Liège, 1209. An Augustinian nun of the convent of Mont-Cornillon, located in this city of French-speaking Belgium, 16 years old, later known as Saint Julienne de Liège (or de Cornillon), has a vision during a Eucharistic adoration: a dark stripe crosses the moon in full splendor; Julienne understands that the moon signifies the life of the Church on earth; the dark stripe, the absence of a liturgical feast dedicated to Corpus Christi.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the feast of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist The celebration of the feast began in Liège, in the basilica of St. Martin. In 1247, once the bishop of this city, Robert de Thourotte, welcomed Julienne's proposal, after transmitting to her this vision that had been kept secret for decades.
However, in the development of Eucharistic doctrine - and, consequently, of Eucharistic devotion - the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, convoked by Pope Innocent III, played a very important role; it was the main council of the Middle Ages and, together with the Council of Trent (1545-1563), the most important in the field of the sacraments.
Extension of devotion
For the extension of the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ to the universal Church, a Eucharistic miracle occurred in 1263 in Bolsena (Italy). According to tradition, while a priest was celebrating Mass, blood flowed from the consecrated Host. The spread of this miracle led Pope Urban IV (1261-1264), who had previously been archdeacon in Liege, to institute the "Feast of the Body of Christ" (in Latin, festum corporis Christi, festum corpus domini) through the encyclical Transiturus de hoc mundopromulgated on August 11, 1264.
In this encyclical, Urban IV ordered: "That every year, therefore, a special and solemn feast of so great a sacrament be celebrated, in addition to the daily commemoration which the Church makes of it, and We establish a fixed day for it, the first Thursday after the octave of Pentecost. We also establish that on the same day devout crowds of the faithful shall assemble for this purpose in the churches, with generosity of affection, and all the clergy, and the people, joyfully sing songs of praise, that lips and hearts may be filled with holy joy; Let faith sing, hope tremble, charity exult; let devotion throb, let purity exult; let hearts be sincere; let all be united with diligent spirit and prompt will, busy in preparing and celebrating this feast".
The role of Thomas Aquinas
St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274) had participated very actively in the elaboration of the encyclical. He was also commissioned to prepare the texts for the Office and Mass proper of the day, which includes hymns y sequencesas Pange Lingua, Lauda Sion, Panis angelicus y Adoro te devote.
Very soon processions with the Blessed Sacrament began to be organized; in 1273 it was celebrated in Benediktbeuren, in Bavaria; in Cologne the first Corpus Christi procession was held for the first time in 1274; it is still celebrated today, with one of the most numerous participations in Central Europe. The norms for regulating the procession were established by Clement V at the Council of Vienne in 1311. In Rome, the first procession, presided over by Pope Nicholas V, dates back to 1447.
Luther's rejection
While Luther, in 1530, showed a strong rejection of Corpus Christi: "there is no other feast of which he is more inimical, for it is the most ignominious feast. In no other feast is God and his Christ more blasphemed; it is a disgrace to the Blessed Sacrament, because it is only used as a spectacle and for vain idolatry", the Council of Trent declares: "Very piously and religiously was introduced in the Church of God the custom that every year, on a certain feast day, this exalted and venerable sacrament is celebrated with singular veneration and solemnity; and reverently and honorably it is carried in procession through the streets and public places".
Just as these statements of the Council of Trent can be seen as a reaction to the Protestant Reformation - not for nothing is there talk of "Counter-Reformation" - so too as a response to the criticisms of the Enlightenment and to the Prussian policy of the Kulturkampf ("cultural combat") against the Catholics, in the 19th century new Corpus Christi processions arose, such as the "Great Procession" in Münster or in Spandau - at that time still an independent city; since 1920 it has been part of "Greater Berlin" - which attracted large numbers of Catholics from the Prussian capital, although the Protestant population called it a "great procession". provocation by the Catholic minority.
During National Socialism, the Corpus Christi procession is seen as a manifestation of faith that expresses the rejection of the Nazi pagan worldview; it is not surprising that, from 1936 onwards, the Nazis forbid the mass participation of schools in Cologne.
Processions today
Today, the Corpus Christi procession is considered to be the greatest manifestation of faith, not only in cities with a Catholic majority, but also precisely where, as in Berlin, the Catholic population does not even reach ten percent. Although it is a working day in the German capital - as in nine other nine of the 16 federal states - the procession traditionally takes place on Thursday evening in the city center, while a good number of Berlin parishes organize processions on the following Sunday.
In addition to the conventional -In Austria and Germany, for example, there is a tradition of boat processions in Austria and Germany, including that of Sipplingen on Lake Constance, with a floral carpet 800 meters long. For example, on Lake Traunsee in Upper Austria, the procession starts at the church in Traunstein and heads out onto the lake, where a boat with a particularly rich canopy transports the Blessed Sacrament, accompanied by other boats, to the various stations of the procession. This tradition has existed since 1632.
Other ancient processions
And since 1623 another procession has been held on a nearby lake, the Hallstatt Lake. Not quite as old, dating back to 1935, is the procession on Lake Staffelsee in Bavaria. Here, however, the procession does not only cross the lake, but goes from Seehausen to the island of Wörth, where the roots of the Seehausen parish are located.
In Cologne there is a long-standing tradition of a river procession, the so-called Mülheimer Gottestracht The procession is held in Mülheim, the most populous district of Cologne. The boat procession on the Rhine probably dates back to the 14th century.
After a two-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, this year the traditional processions were held again, both the conventional ones and the ones that take place by boat.
Freedom Day commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.
On June 19, the United States celebrates a major civic event, known in slang as a "civic holiday". June nineteenth. On this day in 1865, Unionist General Gordon Granger, in Galveston, Texas, declared that all slaves were free.
States introduced a federal holiday in 2021 under Joe Biden, who called it "one of the greatest honors as president." The event is called "Freedom Day" or "Liberation Day." The anniversary, celebrated especially in the African-American community, was felt especially keenly in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of police.
Slavery is part of human history and has very ancient roots. One of the first breaks with this tradition occurred in the person of Jesus and the subsequent spread of his teachings. St. Paul in his letter to the Galatians writes: "For you are all children of God. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:26-28).
It took several centuries of Christian life to spread opposition to this practice. From the earliest times it seemed to be in profound antithesis to the message of love, freedom and equality of Christianity.
In the Middle Ages
Medieval Europe was the only civilization that showed itself capable of first mitigating and then abolishing the buying and selling of human beings, by virtue of its Christian theological and anthropological values. The Council of London of 1102 represents the first explicit condemnation of slavery en bloc: "let no one enter into the nefarious trade, which was in use here in Anglia, whereby men were sold as if they were brute animals."
At the end of the 12th century, the Frenchman Jean de Matha founded the Order of the Most Holy Trinity. This project of religious life united the cult of the Trinity with the work of liberation from slavery, in particular the rescue of Christians who had fallen prisoner to the Moors. The order strove for the redemption of the captives because he knew that freedom was offered to them if they renounced their faith. Recently, the Order of the Most Holy Trinity has performed the service of liberation in various ways: by attending to new forms of slavery (prostitution, alcoholism, drug addiction, etc.) or by participating in the liberation of the destitute from poverty.
Modern Era
At the time of the discovery of the American continent, the thinking of the various popes had matured into a convinced opposition to the practice of slavery, which became widespread with the populations of Indians, blacks, etc. On the part of the Church, from the 15th to the 19th centuries, papal bulls and excommunications against slave traders were commonplace.
In 1492, the year of the discovery of America, Pope Pius II reminded a bishop of Portuguese Guinea (now Guinea Bissau) that the enslavement of blacks was "magnum scelus", a great crime. Subsequently, popes used excommunication to show their rejection of this practice. For example, Pope Urban VIII in 1639 and Pope Benedict XIV in 1741.
Contemporary Age
At the time the Congress of Vienna in 1815 decided how to divide up the African continent, Pope Pius VII called for a ban on the slave trade. And in 1839 Pope Gregory XVI summarized the condemnatory pronouncements of his predecessors in a bull in which he "admonishes and entreats" Christians to cease being guilty of the "so great an infamy" of slavery, "that inhuman trade by which Negroes...are bought, sold and sometimes forced to perform very hard labor."
Between the 19th and 20th centuries, the Church's opposition became increasingly severe, to the point that the 1917 Code of Canon Law punished slavery by including it among the crimes "against life, liberty, property, good reputation and morals." Laymen who had been legitimately condemned for murder, "kidnapping of children of both sexes, selling men as slaves" and other evil acts, "should be automatically excluded from any ecclesiastical action and from any salary, if they had it in the Church, with the obligation to repair the damage".
The Second Vatican Council mentions slavery in a long list of "shameful" practices that offend human dignity. Finally, the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) condemns slavery in the section of the seventh commandment, "Thou shalt not steal."
Current projects
In recent years, an initiative originating in women's religious life has taken root under the name of Talitha Kum. The project has awakened the deep desire for dignity and life that has been latent and wounded by so many forms of exploitation. Human trafficking is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon, wounding tens of millions of people and the whole of human society. The activities of Talitha Kum are addressed to all persons deprived of their dignity and freedom. And this regardless of their lifestyle, race, religion, economic situation or sexual orientation.
Evidently, in the 21st century, the phenomenon of slavery has not yet been overcome, and its forms of expression have evolved over time. Throughout the history of the Church we find abundant theological arguments from patristic times to condemn this practice. For example, it is stressed that God is the creator of all men, who enjoy equal capacity and dignity; the dominion of some men over others is a consequence of man's sin; the sacrifice of Christ has freed all men equally from the slavery of evil; all men, even non-believers, are capable of having faith in Christ; slavery is an obstacle to conversion to God because of the negative witness offered by Christians.
Direction and screenplay: Rosalind Ross United States 2022
Rarely can we see a film with a religious -or spiritual- theme that does not skate when it comes to promoting its particular cause in a way that is disrespectful to the viewer. It proclaims this one with the stick and baton of an omnipresent sentimentality and drowns any reasoning with cloying. Father stu, o Father Stu's miracletranslated into Spanish, is different.
Emerging from an asteroid field of mixed reviews (some of them belligerently rabid), the more than respectable debut of its director, Rosalind Ross, arrives on our screens: a film that contributes, whose vision of suffering is not one of evasion, but of encounter, and which can produce The film is a little flicker in the brain of a viewer whose problems are solved with pills, the weekend as a vital purpose and living it all among hashtags. We must make an exercise to leave prejudices -and hashtags- out and enjoy the simplicity of the story and the possibility that it is, as it is, based on a real event, which makes everything more controversial -and relevant-.
Mark Wahlberg is Stu, a man whose aspirations go no further than survival and, after boxing and jail, decides to try his luck in the city of Los Angeles as an actor. Exuding confidence and self-destruction, he will try to make his way in a life he never trusted. This is how he meets Carmen (Teresa Cruz), a devout parishioner who will kick-start a process of conversion. This will go beyond their relationship and will put him at the doors of the seminary, with its more or less funny problems and clashes.
However, everything takes a more dramatic step when he is diagnosed with a degenerative muscle disease. It is then that the journey towards death but also redemption truly begins. Avoiding the whining, underpinned by the carefree attitude of the protagonist, and with two great supporting actors (always huge Mel Gibson and the eternally tender Jacki Weaver), plus a tertiary who is always a pleasure to watch (Malcolm McDowell). We have in our hands a conveyor belt, tribute, that avoids the conventions of sanctity and tells a true story with simplicity, agile script, awake and unpretentiousness. A stimulating, correct and pleasant work, which lets the emotions breathe and whose dialogues often arouse laughter in the theater. A personal project of Wahlberg himself that is easy to get attached to.
The new blessed Dominican martyrs. Evangelical radicalism and fidelity.
The Cathedral of Seville, the city where the remains of many of these martyrs rest, is hosting the beatification ceremony of 27 martyrs of the order of preachers who gave their lives for Christ between 1936 and 1937 in Spain.
27 dominican martyrs of the 20th century in Spain become part of the Blessed of the Catholic Church on June 18. Among them are 25 friars, a lay Dominican and a Dominican nun.
They suffered martyrdom in three places: Almería, Huéscar and Almagro (Ciudad Real) and many of them had not even reached 30 years of age when they gave their lives for not denying Christ.
A youth that shows that "even today there are young people capable of giving their lives for a great cause, and undoubtedly for the Gospel of Jesus Christ", as Friar Emilio Garcia, prior of the friary of St. Thomas Aquinas in Seville, points out.
"His example speaks to us of evangelical radicalism"
The approval of the beatification of this group of Dominicans has also served to learn, even within their order, about the life and martyrdom of these friars.
Emilio García, who explains that "it is a matter of martyrs of one of the three Provinces that existed in Spain until 2016, the Province of Betica or Andalusia. This means that those of us who belonged to one of the other two Provinces had less knowledge of the friars of Almagro, Almeria or Huescar and their concrete history. For that reason, we believe that for us this beatification does not awaken the same resonance that for those who belonged to that Province and even were related to them or lived where they lived. But, evidently, they are our brothers and their example is very stimulating for all of us and speaks to us of evangelical radicalism and fidelity to one's own vocation, as well as an attitude of great Christian generosity in forgiving those who took their lives".
In fact, the arrival to the altars of these 27 Dominicans has led "the most veteran friars of that ancient Province to show their emotion and affection for the history and the remains that have come down to us from these witnesses of Christ".
Martyr, layman and journalist
The example of Fructuoso Pérez Márquez, a Dominican layman, is, because of his characteristics, the most different of this group of new Blesseds.
Born in Almería, married and father of four children, he started working at the age of 24 in the Almería newspaper "La Independencia", of which he would become director. He also collaborated with other media such as El Correo Español, El Universo or El Debate.
In his articles he clearly exposed the doctrine of the Church, especially in social matters. This experience of the preachers' charism in the world of the media is still present today.
Beatification Poster
"The fact that, also in our Order, there are today many lay people who collaborate in this world, for professional reasons and simultaneously linked to our spirituality, makes us think that, when the time comes, they too would be willing to give witness to their faith by exercising this noble profession," says Friar Emilio Perez.
Those who knew him remembered Fructuoso as a fervent Catholic, a courageous defender of the truth, affable and charitable, he was denounced, prosecuted and even imprisoned.
On July 26, 1936, Fructuoso was arrested at his home and transferred to the improvised prison in the convent of the Adorers. On August 3 he was transferred to the ship "Segarra". On that ship, along with other comrades, he was executed and his body was thrown into the sea.
His head was crushed between two stones
Especially hard is the testimony of the martyrdom of the only woman of this group of martyrs. Sister Ascensión de San José died in Huéscar, where she was born in 1861 after a bloody trial.
This Dominican nun began her novitiate in the Dominican convent of Huéscar around May 1884. Her life was marked by illness, which she bore with patience and peace.
She was, for many years, the nunnery's turner. On August 4, 1936, the nuns were forced to leave the convent, taking refuge in the homes of relatives and charitable persons.
The new Blessed was taken in by a niece until February 1937 when she was arrested for wearing a crucifix around her neck. At nearly 76 years of age, she was beaten and beaten for refusing to blaspheme. The cruelty was such that the old woman ended up lying on the floor in her blood.
The next day, February 17, she was loaded onto a truck along with other prisoners to the gates of the cemetery. There they shot the prisoners, among them her nephew Florencio. When he again refused to blaspheme, they placed his head on a stone and crushed his skull with another stone.
The martyrs of Almagro
Among the new Blesseds, a large group, 13 of them, were part of the friary of Almagro. At the beginning of July 1936, several students, cooperator brothers and parents were in the convent. Shortly after the outbreak of war, the local mayor urged them to leave the convent. That same night several men searched the convent for weapons.
In the following days, the threats intensified and on July 25 the friars began to evacuate the convent. At the request of the Ateneo Libertario, which argued that the dispersion of the religious was a difficulty in keeping them under control, the mayor ordered the friars to be confined in an uninhabited house. On July 30, the mayor began to issue safe-conducts to the religious.
The measure was useless, the members of the Ateneo Libertario got off the trains those who had been leaving, very young, and executed them in various places. The rest of the religious followed the path of martyrdom on August 13. They were taken to the outskirts of Almagro, where they were shot while the Blessed were praying.
The new Blessed Martyrs
Ángel Marina Álvarez, priest
Manuel Fernández (Herba), priest
Natalio Camazón Junquera, priest
Antonio Trancho Andrés, priest
Luis Suárez Velasco, priest
Eduardo Sainz Lantarón, priest
Pedro López Delgado, priest
Francisco Santos Cadierno, student religious
Sebastián Sáinz López, student religious
Arsenio de la Viuda Solla, cooperating brother
Ovidio Bravo Porras, cooperating brother
Dionisio Perez Garcia, cooperating brother
Fernando García de Dios, novice to cooperator brother
Antolín Martínez-Santos Ysern, novice to the clerical profession
Paulino Reoyo García, student teacher
Santiago Aparicio López, student teacher
Ricardo Manuel López y López, professed student
José Garrido Francés, priest
Justo Vicente Martínez, professed student
Mateo (Santiago) de Prado Fernández, cooperator brother
Juan Aguilar Donis, priest
Tomás Morales Morales, priest
Fernando Grund Jiménez, priest
Fernando de Pablos Fernández, cooperating brother
Luis María (Ceferino) Fernández Martínez, cooperating brother
Fructuoso Pérez Márquez, Dominican layman
Sister Ascensión de San José (Isabel Ascensión Sánchez Romero), Dominican nun
What has the St. Peter's Obligation money been spent on?
Every year, on June 29, the offerings of the faithful are collected in parishes and donated to the Pope's mission. This is the Obolo di San Pietro (Offering of St. Peter), a very ancient institution of support from the faithful for the work of the Church.
Andrea Gagliarducci-June 17, 2022-Reading time: 5minutes
The St. Peter's Obligation has become a real support for the Holy See since the 19th century, when the Pope lost the Papal States and Catholics around the world organized to finance his mission. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the vast majority of the Oblates' funds are dedicated to the activities of the Holy See: covering the budget of the Curia, the expenses of the nunciatures and other institutional expenses. Only a small part of the St. Peter's obolus goes to charitable works, with specific projects.
The figures were published on June 16, in the annual statement that started to be made last year, as the last figures were from 2015. To understand what the Óbolo is and how it is used, let's start with the numbers and go into the history.
The numbers
In 2021, 55.5 million went to support activities promoted by the Holy See in the fulfillment of the Holy Father's apostolic mission. Another 9.8 million went to projects of direct assistance to the needy.
The total of 65.3 million euros did not come out of the collection, since last year the collection amounted to 46.9 million. The Obolo is, in short, in the red. However, the figures say that it has done better than expected.
Father Antonio Guerrero Alves, Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, speaking of the "mission budget" of the Roman Curia for 2021, had expressed precisely his concern about the collection of the Obligation.
"Broadly speaking - emphasized the prefect of the Ministry of Economy-, I can say that in 2021 there was again a drop compared to the previous year, which I would dare to quantify at no less than 15%. If in 2020 the total Óbolo collection was 44 million euros, in 2021 I do not think it will be 37 million. The decline in 2021 is on top of the 23% decline between 2015 and 2019 and the 18% decline in 2020, the first year of the pandemic.
How was the hole covered?
The Holy See donated more than 35 million euros, with which some needs were covered. In this way, the Oblates directly provided funds to 157 different projects in 67 different countries. In total, 9.8 million, which should be included in the 35 million mentioned. Of these projects, 41.8% were financed in Africa, 23.5% in the Americas, 25.5% in Asia, 8.2% in Europe and 1% in Oceania.
Among the projects funded are the construction of a building for young people in Saint Bertin (Haiti); a contribution to the construction of a school in Zimbabwe; a project in the Philippines to help end sexual exploitation and trafficking of children; dormitories in South Sudan and Indonesia; the reconstruction of a monastery in Ecuador; and the construction of a parish in India.
Added to this is support for the Pope's mission, i.e., spending to maintain the dicasteries. The 55 million given by the Obligation helped finance the 237.7 million in expenses of the dicasteries last year.
The countries that contribute most to the Óbolo are Germany, the United States, Italy, France, Spain, the Philippines, Latin America and Poland.
How the Óbolo works
The Óbolo has a website where you can find all the information about the projects it supports. However, it should not be forgotten that the main objective is to help the Holy See in its mission. Therefore, it is not surprising that it is used for institutional purposes.
The issue of the Obolo has come to the forefront in the Vatican process on the management of the funds of the Secretariat of State. It was alleged that the Secretariat of State had invested money from the Obligation by taking it away from the poor.
The reality, as the trial revealed, is very different. Until the 1990s, it was the Secretariat of State that managed the flow of donations from the St. Peter's Obligation. To do so, the Secretariat of State had opened a Onbolo AccountThe Vatican bank alone, in the mid-1990s, had some 80 accounts open for specific needs.
