As he did with The imperfect family y The imperfect coupleItalian psychotherapist Mariolina Ceriotti impeccably addresses various situations that most marriages go through, with greater or lesser intensity. With the freshness and timeliness that Ceriotti's knowledge and assistance to today's couples grants, she exposes the feelings, questions and also many of the answers that arise during marital coexistence, especially when small or big problems arise.
Mariolina Ceriotti emphasizes the importance of recognizing the uniqueness of each of the components of marriage, the weight of their previous biography and, above all, the reality that the person, although the same, necessarily changes due to the circumstances that surround him or her. Avoiding sentimental or superficial conclusions, Ceriotti delves into the swampy terrain of infidelity, discouragement and, in contrast, forgiveness and the conditions for starting over. Brief, complete and sharp, Marry me... again is one of those books that should be on every bookshelf in the world.
Mariano Fazio: "The Christian must be traditional, not traditionalist: open to renewal, without falling into an imprudent progressivism".
"We are in the Church and in the world to love, because that is the human and Christian vocation." Mariano Fazio, auxiliary vicar of Opus Dei, talks in this interview with Omnes about freedom and love, themes of his latest book, but also about belonging to the Church, the family and how the classics can be a preparation for sowing the Gospel in a secularized society.
Mariano Fazio Fernández, a priest born in Buenos Aires in 1960 and currently the auxiliary vicar of the Opus Deipresented a few weeks ago at the Madrid headquarters of the University of Navarra, his book Freedom to love through the classics (a review of which was published in issue 714 of Omnes). A work, the last of almost thirty titles, in which, through examples contained in classic works of literature of all times, and especially among them "the classic of classics, the Bible", the author shows how the freedom of the human being is oriented to love: to the love of God and to love among ourselves, especially in the life of the members of the Church.
In factto be in the Church is to love Christ and, through Christ, to love others". says Mariano Fazio in this interview, in which he shares his opinion on secularization and the role of today's culture, the task of families in evangelization or the continuity of the magisterium in recent pontificates.
Talking about freedom and love in these times, in which a large part of society seems to have lost its way, is not easy. Have we lost our way in freedom or love?
-I believe that what we have lost our way in is the fact that we have separated freedom from love.
Human beings have been created free for something. Every reality has a purpose. In some dimensions of contemporary culture, it has been pointed out a lot freedom of choicethe possibility of choosing in unimportant things. Therefore, we have a very impoverished vision of freedom.
On the other hand, if we realize that this freedom has a direction and that direction - according to Christian anthropology - is the love of God and of others, we would have an infinitely richer vision of freedom.
Today there is a lot of talk about freedom and yet it seems to me that there is a great lack of freedom because unfortunately we are all subject to addictions of all kinds. The main addiction is egocentrism: the fact of focusing on our own comfort, our personal project, and so on. Alongside this, we see more specific addictions present in many sectors, such as drugs, pornography or ambition for material goods.
We are in a contradictory society in which we proclaim freedom as the highest human value, but live as slaves to our dependencies. We have reduced freedom to choosing one thing or another and have lost the vision that it is a love-oriented vision.
However, society often sells this freedom based on the multiplicity of choice, of "temporarily" trying everything?
-Happiness cannot be found in simple choice. To choose one must have a criterion, -that orientation of freedom. Kierkegaard affirms that when a person has all possibilities before him it is as if he were in front of nothingness, because he has no reason to choose this or that.
To be happy, we must orient each of our choices so that they are consistent with the ultimate goal of love. This is not just a theological or philosophical doctrine. Everyone experiences in his heart the desire for happiness. Aristotle said so; and it is not true because Aristotle says so, but because we experience it in all the circumstances of our lives.
We are often mistaken about where happiness is. The three classic places we fall into are pleasures, material goods or our own self: power, the ambition to be admired. And it is not so.
Happiness is found in love, which implies self-giving. We do not find it in simple choice. By universal experience, we find happiness when we choose to forget ourselves and give ourselves to God and to others out of love.
At Freedom to love through the classics not only turns to these great works of literature, but also to the Bible on a frequent basis. There are those who consider the Bible a dogmatic book that has little to say about freedom.
-I use these great classics because they are books that, even though they were written centuries ago, still speak to us today. The classics present the great values of the human person: truth, goodness, beauty, love. In addition to all of them, we have a classic that can be called the classic of classics: the Bible.
It is impressive to see how all the great classics of world literature, at least the modern and contemporary ones, drink from the biblical source. They do so explicitly or even unknowingly, because they are immersed in our cultural tradition, which we must preserve because we run the risk of losing it.
God himself has chosen a narrative form to present us with his plan for human happiness. The narrative form is the least dogmatic there can be: we are offered a historical narrative. Jesus Christ, when he opens to us the ways of Life, does so through parables; he does not present a list of dogmatic principles, but tells us a story: "A father had two sons..."; "On the road from Jerusalem to Jericho..."; "On the road from Jerusalem to Jericho..."; "On the road from Jerusalem to Jericho..."....". Even the form itself is a proposal, which everyone can decide whether to follow or not.
Evidently, throughout the history of the Church, it has been necessary to formulate these Christian truths contained in the Bible in a systematic way; but it is not an imposition, it will always be a proposal. This does not detract from the fact that, at times, Christians have wanted to impose these truths by means that are not very "edifying", but undoubtedly we have betrayed the evangelical spirit, which is to propose the faith, not to impose it.
You have published almost thirty books, including biographical sketches, such as those of Pope Francis, St. John XXIII and St. Josemaría Escrivá, but also books on culture and modern society. Why this focus on cultural and literary themes?
–I am convinced that the crisis of contemporary culture is so great that the points of reference have been lost. Not only of the Christian life, but of what or who the human person is.
Men and women are made for truth, goodness and beauty. The great classics of world literature propose this vision of the human person. They are not good or simple books, far from it. They deal with all the key issues of the drama of existence: sin, death, violence, sex, love....
Reading great works such as Les Miserables, The Bride and Groom o Don Quixote of La Mancha, one realizes that a person is fulfilled by good and not by evil, or that it is better to tell the truth than to lie, or that the soul is ennobled by contemplating beauty. In short, the classics give us instruments to distinguish the great values that are human values and Christian values. Today, on many occasions, it is more difficult to go directly to the catechism. On the other hand, this narrative style of the classical authors, which we have seen is the same style God chose to transmit his truths to us, can be a preparation for the Gospel.
We live in a highly secularized society in which it is necessary to preparing the ground to plant the Gospel. All my works on cultural themes have, therefore, this apostolic, evangelizing zeal.
You point out that we are created free to love. In this sense, can we affirm that we are in the Church to love?
-We are in the Church and in the world to love, because that is the Christian vocation and the human vocation. It is an existential experience.
People who are truly free, with a full existence, are people who know how to love.
We could give so many examples in history and in literature, where the great characters, the most attractive ones, are those who are always thinking of others. We are in the Church to love God and neighbor with the measure of love that Christ gave us.
Love It also means to fulfill a series of obligations, it is evident, but not for a simple question of duty, but because we realize that, through these precepts, we materialize a way of loving.
One of the key points in this relationship of love, also within the Church, is that of feeling or knowing that it is reciprocated. How can we love others, the Church, when we do not feel this correspondence?
-It is important to remember, and this is an idea of St. Josemaría Escrivá, that the Church is, above all, Jesus Christ. We are the mystical body of Christ.
It may be that, subjectively, there are those who do not feel well within the Church at one time or another because there are many sensibilities, and they consider that their sensibility is not accepted or because they are scandalized by some unedifying events that occur in the Church of today and of all times. But we are not part of the Church because it is a community of saints or of the pure, but we are part of it because we follow Jesus Christ who is total holiness. To be in the Church is to love Christ and, through Christ, to love others.
And in the area of freedom, how can we not fall into the fallacy of trying to eliminate essential aspects of the Church in the name of a false freedom?
-In this aspect, what the then Cardinal Ratzinger said about the interpretation of the Second Vatican Council can give us a lot of light, which I believe is useful not only for this concrete fact, because the Church is continually renewing itself by being faithful to tradition.
The two wrong extremes will be, on the one hand, those who want immobilism within the Church - perhaps for fear of losing what is essential - and, on the other hand, those who want everything to change at the risk of forgetting or even eliminating what is essential.
What is essential is our relationship with Christ, the love of God, etc., etc. The truths that the Lord has revealed to us will remain the same because public revelation ended with the death of St. John.
Revelation is what we have to make credible in the different stages of history. Now it is the turn of contemporary culture, therefore, it is logical that there should be a renewal, for example, in catechetical methods.
The Christian must be traditional, but he must not be a traditionalist. He must be open to renewal without falling into reckless progressivism.
He pointed to concepts that are often used to establish "groups or divisions" within the Church: progressives and conservatives, or traditionalists. Is there really a division?
-A Catholic must be one hundred percent Catholic. This means embracing the totality of the faith and Christian living in all its dimensions and not choosing, for example, between the defense of life from the moment of conception until death and between the preferential option for the poor and that everyone has access to a house, food, clothing..., etc.
In 2007, I participated in the General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean in Aparecida. There, different sensitivities came together in a climate of great ecclesial communion. In that context, one of the Synod Fathers said: "I hear here how many defend the family, life, etc.... Others have a great social sensitivity. We have to reach a synthesis. We have to defend life from the moment of conception to natural death and, in the middle, in all those years of people's lives, make it possible for people to have the right and access to all these goods".
In this sense, it seems to me that the pontificates of Benedict XVI and Francis are perfectly complementary. Each one emphasizes certain themes, but this does not mean that Francis has not spoken of the defense of life. For example, Benedict XVI has some affirmations within the Social Doctrine of the Church, on economy and ecology, which Francis has continued.
Today is the time to build bridges, not to have unilateral visions, to love each other and respect all sensitivities.
Speaking of the danger of remaining in human visions or categories in the Church, have we lost the sense of eternity?
-I think not, because the Church is Jesus Christ. The Church as an institution has not lost him.
In this field, I remember an anecdote told to me by Joaquín Navarro Valls, who was John Paul II's spokesman for more than twenty years. On one occasion, he had arranged an interview of the Pope with the BBC. In that interview, the journalist asked John Paul II to define the Church in three words and the Pope replied: "I have two too many. The Church is Salvation. Therefore, the Church is an instrument for eternal salvation.
Catholics, of course, can run the risk of becoming worldly. This danger that Pope Francis has underlined so much: worldliness, both in the hierarchy and in the faithful. The danger of giving an absolute value to the things of this earth that have a relative value.
The family, the vocation to marriage, is a nuclear theme in the Church, even more so in a year like this one, dedicated to the family. But is there still a perception on both sides of being the substitute evangelizers?
-I have the impression that we have not yet drawn all the consequences of the doctrine of the Second Vatican Council. St. Paul VI emphasized the fundamental message of that Council: the call to universal to holiness. Universal, for all, and, in particular, the role of the laity in the Church and in evangelization is emphasized.
Concretely, I believe that we need to further illuminate our baptismal vocation. By Baptism we are called to holiness, and holiness implies apostolate. Holiness without apostolate is not holiness. Therefore, the natural thing is that the laity, who are in the midst of the world, in all social, political, economic institutions..., be the leaven that changes the mass of our world. And in this field, in a very particular way, the family, Domestic church.
All the recent Popes, St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis, have called themselves anticlerical because they underline, with this qualification, this fundamental role of the laity. The hierarchy plays an indispensable role, of course, because the Church is a hierarchical institution; but we are all called to the apostolate from our own functions.
Today the family is in crisis; but if we achieve a profound experience of faith in families, if we make it possible for them not to be self-referential families, as the Pope says, but to be open to other families who see in them a witness of forgiveness, generosity, service... this witness will make other families want to be like these Christian families. I believe that this is a great way for evangelization in today's world.
A few weeks ago the Apostolic Constitution was made public. Predicate Evangelium, What does this mean for the Prelature of Opus Dei?
-On the same day that the apostolic constitution was published, the Prelate of Opus Dei, who is the most authoritative voice, said that it does not change anything substantial.
The important thing is to preserve the spirit of Opus Dei. To preserve the foundational charism with the flexibility - always inspired by that charism - to respond to the challenges of the contemporary world.
In an interview granted by Bishop Arrieta, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, he repeated these words of the prelate and gave examples of many realities that, throughout history, have changed dependencies in the Holy See and have continued to preserve their essence. Therefore, the Prelature of Opus Dei remains the same beyond this change.
Víctor Manuel Fernández 'Tucho', archbishop of La Plata and personal friend of Jorge Bergoglio since before he acceded to the chair of St. Peter, visited the Pope and published the rehabilitation process the Pope is undergoing.
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.
The ISCR Manuals Collection, which offers study materials in theology, philosophy and other sciences, already has a wide repertoire of volumes. The collection has been a response to the interest of many people in acquiring a serious and profound philosophical and theological formation that enriches their Christian life and helps them to live their faith with coherence. In this case, they present a new book on Church History, ancient and medieval, essential for the integral formation of those who study any humanistic discipline.
In this manual, Fermín Labarga, professor of Church History in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Navarra, covers the main events from the birth of the Church in apostolic times until the fall of Constantinople in 1453, focusing also on theological and spiritual currents. The resources that accompany the bulk of the text are a great support to the main content: tables with the list of the Popes, tables with quotes from the protagonists of each era, self-made maps, and self-evaluation exercises, and lists of supporting bibliography.
In the last two centuries, biblical exegesis has produced, with fantastic erudition, an enormous volume of material, although also quite scattered and not always coherent. For this reason, it is worth remembering that Jesus Christ himself made an explicit exegesis, which is the key to all believing exegesis.
It is an exercise that must be done and that we can only outline here. We should begin with the Emmaus scene (Lk. 24:13-35). There the Lord, to those disciples saddened and disconcerted by his humiliating death in Jerusalem, rebukes them: "Fools and dull of heart to believe all that the Prophets announced! Was it not necessary that the Christ [the Messiah] should suffer these things and so enter into His glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures that which referred to Him.".
The Messiah and the Servant of God
Unfortunately, the text does not include the Lord's references. The mention of the Law and the Prophets is a traditional Jewish resource, but it also recalls the mysterious scene of the transfiguration, where Jesus appeared glorious before his disciples, with Moses and Elijah. And, according to St. Luke, "they spoke of his departure, which was to be fulfilled in Jerusalem." (Lk 9:31). The most important aspect of this exegesis is that Christ unites the figure, in principle glorious and triumphant, of the Messiah, prophet and King, with the need to suffer, which is expressed in the songs of Isaiah's Servant of the LORD and in the psalms of the persecuted righteous, especially Psalm 22, which the Evangelists apply at length to the Lord.
The disciples had recognized him as the Messiah by the testimony of John the Baptist about the anointing with the Holy Spirit and by the signs and miracles, especially the expulsion of demons. Israel preserved, depending on the case, a strong messianic tradition, related to the restoration of Israel and illustrated by a multitude of biblical texts. Above all, with the expectation of a new prophet on a par with Moses; "God will raise up from among your brethren a prophet like me." (Dt 18:15); able to "talk to God face to face"The Lord, for example, explicitly assumes this tradition when he enters Jerusalem on a colt, deliberately fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah (9:9), amidst the enthusiasm of his disciples (Mt 21:4-5; Jn 12:14-15).
How the Kingdom will be made
Since the figure of the Messiah was linked to the restoration of Israel, a strong and liberating solution was expected. A Messiah capable of defeating the enemies. Of course, they did not expect a Messiah who would be defeated by the enemies. It is striking that the Gospels record three announcements of the Lord about his passion (Mk 8:31-32; 9:30-32; 10:32-34), which disconcert the disciples and provoke Peter's reproach (Mt 16:22-24).
No matter how many variants the Messiah figure might have, they expected a triumph. If not, how could he restore Israel? The Acts of the Apostles records the anxiety of the disciples before the Risen One: "Those who were gathered there asked him this question. Lord, is it now that you are going to restore the Kingdom of Israel?". Evidently it was necessary to broaden and transcend the notion of this Kingdom. Otherwise, how could he eschatologically congregate all nations? In fact, Jesus prefers to use "Kingdom of God".
To those disciples anxious for the restoration of Israel he explained for almost three years with parables that the Kingdom is already in them as a leaven, and that it will grow little by little until the end of time. He knew that they could not yet understand him. In addition, "after his passion, he appeared to them with many proofs: he appeared to them for forty days and spoke to them concerning the Kingdom of God." (Acts 1:3).
What was most disconcerting for the disciples was the passage from a political liberation, within the history of the world, to a liberation from sin, the argument of cosmic history, of a fallen creation. The exegesis of Christ unites and counterbalances the two main figures, Messiah and Servant of God, and thus changes the time and nature of liberation. It will not be within human history, although it will spread as a leaven in human history. Nor will it be done in the human way, with economic, political and military means. So how is it going to be done?
The Law, the Prophets and the Psalms
Let us return to St. Luke, at the end of the Emmaus scene, when the disciples discover the Lord, he disappears, and they return to Jerusalem with enthusiasm. And there Jesus Christ appears again. After teaching them "hands and feet" with the prints of the nails (which the Risen One will keep eternally) he says to them: "This is what I was telling you while I was still with you: everything must be fulfilled that is written in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms about me. Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures: Thus it is written, that the Christ must suffer and rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins must be preached in his name." (Lk 24:44-45).
Let us look at the exegesis of Christ: "That which is written in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms."In which passages? The evangelists do not mention them. But it is possible to know indirectly, looking at those used by the first Christian tradition. Not so much the messianic passages, since those could already be expected to apply to Christ, but precisely those that refer to the fact that "Christ must suffer and rise again." and to be preached "forgiveness of sins". We can only give a few brush strokes on a huge subject that includes the relationship of Jesus Christ with the Servant Songs and with the Psalms and the question of the "fulfillment" of the Scriptures in Him.
The Acts of the Apostles
The scene of the eunuch of the Ethiopian queen Candace, whom Philip meets on the road, is sympathetic and significant. The eunuch is sitting in the carriage reading: "Like sheep he was led to the slaughter..." (Is 53:7-8). And he asks Philip: "Pray tell me of whom the prophet says this.". And Philip "beginning with this passage he proclaimed to him the Gospel of Jesus." (Acts 8:26-40). He applies to Jesus Christ one of the songs of the Servant of Yahweh.
The five great "discourses" that appear in the first part of Acts are very significant. There the disciples are forced to explain the meaning of the death of Jesus Christ. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, applies some verses from Psalm 16 (15): "Thou shalt not forsake my soul in hells nor let thy Holy One see corruption." (Acts 2:17). In addition, from 110: "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool."which the Lord himself had used (Mk 12:36) and which Christians relate from the beginning to the prophecy of Daniel (7:13) and the ascension of Christ to glory (to the right hand of the Father).
In the temple, Peter preaches: "God has fulfilled what He foretold by the mouth of the prophets, that His Christ would suffer. Repent therefore and be converted so that your sins may be blotted out." (Acts 3:18). And, by the way, he then recalls the prophet promised by Moses. And before the Sanhedrin, which calls them to ask for explanations, he uses Psalm 118: "The stone rejected by architects is now the cornerstone."which the Lord himself had used (cf. Lk 20:17). And, on being freed, he recalls Psalm 2: "Princes have allied themselves against the Lord and against his Christ." (Acts 4:26). Again before the Sanhedrin, he declares: "Him God exalted at His right hand as Prince and Savior, to grant forgiveness of sins to Israel." (Acts 5:31). When Stephen was led to martyrdom, he recalled the prophecy of Moses ("a prophet like me") and go to Christ "standing at the right hand of God." (Acts 7:55).
The exegesis made by the Baptist
Here, on the other hand, the words of the Baptist at the beginning of the Gospel of St. John converge. "He saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.'". And after testifying to the manifestation of the Holy Spirit on Jesus at the moment of Baptism, the text continues: "The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. And noticing Jesus passing by, he said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God!' The two disciples heard him speak this way and followed Jesus." (1, 35-37). They were John and Andrew, who then sought out his brother Peter and said to him: "We have found the Messiah." (1,41).
It is interesting to note that John unites from the beginning the figure of Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah with that of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Twice he attributes to Jesus to be the "Lamb of God."This image, apart from the Apocalypse (where it is used 24 times), does not appear explicitly in other texts. Although St. John assimilates Christ to the Paschal Lamb, when already dead, they do not break his legs. "that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says they shall not break any of his bones." (Jn 19:36; Ps 34:21, Ex 12:46; Num 9:12). It was forbidden to break the bones of the Passover lamb. And the evangelists emphasize that Christ dies "at the hour of nona".Friday, when the Passover lambs were sacrificed, after exclaiming: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"The beginning of Psalm 22 (23) and expression of the persecuted righteous.
We owe to the Protestant exegete Joachim Jeremiah the observation that Ratzinger makes in his Jesus of Nazareth (volume II, chapter 1): "Jeremiah calls attention to the fact that the Hebrew word. talja means lamb as well as servant or servant". (in ThWNT I, 343), thus linking the two things we have been talking about.
The Letter to the Hebrews and the Apocalypse
The meaning of Christ's death synthesizes the figure of the persecuted and suffering Servant for his fidelity to God with the paschal and sacrificial aspect linked to the lamb. And it has a magnificent liturgical expansion, both in the Letter to the Hebrews and in the Apocalypse. In the Letter to the Hebrews, the sacrificial meaning of the death of Christ, the sacrifice of the New Covenant, made with the Holy Spirit, is magnificently explained; while the Apocalypse underlines the cosmic dimension of this offering of Christ the Lamb celebrated in Heaven.
The Letter to the Hebrews reasons "biblically" with these elements. In it is very important the memory of Melchizedek, priest of the Most High God, but not a Levite nor of the house of Aaron, like the Jewish priests of the Old Testament. Hence the importance of Psalm 110 (109), applied to Christ: "Thou art an eternal priest according to the rite of Melchizedek."The sin that is the great sin of God's rejection becomes, through Christ's faithfulness, the Christian sacrifice. What is the great sin of the rejection of God becomes, through Christ's faithfulness, the Christian sacrifice. Thus, the death of Christ is the Christian offering and sacrifice that is the founder of the New Covenant. All that the sacrifices could mean of recognition, offering and covenant with God receives a maximum realization in the sacrifice of Christ. "He performed it once and for all by offering himself." (7, 27). "This is the main point of what we have been saying, that we have such a high priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty of heaven". (8, 1-2).
And in the Apocalypse: "You were slain and purchased for God with your blood men of every race, tongue, people and nation; and you have made of them for our God a kingdom of priests." (Rev 5:10); "These follow the lamb wherever it goes and have been ransomed among men as firstfruits to God." (Rev 14:4).
This gives a new dimension to salvation, to God's forgiveness and to the establishment of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God will not be established politically or militarily, but through the sacrifice of Christ who implores and obtains God's forgiveness ("forgive them, for they know not what they do.") and through the mystical application, first moral and then physical, of Christ's resurrection. Thus the Kingdom of God grows in this world, awaiting the final resurrection. This is the way of the real renewal of persons, which allows us to pass from the old man, the inheritance of Adam, to the new man, in Christ, as St. Paul summarizes for his part.
Rod DreherIf we Christians are not willing to suffer, we will disappear".
The editor-in-chief of the magazine The American Conservative speaks about his vision on issues such as dictatorship softThe resistance of the martyrs or the cultural battle.
Rod Dreher does not leave indifferent. In his two books -The Benedictine option y Living without liesboth published in Spain by Ediciones Encuentro-, the American journalist and writer warns of the danger of totalitarianism. woke and the collapse of Christian civilization. In the interview he gave to The Ostrich Effect an initiative of the Catholic Association of Propagandists -, the editor-in-chief of the magazine The American Conservative addresses issues such as the dictatorship softThe resistance of the martyrs or the cultural battle.
At Living without lies stresses that our times resemble the times before the Soviet Union. Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?
- It seemed that way to me, too, six or seven years ago, when I had the idea of writing this book. I came into contact then with people who had emigrated to the United States from the Soviet Union, escaping from communism, and they said that the things they were seeing in the West reminded them of what they had left behind. It seemed exaggerated, but the more I talked to them, the more I became convinced that they were seeing things that escaped me.
What were they watching?
