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Bishops promote the right to conscientious objection to laws on abortion and euthanasia

The Spanish Episcopal Conference has published a doctrinal note on conscientious objection in which they seek to offer criteria and principles in the face of the problems that laws such as euthanasia or the new law on abortion pose for Catholics.

Maria José Atienza-March 25, 2022-Reading time: 22 minutes

This note responds, as the bishops themselves explain "to the process of approval of laws in which human life is gravely unprotected" together with the growing difficulty for the exercise of "conscientious objection of those who are opposed to collaborate in these practices".

The Conference itself points out that it is a doctrinal note "because it is based on principles of fundamental morality, such as the dignity of conscience, and of the Social Doctrine of the Church, such as religious freedom and freedom of conscience, the mission of the State, the nature of human rights, etc. The text offers Catholics the right and the duty they have to actively oppose actions that go against the demands of the Christian faith or its fundamental values".

"When public authorities set themselves up as disseminators of an ideology, they go beyond the limits of their mission."

The bishops also point out that "when the public authorities set themselves up as disseminators of a certain ideology or promoters of certain moral values that are open to opinion, they are overstepping the limits of their mission". In the prelude to the note, it is also recalled that the obligation of the State is "to recognize this right and not to discriminate against those who exercise it is parallel to the
obligation of Christians to avoid any type of direct material or formal cooperation
with those acts that attempt against the right to life, and any action that may be
interpreted as cooperation, even if indirect, or approval of these acts". In fact, they point out that conscientious objection is intended for laws that "attack essential elements of religion itself or those that undermine the foundations of human dignity and coexistence based on justice".

This note was approved by the member bishops of the Episcopal Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith at its CCLVI meeting on February 1, 2022 and the Standing Commission of the EEC authorized its publication at its CCLVIII meeting on March 8-9, 2022.

Doctrinal note on conscientious objection "Christ has set us free for freedom" (Gal 5:1).

I. JUSTIFICATION FOR THIS NOTE

Human beings are characterized by an awareness of their own dignity and of the fact that the safeguarding of this dignity is linked to respect for their freedom. The conviction that the two are inseparable and that all human beings, regardless of their economic or social situation, have the same dignity and, therefore, the right to live in freedom, constitutes one of the most important advances in the history of humanity: "Never have men had such a keen sense of freedom as today". The aspiration to live in freedom is inscribed in the heart of man.

Freedom cannot be separated from other human rights, which are universal and inviolable. Therefore, they must be protected as a whole, to the point that "partial protection of them would be tantamount to their non-recognition". Their root "must be sought in the dignity that belongs to every human being", and their ultimate source "is not to be found in the mere will of human beings, in the reality of the State or in the public authorities, but in man himself and in God his Creator". In the documents of the Church's Magisterium we find enumerations of these rights. The first of all is the right to life from conception to its natural conclusion, which "conditions the exercise of every other right and entails, in particular, the unlawfulness of every form of induced abortion and of euthanasia". The right to religious freedom is also fundamental, for it is "an emblematic sign of the authentic progress of man in every regime, in every society, system or environment".

In the process that led to the formulation and proclamation of human rights, these were conceived as the expression of ethical limits that the State could not overstep in its relations with individuals. They were a defense against totalitarian temptations and the tendency of the public authorities to invade people's lives in all spheres, or to dispose of them according to their own interests. For this reason, the Church values them as an "extraordinary opportunity that our times offer so that, through their consolidation, human dignity may be more effectively recognized and universally promoted". In Catholic doctrine, moreover, they are seen as an expression of the basic moral norms that must be respected in every occasion and circumstance, and of the path to a more dignified life and a more just society.

In recent decades, a new vision of human rights has been gaining ground. We live in a cultural environment characterized by an individualism that does not want to accept any ethical limits. This has led to the recognition by public authorities of new "rights" which, in reality, are the manifestation of subjective desires. In this way, these desires become a source of law, even though their realization implies the denial of authentic basic rights of other human beings. This has had consequences in legislation: behaviors that were tolerated through "decriminalization" are now considered "rights" that must be protected and promoted.

We have recently witnessed in our country the approval of the law that allows the practice of euthanasia and considers it as a right of the person. It is one more step in a series of laws that lead to human life being gravely unprotected. Laws have also been passed that are inspired by anthropological principles that absolutize human will, or by ideologies that do not recognize the nature of the human being given to him at creation, which should be the source of all morality. These laws also promote the imposition of these principles in educational plans, and restrict the right to conscientious objection both of individuals and of educational, health or social welfare institutions, thus limiting the exercise of freedom.

This leads us to think that, although it is true that human beings have never had such a strong sense of their own freedom, this freedom will always be threatened by states and groups of power that do not hesitate to use any means to influence people's consciences, to spread certain ideologies or to defend their own interests. Today we have the feeling that certain human rights are being "tolerated" as if they were a "gracious" concession, that they are being progressively curtailed, and that values contrary to the religious convictions of large groups in society are being promoted. The use of power to shape the moral conscience of individuals constitutes a threat to freedom.

In continuity with the teachings of this EWC expressed in the pastoral instruction "The truth shall set you free" (Jn 8:32); and in accordance with the letter of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Samaritanus bonusThe document calls for "a clear and unified position on the part of the Episcopal Conferences, local churches and Catholic institutions to protect the right to conscientious objection in the legislative contexts that provide for the right to conscientious objection. euthanasia and suicide"; in the present note we wish to recall the moral principles that Catholics must keep in mind when deciding on how to act in the face of these and similar laws, and which any state or person committed to the defense of human rights should respect.

II. FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND CONSCIENCE

Freedom, which consists in "the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, to carry out deliberate actions of one's own accord," is an essential characteristic of the human being given by God at the moment of his creation. It is the "eminent sign of his divine image" and, therefore, the ultimate expression of the dignity that is proper to him. In creating the human being endowed with freedom, God wants him to seek it and adhere to it without coercion so that, in this way, "he may attain full and happy perfection". We are, therefore, before something of which no human power can licitly deprive us: "Every human person, created in the image of God, has the natural right to be recognized as free and responsible".

This essential characteristic of the human being is not to be understood as an absence of any moral law that indicates limits to his actions, or as "a license to do whatever pleases, even if it is evil". The human being has not given himself existence, so he exercises his freedom correctly when he recognizes his radical dependence on God, lives in permanent openness to him and seeks to fulfill his will. Moreover, he has been created as a member of the great human family, so that the exercise of his freedom is conditioned by the relationships that shape his existence: with other human beings, with nature and with himself. Freedom cannot be understood as a right to act independently of any moral requirement.

Respect for the freedom of all persons, which constitutes an obligation of the public authorities, is manifested, above all, in the defense of religious freedom and freedom of conscience: "The right to exercise freedom is an inseparable requirement of the dignity of the human person, especially in moral and religious matters". We live immersed in a culture that does not value religion as a positive factor for the development of individuals and societies. The principle that underlies many laws that are passed is that we should all live as if God does not exist. There is a tendency to undervalue religion, to reduce it to something merely private and to deny the public relevance of faith. This leads to considering religious freedom as a secondary right.

However, this is a fundamental right because man is a being open to transcendence and because it affects the most intimate and profound part of his being, which is his conscience. Therefore, when it is not respected, the most sacred part of the human being is violated, and when it is respected, the dignity of the human person at its root is being protected. It is a right that has a special status and must be recognized and protected within the limits of the common good and public order. We can affirm, therefore, that the safeguarding of the right to freedom of religion and conscience constitutes an indicator for verifying respect for other human rights. If it is not effectively guaranteed, they are not truly believed in.

By virtue of the right to religious freedom, "no one shall be compelled to act against his conscience, nor shall he be hindered from acting in accordance with his conscience, either publicly or privately, alone or in association with others, within due limits". This right should not be understood in a minimalist sense, reducing it to tolerance or freedom of worship. In addition to freedom of worship, it requires the positive recognition of the right of every person to order one's actions and moral decisions according to the truth; of the right of parents to educate their children according to their religious convictions and all that entails living them, especially in social life and moral behavior; of religious communities to organize themselves to live their religion in all areas; of everyone to publicly profess their faith and to proclaim their religious message to others.

The obligation on the part of the public authorities to protect the religious freedom of all citizens does not exclude that this freedom should be regulated in the juridical order. This regulation must be inspired by a positive evaluation of what religions contribute to society, the safeguarding of public order and the search for the common good, which consists of "the sum of those conditions of social life through which men can achieve their perfection more fully and rapidly" and, above all, "respect for the rights of the human person". Appropriate legislation on religious freedom must start from the fundamental principle that religious freedom "should not be restricted unless and to the extent that it is necessary".

In the regulation of this right, the State should observe certain principles: 1. To procure the juridical equality of citizens and to avoid discrimination based on religion. 2. To recognize the rights of institutions and groups constituted by members of a given religion for the practice of the same. 3. To prohibit everything that, even if it is directly ordered by precepts or inspired by religious principles, supposes an attack on the rights and dignity of persons, or endangers their lives. From these principles, the laws must guarantee the right of every man "to act in conscience and freedom in order to make personal moral decisions".

III. THE DIGNITY OF CONSCIENCE

In the exercise of his freedom, each person must make those decisions that lead to the attainment of the common good of society and of his own personal good. Therefore, the human being who, having been created in the image and likeness of God, is a free creature, has the moral obligation to seek the truth, for truth alone is the path that leads to justice and goodness. This obligation arises from the fact that man, not having created himself, is not the creator of values either, so that good and evil do not depend on his will. His task is to discern how he should act in the many situations in which he may find himself and which lead him to make concrete decisions.

In order to be able to know at every moment what is good or evil, God has endowed human beings with a conscience, which is "the most secret nucleus and the tabernacle of man, where he is alone with God, whose voice resounds in his innermost being". To decide and act according to one's conscience constitutes the greatest proof of mature freedom and is a condition for the morality of one's actions. This is the most personal element of every human being, which makes him a unique creature and responsible before God for his actions. Conscience, even if it is not infallible and can incur in error, is the "proximate norm of personal morality", so that we must all act in accordance with our conscience. Therefore, we must all act in conformity with the judgments that emanate from it.

Man in his conscience discovers a fundamental law "which he does not give himself, but which he must obey and whose voice resounds in the ears of his heart, calling him to love and to do good and to avoid evil". This law is the source of all moral norms, so that in obedience to it we find the principle of morality. The human being "is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right" . If he acts in this way, he is acting in accordance with his dignity. On the other hand, when his actions are not inspired by the search for truth and the desire to conform to objective moral norms, he is easily carried away by his own desires and selfish interests, and "little by little, through the habit of sin, his conscience becomes almost blind" .

Acting according to one's conscience is not always easy: it requires the perception of the fundamental principles of morality, their application to concrete circumstances through discernment, and the formation of a judgment about the acts to be performed. Often we live in situations that make moral judgment less certain; often we are subject to the influences of the cultural environment in which we live, to pressures that come to us from outside and to our own desires. All this can obscure his moral judgments and lead to error because of ignorance. However, when it is not guilty, "the conscience does not lose its dignity", because it seeks ways to form itself. For to seek ways to form a moral judgment and to act in accordance with its dictates is more worthy of human beings than to dispense with the question of the morality of their actions.

IV. THE ROLE OF THE STATE

The human being is, by nature, a social being. Therefore, in his moral decisions he should not seek only his own good, but that of all. In his actions he must take into account some basic principles of morality: to do to others what he would like them to do to him; not to do evil in order to obtain good; to act with charity while respecting his neighbor and his conscience, etc. To regulate the relations between the members of society, political structures are necessary. The political community "derives from the nature of persons" and is, therefore, "a reality connatural to men". Its purpose is to favor the fullest growth of all the members of society and thus to promote the common good, something that is unattainable for each individual without an organization of coexistence.

