Does it make sense to study theology today?

Tomás TrigoWithout the hope of Heaven, we would not take a step in life".

Does it make sense to study theology today?

The present times pose more and more ethical and moral challenges. It is enough to take a look at war, poverty, suffering and death, euthanasia, aggressions against life, ecology, sexuality and family, and of course, faith and transcendence. Omnes has contacted women and men who are grateful for the formation they received at Omnes. Higher Institute of Religious Sciences (ISCR) of the University of Navarra. And they tell about it.

Rafael Miner-April 23rd, 2022-Reading time: 11 minutes

The great debates of our time are largely ethical and moral. There can be little doubt about this. And one of the problems in facing the challenges of our time is that many of us are quite illiterate in matters of faith and morals. While programs, courses and tutorials on economics, artificial intelligence and robotics, health, body care, or business, to cite just a few examples, multiply, we are lame in giving reason for our faith, if we have not already almost forgotten it, or anesthetized it, and confusion and unhappiness arise.

"I am not a professor, nor a teacher, nor a catechist, I am a mere layman. Why am I taking a distance learning course in moral theology at the age of 55? Even I am surprised," José Antonio Tovar, a Spaniard living in Frankfurt (Germany), told Omnes. "For about five years now, and I imagine that by the grace of God, I have been undergoing a process of conversion (not gradual, but gradual). It's not that I was previously a little pagan, but almost, almost...", he admits.

José Antonio Tovar is currently pursuing "the diploma in Theology Moral in online (in post modern terminology), online (in modern terminology) or distance learning (in classical terminology, which I prefer), and the truth is that I am very, very happy," he says.

How did you come to enroll in the ISCR of the University of Navarra? He tells us about it later, because it has its crux, but first Professor Tovar confesses honestly: "Without having the slightest idea of what moral theology was, and without having read practically the contents of the diploma, I enrolled. And the curious thing is that my laziness did not protest, nor has it protested in the least. And I do not regret it at all, because it has given me the answer to many things I had been wondering about. And I loved it and I love it, even if I finish it in a couple of weeks".

"One of the consequences of this conversion process was the imperative need to read things related to the Catholic religion and the need to acquire more knowledge and to deepen the knowledge I already had," explains Tovar. And on this point the interviewees agree, although each one explains it in his own way.

A Colombian woman in Germany

Carolina Lizarazo, a Colombian, has been in Germany for 23 years, "and now I am German at heart," she admits, "because I am still Colombian, and I work as a full professor at the University of Stuttgart, in the Department of Languages. Besides that, I am a wife, a mother, and I have my obligations as any married woman, with my family," she says.

"Precisely because of this, and because of the online methodology, the programs at the University of Navarra were a perfect choice for me. I have been fortunate enough to have taken two diplomas, one in Biblical Theology, and I have just finished the Diploma in Theology. This semester I'm getting back into this adventure, and I'm starting the Diploma in Moral Theology," he adds.

"These studies, the diplomas, have meant a before and after for me," Carolina explains. "Since I began my studies, my faith life, my knowledge of the Church, of Sacred Scripture, have made my faith, my work with young people, with students, in my normal life, have changed significantly. I studied social communication and journalism in Colombia, and although I always participated in the life of the Church, in groups, and I was confronted with issues of faith, the programs have given me a more solid formation, grounded, clear, faithful to the Magisterium, to the Church. And this has helped me a lot to apply and transmit in other environments, to give reasons for my faith", emphasizes this Colombian woman.

"Serious, scientific, theological perspective."

Carolina Lizarazo puts it this way: "I thought I knew the Bible, until I began to do the Diploma in Biblical Theology, and those studies gave me a serious, scientific, theological, spiritual perspective, and helped me to know more and have more love for the Holy Scriptures. Many times we do not know much about the Word of God, and for me it was a wonderful discovery. As St. Jerome says, not knowing the Scriptures is not knowing Jesus Christ, and that sometimes happens to us".

The experience of the Diploma in Theology was "a bit different," says the Latin American journalist, who is now also a German. "I did it during the pandemic, it gave me a lot of hope, and it was a great help. Christology, Mariology, ecclesiology, for me it was especially interesting because of the process that is taking place in the Church, and the process that the German Church is going through. It has produced in me a renewed love for the Church. Thanks be to God and to the diploma, which has motivated me a lot".

Mother of a family in Navarra

From Colombia and Germany we return to Spain. Specifically to Navarra. Mara Baron is a mother of a large family, with 6 children. "We live in Marcilla (Navarra), and my husband and I work in a restaurant called Villa Marcilla, in Marcilla de Navarra. I took a diploma in Moral Theology two years ago and I think I will enroll next year in another one that is still undecided. The experience was wonderful," says Mara Baron.

The studies, even if they were online, as these diplomas are, are not without difficulties, but they are overcome. Mara comments it this way. "Although it took me a while to get into the habit of studying, I really enjoyed every subject. I simply enrolled because I wanted to learn more and better, and I managed to broaden my knowledge while opening up an exciting world of searching for the Truth for the good of mankind".

He continues: "The moral cases in the end were very useful to me, as to generalize all aspects. I loved the Bioethics course, which is very current, where topics such as euthanasia, abortion and life, in vitro fertilization, etc. were addressed. And also the subject of Sexuality, marriage and family". Referring to the teachers, Mara affirms that "D. Tomás Trigo, with whom we have a great friendship, helped me a lot, especially in the subject of Ethics, which was the first one. It was hard for me, the knowledge, the vocabulary, etc., but I received help, also from D. José María Pardo".

Catechesis and university environment

Mara Baron explains that "she has been in Marcilla for some time now, in the First Communion catechesis, and that her children are between 26 years old - the eldest is getting married next week - and 14 years old". How do you manage to simultaneously take care of a large family, run a restaurant and take an online diploma? I did it mainly because I had a little more time because my children were older," she answers, "and since I had university students, I could meet them at the library. That way I enjoyed the university environment, which I couldn't at my age, and I didn't have the option of studying at the University of Navarra; I studied in Madrid."

"All in all, the experience was wonderful," he concludes. "I think the diploma [in Moral Theology] is very well worked and explained. I would put some more online classes, for some explanations," he suggests, "that because of the guides or books, are not fully understood." "Personally, I was fortunate to be able to benefit from the library of Theology and to be able to ask my doubts, which were many at the beginning.

From Managua (Nicaragua)

Nicaraguan Lucía Hurtado introduces herself as follows: "I am simply a secular woman, who continues in search of the Truth - on a path that began with my husband in 2006 -, to be closer to Him also through knowledge; who rediscovers that religion today has an important public value to fulfill, and that she can make some contribution to highlight it for the common good".

After a while, he recalls a Friday afternoon in Pamplona. "I knew little about the Unav [University of Navarra] Theology faculty, and it caught my attention to see priests coming and going around their campus and bus station, so I decided to go and see where they were coming from; I had already visited the beautiful Blessed Sacrament chapel in the Amigos building earlier. I walked along those beautiful paths and arrived at the ISCR building, and oh sadness, when I entered and saw no one, they had already closed, I thought. But no, there was Natalia Santoro, academic secretary, who attended me as if she had already been waiting for me".

"It was an easy, pleasant and fruitful conversation," Lucía Hurtado recalls to Omnes, "to the point that shortly after returning to my country I took the brochure on the Online Diploma in Moral Theology, and chose to enroll in the Marriage, Sexuality and Family class, with Prof. D. José María Pardo, which she thought would be the best for my work with my community Marriages in Love, whose motto is 'Love your spouse as yourself'. I spoke with my husband Sergio beforehand and he was enthusiastic, after all, we have served together in this movement that has been meeting in the Santa Marta church in Managua since 2008", reveals this Nicaraguan mother of a family.

"It was difficult to adapt to the online methodology, when all my previous education had been with paper, pencil and books in hand. However, I liked the class so much that I decided to enroll in another and then another. My heart and intellect were captivated by videos and texts prepared with the highest professionalism, humanity and modernity, an ideal combination of positive sciences, morals, ethics, human values, religion, theology and faith, which made me reflect and put in place my ideas and concepts about the world, God and men", he adds.

Also Pedagogy

"I finished Moral Theology and just this February I received my diploma, even I couldn't believe it, I was finally going to have my weekends," concludes Lucia Hurtado, only to comment that she has signed up for another diploma, that of Pedagogy.

In fact, Hurtado then received "an email from ISCR offering a discount to those who already had a diploma and wanted to study Developmental Pedagogy of Faith, and I, a lover of discounts, fell into the trap and now I am happily taking my first class with Prof. José Luis Pastor. I'm still juggling to get into the readings, many things happen in my environment that steal my concentration, but when I do I don't want to let them go," she says. What the teachers and tutors do at ISCR "is very valuable, necessary, welcome and appreciated," he says.

"I have learned more than I imagined."

We now return to the initial thoughts of José Antonio Tovar, from Frankfurt, and his satisfaction with the Diploma in Moral Theology that he is studying. "I am very, very happy. For the structure, the content of the course itself, the flexibility, the faculty (especially with Father Tomás) and for something quite difficult to achieve, which is the fact that they have managed to make me feel part of the University of Navarra, even if it is a very small piece. Besides, I am surprised because I have learned much more than I had imagined at the beginning. The truth is that I have nothing but good words".

"During the course I asked myself," reveals José Antonio Tovar, "whether it is better to take a course in ethics or morals when you are 20 or 55, and the truth is that I don't have a very clear answer. At 20 you can acquire tools that can serve you as a background for life, but at 55 the background and experience you have acquired helps you to reflect and go deeper and allows you to enjoy (a word highly valued by postmodern society) and value much more all the content of what you read, listen to and share. Ah, also the people".

The option for Moral Theology

And we give him the floor to tell how he decided to take the Diploma in Moral Theology, a very personal story, which he evokes in detail, and which he considers "a miracle, for others a trifle". It is the following, and Tovar tells it in this way, which we necessarily extract:

"One of the facets in which I felt and still feel like a functional illiterate is in everything related to the Old Testament, and that despite having gone to a Catholic school, having belonged in my youth to a youth group (excuse the redundancy) and having received all the necessary catechesis for all the sacraments that can be received (except the catechesis of baptism, which for having received it with two days did not give too much time, ah and the catechesis of the priestly order, of course)."

"Well, wanting to fill that gap (or that ocean) of ignorance concerning the Old Testament, I thought: Why not take a course in Biblical Theology?

And at the click of a button I arrived at the distance learning diploma (I still prefer the classical-scholastic terminology), offered by the Unav.

And like Julius Caesar: I read, reviewed and re-read the course content.

And I made up my mind.

[...] But time went on and on...

And I almost, almost forgot. Of the course, I mean".

"However, with the Germanic efficiency of the course managers, I received an email one fine day reminding me that the registration deadline was coming up soon. My laziness was quite startled. Well, a lot. I went back to read the program, I went back to review the conditions of the course and not knowing if I should do it or not... Nothing, I asked God for help. And in a prayer I told him frankly: What do I do? Do I do the course or do I let it pass? Do I do it now, next semester, next year, or next century?"

A painting by Rembrandt

"And then something amazing happened. For me a miracle, for others a trifle. A week ago I had read a book that had made quite an impression on me: 'The return of the prodigal son, meditations before a Rembrandt painting', by Henri Neuwen (let's leave the author's career aside) and I had been thinking and reflecting all week about the painting, which I had never seen in my life. I had even put it as my whatsapp picture and wallpaper on my cell phone...".

Well, there my laziness and I were in front of the computer deciding whether or not to take the blessed (sorry) course of Biblical Theology and just before formalizing the registration, my laziness faintly suggested to me: "Come on, read again the brochure with the subjects and content of the course... And then I was wrong: Come on, read again the brochure with the subjects and content of the course... And then I was wrong. And then I clicked on the wrong link... And then right under my nose appeared on the computer screen, not the program of the Biblical Theology course, but that of Moral Theology".

"And the truth is that in that second I was petrified: The image of the brochure of the course of Moral Theology was precisely... Yes... the painting of Rembrandt, the same of my whatsapp, the same as my screensaver, the same as the background of my mobile... The same that I had seen for the first time seven days before... And at that very moment and although it seems silly, I had absolutely no doubt that this was the course I had to take. And that it was the answer to my prayer. [...] And I enrolled". José Antonio Tovar has no regrets because, as he said above, "it has given me the answer to many things I had been wondering about".

Two reasons to study theology

As you can imagine, connecting with these Religious Studies students has taken a few days. In the meantime, we have been able to rescue some reflection and some data.

Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, auxiliary bishop of Madrid and president of the Episcopal Subcommission for Universities and Culture of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE), in an article in Omnes. The question he asked himself was: Why study theology if one does not intend to be or is not a priest or religious?

Their answers were, in synthesis: 1) "because a baptized person, aware of the treasure that is the professed faith, usually wants to know it more and better than in the first catechesis. Theology helps to live the faith better, to appreciate it more, to defend it from the attacks of the dominant culture, unfriendly to Christian life; and of course, to be trained for the apostolic mission proper to every baptized person, in the family, profession and social life in general".

And 2) "to be able to exercise offices or missions in the Church that have often been carried out by priests, but which are not reserved to them. There are many," he said, and cited some of them, mentioning, for example, the teaching of theology and religion classes in many centers.

The ISCR of Navarra

In a recent interview with OmnesThe deputy director of the ISCR of the University of Navarra, Professor Tomás Trigo, pointed out: "We are in a historical moment that cries out for all Christians to have a solid and profound doctrinal formation, [...], in line with cultural changes".

On May 1, this year, this ISCRwhich has a blended learning modality, is opening its admission period. As Professor Trigo explained, these Institutes of Religious Sciences were created to facilitate this formation through a specific academic itinerary that are the Baccalaureate and the Licentiate in Religious Sciences, official titles of the Holy See. In addition, he has made "a great effort" to have a Collection of Manuals of the ISCR of the University of Navarra (EUNSA).

In addition, the educational offer has "its own degrees with distance mode 100 %, which we call 'online diplomas', focused on thematic areas of theology, with other subjects that complement the training". The Diploma in Moral Theology, for example, is one of them. "Currently, more than 450 students from various countries in America and Europe, as well as Spain, are studying with us," said Professor Trigo.

Young Ratzinger's companions

In the gestation of "that great theologian who would become Pope," Benedict XVI, today Pope Emeritus, as Peter Seewald recently wrote, we find the Freising period, in which "the very young Ratzinger studied with companions who, like him, aspired to be ordained priests," recalled Bishop Martínez Camino.

"Instead, in Fürstenried, he had lay male and female fellow students, who helped each other in academic work. Among them, the case of Esther Betz, daughter of the founder of a large German newspaper, student of Theology since 1946 and later assistant to Professor Schmaus, is striking."

"This woman, a businesswoman, finally, like her father, in the world of publishing and journalism, maintained her friendship with her fellow student until her death, even when he was already Pope. The correspondence between the two theologians is one of the most original sources of Seewald's biography", recalled Monsignor Martínez Camino.

Educational revolution

More than three years ago, as recalled in this portal, Pope Francis gave the starting signal for an educational revolution. "The time has come for ecclesiastical studies to receive that wise and courageous renewal that is required for a missionary transformation of a Church going forth from that rich patrimony of deepening and orientation," the Holy Father pointed out in the Apostolic Constitution Veritatis Gaudium.

"Faced with the new stage of evangelization, [...], these studies must not only offer places and itineraries for the qualified formation of priests, consecrated persons and committed lay people, but constitute a kind of providential cultural laboratory," said Pope Francis, who referred to the challenge of "a courageous cultural revolution."

Tomás TrigoWithout the hope of Heaven, we would not take a step in life".

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"Bring the children, the little children closer to the elderly, always bring them closer, so that they know that this is our flesh, that this has made it possible for us to be here now, please do not push the elderly away." This was Pope Francis' request to the parents at the audience on Wednesday, April 20.

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Cardinal Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, mccj, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, focused the morning speeches of the second day of the conference. 51 Consecrated Life Week which will be held in Madrid from April 20 to 23. Several hundred people, many of them young people, attended the conference in person. religious men and women.

In addition, thousands of registrations have been received from communities of religious life from all over the world who follow this congress through its online modality.

The President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue focused his speech on "Interreligious dialogue as a space for encounter and a commitment to the future", a reality he spoke to Omnes about, as well as some current issues.

In these days, we are witnessing confrontations in which the need for religious confessions to promote reconciliation and not war is evident. How can we carry out this commitment to peace that the Pope asks of us and which is increasingly necessary?

-Since the beginning of his pontificate, the Pope has stressed that the Church is a field hospital that it has to go out to meet others and be converted, inviting the different groups, both the different Christian communions and other religious traditions, to work to be artisans of peace.

It was very surprising that the Pope, during his blessing Urbi et orbi last Easter Sunday cited these conflicts as the fruit of what he calls "a world war in pieces".

It is impressive to see a world really wounded, divided, confronted by interests. Divided, also, by fundamentalism, terrorism, abuses of power, the lack of human rights, the lack of respect for human dignity... This means that, never as today, we need everyone, in a climate of relationship, to know how to collaborate to create this better world that we all want.

It surprises me negatively to see how almost the only cry that invokes peace and tries to create this relationship in favor of peace is that of the Holy Father with some religious leaders; while in other areas of world life war is invoked more. It is necessary to make the effort to look for these means: tables of dialogue, meeting places... for peace. For this reason the theme of dialogue is fundamental; we need it. All that the Holy Father and the Church are doing in this regard is essential.

In recent years, we have seen or known of many such gestures of dialogue in the Church but, Is this commitment to 'openness to the other' reduced to these public gestures?

-Authentic dialogue is the dialogue of daily life. It is a dialogue that is formed in daily life, in the neighborhood, in coexistence..., in those thousand ways in which we live a climate of communion between people, coming from different realities and conditions, to create this climate of peace that is basically the ambition of every human being as God has created us.

We must collaborate so that every human being can enjoy his or her dignity and, together, work to make social cohesion possible for the benefit of all, so that we can promote the common good.

In this climate of communion and bearing in mind your participation in these Days, how do you value the presence of so many religious communities in places where they are almost the only presence of the Church?

-The presence of religious life in these places is commendable and should be appreciated. There is a recognition everywhere, both of different cultural realities and of different religious traditions, of this great respect for religious communities that are in the most remote places and that live totally at the service of others.

We have the example of the 'universal brother', Charles de Foucauld and who lived in the desert, in Tamanrasset. There, from his solitude, from the remoteness of the desert, he gave the Church this possibility of returning to its origins: to the importance of brotherhood and sorority made of the relationship of each one with God and the relationship between us.

Now that we are immersed in a synodal journey that focuses on this relational aspect of dialogue, how is this synod being lived in the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue?

-We have had several meetings and we have realized that to speak of synodality is to speak of dialogue.

We have a series of projects so that, in these two years of joint reflection and growth, the role of the Christian community in relation to other religious traditions is focused on creating this journey together for the good of humanity.

It is important not to forget that the Good Shepherd knows that there are sheep that are not of our fold and we have to go to those sheep farther away.

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"Three images of mercy in the Church". Second Sunday of Easter, Mercy Sunday.

Andrea Mardegan comments on the readings for the Second Sunday of Easter and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.

Andrea Mardegan-April 21, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Mercy Sunday offers us three images of the Church. The first is the third portrait of the Christian community in Acts. It is noticeable that it grows visibly, closely united with the apostles who perform signs and wonders on the sick. They are brought in multitudes, with those tormented by unclean spirits, to be healed, even if only by the shadow of Peter who passes by. And all are healed. The mercy of God in the early Church is manifested in the care of the weak and fragile thanks to a power that the apostles received from God. And through this mercy the Church grows. The sun is Christ, who enlightens Peter whose paternal shadow covers, protects and heals with the strength that emanates from the sun.

John is exiled to Patmos: it is a time of persecution, perhaps that of Diocletian (95 A.D.). In his words, for the only time in the New Testament, the eighth day is called "the eighth day".the day of the Lord"., dies dominicusSunday. On that day John is taken by the Spirit of the Lord who asks him to write down the visions he receives. The book will have the task of comforting the Church that already has decades of experience in which, to the portraits of serene beauty of the first chapters of Acts, he has added accounts of hard trials and persecutions. God's mercy consoles His Church in trials, with John's visions throughout Revelation.

The Gospel takes us back to the night of Easter. The nascent Church is locked up for fear of the Jews. Jesus manifests himself and brings with him the gift of peace. He shows the signs of the Passion on his body to confirm their identity, and he breathes on them the Holy Spirit, the Creator: the Spirit is the gift of the Cross and of the Resurrection, and it is he who brings about the forgiveness of sins, the power of which Jesus gives to the Church that night. The possibility of not forgiving can be understood by what Jesus said about the Paraclete at the Last Supper: "...".When He comes to demonstrateá the guilt of the world in regard to sin... because they do not believe in me". It is the sin against the Holy Spirit, the closing of the heart that does not allow the light of Christ to enter. Yet the story of Thomas, eight days later, demonstrates Jesus' willingness to go out to meet everyone and to transform the obstinacy in not believing and not trusting in what they have seen into the highest act of faith in the entire New Testament. Thomas also wanted to look and also to touch. Thanks to his weakness and obstinacy in wanting to see the Risen One, we can believe today supported by his testimony and receive the beatitude and peace of contact with the wounds of Christ that the saints loved so much, and receive from him forgiveness and mercy for our wounds.

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Custodianship of the elderly, a "matter of honor," says Pope Francis

The Pope said in St. Peter's Square, resuming his catechesis on old age and commenting on the fourth commandment of the Decalogue, that "honoring one's father and mother" and "honoring the elderly and caring for them" is "a matter of dignity and honor", and this is what we must pass on to the younger generations.

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"This commandment does not refer only to biological parents, but to the respect and care that should be given to the generations that precede us, that is, to all the elderly. Moreover, let us consider that it is not only a matter of 'honoring' the elderly by meeting their material needs but, above all, of 'honoring' them - of 'dignifying' them - with love, closeness and listening," Pope Francis continued.

"Unfortunately, the elderly are often the object of ridicule, misunderstanding and contempt. They even become victims of violence, because they are considered to be discarded material. For this reason, it is important that we transmit to the younger generations that love for life must always be shown, in all its stages, from conception to its natural end, and includes in a special way 'honoring the life lived' by our elders and honoring it with tenderness and respect," the Pope added.

"This special love that opens the way in the form of honor - that is, tenderness and respect at the same time - destined for old age is sealed by God's commandment," the Roman Pontiff noted. "'Honor father and mother' is a solemn commitment, the first of the 'second table' of the Ten Commandments."

"It is not only about one's own father and mother," the Holy Father specified. "It is about the generation and the generations that precede it, whose farewell can also be slow and prolonged, creating a time and a space of long-lasting coexistence with the other ages of life. In other words, it is about the old age of life."

"We receive love, we return love."

Regarding the concept of "honor," the Pope wanted to emphasize that "honor is a good word to frame this area of restitution of love that concerns the elderly. That is to say, we have received love from parents and grandparents and now we return this love to them, to the elderly, to grandparents. Today we have discovered the term 'dignity', to indicate the value of respect and care for the life of all. Dignity, here, is substantially equivalent to honor: honoring the father and mother, honoring the elderly and recognizing the dignity they have," he said.

In Buenos Aires

In his address, Francis recalled his visits to the elderly and senior citizens in the Argentine capital. "I tell you something personal: in Buenos Aires I liked to visit the old people's homes. I often went there and visited each one. I remember once I asked a lady: 'How many children do you have' - 'I have four, all married, with grandchildren'. And she started telling me about the family. 'And do they come?" -'Yes, they come all the time!' When I left the room, the nurse, who had overheard, said to me: 'Father, you have told a lie to cover for your children. For six months now no one has been coming!'

"This is discarding the elderly, it is thinking that the elderly are throwaway material. Please, this is a grave sin. This is the first great commandment, and the only one that indicates the prize: 'Honor father and mother and you will have long life on earth,'" the Pontiff stressed.

"This commandment to honor the elders gives us a blessing, which manifests itself in this way: 'You will have long life. Please guard the elderly. And if they lose their heads, guard them too because they are the presence of history, the presence of my family, and thanks to them I am here, we can all say it: thanks to you, grandfather and grandmother, I am alive. Please, do not leave them alone".

"A true cultural revolution"

"And this, of caring for the elderly, is not a question of cosmetics or plastic surgery, no. Rather, it is a question of honor, which must transform the education of young people regarding life and its phases. Rather, it is a matter of honor, which must transform the education of young people regarding life and its phases."

"The love for the human that is common to us, and includes 'honor for life lived,' is not a matter for the elderly," the Pope concluded. "Rather, it is an ambition that will enlighten the youth who inherit its best qualities. May the wisdom of God's Spirit grant us to open the horizon of this authentic cultural revolution with the necessary energy."

The authorFrancisco Otamendi

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Since its inception, Harambee, an initiative born of the canonization of St. Josemaría Escrivá, inspired by this vision, has promoted educational initiatives in Africa and about Africa, with development projects in sub-Saharan Africa and communication and awareness-raising activities in the rest of the world. Its president, Antonio Hernández Deus, highlights in this interview for Omnes the commitment to these fields of action: education, health, promotion of women and professional development of this NGO, which has developed more than a hundred projects in 22 African countries with a key target: African women.

For more than 10 years Harambee has been awarding prizes to African women leaders in different fields who work for women in Africa. Why did this award come about?

- This award was created to make visible the objectives of HarambeeThe first is to demonstrate that the women of Sub-Saharan Africa have talent and ability, and what they need in some cases is a little help to develop them.

With this award we want to highlight the trajectory of some women who have succeeded in their country. We have already awarded 14 African women from different professional fields, all of them have promoted initiatives in the service of their country and for that reason they have received this award.

In recent years we have had the sponsorship of René Furterer, which has helped considerably to consolidate this award.

