Evangelization

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

With the challenges of the pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the humanitarian drama of so many people, confronting the meaning of life and suffering seems pressing. On Monday, March 28, the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences of the University of Navarra will address this question in a conference on 'Soul, Death and Beyond'. On this occasion, Omnes interviews Professor Tomás Trigo, organizer of the conference.

Rafael Miner-March 20, 2022-Reading time: 8 minutes
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The program of the XIII Theological-Didactic Day of the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences (ISCR), scheduled for March 28, is synthetic, but the themes are fundamental. At a time of crisis of transcendence, talking about the meaning of life: who are we? what are we doing here? what is our origin and what awaits us beyond death? and, as a consequence, finding answers to moral questions: how should we live? what should we do or avoid? "are the key to the happiness of any person," explains Don Tomás Trigo, deputy director of the ISCR.

Fermín Labarga, director of the ISCR, will address topics such as the spirituality of the human soul (Prof. Juan Fernando Sellés), death: 'game over' (Rafaela Santos, neuropsychiatrist); and Heaven (Msgr. Juan Antonio Martínez Camino), in addition to the subsequent round table discussion.

In order to explain this Day in more depth, Omnes spoke with Fr. Tomás Trigo.

Let's start with you. When were you ordained a priest? How long have you been at the University of Navarra? What have you most enjoyed about working here?

-I was ordained a priest in 1987, in Rome, by a saint: John Paul II. After seven years of pastoral work in Valencia, I came to work at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarra as a professor of Moral Theology. It is a job for which I am very grateful to God, for many reasons. One of them is to have met hundreds of seminarians and priests from many different countries. Really: with time you become convinced that the one who learns the most, the one who is most enriched as a person and as a priest, in a Faculty like this, is you.

He is now deputy director of the University's ISCR. What is ISCR? According to the data, people from 20 countries study here. We assume that not only priests study here, but also lay people. And you have a bachelor's degree and a degree in Religious Sciences and 5 diplomas...

-We are in a historical moment that cries out for all Christians to have a solid and deep doctrinal formation in order to be able to respond to the current challenges, giving reason for our faith and, above all, to know how to discern, in line with cultural changes. It is necessary to read, to understand, to deepen; and those who have responsibilities to form others in any field need to be able to access these studies in an adapted way and the Church has the duty to offer it to them.

The Higher Institutes of Religious Sciences were created to facilitate this formation for lay people and religious by means of a specific academic itinerary which are the Baccalaureate and Bachelor of Religious Sciences, official titles of the Holy See. The ISCR of the University of Navarra is one of the Institutes that offer these studies in a blended learning modality.

In addition, in order to facilitate access to the studies to anyone who wishes to be seriously trained, our ISCR has made a great effort to adapt the classroom teaching to the digital and paper support through the University of Navarra's ISCR Handbook Collection (EUNSA).

This allows us to diversify our training offerings in the form of own titles with modality 100% remote control. These titles, which we call Online diplomas are focused on thematic areas of theology, with some other subjects that complement the formation to respond to current challenges. This is the case, for example, of Diploma of Moral TheologyThe book, which not only studies Christian moral principles in a scientific manner, but also relates them to current issues under debate, such as bioethics or sexual morality.

These diplomas have been running for several years and are currently being studied with us for more than 450 students from various countries in the Americas and Europe, as well as Spain.

Benjamin Franklin (18th century), one of the founding fathers of the United States, said that, in this world, the only sure thing is death and taxes. On March 28th they have organized a conference with a really provocative title: Soul, death and beyondWhy such a title and such a theme? Of course, there is death, and there is a lot of suffering, now in Ukraine, for example.

-The key issue on which we intend to reflect is the meaning of life: Who are we? What are we doing here? What is our origin and what awaits us beyond death? Only from there can we find an answer to the moral question: How should we live? What should we do or avoid?

There is a certain fear of confronting these issues in both the family and academic spheres, perhaps because we do not know how to justify our own convictions. If we want to train parents and educators, which is the main goal of the Higher Institute of Religious SciencesWe must seriously face these issues, which are the key to the happiness of any person. The fact is that, without answering these big questions truthfully and truthfully, it is impossible to understand why such a way of acting is right or wrong. Choosing one path or another always depends on where you want to go.

Tell us more about the specific topics, and the speakers you have invited. Let's go with the human soul, for example.

-The first topic we are going to deal with is the spirituality of the soul. We will do it from the hand of Mr. Juan Fernando Sellés, Professor of Philosophical Anthropology at the University of Navarra. We want a philosopher to expose the rational arguments that support the truth of the spirituality of the human soul and, therefore, of its immortality. Some Greek philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, have already reflected and shed much light on this truth. Today there are Christians who, through faith, are convinced that the human soul does not die, but perhaps they do not know how to explain on what basis this reality, so important for our life, is based: we have a beginning in time, but we are eternal.

The beginning and the end of life are also studied in Moral Theology. On the 28th there is a neuropsychiatrist who will speak about death: game over? Is death the end of the game, the end of the game? In case you wish to comment.

-Yes, it will be the Doctor of Medicine and specialist in Psychiatry Rafaela Santos. She will speak precisely about that event that is even more certain than taxes: death. There is a lot of fear to think about that moment that will come, sooner or later, for each and every one of us. But fear cannot make us give up thinking. We are interested in knowing whether or not death is indeed the end of the game.

Some think it is, that with death personal existence ends. But if we take this idea seriously, and not just as a facade, life becomes absurd, freedom is without purpose, suffering is meaningless and it is... insufferable. What to do? One answer would be: "Let's eat and drink, tomorrow we die"; let's focus on ourselves and make the most of the present moment to enjoy to the fullest, even if it is at the expense of other people's happiness.

It is not surprising that when it is impossible to enjoy oneself because of pain, physical or moral suffering, or because one loses the only thing one considered a treasure (for example, the esteem of others, health, well-being, money or power), one resorts to suicide.

It is necessary to face existence. This is fundamental. To run away is cowardice, an escape through the wrong door. Whoever wants to be happy must face reality, try to understand it, ask and ask questions, without fear, search if necessary under the stones, until he finds the true meaning of his life.

Many of us are convinced that death does not have the last word, because we are eternal. But how can we live taking into account that this life on earth has an end? Can we live with joy and serenity even knowing that death can come at any moment? Can we prepare ourselves for death? I believe that Dr. Santos will help us answer these questions.

The sky. Heaven will also be discussed on this Day. I don't know if we hear much talk about heaven, and it is hopeful...

-Yes, as you say, we don't talk much about heaven, nor do we think about it, and that's a pity, because there is no more hopeful truth. Because heaven is what we all aspire to in the deepest part of our being. To think, to love and to feel loved by the Love that creates us, accompanies us and waits for us on the other side of the "door" is the only way to joyfully travel the road of life: a road sometimes long and heavy, uphill, with pleasant moments, but also with sorrows and sufferings.

Juan Antonio Martínez Camino, Auxiliary Bishop of Madrid, whom I thank very much for agreeing to participate, despite his many pastoral occupations.

In the Diploma of Moral Theology, among other questions, you explain the theological virtues, faith, hope, charity, love, their practical exercise. Do we lack hope? Do we believe too little? Do we love too little? Perhaps our happiness is at stake. Give us some clues.

-The three theological virtues are necessary to unite us to God and to live in intimate friendship with him already here, in this life. But I would like to focus on hope, of which we have just spoken.

Charles Péguy said that charity is an ardent mother, all heart, and hope is a little girl of nothing. But that little child of nothingness will cross the worlds, carrying faith and charity; "it will cross," he says, "the worlds that have come to an end. A flame will pierce the eternal darkness".

Without the hope of Heaven, of being forever with God, we would not even take a step on the path of Life, which is Christ himself. On other roads, on the road of eternal darkness, perhaps yes, but not on the road that leads to Life.

We need this virtue very much. When supernatural hope is lived, we have absolute trust in God, we abandon in Him all the worries that weigh us down, we live with a joy and peace that no one but Him can give us, and we can say that, even in the midst of setbacks, we are happy.

But Moral Theology is not only concerned with these virtues. It also deals with ethical questions that are more difficult to deal with, right? In Germany, for example, various issues of sexual morality, among others, are being discussed.

-Yes, in Moral Theology we also study virtues such as prudence, justice, courage or temperance, and within this, the virtue of chastity. All of them are necessary to be good people and to make others happy.

Questions of sexual morality have no more difficulty than those related to justice. Let me explain. The problem of sexual morality is not that it is a more difficult subject to understand than justice and respect for human life. The real problem of morality lies at a deeper level: it is the one pointed out with great clarity, in 1993, in the famous encyclical Veritatis splendorof St. John Paul II. This problem consists in opposing truth and freedom.

I sincerely believe that all virtues and values are equally problematic for a person who considers himself to be the autonomous source of truth, of values; the master of good and evil. And all the virtues are precious, joyful, for the person who sincerely seeks the truth about the good and tries to live it with the help of God and others. I believe that the key lies there, and not in the difficulty of understanding a specific virtue such as chastity.

We have noticed the gratitude of students and alumni for the diplomas and these programs. And they tell us that there are teachers and professors, managers, consultants, doctors and scientists, engineers, communicators, catechists, parents, and religious and lay people from all movements of the Church, men and women. Any comments?

-Only one. The Pope is constantly calling all the People of God to the conversion of the Spirit, and this conversion involves knowing in depth the message of Christ and creating an intimate space to rejuvenate the Christian life and the Church. We are very happy to know that we are putting our efforts at the service of this urgent call of the Holy Father. When we see some fruit, which manifests itself in the form of grateful witness, we thank God, for He alone has the merit. May we not stand in His way....

We conclude our conversation with Mr. Tomás Trigo. Juan Fernando Sellés is professor of Philosophical Anthropology at the University of Navarra; Rafaela Santos is executive president of the Humanae Foundation and author of books on resilience, such as 'My Roots', which I would like to recommend; and the talk by Bishop Martínez Camino is entitled 'Heaven. From Utopia to Hope'.

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The Vatican

The new law of the Roman Curia. A first reading

Pope Francis has promulgated the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium on the Roman Curia and its service to the Church and the world. The document organizes, above all, the departments that assist the Pope in his mission of governing the universal Church and replaces the preceding Apostolic Constitution. Pastor bonus of St. John Paul II.

Jesús Miñambres-March 19, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

Translation of the article into Italian
Translation of the article into English

Dated March 19, 2022 and scheduled to take effect on June 5, the Feast of Pentecost, Pope Francis has promulgated the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium on the Roman Curia and its service to the Church and the world. The document organizes above all the departments that assist the Pope in his mission of governing the universal Church and replaces the previous Apostolic Constitution. Pastor bonus of St. John Paul II (1988).

In general, the reform of the Curia is not an end, but a means to be better witnesses to the Gospel, to foster a more effective evangelization, to promote a profound ecumenical spirit, to encourage a productive dialogue with everyone (cf. n. 12). For this reason, the Pope entrusts the results of the reform to the Holy Spirit, the true guide of the Church, and he counts on time and on the commitment and collaboration of all.

The reading of the new law on the Roman Curia should avoid the error of confusing the reform of the Curia with a reform of the Church, probably fed by the frequent attribution to the "Vatican" of what happens in Catholicism. The Pope is imprinting on the Church, already from the beginning of his pontificate, a synodal impulse that is also manifested in this norm, presented in the Proemium as the fruit of the life of communion that gives the Church the face of the synodalitythat is to say, that characterizes it as a listening Church. In this sense, the Church is always listening to her faithful, to her structures, but also to the voices that speak to her from outside, to the problems of the world, to the expectations of humanity. For this reason, the reform of the Curia is not the reform of the Church, but it helps to take steps towards a greater understanding of the communion and mission that the Church has received and is trying to fulfill in this era.

In this synodal proposal, of listening, the relationship in the Church between the primacy of the Roman Pontiff and the episcopal college (which is based on the one established between St. Peter and the apostolic college) plays an important role. This relationship is structured in some organisms such as the patriarchal churches or the episcopal conferences. Praedicate Evangelium underlines the fact that the service of the Curia to the Roman Pontiff also puts it in contact with and at the service of the College of Bishops, so that it is not "between" the Pope and the Bishops, but at the service of the Pope and the Bishops.

On several occasions, in response to specific questions from journalists, the Pope has stated that the new law "will have nothing new in it compared to what we are seeing now". The reform process that seeks to facilitate a better service of the curial structures to the purposes for which they have been designed requires time and perseverance, it is one of those slow and persistent processes that redirect and direct the institutions. The Pope is persistent and tries to promote mental changes so that the Roman Curia allows itself to be squeezed by the mission of service; the same one that is squeezing the Pope. This mission of service becomes the North of the curial action and provokes a new part in the document, a series of "criteria" for the service, twelve, that precede the articles of the law.

When in 2013, the Pope entrusted today's Cardinal Krajevski with the body that manages the Pope's most immediate charity, the Elemosineria Apostolica, he told him: "Now my arms are short, if we lengthen them with yours I will succeed in touching the poor of Rome and Italy; I cannot go out, you can". The Roman Curia acts as the eyes and arms of the Pope in his mission of unity and care of the Catholic Church. Since the 16th century, it has been organized in a manner analogous to the way a state government is organized, with its ministries or dicasteries and a multiplicity of agencies that fulfill pastoral functions. Today, the departments of the Curia are now called Dicasteries, Organisms and Offices, and the Pontifical Councils have disappeared. The dicasteries and organisms, together with the Secretariat of State, are called "institutions" (art. 12).

Already from the title of the Apostolic Constitution, the new Roman Curia is in tune with the pulsating heart of Pope Francis, who had expressed in the Evangelii Gaudium of 2013: "I dream of a missionary option capable of transforming everything, so that customs, styles, schedules, language and every ecclesial structure become a suitable channel for evangelization" (n. 27).

The first institution dealt with by the law is the Dicastery for Evangelization, presided over directly by the Roman Pontiff (art. 34), which has the function of dealing with questions related to the missions.Propaganda Fide-It also assumes responsibility for the fundamental questions of the evangelization of the world, becoming the spearhead of the Church "going forth" so dear to Pope Francis.

The Elemosineria Apostolica is transformed into a Dicastery for the service of charity and is placed in third place after evangelization and the doctrine of the faith, which assumes in its midst, although with autonomy, the Pontifical Commission for the Guardianship of Minors.

In describing the competence of the Dicastery for Bishops in matters of appointments, express reference is made to the need to obtain the opinion of members of the People of God of the dioceses concerned (art. 105).

The competencies that were previously divided between two bodies, one for culture and the other for Catholic education, are unified in a single Dicastery for culture and education, although articulated in two different sections.

Several Pontifical Councils are transformed into dicasteries with substantially identical competencies to those they already had, although important modifications are made in some cases: for example, the Dicastery for Legislative Texts acquires a greater competence for the promotion of canon law and its study.

The organisms created in recent years are confirmed: the Dicastery for Integral Human Development, born in 2017, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, created in 2018. A Dicastery for Communication is added, which inherits the competencies of the current Secretariat for Communication.

The group of institutions that judge on behalf of the Pope meets under the title of "Organisms of Justice", although neither the name nor the competencies change: Penitentiary, Signatura and Roman Rota.

The profiles of the dicasteries and bodies dealing with the Holy See's internal economy, which have been the object of the Pope's attention since the beginning of the pontificate, are substantially confirmed: Council for the Economy, Secretariat for the Economy, Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See and Office of the Revisor General, to which are added a Commission for Reserved Matters and a Committee for Investments, which had been instituted in connection with the last reorganization of the Curia's economic affairs, with the disappearance of the Administrative Office that previously existed in the Secretariat of State.

From the group of bodies with economic functions disappears the traditional Apostolic Chamber, which had competencies in times of vacancy of the See: these competencies are now attributed to a new Office of the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church (art. 235-237).

These are the main changes brought by the new Curia law with respect to what was still in force until June 5. There are many more. From this first reading, it seems that the law offers new perspectives, more dynamism. It thinks above all of what is to be done, without dwelling too much on what one is. And when it is a question of organizing an instrument of service, it is appropriate to think more about action than about being, since being is to do, to serve.

The authorJesús Miñambres

Dean of the Faculty of Canon Law of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. Rome.

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Unforeseen mission

They no longer heard the roar of horns and surrounding buses, much less the murmur of water flowing through the canal. Suddenly, on the young man's neck, the imprint of a scratch opened up, and under the girl's fingernails, a few drops of blood peeked out.

Juan Ignacio Izquierdo Hübner-March 19, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes
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They were young and did not know how to get back on track in their relationship. They thought that a walk among the poplars and willows would cool them down a bit, but when they reached the park, the tension escalated and the language hardened to insults: they could no longer hear the roar of horns and surrounding buses, much less the murmur of the water flowing through the canal. Suddenly, on the young man's neck there was a scratch mark and under the girl's fingernails a few drops of blood appeared. 

It happened on a Wednesday in March around lunchtime, in a narrow, discreet park near the financial district of Santiago de Chile; in the green strip that accompanies the San Carlos canal in its last stretch to the Mapocho River. 

After the assault, the young man grabbed the backpack that his girlfriend had left on the lawn and hugged her. To reinforce his defense, he took out his cell phone and set about filming his partner with a threatening attitude. She was looking at him from a distance of three or four meters with her slender body trembling and her face as pale as the moon.

– Give it back to me," she whimpered, "please. 

- First ask my forgiveness," he replied, taking slow steps toward the fence separating the park from the canal.

- You are like everyone else, a child! 

The girl pronounced the last word with a grunt, fear filled her patience and she jumped again to the attack. He put the cell phone in his pocket, ran faster into the canal and grabbed the backpack with both hands to throw it into the water. "No!" she pleaded. Catastrophe was imminent. But, at that moment, a runner who was passing by interrupted them:

- Hey," he exclaimed with calm authority and open hands, "is something wrong? 

He was a middle-aged man, with a dark complexion, robust arms, thin lips inside a trimmed beard and a penetrating gaze. He wore a dark green T-shirt and shorts, breathed calmly, radiated courage and approached the scene with grave, calm, confident steps. 

- Is something wrong? -he repeated, seeing that the couple had turned around and were paying attention to him. 

- He wants to throw my purse into the canal! -The girl's voice took on an anguished tone, and suddenly she caught herself opening her heart to a stranger, "He's an envious, childish boy, meeting this lout was the worst mistake of my life! 

- Calm down. Come on, breathe with me: inhale, 1, 2, 3, exhale, 1, 2, 3. Okay, that's it," they both, as if hypnotized, played along. Breathe in, 1, 2... what are you doing?

The young man had lost the rhythm of his breathing and remembered his anger. He looked to the sides and took advantage of the lull to finish peering into the narrow, deep canal, whose water level was about two meters below the ground. And with a simple movement, he dropped the backpack. Then he turned, faced the girl's stunned gaze and adopted a contradictory expression, with a mixture of satisfaction and regret; he wanted to stay, to consolidate his triumph, but he could not stand the pressure and, before the stranger could react, he fled. She stayed, desolate and dejected, sat down on the grass and wept. 

- I'm so sorry," said the runnerThe young man's escape was a little closer, and he kept his attention on the young man's escape. 

- Inside the backpack... he knew it, why is he humiliating me like this? -There... there is the passport with which I was planning to travel next week to New York. What am I going to do now?

- What a pity what happened..." He kept silent for a few seconds and added, "Wait for me here, I have an idea.

- You're going after my boyfriend, or, well, now my ex, I guess.

- I think there's no need... I'll try to get your passport back," and, concentrating, he started to run.

            The floating backpack carried him a good distance. The runner He chased it, jumping over tree roots and dodging people, reached its height after 300 meters, jumped over the fence, lay down on the edge of the canal, but did not reach the lump with his arm. He didn't hesitate: he jumped up, went back to the road and kept running. Suddenly, under a tree, he saw a group of older gardeners enjoying their meals as if they were on an afternoon picnic and, next to them, lay a long pole with a basket on the end. "Excuse me, I need to rescue something." The good men nodded and the athlete continued on his route, holding something resembling a pole. The backpack had moved away, before long the park would be over and the bundle would reach the river, where it would be impossible to retrieve it. The man quickened his pace, advanced the target, jumped the fence again and, maneuvering the pole, positioned the basket on the surface of the water, waited, it was his last chance... and, well, he tackled the backpack. 

            When the young woman saw the man return with the backpack in his hands, she could not believe it, her excitement was almost uncontainable. She got up to receive it and mechanically sat down to check its contents. The passport was intact. Then he raised his head.

- Please give me your wasap," he said, taking his cell phone out of his pocket, "I'd like to bring you some gifts from New York. 

He smiled with sincere, paternal affection, but did not respond. 

- I see, you prefer anonymity, huh? That's fine. But at least tell me your name, I wouldn't want to forget you.

He nodded and, by way of farewell, replied:

- My name is José. 

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St. Joseph, father and guide

December 8 marks the end of the year dedicated to St. Joseph, which commemorated his proclamation as patron of the universal Church in 1870. To conclude, the author of this article presents the main features of the man who is the father and guide of Jesus and of all Christians.

Dominique Le Tourneau-March 19, 2022-Reading time: 12 minutes

Over the past few months, we have increased our knowledge of and have come into intimate contact with the patriarch St. Joseph. And that, thanks to Pope Francis' decision to decree a Year of St. Joseph, which will end on December 8, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As he expressed in his Apostolic Letter Patris cordeFrancis made this decision on the occasion of the sesquicentennial of the proclamation of St. Joseph as patron of the universal Church by the Supreme Pontiff Pius IX, on December 8, 1870, at the request of the fathers of the First Vatican Council.

With this, the Roman Pontiff offered us some points for reflection and meditation, highlighting the different roles of the one who played the role of father of the Redeemer. He was," he wrote, "father in love, father in tenderness, father in obedience, father in welcome, father in creative courage, father in work and, finally, father in the shadows.

Thanks to a righteous man

The name Joseph is a whole program. It means in Hebrew "he will increase", "he will add" or "he will make grow". And St. Josemaría Escrivá comments: "He will increase".God adds, to the holy life of those who fulfill his will, unsuspected dimensions: what is important, what gives value to everything, the divine. God, to the humble and holy life of Joseph, added - if I may say so - the life of the Virgin Mary and that of Jesus, our Lord. God never lets himself be outdone in generosity. Joseph could make his own the words spoken by Mary, his wife: Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens estHe who is all-powerful has done great things in me".(It is Christ who passes, n. 40). Therefore, our gratitude to St. Joseph should be very great.

He received an annunciation parallel to that of Mary. As we read in St. Matthew, when he realized that his betrothed was expecting a son, "as he was fair and did not want to defame her, he decided to disown her in private." (Mt 1:18-19). But as soon as he had made this decision, An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, for the child that is in her is of the Holy Spirit.".

What some have regarded as Joseph's doubts has given rise, both in art and literature, to the theme of St. Joseph's jealousy, of Byzantine origin. Already in his Representation of the Birth of Our Lord (around 1467-1481) Gómez Manrique mentioned them. They are still present in the Life, excellencies and death of the glorious Patriarch and Bridegroom of Our Lady St. Joseph (1604) by José de Valdivielso. And it becomes the subject of the work of Cristóbal de Monroy y Silva, Jealousy of St. Joseph (1646). We can think, in reality, that the doubt refers only to the decision he had to make, but he could not question the sanctity of his wife.

According to Jewish traditions, they were considered already married. And Mary's marriage to Joseph has always been presented as a true marriage, even though it respected Mary's initial decision to remain a virgin: she would give birth without the help of a man, but by "obumbration," since the Holy Spirit took her under his shadow. Starting from the matrimonial goods identified by St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas affirms that this marriage is really a marriage, because both spouses have consented to the conjugal union, but "not carnal union, except on one condition: that God willed it.".

St. Jerome presented the reasons why it was convenient for them to be married: "First, that by genealogy Mary's provenance might be established; second, that she might not be stoned by the Jews as an adulteress; third, that she might have a consolation in the flight to Egypt.". The account of the martyrdom of St. Ignatius adds a fourth reason: so that the birth would be hidden from the eyes of the devil, who would think that the child had been fathered by a wife, not a virgin.

St. Matthew the Evangelist conveys the angelic affirmation that St. Joseph was an angel. "righteous man"that is, a saint. This eximious holiness has been aptly described by Richard, in his Historical praise of the Saintspublished in Valencia in 1780: "Ponder as much as you will his prerogatives; say that having been destined by special vocation to the noblest ministry there ever was, he gathered in his person what was distributed among the other Saints; that he had the lights of the Prophets, to know the secret of the Incarnation of a God; the loving care of the Patriarchs, to encrypt and nourish a man God; the chastity of the Virgins, to live with a Virgin Mother of a God; the faith of the Apostles, to discover among the exterior humility of a man, the hidden greatness of a God; the zeal of the Confessors, and the fortitude of the Martyrs, to defend and save at the risk of their lives that of a God. Say all this, Sirs; but I will answer you with a single word: Joseph vir ejus erat justus".

Devotion to St. Joseph

Such exceptional holiness motivates a total trust in the intercessory power of our saint and, therefore, a special devotion. 

St. Teresa explains it well, with some biographical tints: "I took the glorious Saint Joseph as my advocate and lord, and I entrusted myself to him. I saw clearly that from this need as well as from other greater needs of honor and loss of soul, this my father and lord brought me out with more good than I knew how to ask of him. I do not remember until now having begged him for anything that I have failed to do. It is something that frightens me the great mercies that God has given me through this blessed Saint, of the dangers that he has freed me from, both in body and soul; it seems that the Lord gave other saints grace to help in one need, I have experience that this glorious Saint helps in all, and that the Lord wants us to understand that just as he was subject to him on earth - that since he had the name of father, being a godfather, he could command him - so in heaven he does whatever he asks of him. This has been seen by other people, whom I told to commend themselves to him, also by experience; and there are even many who are devoted to him again, experiencing this truth".

Testimony of this devotion are the confraternities of St. Joseph present both in Spain and Latin America, presented by F. Javier Campos y Fernández de Sevilla, OSA, in his work Confraternities of St. Joseph in the Hispanic Worldof 2014. The author explains that "Traditionally it had been the artisans of wood and related trades who had chosen St. Joseph as the patron saint of the new confraternity that they placed under their patronage, but it is also observed that, on other occasions, he was chosen because of his position in the celestial court and because Marian and saintly devotions with a tradition in Hispanic American Christian culture had already erected confraternities to the same invocation, he is chosen because of the place he occupies in the heavenly court and because the Marian and saintly devotions with tradition in the Hispanic-American Christian culture already had confraternities erected for the same devotion -possibly more than one in large cities-, or there were no images or canvases in the church where they wanted to erect the brotherhood"..

For his part, the current successor of Peter, in his meeting with families in Manila, confided how he makes use of his devotion to St. Joseph in his sleep: "I love St. Joseph very much, because he is a strong and silent man and on my desk I have a picture of St. Joseph sleeping and sleeping he takes care of the Church. Yes, he can do it, we know that. And when I have a problem, a difficulty, I write a little piece of paper and I put it under St. Joseph, so that he will dream it. This means for him to pray for that problem. [Joseph listened to the angel of the Lord, and responded to God's call to take care of Jesus and Mary. In this way, he fulfilled his role in God's plan, and became a blessing not only for the holy Family, but for all humanity. With Mary, Joseph served as a model for the child Jesus as he grew in wisdom, age and grace."