In their service to the common good, the public authorities must respect the autonomy of individuals, so that at no time can they prohibit each person from forming his or her own opinion on issues that affect social life. Nor can initiatives that arise from society and seek the common good of all be prevented. When the political community defends human rights and creates a favorable environment for citizens to exercise them, it is already contributing to the common good.

Authority is an instrument of coordination at the service of society. Its exercise cannot be absolute and must be carried out within the limits of respect for the person and his or her rights. Nor can it become a body that seeks to invade or regulate all aspects of the life of individuals and families. The public authorities, whose mission is to promote an orderly life in society, cannot annul or supplant private initiatives, although they must regulate them so that they may serve the common good. In both economic and social life "the action of the State and of the other public authorities must conform to the principle of subsidiarity".

These principles must be taken into account in those matters that affect the religious freedom and freedom of conscience of individuals. The State can regulate the exercise of religious freedom, so that it can be exercised with respect for other freedoms and favor social coexistence. This regulation can justify the prohibition of certain religious practices, but not because they are religious, but because they are contrary to the respect, dignity or integrity of persons, or because they endanger one of the fundamental rights. In the same way that the State cannot be partial in religious matters, neither can it become a promoter of values or ideologies contrary to the beliefs of a part of society. The neutrality required in religious matters extends to the moral choices debated in society. When the power uses the means at its disposal to disseminate a certain conception of the human being or of life, it is exceeding its functions.

V. CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION

"The citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow the prescriptions of the civil authorities when these precepts are contrary to the requirements of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of persons or to the teachings of the Gospel". Conscientious objection supposes that a person puts the dictates of his own conscience before what is ordered or permitted by the laws. This does not justify any disobedience to the norms promulgated by legitimate authorities. It must be exercised with respect to those that directly attack essential elements of one's religion or that are "contrary to natural law in that they undermine the very foundations of human dignity and of a coexistence based on justice".

In addition to being a moral duty, it is also a "fundamental and inviolable right of every person, essential for the common good of society as a whole", which the State is obliged to recognize, respect and positively value in legislation. which the State is obliged to recognize, respect and positively value in legislation. It is not a concession of power, but a pre-political right, a direct consequence of the recognition of freedom of religion, thought and conscience. Therefore, the State should not restrict or minimize it under the pretext of guaranteeing access to certain legally recognized practices, and present it as an attack on the "rights" of others. A fair regulation of conscientious objection requires a guarantee that those who resort to it will not be subject to social or employment discrimination. The creation of a register of objectors to certain acts permitted by law violates the right of every citizen not to be forced to declare his or her own religious or ideological convictions. In any case, where this requirement is legally required, "health care workers should not hesitate to ask for it (conscientious objection) as their own right and as a specific contribution to the common good".

In fulfillment of this moral duty, the Christian "must not collaborate, even formally, with those practices which, even if admitted by civil legislation, are in contrast with the law of God". Since the right to life has an absolute character and no one can decide for himself over the life of another human being or even over his own, "in the face of laws that legitimize the euthanasia or assisted suicide, any formal or immediate material cooperation must always be denied". This "occurs when the action performed, either by its very nature or by the configuration it assumes in a particular context, qualifies as direct collaboration in an act against innocent human life or as participation in the immoral intention of the principal agent" . This cooperation makes the person who performs it co-responsible and cannot be justified by invoking respect for the freedom and "rights" of others, nor by relying on the fact that they are provided for and authorized by civil law.

Therefore, Catholics are absolutely obliged to object to those actions that, being approved by law, have as a consequence the elimination of a human life in its beginning or in its end: "Abortion and abortion are the most common forms of abortion in the world, and the most common forms of abortion in the world. euthanasia are crimes that no human law can claim to legitimize. Laws of this kind not only do not create any obligation of conscience, but, on the contrary, establish a grave and precise obligation to oppose them by conscientious objection" . Although not all forms of collaboration contribute in the same way to the realization of these morally illicit acts, those actions that could induce one to think that they are being approved should be avoided as far as possible.

Today, Catholics who have responsibilities in state institutions are often faced with conflicts of conscience when faced with legislative initiatives that contradict basic moral principles. Since the most important duty of a society is to care for the human person, they cannot positively promote laws that question the value of human life, nor support with their vote proposals that have been presented by others. Their duty as Christians is to "protect the primary right to life from conception to its natural end", and therefore they have the "precise duty to protect the primary right to life from conception to its natural end". Therefore, they have the "precise obligation to oppose these laws". This does not prevent that, when it is not possible to repeal those in force or to avoid the approval of others, being clear their absolute personal opposition, they can "licitly offer their support to proposals aimed at limiting the damage of these laws and thus diminish the negative effects in the field of culture and public morality" .

Although moral decisions correspond to each person, the right to freedom of conscience, by analogy, can also be attributed to those communities or institutions created by members of the same religion to better live their faith, proclaim it or serve society in accordance with their convictions. These have a series of values and principles that give them their own identity and inspire their actions. By this fact they do not cease to render a service to society. Institutional conscientious objection to laws that contradict their ideology is therefore legitimate. The State has the duty to recognize this right. If it does not do so, it jeopardizes freedom of religion and conscience. We are pleased to note that some institutions of civil society that have approached this issue from other perspectives and have pronounced themselves on it, agree with us on this point.

Catholic health care institutions, which "constitute a concrete sign of the way in which the ecclesial community, following the example of the Good Samaritan, takes care of the sick," are called to exercise their mission "with respect for fundamental values and for those Christian values that constitute their identity, by refraining from behavior that is clearly morally unlawful. are called to exercise their mission "with respect for fundamental values and for the Christian values that constitute their identity, refraining from behavior that is clearly morally unlawful. For this reason, they should not bow to the strong political and economic pressures that induce them to accept the practice of abortion or euthanasia. Nor is it ethically acceptable "an institutional collaboration with other hospital structures towards which to orient and direct persons requesting euthanasia. Such choices cannot be morally admitted nor supported in their concrete realization, even if they are legally possible". This would be a collaboration with evil.

We are currently witnessing the spread of anthropologies contrary to the Christian vision of man, sexuality, marriage and the family, which results in the normalization of certain moral behaviors opposed to the demands of God's law. Often these ideologies are promoted by the public authorities and their diffusion is imposed in educational centers by means of laws of a coercive nature. Their imposition is thought to be a means of preventing hate crimes against certain groups or persons because of their characteristics. The duty of Christians to respect the dignity of any human being, to love him as a brother and to support him in any circumstance of his life, does not imply the assumption of anthropological principles contrary to the Christian vision of man. Since freedom of religion and conscience is a fundamental right, Catholics have the duty to oppose the imposition of these ideologies. This duty must be exercised, in the first place, by parents who, as the primary educators of their children, have the right to form them in accordance with their religious and moral convictions, and to choose the educational institutions that are in accord with them, whose identity must be guaranteed.

VI. CHRISTIAN FREEDOM

Human freedom is not only a "threatened freedom", it is also a "wounded freedom" because of sin. If man was created free so that he could seek God and adhere to him without coercion, sin has led him to disobedience to God and has provoked in him an interior division. Human beings constantly experience that they do not do the good they want, but the evil they hate (cf. Rom 7:15), and that they live subject to their passions and desires. Sin is a source of interior slavery for him, because it drags him to do everything that leads to death. The idea of a self-sufficient freedom or of a man who by his own strength is always capable of doing good and seeking justice does not correspond either to his own experience or to the history of humanity. In addition to this impotence, the human being also experiences what it means to live without hope because the fear of death, which is the ultimate horizon of his existence, dominates him and also incapacitates him from exercising his freedom with all its consequences. Sin, which leads to death and prevents us from loving God with all our heart and obeying his will, has wounded human freedom.

"If the Son of God sets you free, you will be free indeed" (Jn 8:36). Knowledge of Christ opens us to full and true freedom: "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (Jn 8:32). The encounter with the Lord is an event of grace that allows us to participate in the glorious freedom of the children of God (cf. Rom 8:21) and to live a new life characterized by faith, hope and charity.

Sin is man's refusal to acknowledge God as Lord, to glorify him and to thank him. Faith, on the other hand, is obedience to God. If through sin man has rejected him, through faith he comes to recognize him as his Lord. And it is by obeying him that man frees himself from the slavery of the desires that sin awakens in him. Faith bears fruit in hope. Death is the threatening horizon of man's life. The fear of death dominates him, to the point that everything he does is to free himself from it. The drama of man consists in the fact that, in spite of his efforts, he will never be able to achieve it by himself. In his resurrection, Christ has opened up for us a horizon of life. Thanks to the Paschal Mystery, the fear of death that enslaves us has vanished. This hope gives the believer the necessary strength to face the trials and sufferings of the present time, without losing confidence in God and the joy of those who feel united to Christ. Love is the most evident expression of Christian freedom. The believer, who knows that he is loved and saved by God, out of love for him and with a feeling of gratitude, fulfills his will, not out of fear of punishment, but impelled by the charity that the Holy Spirit has poured into his heart (cf. Rom 5:5).

This freedom that has its origin in Christ gives strength to overcome the difficulties that the believer may encounter in acting in coherence with his faith. The values that are becoming generalized in our culture and the laws that are being passed in our Western societies place believers before difficult problems of conscience. We are often faced with painful choices, which demand sacrifices in professional life and even in family life. "It is precisely in obedience to God - to whom alone is due that fear which is the recognition of his absolute sovereignty - that the strength and courage to resist the unjust laws of men are born". Whoever does not allow himself to be overcome by fear is walking the path that leads to true freedom, which is found only in Christ.