Why not focus on a "welfare" approach to African women?

- Care for African women is necessary, but it is already done by other NGOs. We prefer to show the smile of Africa and for that reason we focus our work on long-term projects.

There are different ways to help in Africa. We can help by giving a fish to feed them, or by providing fishing rods so that they can get food, or by teaching them how to make fishing rods with the materials they have available; this last way of helping is the one we develop. Those smiles of satisfaction that we receive from the Africans, for having achieved with their own means what they need with a little help, is our great motivation to continue working for African women and for Africa.

What differentiates Harambee from other projects for women in Africa?

- There are many other entities that help women in Africa. What sets us apart from other organizations is how we approach development aid.

Our projects are promoted and implemented by the Africans themselves and are not intended to be aid-dependent, but rather to finance themselves in the future. We focus our field of action on education, health, promotion of women and professional development.

The process by which projects are carried out also defines our identity to a large extent. First of all, people from Sub-Saharan Africa detect problems and propose specific projects to Harambee. From Harambee we study the feasibility and decide which ones to support, taking into account the possibilities of financing and fundraising that we can undertake. These projects are managed and executed by the beneficiaries themselves.

From Harambee we ensure that we provide the aid that is really necessary. To avoid deviations or inefficiencies, we look for local altruistic collaborators, who accompany the projects and guarantee that the necessary documentation is gathered in order to be able to remit the amounts requested for its execution. Once the project has been approved for implementation, Harambee ensures that it is carried out as planned and justifies the expenditure to the funder.

Although we work in the short and medium term, we always make sure that all projects have continuity in the future; that is why we are a Development NGO (NGDO).

Women awarded by Harambee

Since its inception, we have seen, among the awarded women, educators, doctors, economists... women who are real leaders in their country and above all concerned about education. Are education and equal opportunities the key to the African continent?

- Yes, as we have seen in Harambee during these 20 years, education is the key to improve people. And improving a person's education improves his family, his environment and his country. Moreover, seeing the example of others is very inspiring. Especially for women, who in some areas of Sub-Saharan Africa are the most forgotten.

In Harambee ONGD we believe that we must give opportunities to all Africans to move their country forward. But women need more help to achieve this. They are the hope of Africa.

Do you think they are also an example for European women?

- That's right, women who overcome seemingly insurmountable difficulties and break into new areas are undoubtedly an example. In addition, African women stand out especially because they transmit hope and optimism, values that are much needed today.

Do we still have a "charitable" vision of the African continent, as if everything was "susceptible to help" instead of considering, for example, many traits of its life: family, appreciation for children, etc., as desirable and imitable?

- In addition to what you mention about family, children, tribal solidarity..., we believe that Africa has a lot to teach us. When you visit Africa, the first thing that strikes you is the number of smiling people you meet. They know how to overcome their difficulties with joy and creativity. This way of living teaches us on the old continent to regain our youth.

Irene Kyamummi. Rural health in Uganda Related News

"More than 300,000 children die each year in Africa from fake medicines."

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Cardinal Farrell: "Lay movements must feel an integral part of the Church".

Kevin Farrell, Prefetto del Dicastero per i Laici, la Famiglia e la Vita, ha concesso un'intervista a Omnes dove parla dei movimenti e delle nuove comunità nella Chiesa.

Giovanni Tridente-April 20, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Testo originale del articolo in inglese qui
Traduzione: Lino Bertuzzi

The Vatican will host the annual meeting of moderators of federations, ecclesial movements and new communities, which will focus on work as a place of sanctification and civil witness for all the faithful. On its part, the Pontifical University of Santa Croce hosted a study day also dedicated to the movements, in a theological perspective, reflecting on the aspects of the charism, of the battesimo and of the mission.

The Prefect of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, responsible for movements and new communities, spoke on the occasion.

Eminenza, why are movements and new communities important in the Church?

-Ecclesial movements, lay groups and new communities are so important in the world in which we live and in the secular culture that characterizes us, because they carry an energy, a grace, a spirit through which they can more easily communicate the Word of God to our contemporaries. In support, the movements are born to capture and carry the message of the Gospel to all people, not only with words, but also through the testimony of life in work and in daily life. This is the essence of the movements.

What prospects should these groups have in the light of the New Evangelization?

- It is essential that the whole Church realizes the importance of the movements for today's world. We live in a reality in which these groups carry practically the weight of evangelization. They are an integral part of the Church and have the commitment to fully live their mission, as well as the mission of the Church itself.

What is the common denominator that makes these movements a unitary fruit of evangelization?

-These realities must collaborate and work together in the dioceses for preaching, for the New Evangelization. And there is no movement that is better than any other.
It is always the Holy Spirit that has inspired the charisma in the founders and moderators, but then the bulk of the testimony comes from all the other adherents, because the founder is the specific person who has received the gift, but the movement is much closer to the center of the organization.

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Family

La coppia ideale

A couple is formed by two imperfect people, so the result of the union will be an imperfect relationship. The success of such a relationship is given by the effort, by the struggle against themselves, that man and woman want to make to improve themselves personally.

José María Contreras-April 20, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

Testo originale del articolo in inglese qui
Traduzione: Lino Bertuzzi

Fin da piccoli, nelle storie da bambini ci hanno raccontato di coppie che si amano molto e senza difficoltà, dove tutto è meraviglioso e senza che nella loro vita ci siano problemi di alcun tipo.

Later, the romantic cinema has taught us the same thing.

Even today, it is said that out there, somewhere, there is someone with whom you can live peacefully and happily. Someone with whom love doesn't cost you anything.

This is extremely attractive, but absolutely false. We must be aware that, even if we could meet all the men or all the women in the world, living with any of them would be difficult and would require a certain effort.

A couple is formed by two imperfect people, so the result will be an imperfect relationship. Do not expect it, in all marriages there are some things that go well and others that do not. It is normal.

Knowing how to talk at the right time is not easy.
To dominate arrogance, pride, to avoid always wanting to prevail, this is one of the drugs that makes you suffer the most, to want to dominate others, not to leave them space, to ask them to do things as you do them, to keep what you do, what you say, the cell phone, the post, are frequent attacks that show immaturity in the person and in love.

Because the relationship of partnership is a relationship between equals, if one does not dominate its own ego, it will always try to prevail over the other.
He or she will always want to be right. Command.

Insomma, the person with whom we are married has had the mistakes, and he cannot avoid them because he has the original sin. All of us have the sins.

The success of a relationship is now given by an effort, by that struggle against oneself that man and woman intend to do to improve themselves personally.

This means that we must have a constant predisposition to want to improve as people, to be consistent with our convictions, and not to be afraid if our relationship is not perfect.

A person who really knows how to love is the one who struggles to know herself, who has no fear of personal truth. To fear the truth about oneself is a suicidal attack and makes us lose the capacity to love.

Today there is a great fear to commit oneself, to love, because it is intuited that every love surely involves, in greater or lesser measure, a certain sacrifice.

Chi non voglia avere dei dolori trascorra tutta la sua vita libera da ogni amore, dice la canzone popolare. Ecco come stanno le cose.

This is the reason why many people in our society go through their lives without knowing what love is, with a sadness in the background and an irrequietness that from time to time they compensate with a little bit of wisdom. The one that gives the illusion of being loved. It is not possible to live always in sadness!

Many go with their heart in their hands, offering it to someone who compensates their desire, often caused by the fear that one has or has the desire to love someone else. They are looking for an ideal partner that does not exist, because our ideal spouse is the one we are married to.

To realize this fact we must put our relationship at the first place in our life priorities, and lose the patience of the effort, of the sacrifice that love requires. The rest is not knowing how to love.

La comodità non si si concilia con l'amore.

In the measure in which we do not allow ourselves to be won over, tell the truth and confront ourselves with ourselves, we will realize that this effort costs less than what our imagination suggests.

Ebbene si si, abbiamo trovato il partner ideale perché abbiamo abbiamo iniziato ad amare davvero. Other are only sadness, if it is not supported by a strong and robust love. It is so easy and so difficult.

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History of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum

In 2022, the Vatican announced that two years after the suspension due to the pandemic, the Pope would once again preside the celebration of the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum in Rome. This devotion has been celebrated in Piazza San Pietro both in 2020 and 2021 and in a very limited way.

Maria José Atienza-April 20, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Testo originale del articolo in inglese qui
Traduzione: Lino Bertuzzi

The tradition of the Via Crucis in Rome has its roots in the twentieth century, when a group of faithful began to gather around the French missionary Leonardo da Porto Maurizio in the convent of San Bonaventura, on the Palatine Hill, on the first Sunday of the morning, to pray the Way of the Cross.

This priest was one of the great promoters of the devotion to the Way of the Cross, due to the fervor that this practice of piety aroused in those who practiced it. To this French missionary, in fact, is attributed the creation of more than half a thousand Stations of the Cross in Italy alone. Leonardo da Porto asked Pope Benedict XIV the permission to form a confraternity and to organize the Way of the Cross in the Flavian Amphitheater to unite to these preachers a series of meditations on the Passion of Jesus. The Pope accepted and entrusted the creation of the association to Cardinal Vicar Giovanni Antonio Guadagni. In the meantime, the Pope ordered the restoration of the four churches that were already around the arena.

The authorization was granted on December 13, 1749 and, after a few months, work began on the construction of the four Stations of the Cross inside the Colosseum.

The Colosseum was a place of veneration since the V century, inside of which the Chapel of the Pieta was erected in the XV century. Indeed, in previous decades, the Colosseum had hosted sacred representations, and Pope Clement X had consecrated it to the memory of the Passion. However, when Leonardo's request from Porto Maurizio arrived, the monument had long been in disuse and in rather deplorable conditions.

The new Archconfraternity of the Lovers of Jesus and Mary on Calvary was erected on December 17, 1750, and ten days later, the buildings and the cross of the Colosseum were blessed. Since then the Archconfraternity has followed the rite of the Way of the Cross every Friday and Sunday, on various anniversaries and during Holy Week, along the Via Sacra to the Flavian Amphitheater. For about 100 years, the practice of the Via Crucis in the Colosseum has had a large participation of faithful, but it declined when the cross was removed in 1874 because of the renovation of buildings in the area below.

In 1926 the cross was later returned to the circus floor. The great Cross of the Archconfraternity of the Lovers of Jesus and Mary of Calvary has been in the church of San Gregorio Magno dei Muratori since 1937. In 1959 St. John XXIII restored the rite of the Via Crucis in the Colosseum, and shortly after St. Paul VI had repeated this ancient exercise. Since then, the successive Popes have publicly preached this Way of the Cross on the path of the Holy Venerdì together with hundreds of faithful who, every year, remember and meditate the passion of the Signore together with the ancient and modern sophistications of the Umanità on the amphitheater's sands.

Rome

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Educating the virtue of fortitude from childhood: a challenge in 21st century education.

Nowadays, the education of the virtue of fortitude in schools is a major challenge because, for the correct growth and development of the child, it is necessary that school and family go hand in hand.

Mónica Ríos de Juan-April 19, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

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In what does the virtue of fortitude consist?

People are vulnerable from the very moment of conception. This condition means that we are susceptible to wounds, which does not imply that we are not capable of resisting and overcoming them. It is precisely this vulnerability that allows us to develop the virtue of fortitude.

This virtue is worked in the midst of difficulty. A strong person is one who, in addition to accepting and coping with pain, strives to achieve a difficult good by overcoming the difficulties that arise in the process and persevering in spite of them.

Thus, to the extent that we renounce small things that we feel like doing but do not involve effort, and bet on those that have a greater value, we grow in self-control, perseverance and joy, virtues directly related to fortitude.

Current problems

Trigo (2002) considers education in this virtue to be fundamental if we seek an orderly and healthy growth in all dimensions, since he states that the four cardinal virtues, among which is fortitude, play a fundamental role in the maturity of a person, and affirms that nothing makes a person mature as much as pain or difficulty.

In a consumerist society where people act on the basis of "I feel like it" instead of "I want to, even if it costs me" or "I must, even if it costs me", this self-control comes into play insofar as people allow themselves to be dominated by the external. In this way, when the will does not act, there is a weakening of the will, increased by the need for immediacy when wanting to achieve any goal.

This situation, combined with the fact that today's families are dominated by a style of education overprotectiveThe "fortitude" of children, characterized by the desire to avoid any type of effort and suffering in their children, has a negative impact on the development of the virtue of fortitude in children.

Taking into account the characteristics of the society of the 21st century, nowadays the education of the virtue of fortitude in schools is a major challenge, since the first educational environment is the family, the basic cell of society, and for the correct growth and development of the child it is necessary that school and family go hand in hand.

Is it possible to start working from birth?

We know that the sensitive period for developing this virtue is 6-12 years. However, it is considered essential to start putting it into practice from the first years of life for several reasons.

In the first place, because the smaller the child is and the fewer resources he has, the more vulnerable he is and therefore the more he needs the exercise of this virtue to overcome the difficulty. And finally, because the virtue of fortitude is the basis of all other virtues, for without effort it is not possible to acquire any other virtue.

How can we work on it in Early Childhood Education?

In Early Childhood Education, the pillars can be established by working on any of the virtues mentioned above:

From the order. A strong person must be able to have a schedule and stick to it, plan everything that needs to be done and prioritize what is important and not what is urgent. When one establishes an order in his priorities, he does not let himself be carried away by "I feel like it" but by "I must" and thus he builds a solid and strong personality. The sensitive period to work on order is from 3-6 years, therefore, teaching children to leave everything in its place will lay the foundations so that tomorrow they will have order in their priorities and fight for what is really important.

From the self-controlThis virtue allows us to learn to say no to everything that could be an obstacle in the achievement of our goal, as well as to take advantage of the time being masters of ourselves and not to make the decision to give up in moments of fatigue. The child can be helped to resist and manage impulses that occur in the present moment, thus being able to delay the reward. For example, if he wants an ice cream before dinner, we can help him to know how to wait and to understand that first he must have dinner and then the ice cream.

From the patience and the frustration tolerance. St. Thomas related the virtue of fortitude to patience, explaining that this virtue allows one to accept the reality of a difficult situation, which helps a person to continue to strive and wait without being discouraged or sad. For example, not buying without reason a toy that the child wants at that moment and waiting for his birthday or the Three Wise Men.

From the perseverance. This virtue implies being constant in our efforts to achieve a goal. For example, encouraging the child to try to tie his or her shoelaces as many times as necessary.

From the generosity. The child of this age is characterized by being self-centered and coping with a difficult situation where he has to look out for the good of the other may help him grow in strength. For example, giving in and giving the last cookie to his brother.

Inevitably, by working on this virtue, we will foster growth in other virtues, such as the joyThe person who strives for something good is always happy. Such satisfaction comes from knowing that he is striving for something that is truly worthwhile.

In short, helping children from an early age to establish the basis for developing this virtue will strengthen their will in later years, having a positive impact on their growth and development as a person and, therefore, on their happiness. In the words of Seneca "per aspera ad astra".

The authorMónica Ríos de Juan

Primary school teacher at the San Juan Evangelista school, and nurse.

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Vocations

Kenneth Orom: "Africa is the Catholic reserve of the world today".

Sponsored space-April 18, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute

Kenneth Orom is a 27-year-old seminarian from the diocese of Jinja in Uganda. He is studying Theology at the Bidasoa International Seminary in Pamplona, thanks to the Centro Académico Romano Foundation. From a Catholic family, he is the youngest of five siblings. At the age of 14, he entered the minor seminary after which he went on to study philosophy.

"In 2018, my bishop sent me to the Bidasoa International Seminary in Pamplona to continue my formation in Theology. When I arrived in Spain, I felt very well received and welcomed by the formators and students," he says. For this Ugandan priest, Africa is "the Catholic reserve of the world today". "The youth in Uganda are very open to religion and young people are constantly searching to meet God. The message of Jesus can reach them through the closeness of the pastors and the interest they show in the Gospel.

In Uganda, there are no problems with religious freedom: "Everyone has the right to their own belief and thank God, we have no clashes between us".

"With regard to the upcoming Synod of Bishops on synodality, I believe that one of the most important things is the participation of all members of the family. From every home should be promoted and involved in this Synod in which the whole universal Church should participate".

CARF

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ColumnistsIgnacio Valduérteles

In the beginning was the action

Popular religiosity is not resolved exclusively in actions, in activities, genuine or imported.

April 18, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

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Man is sociable by nature, which means that he needs others in order to develop integrally, not only physically. The first area of socialization is the family. In the family, the child discovers himself as a person different from others, he feels loved in the arms of his mother, who welcomes him. He also feels safe when his father plays at throwing him in the air, he even laughs, because he knows that his father will not fail him, he will always pick him up. This is how he begins to build bonds with those closest to him.

Brotherhood is another sphere of socialization, based not only on a shared faith, but also on the manifestations of popular religiosity, which reaches its fullness during Holy Week. It is important, and very important, to maintain and deepen these external forms of religiosity, so varied according to geography, that make us share roots with others in order to grow together. It is necessary to take care of these traditions, as simple as decisive, because "love is simple and simple things are devoured by time" as Chavela Vargas explains. In some places today there is a tendency to import styles or modes of popular expression from other regions, to the detriment of their own customs, which lose their meaning when they are transferred. This does not seem to be a good idea.

But popular religiosity is not resolved exclusively in actions, in activities, genuine or imported. In the play Faust, its author, Goethe, puts in the protagonist's mouth a statement that has given rise to numerous comments: "in the beginning was action", an action that has no beginning and end other than itself, for this reason Faust declares that he does not seek happiness, only to guarantee his commitment of dedication to movement, to activity, without rest. Every end, that to which the action tends, must be excluded.

Well before, St. John had affirmed the opposite: "in the beginning was the Word," that is, the Word, the Truth. Jesus is the eternal Word of God who, sent into the world, communicates to men, through his words and works, the truth about God and about himself, thus presenting the unity between Truth, Good and Beauty, which leads man, through Christ, to the Father in the Holy Spirit, making him a sharer in the Trinity, in which the sociability of man culminates.

What does this have to do with sororities?

There is now much talk of the liquid society, a society without firm convictions, which assumes without question the criteria imposed on it, in the same way that a liquid always takes the form of the container that holds it, and which is now configured from a radical anthropocentrism that tries to impose, like Faust, the unconditional primacy of action.

In this situation the brotherhoods have to overcome the loop of managing the routine, without posing new challenges, new horizons. Otherwise they could slide towards action as an end in itself, without foundation or orientation to the Truth, encouraging a popular religiosity that is exhausted in itself, not as a basis for reaching the Truth, complete socialization, and influencing society.

It is not now a matter of the brotherhoods proposing technical solutions for the resolution of social problems, nor of imposing systems, nor of manifesting partisan preferences, but of proclaiming moral principles, also those referring to the social order, as well as giving criteria on any human matter, insofar as the fundamental rights of the human person demand it.

Social models are resolved in the field of anthropology. They do not build themselves from action, they are the consequence, not the engine. That is why it is necessary to rearm ourselves intellectually and doctrinally. That is where the brotherhoods reach their raison d'être, to take up this challenge. In a political scenario as liquid as the one we live in, it is even more necessary to have a solid conceptual model.

In summary: the functioning of the brotherhoods as an area of socialization, is not exhausted in the realization of activities, these are a means. Nor is it a matter of encouraging the brother to adjust his existence to the fulfillment of ethical commitments, but of providing him with formation and means so that his action reveals a person adjusted to Truth, Good and Beauty and therefore to his fullness as a person, as proposed by Karol Wojtyla in "Person and Action" and later by Benedict XVI in his encyclical "Fides et Ratio".

The authorIgnacio Valduérteles

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.

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Text of the news in French

The peace of the risen Christ "is possible and necessary," Pope shouts from Rome

"Christ, the Crucified One, is risen, truly risen! Today more than ever we need Him". With a serious and sorrowful gesture, Pope Francis launched an Easter message of peace in the face of the war in Ukraine and other serious situations in the world: "Peace is possible, peace is necessary, peace is the primary responsibility of all!" he exhorted.

Rafael Miner-April 17, 2022-Reading time: 6 minutes

"We need the Risen Crucified One to believe in the victory of love, to hope in reconciliation. Today more than ever we need Him, so that by placing Himself in our midst He may say to us once again: 'Peace be with you!' Let us let the peace of Christ enter our lives, our homes and our countries," Pope Francis encouraged.

The Holy Father's face was only taken off by the concern and pain of the faithful present in St. Peter's Square, more than one hundred thousand, according to the official Vatican agency, on a day of spring sunshine, whom he greeted from the popemobile, and thousands of flowers for the solemnity of Easter, which the Pope called, however, "Easter of war".

'Peace be with you, the greeting of Jesus to all those to whom he appeared after his Resurrection, was perhaps the message of the Lord most reiterated by Francis yesterday on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, after "two years of pandemic that have left deep marks. It seemed that the time had come to emerge together from the tunnel, holding hands, gathering strength and resources. And instead, we are showing that we still have in us the spirit of Cain, who looks at Abel not as a brother, but as a rival, and thinks of how to eliminate him," the Pope pointed out.

As was to be expected, the Bishop of Rome cried out for "peace in the martyred Ukraine, so sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it has been dragged. May a new dawn of hope dawn soon over this terrible night of suffering and death. May peace be chosen. Let there be no more shows of strength while people suffer."

Please, please", the Roman Pontiff asked, "let us not become accustomed to war, let us all commit ourselves to ask for peace with a powerful voice, from the balconies and in the streets. May the leaders of nations hear the people's cry for peace", he cried out from Peter's See, before giving the 'Urbi et Orbi' Blessing before thousands of faithful.

Rediscovering Him, the Living One".

At the Easter Vigil, at sunset on Saturday evening, the Pope had encouraged us not to remain looking at the tombs, at the past. "We cannot make Easter if we remain in death; if we remain prisoners of the past; if in life we do not have the courage to allow ourselves to be forgiven by God..., to change, to break with the works of evil, to decide for Jesus and for his love; if we continue to reduce faith to an amulet, making God a beautiful memory of times past, instead of encountering him today as the living God who wants to transform us and the world."

"A Christianity that seeks the Lord among the remains of the past and locks Him in the tomb of the habit is a Christianity without Easter. But the Lord is risen! Let us not linger around the tombs, but go to rediscover Him, the Living One!" the Pope exhorted.

"Women see, hear and announce."

At the Vigil he had referred to the women of the Gospel, who "see", and saw that "the stone was rolled away. When they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. The first proclamation of the Resurrection, the Pontiff pointed out, is not presented as a formula to be understood, but "as a sign to be contemplated. Easter, therefore, begins by changing our patterns. It comes with the gift of a surprising hope. But it is not easy to accept it. Sometimes, we must admit, this hope does not find room in our hearts. In us too, as in the women of the Gospel, questions and uncertainties prevail, and the first reaction to the unforeseen sign is fear, "not looking up from the ground".

But the women "hear the announcement" that says to them: 'Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here: he is risen!' The Pope pointed out that it does us good to hear and repeat these words, "He is not here!".

And the women "announce. What do they announce? The joy of the Resurrection. Easter does not happen to intimately console those who mourn the death of Jesus - the Pontiff stressed - but to open hearts wide to the extraordinary proclamation of God's victory over evil and death". For this reason, the light of the Resurrection (...) generates missionary disciples who "return from the tomb" and bring the Gospel of the Risen Christ to all. That is why, after having seen and heard, the women ran to announce the joy of the Resurrection to the disciples".

An "Easter of war".

In his Easter Message, the Pope seemed to continue the thread of his Vigil meditation on the Resurrection of Jesus, and applied it to difficult current situations.

"Jesus, the Crucified One, is risen. He appears in the midst of those who weep for him, shut up in their homes, full of fear and anguish. He stands in their midst and says to them: 'Peace be with you' (Jn 20:19). He shows them the wounds in his hands and feet, and the wound in his side. It is not a ghost, it is He, the same Jesus who died on the cross and was in the tomb. Before the incredulous looks of the disciples, He repeats: 'Peace be with you' (v. 21)."

"Our eyes are also incredulous at this Easter of war," he continued. "We have seen too much blood, too much violence. Our hearts too were filled with fear and anguish, while so many of our brothers and sisters had to hide to defend themselves from the bombs. We find it hard to believe that Jesus is truly risen, that he has truly conquered death. Is it perhaps an illusion, a fruit of our imagination? No, it is not an illusion. Today more than ever resounds the Easter proclamation so dear to the Christian East: 'Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!'. Today more than ever we need Him, at the end of a Lent that does not seem to want to end".

"I hold the Ukrainian victims in my heart."

Ukraine, Europa. The Pope then confided: "I hold in my heart the many Ukrainian victims, the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons, the families divided, the elderly left alone, the lives shattered and the cities razed to the ground. I have before my eyes the eyes of the children left orphaned and fleeing the war."

"Looking at them, we cannot fail to perceive their cry of pain, along with that of many other suffering children around the world: those who die of hunger or lack of medical care, those who are victims of abuse and violence, and those who have been denied the right to be born."

"Amid the pain of war, there is also no lack of hopeful signs, such as the open doors of so many families and communities welcoming migrants and refugees throughout Europe. May these many acts of charity be a blessing for our societies, often degraded by so much selfishness and individualism, and help to make them welcoming for all."

Caring in the face of suffering and pain

And also, as is customary at least at Christmas and Easter, Pope Francis toured almost the entire world. "May the conflict in Europe also make us more solicitous in the face of other situations of tension, suffering and pain that affect too many regions of the world and that we cannot and must not forget," he stressed.

Middle East. "Let there be peace in the Middle East, torn for years by divisions and conflicts. On this glorious day let us pray for peace for Jerusalem and peace for those who love it (cf. Ps 121 [122]), Christians, Jews and Muslims. May Israelis, Palestinians and all the inhabitants of the Holy City, together with pilgrims, experience the beauty of peace, live in fraternity and have free access to the Holy Places, respecting each other's rights".