This pontifical commentary, full of candor and faith, refers us to Joseph's dreams. Let us recall that, according to the Gospel accounts, St. Joseph benefits on three occasions from an angelic message during sleep. First, when he discovers that his wife is pregnant, as we noted above; then, after the departure of the Magi, when the deadly fury of Herod wants to kill Jesus; and finally, to decide when to return to Palestine. Why does the angel appear to him in his dream, and not in reality, as he did with Zechariah, the shepherds or the Virgin Mary herself, St. John Chrysostom asked. And he answers: "For the faith of this bridegroom was strong and he did not need such an apparition" (In Matth. homil. 4)..

We rightly consider St. Joseph to be an exceptional saint. Nevertheless, we have heard our Lord affirm that "greater than John the Baptist has not been born of a woman; though he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he." (Mt 11:11). How is this statement to be understood?

The kingdom that Jesus Christ has come to establish is the New Testament. St. John is the greatest of the Old, and stands, so to speak, at the door of the New. For his part, St. Joseph is, together with the Virgin Mary, the first to belong to the Kingdom established by his Son. In fact, the Forerunner did not have the privilege of sharing his life with that of Jesus and Mary. He saw the Lamb of God from afar, whom he presented to his disciples (cf. Jn 1:36), while it was given to Joseph not only to see and hear him, but also to embrace, kiss, clothe and guard him.

The superiority of St. Joseph over the Lord's apostles should also be emphasized. As Bossuet argued, "Among all the vocations, I point out two in the Scriptures that seem directly opposed. The first, that of the apostles; the second, that of Joseph. Jesus reveals himself to the apostles, Jesus reveals himself to Joseph, but in quite opposite conditions. He reveals himself to the apostles to proclaim him throughout the universe; he reveals himself to Joseph, to silence him and to hide him. The apostles are lights to make Jesus Christ visible to the world; Joseph is a veil to cover him and under this mysterious veil he hides from us the virginity of Mary and the greatness of the Savior of souls.".

Joseph's silence and the Eucharist

This leads us to refer briefly to the so-called "silence of saint Joseph".. As Paul Claudel aptly wrote, "is silent as the earth at the time of the dew".. Pope Pius XI declared in this regard that the two great personages John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul "They represent the person and the mission of St. Joseph, who, however, passes in silence, as if disappeared and unknown, in humility and silence, a silence that was not to be illuminated until centuries later. But where the mystery is deepest and the night above it thickest, where the silence is deepest, it is precisely where the mission is highest, where the virtues that are required and the merit that, by a fortunate necessity, must respond to such a mission are richest. That grandiose, unique mission of caring for the Son of God, the King of the universe, the mission of protecting the virginity, the holiness of Mary, the mission of cooperating, as the only vocation, to participate in the great mystery hidden from the centuries, in the divine Incarnation and in the Salvation of the human race"..

This silent presence is perhaps even more striking in the unfolding of the Eucharistic sacrifice. In fact, we can glimpse a presence of the holy patriarch in the Mass. He assists us in that sublime moment in various ways: 

1) Mary is spiritually present at the altar as co-redeemer. Now, Joseph is her husband, and we cannot separate them. Jesus, the Redeemer of humanity, is the fruit of their marriage. 

2) Jesus rightly called St. Joseph "father", and Joseph sent Jesus as a true father, took care of Him, fed Him, and, together with the Virgin Mary, "prepared" the sovereign Priest and divine victim of the Sacrifice of the Passion that was to come. 

3) Mary and Joseph are inseparable in the devotion of the faithful, as, indeed, in the plan of the redemptive Incarnation. 

4) In the Mass, the sacrifice is offered by the whole Church and for the whole Church. Now, St. Mary has been designated as Mother of the Church, and St. Joseph is her father. 

5) The Eucharistic Prayer I proclaims: "Gathered together in communion with the whole Church, we venerate the memory, first of all, of the glorious ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, our God and Lord; that of her spouse, St. Joseph...". 

6) Mary intercedes before her Son so that he may be the only Mediator before the eternal Father, and Joseph, head of the Holy Family, presents us before the Intercessor.

Moreover, we can say that St. Joseph participated in advance in the Sacrifice of his Son to the extent that, in the words of St. Alphonsus Liguori, he participated in the Sacrifice of his Son, "With how many tears Mary and Joseph, who knew perfectly well the divine Scriptures, would have spoken, in the presence of Jesus, of his painful passion and death. With what tenderness they would have spoken of their Beloved, whom Isaiah had referred to as the man of sorrows. He, beautiful as he was, would be scourged and battered until he looked like a leper full of sores and wounds. But his beloved son would suffer everything with patience, without even opening his mouth or lamenting so many sorrows and, like a lamb, he would let himself be led to death: and finally he would have ended his life by dint of torments, hanging on an infamous log between two thieves".

The Holy Family

With this, let us say something about the Holy Family, which the authors call the "trinity of the earth". It appears in the Mérode triptych, in which, according to Cynthia Hahn, the presence of Joseph in the right panel is to be explained as a figure of God the Father. St. Josemaría insisted on a spiritual itinerary consisting of moving from the trinity of the earth to the Most Holy Trinity: "Passing through Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the trinity of earth, each will find his own way to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity of heaven.". 

St. Josemaría also described St. Joseph as "inner life teacher". He addressed him with these words: "St. Joseph, our Father and Lord, most chaste, most clean, who has merited to carry the Infant Jesus in your arms, and to wash him and embrace him: teach us to treat our God, to be clean, worthy to be other Christs. And help us to do and to teach, like Christ, the divine ways - hidden and luminous -, telling men that they can, on earth, have an extraordinary spiritual efficacy" (Forge 553)..

Patron saint of the good death, and of the hidden life.

Patron of the universal Church, as we said at the beginning, St. Joseph is also presented to us as the patron of the good death. Father Patrignani, a great lover of the patriarch, adduced as reasons for this patronage: "1) Joseph is the father of our Judge, of whom the other saints are but friends. 2) His power is formidable before the demons. 3) His death was the most privileged and the sweetest ever.".

St. Alphonsus Liguori explains that "Joseph's death was rewarded with the sweetest presence of the bride and of the Redeemer, who deigned to call Himself his son. How could death be bitter for him, who died in the arms of life? Who can ever explain or understand the sublime sweetness, the consolations, the hopes, the acts of resignation, the flames of charity, which the words of eternal life of Jesus and Mary then aroused in Joseph's heart?".

The same author adds that "The death of our saint was peaceful and serene, without anguish or fear, because his life was always holy. The death of one who for a time has offended God and deserved hell cannot be like that. However, great will then be the rest for those who place themselves under the protection of St. Joseph. He, who in life had commanded God, will certainly know how to command the demons, driving them away and preventing them from tempting his devotees at the moment of death. Blessed is the soul that is assisted by this valid advocate.".

The death of our saint was preceded by years of what is usually called the "hidden life," years of contemplation of God through the sanctification of ordinary work and daily events, years dedicated to giving glory to God by offering him humble daily chores. St. Joseph, at the side of Mary and Jesus, offers us a perfect model of the sanctification of ordinary life.

For Bossuet, "Joseph had this honor of being daily with Jesus Christ, and with Mary he had the greatest part of his graces; and yet Joseph was hidden, his life, his works, his virtues were unknown. Perhaps we will learn from such a beautiful example that one can be great without noise, that one can be blessed without noise, and that one can have true glory without the aid of fame, by the testimony of his conscience alone.". 

We read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church that "With submission to his mother, and to his legal father, Jesus fulfills with perfection the fourth commandment. It is the temporal image of his filial obedience to his heavenly Father. Jesus' daily submission to Joseph and Mary announced and anticipated the submission of Holy Thursday: 'My will be done...' (Lk 22:42). Christ's obedience in the daily life of the hidden life already inaugurated the work of restoration of what Adam's disobedience had destroyed (cf. Rom 5:19)".

St. Bernard wondered at such a mystery: "Who, then, was subject to whom? Indeed, the God to whom the Angels are subject, to whom the Principalities and Powers obey, was subject to Mary; and not only to Mary, but also to Joseph for Mary's sake. Admire, therefore, both, and see which is more admirable, whether the most liberal condescension of the Son or the most glorious dignity of the Mother. On both sides there is reason for astonishment; on both sides, prodigy. A God obeying a human creature, here is a humility never seen before; a human creature commanding a God, here is a greatness without equal" (Homily II super Missus est, 7).

But nourished without interruption by prayer. "St. Joseph stands before us as a man of faith and prayer. The liturgy applies to him the word of God in Psalm 88: 'He will cry out to me: Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation' (Ps 89:26). Certainly, how many times in the course of long working days Joseph must have raised his thoughts to God to invoke him, to offer him his labors, to implore him for light, help and consolation. Now, this man who seems to cry out to God with all his life: 'You are my father', obtains this particular grace: the Son of God on earth treats him as Father. Joseph invokes God with all the ardor of his believing soul: 'My Father', and Jesus, who worked at his side with the carpenter's tools, addresses him as 'father'".

We close this article with the prayer that Pope Francis proposed to us at the end of his letter Patris corde:

Hail, guardian of the Redeemer
and husband of the Virgin Mary.
To you God entrusted his Son,
Mary placed her trust in you,
with you Christ was forged as a man.
O blessed Joseph,
show yourself a father to us too
and guide us on the path of life.
Grant us grace, mercy and courage.
defend us from all evil. Amen.

The authorDominique Le Tourneau

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Teachers of hope

We live in an environment that leads us to the hopelessness we have been breathing for years. Instead of a positive vision of life, full of light, we have been thrown into a perspective of struggle, conflict and darkness. We are being robbed of hope.

March 18, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

We live in times of uncertainty and hopelessness. The time of the pandemic has been followed by the insecurity of war. The experiences faced by the new generations are of fear, with the only certainty that the times they will face are going to be difficult. And we know that, for the first time, the generation after ours will live worse than their parents did.

Thus hopelessness is taking deep root in the hearts of the men and women of our time.

But beyond the historical conjunctures that have marked us the COVID or the conflict in Ukraine, that hopelessness is being taken away from our society in a tremendously subtle way. It is a whole atmosphere of hopelessness that we have been breathing for years. In the face of a positive, light-filled outlook on life, we have been thrust into a perspective of struggle, conflict and darkness. We are being robbed of hope.

The ground we walk on is no longer firm. Truth has become relative, morality subjective, the pillars on which society is based, especially the person and the family, have been shaken and called into question. In the face of models of heroes who embodied values of justice and honesty, in series and movies we are now presented with ambiguous and vengeful models. The truth is becoming blurred, the ideals for which to fight and even for which to give one's life are relegated to the pragmatism of every man for himself, the meaning of life is reduced to 'carpe diem'.

Our education is not failing that our young people need better study techniques or modern computers to work better. It is not the motivation we give them that is failing. What we have robbed them of is the meaning of their lives. We are simply robbing them of hope. And without it, in the end, there is no ultimate reason for effort and work.

And this is not an abstract or distant question. It is as close as the life of each of our young people. It is necessary that each young person finds his concrete reason to live, in the style that Victor Frank proposed in his famous logotherapy that he presented to us in his book 'Man in Search of Meaning'. This is what we educators must strive for, starting with their own parents.

But also socially we have to turn this situation around. We must dare to propose positive models to young people. We must encourage them to believe in what is most noble in the human heart. We must encourage them to strive for goodness, to discover and defend the truth, to contemplate and enjoy beauty. We must all educators be authentic teachers of hope.

Because hope, however small it may seem, as the French poet Charles Peguy said in his famous poem 'The Little Hope', is the engine of life.

This hope has nothing to do with voluntaristic optimism, much less with the naive candor of 'everything is going to be all right'. Hope takes into account suffering and pain, failure and effort, the deepest and sometimes crudest reality of life. Hope is based on present and future reality.

This, in my opinion, is the most profound renewal that our education needs. To be able to provide our students with certainties and hopes that will help them to walk and enter the future without fear.

For this it is necessary that the teacher himself has this hope rooted in his heart and in his life, because in the end, as we know well, we only give what we have. That is why no one who lives bitterly or without hope should be a teacher, because he will transmit his bitterness and hopelessness.

The little hope, Charles Peguy,

"I am, says God, Master of the Three Virtues.

Faith is a faithful spouse.

Charity is an ardent mother.

But hope is a very little girl.

I am, says God, the Master of Virtues.

Faith is the one that stands firm forever and ever.

Charity is that which is given for ever and ever.

But my little hope is the one that gets up every morning.

I am, says God, the Lord of Virtues.

Faith is the one that stretches for ever and ever.

Charity is that which extends for ever and ever.

But my little hope is the one that says good morning to us every morning.

I am, says God, the Lord of Virtues.

Faith is a soldier, a captain defending a fortress.

A city of the king, on the borders of Gascony, on the borders of Lorraine.

Charity is a doctor, a little sister of the poor,

Who cares for the sick, who cares for the wounded,

To the king's poor,

On the borders of Gascony, on the borders of Lorraine.

But my small hope is

the one who greets the poor and the orphan.

I am, says God, the Lord of Virtues.

Faith is a church, a cathedral rooted in the soil of France.

La Caridad is a hospital, a sanatorium that collects all the misfortunes of the world.

But without hope, all that would be nothing but a graveyard.

I am, says God, the Lord of Virtues.

Faith is the one that watches over the ages of ages.

Charity is the one that watches over the centuries.

But my little hope is the one that goes to bed every night.

and wakes up every morning

and sleeps really peacefully.

I am, says God, the Lord of that Virtue.

My little hope

is the one that goes to sleep every night,

in her bed as a child, after saying her prayers,

and the one who wakes up every morning

and stands up and says his prayers with a new look.

I am, says God, Lord of the Three Virtues.

Faith is a great tree, an oak rooted in the heart of France.

And under the wings of that tree, Charity,

my daughter Charity protects all the misfortunes of the world.

And my little hope is nothing more

that this small promise of budding

which is announced right at the beginning of April."

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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Benedict XVI's detractors want to destroy his theological legacy

An essay by Swiss philosopher Martin Rhonheimer refutes recent accusations against the Pope Emeritus. He points out that it is precisely due to Ratzinger that the Church, after a painful learning process, has taken on a pioneering role in the fight against abuse.

José M. García Pelegrín-March 18, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsBenedict XVI expresses sorrow but rejects all accusationsRelated NewsWith Benedict XVI, a pioneer in the fight against abuse is pilloried

After the January 20 presentation of the report on sexual abuse in the Munich diocese, what Bishop Georg Gänswein called a smear campaign against Benedict XVI was launched by various media. At the heart of the accusations against the Pope emeritus was a simple question: when asked by the law firm WSW, author of the above-mentioned report, whether he had been present at a certain meeting in January 1980, Benedict replied that he had not, when there was evidence that he had. Although on February 8 the Pope emeritus wrote a letter apologizing for what had been a transcription error - a report by four of Benedict's collaborators explained in detail how the lapse had occurred - accusations were raised in Germany that he had lied, and even that, in his time as archbishop of Munich, between 1977 and 1982, he had covered up for priests accused of committing sexual abuse.

Now, the Swiss theologian Martin Rhonheimer -former professor of Ethics and Political Philosophy at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross (Rome) and co-founder and current president of the Austrian Institute of Economics and Social Philosophy in Vienna, where he resides- has just published an accurate analysis in the German newspaper "Die Welt". He affirms that, if the Pope Emeritus "continues to be the target of criticism today", it is "because his adversaries want to destroy precisely what the name of Joseph Ratzinger stands for: his theological legacy" because the theology of Joseph Ratzinger, "which inspired a great number of believers and brought countless people closer to the Church, has long been a thorn in the side of German university theology, brimming with arrogance and national conceit, and whose pastoral effects have emptied the churches". His "attempt to destroy the reputation of theologian Joseph Ratzinger at the end of his life" is coupled with media "not necessarily sympathetic to the Church."

For Rhonheimer, what he calls the "narrative of the adversaries" of the Pope Emeritus comes fundamentally from Hans Küng who, in 2010 and in an open letter, accused him of creating a "worldwide system of cover-up of sexual crimes of the clergy, controlled by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of Cardinal Ratzinger". Küng was referring mainly to the letter that the then Prefect of that Congregation sent in 2001 to the bishops to submit abuse cases under "pontifical secrecy." As he now recalls, Martin Rhonheimer himself replied shortly afterwards: "Thanks precisely to that provision, the bishops are obliged to communicate cases of abuse to the Vatican, thus avoiding a possible cover-up. Moreover: "The pontifical secret refers to something else - and Küng knows this perfectly well -: to the ecclesiastical process, in which ecclesiastical penalties or eventual relegation to the lay state are at stake. The reason for secrecy during the trial is solely the protection of victims and defendants." That it was introduced to cover up - says Rhonheimer - is a "malicious assertion".

The author affirms that a "system of cover-up" did indeed exist and continues to exist, but "that people now want to divert attention by speaking of a 'Ratzinger system' is also systematic," since it is used by Ratzinger's opponents, the same ones who, in the wake of the abuse scandal, are trying to change the Church in Germany. "Not a few of those responsible for the scandals in Munich and elsewhere, as bishops, now take cover by defending the 'synodal way' and its utopian promises of 'reform' at all costs."

Rhonheimer recalls that when, in the 1980s, sexual abuses began to become known in the United States, the Vatican was responsible for the Congregation for the Clergy, which was primarily concerned with protecting priests. It was precisely the then Cardinal Ratzinger who withdrew this competence and transferred it to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of which he had been Prefect since 1982: what had previously been a "concession" to priests requesting to be relegated to the lay state thus became a penal measure. The author also cites the "Circular Letter for the Treatment of Cases of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Clerics" of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, dated May 3, 2011, when Joseph Ratzinger was already Pope: "The sexual abuse of minors is not only a canonical crime, but also a crime prosecuted by civil authority. While relations with the civil authority differ in the various countries, it is important to cooperate within the scope of respective competencies. In particular, without prejudice to the internal or sacramental forum, the prescriptions of the civil laws are always followed with regard to referring crimes to the legitimate authorities".

This is why - Martin Rhonheimer concludes - what his detractors say is not true: "Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI did not create a system of ecclesiastical cover-up; it was individual bishops who failed, despite all Ratzinger's efforts". Precisely what Hans Küng accused him of in 2010 "was, in fact, the starting pistol for a new ecclesiastical culture for dealing with abuse cases." Rhonheimer calls the learning process that the Church had to go through "long and painful" - with the "necessary and salutary" pressure of public opinion, but above all of victims' associations - to be able to assume a pioneering role in this field today, albeit after long omissions. "This is to thank Joseph Ratzinger, who began to clean the Augean stables."

On this issue, it is of interest to read this article Juan Ignacio Arrieta, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, on the influence of Cardinal Ratzinger in the reform of the canonical penal system.

Martin Rhonheimer's article was published, in German, in "Die Welt".

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What I had in my pockets

Those who think he was going lightly do not know much about what Chesterton has called "Enormous Minutiae," those little things of tremendous value.

Vitus Ntube-March 18, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

What I had in my pockets were my hands.

I was on my way to college on one of those cold March mornings and my hands were in my pockets. My hands needed warmth and my pockets provided it. But this hands-in-pocket image was very striking to my friends. They said;

- You go to school light.

I walked into the 15-minute train ride to the university with my hands in my pocket and realized that I was indeed not going light as my friends observed. Granted, I was going without my backpack and my friends' observation was accurate, but they had missed a trick.

Earlier I had been reading Chesterton's "Enormous Minutiae" and remembered the essay "What I found in my pockets" and decided to check what I had in my pocket. The depth of my pockets showed that it was an immense abyss and an unknown treasure.

The first thing in my pocket was my train ticket. It had a lot of things written on it, but the words Roma and Piazza del Popolo were enough to hold my attention. Rome, the eternal and universal city that unites people. Then I looked around the train and saw people of all races and heard different languages, both those I could understand and those I could not. I also saw the young and the old, different generations. This is Rome, I thought.

Chesterton compared his pockets to a British Museum for treasures, I compared mine to the Vatican Museum because the next thing I found in my pocket was a Vatican Museum ticket with an image of Laocoön.

Laocoon, the Trojan priest of Greek mythology who was attacked by two large sea serpents along with his two sons. The history of the foundation of Rome is linked to that of Laocoön. Then I remembered how the Roman civilization has been able to build on previous civilizations and not only to erode it. This is the "genetic code" of the Vatican Museum that demonstrates that "the great classical and Judeo-Christian civilization are not opposed, but converge in the one plan of God". Then I remembered our current culture, with its obsession to cancel everything that precedes it, and I was saddened. But that was not for long, I was glad the moment I fixed my gaze again on the image of the bill, because it is a clear example and hope for our times.

The next thing I had in my pocket was my black pen. It looked like a thick purple pen. I thought about darkness, about death, about what is hidden and what is done in secret like praying, fasting and giving alms. I thought of those deep roots that go deeper and deeper into the earth and seem to feed on the darkness. The paradox of losing one's life to save it. The thick purple and the black. I went off on a tangent. I concluded with the thought that yesterday was Ash Wednesday and that Meménto pulvis, Memento mori and Memento vivere are related (remember you are dust, remember you will die and remember to live).

The next thing I had was a book of essays by C. S. Lewis. I read a sentence that said, "though Reason is Divine, human reasoners are not" and that "if we want to be rational, not occasionally, but constantly, we must ask for the gift of Faith." The paradox of reason and faith clearly explained.

Just as I started thinking about the concept of paradox, the next thing I pulled out of my pocket was my phone. I got a text from a friend that said, "I know what I'm giving up this Lent: meat and chicken." I thought to myself that chicken is not meat. Only then came the correct message with the asterisk: "Beef and Chicken". I kept thinking about another paradox. How starvation can fill us up. How abstinence can make us more complete. The paradox of Christian fasting.

I thought of another. What if at the same time that we gave up things, we set out to gain certain things?

As I was thinking, I was forced to take the other thing out of my pocket. The tissue. That soft white paper that has been a constant treat these days. I needed it after 15 minutes with the white mask over the lower part of my face. I thought of the many eyes I have seen thanks to the upper face being the only part exposed. I remembered the Eastern Nigerian language that expressed the concept of love as looking one in the eye. I don't know how many face masks I have had in my pocket these past few years, but I certainly had one in my pocket shortly before.

I can't tell you all the things I have in my pocket because my train ride was over. Nor does space permit me to talk about the images of the coins I had or the image of the Crocifisso speaking to St. Thomas that I got the day before in Naples. What I can say is that my friends were wrong when they said I was going light. They don't know much about what Chesterton has called "Enormous Minutiae," those little things of tremendous value. As he wrote in the preface to the book, "Let us not let the eye rest. Why should the eye be so lazy? Let us exercise the eye until it learns to see the startling facts that run across the landscape as flat as a painted fence. Let us be ocular athletes. Let us learn to write essays about a stray cat or a colored cloud."

The authorVitus Ntube

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The 9 "bets" of Pope Francis

Pope Francis celebrates nine years of pontificate at the head of the Church. Nine years that make us review the nine challenges that the Pope has faced since his departure to St. Peter's Square. On Saturday, March 19, we celebrate the anniversary of the beginning of his pontificate. 

Giovanni Tridente-March 17, 2022-Reading time: 6 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsThe conflict in Ukraine and the lost fraternity

On Saturday, March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, we entered the tenth year of Pope Francis' pontificate. For this reason, analysts of Church affairs are repeating more or less exhaustive evaluations of what the election of a Pope "who has come almost from the end of the world" has meant in these years.

Nine years is not a long time in the history of the Church and for the trajectory of a pontificate: one need only think of the long reign of St. John Paul II, which lasted almost 27 years, to cite an example close to us. But neither is it a short time when compared to the accelerated flow of the contemporary era, in which events and discoveries follow one after the other and in which the mastery of communication further expands the narrative of what is happening.

Rather than making a detailed account of how many things this Pope has done to date, we want to summarize what we believe are the "bets" on which Pope Francis has bet from the beginning, faithful to his motto: "We must initiate processes rather than occupy spaces". Obviously, these are general themes, but if analyzed carefully, all of them were already "in germ" in his first interventions, beginning with his greeting to the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square on the day of his election. The homily at the first Mass with the College of Cardinals, the day after his election, and the Mass at the beginning of his pontificate should also be taken into account.

From this set of "initial shoots", around which the entire trajectory and mission of the current Bishop of Rome has been built, we can extract, therefore, 9 "bets", to keep the reference to the completed years of the pontificate.

Fraternity

The first issue on which Pope Francis has placed his bets, and on which he has made the whole of Christianity bet, is the theme of fraternity. A theme that is exactly in the first address to the faithful in St. Peter's Square and then crowned by the important signing of the Abu Dhabi Document together with the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Ahmad Al-Tayyeb in 2019. The following year, the Pope addressed his third encyclical, Fratelli tuttito the whole Church. In these very days we are perceiving how prophetic that commitment to fraternity was: to set the Church on the path that must lead to world peace. We still have to insist with prayer, since the process, unfortunately, is not yet complete.

Mercy

The second challenge is that of mercy. It is no coincidence that it comes from his episcopal motto -Miserando atque eligendo- and that refers, as he himself has repeatedly said, to his conversion and priestly vocation. A merciful Church is one that is close to all her children who are "lost" for whatever reason. It was at the first Mass in the parish of St. Anne, in Vatican territory, on the Sunday following his election, that Francis spoke of this particular attitude of Jesus, his strongest message, inviting the faithful to entrust themselves to Him. It was also the first time the Pope said: "The Lord never tires of forgiving: never! It is we who tire of asking Him for forgiveness." In 2016, he proclaimed the "Jubilee of Mercy" across the board in all the dioceses of the world, and set an example through "Fridays of Mercy," visiting places and people living personal dramas. The World Day of the Poor was the concrete result of the Jubilee, aware that mercy is not a parenthesis in the life of the Church.

Custody

The third challenge also refers to the Mass at the beginning of the pontificate and refers to the exercise of guardianship, following the example of St. Joseph, patron of the universal Church. It is a vocation to which the whole Church must look, listening to God, allowing herself to be guided by his will, being sensitive to the people entrusted to her, attentive to her surroundings and capable of making the wisest decisions. Of course, there is no stewardship without considering that Christ must be at the center of this attitude. He is the example from which we can draw inspiration to care for ourselves, for others and for all creation. It is precisely this last point that recalls all the dynamism that gave rise in 2015 to the Encyclical. Laudato si' and to the numerous initiatives around the world that followed. The Synod on Amazonia and the fruits of the Dear Amazonia should also be included in this challenge.

Tenderness with joy

"We must not be afraid of kindness, of tenderness!which are exactly the index of a correct "correct", "correct" and "correct".care", of "strength of spirit and capacity for attentiveness, compassion, true openness to others, capacity for love"Pope Francis said again at the Mass at the beginning of his pontificate: it is the fourth commitment. This is a theme that the Pontiff has constantly repeated over the years, precisely in order to set in motion the process of a Church that is close to others, that does not judge, that welcomes, accompanies, heals wounds, sets hearts on fire and, while doing so, rejoices fully in the richness it has discovered and gives to others.