Madrid, March 25, 2022, Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

VATICAN COUNCIL II, Gaudium et spes, n. 4.
2. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, n. 154: "Universality and indivisibility are the distinguishing features of human rights".
3. Ibid., n. 153.
4. Ibid.
5. Cf. also Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, n. 155.
6. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, n. 155.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. Second Vatican Council, Gaudium et Spes, n. 27: "Everything that is opposed to life, such as murder of any kind, genocide, abortion, euthanasia and even voluntary suicide... are reproaches which, by corrupting human civilization, dishonor those who practice them more than those who suffer injustice and are totally contrary to the honor due to the Creator".
10. Cf. ibid., n. 26: "It is fitting, therefore, that everything necessary for a truly human life should be made accessible to man, such as food, clothing, housing, the right to freely choose a state of life... to act in accordance with the right norm of his conscience... and to just freedom also in religious matters".
11. Cf. FRANCISCO, Address to the National Federation of the Colleges of Doctors and Dental Surgeons (20.IX.2019): L'Osservatore Romano (21.IX.2019), 8: "One can and must reject the temptation - induced also by legislative changes - to use medicine to support a possible will to die of the patient, providing aid to suicide or directly causing his death by euthanasia. These are hasty ways of dealing with options that are not, as it might seem, an expression of the person's freedom, when they include the discarding of the sick person as a possibility, or false compassion in the face of a request to be helped to anticipate death."
12. SPANISH EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE, "The truth will set you free" (Jn 8:32), (20.II.1990).
13. CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Samaritanus bonus, n. 9.
14. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1731.
15. SAINT IRENEUS OF LYON, Adversus haereses, 4, 4, 3: PG 7, 983: "Man was created free and master of his acts".
16. VATICAN COUNCIL II, Gaudium et spes, n. 17.
17. Ibid.
18. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1738.
19. VATICAN COUNCIL II, Gaudium et spes, n. 17.
20. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1738; cf. VATICAN COUNCIL II, Dignitatis humanae, n. 2.
21. Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1738.
22. VATICAN COUNCIL II, Dignitatis humanae, nn. 2-3.
23. Cf. FRANCIS, Address at the meeting with the Moroccan people, the authorities, civil society and the diplomatic corps (30.III.2019): "Freedom of conscience and religious freedom - which is not limited only to freedom of worship, but to allowing each one to live according to one's religious conviction - are inseparably linked to human dignity."
Cf. BENEDICT XVI, Message for the World Day of Peace, Religious Freedom, the Path to Peace (1 January 2011), n. 3.
Cf. SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Dignitatis humanae, n. 7.
SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Dignitatis humanae, n. 6.
Ibid., n. 7.
28. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1782.
29. Cf. St. John Paul II, Veritatis splendor, nn. 57-61.
30. VATICAN COUNCIL II, Gaudium et Spes, n. 16; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1776.
31. ST JOHN PAUL II, Veritatis splendor, n. 60.
32. Cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1790: "The human person must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were to act deliberately against the latter, he would condemn himself". Cf. also ST JOHN PAUL II, Veritatis splendor, n. 60: "The judgment of conscience has an imperative character: man must act in conformity with this judgment".
33. VATICAN COUNCIL II, Gaudium et spes, n. 16; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1776.
34. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1778.
Ibid., n. 1780: "The dignity of the human person implies and demands the rectitude of the moral conscience".
36. VATICAN COUNCIL II, Gaudium et spes, n. 16.
37. Cf. ST JOHN PAUL II, Veritatis splendor, n. 62.
38. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, n. 384.
39. Cf. FRANCIS, Message to the participants in the international conference "Human rights in the contemporary world: conquests, omissions, denials" (10.XII.2018).
40. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, n. 351.
41. Cf. SPANISH EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE, Orientaciones morales ante la situación actual de España (23.XI.2006), n. 62: "The religious life of citizens does not fall within the competence of governments. The civil authorities cannot be interventionist or belligerent in religious matters (...) Their task is to favor the exercise of religious freedom".
42. Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2242.
43. CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Samaritanus bonus, n. 9.
44. Ibid.
45. Cf. Interview of Pope Francis in La Croix (30.VI.2016): "The State must respect consciences. In every juridical structure, conscientious objection must be present, because it is a human right."
46. Cf. ST. JOHN PAUL II, Evangelium vitae, n. 74: "Those who have recourse to conscientious objection must be safe not only from penal sanctions, but also from any harm on the legal, disciplinary, economic and professional levels".
47. CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Samaritanus bonus, n. 9. Cf. FRANCISCO, Address to participants in a congress organized by the Italian Society of Hospital Pharmacy (14.X.2021): L'Osservatore Romano 2739 (22.X.2021), 7: "You are always at the service of human life. And this can entail, in some cases, conscientious objection, which is not disloyalty, but, on the contrary, fidelity to your profession, if it is validly motivated".
48. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, n. 399.
49. CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Samaritanus bonus, n. 9.
50. ST JOHN PAUL II, Evangelium vitae, n. 74.
51. Sin is a personal act for which each one is responsible, but we can have a responsibility for the sins committed by others when we cooperate with them "by participating directly and voluntarily, by ordering, advising, advising, praising or approving them, by not revealing them or by not preventing them when one is obliged to do so". Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1868.
52. Cf. CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, Samaritanus bonus, n. 9: "There is no right to suicide or euthanasia: the law exists to protect life and human coexistence, not to cause death".
53. ST JOHN PAUL II, Evangelium vitae, n. 73. Cf. FRANCIS, Address to the participants in the commemorative congress of the Association of Italian Catholic Doctors on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of its foundation (15.XI.2014): "Fidelity to the Gospel of life and to respect for life as a gift of God sometimes requires courageous and counter-current choices which, in special circumstances, can go as far as conscientious objection."

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Priest Saints: Blessed Otto Neururer

Blessed Otto Neururer was the first priest to be killed in a Nazi concentration camp, Buchenwald. His fame of sanctity was highlighted by the fact that he shared his meager food rations with the weakest prisoners, among many other heroic deeds.

Pedro José María Chiesa-March 25, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsHoly priests: Saint John Henry NewmanRelated NewsPriest Saints: St. Maximilian Kolbe

The Austrian couple Alois Neururer and Hildegar Streng, modest farmers who managed a mill in Austria, had twelve children. The last of them was Blessed Otto Neururer. The father of the Blessed whom we evoke today died when he was only eight years old.

Otto prepared for the priesthood with the Vincentians and was ordained a priest on the Solemnity of St. Peter in 1907. He then wanted to join the Jesuits to work in the far-flung missions they had in various parts of the world, but his frail health prevented them from accepting him. 

For fifteen years he was parochial vicar of St. James (1917-1932), where he worked as a teacher of religion in the parish schools. 

Appointed parish priest in Goetzens (1932), in addition to the specific care of souls in his parish (Saints Peter and Paul Apostles), he provided spiritual services to the Christian Social Movement (aligned with the recent and impactful encyclical Rerum Novarum), which meant displeasure with the superiors who did not look favorably on the basis of the nascent Social Doctrine of the Church, and a high risk of death when the annexation of Austria by the Nazis (1938) took place, which involved the arrest and murder of many priests.

Already in his parish, with courageous apostolic zeal, he decisively advised a girl not to unite with a divorced man, atheist and of dissolute life. The young woman not only did not follow the parish priest's advice, but made it known to her lover. This man, a personal friend of Franz Hofer, the Nazi head of the district, had Neururer arrested on December 15, 1938, on the charge of "defamation of Germanic marriage". In giving his advice Neururer was aware of the risks. 

Then, shortly after the beginning of the war, in September 1939, he was transferred to the Buchenwald concentration camp (practically an extermination camp, due to the cruelties and mass shootings suffered by many prisoners). 

For being a priest (in odium fidei) he was often tortured; his reputation for holiness was highlighted by the fact that he shared his meager food rations with the weakest prisoners; and, above all, because when a prisoner asked him to be baptized, despite many indications that it could be a trap (the action was punishable by death), because of his awareness of his priestly mission, he agreed. Indeed, it was a trap. 

The event took place at the end of April 1940. As punishment, after several tortures, a month later he was hung upside down, naked. There he suffered cruelly, without complaining in the least, praying for his executioners, until his death after thirty-four hours of long agony (May 30, 1940). He was the first priest to be murdered in a Nazi concentration camp. The priest who assisted him in his torments, Alfred Berchtold (died in 1985), declared that, while hanging, he never complained, and always prayed for his executioners muttering prayers. His cruel death sentence was directly ordered by the famous and sadistic Sergeant Major Martin Sommer, the "Executioner of Buchenwald".

He was beatified as a martyr in odium fideiHis remains were burned by St. John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica on November 24, 1996. His remains were vilely cremated in a civil crematorium to erase the evidence of the brutal torture. The Nazis claimed that he died of a heart condition. Fortunately his faithful recovered his ashes, which today are deposited under the altar of the parish over which he presided.

Today the Catholic Church proposes him as an intercessor for preachers, for the sanctity of Christian marriage and for the spirit of priestly service. Blessed Neururer, like the Holy Innocents, preached the Gospel. non loquendo sed moriendo. Moreover, taking into account that St. Francis of Assisi said "Preach the Gospel, if necessary with words", Neururer followed this advice exemplarily, so he is a worthy intercessor for preachers. He is also a worthy defender of the sanctity of marriage, and of indissolubility, like St. Thomas More. And in relation to the spirit of priestly service, his death for administering a risky baptism, challenges all priests not to value physical life as the supreme good, or at least not above the spiritual life of the faithful.

Remarkable were the words of the holy Pope John Paul II in his homily at his beatification: "Today, as Roman Pontiff, I have the honor of beatifying one of the most faithful sons of the Church; and in doing so I will honor his noble decision to prefer death to kneeling before the Beast and his image (Rev. 13:1). With his death, Neururer made shine before the darkness of contemporary relativism that so affects marriage, a sovereign ray of Christ's kingship over history." In 2019 a film was promoted that tells the story of the life and murder of this venerable priest, who, if he were alive today, would surely prefer to die murdered rather than bend his knee to the Beast and his most visible contemporary image, gender ideology, and who would also not hesitate to prefer to die executed so as not to bend his knee to all proposals to annul or weaken the indissolubility and heterosexuality of Christian marriage.

The authorPedro José María Chiesa

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Integral ecology

Rafaela SantosDeath is the moment where nothing ends and everything begins".

On Monday 28th, the neuropsychiatrist Rafaela Santos will intervene in a Journey on 'Soul, death and beyond', at the University of Navarra. On this occasion, in an interview with Omnes, he reflects on the fear of death, the low tolerance to frustration in young people, about the brain, or the meaning of life.

Rafael Miner-March 25, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsTomás TrigoWithout the hope of Heaven, we would not take a step in life".

"When I was thinking about the title I had the consultation with a young patient diagnosed with cancer," Dr. Santos says, "and he said, 'My game is over... 'Game over.' It hit me at first, but I immediately reacted by thinking that it's a term God uses... 'ludens in orbe terrarum'..., my delights are to play with the children of men. I told him that God plays with us if we allow him to. That he should not be afraid because for God to judge and play... is to take away a Z."

Rafaela Santos is a specialist in psychiatry, executive president of the Humanae Foundation and author of books on resilience, such as 'My Roots'. On Monday 28th she will be speaking at the XIII Theological-Didactic Day of the Higher Institute of Religious Sciences (ISCR) of the aforementioned university, and we asked him for a preview of some of his ideas.

The suggestion was heeded, and here are some reflections, which do not leave indifferent. He assures that "the fear of death is something natural because we have been created by and for love and happiness, made for possession not for renunciation and death"; that "death is the moment where nothing ends and everything begins, it is the definitive appointment", and regarding young people, "it worries us that their low tolerance to frustration causes that only last year, 300 young people between 15 and 30 years old committed suicide". Let's go with it.

At the conference you will speak on 'Death: game over? Death, the end of the game, the end of the game? Can you advance some of your arguments?

 - Honestly, it is the most difficult lecture I have ever been asked to give. Since I was asked to give it, this subject has come to my mind with some frequency and I confess that it has helped me very positively to keep it in mind.

Regarding the title, from the first moment I was clear that I was not going to give it a medical approach, much less a dramatic sense. Death is a reality that we face, sooner or later, and trying to hide it would be foolish.

When I was thinking about the title I had a consultation with a young patient diagnosed with cancer and he said: "my game is over... Game over".. It hit me at first, but I immediately reacted by thinking that it is a term that

God uses..."ludens in orbe terrarum"... my delights are to play with the children of men. I told him that God plays with us if we allow him to. That he should not be afraid because for God, to judge and play... is to take away a Z.

The reality is that we are born to live and we live to die, although in the case of young people it is much more difficult to understand. We could say that death is the moment where nothing ends and everything begins. For me it is the definitive date

With the pandemic, wars like the one in Ukraine, etc., the physical or moral suffering and death of so many people come closer.

- Death is something that always happens to others. Having no personal experience, we can see it only as spectators, and in that sense some react with panic and others with recklessness. Neither of these two extremes can be called courage. It is necessary to reflect on their meaning in order to put ourselves in our place. There are people who die when their time comes and others who die the day before because they always live in fear of dying.

In its right measure, the fear of death is something natural because we have been created by and for love and happiness, made for possession, not for renunciation and death. Our brain is programmed for survival and happiness, but, although we have automatic programs, we are free to choose altruism over selfishness in every moment. We can be happy by risking our life to save another, and for that reason, suffering has a meaning and makes us better.

I would ask you, in this sense, how to face events with serenity, and also with a strength that sometimes we lack. You are a specialist in resilience, perhaps one of the greatest in Spain. Adversities can sometimes get the better of us.

- Adversities can defeat us if we let them defeat us. As I have mentioned on other occasions, we shape our brain with the messages we give it: if we think that we will not be able to overcome an adversity, we will certainly not be able to, but if we perceive that event as a challenge, and we convince ourselves that we will be able to, even if we do not know how to do it, our brain starts to work in our favor looking for a way out of that situation, turning the difficulty into an opportunity for improvement.