"May there be peace and reconciliation among the peoples of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, and particularly among all Christian communities living in the Middle East.

May there be peace also in Libya, so that it may find stability after years of tensions; and in Yemen, which is suffering from a conflict forgotten by all with incessant victims, may the truce signed in recent days restore hope to the population".

Myanmar. "We ask the risen Lord for the gift of reconciliation for Myanmar, where a dramatic scenario of hatred and violence persists, and for Afghanistan, where dangerous social tensions are not calming down and a dramatic humanitarian crisis is tormenting the population".

Africa. "May there be peace throughout the African continent, so that the exploitation to which it is victim and the hemorrhage caused by terrorist attacks - especially in the Sahel zone - may end, and may it find concrete help in the fraternity of peoples. May Ethiopia, afflicted by a serious humanitarian crisis, once again find the path of dialogue and reconciliation, and an end to the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo." May there be no lack of prayer and solidarity for the inhabitants of the eastern part of South Africa affected by severe floods".

Latin America. "May the Risen Christ accompany and assist the peoples of Latin America who, in these difficult times of pandemic, have seen their social conditions worsen, in some cases, aggravated also by cases of criminality, violence, corruption and drug trafficking".

Canada. "We ask the Risen Lord to accompany the path of reconciliation that the Canadian Catholic Church is following with the indigenous peoples. May the Spirit of the Risen Christ heal the wounds of the past and dispose hearts in the search for truth and fraternity.

"Dear brothers and sisters," Pope Francis concluded, "every war brings with it consequences that affect the whole of humanity: from the mourning and drama of refugees, to the economic and food crisis of which we are already seeing signs."

"In the face of the persistent signs of war, as in the many painful defeats of life, Christ, conqueror of sin, fear and death, exhorts us not to surrender in the face of evil and violence. Let us let ourselves be conquered by the peace of Christ! Peace is possible, peace is necessary, peace is the primary responsibility of all!"

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Traditions of the holy days in Poland. The Tomb of the Lord

The 'Grób Panski', the tomb of the Lord, a tradition that begins at the end of the liturgical celebration of the Lord's Passion on Good Friday and also of the 'święconka', the blessing of food during Holy Saturday are two of the most deeply rooted traditions in Poland.

Ignacy Soler-April 16, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

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A test for Poland

Poland is really different. This tourist slogan used in the sixties can be said to be very real in the country of St. John Paul II, as far as the practice of the Christian faith by the faithful people is concerned.

Last Holy Thursday, I was deeply moved by the Eucharistic celebration of the Chrism Mass in the Co-cathedral of the Diocese of Warsaw-Prague at ten o'clock in the morning. A very careful liturgy, with the Gloria, Sanctus and Angus Dei of the Mass de Angelis, as well as the singing of the Pater Noster in Latin. The entire nave of the Church of St. Mary of Victory was full of priests, I counted more than six hundred, many very young, all in cassock and dressed in alb and white stole.

A devotion lived with the naturalness of one who is praying was palpable. Among the concelebrants, who are in the presbytery, there are three priests celebrating their fiftieth anniversary of priesthood, eleven of the thirty-one who were ordained in Warsaw on May 28, 1972 together with Blessed Martyr Jerzy Popieluszko, and there are also more than twenty priests celebrating their silver jubilee of priesthood. All with their hands together as if they were first communion children.

The idea came to my mind that we priests, when we celebrate or concelebrate, do not know where to put our hands during the ceremony. The simplest and most pious thing to do is to keep them together as so many pious priests used to do in the past and some still do today. At least in the Co-cathedral of Santa Maria de la Victoria today I have seen so many young reverends, and of those who paint gray hair, with their hands piously joined as a sign of prayer.

We prayed especially for the end of the war in Ukraine and we have done it in that temple by an explicit wish of Bishop Romuald. That St. Mary who defended Warsaw from the Soviet army in 1920, the so-called Miracle of the Vistula, may defend today Kijowa and Ukraine from the 'Russian military operation'.

Grób Panski. The tomb of the Lord

Yes, Poland is different and I would now like to comment on two customs introduced into the liturgy of the Church in Poland that respond to a popular desire of the faithful.

I am referring to what in Polish we call the 'Grób Panski' - the tomb of the Lord, at the end of the liturgical celebration of the Lord's Passion on Good Friday and also of the 'święconka'.

Some time ago I commented that in order to better understand the Church in Poland it is necessary to know the meaning and value in society of two words - kolenda and plebanie - now I would like to add two others peculiar to Holy Week - Grób Panski and Święconka.

At the end of the Good Friday liturgy begins what is called 'The Tomb of the Lord'. A procession is made with the Blessed Sacrament in the Monstrance and it is deposited in a prepared chapel in which, together with many different motifs of the religious, social and political life of the country and the world, there is always the representation of the Lord lying and dead. At his side is placed the Monstrance covered with a white veil. Soldiers or firemen stand guard.

Hours depend on each parish. On Friday until midnight and on Saturday from the early hours until one hour before the beginning of the Easter Vigil. During this time, the faithful come to the church to pray and contemplate the mystery of the Death of the Lord in his Tomb together with the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. In my long years in Poland, I have become convinced of the theological meaning of this popular custom.

Święconka. The blessing of food

Every Holy Saturday has also taken root in me the tradition, as so many Polish families do, to visit the Lord's Tomb in various churches and to go, also on Holy Saturday, to the blessing of food, that is to say to the 'Święconka' which I will explain below what this custom also 'fuori norme' consists of. But first I would like to clarify that the day of the year that most faithful go to Church is precisely the day on which no liturgy is celebrated, Holy Saturday. Really, Poland is different.

Years ago, while living in Krakow, an Aragonese television program called Aragonese around the worldThe program makers were amazed to see the crowds of families in the streets with their food baskets in the churches to receive the priest's blessing and a short homily. The producers of the program were amazed to see the crowds of families in the streets with their baskets of food coming to the churches to receive the priest's blessing together with a short homily explaining the meaning of the Easter feast. The times I have listened to those little talks I have found them to be an impressive mystagogical catechesis.

The main idea is that the faithful participate in the liturgical celebration of Easter and that they are filled with joy, not only in the church, but also in their homes. The presence of the Risen One is invoked so that the whole family sits together to eat the first food of Easter Sunday together with the Lord. And they use, as a sign, those foods that were taken in the basket to be blessed the day before, that is to say, on Holy Saturday.

Święconka is a tradition present in several Catholic countries, including the whole territory of Poland, which consists in blessing various foods on Holy Saturday. Food such as meat, bread, eggs, salt, etc., are placed in wicker baskets and taken to churches where priests bless them during a special service. The blessed food is consumed the next morning during the solemn Easter breakfast.

The blessing imparted by the priest more or less reads as follows: "Lord Jesus, the day before your passion and death, you sent the apostles to prepare the Passover and, on the day of your resurrection, you sat at table with your disciples. We ask you to let us live your presence in faith during Easter Sunday breakfast in our homes. You who are the living Bread, who came down from heaven and give life to the world, bless + this bread as you blessed the loaves you gave to eat to those who listened to you in the desert. Lamb of God, you who have washed the world from sin, bless + this meat and all the food we shall eat in memory of the Passover lamb as you gave your blessing to all the food you ate with the Apostles at the Last Supper. Christ, our life and resurrection, bless + these eggs, sign of new life, so that, in sharing them, we too may share the reciprocal joy of your presence. Open the eyes and hearts of those who suffer because of pandemics or war, help those who serve the poor and the cause of peace and justice in the world. And so may we all enjoy the eternal feast in the Father's house, where you live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

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ColumnistsIgnacio Valduérteles

In principio era l'atto

The popular religiosity is not only found in events, in spontaneous or important activities.

April 15, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

Testo originale del articolo in inglese qui

Man is social by nature, which means that he needs others in order to develop not only physically, but in an integral way. The first area of socialization is the family. In the family the child discovers himself as a person different from the others, he feels loved among the mother's arms, which embrace him. He also feels safe, when his father wants to throw him in the water, he rides also because he knows that his father will not fail, he will always catch him. This is how he begins to build his legs with the colors that are closest to him.

Fraternity is another area of socialization, based not only on a shared faith, but also on the manifestations of popular religiosity, which reaches its peak during Holy Week.
It is very important to maintain and deepen those external forms of religiosity, so diverse according to geography, which allow us to share our roots with others in order to grow together. We must take care of these traditions, both those simple and those decisive, because "love is simple and simple things are divorced from time" as Chavela Vargas says.
In some places today, in the absence of their own customs, there is a tendency to import styles or modes of popular expression from other regions, which, when transferred, lose their meaning. This, however, does not seem to be a good idea.

But the popular religiosity is not solved exclusively in acts, in activities, original or important as they are.

In the play Faust, Goethe, its author, puts in the protagonist's mouth an affirmation that has elicited numerous comments: "in principle it was the action", or rather an act that has not begun and ended if not in itself, for this Faust would say that he does not seek happiness, but only wants to ensure his commitment to the dedication to the bike, to the activity, without hesitation. Any objective, that to which the action tends, must be excluded.

Even much earlier St. John had affirmed the opposite: "in principio era il Verbo", i.e. the Word, the Truth.
Jesus is the Eternal Word of God who, invited into the world, with his words and with his actions communicates to men the truth about God and about himself, thus presenting the unity between Truth, Goodness and Beauty, which leads man, through Christ, to the Father in the Holy Spirit, making him a part of the Trinity, in which the sociality of man culminates.

What has this to do with the fraternities?

Today there is much talk of a liquid society, a society without the strength of convictions, which assumes the criteria that are imposed on it without discussion, as does a liquid that always takes the form of the container that contains it. A container that is now configured by a radical anthropocentrism that, like Faust, tries to import the unconditional primacy of action.

In this situation, the confraternities must overcome the cycle of routine management, without searching for new challenges and new horizons. Otherwise, they could move towards the final action itself, without foundation or orientation to the Truth, favoring a popular religiosity that is not intended as a basis to achieve the Truth, the complete socialization, and to influence society, but that is self-absorbed,

Now it is not the case that the fraternities propose technological solutions for the resolution of social problems, nor impose systems, nor express partial preferences, but it is necessary that instead they proclaim moral principles, also related to the social order, besides giving criteria on any human issue, to the extent required by the fundamental rights of the human person. Social models are discussed in the field of anthropology. They do not build themselves through action, they are not the engine but the consequence.

That's why it is necessary to disarm ourselves intellectually and doctrinally. It is here that the fraternities achieve their raison d'être, to confront this challenge. In a political scenario as liquid as the one we live in, it is even more necessary to have a solid contractual model.

In synthesis: the functioning of the fraternities as an area of socialization, does not lie in the development of activities, which are only of the means.

And it is not a matter of encouraging the brother to adapt his existence to the fulfillment of some ethical commitment, but of providing him with the training and the means to make his action a person adapted to the Truth, alla Bontà e alla Bellezza, e quindi alla sua pienezza di persona come proposta di Karol Wojtyla in "Persona e atto" e poi di Benedetto XVI nell'enciclica "Fides et ratio".

The authorIgnacio Valduérteles

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The history of the Stations of the Cross in the Roman Colosseum

In 2022, the Vatican announced that, after two years suspended due to the pandemic, the Pope would once again preside over the celebration of the Way of the Cross in the Roman Colosseum. Both in 2020 and 2021 this devotion was celebrated, in a much reduced form, in St. Peter's Square.

Maria José Atienza-April 15, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

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The tradition of the Stations of the Cross in Rome has its roots in the 18th century, when a group of the faithful began to gather together with the Franciscan missionary Leonardo da Porto Mauorizio on Sundays early in the morning at the friary of St. Bonaventure on the Palatine Hill to pray the Stations of the Cross.

This priest was one of the great promoters of the devotion to the Way of the Cross, moved by the fervor that this practice of piety aroused in those who performed it. In fact, this Franciscan missionary is credited with the creation of more than half a thousand Stations of the Cross in Italy alone. Leonardo da Porto asked Pope Benedict XIV for permission to form a confraternity and organize the Via Crucis in the Flavian Amphitheater in order to unite these prayers to the Via Crucis.

a series of meditations on the Passion of Jesus. Permission was granted on December 13, 1749 and, after a few months, work began to build the fourteen Stations of the Cross inside the Colosseum. The Pope accepted and entrusted Cardinal Vicar Giovanni Antonio Guadagni with the creation of the association. In the meantime, he ordered the renovation of the fourteen edicule that were already around the arena.

The Colosseum had been a place of veneration since the 5th century, and inside it the Chapel of the Pietà had been erected in the 15th century. In fact, in previous decades, the Colosseum had hosted sacred performances, and Pope Clement X had consecrated it to the memory of the Passion. However, when Leonardo da Porto Maurizio's request arrived, it had long since fallen into disuse and was in rather deplorable condition.

The new Archconfraternity of the Lovers of Jesus and Mary on Calvary was erected on December 17, 1750, and ten days later, the aedicules and the cross of the Coliseum were blessed. From that moment on, the Archconfraternity carried out the rite of the Via Crucis every Friday and Sunday, on various anniversaries and during Holy Week, traveling the

Via Sacra to the Flavian Amphitheater. For about 100 years, the practice of the Via Crucis in the Roman Colosseum had a large participation of the faithful. However, it declined when in 1874 the cross was removed due to the discovery of constructions in the lower area.

In 1926 the cross would return to the floor of the circus. The great Cross of the Archconfraternity of the Lovers of Jesus and Mary of Calvary has been in the church of San Gregorio Magno dei Muratori since 1937. In 1959 St. John XXIII restored the rite of the Via Crucis in the Colosseum and, shortly after, St. Paul VI would return to this pious exercise. Since then, successive Popes have publicly prayed this Way of the Cross at sunset on Good Friday together with hundreds of faithful who, every year, walk and meditate on the Passion of the Lord together with the ancient and modern sufferings of Humanity on the arena of the amphitheater.

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Translation of the article into English

Way of the Cross in Jerusalem. Where the footsteps of Christ resound

The Stations of the Cross is one of the most popular devotions among Christians. Through 14 stations, the faithful contemplate and meditate on the Passion of Christ, accompanying Jesus on his journey to the place of crucifixion.

Maria José Atienza-April 15, 2022-Reading time: 6 minutes

The prayer of the Stations of the Cross has its origin in the Gospel accounts of the passion and death of Jesus. The various evangelists recorded the story of the Lord's life, but not in the way that a biography or a study is currently conceived.

The Passion narratives do not contain all the details of Jesus' journey to Golgotha. Of the 14 stations that make up the Stations of the Cross today, 9 of them have their direct anchorage in the Gospel accounts. The stations of the three falls of Jesus and the encounter with the Virgin and Veronica are the fruit of the pious tradition of the Christian people.

The Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem

The Gospel of John notes that Christ was taken from the house of Caiaphas to the praetorium. There, after the impressive dialogue with Pilate, the praetor "brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat, in the place called 'the Enlosado' (in Hebrew Gabbatha). It was the day of the Preparation of the Passover, about noon. Pilate said to the Jews, 'Behold your king. And they cried out, 'Away with him, away with him; crucify him. Pilate said to them, 'Am I crucifying your king? But the chief priests answered, 'We have no king but Caesar. So he handed him over to them to be crucified. They took Jesus, and carrying the cross himself, he went out to the place called 'the place of the Skull' (which in Hebrew is called Golgotha), where they crucified him; and with him two others, one on each side, and in the middle, Jesus".

Christ had been imprisoned, chained in the house of Caiaphas, located in an area next to the city walls, not far from Herod's palace. From there, covered with chains, he would be taken to the Antonia tower, the place of the Roman government.

Archaeological findings have placed this praetorium mentioned by St. John inside the Antonia tower, built at the eastern end of the second city wall, to the northeast of the city.

In the impressive model of Jerusalem at the time of the second temple (until the year 70) that can be seen in the Israel Museum, we can see what the city that Jesus crossed carrying the cross would have looked like.

The route would start from the Antonia Tower to the outskirts of the city, where the Golgotha mound (today inside the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre) was located.

The distance was about 600 meters, around 2,000 steps, which Christ would walk carrying the horizontal crossbeam -patibulum- of the cross, whose weight ranged between 50 and 70 kilos.

All this after having been imprisoned (probably hanging by the hands), having received dozens of lashes in the praetorium and with his head bleeding from the thorns of the crown braided by the soldiers. The footsteps of Christ, which still echo in the holy city, walked the first Stations of the Cross.

Holy Thursday procession inside the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem ©CNS photo/Ammar Awad, Reuters

Today, the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem runs along only part of what would have been the path Jesus took from the praetorium to the place of execution. At that time, the place was outside the city walls, in a kind of wasteland. Today the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, where Golgotha and the tomb where Christ was laid, are located within the Christian quarter of what is known as the Old City of Jerusalem.

The Via Dolorosa is not simply a street, but a route consisting of segments of several streets, and is divided between the Muslim and Christian quarters.

The history of devotion

The historical vicissitudes through which what is now Israel has passed influenced the spread or decline of this devotion. Travellers of the time have left us descriptions of the

of the various stations to which the Jerusalem Church went on pilgrimage. One of the richest sources is the well-known Itinerarium Egeriae, from the end of the 4th century. Egeria, a pilgrim traveling to Tierra del Fuego.

Saint between 381 and 384 A.D., coming from the Roman province of Galicia, he wrote his travel account, Itinerarium ad Loca Sancta, towards the end of the same century, in which he describes his journey to the Holy Places in the East, and the liturgies and religious services carried out in that territory.

The fall of the Byzantine Empire and the subsequent Islamic domination in the area hindered the popular piety of local Christians and pilgrims. The Christians present in Jerusalem went through difficult times and, although the devotion to the Passion of Christ did not give way, the near impossibility of pilgrimages caused the practice of pilgrimage in the footsteps of the Passion to decline.

After the conquest of the Holy City by the Crusaders, these practices of piety would return. In the first half of the 14th century, Pope Clement VI entrusted the Franciscans with "the guidance, instruction and care of the Latin pilgrims, as well as with the guardianship, maintenance, defense and rituals of the Catholic sanctuaries of the Holy Land" and the practice of commemorating the path that Jesus himself traveled was developed.

The Stations of the Via Dolorosa

Since 1880, every Friday (except during the pandemic), starting at 3:00 p.m., the Franciscan community solemnly leads the Stations of the Cross through the streets of Jerusalem.

The tour starts at the Lions' Gate, in the courtyard of the Islamic school (Omariya School) that occupies the area of the ancient Antonia fortress.

A few meters away we find two small churches, one in front of the other, dedicated to the first and second station. The temples, of small size, are built on the probable location of the courtyard of the praetorium. As a curiosity, on the floor of the chapel that commemorates Christ's carrying of the Cross, one can observe "boards" of ancient dice games made with punches, dating from the first centuries and which may well be part of those games with which the soldiers cast lots for the clothes of Jesus. The third station is marked by a chapel belonging to the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate. It is one of the best known points of the Via Dolorosa.

Nearby we find the arch of the door that marks the fourth station: Jesus meets Mary, his Blessed Mother. A small Franciscan chapel, not far from the church of Santa Maria del Spasmo (restored by the Armenians in 1881), recalls the episode of Simon of Cyrene that we contemplate at the fifth station.

The sixth station is a Greek-Catholic chapel. The episode of the Veronica, the fruit of popular piety, is recalled in the mosaic of the oratory. To the south one can see the remains of an ancient wall and the arches of an unidentified building, considered by some to be the monastery of Saints Cosmas and Damian.

(built in the years 548-563). On its exterior, a stone column with the inscription "Pia Veronica faciem christi linteo deterci" is another of the most significant points of this road. From here, the stations enter the Christian quarter, on what would have been the maximum cardo of Jerusalem in the time of the Lord. We are already very close to the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre where the last 5 Stations of the Cross are prayed.

At the site of the seventh station is a small Franciscan chapel, in which there is a column that was probably part of the columns that marked the main street of Roman Jerusalem. The place of the eighth station is indicated by a small black cross engraved on the wall of the wall of the Greek convent of St. Caralambos. At this point, the Via Dolorosa is "interrupted", so it returns to the previous crossroads to continue on the way to the Holy Sepulcher.

Almost at the entrance of the curious square through which one enters the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, the ninth station is indicated on a column placed near the door of the Coptic monastery, behind the apse of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre.

Inside, the five stations of the Way of the Cross, which refer to the events that took place directly between Calvary and the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea dug in rock, where Jesus was laid after his death, culminate.

Today, both areas, only a few meters apart, share a roof, although they are perfectly differentiated and continue to manifest, with silent cries, the greatness of the salvation worked by Christ through his death and resurrection.

In the Holy City, meditation on the mysteries of the Passion takes on a special intensity and meaning. Only in Jerusalem can those who pray this devotion say "here". Here, on this ground, Jesus was condemned to death, "here" he died on the cross and here, on this ground, risen, he made the whole earth the home of his children.

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ColumnistsAntonio Moreno

The story of our lives

The accounts of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord have been venerated by the Church since its beginnings. They are, in fact, the core of the Gospels.

April 15, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

Twice each Holy Week we hear the readings of the Passion of the Lord: once, at the Palm Sunday Mass -this year we heard Luke's version, although it is alternated with those of Matthew and Mark-; and again, in the Good Friday services, in which the Gospel according to St. John is proclaimed in a fixed form.

Why so much insistence on recalling an already known story, in whose proclamation one sometimes gets distracted or tired by the long time of standing? The truth is that the stories of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of the Lord have been venerated by the Church since its beginnings. They are, in fact, the core of the Gospels.

The great coherence of the four narratives points to a special attention of the first Christians in underpinning these texts well to be remembered, so that what happened in that first Holy Week in Jerusalem will never be forgotten.

It is stories that shape our lives. It was our parents who, through family stories, explained to us who we are. With the help of stories, legends and narratives, they taught us to know right from wrong, to situate ourselves in society and to behave correctly.

Then, it was personal tastes or the vagaries of life that took us from story to story, from novel to novel, from movie to movie, from series to series, until we became the person we are today.

We would be stunned if we were able to recognize the influence of the stories we read, hear or see in each of our gestures, in our reactions, in our behavior patterns.

There are days when you feel like the Ugly Duckling and others when you think you are James Bond; in the same day you wake up with the desire to do the good of Don Quixote and go to bed with the good of Voldemort. We are incarnated characters, prodigiously real stories. The marvelous organ that endows us with consciousness, our brain, tells us a story in which we are the protagonists and in which heroes and villains, adventures and misfortunes, comedies and dramas intersect.

For those who want to explore further the importance of stories for ordinary life, I recommend that you read the message that Pope Francis published on the occasion of World Communications Day 2020. In this text, the Pope affirms that "it is not by chance that the Gospels are stories. While they inform us about Jesus, they 'perform' Jesus for us, they conform us to him: the Gospel asks the reader to participate in the same faith in order to share the same life". In another place, he affirms that "the story of Christ is not the patrimony of the past, it is our story, always present" and that, "after God became history, all human history is, in some way, divine history. In the history of every man, the Father sees again the history of his Son who came down to earth".

So, this evening, when in the services we listen again to the majestic Passion according to St. John, it will be exciting to discover ourselves in it in every paragraph. We will find ourselves in the traitor Judas, in the violent Peter, in the hypocritical religious Annas and Caiaphas, in the mediocre Pilate, in the merciless mob, in the profiteering soldiers or in the cowardly -because absent- disciples; but also in Mary, in John and in the holy women, in the charitable Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, and above all in Jesus: "Behold the man (Ecce homo)", Pilate will prophesy without knowing it. And it is in Jesus, who gave himself up for love, bruised, crowned with thorns and wearing a purple robe, as in a new creation, that "the man" is manifested for the first time, the perfect form of being men and women to which we must strive. With our particular cross on our shoulders, let us listen attentively to this universal and eternal story, because the story of God made man is the story of our lives.

The authorAntonio Moreno

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

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Pope greets UNIV youth in Rome

Rome Reports-April 14, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute

More than 2,000 students from all over the world are taking part, during the Holy Week in Rome, in the UNIV, a university meeting that was born under the inspiration and impetus of Saint Josemaría Escriváfounder of Opus Dei.

UNIV combines a congress, UNIV Forum, on topics related to young people and the experience of living Holy Week close to the Pope.

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

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Omnes publishes the short stories of the 2021 contest for life

Family

Babies born with malformations win Life Stories

The story of a woman who decides not to enter the elite of world sport in order to have a son, Borja, who is born without legs and without an arm; the story of Guadalupe Táuler, the last of 10 siblings, who was born with a lump on her skull, and the story of some boys around the Plaza de San Miguel in Valladolid, are the winners of the II Life Stories Contest.

Rafael Miner-April 14, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

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It is not well seen to make 'spoilers', that is, to advance how the stories are, and even less their end, but they are moving. The pregnancies of Borja and Guadalupe, each in their respective families, and the life of some boys from Valladolid in the Plaza de San Miguel, have won prizes this year in the II Short Story Contest on 'The gift of life and sport', organized by the Association Athletes for Life and the Family, chaired by Javier Jáuregui, in which Omnes has collaborated.

The Jury was composed of Francisco Gil Sánchez, Manuel Ruiz-Tomás Parajón, José María López-Ferrera and Joaquín Albadalejo Giménez, who had to decide on a few stories that will be published in their entirety in an electronic book on this Omnes website, as was done a few weeks ago with the award-winning stories in 2021.

The boys from Valladolid are the ones who collided in the Pisuerga River, "while we were swimming, with another tiny, naked, floating, helpless and somewhat swollen body. Thrown into the river dead or alive, perhaps by an anonymous being, hopeless and desperate." "There, on the left bank of the Pisuerga, one summer day, a collective lament was raised. From that day on, none of us ever swam in the river again," narrates Fernando Barcenilla, one of the winners.

"Our little gladiator".

