, among them Blessed Władysław Bukowiński, beatified on September 11, 2016 in Karaganda, or arrivals from Lithuania. After 1991, with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the emergence of Kazakhstan as an independent state, like the other religions, the Catholic Church was also able to come out of hiding; priests and nuns were invited from Poland, Germany, Slovakia, etc., and ecclesiastical buildings could be constructed."

A dove with an olive branch, its wings depicted as joined wings. The logo for Pope Francis' trip to Kazakhstan looks like this, while the motto is "Messengers of peace and unity".

"I believe that the Pope" - is Dell'Oro's final reflection - "will highlight the origin of peace by underlining the importance of recognizing that we all depend on God and, therefore, that we are all his sons and daughters and, consequently, brothers and sisters among all men, beyond different political visions and ethnic affiliations (in Kazakhstan people belonging to more than 130 ethnic groups live together)."

The authorAntonino Piccione

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Vatican diplomacy in the Ukrainian war

What is the future of ecumenical diplomacy?

The refusal of Patriarch Kirill not to attend the World Congress of Religious Leaders is an important sign of the delicate situation in which ecumenical diplomacy finds itself. In this article we analyze the most important variables to take into account at this moment.

Andrea Gagliarducci-September 10, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

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For the time being there will be no second meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow. The Patriarch has abruptly withdrawn his presence from the World Meeting of Religious LeadersThe meeting, to be held in Nur Sultan (Kazakhstan) on September 14-15, will also be attended by Pope Francis. Ecumenical diplomacy is in a particularly delicate phase.

Patriarch Kirill had confirmed his participation some time ago, and it could be said that one of the reasons Pope Francis wanted to go to Kazakhstan was precisely because of the possibility of a second meeting with the Patriarch.

This second meeting had taken on incredible importance at a time when the conflict in Ukraine had broken out. The Moscow Patriarchate had not only supported Russian decisions, but had found itself hopelessly isolated in the midst of Orthodoxy. Even Metropolitan Onufry, who led the Kiev Orthodox flock linked to the Moscow Patriarchate, had effectively severed ties with his mother house. While from the Serbian Patriarchate, traditionally allied with Russia, aid came directly to Onufry, bypassing Moscow's mediation.

They were minor clashes in an Orthodox world that, with the Russian aggression in Ukraine, was beginning to change its attitude and even its line of force. Because on one side there is always Moscow, the largest Orthodox Church, the one linked to the most powerful state. But on the other side there are the other "autocephalies" (the Orthodox Churches are national), which in the face of Russian aggression have slightly changed their attitude. Encouraged, it is true, by the example of Ukraine, which already in 2018 had asked and obtained to become an autocephalous Church, detaching itself from the secular administration of Moscow granted to it by Constantinople in the 17th century.

Ukrainian autocephaly has been on the verge of leading to an Orthodox schism, with Moscow on one side and the rest of the Orthodox world on the other, or simply watching. And it is perhaps to that autocephaly that one must look to really understand Moscow's fears, those of a Ukraine ever further away from its Russian brethren, ever closer to Europe.

What will happen in Kazakhstan?

There will be no meeting with Patriarch Kirill, but that does not mean that Pope Francis' trip will have no significance or impact. The Pope will meet with other religious leaders, have personal conversations with each of them, trying to build bridges of dialogue.

In general, the protocol caused some perplexity. The Pope does not participate in meetings organized by other governments, but rather organizes the meeting or is the chief guest. Mere participation runs the risk of belittling him, and this is something the Holy See has always been wary of.

Likewise, the World Meeting of Religious Leaders held in Nur Sultan is, to say the least, an extraordinary opportunity to establish accounts.

Since 2019, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue has established a memorandum of understanding with the organization of the World Meeting of Religious Leaders, in the culmination of very good relations established since the Holy See attended the Expo in the country with its pavilion in 2017.

Now, it will be Pope Francis who will exploit this mine of encounters, accompanied by Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, president of the dicastery and now practically at home in Kazakhstan,

And who knows if the Pope will not take advantage of his presence in Nur Sultan to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will be in Kazakhstan during the same days. It would be an extraordinary coup for the Kazakh president, but even more so for Russia, which would not hesitate to show the meeting as a sign of the Pope's openness also towards countries marginalized by the West.

Chances of meeting Kirill

As has been said, Patriarch Kirill will not be present, but Metropolitan Antonij, the new head of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department of External Relations.

Kirill's absence is explained in a very concrete way: the Patriarch of Moscow does not want the Pope to receive him "on the sidelines" of another event, but wants this meeting to have dignity, to produce a document, to represent a milestone.

And the fact is that, faced with a possible isolation even in the Orthodox world, the Moscow Patriarchate needs to demonstrate that there is at least one leader, and among the most respected, who gives credence to its work. And this despite the fact that the Pope did not hesitate to call Kirill "Putin's altar boy" in the videoconference of last March 16 - Pope Francis himself admitted it in an interview - and despite the fact that Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, defined as "heresy" certain Orthodox theological positions on Russkyi Mir, Greater Russia.

What's new now?

The presence of the Pope, who did not meet with Kirill, represents for Kazakhstan not only an opportunity to celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations with the Holy See, but also to strengthen a role in the interreligious dialogue it has been trying to develop since 2003, when the World Meeting of Religious Leaders was held for the first time.

At the end of the meeting a joint statement will be made, which - Kazakh officials explained - will be "distributed as an official UN document", and it will "reflect on the most topical problems of the world, global conflicts, geopolitical tensions, social problems, including the spread of moral and ethical values".

It should be noted that the theme of the conference was also pointed out by Kazakhstan to the UAE authorities, to the point that the Kazakh ambassador to Abu Dhabi held a press conference on the subject in recent days. And the final declaration will likely have two models: the Abu Dhabi Declaration on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis during his 2019 trip to the UAE together with the Grand Imam of al Azhar Ahmed al Tayyb; and the final declaration of the meeting between Pope Francis and Kirill in Havana in 2016.

This would take the best of the latest models of dialogue developed by Pope Francis, continuing in that wake along a path acceptable to the Holy See.

A trip to Moscow or Kiev?

There has been much talk of the trip to Kazakhstan as a consequence, or anticipation, of a trip by Pope Francis to Moscow or Kiev, or both. As things stand, neither a trip to Moscow nor to Kiev seems likely. Pope Francis has long maintained that it is for medical reasons, and that he would like to go at least to Kiev, where there is an urgent invitation, but that he cannot because his condition does not allow it.

This is true, but it is only a partial explanation. A trip to Kiev made after the trip to Kazakhstan and a possible meeting with Patriarch Kirill would probably have exacerbated Ukrainian tempers, already very upset by the war. Now, a trip to Kiev after the meeting in Kazakhstan would have more opportunities, but at the same time would be seen as secondary.

Moscow's situation is different, because that requires an invitation, and there has not yet been one. These are very difficult and delicate diplomatic situations, which are based on balances yet to be deciphered.

Certainly, the trip to Kazakhstan has no connection with the other two trips that the Pope could undertake. But it has an ideal link with the passage to Jerusalem that the pope would have wanted to make on June 14, after two days in the Lebanonwhere he would meet with Patriarch Kirill.

Everything was ready for the meeting, which was then postponed for "reasons of convenience", leaving the Moscow Patriarchate not a little puzzled. Perhaps this is also the practical reason why Kirill decided not to go to Nur Sultan.

European reconciliation can only be achieved through ecumenical dialogue. This is well known in Ukraine, where the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations, which has been bringing together the religious denominations of Ukraine for 25 years, is making specific appeals.

The Catholic Church can play an important role in this ecumenical reconciliation. But, to use the words of His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, "we can reconcile with our brothers. We cannot reconcile with geopolitics".

The authorAndrea Gagliarducci

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ColumnistsJaqui Lin

Medjugorje Youth Festival, a call to conversion

During the summer, there have been two numerous youth gatherings, the European Youth Pilgrimage and the Medjugorje Fest, which was attended by more than 50,000 people. We offer the testimony of a participant in the latter event.

September 10, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

Three weeks have passed since the best trip of my life. No beach, no pool. No big dinners and meals either. Let alone sleeping in until 12 noon. However, it has been the best vacation ever.

On July 31, 2022, I traveled to Medjugorje, a village in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the Virgin Mary has been appearing, under the title of the Queen of Peace, since 1981. I took a plane from Barcelona (El Prat) to Croatia (Split), and from there a bus to Medjugorje. I went with a group of young people from Effetá Valencia, and our pilgrimage was To Jesus through Mary, organized by Blanca Llantada and Emilio Ferrando.

I had heard a lot about Medjugorje, I had even seen several videos of the visionary Mirjana. I always said that one day I would go, since it is a sacred place where many graces are received, but it would have to come with time, since I am not one to plan trips far in advance. And it wasn't until this year that Our Lady called me to go. And you may ask, "and how did she call you?". In my particular case it was a birthday present. Every pilgrim feels called in a different way. It is something inexplicable. It seems that you are not organizing the trip, but that you are being called to go. And the Virgin, our Mother, has something to tell you when you get there.

Something that they warn you as soon as you get on the bus, on the way to the inn, and that I also want to transmit to future pilgrims, is that to enjoy this trip and to take advantage of it, you have to go with an open heart. This is the main motto. Open your heart to everything you can see and everything you can be told. Try to find out what God wants from you, what plan He is asking of you. And for this, it is important to be prepared. Because if you had a plan a priori, such as continuing in "x" job, going around the world or traveling to the Greek islands, it could be totally modified. "Fiat voluntas tua.

These events will measure the thermometer of our faith. How much do we trust our Heavenly Father?

Every day we had a Youth Festival program: Holy Rosary, Angelus, Holy Mass, testimonies, catechesis, Eucharistic adoration, and other evening activities such as the procession with the image of Our Lady or the candlelight meditation and prayer before the cross. On the other hand, each pilgrimage organized outings to the most emblematic places: Apparition Hill, Cross Mountain, the cemetery of Mostar, etc.

It was a week of much activity and in order to get everything done, some hours of rest were disturbed, but it was well worth it. More than 500 priests, confessors, religious, converts, and tens of thousands of young people from all continents gathered there to pray for peace in the world and commend our intentions.

I experienced incredible homilies, firm, without lukewarmness, of those that seem to be nailing the words in your heart. I would especially like to mention that of Friar Marinko Sakota.

The sacrament of confession was my great gift. I lived a personal and unique experience. A Franciscan priest confessed me and what we experienced, both he and I, was a gift from heaven. The Holy Spirit interceded between us and we could both see the reflection of Jesus in our eyes. He spoke to me very clearly and gave me spiritual guidance on what I should do from now on. That moment changed part of my life and the rest of the days of my trip. If I did not accept his words with an open heart, nothing made sense. So I listened to him.

That moment marked the beginning of a deeper conversion of my faith. Now I spend an hour or more every day in front of the Blessed Sacrament, I pray the Holy Rosary every day, I also pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, and I meditate on a page of the Holy Bible at random. I try to fulfill the 5 stones that Mary asks of us: prayer, fasting, reading the Holy Bible, confession and the Eucharist.

I have fallen in love with prayer and adoring Our Lord Jesus Christ. It is my favorite time of the day. I speak to Him and He, through the intercession of the Holy Spirit, whispers to me.

Medjugorje calls for conversion, even of Christians themselves. The journey of faith never ends, it is a long-distance race that must be run daily to get to know the heart of Jesus and that of his Mother, Mary. There I felt that God needs us, each and every one of us. And we must respond to his call.

I take many things from this trip. I am going to mention the ones that have touched me the most: the great merciful love that God and our Mother, the Virgin Mary, feel for each one of us; the manifestation of peace in every corner of the village of Medjugorje; the graces that are granted during the trip and afterwards, and not only on a personal level, but also in your family circle; having seen that the presence of evil also exists; the power of prayer; and the number of people who accompany you on this journey. We are not alone.

Now I would shout a Viva Cristo Rey!

The authorJaqui Lin

Singer and attendee of Medjugorje Fest.

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Santi nella vita familiare, un insegnamento centrale nel messaggio di san Josemaría Escrivá

Opus Dei, founded by St. Josemaría Escrivá, is rooted in the need to live contemplation in the midst of the world. Consequently, the vocation and mission of marriage are sanctified.

Rafael de Mosteyrín Gordillo-September 9, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

At the conclusion of the Year of the Family entitled Amoris laetitiaThe key points of this central nucleus of St. Josemaría's teaching are resumed, coinciding with the saint's feast day.

With regard to this curious coincidence, which we can regard as accidental or providential, we would like to recall some of St. Josemaría's advice on marriage and family life.

L'esempio della Sacra Famiglia

The path of sanctity, proper to marriage, has several parts in which the Christian's response develops. St. Josemaría Escrivá explains the means by which identification with Christ is achieved. The absolute answer, how to walk the path of life and reach the goal, is Christ.

The most important and continuous reference is that of the imitation of Christ in ordinary life. The example to follow is that of the Holy Family, so that God is always present in our lives.
St. Josemaría thus shows the need to live contemplation in the midst of the world. Consequently, the vocation and mission of marriage are sanctified.

In his writings a distinction is made between the sanctification of temporal activities, the sanctification of ordinary work and sanctification through family life, procreation and the education of children. In this way the vocation of the layperson, according to the Christian spirit, in the development of the professional, social or marital competencies that make up his or her life.

Sanctify and sanctify

Starting from the grace of the sacrament of marriage, St. Josemaría Escrivá insisted on the education of his children, the sanctification of the family, the care of the family, the dedication to the profession, etc.

Sono ambititi in cui allo stesso tempo è necessario l'aiuto soprannaturale, che ci viene dalla preghiera e dai sacramenti. Both at home and in the various places in which it operates, the Christian family can gradually develop the specific vocation foreseen by God for each of its members.

Attention to the good of the spouse and children is in marriage a necessary element for the sanctification of both spouses.

The main challenge that St. Josemaría presents to the genitors is that of forming authentic Christians, people who strive to attain and transmit sanctity.

The path of every ordinary Christian is therefore the sanctification of professional work and family and social relationships, attainable with the means of sanctification and apostolate provided by the Church. As means we always refer to participation in the sacraments, prayer and Christian formation.

Marriage and family life are paths of happiness and holiness through sacrificial and generous dedication to the will of God and others.

The teachings of the Rivelazione on the vocation to marriage are seen by St. Josemaría under a new light. This light, derived from the charism that God has given him, is, according to us, his greatest characteristic of originality.

Ora spetta a ciascun battezzato riconoscere la dignità della vocazione matrimoniale e collaborare nel mondo, ciascuno dal proprio posto.

The teaching of St. Josemaría, and his correspondence to the grace of God, has been highlighted by the Church, also with the canonization, which took place in Rome on October 6, 2002.

Analyzing his preaching, we can conclude that the divine call to strive to be holy through marriage and family life is a central message of St. Josemaría Escrivá.

The authorRafael de Mosteyrín Gordillo

Priest.

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Eduardo Calvo: "People of other faiths are happy that the Pope is coming."

Eduardo Calvo Sedano, originally from Palencia, is pastor of the parish of St. Joseph in Almaty (Kazakhstan) and Director of Diocesan Caritas. We spoke with him about the upcoming visit of Pope Francis to the country.

Aurora Diaz Soloaga-September 9, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

Pope Francis has accepted the invitation of the country's president, Kasym-Jomart Tokaev to attend the VII World and Traditional Religions Congresss, in the city of Nur-Sultan. We interviewed Eduardo Calvo, a Spanish priest working in the Asian country.

Kazakhstan awaits the second visit of a Pope: after the experience of John Paul II's visit in 2001, how is the young Church preparing now?

-With joy and enthusiasm. It is a stimulus for all of us in our faith. We live in an environment of great religious indifference, where the Christian religion is a minority. The majority of Christians are of Orthodox tradition and many people hardly know what it means to be Catholic. The Pope's visit helps us all to see that our faith is alive, that it is "catholic" (international). It also reminds us that the Catholic faith is part of the religious roots of this land, where there have been Catholics since the first centuries of the Church's history, before the appearance of Islam.

Is the visit of a religious leader such as the Pope well accepted in a multicultural society?

-Totally. Moreover, I dare to say that, in general terms, it is not only accepted, but also loved and desired. There are many people of other faiths who are happy that a person of the Pope's worldwide transcendence is coming to the country.

Kazakhstan is a very tolerant and diverse country. People are used, since childhood, to coexist and relate very naturally with people of other nationalities and other faiths. Here it is normal that people from different cultures are friends and are not even aware that this diversity could have been an obstacle in their lives to be united and relate with cordiality. After all, we are human beings... in substance we are the same: we seek to love and to be loved, we like to walk and laugh, we have similar problems, we live in the same environment...

How is the country recovering after the unrest in its main city, Almaty, in January of this year? Could the climate of insecurity that prevailed at that time affect the Pope's visit?

-The feeling of those of us who are here is that "the page has been turned". Those incidents endangered our coexistence and, I would dare say, also our democracy. They are part of the past and we have returned to ordinary life, with its lights and shadows. Every country has its pluses and minuses. It hurts me to hear sometimes in Spain comments made with an air of superiority, looking at Central Asian countries (such as Kazakhstan), as if they were "second class" countries, inferior not only economically or politically, but also morally or socially... I think it is deeply unfair and far from the truth.

The current situation is peaceful. The Pope's visit is also a gift for non-Catholics, an encouragement. His visit reminds us that he loves us and takes us into consideration.

The Pope has canceled other recent trips for health reasons, yet he wanted to keep this trip, which he described as "calm" on his return trip from Canada. Do you see other reasons why the Pope has been able to keep this trip on his schedule?

-The reason, I believe, is your desire to dialogue with other Christian confessions and with people of other faiths, to deepen the much we have in common and the need to live together as brothers and sisters, belonging to the same family. In this sense, your intention to participate in this world meeting of religious leaders is understandable. Today, it seems to me that it is vitally important to join forces to combat religious radicalism and promote peace.

What vision of the Church in Asia can the Kazakhstan community bring to the Pope?

-I think the Pope is quite aware of the situation we live in. He knows about our difficulties and our dreams. We can bring him our affection, with a greater physical closeness. We can share with him our prayers and our desire for this Church in minority to grow, to proclaim the Gospel, to be devoted to others, to prosper not only economically but also spiritually... The Catholic Church here is alive and growing. Thanks be to God, many Christians here are not foreigners, but local people and many of them have come to the faith through the witness of other Catholics and not through family tradition.

There has been talk of the strategic importance of this visit of the Pope to Kazakhstan at this time, considering the country's links with the Slavic world and the significant presence of Russian and Ukrainian populations living there. Do you think that this trip could contribute something to the process of pacification of the nearby conflict in Ukraine?

-The Holy Father wants to be very close to those who suffer. The conflict in Ukraine is of a global order. I have no doubt that he is doing what he can to defuse the situation. Kazakhstan, because it is situated on neutral territory, because of its open character and because of the presence in the country of people of all nations, I think it is a good place for the Catholic Church, with the Pope at its head, ask the whole world to reign in peace and love.