This attitude to overcome any difficulty is called resilience and can be trained and developed knowing that what we are today is a consequence of our yesterday and therefore the current victories have their roots in the previous effort.

A few days ago, the young writer Ana Iris Simón referred to the high suicide rates among young people. They have increased by no less than 250 % during the pandemic (in young people), and psychologists (and psychiatrists) can't cope. Suicide seems to be the main public health problem in Europe. Is this the case? What do you think of these data?

- During the pandemic, problems of anxiety, depression, insomnia, fear of contagion, etc. have skyrocketed. According to WHO data, the so-called "pandemic fatigue" has affected 60 % of the population and the consumption of psychotropic drugs has tripled. This is alarming in mental health, as depression is the leading cause of disability in the world.

Regarding suicide in Spain, 200 people attempt suicide every day and 11 of them succeed. It is necessary to know how to treat this subject with a lot of tact and to observe the differences in behavior between the one who threatens suicide and the one who plans it definitively. They wish to "go away in peace" leaving things closed. For this reason, many of them are more affectionate than usual and say goodbye in an underhanded way. 

With respect to young people, we are concerned that their low tolerance for frustration is causing the increase you report, as last year alone, 300 young people between the ages of 15 and 30 committed suicide. The loss of motivation and meaning creates a flat, uniform, unrelieved world, which causes sadness.

One last question. From your professional experience, does the meaning of life help to maintain emotional, psychological or psychic stability, as you prefer to call it, and ultimately, to be happy? I am referring to convictions, solidarity with others, family, religion?

- Having a sense of why to live, discovering what is important and loving it is the secret to give meaning to life and is the best therapeutic effect. As Viktor Frankl said, those who have a reason to live always find a way to keep their hope safe, their psychological strength, and that is the key to stability and happiness, to find that reason, to have a sense of life is what centers us and allows us to move forward despite the sorrows, it is the compass that helps us in the storms and prevents us from losing our way.

Last year, doctors and psychologists' associations predicted that after the Covid-19 pandemic there would be consequences, after-effects, especially mental ones, in the form of fears, traumas... It seems that their predictions are coming true. In addition, there are the usual ones of our civilization, with or without pandemic. For example, addictions, trivialization of sex, mistreatment, widening loneliness, and so many others. We were left wanting more in the interview with Dr. Rafaela Santos, but the Conference on Monday 28th at the ISCR is just around the corner.

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RelatedRelated NewsTomás TrigoWithout the hope of Heaven, we would not take a step in life".
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The Vatican

The Way of the Cross returns to the Roman Colosseum

Maria José Atienza-March 24, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute

Roman Holy Week will once again be as close to pre-pandemic as possible. Pope Francis will preside at all ceremonies, including the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday at 9:15 pm.

In the last two years, the pandemic forced an almost minimalist Way of the Cross to avoid contagion.

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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  • Focus
  • Family
  • Yes to Life' takes to the streets this Sunday, supported by 'influencers'.
Family

Yes to Life' takes to the streets this Sunday, supported by 'influencers'.

The Platform Yes to Life takes to the streets of Madrid on Sunday the 27th, after two years of pandemic, with a March that will feature 'influencers' of social networks, such as Grace Villarreal, a young mother of three children and entrepreneur, with more than one million followers. The organizers denounce the injustice of the laws against life.

Rafael Miner-March 24, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

Grace Villarreal, a well-known 'influencer' born in Colombia and based in Madrid since she was a child; her American husband, Jacob Henson, singer-songwriter; and their three children, aged 9, 7 and 2, of Protestant religion, will be one of the thousands of families that will participate on Sunday 27th in the March Yes to Life, called by the Platform 'Yes to Life', formed by more than 500 associations and national and international civil entities. "We are all going to try to go," Grace Villarreal told Omnes, referring to her family.

– Supernatural March will begin at 12 noon at the confluence of Serrano and Goya streets, and will end at Plaza de Cibeles, where there will be an event with testimonies, live music by the group Los Hermanos Martínez, and a reading of a Manifesto, probably in the style of the marchforlife American companies.

Before that, at 10.00 a.m., there will be an Urban Mile Race, promoted by the Association The event is supported on social networks by runners of the stature of Marc Roig, as reported by Omnes, which collaborates in the Competition of Stories for Life. Nearly a hundred runners have already registered for this II Solidarity Race for Life.

Influencer Grace Villarreal [@gracyvillarreal on her Instagram profile], who will host the event with Diego de Julián, is co-founder of her own fashion and accessories brand @thevillaconcept and of the American food restaurants @picandnicfood, located in Madrid. As a content creator and 'influencer', her career began in 2012 publishing videos on Youtube about makeup tutorials that she would later expand to fashion, lifestyle, cooking, travel, family, etc; and where, as of today, she has 839,359 followers. In addition, Grace uses Instagram, a platform where she has posted more than 3,000 videos and has 628,536 followers to date.

"Life is always worth living."

In statements to Omnes, Grace Villarreal emphasized the value of life and family: "I am committed to life at all stages. The other day I was listening to a talk by Juan Carlos Unzué, a former Barcelona soccer player and coach, who was recently diagnosed with ALS, and I remembered a phrase of his: 'Life is always worth living', and it's true. In every sense, in all its stages. Even at times when we think everything is lost, it's always worth living".

The 'influencer' assured Omnes: "We are very happy with the children that God has given us, they were very much requested, and we feel blessed to have three healthy children. We are a very happy family. My husband is American, and thank God I was able to find a man who has the same values as me, and who has grown up in a Protestant family, who has been super involved in the church as well. We are Protestant. It's been perfect for me.

"We were missionaries in the Amazon."

"My father is a Protestant pastor. We were missionaries in the Amazon, in Peru, until I was four years old, and then we came to Spain. My father was assigned to a church in Spain, in Madrid. We are three brothers. "My dedication to social networks arose when I got married, I live in the United States, and I got pregnant. It was right after my first daughter, when God blessed us with a girl, and the pregnancy was terrible for me. I was at home for a long time, I was doing photography, but I couldn't dedicate myself to many things, and I started to consume a lot of Youtube, which was booming. I was at home, I had time and I saw that this was the moment", she explained to Omnes.

"I'm an audio-taught person, I like to keep learning, and I like to create," she continues. "I saw a niche, a space for me, I took my camera, tiny, and I started to record videos, to talk about fashion, beauty, values, that's how it emerges. We are talking about 2012. In December of that year I gave birth to my baby girl, and this happened just before giving birth. I have three children, a 9-year-old girl, a 6-year-old girl who will be 7 now in April, and a 2-year-old boy, who will be 3 in June."

Dignity of human life

Grace Villarreal has been at the presentation of the March Yes to Life. The platform of the same name convenes one more year to the Spanish civil society this Sunday 27th, to celebrate the International Day of Life, which is commemorated annually every March 25th. The event was attended by Alicia LatorreAmaya Azcona, spokesperson for the Yes to Life Platform and president of the Spanish Federation of Pro-Life Associations. Amaya Azcona, general director of Fundación RedMadre, Javier Rodríguez, general director of Foro de la Familia, and Álvaro Ortega, president of Fundación + Vida, who spoke of "a positive and festive celebration". Grace Villarreal and the European coordinator of One of Us, Ana del Pino, also participated.

Alicia Latorre stated a few weeks ago in Omnes the objectives of the March this year: "On the one hand, to show one more year (and 11 since 2011) our public and united commitment to the defense of life and its dignity, from all the fields in which the various associations that make up this platform are working. On the other hand, to raise our voice to denounce the injustice and shame of the most recent laws that threaten life (euthanasia and persecution of pro-lifers), as well as the previous ones that have taken millions of human lives".

"Likewise, as every year, we want to show the precious and intense face of human life with so many positive aspects, so many testimonies of struggle, overcoming and generosity, which are almost never shown and are happening every day".

The organizers hope that "thousands of people" will join in, and have pointed out that there will be a special remembrance for Ukraine. Amaya Azcona, general director of Red Madre, also referred to "those who are not here" because they died during the Covid-19 pandemic. During the presentation, it was reported that dozens of buses will be arriving on Sunday from many Spanish cities, that many young people will be participating, and that more than 400 volunteers have signed up.

Conveners

The associations organizing the March are, among others, ABIMAD, ACdP, ADEVIDA, AEDOS, AESVIDA, ANDOC, Asamblea por la Vida, la Libertad y la Dignidad, AYUVI, Asociación de Bioética de Madrid, Asociación Española de Farmacia social, Asociación Europea de Abogados de Familia, ANDEVI, ADEVIDA, Asociación Universitaria APEX, AYUVI, Centro Jurídico Tomás Moro, CIDEVIDA, CIVICA, COFAPA, CONCAPA, CRIAME, Cristianos en Democracia, 40 días por la vida, Derecho a ser Madre, Deportistas por la vida y la familia, e-cristians, EUVITA, El Encinar de Mambré, Enraizados, Evangelium Vitae, Familia y Dignidad Humana, Familias para la acogida, FAPACE, Federación Española de Asociaciones Provida, Fertilitas, Foro de la Familia, Foro cultura 21 Fundación Educatio Servanda, Fundación IUVE, Fundación Jérôme Lejeune, Fundación REDMADRE, Fundación Vida, Fundación + Futuro, Fundación Villacisneros, Fundación +Vida, Grupo Provida, HO- Derecho a vivir, Hogares de Santa María, YWAM, Lands Care, ONE of US, Medicina y vidas, NEOS, Profesionales por la Ética, Proyecto Mater, Red Misión, RENAFER, REMAR, Rescatadores Juan Pablo II, RIOARRIBA, SOS Familia, Spei Mater, Valores y Sociedad, Voz Postaborto, etcetera.

The organization of the March Yes to Life has made an appeal for solidarity to help defray the costs of the event. Through Bizum NGO: 00589, or transfer: ES28 0081 7306 6900 0140 0041.

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ColumnistsMontserrat Gas Aixendri

Learning to accompany families

In addition to formation, which is always necessary, it is necessary to accompany families in today's society. This means being close to them and establishing a real relationship with them.

March 24, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

We are nearing the conclusion of the Year of the family Amoris laetitia, promoted by Pope Francis, who has repeatedly stressed the need to be close to families, in a practical and realistic way, in short, to accompany them.

This is an urgent task, because the cultural changes of recent decades have not gone hand in hand with a change in the way families are helped, in accordance with their mentality and their new circumstances.

Until a few years ago we believed that it was enough to offer families "training" to help them: that is, to give them some ideas about how the family should be and how they should do things, with a style that we could call "directive", forgetting that training is not only giving and receiving information, but that it requires assuming vitally what is transmitted.

Training in the traditional sense is still necessary, but today it is not enough. We must learn to train in another way, with another methodology and another style, according to the culture in which we live, which has changed radically.

It is necessary to develop a new way of looking at "the family". First of all, it is necessary to start by understanding what "real families" are like and what they need, because "ideal families" do not exist.

The proposal of accompanying families introduces two differential elements with respect to the attitude prevailing up to now in the work with families.

To accompany means "to be with someone", to walk beside him, so that he discovers his own protagonism and learns the best way to solve the difficulties and conflicts that all personal relationships entail.

Accompanying is above all establishing a personal relationship and, as such, it is based on trust: we cannot impose it, but we can offer the conditions to make it possible.

I International Workshop on Family Accompaniment

In May 2022 the I International Workshop on family accompaniment will take place in Barcelona (more info: https://workshopfamilia.uic.es), with the aim of offering training on what it is and how to carry out this accompaniment to families from different areas (educational, pastoral, from professional offices, social networks, etc.), in a practical and realistic way.