Mercedes Lucena, a student of the Colegio de Fomento de Córdoba El Encinar, winner in the under-19 category with 'La línea de una batalla', tells the story of Jorge, "our little gladiator", and his parents who, despite the malformation of their son's legs and right arm, and the comments that "he would be a nuisance for us and that the best thing would be to get rid of him", went ahead with their gladiator. Borja was no good for anything," they said. "I am truly sorry because they will never know the word resilience in person," writes Mercedes Lucena, encouraged by professor Ana Isabel Serrano.

"For me," Mercedes Lucena portrays, "his metallic legs were flying. Soon, and to everyone's surprise, he overtook his companions, and the finish line was getting closer and closer. Before he got there, he stumbled and fell to the ground. However, gritting his teeth, he got up and continued running, and thanks to the advantage he had, he crossed the white line. For a few moments, getting up from my seat and shouting, that patch of paint looked to me like the line of a great battle."

"A spark of hope".

Blanca Táuler, a student of the Senara school in Madrid, in the free category, with her story 'Los ojos de nuestra hermanita' (Guadalupe), "in which we see life, a spark of hope", has been awarded in the free category. "In the 12th week of pregnancy, at the clinic, they detected a malformation in the baby, which days later was confirmed; our little sister had meningocele; a defect that appears as a small bag near the spine. That pocket, affectionately called a 'little bag', frightened us all".

Blanca Táuler, first from right, in the Race for Life

"My parents saw in the eyes of the doctors the difficulty, a spark of risk; and it was decided to transfer her to the Gregorio Marañón hospital where the medical staff, neurosurgeons, ultrasound, gynecologist..., were specialized in high-risk pregnancies," adds Blanca Táuler. "With peace, my parents were ready to go ahead; in that moment of affirmation everyone was ready to fight, the doctors supported, welcomed and accompanied with their knowledge and technique, defending the life of our little sister. Another meeting at the family dinner with the news of the 'lump'," writes the Senara school pupil.

"Every 15 days, mom and dad went for checkups, the baby developed at his own pace and everything seemed to hold up. We only prayed that the brain would not move, and that when it was removed it would not affect the brain functions. I listened to Dad, in times of stress I would go out for a walk, from time to time I would go alone and other times I would see in my brother's eyes a spark of anxiety, and I would say to him: 'Juan, shall we go out for a while? He would tie his sneakers and we would go up to the Retiro, to feel that we were not alone. I realized that the more I felt overwhelmed, the harder I stepped on my feet and the faster I wanted to go". The rest we leave for the publication of the full story.

"I look and I can't find you".

In third place, 'last but not the least', Fernando Barcenilla, a physical education teacher at the INEF in Madrid for years, and former sports manager, among other activities, was the winner in the sports category, with his story 'Farola de la Plaza de San Miguel, "a square where Francisco Umbral played as a child" in Valladolid, he told Omnes.

"Why have you disappeared, street lamp of the Plaza de San Miguel? Who decided for all of us? What uncontrolled official dared to move the sculptural stone that held the marvelous lamps that illuminated the incipient and deep thoughts? Thus begins a story, that of Fernando Barcenilla, which ends up talking even about the Virgen del Henar, and the Virgen de las Angustias.

"Months of suffering and hope".

"In my story I tell the story of my sister, who was born this summer with a lump in her skull, and I explain a bit about how we lived through it, and how we defended our mother's life. And I also relate it to the sport we did to relieve the stress we were carrying. With her, there are ten of us, she is the tenth. I am the third," explains Blanca Táuler, a student at Senara, and I refer to "those months of suffering and at the same time of hope in life.

On the cause of Life, Blanca points out that "we must defend all women who are uncertain about life, because it is a marvel", and poses in the photograph with other girls who came to the Urban Mile organized by Deportistas por la Vida, as a prologue, last March 27, to the March Yes to Life that summoned thousands of demonstrators in Madrid. Among them, Ana, a neighbor of Blanca, who studies at the Pureza de María school, and has also come to the Race.

The winners of last year's short story contest on the following topics The gift of life and sport were María José Gámez Collantes de Terán, a first year high school student from the Adharaz Altasierra school (Espartinas, Seville), from the Attendis group, with a story entitled Run! María Moreno Guillén, from Badajoz, also a student in the first year of Bachillerato at the Puerta Palma-El Tomillar school in Badajoz, from the same educational group, with the story titled The happiness of my lifeand Lorena Villalba Heredia, a native of Gijón, with the story entitled Nyala, after overcoming, triumphing.

The stories

'The line of a battle', by Mercedes Lucena

'The eyes of our little sister', by Blanca Táuler

‘Plaza de San Miguel street lamp', by Fernando Barcenilla

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Commentary on the readings for the First Sunday of Pember

"The first day of the new life of the world". I Sunday of Easter

Andrea Mardegan comments on the readings for the First Sunday of Easter and Luis Herrera offers a short video homily.

Andrea Mardegan-April 14, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

At the end of the Passion narrative, Luke introduces Joseph of Arimathea who asks for the body of Jesus, takes it down from the cross, wraps it in a sheet and buries it in a new tomb hewn out of the rock. Then he writes: "The women who had accompanied himñThey followed him from Galilee, and saw the tomb and the tomb.óHis body had been laid out. When they returned, they prepared spices and myrrh. And the sárested in accordance with the precept of the". The women themselves are witnesses to what happened on the first day of the week, the first day of the new life of the world. That begins with them, the women, experts in accompanying death and the life that begins: they will witness the birth of the humanity of Jesus to a new life, the first fruits of our future life. Christ God incarnate, in the middle of the night was born from the womb of the new rock of the tomb, to a new life.

They had not thought how to remove the stone, but their impulse of love is rewarded by the author of life: the stone no longer closes the tomb. Luke, who speaks of angels in several passages of the Gospel, nevertheless says here that two men in dazzling clothes appear to the women. Also in the Acts of the Apostles he will say of two men who appear and dialogue with the Eleven after the ascension. "Two men" are also Moses and Elijah on the mount of transfiguration who speak with Jesus. "of his exodus, which él was to be consummated in Jerusalem"(Lk 9:30-31). Moses and Elijah are also protagonists of the Scriptures who bear witness to Christ, as Jesus explained to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, "..." (Lk 9:30-31).and, beginning with Moses and continuing through all the prophets". And a little later to the Eleven apostles and "your fellowñeros"and shut up in the Upper Room on the evening of that same first day of the week, opening their minds to the things written about him" (Acts 2:1).in the law of Mosesés, in the Prophets and Psalms".

But above all the two men remind the women that he, still in Galilee, spoke of his death and also of his resurrection. "Remember", say these men, or angels with human features. The women remember and run to tell what happened. There are not only three, but several. On the same day of the Resurrection, of the empty tomb, of the things heard by men with a particular light, they experience the humiliation of the little ones towards the strong who command. "They took it for a delusion and didn't believe them.". By the way, they have not yet seen Him. But they believe on the basis of His word which they heard in Galilee. And they are blessed. They achieve a first step: Peter goes out and goes to see the empty tomb. Soon all will see Him and His wounds and will again hear His voice that will never die.

Homily on the readings of the First Sunday of Easter

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

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"Have hope, a thief was saved": the ACdP campaign for these days.

Are you happy? The question that ACdP is launching this Holy Week.

The days of Holy Week are the framework for this new campaign of the Catholic Association of Propagandists in which they question the key to life: happiness.

Maria José Atienza-April 13, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute

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After campaigns such as "Vivan los padres" or "Cancelados", the Catholic Association of Propagandists (ACdP) launches a new campaign in bus shelters, subways and buses in more than 100 cities throughout Spain focusing on sadness, the most widespread spiritual disease of our time.

Last year, at this time, the campaign launched by the ACdP was focused on the hope of salvation. On this occasion, the propagandists ask the 47 million Spaniards if they are happy. A question for which the ACdP proposes two personal testimonies. Through QR codes, they share two real stories, one for "Yes" and one for "No".

Yes" leads to the history of the model and filmmaker. Pietro DitanoHe found God when he saw that his life of luxury, apparently happy, did not fulfill him. It was "an appearance of smoke" from which he emerged thanks to the sacraments and service to others. "The Lord brought me out of absolute unhappiness, which masquerades as happiness," he says.

For the "No", despite what it may seem, the story of Sonsoles also opens a door to hope. This young woman, who suffers from depression, has discovered that the Lord sustains her and accompanies her in her illness. Sonsoles is part of the 5% of Spaniards who suffer from depression and for whom God also has an answer, as this campaign reminds us.

The #JesusChristHasSavedMe Challenge

In addition, the ACdP has launched a challenge in social networks under the heading of hashtag #JesusChristHasSavedMe. Through this challenge, people are invited to share their testimony on video and challenge other friends to do the same, starting a chain to share the good news of the Resurrection. Activist and YouTuber Jordi Sabaté and priest Pablo Pich, among others, have already accepted the challenge.

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"The Pope asks us to live our religious vocation with depth and joy."

Vocations

Card. Aquilino BocosAlmost all crises are crises of human, Christian, ecclesial or charismatic relationships".

Interview with Cardinal Aquilino Bocos Merino, cmf. Initiator, organizer and editor of the National Weeks of Religious Life on the occasion of the LI edition of these days.

Maria José Atienza-April 13, 2022-Reading time: 6 minutes

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In a few days, the LI edition of the National Week of Consecrated Life. A meeting that will bring together religious men and women from very different charisms. Relationship, a broad theme, will be the axis of this edition that presents the theme as a fundamental key to express Christian identity and that of consecrated life in the present circumstances.

This Week of Consecrated Life is one of the references of the Theological Institute of Religious Lifea higher center of research and teaching, founded by the Claretian Missionaries in 1971. Cardinal Aquilino Bocos, cmf, would play a fundamental role in this foundation.

Initiator, organizer and editor of the National Weeks of Religious Life, this Claretian native of Esgueva, has granted an interview to Omnes in which he emphasizes that "secularization is not cured by fleeing but by facing the challenges with discernment and responsibility".

Fifty-one years ago, you initiated the Consecrated Life Weeks. Half a century later, what is your assessment of these Weeks?

- In October 1971, the Theological Institute of Religious Life was inaugurated in Madrid and there was a change in the direction of the magazine "Vida Religiosa". As a member of the team of the Institute and as the new director of the magazine, I presented to the Community responsible for these works the initiative to carry out a National Week of reflection for the Institutes of Religious Life. It was very well received and, upon proposing it to CONFER and to a good group of Institutes, we received the pleasant surprise of their total support. The second surprise was that, at the beginning of the Week, we were overwhelmed because many more people than expected presented themselves to us.

We have already celebrated 50 Weeks and, except for the year 2020, which was prevented by covid-19, the group of participants has remained numerous. In all of them we have been able to perceive the Easter joy, fraternity and hope. The satisfaction of the participants has served as a stimulus to prepare for each following Week.

In addition to the large number of participants, the diversity of age groups and geographical origins of the participants was striking. There were weeks in which religious men and women from more than 50 nations participated.

I believe that it was a good decision to celebrate them and disseminate their reflections in Claretian Publications, since they have served to extend the concerns and hopes expressed and to illuminate new paths of life and service to the Church.

Throughout these years the Weeks have experienced the joy of the presence of Prefects and Secretaries of the Congregation of Institutes of Consecrated Life, the Nuncio, the Presidents of the Episcopal Commission of Consecrated Life, the Presidents of CONFER, etc. and numerous pastors of our local churches. It is also a pleasure to receive expressions of gratitude from those who have developed a theme. They have felt very comfortable among the participants.

How do these Weeks encourage and promote the formation and action of the different charisms of consecrated life in society?

- I remember an anecdote from the early years. A great theologian suggested to me, from the experience of the first week, that it did not seem appropriate to congregate massively so many consecrated persons because the sensitivity of those years was to share in small groups. A few years later he participated again and asked me not to stop organizing these Weeks because they were giving much encouragement and hope to the institutes of consecrated life.

Having said this, it should be emphasized that, in organizing the Week, the most important thing is to get the title of the Week right. It is usually done after much consultation, exchange and discernment. It comes to coincide with some theme that needs to be discerned and reflected upon in the light of the Word of God and the Magisterium of the Church, and that affects the main nuclei of consecrated life in the Church and in society.

The title of the Week, taking into account the ecclesial and social challenges, illuminates nuclear aspects of consecrated life: vocations, spirituality, fraternity, mission, formation and governance. The constant reference to the prophetic dimension and commitment to the most disadvantaged is not superfluous, but connatural. This is why we try to promote a consecrated life of proximity and Samaritan spirit.

The intention, and it seems to be achieved, is that the Week has a projection in the Communities or Groups of life and apostolate. The projection of the Week abroad is also commendable. For that reason the conferences are published, which are usually the object of reflection, formation and interchange. Frequently, the professors or speakers in the Weeks have been invited to chapters, assemblies or sessions of permanent formation in different countries.

In the early years, the regional Confers echoed the National Week and key conferences were repeated in some cities.

This year's week focuses on a complex theme: relationship. The Pope strongly encourages us to live "looking at the other". How does this translate into religious life?

- The theme of the 51st Week is broad, but it is deep and committed. Almost all crises are crises of human, Christian, ecclesial or charismatic relationship. To face the relationship is to take seriously the origins, the trajectory and the fullness of life in all the alluded areas.

We move in a relational culture and a very vivid exponent is the magisterium of our Pope Francis. It is enough to read his speeches, encyclicals and exhortations to see his insistence on the other as a brother, as a neighbor, as a fellow disciple and as a member of the evangelizing community. Everything he says about the Church going forth and the Samaritan Church, everything he has insisted on fraternity, reveals a passion for man, for living together, for solidarity, for peace. It does not fail to bet on dialogue and encounter. It is evident that the theme is central to understanding and living synodality in the People of God.

Is there, even today, the danger of closing ourselves in our own community or environment more or less favorable as a response to a fear of external secularization?

- There are some groups that seek the refuge of the gated community. But this is not common. The greatest risk is dispersion and disintegration. Secularization must be faced from a serious witness in thinking and acting. And in this action I include, as it could not be otherwise, prayer, meditation on the Word of God, solidarity with the poorest and most marginalized. Secularization is not cured by fleeing but by facing with discernment and responsibility the challenges that come to us from the complex thinking that envelops us and from the liquid life that prevents us from standing on our feet.

Secularization must be faced with a serious witness in thinking and acting.
Card. Aquilino Bocos. Founder Consecrated Life Week

Also today, as Cardinal Suenens said, "This is no time for fear and loneliness. It is not the time for dispersion. It is not the time to live in solitude...It is the time for communion". We must strive to overcome secularization, globalization and the false information of digital networks with a passion for truth, mercy and fraternity.

The Church is immersed in a synodal journey especially oriented towards relationships: speaking, listening to others, also to outsiders. Do you think that this synodal spirit is effectively permeating the Church? How is Consecrated Life living this synodal challenge today?

- Synodality is "walking together". This expression refers to the first disciples on the way of Jesus and is the condition of those of us who want to follow Jesus Way, Truth and Life. It means that synodality is something more than the organization of internal Church meetings. The fact that the Pope has convoked a Synod on synodality has awakened great interest and developed a broad reflection on our way of life and our way of celebrating and evangelizing. The Church is Mystery, communion and mission. And, if we want to be coherent with our participation in it, we must be worshipers, live with intensity the fraternity and strive to joyfully proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Synodality is underway. What is holding it back? The rupture of relationships before God, before others and before nature.
Card. Aquilino Bocos, cmf. Founder Consecrated Life Week

Synodality is not a theoretical guideline, it is a path to be followed by conjugating, among others, these verbs: to look, to welcome, to live together, to thank, to love, to include and integrate, to listen, to dialogue, to forgive, to pray together, to trust, to help each other and to commit ourselves. These verbs imply personal relationships of the members of the family of God on the way.

Synodality is underway. What is holding it back? The breakdown of relationships with God, with others and with nature. They are impoverished by indifference, apathy, obviousness. Therefore, synodality implies a constant conversion to the person of Jesus and to his Church, which is his Body.

Consecrated Life is called to exercise its service of prophetic witness in the synodal journey of the Church through its consecration, fraternal life and evangelizing mission according to the charism of the Institute itself. This 51st National Week is, precisely, oriented to live with new awareness and responsibility this "journey together" with the Pastors, with the priests and with the laity.

Intra-ecclesial relations have improved a lot in these post-conciliar years, but we have to qualify them from docility to the Spirit and facing the needs of those who most need our proximity and Samaritan service.

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Youth suicide and education

What are Roman numerals for?

The elimination of history is essential for this purpose of creating a new social order. They need a new generation of young people without history.

Javier Segura-April 13, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

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The decision to eliminate the chronological study of the subject of History in the LOMLOE has been truly shocking and has raised criticism from historians and writers. How can one study History without taking into account the thread of events?

Criticism has not taken long to appear and has been heard in different media. Precisely, a group of writers has promoted a manifesto in which they clearly position themselves against this model of teaching History.

"They respond to an ideological approach that turns History into a magma, into a series of disconnected frames where historical time lacks meaning and, consequently, the facts are not integrated into a specific period, but are taught out of context.

This formula makes students fall into presentism and judge the past with present criteria, which means fertilizing the ground for 'the culture of cancellation': the impugnation of any historical fact, cultural work or personage considered contrary to certain current identity values".

However, in addition to this paradigm shift in the study of history, the subject of history is diminished in many other aspects.

First of all, the number of hours to teach it is seriously reduced. In addition, the study of historical periods prior to the nineteenth century is minimized, leaving aside essential historical events. And part of the syllabus focuses more on sociological analysis, not free of ideological approaches, than historical.

Not to mention that some of the historical facts are tinged with a degree of subjectivity that is actually a partisan position, as is the case, for example, when analyzing the Second Spanish Republic.

All this reminded me, by association of ideas, of something that has passed as anecdotal in the educational reform: the fact that the study of Roman numerals has been suppressed.

The excuse that there is too much knowledge in the curriculum and that the load needs to be lightened sounds too much like an excuse.

The new generations will no longer be able to interpret most of the inscriptions. For them it will be like looking at an Egyptian hieroglyphic, a bunch of meaningless letters. But the damage is much greater and worrying if we add it to the general loss of the historical concept we are talking about.

Common history shapes us as a people, gives us identity, anchors us in a community. It makes us understand who we are as a society and as people. It analyzes the past to understand the present and project ourselves into a better future. We have always heard that those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it.

Today there is a revolutionary mentality in the air and in the political and social elites. The revolution is always proposed with the adamic pretension that everything begins today, with a radical break with the past.

On some occasions, such as during the French Revolution, the calendar was changed. It was no longer possible to measure the years or months with the Christian calendar. The birth of Christ could not be the center of history.

This revolutionary feeling can be glimpsed today in a special way, albeit in a slower, more subtle, less noisy way. We are in a change of epoch, certainly. But it is a change that some people want to make a break with the past, to propose a new ethical and moral, political and economic paradigm. And breaking with the past, leaving the new generations without roots, blurring community ties, is part of the path that leads to the great reboot that they seek. Within this revolutionary scheme, of paradigm change, education is a key element, it is the tool that drives this change.

The elimination of history is essential for this purpose of creating a new social order. They need a new generation of young people without history, without a past, without anchors. Only in this way, without the ties to the land that having roots implies, can they travel certain personal and collective paths that would clash with moral and social principles that constituted them as peoples and as persons.

But we all know what happens to a tree without roots. It doesn't hold on. It sways in the slightest wind. And ultimately, it dies. This is the crucial moment we live in.

Thinking about all this, I cannot but recall some words of the Polish pope-saint. Karol Wojtyla and his generation of compatriots also had to live at a time when a revolutionary regime wanted to change their identity and establish a new social order. But it was precisely in this rootedness in history and tradition that they found the keys to face that enormous challenge. It is worthwhile to reread these words and draw conclusions for our present time.

"I think that in these multiple forms of popular piety hides the answer to a question that is sometimes raised about the meaning of tradition, even in its local manifestations.

Basically, the answer is simple: the attunement of hearts is a great strength. Rooting oneself in what is ancient, strong, deep and endearing at the same time, gives an extraordinary inner energy.

If this rootedness is also linked to a vigorous force of ideas, there can no longer be any reason to fear for the future of faith and human relations within the nation.

In the rich humus of tradition, culture is nurtured, which cements the coexistence of citizens, gives them the sense of being one big family and lends support and strength to their convictions.

Our great task, especially today, in this time of so-called globalization, is to cultivate healthy traditions, to foster a bold harmony of imagination and thought, a vision open to the future and, at the same time, an affectionate respect for the past.

It is a past that lingers in human hearts under the expression of ancient words, ancient gestures, memories and customs inherited from past generations."

St. John Paul II, 'Get up! Let's go!'

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Holy Week with Pope Francis

During Holy Week 2022, after two years of suspension due to the pandemic, the Holy Father's celebrations at the Vatican will be celebrated with a certain degree of normality: processions, Stations of the Cross and the Easter Triduum.

Giovanni Tridente-April 12, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

After two years of suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic, public celebrations of Holy Week have resumed almost everywhere in the world with great participation of the faithful: processions, Stations of the Cross, Easter Triduum. The universal Church had a taste of it this Palm Sunday, when more than 65,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square and nearby Via della Conciliazione to attend Mass with Pope Francis.

Palm Sunday

It was exciting to see scenes that we had left behind for more than 24 months: in addition to the large concentrations of people, the Pope's ride in his "popemobile" to greet the crowd at the end of the celebration gave a sense of normality to this new stage that will hopefully take hold. It was equally significant to see St. Peter's Square decorated with hundreds of floral arrangements and decorations, along with the distribution of olive branches. The same decoration, even more detailed, will be seen on Easter Sunday, with the decorations made with the help of Dutch and Slovenian florists.

Maundy Thursday

Along these lines, all the celebrations of Holy Week have been confirmed with the participation of Pope Francis, who, although he has some problems walking due to his knee problem, will preside over all the scheduled rites. Starting with Holy Thursday, with the Chrism Mass in the presence of patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops, bishops and diocesan and religious priests present in Rome, in the morning at 9.30 a.m. in St. Peter's Basilica.

Good Friday

On Good Friday, again in the Basilica, the Holy Father will preside at the Liturgy of the Word with the Adoration of the Holy Cross and Holy Communion, at 5 p.m., while in the evening the traditional Way of the Cross will resume in the Colosseum, also after the stop of the pandemic, at 9.15 p.m., at the end of which the Pope will address a few words and impart the Apostolic Blessing.

Stations of the Cross at the Coliseum

The Pope wanted to entrust the meditations of the Way of the Cross to some families this year, since we are in the year dedicated to them, while celebrating the 5th anniversary of the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, which will conclude in June with the 10th World Meeting of Families.

Among the 14 families represented are a young couple, a family on a mission, an elderly couple, a large family, a family with a disabled child, a family with adopted children, a widow with her children, a family of emigrants, in short, the whole cross-section of society with its problems and concerns. There is also a reference to the tragedy of war, to the point that at the 13th station, a Ukrainian and a Russian family will carry the cross. The meditations themselves are inspired by the life journey of each of the groups represented, with all their dramas and hopes.

It is also interesting that the texts of the Stations of the Cross are illustrated with reproductions of miniatures taken from two manuscripts in the Vatican Library: a book of meditations on the Passion and a 15th century Book of Hours.

Easter Resurrection

The Easter Vigil will always take place in St. Peter's Basilica at 7:30 p.m. on Holy Saturday; here, too, Patriarchs, Cardinals and Bishops will concelebrate with the Pope. On the day of the Lord's Resurrection, the faithful will return to St. Peter's Square for the Mass of the day at 10 a.m. - followed by the Urbi et Orbi blessing given by Pope Francis from the central loggia of the Basilica.

Ukraine

With regard to the war in Ukraine, the Pope will be close to the populations tormented by the conflict also during the Easter Triduum, materially through Cardinal Elector Konrad Krajewski, who has arrived for the third time in Kiev, where on Holy Thursday he will deliver a second ambulance on behalf of the Pontiff. He will then stay for all the Holy Week celebrations with the local Christian communities.

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European Youth Pilgrimage begins to take shape

The European Youth Pilgrimage 2022 (EYP), which will take place in Santiago de Compostela between August 3 and 7, 2022 on the occasion of the Compostela Holy Year, has launched its website and a mobile application.

Maria José Atienza-April 11, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Santiago de Compostela will host, next August, the European Youth Pilgrimage, organized jointly by this diocese and the Subcommission for Youth and Children of the Spanish Episcopal Conference. Initially scheduled for August 2021, this youth meeting was moved to August 2022 because of the pandemic while the Compostela Holy Year was extended to 2022 for the same reason.

Catechesis, recreational activities and concerts will be part of this meeting in which young people from all over Spain and several European countries, especially Portugal, Italy and France, are expected to participate.

Although the organization of the PEJ22 is not going to make any "official" path, the organization will coordinate with all the realities, movements and associations that want to participate in order to make an equitable distribution of the 10 possible paths in the dates prior to the PEJ.

This European Youth Pilgrimage has as its motto "Young man stand up and be a witness" part of one of the three verses on which Pope Francis encouraged young people to reflect and pray at WYD 2019 in Panama, in view of the World Youth Day in Lisbon.

Young man, to you I say, stand up!' (Lk. 7,14 - Christus vivit', 20) for the year 2020;

'Arise, I make you a witness of the things you have seen!' (Acts 26:16)" by the year 2021;

"Mary arose and departed without delay." extracted from Lk 1:39, for the year 2022, the year of WYD in Lisbon.

Three themes that have in common the invitation to young people to "get up", to hasten to live the Lord's call and spread the good news, as Mary did after having pronounced her "Here I am".

The mobile application and the web

The PEJ22 mobile application is available both in Apple Store as in Google PlayIt is conceived as an internal communication vehicle for all the participants of the pilgrimage. At the moment, it is in its first phase of development, but it will be incorporating new functions in the coming months exclusively for the young people registered.