Periphery

The challenge of the "periphery" is also a concept that has been present since the beginning of the Pontificate. And by it the Pope identifies two complementary meanings: the geographical - the most remote places in the world, hidden from the mainstream, where there are wars, hunger, poverty and general attacks on human dignity - and the existential, where the sufferings of the human heart are at play, along with the many frailties and lonelinesses. The Pope has chosen to make himself present in the geographical peripheries through his apostolic journeys; in the existential peripheries he has made himself present by calling the whole Church to an attitude of openness and "going out", to intercept the unspoken questions of the human soul, far from moralisms and exacerbated dogmatisms that end up annihilating any hint of conversion.

Youth

Pope Francis' other bet is on young people, not the future but the "present of the Church", "the now of God" as he has reiterated on several occasions. Here too he dedicated a specific Synod to them, in 2018, which resulted in the Apostolic Exhortation Christus vivit. Faced with the desires, crises and wounds of young people, the Pope proposes "a way out" and that is to learn not to let hope and joy be stolen and to consider one's stage of life as a time of "generous giving, of sincere offering, of sacrifices that cost money but make us fruitful". All this is not possible without roots, and for every young person they are in those who have gone before him. Hence the following challenge.

Mayores

Francis often quotes the Argentine poet and writer Francisco Luis Bernárdez: "Everything that the tree that blooms has comes from what is buried". The aim was to reiterate the importance of dialogue between young people and their grandparents, the elders, without which "history does not go on, life does not go on". The transmission of experiences between generations is the most fruitful way to preserve the world not only from hatred but also from waste. The pontiff has not failed to denounce the many situations of waste, which can only be overcome through closeness and mutual knowledge between young and old. In this regard, the idea of establishing a World Grandparents' Day, set as of 2021 on the fourth Sunday of July, is significant.

Women

Another challenge is the commitment of women in the Church. Not so much as an initiative to justify years of apparent marginalization or to satisfy more or less insistent demands. The Pope is aware that the contribution of women is fundamental and is an enrichment that must also be made stable. There are many examples of openness, certainly to encourage us to consider this issue as irreversible. Among them is that of allowing women access to the ministries of Lector and Acolyte, insofar as they are lay women and are baptized. Or the appointment of women or religious to high positions in the Roman Curia. Significant is the appointment of the first "mother synodal," Sister Nathalie Becquart, who will be seen working at the 2023 Assembly. Also significant is the fact that female Vatican employees have been allowed to accompany the Wednesday general audiences, which until now were the absolute prerogative of the monsignors of the Curia.

Welcome

This "review" of the stakes would not be complete without a reference to the theme of hospitality, an approach that is symbolically very evident in the case of migrants and refugees, but which substantially expresses an attitude and a dynamism that according to Pope Francis must also be directed to all situations of marginalization and suffering, the so-called "last ones" that society discards and pushes away. Also on this theme there is an evident reference to the beginning of his pontificate, in particular to one of the first morning meditations in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta dedicated precisely to Christian hospitality.

Christ

These are the nine commitments, which symbolically recall the nine years of his pontificate, but there is one that encompasses them all, and it has to do with Christ. It is enough to go through them to identify in each one the unique root for which it is worthwhile to put them into action: we are brothers in Christ, children of the same Father; the mercy that we must learn and transmit was shown to us by Jesus even to the extreme sacrifice of the Cross; without our gaze fixed on the Son of God it is impossible to take care of others and of creation; even less so to experience and spread tenderness and joy. Without a living relationship with Christ we would forget the discarded of the geographical and existential peripheries and we would not know how to offer young people the only reason why it is worth fighting for in this world. By virtue of baptism we understand how fundamental the role of women is for the evangelizing mission and how welcoming is the primary characteristic of anyone who professes to be truly Christian.

Best wishes, then, to Pope Francis, to the whole Church, and may these processes be consolidated as the living face of Christ in the world.

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Scripture

"The Dialogue of Love between the Father and the Son", Third Sunday of Lent.

Commentary on the readings of the III Sunday of Lent and brief video homily by priest Luis Herrera.

Andrea Mardegan / Luis Herrera-March 17, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

From the burning bush, God calls Moses to speak to his people in his name and lead them from the liberation of Egypt to the beautiful and spacious land where milk and honey flow. God has compassion on the sufferings of his people and reveals his name to them, "I am who I am."which can mean: "I am the one who is present, and I will always be at your side". We respond with Psalm 102: "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not his benefits. He forgives all your faults and heals all your diseases; he rescues your life from the pit, and fills you with grace and tenderness."

But Paul reminds the Corinthians that in the wilderness the people of Israel displeased God on several occasions. They murmured against Moses and Aaron, and God sent them a scourge and they died in thousands; and when they protested against God and Moses for having led them into the wilderness, being bored with manna, they perished in great numbers bitten by serpents. Paul explains that "these things came to pass in a figure for us, that we might not covet evil as they coveted it."

This helps us to understand Jesus' words in response to the tragic news he was told about the Galileans who died at the hands of Pilate. Jesus makes explicit his hidden question: was it because of their sins? But he denies that this is the cause, and specifies that this also applies to any tragic event, such as the tower that collapsed killing many, due to natural causes or human error. There are all the possibilities we are confronted with every day that raise the question: but where was God? And they lead to the easy answer that God is not good or is disinterested in us, which, sooner or later, leads to denying his existence. Jesus helps us to give true meaning to these events. He removes from us the false thought that there is guilt in those who are struck by the loss of life or other evils, and explains to us that these things point to our conversion, to return to God as the only God and to the good living that manifests his goodness. He reminds us that our life is also fragile and can end at any moment and, if we do not convert, we would not be prepared and would run the risk of the second death, the eternal one. 

In the following parable, Jesus reinterprets in the light of mercy the episode of the fig tree without fruit, narrated by Mark and Matthew, which he had cursed and instantly dried up. Here, instead, in the parable, Jesus, in the role of the vinedresser, asks the Father to leave the tree one more year so that it may bear the expected fruit. Jesus always intercedes for us before the Father. And in this dialogue of love between the Father and the Son, the story of redemption is fulfilled.

The Homily in one minute

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

The authorAndrea Mardegan / Luis Herrera

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Scripture

"An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream", Solemnity of St. Joseph.

Commentary on the readings of the Solemnity of St. Joseph and brief video homily by Father Luis Herrera.

Andrea Mardegan / Luis Herrera-March 17, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Matthew states that Jesus' birth did not occur like that of all his ancestors: "Mattan begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ....". Then she clarifies how her conception took place: before going to live together, she found herself pregnant by the work of the Holy Spirit. He then speaks of Joseph's dilemma, which is resolved by the appearance of the angel in a dream. Ignace de la Potterie, in chapter The announcement to Joseph of the book Mary in the mystery of the covenantexplains that in the history of Catholic exegesis there have been three different interpretations of this text.

The first, which is reflected in the most widespread translations, is that Joseph suspected adultery on the part of Mary, but in his goodness he did not want to accuse her publicly because she would surely have been stoned and, therefore, he was thinking of abandoning her in secret. It is widespread in the ancient Church (Justin, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine) and in some modern authors. The second sees Joseph convinced of Mary's innocence, but because he is faced with something he does not understand, he is about to dissolve the marriage contract. This is Girolamo's approach, taken up in the Middle Ages by the ordinary Gloss, and by some moderns.

The third hermeneutical hypothesis is that Joseph learned from Mary of the angel's announcement, but thought of leaving her, considering himself unworthy of being close to such a great mystery. This reading is also present in patristics (Eusebius of Caesarea, Ephrem Siro, Basil, Theophylact), in the Middle Ages (Bernard, Thomas Aquinas) and in several contemporaries. The words of Matthew: "Before they lived together, it turned out that she was expecting a child by the work of the Holy Spirit." would reveal that Mary told her husband the mystery of her conception. The following verses, according to de la Potterie, could be translated thus: "Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man and unwilling to reveal [her mystery], thought to let her go free secretly. But while he was thinking about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife with you, for, of course, that which is begotten in her comes from the Holy Spirit, but she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.'" Therefore, the angel would not have appeared to Joseph to communicate to him the divine origin of Mary's conception, which he already knew, but to reveal to him his vocation, by which he should not feel unworthy to take Mary as his wife and act as father to the Son of God. It is interesting that there is a variety of interpretations in the Church. This encourages us to study and freely choose the one that most convinces us.

The Homily in one minute

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

The authorAndrea Mardegan / Luis Herrera

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Spain

Long live fathers! The ACdP extols the father figure in cities throughout Spain.

More than 400 bus shelters, buses, subways and billboards are currently displaying a suggestive message of support and revaluation of fathers.

Maria José Atienza-March 16, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

The campaign of the Catholic Association of Propagandists can be seen in more than 60 Spanish cities and in a video highlighting the millions of men who, every day, strive around the world to take care of their families.

The campaign, launched around the feast of St. Joseph, Father's Day, highlights the importance of men, of fathers, in family and social life.

The printed version of this campaign takes the text of the Lord's Prayer as its background, highlighting the request to "thy will be done". the guiding and educating role of parents in the family as well as the role of the family in the family. "deliver us from evil"pointing out the protection of the parents to the family. 

The posters and bus shelters are accompanied by a nice video that celebrates the daily efforts of all those parents who work, care, educate and pray without losing heart.

"There is a hunger for a father."

In this line, the Association has published a video with Professor María Calvo Charro in which she points out how "the father has a fundamental role in the family, in line with the mother" and that we are in a society in which there is "a hunger for the father, to fill a gap that is empty. We live in a society in which the father is being dispensed with physically and symbolically as well", for example, in some laws that eliminate the word father or where the father is presented as a failed being who does everything wrong, in series, movies or speeches.

Original campaigns

This is not the first campaign of these characteristics launched by the Propagandists. For some time now, the Catholic Association of Propagandists has opted for direct and original campaigns that have been the subject of conversation throughout Spain. In this line is framed

This is not the first campaign of these characteristics launched by the Propagandists. For some time now, the Catholic Association of Propagandists has opted for direct and original campaigns that have been the subject of conversation all over Spain. A few months ago, on the occasion of the approval of the law that would prevent pro-life prayer groups from praying in front of abortion parlors, the Association launched a

This is not the first campaign of these characteristics launched by the AcdP. For some time now, the Catholic Association of Propagandists has opted for direct and original campaigns that have been the subject of conversation throughout Spain.

In this line is framed, for example, the campaign "praying is great" in which they claimed the freedom of expression - and prayer - in public space before the approval of the law that wants to prevent pro-life prayer groups to pray in front of abortion centers, or the campaign similar to that of Father's Day was seen around March 8, Women's Day, in which, taking as text the Hail Mary, they highlighted the virtues of women after the example of the Virgin.

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Spain

A compliance regime for Church institutions in line with canon law

The criminal liability foreseen in certain cases for legal persons also affects the Church. For this and other reasons, it is necessary to establish systems of regulatory compliance, which can prevent the transfer of responsibility from the individual to the institution. This is explained by Jorge Otaduy, who chairs the organizing committee of a symposium on the subject at the University of Navarra.

Alfonso Riobó-March 16, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsThe compliance model in an ecclesiastical entity, under debateRelated NewsWord Forum on 'Compliance' in ecclesiastical entities

The introduction of criminal liability of legal persons in certain cases, as well as the generalization of regulatory compliance systems, is causing concern among those in charge of Church institutions. On the one hand, the importance and scope of the civil provisions are sometimes not understood; on the other hand, their coordination with the norms of canon law is unknown.

From March 23 to 25, the Martín de Azpilcueta Institute of the University of Navarra is holding an international symposium on these issues, entitled: "Criminal Liability of Legal Entities: Implications for the Catholic Church and Canonical Entities". 

Professor Jorge Otaduy is chairman of the symposium's organizing committee. In this interview for Omnes he clarifies the concepts.

What is meant by compliance or compliance system?

-The complianceThe "compliance system", or regulatory compliance system, is a crime prevention program through the establishment in companies of organizational and management models that include monitoring measures to prevent malpractices, which in some cases could become criminal. In addition, there is a need for a company body to supervise with autonomous powers the operation of and compliance with these programs. If these self-regulatory measures exist and it is proven that the person who committed the offense did so by circumventing these rules, as well as the supervisory measures, only the offending individual will be liable and criminal liability will not be transferred to the company, which will be exonerated.

The criminal liability of legal entities has only recently been introduced in Spain. Does it also exist in other countries?

-This new legal figure was introduced in Spain in 2010. Since the 90's, there has been a movement of acceptance of the criminal liability of legal persons in many countries. In Europe, for example, France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal... In each case with important nuances, to which it is not possible to refer now. In America, countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Costa Rica... In reality, the figure has its roots in Anglo-Saxon law. In the United States, forms of corporate criminal liability have existed at least since the beginning of the 20th century, and the concept also has a long tradition in the United Kingdom. From there it has come down to us.

Why does this legislation also affect the Church, and does the civil regulation specifically mention the Church? 

-In the ordinary economic management of its activities, a Church entity could incur in some of the criminal offenses from which this type of liability follows, such as money laundering, if there were, for example, a lack of control over donations received; or offenses against Social Security, as a result of bad practices - it is also an example - in relation to the various forms of collaboration and volunteering that are often practiced within the ecclesiastical entities. The law does not exclude the Church, therefore it is subject to it. It is already understood that we are referring only to activities that have relevance in the civil sphere and that can incur in the typified conducts that generate this type of legal responsibility.

How does this State criminal legislation affect canon law?

-Canon law does not have a regime of criminal legal responsibility of institutions in the style of these recent state regulations, but it does have a juridical-administrative order oriented to the practice of good governance in the Church. If an ecclesiastical entity should consider it convenient to establish a system of compliance I would advise her to try to integrate it with the norms of canon law. The Church should neither renounce her own juridical tradition nor adopt uncritically state norms that can lead to an authentic internal secularization of ecclesial institutions. 

This integration of canonical and civil norms does not seem easy....

-Of course not. This new legislation raises many doubts from a canonical perspective. I am not referring only to problems of interpretation of norms, but also to more fundamental aspects. I do not know to what extent certain aspects of the "corporate policies" in vogue, which are imposed through the force of State law, are compatible with the culture of ecclesial government and the Church's own pastoral style. I am concerned that ever more extensive and invasive secular legislation is in practice conditioning the internal life of the Church. There is much to think about in these matters. 

What is the objective of the symposium you are organizing soon in Navarre on this issue?

-We are interested in deepening, precisely, in the canonical dimension of the subject, which has not been the object of attention by the specialized doctrine until now. This is the distinctive feature of our Symposium. With the help of highly qualified canonists from various countries, we will try to identify, in accordance with the law of the Church, the various juridical categories to which the penal law of the State refers, so that it can be applied to ecclesiastical institutions, taking into account their juridical peculiarities.

How is this legal reform perceived in the ecclesiastical institutions in Spain?

-With much concern and little awareness of the role of canon law in this area. With this Symposium, we would like to help ecclesiastical entities to establish their canon law regime. compliance in line with canon law and avoid hasty applications of state legislation.

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RelatedRelated NewsThe compliance model in an ecclesiastical entity, under debateRelated NewsWord Forum on 'Compliance' in ecclesiastical entities
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ColumnistsAntonio Moreno

Letter to Putin's father

Dear Vladimir. I hope that on earth you did your best to be a good father and that today you are already resting with God. In that hope, today I ask you for a prayer for your son.

March 16, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

Dear Vladimir Spyridonovich Putin:

With Father's Day approaching, it occurred to me to congratulate you. You always want your children to reach very high, to be able to admire their achievements, to see them grow and mature into independent, self-sufficient men and women.

His son Vladimir, the Russian president, has certainly shown no limits to his self-sufficiency. He has gone as high as he can in everything he has set his mind to, and now he has taken a giant step towards making human history.

Everyone is talking about him today and many will continue to talk about him for many years to come in history classes - if at the end of all that he has put together there is any trace of the human species left on the planet.

I cannot judge you for the sins of your child. Many parents strive to guide their offspring on the right path and do not succeed, and the Lord has already warned us against the custom of blaming parents for the faults of their children (Jn 9:3).

Moreover, because I am unable to judge him, I cannot even judge him, because judgment belongs only to God. But I can take advantage of the cruel war he has started in Ukraine to reflect with you and with the readers of this humble father of a family, on what it means to be one, to value the responsibility of parents in educating not only great characters, but great people.

A father is, above all, an example, a reference figure, a mirror in which to look at oneself. Children learn by imitation, so the first way to educate one's offspring is to educate oneself. How do we treat others? What is our attitude towards life? What are our priorities?

That is why an authoritarian father is a failure, because he treats the weak with contempt. That is why an absent father who neglects education is a failure, because he leaves his children orphaned, forcing them to look for references in the first person who crosses their path.

Many parents project their own life onto their children, wanting to fulfill in them the dreams they did not achieve or not to repeat the mistakes they made; and what they achieve is to kidnap them, preventing them from living the life they have been given, independent of their own.

A good father should be proud, not because his children look like him or think like him, but because he sees them acting with wisdom and discernment, even if they contradict him.

A good father is affectionate with his children, but is capable of repressing his affections in order to be able to continue telling them the truth and correcting them, without humiliating them, when they stray.

A good father has the wisdom in his heart not to try to be friends with his children, who demand that he fulfill his paternal vocation.

A good father does not direct his children towards idols that promise happiness and return destruction: money, power, fame, position....

A good father is, in short, one who from his weakness tries to give the best to his children without looking for himself; that is why he teaches them that the only good father is God.

We Christian fathers explain that in the Lord's Prayer is the key to peace and social justice, because by proclaiming that He is the father of each and every one of us, we are saying that Spaniards, Russians, Ukrainians, Chinese and Americans are brothers and sisters.

Dear Vladimir. I hope that on earth you did your best to be a good father and that today you are already resting with God. In that hope, today I ask you for a prayer for your son. May we still have time to straighten out the crooked.

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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The Vatican

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

The consecration will take place simultaneously on March 25 at 5:00 p.m. in Rome, presided over by Pope Francis, and in Fatima, led by Cardinal Krajewski, papal almoner, as the Pope's envoy.

Maria José Atienza-March 15, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsCzerny highlights Church's work in Ukraine conflictRelated News"Ukraine suffers and deserves peace," says Pope on Day of PrayerRelated NewsThe conflict in Ukraine and the lost fraternity

The article in German here

Pope Francis will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. What had been a request of many faithful and pastors in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine will take place on Friday, March 25, feast of the Annunciation of the Lord, during the Celebration of Penance that the Holy Father will preside at 5 p.m. in St. Peter's Basilica.

"The same act, on the same day, will be carried out in Fatima by Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, pontifical almoner, as envoy of the Holy Father." This was the announcement made by the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni.

This consecration stems from Our Lady's own request during her apparition of July 13, 1917 at Fatima, in which she asked for the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart, stating that, if this request were not granted, Russia would spread "its errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church." 

After the apparitions of Fatima there were several acts of consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary: Pius XII, on October 31, 1942, consecrated the whole world and on July 7, 1952, he consecrated the peoples of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the Apostolic Letter  Sacro vergente anno.

On November 21, 1964, Paul VI renewed the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart in the presence of the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council.

The consecration of St. John Paul II

Pope John Paul II made a special consecration during the Holy Year of the Redemption in the act of entrustment on June 7, 1981, repeated in Fatima on May 13, 1982. Two years later, on March 25, 1984, in St. Peter's Square, in spiritual union with all the Bishops of the world, previously "summoned", John Paul II entrusted all peoples to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

It would be this solemn and universal act of consecration which, in line with the letter of the visionary Sister Lucia corresponding to what became known as the third secret of Fatima and which was made public in the year 2000, had responded to the request of Our Lady in her apparition to the shepherds: "Yes, it was done," said the visionary, "just as Our Lady had asked, on March 25, 1984".

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RelatedRelated NewsCzerny highlights Church's work in Ukraine conflictRelated News"Ukraine suffers and deserves peace," says Pope on Day of PrayerRelated NewsThe conflict in Ukraine and the lost fraternity
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ColumnistsRafael Palomino Lozano

It is inadmissible

The announcement of the creation of a parliamentary commission to investigate cases of abuse committed only by members of the Catholic Church raises many doubts about its usefulness. 

March 15, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

I examine the most recent press releases of the General Council of the Judiciary on sexual abuse of minors. You have to go back to October 2021 to locate a conviction of a Catholic priest.

Any abuse against a minor is a horrendous crime. But should the Spanish Parliament really create a commission for the sexual abuse of minors by priests and religious, when the abuse is committed to an equal or greater extent in the family itself or by various professionals in the field of childhood and youth?

I also examine the digital press on the same subject: conviction of an evangelical pastor for sexual abuse of minors, conviction of the imam of a mosque for abuse of minors aged 12 and 13...

Any abuse against a minor is a dreadful crime. Should the Spanish Parliament really create a commission for sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, when abuse also exists in other religious denominations? Isn't this clearly discriminatory?

A parliamentary commission by the Ombudsman legally implies two things. First: they do not have to answer for compliance with procedural guarantees (presumption of innocence, legal means of defense, appeals...) for which the courts and tribunals must always be accountable. Second: they cannot impose penalties or compensation on the guilty, because the role of the Parliament is legislative, never judicial. Should the Spanish Parliament really create a commission for the sexual abuse of minors by priests and religious, when the minimum guarantees of the rule of law are not observed and the victims will not be effectively compensated? Data protection regulations in the European Union could require - and social practices on the subject advise - that the names of the victims and abusers be omitted from the parliamentary investigation.

Any abuse of a minor is an execrable crime. But should Parliament really create an ad hoc commission for the sexual abuse of minors by priests and religious, when in the end we will only be able to put a face to an institution, the Catholic Church, which for years has been fighting against the sexual abuse of minors? Is this not, plain and simple, a lay inquisition? No matter how you look at it, the creation of a parliamentary commission or a mission of the Ombudsman for the abuse of minors by priests and religious is legally unsustainable. It is simply an ideological maneuver. And that is why it is inadmissible.

The authorRafael Palomino Lozano

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  • Miguel García BaróThe whole of society, in general, must be cured of sexual abuse".
Spain

Miguel García BaróThe whole of society, in general, must be cured of sexual abuse".

Miguel García Baró, Professor of Ethics at the Universidad Pontificia de Comillas and member of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, is, since its inception, coordinator of RepairThe initiative promoted by the Archdiocese of Madrid for the care and reparation of victims of abuse, which currently assists more than a hundred people.

Maria José Atienza-March 15, 2022-Reading time: 6 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsSexual abuse in the Church. The deep woundRelated NewsCelso Morga: "We are committed to eradicating child abuse".Related NewsThe investigation of abuses in the Spanish Church will have "all the necessary scope".

In January 2020, the Archdiocese of Madrid launched the Repaira place of recognition, prevention, care and reparation for victims of any type of crime. abuse and violence. Located in a different location from the archbishopric's offices, which provides greater privacy and freedom for those who come to its offices, Repair has an interdisciplinary team: canonical and civil counseling, psychological care and spiritual accompaniment and care. 

A diverse team to welcome and treat people who come to receive help after having suffered abuse, not only sexual abuse, but also abuse of power or conscience. 

A Repair not only those who have suffered abuse in the ecclesiastical sphere, but also those who have suffered abuse in the family, at school or in trusted environments. These cases also represent the majority of the cases received. 

In his first year, Repair assisted 75 direct victims of abuse (35 in the intra-family sphere; 13 abused by private individuals with no family ties; 13 in the religious sphere, 9 related to priests of the diocese of Madrid, and another 5 to priests of other dioceses) and ten of their relatives. 

In 2021, the number of direct victims assisted was 72, along with 31 of their family members. Of these 72 cases, 49 involved sexual abuse in different areas and the other 23 involved abuse of authority and conscience in the religious or diocesan sphere. 

In addition to all victim care, one of the key tasks of this initiative is training and awareness-raising. 

Currently Repair offers training courses on care and prevention of abuse, for which it has a waiting list. It has published a small booklet with the basic notions of action, protocols, the work it does, and even a model of commitment for people inside or outside the Church for the creation of safe environments for minors and vulnerable people. 

Miguel García-Baró, coordinator of this initiative since its inception, is very clear about this: Repair did not come "to wash the image" of the Church damaged by the abuse cases, but to repair and listen to the victims. 

A long and hard but hopeful process, not only for the diocesan Church of Madrid but, ultimately, for the whole of society. 

How do you define Repara?

–Repair is not an office for reporting abuse, but an office for accompaniment, welcoming and healing, open to all of society, not only to those who have suffered abuse by people in the Church. 

It is true that we do not have very large numbers, but we do a great deal of awareness-raising. Last summer, for example, we distributed thousands of small books containing information not only about what is Repair but how to act in the event of a close case of abuse, protocols, etc., etc. We are very satisfied with the reception we have had and with the work we have been doing. 

Our task is not to "wash the image of the institution", but to show the majority face of the Church, of Christians. In this way, by accompanying the person, even the relationship with God, which in many cases is completely disturbed, is restored. 

What is the difference in the way a case of abuse is dealt with in Repair?

-At Repair We take great care not to re-victimize the person who has suffered abuse. They are accompanied and listened to, and not only in cases of intra-ecclesial abuse, but also, and there are many, in the terrible cases of abuse in the family or among friends.

Repair offers, free of charge, all kinds of assistance to victims. We note that, in spite of everything, it is not the denunciation that the victims seek first, but the need for support and listening. This is always liberating for them. 

We have cases of people who came in as victims and are now acting as grief listeners for new cases. 

In the end, we do not really know how many there are (the average time between abuse and denunciation is between 15 - 25 years), but we see that, in the cases we attend to, the help is real, it was needed and things are changing. 

What is the process for a victim who comes to Repair?

-First of all, there is an interview, usually by telephone. It is conducted by a person who, for me, is fundamental in the proper functioning of Repair. She is a person with a lot of human and religious sensitivity, with a very good formation and who listens perfectly to the victim. This first step already means a lot in the recovery of the people who come to us. 

The interviews are long, sometimes more than an hour. After this first contact, an assessment is made as to whether the victim needs more than a grief counseling, e.g. psychological or psychiatric therapy. 

From the first moment they are informed of the legal possibilities that can be put in place. This grief counselling is key to avoid such a situation. revictimization. 

We have encountered people who, when they went to a lawyer or judge, who may not have been particularly sensitive in their questions or in their way of dealing with the victim, have then experienced the worst of their process, with a return to guilt... what we know by revictimization.

Does this accompaniment process end at some point?

-Initially, the process in Repair is set at about one hour a week for five months. This is a general time for bereavement counselling, the aim of which is not to prolong the problem. A time that, obviously, is adapted to each specific case because we cannot allow anyone to feel abandoned. Neither to create addiction nor to abandon them to their fate. 

In your last report, when you refer to victims of abuse, you distinguish between sexual abuse and abuse of conscience. Is there more of one than the other? 

-It is not really that there are more complaints of one type or another. It is noted, however, that physical abuse is reached by a relationship of dissymmetry in which one person begins to abuse another in a non-physical way: he or she subdues, enslaves or absorbs, also spiritually, and finally reaches physical abuse. Rarely, physical abuse is the beginning. 