The program aims to help to understand what families are like today and to learn how families can be accompanied from different areas, with a markedly practical character. At the same time, the workshop will be a meeting point to publicize the accompaniment initiatives that are already being successfully carried out in various countries, making it possible for those who carry out this task to meet, and encouraging the creation of new initiatives.

Family accompaniment is not reduced to a single action: it is rather a broad-spectrum change of perspective, which can be applied in different ways and in very diverse settings. As there are no "perfect families", in reality we all need to be accompanied. And we can all in some way be families who accompany other families. So, in a way, everyone who is concerned about helping families has a place in this workshop

The authorMontserrat Gas Aixendri

Professor at the Faculty of Law of the International University of Catalonia and director of the Institute for Advanced Family Studies. She directs the Chair on Intergenerational Solidarity in the Family (IsFamily Santander Chair) and the Childcare and Family Policies Chair of the Joaquim Molins Figueras Foundation. She is also Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Law at UIC Barcelona.

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Sunday Readings

"All that is Mine is Yours", Fourth Sunday of Lent

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

Andrea Mardegan / Luis Herrera-March 24, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

"All the tax collectors and sinners used to come to Jesus to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, 'That one welcomes sinners and eats with them.'"

This introduction of Luke offers us a reading key for his masterpiece, the parable of the merciful father and his two sons: those farthest from God approach and listen to Jesus, while the scribes and Pharisees, who should be closer to God, "murmur", criticize him precisely because of his closeness to sinners.

The parable is a wonderful way of speaking, with a realistic and open story, so that everyone can be touched in the heart and become involved. For the former to realize that God can make them be reborn as children, and the latter that their way of thinking and acting is light years away from God's way.

The young man asks for his share of the inheritance from a father who, in reality, would like to give him everything he has, as he will tell his eldest son "everything of mine is yours". By moving away from this "everything", he loses his identity as a son, squandering the inheritance that reminded him of his origin and nature. With the care of the pigs, he loses even more dignity, in contact with animals considered impure, in the land of pagans.

The penance for his sin is the suffering of being far away, the conviction of having lost the relationship with his father, the acceptance of becoming a servant, the effort to get up, to resurrect, to take the road back to his father's house, the anxiety about how it will end.

The father runs to meet him, hugs him, kisses him and doesn't let him say "treat me as one of your hired hands".. Instead, she showers him with every possible sign of her sonship, not servanthood: the most beautiful dress, the family ring on his finger, the shoes on his feet, and the fatted calf to celebrate his return with joy.

The eldest son, physically close, however, has his heart turned away from his father and is not happy, thinks of his brother as "this son of yours"He disdainfully details his sins to his father, who, on the other hand, had never mentioned them.

And his father, nevertheless, has come out to meet him as he did his younger brother, and invites him to convert his heart according to his paternal heart, to stop working at home as a day laborer, to consider all his father's goods as his inheritance, even that son that he is, in reality, "this brother of yours".

The parable ends open, so that each one of those who heard Jesus, and each one of us who listened to this Gospel, may allow ourselves to be challenged by the Father's words and let the Father's love change our lives, whether we are in the role of the younger son or in the place of the elder. Or in the place of both.

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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Education

Being a good person does sell

They are young, have millions of followers on social networks such as TikTok or Instagram and, to a large extent, their engagement is due to their personal commitment and how they show, with total naturalness, human values that continue to attract everyone.

Maria José Atienza-March 23, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Nacho Gil (@Nachter) and Tomás Páramo (@tomasparamo) are well-known influencers. For them, social networks are not entertainment but a job in which their commitment and life values do not fall by the wayside.

This is what they shared at the round table "Influencer Marketing: Connecting Values", held at the Villanueva University In addition to them, agency managers Daniela Rodríguez, from the SoyOlivia agency, and Álvaro Blanco, from Native Talents, intervened "from the brands' side".

His accounts could be described as "white": no insults or adult scenes. A cleanliness and a naturalness that is, in the midst of the world of social networks, an added value, increasingly appreciated by brands from very different fields. In this sense, Páramo emphasized that he works with a brand that "hires me for my added value". A statement shared by Natcher: "One of the most important things is that the brand shares my values and, in addition, I have to like the product. If they don't let me get my jokes in, I don't do the campaign."

Work and naturalness

This marketing of values was the focus of this round table in which Nacho Gil emphasized the constancy and hard work required to achieve success in this sector. A success that, however, he tries to relativize as much as possible: "I run away a little from events, because I prefer a normal day".  

"I've been making videos for seven years," explained Nachter, "and consistency is the most important thing. We have never stopped. It's an effort, but it's helped me grow. Whether you have a good day or a bad day, you have to upload something because you realize you're helping people and you know you have to be positive for them. This in the end is a job."

Tomás Páramo, for his part, recommended "being natural, being ourselves, being transparent, that people see that we all have good and bad days and that we are not actors and we do not have to put ourselves in the role of someone we are not".

Both emphasized the need for creative freedom. A freedom that, in addition, they have proven to be positive both for them when creating content, and for the brands they work with because of the naturalness with which, in this way, they can reach their objectives.

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Integral ecology

The rise of alms 2.0

The decline in the use of cash has led to new forms of donations that facilitate, on the one hand, the collaboration of the faithful and, on the other hand, transparency in the management of this money by parishes and communities.

Maria José Atienza-March 23, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

The electronic lecterns or brushes have become, in a few years, a common element of the furniture of parishes and temples in Spain. Three years after they began to place these lecterns, today they are already seen as something natural, in part, thanks to its rapid expansion throughout the Spanish geography.

This system for collecting donations has experienced a notable boom, together with online donations, and confirms a trend observed in a large part of Spanish society: the generalization of the use of cards for regular payments.

In addition to this, the card donation lecterns have not only helped to digitalize collections, but also "offer an analysis of donations that is very useful for optimizing the economic part of stewardship," as Santiago José Portas Alés, Director of Religious Institutions and the Third Sector at Banco Sabadell, the first financial institution to implement this donation system, points out.

More generous donations

The data show that, in these few years, many of the faithful have become accustomed to using these electronic lecterns or brushes and are especially generous in the amounts contributed to their parishes and communities through them. "The average donation amount in 2021 was €9.83" notes Portas, "a very relevant amount if we compare with traditional collections. This tells us that we are more generous when we donate with cards". By regions, "the autonomous communities with the highest average per donation are Andalusia and Catalonia, while Madrid has the highest number of total donations".

made piggy bank

One of the characteristics of this system is its ease of use by all types of people. Many of these lecterns also incorporate standard donation amounts, which speeds up the process. In this sense, Santiago Portas points out that "the most recurrent donations are those of 5, 10 and 19 euros. However, almost 20% of the collection is the result of donations of more than 25 euros.

There are many parishes that, during the week, do not pass the basket and focus on Sunday collections. In this line, the installation of the lecterns allows many people who come during the week to the parish for activities or celebrations, the exercise of these alms. Obviously, the weekend - Saturday afternoon and Sunday - are the days when most people use the electronic toothbrush. During the week, "the busiest day is Wednesday and if we talk about schedules, the collections are higher in the morning masses than in the afternoon, except for Saturday masses, which are the other way around," explains Portas.

More co-responsibility

The situation of crisis, the growing needs of many families in our environment and of parishes and communities, is being a call to stewardship for many of the faithful. In this sense, moreover, the data offered by these donation systems are helping the economic councils of the parishes "to analyze the behavior of the collections and with it to help in a professional way to increase the economic co-responsibility in the support".

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The Vatican

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

The Holy See has forwarded to the Episcopal Conferences the text of the Consecration of Russia and UkraineThe Pope has invited all the faithful of the world to join in the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Friday, March 25, as part of the 24 hours for the Lord. The Pope himself has invited all the faithful of the world to join in this consecration.

Maria José Atienza-March 23, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsPope will consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

Text in Italian here

In a letter addressed to all the pastors of the local Churches, the Pope emphasizes that the Consecration "... is a gift of the Holy Spirit.It is intended as a gesture of the universal Church, which in this dramatic moment brings to God, through the mediation of his and our Mother, the cry of pain of all those who suffer and implore an end to violence, and entrusts the future of humanity to the Queen of Peace. For this reason, I invite you to join in this act, calling priests, religious and other faithful to communal prayer in the sacred places on Friday, March 25, so that the holy People of God may raise their supplication to their Mother in a unanimous and urgent manner.".

For this reason, the Holy See has sent the text that will accompany this act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary of the nations of Ukraine and Russia, to ask for the gift of peace and the cessation of invasive actions on the part of Russia.

Marian consecration

In Rome, the act of consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary will take place in the context of the Celebration of Penance, which will be celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica at 17:00, Rome time. The consecration, in particular, is scheduled for around 6:30 pm. The same act, on the same day, will be performed in Fatima by Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, Pontifical Almoner, as envoy of the Holy Father.

The text to be used in the ceremony is as follows:

O Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, we, in this hour of tribulation, have recourse to you. You are our Mother, you love us and know us, nothing of our concerns is hidden from you. Mother of mercy, many times we have experienced your provident tenderness, your presence that restores our peace, because you always lead us to Jesus, Prince of Peace.

We have lost the path to peace. We have forgotten the lesson of the tragedies of the last century, the sacrifice of millions of fallen in the world wars. We have neglected our commitments as a Community of Nations and are betraying the dreams of peace of the peoples and the hopes of the young. We have become sick with greed, we have locked ourselves up in nationalistic interests, we have allowed ourselves to be hardened by indifference and paralyzed by selfishness. We have preferred to ignore God, to live with our falsehoods, to feed aggression, to suppress lives and to accumulate weapons, forgetting that we are the custodians of our neighbor and of our common home. We have destroyed with war the garden of the earth, we have wounded with sin the heart of our Father, who loves us brothers and sisters. We have become indifferent to everyone and everything but ourselves. And with shame we say: forgive us, Lord.

In the misery of sin, in our weariness and frailty, in the mystery of the iniquity of evil and war, you, Holy Mother, remind us that God does not abandon us, but continues to look upon us with love, eager to forgive us and raise us up again. It is He who has given you to us and has placed in your immaculate Heart a refuge for the Church and for humanity. By his divine goodness you are with us, and even in the most adverse vicissitudes of history you lead us with tenderness.

That is why we have recourse to you, we knock at the door of your Heart, we, your beloved children whom you never tire of visiting and inviting to conversion. In this dark hour, come to our aid and comfort us. Repeat to each one of us: "Am I not here who am your Mother? You know how to untie the tangles of our hearts and the knots of our time. We place our trust in you. We are sure that you, especially in these moments of trial, do not despise our supplications and come to our aid.

This is what you did in Cana of Galilee, when you hastened the hour of Jesus' intervention and introduced his first sign into the world. When the feast had turned to sadness, you said to him: "They have no wine" (Jn 2:3). Repeat it again to God, O Mother, because today we have run out of the wine of hope, joy has vanished, fraternity has been watered down. We have lost humanity, we have spoiled peace. We have become capable of all kinds of violence and destruction. We urgently need your motherly help.

Accept, O Mother, our supplication.

You, star of the sea, do not let us be shipwrecked in the storm of war.

You, ark of the new covenant, inspire projects and paths of reconciliation.

You, "earth from Heaven", bring God's harmony back into the world.

Extinguish hatred, appease vengeance, teach us to forgive.

Deliver us from war, preserve the world from the nuclear threat.

Queen of the Rosary, awaken in us the need to pray and to love.

Queen of the human family, show the peoples the path of fraternity.

Queen of peace, obtain peace for the world.

May your tears, O Mother, move our hardened hearts. May the tears you have shed for us make this valley that our hatred has dried up bloom. And while the noise of arms does not mute, may your prayer dispose us to peace. May your motherly hands caress those who suffer and flee under the weight of bombs. May your motherly embrace comfort those who are forced to leave their homes and their country. May your afflicted Heart move us to compassion, impel us to open doors and take care of wounded and discarded humanity.

