Singing is key in the worship of God, expressing faith and dedication. The Church has always valued it as a means of praise and transmission of faith.
February 5, 2025-Reading time: 2minutes
If there is one thing the Word of God encourages us to do, it is to sing: "Sing!
The saved people sing and dance. It does so in the middle of the desert, when Mary, the sister of Moses, encouraged to sing "to the Lord, exalted conqueror". Dance David "with all their enthusiasm, singing with zithers and harps, with tambourines, sistrums and cymbals."Mary intones a rhythmic psalmody, the Magnificat, at the gates of Elizabeth's house; Christ himself laments the unbelief of the people with a musical comparison: "we have sung to the sound of the flute and you have not danced.".
– Supernatural music is intimately linked to the deepest human emotions and there is God. Worshipping God with songs and dances shows this total surrender of man: that movement that is born from the depths of the heart and manifests itself physically.
It is not in vain that music is said to be the language of the angels, created for the eternal adoration and praise of God. God sings and creates; he creates by singing and there are those who imagined the creation of the world as a musical composition following the powerful image of C. S. Lewis in The Chronicles of Narnia.
Men and women of all times have sung of their deepest aspirations and desires, their clearest loves, their beginning and end. The Church too, as the people of God, has sung of the center of his love since its origins: "the musical tradition of the universal Church constitutes a treasure of inestimable value which stands out among other artistic expressions, mainly because sacred chant, united with words, constitutes a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy". affirms the Sacrosanctum Concilium.
In a masterful, and not uncontroversial, article by Marcos Torres published in Omnes on October 9, 2024, the author points out how "to such an extent has religious music been important in the transmission of the truth of the contents of the faith, that the Church through apostolic succession has always taken care to discern and verify the concrete expressions and forms of the various musical creations.". Expressions ranging from liturgical music, proper to the celebration of the Eucharistic sacramental mystery, to the new musical movements linked to adoration (worship).
Music, as a profoundly human and divine expression, is a privileged vehicle to worship God and transmit faith, to incarnate love and to love the God who became man and who, surely, also danced and sang.
Mali, Congo and Nigeria: the current situation of the Church in Africa
The Church in Africa is going through a time of great dynamism and challenges. While the continent is experiencing significant growth in the number of faithful, it is also facing difficulties such as violence against Christian communities, poverty and political instability in various regions.
The Catholic education system in Mali faces serious threats due to the increase in jihadist violence in the country. Extremist groups have attacked and destroyed schools, especially in the northern and central regions of Mali, forcing the closure of numerous educational centers. This situation jeopardizes the education of thousands of children and young people, and severely affects local Christian communities.
The Catholic Church, through its educational institutions, has played a crucial role in promoting peace and coexistence in Mali. However, growing insecurity hampers its work and threatens to dismantle the Catholic educational system in the country.
Peace project for Congo
The National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) and the Church of Christ in Congo (ECC), which brings together 64 Protestant and evangelical denominations, have signed the "Social Pact for Peace and Coexistence in the Congo". Democratic Republic of the Congo and in the Great Lakes Region". This agreement seeks to restore peace in the country's eastern provinces, affected by more than 30 years of violence and the presence of numerous armed groups, many with foreign support. The pact is inspired by the African concept of "Bumuntu", which promotes empathy, mutual respect and solidarity, fostering social cohesion and rejecting exclusion and violence.
To implement the pact, CENCO and ECC will form thematic commissions on peace and social cohesion, charged with drafting a National Charter for Peace and Harmony. In addition, an "International Conference for Peace, Co-Development and Co-Existence in the Great Lakes" will be convened.
The risk of being a priest in Nigeria
In Nigeria, Catholic priests have become "soft targets" for kidnappers. The belief that the Church is a wealthy institution is reinforced by observing the vehicles some priests drive, leading criminals to assume that by kidnapping them, the Church will pay a substantial ransom. Kidnapping has become a lucrative business, and priests are seen as vulnerable targets with access to financial resources.
While religious hatred may also play a role in these kidnappings, economic factors play a crucial role. The rector of the seminary, Father Raymond Olusesan Aina, regrets the violence that Christians and Catholics in particular face in NigeriaThe company's mission is to provide a service to the people, noting that many have suffered and even lost their lives because of their faith, particularly in the northern part of the country.
As Mercedes Temboury Redondo argues, the theological error of the Inquisition consisted in trying to force the conversion of the defendant through a legal process.
Mercedes Temboury Redondo, PhD in Modern Spanish History and tireless researcher of the Spanish Supreme Inquisition and its suffragan courts in the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon, in the funds of the National Historical Archive of Spain, presents in this extensive volume which we now comment on a synthesis of his research.
The Unknown Inquisition: The Spanish Empire and the Holy Office
AuthorMercedes Temboury Redondo
Editorial: Arzalia
Language: English
Number of pages: 496
The angle of vision of this work and its objective coincide in offering a synthesis of the Inquisition from the perspective and interests of the Spanish Empire in Europe, Asia and America during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The black legend
This vision attempts to illuminate the dark points of the black legend fabricated especially by Juan Antonio Llorente, the last Secretary of the Supreme Inquisition who went into exile in France in the 19th century and lived off the publication of the "secret" papers he had taken from the archives.
In fact, it has been many years since the Pope St. John Paul II provided the necessary light to understand the origin and theological errors of the Spanish Inquisition. On March 12, 2000, in an impressive ceremony at the Vatican in front of a 12th century crucifix, the Holy Father, surrounded by his cardinals of the Curia, asked forgiveness for all the sins of all Christians of all times and, especially, for the use of violence to defend the faith.
Indeed, Roman law affirmed, and as such passed on to the Church the principle: "de internis neque Ecclesia iudicat". Of internal things neither the Church can judge, only God knows the interior of man.
Theological error of the Inquisition
The theological error of the Inquisition consisted, therefore, in trying to force the conversion of the accused by means of a juridical process. As is the common doctrine of the Church, and as the New Testament and Tradition state, only the grace of God can open the soul to conversion: "No one comes to me unless the Father draws him" (Jn 6:40). Therefore, only persuasion and prayer and penance and good example can stir souls to repentance and rectification.
As all those who have exercised spiritual direction or spiritual accompaniment know well, when a person is sincere in the Sacrament of Penance, with that gift comes the gift of contrition and the soul can regain the peace of God's mercy. To catch a person in the lack of coherence of faith and life and attempt repentance only leads to hardening of the heart and wounded pride.
Indeed, the studies that we have carried out on the subject and that we have published in many articles and monographs on the "theological error of the Inquisition", shed this light: the objective of the inquisitorial process was to objectify the theological error in which the defendant had fallen and then seek conversion under pressure: the Judaizing heresy, the apostasy and return to Islam of the new convert, the denial of the sins established by the positive divine law. The inquisitors usually had a good heart and knew that they had to give an account to the Supreme Court of their rectitude of intention and to God who is the Lord of consciences, that is why so many files are preserved and so prolix.
Spiritual and legal finesse
Evidently, this was a mistake for which we must ask forgiveness because, even if only a single process had taken place, we should already repent and rectify. It is necessary to return to trust in God who will move the soul to conversion and in man who can repent and rectify before the good example and happiness of other Catholics: "If your brother sins against you, go and correct him alone with him. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. If he does not listen, then take with you one or two, so that any matter may be made firm by the word of two or three witnesses But if he will not listen to them, tell it to the Church. If he will not listen to the Church either, consider him a pagan and a tax collector" (Mt 18:15-17).
On the other hand, our author's analysis is full of juridical finesse, thanks to which she demonstrates that the procedural system of the Inquisition protected the defendants from the temptation to seize the assets of the accused or to be condemned for false accusations or to resolve problems of enmity or litigation in the villages. In fact, as the author demonstrates, the complex legal system yielded impressive results: most of the trials ended in the acquittal of the accused because they were not really heretics but people with a lack of elementary Christian education. A few were indeed condemned for heresy, but, upon repentance, they were given medicinal sentences. And only a very few were condemned to death. As Jaime Contreras has already shown in his Inquisition database, only 1.8 % were handed over to the secular arm.
Evidently, only an inquisitorial process would be enough to ask forgiveness for having violated conscience, even if it is argued, as the author does, that the inquisitorial process saved us from events such as: the 50,000 Huguenots murdered in France on the night of Saint Bartholomew, August 23-24, 1572; the 500,000 witches burned in Germany in the Lutheran trials without papers; the death of Michael Servetus by Calvin simply to compensate for the offended divine justice and the martyrdom of the Jesuit Edmund Edmund Servetus.000 witches burned in Germany in the Lutheran trials without papers; the death of Michael Servetus by Calvin simply to compensate the offended divine justice and the martyrdom of the Jesuit Edmund Campion and many other Catholic priests in England because the Anglican inquisitorial court considered them guilty of death for celebrating the Catholic Mass as that would be high treason to Queen Elizabeth, head of the Anglican Church.
A new vision
In reality, this work is a new vision of the Inquisition taken from the reading and research of many files taken from the National Historical Archive and other archives consulted. The author has focused especially on the second life of the inquisitorial process. That is, from 1511 to 1833. In this period, the Inquisition should have disappeared since it had been created for the processes against judaizers and these practically disappeared during this time.
Indeed, it is understood that the aim of this book is to demonstrate that the Inquisition worked above all at the service of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of the Spanish Empire at a time of close union between civil and ecclesiastical power when the unity of the faith was capital for the renewal of the Church after Trent and the expansion of the Spanish empire in America and Asia.
Pope prepares document to help Church promote children's rights
Pope Francis is preparing a document addressed to children and focused on children's rights, he confirmed on February 3 at the end of a summit on the subject held at the Vatican.
At the end of a Vatican summit on the rights of children, the Pope Francis announced that he would publish a papal document dedicated to children.
He described the February 3 summit, held in the frescoed halls of the Apostolic Palace, as a kind of "open observatory" in which the speakers explored "the reality of childhood throughout the world, a childhood that unfortunately is often wounded, exploited, denied."
Some 50 experts and leaders from around the world, who shared their experience and compassion, he said, also "elaborated proposals for the protection of children's rights, considering them not as numbers, but as faces."
"Children are watching us," he said, "to see how we are doing" in this world. The Pope said he planned to prepare a papal document "to give continuity to this commitment and promote it throughout the Church." The audience applauded the Pope and his brief closing remarks and gave him a standing ovation.
Promoting and defending children's rights
The one-day summit of world leaders, entitled "Love and Protect Them," discussed several issues of concern, including children's right to food, health care, education, family, leisure time and the right to live free from violence and exploitation. It was organized by the newly created Pontifical Committee for World Children's DayEnzo Fortunato, presided by the Franciscan Father Enzo Fortunato.
Among the guests were Nobel laureates, ministers and heads of state, leaders of international and non-profit organizations, senior Vatican officials and other experts.
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said in his speech: "The threat of ecological devastation - encompassing the climate crisis as well as the biodiversity crisis - is a terrible burden that we are imposing on our children.
He praised the Pope for stressing that "the spiritual crisis we face comes in part from the willful blindness that prevents so many from seeing the way our economic system is leading us toward exploitation of both people and the planet, at the expense of our moral values and the future of children."
Know the problems, know the solutions
"Those in power today must change our thinking; and our new thinking must lead to profound changes that transform our current systems of economics and politics, ushering in a more just and ecological system that places environmental and social justice at the center of our plans and efforts," Gore said. "We have all the solutions we need."
India's Kailash Satyarthi, co-winner of the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize and an activist who campaigns against child labor in India and advocates for the universal right to education, said in his talk that while he trusts everyone's concern for children, he also feels ashamed.
"I'm embarrassed because we are failing our children every day. I'm ashamed to hear all these facts and statistics that I've been hearing" and talking about for the last 45 years," he said.
"We know the problems, we know the solutions," he said, but so far it has all remained rhetoric and words.
Compassion for children
The world's problem solvers "are not really honest (with) those who suffer the problems," he said, when they lack any sense of "moral responsibility and moral accountability."
"The solution lies in genuine feeling and connection" with each child as if he or she were one's own, he said. Only when people feel genuine compassion will they feel "the sincere urge to act urgently."
"We have to combat this threat (of child labor and poverty) and all other crises through compassion in action. We have to create a culture of problem solving. Let us globalize compassion because they are all our children," Satyarthi said.
This article is a translation of an article first published in OSV News. You can find the original article here.
In the middle of Christmas time, on January 4, Pope Francis dedicated an address to an important group of Italian Catholic educators, based on what he called "the most important and most important of the Italian Catholic educators". Pedagogy of God. With quick strokes he outlined a program for Christian-inspired education. A program that we could call pedagogy of hopeand that illuminates our path in the Jubilee year.
"¿What is -Francisco wondered. God's educational method?"And the answer was: "It is that of proximity and closeness". The trinomial that he usually repeats resounded in the background: closeness, compassion and tenderness. And this may lead us to ask ourselves: how should we Christians deal with a pedagogy of hope?
The curtain opens on the divine pedagogy: "Like a teacher who enters the world of his students, God chooses to live among men in order to teach through the language of life and love. Jesus was born in a condition of poverty and simplicity: this calls us to a pedagogy that values what is essential and places humility, gratuitousness and acceptance at the center.".
In contrast," the Pope explains, "pedagogy that is distant and distant from the students is neither useful nor helpful. In fact, Christmas teaches us that greatness is not manifested in success or wealth, but in love and service to others.
The pedagogy of God
"God's -he shelled out- is a pedagogy of gift, a call to live in communion with Him and with others, as part of a project of universal fraternity, a project in which the family occupies a central and irreplaceable place.".
Let us note how this orientation resonates with the main chords of Francis' teachings, whose center is communion with God and with people. And which leads to praising and thanking him (Laudato si'(the gift that has been given to us in the Heart of Christ (Dilexit uswho loved us). Such is the horizon of Christian proclamation (Evangelii gaudiumof the joy of the Gospel). A proclamation that implies, in fact, the project of a universal fraternity (Fratelli tutti, all siblings), in which the family plays a nuclear role (Amoris laetitiathe joy of love).
For this reason, he continues, God's pedagogy is "an invitation to recognize the dignity of every person, beginning with the discarded and marginalized, as shepherds were treated two thousand years ago, and to appreciate the value of every stage of life, including childhood. The family is the center, let us not forget it!"
The Declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith should be mentioned here, Dignitas infinita (April 8, 2024) which underlines the value of human dignity, easily recognized by the believer, since God loves every human being with an infinite love and "...".thereby conferring infinite dignity" (Fratelli tuttiThe expression is from John Paul II, Message to the disabled16-XI-1980).
With regard to the family, and in order to invite communication in the family, the Pope stops to recount an event. On Sunday, someone was eating in a restaurant. At the next table there was a family, the father and the mother, the son and the daughter, each one attentive to his cell phone, without talking to each other. This gentleman got up and told them that since they were a family, why didn't they talk to each other. The result is that they sent him on his way and went on with what they were doing....
Our hope, the engine of education
In the second part of the speech, Francis placed himself in the the way of the jubilee we are beginning. With the Incarnation of the Son of God, the hope has entered the world.
"The Jubilee -noted- has much to say to the world of education and schools. In fact, 'pilgrims of hope' are all those who are searching for meaning in their lives, and also those who help young people to walk this path.".
That's right. A parenthesis. In the Global education pact that Francis has been proposing, and whose launch was interrupted by the pandemic, the issue of the address occupies a central place (cfr. Instrumentum laboris(2020) In outlining the general lines of the educational task we need today, Benedict XVI is quoted in his Letter to the diocese and city of Rome on the urgent task of education (21-I-2008) when it states: "There is talk of a great 'educational emergency', confirmed by the failures in which very often end our efforts to form solid people, capable of collaborating with others and giving meaning to their lives.".
In fact, the increasing numbers of suicides among young people only confirm this urgency (in 2023, a study showed that in Spain, suicide is the leading cause of death in young people and adolescents between 12 and 29 years of age).
Let us continue with Francis' speech. He maintains the evidence that education has to do in a central way with hope: the hope, supported by the experience of human history, that people can mature and grow. And this hope sustains the educator in his task:
"A good teacher is a man or woman of hope, because he or she is committed with confidence and patience to a project of human growth. His or her hope is not naïve, it is rooted in reality, sustained by the conviction that every educational effort has value and that every person has a dignity and a vocation that deserves to be cultivated.".
In this regard, the Pope expresses his pain when he sees children who have no education and who go to work, often exploited, or who go to look for food or things to sell where there is garbage.
Small and big hopes
But, he asks, "How can we not lose hope and nourish it every day?"
And he advises: "Keep your gaze fixed on Jesus, teacher and companion on the way: this allows you to be truly pilgrims of hope. Think of the people you meet at school, children and adults.".
It was already said in the Bull for the convocation of the Jubilee: "Everyone hopes. In the heart of every person nestles hope as a desire and expectation of the good, even in ignorance of what tomorrow will bring." (Spes non confundit, 1).
This is an argument that had already appeared in the encyclical Spe salvi (cf. Benedict XVI, nn. 30 ff.): there are the small or greater human hopes (which everyone has, in relation to love, work, etc.), depending also on the times of life. And then there is the hope proclaimed by the Christian faith: "the greatest hope that cannot be destroyed even by frustrations in small things or by failure in events of historical importance." (n. 35).
Well, Francis says: "These human hopes, through each and every one of you -educators-, can find Christian hope, the hope that is born of faith and lives in charity.". He adds: "let us not forget: hope does not disappoint. Optimism disappoints, but hope does not disappoint. A hope that surpasses all human desire, because it opens minds and hearts to life and to eternal beauty.".
How, then, can this be done in schools or in Christian-inspired colleges?
An incisive and articulate proposal
Here is the proposal of Francisco: "You are called to elaborate and transmit a new culture, based on the encounter between generations, on inclusion, on the discernment of the true, the good and the beautiful; a culture of responsibility, personal and collective, to face global challenges such as the environmental, social and economic crises, and the great challenge of peace. At school we can 'imagine peace', that is, lay the foundations for a more just and fraternal world, with the contribution of all disciplines and the creativity of children and young people.".
Let us note some elements of the proposal. First of all, the Christian educator does not fly over human hopes in order to take a shortcut to the only important thing, which would be Christian hope. To understand this would be a mistake. Christian hope assumes human hopes, whether personal or social, as long as they are true, good and beautiful, even if some of them can be considered as more small by its scope or duration. "Christian hope assumes all hopes". that we have today, such as peace, although its achievement may seem difficult or distant.
In the second place, the great Christian hope, on this path of assuming the smallest - if we want to speak in this way - human hopes, is making a new culture, to be "a culture of personal and collective responsibility".precisely through education. But this requires an effort, in the personal and social field, in the direction of encounter, inclusion, ethical responsibility.
Third, teaching, not only at the university level but also in schools and colleges, needs the interdisciplinarityThe work of bringing together the different subjects of the curricula so that each one contributes its best in dialogue with the others, thus enriching education and helping students in their personal growth.
In its apostolic constitution Veritatis gaudium (2017), on that anthropological or cultural basis of interdisciplinarity, Francisco proposes a further step: the. transdisciplinarity, understood "as the location and maturation of all knowledge in the space of Light and Life offered by the Wisdom that flows from the Revelation of God". (cfr. 4 c).
Fourth and last, all of it asks, from school or college, discernment and creativity. First, in the teachers, in their minds, in their work, personally and as a team. And then, they must teach the students these fundamental attitudes: to discern the true, the good and the beautiful; and to encourage their creativity. And not to lose themselves in useless imaginations or daydreams, but to "laying the groundwork" of a more just and fraternal world; for a more just and "meeting the challenges" both personal and global.
Hope is not mere utopia
Someone might ask: aren't these too many goals? Isn't this educational project proposed by Francis somewhat utopian, perhaps attractive, but unattainable in reality?
And just before this question, at that moment, it is when our hope is testedthat of each educator. And, before that, that of each family. And, afterwards and at the same time, that of each educational center.
So we could say or tell them, or tell us: you have (have) so much hope, you will have (will have) so much engine, for your (or your) educational task.
For the rest, the Pope does not abandon realism. He says: all of this (imagining peace with realistic dreams) will not be possible if the school allows the "wars"between educators or the bullying Then peace would be unimaginable, as would be all the dreams of education.
The end of the speech is near. What is important in a school or college is not the building, but the people. By its very nature, the educational task involves a path and a community, a place for the testimony of human values.
This was known to the great promoters and educators of educational institutions in which those who listened to the Pope that day were working. Those of us who are now reading this speech know it and wish to take advantage of it to continue in the educational field or to regain new impetus.
Francis knows this well. And he offers, in conclusion, a few pieces of advice or suggestions that, in their apparent simplicity, deserve to be meditated upon and worked on. They appeal both to the "educational passion" and to the responsibility and discernment of educators and school administrators.
They are condensed in this paragraph:
"Never forget where you come from, but do not walk with your heads turned backwards, lamenting the old days. Think rather of the present of the school, which is the future of society, in full epochal transformation. Think of the young teachers who are taking their first steps in school and of the families who feel alone in their educational task. Propose to each one your educational and associative style with humility and novelty".
Francis encourages us to work together on the path of hope: "Hope never disappoints, never, hope never stands still, hope is always on the way and keeps us going".
In search of the theological foundation of sacred and liturgical music
The approach to music must be theological and liturgical. If this perspective had been adopted from the beginning, many historical problems could have been avoided, and the spiritual fruits in the world would have been greater.
Some time ago, while preparing a conference on sacred music, I remembered a biblical episode that always strikes me for its power: the song of the People of Israel after crossing the Red Sea. That scene, recorded in the book of Exodus, shows us a response of amazement and gratitude in the face of God's saving intervention:
I will sing to the Lord, glorious is His victory... My strength and my power is the Lord, He was my salvation.(Ex 15:1b-18).
This moment is not only a historical account, but also a theological key. In the face of the ineffable - the love of God, his wonder to save the people - words are not enough. It is then that song emerges as a language capable of expressing what the moment demands.
Are we losing the sense of the ineffable?
To illustrate the lecture, I wanted to find out how classic films about Moses had depicted these moments. My surprise was great: many omitted the song, focusing on the wonder of the open water, blurring the reaction of the people. This led me to ask myself a question: are we losing the ability to recognize the ineffable?
We live in a culture that seems convinced that everything can be said, explained or defined. But reality reminds us again and again that there are things that escape our words: how to describe the color yellow to a person born blind? How to explain the sound of a trumpet to a deaf person? Even in matters as human as love or friendship, words fall short.
Music as a language
So, if we are unable to grasp what surrounds us with ordinary language, how can we put into words the mystery of God, the love he has for us, our fear and gratitude? Moreover, how could we truly dialogue with Him if we refuse to deploy all the capacities that He Himself has imprinted in our nature to do so?
Let us think of the liturgy. It is the privileged place where God speaks to us about Himself, not only with words, but also through signs, gestures, colors, smells and, of course, music. The liturgy that Jesus Christ has given us has a profoundly dialogical character: it wants to be an encounter between Him and us. And St. Augustine, despite the personal dilemma he had with music because of its Neoplatonic roots, tells us: "Singing is an expression of joy and, if we consider it more attentively, it is an expression of love" (Sermon 34).
A fundamental point, of another order: if it turns out that Jesus Christ himself and his disciples sang at the Last Supper, who could claim any objection against liturgical chant?
Up to this point, everything seems beautiful and coherent. But then, what is happening in our parishes today?
Music, beauty and mystery
First of all, the 'Music'. What is a topic like this doing in such a serious theological journal as Omnes? The question is not obvious and deserves consideration. Joseph Ratzinger considers it 'music of faith', because it proceeds from faith and leads us to it. This alone would be enough to justify the place of sacred music in theological reflection.
However, when we speak of 'liturgical music', his words take on even greater weight. Commenting on the Second Vatican Council - "sacred song, united with words, constitutes a necessary or integral part of the solemn Liturgy" (Sacrosanctum Concilium112), Ratzinger points out clearly: music itself is liturgy. Therefore, the answer is given: we speak of music in Omnes -of certain music, of course- because we speak of theology.
Beauty', which also has much to say in this area, will be dealt with later. As for 'Mystery', we will focus our reflection mainly on liturgical music, without neglecting to illuminate what it can bring us about sacred music in general. In this way we will be able to go deeper with greater clarity.
Dialogues... impossible?
After twenty-one centuries of Church history, liturgical music remains an unresolved issue in many places. The problems are obvious and can be observed with a simple test: ask the opinion of two or three people from the same parish about the music of the Mass. Chances are, if the conversation is not handled tactfully, the discussion will end in conflict.
Then a question arises: why don't the musician and the liturgist talk to clarify things? Although the idea seems logical, today, in many cases, it is impossible. The reason is clear: the content of such a conversation should be theological and liturgical, but the theology necessary to support it is not yet sufficiently elaborated.
An illustrative example
Imagine a conversation between a liturgist and a musician:
- Liturgist (L): I need you to compose something for the offertory at Sunday Mass.
- Musician (M): All right, what do you want me to say my music?
- L: I don't know, something nice, you know!
- M: Wait, I know about music, but I'm asking you what my music should express in this Sunday's offertory. That's something you should tell me.
- L (mumbling): These musicians... always complicating everything!
The conversation ends in stalemate because neither has the tools necessary to move forward. The musician seeks meaning and purpose; the liturgist cannot articulate it. And it's not ignorance on the part of a particular liturgist. Proof? Liturgical books use expressions such as, "Sing here a chant. appropriate". In more favorable cases the indications go as far as proposing the text of a psalm, as an example. And the music? When is it 'appropriate'? Or is the music neutral and not says nothing? These are the questions we urgently need to address in order to build a fruitful dialogue.
A question of deep roots
The lack of communication between musicians and liturgists is not superficial; it has deep roots. Let us remember that the liturgy is not simply a human event: it is a divine gift, given at the price of the Cross. Its proper configuration does not depend solely on good intentions; it requires us to recognize that its true work is carried out by the Holy Spirit, even if He wants to count on our collaboration. Here, precisely, lies the heart of musical activity within liturgical chant.
Two reflections help to better understand this point. First, let us consider how difficult it would be to make a minimal change in the text of the Eucharistic Prayer. Now let us contrast this with the ease with which, at times, the chanting of the Mass is improvised or trivialized, even in solemn celebrations. Not to mention the unusual offers available on the internet for the music of a Catholic marriage....
The second reflection comes from an experience lived in the beloved American continent. In a theology faculty, I was trying to explain these arguments about the need for a theological development of liturgical music. At first, it seems that I was not clear, because a professor commented: -So, what you are looking for is the style of liturgical music, right?
This commentary gave me the opportunity to clarify a fundamental point: the focus is not on styles or instruments. It is in the theological foundations.
Beyond taste and style
A serious theological development is needed on a subject that always seems to slip through our fingers. Bringing music to this depth opens to the freedom, richness and depth of the Mystery of God. Without this perspective, any discussion of liturgical music ends up reduced to personal taste or the possibility of using violins or guitars. In fact, this tension is not new: more than a millennium ago, something similar was already being debated, albeit in other forms.