The authorAurora Diaz Soloaga

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ColumnistsJavier Segura

Hand in hand with Maria, with an eye on Lisbon

The journey of the Virgin Mary to Aim-Karim to help her cousin Elizabeth is the background of the next Youth Day in Lisbon 2023. From this proposal we can draw some items that can help us when designing a pastoral and educational project for this course.

September 9, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

This academic year will undoubtedly be marked ecclesially by the celebration of World Youth Day, convoked by Pope Francis in Lisbon. The motto chosen by the successor of Peter on this occasion is "Mary arose and departed without delay" (Lk 1:39). With this, Francis proposes to the young people the attitude of the Virgin Mary as a model to follow when, upon learning that her cousin Elizabeth was pregnant, she hurried to the mountain to help her.

This ecclesial event that we will live from August 1 to 6, 2023, we have to prepare it as well as possible if we want it to bear maximum fruit. We have a whole year to do so. And the Pope points out a path to follow for all the educators who accompany the young people on this pilgrimage to the Portuguese capital: to propose the model of the young Mary on her journey to Ain-Karim, the village where her relative lived.

There are several milestones that we can take into account when planning an educational journey that prepares the hearts of young people for the great experience of the summer. The model of that girl who has just received the news that she would be the mother of God and her vital attitudes will undoubtedly be the best reference that we can propose and cultivate among our young people. I would like to point out some items that can help us when designing a pastoral and educational project for this course.

Self-forgetfulness

Mary receives the angel's announcement that she was the woman chosen to be the mother of the messiah, but she does not remain self-absorbed, but forgets herself and is attentive to what her cousin needs. This self-forgetfulness is a great proposal, clearly against the current, boldly revolutionary. It will be like background music all year long. Forget ourselves, stop navel-gazing, look up and discover the needs of others.

Left in a hurry

Without delay, Maria goes to help her cousin. She doesn't dwell on abstract approaches, on ethereal or sentimental commitments, but gets down to work. We must encourage young people to jump off the couch, to detach themselves from the screen, to seriously engage with reality. And to do so by overcoming the laziness that always drags us to the most comfortable things. The road to Lisbon must be concretized in actions of help to others that take us out of our comfort and laziness. We must help our young people to concretize and put into action their desire to give themselves to others.

The revolution of joy

As soon as Mary entered Elizabeth's house, the child she carried in her womb leaped for joy. Elizabeth intones a praise to Mary, whose unexpected visit fills the whole house with joy and gladness. And Mary herself breaks into song singing the Magnificat. Mary carries the revolution of joy wherever she goes. Our journey to Lisbon must be marked by that joy that is born of giving oneself to others. And it must materialize in a culture that brings a smile to our lips, that banishes complaint from our hearts, that becomes welcome and tenderness. Joy must be a hallmark of the Christian, as Pope Francis has been asking us since the beginning of his pontificate.

With Jesus in the womb

And a final milestone on this journey is to actualize the presence of Jesus in our lives. Mary carried him in her womb all this time. That is the motor of her life, that is the cause of the joy that overflows. With her, along the roads of Palestine, the first Corpus Christi procession takes place. To live from Christ, especially in the sacrament of the Eucharist, and to bring him to others, are also two milestones that we can set on our way to WYD. Taking care of our Eucharistic celebrations and carrying out in group some evangelizing action that helps others to meet Jesus will make us enter the school of Mary.

May we prepare well for this transcendental event and take advantage of this opportunity so propitious for evangelization that Pope Francis is offering us. And, by the way, it is so close to us this time, what a gift!

The authorJavier Segura

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.

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Pope's teachings

On the meaning and value of old age

In August, the Pope concluded his eighteen catecheses on old age, begun on February 23, after the catechesis on St. Joseph. Francis offers us lessons in humanity and Christian anthropology.

Ramiro Pellitero-September 9, 2022-Reading time: 8 minutes

In these catecheses, the Pope presents old age as a gift that is important to protect and educate, so that we know how to welcome and care for it, so that the human and Christian mission of the elderly may shine forth.

Old age as a gift and a blessing

He began by placing old age in the unitary framework of the protagonist ages of life. Today, the elderly are more numerous than at other times in history, and at the same time they have been at greater risk of being discarded since the last century: "The exaltation of youth as the only age worthy of embodying the human ideal, combined with contempt for old age seen as frailty, degradation or invalidity, was the dominant mark of the totalitarianisms of the 20th century." (General Audience, 23-II-2022). Today, in the dominant culture, the elderly are undervalued in their spiritual quality, their sense of community, their maturity and wisdom. And this, in the eyes of the Pope, implies a "emptiness of thought, imagination, creativity".

"With these catecheses on old age." -she declared- "I would like to encourage everyone to invest thoughts and affections in the gifts she brings with her and for the other ages of life." (ibid.) The elderly are like the roots of the tree: the juice, if this "trickle" - so to speak - does not come from the roots, there will be no flowers or fruit (cf. ibid.).

Opportunity to make the world more humane

The Bible shows that human maturation and its spiritual quality requires a long time of initiation, of support between generations, of transmission of experiences, like a long "fermentation", of a dialogue between grandparents and children, which mark the extremes of the ages. But "the modern city tends to be hostile to the elderly (and not coincidentally to children as well)" (General Audience, 2-III-2022). Therefore, without dialogue between generations we have "a sterile society, with no future, a society that does not look at the horizon, but looks at itself." (ibid).

Old age, says Francis, can save the world, because it comes before the day of destruction. Let us recall the story of Noah and the flood, and the considerations of Jesus (cf. Lk 17:26-27). This can happen to us without being saved by robots. Jesus warns that, if we are concerned only with eating and drinking, and not with the fundamental questions of our life - spiritual quality, care for the common home, justice and love - we can become accustomed to corruption.

This is why Francis tells the elderly: "You have the responsibility to denounce the human corruption in which we live and in which continues that way of life of relativism, totally relative, as if everything were lawful. Go ahead. The world needs, needs strong young people, who will go forward, and wise old people." (ibid).

"Memory" and "testimony" of lived faithfulness

The Pope also looks at the so-called "Canticle of Moses," which is like the spiritual testament of the one who was the guide of the Chosen People (cf. Deut. 32ff.). A beautiful confession of faith, which transmits, as a precious inheritance, the memory of God's faithfulness to his People. Also our elders can reach that lucidity, that wisdom that comes from the years well spent; and therefore that capacity to deliver ("tradition") the sense of the passed history.

"In our culture." -Francisco observes, "so 'politically correct', this path is hindered in various ways: in the family, in society, in the Christian community itself. There are those who even propose abolishing the teaching of history, as superfluous information about worlds that are no longer current, which takes resources away from knowledge of the present. As if we were born yesterday!" (General Audience, 23-III-2022)

This is why the Pope points out: "It would be nice if in the catechesis plans there was also from the beginning the habit of listening, of the lived experience of the elderly."Thus they enter the "promised land" (the life of faith) that God prepares for each generation.

Protecting the elderly, educating in eldercare

Francis says that it is the duty of society to educate everyone to honor the elderly (cf. General Audience 20-IV-2022). The Bible condenses this duty when it commands us to "honor father and mother," suggesting a broader interpretation. But we often fail in this duty. "Honor is lacking when overconfidence, instead of manifesting itself as delicacy and affection, tenderness and respect, becomes rudeness and prevarication. When weakness is reproached, and even punished, as if it were a fault. When bewilderment and confusion become an occasion for mockery and aggression." (ibid).

This - warns Peter's successor - opens the way, in society, to unimaginable excesses.

The bridge between the young and the old

The Pope has insisted that the "covenant between generations" be fostered in order to open up the future (cf. General Audience, 27 April 2022). He relies on the book of Ruth, which he considers complementary to the Song of Songs in explaining the value of nuptial love, in that it celebrates the power, poetry and strength of love, which can be found in the bonds of family and kinship.

Taking his cue from another biblical story, that of the old man Eleazar (cf. 2 M, 18 ff.), Francis explains how the fidelity of old age shows the "honor" that we owe to the faith, and that we give it when we live it to the end, even when we have to go against the tide (cf. General Audience, May 4, 2022).

Opposing the Gnostic position (a purely theoretical and spiritualistic faith, which is not "tainted" by life and has no influence on society), Francis declares that "the practice of faith is not the symbol of our weakness, but the sign of its strength." (ibid.).

And so: "We will demonstrate, in all humility and firmness, precisely in our old age, that believing is not something 'for old people,' but something vital. Believe in the Holy Spirit, who makes all things new, and he will gladly help us.". Living faith is the heritage of old age.

The generosity of the elderly is the fruit and guarantee of an admirable youth.

From the biblical figure of Judith - a heroine who saves her people through the strength and courage of her love - Francis draws other important lessons (cf. General Audience, May 11, 2022).

"Little ones learn the strength of tenderness and respect for fragility: irreplaceable lessons, which with grandparents are easier to impart and receive. Grandparents, for their part, learn that tenderness and fragility are not only signs of decadence: for the young, they are passages that make the future human."

The book of Job teaches that old age can overcome trials - pandemics, diseases, wars - with faith, and thus open up hope for all (cf. General Audience, "The Book of Job")., 18-V-2022). In the face of the serious trials that God allows, and the apparent "silence" of God, Job does not shrink back and manifests his faith: "I know that my redeemer lives, and that at last he will rise above the dust: after my skin is torn off, no longer fleshless, I shall see God. I myself shall see him, and no other; my own eyes shall see him." (19, 25-27).

Love of justice, prayer and "magisterium of fragility".

The Pope also turns to the book of Ecclesiastes or Ecclesiastes. There he teaches how to overcome the disenchantment that comes with old age ("all is vanity"), with a passion for justice; and this is a sign of faith, hope and love (cf., 25-V-2022). Instead of cynicism and lukewarmness (acedia), which combine knowledge and irresponsibility, a successful old age becomes an antidote to disappointment, skepticism and paralyzing discouragement.

This requires prayer. Taking his cue from Psalm 71, Francis points out some characteristics that prayer in old age should have. "We are all tempted to hide our vulnerability, to hide our illness, our age and our old age, because we fear that they are the prelude to our loss of dignity." (General Audience, 1-VI-2022).

The old man rediscovers prayer and testifies to its power. "The elderly, by their weakness, can teach those who live other ages of life that we all need to abandon ourselves to the Lord, to invoke his help. In that sense, we all need to learn from old age: yes, there is a gift in being old understood as abandoning oneself to the care of others, beginning with God himself." (Ibid).

This gives rise to a "magisterium of fragility".not to hide the weaknesses of old age is a lesson of the elderly for everyone.

The human and Christian mission of the elderly

In the Gospel of John, Nicodemus asks Jesus: "How can one be born already old?" (Jn 3:4). And Jesus explains that old age is an opportunity to be spiritually reborn and to bring a message of future, mercy and wisdom (cf. General Audience, June 8, 2022).

Today, says the Pope, "old age is a special time to dissolve the future of the technocratic illusion of biological and robotic survival, but above all because it opens up to the tenderness of the creative and generative womb of God." (ibid.).

And so he teaches: "The old are the messengers of the future, the old are the messengers of tenderness, the old are the messengers of the wisdom of a life lived." (ibid.).

School of acceptance and service

From the account of the healing of Simon's mother-in-law (cf. Mk 1:29-31), Francis considers: "When you are old, you no longer command your body. It is necessary to learn to accept one's limits, what we can no longer do." (cfr. General Audience 15-VI-2022: "I have to go with a cane now, too.").

Pedro's mother-in-law "he arose and began to serve them." Says the Pope: "Elders who preserve the disposition for healing, consolation, intercession for their brothers and sisters - be they disciples, be they centurions, persons troubled by evil spirits, discarded persons...-, are perhaps the highest testimony of purity of that gratitude which accompanies faith.". All this, she notes, is not exclusive to women. But women can teach men about gratitude and the tenderness of faith, which is sometimes harder for them to understand.

In the dialogue between the risen Jesus and Peter at the end of John's Gospel (21:15-23, cf. General Audience 22-VI-2022), Francis also finds grounds for advising the elderly:

"You must be a witness for Jesus even in weakness, in sickness and in death.". Moreover, the Lord always speaks to us according to our age. And our following must learn to allow ourselves to be instructed and shaped by our own frailty, our helplessness, our dependence on others, even in our clothing, in our gait".

Spiritual life is what gives us that strength and wisdom to knowing how to say goodbye with a smile: "A joyful farewell: I have lived my life, I have kept my faith.".

It is up to others, especially the young, to help the elders to live and express this wisdom, and to know how to receive it.

Time to bear witness to the life that no longer dies

In the same vein, near the end of the catechesis, the Pope invites us to reread Jesus' farewell (cf. Jn 14): "When I have gone away and prepared a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also." (14, 3).

Peter's successor affirms: "The time of life on earth is the grace of that passage. The presumption to stop time-to want eternal youth, unlimited well-being, absolute power-is not only impossible, it is delusional." (cf. General Audience, 10-VIII-2022).

Here below, life is initiation, imperfection on the way to a fuller life. And Francis takes the opportunity to say that, to our preaching, where beatitude, light and love abound, "maybe it lacks a little life".

In connection with this is the Pope's original catechesis on the "white-haired old man" which appears in the book of Daniel (7:9; cf. General Audience, 17-VIII-2022). This is how God the Father is usually represented. But this," Francis observes "it's not a silly symbol" that should be demystified. It is a symbol of an eternal existence, of the eternity of God, always old and always new, with his strength and his closeness; "because God always surprises us with his newness, he always comes out to meet us, every day in a special way, for that moment, for us.".

Francis brought his catechesis on old age to a close by contemplating the mystery of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (cf. General Audience, 24-VIII-2022). In the West," he recalled, "we contemplate her elevated on high, wrapped in glorious light; in the East she is represented lying down, asleep, surrounded by the Apostles in prayer, while the Risen One carries her in his hands like a child. The Pope indicates that the connection of the Assumption of the Virgin with the Resurrection of the Lord, to which our own is linked, should be emphasized.

Mary precedes us in her assumption into heaven, also as a figure of the Church, which will be in the end: the extension of the risen body of Christ, made family. Jesus speaks of this - of the full life that awaits us in the Kingdom of heaven - with various images: the wedding feast, the feast with friends, the rich harvest, the fruit that comes, not without pain.

From all this and for the good of others," Francis proposed, including himself in the group, "we, the elderly, must be the seed, the light and also the restlessness of that fullness of life that awaits us.

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Photo Gallery

The Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Art

The Catholic Church celebrates, every September 8, the feast of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. A motif picked up by artists such as this work by Andrea di Bartolo from the 15th century.

Maria José Atienza-September 8, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute

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In difficult times: solidarity, memory and hope

Cardinal Parolin explains how to unite societies in the face of polarization

The speech of the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Parolin, at the International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS) offers several clues to avoid polarization.

Antonino Piccione-September 8, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

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Translation of the article into Italian

"Solidarity means overcoming the harmful consequences of selfishness to give way to the value of listening gestures. In this sense, solidarity is a means of creating history." This is one of the key passages of the address that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, delivered from a distance at the International Conference on Cohesive Societies (ICCS), which opened today in Singapore.

A cohesive society is so, he said, if it pursues the goal of forming individuals capable of relating to one another and transcending the individualism of the self to embrace the diversity of the we. According to Parolin, to achieve the goal of a cohesive and caring society we must be promoters and co-responsible for solidarity; build solidarity by focusing on the talent, commitment and leadership of young people; solidarity to create welcoming cities, that is, "rich in humanity and hospitable, to the extent that we are able to care for and listen to those in need; and if we are able to engage constructively and cooperatively for the good of all."

The cardinal also insisted on the need to take on the problems of others and the importance of closeness and generosity in getting involved in caring for others. In this way solidarity will leave its mark on history.

From polarization to cohesion

These are the keys to addressing the risk factors of a cohesive society, where cohesion goes beyond racial and religious harmony, and also encompasses migration and multiculturalism, social and economic inequality, the digital divide and intergenerational relations. These issues affect resilience and solidarity among individuals and communities, according to Professor Lily Kong, Chair of the Singapore Management University.

The Conference is organized at the Raffles City Convention Center by the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of the country. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth of the Asian country. Under the theme "Secure Identities, Connected Communities," the three-day event, opened by Singapore President Halimah Yacob, brings together more than 800 delegates from over 40 countries around three key pillars: faith, identity and cohesion.

Planned sessions

Three plenary sessions have been scheduled: the first one is dedicated to "How faith can bridge divides", with the aim of investigating the reasons for the increase and persistence of the "faith-based social polarization due to ideological beliefs or nuns. Promoting peace and interreligious dialogue. The second plenary session focuses on "Harnessing Diversity for the Common Good". The idea is to focus on tools and concepts for understanding a world marked by "superdiversity", i.e. the existence of highly complex and heterogeneous societies, in the hope of fostering authentic links, albeit from different positions and readings, for the common good.

Finally, the session "How technology can be harnessed to promote mutual trust": digital platforms can create echo chambers for divisive purposes, to the detriment of social cohesion. The aim is to show how online platforms can be beacons of cohesion and hope, rather than vectors of division and hatred.

The authorAntonino Piccione

Can we overcome social polarization on the issue of abortion? Related News

In difficult times: solidarity, memory and hope

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Kazakhstan. Pope visits a growing Church

The Holy Father will travel to Kazakhstan to take part in the VIIth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. Aurora Díaz has been living in the country for fifteen years and from her hand we approach the idiosyncrasy of a land halfway between east and west.

Aurora Diaz Soloaga-September 8, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

Kazakhstan, in the heart of Central Asia, is a mosaic of peoples: of ethnicities, languages and religions. A cultural welter that has managed to preserve and promote harmony through a history forged on the banks of the Silk Road, nomadic tribes and the reception of deportees during the Soviet regime.

Kazakhstan, after its independence in 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed, is today a sovereign country of immense steppes, multiple mineral resources, a small population (barely 19 million inhabitants) for the enormous extension that makes it the ninth largest country in the world (2,750,000 square kilometers: five times larger than Spain). It is also the country chosen by Pope Francis for his next trip, on the occasion of the VIIth Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religionsto be held in Nur-Sultan, the young capital of the country, on September 14 and 15, 2022.

The Pope's trip, the second that a Roman Pontiff has made to the country (John Paul II visited in 2001), will also be an opportunity to meet with the young Church that is growing in the country. A Church with a chequered and uneven history, but which goes back many centuries, to the point of being considered one of the traditional religions in the country.

The first probable presence dates back to the end of the ancient age (3rd century), as a result of the commercial and cultural movements brought about by the Silk Road. Several centuries later, Franciscan and Dominican missionaries, taking advantage of the heyday of the Silk Road, arrived in these lands in the 13th century: they cared for Christians who had kept the faith, spread the Gospel, and built monasteries. The fury of Genghis Khan, lord and master of the steppes in those years, nevertheless granted a certain religious tolerance to the peoples he conquered. These were years of conversions and of the first diplomatic relations between the Holy See, Genghis Khan and other rulers of the Central Asian states, even establishing a certain canonical structure: the first known bishop in the area dates back to 1278. However, in those years of intense Islamic growth, the hordes of Khan Ali overthrew the previous rulers, destroyed the monastery of Almalik in 1342, and martyred the Franciscan bishop Richard of Burgundy, along with five other Franciscans and a Latin merchant (all of whom are now in the process of beatification).