In that sense, we are dealing with abuses of authority, conscience or power that occur within the Church, but that does not mean that other abuses do not follow the same path. 

In the Church, it is very important to form in personal freedom. In fact, in the formation courses that we offer, and that we give, for example, in the diocesan seminary, a good part is dedicated to the roots of abuse and to the risks and drifts of the spiritual life that can lead to the identification of the will of someone superior with the divine will, or to "blind" obedience. It is a topic that must be studied in depth in order to avoid these relations of dissymmetry.  

How does a person who has suffered within the Church reach a Church body? Can we speak of a scourge of abuse?

-It is very impressive that people come who have suffered abuse in the Church because their trust is obviously very wounded. But they come because they hear about it, they have read about us, etc., etc. Above all, what they want is for their case not to be repeated. As for estimates, whether or not there is a scourge..., it is difficult. 

Repair does not go looking for cases, Repair is received. If we receive a case concerning a religious or a priest, a canonical process with its corresponding investigation, etc. is established in parallel, but this process is not carried out here. The judicial demands are carried out by the corresponding judicial vicariate and more and more, as we are seeing, from the Tribunal of the Rota. 

At Repair we cannot make "estimates" of the cases that are out there. We focus on what we receive. Of the cases that have arrived here, we have 20 intra-ecclesiastical cases and 200 non-ecclesiastical cases. When we talk about Repair more emphasis is placed on victims from within the Church, but the focus should be on those 200 people served in the Repair and whose abuses have not occurred in the ecclesiastical sphere, because it implies that there is a widespread social disease, according to which a very large percentage of people have suffered harassment or abuse. 

Society, in general, needs to be cured of abuses. 

Repair How does someone who has suffered abuse outside the Church approach a Church body?

-The cases of abuse in the family often come through parish priests, religious who have welcomed with hope the presence of Repair and have referred cases.

We have also received some who have been known through Caritas social workers. They usually come to Repair because a person from the Church has brought them, or they have gone to a psychologist who knows them. Repair.

A considerable percentage of the people who come are Christians, and in some cases, a large percentage of them are Repair We have made sure that the people who provide bereavement counseling or psychologists also understand a religious language that allows these people to initiate a spiritual accompaniment to restore that area of the person who has been deceived.

Do you think there is a greater awareness of this drama of abuse? 

-I think so. There are difficulties, eh? It's not easy. We have received insults or disapproval, but we are convinced that any Christian really expects things to be cleared up and done thoroughly. 

At the same time, many things are being published that help in this regard. 

The papal exhortations are so obvious that, evidently, the resistances that exist will end up being undone. 

At the general level, there is also greater information or awareness. Society is now aware that, when hearing news of abuse, it is necessary to report it directly to the public prosecutor's office, for example. 

On the opposite side, are the abuses being used to launch a campaign against the Church? 

-It is true that, for example, we have seen information about Repair in which a person who has nothing to do with us appears next to us and accuses the Church of not doing anything, considering that this service is "to wash the image of the Church", and that is not the idea, not by far, of Repair. 

We understand the suspicions of the victims of abuse in the Church, but we do not play at cleaning up the image. That is why it is necessary that people know about these initiatives, trust them and know that they can go to a place like Repair forgetting about political or ideological issues.

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RelatedRelated NewsSexual abuse in the Church. The deep woundRelated NewsCelso Morga: "We are committed to eradicating child abuse".Related NewsThe investigation of abuses in the Spanish Church will have "all the necessary scope".
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Sexual abuse in the Church. The deep wound

The entire Church is shocked by the reality of sexual abuse committed by some of its members in recent decades. Despite the fact that more than half of the abuses suffered by minors in the world take place within the family, the Church is committed to the path of responding for the crimes committed and healing the wound that these crimes have left on the victims, their families and all the faithful. 

Maria José Atienza-March 14, 2022-Reading time: 7 minutes

"Only by facing the truth of these cruel behaviors and humbly seeking forgiveness from victims and survivors can the Church find the way to once again be seen with confidence as a place of welcome and safety for those in need." With these words Pope Francis addressed the participants in the meeting Our common mission to protect God's children, organized in September 2021 by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and the Bishops' Conferences of Central and Eastern Europe. 

Indeed, the terrible reality of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable people by consecrated persons, priests or in Church environments, is one of the most serious wounds of the mystical body of Christ. 

"A single case of abuse is already too much." as some bishops and representatives of the Church in Spain have repeated in their last messages. Just one, a "simple case" is not "simple" nor is it a "case". In every abuse there are victims, people with a shattered life and trust, and victimizers. In the area of abuse committed by persons of special consecration in the Church, not only is the victimizer part of the Church, but also the victim. Each abused person is also a child of God and part of the Church, and as such, the Church is doubly wounded. The Catholic Church has been smitten to her very core by these behaviors that deform and deeply wound her. The healing and reparation for these crimes will therefore be painful, long and shared by the whole Church.  The social wound 

Although the social and media spotlight on these criminal actions has been placed almost exclusively on the ecclesiastical sphere, especially the Catholic one, the general data on the sexual abuse of minors show that we are facing a general problem in society, which also has a chilling incidence in the closest sphere, the family, of vulnerable minors. 

This is corroborated, for example, by the data collected in the latest study by the Foundation ANAR in Spain, dedicated to the care of minors at risk, in which more than 6,000 cases have been analyzed between 2008 and 2019. 

The conclusions of this study show that 49.2 % of the abuses of minors are committed in the close family environment: fathers and mothers, stepfathers and stepmothers. The same study includes the percentage of these abuses committed by priests or religious, which represent 0.2 % of the total, that is, a dozen of the cases that have come to the Foundation's attention. 

This percentage does not elude the great responsibility of any abuser, especially if we are talking about someone who should, with his life, show Christ, but it shows the key to this issue: we are facing a social problem, painfully widespread and, for the most part, invisibilized. 

A reality that we cannot address either by reducing its importance because the percentages are small, or by extrapolating data or making "assumptions" that betray the real victims: the minors or vulnerable people who have been abused. 

Social awareness of these facts has brought to the table the terrible and widespread reality of these behaviors, as well as the need to address, in the first place, an adequate formation of affectivity and corporeality that can be reinforced by prevention mechanisms that can be implemented in different areas: family, school, sports or church. 

In fact, it is not only the Catholic Church that has been shaken by these crimes. Following allegations of horrific abuse in sports clubs in Haiti or Afghanistan, FIFA committed to create a global investigative network aimed at addressing sexual abuse in all sports (which has not yet been formally constituted), while other religious denominations are also in this process of investigation, prevention and redress following cases such as those published in the investigation Abuse of Faith carried out by the Houston Chronicle in Baptist communities.

The Church in the face of abuse

The "earthquake" provoked by the knowledge of sexual abuses committed within the Catholic Church began more than two decades ago. 

The investigations carried out in the United States, as well as the knowledge of the abuses perpetrated by ecclesiastics in Ireland or cases such as that of the priest Marcial Maciel, put on the table a painful reality that, since then, the Church has not only tried to repair but also to prevent inside and outside the ecclesiastical spheres.

John Paul II and, especially, Benedict XVI, would be key in raising awareness and the need for reparation for these crimes throughout the Church. 

In 2001, Pope St. John Paul II promulgated the Motu Proprio Sacramentorum Sanctitatis TutelaThe new law established certain crimes that, due to their seriousness, were to be prosecuted through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; among them was the sexual abuse of minors by clergymen.  

Benedict XVI himself, in his letter to the Church of Ireland, after the terrible abuses perpetrated in that country by members of the Church, left no doubt about the painful and long task of reparation, forgiveness and healing that the whole Church would have to undertake: "You have betrayed the trust placed in you by innocent young people and their parents. You must answer for this before Almighty God and before the duly constituted courts." 

Benedict XVI would update the Norms on the most serious crimes reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of his predecessor, extending criminal responsibility in relation to crimes of sexual abuse of minors.

The meeting Protection of minors in the Church held at the Vatican in February 2019 led to the recognition of the "Once again, the seriousness of the scourge of sexual abuse of minors is unfortunately a phenomenon that is historically diffuse in all cultures and societies. Only relatively recently has it been the subject of systematic studies, thanks to a change in the sensitivity of public opinion on a problem that was previously considered taboo, that is, that everyone knew of its existence, but no one talked about it."as Pope Francis pointed out in his final speech. 

In the same meeting, the pontiff pointed out the need for the whole Church to ask for forgiveness and reparation: "I would like to restate clearly: if even a single case of abuse - which in itself represents a monstrosity - is discovered in the Church, it will be confronted with the utmost seriousness. In the justified rage of the people, the Church sees the reflection of the wrath of God, betrayed and slapped in the face by these dishonest consecrated persons. The echo of this silent cry of the little ones, who instead of finding in them paternity and spiritual guides have found their executioners, will make hearts anesthetized by hypocrisy and power tremble. We have the duty to listen attentively to this suffocated silent cry"..

One of the most important steps in this struggle would be the publication of the Motu Proprio Vos Estis Lux Mundi, which updates ecclesiastical legislation concerning these crimes and legal procedures and dictates the creation, throughout the Church, of bodies for prevention, reparation and assistance to victims, as had previously been established for the Holy See. 

In addition, in July 2020, the company made public a Vademecum on some procedural issues in cases of sexual abuse of minors committed by clerics, prosecuted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A document that has been, since then, a key instrument regarding the protection of the victim, the process of investigation of a possible abuse and the penal measures and procedures to be followed. 

The updating of Book VI of the Code of Canon Law broadened the categories that were determined for these crimes of abuse, including as possible victims other subjects that in Church law have similar legal protection to that of minors and the conduct of abuse of minors carried out by non-clerical religious, or by lay persons who perform some function or office in the ecclesiastical sphere. 

Added to this is the recent updating of the Norms on the most serious crimes reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which focus on procedural matters, so that they are in line with the latest changes that the Roman Pontiff has made in criminal matters, facilitating legal procedures in these cases. 

In addition to the general norms, the local Churches have incorporated, in a short time, the indications of the Holy See and have created so-called victim care offices and issued various procedural norms, both penal and procedural, to avoid the repetition of these cases.

Church investigations

Several local Churches have initiated or commissioned independent research to ascertain the numbers of those affected by sexual abuse in the Church, their needs and demands. 

In Germany, the diocese of Cologne commissioned the law firm Gercke to conduct a study in order to study the ecclesiastical performance in cases of sexual abuse while the law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl presented a report with data relating to the diocese of Munich from 1945 to 2019 in which it concludes that 497 people would have been victims of sexual abuse committed by 235 people in this time interval. 

The Portuguese Church will also promote an independent commission to investigate possible cases of abuse in the country and, for its part, the Spanish Episcopal Conference has recently commissioned the law firm Cremades-Calvo Sotelo to carry out an independent and professional audit of these cases in Spain. 

The commitment to investigation and clarification of the facts in the Church represents the opening of a stage of transparency and reparation; although the methodology of some of these reports has presented serious deficiencies, such as the one on the French Church which, based on an Internet survey of 24,000 people, 171 of whom claimed to have been mistreated by clerics, made a questionable extrapolation to 330,000 affected (supposed and not contrasted) by extending it to the entire national adult population of France.

Despite the fact that "we have arrived late in the case of abuse" as has been recognized by prominent members of the Church, the speed with which many ecclesial realities, episcopal conferences and dioceses have put in place the relevant prevention mechanisms, investigations and denunciation offices have been a model for many other civil institutions.

All of society must step forward to not dilute personal responsibility for this reality so that all victims, regardless of their abuser, are equally heard, restored and cared for.

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The miracle of the fish with the coin in its mouth

Alfonso Sanchez Lamadrid and Rafael Sanz analyze the episode of the Temple tax, recorded in the Gospel of Matthew.

Alfonso Sánchez Lamadrid Rey and Rafael Sanz Carrera-March 13, 2022-Reading time: 7 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsThe two miraculous catchesRelated NewsGospel miracles: the second multiplication of the loaves and fishes

Introduction

Matthew is the only evangelist to narrate three very important events in the life of St. Peter: his walking on the waters (14:28-31); the solemn promise that Jesus makes to him to be the foundation of his future Church (16:17-19); and the episode of the Temple tax (17:24-27) that we are studying here. In this way Matthew wants to emphasize the relevant and symbolic role that Peter has for the Church and in this framework we analyze it.

Jesus Christ shows dominion over the fish in this miracle in which Peter catches a fish with the coin in its mouth as the Lord had predicted. This miracle is an image of the redemptive mission of the life of Jesus, who gives himself - like the coin in the fish - for our salvific ransom.

S. Matthew narrates it as follows: 

"When they arrived in Capernaum, those who were collecting the tax of the two drachmas came to Peter and asked him, "Does your Master not pay the two drachmas?" He replied, "Yes." When he got home, Jesus went ahead to ask him, "What do you think, Simon? The kings of the world, on whom do they levy taxes and duties, on their children or on strangers?" He answered, "On strangers." Jesus said to him, "Then the children are exempt. However, so as not to give them a bad example, go to the sea, cast a hook, catch the first fish that bites, open its mouth, and you will find a silver coin. Take it and pay them for me and for you" (Mt 17:24-27).

With this article we intend to explain a plausible hypothesis of how this miracle occurred and other details such as the tax to be paid, the gear used to catch the fish, the species of fish caught and the coin the fish may have had in its mouth, as well as to offer a theological explanation of the miracle.

Coins in Israel at the time of Jesus

At the time of Jesus there were at least three types of coins, weights and measures. Regarding the coins we would have:

Coins Romans of the empire that dominated at that time in Palestine. Among them were: the denarius, the quadrant, the assarion, etc.

Coins Greek which remained active after the Hellenistic period, and would be adopted by the Romans. Precisely these coins are referred to in the original Greek text of Matthew: δίδραχμα (v.24; didragma = 2 dragmas) and στατῆρα (v.27; stater = 4 drachmas or 1 tetradrachma). 

And finally, there were also older coins that had been traditionally used in the past. beansAmong them were the shekel - the main currency of the Temple of Jerusalem - and the shekel, geras and bekam. This explains the existence of the money changers in the Temple, to adjust the various currencies to the various fractions of shekels or other Temple currencies. 

The coin that Jesus tells Peter that he will find in the mouth of the fish he will catch is most probably a stater (Fig. 1). Although there were several mints of that coin, it is most likely that the stater referred to in Matthew's original text was a stater or tetradrachm of Tyre, since it was the most common silver coin of that value. The tetradrachm has the exact value of the tax that had to be paid for two adults, as Jesus Christ had indicated that Peter should do with the coin he found in the mouth of the fish. Other authors think that it could also be a tetradrachm of Antioch, although it was used much less.

Fig. 1 Silver stater

Hook fishing in Jesus' time

The place where the fish was caught was probably near the house of St. Peter in Capernaum, the foundations of which were discovered during excavations in the last century. Archaeological remains of nets and hooks from that time were found in this house. The date of the miracle is difficult to determine, since Matthew seems to organize his Gospel more didactically than chronologically. 

Hook and line fishing is very ancient and was already used by the coastal peoples of the Mediterranean and Israel centuries before the birth of Jesus. In a more recent period, at the beginning of the 20th century, a hook-and-line fishing system used at that time in Lake Galilee has been described. A line with a weight and an unbaited hook is attached to the end of a rod and cast into the water in the middle of a school of fish and quickly withdrawn, sometime hooking a fish on the hook. This is known as "stealing a fish". 

From the legal point of view, fishing with hooks was free and permitted to all the tribes of Israel.

The species of fish caught by St. Peter

Traditionally, it has been known as the musht, Sarotherodon galilaeuThis fish is reproduced in a way that may explain the presence of the coin in the mouth. The musht has an annual cycle with two distinct seasons, one dedicated to feeding and the other to reproduction. During the first, they gather in shoals in the winter months and early spring in the northern part of the lake for feeding reasons: near Taghba, warm water streams flow into the lake where food grows easily and attracts fish, especially tilapia and lake sardines. These fish eat the plankton that is produced more abundantly in this area of the lake. In the breeding season, breeding pairs disperse. This occurs by external fertilization of the eggs in a hole made in a rocky area and once hatched the fry are defended by the parents. As soon as they hatch, one of the parents takes care of them, using its mouth as a shelter, and the pair is broken up. At the moment of independence, the father or mother expels the juveniles from the mouth by rubbing stones taken from the bottom into the mouth. In some cases, coins have also been found that had fallen to the bottom when fishing for them. 

Fig. 2 Sarotherodon galilaeus. Common name musht or St. Peter's fish.

For Mastermann, the technique of stealing the fish is the one Peter used to catch the fish on this occasion, catching a musht. Num, however, opposes this idea, arguing that the method of stealing a fish seems unsuitable for a professional fisherman like Pedro and that, since the musht is planktivorous and does not bite on the hook, the fish caught must have been a barbel, a very abundant species in the lake, predatory and bottom-feeding. For us, Peter, a skilled fisherman, could have caught a fish with this rather intuitive system. 

Theology of the miracle

Having made these preliminary clarifications, we move on to the exegetical analysis of the text to discover its theological background.

A superficial reading could make us think that Jesus is questioning his payment of the Temple tax, but this is not so. Jesus, far from being hostile to the Temple, wanted to pay this tax together with Peter. So what is Jesus wanting to clarify by saying that "the children are exempt"? What he is doing is to put the Temple tax in its true religious dimension, as we explain below.

Although the word "Temple" does not appear in this episode (it appears only "didragma", v. 24), it certainly refers to the Temple tax that was inaugurated by God's indication to Moses, who led the people of Israel through the wilderness to the Promised Land for forty years. They decided to take a census of the people who might not please God. Each would give a ransom of six ounces of silver so that nothing bad would happen to them when they were registered (Exodus 30:11-16). So the tax was clearly intended to ransom their lives: to give a material good of some value so that God would respect their lives. It is, therefore, a payment of atonement for the Israelites; the ransom of salvation of all Israel before God. And isn't that precisely what Jesus comes to do?"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."(Mt 20:28): the Son's intention is to redeem us by the gift of his life. Perhaps this is why, when Jesus tells Peter to go fishing and to take the coin from the fish's mouth and pay "..." (Mt 20:28).for me and for you"It is really Jesus - using the fish - who will pay Peter's ransom. It will be he who will pay, with his passion, death and resurrection, the ransom for all. In this way, Jesus himself, with a profoundly contemplative vision, interprets the real meaning of the Temple tax: the ransom of Israel which, with him, will become a reality. 

In all the Gospel accounts, this is one of the few miracles that Jesus seems to do for his own benefit. But it is not really so: the giving of his life is the tax that God imposed to rescue the people of Israel. Jesus wanted to found his Church as the new people of Israel, which includes all the baptized. Therefore, Jesus, in some way, in this passage, is the true "tax" that also rescues all Christians.

Jesus' omniscience has often been emphasized because he knew what Peter had previously discussed with the tax collectors. As well as the future knowledge of the fish Peter would later catch with a coin in his mouth. But what is really impressive is the profoundly theological interpretation that Jesus makes by relating everything that is happening to his messianic and redemptive mission. All of the above would better explain Jesus' reaction in this peculiar story. Indeed, everything in it seems to lead to the confession of faith that the Christian, like Peter, proclaims: "...".Truly you are the Son of God" (Mt 14:33). 

To broaden your knowledge:

  • Catechism of the Catholic Church. Association of Editors of the Catechism. 2005. n. 583-586.
  • France R. T. "The Gospel of Matthew", Wm. B. Eerdmans. 2007
  • Galili E., Zemer A. and Rosen B. "Ancient Fishing Gear and Associated Artifacts from Underwater Explorations in Israel - A Comparative Study"..  Archaeofauna 22 (2013): 145-166
  • Gil, J.-Gil, E. "Huellas de nuestra fe". Jerusalem 2019.
  • Harrington, D. J. "The Gospel of Matthew," Liturgical Press. 1991
  • Marotta, M. E. "So-called 'Coins of the Bible'".2001.
  • Masterman, E. W. G. "The Fisheries of Galilee." Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement 40, no. 1 (January 1908): 40-51.
  • Nun, M. "The sea of Galilee and its fishermen in the New Testament". Ein Gev 1989.
  • Troche, F.D. "Il sistema della pesca nel lago di Galilea al tempo di Gesù. Indagine sulla base dei papiri documentari e dei dati archeologici e letterari". Bologna 2015.
The authorAlfonso Sánchez Lamadrid Rey and Rafael Sanz Carrera

RelatedRelated NewsThe two miraculous catchesRelated NewsGospel miracles: the second multiplication of the loaves and fishes
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Cardinal CzernyReligion can demonstrate the unity that war tends to destroy".

Pope Francis' special envoy to Ukraine, Cardinal Czerny, returned to Rome on Friday, March 11. In this conversation with Omnes he was able to reflect on the three days in which he tried to "bring to the people the attention, the hopes, the anguish and the active commitment of the Pope in the search for peace."

David Fernández Alonso-March 13, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsPope Francis shows closeness to Ukraine by sending two cardinals to the borderRelated NewsUkrainian exodus of suffering

For three days, Pope Francis' special envoy, Cardinal Michael Czerny, spent three days in war-torn Ukraine. "Mine," explained the also Prefect ad interim of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development, "is a journey of prayer, prophecy and denunciation. I leave Rome on March 8 to arrive in Budapest and I will continue to meet refugees and displaced persons, and those who welcome and assist them." He returned to Rome on Friday, March 11, the day on which he gave this interview to Omnes to tell his impressions.

You have been sent on this "special mission" in Ukraine entrusted by the Pope for several days, what has been your impression and how have you seen the situation from there?

-In these three days of mission I came into contact with different situations, but they all had pain in common: single mothers with their children without husbands, elderly people forced to move even if it is difficult for them to walk; children, many children; students from Asia and Africa evacuated from one day to the next, forced to freeze their studies. I have been able to reflect on how different is the war lived through the media and the war transmitted by the suffering of the people. The latter is a pain that directly attacks the stomach and the heart. And also how this conflict is causing enormous damage to a world that was already experiencing conditions of vulnerability due to the pandemic and the environmental crisis.

Your intention was, above all, to bring the Pope closer to Christians, how did you manage to convey this?

-What the Holy Father said at the Angelus in which he announced my mission and that of Cardinal Konrad Krajewski was exactly the objective of the mission: to bring to the people the attention, the hopes, the anguish and the active commitment of the Pope in the search for peace. I tried to achieve this goal, first of all, through what I call the "sacrament of presence", that is, by being physically in the places of pain, which in Budapest were stations, reception centers, parishes. Sometimes words are not necessary. For example, on the last day in Hungary I met some women from Kiev and other Ukrainian cities: it was enough for me to listen to their stories, assure them of my prayers and give them a blessing to give them obvious consolation.

I tried to achieve this goal through what I call the "sacrament of presence," physically being in the places of pain.

Cardinal Michael CzernyPrefect ad interim of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development

Were you also able to bring material assistance as you wished?

In Hungary and during my stay in Ukraine last Wednesday, I was able to bring material and spiritual aid.

Is the spiritual care of Christians guaranteed, despite the difficulties?

-Absolutely, and this is one of the things that struck me most during the trip. To see a Church that really "goes out", as the Holy Father wishes. The priests, even those of the Eastern Churches with their families, who do not leave the territory to be close to the people. Or communities such as Sant'Egidio who, in addition to creating a shelter in the parish, take care to organize prayer initiatives together with the refugees they welcome. Or the Jesuit Refugee Service, which offers training to volunteers so that they can better respond to the real needs of people fleeing. It is an important work and it is good to see that not only the Catholic Church but also all the other confessions are doing it.

What role does religion play in the conflict?

-Religion can demonstrate the unity that war tends to destroy. For example, during my visit to the village of Beregove in western Ukraine, I was very impressed to see Latin Rite Catholics, Greek Catholics, Protestants, Reformed, Jews, coming together to share the work of the refugee emergency. A huge emergency that can only be addressed together. "There are no distinctions, we are all the Good Samaritan called to help others now," said one pastor during this very frank and fraternal dialogue. It comforted me, it is truly the sign of a living Church.

How do you see the future of the war?

-War has no future, in fact it is the destruction of the whole future. We must learn another way to resolve conflicts and tensions. I hope in the good God who puts the fate of the world in poor human hands.

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Family

Situations in which it is better not to get married

Sometimes, there are couples who, even a few days before their wedding, have reasonable doubts that need to be carefully considered when a later breakup can still be avoided.

José María Contreras-March 13, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsExplaining courtship to young peopleRelated NewsTypes of love and feelingsRelated NewsThe importance of knowing how to love

Translation of the article into German

Sometimes we meet a couple, we sense that their relationship is going to collapse, and yet we are unable to say anything to them. Are we afraid of being rejected or misunderstood?

On most occasions it may be due to prudence, but on other occasions it may be due to a lack of clarity or a lack of courage and fortitude.

But what is even more paradoxical is that we are seeing this possible crash in our children, and we feel incapable of telling them. It is necessary to get advice and say it at the right time.

It is also reasonable to have them told by someone who we know will do it properly and who has ascendancy over them.

And the fact is that, quite often, there are relationships that are born flawed or become vitiated over time, the wickerwork from which they are made is so weak that it is clear that it can be dangerous to move forward.

One of the reasons for not getting married would be the thought of making a commitment just out of pity, out of wanting to make the other person happy.

This feeling of compassion towards the other can lead to a disaster and, rather than happiness, can produce a deep unhappiness in the couple.

That is, as a marriage and as an example of solidarity towards each other, it can end in disaster.

A courtship is to prove that I can share my life with the other person. It is not an NGO.

Another reason may be that she has become pregnant.

We may have to wait for things to "cool down" and then make a decision. "If they cool down, they won't get married," we may be told. If that's the case, it's better not to get married, because it's a sign that this marriage was not going to work.

Physical beauty, if it is the only thing that brings us closer to the other person, becomes another reason not to marry.

Marrying solely and exclusively for physical beauty is like marrying solely for sexuality.      

All specialists in this field agree that sexuality alone cannot make a relationship last. A relationship consists of a personal commitment. The person is committed.

Where there is only sex, the commitment is not between people but between bodies.

It will eventually decline.

Nor can the desire to leave home, the desire for independence, be a reason. Some people get married because they want to be free from their parents. Or even because they want to appear normal to themselves.   

They are certainly calling for failure.

It is convenient to think that most probably you have more "independence" when you live with your parents than after getting married. If the reason for getting married is to seek independence, or to prove that you are normal, you are choosing the wrong path.

Marriage will not get rid of the parents or avoid the problems I have with myself. Perhaps the most dangerous thing is to realize that this is not going to work in the future and not be able to break off the engagement.

Sometimes, it is easier to break up a marriage than a courtship. Let's not forget that just as there can be reasons to get married, there can also be reasons for the opposite.

What we said about parents who do not dare to say anything to their children knowing that they are renouncing to a possible help to their children. Many times this inability comes from not having previously earned their children's trust.

Listen to the podcast "Situations in which it is better not to get married".

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Culture

Ana Iris Simón and Diego Garrocho stir consciences

The II Congress 'Church and Democratic Society' of the Paul VI Foundation has provided debate and reflection. Journalist and writer Ana Iris Simón denounced the difficulties for "young people to build a biography that allows us to have a family," while vice-dean Diego S. Garrocho warned about "emotional and psychological instability."