- The birth of a system in which you cannot disagree with ideology woke dominant. I see it in my country, and also in Spain, in a way: if you don't agree with gender ideology or critical race theory, you can be cancelled. You can lose your job, your friends or your status. There is no discussion possible, you must accept this ideology to be part of society... and that is totalitarian. Hence the link to Soviet communism.
Do you not consider freedom of expression?
- On paper, yes, it is guaranteed by our Constitution... but in practice a totalitarian mentality is spreading over all aspects of American life; everything becomes ideological. It is not only a control from the State: the big corporations have become woke and are leading much of the process, but also the media, universities, sports... even the military.
In his book he points out that this is not "hard" totalitarianism, but "soft" totalitarianism, soft. Does that make it harder to resist?
- Yes, it is. In the past, communist totalitarianism was like the one described by George Orwell at 1984, but today's is more like Aldous Huxley y Brave New World. We surrender our freedoms in exchange for comfort, entertainment and the assurance that we won't have to face anything that inconveniences us. James Poulos calls it the "pink police state," a therapeutic totalitarianism in which we hate the idea of freedom because it involves taking responsibility for our actions, so we surrender to the authorities.
In the Huxley novel he cites, the system is described as a "Christianity without tears."
- That's right, and this is the challenge before us. Many people, especially young people, are so terrified at the prospect of discomfort that they are willing to accept anything as long as they are assured that the world will be a safe space... but that is not the reality.
In this context, are we Christians called to fight the cultural battle?
- America has been engaged in a culture battle since I was born, and I believe it is spreading to the West. It's not a war I'm excited about, but it's one that has come to us and one that - as Christians - we can't ignore. We want peace, but the left woke has become so intolerant and militant that we must rise up to defend our beliefs, insisting that they be respected.
You point out that there is something religious about this ideology, in what sense?
- In the event that the movement woke is a substitute for religion for people who do not believe in God. It happened with the Bolshevik movement during the Russian Revolution, which turned political beliefs into a pseudo-religion to fill the God-shaped hole in the soul. It happened then and it is happening now: those who adhere to this ideology believe that they get a sense of life, a purpose and a sense of solidarity. And there is another element.
Which one?
- That you can't argue with them. In a normal political environment, you can have a dispute, a radical discussion about principles... but not with the woke. They insist on their beliefs dogmatically; they are as much so as the Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition or the religious police in Saudi Arabia.
Let us now talk about proposals for action. He wrote The Benedictine option, which many misinterpret as an invitation to escape the conflict.
- Yes, this has been the most common misunderstanding of this book, and it often comes from people who haven't read it. They think I'm saying "Let's run for the hills and hide!", but I'm not. It is not possible to escape what is going on around us. My point is that if we are going to face the challenges of this post-Christian world as faithful Christians, we must come together, form stronger communities and study and practice our faith more. We must understand our faith in order to show the world Jesus Christ as He really is. We must be prepared to suffer for defending the truths of the faith; otherwise, we will be assimilated by the world.
Do we need to remember the testimony of the martyrs?
- That is one of the most important things we Christians can do. We have cases in the past, but also modern examples. Certainly, there are the martyrs of the Spanish Civil War, or the story of Bl. Franz Jägerstätterthe Austrian farmer murdered for refusing to swear allegiance to Hitler. His entire village was Catholic, but only Franz and his family stood firm: we must ask ourselves how he prepared himself to suffer. If not, we will not survive as Christians.
What role do Christian communities play in this preparation for suffering?
Hannah ArendtThe great political philosopher of the 20th century found that both pre-Nazi Germany and pre-Communist Russia were societies with massive feelings of loneliness and atomization. It is one of the key aspects of totalitarianism, which provides an answer to these longings. So we must strive to create community, because it is no longer going to come naturally...but community is the only way to know who we are and what our responsibilities are to each other and to God. Now is the time to prepare: we have no time to lose.
Photos: Guadalupe Belmonte
The authorGuillermo Altarriba
Subscribe to Omnes magazine and enjoy exclusive content for subscribers. You will have access to all Omnes
In the defense of life, it is key to attack the root of evil: those lies that present the death of the innocent child as a liberation or a right of others.
May 16, 2022-Reading time: 3minutes
The leak of a U.S. Supreme Court draft that would outlaw abortion in the United States has reopened the debate.
In Spain, moreover, it has been announced that a new law on the matter will be approved tomorrow, Tuesday, precisely to circumvent the possible ruling of the Constitutional Court against the previous one, which has been unresolved for more than a decade.
Although a few years ago I was quite belligerent in this regard, today I admit that I try not to insist too much on the subject. And it is not that my defense of human life in the womb has diminished one iota, but rather that I believe that our supposedly developed societies have assimilated so deeply the barbarity of accepting the right of mothers to decide on the lives of their sons and daughters that they are incapable of realizing what a mistake they are making.
Few people will think twice if we only focus on the end of this great chain of lies that leads to abortion. In my opinion, we must insist elsewhere: we must attack the root of the evil.
When I explain to my children the seriousness of lies, I always use the example given in the second book of Samuel, with the story of David and Bathsheba. King David fell for the lie that sexuality can become a fun diversion without consequences.
That lie led him to sleep with the wife of one of his soldiers, which forced him to continue lying because, if the adultery had been discovered, Bathsheba would have had to pay for it with her life. When she learned that, as a result of that "unimportant slip", an unwanted pregnancy had occurred, she again invented a series of lies to try to get her husband, Uriah, to return from the front as a matter of urgency. Her intention was none other than to bring about the marital encounter in order to disguise the birth of the child as legitimate.
But the refusal of Uriah, a man of honor, to go home and sleep with his wife out of respect for his men whom he had left in the harsh conditions of war, forced the king to invent an even greater lie: the fortuitous death of the soldier in combat in order to take the widow as his wife and legitimize the pregnancy. Thus, he ordered the commander of his army to place Uriah in a position of danger in the battle and then withdraw and let him die at the hands of the enemy. Once the king's order was carried out, several of his bravest men died along with Uriah.
And all because of a single lie.
Did David at any time think of killing of his own free will those who were risking their lives daily for him and his people at the time of his bedding with Bathsheba? At no time, but one lie leads to another and then there is no choice but to commit nonsense to hide them. That's how simple we are.
Abortion lies
Likewise with abortion, one has to go far back in the chain of lies to try to understand it as a phenomenon.
The first lie is the same one David fell into: sexuality is harmless fun, detaching it from its biological, affective and social components.
The second is that contraceptives would prevent unwanted pregnancies, when these have been modernized and popularized and many women still have to resort to the morning-after pill or abortion to try to make amends.
The third is to say that abortion is a woman's right, when what the laws have achieved is to burden her alone with a problem that belongs to two. The so-called "voluntary interruption of pregnancy" is the panacea of the sexually irresponsible and abusive male, because, as the NGOs that accompany pregnant women denounce, one of the most repeated phrases is: "either you abort or I leave you"; when they are not directly forced to abort under violent threats. And so we could go on adding lie after lie that we have been inventing to try to justify the unjustifiable.
When ideologies come to construct a model of humanity different from the truth that men and women carry inscribed in our nature, these things happen.
Today, our society needs abortion to sustain the false model of man and woman that it has proposed to us. Therefore, eliminating abortion would entail recognizing the great previous lie and no one is willing to do so. They cannot!
These days we will hear many defend abortion by appealing to freedom. They do not know that they are slaves of their lies and that only the truth will set us free.
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.
God above all. This could be the summary of the life of Venerable Mother Felix, foundress of the Company of the Savior, in charge of the Mater Salvatoris schools located in various cities of Spain and Latin America. The life of this religious takes its first turn at the age of 14 when she decides to give her life to God. A divine call that will experience many ups and downs: family opposition, misunderstanding of her spiritual director or the outbreak of the Civil War are part of this path that would see its full realization with the founding of the Society of the Savior, a "Society of Jesus for women" as she herself called it. The first years of this company, the difficulties of the beginnings or the first steps in teaching in post-war times are collected together with snippets of the interior life of this woman in love with God. Luis Mª Mendizábal, whose encouragement and formation in the spirit of St. Ignatius of Loyola made possible this Society and Mother Felix's full response to God's will.
New saints in Rome and IV centenary of the canonization of St. Isidore
Pope Francis canonizes ten new Blesseds in Rome today, among them Charles de Foucauld and the Dutch Carmelite Titus Brandsma. At the same time, a Jubilee Year of St. Isidore Labrador, which will conclude in 2023, begins today in Madrid. "I invite you to remember his life, to go on pilgrimage to his tomb and that of his wife, St. Mary of the Head, and to pray there," Cardinal Carlos Osoro encourages.
The Holy Father will declare this Sunday in St. Peter's Square in Rome ten new saints, among them the first from Uruguay, the Italian-Uruguayan nun Maria Francesca di Gesù, born Anna Maria Rubatto (1844-1904), who spent part of her life in South America, died in Montevideo, and was the foundress of the Tertiary Capuchin Sisters of Loano.
Numerous faithful from different countries will attend the ceremony, which will also canonize the French diocesan priest Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916), "poor among the poor", and the Dutch Carmelite journalist Tito Brandsma, executed in the Nazi extermination camp of Dachau in 1942, and Lazarus, an Indian martyr of the 18th century, killed out of hatred for the faith.
As reported by Omnes, a group of journalists has asked Pope Francis to name the Dutch Carmelite the patron saint of journalists along with St. Francis de Sales. For them, Brandsma embodied the values of peace journalism understood as a service to all people.
Among the new saints are also other Marys. Marie Rivier, foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary; Marie de Jesus (née Caroline Santocanale), foundress of the Congregation of the Capuchin Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Lourdes; and Maria Domenica Mantovanico-founder and first Superior General of the Institute of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family.
"The saints are our brothers and sisters who welcomed the light of God in their hearts and transmitted it to the world, each according to his or her own tone," said Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, in outlining a profile of the three blessed who were added to the previous seven scheduled for canonization. About Titus Brandsma, for example, he noted that he died a martyr in the Dachau concentration camp, "after having studied Nazi ideology in depth, glimpsing its dangers and criticizing its anti-human approach," Cardinal Semeraro stressed.
Fourth centenary of a great canonization
On March 12, 1622, 400 years ago, Pope Gregory XV solemnly canonized five saints who, with the passage of time, would be recognized as great figures in the history of the Church: St. Philip Neri, St. Teresa of Jesus, St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier and St. Isidore Labrador.
"The news spread among the Italians, perhaps moved by a certain envy, that on that day the Pope had canonized four Spaniards and a saint. What is certain is that, of the five new saints, four were relatively contemporary, while the cult of St. Isidore had been going on for centuries," he has written in Omnes Alberto Fernández Sánchez, Episcopal Delegate for the Causes of Saints of the Archdiocese of Madrid.
In fact, "this year 2022 marks the fourth centenary of this great event for the Church, and also the 850th anniversary of the popular devotion to St. Isidore Labrador since his death, which according to the sources took place in the year 1172," adds the episcopal delegate.
To celebrate this anniversary, the Holy See has granted the Archdiocese of Madrid a Jubilee Year of San Isidro, which will last from today, May 15, until the same day next year".
"In a society so in need of models of family life, St. Isidore, together with his wife, St. Maria de la Cabeza, and his son, Illán, are given to us as a concrete example of a family that lives in mutual love. In a society so in need of encouragement and example for workers, the saintly farmer is given to us as a model of work trusting in the providence of God the Father", wrote Alberto Fernandez.
Jalones de la Ruta de san Isidro
The Jubilee route is a way to get to know St. Isidore better by visiting places where he lived, together with his wife Santa María de la Cabeza and his son Illán, and to reflect on significant aspects. It is also an opportunity to gain the grace of the Jubilee.
During the Holy Year, the Archdiocese of Madrid will host numerous religious and cultural celebrations. Those who approach the tomb of the Saint, in the Royal Collegiate Church of San Isidro, will be able to obtain a plenary indulgence, which is the remission before God of the temporal punishment for sins.
To do so, they must have an interior disposition, pray the Creed, pray for the Pope's intentions, go to the sacrament of Penance (about 15-20 days before or 15-20 days after), and receive communion at a Eucharist close to the date of the visit, as reported by the Archdiocese of Madrid through various media.
The Jubilee Route of St. Isidore consists of six stages: 1) Chapel of the Nativity; 2) parish of St. Andrew, where St. Isidore was baptized and lived his faith; 3) museum of St. Isidore, which was once the home of Ivan de Vargas, for whom the saint worked; 4) Collegiate Church of San Isidro, which was a provisional cathedral when the diocese of Madrid-Alcalá was created in 1885, a category it lost in 1992 when the cathedral of La Almudena was consecrated; 5) Hermitage of San Isidro, located in La Pradera; and 6) Hermitage of Santa María la Antigua, where tradition places two of the miracles attributed to San Isidro.
The beatifications, an example of synodality
"Holiness in the life of the Church is felt in the sentiments of the faithful people of God," writes Alberto Fernandez. "The processes of beatification and canonization are perhaps one of the ecclesial events where the 'sensus fidelium' comes most into play, the synodality of which so much is said today, since in them the Church listens to the voice of the faithful people who, spontaneously, moved internally by the Spirit, ask for solemn recognition of what the faithful already know with certainty: that this person has lived and died a holy life, fulfilling the will of God, and can be held as a model and intercessor before the Father."
In the case of St. Isidore, only a century after his death, "the codex of John Deacon gathered all this fame of sanctity of the saintly farmer from Madrid, his abandonment to the will of God, his love for the poor and needy, his trusting prayer, his work lived under the provident gaze of the Father", adds the episcopal delegate from Madrid.
In this way, "what the Christians of Madrid transmitted to one another was put in writing in this codex, and centuries later, as we have said, on March 12, 1622, it was solemnly recognized by the papal magisterium. His cult spread rapidly throughout the Church, and it is not uncommon to find chapels and hermitages dedicated to this saint, who was also named patron saint of Spanish farmers by Pope John XXIII in 1960".
"San Isidro was not a superman".
In Madrid the relic of the sacred incorrupt body of Saint Isidro Labrador is kept and venerated, which has been preserved uninterruptedly since his death, and which, beyond the miracles of which he has been the protagonist, is another example of the devotion that the people of Madrid, with the kings and authorities at the head, have paid to this great saint," said Alberto Fernandez.
Monsignor Juan Antonio Martínez Camino, auxiliary bishop of Madrid, stated, precisely in the act closing speech of a day organized by the Angel Herrera Oria Cultural Foundation on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the canonizations of March 12, 1622, that "we cannot know the face of God if we do not know the saints".
"In our pattern we can see clearly what sometimes we do not see. We often believe that the saints are supermen, that they were born perfect. But let us look at them in their truth: they are men like us. The only difference is that they knew how to accept the love of God and dedicated their lives to giving that love to others," wrote Cardinal Carlos Osoro, Archbishop of Madrid, in a letter that you can consult here. here.
Marriage is "dynamic path of fulfillment" and not a "burden," says Pope
The Holy Father encouraged the presentation of marriage "as a dynamic path of growth and fulfillment," and not "as a burden to be borne for life," in his audience at an international conference organized by the Pontifical Gregorian University and the John Paul II Theological Institute. At the end, he criticized the "turning back" of "ecclesiastical figures" in moral matters.
Francisco Otamendi-May 14, 2022-Reading time: 5minutes
Reflection and congresses are increasing these weeks in the final stretch of the Year of the Family 'Amoris Laetitia', which is expected to conclude with the Meeting World Meeting of Families on June 26th, in Rome and in the dioceses, promoted by the Dicastery Vatican for the Laity, Family and Life, whose prefect is Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell.
In addition to the Gregorian University Conference, which was attended by a scientific committee of experts from twelve international universities, this weekend in Barcelona, for example, there is the I Workshop International Conference on Family Accompaniment, organized by the International University of Catalonia (UIC), and the next June 4 and 5 will be held the Love TalksThe International Federation for Family Development's digital congress (IFFD), in which more than 40 experts from different countries and specialties will talk about affectivity and sexuality, couple relationships or pornography.
"The family boat"
In Rome, Pope Francis underlined some of the ideas set forth in the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris LaetitiaThe theme of the conference was "Pastoral Practices, Life Experience and Moral Theology: 'Amoris Laetitia' between New Opportunities and Paths", and the theme was "Pastoral Practices, Life Experience and Moral Theology: 'Amoris Laetitia' between New Opportunities and Paths". The theme of the Congress was "Pastoral practices, life experience and moral theology: 'Amoris Laetitia' between new opportunities and paths".
Da Silva Gonçalves, and greeted Cardinal Farrell, Monsignor Paglia and Monsignor Bordeyne, along with all those who have collaborated and participated in the Conference from all over the world.
The Pope recalled in his Speech that "the initiative takes place in the context of the Year of the 'Family Amoris Laetitia', convoked to stimulate understanding of the Apostolic Exhortation and to help guide the pastoral practices of the Church, which wants to be more and better synodal and missionary", and that "it gathers the fruits of the two Synodal Assemblies on the family: the extraordinary one in 2014 and the ordinary one in 2015. The fruits matured by listening to the People of God, which is largely made up of families, which are the first place where faith in Jesus Christ and mutual love are lived," Francis noted.
"It is good for moral theology to be nourished by the rich spirituality that germinates in the family," the Holy Father added. "The family is the domestic Church (Lumen gentium, 11; Amoris Laetitia, 67, hereafter AL); in it spouses and children are called to cooperate in living the mystery of Christ, through prayer and love implemented in the concreteness of life and daily situations, in mutual care capable of accompanying so that no one is excluded and abandoned. Let us not forget that, through the sacrament of Matrimony, Jesus is present in this boat', the boat of the family".
The family, "more tested than ever".
"Yet family life today is more tested than ever before," the Pope stressed. "First of all, for some time 'the family has been undergoing a profound cultural crisis, like all communities and social bonds' (Evangelii gaudium, 66). In addition, many families suffer from a lack of work, of decent housing or of land on which to live in peace, in an age of great and rapid change. These difficulties affect family life and generate relational problems. There are many 'difficult situations and wounded families'" (AL 79).
"The very possibility of forming a family today is often difficult and young people encounter many difficulties in getting married and having children," the Holy Father continued. "In fact, the epochal changes we are living through are causing moral theology to take up the challenges of our time and speak a language that is understandable to the interlocutors - not only to the 'initiated' - and thus help 'overcome adversities and contrasts' and foster 'a new creativity to express in the present challenge the values that constitute us as a people in our societies and in the Church, the People of God'."
"Discovering the meaning of love."
Francis stressed in his speech that "the difference of cultures is a precious opportunity that helps us to understand even more how much the Gospel can enrich and purify the moral experience of humanity, in its cultural plurality".
"In this way we will help families rediscover the meaning of love, a word that today 'often appears disfigured' (AL 89)," he said, "because love 'is not just a feeling,' but the choice in which each person decides to 'do good' [...] superabundantly, without measuring, without demanding rewards, for the sole reason of giving and serving" (AL 94).
And in this way he praised the daily struggle in families: "The concrete experience of families is an extraordinary school of the good life. Therefore, I invite you, moral theologians, to continue your work, rigorous and valuable, with creative fidelity to the Gospel and to the experience of the men and women of our time, in particular the living experience of believers".
"The 'sensus fidei fidelium', in the plurality of cultures, enriches the Church, so that today she may be the sign of God's mercy, who never tires of us," the Holy Father noted at this point. "From this point of view, your reflections fit very well into the current synodal process: this International Conference is fully inscribed in it and can make its own original contribution to it."
The Pope also responded to discouraging views: "How often is marriage presented 'as a burden to be borne for life' rather than 'as a dynamic path of growth and fulfillment' (AL 37). This is not to say that evangelical morality renounces proclaiming the gift of God. Theology has a critical function of understanding the faith, but its reflection starts from living experience and the 'sensus fidei fidelium'. Only in this way does the theological intelligence of faith render its necessary service to the Church".
Criticism of the "return to the past" with casuistry
Pope Francis introduced at the end of his speech an idea that was not written in the initial text. It was the criticism of "so many ecclesiastical figures," he said verbatim, for what he called "backtracking." His words were as follows:
"I would like to add one thing, which is doing so much harm to the Church at the moment: it is like a 'going backwards', either out of fear, lack of ingenuity or lack of courage."
"It is true that we theologians, even Christians, must go back to the roots, it is true. Without the roots we cannot take a step forward. In the roots we draw inspiration, but to move forward. This is different from going back. Going backwards is not Christian. On the contrary, I think it is the author of the Letter to the Hebrews who says, 'We are not people who go backwards.' The Christian cannot go backwards. To go back to the roots yes, to be inspired, to continue. But to go back is to go back in order to have a defense, a security to avoid the risk of moving forward, the Christian risk of carrying the faith, the Christian risk of making the journey with Jesus Christ. And this is a risk".
"Today, this turning back is seen in many ecclesiastical figures - not ecclesiastical, ecclesiastical - that sprout like mushrooms, here, there, and present themselves as proposals of Christian life. In moral theology there is also a turning back with casuistic proposals, and the casuistry that I thought was buried under seven meters, re-emerges as a proposal. ̶ something disguised ̶ of 'up to here you can, up to here you can't, from here yes, from here no'".
"True Thomism".
"And to reduce moral theology to casuistry is the sin of going backwards. Casuistry has been superseded. Casuistry has been the nourishment for me and my generation in the study of moral theology. But it is characteristic of decadent Thomism.
The true Thomism is that of 'Amoris Laetitia', the one that takes place there, well explained at the Synod and accepted by all.
It is the doctrine of St. Thomas alive, which makes us move forward at risk, but in obedience. And this is not easy. Please be attentive to this turning back which is a current temptation, even for you, theologians of moral theology".
This is how Pope Francis expressed himself, who then pronounced the final paragraph: "May the joy of love, which finds an exemplary witness in the family, become the effective sign of the joy of God, who is mercy, and of the joy of those who receive this mercy as a gift. Joy. Thank you and please do not forget to pray for me, because I need it. Thank you.
The authorFrancisco Otamendi
Subscribe to Omnes magazine and enjoy exclusive content for subscribers. You will have access to all Omnes
The "silent carriage", that space on the train reserved for the serene journey, which allows reading, contemplation, or simply the passing of time in silence, is the allegory used by Ana Medina to title her new poetic work.
The author is a journalist, writer and poet, developing her work in the written press, radio and television. She has been awarded in 2020 with the First Prize of Poetry of the contest Poetry for hope in times of difficulty organized by the Ángel Herrera Oria Cultural Foundation.
In this new collection of poems, its pages "help us to realize that our life is an extraordinary journey full of faces and names, of details so simple that they sometimes go unnoticed.". Through the 93 poems, we will be able to deepen ourselves, while praying, to strip ourselves of what is not essential, to discover the journey of our lives.
Origin, Journey and Destination. In these three stages are included his verses, as a vital itinerary, in which we can say to the Lord that "Being You / You chose to walk the way of the cross / embrace with me the pain, / weep my tears, bleed my blood.".
Becciu's trial at the Vatican: three keys of interpretation
At the center of the trial taking place at the Vatican is the Secretariat of State's investment in a luxury property in London. However, these are the three keys to understanding the trial as a whole.
Andrea Gagliarducci-May 13, 2022-Reading time: 4minutes
It has been called the "trial of the century", or even the "trial of the century".Becciu trial". In reality, what is happening in the Vatican since last July can be neither one nor the other. It is not the trial of the century, because the charges, read in depth, only reveal - if proven - some embezzlement and fraud, certainly not memorable crimes. And it is not the trial of Becciu, because Cardinal Angelo Becciu, who answers for what he allegedly did as a substitute for the Secretary of State, is only referred to some of the charges, and not the most important ones.
The London apartment and the Diocese of Becciu
So how can one define this trial that began last July at the Vatican? At the heart of the trial is the issue of the Secretary of State's investment in a luxury London property. Initially, the investment was entrusted to the broker Italian Fabrizio Mincione. Then, dissatisfied with the return on the investment, the Secretary of State turned to the other broker Gianluigi Torzi, who had retained 1,000 shares of the property, which were, however, the only ones with voting rights, exercising de facto total control of the property. Finally, the Secretary of State took the decision to take over the building, putting an end to all relations with Torzi.