Modern martyrs

Once again, Tertullian's old adage that states. "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians". is fulfilled again, although it has been necessary to wait several centuries: until the middle of the 20th century. Ironically, the providential instrument for that seed to bear fruit was Josef Stalin, and his deportation orders, which populated the deserted steppes with groups of Europeans, often Catholics: Poles, Germans, Ukrainians or Lithuanians... Some of those first deportees died trying to master the harsh climatic conditions of the area. But others survived and came to call these lands their homeland, thanks also to the hospitality and compassion of the primitive inhabitants of this area: the Kazakhs. During the Stalinist era, even at the risk of their safety, many of these Kazakhs fed or sheltered the deportees, sharing their fate.

With the dissolution of the USSR, modern Kazakhstan achieved independence in 1991 and established diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1992. This marked the beginning of a time of freedom for the faithful of various confessions. Little by little, this Church, which emerged from a thousand difficulties and which brought together so many nationalities, was able to structure its work and the care of Catholics scattered throughout the vast expanse of the country. Today there are three dioceses: that of St. Mary in Astana, that of the Holy Trinity in Almaty, and the diocese of Karaganda. There is also an Apostolic Administration in the west of the country, in Atyrau. There are 108 churches throughout the country, serving a total of approximately 182,000 Catholics: about 1 % of the population. It is therefore the second largest Christian minority, after the Orthodox Church, in a country with a Muslim majority. Although Catholics often belong to families with European roots (Poles, Germans, Ukrainians or Lithuanians), the Church is gradually taking root in these lands with the conversion of people of various ethnicities (including Kazakhs). Every Easter, it is common to attend baptisms in the main cathedrals of the country.

Reasons for optimism

Although the numbers are small, the reasons for hope for this young Church are multiple: relations with the country's government are cordial and they seek collaboration in the field of peace building. The Catholic Church has been present in each of the editions of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional ReligionsThe first religious harmony and mutual respect between faiths was promoted by the country's first president, Nursultan Nazarvayev, in 2003. As has been emphasized since the beginning of modern Kazakhstan in 1991, one of the guarantees of peace in the country has been precisely religious harmony and mutual respect between faiths. Coexistence and common work with other confessions, in fields such as assistance to the family institution, ecumenical dialogue and education in values, is one of the guarantees to avoid a drift towards radical Islamism.

In the three dioceses and the apostolic administration, of gigantic extension, there is a calm but steady growth: new churches are opened and baptisms take place every year, thanks to the often self-sacrificing work of diocesan priests from various countries of Europe, Latin America and Asia. The religious orders present in the country guarantee a core of vocational diversity, which facilitates the growth of local vocations throughout the country. The twinning with the Greek Catholic community is also particularly close, as a clear sign of communion in such a mission and peripheral area.

In Karaganda, a city in the center of the country, is located the Central Asian Seminary, with aspirants to the priesthood coming from all over the area, such as Armenia, Georgia and other countries. In the same city, the Cathedral of Our Lady of Fatima, consecrated in 2012, commemorates the victims of what was one of the largest centers of persecution of the communist regime, the correctional complex "Karlag" (by its initials "KARagandinskiy LAGer-Karaganda camp") in which priests and lay Catholics suffered and died, as well as faithful of other religious confessions. The cathedral is thus considered a center of reconciliation and diffusion of spirituality and culture, also facilitated by concerts of the magnificent organ installed there (a particularly lucid way of spreading the beauty of the faith, considering the multi-religious environment of the country). Karaganda hosts, together with the Astana diocese, the majority of the Catholics in the country, due to the greatest concentration of deportees that took place in that northern area. In fact, in this second city lived and died key figures for the current flourishing of the Church, such as Blessed Bukovinskiy, Aleksey Zaritsky and others.

The faithful of the Church in Kazakhstan are eagerly awaiting the Pope's visit. As Francis himself remarked during his last visit ad limina of 2019, it is time to rejoice with the small herbs that grow in this land of steppes, harmony and peaceful coexistence. The Pope's visit to this missionary periphery will undoubtedly be very fruitful. The whole country joins in the welcome that the current president of the country Kasym-Jomart Tokaev, initiator of the official invitation to the Pope, is preparing with care and respect.

The authorAurora Diaz Soloaga

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ColumnistsCelso Morga

Faith

Unlike other religions, in which the image of the founder fades and fades with time, in the Christian religion faith is always directed directly to the living Jesus.

September 8, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

I would like to begin this new course by inviting you to meditate on faith. The Letter to the Hebrews defines faith as "the assurance of things hoped for; the proof of things not seen" (Heb 11:1). It goes on to present as examples of faith "our elders": Abel, Enoch, Noah; above all, it presents Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Gideon (....), David, Samuel and the prophets. In faith they all died without having attained the object of the promise.

And what is the promise? The promise is our Lord Jesus Christ. In Him we know what is the hope to which we have been called; what is the riches of the glory bestowed by Him as an inheritance on the saints (cf. Eph 1:16-19).

Our faith in Jesus Christ is not an act of purely natural knowledge; it is not a merely rational conclusion that can be deduced from scientific, historical, philosophical premises....

Our faith is certainly not irrational, but it is not purely rational either; if it were purely rational it would be exclusively reserved for the intelligent, the "smart", those who study....

Faith involves the understanding, but also the will, which is always attracted by the good and, even more, by the supreme good, which is God. Our reason sees Christ as a man who can be believed (Jn 8:46); no one has been able to accuse him of sin (Jn 8:46); he works miracles that testify to the truth of what he says (cf. Jn 3:2) and our will, feelings and affections are attracted by his truthfulness, his goodness, his affability... His whole person is tremendously attractive to the point that "the world goes after him" (Jn 12:19).

However, all this is not sufficient for the act of faith. To be able to make the confession of St. Peter: "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16) is grace, it is a gift of God, it is not the fruit of our reason or our will. And this great gift of God comes to us in the Church and through the Church; and in the Church, through apostolic succession. "Through apostolic succession, time is dead; in apostolic preaching there is no yesterday, no tomorrow; only today" (K. Adam).

In the Christian religion, the person of the Founder himself is the object of faith; he is the integral background of faith. Unlike other religions, in which the image of the Founder fades and fades with time, in the Christian religion faith is always directed directly to the living Jesus.

The Church always confesses: "I myself have seen Jesus; I myself have heard him and hear him preach; I see him risen; I deal with him as a living and present person".

For this reason the Gospels are a living letter; if it were not for the Church, the living Body of Christ, the Gospels would be a dead letter. "Without Scripture, we would be deprived of the genuine form of Jesus' discourses; we would not know how the Son of God spoke, but, without (apostolic) tradition, we would not know who it was that spoke and our joy in what he said would likewise disappear" (Mohler).

When a dying person in the Church prays with faith: "Jesus, I trust in You", the same confession of Peter beats in his heart and on his lips: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Mt 16:16) and that of Stephen: "I see the heavens opened and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56).

That dying man or woman will look at the priest, who is probably in front of him or her, and the priest at the bishop, and the bishop at the Episcopal College and its Head, the successor of Peter in Rome. By apostolic succession, Christ is as close to us as he was to Peter. It is pure actuality!

The authorCelso Morga

Archbishop emeritus of the Diocese of Mérida Badajoz

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Sunday Readings

The joy of finding the one who was lost. XXIV Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Andrea Mardegan comments on the readings for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.

Andrea Mardegan-September 7, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Hearing again the Exodus account of the perversion of the people of Israel, who had made themselves a molten metal calf to worship, the same people had the opportunity to remember how their privileged position as God's people depended on God's free choice, and on God forgiving their sins before even expecting their repentance, and certainly not because of their exemplary behavior in comparison with that of other peoples.

It is certainly suggestive how in this passage the Bible expresses itself anthropomorphically as if there had been a path of repentance in God, favored by the intercession of Moses. In this way, God even sets himself, before his people, as an example of repentance, of change of way of thinking and acting, thus suggesting to his people to act in the same way, to forgive to
To be like God who forgives. To be faithful in love in spite of the possible betrayals of the loved one. Moses himself, who reminds God of his promises and oaths, is the protagonist of a story of God's forgiveness: despite the slaughter of the Egyptian, and the decades of flight in the desert, God called him to liberate his people.

Paul had the same experience: God chose him to be His apostle and to take the Gospel to the nations, even though he was "blasphemous, persecuting and violent."as he reminds his disciple Timothy.

God is like this, and Jesus seeks every occasion to reaffirm this in an environment such as his, in which Pharisees and scribes, for whom "sinners" were a category of people defined by them according to their behavior, thought they should be judged and condemned, distancing them and not maintaining any relationship with them. Instead, Jesus welcomes them and eats with them. They "murmur", like the people in the desert who protested to God, and so they become the sinners God tries to save, telling them parables about God's mercy.

The behavior he proposes to them is surely disconcerting: to leave the ninety-nine sheep, not in a safe place, but in the desert, to go and look for the one lost one. And then not to return for them, but to go and celebrate a feast with friends. The dimension of the search for what was lost runs through the three words of Jesus: to go in search of the lost sheep, to look carefully for the lost coin, to scan the horizon.
waiting for the son who has wandered away, going out of the house to recover the one who was inside the house but because of his hardness of heart had been left out of the feast of forgiveness, with the joy of the son and of the reunited brother. The joy of heaven, the joy of the angels, the joy of God, the joy that spreads among friends give the whole journey of repentance and forgiveness a dimension of exultation that encourages everyone to walk this path, that of asking for forgiveness and giving mercy.

The homily on the readings of Sunday 24th Sunday

The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaa small one-minute reflection for these readings.

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"God works through non-programmable events, 'that' by chance this has happened to me," says Pope Francis.

Pope Francis continued his catechesis on discernment. On this second occasion he took the example of an episode in the life of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Javier García Herrería-September 7, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

Pope Francis begins catechesis on discernment

The catechesis of the Pope Francis reflected on the workings of providence in ordinary life. The hand of God is hidden behind the apparent casualness that encloses a multitude of daily actions.

After being wounded in the leg in the defense of the city of Pamplona, he was convalescent for several months. Lacking screens that could entertain him during the hours of prostration, he could only turn to reading as a means of entertainment and escape. For this reason, he asked his relatives for books of chivalry, of which he was very fond, but as there were only religious books in the house, he had to be satisfied with this genre. Thanks to this situation, he began to learn more about the life of Christ and the saints.

Pope Francis, the spiritual son of St. Ignatius, commented on how the founder of the Jesuits "was fascinated by the figures of St. Francis and St. Dominic and felt the desire to imitate them. But the chivalrous world also continues to exercise its fascination on him. And so he feels within himself this alternation of thoughts, those of chivalry and those of the saints, which seem to be equivalent.

"But Ignatius also began to notice the differences," the Pope continued. "In his autobiography - in the third person - he writes: 'When he thought of the world - and of chivalrous things, it is understood - he took great delight; but when after he was tired he left it, he was dry and discontented; and when in going to Jerusalem barefoot, and in eating nothing but herbs, and in doing all the other rigors that the saints should have done; he was not only consoled when he was in such thoughts, but even after leaving it, he was content and joyful' (n. 8). 8), they left him a trace of joy".

Francis explains the action of grace

Glossing on this story, the Holy Father underlined the contrast between the emptiness left in the human heart by certain desires that are presented in an extremely attractive way and the things of God, which may not be very appealing but then do fill the human being. Something like this happens to St. Ignatius when he is saddened by the religious literature offered to him.

The Pope quoted a famous text from the "Spiritual Exercises" of St. Ignatius in which he explains the devil's different ways with better and worse people: "In persons who go from mortal sin to mortal sin, it is commonly customary for the enemy to propose apparent pleasures to them, to reassure them that everything is going well, making them imagine delights and pleasures of the senses, in order to preserve them and make them grow more in their vices and sins; in such persons the good spirit acts in the opposite way, pricking and pricking their conscience by the right judgment of reason" ("Spiritual Exercises," 314).

Listening to the heart

"Ignatius, when he was wounded in his father's house, was not thinking precisely about God or about how to reform his life, no. He had his first experience of God by listening to his own heart, which showed him a curious inversion: things that at first sight were attractive left him disappointed and in other, less brilliant things, he felt a peace that lasted for a long time. We also have this experience, many times we start to think one thing and we stay there and then we are disappointed (...). This is what we have to learn: to listen to our own heart".

But listening to the voice of the heart is not easy, not least because we are bombarded by so many stimuli. "We listen to the television, the radio, the cell phone," the Pope continued, "we are masters of listening, but I ask you: do you know how to listen to your heart? Do you stop to say: 'But how is my heart? Is it satisfied, is it sad, is it looking for something? To make good decisions it is necessary to listen to one's heart.

Appearance of causality

To prepare oneself to listen to one's inner voice, it is necessary to read the biographies of the saints. In them one can easily see God's way of acting in the lives of people, so that their example guides us in our daily decisions. By interiorizing the Gospel and the lives of the saints, one learns to see how "God works through non-programmable events, that by chance, by chance this happened to me, by chance I saw this person, by chance I saw this movie, it was not programmed, but God works through non-programmable events, and also in the setbacks: 'I had to take a walk and I had a problem with my feet, I can't....'. What is God saying to you? What is life saying to you there?" . Following this supernatural logic, the Pope advised the faithful to be "attentive to unexpected things".

It is in the unexpected events that God often speaks. "Is the Lord speaking to you or is the devil speaking to you? Someone is. But there is something for discernHow do I react to unexpected things? I was so calm at home and 'bang, bang', the mother-in-law arrives and how do you react with the mother-in-law? Is it love or is it something else inside? And you make the discernment. I was working in the office and a colleague comes to tell me that he needs money and how do you react? See what happens when we experience things we do not expect and there we learn to know our heart, how it moves. Discernment is the help to recognize the signs with which the Lord makes himself found in unforeseen situations, even unpleasant ones, as it was for Ignatius the wound in his leg".

Pope Francis begins catechesis on discernment

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The Economy of Francesco or the opportunity to lead radical change

Assisi will host the participants of "Economy of Francis".

Rome Reports-September 7, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute

Thousands of young people will meet in Assisi with Pope Francis as part of the project Francisco's Economy.

There, the Pope will listen to their proposals for the future and share his reflections on how the economy can build a more equitable society.

The project Francisco's Economyis inspired by the Pope's desire to involve young people in the renewal of the global economy.

AhNow you can enjoy a 20% discount on your subscription to Rome Reports Premiumthe international news agency specializing in the activities of the Pope and the Vatican.

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Signs for the Church in Germany

The German synodal path celebrates its fourth plenary assembly

From September 8 to 10, the Plenary of the Synodal Path will meet again in Frankfurt. The main proposals are in open opposition to the note of the Holy See sent in July, especially with regard to "new forms of government" of the dioceses, which are to be introduced.

José M. García Pelegrín-September 7, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

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From September 8 to 10, Frankfurt will once again host an international Plenary Assembly of the German Synodal Way. This will be the fourth, following those of January/February 2020, September/October 2021 and February 2002. It was originally planned to be the last, but already in February it was decided that a fifth and possibly last Plenary Assembly would be held at the beginning of 2023.

Regardless of the specific topics proposed to be addressed, which we refer to on the occasion of the previous assembly -The "Forum on Power and Separation of Powers in the Church" in Frankfurt is presenting a new "assessment" of homosexuality and Catholic sexual morality in general; optional" celibacy for the priesthood or the "opening" for women of all ministries in the Church-, in Frankfurt the so-called "Forum on Power and Separation of Powers in the Church" presents for its second reading, that is, for its "final vote", two proposals aimed at perpetuating the synodal path, to give it a permanent character or, in the words of a responsible of this Forum, "a leverage effect far beyond the synodal path".

The proposal "To consult and decide together" foresees a "synodal council of the diocese" in order to "discuss and decide together on all questions of diocesan importance". In short, the idea is that decisions relevant to the diocese would be made jointly by the bishop and this "democratically" elected council. In the event that the bishop does not "agree" with a decision taken by the council, the council may "oppose the bishop's vote by a two-thirds majority".

The warning to the synodal path

This is precisely the most explicit aspect that was criticized by a note from the Holy See last July. Here it was recalled that the synodal path "is not empowered to oblige the bishops and the faithful to adopt new forms of government". The note makes explicit that "it would not be admissible to introduce new structures or official doctrines in the dioceses before an agreement has been reached at the level of the universal Church". It remains to be seen how the 4th Assembly of the synodal journey will attempt to resolve this contradiction.

The same can be said of another of the texts proposed for approval by the Assembly, entitled "Strengthening Synodality in a Sustainable Way: A Synodal Council for the Catholic Church in Germany". Such a "Synodal Council" would not only have the task of advising "on essential developments in the Church and society," but it is proposed that it would have the capacity to make "fundamental decisions of supra-diocesan importance on pastoral planning, questions of the future and budgetary matters of the Church that are not decided at the diocesan level." Its composition would correspond to that of the Assembly of the Synodal Way and it would have a "permanent secretariat, which should be adequately staffed and financed."

Political categories

According to one of the leaders of the Forum, its function was to coordinate the work of the Bishops' Conference and the Central Committee of German Catholics. Implicitly, therefore, it is being stated that the Central Committee is given the same level of decision-making within the Church as the Bishops' Conference. This explains the discomfort, expressed on several occasions by representatives of the "Central Committee of German Catholics", that the Vatican only invites bishops and not lay people for talks. Apparently, the categories by which they are guided are those of a political nature: what they would like are "bilateral negotiations" between the Roman Curia and the German synodal path or council.

Another aspect that is being emphasized in the days leading up to the celebration of the 4th Assembly is that the synodal path "is not a special German path". Georg Bätzing (President of the Bishops' Conference) and Irme Stetter-Karp (President of the Central Committee of German Catholics). In a publication on "synodal processes of the universal Church", "comparable considerations, dynamics and questions in other countries and regions of the world" are being sought.

As reported by KNA ("Catholic News Agency"), Bätzing and Stetter-Karp conclude that "not only in Germany there is a demand for more transparency and power-sharing, for a more developed and better communicated sexual relationship and ethics, for a more open design for the future of priestly existence and for a more responsible and visible role of women in the Church."

Travel companions for the German synodal journey

Here seems to be the "answer" to the Holy See's July note: the German synodal path is looking for "fellow travelers" or even allies to emphasize that the issues discussed there also matter in "the universal Church", since "the universal Church is not simply the Vatican curia", in the words of a representative of the synodal path.