Rafael Miner-March 12, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

The stability of young people, emotional problems and their roots, labor and salary difficulties, and of course the family, were some of the issues addressed by the round table moderated by Rafael Latorre, journalist of Onda Cero and El Mundo, in which two opposing assessments were perceived, although coinciding in some aspects.

While Ana Iris Simón, "cultural agitator", as Latorre called her, and Diego S. Garrocho went unceremoniously into the wounds of the current young generation (Garrocho spoke of labor precariousness, but also of "spiritual fatigue" and "uncertainty"), professor Amelia Varcárcel, more in the environment of the generation of '68, as she called herself, defended that "this world is much more livable than ever before", and "youth can plant good values wherever they go".

We will deal with this table, at least in part, in a moment. But first, the context. Two Aragonese set the bar high for the congress. Cardinal Juan José Omella, archbishop of Barcelona and president of the Episcopal Conference, and the illustrious jurist and economist Manuel Pizarro, president of the Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation, began the staging at the Pablo VI Foundation, presided over by the bishop of Getafe, Monsignor Ginés García Beltrán.

Dignity, dialogue

I do not believe that there has ever been in Spain such a detailed and suggestive exposition of the Social Doctrine of the Church, supported by the papal Magisterium, and especially by the Caritas in veritate of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, as the one made on Wednesday night by Manuel Pizarro from Teruel.

Far from sterile apriorisms and disqualifications, Pizarro stressed that the "market cannot become a place where the strongest subjugates the weakest"; but at the same time he emphasized that a "Christian cannot assume the comfortable affirmation that markets are amoral"; and he claimed "exemplarity".

Earlier, Cardinal Omella had proposed a decalogue to recover "a healthy democracy at the service of the dignity of the person and the common good", and recalled the Catholic commitment to defend the dignity of the human being, promote the common good, and spread dialogue, communion and fraternity.

And in case anyone could accuse him of anything in his eagerness for dialogue, in line with St. Paul VI, to whom Monsignor García Beltrán also alluded at the closing, Don Juan José Omella asked "again and again" forgiveness for the "very serious errors" provoked by some in the Church, but he did not avoid denouncing several issues, for example, those related to the family.

The message of Jesus Christ is under attack today, he clearly pointed out, by the "powerful ideologies of the moment" on four points: the Catholic vision of the human being, sexual morality, the identity and mission of women in society, and the defense of the family formed by marriage between a man and a woman.

What about the family, the Church?

This was also one of the core aspects of one of the roundtables, either in a clear or tangential way, with derivations of different styles. We refer to the comments on the family of intellectuals such as Ana Iris Simón, author of the successful 'Feria', and Diego S. Garrocho, vice-dean of the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, who together with Amelia Valcárcel, professor at the UNED, starred in a disturbing table.

Ana Iris Simón offered a couple of indicators at the beginning, such as the suicide rate among young people, or labor rights, specifically severance pay, which "are getting worse," she stressed. Her comments and those of Diego Garrocho caught the audience's attention.

Later in the debate, Rafael Latorre gave way to a brief video by the Dean of Humanities of the CEU San Pablo University, María Solano, and referred to a comment by Ana Iris Simón about the lack of anchorages of young people, or that the bonds or loyalties of young people are not as strong as those of their parents.

In one of your columns you say that one of your friends has a very long-lasting relationship, and she gets married, and they are both very happy, and that is interpreted as an ode to the traditional family, said Latorre.

Ana Iris picked up the gauntlet, and confirmed that "I have two friends who love each other very much, have been together for years, and have married, and I have written a column for them [in El País]. In the face of relationships that we could call liquid [fragile], to take Bauman's idea, and other solid ones, there are people who want to make an invention, and talk about gaseous relationships, explained the writer from La Mancha. "I don't like liquid relationships, because they are almost stipulated in terms of the market and respond to what we see, the inability to commit to anything and anyone that we see in our generation. I don't like solid ones, because they sound like submission, like a life-long relationship... And they invent soda pop, let's see how it goes..., I don't know what it is...", commented Ana Iris, who recently had a baby, and who comes from "an atheist family".

In his opinion, "institutions such as the family are less and less considered. This also happens to the Church. The idea often ends up being muddied because it is a human institution. In the family institution, since it is a human institution, things happen that we do not like, and the same thing happens to the Church. I believe that the State is more efficient than the market in redistributing wealth, that in the name of the State crimes have been committed and things that I hate have been done? But that does not mean I stop believing in the State. I want to be as close as possible to that ideal".

Family, stability

"The same thing happens with the family. The family must be abolished, because a series of stories happen in it that I don't like. Well, no. What I want is to resemble that idea of family" which, in the words of one author, "is a refuge from a ruthless world, and increasingly so," he continued.

"With the Church it's the same thing. Yes. Is that why we have to go against the Church? No. What we have to do is to understand that as a human institution it should resemble the divine idea of what it should be, and not what it is," added Ana Iris Simón.

The moderator saw Diego S. Garrocho nod -that's what he said-, and gave him the floor. "Young people are beginning to miss stability, that is, the construction of a stable psychology," said the vice-dean of Philosophy at the Autonomous University. "There is talk of emotional instability, of psychological instability, and in the end that is a reflection of the global instability we are experiencing. The rare thing would be for people to have stability of mind, going back to that spiritual question, when everything is unstable, when there is no single place where one can fasten one's principles, one's hopes, one's fears."

Contrasentidos

"There is a part of society that talks about the family but does not work so that families can exist," said Ana Iris Simón. "On the liberal right there is a solid and fierce defense of the family, and that's fine, but then no material solutions are proposed to this issue. The left is very belligerent against the family, but then works for it". "Between these two discourses, one unsympathetic to the family, and a work so that these families can exist", there is nothing so that "we young people can build a biography that allows us to have a family", complained the journalist and writer.

Ana Iris Simón thus complemented an intervention by Professor Amelia Valcárcel, who had pointed out that "our salaries are beginning to shrink in a worrying way, and that with a single salary, the little flat that was talked about in Malasaña takes the entire salary".

The journalist and writer had specified at the beginning of her speech that her parents are not so old: her father is 55 years old, and her mother was born in 1969. Her parents are part of a generation that could "build a biography". This was one of her messages.

We will deal with other tables, such as those on labor or education, for example, at a later date. Now it was time for the round table on young people and the challenges of the world to come.

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The Vatican

The conflict in Ukraine and the lost fraternity

Sunday, March 13, marks the first nine years since the election of Pope Francis. On that March 13, 2013, the pontiff wished his pontificate as "a journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among us."

Giovanni Tridente-March 12, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsUkrainian exodus of sufferingRelated NewsPope Francis shows closeness to Ukraine by sending two cardinals to the border

Sunday, March 13, marks the first nine years since the election of Pope Francis. And never as in this period, characterized by a disastrous and fratricidal war between Russia and Ukraine at the gates of Europe with threats to world stability, the first words of the new Pope addressed to the people in St. Peter's Square sounded prophetic.

"And now, let us begin this journey... A journey of fraternity, of love, of trust between us". Elements, unfortunately, that any war conflict instantly annuls, generating unforeseeable consequences that will last for years.

The conflict we are currently experiencing, with thousands of civilian and military victims and millions of refugees forced to flee the bombings, is the exact opposite of fraternity, love and trust between people. Something failed then in humanity, despite the prophecy of March 13, 2013 and the infinite opportunities offered by the Holy Father to put this programmatic vision into value.

The numerous attempts at ecumenical and interreligious dialogue cannot go unnoticed, which are obviously grafted onto the path that the Church has been traveling for decades, with greater awareness since the Second Vatican Council, and which led, in 2019 in Abu Dhabi, to the signing of the important Document "On Human Brotherhood, for World Peace and Common Coexistence".

Evidently, this was not enough! It must also be said that every war, every deliberate choice to fight against a brother, is the result of complex situations, with reasons that are never on one side only, in an explosive mixture - it is appropriate to say it - that looks no one in the face and even less cares about the consequences it generates.

It is true that the Russian-Ukrainian crisis is certainly not the only one, much less the last one. We are coming from two years of pandemic turmoil and decades of outbreaks in various parts of the planet, both in the East and in the West, to the point that in that same Document on fraternity it was written that we were rather in a "third world war by parts".

What is on the horizon is another "integral" world conflict, the fourth to be exact, and God forbid that this should actually happen. That is why the Holy See is trying to set in motion all possible solutions to put an end to the fighting and the indiscriminate killing of innocent victims, and to open possibly lasting channels of dialogue between all parties.

Pope Francis himself, in his homily at the beginning of his pontificate, had recommended in particular "to care for people, to care for everyone, for each person, with love", - following the example of St. Joseph - and it is remarkable that the Year dedicated to the Spouse of Mary and the pontiff's series of catecheses on the beloved patron of the Universal Church have just ended.

Nine years later, perhaps it is necessary to return to those words, to that "responsibility that concerns us all", because when it is missing "then destruction finds its place and the heart dries up".

On that occasion, the Pope already offered the keys to put an end to hatred, envy and arrogance, which make life dirty: "watch over our feelings, our heart, because it is precisely from there that good and bad intentions come: those that build and those that destroy".

Let us start again from here, then, from this consciousness, and let each of us do all we can to bring the harmony of brotherhood and love back into our living and working environments. At least we will have avoided the many wars of which we are the prime movers. God help us and forbid!

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Culture

Puy du Fou, a different way to experience History

Since its inauguration in March 2021, Puy du Fou Spain has become an interesting cultural didactic bet, especially recommended for children and young people. The grandeur of its shows and the work of historical documentation, didactic application, scripting and staging have made this park a cultural center of special importance in the central area of Spain. 

Maria José Atienza-March 12, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

Located on the outskirts of Toledo is Puy du Fou Spain. It is a historical theme park with more than 30 hectares of nature in which historical villages, stalls and workshops with handicrafts and local products are distributed and, above all, a series of shows that are inspired by great events of our past and legendary figures of Spanish culture.

Puy du Fou Spain combines a particular staging with a careful setting to give rise to a serious and at the same time playful commitment to the dissemination of culture for all ages. 

Puy du Fou Spain began its journey in August 2019, when its first major nighttime show premiered. The Toledo Dream.

This performance was very well received by the public. Two years later, in March 2021, the gates of the large day park, located less than an hour from the Spanish capital, were opened. Since then, the park offers a spectacular world of time travel that has already been enjoyed by thousands of people. 

In this enclave, completely integrated into the natural environment, which has been repopulated with native species, the five shows currently offered at Puy du Fou Spain come together: The Last Song, Pen and Sword, Beyond the Ocean Sea, The Wandering of the Centuries and the night show The Toledo Dream. All of them have been elaborated on the basis of carefully documented scripts. 

The shows

Through its shows and historical villages, young and old alike can get an immersive insight into the exploits of the Cid on an unusual stage in The Last SongThe show is presented with a revolutionary staging and unprecedented technology. 

A way to travel back to Toledo's Golden Age in a great Corral de Comedias is possible thanks to the show Pen and Swordwhere the spectator can experience the adventures of Lope de Vega, with five interchanging scenarios and choreographies on water. 

One of the best known shows is the Falconry of Kings. More than 200 birds and birds of prey fly over the heads of young and old in a theatrical performance that recreates a fictitious truce between Abderramán and Fernán González but, on the other hand, does not prevent measuring the forces of both rulers in the skies. Weapons now give way to the most majestic birds of the north and south in a peaceful gesture.

The departure to the new world is found in the show Beyond the Ocean Seaan immersive journey to relive the epic feat that took Christopher Columbus and his crew to the New World.

The experiences of those anonymous heroes, unknown but, at the same time, protagonists of history and who have shaped today's Spain, are the focus of the stories in this book. The Wandering of the Centuries. 

Each of these great daytime shows lasts about 30 minutes. The amplitude of its sets facilitates the enjoyment of all those who contemplate it. Its spectacular choreographies as well as a meticulously made wardrobe complete a unique staging that is positioned as an interesting and different cultural bet suitable for the whole family. 

The villages 

Puy du Fou Spain houses four historic villages in which streets and spaces are recreated to show the way of life, trades and physiognomy of different moments and enclaves throughout history.

Thus, the Andalusian Spain has its center in the camp of the great caliph Abderramán III; the medieval villages are represented in the Puebla Real, the lands of La Mancha and its products in the Venta de Isidro and, finally, the Arrabal that simulates the popular markets historically located in the outskirts of the big cities. 

In these towns, visitors can also enjoy their inns and mansions and visit the stalls and workshops with handicrafts and local products, where artisans explain the manufacturing processes of the products offered. 

A commitment to employment 

Puy du Fou Spain has generated more than 700 direct jobs and more than 1,000 indirect jobs. It employs more than 85 crafts and trades (from tailors to architects, from animal handlers to artisan swordsmiths). 

Projects for this new season also include the construction of two new rooms for meetings and events. They will join the more than 10 spaces, including the auditoriums that Puy du Fou Spain already offers for holding corporate events in this original environment. In fact, the generation and promotion of employment in the area is one of the objectives of Puy du Fou Spain, which aspires to become a key player in the economic recovery and the reactivation of inland tourism. 

An original didactic

One of the points that differentiate Puy du Fou España's bet is the didactic approach to the story that is enclosed in its elaborate representation and in the scripts of its shows. 

The theatrical way in which the visitor is effortlessly immersed to be part of key events and periods in the history of Spain. 

School groups can enjoy immersive workshops, which offer youngsters a completely different way of learning in which they are part of the story. 

During the course of these workshops, attendees can learn from the noble art of falconry or the care that these animals require on a daily basis, to the most curious facts about the fabric of the cities in different historical periods and even how a sword was forged in the Middle Ages.

The shows and recreations have a previous work of documentation on customs, way of life, religiosity and historical facts that is shown in the threading of content and the accurate recreation and development of the characters and stories that focus each of the shows. 

This balanced view of history has made it an interesting destination within the cultural panorama of Spain.

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The Vatican

Czerny highlights Church's work in Ukraine conflict

Rome Reports-March 12, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute
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RelatedRelated NewsThe Holy See works for peace in Ukraine

The Cardinal Michael Czerny returned to Rome on March 11 after concluding a three-day visit to Ukraine and Hungary.

Czerny was one of the Pope's envoys, along with Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, to the war-torn country to express his closeness to the millions of refugees fleeing Ukraine and those still in the country.

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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The World

German bishops who do not accept decisions of the synodal path, in uncomfortable position

The resolutions of the synodal journey were the focus of attention at the recently concluded Assembly of the German Bishops' Conference. In this context, there was talk of "developing the Catechism", since President Bätzing considers that the "instrumentality" of the Catechism "is not enough".

José M. García Pelegrín-March 11, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsGermany, towards another Church?Related News"There is a current that wants to destroy Benedict XVI and his work."

The plenary assembly of the German Bishops' Conference (DBK), held March 7-10 in Vierzehnheiligen, was marked mainly by two themes: the war in Ukraine and the synodal path. In fact, the co-presidents of the four "synodal forums" participated in the Assembly as guests, as well as Thomas Söding, vice-president of the "Central Committee of German Catholics", who is also vice-president of the synodal path. The president of the DBK, Msgr. Georg Bätzing, justified the presence of the laity at the Bishops' Assembly by saying that here, too, "synodality must be practiced."

Regarding the invasion of Ukraine, Bishop Bätzing declared that an attempt is being made to remove a "legitimate government" from power and that this is an action "contrary to international public law" and the world cannot be a mere spectator.

On the other hand, the "Cologne question" took center stage after the return of Cardinal Rainer Woelki to the diocese, after the four months of reflection requested by the Holy Father. The situation in the diocese is complicated, which is why the Cardinal once again placed his continuity in the Pope's hands. At the opening press conference of the Plenary, Bishop Georg Bätzing urged the Pope and the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet: "The responsibility is now theirs and we cannot wait too long".

In his homily at the inaugural Mass of the assembly, Msgr. Bätzing said that being Catholic means "living solidarity, not confessional narrowness, isolation or creating an identity by drawing boundaries"; to achieve this goal "we still have to overcome many barriers, dare to make progress and change ways of thinking that have been valid up to now". Cardinal Reinhard Marx followed in his homily along the same lines: the question of the "authentic Church" is now posed in a new way, in which it is not only a question of dogmas. "Of what use to me," Marx continued, "is a cleanly dogmatic profession of faith if in practice it supports a dictatorship? Meanwhile, the Apostolic Nuncio, Msgr. Nikola Eterović, called - following the line marked by Pope Francis for the universal synod - to "discern the spirits" and expressly recalled the letter that the Holy Father wrote "to the people of God who are on pilgrimage in Germany" in 2019.

In relation to the synodal journey, the Plenary of the DBK dealt with the "theological bases" in two aspects: ecclesiology and anthropology, as Bishop Bätzing summarized at the final press conference on Thursday, March 10. Bätzing summed it up at the final press conference on Thursday, March 10: the "theological foundations" in two aspects: ecclesiology and anthropology. When asked by one of the journalists present, he explained in more detail: in the ecclesiology section, the question of sacramental orders for women was discussed; the President of the DBK reiterated - as he has done on other occasions - that in this field there is a "very clear limit", since no decisions can be made in this regard in Germany, but "the reflections will be made available to the universal Church". As for the section on anthropology, he said that discussions had been held on the meaning of natural law; specifically he referred to the "polarity of the sexes": between the two poles - man and woman - "reality shows that there are other identities". And this is fundamental in considering how to treat those who live in a relationship with a person of the same sex. According to Bishop Bätzing, "the doctrine of the Catechism must be differentiated and developed, because it says nothing in relation to trans persons," so he concluded: "The instrumentality [of the Catechism] is no longer sufficient."

A fundamental question discussed at the Bishops' Assembly is the implementation of the resolutions of the synodal journey; for example, the first reading of a "basic ordinance" for people who work in ecclesiastical organizations is scheduled for the summer; in this regard, the President of the DBK asked at Thursday's press conference: "How do we behave with those who do not share our faith, for example with Muslims who work in day-care centers or residences run by the Church?"The triple coincidence of a Catholic body working exclusively for Catholics and targeting Catholics "ceased a long time ago". In other words: "personal loyalty" to Catholic doctrine will no longer be required.

One of the controversial issues already discussed in the Assembly of the synodal journey is the creation of a "synodal council" to follow the resolutions once the synodal journey itself is over; for example, some of the participants insist that it should be made up of bishops, priests and laity, and that it would decide, for example, on the election of bishops, and even evaluate the activity of the bishops; it would therefore be a kind of control instance of the episcopal activity.
In general, Msgr. Bätzing emphasized - as he had already done on other occasions - that the resolutions of the synodal journey will be put into practice successively, without waiting until they are finalized. He also stressed that the decisions are not "binding" on the bishops, but that each one is responsible before his conscience and free to put them into practice in his own diocese. Now, he noted that there is some concern that this would entail an "atomization" of dioceses: "How do we support the implementation [of the resolutions of the synodal journey] in the dioceses?" An example of how this could be carried out was given by the DBK President in answering a question at the press conference: a bishop who does not agree to implement some resolution "will have to enter into a dialogue with the faithful of his diocese and explain why he does not do so." If to this is added the "supervision" by the "synodal council" it seems that -if these proposals go ahead- the freedom of the bishops who do not agree with what is synodally correct will remain a dead letter.

The Bishops' Conference of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland) met at the same time as the German Conference in Tromsø, northern Norway. From there they sent a letter to the German bishops to express that "we are concerned about the direction, methodology and content of the synodal journey of the Church in Germany". After emphasizing that the issues at stake here are not specific to Germany, but occur throughout the world, they refer to the universal synod convened by Pope Francis: "This process calls for a radical conversion. We must first rediscover and communicate the promises of Jesus as a source of joy, freedom and flourishing. Our task is to make our own the depositum fidei transmitted by the Church, with gratitude and reverence". The nine Nordic bishops remind their German brethren of the direction that every reform process in the Church must take: "True reforms in the Church have always consisted in defending and clarifying Catholic doctrine based on divine revelation and authentic tradition and putting it credibly into practice, not in following the spirit of the times. The transience of the spirit of the times is confirmed every day". They also emphasize that "the Church cannot be defined only as a visible society. It is a mystery of communion: communion of humanity with the Triune God; communion of the faithful with one another; communion of the local Churches throughout the world with the Successor of Peter". This is the second neighboring Bishops' Conference - after the letter sent weeks earlier by the Bishops' Conference of Poland - to officially address the German bishops to ask them to redirect the course of the synodal journey in the direction of a "call to radical conversion and holiness".

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  • Saint Irenaeus of Lyon. Doctor of unity
Resources

Saint Irenaeus of Lyon. Doctor of unity

At the beginning of this same year, Pope Francis proclaimed St. Irenaeus of Lyons a Doctor of the Church, recognizing his writings as qualified witnesses of genuine apostolic doctrine.

Antonio de la Torre-March 11, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

St. Irenaeus was born in the East, in the thriving Christian communities of Asia Minor (perhaps in Smyrna, around the year 130). He was formed in the Asian tradition, which from the apostle St. John had known an intense development up to the brilliant work of St. Justin. But his pastoral work, at least the one we know today, was carried out in the West, as a priest and then bishop of Lyons, dedicating his apostolate to Gauls, Romans and Germans. We see again the rich diversity of the Church of the second century, in which a bishop of Asian culture could develop his ministry in Gaul.

We also note the intense mobility of Christians, who in this century were spreading the faith throughout the empire. In fact, St. Irenaeus traveled twice to Rome. As a priest, to take to Pope Eleutherius a letter from the martyrs of Vienne. As a bishop, to go to meet Pope Victor to defend the traditions of the Asian culture with respect to Easter, without losing full unity with the Church of Rome. We therefore understand his title as Doctor UnitatisUnity between the various Christian cultures and unity between the various communities and the Pope, who presides over that of Rome in charity.

By proclaiming him Doctor, the Church gives special recognition to his theological writings as qualified witnesses of the genuine apostolic doctrine. Only two of his works are complete. The most relevant, the monumental treatise entitled Against heresiesorganized in five books, which is the most important theological reflection of the entire second century and possibly of all Asian theology. As a complement, a small jewel entitled Demonstration of apostolic preachingwhere he expounds in depth the basic elements of the faith received from the apostles by tradition. Unfortunately, almost nothing remains of the rest of his work, and we do not even know with certainty how he died, although one tradition refers to him as a martyr in the great persecution of Septimius Severus, in 202.

Your interests

We already know that the Fathers of the Church did not write their works for the sake of publishing books or exposing their personal hobbies, but with a deep sense of mission in favor of the Church. We see this in the writings of St. Irenaeus, whose main objective is to foster and safeguard the faith of the simple, carefully explaining the apostolic doctrine and clearly and reasonably denouncing its deviations and manipulations. On the other hand, as his title of Doctor indicates, he always shows a serious interest in showing and promoting the unity of the Church in its admirable diversity of cultures: Germans, Celts, Gauls, Greeks, Romans and Asians share the same faith and the same Church.

Another great concern of St. Irenaeus is to expound and transmit what he himself has received by tradition. There are numerous references, explicit or implicit, to the teachers who preceded him: St. John, St. Ignatius, St. Polycarp, St. Papias and the presbyters of Asia or St. Justin. His extraordinary theological reflection has deep roots in Tradition, and at no time does he separate himself from it or adulterate it. He also receives from Tradition the canon of the Sacred Scriptures, particularly the Gospels. St. Irenaeus will speak of the gospel tetramorphthat is to say, of a single gospel shown in four forms: the four canonical gospels that we have today in the canon of inspired books. St. Irenaeus usually moves in the themes and doctrines marked by tradition, and in a language close to that of Scripture, although, paradoxically, his theological genius will allow him to do so with an expression so novel that even today it is remarkably current.

On Creation and humanity

An essential theme in the doctrine of St. Irenaeus is material creation, as the meeting point between God and humanity, and as a theological place despised by the Gnostics, who denied any value to matter as the result of an error in the divine world. However, humanity is created from matter, when God the Father molds with his hands (the Word and the Spirit) Adam, to whom he breathes the spirit of life. In this embodiment of Adam, St. Irenaeus sees the image of God in man, which refers to his spirit and his matter. From this original image, God unfolds the history of Creation as a process by which man, the image of God, increasingly acquires his likeness to Him, all within the framework of time and matter.

St. Irenaeus therefore teaches us that history, the becoming of the whole of Creation, is salvation history, the time God takes to complete the modeling of his creature to the perfection of his likeness. History is a economyThe plan of God to save man in his unity of flesh and spirit, a process moved in its various stages by the inspiration of a single Holy Spirit, is a plan designed by God to save man in his unity of flesh and spirit, a process moved in its various stages by the inspiration of a single Holy Spirit. 

It is the Spirit who guides this process and who makes it known to those sent by God, both in the Old Testament (the prophets) and in the New Testament (the apostles). At the heart of this process is the Incarnation of the Word, the essential moment when God models the new and perfect Adam, Jesus Christ, who comes to recapitulate in himself all that is human, to liberate it and bring it to fulfillment.

The flesh of the Word

If the Gnostic teachings were based on speculations and theoretical mysteries to obtain through their knowledge the salvation of the spirit, the divine spark of man, St. Irenaeus will focus his teaching on the mysteries of the Word of God in human flesh, as the new Adam. Therefore he will speak of the liberation worked by the Incarnate Word on the Cross, not in the elaboration of an intellectual system of illumination, because in it culminates his act of obedience that cancels the disobedience of the first Adam and therefore redeems humanity from all the evils that that disobedience had brought him. Jesus Christ brings saved humanity to fullness by giving it with the Holy Spirit the perfect divine likeness, and by guiding it to the highest, to the vision and the encounter with the Father. As Isaiah had announced, Emmanuel (God with us), the Incarnate Word, would be a sign from the depths of the earth (the liberation obtained on the Cross) to the heights of Heaven (salvation understood as a participation in the mystery of the Ascension of the flesh of Christ to the right hand of the Father).

This magnificent vision of the history of humanity, of the saving work of Jesus Christ and of the true fullness of the human person (unity of matter and spirit) has its correspondence in the magnificent goal that will culminate this whole process. Starting from the teaching of his predecessors, St. Irenaeus will explain that history will lead to the Millennium prophesied by St. John in the Apocalypse. A Kingdom of a thousand years where the righteous will enjoy with Jesus Christ is a creation renewed and freed from all evil. A space of retribution and fulfillment, but above all, a final stage in the process of the shaping of humanity, where the flesh of the resurrected righteous will prepare to receive the vision of God. At the end of the millennium, the Heavenly Jerusalem will descend into this renewed Creation and humanity will enter into perfect unity and likeness in the vision of the Father.

At the construction site of the new Doctor UnitatisThus, we learn to see the unity of the various cultures in the one faith, of the various communities in the one Church, of the four Gospels in the one message of Jesus Christ, of the various stages of history in a single project, and of all of God's dispositions in a single economy salvific. Faced with the need for unity and harmony in the world in which we live, we discover in St. Irenaeus an ancient Doctor who, in our time, still has much to teach.

The authorAntonio de la Torre

Doctor of Theology

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  • What is the big data for the brotherhood?
ColumnistsIgnacio Valduérteles

What is the big data for the brotherhood?