To this matter must be added others. Cardinal Becciu is accused of embezzlement, since as deputy to the Secretariat of State he allegedly sent funds from the latter to the Caritas of his diocese, Ozieri, whose president was his brother, and also to the SPES cooperative, also linked to the diocese. The Cardinal is also accused of having "hired" the consultant Cecilia Marogna for mediation operations (and, as it is known, for the payment of a ransom to free Sister Cecilia Narvaez, kidnapped in Sudan), and finally for "bribery", that is, for having pressured the former head of the administration of the Secretariat of State, Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, to change the tone of the statements against him.
Accusations, obviously, all to be proven, in a trial that is expected to be very long. The trial covers at least three lines of investigation: the one concerning the investment of the Secretariat of State in the London property; the one concerning the alleged embezzlement of Cardinal Becciu; the one concerning the relationship with the "intelligence" consultant Cecilia Marogna.
Three keys to understanding the trial
Similarly, there are three key readings to understand the Vatican's judgment, and the most important one is not even the financial one.
The first is procedural. The investigation arose from a report by the Vatican auditor general, following a complaint by the director of the Istituto delle Opere di Religione, the so-called "Vatican bank."
This fact has been repeatedly pointed to as a clear example that the financial reforms pushed by Pope Francis are working. However, these allegations rather attest to the weakness of the Vatican's judicial system.
The allegations led to investigations by the Financial Information Authority and the Secretariat of State. These are two independent bodies within the Holy See. The Authority exchanges intelligence data and maintains international cooperative relationships with similar authorities abroad that have been implicated by the investigations, as documents belonging to foreign and sovereign entities were also seized. Since the Authority could not supervise the operations of the Secretariat of State, but had to supervise financial transactions, the investigations not only created a small wound, but also may have blocked investigations that could have been decisive in the trial of the London building.
The Secretariat of State was completely autonomous from the financial point of view. It is not a dicastery like any other, nor could it be, because it is the Secretariat of the Pope, and represents the government. Can there be crimes if a sovereign body, with full financial availability, decides to make investments? And is a bad investment a crime?
The result of this handling of the investigations has ultimately weakened the Church's governing body, which has also been stripped of its financial autonomy by the Pope.
The Vatican legal system
The second line concerns the Vatican's legal system. Pope Francis intervened in the investigations with four rescripts (documents written in his own handwriting) that in some cases also suspended procedural rights. This created a problem for the Holy See. The Vatican City State is, in effect, a state with its own laws, an absolute monarchy where the Pope is the first judge and legislator. However, the Holy See adheres to treaties and upholds the principles of due process in international arenas. For this reason, the Popes have never intervened too much in judicial matters, in order to keep the authority of the Holy See unaltered. Moreover, the government of Vatican City State itself is delegated to a governor and a commission of cardinals.
With the rescripts, Pope Francis has carried out a "Vaticanization" of the Holy See, turning around the paradigm whereby the State serves the Holy See and not the other way around. This could have consequences at the international level, if the accused were then to go to European courts for human rights violations. This is a possible path.
The financial issue
Finally, there is the financial issue. Without going into details, it is enough to know that the Secretariat of State had judged the investment to be profitable, to the point of wanting to regain control. Until now it has come to light that everything had been done precisely so as not to lose an investment considered profitable, and that the Pope was informed. The Vatican tribunal itself admitted that the Pope was in the room where the exit of the intermediary Gianluigi Torzi was being negotiated.
Therefore, it will be seen whether Torzi has been guilty of extortion, and the role of Cardinal Becciu, who has always stressed that he had acted in use of his prerogatives, will also be defined.
It will also be seen where the testimony of Monsignor Mauro Carlino, secretary of the Substitute (formerly Angelo Becciu, now Edgar Pena Parra), has made it known that checks were also being made on Mammì, director of the IOR, who was the one who gave rise to the investigations.
And it will also have to be explained why the IOR had first agreed to finance the Secretariat of State with a loan that would help to regain control of the London building, and then unexpectedly refused, even leading to the denunciation of the director.
It will be seen if there has been corruption, if some measures were taken without reason. However, the way in which the process was carried out, for its part, could also create problems with international partners. And so, after the government of the Holy See, the credibility of the Holy See itself would be endangered. These issues are perhaps too little present in the current debate, but they should not be underestimated.
This booklet, written by the chaplain of the University of Navarra in Madrid, Jaime Sanz, is less than 200 pages long and is a simple but profound summary of the true meaning of love and its consequences in today's life.
The author, a connoisseur of university life and a regular in the lives of young married couples, describes, with abundant examples, songs, movies and books, situations, challenges and "traps" in which to exercise and examine whether we are living true love. The author puts himself in the shoes of a day-to-day Christian, dealing also with the different areas in which our dealings with other people and with God develop: family, friendships, sporadic coincidences... as well as different ways or processes of relationship through which we pass in our lives, both on the spiritual level, in our relationship with God, and in our daily life.
A book especially useful for teenagers and young adults who see themselves portrayed through the pages of a book that is easy to read and can be a highly recommended gift for any reader.
María Álvarez de las Asturias: "Real marriage is imperfect and nothing happens!"
María Álvarez de las Asturias is one of the speakers at the I International Workshop on Family Accompaniment to be held in Barcelona during the second week of May. With more than ten years of experience in family accompaniment, she points out the need to show the life of real, imperfect and therefore happy marriages.
The name of María Álvarez de las Asturias is well known in the world of assistance, accompaniment and matrimonial formation. Her extensive experience in this field endorses her: she has been Defender of the Bond and Promoter of Justice of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Madrid and professor at various universities. For more than 10 years, she has been dedicated to counseling and training on courtship, prevention and resolution of difficulties and canonical Marriage Law in the Coincidir Institute.
Álvarez de las Asturias is one of the speakers at the I International Workshop on Family Accompaniment, promoted by the Institute of Higher Studies of the Family of the International University of Catalonia where he will share "my work experience in the Coincidir Institute: the difficulties we have had and still have, what answers we offer to those who come, how we accompany from Coincidir..., etc., etc. It makes me very excited to transmit this know-how to people who want to be trained in accompaniment".
In recent decades, there has been talk of "family crisis", but shouldn't we be talking about personal crises that directly affect the family project?
-In what period of time has there not been talk of a crisis in the family? I believe that the family is a living being and, therefore, it is always "in crisis" because it changes and grows. Undoubtedly, nowadays two things are united: crisis of the person and crisis of the family. The loss of bonds, the rupture of the relationship with the past and history, with everything that forms us and gives us our identity, makes people more lost and in crisis... And a lost person will hardly be able to form a family in conditions.
In the work of counseling and training of families today, what kind of cases do we encounter? Do they come only in times of crisis or almost irresolvable problems or are there also those who come to this type of training to promote a healthy marriage / family?
María Álvarez de las Asturias
-When we started work on the Match Almost only people with problems and, above all, those who had already made the decision to separate came to us. I remember we would get calls from acquaintances asking us, 'Can you help this person? They are going to separate'. We always replied that the problem is not in the separation but in the origin of the distance that has brought them to this moment.
During these years of work we have wanted to sow the idea that a crisis is not necessarily a reason for rupture. There is a problem that causes an imbalance in the family stability -that is the definition of crisis, the imbalance-, if it is fixed it is a crisis of growth and, if we cannot solve it, the distance between the couple begins. That time, in which the distance in the couple can be enlarged, is the moment to turn to preventive mediation to help to solve the problems, to strengthen the relationship and to avoid to arrive to a rupture.
At the beginning, the people who came were already at this point of thinking about separation, but, with time, more and more families come who do not wait for the limit situation but come when something starts to not work. It is solved sooner. This is a joy because this is our proposal of accompaniment. We see with satisfaction that families come to solve difficulties or to improve in some aspect. I remember a couple to whom I had given classes in the marriage preparation course and they called me months later. I was a bit scared, to be honest, but they explained to me that they had remembered that I had told them to call me if they had a difficulty that they could not solve on their own: they had realized that they did not know how to argue. They started some communication sessions, learned tricks and techniques..., and solved this aspect.
More and more people are asking us for training to know how to prepare for marriage or how to live better relationships: friendship, courtship... In this sense, the publication of books such as Una decisión original or Mas que juntos have helped a lot.
What changes and what does not change in what we know as "family model"? Is there only one family model?
-I don't like to go into the comparison of family "models". I do like to propose a family model that has some elements that I consider to be the best for all the members. The family model based on natural law: man and woman in a loving relationship forever. It is better for the couple, in the first place, because it provides emotional and psychological stability. It is better for the children because they have a father and mother present in their lives and in a loving relationship. And it is better because this relationship, based on a union that is born to be lived forever, facilitates and "wraps" the attention to the most fragile members of the family.
We live in an "instagram society" in which what is not "considered perfect" is filtered. In this sense, how do false expectations affect: marriage, happiness, children, perfection of the couple... in the family?
-I think they affect a lot. That's one of the difficulties to point out right now to those who are getting married. Not long ago, I asked through Instagram what to say to couples to get them interested in marriage, and not a few answers were along the lines of showing real families. And it's very important, because the perfect family of all handsome, clean and with the house always tidy, doesn't exist. We are people, limited and fragile. If we want to achieve perfection in a relationship we will be frustrated because we will not be able to.
The management of expectations is, therefore, very important. It is key, in this sense, to live a good relationship in order to know the other person and to know ourselves also in our weaknesses. If you directly enter into cohabitation you have missed the possibility of knowing that weakness and adjusting your expectations to the reality of what the other person is. It is true that we improve, but, essentially, human beings do not change.
Apart from this, comparing ourselves with others is very bad. We don't know what others are going through and they don't have to explain to us what is going on at home. It is much better to focus on living our marriage and our family well without putting obligations on ourselves that are not necessary. We have to go back to the essentials.
The Pope in Amoris Laetitia explains that the other loves you as he/she is, and as he/she can, with imperfections, but that does not mean that it is not a real love. We have to show real love and real marriage, which is imperfect and that's okay!
For someone who has known situations and families of all kinds, does faith bring something to the family?
-I think it brings a lot. If we talk about love relationships, knowing God, who is love, changes everything, in joy and in difficulty. It is about living always accompanied by Someone you know is present, Someone to whom you can turn to recharge your love, to be able to give it to others; Someone to whom you can turn to have that companionship in difficulties, which does not necessarily mean that he solves your difficulties, but they are experienced in a different way.
In an "unfriendly" family environment, what allies can you count on?
Here we can paraphrase what St. John Paul II said in Cuatrovientos about being modern and faithful to Christ... well, in the case of the family we can show that we can be modern and happy in marriage. Marriage is a very good invention and many ordinary people are very happy in marriage.
I also think that another ally is the 'attraction by healthy envy'. That thing that many people say to you 'I would want what you are living, but I don't see myself capable, it's too hard for me'... Welcome to the club! It may seem difficult to all of us, but the reality is that living marriage well is possible.
Another ally is the accompaniment in its various forms, each one the one that best suits him or her: marriage groups, friends or professional accompaniment.
You are a regular speaker at conferences and training sessions for families and guidance counselors... What do you share in these sessions, such as the next one in Barcelona?
- Most of the conferences and sessions in which I participate refer to topics of courtship, marriage, accompaniment... I believe that, mainly, I contribute with my training and experience in Canon Marriage Law, which is a peculiarity that contributes a lot. It is true that I adapt the contents according to the audience and the topic, because it is not the same to talk to lawyers about nullity processes as it is to talk to young people who are not even in a courtship yet. But the background is always the same, trying to transmit the truth about marriage and how to help people living any kind of situation.
Since we started working in Match the focus of our work has been on mediation as a means of resolving difficulties and preventing marital breakups. Working with couples when they begin to notice that certain aspects of their relationship are going through difficulties that they cannot solve by themselves. In this way we avoid that these difficulties become entrenched and cause wounds and problems that begin to make them think about a breakup.
I would emphasize the importance of formation for the engagement. It is worthwhile to make younger couples see what they can find in marriage, so that they are realistic, so that they know that marriage is a great invention but that, throughout life, they will encounter difficulties, so that they are not afraid of this and, above all, that they have tools so that, when they encounter a problem they know how to face it and, if they cannot solve it alone, they know that there is professional help and that they do not get scared if they have to turn to it.
The words of Jesus about the mysterious meaning of his glorification and about the new commandment of love are strung between the betrayal of Judas and the denial of Peter, which is revealed immediately afterwards, like pearls in the gold of the crucible of the cross, and the betrayals and weaknesses of friends and the hatred of enemies.
Judas leaving the Cenacle is for Jesus the beginning of his hour. He says the word glorification five times, so that we do not forget it. It is certainly not human glory, because in his passion he will be insulted, condemned, tortured and abandoned by all. By every authority, by public opinion, by people near and far, by Jews and pagans. Only his mother and his friends, with the beloved disciple, will remain to console him.
It is, then, a glory in the divine sense: in that hour the infinite love of the Father who gave his Son for mankind, and the love of the Son who took upon himself every sin in obedience to the Father in order to atone for them all, is mysteriously and forever manifested. With the infinite power of this love lived and manifested, Jesus can reveal and give us his new commandment. As I have loved you.
It is not a "as" of comparison; God's love will always be impossible for us to live it in its infinitude. It is an "as" of foundation: since he has loved us in this way, then we too, through the strength he gives us, can build our mutual love. It is also an "as in the way, an example that teaches us: to lay down one's life, to lose one's life, honor and fame. Overcome and overcome adverse customs. To stoop to death, and a death of the cross.
It is a love linked to his glorification and to his disappearance from our sight: by his passion, death, resurrection and ascension he has won for us the gift of loving us in this way. He has given us the Holy Spirit, which is the love between the Father and the Son. We can live the new commandment of love because the heavenly Jerusalem, as the Apocalypse says, descends to us.
God dwells with us and makes all things new. God, who wipes every tear from our eyes, gives us the grace to understand and accept, as Paul and Barnabas taught the Christians of Antioch, that we enter the kingdom of God. "through many tribulations".
The cross and resurrection received in baptism and absorbed in our life allow us to approach the new commandment and try to live it, as a reciprocal love that spreads continuously and extends in concentric circles, and multiplies itself, freely, that seeks nothing for itself, that conquers sin and death. Love that identifies the community of believers and makes it bear fruit and grow.
Homily on the readings of the Fifth Sunday of Easter
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaa small one-minute reflection for these readings.
U.S. Supreme Court debates decisive battle for life
The leak of the possible end of the "constitutional right to abortion" in the United States, established by the 1973 Supreme Court ruling, known as the Roe vs. Wade can be an opportunity for the Church, pro-life groups and different Christian denominations to pray and join efforts to raise awareness of the need to protect human life.
"There is no right in the U.S. Constitution that protects abortion. It is time to pay attention to the Magna Carta and leave that matter in the hands of the elected representatives in each state". This is one of the sentences of the opinion of Justice Samuel Alito, one of the 9 justices of the Supreme Court of Justice of the United States (SCJ), whose text was leaked by the website Politico on May 2.
The Supreme Court noted that this is an authentic text, illegally subtracted, but does not constitute a verdict of the Court, but only reflects Justice Alito's opinion on the "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization" case, which challenges a Mississippi state law prohibiting abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
However, even if it is not a unanimous or final verdict, Justice Alito's leaked text could essentially summarize the opinion of the other 5 conservative Supreme Court justices on abortion.
If this opinion were to be finalized, and adopted, it would mark the end of the "constitutional right to abortion" in the United States, established by the 1973 Supreme Court opinion known as the Roe vs. Wade.
The judges' verdict at the end of their deliberations in the coming days or weeks could overturn a series of landmark rulings that have been used to portray abortion as a "constitutionally protected human right. These verdicts include Roe v. Wade (1973), Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) and other lower court rulings.
The key: the right to life
Since Politico leaked this document, numerous pro-abortion contingents have demonstrated in various parts of the country, from Capitol Hill to the headquarters of pro-life groups and even in churches. Many of these demonstrations have not been peaceful.
Likewise, media outlets, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, have devoted dozens of pages and entire sections to the abortion issue defending "a woman's right to choose".
For their part, dozens of American multinational companies have indicated that, if the right to abortion were revoked, they would offer financial support to their employees to guarantee access to the procedure. Democratic Party politicians have also expressed their "indignation" and their fierce defense of "a woman's right to choose".
In fact, a few days ago, Democratic senators introduced a bill to make abortion a federal right. That initiative failed miserably, hampered by the opposition of the Republican majority in the Upper House.
In addition, President Joe Biden - a staunch defender of abortion despite being a self-professed Catholic - and his administration have opened another battle front. After the release of Judge Alito's document, President Biden stated: "My administration has ardently defended the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. It is a precedent that recognizes the Fourteenth Amendment concept of personal liberty, which protects citizens from government interference in deeply personal decisions. I believe that a woman's right to choose is fundamental. If the Supreme Court overturns Roe vs Wade, The country's elected officials at all levels of government will be tasked with protecting this right.
Pandora's Box
Justice Alito's opinion and his conclusion that would override the "constitutional right" to abortion to let each state in the nation decide that question addresses one of the pillars of American federalism. Under the federalist system each state is independent. They have their own executive, legislative and judicial branches and have their own constitution that cannot contravene the Magna Carta.
In a country so geographically, socially and demographically diverse, with states so dissimilar in their history and traditions, the federalist system is the only one capable of guaranteeing the functioning of such a complex and diverse nation. Such divergences also include moral-legal issues, among them abortion. Traditionalist states such as Texas, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina restrict and even prohibit abortion. While in other liberal states such as California, Colorado and New York, abortion is protected.
The work of the churches
José H. Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles, California, has invited Catholics to a day of prayer and fasting on May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, to ask that Roe v. Wade be overturned and that the hearts of those who defend abortion be converted.
The bishops have also asked the faithful to pray for the integrity of the Judicial System, "so that the three powers may seek to protect the dignity and rights of the human person, from conception to natural death".
One of the fronts on which the Church and the different Christian denominations should work is the conversion of the hearts of those who defend abortion.
A primary task will be to unmask the pro-abortion narrative, widely disseminated by the media and social networks, which present abortion as "a fundamental human right, a constitutional right: a woman's right to decide about her body".
Justice Alito in his text is blunt: "Abortion does not fall under the category of constitutional right since, until the latter part of the twentieth century, such a right was totally unknown in American law.
In fact, when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted (1868), three-fourths of the states listed abortion as a crime at any stage of gestation."
Although this illegally leaked document is an opinion of Justice Alito and does not represent a verdict of all Supreme Court justices, it does touch on perhaps the most sensitive issue in American public opinion: abortion. This could open a pandora's box that would further exacerbate the extreme polarization in the country.
However, it can also be an opportunity for the Church, pro-life groups and different Christian denominations to pray and join efforts to raise awareness of the need to protect human life from conception to natural death, thus unmasking the false abortionist narrative that for half a century has presented abortion as a "constitutional right: a woman's right to decide over her body." According to Justice Alito, such a right does not exist and never was. Abortion is simply the elimination of a human life in the womb.
The mystery of Fatima and its relationship with John Paul II continues to impress us. Juan Ignacio Izquierdo writes an account that blends the natural and supernatural dimensions, the external and internal senses, to help us better understand the enormous power of these episodes.
On the cloudy and cold night of May 12, 2022, in Fatima, Anita sat on the wet ground of the esplanade of the Shrine. There, submerged among thousands of pilgrims like a backpack thrown into a cornfield, she sighed hugging her wrist. The chorus of pilgrims was so massive and moving, "Aveee, ave; Ave Mariaaa"The angels opened the windows of heaven and brought out their lanterns to light up the night.
Arantxa stood on tiptoe to follow the procession. When she was about to pass in front of the place where they were, she bent her legs until she was on her heels and was at the level of the little blue-eyed blonde she had adopted two months ago. She lit the candle with the fire she had in her own and explained with gestures that she should get up to watch the Virgin pass by. Anita, however, remained so calm, blew out her newly lit candle with an innocent puff and continued to play with her doll on the floor.
When Arantxa decided to take charge of the little Ukrainian girl, it was not easy for her: her husband and children were quite skeptical and tried to dissuade her with all kinds of protests. But she insisted that they had a duty to take her in "as if Our Lady herself had sent them to her", and with that argument she more or less convinced them. They knew little about the girl: only her name, that her father was missing and little else. During this time, Arantxa, her husband and their four children had tried to be hospitable: they had tried to discover the little girl's tastes in food, bought her new clothes to match her little blue eyes, tried all kinds of grimaces to get a smile out of her... but Anita kept shuffling around the house. As a last resort before throwing in the towel, Arantxa had taken her to Fatima.
After the night of candlelight, while the little girl slept in the Fatima lodge, Arantxa lay awake thinking about the next day: it was the anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady to the little shepherds and, as important as that, also of the assassination attempt on John Paul II in the Vatican, 41 years ago, as old as she was. She asked Our Lady to comfort the little one and to intercede for her. With that confidence she fell asleep.
The morning of May 13 was splendid: an enthusiastic sun, few clouds, a refreshing breeze and smiles everywhere among the thousands of pilgrims who wanted to pray the rosary and participate in the Mass. Anita, however, sat back down on the ground as soon as she reached her place on the esplanade and let her melancholy gaze fall on her wrist: on those eyes made of buttons, on her blue-yellow dress and on something she kept inside the kangaroo pocket of that dress.
- Do you know who she is? -asked Arantxa, in good spirits, pointing to the image of the Virgin they could see in the distance among the people, "No? Of course... if you don't understand my Spanish either. Don't worry.
Time passed quietly, the ceremony ended, people began to leave and Arantxa took a deep breath to postpone the disappointment. She had a lump in her throat. She had given her maximum, but the fog that overshadowed Anita's gaze seemed even denser than before. "Well, nothing, I did what I could," he said to himself. "I'll talk to Caritas. Maybe in another environment, with another family... yes, with other people she'll do better."
- Hello? -A lady with a tanned and cordial face, with a stooped but determined gait and covered by a shawl, turned to them, "I saw that the girl's doll has Ukrainian colors.
- I beg your pardon? -Arantxa felt a little confused by the intrusion.
- Yes, I mean, that doll caught my eye. Is the girl, you know... Ukrainian? -asked the lady, in the frail tone of a loving grandmother.
- Well... yes, it is, why do you ask? -answered Arantxa more confidently.
- Because I am too. Although I've been in Spain for a while now...
- Oysters!
They conversed and understood each other very well. At the end, when Arantxa asked the lady to explain to the little girl who the Virgin was, most of the pilgrims had dispersed. So they approached the Capelinha and they were at a better distance to contemplate the image of Our Lady. They sat down on good chairs, the girl remained in the middle of the two, and the old woman began the story, in Ukrainian:
- A few years before you were born, my heart, we had a Slavic pope. Polish, and his name was John Paul II. He was handsome, indeed he was, strong, and he loved children very much. But he had powerful enemies, among them, the bosses of Russia.
The girl opened her eyes, and the old woman continued:
- On a day like today, but 41 years ago, the Pope went for a ride in his roofless jeep around St. Peter's Square in the Vatican; you see, it's a space almost as big as this one. The Pope was what, 60 years old? Around there, and he wanted to greet people up close. He didn't mind exposing himself to danger, because he didn't fear death. Another man was driving and he was standing there waving to the thousands of people who were smiling and cheering for him. When he had finished his turn, the Pope wanted to repeat the turn around the Plaza. Ah, why did he do it? -Perhaps it was because he saw a mother raise her baby on her head and wanted to make the sign of the cross on her forehead. He did so, went on his way and, at the next turn, a young 23-year-old Turk hired by the Russians put down his camera and raised a pistol instead....
The little girl listened to the story with her eyes so wide open that you could see the storm in them. Her emotions were mixed and, as she listened, she was recreating the scenes in her little head. She imagined a handsome, strong man who loved children very much, that is, someone like her father, but with a white cassock. The man could see the crowd cheering him from under the jeep, but not the hundreds of angels cheering him from above and from the sides. In the curve of death there was a concentration of darkness, clouds of smoke and fire, a darkness full of moaning, as it happens in a hospital after a bombing. Suddenly, in the middle of that hellish zone, a shadow with red eyes raised a heavy pistol andpam, pam, pam! He fired three bullets: one missed, another damaged the finger that had drawn the most crosses on the children's foreheads, and the third hit the stomach of their father, sorry, the Pope....
The darkness spread across the Square like a powerful shock wave, the angels covered themselves with their wings and all living beings on the planet felt a pang in their hearts. However, at the instant the bullet began to pierce the Pope's skin, he preempted death with an invocation uttered in Polish: "Maryjo, moja matko"(Mary, my Mother).