The pontifical Magisterium has left many indications, but theological development is still insufficient. The questions, at times, are surprising: what does it mean that Gregorian chant is "supreme model of all sacred music" (St. Pius X, Motu proprio Among the applications, 4)? At other times, the questions are essential: what must a piece of music have in order to be called liturgical?
Towards a new era
This theological development is necessary and requires the joint effort of theologians and liturgists, musicians, musicologists and philosophers. It is an open and active question, for all this volume of study must end in the composition and performance of a music, which is liturgical.
What we want to convey is that we are witnessing an important novelty: an epistemological path is opening up that invites us to a new era in our work. This is the program that we wish to propose in these lines and in successive contributions: these paths and ways that allow scholars of subjects that have traditionally been considered disparate to work together, but which are not, because they say of God and they say to God in the liturgy.
A theological question (I). The music says
Therefore, the approach to music must be theological and liturgical. If this perspective had been adopted from the beginning, many historical problems could have been avoided, and the spiritual fruits in the world would have been greater.
We would like to focus on one key idea: music. says. To skeptics, the communicative impact of music may seem debatable. However, when economic interests are involved, the issue is immediately recognized. Just think of how music is used strategically in advertising or cinema to convey specific messages. To illustrate this, we recommend these publicly accessible videos, which are eloquent examples:
The task of conveying that musical message belongs to the art and craft of the composer. That is where the potential dialogue between musician and liturgist begins, provided both are willing and clear about their craft. The central question will be what is it that the music has to say in the liturgical context.
Learning from the past
In this series of publications that we are initiating, our intention is to start from what already exists in the history of music -which has witnessed countless successes- and learn from it. In this way we will be able to discern what we should continue to do and how to do it better. The advantage we have today -we insist- is that we now know the method. However, the work ahead is still immense.
Before describing this general approach, we would like to dwell on a starting point that may be familiar to some. We are talking about liturgy and, as we have explained, in liturgy words are not enough.
A theological question (II). A concrete game
Romano Guardini, in The spirit of the liturgyproposed a little more than a century ago that liturgy, under certain aspects, can be understood as a game. Games create a small universe where everyday concerns fade away and a world with its own rules emerges, appearing and disappearing in time.
The legend of the conversion of Prince Vladimir of Kiev adds an important dimension to this idea. According to the story, in seeking a religion for his people, Vladimir called representatives of some of the major religions to speak with them. Since none convinced him, he decided to send emissaries to the religious celebrations of the different faiths. On their return, those who had attended the liturgy in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, gave a moving testimony: "We do not know whether we were in heaven or on earth. But we have experienced that there, God is among men." The liturgy was not intended to convince anyone. The definitive argument for Prince Vladimir was that there all things were done, not for a purpose, but only to please God.
Ratzinger, without completely rejecting Guardini's vision, qualifies the idea. The liturgy can resemble a game, but not just any game, because it has to do with the right way to adore God. He alone knows how He wants to be adored, and Jesus Christ has wanted to reveal this to us. From this perspective, the liturgy becomes an anticipation of the future life (Sacrosanctum Concilium, 8).
The liturgy, between play and adoration
Therefore, a game with a rules for worship, in which we know that we please God. Within these rules, we play in freedom. Everyone plays by the same rules, although some do it better than others, because the key is to set out in search of what is essential: a space of truth and beauty where God comes to meet us so that we may seek and find him. Now, the dialogical character of the liturgy is understood in greater depth.
Well, this context of truth and beauty, of freedom to find what is essential, is pointed out by two authors as important for the development of sacred music. The two authors are Joseph Ratzinger and Father Angelo De Santi, S.J. (1847-1922), who was directly involved in the drafting of the Motu Proprio Among the applications of St. Pius X (1903). The reference made by both of them is chapter VIII of the Policy of Aristotle, together with the notion of paideia Greek. The development is not immediate, but we can propose here the conclusions.
Music, paideia and the education of freedom
– Supernatural paideia The Greek religion was an educational guide with a religious dimension, oriented to lead the individual to the essential. On the other hand, the contents of this final chapter of the Policy approaches education as the means to form the individual beyond useful and practical needs, orienting it towards leisure, understood as a noble and elevated activity. This leisure is not mere rest, but a space for the cultivation of truth, beauty and human fulfillment.
The key to our reflection is that Aristotle identifies music as the main discipline for this training, thanks to its unique ability to mold the soul and the emotions. More than mere entertainment, music is an educational tool that fosters inner harmony, virtuous character and integration into a community oriented to the common good. Joseph Ratzinger explains it this way:
If we think that the Church, due to the place in which it was formed, made its own, in many aspects, the attitude of the polis classical, the Aristotelian association of polis and music would have been an ideal starting point for the question of sacred music.
And also:
The theory of music that Aristotle develops in his Policy VIII is strongly influenced by the idea of the paideiaThe idea is that, in music education, it goes beyond what is necessary and useful, and aims to train for the good use of free time, thus becoming an education for freedom and beauty.
(J. Ratzinger, The theological foundation of sacred music).
Our purpose
In order to approach this treatment of music as liturgy, we will begin with a series of articles on music in the history of the Church. It will be a particular journey, from a history of sacred music. The conclusion will be, at the same time, disturbing and hopeful.
Subsequently, we will devote ourselves to unfolding the theological question. We point out at this point that the development requires not one, but two theological perspectives, distinct and complementary. A brief description will now serve:
1. Theology of sacred music (TMS). This approach seeks to answer fundamental questions about sacred music, analogous to how theology reflects on the nature of liturgy and worship. It is a broad study that draws on contributions from a variety of disciplines, from theological and philosophical anthropology to specific areas such as Christology, eschatology, theology of creation, incarnation and liturgy. Its main objective is to understand what sacred music is, what its nature is and how it is linked to divine revelation.
2. Liturgical-musical theology (TLM). Here we find the most novel epistemological proposal. TLM is an extension of liturgical theology that is integrated with the specific means of music and musicology. To better understand this approach, it is useful to look at how liturgical theology is understood in general.
Liturgical theology studies the liturgy. in actuThe theological meaning of a responsorial psalm in the context of a specific celebration; the symbolism of certain gestures of the celebrant; or the peculiarities of a particular liturgical moment. It analyzes, for example, the theological meaning of a responsorial psalm in the context of a specific celebration; the symbolism of certain gestures of the celebrant; or the peculiarities of a particular liturgical moment. This approach transcends the descriptive and responds to the classical motto fides quaerens intellectumThe liturgy itself is the act of seeking God and his Word.
Similarly, the TLM focuses on the theological study of liturgical music. in actu. Its task is to explore how music contributes to the existential theology proper to each celebration, adding a unique and specific dimension not found in any other element of the liturgy.
A necessary dialogue
Our proposal holds that TMS and TLM should develop in constant communication. TMS provides the conceptual and theological foundations, while TLM focuses on the concrete application of music in the liturgical context. However, the result of this collaboration does not remain theoretical: it culminates in the musical act, which has the capacity to express liturgically the Word of God and to manifest the Christ present in the liturgy.
This project transcends the strictly theological field and involves disciplines such as musicology, anthropology and aesthetics so that theology finds its final expression in music. In this sense, the liturgical musical act is not only art, but also lived theology.
In the next articles of this series, we will begin our particular journey through history.
The authorRamón Saiz-Pardo Hurtado
Associate Professor, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. MBM International Project (Music, Beauty and Mystery)
Exploring the growth of Catholic classical liberal arts education
Jay Boren, principal of St. Benedict Classical Academy since 2015, believes that cultivating wisdom and virtue in the pursuit of truth and conformity to Christ is the ultimate purpose of Catholic classical education.
Jay Boren, director of the St. Benedict Classical Academy since 2015, believes that cultivating wisdom and virtue in the pursuit of truth and conformity to Christ is the ultimate purpose of classical Catholic education. He spoke recently with Charlie Camosy of OSV News about returning to the heart of the education Catholic and whether Catholic education is experiencing a "renaissance" moment following a promising increase in Catholic school enrollment in 2023.
A good number of people have heard a lot more about classical Catholic education in recent years, but they may not know exactly what it means or what it refers to. Let's start there: what is classical Catholic education? It's something much more fundamental than just learning Latin and reading "The Odyssey," right?
- Classical Catholic education is less about learning Latin and reading "The Odyssey" and more about returning to what people in the classical and medieval tradition thought was the true purpose of education, namely, the cultivation of wisdom and virtue, and the conversion of our minds and hearts to what is true, good and beautiful.
As Catholics, we believe that this process of conversion conforms us to Christ and leads us to God. In other words, a classical Catholic education helps us to fulfill the purpose for which we were created: to know, love and serve God.
Classical Catholic education strives to regain a connection to this traditional understanding of what education is. Certainly we think that reading classical texts and learning Latin is important, but only because they connect us to the wisdom of our tradition.
We want our students to know what is true, good and beautiful, but it would be terribly presumptuous to think that it is up to us to decide what counts as "truth." To do that, we have to humbly return to our tradition: to what has stood the test of time and to what the best minds and noblest souls in history have taught and shown us about those things.
This idea of what education is for contrasts with a perspective that sees education primarily as college or career preparation. Certainly we want our students to find meaningful work, earn a living and support their families. But that goal is secondary. If we are producing graduates who get into top colleges and end up making a lot of money in their jobs, but are not virtuous, do not strive for holiness and have no desire to seek truth, we would not consider that a success. This does not sell well to our students. They are called to much more.
They are called to flourish fully, with all the faculties of their minds, hearts and souls freed to know what is true, to love what is beautiful and to do what is good. St. Irenaeus said that the glory of God is man fully alive. We want our students to be fully alive so that they can give glory to God.
Is it too strong to call what is happening lately an explosion of classical Catholic education? It seems that everywhere you look there is a new school being created, a new conference on the subject, professional societies meeting annually, more typical Catholic schools "going classical" and more. Can you give us a brief description of what is happening now?
- I don't know if it's an explosion or not, but it's certainly a renaissance! New schools are being founded every month in every region of the country. I personally talk to eight or ten people a year who are in the process of founding a new school. It is very exciting to hear about new things being founded within the Church and mostly by lay people. The schools came first, but we are also seeing a lot of new initiatives being founded to respond to the needs of those schools. The revival of classical education is also serving as a creative vehicle for connecting faithful Catholics across the country who are involved in the renewal of Catholic education.
These new schools are responding to a very real demand that exists in the Church at this time. There are many parents who fervently desire a rigorous classical education that is formed and grounded in authentic Catholicism. I believe this is definitely a "moment" for the Church and for Catholic education. It is up to us how we deal with that moment.
One of the things that excites me most about this movement is that it forces us to revisit the Catholic school model and reimagine our conception of Catholic education.
Many of these schools were founded by lay people. They are usually run and governed by a lay board of trustees. They are leaving behind a model that relied heavily on religious orders. Figuring out how to manage their schools after the loss of those orders is something that the American Church has failed at. This is very exciting, because instead of managing the decline, we are building something new that is alive and growing. As our chaplain, Father Peter Stamm, points out, "Healthy things grow."
You personally have been doing your part to lead this trend as principal of a new classical Catholic school. Can you say something about what you and your community have created?
- All of this has been a blessing and an incredibly exciting thing to be a part of. Our school is 12 years old, I've been here for 10 years. We've gone from 60 students when I arrived to over 320 this year. A school that started in a shared office space has just moved into a school building of majestic beauty and classic design.
However, as beautiful as the school is, the best thing about this school is the community. We have families who drive an hour each way, passing many schools along the way, to bring their children to our school. To have a school that is mission-aligned across the board is unique and a blessing. We have worked hard to ensure that mission-aligned families who desire this education can access it, regardless of their ability to pay full tuition. We have fought to keep tuition as affordable as possible and also remain adamant about investing in a robust tuition assistance program. We plan to award more than $1,000,000 in tuition assistance next year.
I love everything about this school, but the most important aspect, without a doubt, is the community. I often say that what I love most about this school are my daughters' friends. It has been so uplifting to see how many families want this education for their children and see it as a worthy investment of their time, energy and money.
From your point of view, what can the Church in general do to support this trend in Catholic education? I am thinking in particular of helping to orient and form new teachers and staff when it comes to thinking in a direction they may find unclear or even intimidating.
- Every day new initiatives emerge to face this moment. We are members of the Institute for Liberal Catholic Education. They were really at the forefront of designing programs to support schools that were changing their programming or were being founded. Many Catholic colleges are designing programs to help train students who want to work in these schools.
Tom Carroll has founded the Catholic Talent Project to help recruit and train teachers for these schools. A lot of good things are happening. I believe this trend will only continue and we will need even more initiatives to help address this moment. So many priests have supported our efforts and our local seminary and seminarians have been so supportive, I would love to see more partnerships grow between seminaries and these new schools.
Moreover, from an even broader perspective, I hope that the Church will continue to inspire and encourage young people to study literature, history, philosophy... the liberal arts! And I trust that the effort to master these great disciplines at the highest levels of education will help them discern their personal and professional vocation.
We have hired incredibly talented young teachers who have not studied education explicitly and yet, through close mentoring, professional development and, most importantly, the deep wisdom they have gained through their own studies, have been able to hit the nail on the head as teachers.
This article is a translation of an article first published in OSV News. You can find the original article here.
Pope Francis prayed the Angelus before more than 20,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. During his message, the pontiff made a special appeal to couples, inviting them to embrace the gift of life and to value the importance of the family as a divine gift. He also stressed the need to protect and care for life in all its stages, recalling the fundamental role of love and responsibility in building a more caring and humane future.
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The Day of Consecrated Life, an antidote to individualism
Both Pope Francis and the Prefect for Institutes of Consecrated Life, Sr. Simona Brambilla, stressed over the weekend the "antidote to solitary individualism" that the vows of consecrated life represent.
The way consecrated women and men live their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience can offer light and hope to a world searching for authentic relationships marked by love and self-giving, Pope Francis said in the eves of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.
Looking ahead to the Catholic Church's celebration of the World Day of Prayer for the Consecrated LifeThe Pope thanked the members of religious congregations for their witness, noting that it is "leaven for the Church".
Pope Francis was accompanied by hundreds of sisters, brothers, consecrated virgins and priests of religious orders, including the new leadership of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Consolata Missionary Simona Brambilla, prefect; and Cardinal Angel Fernandez Artime, Salesian, pro-prefect.
Bearers of light and peace
On the eve, the Pontiff invited consecrated men and women to be light bearers and peace through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. And he recalled that the most important "return to the origins" "is the return to Christ and his 'yes' to the Father," Vatican News reported.
Poverty "is rooted in the very life of God, the eternal and total reciprocal gift of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In the exercise of poverty, the consecrated person, with a free and generous use of all things, becomes for them, bearer of blessing".
Chastity has its "origin in the Trinity and manifests a reflection of the infinite love that unites the three divine Persons". Its profession, in the renunciation of conjugal love and in the path of continence, reaffirms the absolute primacy, for the human being, of the love of God, accepted with an undivided and nuptial heart (cf. 1 Cor 7:32-36), and indicates it as the source and model of every other love".
Obedience versus individualism
Regarding the vow of obedience, the Pontiff indicated that "it is an antidote to such solitary individualism, promoting instead a model of relationship based on effective listening, in which 'saying' and 'hearing' are followed by the concretization of 'acting,' even at the cost of renouncing one's own tastes, programs and preferences. In fact, only in this way can the person experience to the full the joy of the gift, defeating loneliness and discovering the meaning of one's existence in God's great plan.
Sister Simona Brambilla: "moving from the I to the we".
In a reflection on the World Day published in L'Osservatore Romano, the prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Sister Simona Brambilla referred to the fact that "the Final Document of the Synod on Synodality affirms that 'consecrated life is called to challenge the Church and society with its prophetic voice'.
And he noted "Pope Francis has repeatedly spoken of the call to move from the I to the we, of the need to 'meet in a we that is stronger than the sum of small individualities' (Fratelli tutti, 78), of the 'challenge to discover and transmit the mystique of living together' (Evangelii gaudium, 87), of the 'liberating and responsible experience of living as Church the mystique of the we' (Veritatis gaudium on universities and ecclesiastical faculties, 4)."
"One body, People of God".
"The synodal process has taken up, among other things, the Pauline image of the one body, and has made us experience the 'spiritual flavor' of being the People of God, gathered from all tribes, languages, peoples and nations, living in different contexts and cultures. It is never the mere sum of the baptized, but the communitarian and historical subject of synodality and mission," wrote the Prefect.
"This is the refrain that runs through the 'Laudato si' of Pope Francis. The image of the body expresses in a plastic and clear way the connection that exists between us: we creatures, we humans, we Christians, we members of the Body of Christ which is the Church, we belonging to an Institute of Consecrated Life, to a Society of Apostolic Life, to a spiritual Family animated by a unique and original charism. As in a physical body, each part, each organ, each cell of a "charismatic body" influences the rest (...).
Charisma is "Spirit is Life".
Simona Brambilla then adds: "The Charism is not the property of an Institute, of a Society, of a Charismatic Family. It is a gift of God to the world, it is Spirit, it is Life. The Institute (or Society, or Family) and each sister and brother who is a member of it, receives it as a free gift, a vital force to be allowed to flow creatively, freely, not to be 'mummified' or embalmed like a museum piece".
"In the words of Pope Francis: 'Every charism is creative, it is not a museum statue, no, it is creative. It is about remaining faithful to the original source by striving to rethink it and express it in dialogue with new social and cultural situations. It has firm roots, but the tree grows in dialogue with reality. This work of updating is all the more fruitful when it is carried out in harmony with creativity, wisdom, sensitivity to all and fidelity to the Church' (To the Focolare Movement, February 6, 2021)".
The French St. Ansgarius (Oscar) was bishop of Hamburg and Bremen, and sowed in Scandinavian lands the first seed of the proclamation of faith in Christ. The Church also celebrates today, February 3, St. Blaise, physician and later bishop of Sebaste (Armenia) in the 4th century. St. Blaise performed numerous miracles and is invoked for throat diseases.
Francisco Otamendi-February 3, 2025-Reading time: < 1minute
Saint Ansgarius (Oscar), a native of Corbie (France), was a great scholar who from a very young age studied with the Benedictines in the Abbey of Corbie. While a monk, he was designated by Pope Gregory IV as a legacy for all the Scandinavian lands of Northern Europe, proclaiming the Gospel in the Denmark and Sweden. At a very young age he was bishop of Hamburg.
Years later, due to the push from the Vikings, he was forced to taking refuge in Bremen where, as bishop, he spent the last years of his life working, according to some sources, on the edition of a Bible for the poor. Fragments of this ancient Bible are preserved in the cathedral of the city. St. Oscar died in the year 865, without having seen the dream of a profound evangelization of northern Europe, but with the joy of having sown the first seed of faith in those lands.
The Church also celebrates today the patronage of St. Blaise of otorhinolaryngologists and for throat ailments. It is because, according to tradition, he once saved the life of a child who had a fish bone stuck in his throat. In the 17th century, the bishop and martyr Saint Blaise enjoyed great popularity as a protector saint against illnesses, which is why he was depicted in the imagery of the Oviedo Cathedral. In the monastery of the Pelayas, next to the cathedral, a relic of the saint is venerated, which is very popular in Paraguay.
Bishop Martinelli speaks of Dubai "miracle" and wants to be in Yemen
Capuchin Bishop Paolo Martinelli (Milan, 1958) is Vicar of South Arabia, an ecclesiastical jurisdiction that includes Yemen, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. During his visit to Madrid, he said that he wishes to take up again the presence of the Church in Yemen. He also reveals that "in Dubai we have the largest parish in the world, with more than 150,000 faithful every weekend, from one hundred countries. All migrants. It is a 'miracle'".
Francisco Otamendi-February 3, 2025-Reading time: 5minutes
At the age of 66, the Italian Paolo Martinelli shows the drive of a young man in his twenties. He has just preached this week the spiritual exercises to the priests of Communion and Liberation in Spain, and he is in great spirits.
Martinelli went from being auxiliary bishop of Milan (2014) to vicar of the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of South Arabia (2022), with almost one million Catholic faithful, coming from more than a hundred countries, 65 priests, 50 religious sisters. "South Arabia is a church of migrants," he says.
"Even the bishop is a migrant"
Eighty-five percent are of the Latin rite, and 15 percent are from Eastern Catholic churches. "We are all migrants, even the bishop is a migrant," he said in Madrid. In fact, some hundreds of people from Communion and Liberation listened to him and applauded enthusiastically in the space of the Paul VI Foundation, and who knows if he stuck the missionary harpoon into more than one attendee.
On the poster, under the title of the colloquium with José Luis Restán ('Being a Christian in the Middle East'), there was a phrase of his, which he later developed: "Being on mission means being sent by someone, to someone, with someone".
From the city to the desert
Martinelli went from the city to a desert with gigantic and intelligent infrastructures, surrounded by migrants. A unique place also from an environmental point of view, the desert. "I was followed by a few friars, and 42 degrees in the shade." And he concluded by saying that southern Arabia is a "laboratory for the future of the Church".
"My predecessor (Paul Hinder, who was 80 years old, 20 years in the Gulf), was also a Capuchin, three quarters of the clergy are Capuchins (45 out of 65 priests), and not a few of them had been my students in Rome. I realized that my Order has been committed to this land since the first half of the 19th century". That is why, the bishop there has almost always been a Capuchin. "This election of Pope Francis was fulfilling something that was written in my life. I came to Arabia because I was sent to Arabia."
UAE: 7 emirates with 9 million migrants
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), center and seat of the vicariate, is constituted by the union of 7 emirates, since 1971. The state is officially Islamic. The president is the emir of Abu Dhabi, which has ten million inhabitants, of whom 9 million are migrants: 4.5 million are Indians, and apart from Islam, there are Christians, Buddhists, etc. The countries of origin are almost two hundred, and "in the vicariate we have one million Catholics, of whom 850,000 live in the emirates. Most of them are Filipinos, many Indians and from other countries", he explained in the colloquium.
The emirates have had from the beginning a very tolerant attitude towards all cultures and religions. We even have a Ministry of Tolerance and Coexistence, he added.
"It is striking that modernity and tradition coexist peacefully, unlike the occdental situation. The father of the nation was a great visionary, and the development of the country has been very rapid."
"The immigration policy has been very careful. There is an important presence of workers, in various groups. Many arrive without families. The Church tries to have a stable relationship with all of them, promoting initiatives of support and contact with Catholics who wish to live a life of faith."
"The miracle of Dubai".
Bishop Martinelli says, "We have 9 parishes in the various emirates. In Dubai we have the largest parish in the world, with more than 150,000 faithful every weekend. It is a miracle to make it possible for everyone to participate in Mass and catechesis, it is truly a miracle. We are all migrants, a Church in continuous movement, whose organization depends on the work of its faithful, from a hundred countries".
For this reason, he adds, "the parish is structured in linguistic communities, which are the first sign of the Church's closeness to the people. They take care of newcomers, help them to maintain their traditions, their language, etc., to support them in their needs".
"When Pope Francis visited the United Arab Emirates, said that the vocation of this church is to be "a polyphony of faith". This is the way to experience the true universality of the Church. Being different, we have received the same Baptism, the same Faith, the same Spirit".
"It is Christ who sends"
What does it mean to be sent? "On the plane, I reflected: mission means that someone sends you. It is Christ who sends. Jesus said: as the Father has sent me, so I send you. Through someone, through the Church, through the Pope, through a call you receive unexpectedly".
"Then I thought, I am not going alone. I go with someone, the subject of the mission is always a Communion, with my brothers, the priests, it would be impossible to be there alone; it was also a great help to know about some families of the Movement, especially some of them. Memores Dominiare a special gift", and he expressly quoted Giussani.
"And to someone: I am thinking especially of all the migrants who live in the Gulf. Ours is a Church of migrants".
"Being sent makes you love people."
"I am there to confirm them in their faith and to be a sign of unity. At the same time, I recognize that I am sent to the faithful of other religions, especially the faithful of Islam, supported by the example of St. Francis of Assisibut also the Hindus, and so many others," he added yesterday. "To bear witness to the Gospel, to recognize in them the glimmer of that truth that enlightens all men, and to work together for a more fraternal and human world."
In short, "the word mission, the experience of being sent is a principle of action because it moves you, sets you in motion, a principle of knowledge and a principle of affection. Being sent makes you love people".
Yemen: reestablishing the presence of the Church
Three sentences about other countries of the vicariate of South Arabia. First, about YemenFor us it has a fundamental historical importance, because the Apostolic Vicariate of Arabia was born in Yemen 135 years ago and its headquarters was there.
After ten years of civil war, very little remains. The four churches are in ruins, and only in the north, under the command of the Houthi rebels, are there two communities of Missionaries of Charity (St. Teresa of Calcutta), who carry out a great work of charity, and a priest. In 1998 and in 2026, the sisters of Mother Teresa suffered attacks that cost the lives of 7 nuns, martyrs of our time, as Pope Francis defined them.
Only a few hundred Catholics remain. Almost all the migrants have been leaving Yemen. "My greatest wish would be to resume the presence of the Church in Yemen, where there are indigenous Catholics, which is not the case in other Gulf States."
The internal situation between North Yemen and South Yemen "is now quite calm compared to the past. We pray that new avenues of Christian presence will open up, and we hope that the truce between Hamas and Israel can bring some change to Yemen as well."
Good relationship with Oman
The situation in Oman is very different, because violence is rejected, explained Vicar Martinelli. The country is a sultanate and the population is very docile: "They are interlocutors of Yemen, and in any case, our relationship with the authorities of Oman is very good, and that of the nuncio as well. We have 4 parishes, although there are no schools for the moment, and the good relations with the Holy See make us foresee that in the future there could be new parishes, and perhaps some kindergartens".
We think that in Oman there are many Catholics, but they are not involved in the life of the Church, perhaps because of the distance to the places of worship, because they do not have a vehicle, considers the vicar. This is the case of the Filipinos, more than 45,000 in Oman, almost all of them Catholics. There are also Indian Catholics.
The historic March for Life in Washington had among its speakers the new Vice President J.D. Vance. His personal history explains his strong commitment to the defense of life.
Last January 24, 2025 was the massive and historic March for Life in Washington, a few days after Trump signed multiple express executive orders-among which the Born-Alive Abortion Survivor Protection Act is noteworthy-as Omnes recounted in the article by María Wiering and Marietha Góngora V. (OSV News)The article highlighted the speech of the vice-president of the United States on the impressive pro-life day. But who is this person and where does his commitment to life come from?
James David Vanceturned 40 years old on August 2, 2024. He was born in Middletown, Ohio. The son of a broken family and a drug-addicted mother, he was a Marine and served in the Iraq war, then went to law school, earning his J.D. from Yale in 2013. He married Usha, a fellow Yale law school student, in 2014. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has three. In 2016 he wrote a book explaining his background and ideas "Hillbilly, a rural elegy".
In 2017 he started working for Revolution LLC, in Silicon Valley. In 2019 he was received into the Catholic Church and chose St. Augustine of Hippo as his confirmation patron saint, for his ability to transmit the faith. From that same year is his famous article, entitled "An elegy for the American dream", published in the digital magazine Unherd in 2019. In 2023, he was elected senator for Ohio, after a few years dedicated to preparing his political career. In the month of July 2024 he was chosen by Trump as a candidate for vice president of the USA, even though in the past he had been his staunch opponent. And he is currently the vice president of this country.