Meanwhile, on the official websiteIn the "Pilgrimage of the Pilgrimage" section, you can find basic information about the pilgrimage, with all the graphic materials available to visitors, the latest news about the PEJ, and information about the routes.

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Commentary on the Holy Thursday readings

"Gestures full of divine wisdom". Holy Thursday

Andrea Mardegan comments on the Holy Thursday readings and Luis Herrera offers a brief video homily.

Andrea Mardegan-April 11, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

The old Covenant was stipulated by God with Abraham, passing through the slaughtered animals and their blood. Jesus in the institution of the Eucharist mentions the New Covenant, which will last forever. It is stipulated as the old one: by God as protagonist and us as recipients of his covenant of love, in his blood that will be shed on the cross and is presented beforehand to his apostles in the wine of the chalice, separated from the bread of his body. The tender lamb sacrificed by order of the Lord at the Passover of liberation from Egypt and whose blood was smeared on doorposts and lintels to save the first-born of the Jewish families, was a figure of Christ, who is about to shed his blood on the cross for the salvation of all.

John emphasizes that Jesus knows all this and everything else about his Passover, and that is why his gestures are full of divine wisdom. "Knowing Jesus that his hour had come."He loved his disciples to the end. "Knowing that the Father had placed everything in his hands, that he came from God and returned to God."He washed the feet of his apostles. A gesture descended from the wisdom of Jesus and linked to the meaning of that Passover. Jesus left his garments. They are the same garments perhaps woven by his mother and perhaps impregnated with the perfume of the most precious spikenard that Mary of Bethany poured on his feet (Jn 12:3) and his hair (Mk 14:3): three hundred grams. The same garments that the next day the Roman soldiers took after crucifying him. And they divided them into four parts, one for each soldier, and cast lots on the tunic woven in one piece. To say that "were takenJohn uses a verb that also means "...the garments".host". As if Jesus had given them to him. In fact, he had already left them to wash at the feet of his own, he had already donated them. Perhaps he also took them off on Calvary. And the unconscious Roman soldiers, taking them with them, took away a relic of Christ.

He washed the feet of all, even of Judas, even of Peter, who did not want to, so that they would form "part"He reaches out to all the disciples, to all the soldiers, to all the people. It reaches all the disciples, all the soldiers, all the people. "When I am lifted up above the earth, I will draw everyone to myself."(Jn 12:32). While Jesus knows everything, we know little and badly. Let us then let Jesus wash our feet, let us gather up his clothes and all that he gave up to give himself: work, family, country, honor, disciples, security, life. We accept all that he has in his hands, in the bread that is himself. Jesus made Eucharist who gives himself to us: "eat"He tells us because he wants to share with us.

The homily on the readings of Holy Thursday

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

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The cornerstone of education

Javier Segura-April 9, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Text in Italian

There is an expression that, because it is evangelical, has caught my attention in the new educational law. Pilar Alegria's Ministry of Education points out that the exit profile "is the cornerstone of the curricular building, the matrix that unites and towards which the different stages converge".

The exit profile is the model of person to be achieved with the application of the LOMLOE. The entire educational system is geared towards this objective. The student's exit profile outlines the type of person that, as a social group, we want to contribute to develop through education and, through it, the type of society we aspire to build.

As Christian educators, and I am thinking especially of Catholic-inspired schools and teachers of Religion, we would do well to ask ourselves what our 'exit profile' is, that is to say, what model of person we have and, with it, what we want our society to be like. And we will have to ask ourselves to what extent our project coincides with what this or other educational laws propose.

Perhaps we have to start from the beginning. Our cornerstone in education is none other than Jesus Christ himself. The goal of all Christian formation is configuration to Christ. The model we have of humanity is the one embodied, not ideally, but living and pulsating, Jesus of Nazareth. In fact, we are called to have the heart, the look, the mind of Jesus Christ. This is our ultimate formative reference point.

It is true that the school has its own dynamics, and that our Catholic proposal can coincide with many of the objectives set out in the educational exit profile, and can even reinforce some of them in greater depth.

But we have to be aware and honest with ourselves in order to be able to offer our own project, our exit profile, without being afraid that there are aspects in which we do not coincide with the 'politically correct'. We have to be able to propose our perspective on some issues in which we apparently talk about the same thing, but only apparently. Because, for example, it is not the same to talk about the care of the common home from the perspective that the world is God's creation and man is his 'masterpiece', as it is to do so by proposing a pantheistic scheme of Mother Earth Gaia and presenting man as the enemy, a kind of virus that must be controlled with neo-Malthusian policies that reduce the population. It is not the same thing.

And it's not just a matter of points of view on the same subject. Sometimes it is not a problem of what is said, but of what is not said. There are vital perspectives that will never appear in the exit profile of any educational law, but which are essential for us. We Christians cannot forget that we are citizens of heaven, that the earth is our common home, but that it expands and becomes infinite in the bosom of the Father. That Jesus, dead and risen, alive today, is the one who sustains our life.

Our cornerstone is Christ. Without him, the whole building falls down. Without this keystone, it is impossible to educate as Christians. Having this clear, knowing who we are and what our proposal is, we will be able to contribute the light that is born of the Gospel and that has illuminated all centuries and all nations.

Also XXI.

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Integral ecology

Mutuactivos launches a fund "that takes Catholic doctrine into account".

Mutuactivos, Mutua Madrileña's financial asset management entity, has launched "a sustainable international equity fund" called Mutuafondo Impacto Social FI, "focused on the social aspect and taking into account the doctrine of the Catholic Church," says the fund manager.

Rafael Miner-April 9, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

The fund's sustainable objective is focused on investing in companies that "actively seek to improve the well-being and quality of life of people, both through their processes and operations, as well as the goods or services they offer," adds Mutuactivos.

"Because of its socially responsible nature, the fund's policy excludes investment in companies that threaten life or human dignity," it states explicitly. "Thus, investment in companies with exposure to tobacco and armaments, those that violate human rights, companies that demonstrate racial or gender discrimination or encourage usury is excluded." "The vehicle will try to avoid companies that participate in sectors whose activity is contrary to the ideology of the Catholic Church," explains the fund manager.

On the other hand, "managers will analyze particularly closely the sectors classified as having a high climate impact, restricting investment in companies with exposure to fossil fuels, raw materials, toxic waste and those with intensive use of water".

Luis Ussia, CEO of Mutuactivos, assures that "the fund's strategy will be focused on selecting companies that favor the fight against poverty and inequality, the fight against hunger, that promote health, well-being and responsible consumption and that adopt solutions for the protection of human and labor rights".

An equity fund

Mutuafondo Impacto Social FI, which has "a minimum investment of 10 euros", "will invest between 75 and 100 % of its assets in equities [e.g., stocks], mainly from OECD issuers and markets, although it can invest up to 25 % in companies in emerging markets", it has informed these days.

According to Mutuactivos, the fund "joins a still very small group of funds with a sustainable objective in Spain. Its investments will be aligned with the OECD guidelines for multinational companies and the United Nations guiding principles on business and human rights. It meets the strictest investment criteria in this regard," reports Luis Ussia.

To include an entity in the portfolio, the fund managers "will only consider companies whose management or business generates a direct positive impact on the selected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), after carrying out a valuation of the same. The fund is advised by Portocolom securities agency, an entity adhered to the United Nations Global Compact and specialized in the design and monitoring of sustainable portfolios that combine traditional financial aspects with sustainability, ESG and impact criteria". ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) criteria refer to environmental, social and corporate governance factors that are taken into account when investing in a company.

Social objectives and points of attention

In this regard, the fund focuses, according to its manager, "on those social goals that are more focused on people, in particular: SDG 1: End Poverty; SDG 2: Zero Hunger; SDG 3: Health and Well-being; SDG 4: Quality Education; SDG 5: Gender Equality; SDG 10: Reducing Inequalities; SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities".

A brief analysis of the information provided by the management company, especially with regard to "avoiding companies whose activity is contrary to the ideology of the Catholic Church", suggests a brief reading of the text of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which can be consulted here. here. In the Health section, ODS33.7 By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programs.

Experts involved in the defense of life have routinely pointed out that the expression "sexual and reproductive health services" in international organizations is often a euphemism for abortion. Pope Francis, in tune with his predecessors, has in his Pontificate defended the dignity of the human person and the right to life of the unborn. The last time in his apostolic trip to Malta last weekend, as you can see in this chronicle of Omnes, with the following words: "I encourage you to continue to defend life from its beginning to its natural end, but also to protect it at all times from being discarded and abandoned. I am thinking especially of the dignity of workers, the elderly and the sick. And the young (...) Let us protect the beauty of life.

Integral ecology

The Pope's mentions of the Millennium Development Goals, educational proposals and the ecological challenge have been frequent in recent years, particularly in academic forums, as you can see in this event in the University Lateran. And as far as the defense of human life is concerned, his doctrine has been clear.

In addition, Professor Emilio Chuvieco has referred to these issues in a paper entitled article published in Omnes, entitled 'Moral of Life'. In this text one can read the following: "These ideas came to my mind while reading the latest book of Pope Francis ("Let's Dream Together: The Road to a Better Future World", 2020). Faced with those who remain suspicious of his position on the ecological question, as if it were a concession to the values of 'cultural progressivism', the Pope once again reminds us that the care of nature (of Creation, in Christian terms) carries with it what he calls 'integral ecology., which includes both care for the environment and, above all, care for human beings".

In any case, it does not seem idle to see that these types of funds, launched by any entity, are fine-tuned in their investments. Mutuactivos has pointed out, as usual, that "there are available to the public for all Mutuactivos funds, a complete informative brochure, the document with the fundamental data for the investor, periodic reports and the latest audited annual report, which can be requested free of charge at the management company's registered office", at mutuactivos.com or at the National Securities Market Commission (cnmv.es).

Mutuactivos recently launched a fund to make donations to 'Caritas with Ukraine', an emergency campaign by Caritas Spain to meet the humanitarian needs of the displaced population.

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

The application developed by the Argentines Alejandro Roggio and Ramiro González Morón accompanies the texts of this traditional prayer with images by the Swiss artist Bradi Barth and even with music.

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

The Via Crucis application is available in four languages -Spanish, English, Portuguese or Italian- and can be downloaded at Google Play y Apple Store free of charge, although a voluntary donation can be made at the time of download.

The short texts of the Stations of the Cross written by St. Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei, "are very profound and are expressed in a modern language and with a relatively short length, which makes them very suitable for an app," says one of the app's creators, Ramiro González.

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Families, protagonists of the Stations of the Cross at the Coliseum

Rome Reports-April 8, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute

The first Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum after the pandemic will be marked by its family accent as several families will be in charge of preparing the meditations of the Stations of the Cross. Some families will also carry the cross from station to station.

This commitment to families is part of the "Amoris Laetitia" Year of the Family, which will conclude on June 26, 2022 with the 10th World Meeting of Families in Rome.

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Francis urges at Ta' Pinu Shrine to "rediscover the essential: Jesus".

Pope Francis meets with thousands of teenagers on Easter Monday

The initiative aims to draw attention to the world of adolescents, young people between the ages of 12 and 17, who are often ignored by the "adult world" and who, on the other hand, are essential for building the world of tomorrow.

Giovanni Tridente-April 8, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

News in Italian

News in English

They have been preparing for several months for a meeting that aims to highlight an existential reality often ignored by the "adult world". They are the thousands of teenagers, young people between the ages of 12 and 17, who on April 18, Easter Monday, will gather in St. Peter's Square for a meeting with Pope Francis.

The initiative was promoted by the National Youth Pastoral Service of the Italian Bishops' Conference, and was proposed to the Pontiff as a "pilgrimage to Rome" through which to try to reflect on this particular "world", wonderful but at the same time complicated, which certainly deserves more attention from the whole of society. In the meantime, the Church begins.

The effects of the pandemic

One of the reasons for initiating a serious reflection on the developmental age of young people also stems from the constraints experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic, which, as shown by many field researches, has severely penalized the lives of young people, forced to stay at home and to deprive themselves of human relationships that are fundamental to them. In addition to the limits recorded in the field of education - with the alternative, where it has worked, of distance learning - and in the rethinking of shared domestic spaces.

For this reason, the Italian Church has wanted to be an interpreter of this general malaise and has initiated a process in all dioceses to spread awareness that it is important to invest in this strategic time. For his part, Pope Francis welcomed this opportunity to address young people once again, if only to reiterate their importance not only for the future but also for the present of society.

Dialogue between young and old

There is no lack of occasions, in fact, in which the Holy Father points out the need to preserve and "live" the roots, through a fruitful dialogue between elders and young people, because, as he often repeats in a very apt image quoting an Argentine poet, "everything that the tree that blooms has comes from its roots" (Bernárdez).

The meeting on Monday after Easter will obviously have its climax in the dialogue between the teenagers and the Pope, but it will also be followed by a prayer vigil with listening to and meditation on chapter 21 of the Gospel of John, on Jesus' meeting with the disciples after the Resurrection.

It is not by chance that, commenting on the initiative, one of those responsible for youth ministry in Italy, Father Michele Falabretti, said: "we want to encourage and give signs of hope to those who are committed to the growth of young people and to those who look to the Christian community as the guardian of a future of life that is born of faith in the risen Jesus".

The logo

The logo also aims to communicate this same approach. It is composed of the ICHTUS, a fish made up of many blue circles arranged around the cross of the eye. It has a "vital" shape and is intended to represent "swimming in the sea of human history". The cross is orange and refers to the "sun of Easter Day", while the blue circles evoke many small drops of water as a reminder of Baptism and a source of unity.

The title is 1TP4Follow me, with the graphic sign that in the social world symbolizes the search, to represent "a search for the meaning of one's own existence that is renewed in the communion of brothers and sisters with the Father, in the Love of the Son".

Francis urges at Ta' Pinu Shrine to "rediscover the essential: Jesus".

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Secularist sectors are trying to deprive the Church of the ownership of its properties

Several experts underline the legality of immatriculation by the Church

The immatriculations of property by means of ecclesiastical certificate and the 2015 reform of the mortgage law, and the review of a preliminary draft of the Spanish Historical Heritage Law, are some of the issues discussed at a conference on immatriculations organized by the Canon Law Section of the Madrid Bar Association.

Rafael Miner-April 7, 2022-Reading time: 8 minutes

To Caesar what is Caesar's. On the immatriculations of the Church Related News

The conference was entitled "The immatriculations of the Catholic Church by means of an ecclesiastical certificate". Mónica Montero and Irene Briones, the two co-presidents of the Canon Law Section of the Bar Association, moderated a panel of professors of State Ecclesiastical Law, Remigio Beneyto and Ricardo García, together with the vice-secretary for General Affairs of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Carlos López Segovia, and the assistance of a good group of jurists, online and in the room.

Throughout the debateProfessor Remigio Beneyto warned about two issues. On the one hand, the fact that the law 13/2015, reforming the mortgage law, abolishes for the Catholic Church the special procedure of immatriculation. "The consequences that are already being raised are already going to be terrible, especially for those ecclesiastical entities that have not registered their assets, because it is going to be a real ordeal, when it was much easier to do it through a certificate for immatriculation." (To immatriculate, as it is known, is to register for the first time a property in the Property Registry, and to do so, it is necessary to prove the property title, or to carry out a domain file, or by means of a certificate).

Similarly, in the course of the conference, the academic Remigio Beneyto referred to the circulation of a draft bill, "now stopped", in which the Spanish Historical Heritage Law was modified, and in which "the competences of the state administration and the autonomous administration were not respected, with a restriction of the faculties of the right of ownership". A text that, in his opinion, "if it goes ahead would generate a problem, because it is emptying of content the right of property, and can fully affect all the large properties of the Church". At the end of this article there is more information on this matter.

Properties immatriculated between 1998 and 2015

First of all, it is useful to situate the context of the Bar Association Day. A couple of months ago, the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez, visited the headquarters of the Spanish Episcopal Conference (CEE). They had just finished the work on the immatriculations of the Church that had been carried out by the mixed Commission between the Church and the government, dating back to February 2021, when the then vice-president Carmen Calvo delivered in Congress the list of the goods immatriculated by the Church by certification between 1998 and 2015.

Minister Carmen Calvo then stated that the immatriculations carried out by the Church were in accordance with the law, and invited the institutions to review the list of immatriculations in case they found errors affecting ownership. The Church studied the nearly 35,000 records on the list to check for errors. The delivery of the results to the president of the government, at the headquarters in Añastro, was a significant part of that meeting, noted the CEE.

In the process, the government did not make any specific claims by the State on the list made public. In fact, according to the report, which can be viewed here here, most of the list is correct, and includes the properties immatriculated by the Church as requested by Congress.

Some of the controversy generated can be seen in the articles written by the Vice-Secretary for Economic Affairs of the EEC, Fernando Giménez Barriocanal, by the Vice-Secretary mentioned above, Carlos López Segovia, who intervened in the Conference of the Bar Association, and by the Director of Communication of the EEC, José Gabriel Vera Beorlegui, as reported in the same website of the EEC. The sowing of suspicions about whether the Church could have immatriculated and registered any property that did not belong to it and, in general, about the legal system of immatriculation by means of a certificate, was a topic of the Conference.

A legitimate process

"The legitimacy of the property of the Church with respect to the goods immatriculated by certificate has been questioned. It is forgotten that this system was born with the Land Registry itself in the late nineteenth century, was maintained by the Second Republic and was extended with successive modifications until its definitive suppression for the Church in 2015", Carlos López Segovia had written. Well, in the Conference of the Bar Association he reiterated and developed it again, together with other speakers.

Remigio Beneyto Berenguer, professor of Ecclesiastical Law at the CEU-Cardenal Herrera University of Valencia, and corresponding academic of the Royal Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation, said in the debate: "I have to tell you that I find the subject tiresome, because it has been solved for a long time. I wrote a small book on the subject in 2013, and this goes on and on".

In his opinion, "the Church has always acted in accordance with the law," concluded Remigio Beneyto. "If in any case it has not been so, whoever alleges otherwise, must prove it, and the Church must act accordingly, assuming the consequences of its decisions. But personally, I am getting tired of a general suspicion that it has acted culpably or maliciously. I don't know where the problem lies.

The lawyer and moderator, Mónica Montero, asked the panel if they shared this point of view. Carlos Lopez stressed the point: "Yes, since the origins of this Registry, in the 19th century, the more registrations and immatriculations, the better, because if the properties were not registered in the Land Registry, the Registry would be insecure. If too rigid a system was set up, all the properties of which there was no ownership, could not be registered, which made it insecure. And if the registration system was too easy, it was also insecure, precisely because more properties would be registered than should be registered".

"So, this is the fish that bites its own tail. We arrived at an intermediate point in which the system of immatriculation and registration was double: by means of certification for those institutions that were the State and the Church, which had real estate prior to the constitution of the State, and a system for those that enjoyed dominical ownership. It is not a mystery, nor is it of great importance. Moreover, it could be said that in a certain way the Church cooperated in making the Land Registry a secure legal institution. And how did it cooperate? By registering the properties that it could, at least at that time".

"However," he later added, "when reading the beginnings of the Land Registry from the perspective of the 21st century, it is often wrongly and unjustly asserted that the Catholic Church has appropriated something that is not its own, by using the only legal system of immatriculation that it could use for many of its properties, and one tends to forget that immatriculation and registry registration is not constitutive of the right of ownership over the registered properties, but merely declarative of the registry content."

"If the Church had not immatriculated any property, it would still be the owner of those unregistered properties. But the Church cooperated and acted diligently, complying with civil regulations at all times, thus facilitating the work of the Administration," recalled the deputy secretary, Carlos López.

Achieving legal certainty

In the same vein, the professor and academic Remigio Beneyto, explained: "Everything comes from the Mortgage Law of 1861. The aim was to achieve maximum legal certainty and encourage the maximum incorporation of properties into the newly created Land Registry, but what happened if there was no written title of ownership, and therefore the inability to promptly immatriculate the property? Well, it was thought convenient to admit the certification as a title for the immatriculation".

"It was the royal decrees of November 6, 1863 and November 11, 1864 that gave a solution to a pressing problem. What was it? The access to the Property Registry of those ecclesiastical goods exempt from disentailment and lacking a written title of ownership".

"Thus, article 3 of the same royal decree exempted from registration the temples destined for worship. We will see later what the reason was. But it is clear that the reason was not the confessionality, as it is claimed now, nor the privilege, but to solve a problem: how to immatriculate in the Registry those entities that have a patrimony but lack a written title that accredits it, but it is evident that it is theirs".

"The 1909 Mortgage Law continued with the same thing. In 1944 follows the reform of the Mortgage Law, and then comes the 206 that we all know". (This article 206 allowed the Church to immatriculate the temples, thus overcoming "a discrimination" existing "since the beginning of the Registry and until 1998": "the Catholic Church was the only religious denomination in Spain that could not immatriculate its places of worship", explains the website of the Episcopal Conference).

After another brief historical review, Professor Beneyto alluded to the fact that "finally, the Royal Decree of September 4, 1998 appears, in which it is said that the prohibition to register temples destined to Catholic worship is suppressed as unconstitutional".

"It was not really a prohibition, but article 5 of the mortgage regulation was inclined to the non-necessity of inscription, due to the notoriety of the Catholic temples. Let's see: the cathedral of Valencia, who owns it? Does it belong to the city of Valencia? No. It belongs to the archbishopric of Valencia. That is to say, the notoriety of the Catholic temples and their common use, of open access to the plurality of the faithful, made their inscription unnecessary", he added.

A visit to the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba

Another aspect that was addressed during the conference was the question of who owns the temples, the hermitages, and the real estate property immatriculated by the Church.

In the course of one of his speeches, Ricardo García, Professor of State Ecclesiastical Law at the Autonomous University of Madrid, referred to the fact that "there is a history behind the subject, more than consolidated", and referred to an anecdote related to the mosque-cathedral of Cordoba.

"Recently, with students of Tourism of the Autonomous University we were making a visit to the mosque-cathedral of Cordoba. We were attended by a priest, Don Fernando, who told us: The Catholic Church has done the most for the Islamization of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. Indeed, within this historical-artistic heritage, we could see all the evolution that had taken place in what is, by the way, the first industry of Cordoba".

"Having said this, returning to the principle of equality, which is not the same as egalitarianism", added Ricardo Garcia, "it must be understood that when a temple such as this one is being immatriculated, what is being exercised is a right. This property right must be relativized with the application of Article 16 of our Constitution, and international texts, because the maintenance of this building has been done by those who consider themselves Catholics".

"This refers to the fact that the property could belong to the Catholics, who are the ones who have been contributing when it has been necessary to fix the roof, or any other problem (...) In this case, the property becomes a non-fundamental right, but a constitutional right that has protection, even if the owner is the Catholic Church. What happens is that, sometimes, it is very beneficial to criticize the Catholic Church, and criticizing about bricks is especially easy, and profitable, I would say".

The properties of the Church, of the "People of God".

Going further into the matter, Carlos López Segovia added: "I am commenting on something that I have reiterated on occasions when I am asked. So, the properties that the Church has immatriculated belong to the citizens? I add: yes, of course, of those who call themselves Christians and call themselves Catholics. Let us not forget that a diocese is a 'universitas personarum'. This has been very clear since the Second Vatican Council. It is a group of people living in a territory, a portion of the People of God that has a legal representative, who is the bishop. I do not know of any member of the faithful who, when going to pray in a cathedral, has not been able to enter".

Preliminary project at a standstill

It was said at the beginning that more information would be provided on the "stalled" bill that could modify the Spanish Historical Heritage Law. Two questions. Professor Remigio Beneyto expressed his "great concern" at the Conference, because "according to one of its articles, the declaration as a cultural property of world interest can be made excluding the owners of the properties themselves" - "this is madness", he said- , "and a board of trustees is created, which is the governing body of a legal entity, of a foundation, in which the autonomous and local administrations participate, which will be attached to the Ministry of Culture, which will always have the majority of votes of the organ or ....", among other issues.

The latest news on this draft was announced by the Minister of Culture and Sport, Miquel Iceta, on March 16. The text on Heritage has been "strongly questioned" by the autonomous communities because, "perhaps, at the time of drafting it, the zeal to preserve the heritage had made to circumvent the autonomous competences of the moment", said the Minister of Culture, according to several agencies.

As for deadlines, there is a "very open process" with the autonomous communities to "find a meeting point.". "Right now the thing is green, and I doubt very much that it will be this year," he pointed out.

To Caesar what is Caesar's. On the immatriculations of the Church Related News

Secularist sectors are trying to deprive the Church of the ownership of its properties

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Family

The ideal couple

José María Contreras-April 7, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

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Listen to the podcast "The ideal couple".

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Since we were children, in our childhood stories, we have been told about couples who love each other very much and without effort, where everything is wonderful and there are no problems in their lives.

Later, romantic cinema taught us the same thing.

Nowadays, we are also told that out there, somewhere, there is someone with whom I could live in a happy and placid way. With whom love would be effortless.

That, which is tremendously attractive, is absolutely false. One has to be aware that, even if one knew all the men or women in the world, living together would be difficult, it would require effort.

A couple is formed by two people who are imperfect, therefore, the result will be a relationship with imperfections. There is no need to panic, in all marriages there are things that go well and others not so well. That is normal.

Knowing how to keep quiet and speak at the right time is not easy. Mastering pride, pride, avoiding the continuous desire to be above - this is one of the drugs that causes the most suffering - wanting to dominate the other, not leaving space, asking him to do things as I do, watching what he does, what he says, the cell phone, the mail, are frequent attitudes that show immaturity in the person and in love.

As a couple's relationship is a relationship between equals, if one does not dominate one's pride, one will always be trying to gain ground on the other. Wanting to be right. To command.