Those words stopped time.
The clouds moved to open a rectangular space and an invisible elevator descended through it, as if from an air building that scraped the sky. Inside came a luminous lady with a most serene countenance, dressed in blue, beautiful as a lily, with a majestic demeanor like a swan of Paradise. When they were about two meters above the Pope, the Lady looked up and called out:
Then, through another rectangle that opened between the clouds, Jesus descended, also with his glorious body, accompanied by two children dressed as shepherds and praying the rosary on their knees. The youngest one, Anita's age, repeated sadly: "!Coitadinho Holy Father(Poor Holy Father!). They had not yet reached Mary's side when Jesus answered:
- Mother, it is time for Karol to come and rest with us.
- So soon? But if he wants to suffer a few more years for the conversion of sinners," said the Queen of Heaven, her voice sweeter than honey. But tell me what you think, I will do what you want.
Jesus hesitated at first, then smiled. It was his mother who was asking him....
- Good. He will be wounded, because that is what men have willed, but let him not die.
The Virgin descended like lightning, leaving an aromatic trail in the air, and embraced the Pope with tenderness. The darkness dispersed like a pack of terrified wolves. Then, as St. Mary held her son, she touched the back of the bullet with her slender finger. Just enough to deflect its course and prevent it from damaging any vital organ.
Time resumed its natural rhythm, Our Lady left the Pope in the arms of the monsignor who accompanied him and rose again to stand beside her Son and the little shepherds. Jesus commented, with a hand on his chin: "A motherly hand guided the trajectory of the projectile and the dying Pope stopped on the threshold of death".
- So the Pope was saved? -asked the girl in Ukrainian. Those were the first words Arantxa had heard.
- Yes. The bullet went through him, but it remained on the floor of the jeep without killing him. In fact the Pope gave it to the shrine a few years later and here they decided to put it in the crown of the Virgin. Look closely, you will see it if you get closer.
The girl got up from her seat with her doll. With trembling steps she walked the distance that separated her from Our Lady. Arantxa and the grandmother followed her with their eyes from their seats. The little girl raised her hand to touch the glass. The security guard who was there let her do it, perhaps because he felt sorry to see a little girl crying as old women cry, and also because the girl was looking at the Virgin with an intensity more typical of a hypnotized person. After a few minutes of mysterious connection, Anita suddenly became angry and shouted at Our Lady:
– Егоїст(Selfish!)
The guard and the ladies were startled. Ana bent over her little doll and took a photograph from the front pocket of her blue-yellow dress. She spread it out on her palm to smooth it out, kissed it three times and laid it in the middle of the flowers closest to the Virgin's feet. Then she went back to her seat, self-absorbed, and with an unexpected movement offered her wrist to Arantxa. She did not understand anything, but accepted it.
- What did the Virgin tell you? -asked the grandmother in her own language, sensing something.
- Now Our Lady has him all to herself, she is so selfish! John Paul II is also there, and he wanted to make the sign of the cross on my forehead, but I told him no, because it might hurt his finger. That's why I left Dad's photo among the flowers, so that Our Lady won't forget to give him kisses from me - She seemed to want to cry, but she had no more tears for that; instead, she approached Arantxa and in front of her her lips trembled.
- Tell me, don't be ashamed..." she implored him.
An unsettling tremor ran across the girl's features, as if deliberating on how to say something important. Suddenly, she jumped headfirst into Arantxa's lap and there she remained for the next half hour, abandoned and collected, repeating many times a heartbroken word that, in time, would become softer and softer every day:
Santiago Leyra-CuriáThe new generations want to be educated so as not to be manipulated".
Villanueva University of Madrid, an institution with more than 40 years of experience, has been committed from the very beginning to the humanistic education of all its students. Omnes was able to speak with Santiago Leyra-Curiá, coordinator of the Core Curriculum at the University and regular contributor to Omneswho speaks enthusiastically about the challenge they are facing.
It seems to him that we are at a very opportune moment to try to turn around the decadence that Western education has been dragging along in recent decades. This requires courage and enthusiasm, without fear of going against the current in a society that is already tired of being fooled by four clichés that do not stand up to calm reflection. The new generations are more aware of the situation than many think. In fact, they are eager to educate themselves in order not to be manipulated by the Big brother on duty.
The speaker is Santiago Leyra-Curiá (Madrid, 1980), coordinator of the Core Curriculum for the Villanueva University of MadridProfessor Leyra-Curiá is a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation of Spain and Professor of Information Law at the University. Professor Leyra-Curiá is one of the people determined to take advantage of the current situation to learn from past mistakes and help the new students who are now arriving at the University to acquire a solid formation that will allow them to form their own opinions and participate constructively in the great issues of contemporary debate.
He has just returned from the annual congress organized by the Association for Core Texts and Courses (ACTC) in the University of Notre DameThis course, in which professors from American and European universities with Core Curriculum programs are participating, was organized by Professor Leyra-Curiá. In addition, Professor Leyra-Curiá has organized this course at the Universidad Villanueva de Madrid, in collaboration with the Spanish Association of Personalism, the congress "Engendering Beauty: the person in art and creativity"."which concluded with the inauguration of a pictorial exhibition of Joaquín Planell's work..
Santiago Leyra-Curiá at an academic event at Villanueva University.
In times of crisis of reason, the beauty of art can be a good way to recover the moral north in a society that is already looking for different ways out of its current situation of existential perplexity. As Dostoiesvsky says in "The Brothers Karamazov", beauty will save the world and it seems that he was referring to moral beauty, to the Good and to good people, in short. It is an example of the actions that are developed to provide students with intellectual and moral resources to develop their full potential.
As the rector of the Universidad Villanueva de Madrid, José María Ortiz Ibartz, said at the first opening ceremony of the academic year as a private university: "In a university, we should not think only in terms of opportunities for those who know how to take advantage of new scenarios. It is true that disorder, volatility, randomness and uncertainty can generate more benefits than losses for someone. But the main contribution of a University is oriented towards building a new civilization, because it thinks about the common good: in generating the conditions for the possibility of better goods for all, and not only for a few who are able to adequately read the nature of events while the rest remain stunned trying to explain why such highly improbable events have occurred".
Santiago Leyra-Curiá talks about these and other current issues in this interview.
Professor, briefly, how would you introduce yourself?
- I studied Law at the Complutense University of Madrid and I am passionate about Philosophy and Spiritual Sciences in general.
I work as coordinator of the Core Curriculum at Villanueva University in Madrid, where I also teach Information Law to communication students.
A few months ago I published a book on "Political participation and the right to conscientious objection to abortion" and another on "Pluralism and freedom of expression, information and thought" is about to be published. I have always been interested in the trajectory of citizen movements in favor of human rights.
What is the Core Curriculum?
- As he explained Professor Jose María Torralba in this same magazineThe Core Curriculum is the humanistic training aimed at students of any degree program at the university. It is a simple and brilliant idea that does not reserve humanistic knowledge for a small and dwindling elite, but rather argues that humanistic education is the backbone of any university education that claims to be one. If we want a more humane society, we need more humanistic education.
Through a few cross-cutting subjects taken by all students at the University, we try to provide them with intellectual resources so that they stop to think and read about the great questions of mankind, beyond the price of gasoline and electricity, which are also relevant issues, of course.
For example, we are all now moved by the war of invasion of Ukraine started by Russia. If we had a good humanistic education, we would know the history of these two countries in the last centuries, we would know how to distinguish Putin from the Russian people and the great cultural contributions that Russia has made throughout history without demonizing now everything Russian as is being done in many places. We would also be able to distinguish the different versions of the conflict that are reaching us without being left only with what one side tells us, even if it is the side that is suffering most unjustly and with which we all spontaneously empathize.
"If we had a good humanistic education, we would be able to distinguish the different versions that come to us from the conflict in Ukraine."
Santiago Leyra-CuriáVillanueva University Core Curriculum Coordinator
What specific subjects are taught?
- These are subjects such as Personal Leadership, Culture and Civilizations, Anthropology, Creativity and Artistic Experience, Information Society and Ethics and Deontology. Through presentations and debates in class, we try to help students acquire a culture and knowledge of the main sciences of the spirit, to stop and think about what their opinion is on major current issues, to value the part of reason that those who do not think like them have, to dare to defend what they think without fear of being in the minority as long as they do it peacefully and with respect for those who do not think like them, etc.
Another key element is the seminars on the transforming power of music, integral ecology or leadership, given by experts who know how to transmit with their experience the humanistic way of dealing with these issues.
Which of these seminars could you highlight?
- Leadership seminars, for example, are attended by real leaders from different areas of society who show how it is worthwhile to step out of the comfort zone to enter professions with the greatest social impact and to face the difficulties that are never lacking with optimism.
The Great Books seminars, which already exist in other universities in Europe and the Americas, aim to encourage students to read the great works of world literature as a concrete way of acquiring some of the wisdom conveyed by these literary treasures. The Odyssey, The Divine Comedy, Les Miserables, Moby Dick, Woman in Red on a Gray Background, are the titles that we have discussed with the students this year. In addition, each Core subject requires critical reading of a classic work related to the subject.
Professor Leyra-Curiá during the conversation with Omnes.
Finally, the students' presentations at the end of the course, in which they themselves prepare an intervention before their classmates on one of the major topics covered in the course, seem to us to be useful for them to learn to speak fluently about these topics without fear of addressing conflictive issues, which are often the most interesting ones to deal with. We cannot accept that with friends we can only talk about trivialities to avoid hurting sensitivities. As long as it is done with respect and affection, it is possible to talk civilly about any issue and even learn from others in these conversations.
"We cannot accept that with friends you can only talk about trivialities to avoid hurting sensitivities. As long as it is done from respect and affection, you can talk civilly about any issue and even learn from others in these conversations."
Santiago Leyra-CuriáVillanueva University Core Curriculum Coordinator
How would you summarize, in a few words, the objective of the project?
- In short, it is a question of the University serving the purpose for which it was created: to help students to form themselves, to acquire a good culture, to help them to think, without fear of seeking the truth, even if sometimes that truth is uncomfortable for us and makes us change our opinions or lifestyles. I notice in today's students a hunger to be able to form an informed opinion about what they really want for their lives, without having to be subject to fashions or to what the new contemporary inquisitions establish, and that seems to me to be an invitation to optimism.
Juan José Muñoz García recommends reading Ethics for the brave. Honor in our days by David Cerdá.
Juan José Muñoz García-May 12, 2022-Reading time: < 1minute
Book
TitleEthics for the brave. Honor in our days
Author: David Cerdá
Pages: 391
EditorialRialp : Rialp
City: Madrid
Year: 2022
Perhaps talking about honor or heroes, in certain environments, sounds like a stale and outdated claim. But honor can also be understood as an ethical and anthropological attitude of great significance, which takes on different forms as society evolves. We can witness a parade of models of honor from classical antiquity to the 21st century, which invite us not to banish this ethical disposition from our vocabulary and our lives. This is the point of view adopted by David Cerdá, doctor of philosophy and business manager, in this essay.
Combining philosophical reflection with literature, cinema, politics and the effects of the pandemic, he offers us a current and attractive image of heroism and honor. Real characters such as Irena Sendler or Ignacio Echevarría, or fictional ones, such as the protagonists of A Few Good Men or Alone in the Face of DangerThe "protect and serve" motto is a free and autonomous acceptance of that version of honor and heroism, understood as a free and autonomous acceptance of the motto protect and serve.
Stations of the Cross presided over by the Pope outside the Colosseum in Rome
Thousands of people participated in the Easter Triduum ceremonies in St. Peter's Basilica and in the Stations of the Cross outside the Roman Colosseum.
Hong Kong Cardinal Emeritus Joseph Zen, a civil rights advocate, critic of the Chinese regime and supporter of the pro-democracy movement, was detained by police early Wednesday morning.
In the early hours of Wednesday, May 11, police arrested Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, 90, bishop emeritus of the city of Hong Kong and a well-known supporter of the pro-democracy movement. This was stated by local sources and several media outlets in the city, according to which the arrest would be linked to the management of the 612 Fund, which until its closure helped thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators involved in the 2019 protests.
Cardinal Zen was one of the administrators of the 612 Fund organization, which ceased operations last October. Authorities have arrested him along with other promoters of the fund, including well-known lawyer Margaret Ng, academic Hui Po-keung and singer-songwriter Denise Ho. The law enforcement investigation is reportedly focusing on whether the 612 Fund "colluded" with foreign forces in violation of the national security law imposed by Beijing in the summer of 2020.
Cardinal Zen has long been in the crosshairs of the Chinese government. In January, the pro-regime press published several articles accusing him of inciting students to revolt in 2019 against a series of government measures.
The cardinal is disliked in Beijing for his criticism of the Chinese Communist Party's control over religious communities. He has condemned the removal of crosses from outside churches in China and has over the years celebrated masses in memory of the Tiananmen martyrs in Beijing: the young people massacred by the authorities on June 4, 1989 for demanding freedom and democracy. The cardinal is also against even the Vatican-China agreement on the appointment of bishops.
In response to questions from journalists, the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, said that "the Holy See has learned with concern the news of the arrest of Cardinal Zen and is following the development of the situation with extreme attention."
The Church is grateful and accountable for its work on pandemic in Spain
4,030,871 people were directly assisted by the Church in assistance matters during the pandemic. This is one of the data that was made known today at the Spanish Episcopal Conference during the presentation of the Report on the Activities of the Church in Spain during 2020.
2020 is marked in the world's mental agenda as the year in which the pandemic began and which, until its end, was characterized by restrictions on movement, overcrowding and increased requests for financial and welfare assistance.
In fact, both Monsignor Luis Argüello, secretary of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, and the director of the Transparency office, Ester Martín, have described the 2020 exercise in the Church as a "difficult year" during the presentation of the report on the activities of the Catholic Church in Spain for the year 2020.
Argüello, "we have lived through the experience of closed churches, but also in which people, because of the pandemic, have approached the Church for help, consolation and hope to be able to move forward. The report on the activities of the Church is a moment "to give thanks and to be accountable", stressed the spokesman of the EEC.
Less money, more needs
A year in which the activity of the Church, according to this report which summarizes, briefly, the data presented by the Church to the Ministry of the Presidency, has seen an exponential increase in the need for assistance.
In this regard, Ester Martín highlighted the nearly 700 actions that were launched in the COVID context by different Church institutions, in addition to those already being carried out before the socio-health emergency. Of these, more than half, 359, have been welfare actions, 175 pastoral, 89 health and 57 related to education and training initiatives.
Also surprising was the figure of 4,030,871 people who were accompanied and cared for in one of the Church's 9,222 centers. Among these centers are centers for alleviating poverty, centers for assisting immigrants, centers for women who are victims of violence or minors, as well as homes for the elderly, the chronically ill and the disabled, and hospitals. More than half of these 4 million people attended centers of the first type, while just over one million attended centers of the second type.
What the Spanish Church saves the State
One fact to keep in mind: through all the assistance activities carried out in different areas, the Church generates an economic value for society of 589,629,655€.
To this must be added the 3,895 million euros that the Church saves the State in the field of education and training. Not in vain, in Spain there are 2,558 centers of Catholic initiative, of which 2,419 are subsidized. More than one and a half million students attend these centers in which 133,770 people work. Among these centers, the Church supports 423 special education centers that attend 40,118 students.
In spite of the pandemic, the drop in income, etc., the Church, as Bishop Argüello wanted to emphasize, "has continued to be at the side of those who asked for help. An effort that has been possible thanks to the thousands of people: lay people, consecrated and priests, who dedicate their lives and time to these activities. Martín wanted to highlight them because "they are still such an unknown face of the Church. That is why this Report makes many people see themselves reflected". Also unknown are those 16,500 priests who have given 29 million hours through their pastoral work in the 23,000 Spanish parishes.
Less sacramental presence but more online
The closure of churches in many Spanish communities led to an evident decrease in sacramental activity, which is reflected in this report. Even so, in 2020, 100,222 baptisms took place, 161,950 people received first communion, 79,447 young people or children received the sacrament of confirmation, 12,679 couples married and 29,627 people received the anointing of the sick.
Argüello pointed out that "the closing of churches coincided with months in which Holy Week and the "high season" of communions, weddings and confirmations are celebrated, for example. In addition to the closure, the opening was made with limited capacity and with the legitimate fear of many people to participate in joint celebrations. This does not detract from the decline that has already been observed and which is more related to the process of secularization of our country". Ester Martin also added that, "despite the fact that people did not go to the temples, there were millions who participated in celebrations through, for example, television".
Final income tax data
297,680,216 is the total amount allocated to the Catholic Church by taxpayers. This amount, although somewhat lower than the previous year, represents a decrease of only 2%, which is a recognition of the work of the Church.
Ester Martín also referred to the crisis that is evident in the economy of the Spanish dioceses, almost half of which have a deficit.
The drop in voluntary contributions from the faithful was 7%, a small decline considering the economic climate we are in.
Commitment to transparency
Once again this year, Ester Martín, PwC, has externally reviewed the report, which this year includes data on 392 indicators of all the Church's activity, resulting in some 150,000 records. In 2007, when the tax allocation model changed, only 77 indicators were reported, an increase of 500%.
In the area of transparency, other initiatives have been implemented, such as the development of an accounting plan for all diocesan entities, manuals of good management practices, transparency offices and transparency portals, which provide information at the diocesan level on their work and on all resources and their destination.
With the beatification of Pope Albino Luciani on the horizon, the John Paul I Vatican Foundation aims to promote the thought, the figure, the teachings and the study of the writings of the pontiff from Belluno.
With John Paul I the Lord wanted to show us "that the only treasure is faith", "that predilection for the poor" is an infallible part of the apostolic faith, that peace is at the heart of the Church, as are justice, fraternity, solidarity and hope. Pope Francis writes this in the preface to a recent book published in Italy on "The Magisterium. Texts and Documents of the Pontificate" of Pope Albino Luciani, who was at the head of the Church for only 34 days, from August 26 to September 28, 1978.
Days in which, reading his notes, his reflections and going through the texts of his homilies, speeches, letters, Wednesday catecheses (Audiences) and Angelus, his "prophetic gaze on the wounds and evils of the world" and that the most urgent thing was "simply to walk in the faith of the Apostles", which he had received in the humble family of workers and migrants.
The publication has been realized by the John Paul I Vatican Foundation, established on April 28, 2020 precisely to promote the thought, figure, teachings and study of the writings of the pontiff, formerly Patriarch of Venice, now Venerable Servant of God. The Foundation will be chaired by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, and vice-chaired by journalist Stefania Falasca, who has also edited the Positio, as well as various publications on the pontiff from Belluno.
Beatification on September 4
Last December the date of the beatification was announced, set for next Sunday, September 4, in St. Peter's Square in the presence of Pope Francis. He is the sixth of the 20th century popes for whom the cause of beatification and canonization has been introduced (after Pius X, Pius XII, Paul VI, John XXIII and John Paul II). Albino Luciani's cause was opened in November 2003 in his native diocese (Belluno-Feltre) and concluded in 2017 with the proclamation of heroic virtues.
On October 13, 2021, the decree recognizing the miracle of an extraordinary healing attributed to her intercession arrived.
Conference at the Gregoriana
On the occasion of the beatification, this Friday, May 13, the Foundation that bears his name is organizing a conference in Rome in collaboration with the Department of Dogmatic Theology of the Pontifical Gregorian University to present the contents of the book whose preface has been signed by Pope Francis, which contains numerous autograph notes of John Paul I and various papers from his private archives. There will also be a preview of a documentary edited by the Vatican department of RAI.
In addition to the Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, the Postulator of the Cause of Canonization, Cardinal Beniamino Stella, and the Prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Archives, Monsignor Sergio Pagano, will also be present. The Magisterium of John Paul I will be the object of a theological-pastoral reading, but also historical, ecumenical and ecclesial.
Cardinal Robert Sarah is presenting a new book on the figure of the priest. The Guinean, a priest since 1969, was appointed Archbishop of Conakri at the age of 34. John Paul II called him to the Roman Curia in 2001, where he held several high positions. Benedict XVI created him a cardinal in 2010, and in 2014 Francis appointed him Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, where he has been until June 2020. On May 8, 2021, Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for Oriental Churches.
In this new book, which the African Cardinal devotes to "to all seminarians throughout the world".The purpose of this book is to give concrete answers to questions about the priesthood, based on various texts of saints, popes and some other authors. "We must look reality in the face: the priesthood seems to be reeling. Some priests are like sailors on a ship violently tossed by a hurricane. They lurch and lose their balance.".
The author of In the Service of Truth, From the Depths of Our Hearts, The Power of Silence, God or Nothing and It's Getting Late and Getting Dark.The book uses great spiritual authors such as St. Augustine, St. Gregory the Great, St. John Chrysostom, St. Catherine of Siena, St. John Paul II, St. John Henry Newman, Pius XII, Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. The common thread is the reflection on the marvelous gift of the priesthood and the participation in the priesthood of Jesus Christ: "It is evident"Cardinal Sarah states in the introduction to his book, "that the holiness that must shine in the priesthood is born of the holiness of God. Priests must become perfect and holy in the image of Jesus Christ.".
Sarah shows her remarkable concern by offering this volume, in a simple, brief way, accessible to all. "A book whose aim is for priests to rediscover their profound identity, for the people of God to renew their way of looking at them.". The style of the Guinean cardinal is already well known, profound and at the same time accessible. After reading it, it is clear that it is addressed primarily to priests, but that any Christian can read and apply the teachings of the saints, men and women, laity and clergy, to whom Sarah "gives the word".
TitleFour theories of artistic expression and other writings on cultural relativism.
AuthorErnest H. Gombrich
EditorialRialp : Rialp
City: Madrid
Year: 2021
Delicious booklet that collects several texts donated by the great art historian Ernest Hans Josef Gombrich to the publishing house Rialp, which were published in his magazine Atlántida.
We could say that the first of the four theories of the title would be the one that considers artistic expression as a symptom (frowning or blushing are symptoms of anger or inner turmoil), the second would consider it as a signal (the sound that hens emit to call their chicks to eat or warn them of some danger) and the third would be the symbolic function, which understands art as a symbol (a writer describes a scene and conveys the feelings of the hero). The fourth theory, complementary to the previous ones, would be the one that understands art as an expression of the artist's own feelings.
Also appearing in this volume is a lecture delivered by the Austrian on cultural relativism in the sciences of the spirit, which has not lost its relevance.
Juan José Muñoz García recommends reading I grant you a wise and intelligent heart by Francisco Javier Insa Gómez.
Juan José Muñoz García-May 11, 2022-Reading time: < 1minute
Book
TitleI grant you a wise and intelligent heart.
AuthorFrancisco Javier Insa Gómez
Pages: 319
Editorial: Word
City: Madrid
Year: 2022
The priest makes the Incarnate Truth present through his ministry, and to make visible and credible the sapiential dimension of his mission, in an era marked by an anthropological and social crisis, he needs a careful intellectual preparation that harmonizes with the other aspects of formation: human, spiritual and pastoral.
Cultural formation is indispensable for a deep understanding of God, of other people and of oneself. The transmission of the Gospel message in a post-modern society cannot be reduced to arousing feelings or emotions; study and prayer are necessary to interiorize the faith and live it consciously.
On the occasion of the promulgation of the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis gaudiumand of the Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis SacerdotalisIn the last few years, a congress for Seminary Formators was held in Rome, organized by the Center for Priestly Formation of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. This book gathers the lectures given at the symposium, with topics ranging from the importance of philosophical and theological studies to pedagogical aspects and communication of the faith in the 21st century.
Titus Brandsma, second patron saint of Catholic journalists?
A group of journalists is asking Pope Francis to name the Dutch Carmelite the patron saint of journalists along with St. Francis de Sales. For them, Brandsma embodied the values of peace journalism understood as a service to all people.
Anton de Wit (editor of the weekly Katholiek Nieuwsblad, Netherlands), Wilfred Kemp (head of Catholic radio and television programs for the Dutch public broadcaster) and Emmanuel van Lierde (editor-in-chief of the weekly Tertio, Belgium) and Hendro Munsterman (Nederlands Dagblad) are the initiators of a letter to Pope Francis in which they ask the pontiff to declare Titus Brandsma the patron saint of Catholic communicators, together with the current patronage of St. Francis de Sales.