It was then decided to rationalize expenses and control, closing the accounts and transferring the management of the Óbolo to the Secretariat of State. However, the Secretariat of State kept the "Óbolo" account. However, this account had only the name of the Óbolo, while other resources of the Secretariat of State had been directed to it. That is where the money for the Secretary of State's investments had been taken from. If it had used the Óbolo, it would have done so in any case in accordance with its mission. And in fact, he has not touched the patrimony of the St. Peter's Obligation.
The history of the St. Peter's obolus
The practice of the obolus has very ancient origins, since from the beginning Christians have supported the works of the Apostles.
At the end of the 8th century, the Anglo-Saxons, after their conversion, felt so close to the Bishop of Rome that they decided to send an annual contribution to the Holy Father. The initiative took the name of Denarius Sancti Petri (the Alms to St. Peter), and soon spread to European countries. Pope Pius IX, with the Encyclical Saepe venerabilis of August 5, 1871, institutionalized the practice following a movement of the faithful in its favor.
In fact, it seems that Charles Forbes René, Count of Montalembert, annoyed by Pius IX's flight to Gaeta in November 1848 in Garibaldi's time, created a committee to come to the aid of the fugitive Pope, and to support the Vatican State which, as Vatican Secretary of State Giacomo Antonelli said, was shrinking into "a child's body with increasingly asthmatic breath."
In 1870, Rome, no longer protected by the French who were participating in the Franco-Prussian war, was taken and annexed by the Kingdom of Italy. Pius IX took refuge in the Vatican, refused the Italian State's offer of an annual indemnity, because the law was unilateral, giving the territory in use and not in ownership.
Isolated, with no more territory, the Holy See depended more and more on the offerings of the faithful. And these offerings continued even after a territorial state was reconstituted following the Lateran Pacts in 1929.
The Obolus with the last Popes
The offerings depend as much on the economic situation in the different regions as on the Pope's sympathy. In the 1980s, a series of scandals - among them that of the Institute for the Works of Religion - nearly caused the collapse of the obolus, which plummeted to $17 million in 1985.
The deficit, however, was also caused by the numerous expenses, in particular those of the nunciatures, so John Paul II carried out a drastic containment of expenses. He also began greater transparency by making budgets public and established the Council of 15 Cardinals for the organizational and economic problems of the Holy See.
With Benedict XVI and Francis, the Vatican's finances aspire to greater transparency. Starting in 2016, the Holy See decides to make the Obolus more accessible and establishes a dialogue with the faithful around the world on the need and the effects of charity towards those most in need. This is why the website is created to provide more information.
Omnes podcast, a summary of the most important news
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The debate on the subject of Religion usually has two fronts to justify itself. On the one hand, it dialogues with public opinion to argue for its inclusion in the education curriculum. On the other hand, within the Church there are those who argue that it would be better to eliminate the confessional subject and provide a good catechesis from the parishes.
Santiago Mata-June 17, 2022-Reading time: 4minutes
It is not uncommon to hear that Religion should not be in the school curriculum. public school The teaching of Religion in secondary school, and that of course it should not score (something that has already been imposed in Spain by the LOMLOE). Those who say so sometimes reject the teaching of Religion as if it were something unscientific. Others reject it from the Catholic camp, thinking that its defense makes relations with non-Christians uncomfortable, or that it is a useless effort in view of the ever-decreasing interest of students or, even more, the indifference of parents. Would it not be better to concentrate on giving a good catechesis in parishes and denominational schools to those who are really interested?
Who chooses Religion?
Thanks to my modest experience as a teacher of Religion in public education for six years, I have seen how useful this subject is for our society: I will show you the results, if you will allow me.
To begin with, withdrawing to parochial barracks or to schools where the fish is already sold, means not submitting ourselves to quality control. In the public education system, the number of students who demand the subject -because the children ask for it and not their parents, let us not deceive ourselves- is around a third of the total in Spain (with great differences, in my school it exceeds 40%). Abandoning it is not coherent with the teaching vocation and it is also giving up the challenge of being chosen, examined and preferred not only by the students, but also by the educational community in general.
Going to the peripheries
We can invest resources and money in providing magnificent teachers and classes to schools and parishes where we promise to offer a quality religious education... But we will do so by moving away from the place where the students really go. And with this exquisite distance we will betray them, because those children who prefer Religion class to other alternatives -now in practice origami, due to the work of Minister Celaá, today ambassador to the Vatican- will not foreseeably set foot in a parish for many years, and even less to sign up for classes far from their vital environment. The students who attend Religion in public education not only rarely or never go to Mass, but they do not even make their First Communion. Precisely because for that they have to go out of their increasingly reduced vital environment.
In short, Religion in public schools may have few hours, fewer resources, and a public unwilling to make an effort. But that is what happens with all subjects, so either we give them what can be given in these circumstances, or they will have nothing. In many ways we teachers of Religion (public, I insist) are told that our classes will be for many the last occasion to hear about God, or in our case to have Catholic doctrine correctly explained to them. Of course, one cannot put gates on the field or cut off God's hands. Precisely for this reason we cannot deny them this viaticum. And yes, to hope that it will not be the last occasion: but if we deny them, they won't even have that.
Less prejudice among students
For those who are squeamish about wanting to differentiate - or separate and even confront - the Religion class and catechesis, I think they are quite out of date. It is true that there was a time (in my youth) when we already knew Catholic Religion and went to class with a rebellious spirit and a desire to annoy the teacher. From my limited experience, it seems to me that today's kids have the disadvantage of their total ignorance of Religion, but the advantage of their total lack of prejudices: they are eager to know, while we, who already knew, only wanted to bust the class. However, in order not to idealize the character, the desire is not usually accompanied by a great spirit of sacrifice, but by one closer to the curiosity of the Athenians of the Areopagus...
Up to this point I hope to have provided some argument to maintain, however little, what has been preserved of the teaching of Religion in public schools. It would be necessary to add the consideration that it is a human right, a right of parents, recognized in the Constitution, etc. The reality is that parents usually have other concerns, that most of them are not willing to demand anything, neither from their children nor from educators, and that in Spain it has been the Episcopal Conference that has defended this right, and that seems to be getting tired of the fight. For this very reason, perhaps it would be convenient that those of us who know how to be aware that children and young people have the right to hear about God, and that many of them ask for it, take up the baton.
Talking about Jesus Christ
You will not hear me say that Religion is useful to understand the modern world. No, what young people need is to be told about God, about Christ, not about the influence that Christianity has had on history. First of all, because teachers of History or Art are already there to tell them that, and above all, because the influence of Christianity is increasingly scarce and therefore we would be lying to them. In fact, it would be better to say that the Religion teacher can explain to them why the world is incomprehensible and inhuman, and suggest that another world is possible.
And finally, a reflection for those who criticize Religion as if it were something improper in the public education of a "secular country". Even for those who directly disbelieve - and this is true for Catholics with respect to other religions in the face of which we appear as "infidels" - a healthy sense of social integration makes us understand that it is better for those who teach Religion - whatever it may be - to do so at home or in their temple, but also in the public sphere: because we must know the arguments and even the intentions of all. It is better, in short, to speak in public, if we want to avoid corruption, sectarianism and fanaticism, which need secrecy.
No self-segregation
If we force and compel everyone to say openly what their religion preaches, we will avoid surprises, unnecessary prejudices, or efforts to unmask the irrational. On the other hand, cornering the teaching of Religion to the sacristies (or mosques), is the first step towards segregation and religious persecution. One need only look to the past to see how mutual ignorance is the germ of conspiracy theories and pogroms.
In short, to expel Religion from the public school environment is pure sectarianism and an aggression against a right very close to that of freedom of worship, which cannot be exercised from ignorance. Let us Catholics not fall into the naivety of believing that this is the best solution so as not to appear intransigent.
The work of women in the Church is one of the topics that most of the syntheses made by the local Churches in the first phase of the synodal journey have taken up.
The secretary general of this process, Cardinal Mario Grech, reminds us that we can lose "the most important thing in the world," he said.all that the female genius can contribute if we do not find room for its participation".
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.
This initiative began thanks to an association of the city of Belluno, but it extends to hundreds of churches in many dioceses throughout Italy, which adhere to this seventh edition. The long night of the churches began in 2016 and has been held annually since then.
The Church is involved in the social life of every city, opening many sacred places free of charge to host exhibitions, concerts, guided tours, readings, moments of reflection.
This event, which is ecumenical, since other Christian churches are also involved, counts on the collaboration of the Italian dioceses, their vicariates of culture, the offices of sacred art, youth ministries and numerous other religious denominations.
The Long Night of the Churches is a completely free event, which is only supported thanks to the help of the many volunteers and associations that lend their time every year. This is why it is proposed to help the cultural initiative with donations, so that it can continue and expand this project from year to year.
The theme of the VII edition
The theme chosen for this seventh edition is En-cuentra (In-contra), which is born of the hope that we can once again fully experience this day in the presence, within the marvelous places of worship. While preparing the 2022 edition, similar themes emerged from the suggestions of the participants in the event: inclusion, rediscovery of links, weaving relationships, welcome, friendship, diversity, fraternity, rapprochement, dialogue, proximity, solidarity....
The Italian motto In-Contra was conceived by dividing with a hyphen the preposition "In" from the adverb "Contra", two words that are technically opposed but which together express the central and significant element of the dialogue, that of diversity.
The concept was also strongly emphasized by the Holy Father in his last apostolic journey, underlining the importance in the logic of welcome of transforming the potential "enemy" into a "guest".
Who can participate?
All places of worship, of any denomination, participate in the event. The organization can come from the individual parish with its pastor, supported by other leaders. Associations, musical groups, artists who want to perform, can propose it to their parish priest and take care of the organization of the evening themselves.
The objectives of the event are multiple: to show clearly the life of the Christian Church; to be an opportunity to meet people who are often far from it; to make people experience the plurality of forms of expression of the Church and religious communities; to awaken interest in the cultural and social initiatives of the churches; to present the churches as important parts of public life; to make children and young people, in particular, discover the church as a living space.
Juan José Muñoz recommends reading Modern cultureby Roger Scruton.
Juan José Muñoz García-June 17, 2022-Reading time: < 1minute
Book
TitleModern culture
AuthorRoger Scruton
Pages: 280
Editorial: The mute ox
City: Madrid
Year: 2021
Good philosophers have the great ability to talk seriously about the most varied things: pop music, cinema, the sacred and religion, Wagner's music or fantasy and imagination in contemporary art (literature, photography, painting and cinema) and their influence on the configuration of personality. And all this responds to a complete, rigorous analysis, and not exempt of English humor, of what we consider contemporary culture.
In this essay, Roger Scruton argues that the religious origin of culture is the link that unifies all its forms, even those that deny revealed religion and offer a pagan version of divinity. In doing so, the English author argues for a defense of the "high culture" of our civilization against its radical and "deconstructionist" critics, defenders of postmodern nihilism.
Roger Scruton (1944-2020) PhD in Philosophy from Cambridge, and specialist in Aesthetics, was a professor at Birkbeck College in London and at the universities of Boston and St. Andrews. Founder and editor of the journal The Salisbury Reviewand founder of Claridge Pressauthor of more than forty books and polemicist present in current debates.
"My yoke is sweet and my burden is light" (Mt 11:30).
This is the core of the homily that Pope John Paul II delivered on June 16, 2002, during the solemn rite of canonization of Blessed Pio of Pietrelcina (born Francesco Forgione in 1887 and died in 1968), a priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. "The Gospel image of the 'yoke,'" said the Holy Father, "evokes the many trials that the humble Capuchin of San Giovanni Rotondo had to face. Today we contemplate in him how sweet is the 'yoke' of Christ and how light is its burden when it is carried with faithful love. Padre Pio's life and mission bear witness to the fact that difficulties and sorrows, if accepted out of love, are transformed into a privileged path of holiness, opening up prospects of a greater good, known only to the Lord".
An intense inner life
In order to recall some biographical notes, and taking advantage of the precious reconstruction offered by the web pages of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, it must be said that after his priestly ordination, received on August 10, 1910 in Benevento, Pio remained with his family until 1916 for health reasons. In September of the same year, he was sent to the convent of San Giovanni Rotondo and remained there until his death.
He lived his vocation to contribute fully to the redemption of mankind, according to the special mission that characterized his whole life and which he put into practice through the spiritual direction of the faithful, the sacramental reconciliation of penitents and the celebration of the Eucharist. The high point of his apostolic activity was the celebration of Holy Mass. The faithful who attended perceived the summit and fullness of his spirituality.
Charity, the first virtue
In the area of social charity, he was committed to alleviating the pain and misery of so many families, mainly through the foundation of the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza (House for the Relief of Suffering), inaugurated on May 5, 1956. The love of God filled him, fulfilling all his expectations; charity was the guiding principle of his journey: God to be loved and to love. His particular concern: to grow and to make others grow in charity.
He expressed the maximum of his charity towards his neighbor by welcoming, for more than 50 years, many people who came to his ministry and to his confessional to receive his advice and consolation. It was almost a siege: they sought him in the church, in the sacristy, in the convent. And he gave himself to everyone, reviving faith, distributing grace, bringing light. But especially in the poor, the suffering and the sick he saw the image of Christ and gave himself especially for them.
The cross in your life
He soon realized that his path would be that of the Cross, and he accepted it immediately with courage and out of love. He experienced the sufferings of the soul for many years. For years he bore the pains of his wounds with admirable serenity. When he had to submit to investigations and restrictions in his priestly service, he accepted everything with deep humility and resignation. In the face of unjustified accusations and calumnies, he always kept silent, trusting in the judgment of God, of his direct superiors and of his own conscience.
He sincerely considered himself useless, unworthy of God's gifts, full of misery and, at the same time, full of divine favor. In the midst of the admiration of the world, he repeated: "I only want to be a poor friar who prays". His health, from his youth, was not very flourishing and, especially in the last years of his life, declined rapidly. He died at the age of 81. His funeral was marked by an extraordinary turnout.
Fame of sanctity
In the years that followed his death, his fame of holiness and miracles grew more and more, becoming an ecclesiastical phenomenon, spread throughout the world, among all categories of people. It was not long before the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin took the steps required by canon law to initiate the Cause of beatification and canonization.
On December 18, 1997, in the presence of John Paul II, the Decree on the Heroicity of Virtues was promulgated. May 2, 1999His Holiness John Paul II beatified the Venerable Servant of God Pio of Pietrelcina, setting September 23 as the date of the liturgical feast. The decree of canonization was promulgated on February 26, 2002.
A very special disciple
A life, that of Padre Pio, at the service of and in communion with other lives. Among them, we like to recall the life of Don Salvatore Pannullo, with the recent publication of Zi Tore. The 'parish priest' of Padre Pio (author Raffaele Iaria, Tau Publishing House). A priest who made history at Pietrelcina, seeing among the first the sanctity of a young man who would become the first stigmatized priest in history and one of the most followed priests in the world.
Don Pannullo, in fact, was pastor of this center from 1901 to 1928. He is a rather forgotten figure in the biographies of Padre Pio and yet important for having been at his side as he matured in his religious vocation. He was in a sense his advisor and guide, teacher and friend. He was a priest who followed the young Forgione in the last months of his preparation for the priesthood, offering him instructions on the liturgy, accompanying him in the final examination and on the day of ordination. And he was also the first to learn the story of the friar's so-called invisible stigmata, a month after the ordination itself.
What, in short, is the most distinctive feature of Padre Pio's biography and work? Where is the origin and strength of his apostolate? The answer, once again, in the words pronounced by John Paul II in the parvis The deep root of so much spiritual fruitfulness is to be found in that intimate and constant union with God, to which the long hours spent in prayer and in the confessional were eloquent testimony. He liked to repeat: 'I am a poor friar who prays', convinced that 'prayer is the best weapon we have, a key that opens the Heart of God'".
A distinctive feature of his spirituality that continues in the Prayer Groups he founded, which offer to the Church and to society "the formidable contribution of unceasing and trusting prayer". Padre Pio's prayer was accompanied by an intense charitable activity, of which the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza is an extraordinary expression. Prayer and charity, this is a very concrete synthesis of Padre Pio's teaching".
Those who use the word in an abusive way ignore that, by ridiculing the sacrament, they are actually giving it glory or, at least, actualizing the passion of the Lord.
June 16, 2022-Reading time: 2minutes
I must have become a prude, but I recognize that I feel a shudder every time I hear the expression vulgar in its multiple versions and forms of conjugation of our language.
I admit that I used it when I was young, driven by fashions, until I began to be aware of what I was talking about.
It should not be forgotten that, although today it is part of the common informal language, its original meaning, outside the liturgical sphere, is none other than provocation, offense to God and, above all, to believers.
The truth is that most people who use the word as a crutch, especially the younger ones, no longer relate the term at all to its meaning as the body of Christ; and perhaps many have never even seen a consecrated form or know what that piece of bread means to Catholics.
To those who repeat it incessantly, consciously, for being transgressors, I would invite them to realize that society has changed a lot in the last decades; and that what is really transgressor would be to say something against any of the current dogmas, those that the culture of cancellation has made untouchable.
If they want to go from "poop-ass-fart-piss" to something more adult, let them think of a real politically incorrect swear word, because religion is irrelevant today. Then they could show off their boldness to their audience without looking like simple schoolyard badasses.
However, those who use the word in an abusive way ignore the fact that, by ridiculing the sacrament, they are in fact giving it glory or, at least, actualizing the passion of the Lord. For the word hostetymologically, it refers to the victim of a sacrifice. Jesus (present in the bread and wine) is the victim, the lamb of God who gave his life for the sins of the whole world. Handcuffed, slapped, spat upon, whipped, nailed to a cross, insulted... These moderns will not believe that they are the first to mess with Him!
In these days, thousands of consecrated hosts will walk the streets of our towns and cities on the occasion of the feast of Corpus Christi. They will make present, once again, in a public way, that sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for each one of us, also for those who insult and belittle him.
They do not know that, behind the apparent simplicity of a host, there is a real force that leads millions of Catholics to be living hosts, giving their lives for others: for their families, for their neighbors, in their professional activity, in the missions, or through that incredible ecclesial network of social initiatives: schools, hospitals, residences, prison volunteers, centers for the disabled, etc.
They do not know that this piece of bread is what gives meaning to all the work of Caritas, the largest institution that fights poverty in our country, with capillary presence in every neighborhood, in every town, and which is now celebrating its 75th anniversary. Caritas would not exist without the Eucharist, so to mock the Blessed Sacrament is to mock the feelings of the thousands of volunteers who accompany the people who suffer most in our country.
It is not about being offended, but it is worth remembering from time to time that respect for religious feelings is not only a sign of good education, but a necessity for coexistence, for democracy and for freedom of expression itself.
In the meantime, when we continue to hear the insulting expression, we can only repeat with Jesus on the cross: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do". And truly, too.
Journalist. Graduate in Communication Sciences and Bachelor in Religious Sciences. He works in the Diocesan Delegation of Media in Malaga. His numerous "threads" on Twitter about faith and daily life have a great popularity.
The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes is narrated by Luke after the return of the apostles, their accounts of the mission and Jesus' invitation to withdraw together to Bethsaida. But the crowds noticed and followed him. Jesus "welcomed".
This attitude of Jesus, which is not read in the liturgy, contrasts with the attitude of the Twelve, who want to induce Jesus to "send away" the crowd. Jesus "welcomes" and does not "send away" his apostles, and listens to the problem of the lack of food that they present to him. But he wants to solve it by changing the attitude of the hearts of his own.
At first, Luke calls them "the Twelve"They are the pillars of his church, concerned with public order. Jesus calls them to a different way of acting, emphasizing the "feed them yourselves".. The Twelve are once again "disciples", as Luke calls them immediately afterwards: they learn again from Jesus.
They compromise: they count the five loaves and the two fish, they realize that it is nothing, but they are also willing to go and buy food for everyone. But they have understood that they do not have to send anyone away. Jesus orders them to organize the people into groups of fifty.
They obey. They could have given food to each individual person, but these groups of fifty are an image of the first Christian communities that, in coming together, manifest their hunger for Christ and their hope of being fed by him, and suggest to us that Jesus wants the Church to live as a family.
It is no longer a matter of an indistinct multitude or isolated individuals, but of a concrete and organized community.
The resonances of the story are Eucharistic: "the day was beginning to decline", as at the hour of the Last Supper or when the two at Emmaus invite Jesus to stay.
With regard to the gestures of the institution of the Eucharist, there is one more gesture: that of raising one's eyes to heaven, as in the Gospel of John at the beginning of the priestly prayer, and which the celebrant repeats before the consecration, in the Roman Canon.