The analysis of these data shows us a society in need of a model of thinking that is articulated and centered on truth, on the person. This is everyone's task.

March 11, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

We are not aware of the amount of personal data that circulates out there and that we continuously feed with the use of cards or on-line purchases, not to mention those we provide in social networks and when visiting the websites we visit for professional matters or for entertainment. In "the cloud", a concept as undefined as it is disturbing, there is data on what we read, how we dress, what our eating habits are, where we prefer to travel, what our salary is, savings habits and investment capacity, family situation, religious opinions, sports, political preferences, what we do on our vacations or free time, medical reports and much more information. If you put it all together and relate it, they can get to know us better than we know ourselves.

The whole set of techniques that process and manage this huge amount of data that allows us to know, predict and guide the behavior of individuals or social groups constitutes the world of data processing. Big DataThe concept has been written about a lot, almost always to qualify it as invasive, although the techniques are ethically neutral, their qualification will come from the use that is made of them.

Brotherhoods can also use techniques similar to those of Big Data. Here the information to be handled is not only that provided by the database of each brotherhood regarding the brothers, from which information can be extracted to serve them effectively in the fulfillment of their mission, there is much more interesting information for the brotherhoods that is not protected or encrypted and is easily accessible. We only have to raise our heads and observe the environment, which provides us with continuous information, we only have to identify it, analyze it, draw conclusions and define action plans.

What data does observation of our social reality offer? After years of government without a defined ideology, the terrain has been occupied by relativism, disguised as political correctness. This manifests itself in gender ideology, exacerbated nationalism, abortion/euthanasia, egalitarianism by law, educational manipulation and cultural terrorism, stateization of the economy and fiscal policy that leads to an impoverishing welfare state that limits personal freedom. We could go on adding more observable data, but I think this is enough.

What should the brotherhoods do with all these notes, what should be the criteria for analyzing this Big Data and making proposals for action?

A first task is to identify the common thread of all this apparently unconnected data, which converge in a deeply asphyxiating and conservative ideology, clinging to an idealized past, and incapable of making a leap forward; clinging to obsolete and failed doctrinal principles, obsessed by the past, incapable of preparing for the future. The next step is to strip it of its false progressive veneer. The bewilderment of the official left in the face of the publication of the Fairby Ana Iris Simón, an author considered a "progre", in which she presented, with nostalgia, the traditional values lived in her town and in her family, simple, hard-working and left-wing people, and dismantled the myths of salon progressivism.

The analysis of these data shows us a society in need of a model of thinking that is articulated and centered on truth, on the person. This is everyone's task; the cultural battle is not only fought in parliaments, in the media or in universities, but also in civil society, of which the brotherhoods are part. These have to be not only places of activities and feelings, but also doctrinally and spiritually habitable spaces, with social projection.

A serene and well-founded society is one that has a project based on ideas and is capable of making risky decisions that contemplate a distant horizon. Neither in society nor in the brotherhood can decisions be made for the short term, seeking immediate results, which are incoherent and contradictory, because they do not respond to a model of thought, but to the opportunity of the moment.

For this it is necessary, as we said, to study the environment, identify the social keys and apply criteria of analysis based on the principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church, with its own criteria, without being carried away by the relativist current. The brotherhoods must dare to be progressive, believe in freedom, and actively participate in the transformation of society.

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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The World

Bohdan and Ihor, seminarians in Rome: "We Ukrainians want to be free".

These seminarians from the Basilian College of St. Josaphat of the Greek Catholic Church are among eight Ukrainians studying at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. From there they live, in permanent contact with family and friends, the dramatic situation in Ukraine after the Russian invasion.

Maria José Atienza-March 10, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes
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Bohdan Bazan and Ihor Luhovyi are two Ukrainian students at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in which they study Institutional Communication of the Church thanks to the help of the collaborators of the Centro Académico Romano Foundation. There they spoke with Gerardo Ferrara about how they live these days in permanent communication with their families and friends.

Ihor Bazan Ukraine
Ihor Bazan

Ihor Bazan, 24 years old, belongs to the Archieparchy of Lviv. This young seminarian has joined the work of a group of volunteers in Rome and communicates daily with Ukrainian teenagers suffering from the war, giving them psychological support, telling them stories that help them not to think too much about the war and offering guidance on how to act in different situations and remain calm.

Bohdan Luhovyi, a native of Bolekhiv, in the western part of Ukraine, studied for six years at the Kiev seminary and belongs to the same Archieparchy to which he will return after finishing his studies in communications. In his opinion "Ukraine is very far from Russia in terms of mentality and values, but close geographically, so Ukraine has often suffered violence from different Russian regimes".

This 26-year-old Ukrainian also appreciates the demonstrations of many Russian citizens against this invasion, which is even costing them prison sentences. In this sense, they emphasize that, in spite of the media manipulation that has been going on in Russia for decades, now, "fortunately, the Russians and the whole world have learned about what is happening and the massacres that are taking place".

Both Ukrainian students fear that the goal of the current Russian government is "the restoration of the Soviet Union and the establishment of its empire in Eastern Europe. This, then, is something that is now happening with Ukraine and is going to happen with other countries."

Bohdan Luhovyi Ukraine
Bohdan Luhovyi

They are also aware of the differences in national consideration between the east and west of the country. While the west of Ukraine is more pro-Ukrainian, Ihor explains, "that is, more aware of its own national identity; the east is the opposite. This problem goes back to the tragedy of the Holodomor".

The Holodomor (Голодомор in Ukrainian and Russian) was one of the great genocides of the 20th century. About 8 million Ukrainians died of starvation during the Stalinist regime.

Ukrainians, say these young seminarians, "do not want to live in a country that only invades and does not develop. Ukrainians' goals are the opposite of Putin's. We want to be free. We want to be free. And we ask the world to free us from this darkness.

The role of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church

Both Bohdan and Ihor belong to the Church. Ukrainian Greek Catholic. An Eastern Rite Catholic Church that has played a very important role in the preservation and development of the culture, faith and thought of the Slavic peoples since the beginning of Christianity in Kievan Rus'.

During the Soviet era, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church remained in hiding. "Priests of our Church were in prison, tortured and killed for recognizing Ukraine as a specific identity and being part of the Greek Rite Catholic Church" recalls Ihor. Now, both of them, together with their colleagues from the Basilian College of St. Josaphat of the Greek Catholic Church, are helping as much as they can and above all, they ask for prayers and help to end this conflict as soon as possible and to help the millions of their fellow citizens who have had to leave their homes, jobs and families because of the conflict.

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RelatedRelated NewsChaplain Ivan Lypka: "Ukraine wants to live in freedom. This has to be stopped"Related News"Catholics in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, are united."
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Evangelization

"We cannot enclose the Christian faith in the horizon of a single culture".

Giampietro Dal Toso, president of the Pontifical Missionary Works (PMO) and José María Calderón, director of the Pontifical Missionary Works of Spain, participated in the conference 'The Evangelizing Mission of the Church', held at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarra.

Maria José Atienza-March 10, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute
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The president of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), Monsignor Gianpietro Dal Toso, focused his presentation on the theological principles for missionary action and for the Pontifical Mission Societies.

On this subject, he explained that, in order to reach the mission, specifically the mission ad gentesIn addition, it is essential to have the Trinity as a starting point and to use four elements: dialogue, witness, proclamation and the founding of new churches.

The President of the Pontifical Mission Societies pointed out the need to avoid any ecclesiological reduction of the mission, "it is clear that the mission is also the work of the Church, but if the mission were only will, the work of the Church would be a model that could easily be exchanged and, above all, it would be limited to a purely temporal horizon of organization in this world. It is the Church that is at the disposal of this mission".

Dal Toso also wanted to focus his attention on the universality of the Word of God, whose purpose is that all men be saved, and explained that "there is no single culture for transmitting, conceiving and living the Gospel. We cannot confine the Christian faith within the horizon of a single culture, just as we cannot deny each culture the possibility of being enriched by the Christian faith.

For his part, José María Calderón explained the mission in the Church and its future perspective, and recalled that Spain has always been a land of missionaries: "To date, more than 10,000 Spaniards are on mission throughout the world.

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The Vatican

Pope's envoys already in Ukraine

Rome Reports-March 10, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute
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Cardinal Konrad Krajewski was in Lviv with refugee groups and met with Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. On the other hand, Cardinal Michael Czerny also crossed the border after visiting refugee centers in Hungary.

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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The World

Why has the coronavirus affected less in Africa?

In Kenya, with a population of 55.7 million, the country has experienced some 323,000 cases of coronavirus and 5,638 deaths, far fewer than in countries of similar population in Europe.

Martyn Drakard-March 10, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes
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Now that the current pandemic seems to be waning, COVID observers have wondered why it has affected Africa much less than more developed countries, while the number of people vaccinated is much lower. In my country, Kenya, which has a population of 55.7 million, and where the government's vaccination target is currently 27.2 million, only 7.3 million, about a third, have been vaccinated. To date, the country has experienced about 323,000 cases and 5,638 deaths (as of February 21, 2022).

However, countries in Europe with comparable population numbers have had 20 to 25 times more deaths. Is this due to climate, diet, natural immunity, the physical condition of the population, or some other reason? When the pandemic becomes endemic and comparative studies are done, it will be interesting to know why. But the question remains: why have fewer people in Africa chosen to be vaccinated, even when vaccines were available, and especially among certain groups? To an outside observer, the reaction in more developed countries has been that the government wants the population to be vaccinated for their own benefit and for the general good; so you trust the leaders when they say the vaccines are safe; so you accept the vaccines and trust that all will be well.

This implicit trust in government and what it decides cannot be assured here. In fact, a large segment of the population distrusts the government, both implicitly and explicitly; a government directive that has to do with one's personal life, family and future is likely to be viewed with suspicion.

As in the rest of Africa, most Kenyans are young and expect to live many more years. Their source of news and opinions is social media, rather than newspapers or other print media. Newspapers, according to them, give the "official" view; social media reflects "real life," our "real concerns." In this particular case, social media picked up the news that vaccines are experimental, undergoing testing and therefore unreliable, and when Facebook blocked the page this seemed to prove their point.

Based on past experience, when Africans strongly suspected that they were being used as guinea pigs to test vaccines or medicines, especially those that might render them sterile - and Africans still want to have children - they are understandably suspicious and reluctant to take the risk.

Even among those vaccinated against the coronavirus there must be a good number who were vaccinated to keep their jobs, since, rightly or wrongly, this was the policy of the company or institution for which they worked; they were told "Get vaccinated or you will be replaced."

When just before Christmas last year, a time when many people shop and travel to their places of origin to spend the Christmas holidays and New Year with their families, an official directive was issued that since social distancing would be difficult to enforce, supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, etc., all public transportation should only allow customers or travelers with a valid vaccination certificate, and this included even access to government services, there was an outcry, and a case was taken to the high court to prevent this. The court ruled in favor of the protesters.

Africa is a very social place; when the handshake and the hug were officially banned, we invented the elbow bump and the fist bump. But the handshake and the hug could not disappear, and now they are back, "unofficially" of course. And the mask? On the street, from the beginning, most people wore it around their chin or under their chin and adjusted it only when asked; now most people don't wear it and keep it in their pocket just in case....

But besides the "healthy" and "more humane" approach of officialdom, there is perhaps a bigger reason for the fear and resistance to closures and restrictions: without being able to move around and do business and visit, life here cannot go on. People have to have the freedom and be able to put bread on the table every night before the children go to bed. Life has to go on and must be allowed to go on, freely. If it doesn't, people will make sure it does.

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St. Joseph, patron saint of the universal Church, in the Vatican Basilica

In St. Peter's Basilica there is a chapel dedicated to St. Joseph. It is located in the south transept, and its present form is due to St. John XXIII, the Pope who convened the Second Vatican Council.

Omnes-March 10, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute
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The World

"We have to rebuild the dignity of these people and think about the long term."

In Poland, Spaniard Begoña Herrera promotes activities and projects to care for and dignify refugees, especially women and children, who are fleeing the war in Ukraine. An example of the social involvement of Poles in the suffering of their neighbors.

Maria José Atienza-March 9, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes
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Begoña Herrera, a Spaniard, has been living in Poland for half her life. For years, she has been developing projects related to women and fashion with ProStyle. A few weeks ago, the world turned upside down and an entire country was mobilized by the arrival of its Ukrainian neighbors, besieged by Russian army attacks.

More than one million people have already crossed the border into Poland, and even more are expected. A situation that led Begoña, together with a group of friends and collaborators, to use their know how and his contacts to help those fleeing the war.

What began as a call to donate new clothes to bring joy and dignity to the women and girls who crossed the border with a small suitcase, has been joined by other initiatives: transportation, basic products, shelter.

Feeling "at home

Through an account on Instagram. @jakwdomu.help (jakwdomu The project (which in Polish literally means "like at home") is giving an account of the work that, in just a few weeks, has already been carried out with hundreds of people and the projects they want to start up.

Poland is the country that is taking in the most refugees, and it does so without refugee camps. Once they arrive on Polish territory, they are housed in transport stations, industrial buildings, school halls and residences. Some of them have relatives and acquaintances there or elsewhere in Europe and spend only a few hours in these improvised shelters.

Countries such as Spain, Italy and France already receive groups of refugees through civil organizations, NGOs and religious organizations. However, many of them still have a long time ahead of them on Polish soil: "That is why it is necessary to set up projects with which they can get ahead, at least at the beginning," Begoña points out. In fact, the authorities already estimate that a high percentage of those who have crossed the border will not return to their places of origin for several years. This, as Begoña points out, "means that we have to think in the long term, what will happen to these people in a few months or a few years". 

Women and children

A very high percentage of those seeking refuge in Poland are women and children, and for this reason, the projects that Begoña and her group of collaborators want to implement have these two groups as their main target groups. "In the next few weeks we are going to start groups for mothers and children. For them, we are going to start with some sessions on handicrafts, accessories and sewing, products that they can then sell online and that will allow them to have their own income. For two things, first of all to recover their lost dignity: they have abandoned their homes and their jobs and now they can't do anything; on the other hand, because their currency is worthless, the money they would have been able to get from there has been greatly devalued."

Another of the projects comes from the hand and help of Santi, the illustrator known as SAMLOThe project will create groups of children who have not yet been able to go to school, in order to carry out artistic workshops with them, which will help them develop their imagination. "When they arrive, the only thing they have is a cell phone or tablet and they spend hours glued to the screens", says Begoña, "thanks to Santi and his mobilization, he comes loaded with materials for the work with these children".

A girl who is here now has two PhDs, one of them in Polish Philology; a few weeks ago she was teaching at the University, today she is a refugee.

Begoña Herrera

The idea is, above all, to integrate those who find themselves in a situation of complete disengagement. "We see that, thank God, in the centers people are welcomed, they can sleep under a roof, but there is no positive climate. People are beaten up inside because of the war. There are many people together in one place, but they are not united. The war provokes two completely opposite reactions: that of closing in on oneself or that of giving oneself to others, and we have to give the second one a chance".

Many of the people who have crossed the borderThey even come with their laptops, with the idea of working from wherever they can, but their companies no longer exist. For example, a girl who is here now. She has two doctorates, one of them in Polish Philology; a few weeks ago she was teaching at the University, today she is a refugee. These are people who have suddenly lost their identity. We have to help them find their dignity". For this defense of dignity is why, for example, they ask for donations of new clothes, "which we collect and think about who we can give personally, so that the girl who receives, for example, a coat, feels herself, likes it, does not feel like a refugee," says Begoña. In this sense, she is grateful for the donation that Two Thirds, a brand of ecological textile manufacturing, has sent them on this occasion.

At the moment, they have the collaboration of many people. Several schools promoted by the Sternik Association have joined this project by providing storage facilities or the work of many volunteers.

"We have to start thinking about the future," Begoña stresses, about what is going to become of all these people, how they can start a new life, with a job, with a responsibility... to become themselves again. Receiving the first few days is vital, but, at some point, we all need to know that we are valuable, useful".

A task that will require the involvement of the whole of society, not just Polish society, and has only just begun.

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Integral ecology

Moral of life

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 care for nature involves what he calls "integral ecology," which includes both care for the environment and, above all, care for human beings.

Emilio Chuvieco-March 9, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

Text in Italian here

A few years ago, Pope Benedict XVI reflected on the different attitudes of contemporary society towards the moral positions of the Church. On the one hand, there are issues where there is a complete convergence with what we could call "current sensibility", as would be the case of care for the vulnerable, the search for justice and peace, or respect for the environment; on the other hand, a fairly widespread rejection of issues concerning sexual morality or the beginning and end of life.

A few years ago also, after Pope Francis' speech in the European Parliament, the then leader of Podemos, who was present there, indicated that he had given several "likes" to the Pope's words on some issues (his criticism of the current economic model), showing his rejection of others (his defense of the life of the unborn). Now, if those on the opposite political spectrum were to respond sincerely, they would surely have the same divergence (in the opposite direction, of course), although perhaps they would not dare to openly criticize the Pope on those social issues where, deep down, he seems to them "suspiciously progressive".

This double attitude towards morality is widespread. In my opinion, it is due to a confusion about the anthropological vision of the Church, and therefore of the Gospel, which considers morality as a consequence of the way in which human beings - and therefore other creatures - have been created by God. And this implies taking into account in moral judgment the dimensions that make up the human person: the biological, the social and the rational-spiritual. On the other hand, these dimensions are not exclusive to believers, since they have been shared by many other moral philosophers throughout history, from Aristotle to Cicero, who have also accepted the natural law as the foundation of moral judgment, even without considering it to be of divine origin.

The concept of integral ecology

These ideas came to mind while reading Pope Francis' latest book ("Let Us Dream Together: The Road to a Better Future World," 2020). Faced with those who remain suspicious of his stance 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 terms "integral ecology", which includes both the care of the environment and, above all, the care of human beings.

For Pope Francis, that vision entails "much more than caring for nature; it is caring for one another as creatures of a God who loves us, and all that that implies. That is to say, if you think that abortion, euthanasia and the death penalty are acceptable, it will be difficult for your heart to care about the pollution of rivers and the destruction of the rainforest. And the reverse is also true. So, even if people continue to vehemently argue that these are problems of a different moral order, as long as people insist that abortion is justified, but desertification is not, or that euthanasia is wrong, but river pollution is the price of economic progress, we will continue to be stuck in the same lack of integrity that got us where we are. I think Covid-19 is making this clear for anyone with eyes to see. This is a time to be consistent, to unmask the selective morality of ideology and to fully embrace what it means to be children of God. That is why I believe that the regeneration of humanity must begin with integral ecology, an ecology that takes seriously the cultural and ethical deterioration that goes hand in hand with our ecological crisis. Individualism has consequences" (p. 37).

I think it cannot be said better what it means that both dimensions of natural morality go hand in hand, that caring for nature and caring for people is not a disjunction, but rather two sides of the same coin, both because as humans we are also nature, and because nature is our home and we need it to be clean in order to continue living in it.

Some Catholics who continue to see dichotomies in this integral concept of the moraleThey claim that it makes no sense to have ecological concerns while defending the elimination of human beings in gestation.

I agree.

But neither is it, as Francis indicates, to defend human life and despise that of other creatures. It is all part of the same thing, and until we know how to integrate it into a common morality, what we could call "morality of life", it will be difficult to overcome the dysfunction to which I referred earlier. A morality of life that is anchored in the natural law (in the classical sense and in the more recent sense of nature), and allows us to extend it to all types of people, whether believers or not.

A not-so-novel idea

This idea of Pope Francis is not new. It was already clearly indicated in his previous writings (starting with the encyclical Laudato si), and linking with the Magisterium of the pontiffs who have preceded him.

Suffice it to mention a few significant paragraphs of St. John Paul II. For example, at the end of his message for the 1990 World Day of Peace, he said: "Respect for life and for the dignity of the human person also includes respect and care for creation, which is called to unite with man in order to glorify God (cf. Ps 148 and 96)".

In the same way, he indicated in the encyclical Centesssimus annusThe earth is not only given by God to man, who must use it with respect for the original intention that it is a good, according to which it was given to him; man himself is also a gift of God and must therefore respect the natural and moral structure with which he has been endowed" (n. 38).

Benedict XVI also devoted a substantial part of his magisterium to the environmental question. In the Caritas in veritateIt is a contradiction to ask the new generations to respect the natural environment when education and laws do not help them to respect themselves. The book of nature is one and indivisible, both with regard to life, sexuality, marriage, the family, social relations, in a word, integral human development" (n. 51).

To underline the coherence between these two ways of understanding ecology, in his message for the 2007 World Day of Peace, he said: "If humanity is truly interested in peace, it must always bear in mind the interrelationship between natural ecology, that is, respect for nature, and human ecology. Experience shows that every disrespectful attitude towards the environment leads to damage to human coexistence, and vice versa" (n. 8).

In short, if we are truly consistent with the morality that flows from the natural law (and ultimately, for a Christian, from God's creative design), we should care for nature, both human and environmental.

Bioethics and environmental ethics must be based on a set of common principles, valid for rejecting both the indiscriminate manipulation of a human embryo and of a plant or animal species. Establishing confrontations between them is artificial and pernicious for both.

Therefore, as Francis pointed out in the Laudato siThe solution to social and environmental problems "requires an integral approach to combat poverty, to restore dignity to the excluded and simultaneously to care for nature" (n. 139).

It is not a question of choosing between getting out of poverty and respecting the environment, but of promoting integral development that takes into account the good of people and the environment in which they find themselves, for their own well-being and that of the other living beings that accompany us in this marvelous gift we have received from God the Creator.

The authorEmilio Chuvieco

Professor of Geography at the University of Alcalá.

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ColumnistsMaria Candela Temes

The moral stature of Joseph Ratzinger

The letter published by the Pope emeritus in February in response to the Munich law firm's abuse report demonstrates admirable humility and moral stature. 

March 9, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

On February 6, Benedict XVI published a historic letter. In it he clarified that there was a transcription error in the 82-page report he sent to the Munich law firm, which was investigating cases of pederasty in the German Church. The report was the answer to a series of questions from the lawyers, to which was added the reading and analysis of almost eight thousand pages of documents, as well as the study of an expert report of almost two thousand pages. 

This transcription error, which denied Ratzinger's participation in a meeting in which he was present and in which it was decided to welcome an abuser priest in the diocese, has led to a strong controversy that points to the former bishop as a cover-up of up to four priests, in the less than five years he was at the head of the diocese of Munich and Friesland.

Later it became known that during that meeting there was no discussion of the accusations against the clergyman, of which Ratzinger was unaware. In any case, the letter is much more than a legitimate exercise of self-defense. 

The Pope Emeritus examines his conscience and opens his heart before men, but above all before "....the final judge". And in writing, as he has demonstrated on numerous occasions with the facts, he apologizes for the "great guilt". of the sin of pederasty perpetrated in the Church by priests and religious. He recalls his encounters with victims of abuse and again expresses deep shame, great pain and sincere request for forgiveness.

"Every case of sexual abuse is terrible and irreparable."Benedict admits. The frank apology of the man who has taken some of the most forceful measures to curb this scourge within the Church demonstrates the gravity of the sin, but also the humility and moral stature of Joseph Ratzinger.

The authorMaria Candela Temes

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Scripture

"The Transfiguration shows us the way", II Sunday of Lent

Commentary on the readings of the Second Sunday of Lent and brief video homily by Father Luis Herrera.

Andrea Mardegan / Luis Herrera-March 9, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Luke places the Transfiguration of Jesus, like Matthew and Mark, after the first announcement to the apostles of his passion, death and resurrection and after the invitation to take up the cross every day and follow him, to lose one's life for him and thus save it. In this framework, the mystery acquires one of its most important meanings. Jesus gives to the three closest apostles an anticipation of his resurrection and a visibility of his divinity, which illuminates his humanity, his face and also his garments that, then more than today, highlighted the role and dignity of the person. 

Luke's account adds three details to those of Matthew and Mark. The first is the prayer. Jesus goes up the mountain to pray, and during the dialogue with the Father there is the shining of his face and the shining of his garment. It makes us want to follow Jesus on the mountain to imitate him in prayer and to let ourselves be enlightened, like him, by the love of the Father: "The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear?" "Hide not thy face from me, O God of my salvation." (Ps 26).

The second is the subject of the conversation with Moses and Elijah: "They spoke of his exodus, which he was to consummate in Jerusalem." Jerusalem is very present as the goal of the whole Gospel of Luke, and above all as the goal of the life of Jesus: his exodus is the passion and death on the Cross, with the Resurrection and Ascension into heaven. The Ascension is in Luke the summit and the conclusion of his Gospel, the exodus of Jesus-man towards the heavenly Jerusalem to sit at the right hand of the Father. And it is also at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles and, therefore, of the history of the Church: "You shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.".

The third original detail of Luke is the dream that befalls the three apostles. The first reading, on God's covenant with Abram, offers us an interpretation of this dream. Abram prepares the rite of the covenant according to the customs of the time: animals cut in two parts, in the middle of which the contracting parties passed to indicate that the same fate would have befallen them if they had transgressed the covenant. But, because of Abram's dream, only God passed between the cut animals. God's covenant is unilateral, conceived and offered to his people by him as an act of unconditional love. We can receive this gift, accept this grace. And, to do so, the Transfiguration shows us the way: to follow Jesus to the mountain of prayer to be enlightened by God; to accompany Jesus on his way to the cross and resurrection, and the Ascension into heaven; and then, to be witnesses of him everywhere, with the power of the Holy Spirit, and the company of friends in heaven and on earth.

The Homily in one minute

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

The authorAndrea Mardegan / Luis Herrera

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Cardinal Parolin telephones Russian Foreign Minister: "Stop armed attacks".

The Secretary of State of the Holy See has had a call with Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister, to convey to him the appeal of Pope Francis and the will of the Holy See "to do everything, to place itself at the service of peace".

David Fernández Alonso-March 8, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsPope Francis shows closeness to Ukraine by sending two cardinals to the borderRelated NewsA test for Poland

As confirmed by the Holy See Press Office, the Cardinal Secretary of State of the Holy See, Pietro Parolin, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, a close collaborator of President Putin, had a telephone conversation today, Tuesday, March 8. The Cardinal conveyed Pope Francis' deep concern for the war being waged in Ukraine and reaffirmed what the Pope said last Sunday at the Angelus. In particular, confirmed the director of the Vatican Press Room, Matteo Bruni, that Parolin reiterated the appeal of the Holy Father to the end of armed attacks, to the creation of humanitarian corridors for civilians and those who help them, and to the replacement of armed violence by negotiation. Finally, the Secretary of State reaffirmed the will of the Holy See "to do everything, to place itself at the service of peace".

Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

It is now the thirteenth day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has triggered a very serious dispute between the two countries and an international crisis at different levels. Pope Francis is following the situation closely. in Eastern Europe and is making efforts to broker peace in the region. He recently announced that he had sent to two cardinals as an expression of the Church's solidarity with the suffering Ukrainian people, as reported by Omnes: in particular, to Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, Apostolic Almsgiver, and Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Prefecture of the Church of Ukraine. ad interim of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development. The Holy See is clearly placing itself at the service of the establishment of peace in Ukraine.