A petition that has already been joined by numerous communication professionals of different nationalities, and to which the promoters of the petition are invite you to join other Catholic media professionals.
A connoisseur of today's journalism
In the letter of petition to Pope Francis, the journalists highlight the figure of Titus Brandsma "for the Catholic community in the Netherlands" and underline his journalistic work.
Brandsma "was editor-in-chief of a newspaper, dedicated himself to the modernization and professionalization of the Catholic daily press in the Netherlands and worked to improve working conditions and the creation of professional training for journalists. Tito Brandsma carried out his work in the context of the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe. In word and deed he opposed the language of hatred and division that was common at the time. In his opinion, what today we call fake news did not deserve a platform in the Catholic press; he got the episcopate to prohibit the printing of National Socialist propaganda in Catholic newspapers".
The petitioners also recall that this work was the cause of the martyrdom of the Carmelite whose writings became a point of reference for the moral and cultural resistance of the Dutch people. In this sense, they also recognize in Brandsma "a professional and faithful man of remarkable stature. Someone who shared the most profound mission of journalism in modern times: the search for truth and veracity, the promotion of peace and dialogue between peoples".
The signatories of this letter add that Titus Brandsma is a journalist in the modern sense of the word. His patronage, along with that of St. Francis de Sales, brings a knowledge of journalism today and the dedication of his life "for the free press to defend human values against all terror".
Death in Dachau
Tito Brandsma was arrested by the occupation forces in early 1942 and sent to the Dachau concentration camp. A diary and several letters sent to superiors, relatives and friends give an account of his days in the concentration camp. In them he described the overcrowded conditions in his cell and the mistreatment, but never expressed sadness. On July 26 of the same year, Brandsma was killed by lethal injection. On the same day, the Dutch bishops had their courageous protest against the deportations of Jews read out in all the churches.
The Dutch Carmelite will be canonized on May 15, together with nine other Blesseds such as Charles de Foucault, the French Maria Rivier or Maria de Jesus, foundress of the Capuchin Sisters of the Immaculate of Lourdes. The outcome of the petition, put on the table by this group of journalists, is not yet known.
Anna Maria Tarantola: "Focusing the company on people is efficient".
The president of the Fundación Pontificia Centesimus Annus, Anna Maria Tarantola, said in Rome that "inclusion and efficiency are not antithetical but complementary" in the company, at a meeting on "Business without leaving anyone behind". CaixaBank executives and entrepreneurs stressed the need to seek a balance between profitable and sustainable business, and to look after society and workers.
Francisco Otamendi-May 10, 2022-Reading time: 8minutes
The need for a model of development that is just, supportive, inclusive and integrally sustainable, as proposed by Pope Francis, was the frame of reference of the day, held at the "Palazzo della Rovere", headquarters of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre in Rome, and organized by the Rome Reports agency, the Roman Academic Center Foundation (CARF) and Omnes, sponsored by CaixaBank.
Anna Maria Tarantola, who has been General Manager of the Bank of Italy and President of RAI, was a keynote speaker at the event, which was attended by CaixaBank executives such as David Alonso de Linaje, head of Religious Institutions at Caixabank; Albert Riera, Director of International Relations at La Fageda, the leading yogurt company in Catalonia, which has employed young people with disabilities; and Davide Rota, CEO of Linkem, which employs dozens of people in Italian prisons. The Governor of the Holy Sepulchre, Leonardo Visconti di Modrone, thanked the role of "the companies that have managed to mitigate the consequences of the crisis for the most vulnerable".
All brought to the table, moderated by Antonio Olivié, CEO of Rome Reports, the testimony of successful business models that leave no one behind, focused on people. Models that, as Anna María Tarantola pointed out, show "how inclusion can be achieved while obtaining good results".
The encyclical Laudato si', which is above all a social encyclical, as scholars have reiterated, and the Social Doctrine of the Church, with its emphasis on the search for the common good and on considering the enterprise as "a community of persons" and "not only as a society of capital", as underlined by Saints John XXIII and John Paul II, provided the backbone for the arguments of Anna Maria Tarantola.
Distortions that do not disappear
"Seven years ago, with the encyclical Laudato si', Pope Francis addressed to all people of good will the strong and clear invitation to work urgently to remedy the many distortions we were experiencing: the waste of non-renewable resources, the reduction of biodiversity, climate change impacting especially on the poor, the water and food crises, the widening economic gaps and social inequalities, the spread of the throwaway culture of people and things," Tarantola explained.
However, "unfortunately, these distortions have not disappeared," he said. "Improvements have been very slow, uneven and fluctuating. Moreover, the situation has been aggravated by the pandemic that has widened inequalities, impoverished the poor and the rich, and clearly highlighted the failures of the current model of development before which the voice of the Church stands. Pope Francis, acting in the ancient tradition of the Social Doctrine of the Church, in all his numerous interventions calls loudly for a change of era, for a regeneration".
"We cannot help but wonder why, despite the many pressing invitations from the Holy Father and the obvious unsustainability of the current situation, the process of regeneration has not been accelerated by turning things around," posed the president of Centesimus Annuswhich, as is well known, is the encyclical published by St. John Paul II in 1991, one hundred years after Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum (1891).
"I think the reasons are different," he countered. "But above all two are of particular importance: the persistent widespread fear of change and the prevalence of a short-term view that is associated with a deeply ingrained belief that both market forces are capable of finding new equilibria on their own."
Entrepreneurs according to "Fratelli Tutti".
At this point, Anna Maria Tarantola recalled Pope Francis in his encyclical "Fratelli tutti", when he refers to entrepreneurial activity. "The activity of entrepreneurs indeed 'is a noble vocation aimed at producing wealth and improving the world for everyone.' God promotes us, expects us to develop the abilities He has given us and has filled the universe with potential. In His designs each person is called to promote his or her own development, and this includes the implementation of economic and technological capabilities to grow assets and increase wealth. However, in any case, these abilities of entrepreneurs, which are a gift from God, must be clearly oriented towards the progress of other people and the overcoming of poverty, especially through the creation of diversified work opportunities" (Fratelli tutti, 123).
"This step is really important, and it is closely linked to the theme of this meeting, which aims to present testimonies of how one can be a 'good company,'" he said. In his opinion, "being a good company in the 21st century means, as the SDC [Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation] points out, considering the company as a community of people working for a common goal that is not the creation of value, in the form of profit, only for shareholders, but the production of profits with a positive impact on creation and for all those who in some way contribute to the success of the company and, therefore, for employees, customers, suppliers and the territory in which the company operates."
"Good business is a company that feels responsible for the consequences of its work on an economic, social and environmental level, that does not aim to make a high profit by polluting, selling inferior products, treating its employees, customers and suppliers badly... 'Good business' does not impose high human and environmental costs on the community and succeeds, in doing so, in producing long-term shareholder value, as shown by not a few researches," stated among other things Anna Maria Tarantola.
Sustainable business models
Omnes asked David Alonso de Linaje, head of Religious Institutions at CaixaBank, to summarize his contribution to the Roman meeting. The executive's reflections go in the same direction. "We live in a world of great changes. In just a few years the technological world has undergone a great transformation that has caused society to modify its habits of consumption and of living life. To this we must add the bitter experience of the pandemic and, if that was not enough, a war that is keeping the world on tenterhooks because of its human and economic consequences".
"It is time to reflect and evolve. In terms of economics, seeking a balance between profitable businesses that at the same time seek to have a positive impact on society is the perfect thing to do. Examples such as Linkem, La Fageda or CaixaBank and Fundación la Caixa, are sustainable business models that look after society, workers and help the most disadvantaged. The future looks challenging but full of reasons for the business model par excellence to be the one that leaves no one behind," adds the Caixabank executive.
Commitment to peace and the Ukraine emergency
David Alonso de Linaje also provided global data on the bank's humanitarian aid, in response to questions from Omnes, as well as some relating to Ukraine. "In coherence with the founding values of la Caixa and its social commitment, Obra Social aims to be an entity of reference on an international scale, committed to human rights, peace, justice and the dignity of people. In this regard, it should be noted that for 2022 it has a budget of 515 million euros, of which 308 million are earmarked for social programs and calls, 110 million for culture and science, 44 million for education and scholarships, and 53 million for research and health."
"Among its many actions," adds Alonso de Linaje, "it is worth mentioning this year the support measures in favor of the emergency in Ukraine through financial contributions from our foundation, contributions from employees and customers through the various donation platforms and the implementation of a convoy of 10 buses organized in two shifts, and a team of 50 people, including employees of the entity, volunteers, translators and medical personnel, who have transferred people affected by the war who have requested shelter in Spain".
Linkem, La Fageda
As noted above, Davide Rota, CEO of Linkem, a technology company that has developed a modem repair project with Italian prison inmates, assured that "when a company or a group of people have clear principles, making decisions is not difficult", and he knows that most of those in prison are recoverable. Today, in spite of the difficulties, his model is successful in Italian prisons, and some ex-prisoners are already in his company, as reported by Antonio Olivié in "El Debate".
The Roman event also included the presentation of La Fagedaa Catalan company that has hired numerous disabled people from the region. Albert Riera pointed out that "this company started backwards from the way a company should start. First there were the people and, from there, they thought about what they could do together, without 'know how', without a 'business plan', or anything like that". Their ideas can be summarized, as reported by Antonio Olivié, in "not having cheap labor, having contact with nature and not being a mere commercial company, but a social, non-profit company". Today, the yogurt of this company is the best seller in Catalonia.
Alonso de Linaje, from Caixabank, also mentioned the "No home without food" program, to which "between 2020 and 2021 almost six million euros have been channeled, of which two million were contributed by our own Foundation". There have been more than 2,400 tons of food to feed 8,935 families during the twelve months of the year. "The CaixaBank network has made it possible to channel those who have not suffered special problems during the pandemic to help other families".
A management model
In addition, CaixaBank has developed a management model specialized in religious institutions, with a value proposition that revolves around four axes and has been built under the document "Economy at the service of the charism and mission", issued by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
These axes, explains the bank's executive, are "on the one hand, the specialization embodied in dedicated and trained managers for this task. Secondly, a financial advisory model based on independent proposals, free from conflicts of interest, in line with the criteria determined by the Social Doctrine of the Catholic Church, socially responsible and impact investment. And finally, as a central axis in the advice, financial planning through a unique tool in the sector, based on four objective portfolios (liquidity, income generation, provision for the dependent members of the institutions and portfolio of wealth growth). In addition, it is worth mentioning our commitment to the training of trustees and administrators of Religious Institutions".
What model of capitalism
Among the topics of reflection at the event was capitalism. On corporate responsibility, the president of the Centesimus Annus Foundation, Anna Maria Tarantola, recalled a passage of St. John Paul II in this social encyclical.
"Wondering whether capitalism was the path to true economic progress, he wrote: "The answer is obviously complex. If 'capitalism' indicates an economic system that recognizes the fundamental and positive role of enterprise, the market, private property and the consequent responsibility for the means of production, of free human creativity in the field of economics, the answer is certainly positive, although perhaps it would be more appropriate to speak of 'business economics,' or 'market economics,' or simply 'free economics.' But if by 'capitalism' we mean a system in which freedom in the economic sector is not framed in a solid juridical context that places it at the service of integral human freedom and considers it as a particular dimension of this freedom, whose center is ethical and religious, then the answer is decidedly negative" (Centesimus Annus, 42).
"This step, not always mentioned, is in my opinion the foundation on which companies must build their way of being and operating," said Tarantola, who added: "Unfortunately, in the last fifty years a model of super-liberal capitalism has been affirmed, guided by consumerism, individualism, the financing of the economy, the almost exclusive focus on quantitative economic growth, while neglecting the social and cultural, the affirmation of an absolute faith in technology. And there is the mantra of 'creating shareholder value' as the sole purpose of business, as Milton Friedman argued more than 50 years ago in the 'Financial Times'. Pope Benedict XVI in 'Caritas in Veritate' and Pope Francis in 'Laudato si'' have highlighted its degenerations and harms."
"Pope Francis," concluded Anna Maria Tarantola, "who is today the point of reference not only spiritually and morally, but also culturally, economically and socially for all peoples, invites us to urgently change our lifestyle and the goals of business, politics and institutions to strive for a new just, inclusive, supportive and sustainable world."
From John Paul II to Francis: the "multilateral" diplomacy of the Holy See
The role of Pope Francis in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict leads us to reflect on the diplomacy of the Holy See. It is heir to a millennia-old tradition, which has made the papacy the forerunner of modern relations between States, and acts on two particular fronts: on the one hand, the protection of Christians, particularly Catholics; on the other, the promotion of the values of justice, peace and the safeguarding of human rights.
The cruel war between Russia and Ukraine, the thousands of victims, the displaced, the destroyed cities and villages and the madness of increasingly terrible weapons that continue to massacre innocent people are at this point a story that repeats itself over and over again and humanity seems never to want to learn from its mistakes.
Of all the voices that have been raised in the name of peace in recent times, there is one, in particular, that seems to really care about peace itself, if only more than about gas, arms sales or sanctions. And we are talking about Pope Francis.
In fact, among the various world leaders, the Pope has tried, since the beginning of the conflict, to keep a diplomatic channel open with both sides, and he has done so with concrete gestures: personally going to the Russian and Ukrainian embassies, activating the apostolic nunciatures present in both countries, providing material aid and spiritual support, dialoguing with the political and religious leaders (Catholic and Orthodox) of Russia and Ukraine, including the Primate of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow, Kirill, whom, in the face of the latter's Caesaropapist nudges to justify his country's aggressive policy towards Ukraine (especially in the famous virtual bilateral meeting between the Pope and the aforementioned patriarch), the pontiff (and let us remember here the etymology of that term: bridge builder) did not fail to recall that the task of ecclesiastics is to proclaim Christ, not to favor or oppose a temporal power, which was reiterated, at the time of writing, on May 6, 2022, when Francis, receiving in audience the participants in the plenary session of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, once again condemned the "cruel and senseless" war in Ukraine, declaring that, "in the face of this barbarism, we renew our desire for unity and announce the Gospel that disarms hearts in the face of armies."
However, there has been no shortage of criticism, from both Catholics and Orthodox, of the Pope for not taking an openly pro-Ukrainian stance in the current conflict.
Francis' attitude, however, is in perfect continuity, in this as in other cases (the war in Syria or the most recent protests in Myanmar are examples), with that of his predecessors, in particular John Paul II, in wanting to promote certain values of peace, solidarity and social justice throughout the world, regardless of country, ethnicity or religion. For this reason, he dialogues and seeks to establish relations with all governments, regardless of creed or ideology, which is also expressed through the concept of multilateralism, i.e. equidistance (perhaps, however, it would be better to say equidistance) with respect to the subjects involved.
In practice, all this is extraordinarily similar to what happened with Pius XII, the reigning Pope during the entire Second World War, who never openly condemned Hitler, although, continuing the policy of hard opposition to that ideology of Pius XI (who harshly condemned Nazism with the Encyclical "Mit brennender Sorge"), he intervened several times against Nazi policy with different messages, in particular with the Christmas message of 1942 and the consent of the reading of the famous Pastoral Letter "We live in a time of great suffering", written by the Dutch Episcopal Conference and read in all the churches of Holland on July 26, 1942 (in retaliation to which Hitler ordered the arrest and deportation of Jewish converts, until then spared from his fury, as Edith Stein, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross).
The subject is quite complex, but equally interesting, since the role of the Catholic Church in national and international affairs is anything but secondary, if we think that it can influence, directly and indirectly, billions of people, not only among the baptized, but also among juridical subjects that can be individuals, States, supranational organizations and that have nothing to do with the faith professed by Catholics.
The need for diplomacy and recognition at the international level
The Holy See's diplomacy is heir to a millennia-old tradition, which has made the papacy the forerunner of modern relations between States, and it acts on two particular fronts: on the one hand, the protection of Christians, particularly Catholics; on the other, the promotion of the values of justice, peace and the safeguarding of human rights: its Ostpolitik, especially since the late 1950s, is a concrete example of this.
This realistic policy, which takes its impetus from Pope John XXIII's 1963 encyclical "Pacem in Terris" (in which the pontiff explains that world peace is an ideal to be pursued through dialogue and cooperation with all peoples "of good will", even with those who are carriers of an "erroneous" ideology such as atheism and communism), which will also condition the Holy See's international policy from Paul VI onwards.
It is necessary, at this point, to make an essential distinction between the Holy See and the Vatican City State: the first constitutes an abstract sovereignty, i.e. without a well-defined territory, of the Pope over the Catholic faithful (about one billion 345 million people, according to the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae of 2019), but recognized by all international organizations; the second is, on the other hand, the smallest State in the world (its area is only 44 hectares), whose sole function is, by virtue of its creation in 1929 by the Lateran Pacts, to provide material and legal support for the activities of the Holy See, including the safeguarding of its cultural, artistic and religious heritage.
The Holy See and international politics
The Apostolic See, therefore, is the highest authority of the Catholic Church and is governed by the Supreme Pontiff (the Pope) and the Roman Curia, headed by the Secretary of State, who, under the authority of the Holy Father, is the head of the diplomatic structure. Because of its special status, it is the Holy See, and not the Vatican City State, which maintains diplomatic relations with other States and international bodies, and these relations require a large institutional organization.
Papal diplomatic officials, as well as apostolic nuncios and lay people who represent the papacy internationally, come from almost every state in the world and are trained at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the Vatican's foreign policy school.
The purpose of contacts with civil society is to ensure the survival and independence of the Church and the exercise of its specific function (freedom to maintain contact with the center; freedom of movement and responsibility of bishops and priests; freedom of conscience and worship for all). In the absence of these basic conditions, diplomatic relations are normally not established (this is the current case in China, Bhutan, Afghanistan, North Korea and the Maldives).
The Holy See has a wide and capillary diplomatic network. In fact, it maintains normal diplomatic relations with 183 of the 193 UN member states and has permanent observer status at the United Nations, but not full membership, since it is the representative of a spiritual power that opts for total neutrality in international affairs.
John Paul II and his international policy
The international policy of John Paul II is, of course, the most obvious one to take into account when analyzing the Holy See's concept of multilateralism in international politics, since the period of time it covers is remarkably broad and confirms the multiple and aforementioned objectives of the Holy See's action at the global level. John Paul II's pontificate, in fact, was characterized not only by its duration in terms of time (27 years), but also by the large number of important events that marked it, for example, the long dispute with the communist regimes, in particular that of Poland (his country of origin), the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall, the recognition of Israel and the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Jewish State in 1994, the repeated attempts to normalize relations with China and Vietnam, the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the historical dividing line between Orthodox and Catholics in the Balkans, which put Vatican diplomacy in serious trouble and led it to intervene directly in the matter in 1992, recognizing the independence of Croatia and Slovenia, traditionally Catholic nations.
Among the most interesting cases to mention, because of their similarity to current issues, is that of the Philippines, a country visited by John Paul II in 1981 and where the campaign of passive resistance (very similar to what is happening today in Myanmar) led by Cardinal Jaime Sin against Marcos resulted in the exile of the dictator in 1986; or Cuba, where, in 1998, the Pope clearly reiterated his opposition to the U.S. embargo and sanctions that had been suffocating the island's economy for 35 years, criticizing these retaliatory measures against a country by other states and accusing them, as in the case of Iraq or Serbia (similar to Russia today) of only harming innocent citizens without providing any definitive solution to the problems.
Finally, we would like to mention two particular cases in which, during the pontificate of John Paul II and following the intervention of John XXIII as mediator between the United States and the USSR in the Cuban missile crisis of 1962, the Holy See was particularly active in the search for peaceful solutions to conflictive situations in the international arena: In the first case, Wojtyla and his representatives, in particular the Apostolic Nuncio in Argentina, succeeded in averting the already imminent conflict between Chile and Argentina over the sovereignty of the Beagle Channel in 1984; in the second, during the international crisis that preceded the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the diplomacy of the Holy See acted in coordination with the representatives of France, Germany, Russia, Belgium and China at the United Nations to avoid armed conflict, and John Paul II even sent the Nuncio to Washington to meet with George Bush Sr. and express the Pope's total disagreement with an invasion of the Middle Eastern country, which unfortunately took place.
All these examples are remarkably reminiscent of more recent events and issues (Myanmar, Syria, the Russia-Ukraine war and its aftermath) and allow us to frame Pope Francis' international policy and his multilateralism, or "equivocity" with all parties involved in conflicts at the international level, as perfectly suited to the needs of the Holy See's diplomacy.
The authorGerardo Ferrara
Writer, historian and expert on Middle Eastern history, politics and culture.
Justice is the first way of charity: I cannot give to others what is mine without having first given them what is rightfully theirs; but justice alone does not provide human beings with all that is rightfully theirs; they also need God.
May 10, 2022-Reading time: 3minutes
Three data: the public deficit for this year is expected to be 5.3%; the Public Debt will reach 116.4% of the GDP; the average annual inflation will be around 7.5%. Translated to a domestic scale, these data would be equivalent to saying that, this year, a typical family will spend 5.3% more than it earns.
As a result, it is going to have to borrow to survive for an amount equivalent to 116.4% of its annual income, with increasingly higher interest rates; moreover, while maintaining the same income, its expenses are going to increase by 7.5%.
Some technical nuances could be made to this comparison, but in general terms this is the situation.
In these projections there is, however, a basic error: considering only the strictly economic aspects, without realizing that the economy is a radically anthropological question, a human action (Mises, "The economy is an anthropological question, human action"). dixit), which is not exhausted or resolved in proposals for public spending, tax increases or aid and subsidies, but in the identification of the human person and respect for his or her unique dignity. Every economic decision has moral consequences.
The left proclaims the need for more social justice, which is concretized in the increase of the welfare state, guaranteed by the public authorities. The other side advocates personal freedom and responsibility in economic activity and market freedom as a means of ensuring the distribution of resources.
Here the sisterhoods have something to say and do in their dual mission as agents of Charity and regenerators of society from within.
The brotherhoods do not pretend to give a technical solution to economic problems; their criteria are contained in the Social Doctrine of the Church, which is not a "third way" between capitalism and socialism, because it does not attend to the "logic of operations", but to the "logic of gift", to the free acceptance of God's love, which is what determines the quality of human action that activates operations.
"It is a matter of promoting justice, not of giving handouts," say some, thus creating a false dialectic pair between justice and charity, which they identify as a concession of capitalism to soothe their conscience. These apostles of the welfare state forget that justice is inseparable from charity, intrinsic to it; it presupposes justice and perfects it.
Justice is the first way of charity: I cannot give to others what is mine without first having given them what is rightfully theirs; but justice alone does not provide human beings with all that is rightfully theirs; they also need God, which implies donation.
The displacement of charity by the attention of the State leaves people's most fundamental moral and spiritual needs unsatisfied and perpetuates material poverty (Benedict XVI).
The ever-expanding welfare state makes the exercise of charity more difficult and relegates the Church, and also the brotherhoods, to the status of philanthropic entities subsidiary to the State.
Charity is not giving, it is "suffering with", that is why the brotherhoods do not give alms, they distribute justice, more love; in them Christian charity is intrinsic to their nature, not an optional extra.
Charity is not only about solving immediate material needs, it is also about attending to the personal dignity of each of those assisted. The left does not understand the individual approach, person to person, it tends to social engineering, but it fails to address each individual person, that is why the welfare state fails at this point.
One last important detail to keep in mind: in this battle to attend to the needs of others, the brotherhoods do not generate resources, nor do they issue "cofrade debt" to attend to their charitable works.
They obtain resources from society, not by the coercive means of taxation, but by appealing to the charity and solidarity of all. They are the "social agents" of charity.
In addition to meeting people's needs, the fraternities thus rebuild the moral foundations of the economy, uniting justice and charity. No more, no less, should be asked of these institutions that have in their hands, to a large extent, the reconstruction of our social values.
D. in Business Administration. Director of the Instituto de Investigación Aplicada a la Pyme.
Eldest Brother (2017-2020) of the Brotherhood of the Soledad de San Lorenzo, in Seville.
He has published several books, monographs and articles on brotherhoods.
"Looking down from on high". A short film about Pauline Jaricot
Pauline Jaricot, founder of the Work for the Propagation of the Faith, germ of the Domund, and inspiration for the rest of the Pontifical Mission Societies, has a short film that brings her figure closer to today's world.