For the other gestures there is complete correspondence: Jesus takes, prays, breaks and gives. He takes the loaves, then the fish, recites the blessing over them, breaks them and gives them to the disciples.
The same sequence appears in Luke's account of the Last Supper. In Paul's account, which is older, the gesture of giving the bread to the apostles is implicit.
Here are twelve baskets of leftovers. The disciples continue to learn, by the weight of those baskets they carry, that if they are docile to the master and give all the little they have, there will never be lacking, indeed, there will be an overabundance of Eucharistic food with which to feed the Church, which, as "twelve", they are called to lead.
Homily on the Corpus Christi Readings
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaa small one-minute reflection for these readings.
2021, the most complicated year in the history of Manos Unidas
The consequences of the pandemic, especially the deterioration of the living conditions of the communities it serves Manos Unidas and the setback of the progress achieved in different fields: food sovereignty, women's rights or education, have marked these months of work of the NGDO, which, however, has seen the solidarity of its donors grow.
More than one and a half million people served directly, 474 new projects in 51 countries with an investment of 33,449,399 euros are the overall figures of a difficult year in which, however, as I pointed out, we have had to face a difficult situation. Clara Pardo, Acting President of Manos UnidasThere has also been happiness". The presentation of the 2021 Annual Report of this Catholic NGOD was also the last act as president of Pardo, who will be succeeded by Cecilia Pilar Gracia.
Marked from beginning to end by the presence of the coronavirus pandemic, in 2021 Manos Unidas has had to reinvent itself and put its creativity to work to be able to continue helping the poorest in a completely hostile environment. Both because of the restrictions, the impossibility of traveling to see the projects and another factor, even more serious: the rejection of the stranger and the exhaustion of solidarity that the months of confinement have left, as Clara Pardo pointed out.
The consequences of the pandemic among the poorest have been terrible and its impact on the economy of these communities as well as on the setback of the progress achieved in education or in the field of women's rights will be very difficult to overcome.
Growing donations to Manos Unidas
However, as Clara Pardo wanted to emphasize, "many people did hear the cry of the poorest". Despite the complications, this 2021 has been, for the outgoing president of Manos Unidas, "a moment of happiness too".
This solidarity has been translated into more than 50 million euros received by Manos Unidas in 2021, which is 20.6 more than in 2020. Of the total, 88.6% went directly to the purposes of Manos Unidas. In addition, 86% came from the private sector: donations from partners and collaborators, inheritances and legacies or religious entities. As for public aid received, it amounted to 6.8 million euros, similar to 2020.
One of the donation channels is that of bequests or inheritances, which grew by 140% with respect to 2020. There have been 154 wills in 47 delegations. One point, Clara Pardo noted with emotion, is that "many of these people did not even appear as members of Manos Unidas. This shows the confidence that many people have in our NGDO".
Setbacks in projects and rights
Among the consequences that Covid has had on the most vulnerable populations in America, Asia and Africa, both Clara Pardo and Mabel Ibáñez, coordinator of the Projects Department of Manos Unidas in Africa, highlighted the "deterioration of the living conditions of the communities we serve and a setback in the progress achieved in different fields".
In this sense, Mabel Ibáñez pointed out that the work of Manos Unidas in 2021 has focused especially on "addressing the consequences of this poverty for the most vulnerable. Everything has slowed down and has affected the development of many projects".
In fact, the impossibility of traveling and getting to know new possible projects has led Manos Unidas to "work with organizations and partners with whom it already worked. Only in the last quarter of the year did Manos Unidas travel to resume projects in Uganda, Paraguay, Senegal, Ecuador, El Salvador and Cameroon".
The pandemic has also increased malnutrition and malnutrition rates, especially in Africa, which has led Manos Unidas to launch food empowerment projects in areas of Nigeria and South Sudan.
Another of the fields most affected by the confinements and others has been that of education. As Ibáñez emphasized, "there are countries that have spent almost two years without classes because of the pandemic. This reality has caused 24 million children to drop out of school and there is an increase in child labor and trafficking.
The increase in violence and human rights violations in this time of pandemic, especially against women, children and those who fought for their rights, has been another of the consequences of the pandemic against which Manos Unidas has been setting up projects in different countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia, where the program against violence against domestic workers, many of them girls, carried out in northern India, stands out. Also, as Mabel Ibáñez pointed out, human rights workers, "key to development in the Amazon, for example," are another group affected by the pandemic, and projects have been launched in several areas of Peru, Colombia, Mexico and Madagascar to help them.
Humanitarian aid and emergencies
As Mabel Ibáñez reminded us, although Manos Unidas is a non-governmental development aid organization, last year it collaborated in 55 emergency projects in Asia (34), Africa (13) and America (8), to which 1,607,331 euros were allocated.
These include projects in areas of permanent conflict such as South Sudan, Burkina Faso and the Tigray zone in Ethiopia, as well as aid provided to those affected by the earthquake in Haiti.
In total, 270,679 people have been assisted who, for various reasons, had lost practically everything. In addition to this, 7 humanitarian aid projects were carried out to assist 7,686 people.
Manos Unidas wanted to thank this contagion of solidarity, echoing its 2021 campaign, which has made these projects possible in so many parts of the world and help fight poverty and inequality in the world.
Pope Francis: "The spirit of service is not only for women".
Pope Francis continued his catechesis on old age by reflecting on the Gospel passage of the healing of Peter's mother-in-law. He encouraged men and women to renew their spirit of service for the elderly, especially grandparents.
Roman audiences are no longer springtime, but rather summertime. 30º at 10 o'clock in the morning. The arrival of the vacations is noticeable, as there were more foreigners than usual, especially young people from school groups.
In his catecheses on old age, since last February the Pope has not ceased to emphasize that the care of the elderly is a matter for everyone. This includes men and women alike. "We have to understand well that the spirit of intercession and service, which Jesus prescribes to all his disciples, is not simply a woman's thing: in the words and gestures of Jesus there is no trace of this limitation. The evangelical service of gratitude for God's tenderness is by no means written in the grammar of the male master and the female servant. However, this does not mean that women, on gratitude and on the tenderness of faith, can teach men things that are more difficult for them to understand".
Imitations of old age
The Pope broke down these ideas based on the text of the GospelMark writes that "Simon's mother-in-law was in bed with a fever". We do not know if it was a minor illness, but in old age even a simple fever can be dangerous. When you are old, you are no longer in charge of your body. You have to learn to choose what to do and what not to do. The vigor of the body fails and abandons us, although our heart does not cease to desire. That is why it is necessary to learn to purify desire: to be patient, to choose what to ask of the body, of life".
Knowing firsthand the physical limitations of old age, the pontiff pointed out that "the illness of the elderly seems to hasten death and in any case to shorten that time of life that we already consider brief. It insinuates the doubt that we will never recover, that this will be the last time I get sick".
Jesus visited Peter's mother-in-law in the company of the apostles. And this detail has been underlined by the Pope to insist that it is "the Christian community that must take care of the elderly: relatives and friends. Visiting the elderly must be done by many, together and often. We must never forget these three lines of the Gospel. Especially today, when the number of the elderly has grown considerably. We must feel the responsibility to visit the elderly who are often alone and to present them to the Lord with our prayer".
The Embassy of Spain to the Holy See, the oldest, celebrates its 400th anniversary
On June 7, on the occasion of the IV Centenary of the Palace of Spain, seat of the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See in Rome, an ephemeral structure was inaugurated on the façade of the Palace, designed by the visual anthropologist Roberto Lucifero. In the presence of Ambassador Isabel Celaá, there were also some representations of Spanish culture.
To highlight the importance of this building, the IV centenary of its acquisition is being celebrated. The initiative includes a series of activities organized by the Embassy to commemorate this important anniversary: conferences, art, music and dance, visits to the building, etc. For the occasion, OMNES has interviewed Patricia Pascual Pérez-Zamora, Head of Communication and Events of the IV Centenary. In addition to presenting the initiatives carried out, she takes us through the history of the presence of the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See in Rome.
The year 2022 marks the 400 years since the Embassy of Spain to the Holy See was installed in the so-called"Palace of Spain"What has been the trajectory of this important presence in Rome?
The Spanish Embassy to the Holy See was created in 1475 by the Catholic Monarchs. Traditionally it is considered that the first permanent Ambassador of the Kingdom of Spain in the Italian peninsula was Gonzalo de Beteta around 1480. In any case, there is evidence of the existence of ambassadors to the Pontifical Court as early as the time of the Hispanic-Visigothic kingdoms.
From the beginning, the Spanish Embassy to the Papal States was in many ways the model of what would become the style of European diplomatic presence at the Papal Court in the 16th, 17th and first half of the 18th centuries. In addition, the Palace was an outstanding exponent of the propagandistic political language and protocol prevailing at the time, as well as a privileged witness and participant in the balance of power between the Bishop of Rome and the other European powers.
How was the acquisition of this complex of buildings where all the ambassadors have lived since the beginning?
The Palace of Spain was rented in 1622 by the Duke of Alburquerque and its purchase was materialized in 1647 by the Count of Oñate, who paid 22,000 Roman escudos of the time. In 1654 the Spanish State acquired it from the latter.
The building rented in 1622 was basically the same as the one built by the architect Carlo Lombardi between 1592 and 1600. The purchase of the Palace by the Count of Oñate entailed a complete remodeling of the building according to the model of cardinal protocol. The work was entrusted to the illustrious architect Francesco Borromini.
Why is it important for Spain to have this presence in Rome?
Historically, because of the importance that Rome and the Holy See had as the main diplomatic center of modern Europe. Today, because of the weight and authority that the Pope has on a global scale as a moral and religious authority. Also, because of the importance and influence that the Spanish church has always had in the development of the Catholic Church.
As the person in charge of communication and events, can you tell us how you have organized the celebrations for this anniversary?
The protagonist of these 400 years is the Palace. The Embassy existed long before as we have seen. We have organized a pluralistic series of commemorative eventsA series of conferences on the relations between Spain and the Holy See during this long period, in collaboration with the EEHAR; the ephemeral on the facade; a renovation of part of the Embassy offices; there will be art, music and dance events; a large institutional event with the Holy See; sectorial visits to the Palace and a commemorative Posta Vaticana stamp.
The building is a treasure of Spanish art and testimony. Why is it important to value this unique heritage in the history of embassies to the Holy See?
Because European culture is essentially a historical culture. That of the city of Rome even more so. Without history it is impossible to understand what Rome and the Holy See mean. The same is true of this palace, which is pure history.
Obviously, the initiative was also born as a reason to "open up" to the city of Rome, is that right?
Indeed. Many of the contemporary "pilgrims" - tourists - pass in front of the Plaza without seeing or hearing. We would like that with these three large banners that can now be seen on the facade, tourists and passersby reflect a little more on the role that the Embassy has played in the historical development of the neighborhood and the square, to which the Palace eventually gave its name.
Photo: exhibition of affine art at the Spanish Embassy in Rome.
Can you explain a little about the intention of the artist Roberto Lucifero with his ephemeral device "Barocco digitale"?
Well, the intention has been precisely the one I just mentioned: to serve as a communication tool with the public that does not know the palace and that will not be able to access it because it is an Embassy. We have built a new website and created a QR on the ephemeral art piece, which we hope will serve as a digital form of communication with the public. open the Palace.
It is also a tribute to the Baroque Festival in Rome, in which this Embassy played a fundamental role. The Baroque was the first civilization of the image, says Maurizio Fagliolo. This puts the Baroque in immediate dialogue with the contemporary world.
Three symbolic moments of Spain's presence in Rome have also been recreated: the purchase of the Palace by the Count of Oñate, the portrait of Innocent X by Velázquez and an ephemeral by Claude Lorrain representing the two great Spanish royal houses: the Habsburgs and the Bourbons.
It is important that there are men and women who help us to look eternity in the face. People who, with their feet firmly planted on this earth, helping their brothers and sisters, have their hearts already set on heaven and show us what the goal of our life is.
There is a thermometer that gives us the temperature of the vitality of the Church and that, for decades, has been giving alarming data: the number of vocations to the consecrated life. There are other thermometers that should alert us, of course, such as the number of marriages or priestly vocations, but I would like to highlight the number of vocations to the consecrated life. consecrated lifewhich seems to me to be particularly significant.
And it seems significant to me not only because of the fact that the responses to the call to consecration have decreased, but also because this decrease is not generally appreciated by the ecclesial community as a great loss. Because we perceive the lack of priestly vocations as a lack and, in general, we Christians rejoice when we hear that a young man has decided to enter the seminary. But there is not the same sensitivity towards the consecrated life.
The life of the Church, we think without thinking, can continue without consecrated persons. And in this utilitarian mentality that permeates everything, we end up with the conclusion that what matters is that the laity take an active role in the life of the Church and that in this way they will do what the religious can no longer do for lack of vocations. But this is not the correct point of view at all.
Before anyone throws a stone at me, I will say that I am a radical advocate of the need for the baptized to take their baptismal consecration seriously and to radically assume their mission in the Church and in the world. Beginning with what is most specific to them, which is the transformation of this world so that it may be as God has dreamed it to be.
But if there is a living laity, with a profound experience of God, there will undoubtedly arise men and women who, with evangelical radicalism, feel the call of Jesus to leave everything and to follow him by living as he lived. That is why a low number of vocations and a lack of esteem for consecrated life, it is necessary to recognize it, points to an ecclesial community with a low spiritual life.
Perhaps because of the comfort and a certain worldliness in which we Christians also live. Perhaps because of the fear of commitment - and even more so if it is for life - that has settled in our society and especially among young people. And, undoubtedly, because we live in a materialistic and immanentist world, which has stopped looking towards heaven, towards eternity. Thus, the consecrated lifewhose ultimate essence is to point the way to heaven, to bring to time the taste of eternity, becomes meaningless.
J.R.R. Tokien, in narrating the fall of Númenor in the Silmarillion, tells us how Eru, the Creator of all that exists, faced with the desire of men to reach the imperishable lands to achieve immortality by force, turned the earth, which until then was flat, into a sphere. Thus no one, no matter how far westward he wanted to sail, could ever reach the abode of the Valar, the imperishable land. The earth thus became a circle of eternal return, from which one can only exit through death. Only the elves, immortal, if they so wish, tired of this eternal becoming of the years and ages, can embark and find the right path to reach the imperishable lands.
We live in a world that looks at itself, without looking at transcendence. And, I fear, some of this has rubbed off on many of us Christians.
That is why it is so important that there are men and women who help us to look eternity in the face. People who, with their feet firmly planted on this earth, helping their brothers and sisters, have their hearts already set on heaven and show us what the goal of our life is.
The Holy See Press Office has presented the message of the Holy Father Francis for the Sixth World Day of the Poor, to be celebrated on Sunday, November 13, 2022, on the theme "Jesus Christ became poor for you" (2 Cor 8:9).
War, with its atrocities and iniquities, aggravates the condition of the weakest and most defenseless. In presenting the message, Bishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, recalled first of all the burden of pain and violence that the conflict in Ukraine produces and that forms the backdrop to the text of the Pope. At the center is the invitation to keep our gaze on Jesus Christ who, as the title says, "became poor for you".
Far from all rhetoric, the faith must be practiced and witnessed with responsibility and fullness, without delegation. Three are the key passages of Francis' message, identified by Fisichella: the rejection of all laxity or indifference, poisoned fruits of an exacerbated secularism ("the dream of indifference"), homily of november 29, 2020); the vigilance of charity, without which one cannot be a Christian; sharing with those who have nothing, for which "the poor is a brother who reaches out to me so that I may awaken from the lethargy into which I have fallen".
The Christian meaning of money
Money cannot become an absolute, we cannot end up dazzled by the idol of wealth for an ephemeral and unsuccessful life: an attitude - the Pope accuses - that prevents us from looking realistically at daily life and clouds our vision, preventing us from seeing the needs of others".
On the contrary, support for those who are in difficulty is a Christian duty that must be honored without a welfarist behavior, "as is often the case", but by committing oneself "so that no one lacks what is necessary". For this reason, it is urgent to find new ways to overcome the approach of those social policies "conceived as a policy towards the poor, but never with the poor, never of the poor and even less part of a project that unites peoples".
Two types of poverty
In the light of faith, moreover, there is a paradox that defines two types of poverty: "The one that kills," Francis writes, "is poverty, the daughter of injustice, exploitation, violence and the unjust distribution of resources. It is desperate poverty, deprived of a future, because it is imposed by a throwaway culture that gives no prospects and no way out".
On the contrary, there is a freedom that liberates: "it is the one that presents itself to us as a responsible choice to lighten the ballast and focus on what is essential. In fact, it is easy to find that sense of dissatisfaction that many experience, because they feel that something important is missing and they go in search of it like aimless wanderers. Anxious to find what can satisfy them, they need to turn to the little ones, to the weak, to the poor in order to finally understand what they really need. The encounter with the poor puts an end to so many anxieties and insubstantial fears".
The example is Charles de Foucauld, the expression to make it ours is from St. John Chrysostom: "If you cannot believe that poverty makes you rich, think of your Lord and stop doubting it". If he had not been poor, you would not be rich; this is extraordinary, that out of poverty came abundant riches. Paul means here by 'riches' the knowledge of godliness, cleansing from sins, righteousness, sanctification, and a thousand other good things that have been given to us now and always. All this we have because of poverty".
World Day of the Poor
On November 13, the Pope will preside at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist in St. Peter's Basilica, with the participation of thousands of poor people, assisted by the various volunteer associations present in Rome. Referring to the 2021 Day, Fisichella recalled how Pope Francis wanted to dedicate special attention to the Family Homes present in the territory of the Diocese of Rome, thanks also to the generosity of the supermarket chains Elite, Antico Molino and Pastificio La Molisana, with the delivery of a stock of food and personal care products, especially products for early childhood, enough for more than two months.
Supplies were also delivered to some parishes and charitable organizations. Another initiative involved the distribution of 5,000 "kits" of basic health and personal care aids to some 60 parishes in Rome, which then distributed them to the neediest families.
In addition to assistance through the distribution of food and medicine, the World Day of the Poor last year was also marked, Fisichella concluded, by another initiative made possible by the generosity of UnipolSai. For some 500 families with financial difficulties, it was possible to meet the payment of gas and electricity bills. These expenses place a burden on families who, in order to access these services, often miss out on food or other medical expenses, as Pope Francis denounced in Message 2021: "Some countries are suffering very serious consequences from the pandemic, so that the most vulnerable people are deprived of basic necessities. The long lines in front of soup kitchens are a tangible sign of this deterioration."
Professor Marco Vanzini offers an explanation of the concept of synodality in the Church. Pope Francis has invited all the dioceses of the world to reflect on this issue and in October 2023 the final phase of the synod will take place in Rome.
Marco Vanzini-June 14, 2022-Reading time: 5minutes
Listening to history, dialogue with and in Tradition is for the Church the first form of synodal journey. The Church is a caravan that holds together successive generations with their baggage of experience, of faith understood and lived. Relying on the assistance of the Spirit of truth, the Church knows that Tradition is the site where God continues to speak to him, allowing him to offer the world a doctrine that is always alive and relevant.
The Church has always been conscious of being on a journey. The wayThis is how the Christian faith itself was designated in the first centuries, recalling the words of the Gospel in which Jesus declares that he is "the way, the truth and the life" (Jn 14:6). Christianity is the way through which man can walk in order to attain life in the truest sense, that which is found in God himself, in the embrace of the Father. Christ leads us to him in that journey which is our existence on earth and whose steps are essentially interior. They are the steps by which our spirit comes out of its confinement and understands that the meaning of life is love, communion with each person, recognized as a brother or sister in Christ, daughter of the same Father.
The Church has always been aware of being on the way. In the first centuries, this is how the Christian faith itself was described, recalling the words of the Gospel in which Jesus declares that he is "the way, the truth and the life" (Jn 14:6).
The goal of man's journey is not to immerse himself in an individual and "private" relationship with God, nor is the journey to be made alone, but together, in the communion that already exists, even if not fully, in the Church. It is a syn-hodosa synodal journey what we do. On this journey, the Church wants to accompany every man and every woman, the whole human family of which she herself is a part and with which she shares the struggles, sufferings, desires and hopes.
What the Pope wants
The Church, in fact, "is composed of men and women who, gathered together in Christ, are guided by the Holy Spirit on their pilgrimage towards the kingdom of the Father, and have received a message of salvation to propose it to all. For this reason, the Christian community feels itself truly and intimately united to the human race and its history" (Gaudium et spes, 1).