In Unherd's aforementioned article, republished by the same magazine in July 2024, he briefly explains his conservative ideas, which stem largely from a lack of them in his childhood, such as the absence of a structured family.
One of his top priorities is life and its defense as can be read in that journalistic piece: "When I think about my own life, what has made my life better is the fact that I am the father of a two-year-old boy. When I think about the demons of my own childhood and how those demons have vanished in the love and laughter of my oldest child; when I look at friends of mine who have grown up in difficult circumstances and have become parents and have become more connected to their communities, to their families, to their faith, because of the role of their own children, I say we want babies not just because they are economically useful. We want more babies because the children are good."
This testimony gives a better understanding of the speech he gave at the March for Life, when he said, "Let me say very simply, 'I want more babies in the United States of America: I want more babies in the United States of America." This pro-life revival is going unnoticed in Europe, but it will eventually help to stop this silent genocide that is ravaging the world.
Christianity and modernity in the thought of St. Josemaria
On the occasion of the anniversary of "Gaudium et spes" and as a path of reflection towards the centenary of the founding of Opus Dei, the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross has prepared a three-year program of in-depth study, with seminars and meetings of experts, on topics such as the relationship between faith and culture, work and the role of Christians in society.
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the publication of the Pastoral Constitution "....Gaudium et spes"The Pontifical University of the Holy Cross has prepared a three-year program of reflection on the relationship between faith and culture, the meaning of work and the role of Christians in the promotion of the common good, with seminars and meetings of experts, as a way of reflecting on the centenary of the founding of Opus Dei (1928-2028).
The second event of this initiative took place on Monday, January 13, in the Alvaro del Portillo Hall, with the participation of Luis Romera, Professor of Metaphysics in the School of Philosophy, and Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, Professor of Fundamental Theology in the School of Theology, who spoke on the theme "Identity and telos of secular realities in the light of St. Josemaría's thought.
Work as an instrument of sanctification
The debate was opened by Luis Romera, with a reflection on the centrality of work in the thinking of the founder of the Opus DeiIn this way, every human activity, even the most seemingly ordinary, acquires a transcendent value. "Work is not only a means of subsistence, but a call to participate in God's creative and redemptive plan," he explained, echoing number 40 of "Gaudium et spes."
The philosopher then quoted the German theologian Gerhard Lohfink to underscore how the Kingdom of God is not relegated to eschatology, but is realized in the present through the responsible action of believers. He then reiterated the importance of work as a means of making God's love visible: "Christ is present at the very heart of human work: he inspires it, transforms it and directs it towards the Father," he added.
In a central passage, Romera pointed out that this vision requires a profound theological and intellectual formation, capable of combining competence and faith. Indeed, "it is not enough to know the catechism; it is necessary to understand it in depth, because only in this way can the Christian live authentically his commitment in the world".
The professor of Metaphysics concluded his talk by strongly recalling the role of the Christian as a builder of the Kingdom of God through his work: "every gesture, every activity, if done in Christ, can contribute to making God's love visible in the world. And this is not "a distant utopia, but a reality that is built in the present", since every Christian "is called to transform secular realities, making them a reflection of God's love".
Autonomy and filial freedom
Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti's talk focused on numbers 33-39 of Gaudium et Spes, dedicated to the theme of the autonomy of earthly realities. The theologian analyzed how modernity has transformed the concept of autonomy into a pretension of self-affirmation and rejection of God, leading to results such as relativism and nihilism. Rather, he explained, citing authors such as Cornelio Fabro and Augusto Del Noce, "modernity has misunderstood autonomy, separating it from its ontological bond with God."
The scholar then pointed out that in St. Josemaría's thought there are valuable elements for overcoming this misunderstanding, since "autonomy and filiation do not exclude each other, but refer to each other. Moreover, true freedom is not opposition to God, but a filial relationship with him.
Particularly incisive was the reference to the "forma Christi," that is, to the Christian's ability to transform the secular world from within, inspired by charity and divine filiation. "Filial freedom does not diminish man's autonomy, but is its foundation and strength," he added.
The same applies to the question of Christian secularity, which is distinct from secularization. In fact, Christian secularity "does not deny the autonomy of earthly realities, but recognizes them as a space for living the faith. It is the place where the creature exercises its freedom in charity, leading the world towards its fullness in Christ".
In concluding his speech, the theologian launched an invitation to practice, concretizing this synthesis between Christianity and modernity beyond theoretical reflection and through "life experiences that reveal how the forma Christi can inform all aspects of human existence."
Next initiative
The next initiative planned by Holy Cross in this three-year program of deepening the centenary of Opus Dei will be a meeting of experts who will reflect on the Images of human work in contemporary thought. It will take place on May 29 and 30, and for the occasion a call of papers.
St. Brigid of Kildare, Abbess and Co-Patroness of Ireland
On February 1, the Church celebrates St. Bridget, founder of one of the first monasteries in Ireland, in Kildare. She was a faithful continuator of St. Patrick's work of evangelization and shares the patronage of Ireland with St. Patrick and St. Columbanus. She is considered the first Irish nun.
Francisco Otamendi-February 1, 2025-Reading time: < 1minute
There are numerous writings that attest to the cult of St. Bridget in Ireland, but there are not so many proven facts about her life. According to history, she was born in the 5th century in Faughart, near Dunkalk, at a time when the evangelization of Europe was taking place, and from an early age she consecrated herself to God and was chosen by Him. She went to account that her mother would send her to collect the butter that the women made from the milk of the cows, and she would give it to the poor.
Very little is known about the great religious foundation at Kill-dara (the oak temple) and its rule. It is supposed to have been a 'double monastery', i.e. it included both men and women, as was common practice among the Celts. It is quite possible that St. Bridget presided over both communities. To this Irish saint are attributed to numerous miracles, such as restoring sight to blind people, quenching plagues, multiplying food, and even turning water into beer to quench thirst in some religious celebration. She is also known as the patron saint of milkmen.
Santa Brígida has been represented in the art with the church of Kildare in flames. Thanks to it, the paganism of the place was replaced by the fire of Christ's Passover. The image of the oak is linked to that of the burning bush, because it is near the tabernacle. The Virgin who generates the body of Christ is the burning bush, the Church is this burning bush.
With the Enlightenment and secularization, many things that were taken for granted have been questioned, to the point of denying the historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth, as well as his divine identity.
We live in a time of great uncertainty. We often blindly believe what influencers on social networks propose to us, without digging deeper. However, we are hungry for truth and certainty.
The same thing has happened to the Christian faith in the last two centuries: with the Enlightenment and secularization, many things that were taken for granted have been questioned, to the point of denying the historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth, as well as his divine identity. At the same time, credit is given to self-styled historians who spread theories without sources or solid foundations.
For those who wish to approach the historical figure of Jesus, we will undertake a journey through the sources and methods of research on the Nazarene that follows a series of articles already published by Omnes on the life of Jesus of Nazareth, his cultural and geographical environment and his death.
What is History?
Let us begin by defining what history is. First, it should be noted that the term derives from the Greek ἱστορία (historia) meaning research, and has the same root ιδ- as the verb ὁράω (orao, to see, to see, verb with three roots: ὁρά-; ιδ-; ὄπ-). The perfect ὁίδα, òida, then, means literally 'I saw', but, by extension, 'I know'. It refers, in practice, to observe and, consequently, to know after experiencing: the same sense we find also in the root of the Latin verb video (v-id-eo and in the term of Greek origin 'idea'). I would add, moreover, that a requirement of historical research is, in addition to the critical sense, intelligence, in the literal sense of the Latin word: intus lĕgĕre, that is, to read inside, to go deeper, maintaining the ability to consider the whole of facts and events.
The historical-critical method
The Enlightenment raised doubts about the figure of the Nazarene, but it also prompted the development of historical research through the historical-critical method, aimed at assessing the reliability of the sources. This method, developed since the 17th century, is applied not only to the Gospels, but to any text transmitted in different variants, in order to reconstruct its original form and verify its historical content.
In the last 150 years, the need to historically substantiate Christian doctrine has led the Catholic Church to firmly reaffirm the historicity of the Gospels, while historians, scholars and archaeologists have used the historical-critical method to distinguish between the "historical Jesus" and the "Christ of faith". However, an excessively ideological application of this method has often led to a clear separation between the pre-Gospel Jesus and the "Christ of faith". Easter and the Christ after Easter. To respond to these doubts, the Church has deepened the exegetical and archaeological study, reaffirming in the Second Vatican Council ("Dei Verbum") "firmly and without any hesitation the historicity" of the Gospels, which "faithfully convey what Jesus, Son of God, during his life among men, actually did and taught for their eternal salvation, until the day he was taken up to heaven."
The Church's position thus combines the "historical Jesus" and the "Christ of faith" in a single figure. However, the vast majority of historians - Christian, Jewish, Muslim or non-believer - do not doubt the historical existence of Jesus of Nazareth. On the contrary, the historical and archaeological evidence in his favor continues to mount, reinforcing the reliability of the Gospels and other New Testament writings.
The "historical Jesus" approach
Today, most historians agree on the historical existence of Jesus, with an increasing amount of corroborating historical and archaeological evidence. This is because historical research has developed around his figure in three main phases:
First Search or Old Search, initiated by Hermann S. Reimarus (1694-1768) and continued by scholars such as Ernest Renan, author of the famous "Life of Jesus". This phase, influenced by enlightened rationalism, systematically denied all the prodigious facts linked to the figure of Jesus, without questioning his existence. However, it soon ran up against its own ideological limitations, as Albert Schweitzer pointed out. Indeed, none of the protagonists of this phase of research ever paid attention to the historical context and archaeological sources, even if Renan himself romantically referred to Palestine as a "fifth gospel".
Second Quest (New Quest or Second Quest), officially initiated in 1953 by the Lutheran theologian Ernst Käsemann, but in reality already initiated by Albert Schweitzer, who pointed out the limitations of the first one. It contrasted with an earlier phase, called No Quest, advocated by Rudolf Bultmann, who was convinced that historical research on Jesus was irrelevant to the Christian faith. The Second Quest rejected the ideological rejection of the "Christ of faith," adopting a more critical and integrative approach, which included the prodigious events without excluding them a priori.
Third Search, predominant today.
The Third Search
While the First Search was conditioned by rationalist ideology and the Second Search introduced a more balanced approach, the Third Search is characterized by a greater attention to the historical context and interdisciplinarity, combining philology, archaeology and hermeneutics. Today, thanks to this method, we have an increasingly solid picture of the historical existence of Jesus and his relevance in the history of the first century.
The exponents of this Third Quest start from the assumption formulated by Albert Schweitzer: one cannot ideologically reject everything in the Gospels and the New Testament that has a miraculous character, discarding it because it does not conform to the canons of enlightened rationalism. Moreover, as Benedict XVI (exponent of the Third Quest, together with authors and scientists such as the Italians Giuseppe Ricciotti and Vittorio Messori, the Israeli Jew David Flusser and the German Joachim Jeremias) adds in his book Jesus of Nazareth, the limits of the historical-critical method consist substantially in "leaving the word in the past", without being able to make it "current, today"; in "treating the words in front of us as human words"; finally, in "further subdividing the books of Scripture according to their sources, but the unity of all these writings as Bible does not result as an immediate historical fact".
The Third Search resorts to textual analysis and hermeneutics to get as close as possible to the original form of the sources under consideration (in this case those relating to Jesus) and includes, as we said, scholars such as the Israeli Jew David Flusser (1917-2000), author of fundamental writings on ancient Judaism and convinced, like many other contemporary Jews, that the Gospels and Pauline writings represent the richest and most reliable source for the study of Second Temple Judaism, like many other contemporary Jews, that the Gospels and the Pauline writings represent the richest and most reliable source for the study of Second Temple Judaism, given the loss of other contemporary materials due to the destruction caused by the Jewish Wars (between 70 and 132 AD.C.). c.).
In the following articles we will see how this methodology has already been applied by the Church, over the centuries, to historical and archaeological sources about the figure of Christ.
Cardinal Fernando Sebastián was a key figure in the Spanish Transition, with a profound influence on the separation of Church and State. He participated in decisive meetings with political leaders from both sides, contributing to the establishment of a plural and free democracy.
February 1, 2025-Reading time: 3minutes
I had the immense good fortune of being a student of Cardinal Fernando Sebastián, a true man of God who was a key figure in the political transition in Spain. In contrast to the majority thinking, he explained to us how it was precisely the Church that put the most effort into the separation of Church and State.
Rector of the Pontifical University of Salamanca since 1971, his enormous intellectual stature led Cardinal Tarancón, then president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, to choose him as his trusted advisor. He accompanied him in the secret meetings he held with the main leaders of the left and right, some of them still in hiding. Ordained bishop in 1979, he was secretary general of the Spanish bishops in the 1980s and vice-president in various periods of the following two decades. An exceptional witness and, on numerous occasions, a protagonist of those historic events, he reminded us that the social and political doctrine that emerged from the Second Vatican Council was key to bringing Spain to democracy in a peaceful manner.
In the famous text: Affirmations for a time of searching (1976)Fernando asked "to differentiate the Church from civil society, from its institutions and objectives". The position of the Church at that time was not to accept any type of privilege, beyond religious freedom and the recognition of the Catholic Church in a non-confessional state, as was finally included in the Constitution of 1978.
I recover the memory of the wise and beloved professor because I am a bit fed up, as a citizen, of having to keep quiet when some try to present an anti-democratic image of the Spanish Church. This prejudice of a Church greedy for political power, which only seeks privileges and does not value freedom, is a big lie, no matter how much they can always bring out with a lot of noise the particular outrage of this or that person or minority group.
In his "Memories with Hope" (Encuentro, 2016), the Cardinal expressed his sadness for this manipulation of the memory of the role of the Catholic Church in those difficult years: "I have the impression that nowadays the contribution of the Church to the peaceful advent of democracy in Spain has been somewhat forgotten. The conciliar renewal -he recalled- helped us Spanish Catholics to decisively support the establishment of a free and open society, respectful of the political, cultural and religious freedoms of all, without privileges of any kind".
What is paradoxical is that those who continue today with the refrain, using the supposed privileges of the Catholic Church and demanding an even greater separation Church-State, are on the other hand turning the tables and wanting to submit the faith of the Church to the moral and ideological assumptions of the party. It is no longer that they want to confine the voice of the Church to the sacristies; it is that they want to be the ones who, from the sacristies, interpret the Gospel and the ecclesial tradition and explain it to the faithful. In a sort of extemporaneous caesaropapism, they threaten with coercive laws and sanctions, intimidating the personnel and endangering religious freedom, the one for which the Spaniards fought and voted, invading the independence and autonomy of the religious confessions in their own sphere.
Perhaps we should take to the streets to demand, not the separation of Church-State, but the separation of State-Church, because if we continue in this way, we will run the risk of ending up with a national church like China.
In days like these, in which the Transition is being re-read in a self-interested way, I end with another prophetic warning that I have found in the memoirs of D. Fernando, whose death, by the way, has just been six years ago: "We have not just overcome the anti-clerical resabios," said the wise professor. It is true that clericalism has been strong among us. But things have changed almost fifty years ago. In spite of which our leftists are still determined to impose what they call the "secular State", with an excluding and anti-religious secularism that is clearly unconstitutional. The temptation of exclusionary secularism threatens the democratic clarity of our society. Restrictions to the full religious freedom of citizens are a deficit in democracy". Be careful, we are at stake.
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.
Spanish priest in China: "Christianity in China is silent, but has deep roots".
For years, religious information analysts have been discussing whether the provisional agreement between the Chinese government and the Vatican for the appointment of bishops is being positive. We interviewed a Spanish priest working in China about the situation of the Church in the country.
Father Esteban Aranaz is a priest from Aragon, incardinated in the diocese of Tarazona (Zaragoza) and carries out his pastoral ministry in China. He has been in Shanghai for nearly ten years, although his priestly work in Asia began 22 years ago in Taiwan, where he worked for seven years. Before leaving for China he was Rector of the Major Seminary and Director of the Theological Institute of his Diocese, professor of the same and Vicar General in Tarazona. He speaks Mandarin and seven other languages. He is passionate about art and music.
We spoke with him about the situation of the Church in China and his assessment of the operation of the agreement between the Church and the Chinese government for the appointment of bishops. It is estimated that there are between 15 and 20 million Catholics in China, representing approximately 1% of the population. In comparison, the evangelical community is somewhat larger.
Tell us who you are, how long you have been in Asia and China, and what your pastoral work consists of.
- I am a diocesan priest from Tarazona, Spain. My priestly work in Asia began 23 years ago in Taiwan. I was there for seven years before moving to Shanghai, where I have been for ten years.
My work in China focuses on the pastoral care of the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Catholic Community of Shanghai and the Community of Yiwú, in the province of Zhejiang. In addition, I travel monthly to Beijing to carry out other pastoral work, where I also give two retreats for young people.
How is it possible for him to work in China? Aren't foreign priests not supposed to practice there?
- In China there are restrictions on the presence of foreign priests, but my work falls within an authorized framework for the foreign community, and my situation has improved considerably in the last three years. Officially, I minister to Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking Catholics, but through personal contact and friendship, I also have a significant relationship with many Chinese. Since last Christmas in fact, I am organist at the Shanghai Cathedral.
Although I dedicate my ministerial work exclusively to foreigners, working in China nevertheless involves adapting to a complex reality. It is not only a question of administrative restrictions, but also of knowing how to move with prudence and discretion, respecting at all times the legal framework in a country that is finally opening its doors and welcoming you. For this reason, although the number of conversions every year is important, the growth of the Church in China is not massive or noisy, but develops in small circles, in daily life, in the trust that is generated with each person. Faith here is a seed that grows in silence, but has deep roots.
What are Chinese Catholics like? How is the faith lived in China?
- The piety of Chinese Catholics is impressive. In Asia, in general, there is a great reverence for religion, and in China it is reflected in a very active participation in the liturgy. In the cathedral of Shanghai, for example, on Sundays up to 700 faithful gather for each celebration with an attitude of deep faith and devotion.
Unlike many Catholics in the West, here it is common to see the faithful, many of them very young, actively participating in the Mass and maintaining a posture of deep piety. Gestures are very important: kneeling, keeping hands together at all times, are expressions that speak of a deep faith before the mystery. The liturgy is very well cared for and the choirs are exceptional, as music is highly appreciated among the Chinese.
Foreigners are very surprised by this fervor. Many are shocked to see the depth and respect with which the Chinese live their faith. I always recommend to those who visit the country to attend a Mass in Chinese, even if they do not understand the language. The attitude and devotion of the faithful speak for themselves.
What role does the Catholic community play in Chinese society?
- The presence of the Church in China is both cultural and social. And therefore one cannot speak of the Catholic faith as a faith of foreigners, as in the past. In China, in practically every city, no matter how small, there is at least one Catholic church. In addition, in many dioceses there are homes for the elderly and orphanages run by nuns or lay faithful. However, access to certain public spaces and responsibilities within the state is still restricted for believers, at least officially.
In some provinces, such as Hebei and Shanxi, the Catholic presence is more visible, with large communities and well-kept temples. Even so, the Church remains a minority community and does not have the same social influence as in other countries.
How do Chinese government policies influence the formation of new priests and the religious education of the faithful?
- China has several prestigious seminaries, such as the diocesan seminary in Beijing or the national seminary also in the capital, which houses more than 100 seminarians and more than 30 religious sisters as a formation center. It must be said that the formation is serious and well structured, with libraries, study rooms and a solid theological formation.
In addition to the seminaries in Beijing, there are other training centers, such as the Sheshan Seminary in Shanghai, which in the past had great relevance and, after a few years of decline, is now making a comeback. There is also the Xi'an Seminary and the Shijiazhuang Seminary in Hebei Province, the latter, with more than 100 students, is the largest in the country.
For years the situation of the formation of Chinese priests has been improving thanks to the material improvements of the seminaries within the country and the help of "Propaganda Fide" and various ecclesial institutions in places like Rome, Germany, Salamanca, Pamplona, France, Belgium, the United States, etc... This has significantly raised the level of the clergy in China. Dioceses such as those of Beijing or Shanghai, among many others, have been pioneers in the formation of a young and well-prepared clergy, with many priests who, in addition to their ecclesiastical studies, have even completed civil careers.
In short, the doctrinal level is good.
- In China, despite what some believe, the doctrine, morals and liturgy of the Church have never been modified in history. Apostolic succession has always been maintained. That is why Rome has never considered the Church in China as a schismatic Church.
Why did Benedict XVI invite the clandestine communities to come out into the open? How is this process progressing?
- In his 2007 letter to Chinese Catholics, Benedict XVI explained that clandestinity is an exceptional situation in the life of the Church and is not the normal way of living the faith. For this reason, the German Pope urged the clandestine communities to integrate whenever possible, and little by little progress is being made in this direction. It must be said that it is not always easy, as there are priests who seek to regularize themselves within Chinese legality, but the authorities in some places still set very restrictive conditions.
And today, does it make sense to keep talking in China about the patriotic community and the underground community?
- Since the signing of the agreement between the Holy See and the Chinese government in 2018, all bishops in China are recognized by the Holy See and in communion with the Pope. This means that one can no longer speak of an official and an underground Church. While there are still many bishops and some communities that have not yet acquired public recognition by the state, on an ecclesiastical and doctrinal level, the Church in China is one, with its bishops fully recognized by Rome.
This provisional agreement, which was initially renewed for two-year periods, will be in force for four years as of September 2024. This is very positive and significant, as it has allowed the Church to grow in unity and strengthen the ties between the Chinese Catholic community and the universal Church.
What is your assessment of the Chinese state's interim agreement with the Vatican?
- The interim agreement between the Holy See and China was, in my opinion, a very positive thing. Although for some it is still a controversial issue, I think it should be analyzed with serenity. It is not a complete or definitive agreement, as it only focuses on the appointment of bishops. However, it has allowed the regularization of many bishops and has helped to normalize the ecclesial and pastoral life of many dioceses, as has happened in Shanghai, facilitating dialogue with the authorities. Although the content of the agreement is not public, its aim is to preserve the unity of the Church in China and to guarantee the communion of all bishops with the Pope.
In such a complex context, any progress, however small, is of great value, even if there are still many challenges ahead. In my view, the attitude of dialogue promoted by Pope Francis and the work of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See have been positively received by the Chinese authorities and all this is helping to make significant progress after years of estrangement and misunderstandings.
And what do you think of Cardinal Zen's pessimism regarding this agreement?
- I have great appreciation and respect for Cardinal Zen, with whom I have had the opportunity to converse on several occasions. In fact, it was he who told me on one occasion years ago "that giving support to the official community or the underground community was equally important because in China there was only one Church."
However, I believe that his critical view of this agreement, while understandable and very respectable, does not favor a constructive approach to China's current reality. Rome has clearly opted for a cautious but more dialogical strategy that seeks to avoid confrontation. This does not mean running away from the cross or anything like it, as is sometimes perceived in the West. But we must move forward.
And is this strategy paying off?
- It should be noted that in China there is freedom of worship and the religious practice of Catholics as well as that of other confessions is respected, formation is allowed and the faithful can attend the sacraments, in the seminaries there are books and they do not study with photocopies as in the past. In short, if one looks at things from here one notices that there are many things that have improved.
To me, this situation of winning on the one hand, assuming things that still need to be improved, reminds me of what we experienced in Spain during the Transition. In that context, everyone had to give in on some points, facilitating harmony and reconciliation. There comes a time in the life of individuals and peoples that if you do not forgive, it is impossible to live together and move forward,
How are you attached to your bishop from China?
- Although my pastoral work is carried out in China, I am still incardinated in Tarazona, and I maintain regular communication with my bishop in Spain, informing him of my work and always receiving his support.
But I also live my priesthood in full communion with the local bishop of Shanghai, whom I consider my pastor in this context. Although I cannot yet have a contractual relationship with the Diocese of Shanghai, I participate actively in its ecclesial life. Since the arrival of the new Bishop Joseph Shen, I have been able to concelebrate the Eucharist three times in Xujiahui Cathedral. This double linkage reflects the universality of the Church and the collaboration between different dioceses for evangelization, which also strengthens ecclesial communion.
Since September 29 last year, my priestly work and the community I serve in Shanghai have been officially recognized by the authorities, which has helped me to live and work as a priest practically fully integrated into the local Church.
So, clearly, he values positively the new situation of the Church in China.
- Since 2018, 11 bishops have been appointed respecting the agreement between the Holy See and the Chinese government, which is progress. Outside of what happened in Shanghai, where the transfer of Bishop Shen took place unilaterally by Beijing, the Pope ended up recognizing the appointed bishop, I sincerely prefer to see the bottle half full and underline the positives of the process. As in the world of bullfighting, it is not just a matter of outwitting the bull, it is necessary to enter with courage and determination until the task is successfully completed.
On the website of the Catholic Church in China, the constant presence of officials at religious events is striking. How much autonomy does the Church really have?
- In China the presence and control of the state is present in all areas of public and economic life, education, the media and therefore also in religious life, because administratively the Church, and all religious denominations in China, are dependent on the state. In spite of this, the Church is able to carry on with its mission despite so many challenges.
What I do recommend to everyone is not to lose perspective so as not to forget the special circumstances of this immense country in terms of its size and population, which has undergone, as we all know, evident changes and transformations over the last few decades. However, in the West, there is still a lot of mistrust and prejudices about this country. I invite people to visit it, to know its reality and to understand its particular context.
For this reason, it is important to understand in its proper measure the process of "sinization" of all areas of public and social life in China, which logically also affects the life of the Church, facing under this new concept very important challenges, but also opportunities for growth. A few months ago I participated in an important meeting organized by the diocese of Beijing with the attendance of bishops, priests, religious, seminarians and various lay people, professors and members of the government. I had a communication that allowed me to express frankly some opinions about this interesting process of "sinization".
In my opinion, China can contribute a lot to the universal Church and on the contrary, the Church in China needs to keep alive the communion with the universal Church for its growth and mission.
What is your perspective on the future of the Church in China?
- I am optimistic. The faith in China has not died out, but is still alive and growing in the daily lives of many Chinese. As Pope Francis recalled during his trip to Mongolia: "Catholics in China must be good citizens and good Christians". The challenges are many, the Church has always known how to adapt and find ways to evangelize. The future will depend on the Church's ability to keep alive the apostolic zeal to also continue to foster a constructive dialogue with the authorities that encourages the faithful to continue to live their faith authentically.
What role does friendship play in your relationship with the Chinese faithful?
- Friendship is key, I call it the "eighth sacrament". Although my official work is with foreigners, I really have many Chinese friends. Besides, music and art have been valuable tools to get closer to them, through initiatives such as "Friends of Beauty", meetings and gatherings where we share the cultural richness of China and Christian humanism over a good cup of tea. Now, together with some friends, I am promoting an Institute that I believe is a very interesting project.
What exactly is it about?