The short film made by Fides and produced by the Pontifical Mission Societies is entitled "Looking down from above" and presents, in the form of a docufilm, the story and faith experience of Pauline Jaricot. All this is narrated through the eyes and life of Claire, a young woman of our time.
The film aims to communicate, through original images and music, the beauty and love that Jaricot found in God and that generated his missionary passion, so that it also generates in those who enjoy it, an effect of attraction, an authentic vehicle of Christian faith. For this reason, the short film - made at the same time in five languages - will be destined for projection with the aim of promoting missionary animation. The ultimate goal is to proclaim the centrality of Christ in Pauline's life so that the public - especially young people - will be challenged by the message in which she believed, the Gospel.
Bringing the life of Pauline Jaricot closer to you
The shooting of the short film took place over eight days during which the team traveled to France to film with the participation of young people from the Chemin-neuf movement, which has a branch dedicated to evangelization through art, and young people from the French Pontifical Mission Societies. The shooting locations included the places in Lyon where Jaricot lived her faith experience, and Rustrel, a town in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, known as the "Colorado of Provence", where Pauline Jaricot had founded the Notre Dame des Anges factory. Mayline Tran, the three-year-old girl who received the miracle of healing through the intercession of Pauline Jaricot, and her family also appear in the final scenes of the short film and tell of their own experience.
The documentary has been conceived as a means for the missio ad gentes, a useful work for the initiatives of "a Church going forth" in non-Christian places and environments, and will therefore be made available to all the National Directorates of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
Presentation in Rome
The presentation of this short film will take place on May 13 at the John Paul II Auditorium of the Pontifical Urbaniana University. Giampietro Dal Toso, President of the Pontifical Mission Societies, Father Tadeusz Nowak, Secretary General of the POPF and Nataša Govekar, Director of the Theological-Pastoral Direction of the Pontifical Dicastery for Communication will present this production.
Also present will be the director, the authors of the short film and some actors and collaborators of the production. The production and realization of the short film was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the National Directorates of the PMS, in particular: Catholic Mission Australia, Missio Ireland, Missio UK, OMP Spain, OPM Canada Francophone, PMS in the United States, PMS Korea.
"We Catholics must have knowledge of Sacred Scripture."
This 31-year-old seminarian from Guatemala (diocese of Santiago) is studying theology at the Bidasoa International Seminary in Pamplona, thanks to a CARF scholarship.
Otto Fernando Arana Mont is a 31-year-old seminarian from Guatemala (diocese of Santiago). He is studying theology at the Bidasoa International Seminary in Pamplona.
Although he felt God's call to the priesthood at the age of 11, he put his vocation "on hold" until he was 29, when the chaplain of the school where he taught helped him rediscover his vocation.
The experience of working with families has been very important for him: witnessing the daily yes to the vocation of marriage, of parents who educated their children with dedication and care, thus giving an authentic witness of holiness.
In his country, like many others in Latin America, there is a "danger" of the approval of abortion and euthanasia laws. For this reason, he announces that Guatemala, the capital of his country, will be declared "Ibero-American pro-life capital" in March 2022.
Another issue in his country is the rise of Protestantism. "I think that the presence of the priest in the parish is fundamental: he must be available to the faithful, and like a father, be tireless in forming them and always encouraging them to be missionary disciples.
Catholics must have a solid knowledge of Sacred Scripture, living Tradition and the Magisterium, as well as a formation in Mariology that leads us to feel proud to have a Mother like the Blessed Virgin Mary," he explains.
36 new recruits of the Pontifical Swiss Guard have joined the pontifical corps. The swearing-in ceremony takes place every May 6, to commemorate the 147 Swiss mercenaries who gave their lives defending Pope Clement VII during the sack of Rome in 1527.
In this ceremony, each new recruit places his left hand on the flag of the Swiss Guard and raises his right hand, extending three fingers symbolizing the Holy Trinity, before taking the oath.
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.
Msgr. Arthur RocheSoon a document on liturgical formation of all the baptized".
Arthur Roche's first year at the head of the Congregation for Divine Worship has been a busy one. The publication of "Traditionis custodes" and of a Letter of the Pope to the bishops on the Tridentine liturgy was followed by a clarification of the doubts raised signed by Bishop Roche. The Prefect is missing a greater liturgical formation of all the baptized, and confirms the forthcoming publication of a document to promote it.
It has been a year since Archbishop Arthur Roche became Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, where he had already been working since 2012. In this year, much of the Dicastery's work has revolved around the new norms restricting the possibility of using the pre-reform liturgical form of the 1960s (the "Tridentine Mass"), and the creation of the new lay ministry of catechist. Now, Bishop Roche has received Omnes at the headquarters of the Congregation, and takes stock of these and other issues.
Almost a year ago, "Traditionis Custodes" limited the possibilities of using the liturgy prior to the Council's reform. The document explained that its goal was to "seek ecclesial communion." Has progress been made toward that goal?
- We must begin by saying that the reason that motivates this decision is the unity of the Church, and this is what has moved the Pope. The previous Popes, John Paul II or Benedict XVI, had never thought that the existing possibilities were intended to promote the Tridentine rite, but only to assist people who have difficulty with the new form of prayer of the Church.
But, in the end, we are formed by the liturgy, because the liturgy carries in itself the faith and doctrine of the Church. "Lex orandi, lex credendi". I think that, in reality, this is not only a difficulty for the liturgy, but a difficulty for ecclesiology, for doctrine. For the first time in history, since the Second Vatican Council, we have in the magisterium an insertion of the nature of the Church, because it is the first time after two thousand years that we have a dogmatic constitution like "Lumen Gentium". "Lumen Gentium" carries with it that it is not only the priest who celebrates Mass, but all the baptized. Obviously, it is not possible for everyone to do what concerns the consecration of the Eucharistic species without the priest; but all the baptized, like the priest, have a position to celebrate. All participate in the priesthood of Jesus Christ and for this reason, as "Sacrosanctum concilium" reminds us, they have the right and the duty to participate in the liturgy. This is in contrast to the rite in the 1962 missal, where the priest was seen as the representative of all others present at the celebration of the Mass. This is the great difference between the two forms: the Church as it is understood in today's ecclesiology, and the nature of the Church as it was conceived by previous ecclesiology.
At the same time, Traditionis Custodes emphasizes the continuity between the current rite and the ancient rite: it states that the new Roman Missal "contains all the elements of the Roman rite, especially the Roman canon, which is one of the most characteristic elements".
- Of course, continuity must also be emphasized. The liturgy is a living gift that the Church has received. But we must not canonize the old for old's sake, otherwise we would find people who want to go back to things simply because they are older, and that could mean going back to liturgical expressions that predate even the Tridentine ones, for example. In reality, the point where we are now, with the new missal of Paul VI, means that we have had the possibility to study all the most fundamental elements, to take advantage of the sources of the liturgy, which were not known during the Tridentine Council in the years 1545-1563.
Pope Francis has said that he is "pained by the abuses" of some current celebrations. What do you think?
- I believe that at this moment there is a lack of liturgical formation. It is very interesting to remember that in the years prior to the Council there was the liturgical movement, with patristic, biblical, ecumenical foundations; and the Council offered the possibility of a renewal of the Church, also with regard to the liturgy.
I think that at this time, the intention is only to comply with the rubrics of the Liturgy, and that seems to me to be a bit poor. Theologically, the reason was the celebration of the Mystery.
For this reason, two years ago the Holy Father asked this Congregation to hold a plenary meeting of all its members to discuss liturgical formation in the whole Church: from bishops to priests to laity. And, indeed, a document on this matter is currently being prepared. Possibly it will take the form of a letter to the Church on the importance of formation. What do we do when we come together every Sunday for this celebration? Not just an obligation to do something every week, but what do we do? What do we celebrate at that time?
Will it be easy to get the contents of this letter across to the laity, to the people in the broadest sense?
- As you know, on the occasion of the publication of the motu proprio "Traditionis Custodes" Pope Francis wrote a letter only to the bishops explaining what they should do. I believe that, at this time, we in the Congregation have a responsibility to think about how to reach a wider audience.
The "mystagogical" catechesis, which introduces the celebrated mysteries, is one of the instruments of liturgical formation. A special occasion are sacraments such as baptism, communion or marriage. Do they fulfill this role?
- Mystagogical catechesis is very important. There is a paragraph in "Sacrosanctum Concilium", number 16, which says that liturgical formation is among the most important subjects in the formation of seminarians, and that teachers of other subjects must take it into account when they teach biblical, patristic, dogmatic, etc. subjects.
There is an abbey in America, Mount Angel, near Portland, where all the subjects of theological formation in the seminary period always have the focus on the liturgy of the day. Everything is oriented according to the great seasons of the liturgy, the liturgical calendar. We have to consider this also in relation to formation: that it is about celebration. It is not only a matter of doing things or participating in some parts of the celebration, but of celebrating worthily with a profound and active participation, as the Council recalled. Through words and gestures we reach the mystery. Rather than engaging in activities such as reading the readings or other things, we should strive for a deep, quasi-mystical participation in the contemplation of the liturgy. It is a matter of identifying with Christ through the words and gestures of the celebration.
The sacrament of Penance is a reference point for this pontificate. Francis has spoken of mercy and forgiveness from the beginning; he has invited to celebrations of confession, and has shown similar gestures. How to revalue this sacrament?
- I think obviously the sacrament of Penance is, in a sense, in a period of crisis at the moment, because there is a loss of a sense of sin. Sins are no less today than they were before, but there is a lack of knowledge of individual sin; I think that is a challenge for so many people. The Pope as a great pastor, before his election as Pope, has evidenced this in his diocese, in the parishes and in his pastoral work.
I will tell you an interesting experience: some years ago I received an invitation from the Sacred Penitentiary to give a conference for the deacons who were preparing to receive priestly ordination. When I arrived and saw that there were 500 people, I asked Cardinal Piacenza: are there so many to be ordained this year? This was not the case, but almost two-thirds of those attending were already ordained priests and had come to this course, in some cases after many years of ordination, to learn again how to celebrate the sacrament of penance. This speaks to us of a lack of formation of priests. In particular, for the sacrament of confession, the availability of the priest is important, but not only in terms of dedication of time, but also as the availability of a person who welcomes penitents, who speaks of mercy, who speaks as a father to a person who is in need of reconciliation with God. All these elements are very important, but they are also integral elements of formation.
How is the ministry of catechist, which was established on May 10 last year, evolving in its first steps?
- At this time the most important thing is for the Episcopal Conference to define who the catechists are. It is a ministry, and not only a participation in the ministry as we have in all the parishes of the world, where some people prepare the children for the first communion, confession, etc. This is a more important ministry, but one that needs to be defined. The person who receives this ministry is a point of reference in the diocese, for the organization of the programs, of the levels, etc., but it depends on how the bishop makes the definition: this is now the responsibility of the bishops' conferences.
There are, for example, some religious women who carry out their apostolate as catechists... but this ministry is not foreseen for them. Even more important: neither is it foreseen for seminarians, who are in preparation for the priesthood. They receive the acolytate, the lectorate, and then the diaconate, but this ministry of catechist is not foreseen for him: it is only for the baptized in general. For the Church, it is a sign of the importance of the laity announcing the Gospel and forming young people.
Let's talk about other aspects of the work of the Congregation for the Liturgy. The Constitution "Praedicate Evangelium" stresses that it promotes the liturgy "according to the renewal undertaken by the Second Vatican Council".
- Certainly, one of its tasks is to promote the liturgy. At the same time, it is also to become a point of reference for all the bishops of the world in their relationship with the Petrine ministry. The Congregation (in the future, the Dicastery) is to serve not only the Supreme Pontiff, but also all the bishops of the world, in the liturgical field. And this is a dimension that we must consider carefully. It is an opening of the Roman Curia, which should not be understood as a bureaucratic structure, but as a service to the universal Church.
How do you collaborate with other Dicasteries?
- With regard to its competencies, it collaborates with all the organisms of the Curia, from the Doctrine of the Faith to the Clergy and almost all the others. Even the new evangelization, the missions, the practice of charity and all other activities have a liturgical aspect. For the liturgy is the life of the whole Church; it is the soul of the Church.
It will soon be 60 years since Sacrosanctum Concilium. This Council document on liturgy wanted the paschal mystery to become the center of Christian life. How is this approach being considered today?
- Sixty years is a short time in the history of the Church. After Trent, there was a great period in which there were difficult circumstances for the whole Church to receive the reform -a reform is a serious thing-; but also now we have many difficulties.
A major difficulty in the Church is the rise of individualism. People express their desires as individuals, but not as a community. Now, the Church is precisely a community, and she celebrates all the sacraments in a communitarian sense; among them, also the Mass, because it is not intended to be celebrated without the presence of another person, and normally the faithful congregate in large numbers.
At this time the liberalism, the individualism that exists in this society is a challenge to the Church. It is easy to think of my personal preference, of a specific type of liturgy, of a particular expression of the celebration, of this priest rather than that priest; but this individualism is not in the character of the Church. And we must consider the effects of these influences on the spiritual life of the Church, as is clearly underlined in "Sacrosanctum Concilium", but also in "Lumen Gentium".
Has the pandemic reinforced the tendency towards individualism?
- I think that this tendency will not last forever, because we know that the need to relate to God and to others is within us, and it is not something that we have the possibility of pushing away indefinitely, by means of television or the internet. We need to be present at the celebration, since the sacraments are about a personal relationship with Christ, and are not a program or a movie. Online or on television we follow something for a moment, but we are not there; we can see everything, but we are not present, and this is the most important thing: the presence of the people.
Let me mention two particular aspects of "Sacrosancutm Concilium". The first is liturgical inculturation.
- The point is that there are some cultures, in certain societies outside Europe, especially in mission countries, in which the Roman rite can be enriched with the genius of each place, which is not always easy.
On this subject, I have often told the bishops that we have spent the last fifty years preparing the translation of the liturgical texts; and now we must move on to the second phase, which is already foreseen by "Sacrosanctum Concilium", and that is the inculturation or adaptation of the liturgy to the other different cultures, while maintaining unity. I think that this work should begin at this time. But I would like to point out that today there is only one liturgical "use", not a "rite", and that is in Zaire, in Africa.
It is important to understand what it means that Jesus has shared our nature, and in a historical moment. We have to consider the importance of the Incarnation and, if we can say so, of the action of grace being incarnated in other cultures, with various expressions that are completely different from what we have seen and appreciated in Europe for so many years.
The second aspect is beauty, especially in sacred architecture. The Pope says "the Church evangelizes and evangelizes herself through the beauty of the liturgy" ("Evangelii Gaudium", 24).
- Beauty is a part of God's nature, and a part of human existence. It is very important for man, because it attracts him: we are attracted by beauty. And it speaks to us not only in a unique way, but also individually.
This aspect of the liturgy, also with regard to the church, was foreseen by the documents issued immediately after the approval of "Sacrosanctum Concilium" and also endorsed by the bishops participating in the Council. These texts indicated what was to be taken into account in the configuration of the church so as to assist the celebration, and the significance and importance of the various elements. I am thinking, for example, of the altar, which signifies the Body of Christ; for the Orthodox it is the tomb, whence the resurrection belongs to the celebration of the Eucharist. Or in the importance of the ambo, by itself and in relation to the altar. In our celebrations we have two "tables": Sacred Scripture and the Holy Eucharist; but without Sacred Scripture we do not do the Eucharist. The two are in balance, and both are the same thing. The Word leads to the Eucharist and the Eucharist is deepened and understood by the Word.
Do you wish to add anything else?
- Yes, I think it is very important that at this moment we think once again about the voice of the Council to the whole world, a prophetic voice for the future of the Church. May we deepen what "Sacrosanctum Concilium" contains, and also the other documents, but above all "Lumen Gentium", about the holiness of the Church and our vocation, because without holiness we will lack an authentic voice to preach the Gospel.
The author begins the book by explaining that this volume responds to the almost impertinent questions that a Baptist pastor posed to him when he learned that he was a Catholic. These questions made Brant Pitre wonder about what he knew about his own faith and, especially, about the foundation of his faith and Christian life: the Eucharist.
With a light and rhythmic pen, the author reviews the Eucharistic prefigurations contained in the Old Testament, not only directly but also in terms of what the Jewish people expected from the Messiah and the different moments in which the institution of the Eucharist as the axis of salvation is confirmed.
Particularly interesting is the description of the meaning of the Bread of the Presence for the Jewish people, not only as food of God but as the face of God himself. Together with this explanation, the fact that Christ did not conclude the Jewish rites of the Passover with the fourth cup opens the reader to an understanding that the cross would be the last cup - the chalice - that would culminate the new Passover of Christ. A very interesting and practical book for those who wish to deepen their understanding of the sacrament of the Eucharist not only historically but in the totality of its conception.
Bishop MumbielaWe have dedicated Central Asia to the Queen of Peace".
The president of the new Conference of Catholic Bishops of Central Asia, Bishop Joseph Louis Mumbiela of Almaty (Kazakhstan), explains, in an interview with Omnes, the "bonds of fraternity and unity" created by the conference. He also assures that Pope Francis' trip to Kazakhstan will be "very significant" and comments on the dedication of Central Asia to Mary, Queen of Peace.
Nuncios, bishops and apostolic administrators from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and Mongolia, who make up the newly created Conference of Catholic Bishops of Central Asia, dedicated the vast and multi-ethnic Asian region on May 1 to St. Mary, Queen of Peace, at the National Shrine of the Queen of Peace of Kazakhstan in Ozerny.
From "the center of the Eurasian continent, in the place where representatives of many nationalities and religions live together," the archbishops and bishops called the Virgin Mary "Queen of Peace and Mother of the Church!" and commended to her "the Catholic Church of Central Asia, all Christian believers, who recognize the One God, and people of good will, whose faith and devotion are known to the Almighty."
"Queen of martyrs," they prayed, "look upon the blood and tears of those who, like Christ, suffered innocently for truth and justice. Mary, show us and the whole world that you are the Queen of Peace. May all nations proclaim you blessed and through you find the way to God".
The first session of this Conference of Asian Bishops was held in Nursultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, from April 26 to the beginning of May. In this city, formerly known as Astana, the official opening of the plenary session took place, which was attended by the President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Ashimbaev Maulen Sagatkhanuly, and Kazakhstan's Minister of Information and Social Development, Umarov Askar Kuanyshevich, according to Fides.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples [until the entry into force of 'Praedicate Evangelium' on Pentecost Sunday], was present in an online connection from Vatican City, expressing his satisfaction for the birth of the Conference, which "is called to play a special role in the life and ministry of the Church in the territories of the countries of Central Asia. Although Catholics in this region are a minority, this does not detract from the importance of the role that the Church plays in society".
Bishop Joseph Louis Mumbiela of Almaty, Kazakhstan's most populous city, and president of the country's bishops' conference, presided over this plenary of the Central Asian bishops, having been elected to preside over the new conference by secret ballot at the meeting of the Central Asian bishops.
Jerzy Maculewicz, Apostolic Administrator of Uzbekistan, and Bishop Evgeny Zinkovsky, Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Karaganda, were elected vice-president and secretary general, respectively. On the day of the official opening of the plenary session, the ordinaries of Central Asia visited the Apostolic Nunciature in Kazakhstan, where they met with the Nuncio, Archbishop Francis Assisi Chullikatt.
Pope Francis' visit to Kazakhstan has been on the agenda since the Holy Father expressed to the country's president, Kassym Khomart Tokayev, his intention to travel to Kazakhstan., on the occasion of the VII Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, which will take place in September in the Kazakh capital.
In this context, Omnes has talked with Monsignor José Luis Mumbiela SierraPresident of the Central Asian Bishops' Conference.
First of all, tell us about the dedication of Central Asia to the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Shrine of Ozerny, which you, the bishops, have carried out.
- The text is 99% the same as the one used on June 25, 1995 by Bishop Jan P. Lenga, when he consecrated Kazakhstan and Central Asia to Our Lady. The same text was used by John Paul II in 2001 when in Astana, 21 years ago, he also repeated that consecration with the same words. We have changed two words, because in the original it said that we are at the gates of the third millennium, and we are at the beginning. It has been a little tweaked. Before it was Kazakhstan, and now it is Central Asia. And the rest is what was done in 1995, what John Paul II repeated, and we have insisted.
Can you provide us with the text of the dedication to Saint Mary, Queen of Peace?
- Of course. This is the text:
"Prayer: Dedication of Central Asia to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Mother of the Son of God Jesus Christ and our Mother! We want to express to you our love and respect, our trust and gratitude.
We stand before You at the special moment in human history at the beginning of the third millennium, when humanity strives to be one family, but, nevertheless, remains divided, wounded by many conflicts and wars.
We are in front of you in a special place on the globe: in the center of the Eurasian continent, in the place where representatives of many nationalities and religions live together.
Immaculate Mother of God, like the morning dawn foretelling the rising of the sun, You were the forerunner of the coming of the Savior. We believe that You are the best to guide people to God. You gave birth to the Lord of the World, Jesus Christ. Dying on the cross, He entrusted all men to you, to be their Mother and Queen, their Guide to God and Perpetual Patroness.
Queen of Peace and Mother of the Church! We commend to you today the Catholic Church of Central Asia, all Christian believers, who acknowledge the One God, and people of good will, whose faith and devotion are known to the Almighty.
Queen of martyrs, behold the blood and tears of those who, like Christ, suffered innocently for truth and justice.
Mary, show us and the whole world that you are the Queen of Peace. May all nations proclaim you blessed and through you find the way to God.
Amen.
(You can see here the reading of the Dedication to Our Lady by the president of the Conference, Bishop José Luis Mumbiela, in Russian, together with the rest of the bishops, after their words at the conclusion of the Mass (1h. 16')).
How is the organization of theCongress of religions in September?
- The government is doing everything it can to move this congress forward. The Pope has said he is coming to show his presence at the Congress. Steps are being taken to prepare for the Pope's visit. There is no program [for the trip] yet made, but when they tell you to prepare the program, it means he wants to come. In fact, he wants to come.
Then, Pope Francis will go to Kazakhstan...
- Maybe they need to confirm it later, once the Vatican commission comes to Kazakhstan, but in principle the Pope is coming. Health permitting, the Pope will come.
We are working on it. For the Catholic Church it is always a joy. An ordinary Father needs no special reason to see his children. He is always welcome. But obviously, the historical circumstances of Kazakhstan and countries close to Kazakhstan (Ukraine, Russia), make this trip very significant. Taking advantage of the international Congress, which seeks precisely to promote peace and harmony between religions and different cultures. It is precisely what the Pope wants to spread, in a world that is suffering the complete opposite. The historical circumstances are conducive to this. It is a beautiful coincidence.
I have not asked him about the Russian-Ukrainian war. Maybe there is a deep wound.
- We see here that the population suffers in many cases from this division. There is a lot of suffering, because that divides people, who are suffering. Some more than others.
Where have the meetings of the new Conference been taking place these days?
- The meeting of the new Bishops' Conference was held in Nursultan, the capital, where the office is located. We arrived in Nursultan on the 25th. On the first day, we all went to Karaganda to see the seminary, the church of the Greek Catholics, the new cathedral, where there are also the relics of Blessed Vladislaw Bukowinsky, apostle of Kazakhstan, who was also in other countries of Central Asia; and then we went to say Mass in the Basilica of St. Joseph, which is the first cathedral of Central Asia in the 20th century, where the Catholic community began in Karaganda. Now it is not a cathedral, it is a basilica.
The speaker of the Senate of Kazakhstan, who read a letter from the President of Kazakhstan, was present at the official opening ceremony of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Central Asia, as was the Minister of Information and Social Development, who is also responsible for Religion. The government was represented at the highest level. That was when Cardinal Tagle intervened.
There were two Nuncios, the Archbishop of Astana, four other bishops from Kazakhstan, two apostolic administrators; and from other countries, the Bishop of Tashkent (Uzbekistan), the Bishop of Mongolia, and the Bishop of Baku, from Azerbaijan (as an observer, for the time being); and besides, priests, the apostolic administrator of Kyrgyzstan, and the heads of the 'Missio sui iuris' of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan. As of today, the priest from Afghanistan is in Rome, and is doing his best to return, he and the sisters. For the time being, they are outside.
How is the ecclesiastical organization in Asia?