On the other hand, criticism of the synodal process continues: letters sent by bishops or by bishops' conferences, such as those of Northern Europe or Poland, as well as by associations of the faithful such as "New Beginnings" or "Mary 1.0", are joined by the criticisms of some theologians. Thus, the Swiss theologian Martin Grichting - former Vicar General of the Diocese of Chur - has recently published an article in the newspaper "Die Welt" with the title "You cannot vote on the substance of Christianity".

According to this theologian, the synodal path "imposes on the Church democratic structures that attack the substance of Christianity. It is not believed that the Church is something proper to Revelation, so it is left in the hands of people who have empowered themselves". With officials linked to politics and "social engineering" and with the majority of bishops "the Church has dethroned its King, Christ himself." According to Grichting, the synodal path "tacitly assumes that it is not the self-revealing God and thus the Gospel and the tradition of the Church that are decisive for the Church, but the contemporary, post-Christian worldview."

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Signs for the Church in Germany

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ColumnistsMaria José Atienza

Humans without rights

The yellow stars have been replaced by the diagnosis of trisomy 21 but, ultimately, the result is the same: they are not considered people. They do not deserve to be shown, let alone shown happily.

September 7, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

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Translation of the article into English

That the European Court of Human Rights considers that to show that persons with disabilities have Down syndrome should not be shown happy and normal would be a bad joke in a dystopian world if it were not for the fact that it is real. It happened on September 1 of this year.

Indeed, this Court, which, according to its name and office, is the ultimate guardian of the fundamental rights of individuals, does not seem to consider human beings, or at least subjects of law, as human beings. down. The video in question is a marvel addressed to a future mother of a Down's child. The argument used by the Court of some human rights is that such an approach can make women who decided not to continue with the pregnancy feel guilty when they knew that the child could be born with this genetic alteration.

The history of this sentence is available at various sites well explained, so I will not dwell on it. It frightens me to see how an instance that was born - like several others, from the experience of the terrible world wars, in particular, from the terrible violations of human rights, exterminations and systematic massacres perpetrated by the Nazi ideology - is capable, a few decades later, of differentiating between people who deserve to be treated and shown as such and people who do not.

The yellow stars have been replaced by the diagnosis of trisomy 21 but, ultimately, the result is the same: they are not considered people. They do not deserve to be shown as those who do meet "their standards." They do not deserve to be happy. They cannot, following the argumentation of the French Audiovisual Council supported by the ECHR, remind us that we all have defects, even if we are not slant-eyed.

They must be prevented from remembering that a monochromatic and "free of the syndrome" society is not only a monochromatic and downThe "generation with the highest consumption of antidepressants, the highest suicide rate and the highest number of young people under 20 years of age who consider themselves to be unhappy.

It has taken us less than 100 years to return to restricted rights; to having those who decide who should and who should not live, who can or cannot be happy.

Today are the down those who cannot be happy, tomorrow it may be the deaf, the bald, those who are slightly overweight, or families with children or the terminally ill or those who take anxiolytics who cannot be happy because it is considered that it may make those without children or those who have depression feel guilty.

Just as in the past discrimination was based on skin color, accent or region of origin, today it is based on a - sometimes even erroneous - prenatal test.

Today, in a first world in which these people - who before often did not leave their homes - finish a career, work, live alone, compete worldwide in sports, are runway models or even help take care of their families, they want to put them back inside four walls for the fact that they are different. For the fact of showing that yes, the varied world is a richness, that they too, like you and me, make this world better.

The authorMaria José Atienza

Director of Omnes. Degree in Communication, with more than 15 years of experience in Church communication. She has collaborated in media such as COPE or RNE.

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Guest writersJuan Arana

Happy end

September 6, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

Three months ago, I finished my little reflection "Tumor fear"I was in a very low key situation, half out of fear of having overreacted and half because every sick person goes through successive good and bad stages, and at that moment I must have been in one of the first ones. The fact is that I turned out to be an accurate augur, because the operation went smoothly, I went through a postoperative period with more discomfort than pain or discomfort and, at the end of the process, the doctors declared me cured, with no other obligation than a minimum follow-up every few months.

Some drips (in the most literal sense of the term) have remained as a memory but, anyway, I would be ungrateful if I were not grateful to the entire health care team that got me out of trouble, to the family and friends who supported me tirelessly and, last but not least, to Divine Providence that in this case at least squeezed a little, but not drowned, giving me an extension to continue down here for a while.

Which reminds me of the story told about Walter Matthau, one of my favorite actors. Apparently he suffered from a heart condition and in the middle of a filming he had a heart attack. When he was discharged, the film crew greeted him expectantly. He came in with a broken face and said: "The doctor has given me three months to live...". After checking that he had achieved the desired effect, he added: "...but when he found out that I had no money to pay him, he gave me six more months".

Anyway, it's not a subject to get into a row about, although I have always found black humor preferable to tragedy... as long as it does not imply a denialist attitude towards the catastrophe which, whether we like it or not, is the inevitable outcome of every human existence. To definitively escape death there is no other alternative than religion, as all those who insist on attacking it (religion, it is understood, because there is no one who can fight death) know quite well.

And rightly so, because atheists, agnostics and indifferent people in general are not unaware that we believers are here to fight also for their immortality, and even for their good death, which is the only thing they confess to be concerned about. I am well aware that there are some torquemadas out there bent on increasing the list of those condemned to hell, but, according to my experience as an ordinary believer, if it were up to us, we would all go straight to heaven without anguish or death throes!

Let us return for a moment, however, to my past experience and its presumably happy outcome. Happy also because of the frank joy that many friends and even simple acquaintances expressed when I told them the good news. I had been a bit mouthy and made perhaps too many people aware of my "affair", causing more concern than necessary. So I had to be equally explicit when everything was resolved favorably, a penance that I have fulfilled with great pleasure.

However, more than once I have detected a slight note of mistrust in my interlocutors, a bit as if they were saying to themselves, "Is everything really in order? Could it really be a false negative?" I say "false negative" because in matters related to health, the desirable thing is that everything turns out to be negative, with the permission of van Gaal, that Dutch coach of Barcelona who always repeated: "You have to be positivvve, never negativvvve".

As I say, I detected a certain apprehension in the most worried of those close to me: with this cancer thing, you know. "You say you are doing very well, and I hope so. But we'll see how you go on in six months, or a year, or two..." Man, the truth: it all depends on how long the waiting period will be extended, because I suppose that if I survive thirty years, I will have reached more than a hundred and, unless there have been a few medical revolutions in between, I will be frankly knackered.

The only swords of Damocles that count are the ones that threaten to fall on you at any moment. And that's where we are. I confessed in my previous writing that I am as much of a hypochondriac as the next guy. I have surprised myself some nights when sleep takes a little longer than usual by saying to myself: "Well, if it were true that they have removed the root of my prostate cancer, who can assure me that I am not incubating another colon, lung or throat cancer? After all, one basket is a hundred baskets.

Maybe I should ask for a thorough check-up..." But, no, No, NO. If there are MRIs, CT scans, colonoscopies or whatever, let the primary care physician ask for them. Not me. As the Italians say (I will omit the ugly word): "Mangiare bene, ... forte e non avere paura della morte". We Spaniards are less expressionistic and put it this way: "A vivir, que son dos días!

Anyway and well thought out, something positive can be taken out of the false negatives. One of my favorite records (from when we had records) is a recital of Bach and Handel arias by the great artist Katheleen Ferrierdied of cancer at the age of 41. It was her last recording and I was impressed by the testimony of her record producer on the back of the cover:

During the afternoon session on the 8th, a telephone message was received from the hospital where Katheleen had recently undergone a medical examination. I never saw her looking more radiant than when, a few minutes later, she returned to the stage. "They say I'm perfectly all right, dear," she said in the Lancashire accent to which she reverted in moments of great joy or humor. She then sang "He Was Despised" with such beauty and simplicity that I believe it has never been and never will be surpassed.

On October 8, 1953, exactly one year after his last session, he died at University College Hospital.

And now comes the question: Did the doctor make a mistake in making the diagnosis, or did he piously mislead the patient, or did she simply not want to know what she was being told? Now, on second thought, does it really matter what the correct answer is? She could also have been hit by a bus leaving the recording studio, or any number of other possibilities. What really counts is that -whether she knew it or not- she said goodbye to life with a masterful and memorable interpretation of that beautiful aria from The Messiah, perhaps the greatest oratorio ever composed.

I believe that neither I nor almost anyone else will be able to climb a peak of similar height no matter how many years we live and no matter how hard we try. For the one thing that is certain is that, corroded as she was by illness, Katheleen never felt so alive or so close to fullness as she did for those few minutes, knowing how she knew she was perfectly well and could carry out in all simplicity and perfection what she had come into this world to do. So he did. I ask for no greater grace for myself or anyone else reading these lines. Time is the least of it.

The authorJuan Arana

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Translation of the article into English

The Order of Malta renews itself: new Constitutional Charter is promulgated

Following the crisis that originated in 2016 within the Order of Malta, Pope Francis has just promulgated the new constitution, while waiting for the General Chapter next January 2023 to confirm the normality of this long process.

Giovanni Tridente-September 6, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

The first phase of an intricate affair involving the historic and widespread Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta (S.M.O.M.), known simply as the "Order of Malta" for several years, at least since 2016, has come to an end these days.

Pope Francis, in fact, with his own Decree that came into force on September 3, promulgated the new constitutional charter of the order and the corresponding Melitense Code, revoking at the same time the high offices and dissolving the Sovereign Council. The document is already available on the website of the organism.

Now begins the second phase that will lead the S.M.O.M. to an internal renewal that has taken at least seven years, and numerous vicissitudes, to identify the modalities with the new Constitution. The Pontiff himself has set January 25, 2023, feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, as the date for the Extraordinary General Chapter, which is to appoint the new leadership of the Order, including the Grand Master - vacant since 2020 following the death of Fra' Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto - according to a Regulation approved by the Pope.

In the meantime, a provisional Sovereign Council of 13 members has been constituted to assist the Pope's special delegate (Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi) and the Grand Master's lieutenant (Fra' John T. Dunlap), who is still in office, in the preparation of the General Chapter, which will be co-chaired by the latter.

The history of the Order

The Order of Malta has a secular history dating back to the first century of the second millennium. Since 1113 it has been recognized as a subject of international law and maintains diplomatic relations with more than 100 States, with the European Union and is a permanent observer at the United Nations.

It is a Catholic lay religious order operating in 120 countries, where it is mainly engaged in charitable, medical, social and humanitarian activities. It is organized into 11 Priories, 48 National Associations, 133 diplomatic missions, 33 relief corps and 1 international aid agency, in addition to managing numerous hospitals, medical centers and specialized foundations.

It was Pope Paschal II who officially recognized the monastic community of the "Opitalieri of St. John of Jerusalem" with the document Pie Postulatio Voluntatis, giving a weight of sovereignty and independence to that first monastic community that since half a century earlier (1048) had been caring for poor pilgrims in a hospital in Jerusalem, and transforming it into a lay religious order. The first leader and Grand Master was Blessed Fra' Gerard, a native of Scala, a few kilometers from Amalfi, in southern Italy.

The new Constitutional Charter incorporates the objectives of the Order, which refer mainly to the promotion of "the glory of God and the sanctification of its members" through the defense of the faith and attention to the poor and the suffering "in the service of the Holy Father". Its members are led "to be credible disciples of Christ" and the whole Order "bears witness to the Christian virtues of charity and fraternity".

The events of recent years

On several occasions, the Holy See has intervened with the Knights of Malta to affirm their identity and help them overcome crises, as Pope Francis reports in his latest decree. And this has also occurred during this pontificate, according to a series of vicissitudes that have represented an internal division of its members, which began with an initial defenestration of one of the previous grand chancellors (Albrecht Freiherr von Boeselager) in December 2016.

At that time, the patronage of the order was entrusted to Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke (appointed by Pope Francis on November 8, 2014), who had already been a member since 2011. The purpose of this position is to represent the Pontiff and promote the spiritual interests of the order, as well as to maintain relations with the Holy See. The Grand Master of the Order was Fra' Matthew Festing.

At this juncture, between the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017, the first disagreements occurred, which would then lead in the following years to various measures of the Pontiff for a complete reorganization of the order and its relations with the Apostolic See.

The origin of the vicissitudes, as mentioned, goes back to the forced dismissal of Grand Chancellor Boaselager in early December 2016, accused of having distributed condoms during a humanitarian initiative in Myanmar in previous years. He has defended himself by claiming that he was unaware of the matter, which was decided at the local level, and that he intervened as soon as he became aware of it.

The then Cardinal Patronus had informed the Pope, probably to obtain his support for the decision to dismiss Grand Chancellor Boaselager, but it seems that in a letter addressed to Burke and the order, the Pontiff, while stressing the moral relevance of the question, had asked for a "dialogical" resolution to understand the reasons for the incident, without any particular shock. But this practice was not carried out. Then, a couple of missives from the Secretariat of State, signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, were addressed to the Grand Master to underline what the Pope had asked for: "dialogue on how to address and resolve any problem".

The Pope's request

At this point, a few weeks later, on December 22, 2016, the Pontiff created a first commission of inquiry to clarify the matter, of which the then Monsignor Silvano Maria Tomasi and the Jesuit canonist Gianfranco Ghirlanda, among others, were members, both now cardinals.

January 2017 saw a new stage in the affair, with the resignation of Grand Master Festing, a position usually for life, requested by the Pope after the order's leader himself opposed the papal commission, claiming full autonomy for the Knights of Malta and denying any collaboration.

The following month, Pope Francis, "in view of the extraordinary chapter that is to elect the new grand master" of the S.M.O.M., appoints as special delegate the then substitute for general affairs of the Secretariat of State, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, called to collaborate with the interim lieutenant "for the greater good of the order and reconciliation among all its components, religious and laity".

On May 2, 2018, Fra' Giacomo Dalla Torre, a balanced person and excellent mediator between sensitivities and internal conflicts, was elected grand master, but he died prematurely on April 29, 2020. In the meantime, the Pope had renewed Becciu's appointment to continue "the path of spiritual and juridical renewal" of the Order, but this process was interrupted by his resignation following the notorious "Palace of London" affair. He was succeeded on November 1, 2020 by Scalabrinian Silvano Maria Tomasi, with the task of continuing the office "until the conclusion of the process of updating the Constitutional Charter".

On November 11, 2020, the order elected by a large majority the new lieutenant grand master, Fra' Marco Luzzago, who also died of illness on June 8 of this year. The following week Pope Francis appointed the Canadian Fra' John Dunlap as the new lieutenant, acknowledging that the order is "living a new moment of consternation and uncertainty."

Months later, the order has concluded the constitutional reform process and is preparing to celebrate the extraordinary general chapter on January 25, with the hope of Pope Francis that the unity "and the greater good" of the S.M.O.M. can finally be safeguarded.

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EditorialOmnes

Holiness of the Church and the reality of sin

Editorial of issue 719 of the printed magazine. September 2022.

The reality of sin is undeniable, but this does not mean that the Church ceases to be holy. Conjugating these two realities allows us to understand correctly the Creed's affirmation of the Church's holiness.

September 6, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

For some time now, society, and within it the Church, has been witnessing waves of information that fill it with perplexity and sadness in the face of serious scandals of various kinds, or less scandalous but not very exemplary behavior, or simply in the face of the sins and human failings of Christians.

Of course, the baptized have more motives and more help to do good, and they should know more clearly the goal to which their condition as followers of Christ summons them, which is holiness. In particular, the duty of exemplarity is greater in those who in some way represent the Church publicly.

As a first step, these situations make us aware that, as far as the possibilities of doing evil are concerned, all people are equal. But in addition, and in the first place, they must serve the baptized to become aware of the need to rectify one's conduct in many aspects, to convert and do penance, to have recourse to divine mercy, to have recourse to the grace offered in the sacrament of Confession; if one knows one's evident personal fallibility, all this is inseparable from the true desire to progress along the path of Jesus Christ. Sacred Scripture refers to human life as a "militia" in which each one struggles with himself. The holiness to which we are all called is not a reality that comes about automatically by the very fact of being "Catholic". Its crowning will come at the end, and it will be after a judgment in which each one will be tested by his works.

What about the Church as such, that which we proclaim in the Creed as "holy"?

In what sense have we used this expression since the early days of Christianity? Above all, is this attribution of "holiness" still valid today? After abuses, errors, etc., to what extent is this affirmation affected, or does it need to be corrected? Some feel an intellectual reaction similar to that of those who found it difficult to continue to speak of God after Auschwitz; others may think that holiness can be "demanded" of Catholics, as if the only possible Church were that of the pure; there will also be those who trust that the most appropriate disciplinary and juridical measures will solve the problems.

Now, as Francis often explains, the reform of the Church, as far as it is appropriate and precisely in order to be effective, must begin with a reform of the hearts of each person.

The authorOmnes

church

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Pope Francis and the message of forgiveness at Celestine V's tomb

After 728 years, a Pope opens the holy door of the Celestinian Perdonanza

On August 28, Pope Francis visited L'Aquila to celebrate the feast of the "Perdonanza" created by Celestine V. We offer the first person account of one of the attendees.

Giancarlos Candanedo-September 5, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

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We have heard of plenary indulgences and holy doors. However, few know that it was in a small town in central Italy that the tradition of granting plenary indulgence for devout participation in a liturgical celebration began in the year 1294. In that year in the city of L'Aquila, on the occasion of the liturgical memory of the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist and the beginning of his pontificate, Pope St. Celestine V granted by means of the bull "Inter sanctorum solemnia" the plenary indulgence to those who "sincerely repentant and confessed enter the church of St. Mary of Collemaggio from the eve of the vigil of the feast of St. John until the eve immediately following the feast". Since then, every year from August 29 to 30, the inhabitants of L'Aquila exercise with great devotion the right and grace granted to them by Pope Celestine V, a feast known as "Perdonanza Celestiniana".

Several pontiffs have passed through these lands of Abruzzo, including St. John Paul II and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, but it has taken 728 years for a Roman pontiff to expressly preside over this feast of forgiveness. Francis is the first pontiff to open the holy door of the Collemaggio so that thousands of faithful may benefit from the "Perdonanza".

The Feast of the Pardonanza

On Sunday, August 28, on the esplanade of the Basilica of St. Mary of Collemaggio, Francis presided at Holy Mass and celebrated the rite of the opening of the Holy Door. Together with his Archbishop, Card. Giuseppe Petrocchi, L'Aquila dressed up to welcome the Pope. From very early in the morning, despite the bad weather forecast and a dense fog, thousands of people came to the esplanade with the façade of the imposing basilica as a backdrop. In the atrium, a metal structure had been elegantly set up as a presbytery. To the right was a choir composed of hundreds of men and women who performed a beautiful repertoire. Thousands of booklets were distributed to follow the liturgical celebration and all the decorations and ornaments were designed with motifs and symbology of the Archdiocese of L'Aquila.

The Pope's visit was brief but intense. At 8.30 a.m. we heard the helicopter flying overhead that was bringing him from Rome, but due to the fog it was impossible to see him. There were some problems but finally, in the midst of the fog, a space of light opened up that allowed the helicopter to land and thus began the visit that was to end at noon.