- We want to establish the "Diego de Pantoja Institute", a project to build bridges between China and the West in all areas of human relations: history, art, philosophy, business and economics, international relations and diplomacy. Diego de Pantoja, a native of Valdemoro (Madrid) was a Jesuit contemporary of Mateo Ricci, who promoted dialogue between China and Europe in the 17th century. Through the Institute, we promote academic and artistic exchanges, such as the one we have recently carried out by collaborating in the installation of some pictorial works of great artistic value, by the Malaga painter Raúl Berzosa, in the South Cathedral of Beijing or a musical project for the Cathedral of Shanghai, among others.
One last question, how do you stay this optimistic?
- My work in China would not be possible without the prayers and support of my family and many friends. In this regard I would like to point out the spiritual and human help of the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross. Opus Dei is certainly not perfect, like no institution, but despite its mistakes and difficulties, it provides an invaluable service to the Church and especially to diocesan priests.
I would like to say it loud and clear, Opus Dei has been committed to accompanying priests since its origins. And the formation of the clergy has been one of its priorities, promoting a large number of grants and scholarships, the result of the generosity of many good people, to study in Pamplona and in Rome. Most of the priests trained there do not belong to the Work; today some of them are even bishops, but all have benefited from means that have long since redounded to the benefit of the universal Church.
This is a legacy that we have to thank a diocesan priest of Saragossa and universal saint, Josemaría Escrivá, who loved and lived for priests. Blessed Alvaro del Portillo continued this work. There are institutions such as the Bidasoa International Seminary in Pamplona and the Sædes Sapientiæ in Rome, the Faculty of Theology of the University of Navarre, the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome and many other centers that continue to help the Church and priests throughout the world.
I myself studied at the University of Navarra, which is my "alma mater", and I was trained at the Bidasoa Ecclesiastical College. After several years of ministerial life, I obtained a Licentiate in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
Any thoughts you would like to end this interview with?
-If I may, I would not like to end this interesting encounter without sharing with our readers a thought I wrote a few years ago that may help to understand my love for China:
"We owe our existence to God, to our parents who gave us life. We are part of a tradition with our ancestors! But the heart responds only to the freedom of love! And I, because I am free, for love of Christ, have decided to give it forever to the Chinese people. That is why no matter where Providence takes me, wherever I am, I want to be always one more Chinese!"
A great pedagogue, a great teacher of the spiritual life and an apostle of devotion to Mary. Auxilium Christianorum. The life and legacy of St. John Bosco, which the Church celebrates on January 31, is a guide for thousands of people today.
Manuel Belda-January 31, 2025-Reading time: 3minutes
St. John Bosco was born on August 16, 1815 in Castelnuovo d'Asti, a small town near Turin, in a small village near Turin. family of peasants, poor and very Christian. His father died when he was less than two years old, so he was raised exclusively by his saintly mother, Margherita Occhiena.
On October 30, 1835, he entered the Seminary of Chieri. He was ordained a priest on June 5, 1841 in Turin, where he exercised his priestly ministry in prisons, on the streets and in workplaces. He soon gathered around himself a group of young peopleHe placed them under the patronage of St. Francis de Sales. In 1846 he rented premises in Valdocco, a suburb north of Turin, which constituted the first stable nucleus of his work with young people.
First professional schools, and others
St. John Bosco clearly understood that, when the new industrial world was born, the youth had to be prepared for life, not only morally, but also professionally, so he founded the first professional schools and subsequently numerous other schools. On December 28, 1859, with 17 young people, he founded the Society of St. Francis de Sales, so its members are called "Salesians". Its Constitutions were definitively approved by the Holy See on April 3, 1874. On August 5, 1872, he founded the female branch, the Congregation of the "Daughters of Mary Help of Christians".
He died on January 31, 1888, at the age of 72. He was beatified by Pius XI on June 2, 1929, and canonized by the same Pope on April 1, 1934. On May 24, 1989, he was proclaimed Patron Saint of Youth by St. John Paul II.
His works
St. John Bosco wrote many works, but not systematic treatises, but rather of a pastoral nature, always moved by the circumstances of his life and apostolate. They can be classified into the following genres: pedagogical writings, entertainment, theatrical, hagiographical, biographical, autobiographical, religious instruction, prayer, government documents and epistolary.
Papal Teachings
St. John Bosco was first and foremost a great pedagogueThe "preventive system", which consisted of preventing misconduct, was advocated in his schools at a time when the educational system was still "repressive", consisting of repressing and punishing the mistakes made by the students.
He was also a great teacher of the spiritual life, which he based on a solid sacramental piety. Frequent reception of the sacraments was an essential element in his pedagogy to lead young people towards holiness, and was the key to his educational project: frequent Communion and Confession, daily Mass.
"Everyone has need of Communion."
He taught that frequent Communion is highly recommended, because the Eucharist is both medicine and nourishment for the soul: "Some say that in order to receive Communion frequently, one must be a saint. This is not true. This is a deception. Communion is for those who wish to become saints, not for saints; medicine is given to the sick, nourishment is given to the weak". Communion, therefore, is necessary for all Christians: "All have need of Communion: the good to remain good, the bad to become good: and so, young people, you will acquire the true wisdom that comes from the Lord".
Meditation!
St. John Bosco insisted much on the need for mental prayer. A personal recollection of Blessed Philip Rinaldi, who in 1922 became the Rector Major of the Salesian Society, and who treated his founder during the last years of the latter's life, shows the importance he gave to meditation: "Going to confession with him during the last month of his life, I told him: "You must not tire yourself, you must not speak, I will speak; you will say only one word to me at the end". The good Father, after listening to me, said only one word: Meditation! He added no more, no explanation or comment. Just one word: Meditation! But that word was worth more to me than a long speech."
The Virgin Mary, inspirer and protectress, Mother
St. John Bosco's spirituality was eminently Marian. He said that, together with Holy Communion, Mary is the other pillar on which the world rests. He also affirmed: "Mary Most Holy is the foundress and the one who sustains our works". For this reason, he had the image of the Virgin Mary placed in every corner of the Salesian houses, so that she could be invoked and honored as the inspiration and protector of the Salesian Society. He did not hesitate to say and to assure: "The multiplication and spread of the Salesian Society can be said to be due to Mary Most Holy".
St. John Bosco was the apostle of devotion to Mary. Auxilium Christianorumbut he ended up preferring this title to that of Mary Help of Christians. In December 1862 he communicated his decision to erect a church in Turin under the invocation of Mary Help of Christians, whose foundation stone was laid on April 27, 1865.
However, on her deathbed it was not the invocation "Auxiliatrix" that came from her lips, but that of "Mother", for she died saying: "In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum...Mother...Mother, open to me the gates of Paradise".
Sebastian Muggeridge: "You don't give your vocation to yourself, God gives it to you"
Influenced by St. Teresa of Calcutta, English journalist Malcolm Muggeridge converted to Catholicism with his wife in 1982. Now, in 2025, his great-grandson Sebastian Muggeridge will be ordained a priest.
Influenced by St. Teresa of Calcutta, the English journalist Malcolm Muggeridge converted, with his wife, to Catholicism in 1982, at the age of 79. In 1969 he had produced the documentary Something Beautiful for God for the BBC, and two years later he had written a book of the same name about the foundress of the Missionaries of Charity, making her known to the world.
On May 24, 2025, a great-grandson of his will be ordained a priest, Canadian Sebastian Muggeridge, 32 years old, one of the 5 sons of John Muggeridge Jr. and his wife Christine.
The only daughter, Cecilia, is an assistant numerary of Opus Dei. She works at the Roman College of Holy Mary in Rome. Mens sana in corpore sano: it is useful for Cecilia to know English, French, Spanish and Italian, as she helps to maternally care for dozens of female students studying Theology, Canon Law, Philosophy, and Institutional Social Communication of the Church at the Pontificia Università della Santa Croce. In one minute she gives her testimony.
The Muggeridge family lives in Ottawa, Ontario; but Omnes spoke with Deacon Sebastian, Companion of the Cross (CC) from Montreal by WhatsApp, connecting with him where he studies: at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, USA.
Let us first transcribe a quote from the founder of the Companions of the Cross, Father Bob Bedard: “I love the Church... ‘the sleeping giant.’ Once we begin to rediscover what it means to evangelize and to undertake a full-scale revival of this ministry, I see the Church awakening and coming alive in such an explosive way that, with the power of the Holy Spirit, it will shake the earth and the nations with its dynamic presence.”
How did you see your vocation?
–If someone had told me in high school that I would be a priest I would have laughed. Then, studying nursing at the University of Ottawa, I lived as if God didn't exist. Everything changed in 2013 with a confession that brought me deep joy. It was at a university retreat and the priest was a Companion of the Cross. A young university missionary encouraged me to ask Jesus daily that He be at the center of my life. That's what I prayed and that transformed me. I started going to daily Mass.
Some ladies who saw me in church asked me why I didn't become a priest. When I told a priest about it, he reassured me that you don't give yourself a vocation, it is God who puts it in your heart. But one day, sitting in my parish church, I prayed a dangerous prayer: “God, I will do whatever you want, even get ordained. All I ask is that you put that desire in my heart.”
God answered me by my befriending almost without realizing it several priests, some of whom were Companions. I asked to enter their novitiate in 2016. I was ordained a deacon on September 14, 2014, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, and will be ordained a priest at Notre Dame Cathedral by the Archbishop of Ottawa, Marcel Damphousse.
Who are the Companions of the Cross?
– Since 2003 we have been a Society of Apostolic Life, founded as a community of clerical brothers 40 years ago in Ottawa by then diocesan priest Bob Bedard. I never met him, as he passed away, in Ottawa, in 2011. We have over 40 priests, and two Canadian bishops are Companions as well.
Near this Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit our community has a formation house of our own where we, a dozen CC seminarians, reside. Our charism is evangelization, we do a lot of parish work, and we are also involved in other work such as university chaplaincies. We are in the provinces of Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and in the states of Michigan and Texas. Our Superior General is Father Roger Vandenakker.
What can you tell about your ancestors?
– As my sister Cecilia relates in a video, it is part of the oral tradition of our family to tell the story of Malcolm, who after having lived a worldly life as a youth converted to Catholicism, with his wife Kitty Dobbs. She was the niece of the well-known English feminist and socialist Beatrice Webb. Of Malcolm's three sons, one also converted, my grandfather John Sr., whose wife, Anne Roche Muggeridge, was a well-known Canadian Catholic writer of two books on the challenges in the Church following Vatican II. Anne helped my grandfather and my great-grandparents convert. John and Anne had 4 sons, one daughter and 28 grandchildren.
Zygmunt Bauman thinks that today there is a habitual way of living, characterized by not maintaining any determined course: we live in a “liquid society”. You and your sister found a vocation to celibacy. How can we encourage more young people today to commit themselves vocationally, also in Christian marriage?
– If I had the answer, it would be a very valuable answer... We have to give young people a chance to encounter the person of Christ. They have difficulty in making decisions. But they want authenticity. Deep down, they want to give themselves in a real, noble and inspiring way. We must encourage this encounter, so that many may feel the call to religious life, to the priesthood, to marriage.
I encourage young people to try this dangerous prayer that I did at one time, which is terrifying, but worthwhile. Now I appreciate my sister’s vocation better; since she is older than me, when she joined Opus Dei, I understood it less than I do now. Her dedication is inspiring. Now it’s easier to understand her vocation of service. I began to notice it at the Manoir de Beaujeu, a retreat house near Montreal, where she worked for a while. I will see her this spring when she will visit Canada for my ordination and for my younger brother’s wedding. I hope to return the visit in Rome during the Jubilee once I am ordained.
Gray has its own beauty and richness, with a unique ability to complement and enhance other colors. My nostalgia for the blue skies of summer had blinded me to the subtle splendor of gray.
January 31, 2025-Reading time: 3minutes
Summer is one of the most cherished seasons in Europe. Its charm has been celebrated for centuries, and one need only glance at Shakespeare's sonnets to see how he glorifies its beauty. Personally, I also love summer, especially for the radiant blue of the sky. It's a deep, vibrant hue, which I prefer to describe as a "beautiful blue."
Leaving Europe for the summer, I said goodbye to the deep blue skies to return to the tropics for the rainy season. Upon arrival, I was greeted by a cloudy sky, dominated by gray clouds. It seemed that nature was not smiling on me, as if it had conspired to take away my joy and hope, replacing the lively blue with a somber gray. I had traded "beautiful blue" for "dull gray." Days passed, and prejudices toward the gray weather began to affect my mood. I began to perceive the gray sky as lacking beauty, believing it would doom me to a series of drab, lifeless days.
In this state of mind, little by little he fell into what he G.K. Chesterton describes it as the "heresy" to label a gray day as "colorless." He asserts the opposite, asserting that gray is, in fact, a color, a powerful and pleasing one. If blue is beautiful, so is gray. If blue is vibrant, gray is equally rich. So why do we equate gray with lifelessness? Gray has its own beauty and richness, with a unique ability to complement and enhance other colors. My nostalgia for the blue skies of summer had blinded me to the subtle splendor of gray.
Let's stop to consider the great capacity for change and adaptation that the color gray possesses. There is strength in diversity, and gray has a lot of it. Let's think about the many shades of gray; someone once said there are fifty, but I disagree. It could be forty-nine or fifty-one, I don't care. What matters is the incredible range of its expressions. Some days, the gray clouds gleam like silver; other days, they evoke the gleam of steel, the softness of a dove's plumage, or the pale beauty of ashes, a reminder of that solemn Ash Wednesday.
At times, the clouds become dense and heavy, resembling the machinery of a steel factory. They hold the rain inside and release it as delicate streams falling on rooftops and streets, turning the gray sky into a great steel pipe maker, long tubes of water. "Pour down the rain, heavens, from above!" we might exclaim, marveling at their generosity. Rorate Caeli!
Gray skies are not only beautiful in their own right, they are also catalysts for other colors. They are generous, they make other colors more vivid. When the rains come, they paint the earth brighter greens and deeper reds; we have greener foliage and redder mud.
Do we still need to doubt the beauties of gray? Not only does it allow other colors to bloom, but it also knows how to mix and match with them. I used to wonder why my students matched gray pants or skirts with pink blouses or blue shirts, until I watched the sunrise filtering through gray clouds.
The subtle interplay of gray with the pinks and oranges of sunrise or sunset reflects the choices of these uniforms: the influence of nature at its finest. Also, the patches of gray clouds scattered in a blue sky fit perfectly. I've stopped asking myself that question.
Will we continue to sing the glories of gray? The gray clouds act like a great parasol over the earth, an umbrella that attenuates the sun's rays that reach us, making its warmth more pleasant, more human.
Gray, although a distinctive color, has something of an intermediate character. The dictionary will tell us that it is an intermediate color between black and white. It always seems to be on the verge of something, on the threshold of evolving; to see it is to be on the verge of witnessing a change.
Chesterton captures this essence beautifully, noting that gray exists so that "we may be perpetually reminded of the indefinite hope that is in doubt itself; and when there is gray weather on our hills or gray hair on our heads, we may still be reminded of morning."
Gray is, without a doubt, a glorious color. And if anyone still has doubts, consider this: I have written this essay with a lead pencil, a tool as gray as the skies I have come to admire.
Banco Sabadell has taken an important step in its specialization strategy by deploying specialized units for Religious Institutions and the Third Sector in key cities such as Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante, Murcia and the Balearic Islands, in addition to the already existing unit in Madrid. This expansion reflects the bank's commitment to providing personalized, high-quality service to these sectors, which have shown remarkable growth since the service's inception in 2018.
Since its launch, the segment has experienced remarkable success, with the number of customers increasing fourfold and the volume of business handled tripling by the end of 2024. To respond to the needs of these organizations, Banco Sabadell has designed innovative products such as the DONE System, the first digital system in Spain for collecting donations by means of cards, and a special offer aimed at brotherhoods and fraternities with which it has agreements.
Service, consulting and training
Santiago Portas, director of Religious Institutions and Third Sector at Banco Sabadell, emphasizes that the proximity and high specialization of these new units position the entity as a benchmark in this segment. "Our professionals are trained to offer the best service and close advice, adapting to the needs of each client," says Portas.
In addition to traditional financial services, Banco Sabadell promotes collaboration between religious institutions and Third Sector entities through regular events and training programs. One of these programs is the Financial Advisor Course for Religious and Third Sector Entities, organized together with the Francisco de Vitoria University, whose fourth call for applications is already open.
Transparency and compliance with objectives
With clear policies based on transparency and ESG (environmental, social and governance) standards, Banco Sabadell ensures that both large and small institutions can access services and support tailored to their needs. This specialized approach facilitates the fulfillment of the entities' foundational objectives, while promoting a sustainable and responsible management model.
With these new openings and its continuous development of innovative products, Banco Sabadell reinforces its role as an ally for religious and Third Sector institutions.
The "Cipriani case": chronology and doubts it raises
The news, published in a Spanish media, about an alleged abuse case involving the former Cardinal of Lima, Juan Luis Cipriani, has been followed by a succession of communiqués from different parties that raise the following questions various questions surrounding the development of this case.
María José Atienza / Javier García Herrería-January 30, 2025-Reading time: 4minutes
The succession of communiqués, affirmations and accusations that, for several days now, have been published as a result of the leak of a denunciation against the former Archbishop of Lima for two decades, leaves, besides the evident need to continue fighting against this reality, the importance of a transparent management by the Church in these painful cases.
The following is a detailed chronology of the different communiqués that have taken place over the last week.
Saturday, January 25, 2025
Publication of the accusations
The newspaper El País reports that, in 2019, Pope Francis removed Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, former archbishop of Lima and a member of Opus Dei, after he was accused of sexual abuse to a minor in 1983. The victim, now 58 years old, who wishes to remain anonymous, claims that the events occurred when she was 16 or 17 years old at an Opus Dei center in Lima and consisted of certain touching.
Letter from Cardinal Cipriani
A few hours later, Cipriani published a letter categorically denying the facts and assuring that he has never committed any sexual abuse. He shows his regret for the leak of such delicate information and reiterates his unity with Pope Francis.
In his letter, he points out that the complaint filed against him was not handed over to him and no process was opened against him, although the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith imposed on him as precautionary measures to live outside Peru and to limit his ministerial activity. He also adds that, in an audience with Pope Francis in February 2020, he was allowed to resume part of his priestly activity (preaching retreats, public celebration of the sacraments, etc.).
Opus Dei Communiqué in Peru
On the same day, the regional vicar of Opus Dei in Peru issues a statement apologizing for not having met with Cipriani's whistleblower when the latter asked for an audience in 2018.
He explains that, since Cipriani was being investigated by the Vatican, he had no juridical competence in the case and preferred not to interfere in the process so as not to cause an untimely interference. However, he recognizes that he could have offered him his personal and spiritual support.
He also clarifies that there is no record of a formal process against Cipriani while the cardinal was incardinated in the prelature. The now regional vicar points out that in those years there were no protocols as rigorous as the current ones, which could have allowed complaints to go unregistered.
Emphasizes that, nowadays, any accusation follows a clear procedure and is not limited to private conversations. Reaffirms its commitment to prevention, improved complaint management and solidarity with victims of abuse.
Sunday, January 26, 2025
Vatican Statement
Asked by some media, the Vatican spokesman confirms that, in 2019, disciplinary measures were imposed on Cardinal Cipriani due to allegations of pederasty. These measures included his retirement, residence outside Peru, prohibition from making public statements and the use of cardinal symbols.
It also assures that the precautionary measures were still in force, something especially relevant because Cipriani had received on January 7, 2025 an important civil recognition, the most important medal of merit of the city of Lima.
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Communiqué of the Archbishop of Lima
The Archbishop of Lima, Carlos Castillo, issues a communiqué in support of victims of pederasty and journalists who denounce these cases. He strongly criticizes those who deny the truth and reject the decisions of the Holy See, urging them to conversion and to abandon justifications.
He does not explicitly quote Cipriani, but his message was understood as a position on the case, taking into account the context of the controversy.
Press release from the Peruvian Bishops' Conference
The Episcopal Conference expresses its sorrow for the news about Cardinal Cipriani and regrets the suffering of the victim and the ecclesial community. The Peruvian bishops value the decision of Pope Francis, highlighting the combination of justice and mercy in the measures imposed and call for prayers for the complainant, for Cipriani and for the Church, so that it may be a safe space of reconciliation.
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Letter from Cipriani to the President of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference
After the various manifestations around this issue, Cardinal Cipriani writes a letter to his brothers in the Peruvian episcopate. In it he reiterates his innocence and maintains that he signed the restrictions imposed by the Vatican in 2019, declaring in the same act that the accusation was false and that he obeyed out of love for the Church. He insisted that he accepted the preventive measures while the truth was being clarified, although he claims not to have been able to defend himself.
In this letter, the former archbishop of Lima for two decades, expresses his surprise that the Peruvian episcopate has not respected his presumption of innocence in the face of the accusations and reiterates his communion with the Pope and his fidelity to the Church.
Legal and procedural issues
The call Cipriani case has raised several questions since, less than a week ago, and in a completely surprising way, it came to light. The doubts, expressed from various media and institutions begin with the fact that the cardinal was sanctioned in 2019 without having had a clear legal process.
To date, the Vatican has not denied that the Peruvian cardinal did not have access to the complaint, nor the conditions under which Cipriani assures that he signed the restrictions imposed. Likewise, some have pointed out the "coincidence" that the leak of this case occurred at a time when thousands of communicators were meeting in Rome on the occasion of the Jubilee of CommunicatorsThe Vatican's Sala Stampa, which is not usually open on public holidays, is open to the public.
While the fact of the lawsuit and the disciplinary measures by the Vatican is confirmed by both parties, it gives the impression that there has been no formal investigation of the facts, nor a normalized legal process of the case, despite the fact that it was in 2019 when the canonical process of this nature is clarified by Vos estis lux mundi. A series of questions that make it difficult to understand this process, which continues to raise questions at this time.
The authorMaría José Atienza / Javier García Herrería
Morality of AI depends on human decisions, says Vatican in new document
The Vatican warns about the ethical use of artificial intelligence, recalling that it must serve the common good and not cause harm. While recognizing its positive potential, the document urges regulation that guarantees human dignity and avoids abuses.
(OSV News). "Technological progress is part of God's plan for creation," the Vatican said, but people must take responsibility for using technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to help humanity and not harm individuals or groups.
"Like any tool, the IA is an extension of human power, and while its future capabilities are unpredictable, mankind's past actions provide clear warnings," says the document signed by Cardinals Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
The document, approved by Pope Francis on January 14 and made public by the Vatican on January 28 - the day after International Holocaust Remembrance Day - says that "the atrocities committed throughout history are sufficient to raise deep concern about possible abuses of AI."
Antiqua et Nova
Entitled "Antiqua et Nova (Old and New): A Note on the Relationship between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence," the paper focuses especially on the moral use of technology and the impact that artificial intelligence is already having or could have on interpersonal relationships, education, work, art, health care, law, war and international relations.
AI technology is not only used in applications such as ChatGPT and search engines, but also in advertising, self-driving cars, autonomous weapons systems, security and surveillance systems, robotics in factories and data analysis, even in healthcare.
The Popes and Vatican institutions, in particular the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, have been monitoring and expressing concern about the development and use of artificial intelligence for more than 40 years.
"Like any product of human creativity, artificial intelligence can be directed toward positive or negative ends," the Vatican document states. "When used in a way that respects human dignity and promotes the well-being of individuals and communities, it can make a positive contribution to the human vocation."
Human decisions
"However, as in all areas where human beings are called to make choices, here too the shadow of evil looms," the dicasteries said. "Where human freedom allows for the possibility of choosing what is wrong, the moral evaluation of this technology must take into account how it is directed and used."
Humans, not machines, make the moral decisions, the paper said. Therefore, "it is important that ultimate responsibility for decisions made using AI rests with human decision-makers and that there is accountability for the use of AI at every stage of the decision-making process."
The Vatican document insisted that, although artificial intelligence can quickly perform some very complex tasks or access large amounts of information, it is not truly intelligent, at least not in the same way that humans are.
"A proper understanding of human intelligence cannot be reduced to the mere acquisition of facts or the ability to perform specific tasks. On the contrary, it implies a person's openness to the ultimate questions of life and reflects an orientation toward the true and the good."
The specifically human
Human intelligence also involves listening to others, empathizing with them, building relationships and making moral judgments, actions that even the most sophisticated AI programs cannot perform, he says.
"Between a machine and a human being, only the human being can be sufficiently self-aware to the point of listening to and following the voice of conscience, discerning with prudence and seeking the good that is possible in each situation," the document said.
The Vatican dicasteries issued several warnings or caveats in the document, calling on individual users, developers and even governments to exercise control over how AI is used and to commit "to ensure that AI always supports and promotes the supreme value of the dignity of every human being and the fullness of the human vocation."
First, they noted, "impersonating AI should always be avoided; doing so for fraudulent purposes is a serious ethical violation that could erode social trust. Similarly, using AI to deceive in other contexts - such as in education or in human relationships, including the sphere of sexuality - should also be considered immoral and requires careful oversight to avoid harm, maintain transparency, and ensure the dignity of all individuals."
New discriminations
The dicasteries warned that "AI could be used to perpetuate marginalization and discrimination, create new forms of poverty, widen the 'digital divide' and worsen existing social inequalities."
While AI promises to increase productivity in the workplace by "taking over mundane tasks," according to the paper, "it often forces workers to adapt to the speed and demands of machines, rather than machines being designed to help those who work."
Parents, teachers and students should also be wary of their reliance on AI, he says, and should know their limits.
"The widespread use of AI in education could increase students' dependence on technology, impairing their ability to perform some tasks autonomously and exacerbating their dependence on screens," the paper states.
And while AI can provide information, according to the paper, it does not actually educate, which requires thinking, reasoning and discernment.
AI and disinformation
Users should also be aware of the "serious risk of AI generating manipulated content and false information, which can easily mislead people because of its resemblance to the truth." This misinformation can occur unintentionally, as in the case of AI "hallucination," where a generative AI system outputs results that appear real but are not, as it is programmed to respond to all requests for information, regardless of whether it has access to it or not.
Of course, according to the paper, AI falsehood can also "be intentional: individuals or organizations intentionally generate and disseminate false content with the aim of misleading or causing harm, such as images, videos and audio...". deepfake -referring to a false representation of a person, edited or generated by an AI algorithm".
Military applications of AI technology are of particular concern, according to the paper, because of "the ease with which autonomous weapons make warfare more viable," the potential for AI to eliminate "human oversight" of weapons deployment, and the potential for autonomous weapons to become the subject of a new "destabilizing arms race, with catastrophic consequences for human rights."
This article is a translation of an article first published in OSV News. You can find the original article here.
Listening to music composed for the ordinary of the Mass by a great composer is always an experience that nourishes faith and aesthetic enjoyment. If the composer is also a sincere Catholic, and the music is extraordinarily appropriate to a particular spiritual and historical situation, listening to the Mass becomes an interesting spiritual and human experience. A good example of this is the "Nelson Mass" by Franz Joseph Haydn.
Antonio de la Torre-January 30, 2025-Reading time: 5minutes
When we think of great Catholic composers, we find some who are Catholic in name only and others who lived an authentic life of faith, devotion and practice in the bosom of the Church. Of the latter, one of the most relevant is the Austrian Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), the great patriarch of Viennese musical classicism, who developed the most important part of his musical career at the height of the secularist Enlightenment, in the second half of the 18th century. At a time when the Catholic faith was often associated in the most cultivated circles with superstition, obscurantism and cultural immobilism, we are surprised to find a true Catholic among the most balanced, luminous and imaginative musicians of the Age of Enlightenment.