This is the fundamental conscience that Pope Francis wants to revive in the Church, giving impetus to the reflection on synodality. But if it is true that since its origins the Church has known that it walks together with the world in the The Way who is Christ, then the first awareness to be rekindled is that of his own history as a site of synodality. Indeed, since the day of Pentecost, the Church's raison d'être has been to bring Christ to the world and the world to Christ. She has done so through the life of believers, through their witness, through their charity lived and nourished in the Eucharist, through the proclamation of the Gospel and its actualization in every period of history.
The life of Peter and Paul, of Lawrence and Agnes, the theological genius of Origen, Augustine and Thomas, the progress in the understanding of the mystery of God and of man witnessed to by the Magisterium in the Councils and in its various expressions, the spiritual depth of Teresa and Ignatius, the humility of Francis and the luminous charity of Joseph Cottolengo and Maximilian Kolbe, are expressions of the inexhaustible richness and vitality of Christ and of the Gospel. Without these expressions, this richness would be confined to the past.
These expressions are the Church's mediation in every age between the Gospel and the present-day life and culture of the people. They are what is called Tradition and, as a whole, constitute a perennial patrimony of the Church, a symphony of voices through which she has made the Word of Christ audible in every age and makes it audible in today's world. The Church, on the basis of the promise of Christ, is convinced that the Holy Spirit coordinates and agrees These voices so that the Word may be heard in its richness, faithfully, without distortion.
For this reason, the Church advances on her journey by listening, above all, to these voices, constantly drawing on this heritage and bringing it up to date. Otherwise, she would run the risk of remaining anachronistically anchored in the past or of straying from the path, abandoning the "Way" that is Christ to follow fallacious directions.
Synodality is a historical synodality
To borrow an expression dear to Pope Francis, the Church is a caravan of solidarity that holds together successive generations with their baggage of experiences, of faith understood and lived. In this sense, we can say that the synodality of the Church is first and foremost historicalIn the Church, today's Christians walk alongside those of yesterday and prepare the way for those of tomorrow. And this is thanks to her living Tradition, capable of preserving and updating the Word of God, so as to illuminate with its light the problems and questions of mankind today.
Listening to one's own history - Tradition - is not easy or taken for granted, nor is dialogue between generations in a family and in society. But in the Church it is an indispensable matter, even more so than in a family and in society. Indeed, at stake is faith in the indefectibility assured by Christ to the Church in her mission of transmitting the truth, with the assistance of the "Spirit of truth" (Mt 16:18; Jn 16:13).
Christian doctrine has a development because it is the doctrine of a subject - the Church - that lives in time and faces the contexts of each time and place. And because the mystery from which it draws - the God revealed in Jesus Christ - is inexhaustible, as is the mystery of man, who is illuminated by this doctrine. But, as J.H. Newman has shrewdly explained, it is a development that does not reject the past, but knows how to appreciate it and continually return to it as a guarantee of true historical continuity.
In this way, the Church can manifest in her journey a perennial vigor and a capacity for renewal that never fails. Thus, a true deepening of the truth can take place at any time, not just a transposition of past teachings into more current terms and concepts. New aspects of truth, previously unexpressed or even hidden, can emerge under the stimulus of a new historical and cultural context. New insights illuminate previous ones, of which they always prepare and anticipate to some extent, and thus manifest the coherence, the unity of Christian doctrine and its fruitfulness.
Listening to and dialoguing with Tradition and in Tradition is an essential modality of the synodality that the Church needs today. This listening-dialogue is the guarantee that what we intend to offer to the world as a community of believers in Christ will not be simply a solution of human wisdom to the anthropological, ethical and spiritual challenges that the changing times present us. Rather, it will be a human word in which the divine Word is expressed - is incarnated - the only Word capable of truly illuminating, in all its depth, the mystery of man, the meaning of his life and the goal of his journey together with the whole human community.
The Queen's Jubilee and its importance for the Catholic Church
Queen Elizabeth II has contributed to improving relations with the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom. She has met 5 Popes and, under her reign, several members of the Royal Family have joined the Catholic Church.
Sean Richardson-June 14, 2022-Reading time: 4minutes
This month marks the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, 70 years since her accession to the throne on February 6, 1952. She is the longest reigning monarch in British history. Across the country, and across the Commonwealth, people have joined in the festivities to mark this important occasion for the Queen.
Among those commemorating this historic moment, the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales established that, at all Sunday Masses on June 4 and 5, 2022, in every parish, prayers be said for Her Majesty the Queen, including an intention in the Prayer of the Faithful and at the end of the Mass.
Pope Francis even sent a telegram to congratulate Her Majesty; and he has donated a cedar from Lebanon to the Queen's Green Canopy initiative, a project that invites people across the UK to plant a tree to commemorate the Jubilee.
These gestures of mutual affection between the royal family and the Catholic Church mark an important historic step for both the United Kingdom and the Vatican.
It is important to remember that it was not until 1829 that England introduced the Emancipation Act, restoring most civil rights to Catholics.
However, even after this law, it has been a long road for Catholics to be publicly accepted within English society.
In the past, converting to Catholicism sometimes meant losing status in English society, as St. John Henry Newman and J.R.R. Tolkien's mother, Mabel, had to endure.
Elizabeth II: key to improving relations with the Church
Queen Elizabeth II has arguably contributed to improving relations with the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom. In 2014, she and her husband, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, even visited Pope Francis at the Vatican to mark the centenary of the restoration of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See. In addition, she has personally met five popes, four of them as Queen, and Pope Pius XII, even as Princess.
This is quite significant, since before the reign of Queen Elizabeth II the first sovereign of Great Britain to visit the Pope was King Edward VII in 1903, after three and a half centuries, followed by King George V in 1923.
As Joseph Pearce, renowned Catholic writer and author of the new Ignatius Press book, writes "Faith of Our Fathers: A History of the Real England."has written for Omnes: "Unlike her predecessors, Queen Elizabeth has fostered warm relations with the papacy. In particular, she has not been shy about meeting with the many popes who have occupied the Chair of Peter during her long and illustrious reign. She met John XXIII at the Vatican in 1961 and met John Paul II on three separate occasions: at the Vatican in 1980, during the Pope's historic visit to England in 1982, and once again in 2000. She met Benedict XVI during his successful visit to England in 2010, during which he beatified John Henry Newman, and Pope Francis in 2014."
Catholic relatives of Elizabeth II
Moreover, even within the Queen's own family and those close to her there have been conversions to Catholicism. As Joseph Pearce adds, "in 1994, the Duchess of Kent was received into the Church, the first member of the royal family to convert publicly since the passing of the Act of Establishment in 1701. That same year, Frances Shand Kydd, mother of Princess Diana, was also received into the Church.
In 2001, Lord Nicholas Windsor, son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, was received into the Church, thereby forfeiting his right of succession to the throne under the terms of the Act of Settlement.
At his baptism as an infant, Lord Nicholas had as godparents the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, and Donald Coggan, Anglican Bishop of York and later Archbishop of Canterbury.
In 2006, as required by the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, he needed the monarch's consent for his marriage to a Catholic, the Queen's granting of the necessary permission being further proof of her cordial attitude towards the Church. Since his conversion, Nicholas Windsor has been a tireless and outspoken advocate for the protection of unborn children. In December 2019, Queen Elizabeth's former Anglican chaplain, Gavin Ashendon, was welcomed into the Church, having served the queen as her personal chaplain from 2008 to 2017."
From a time when Catholicism was banned, even brutally punished, in Britain, to the current public acceptance of the faith, even within the royal family, is a major transition.
Does not hide his faith
Although there are still barriers to overcome, the Queen's example of perseverance, her willingness to dialogue and, ultimately, her total commitment to serving her nation is an invaluable leadership testament to all.
As the Bishop of Shrewsbury, Mark Davies, noted during his homily on the Feast of Pentecost, "the Queen makes no secret of the fact that it is her Christian faith that has enabled her to respond to the innumerable demands of her life over seven decades. A life marked by a daily rhythm of prayer and Sunday worship that has been the common thread of all the changes and convulsions of her reign. Indeed, in the modern era it is impossible to imagine how such a long service could be lived without that sense of Christian vocation."
The Queen's reign will inevitably leave a significant mark on British history and, for the moment at least, many are pondering the future of the royal family once she is gone; and what example they will want to set.
The Pope continued the cycle of catechesis dedicated to old age, underlining the wisdom that the years bring and that is precious for everyone. He also spoke about "the throwaway culture" that excludes the elderly from the community.
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Pope Francis has stated that Europe does not sufficiently support the birth rate and calls on governments to encourage families, to be more creative and to be open to the needs of others.
He also pointed out that pornography must be denounced as a permanent attack on the dignity of men and women.
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Ance the matter concerned me liveThere were two things that concerned me. The first wasra that by listeningYou have a cancer" I said to myself: "You have a cancer".iese very much grima,lo sintiera like yes a kind of worm devour me inside.
As a seventy-something myself, I'm used to the fact that the body from time to time I get the bummer. It is like owning a car loaded with years and kilometers. You have to take it to the garage more often than before and when it comes time to pass the MOT you are prepared to be forced to check this or change that.
Of course, even if you are fond of the thing and are willing to forgive its failures, you still expect that at some point it will no longer be worth repairing and will have to be taken to the scrap yard while you get a new vehicle, perhaps one of those electric ones that drive themselves.
However, alas, it does not seem possible to perform an analogous maneuver with your own body: you are chained to it much more tightly than to your mechanical mount. Therefore, if the disorder cannot be cured and there is no possibility of transplantation, you had better put your affairs in order and make peace with Him above.
Like most mortals, I am quite apprehensive. However, as I have suffered from intestinal problems all my life, I know how to cope with our daily evil and I don't give much importance to dizziness, colic and various aches and pains.
I thought I was going to get rid of the big one, but a routine check-up detected something that the doctor on duty prudently assessed as a "small lesion". In reality, there were two suspicious ones and after the corresponding biopsy it turned out that only the one with the most inoffensive appearance deserved the dreaded name.
I have been told that, all in all, the prognosis is favorable and the surgical solution will surely be radical. So, here I am, waiting to go through the ordeal: the appointment is for ten days from now. I thought I should not miss the opportunity, now that I can see the wolf's ears for the first time.
It may be professional deformation, but the occasion is a bald one, to be spiced up with the corresponding anthropological-philosophical meditation.
There are two aspects to contemplate: first, how I am experiencing the matter on my own without giving three quarters to the town crier. Second, how that intimate experience is disturbed by the interaction with theothers (physicians, close and less close family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances).
Pilar, a colleague in our department, was diagnosed with breast cancer at a very young age. With enormous courage she overcame the experience, managed to become a university professor, got married, became a mother and lived a full life until a second tumor, this time a lung tumor, killed her. I was discussing her guts with my compadre Javier, and he told me: "I would be incapable. The day I am diagnosed with something similar, I will give myself up without resistance..." A damned covid took him away, against which he fought to the end with all the courage and bravery he boasted of his absence.
Both Pilar, Javier and I are (or were) philosophers and Christians. Double motive to face these challenges "as God commands".
So, now that my turn has come (even if it is a small one, as I will comment later), it seems to be the right time to show that I have learned something from the religion that my parents passed on to me and from the profession that I have practiced for more than fifty years.
After all, didn't Heidegger say that man "is a being for death"? It is one of the few theses of his that I appreciate.
My mother-in-law told me that when they evicted a certain relative, his wife started to whine a little (with good reason, poor thing), but the sick man cut off the expansion by telling her: "Do me a favor and call the priest, and have all my children and grandchildren come, so that they can see and verify how a Christian dies..."
Admirable, but, anyway, I'm not in that position yet and I wouldn't know how to do the same without getting melodramatic.
Before the matter concerned me live, there were two things that concerned me.
The first one was that when I heard: "You have cancer", it made me cringe, I felt as if some kind of worm was devouring me from the inside. I thought I would get hysterical and have it removed on the spot, like someone who jumps when he notices that a spider has fallen on him.
But no. Nor have I gone over to the denialist side, like those who stick their heads under the wing and procrastinate. sine die the recommended treatment.
I have limited myself to comply without haste or pause with the deadlines prescribed by the medical superiority. The surprise has been that I have not experienced the disease as something strange. Without identifying with the thing, I have felt it as much my own as the healthy parts of my anatomy. It may be cancer, but in any case it is my cancer. I have declared war on it, but it is not a alien. This has given me serenity. I think I owe it in part to another friend who is now gone, Paco Vidarte, who recounted the episodes of his illness in a blog. One day the doctors gave him permission to leave the hospital for a few hours and he took a photo in the restaurant and posted it with the following comment: "This is the steak that the lymphoma and I ate". If it is said that "up to the tail, everything is bull", in order to be at peace with ourselves we have to accept that body and soul, health and illness, virtues and defects, joys and sorrows, are an indissoluble part of our being. I managed to start being happy when I managed to reconcile myself with my bald head and other defects I suffer from. I am not going to be bitter now because of a disease that the doctor has assured me (with what authority?) that it will not kill me. What the hell! Not even if it killed me... There is an anecdote about Frederick II of Prussia that always amused me and now comes to mind. He was commanding his army in a battle when a part of the troops fled in disbandment. At a gallop he cut off the deserters, saying: "But do you really think you will never die?"
It may be cancer, but in any case it is my cancer. I have declared war on it, but it is not an alien. This has given me serenity.
Juan Arana
The second scruple I had was being the last to know. Anyone who thinks that I will be incapable of dealing with the situation will have a very low opinion of me. In fact, I sealed a reciprocal pact with my wife not to hide the seriousness of the situation from each other when it arises. Fortunately, it seems that this kind of compassionate conspiracy has fallen into disuse. Of course, there are always those who does not want to know. Many refuse to get checked and even stubbornly ignore quite unmistakable symptoms. In addition to self-deception, they are crying out to be fooled and it is only right to indulge them, especially if there is not much that can be done to cure them. But even if medicine still fails to solve many problems, it at least succeeds most of the time in see them coming from afar.
Another point to consider is that the word "cancer" is becoming less dramatic, thank God. In the past, it was synonymous with a death sentence, a horror for oneself and for those who heard of the misfortune, who looked upon the carrier of the syndrome as a kind of specter, a dying person who could be written off for all purposes, except to be the object of pity and prayers.
This last point is of interest. I am a believer, and as such I regularly practice prayer. At home we pray the rosary almost every day and we have the habit of dedicating each mystery to an intention, as we propose it in turn. It's a good idea as far as I'm concerned, since my altruism needs to be reinforced. The bad thing is that when it's your turn, you spend the previous mystery racking your brains to decide what or who you are going to dedicate it to, instead of focusing on the prayer.
In this sense, having a close cancer patient represents a sure value, although a melancholy one, because many end up going to heaven, when what we wanted was for them to stay with us longer. This has led me to ask myself, what do I pray for and, above all, what should I pray for? I was enlightened by the passage from Luke 4:25-30, where Jesus Christ says:
"Truly, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah the prophet, when it did not rain for three and a half years and there was much famine throughout the land; but Elijah was not sent to any of the Israelite widows, but to one in Zarephath, near the city of Sidon. There were also in Israel many sick with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, but none of them was healed except Naaman, who was from Syria. When they heard this, all who were in the synagogue were very angry."
Leaving aside the fact that my faith has never been one of those that move mountains, the fact itself is clear and -if we think about it a little- fair, adequate and even consoling: miracles and providential events are not there to satisfy the whims, not even the agonizing needs of humans in general or of praying souls in particular. They do not serve to make God conform to human convenience, but on the contrary, to make us accommodate ourselves to the design of the Divinity (which for us most of the time is secret and obscure).
It is understandable and even healthy to exclaim: "Lord, let it be done as You wish, but please, WANT THIS!"However, if the effects obtained are different from those proposed, it would be absurd to throw a tantrum, like those parishioners who, after the unsuccessful maneuver of processioning the patron saint to hasten the end of the drought, opted to throw him into the river, step and all. I do not believe that in this respect there is a better formula than the one used by the common people: May it be what God wills!
Borges wrote somewhere:
The evidence of death is statistical
and there is no one who does not run the risk of being the first immortal
A poet has the right to say whatever he wants, but with all due respect, rather than: "correr el albur" he should have put: "tener la veleidad", because not even as an albur does unlimited survival fit us.
Borges himself wrote a short story, The immortal, whose protagonist achieves it by magic and finds it to be something atrocious. What we desire (even without knowing it) is not the everlasting life (which would literally be very long for us), but rather the eternal life. Without cancer or anything else, it is enough for me to look in the mirror every morning to see my mortality portrayed in it.
A few months ago I gave a lecture on Ray Kurzweil, a crazy transhumanist eminence who pretends, in the wake of Borges, to become the first immortal. I thought that the best way to refute him was to show on the same slide of the powerpoint a photo of him from thirty years ago and others from now. Life is not a state, it is a journey, and as such it is as bad if it ends too soon as too late.
It is also inadvisable for this type of rehearsal to be unreasonably prolonged. I conclude with a reflection on whether or not it is advisable to inform those who know you of the threat to your health. Aristotelianly, I believe that here too one can be mistaken by excess as well as by defect. After all, this is not a state secret, especially if you have already retired and do not hold positions and functions from which you should be relieved. On the other hand, if things take a bad turn, it is not a good idea for people to have your obituary for breakfast, without having the opportunity to say goodbye beforehand or -if that sounds funereal- to accompany you for a while.
Having said that, I will warn that I am not so suspicious as to think that the happy outcome predicted by the professionals and amateurs of the res medica of my environment responds to a malicious plot to keep me in the fig tree. I am well aware that prostate cancer is not the same as cancer of the pancreas, esophagus or brain. I am less knowledgeable about degrees of malignancies, but apparently I have also been lucky (because luck, what is called luck, would have been better to have remained healthy as an apple, don't you think?)
I am also aware, however, that sometimes things go wrong. My biopsy, for example, was not going to be anything and then a complication occurred that gave me a hard time. Have I exhausted my quota of unforeseeable misfortunes?
Statisticians say that it would be simple to believe it. But, anyway, what I was getting at is that in the field of public relations there are also unexpected effects when one tries not to go too far one way or the other.
The first is that it would seem that even under rocks there are victims and survivors of the same or similar trauma, which is very encouraging, even if it takes the spotlight away from you.
The second is that there are also many who, with the good intention of cheering you up, tell you that it is no big deal, that your cancer is second or third division. Although in part, in effect, they are reassuring you, in part they are giving you a slap in the face as punishment for having pretended to be the bride at the wedding, the child at the christening or the dead (excuse me) at the funeral.
So, to show that I have learned the lesson of humility, I no longer say that I suffer from a carcinoma, nor a tumor, not even a small tumor. I now report (and not to everyone) that I am having my prostate removed, liketo everyone.
The authorJuan Arana
Professor of Philosophy at the University of Seville, full member of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, visiting professor in Mainz, Münster and Paris VI -La Sorbonne-, director of the philosophy journal Nature and Freedom and author of numerous books, articles and collaborations in collective works.
The identity of the organizations belonging to the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) is more global than ever. Nineteen hundred women's congregations of diocesan and pontifical right spread over all continents: from Europe to Asia, from the Americas to Oceania.
Since last May, the worldwide network of sisters has had a new president: Nadia Coppa, who belongs to the religious institute of the Adorers of Christ. My election was a surprise," she says. But from the beginning I put myself at the service of the objectives of the UISG. For example, to favor the connection between the various congregations, to share a common vision of consecrated life in different intercultural contexts and to promote processes of formation and promotion of life".
She will not pursue these goals alone, but will share the effort with a good team. "I will be supported by an executive council of women who have a rich missionary and ecclesial experience and that encourages me to put myself in an attitude of listening, openness and availability," adds the nun.
What challenges for the UISG do you see on the horizon?
- Firstly, to continue to develop networks among the congregations. The process has been underway for some time but, during our last plenary assembly, we felt the desire to strengthen it in formation processes and in the exchange of ideas and projects, especially in favor of the most vulnerable. Another challenge is the greater visibility of consecrated women in the Church, with participation also at the decision-making tables. This result would be the sign of a Church that broadens its vision by sharing charisms. And then there are the new challenges that come from a divided and globalized world in which our presence is certainly a presence of communion, of listening and of promoting the care and protection of life. It is a truly fascinating horizon.
With regard to the role of women in the Church, what concrete contribution can the UISG make?
- Reflection on the role of women in the Church should be encouraged. The UISG operates in a different cultural context in every nation. To do so, it needs to raise awareness about the value of women's dignity and explain how women promote the transformation of the world and the Church. Pope Francis' proposals regarding women's participation in ecclesial life were truly significant. We must continue in this process in a spirit of welcome, dialogue and common discernment.
Is there any part of the world that is currently catching your attention the most?
- My attention, and that of the UISG, is currently focused on the religious congregations of women present in Ukraine, Russia and the countries of the East, in order to support them through concrete solidarity. Today, the presence of our sisters in these territories is prophetic, because they share their lives with the people who are there at a time of great uncertainty. Our gaze is also directed towards the African nations that are living ecclesial dimensions still in need of a synodal spirit.