Cardinal Krajewski arrived in the Ukrainian city of Lviv (Lviv), in the west of the country, on Tuesday, after yesterday approaching the border between Poland and Ukraine, according to the Holy See Press Office. Cardinal Czerny, for his part, has also arrived today in Budapest, Hungary, to visit some reception centers for refugees coming from Ukraine. Both Cardinals will launch humanitarian operations with Ukraine.

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Interview with Fabio Colagrande. Humor, a spiritual virtue

Interview with Fabio Colagrande of Vatican Radio, who has become an expert on "good humor," a subject to which he has dedicated a recent book. For him, good humor is a great spiritual virtue. 

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

A Spanish professor, the father of university studies on journalism, the late Alfonso Nieto, used to say that "good humor has been robbed of time and space" and that "one of the most serious things in life is to smile.". It is remarkable how many years later he has been prophetic in this area as well. It is not by chance that Pope Francis often refers to this "prophecy".medicine"of the heart to address the numerous "crisis"We wanted to explore these themes with Fabio Colagrande, who has been with Vatican Radio for years. We wanted to explore these themes with Fabio Colagrande, who has been with Vatican Radio for years, and who in his "free time" explores these aspects in depth. 

In an excerpt from the Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et ExsultatePope Francis says that a saint is one who is capable of living "...".with joy and a sense of humor". How important is it to rediscover this value in the life of every baptized person?

-I believe that it is not only important, but urgent at this moment in the history of the Church. Humor, as the Pope points out, is in fact a great spiritual virtue that is a sign of detachment from material things and at the same time, as the etymological root shows, it is also a sign of the need to be detached from material things. humusa manifestation of humility. The lack of a sense of humor is an alarming symptom of how our life of faith has dried up. A self-referential and clerical Church, affected by what the Pope calls "a lack of a sense of humor".spiritual worldliness"It is a Church that takes itself too seriously and is incapable of self-criticism. 

We tend to dedicate our free time to frivolous and essentially "light" pastimes, but on the web we find hard and angry attitudes. How can this happen?

-I am not a psychologist, nor an expert in social networks, but I believe that social networks have become a place to vent our frustrations and neuroses. They are at our fingertips, in the smartphones that we always carry in our pockets, and we often populate them with posts and comments that express our discomfort, our dissatisfaction, our difficulty in relating to others. We need more self-discipline. We should limit their use and improve the quality of the time we spend on social networks. They are important opportunities for growth and knowledge, but only if they are used with discernment.

We come from two years of great suffering that have also affected our souls, sowing an almost generalized feeling of frustration and despair: can humor be a medicine also in this case?

Humor, as I said before, helps to develop a healthy self-irony and to know how to smile kindly at our weaknesses. Of course, it should not become destructive sarcasm, because then it only expresses negativity. It can be a medicine because it helps to live more lightly. It can be an opportunity to look at the world from a new perspective. And then I think it is necessary for those who believe in the transcendent and know that the visible is only a part of our lives. It helps to de-emphasize it and focus on the essential.

He has recently published a book in which he "makes fun" of some "tics"of Christian belonging: where does the idea come from and why is it important in the Church not to take oneself too seriously?

-After so many years of experience as a Catholic and Vatican journalist, I felt the need for a kind of "catharsis. That is to say, I wanted to go beyond all the problems of pastoral and ecclesial communication that I have witnessed, inviting myself and others to look almost with affection at certain limits of our life of faith. The occasion of the pandemic and the challenges it has generated seemed to me a propitious occasion. So I tried to tell the story of an imaginary diocese facing the need to transform this time of crisis into a time of renewal. I created characters that embodied our contradictions, our weaknesses, and I tried, through paradox, irony and a surrealistic style, to make funny and amusing certain ecclesial limitations with which we are forced to deal daily.

Chesterton explained that angels can fly "because they take it lightly". Is there hope for us too?

-Paraphrasing Cicero, I would say that as long as we have faith we will always have hope. To strive every day to believe in God's mercy, to feel loved by Him in our frailties, is an excellent way of not becoming discouraged and of learning to fly. Although perhaps it would be better to wear a helmet...

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Pope Francis shows closeness to Ukraine by sending two cardinals to the border

The Holy See Press Office has confirmed the dispatch of Cardinal Krajewski and Cardinal Czerny to various points on the Ukrainian border to bring aid to those in need and to show the Pope's closeness to the Ukrainian people.

David Fernández Alonso-March 7, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsUkrainian exodus of sufferingRelated NewsPoland: Refugee at home, God at home

The Pope announced it at the Angelus on Sunday, March 6 in St. Peter's Square: he has sent two cardinals as an expression of the Church's solidarity with the suffering Ukrainian people: Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, Apostolic Almsgiver, and Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Prefecture of the Church of Ukraine. ad interim of the Dicastery for the Service of Integral Human Development. The Holy See has clearly placed itself at the service of the establishment of peace in Ukraine.

Cardinal Krajewski arrives at the Polish-Ukrainian border on Monday, March 7, the Holy See Press Office said, and Cardinal Czerny will arrive in Hungary on Tuesday, March 8, to visit some reception centers for refugees coming from Ukraine. Both are on their way to Ukraine and depending on the situation will arrive in the country in the next few days.

Presence of the Christian people

The cardinals will be "the presence not only of the Pope, but of all the Christian people who want to come forward and say: 'War is madness! Please stop! Look at this cruelty! Rivers of blood and tears are flowing in Ukraine. This is not just a military operation, but war, which sows death, destruction and misery." In addition, they will bring aid to the needy.

At the same Angelus, Pope Francis affirmed that "the number of victims is increasing, as are the people fleeing, especially mothers and children. In that tormented country, the need for humanitarian aid is growing dramatically by the hour. I urgently appeal for humanitarian corridors to be truly secured and for aid access to besieged areas to be guaranteed and facilitated in order to provide vital relief to our brothers and sisters oppressed by bombs and fear. I thank all those who welcome the fugitives. Above all, I implore that armed attacks cease, that negotiations prevail - and common sense prevail - and that international law be respected once again."

Similar situations

Pope Francis also wanted to draw attention to the many similar situations around the world. As the Pontiff had already recalled the previous Sunday: "With my heart torn by all that is happening in Ukraine - and let us not forget the war in other parts of the world, such as Yemen, Syria, Ethiopia... - I repeat: let the weapons be silenced! God is with the peacemakers, not with those who use violence".

The Holy See states that Cardinal Czerny will continue to point out the sad similarity between the sufferings of Ukrainians and long-standing conflicts that no longer attract the world's attention. In addition, he will raise his concern that African and Asian residents in Ukraine, who also suffer fear and displacement, be allowed to seek refuge without discrimination. There are also worrying reports of increased human smuggling activities and smuggling of migrants across borders and into neighboring countries. Since the majority of those fleeing are believers, he will affirm that religious assistance must be offered to all, with sensitivity to ecumenical and interfaith differences. Finally, in the laudable efforts to provide humanitarian responses and organize humanitarian corridors, there is a great need for coordination, good organization and shared strategy, to embrace the suffering of the people and provide effective aid.

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The Vatican

The Holy See works for peace in Ukraine

Rome Reports-March 7, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute
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Pope Francis has again shown his sorrow and concern for the war in Ukraine.

At this Sunday's Angelus, Pope Francis affirmed that "the The Holy See is ready to do whatever is necessary, to put itself at the service of this peace.".

The pontifical almoner, the Pole Konrad Krajewski and Cardinal Michael Czerny, provisional prefect of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development, are in Ukraine to coordinate the Church's aid and to mediate, within their possibilities, to achieve peace in the area.

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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First Mass in Geneva Cathedral after five centuries

In the heart of a Europe shaken by the war in Ukraine, a flame was lit for peace among Christians. The cathedral of Geneva, which with the Calvinist reform had excluded Catholic worship almost five centuries ago, welcomed the Holy Mass for the first time.

Carlos Ayxela-March 7, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsA Mass in Geneva Cathedral after five centuries

Last Saturday, March 5, at 6 p.m., in the heart of a Europe shaken by the war in Ukraine, a flame was lit for peace among Christians. It is not a minor event, nor an ephemeral episode: the cathedral of Geneva, which with the Calvinist reform had excluded Catholic worship from its walls almost five centuries ago, welcomed the Holy Mass for the first time. The exalted rhetoric echoed in one of the inscriptions still engraved on the walls of the church today: "In the year 1535, the tyranny of the Roman antichrist having been overthrown and superstition abolished, the Holy religion of Christ has been restored in its purity...". In fact, the last Mass celebrated in the cathedral, in the summer of that year, had ended with riots, expulsion of the clergy, and destruction and pillage of the statues and objects of worship, symbols of "idolatry". A scenario at the antipodes of the cordiality with which Calvinists and Catholics would meet, under those same vaults, at the turn of the centuries. Not any time in the past was better.

How did it come to this? Although many generations have had to pass to appease tempers and bring positions closer together, the origin of the story that leads to this celebration goes back a few years: a terrace conversation between Pascal Desthieux, then pastor of a church in Geneva, and Emmanuel Rolland, a Reformed pastor. Desthieux was telling his friend about the Mass that has been celebrated annually since 2004 in Lausanne, the second largest city in French-speaking Switzerland, whose cathedral is also in the hands of a Reformed church. Like someone who has an idea (une boutade), Desthieux added: "Of course, if something like that happens in Geneva, it is not for the day after tomorrow...". It is true: the symbolic burden of hosting a Mass in the cathedral would be much stronger in this city, the world center of Calvinism, the Protestant denomination with the greatest international influence. The conversation then went on in a different direction, but the challenge was already served. Certainly, the thing was not for two days later, but it was for a few years later, when Rolland contacted Desthieux with the news that, in his opinion, the times were ripe.

After a series of consultations and deliberations, the consistory of the Protestant Church would approve the celebration of this first Eucharist for February 29, 2020. Already Omnes had reported this then imminent event.The event was cancelled just over 24 hours earlier due to the outbreak of the Covid pandemic and the restrictions imposed at the time on large gatherings. The celebration was postponed twice more, and was only able to take place almost exactly two years later, when the restrictions due to the pandemic were lifted.

In the choice of this new date, the choice of the precise moment of the liturgical year was maintained: the eve of the first Sunday of Lent. Still in the wake of Ash Wednesday, the Saturday celebration took up the rite of the beginning of Lent, a sign in which the Reformed faithful present were also invited to participate. This was intended to signify that it was not only a festive event, but also a penitential process. Catholics and Protestants wanted to ask forgiveness for their respective excesses and faults against unity in the past. In the same vein, the concelebrants recited the first Eucharistic prayer of Reconciliation, with excerpts in Portuguese, Italian and Spanish, perhaps the languages most represented among the faithful, in addition to French. 

Already in the first words that Daniel Pilly, president of the Cathedral's parish council, addressed to the assembly, the contrast between the tumult of that last Mass five centuries ago and the cordiality of this first one stood out. In issuing this invitation to Catholics, Pilly began, the council was conscious of "creating an event with a very strong symbolic charge" that highlights the reality of "fruitful ecumenical cooperation over many years" and the development of "mutual trust" between Catholics and Protestants. "The celebration of a Mass at the turn of 486 years - continued Pilly - is a significant gesture. Today we are happy to be able to take this step".

As was to be expected, Abbé Pascal Desthieux himself presided at the Eucharist, accompanied by about twenty concelebrating priests and several deacons. Although he had the modesty and the historical sense not to put himself at the center with his words, it is obvious that seeing it become a reality also means finir en beauté his ministry as episcopal vicar of the diocese for the canton of Geneva. "Your invitation, which we accept humbly and with much gratitude," Desthieux replied to the parish council of the Cathedral, "has great significance for us, and has aroused great enthusiasm, as shown by the impressive number of faithful gathered here."

Desthieux also asked for prayers for the conflict in Ukraine. He noted with emotion that among the faithful who crowded the church was a Ukrainian woman recently arrived in Geneva, fleeing the conflict; and, among the concelebrants, a Ukrainian priest, Sviatoslav Horetskyi, who has been responsible for the faithful of the Greek-Catholic rite in Geneva and Lausanne for the past few months.

It is to be hoped that this Eucharist in the cathedral will not be limited to an isolated event. At least that is what the words with which Pilly ended his welcoming address seem to imply: "We also want to show that this cathedral is a meeting place for all the Christians of Geneva. What unites us is the Gospel, and the Gospel is stronger than all the traditions that separate us. And that in no way prevents each of us from keeping our own identity. Such a celebration, he added, necessarily takes place "in communion with all the Christians who have prayed here during the 1500 years of Geneva's Christian history. Without their faith, we would not be here today.

The authorCarlos Ayxela

Geneva, Switzerland

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Romain de ChateauvieuxMercy changes the world".

Romain de Chateauvieux is an architect, father of a family and director of Misericordia International, an institution that develops social and pastoral projects in the peripheries of large cities in France, Argentina, Chile and the United States.

Bernard Larraín-March 7, 2022-Reading time: 7 minutes

Santiago de Chile is a city that can be deceptive. Upon arrival, the airport offers the welcome and quality of the most modern airports in the world. The health protocols during the covid pandemic have been recognized and praised as the most advanced. The vaccination policy has been one of the most successful globally. The fast urban highways make it possible to move in a few minutes through the different neighborhoods, including the financial center with its impressive skyscrapers. These same highways make it possible to move, in a few minutes, from one of the most elegant neighborhoods of the Chilean capital to one of the most abandoned sectors. From one reality to another very different one in a few moments. They are distant worlds that coexist in the same city. This is how we arrived at Población La Pincoya, in the north of Santiago, one of the poorest areas of the Chilean capital. 

La Pincoya was born in the 1930s from occupations by workers and it seems that time stopped a few years later: wooden houses built on the slopes of the hills, precarious and almost non-existent green spaces, crime and drug trafficking are the daily bread of the inhabitants. On a hot January day, it is summer in the southern hemisphere, at the Misericordia de La Pincoya center, the French architect-missionary Romain de Chateauvieux welcomes us and tells us his story for Omnes. More than an interview, it is a conversation between a Chilean living in France and a Frenchman living in Chile... the twists and turns of life. We go from Spanish to French and from French to Spanish without realizing it, maybe when we discover the accent that each one has in the other's mother tongue. Romain is one of those people with whom you speak as if you have known each other all your life.   

Romain de Chateauvieux is late for his appointment. This is something that often happens to people who dedicate their lives to solving other people's problems. They are not masters of their time, their schedules are flexible because they do not depend on them. Romain is about 40 years old, comes from an aristocratic French family, is married to Rena, Brazilian, with whom he has 5 children. In France, his name is associated with a whole generation of young social entrepreneurs such as Yann Bucaille, founder of the Cafés Joyeux (where the employees are people with disabilities), and Etienne Villemain who promoted the Association pour l'Amitié and Lazare (apartments where students or young professionals cohabit with homeless people). The waiting time gives me the opportunity to visit the Misericordia center - its chapels, classrooms, dining rooms, conservatory - and talk to some of the people who work there, in order to understand their motivations. You don't have to be a genius or come from far away to realize that more than a few buildings, what the French architect-missionary has built is an oasis. An oasis in La Pincoya. 

How does a Frenchman come to settle in La Pincoya? 

-God has acted in surprising ways in my life. As a student of architecture in Paris, I was traveling in South America. At that time, although I came from a Catholic family, I had abandoned the life of faith. In Brazil, accompanying a priest friend in a very poor area, I had a deep and personal conversion experience, I felt Jesus very close to me and I understood that He wanted me to serve the poor: it would be in the service of the poor that I would find the happiness I was looking for. I thought of becoming a priest, but at that time I met Rena. She is Brazilian, from a very humble social background. We became close friends and discovered our vocation to marriage and mission. That is how we traveled together by bus all over the continent, and we settled in Chile to serve the Church and the poorest of the poor 10 years ago. Our story is told in detail in our book "Misión Tepeyac". 

What is it like to be a father of five, a missionary, an architect, and an entrepreneur? 

-I try to unite everything in my life of prayer and relationship with God. Our children share our mission and are major players at the Misericordia center. In parallel, they lead a normal life of kids their age, they go to school, they have their friends, etc. My main occupation is to direct Misericordia internationally from Chile, we have activities in many countries and we have projects to continue growing. This activity allows me from time to time to exercise my passion for architecture, for example in the design of these buildings, classrooms, or the chapels that we build with wood brought from my French homeland. And finally, I am a missionary all day long because that is what being a Christian is all about. Concretely, in La Pincoya we are constantly visiting the families, talking to them about God and the Sacraments. Every year we have many baptisms, marriages, etc. 

 What is Mercy? 

Misericordia International is an institution that develops social and pastoral projects in the area of health and education in the peripheries of large cities in France, the United States, Chile and Argentina. We want to open soon a center in Spain and in England. In a more profound way, the Mercy Project is born of our conviction that mercy changes the world. By making our own the two great apostolic priorities of the Church, which are service to the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel, we want to be a generous and daring response to the exhortations of Pope Francis to launch a true revolution: that of tenderness!

Something very nice in Misericordia is that we work with many Catholic institutions and people of many sensibilities within the Church. This is also evident in all the saints that we try to put as examples in the classrooms, images, books: Mother Teresa, Father de Foucauld, Sister Faustina, the Chilean saint Alberto Hurtado, etc. With time I have realized that all the saints, even if they were very different from each other, had this constant concern for the poorest. These days, for example, I have been reading a biography of St. Josemaría, who began his apostolate in the poor neighborhoods of Madrid. 

On one of the walls is written the famous phrase of Pope Francis: "Mercy changes the world". Has Mercy changed La Pincoya?

-With God's grace, I think so. In this neighborhood, we are a place of welcome and formation for children and their families, for the elderly, pregnant mothers and street people. We give the children training, music, dance, literature, etc. classes. It seems to me that something important that we achieve is to keep them away from bad influences when they are no longer in classes, because they can come here to play, to learn, to grow, instead of being on the street. We take care of the sick and the elderly and clean them up. As Mother Teresa used to say, this is a drop in the ocean, we still have so much to do if we really believe that Jesus lives in the poor!

What differences do you see between your action in France and in Chile? 

-First of all, there is a clear difference in the way religion is mentioned. In France, there is a very strict secularism, institutional and legal, which sometimes causes Catholics to hide a little. In Chile, this is very different. Although Church and State have been separated for almost a century, the relationship with religion is not conflictive. Here, for example, our Catholic identity is very clear: the chapels, our message, the formation we give, and this does not cause any problem to anyone as it could be the case in France. 

It is also necessary to say something about poverty. I would say that it exists in both countries, but that in Chile it is more visible. We should not think that in France, because it is a more developed nation, poverty does not exist. On the contrary, it is very present but it is more hidden, it is less evident and that is part of the challenge because it has to be discovered.

Finally, with regard to our mission of evangelization, the contexts are very different. Chile is still a country very much marked by Christian culture and religion. On the other hand, our work in France takes place in an environment where Islam, anticlericalism and communism are very present. It could be said that in France we carry out a "first evangelization" so that our missionary zeal leads us, for example, to present Jesus, Way, Truth and Life, to Muslims or other people who have never heard of Him. 

For years, Chile has been undergoing a very strong political and social transformation. How do you see the current situation in the country? 

-As in the rest of the Western world, Chilean society has been secularizing little by little and this is a great challenge for Catholics in this country. The crisis in the Chilean Church has also been very strong and this has caused that a very respected institution has been losing its prestige and importance as a social actor. At the same time, for several years now, many immigrants, mainly Venezuelans, have been arriving in Chile. As we know, these migratory phenomena are not easy to channel, but I think that from the spiritual point of view, many of these people who arrive, who are very poor, have the great richness of faith and a sense of family: they can contribute a lot to Chile. Finally, the world has also witnessed the political crisis, the constitutional process and the last presidential elections. I sincerely think that we all have to be more supportive, to think about how to make this model of society more fraternal and humane. In particular, we Catholics have to do our bit in this process of reconciliation. 

Do you see your future in Chile? What other projects do you have? 

-We are doing very well in Chile, but our vocation as missionaries pushes us constantly to look for new challenges, to be always on the move, to not stay in our comfort zone. What I like are the beginnings of a project because I believe that I have the spirit of a pioneer, of an entrepreneur. In La Pincoya, I have probably reached a certain point of comfort: I already have my routine, I know everyone, I speak the language, etc. I am ready for whatever God wants and I am ready to do what God wants. I am ready for whatever God wants and maybe at some point He will ask me to leave this beautiful land that is Chile.

The authorBernard Larraín

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Omnes publishes the short stories of the 2021 contest for life

In the midst of preparations for the March for Life 2022, which will take place on Sunday, March 27, with the prologue that same day of the Madrid Urban Mile Race, Omnes publishes the book Stories of life'.which gathers the winning texts and participants in the 2021 short story contest, which can be found on this website.

Rafael Miner-March 7, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

It is a 50-page e-book, which includes 21 participating and winning stories around the competition of the I Carrera Deportistas por la Vida, held in June 2021 in the Valdebebas park in Madrid. It is entitled 'Relatos de vida', and has been published by Omnes.

The race was organized by the Asociación Deportistas por la Vida y la Familia, chaired by José Javier Fernández Jáuregui, and Omnes was a collaborating partner, as this year, in which the Association is preparing the II Carrera Deportistas por la Vida, in Urban Mile format (1,609 meters), which will take place at 10.00 a.m., this time in the center of Madrid, in Serrano street, on the corner of Goya.

It will be the prologue to the March for Life organized by the Yes to Life Platform at 12:00 noon, which Omnes has reported, also with a interview to its coordinator, Alicia Latorre.

The Platform is made up of more than 500 associations that work for the defense of life from its beginning to its natural end, and is once again calling on civil society on March 27 in Madrid, starting at Serrano and arriving at the Plaza de Cibeles, where an event will be held with testimonies, music and a final manifesto. The International Day of Life will be celebrated again after two years without taking to the streets due to the health situation.

Participating stories and winners

The winners of the Competition of last year's short stories about The gift of life and sport were three young girls, Omnes reported. In the under-19 category, the first prize ex aequo went to María José Gámez Collantes de Terán, a first-year high school student at the Adharaz Altasierra school (Espartinas, Seville), from the Attendis group, with a story titled Run! and 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 life.

BookLife Stories2021PDFDownload

In both cases, the winners learned about the Short Story Contest through their teachers. Loreto Macho Fernández, a graduate in Physical Activity and Sports Sciences and a Physical Education teacher at Adharaz, and Margarita Arizón, a teacher in this case of Universal Literature.

In the category of Sportswomen, the winner was Lorena Villalba Heredia, from Gijón, with the story titled Nyala, after overcoming, triumphing. Lorena has a degree in Primary Teaching and Physical Education from the University of Oviedo, and subsequently completed a master's degree in Research and Innovation in Early Childhood and Primary Education at the same university. She currently works as a teacher and researcher at the University of Zaragoza.

The short story contest this month

Those interested in participating in the II Short Story Contest on the gift of Life and Sport, this March's contest, may view the following information Basis here. As last year, there are three categories: under 19 years old, federated athletes and professionals of physical education and sport, and open category, and the texts must be sent to the mail address: [email protected]indicating the name and postal address of the sender.

The admission of the stories will take place from March 10 until March 20, 2022. The jury's decision will be announced on March 25 and the list of winners will be published on the Association's website.

Sportsmen for life and family "wants to pay tribute to the caregivers of the most fragile life by collecting short stories inspired by the world of sports and the vulnerability of human life".

STORY CONTEST RULESDownload

The Urban Mile on March 27th

This year's Race for Life "we will be able to do it together with all the participants of the March for Life, which will start when we finish the races, from the same place", in Serrano and Goya, reports José Javier Fernández Jáuregui, president of the Association Athletes for Life and Family.

"Our race will have the distance of an Urban Mile (1,609 m), and the heats will start at 10 a.m., so that at 12 noon the Walk can begin," he explains. "We have set a limit of 500 runners. I think the distance is affordable for many people. To reach 500 runners, each of those who participated last year should be accompanied by four new ones. I encourage you to invite them with your example and experience from last year's testimonials."

The link to register for the on-site race is this oneand have here the link to register for the virtual race. Fernández Jáuregui recently recalled the testimony of Michelle last year. For more information, please write to [email protected]or by phone at 629406454.

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The World

A test for Poland

Nearly one million Ukrainians have sought refuge in neighboring Poland. There, an entire country has mobilized to take them in. State authorities have called for coordinated actions. Volunteers, like Marta, point out that this situation "has changed their priorities".

Barbara Stefańska-March 6, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsPoland: Refugee at home, God at homeRelated NewsUkrainian exodus of suffering

Tekst oryginału w języku polskim tutaj/ original text in Polish.

Volunteers waiting 24 hours a day at the train station for the arrival of refugees, people welcoming new arrivals into their own homes, generous financial aid and constant prayers: we wholeheartedly sympathize with our brutally attacked neighbors.

The number of refugees from Ukraine whoe have arrived in Poland, so far, is approaching one million. There are several reception points in the Polish capital, Warsaw. Trains full of Ukrainians fleeing the war arrive at railway stations, with huge delays.

With only one suitcase

Ukrainians leave the country in pain, leaving behind relatives, parents or siblings. Valentina arrived with her 3-year-old son Mark, while her husband stayed behind to fight in the defense of Kiev. She was waiting for a full day at the train station, without light, to leave the Ukrainian capital.

Svetlana with her daughters Sofia, Nastia and her grandmother Yefrosienia survived a journey full of fear. This is how they explained it to Irena Świerdzewska of the weekly 'Idziemy',: 'We live on the outskirts of Kiev. We practically did not leave the shelter. When we took the train, a plane passed over us, we were very scared. It was terrible. Now we feel better, calmer. We are glad that we managed to get out - thank God!".

Volunteers wait day and night for the new arrivals in Poland. They give them coffee, tea, soup and toys for the children. "They are very grateful to us," says volunteer Marta Dybińska, a Ukrainian-speaking blogger. "They flee with a single suitcase in which they have all their belongings," she describes, "they are very modest and say they don't need anything. One refugee finally admitted that his feet hurt a lot because his shoes were broken. A girl heard him and immediately went to buy new shoes at the mall," he recalls.   

Marta admits that there are no words to comfort them. They are worried about those left behind, in Ukraine: "A woman who came with her two daughters showed me on her cell phone a video sent from there and said "Here was our apartment. Now it is bombed".

Many Ukrainians who have previously lived in Poland are involved in helping refugees, which facilitates communication. "Being in this place changes our priorities" admits Marta, "you realize that you don't have to have so many dresses and bags, but you have to be human."

Marta Dybińska (left) next to some refugees.

No refugee camps

State and local authorities, church institutions headed by Caritas, many parishes, associations and individuals have been very involved in providing aid. In Poland there are no refugee camps, as in the images we know from the media during armed conflicts. Ukrainians are accommodated in various centers and also in private homes. Some are taken in by relatives living in Poland, while others are taken further west.

Marina and Wołodia, with their four children aged 2 to 16, ended up at the Caritas center in Urle, near Warsaw. They rushed out of their home and managed to ride on the steps of a crowded bus.  

Before the Russian aggression, several hundred thousand migrants from Ukraine had already arrived in Poland to work. Now, some of them have been joined by relatives. One of them is Alona, a seamstress by profession, who works in Warsaw as a cab driver. After the outbreak of war, she was joined by her mother and two young daughters. Her father stayed in the country to fight.