Without going into the personal details of his religious life, we are going to dwell on one of the most evident examples of his faith: one of the Masses belonging to his extensive catalog of compositions for the Catholic liturgy. Many of his contemporaries dedicated themselves to this type of music, among them his great friend Mozart or his brother Michael Haydn, but in none of them do we find the sincerity of expression, the illustration of faith with the music and the serene dignity of the liturgical style as in Franz Joseph Haydn.
A first series of eight Masses was composed between 1749 (at the age of 17, the first, dedicated to St. John of God) and 1782 (at the age of 50, composed for the sanctuary of Mariazeller). His obligations to Prince Esterhazy, his patron, and his trips to London to premiere his music, meant a long break in his dedication to liturgical music. Between 1782 and 1795 he would devote himself intensely to these two commitments, and in this period he would marvelously develop his compositional style for chamber music and for orchestra, to the point that he is considered the father of the string quartet and the symphony, the two most relevant genres in both types of music.
Therefore, when in 1796 he returned to the composition of Masses, his style already had an admirable maturity and mastery of orchestral technique, which makes his last series of six Masses, composed between 1796 and 1802, surely the most important collection of Catholic liturgical music of the classical period. The annual rhythm of the Masses is due to the fact that they were each composed for the feast day of his patron saint and friend Maria, wife of Prince Nicholas of Esterhazy. Therefore, for each September 12, Haydn had already composed a magnificent Mass to be performed in the liturgical celebration of Mary's Name. The third of these, composed in 1798, is possibly the best: the "Missa in angustiis", known as the "Nelson Mass".
A savior for strong anguish
It is striking that a Mass composed for a festive occasion should bear such a dramatic name. The circumstances in which its composition took place, however, explain this dark and disturbing tone suggested by the title, and also the appearance of Admiral Horatio Nelson in the title by which it is usually known. In 1798 Haydn, aged 66, is going through difficult times. His health is deteriorating more and more (he will die 11 years later), and his strength is exhausted by the tremendous work involved in finishing his masterpiece, the oratorio "The Creation", premiered in April 1798. On the other hand, the summer of 1798 was very hard for Austria and Vienna, his favorite city, successively threatened and defeated by Napoleon's revolutionary armies.
As if that were not enough, the war economy substantially cut the musical budget of Prince Esterhazy, who had to do without all the wind players (horns, oboes, flutes, clarinets and bassoons). As it is these that give color to Haydn's orchestra, the Mass had to be composed for a somewhat obscure staff: only strings, trumpets and timpani. The atmosphere, no doubt, suggests in all its dimensions anguish and very strong worries.
However, shortly before the premiere of the Mass, on August 1, 1798, the English fleet, commanded by Lord Nelson, tore apart the French squadron in the battle of Egypt, and thus dealt the first mortal blow to Napoleon's unstoppable expansionism. The admiral's name became synonymous with hope in the face of the French, and his figure immediately rose to the prominence of a savior, like a divine answer to Haydn's imploring plea in his Mass. As if that were not enough, Nelson himself went to Vienna and the Esterhazy palace in 1800, and possibly Haydn, well known to the English public after his trips to London, would perform in his honor the Mass he composed for that time of anguish and danger. Since then, it has been universally known as the "Nelson Mass".
A shuddering plea
The first number of the Mass, "Kyrie", with its trumpet and timpani strokes, written in the somber D minor mode, contains some thrilling invocations of the choir in unison, invoking divine mercy in dark times. It has little to do with the usually luminous beginnings of the Masses of the classical period, in major mode and full of melody and balance. After a brief imitative period in the choir, a chilling coloratura from the soprano, the solo part of the Mass that requires the most virtuosity, bursts over the trumpets, crying "eleison": have mercy.
The "Gloria", on the other hand, is initiated by the soprano in D major, in a more conventional and luminous style, reminiscent of the best choruses of the oratorio "The Creation". Solo and choral interventions lead into a calmer section, in B-flat major, which is recreated with the words "qui tollis peccata mundi," "you who take away the sin of the world." The tone of faith-filled prayer is serenely transparent in this luminous passage, warm and harmonious in the context of anguish and continuous musical alterations. The bass, another soloist part of great virtuosity, accompanies the soprano in this marvelous duet, completed with small interventions by the choir and solo passages by the organ. The end of the "Gloria" repeats its beginning, thus tracing a balanced musical structure typical of Viennese classicism.
From contemplation to combat
The central passage of the "Credo" is one of the most elaborate and original parts of the "Nelson Mass", in which one can perceive with what detail Haydn contemplates musically the central dogma of the faith he professed with all his heart: the incarnation, passion, death and Resurrection of the Son of God. Indeed, after a light beginning, again in D major, the music pauses at the words "He came down from Heaven." A large, slow section, in G major, written for strings and soprano only, sweetly illustrates the incarnation of the Son of God.
After the echo of the choir, the music moves on to the Passion and death of Jesus Christ, accompanied by trumpet and timpani blasts, as in a terrible funeral procession. The deep contemplative tone, and at the same time of exposition of the faith of this passage, reaches a moving moment when the soprano, in the recapitulation of the Crucifixion by the soloists, repeats three times "pro nobis": "for us". After her, only the cellos of the orchestra silently accompany the memory of Christ's burial: "et sepultus est".
Finishing the Mass, before arriving at the solemn "Agnus Dei", which culminates the Mass with a triumphant final D major, Haydn leaves in the second part of the "Sanctus" (the "Benedictus") another moment of inspired originality. Alluding to the one "who comes in the name of the Lord," he composes a military march in 2/4 time signature, again in the somber key of D minor. A strange formula for a section that in the Masses of this period is usually composed in major mode and in a serene and melodious tone. But circumstances dictate: the savior "who comes in the name of the Lord" will have to come in the midst of war and with sovereign military power to overcome the threats and anxieties that dominate the atmosphere. If we cannot literally say that Lord Nelson was the answer to this tremendous plea, we must recognize that his figure fits surprisingly well with the anxieties and hopes expressed by Haydn in this magnificent Mass.
Next, Eraldo Salmieri conducts the Slovak Philharmonic in their performance of the "Nelson Mass".
Joseph Evans comments on the readings of the Presentation of the Lord (C) for Sunday, February 2, 2025.
Joseph Evans-January 30, 2025-Reading time: 2minutes
The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord is a more important feast than we often think. In fact, in various rites and calendars it marks the conclusion of the Christmas season. So it is not surprising that this year it continues to be celebrated, even though it falls on a Sunday.
The feast speaks to us of hope, of the heart, of desire. We think of the hope of the elders Simeon and Anna, who were waiting for "the consolation of Israel" y "the liberation of Jerusalem". We could content ourselves with meaner consolations: some pleasure or satisfaction. We see more clearly Simeon's desires when he speaks of Christ as "...".Salvador" y "light to enlighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel". This is extraordinary. Faced with the public mission of Christ and his teaching, this man is concerned both that the light of faith should reach the pagans and that Israel should discover the true glory of God, revealed in Jesus.
This is a man guided by the Holy Spirit - the gospel tells us explicitly - a man whose desires had been inspired and shaped by the Spirit, whose heart had been formed by the Spirit. And that's why he was so generous and universal, even Catholic. At a time when Jews were, in general, fanatically anti-foreigners, here was a man deeply concerned for the salvation of all men, Jew and Gentile.
The example of Simeon calls us to have a heart with great desires: he was an old man, but his heart burned with a universal desire, the salvation of all. Indeed, petty desires prevent us from seeing Christ. Many other people were in the Temple that day, but they had probably gone for small reasons: for routine, or to check a box, or to be seen, or to pray for success in a business or that the children would marry and do well, etc. They were seeking things of God, not God. They were looking for things of God, not God himself. That is why they did not recognize Jesus. Our Lord is recognized by those who have a great heart and great desires. Simeon was in relationship with the Holy Spirit, he was led by the Spirit. He found God in the arms of a poor villager, because God is found in poverty and in the poor.
Anne found God through her deep life of faith. For some 60 years she had dedicated herself to "with fasting and prayers night and day"in the Temple. His was a deep and sincere search for God, which was rewarded with an encounter with Christ.
Pope highlights St. Joseph's trust in God, prays for DR Congo
In the cycle dedicated to 'Jesus Christ, our hope' of this Jubilee Year, Pope Francis today underlined 'the proclamation to Joseph', his trust in God, and his attitude: Joseph believes, hopes and loves. The Roman Pontiff prayed for an end to the violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo and congratulated millions of Chinese families on the Lunar New Year.
Francisco Otamendi-January 29, 2025-Reading time: 3minutes
With a once again universal vision, the Pope touched on a wide range of topics in the Audience of this Wednesday: the Jubilee of hope, the example of St. Josephthe Lunar New Year for the Chinese familieshis recollection of the victims of extermination in the concentration camps in World War II, the call for the cessation of violence in the DR Congo, peace in the world, and the memory of St. John Bosco on the 31st.
The central theme of his catechesis, centered on Jesus Christ, our hope, and centered on the infancy of Jesus, was the Angel's announcement to St. Joseph and his response of faith.
"Their love was put to the test."
"Joseph enters the scene in Matthew's Gospel as the betrothed of Mary. For the Jews, the betrothal was a true juridical bond, preparing for what would happen about a year later, the celebration of the marriage," the Pope began.
It was during this time that Joseph discovered Mary's pregnancy "and his love was put to a severe test. Faced with such a situation, which would lead to the breaking of the engagement, the Law suggested two possible solutions: either a public legal act, such as summoning the woman to court, or a private act, such as giving the woman a letter of repudiation."
José trusts
"Matthew defines Joseph as a 'just' (zaddiq) man, a man who lives according to the Law of the Lord, who is inspired by it on every occasion of his life." In a dream, Joseph hears these words: 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary, your wife, with you. For the child that is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:20-21)".
In the face of this revelation, the Pope stressed, "Joseph does not ask for more proof, he trusts. Joseph trusts in God, he accepts God's dream for his life and that of his betrothed. Thus he enters into the grace of those who know how to live the divine promise with faith, hope and love".
"Believe, hope and love", "obedience".
The Successor of Peter continued: "JoséIn all this, he does not utter a word, but believes, hopes and loves. He does not speak with 'words to the wind', but with concrete deeds. He belongs to the race of those whom the Apostle James calls those who 'put the Word into practice' (cf. James 1:22), translating it into deeds, into flesh, into life. Joseph trusts in God and obeys: 'His being inwardly attentive to God... spontaneously becomes obedience' (Benedict XVI, The Infancy of Jesus, Milan-Vatican City 2012, 57)".
Sisters, brothers, Francis urged, "let us too ask the Lord for the grace to listen more than we speak, the grace to dream God's dreams and to responsibly welcome Christ who, from the moment of our baptism, lives and grows in our lives."
DR Congo: appeal to the international community
"I express my concern about the worsening security situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Congo", the Pope revealed. "I urge all parties to the conflict to commit themselves to cease hostilities and to protect the civilian population of Goma and other areas affected by military operations."
"I also follow with apprehension what is happening in the capital, Kinshasa, hoping that all forms of violence against people and their property will cease as soon as possible. While praying for the speedy restoration of peace and security, I appeal to the people of Kinshasa for the appeal the local authorities and the international community to do everything possible to to resolve the situation of conflict by peaceful means".
Lunar New Year: peace, serenity and health
Addressing the Chinese-speaking pilgrims, the Pope recalled that -in East Asia and in different parts of the world, millions of families are celebrating the Lunar New Year today, an occasion to live more intensely family relationships and friendships. With my best wishes for the New Year, may my blessing reach all of you, as I invoke peace, serenity and health for each one of you from the Lord".
Custodians of the truth and the memory of extermination in World War II
In his greeting to the Poles, Francis recalled "your compatriots who, together with members of other nations, were victims of extermination in the German concentration camps during the Second World War".
"Be custodians of the truth and of the memory of this tragedy and its victims, among whom there were many Christian martyrs," he said. "Remember your constant commitment to peace and to the defense of the dignity of human life in all nations and religions. I bless you from my heart.
Anniversary of the closing of Vatican II (1965-2025)
Six decades after the closing of the Second Vatican Council, its legacy continues to mark the life of the Church and its challenges in the 21st century. In the face of voices calling for a revision or even a new council, it is time to reflect on the application of its teachings and their relevance to evangelization and Christian life today.
In recent years, some voices have been heard calling for an end to the application of the Second Vatican Council and the convocation of a Third Vatican Council to rethink the situation of the Church in this first quarter of the 21st century and to rethink strategies and communication for the millennium that has just begun.
Undoubtedly, all formulations of the faith and all calls to evangelization in a few years need to be reformulated because human expressions decay, are emptied of content, become routine and no longer express the ever-perennial content of Revelation. In any case, as the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us: "The word of God is living and active, like a two-edged sword that pierces to the depths of the soul" (Heb 4:12).
In reality, what is needed is to invoke the Holy Spirit again and again so that, based on the formulations of the faith approved by the Church's magisterium, he may enlighten the hearts of men and women. As St. Paul forcefully affirmed: "the letter kills, but the spirit gives life" (2 Cor 3:6).
Rereading Vatican Council II
On rereading the rich theology contained in the documents of the Second Vatican Council, the first thing that strikes one is the extraordinary freshness they contain, for they are written to powerfully convey the truth about Jesus Christ, the Church and the world.
Moreover, the theology of the laity, the sources of revelation, the freedom of conscience, the principle of religious freedom, the dignity of the human person, ecumenism, the common priesthood of the faithful, and so many other questions have filled the Christian message with vitality for the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century and are announcing that the Second Vatican Council still has a lot of life left in it. St. John Paul II affirmed in his Exhortation "The Church's mission in the world": "The Church's mission in the world".Novo Milenio ineunte"The Church's first dialogue with the contemporary world was undoubtedly to invite it to a knowledge of and friendship with Jesus Christ, which is holiness (n. 1).
The speeches of St. Paul VI delivered sixty years ago were of great optimism, for he truly expected a new springtime for the Church of Jesus Christ in the coming years.
Council Interpretations
As we well know, what happened is that prior to the arrival of the conciliar texts to the particular churches, there was a distortion of the conciliar doctrines promoted by the so-called "phenomenon of contestation", as Cardinal Ratzinger called it in his famous report on the faith, a long interview granted to the famous Italian journalist Messori.
Years later, as pontiff, Benedict XVI referred to those hard and sad years of the post-conciliar Church and interpreted them as "the hermeneutics of rupture" as opposed to the hermeneutics of Tradition.
Undoubtedly, the hermeneutics of Tradition was the application of the authentic council to the life of the Church and all its institutions throughout the world.
Universal call to holiness
The first and most important question was the universal call to holiness (cf. Lumen Gentium, n. 40), which in recent years the Magisterium has been able to put in conjunction with the common priesthood of the faithful (cf. Catechism, n. 1456) through which all Christians have discovered their call to the fullness of holiness and the beatitudes. At the same time, this common priesthood is expressed in the importance of the apostolic action of the lay faithful to be leaven in the masses and to exercise a capillary evangelization in the world, bringing the values of the Gospel and the news of Jesus Christ to all people.
Also, as "Gaudium et spes" affirmed, the lay faithful are "the soul of the world" (n. 4) and therefore must govern their families, the land where they work and all social and professional environments.
The journeys of the Holy Father St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, took the whole world and on many occasions. The presence of the Roman Pontiff to the last corner of the earth, carrying the flame of the love of God and love for the Church, fostered the union of the churches and at the same time valued local traditions, to be one people with one shepherd.
Human dignity
Undoubtedly, the conciliar doctrines on the dignity of the human person increased by revaluing human rights, but they also solidly grounded them by showing them to be based on man as the image and likeness of God. As God is in his intimate life subsistent relationships: subsistent relationship Paternity, subsistent relationship Filiation and subsistent relationship Love between the Father and the Son.
Therefore, man has been defined by the Council as relationship. Relationship with God in the first place and relationship with others. Coming from the love of God, it is finalized by God to love in the freedom of the children of God. Hence man in knowing and loving God and others is maturing and growing.
The application of the Council
If one reads all the Encyclicals and Apostolic Exhortations published by St. John Paul II, one can see that the Council has been applied to all the environments of the Church and to all facets of the Church's life. No questions were left unanswered: the Church, the mysteries of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the years dedicated to the Trinity, to the Eucharistic and penitential life. Truly, the Council shed much light. We also have the Catechism and the Code of Canon Law.
In the field of ecumenism, St. John Paul II published a fundamental Encyclical "Ut unum sint" which encouraged the Christian people to know and appreciate the part of common revelation with their separated brethren, to know and understand each other, and, as stated in "Unitatis redintegratio": we must work together for charity.
In fact, the synodality that Pope Francis has applied to the life of the Church in the third millennium was already advocated by the synods of bishops that have been held every two years in Rome with representation of the Universal Church, with which the various Roman Pontiffs have continued to apply the Second Vatican Council to the life of the universal Church.
Joost Joustra: "Works of art have as much to say as theologians".
Joost Joustra, professor at King's College London, delves into the relationship between art and religion in this interview with Omnes, arguing that the works produced by some artists can contribute a lot to the understanding of theological aspects.
Joost Joustra is one of the speakers participating in the 14th Professional Seminar on Church Communication Offices at the end of January 2025, which is being held at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. He is currently a lecturer at King's College London, where he helps students to understand the complex relationship between the art and religion.
How would you define the interaction between religion and art?
- It's not an easy answer because they're both very broad subjects. I would say that essentially the relationship between religion and art, or specifically between Christianity and art, is that even for people who don't consider themselves believers, there are certain things that they can identify with in these stories that are found in the Bible, for example. Visual art is a very accessible way to get into those themes.
To give you an example, I worked on an exhibit on the subject of sin and, of course, one of the important themes of that exhibit was the Fall of Mankind and the story of the book of Genesis. And if you are Christian or Jewish you will know that story very well, but if not, a picture of Adam and Eve showing some hesitation in Adam when he accepts the fruit can make the story very accessible. Ultimately, that's the power of art when it comes to these subjects.
What is the relevance of this relationship in the contemporary context?
- Traditionally, churches are highly decorated and people like to visit these places regardless of their faith, so there seems to be some kind of attraction. Even if people do not have a personal connection to the religious aspect of the art, they are attracted to it.
How do you see the evolution of religious art and what current trends seem particularly significant to you from a theological perspective?
- A good example, which I would not like to call a "trend" but a "concern," is that I think people are thinking very actively about the environment these days. For example, the exhibition at the National Gallery on St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis' relationship with the environment and Pope Francis using his writings in recent years is a good example of someone who lived hundreds of years ago but still has something to say about our current moment.
Are there certain recurring elements or symbols in art that you consider universal in representing the divine?
- Of course, they are everywhere. They can be very explicit; the most essential image of Christianity could be Christ on the Cross or the Virgin and Child. But people also find a certain divine presence in abstract paintings. Is it necessary for art to be figurative to convey a certain sense of divinity? I don't think so. Artists can do many things.
What opportunities are there today for greater collaboration between these two fields in the coming decades?
- In my day-to-day work at King's College London I have come to realize that teaching is important in this relationship. At King's College we offer a Masters program in Christianity and Art, which means that people come together and some of them may be trained in Theology and some of them may be trained in Art History. But they all come together because of that common interest.
During this course, art historians become familiar with the Bible and certain religious concepts, and theologians become familiar with the vision.
One challenge, which is also an opportunity, is that we have to reintroduce the image in religion. Since the Reformation these images have disappeared a bit, at least in some parts of the world. But I think images and works of art have as much to say as texts and theologians.
From an Art History perspective, how has the representation of religious themes evolved over the years?
- Early Christian art was based on certain symbols, such as the cross or the fish. Gradually a tradition emerged, stories were told and figuration and naturalism became important. Ultimately, it was about identification, about people identifying with these stories. That is why the cult of saints became so important in medieval Europe.
The heyday of the Renaissance and the Counter-Reformation period is the real flowering of this type of art. During the Enlightenment there was somewhat less interest in it, but even when you think of the great painters and artists of the 19th century, there is a great interest in these subjects which, even if the representation changes, remain the same.
St. Thomas Aquinas, "lamp of the Church and of the world".
On January 28, the Church celebrates St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor. St. Paul VI called him "lamp of the Church and of the whole world". St. John Paul II, "master of thought". Benedict XVI underlined his work of "harmony between faith and reason", and Pope Francis encouraged us to put ourselves "in his school" by launching three years of celebrations.
Francisco Otamendi-January 28, 2025-Reading time: < 1minute
The influence that the figure and work of St. Thomas Aquinas (Roccasecca, 1225-Fossanova Abbey(March 7, 1274), barely 50 years old, has had an unquestionable impact on the development of Western philosophical and theological thought, not only for the "initiated," beginning with his doctrine of being, but also on Trinitarian theology. This has been pointed out by Popes and numerous specialists, such as the Prefect of the Vatican Library, Mauro Mantovani, in a dossier of Omnes in the Summer 2024 issue.
After the anniversary of his canonization in 2023 (700 years), and of his death in 2024 (750), the anniversary of the birth (800 years) of the Dominican priest (Order of Preachers), patron of Catholic universities and schools (Leo XIII), has arrived in 2025. The invitation of Pope Francis has been rediscover through the work of St. ThomasThe treasure that can be extracted from it "to respond to the cultural challenges of today". St. Thomas wrote the 'Summa Theologica' and is the author, for example, of the five philosophical ways to demonstrate the existence of God.
Dr. Mauro Mantovani, Lorella Congiunti, and other experts have synthesized a great contribution of the wise Aquinas. See explained Benedict XVI in 2010: "Following the school of Albert the Great, he carried out an operation of fundamental importance for the history of philosophy and theology; I would say for the history of culture: he made an in-depth study of Aristotle and their interpreters, obtaining new Latin translations of the original Greek texts. (...) Thomas Aquinas showed that between Christian faith and reason there subsists a natural harmony (they go together). This was the great work of St. Thomas".
Are we already living in an eschatological stage of the history of salvation, with foreshadowings of the parousia? Enrique Cases reflects on this in his latest book 'The Eternal Gospel'.
Francisco Otamendi-January 28, 2025-Reading time: 5minutes
"The overwhelming force (of Jesus' message) consisted in the fact that Jesus announced with authority the coming end of the world, the coming of the Kingdom of God," said Joseph Ratzinger in his work 'Eschatology. Death and Eternal Life' (1977), that Enrique Cases he quotes in the introduction to his book.
"In the vigor of this hope would have consisted the explosive, the new, the great of Jesus, and all his words should be interpreted starting from this center. For Jesus, being a Christian would be summed up in this central petition of the Our Father: "Thy Kingdom come", a petition that would be set in the collapse of the world and the irruption of what only God can do", he added. Ratzinger.
The announcement of Christ's coming at the end of time
However, "the eschatologyas a 'doctrine of the last days,' has occupied the last place in theological treatises," and "for centuries it has been sleeping the sleep of the just. Only "recently, as a consequence of the historical crisis of our time, has it come to occupy the center of theological thought," he analyzed. the one who later would be Benedict XVI.
Enrique Cases, author prolific, who has already dealt with the theme of the Hereafter, reflects on the stages of salvation history, and advanced his book on 'The Eternal Gospel', he considers two things:
1) In the first place, "the proclamation of the coming of Christ at the end of time is contained in all the manifestations of the Church's faith, with the witness of the Fathers, the liturgy and the teaching of the Magisterium. And the absence of a theological reflection worthy of its transcendence constituted a lamentable void. Today the situation has changed (,,.). The interest in the parousia has been reactivated".
What is heaven like, and what is hell like?
In addition, as a further reflection, the author of 'The Eternal Gospel' (edited by ExLibric), he will also say: "What is Heaven like? It is of great interest to know something or everything about this question, for it is forever" (p. 140).
The same applies to the hellThe author takes it from St. John Bosco and St. Teresa of Jesus, mentioning also the vision in Fatima the three little shepherds, and some other people, several saints, who "have seen it and tell about it" (p.149).
However, the space dedicated to the Sky is far superior, the whole second part of the book, which relates a beautiful dialogue between a blessed woman from Heaven, from San Luis Potosi, to a layman in Mexico, entitled 'The Accidental Glory of Heaven', which includes 'The Delights of the Beyond'. The recommendation here is to read it in support of Christian faith and hope, without getting distracted by picturesque or scientific details.
The Eternal Gospel
AuthorEnrique Cases
EditorialExLibric
Number of pages: 338
Language: English
After-effects of numbness
We said that the author considers two things. The second is this: 2) "The aftermath of this gradual numbing of eschatological awareness has given a negative bias to ecclesial conduct". A Church that no longer feels - even if it is theoretically known - as the community of those who await the coming of the Lord Jesus, "almost without perceiving it, will be inclined to settle in the world as comfortably as possible", Enrique Cases points out (pp. 132-133).
"Only the disquieting memory of the imminence of the Parousia can free the Church for a liberating function," he adds. In the key of "a Church convinced of the real proximity of the Lord, we must place the role of the signs of the Parousia".
Joachim of Fiore and the history of salvation
We will see what these signs are. But first, it seems appropriate to recall some contributions of the Cistercian abbot Joachim of Fiore (1130-1202), analyzed by the Catalan theologian.
Starting from faith in the triune God, Joachim of Fiore deduces a historical development in three stages: the age or epoch of the Father, the time between Adam and Christ (Old Testament); the age of the Son, which begins with Jesus, the Messiah, and continues with the Church, and concludes with his second coming or Parousia; and the age of the Holy Spirit, which ends with the final coming of Christ, the end of time.
The age of the Holy Spirit
The author devotes several skipped chapters to the Holy Spirit, particularly as the book progresses. At the Last Supper, Jesus announces to the Apostles that he will send them the Holy Spirit, "who will lead them to the truth". At Pentecost, "part of that action" is seen.
In the age of the Son, this action is "very intense in individual holiness, in contemplatives, in gifts, in foundations, apostolic initiatives, conversions, efficacy of the sacraments... "But in the next age it will be more intense".
Peter's Church-John's Church, the laity
In the age of Holy Spiritother gifts are attributed to him: inspirations, charisms (there is another chapter dedicated to them), divine impulses, lights, fervent conversions, forgiveness, regeneration ("the great gift of this age, following St. Paul: 'We shall not all die, but we shall all be changed'"), renewal and sanctification, "leading the Church, which can be called the Church of John, without ceasing to be the Church of Peter," the book points out.
In the first two thousand years of the Church, "the Papacy was the foundation of the faith," reflects the author, and "the prestige of the Church was above all in the monks and religious," with contemplative, civilizing, formative and apostolic activity. But in the millennium after the second coming, "in the age of the Holy Spirit, it will extend to the laity, as is already evident in the 20th century in a multitude of movements, foundations and new paths, uniting work and prayer, family and prayer, science and prayer, culture and prayer," writes the professor from Barcelona.