With the victims of the earthquake

The first event was the Pope's greeting to families who were victims of the earthquake that destroyed a large part of L'Aquila on April 6, 2009 and in which 309 people died. The meeting took place in the Cathedral Square. It could also be followed on giant screens set up on the Collemaggio esplanade.

A smiling Francis, despite the ailments that force him to move around in a wheelchair, offered words of encouragement to those who have lost everything, including loved ones. He invited them not only to material reconstruction but also to spiritual reconstruction, but always together, "insieme", as they say in Italian. He was warmly reciprocated by the applause of those present and also by those of us who were in Collemaggio. Then, escorted by Card. Petrocchi, he inspected the reconstruction works of the Cathedral, still closed due to the damage caused by the earthquake. Immediately after, he moved to Collemaggio and entered the esplanade in the mobile pope, enthusiastically greeting all those present.

Holy Mass

At 10:00 a.m. the Holy Mass began. By then the fog had given way to a radiant sun that accompanied us throughout the celebration. The Mass was preceded by the Pope, although a large part of the liturgy was celebrated by Card. Petrocchi, due to Francis' limited mobility. In the homilycentered on humility - referring to Pope Celestine V - and forgiveness, Francis recalled that "everyone in life, without necessarily experiencing an earthquake, can, so to speak, experience an 'earthquake of the soul', which puts him in contact with his own fragility, his own limitations, his own misery".

He also said that in the midst of these miseries a space of light opens up, as happened to them in the helicopter, and that when we see this space we have to run towards it because they are the wounds of Christ that await us to purify us, to heal us, to forgive us. Finally, he encouraged the faithful of L'Aquila to make this city "a true capital of forgiveness, peace and reconciliation!

Opening of the holy door

After the heartfelt words of thanks from Card. Petrocchi's heartfelt words of thanks to the Pope, he moved to the left side of the basilica to fulfill the rite of opening the holy door. Seated in his wheelchair before the ancient closed wooden door, Francis listened to the choir intoning the litany of the saints, after which he stood up, took a few steps to approach the door and received a wooden stick with which he hit hard, three times, the door that opened and where he prayed for a moment and then went through it to pray before the remains of St. Celestine V, located in the right side chapel of the basilica.

Thus the "Perdonanza Celestiniana" (Celestinian Forgiveness) remained open until the eve of August 30. Pope Francis left the basilica, said goodbye to the civil and ecclesiastical authorities and boarded a small white car that took him to the place where the helicopter was waiting to take him to Rome.

Photo: The holy door of the basilica of Collemaggio.

Extension of indulgence

Participating in this event and experiencing firsthand the faith, hope and pride of the citizens of L'Aquila for their land and traditions was a gift. And when we thought that the "Perdonanza" was over, Pope Francis surprised us. Through the Apostolic Penitentiary the Holy Father has extended the "Celestinian Pardon" for one year. That is to say that until August 28, 2023, all those who wish to do so can benefit from the Celestinian pardon by fulfilling the conditions established for this purpose: recite the Creed, the Our Father and a prayer according to the Pope's intentions, go to confession and receive communion within eight days before or after participating in a rite in honor of Celestine V, or after praying before his remains in the basilica of Collemaggio.

Getting to know this part of Italy of great natural beauty was the occasion to gain the plenary indulgence. Thousands will be able to do the same this year.

The authorGiancarlos Candanedo

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Chile: triumph for religious freedom

Latin America

Chile decided on a new Constitution

60% of Chileans have voted against the proposed Constitution. A result that shows that Chile does not want a Constitution that drastically breaks with the political, cultural and values tradition of the country.

Pablo Aguilera-September 5, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

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Chile, October 2020: in a plebiscite, 78 % of Chileans voted for a new Constitution and chose to have it drafted by a Constituent Convention (50 % of the electoral roll voted). In July 2021, this Convention, formed by 155 members, elected by democratic vote, began to function. They concluded their work in July 2022. On September 4, the Plebiscite was held in which Chileans over 18 years of age were required to vote. If the majority of Chileans approved it, the Chilean Congress would enact it. On the other hand, if the majority rejected it, the current 1980 Constitution would remain in force.

On the same night of Sunday 4, the Electoral Service (autonomous entity of the State) informed that the draft Constitution was rejected by 61.9 % of the citizens, obtaining an approval of only 38.1 1 %. This overwhelming result was a great surprise.

Abortion in Chile's proposed constitution

In March of this year, the Episcopal Conference (CECH) warned that: "A Political Constitution with a norm about abortion The free will will not be felt and assumed as their own by many Chileans, among them many people who profess a religious faith, because respect for human life from conception is not something secondary or whose consideration is optional, but a fundamental value that we affirm supported by reason and faith. If this decision is not changed, the Constitutional Convention puts an insurmountable obstacle for many citizens to give their approval to the constitutional text that is being elaborated".

In July the proposal for a new Constitution was submitted to the country. Again the CECH, with the signature of all the bishops, expressed that "A great part of the proposals on how to organize the 'common house' fall within what is open to opinion, before which a plurality of options is legitimate. (...) But, we make a negative evaluation of the norms that allow the interruption of pregnancy, those that leave open the possibility of euthanasia, those that disfigure the understanding of the family, those that restrict the freedom of parents on the education of their children, and those that pose some limitations on the right to education and religious freedom. We consider particularly serious the introduction of abortion, which the proposed constitutional text calls "the right to voluntary interruption of pregnancy".

Euthanasia

The Chilean bishops strongly criticized that "the article establishes that the State guarantees the exercise of this right, free from interference by third parties, whether individuals or institutions, which not only excludes the participation of the father in this decision, but also the exercise of personal and institutional conscientious objection (...) It is striking that the constitutional proposal recognizes the rights of nature and expresses concern for animals as sentient beings, but does not recognize any dignity or any right to a human being in the womb".

They went on to say that "the constitutional norm that assures every person the right to a dignified death is a cause for concern. Under this concept, euthanasia is introduced in our culture, which is an action or omission with the purpose of directly causing death, and thus eliminating pain.

Regarding the family, they pointed out that the text "broadens the concept of family by speaking of "families in their diverse forms, expressions and ways of life, without restricting them to exclusively filial and consanguineous ties".

Education

Regarding education, they pointed out that the proposal "is not entirely clear in expressing a preferential and direct right of parents to educate their children (...) Also of concern, in this field, is the strong presence of gender ideology in the text, as it gives the impression that it seeks to impose itself as a single thought in the culture and the educational system, which damages the principle of freedom of education of parents with respect to their children. (...) Furthermore, there is a manifest silence in the draft constitutional text with respect to subsidized private education, which also has an obvious public function.

If more than 55% of Chilean students study in the subsidized private system, with a very high percentage of vulnerable students, why is not the constitutional right to those other private initiative proposals, subsidized with public funds of Education, under the supervision of the State, to guarantee the freedom of education? (...), it does not expressly establish the right of parents to create and support educational establishments of different types, nor the obligation to provide the relevant economic resources".

Religious freedom

On religious freedom they said that this proposal "does not recognize some essential elements, such as the internal autonomy of the confessions, the recognition of their own rules and the ability of these to enter into agreements that ensure their full freedom in the care of members of the same, especially in situations of vulnerability (hospitals, places of serving sentences, children's homes, etc.). Finally, it seems to us that the system established to give legal recognition to the confessions, leaves in the hands of administrative bodies their existence or suppression, which may endanger the full exercise of religious freedom."

Chileans have said, with an overwhelming majority, that they do not want a Constitution that drastically breaks with the political, cultural and value tradition of the country. Surely the political parties represented in Congress will agree on how to make changes to the current Constitution, or what mechanism would be established to propose a new text.

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John Paul I, on his way to the altars, with a program that took him to heaven

Pope Francis: "With his smile, Pope Luciani succeeded in transmitting the goodness of the Lord".

On the rainy morning of September 4, Pope Francis beatified John Paul I in St. Peter's Square. In his homily he highlighted Luciani's joy and his following of Christ through the cross.

Javier García Herrería-September 4, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

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The beatification took place this morning in Rome of John Paul IPope Luciani. The onset of rain prevented many of the faithful from coming to St. Peter's Square, which had a very poor entrance for such an eagerly awaited occasion. In his homily, Pope Francis commented on the Gospel of the day, pointing out how following Jesus by taking up his cross can be seen as "an unattractive and very demanding discourse".

Trying to understand the context of the Gospel scene, the Pontiff added that "we can imagine that many had been fascinated by his words and amazed by the gestures he performed; and, therefore, had seen in him a hope for their future. What would any teacher of that time have done, or - we can ask ourselves - what would an astute leader have done when he saw that his words and his charisma attracted the crowds and increased his popularity? It also happens today, especially in times of personal and social crisis, when we are more exposed to feelings of anger or we are afraid of something that threatens our future, we become more vulnerable; and so, letting ourselves be carried away by emotions, we put ourselves in the hands of those who with skill and cunning know how to handle that situation, taking advantage of the fears of society and promising to be the savior who will solve the problems, while in reality what he wants is to increase his acceptance and power".

The divine way of acting

Jesus Christ's way of acting is not calculating or deceitful, "He does not exploit our needs, he never uses our weaknesses to aggrandize himself. He does not want to seduce us with deceit, he does not want to distribute cheap joys, nor is he interested in human tides. He does not profess the cult of numbers, he does not seek acceptance, he is not an idolater of personal success. On the contrary, he seems to be concerned that people follow him with euphoria and easy enthusiasm. Thus, instead of being attracted by the allure of popularity, he asks everyone to carefully discern the motivations that lead them to follow him and the consequences that this entails".

As Pope Francis has often pointed out, there can be many wrong or not very upright reasons for following Jesus. Concretely, he pointed out that "behind a perfect religious appearance can hide the mere satisfaction of one's own needs, the search for personal prestige, the desire to have a position, to have things under control, the desire to occupy spaces and obtain privileges, and the aspiration to receive recognition, among other things. God can be instrumentalized to obtain all this. But it is not the style of Jesus. And it cannot be the style of the disciple and of the Church. The Lord asks for another attitude".

Words of Pope Luciani

The Holy Father then spoke of the dignity of carrying the cross of Christ, living a life of self-giving in imitation of Christ's love for our neighbor, without putting "anything before this love, not even the deepest affections and the greatest goods. To live up to the love of God, it is necessary "to purify ourselves of our distorted ideas about God and our closed-mindedness, to love him and others, in the Church and in society, even those who do not think as we do, and even our enemies.

Remembering John Paul I Pope Francis recalled some words of his in which he said: "if you want to kiss Jesus crucified 'you cannot but bend down towards the cross and let them prick some thorns of the crown, which has the head of the Lord on it" (General Audience, September 27, 1978). The Holy Father ended his words recalling how Pope Luciani "was a gentle and humble shepherd. He considered himself as the dust on which God had deigned to write. For this reason, he used to say: 'The Lord has recommended us so much to be humble! Even if you have done great things, say, 'We are unprofitable servants.

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An app to pray the Stations of the Cross with texts by St. Josemaría Escrivá

Initiatives

Extreme Stations of the Cross

In Poland, they have launched an initiative that has already is spreading to more parts of the world. It is a Extreme Way of the Cross, where the practice of this Lenten prayer with asceticism, sports, sports, and and adventure.

Ignacy Soler-September 3, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

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The manifestation of the Christian faith is joined to practices of popular devotion that go beyond the ecclesiastical sphere to fill the streets of cities or the roads of the countryside, with all kinds of processions, pilgrimages or pilgrims. In the Hispanic world, it is enough to remember the importance of the Holy Week processions. In the Christian Middle Ages, the pilgrimages to Rome, Jerusalem or Santiago. For those of us who have walked the Camino, we have always had, in spite of everything, the spiritual character of that long pilgrimage. What we call the Extreme Way of the Cross is a popular Polish initiative that wants to unite the practice of the Stations of the Cross in Lent with the asceticism, sport and adventure of the anchorites of the desert. I will briefly explain what this new "religious event" consists of.

A different Way of the Cross

The idea is to consider the Stations of the Cross outside of a church or ecclesiastical environment to be done in the countryside, walking at night along a previously prepared path. The walk should be about 40 kilometers long, in silence and in a solitary manner, although in a group or team of about ten people. For this form of Lenten piety to have the name of Extreme Way of the Cross, the propagators of this devotion demand five conditions: 1) That at least 20 kilometers are walked, 44 km are recommended. 2) That each participant walks for at least eight hours. 3) That the walk should not be through urbanized areas. 4) It should be done at night. In addition to these conditions, it is good to explain the concrete way to proceed.

Whoever organizes the Extreme Stations of the Cross must carry out the following steps: 1) Invite a group of friends or acquaintances, it is advisable not to be too many, for example, no more than ten. 2) Prepare the route to be followed and the 14 Stations of the Cross where all the participants will gather to meditate on the text of the Stations of the Cross. 3) Give each of the participants a link with all the indicated places so that they can reach each station with their cell phones. 4) Prepare the texts of the Stations of the Cross that will be read together at each station, and then each participant will meditate on them in silence.

An adventure of faith

In Poland, the Extreme Stations of the Cross began to be held in 2010. Each year, the texts of the Extreme Stations of the Cross are prepared according to a central idea or motto. Until 2021 these have been the themes: "Overcome evil with good, The strong side of reality, Ideals and dedication, The mission, The measure of man and his greatest challenge, Christian leaders, The way of change, On the way to a beautiful life, The Church of the 21st century, The way of forgiveness: from the fall to salvation, The revolution of the whole person".

More than one hundred thousand people have already covered the Extreme Way of the Cross. I can attest that this devotion is spreading more and more because recently, when I was helping in a parish during Holy Week, I was invited to participate. I asked if it wasn't a bit dangerous and they told me yes, that everything has its risks because in the dark and in the countryside you don't know very well what vermin you are going to find. I was also told that there are safety measures. For example: each participant is equipped with a flashlight and a powerful spray that scares away all kinds of animals, has fluorescent signs on his clothes and is advised to always have in sight the participant in front of him a few hundred meters away. In addition, everyone is
The stations are connected to each other and all meet at each station of the Extreme Stations of the Cross, so the risk of accidents, loss or animal attacks is greatly reduced.

Renunciation, fortitude and prayer

The routes of the Extreme Way of the Cross are very varied. Eighteen groups of routes have been established, 16 of them within Poland and two of them outside Poland. One of the groups distributes routes through the rest of Europe, and another through America. There are European routes planned from several major cities, including Poland.
mo Amsterdam, Birmingham, Cardiff, Eindhoven, Munich, Oslo, Prague, or Tallinn.

A sample of the hardness of the challenge are the recommendations offered from the website: "Remember that the whole way is in silence. During the walk, meditate on 14 Stations of the Cross that can be downloaded from the website. Walk in small groups, less than 10 people. You can go with acquaintances or look for someone after the sending Mass. Inform someone in your family or friends that you are going to the Extreme Stations of the Cross. Because it is during the night, it is important to know that it is very difficult to return home if someone is tired and cannot follow the way. That's why it's important to have someone who can come with a car just in case."

Practical advice

It is necessary to carry a flashlight, the best solution is a headlamp. Most of the way is off-road, but just in case it is important to have something reflective. The important thing is to bring appropriate shoes (the best are "trekking" shoes with a thick sole) because the route can be muddy and slippery. Bring warm clothes with you (it can get cold during the night).

It is suggested to bring something to eat (sandwich, fruit, chocolate) and drink (at least 1 liter). It is necessary to have a recharged cell phone (best with a powerbank). At least one of the people in the group must carry the map, the downloaded GPS track (see the page with your route) and the application that shows the way. Think about how you are going to get back from your destination. Remember that each participant goes at his or her own risk. Contact the person in charge of the trail if you have any doubts or need more information".

The basic idea of the organizers is to pray in silence, alone, walking in the dark and meditating on the texts heard during the previous station. A way of the Cross in struggle against the temptation of discouragement and of not being able to, against the temptation of fleeing from the cross to live a comfortable life without problems. Undoubtedly this is a pious exercise that demands renunciation, fortitude, prayer and a good physical condition. More detailed information can be found in the Via Crucis Extreme website.

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Books

Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot": "Beauty will save the world".

We continue our selection of great works of world literature with a special Christian imprint. On this occasion, we are dealing with "The Idiot" by the Russian genius Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Juan Ignacio Izquierdo Hübner-September 3, 2022-Reading time: 6 minutes

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A liberal education

Conversation is an art that is difficult to practice. Its quality depends on the richness of our inner world and trust with the interlocutor. Maybe that's why I like conversations about books so much, because then the weight of interest is not so much on my own shoulders, but on those of the author. And if you lean on the back of Dostoyevsky (1821-1881), that interest can very easily escalate into passion. I say this because a few months ago I had a brilliant idea (something that doesn't happen to me very often): I agreed with a friend to undertake together the reading of "The idiot"and, after reading it, we took a walk to discuss it. The question we asked ourselves then motivated me to write this article, and I'm sure it will intrigue you too.

Years ago I had read other novels by the same author: "Crime and Punishment", "Memories of the House of the Dead" and, more recently, "The Brothers Karamazov". Each of them gave me different feelings. Now I chose "The Idiot", which is not my autobiography (as another friend ironized when I told him about it), but something like an episode in the life of a 19th century Russian "Don Quixote". This reading itinerary has influenced me powerfully. As Nikolai Berdiaev says in "The Spirit of Dostoyevsky": "An attentive reading of Dostoyevsky is a life event in which the soul receives like a baptism of fire". As it is, fire is a good metaphor to describe it.

Okay, let's get to the point (as the dermatologist would say): "Beauty will save the world". This is the key phrase of the play, and the main source of the intrigue we feel with my friend. What an expressive phrase, isn't it? It makes me want to stop writing, look out the window and wander among the clouds. But I will write, because I want to share with you the answers I have found, in the clouds, in the novel and in other books, because you deserve it. It will be necessary for us to put the sentence in context, so let's go in parts (I would add Jack the Ripper):

What the novel is about (no spoilers, don't worry)

Prince Myshkin is a 26-year-old man, cordial, frank, compassionate and naive, who has been living in Switzerland for four years for treatment of epilepsy. When the doctor dies, the prince feels he has enough strength to travel to St. Petersburg, visit a distant relative and try to start a normal life. His qualities, however, lead him to have extravagant encounters with all sorts of people: the most relevant, which will draw him throughout the novel like a lighthouse to a lost ship, will be his love/compassion relationship with a beautiful woman, but who carries within her the pain of a history of abuse. Her name is Nastasya Filippovna. The plot thickens when the prince falls in love, with a noble and pure love, with a young woman from a good family, who in turn reciprocates. Her name is Agláya Ivánovna, and when they ask about her, he replies, "She is so beautiful that it is frightening to look at her." The prince, by the way, is not alone in the field: there are several suitors for one girl and for the other. In this scenario, controversies of all kinds arise, which the characters discuss, making us think and suffer and grow.