Therefore, the person we have married has defects and cannot help but have them because he or she has original sin. We all have defects.

The success of a relationship is given by the effort, struggle against oneself, that the man and the woman want to make to improve personally.

This means that we have to have a constant predisposition to want to improve as people, to be consistent with our beliefs and not be afraid that our relationship is not perfect.

A person who knows how to love truly is a person who struggles to know himself, who is not afraid of personal truth.

Being afraid of personal truth is suicidal and causes the capacity to love to stagnate.

Nowadays we are very afraid to love, to commit ourselves, because we truly sense that all love carries with it, to a greater or lesser extent, a certain sacrifice.

Whoever does not want to be in pain should spend his whole life free of love, says the popular song. So it is.

That is the reason why many people in our society, go through life without knowing what love is, with a sadness in the background and an uneasiness, which they compensate, from time to time, with some sex. That's how you get the illusion that you are loved, you can't always live in sadness!!!!

Many go with their hearts in their hands, offering them to someone to compensate for their emptiness, often produced by the fear that they have or have had of truly loving, looking for an ideal partner that does not exist, because our ideal partner is the one we have married.

To realize this, we must put it in the first place of our vital priorities and lose the fear of the effort, the sacrifice that love demands. The rest is not knowing how to love.

Comfort goes badly with love.

To the extent that one does not deceive oneself, tells oneself the truth, and faces oneself, one will realize that this effort is less costly than what our imagination tells us.

Then, we have found the ideal partner, because we have begun to truly love. Anything else is just a softness, if it is not supported by a strong and strong love.

It's that easy and that hard.

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Commentary on the Palm Sunday Readings

"He wept for the beloved city". Palm Sunday

Andrea Mardegan comments on the Palm Sunday readings and Luis Herrera offers a brief video homily.

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

Jesus prepared his own in many ways for those Passover days. On entering Jerusalem, he wept for the beloved city that did not realize it was being visited by the Son of God. At the Last Supper he manifested his ardent desire to eat with them a unique Passover, with total self-giving, in communion with them. He dedicates himself with patience to correct once again their eagerness to be the greatest among them. He anticipates Judas' betrayal, and Peter's denial and repentance. In spite of their limitations and betrayals, Jesus renews their trust: "...".You are the ones who have persevered with me in my trials.". To Peter: "And you, when you are converted, confirm your brethren.". He supports them with the prophecies: it is necessary that what is written be fulfilled in me: "He was numbered among sinners".

In the account of the prayer in the garden, Luke prefers not to name the three favorite disciples. All the apostles try to pray with Jesus and they all fall asleep. As a good physician and disciple of Jesus, he excuses them by saying that this happened "out of sadness". An angel appears to comfort Jesus, and the somatization of his state of mind: "He was overcome by a sweat like drops of blood that fell on his face.ían to the ground". Already the Son of God becomes a point of reference for every person who in history is betrayed by friends and denied by brothers, captured, imprisoned, judged and condemned. Luke speaks of the beatings and mockery of those who have him in custody, but does not mention the crown of thorns and scourging. The interrogation before the Sanhedrin is followed by that of Pilate, and Luke adds, unique among the evangelists, the third interrogation before Herod to which Jesus opposes an eloquent silence, and thus relates the death of Jesus with that of John the Baptist, his precursor also in this.

On the way to Calvary and in the crucifixion and death on the cross, protagonists are also the characters who interact with him, and who, thanks to his cross, are converted. The women of Jerusalem, who beat their breasts: "Don't cry for me!". Simon of Cyrene, who as a good and faithful bearer of the cross "behind Jesus". The two evildoers make the journey and are crucified with him. Of these, the first to experience the saving efficacy of the cross is the good thief. The soldiers mocked him, but when the centurion saw his death, he said, "...the thief is the first to be crucified.Truly, this man was righteous.". The crowd that looked on passively, now goes away beating their breasts. The Sanhedrin provoked him to come down from the cross, but Joseph, one of them, being good and just, asked for and obtained the body of the Lord and placed it in a new tomb. On the third day it will be empty forever, a sign of the resurrection.

The homily on the Palm Sunday Readings

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

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A "competent, pluralistic and international" team to investigate abuse by clergy in Spain

28 people from different countries and areas of legal and social expertise are part of this working team that, throughout this year, will be responsible for investigating sexual abuse by members of the Catholic Church in Spain.

Maria José Atienza-April 6, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

Javier Cremades, president of Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo, has presented the members of the working group that are part of the independent audit, commissioned by the Spanish Episcopal Conference, in relation to the allegations of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in this country.

On February 22, Bishop Omella, president of the Episcopal Conference presented this audit which has the objective of "knowing, clarifying and repairing the victims of sexual abuse in the Church".

Now the 28 members of the audit team have been presented. The audit team has been formed, in the words of Javier Cremades, with the objective of "carrying out the work entrusted to us with the greatest possible solvency".

Cremades has defended the willingness to collaborate shown by the Spanish Church "to investigate to the end and shed light on a question about which we do not have sufficient information".

Plurality of approaches

The team is composed of 28 people representing "different angles, specialties and ideological perspectives".

A "competent and plural" team, as described by the president of the Spanish law firm, who pointed out that six weeks ago they began "listening carefully to the victims in order to understand the truth, accompany them and take a first step towards reparation".

The victims, the focus of this audit, as three of the members of the firm who have met with them in recent weeks have been able to share their painful experience within the framework of this audit.

A fact that, according to Javier Cremades himself, "has had a profound impact on our conception of the problem. We have been able to meet with the associations and institutions that are raising their voices to demand justice, reparation and truth".

Cremades insisted that all victims' associations and individuals who have suffered these abuses "have an open door. We are not going to call the victims but we will be available to them".

The work team

The 28 people who will be part of this commission are:

Javier Cremades, Rafael Fernández Montalvo, Patricia Lee Refo, Carolina Marín Pedreño, Alfredo Dagnino, Katharina Miller, Carlos de la Mata, Martin Pusch, Jorge Cardona, Safira Cantos, Diego Solana, David Mills, Teresa Fernández Prieto, Ulrich Wastl, Marina Peña, Liza M. Velázquez, Pedro Strecht, Juan Carlos Gutiérrez, María Massó, Manuel Villoria, Fabiola Meco, Vicente Conde Martín de Hijas, Emilia Sánchez Pantoja, José F. Estévez, Juan Pablo Gallego, Myriam Salazar, Blanca Alguacil and Teresa del Riego.

An international team in which the participation of the partners of the law firm Westpfahl, Spilker, Wastl, in charge of the investigation carried out in Munich and three other dioceses in relation to this same matter, or Pedro Strecht, coordinator of the independent investigation that studies the abuses within the Portuguese Catholic Church, is noteworthy.

Also noteworthy is the presence of human rights activists such as Safira Cantos or psychologists specialized in these cases, such as Marina Peña.

In addition to these, three external persons will carry out various opinions and opinions that will be added to the investigation. In this case, Encarnación Roca will focus on the civil liability and compensation of the victims, Manuela Carmena will focus on the perspective and experience of the victims and, finally, Juan Luis Cebrián will focus on the social communication dimension of this matter, both in Spain and internationally.

During the presentation, all of them emphasized the challenge posed by an investigation of these characteristics and with such a varied team. One of the most notable interventions was that of Pedro Strecht, who addressed the Church itself, encouraging its members not to be afraid of this type of research: "This is not a work against the Church but with the Church and ultimately for you, for the Church".

In this regard, Javier Cremades stressed that "we will try not to disappoint either the victims or society as a whole" and reiterated the willingness of this team "for those who want to share their experience in any way they deem appropriate".

Javier Cremades during the presentation of the working team.

During the presentation of the team, Javier Cremades wanted to emphasize the three aspects of this investigation: first, the facts; second, the reparation of these crimes, which is not the direct responsibility of this law firm, and a third block of compliance to prevent the repetition of these behaviors in the future and to combat these crimes.

Collaboration with the Ombudsman's commission

Another point that was discussed at this press conference was the collaboration that this investigation will provide to the commission to be created by the Ombudsman for the investigation of sexual abuse by the Catholic Church alone.

Javier Cremades emphasized that "we are not here to compete but to collaborate in the commission created by the Government. We can collaborate with the contribution of data and experiences that we can collect". In this sense, Cremades pointed out that this commission "can reach areas and areas in which we do not have the possibility of entering".

Diocesan offices collect 506 cases

In the six weeks since the independent audit was launched, as confirmed by Javier Cremados, around 50 complaints have been filed and contacts have been initiated with different
associations and meetings with bishops. A high percentage of these complaints, 30%, refer to cases that have already been denounced in other areas.

On March 31, the offices for the protection of minors and prevention of abuse created in dioceses, religious congregations and other ecclesial institutions met in Madrid. A training meeting in which the 506 cases collected by these offices were also made known. Of these, 103 refer to persons known to be deceased and more than 70% are cases from the 20th century. The pastoral and welcoming nature of these offices makes it possible to deal with complaints, even if the accused is deceased or the case is time-barred from prosecution. The offices have also collected complaints about lay persons (61), priests (105) and religious (342) in addition to some complaints about unknown accused.

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The Russian Orthodox Church in Spain and Portugal and the EEC issue a Joint Declaration for Peace

The Russian Orthodox Church in Spain and Portugal and the Spanish Episcopal Conference have issued a joint Declaration for Peace in which they invite "all our faithful to intensify prayer for peace throughout the world, especially in Ukraine."

Maria José Atienza-April 6, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Francisco Javier Martínez, Archbishop of Granada and President of the Episcopal Subcommission for Interconfessional Relations and Interreligious Dialogue together with Archbishop Nestor Sirotenko, Archbishop of Madrid and Lisbon, belonging to the Patriarchate of Moscow, calls on "all those who have the power to stop violence and barbarism to listen in their conscience to the voice of God, who rejects evil and war, and calls to rebuild universal fraternity". It also notes the commitment of both churches to "continue to work for reconciliation among peoples".

Full text of the Declaration

Our Churches are united in the face of the pain and suffering caused to so many of our Orthodox brethren, Catholics and people of all faiths by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Not since the Second World War has Europe faced a catastrophe of such magnitude, which aggravates the already difficult crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In this desolate context, our Churches wish to recall together the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God" (Mt 5:9).

In this season of Lent, as we prepare to celebrate the triumph of Life over death, we invite all our faithful to intensify our prayer for peace throughout the world, especially in Ukraine, so that the radiant light of Easter may not be obscured by the tears of those who mourn their dead, victims of war.

We are grateful for the gestures of charity towards the victims of war and the generous welcome given to all refugees. Solidarity with our suffering brothers and sisters is an expression of the consolation and mercy of the heavenly Father towards all his children.

We appeal to all those who have the power to stop violence and barbarism to listen in their conscience to the voice of God, who rejects evil and war, and calls to rebuild universal brotherhood.

We show our commitment to continue working for reconciliation among peoples as authentic pastors who wish to be instruments of peace and communion.

Madrid, April 6, 2022

Mass for peace and the victims of war and Covid

In addition, on Thursday, April 7, the Spanish Bishops' Conference joins the invitation of the Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe (CCEE) to celebrate during each day of Lent a Eucharist for those who died because of the pandemic in Europe. A celebration to which this year is added the invocation for peace and for those who died because of the war.

The chapel of the Apostolic Succession will host the Eucharistic celebration for these intentions following the prayer chain in which all the Episcopal Conferences of Europe are participating, according to a planned schedule.

Interfaith prayer for peace

In addition to this declaration, Catholic, Evangelical, Jewish and Muslim representatives met in Madrid, convened by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain and the Center for Judeo-Christian Studies on Tuesday, April 5, for a joint prayer for peace in Ukraine and the world.

Coinciding with the celebration of Passover, Easter and Ramadan in April, the religious representatives explained the rationale and meaning of their respective holidays and joined in a joint prayer for peace, harmony and respect among human beings.

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Pope's teachings

Time to sow

Among the interventions of Pope Francis during the month of March, it is worth mentioning the message for the four women doctors of the Church, his message for Lent, and the speech in which he relaunches the "The Church of Jesus Christ". Global education pact.

Ramiro Pellitero-April 6, 2022-Reading time: 8 minutes

March opened with a message of Francis referring to the four women doctors of the Church, whose witness of holiness is the fruit of their correspondence to the grace of God. In his Lenten message, the Pope had invited us to sow goodness. Now halfway through the month, Francis wanted to relaunch the Global education pactemphasizing the transformative power of education in these times of conflict.

Women doctors of the Church and "female sanctity".

The Pope addressed a message (1-III-2022) on the occasion of an international congress organized to celebrate the anniversaries of the declaration of Teresa of Jesus, Catherine of Siena, Therese of Lisieux and Hildegard of Bingen as Doctors of the Church, to whom Brigid of Sweden and Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, who, together with Catherine of Siena, were named co-patronesses of Europe by St. John Paul II, wished to be joined (cfr. Spes ædificandi, n. 3).

A doctrine taught first and foremost with a holy life

All of these saints have in common, first, a "...witness of women who have led a holy life; second, a "...".eminent doctrine". for its "permanence, depth and timeliness that offers, in the present circumstances, light and hope to our fragmented and disharmonious world.". As far as his doctrine is concerned, the most important teachings are precisely those that refer to holiness.

What did they teach about holiness? This is how Francis puts it: "Docile to the Spirit, by the grace of Baptism, they walked their journey of faith moved, not by changing ideologies, but by an unwavering adherence to the 'humanity of Christ' that permeated their actions.".

This is so, because the humanity of Christ is the sign and instrument that God has given us of his love and condescension, by assuming human littleness and limitation.

The Pope goes on to say: "They also felt incapable and limited at some point, 'skinny little women', as Teresa of Jesus would say, in the face of an undertaking that was beyond them."From where did they draw - Francis asks - the strength to carry out their vocation and the mission entrusted to them, if not from the love of God that filled their hearts? "Like Thérèse of Lisieux, they were able to fully realize their vocation, 'their little way, their life project. A path accessible to all, that of ordinary holiness".. What is meant here "ordinary holiness". is explained below. First of all: a holiness characterized, as is always the case in some way, by the fortress that arises from uniting trust in God's love with the humility of one who knows himself to be humanly insignificant.

Secondly, the pope outlines what he calls "the feminine holiness that makes the Church and the world fruitful.". First of all, he underlines the basis of this holiness, which has to do with an aspect of the current sensibility in relation to women: "The world's current sensibility demands that women be restored to the dignity and intrinsic value with which they have been endowed by the Creator.".

Characteristics of "feminine sanctity

Third, the example of the lives of these saints highlights some elements that design, with clear manifestations on the anthropological and social level, that femininity so necessary in the Church and in the world: 1) "Strength to face difficulties".; 2) "Capacity of the concrete".; 3) "natural disposition to be purposeful for the sake of what is most beautiful and humane, according to God's plan.", y 4) "clairvoyant vision -prophetic- of the world and of the history that has made them sowers of hope and builders of the future".. Undoubtedly four lights to outline the vocation and mission of Christian women in our time.

Fourth, in relation to the Church and its mission. It emphasizes that "his dedication to the service of humanity was accompanied by a great love for the Church and the 'Sweet Christ on Earth', as Catherine of Siena liked to call the Pope."and, in addition, "felt co-responsible for correcting the sins and miseries of their time, and contributed to the mission of evangelization in full ecclesial harmony and communion"..

These characteristics (strength based on the dignity and value of women, concreteness in attention to the person, attention to the beauty of what is truly human, and a far-sighted and hopeful vision) are conditions of correspondence to the grace of God, which accompanied these saints in their love and service to the Church and the world. They are seeds and also fruits of a divine sowing, holiness, which always bears abundant fruit.

Lent: sowing and harvesting of goodness

In relation to this sowing of holiness we can see the motto that the Pope proposed for Lent, in the words of St. Paul: "Let us not grow weary in doing good, for if we do not lose heart, we will reap the rewards in due season. Therefore, while we have the opportunity, let us do good to all" (Gal 6:9-10a)..

In his message for Lent 2022 (made public on 11-XI-2021) he explains that Lent is an auspicious time (kairos) to sow good. This, according to St. Augustine, is an image of our earthly existence. In it, greed and pride often prevail, the desire to have, to accumulate and to consume (cf. Lk 12:16-21).

Y "Lent invites us to conversion, to change our mentality, so that the truth and beauty of our life do not lie so much in possessing as in giving, not so much in accumulating as in sowing goodness and sharing"..

In this sowing, the first farmer is God Himself, who with generosity "keep pouring into humanity seeds of good." (Fratelli tutti, 54).

"During Lent -The Pope points out. we are called to respond to God's gift by welcoming his 'living and effective' Word". (Heb 4:12).

Listening, the key to welcoming the seed

How is such planting welcomed?"Assiduous listening to the Word of God matures in us a docility that disposes us to welcome His work in us (cf. James 1:21)that makes our life fruitful".. This is because God speaks to us in the reading of Sacred Scripture, in the celebration of the liturgy, in personal prayer and spiritual direction, and even in everyday events, if we know how to listen to him.

In addition, we are also farmers, sowers and harvesters. We are "God's co-workers". (1 Cor 3:9), if we make good use of the present tense (cf. Eph 5:16) to sow "..." (1 Cor 3:9).doing good".. Francis warns us that this call to sow good must not be seen as a burden, but as a grace with which the Creator wants us to be actively united to his fruitful magnanimity.

There is a close connection between sowing and reaping, as St. Paul says: "To a stingy sower, a stingy harvest; to a bountiful sower, a bountiful harvest." (2Co 9:6).

The harvest of good works

But which crop is it? "A first fruit of the good we sow is in ourselves and in our daily relationships, even in the smallest gestures of kindness.". The good tree bears good fruit, and no "generous weariness" is lost (cfr. Evangelii gaudium, 279). Sowing is "unleashing processes whose fruits will be reaped by others, with the hope placed in the secret forces of the good that is sown". (Fratelli tutti, 196).

But the truest harvest is the eschatological harvest, that of the last day. This refers not only to the moment of our death, but also later, after the final judgment, to the resurrection of our body (cf. 1 Cor 15:42-44). If we have been united to him by love, we will rise to eternal life, full of light and joy (cf. Jn 5:29).

Obstacles for all of this are condensed in the "the temptation to withdraw into our own individualistic selfishness and take refuge in indifference to the suffering of others".And the solution? To ask for faith and hope, because in this way we will not grow weary of doing good (cf. Gal 6:9).

When it comes to concreteness, the Pope proposes: never tire of praying (with the pandemic we have realized that we need others and above all God); not to tire of extirpating evil from our lives (through fasting and confession of our sins in the sacrament of Penance) and to practice more real encounters and not only those of a more personal nature. "virtual"; never tire of doing good to others, especially to those close to us: the needy, the sick, the lonely. In this way, if we do not falter, we will reap abundantly.

Prayer and educational commitment for peace

On the occasion of a meeting of the foundation Gravissimum educationisThe Pope gave a speech (dated 18-III-2022), alluding to the theme that brought them together: Educating for democracy in a fragmented world.

Praying for peace

Francis begins by alluding to the war that is close at hand, in Europe. And he asks what each of us is doing: "Do I pray? Do I fast? Do I do penance? Or do I live carefree, as we normally live distant wars?". And it evokes two fundamental principles: "A war is always - always! - the defeat of mankind."We are all defeated, because "somehow we are responsible".

The promotion of democracy is a current and debated topic. But it is not often approached from the point of view of education. This approach, however, belongs in a special way to the tradition of the Church, and, notes the successor of Peter, "it is the only one capable of delivering long-term results"..

Relying on the parable of the murderous farmers (cf. Mt 21:33-43,45-46), who were blinded by their desire for possession, the Pope dwelt on two degenerations of democracy: totalitarianism and secularism.

Totalitarianism and secularism

A State is totalitarian, he pointed out, in the words of John Paul II, when it "tends to absorb the nation, society, the family, religious communities and the people themselves." (Centesimus annus, 45). With this ideological oppression, "the totalitarian state empties the fundamental rights of the individual and of society of their value, to the point of suppressing freedom.".

Secularism - living as if God did not exist - is inhuman, especially when such living is conscious and voluntary on the part of society: "Humanism that excludes God is inhuman humanism." said Benedict XVI (Caritas in veritate, 78).

The Pope points out that "radical secularism, also ideological, deforms the democratic spirit in a more subtle and crafty way: by eliminating the transcendent dimension, it gradually weakens and annuls any openness to dialogue".. And so, by denying the existence of an ultimate truth, human ideas and beliefs can easily be exploited for the purposes of power.

Here, Francis observes, is the difference, small but substantial, between a "healthy secularism" and a "poisoned secularism".(One could speak of a healthy secularism, other than a secularism combative and anti-religious) "When the secular becomes ideology, it becomes secularism, and that poisons relationships and even democracies.".

Relaunching the Global Education Pact

In the face of these degenerations, the transforming power of education rises up. The experiences in this sense are already fruitful. He concretizes them in three proposals.

1) To feed the thirst for democracy in young people. It is a matter, he points out, of helping them to value the democratic system, which, although it is always perfectible, is to protect the participation of citizens (cfr. Centesimus annus, 46), as well as freedom of choice, action and expression. This helps them to reject uniformity and appreciate universality.

2) To teach young people that the common good is mixed with love. The common good cannot be defended simply by military force. For in this way it is destroyed, fomenting injustice and violence, and leaving much debris behind: "Only love can save the human family.". "In this -Francisco observes, we are living the worst example near us"..

3) Educate young people to live authority as service. We are all called to serve, exercising a certain authority, in the family, at work and in social life (cfr. Education Pact launch message, 12-IX-2019). On the other hand: "When authority goes beyond the rights of society, of individuals, it becomes authoritarianism and ends up in dictatorship.". Authority is a very balanced thing, but - he adds - it is a beautiful thing that we must learn and teach young people so that they learn to manage it.

Francis wants to take this opportunity to relaunch the Educational Pact (to encourage young people to work for the global common good), which he wanted to start when the pandemic broke out.

"In the context provoked by the war in Ukraine. -The bishop of Rome now observes, "she value of this Educational Pact to promote universal fraternity in the one human family, based on love, is even more emphasized"..

Education, as well as holiness, to which it contributes so much, and Lent, which is an exercise in self-education, are worthwhile and effective sowings in the face of so many personal and social conflicts.

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The new Religion curriculum, a concession to progressivism?

José María de MoyaThe public school religion teacher is a hero".

The First Ibero-American Meeting of Religion Teachers will make Madrid the epicenter of reflection and knowledge of new dynamics around the subject of Religion. A meeting that wants to vindicate the importance of religious education as the general director of Siena Educación points out.

Maria José Atienza-April 5, 2022-Reading time: 6 minutes

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Madrid will host, next May 6, 7 and 8, 2022, the I Iberoamerican Meeting of Religion Teachers. An initiative of the Siena Educación group aimed at the more than half a million Religion teachers in Ibero-America and Spain.

During three days, a wide and ambitious panel of keynote lectures, innovative teaching dynamics, presentation of the Religion Teaching Lab, colloquiums and cultural activities will be held.

The meeting, which will be held in hybridis open to teachers of Religion in public, private and charter schools, as he points out in this interview with Omnes, José María de Moya, general manager of Siena Education.

Its objective? To vindicate the importance of the teaching of Religion in the full education of children and young people, especially in the face of the challenge of the existential void that increasingly arises at an early age due to the lack of attention to this area.

The First Ibero-American Meeting of Religion Teachers will bring together teachers of this subject from very different environments and countries. Why did you choose this diversity?

-From the very beginning, we wanted to take this meeting out of the problem of the subject of Religion in Spain. We did not want the meeting to focus on the legal and political problems that surround this subject in Spain.

Above all, we want to vindicate the importance of the teaching of Religion. That is why we have proposed it in a broader, Ibero-American format, because there are many approaches to the subject. We find the more catechetical approach to the subject of Religion, which is found in some Latin American countries where the Religion teacher, and therefore the subject, is closely linked to the village parish.

We also find the approach we have in Spain and other Latin American countries: the subject is confessional but not catechetical - that is, it is not necessary to have faith to attend classes - but clearly confessional.

There are also some countries that have a more sociological approach, the study of the religious fact or history of religions, where the subject is not confessional, although it is certainly not widespread. To these we can even add another option that we do find in countries such as Argentina where Religion is not taught in public schools; Religion, as a subject, is only taught in religious schools. Therefore, we have this whole panorama of models and all are welcome to this meeting which, although it is committed to a confessional approach to the subject, we want it to be transversal, so that everyone can learn.

Objectives of the meeting

Why a specific meeting on the subject of Religion, what are its objectives?

-In effect, and in fact, with the Encounter we want to highlight the pride of being teachers of Religion and of the subject itself. The teacher of Religion should be proud to be a teacher of the subject of Religion, not because of a marketing strategy but because of conviction.

The first objective of this meeting is to vindicate the importance of a full education of the student, which also includes the spiritual dimension, not only the intellectual and human dimension. Of course with freedom. Those families who only want their children to be bilingual or know a lot of mathematics have no reason to enroll them in Religion, but there are many families who want an integral, full education.

For us, education is a three-legged stool: human, intellectual and spiritual, and it cannot be supported by only two legs.

The idea of the meeting arises from this conception. There are many psycho-pedagogues, educators, or even psychiatrists who have exposed or pointed out to us how, more and more, young people come to our consultations or tutorials, academically brilliant, good people, who know how to work in a team and so on..., but who experience a great existential void in their lives and this leads to self-esteem problems, suicidal thoughts... etc.

The second objective is to highlight the importance of knowledge of religions to understand the world we live in: the heritage or history...

And of course, we want to highlight the work and innovation that many Religion teachers are doing and that is very unknown.

Education is a three-legged stool: human, intellectual and spiritual, and it cannot be supported by only two legs.
José María de Moya. General Manager of Siena Education

How do you see Religion teachers today?