- In Asia there are many bishops' conferences, almost every country has its own bishops' conference, although Cambodia and Laos have a joint conference. But each country has one: Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Burma, Philippines... Then there is the FABC ('Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences'),which is like CELAM in Latin America, a continental bishops' conference. Our episcopal conference, that of Central Asia, is part of that Asian confederation.
Can you comment on the role and projects of this new Episcopal Conference of Central Asia, over which you preside?
- The purpose of this Conference is, above all, to create unity among the small Churches, which are all of us, of fraternity and closeness, which gives greater strength in the circumstances of minority in which we live, and this is noticeable in these days, in which it has come out rejuvenated, strengthened, enthusiastic, seeing themselves not alone, but accompanied in the same mission, close, in situations that are also close.
For example, the Bishop of Mongolia, who is now part of our Conference, used to go to Korea, but he feels more identified with our reality. For him, being with us has been a kind of enthusiasm, he has seen himself perfectly, you are like me, in the same economic and social situation, a small flock of the People of God, with difficulties. Here I feel more identified, because of the culture, etcetera.
More than making joint programs or statements, we are different countries and sometimes far away from each other, we cannot carry out joint activities for the faithful, as can be done in the Spanish Episcopal Conference or other similar, because the distances are great, but at the level of relationship between bishops, I think it is very good.
And to create among the faithful an awareness of a broad and close family. Not only in the Church of your country, but that they know that my bishop is in connection with other bishops, that there is a communication, maybe there is a trip, a presence of someone, to feel more accompanied and closer to each other. In these lands, I think it is very useful.
To create bonds of fraternity and unity, also for these new churches that are part of the Bishops' Conference, because Kazakhstan already had it, but those that were without Bishops' Conference, for them, in terms of the institutional relationship with the Vatican, for example, are already within an organization, which they were not before, like islands in the ocean. Now they are more compact, let's say, at the time of an institutional relationship.
It is also now easier to work in an area of large extensions, and the attention to the seminar...
- Yes. Now, for example, we have appointed some of these countries. After the president, who is me, there is the vice-president, who is from Uzbekistan, and others are also part of some small mission. It is already representing a larger group, which gives a little more encouragement. Then, as far as possible, to do things together.
There are some things that are clear. One is the interdiocesan seminary, and we talked a lot about this with Cardinal Tagle. The Karaganda seminary is the only seminary in all of Central Asia. Now they know that if they have diocesan vocations, they can send them to this seminary.
We were in Karaganda the first day, they have visited the seminary, they have seen it; in fact, as of today, there is a seminarian from Uzbekistan, there are also some from Georgia. If there are seminarians from other places, they already know that they can send them, which is good for everyone. For example, the bishop of Mongolia used to send seminarians to Korea. But of course, the ecclesial and social reality of Korea is very different from Mongolia. It is another world. And this is closer and more formative for our people. The issue of the seminary is very important.
Another topic is Caritas. Within Asia, there is the Caritas Central Asia subregion, which also includes the same countries that we are in the Conference. After that, we will see.
We conclude our telematic conversation with Bishop Mumbiela, although we could continue with various topics. If you want more information, you can visit this web of the Catholic Church in Kazakhstan, and of course, the interview to Monsignor José Luis Mumbiela at Omnes, in February of this year.
Emotivists on the inside and utilitarians on the outside
Juan José Muñoz García recommends reading Emotivists on the inside and utilitarians on the outsideby José Manuel Horcajo.
Juan José Muñoz García-May 8, 2022-Reading time: < 1minute
Book
TitleEmotivists on the inside and utilitarians on the outside
AuthorJosé Manuel Horcajo
Pages: 174
Editorial: Word
City: Madrid
Year: 2022
Do it only if you feel it: this is the motto of the emotivist person. It is true that emotions move and drive our lives, and without them we would not feel alive. But they cannot be the only referent for our free decisions. Postmodernity has designed, with the death of reason, the oblivion of the good of the person and the absence of coherent personal narratives, an emotivist and utilitarian subject, whose defining features are: fragility, disorientation and inner rupture.
José Manuel Horcajo, doctor in Theology, professor at the San Dámaso Ecclesiastical University and parish priest of San Ramón Nonato in Madrid, dives in this brief essay into the philosophical history of emotivism to offer an alternative from Christian anthropology and theology. All this with a light style, close to the spiritual divulgation so in vogue nowadays, that unifies the intellectual discourse with the primacy of love as a light to discern the daily decisions of Christian life.
Bishop Shevchuk reaffirms religious unity in Ukraine in the war
Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, major archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, has confirmed from Kiev, "ecumenical and interreligious unity in Ukraine as never existed in the past," as Omnes reported in April. "In the mass graves we are all of us," he added, in a act organized by ACN International and Spain, in which he appealed to "resist this unjust ideological invasion".
Francisco Otamendi-May 7, 2022-Reading time: 4minutes
Major Archbishop Shevchuk revealed today that he is "at the top of a list of Russians for delete me"and that it is a "priority target". He said this over the Internet in a connection that he considered "a miracle" as things stand in the Ukrainian capital.
In the same speech, in which he was accompanied by the bursar of the archdiocese, Bishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk accused the Russian leadership of spreading that "Ukraine is an ideology, not a nation. The invasion is a colonial war. Russia considers Ukraine as a former colony to be reconquered", and Ukrainians as elements to be "eliminated, re-educated in concentration camps, or expelled", in a conflict that "can be compared to World War II", he said.
"Church leaders" are in this situation, in that of people to be "eliminated," he remonstrated. "We have to resist this high-intensity unjust ideological invasion, because "as Putin pointed out, the intention was to wipe out Ukraine in three days." "And in two months" it has destroyed "50 percent of the national economy. People call the Church and ask to eat, but resources are running out," he added. In this line, he reiterated what Javier Menéndez Ros, director of ACN Spain, had pointed out at the beginning of the briefing: "The disaster in Ukraine is not over".
Monsignor Shevchuk reiterated in his words that "religious leaders are united", and that in this line, the Council of Churches is playing a very relevant role, in particular with regard to "humanitarian aid, because people are suffering".
Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Disasterium for the Service of Integral Human Development in the Holy See, had stated on Ukrainian territory: "During my visit to the village of Beregove, in western Ukraine, I was very impressed to see Catholics of the Latin rite, Greek Catholics, Protestants, Reformed, Jews, coming together to share the work of the refugee emergency. A huge emergency that can only be addressed together. 'There are no distinctions, we are all the Good Samaritan called to help others now,' said one pastor during this very frank and fraternal dialogue. It comforted me, it is truly the sign of a living Church."
Times of repression
Omnes magazine warned in its April issue about "a risk that seems real. If it [the Russian invasion] succeeds, the Catholic Church in Ukraine could disappear. Monsignor Shevchuk said in an interview with a Ukrainian radio station. Apparently we are on the list as well as our brothers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church,' said the great archbishop, referring to a possible list of organizations to be banned by Russian President Vladimir Putin".
"We know from history," Omnes collected, "that every time Russia conquered our country, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was systematically destroyed," Archbishop Shevchuk added, "God forbid that this should be repeated now." Indeed, in 1946, Stalin forced it to merge with the Orthodox Church, from which it had separated at the end of the 16th century. Many bishops and clergy who opposed the integration were arrested and died in Siberia. It was only in 1989 that the state repression of the Greek Catholic Church ended and it came out of hiding again."
Monsignor Sviatoslav Shevchuk, who thanked the solidarity aid sent by Spain, asked in today's act: "Pray for Ukraine". He encouraged to maintain hope with the Easter greeting of the 'Risen Christ', and affirmed: "We value very much the effort of Pope Francis, to stop this unjust war. He is a very great moral authority, who has offered to travel to Moscow in a mediation task, despite his severe knee pain." "But diplomacy has not been able to stop this unjust war."
New ACN campaign
In Ukraine, a country of about 44 million inhabitants, 60 percent of the population is Orthodox. In addition, about 8.8 percent belong to the Greek-Catholic Church, which together with the 0.8 percent of the Latins makes up almost 10 percent of the Ukrainian population. There are about 4.4 million people, including 4,879 priests and religious, and 1,350 nuns.
In the presentation of a new aid campaign, 'Church in Ukraine, refuge of hope', Javier Menéndez Ros stressed that ACN has been helping Ukraine since 1953 in a preferential way", long before this war, and that "currently, in Ukraine there are more than 7 million people who have fled their homes to other parts of the country in search of a safe place".
"Every parish, convent and seminary has become a reception center. ACN is now promising to send, in a new package, aid of about 2 million euros to assist the Ukrainian Church in its charitable and pastoral mission, especially in the western region of the country where internally displaced persons are being welcomed."
Both Menéndez Ros and Marco Mencaglia, project coordinator for Europe of ACN International, explained that after "sending an initial emergency aid to the Church in that country, amounting to one million euros, to ensure that the thousands of priests and nuns who today live in Ukraine have the necessary means to stay with their people, in parishes, in homes for children, mothers and elderly people, with the refugees", it is now a matter of addressing a second phase. This aid to specific projects of the Church in western Ukraine, "is not only material, but also of spiritual care, of comfort, to displaced families", especially women and children, since men of military age are fighting.
More than 12 million displaced persons
In addition to the seven million internally displaced persons, there are also 5 million externally displaced persons, refugees who have fled the country in a veritable "refugee crisis". exodusThe Archbishop of Kiev, who said he was "proud" of the bishops, priests, religious men and women who have remained in the country to care for the suffering people, stressed that more than 12 million Ukrainians have had to flee and move, inside and outside the country.
Suggestive and entertaining book by Professor José María Torralba. Throughout its pages, he explains the keys of the intellectual movement that both in Europe and America has proposed to repair the academic, cultural and institutional damage suffered by humanistic education at the University.
Without being paralyzed by sterile laments about the fate of the humanities in our time, the author conveys his experience of how it is possible and desirable to implement concrete and non-utopian measures to fill the educational gaps of the new generations. In this sense, the Great Books programs are a key part of this movement.
Humanities subjects for all students and not for a select and dwindling minority: this is the objective of the Core Curriculum projects. The author includes an interesting mention to the fact that it has been precisely Universities of Christian inspiration (in fact, every University is one in origin) that are recovering the humanist tradition of education in order to prevent it from becoming a mere issuer of technical degrees.
The visit of the Holy Father to Malta in the first days of April, and the liturgical cycle of Holy Week and the beginning of Easter are the main moments in which Pope Francis has spoken.
We focus on the apostolic journey to Malta and Holy Week. On Holy Saturday, during the Easter Vigil, Pope Francis invited "raise your eyes"For suffering and death have been embraced by Christ and now he is risen. Looking at his glorious wounds, we hear at the same time the Easter proclamation that we need so much: "Peace to you!".
"With uncommon humanity."
Taking stock of his apostolic journey to Malta (postponed for two years because of Covid), the Pope said on Wednesday, April 6, that Malta is a privileged place, a "wind rose".a key location, for several reasons.
First, because of its location in the middle of the Mediterranean (which receives and processes many cultures), and because it received the Gospel very early, through the mouth of St. Paul, whom the Maltese welcomed. "with uncommon humanity" (Acts 28:2), words Francis chose as the motto of his journey. And this is important in order to save humanity from a shipwreck that threatens us all, because, as the Pope said, implicitly evoking his message during the pandemic, we must not allow ourselves to be shipwrecked. "we are in the same boat" (cfr. A moment of prayer in St. Peter's Square, empty, on 27-III-2020). And that's why we need, he says now, the world to become "more fraternal, more liveable".. Malta represents that horizon and that hope. It represents "the right and the strength of the smallof small nations, but rich in history and civilization, which should carry forward another logic: that of respect and freedom, that of respect and also the logic of freedom"..
Secondly, Malta is key because of the phenomenon of migration: "Every immigrant" -said the Pope that day. "is a person with his dignity, his roots, his culture. Each one of them is the bearer of a richness infinitely greater than the problems involved. And let us not forget that Europe was made with migrations"..
Certainly, the reception of immigrants - Francis observes - must be planned, organized and governed in time, without waiting for emergency situations. "Because the migratory phenomenon cannot be reduced to an emergency, it is a sign of our times. And as such it must be read and interpreted. It can become a sign of conflict, or a sign of peace". And Malta is, that's why, "a laboratory of peace".The Maltese people have received, along with the Gospel, "the sap of fraternity, of compassion, of solidarity [...] and thanks to the Gospel will be able to keep them alive.".
Thirdly, Malta is also a key place from the point of view of evangelization. Because from its two dioceses, Malta and Gozo, many priests and religious, as well as lay faithful, have gone forth, bringing Christian witness to the whole world. Francis exclaims: "As if the passing of St. Paul had left the mission in the DNA of the Maltese!". That is why this visit was intended to be above all an act of recognition and gratitude.
We have, in short, three elements to situate this "compass rose": its special "humanity", its crossroads for immigrants and its involvement in evangelization. However, even in Malta, says Francis, the winds are blowing. "of secularism and globalized pseudo-culture based on consumerism, neo-capitalism and relativism".. For this reason, he went to the Grotto of St. Paul and to the national shrine of Ta' Pinuto ask the Apostle of the Gentiles and Our Lady for renewed strength, which always comes from the Holy Spirit, for the new evangelization.
In fact, Francis prayed to God the Father in St. Paul's Basilica: "Help us to recognize from afar the needs of those who struggle among the waves of the sea, struck against the rocks of an unknown shore. Grant that our compassion may not be exhausted in vain words, but that it may kindle the fire of welcome, which makes us forget the bad weather, gives warmth to hearts and unites them; fire of the house built on rock, of the one family of your children, sisters and brothers all." (Visit to the Grotto of St. Paul, April 3, 2022). In this way, the unity and fraternity that come from faith will be shown to everyone through works.
At the Shrine of Ta'Pinu (island of Gozo), the Pope pointed out that, at the Cross, where Jesus dies and it seems that all is lost, at the same time a new life is born: the life that comes with the time of the Church. To return to that beginning means rediscovering the essentials of faith. And that essential is the joy of evangelization.
Francisco does not beat around the bush, but puts himself in the reality of what is happening: "The crisis of faith, the apathy of the practice of belief, especially in the post-pandemic period, and the indifference of so many young people to the presence of God are not issues that we should 'sweeten', thinking that a certain religious spirit still resists after all, no. We must be vigilant so that religious practices are not reduced to a repetition of a repertoire of the past, but express a living, open faith that spreads the joy of the Gospel, because the joy of the Church is the joy of the Gospel. It is necessary to be vigilant so that religious practices are not reduced to the repetition of a repertoire of the past, but that they express a living faith, open, that spreads the joy of the Gospel, because the joy of the Church is to evangelize." (Prayer meeting, homily2-IV-2022).
To return to the beginning of the Church at the cross of Christ also means to welcome (again, allusion to immigrants): "You are a small island, but with a big heart. You are a treasure in the Church and for the Church. I say it again: you are a treasure in the Church and for the Church. To take care of it, it is necessary to return to the essence of Christianity: to the love of God, the motor of our joy, which makes us go out and travel the roads of the world; and to the welcoming of our neighbor, which is our simplest and most beautiful testimony on earth, and thus to continue moving forward, traveling the roads of the world, because the joy of the Church is to evangelize.".
Mercy: the heart of God
On Sunday, April 3, Francis celebrated Mass in Floriana (on the outskirts of Valletta, the capital of Malta). In his homily, he took his cue from the Gospel of the day, which recalled the episode of the adulterous woman (cf. Jn 8:2ff). In the accusers of the woman one can see a religiosity eaten away by hypocrisy, and by the bad habit of pointing fingers.
We too, the Pope noted, can have the name of Jesus on our lips, but deny it with our deeds. And he enunciated a very clear criterion: "He who thinks he defends the faith by pointing the finger at others will even have a religious vision, but he does not embrace the spirit of the Gospel, because he forgets mercy, which is the heart of God."
Those accusers, the successor of Peter explains,"are the portrait of those believers of all times, who make of faith an element of facade, where what is highlighted is the solemn exteriority, but the inner poverty, which is the most valuable treasure of man, is missing".. Therefore, Jesus wants us to ask ourselves: "What do you want me to change in my heart, in my life? How do you want me to see others?".
In Jesus' treatment of the adulteress -Mercy and misery met," the Pope points out, "we learn that any observation, if it is not motivated by charity and does not contain charity, will further sink the one who receives it.". God, on the other hand, always leaves open a possibility and knows how to find ways of liberation and salvation in every circumstance.
For God there is no one who is "irretrievable", because he always forgives. Moreover - Francis takes up one of his favorite arguments here - "God visits us by using our inner wounds."because he did not come for the healthy but for the sick (cfr. Mt 9, 12).
That is why we must learn from Jesus in the school of the Gospel: "If we imitate him, we will not focus on denouncing sins, but on going out in search of sinners with love. We will not look at those who are there, but we will go in search of those who are missing. We will no longer point fingers, but begin to listen. We will not discard the despised, but will look first to those who are considered last.".
Forgiveness and forgiveness
Francis' preaching during Holy Week began by contrasting the eagerness to save oneself (cf. Lk 23:35; Ibid., 37 and 39) with the attitude of Jesus who seeks nothing for himself, but only implores the Father's forgiveness. "Nailed to the scaffold of humiliation, the intensity of the gift increases, which becomes per-don" (Homily on Palm Sunday, 10-IV-2022).
Indeed, in the structure of this word, forgiveness, we can see that forgiving is more than giving, it is giving in the most perfect way, giving by involving oneself, giving completely.
No one has ever loved us, each and every one of us, as Jesus loves us. On the cross, he lives the most difficult of his commandments: love of enemies. He does not do as we do, who lick our wounds and grudges. Moreover, he asked for forgiveness, "because they don't know what they're doing". "Because they don't know."Francisco stresses and points out: "That ignorance of the heart that all sinners have. When violence is used, nothing is known of God, who is Father, nor of others, who are brothers.". That is how it is: when love is rejected, the truth is unknown. And an example of all this, the Pope concludes, is war: "In war we crucify Christ again.".
In the words of Jesus addressed to the good thief, "Today you will be with me in paradise." (Lk 23:43), we see "the prodigy of God's forgiveness, which transforms the last request of a man condemned to death into the first canonization in history".
Thus we see that holiness is attained by asking for forgiveness and forgiving, and that "with God you can always live again".. "God never tires of forgiving."The Pope repeated several times in recent days, also in relation to the service that priests must render to the faithful (cf. Homily at the Mass of the Holy Father). in Cœna Domini, in the new Civitavecchia Prison Complex, 14-IV-2022).
Seeing, hearing and announcing
In his homily during the Easter Vigil (Holy Saturday, April 16, 2022), Francis looked at the Gospel account of the announcement of the resurrection to the women (cf. Lk 41:1-10). He underlined three verbs.
First, "see". They saw the stone rolled away and when they entered they did not find the body of the Lord. Their first reaction was fear, not looking up from the ground. Something like that, the Pope observes, happens to us: "Too often, we look at life and reality without lifting our eyes from the ground; we only focus on the today that passes, we feel disappointment for the future and we lock ourselves in our needs, we settle in the prison of apathy, while we keep lamenting and thinking that things will never change.". And so we bury the joy of living.
Then, "listen"considering that the Lord "it's not here". Maybe we are looking for you "in our words, in our formulas and in our habits, but we forget to look for it in the darkest corners of life, where there is someone who cries, who struggles, suffers and hopes.". We must raise our eyes and open ourselves to hope.
Let's hear it: "Why do you seek the living among the dead? We must not look for God, Francis interprets, among dead things: in our lack of courage to allow ourselves to be forgiven by God, to change and put an end to the works of evil, to decide for Jesus and his love; in reducing faith to an amulet, "making God a beautiful memory of times past, instead of discovering Him as the living God who today wants to transform us and the world."; en "a Christianity that seeks the Lord among the vestiges of the past and encloses him in the tomb of custom"..
And finally, "announce". The women announce the joy of the Resurrection: "The light of the Resurrection does not want to hold women in the ecstasy of a personal joy, it does not tolerate sedentary attitudes, but generates missionary disciples who 'return from the tomb' and bring to all the Gospel of the Risen One. After having seen and heard, the women ran to announce the joy of the Resurrection to the disciples."They knew they would be taken for fools. But they did not care about their reputation or defend their image; they did not measure their feelings or calculate their words. They only had the fire in their hearts to carry the news, the announcement: "The Lord is risen!".
Hence the proposal for us: "Let us bring it to ordinary life: with gestures of peace in this time marked by the horrors of war; with works of reconciliation in broken relationships and compassion towards those in need; with actions of justice in the midst of inequalities and of truth in the midst of lies. And, above all, with works of love and fraternity".
At the general audience of April 13, the Pope explained what the peace of Christ consists of, and he did so in the context of the current war in Ukraine. The peace of Christ is not a peace of agreements, much less an armed peace. The peace that Christ gives us (cf. Jn 20:19,21) is that which he won on the cross with the gift of himself.
The Pope's Easter message, "at the end of a Lent that does not seem to want to end". (between the end of the pandemic and the war) has to do with that peace that Jesus brings us by bringing "our sores". Ours because we have caused them and because He carries them for us. "The wounds on the Body of the risen Jesus are the sign of the struggle that He has fought and conquered for us, with the weapons of love, so that we may have peace, be at peace, live in peace."(Blessing urbiet orbi Resurrection Sunday, 17-IV-2022).
Mercy, justice and the correct application of canonical norms in the face of abuse
Professor Ricardo Bazán, priest and jurist, reflects on the application of canonical norms in the face of sexual abuse within the Church, starting from the question: "Are norms enough to bring order to society?
One of the great problems Benedict XVI had to face during his pontificate was the cases of sexual abuse of minors committed by priests and religious. Despite the numerous efforts and measures that were taken, it was not enough, indeed, we could say that he did not have enough time. Pope Francis has taken this situation very seriously, as evidenced by the norms he has issued during his pontificate to deal with this cancer within the Church.
Are the rules enough?
As a priest and as a jurist, I ask myself the following question: are norms enough to bring order to a society? The Church is a mystery, it is the Mystical Body of Christ, at the same time, it is composed of men and women, all the baptized, among whom there is a series of relationships and an exchange of goods, not necessarily nor principally of a material nature, but, above all, of a spiritual nature. Hence we speak of the Church as a society and of her having her own juridical order, canon law. However, as in every society, the norms are not sufficient to order it. For example, the fact that in a State there is a penal norm that prescribes that anyone who appropriates someone else's property will be punished with a prison sentence of 4 to 8 years does not mean that theft does not occur.
Since the promulgation of the motu proprio Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela (SST), in 2001, with the subsequent modifications, as well as the norms promulgated by Pope Francis, the cases of sexual abuse against minors have not diminished, perhaps they did at the beginning, when the scandals became public, but today sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy continues, and we are not only talking about scandals with minors, but also about acts against the sixth commandment and that imply a breach of the promise or vow of celibacy expected of a priest or a religious.
What is needed then? Many things. The moral problem on the part of members of the Church begins with the formation of priests and religious, in the process of discernment and selection, as well as the accompaniment they should have throughout their lives. Here we are going to deal with the juridical aspect, trying to answer the first question.
"The right sense of justice."
It should be stated that laws are not effective by themselves. For their correct application it is necessary to understand the norm and something else, which we can call "a right sense of justice". Let us give an example. If, in a diocese, the bishop wants to implement all the measures prescribed by Vos estis lux mundi (VELM), SST, Code of Canon Law as reformed in Book VI on penalties by the Apostolic Constitution, "The Code of Canon Law as amended by the Apostolic Constitution Pascite gregem Deietc., a minimum knowledge of the law and of rights is necessary. One of them is the principle of presumption of innocence. That is to say, all these rules must have as a principle the presumption that the cleric or religious person in question is innocent until proven guilty.
Hence the need for a judicial process, with principles, stages, evidentiary means and resources that are aimed at guaranteeing effective judicial protection, that is, that any person can go to the Church's courts when he has suffered a violation of his rights. The counterbalance, as it is of justice and common sense, is that the accused of a crime has the guarantee of just that, that he is an accused, even in the quality of investigated at first, before the complaint is formalized. He will be innocent, and must be treated as innocent, until the sentence, duly grounded on the procedural acts and evidence, says that he is guilty.