Holy Mother of God, while you were at the foot of the cross, Jesus, seeing the disciple beside you, said to you: "Behold your son" (Jn. 19:26), and so he entrusted us to you. Then he said to the disciple, to each one of us: "Behold your mother" (v. 27). Mother, we want to welcome you now in our life and in our history. At this hour humanity, exhausted and overwhelmed, is with you at the foot of the cross. And it needs to entrust itself to you, to consecrate itself to Christ through you. The Ukrainian people and the Russian people, who venerate you with love, have recourse to you, while your Heart beats for them and for all peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and misery.

Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, we solemnly commend and consecrate to your Immaculate Heart our persons, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine. Accept this act of ours, which we perform with trust and love, make war cease, provide the world with peace. The "yes" that flowed from your Heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of peace; we trust that, through your Heart, peace will come. To you, then, we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and aspirations of peoples, the anxieties and hopes of the world.

Through you, may divine Mercy be poured out upon the earth, and may the sweet beat of peace once again mark our journeys. Woman of Yes, upon whom the Holy Spirit descended, bring us again the harmony of God. You who are the "living fountain of hope," dispel the dryness of our hearts. You who have woven the humanity of Jesus, make us builders of communion. You who have trodden our paths, guide us in the ways of peace. Amen.

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ColumnistsJuan Pablo Cannata

For a symphony of truth

This complex world challenges us to ensure that the truth of identity not only exists in our intentions, but also appears to others in our actions and communications.

March 23, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

Appearance is often suspect. Depth is authentic and appearance is "mere" appearance. This dialectic between substance and form affects public debates about values. On the one hand, positions on substantive issues - life, slavery, immigration - form the substance; on the other hand, these positions enter the debate in processes of appearance, which affect the perceptions and judgments of others.

So, when a Catholic participates in a public debate, how does his position on the issue "appear"? If we start from a realistic communication model, three related messages can be recognized: a message about the issue; a message about the relationship - about the kind of bond that his way of communicating creates with the other, for example, by promoting a culture of encounter; and a message about his identity - his position, his way of communicating it and his way of relating to others, say something about who that person is. 

In a positive sense, effective communication consists of contributing to the debate by mobilizing the Church's point of view on the corresponding topic, while at the same time manifesting the Catholic identity with the greatest clarity for the greatest number of people, and generating in the interlocutor a greater openness to the message due to an improvement in the interaction relationship. 

In a negative sense, incomplete or paradoxical situations could arise: presenting one's position on an issue and betraying one's identity in the process of mobilizing the issue; presenting a vision, but wearing down or destroying relationships that then hinder the pastoral task or coexistence; avoiding witnessing on a sensitive issue to avoid the tension of dealing with a hostile interlocutor.

This complex world challenges us to ensure that the truth of identity not only exists in our intentions, but also appears to others in our actions and communications.

The authorJuan Pablo Cannata

Professor of Sociology of Communication. Austral University (Buenos Aires)

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The World

CilouThe joy of Down syndrome leads us to be authentic in front of them".

March 21 marks the World Day for People with Down Syndrome. On this occasion, Omnes interviews French artist Cilou, who puts music and choreography to Luis, a boy with trisomy 21.

Bernard Larraín-March 22, 2022-Reading time: 6 minutes
RelatedRelated News"My son with Down syndrome and leukemia transforms hearts."

Translation of the article into English

Since 2011, by decision of the United Nations General Assembly, March 21 has been celebrated as World Trisomy 21 Day. In France, this date has a special character because it was the prominent French geneticist Jérôme Lejeune who, when he was about 30 years old, discovered the origin of this syndrome and dedicated his life to research and, above all, to caring for people with Down syndrome. By the very nature of his discovery, the famous scientist was aware that by advancing science he was at the same time putting at risk the lives of these people who were left at the mercy of the drama of abortion: today in France more than 90% of the pregnancies in which this syndrome is diagnosed end in abortion. Lejeune died in 1994, but his legacy continues to exist through the Foundation and the Institute that bear his name and this world day in which we are invited to wear unmatched socks (because of their similarity to chromosomes) (in order to promote the difference). 

Recently, several initiatives have shown French public opinion the importance of inclusion and diversity of people with different types of disabilities and specifically trisomy 21. Films such as "Hors normes" ("Outside the law"), "Apprendre à t'aimer" ("learning to love you") and "De Gaulle" have put these issues on the big screen. The first shows the heroism of people in charge of different social inclusion associations. The second tells the transformative story of a young French family who have a daughter with Down syndrome. Finally, the film "De Gaulle" (by Gabriel Le Bomin) gives a leading role to the daughter of the famous French general and politician: Anne, born with trisomy and deceased at the age of 20, held a very special place in the heart of Charles de Gaulle, being his strength, joy and inspiration in the countless battles that the founder of the Fifth French Republic had to face.

In the area of social entrepreneurship, some European cities have seen the opening of "Cafés Joyeux" (Joyful Cafés) in their downtown neighborhoods. This project of entrepreneur Yann Bucaille-Lanrezac, who received a few days ago the social entrepreneur award from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), employs people with disabilities in typically French cafés. The most famous of them is located no less than a few meters from the Arc de Triomphe on the very Avenue des Champs-Elysées and was inaugurated by the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, together with his Minister in charge of people with disabilities, Sophie Cluzel. Cluzel was not chosen for nothing for this sensitive position: she is the mother of young Julie (born in 1995) with Down Syndrome and has dedicated most of her professional life to the integration of these people. 

At the Café Joyeux located on the "most beautiful avenue in the world" we met another voice for the inclusion of children with trisomy 21: the French artist Cilou. One year ago, on March 21, 2021, a very symbolic date for carriers of three chromosomes 21, the young 27-year-old artist put music and choreography to the biography of a child, Louis, from the time he is in his mother's womb until he starts working in a café Joyeux. Our conversation is constantly enlivened by the music, the atmosphere and the dances of the employees who work here. The presence of the young artist is no stranger to the enthusiasm that quickly settles this evening in the premises of the Champs Elysées. Our dialogue will be cheerfully "interrupted" many times by two attentive young coffee professionals. 

How did you come up with the idea of composing a song and a video about this topic? 

-During the time of confinement, I wanted to compose a song about joy. As we all know from experience, those months were very hard and difficult. I try to make my songs convey values about real people's lives. The idea of trisomy 21 came up when the year 2021 started, which made me think about people who have three chromosomes 21. In our society today, and this is something that I think is very positive, difference, diversity, is constantly celebrated because we are all different.

However, many times we tend to equalize ourselves, to erase the differences, to not be ourselves to look like others or to adapt to what we think society imposes on us. The authenticity, the difference and the joy of people with Down syndrome pushes us to be ourselves in front of them who are completely themselves, without playing any role, without hiding behind any mask. They have a natural and contagious joy, it is something that everyone recognizes in them. My song speaks in a way of this joy of existing, of living, of being different: long live the difference!

Who is Luis the boy in your song? 

-When I came up with the idea of composing this song about disability, I started looking on Instagram for stories of families with children with trisomy 21. I didn't want my song to be something theoretical, I really wanted it to be something true, embodied in a real story. In my close environment I didn't know any children with this disability. That's how I found the account Louis le super hérosIn it, this family from Brittany (western France) tells the story of the life of this little Louis. I liked it very much, I contacted them and they accepted my idea with great enthusiasm. Louis is now 5 and a half years old. In the song, I put myself in his place and speak in the first person: that when I was in my mother's womb, I dreamed of my life, and that I had a well-kept secret. At the moment of birth, I describe the astonishment of my parents, which is what many families go through in these cases. And the main stanza speaks of joy, that I am joyful, that I don't want to bother anyone, only that I am different and that I want to be loved.

She says that her secret is her extra chromosome, which is her "super power" to make the world more beautiful. She also talks about her family, her big brother, her parents, and the difficulties, but also the joys, which may arise, but in the end they all surrender to her immense heart and affection. He also speaks of the beauty of fragility and of moving away from conformism. He also says that when he grows up, his parents will be concerned about his autonomy and his integration. At that moment we show a young man who goes to work in a Joyeux café (in the city of Rennes, in Brittany), where there is no fear or prejudice, only the pride of being different and competent. The song ends with the ideas that seem to me the main ones: I don't want to bother, I just want to love, life is lucky, long live the difference! In the video you can see the people of his family, and of his environment, even the mayor of the city. 

Where does your artistic vocation and your commitment to this cause come from? 

Since I was very young I went to the conservatory: music and art have always been present in my life. I studied business administration. When I finished my studies, I went on a humanitarian trip to Indonesia where I taught guitar to young people at social risk. We created a song and a video with their story and several others that were very popular. Back in France, I started working in marketing for a big French group. I liked it a lot but I felt that I could combine all my skills and my desire to have an impact in something more artistic: that's how Cilou was born! My songs and videos are generally about existential, deep themes, based on the experiences of people going through difficult moments such as the loss of a mother, doubts about their place in the world, encounters, etc. 

Humanitarian trips are transformative because they help you see the world through different eyes. In my case, people with mental disabilities have always been present in my life because my parents took us once a month to play and to take care of these people within the framework of an association. When I was a student in northern France, I was involved in an initiative that organized plays and musicals for young people with disabilities. 

Anyway, I think that the integration and respect of these people is a very important and positive battle. But it is something general, for the common good, because we are all different, we all have our frailties, and we all want respect and a place in the world. 

The authorBernard Larraín

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RelatedRelated News"My son with Down syndrome and leukemia transforms hearts."
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Scripture

"Put on the new man" (Eph 4:20-24).

Juan Luis Caballero-March 22, 2022-Reading time: 4 minutes

After having spoken of the mystery of the Church in which it is necessary to believe, the Letter to the Ephesians goes on to explain that this mystery is the mystery of the Church. to be lived (Eph 4:1 - 6:17). This Christian life has an ecclesial character and is presented as the life of the new man and of the children of light. The principles governing it are given in Eph 4:20-24 (cf. Col 3:5-10); the following verses will illustrate these principles with what to avoid and what to do (Eph 4:25 - 5:20).

Not the way pagans live

"Therefore this I say and testify in the Lord, that you no longer live as the Gentiles live, in their vain thoughts, their minds darkened, their minds alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance in which they are blinded by the blindness of their hearts. Indolent, they have given themselves over to perversion, to work all uncleanness with greediness." (Eph 4:17-19).

The new life of the Gentile believersThe letter is primarily addressed to them, and is presented in opposition to the behavior of the "Gentiles who do not believe in Christ".. This life is characterized by "to have a darkened mind". and by "living apart from God".. The new life does not imply a change of identity (they are still gentiles), but of mentality and behavior (they are no longer to live as pagans). 

The reason why unbelieving Gentiles lead such a life is to be found in the "ignorance" and in the "hardening" of their hearts. And hence his action: "indolence, perversion e impurity". These words take up biblical and Jewish ways of seeing (Wis 14:22; 15:11; Philo, Decalogue 8; Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiques 10:142), also present in the New Testament (Acts 17:30; 1 Pet. 1:14; 2:15; cf. Rom. 1:21-24).

To renew yourselves and to clothe yourselves

"You, on the other hand, this is not how you have learned Christ.-if indeed you have heard him and have been taught according to the truth which is in Jesus, to forsake the former conversation of the old man, which is corrupt according to his seductive lust, to be renewed in the spirit of your mind and to put on the new man, which is created according to God in true righteousness and holiness." (Eph 4:20-24).

The new life of the believers is underlined by the contrast with the life of the pagans. These vv. 20-24 are, thus, in opposition to v. 18: in front of the ignorance (guilty = hardheartedness) of the heathen is spoken of the knowledge of Christ. Next, the to act as a Christian (Eph 4, 25 - 5, 20) will be contrasted with the heathenish conduct described in Eph 4:19. 