So, one of the dimensions of your government is listening?
- Together with the governing council of the UISG, we must begin to come together to elaborate a common vision in light of the processes that have taken place in recent years. Listening is the fundamental attitude to respond to the cry of the poor and of the earth.
What contribution is the UISG making to the synodal journey?
- Significant steps have been taken so far. The UISG has collaborated with the Union of Superiors General (Usg) ensuring, at the Holy See, active participation in moments of sharing. And we want to continue to foster similar moments among the various congregations walking and thinking together.
Was there a collective reflection on the problem of the lack of vocations that most affects Western countries?
- The number of vocations and the rising average age of sisters within our congregations are two elements of vulnerability that we discussed at the last plenary assembly. At the same time, however, we have great confidence in the new vocations. Although small in number, they have a high degree of motivation: they are available for mission and for living the Gospel radically. It is true, however, that we must reflect on new paradigms of community life and on a new way of presenting the consecrated life of women.
The authorFederico Piana
Journalist. He works for Vatican Radio and collaborates with L'Osservatore Romano.
Pope Francis: "The Trinity encourages us to live with and for others".
On the feast of the Most Holy Trinity Pope Francis reflects on how divine persons live for us. Following their example, he encourages the faithful not to be focused on their own problems and to live for others.
On a sunny Roman morning the Pope greeted the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square. Although in recent weeks we are accustomed to seeing the Holy Father in a wheelchair, at the Angelus prayer he is able to stand and look good.
In his words before the prayer, the Pope reflected on the feast of the day, the Most Holy Trinity. The pontiff underlined how God is a trinity of persons, not a purely individual being. Moreover, the divine mercy lives pending on human beings and their longings. Similarly, Pope Francis reflects on how divine persons live for us. Following their example, he encourages the faithful to go out of themselves and be attentive to others.
After the Angelus prayer, the Pope asked for a round of applause for Blessed Maria Paschalis Jahn and her nine fellow martyrs. beatified in Poland the day before. He also had a few words for the people of Congo and Sudan, after the recent cancellation of the pastoral trip he had planned to make to those countries. Finally, he joined in the celebration of the world day against child labor, which is being commemorated today.
In 1748, Mother Antonia de Jesús founded the Carmelo de Santiago de Santiago de Santiago de Compostela. She was a faithful follower of St. Teresa of Avila and, like her, a mystic, writer and founder. Thanks to the complete preservation of her autobiographical writings -about 800 pages-, it is possible to know in depth not only the development of her human itinerary. It is also possible to discover her interior, spiritual journey, in which the hand of God guides her, doing a wonderful work in her soul.
In order to establish the Teresian reform in Galicia, God took care to endow it with excellent qualities proper to those latitudes. For example, the temperamental and physical conditions of its people, the deep religiosity of its people, the softness and firmness of a meek and sure character, rich in sensitivity for everything spiritual, and open to the action of God, an action of fluid mystical experiences.
In Omnes we have already analyzed the story of Mother Antonia a few months ago. The new biography constitutes a new impulse in the development of her devotion. It also facilitates the understanding of her thought for those who study her work.
The autobiography has been published by Grupo Editorial Fonte. The presentation of the work took place recently at the Casa de Galicia in Madrid. Leticia Casans, director of the program "Monasterios y conventos" of Radio María, Fray Rafael Pascual Elías, OCD, and the Cardinal Archbishop Emeritus of Madrid, don Antonio María Rouco Varela, participated.
Synod Assembly in Spain: "We listen to the Holy Spirit by listening to the people of today".
More than 600 people attended the Assembly that marked the end of the first local phase of the Synod of Synodality in Spain. Making this process of synodality the new way of doing Church is already one of its first fruits.
"Your initiative shows that the Church in Spain has been moved by the Holy Spirit" This is how the Apostolic Nuncio in Spain, Mons. Assembly that puts a period to the synod in Spain.
More than 600 people attended at the headquarters of the Paul VI Foundation during this meeting on Saturday, June 11, which was attended by representatives of all the dioceses, other confessions and members of consecrated life, movements and associations.
"Avoid closed-minded thinking."
"We listen to the Holy Spirit listening to the people of today," said Cardinal Grech in his greeting to this Assembly, who also stressed that "What we are doing is already a good fruit of the synod".
The Secretary General of the Synod encouraged the participants of this Assembly "not to have a closed mind; complete", in the words of the Pope.
How to listen to the Holy Spirit
Listening, the axis of this synodal process, has once again been the key to this Assembly. In his opening remarks, Bishop Omella pointed out that "We are used to hearing, but not to listening" and this synodal process has put the Church to listen: to listen to one another and, above all, to listen to the Holy Spirit. The most important character of this meeting is God", emphasized the president of the EEC.
In fact, after the greetings, a shared prayer invoking the Holy Spirit was led by Sr. María José Tuñón, ACI, also a member of the Synod team.
Listening and discernment of God's will and not of personal opinions is key in the synodal process, given that, from the beginning, both Pope Francis and the Spanish bishops have made it clear that it is not a popular consultation but a listening to the Holy Spirit to see what he asks of the Church in the coming years.
As Olalla Rodriguez, from the CEE synodal team, pointed out, "the Holy Spirit is awakening a new time in the Church in Spain. We are building the Church to come". In this line, Bishop Carlos Osoro emphasized that "synodality invites us to be great of heart, in the style of Christ".
Using the GPS as an analogy, Bishop Omella emphasized that, in this synodal process, the Church is "Recalculating the course to meet, listen and discern. This is not a moment, it is a journey," said Omella. The president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference added that this moment of the Church reminds him of Israel "that walks in the desert but carries the tent of encounter. The Lord walks with us. It is not only that God walks with us, but that God walks in our midst.
It is never too late to embrace God
Particularly revealing was the video and the testimonies on the work that different groups and communities throughout Spain have been carrying out during these months. These works, as Auza pointed out, "are a proof of love for the Church, in communion with the Pope".
A deafening applause closed the intervention of Aaron, a Texeira prison inmate who participated in this synodal process in the penitentiary center. This former prisoner pointed out that in the synod meetings, both he and his companions "were able to see that, although friends and family had left us behind, the Church had not left me behind".
Along with 11 companions, Aaron has been part of those groups that have been formed in 19 Spanish prisons to work on the synod. Each one with their own history and opinions, but, as Aaron pointed out, there were several points of agreement: "We all had very good memories of our parishes".
"The Synod It was a time for us to feel heard by the Church, that we wanted this group to continue. We need "that spiritual help to revive forgiveness, to forgive ourselves and to forgive others. It is never too late to embrace God," he concluded.
The final synthesis of the Synod
The testimonies were followed by the presentation of the final synthesis prepared by the synodal team of the Spanish Episcopal Conference with the contributions received.
The synthesis highlights that during this process "the perception of not being alone has predominated. In fact, the most valued aspect has been the process itselfThe feeling of community, the freedom to express oneself, the possibility of listening, the sharing of concerns, desires, difficulties and doubts.
The presentation of this synthesis highlighted some of the difficulties encountered in synodal process: listlessness, apathy, lack of understanding of the questions... etc., realities that were added to the lack of experience, in many communities, with regard to synodality and discernment. However, said the members of the CEE team in charge of presenting the synthesis, "what at first seemed abstract has been clarified along the way".
This synod also counted on the previous experience of the Congress of the Laity, which was, for many, a prelude to the synodal journey.
The key in this process was to make the synodal style a new way of doing Church and not simply "filling out a questionnaire".
As a starting point, two fundamental ideas stand out in this synthesis: the conversionand with it, to emphasize the role of prayer, the sacraments, participation in celebrations and formation and the liturgy that, on many occasions, is lived in a cold, passive or monotonous way.
Perhaps the word most often heard, both at the Assembly and throughout the synodal process, has been that of "listen". In fact, the synthesis reflects the need to be "a Church that listens".. A listening that is manifested in the reception of "the case of people who need greater accompaniment in their personal circumstances because of their situation, among which those who feel excluded because of complex family situations and their sexual orientation have been highlighted.
Moving from ecclesiastical events to Christian life processes
Two of the questions that have aroused most reflection in diocesan and movement groups are the complementarity of the three vocations and, especially, the co-responsibility of the lay faithful.
In this sense, as the synthesis shows, the paradox that the laity demand better formation but then there is little commitment has become evident.
Therefore, according to the document, the way in which this training is offered must be changed from a simple offer of "training resources to training processes and encourage commitment to these processes".
The rupture between the Church and society also has a place in this synthesis in which it is affirmed "that the Church must draw close to the men and women of today, without renouncing her nature or fidelity to the Gospel, establishing a dialogue with other social actors, in order to show her merciful face and contribute to the realization of the common good".
Key issues in the synodal process
Among the topics that have been repeated in the documents submitted to the EEC in this first phase of the synodThe final synthesis includes the following fields of reflection and study:
First and foremost, without a doubt, the reference to the role of women in the Church.
There is a clear concern about the scarce presence and participation of the young people in the life and mission of the Church.
– Supernatural familyas a priority area of evangelization.
The sexual abuse, abuse of power and abuse of conscience in the ChurchThe need for forgiveness, accompaniment and reparation is evident.
The need to institutionalize and strengthen the use of the lay ministries.
Specific attention should be paid to the issue of dialogue with other Christian denominations and with other religions.
Synod proposals
The document also contains a series of proposals for the parish, diocesan and universal Church levels. In the first area, it highlights the proposal to promote a new way of being in the territory: to organize a new form of Church presence with synergies in parish life and a greater commitment of the lay faithful.
It is also proposed to make parish councils and economic councils truly synodal spaces and to promote faith groups.
In relation to diocesan proposals, the document proposes: a greater role for ecclesial movements, confraternities and brotherhoods, and consecrated and monastic life in the elaboration of diocesan plans. A real collaboration among all the organisms of the diocese, together with a promotion of the ministries formally recognized for the laity: ministers of the liturgy, of the Word, of Caritas, of visitators, of catechists.
Finally, in relation to the proposals at the level of the universal Church, the document encourages us to rediscover our baptismal vocation and to be ever more present as a prophetic voice in all the difficulties of today's world.
The pandemic was a moment of impulse for "La Escuela de Familia", organized from Puerto Rico with the purpose of helping in the formation of other couples, highlighting the beauty of the family, and providing the opportunity to share these experiences with other couples.
During this year "Amoris Laetitia FamilyThe "Family Love" campaign, which concludes on June 26, 2022, we have seen various apostolic initiatives aimed at highlighting the beauty and joy of family love.
One that began shortly before, immersed in the pandemic during the summer of 2020, but that took a new impetus in this Year dedicated to the family, has been "La Escuela de Familia" in and from the Island of Puerto Rico.
About five of us couples got together as "brainstorming"but with three clear objectives: to help in the formation of other marriages -among the couple and with their children-; to highlight the beauty of the family; and to provide the opportunity to share with other couples ("networking" and/or "accompaniment").
International speakers
We decided to establish a minimum structure based on a monthly keynote conference with a prestigious speaker who would virtually provide topics of interest to families, which materialized with the participation of international speakers such as Catherine L'Ecuyer on ".Educating in attention" and on "The attachment bond"; Pablo Zubieta on "Professional Happiness"; Joan-Enric Puig on "How to manage stress in the family environment"; Carmen Corominas on "Educating in values"and Isabel Rojas Estapé on "Women today"as well as speakers from Puerto Rico such as Carlos Morell and his wife Magaly on ".Connect and communicate with your teenager"; Patrick Haggarty and wife Emma on "Sex Education vs Love Education. Educating in affectivity".and Rafael Martinez and his wife Miriam on ".The son who transformed lives: from suffering to the meaning of life".
A common denominator among all the topics was the family, highlighting positive values and providing practical solutions to the difficulties that always exist.
Better yet, a common denominator among the speakers and participants was, first of all, the rediscovery of the importance of training for families: we study to be engineers, doctors, lawyers, administrators, architects... How can we not be better trained to be good husbands and fathers?
And then, to value the importance of knowing that you are accompanied by other families who share the same values and from whose experiences you can nurture your own family. This second point was further strengthened during this last year when we decided, with the help of the reduction of social distancing, to carry out the activities in person.
Ricardo Pou and his wife Yazmín opened the doors of their home to welcome a very young Senator who has earned the respect of the people of Puerto Rico for her defense of the family, the Hon. Joanne Rodriguez Veve, who did not come as a politician but as a family trainer. The hosts prepared their home with great enthusiasm and welcomed the fifty or so attendees who, at the end of the luncheon, listened to the guest speak about family issues that are being debated in the government and the role that each one can assume.
At the request of another couple, Ricardo Negrón and his wife Sandra, who were as enthusiastic as everyone else about the activity mentioned above, we had in their apartment the next activity with Jerry Ramirez on ".Optimal Work"how to get the most out of every hour.
Following our invitation, he applied for the first time this work-study concept to the family, with many practical examples. René Franceschini and his wife, Brenda, were the next hosts in their home.
We had the guest psychiatrist Dr. José Manuel Pou talking to us about ".Parenting in times of pandemic". This leisurely octogenarian speaker held the attention of more than two dozen couples who listened to him in admiration for the wisdom of his words and the appropriate advice he gave us.
He emphasized that parenting is about positively helping our children to have tools so that they can overcome life's difficulties themselves. He warned us that above and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic was the "family pandemic"We must know and treat our children better, always highlighting the beauty of the family.
Technology and family
This same psychiatrist wanted to organize the following face-to-face conference with two psychiatrist students of his own, who spoke to us about "Benefits and risks of the use of digital technology in young people.". At the end of the conference, the couples who attended not only asked questions but above all shared experiences with their children that enriched us all.
For example, after Julio Lugo explained that he had asked his 12-year-old son for advice on how to promote some paintings through Facebook, to which that son exclaimed that this is already old-fashioned, that he should do it through Instagram or another platform, Antonio Ocasio and Annette explained that they also had a similar experience, but that they took advantage of the circumstance to have a meeting with their children in which after listening to the knowledge and recommendations that they gave with the technology, the mother ended up taking them to the technological washing machine and explaining how from now on each one would wash their own clothes with this technology.
In each of these activities we had a dinner before or after the conference, so that the couples who attended had the opportunity to share calmly in person, something that we value more after the social isolation and that strengthens the bonds between all.
With an area of 0.49 km² and a population of about 900 inhabitants, the Vatican represents the center of the Catholic Church, from where it is governed. But it is also a small nation, with sufficient paid workers to carry out its mission.
In the The Vatican is the place where all the work necessary for the government of the Church founded by Christ is carried out. It is also a nation - that is why it is called "Vatican City State"and maintains diplomatic relations with almost every country in the world. A basic distinction can be made between the offices required for ecclesiastical government and the work required for the infrastructure of a State.
On the one hand, those who work in the Vatican are those who govern the so-called Dicasteries - the great organs of the Church - and those who administer them. On the other hand, there are those who deal with a wide range of other jobs specific to the Vatican City State. From the management and maintenance of the patrimony, to the museums and everything related to culture, to the attention to tourism, security -including the Swiss Guard- and a multitude of aspects that require attention and maintenance. For example, gardeners, firemen or undertakers, as well as the typical supply and maintenance trades of any developed country.
Who can work at the Vatican?
Vatican employees are mostly clerics working in the Holy See, Swiss Guards and, finally, State officials. Many others, not necessarily laymen or civil servants, and obviously men or women, work in the Vatican even though they reside outside - in Rome or nearby cities. Many are Italian citizens or citizens of nationalities other than Vatican citizens.
The system of government of the Church -referred to as the Roman Curia- is mainly occupied by clerics, as we were saying. There are also certain tasks that support the Curia and are performed by lay people. For example, administrative or managerial work, tasks that do not strictly speaking refer to ecclesiastical government.
The professional qualifications required for all jobs not performed by clerics in the Roman Curia will be those ordinarily required in the civil sphere. In highly specialized areas, such as economics or communications, the need for qualified professionals and managers is growing. Naturally, they will have their own criteria of employability and salaries in line with this condition.
Both the salary and the social benefits are differentiated according to whether one is a cleric or a lay person. And, since St. John Paul II so ordered, special attention has been given to those who have to support their families, with economic benefits especially designed for these personnel.
Are other conditions required to work at the Vatican?
The Vatican regulations - and in particular the General Regulations of the Roman Curia - are very clear in demanding from these employees a series of requirements of alignment with the spiritual mission of the Roman Pontiff and the Church, which transcend the purely technical performance of a job or the technical development of an office.
It has certain requirements of suitability; it demands the commitments expressed in the profession of faith and in the oath of fidelity and observance of the secrecy of office and, for those required, the pontifical secret; it assumes that the employee will observe exemplary moral conduct, including private and family life, in conformity with the doctrine of the Church; and in general the regulations prescribe the prohibition of acting in ways that do not befit an employee of the Holy See.
With specific reference to the work of the laity, it is worth asking whether a civil service system is sustainable for many jobs. Or perhaps a more frequent recourse to the labor market would be preferable. In any case, the Apostolic See has personnel policies that ensure a serious selection of employees, including the aforementioned requirements of personal, moral and religious rectitude. In this way, a dimension of trust is favored for this type of work. As for the laity, as we pointed out above, it provides for the possibility of hiring highly qualified workers who can be attracted, together with ethical bases and an understanding of the ecclesial mission, with salaries comparable to those available in the market for similar services. In short, it is a matter of having upright, well-trained, loyal and hard-working people.
And how does a cleric gain access to work in the Roman Curia?
There are several possibilities for a cleric to work in the Holy See, such as the trust he has with a superior because they coincided in the seminary or in the diocese of origin; to stand out in the studies carried out in the pontifical universities or in general the formation courses offered by the Roman Curia; to be recommended by an ecclesiastical or civil authority to the Apostolic See; or the manifestation of the cleric himself to occupy that work position.
How many people work at the Holy See?
The Vatican has an office whose function is to contribute to the consolidation of the labor community. It deals with those who work in the Roman Curia and in the government of Vatican City as a State, in the agencies or administrative bodies concerned. In addition, it facilitates professional training, with the clear objective of making all such employees aware that they are rendering a service to the universal Church.
According to data from this office contained in the pontifical yearbook of recent years, about 2,000 people work in the Roman Curia, not counting part-time personnel. Of these, slightly more than half work in the dicasteries (tribunals, offices...), another quarter work in other organisms and the last in nunciatures.
Some data that can illustrate to us, to give us an idea of the dimensions of the work we are talking about. The Vatican museums employ about 700 workers; the Secretariat of State employs another 200, of which a quarter are diplomatic personnel; the Vatican Secret Archives and the Vatican Apostolic Library employ about 150 people.
But the Roman Curia is a very modest administration compared to any ministry in a country. For example, in Spain the smallest of its ministries has about 2,000 employees, which is more than the total number of workers in the Vatican.
Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi is one of the most prominent international exegetes. Since 2007 he has been president of the Pontifical Council for Culture and of the Pontifical Commissions for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and Sacred Archaeology.
This new book is about caring for our common home in the light of the Bible. The author's starting point can be summed up in the quote from Pope Francis in the encyclical Laudato si': "God has written a precious book, 'the letters of which are the multitude of creatures present in the universe'.".
For those interested in Christian ecology, these pages are intended for believers, but also for non-believers, with Creation as a common interlocutor.
The book is divided into eight chapters that go from the moment of creation, to a chapter where the praise to the Creator is commented, passing through chapters on light, water, etc.
For believers, it can serve as a kind of guide for personal life. For non-believers, as a code for interpreting cultural life and embracing the common home, the earth.
Francis: "What does it mean to put the most vulnerable at the center?"
With this question, the Pope invites you to respond with a video or a photo by writing to. [email protected] or interacting on the social networks of the Migrants and Refugees Section on the occasion of the 108th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, scheduled for Sunday, September 25, 2022.
It is the Pope, in the first person and in the foreground, who poses the direct question: What does it mean to put the most vulnerable at the center? This question opens the video published as part of the communication campaign promoted by the Section for Migrants and Refugees. This section belonging to the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development of the Holy See, has made it public on the occasion of the 108th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, scheduled for Sunday, September 25, 2022.
In it, the Pope exhorts us to build an inclusive future, a future for all in which no one should be excluded, especially the most vulnerable, such as the poorest and the most vulnerable. migrantsrefugees, displaced persons and victims of trafficking.
The Holy Father encourages listening to the testimonies of those directly affected, such as that of the young Venezuelan migrant, Ana, who, thanks to the help of the Church, has rebuilt a new life in Ecuador with her family.