Parameters of the second coming of Christ
Before this age of the Holy Spirit, the millennium, the end of the age of the Son, the second coming of Jesus, announced by Himself, will take place., "intermediate between birth and the Last Judgment".
The author reflects in these pages on the 24th chapter of St. Matthew, "in which Christ announced many of the signs that precede the second coming, together with its parallel Mark 13 and Luke 21", and a call to be vigilant, "because you do not know on what day your Lord will come".
Many of the promises announced by the prophets "have not been fulfilled in the age of the Son, such as immortality, peace, the conversion of the Jews...," but "the Word of God is infallible, which means that they will be fulfilled in the future after the second coming of Christ". Enrique Cases enters here into the times of the second coming and the signs, although we leave for the reader his reflection on the thousand years, millenarianism. "Six times it (the Apocalypse) says that the Kingdom of Christ will last a thousand years" (Rev. 20).
Time of the second coming
When will this second coming of Jesus and the beginning of the millennium be? This question was already asked by the disciples to Jesus. We know neither the day nor the hour, but some signs are prophesied that precede it, as the star was for the magi with their astronomical science" (p. 87). And when Jesus rose to Heaven at the Ascension, two men dressed in white said: "Galileans (..), the same Jesus who has been taken from among you and taken to Heaven, will return as you have seen him go to Heaven".
Detailed signs
Necessarily synthesized, the author mentions these "detailed signs" that will precede the second coming (the signs cited and the commentaries are textual of the book):
– "Departure from Satan and his kind. (…). –Preaching the Gospel to the whole world. – Return of the twelve tribes to Jerusalem (completed in 1948). Great apostasy. We are in it. - Great tribulation. We are in it. -Wars. We are in them but according to the prophets more and more deadly ones will come. -Persecution of Christians (…). –Confusion. Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. -Increase in sins (The sins of this age are overwhelming, anti-God laws, abortions by the millions, blasphemies, satanisms. When you see the abomination of desolationannounced by the prophet Daniel (...). The sign before the coming of Christ can be suppression of the Eucharistthe perpetual sacrifice. There will be signs in the sun. and the moon and the stars.; (...)".
The apostle Paul added to these signs, in his first Letter to the Thessalonians, ".apostasy y the Antichrist".
The Eucharistic Reign
Another contribution of the book concerning "the coming of Christ in the interim between the birth of Jesus and the Last Judgment" is the concept that "the interim will be Eucharistic," says St. Irenaeus of Lyons. In fact, among the characteristics of the subsequent millennium, the author emphasizes in the first place the "Eucharistic Reign". "Jesus Christ instituted the Eucharist to perpetuate its visibility before man. God wants to extend it in time. To this end, he makes man the living Eucharist".
Faced with the series of executive orders issued by President Donald Trump on the first day of his term in office, the bishops of the United States expressed their rejection of policies contrary to the moral law. In two statements, Bishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Migration., noted: "Church teaching recognizes the right and responsibility of a country to promote public order, safety and security through well-regulated borders and fair limits on immigration. However, as pastors, we cannot tolerate injustice, and we emphasize that national interest does not justify policies with consequences contrary to the moral law."
The bishops also reject the use of epithets to disqualify undocumented persons: "The use of sweeping generalizations to denigrate any group, for example by describing undocumented immigrants as 'criminals' or 'invaders,' to deprive them of protection under the law, is an affront to God," the bishops say.
Among the executive orders signed by the U.S. President are those referring to the end of the right to asylum, the declaration of a "border emergency" with Mexico and therefore "sealing" the border to "repel the invasion that includes massive illegal migration, drug trafficking, human trafficking and other criminal activities". Two other decrees order massive deportations, the suspension of the refugee admission program and the reimplementation of the "Stay in Mexico" program. MexicoThe "asylum seekers wait in that country while their case is being processed, which can take months or years to be concluded.
The rejection of the USCCB
In light of these provisions, the U.S. bishops say, "While the emphasis on combating human trafficking is welcome, several of the executive orders signed by President Trump this week specifically aim to dismantle humanitarian protections enshrined in federal law and undermine due process, subjecting vulnerable families and children to grave danger. The indefinite deployment of military assets to support civilian immigration enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border is especially troubling."
The prelates call on the U.S. president to reconsider the new provisions especially those concerning migrants and refugees, the environment, the death penalty and foreign financial aid: "We hope you will reconsider those provisions that ignore not only the human dignity of a few, but of all of us. We urge President Trump to abandon these enforcement policies and adopt just and merciful solutions, working in good faith with members of Congress to achieve meaningful, bipartisan immigration reform that promotes the common good with an effective and orderly immigration system," Bishop Broglio said. The bishops pledged to support immigrants "in accordance with the Gospel of Life."
Genuine care
However, the purpurates point out that not all of the new orders issued by Trump are negative; some can be viewed from a more positive perspective, such as the provision that recognizes at the federal level that there is only male or female and no other "genders."
Our actions, says Msgr. Broglio, must show a "genuine care for our most vulnerable brothers and sisters, including the unborn, the poor, the elderly, the sick, migrants and refugees. The just Judge expects nothing less."
The Pope also shows his concern
Not only the bishops of the Church have expressed their grave concern to the US president, but also Pope Francis, who said on Sunday, January 19, in a television interview that a mass deportation in the US would be a "disgrace" because "it makes the poor pay the costs of the imbalance". Likewise, members of other Christian denominations have expressed to President Trump their dismay at the new immigration provisions.
Mass deportations will also cause major problems for Mexican border cities, many of which no longer have the logistical capacity to accommodate more people seeking to reach the United States. To alleviate the problem, Mexico implemented a program called "Mexico embraces you", only for Mexican nationals under which assistance will be provided to deportees. Likewise, the network of 50 Mexican consulates is on alert to provide assistance to their fellow citizens.
Uncompromising faith in the college soccer championship
The biggest news in national championship soccer these days has not been that the University of Notre Dame lost to Ohio State 34-23. Rather, it was that the existing rivalry has given way to a unabashed demonstration of Christian faith by both teams, on the field and at press conferences.
In a culture whose leaders often seek to relegate religious belief to the private realm and marginalize expressions of faith, the college soccer national championship showdown between Notre Dame and Ohio State has visualized a different story.
The unabashed demonstration of Christian faith by both teams (on the field, in press conferences and through personal testimonies) offered a refreshing reminder that faith should not be hidden but lived out boldly in the public space.
Getting closer to Jesus
"While it's great to be on this podium, there are a lot of things in life that I appreciate a little bit more," shared Notre Dame quarterback (team offensive leader) Riley Leonard during a pregame press conference. "Like, first and foremost, my relationship with Christ."
For his part, Ohio State player TreVeyon Henderson posted on X days before the championship: "We don't have to be afraid to approach Jesus, He knows what we have done and yet He chose to die for you and me because He loves us. Put your faith in Jesus and He will save you from sin and give you new and eternal life. Don't be afraid, follow Jesus."
A truth that transcends soccer
These athletes are using their platforms to proclaim a truth that transcends soccer: that God is real, active and central in their lives. Their testimony is more than a personal sentiment; it is an appeal to a society in need of hope.
This public manifestation of faith is especially striking if we take into account the cultural climate in which, in recent years, expressions of Christianity have been met with skepticism or open hostility.
For decades, we have seen a growing tendency to confine faith to personal lives, as if it has no place beyond our churches or our homes. And yet, at times like this, we are reminded that faith is not just a matter of personal conviction, but shapes individuals and institutions alike, they commented.
Notre Dame Culture
Notre Dame, a Catholic university, has a long tradition of fostering spiritual growth along with athletic excellence. Coach Marcus Freeman, who re-established the tradition of pre-game Mass, and speaks openly of his own conversion to Catholicism, understands that true leadership requires guiding young men to grow in their faith.
"I have very strong faith," Freeman said at a press conference before the championship. "And a lot of times we talk about having to trust beyond having proof, trust beyond knowing, which is another motto for having faith. And we're not shy about doing that."
At public Ohio State, also
Ohio State University, though public, has also embraced the faith in a remarkable way. Last year, led in part by Buckeye soccer players, the campus was the scene of dozens of students baptized and many others inspired to seek Christ. Stories of teammates coming together for Bible study and prayer before games demonstrate that faith is thriving today in places you wouldn't expect it to.
"We are strengthened in faith by coming to the game."
In his post-game comments, Riley Leonard praised the culture of faith present on both teams. "Ohio State and we at Notre Dame are the two teams that praise Jesus Christ the most," Leonard said. "I think we strengthen each other in our faith by coming to this game and competing against each other. So I'm happy to see godly men succeed, regardless of the circumstances."
This year, the national championship will be more than a celebration of athletic excellence, several players say. Faith, when lived authentically and publicly, can change lives and transform culture. In the end, the conversion of hearts and minds is the greatest victory.
Ohio State won, but Notre Dame did itself proud.
Notre Dame's quest for a 12th national title ended in disappointment with a loss to Ohio State at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. However, head coach Marcus Freeman and captains Riley Leonard and Jack Kiser praised their team's perseverance and belief. "It's a tough time," said Freeman, who added about the team, "I'm proud of them and proud of what they've done."
Leonard thanked Jesus Christ and highlighted the Scriptures that inspired him, including Matthew 23:12 and Proverbs 27:17. He acknowledged his disappointment, but thanked Notre Dame's coaches and players for helping his journey. Kiser stated, "It's the people that make this place different."
January 27 marks the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, one of the most painful symbols of the Holocaust.
Over the years, this site has been visited by three Popes who, with their presence, have paid homage to the victims and reaffirmed the Church's commitment to memory and reconciliation. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis have toured the grounds of Auschwitz, each with his own message of reflection, condemnation of the horror and call for peace, underlining the importance of not forgetting the tragic events that marked the history of humanity.
Now 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.
St. Angela Merici, and Saints Timothy and Titus yesterday.
On January 27, the Church celebrates the Italian St. Angela Merici (15th-16th centuries), founder of the Ursuline Order, whose patroness is St. Ursula, a virgin martyr of the 4th century. On Sunday, the 26th, Saints Timothy and Titus, bishops and disciples of St. Paul, were commemorated. The conversion of the apostle was celebrated on Saturday.
Francisco Otamendi-January 27, 2025-Reading time: < 1minute
St. Angela Merici was born around 1474 in Desenzano, in northern Italy. The family would gather in the evenings to listen to the narrations of the lives of the saints read by her father, John. Thanks to these readings, Angela began to cultivate a special devotion to St. Ursula, a young woman martyred in the fourth century along with her companions. At the age of 15, she prematurely lost her sister and father, and became a Franciscan Tertiary.
In 1535, together with several collaborators, St. Angela founded the "Company of the Minimes of St. Ursula" (they did not wear the traditional monastic habit), who left the cloister to dedicate themselves to the education and formation of young women, in obedience to the bishop and the Church. Her name is now Roman Union of the Order of St. Ursula.
Saints Timothy and Titus, whose memorial was yesterday, January 26, after the conversion of St. Paul, were disciples and collaborators of the apostle. Appointed by him, they helped him in his ministry as bishops of Ephesus (the first), and Crete, respectively, and he calls them "sons in the faith". San Pablo to Timothy and one to Titus, which are included in the New Testament, and which contain tips for their task as Pastors in the Church, such as guarding sound doctrine, and with personal allusions of affection.
Christian hope since the Bull "Spes non confundit".
The Bull "Spes non confundit" develops a profound reflection on Christian hope, sustained especially by the Paulines. This document highlights the love of God, the centrality of Christ and the strength of hope in the face of tribulations, inviting the faithful to live this virtue as a source of spiritual and communitarian transformation.
Rafael Sanz Carrera-January 27, 2025-Reading time: 5minutes
In this Holy Year of Hope, inaugurated by Pope Francis, the Church invites us to reflect on this fundamental theological virtue. One of the main tools for this reflection is the papal bull "Spes non confundit"This document presents a profound theological meditation on Christian hope, based on a careful selection of biblical texts, especially from the Pauline letters.
If I were to assess what percentage of influence the biblical quotations have on the composition of the document, I would estimate it to be around 70-80%. It may seem exaggerated but I have based this appraisal on the way the document interprets and applies biblical teachings to the Jubilee context; on the frequent and direct use of quotations to substantiate the main points; on the structure of the document, which closely follows the biblical teachings on hope; and, finally, on the language and concepts used, which are strongly rooted in the biblical tradition. I will try to demonstrate this in this article.
The Scripture in "Spes non confundit"
The document displays a selection of biblical passages that form a clear thematic outline on hope. The main quotations and their theological context are presented below:
Romans 5,5And hope will not be disappointed, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us". This passage highlights the certainty of Christian hope, based on the divine love communicated by the Holy Spirit.
John 10,7.9Therefore Jesus said again, "Truly I tell you the truth, I am the door of the sheep". [...] "I am the door. He who enters by me will be saved; he may come in and go out, and he will find his food."" These words of Jesus highlight his role as the only means of salvation, the essential foundation of Christian hope.
1 Timothy 1:1Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope". This text underlines the Christocentric character of hope, presenting Christ not only as its foundation, but also as its personification.
Romans 5,1-2.5Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we are at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By him we have obtained through faith the grace in which we are established, and through him we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. [...] And hope will not be disappointed, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." This passage integrates hope as the fruit of justification and the peace with God that it generates.
Romans 5,10For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more now that we are reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Here the hope in salvation as a gift arising from reconciliation with God is enhanced.
Romans 8:35,37-39Who then can separate us from the love of Christ? tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, the sword? but in all these things we have obtained a great victory, thanks to him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor spiritual powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature will ever be able to separate us from the love of God, manifested in Christ Jesus our Lord." This passage emphasizes the indestructibility of the divine love that grounds hope.
Romans 5,3-4"Moreover, we glory even in tribulations themselves, for we know that tribulation produces steadfastness; steadfastness, tested virtue; tested virtue, hope." This verse highlights how trials and tribulations strengthen and perfect the virtue of hope.
2 Corinthians 6:3-10Although not quoted verbatim, this passage describes the difficulties Christians face in following Christ, along with the profound joy and spiritual richness they generate.
Romans 15,5May the God of constancy and consolation grant you to have the same sentiments towards one another, after the example of Jesus Christ. Here the importance of unity and mutual consolation in the Christian community as a fruit of hope is highlighted.
1 Thessalonians 1:3We remember without ceasing the work of their faith, the labor of their love and the constancy of their hope in our Lord Jesus Christ before God, our Father". This text links hope with persevering effort and love in the Christian life.
Theological scheme of hope
From the biblical quotations in the document, we can configure a theological outline that illuminates the main dimensions of Christian hope:
1. Foundation of hope
The love of God (Romans 5:5).
Faith in Christ (Romans 5:1-2).
The action of the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).
2. Christ as center
Christ is the "Door" of salvation (John 10:7,9).
Christ is our hope (1 Timothy 1:1).
3. Effects of hope
Peace with God (Romans 5:1).
Glory in tribulations (Romans 5:3-4).
Perseverance (Romans 5,3-4).
4. Security of hope
Hope does not disappoint (Romans 5:5).
It is based on reconciliation with God (Romans 5:10).
Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:35,37-39).
5. Living in hope
Constancy and consolation (Romans 15,5).
Faith, hope and love in action (1 Thessalonians 1:3).
Spiritual consequences
From the outline of biblical quotations presented, we can draw important conclusions and spiritual applications that highlight the theological and practical scope of Christian hope:
A hope based on God's love The central quotation from Romans 5:5, "Hope will not be disappointed," constitutes the thematic axis of the document, emphasizing that Christian hope is not based on human expectations, but on the love of God poured into hearts by the Holy Spirit. This divine love is the guarantee of the solidity of our hope and of its capacity to sustain us at all times.
The Christocentric character of hope Biblical reflection underlines that Christ is not only the object of our hope, but also its foundation and personification. The metaphor of Jesus as the "door of the sheep" (John 10:7,9) and the affirmation that Christ is "our hope" (1 Timothy 1:1) reinforce the idea that salvation and fulfillment can only be achieved in him.
Justification and reconciliation as the basis for hope The link between justification by faith, reconciliation with God and hope (Romans 5:1-2,5) underlines that this virtue is not an abstract idea, but a reality deeply rooted in the salvific work of Christ. Peace with God and the promise of divine glory are the pillars on which the believer's hope is built.
Hope in the midst of tribulations A key teaching of the document is the capacity of hope to flourish in difficulties. According to Romans 5:3-4, tribulations strengthen steadfastness, which in turn strengthens the virtue of hope. This Pauline approach, complemented by 2 Corinthians 6:3-10, offers a vision of hope as a robust force that not only perseveres in suffering, but is refined through it.
The indestructibility of divine love Romans 8:35,37-39 emphasizes that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. This certainty provides an unshakable basis for hope, even in the face of the most severe trials, showing that Christian hope is immutable because it is rooted in divine faithfulness.
Conclusion
The analysis of the biblical quotations in "Spes non confunditThe book "The Theology of Hope" reveals a theology of hope that is both profound and practical. This virtue, anchored in the love of God, finds its center and guarantor in Christ, and is designed to sustain the believer in the midst of tribulations and strengthen his spiritual life.
In this Holy Year of Hope, Pope Francis invites us to rediscover this theological virtue as a transforming force, capable of renewing hearts and communities. In a world facing uncertainties and challenges, the message is clear: in Christ, hope does not disappoint, but inspires, sustains and gives life.
Edith Stein (1891-1942) was the youngest child in a Jewish family of eleven siblings (although two died very young). Her father died when she was barely two years old (1893). And her mother, a real character, managed the family by running the sawmill they had in Breslau (today Wroclav, in Poland).
He tells the story in his autobiography, entitled About the life of a Jewish familytranslated into Spanish by Yellow stars. The book, besides the personal, wanted to show what a German Jewish family was like, when it was being challenged by the Nazi ascendancy (1933-1935).
Of his education, it is enough to highlight his precociousness and his good grades in childhood and youth. And an existential crisis, when he was 15 years old, which kept him away from his studies for almost a year. Then came the illusion of studying Germanic philology and philosophy, beginning in Breslau (1911-1912).
Edith Stein in the phenomenological movement
Having heard of Husserl's new philosophy in Göttingen, he moved there (through his mother's generosity). He participated in the so-called Göttingen Circle (1912-1917), of Husserl's first disciples, around his assistant, Von Reinach. He and his wife were close friends of Edith, as were other members, such as Romann Ingarden (who pretended to her), the Conrad-Martius couple, and Max Scheler, who was seen there and had a great influence on her.
When Husserl moved to Freiburg, she accompanied him, presented her thesis on empathy (1917) and was appointed Husserl's assistant (1917-1918). This allowed Husserl to edit the second volume of his Logical investigations and other important texts. There she met Heidegger (1889-1976), also incorporated as Husserl's assistant (but on scholarship). She was impressed by his ability, although she also noticed how he was moving away from the Christian faith, just as she was approaching it. Edith was baptized in 1922. Heidegger, who had been a seminarian (1903-1911) and enjoyed grants for training in Christian philosophy (1910-1916), married Elfride, a Protestant, in 1917; he did not baptize his first child in 1919; and he began to acquire fame and to associate with some female students (Elisabeth Blochmann, Hannah Arendt).
Edith, after collaborating for five years in phenomenological research and writing some articles (1917-1922), saw that she was not going to have a place in university teaching. Husserl did not dare to propose it and Heidegger gave her to understand that she had no future. He went on to teach at a Catholic college in Speyer (1922-1932). And he had the opportunity to teach anthropology a course in a Catholic university teaching institute (1932-1933). This is the origin of his book on The structure of the human person.
The rise of the Nazis to power (1933) prevented him from continuing to teach and he then realized his old aspiration of entering the Carmelite monastery in Cologne. There he finished, out of obedience, his great book on metaphysics, Finite and eternal being (1936). Transferred to the Carmel of Echt in Holland, she was finally imprisoned and died in the extermination camp of Auschwitztogether with her sister Rosa (1942). She was canonized as a martyr by John Paul II in 1998.
Thomistic formation
Edith Stein was a person with very serious intellectual foundations, already from her early training, and developed in the context of the intellectual rigor with which subjects were treated among the first disciples of Husserl, with a great capacity for observation.
The day after his conversion, reading the life of St. Teresa, he bought a Missal and a Catechism. And then he rigorously studied Christian doctrine and theology. Under the guidance of Erick Przywara, he was introduced to St. Thomas, studying on the one hand the Thomistic manuals (Gredt) and, on the other hand, directly to St. Thomas, especially the De Veritate and the De ente et essentia.
From De veritate published a translation and commentary. And about the De ente essentia prepared a study dedicated to Act and powerwhich he did not publish, but which would later be recast in the first chapter of Finite and eternal being.
It should be borne in mind that outside the booklet De ente et essentiaSt. Thomas did not publish systematic works of philosophy, but commented, one by one, on the works of Aristotle. The Summa Theologica and the Suma vs. GentilesThe "Thomistic philosophy", however, contained systematic philosophical developments on the relationship between God and creatures and on human action and the virtues. But the rest of "Thomistic philosophy" was composed, from the sixteenth century onwards, of the manuals ad mentem sancti Thomaeaccording to the mind of St. Thomas. Constituting a doctrine based on Aristotle with touches of St. Thomas and of the Thomistic tradition itself, with limits difficult to establish; and which was presented as an autonomous body with respect to the rest of philosophy.
The interest of Edith Stein's work is that, coming from outside, with a phenomenological formation, she is forced to review in depth the fundamental concepts, turning to the works of Aristotle and St. Thomas. And, on the other hand, she does not feel obliged to follow the traditions of the Thomistic school, among other things because they do not always correspond to the thought of St. Thomas himself. She explains this with an admirable modesty, at the beginning of Finite and eternal being.
He also then manifests the debt he owes to Przywara himself, who was then writing what would become his most famous work, Entis Analogy. The analogy of being is one of the great configuring principles of Catholic philosophy and theology. A consequence of creation that originates a scale of being with a dependence on the Creator. A world that comes from above. And it leads St. Thomas to establish the happy distinction between being and essence, which provides, at the same time, the status of creatures, with a participated being, and a new definition of God as the one whose essence is being (Ipsum esse subsistens). Przywara also introduced him to Newman, and with him he prepared a selection of texts.
Finite and eternal being
It could be said that Finite and eternal being is an essay on metaphysics with a conscientious review of the great classical themes of the Aristotelicotomist tradition: the sense of being (I), the distinction between act and potency (II), the distinction between essence and being (III), the notion and senses of substance and the concepts of matter and form (IV), the transcendentals of being (V), and the types of being and the degrees of analogy of being (VI). To which two chapters are added: the first one dedicated to the person (human and angelic) as a reflection of the Trinity (VII), with an extensive treatment of the soul; and the principle of individuation applied to persons (VIII).
Comparing this scheme with that of a classic manual of metaphysics, it is observed that all the important topics are present, except causality (the famous four causes of Aristotle) and that accidents are mentioned in passing when dealing very broadly with substance. The two topics (causality and accidents), by the way, need a revision from a modern philosophy of nature. On the other hand, the treatment of the person as individual substance is reinforced, with new perspectives taken from the Trinity. And the question of individuality (the principle of individuation) is also revised, with a more nuanced application to the person. This brings us closer to what Duns Scotus and the Victorians proposed. Edith Stein echoes the discussion. It has been said that, for the early Greeks, the first referent of being is things (stones), and that for Aristotle it is rather animals. For Christians, beings are, above all, persons, the focal point of metaphysics.
In making references to creation and the Trinity, the relationship between faith and philosophy is raised. Philosophy is based on reason. However, reason does not function in the same way when it knows Christian ideas as when it does not. In the first Christian centuries, the philosophical notion of God as a creator, personal, unique and good being was imposed as an almost self-evident notion (of reason): If God exists, he cannot be otherwise. But this notion did not exist before Christianity. Knowing that God is triune also adds a perspective on the human spirit and on the constitution of all reality. It is an inspiration that comes from revelation, but which is in harmony with the human experience of the personal world. The fields of knowledge and their methods should not be mixed, but the light of faith illuminates essential aspects of human knowledge.
The structure of the human person
Precisely insofar as ontology is centered on persons (men and angels, and on God himself), Edith Stein's metaphysics (and that of St. Thomas) is profoundly personalistic. And, for that reason, it is very well completed with The structure of the human personthe course that Edith Stein composed in 1933, while the Nazis were seizing power in Germany.
In this book, there is a clear echo of the contributions of Max Scheler, in Man's place in the cosmos (1928), which Guardini would also include in World and person. In order to situate the philosophical knowledge of man in the whole of the knowledge of reality and to connect with modern sciences, Scheler studied the strata of being. The bodies, the living beings (organic); the animals with their instinctive psychology; the human being with his self-consciousness and the need to free himself from instinctive behavior. There appears the scale of essential properties observed in nature, which is also the scale of being, ranging from bodies to persons. And, seen from God (and from the Trinity) with the analogy of being, the other way around: from God to things.
Parallel lives
In developing these ideas about metaphysics, the parallels of Edith Stein and Martin Heidegger become clearer. For many, modern metaphysics is eminently represented by Heidegger. Heidegger himself did not shy away from saying that there had been a "forgetting of being" from the pre-Socratics to himself. Thus, from his point of view, in fact, he would be the only metaphysician. There he put into play the meanings of being, also taking the human person, thrown into existence, as the main referent.
We have already mentioned the temporal coincidences: while Edith Stein was converting and acquiring a Christian thought, approaching St. Thomas (and Scotus), Martin Heidegger was moving away from faith, breaking with his scholastic studies and composing an atheistic existentialist thought. Heidegger had done his thesis on Duns Scotus, and, by entering the university (and separating himself from Christianity) he settled in a virgin terrain: the metaphysics of the pre-Socratics, recently compiled (Diels) and little studied, among other things, because very few texts have been preserved. This gave him originality and freedom, which he exploited with the poetic and teaching (and abstruse) talent that characterized him. In 1927 he published Being and timehis best known work.
The influence of Nietzsche led him to atheistic existentialism. But the influence of Hegel, which he studied in those years, led him to philosophical Nazism. It is known that in the thirties, in his courses in Freiburg, Heidegger interpreted Being and time referring to the Hegelian being that is made in history, to the spirit of the culture of the peoples; in his case, of the German people, united by the will of the Führer. This was already pointed out by his Jewish disciple Karl Löwitz, and it is demonstrated by the studies of Farias and Faye on the students' notes. Moreover, it is reflected in his famous rector's speech (1933) and in a veiled way in his Introduction to metaphysics (1935).
In part, Edith Stein's concern to develop and publish her metaphysics was to contrast the atheistic effect of Heidegger. In fact, Finite and eternal being had a last part that was the critique of Heidegger's book, but then he separated it to publish it separately. In Spanish it has been published with other criticisms of Stein to two writings of Heidegger in 1929: Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics and the inaugural lecture What is metaphysics. Edith Stein points out again and again how Heidegger does not end up drawing the consequences of what he says and closes the roads that lead from being to its cause, which is God, the first being.
For the curious tics and vagaries of cultural life, Being and timeThe book, also protected by its incomprehensibility and abstracted from its historical circumstances, became a cult book of the cultural left (and of many Christians) from the 1940s until now. While Finite and eternal beingwhich had been rescued almost miraculously from the rubble of the Carmel of Cologne, destroyed by the allied bombs, was published as best it could in 1950, and is little known. The matter deserves some reflection.