What we see in the news and in current practice is that the accused is already guilty and must prove his innocence. As an example, we have the case of Cardinal George Pell, who had to fight for three years for his innocence. It is commendable the attitude of Pope Francis who did not remove him from the post of prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy while the judicial process in Australia lasted, but granted him permission to travel and appear before the justice of his country, precisely because he was innocent until there was a final judgment, until all instances were exhausted.
When these principles and fundamental rights are not respected, the blind application of the norms could lead to serious prejudices, from the point of view of justice and law. Let us think of the severe measures that are usually taken when a priest is accused, and he is immediately suspended from all his assignments. Of course, this precautionary measure has a raison d'être: to remove the possible offender from people to whom he could do harm, since past experience shows us that the pederast was moved to another parish and continued to commit crimes. But prudence is one thing and treating the accused as guilty is another. In other cases, without an adequate distinction between a judicial process and an administrative sanctioning process, the latter is chosen in order to carry out the criminal process more quickly, and it is forgotten that it is an exceptional procedure, when there is sufficient evidence or strong probative elements against the innocence of the accused, which merit taking him through this route, which does not have all the guarantees of the case. Thus, an accused may find that an investigation has been initiated against him and that he is called to testify in what we can call an evidentiary hearing, when the evidence has already been practically acted upon, and with few options or means to defend himself, as would be fair.
Article 2 of the motu proprio VELM prescribes the creation of an office to receive reports or complaints about possible crimes. The idea of this norm is that there should be an obligation to investigate on the part of the Ordinary, for example, the bishop, in addition to the victim having the possibility of being heard. However, it should be specified here that this office is not a judicial body, much less the mere receipt of the complaint is synonymous with guilt, but it is a matter of guarantees or means to avoid cover-up. Throughout this investigation, the principle of presumption of innocence must always prevail, as well as a serious work to collect testimonies or evidence to help discern whether there are sufficient elements to initiate a judicial process in the Church. However, we consider that this is an easy way out of a bigger problem.
If the tribunals of the Church are properly constituted and organized, there would be no need to create these offices of which VELM speaks, since this investigative activity should be carried out by an organ of the judiciary of the diocese, which has adequate preparation, precisely to gather all the necessary information that allows them to make a judgment on the possible existence of a crime or not, but not on the guilt of the person being investigated. At the same time, it is understandable that it has been proposed to create this type of office, since on many occasions some bishops have not been able to respond to the request for protection of persons who have suffered abuse or inappropriate conduct on the part of priests or religious.
Last year was published a report ordered by the Church in France on the abuses committed by the clergy between 1950 and 2020, whose figures have left more than one breathless. It is only fair to clarify that the figure presented, 216,000 victims, is an estimate made by the commission commission from the 2700 victims identified between 1950 and 2020, and another 4800 from files found. However, this does not detract from the fact that not a single abuse should have occurred within the Church, much less should they have been covered up. Something similar is expected in countries such as Spain, where the Episcopal Conference has requested an audit from a law firm.
Principles and natural law
Since the case of the Church in the United States, which came to light with the investigation of the newspaper The Boston GlobeFrom the recent case of the Church in France, we can see the magnitude of the problem that the Church has had to face, for which emergency measures were necessary, with little capacity for reflection, first of all to know the causes and to be able to prevent, starting with a very simple question: why have my clerics and religious committed these abuses or failed to fulfill their promises or vows of chastity? What happened in the process? Next, it is necessary to identify the means at the disposal of the Church, one of them, and the one we are dealing with, is the Law. But law is not a tool that can be used indiscriminately. Law has principles that emanate from natural law and from things.
In this way, it must be used and applied with justice and with a right sense of things, otherwise, we would be committing an injustice again. Thus, it is necessary that the Church, when legislating to deal with the sexual scandals we are talking about, take its time, not too much, to reflect on the phenomenon it is trying to regulate; the principles and rights that must be respected justly for the achievement of the purpose of that norm, as well as the effects that such a norm could generate in the Church. Possibly we are far from putting an end to the problem of abuses, as long as the cause of them is not addressed, which merits a detailed and interdisciplinary study, interdicasterial I would dare to say. Until that happens, canon law can offer some tools, as long as it is done with justice, not only with legality. In this way justice and mercy would be lived with all parties involved, including God's holy faithful people, to paraphrase Pope Francis.
More than 40 experts from different countries and specialties and topics such as affectivity, talking about sexuality with teenagers, pornography or couple relationships will meet at the Love Talksthe digital Congress of the IFFD.
More than 40 speakers from different countries and different specialties, easy access, adaptable and affordable. The congress IFFD Love Talks is being proposed this year, taking advantage of the best of digitalization and with a list of talks of between 10 and 20 minutes in which topics such as infidelity, pornography, sexuality dialogues with teenagers or falling in love are addressed.
A completely adaptable congress. This is how we could define Love Talks on sexuality and affectivity. This is the digital congress promoted by the International Federation for Family Development (IFFD), an independent, non-profit NGO whose primary mission is to support families through training and is present in more than 70 countries.
After the experiences of its face-to-face congresses held in capitals such as New York, Rome, Valencia and London, the arrival of the pandemic and the possibilities of digitalization have led the organization to launch a much broader and more accessible Congress modality. In this way, it facilitates access to high-level training to thousands of people around the world, as the director of IFFD points out to Omnes, Leticia Rodríguez.
At IFFD, we developed our training programs based on the case method," says Leticia Rodriguez, "but we saw that many people were asking for other types of dynamics that would give them clues and show them the beauty of the family.
In fact, the IFFD itself has opened up its training lines, something that is also reflected in this congress, which is aimed at all types of people "from 18 to 98 years of age," jokes Rodríguez.
The fact is that, among the topics the different experts will talk about are interests for young professionals, singles, couples, married couples with few or many years of relationship behind them, parents with children of all ages and also grandparents, educators or trainers... etc...
Why sexuality and affectivity?
"There is a lot of concern about this issue on the part of parents, family members and even among the young people themselves," says Leticia Rodríguez. In addition, "we saw that a lot of training in this field was closely linked to religious areas, which is fine and very necessary, but we must go beyond that. At the congress we wanted the speakers not to base their discourse on a religious theme, so the list is very broad, both in number and in specialties".
Talks to watch in 6 months
The congress is truly "atypical" in its development.
The recorded lectures will be available "two days from June 4 for those who sign up with the model standard and 6 months for those who do it with the model premium"The IFFD director points out.
In this way, if someone is only interested in a few talks, they can watch them in 48 hours while, for a little more, some can spread them out over six months to think about them or listen to them with clamor, between now and December."
Among the speakers we find names such as the North American doctor Meg Meeker, Carolina Sánchez Agostini, director of the Integral Sexual Education Studies of the Austral University, Emerson Eggerich or the Spaniards Carlos Chiclana and Marian Rojas. In fact, as Leticia Rodriguez points out, "three committees were created to select the speakers, one from Spain, one from LATAM and one from the rest of the world, and this is more or less the distribution of speakers and attendees".
Mariano Fazio presents a new volume which adds to his prolific literary and essayistic repertoire. Fazio is a priest, historian and philosopher, and professor of History of Political Doctrines in the Faculty of Communication at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. He has also been the first dean of that faculty and rector magnifico of the university. He now serves as auxiliary vicar of Opus Dei.
The choice of the book's theme, freedom, comes as no surprise. In the introduction to the book, the author makes a mention of gratitude to the Prelate of Opus Dei, Bishop Fernando Ocáriz, stating that he is at the origin of the book, due to the abundant personal meditation he has done on his pastoral letter on freedom published in January 2018. Nor is it surprising the way in which he approaches the subject, doing so hand in hand with great classic authors of all times.
Substantially, the author tries to show how freedom is oriented to love, and how this affirmation has an enormous importance for the Christian life. The reader will be able to observe throughout the pages how some passages from the Gospel are intermingled with authors such as Dostoyevsky, Tolkien or Dickens. The tone and the pleasant writing of Fazio invite to a meditative reading of the book, which will offer some guidelines for a true spiritual and human growth.
"We have been created free to love, and when we do not reach the proper end of freedom, we are faced with an existential failure. We all desire a successful, fulfilled, happy life. To achieve it, the key lies in doing everything freely, out of love". This thesis, which the author puts forward in a simple way, -"all great truths are"-is complicated to put into practice. Mainly, as Fazio also points out at the beginning of the book, because contemporary cultural currents abound with conceptions of freedom that are far removed from this thesis.
Taking the classics of literature as fellow travelers, the author confirms that "there is a series of values to which humanity has aspired since its beginnings and which deserve protection and custody". Therefore, Fazio wishes with these pages to present an aid to readers that will enable them to "decipher the profound meaning of this high concept of freedom".
The crisis in the birth rate and the fall in the number of marriages highlight a twofold reality: the lack of interest in education in the period prior to marital cohabitation and the "bad press" of marriage.
May 6, 2022-Reading time: 2minutes
Pope Francis inaugurated about a year ago the so-called States General of Birth in Italy, promoted by the Forum of Family Associations. And in the presence of the Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, he pointed out: "No birth rate, no future". It is necessary to "invest" this trend for "to put Italy back in motion, starting from life, starting from the human being".
The Italian trend is not isolated, but responds to a generalized fact in Europe, a continent that is dying a little more every year, despite immigration. In Spain, for example, the Demographic Observatory of the CEU university institution warned a few days ago about the very low birth rate indicators in Spain, which have been dragging on for some time.
The issue is even more distressing, if possible, because a survey by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) recalled that Spanish women of childbearing age say they want to have a baby. "more than twice as many children as they have.".
Since many women would like to have more children, it is not idle to wonder what prevents them from doing so. The director of the University Observatory, Joaquín Leguina, alludes to the economic and labor situation. "The unemployment rates of the Spanish youth population are very high, wages are very low and many jobs are precarious. A reality that causes motherhood to be delayed and citizens have fewer children, thus decreasing the birth rate."
María Álvarez de las Asturias, of the Coincidir Institutehas gone even further, by requesting in www.omnesmag.com"a rethinking of the labor market" looking at the family, and also pointing to the reputation of the institution of marriage in our days. "Marriage gets a very bad press, and families that have always been pro-marriage have allowed themselves to be contaminated by this mentality that marriage is a complicated thing, and they don't encourage it either."
In delving into the answer to the question of why young people are marrying less and less, and getting older and older, Álvarez de las Asturias also proposes a personal and community reflection on the part of both families and the Church. Why don't they get married? "Because we're still doing terrible." states. "Because the remote preparation that John Paul II asked for, and later Benedict and Francis, we don't do it. There is no remote preparation. And we lose the children after First Communion, or at the most after Confirmation, until they reach the pre-marriage course, when perhaps they have been living together, have children... There is a space in which we do nothing"..
Some appreciate "watertight compartments"adds Álvarez de las Asturias on the Omnes website. "Youth ministry on the one hand, family ministry on the other... And Pope Francis has said that family ministry has to be the backbone of everything. It is from the family that the rest of the pastoral care is hung up..
Intense knee pains have forced the Pope to use a wheelchair for his meetings. In fact, the Vatican has indicated that the Pope, foreseeably, will continue to use that wheelchair and that for the time being there will be no changes in the agenda.
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.
Everything human should matter to us because, as Terence said, nothing human is alien to me. We must be down the streetWe are not aware of fashions, but we do know what is going on in the daily lives of those we have to talk to.
The Gospel of St. Mark relates in the fourth chapter the parable of the seed that grows by itself, then he narrates another parable, that of the mustard seed, at the end he specifies that with many similar parables he expounded the word to them, adapting it to their understanding. He explained everything to them in parables.
The images and topics of conversation that Christ uses in his teaching are the most varied: He speaks of pearls, treasures, lost coins, the sower, the wind that blows from the south, the fish of the Sea of Galilee, the mustard seed, the son who leaves home, the husband who arrives at the bride's house, a king who is crowned, the yoke of oxen, the field that a lord buys, the face of Caesar on the coin and thousands of other topics.
I believe that if we were to listen to the Maestro today, we could hear him draw divine wisdom while he talks about euros, Rosalía's latest song, the geopolitical situation of the world, the COVID's income from the pandemic or the Super Cup won by Real Madrid with a hat trick by Benzemá.
Let us say that the Lord takes the incarnation very seriously and when he decides to become man, he embraces everything human, looks at it with attention and draws lessons from everything he contemplates in order to, as the Gospel says, accommodate himself to its understanding. I am sure that his great teachers were, as it could not be otherwise, Mary and Joseph. The sharpness of our Mother and the silent depth of her husband knew how to see, and to make others see, much more; they knew, as St. Josemaría points out, how to discover that something divine that is enclosed in the details..
Centuries later the Second Vatican Council will specify:
The joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties of the people of our time, especially the poor and those who suffer, are at the same time the joys and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties of Christ's disciples. There is nothing truly human that does not find an echo in his heart.
In translation: Work and rest, sports, leisure, family and social life, technical progress and expressions of culture, family events and geopolitical movements, everything human, in short, should matter to us because, as Terence said, nothing human is alien to me.
In short, it is a matter of being at the end of the street, not pending fashions, but knowing what is going on in the daily lives of those to whom we have to talk.
In tennis there is a basic rule: You have to bend down. From above you can not hit the ball because the effect you need to give, either cut or lift requires the friction of the strings of the racket on the ball and that can not be done from the top down but the opposite. We could say the same about our preaching, it cannot be done from above, from a distance, but from the humility of those who lower themselves and make the effort to know, to touch, the most concrete reality, the day to day life of those to whom they have to speak. From there he can, he must, raise the ball to the sky, from the bottom to the top, otherwise it is impossible.
An example: St. Thérèse of Lisieux, from her cloister, was able to immerse herself in intimacy with God and at the same time remain very attached to the world for which she offered herself again and again. She, at the end of the street, heard about the progress of technology and knew how to discover something divine enclosed in it. This is how she expresses herself in her Story of a Soul:
We are in a century of inventions. Nowadays, it is no longer necessary to take the trouble to climb the steps of a staircase: in the houses of the rich, an elevator makes up for it advantageously. I would also like to find an elevator to raise me up to Jesus, for I am too small to climb the hard stairs of perfection. Then I searched in the Sacred Books for some indication of the elevator, the object of my desire, and I read these words coming from the mouth of Eternal Wisdom: He who is small, let him come to me.
That is why if we take seriously the people who listen to us, we must make an effort to know the reality in which they move, to understand what happens to them and to use this knowledge in our preaching, in short, to accommodate ourselves to the understanding of those who listen to us. When you are preparing your preaching, think: Who are the people who are going to listen to me, who are they, what happens to them, what concerns do they have, and only then, try to announce the Gospel to them with their own categories, incarnating the eternal word of Jesus Christ, then you will be a good instrument in their hands.
Andrea Mardegan comments on the readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter and Luis Herrera offers a brief video homily.
Andrea Mardegan / Luis Herrera-May 5, 2022-Reading time: 2minutes
The act of listening, in John's Gospel, often has the meaning of believing in the voice of God and obeying him. The first two disciples listen to the Baptist and follow Jesus. The Samaritans listen to Jesus and tell the woman that this is why they believe in him. Jesus says: "Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me possesses eternal life and does not incur judgment, but has already passed from death to life.". The stoners of the adulteress hear what Jesus says and go away, leaving their stones behind.
In the discourse of the Good Shepherd, Jesus speaks a lot about listening: the sheep listen to the shepherd, but not to the thieves and robbers, and those who are not of the sheepfold. "they will listen to my voice and become one flock, one shepherd". Then some of the Jews say that he is demon-possessed and ask: "Why do you listen to him?". Instead, Jesus says of his sheep: "listen to my voice" y "follow me". This is derived from the relationship that Jesus has with them: "I know them.". It is a knowledge so intimate and true that it moves Nathanael in his first encounter with him: "How do you know me?"and leads him to believe in Jesus and to follow him. The experience of the psalmist is repeated: "Lord, you probe me and know me...from afar you penetrate my thoughts...all my paths are familiar to you." The eternal life that Jesus gives to his sheep is the participation in his own life from the beginning, and the future security of love that lasts forever: "They shall not perish forever." They will not be lost because of their intrinsic weakness, but neither will they be lost because of any external intervention that tries to steal them: "No one shall snatch them out of my hand." It is the hand of Jesus that blesses and heals, the crucified and resurrected hand that, shown to Thomas, will bring him back to faith. The hand that catches us if we fall. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hand. The hand of the Son in which the Father has placed "everything" (Jn 3:35). It is the same hand of the Father, because "I and the Father are one".
We will not be torn from the hand of the Son nor from the hand of the Father by the persecutions of the synagogues, like those that the Jews unleashed against Paul and Barnabas out of envy when they saw the joy of the pagans converted by their words. Neither will the persecutions of the pagans, such as that of Diocletian, tear us from the hand of Jesus and the Father, "the great tribulation" who brought to the throne of the Lamb in heaven an immense multitude of people "that no one could count". Revelation quotes Isaiah but with the presence of the Lamb, the shepherd who leads us to the fountains of the waters of life, along with the ancient promise: "They shall neither hunger nor thirst anymore, neither shall the sun nor the heat hurt them... And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.".
Homily on the readings of the Fifth Sunday of Easter
The priest Luis Herrera Campo offers its nanomiliaa small one-minute reflection for these readings.
The U.S. Supreme Court offices in Washington on May 2, 2022, are looking lit up, following the leak of a draft majority opinion preparing the court to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision later this year.
"Faith deserves respect and honor: it has changed our lives."
Pope Francis focused his catechesis on Wednesday, May 4, on the figure of Eleazar and the honoring of faith, assuring "with great humility and firmness, precisely in our old age, that believing is not something 'for old people'".
As we enter the month of May, Pope Francis' General Audience on Wednesday, May 4, in St. Peter's Square, focused on the biblical figure of Eleazar and the honor of the faith: "On the path of catechesis on old age, today we meet a biblical figure named Eleazar, who lived during the time of the persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes. His figure gives us a testimony of the special relationship that exists between the fidelity of old age and the honor of faith. I would like to speak precisely of the honor of the faith, not only of the coherence, of the proclamation, of the endurance of the faith. The honor of faith is periodically under pressure, even violent pressure, from the culture of the dominators, who try to debase it by treating it as an archaeological find, an old superstition, an anachronistic stubbornness".
"The biblical story," the Pope continues, referring to the story of Eleazar, "narrates the episode of the Jews forced by a decree of the king to eat meat sacrificed to idols. When it was the turn of Eleazar, who was an old man highly esteemed by all, the king's officials advised him to make a simulation, that is, to pretend to eat the meat without actually doing so. In this way Eleazar would have been saved, and - they said - in the name of friendship he would have accepted their gesture of compassion and affection. After all - they insisted - it was a minimal, insignificant gesture".
Francis emphasizes this point, consistency with the faith is fundamental: "The calm and firm response of Eleazar is based on an argument that strikes us. The central point is this: dishonoring the faith in old age, in order to gain a few days, is not comparable to the inheritance that it must leave to the young, for generations to come. An old man who has lived in the coherence of his own faith all his life, and now adapts himself to pretend to repudiate it, condemns the new generation to think that the whole faith has been a fiction, an outer covering that can be abandoned thinking that it can be preserved in one's own intimacy. Not so, says Eleazar. Such behavior does not honor faith, nor does it honor God. And the effect of this external trivialization will be devastating for the interiority of young people".
"It is precisely old age that appears here as the decisive and irreplaceable place of this witness. An old person who, because of his vulnerability, agrees to consider the practice of faith irrelevant, would make young people believe that faith has no real relationship with life. It would appear to them, from the beginning, as a set of behaviors that, if necessary, can be simulated or disguised, because none of them is so important for life".
Pope Francis alluded to "the ancient heterodox gnosis," which "theorized precisely this: that faith is a spirituality, not a practice; a force of the mind, not a way of life. Faithfulness and honor of the faith, according to this heresy, have nothing to do with the behaviors of life, the institutions of the community, the symbols of the body. The seduction of this perspective is strong, because it interprets, in its own way, an indisputable truth: that faith can never be reduced to a set of dietary norms or social practices. The problem is that the Gnostic radicalization of this truth nullifies the realism of Christian faith, which must always pass through the incarnation. And it also empties its witness, which shows the concrete signs of God in the life of the community and resists the perversions of the mind through the gestures of the body".
Therefore, he affirmed that "the Gnostic temptation always remains current. In many trends in our society and culture, the practice of faith suffers a negative representation, sometimes in the form of cultural irony, sometimes with a hidden marginalization. The practice of faith is seen as a useless and even harmful externality, as an antiquated residue, as a masked superstition. In short, a thing for old people. The pressure that this indiscriminate criticism exerts on the younger generation is strong. True, we know that the practice of faith can become a soulless externality. But in itself it is not at all. Perhaps it is up to us elders to restore to the faith its honor. The practice of faith is not the symbol of our weakness, but rather the sign of its strength. We are no longer children-we are not joking when we set out on the Lord's path!"
The Holy Father concludes by saying that "faith deserves respect and honor: it has changed our lives, it has purified our minds, it has taught us to adore God and love our neighbor. It is a blessing for everyone! We will not trade faith for a few quiet days. We will demonstrate, with much humility and firmness, precisely in our old age, that believing is not something "for old people". And the Holy Spirit, who makes all things new, will gladly help us".
The presentation of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations and Native Vocations Day The celebration of the World Youth Day, which the Spanish Church is celebrating on May 8, has been a sign of unity and common vocation in the Church.
On May 8, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations and the Day of Native Vocations will be celebrated this year under the motto, "Leave your mark, be a witness". A campaign in which the Episcopal Commission for the Clergy and Seminaries, the Spanish Conference of Religious (CONFER), Pontifical Missionary Works (PMS) and the Spanish Conference of Secular Institutes (CEDIS) are united.
This unity has been the keynote of the presentation of this campaign that José María Calderón, national director of OMP and Sergio Requena, director of the Episcopal Subcommission for Seminaries have explained in a press conference together with four vocational testimonies: the Cordovan Franciscan Manuel Jesús Madueño Moreno, Inmaculada Fernández, member of the Secular Institute Secular Servants of Jesus Christ Priest, Daniel Navarro Berrios, deacon of the Diocese of Getafe and Sister Justina Banda, a member of the Missionary Daughters of Calvary. Justina Banda, a member of the Missionary Daughters of Calvary.
As Sergio Requena pointed out, "on this day we pray for vocations and for the Christian community to take care of these vocations" and he also pointed out that the fact that several institutions come together on this day for vocations is a joy "because in the Church there is nothing that is indifferent to us".
For his part, the director of OMP Spain recalled that May 3 marked the first centenary of the Pontifical Work for the Propagation of the Faith becoming the work of the Pope, and therefore Pontifical. Calderon wanted to emphasize the need for "the first evangelizers of the territories that are incorporated into the Church to be the natives themselves, people who know the culture, language and tradition of these places.
The footprints I now follow
The presentation of the day was followed by the testimonies of four people with different vocations in the Church: priesthood, consecrated life and a consecrated laywoman. Sister Justina Banda, a native of a Zimbabwean village where Spanish missionaries have been working for the past 50 years, gave a particularly moving testimony.
Seeing the work of these missionaries, Justina considered her vocation. Her father refused and her mother, illiterate, was able to get her to go to the convent by asking her brother to write the letter of permission. Today Justina follows in the footsteps of those Spanish nuns who came to my town, cared for babies and the hungry and evangelized. Now, as a missionary Daughter of Calvary, "we are there where the Calvaries of the world are: the sick with AIDS, orphans... Thanks to this journey we know that evangelization must always be in communion", she concluded.
CARF joins this day
This Day of Prayer for Vocations and the Day of Native Vocations has a special resonance for the Roman Academic Center Foundation. This Foundation has launched a campaign entitled "Let no vocation be lost". with the objective of raising sufficient funds for 20 seminarians from around the world can carry out their studies in Rome and Pamplona. CARF is aware that many vocations are born today in African or American countries, but the lack of material means prevents some of these vocations from reaching the seminaries and encourages Christians to "think that behind every priestly vocation, there is another call from the Lord, who asks us to ensure the means for their formation".
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies such as cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting, or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The storage or technical access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The storage or technical access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
Technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.Storage or technical access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a request, voluntary compliance by your Internet service provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved solely for this purpose cannot be used to identify you.
Marketing
The storage or technical access is necessary to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or multiple websites for similar marketing purposes.
Titus Brandsma, second patron saint of Catholic journalists?