Pope Francis' invitation is addressed to everyone. It is therefore possible to answer the question "What does it mean to put the most vulnerable at the center?" with a video or a photo, by writing to. [email protected] or by interacting on the social networks of the Migrants and Refugees Section.
The World Day of Migrants and Refugees
"During the run-up to the 108th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, the Migrants and Refugees Section," the press release notes, "will be happy to receive written or multimedia testimonies and photographs from local Churches and other Catholic actors presenting their common commitment to the pastoral care of migrants and refugees."
The Church has been celebrating World Migrants and Refugees Day since 1914. It is an opportunity to show concern for the different categories of vulnerable people on the move, to pray for them as they face many challenges, and to raise awareness of the opportunities offered by migration. Each year, the GMMR is celebrated on the last Sunday of September; in 2022, it will be celebrated on September 25. The title chosen by the Holy Father for his annual message is "Building the future with migrants and refugees".
On May 20, in a message to the International Catholic Migration Commission, Pope Francis urged the Church to "serve everyone". He also encourages to "work tirelessly for the construction of a future of peace", especially for those who flee, who must be welcomed, protected and loved.
He highlighted the efforts made over the past 70 years and, in particular, "to help the Churches respond to the challenges of the massive displacement caused by the conflict in Ukraine."
"This is," the Pope noted, "the largest movement of refugees that has taken place in Europe since World War II."
The text of the message also mentions "the millions of asylum seekers, refugees and displaced persons in other parts of the world, who desperately need to be welcomed, protected and loved."
This emergency places the Church in a situation service and listening positionbut also to commit to "work tirelessly to build a future of peace".
The Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development
Hence the indication of some guidelines such as the importance of the common commitment to "welcome, protect, promote and integrate migrants and refugees". Francis also recalled that the Commission, in its apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangeliumis placed within the competencies of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, "so that its nature and mission may be safeguarded in accordance with its original principles".
Another important indication is to encourage the development and implementation of pastoral projects on migration. To this is added the specialized formation of pastoral agents in the field of migration, "always at the service of the particular Churches and according to their own competencies".
A task that the Pope defined as "ad intra". Outwardly, "ad extra", the Commission must offer specific programs capable of responding to global challenges, while also carrying out promotional activities.
Finally, it is committed to "a broad international awareness of migration issues, to encourage respect for human rights and the promotion of the dignity of persons according to the orientations of the Church's social doctrine".
On the day of the Trinity we read in the book of Proverbs the hymn in which divine Wisdom says that she was begotten from eternity, from the beginning of the earth, when there were no abysses, springs, hills or fields. Then we see her next to the creator, when she fixes the heavens, condenses the clouds and sets limits to the sea. As architect, as the joy of God whose delight it is to dwell with men. There are resonances of this passage in the Gospels and in Paul when they present Jesus as divine Wisdom: that is why, since Justin, the Christian tradition sees in this hymn a prefiguration of Christ.
In his letter to the Romans (5:1-5), Paul describes in an admirable synthesis the progress of the Christian life under the action of the Trinity. By faith we have been made righteous and are therefore at peace with the Father through the Son. Through the Son we also have access to God's grace, which gives us firm hope in the fulfillment of his plan. Paul adds a strong expression: "we glory" of this grace. But, even if we boast, we do not fall into the illusion that everything is going smoothly. We have tribulations, but even in them we glory, because of the experience that patience is born of tribulation, and thanks to patience the virtues become firmer, and thus, tested, they make us recover the hope that we already received as a gift, at the beginning, with faith. A stronger hope that overcomes the temptation to be "disappointed", because it is placed in God and not in earthly things, and because we have received the love of God, so that the hope has already been fulfilled: the love of God dwells in us thanks to the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Paul's words invite us to examine the history of our life and to recognize the action of the divine persons and to follow it with docility, in order to facilitate the dynamic that Paul describes.
Jesus, in the passage from John, reveals to us the profound unity of the three persons. He has always told us what he has heard from the Father, and so does the Holy Spirit: he takes from Jesus, and what is of the Son is also of the Father, and announces it to us. The work of salvation history is still open and the Spirit will carry it forward. He will help the Church to face each future event in the light of Revelation and with the grace of the Redemption. Because Jesus knows our condition, he knows that we cannot "load" with the things he would like to tell us. With the same verb the evangelist describes Jesus "loading" the cross (19:17). The Trinity progressively prepares us, as Paul explains to the Romans, to be able to "carry" our cross and follow Jesus. Personally and as a Church.
Homily on the readings of the Holy Trinity
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaa small one-minute reflection for these readings.
The Roman Academic Center Foundation will address, in an online meeting, the panorama that will accompany Pope Francis on his visit to South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The meeting, to be held on June 30 at 8:30 p.m., will explain the social, cultural and religious situation that the Holy Father will encounter in these two nations. Both have been hit by episodes of violence, large pockets of poverty and social inequalities.
The meeting will be attended by the priest Belvy Delphane Diandaga, a philosophy student at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Rome) and a native of the Congo; Mark Henry Zoman Tipoi, a seminarian from South Sudan and dottore Gerardo Ferrara, an expert in international relations.
CARF reflection meetings
– Supernatural Centro Académico Romano Foundation periodically organizes various online meetings that address issues of interest and current affairs. The various meetings that have taken place in recent months have dealt with topics such as the culture of cancellation, nanotechnology or the drama of the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
The Hill of Crosses. Testimony of the faith and resistance of the Lithuanian people.
About 12 kilometers north of Šiauliai, the fourth largest city in Lithuania, located at the edge of the village Jurgaičiai and near the Latvian border, there is a small elongated hill densely populated with crosses. It is the famous Hill of Crosses, or Kryziu Kalnas, testimony to the faith and endurance of the Lithuanian people.
Marija Meilutyte-June 8, 2022-Reading time: 6minutes
The Hill of Crosses is first mentioned in writings of the mid-19th century. In 1850, Maurikis Hriškevicius, treasurer of Šiauliai, wrote: "People still attribute holiness to the Jurgaiciai mound. According to local research, it happened - that one of the inhabitants of Jurgaiciai promised God when he was seriously ill that, if he survived his illness, he would erect a cross on the hill. It so happened that he was cured while building the cross there. As soon as the news spread among the people, in a few years so many crosses were brought from distant villages and others were erected there that we can now see their abundance."
Stories about the Hill of Crosses
Later accounts tell that the crosses were built over the graves of participants in the uprisings of 1831 and 1863 two uprisings of the former Republic of the Two Nations against the Russian Empire known as "the November Uprising" and "the January Uprising", respectively.
The deceased were buried in the mound. This version of the erection of the crosses was especially widespread during the decades of the Soviet occupation, in an effort to downplay the religious significance of the Hill of Crosses and turn it into a monument to the resistance of the people against the exploiters.
However, with the first testimonies, it seems that the first crosses on the hill appeared as signs of sincere popular piety and gratitude to God which were joined by additional motives: the desire to honor the rebels buried here and, at the same time, to oppose the tsarist authorities who forbade and hindered the erection of crosses.
Under the czarist empire
By the end of the 18th century Lithuania had been incorporated into the Russian Empire. At this time the custom of erecting wooden crosses on roadsides near dwellings was already widespread throughout Lithuania.
In fact, the making of wooden crosses and crucifixes in Lithuania has been part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2008.
With the incorporation into the Russian Empire, these cruisers also became the symbol of Lithuania's national and religious identity.
In 1845, the Russian government prohibited the erection of crosses, except in churches and cemeteries.
The people resisted this decree, ignored it and continued to build their crosses, even managing to persuade local officials to take their side.
However, after the 1863 uprising, the prohibition was renewed, and only crosses on graves were allowed.
In 1878, Tsar Alexander II lifted the ban, but the official at the center who sent the letter ordered that it not be made public. Thus, the Hill of Crosses, which was born as a sign of sincere faith, became a sign of the strength and endurance of faith, despite suffering and trials.
At the end of the 19th century, the Hill of Crosses was already quite famous, mainly in the local environment.
This is shown in its appearance some maps or, for example, in the article that, in 1888, the Lithuanian-American newspaper Lietuviškasrafts wrote about the Hill, entitled On the small hills of Lithuania.
The spontaneous devotion of the faithful was supported and encouraged by the priests of the area, and also by those of more distant parishes. In 1888 a 14-station Stations of the Cross had already been built on the hill and by 1914 there were 200 crosses and a small chapel.
In 1918 Lithuania declared its independence. During the period of independence, crosses continued to be erected on the hill. People could gather to pray, celebrate religious services, pilgrimages and pilgrimages without being disturbed by anyone.
In these years there are reports of pilgrimages of up to 10,000 people. The number of crosses on the hill continued to increase and in 1923 there were already about four hundred.
The Soviet era
The Soviet occupation after World War II marked the beginning of a hard period in the life of Lithuania. During the Soviet era, the Hill of Crosses became a well-known symbol of the struggle for religious freedom, even abroad.
The more the occupying power tried to destroy the hill, even crush it, the more it flourished. The more efforts were made to suppress the erection of crosses, the more crosses were erected.
During the difficult decades of the occupation, the significance of the cross as a source of strength and hope was particularly evident. The Hill of Crosses was nicknamed the "Lithuanian Golgotha".
Little is known about the Hill of Crosses during the Stalin era, when repression and persecution were especially brutal. It is said that many crosses were placed at nightfall by the relatives of fallen partisans (fighters for Lithuanian independence).
After Stalin's death, the persecution of believers decreased in intensity and the authorities adopted a more relaxed approach to the erection of crosses. Between 1956 and 1959 alone, some 1,000 crosses were planted there.
In 1959 the persecution of Christians in Lithuania began again, manifested in the suppression of all manifestations of religious life, the closing of churches and the destruction of holy places.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania issued the resolution "On measures to stop mass visits to holy places". On the basis of this resolution a series of measures were launched with the intention of destroying the crosses erected on the hill.
In 1961 the Commission of Inquiry established that the hill and the adjacent spring posed a serious risk of spreading infectious diseases and that, in the opinion of the Commission, "the situation could no longer be tolerated".
On April 5, 1961, with the help of bulldozers and bulldozers from a nearby kolkhoz (collective farm), the crosses were razed from the hill by teams of prisoners and soldiers on the orders of the communist authorities.
The demolished wooden crosses were cut down and burned in bonfires; those made of cement and stone were smashed or buried in water; and those made of iron were taken away as scrap metal. All the crosses on the hill - 2,179 crosses made of different materials - were destroyed in one day. Although the hill was completely devastated, people were not afraid to put up crosses again.
The crosses returned to the hill, evading the vigilance of KGB forces. So many crosses were placed that, between 1973 and 1985, the Soviet authorities had to raze the hill four times. There were even plans to flood the hill to put an end to the problem.
The Hill of Crosses again grew in popularity in Lithuania in the 1980s and 1990s.
Many of the testimonies of faith linked to this place were described in the Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania, through which they reached the West, so that the struggle for the survival of the Hill of Crosses became widely known both abroad and throughout Lithuania.
St. John Paul II on the Hill of Crosses
Shortly after the recovery of independence in 1990, the most important event in the history of the Hill of Crosses took place: the visit of Pope John Paul II on September 7, 1993.
The Holy Father, together with the bishops of Lithuania, celebrated Mass in the chapel erected for the occasion in the presence of a large crowd of people (approximately 100,000).
In his homily, Pope St. John Paul II remembered Lithuanians who were sent to prison or concentration camps, deported to Siberia or condemned to death. Before and after the Mass he climbed the hill to pray in the impressive forest of crosses.
The Holy Father was especially moved by the fact that a cross was erected after the 1981 bombing praying for his health. "As that cross remains here, so the Pope's prayer remains with you. Your prayer for the Pope, who today has experienced a great grace in visiting this holy place, remains with him," he said.
Today, a large crucifix sent by John Paul II himself stands in the center of the Hill of Crosses and is the starting and ending point of many pilgrimages.
On his return from the Baltic countries, during his visit to the La Verna Franciscan monastery, John Paul II encouraged the Franciscans to build a hermitage on the Hill of Crosses. The monastery, which is only 300 meters from the hill, was consecrated on July 8, 2000.
In 1997 the diocese of Šiauliai was created and on July 20 of the same year, by the decision of the bishop, the pilgrimage to the Hill of Crosses, which is celebrated on the last Sunday of July, was revived. Since then, every year, many people from all over Lithuania, and from other countries, gather to celebrate the pilgrimage, which is usually attended by the Apostolic Nuncio and all the Lithuanian bishops.
Since then, many people every year place their crosses both as individuals and groups in commemoration of different events.
Both small, simple wooden crosses and large artistic crosses are placed. In 2007, more than 200,000 crosses were counted on the Hill. A place that has become a point of interest for devotion and tourism for visitors to Lithuania.
Pope Francis criticizes biotechnological optimism that postulates immortality
Pope Francis continues his catechesis on the elderly. On this occasion, starting from Jesus' dialogue with Nicodemus, the pontiff reflects on the wisdom of the elderly. He focuses especially on how they know how to discover the beauty of God-oriented life, without being deceived by the transhumanist daydream of an eternal life thanks to biotechnological advances.
This week the Pope began his reflection from the Gospel text of Jesus' dialogue with Nicodemus. "In Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus emerges the heart of Jesus' revelation and redemptive submission, when he says: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (v. 16). Jesus tells Nicodemus that to "see the kingdom of God" it is necessary to be "born again from above" (cf. v. 3)".
Nicodemus does not understand the words of Jesus and "misunderstands this birth, and questions old age as evidence of its impossibility: human beings inevitably grow old". However, as the Pope has been pointing out in recent months, "being old is not only not an obstacle to the birth from on high of which Jesus speaks, but it becomes the opportune time". It is in old age that the elderly must rediscover their mission in life.
The myth of eternal youth
Our sociocultural context shows "a worrying tendency to consider the birth of a child as a simple question of production and biological reproduction of the human being, cultivating the myth of eternal youth as the obsession - desperate - of an incorruptible flesh. Why is old age - in many ways - despised? Because it leads to the irrefutable evidence of the destitution of this myth, which would like to make us return to the mother's womb, to return always young in the body".
The biotechnological development of the last few decades has fostered an optimism that goes so far as to support the possibility of immortality. "Technology is attracted by this myth in every sense: hoping to defeat death, we can keep the body alive with medicine and cosmetics, which slow down, hide, eliminate old age. Naturally, wellness is one thing, feeding the myth is another. It cannot be denied, however, that the confusion between the two aspects is creating a certain mental confusion".
Departing from the programmed text, Pope Francis made some valuable considerations on the beauty of the wrinkles of the elderly, which are opposed to the culture of aesthetic operations. "So much is done to always have this youthfulness again. So much make-up, so many surgical interventions to look young. The words of a wise Italian actress come to mind. When she was told that she had to get rid of wrinkles and she said: no, don't touch them, it took me many years to have them. That's it, wrinkles are a symbol of experience, of maturity, of having made a path. Do not touch them to become young, but young in the face, what matters is the whole personality. What matters is the heart that remains with that youthfulness of good wine, that the older it gets, the better it is".
Life in mortal flesh is a most beautiful "incompleteness": like certain works of art that precisely in their incompleteness have a unique charm. For life here below is "initiation", not fulfillment: we come into the world like this, as real people, forever. But life in mortal flesh is too small a space and time to guard intact and bring to fulfillment the most valuable part of our existence in the time of the world.
Following this logic, "old age has a unique beauty: we walk towards the Eternal. No one can re-enter the mother's womb, not even in its technological and consumerist substitute. It would be sad, even if it were possible. The old man walks forward, toward destiny, toward God's heaven. Old age is therefore a special time to dissolve the future of the technocratic illusion of a biological and robotic survival, but above all because it opens to the tenderness of the creative and generative womb of God".
The Spanish Embassy to the Holy See turns 400 years old and celebrates in style. Spain was the first country with a permanent representation to the Holy See.
Its headquarters, once owned by the Count of Ocaña, has been located in Piazza di Spagna since 1622 and has been decorated for the occasion, in addition to an extensive program of cultural activities for this fourth centenary.
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.
In a church in Nigeria 50 Christians have been massacred while celebrating Pentecost. Radicals shot at them and planted a bomb during the ceremony. The president of the country and the Pope have condemned the attacks and expressed their condolences. We, the citizens of the West, have seen the news, published in almost every newspaper.
However, persecution against Christians is not a good headline for the partisan interests of some groups. That Christians can be presented as an unjustly targeted victim does not fit the usual clichés. Believers are rather the scapegoat to be blamed for the West's greatest evils, from patriarchy to the lack of freedom of speech. Would the international reaction have been greater if it had been a crime of homophobia? Although it is obviously not a question of comparing one injustice with another, we can ask ourselves if the perception of reality is not reaching us a little distorted.
The data show that, for the past decade, the number of Christians killed annually for their faith has far exceeded 3,500 victims. How is it possible that this massacre is not on everyone's lips? We could look for explanations in the process of secularization of our societies, religious indifference or Machiavellian discrimination against believers. And there will be some of that.
However, I would like to put aside the victimist feelings and be self-critical. Are we believers concerned about this issue? Do we often pray for this intention? Do we share our concern naturally with our friends, colleagues or family members? In a word, is it on our minds? My general impression is that not very much.
We are in the month of June and big companies are tuning their logos in the West showing the rainbow flag. Maybe one can also make a small gesture and start talking more about this reality, see the latest religious freedom report of Aid to the Church in Need or start using the sign of persecuted Christians: ن. In short, go beyond sterile lamentations.
On August 28, the Pope will visit L'Aquila. This Italian region, which has not yet recovered from the terrible earthquake that in 2009 claimed more than 300 lives, also houses the tomb of Celestine V, the first pontiff to resign.
There he will meet with victims and open the Jubilee of "Pardon", initiated by Pope Celestine V on the day of his election in 1294.
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In recent years, shaken by the economic crisis, the explosions of 2020, Lebanon faces a difficult panorama. The latest elections show a country that is struggling to change but has lost confidence and in which the role of Christian communities remains crucial to its destiny.
The Syrian occupation of Lebanon did not end until 2005, when the SDF (Dissolution Force) had to leave the country following protests, known as the Cedar Revolution, stemming from the brutal assassination attempt on former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, for which Damascus, whose regime was openly hostile to Hariri, was blamed. Two political coalitions emerged from these protests.
The first, the March 14 AllianceThe Lebanese Phalanges, a historic Maronite party now presided over by an exponent of the historic Gemayel family, Sami (grandson of the famous Bashir, son of Amine and brother of Pierre Amine, the first two presidents of the republic, the last exponent of the March 14 Alliance, all of them assassinated in various attacks); The Lebanese Forces, another Maronite party (chaired by its founder and former militiaman Samir Geagea); The Future, a Sunni party, dissolved by its founder Saad Hariri, son of Rafiq, when he resigned in 2021 from the presidency of the government and withdrew from the political scene. This alliance is characterized by its anti-Syrian and anti-Iranian positions and its proximity to Saudi Arabia and the West.
The second, the March 8 AllianceThe Free Patriotic Movement, the party of the current and disputed Maronite president of the Republic, Michel Aoun; Amal (the Shiite political movement linked to Hezbollah) and others, known for their hostility to Israel and their openly pro-Syrian, or better yet, pro-Iranian positions.
Since then, despite endemic instability in the region and in the country itself (an example being the second Lebanon war in 2006, with Israel's invasion following Hezbollah missile launches into its territory from the south of the country), it seemed that Lebanon, with its post-war reconstruction, was slowly recovering.
The economic crisis and the 2020 explosions
However, a new devastating economic crisis (described by the World Bank as "one of the three worst crises the world has known since the mid-19th century"), which led to numerous protests in 2019 and the alternation of governments and presidents for or against Hezbollah, the COVID-related health emergency19 and, finally, the notorious and tremendous explosion that, on August 4, 2020, destroyed the port of Beirut and devastated the surrounding (predominantly Christian) neighborhoods, killing more than 200 people and leaving 300.300,000 homeless, have brought the country to the brink of the abyss.
It is estimated that more than 160,000 people have emigrated from the Lebanon (adding to the already large Lebanese diaspora abroad, between 4 and 8 million people, mainly Christians, although some estimates raise the figure to almost 14 million, twice the number of Lebanese living in the country), not to mention the fact that the country hosts hundreds of thousands of Syrian and Palestinian refugees who, together with the already huge number of Lebanese citizens living below the poverty line, are turning the Land of the Cedars into a powder keg.
Political crises and elections
The above issues led to the fall and alternation, between 2018 and 2021, of several governments - Saad Hariri, Hassan Diab, Hariri again and finally Najib Mikati - and the emergence of a movement bent on changing the parliamentary balance, fighting endemic corruption (also linked to confessionalism and tribalism) and providing concrete solutions to the economic crisis.