The letter establishes an essential relationship between the new life and the knowledge of Christ. These vv. 20-24 refer, with insistence, to baptismal catechesis: "you have learned, have you heard, you have been taught".. The letter uses the expression learning Christ to emphasize that the purpose of catechesis is to present a living person to be known and to have a personal relationship with, Christ, in whom we read the divine plan for humanity (cf. 1 Cor 2:2; Gal 2:20; Phil 1:21). Christ is the Gospel that you have heard and that you have been taught, a Risen One who cannot be separated from Jesus, son of Mary, who lived among men, was rejected and died on the cross. That man, who is the truth of the glorious Christ, is the one they must learn to know. Knowledge of Jesus Christ is thus necessary not only for ecclesial growth, but is also the foundation of the moral conduct of believers, since in him we form a new man.

The content of the education received refers to leave, renew y coat. First of all, we talk about the negativeIt is necessary to get rid of the old man, that is, of everything that, according to Col 3:8, is anger, passion, malice, blasphemy and dishonest conversation. Then it speaks of what positivein frontal opposition to v. 17: the pagans are governed by vain thoughtswhereas being a Christian is characterized by a spiritual renewal of intelligenceThis is to say, of the higher part of the intelligence. Thanks to this, the believer will be able to know Christ and put on the new man (cf. 1 Thess 5:8; Gal 3:27; Rom 13:14; 1 Cor 15:43, 53-54; 2 Cor 5:3-4; Col 3:10; Eph 6:11). The expression "who has been created according to God".which refers to the creation of Adam (cf. Wis 9:1-3; 2:23; Si 17:1; 33:10), confirms that the creator of the new humanity is Christ himself, thus fulfilling God's plan for humanity.

The image of the coatFinally, it does not refer to something merely external, as is the case with clothes. The letter speaks of a divest and a coatThis is in reference to moral change, because the way of acting expresses, like clothing, the personality, the way of being of a person. And to make it clear that it is not something external, Paul adds of the "new man"The believer is clothed with a new being, renewed by Christ, as an individual person and as a member of the Church. It is in this way that the Christian will become the light of the world (Eph 5:8), before whom darkness will be removed, inasmuch as he is risen with Christ and illuminated by him (Eph 5:14).

The authorJuan Luis Caballero

Professor of New Testament, University of Navarra.

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Sunday Readings

"I will be present wherever you want me", Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. 

Commentary on the readings of the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord and brief video homily by the priest Luis Herrera.

Andrea Mardegan / Luis Herrera-March 22, 2022-Reading time: 2 minutes

The angel, after speaking, waited. I had the perception of an infinite moment of silence in the world. As if the stars had stopped to wait, to watch. The cicadas fell silent. The birds in the sky became quiet in the branches of the trees. It seemed to me that all the generations of the past and those of the future were waiting. I heard the prayer of Adam and Eve, of Noah and his wife, of Melchizedek, of Abraham our father and Sarah... The sun had stood still in the sky. But the decision had already been made to do what God wanted for me. A thousand times I had repeated it to him, since I was a child, in my prayer of praise for having created me: I always told him of my desire to serve him as he wished. So I told the angel that I was saying yes to God with the freedom he had given me: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word."

It seemed to me that Gabriel was bowing, that he was smiling with a smile that he could not contain, with an ineffable joy. And the cicadas began to sing again, and the birds began to fly in the sky. My heart was touched by the light that enveloped the room. The light and the smile gave a love and a peace to my body and soul that I had never felt before. Gabriel left me. Around me everything was as before and everything was different. The cloth, the bucket, the water, the floor. My mother called me: "Maria, did you get the water, is everything all right, I couldn't hear you singing! How long did the angel's visit last? An instant, an eternity. I will tell mother that I want to go and see Elizabeth. I will be able to understand her and help her. She will be able to understand me and maybe help me. What should I do now? One step after another. 

When I recounted to my Son's disciples my response to the angel Gabriel: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord," my heart warned me that these words, inspired by God and entirely mine, guided me throughout my life. I repeated them within myself whenever I realized that there was a new call from the Lord and in every new situation. They helped me to get out of the doubt: to go, or not to go? to be, or not to be? It came out of my heart with certainty: to be there! To go there. I will always be there. At your side and at the side of those who need me. Of all my daughters and sons. I go wherever you call me. I will be present wherever you want me. When one of my children suffers, I am by his side, I suffer with him. I will take him to heaven when I die. My life has been like this and continues to be like this. Going towards Isabel's mountains, I repeated: "Here I am", and I seemed to notice that I was no longer alone. And I imagined myself saying to Isabel: "Here I am, here I am! I stayed with her. How good it is to be there when someone needs it and where the Holy Spirit wants it.

The authorAndrea Mardegan / Luis Herrera

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Integral ecology

Euthanasia: the road to self-destruction

A virtual meeting organized by the Centro Académico Romano Foundation addresses the issues arising from the approval in Spain of the euthanasia law.

Maria José Atienza-March 21, 2022-Reading time: < 1 minute
RelatedRelated NewsNotes for reflection and argument on the euthanasia lawRelated NewsAeneas and euthanasiaRelated NewsEuthanasia. Running to one's own destruction.

The Foundation Roman Academic Centero, CARF, organizes a virtual reflection meeting on March 24 at 20:30h. in which Benigno Blanco, former president of the Spanish Family Forum, will speak about the social drift that leads to the acceptance of euthanasia as an option, and even a medical "duty", to put an end to human life.

The meeting, which is open to anyone who wishes to attend, will be broadcast online and registration can be made at CARF website.

Last year, Spain passed one of the most permissive laws, contrary to human dignity, in favor of euthanasia. A fact that has given rise to new issues not only in the health field, but also in the social field.

What does a law of this type mean for a society? What can we expect from the future after the approval and implementation of this type of law? Are there reasons for pessimism and despair? Are we on the road to social self-destruction? These are some of the questions that will be addressed in CARF's virtual reflection meeting, with the collaboration of Omnes.

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RelatedRelated NewsNotes for reflection and argument on the euthanasia lawRelated NewsAeneas and euthanasiaRelated NewsEuthanasia. Running to one's own destruction.
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Education

We need heroes

On March 11, Skate Hero, the musical that recalls the life and figure of Ignacio Echevarría, known as the 'skateboard hero', returned to the stage. An example of generosity and courage for today's youth. 

Javier Segura-March 21, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes
RelatedRelated NewsGiving your life for others. Skate Hero musical returnsRelated NewsSkate Hero: A wave of hopeRelated NewsSkate hero' The musical inspired by the life of Ignacio Echeverría

Last March 11, almost ten thousand people gathered at La Nueva Cubierta in Leganés to pay tribute to Ignacio Echeverríathe one known as the 'skateboard hero'. And along with him all the victims of terrorism, as Ignacio himself was one more of those victims of jihadist terror.

What was experienced on this day is worth a reflection that goes beyond the numbers. The almost seven thousand students, mostly Religion students, who packed the bullring in the morning and the more than three thousand who attended in the afternoon, were not only witnesses to a musical show, but participants in a special event.

First of all for something as important as honoring the victims of terrorism. The Association of Aid to the Victims of 1M organized this event together with the Teaching Delegation of the Diocese of Getafe. And together they wanted to make this painful date a real song of hope. From memory and remembrance, thanks to the young actors, the history of the victims of terrorism was kept fresh and current. This is especially important for the new generations. Not in vain none of the young people who crowded the square had been born when eighteen years ago the March 11 attack that shocked the whole of Spain took place.  

Paying tribute and giving warmth to the victims of terrorism is much more than remembering a historical event. It is to discover in these people who have managed to overcome pain and the desire for revenge the best of our society. In each of their stories of overcoming, we recognize that in truth the last word is not hate, but love.

And that is why it is so significant that the protagonist of the musical is a true hero, recognized as such by the whole of Spanish society. We have all been able to see in his action of risking his life to save a young woman who was being stabbed, something truly noble that deserves to be praised. No matter our age, ideology, or where we are from, Ignacio represents for all Spaniards the best of ourselves.

That is why this event was not only a tribute to a hero, but also a proposal to all young people. They too can be 'another Ignatius', even in their hearts sleeps a hero.

Ignacio is a hero. And the revolutionary educational proposal that could be read on a banner is to discover that we can all be true heroes. A heroism that begins in our daily lives, in our ordinary lives, in the values that sustain our daily tasks. Because Ignacio, as was sung in the musical 'Skate Hero', is 'one of us'. Proposing heroism to young people is an audacity that responds to the deepest aspirations of their being.

This is how pedagogue Catherine L'Ecuyer described it in a recent article:

The hero heir of classical education is aware that an ideal is something that is conquered little by little, every day, through the search for self-improvement. One is not a hero in great things, if one has not been a hero in small things before. The true hero flees from cowardice, he does not confuse difficult with utopian. He is aware that there are higher goods, that they are never subject to concessions and that the function of an ideal is to aim beyond the present possibilities.'

It is hard not to think of Ignacio Echeverría when reading this description of the hero.

We live in an education that does not propose heroism to young people. If, after all, the purpose of education is to find a job, there is not much room for heroism. Or if its purpose is a collective cultural and social change, as in LOMLOE, the component of personal commitment is diluted. That is why it was so important and revolutionary what we experienced last March 11 at the Cubierta de Leganés. Because there was a group of teachers who took the risk of telling their students that it is possible to love without limits, to love to the end, to love to the point of giving one's life. And that this change begins with oneself in ordinary life.

And there was something of that in the air around this event. Different people and groups were attracted by this example of nobility and put all their skills to make this event succeed. Influencers, parishes, teachers, foundations, families, young people... lived a true experience of synodality and walked together towards the roof of Leganés in the footsteps of this brave young Catholic lawyer.

The brilliant British writer J.R.R. Tolkien said that history is like a great failure with occasional glimpses of the final triumph. Ignatius shows us the great final triumph. And this March 11 we were able to have an occasional glimpse of what the human heart is made for.

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Laura Davara. Giving from overabundance

"Let them become Catholics out of envy." For our joy. Laura lives convinced that we must continually give of what we receive, without holding anything back.

Arsenio Fernández de Mesa-March 21, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes

I go for a walk with Laura Davara Fernández de Marcos. 37 years old. She studied Law and Political Science at ICADE and works as a lawyer in a family office dedicated to computer law (data protection, e-commerce and others). She specializes in social networks and has just published a book: The definitive book on social networks. Shortly after meeting her I will never forget an anecdote: on a summer parish plan we made a stop in Zaragoza. She called me when I was at the gates of the Basilica del Pilar. Her car was full of people: "I've known you for fifteen minutes but believe me I'm serious, we've made a mistake and we're on our way to Gerona.". Anecdotes aside, the book I am talking about is focused on parents and teachers. The objective is to tell both the good and the bad in a colloquial way, without stilted phrases that are not understood. The people who have read it joke: "It doesn't seem to be written by a lawyer, because it is understood". He gives many practical tips on privacy and security, how to detect identity theft and how to act or how to report a case of cyberbullying. He also recommends movies and series to watch with children so they can talk about these issues. He recommends accounts that are worthwhile: food, learning mathematics, cybersecurity tricks, for example. He has also provided some addresses for prayer and meditation. 

In the networks

"The Church is increasingly involved in networks. There are very cool accounts that serve to grow in the life of faith. It is necessary to form in values in digital life"she assures. Laura, who did her thesis on social networks, gives a lot of training in schools. Her target audience is almost everyone: adults, teachers, parents and children. Don't think that's all she's passionate about. She loves board games, traveling and going out with her friends. It makes him happy "a good dinner, a good aperitif, going to a theater, a musical or a magic show". Passionate about being with her family and enjoying it, she makes clear to me the weakness she has for the plan to go to the Bernabeu with her father, for that they are very madridistas. 