-The May meeting is 'by' teachers 'for' teachers - the bulk of the congress is about teaching dynamics that take place mainly in public schools - and we have met some fantastic people.

The 35,000 teachers of Religion in Spain, the ones we know best, are great people. People who are trained, who work very hard. Each one with his own style and sensitivities.

They are very committed, very self-sacrificing and, in addition, they are resilient, because they get a lot of work.

Now the teachers of Religion are very questioned, indeed, especially the public school teacher, both the subject and they themselves.

In a religious school or one linked to a Catholic institution, the Religion teacher is more involved with the pastoral or the ideology of the center, the congregation, etc.

The public school religion teacher is a hero. And many times they represent the "ideology" of the public school. I mean, a public school does not have an ideology, but the Religion teacher is usually the one who animates initiatives of values, acts of solidarity, campaigns... This type of initiatives that embody the "best values" of the public school are coordinated by the Religion teachers.

Ibero-American Meeting of Teachers of Religion

Family and school

Education has two keys: family and school. In the case of the teaching of Religion, is everything sometimes left to the school? How far should the teaching of Religion in school go?

-This theme is related to the last of the four objectives of the Congress, which focuses on vindicating the right of families to educate their children according to their moral and religious convictions.

The school and the family have to be in tune with each other because, otherwise, a kind of "schizophrenia" is produced in the student's life. With good harmony and communication between the school and the family this does not happen.

Families must have the freedom to choose one school or another and, in the case of public schools, the right to talk to the teacher and express their convictions.

One of the current realities we face is that Catholics are not coming out of Catholic schools. Where is the problem?

-I am not an expert on this subject. I dare say little. I think it is a global problem. It would be necessary to go back to the causes of the process of secularization of society, so it goes beyond what could be a problem of the school or the family. I also think that we run the risk and, perhaps on occasions, we have fallen into assimilating the teaching of Religion with a teaching of values and "of murals" as the philosopher Quintana Paz points out.

It seems to me that the Church, as Pope Francis said, is not an NGO and religion does not come only to solve social problems.

The subject of Religion has to open students to transcendence, without catechesis, because it is for any person. It has to make them reflect, ask themselves questions and also see the answers of the Catholic religion. It is to go a step further.

Secularization and indifference

Does this environmental secularization affect only Catholics?

-At the meeting we have an interreligious dialogue table. When I have spoken with the speakers, they all recognize that the problem of secularization is universal, it is not a "Catholic issue". It affects the whole transcendent vision of man, which is being undermined by a relativistic, liquid culture. An immanent vision versus a transcendent vision. All this fed by materialism, the consumer society. In this sense, the representative of the Jewish religion who is speaking from Peru was telling me that the number of practicing Jews has dropped a lot and that they are noticing this secularization. I think this colloquium will be very interesting because not only Catholics, but also Evangelicals, Islamics and Jews will be present. I also think that the philosophers' colloquium will be very interesting. This is a civil meeting, and we believe in fact that philosophy has a lot to claim and to say on the issue of religious education and we are going to have top level philosophers such as Miguel García BaróGregorio Luri or José María Torralba.

The problem of secularization is universal, it is not a "Catholic issue". It affects the whole transcendent vision of man, which is being undermined by a relativistic, liquid culture.
José María de Moya. General Manager of Siena Education

In fact, recently in Gregorio Luri spoke in Omnes how the scant consideration of education in the political sphere has led to a certain indifference on the part of teachers, does this happen to a greater or lesser extent with religion teachers?

-Yes, there are many people who are discouraged, but that's why we have this meeting. As in all groups, there are all kinds. Among the Religion teachers there are those who can feel very lonely and, moreover, when one finds oneself in this state, everything seems to be against...

With this congress they can see that this is not so, that there are many people doing things, defending the same ideas, many associative movements, etc., who are clear that we have to defend the spiritual dimension in education because in offering these answers to young people we are playing for the future.

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Pope will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

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Beyond Russia and Ukraine

The Consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary manifests the Holy Father's deep conviction of faith in the maternal protection of Mary, who has been given to us by God as our Mother.

Jaime Fuentes-April 5, 2022-Reading time: 7 minutes

The text of the Consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is as follows Related News

Moment of the consecration of Russia and Ukraine Related News

The Act of Consecration performed by Pope Francis, in union with all the bishops of the world on the Solemnity of the Annunciation, March 25, 2022, will go down in history. It will be so because of the dramatic circumstances in which it took place and because, accepting the request made to him by the Ukrainian Catholic bishops, Francis turned to Our Lady and consecrated Russia, as she had requested in her apparition of July 1917 at Fatima.

However, in my opinion, its historical significance should be sought beyond the circumstances surrounding it.

Special preparation

Last March 17, the Apostolic Nunciatures sent a communication to all the bishops, on behalf of the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin which anticipated that, in the next few days Pope Francis will send a letter inviting you to join in a special prayer for peace on Friday, March 25. After announcing that on this date, the Holy Father will have a special celebration in which he will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.added that it was the Pope's wish that this peace initiative be lived by all of God's holy people and in particular by priests and religious men and women, with local initiatives (in cathedrals, parish churches and Marian shrines) in the most suitable way in each Diocese..

This announcement was a first sign of the importance that the Pope gave to the Act he was about to perform. The Letter, dated March 21 in St. John Lateran, was addressed to every bishop, Dear Brother. After explaining the suffering of the Ukrainian people and the need to intercede with the "Prince of Peace", and also welcoming numerous petitions, Francis explains his intention: I wish to carry out a solemn Act of consecration of humanity, particularly of Russia and Ukraine, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. And then he adds the meaning that the Act will have: it wants to be a gesture of the universal Church, which in this dramatic moment brings to God, through the mediation of his and our Mother, the cry of pain of all those who suffer and implore an end to violence, and entrusts the future of humanity to the Queen of peace. For this reason, he concludes, I invite you to join in this Act, (...) so that the holy People of God may raise their supplication to their Mother in a unanimous and urgent manner.

Three characteristics can be noted in these steps of preparation of the Act: 1) the consecration would be a solemn Act, and such solemnity would be manifested in the fact that it would be performed by the Pope and the universal Church. 2) The consecration would be not only of Russia and Ukraine, but of all mankind. 3) The prayer of the whole Church will reach Heaven through the mediation of the Mother of God, who is also our Mother, and the future of humanity will be entrusted to Her.

The convocation of the Act had an extraordinary and surprising reception everywhere, as was verified throughout the world: the Marian fiber of Catholics was immediately manifested. In Europe, it could be held at the same time as in Rome, as the Pope had requested in his Letter. In some countries of America, the time difference was a difficulty, but, in all cases, it was carried out with great public attendance. (In Montevideo, specifically, the Mass and consecration was celebrated in the Cathedral at 5:00 p.m. which, to the surprise of many, was full on a weekday).

Mother of God and our Mother

The penitential liturgical celebration presided over by Francis began with biblical readings, followed by the Pope's homily. In it he stressed that he would perform the Act in union with the bishops and the faithful of the world; I solemnly desire to bring to the Immaculate Heart of Mary all that we are living; to renew to her the consecration of the Church and of all humanity and to consecrate to her, in a particular way, the Ukrainian people and the Russian people, who with filial affection venerate her as Mother. In his homily, Francis explained that the Act of Consecration is not a magic formula, no, it is not that; rather, it is a spiritual act. It is the gesture of full confidence of the children who, in the tribulation of this cruel war and this senseless war that threatens the world, have recourse to the Mother. In difficult times like the one we are living through now, Francis wanted to encourage us to approach the Heart of our Mother to place in her all that we have and all that we are, so that she, the Mother given to us by the Lord, may be the one to protect and take care of us.

After a time dedicated to his personal Confession and to confessing some penitents himself and, with him, more than a hundred priests, Pope Francis went to the image of Our Lady of Fatima to perform the Act of Consecration.

O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother (...) You are our Mother, you love us and you know us... With this precious invocation and declaration of the spiritual Motherhood of Mary began the prayer addressed to Our Lady. Holy Mother will call her, recognizing that it is God Himself who gave her to us as Mother on the Cross and placed in her immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for humanity.

Later, relying on the words full of affection that Our Lady said to St. Juan Diego in his apparition in Mexico in 1531, he turns to her to beg her: "Repeat to each one of us: "Am I not here, who am your Mother?" And he also turns to a Marian invocation (the Virgin Untied, venerated in Augsburg since 1707, to which Francis has a special devotion) to ask her with total confidence: "You know how to untie the tangles of our hearts and the knots of our time. We place our trust in you. We are sure that you, especially in these moments of trial, do not despise our supplications and come to our aid. (...)

Finally, limiting ourselves to what we are interested in underlining in the Pope's prayer, after reliving with the text of St. John the surrender of his Mother that Jesus made on the Cross, he will conclude: Mother, we want to welcome you now in our life and in our history. At this hour humanity, exhausted and overwhelmed, is with you at the foot of the Cross. And it needs to entrust itself to you, to consecrate itself to Christ through you (...) Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, we solemnly entrust and consecrate to your immaculate Heart our persons, the Church and humanity....

Meaning of the Act

What is the significance of the Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by Pope Francis, united with him by the pastors and faithful of the whole world? The Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium teaches that a religious gift of the will and understanding is due to the authentic Magisterium of the Roman Pontiff, even when he does not speak ex cathedra, since it is his supreme magisterium. In turn, the Constitution immediately explains that this pontifical teaching is to be adhered to according to the manifest mind and will of the Holy Father, which is deduced principally either from the nature of the documents, or from the frequent proposition of the same doctrine, or from the way in which it is expressed (n. 25).

Applying these principles to the Act of Consecration of March 25 and taking into account its careful preparation, it could be affirmed: 1) It is an Act of consecration to Christ, invoking the maternal mediation of Mary, which in addition to its own theological importance of the first order, has as its object all of humanity and the whole Church. 2) Francis, using words and gestures (homilies, visits to Our Lady before and after his pastoral trips...) has made reference to the spiritual Motherhood of Mary on numerous occasions. 3) On this occasion, both in the Letter of Invitation addressed to the Bishops, as well as in the homily given before the consecration, and in the Prayer of Consecration, the way of referring to it as a Solemn Act -as he expresses it in the three documents- appears as very significant: does he not want to manifest that the spiritual Motherhood of Mary must permeate the life of the Church, beyond the difficult current circumstances?

The text of the Lumen Gentium also teaches that, although each of the Prelates does not enjoy the prerogative of infallibility by itself, nevertheless, when, although dispersed throughout the world, but maintaining the bond of communion among themselves and with the successor of Peter, teaching authentically in matters of faith and morals, agree that a doctrine is to be considered definitive, in which case they infallibly propose the doctrine of Christ. (n. 25).

In turn, it would seem appropriate to recall what the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith explained in its day: when there is no judgment on a doctrine in the solemn form of a definition, but it belongs to the patrimony of the depositum fidei and is taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium - which necessarily includes that of the Pope - it must be understood as infallibly proposed. The intention of the ordinary and universal Magisterium to propose a doctrine as definitive is not generally linked to technical formulations of particular solemnity; it is sufficient that it be clear from the tenor of the words used and from the context.

Coming to the end of this analysis, one conclusion would be that the Act of Consecration of March 25, 2022, carried out by Pope Francis in union with all the bishops of the world, has solemnly manifested the profound conviction of faith that the Holy Father has in the maternal protection of Mary, who has been given to us by God as our Mother.

This certainty of faith has not changed since it was proclaimed and instilled by Jesus Christ to his own on Calvary: all generations of Christians have always lived it this way and, no doubt, it will remain so until the end of time because it is inscribed with a foundational stroke, so to speak, in the heart of the Church: to our Mother we go and we will always go with confidence, individually or collectively, before any danger or need, seeking protection, certain of her intercession and help.

In turn, the Act of Consecration can perhaps be placed in line-a line open to unprecedented events and multiple pastoral initiatives-with the desire expressed by St. John Paul II during the unforgettable Marian Year of 1987-1988, which preceded the fall of communism: through this Marian Year, he wrote then, the Church is called not only to recall all that in her past testifies to the special and maternal cooperation of the Mother of God in the work of salvation in Christ the Lord, but also to prepare, on her part, for the future, the ways of this cooperation.

The authorJaime Fuentes

Bishop emeritus of Minas (Uruguay).

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Images of the Pope in Malta

Rome Reports-April 5, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute

Pope Francis' recent trip to Malta has left images to remember such as the popemobile ride through the streets, the boat trip to the sanctuary of Ta' Pinu or the meeting with refugees in a reception center.

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ColumnistsJavier Segura

In praise of excellence

The option for an education that rejects demand and effort will inevitably lead to a drop in the educational level of students, with all that this will imply for the society of the future.

April 4, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

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The Government has just approved the Royal Decrees regulating the teaching of Compulsory Secondary Education (ESO). The issue has been in the press for the most picturesque reasons, such as the disappearance of a chronological study of History, or the much-vaunted emotional and feminist education that must permeate all areas, including the study of mathematics with a gender perspective. The bleeding disappearance of philosophical studies in ESO has also been repeatedly emphasized, as well as the dwindling to the point of starvation of the subject of Religion.

Each of these aspects is vital and worth taking into account when analyzing the present pedagogical reform. But there is one aspect that underlies the whole law and that has a great social impact. It is the option for an education that rejects demand and effort, which will inevitably lead to a decrease in the educational level of students, with all that this will imply for the society of the future.

The fact that there is no maximum number of failures (two so far) for a student to pass a course is not something anecdotal. Now it is the faculty who will decide if the student will be promoted to the next grade despite the number of failed grades. Obviously, it is clear to families and students that the law allows it and that the 'guilty party' for not promoting the student will not be the student for not studying, but the center, the teachers for not allowing it, being in their power to do so. In the same line run the euphemisms by which a student will not 'repeat' course but 'remain' in it. Or the elimination of remedial exams.

In the background there is a pedagogical mentality of not stigmatizing the student. This is accompanied by a social approach that is highly worrying, which is that no one takes responsibility for what they do. The guilty parties are always others. It is always someone else who has to solve my problems. Ultimately, of course, that other person who has to look after my welfare is the State.

An adult is someone who assumes responsibility for what he or she does. But it seems that we live in a society of adolescents and that this model will be perpetuated with this educational proposal.

We are moving towards a society where there is a growing gap between people who have received two types of education. On the one hand we will find those who opt for an education that with effort makes them bring out the best in young people, that forms free, autonomous, adult men. And on the other hand, an education based on a downward egalitarianism that makes them remain in their mediocrity, which is the proposal of our current leaders in this educational reform.

There will be schools that will accept a request from those parents who are looking for the demand and effort for their children, and others, forced by the Government with its inspection teams at the head, that will opt for an education in which everyone passes the course, in which nothing happens.

With Pedro Salinas I can only remember that he who loves, the good educator, is not satisfied with the mediocrity of the loved one, but wants him to bring out the best version of himself, even if it costs him, even if it hurts.

Forgive me for searching for you
so clumsily, inside you
you.

Forgive me the pain sometime.
It's just that I want to bring out
out of you your best you.

The one that you didn't see and that I see,
swimming through your bottom, very precious.
And take it
and have it high up like the tree has
the tree has the last light
that has found the sun.

And then you
would come in search of him, up high.
To reach him
climbing over you, as I love you,
touching only your past
with the pink tips of your feet,
your whole body in tension, already ascending
from you to yourself.

And may my love then be answered by
the new creature that you are.

Pedro Salinas. La voz a ti debida. 1933

The authorJavier Segura

Teaching Delegate in the Diocese of Getafe since the 2010-2011 academic year, he has previously exercised this service in the Archbishopric of Pamplona and Tudela, for seven years (2003-2009). He currently combines this work with his dedication to youth ministry directing the Public Association of the Faithful 'Milicia de Santa Maria' and the educational association 'VEN Y VERÁS. EDUCATION', of which he is President.

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Pope encourages looking at others as Jesus did: with a "gaze of mercy."

On the second day of his trip to Malta, Pope Francis went to the Grotto where St. Paul is believed to have lived, and celebrated Holy Mass in Floriana. There he encouraged to look at others with the gaze of Jesus Christ, so as not to discard anyone, but to look at them with "a gaze of mercy".

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On the second day of his trip to Malta, Pope Francis traveled to the city of Rabat to visit the Grotto of St. Paul, where the apostle is believed to have lived and preached for three months after being shipwrecked on his way to Rome.

In the grotto of St. Paul

The pontiff entered the basilica at the top of the grotto before descending into the grotto itself, which was also visited by Pope Emeritus Benedict XIV and St. John Paul II. The Pope lit a candle in front of the statue of the Apostle Paul and prayed that the spirit of welcome that the islanders had for the saint may continue for the migrants arriving on the shores of the island.

After saying the prayer, he wrote in the Book of Honor: "In this sacred place, which commemorates St. Paul, Apostle of the Gentiles and father in the faith of this people, I thank the Lord and ask him to always grant the Maltese people the Spirit of consolation and the ardor of proclamation".

Holy Mass in Floriana

The Pope then travelled to the city of Floriana, Malta, to celebrate Holy Mass. Some 20,000 people were present at the celebration, including representatives of the Christian Churches and other religious denominations. The Granary Square in Floriana is located outside the walls of Valletta, the capital of Malta, and overlooks the Church of St. Publius, considered the first bishop of Malta and who, according to tradition, welcomed the Apostle Paul to the island after he was shipwrecked.

Commenting in his homily on the behavior of the characters in today's Gospel passage, Pope Francis recalled that "these characters tell us that even in our religiosity the worm of hypocrisy and the vice of finger-pointing can creep in. In every age, in every community. There is always the danger of misunderstanding Jesus, of having his name on our lips but denying him in fact. And this can also be done by raising banners with the cross. How can we then verify if we are disciples in the school of the Master? By our look, by how we look at our neighbor and how we look at ourselves. This is the point to define our belonging".

A look of mercy

The Holy Father indicated that the Christian's gaze must be that of Jesus Christ, "a gaze of mercy," not that of accusers, "in a judgmental, sometimes even contemptuous way," "who set themselves up as champions of God but do not realize that they are trampling their brothers and sisters underfoot." Franciso recalled that, "in reality, those who believe they defend the faith by pointing the finger at others may have a religious vision, but they do not embrace the spirit of the Gospel, because they forget mercy, which is the heart of God."

Francis gave another key, - in addition to our gaze towards others - to "understand if we are true disciples of the Master": how we see ourselves. "The woman's accusers are convinced that they have nothing to learn. Indeed, their external apparatus is perfect, but the truth of the heart is missing. They are the portrait of those believers who, in every age, make of faith a façade, where what stands out is the solemn exterior, but inner poverty, which is man's most precious treasure, is lacking. In fact, for Jesus what counts is the voluntary openness of those who do not feel that they have arrived, but are in need of salvation. Therefore, when we are in prayer and also when we participate in beautiful religious services, we should ask ourselves if we are in tune with the Lord".

"Jesus, what do you want from me?"

"We can ask Him directly: 'Jesus, I am here with You, but what do You want from me? What do You want to change in my heart, in my life? How do You want me to see others?' It will do us good to pray like this, because the Master is not content with appearances, but seeks the truth of the heart. And when we truly open our hearts to him, he can work wonders in us."

At the end of the homily, the Pope encouraged us to imitate Jesus Christ in this way, and assured us that "if we imitate him, we will not be forced to concentrate on denouncing sins, but to seek out sinners with love. We will not count the number of those present, but we will go in search of those absent. We will no longer point fingers, but begin to listen. We will not discard the despised, but we will look first to those who are considered last. This, brothers and sisters, Jesus teaches us today by his example".

"Let us allow ourselves to be surprised by him and welcome his newness with joy," Francis concluded.

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Francis urges at Ta' Pinu Shrine to "rediscover the essential: Jesus".

The Holy Father exhorted yesterday at the Marian shrine of Ta' Pinu, on the Maltese island of Gozo, to renew our faith by letting ourselves be guided by the Virgin Mary and returning to the essence of Christianity: "The love of God that makes us evangelize the world with joy; and the welcoming of our neighbor", "the relationship with Jesus and the proclamation of his Gospel".

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Yesterday afternoon, the first day of the Pope's apostolic journey to Malta, an emotional prayer meeting took place with thousands of people at the Marian shrine of Ta' Pinu, on the island of Gozo, a place of great piety for the Maltese, visited by St. John Paul II and later by Benedict XVI. The Holy Father recalled this when he commented: "Here also St. John Paul II came as a pilgrim, and today we remember the anniversary of his death".

Following in the footsteps of his predecessors, Francis visited the shrine chapel and prayed the three Hail Marys before the image of the Virgin, presenting her with a golden rose as a gift, a gift from the Popes to express reverence for the Mother of God, Vatican news reported.

After listening to the testimony of faith of several people, the Pope gave his homily based on the passage from the Gospel according to St. Matthew that recounts the moment when the Virgin Mary and the disciple John accompany Jesus on the cross in the midst of a desolate panorama in which it seems that "everything has ended forever".

With Jesus on the cross

"The Mother who gave birth to the Son of God is grieving for his death, while darkness covers the world. The beloved disciple, who had left everything to follow him, now stands motionless at the feet of the crucified Master. It seems that all is lost," the Pope said, underlining the profound meaning of Jesus' words: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

"This is also our prayer in the moments of life marked by suffering," the Holy Father said, recalling that it is the same prayer that "every day goes up to God" from the heart of humanity. The Pontiff emphasized that the hour of Jesus - which in the Gospel of St. John is the hour of death on the cross - does not represent the conclusion of history, but marks the beginning of a new life".

"Next to the cross, in fact, we contemplate the merciful love of Christ, who extends towards us his arms wide open and, through his death, opens us to the joy of eternal life." For this reason, the Pope invited the faithful to meditate together from the sanctuary of Ta' Pinu on "the new beginning that springs from the hour of Jesus", and that "each one can transfer to his own history, observing the personal moments of pain in which faith and hope have appeared, even though it seemed that all was lost".

"Back to the origins".

Francis thus encouraged us to try to understand the invitation that the hour of Jesus proposes to us: "That hour of salvation for us tells us that to renew our faith and the mission of the community, we are called to return to that beginning, to the nascent Church that we see in Mary and John at the foot of the cross".

And what does it mean to go back to the beginning? What does it mean to go back to the origins? For the Holy Father, the essential of faith is the relationship with Jesus: "It is a matter of rediscovering the essential of faith", that is, "to return to the Church of the origins does not mean looking back to copy the ecclesial model of the first Christian community, but rather, to recover the spirit of the first Christian community, to return to the heart and rediscover the center of faith: the relationship with Jesus and the proclamation of his Gospel to the whole world".

"The personal encounter with Christ".

The Pope then pointed out that "the life of the Church is not only a past history to be remembered", but "a great future to be built", being "docile to God's plans".

"A faith made up of handed-down customs, solemn celebrations, beautiful popular gatherings and strong and exciting moments cannot suffice for us; we need a faith that is founded and renewed in a personal encounter with Christ, in daily listening to his Word, in active participation in the life of the Church, in the spirit of popular piety," the Holy Father added.

Francis is aware of "the crisis of faith, the apathy of believing practice, especially in the post-pandemic period, and the indifference of so many young people to the presence of God." "These are not issues that we should 'sugarcoat', thinking that after all a certain religious spirit is still holding out." "It is necessary to be vigilant so that religious practices are not reduced to the repetition of a repertoire of the past, but express a living faith, open, that spreads the joy of the Gospel".

In this regard, Pope Francis thanked the Maltese for the "process of renewal initiated, through the Synod". "This is the time to return to that beginning, at the foot of the cross, looking back to the first Christian community. To be a Church that cares about friendship with Jesus and the proclamation of his Gospel, not the search for space and attention; a Church that puts witness at the center, and not certain religious practices; a Church that wants to go to meet everyone with the lighted lamp of the Gospel and not be a closed circle."

"Malta and Gozo: you are two beautiful communities, just as Mary and John were two. May the words of Jesus on the cross then be your pole star, to welcome one another, create familiarity and work in communion. Go forward, always together!" the Pope encouraged.

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Dreaming peace, immigration "is not a virus", and protecting life, Francis' main themes

The sadness for the weakness of the "enthusiasm for peace" after World War II, and the encouragement to "listen to people's thirst for peace" in the face of the risk of "an expanded cold war"; the "European co-responsibility" in the face of immigration, "which is not a virus to be defended against", and the defense of the "beauty of life", have marked the Pope's speech on Saturday in Valletta (Malta).

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"Your ancestors offered hospitality to the Apostle Paul when he was on his way to Rome, treating him and his fellow travelers with 'uncommon cordiality'; now, coming from Rome, I too experience the warm welcome of the Maltese, a treasure handed down in this country from generation to generation."

This is how Pope Francis began his address to the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps, delivered from the Grand Council Hall of the Grand Master's Palace in Valletta, the capital of Malta, in the presence of the President of the Republic, George William Vela, who had received him at the airport with his wife, and Prime Minister Robert Abela.

"Because of its position, Malta can be defined the heart of the Mediterranean. But not only because of its position: the network of historical events and the meeting of peoples have made these islands, for millennia, a center of vitality and culture, of spirituality and beauty, a crossroads that has been able to welcome and harmonize influences from many parts," the Holy Father continued.

The Roman Pontiff took the opportunity, right from his first hours in Malta, to underline some of the most significant elements of his messages since he was elected to the See of Peter, addressed to States and institutions, and at the same time to each person, highlighting the life and dignity of the human person.

For example, when he encouraged "to continue to defend life from its beginning to its natural end, but also to protect it at all times from being discarded and abandoned. I am thinking especially of the dignity of workers, the elderly and the sick. And of young people, who are in danger of wasting the immense good that they are, chasing after illusions that leave so much inner emptiness".