However, this same movement has not been able to federate under a single political wing and impose itself at the national level, although, for the first time in the country's history, the recent legislative elections of May 15, 2022 showed the shadow of a possible change.
The electoral campaign and the political debate, in fact, brought to the forefront four fundamental issues on which the vote revolved: Hezbollah and Iran's interference; the country's "positive neutrality", as proposed and understood by the Maronite patriarch Bechara Boutros Raï; the banking and financial crisis; judicial reform and the fight against corruption, to shed light on the causes of the Beirut port deflagration of August 4, 2020 (Hezbollah, moreover, has always opposed a formal and objective investigation of these tragic events).
The picture that emerges in light of the final results is, however, that of a country struggling to change and that has lost confidence. Abstentionism dominated everywhere, even in Hezbollah's fiefdoms: a clear message of distrust towards the ruling class.
In any case, the outgoing president, Michel Aoun, has seen how his own elected deputies in parliament have been reduced by half (his is a predominantly Maronite party, but allied with Amal and Hezbollah), surpassed by the Lebanese Forces of Geagea, his arch-rival, which has become the first Christian party in Lebanon. Partial defeat, by the way, also for Amal and Hezbollah itself, since in southern Lebanon, a historic Shiite bastion, a Druze and a Christian from a different faction were elected.
The role of Christians
The spiritual and cultural heart of Lebanon, we said, is certainly Christian, especially if we think of the main spiritual centers of the country, which are the valley of Qadisha (the holy), in the north of the country, true fulcrum of Syriac Christianity and the Maronite Church (Syro-Antiochene rite).
The Maronite Church, in communion with Rome, takes its name from its founder, St. Maron, and has its historical seat in the green valley of Qadisha, full of ancient monasteries, set like pearls in the rock and converted, with the passage of time, into centers of irradiation (a bit like the Benedictine monasteries in Europe) of knowledge (the first printing press in Lebanon was built in one of them), art, culture, and various trades, centers of irradiation (a bit like the Benedictine monasteries in Europe) of knowledge (the first printing press in Lebanon was built in one of them), art, culture, various trades (including agriculture, especially terraced farming), spiritual wisdom, as well as closeness to the people.
Proof of this is the great devotion that all Lebanese, both Christians and Muslims, feel for the local saints (e.g. the famous St. Charbel Makhlouf, St. Naamtallah Hardini, St. Rafqah), whose shrines are the destination of incessant interfaith and interreligious pilgrimages.
The recent elections also confirmed that the role of Christian communities remains crucial for the fate of the country. In fact, also thanks to the contribution of Christians and President Michel Aoun, the majority that emerged from the previous 2018 elections had pushed the country into the Shiite orbit, under the aegis of Iran, in this case, with the affirmation of the Christian parties referring to the March 14 Alliance, Lebanon could move closer to Saudi Arabia, to Israel and, by extension, to the Western bloc. All this, however, if a government can be formed, given the failure to create an adequate parliamentary majority, with the prospect of further political paralysis and stagnation, if not worsening, of the current crisis.
Among other things, the Lebanese peculiarity in the Arab-Islamic world is not only that of having institutionalized the Christian presence at the political level, but also that of seeing, among the Christians themselves, the predominance of Catholics, in particular Maronites (the other Catholic Churches sui iuris present in the country are the Melkite or Greek-Catholic Church, which represents at least 12% of the population, the Armenian-Catholic Church and the Syrian-Catholic Church. Latins are also present, of course, although in smaller numbers).
The writer has been able to experience how fascinating this popular ecumenism is: it is not uncommon to attend lunches of large families, where mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, brothers-in-law, cousins, are an expression of all the Churches present in Lebanon, whether Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant.
Thus, over the years, the Maronite Patriarch has become an outstanding figure, not only as an ideal representative of all Christian communities, but also of the entire civil society. His Church, in fact, besides being the expression of an important part of the Lebanese population, is also the most active in providing assistance not only to Christians, but to all the people.
Recently, on the occasion of the feast of St. Maron in 2022, the Patriarch reminded the country's civil authorities that "Lebanese Maronites have made freedom their spirituality," as well as a "social and political project," and that this advancement translates not only into faith and progress, but also into the promotion of values such as love, dignity and strength, in contrast to "rancor, envy, hatred, revenge and the spirit of surrender."
Cardinal Raï has vigorously defended Lebanon's cultural and religious plurality, democracy and the separation of religion from the State, promoting that concept especially dear to him of the "positive neutrality" of the country, which preserves its soul and its identity as a land of encounter between civilizations, in fact, distorted by those who have turned it into "a theater of conflicts in the region and a missile platform" (the reference to Hezbollah is obvious). According to Raï, who has become the real pulse of the country, it is imperative, "to save Lebanon's unity and demonstrate its neutrality", to respect the historical triangle that unites "the purpose of the Pact of Coexistence, the purpose of the role of Christians and the purpose of loyalty to Lebanon itself".
The authorGerardo Ferrara
Writer, historian and expert on Middle Eastern history, politics and culture.
It is not enough to want to accompany in order to know how to accompany families
Training people in the family today requires not only to transmit knowledge, but also to be capable of to be close to families.
June 7, 2022-Reading time: 2minutes
Last May, in Barcelona, the first edition of the I International Workshop on Family AccompanimentThe event was attended in person by more than 500 people from over 50 countries around the world, and it will also be possible to participate in recorded mode in the coming months. An event with a markedly practical and realistic approach, combining lectures with expert roundtables and networking.
Training people in the family today requires not only to transmit knowledge, but also to be capable of to be close to families. Be where the families are. Supporting them in discovering their own resources and being able to resolve the difficulties that all personal relationships entail is precisely what accompaniment is all about.
This paradigm shift implies an approach that goes beyond therapy, mediation or conflict resolution. While understanding all these aspects, the accompaniment aims to keep pace with the daily reality of most families, which go through - to a greater or lesser extent - crises and dilemmas.
The new family culture should be rebuilt more with good practices - with lifestyles - than with ideas, which are obviously also necessary. Mariolina Ceriottia neuropsychiatrist and family therapist from Milan, addresses a key issue: the intrinsic strength of bonds as the founding pillars of the family in the face of an increasingly individualized world. An optimistic view is complemented by Raphael Bonelli, Viennese psychiatrist, who deals with the management of family crises.
Other experts, such as the Frenchman Thierry Veyron La Croix, founder of La Maison des Families in Lyon, contributed their best practices in accompanying families from different countries and fields (social networks, radio, educational centers, professional offices, family pastoral care, etc.), with a clear backdrop: "accompanying families in the ordinary".
In the words of Juan José Pérez-Soba, professor at the John Paul II Institute on marriage and family in Rome, and "investing time", according to Rafael Lafuente, an expert in affective-sexual education, "we must be able to speak to young people about the beauty of love, sexuality and the family". withMercadona languageso that the common people understand us.
For its part, María Pilar Lacorte, deputy director of the Institute for Advanced Family StudiesHe stressed that it is not enough to want to accompany in order to know how to accompany. It is important to learn, to be trained. It is contradictory that we train a lot for almost everything: career, masters, driving license, languages... and much less, or nothing, in that function or task that will occupy us all our lives: the development of our family life.
This is what the Institute organizing this event is dedicated to: studying what families are like today and what their real needs are, offering training to accompany them and helping them to develop competencies. With an optimistic and hopeful attitude, based on the conviction that the strength that binds the social fabric together lies in the quality of family ties.
Professor at the Faculty of Law of the International University of Catalonia and director of the Institute for Advanced Family Studies. She directs the Chair on Intergenerational Solidarity in the Family (IsFamily Santander Chair) and the Childcare and Family Policies Chair of the Joaquim Molins Figueras Foundation. She is also Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Law at UIC Barcelona.
Jordi PujolChurch leaders have to assume a proactive attitude of vigilance and responsibility".
Keeping openness and confidentiality together, fighting cover-ups and protecting the presumption of innocence. These are themes that emerge from a recent study on the context of sexual abuse in the Church focused on transparency and secrecy, written by a professor of communications law and a priest from Cuba.
Giovanni Tridente-June 6, 2022-Reading time: 7minutes
Looking at the issue of abuse in the Church in recent years, it is clear that all Popes have had a key moment in which they have become particularly aware of the problem. With Pope Francis it was on his return from his trip to Chile in January 2018. He began to receive victims and then wrote two letters: the Letter to the People of God on pilgrimage in Chile (May 31, 2018), in which he opens the reflection on the "exercise of authority" and "the hygiene of interpersonal relationships" in the Church. Y the Letter to the People of God (20 August 2018), where he puts abuse of power, abuse of conscience and sexual abuse on the same level, using the expression of a "culture of abuse".
"The fact that the Church is hierarchical is not a problem" explains to OMNES the priest Jordi Pujol -Professor of Communication Law and Ethics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. "The common law of the Church, as well as the particular law of her institutions, with their Statutes, Rules and councils to which superiors must submit, are a natural brake on authoritarianism or personalism. The problem is the neglect of the service dimension that the exercise of authority has," he stresses. In this sense, "it is difficult for abuse of authority to constitute a crime, but the fact that it is not formally relevant from a criminal point of view does not mean that it is legally or morally indifferent," adds Pujol.
Recently, Pujol has published a book together with a priest from the diocese of Camagüey in Cuba, Rolando Montes de Oca, titled: Transparency and secrecy in the Catholic Church (Transparency and Secrecy in the Catholic Church) edited in Italian by Marcianum Pres. In a context marked by the reality of abuse, the authors highlight a set of challenges for the Church, such as gaining openness while safeguarding confidentiality, fighting against cover-ups and protecting the presumption of innocence.
Image of the work of Jordi Pujol
"It's interesting the lesson we've learned since the McCarrick case. It seemed that if one obtained sexual favors with adults (in that case seminarians) nothing happened. Now it doesn't: the category has been included. vulnerable adult and this also affects the laity who exercise authority functions in the Church 一reflects the professor一. One of the challenges posed by the pope in those 2018 letters is the. culture of careThe Church is called to foster, as Jordi Bertomeu says, healthy asymmetrical ecclesial relationships, which generate freedom and inner peace".
Is the subject of abuse often discussed from an emotional point of view, pointing the finger at the accused and often forgetting about solutions?
On the one hand, the institution often feels "publicly singled out", besieged in the face of these cases that are denounced in the public arena. The reaction of the leaders is usually defensive, in the face of what is considered a threat or an attack. On the other hand, speaking in public about your mistakes makes you vulnerable and attackable as an institution. It is a painful humiliation to go through. It is an open wound, a process that should not be closed falsely. The path of fluid communication and accountability that we propose in the book seems to us to be the right path for an institution like the Church, in which millions of people place their trust.
The reaction of leaders is usually defensive, in the face of what is considered a threat or an attack. On the other hand, speaking publicly about your mistakes makes you vulnerable and attackable as an institution.
Jordi Pujol. Professor of Communications Ethics
How should the intervention be carried out?
As Pope Francis has established, dioceses and Church institutions must open channels of denunciation and adequate listening, they must create welcoming teams that facilitate the discovery of abusive behavior and establish protocols for action. Active and open listening to the victims will lead to assuming the corresponding juridical and moral responsibilities.
Bishops and superiors are called to assume a proactive attitude of vigilance and accountability. After the latest reforms, the leadership of the Church is not only accountable to God, but is also bound by Canon Law. No authority is above the law. Negligence, cover-up and lack of accountability of those who govern are punishable. I think there is no turning back from this more transparent and accountable form of government.
What is clear from the study you have conducted?
Our book stresses that it is necessary to continue advancing in this cultural change that determines a style of governing the Church. We all agree on the principles: we want a Church that is open, that listens, that does not see victims as a threat or a problem, that values the laity and women, that is not elitist but co-responsible....
In fact, these principles, which contribute to a Church more inclined to give information, to be accountable also to the faithful, etc., are all included in the Magisterium, but sometimes they remain there. Some of them have become legal obligations, but laws alone do not really change relationships in the Church.
The book talks a lot about establishing communication processes with our publics (external and internal), of shared responsibility and not only "upwards", since leaders must also be accountable "downwards", to their people and society in general.
Do you believe that the Church authorities are well disposed to welcome these changes?
We cannot be naïve, in the Church there is a certain tendency to immobilism, and there is undoubtedly resistance. But at the same time, new processes are being set in motion: the Church is learning not to see victims as a threat, as a problem. In this sense, Church leaders are called upon to lose the fear to listen to the testimonies and experiences of the victims. This is the only way to open our eyes and take the necessary healing and preventive measures.
A pyramidal governance structure probably doesn't help, but you said that "being hierarchical" is not the main hindrance. Is the problem the way authority is exercised?
That is how it is. In the Church we say that whoever understands "authority as power" has the wrong attitude, because "authority in the Church is service". But I would say that not only that. Church leaders have to demonstrate - besides eagerness to serve - true love for the Church. One way to overcome abuse is to remind those who assume these positions of leadership that their authority is rooted in Christ, and must be nourished by union with Christ.
Bishops and superiors are not mere managers or politicians. It is not easy, because we demand everything from them: that they have juridical knowledge to act as judges in their circumscription, that they have competence in economic aspects to administer goods, that they have leadership and government skills, that they are empathetic and available pastors, that they are doctrinally prepared, that they preach well and are saints... almost nothing!
In the Church we say that those who understand "authority as power" have the wrong attitude, because "authority in the Church is service".
Jordi Pujol. Professor of Communications Ethics
Recently, Msgr. Scicluna, who has been closely following the issue of abuse from the Vatican since the beginning, spoke of accompanying not only the victims but also the accused, and even the condemned. How can these aspects be integrated?
It is not easy because when you bring up the issue of the presumption of innocence it may seem that you are taking sides. Benedict XVI pointed out the strategy very clearly as early as 2010, first in the letter to Catholics in Ireland and, shortly afterwards, during the trip to the United Kingdom, insisting on three points: that the victims be put first; secondly, attention to the guilty, who must be guaranteed a just punishment and kept away from contact with young people; and thirdly, prevention and selection of candidates for the priesthood, because the faith must also be safeguarded.
Is it possible to put victims first and defend the presumption of innocence?
It should be. The presumption of innocence is a principle of canon law which, in the penal sphere, has been formalized in Can. 1321 of the New Book VI of the Code of Canon Law. Another thing is its application in factFor example, the way in which precautionary measures are communicated and applied to a priest who is denounced as a potential abuser (leaving the parish, ceasing to officiate in public or to dress as a priest, etc.).
Michael Mazza explained for Omnes some of these details. Some priests have been informed of these measures by WhatsApp, and that is very serious. We are interested in justice and truth, but also in the care of all the people involved during these often painful and lengthy processes.
Finally, what do you think about the dance of reports on abuse in the Church that have been published in different countries? And about the pressures that the Church is receiving in Spain and Italy in this regard?
External audit and independent commissions of inquiry are useful tools to ensure that a number of external eyes tell you truths that are sometimes hard to recognize, as long as they are experts.
In the Church, we have found it difficult to allow others to tell us what they see. The policy that "family secrets are not aired because they would not be understood", or that "dirty laundry is washed at home" has been frequent, not so much out of malice as lack of openness.
Honest journalism, as in the case of Spotlight helped the Church to recognize a scandalous reality that it was reluctant to face. However, not all commissions of inquiry, not all of them, nor all of them reports no equipment spotlight are equally competent and well-intentioned. The reports of the Royal Commission in Australia or the John Jay Report in the U.S. are two good examples of thorough and honest investigations. The Church heeded more than 90% of the recommendations of the Royal Commission Australian.
Can the same be said of the latest published reports?
Not really, I consider that the French and German reports are not at the same level. It would take too long to explain. The power we give to these independent commissions to talk about us is enormous and, in that sense, the value of "independence" is an important factor, but it is not the only one, nor should it be given at any price. This independence has to be accompanied by undisputed competence, otherwise external audits are meaningless. One of the problems that can occur in Spain or Italy is that being always under the pressure of the media spotlight can influence the composition of the teams, or the investigation, and it is not the right thing to do. The investigation of truth and justice requires serenity and time, not media spectacle.
It would be necessary to bet on a personalizing perspective of education. A vision in which the purpose of education is not the change of social structures, but the formation of the person.
Once again, we are witnessing the debate on the new Spanish education law, the LOMLOE in these days in which the first textbooks to be used next year are appearing. In fact, it is the same debate that we have been living since the beginning of its implementation, now made visible in the texts that students have to work with.
The complaint is that this educational law is proposing to bring to the classrooms the ideological model of the party in government. And that it does so in a transversal way with its strongest ideological lines, such as the so-called gender perspective, and in a direct way by proposing its concrete postulates in subjects such as economics or history, for example.
The more fundamental problem is how we conceive of the educationwhat education is for. Because what LOMLOE does is to bet on a model of education.
In a simple way, gathering the teachings of that great master that was Abilio de Gregorio, we could say that we have three major approaches to education.
First, there is the instructional perspective. In this model, education is seen primarily as the transmission of knowledge, in the hope that knowledge alone will produce solid and virtuous personalities. It is the approach that stems largely from the Enlightenment and that, in one way or another, is also present today in various educational proposals.
Secondly, there is what we could call a "second-order" approach. socializing-reproductive perspective. Education is the instrument that society has to reproduce itself. It is necessary to prepare the child to fit into society, to place himself or herself in a good social position. It is the approach that seeks in education a mechanism to find a job and be well placed tomorrow. In this approach, the contents that society demands, those that are useful, are taught. And those that are considered obsolete or less useful for the labor market are discarded. This is the breeding ground for the rise of English or technology and the decline of the humanities or artistic knowledge. To a large extent, education becomes a variable of the economic system.
The third vision is the socializing-anticipatory perspective. In this case, education is conceived as a weapon to transform society. Education is seen as the mechanism to promote a better society in the future. Whoever has education has the power to generate a certain type of citizen and society. In this case, education is at the service of ideology, and is therefore an area of political conflict.
The current educational law is fully immersed in the latter mentality, which is the usual educational proposal of leftist and nationalist parties. Just as the socializing-reproductive perspective is typical of right-wing political parties. With two such different visions of education, we are doomed to constant conflict.
The personalizing perspective of education
In reality, Abilio opens up a new possibility that takes us out of this circle of confrontation, and which is the most appropriate from a true Christian humanism. Because we can also speak of a personalized perspective of education. In this vision, the purpose of education is not the change of social structures, but the formation of the person. The learner is at the center. Its purpose is to form whole, complete persons. It is an education that leads the learner to be singular, original and autonomous, master of himself.
This perspective, which places the person and his or her integral formation at the center, certainly helps to improve societies, because with fully developed persons we will have more just societies in the future. But it eliminates the temptation of political manipulation. Undoubtedly it trains for work because it brings out the potentialities that each person has inside. But it does not leave aside other knowledge necessary for the integral formation of the person. It provides knowledge, because without knowledge intelligence does not develop. But it also cultivates the whole person and all his faculties and puts them at the service of society.
Putting the person at the center, as Pope Francis asks us to do in his proposal for a global pact for education, is the perspective that will help us understand the true value of education.
Pope Francis presided in St. Peter's Basilica Holy Mass on the Feast of the Holy Spirit. The large celebrations with the faithful are back to normal in the Vatican after the pandemic. At the end of the ceremony, the Pope went out onto the balcony of his office to greet the pilgrims gathered there and to pray with them the Regina Caeli for the last time this year.
With his usual clear and approachable pedagogy, the pontiff highlighted two of the main tasks of the Holy Spirit, teach y remember. In the age of the Internet and globalization, the Gospel seems to many people to be a book that is out of date. Pope Francis commented: "There can be a concern that there is a great distance between the Gospel and daily life. Jesus lived two thousand years ago, there were other times, other situations, and for this reason the Gospel already seems outdated, inadequate to speak to our day with its demands and its problems".
Dealing with the Holy Spirit
The work of the Holy Spirit is fundamental for personal holiness and the work of evangelization, and for this reason Christians must have an attitude of attentive listening. "In fact, when the Spirit teaches, updates, keeps the faith always young. We run the risk of making the faith a museum thing, He instead puts it in tune with the times. For the Holy Spirit does not bind himself to epochs or passing fashions, but brings to the present the actuality of Jesus, risen and alive. How does the Spirit accomplish this? By making remember. Here is the second verb, re-memberi.e, bring back the heart".
In his final words, the Holy Father encouraged the faithful to make an examination of conscience and to read the Gospel in order to discover the will of God. "And we - let us try to ask ourselves - are we forgetful Christians? Perhaps an adversity, a fatigue, a crisis is enough to forget the love of Jesus and fall into doubt and fear? The remedy is to invoke the Holy Spirit. Let us do it often, especially at important moments, before difficult decisions. Let us take the Gospel in our hands and invoke the Spirit. We can say: Come, Holy Spirit, remind me of Jesus, enlighten my heart. Then, we open the Gospel and read a small passage, slowly. And the Spirit will make it speak to our lives".