Laura is one of those who does not live an individualistic, private, self-referential faith, but wants to give what she has received: "...".I have had a very strong Church experience, especially in the parish of San Germán, in Madrid. I have been a catechist, coordinator of Confirmation, participated in the theater group and was part of the choir.". He went on a mission to the Dominican Republic and there he had a strong experience of God during a Mass, at the moment of peace, to which he had always given little importance: "I felt that God was giving me peace with capital letters, real peace, through these people.". She recalls how in a very sick child, Emmanuel, she saw the face of God. Three years ago he lived through an enormously painful experience: his brother died suddenly, overnight. Shortly after, she went to Lourdes and there she received the consolation she needed: she met her spiritual director and Antonio, a young man of almost 20 years of age with a syndrome suffered by very few people in the world: "...he is a young man with a syndrome that is very rare in the world.I spent some unforgettable days by his side, accompanying him and listening to Melendi's songs all the time because he loved them.".  

Radiating faith

Laura is not satisfied and wants to continue to spread her faith. She participates in many volunteer activities organized by the Youth Delegation of Madrid. Also in Approacha project for people over 30 years of age that was born with the vocation of offering "something different". No one is excluded: Catholics more committed or less, more distant, converts, single, married, divorced. At Christmas they went out to give gifts to children and the elderly".to bring a little joy and hope". Laura has also gone to hospitals, to sing in old people's homes, to hand out sandwiches to the poorest of the poor. But before giving, she nourishes herself: she participates in a group in which she reviews life, formation and prayer. It includes great friends who have supported her in difficult times. Laura understands that we can help others to become "Catholics out of envy". Contagion. Not by keeping the riches we have but by giving from the overabundance we have received. He seems to be succeeding.

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The World

Cilou: "The joy shown by the Down's Syndrome people helps us to be more natural with them".

The World Day of people with Down's Syndrome is celebrated on 21st March. Omnes interviewed the French artiste, Cilou, who provides music and choreography for Louis, a boy with trisomy 21.

Bernard Larraín-March 20, 2022-Reading time: 5 minutes

Original Text of the article in Spanish here

The General Assembly of the United Nations decided that from the year 2011, the 21st March should be celebrated as the World Day of trisomy 21. A better day could not be chosen to celebrate people with three chromosomes 21. In France this day has special significance since this was the date when the leading French geneticist, Jerome Lejeune, who was about 30 years old at the time, discovered the origin of this syndrome and dedicated the rest of his life to investigation and above all to caring for people with Down's Syndrome. Owing to the very nature of his discovery, Lejeune was aware that while he was advancing science, he was also putting at risk the lives of children in the womb who could end up being aborted. Presently in France 90% of pregnancies that are diagnosed with the syndrome are aborted. Lejeune died in 1994 but his legacy remains through the Foundation and Institute that bear his name, as well as this World Day when we are invited to wear non-matching socks, because of their resemblance with the chromosomes and in order to promote "difference".

 Recently different kinds of initiatives have shown French public opinion the importance of the inclusion and diversity of people with different kinds of disability, and specifically trisomy 21. Films such as "Hors norms" (The Specials), "Apprendre a t'aimer" and "De Gaulle" have brought these topics to the big screen. The first shows the heroism of people who run different associations dealing with social inclusion. The second tells a story of the transformation of a young French family whose daughter has Down's Syndrome. The film "De Gaulle" (by Gabriel Le Bomin) gives a prominent role to the daughter of the famous general and French political leader: Anne was born with trisomy and died at the age of 20, She occupied a very special place in the heart of Charles de Gaulle. She was his strength, joy and inspiration in the many battles the founder of the Fifth Republic had to fight.

 In the field of social entrepreneurship, "Cafes Joyeux" (Happy Cafes) have opened in the business districts of several European cities. This project of the entrepreneur Yann Bucaille-Lanrezac, who recently received the social entrepreneur award from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), employs people with disabilities in typically French "cafes". The most famous is located no less than a few yards from the Arc de Triomphe in the Champs-Elysees and was inaugurated by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, together with the minister in charge of disabled people, Sophie Cluzel. It is not by chance that Cluzel was chosen for this sensitive position. She herself is the mother of Julie (born in 1995) with Down's Syndrome and has dedicated most of her professional life to integrating these people into society.

In the Café Joyeux located in the "most beautiful avenue in the world" we come across a champion of the inclusion of children with trisomy 21, the French artiste Cilou. One year ago, on the 21st March 2021, a very symbolic date for those with three chromosomes 21, the 27-year-old artiste set the story of a boy, Louis, to music and dance, from when he was in his mother's womb until he started working in a Café Joyeux.

 Our conversation is continually enlivened by the music, dance and general atmosphere of the employees working here. The presence of Cilou does not dampen the enthusiasm that vibrates in this locale on the Champs-Elysees. Our dialogue will be happily "interrupted" many times by two young professional guards at the Café.

How did you come up with the idea of composing a song and a video on this topic?

  • During the lockdown I wanted to compose a song about joy. As we all know from experience those months were very hard. I like my songs to transmit values on the lives of real people. The idea of trisomy came up the year 2021 started and made me think of people who have three chromosomes 21. In present-day society, and I find it very positive, difference and diversity are often celebrated because we are all distinct from one another.
  • Nonetheless, we often tend to be exactly like the others and erase the differences, to not be ourselves so as to be like the others or adapt ourselves to what we think society wants us to be.
  • The natural goodness, the difference and the happiness of people with Down's Syndrome helps us to be ourselves in the same way they are completely themselves, without any pretense or hiding behind a mask. They have a spontaneous, infectious joy; it's something everyone can see in them. My song speaks of this joy in being alive, in being different. Live the difference!
  • Who is Louis, the boy of the song?

When this idea of composing a song on disability occurred to me, I started looking on Instagram for stories of families with children with trisomy 21. I didn't want my song to be theoretical, but something real and authentic based on a true story. In my immediate circle I didn't know any children with this disability. That is how I found out all about Louis, le super heros. "Louis the super hero". In it this family from Brittany (western France) tells the story of little Louis. I liked it very much; I contacted them and they agreed to my idea enthusiastically. Today he is five and a half years old. In the song I put myself in his place and speak in the first person: when I was in my mother's womb, I dreamt about my life, and carried with me a well-guarded secret. When I was born, I describe the astonishment of my parents, which is what many families experience in such cases. And the main verse tells us of joy, that I am happy, that I don't want to trouble anyone, just that I am different, and I want to be loved.

 He says his secret is his extra chromosome, it is a "super power", to make the world more beautiful. He also speaks about his family, his big brother and his parents and the difficulties, and also the joys, but that, in short, everyone surrenders to his big heart and immense affection. He also speaks of the beauty of being weak and helpless, and of rejecting conformism. He says that when he grows up, his parents will be concerned about his independence and integrating into society. At that moment we show a young man going to work in a Café Joyeux, in Rennes, in Brittany, where there is neither fear nor prejudice, but the pride of being different and competent too. The song ends with ideas which seem to me to be the most important: I don't want to cause trouble; I only want to love; life is a matter of chance. Live the difference! In the video we see members of his family and the places where he lives, even the local mayor is featured.

From where do you get your artistic vocation and your commitment to this great cause?

 When I was young, I went to the conservatoire: music and art have always played a great part in my life. I studied business administration. After finishing my studies, I went to Indonesia to do social work and taught guitar to kids neglected by society. We composed a song and made a video about them and several more that people liked. On my return to France, I entered the field of marketing in a big French company. I liked it but felt I could put together all my skills and my wanting to have social impact into something more artistic; this is how Cilou came into existence! My songs and videos are usually about deeper human problems, such as people going through difficult times, like losing a mother, doubts about one's place in the world, different kinds of encounters, etc.

 Humanitarian trips like mine can be a transforming experience because they help you to see the world differently. In my case, people with mental disability have always been present in my life because my parents used to take us once a month to play with such people and look after them. As a student, in the north of France I used to take part in an initiative that organized plays and musicals for disabled young people.

Finally, I think that integrating these people and respecting them is a very important and positive challenge. But it is something that involves everyone and is for the common good because we are all different, we are all weak and dependent in some way, and long for respect and a place in the world.

The authorBernard Larraín

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Culture

Crown of thorns

The crown of thorns, a relic of Our Lord Jesus Christ, consists of a circumference of intertwined branches or reeds and is preserved in the cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris, in a glass tube, without the thorns that accompanied it.

Alejandro Vázquez-Dodero-March 20, 2022-Reading time: 3 minutes
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We learn from Sacred Scripture that Roman soldiers placed a crown of thorns on Jesus' head during his passion. Specifically, in the canonical Gospels of Matthew (27:29), Mark (15:17) and John (19:2). 

What is the crown of thorns? Gospel story and popular piety 

The Messiah, sentenced to death, handed over to the soldiers, was scourged and then crowned with thorns. In these passages is mocked by his executioners with insulting phrases referring to his kingship: "Hail, king of the Jews," they will shout. And of course, a king deserves a crown, but in the case of the one who claimed to be king of the Jews, condemned to die, the soldiers humiliated and wounded him by making a crown with thorns and thrusting it on his head.

As a practice of piety, in the recitation of the holy rosary there is a mystery, the third of those of sorrow, dedicated to this passage. In addition, in the pious custom of the recitation of the Stations of the Cross this scene is also found as the sixth station.

What exactly does the crown of thorns of Notre Dame consist of? Where is it preserved? And its thorns?

The relic consists of a circumference of intertwined branches or reeds, 21 cm in diameter. It is preserved in the Notre Dame CathedralIn Paris, in a glass tube, without the thorns that accompanied it, as these were distributed over the centuries as partial relics of the crown. 

As early as the 5th century there are references to the crown in Jerusalem, locating it a century later in the basilica of Sion, and being transferred in the 7th century to Constantinople in the midst of the Persian invasion.

On the occasion of the economic crisis of the 10th century, it seems that the crown passed into the hands of Venetian moneylenders, until it returned to the French monarchy. From the Sainte Chapelle, where it was deposited in the 13th century, it passed to the National Library of France during the French Revolution, and already in the 19th century it became the property of the Church and was finally deposited in the cathedral of Notre Dame, where by the way in 2019 it was saved from a fire that devastated much of the Parisian cathedral.

According to several studies, the thorns could come from different plants, among which we would highlight the azofaifo, the pimpernel thorn or the blackthorn.

As the thorns inserted into the crown are fragmented, each one of them is considered a relic of a lower category, since the first category - so to speak - would be those of Jesus that are preserved whole - analyzed in previous fascicles - or the pieces of the body of the saints.

The thorns are scattered all over the world, as we said, and the sum of all of them would reach 700, of which 140 are in Italy. In Rome about 20 receive public veneration, including the one in St. Peter's Basilica and St. John Lateran.

It is difficult to date the origin of most of the thorns, for example, those found in the monastery of El Escorial or in the cathedral of Barcelona, in Spain. Not so the one that is venerated in the monastery of Santa María de la Santa Espina, in Valladolid, as it is documented that it was a gift received by the infanta-queen Sancha Raimúndez from the king of France at the beginning of the 12th century, as it is recorded in the Cistercian monastery that the king founded to ensure its veneration.

Up to this point in the series of brief periodic articles that we have been publishing on some relevant aspects of certain relics of Our Lord. Their purpose? To get to know Jesus Christ, his life and person, a little better. And, above all -because this is what we can do here in this life- to treat him with greater devotion, through those holy relics that tradition and popular piety have given us and for which we can only be grateful and seek their veneration and better preservation.

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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'.

RelatedRelated News"God has been bringing out good in each person during the pandemic."
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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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"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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  • Long live fathers! The ACdP extols the father figure in cities throughout Spain.
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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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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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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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
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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

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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
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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
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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

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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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
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."

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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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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