Beauty will save the world

About halfway through the book (fear not, I said I won't do spoilers), Ippolit's confession appears on the scene. It is about a 17-year-old boy who is crippled and the doctor has predicted that he has less than a month to live. The prince invites the sick man to stay in the house where he is living, although the others do not understand why he is taking in a young man who, besides being sick, is nihilistic, vehement and inopportune.

One evening, a small group of acquaintances and friends arrive at the dacha (country house) that the prince is renting to celebrate his birthday. They are drinking champagne, chatting happily, when the young Ippolit expresses a burning and delirious desire to open his heart. The others do not want to hear him, but he asks to speak for the right of those condemned to death. Finally, despite the reluctance of the audience, he begins a long reading of some confessions he had written the day before. But just before he began to read, Ippolit turned to the prince and asked him in a loud voice, provoking the astonishment of all: "Is it true, prince, that you once said that the world will be saved by 'beauty'? Gentlemen," he said, addressing everyone, "the prince assures us that beauty will save the world! And I, for my part, assure you that if he comes up with such perverse ideas, it is because he is in love."

What beauty is Dostoyevsky referring to, what beauty will save the world, why does Ippolit say that this idea came to him because he was in love, where is the strength to discover it, treasure it and spread it with all our energies? Unsurprisingly, this was the main topic of discussion I had with my friend as we strolled under the trees on the campus of the University of Navarra.

Ippolit's relationship with the author

Both Ippolit and Dostoyevsky himself were condemned to death. The former for tuberculosis and the author, in his youth, for having been caught in a cafe where "revolutionary" (not very serious) ideas were discussed. This biographical episode is narrated wonderfully well by Stefan Zweig in "Stellar Moments of Humanity".

Fyodor was already blindfolded and waited by the wall to be shot. He was going to die, there was no way out, unless a miracle happened. At the last second - and here is the stellar moment of humanity - the news came that the Tsar had commuted his sentence. "Death, wavering, crawls out of numb limbs," writes Zweig. Dostoyevsky could live; in return, he would have to do four years of hard labor in Siberia and then devote five years to military service. That day, a fundamental man for universal literature was saved, and the idea of a character who could see the world from the perspective of death was born. That gaze could be rebellious, like that of Ippolit, tragic and profound, like that of Dostoyevsky, or compassionate, like that of Prince Myshkin.

A man who has felt the breath of death behind his ear is in a better position to understand the pain of the most famous person condemned to death in history: Jesus Christ. It seems that I am getting long-winded, but no, I ask you to trust me and to read one last background, for it holds the most important clue before reaching the conclusion.

Holbein's Christ

There are paintings that please, others that surprise and others that change lives. Dostoyevsky's experience in the Basel museum almost sent him into an epileptic seizure. It happened during a trip through Europe with his second wife, Anna Grigorievna, on August 12, 1867. Fyodor was on his way to Geneva with her and they took the opportunity to visit the museum in Basel. There they came across a canvas two meters long and thirty centimeters high that caught the attention of a 46-year-old Dostoyevsky. It was the 'Dead Christ', painted in 1521 by Hans Holbein the Younger. Now you also look at the image, contemplate it slowly, you will see that it is a particularly emaciated, bloodless and run over Christ.

Dead Christ, Hans Holbein, 1521. ©Wikipedia Commons

How is it possible - I imagine Dostoyevsky wondered as he admired that destroyed body - that Christ paid "that" price to save us?

Is Christ the beauty that will save the world? He who was defined as "the most beautiful among the sons of men" (Psalm 44) could testify to an unparalleled physical beauty. But Holbein's painting shows a disfigured Christ, which rather reminds us of Isaiah's prophecy: "There is in Him neither beauty that attracts the eyes nor beauty that pleases" (Is 53:2). Let's see, then, what beauty are we talking about?

Ultimately, there is no greater beauty than the love that has conquered death. The love of the One who gives his life for his friends is the most beautiful thing known to the world. The beauty that saves, that truly saves, is the beauty of love that goes to the extreme of redemptive sacrifice. Therefore, the beauty that will save the world is Christ. God became man to save us, he died to give us life and offer us resurrection. The story of the corpse so crudely portrayed by Holbein has an epilogue, or better, a second part, which confirms the triumph of beauty over death: the overwhelming beauty of the Resurrection. Let us say it in the words of the Apocalypse: "And the city needed neither sun nor moon, for the light of God shone upon it, and the Lamb was its lamp" (Rev 21:23).

The beauty of Christ's love, which saves us, is what we must discover, treasure and spread with all our strength. Are we not here facing the most important mystery of our lives? To love others as Christ loved us, that is, to love to the point of suffering and dying for the sake of others, is the secret of the meaning of our existence. If we learn this, we will participate in the salvation of the world. No small thing, eh?

The authorJuan Ignacio Izquierdo Hübner

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The death penalty and human dignity

Pope's video against death penalty

The "World Network of Prayer for the Pope" has published the video with the Pope's monthly intention. The Holy Father invites "to all people of goodwill to mobilize for the abolition of the death penalty throughout the world".

Javier García Herrería-September 2, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

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Pope Francis' monthly video for September calls for the abolition of the death penalty. On this occasion, Francis invites us to pray "that the death penalty, which violates the inviolability and dignity of the person, may be abolished in the laws of all the countries of the world".

Pope Francis' words throughout the video say:

"Every day the NO to the death penalty grows more and more throughout the world. For the Church this is a sign of hope.

From a legal point of view, it is not necessary.

Society can effectively repress crime without definitively depriving the perpetrator of the possibility of redeeming himself.

Always, in every sentence, there must be a window of hope. Capital punishment does not offer justice to the victims, but encourages revenge. And it avoids any possibility of undoing a possible miscarriage of justice.

On the other hand, morally the death penalty is inadequate, it destroys the most important gift we have received: life. Let us not forget that, until the last moment, a person can be converted and can change.

And in the light of the Gospel, the death penalty is inadmissible. The commandment "thou shalt not kill" refers to both the innocent and the guilty.

I therefore call on all people of goodwill to mobilize for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.

Let us pray that the death penalty, which violates the inviolability and dignity of the person, be abolished in the laws of all countries of the world".

World Network of Prayer for the Pope

The Pope's Video is an official initiative aimed at disseminating the Holy Father's monthly prayer intentions. It is developed by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network, with the support of Vatican Media. The Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network is a Pontifical Work whose mission is to mobilize Catholics through prayer and action in the face of the challenges of humanity and the mission of the Church.

It was founded in 1844 as the Apostleship of Prayer and is made up of more than 22 million Catholics. It includes its youth branch, the Eucharistic Youth Movement (EYM). In December 2020 the Pope constituted this pontifical work as a Vatican foundation and approved its new statutes.

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

Family

Why does the Church get involved in social issues? A lay vocation

Poverty, inequalities, corruption, laws that trample on human dignity, religious persecution, suffering, violence, racism, discrimination... The Church, in particular the lay faithful, called to be "like the soul of the world", intervenes in social issues because "a fundamental moral value is at stake: justice", says Gregorio Guitián, dean of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarra, in his latest book.

Francisco Otamendi-September 2, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

"Behind social problems there are injustices. Injustice harms people and is an offense against God - a sin - which Jesus Christ wanted to heal and redeem. That is why the Church has always sought to contribute to a more just society", writes the theologian Gregorio Guitián in a didactic 155-page study entitled 'Como el alma del mundo', which he describes as a "brief approach to social morality and the Social Doctrine of the Church", and "which does not pretend to be a manual". The edition is published by Palabra in its Buscando entender collection.

"There is a general consensus that Jesus Christ was not part of any religious-political group of his time (such as the Zealots, the Pharisees, the Essenes, etc.). However, he did have concern for social problems (...), he fulfilled his civic obligations, such as paying taxes; he recognized civil authority ('Render unto Caesar...)". His teaching is of a religious and moral nature, but it has a clear application in social life, even though he was not dedicated to reforming politics nor was he a political leader," the professor points out.

For example, when Jesus teaches "love one another as I have loved you", or when he says: "love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you", "he is laying the foundations for overcoming social discrimination", he stresses.

Social commitment of Christians

And "from the example of Jesus, primitive Christianity, even in the midst of a pagan society - often hostile to the Gospel - and without any capacity to reform structures because Christians were nobody, made an effort to alleviate extreme social situations or to respect and obey authority". "With the passing of the centuries, and in an officially Christian society, the social commitment of Christians will be a constant," explains Professor Guitián, who holds a doctorate in Theology from the University of the Holy Cross and a degree in Business Administration from the Autonomous University of Madrid.

Benedict XVI recalled how the Emperor Julian (+363), who rejected the Christian faith, wanted to restore a reformed paganism. However, he wrote in one of his letters that 'the only aspect that impressed him was the charitable activity of the Church,'" the author adds, specifying that "there has always been in the Church an organized charity to serve everyone by attending to spiritual and material needs; and also a concern and reflection on social issues."

Who is responsible for this task?

"I think it would be worth emphasizing the importance of lay people in all social issues," Professor Gregorio Guitián told Omnes , as well as "the need for them to be well trained in these matters and their irreplaceable importance in improving the world, particularly in all fields where the challenges are palpable (politics, law, economics, science, family and education, communication, art and culture, health and care of people, fashion, technology, cinema, the world of technology, care of the environment, etc.)."

"The very title of the book," he says, "is placed thinking especially of them, who are called to be like the soul of the world, and the opening pages on the lay faithful can serve as a reference."

"Faced with the mass of evil crystallized in society, one might ask: what to do? The world needs redemption. Jesus Christ has taken upon himself these evils [see pp. 24-25], and seeks at every moment of history to bring the balm of charity and justice to these wounds. Jesus looks to his disciples with this hope: "'You are the salt of the earth (...) You are the light of the world'" (Matthew 5:13-14).

In the world there are about 1,327 million lay Catholics, out of a total of 7.8 billion inhabitants, in addition to the Pope, cardinals, bishops, priests, religious men and women, permanent deacons, major seminarians... "One can see the importance of the lay faithful for the mission of the Church in the world," writes the author, being "called to be like the leaven in the midst of the dough" (cf. Matthew 13:33)".

The laity in the mission of the Church

"To discover the enormous relevance of the role of the laity in society, and to awaken the desire to bring light to the world from one's own place, should be objectives of Christian social morality. Of the laity, as of all Christians, it can also be said that they are called to be 'like the soul of the world'. This is what the 'Letter to Diognetus' said in the 2nd century: "What the soul is in the body, so are Christians in the world (Epistula ad Diognetum, 6, 1)", explains Professor Guitián.

The Second Vatican Council, in the Apostolic Constitution Lumen gentiumThe Pope, on the Church, pointed out that the laity are called to contribute from within, like the leaven in the dough, to the sanctification of the world through the exercise of their proper tasks (n. 31).

Gregorio Guitián also recalls that Pope Francis has asked "the lay faithful to make a real commitment to 'the application of the Gospel to the transformation of society', complaining that, at times, we think only of how to involve them more in intra-ecclesial tasks, while the social, political or economic world remains to be informed with Christian values (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii gaudium, n. 102)".

In this regard, it is useful to recall here the Pope's frequent appeals not to remain indifferent. For example, in a speech to the members of the Centesimus Annus Foundation on October 23 last year, the Pontiff said: "We cannot remain indifferent. But the response to injustice and exploitation is not only denunciation: it is above all the active promotion of good: denouncing evil, but promoting good".

Bringing the world to God

How to address these tasks, the author asks. And he quotes St. John Paul II, who suggested "three lines of action in the most important magisterial document on the laity to date (the exhortation 'Christifideles laici', on the lay faithful: 1. Overcome the fracture between the Gospel and one's own life to achieve a unity inspired by the Gospel. 2. To commit themselves with courage and creativity in the effort to solve social problems. 3. To do their work with professional competence and honesty, for this is the path to their own sanctification.

Guitián reinforces his thesis on the laity in an important way in the book. "Although it may seem surprising, the vocation that God has thought of to solve a good number of the evils of this world is, above all - though not exclusively - the lay vocation. Yes, the lay faithful, men and women whose vocation is to bring the world to God, as it were from within. They are like "the special forces" of the Church. (...)"

"There, in that 'kitchen of the world', the humanity or inhumanity of society is gestated, and there the lay faithful must be there to lead the world back to God". "The role of the Church in the world is to be 'a sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the whole human race' (Gaudium et spes, n. 42)," he reminds us.

Summary

In summary, since we have focused only on some aspect of Professor Guitián's book, it can be said that the work has an introduction, 8 chapters, a brief summary at the end of each chapter, a conclusion and a bibliography.

They deal with the social commitment of Christians, the fundamental principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church, the common good, the Christian vision of the political community, the international community, two sections dedicated specifically to the economy, and a final chapter dedicated to the care of creation, "the responsibility of all", in which some of the ideas of the encyclical are offered as a program. Laudato si' (nn. 209 and 227).

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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

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Translation of the article into Italian

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Gorbachev and John Paul II: The Forging of a Friendship

Mikhail Gorbachev, one of the most important political figures of the late 20th century, passed away on August 30. His friendship with John Paul II was essential for the opening of the Soviet Union and the fall of communism in Russia. The author of the text, José R Garitagoitia, is an expert on the relationship between these two figures.

José Ramón Garitagoitia-September 1, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

Seventy-four years of history elapsed between the fall of the Empire of the Czars in 1917 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. During that long period, the destinies of the USSR, stretching from the Urals to the steppes of Central Asia and the confines of Siberia, were decided by one leader.

Those who, on March 11, 1985, placed the Mikhail Gorbachev (Privolnoie 1931) at the pinnacle of power had no conscience to elect the last General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. At 54, he was the youngest member of the Politburo and, when the time came, a natural candidate to succeed the aging Konstantin Chernienko. For the first time in Soviet history, the Kremlin couple, Mikhail and his wife Raisa, four years younger, were not older than the White House.

Gorbachev's policy

Although not doctrinaire, Gorbachev was a communist convinced of the fundamental principles of socialist ideology, and he tried to maintain his commitment. Along with the policy of transparency (Glasnost), Perestroika was his great objective: reforming the system from within, and from above, without renouncing socialism.

Whether out of conviction or necessity, given the complicated economic and social situation of the USSR, from the beginning of his mandate he promoted rapprochement with the United States. The summit with Reagan in Geneva in November 1985 opened the way to détente. The new international climate made possible nuclear arms reduction agreements and an international thaw. History recognizes his role in the fall of the Berlin Wall, and in the non-violent transformations of 1989 in Central and Eastern Europe: he could have reacted Soviet-style, as in the Hungarian (1956) and Czechoslovakian (1968) crises, and chose to let the people go their own way in freedom.

Gorbachev's decisive role in those events did not go unnoticed by another great protagonist of Europe's transformation: John Paul II. I devoted my thesis in political science to analyzing the influence of the first Slavic pope on those events, and Gorbachev accepted my invitation to write the book's introduction. Recently I have published a long article about their relationship. In those years I met personally with both of them, and I saw their mutual appreciation. Gorbachev records his admiration for John Paul II in the letters he wrote to me on the occasion of his thesis. Documents for history that I donated some time ago to the general archive of the University of Navarra.

The birth of a friendship

Since their first meeting at the Vatican, on December 1, 1989, a current of admiration and appreciation arose between them. Two decades later, spokesman Navarro-Valls recalled that, among all the meetings he had during the 27 years of his pontificate, "one of those that Karol Wojtyla liked most was the one he had with Mikhail Gorbachev.". On that day the spokesman asked John Paul II his impression of Gorbachev: he is "a man of principle," the Pope replied, "a person who believes so much in his values that he is ready to accept all the consequences that follow."

After the death of John Paul II, Gorbachev was interviewed on Radio Free Europe. The journalist asked, "Mikhail Sergeevich, you were the first Soviet leader to meet Pope John Paul II. Why did you decide at that time to request an audience?" The answer recalled the very special circumstances of that extraordinary year: "Many things had happened that had not happened in the previous decades. I think this is related to the fact that, in 1989, we had already come a long way."

Mutual trust

What facilitated the connection between the two personalities? For the last Soviet leader the key was in history and geography: they were both Slavs. "Initially," Gorbachev recalled after John Paul II's death, "to show to what extent the Holy Father was a Slav, and how he respected the new Soviet Union, he proposed that we spend the first 10 minutes alone together and he spoke in Russian. Wojtyla had prepared himself for the conversation, brushing up on the Russian language: "I have broadened my knowledge for the occasion."he said at the outset.

The relationship between the two personalities is a clear example of the 'social friendship' that Pope Francis describes in "Fratelli tutti"The verb "to draw near, to express oneself, to listen to one another, to look at one another, to get to know one another, to try to understand one another, to seek points of contact, all of this is summed up in the verb 'to dialogue'" (n. 198). John Paul II and Mikhail Gorbachev made the effectiveness of the encounter possible by their attitude. They showed their "ability to respect the other's point of view while accepting the possibility that he may hold some legitimate convictions or interests. From his identity, the other has something to contribute, and it is desirable that he deepen and expose his own position so that the public debate may be even more complete" (n. 203).

The memory of Gorbachev

The two Slavs were impressed by that conversation in the Library of the Apostolic Palace. They were struck by the rapport that emerged so naturally. "When the meeting took place," Gorbachev recalled years later, "I told the Pope that one often finds the same or similar words in my statements and in his. It was no coincidence. So much coincidence was a sign that there was "something in common at the base, in our thoughts." The meeting was the beginning of a special relationship between two personalities, at first very distant. "I think I can rightly say that during those years we became friends," Gorbachev wrote on the centenary of John Paul II.

With the passage of time the breadth of his revolution will be better understood, and will place Mikhail Gorbachev in his rightful place in the history of the 20th century.

The authorJosé Ramón Garitagoitia

D. in Political Science and Public International Law

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ColumnistsAntonio Moreno

The tree of good and evil

When the life of animals and plants is placed above that of people and peoples, love of creation becomes a monstrosity, an idolatry. This is what Chesterton reminded us a century ago when he coined the phrase, which is still current today, that "where there is animal worship, there is human sacrifice".

September 1, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

On this World Day for the Care of Creation, we had to talk about the felling of the ficus tree in the parish of San Jacinto in Seville. The Google News algorithm has surely bombarded you too these days with the multiple information and opinion articles that the news has provoked.

If this is still the first time you have heard about it, let me give you some background information: a parish community, in agreement with its bishopric, with the province of the religious congregation that serves it, with the neighborhood associations and active forces of the neighborhood where it is located and with the socialist city council of the town; decides, after years of studies and search for alternatives, to cut down a tree whose excessive growth has caused accidents with serious injuries due to falling branches and threatens to destroy the multi-secular temple (declared of Cultural Interest) because it has caused damage to its foundations and structure.