Pope Francis will surely be remembered as one of the greatest reformers the Church has ever had. It is enough to enter the website of the Holy Seeclick on the section Francisco to find the pontifical documents through which the Holy Father has legislated over the years.
The Apostolic Constitution comes into force on June 5, 2022 Praedicate Evangelium, on the Roman Curia and its service to the Church.
In this way, Francis joins the list of popes who have reformed this set of bodies that assist in the governance of the Church. Since Sixtus V with the Immensae Aeterni Dei (1588), passing through St. Pius X with the Sapienti consilio (1908), St. Paul VI with the Regimini Ecclesiae universi (1967) and St. John Paul II with Pastor Bonus (1988).
This is a long-awaited reform since, in 2013, Francis announced the creation of a Council of Cardinals with the aim of assisting him in the governance of the Church and helping him draft a new constitution for the Roman Curia. But how important is the Roman Curia? Although it is not essential to the constitution of the Church, the work it does is not insignificant. The so-called dicasteries assist the Pope in the direction of the whole Church, composed of more than 1.3 billion faithful, according to the Pontifical Yearbook. We understand why this norm, which finally saw the light of day on March 19, 2022, was so long awaited.
Progressive reform
However, Pope Francis seems to have opted for a progressive reform. The current apostolic constitution takes up a series of reforms that the Pope had already begun since the beginning of his pontificate.
An example of this is the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was reformed last February 14 by means of the motu proprio Fidem servareThe new dicastery was established, instituting two sections instead of the four offices it had before: one for doctrinal questions and the other for disciplinary questions, each with its own secretary and under the direction of the prefect of the dicastery.
Another progressive change or reform was the creation of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, which absorbed four pontifical councils: Pontifical Council Cor Unum, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People and the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers.
Valuation of Praedicate Evangelium
What assessment can we make of Praedicate Evangelium?
A positive element is the simplification of the curia's organizational chart, thus eliminating the barriers inherent in a complex organization.
Another element is to have reinforced the purpose of the curia, to assist the pope in the mission of the Church. Hence the name of the apostolic constitution, which alludes to Christ's command to his apostles to preach the Gospel.
At the same time, the Pope points out that the Roman Curia has the task of strengthening the link between the successor of Peter, the College of Bishops and the Eastern Hierarchical Structures. Also with individual bishops, and with the various national, regional or continental bodies.
This is an essential point for the success of the reform. To remember the reason why the Church exists, to serve all souls so that they may attain salvation.
In this way, we will be free from human, political or ideological visions that should have no place in the Church, otherwise the mission entrusted to her by Christ will be distorted.
Fermín LabargaAnachronism is lethal for judging history".
A call to prudence in judging history, and to contextualize each historical moment. This is the proposal of Dr. Fermín Labarga, director of the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences of the University of Navarra, in an interview with Omnes, in which he underlines the task of the ISCR: "To offer a quality Christian formation".
Francisco Otamendi-June 4, 2022-Reading time: 9minutes
"Today we are very tempted to judge everything that has happened throughout history by our criteria, the criteria of the 21st century. This is anachronistic. I cannot judge the society of the 16th century, the 13th century, or the 4th century B.C., with the criteria I have today. If we act in this way, unfortunately so widespread, we will never be able to correctly understand the development of history. Anachronism, judging the events of one era with the criteria of another, is a lethal danger for those who want to judge history with today's criteria.
This is the opinion of Dr. Fermín Labarga, professor from La Rioja, director of the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences (ISCR) of the University of Navarra, with whom we talked about Church History and history in general, but before that, of course, of the ISCR, on whose web site he launches a few words of welcome.
Welcome to whom? In particular to students, lay professionals from all fields; to those in the educational sector, in training and in qualification, to women and men who are getting on or wish to get on board, from all over the world, the boat of quality training in an Institute that opened its admission period on May 1.
Omnes has already spoken about this Institute of Religious Sciences. It did so with its deputy director, Professor Tomás Trigo, we asked students We are now, after some time, talking with Dr. Fermín Labarga, its director. He is a theologian and historian whose specialization in history and the study of manifestations of popular devotion, such as the confraternities, "a great treasure that has been accumulated over the centuries, because it is also part of something as important as the inculturation of the faith," he says.
The ISCR of the University of Navarra
Let's start with your data. You are a servant. What fifth are you from? Where did you study and when were you ordained a priest? How long have you been a director of ISCR.
- I was born in 1969 in Logroño, I studied at the University of Navarra, I have a doctorate in Theology and History, and I have been a priest since October 1, 1994; I am a priest of the diocese of Calahorra and La Calzada-Logroño, and I was appointed director of the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences (ISCR) of the University of Navarra on July 3, 2020.
You were already familiar with the ISCR, did you have any special objectives in mind?
- I have been a professor at the Faculty of Theology for many years. I did not really set myself any objective other than to continue with the work that was already being done, because it seems to me that it is fundamental, when one comes to direct something like the ISCR, to add to what is being done, because it had had a great development of its activity in previous years. Therefore, my objective was none other than to maintain what was already being done and, as far as possible, to contribute to its further improvement.
What did we have to do? To teach better and better, and that this reaches the more people, the better, because it is an opportunity for many people who may not be able to attend classes in person, for lack of time or because they do not take place in the place where they live. Well, here you have the possibility of having a training Christian quality.
Many ISCR alumni we have spoken to have expressed their appreciation. In your opinion, why such satisfaction?
- We have also found this to be true when students are surveyed. The students come to the formation given by the Institute of Religious Sciences of the University of Navarra, fundamentally for two reasons. One, the institution, the University of Navarra brand has prestige, in Spain and internationally. And second, the students who come are looking for a rigorous and serious formation; and in this case, it gives them a lot of security to know that the teaching follows, as it could not be otherwise in an institution like this, the doctrine of the Catholic Church.
On the other hand, students leave happy because they feel that they have made good use of their time, that they have learned, and that they have met interesting people, not only among the teachers but also among the other students, and that they have been treated well. These are important keys for a student to conclude his or her studies and to be proud of having invested time and money.
Are most of these studies online?
- Depends. The Institute of Religious Sciences imparts all the studies leading to the Bachelor of Religious Sciences. That requires a greater presence. But apart from that we have the Diplomas, of which we have spoken, which are entirely online. They are the University of Navarra's own degrees, and in this case they constitute a way that is accessible to many people from all over the world, and in general we could say, of a quite high professional qualification; some studies, as I say, that contribute to develop knowledge in some subjects of Theology, such as Moral Theology, Biblical Theology, which is always a diploma that has great success.
There is also one that deals with various aspects of theology, we could say that it is like a diploma in Basic Theology, and then we have one in Pedagogy in the faith, which is oriented towards those who have a greater interest in teaching, either because they are going to teach religion, or because they are catechists or perform any other service of this type. We also have a very interesting one on Philosophy, Science and Religion, where we have a good number of people interested in this very fruitful relationship, we could say, between the philosophical world, the scientific world, and the Christian Religion, which must also be present in this academic debate. These are entirely online diplomas that are of interest to many people. The truth is that we have students in practically every continent.
Church History
I would like to dwell on his specialty, Church History.
- We have just released the Manual of Ancient and Medieval Church History. The ISCR has a collection of Manuals, and precisely the 33rd is the History of the Ancient and Medieval Church, and then will come the History of the Modern and Contemporary Church. The manuals are written by each professor of his subject. I have written the History of the Ancient and Medieval Church, number 33. The characteristics of these manuals, written by the professors of the different subjects, is to try to bring together in an accessible manual all the corresponding subject matter, with a very pedagogical purpose: there are diagrams, summaries, etc.
In this one on Ancient and Medieval Church History, apart from the texts for commentary, there is a guide for the commentary itself, and maps have been designed to better understand the history of the Church. And I have tried to offer three types of bibliography in each tena: one to prolong the study with accessible books; another to deepen the subject of this topic, with classic books, already of thought; and a third field with enjoyable readings, which are novels that have to do with the era being studied, and that help to understand, perhaps in a more playful way, that era being studied.
Will the Manuals be translated into other languages?
- The collection of manuals is having great success, has been in existence for quite a few years now, there are already more than thirty, and they are being translated into English, Polish and Chinese.
Woke culture and education
It seems that now there is a desire to obscure the history, in general, in the youth education. In addition, there is the woke culture', the cancellation of epochs, of authors, of people?
- In the Manual, in the introduction, there is a series of warnings that I make for those who want to study Church history, because there are a series of dangers. The first, and I put it in bold capital letters, is anachronism, which consists in judging the events of one era with the criteria of another. Today we are very tempted to play everything that has happened throughout history with our criteria, the criteria of the 21st century. This is anachronistic.
I cannot judge the society of the sixteenth century, the thirteenth century, or the fourth century B.C., with the criteria I have today. If we act in this way, unfortunately so widespread, we will never be able to understand correctly the development of history, I point out in the Manual. For example, we cannot understand the true meaning of the Crusades if we approach it with contemporary criteria of rights and freedoms, such as religious freedom, recognized by the great treaties... eight hundred years later! We must be very careful with anachronism, it is a lethal danger for those who want to judge history with today's criteria.
But you acknowledge that there are certainly things that are wrong.
- Of course. For example, a murder has always been a murder. No matter the historical epoch. This does not mean that we have to compromise, so to speak, with what has been wrong. Far from it. But it is true that it is necessary to contextualize in order to understand each historical moment. Today slavery seems terrible to us, but five hundred years ago it did not seem so to almost anyone. It is necessary to understand each historical moment with its historical coordinates and to contextualize the events.
This will lead us not to be governed by movements that are part of a historical revisionism that sometimes harms us more than favors us, because in reality things are as they are. And we cannot try to manipulate history. This is something very typical of all times, not only of now. The manipulation of history. Manipulating history does not benefit us.
We have to be able to recognize the lights and shadows of each historical period. And then, when judging the characters, we must also keep in mind that we cannot make a Manichean dissection. Or to put it another way, like the good guys and bad guys movies. Not everything here is black and white. There is a large scale of grays. We will probably come across people who have done very good things, and they have also done bad things. Things worthy of praise, and things worthy of reprobation. This should help us to be more measured, cautious, balanced, when judging events. And always the public ones, because history does not really judge what is not public.
You also point out in this introduction that Church History is not suitable for those who are easily scandalized.
- I would like to recall that the Church is the only institution in the world that has asked forgiveness or apologized for some of the mistakes that some of its members have made throughout history. If we were to make an overall assessment, the good that the Church has done throughout history is infinitely greater than the evil that some of its members have committed at certain times.
Even so, John Paul II, on the occasion of the year 2000, had the courage to ask for forgiveness. And on the other hand, the Holy See has long had this commitment to the truth of opening the archives, an exercise of transparency that makes the Vatican archives and all the others accessible to the public, with access to documents that make it clear what has happened. This is very important.
The Church, or a nation in particular, or a community, has to be able to assume its history. With its lights and shadows. Because if not, it can happen to us as it happens to people, who sometimes are not able to assume a part of their history, for example traumatic, and that ends up creating tremendous psychological problems. The same can also happen to institutions, or to nations, if we are not able to assume our history, with its lights and shadows. I do not believe that there is any human collective that has not had lights and shadows.
We have gone down the paths of history, and there is hardly any time left. A commentary on popular religiosity and the brotherhoods...
- The whole study of popular religiosity, in the end, can be included within the more contemporary tendencies of history. Nowadays, history is not so much about studying the great personages, the great events, but about what the Annals did, the history of the Annals, for example in France, in the 60s and 70s, is about studying what ordinary people did.
Within the Church we have given much importance to the figure of the Popes, who has it, and the bishops... And it seems that we have confused the episcopology of a diocese with the true history of the diocese. The history of a diocese is shaped by what the bishops did, but also by what the clergy, the religious and, of course, the faithful people did. In that sense, studying the faithful people is not easy, because they have not left many historical traces. But its manifestations of devotion, everything that has to do with popular devotion, which is a great treasure that has been accumulated over the centuries, because it is also part of something as important as the inculturation of the faith. The Catholic faith, the Christian faith, has been inculturated wherever it has reached. It is interesting to see how inculturation is not exactly the same in America, or in Asia or Africa.
In our case, which is what I have studied the most in Spain, it is a very old inculturation of the faith, very accepted, with very rich manifestations. We do not have more than to see what it supposes the Holy Week, or right now, the pilgrimages and celebrations that are celebrated in honor of the Virgin. For there we have the traces of what the People of God has done throughout the centuries. From the historical documents of the confraternities, for example, we can analyze this, which, as I say, is a treasure of the Church, which must be valued. I believe that in these last years it is being done and it is becoming clear, as a result of many investigations that are being carried out in this field.
The conversation could be extended, because the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences of the University of Navarra generates a great deal of activity. And because a cursory reading of the introduction to the Manual of Ancient and Medieval Church History, by Dr. Fermín Labarga, allows us to review other dangers that the author formulates, for example, 'naivety'. The director of the ISCR also stresses that "the saints are the true protagonists of the history of the Church". You can read it in his Manual.
With great realism, the Pope underlines how "there is no such thing as a perfect family, there are always buts. But that's okay. We must not be afraid of mistakes; we must learn from them in order to move forward".
We meet teachers, journalists, bakers and hairdressers whose clairvoyance in the sociocultural diagnosis of our world is hair-raising. Few, yes, but with the ability to shed light on issues such as the defense of life, freedom of expression or the nature of the family.
June 3, 2022-Reading time: 2minutes
Luis Hererra, in the extensive, and no less interesting, article that we bring in this issue of Omnes on the woke culture, quotes G. K. Chesterton's phrase in which, in a premonitory way, he affirmed: "...the culture of the woke".Soon we will be in a world where a man can be booed for saying that two and two make four.".
Considering this sentence within the context in which a government has changed, by law, the mathematics because "they are sexist"The vision of the eminent English writer even causes a certain amount of fear.
There are people who are not only spectacles, but glasses for society. Teachers, journalists, bakers or hairdressers whose clairvoyance in sociocultural diagnosis makes the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. It makes the skin crawl, yes, for some because it directly challenges them in their work; for others, because it brings them face to face with the inconsistency of the dominant culture and, therefore, with the haste of the destruction that devours itself.
Mariano Fazio pointed out in the interview in the last issue of Omnes that, at present, "we proclaim freedom as the highest human value, but we live slaves to our dependencies.". The so-called culture woke has elevated each of these dependencies to the status of a moral principle.
Today, not everything goes, only what a few decide is right.
We have gone from the ten commandments to the hundred thousand. Contradictory to each other many times and only united by the animosity to the new enemiesThe values rooted in faith, family, freedom of education or patriotism. From "live and let live". at "either you live by my standards or you don't live at all.".
Fortunately, in this jungle of mandates and new rights, new voices are being raised: few or many, known or unknown, that put in black and white the importance of the family, plural education, the undeniable difference between men and women or the defense of life.
Yes, they also exist today. They are a few, a few "happy few, a band of brothers", that turn upside down the boxes in which, paradoxically, this libertarian dictatorship tries to label and hide anyone who does not think according to the mainstream.
Indeed, perhaps few, rare, are those who dare to raise their voices, without histrionic shrieking, in defense of the truth, the real truth we used to ask for in children's games. Those few who will change the world and beckon us to join them. Because in reality, as we know, "the truth shall set you free" and because, as Flanery O'Connor pointed out, "the truth will make you strange".
Committed freedom, that freedom that comes directly from the union with truth, that freedom that defends reality without betraying it with ideology, is today a rare possession that we have the moral obligation to share and show in all its greatness.
The Synod in Spain: the process is already a result
Luis Manuel Romero, director of the Episcopal Commission for the Laity, Family and Life, and José Gabriel Vera, director of the CEE Information Office, presented the key points of the work carried out in the first phase of the Synod of Bishops "For a Synodal Church: communion, participation and mission".
"The end of this Synod is evangelization. This is how Luis Manuel Romero began his speech, recalling that the synodal style has been especially present in the Church since the Second Vatican Council, since when 29 synods have been held in the Church.
However, as the director of the Episcopal Commission for the Laity, Family and Life, wanted to emphasize, this Synod "presents two novelties. The first is in the subject matter, since it does not have a specific theme, but deals with synodality itself.
The other novelty is the methodology, since the Pope decided that this synod will be organized in three stages: diocesan, continental and universal.
He also recalled that this Synod The first of these documents will gather the contributions received in the diocesan phase and the other will be the one that emerges from the continental phase.
At this time, the EEC synod team is performing the synthesis with all the contributions received in the Episcopal Conference during these months. This synthesis will be sent to the General Secretariat of the Synod with all the contributions of the groups "so that all the words, all the voices are heard".
Synodality, a way of being Church
One of the characteristics of these months of work has been the involvement of the laity Luis Manuel himself pointed out that those who "have been most enthusiastic about this synodal process are the laity; the priests have found it a little more difficult to get involved in this dynamic".
In this regard, Romero himself emphasized, the Church in Spain had an advantage since "in February 2020 the Congress of the Laity and this has influenced our synodal process because that congress was conceived in a similar way.
The known dynamics of work in the keys of synodality and discernment has been noted in the work of the dioceses and movements of the Church in our country. In fact, said Luis Manuel Romero, "the synodal process has been conceived as a continuation of this congress of the laity".
Luis Manuel Romero emphasized that the synodal process, whose first phase closes on June 11 with the Assembly of all Spain, "does not end, it is a process that has to be done. It demands a personal and pastoral conversion. In this synod the process is already a result. Synodality gives a way of being Church". This style, characterized by listening to one another, is what, both from the Holy See and from the particular churches, wants to be the tonic that permeates the pastoral life of the Church.
Discernment: key word
Discern: to know and carry out what the Holy Spirit is asking of the entire Church at this time: faithful, religious, priests, etc., is one of the key words and attitudes of this Synod.
This was repeated by Luis Manuel Romero, who emphasized that this work has been done to "discover that the protagonist is the Holy Spirit. It is a question of asking ourselves, always together, where the Holy Spirit wants to lead us in these present moments of history and not what we think".
Listening, illusion and hope
For Luis Manuel Romero, the assessment of this synodal process in our country is very positive. In fact, he wanted to emphasize that "illusion and hope" are the words that could define these contributions.
In particular, he highlighted the great involvement and enthusiasm of the laity, saying that "in Spain there is a resurgence of the laity". Something key given the clericalism that still has a lot of weight both among the faithful and some priests.
Participation: Women, secular and around 55 years of age.
Regarding the work carried out in Spain, Luis Manuel Romero pointed out that more than 13,000 groups of parishes, as well as groups of religious communities, more than 200 monasteries and several Secular Institutes have participated in this synodal process.)
In addition, 28 lay movements and associations participated through the Spanish Laity Forum.
A striking fact has been the participation of 19 prisons in this process, with nearly a thousand people, including inmates, volunteers and workers. In addition, proposals were received from Caritas groups and people from the world of art, culture and politics.
In total, said the director of the Episcopal Commission for the Laity, Family and Life, "more than 200,000 people participated in this synod. Of this number, the participation "of the laity and especially women, with an average age of 55 years" stands out.
As Romero himself pointed out, "it has been difficult for us to reach those who are far away, those who are absent, young people and children, and also people of other confessions. All these groups are of special interest in the conception of this synodal process.
The Synodal Assembly of June 11
Luis Manuel Romero and José Gabriel Vera, director of the EEC Information Office, have also informed about how the Synodal Assembly which will take place on June 11 at the Pablo VI Foundation in Madrid.
Some 600 people from all the Spanish dioceses will attend. Most of the attendees will be lay people, but 52 bishops and the Apostolic Nuncio in Spain, Bishop Bernardito Auza, are also expected to participate.
They will be joined by some 70 priests, religious men and women from different congregations and members of other denominations.
The Assembly, which is intended to be "a day of encounter and full of hope" will begin with the presentation of the synthesis prepared by the Synodal Team of the EoC. This will be followed by personal and group discernment with the aim of reflecting on key points or adding aspects that are not reflected in this synthesis.
In the afternoon, these highlights will be collected to work on them in such a way that the synthesis to be sent to the Holy See reflects, in the best way possible, the reality and aspirations of the entire Church in Spain.
The day will end with a Holy Mass presided over by the President of the EEC, Monsignor Juan José Omella and with a final act of sending forth presided over by Monsignor Luis Argüello, Secretary General of the EEC. In addition, they wanted to emphasize that "during the whole day the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed in a chapel of the Foundation" to express "that we wish this Assembly to be a time inhabited by the Lord".
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"Participation in the Eucharist is essential."