María Álvarez de las Asturias: "All accompaniment is therapeutic".
With extensive experience in the field of accompanying married couples of all ages, attorney María Álvarez de las Asturias defends, in this interview with Omnes, the need for fluid communication in marriage and not to resort to help at the last minute.
María Álvarez de las Asturias is a wife, mother, legal professional and professor. Her experience accompanying marriages throughout their stages and her work, first as Defender of the Bond and currently as a judge in the Ecclesiastical Court of Madrid, have made her an authoritative voice in all matters relating to healthy dynamics within the couple.
The accompaniment is a support for married couples at any stage of their lives. It is starting to become an essential resource, considering that there are more and more messages bombarding couples with the mantra of "it's easy to break the bond and start over somewhere else". In the face of this, accompaniment wants to bring a message of hope and the struggle for marriage.
To learn more about this work, María Álvarez de las Asturias explains what this resource consists of, clarifies some myths and shows that communication is one of the best tools couples have to solve their problems.
What does accompaniment consist of, and what is the key to this work?
-In recent years we have come to the term "accompaniment", which is broad and encompasses care for anyone who needs help in their personal and family relationships.
It is a non-clinical help, because there are many personal, couple and family difficulties that do not have a clinical root and, therefore, do not need medical treatment. Counseling is a good combination with other types of help, which can be clinical, legal or spiritual. It is very important in accompaniment that we professionals work in collaboration: we are dealing with people, not with clients or sources of income. We cannot "appropriate the case", because we do not "see cases", we attend to people.
This form of non-clinical accompaniment arises because many people ask for it as circumstances have changed.
Fifty years ago, difficulties were solved with the advice of family and friends. We lived at a different pace, generally closer to each other, but today we no longer have that family and social protection. People are very lonely and do not know where to turn.
In the accompaniment, the person you go to offers you a guarantee, because of the person he/she is and the training he/she has, that he/she has the capacity to understand the difficulty you are experiencing and the capacity, if not to solve that difficulty, then to help you find the professional who can help you.
What are the myths and realities about accompaniment in marriage?
-The first thing is to make it clear that it is difficult for us to ask for help. No one likes to admit that they have a difficulty. Nor do we like to talk about the problems we have.
One of the great myths that should be clarified is that the help offered from the accompaniment is not for the moment in which one has already decided to separate. That is to say, a couple's difficulty arises at a given moment and, from that moment until one makes the decision to separate, there is an enormous space of time in which it is necessary to act, precisely to avoid a rupture.
I always suggest that if a couple is at a point where they notice a rift or that the relationship is starting to feel heavy, and they can't solve it by themselves, they should ask for help. This disagreement can be solved to strengthen the relationship. But if this misunderstanding is not closed, the couple will easily take parallel paths that are then divergent.
What is the need for accompaniment to be professionalized?
-As I was saying, on the one hand, the loneliness of people has had a great influence due to geographical dispersion and also because of the pace of life we lead. On the other hand, families often no longer share the same values and principles as before. This is also influenced by the social environment, which for more than twenty years has gone from appreciating the family and marriage to devaluing and attacking them.
Because of all this, married couples encounter difficulties in their lives and find it more difficult to find someone who has the same vision as they do. Hence the need for a professional accompaniment that can respond to the requests of couples who do not find the help they need in their immediate environment.
What is the first thing to consider when dealing with a crisis in marriage?
-The first thing to know is that crises are a natural part of a relationship. If you start a relationship of any kind, with the intention and firm desire to last in time, this relationship will go through crises, because crises are changes. The love relationship that does not grow, dies.
Growth implies change, and change is a crisis. Changes in circumstances force us to reposition ourselves, but we have to lose our fear of the word "crisis", because we tend to think that it is equivalent to thoughts of separation and they are not the same thing.
There are crises that have a negative origin, but others come from something positive, such as the birth of a child or a promotion at work. Knowing this, we can say that, in principle, crises can be solved with good communication.
An unresolved crisis is what can lead to a separation. If we are not able to resolve a crisis, it is good to set a time limit, not too long. If at the end of that determined time we continue dragging the difficulty, it is necessary to ask for help to solve it.
What happens when one of the partners in the marriage does want to have an accompaniment but the other has reservations?
-The perfect way is for both to come to the accompaniment but, as "the best is the enemy of the good", in case one of the two does not want to, at least through the one who does come, it is possible to try to improve the relationship. However, it is always better to listen to both versions. It is also true that it often happens that the spouse who is reluctant opens up to the possibility of accompaniment when he or she sees that the other person makes changes that positively affect the relationship.
I also believe that the fact that the accompaniment is not clinical care is an advantage that eliminates barriers. Along with this, I think that this non-clinical accompaniment is often a good way for the person who needs clinical treatment to realize that it would be good to ask for it.
What sense does it make to dedicate oneself to accompaniment and for this system to exist at a time when there is so much fear of commitment and we have become accustomed to divorce and separation?
-It makes all the sense in the world because what society is proposing to us is causing immense suffering in a multitude of people.
No one marries to fail. No one wants to do poorly in their family and what we find is that when you announce the possibility of working to improve a relationship, most people do want to take that chance.
Our work makes sense and arises at the request of people who do not find in their family and social environment the support they need to carry out their commitment and their union of love.
What is the difference between clinical and non-clinical accompaniment?
-It is necessary to begin by clarifying that all accompaniment, even if it means having a coffee with a person and listening to him or her, is therapeutic, because it helps to alleviate worry or suffering. But not all accompaniment is clinical. The difference between accompaniment and clinical care is that there are difficulties in relationships (difficulties in communication, or in relationships with in-laws) that do not originate in a pathology; and, in these cases, physicians have little chance of solving them.
On the other hand, if one of the members of the couple or family needs clinical care, it is good that the rest of the family can count on accompaniment to live through that situation, since the pathology of one has repercussions on the relationships of all.
Any form of loving, non-judgmental, non-critical listening to another person is accompaniment. We can all do this to some extent. But when the difficulty begins to be great, it is advisable to turn to a professional with training in the field of your concern.
In my case, my legal-canonical training and my training in grief and emotional wounding, together with my experience with engaged couples, give me a higher qualification than that of a well-meaning friend.
In accompaniment, when you tell a prepared person what is happening to you, it is easier to determine the real importance of the problem. When you have a difficulty and it is going around in your head, it is normal for it to "get into a ball". At that time, it is difficult to see the problem objectively. By expressing and bringing out from inside what is bothering us, the difficulty begins to be seen with the importance it has and it is a first step to healing.
How do you accompany a married couple that has been together for 50 years, with its defects, routines and virtues already so marked that they make it difficult to change?
-These marriages also have crises, such as that of the empty nestfor example. With that particular stage there are people who say that if you have empty nest syndrome is because your marriage is not going well, but this is barbaric. This is the age when your children usually become independent. Even if you don't have children, both partners are getting older and probably see the end of their working lives already on the horizon. You're already at an age that you're not going to double, which means you're starting to live the second part of your life. Therefore, things that you didn't think about before are now coming to light.
The previous generation, who took care of you and were the ones you could turn to, is no longer there or is starting to need your care. Suddenly, you find yourself in the front row. Others come to you, but it's hard for you to find someone to turn to.
It is completely normal that, in this situation, there is an existential crisis. If you have lived the way you wanted to live, it is easier to solve this crisis and face those vices or problems that hinder the relationship. If the couple is still willing to maintain the commitment that unites them, it is easier for them to find a way to face the crisis and adapt to the new circumstances of their life.
The dangerous difficulty arises when one or both partners, at some point in the relationship after the wedding, have the impression that they are not living the life they wanted to live. This is when the existential crisis arrives, which many place around the age of fifty, but which can occur at any time. If they are dissatisfied with the life they are leading, many decide to slam the door and leave. If this point is reached, it is difficult to solve. It is a problem that can only be prevented: prevention is based on taking care of that union of love every day, renewing the marital commitment. In other words, the sudden death of the marriage, that slam the door and walk awayThe reason for this is that it has not been said in real time what was beginning to be uncomfortable in the marriage.
That is why we have to be very careful with communication and tell each other the things that weigh on the relationship. We must tell each other what we like, what we find difficult, our illusions and the changes we would like to see or make.
Communication is necessary to take care of our relationship and to make sure that the life we lead together suits us. This does not mean that we can do everything we would like to do; but by talking about all that (what we like, what we find difficult, the illusions and the changes we would like to make) we do what is possible and we avoid throwing in each other's faces the things that we have jointly decided are not possible or that we should postpone.
Is there a point in the accompaniment when one realizes that for that marriage the only recourse left is separation? What does one do then?
-It is important to point out that in accompaniment we do not make decisions for other people. We help the person who comes to the accompaniment to raise and put on the table the things he/she needs to clarify in order to make the decisions that seem appropriate to him/her.
In accompaniment we support people who do not feel capable of making decisions on their own at that moment, but we do not make decisions for them.
There are couples who, from the companion's point of view, could make it through. But you can't make that decision for them if in the end they decide to separate. We have to respect people's freedom, that's the first thing.
As professionals of accompaniment, it is also necessary to accompany in separation and breakups. Without judging, because it is a situation that can be traumatic and criticism adds suffering to a moment that is already painful in itself.
Pope to Communicators: "to communicate is not only to go out, but also to meet the other".
At the first major event of the 2025 Jubilee in Rome, Pope Francis again exhorted his well-known "culture of encounter" to thousands of communications professionals from around the world in the Aula Paolo VI. "To communicate is to go out of oneself a little in order to give what is mine to the other. And to communicate is not only to go out, but also to meet the other. Knowing how to communicate is a great wisdom, a great wisdom!"
Francis said he was "delighted" with the Jubilee of Communicators, the first major event of the more than 35 that will mark the Holy Year and which began on the 24th with a Mass at St. John Lateran and concluded with the Sunday Mass of the Word of God, celebrated by the Pope in St. Peter's Basilica.
The Pope's presence on the podium was very brief, about five minutes: "In my hands I have a nine-page speech. At this hour, with my stomach beginning to churn, reading nine pages would be torture. I will give it to the Prefect. Let him communicate it to you".
The Pope's words
He said a few words "a braccio" (on the spur of the moment) and thanked the communicators for their work, without leaving a provocative question: "Your work is a work that builds: it builds society, it builds the Church, it advances everyone, as long as it is true. "Father, I always say true things...". - "But you, are you true? Not only the things you say, but you, in your inner self, in your life, are you true?". It is such a great test."
He concluded his brief speech by saying that everyone should communicate "what God does with the Son, and the communication of God with the Son and the Holy Spirit", affirming at the same time that communicating is "a divine thing".
If his speech was brief, his greetings to the people were not. Francis spent 50 minutes greeting communicators from all over the world, at some points prompted by shouts from the audience: "This is the Pope's youth!
The full text of his speech was published on the Vatican websiteIn his address, the pontiff stressed the importance of courage to initiate the change that history demands and to overcome lies and hatred. "The word courage comes from the Latin cor, cor habeowhich means "to have heart". It is that inner drive, that strength that comes from the heart and allows us to face difficulties and challenges without being overwhelmed by fear."
On this Sunday, the Pope invited the entire Church to to dwell on the five actions that characterize the mission of the MessiahThe day's Gospel is based on: "to bring good news to the poor", "to proclaim liberty to the captives", "to give sight to the blind", "to set at liberty those who are oppressed" and "to proclaim a year of the Lord's favor".
"It is a Jubilee, like the one we have begun, preparing us with hope for the definitive encounter with the Redeemer. The Gospel is a word of joy, which calls us to welcome, to communion and to walk, as pilgrims, towards the Kingdom of God," the Pope reinforced.
The Jubilee of Communicators
On Saturday the communicators crossed the Holy Door in a moving procession along the Via della Conciliazione until they reached the altar of the Chair of St. Peter, where the faithful received the blessing.
Before their meeting with the Pope, the pilgrims gathered for a cultural meeting in the Aula Paolo VI, with a dialogue between the Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2021, and the Irish writer Colum McCann. The conference was followed by a musical performance by violinist Uto Ughi, who played with his orchestra pieces by Bach and Oblivion by Astor Piazzolla, an Argentine composer dear to the Pope.
In the afternoon, the "Dialogues with the City" were held, in which different points of the city hosted conferences on communication and faith. It was the first great test of Rome's readiness to receive pilgrims from all over the world during the Holy Year, and the first meeting of Francis with the main public. The next will be the Jubilee of the Armed Forces, Police and Security, February 8-9.
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On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, young Maxim Permin and Serguey Sudak were ordained deacons in an exciting celebration in Almaty, becoming the first two deacons, and future priests, ordained for pastoral service in this city, located in the south of Kazakhstan, which was the capital of the country until 1997. The diocese of Almaty has an area of 711,000 km² and 11 parishes.
Maxim Pernim, a journalist by profession, is a student at the Karaganda interdiocesan seminary, established in that central city in 1998. The seminary in Karaganda, located 1,000 km from Almaty, brings together young people from several Central Asian and Caucasus countries. Serguey Sudak, a primary school teacher from Kostanay, in the north of the country, is completing his priestly studies at the St. Petersburg seminary in Russia.
A hopeful ordination
This pastoral ordination is probably the first in the history of this young diocese, formed after the fall of the Soviet Union, although its roots go back to the 14th century with the diocese of Almalyk, established on the Silk Road. Missionaries such as Richard of Burgundy and Paschal of Vitoria, now in the process of beatification, brought Christianity to the region under the protection of Chagatai, son of Genghis Khan. However, after his death, the missionaries were martyred when the area fell under Muslim rule. After centuries of Catholic absence, the present diocese of Almaty takes up their legacy with hope, ordaining young men from the country.
Although ordinations in the country, considered a mission country, have been growing in recent years, their frequency is far from being similar to that of countries with a Catholic tradition. On September 12, 2021, Father Evgeniy Zinkovskiy, today auxiliary bishop of Karaganda, was ordained bishop. Years earlier, on June 29, 2008, the first ethnic Kazakh priest, Ruslan Rakhimberlinov, current rector of the Karaganda seminary, was ordained. The two young men ordained this January, although of Slavic descent, speak the Kazakh language fluently (in addition to Russian, their native language), which makes them particularly well suited for the indispensable task of serving a community that is working to inculturate itself and become natural for those of Kazakh origin.
This is therefore good news for the Church in the country and in the city, which three years after suffering from some altercations that threatened to destroy years of peaceful coexistence and harmony, has demonstrated its resilience, showing again its best face of multiethnicity and religious variety.
March for Life in Washington: pro-baby, pro-family vision
Friday's March for Life in Washington, USA, has put the spotlight on a pro-life vision that welcomes babies and supports families, even though most speakers talked about making abortion "illegal and unthinkable" in post-Dobbs America.
María Wiering and Marietha Góngora V. (OSV News)-January 25, 2025-Reading time: 6minutes
"Let me say very simply: I want more babies in the United States of America," Vice President JD Vance told an ecstatic crowd at the 52nd Annual 52 National March for Life this Friday, January 24.
"I want more happy children in our country, and I want beautiful young men and women who are eager to welcome them into the world and eager to raise them," he said. "And it's our government's job to make it easier for young mothers and fathers to afford to have children, to bring them into the world and to welcome them as the blessings that we know they are, here at the March for Life."
Some speakers
In his first public appearance after Inauguration Day, Vance was the final speaker at the annual two-hour rally that preceded the attendees' walk from the grounds of the Washington Monument to the U.S. Supreme Court building.
Other speakers included Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Hague. This is the first time both Congressional House leaders have attended a March for Life.
While most of the speakers - politicians and pro-life advocates - spoke specifically of making abortion "illegal and unthinkable" in post-Dobbs America, Vance championed a pro-family vision that not only rejected abortion, but also supported parenting.
Defense of the unborn, and in favor of the family.
Referring to his three young children, Vance, who is Catholic, said, "The task of our movement is to protect innocent life. It is to defend the unborn; and it is also to be pro-family and pro-life in the broadest possible sense of that word."
As in previous years, the march drew tens of thousands of people, many of them young people. Some traveled more than a day by bus, skipping classes at high schools and colleges to join others along the National Mall in the cold Atlantic. They carried signs reading "Love them both," "Life is our revolution" and "Defund Planned Parenthood," America's largest abortion provider.
Participants in the March for Life in Washington, Jan. 24, 2025 (OSV News photo/Bob Roller).
The 2025 march also commemorated a change in the leadership of the event's organization, since its long-time chairwoman, Jeanne ManciniThe president of the March for Life, who is now the incoming president, gave up her seat to the incoming president of the March for Life, Jennie Bradley Lichter. Mancini was the presenter of the 2025 march, and both took the floor, while Bradley Lichter introduced Vance.
Changing abortion landscape
The march was founded to protest against Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in all 50 states. That decision was overturned in 2022 with the failure court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, thus returning abortion policy to lawmakers. At the rally, leaders of the March for Life addressed the march's role in the changing abortion landscape, with laws which now vary widely from state to state. The march, they insisted, must continue.
"Today we affirm that the pro-life generation will not rest until every single abortion facility in our country closes its doors forever. We will march until every child is protected by federal law, until abortion is unthinkable, and until every pregnant woman receives excellent prenatal care," said Hannah Lape, president of Wheaton College Voice for Life. Her group carried the iconic 2025 march banner.
Crisis of fundamental human rights
"With the new administration and the drop of Roe v. Wade, the next four years of American history will be defined by courage or cowardice," he said. "Abortion is not a state's rights issue to be ignored. It is a fundamental human rights crisis that weighs on America's shoulders. Our country cannot be great until preborns are protected, and they are protected (with) the right to life."
Trump's campaign statements
The march took place four days after President Donald Trump was sworn in for his second term, following a campaign that disappointed many pro-life advocates in some respects. Trump was hailed for his pro-life actions during his first term. He has since backtracked on his support for a federal ban on abortion, stating that he believes U.S. states should determine their own abortion laws.
He also posted positive comments on social networks about "reproductive rights," and indicated that he would not restrict access to the mifepristone. The drug, although prescribed in some spontaneous abortion care protocols, is widely used for nearly two-thirds of abortions in the United States.
How Trump's campaign statements on abortion will affect policymaking remains to be seen. But many pro-life leaders seem optimistic about the new administration.
Pardon for 23 pro-life activists
Day before the March for Life, Trump pardons 23 activists pro-life convicted of violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Care Act (FACE). The activistsmany of whom Trump said were elderly, had been convicted of blocking access to abortion clinics. An executive order on gender that Trump issued earlier in the week also defined life as beginning at conception, a point that House Speaker Johnson made at the march rally.
Johnson was one of the House members who passed the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act on Jan. 23, a day after Democrats blocked a similar bill in the Senate.
President's video in favor of family and life
In a video played at the march, Trump touted his pro-life record and said that in his second term "we will again proudly stand up for families and life."
"We will protect the historic gains we have made and stop the radical Democratic push for a federal right to unlimited abortion on demand, up to the moment of birth and even after birth," he said.
A survey of the Knights of Columbus
A majority of Americans support some legal limits on abortion while keeping the practice largely intact, according to a Knights of Columbus-Marist poll released Jan. 23. The annual survey found that 83 % of Americans support pregnancy resource centers and 67 % of Americans support some legal limits on abortion.
But 60 % supports limiting abortions to the first three months of pregnancy, a limit that would leave most abortions legal, since nine out of 10 abortions occur in the first trimester.
"Science is on our side."
"All of you here, all of you, have the power to change minds," Lila Rose, a Catholic and longtime pro-life advocate, told the crowd. "You are the voice of the voiceless. Remember that science is on our side. Truth is on our side. We simply must have the courage to speak the truth with love."
Two previous events
The March for Life was preceded by two large-scale events: Life Fest 2025 at the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Virginia, held the day before and the morning of the march; and the National Prayer Vigil for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.
The Sisters of Life, the Knights of Columbus and the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, teamed up to present the two-day Life Fest event, which drew nearly 8,000 people. At the national shrine, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, was the main celebrant with homily at the opening Mass of the prayer vigil on Jan. 23. And Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn, New York, was the principal celebrant at the closing liturgy on January 24. Archbishop Naumann also delivered an opening prayer at the March for Life.
"We are not the ones to decide whether he lives or not."
Marcela Rojas, who lives in the Archdiocese of New York, said she attended the march with a group of 75 people, many of them mothers carrying their young children. "Inside our being, in our womb, there is a life," she said referring to pregnant mothers. "It is a life that we cannot choose for. It is already another life that does not belong to us, and we are not the ones to decide whether it lives or not."
The authorMaría Wiering and Marietha Góngora V. (OSV News)
Yesterday I started the day reading a WhatsApp message sent to me by a friend with a quote from the saint of the day, St. Francis de Sales. It said: "If I were not a bishop, perhaps I would not want to be one, knowing what I now know; but, since I am one, I am not only obliged to do all that that painful vocation demands, but I must do it with joy, and take pleasure in it and be pleased with it.".
The phrase struck me and I could not help thinking about it throughout the day. By noon, I was convinced that this thought applies not only to bishops, but also to the laity, who are called to live consistently the demands of our Christian vocation. After all, Jesus Christ's phrase "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" does not seem to give rise to any watered-down interpretations.
Late in the day I attended a conference of the Catholic Association of Propagandists (ACdP) in Alcalá de Henares, as part of the II Conference of Catholics and Public Life in that town.
The speakers were the three priests from Network of NetworksJesús Silva, Patxi Bronchalo and Antonio María Domenech, who offered a lucid and balanced analysis of the risks of the 2030 Agenda. Without falling back on apocalyptic discourses, they pointed out its pitfalls and limitations, proposing a profoundly Christian alternative: a living knowledge of Jesus Christ, the frequent practice of confession and communion, devotion to the Virgin Mary and, as the fruit of all this, sincere charity towards everyone, starting with the "neighbors next door".
I thought that what I was going to like most was the content of his ideas, but a few hours after the conference I realized that what caught my attention the most are seven intangible footprints who has let me listen to them:
Doctrinal clarityIn a time when sometimes bishops and priests are not clear, it is very positive to hear the truths of the faith without hesitation or ambiguity.
Courage to expose: some Christian values are clearly unpopular, but these priests demonstrate a contagious boldness to proclaim the Gospel without mincing words or fear of criticism.
Sense of humorDespite the seriousness of the topics discussed, we were reminded, with laughter, that Christian joy is not only compatible with evangelization, but is also a great tool.
Good trainingTheological education: their solid theological instruction clearly shows that they are not afraid to analyze any idea in public debate, demonstrating that faith is not at odds with reason.
Positive spiritThey rejected the pessimism that is so common among some sectors of Christianity, recalling that "it is not true that any time in the past was better. Christians have always faced challenges, and today is no different.
Evangelistic zeal: It is not just a matter of maintaining what already exists, but of courageously going out to meet others, inviting them to a personal experience with Christ.
Common sense: essential in our times, where statements as basic as affirming that there are only two sexes can be considered revolutionary in a president's speech.
400 years have passed since the time of St. Francis de SalesBut it seems that we Christians still need the same thing: courage to evangelize Jesus Christ and to get out of the bourgeois Christianity in which we tend to settle all too easily. I hope that between now and 2033, we believers will learn to leave the footprint of Jesus Christ wherever we go.
I will sing to the Lord: meaning and reason for music in the liturgy.
"I will sing to the Lord, glorious is his victory" (Ex 15). These words, sung by Moses and the children of Israel after crossing the Red Sea, resound each Easter Vigil as an echo of liberation and hope. The meaning of music in the liturgy is to express the living memory of God's wonders, making present the redemptive work of Christ.
At the Easter Vigil we celebrate the resurrection of Christ and with it our liberation from sin and death. The Jewish people at Passover relive each year the "memorial" of the night of the passage of the Lord (passover) who frees them from the slavery of Pharaoh. The Catholic liturgy in the so-called "mother of all vigils" takes us through the Old Testament reading of the wonders that God has done for his people since the beginning of time: first the creation, then the sacrifice that God asks Abraham for his son, and then the passage of the people of Israel through the Red Sea on bare feet.
The text of the book of Exodus narrates how "on that day the Lord saved Israel from the power of Egypt, ... Israel saw the mighty hand which the Lord had stretched out against the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord, and believed in the Lord and in Moses his servant". Whoever listens to this proclamation on the holy night can relive the emotion of these events as they were experienced by the Hebrew people: no less than we contemplate the Red Sea opening up to form two walls of water on both sides and we perceive the roar of the Egyptian chariots coming closer and closer. The rabbinical tradition explains that in the celebration of Pesach "the person is obliged to see himself as if he were coming out of Egypt" (Mishnah Pesachim, 116b).
Encourage a sense of "memorial".
In order to give continuity and meaning to what is proclaimed, the Catholic liturgy suggests that in this celebration we do not conclude the reading of the book of Exodus by saying "Word of God", but that we directly join our voices to those of the Hebrew people with the Psalm. "Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord: I will sing to the Lord, glorious is his victory, horses and chariots he has thrown into the sea. My strength is the Lord, He was my salvation. He is my God: I will praise him; the God of my fathers: I will exalt him" (Exodus 15, 1-2).
The Jews continue to relive every year that Passage of the Lord, the Passover. And with this song they call for God's help because they understand that it is not about a God of the past but of the present. The Catholic tradition considers the meaning of "memorial" as something more than reliving the events of the past through readings, but rather that in the liturgical celebration these events are made present and actual in a certain way (Cfr. Catechism, 1363).
Music and song contribute effectively to this sense of memorial because they have the quality of expressing this inner desire. This communicative quality of music goes beyond the mere presentation of an idea with more or less beauty; it summons the feelings that accompany what is said. St. Augustine considered that music has been granted by God to men to modulate rightly the memory of great things. This is therefore one of the main reasons why the Liturgy sings.
Music and its role in tradition
Music and song are present in Sacred Scripture around circumstances as diverse as harvests and grape harvests (Ezra 9, 2; 16, 10, Jeremiah 31, 4-5), in the marches (Numbers 10, 35-36, 2 Chronicles 20, 21), in reunions (Judges 11, 34-35, Lucas 15, 25), in moments of jubilation (Exodus 15). We know how king David danced before the Ark of God with wooden instruments, zithers, lyres, drums, sistrums and cymbals (2 Samuel 6, 5); and he himself composed and determined the rules for emphasizing the love song of Song of Solomon or the 150 praises of the Psalter, through hymns, supplications, thanksgivings, imprecations, etc.
The proper character of song is to enhance what the words express; to open a greater channel of affection to show what is intended. In the Gospel, the Lord reveals its meaning when he explains that that generation "they resemble children sitting in the square, shouting to others: 'We have played the flute and you have not danced, we have sung lamentations and you have not cried"". (Lucas 7, 31). Many times we are not open to communication, even if we listen, because we keep our affections closed.