A long-term plan

Many individuals are joining in to help. Frequently, in WhatsApp groups and chats, this type of message appears: blankets and mattresses needed, two refugees seeking shelter, clothing needed, etc. There is a great desire to support. In this regard, the state authorities have appealed not to bring gifts to the Polish-Ukrainian border personally, but to use coordinated actions. 

Last Sunday, the collection of Polish parishes went to refugees. They collected donations in kind and prayed fervently for peace for Ukraine.

For now, we in Poland are responding to immediate needs, but soon, these people will need long-term help. Refugees can benefit from the state health service, family benefits have already been announced, for example, and children are being placed in schools and kindergartens. Poland has faced a big challenge, exposing itself also to the aggressor. For now we are passing the test.

The authorBarbara Stefańska

Journalist and secretary of the editorial staff of the weekly "Idziemy"

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RelatedRelated NewsPoland: Refugee at home, God at homeRelated NewsUkrainian exodus of suffering
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  • Focus
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  • Gregorio LuriThere is a catastrophic impulse, a pre-apocalypse atmosphere".
Education

Gregorio LuriThere is a catastrophic impulse, a pre-apocalypse atmosphere".

"There is a certain catastrophist impulse, an atmosphere of pre-apocalypse, of what will become of the world, of fear of the future. And the Christian has something important to say," says the philosopher Gregorio Luri in an interview with Omnes days before the Russian invasion in Ukraine. The teacher speaks of showing faith, of ideologies, of family and beer, of education. From the LOMLOE he would "redirect everything".

Rafael Miner-March 5, 2022-Reading time: 8 minutes

Gregorio Luri (Navarre, 1955), is one of the most sought-after philosophers and pedagogues of today. He needs no introduction. And with prior notice, we caught him on the AVE, coming from Barcelona to Madrid, at least a week before the war in Ukraine. He answers from the platform of a carriage, which is much appreciated. His twitter account @gregorioluri is very visited, and you can complete there, and naturally in his numerous publications, his thought, which always has strength and renewed ideas, some certainly surprising.

A few weeks ago, Gregorio Luri has intervened in a colloquium presentation of the Master's Degree in Christianity and Contemporary Culture, which is being launched by the University of Navarra, and which will be launched next academic year 2022-2023. It took place at the Madrid Campus, together with Lupe de la Vallina, photographer; and Ricardo Piñero, professor of Aesthetics and professor of the Master. It was attended by more than 400 people, both in person and online, and that's where we started this conversation.

Let's talk about the Master's degree that you and your colleagues presented in Madrid. What would you highlight?

- Few things are more urgent today than to give value to what is human. And to value the human from a humanist point of view, which for me means the affirmation of human nature. Man is not only history, but he is also nature. Or if you want, in other words, that there are ahistorical components in human historicity.

The feeling that I have, at least, is that today it seems that man has become tired of himself, as if when we realize that the promises we made to ourselves during the Enlightenment have not been fulfilled, what we are opting for is a technological modification. To value human nature seems to me to be basically a question of hygiene in our times. That is why I participated enthusiastically in the presentation of this Master's program. I believe that few things are more essential than to reclaim the nobility of what is human.

At the beginning of your speech, you quoted some words of St. John Paul II to the young people in Chile. And you spoke of fear, and of God's love, something that surprised me right off the bat.

- Let's see. Everyone sees the present from their own point of view. From a pedagogical point of view, what I see is that today, even school children are being educated in fear of the future. All the progressive ideology elaborated throughout the 19th century seems to have drifted towards pessimism. What is going to become of the world? What is going to become of us? There is, so to speak, a certain catastrophist impulse in the present. In other words, there is an atmosphere of pre-apocalypse. What is going to happen to the world, what is going to happen to everything?

Well, faced with this situation, faced with the fear of the future, I think that the Christian has something important to say, not so much to others, but to himself. That is what the Epistle of St. John says: We have come to know the love of God. The love of God precedes us. Before. It is not a promise for the future. It is something we have already experienced. God loves us. And therefore, if this is a fact, if we have already known God's love, why should we be afraid of it?

You also spoke towards the end, and others picked it up at the table, about beauty. How can we best show faith? And you agreed, through beauty and love.

- If you read the Gospels in a naive way, which I think is how you have to read them, and you come across the Birth of Jesus, is there a more beautiful story than that? The fact that you are going to kneel not before an ideology but before a newborn, I think, is profoundly beautiful. On the other hand, the Christian tradition is complex, and there are moments that are difficult to be proud of. But if we take into account what has been permanent in the Christian tradition, that approach to beauty seems essential to me.

If you will allow me to tell you an anecdote, here it goes. It sums up a little of what I want to say. I have a special weakness for religion teachers. When they call me, I always try to go. First, because they are having a hard time. And second, because they need to know that there are people willing to help them. And once, in a place, I'm going to omit the name, where I was going to be with religion teachers from a community, I said: Look, the power we have is extraordinary. I am going to summon God right now and he is going to appear right here. You can imagine the surprise that this provoked. Because I am going to say: Lord manifest yourself, and he is going to manifest himself. A great expectation was created.

I had already prepared the following with another person. When I said, "Lord, manifest Yourself," the Locus Isteby Bruckner. That beauty of Bruckner when he is saying, what place is this? It is the place where God manifests himself. That beauty, when you heard it, it's impossible not to be moved by that. And in those moments, Benedict XVI had just said something that I totally believe in. If there is something divine in beauty, it is because it is a manifestation of God. I think it is impossible not to be moved by beauty. And in that emotion there is an aftertaste of something that goes beyond the object. And that aftertaste of what goes beyond the object is transcendence.

I'm going to give a low down, Don Gregorio, with two topics.

- Let's see.

First. For years we have been witnessing ideologies such as gender ideology, or this culture of cancellation, 'woke', of which Rémi Brague spoke in Madrid. How to face these phenomena of social antagonisms, of confrontation...?

- What modern ideologies aim at is a radical reduction of the complexity of the world of life, of the world in which we live, where we manifest the various dimensions of the human.

Ideologies reduce the world of life to what from their principles things should be. And what does not fit in those schemes, in their schemes, is considered perverse. In such a way that when an ordinary person tells you: I believe that..., they say: no, no, you do not believe that, you believe something else, what happens is that you are an alienated person, and then you must think as I tell you.

I believe that today the elementary things in the world of life are in danger. And that means that the common man's sanity is in danger. That's why I find Chesterton's claim about laughter, marriage and beer more and more revolutionary.

I believe that defending laughter, marriage and beer today is the main argument against these ideological reductionisms. We must defend laughter, marriage and beer, and we must defend the common sense of the ordinary person.

I also say, and I repeat and insist, that a normal family is a psychological bargain. As it is. I am absolutely convinced. While you find so many people ready to criticize the family because it is not perfect, I think we have to claim that this normal family, with its imperfections, of course, is a psychological bargain.

However, sometimes we Christians do not make it easy. The abuse of minors, the damage to the reputation of priests, and of the Church itself.

- I believe that all that can be said about abuse was said by Jesus in one sentence: Woe to anyone who scandalizes them! I think there is no need to add anything else.

You say on your Twitter account that the loser in a dialogue is the one who wins. Explain it to me, because now we all want to be right, don't we?

- The loser is the only one who has learned something in the dialogue. If you are going to defend thesis A, and at the end of the dialogue you maintain thesis A, what have you learned? You have learned nothing. You may have succeeded, and then there is the ego's vainglory. Now, if you are going to defend thesis A, and in the course of the dialogue you discover that this thesis has to be rewritten, you are the one who has learned. In a dialogue, it seems elementary to me. The one who wins is the one who loses, or if you want, the one who has lost is the one who has won. That seems essential to me. Christians are losers who never stop winning.

You claim memory. It doesn't seem to be very fashionable. As an educator, what can you say?

- Fashions, as their name indicates, are seasonal issues. There was a philosophical group in Soria -now no longer exists, unfortunately-, wonderful, that the first time they invited me, they told me: we are only interested in the eternal. I was moved by those words. The question, for me, is: fashions are important, but you can't gauge them if you don't see them from outside the fashion. To judge a fashion you have to see it from outside, with a certain distance, don't you? 

What does all this have to do with memory? First, without memory there is no interiority. Because memory is the great refuge that allows you to isolate yourself a little from your surroundings, to be able to think, to ruminate, all that you carry with you, even the awareness of the dark parts that we always carry with us.

Second, I am convinced that what is not in the memory has not been learned. If you have read Don Quixote and absolutely nothing has remained in your memory, you have not read it. In the end, you keep from Don Quixote what has remained in your memory.

Third, you can't reflect on absent knowledge. Therefore, when we encourage kids that the important thing is to relate, to think, to be critical, I say: yes, but if you don't know something that allows you to think, what the hell are you thinking about?

And finally, I have never met anyone in my life who wants to have less memory than they have. Moreover, what I see is that people of a certain age who begin to lose memory live that as a drama. Therefore, if memory loss is a drama, memory gain is a party.

You don't hear about this.

- It doesn't worry me at all. I am interested, as I said before, in people who lose, win.

A word about education. We have a new education law (LOMLOE). Tell me one aspect that you would redirect, if possible.

- It would bring everything back on track. I think a return to sanity is absolutely urgent. Sanity is, to me, the ability to learn from your own experience. Let's see what we do well, and let's learn from that. And we're going to see what we do wrong, and we're going to improve it. What doesn't make sense is to apply to our education system the criteria, for example, of Agenda 2030, and turn them into competencies and try to fit our reality into those criteria.

 Because, do you know what the problem is with those who always want to start from scratch? They can't learn from their experience. Because since they always have to learn from scratch, if there is one thing I am convinced of, it is that it is much more useful to learn a little from your experience, than to try to wipe the slate clean.

On the other hand, with the LOMLOE we are witnessing a very hypocritical spectacle. Because in the Ministry of Education they act as if they were governing, when those who govern are the Ministries of Education of the Autonomous Communities. But in practice they are not governing either, because we are witnessing an extraordinary methodological anarchy. Precisely because this methodological anarchy is real, and each center does what it deems appropriate or convenient, freedom of choice is essential.

A freedom of choice that is hindered, isn't it?

- But let's see, if we give autonomy to the centers, so that each one can be what it believes it has to be, and I have no choice, and I have to take my child to the school in my neighborhood, what good is that autonomy to me? If all the stores in Madrid sold exactly the same thing, autonomy would not be necessary. If each store sells different products, I want to have the possibility to choose where I want to buy...

We end the conversation with Gregorio Luri. We ask him to recommend a couple of books he considers interesting, and he answers: "I never do this. I don't like to recommend books. The reading biography of each one is sacred. Each one has to build his own reading path, his own reading process. I prefer not to say anything. And this despite the fact that I have just set up an essay publishing house in Barcelona".

We are not going to listen to him, and we give you the link: Rosameronalthough Gregorio Luri states: "I don't even recommend mine. The reader has to build his own reading story, his own reading memory. Culture does not live in books, it lives in the subjectivization of what is in books, television, Internet, etc. Everyone can build his own reading path. Because every interesting book will refer you to other books".

We would continue chatting for a long time with the master, but it is not possible. Have a good trip.

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The World

Poland: Refugee at home, God at home

The whole world is watching with admiration and amazement how Poles are turning out to help their Ukrainian neighbors. Hundreds of Polish families are welcoming refugees from Ukraine in their homes and from the media, institutions and especially the Church, evacuation, reception and aid groups are being organized.

Maria José Atienza-March 4, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsChaplain Ivan Lypka: "Ukraine wants to live in freedom. This has to be stopped"Related NewsACN launches campaign to support the Church in UkraineRelated NewsUkrainian exodus of suffering

Organized or private initiatives, by car, on foot... go to the borders and bring blankets, warm food and clothes. They pick up women, old people, children and take them to safe places. They wait for them with gifts at the train or bus stations...

"In all the dioceses of Poland, concrete help has been organized for refugees and people who have remained in Ukraine. Religious houses, Caritas centers, parish houses have opened their doors to those in need and to those seeking refuge during this difficult time," relates to Omnes Fr. Jakub J. Szyrszeń, a priest of the diocese of Krakow who, although he is in Spain at the moment, remains in direct contact with his country.

Some diocesan initiatives

In the Archdiocese of Krakow, Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski has created a team to help Ukraine and refugees arriving in the archdiocese. Caritas Poland and coordinates actions for the refugees who already exceed thousands through the various diocesan Caritas.

Centers, parish and retreat houses, schools or seminaries such as the one in Szczecin or Silesia have become shelters, and the Church is preparing more places to take care of all Ukrainians, especially women, children and elderly people who cross the border fleeing from the Russian military action.

A country with no refugee camp is already hosting hundreds of thousands of people, in fact, Caritas Poland plans to set up 20 aid centers for immigrants throughout Poland.

Fr. Jakub J. Szyrszeń recalls that "on Sunday and Ash Wednesday, collections were held in churches, the proceeds of which will be entirely allocated to help Ukraine. In every parish of the Archdiocese of Krakow you can take basic necessities to make them reach both Ukraine and the refugees, whom we will welcome here. Five of our priests are currently working in Ukraine and we are trying to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches their parishes through Caritas."

The dioceses of Zamość-Lubaczów and the Archdiocese of Lublin, three dioceses bordering Ukraine cooperate with the Border Guard and the Customs and Tax Service, which coordinate the influx of refugees to welcome and assist those passing into Poland fleeing the war.

Przemyśl, on the border with Ukraine, is one of the "hot spots" of this situation. There, Caritas prepares, daily, about 5,000 food rations for refugees and about 200 for law enforcement, doctors and volunteers that are distributed at the Przemyśl train station where thousands of people arrive every day. In addition to these meals, they distribute sandwiches, sweets, blankets, cots, and do activities for children not only at the station but also in different parts of the city.

The parish of Łomianki, belonging to the Archdiocese of Warsaw, is already hosting 700 refugees. Many of them, after spending the first hours in the parish premises, have been taken in by families of the parish. Volunteers of all ages are packing food, gifts, toys and clothes for the refugees. Others have organized vehicles to bring the refugees from the border as soon as possible.

The Archbishop of Katowice, Wiktor Paweł Skworc, has asked that, where possible and when necessary, parish structures (rooms, catechetical houses, free premises and apartments) and religious houses be made available to welcome the people who, for days now, have not ceased to arrive in Poland.

One of the first aid items to arrive on Ukrainian soil came from Caritas of the Archdiocese of Gdansk. Two vans loaded with basic goods were sent from Gdansk: long-lasting food, medicines, personal hygiene products and toys for children. Thanks to the extraordinary mobilization of Caritas workers and the good organization of the work, it was possible to fill the space of the vans very quickly and to the maximum. This aid, which in a few hours became too little because of the worsening of the conflict.

The Polish religious communities are being one of the key pillars in this aid to the refugees and the people of Ukraine. Many of these communities are in contact with their brothers in Ukraine, providing them with all possible assistance, such as the Jesuits who have created a team coordinated by the two Jesuit provinces in Poland, which organizes aid to refugees and support to Jesuits operating in the areas covered by the war. From Poland they prepare accommodation for refugees, transport gifts and people, and offer psychological support.

In Jasna Góra, the center of the Marian heart of Poland, the Pilgrim's House is already welcoming the first refugees. From the very beginning of the war, the Paulines who guard the shrine declared that they would welcome those seeking refuge and help.

A package for Ukraine

Caritas Poland has also launched a new campaign from March 4 "A Package for Ukraine". What is it about? Polish families, parish communities, Caritas school clubs and Caritas parish teams will be able to prepare packages of no more than 20 kg with the most necessary goods for a particular family. The package will be accompanied by a letter with words of support and will be sent to Ukraine.

Welcoming and prayer

In his Lenten message, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki President of the Polish Bishops' Conference thanked "every kind word and the smallest gestures of kindness addressed to our suffering brothers and sisters. Let us surround them with prayer, show cordiality, help them find work" and encouraged the faithful to pray for Russia. "There will be no peace in our part of the world until Russia returns to Christ," he noted.

Not only help, but also prayer for peace. The shrine of Jasna Góra, hosts a constant prayer for peace in Ukraine, especially before the Blessed Sacrament, permanently exposed.

Refugee at home, God at home

A sign of fraternity, of the Christian charity of the Polish people, which the Pope Francis wanted to highlightr at the audience on Wednesday, March 2, addressing the Bishops and the Polish people with these words: "You were the first to support Ukraine, opening your borders, your hearts and the doors of your homes to Ukrainians fleeing the war. You generously offer them everything they need to live with dignity, despite the drama of the moment. I am deeply grateful to them and bless them with all my heart."

"For the Church in Poland this Lent is a great catechesis on love of neighbor" notes priest Jakub J. Szyrszeń who recalls a Polish saying "Guest in the house, God in the house". During these weeks, in many homes in Poland, God will have a place in the eyes of those who have fled an imposed and terrible war.

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RelatedRelated NewsChaplain Ivan Lypka: "Ukraine wants to live in freedom. This has to be stopped"Related NewsACN launches campaign to support the Church in UkraineRelated NewsUkrainian exodus of suffering
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Culture

Giving your life for others. Skate Hero musical returns

Next March 11 will take place in the Nueva Cubierta of Leganés the performance of the musical Skate Heroinspired by the life and last hours of the young Spaniard Ignacio Echevarría, who died five years ago in a jihadist attack in London while defending an unknown young woman with his skateboard.

Maria José Atienza-March 4, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

On Friday, March 11, the Nueva Cubierta of Leganés will host two sessions of Skate HeroThe first one at 11:00 a.m., especially aimed at school groups, and the second one, general, at 8:00 p.m.

On this day when Spain remembers the victims of terrorism, Ignacio Echevarria, who gave his life to save a completely unknown person, will be remembered once again as an example of dedication and courage.

Story of Skate Hero. The Musical

The Musical was born in a group of young people of the Militia of Santa Maria, integrated in the educational project "Come and see Education" who have taken up his legacy and have staged the last twenty-four hours of Ignatius' life.

Skate Hero has been created based on the book-testimony by Joaquín Echeverría "Así era mi hijo Ignacio: el héroe del monopatín", and has been musically arranged by the pianist and composer Miguel Ángel Gómez González-Vallés, and the scriptwriter and director of the program "La aventura de educar", Javier Segura.

Who was Ignacio Echevarría

Its own Javier Segura, Omnes contributordescribes the event and the figure that gave rise to this musical as follows Skate HeroOn June 3, 2017, the whole of Spain was shaken by the jihadist attack on London Bridge. Among the chaos of news that reached us, we learned that a young Spaniard, Ignacio Echeverría, had lost his life in that terrorist act.

The anguish that the Spanish society shared with his family soon turned into deep admiration as the details came in. We learned that the young lawyer was returning with his friends from skating and they came across the Dantesque scene. People running away, screams of terror, and in the background a terrorist stabbing a young woman. Ignacio didn't think about it, there was no time for it, and took his skateboard as a weapon and shield to fight against those terrorists. That young woman, Marie Bondeville, saved his life. The three terrorists were shot by the police. Ignacio died from a stab wound in the back.

But his gesture crossed borders and consciences. And he became known as 'the skateboard hero'. And tributes and recognitions followed. Skate parks all over Spain with his name. The highest decorations in Spain and Great Britain. Ignacio represented the best of our land. Courage, generosity, extreme altruism. And the best of Humanity. To be able to give his life for a stranger".

The musical Skate Hero which premiered last June 5, with an excellent reception at the Joaquín Rodrigo auditorium in Las Rozas (Madrid).

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Cinema

An Easter love letter

Patricio Sánchez-Jáuregui-March 4, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Parasceve: Portrait of an Easter Week

Direction and scriptHilario Abad
Country: Spain
Year: 2022

Few love letters have been given by Spanish cinema as heartfelt as the piece that concerns us. An ode of infinite affection to the Easter festivities, to Holy Week, to the living God, to the dead God, to the resurrected God... to the rite, to the folklore, to the people. From Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday, and then to Easter Sunday, all in the city of Seville. This is how this postcard is presented to us.

Young director with many shots given (five feature films, multiple music videos and series, and a good catalog of local awards), Hilario Abad has spent the last ten years of his life (2012-2021) living the Holy Week with his camera to, as if it were a kind of prayer, create a living picture of what happens every year in the city of Seville: parasceve. Preparation.

Preparation in the stores. Preparation in workshops, factories, homes and on the street. Parasceve is a quasi-impressionistic portrait of manners, which conveys the emotion of the portrayed and the portrayed, creating something intangible but powerful. He does not enter into arguments, debates or discussions. He only extends a hand and invites us to join him in this experience.

With care, tact, detail and preciousness, we get this documentary at street level, made with taste and good rhythm, dynamic but contemplative, which plays its cards with skill when using silences, noises and music, enhancing the essence of the Easter celebrations for both sight and sound. It avoids narration and voice-over. offSometimes the viewing is peppered, spiced up, with the occasional commentary from the audience or media rebroadcast. This makes the piece a risky work, but one that nevertheless knows how to penetrate the audience and create its own rhythm, awakening and maturing true emotions in the spectator, as we see the labels of the days pass before our eyes in chronological order.

For all this, Hilario has had the help of Francisco Javier Torres Simón, a local composer with whom he has built a project from a cardboard model in his house -literally- to the feature film that reaches theaters throughout Spain. A great contribution for the beginning of Lent.

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The communities of contemplative life launch an SOS

The rise in prices of basic supplies such as electricity and water, together with the fall in income from the sale of products during the pandemic and the illness of many nuns and religious resulted in a particularly difficult situation in many Spanish monasteries.

Maria José Atienza-March 3, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

The monasteries and convents of contemplative life face a difficult situation: their productive activity continues to be greatly affected by the pandemic that has aggravated the vital situation of monasteries and convents, together with their small number and, in many cases, the advanced age of the nuns and monks of these communities.

The DeClausura Foundation, through which many of these communities are helped, encourages all those who can to collaborate with alms to support these communities that have opened their doors to the foundation in a video in which they share their lives and explain their situation.

In recent years there has been a decrease in vocations and a greater lack of protection due to the depopulation of the rural areas in which these monasteries are located.

The pandemic has been especially hard on communities that are struggling to make a living from their work and pay for the costly works required to preserve the monasteries and convents in which they live.

During the last few years of the pandemic, the contemplative communities have suffered the death of sisters and brothers, some from old age and others from Covid-19; the paralysis of their productive activity during the confinement; the lack of guests and the scarcity of sales of their products due to the socio-economic crisis and their geographical location in a rural environment also affected by the tourism crisis.

This situation has led many communities to turn to the food bank to cover their basic food needs and to help each other among the convents to try to alleviate this situation.

The DeClausura Foundation

Fundación DeClausura is a non-profit organization managed by lay members of the Church that has been supporting monasteries and convents since 2006. This accompaniment allows the Foundation to know the real situation of the communities that pray and work in enclosure. In the last year, the Foundation has supported 73 communities by assuming the running costs of electricity, gas, heating, maintenance and upkeep; the payment of debts to Social Security; or burial expenses.

In addition, a great deal of work has been done for the welfare of the elderly sisters and brothers: repair of elevators, installation of ramps or cranes to facilitate their mobilization.

The Foundation also supports the initiatives implemented by the communities to continue living from their artisan work through the purchase of machinery, equipment and utensils and seeks help for the conservation of the buildings.

Spain is home to 751 monasteries with an active contemplative community, which represents a third of the monasteries and convents in the world. As for the monasteries and convents catalogued as Sites of Cultural Interest (BIC), only 33% are being inhabited by contemplative communities, 183 in total. Of the 565 BICs once built for cloistered life, 355 are now used as hotels, universities or have another private use. It is encouraging to know that the monastic jewels declared World Heritage are inhabited by stable monastic communities: the monasteries of Yuso and Suso in San Millán de la Cogolla; and those of Guadalupe, El Escorial and Poblet.

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The Vatican

Signing the Florence Charter: a concrete commitment to peace, cooperation and dialogue

One hundred bishops and mayors from countries bordering the Mediterranean met in Florence to discuss together how to foster peace in those territories. They signed a document that aims to inspire a truly peaceful path for the future.

Giovanni Tridente-March 3, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes
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The war disaster that has struck the borders of Europe in recent days and kept everyone on edge has passed into silence, but last weekend in Florence something happened that needs to be given more importance, especially at this particular historical moment.

A hundred bishops and mayors from countries bordering the Mediterranean - among them the Archbishop of Barcelona, the Auxiliary Bishop of Madrid and the mayors of Valencia and Granada - met for the first time to discuss together how to foster peace in these often war-torn territories, religious clashes and international rivalries that foster isolation and spread death, if we think of the many migrants who have attempted to cross the Mediterranean in makeshift boats over the years and then ended tragically.

The central theme of peace

The Florence event had been planned for some time, at the request of the Italian Bishops' Conference, and only by a sad coincidence it took place close to the war that broke out on the Russian-Ukrainian front. But it has much to do with the present day, because the central theme was and is precisely peace. Two years earlier, a meeting of bishops was held in Bari, attended by Pope Francis, who on that occasion loudly reiterated that war, any war, is "madness, a madness to which we cannot resign ourselves."

How timely these words are and how significant it is, therefore, that the representatives of the Catholic Church and the administrators of the various cities bordering the Mediterranean have come together to find lasting paths to peace, seeking to "institutionalize" processes of mutual dialogue. They have done so in the footsteps of the Venerable Giorgio La Pira, who in the years immediately following the Second World War embodied evangelical values in his political activity as mayor of Florence, and imagined the Mediterranean as a "modern Lake Tiberias".

Alternative ways to war

In the midst of a war of unpredictable consequences, it is all the more urgent to find alternative ways to war, taking advantage of every possible opportunity for encounter. And this is the purpose and meaning of the document signed in Florence, a "Charter" that aims to inspire a truly peaceful path for the future, starting from the important crossroads of history, traditions and different cultures that is the Mediterranean.

But let us turn to the contents of the Florence Charter.

First of all, the signatories are aware of the benefits to be derived from "intensifying cooperation in their own cities" in order to promote justice, fraternity, respect for religious denominations, the safeguarding of the planet and the fundamental rights of each individual.

To better meet these challenges, it is necessary to recognize "the diversity of heritage and traditions" as an element shared by all humanity (nature, environment, culture, languages, religions); the importance of educating young people in the values of good; the creation of common university programs; the recognition of the universal right to health and social protection; the urgency of solutions to avoid catastrophic climate change; the opportunity to initiate new forms of cooperation between politicians, scientists and cultural and spiritual leaders; the importance of caring for the vulnerable and those who are forced to migrate....

The Charter concludes with some specific requests ("invocations"), firstly to the governments of all Mediterranean countries to establish "regular consultation" with mayors, religious representatives and cultural institutions to involve them in decisions affecting the future of communities.

Next, they call for the promotion of educational programs at all levels, "to achieve a new universal solidarity and a more welcoming society", and for the promotion of initiatives to strengthen fraternity and religious freedom. Finally, the implementation of greater international cooperation to work for "a more equitable sharing of economic and natural resources".

RelatedRelated NewsThe Mediterranean, a border of peaceRelated NewsUkrainian exodus of suffering
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