The wind rose

The compass rose is the image that Pope Francis borrowed, he said, to delineate the four influences essential to the social and political life of the Republic of Malta, and "it is not by chance that in cartographic representations of the Mediterranean the compass rose was often placed near the island of Malta." The Pope then looked to the north, Europe and the European Union; to the west, the West; to the south, towards Africa, with the theme of immigration - "they are people!" he would say - and finally to the east, where he fixed his attention on the war in Ukraine, on peace and disarmament, and on what has been understood as a reference to the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, without quoting him, and to the States:

This was one of the Pope's textual paragraphs on this point: "How much we need a 'human measure' in the face of the childish and destructive aggressiveness that threatens us, in the face of the risk of an 'extended cold war' that can suffocate the lives of entire peoples and generations. And it is sad to see how the enthusiasm for peace, which emerged after the Second World War, has weakened in recent decades, as has the path of the international community, with a few powerful people moving ahead on their own, seeking space and zones of influence. And so, not only peace, but so many major issues, such as the fight against hunger and inequalities, have been de facto dropped from the main political agendas. But the solution to the crises of each is to take charge of those of all, because global problems require global solutions".

Trip to Kiev: "It's on the table".

By the way, the Pope was asked on the plane if he values the possibility of traveling to Kiev, and his answer was: "It is on the table," various media report. "Let us help each other to listen to people's thirst for peace, let us work to lay the foundations for an ever broader dialogue, let us meet again at international conferences for peace, where the central theme is disarmament, with an eye to the generations to come. And let us ensure that the vast resources that continue to be spent on armaments are used for development, health and food," the Pope said in his address.

"Now, in the night of war that has fallen upon humanity, let us not let the dream of peace disappear. Malta, which shines with its own light in the heart of the Mediterranean, can inspire us, because it is urgent to restore beauty to the face of man, disfigured by war".

"We need compassion and care."

The Holy Father then referred to "a beautiful Mediterranean statue dating from centuries before Christ that represents peace, Irene, as a woman holding Pluto, wealth, in her arms. It reminds us that peace produces well-being and war only poverty, and it makes us think of the fact that in the statue peace and wealth are represented as a mother holding a baby in her arms."

"The tenderness of mothers, who give life to the world, and the presence of women are the true alternative to the perverse logic of power, which leads to war. We need compassion and care, not ideological visions and populisms that feed on words of hatred and do not concern themselves with the concrete life of the people, of ordinary people," the Pope affirmed at this point.

"Paul was succored: the beauty of serving."

"The migratory phenomenon is not a circumstance of the moment, but marks our time (...). From the poor and populated south, a multitude of people are moving to the richer north. It is a fact that cannot be rejected with anachronistic closures, because in isolation there will be neither prosperity nor integration. Space must also be taken into account.

"The expansion of the migratory emergency - let us think of the refugees from the martyred Ukraine - demands broad and shared responses. Only some countries cannot bear the entire burden of the problem, while others remain indifferent," Francis added. "And civilized countries cannot sanction shady deals with criminals who enslave people out of self-interest. The Mediterranean needs European co-responsibility, to become once again the scene of solidarity and not the outpost of a tragic shipwreck of civilizations."

The Holy Father then cited the episode of the shipwreck of the Apostle of the Gentiles: "Speaking of shipwreck, I think of St. Paul, who in the course of his last voyage in the Mediterranean reached these shores unexpectedly and was rescued. Then, bitten by a viper, they thought he was a murderer; but later, when they saw that nothing bad had happened to him, he was considered a god (cf. Acts 28:3-6).

Between the exaggerations of the two extremes, the main evidence escaped: Paul was a man in need of welcome. Humanity comes first and rewards in everything. This country, whose history has benefited from the forced arrival of the shipwrecked apostle, teaches this. In the name of the Gospel he lived and preached, let us open our hearts and discover the beauty of serving those in need.

"The invasion narrative."

Today, while fear and 'the invasion narrative' prevail, and the main objective seems to be the protection of one's own security at any cost, let us help each other not to see the migrant as a threat and not to give in to the temptation of raising drawbridges and erecting walls".

"The other is not a virus to be defended against, but a person to be welcomed," the Pope stressed, and "the Christian ideal will always invite us to overcome suspicion, permanent distrust, the fear of being invaded, the defensive attitudes imposed on us by today's world" (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 88). Let us not allow indifference to destroy the dream of living together! Certainly, welcoming requires effort and renunciation. It also happened to St. Paul: in order to save himself, he first had to sacrifice the goods of the ship (cf. Acts 27:38). But renunciations are holy when they are made for a greater good, for the life of man, which is God's treasure.

Dignity of the human person

"At the foundation of solid growth is the human person, respect for life and the dignity of every man and woman. I know the commitment of the Maltese to embrace and protect life." [note: the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights has urged Malta to 'repeal provisions criminalizing abortion', and Malta has responded that its pro-life laws do not endanger women's lives].

The Pontiff continued: "Already in the Acts of the Apostles you distinguished yourselves by saving many people", and then encouraged the defense and protection of life, as stated above: "I encourage you to continue to defend life from its beginning to its natural end, but also to protect it at all times from being discarded and abandoned. I am thinking especially of the dignity of workers, the elderly and the sick. And the young (...) Let us protect the beauty of life.

Earlier, referring to the fact that "the North evokes Europe, in particular the house of the European Union, built so that there may live a great family united in the safeguarding of peace", the Pope had recalled the prayer written by Dun Karm PsailaGod omnipotent, grant wisdom and mercy to those who govern, health to those who work, and ensure unity and peace to the Maltese people. Peace follows unity and springs from it." [Dun Karm Psaila, 1871-1961, Maltese priest and poet, author of the national anthem of Malta].

"This is a reminder of the importance of working together, of putting cohesion before any division, of strengthening the shared roots and values that have forged the uniqueness of Maltese society," the Pope stressed.

About the Middle East

The Holy Father concluded with a thought on "the neighboring Middle East, which is reflected in the language of this country, which harmonizes with others, such as the capacity of the Maltese to generate beneficial coexistence, in a sort of coexistence of differences. This is what the Middle East needs: Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and other contexts torn apart by problems and violence".

"In the afternoon, the Pope will hold a prayer meeting at the Marian Shrine of Ta'Pinu, on the island of Gozo, and tomorrow Francis will celebrate Holy Mass in one of the largest open spaces in Malta, in Piazza dei Grani in Floriana. Tomorrow Francis will celebrate Holy Mass in one of Malta's largest open spaces, in Granary Square in Floriana, and will visit the John XXIII Peace Lab Migrant Center, which welcomes people from Somalia, Eritrea and Sudan who have embarked from Libya to cross the Mediterranean.

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George of HapsburgI think my grandfather is interceding for the return of peace in Europe".

One hundred years ago, the last emperor of Austria-Hungary, a great promoter of peace in Europe during World War I, died in exile and was beatified by St. John Paul II. His grandson, Georges de Habsbourg-Lorraine, Hungarian ambassador in Paris, explains to Omnes the figure of his grandfather in the context of a new war in Europe.

Bernard Larraín-April 2, 2022-Reading time: 6 minutes

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Text of the interview in English

Text of the interview in German

On April 1, 1922, one hundred years ago, Charles of Habsburg, the last Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, died on the island of Madeira (Portugal), at only thirty-four years of age. Charles I of Austria (Charles IV of Hungary) had been on Portuguese soil for a few months, where, exiled during the First World War, he had been welcomed in November 1921 with his family. A few months after his arrival, the emperor's health deteriorated until pneumonia ended his life. His wife, Empress Zita, who was expecting their eighth child, took care of him until the end of his days. His body rests in the church of Our Lady of the Mount, in Funchal, Madeira, far from the Crypt of the Capuchins in Vienna where the members of this dynasty that reigned in Europe for centuries are buried.

His name achieved special prestige in the Catholic world when he was declared Blessed on October 3, 2004 during a ceremony presided over by Pope John Paul II in Rome. Emperor Charles was recognized as a Christian model for his virtues and for his actions in favor of peace, supporting the efforts of Pope Benedict XV during the First World War. The Church also saw in his figure a model of a good Christian ruler, committed to the common good and the teachings of Christian social doctrine: Charles cared for his poorest and most abandoned subjects, reduced the luxuries of the Court and established the first Ministry of Social Development in the world. Not for nothing was he known as "the emperor of the people".

Georges de Habsbourg-Lorraine, grandson of Emperor Charles is, since December 2020, Ambassador of Hungary to France. This Austrian citizen (where his official German name is Georg Habsburg-Lothringen) and Hungarian (in Hungarian he is called Habsburg-Lotaringiai György), would have received the title of Imperial Highness and Royal Archduke of Austria, Prince of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia, if the Empire still existed. The ambassador receives us in a room of the Hungarian embassy in Paris.

A century after the death of the emperor, your grandfather Charles, Central Europe is at war again. What reflection does this event inspire in you?

- There are two elements that seem to me primordial to understand my grandfather's government. Charles was first and foremost a soldier. We must remember that he never thought he was going to be emperor, because the line of succession was far from him. He knew the war and its consequences very well. This is an important element to consider in his efforts for peace: he knew what war was, so he wanted peace.

Another element that I like to highlight is the fact that he was very young when he became emperor: he was 29 years old. When he took over, it is necessary to consider that he succeeded his great-uncle Franz Joseph I of Austria who spent no less than 68 years in power, with all that this entails: it is a whole system that he inherited. The generals of Franz Joseph wanted the war, because they trusted in the power and in the greatness of the imperial army. Charles then had a lot of opposition in that system. The empire was immense and Charles quickly understood that with the war the integrity of the empire was in danger, and that is exactly what happened.

Despite this opposition in the state apparatus, my grandfather achieved some reforms, especially of a social nature. Because of his adherence to the Christian social doctrine, he had understood very well that some social transformations were necessary, as well as a new style of government that had to be adopted. This led him to travel a lot within the Empire, which was not so easy at that time, to get to know the reality of the people, their problems, their aspirations. This is how he conceived the first Ministry of Social Development in the world and also promoted a protective legislation for tenants that was very appropriate to the times of war where many people were left without money to pay their rents.

Because of his adherence to Christian social doctrine, my grandfather Emperor Charles I of Austria had understood very well that some social transformations were necessary, as well as a new style of government that had to be adopted.
George of HapsburgAmbassador of Hungary in Paris

Is the figure of your grandfather still relevant in these times of war?

- There is something that particularly impresses me in my grandfather's life that can inspire many people around the world. It is something I heard in the Vatican on the days of his beatification. Emperor Charles was not beatified because he was successful or because he achieved a great feat, because in fact, politically he failed because he did not achieve peace and ended his life in exile. What counts for the Christian vision of life is the daily journey, what one does or tries to do every day to do good, to work for the common good. And in this aspect my grandfather was exemplary. This is for me, personally, the great message he leaves us and which is very relevant in today's society in which we tend to give too much importance to results and not so much to effort.

In a more concrete and spiritual way, I think my grandfather is interceding for peace to return to Europe. There are many people who are praying to him for this intention. There are several relics of him. In Hungary I don't think his figure is so well known. Curiously, I was very struck by the fact that in France he is more so. There is, for example, a college named after him in the city of Angers. It seems to me that it is the only school in the world that has been given the name "Blessed Charles of Austria". Another example: a few days ago at an official lunch in Versailles, one of the guests remarked that his son was named Charles after my grandfather: he was very impressed when he learned who I was!

In a more concrete and spiritual way, I think my grandfather is interceding for peace to return to Europe. There are many people who are praying to him for this intention.
George of HapsburgAmbassador of Hungary in Paris

It has been said that Hungary has opted for a neutral position in this war. What is your government's position?

- It seems to me that this criticism is not well-founded. My country is a member of the European Union and NATO and as such we follow the sanctions and resolutions that have been adopted. On the other hand, we have sent a lot of humanitarian aid to Ukraine and have already taken in about 500,000 refugees. In Budapest, the consequences of the war are already visible with the presence of these displaced people. Without going any further, in my own house in Budapest we are hosting two Ukrainian families.

On the other hand, we have decided not to contribute weapons to the conflict. We do not want to put our citizens at risk. It should be noted that after the First World War, with the dislocation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire made official by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, more than three million Hungarians stopped living in Hungary. Today there are about 150,000 Hungarians in Ukraine that we want to protect. We have already mourned the death of six Ukrainian soldiers of Hungarian origin in this war.

Finally, from the point of view of energy dependence, our situation is not exactly the same as that of the other members of the European Union. Indeed, we are 80% dependent on Russian energy. Entering into a conflict with Russia would be a serious danger for our population. Whether we like it or not, this dependence is real and is a legacy of recent Soviet history.

Today, in the midst of war in Central Europe, a Habsburg is ambassador in Paris during the French Presidency of the European Union. In your career as a diplomat, has your grandfather been a role model?

- Historical coincidences amuse me a lot. For example, a few days ago I presented my credentials to the Prince of Monaco, because in addition to being ambassador to France, I am also ambassador to the Principality. And I thought: "the twists and turns of history, a Hapsburg presenting his credentials to the Prince of Monaco!". Beyond the historical anecdotes, I have to say that my grandfather is a constant source of inspiration, but I have to admit at the same time that my father has had a much greater influence on my career. My father, Otto of Habsburg, the eldest son of the emperor and leader of the house of Habsburg, was a visionary politician and MEP for more than 20 years. He played an important role in the process of European construction and the inclusion, in the European Union, of the former nations that were part of the empire.

He was well aware of the historical responsibility of our family in the 21st century, which had been active in European politics for almost a thousand years, and taught us to live in modern society, to study and work like everyone else. I did university studies in law, history and political science in Austria, Germany and Spain. In the latter country, I was at the Complutense University of Madrid to study contemporary Spanish history and Islamic culture, which was not taught in Munich. I started working in audiovisual communication companies. Thirty years ago, I took up residence in Hungary, where I have been an ambassador since 1996. In particular, my father attached great importance to languages. Thanks to him, like him, I speak six languages (German, Hungarian, French, English, Italian and Spanish), which has obviously been very useful to me in my work as a diplomat.

What activities are planned for April 1, 2022, the 100th anniversary of the death of your grandfather Charles?

The main activity of this centenary will be a Mass that will take place in the church where my grandfather is buried, on the island of Madeira. More than one hundred members of the family will be present. At first I was not planning to attend because on Sunday, April 3, we have important elections in Hungary and at the embassy in France we have a lot of work to do to organize the elections. However, the Deputy Prime Minister of Hungary was kind enough to ask me to be present in Madeira for this occasion. So I will have the joy of being able to participate in this great event.

The authorBernard Larraín

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Pope to travel to Canada to meet with indigenous people

"Let us walk together, arrivederci in Canada." Pope's historic apology to indigenous Canadians.

Pope Francis has personally apologized to the Aboriginal people of Canada for the colonial sufferings in which Catholics were involved.

Fernando Emilio Mignone-April 2, 2022-Reading time: 6 minutes

Persevere and you will triumph. As Canadian indigenous leaders have been demanding for years, at the Vatican on April 1, the Pope personally apologized to Canada's Aboriginal people for the colonial sufferings in which Catholics played a part. Indeed, they had not been satisfied with repeated apologies and financial compensation from Canadian bishops and religious congregations since the 1990s. They wanted a papal request for forgiveness. They got it in spades.

After three meetings this week at the Vatican with three different groups of indigenous people (First Nations Association, Métis, Inuit), which lasted for hours, in this 50-minute meeting on Friday, April 1, Francis promised to repeat his apology to them in their ancestral lands: he would like to come, he announced, to celebrate with you the feast of the grandmother of Jesus Saint Anne (July 26), to whom you are so devoted. And he joked, in a festive and relaxed atmosphere enlivened with typical music and dances, that he would not come to Canada in winter! In the imposing Clementine Hall, three dozen indigenous people from the second largest country in the world, together with seven Canadian bishops representing the entire Episcopal Conference (which paid for everyone's trip), listened with emotion to a Pontiff who was also visibly moved. There was no lack of mention of God the Creator, mentioned by some of the indigenous people who spoke. They pledged to "walk together" from now on. An Inuit (Eskimo) couple sang the Our Father in their language.

In Bergoglio's speech in Italian, a poetic capolavoro of understanding, repentance and warning, not a single word was left over. Nevertheless, I dare to shorten it a little. Please compare my translation with the original, if you are going to quote it, since I sometimes paraphrase.

"Dear brothers and sisters, in the last few days I have listened attentively to your testimonies. I have led you to reflection and prayer, imagining your stories and situations. I am grateful to you for having opened your hearts and because with this visit you have expressed the desire to walk together. I begin with an expression that belongs to your wisdom and is a way of looking at life: 'We must think of seven future generations when we make a decision today'. This is the opposite of what often happens nowadays, where useful and immediate objectives are pursued without considering the future of the next generations. Instead, the link between the elderly and the young is indispensable. It must be cultivated and guarded, because it allows not to invalidate the memory and not to lose the identity. And when memory and identity are safeguarded, humanity improves."

"A beautiful image also arose in these days. You compared yourselves to the branches of a tree. Like them, you have grown in various directions, you have traveled through various seasons and have also been buffeted by strong winds. But you have clung tightly to the roots, which you have kept solid. And so you continue to bear fruit, because the branches spread high only if the roots are deep. I would like to mention some fruits. First of all, your care for the earth, which you do not see as a good to be enjoyed, but as a gift from Heaven; for you the earth guards the memory of the ancestors who rest there and is a vital space, where to welcome one's existence within a web of relationships with the Creator, with the human community, with the living species and with the common home in which we live. All this leads you to seek inner and outer harmony, to harbor a great love for the family and to have a lively sense of community. To this must be added the specific riches of your languages, cultures, traditions and artistic forms, heritages that belong not only to you, but to all humanity, inasmuch as they express humanity."

"But your fruit-bearing tree has suffered a tragedy, which you have told me about in these days: that of the uprooting. The chain that transmitted knowledge and lifestyles, in union with the territory, was destroyed by colonization, which disrespectfully uprooted many of you from your living environment and tried to standardize you to another mentality. In this way your identity and your culture were wounded, many families separated, many young people became victims of this action. omologatriceThis is based on the idea that progress comes from ideological colonization, according to programs studied at a desk without respecting the life of the people. Something that, unfortunately, is also happening today, at various levels: ideological colonization. How many political, ideological and economic colonizations still exist in the world, driven by greed, by the thirst for profit, insensitive to the people, to their histories and traditions, and to the common home of creation. Unfortunately, this colonial mentality is still widespread. Let us help together to overcome it."

"Through your words I was able to touch with my hands and carry within me, with great sadness in my heart, the stories of suffering, deprivation, discriminatory treatment and various forms of abuse endured by some people (diversi) of you, particularly in boarding schools (scuole residenziali). It is chilling to think of that intention to instill a sense of inferiority, to make someone lose their own cultural identity, to cut their roots, with all the personal and social consequences that this entailed and continues to entail: unresolved traumas, which have become intergenerational traumas."

"All this aroused in me two feelings: indignation and shame. Indignation, because it is unjust to accept evil, and it is even more unjust to become accustomed to evil, as if it were an inescapable dynamic caused by the events of history. No, without firm indignation, without memory and commitment to learn from mistakes, problems are not solved, and they return. We see it these days with respect to the war. One must never sacrifice the memory of the past on the altar of alleged progress."

"And I also feel shame, pain and embarrassment for the role that diverse (diversi) Catholics, especially those with educational responsibility, had in everything that has hurt you, in the abuses and in the lack of respect for your identity, culture and even your spiritual values. All this is contrary to the Gospel of Jesus. For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask God's forgiveness and I would like to tell you with all my heart: I am very sorry. And I join my brother Canadian Bishops in asking your forgiveness. It is clear that the contents of the faith cannot be transmitted in a manner foreign to that same faith: Jesus taught us to welcome, to love, to serve and not to judge; it is terrible when, precisely in the name of the faith, a counter-witness to the Gospel is rendered."

"Your experience amplifies in me those very current questions that the Creator addresses to humanity at the beginning of the Bible. First of all, after the fault committed, he asks man: 'Where are you' (Gen 3:9). Shortly after, he asks another question, which cannot be separated from the previous one: 'Where is your brother? Where are you, where is your brother? Where is your brother? These are questions that we must always repeat to ourselves; they are the essential questions of our conscience because we do not remember that we are on this earth as guardians of the sacredness of life and therefore custodians of our brothers, of all brotherly people. At the same time, I think with gratitude of so many good believers who, in the name of faith, with respect, love and kindness, have enriched your history with the Gospel. I am happy, for example, to think of the veneration that has spread among many of you for St. Anne, the grandmother of Jesus. This year I would like to be with you in those days. Today we need to reconstitute an alliance between grandparents and grandchildren, between the elderly and the young, a fundamental premise for a greater unity of the human community."

"I am confident that the meetings of these days can open up further avenues to be pursued together, instill courage and increase efforts at the local level. An effective healing process requires concrete actions. In a spirit of fraternity, I encourage the Bishops and Catholics to continue to take steps in the transparent search for truth and to promote the healing of wounds and reconciliation; steps along a path that will make it possible to rediscover and revitalize your culture, increasing love, respect and specific attention to your genuine traditions in the Church. The Church is on your side and wants to continue and walk with you. Dialogue is the key to knowledge and sharing and the Bishops of Canada have clearly expressed their commitment to walk together with you on a renewed, constructive, fruitful path, where meetings and shared projects can help."

"Dearest friends, I have been enriched by your words and even more by your witness. You have brought to Rome the living sense of your communities. I would like to profit even more from my meeting with you by visiting your native lands, where your families live. I will not go in winter! I give you now the arrivederci in Canadawhere I will be able to better express my closeness to you. In the meantime, I assure you of my prayers, invoking the Creator's blessing on you, your families and communities. I do not want to end without saying to you, my brother Bishops: thank you! Thank you for your courage. In humility: in humility the Spirit of the Lord is revealed. In the face of stories like these that we have heard, the humiliation of the Church is fruitfulness. Thank you for your courage" (looking at the seven Canadian bishops, from provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan and Quebec). "And thank you all!" (looking at the indigenous people).

And after some musical numbers and prayers of the natives and a nice exchange of gifts, sometimes in indigenous languages, the Pope blessed them in English with these words: "God bless you all - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Pray for me, don't forget! I'll pray for you. Thank you very much for your visit. Bye bye!"

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Pope in Malta after meeting with refugees from Ukraine in Rome

The Holy Father Francis has resumed his apostolic visits, following his trip to Greece and Cyprus in December 2021, with a quick trip to the Republic of Malta this weekend, following in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul. "It will be an occasion to get to know personally a Christian community with a millenary and lively history," the Pontiff wrote.

Rafael Miner-April 2, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

The "luminous land" of Malta, the island where St. Paul, the great evangelizer of the Gentiles, was shipwrecked, has been welcoming Pope Francis for a few hours.in his tenth year as Pastor of the Catholic Church. This is a long awaited trip, as it was scheduled for 2020, and had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 health emergency.

A "luminous land," as Francis described it at Wednesday's general audience, today more than ever committed to "welcoming so many brothers and sisters in search of refuge," and which counts 408,000 baptized, 85 % of the total population of 478,000 inhabitants of the archipelago of Malta, Gozo and other minor islands.

The motto of this 36th international trip of Pope Francis - "They showed us uncommon hospitality" - is taken from a verse from the Acts of the Apostles with words of St. Paul describing the way he and his companions were treated when they were shipwrecked on the island in the year 60, during their journey to Rome. Francis is the third Pontiff to visit Malta after St. John Paul II in 1990 and 2001, and Benedict XVI in 2010.

The theme of welcome is also symbolized by the logo of the journey, which represents the hands extended towards others, emerging from the boat in which St. Paul was shipwrecked on the island more than two thousand years ago, on his way to Rome. "An opportunity to go to the source of the proclamation of the Gospel," and "to get to know in person a Christian community with a millennia-long and lively history."

Earlier, as usual, Francis went to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome to pray before the icon of the Virgin Mary. Salus Populi Romani and entrusted him with these two intense days, during which he will deliver five speeches or homilies.

After greeting the authorities and the diplomatic corps this morning at the Grand Master's Palace in Valletta, the Pope will attend a prayer meeting in the afternoon at the Marian Shrine of Ta'Pinu, on the island of Gozo, which will be attended by Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, the Archbishop of Malta, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, and the Bishop of Gozo, Anton Teuma.

Perhaps the most anticipated event of the Pope's trip is his visit tomorrow, Sunday, to an immigration center. John XXIII Peace Labwhere Francis will meet with some two hundred people, mainly Africans. It is a center where important educational work is carried out in the field of human rights, justice, solidarity and medical assistance.

Meeting with Ukrainian families

This morning, before leaving the house of Santa Marta, the Holy Father met with some families of refugees from Ukraine, hosted by the Community of Sant'Egidio, together with the Almsgiver of His Holiness, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, as reported by the Vatican Press Office.

Among them is a 37-year-old mother with two girls, aged 5 and 7, who arrived in Italy from Lviv about 20 days ago. The girl underwent heart surgery and is under medical supervision in Rome. He has also received two mothers, sisters-in-law, with their four children, aged 10 to 17, staying in an apartment offered by an Italian lady, who come from Ternopil and arrived in Rome a little more than 20 days ago. The children of the two families are attending school in Rome.

The third family arrived in Rome three days ago via Poland. They are 6 people, from Kiev: mother and father, with three children aged 16, 10 and 8, and a 75-year-old grandmother. They also live in a house offered by an Italian woman to host the refugees.

Missionary church

"It seems significant to me that in this tenth year of his pontificate this trip to Malta takes place, because Malta is linked to the figure of St. Paul, who is the evangelizer par excellence, and if there is a note that has characterized insistently the pontificate of Francis, it is precisely that of the call, the invitation to the Church to become missionary, to become more and more missionary, to bring the proclamation of the Gospel to everyone, in any situation", said Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin in statements to the official Vatican agency.

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