The Lord's disciples maintained the tradition of singing the psalms and poems of the people of Israel; even up to the time before the Passion after the Last Supper (Marcos 14, 26) we know that they sang together. Paul and Silas were so ingrained in this custom that in the prison of Philippi the songs sprang spontaneously from their hearts (Facts 16, 25); moreover, we know that the apostle exhorts the Colossians to sing together (Colossians 3, 16), as well as to those in Corinth (1 Corinthians 14, 26), and those of Ephesus (Ephesians 5, 19). Various testimonies insist on this particularity of the life of the Christian faithful in the second century, as Pliny the Younger testifies in a letter to Caesar in which he says "who used to assemble on set days before dawn to sing a hymn to Christ as to God." (Epistle 10, 96, 7).
Uniting everyday life with eternity
Through the song, the expression of what the words say is emphasized and memories and significant events are brought to life. When the Jews sing the song of Moses or the song of the Babylonian captivity, they express their desire for liberation through the God who is going to save them. They thus express that need that demands at the same time the manifestation of a definitive canticle. This longing is expressed for Christians in the eternal song that St. John narrates in the ApocalypseHe who day and night sings without pause before the throne of the Lamb: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God, the Almighty; He who was and is and is to come." (Apocalypse 4, 9).
The Constitution of the Second Vatican Council Sacrosanctum Concilium(hereinafter SC) explains that the Liturgy is the means by which the ".exercisesThe Liturgy has the meaning of "the work of our Redemption, especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist" (SC 2). Thus, the Liturgy has the sense of a passage, a bridge, a door through which the divine action is made present in the world. It manifests in some way that eternal song before the throne of the Lamb; the praise that the whole creation makes to its Creator through the only sacrifice that is offered. "unblemished from sunrise to sunset." (Eucharistic Prayer III).
Those who celebrate the Liturgy unite in some way Heaven with earth, eternity with daily life; for the Christian desires that every action be carried out in union with the work of Redemption. This song of praise of the Apocalypse is the expression of the eternal celebration, which, as the liturgy explains, helps us to manifest the mystery of Christ in our lives (SC 2). This supposes understanding the Eucharist from a full sense in which there is continuity between what we celebrate and what we live; the joy of having sung the praise of God is present throughout our day.
Sense of music and singing
The arts in general, and especially music, have been a natural channel for the expression of man's intimate feelings; even in a simple song our inner state of joy, sadness, loneliness, enthusiasm, serenity, tranquility, etc. is manifested in a more direct way. Sometimes in western culture we make use of We use the arts to express in an excellent way an idea, a concept or a story; or we make use of their quality to ennoble or enhance an object or action. Certainly they fulfill this mission, but what is proper of the arts is the capacity to show us intimate affections: pain, tenderness, passion, ...; all that that supposes an amplification to the proper value of the word.
Singing renders the liturgy its best service when it offers what the liturgy intends: to express prayer more delicately, to foster the unanimity of prayer, or to enrich the solemn expression of the celebration (cf. SC 112).
Expression of love
To deal with liturgy is necessarily to introduce us to the language of God who is love. Song proceeds from love and manifests the joy of the beloved; hence its ineffable character because so often what can be said demands that other, more exalted way of saying. Ratzinger says in his work The spirit of the Liturgy that singing and music in the Church are like a "...".charisma"A new language that proceeds from the Spirit. In the song takes place the "sober drunkenness"The art of faith because it surpasses all the possibilities of mere rationality. This is the quality proper to art that seeks to express the greatness of God.
Just as an image of Christ made by human hands presents the Word of God, so chant is meant to be like the ineffable voice of divine glory. Hence, both the painter and the liturgical chanter, says Crispino Valenciano, render a service in the manner of "....hagiographers"which seek to reveal the marvelous sense of the divine presence. For this reason, song is meaningful when it contributes to the purpose of the liturgical words and actions, which are the glory of God and the sanctification of the faithful (cf. Catechism 1157). From these considerations, we can deduce the importance of taking care to adequately carry out this ministry - like any other - at the service of the liturgy.
Encourages active participation
Participation in the life of the Lord, in his glorious redemption-what we do in the liturgy-is conditioned in part by the disposition of the soul. For this reason, a conscious and active participation is to be favored; to put the soul in harmony with the voice in order to collaborate with divine grace (SC 11). Music and singing accompany feasts and celebrations in many cultures (at victories, games, anniversaries, banquets, etc.); they are part of the tradition of Christian celebration.
The natural character of its expression is an external manifestation that accompanies those special moments, both intimate and solemn, formal and informal. Thus the liturgy with song expresses what is believed and lived; and signifies what it manifests.
The elevation to the sacred and the sense of solemnity
The liturgy tries to offer that exceptional quality of transcending the everyday by bringing us closer to the eternal, to that which is ineffable and inaudible, but in which God has allowed us to participate. This dimension therefore demands an effort of every expression: architecture, painting, sculpture, stained glass, vestments, sacred vessels, every arrangement and of course music. It requires that "the human be ordered and subordinated to the divine, the visible to the invisible, action to contemplation, and the present to the future city we seek." (SC 2).
The character of the solemn for the Church has had in the past a sense of magnificence, but today it does not follow so much that itinerary that sometimes can be confused with ostentation. The liturgy needs a divinizing aesthetic, a transforming leap from poetic dynamics to the sacred. The efficacy of this performance contributes to what the function demands (to sing Kyrie eleison for example), that innate quality that somehow makes him or her a sacramentum / mysterion. Music, as well as any sacred art, by its specific mission can contribute to introduce us to the mystery of God; to bring us closer to that sacred presence by which God orders Moses: "take off your shoes, because the place where you are standing is sacred ground" (Exodus, 3, 5).
Eschatological tension of the liturgy
The liturgical celebration necessarily manifests the provisional character of what still awaits full fulfillment at the end of time with the coming of Christ. This is what we say in the acclamation to the Memorial: "We proclaim your death, we proclaim your resurrection, come Lord Jesus!"; "every time we eat of this bread and drink of this cup, we proclaim your death, Lord, until you come again.". The song and the music try to express precisely what the Eucharist is: anticipation of heavenly glory (Cfr. Catechism 1402). This character allows us to live in the world, but perceiving the glimpses of the eternal dwelling. What St. Thomas Aquinas says of the Eucharist is made manifest, that it is a "pledge of eternal life".
Romano Guardini distinguished between devotional images and supernatural or liturgical images. In synthesis, he explained that just as the former represent our feelings, with which God identifies himself; the others, the liturgical ones, show rather God's way of being to which we should aspire. Music and song favor both tensions that shape the Christian life.
Adequacy of chant and liturgical music
It is very convenient to adapt the faculties of men to what is being celebrated, but without necessarily lowering the expression of what is being celebrated. The Catechism points out that the harmony of the signs (song, music, words and actions) is all the more expressive and fruitful the more it is expressed in the cultural richness proper to the people of God who are celebrating. Singing and music must participate in this cultural richness and contribute very favorably to elevating the spirit. Evidently, sacred music does so because it is part of the celebration in which all of man's expressive capacity is at the service of God's great work in the memorial of his mysteries.
The long musical tradition of the Church has been able to emphasize the elements that respond to this quality that must be present in the liturgical music (St. Pius X in Tra Sollecitudine ). Perhaps the problem of our time is the distance between culture and the common sacred expression, the scarce formation or Christian education in the highest of the arts. This distance often requires liturgical expression to descend to the popular or sometimes vulgar. This aspect, which is essential for the Liturgy, has suffered a strong deterioration in recent times.
Pope Francis, faced with the dynamics of divergence between different sensibilities about a ritual form, points to the care of the liturgy, to rediscover its beauty and to live the truth and the strength of the Christian celebration (Desiderio desideravit, 16). To this end, he insists on the importance of liturgical formation, which is "the primary and necessary source from which the faithful must drink the truly Christian spirit" (SC 14).
Consecrated virginity is an ancient feminine vocation promoted by the Church in modern times, in which single and chaste women are mystically espoused to Christ by the diocesan bishop, dedicating themselves to prayer, service and an ascetic life according to their gifts.
Jenna Marie Cooper-January 25, 2025-Reading time: 3minutes
Question: What does it mean to be a "consecrated virgin", what are the rights and duties of this designation, and what is the process for becoming a "consecrated virgin"?
Answer: The Code of Canon Law defines consecrated virgins as chaste, unmarried women who "by their promise to follow Christ more closely, ... are consecrated to God, mystically espoused to Christ and dedicated to the service of the Church, when the diocesan bishop consecrates them according to the approved liturgical rite" (Canon 604).
Consecrated virginity is the oldest form of consecrated life in the Church, and predates the development of religious life by several centuries. Since apostolic times, there have always been women who chose to renounce marriage in order to dedicate their lives and hearts more fully to Jesus. For this reason, they were traditionally called and formally recognized by the Church as "brides of Christ".
Since at least the fourth century, if not earlier, the Church has had a special liturgical ritual - distinct from but in some respects parallel to priestly ordination - for bishops to solemnly consecrate women to a life of virginity. Many of our early holy martyrs, such as St. Agatha, St. Agnes, St. Lucy and St. Cecilia, who are named in one of the Eucharistic prayers of the Mass, are considered consecrated virgins.
With the development of religious orders in late antiquity, the custom of consecrating women outside monasteries fell into disuse, and in the Middle Ages the Church no longer had consecrated virgins "living in the world." But in the middle of the 20th century, the Second Vatican Council document "Sacrosanctum Concilium" called for a revision of the ancient rite of consecration to a life of virginity, and in 1970 the new ritual was promulgated. And so, in a situation similar to the revival of the permanent diaconate, the vocation of consecrated virginity was restored to the life of the modern Church.
In 2018, the Vatican published a document called "Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago," or ESI, which provided bishops with more detailed guidance on this state of life, covering topics such as discernment of vocations, formation, and the life and mission of consecrated virgins.
Consecrated virginity is a unique vocation for women because it is centered in the local diocesan Church and not in a particular religious group or community. It is the diocesan bishop who accepts women into this state of life and who ultimately acts as the "superior" of consecrated virgins in his diocese. In general, consecrated virgins are called to pray for the needs of their diocese and to serve the needs of their local church according to their own specific gifts and talents.
In paragraphs 80-103, "Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago" describes the formation process for aspiring consecrated virgins lasting between three and five years. Formation for consecrated virginity involves, among other elements: personal mentoring and spiritual direction, a certain level of academic theological study, and a gradual adoption of the lifestyle of a consecrated virgin.
Regarding the duties and obligations of a consecrated virgin, the introduction to the rite of consecration to a life of virginity states: "Let them spend their time in works of penance and mercy, in apostolic activity and prayer, according to their state of life and their spiritual gifts.
"Ecclesiae Sponsae Imago" describes more specifically that consecrated virgins are obliged to pray the Liturgy of the Hours (ESI 34) and to attend daily Mass in regions where this is possible (ESI 32). Consecrated virgins are also expected to lead a relatively ascetic life, discerning concrete penitential practices with their confessor or spiritual director (ESI 36).
Consecrated virgins do not take vows of poverty and obedience in exactly the same way as religious. However, consecrated virgins are called to live in a spirit of evangelical poverty (ESI 27) and to co-discern the main aspects of their life and mission with their bishop (ESI 28).
The authorJenna Marie Cooper
Licensed in Canon Law, consecrated virgin and canonist.
Week for Christian Unity: an international congress reassesses the events of 1054
A symposium in Vienna reassessed the alleged "schism" of 1054 between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, noting that the rift began earlier and that 1054 took on a later symbolism. Church leaders advocate mutual recognition and Christian unity.
Die Tagespost-January 24, 2025-Reading time: 2minutes
An international symposium held this week in Vienna has re-evaluated the events of Constantinople in 1054, considered the date of the separation between the Eastern and Western churches. In any case, talk of the "schismThe "The "1054" of 1054 is either superseded or refuted, according to the tenor of the University of Vienna. Curia Cardinal Kurt Koch delivered the opening address. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew sent greetings. Cardinal Koch and Graz Orthodox theologian Grigorios Larentzakis already expressed this opinion in two articles in the "Tagespost" in summer 2021.
In 1054, Cardinal Humbert of Silva Candida traveled to Constantinople on behalf of Pope Leo IX to conclude a military alliance against the Normans. The attempt failed. However, unfortunate circumstances led him to excommunicate Patriarch Michael Cerularius. A counter-excommunion followed shortly thereafter. In the history of the Church, this has often been considered the official date of the schism between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. On December 7, 1965, one day before the final session of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras had a statement read at the same time in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and in St. George's Cathedral in the Phanar of Constantinople, regretting the excommunications and "consigning them to oblivion."
The rift between the East and the West began long before
In his welcoming address to the Vienna symposium, Patriarch Bartholomew stressed the duty to "pursue with all our strength Christ-pleasing efforts to overcome division and achieve the longed-for unity." In his address, Cardinal Kurt Koch stressed that the "scandal of 1054" did not lead to a schism or to the mutual excommunication of the Latin and Greek Churches. Only much later did the date acquire great symbolic significance. The estrangement between East and West had begun, of course, long before 1054 and continued after that date.
To overcome the separation, the first step must be for the Catholic and Orthodox Churches to recognize each other as Churches. This must be followed by the second step, namely the resumption of communion, Koch said. In his welcoming address, Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Arsenios Kardamakis praised all efforts to promote the correct understanding and categorization of the events of 1054. This is an important service to and for the churches.
This is a translation of an article that first appeared on the website Die-Tagespost. For the original article in German, see here . Republished in Omnes with permission.
Erik Varden: "Human history, despite its absurdities, has a meaning".
Erik Varden is a Cistercian monk and president of the Scandinavian Bishops' Conference. In this interview, he explains for today's society the concepts of equity, inclusion and diversity, starting from Benedictine spirituality.
Bishop Erik Varden is a Cistercian monk and President of the Scandinavian Bishops' Conference. Known for his keen analysis of current affairs, Monsignor Varden looks at the world with hope and is able to see in the events around us signs that God continues to care for each person and that the Holy Spirit is guiding the Church.
It is not surprising, therefore, that Erik Varden is able to relate to Christian doctrine three major concepts that are misunderstood today: diversity, inclusion and equity.
After a conference which he delivered at Princeton University at the end of October, in this interview the president of the Scandinavian Bishops' Conference elaborates on these three concepts by applying them to Benedictine spirituality and lifestyle.
You talk about diversity, equity and inclusion in relation to the Church. Could you explain these concepts and why we need them right now in the Church?
- I think there are many reasons for this. Obviously, this triad of diversity, equity and inclusion works differently in different countries. In the United States it is a much more universal reference than in Europe. It is a more unitary concept there than in Europe, and it is used as a basis for strategic decisions, for monitoring the good or bad functioning of institutions... And as such, the terms have become controversial, because some argue that these terms represent the path to a just society and a fairer government, particularly within institutions. But others consider them partial, biased, meaningless and manipulative.
In Europe the terms work differently. I think in both the north and the south they are used in political discourse and, to some extent, in ecclesiastical discourse. To take them on board and study them is very important, and I think it is also important to try to find out what they point to. In my opinion, they all point to a fundamental question, which is painful in most of our countries in the Western world. That fundamental question is: what does it mean to belong?
These concepts are very frequent in speeches today, but how can we link them to Catholic doctrine and God's plan for us?
- We need to ask ourselves some much-needed questions. Equity, diversity and inclusion are three excellent terms, potentially. But they are not self-explanatory; they require context.
When we talk about inclusion, it is meaningless until I define what I want and expect to be included in. It's all very well to talk about fairness, but fairness by what standard of justice? And when we talk about diversity, we realize that the world is diverse by nature, but by what fundamental standard?
These terms become introspective and unhelpful when they become mere instruments of self-affirmation. When inclusion means you have to accept me on my terms, otherwise I will take you to court, or when fairness means you have to give me everything I think I deserve, the terms become useless.
When we open ourselves to these meta-questions, to the standards on which we propose to form a society and to the values by which we want to live and grow, then we will feel the need for some kind of absolute or at least stable parameters. At that point, the biblically revealed concepts of God, humanity and just society are actually not so remote. In fact, they turn out to be extremely pertinent and relevant to the questions we are asking.
If we simply follow the questions and "open them up," we can repair that apparent disconnect between political and theological discourse, between a discourse of rights and a discourse of grace.
It also speaks of the rebirth of man. What does that mean?
- I mean this in the broadest possible sense. It is an aspiration to see for our times the articulation of a profoundly Christian anthropology. We are in a predicament, we live with many urgent questions about specific human identity. But also, we live with the global threat of artificial intelligence, we entrust ourselves to machines, and we like that because having our phones as our own handmade limb makes us feel in touch with everything and everyone. But at the same time we feel threatened by it.
So the important task is to reestablish what it is to be a human being, and to reestablish it realistically in terms of human frailties, but also in terms of human potential. And try to encourage people to want to live.
Something that I find very disturbing and sad is the immense weariness that is now often found in young people, and even in children. It is important to try to help these people to open their eyes and raise their heads, to look around them and to search. I want them to consider what they can become, and that is what I mean by my aspiration for the rebirth of man.
You hold up monasteries as an example of diversity, equity and inclusion. Why did you choose an example that could be considered outdated?
- Perhaps because it is not something that is far removed from our own time. When you think about it, in purely historical, or even sociological terms, we can look back over a long time in European history and we see one epoch after another in rise and fall, one intellectual current after another. Throughout all this one of the main constants is this strange persistence of Benedictine monastic life.
Because monastic life corresponds to something so deep in the human heart, it has a way of shoring itself up and re-establishing itself and flourishing in the most surprising circumstances. So I think it is worth asking what it is about this particular micro-society that has made it so enduring when we see so many political and institutional structures collapsing. And, at the same time, what is it that makes it so flexible, capable of inserting itself into the most varied circumstances while maintaining its characteristic identity.
He states that mumbling is a dangerous form of passive aggression. Why is it so bad and how do we solve this problem when it seems so easy to adopt it as a habit in our lives?
- A lot of it has to do with sorting out my own baggage. That tendency to externalize any complaint makes people feel that they have dealt with what ails them just by saying so. If we go by the monastic reference, monks tend to be great realists because they have to live with themselves and other people for a long time. The monastic tradition encourages us to look at our feelings and experiences and ask where they come from and what they mean.
Most of the time, we have all experienced this, someone may say something to me and it hurts me deeply and I feel like hitting back, but what the other person has said may actually be innocuous, so my response has nothing to do with what was said, but with some kind of trigger that came about through that thing that was uttered.
Therefore, if we want to free ourselves from our own irrational passions, what matters is to have the patience, perseverance and courage to follow those responses and deal with them at their roots.
Despite the fragile and difficult situation our world is going through, you exude hope. Where does that attitude come from?
- I am amazed at the amount of kindness I find in people. Like everyone else, I look at the world and feel distressed, because so much is going on. But, at the same time, I see great resilience in people. Also, I believe in God. I believe that human history, despite all its apparent absurdities, is moving towards a goal and that it makes sense. Even dark spots and painful experiences can contribute to a good end.
I also find the kind of principled negativity and pessimism that dominates our cultural and intellectual discourse very boring. When you've heard it once, you've heard it all. Instead of just joining in a chorus that is part of a song that has no melody, let's look at what music can arise. If we do this, we will discover that when we listen we can hear all kinds of tonalities.
On January 24, the Church celebrates the saintly French bishop of Geneva, patron saint of journalists and writers, St. Francis de Sales. Pope Francis reflected on his magisterium in an Apostolic Letter published on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the saint's death, entitled 'Totum amoris est' ('Everything belongs to love').
Francisco Otamendi-January 24, 2025-Reading time: < 1minute
The Jubilee of the 2025 Communication world is the first of the 35 Jubilees in this year of hope in the Church. And it begins today in Rome, precisely on the day of the memorial of St. Francis de Sales, to whom Pope Francis dedicated a Letter in December 2022, on the 4th centenary of the death of the bishop and doctor of the Church, who lived in France at the end of the 17th century.
St. Francis de Sales was born in 1567 in the castle of Sales (Thorens, Savoy), in one of the oldest and noblest families of Savoy, where he was a lawyer in the Senate, but decided to follow his priestly vocationHe was ordained in 1593. In 1599 he was bishop of Geneva, based in Annecy, because Geneva was almost entirely Calvinist. In 1604 he met saint Joan Frances Frémyot de Chantal, co-founder with him of the Ordre de la Visitation of Santa Maria. He was beatified in 1662 and canonized in 1665.
"He lived between two centuries, the sixteenth and the seventeenth, he gathered in himself the best of the teachings and cultural achievements of the century that was ending, reconciling the heritage of humanism with the tendency towards the absolute characteristic of the mystical currents", quoted Pope Francis of the catechesis of Benedict XVI, in his Letter of 2022, based in large part on the saint's 'Treatise on the Love of God'.
Euthanasia cases grow by more than 10 % in the Netherlands, Canada and Spain
The number of deaths from euthanasia is increasing year by year, at a rate of between 10 and 15 percent, in the first countries that gave it legal support, which Spain has joined since 2021. In the Netherlands, euthanasia deaths now account for 5.4 percent of the total, and in Belgium, around 4 percent.
Francisco Otamendi-January 24, 2025-Reading time: 4minutes
The "slippery" slope is getting steeper. In the first countries whose governments and/or parliaments gave the green light to euthanasia and assisted suicide, these practices are growing at a strong rate of 10 to 15 percent per year.
Candidates for euthanasia emerge, though not all, from the elderly segment and from oncology patients, but the drivers of euthanasia practices are relentlessly looking for new niches. Let's take a look.
The Netherlands, towards people with mental illness
Euthanasia cases increased in the Netherlands by 13.7 percent in 2022, to a total of 8,720, which accounted for 5.1 percent of the total number of deaths registered in the country that year. However, in 2023, according to information from the 'Netherlands Times', 9,068 deaths were registered, an increase of "only" 3.9 percent, although it raised the percentage of euthanasia deaths out of the total to 5.4 percent.
With growth rates of less than 5 percent, something did not seem to be going right for its promoters. So the euthanasia propaganda was accentuated among people with mental and psychological illnesses, many of them minors, and in so-called senile "dementia".
In the same year, the increase in euthanasia for mental disorders provoked a debate in the country, because the number of assisted deaths due to psychiatric conditions was 138, 20 % more than the previous year. In addition, for the first time it was performed on a minor with a mental illness, reported El País.
Three news of impact
At the same time, there were a number of notable news items in the public eye. First, former prime minister Andreas (Dries) van Agt and his wife, Eugenie Krekelberg, decided to die together, giving visibility to the euthanasias in couples.
Second, the history of Zoraya ter Beek, a 28-year-old woman, married and in love, reportedly with "crippling depression," autism and borderline personality disorder, who requested and was granted euthanasia.
Third, it was announced the start-up of the euthanasia for children between 1 and 12 years with terminal illness and "unbearable pain", starting in 2024.
In addition, the European Institute of Bioethics noted that "scientific studies estimate that 25 to 35 % of unreported euthanasia cases should be added." Forty-two % were over 80 years of age, and the number of euthanasia cases in patients under 40 years of age was about 1 percent.
Canada, strong growth
As in these European countries, euthanasia has always grown in Canada since it was authorized (2016). According to 2023 data, deaths are up 15.8 percent over 2022, following three straight annual increases of more than 30 %, according to Aceprensa.
Infobaewhich has also followed the Canadian case, reported that over the course of 2022, a total of 13,241 deaths in Canada were assisted by physicians through euthanasia, accounting for 4.1 % of all deaths in the country, as revealed by the Canadian government. A percentage similar already to that of Belgium. The same agency states that since 2016 there have been almost 45,000 deaths by euthanasia in the country, according to Fox News data.
In May 2024, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops organized a symposium on palliative care in conjunction with the Pontifical Academy for Life. As reported by Omnes, the Pope sent a message to the participants in which he condemned euthanasia, noting that "it is never a source of hope or genuine concern for the sick and dying. On the contrary, it is a failure of love, a reflection of a 'throwaway culture' in which 'people are no longer considered a supreme value to be cared for and respected.'" He further noted that "true compassion is palliative care."
Spain: 25 % more applications in 2023
Since the law came into force (2021), until December 31, 2023, 1,515 requests for aid in dying have been processed in Spain: 173 during 2021, 576 in 2022 and 766 in 2023. Requests in 2023 accounted for about 25 % more than the 576 of the previous year.
Of the total number of requests, "334 services were carried out", i.e., deaths, according to the report provided in December 2024 by the Spanish government compared to the previous year. As reported by El País, this figure is 12 % more than in 2022, when 288 deaths occurred, compared to 75 in 2021.
By autonomous community
Moncloa reported that "the distribution of the 766 euthanasia requests registered throughout the national territory is as follows: Catalonia 219, Madrid 89, Canary Islands 62, Basque Country 58, Valencian Community 56, Andalusia 43, Galicia 41, Balearic Islands 37, Asturias 33, Castile-La Mancha 28, Castile and Leon 27, Navarra 24, Aragon 22, Cantabria 19, La Rioja 4, Extremadura 2, Murcia 2, Melilla 0 and Ceuta 0". It was also added that "25 % of the applicants died before their application was resolved", and that "the average time from application to death was 30 days".
In 2024, Torreciudad has shown a remarkable performance in various areas, consolidating its position as one of the most outstanding destinations in Aragon. Its press office has published the data relating to the previous year, both in terms of attendees, impact on social networks and its educational and cultural footprint.
Visitor traffic and origin
In 2024, Torreciudad received about 185,000 visitors, with significant peaks in August (32,300 people), July (20,500) and March (20,400), coinciding with the summer vacations and Easter. 84.29% of the visitors were national, with Catalonia (26.49%) and Madrid (25.40%) as the main origins, while 15.21% came from abroad, with France, Portugal, the United States and the United Kingdom being the most represented countries.
The controversies surrounding the sanctuary do not seem to be helping it to be visited by more faithful, as the number of visitors has been reduced by 15,000 compared to the previous year.
Promotion, culture and museum spaces
Tourism promotion continues to attract families and organized groups, who combine a visit to Torreciudad with cultural routes, gastronomy and adventure sports in the surrounding area. In 2024, the sanctuary's museum spaces were key: the "Live the experience of faith" space received 15,414 visitors, and the video-mapping "The altarpiece tells you about it" attracted close to 21,000 viewers. In addition, the gallery of Marian invocations grew with the addition of 14 new images, bringing the total to 557 Patronesses from 81 countries.
Digital presence and future projection
Torreciudad's social networks experienced a growth of 9.44%, reaching 94,857 followers, while live broadcasts of Masses and rosaries on YouTube achieved more than 350,000 views from 38 countries. Looking ahead to 2025, the Patronage will focus on promoting traditional pilgrimages, family ministry and the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the new sanctuary for worship. In addition, new editions of marriage courses and Jubilee experiences will be promoted within the framework of the Jubilee called by Pope Francis.
Projects for 2025
The Annual Meeting of Delegates of the Board of Trustees of Torreciudad will celebrate its 49th edition on March 8 and 9. The planning tasks for 2025 that will take place during those days will focus on the promotion of the already traditional pilgrimages and days, especially the Marian Family Day, and on the preparation of the 50th anniversary of the opening for worship of the new Torreciudad, inaugurated on July 7, 1975. The pastoral care of the family will also receive a significant boost, especially with the organization of several editions of the courses for married couples "....TWOgether Torreciudad"The spiritual experience of the Jubilee 2025 called by Pope Francis.
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Christianophobia: data show rising trend