Despite this, a citizens' movement in favor of the ficus, with the collection of signatures and activists perched on the branches of the tree, managed a few days ago that a judge paralyzed its felling as a precautionary measure before it definitively ended with the majestic specimen. The fact would have gone unnoticed if there were not two circumstances that have turned it into headline fodder: firstly, the fact that it took place during the month of August, making it a summer snake, which is what we call in the journalistic field to the news of relatively little importance that are extended in the summer period due to the information drought of the season; and secondly, because the Catholic Church is involved, a spicy ingredient that makes it irresistible for the addictive salseo. There is no doubt that the issue would not have been reported in the local press if the owner had been a community of neighbors, a private individual, a company or a public or private institution.

As I write this article, I am unaware of the last chapter of the soap opera, but the case gives me cause to reflect on the Church's teaching on the care of all creatures that reflect, "each in its own way - as the Catechism says - a ray of God's infinite wisdom and goodness."

At Caritas in veritateBenedict XVI affirmed that "The Church has a responsibility towards creation and must assert it in public. In doing so, she must not only defend the earth, water and air as gifts of creation that belong to all. Above all, it must protect man against the destruction of himself". This concept is further developed by Francis in his ecological encyclical, Laudato Si' under the term "integral ecology", which is nothing other than incorporating the human and social dimensions into the care of creation.

When the life of animals and plants is placed above that of people and peoples, love of creation becomes a monstrosity, an idolatry. History is littered with peoples who fell into this worship of creatures that ended up turning against themselves by despising their own life. This is what Chesterton reminded us a century ago when he coined the phrase, which is still current today, that "where there is animal worship, there is human sacrifice".

Each of the creatures of the planet has a mission and it is up to us to carry it out. God has given mankind the gift of intelligence, which is why he has entrusted him to "subdue" the earth. The correct interpretation of the book of Genesis explains to us that this dominion is not that of a savage exploiter of nature, but that of a lieutenant of God, that of a steward who is accountable to the owner of the vineyard. This responsible dominion leads us to have to make decisions that are sometimes painful but necessary for the common good.

Let us walk, as the Church asks of us, towards the necessary ecological conversion that seeks, in the final analysis, the good of all humanity. And let us praise the Lord, with St. Francis of Assisi, for all creatures, especially for the one whose existence in our times seems to be in danger of extinction: human intelligence.

The authorAntonio Moreno

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

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Sunday Readings

The power of Christ's liberation. 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (C)

Andrea Mardegan comments on the readings for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.

Andrea Mardegan-August 31, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Solomon asks God for the gift of wisdom to be a just king and to judge according to God's will. He asks: "What man can know the will of God? Who can guess what the Lord wills?".

Revelation contains many elements to know what the Lord wants, and the Church offers many reflections and examples to follow, but there are times when this is not enough. Let us therefore ask God for wisdom, the gift of the Spirit to discern what to do or what path to take, what decision to make.

The letter to Philemon is surprising: a note of recommendation to a friend is recognized as the inspired word of God and sent to the whole Church forever.

Onesimus, Philemon's slave, who stayed with Paul to help him in his imprisonment, was brought to faith by him: he calls him "my son". The decision to send him back to Philemon, asking him to treat him no longer as a slave but as a brother in the Lord, is made by Paul in the wisdom and spirit of God.

He could keep him with him to avoid uncertainty, but he returns him to his master, taking the risk that Philemon will not understand his exhortation and will continue to consider him a slave.

"I would have liked to have had him with me to assist me in your place, now that I am chained by the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your advice, so that the good you do may not be forced, but voluntary.". The message about overcoming slavery with the power of Christ's deliverance is very strong, and helps to understand the importance of this letter.

Suggests to Philemon that the newness of his relationship with Onesimus means for him to have much more than this relationship "both as a man, and as a brother in the Lord.". It is a growth in the awareness of human dignity, which the revelation of Christ leads us to discover.

Jesus, seeing that many people follow him, fascinated by his teaching, perhaps seeking in his company a solution to life's problems, a path to success, points out two decisive aspects that allow us to verify whether their dispositions are suitable to be his disciples, as are the twelve he has chosen.

The first is the relationship with those who have given us life and with whom we have shared it: father, mother, brothers and sisters, and with our own life. Then, the sphere of possessions: they must be willing to give up everything. Those first ones had been asked for a real detachment, which made them available to go anywhere without a saddlebag and with no place to lay their heads.

For all Christians who live their faith in ordinary life, this order of values is interior, and helps, when love of Jesus contrasts with love of family and possessions, to always choose the former.

Homily on the readings of Sunday 23rd Sunday

The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaa small one-minute reflection for these readings.

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What was discussed at the Consistory of Cardinals

The concept of synodality and the role of the laity in the Church were the two topics at the center of the Consistory of Cardinals held on August 29-30 in Rome.

Stefano Grossi Gondi-August 31, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

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Translation of the article into Italian

The Church gathered in Rome with the Pope to reflect on the future during four intense days. Prior to the consistory, on Saturday, August 27, the official appointment of 20 new cardinals from around the world took place, and then, on the 29th and 30th, some 200 cardinals met behind closed doors to discuss aspects of the "Praedicate Evangelium"The College of Cardinals is made up of 227 people, a large majority of whom are very representative of the ecclesial community. The entire College of Cardinals is made up of 227 people, so that on this occasion a large majority, very representative of the ecclesial community, participated.

Opening homily

In his opening homily, Pope Francis exhorted those present about the fire that Jesus came to "cast on the earth," a fire that the Holy Spirit also kindles in the hearts, hands and feet of those who follow him. A fire that can be powerful or be an ember, in which a particular style of God is manifested, when it is communicated with gentleness, with fidelity, with closeness and tenderness.

"The double way of expressing fire reminds us," Francis said, "that the man of apostolic zeal is animated by the fire of the Spirit to deal courageously with things great and small."

With these introductory words, the Pope encouraged the participants in the Consistory to approach the topics under discussion with a courageous spirit.

What is synodality?

Two themes emerged most forcefully at the central meeting: understanding what is synodality and to clarify the circumstances in which lay people can lead a dicastery. On the first question, some eminences observed that synodality is a serious matter, suggesting, above all, that "the bishops make the synod."

Other prelates expressed various perplexities about the misuse of the term "synodality," which would now be used to indicate everything, including things that would have more to do with communion than with synodality as it has always been understood.

The role of the laity

The other issue dealt with concerned the laity. It is known that the new constitution calls for a greater participation of the laity in the structures of the vertex, although without going into the question in depth. In more than one working group it was proposed to enumerate the dicasteries that can have a lay person at the head, without leaving everything in a generic vagueness.

On the basis of the first day of the consistory, some cardinals raised the idea of defining the source of jurisdiction at the doctrinal level: is it the sacrament of orders or is it the supreme power of the Pope? These are not exactly accidental disquisitions, so clarifications will be useful in the near future.

In the discussions, there is an emerging focus on making the role in the Christian community "more missionary" and opening the door to a greater presence of lay people and women, including through more frequent meetings and discussions.

Second day of the consistory

The second day of meetings confirmed the centrality of the theme of the laity, which is evidently understood as relevant to the evolution of the Church. Again taking the "Praedicate Evangelium" as a reference, the cardinals present discussed in linguistic groups, where proposals were made, and then met in plenary session.

The most frequently heard topic was that of the laity, taking as a reference what was stated in ".Praedicate Evangelium"Every Christian, by virtue of Baptism, is a disciple-missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love of God in Christ Jesus". This cannot be overlooked in the updating of the Curia, whose reform, therefore, must provide for the participation of the laity, also in functions of governance and responsibility.

He then reaffirmed the idea that "there are dicasteries in which it is convenient to have lay people at the head". The affirmation of the laity and their role is linked by some to the development of the missionary spirit, thinking that "sooner or later we will arrive at a different consciousness, where everything is missionary and missionary even, it may seem paradoxical, the Curia offices themselves" (Cardinal Paolo Lojudice).

Balance

The Cardinal Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, concluded his participation by speaking of an "extraordinarily edifying" meeting. "We spoke as friends, as brothers, with immense charity and deep love for the Church, about very practical matters," the cardinal said. "I'm glad it happened. It was eagerly awaited."

Pope Francis concluded the consistory with a Holy Mass. In his homily he seemed to refer to some of the issues mentioned here for the future of the Church. "If, together with the disciples, we respond to the Lord's call and go to Galilee, to the mountain indicated by Him, we experience a new amazement. This time, what enchants us is not the plan of salvation itself, but the fact - even more surprising - that God involves us in his plan: it is the reality of the mission of the apostles with the risen Christ... The words of the Risen One still have the power to move our hearts two thousand years later. The unfathomable divine decision to evangelize the world starting from that miserable group of disciples, who, as the Evangelist points out, were still in doubt, never ceases to amaze us. But, if we look at it closely, the astonishment is no different if we look at ourselves, gathered here today, to whom the Lord has repeated those same words, that same sending".

The authorStefano Grossi Gondi

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Pope Francis begins catechesis on discernment

Pope Francis begins a new cycle of catechesis for his Wednesday public audiences. This time on the human reality of personal "discernment" that is so often necessary in our daily lives.

Javier García Herrería-August 31, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Synod on Youth: Faith and Discernment

Pope Francis has dedicated the last six months to a catechesis on the elderly and their role in the family, the Church and the world. Beginning this Wednesday, August 31, he will begin to reflect on "discernment" in audiences. "Discernment" - these are the Pope's words - "is an important act that concerns everyone, because choices are an essential part of life. One chooses food, clothes, a course of study, a job, a relationship. In all of them a life project is realized, and also our relationship with God".

Deciding involves using our intelligence, evaluating our interests and affections, involving our will to follow the good we want. Thus, a few months lie ahead in which the Pontiff will reflect on very anthropological questions.

The effort to decide

As Ortega rightly explained, human life is not a closed project, but one that man must decide for himself countless times each day. For this reason, Pope Francis pointed out that "discernment implies an effort. According to the Bible, we do not find before us, already packaged, the life we are to live. God invites us to evaluate and choose: he created us free and wants us to exercise our freedom. Discernment is therefore a challenge.

We have often had this experience: choosing something we thought was good and instead it wasn't. Or knowing what our true good was and not choosing it. Or knowing what our true good was and not choosing it. Man, unlike animals, can make mistakes, can be unwilling to choose correctly. The Bible demonstrates this from its very first pages. God gives man a precise instruction: if you want to live, if you want to enjoy life, remember that you are a creature, that you are not the criterion of good and evil, and that the choices you make will have a consequence, for you, for others and for the world (cf. Gen 2:16-17); you can make the earth a magnificent garden or you can turn it into a desert of death. A fundamental teaching: it is not by chance that this is the first dialogue between God and man.

Discernment is exhausting

With humor, Pope Francis pointed out that "discernment is exhausting but indispensable for living". If, in addition, one is in charge of special family responsibilities The Holy Father recommends to keep in mind the divine filiation: "God is the Father and does not leave us alone. To achieve this, the Holy Father recommends keeping in mind divine filiation: "God is Father and does not leave us alone; he is always ready to advise us, to encourage us, to welcome us, but he never imposes his will. But he never imposes his will. Why? Because he wants to be loved and not feared. And love can only be lived in freedom. To learn to live, one must learn to love, and for this it is necessary to discern.

Synod on Youth: Faith and Discernment

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Consistory of Cardinals on "Praedicate Evangelium" concludes

Rome Reports-August 31, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute

The cardinals have reflected on a document that is expected to be the starting point for a renewed, more missionary, more synodal, more economically transparent and less bureaucratized curia.

AhNow you can enjoy a 20% discount on your subscription to Rome Reports Premiumthe international news agency specializing in the activities of the Pope and the Vatican.

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"In Indonesia we are few Catholics, but with ardent faith."

Vocations

Luis Alberto RosalesCARF's work goes ahead because there are three saints who are very committed to it".

Luis Alberto Rosales is the Chief Executive Officer of the Roman Academic Center Foundation (CARF)) which, since 1989, assists in the formation of priests and seminarians from all over the world in the ecclesiastical faculties of the University of Navarra and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.

Maria José Atienza-August 31, 2022-Reading time: 6 minutes

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Thanks to the work of the Centro Académico Romano Foundation (CARF) in its little more than 30 years of life, more than 40,000 people, including priests, seminarians, religious men and women, have been able to broaden their formation in these faculties to serve the Church in more than 130 countries. The reality of this project "that would make any economist's head explode," says Luis A. Rosales, "is possible thanks to many small donors. Many times we don't know how things are going to turn out and they do, and I always say that it is because we have three saints committed to this".

The CARF Foundation was born more than 30 years ago. What was the reason for this project?

-In relation to the birth of CARF, we can speak of two origins: a closer one, the establishment, as such, of the Foundation on February 14, 1989, and a more distant one. The distant one began in 1978, when John Paul II was elected Pope. Once in the See of Peter, John Paul II spoke with Álvaro del Portillo, whom he knew from the sessions of the Second Vatican Council and who had succeeded Josemaría Escrivá as head of the Opus Deito indicate to him that Opus Dei should establish a university in Rome.

St. John Paul II was aware of a key point of the spirit of Opus Dei that St. Josemaría, who had died shortly before, defended: love for the Church, for the Pope and for priests. Alvaro del Portillo replied that there were the ecclesiastical faculties in Pamplona, but John Paul II insisted on the need for the presence of a university in Rome. He also pointed out two characteristics that it had to have: on the one hand, solid doctrine and, on the other, studies in communication, because priests had to know about communication. To this was added the need to solve the residence of priests and seminarians who would go to study in Rome and Pamplona. That is to say, it would be necessary to have a seminary in Rome and another one in Pamplona, and residences?

They then began the search for a building for the university in Rome and for a seminary in Rome and another in Pamplona; and they also began to arrange loans, rentals, hiring of personnel, services... Until, in 1984, what is today the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross began.

Students began to arrive: priests, seminarians, religious men and women... and, in a few years, there was an economic collapse. The reason is simple: in Spain, for example, we have very clear "how much it costs" a priest; social security, salaries... etc., but in countries like Brazil, Benin, Kenya or Nigeria, a priest "costs" much less, they are ridiculous amounts for Italy or Spain also at that time. The amounts contributed by the superiors and bishops for their students were those and, evidently, with what can be allocated to a priest in those countries a private university is not paid, nor a residence in Rome or Pamplona... So, a collapse was produced: payroll and services could not be paid...

Faced with this panorama, the need for a foundation was seen and what we know today as CARF was born.

But CARF's raison d'être is not only economic...

-No. In fact, Alvaro del Portillo wanted this foundation to have two key missions: the first is that CARF should spread the good name of priests and foster priestly vocations... and the second is that it should be viable: that bishops around the world could have the opportunity to send priests and seminarians, or the superiors of religious orders their brothers and sisters, to study in these two ecclesiastical faculties.

Don Alvaro, who was a consultant to several Vatican congregations, was aware that there were priests who behaved badly, but also that, for every one of these who acted badly, thousands of others gave their lives for others, and not only in distant countries but also in New York, Rome or Berlin, and there was no right to the bad image that priests and the Church already had at that time.

For this reason, although financial help is always needed, the primary purpose of CARF is to foster vocations and spread the good name of priests, so if someone cannot give money, they can help by spreading the word about CARF.

In this sense, how does CARF help those who want to study in these faculties in Rome or Pamplona?

-The way it works is as follows: interested religious superiors (male or female) and bishops apply to the ecclesiastical faculties of the University of Navarra or the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, requesting a place and, subsequently, if they cannot afford the cost of these studies, they ask for a scholarship.

From CARF we ask that, at least, they contribute what it would cost to maintain them in their countries of origin because "everything for free" is not formative. There are times when we are faced with the problem of places, because there is not always room in the residences and seminars. At Rome are covered, to a certain extent, by the national Colleges, but it is not the same thing. In the residences and international seminars they are very well cared for, it is a family and they appreciate it in a special way.

What countries do the students come from and are they all on scholarship?

-In the ecclesiastical faculties of the University of Navarra and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross we find students from more than a hundred nationalities. In fact, the third country with the largest number of students is the United States. Logically, an American, a German or a Spaniard who can afford to pay for his studies is not given a scholarship.

What type of person collaborates with CARF?

-CARF is a Spanish foundation. Although it supports students of 133 nationalities, most of our members are Spanish. It is true that there is more and more variety, since the Internet is reaching everywhere.

Our channels are the newsletter, our website and social networks, through which donations from other countries have come in. Most of them are "humble" donations: many people who give 5 euros per month or 20 euros per year. The vast majority, 80%, are of this type of small contributions. This is very nice. Obviously large donations are needed because otherwise this is not viable, but most of them are small amounts.

CARF does not accept anonymous donations. They all have names and surnames; although we do not know the 90% of those who make these donations. They are many good people, who see the Bulletin in their parish or some publication in social networks. Once they help us we try to keep more or less a small follow-up from the foundation in case any issue arises. We can say that there is no cause-effect relationship between our work and what happens, and things happen. I put it down to the fact that there are three saints (St. John Paul II, St. Josemaría and Blessed Álvaro del Portillo) who are very determined that this should go ahead, because it's amazing. In any commercial activity the business is known, and here we don't know where most of it comes from.

The Ecclesiastical Faculties of Navarra and the University of the Holy Cross are linked to Opus Dei. How do they know CARF and its work outside the Work?

-The reality is that 85 % of the scholarship recipients have no relationship with Opus Dei. In our history we have worked with more than 1,200 dioceses and hundreds of religious congregations. This means that CARF is well known among bishops and religious superiors around the world. The prestige of the Universities of Navarra and Holy Cross is also very high. Bishops and superiors choose these faculties for many reasons and, with the help of CARF, they also solve issues such as housing and student care.

With more than 30 years of experience, what is your assessment of CARF's work?

-We are very happy. When Blessed Alvaro del Portillo entrusted the mission to this foundation, it was all a dream. It is a joy and a reason to thank God. It is really a marvel to see where we have reached. And looking to the future, where we will arrive will be wherever God wills.

No brand plan would have dreamed of this: to be known and to help people all over the world... and even less without being sure how this money, which is a lot, can come out, and, in spite of everything, in the end, things come out. They work out because we have three pairs of hands up there to help us.

Some figures

In its Memoria 2021, the Foundation Centro Académico Romano collects some of the main issues of its work.

Last year, the foundation obtained 9,715,000 euros through regular donations, wills, occasional donations and income derived from assets. Of this figure, 75.04% went to the formation of priests and seminarians and 0.8% to the board of trustees for social action.

In Rome

Priests and seminarians studying in Rome attend the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, which has four ecclesiastical faculties: Theology, Philosophy, Canon Law and Institutional Social Communication, and a Higher Institute of Religious Sciences.

At the residential level, Rome is home to the Sedes Sapientiae International Seminary and the Altomonte and Tiberino Priestly Colleges.

Spain

The Ecclesiastical Faculties of the University of Navarra are composed of the faculties of Theology, Philosophy, Canon Law, and the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences.

In Pamplona, students can reside at the Bidasoa International Seminary and also at the Echalar, Aralar and Albáizar Colleges, together with the Los Tilos residence.

18,000 per year: approximately 11,000 euros for room and board, 3,500 euros for academic training, 2,700 euros for university tuition and 800 euros for human and spiritual formation.

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Pope Francis and lay ministries

Pope Francis has invited the Bishops' Conferences to share their experiences of how lay ministries have developed over the past 50 years.

Ricardo Bazan-August 30, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

Last August 24, Pope Francis published a letter addressed to the whole Church on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the motu proprio of St. Paul VI, Ministeria quaedamin which the pope instituted the lay ministries. In this case, Francis invites us to reflect on the ministries, that is, certain functions that some of the faithful carry out in the Church.

On that occasion, Pope Montini put an end to a stage in the Church in which the entrance to the clerical state was done through the tonsure, an act that consisted of cutting a little hair of the candidate to holy orders, which were divided into minor orders and major orders. Since the entry into force of Ministeria quaedamOn January 1, 1973, the ministries of lector and acolyte could be conferred not only on candidates for the priesthood, but also on lay faithful.

Ministries accessible to lay people

Francis has introduced some changes along the lines of the ministries instituted by Paul VI. On the one hand, on January 10, 2021, the motu proprio was issued Spiritus Domini, which allowed the conferring of the lectorate and the acolyte to women. On the other hand, on May 10 of the same year, the motu proprio Antiquum ministeriumwhich created the ministry of catechist. Therefore, the pontiff points out, it is a question of deepening the doctrine of ministries rather than a rupture, since from the beginning of the Church we find various ministries, gifts of the Holy Spirit for the edification of the Church. Thus, these ministries are directed to the common good of the Church and the edification of the community.

In the present letter, Francis warns that ministries cannot be subject to ideologies or arbitrary adaptations, but are the fruit of discernment in the Church, following the example of the apostles who found it necessary to replace Judas, so that the Apostolic College would be complete.

Thus, the pastors of the Church must discern what the community needs at each moment, guided by the Holy Spirit, and must make adaptations aimed at fulfilling the mission that Christ entrusted to the apostles, a supernatural mission that aims at sanctification.

Therefore, it is not a matter of creating ministries so that everyone in the Church has something to do during Mass, but to serve, which is what the word ministry means, and to contribute to the edification of the Church, each according to his or her state.

Here we find a latent danger in the Church, the clericalization of the laity, that is, to attribute certain functions to the laity, some of them proper to the clerical state, as if the laity did not have a function of their own. Hence the definition of the Code of Canon Law is very poor in defining the laity, pointing out that the laity are those who are neither clerics nor consecrated (cfr. 207 § 1).

On the other hand, the dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium presents what the laity really are: "It belongs to the laity, by their own vocation, to seek to obtain the kingdom of God by managing temporal affairs and ordering them according to God. They live in the world, that is, in each and every one of the duties and occupations of the world, and in the ordinary conditions of family and social life, with which their existence is as it were interwoven. There they are called by God, so that, carrying out their own profession guided by the evangelical spirit, they may contribute to the sanctification of the world as from within, in the manner of leaven." (Lumen Gentium, n. 31).

With these ideas in mind, Pope Francis invites the Episcopal Conferences to share their experiences of how these ministries instituted by Paul VI over the past 50 years, as well as the recent ministry of the catechist, as well as extraordinary ministries, for example, the extraordinary minister of Communion, and those carried out de facto, when a parish organizes for some of the faithful to do the readings at Mass or assist in the celebration of the Eucharist, without having been officially instituted as lectors or acolytes.

It remains to be seen when and how this dialogue or exchange of experiences will take place, which we hope will move along the two lines indicated by the Pope in his letter, the common good and the edification of the community, that is, the Church of Christ.

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ColumnistsSantiago Leyra Curiá

The drama of Arthur Schopenhauer

The life of Arthur Schopenhauer (Danzing, 1788-Frankfurt, 1860), one of the greatest German philosophers of all times, coincided with a cultural moment of extraordinary vitality: the birth of German idealism and romanticism.

August 29, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

His was a dramatic existence, marked by the figures of a domineering father and a mother with literary ambitions, and by an indomitable will to succeed in the dense intellectual environment in which he lived, where thinkers such as Kant, Fichte, Schelling and Hegel had shone.

At a time when the cult of reason prevailed, Schopenhauer already intuited some of the features that shape our present: irrationalism, tragic pessimism, the primacy of will, instincts and desire, as well as the importance of art to understand the nature of the human being. It is a pity that such an intelligent man lacked the humility of one who knows God".

In the wonderful biography dedicated to him by Rüdiger Safranski, it is stated that it is often forgotten that we are dealing with a philosopher of the early nineteenth century, although of late influence, especially through his disciple Nietszche.

For him, the will is both the source of life and the substratum in which all misfortune nests: death, the corruption of the existing and the background of the universal struggle. Schopenhauer swims against the current of his time: he is not animated by the pleasure of action, but by the art of abandonment.

In addition to his famous pessimism, his work has some useful elements such as his philosophy of inner strength and the invitation to silence.

Towards the end of his life he once said to an interlocutor, "A philosophy between whose pages one does not hear the tears, the howling and gnashing of teeth, as well as the dreadful din of the universal crime of all against all, is not a philosophy."

His father, a rich merchant, wanted to make him a merchant too (a man of the world and of fine manners). But Arthur, favored at this point by the early suicide of his father (from whom he would learn courage, pride, sobriety and a firm and hurtful arrogance) and helped by his mother, with whom he would later become enemies, became a philosopher. His passion for philosophy arose from amazement at the world and, since he had inherited fortune, he was able to live for philosophy and did not need to live from it.

His main work, The world as will and representationwas for him the real task of his existence and was not successful when it was published. He then retired from the stage without ever having performed, and he dedicated himself to contemplating the sometimes cruel carnival of life from the sidelines.

Being a man of prodigious self-esteem, he knew how to think and outline the three great humiliations of human megalomania: the cosmological humiliation (our world is but one of the innumerable spheres that populate infinite space and on which a layer of mold with living and cognizant beings moves); the biological humiliation (man is an animal in which intelligence serves him exclusively to compensate for the lack of instincts and inadequate adaptation to the environment); and the psychological humiliation (our conscious self does not rule its own house).

In the work of the philosopher from Danzing as well as in his biography, we can discover that Schopenhauer was a child without sufficient love (his mother did not love his father and some say that he took care of Arthur only out of obligation), which left wounds covered later by pride. In his Metaphysics of Manners he will say that the human being "will carry out all sorts of frustrated attempts and do violence to his character in the details; but on the whole he will have to bend to it" and that "if we want to grasp and possess anything in life we have to leave innumerable things to the right and left, renouncing them. But if we are incapable of making up our minds in this way and we throw ourselves on everything that attracts us in a provisional way, as children do at the annual fair, we run in this way in zigzag and get nowhere. He who wants to be everything can become nothing".

Influenced by the reading of Voltaire's Candide and overwhelmed by the desolation of life as he contemplated illness, old age, pain and death, he lost what little faith he had at the age of 17, at the age of 17 he lost what little faith he had and affirmed that "the clear and evident truth that the world expressed soon overlapped with the Judaic dogmas that had been inculcated in me and I came to the conclusion that this world could not be the work of a benevolent being but, in any case, the creation of a devil who had called it into existence to recreate himself in the contemplation of its pain". At the same time and paradoxically he will attack materialism saying that "the materialist will be comparable to the baron of Münchausen, who, swimming on horseback in the water, tried to pull the horse with his legs and to drag himself pulled his own pigtail forward".

And it is precisely his renunciation of Christian truths that will turn him into an individual of unbearable treatment and unhappy existence: he will end his days alone, angry for years with his mother and his only sister, without having managed to commit himself to any of the women he took advantage of, denounced by a neighbor who claimed that he threw her down the stairs in an argument because of the noise she made when talking, and found dead by his housekeeper on the sofa of his house.

When his mother took Schopenhauer's dissertation The quadruple rootArthur replied: "it will be read when not a single one of your writings is left in the back room" and his mother replied: "of yours, the whole edition will be about to be released".

However, throughout his life he would have moments of lucidity as when he gave importance to compassion in the lives of men (he himself left his inheritance to a charitable organization) or when he liked to climb the mountains and contemplate the beauty of the landscape from above. In his diary he wrote: "If we take away from life the brief moments of religion, art and pure love, what is left but a succession of trivial thoughts? And in a letter to his mother he will come to say: "the pulsations of divine music have not ceased to sound through the centuries of barbarism, and an immediate echo of the eternal has remained in us, intelligible to all the senses and even above vice and virtue".

In the political field, patriotism is strange to him, war events are "thunder and smoke", an extraordinarily foolish game. He was "fully convinced that I was not born to serve mankind with my fist but with my head, and that my fatherland is greater than Germany. For him, the state is a necessary evil, a social machine which, at best, couples collective egoism with the collective interest of survival and which has no moral competence. He does not want a State with a soul which, as soon as it can, tries to possess the souls of its subjects. Schopenhauer uncompromisingly defends freedom of thought.

In 1850 he finished his last work, the Parerga and Paralipomena, secondary writings, scattered but systematically ordered thoughts on various subjects. Among them are the Aphorisms on the wisdom of living, which later became so famous (together with The Art of Being Right: Exposed in 38 Stratagems). They do not lack the sense of humor of their author, who affirmed that taking ourselves too seriously in the present turns us into laughable people and that only a few great spirits managed to leave that situation to become laughable people. Shortly before his death he said: "Humanity has learned from me things it will never forget". Let us learn from his virtues and his mistakes.

The authorSantiago Leyra Curiá

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Pope Francis opens the Jubilee of "Forgiveness".

Rome Reports-August 29, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute

Pope Francis opened the door of the Jubilee in the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio in the town of L'Aquila. This opening marked the beginning of the Jubilee of Forgiveness, which has been celebrated here every year since 1294.

He is the first Pope to open this Holy Door since Celestine, 728 years ago.

Pope Francis

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What will be discussed at the Consistory of Cardinals on August 29-30?

An important meeting of cardinals, an extraordinary consistory, will take place on August 29 and 30. We review the topics to be addressed and the composition of the College of Cardinals.

Andrea Gagliarducci-August 28, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

Who are the cardinals of the next consistory?

The extraordinary consistory to be held on August 29-30 will be the first of its kind convened by Pope Francis since 2015. Previously, it was customary that, once the cardinals had been summoned to Rome to the creation of the new red capsIn addition, an extraordinary consistory, i.e., a meeting of all the cardinals on topics of common interest, will be held.

Pope Francis had maintained this practice for the Consistory of 2014 and that of 2015. In 2014, the theme was the family, saw the report of Cardinal Walter Kasper and introduced the great debate on the topic of the Special Synod on the Family. In 2015, the theme was instead the reform of the Curia, and saw several reports from the cardinals involved in the reform, as well as a wide-ranging debate.

After the 2015 Consistory, Pope Francis called cardinals from around the world for the creation of new red birettas in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Five more consistories, which, however, did not then have a general meeting. In the meantime, the work on the reform of the Curia continued and was completed. And at the same time, the College of Cardinals was being profoundly modified.

Now Pope Francis is resuming this custom of the extraordinary consistory, but everything has changed. Starting with the very face of the College of Cardinals. Let's see how.

Changes in the College of Cardinals

At the 2015 Consistory, Pope Francis had created 15 cardinal electors and 5 non-electors. In the following consistories, he created 73 more cardinals, of whom 48 are electors. The face of the College of Cardinals has changed profoundly in recent years, but the cardinals have not known each other.

After the August consistory, there will be 132 cardinal electors, 12 more than the limit of 120 set by Paul VI. By the end of 2022, six more cardinals will turn 80, thus losing their right to vote in the conclave. In total, Pope Francis will have created 82 of the 126 cardinals. This means that, in a possible conclave, the cardinals created by Pope Francis will be slightly more than 65%. The quorum for the election of a pope is two-thirds, or 84 cardinals. The cardinals created by Pope Francis will therefore be only two less than the quota needed to elect the successor at the end of 2022.

As can be seen, this is a profoundly changed College of Cardinals. The debate on the reform of the Curia will serve, more than anything else, to allow the cardinals to get to know each other and to know where they stand on certain issues. The Extraordinary Consistory of August 29-30 is also expected for this purpose.

The modalities of the Consistory

However, the Extraordinary Consistory will be profoundly different from what we have been used to so far. There are no papers, no reports, and only an open debate is scheduled for the morning of August 30. All the cardinals have received a report on the reform of the Curia, drafted by Msgr. Marco Mellino, secretary of the Council of Cardinals, and already published in L'Osservatore Romano, as well as presented at the last interdicasterial meeting.

In his 11-page report, Bishop Mellino dwells on some particular aspects of the reform. Among the interesting details is the fact that the text of the "Praedicate Evangelium" -that is the name of the apostolic constitution that regulates the competencies and tasks of the offices of the Curia as of June 2022- is firmly in the hands of the Pope since 2020, and that therefore any subsequent changes must be attributed only to the Holy Father, in his role as supreme legislator.

Then there is the question of the role of the laity, who now - as we know - can become heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia. Mellino thus interprets the canon that provides for the cooperation of the laity in the power of ordained ministers as a "having part" of the same power, understanding that there are tasks and prerogatives that can only concern ordained ministers.

Mellino also explains the emphasis placed on the theme of evangelization, as well as that of Charity. For this reason, it was decided to transform the Apostolic Almonerate into a true dicastery of the Roman Curia.

The text, however, is only an introduction, and many cardinals are already preparing their comments. In general, from what can be gleaned from various conversations, the cardinals are focusing on substance rather than functionality. The question is no longer how the Curia is organized, but whether this organization can really support evangelization. Will there be room for a debate on this question?

Differences with the last extraordinary session

All remains to be seen. In 2015, 164 cardinals from around the world participated in the Consistory. There was a first extensive report on economic issues, with reports from Cardinal George Pell, then Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy; Cardinal Reinhard Marx, President of the Council for the Economy; Joseph F.X: Zahra, Vice President of the Council for the Economy; and Jean-Baptise de Franssu, President of the Board of Superintendence of the IOR.

Then, the following day, there was a report from the Council of Cardinals (then C9) on the reform of the Curia. Cardinal Sean O'Malley then spoke about the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which had just been created.

This time, apart from Bishop Mellino's report, no other report is planned. Instead, the cardinals will be called to divide into language groups, each group with a moderator, and only in these small groups will the discussion take place. A bit like what happens at the Synod, after all.

In the morning debate on August 30, the moderators will present the conclusions of the groups and there will be space for discussion. But it will remain a debate of limited duration. In the afternoon, the Pope's Mass with the new cardinals will conclude the three days of appointments.

To get to know each other, the cardinals will have two lunches and two dinners together, and some discussion on the sidelines. They will comment on the reform of the Curia, but conscious that the reform is already a reality and already structured: it cannot be changed, or at least not substantially.

A new type of consistory?

Certainly, it is a strong break with the tradition of the consistories. Consistories were especially important in the Middle Ages as a governing body, and also served as a court of justice. Pope Innocent III went so far as to convene three meetings of the cardinals per week.

After the reform of the Curia by Sixtus V in the 16th century, the consistories lost their governing weight. The cardinals assisted the pope in the government of the Church through their work in the Vatican congregations, while the consistories were convened to give solemnity to certain important moments of the Church.

It must be said that the consistory acquired a renewed importance after the Second Vatican Council. Father Gianfranco Grieco, Vatican historian for L'Osservatore Romano, in his book "Paul VI. Ho visto, ho creduto" ("I have seen, I have believed"), recounted how Pope Montini always wanted the cardinals gathered in the consistory to wait for him upon his return from an international trip, to exchange with them the first opinions of the journey.

John Paul II convoked six extraordinary consistories during his pontificate, which dealt with various topics such as the renewal of the Curia, the Church and culture, the financial situation, the Jubilee, threats to life, the challenge of sects.

Benedict XVI also used to precede the consistories for the creation of new cardinals with moments of exchange. It remains to be seen whether this new format desired by Pope Francis is only an extraordinary way of organizing consistories or whether it will be formalized as a new modality. Certainly, the next extraordinary consistory has its own particularity that must be taken into account.

The authorAndrea Gagliarducci

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Enzo PetroniloThere are more than 48,000 deacons and their number is growing".

There are 414,000 priests in the world, which is too few to adequately carry out the task of evangelization. For this reason, the increasing number of deacons is seen with ever greater hope.

Federico Piana-August 27, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

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In the Church there is a reality, perhaps still little known, which is growing steadily in the world: that of the diaconate. "In recent years there are more than 48,000 deacons present in all continents and their number is increasing. For example, from 2018 to 2019 they grew by 1,000. A true gift of the Holy Spirit," says Enzo Petrolino, 73, permanent deacon and president of the Diaconate Community in Italy.

But who are the deacons? To this question, Enzo Petrolino, who is also a husband and happy father of three children, answers by reweaving the thread of history: "To understand them well, we must start from the Acts of the Apostles, in which the evangelist Luke tells us about the institution of the first seven deacons, who were chosen to respond to a need of the first Christian communities: to care for the widows of the Hellenes, who had previously been abandoned. The deacons, in essence, were born to serve".

Is diakonia, which in Greek means service, reserved for someone in particular?

- It is a vocation that concerns all the baptized and can be considered the heart of the Church's mission, because Jesus himself said: "I did not come to be served but to serve", to be a deacon of the Father. History teaches us that deacons then disappeared for 1,500 years and only the Vatican Council IIThe Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium reintroduced in the Church this figure, called not to ministry but to service.

What is the importance of the diaconate in the Church today?

- The actuality is found in the Magisterium of Pope Francis. The Holy Father, since the beginning of his pontificate, has said that he wants a poor Church for the poor and for this reason it must be diaconal, outgoing: attentive to the last and to the peripheries, not only physical but also existential.

What are the areas of competence of deacons?

- The areas of competence cover various fronts: there are deacons who work in local Caritas or in the pastoral care of health; there are those who work in prisons or those who dedicate themselves to the service of the liturgy and evangelization. Another important front is that of the family: here deacons have more opportunities to help because 98% of them are married.

What is the trend in diaconal vocations compared to priestly vocations?

- Unfortunately, in Western countries priestly vocations are decreasing, while there continues to be a sharp decline in the number of seminarians, the greatest number of whom are in Asia, Africa and America: Europe is at the bottom of the list. It is different in the case of diaconal vocations, which are growing steadily in all countries of the world. The greatest number of deacons is to be found in the United States, Brazil and Italy, third in the world, but first in Europe.

The role of wives in the diaconal vocational journey is fundamental: if the wife of an aspiring married deacon does not agree, the husband cannot be ordained. How do wives participate in this journey?

- The involvement of the wives is an aspect on which our community is insisting a lot, trying to make the wives aware of what they will face once their husband becomes a deacon. We focus on their formation, parallel to that of the aspiring deacons.

What future do you envision for the diaconate in the world?

- I imagine it will be a very interesting future and it will be linked to an increasingly extroverted Church. The deacons will have to learn to be more synodal, walking together, facing the new needs of the world and the Church. Our challenge will be to avoid an acting diaconate that serves no purpose.

The authorFederico Piana

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

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